THE one-week celebration of the death of the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, will be observed in his home town of Agogo in the Asante-Akyem North District tomorrow.
The President, Mr J. A. Kufuor, is expected to lead a team of mourners to observe the traditional celebration.
Other chief mourners who will support the President to observe the one-week celebration include the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Ebenezer Begyina Sekyi Hughes; the Omanhene of the Agogo Traditional Area, Nana Kwame Akuoko Sarpong; the Queen of the Agogo Traditional Area, Nana Abena Serwaa; the National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Peter Mac Manu, and the Kyidomhene of the Agogo Traditional Area and the Head of the Kootia Aduana Royal Family, Nana Kwakye Tutu.
The rest are the members of the Asante Akyem North and South Municipal and District assemblies, the entire membership of the NPP, the mother of the deceased, Obaapanin Yaa Tiape (aka Yaa Afra), the Wiredu Family, the widow, Mrs Margaret Baah-Wiredu, and her children, ministers, Members of Parliament and officials and staff of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.
Mr Baah-Wiredu, who left the country on September 11, 2008 for a medical check up in Johannesburg, South Africa, died on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 after a surgery.
He was 56 and left behind a wife and six children.
The late Finance Minister, who was also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Asante-Akyem North, was said to have arrived in Johannesburg on September 12 in the company of his personal physician, Dr Nyantakyi.
Since the news of his death was received in Ghana in the afternoon of September 23, Ghanaians from all walks of lives have found it hard to believe that such a devoted son of Ghana could pass on at this crucial time in the history of the country.
Hundreds of sympathisers, including the clergy, politicians, government officials, colleagues and relatives, continue to troop to the Cantonments residence of the late minister to express their condolences to the bereaved family and sign a book of condolence which has been opened for sympathisers.
Last Saturday his wife, Mrs Margaret Akua Baah-Wiredu, arrived in Accra from South Africa. Mrs Baah-Wiredu, who joined her husband after the deceased had undergone the surgery, came ahead of the body, which is expected to arrive in Accra by the end of the week.
As a chartered accountant who got elected into Parliament on the ticket of the NPP in 1997, Mr Baah-Wiredu had been a minister in President Kufuor’s government since 2001.
He was first the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, then Minister for Education Youth and Sports, and then Minister of Finance and Economic Planning.
Born on June 3, 1952 in Agogo, Baah-Wiredu started his secondary education at the Kumasi High School in 1967 and obtained the GCE (Ordinary Level) certificate in 1972. He had his Sixth Form education at Prempeh College, also in Kumasi, and proceeded to the University of Ghana in 1974, obtaining a BSc degree in Administration (Accounting option). He then did a four-year course with the Institute of Chartered Accountants, qualifying as a chartered accountant in 1985.
He worked in various positions with the now defunct Ghana Airways, the Volta River Authority and as senior consultant on computer systems and finance manager of Ananse Systems. In addition, he was a partner in Asante Wiredu and Associates, an accounting firm, prior to becoming an MP.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Decision on Two Projects Must Be Sound-Dadson (Page 53)
THE Chairman of the Estate and Valuation Surveying Division of the Ghana Institution of Surveyors, Mr James E. K. Dadson, has noted that the high expectations Ghanaians have for the Bui Dam project and the oil discovery makes it imperative that any decisions on the projects be sound and professional.
Speaking at the 2008 annual seminar of the division in Accra, Mr Dadson said many Ghanaians saw the two projects as catalysts for the rapid regeneration of the economy within the shortest possible time, adding that "the stakes are, indeed high, and rightly so".
The theme for the seminar, which was attended by participants from Ghana and other African countries, was: "The Bui Dam and Oil Discovery in Ghana: Opportunities and Challenges — the Role of Estate Surveyors".
He said since independence in 1957, Ghanaians had been striving towards developing their society, free from poverty, disease and misery, as well as ensuring good housing for the people, easy access to education, health care and good standard of living.
Mr Dadson called on the country's surveyors to see their role as one of ensuring that whatever development projects were undertaken were guided by sound professional decisions, adding that they should seriously consider how their input could benefit people who owned land around the two project sites.
Speaking on behalf of the sector minister, a Deputy Minister for Lands, Forestry and Mines, Madam Rita Tani Iddi, said the pragmatic policies adopted by the government since it took over power in 2001 had resulted in positive achievements, including the discovery of oil in commercial quantities, the construction of the Bui Dam, among others.
"It is important to stress that this oil discovery, the Bui Dam project, as well as other projects across the length and breadth of the country have been the result of good governance, hard work, perseverance, among others," she pointed out.
Madam Tani gave the assurance that the government would provide the needed resources for surveyors to enable them to build their capacities as professionals.
The Paramount Chief of the Western Nzema State and President of the Nzema Maale Council, Awulae Annor Adjayi III, said projects such as the Bui Dam, mini dams on the Pra, Ankobra and Tano rivers and the oil find could never be a curse but a blessing if the right thing was done.
He explained that the best results could be achieved if the responsible ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), project designers, the Executive, Parliament and other project implementers discussed issues affecting the people living along the project sites, instead of relying on advice from the development partners.
He mentioned some of the issues as the land tenure system, land acquisition, compensation and resettlement and how these were implemented to suit the needs of the affected people.
Speaking at the 2008 annual seminar of the division in Accra, Mr Dadson said many Ghanaians saw the two projects as catalysts for the rapid regeneration of the economy within the shortest possible time, adding that "the stakes are, indeed high, and rightly so".
The theme for the seminar, which was attended by participants from Ghana and other African countries, was: "The Bui Dam and Oil Discovery in Ghana: Opportunities and Challenges — the Role of Estate Surveyors".
He said since independence in 1957, Ghanaians had been striving towards developing their society, free from poverty, disease and misery, as well as ensuring good housing for the people, easy access to education, health care and good standard of living.
Mr Dadson called on the country's surveyors to see their role as one of ensuring that whatever development projects were undertaken were guided by sound professional decisions, adding that they should seriously consider how their input could benefit people who owned land around the two project sites.
Speaking on behalf of the sector minister, a Deputy Minister for Lands, Forestry and Mines, Madam Rita Tani Iddi, said the pragmatic policies adopted by the government since it took over power in 2001 had resulted in positive achievements, including the discovery of oil in commercial quantities, the construction of the Bui Dam, among others.
"It is important to stress that this oil discovery, the Bui Dam project, as well as other projects across the length and breadth of the country have been the result of good governance, hard work, perseverance, among others," she pointed out.
Madam Tani gave the assurance that the government would provide the needed resources for surveyors to enable them to build their capacities as professionals.
The Paramount Chief of the Western Nzema State and President of the Nzema Maale Council, Awulae Annor Adjayi III, said projects such as the Bui Dam, mini dams on the Pra, Ankobra and Tano rivers and the oil find could never be a curse but a blessing if the right thing was done.
He explained that the best results could be achieved if the responsible ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), project designers, the Executive, Parliament and other project implementers discussed issues affecting the people living along the project sites, instead of relying on advice from the development partners.
He mentioned some of the issues as the land tenure system, land acquisition, compensation and resettlement and how these were implemented to suit the needs of the affected people.
Mrs Baah-Wiredu back from South Africa (Spread)
Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah
MRS Margaret Baah-Wiredu, the widow the late Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, arrived in Accra last Saturday evening from South Africa.
Mrs Baah-Wiredu who joined her husband after the deceased had undergone a minor surgery in a South African hospital, came ahead of the body, which is expected to arrive in Accra by the end of the week.
Her decision to come early, according to a family source, was to provide her the opportunity to observe the traditional one-week celebration of the of her husband’s death, which falls on Wednesday, October 1, 2008 with other family members at Asante Akyem Agogo where they both hailed.
She was welcomed on arrival at the airport by some government officials, staff of the Finance Ministry, which her late husband had headed since 2005, some members of her family and her late husband.
When the Daily Graphic visited the house of the late minister yesterday morning, some close relatives and friends had gathered to sympathise with the widow who cried uncontrollably.
When she was asked to brief the gathering on what actually happened, Mrs Baah-Wiredu was able to give a short narration, wailing intermittently.
According to her, the condition of the late minister became critical when he was getting ready for a review at a hospital in Johannesburg and he died later in a nearby hospital.
Information gathered from some family members by the Daily Graphic indicated that they were arranging with government officials to postpone the arrival of the body, which was originally scheduled for Wednesday, October 1, to later in the week to enable the relatives finish with the one-week rites at Agogo and get back to Accra for the arrival of the body.
MRS Margaret Baah-Wiredu, the widow the late Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, arrived in Accra last Saturday evening from South Africa.
Mrs Baah-Wiredu who joined her husband after the deceased had undergone a minor surgery in a South African hospital, came ahead of the body, which is expected to arrive in Accra by the end of the week.
Her decision to come early, according to a family source, was to provide her the opportunity to observe the traditional one-week celebration of the of her husband’s death, which falls on Wednesday, October 1, 2008 with other family members at Asante Akyem Agogo where they both hailed.
She was welcomed on arrival at the airport by some government officials, staff of the Finance Ministry, which her late husband had headed since 2005, some members of her family and her late husband.
When the Daily Graphic visited the house of the late minister yesterday morning, some close relatives and friends had gathered to sympathise with the widow who cried uncontrollably.
When she was asked to brief the gathering on what actually happened, Mrs Baah-Wiredu was able to give a short narration, wailing intermittently.
According to her, the condition of the late minister became critical when he was getting ready for a review at a hospital in Johannesburg and he died later in a nearby hospital.
Information gathered from some family members by the Daily Graphic indicated that they were arranging with government officials to postpone the arrival of the body, which was originally scheduled for Wednesday, October 1, to later in the week to enable the relatives finish with the one-week rites at Agogo and get back to Accra for the arrival of the body.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Decison on Drug Policy Pays Off (Page 54)
Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah
THE decision by the Health Ministry to involve other stakeholders to work on the country’s drug policy has paid off, Mrs Martha Gyansa-Lutterodt, the Programme Manager of the National Drug Policy, has noted.
She said that collaboration had helped to put in place the right legislation which had received international recognition and also made Ghana compliant with the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO’s) instituted Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
Mrs Gyansa-Lutterodt said this in an interview with the Daily Graphic after a debriefing session for a nine-member Zambian delegation which has been in Ghana for the past five days to learn about the country’s experience in incorporating the TRIPS agreement into local laws.
She said the institutions which collaborated with the Ministry of Health in getting the rights done were the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Ministry of Justice and Attorney-General, the Ministry of Trade, Industry, President’s Special Initiatives and Private Sector Development and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.
The TRIPS agreement is the set standards for intellectual property protection in the world which came into force on January 1, 1995 and is binding on all member states of the WTO.
The agreement sets minimum standards in international rules governing patents, including those on medicines. These standards, among others, say that patents must be given for a minimum of 20 years, that patents may be given both for products and processes, and that pharmaceutical test data must be protected against ‘unfair commercial use’.
Speaking at the meeting, the leader of the Zambian delegation, who is also the Examiner at the Patents and Registration Office in Zambia, Mr Justin T. Chilambwe, said the scope of the team’s visit to Ghana had been fulfilled, since it had proved to be informative and educative.
He said the team realised the need to quickly institute a process to support TRIPS compliance, which included setting up an inclusive inter-ministerial committee, and gave the assurance that the process would begin as soon as the delegation got back home.
To fully understand the issues at stake, he said the team paid separate visits to the offices of the MOH, the National AIDS Control Programme, the Ghana AIDS Commission, the Ministry of Justice and Attorney-General’s Department, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Food and Drugs Board.
Others were WHO offices in Accra, the United Nations Development Programmes offices in Accra and a private pharmaceutical company in Accra, LaGray.
Mr Chilambwe expressed appreciation, on behalf of the team and the Zambian government, to the Ghanaian authorities and especially the heads of the various institutions the team visited for the warm welcome accorded them.
THE decision by the Health Ministry to involve other stakeholders to work on the country’s drug policy has paid off, Mrs Martha Gyansa-Lutterodt, the Programme Manager of the National Drug Policy, has noted.
She said that collaboration had helped to put in place the right legislation which had received international recognition and also made Ghana compliant with the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO’s) instituted Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
Mrs Gyansa-Lutterodt said this in an interview with the Daily Graphic after a debriefing session for a nine-member Zambian delegation which has been in Ghana for the past five days to learn about the country’s experience in incorporating the TRIPS agreement into local laws.
She said the institutions which collaborated with the Ministry of Health in getting the rights done were the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Ministry of Justice and Attorney-General, the Ministry of Trade, Industry, President’s Special Initiatives and Private Sector Development and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.
The TRIPS agreement is the set standards for intellectual property protection in the world which came into force on January 1, 1995 and is binding on all member states of the WTO.
The agreement sets minimum standards in international rules governing patents, including those on medicines. These standards, among others, say that patents must be given for a minimum of 20 years, that patents may be given both for products and processes, and that pharmaceutical test data must be protected against ‘unfair commercial use’.
Speaking at the meeting, the leader of the Zambian delegation, who is also the Examiner at the Patents and Registration Office in Zambia, Mr Justin T. Chilambwe, said the scope of the team’s visit to Ghana had been fulfilled, since it had proved to be informative and educative.
He said the team realised the need to quickly institute a process to support TRIPS compliance, which included setting up an inclusive inter-ministerial committee, and gave the assurance that the process would begin as soon as the delegation got back home.
To fully understand the issues at stake, he said the team paid separate visits to the offices of the MOH, the National AIDS Control Programme, the Ghana AIDS Commission, the Ministry of Justice and Attorney-General’s Department, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Food and Drugs Board.
Others were WHO offices in Accra, the United Nations Development Programmes offices in Accra and a private pharmaceutical company in Accra, LaGray.
Mr Chilambwe expressed appreciation, on behalf of the team and the Zambian government, to the Ghanaian authorities and especially the heads of the various institutions the team visited for the warm welcome accorded them.
‘FGM violates women’s rights’ (Women's Page 11)
Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah (Saturday, September 20,2008)
The expression on the faces of a number of participants, mostly young people from various countries in Africa and a number of journalists who were attending a youth forum in Accra on September 18, changed to sorrow, fright and disbelief.
This was after the cries of a baby girl, who was undergoing Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) filled the atmosphere in a video footage shown to the participants.
The child, who was a toddler, had her tiny legs, arms and head held by adults and pinned to the ground while an elderly woman slashed her clitoris with a sharp instrument.
In addition, the baby, who was bleeding from the ‘operation’ and drenched in sweat, had already received terrible knife marks on her abdomen.
Reports from the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicate that an estimated three million girls are at risk of undergoing FGM annually in Africa while an estimated 100 to 140 million girls and women world-wide are currently living with the consequences of FGM.
The organisation describes FGM as procedures that intentionally alter or injure female genital organs for non-medical reasons. The procedure which has no health benefits for girls and women, could cause severe bleeding and problems of urinating, and later, potential childbirth complications resulting in deaths of new-born babies.
It says the practice is mostly carried out on young girls, sometimes between infancy and age 15. FGM is internationally recognised as a violation of the human rights of girls and women.
The practice involves the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
It is mostly done traditionally by people who often play other central roles in communities, such as traditional birth attendants, and reflects deep-rooted sexual inequality between men and women and an extreme form of discrimination against women.
It also violates a person's rights to health, security and physical integrity, the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and the right to life when the procedure results in death.
