Such devices enable a rifle to shoot hundreds of rounds a minute.

Speaking at the White House, Mr Trump said he had directed the justice department to propose a law to make the accessories illegal.

The gun control debate took on a new urgency after 17 people were killed at a school in Florida last week.

Mourners attended the funeral of Florida victim Peter Wang, 15, on Tuesday

Students and parents affected by the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School are planning a demonstration in the state capital of Tallahassee on Wednesday.

Some of them arrived on Tuesday in time to see the state legislature reject a proposed ban on assault weapons and large capacity magazines. However it will consider a package of more limited gun restrictions.

‘We’re not gonna back down’

By Paul Blake, BBC News, South Florida

These Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students boarded a bus in Coral Springs

In all around 100 students, spread across three buses, made the journey of more than seven hours to the state capital.

For many of these students, it is their first time to the capitol building in Tallahassee – much less to lobby their lawmakers over a national issue.

There is an excitement among the students, who sense that they may be on the cusp of starting a national movement.

“We’re travelling to our state capital to make sure that none of these people that we grew up with – that we’ve known our whole lives – die in vain,” Julia Salomone, 18, said confidently.

So how do the students expect the politicians to receive them? “Honestly, I feel like they’re gonna be overwhelmed by us because they’re going to see in our faces our determination, our commitment to this, because this is all we’re fighting for right now,” 16-year-old Rain Valladares said. “They’re gonna look us in the face and see that we’re not gonna back down.”

What did Trump say?

At an event on Tuesday recognising the bravery of law enforcement, Mr Trump said he had directed Attorney General Jeff Sessions to finalise new guidelines to declare bump stocks illegal “very soon”.

“The key in all of these efforts, as I said in my remarks the day after the shooting, is that we cannot merely take actions that make us feel like we are making a difference, we must actually make a difference,” he said.

“We must move past clichés and tired debates, and focus on evidence-based solutions and security measures that actually work and that make it easier for men and women of law enforcement to protect our children and protect our safety.”

What are bump stocks?

The accessories can make semi-automatic rifles fire as rapidly as machine guns.

They can be bought for as little as $100 (£70) without the need for a criminal background check.

The device was used by Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old gambler, who rained bullets on the crowd at an outdoor country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip in October.

More than 500 people were also injured in that attack, considered America’s worst ever mass-shooting by a lone gunman.

Audio analysis found Paddock had been able to fire 90 bullets within 10 seconds from his room in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

However, a bill introduced to ban bump stocks, trigger cranks and other devices that can speed up a semi-automatic rifle’s rate of fire has since stalled.

In December, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives began considering a regulation for bump stocks, opening a process that drew more than 35,000 public comments.

Proposals to ban bump stocks have been put forward with mixed results at state level, including in South Carolina, Illinois, Washington and Colorado.

Previous efforts to introduce gun control measures in the wake of mass shootings in recent years have gone nowhere in the US Congress.

Might Trump consider any other gun control?

On Tuesday, the White House signalled it was open to an age limit for people buying AR-15-type assault rifles, like the one used in the Florida shooting.

“I think that’s certainly something that’s on the table for us to discuss and that we expect to come up over the next couple of weeks,” said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders, when asked about a possible age requirement. The age limit in most US states for buying an AR-15 is 18.

Over the weekend, Mr Trump said he was supportive of a bipartisan bill that seeks to improve the checks in place before someone can buy a gun.

That legislation intends to patch holes in the FBI’s background check System, which processed more than 25 million gun ownership applications last year.

Failures in that database were exposed by the Florida shooting, allegedly committed by a 19-year-old gunman with a history of mental health issues. Bump stocks were not used in that attack.

Will this time be different?

Analysis by Anthony Zurcher, BBC News, Washington

Whether the bureaucratic review process just initiated by the president will amount to a comprehensive ban on bump stocks depends very much on how the yet-to-be-written regulation is crafted.

Still, it is the closest the Trump administration has come to new firearm regulation after multiple mass shootings – and, perhaps, a reflection of the new pressure the president is feeling on the gun issue.

Congress, of course, could have stepped in at any point in the five months since the Las Vegas massacre and banned bump stocks without this contorted bureaucratic process. The National Rifle Association, however, is not keen on seeing a bipartisan coalition forming to enact any kind of new federal gun control laws.

The question now is whether Mr Trump’s move relieves the pressure to “do something” after Florida. If the past is any guide, attention will fade and the drive to enact new legislation will slow.

–

Source: BBC

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The group said: “Devices designed to allow semi-automatic rifles to function like fully-automatic rifles should be subject to additional regulations.”

