Bongo DCE accused of misappropriation of funds

Members of the Bongo District Assembly in the Upper East region are accusing the DCE of misappropriating the assembly’s common fund. According to them the DCE, Clement Atia, has unilaterally approved about GHC160,000 to sponsor a group to the United States for an exchange programme. Chairman of the assembly’s executive committee, Ayim Bisa says the DCE took the decision without the approval of the executive committee. “The DCE and the management team are embarking on an international trip to the USA in the name of the Assembly. “We called the DCE to find out why such a financial commitment without the attention or approval of the assembly,” he alleged, but added no favourable response emerged. He accused the DCE of smuggling a document to the Assembly claiming the amount allocated for the trip had been okayed by the Assembly when nothing of the sort had happened. The DCE however declined to comment on the issue when contacted. Meanwhile, officials at the Local Government Ministry say expenditure on such trips are subject to the approval of the minister and therefore urged the executives to forward their complains to the appropriate quarters. Story Moses Kanga/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

$37m for secondhand Germany naval ships

A naval ship         Parliament has approved a loan agreement for the purchase and refurbishment of two second hand Germany naval ships. The two ships to cost about 37 million US dollars will include supply of equipment, inventory and spares, training of crew and the transportation of the ships to Ghana. The house also approved an amount of 100 million dollars for the procurement of strategic equipment to re-equip the Army and Air force and also improve barracks accommodation for the soldiers. The two agreements were approved behind closed sittings because it involves the country's security. Source: Joynews/Myjoyonline.com

NPP&NDC must be blamed for collapse of GIA - Ato Conduah

A former Management Consultant to the Senior Staff Association of the defunct Ghana Airways, Mr. Ato Conduah says neither the NDC nor NPP governments can escape blame for the woes of Ghana International Airlines. Speaking on Citi FM Tuesday, Mr. Konduah noted that the difficulties facing GIA is as a result of complete failure on the part of GIA Board, the management and most of all, government as a majority shareholder, to do what was expected of them. The troubles of the once thriving Airliner have deepened since its operations were suspended by government due to its inability to fly passengers. An alleged embezzlement of ticket sales by management was blamed for the suspension, an allegation that has been challenged by the management. Mr. Conduah said the decision to dissolve Ghana Airways was not a wise one and blamed government for failing to adopt a business module that would have sustained the business into the future but rather resorted to try and error. ‘‘It was an airline that needed just 4 million dollars to make it more competitive but that was not done with the view that they had not managed well. They rather created something to glorify themselves and the foundation on which the new airline was situated was fundamentally weak from the beginning. There is no way a national airline could be running on the budget of the government, and from that moment we set ourselves to fail. ‘‘The painful thing is that in Ghana we don’t like professionals who can turn things around, and that is the same in the case of the airline. In Ghana, only grey hair contains wisdom and we don’t entertain young visionary ideas that can bring results to this country. We indicated that it was not a wise decision to sell the airline but all these were ignored. The leadership for the airline was wrong and at some point I thought they were using PR to run the organization rather than using proper management work’’. He said it was unfair for government to say that it has no obligation to GIA staff over their unpaid salary claims. According to him, GIA workers were engaged in the name of government as majority shareholders together with the minority shareholders. ‘‘People were given contracts to discharge and if they had been managed well by the senior management in the organisation, we would not have gotten to where we are now. Somebody is responsible and instead of taking collective responsibility to sit down and look at what we can do right, we have thrown our hands in the air blaming one another’’. ‘‘The real difficulties are still there. The finances are weak, we lack the necessary partnership of a work lease for an aircraft to begin our own operations, and there is no airline company in the world that has made serious profits by using chattered flights. If you want to do that kind of business, you must own your own aircraft and we have not made an attempt’’ he fumed. He blamed governments’ undue interference in the management of both the defunct Ghana Airways and GIA for the woes of the Airliner. ‘‘We all remember when a senior member of government sent policemen and soldiers to go and run out minority shareholders who were in management of that airline. And we cannot simply say that government was innocent in this. I mean the old government (NPP). Secondly, when the old Ghana Airways was dissolved because it was not financially viable, according to the authorities, the forensic audit that was undertaken revealed that government appointees in the NDC were going to Accra-New York Accra for 100 dollars, Accra-Johannesburg-Accra for 100 dollars. How can a national airline be used by state officials at that discount and still be expected to turnover profits? He queried. Source: Citifmonline

No accountability, no loans for MMT – Appiah-Ofori charges

Paul Collins Appiah-Ofori         Anti-corruption crusader PC Appiah-Ofori has urged his colleagues in Parliament to reject a proposal to purchase 50 new buses for the Metro Mass Transit Company (MMT). The buses are to augment the company’s fleet, but Mr. Appiah-Ofori kicked against it, arguing that the company has refused to account for the numerous buses purchased for them under the Kufuor administration, and would therefore be imprudent for the government to incur more debts on its behalf. The government had on Tuesday sought the approval of the legislators for funds to buy 50 news buse for the company. “So far as I am concerned, unless they bring their audited accounts for the period they have operated, unless they bring their cash flow statement, and unless they bring amortization schedule showing how they would be able to pay the loan. By the end of the tenure of the loan we should not entertain it,” the MP for Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa declared. Expatiating on his call for the rejection, Mr Appiah-Ofori said in 2003 the then NPP government brought a request to Parliament for a loan approval for the purchase of 150 buses for MMT and it was approved. Subsequently, another approval was made in 2006 for 50 buses, but there has not been any accountability from the company. He stressed that if the company was not made to account for the loans, it would be incumbent on the government to take money from the Consolidated Fund to pay the loans. “We should not sit down unconcerned for inefficiency [to creep into the activities of local companies], for people to misappropriate state funds still, and at the end of the day it becomes a debt for government to pay,” he charged on his colleague legislators. Meanwhile, a decision on the motion has been deferred. Story by Isaac Essel/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

Tsikata’s Corrupt Practices To Delay First Oil?