Immediate complications can include severe pain, shock, haemorrhage (bleeding), tetanus or sepsis (bacterial infection), urine retention, open sores in the genital region and injury to nearby genital tissue.
Long-term consequences can include recurrent bladder and urinary tract infections, cysts and infertility, which can result in surgical operation. For example, the FGM procedure that seals or narrows a vaginal opening is surgically corrected to allow for smooth sexual intercourse and childbirth.
In Africa, about 92 million girls aged 10 years and above are estimated to have undergone FGM.
The practice is most common in the western, eastern, and north-eastern regions of Africa, as well as in some countries in Asia and the Middle East, and among certain immigrant communities in North America and Europe.
The effects of the practice and the need to mount intensive education to discourage it engaged the attention of the Inter-African Committee on Harmful Traditional Practices (IAA), an international non-profit making, non-governmental organisation, at the two-day forum.
The Third Regional Youth Forum was held in co-operation with the Ghanaian Association of Women’s Welfare (GAWW) to enable the participants deliberate on the fight against such practices.
Founded in 1984 in Dakar, Senegal, IAC was the first and largest NGO network in Africa to take up the issue of FGM at the grassroots, regional and international levels.
Opening the forum, the Director of Operations of IAC, Dr Morissanda Kouyate, said February 6 had been declared International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM, adding that it was important for the youth to take interest in the fight against the practice since some of them may in future be confronted with the issue of seeing their children going through the pain of genital mutilation.
In a speech read on her behalf, the Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, Hajia Alima Mahama, said the percentage of females who underwent FGM in Ghana annually had reduced from 10 to five per cent but added that there was still the need to completely eradicate the practice.
For his part, the Deputy Representative of the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) in Ghana, Mr Ian Mefarlane, said the organisation was committed to the total eradication of the practice because it affected every aspect of the mandate of the organisation, which included reproductive health and rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment as well as adolescent reproductive health.
The President of GAWW, Mrs Florence Ali, expressed her appreciation for the various initiatives by individuals and groups which help address FGM and called for sustained efforts to eradicate the harmful cultural practice.
The expression on the faces of a number of participants, mostly young people from various countries in Africa and a number of journalists who were attending a youth forum in Accra on September 18, changed to sorrow, fright and disbelief.
This was after the cries of a baby girl, who was undergoing Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) filled the atmosphere in a video footage shown to the participants.
The child, who was a toddler, had her tiny legs, arms and head held by adults and pinned to the ground while an elderly woman slashed her clitoris with a sharp instrument.
In addition, the baby, who was bleeding from the ‘operation’ and drenched in sweat, had already received terrible knife marks on her abdomen.
Reports from the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicate that an estimated three million girls are at risk of undergoing FGM annually in Africa while an estimated 100 to 140 million girls and women world-wide are currently living with the consequences of FGM.
The organisation describes FGM as procedures that intentionally alter or injure female genital organs for non-medical reasons. The procedure which has no health benefits for girls and women, could cause severe bleeding and problems of urinating, and later, potential childbirth complications resulting in deaths of new-born babies.
It says the practice is mostly carried out on young girls, sometimes between infancy and age 15. FGM is internationally recognised as a violation of the human rights of girls and women.
The practice involves the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
It is mostly done traditionally by people who often play other central roles in communities, such as traditional birth attendants, and reflects deep-rooted sexual inequality between men and women and an extreme form of discrimination against women.
It also violates a person's rights to health, security and physical integrity, the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and the right to life when the procedure results in death.
Immediate complications can include severe pain, shock, haemorrhage (bleeding), tetanus or sepsis (bacterial infection), urine retention, open sores in the genital region and injury to nearby genital tissue.
Long-term consequences can include recurrent bladder and urinary tract infections, cysts and infertility, which can result in surgical operation. For example, the FGM procedure that seals or narrows a vaginal opening is surgically corrected to allow for smooth sexual intercourse and childbirth.
In Africa, about 92 million girls aged 10 years and above are estimated to have undergone FGM.
The practice is most common in the western, eastern, and north-eastern regions of Africa, as well as in some countries in Asia and the Middle East, and among certain immigrant communities in North America and Europe.
The effects of the practice and the need to mount intensive education to discourage it engaged the attention of the Inter-African Committee on Harmful Traditional Practices (IAA), an international non-profit making, non-governmental organisation, at the two-day forum.
The Third Regional Youth Forum was held in co-operation with the Ghanaian Association of Women’s Welfare (GAWW) to enable the participants deliberate on the fight against such practices.
Founded in 1984 in Dakar, Senegal, IAC was the first and largest NGO network in Africa to take up the issue of FGM at the grassroots, regional and international levels.
Opening the forum, the Director of Operations of IAC, Dr Morissanda Kouyate, said February 6 had been declared International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM, adding that it was important for the youth to take interest in the fight against the practice since some of them may in future be confronted with the issue of seeing their children going through the pain of genital mutilation.
In a speech read on her behalf, the Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, Hajia Alima Mahama, said the percentage of females who underwent FGM in Ghana annually had reduced from 10 to five per cent but added that there was still the need to completely eradicate the practice.
For his part, the Deputy Representative of the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) in Ghana, Mr Ian Mefarlane, said the organisation was committed to the total eradication of the practice because it affected every aspect of the mandate of the organisation, which included reproductive health and rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment as well as adolescent reproductive health.
The President of GAWW, Mrs Florence Ali, expressed her appreciation for the various initiatives by individuals and groups which help address FGM and called for sustained efforts to eradicate the harmful cultural practice.
Susu collectors not savings and loans company - Assoication (Page 29)
Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah (Saturday, September 20, 2008)
THE Ghana Co-operative Susu Collectors’ Association (GCSCA) has stated that it is illegal for Susu collectors to operate as savings and loans companies without approval from the Bank of Ghana (BOG).
The association has, therefore, cautioned its members who would want to operate as savings and loans companies to contact the B0G for the right procedures to be followed.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Accra, the National President of the GCSCA, Emmanuel Aboagye Manuh, explained that the rules governing the operation of a savings and loans company were different from that of the traditional Susu collector and therefore, advised members of the association to take note.
Susu collectors usually collect daily savings from individuals to save on their behalf for commission and then pay back the total savings to that individual at a time agreed on by both the collector and the customer which is usually at the end of a month.
Mr Aboagye Manu pointed that the number of “Susu Scams” were increasing in the country adding that their activities were having negative impact on genuine operators and, therefore, needed to be checked.
Information from the BoG indicated that under the bank’s requirements for Non-Bank Financial Institutions Licences: “No person shall carry on business of non-bank financial institution unless it is licensed by the Bank of Ghana”.
It went on to explain that among other requirements, “all institutions which operate under the Financial Institutions (Non-Banking) Law of 1993 (PNDCL 328) require not less than ¢10 billion as a minimum capital for non-deposit-taking business. In the case of foreign ownership, not less than 60 per cent of the required capitalisation shall be brought into Ghana in the convertible currency”.
To prevent its members from going against the laid down regulations, the leadership of the Ghana Co-operator Susu Collectors Association subsequently issued a warning to all its affiliates as well as full members who collected customers’ savings and later give loans out of such savings, to desist from that practice immediately or be sanctioned.
An earlier statement signed by the General Secretary of the GCSCA, Nana Abboa Ofei Akoto, stated that a monitoring team had been put in place to embark on a nation-wide tour to help locate any unscrupulous member of the association for the appropriate sanctions to be applied.
It said any company which had a problem with its operations had been given six months, (up to March, 2009), to conform to the Ghana Co-operative Susu Collectors’ Association’s guideline or have themselves to blame.
The statement indicated that part of the guidelines laid down for the operators indicated that they should submit monthly financial records through the association’s regional offices for onward submission to the national office.
“The required information should cover a list of clients contributing to their Susu products; a monthly report of deposits mobilised and bank statements indicating funds lodged in the bank as well as a report on loans given to clients and the source of the funds” it pointed out.
It said there was the need for the members of the association to ensure that the right things were always done for the public to have trust in their operations adding that the association was currently having discussions with the authorise to come out guidelines which would allow self-regulations by the association itself.
THE Ghana Co-operative Susu Collectors’ Association (GCSCA) has stated that it is illegal for Susu collectors to operate as savings and loans companies without approval from the Bank of Ghana (BOG).
The association has, therefore, cautioned its members who would want to operate as savings and loans companies to contact the B0G for the right procedures to be followed.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Accra, the National President of the GCSCA, Emmanuel Aboagye Manuh, explained that the rules governing the operation of a savings and loans company were different from that of the traditional Susu collector and therefore, advised members of the association to take note.
Susu collectors usually collect daily savings from individuals to save on their behalf for commission and then pay back the total savings to that individual at a time agreed on by both the collector and the customer which is usually at the end of a month.
Mr Aboagye Manu pointed that the number of “Susu Scams” were increasing in the country adding that their activities were having negative impact on genuine operators and, therefore, needed to be checked.
Information from the BoG indicated that under the bank’s requirements for Non-Bank Financial Institutions Licences: “No person shall carry on business of non-bank financial institution unless it is licensed by the Bank of Ghana”.
It went on to explain that among other requirements, “all institutions which operate under the Financial Institutions (Non-Banking) Law of 1993 (PNDCL 328) require not less than ¢10 billion as a minimum capital for non-deposit-taking business. In the case of foreign ownership, not less than 60 per cent of the required capitalisation shall be brought into Ghana in the convertible currency”.
To prevent its members from going against the laid down regulations, the leadership of the Ghana Co-operator Susu Collectors Association subsequently issued a warning to all its affiliates as well as full members who collected customers’ savings and later give loans out of such savings, to desist from that practice immediately or be sanctioned.
An earlier statement signed by the General Secretary of the GCSCA, Nana Abboa Ofei Akoto, stated that a monitoring team had been put in place to embark on a nation-wide tour to help locate any unscrupulous member of the association for the appropriate sanctions to be applied.
It said any company which had a problem with its operations had been given six months, (up to March, 2009), to conform to the Ghana Co-operative Susu Collectors’ Association’s guideline or have themselves to blame.
The statement indicated that part of the guidelines laid down for the operators indicated that they should submit monthly financial records through the association’s regional offices for onward submission to the national office.
“The required information should cover a list of clients contributing to their Susu products; a monthly report of deposits mobilised and bank statements indicating funds lodged in the bank as well as a report on loans given to clients and the source of the funds” it pointed out.
It said there was the need for the members of the association to ensure that the right things were always done for the public to have trust in their operations adding that the association was currently having discussions with the authorise to come out guidelines which would allow self-regulations by the association itself.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Financial Literacy Week fixed for Sept 22 (Page 57)
THE Technical Advisor to the Finance Ministry, Dr Sam Mensah ,has said that with the right information many Ghanaians would go in for better investment opportunities that would enhance their living standards.
Dr Mensah expressed these sentiments at a media briefing in Accra on a planned Financial Literacy Week programme scheduled between September 22, and September 28, 2008.
The objective of the programme which is the first of its kind, is to create awareness among the Ghanaian public on the various financial issues which include the availability of products being offered by the financial institutions to encourage the public to invest and also make the right choice when investing.
Dr Sam Mensah said lack of knowledge on issues of finance had prevented many Ghanaians from putting in place the appropriate measures to enhance their economic conditions and also plan toward a better retirement.
He mentioned some of the products as insurance, buying of shares and also investing in various businesses that could help create wealth for the individual and allow the economy to grow.
Throwing more light on the week-long programme which he said would be an annual event, the Technical Advisor said it was a follow-up to the Financial Sector Strategic Plan which was introduced by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning in 2003 and expressed the hope that the programme would be sustained.
He said after the official launch on September 22, 2008, there would be a series of activities such as radio and television panel discussions, public education and outreach programmes, literacy workshops, public fora and community financial fitness day, among others.
Dr Mensah mentioned some of the topics to be discussed during the period as Investing in Shares and Bonds; Financial Services and Products—Benefits to the Public; Investing in Mutual Funds and Unit Trust; Saving to Build Wealth, Managing your Money as well as Knowledge is Money.
Some of the institutions scheduled to take part in educating the public included the Finance Ministry, Securities and Exchange Commission, the Ghana Stock Exchange, the Association of Bankers, the National Insurance Commission, Ghana Insurers Association, the Ghana Securities Industry Association and the Bizliteracy Solutions, among others.
Dr Mensah expressed these sentiments at a media briefing in Accra on a planned Financial Literacy Week programme scheduled between September 22, and September 28, 2008.
The objective of the programme which is the first of its kind, is to create awareness among the Ghanaian public on the various financial issues which include the availability of products being offered by the financial institutions to encourage the public to invest and also make the right choice when investing.
Dr Sam Mensah said lack of knowledge on issues of finance had prevented many Ghanaians from putting in place the appropriate measures to enhance their economic conditions and also plan toward a better retirement.
He mentioned some of the products as insurance, buying of shares and also investing in various businesses that could help create wealth for the individual and allow the economy to grow.
Throwing more light on the week-long programme which he said would be an annual event, the Technical Advisor said it was a follow-up to the Financial Sector Strategic Plan which was introduced by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning in 2003 and expressed the hope that the programme would be sustained.
He said after the official launch on September 22, 2008, there would be a series of activities such as radio and television panel discussions, public education and outreach programmes, literacy workshops, public fora and community financial fitness day, among others.
Dr Mensah mentioned some of the topics to be discussed during the period as Investing in Shares and Bonds; Financial Services and Products—Benefits to the Public; Investing in Mutual Funds and Unit Trust; Saving to Build Wealth, Managing your Money as well as Knowledge is Money.
Some of the institutions scheduled to take part in educating the public included the Finance Ministry, Securities and Exchange Commission, the Ghana Stock Exchange, the Association of Bankers, the National Insurance Commission, Ghana Insurers Association, the Ghana Securities Industry Association and the Bizliteracy Solutions, among others.
Zambian Delegation Studies Health System (Page 32)
Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah
A NINE-member Zambian delegation is currently in Ghana to learn from the Ghanaian health authorities the best methods used in providing quality and affordable medicines.
The team will learn about integrating the various provisions under the World Trade Organisation's (WTO’s) Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and other relevant legislation into the Zambian Intellectual Property (IP) laws.
The team is also to understudy the effective relations that exist between the various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) which help Ghanaians to get access to medicines; the relationship between the Patent Office and the Ministry of Health (MoH), as well as the relationship between the government of Ghana and the private sector toward research and development of quality medicines.
Members of the delegation, who were drawn from various ministries in Zambia, will spend five working days which started from last Monday. They are expected to visit some of the establishments that deal with getting medicines to Ghanaians.
Addressing the team, a deputy minister of Health, Dr (Mrs) Gladys Norley Ashietey, said visits to areas such as the National Health Insurance Schemes and the country’s health facilities should help the Zambian team to learn first-hand how policies were translated to providing improved health care for the people.
Touching on issues affecting supply of medicines, the deputy minister cited the new international agreements including TRIPS and the WTO agreements on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), as affecting access to medicines in developing countries, including Ghana.
She said there was global cry for equitable access to essential medicines for the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS.
“This also applies to access to other essential medicines, especially those for common childhood diseases, major infectious diseases and chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension which benefit from long-term treatment”, Dr Ashietey pointed out.
The Programme Manager of the Ghana National Drugs Programme, Mrs Martha Gyansa-Lutterodt, said a lot of progress had been made to promote access to medicine in Ghana and mentioned some of the measures put in place as the elimination of duties, tariffs and taxes on essential medicines, encouraging local production as well as including WTO/TRIPS compatible safeguards into national legislation.
