According to the Ministry, contrary to these claims, government has paid a substantial amount of money to contractors putting up the sea defense walls within the country’s coastal communities for completion.

[contextly_sidebar id=”QNoPxp4We5s7rGdYFDFIWhCWs0wuXtJs”]The Deputy Minister for Works and Housing, Eugene Boakye Antwi, who gave the clarification said; “The Ministry under the able leadership of honourable Samuel Atta Kyea visited all the Sea Defence projects that we inherited under the previous administration. We have been to Berekuso, New Takoradi, Adjoa and all the projects that we have inherited and what I can categorically say is that, we have not abandoned any of these projects.”

He admitted that although payment to contractors working on the project had been “lacking over the past month or two, all contractors have received something from the Central government for the ongoing projects.”

He therefore said it will be unfair for Mr. Ahi to make such claims.

Announcing other measures government was undertaking to complete other projects, Mr. Antwi. said ; “First of all, we have identified 5 key projects that we have to embark upon that is Axim sea defence project, the Elmina one, Anomabo among others. These projects are very capital intensive and the government of Ghana cannot do this alone so we expect some donor funding.”

Mr. Ahi had accused government of halting all sea defense projects the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government started.

According to him, the projects, over ten in number, had been halted because the contractors had not been paid since the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) assumed office.

Speaking to Citi News’ Parliamentary Correspondent, Duke Mensah Opoku, Mr. Ahi, who is also the Member of Parliament for the Bodi Constituency in the Western Region, charged government to immediately pay the contractors to enable them resume work.

“All the sea defense projects have been abandoned. Before we left office, we had started working on over ten sea defense projects along the coastal belts. There were some in Takoradi, Volta and Central regions just to make sure that the people living within the coast are protected. When they (NPP government) assumed office, they have abandoned the projects. The contractors are not on site because they have not been paid since the NPP assumed office.”

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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The post We’ve not abandoned sea defence projects – Gov’t appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to him, the projects, over ten in number, have so far been halted because the contractors haven’t been paid since the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) assumed office.

Speaking to Citi News’  Parliamentary Correspondent, Duke Mensah Opoku, Mr. Ahi, who is also the Member of Parliament for the Bodi Constituency in the Western Region, charged government to immediately pay the contractors to enable them resume work.

[contextly_sidebar id=”PFzxkIWtrpqBB48QtZliZCjahGWzd8ku”]“All the sea defense projects have been abandoned. Before we left office, we had started working on over ten sea defense projects along the coastal belts. There were some in Takoradi, Volta and Central regions just to make sure that the people living within the coast are protected. When they (NPP government) assumed office, they have abandoned the projects. The contractors are not on site because they have not been paid since the NPP assumed office.”

Mr. Ahi also called on the Minister for Works and Housing, Samuel Atta-Akyea, to inspect the sea defense projects so as to bring respite to residents along the coast.

“So I want to call on the Minister for Works and Housing, Atta Akyea, to leave his office and go and inspect ongoing projects along the coastal areas so that he will know how important it is to look for money to allow the contractors to continue,” he added.

Tidal waves render people homeless

Sea defense walls are constructed to prevent the sea from taking over settlements.

Tidal waves have been ravaging homes built along coastal lines in the country.

In June 2017, several people were rendered homeless after tidal waves swept through Blekusu, a fishing community in the Ketu South Municipality of Volta Region.

We need foreign aid to tackle tidal waves

The Minister for Works and Housing, Samuel Atta Akyea, at the time said there was the need for external support to assist government to permanently address the persistent problems of tidal waves sweeping through coastal communities.

According to him, the existing sea defense projects aimed at checking such problems are capital extensive, hence government cannot undertake it alone.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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The Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD, Joseph Boahene Aidoo, at a press conference on Wednesday made a litany of claims against the previous board, revealing that his outfit is investigating an amount of $400 million cedis out of the $1.8 billion cocoa syndicated loan secured for the 2016/2017 crop season, which was allegedly withdrawn by the former management, days after the NDC lost the December 2016 polls.

