NACOB MAKES 57 ARRESTS IN 10 MONTHS

The Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) arrested 57 drug traffickers for narcotic-related offences between January and October this year.

The suspects were found to be in possession of 28 kilograms (kgs) of cocaine, 6. 3 kgs of heroine, 140 kgs cannabis and 4kgs of methamphetamine. Out of the number of people arrested, 39 were Ghanaians and 18 foreigners, while seven were females.

According to NACOB officials, the arrests were effected at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) and other entry points, while others were carried out through the collaborative efforts of informants who had become a vital entity to the board’s operations.

The executive secretary of the NACOB, Mr. Yaw Akrasi-Sarpong, disclosed this to the Daily Graphic.

According to him, 51 narcotic cases involving four people were sent to court during the period under review with one conviction secured so far while an additional 27 cases were pending trial.

Also, six persons were granted police enquiry bail with six others released on court bail while two were discharged for lack of evidence. Investigations into an additional four cases were also underway, he said.

Mr. Akrasi-Sarpong said following the sophisticated means being employed now by criminal gangs using technology, NACOB had similarly intensified advanced form of profiling travelers, particularly those from known risk areas, as a way of clamping down on traffickers and couriers.

Similarly, he said couriers had now adopted a modern and sophisticated cycle of concealment, with drugs sometimes being concealed in embroidery works of African sewn dresses, while some were often in lobsters, okra, handles of traveling bags among other means, to outwit officials.

“Some traffickers also sometimes soak the drugs in wet towels, with the most female traffickers concealing them in their panties as checks are hardly conducted in sensitive areas,” he disclosed.


SOURCE: DELLA RUSSEL OCLOO, DAILY GRAPHIC, MON OCT 24,2011

THE CRUX OF DOCTOR'S AGITATION, GMA DOES NOT WANT GAP CLOSED, With other public sector workers

SENIOR medical officers in public hospitals will earn between GH¢4,234.17 and GH¢4,845.47 per month if they are migrated onto the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS), as against their present existing salary of between GH¢3,469.53 and GH¢3,970.44.

Junior medical officers, depending on their levels, will also earn between GH¢2,556.90 and GH¢3,891.91.

However, the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) is demanding 40 per cent more than what the government has offered on the table, which is currently the subject of negotiation between the association and the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC).

Members of the GMA have rejected the offer, partly because they are not comfortable with the migration, since the proposed pay structure under the SSSS will bridge the gap between their salaries and those of other public sector workers, particularly senior nursing officers, some of whom have Master’s degrees and have served for 25 years or more.

According to a document made available to the Daily Graphic, specialist doctors who, hitherto, earned between GH¢2,824 and GH¢3,384 per month under the Health Services Salary Scheme (HSSS), will, under the SSSS, earn monthly salaries between GH¢4,234.17 and GH¢4,845. 47, making doctors one of the best paid among all public sector workers.

The GMA declared a nation-wide strike, effective Saturday, October 8, 2011, over what it described as distortions in the grading structure of the SSSS, as well as unscientific determination of market premium and inducement by the FWSC.

The strike entered its 12th day yesterday, a situation which has prompted the President John Evans Atta Mills and other well-meaning individuals and groups to appeal to the doctors to resume work.

The Ghana Coalition of Non-Governmental Organisations in Health (GCNH) has dragged the GMA to court to compel its members in public hospitals to return to work.

Similarly, the National Labour Commission (NLC) last Monday ordered a compulsory arbitration between the GMA and the FWSC and the two bodies were given 48 hours to come to an agreement.

The Vice-President of the GMA, Dr Poku Adusei, however, debunked suggestions that doctors had rejected the above figures, asking, “Who said doctors wanted to go on a single spine? It was a new policy government put into place and it did job evaluations itself.”

According to him, the GMA had not even got to the point where issues of percentage increases had been raised.

“Doctors never asked to be graded using a single spine; it’s the government that brought it to replace the HSSS and it must stop the deception and attend to the issues at stake,” he stated.

He said at the same time that the GMA was undergoing compulsory arbitration with the NLC, it was also gearing up to answer the substantive case filed by the GCNH.

Asked whether the GMA, while engaging in compulsory arbitration, would call off the strike and return to work while negotiations continued, he said no collective decision had been taken yet.

“Since we are working in the confines of the country’s labour laws, as well as procedures, all doctors will have to appear before the law court to answer the charges before they take their next line of action,” Dr Adusei said.