She said further that what accounted for access to medicines included sustainable financing, reliable supply systems, affordable pricing, rational selection and use, adding that “all the above combine to ensure the regular availability of safe, efficacious medicines at affordable cost”.
Mrs Gyansa-Lutterodt, however, stated that in spite of the achievements of the various interventions in the health sector, difficulties still existed in ensuring equitable, secure and sustainable access to essential medicines to improve healthcare delivery in Ghana.
She reiterated that the TRIPS agreements and high cost of patented medicine were factors affecting medicine distribution in developing countries, adding that the implementation of the Artemesin Combination therapy for malaria, for example, cost Ghana about US$22 million.
“At the current high prices, Ghana would require about US$28 million to implement antiretroviral therapy for 30,000 People Living With AIDS (PLWAs)”, she pointed out.
The leader of the Zambian team, Mr Justin T. Chilambwe, said it became possible for the team to visit Ghana because of the friendship which had existed between the two countries for decades.
Mr Chilambwe, who is the Examiner (Trade Mark), Patents and Companies Regulation Office in Zambia, said Zambia was currently not TRIPS-compliant and expressed the hope that the team would gain a lot of experience to help the country to put in place the requisite laws on pharmaceutical products.
A NINE-member Zambian delegation is currently in Ghana to learn from the Ghanaian health authorities the best methods used in providing quality and affordable medicines.
The team will learn about integrating the various provisions under the World Trade Organisation's (WTO’s) Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and other relevant legislation into the Zambian Intellectual Property (IP) laws.
The team is also to understudy the effective relations that exist between the various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) which help Ghanaians to get access to medicines; the relationship between the Patent Office and the Ministry of Health (MoH), as well as the relationship between the government of Ghana and the private sector toward research and development of quality medicines.
Members of the delegation, who were drawn from various ministries in Zambia, will spend five working days which started from last Monday. They are expected to visit some of the establishments that deal with getting medicines to Ghanaians.
Addressing the team, a deputy minister of Health, Dr (Mrs) Gladys Norley Ashietey, said visits to areas such as the National Health Insurance Schemes and the country’s health facilities should help the Zambian team to learn first-hand how policies were translated to providing improved health care for the people.
Touching on issues affecting supply of medicines, the deputy minister cited the new international agreements including TRIPS and the WTO agreements on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), as affecting access to medicines in developing countries, including Ghana.
She said there was global cry for equitable access to essential medicines for the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS.
“This also applies to access to other essential medicines, especially those for common childhood diseases, major infectious diseases and chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension which benefit from long-term treatment”, Dr Ashietey pointed out.
The Programme Manager of the Ghana National Drugs Programme, Mrs Martha Gyansa-Lutterodt, said a lot of progress had been made to promote access to medicine in Ghana and mentioned some of the measures put in place as the elimination of duties, tariffs and taxes on essential medicines, encouraging local production as well as including WTO/TRIPS compatible safeguards into national legislation.
She said further that what accounted for access to medicines included sustainable financing, reliable supply systems, affordable pricing, rational selection and use, adding that “all the above combine to ensure the regular availability of safe, efficacious medicines at affordable cost”.
Mrs Gyansa-Lutterodt, however, stated that in spite of the achievements of the various interventions in the health sector, difficulties still existed in ensuring equitable, secure and sustainable access to essential medicines to improve healthcare delivery in Ghana.
She reiterated that the TRIPS agreements and high cost of patented medicine were factors affecting medicine distribution in developing countries, adding that the implementation of the Artemesin Combination therapy for malaria, for example, cost Ghana about US$22 million.
“At the current high prices, Ghana would require about US$28 million to implement antiretroviral therapy for 30,000 People Living With AIDS (PLWAs)”, she pointed out.
The leader of the Zambian team, Mr Justin T. Chilambwe, said it became possible for the team to visit Ghana because of the friendship which had existed between the two countries for decades.
Mr Chilambwe, who is the Examiner (Trade Mark), Patents and Companies Regulation Office in Zambia, said Zambia was currently not TRIPS-compliant and expressed the hope that the team would gain a lot of experience to help the country to put in place the requisite laws on pharmaceutical products.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Dansoman Pentecost Gets New Building (Page 31)
THE Kaneshie Area Head of the Church of Pentecost (COP), Apostle D. K. Noble-Atsu, has called on all Christians to educate themselves in the scriptures as protection against fraudsters who parade as men of God.
He noted that many Christians were being deceived by some unscrupulous persons because they (the Christians) lacked knowledge of the scriptures, and, therefore, believed anything they were told.
He said for Christians to protect themselves from such fraudulent characters who took advantage of them, they needed to be versed in the word to help them identify the true men of God from the fake ones.
Apostle Noble-Atsu expressed these sentiments at a dedication ceremony of a new church building by the Mount Olivet Assembly of the Darkuman District of the Church of Pentecost at Darkuman in Accra.
The one-storey building was put up at a cost of GH¢95,000 through contributions from members of the assembly, as well as financial support from the Darkuman District and the Kaneshie Area of the COP.
Present at the ceremony were the Darkuman District Pastor of the COP, Reverend Matthew Larbi-Whettey; Apostle Samuel Badu Nyarko of the COP; the Presiding Elder of the Mount Olivet Assembly, Elder Ebenezer Tagoe; the Presiding Elder of the Kwashieman Official Town Assembly of the COP, Elder Natan Kwaffo; other reverend ministers of the church, presiding elders, elders, deacons, deaconess and members of the church.
Addressing the congregation, Apostle Noble-Atsu observed that Jesus Christ was able to stand up to Satan during His mission on earth because He knew the scriptures and often quoted to support His arguments anytime Satan tried to deceive Him.
He took the opportunity to advise Christians to always be mindful of the fact that their bodies were the temple of God, adding that since they would not willingly carry dirty objects into any man-made temples, so should they respect their bodies and not pollute them with unclean things such as smoking, drinking of alcohol and prostitution.
He called for patience in all things, adding that with patience one was able to cool down tempers and prevent conflict situations even when others were peeved.
Giving a brief history of the Mount Olivet Assembly, Elder Joe Aryee, touched on the sacrifices many individuals, including members of the church as well as non-members, made in the mid 1980s when the assembly began as non-denominational fellowship to the time when the members acquired a land for a temple to the current period when the church had managed to put up a place of worship.
He expressed gratitude on behalf of the assembly to individuals or groups who contributed to the building of the chapel and advised that members should try to convert more people to fill the building to the glory of God.
He noted that many Christians were being deceived by some unscrupulous persons because they (the Christians) lacked knowledge of the scriptures, and, therefore, believed anything they were told.
He said for Christians to protect themselves from such fraudulent characters who took advantage of them, they needed to be versed in the word to help them identify the true men of God from the fake ones.
Apostle Noble-Atsu expressed these sentiments at a dedication ceremony of a new church building by the Mount Olivet Assembly of the Darkuman District of the Church of Pentecost at Darkuman in Accra.
The one-storey building was put up at a cost of GH¢95,000 through contributions from members of the assembly, as well as financial support from the Darkuman District and the Kaneshie Area of the COP.
Present at the ceremony were the Darkuman District Pastor of the COP, Reverend Matthew Larbi-Whettey; Apostle Samuel Badu Nyarko of the COP; the Presiding Elder of the Mount Olivet Assembly, Elder Ebenezer Tagoe; the Presiding Elder of the Kwashieman Official Town Assembly of the COP, Elder Natan Kwaffo; other reverend ministers of the church, presiding elders, elders, deacons, deaconess and members of the church.
Addressing the congregation, Apostle Noble-Atsu observed that Jesus Christ was able to stand up to Satan during His mission on earth because He knew the scriptures and often quoted to support His arguments anytime Satan tried to deceive Him.
He took the opportunity to advise Christians to always be mindful of the fact that their bodies were the temple of God, adding that since they would not willingly carry dirty objects into any man-made temples, so should they respect their bodies and not pollute them with unclean things such as smoking, drinking of alcohol and prostitution.
He called for patience in all things, adding that with patience one was able to cool down tempers and prevent conflict situations even when others were peeved.
Giving a brief history of the Mount Olivet Assembly, Elder Joe Aryee, touched on the sacrifices many individuals, including members of the church as well as non-members, made in the mid 1980s when the assembly began as non-denominational fellowship to the time when the members acquired a land for a temple to the current period when the church had managed to put up a place of worship.
He expressed gratitude on behalf of the assembly to individuals or groups who contributed to the building of the chapel and advised that members should try to convert more people to fill the building to the glory of God.
Friday, September 12, 2008
GCB receives MoneyGram Award (Spread)
Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah
THE Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) has formally received an award for the Best MoneyGram International Money Transfer Performing Receive Agent in Africa for 2007 from MoneyGram International at a ceremony in Accra.
For winning the award, GCB was presented with a shield and a citation, which acknowledged the bank's excellent customer service, customer satisfaction and its ability to capture a wide margin of the Ghanaian market.
The MoneyGram Regional Director for Africa, Ms Nikki Spottiswoode, presented the award on behalf of her institution while the Deputy Managing Director of GCB in charge of Operations, Mr Samuel Sarpong, received it on behalf of the bank at the GCB head office in Accra.
In her remarks, Ms Spottiswoode said GCB deserved the award for performing so creditably since it began receiving money through MoneyGram on behalf of Ghanaian customers in May, 2007.
She explained that MoneyGram International had 157,000 locations throughout the world with 50,000 locations in the Americas where residents in Ghana could conveniently receive monies from.
On his part, the Deputy Managing Director in charge of Operations at the GCB, Mr Samuel Sarpong, said the bank would continue to offer excellent services to its numerous customers and urged the people to continue to do business with the bank.
He expressed gratitude to MoneyGram International for recognising the performance of the GCB and rewarding it out of a number of banks that operated MoneyGram services in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa.
The Head of International Banking Division of the GCB, Mrs Elizabeth Coch, said presently the bank had captured more than 35 per cent of the Ghanaian market in spite of the fact that more than six other banks were operating MoneyGram money transfer services.
She pointed out that GCB was prepared to move even higher in the international arena and expressed the hope that the staff of the bank would do well to surmount any challenges that might confront them in future to enable them to continue to render good services.
Caption: Mr Samuel Sarpong (forth left), Deputy Managing Director of Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) in charge of Operations, receiving the Best MoneyGram International Money Transfer Performing Receive Agent in Africa for 2007 award from the MoneyGram Regional Director for Africa, Ms Nikki Spottiswoode. With them are Mr Samuel Amankwah, the Deputy Managing Director in charge of Finance of the GCB, Mrs Elizabeth Coch, the Head of International Banking Division of GCB, and Ms Helena Nkansah, Credit Advisor of GCB, and other officials of MoneyGram International.
THE Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) has formally received an award for the Best MoneyGram International Money Transfer Performing Receive Agent in Africa for 2007 from MoneyGram International at a ceremony in Accra.
For winning the award, GCB was presented with a shield and a citation, which acknowledged the bank's excellent customer service, customer satisfaction and its ability to capture a wide margin of the Ghanaian market.
The MoneyGram Regional Director for Africa, Ms Nikki Spottiswoode, presented the award on behalf of her institution while the Deputy Managing Director of GCB in charge of Operations, Mr Samuel Sarpong, received it on behalf of the bank at the GCB head office in Accra.
In her remarks, Ms Spottiswoode said GCB deserved the award for performing so creditably since it began receiving money through MoneyGram on behalf of Ghanaian customers in May, 2007.
She explained that MoneyGram International had 157,000 locations throughout the world with 50,000 locations in the Americas where residents in Ghana could conveniently receive monies from.
On his part, the Deputy Managing Director in charge of Operations at the GCB, Mr Samuel Sarpong, said the bank would continue to offer excellent services to its numerous customers and urged the people to continue to do business with the bank.
He expressed gratitude to MoneyGram International for recognising the performance of the GCB and rewarding it out of a number of banks that operated MoneyGram services in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa.
The Head of International Banking Division of the GCB, Mrs Elizabeth Coch, said presently the bank had captured more than 35 per cent of the Ghanaian market in spite of the fact that more than six other banks were operating MoneyGram money transfer services.
She pointed out that GCB was prepared to move even higher in the international arena and expressed the hope that the staff of the bank would do well to surmount any challenges that might confront them in future to enable them to continue to render good services.
Caption: Mr Samuel Sarpong (forth left), Deputy Managing Director of Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) in charge of Operations, receiving the Best MoneyGram International Money Transfer Performing Receive Agent in Africa for 2007 award from the MoneyGram Regional Director for Africa, Ms Nikki Spottiswoode. With them are Mr Samuel Amankwah, the Deputy Managing Director in charge of Finance of the GCB, Mrs Elizabeth Coch, the Head of International Banking Division of GCB, and Ms Helena Nkansah, Credit Advisor of GCB, and other officials of MoneyGram International.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Vodafone to establish foundation to spearhead social development (Back Page)
Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah
VODAFONE Groups Plc has announced its intention to establish a Vodafone Ghana Foundation, with an initial commitment of £200,000.
The principal aim of the foundation is to contribute to the Ghanaian society by providing direct grants to locally registered charity organisations, as well as global non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with suitable social investment aim and objectives.
The foundation will focus mainly on projects associated with health, particularly in the rural communities and secondary education in areas where enrolment is low and infrastructure is inadequate.
The Head of Corporate Communications and Customer Care of the Ghana Telecom (GT), Major Albert B. Don-Chebe, told the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday that the foundation was expected to begin operations before the end of this year.
He said the company had started making moves to get the foundation registered according to the laws of the land, adding that enquiries so far made had revealed that the process of registration would not be long to complete.
In an earlier press release, Major Don-Chebe said Vodafone was committed to social investment in the communities in which the company operated.
He explained that the new foundation would be supported by the parent Vodafone Foundation, which had developed a unique network of 23 foundations around the world and within the last 12 months granted £36.6 million to support charitable programmes in the communities in which Vodafone operated.
Major Don-Chebe said by investing in the community, the Vodafone Ghana Foundation would seek to make a contribution towards poverty reduction and strengthening the conditions for the most vulnerable members of society to participate in the country’s future economic growth.
On his part, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Vodafone Group Plc, Mr Vittorio Colao, stated that “Vodafone is very proud of its unique global network of corporate foundations which are making a social commitment in the communities in which the company operates. I am delighted that Vodafone Ghana will be establishing its own foundation so soon after closing the transaction, becoming the 23rd local foundation in the company’s network”.
Vodafone is said to be the world’s leading international mobile communications group with approximately 269 million proportionate customers as of June 30, 2008. The company currently has equity interests in 27 countries across five continents and more than 40 partner networks worldwide.
VODAFONE Groups Plc has announced its intention to establish a Vodafone Ghana Foundation, with an initial commitment of £200,000.
The principal aim of the foundation is to contribute to the Ghanaian society by providing direct grants to locally registered charity organisations, as well as global non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with suitable social investment aim and objectives.
The foundation will focus mainly on projects associated with health, particularly in the rural communities and secondary education in areas where enrolment is low and infrastructure is inadequate.
The Head of Corporate Communications and Customer Care of the Ghana Telecom (GT), Major Albert B. Don-Chebe, told the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday that the foundation was expected to begin operations before the end of this year.
He said the company had started making moves to get the foundation registered according to the laws of the land, adding that enquiries so far made had revealed that the process of registration would not be long to complete.