Republicans have said they would consider banning the tool, despite years of resisting any gun control.

Lawmakers plan to hold hearings and consider a bill to outlaw the device.

The NRA called on Thursday for regulators to “immediately review whether these devices comply with federal law”.

President Donald Trump later told reporters his administration would be looking into whether to ban them “in the next short period of time”.

“In the aftermath of the evil and senseless attack in Las Vegas, the American people are looking for answers as to how future tragedies can be prevented,” NRA chiefs Wayne LaPierre and Chris Cox wrote in the statement.

They criticised politicians who are calling for gun control, writing that “banning guns from law-abiding Americans based on the criminal act of a madman will do nothing to prevent future attacks”.

The statement, the organisation’s first since Sunday’s attack in Las Vegas that left 58 people dead and nearly 500 injured, noted that bump-stocks were approved by the Obama administration’s Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders, who spoke to reporters moments after the NRA statement was issued, said: “Members of both parties and multiple organisations are planning to take a look at bump-stocks. We welcome that and would like to be part of that conversation.”

In the same statement the NRA urged Congress to pass their longstanding pet proposal to expand gun rights nationwide, so-called right-to-carry reciprocity.

The lobby group wants gun-owners with concealed-carry permits from one state to be allowed to take their weapons into any other US state, even if it has stricter firearms limits.

Another NRA policy priority, the deregulation of silencer attachments, appears to have stalled in Congress in the wake of the Las Vegas attack, after Republican sponsors withdrew their bill.

A bill to ban bump-stocks was submitted to the US Senate on Wednesday by California Democrat Dianne Feinstein.

A Republican-led version of the bill may be submitted for debate as early as Thursday, Florida Republican Carlos Curbelo told reporters.

He said there was growing bipartisan consensus and that his office had been “flooded” with calls from other lawmakers interested in the bill.

“I think we are on the verge of a breakthrough when it comes to sensible gun policy,” he told reporters.

Bump-fire stocks, also called bump-stocks and slide-fire adapters, allow semi-automatic rifles to fire at a high rate, similar to a machine gun.

But they can be obtained without the extensive background checks required of automatic weapons.

Stephen Paddock, the gunman in Las Vegas, had fixed the accessories to 12 rifles used in his attack.

Bump-stocks typically cost less than $200 (£150) and allow nearly 100 high-velocity bullets to be fired in just seven seconds, according to one company advert.

One of the most popular manufacturers of bump-stocks, Slide Fire, said they had sold out “due to extreme high demands” since the Las Vegas shooting.

–

Source: BBC

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The party questioned the basis of the Senchi Consensus as it would not be able to address the economic woes of the country.

It pointed out that any scientific approach to the solution of the current economic crisis should have taken into account the economic development history of the nation as started by the CPP.

Addressing the media on Thursday on CPP’s position on the Senchi Consensus, Madam Samia Yaaba Nkrumah, Chairwoman of the CPP, noted that the SC had shown a deceptive and feeble commitment to the transformation of the structure of the economy, describing it as anti-poor and definitely not in the interest of the nation.

The occasion was also used to mark the 65^th birthday of the CPP which was established at Tarkwa on 12 June, 1949.

She said that any objective study of the economic development of the history of the country would acknowledge the relevance and superiority of the development achievements of the CPP Government and the disruptive results of externally dictated policy of structural adjustment and neo colonialism that was given a stamp of approval in the Senchi Consensus.

Ms Nkrumah who is also the leader of the party listed the numerous investment of the CPP Government that covered every area of human need “from atomic reactor to rattan production”.

She said the CPP’s investments in food security, export and import substitution manufacturing and the diversification of the agricultural export commodity sector were guided by the Nkrumaist development policy guideline of reconstruction of the colonial economy that it inherited.

“The objectives of these investments were intended to develop an internally sustained development capacity to promote a balanced growth of the economy, improve the poor terms of trade, increase foreign exchange earnings, reduce import expenditure and achieve a trade surplus”, she added.

She said the CPP Government built more schools, hospitals and residential estates than any regime in the political history of Ghana.

She advanced a list of development policy alternative to the SC for the growth of the economy which included a review of the policies of trade liberalisation, exchange rate, fiscal and monetary policy exchange and interest rates and a proactive role for the central bank in national development”.

“It is an irrefutable fact that the development achievements of the CPP is unsurpassed by any regime in the economic history of our country and the nation in recognition of these achievements should return the CPP to power for the pursuit of its human-centered and development policies”, she added.