SOURCE: DELLA RUSSEL OCLOO, DAILY GRAPHIC, THUR OCT 20, 2011

TRAINEE NURSES DECLARE STRIKE

TRAINEE nurses and midwives have begun an indefinite industrial action to demand increased allowances.

The group is demanding between 80 and 90 per cent rise in salaries as well as the issuance of letters of appointment by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to members who have completed their programmes of studies and are working in various capacities across board.

Announcing the decision at a press conference at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the President of the Ghana Nurses and Midwiffery Trainees Association, Mr Andrew Tetteh Holyfield, said the industrial action was on the heels of continued bias and unfair treatment being meted out to group by the GHS coupled with government’s inability to respond to persistent calls made by the association concerning the welfare of its members.

He indicated that the receipt of low remuneration for over ten years with some taking as low as GH¢45 per month was not only dehumanising but embarrassing to the cause the trainee nurses and midwives had chosen to serve the nation.

It explained that several petitions to their mother body, the GHS had yielded no results, ‘’while a a recent meeting with the Fair Wages and Salary Commission (FWSC) only proposed a woefully inadequate upward adjustment’’, Mr Holyfied said.

‘’We have been denied the courtesy of response thus necessitating a press statement from the association warning the ramification of the unfortunate posture of government to our concerns’’, the president explained.

According to him, junior nurses who had been at post since 2009 had not been paid their salaries while those who assumed duty in 2010 were yet to receive appointment letters, some 10 clear months after they had graduated from school.

Similarly, he said the association was up in arms against the GHS, and accused officials of failing to adhere to ministerial directive on June 20, this year to backdate appointments of members and subsequently issued them with appointment letters after the association had petitioned the Minister of Health on the payment of internship allowance as well as salary disparity issues.

‘’It is at this highest point of frustration that we consider the withdrawal of our services as necessary’’, Mr Holyfield said.

He further stated that the posture taken by the association would not have arisen, if government had appreciated their concerns and interrogated the issues constructively.

He said members would not be coerced to begin the mandatory national service which begins this week without government and the appropriate agencies determining a respectful renumeration that ought to be mapped onto the single spine salary structure as well as an upward adjustment in the professional nurse’s salary.

‘’The tolerance of the student nurse has exceeded its elastic limit and we would like to put on record that our tools would remain down until the gap between the trainee nurse/midwife and the trainee teacher is bridged’’, the statement said.

The Deputy Health Minister, Mr Rojo Mettle Nunoo, who, however, described the strike by the group as “unofficial and unwarranted”, told the Daily Graphic that there was no point for the association to consider the allowances being given them as employment obligations since they were still in training and had not received certification to qualify them for practice.

According to him, the group was doing itself a disservice since its members were still in training and would necessarily have to complete rotations and internships before joining the actual profession.

Meanwhile the Ghana Registered Nurses' Association (GRNA) has urged its members in Tamale to rescind their decision to embark on a strike action.

A statement signed by the President of the GRNA, Mrs Alice Darkoa Asare-Allotey, asked the nurses in Tamale to remain calm while the association worked with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) for a smooth migration onto the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS).

The nurses in Tamale have threatened to lay down their tools because of the delay by the FWSC to migrate them into the SSSS.

However, the statement said in as much as the the GRNA appreciated the delay in the implementation of the SSSS and the frustration associated with it, "salary administration is a process and each process should be verified and agreed upon by all parties before moving to the next level".

It said every effort was being made by the government to resolve the internal conflict leading to the migration unto the SSSS, and that a meeting was called on September 26, 2011 including all health professionals.

It said a follow up meeting was scheduled from October 5, 2011 with the hope of concluding the discussion on the matter, for amicable resolution of the concerns raised by the Ghana Medical Association (GMA).

"We hereby draw your attention to the Labour Act 2003 (Act 651) which enjoins us as essential services to follow the due the process in resolving industrial disputes", the statement said.

"We are by this letter therefore requesting all to rescind your decision to embark on a strike action as the association will not be associated with it. You are however being advised to address your concerns to the National Executive Committee for redress instead of notification for strike action", it stressed.

SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Wed Oct 5, 2011

GOVERNMENT EXPRESSES DISSAPOINTMENT AT DOCTORS' STRIKE

THE government has expressed its disappointment at the nation-wide strike embarked upon by doctors in public sector hospitals beginning from Saturday, October 8, 2011 on the orders of the National Executive Council of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA).