In an earlier press release, Major Don-Chebe said Vodafone was committed to social investment in the communities in which the company operated.
He explained that the new foundation would be supported by the parent Vodafone Foundation, which had developed a unique network of 23 foundations around the world and within the last 12 months granted £36.6 million to support charitable programmes in the communities in which Vodafone operated.
Major Don-Chebe said by investing in the community, the Vodafone Ghana Foundation would seek to make a contribution towards poverty reduction and strengthening the conditions for the most vulnerable members of society to participate in the country’s future economic growth.
On his part, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Vodafone Group Plc, Mr Vittorio Colao, stated that “Vodafone is very proud of its unique global network of corporate foundations which are making a social commitment in the communities in which the company operates. I am delighted that Vodafone Ghana will be establishing its own foundation so soon after closing the transaction, becoming the 23rd local foundation in the company’s network”.
Vodafone is said to be the world’s leading international mobile communications group with approximately 269 million proportionate customers as of June 30, 2008. The company currently has equity interests in 27 countries across five continents and more than 40 partner networks worldwide.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Ghana has put aid to good use - Minister (page 15)
Saturday, September 6, 2008
THE Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, has stated that Ghana has put aid to good use in the last few years, and that has reflected in infrastructure developments and social services.
He said debt relief resources that the country received after adopting the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had been used productively to construct and upgrade urban, rural and trunk roads such as the Asankragua-Enchi road, the Sogakofe-Aflao road currently under construction, the Tetteh Quarshie-Madina road in Accra, with other resources going into health and education sectors of the economy.
The finance minister told the Daily Graphic after a press conference to close the Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra yesterday that aid could be a catalyst to unlock the country’s potential to develop and not as an end in itself.
However, he said releasing aid in volumes and on schedule, as well as using system in the country to execute aid projects would go a long way to quicken the country’s pace at development.
He said the country was doing well domestically to cut down on aid dependence and that currently, 80 per cent of all budget resources was raised locally, with donors providing 20 per cent.
Speaking at the press conference which brought to the table all representatives of all partners in the forum, Mr Baah-Wiredu urged developing nations not to look into the air and wait for aid, but must take their destinies into their own hands and do something to help their people out of poverty.
The Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Bank and the Government of Ghana, anchored on the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, organised the three-day High Level Forum, which ended on Thursday.
"This forum has advanced the cause of our discussions over the last three-and-a-half years. But we can only see aid as a catalyst in helping us to use innovation and do things for ourselves," Mr Baah-Wiredu stated.
The Managing Director of the World Bank, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, urged donors and developing countries not to be complacent about the progress in talks, but must work faster to ensure that the promises were fulfilled.
"We must not be complacent about what has been achieved. Now, the Accra Agenda for Action should lead to a faster movement," Dr Okonjo-Iweala, who is also a former Nigerian Finance Minister, stated.
She added that the current global crisis should not be an excuse for donors to fail to deliver aid, but it should rather be the chief reason to hasten the pace, should the economic gains made by developing countries not reversed.
"When we co-ordinate aid more effectively, it becomes a better catalyst to augment resources of the recipient country."
The managing director of the World Bank said agreements reached at the forum meant that donor nations should now allow developing countries to lead in making decisions as to where they want aid for, in what quantities and how it should be delivered.
Dr Okonjo-Iweala said the Accra HLF had given the parties the opportunity to develop new instruments to make aid more effective, saying the World Bank, for instance, would continue to reform and simplify its systems in the next three years, saying "from now, we will be talking action not words."
The Secretary-General of Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Mr Angel Gurria, lauded the Accra Agenda for Action (AAA), particularly on ownership, predictability and untying of aid and cautioned developed countries not to allow short-term difficulties such as the global recession to prevent them from living up to expectation.
"Aid predictability is essential to allow developing countries to plan three-five years in their development process," the outspoken secretary-general said.
He said the OECD-DAC donors would not only scale up aid to countries that had shown resilience, but they would also untie the resources. This means that recipient countries can receive the resources and decide from where to source their supplies and not necessarily from the donor countries as has been the case all these years.
In the context that aid effectiveness is a catalyst and not a requirement for the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Donald Kaberuka, said, among the things, African countries should do well to direct aid to growth areas such as the private sector development to create jobs, as well as educate their citizens.
"The AAA means that the volume of aid available should be utilised effectively to produce results to bolster their economies," he said.
Ghana had a classic example of finding a good use for its growing remittances from its nationals abroad to further propel its economic growth and development, Dr Kaberuka said, adding that African countries also needed to save in this era of commodity boom.
However, civil society organisations which thronged the forum in their numbers had little faith in the agreement, describing the AAA as "more words than action".
The Civil Society Voices for Better Aid, a coalition of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), nevertheless welcomes progress on allowing civil society a greater say in the discussions, and that donor countries’ assurances to ensure transparency and mutual accountability would enable them to monitor and measure results.
THE Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, has stated that Ghana has put aid to good use in the last few years, and that has reflected in infrastructure developments and social services.
He said debt relief resources that the country received after adopting the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had been used productively to construct and upgrade urban, rural and trunk roads such as the Asankragua-Enchi road, the Sogakofe-Aflao road currently under construction, the Tetteh Quarshie-Madina road in Accra, with other resources going into health and education sectors of the economy.
The finance minister told the Daily Graphic after a press conference to close the Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra yesterday that aid could be a catalyst to unlock the country’s potential to develop and not as an end in itself.
However, he said releasing aid in volumes and on schedule, as well as using system in the country to execute aid projects would go a long way to quicken the country’s pace at development.
He said the country was doing well domestically to cut down on aid dependence and that currently, 80 per cent of all budget resources was raised locally, with donors providing 20 per cent.
Speaking at the press conference which brought to the table all representatives of all partners in the forum, Mr Baah-Wiredu urged developing nations not to look into the air and wait for aid, but must take their destinies into their own hands and do something to help their people out of poverty.
The Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Bank and the Government of Ghana, anchored on the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, organised the three-day High Level Forum, which ended on Thursday.
"This forum has advanced the cause of our discussions over the last three-and-a-half years. But we can only see aid as a catalyst in helping us to use innovation and do things for ourselves," Mr Baah-Wiredu stated.
The Managing Director of the World Bank, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, urged donors and developing countries not to be complacent about the progress in talks, but must work faster to ensure that the promises were fulfilled.
"We must not be complacent about what has been achieved. Now, the Accra Agenda for Action should lead to a faster movement," Dr Okonjo-Iweala, who is also a former Nigerian Finance Minister, stated.
She added that the current global crisis should not be an excuse for donors to fail to deliver aid, but it should rather be the chief reason to hasten the pace, should the economic gains made by developing countries not reversed.
"When we co-ordinate aid more effectively, it becomes a better catalyst to augment resources of the recipient country."
The managing director of the World Bank said agreements reached at the forum meant that donor nations should now allow developing countries to lead in making decisions as to where they want aid for, in what quantities and how it should be delivered.
Dr Okonjo-Iweala said the Accra HLF had given the parties the opportunity to develop new instruments to make aid more effective, saying the World Bank, for instance, would continue to reform and simplify its systems in the next three years, saying "from now, we will be talking action not words."
The Secretary-General of Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Mr Angel Gurria, lauded the Accra Agenda for Action (AAA), particularly on ownership, predictability and untying of aid and cautioned developed countries not to allow short-term difficulties such as the global recession to prevent them from living up to expectation.
"Aid predictability is essential to allow developing countries to plan three-five years in their development process," the outspoken secretary-general said.
He said the OECD-DAC donors would not only scale up aid to countries that had shown resilience, but they would also untie the resources. This means that recipient countries can receive the resources and decide from where to source their supplies and not necessarily from the donor countries as has been the case all these years.
In the context that aid effectiveness is a catalyst and not a requirement for the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Donald Kaberuka, said, among the things, African countries should do well to direct aid to growth areas such as the private sector development to create jobs, as well as educate their citizens.
"The AAA means that the volume of aid available should be utilised effectively to produce results to bolster their economies," he said.
Ghana had a classic example of finding a good use for its growing remittances from its nationals abroad to further propel its economic growth and development, Dr Kaberuka said, adding that African countries also needed to save in this era of commodity boom.
However, civil society organisations which thronged the forum in their numbers had little faith in the agreement, describing the AAA as "more words than action".
The Civil Society Voices for Better Aid, a coalition of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), nevertheless welcomes progress on allowing civil society a greater say in the discussions, and that donor countries’ assurances to ensure transparency and mutual accountability would enable them to monitor and measure results.
Donors, recipients to reform aid package (page 15)
Saturday, September 6, 2008.
DONORS and recipients of development aid have resolved to take bold steps to reform the way aid is given and disbursed to enhance its effectiveness on developing economies.
The steps include relaxing conditionalities to enable developing nations to decide what to use aid for and where to source their supplies, increasing the quantum of aid where necessary and releasing amounts pledged to ensure predictability to enable recipient countries to plan three to five years ahead.
This is contained in a 32-point communiqué christened “Accra Agenda for Action” issued after the three-day Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness that ended in Accra last Thursday.
After three days of intense negotiations, the participants, who came from all the six continents of the world, finally endorsed the 32-point agenda described by many as a bold step towards efficient aid management.
The agenda has been described as the product of an unprecedented alliance by development partners, developing and donor countries, emerging economies, the United Nations (UN), multilateral institutions, the Global Fund and civil society organisations.
The communiqué was issued after long hours of debate between the rich and the poor countries at the Accra Forum hosted by the Government of Ghana and sponsored by the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank, which took place from September 2 to 4, 2008.
A summary of the key points agreed on by both the donors and the recipients are: Predictability— which required donors to provide three to five-year prior information on their planned aid to partner countries to enable them to plan effectively;
Country System —which insisted that partner country systems must be used to deliver aid as the first option, rather than donor systems; and Conditionally —which pointed out that donors would have to switch from reliance on prescriptive conditions about how and when aid money is spent to conditions based on the developing country’s own development objectives.
There was also the issue of Untying —which indicated that donors would have to relax restrictions that prevent developing countries from buying goods and services they need from whomever and wherever they could get the best quality at the lowest price.
During deliberations it came out that the reforms agreed on, would require continued high-level political support, peer pressure, and co-ordinated action at global, regional, and country levels.
“To achieve them, we renew our commitment to the principles and targets established in the Paris Declaration, and will continue to assess progress in implementing them,” they assured.
As part of the agenda for action, the participants requested a technical group called the “Working Party on Aid Effectiveness” to continue monitoring progress on implementing the Paris Declaration and the Accra Agenda for Action and to report back to the Fourth High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness scheduled for December 2011.
“We recognise that additional work will be required to improve the methodology and indicators of progress of aid effectiveness,” they stressed.
They pointed out that the commitments they agreed on will need to be adapted to different country circumstances —including countries in situations of fragility, small states, and middle-income countries.
“To this end, we encourage developing countries to design —with active support from donors and country-based action plans that set out time-bound and monitorable proposals —to implement the Paris Declaration and the Accra Agenda for Action,” said the communiqué, adding that in 2011, the countries would undertake the third round of monitoring that would tell them whether they had achieved the set target.
In addition, the group requested the Secretary-General of the United Nations to transmit the conclusions of the Third High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness to the High-Level event on the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) in New York later this month and the Financing for Development Review meeting in Doha in December 2008.
In conclusion the participants stressed that, “Today, more than ever, we resolve to work together to help countries across the world build the successful future all of us want to see—a future based on a shared commitment to overcome poverty, a future where no countries will depend on aid.”
DONORS and recipients of development aid have resolved to take bold steps to reform the way aid is given and disbursed to enhance its effectiveness on developing economies.
The steps include relaxing conditionalities to enable developing nations to decide what to use aid for and where to source their supplies, increasing the quantum of aid where necessary and releasing amounts pledged to ensure predictability to enable recipient countries to plan three to five years ahead.
This is contained in a 32-point communiqué christened “Accra Agenda for Action” issued after the three-day Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness that ended in Accra last Thursday.
After three days of intense negotiations, the participants, who came from all the six continents of the world, finally endorsed the 32-point agenda described by many as a bold step towards efficient aid management.
The agenda has been described as the product of an unprecedented alliance by development partners, developing and donor countries, emerging economies, the United Nations (UN), multilateral institutions, the Global Fund and civil society organisations.
The communiqué was issued after long hours of debate between the rich and the poor countries at the Accra Forum hosted by the Government of Ghana and sponsored by the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank, which took place from September 2 to 4, 2008.
A summary of the key points agreed on by both the donors and the recipients are: Predictability— which required donors to provide three to five-year prior information on their planned aid to partner countries to enable them to plan effectively;
Country System —which insisted that partner country systems must be used to deliver aid as the first option, rather than donor systems; and Conditionally —which pointed out that donors would have to switch from reliance on prescriptive conditions about how and when aid money is spent to conditions based on the developing country’s own development objectives.
There was also the issue of Untying —which indicated that donors would have to relax restrictions that prevent developing countries from buying goods and services they need from whomever and wherever they could get the best quality at the lowest price.
During deliberations it came out that the reforms agreed on, would require continued high-level political support, peer pressure, and co-ordinated action at global, regional, and country levels.
“To achieve them, we renew our commitment to the principles and targets established in the Paris Declaration, and will continue to assess progress in implementing them,” they assured.
As part of the agenda for action, the participants requested a technical group called the “Working Party on Aid Effectiveness” to continue monitoring progress on implementing the Paris Declaration and the Accra Agenda for Action and to report back to the Fourth High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness scheduled for December 2011.
“We recognise that additional work will be required to improve the methodology and indicators of progress of aid effectiveness,” they stressed.
They pointed out that the commitments they agreed on will need to be adapted to different country circumstances —including countries in situations of fragility, small states, and middle-income countries.
“To this end, we encourage developing countries to design —with active support from donors and country-based action plans that set out time-bound and monitorable proposals —to implement the Paris Declaration and the Accra Agenda for Action,” said the communiqué, adding that in 2011, the countries would undertake the third round of monitoring that would tell them whether they had achieved the set target.
In addition, the group requested the Secretary-General of the United Nations to transmit the conclusions of the Third High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness to the High-Level event on the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) in New York later this month and the Financing for Development Review meeting in Doha in December 2008.
In conclusion the participants stressed that, “Today, more than ever, we resolve to work together to help countries across the world build the successful future all of us want to see—a future based on a shared commitment to overcome poverty, a future where no countries will depend on aid.”
Ghana, Switzerland sign pact on power extension (page 15)
Saturday, September 6, 2008.
THE governments of Switzerland and Ghana have signed a US$12 million agreement to implement the Electricity Sector Reform and Extension Programme in Ghana.
The assistance which is in the form of a grant, is to support the Ghana government to achieve a high-performing electricity sector as well as implement structural changes in the sector.
The programme, which is in three components, includes expansion of electricity supply in the Central Region; technical support to the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) to better carry out its task as a regulator for the electricity sector, as well as to offer support to the electricity distribution sector to enable it acquire efficient management structures.
The agreement was signed at the premises of the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) as a side event of the just-ended Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra.
In addition was a trilateral memorandum of understanding (MoU) concerning US$1 million which was signed between the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MOFEP), the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) to offer support to the Tax Policy Unit at the ministry under the Good Financial Governance Programme of GTZ with Ghana.
Ghana’s Minister of State for the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, signed on behalf of Ghana while the Swiss Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Nicolas Lang, signed on behalf of his country.
