It is the fourth poorest region in the country despite its agriculture, fishing and the high level of brisk business which goes on in one of its towns, which is arguably the most expanding urban area in West Africa, Kasoa.

The Central Region prides itself in its educational institutions, but a recent finding that left the Regional Minister, Kwamena Duncan, and other very concerned inhabitants of the Region fuming was that indigenes of the Region hardly access the best senior high schools here. The reason: poor performance in the Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE).

A 2017 news report revealed how poverty and low level of education are worsening teenage pregnancy numbers coupled with significant levels of teenage prostitution. A total of 5,106 cases of teenage pregnancies were recorded between July and December 2016 alone.

Due to this inglorious picture, the Region has unfortunately assumed that any project, national or local, sited in it should be with the intent of alleviating its chief enemy, poverty.

It is thus heart-breaking to find diverse projects carried out in the region wasting away, despite the sweet talk from politicians who claim to have the interest of the region at heart.

The CEDECOM irony

The Central Region Development Commission (CEDECOM), was specifically established to spearhead the reduction of poverty and to facilitate the development of the Region. In fact, as a means of ultimately deleting the poverty tag.

It is of great relevance to the Region that every Regional Minister who heads the Region is the default Board Chairman of the Commission.

A lot of funds have been injected into CEDECOM by governments over the years with the aim of alleviation aim of alleviating poverty in the Central Region. In 2009 for example, the late President Atta Mills promised it GHC 5.2 million, and the Commission later admitted receiving “some chunk of money”.

That was good news! But what did the Region witness? Several mind-boggling decisions have been taken by CEDECOM that makes every follower of the Commission wonder what is wrong with its handlers. Let me feed you with only three of them.

CEDECOM spent GHC 612,000 to construct a rest stop for commercial purposes on a marshy piece of land at Ekumfi Eyisam on the Accra-Cape Coast highway. The rest stop currently wastes away overgrown with weeds, years after its construction. The only time the facility saw some life was a one-day programme on the premises, where the current President, Akufo-Addo, launched the first of the factories under the One District-One Factory Policy, that is to produce pineapple juice in the Ekumfi area.

Another CEDECOM irony is the use of GHC 220,000 by the Commission to construct a fence wall around the Agona Swedru cemetery. Yes, around a public cemetery! That was a decision.

There is also the CEDECOM piggery project drama. The project that was recorded in the Commission’s 2011 projects records as having swallowed GHC100,000 was initially claimed to be at Assin Manso, but was never seen there, only for the people of the Region to be later told it had been moved to Assin Ando – and the piggery drama goes on.

All the above and other CEDECOM decisions have been taken in the Central Region where the youths are craving jobs that could simply minimize the poverty it is plagued with.

Central Region continues to be Ghana’s fourth poorest Region, years after CEDCOM’s creation, while no serious probe has been carried out to let people answer why those decisions were taken.

The Komenda Sugar Factory show

At a colourful event at the historical town of Komenda in 2016, ex-President John Mahama inaugurated the $35 million Indian EXIM Bank loan project meant to produce sugar to save the country the hundreds of millions of dollars it spends on sugar importation.

The factory was also projected to create over 7,300 jobs, most of which would have probably been for people in the Central Region.

That was visionary, wasn’t it? Yet those who established the magnificent factory, whose construction began in 2014, failed to realise that the raw materials needed for sugar production, sugarcane, had to be available for the factory to run.

The factory is also wasting away now, but the other side of the vision that requires providing the factory with 225,000 metric tonnes of sugarcane for the factory to operate at optimum capacity is yet to be realized by the nation.

That is pathetically another embellishment of the Central Region with no proper planning, killing hopes of the natives and Ghanaians at large, and the Region appears shortchanged again!

The John Evans Atta Mills Presidential Library

It is a project the current Regional Minister, Kwamena Duncan, has publicly described as a purely private facility meant to honour the late Atta Mills, but the digital library is yet to be fully used as it is now under lock and key.

Ghanaians were made to understand the Library was going to be in the hands of the University of Cape Coast, but a recent explanation by the institution has revealed no official documentation exists to that effect.

The contractor for the project has reportedly shut down the facility because of a failure to pay him some monies owed him since 2016.

The monument shares a neighbourhood with the Cape Coast Castle, and has a 100-capacity auditorium, a 45-seater multimedia centre, seminar rooms and a museum meant for keeping historical materials and works by or on the late President.

By all standards, it is a good centre for the research purposes attached to it; however, it appears to be the next major project in the Region to go defunct.