He said “The mystery surrounding the exhaustion of the US$1.8 billion is being investigated and the full facts will be made known to Ghanaians in due course. Peculiar to the loan utilization is the last drawdown of US$400 million which was effected on 20th December 2016 at the time the NDC had woefully lost the December 2016 elections.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”mdO4z8KJMCUopqMcZC0XNueYmxjFWZE2″]Joseph Boahen Aidoo, has also revealed that the new administration has saved the country some Ghc80 million, following the review of a fertilizer and chemical supplies contract of over GHC500 million, awarded by the John Mahama administration shortly before they left office, after losing the 2016 election.

But countering the claims in an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show, the Bodi MP, described Mr. Aidoo’s accusations as mere propaganda.

“It is difficult to believe them, they are hiding something. They should stop this propaganda and work, they are in government now,” Mr. Ahi stated.

On claims that the COCOBOD was cash-trapped and hence took a credit facility to buy cocoa this year, 2017, the Bodi MP said it is “strange” to him.

“It will be very strange and difficult to accept the fact that COCOBOD had to go for a loan to continue to buy cocoa this year…The current chief executive came to Parliament and accounted for the $1.8 billion and how much was used to procure the 960,000 metric tonnes as a way of certifying the additional 1.3 billion dollars for this year. I don’t know what they are using the money for.”

“There has been additional revenue to cocobod because we targeted to buy 800,000 metric tonnes and we sold 760,000 to pay the 1.8 billion dollars. And according to the current CEO, by the time they ended 2016/2017 cocoa season, they had exceeded the target. They actually bought 960,000 metric tonnes, so additional 210,000 metric tons revenue coming to cocobod. So what are they going to use that additional revenue for? If you have surplus why do you go for loan?” Mr. Ahi asked.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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He said he is shocked by government’s seeming neglect of the project and has challenged it to complete the project.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Bdir2zySuvzyFDLp45RGCqGC9HDfUjuz”]Works at the bungalow at Cantoments has stalled but Mr Sampson Ahi wants it completed  soon.

“…If there are issues, they should raise the issues and address them for it [residence] to be used as duty post of the current Vice President and the subsequent Vice President of our country. If there are issues with it, they should take the necessary steps to rectify it and then continue with the project. If there has been overpayment they know what to do to get the money back and if the contractor has not been paid, they know what to do.”

Gov’t may audit $14m Veep residence contract – Akomea

The bungalow became a subject of controversy after the Vice President revealed, the project is costing the country almost $15 million dollars.

The Communications Director of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akomea had revealed that government may launch a full scale audit into the building of the residence.

Nana Akomea had stated that he could not understand why the government committed to paying such an amount for the project.

“I think and I believe that is what the government will do. Is for to do a value for money auditing because this is a sole sourced contract and we all know some of the problems associated with sole sourcing.”

He said, “since 1993 we have had a residence for the Vice President of Ghana in which Arkaah, Attah-Mills, Aliu Mahama and John Mahama stayed and it was even fit for him to stay there as President and so the propriety of committing tax payers’ monies to the tune of $14 million to build another residence for the Vice President of Ghana in the light of some of the deprivations of the Ghanaians people are issues that all of us have to interrogate.”

According to Mr Akomea, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government had already paid eight million dollars to the contractor for the execution of the project but the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government led by Nana Akufo-Addo believes the contract terms are outrageous.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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According to him, although the NDC currently has the majority in Parliament, they can’t force their way through by passing the Bill into law.

“I don’t think the nature of this Bill we want to pass it with one sided Parliament so we will need a consensus; we need to agree so that all of us can push a good Bill so that when it comes up it will can be implemented. I don’t think that because we are majority we want to bulldoze our way through and then pass it. Perhaps, the minority might even walk out, that is not what we want,” he said on Eyewitness News on Thursday.

[contextly_sidebar id=”V9E3A2UMPGgz6OKS2N6BuiQQPLoHoXrV”]President John Mahama during his last State of the Nation Address, appealed to Parliament to build consensus and approve the RTI Bill before the dissolution of the House.

“I must however say that the public and Civil Society Organizations are disappointed in our inability to pass the Right to Information bill and are still hopeful that before this Parliament is dissolved at midnight on the 6^th of January a consensus can be found to pass this bill into law,” he expressed.

But the Minority Speaker of Parliament, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, said the House in its current state may not be able to pass the Bill.

“I’m still wondering whether in the dying embers of this extra time, this House may still find space and time to work on the Right to Information Bill. We all recognize that it is a very important bill but I do not think that it will do us any good…we all recognize the significance of this bill…nobody should have any emotions of about that [but] we will pursue what is right,” he said.