The signing of the first agreement on Electricity Sector Reform Extension Programme was witnessed by the Deputy Minister for Energy, Mr Kwame Amporfo Twumasi. Present at the joint ceremony were the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, the Head of Operations the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), Mr Wener Gruber; the Chief Executive Officer of the Volta River Authority (VRA), Owura Kwaku Sarfo; the Managing Director (MD) of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Mr Jude Adu Amankwah, and other Ghana government officials.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Lang said the US$12 million assistance was supposed to help the country in her bid to expand electricity, the deprived areas especially.
He added that the support aligned itself with the Ghana Energy Development and Access Project (GEDAP) of the World Bank and also presented a case of good practice of donor harmonisation and alignment with the needs of Ghana.
He said the trilateral co-operation was another proof of Switzerland’s strong intention to reduce transaction cost for all parties concerned and to deliver support as efficiently as possible.
Mr Lang pointed out that the signing of the agreement was part of the Swiss economic development assistance to Ghana which included the country’s activities in the field of macro-economic support, infrastructure financing as well as trade and private sector promotion.
He also observed that the additional US$1 million support was part of a larger Good Financial Governance Programme to focus on assisting the Tax Policy Unit of the MOFEP in its efforts to mobilise national resources for financing development programmes.
“By this, the Tax Policy Unit will be in a better position to develop a pro-growth and pro-poor tax policy framework to reduce economic distortions related to tax and strengthen the domestic resource base”, he pointed out.
For his part, Mr Baah-Wiredu expressed gratitude to the Swiss government for supporting Ghana, adding that the electricity expansion work in the Central Region would help create economic activities in the region to reduce poverty.
The Deputy Minister of Energy, Mr Kwame Amporfo Twumasi, said the energy sector would ensure that the money was used for its intended purpose.
THE governments of Switzerland and Ghana have signed a US$12 million agreement to implement the Electricity Sector Reform and Extension Programme in Ghana.
The assistance which is in the form of a grant, is to support the Ghana government to achieve a high-performing electricity sector as well as implement structural changes in the sector.
The programme, which is in three components, includes expansion of electricity supply in the Central Region; technical support to the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) to better carry out its task as a regulator for the electricity sector, as well as to offer support to the electricity distribution sector to enable it acquire efficient management structures.
The agreement was signed at the premises of the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) as a side event of the just-ended Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra.
In addition was a trilateral memorandum of understanding (MoU) concerning US$1 million which was signed between the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MOFEP), the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) to offer support to the Tax Policy Unit at the ministry under the Good Financial Governance Programme of GTZ with Ghana.
Ghana’s Minister of State for the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, signed on behalf of Ghana while the Swiss Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Nicolas Lang, signed on behalf of his country.
The signing of the first agreement on Electricity Sector Reform Extension Programme was witnessed by the Deputy Minister for Energy, Mr Kwame Amporfo Twumasi. Present at the joint ceremony were the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, the Head of Operations the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), Mr Wener Gruber; the Chief Executive Officer of the Volta River Authority (VRA), Owura Kwaku Sarfo; the Managing Director (MD) of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Mr Jude Adu Amankwah, and other Ghana government officials.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Lang said the US$12 million assistance was supposed to help the country in her bid to expand electricity, the deprived areas especially.
He added that the support aligned itself with the Ghana Energy Development and Access Project (GEDAP) of the World Bank and also presented a case of good practice of donor harmonisation and alignment with the needs of Ghana.
He said the trilateral co-operation was another proof of Switzerland’s strong intention to reduce transaction cost for all parties concerned and to deliver support as efficiently as possible.
Mr Lang pointed out that the signing of the agreement was part of the Swiss economic development assistance to Ghana which included the country’s activities in the field of macro-economic support, infrastructure financing as well as trade and private sector promotion.
He also observed that the additional US$1 million support was part of a larger Good Financial Governance Programme to focus on assisting the Tax Policy Unit of the MOFEP in its efforts to mobilise national resources for financing development programmes.
“By this, the Tax Policy Unit will be in a better position to develop a pro-growth and pro-poor tax policy framework to reduce economic distortions related to tax and strengthen the domestic resource base”, he pointed out.
For his part, Mr Baah-Wiredu expressed gratitude to the Swiss government for supporting Ghana, adding that the electricity expansion work in the Central Region would help create economic activities in the region to reduce poverty.
The Deputy Minister of Energy, Mr Kwame Amporfo Twumasi, said the energy sector would ensure that the money was used for its intended purpose.
Cocoa Prices Up (Page 3)
Saturday, September 6, 2008.
THE producer price of cocoa has been increased from GH1,200 per tonne to GH¢1,632 per tonne.
By that, the price of a 64 kilogramme bag of cocoa has been increased from GH¢75 to GH¢102.
The new price, a 70.46 per cent increase, takes effect from the beginning of the 2008/2009 crop season.
In addition, many other incentive packages were announced to benefit the country’s cocoa farmers and to motivate them to produce more.
Announcing these at a press conference on in Accra yesterday on behalf of the President, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, said the gesture was in pursuit of the government’s policy of paying a minimum of 70 per cent to the cocoa farmer and also its determination to ensure that a remunerative producer price was maintained.
Present a the event were the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Mr Isaac Osei, and other officials of the Board and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.
Mr Baah-Wiredu said in addition to the increase in producer price, an estimated GH¢80,905,705.00, which translates into GH¢124.47 per tonne, would be spent on pests and disease control exercises.
Furthermore, the minister stated, GH¢15,182,859.00 or GH¢23.35 per tonne would be spent to control the swollen shoot virus in addition to GH¢65,500,000.00 that had been earmarked for fertiliser application.
Mr Baah-Wiredu observed that disease control and application of fertilisers were essential components in the government’s drive to encourage farmers to shift from traditional to hi-tech production.
“These projects, therefore, represent additional incentives to motivate cocoa farmers in Ghana to put in extra effort to produce more cocoa,” he pointed out.
Mr Baah-Wiredu said the government had given directives for the establishment of what he termed Stabilisation Fund, to provide a mechanism to guarantee stable income for cocoa farmers in the event of drastic fall in the world market price of cocoa.
He explained that the action was consistent with the “Accra Agenda” towards a sustainable cocoa economy, which was developed at the International Cocoa Organisation Roundtable Meeting on sustainable cocoa production in October, 2007.
“In this respect, an amount of GH¢29.30 per tonne or an estimated GH¢19,045,000.00 from the net freight of board (FOB) sharing has been set aside for the creation of the stabilisation fund beginning from the 2008/2009 crop season.
He touched on cocoa scholarship where he stated that GH¢2,500,000.00 had been allocated to the Cocoa Farmers Wards Scholarship Trust Fund, among other incentives. He pointed out that the government was committed to ensuring that all other stakeholders in the cocoa industry were paid economic rates and fees to enable them to remain in profitable business.
THE producer price of cocoa has been increased from GH1,200 per tonne to GH¢1,632 per tonne.
By that, the price of a 64 kilogramme bag of cocoa has been increased from GH¢75 to GH¢102.
The new price, a 70.46 per cent increase, takes effect from the beginning of the 2008/2009 crop season.
In addition, many other incentive packages were announced to benefit the country’s cocoa farmers and to motivate them to produce more.
Announcing these at a press conference on in Accra yesterday on behalf of the President, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, said the gesture was in pursuit of the government’s policy of paying a minimum of 70 per cent to the cocoa farmer and also its determination to ensure that a remunerative producer price was maintained.
Present a the event were the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Mr Isaac Osei, and other officials of the Board and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.
Mr Baah-Wiredu said in addition to the increase in producer price, an estimated GH¢80,905,705.00, which translates into GH¢124.47 per tonne, would be spent on pests and disease control exercises.
Furthermore, the minister stated, GH¢15,182,859.00 or GH¢23.35 per tonne would be spent to control the swollen shoot virus in addition to GH¢65,500,000.00 that had been earmarked for fertiliser application.
Mr Baah-Wiredu observed that disease control and application of fertilisers were essential components in the government’s drive to encourage farmers to shift from traditional to hi-tech production.
“These projects, therefore, represent additional incentives to motivate cocoa farmers in Ghana to put in extra effort to produce more cocoa,” he pointed out.
Mr Baah-Wiredu said the government had given directives for the establishment of what he termed Stabilisation Fund, to provide a mechanism to guarantee stable income for cocoa farmers in the event of drastic fall in the world market price of cocoa.
He explained that the action was consistent with the “Accra Agenda” towards a sustainable cocoa economy, which was developed at the International Cocoa Organisation Roundtable Meeting on sustainable cocoa production in October, 2007.
“In this respect, an amount of GH¢29.30 per tonne or an estimated GH¢19,045,000.00 from the net freight of board (FOB) sharing has been set aside for the creation of the stabilisation fund beginning from the 2008/2009 crop season.
He touched on cocoa scholarship where he stated that GH¢2,500,000.00 had been allocated to the Cocoa Farmers Wards Scholarship Trust Fund, among other incentives. He pointed out that the government was committed to ensuring that all other stakeholders in the cocoa industry were paid economic rates and fees to enable them to remain in profitable business.
Donors, recipients discuss aid effectiveness (Mirror, Page 39)
By Lucy Adoma Yeboah (Saturday, September 6, 2008)
THE Government of Ghana this week hosted the Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra where about 1,200 participants from all the six continents of the world attended.
Dubbed “Accra HLF-3”, the forum, which was the third of its kind, took stock of, and reviewed progress made in implementing the 2005 Paris Declaration commitments, identified remaining bottlenecks and challenges and also determined the key actions both donors and recipient countries need to accelerate progress in making aid more effective.
The Accra forum which came three-and-a-half years after the March 2005 declaration in Paris, France to make aid work, therefore culminated in a Ministerial Session, in which ministers and heads of agencies endorsed what was termed the “Accra Agenda for Action” to accelerate efforts at making aid more effective.
Among the dignitaries who attended the conference were the President of Liberia, Dr (Mrs) Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, and that of Honduras, Mr Manuel Zelaya Rosales, as well as more than 100 ministers of finance and about 200 top officials from bilateral and multilateral organisations such as the World Bank, the Arab Bank for Economic Development, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, the Council for European Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, the Global Fund, the OPEC Fund for International Development, and the Economic Commission for Africa, among others.
Other participants include heads of donor agencies, government organisations, international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other civil society groups.
Some of the topics discussed included: “Progress since the Paris Meeting and Aid and Development Effectiveness beyond Accra; Aid Effectiveness and Development Results: What Needs to Change and How can the International Aid System Deliver? Climate Change Adaptation and Aid Effectiveness; The Role of Statistics in Aid Effectiveness and Regional Centres for Evaluation Capacity Development”.
There were also nine roundtable discussions, which were chaired by highly competent individuals on the international scene, as well as side events organised by civil society groups from all over the world on some of the issues confronting developing countries.
Opening the well-attended programme in Accra on Tuesday, September 2, 2008, the Chief Advisor to the President, Mrs Mary Chinery-Hesse, said the developed world would have to deliver on its promise and redouble its efforts if the 2010 target of making aid work better for developing countries was to be achieved.
“There is a lot of room for improvement. There is much more to do. We have to admit that the pace of progress made since 2005 is too slow,” the presidential advisor stated, and called for greater effort by both donors and recipients of aid to reduce lack of co-ordination, which hinders effectiveness.”
She said although there was some amount of change in managing assistance globally, there was still a lot of room for improvement.
"From where we sit in Africa, we can reasonably assert that we see change. There is progress in some respects,” she pointed out.
Each year, donors world-wide — countries, international agencies and specialised funds — provide nearly $120 billion in development and humanitarian aid to developing countries, with private contributions adding a further $20 to 25 billion.
Africa received a total of $5.7 billion in aid last year as official development assistance from the bank alone, which is expected to grow to $7.2 billion this year for different menu of programmes including health, infrastructure, education, capacity building and public sector reforms.
Mrs Chinery-Hesse declared: "There is the need to move forward with a new sense of urgency. We must not merely talk about things, we must act."
Touching on lessons gleaned from the evaluation of the Paris Declaration, which exposed the challenges imposed by fragmentation and weak co-ordination, she said there was the need for all stakeholders to remind themselves of the commitment made in Paris in 2005 — what has become known as the Paris Declaration where donors and recipients of aid pledged to use aid resources effectively, sparing no effort to accelerate growth and achieve better development outcomes, especially to reduce poverty for the millions of people around the world.
The Executive Director of the United Nations International Children’s and Education Fund (UNICEF), Ms Ann Veneman, who presented a paper on behalf of the UN Development Group, urged all partners to accelerate progress on the five principles of the Paris Declaration.
She said moving at a faster pace was more critical in the light of the global economic challenges brought about as a result of rising cost of food and fuel, and climate change, saying the UNDG, which unites 28 UN funds, programmes, agencies and its partners, “would deliver more effective support to developing countries”.
“Development finance often remains unpredictable, conditional and tied when it should be aligned to countries’ priorities and systems. The Accra High Level Forum must address these challenges beyond the commitments made in the Paris Declaration by articulating actions to which all parties can be held accountable,” she stressed.
Speaking on progress made since the Paris Declaration, the Chairman of the Working Party on Aid Effectiveness, Mr Jan Cedergren, said for aid to work effectively, partners should change deep-seated behaviours and reform, adding that at the country level, political will and unity were essential to aid effectiveness.
The Korean Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr Oh Joon, represented the perspective of a non-Development Assistance Committee (DAC) donor and said as a recipient of aid and now a donor, Korea had realised the need to emphasise ownership of aid projects.
This means countries should be allowed to choose which programmes are of priority to them and what form of aid they want.
THE Government of Ghana this week hosted the Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra where about 1,200 participants from all the six continents of the world attended.
Dubbed “Accra HLF-3”, the forum, which was the third of its kind, took stock of, and reviewed progress made in implementing the 2005 Paris Declaration commitments, identified remaining bottlenecks and challenges and also determined the key actions both donors and recipient countries need to accelerate progress in making aid more effective.
The Accra forum which came three-and-a-half years after the March 2005 declaration in Paris, France to make aid work, therefore culminated in a Ministerial Session, in which ministers and heads of agencies endorsed what was termed the “Accra Agenda for Action” to accelerate efforts at making aid more effective.
Among the dignitaries who attended the conference were the President of Liberia, Dr (Mrs) Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, and that of Honduras, Mr Manuel Zelaya Rosales, as well as more than 100 ministers of finance and about 200 top officials from bilateral and multilateral organisations such as the World Bank, the Arab Bank for Economic Development, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, the Council for European Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, the Global Fund, the OPEC Fund for International Development, and the Economic Commission for Africa, among others.
Other participants include heads of donor agencies, government organisations, international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other civil society groups.
Some of the topics discussed included: “Progress since the Paris Meeting and Aid and Development Effectiveness beyond Accra; Aid Effectiveness and Development Results: What Needs to Change and How can the International Aid System Deliver? Climate Change Adaptation and Aid Effectiveness; The Role of Statistics in Aid Effectiveness and Regional Centres for Evaluation Capacity Development”.
There were also nine roundtable discussions, which were chaired by highly competent individuals on the international scene, as well as side events organised by civil society groups from all over the world on some of the issues confronting developing countries.
Opening the well-attended programme in Accra on Tuesday, September 2, 2008, the Chief Advisor to the President, Mrs Mary Chinery-Hesse, said the developed world would have to deliver on its promise and redouble its efforts if the 2010 target of making aid work better for developing countries was to be achieved.
