A 24-hour ultimatum has been issued to the Volta River Authority (VRA) and the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) to submit a technical report on last Sunday’s nation-wide power outage to the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC).
The ultimatum was issued by the PURC after an emergency meeting with the VRA and GRIDCo to deliberate on the irregular electricity supply in the country lately.
After the submission of the report, the PURC will carry out investigations into the erratic power supply and apply sanctions if it becomes necessary.
The erratic supply of power in recent times has been attributed to shortage of gas supply from the West African Gas Pipeline project which has also interrupted power generation at the Sunon Asogli Power Plant, an independent power producer.
The situation has affected residents across the country and some industries and manufacturing firms.
The closed-door meeting, chaired by Dr Emmanuel Kweku Annan, the Chairman of the PURC, was attended by Mr Moses Asaga, the Minister of Employment and Social Welfare; Mr Kweku Awotwi, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the VRA, and Mr Charles Darku, the CEO of GRIDCo.
Also at the meeting were Mr Kofi Ellis, the Head of Planning and Business Development; Ms Gertrude Koomson, the Public Relations Manager, and Mr Abdul Wahab, a senior engineer, all of VRA.
The Head of Public Relations at the PURC, Nana Yaa Jantuah, said the VRA and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) had been tasked to collaborate and publish load-shedding schedules as part of immediate steps to ensure that consumers were fully equipped with adequate information on the activities of the two institutions.
She told the Daily Graphic in an interview after the meeting that the PURC expected information on the load-shedding schedule to be available to the public by Friday and on any day that the exercise was to be carried out.
She indicated that officials were also reminded that the general operations of utility services to consumers had been unsatisfactory.
“The non-availability of information on details from the two providers has seen the commission witnessing general complaints from consumers, who sometimes do not even know whether the blackouts are as a result of load shedding or response to faults from transmission that need to be worked on,” Ms Jantuah said.
She said officials were made to understand that improvement in the economy called for same in the power sector to consolidate industrial growth.
She said the PURC’s Legislative Instrument (LI) 1935 of 2007 stipulated penalties on utility providers and compensation for consumers who might suffer losses resulting from a fault to the provider.
While calling on the public to address their concerns through the commission for proper redress, Ms Jantuah gave an assurance that details in the technical report would be made available to the public .
Ms Koomson, said officials were satisfied with the outcome of the meeting.
“We are optimistic that the technical report being demanded by the commission will adequately inform its decision in its recommendations to the government,” she said.
SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Wed Feb 29, 2012
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Nationwide blackout - PURC wants answers
THE Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has summoned the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) and the Volta River Authority (VRA) to an emergency meeting today to discuss the erratic power supply in the country.The decision follows the increasing spate of nationwide blackouts, including the one experienced on Sunday.
The Head of Public Affairs of the PURC, Nana Yaa Jantuah, told the Daily Graphic in an interview that officials of the commission would seek to make proposals to the government on the need to invest in GRIDCo.
That, according to her, was to ensure that the increasing failure of the power generating and distribution equipment of the two companies was properly addressed.
“The total blackout as a result of system failure calls for an immediate strategy towards rescuing the power distributor,” she said.
Almost the entire country was plunged into total darkness on Sunday night as a result of a broken cable that fell on a power generator at the Akosombo Switchyard of the VRA.
Information gathered by the Daily Graphic indicates that the VRA has lost a generator in the incident.
The generator has since been isolated, while officials of GRIDCo work tirelessly to restore it.
The cable in question serves as a shield for conductors carrying power in the event that lightning strikes.
The fault, being close to the power generating units, resulted in the outage of all the generators at the Akosombo Generating Station and the resultant loss in power in parts of the country.
The Director of System Operations at GRIDCo, Mr Eric Asare, told the Daily Graphic in an interview that with the Akosombo lines out, the remaining power stations, including that in Takoradi, could not sustain the load.
“Akosombo is the biggest generating station and once it goes off, the rest cannot sustain themselves,” he said.
He said to restore power supply, the snapped cable was cleared, but it caused considerable damage to auxiliary equipment at the station.
The blackout, which occurred about 7 p.m. on Sunday, left seven regions in total darkness.
As of 9 a.m. on Monday, several areas were without electricity, but Mr Asare said GRIDCo had worked hard to restore power to almost every part of the country.
He said in addition to the generator which was being worked on, the Takoradi Substation was yet to be restored.
“All this has culminated in a shortfall in power generated for our customers. We, therefore, asked the ECG to take off some areas in order not to stress the system,” he added.
He, however, gave an assurance that latest by 2 p.m. yesterday, the situation would have been restored to normalcy.
Mr Asare said although obsolete equipment which caused the power outage was being replaced, the difficulty was that the same equipment was supplying power to the country.
“It is not as fast because it is not like a contractor doing a completely new installation.
These substations are also delivering power and so we have a limitation regarding how many we can take out of service at a time for maintenance work,” he stated.
He gave an assurance that the company would continue with consistent maintenance to ensure that blackouts were minimised.
Sunday’s blackout was not the only time almost the entire country had been plunged into total darkness.
On January 22, this year, a similar blackout hit parts of seven regions of the country and it was attributed to an explosion which occurred during the installation of a new circuit breaker at the Volta Sub-station in Tema.
In December last year, a nation-wide power outage which lasted close to four hours was attributed to the explosion of one of the breakers in the switch room of the VRA.
A similar one also lasted almost 30 minutes on May 21, 2003 just when the then acting Chief Executive Office of the VRA, Mr Jabesh Amissah-Arthur, had taken over from Dr Charles Wereko-Brobbey.
According to a World Bank report, Africa requires 7,000 megawatts of new power generation capacity yearly but it instals only 1,000MW per year. The entire generation capacity is 68GW, on level with Spain, while 25 per cent of the installed capacity is idle, owing to ageing plants and poor maintenance.
Ghana's situation is not different. As the country’s population increases and living standards improve, one of the biggest challenges confronting the government is to generate power adequately to meet the growing energy demand of customers.
Years of under-investment resulting from non-cost recovery tariffs in the power generation, transmission and distribution networks has made it very difficult for the ECG to deliver reliable power to its more than two million customers.
The company’s array of problems include out-of-date equipment, overloading of equipment and lines to weak feeders. Experts say the ECG’s network has no redundancy. Consequently, in situations of planned maintenance and unplanned outages (faults), customers have to face long hours of outages.
To be able to contain the growth in electricity demand, the Ministry of Energy estimates that the country would need some estimated $1.7 billion in investment to increase power generation, expansion and the establishment of new bulk supply points in the power transmission area.
SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo & Seth Bokpe, Daily Graphic, Tue Feb 28, 2012
Pilot biometric registration moving smoothly
THE nation-wide pilot biometric voters registration exercise has so far progressed steadily without any major hitches, Electoral Commission (EC) officials have stated.
According to the Head of the Public Relations Unit at the EC, Mr Christian Owusu Parry, some minor challenges were, however, recorded in the Wa municipality in the Upper West Region.
Those, he said, arose as a result of the exposure of the registration to excessive heat from the scorching sun, due to the fact that the exercise was conducted in the open, coupled with participants’ inability to provide accurate data for the exercise.
He said the equipment, made up of a computer, a fingerprint scanner, an external battery and hand scanners, had been malfunctional at a point because the exercise had been carried out in the open, thereby exposing the kits.
The exercise, expected to end today ahead of the March 24, 2012 date set for the actual registration, had so far seen quite a considerable number of people participating, he said.
“Majority of participants were not able to provide accurate information on personal data such as residential address and addresses of their places of birth that were required for the exercise, thereby slowing down the entire process,” Mr Owusu Parry said.
He said the pilot exercise, which is meant to test the ability of the kits, was also meant to give the public an insight into biometric registration.
He expressed worry at the directive of the Ghana Education Service (GES) banning teachers from assisting the EC to undertake the exercise and debunked suggestions that teachers’ participation was likely to disrupt the academic calender, while impacting negatively on teaching and learning.
He said the EC was open to dialogue with the Ministry of Education and the GES on the development.
From Koforidua, A. Kofoya Tetteh reports that the pilot exercise, being undertaken at the Jackson Park in the New Juaben municipality and the Abenase Presbyterian Primary School in the Akyemmansa District in the Eastern Region, has so far been very successful.
The EC, in its bid to entice people to participate in the pilot exercise, gave out T-shirts free of charge to anyone who turned up for the exercise on Saturday.
According to the Deputy Eastern Regional Director of the EC, Mr Eric Mensah-Bonsu, the most significant aspect of the exercise was the detection of double registration.
He said those who got involved in double registration within a cluster were easily detected and explained that any double registration involving different clusters would be detected at the EC head office in Accra.
Mr Mensah-Bonsu, therefore, assured the public, especially leaders of the political parties, that this year’s general election would be devoid of double registration.
From Takoradi, Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu reports that the exercise is underway in the Ellembelle District and the Sekondi/Takoradi metropolis of the Western Region.
The programme, which started last Saturday, is to enable the EC to identify any anticipated problems before the real date for the actual registration.
The Western Regional Director of the EC, Mr Opoku Mensah, told the Daily Graphic that the exercise had been devoid of the usual confrontation and agitation that characterised similar exercises.
He said the focus was to ensure that during the period of the piloting, problems would be identified and resolved before the registration itself.
Benjamin Xornam Glover reports from Bolgatanga that the exercise took off smoothly in the Bolgatanga municipality of the Upper East Region.
At the Zawde Senior High Technical School centre where the exercise took place, officers of the EC were on hand to explain and take registrants through the process.
Mr Oscar Apeman Bahai, an official of the EC in charge of the municipality, told this reporter that so far the process had been very successful.
He said initially the sun’s rays hindered the device for capturing data of registrants but since they relocated to a shed, the device was now working to perfection.
He indicated that amputees, the blind, lepers, as well as those with missing fingers, had been catered for under the pilot phase of the exercise.
From Tamale, Nuredeen Salifu reports that the exercise which took place on the premises of the Dakota Technical/Vocational Institute in Tamale and the Talia R/C Primary School in the Tolon/Kumbungu District ,saw the scanning machines rejecting people whose hands were dirty.
According to a Deputy Director of the EC in the region, Mr Godwin Tawsha, the EC was hoping to capture about 1,000 applicants in the region by the end of the pilot exercise on Tuesday, February 28, 2012.
SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Tue Feb 28, 2012
According to the Head of the Public Relations Unit at the EC, Mr Christian Owusu Parry, some minor challenges were, however, recorded in the Wa municipality in the Upper West Region.
Those, he said, arose as a result of the exposure of the registration to excessive heat from the scorching sun, due to the fact that the exercise was conducted in the open, coupled with participants’ inability to provide accurate data for the exercise.
He said the equipment, made up of a computer, a fingerprint scanner, an external battery and hand scanners, had been malfunctional at a point because the exercise had been carried out in the open, thereby exposing the kits.
The exercise, expected to end today ahead of the March 24, 2012 date set for the actual registration, had so far seen quite a considerable number of people participating, he said.
“Majority of participants were not able to provide accurate information on personal data such as residential address and addresses of their places of birth that were required for the exercise, thereby slowing down the entire process,” Mr Owusu Parry said.
He said the pilot exercise, which is meant to test the ability of the kits, was also meant to give the public an insight into biometric registration.
He expressed worry at the directive of the Ghana Education Service (GES) banning teachers from assisting the EC to undertake the exercise and debunked suggestions that teachers’ participation was likely to disrupt the academic calender, while impacting negatively on teaching and learning.
He said the EC was open to dialogue with the Ministry of Education and the GES on the development.
From Koforidua, A. Kofoya Tetteh reports that the pilot exercise, being undertaken at the Jackson Park in the New Juaben municipality and the Abenase Presbyterian Primary School in the Akyemmansa District in the Eastern Region, has so far been very successful.
The EC, in its bid to entice people to participate in the pilot exercise, gave out T-shirts free of charge to anyone who turned up for the exercise on Saturday.
According to the Deputy Eastern Regional Director of the EC, Mr Eric Mensah-Bonsu, the most significant aspect of the exercise was the detection of double registration.
He said those who got involved in double registration within a cluster were easily detected and explained that any double registration involving different clusters would be detected at the EC head office in Accra.
Mr Mensah-Bonsu, therefore, assured the public, especially leaders of the political parties, that this year’s general election would be devoid of double registration.
From Takoradi, Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu reports that the exercise is underway in the Ellembelle District and the Sekondi/Takoradi metropolis of the Western Region.
The programme, which started last Saturday, is to enable the EC to identify any anticipated problems before the real date for the actual registration.
The Western Regional Director of the EC, Mr Opoku Mensah, told the Daily Graphic that the exercise had been devoid of the usual confrontation and agitation that characterised similar exercises.
He said the focus was to ensure that during the period of the piloting, problems would be identified and resolved before the registration itself.