The Deputy Minister of Health, Mr Rojo Mettle-Nunoo, told the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday that after engaging the GMA and its allied bodies on relativities in terms of medical doctors and all the other professional bodies, the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) and the doctors agreed that all concerns would be addressed before the migration process.

According to him, hiccups at the beginning of the process occurred when all the professional bodies wanted to negotiate individually.

However, a review meeting held at Dodowa with all stakeholders reached a consensus before giving authorisation to the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD).

Mr Mettle-Nunoo said the review meeting also agreed that all professional bodies should be involved in the negotiation process, since it was important for them to work as a team as a way of rationalising the market premium for all.

He maintained that the government, the FWSC and all other bodies working on the process had been very transparent and that the delay could only be blamed on the doctors’ “own internal inability to recognise their own relativities”.

He queried why the ordinary Ghanaian should be made a victim of an administrative challenge which would take time to be worked on and appealed to the doctors and all other health workers on strike to rescind their decision in recognition of the Hippocratic Oath they swore.

‘’If doctors and health workers take their allowances, including back pay, will they bring back the lives of the people who may have died as a result of the strike?” Mr Mettle-Nunoo asked.

The GMA resolved to lay down its tools following an emergency meeting of the National Executive Council (NEC) of the GMA in Tamale on the distortions in the grading structures of the Single Spine Pay Structure and the unscientific determination of market premium and inducement by the FWSC.

Checks at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) yesterday revealed that only emergency cases were being attended to.

A senior official of the hospital told the Daily Graphic that the management intended to review the situation by today to determine the next line of action.

Meanwhile, a labour consultant, Mr Austin Gamey, has described the action of the doctors as a show of gross disrespect to laid down rules and for the taxpayer.

According to him, the doctors were “being unfair” to the entire country, since there were unambiguous laws outlining how they could address their grievances.

He explained that due to the essential services doctors provided for the citizenry, embarking on such action was not only a “slap in the face” of the ordinary Ghanaian but also an abuse of the rules that required them to seek redress at the National Labour Commission (NLC) when dissatisfied with wage negotiations.

In a related development, the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) has suspended the admission of patients to the hospital as a result of the industrial action, reports George Ernest Asare.

A statement issued by the Public Relations Officer of the hospital, Mr Kwame Frimpong, said the hospital was unable to admit new patients as a result of the strike by doctors.

SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo,Daily Graphic, Monday Oct 10, 2011

MEDIA URGED TO STOP USING PROPAGANDISTS FOR DISCUSSIONS, GBA

THE Ghana Bar Association (GBA) has urged media houses to utilise the services of experts to inform public opinion on important national issues.

It said the practice whereby media houses relied on partisan propagandists in the discussion of such national issues often resulted in the public being misled through misinformation.

President of the GBA, Mr Frank Beecham, who made the call at a press conference in Accra on Thursday, also urged members of the association to desist from the unprofessional practice of arguing cases pending before the courts in the media.

He advised legal practitioners to instead utilise appropriate legal processes to address dissatisfactions regarding the decisions of the courts.

He expressed regret at the growing unethical practice of some lawyers who argued cases in the media when the courts had given judgments they did not agree with, saying, "They can do so using due processes to ventilate such grievances."

According to him, the independence and integrity of the Judiciary was a basic condition for the rule of law, an impact on national development and the proper administration of justice and strengthening of democracy.

He said much as decisions taken by the courts might be subjected to scrutiny and fair and just criticism, unsubstantiated comments regarding cases on trial and impugning corruption to judges did not only go to undermine the rule of law but also eroded public confidence in the Judiciary.

Mr Beecham explained that the growing populist culture of engaging in debates in the media put a smack on the integrity of the legal profession, while the imposition on persons whom allegations had been made to prove their innocence burdened the principles of the judicial system.

"Whenever issues implicating the law arise during public debates, lawyers ought to situate the matter within its confines, devoid of emotions and prejudices," he stated.

He also charged the Electoral Commission (BC) to ensure the proper validation of the biometric register to promote free, fair and transparent elections in 2012.

According to him, there was the need for the EC to make use of the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPECAC) to ensure that all legitimate concerns of all stakeholders informed its decision in the conduct of the polls.

He described the use of intemperate language by politicians and personal attacks in the media as a threat to democracy and the peace of the nation and urged media houses to live up to their responsibility as gatekeepers, particularly regarding panel discussions and phone-ill segments on radio.