“There is a lot of room for improvement. There is much more to do. We have to admit that the pace of progress made since 2005 is too slow,” the presidential advisor stated, and called for greater effort by both donors and recipients of aid to reduce lack of co-ordination, which hinders effectiveness.”
She said although there was some amount of change in managing assistance globally, there was still a lot of room for improvement.
"From where we sit in Africa, we can reasonably assert that we see change. There is progress in some respects,” she pointed out.
Each year, donors world-wide — countries, international agencies and specialised funds — provide nearly $120 billion in development and humanitarian aid to developing countries, with private contributions adding a further $20 to 25 billion.
Africa received a total of $5.7 billion in aid last year as official development assistance from the bank alone, which is expected to grow to $7.2 billion this year for different menu of programmes including health, infrastructure, education, capacity building and public sector reforms.
Mrs Chinery-Hesse declared: "There is the need to move forward with a new sense of urgency. We must not merely talk about things, we must act."
Touching on lessons gleaned from the evaluation of the Paris Declaration, which exposed the challenges imposed by fragmentation and weak co-ordination, she said there was the need for all stakeholders to remind themselves of the commitment made in Paris in 2005 — what has become known as the Paris Declaration where donors and recipients of aid pledged to use aid resources effectively, sparing no effort to accelerate growth and achieve better development outcomes, especially to reduce poverty for the millions of people around the world.
The Executive Director of the United Nations International Children’s and Education Fund (UNICEF), Ms Ann Veneman, who presented a paper on behalf of the UN Development Group, urged all partners to accelerate progress on the five principles of the Paris Declaration.
She said moving at a faster pace was more critical in the light of the global economic challenges brought about as a result of rising cost of food and fuel, and climate change, saying the UNDG, which unites 28 UN funds, programmes, agencies and its partners, “would deliver more effective support to developing countries”.
“Development finance often remains unpredictable, conditional and tied when it should be aligned to countries’ priorities and systems. The Accra High Level Forum must address these challenges beyond the commitments made in the Paris Declaration by articulating actions to which all parties can be held accountable,” she stressed.
Speaking on progress made since the Paris Declaration, the Chairman of the Working Party on Aid Effectiveness, Mr Jan Cedergren, said for aid to work effectively, partners should change deep-seated behaviours and reform, adding that at the country level, political will and unity were essential to aid effectiveness.
The Korean Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr Oh Joon, represented the perspective of a non-Development Assistance Committee (DAC) donor and said as a recipient of aid and now a donor, Korea had realised the need to emphasise ownership of aid projects.
This means countries should be allowed to choose which programmes are of priority to them and what form of aid they want.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Corruption is threat to fight against poverty (Page 50)
Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah
TRANSPARENCY International (TI) has warned that corruption would continue to undermine poverty reduction efforts if there are no immediate actions on accountability and citizen participation by both aid recipients and donor countries.
Materials made available to journalists prior to the opening of the third High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF) being held in Accra, quoted the Managing Director of TI, Mr Cobus de Swardt, as accusing countries for doing little to prevent corruption.
“At the last Forum in 2005, countries signed the Paris Declaration which pledged to boost aid effectiveness through citizen participation, greater government accountability and transparency in the development process,” “but three years on, progress remains wanting as evidenced by the continued lack of democratic accountability to citizens in recipient countries,” he said.
He added that, “We see this as a major corruption risk and serious threat to the global fight against poverty”.
The 2005 Paris Declaration laid out the principles of ownership, alignment, harmonisation, managing for results and mutual accountability to make aid more effective.
Mr de Swardt pointed out that with 2010 set as the deadline for full implementation of those principles, evidence showed that progress was lagging dangerously.
He explained that the meeting in Accra, under the auspices of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Development Assistance Committee (DAC), must shift the process into high gear if it was to be salvaged.
He observed that although a statement which was endorsed by the representatives of more than 100 developed and developing countries, as well as multilateral development banks and agencies clearly mentioned fighting corruption as a condition for greater aid effectiveness but did not provide any framework for action.
“The persistent levels of poverty and corruption across the globe amount to an ongoing humanitarian catastrophe,” continued Mr de Swardt. “We need to see a targeted and global strategy to tackle corruption in the development process, or we will continue to see lives spent in misery and preventable deaths because public institutions and the provision of health and education services simply do not work. We need to see greater local ownership of aid programmes, a clear voice for civil society in the process and an end to purely donor-driven aid policies,” Mr de Swardt pointed out.
He was emphatic that with the fight against corruption as a pre-condition to achieving greater aid effectiveness and reaching the goals of the Paris Declaration, TI advocated improving access to and the disclosure of public information, enabling citizens, legislatures, journalists and investigators to ‘follow the money’ and cleaning up public procurement and sanctioning violators.
He also touched on maximising development resources and ensuring better public services; strengthening oversight institutions and engaging civil society, enabling parliament, auditors and civil society to demand accountability; harmonising donor activity to prevent abuse as well as harmonised aid programmes – and transparency practices which meant fewer opportunities for theft, corruption and abuse.
TRANSPARENCY International (TI) has warned that corruption would continue to undermine poverty reduction efforts if there are no immediate actions on accountability and citizen participation by both aid recipients and donor countries.
Materials made available to journalists prior to the opening of the third High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF) being held in Accra, quoted the Managing Director of TI, Mr Cobus de Swardt, as accusing countries for doing little to prevent corruption.
“At the last Forum in 2005, countries signed the Paris Declaration which pledged to boost aid effectiveness through citizen participation, greater government accountability and transparency in the development process,” “but three years on, progress remains wanting as evidenced by the continued lack of democratic accountability to citizens in recipient countries,” he said.
He added that, “We see this as a major corruption risk and serious threat to the global fight against poverty”.
The 2005 Paris Declaration laid out the principles of ownership, alignment, harmonisation, managing for results and mutual accountability to make aid more effective.
Mr de Swardt pointed out that with 2010 set as the deadline for full implementation of those principles, evidence showed that progress was lagging dangerously.
He explained that the meeting in Accra, under the auspices of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Development Assistance Committee (DAC), must shift the process into high gear if it was to be salvaged.
He observed that although a statement which was endorsed by the representatives of more than 100 developed and developing countries, as well as multilateral development banks and agencies clearly mentioned fighting corruption as a condition for greater aid effectiveness but did not provide any framework for action.
“The persistent levels of poverty and corruption across the globe amount to an ongoing humanitarian catastrophe,” continued Mr de Swardt. “We need to see a targeted and global strategy to tackle corruption in the development process, or we will continue to see lives spent in misery and preventable deaths because public institutions and the provision of health and education services simply do not work. We need to see greater local ownership of aid programmes, a clear voice for civil society in the process and an end to purely donor-driven aid policies,” Mr de Swardt pointed out.
He was emphatic that with the fight against corruption as a pre-condition to achieving greater aid effectiveness and reaching the goals of the Paris Declaration, TI advocated improving access to and the disclosure of public information, enabling citizens, legislatures, journalists and investigators to ‘follow the money’ and cleaning up public procurement and sanctioning violators.
He also touched on maximising development resources and ensuring better public services; strengthening oversight institutions and engaging civil society, enabling parliament, auditors and civil society to demand accountability; harmonising donor activity to prevent abuse as well as harmonised aid programmes – and transparency practices which meant fewer opportunities for theft, corruption and abuse.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Two Sign Pact on Hydro Dams (Spread)
PATO Company of Ghana yesterday signed an agreement with Sinohydro Corporation of China in connection with the construction of four hydroelectric dams on rivers Tano, Ankobra and Pra in the Central and Western regions of Ghana.
The River Pra, which runs through both the Central and Western regions of Ghana, will accommodate two of the dams; one at Awisam in the Central Region and the other in Sekyere Hemang in the Western Region.
The other two dam sites are on the Ankobra River at Bunso and Tano River at Tanoso, both in the Western Region.
The Executive Chairman of Pato Company, Mr William Oppong Bio, and the Group Executive Vice President of Sinohydro Corporation, Mr Liu Qitao, signed the agreement.
The four projects, which are expected to generate an estimated 230 kilowatts of electric power, would be completed within three years. Pato Company is financing the projects at a cost of US$900 million while Sinohydro Corporation has been contracted to build the dams.
Present at the signing ceremony in Accra were the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu; the Chief Executive Officer of the Volta River Authority (VRA), Owura Kwaku Sarfo; the Central Regional Minister, Nana Ato Arthur; the Western Regional Minister, Mr A. E. Amoah; the district chief executives of the districts where the dam sites are located, top officials from Sinohydro Corporation of China and officials of Pato Company were present.
In his remarks, Mr Baah-Wiredu said Ghana had about 40 of such sites that could be developed into hydro dams and called on interested investors to take advantage of them, adding that “never again should Ghanaians experience power cuts”.
The Finance Minister, who had reportedly visited the “virgin sites” of the dams on two occasions within this year in the company of others, narrated the experience they had while making the journey on foot through the bush and ended by paying tribute to Ghana’s past leaders who paved the way for the nation’s development.
He advised government officials in the two regions and especially those in the affected districts to discuss issues of land with the traditional rulers as soon as possible.
On his part, Mr Oppong Bio said President J. A. Kufuor was expected to cut the sod for work on the projects to begin in the next few weeks now that the agreement had been signed.
The two regional ministers, Nana Arthur, who spoke fluent Chinese at the ceremony; and Mr Amoah, expressed their appreciation to the government for the preparations so far made to get the dams built and promised to support at all levels to the final stage.
The River Pra, which runs through both the Central and Western regions of Ghana, will accommodate two of the dams; one at Awisam in the Central Region and the other in Sekyere Hemang in the Western Region.
The other two dam sites are on the Ankobra River at Bunso and Tano River at Tanoso, both in the Western Region.
The Executive Chairman of Pato Company, Mr William Oppong Bio, and the Group Executive Vice President of Sinohydro Corporation, Mr Liu Qitao, signed the agreement.
The four projects, which are expected to generate an estimated 230 kilowatts of electric power, would be completed within three years. Pato Company is financing the projects at a cost of US$900 million while Sinohydro Corporation has been contracted to build the dams.
Present at the signing ceremony in Accra were the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu; the Chief Executive Officer of the Volta River Authority (VRA), Owura Kwaku Sarfo; the Central Regional Minister, Nana Ato Arthur; the Western Regional Minister, Mr A. E. Amoah; the district chief executives of the districts where the dam sites are located, top officials from Sinohydro Corporation of China and officials of Pato Company were present.
In his remarks, Mr Baah-Wiredu said Ghana had about 40 of such sites that could be developed into hydro dams and called on interested investors to take advantage of them, adding that “never again should Ghanaians experience power cuts”.
The Finance Minister, who had reportedly visited the “virgin sites” of the dams on two occasions within this year in the company of others, narrated the experience they had while making the journey on foot through the bush and ended by paying tribute to Ghana’s past leaders who paved the way for the nation’s development.
He advised government officials in the two regions and especially those in the affected districts to discuss issues of land with the traditional rulers as soon as possible.
On his part, Mr Oppong Bio said President J. A. Kufuor was expected to cut the sod for work on the projects to begin in the next few weeks now that the agreement had been signed.
The two regional ministers, Nana Arthur, who spoke fluent Chinese at the ceremony; and Mr Amoah, expressed their appreciation to the government for the preparations so far made to get the dams built and promised to support at all levels to the final stage.
Deliver on Promise-Chinery-Hesse Urged Donors (Front Page)
THE Chief Advisor to the President, Mrs Mary Chinery-Hesse yesterday charged the world to deliver on its promise to redouble efforts to meet the 2010 target to make aid work better for developing countries.
Opening the well attended Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra, Mrs Chinery-Hesse said the developed world would have to deliver on its promise and redouble its efforts if the 2010 target of making aid work better for developing countries is to be achieved.
Opening the well-attended Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra, Mrs Chinery-Hesse said the developed world would have to deliver on its promise and redouble its efforts if the 2010 target of making aid work better for developing countries was to be achieved.
“There is a lot of room for improvement. There is much more to do. We have to admit that the pace of progress made since 2005 is too slow,” the presidential advisor stated, and called for greater effort by both donors and recipients of aid to reduce lack of co-ordination, which hinders effectiveness.
She said although there was some amount of change in managing assistance globally, there was still a lot of room for improvement.
"From where we sit in Africa, we can reasonably assert that we see change. There is progress in some respects,” she pointed out.
More than 1,200 representatives of governments of aid receiving countries, donor institutions, parliamentarians and civil society organisations are presently gathered in Accra for the conference on improving the quality and impact of development assistance.
Each year, donors worldwide — countries, international agencies and specialised funds — provide nearly $120 billion in development and humanitarian aid to developing countries, with private contributions adding a further $20 to 25 billion.
Africa received a total of $5.7 billion in aid last year as official development assistance from the bank alone, which is expected to grow to $7.2 billion this year for different menu of programmes including health, infrastructure, education, capacity building and public sector reforms.
The meeting in Accra, coming three-and-a-half years after the March 2005 declaration in Paris, France to make aid work, will therefore, culminate in a Ministerial Session, in which Ministers and heads of agencies are expected to endorse the Accra Agenda for Action to accelerate efforts at making aid more effective.
Mrs Chenery-Hesse declared: "There is the need to move forward with a new sense of urgency. We must not merely talk about things. We must act."
Touching on lessons gleaned from the evaluation of the Paris Declaration, which exposed the challenges imposed by fragmentation and weak co-ordination, she said there was the need for all stakeholders to remind themselves of the commitment made in Paris in 2005 — what has become known as the Paris Declaration where donors and recipients of aid pledged to use aid resources effectively, sparing no effort to accelerate growth and achieve better development outcomes, especially to reduce poverty for the millions of people around the world.
For that reason, there was the need to take stock of progress made so far in terms of the five principles of ownership; alignment and harmonisation; managing for development results; mutual accountability, monitoring and evaluation systems.
She also talked about the need for donors to support beneficiary countries in the area of capacity building if they must succeed, adding that "development partners should in turn commit to give the necessary support and leadership".
The Executive Director of the United Nations International Children’s and Education Fund (UNICEF), Ms Ann Veneman, who presented a paper on behalf of the UN Development Group, urged all partners to accelerate progress on the five principles of the Paris Declaration.
She said moving at a faster pace was more critical in the light of the global economic challenges brought about as a result of rising cost of food and fuel, and climate change, saying the UNDG, which unites 28 UN funds, programmes, agencies and its partners, “would deliver more effective support to developing countries”.
“Development finance often remains unpredictable, conditional and tied when it should be aligned to countries’ priorities and systems. The Accra High Level Forum must address these challenges beyond the commitments made in the Paris Declaration by articulating actions to which all parties can be held accountable,” she stressed.
Ms Veneman said aid should serve as a catalyst to help countries to attain nationally and internationally agreed development objectives such as the Millennium Development Goals, adding that aid should reach and help the impoverished and marginalised — the people who need it most.
She said although the current aid environment offered new opportunities, there was the need to revisit existing delivery frameworks that would ensure mutual accountability at country, regional and global levels.
Speaking on progress made since the Paris Declaration, the Chairman of the Working Party on Aid Effectiveness, Mr Jan Cedergren, said for aid to work effectively, partners should change deep-seated behaviours and reform, saying that at the country level political will and unity was essential to aid effectiveness.