Benjamin Xornam Glover reports from Bolgatanga that the exercise took off smoothly in the Bolgatanga municipality of the Upper East Region.
At the Zawde Senior High Technical School centre where the exercise took place, officers of the EC were on hand to explain and take registrants through the process.
Mr Oscar Apeman Bahai, an official of the EC in charge of the municipality, told this reporter that so far the process had been very successful.
He said initially the sun’s rays hindered the device for capturing data of registrants but since they relocated to a shed, the device was now working to perfection.
He indicated that amputees, the blind, lepers, as well as those with missing fingers, had been catered for under the pilot phase of the exercise.
From Tamale, Nuredeen Salifu reports that the exercise which took place on the premises of the Dakota Technical/Vocational Institute in Tamale and the Talia R/C Primary School in the Tolon/Kumbungu District ,saw the scanning machines rejecting people whose hands were dirty.
According to a Deputy Director of the EC in the region, Mr Godwin Tawsha, the EC was hoping to capture about 1,000 applicants in the region by the end of the pilot exercise on Tuesday, February 28, 2012.
SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Tue Feb 28, 2012
Monday, February 27, 2012
Decision on biometric voter registration irrevocable - GES
THE Ghana Education Service (GES) says, its decision to ban teachers from the up-coming biometric voter registration is irrevocable.
“GES would not rescind its decision even in the event of government’s intervention, since the decision is a management one and it would be suicidal for government to call for a change in their position”, The Deputy Director General in charge of quality and assessment, Mr Charles Aheto-Tsegah told the Daily Graphic.
According to him, the decision was to ensure officials met its target on quality education.
He said the engagement of teachers in such exercises in the past had dire consequences on teaching and learning.
Officials of the service said that releasing teachers for the exercise was likely to have a residual disruption of the academic calendar.
The Electoral Commission has however, expressed worry at the development, as according to them, teachers have over the years acquired the necessary experience needed for a successful implementation of the registration exercise.
The biometric registration of all eligible Ghanaian voters is set to commence on March 24, this year and expected to last for a period of 40 days.
Teachers had often been used as polling station assistants particularly during the compilation of the country’s voters register, as well as electioneering periods, since 1992.
Mr Tsegah told the Daily Graphic in an interview that the decision was in the best interest of schoolchildren.
“It was also in response to concerns of how education was being delivered in the country, particularly when education standards had fallen with extreme results being recorded across the board”, Mr Tsegah remarked.
He said teachers participating in such national exercises in the past had often seen them out of the classrooms for days, thus compromising on “teacher’s , time on task” a strategy meant to accelerate learning.
“Their engagement had often not seen the resultant factor of effective classroom management techniques, thereby compromising on quality delivery”, he lamented.
He debunked suggestions that GES took the decision in line with a governmental directive to exclude teachers from the exercise, following the fallout of their protestations upon their migration onto the single spine salary structure (SSSS) in 2011.
The GES, he said, had received enough public criticisms on the fallen standards trend with teacher’s being at the forefront of such condemnation, hence, “we need not to compromise on quality standards”, he said.
Mr Tsegah queried whether parents and people calling for the lifting of the ban would appreciate it if their children stayed at home for the 40-day period of the exercise.
He appealed to political commentators to leave the service out of their “mischievous scheme”, in their quest to drum home their message to the electorate on the importance of the registration.
SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Sat Feb 25, 2012
“GES would not rescind its decision even in the event of government’s intervention, since the decision is a management one and it would be suicidal for government to call for a change in their position”, The Deputy Director General in charge of quality and assessment, Mr Charles Aheto-Tsegah told the Daily Graphic.
According to him, the decision was to ensure officials met its target on quality education.
He said the engagement of teachers in such exercises in the past had dire consequences on teaching and learning.
Officials of the service said that releasing teachers for the exercise was likely to have a residual disruption of the academic calendar.
The Electoral Commission has however, expressed worry at the development, as according to them, teachers have over the years acquired the necessary experience needed for a successful implementation of the registration exercise.
The biometric registration of all eligible Ghanaian voters is set to commence on March 24, this year and expected to last for a period of 40 days.
Teachers had often been used as polling station assistants particularly during the compilation of the country’s voters register, as well as electioneering periods, since 1992.
Mr Tsegah told the Daily Graphic in an interview that the decision was in the best interest of schoolchildren.
“It was also in response to concerns of how education was being delivered in the country, particularly when education standards had fallen with extreme results being recorded across the board”, Mr Tsegah remarked.
He said teachers participating in such national exercises in the past had often seen them out of the classrooms for days, thus compromising on “teacher’s , time on task” a strategy meant to accelerate learning.
“Their engagement had often not seen the resultant factor of effective classroom management techniques, thereby compromising on quality delivery”, he lamented.
He debunked suggestions that GES took the decision in line with a governmental directive to exclude teachers from the exercise, following the fallout of their protestations upon their migration onto the single spine salary structure (SSSS) in 2011.
The GES, he said, had received enough public criticisms on the fallen standards trend with teacher’s being at the forefront of such condemnation, hence, “we need not to compromise on quality standards”, he said.
Mr Tsegah queried whether parents and people calling for the lifting of the ban would appreciate it if their children stayed at home for the 40-day period of the exercise.
He appealed to political commentators to leave the service out of their “mischievous scheme”, in their quest to drum home their message to the electorate on the importance of the registration.
SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Sat Feb 25, 2012
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Veep launches road safety project
“You must enforce the law, since there is enough legislation in place,” he charged the service.
He said although the police were aware of the dangers of drink driving and defective vehicles plying the roads, they had not been able to adequately enforce the laws.
The equipment, belonging to Road Safety Management Services Limited (RSMSL), is meant to reduce incidents of road accidents to the barest minimum.
It is made up of 38 towing trucks, 15 ambulances, 10 motorbikes for rapid response to accident scenes, 10 pick-ups and wagons and stationary traffic lights, all procured at a cost of $15 million.
The inauguration also marked the official opening of the RSMSL as a road safety management service provider.
The National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), in partnership with the Ministry of Transport, the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, is the major collaborator of the RSMSL road safety management project.
The inauguration of the equipment and the opening of the RSMSL came against the backdrop of high road traffic accident rates in the country.
According to the NRSC, the country lost up to 1.6 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to road traffic accidents annually.
Between 2000 and 2010, it recorded 125,857 road accidents, which led to the death of 20,503 and injury to 63,384 people.
Inaugurating the equipment, the Vice-President called for the speedy passage of the road traffic regulation law to ensure that an elaborate system was in place to allow private sector participation in the venture as part of the government’s quest to reduce road traffic accidents.