He equally called on political parties to take a clear, unambiguous stance on the dangerous trend of intolerance, personality attacks and downright lies against opponents.

Mr Beecham charged the government to develop institutions and the human resource capacity of Ghanaians to ensure that the economy and the citizenry enjoyed optimum gains from Ghana's resources towards accelerated growth.

SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Fri, Oct 7, 2011

TEMA OIL REFINERY: The road to recovery

MANY industry players believe that the inability of the nation’s only refinery, the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), to run as a commercial entity is a result of unnecessary bureaucracy laced with enormous political interference.

They believe that successive government’s lack of political will to prosecute the refinery’s profitability agenda had continually contributed to the grounding of operations at the facilities which were built from huge investments.

Although, a vital component in the growth of the Ghanaian economy, TOR has consistently witnessed diverse setbacks in its operations.

Ranging from crude oil purchases, intermittent shut down and start ups of the two major plants that serve as a life bone to its existence.

The frequent start-ups and shut-downs, apart from the huge financial losses to the institution, also placed enormous stress on the plant, equipment and machinery and incurs input costs which are often never recovered at the end of the day. 

The Losses

For instance, normal start- up of the Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracking (RFCC) plant after each shutdown could take about four days using about 200 tonnes of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) valued at $200,000, 820 tonnes of Gas oil and Crack Fuel costing $200,630, 185 tonnes of fuel oil at $150,300, bringing the total cost of the the entire start up to about $550,930.

Similarly, the shut down cost using the same process and product use stands at about $275,465.

The above figures are, on the other hand devoid of the average downtime daily loss of $350,000 in the event of the RFCC plant inability to run, resulting from a shut down or the unavailability of crude oil for production.

The upgrading of the facility by the government with an initial $60 million in 1996 as part of revamping processes was aimed at making the refinery commercial but this was, however, misdirected for donor partners to profit heavily from the grant sponsorship.

The oil sector being a strategic area to the Ghanaian economy necessitated the construction of the RFCC plant with financing from the Samsung Conglomerate of Korea at a cost of about $220 million in 1998.

The plant was meant to convert the atmospheric residual fuel oil into very useful petroleum products like LPG, Gasoline and Light Cycle Oil which was as well meant to be used as diesel.

That, however, deprived the country of a vital national asset as Vitol SA became the commercial lifter of fuel oil and heavy naphtha leading to the closure of the Premium Reforming Plant (PRF).

This is because TOR defaulted in repaying the credit facility provided by Samsung and Vitol SA had to do so its behalf.

Because of this arrangement the refinery lost the opportunity to convert the cheap heavy naphtha into rich high octane gasoline that could boost income although the former Managing Director, Dr Kofi Kodua Sarpong had nicknamed the plant “the Cash Cow” when the profitability of the RFCC plant was so huge and impressive at that time.

Today however, the RFCC cannot live up to the expectation that earned it that accolade in the past. 

Workers Union and Ministry Officials

Some of the accusations particularly against the Energy Minister, Mr Joe Oteng Adjei, and his then deputy, Dr Kwabena Donkor, were allegations that they engaged in some underhand dealings that aided Bulk Distribution Companies (BDCs) to import finished petroleum products, that eventually earned them between GH¢20,000 to GH¢50,000 in kick backs.

To the workers, the survival of TOR was never on top of the agenda to these officials, hence they were simply not interested in whether the refinery had crude oil in stock for production or not.

Another pertinent issue that had equally seen the refinery workers on a collusion course with officials was the government’s inability to ensure that TOR had access to crude oil from the Jubilee fields for production.

They had at various foras demanded the resignation of the minister and one of his deputy, Mr Kofi Armah Buah, as well as energy advisors surrounding the presidency.

According to them, not only were these people not just interested in TOR’s growth, but they allegedly continued to peddle untruths about state of TOR to the president. 

The Dismisals

Officials defiance to their demands saw a series of protestations that received massive coverage from the media, Dr Kwabena Donkor was shown a red card, in what seemed like a wrong back tackle in managing the widespread crises that rocked the refinery, which perhaps might at the time have given the opposition and trade unionists a field day to be critical of the government’s handling of TOR.

His red card, however, deflated the entire management, which plunged the refinery into further misery, resulting in its then acting Managing Director, Dr Kwame Ampofo, being booted out of camp by the presidency in a dramatic style and subsequently replaced by former Ghamot Company Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Ato Ampiah.