The Korean Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr Oh Joon, gave a perspective of a non-Development Assistance Committee (DAC) donor and said as a recipient of aid and now a donor, Korea had realised the need to emphasise ownership of aid projects.
This means countries should be allowed to choose which programmes are of priority to them and what form they want them to be.
Opening the well attended Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra, Mrs Chinery-Hesse said the developed world would have to deliver on its promise and redouble its efforts if the 2010 target of making aid work better for developing countries is to be achieved.
Opening the well-attended Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra, Mrs Chinery-Hesse said the developed world would have to deliver on its promise and redouble its efforts if the 2010 target of making aid work better for developing countries was to be achieved.
“There is a lot of room for improvement. There is much more to do. We have to admit that the pace of progress made since 2005 is too slow,” the presidential advisor stated, and called for greater effort by both donors and recipients of aid to reduce lack of co-ordination, which hinders effectiveness.
She said although there was some amount of change in managing assistance globally, there was still a lot of room for improvement.
"From where we sit in Africa, we can reasonably assert that we see change. There is progress in some respects,” she pointed out.
More than 1,200 representatives of governments of aid receiving countries, donor institutions, parliamentarians and civil society organisations are presently gathered in Accra for the conference on improving the quality and impact of development assistance.
Each year, donors worldwide — countries, international agencies and specialised funds — provide nearly $120 billion in development and humanitarian aid to developing countries, with private contributions adding a further $20 to 25 billion.
Africa received a total of $5.7 billion in aid last year as official development assistance from the bank alone, which is expected to grow to $7.2 billion this year for different menu of programmes including health, infrastructure, education, capacity building and public sector reforms.
The meeting in Accra, coming three-and-a-half years after the March 2005 declaration in Paris, France to make aid work, will therefore, culminate in a Ministerial Session, in which Ministers and heads of agencies are expected to endorse the Accra Agenda for Action to accelerate efforts at making aid more effective.
Mrs Chenery-Hesse declared: "There is the need to move forward with a new sense of urgency. We must not merely talk about things. We must act."
Touching on lessons gleaned from the evaluation of the Paris Declaration, which exposed the challenges imposed by fragmentation and weak co-ordination, she said there was the need for all stakeholders to remind themselves of the commitment made in Paris in 2005 — what has become known as the Paris Declaration where donors and recipients of aid pledged to use aid resources effectively, sparing no effort to accelerate growth and achieve better development outcomes, especially to reduce poverty for the millions of people around the world.
For that reason, there was the need to take stock of progress made so far in terms of the five principles of ownership; alignment and harmonisation; managing for development results; mutual accountability, monitoring and evaluation systems.
She also talked about the need for donors to support beneficiary countries in the area of capacity building if they must succeed, adding that "development partners should in turn commit to give the necessary support and leadership".
The Executive Director of the United Nations International Children’s and Education Fund (UNICEF), Ms Ann Veneman, who presented a paper on behalf of the UN Development Group, urged all partners to accelerate progress on the five principles of the Paris Declaration.
She said moving at a faster pace was more critical in the light of the global economic challenges brought about as a result of rising cost of food and fuel, and climate change, saying the UNDG, which unites 28 UN funds, programmes, agencies and its partners, “would deliver more effective support to developing countries”.
“Development finance often remains unpredictable, conditional and tied when it should be aligned to countries’ priorities and systems. The Accra High Level Forum must address these challenges beyond the commitments made in the Paris Declaration by articulating actions to which all parties can be held accountable,” she stressed.
Ms Veneman said aid should serve as a catalyst to help countries to attain nationally and internationally agreed development objectives such as the Millennium Development Goals, adding that aid should reach and help the impoverished and marginalised — the people who need it most.
She said although the current aid environment offered new opportunities, there was the need to revisit existing delivery frameworks that would ensure mutual accountability at country, regional and global levels.
Speaking on progress made since the Paris Declaration, the Chairman of the Working Party on Aid Effectiveness, Mr Jan Cedergren, said for aid to work effectively, partners should change deep-seated behaviours and reform, saying that at the country level political will and unity was essential to aid effectiveness.
The Korean Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr Oh Joon, gave a perspective of a non-Development Assistance Committee (DAC) donor and said as a recipient of aid and now a donor, Korea had realised the need to emphasise ownership of aid projects.
This means countries should be allowed to choose which programmes are of priority to them and what form they want them to be.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Ghana to Host International Conference on Aid Effectiveness (Feature, Page 23)
THE Government of Ghana will host the third international conference on aid effectiveness from September 2, to September 4, 2008.
The Minster for Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu made this known at the launch of the conference dubbed, ‘Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness’ (HLF-3) in Accra on July 25, 2008. He said the conference will basically take stock of and review progress made from the 2005 Paris Declaration to date and build on the outcome of previous meetings on the declaration.
The beginnings of High Level Forum Conferences date back into the late 1990s when international aid effectiveness movement started taking shape. The donor and aid agencies realised that their many but varying approaches and requirements impose costs on recipient countries and hinder the expected outcomes. Therefore, at the International Conference on Financing for Development in Mexico in 2002, the international community agreed that just as it is important to provide more financing for development, it is equally important for donors and partner countries to know of and maximise the effective use of the aid/donations.
In 2003, the first High Level Forum Conference was held in Rome. The international community agreed on a common commitment, to take action to improve upon the management and effectiveness of aid and to take stock of progress made. Also, governments and some development partners signed a memorandum to begin the implementation of the Multi-Donor Budget Support (MDBS) framework.
This was followed by the second High Level Forum Conference at Paris in 2005. At that conference, the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness was endorsed by over a 100 signatories from partner governments, bilateral and multilateral donor agencies, regional development banks and international agencies. The declaration was grounded on five mutually reinforcing principles, namely ownership, alignment, harmonisation, managing for results and mutual accountability. One of the major steps taken as part of the declaration was an agreement on a monitoring framework with 12 indicators to provide a measurable and evidence – based way to track progress and set targets for 2010.
A critical look at the MDBS and the 2005 Paris Declaration shows similarity of principles even though they are two different documents.
At the launch, Ghana’s Finance Minister, Mr Baah-Wiredu, said after five years of implementing the MDBS, the Government of Ghana and its development partners had overcome the challenge of frequent individual missions and bilateral consultations, huge cost of negotiating aid, inconsistency of projects with government priorities and operation of parallel systems and unpredictability of funds.
Currently, Ghana is making preparations towards its hosting of the third High Level Forum Conference (HLF-3).
For good results, the government of Ghana has put together a National Planning Committee, with representatives from various ministries, departments, agencies (MDAs) and civil society groups, which is chaired by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to ensure the success of the conference.
For instance, the Centre for Economic Policy Analysis (CEPA) has been contracted to collect data to follow the progress made on the achievement of the 2005 Paris Declaration and the MDBS. The findings of the CEPA survey will paint a clearer picture of the country’s progress so far and show the challenges that need to be addressed.
The HLF-3 conference aims to address the current issues that both donors and partners face in trying to implement the Paris Declaration and to ensure that donors integrate their support within country - led programmes to strengthen capacity development.
It is also expected to provide the opportunity for aid donors and recipient countries to identify ways to harmonise the use of the aid given to developing countries and in addition, address issues such as long-term aid commitments by donors, reduction of conditions attached to development assistance and the strengthening of Parliamentary scrutiny in developing countries.
The HLF-3 will bring together 1,000 expected participants involving ministers, senior officials, and heads of multilateral institutions and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from over 100 countries to discuss selected key issues which will lead to the negotiation and endorsement of the Accra Agenda for Action (Triple A).
“Triple A” is a document that will review progress made so far after the Paris High Level Forum. In the reviewing process, it is expected that challenges that had emerged since the 2005 Paris Declaration, anticipated challenges, as well as possible solutions to these challenges will be identified and endorsed. The document will outline a set of politically appealing and high impact priority actions that are likely to have significant impact on aid effectiveness.
For Ghana, the implication is it will be an avenue to develop a blueprint for proper co – ordination and accountability of the flow of aid into the country and its usage. The co – ordination will cut down on the degree of wastage in the use of the aid through the harmonisation of the roles that all stakeholders will play in enhancing aid effectiveness.
The integration of donor support/aid into country – led programmes will not only provide the government the opportunity to channel aid into addressing pressing economical and social challenges facing the country but will also facilitate the accountability and monitoring of the use of aid as Ghanaians will be able to tell which aid went into which project.
Mr Baah-Wiredu hit the nail right on the head when he concluded the launch of the conference by saying that “Ghana faces a significant opportunity to present itself to the international community, not only as a dynamic nation that successfully pursues socio – economic reforms in a complex and globalised environment, but also as a nation that has effectively managed donor assistance to the ultimate benefit of our citizens.”
As we get ready to receive about 1,000 visitors in our midst, our appeal is that Ghanaians once more would show maturity by playing roles expected of them so that we achieve the desired results as a nation.
The Minster for Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu made this known at the launch of the conference dubbed, ‘Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness’ (HLF-3) in Accra on July 25, 2008. He said the conference will basically take stock of and review progress made from the 2005 Paris Declaration to date and build on the outcome of previous meetings on the declaration.
The beginnings of High Level Forum Conferences date back into the late 1990s when international aid effectiveness movement started taking shape. The donor and aid agencies realised that their many but varying approaches and requirements impose costs on recipient countries and hinder the expected outcomes. Therefore, at the International Conference on Financing for Development in Mexico in 2002, the international community agreed that just as it is important to provide more financing for development, it is equally important for donors and partner countries to know of and maximise the effective use of the aid/donations.
In 2003, the first High Level Forum Conference was held in Rome. The international community agreed on a common commitment, to take action to improve upon the management and effectiveness of aid and to take stock of progress made. Also, governments and some development partners signed a memorandum to begin the implementation of the Multi-Donor Budget Support (MDBS) framework.
This was followed by the second High Level Forum Conference at Paris in 2005. At that conference, the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness was endorsed by over a 100 signatories from partner governments, bilateral and multilateral donor agencies, regional development banks and international agencies. The declaration was grounded on five mutually reinforcing principles, namely ownership, alignment, harmonisation, managing for results and mutual accountability. One of the major steps taken as part of the declaration was an agreement on a monitoring framework with 12 indicators to provide a measurable and evidence – based way to track progress and set targets for 2010.
A critical look at the MDBS and the 2005 Paris Declaration shows similarity of principles even though they are two different documents.
At the launch, Ghana’s Finance Minister, Mr Baah-Wiredu, said after five years of implementing the MDBS, the Government of Ghana and its development partners had overcome the challenge of frequent individual missions and bilateral consultations, huge cost of negotiating aid, inconsistency of projects with government priorities and operation of parallel systems and unpredictability of funds.
Currently, Ghana is making preparations towards its hosting of the third High Level Forum Conference (HLF-3).
For good results, the government of Ghana has put together a National Planning Committee, with representatives from various ministries, departments, agencies (MDAs) and civil society groups, which is chaired by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to ensure the success of the conference.
For instance, the Centre for Economic Policy Analysis (CEPA) has been contracted to collect data to follow the progress made on the achievement of the 2005 Paris Declaration and the MDBS. The findings of the CEPA survey will paint a clearer picture of the country’s progress so far and show the challenges that need to be addressed.
The HLF-3 conference aims to address the current issues that both donors and partners face in trying to implement the Paris Declaration and to ensure that donors integrate their support within country - led programmes to strengthen capacity development.
It is also expected to provide the opportunity for aid donors and recipient countries to identify ways to harmonise the use of the aid given to developing countries and in addition, address issues such as long-term aid commitments by donors, reduction of conditions attached to development assistance and the strengthening of Parliamentary scrutiny in developing countries.
The HLF-3 will bring together 1,000 expected participants involving ministers, senior officials, and heads of multilateral institutions and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from over 100 countries to discuss selected key issues which will lead to the negotiation and endorsement of the Accra Agenda for Action (Triple A).
“Triple A” is a document that will review progress made so far after the Paris High Level Forum. In the reviewing process, it is expected that challenges that had emerged since the 2005 Paris Declaration, anticipated challenges, as well as possible solutions to these challenges will be identified and endorsed. The document will outline a set of politically appealing and high impact priority actions that are likely to have significant impact on aid effectiveness.
For Ghana, the implication is it will be an avenue to develop a blueprint for proper co – ordination and accountability of the flow of aid into the country and its usage. The co – ordination will cut down on the degree of wastage in the use of the aid through the harmonisation of the roles that all stakeholders will play in enhancing aid effectiveness.
The integration of donor support/aid into country – led programmes will not only provide the government the opportunity to channel aid into addressing pressing economical and social challenges facing the country but will also facilitate the accountability and monitoring of the use of aid as Ghanaians will be able to tell which aid went into which project.
Mr Baah-Wiredu hit the nail right on the head when he concluded the launch of the conference by saying that “Ghana faces a significant opportunity to present itself to the international community, not only as a dynamic nation that successfully pursues socio – economic reforms in a complex and globalised environment, but also as a nation that has effectively managed donor assistance to the ultimate benefit of our citizens.”
As we get ready to receive about 1,000 visitors in our midst, our appeal is that Ghanaians once more would show maturity by playing roles expected of them so that we achieve the desired results as a nation.
Don't Prevent MPs from Contesting Primaries-Says Prof Boafo-Arthur (Page 13)
Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah
THE Head of the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana, Professor Kwame Boafo-Arthur, has said it is wrong to protect any Member of Parliament (MP) from contesting local elections such as constituency primaries with the reason that the individual has acquired high level of political experience.
He said just like any Ghanaian, sitting MPs who would want to continue to stay in parliament must be made to go through constituency elections to help strengthen intra-party democracy as well as engender democratic accountability and good governance.
He said it would be wrong for any politician to be allowed to have an easy way out since some of them easily abandon those who voted them into power immediately they won seats to parliament.
Prof Boafo-Arthur expressed these sentiment when the Daily Graphic contacted him to comment on suggestions made by some people to the effect that political parties should find ways to protect some high profile MPs from being challenged at the constituency level.
That, they believed would enable those MPs to continue to champion the course of their political parties in parliament as well as build on their experience and knowledge as “career politicians”.
The suggestions were made days after some prominent figures in parliament including the Majority Leader in Parliament and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Tema West, Mr Abraham Osei Aidoo, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and NPP MP for Ejisu-Juaben, Mr Akwasi Osei-Adjei, as well as the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for South Dayi, Dr Kwame Ampofo lost in their individual constituencies during primaries.
For losing to others in their own parties, these seasoned MPs and many others in similar situation, could not contest the national elections scheduled for December 7, 2008 and therefore, forfeit going to parliament.
Presently, the NDC firebrand, who is the Minority Chief Whip and the MP for Avernor-Ave in the Volta Region, Mr Doe Adjaho is reportedly facing serious competition from Mr Seth Dominic Aglago, an Information Technology (IT) specialist in a constituency primary yet to take place.
Prof Boafo went on to explain that it was not for anything that the political parties included constituency primaries in their constitutions adding that it was put in there to check those who would fail to work in the interest of their constituents but only visit home prior to elections for campagin purposes.
He said since MPs were given the power by people in the constituencies, nothing should be done to encourage them to ignore the people.
Media reports from the constituents where sitting MPs lost to other candidates from their own political parties during primaries indicated that many of such MPs either failed to visit those constituencies on regular basis or had problems with the constituency executives.