He also announced the introduction of a towing service levy as part of the act that would make towing service mandatorily free of charge in the nearest future.
The levy, Mr Mahama said, would be lodged in a fund for the purpose of providing free towing services for vehicle owners, thereby making it easier for disabled vehicles to be cleared immediately.
“Institutions responsible for road traffic regulations must be up and doing, as their actions and inaction will immensely help save lives,” the Vice-President said.
He expressed regret at reports of deaths caused by overzealous drivers on the newly constructed George Walker Bush Highway and described the situation as unacceptable.
“Why should a development that is supposed to be positive and increase economic growth turn around to create misery for others?” he queried.
He said the high spate of reported accidents in urban centres, causing injury and leading to the death of mostly schoolchildren, was unfortunate.
Mr Mahama said road traffic fatalities were usually high during festive seasons such as Easter, Christmas, as well as electioneering periods.
“It, therefore, behoves the NRSC, the police and allied bodies to ensure adequate sensitisation efforts, particularly as political campaigning will reach its peak in the ensuing months,” he said.
The Vice-President was hopeful that the launch of the 10-year strategy, with the aim of reducing road accidents, would address the adverse effects of the numerous road safety challenges that confronted the country.
The Minister for Transport, Alhaji Collins Dauda, for his part, said the continuous loss of the country’s human resource resulted from laxity in road traffic regulations.
He appealed to politicians and office holders not to intercede for offenders of traffic regulations because those interventions went to intimidate the police and prevent them from carrying out their mandated duties.
Earlier in his welcoming address, the General Manager of RSMSL, Air Commodore Basin Dery (retd), said an additional 88 tow trucks of various categories were being purchased to augment the fleet.
He also announced that repair and maintenance depots had been set up nation-wide, with 24-7 hour call centres for rapid deployment of emergency services.
That, he said, had necessitated the employment of some 3,000 personnel, with 10 regional depot co-ordinators, to manage activities across board.
While lauding the government and partner agencies for the immense support, Commodore Dery said the arrival of the additional fleet would increase employment opportunities for the youth, while achieving the overall purpose of reducing road crashes.
SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Thur Feb 23, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Wanted: Propaganda secretaries for Black Stars
THE Black Stars left Ghana to the just ended African Cup of Nations, with the sole aim of wining the elusive trophy after a long 30 year wait as a country.
They became the most fancied side after Cote d’Ivoire, particularly when the likes of Egypt who has won the tournament a record of seven times, Cameroon, Nigeria and South Africa failed in their qualification bids.
However, the Black Stars faltered along the line resulting from what soccer pundits described as a series of poor performances.
Like the proverbial saying that, “He who carries the load, breaks the pot”, Asamoah Gyan, described as the best striker of all time that Ghana has produced, missed an important penalty that could have taken the team into the finals, for the second time in a row, in a similar fashion during the 2010 world cup finals in South Africa.
Instantly, the joy on the faces of Ghanaians changed to despair and hopelessness, with Gyan, the entire team and technical handlers becoming villains, while sections of the public called for their crucifixion, like Pontius Pilate.
To the ordinary football fan, the entire team needed to be overhauled, the coach sacked and the entire Football Association dissolved for spearheading a disastrous campaign.
With press freedom at its peak, and radio becoming a major medium of communication, people had the guts to call into programmes with threats on the entire team, and Gyan in particular.
The hate campaign was taken a step further with social network sites and blogs being dominated with pictures cataloguing Gyan’s obituary.
Whereas the team exited the competition placing fourth, a depressing situation from their 2010 record where they lost to Egypt, striker Asamoah Gyan exited the Africa Cup of Nations as public enemy number one among some Black Stars' supporters.
The “lazy kick” as described by soccer analysts of Gyan, had on the other hand overlooked his contribution in getting Ghana into the last four of the tournament, as he was honed for the first half penalty miss.
The scope of vilification was so high that the team and its technical handlers were snubbed by the usual fanfare scene that often characterised their return home from major tournaments.
Then I asked myself, “assuming the Stars were a political party, wouldn’t they have had at their disposal propaganda secretaries and spokespersons to vehemently defend their cause”?
Political parties have in the past stood in solidarity with their leaders and members even during dreadful times and continue to do so till date.
Members and cronies would go any length to shield non performing officers and sometimes those who fell foul of the law, simply because they shared in their visions and aspirations.
Leading members often rise up to the task and oganise protests with loud cheer voices for the release and a halt in trial procedings of political allies who may be held accountable for crimes they might have committed against the state.
In the case of the Stars, they had become vulnerable to public ridicule with no propaganda secretaries and followers to lay siege and forcefully protect their cause.
What we Ghanaians forget is that, football is a game of chance and anytime we win a game, another nation loses and grieves.
To the Ghanaian, of the opposing teams on the field of play, only members of the Black Stars team should have possession of the ball, pass it from one player to the other, and the other and subsequently score without the opponents interference.
Let us as a people learn to appreciate what we have, since a good name they say is better than riches.
SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Tue Feb 21, 2012
They became the most fancied side after Cote d’Ivoire, particularly when the likes of Egypt who has won the tournament a record of seven times, Cameroon, Nigeria and South Africa failed in their qualification bids.
However, the Black Stars faltered along the line resulting from what soccer pundits described as a series of poor performances.
Like the proverbial saying that, “He who carries the load, breaks the pot”, Asamoah Gyan, described as the best striker of all time that Ghana has produced, missed an important penalty that could have taken the team into the finals, for the second time in a row, in a similar fashion during the 2010 world cup finals in South Africa.
Instantly, the joy on the faces of Ghanaians changed to despair and hopelessness, with Gyan, the entire team and technical handlers becoming villains, while sections of the public called for their crucifixion, like Pontius Pilate.
To the ordinary football fan, the entire team needed to be overhauled, the coach sacked and the entire Football Association dissolved for spearheading a disastrous campaign.
With press freedom at its peak, and radio becoming a major medium of communication, people had the guts to call into programmes with threats on the entire team, and Gyan in particular.
The hate campaign was taken a step further with social network sites and blogs being dominated with pictures cataloguing Gyan’s obituary.
Whereas the team exited the competition placing fourth, a depressing situation from their 2010 record where they lost to Egypt, striker Asamoah Gyan exited the Africa Cup of Nations as public enemy number one among some Black Stars' supporters.
The “lazy kick” as described by soccer analysts of Gyan, had on the other hand overlooked his contribution in getting Ghana into the last four of the tournament, as he was honed for the first half penalty miss.