Source: GNA

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According to the AGI delays in implementing the 21-point consensus put forward by 140 participants of the national economic dialogue “will dash all hopes and prospects of getting our economy back on a sound trajectory.”

Eonomic policy makers, representatives of traders associations, development and social partners, civil society organizations, members of academia and senior citizens participated in the three-day non-partisan National Economic Forum at Senchi.

“Industries are still under serious pressure from taxes and power outages. The resultant effect of these challenges is the high cost of doing business which continues to stifle growth and our competitiveness as a country”, says the AGI.

These were contained in a statement released Thursday and signed by AGI President, James Asare-Adjei.

Find below the full statement:

AGI PRESS STATEMENT ON AFTERMATH OF NATIONAL ECONOMIC FORUM

The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) commends Government for initiating the process to address the challenging economic situation in the recent National Economic forum held at Senchi. Industry is expectant of the outcome of the forum to mitigate the present economic hardships and the rising cost of doing business in the country. What is most important at this stage is the timely implementation of the outcome of the national consensus for economic and social transformation of our economy.

The Association of Ghana Industries wishes to remind Government of the following;

i.The early implementation of the issues agreed on at the forum for the restoration of business confidence and recovery of our economy is so critical that any delay will dash all hopes and prospects of getting our economy back on a sound trajectory.

ii. The depreciation of the cedi against the major foreign currencies continues to take a heavy toll on businesses including all those which were hitherto less vulnerable to the effect of macro-economic instability. Raw material imports are getting much more expensive and Industries which require these foreign inputs cannot change their prices on a daily basis in order to cover foreign exchange losses.

iii.Industries are still under serious pressure from taxes and power outages. The resultant effect of these challenges is the high cost of doing business which continues to stifle growth and our competitiveness as a country.

iv. The AGI is calling on Government to put out a clear road map with timelines for the implementation of the issues outlined in the Senchi consensus as soon as possible.

v. Whilst implementing the prescriptions of the forum, it is imperative to consider these within the context of the existing policies, strategies and programmes that will stimulate growth in the industrial sector of the economy i.e. the Ghana Industrial Policy, the Industrial Sector Support Programme, the Private Sector Development Strategy II, Ghana Export Strategy etc, in order to fulfill the medium to long-term goals of our national development agenda.

AGI is therefore pledging its commitment to the implementation process and the monitoring of results, leading to sustainable growth of Industry in Ghana.

Yours faithfully,

Signed

J. Asare-Adjei

(President)

Credit: AGI

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“That thing was a joke to say I won’t go,” he opined.

He mentioned that the rank and file of the NPP for some time now have been complaining bitterly about the state of the country’s economy and how it is being mismanaged by the government.

This, he said was an  indication that, the members of the NPP knew challenges facing the nation.

Therefore, “to go on to suggest that you were not given any background concept paper and at the same time you were saying that whatever they are going to discuss is already known,” is a difficult excuse to accept.

Prior to the National Economic Forum, the Chairman of the NPP, Paul Afoko announced that no party member will be allowed to attend the forum because the invitations arrived late.

He also stated that the invited members of the NPP were ill prepared due to the failure of government to give enough information on matters pencilled down to be discussed at the forum.

Mr. Afoko further stated that the forum was another talk shop being organized by government therefore; there was no need for NPP members to attend.

This announcement received a lot of public backlash as some opined it was an avenue for the NPP to make credible suggestions and recommendations on how the economy could be revived.

Some also stated that the NPP’s refusal to attend the forum was a clear indication they were not up to the task as an opposition party to proffer alternative solutions towards the effective governance of the country.

The only NPP stalwart who attended the forum was renowned economist, Kwame Pianim who described the NPP’s decision as a “mistake”.

Sharing his thoughts on the matter on Citi FM’s The Big Issue, Mr. Cudjoe, who was also a participant at the forum, noted that it is wrong for people to suggest that persons who honoured their invitation are one way or the other, linked to the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC).

He asked, “are you suggesting that the over 140 people who came there all belong to the NDC? Is that the suggestion? …it was not as if all those who went to Akosombo were carrying a party colour or probably erected a party flag on their cars.”

“This was a very bad move for the executives to have captured and bottled the feelings of their constituency. It was a very, very wrong one” adding that, he is certain not every member of the party supported the national executives’ position.

The IMANI boss observed that the new NPP executives started off on a wrong note with the boycott decision which prevented the likes of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia from attending the forum.

“I have been told reliably that Dr. Bawumia was invited but he has to yield to this fatwa that was rather put across…I don’t understand the economic analysis of Mr. Paul Afoko. I don’t even understand if he understands the issues that plague us now,” he said.