Inspite of these changes however, inherent problems continue to tag along like a witch refusing to let go of its victim after undergoing a series of deliverance prayer sessions.

For TOR to run competently devoid of inefficiencies in crude oil procurement, the company ought to be well resourced to be able to procure enough supply on quarterly schedules as had been the case in the past. 

Retooling and Recapitalisation

Perhaps, the government’s announcement to release some $50 million as funding for retooling as well as possible recapitalisation, although a little belated in my opinion, could be described as welcome news to an institution that had not only suffered serious operational hiccups, but had equally lost majority of its experienced hands to the Gulf Stream countries such as Omar, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, all in the Middle East.

The $50 million, in my opinion , although a paltry sum that could just cater for the cost of one consignment of crude oil of about 600,000 barrels, I believe, was the government’s initial commitment to meeting the needs of the refinery after several backlash accusations over the last two or so years by the workers union who blamed officials for not promoting the sustainability of TOR.

The government’s resolve to ensure that Cabinet and the Finance Ministry raised additional $200 million as an operational fund to enable it to co-ordinate its activities of crude oil purchases is equally laudable for an institution that had engaged in significant proxy borrowing that nearly crippled its entire operations.

The comments on the recapitalisation and the figures mentioned by government, I believe, would not only turn out to be appetisers meant to keep the refinery managers and the nation in suspense but translate into an action plan that would immediately rescue TOR from its unconscious state.

This remedy would also ensure that most of the well experienced, skilled and trained staff would not be lost to the Gulf States which are so much impressed with the performance of personnel recruited from TOR.

It is also imperative that the Bank of Ghana (BoG) reconsiders its decision on the Single Obligor Limit (SOL) regulation that restricts one commercial bank from granting loans of more than GH¢16 million to TOR and ensure that permanent Letters of Credit (LCs) were issued to enable banks raise LCs for TOR without any much hindrance.

Most of the discussions in the media as to why the recapitalisation of TOR has not been done for so long point to the fact that the history of debt incurrence by TOR poses a lot of risk to the banks as in the case of the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB).

However, critical analysis of the figures that make up the TOR debt also reflects the chunk of the debt originated from the fuel subsidies that the government gave to the consuming public.

Also, accumulated subsidies should have been redeemed to save TOR's image and while debts owed by the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) were redeemable the regulatory agency, the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) could enforce all OMCs to honor debts they owe TOR without any failure. 

The Jubilee Crude Oil, Tullow and Dr Oteng-Adjei

Whereas many are of the opinion that part of the crude oil generated from the fields should be released to TOR as part of efforts to sustain consistent crude oil supply, a Petroleum Engineer with Tullow Ghana, Mr Kwarteng Amaning Jnr on May 9, 2011 was alleged to have told Journalists in Tamale that TOR lacked the capacity to refine crude from the fields, a claim that was widely rejected by the the Managing Director, Mr Ato Ampiah, who insisted that TOR had the capacity to process crude from any part of the world.

"In fact, Jubilee crude will be one of the easiest to be refined by TOR, it is not different from Bonny or Brent and TOR has been processing Bonny and Brent for years so the issue is not that TOR cannot refine the crude.

TOR can refine the Jubilee crude even with closed eyes", Mr Ampiah was quoted to have stated.

The comments prompted Tullow to issue a statement to dissociate itself from the comments made by Mr Kwarteng Jnr, thus once again evoking anger from the workers union who accused the energy minister of cancelling the delivery of 450,000 barrels of crude from the fields after TOR had successfully raised letters of credit (LCs) to enable Vitol/Woodfields, who had been mandated to assist the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) to market and trade Ghana’s entitlement of Jubilee crude oil to stop the delivery allegedly on the orders of Dr Oteng-Adjei.

The minister in a recent interview granted this writer on August 8, 2011 denied the allegations which he described as mere speculations.

According to him, for TOR to procure crude from the jubilee fields, it needed to satisfy a commercial requirement, thus the ministry would not allow itself to be drawn into such arguments.

"If TOR or any other entity has the ability to procure, they should engage the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation", he said.

What, however, I find a bit intriguing in that interview was his response that the selling of the crude oil on the international market was based on economic values in the petroleum agreement, meant to ensure Ghana maximised enough benefit from the production.

"Unless there is a world shortage of crude oil and there is no where TOR can get crude, then as a country we can make a decision that it makes no sense to sell the jubilee crude", Dr Oteng-Adjei stated.