The shock of those who are passionate about the Central Region, is the flamboyance and pageantry that surround many sod-cutting and inauguration of projects here, only for such projects to get abandoned or fail to impact lives.

Moving around the Region and observing the people as well as communicating with residents on issues, show how they yearn to see their lives improved by those who profess love to them, but it is apparent their hopes may continue to be unattainable as Ghana as a whole continues to battle for proper planning and policy implementation.

It is also clear the people of the Central Region would want to have answers to the numerous questions on their minds, on why some particular decisions were taken on their behalf, most of which are a clear slap in the face.

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By: Joseph Ackon-Mensah

Email: [email protected]

The post Ackon-Mensah asks: Central Region, a helpless victim of unplanned projects? appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The decision is part of government’s agenda to revive the $35 million Indian Exim Bank facility that has been inactive since it was launched in May 2016.

A Deputy Trade and Industry Minister, Robert Ahomka-Lindsey, made the announcement on Friday at Cape Coast while addressing journalists at a press soiree held by the Central Regional branch of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) at the party’s regional headquarters.

The soiree was for the Central Region NPP to interact with the media on challenges and successes of the party in the Region, as well as the party’s programme for 2018 and beyond.

Robert Ahomka-Lindsey revealed that six companies have so far expressed interest in the running of the factory, noting that, “We are in discussion with them, but the commitment I want to give the Central Region is that, we are doing everything possible to make sure that the Komenda Sugar Factory starts running again, and when it starts, it won’t stop running”.

Explaining the decision by government to involve private investors, the Deputy Minister said, “We don’t believe government runs factories well, so we (government) are not going to run the factory”.

The factory, when fully operational, could produce 97% of Ghana’s sugar requirement, while out grower sugarcane farmers, mostly in the Central and Western Regions, could also be gainfully employed.

Notwithstanding the Akufo Addo government’s assurances to resuscitate the dormant facility, the factory is yet to see any practical revival.

The Minister, was however not specific as to whether the private involvement will take the form of public-private partnership or a fully privately run model.

Answering a question on how the ministry could liaise with academic institutions in research for an effective running of the factory, the Deputy Minister noted that, government will assist investors to get the right sugarcane varieties as have been developed by various academic and research institutions.

He observed that, “We are aware of varieties not only from the University of Cape Coast, but also at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the Ghana Atomic Energy and the University of Ghana, Legon, but we need a higher sugar content; that is why developments like that are important”.

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By: Joseph Ackon-Mensah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Private investors to take over Komenda sugar factory– Gov’t appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This follows a petition by the former Secretary to the Management Board of the Factory, Ransford Vanni-Amoah, accusing Mr. Lindsay of perjury.

Speaking to Citi News, Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, James Avedzi, said the deputy minister could lose his position if such claims turn out to be true.

According to Vanni-Amoah, a former member and secretary of the Komenda Sugar Project Management Board, the Deputy Minister committed perjury when he appeared before the PAC to provide answers to a report by the Auditor General pertaining to the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

He petitioned the PAC, citing events, places and dates that the $35 million Komenda Sugar factory operated, asserting that the Deputy Trade Minister told a blatant lie in his submission to the Committee.

“The petitioner is saying that this is not the true fact. He is saying that actual sugarcane was put into the process from the beginning up to the end which means that Sugar Produced from sugar cane, but that is not the position held by the minister [Ahomka Lindsay],” Mr. Avedzi said.

The PAC Chair added that matter could end up in Parliament if the deputy minister did not show the needed remorse should it be demanded of him.

“If it is found that it [the allegation] is true, and he has admitted that what he said was not true, we will give him the opportunity to apologise and if he refuses to apologise then we will refer the matter to Parliament because it amounts to perjury and he can even lose his position as a minister.”

The committee is still studying the petition at the moment and it hasn’t “taken a decision to invite the minister yet,” Mr. Avedzi added.

When the current New Patriotic Party government was in opposition at the time of the factory’s commissioning, the viability of the $35 million-factory was called into question, with claims it was simply a vote-buying ploy.

Mr. Ahomka Lindsey repeated these concerns, suggesting that Komenda Sugar Factory will lie idle longer than expected, due to challenges such as the lack of raw materials, which has salled full operations.

He has claimed that the variety of sugarcane planted on lands secured for sugar production at Komenda did not contain the appropriate levels of sugar content for production, though persons from the Mahama administration disputed these claims.