But in a sharp rebuttal, a financial analyst, Sydney Casely Hayford said the NPP’s presence at the forum would have brought on a partisan twist which was not needed.

“If the NPP had been there, it would have become a partisan issue because each of them would like to take claim for some of the issues that were put out.”

He said he is certain the NPP envisaged that if they had contributed to solving the economic crisis, credit would have gone to the ruling NDC.

“If it succeeds and turns the economy around, you will go into 2016 and go and tell the public, yes, we fixed it without giving recognisance to the opposition persons who were there,” he explained.

By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The Senchi Consensus

From May 12 – 15, 2014, 140 Ghanaians drawn from organized labour, Ghanaian private sector, professional associations, financial institutions, security services, traditional leaders, political parties, parliamentarians, the clergy, policy think tanks, academia, civil society, and government ministries met in Senchi in the spirit of our shared interest and commitments for Building a National Consensus for Economic and Social Transformation as well as our collective pursuit of inclusive and sustainable development.

We the participants further agreed on the following:

1. That the Directive Principles of State Policy (Chapter 6 of the 1992 Constitution) must continue to guide the national development effort, anchored in a long term national development framework with a compelling vision.

2. That long term national interest should supersede all other interests.

3. That the State encourages and promotes indigenous entrepreneurship and continues to execute projects and programmes commenced by the previous Government.

4. Foster a state whose day-to-day management is supported by a professionally competent civil service working in an environment devoid of political victimization and intimidation and where support for the Government is not interpreted as political affiliation.

5. It is imperative to strengthen the public accounts and finance committees of Parliament to play their oversight responsibilities more effectively; and also to develop a mechanism for effective synergy and coordination between the Monitoring Units of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) and the Office of the President.

6. That a mechanism to effectively monitor, evaluate and reform the use of statutory funds transferred to public sector institutions such as the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF), National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFUND) must be established.

7. That government should establish a One-Stop-Shop for investments, electronic templates to simplify business processes, streamline the activities of the Ghana Export Promotion Council (GEPC), Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC) and Free zones Board, and strengthen the capacity of the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) and other statistical reporting agencies to deliver reliable and timely economic and social statistics for planning, research and development.

8. The Ministry of Finance should as a matter of urgency review the targets set in the 2014 budget. The review must identify likely deviations and make proposals for plugging the resultant financing gap while the Bank of Ghana traces the implications of the revisions for monetary policy.

9. That a mechanism must established to realign the budget whenever the economy is affected by unanticipated shocks

10. Government must strengthen the regulatory authorities to protect consumers and ensure the enforcement of standards.

11. Further steps must be taken to support Small-Medium Enterprises (SME) in order to protect jobs.

12. That further efforts must be made to improve the efficiency of tax collection as well as broaden the tax base and reduce recourse to the introduction of new taxes. The incidence of discretionary tax exemptions should be reviewed and reduced.

13. Bank of Ghana should expedite work on the assessment of the recently announced foreign exchange measures and take speedy and appropriate action to restore confidence and relieve the unintended consequences of the measures.

14. Consideration should be given to the amendment of the Bank of Ghana Act to set a ceiling on its lending to government that is based on government’s revenue collection in the previous year, rather than the current year as is currently that case. This should be separated from the ceiling on total net domestic borrowing by government.

15. An investment programme to deal with the energy crisis must be put in place as a matter of urgency in order to propel growth, employment, competitiveness, and macroeconomic stability.

16. That government must take steps to revamp the manufacturing and agriculture sectors to encourage domestic production of some agricultural products as well as import substitutable manufactured goods.

17. Ghana needs accelerated implementation of the current plan to develop the interbank foreign exchange and money markets to ensure active primary and secondary trading.

18. For the purposes of encouraging high national productivity, government, labour and the private sector must collaborate to institute a management and labour productivity crusade including the introduction of a Service Charter that ensures that productivity is matched with remuneration.

19. Take steps to develop long term financing instruments to minimize reliance on short term financing.

20. That a clear and simplified policy framework to help grow and migrate the informal sectors into the formal is urgently required. As such steps must be taken to simplify business registration process, non-mandatory SSNIT contribution up to a minimum number of employees by informal sector operators.

21. We your fellow Ghanaians recognize that socio-economic development is a journey, not a destination. As such, efforts to build a national consensus and long-term plan must also take the mode of a journey. We therefore recommend that the National Economic Forum be institutionalized and that a committee be established to explore various options and model for undertaking this process of institutionalization.

22. Government must take steps to galvanize consensus around other issues of national importance, especially with respect to political governance nation-building matters, and should initiate a process of involving citizens whose experience, insight and expertise will enhance economic policy management and national governance.