The scope of vilification was so high that the team and its technical handlers were snubbed by the usual fanfare scene that often characterised their return home from major tournaments.
Then I asked myself, “assuming the Stars were a political party, wouldn’t they have had at their disposal propaganda secretaries and spokespersons to vehemently defend their cause”?
Political parties have in the past stood in solidarity with their leaders and members even during dreadful times and continue to do so till date.
Members and cronies would go any length to shield non performing officers and sometimes those who fell foul of the law, simply because they shared in their visions and aspirations.
Leading members often rise up to the task and oganise protests with loud cheer voices for the release and a halt in trial procedings of political allies who may be held accountable for crimes they might have committed against the state.
In the case of the Stars, they had become vulnerable to public ridicule with no propaganda secretaries and followers to lay siege and forcefully protect their cause.
What we Ghanaians forget is that, football is a game of chance and anytime we win a game, another nation loses and grieves.
To the Ghanaian, of the opposing teams on the field of play, only members of the Black Stars team should have possession of the ball, pass it from one player to the other, and the other and subsequently score without the opponents interference.
Let us as a people learn to appreciate what we have, since a good name they say is better than riches.
SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Tue Feb 21, 2012
Man found dead in taxi
THE lifeless body of an unidentified man, aged about 40, was discovered in a taxi cab, with registration number GT 5386 S, at Madina Zongo Junction in Accra yesterday morning.
The body of the deceased, suspected to be the driver of the vehicle, was seen tilted on his left hand in the front passenger seat, with blood oozing from the nostrils.
The taxi cab, an Opel Astra, was found at the Old Akwapim Station about 7:30 a.m.
The Station Officer of the Madina District Police Command, Chief Inspector Stephen Boadu, who confirmed the incident to the Daily Graphic, said the body had since been deposited at the Police Hospital mortuary, awaiting autopsy.
According to him, in spite of the blood oozing from the nostril, preliminary examination of the body did not show any evidence of abuse.
“We have since contacted some people believed to be relatives of the deceased whose telephone numbers were found written on a piece of paper to help identify the body,” Inspector Boadu said.
He said while the police would not rule out the possibility of an attack on the taxi driver, leading to his death, further investigations would be conducted to establish what might have caused the death.
He, therefore, appealed to the general public, particularly residents of Madina and its environs, to volunteer information that could lead to the arrest of persons who might be behind the incident.
SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Mon Feb 20, 2012
The body of the deceased, suspected to be the driver of the vehicle, was seen tilted on his left hand in the front passenger seat, with blood oozing from the nostrils.
The taxi cab, an Opel Astra, was found at the Old Akwapim Station about 7:30 a.m.
The Station Officer of the Madina District Police Command, Chief Inspector Stephen Boadu, who confirmed the incident to the Daily Graphic, said the body had since been deposited at the Police Hospital mortuary, awaiting autopsy.
According to him, in spite of the blood oozing from the nostril, preliminary examination of the body did not show any evidence of abuse.
“We have since contacted some people believed to be relatives of the deceased whose telephone numbers were found written on a piece of paper to help identify the body,” Inspector Boadu said.
He said while the police would not rule out the possibility of an attack on the taxi driver, leading to his death, further investigations would be conducted to establish what might have caused the death.
He, therefore, appealed to the general public, particularly residents of Madina and its environs, to volunteer information that could lead to the arrest of persons who might be behind the incident.
SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Mon Feb 20, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
WAEC launches 60th anniversary
THE West African Examinations Council (WAEC) on Friday launched its 60 anniversary, with a call by the acting Minister of Education, Mr Enoch Teye Mensah, on the council to reduce examination malpractice to the barest minimum.He said technological means undertaken by WAEC as a way of curtailing malpractice ought to be properly utilised for the realisation of the set goals.
The WAEC was established in 1952 as a sub-regional body to conduct examinations in Anglophone West Africa. Its member countries are Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and The Gambia.
The anniversary is on the theme: “60 Years of commitment to excellence in educational assesment”.
Mr Mensah said WAEC’s progress and survival as the sole sub-regional examination body made it
imperative for it to cautiously protect its integrity.
He charged the council not to rest on its laurels until virtually all its stakeholders had been properly sensitised and examination malpractice reduced drastically.
The Registrar of WAEC, Alhajia Mulikat Bello, said the council had remained the bridge among the educational sectors of member countries.
According to her, WAEC had relied on the application of technology to re-engineer and re-position itself in line with its vision of being a world-class examining body.
While commending the governments of the five member countries for their continuous support, goodwill, co-operation and the discharge of financial and diplomatic obligations extended to WAEC, Ms Bello was confident that the elimination of examination malpractice would be factored into the educational policies of member countries.
Earlier in her welcoming address, the Head of the National Office, Ms Patience Gladys Ayensu, had said candidates for WAEC’s examinations had grown from some 32,000 for all member countries in 1954 to about 684,476 for Ghana alone in 2011.
“Although the council has had its fair share of challenges, experiences over the years have made us resolute in our quest to reduce incidents of malpractice,” she said.
She announced that the council was determined to deploy more robust information and communications technology (ICT) into its operations as it made strides towards winning the war against examination malpractice.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Reserve 40% for local printers - GPPCA
THE Ghana Printing and Paper Converters Association (GPPCA) has appealed to the government to initiate measures to ensure that 40 per cent of printing and supply of books by the state is reserved for local printers.
According to the association, some publishers, in pursuit of short-term profit, had been using the excuse that local printers did not have the capacity to execute local contracts to do their jobs outside the country.
The President of the association, Mr James Appiah Berko, made the appeal when a delegation from the association paid a courtesy call on the Managing Director of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), Mr Kenneth Ashigbey, in his office in Accra on Monday.
According to Mr Berko, print quality had improved tremendously, culminating in the country becoming one of the three most efficient countries in the world in the printing and delivery of its own electoral materials.
However, he said the high cost of doing business in the country had made it difficult for local printers to win contracts, while foreigners were being allowed to import textbooks and other learning materials on which they paid no taxes.
“The high cost of doing business has made members of the association vulnerable, giving successive governments the opportunity not to patronise our services”, Mr Berko said.
He indicated that whereas the association had, at various fora, articulated its views, built the capacity of members and invested heavily in machinery and equipment as a way to attract government’s needed attention, publishers appeared to have succeeded in their claims that local printers lacked capacity to deliver on contracts.