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By: Duke Mensah Opoku/Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Komenda Sugar Factory: Ahomka Lindsay to face PAC over perjury appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The GCPP 2016 flag bearer, who is also an exporter of food crops and other products, has had to abandon his 100,000-acre sugarcane farm he started earlier this year near Komenda.

[contextly_sidebar id=”bxP864ttN5ey37rHpPN0jXQpm0hHd76B”]In an interview with Citi News at Cape Coast, he expressed his disappointment in the abandoned project which cost tens of thousands of Ghana Cedis meant to create jobs and to supply the factory with raw materials.

He revealed that he was happy when the New Patriotic Party won the 2016 elections through its ‘Planting for Food’ and industrialization messages, saying, “I was suspecting that everything (about the factory) will go on, but then I realized that the factory had started backtracking.”

Dr. Henry Lartey further intimated, “I couldn’t see anything moving on. Meanwhile, I had put my money into growing the sugarcane to supply the factory; I had cleared the land and done everything, but as I spoke to the Managing Director, I realized that the seed money was not even there to buy the sugarcane. They were waiting for the current government to push it through, so it got a point I did not like to continue it and when I finish, the factory would not be there”.

A Citi News report, last week ago revealed that sugarcane farmers in the Central and Western Regions are now selling their cane to ‘akpeteshie’ distillers because the factory has been inactive since last year.

The 2016 flagbearer lamented he sadly disappointed his partners in Nigeria and Germany whom he had assured he could supply sugar and molasses from the factory.

He urged the current government to do all it can to revive the factory.

“The ‘One District-One Factory’ is a huge policy that has won many people over. I like it, and it is important for this government to use the Komenda Sugar Factory to enhance the policy, so people will not say they came in and because they did not build it they let it die. I would advise them to go on with it because we all want Ghana to work, and people have to get work to get money. It (the factory) should not die,” Dr Lartey appealed.

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By: Joseph Ackon-Mensah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Dormant Komenda Sugar Factory hurt my business – Henry Lartey appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

These sugarcane farmers invested heavily in their farms following strong encouragement and assurances from officials of the Komenda Sugar Factory that their produce would be bought.

However, months after their investment, they tell Citi News that they are very much frustrated by how the $35 million factory continues to be inactive while their sugar cane is wasted.

A farmer at Anto in the Shama District of the Western Region, John K. Mensah, owner of a 30-acre sugar cane farm noted that initially, they “were very happy as sugarcane farmers when the factory was set up.”

“Officials of the factory came to register over 54 of us, and said we should not sell it to ‘akpeteshie’ distillers, but now, look, we don’t know what to do with the sugarcane.”

The factory, at its full capacity, can, in a year, produce 97% of the nation’s sugar needs, representing 250,000 tons.

To produce such quantity of sugar, the factory requires 1,250 metric tons of raw sugar cane daily.

The sources of the sugarcane are the factory’s own farm, which is also yet to be operational, and sugarcane from private growers in the Central and Western Regions and even beyond.

Factory’s arrangement with farmers

Though authorities of the factory would not speak on the record to Citi News, they reveal that they registered over 500 farmers who have a total of over 30,000 acres of sugarcane farms.

The farmers were divided into four zones: the Shama Division, stretching from Beposo to Shama Junction in the Western Region, the Komenda Division in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Brem Municipality and the Cape Coast Division, consisting of farmers around Cape Coast and the Abura-Asebu Kwamankese District in the Central Region.

The last division, known as the Outer Division, has farmers who have solidly expressed willingness to sell to the factory. They are in the Volta Region, the Nzema area in the Western Region and the Assin Foso Area in the Central Region.

For these outer division farmers, officials tell Citi News if funds are made available, they will establish mini-sugarcane crushers in their respective areas to first crush the raw material, and the juice will then be conveyed to Komenda.

Back in 2016 when the factory functioned for a short time, some sugarcane was purchased from the farmers and payment was fully done.

Notwithstanding these efforts by the officials, they disclose that they lack vehicles to move around to monitor the farmers, and they depend on few officials that have private vehicles to do that.

Farmers cry further

A farmer from Kwahenkrom, near Komenda, Omankrado Nana Kweku Nkrumah, states his nostalgia for his sale of sugarcane to the factory back in 2016, but laments, “There was an agreement to give us loans to expand our farms, but we are now back to nothing, giving the sugar cane to ‘akpeteshie’ producers”.

According to him and other farmers, it was viable selling to the factory than to the ‘akpeteshie’ distillers because the factory could pay them in bulk while the latter have only rendered them impoverished.