A full and detailed report of the proceedings will be made available within few weeks.

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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
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This is contrary to earlier arrangements which scheduled the end of the Forum for Friday, May 16, 2014.

The Forum is on the theme: ‘Changing the Narrative: National Consensus for Social Transformation’ has brought together various stakeholders with varying specialties to dialogue on sustainable measures to improve and develop the nation’s economy.

The participants include 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.

Government says it is optimistic that the participants will come out with ideas for a sustainable path that guarantees improvements in the quality of life for all Ghanaians.

Financial Analyst, Sydney Casely-Hayford who is a participant at the Forum on the Citi Prime News on Thursday stated that the forum has so far yielded positive outcomes saying, “in terms of quality, we are getting a lot of good suggestions.

He revealed that participants “started delivering group solutions and suggestions to the various thematic areas which were assigned. We worked so close to midnight and we were back this morning at 8 to reconvene.”

According to him, the solutions to the country’s economic challenges are known already so the various groups are focusing on the implementation of the solutions.

Regarding the early closure of the Forum, the Financial Analyst explained that the President has other engagements from Friday “and that seems to be the driving issue so we are having to work extra hours just to accommodate the sharp deadline.”

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He maintained that the reasons which informed their decision to boycott the Forum are valid.

The National Economic Forum is currently ongoing in Akosombo where stakeholders have gathered to deliberate on the state of the economy and proffer solutions to solve the economic challenges.

Government ahead of the forum clarified that the programme is non-partisan and should therefore be considered as such.

But the NPP’s boycott has raised questions about the level of polarization in Ghana’s politics which is hurting the development and hindering national cohesion.

The Suame Legislator however maintained that the party was disrespected with the late delivery of the invitation to the forum.

According to him, not much input could have been made by the NPP if the party honoured the invite, considering the limited time it was given to prepare.

Mr. Mensah Bonsu on Eyewitness News indicated that “this is a serious national dialogue and you would expect that at least, some prior information will be given to the personalities involved. Some respect should be shown to them so they will be able to prepare early enough.”

He faulted government for failing to include the programme content into the invitation “so what is it that we were even to go and dialogue on? As of yesterday morning, nobody even knew.”

The Minority leaders confessed he would have loved to be part of the forum “if the invitation came earlier to me with the requisite information, I certainly would have to avail myself.”

Asked what the Minority would do if policies agreed on at the Forum are brought to Parliament for debate and subsequent approval, Mr. Mensah Bonsu stated categorically that “the policy is determined by the ruling administration…it’s not for Parliament to agree or not to agree with a policy. We may critique it.”

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“…what is even more painful is the reason that they gave for boycotting it,” said a Deputy Information and Media Relations Minister, Felix Kwakye-Ofosu.

The Chairman of the NPP, Paul Afoko, on Monday officially announced the decision by the party to boycott the National Economic Forum.

Explaining the reasons for the boycott, Mr. Afoko stated that government did not give ample time for participants to adequately prepare for the forum; thus no meaningful discussion can take place.

He also described the forum as PR gimmick calculated to keep the people of Ghana in the dark about the real state of the economy.

Mr. Afoko also mentioned that the party has been informed that government has already adopted a set of reforms scheduled to take place between 2014 and 2017 which has been communicated in a policy document to the IMF.

He therefore questioned the rationale for convening a National Economic Forum when government has already adopted a set of policies and has already submitted proposals to the IMF.

In response however, Mr. Kwakye-Ofosu pointed out that a party which claims it is committed to the development of the nation “will not make such an excuse.”

He disclosed that all other invited organizations and personalities have  confirmed their participation although they all received their letters the same time as the NPP.

The Deputy Minister stated if the NPP’s boycott is based on the purported policy document submitted to the IMF on Ghana’s economy,  “then they would have done so on the basis of speculation and not fact.”

According to him, it is normal practice for member countries to update the IMF on a regular basis on processes being put in place to resolve economic issues.

He maintained that it is imperative for government to build a national consensus on key policy decisions hence; the organization of the National Economic Forum.

Mr. Kwakye-Ofosu recalled that during the Kufuor administration, a similar forum was organized and all stakeholders made the effort to attend “and so it is surprising that when other governments come to do the same thing, the NPP will be making these excuses.”

The National Economic Forum is aimed at bringing together all stakeholders to deliberate and proffer solutions to tackle the country’s economic difficulties.

It is slated for Tuesday, May 13 to Friday, May 16 at Akosombo is Eastern Region.

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