The situation, he said, accounted for the fact that people who had graduated in Printing and Publishing Studies had turned to banking and other immediate employable ventures.
While courting the support of the GCGL to spearhead an advocacy regime for the association, Mr Berko expressed the hope that the incoming Minister of Education would adequately work towards resolving the numerous challenges that plagued the local printing industry.
He was hopeful that the Minister designate for Education, Mr Lee Ocran, would spearhead the crusade to empower local industries, expecially printers, to undertake jobs that would help them grow and be more competitive on the international market.
He said unless the situation changed and local printers were offered more jobs, the country would use its scarce resources to finance the economies of other countries.
Responding, Mr Ashigbey indicated that the growth of every country’s economy depended largely on public-private partnerships.
“We cannot develop our country only on commerce and industry, hence the need to focus on a wider development growth,” he said.
While pledging his support to the cause of the association, Mr Ashigbey also tasked the members to put in place capacity development programmes to make them efficient.
Present at the meeting were the General Manager of Graphic Packaging (G-Pak), a subsidiary of the GCGL, Mr Charles Antwi, and the Editor of the Daily Graphic, Mr Ransford Tetteh.
SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Tue Feb 15, 2012
According to the association, some publishers, in pursuit of short-term profit, had been using the excuse that local printers did not have the capacity to execute local contracts to do their jobs outside the country.
The President of the association, Mr James Appiah Berko, made the appeal when a delegation from the association paid a courtesy call on the Managing Director of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), Mr Kenneth Ashigbey, in his office in Accra on Monday.
According to Mr Berko, print quality had improved tremendously, culminating in the country becoming one of the three most efficient countries in the world in the printing and delivery of its own electoral materials.
However, he said the high cost of doing business in the country had made it difficult for local printers to win contracts, while foreigners were being allowed to import textbooks and other learning materials on which they paid no taxes.
“The high cost of doing business has made members of the association vulnerable, giving successive governments the opportunity not to patronise our services”, Mr Berko said.
He indicated that whereas the association had, at various fora, articulated its views, built the capacity of members and invested heavily in machinery and equipment as a way to attract government’s needed attention, publishers appeared to have succeeded in their claims that local printers lacked capacity to deliver on contracts.
The situation, he said, accounted for the fact that people who had graduated in Printing and Publishing Studies had turned to banking and other immediate employable ventures.
While courting the support of the GCGL to spearhead an advocacy regime for the association, Mr Berko expressed the hope that the incoming Minister of Education would adequately work towards resolving the numerous challenges that plagued the local printing industry.
He was hopeful that the Minister designate for Education, Mr Lee Ocran, would spearhead the crusade to empower local industries, expecially printers, to undertake jobs that would help them grow and be more competitive on the international market.
He said unless the situation changed and local printers were offered more jobs, the country would use its scarce resources to finance the economies of other countries.
Responding, Mr Ashigbey indicated that the growth of every country’s economy depended largely on public-private partnerships.
“We cannot develop our country only on commerce and industry, hence the need to focus on a wider development growth,” he said.
While pledging his support to the cause of the association, Mr Ashigbey also tasked the members to put in place capacity development programmes to make them efficient.
Present at the meeting were the General Manager of Graphic Packaging (G-Pak), a subsidiary of the GCGL, Mr Charles Antwi, and the Editor of the Daily Graphic, Mr Ransford Tetteh.
SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Tue Feb 15, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Customs intercepts smuggled pieces of cloth
THE Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has intercepted 1,450 pieces of cloth believed to have been smuggled into the country from China through Togo.The cloths, concealed under loads of sachet water, were intercepted by preventive officers of the Customs Division at Community 25 in Tema on the Tema-Aflao highway.
The driver of a Kia truck, with registration number GW 2155-09, Sampson Afawugbo, who drove the vehicle from Vume, near Sogakope in the Volta Region, is being held to assist officials in their investigations.
The alleged smuggling was intended to avoid the payment of some GH¢7,250 import tax to the state.
The driver, an employee of Joankoff Limited in Kasoa in the Central Region, told the Daily Graphic that he had been lured into carting the goods by four unidentified men at Vume when he was on his way from Aflao, where he had earlier delivered peanut pastries to customers.
The Deputy Commissioner in charge of Preventive of the Customs Division, Mr Ernest Ackwerh, said the interception followed a tip-off.
He told the Daily Graphic that Afawugbo, who was conveying the items to one Esinam Veli, believed to be the owner, in an attempt to outwit security men on duty at the Tsopoli Police Post, diverted his course at the Sege Junction through the deteriorated Old Ningo road to Prampram, all in the Dangme West District of the Greater Accra Region.
According to him, following new techniques devised by smugglers, officials of the Customs Division had put in place a stringent monitoring system to ensure that every pesewa due the state was recouped.
“Traders have now resorted to concealing smuggled goods in the lining compartments of long-distance buses to evade tax,” Mr Ackwerh said.
He indicated that Afawugbo, who became aware of the presence of preventive officers at New Ningo, sped off but he was arrested at Prampram.
SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Tue Feb 14, 2012
Federation of labour petitions minister
THE Leadership of the Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL) has petitioned the Minister of Employment and Social Welfare over the spate of accidents and explosions at steel manufacturing companies in Tema.
The petition followed the recent industrial accident at the Special Steel Company Limited on January 26 and 27, 2012, in which injured 14 workers in the process.
The incident, according to reports, occurred as a result of an explosion at a furnace at the factory’s plants.
The petition, signed by the General Secretary of the GFL, Mr Abraham Koomson, indicated that the regular occurrence of accidents at steel factories in the metropolis was as a result of deplorable working conditions.
According to the petition, in 2011, a similar incident occurred at the Western Steel and Forgings Limited, where some 17 workers suffered second degree injuries, with three deaths being recorded within the same period.
Similar incidents were recorded at the Tema Steel Works, where a crane operator was burnt to death after he had fallen into a hot molten steel meant for fabrication works.
The petition noted that whereas the Factories Inspectorate Division of the ministry had tried to instill some sanity into the operations of these factories, the uncooperative attitude and the disregard for safety rules and regulations by the company’s management had remained a major bottleneck.
The petition also pointed out how management frustrated workers persistently to prevent them from joining a trades union.
“Management’s strategy to disable the workers in their bid to join a trades union has been threats of retrenchment of employees,” it said.
That, the petition said, was in violation of trades union rights of workers and total disregard for the country’s labour regulations.
The federation has, therefore, called on the minister to institute investigations into the safety standards of the Special Steel Company as a matter of urgency .