The Bill has been before parliament for over 10 years, but it is yet to be passed into law. Some civil society organisations have accused the President of not prioritizing the Bill hence its delay in Parliament.

Don’t blame Mahama; blame MPs for delay

But Sampson Ahi, who is also the Deputy Minister of Water Resources Works and Housing, and MP for the Bodi constituency in the Western Region, said Parliamentarians should be blamed for the delay in the passage of the Bill and not the President.

“Cabinet had worked on it, as soon as a Bill is made before Parliament, it becomes the property of Parliament. And so in the wisdom of Parliament they decide when and how that Bill is to be passed into law. Nobody can blame the executive. The President and executive have done their bit; it’s entirely in the domain of Parliament going forward to pass the Right to Information Bill into law. So there is nothing like the government trying to prevent Parliament from working on it,” he added.

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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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The post We can’t bulldoze our way in passing RTI Bill – Ahi appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The NPP have expressed concerns about President Mahama’s approval of fresh contracts and appointments despite having less than a month to vacate office and hand over power to president-elect, Nana Akufo-Addo in January 2017.

Though the NDC have argued that there is nothing wrong with such actions, the NPP think otherwise.

[contextly_sidebar id=”75TJsHTVaECMiqWUFqKOUSKrV1QFE0xN”]Parliament is currently deliberating on end of service benefits, salaries and emoluments of Article 71 office holders which includes the president.

Per Ghana’s laws, Parliament and the Executive have the mandate to review each other’s ex-gratia.

Speaking on Eyewitness News on Thursday, Sampson Ahi who is the MP for the Bodi constituency dared the NPP MPs to turn down their ex-gratia if it’s finally approved.

“If they are arguing that we are doing last minute loans or programmes what do they say to the fact that we are now working on approving our ex-gratia. The ex-gratia of parliamentarians must be approved by the executive and Parliament will also approve that of the executive. As we speak we haven’t done it. So why are they not saying that because there is a new government we shouldn’t allow the outgoing president to approve the ex-gratia for the parliamentarians?”

“Why are we behaving as if, if NDC does anything, it is criminal but the NPP will do it and nobody can say anything about it,” he quizzed.

We’ll boycott last minute agreements

Mr. Ahi’s remark comes on the back of the Minority’s notice of a possible boycott to avoid approving government’s last minute agreements which they claimed were being pushed to parliament illegally.

According to the Minority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, the sheer disregard of the house in relation to handover notes in the ongoing transition process as a guide to business in the house and the tabling of new loans are unfortunate.

“… As I speak to you now handover notes have not been submitted to Parliament. Parliament has not been presented with handover notes from the Administrator General covering the activities of the presidency, neither has Parliament been given any report relating to the projections of developments that government envisages.

“…Parliament cannot say that it is on its own and decide on which business to transact including the approval of new loans. In the absence of such accurate handover notes and reports to Parliament, one would expect that in the spirit of consensus building, the current administration would clear any undertakings especially new engagements with the presidential transition team. The President John Dramani Mahama administration has elected not to avail itself of this vehicle. In the circumstance, we the NPP minority caucus wants to register our deepest disgust at unilateral decisions being taken to have Parliament approve of loans, suppliers credit agreements and project implementation agreements. The latter of which process is unknown to the rules of procedure, that is our standing orders in this Parliament,” he said.

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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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“Cocoa prices are announced based on the world international price. It’s just not that you wake up tomorrow and announce that I will pay cocoa farmers this amount; it is based on the prevailing cocoa price at the international level. It is just one factor but it is key because if a tonne of cocoa is $2950 then somebody says that pay the cocoa farmers GH600 it doesn’t make sense. That is irrational, because it doesn’t make sense that you call on government to pay GHc600,” he added.

[contextly_sidebar id=”TwSeag1rxcTFechAUvN1Ju4m7CKdSOSQ”]Mr. Ahi who is the Deputy Minister of Water and Resources made the comment after a press conference held by the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) on the issue.

Some cocoa farmers following the increment announced on October 1, 2016 complained that the GHc475 was too small.

But speaking to Citi News, Mr. Ahi said the NDC government is only implementing a policy that was also used by the NPP in determining cocoa prices.