These comments do not only buttress allegations of his alleged cancellation of the deal but puts a smack on the country’s integrity as far as its ability to manage its own resources.

Waste and Over-Staffing
Much as the blame had been laid at the door-steps of the government on its non-commitment to the survival of TOR, we also ought to point out the fact that there was a lot of wastage in the refinery’s set up. 

The refinery’s work which focuses mainly on engineering and technical abilities has its administrative staff outnumbering those at the technical departments.

For example, out of the about 800 employees on the refinery’s payroll, about 67 per cent were made up of administrative staff leaving a huge chunk of employees with no job specifications, but receive huge salaries at the end of the month. 

Such workers according to information available engaged in newspaper readings as hobbies and in heated exchanges on topical issues discussed on radio stations. 

The Way forward
The government’s directive to the refinery’s management to submit its audited financial report to the government as the sole shareholder, was a laudable initiative.

Whereas Mr Ampiah had at various platforms downplayed fears of TOR’s production facilities being completely shut down, resulting from the challenges, a more proactive action could be put in place to address them.

Therefore, the financial audit statement, account management, audit of management systems, including the human factor ordered for by the government would inform the government’s recapitalisation decision.

In my opinion, TOR is still a very profitably viable entity, but would remain a mirage and a failure if the impediments remain.

SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Sept 23, 2011

DISRECPECT FOR ECOWAS TRADE TREATIES, MEMBER COUNTRIES MUST LIVE TO TASK

THE Objective of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Policy is to establish a customs union among all member states aimed at the total elimination of customs duties and taxes of equivalent effect.

The scheme, which also seeks the removal of non-tariff barriers, as well as the establishment of a Common Customs External Tariff to protect goods produced in member states, cannot be described as living to the expectation of the policy’s introduction.

Whereas the regional body continues to advocate the existence of total exemption from import duties and taxes, as well as no quantitative restriction on goods originating from member states, the implementation of the policy on the other hand seems to have hit a dead end, with most member countries not respecting the treaties.

The just ended Ghana Solo exhibition fair held in Cotonou, Benin by the Ghana Export Promotion Council (GEPC) in collaboration with the Ghana Embassy did not only go to corroborate the rapid disrespect for the trade liberalisation policy, but also sought to point out that member countries of French-speaking countries are just not interested in a successful implementation of the protocols.

Whereas goods of Ghanaian exhibitors arrived in that country on Monday September 5, ahead of the opening ceremony on September 8, the goods were only released at the eleventh hour when the ceremony was underway after frantic pleas were made by the Ghanaian Ambassador, Mr Modestus Ahiable, to the Beninois Minister of Commerce, Small and Medium Enterprises for the release of the goods.

The situation did not only leave exhibitors visibly worried on the whereabouts of their cargo, but also left officials dejected for what Customs officials at the Togo-Benin (Hilla Condji) Border described as their inability to locate an escort with the original documentations covering the consignment by the commissioner general to send the goods to the Benin Port Authority.

A dejected-looking Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GEPC, Dr Kwadwo Owusu-Agyemang, and Ghana’s Ambassador, Mr Ahiable, did not only express regret at the much talk about trade liberation policy, but the two also shared disappointing sentiments that the policy continued to be on paper with no implementation strategy in sight.

The customs clearance procedures at the Hilla Condji border resulting from unnecessary bureaucracy were not only cumbersome, but also very frustrating for businessmen and women.

???What is more intriguing is that although the country’s trade authorities are fully aware of frustrations at the entry point, the implementation of the Union Economique et Monetaire Ouest Africaine (UEMOA) regulation with other French-speaking countries with common currency, critics and market watchers believed were hampering French-speaking communities of ECOWAS.???

The UEMOA regulations are seriously thwarting the ECOWAS trade scheme, and this is therefore a wake-up call for the regional body to rethink through its common Single Currency Programme, as well as the establishment of the ECOWAS Central Bank.

To Mr Ahiable, resuscitating the single currency project by the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) among member countries made up of Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Guinea and Liberia and the Union Monetaire Louest Africaine (UMOA) countries made up of Benin, Togo, Cote d’Ivoire, Niger, Mauritania, Senegal, Burkina Faso, and Mali would ensure the integration of the two UMOA and WAMZ blocs that would as well enhance the outlook and better promote the region’s economic outlook within the international markets.


SOURCE: Dells Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Sept 25, 2011