Meanwhile, officials of the federation have also called on the minister to intervene in the undue delay in the processing of the workers union’s application for a collective bargaining certificate to empower the workers to fight for better conditions of service.
The GFL expressed the belief that the uncooperative attitude of managers of these companies, coupled with youth unemployment, had seen majority of the Ghanaian youth becoming victims of exploitation, resulting in management’s refusal to institute proper safety measures.
SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Feb 14, 2012
The petition followed the recent industrial accident at the Special Steel Company Limited on January 26 and 27, 2012, in which injured 14 workers in the process.
The incident, according to reports, occurred as a result of an explosion at a furnace at the factory’s plants.
The petition, signed by the General Secretary of the GFL, Mr Abraham Koomson, indicated that the regular occurrence of accidents at steel factories in the metropolis was as a result of deplorable working conditions.
According to the petition, in 2011, a similar incident occurred at the Western Steel and Forgings Limited, where some 17 workers suffered second degree injuries, with three deaths being recorded within the same period.
Similar incidents were recorded at the Tema Steel Works, where a crane operator was burnt to death after he had fallen into a hot molten steel meant for fabrication works.
The petition noted that whereas the Factories Inspectorate Division of the ministry had tried to instill some sanity into the operations of these factories, the uncooperative attitude and the disregard for safety rules and regulations by the company’s management had remained a major bottleneck.
The petition also pointed out how management frustrated workers persistently to prevent them from joining a trades union.
“Management’s strategy to disable the workers in their bid to join a trades union has been threats of retrenchment of employees,” it said.
That, the petition said, was in violation of trades union rights of workers and total disregard for the country’s labour regulations.
The federation has, therefore, called on the minister to institute investigations into the safety standards of the Special Steel Company as a matter of urgency .
Meanwhile, officials of the federation have also called on the minister to intervene in the undue delay in the processing of the workers union’s application for a collective bargaining certificate to empower the workers to fight for better conditions of service.
The GFL expressed the belief that the uncooperative attitude of managers of these companies, coupled with youth unemployment, had seen majority of the Ghanaian youth becoming victims of exploitation, resulting in management’s refusal to institute proper safety measures.
SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Feb 14, 2012
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Two new varsities get governing boards
THE governing councils of the two proposed public universities in the Volta and the Brong Ahafo regions have been inaugurated, with a commitment to admit students for the 2012/2013 academic year.Already, Parliament has passed legislative instruments (LIs) for the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) in the Volta Region and the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) in the Brong Ahafo Region.
The governing councils are to see to the establishment and running of the two universities.
The UHAS governing council is chaired by Professor Kofi Anyidoho of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ghana, with Justice Ms Agnes Dordzi, an Appeal Court judge; Dr Sodzi Sodzi-Tetteh, a medical practitioner; Dr Yaw Adu-Gyamfi, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Danadams Pharmaceuticals; Togbe Tepre Hodo IV, Paramount Chief of the Anfoega Traditional Area, and Professor Ernest Aryeetey, the Vice-Chancelor of the University of Ghana, Legon, as members.
The UENR has Professor Aba Andam of the School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences as its Chairperson, with the members as Professor Emeritus Elizabeth Ardayfio-Schandorf of the Geography and Resource Development Centre of the University of Ghana; Mr Paul Effah, a retired administrator of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Adminstration (GIMPA); Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Agyeman Badu II, the Omanhene of the Dormaa Traditional Area; Okofrobour Dr Yaw Agyei II, the Omanhene of the Mim Traditional Area, and Prof William Otoo Ellis, the Vice-Chacellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), which is the collaborating institution.
Inaugurating the councils, the acting Minister of Education, Mr Enoch Teye Mensah, said the GH¢500,000,000 minimum endowment fund for each of the universities recommended by the national planning committee was captured in the 2012 budget.
While commending members of the planning committee for working around the clock to ensure that the final draft report was ready for take-off, Mr Mensah expressed the hope that the interim councils would defy all odds and live up to public expectation in the performance of their duties.
The Chairman of UHAS Council, Professor Anyidoho, who spoke on behalf of the two councils, indicated that although the task ahead of the councils were enormous, the putting together of a comprehensive report by the planning committee to aid the immediate take-off would make their work a lot easier.
The Convenor of the national planning committee and Advisor to the President, Dr Christina Amoako-Nuama, said $20 million of the Chinese Development Bank (CDB) facility which comes in a grant had been earmarked for the development of physical infrastructure at the UHAS permanent campus at Sokode in the Volta Region.
Commodore Steve Obimpeh, who chaired the function, charged the implementation committee not to follow the trend of the culture of bureaucracy associated with public sector institutions as they strived to make the two institutions world-class learning and research institutions.
SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Wed, feb 7, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Mills favourite in December polls: EIU Report
PRESIDENT John Evans Atta Mills is a slight favourite in the upcoming December presidential election, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a specialist publishing company in the United Kingdom, has said.In its country report released on Ghana in January this year, it said the favourable economic picture of high growth and relatively low inflation was certain to inure to the advantage and benefit of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).
It said the 2012 presidential election would be a repeat of the 2008 contest in which a per cent of votes separated the NDC from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the final run-off.
“The power of incumbency will, however, give some advantage to the NDC, especially in terms of spending the early oil windfall,” the report said.
Conversely, the losing side might be less inclined to accepting the results than in previous close-run elections.
That the report said was likely to greatly increase domestic tension that could lead to the outbreak of violence.
“However, the country’s domestic processes are considered sufficiently well embedded to ensure that post-election unrest on the scale seen in Cote d’Ivoire or Kenya in 2007-2008 will be avoided,” it said.
The report also said President Mills, who had struggled to maintain party unity in the lead to the NDC’s July 2011 congress, would be faced with mudslinging and squabbling between the party’s two rival factions, which could play into the hands of the opposition.
It further said 2016 could be a very different stage of development from now, providing that the oil boom was managed effectively, saying, “If this is the case, whoever wins at the December polls would have a strong chance of securing re-election.”
The flip side to this, it said, would be that “if development has not been viewed by the electorate as having improved enough”, then another swap in power between the NDC and the NPP could be expected.
It said whereas the NDC looked set to suffer from internal rivalries should President Mills and the NDC be victorious in 2012, which would have made him serve a maximum two terms by 2016, agreeing upon a successor would probably cause tension in the party, on which the NPP could capitalise well.
On international relations, the report foresaw tension between Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire resulting from their maritime border, said to be holding significant hydrocarbon resources.
That, the report said, was most likely to see a joint exploration zone being agreed on by both parties.