“If you multiply 600 by 16 bags that is a tonne, you are getting about GHc9600 but the world market price even if it is $2950 and even if the exchange rate is even GhC4, you are even going to get GHc11,000. But that is not how cocoa is calculated in this country. What we have done is the same format NPP adopted when they were in office. Over the years, cocoa farmers have been paid based on net FOB price. A tonne of cocoa at the international market is $2950 that is not the benchmark successive governments have used to pay cocoa farmers. Because of uncertainty in terms of price at the international level, what they do is that when the benchmark it below the international market price. So this year for instance they used $2470 and what happen is that they deduct certain support programmes to cocoa farmers before the price is announced. That is what NPP used.”

Farmers complaining are NPP people

Sampson Ahi further accused the NPP of rallying its supporters to mount pressure on government saying it is not a representation of the cocoa farming population in the country.

“The farmers are aware that for cocoa roads, the amount is taken from the cocoa. President Kufuor started cocoa roads; he deducted certain amount from whatever he got at the international level before prices are announced. He also started mass spraying, they deducted it before the prices were announced, so we are not doing anything different. Afriyie-Akoto is just organizing some NPP people and they are talking because farmers are grateful that President Mahama has added GHc50.”

Don’t blame Akufo-Addo

The Minority Spokesperson on Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs, Dr. Owusu Akoto-Afriyie who addressed the press accused the NDC of spreading wicked lies in cocoa growing areas that government paid low producer price of GHc475 because Nana Akufo-Addo failed to sign an agreement with international banks for government to get money to enable them offer a high producer price.

Dr. Akoto-Afriyie further entreated cocoa farmers to dismiss what he said was the vile propaganda  against Akufo-Addo saying government wass using the propaganda to cover up its failures to cocoa farmers.

“…government could not go beyond the GHc475; it has nothing to do with Nana Akufo-Addo. The executive wing of government is in charge of cocoa policy exclusively and no opposition member has any influence or whatsoever on that, not even us here as minority in Parliament, we have no influence on how much the government decides to give to producers for their produce. The [Kwaku] Ananse story is meant to throw dust into the eyes of our poor cocoa farmers.”

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By: Godwin A.Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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This is in reaction to a letter from football’s world football governing body, FIFA, to the Commission stating its displeasure at how the Commission wants to carry out its work.

Justice Senyo Dzamefe, who is the chairman of the Commission said, at its first meeting on Monday that the Commission would not be “intimidated” by any institution or person concerning its operations and that it would continue to work as guided by law.

But the GFA has indicated that the Sports Minister must address FIFA’s concerns in relation to the Commission.

“We want to state clearly that the Sports Minister said he would change the terms of the Commission if FIFA had any issues with it and that is what we are asking at the moment. We are not averse to any investigations but these must be done within the laws of FIFA,” said Ibrahim Sani Dara, the General Secretary in charge of Communications at the Ghana Football Association, on EyeWitness News on Monday.

He continued:”The Minister asked to be part of our communication with FIFA but for two weeks, he delayed our responses to FIFA concerning the Commission.

We are not against the Ministry and we have engaged them every step of the way so we expect him to be true to his word that he will look at the terms of the Commission.

All we want to do is to respect the FIFA laws since we are a member of that body and we want to do what will be in the interest of Ghana.”

WILL THE GFA RESPOND TO THE CALL OF THE COMMISSION?

Sani Dara stated that the GFA would be willing to work with the Commission if they were called to testify but their actions as a national federation would be guided by the rules of FIFA.

“When the Commission writes to us, we will talk to our legal committee and they will advise us on what we will do but we must make it clear that we have no issues with any investigative processes. We have absolute confidence in Justice Dzamefe, Moses Foh-Amoaning and Kofi Anokye because these are people we know.

However, we belong to a body that has specific rules and so we must respect these rules. We will not drag Ghana into another episode of shame where we will affect the lives of the many footballers who use football to feed themselves. All we are saying is that the Minister has to respond to FIFA and do what he promised concerning the Commission and its terms of reference.”

COMMISSION STARTS SITTING

The Presidential Commission of Inquiry began its work on Monday 11th August but the scheduled first sitting was postponed until Wednesday 13th August so that the invited institutions would have enough time to prepare their responses.

By: Nathan Quao/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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