He has appealed to the Akufo-Addo government to “eschew political handling of issues about the factory” saying “it is a great asset to the people of Komenda and Ghana at large.”

Listen to the full report below

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By: Jospeh Ackon Mensah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Komenda factory sugarcane now being sold to Akpeteshie producers appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Concerns about the viability of the factory have come up again after it was revealed that factory still lack raw materials to commence work, but Mr. Mohammed believes the issues being raised are insincere.

[contextly_sidebar id=”MPA0xuOV6wxx4J8QzID7f8gyxjgqGJP5″]When the current New Patriotic Party government was in opposition at the time of the factory commissioning, the viability of the $35 million-factory was called into question, with claims it was simply a vote buying ploy.

The concerns have continued, with a Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Robert Ahomka Lindsay saying the variety of sugarcane planted on lands secured for sugar production at Komenda did not contain the appropriate levels of sugar content for production.

About 25 acres of this variety is ready to be transplanted but because of the sugar levels, following through would not make economic sense, according to the government.

But responding to this on Eyewitness News, Mr. Mohammed noted that a technical team did a lot of research and testing and recommended that “this particular variety had a lot of juice in it and therefore it was the most appropriate.”

“The technical team recommended that variety because the locally produced sugar cane didn’t have the quantity of juice that is needed to have the factory running effectively.”

Mr. Mohammed further questioned why the government hasn’t proposed an alternative to the variety in use, hence his claims it is being insincere.

“If you have a problem with the factory, with regards to the variety of sugar cane used and you think it is not the most appropriate, tell us which is the most appropriate… My simple advice to this government is that perhaps our good friends in the government should stop whining and fix it.”

“If they were being candid with us, they would have told us that we should have used this variety instead and then maybe, we begin to ask questions why.”

Question of $24 million loan

Mr. Mohammed intimated that some of these challenges would not be surfacing if the $24 million loan sourced by the Government of Ghana from the Exim Bank of India was being utilized.

“The factory is there and they should tell us why they haven’t gone for the $24 million loan… If they didn’t go in for the loan which was approved by Parliament, why haven’t gone in for the money? If they went in for the money, why are they not using it for the purpose that was approved by Parliament,” he questioned as he called for some clarity on the status of the loan

The loan facility was to finance the development of an irrigation system and to facilitate the cultivation of sugarcane to feed the Komenda Sugar Factory.

Part of the money was also to develop a sugarcane plantation and also extend support to the farmers to help produce sufficient sugarcane as raw material to feed the factory.

The Irrigation schemes are also expected to be developed under the project to serve the core farms of the Komenda Sugar Factory and adjoining communities.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Gov’t should stop whining about Komenda factory – Murtala Mohammed appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

A Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Robert Ahomka Lindsay outlined the challenges that have prevented the factory which was commissioned for work to start in May 2016 by former President John Mahama.

[contextly_sidebar id=”0weXnWnpWr7sz9mpfFawBT3ewmAsNCap”]Highlighting these challenges on the Citi Breakfast Show, the Minister indicated that the variety of sugarcane planted on lands secured for sugar production at Komenda did not contain the appropriate levels of sugar content for production.

“The variety that has been planted of which about 25 acres is ready to be transplanted is the variety that does not have the sugar content to make it economic for us to plant another 2,000 acres. The second point is that 2,000 acres will not be anywhere near enough to meet the need of the actual factory. So we have address variety issues and ensure that we have enough lands to make sure to ensure that the appropriate number of sugarcane needed for sugar is available

The Minister indicated these challenges might unnecessarily drag moves to make the factory operational in record time.

He however indicated that government is taking measures to resolve these challenges.

“We aware of some of the challenges and we are addressing them. We have been in contact with the managers of the factory for sometime now and we have been constantly been engaged.”

This revelation comes in the wake of government’s plans to revive some factories that have been defunct for sometime now.

The Komenda Sugar Factory which was shut down for weeks after President Mahama commissioned it in May 2016 was reopened 7 days before election.

Government was subsequently criticized for hurriedly opening the factory merely for political expediency in an election year, despite the lack of raw materials for production.

Gov’t doesn’t have skills to run sugar factory – Nduom

Founder and leader of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum, suggested at the time that President John Dramani Mahama and his administration lack the required capacity to effectively run a business such as the Komenda Sugar Factory.

The renowned entrepreneur, who had criticized what he called the hasty opening of the Komenda Sugar Factory, questioned the rationale behind government’s decision to among others borrow money to start running the factory without planning for raw materials to feed it.