It said whereas Ghana’s economic policy outlook demanded that fiscal policy management be improved, pressing demands for greater development spending would mean that there would be slippages on fiscal targets.
Additionally, the report predicted a shift in focus from improving public expenditure management and increased revenue collection towards developing the business environment, reducing poverty and extending credit and support to the private sector.
It said whereas progress on all fronts was expected to slow gradually as political manoeuvring intensified ahead of the December 2012 and 2016 elections, reforms were expected to pick up between the elections, but its pace would depend on who was in power.
SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Tue Feb 7, 2012
Monday, February 6, 2012
Probe Operations of NLA
THE Leadership of the National Lotto Receivers Union (NLRU) has called on the government to institute forensic inquest into the operations of the National Lottery Authority (NLA) as a matter of urgency.
The NLRU also called on the NLA management to do an introspection of its activities instead of playing to the gallery to cover up their incompetence.
This will reveal the cause of the authority’s unimpressive performance in 2011.
Their call followed the admission by the NLA officials that the authority had an annual revenue loss of GH¢100 million.
The NLA in a Daily Graphic publication of January 26, 2012 blamed the situation on illegal operators, whom they described as diverting the authority’s much-needed revenue through illegal means but the Chairman of the NLRU, Mr Daniel Mensah, has taken exception to the publication and said the NLA ought to do an introspection of its operational challenges before going public with such a distressing business agendum.
According to him, the authority’s admission that its annual overhaul revenue had dipped from GH¢135 million in 2010 to GH¢10.5 million in 2011 was a clear indication of management’s incompetence.
“In the opinion of the NLRU, the revenue decline in this otherwise profitable venture was as a result of the arbitrary and abusive unilateral downward cut of the commission payable to lotto receivers, which had seen most of them out of business due to the loss of trading capital”, Mr Mensah said.
He indicated that a large segment of those still in operation were reeling under a suffocating debt burden, which had drastically reduced their operational capacity.
“Their inefficiency has reached its peak and it now takes 60 clear days for winners of lottery tickets to have their claims paid to them, ” he said.
The situation, he said, had reached an alarming peak, to the extent that winners had demonstrated their anger and frustration at the NLA offices on a number of occasions.
He said assertions by the NLA’s Chief Operating Officer, Mr George Addo-Yobo, that the authority had invested heavily in 2011 by procuring 10, 0000 pieces of sales points terminals, which impacted negatively on its returns, were mere public relations gimmicks meant to misinform the general public.
“The said PADPM terminals were imported in 2010 and their accompanying software has consistently had network problems, resulting in perennial traffic jams, coupled with its unrepairable nature”, he said.
That, he indicated, was a significant cause of the downward trend of the authority’s revenue since some of the terminals were allocated to some front men, who kept them like “decorative” gadgets in their homes.
SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Mon Feb 6, 2012
New ECG board charged to ensure sanity in operations
A NINE-member Governing Board for the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) was inaugurated in Accra yesterday, with a call on the members to instil sanity into the operations of the company.
This is in view of the loss of public confidence in the ECG in the wake of the recent exposé of massive rot and corruption in the company.
The Energy Minister, Dr Joe Oteng-Adjei, who made the call, also tasked the board to be courageous in instilling discipline into all aspects of the company’s operations.
The new board, chaired by Ms Perpetual Darfour, has Barima Nana Kwame Nkyi XII, the Omanhene of the Assin Apimanin Traditional Area; Mr Stephen Sumani Nayina, a former Northern Regional Minister, and Mr Alfred Agbesi, the Member of Parliament for Ashaiman, as members.
Others are Mr Hutton Mensah, the acting Managing Director of the ECG; Mr Samuel Cudjoe, Mr Alhassan Abdullai, Bernard Allotey-Jacobs, the Central Regional Communications Director of the National Democratic Congress, and Ing Nana Kwame Duodu, a former Vice-President of the Ghana Institution of Engineers.
The reconstitution of the board followed an earlier dissolution of the old one in December 2011 after an investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas’s report indicted some officials and workers for alleged acts of corruption.
The report also faulted mobile telecommunication companies, banking institutions and some state agencies mandated to collect revenue on behalf of the ECG for evading the payment of revenue to the company.
Dr Oteng-Adjei, who used the opportunity to apologise to the public for the unacceptable mess at the ECG, also charged the board not to let “money” drive their goals.
“Let your integrity protect you, in spite of the recent challenges, but rise above the storm in the interest of Ghanians and the oath of secrecy that you have sworn,” he said.
Ms Darfour admitted that the inauguration of the board had come at a time when the company was faced with enormous challenges that had subjected it to public ridicule.
She gave an assurance that the board would work assiduously to reposition the ECG as a world-class electricity distribution company.
SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Sat Feb 4, 2012
This is in view of the loss of public confidence in the ECG in the wake of the recent exposé of massive rot and corruption in the company.
The Energy Minister, Dr Joe Oteng-Adjei, who made the call, also tasked the board to be courageous in instilling discipline into all aspects of the company’s operations.
The new board, chaired by Ms Perpetual Darfour, has Barima Nana Kwame Nkyi XII, the Omanhene of the Assin Apimanin Traditional Area; Mr Stephen Sumani Nayina, a former Northern Regional Minister, and Mr Alfred Agbesi, the Member of Parliament for Ashaiman, as members.
Others are Mr Hutton Mensah, the acting Managing Director of the ECG; Mr Samuel Cudjoe, Mr Alhassan Abdullai, Bernard Allotey-Jacobs, the Central Regional Communications Director of the National Democratic Congress, and Ing Nana Kwame Duodu, a former Vice-President of the Ghana Institution of Engineers.
The reconstitution of the board followed an earlier dissolution of the old one in December 2011 after an investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas’s report indicted some officials and workers for alleged acts of corruption.
The report also faulted mobile telecommunication companies, banking institutions and some state agencies mandated to collect revenue on behalf of the ECG for evading the payment of revenue to the company.
Dr Oteng-Adjei, who used the opportunity to apologise to the public for the unacceptable mess at the ECG, also charged the board not to let “money” drive their goals.
“Let your integrity protect you, in spite of the recent challenges, but rise above the storm in the interest of Ghanians and the oath of secrecy that you have sworn,” he said.
Ms Darfour admitted that the inauguration of the board had come at a time when the company was faced with enormous challenges that had subjected it to public ridicule.
She gave an assurance that the board would work assiduously to reposition the ECG as a world-class electricity distribution company.
SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Sat Feb 4, 2012
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