A case in point is the Amansie West constituency where although the sitting MP, Mr I. K Poku-Adusei beat his opponent, Mr Joe Osei-Owusu by one vote, the people had organised series of protests, some violent and have issued threats of voting against him but for the NPP presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in what is known as “skirt and blouse” in Ghanaian political parlance.
Prof Boafo insisted that it was important for every individual, no matter his or her political position, to be given the opportunity to vie for an elected political office.
He stressed that no one should be protected but rather the field should be levelled to enable all other interested candidates to contest and win on merit.
THE Head of the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana, Professor Kwame Boafo-Arthur, has said it is wrong to protect any Member of Parliament (MP) from contesting local elections such as constituency primaries with the reason that the individual has acquired high level of political experience.
He said just like any Ghanaian, sitting MPs who would want to continue to stay in parliament must be made to go through constituency elections to help strengthen intra-party democracy as well as engender democratic accountability and good governance.
He said it would be wrong for any politician to be allowed to have an easy way out since some of them easily abandon those who voted them into power immediately they won seats to parliament.
Prof Boafo-Arthur expressed these sentiment when the Daily Graphic contacted him to comment on suggestions made by some people to the effect that political parties should find ways to protect some high profile MPs from being challenged at the constituency level.
That, they believed would enable those MPs to continue to champion the course of their political parties in parliament as well as build on their experience and knowledge as “career politicians”.
The suggestions were made days after some prominent figures in parliament including the Majority Leader in Parliament and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Tema West, Mr Abraham Osei Aidoo, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and NPP MP for Ejisu-Juaben, Mr Akwasi Osei-Adjei, as well as the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for South Dayi, Dr Kwame Ampofo lost in their individual constituencies during primaries.
For losing to others in their own parties, these seasoned MPs and many others in similar situation, could not contest the national elections scheduled for December 7, 2008 and therefore, forfeit going to parliament.
Presently, the NDC firebrand, who is the Minority Chief Whip and the MP for Avernor-Ave in the Volta Region, Mr Doe Adjaho is reportedly facing serious competition from Mr Seth Dominic Aglago, an Information Technology (IT) specialist in a constituency primary yet to take place.
Prof Boafo went on to explain that it was not for anything that the political parties included constituency primaries in their constitutions adding that it was put in there to check those who would fail to work in the interest of their constituents but only visit home prior to elections for campagin purposes.
He said since MPs were given the power by people in the constituencies, nothing should be done to encourage them to ignore the people.
Media reports from the constituents where sitting MPs lost to other candidates from their own political parties during primaries indicated that many of such MPs either failed to visit those constituencies on regular basis or had problems with the constituency executives.
A case in point is the Amansie West constituency where although the sitting MP, Mr I. K Poku-Adusei beat his opponent, Mr Joe Osei-Owusu by one vote, the people had organised series of protests, some violent and have issued threats of voting against him but for the NPP presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in what is known as “skirt and blouse” in Ghanaian political parlance.
Prof Boafo insisted that it was important for every individual, no matter his or her political position, to be given the opportunity to vie for an elected political office.
He stressed that no one should be protected but rather the field should be levelled to enable all other interested candidates to contest and win on merit.
Ghana Ready for 'HLF3' Forum (Page 34)
Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah
GHANA is ready to welcome more than 1,000 international dignitaries who are expected to participate in the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness scheduled for September 2 to 4, 2008 in Accra.
The Chief Director of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Nana Juaben-Boaten Siriboe, has said.
Dubbed “Accra HLF-3”, the forum, which is the third of its kind, is expected to take stock of and review progress made in implementing the 2005 Paris Declaration commitments, identify remaining bottlenecks and challenges and also determine the key actions both donors and recipient countries need to accelerate progress in making aid more effective.
Briefing the Daily Graphic in Accra on preparations so far made towards the commencement of the three-day international event, Nana Siriboe stated that “everything is on track”.
He explained that the inter-sectoral committee set up by the government about a year ago drew a lot of inspiration from some individuals, notably a Ghanaian career diplomat, Mr Aggrey Orleans, and also lessons from previous international events such as the African Union (AU) Summit, the Ghana 2008 football competition and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UNCTAD XII, which were held recently in Accra and expressed the hope that everything would go on well.
He said hotel arrangements had been made in and around Accra to accommodate the dignitaries who were coming from all the six continents of the world, such as the United Kingdom (UK), United States of America (USA), Japan, Sweden, Germany, South Korea, Denmark, France, New Zealand, Fiji, Vietnam, Nigeria, Colombia and South Africa, among others.
He added that there had been contacts with some private car rental companies to offer transport services to support what the government had.
Among the dignitaries, according to Nana Siriboe, were the presidents of Liberia, Dr (Mrs) Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and that of Honduras, Mr Manuel Zelaya Rosales, as well as 120 ministers of finance and about 200 top officials from bilateral and multilateral organisations such as the World Bank, the Arab Bank for Economic Development, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, the Council for European Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, the Global Fund, the OPEC Fund for International Development, and the Economic Commission for Africa, among others.
Other participants include heads of donor agencies, government organisations, international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other civil society groups.
Nana Siriboe, who was in the company of the Head of the Public Relations Unit of the ministry, Ms Cecilia Akwetey, said about 200 journalists from both within and outside the country, had applied to be issued with accreditation to cover the event.
He said a joint team from the World Bank and the Organisation of Economic Community for Development (OECD), co-sponsors of the programme, was already in the Accra and had set up a secretariat on the premises of the State House to prepare for the opening of the event.
He added that journalists who had applied for accreditation could go to the secretariat for the processing of their accreditation cards from today, Friday, August 29, 2008.
Touching on the programme line-up, Nana Siriboe said the Chief Advisor to the President, Mrs Mary Chinery-Hesse, was scheduled to give the welcoming address on September 2, 2008, while President J.A. Kufuor opens a Ministerial Day of the High Level Forum on September 4, 2008.
Topics to be discussed include “Progress since the Paris Meeting and Aid and Development Effectiveness beyond Accra, Aid Effectiveness and Development Results: What Needs to Change and How can the International Aid System Deliver?, Climate Change Adaptation and Aid Effectiveness, The Role of Statistics in Aid Effectiveness, Regional Centres for Evaluation Capacity Development”, among others.
As part of the programme, there would be nine roundtable discussions, which would be chaired by highly competent individuals on the international scene, as well as side events to be organised by civil society groups from all over the world on some of the issues confronting developing countries.
The Chief Director added that the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) had agreed to record a programme dubbed “Who is Doing What for Africa?” by a group of panellists, who will include Ghana’s Finance Minister, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, at the National Theatre on September 3, 2008.
In a related development, a release from a group of civil society organisations (CSOs) told the Daily Graphic that prior to the forum, a civil society parallel, Aid Effectiveness Forum, will bring together more than 400 CSOs from August 30 to September 1, to discuss and finalise their recommendations to the High Level Forum (HLF) decision makers.
The release, which was signed by K. Abdullai Kamara of Monrovia, Liberia, on behalf of ActionAid, said at the last High Level Forum, held in Paris in March 2005, that donors and governments signed onto “The Paris Declaration”, a five-year plan for reform of aid practices that included five principles to make aid delivery effective – country ownership, alignment to country priorities, harmonisation of the terms for aid, management of aid for results, and mutual accountability for these results – with related goals for action.
The Accra High Level Forum will review progress on these commitments, but equally important, the Forum may also establish an agenda for deepening these reforms over the next two years, leading to a successor Declaration to be agreed in 2011 in Beijing , China .
GHANA is ready to welcome more than 1,000 international dignitaries who are expected to participate in the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness scheduled for September 2 to 4, 2008 in Accra.
The Chief Director of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Nana Juaben-Boaten Siriboe, has said.
Dubbed “Accra HLF-3”, the forum, which is the third of its kind, is expected to take stock of and review progress made in implementing the 2005 Paris Declaration commitments, identify remaining bottlenecks and challenges and also determine the key actions both donors and recipient countries need to accelerate progress in making aid more effective.
Briefing the Daily Graphic in Accra on preparations so far made towards the commencement of the three-day international event, Nana Siriboe stated that “everything is on track”.
He explained that the inter-sectoral committee set up by the government about a year ago drew a lot of inspiration from some individuals, notably a Ghanaian career diplomat, Mr Aggrey Orleans, and also lessons from previous international events such as the African Union (AU) Summit, the Ghana 2008 football competition and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UNCTAD XII, which were held recently in Accra and expressed the hope that everything would go on well.
He said hotel arrangements had been made in and around Accra to accommodate the dignitaries who were coming from all the six continents of the world, such as the United Kingdom (UK), United States of America (USA), Japan, Sweden, Germany, South Korea, Denmark, France, New Zealand, Fiji, Vietnam, Nigeria, Colombia and South Africa, among others.
He added that there had been contacts with some private car rental companies to offer transport services to support what the government had.
Among the dignitaries, according to Nana Siriboe, were the presidents of Liberia, Dr (Mrs) Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and that of Honduras, Mr Manuel Zelaya Rosales, as well as 120 ministers of finance and about 200 top officials from bilateral and multilateral organisations such as the World Bank, the Arab Bank for Economic Development, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, the Council for European Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, the Global Fund, the OPEC Fund for International Development, and the Economic Commission for Africa, among others.
Other participants include heads of donor agencies, government organisations, international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other civil society groups.
Nana Siriboe, who was in the company of the Head of the Public Relations Unit of the ministry, Ms Cecilia Akwetey, said about 200 journalists from both within and outside the country, had applied to be issued with accreditation to cover the event.
He said a joint team from the World Bank and the Organisation of Economic Community for Development (OECD), co-sponsors of the programme, was already in the Accra and had set up a secretariat on the premises of the State House to prepare for the opening of the event.
He added that journalists who had applied for accreditation could go to the secretariat for the processing of their accreditation cards from today, Friday, August 29, 2008.
Touching on the programme line-up, Nana Siriboe said the Chief Advisor to the President, Mrs Mary Chinery-Hesse, was scheduled to give the welcoming address on September 2, 2008, while President J.A. Kufuor opens a Ministerial Day of the High Level Forum on September 4, 2008.
Topics to be discussed include “Progress since the Paris Meeting and Aid and Development Effectiveness beyond Accra, Aid Effectiveness and Development Results: What Needs to Change and How can the International Aid System Deliver?, Climate Change Adaptation and Aid Effectiveness, The Role of Statistics in Aid Effectiveness, Regional Centres for Evaluation Capacity Development”, among others.
As part of the programme, there would be nine roundtable discussions, which would be chaired by highly competent individuals on the international scene, as well as side events to be organised by civil society groups from all over the world on some of the issues confronting developing countries.
The Chief Director added that the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) had agreed to record a programme dubbed “Who is Doing What for Africa?” by a group of panellists, who will include Ghana’s Finance Minister, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, at the National Theatre on September 3, 2008.
In a related development, a release from a group of civil society organisations (CSOs) told the Daily Graphic that prior to the forum, a civil society parallel, Aid Effectiveness Forum, will bring together more than 400 CSOs from August 30 to September 1, to discuss and finalise their recommendations to the High Level Forum (HLF) decision makers.
The release, which was signed by K. Abdullai Kamara of Monrovia, Liberia, on behalf of ActionAid, said at the last High Level Forum, held in Paris in March 2005, that donors and governments signed onto “The Paris Declaration”, a five-year plan for reform of aid practices that included five principles to make aid delivery effective – country ownership, alignment to country priorities, harmonisation of the terms for aid, management of aid for results, and mutual accountability for these results – with related goals for action.
The Accra High Level Forum will review progress on these commitments, but equally important, the Forum may also establish an agenda for deepening these reforms over the next two years, leading to a successor Declaration to be agreed in 2011 in Beijing , China .
Yammi Gari is Not Banned (Spread)
Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah
THE Managing Director of Philio Delio Smile Foods, producers of Yammi Gari Mix, Madam Philomina A. Debrah, has explained that her product has not been banned.
She said her product was different from another product reportedly banned by the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) in Kumasi, which appeared on the front page of a national daily last month.
Producing documents to support her statement, Madam Debrah said the Yammi Gari Mix was of good quality and had, therefore, been certified by the Food and Drugs Board (FDB), the Food Research Institute and the Ghana Standards Board (GSB).
Reacting to the publication which she said had affected her business, she said her product went through all the necessary tests and came out as a good and safe food for human consumption.
The GSB issued a certificate with number 708031, and signed by the acting Executive Director of the board and issued on July 14, 2007 to Phillio Delio Smile Foods to enable the company to use the board mark of conformity on its product, Yammi Gari Mix.
The certificate stated that “ the Board hereby grant to Phillio Delio Smile Foods of Accra hereinafter called the Licensee, the right and licence to use the registered certification mark of the board set out in the first column of the schedule which are produced by the licensee in accordance with the appropriate Ghana standard referred to in the third column of the said schedule as from time to time amended”.
Under what was referred to as “schedule” on the certificate, it stated that “Goods in respect of which the use of the mark is granted is Gari Mix (Yammi)”.
A letter headlined “Food Registration”, issued on August 13, 2008, and signed by the Deputy Chief Executive, Food Division of the FDB, Mr Kwamina Van-Ess stated that, “This is to acknowledge receipt of your corrected labels and to inform you that your product has been registered as follows, Yammi Instant Gari Mix - FDB/Rt 07-005. You are required to indicate this number on your product.”
Madam Debrah said her product was prepared in Tesano in Accra but not in Kumasi and also with the above proof, there was no way it could be identified with another product which was said had been banned by the FDB in Kumasi.
She assured her numerous customers to continue to enjoy her product, Yammi Gari Mix, since it had been tested and approved by recognised state institutions.
THE Managing Director of Philio Delio Smile Foods, producers of Yammi Gari Mix, Madam Philomina A. Debrah, has explained that her product has not been banned.
She said her product was different from another product reportedly banned by the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) in Kumasi, which appeared on the front page of a national daily last month.
Producing documents to support her statement, Madam Debrah said the Yammi Gari Mix was of good quality and had, therefore, been certified by the Food and Drugs Board (FDB), the Food Research Institute and the Ghana Standards Board (GSB).
Reacting to the publication which she said had affected her business, she said her product went through all the necessary tests and came out as a good and safe food for human consumption.
The GSB issued a certificate with number 708031, and signed by the acting Executive Director of the board and issued on July 14, 2007 to Phillio Delio Smile Foods to enable the company to use the board mark of conformity on its product, Yammi Gari Mix.
The certificate stated that “ the Board hereby grant to Phillio Delio Smile Foods of Accra hereinafter called the Licensee, the right and licence to use the registered certification mark of the board set out in the first column of the schedule which are produced by the licensee in accordance with the appropriate Ghana standard referred to in the third column of the said schedule as from time to time amended”.
Under what was referred to as “schedule” on the certificate, it stated that “Goods in respect of which the use of the mark is granted is Gari Mix (Yammi)”.
A letter headlined “Food Registration”, issued on August 13, 2008, and signed by the Deputy Chief Executive, Food Division of the FDB, Mr Kwamina Van-Ess stated that, “This is to acknowledge receipt of your corrected labels and to inform you that your product has been registered as follows, Yammi Instant Gari Mix - FDB/Rt 07-005. You are required to indicate this number on your product.”
Madam Debrah said her product was prepared in Tesano in Accra but not in Kumasi and also with the above proof, there was no way it could be identified with another product which was said had been banned by the FDB in Kumasi.
She assured her numerous customers to continue to enjoy her product, Yammi Gari Mix, since it had been tested and approved by recognised state institutions.
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