He said the decision to borrow all the money needed as startup capital for the factory, breaches the rules of entrepreneurship.

Critics had earlier warned that government’s decision to inaugurate the factory without the needed raw materials such as the unavailability of sugarcane to feed the factory, unattractive prices for sugarcane produced by farmers and the high cost of irregular electrical power, may soon cripple it.

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

The post Komenda Sugar Factory still not ready for full operations – Minister appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Government is looking at involving farmers in the development of a sugar cane plantation and giving them shares in the processing facility, Mr. Kyerematen indicated to Parliament’s Appointments Committee.

He also explained that government’s general plan for the $35 million Komenda Sugar factory is anchored on engaging the private sector, adding that such processes have been initiated.

“I think that the right thing to do is to bring in private sector participation. My understanding is that a process has been initiated. I intend to review that process and have it completed,” Mr. Kyerematen noted.

The Trade Minister nominee also spoke to concerns over the absence of a plantation to provide raw materials to feed the factory which is expected to produce about 1,250 tonnes of sugar each day.

“The defect that has been occasioned by not having a plantation developed to precede the establishment of the factory is being cured by a loan that has been approved by Parliament, $24 million, to establish a plantation to support the factory.”

“Hopefully government would also bring in private sector participation in the plantation development and more importantly to involve the farmers and make sure that they are given part of the shareholding in both the processing facility and the plantation development,”  Mr. Kyerematen stated to the committee.

Reducing sugar import bill

Government is also looking to significantly reduce Ghana’s sugar import bill given the right level of financing and conducive agronomy, according to Mr. Kyerematen.

Ghana is known to import about $300 million worth of sugar each year but with the coming on stream of the sugar factory at Komenda, the previous government expressed hope that it will reduce Ghana’s import bill on Sugar by more than 60%.

Mr. Kyerematen insisted that “Government ought to be interested in reducing our import bill for sugar. Producing sugar is not rocket science except that you need a combination of things, the right level of financing, the right agronomy to support the plantation development and so on and so forth.”

“I will support any move that will bring in additional investors to establish an additional sugar factory in Ghana so that by the end of the term of office of our government, we will probably have significantly reduced the import of government to the barest minimum,” he stated.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Gov’t to engage farmers as shareholders in Komenda Sugar factory appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to him, the factory, which has been shut down for the past three months, is set to be transferred to a new Chief Executive Officer and a Ghanaian management team before it resumes operations next month.

The Komenda Sugar Factory Company Limited was closed down in June this year barely a month after it was commissioned by President Mahama in the Central Region.

The Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Trade, Nana Akrasi Sarpong said the factory was closed down for maintenance and will resume operations in October but Ransford Vanni-Amoah in an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show on Friday [October 7] said the factory is currently undergoing management transition and will reopen in November.

He however did not state the exact date.

“We are done with the test run and we will continue with the other processes  at the site and by the close of this month, October, the Indians [Seftech India Private Limited] will hand over the facility to the government, that is the Ministry of Trade and Industry. The Ministry is preparing for a smooth transition,” he said.

Ransford Vanni-Amoah added that, “currently the new management has been instituted by the Ministry of Trade and Industry for the country. The test run was done by the Indians… in November, are going into full operation.”

‘Factory to close down again”

He noted that “for the running of the plant next month, we are going unabated, we will run it and run it well because as we start in November, we intend to run it for the 6 months before we break.”

According to him, the factory does not need to operate between May and July due to the rainy season.

‘1250 tonnes of Sugar a day’

The factory, when it resumes full operations from November will be expected to be produce about 1,250 tonnes of sugar each day.

‘Private – Public partnership’

Government is looking to diversity its interest in the company to a private investor to partly own and run the factory.

According to Ransford Vanni-Amoah, although no private company is officially on board yet, they were in the process of the getting one to run and manage the company with government.

“We have no officially communication a private company is partnering with us but currently its being handled by the Ministry of Trade and Industry 100 per cent so we are going to run until a private partner comes in,” he said.

‘Galamsey affecting Komenda Sugar Factor operations’

Mr Vanni-Amoah said some of the company’s outgrowers in the Western Region have complained that their work was being impeded by the activities of illegal miners in the area.

According to him, the management of the company have taken note of the development and was finding ways to address it.

He added that although the factory does not depend only on outgrowers in the Western Region, it was concerned about the illegal activity because it had a potential of affecting their output.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Komenda Sugar Factory to resume operations in November appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.