World Bank Launches Investigations!!!!!!

By Betty Dadzie (Takoradi, Ghana), Charles Quaye (London) Upstream Ghana

The inordinate greed of one person who has single handedly caused more harm to Ghana than any living individual has been exposed, with monumental consequences to Ghana’s economy. Ghanaians may now have to wait until 2012 before the oil starts flowing because of Tsatsu Tsikata’s alleged corrupt practices.

Very reliable sources at the Osu Castle (Accra) as well as the World Bank have revealed that Tsatsu Tsikata has received various sums of monies totaling $2 million through Strategic Oil and Gas (SOG), a company that is 50% owned by Tsatsu, in the award of the FPSO contract by MODEC of Japan. According to the source at the Osu Castle, a total amount of $2 million has already been paid to Tsikata in installments as follows: the first $750,000 was made on March 31, 2009, another $750,000 was paid on July 24, 2009 and the final payment of $500,000 was made on April 30, 2010. The remaining $3 million will be paid at the pump of first oil.

In his attempt to beat the bidding process and make it appear legitimate, Tsatsu Tsikata is alleged to have back-dated the signing of the agreement to June 4, 2008, a time this felon was in prison. Another attempt by ex-convict Tsikata to evade thorough due diligence was to present his contract as the last required documentation to the World Bank recently. But at long last the watchful eyes of officials at the World Bank spotted the anomalies. Tsatsu Tsikata’s massive corruption scandal has been exposed and all Ghanaians must now pay a price by having to wait until 2012 for the first oil to be produced.

At this point, what is conclusive is that evidence of payments to Tsatsu Tsikata has been established. In addition, the IFC/World Bank is currently investigating whether the award of the FPSO contract was done in a fair and transparent manner devoid of undue influences. The investigation is also looking into areas such as the owner of the other 50% of Strategic Oil and Gas and the nature of services provided vis-à-vis the award and the amount of the contract.

As a result of Tsikata’s shady connections to the award of the MODEC contract, the signing of MODEC’s financing deal for the Kwame Nkrumah FPSO has been delayed to complete the investigation. That’s not all; the Multinational Insurance Guarantee Agency (MIGA) has suspended the insurance coverage of the super tanker, which means the oil production cannot begin. If the IFC/World Bank finds any wrong doing in the award of the FPSO contract they will withdraw their funding which will likely lead to the other banks doing the same.

By the statute of the World Bank, it cannot condone shady deals and corrupt practices, therefore if the World Bank pulls its finances and the other partners follow suit, the tragic consequences for Ghanaians is that the FPSO will leave Ghana and the project will be delayed with no first oil for at least two years if a new vessel has to be built.

Fellow Ghanaians, the question we must ask ourselves is how can those who have never been elected by the people nor vetted by Parliament, wield such massive power over the President’s cabinet and do such damage to our collective fortune as a nation? These radical elements never participate in the electoral process and never pass up the opportunity to make populist claims of helping the poor. Yet they operate behind the scenes and scoop everything they can get their hands on to amass illegal wealth at the expense of the very foot soldiers who made it possible for them to be in government. This monkey-dey-work-baboon-dey-chop syndrome must stop if Ghana is to have a chance of moving forward.

To understand the sick and greedy world in which Tsikata lives is to understand the following:

First, he led GNPC for 15 years during which not a drop of oil was ever discovered, but Ghana’s money was wasted in gambling initiatives such as derivatives. Tsikata used these arrogant, know-it-all set of mentality to keep away any credible exploration companies. A new era came in and in less than eight years, Ghana discovered oil in commercial quantities using laws that were written during PNDC era Tsikata comes in and unnecessarily question the tenets of the Petroleum Agreements that brought the oil, and which he himself used to sign. His greed has led him to champion a cause that seeks to block the entry into our infant industry by world class operators and rather hand our precious asset to the Chinese who are notorious for mismanaging energy After these recent revelations, it is now apparent that Tsikata is not only unworthy of making energy-related decisions on behalf of Ghana, he is illegally acquiring extensive wealth at the expense of suffering Ghanaians.

Ghana has been blessed with oil to help alleviate the suffering of Ghanaians and make our nation a prosperous one. How can we sit back and allow one person without any mandate, and who is a convicted felon, to mortgage our fortunes to satisfy his personal greed? If we do not stand up as a nation to face rogues like Tsatsu Tsikata in the NDC administration, the mismanagement of oil resources that happened in other places will be a child’s play as compared to what is about to happen in Ghana.

Tony Aidoo: NPP blew $10m over policy and evaluation

Dr. Tony Aidoo         Head of Policy, Monitoring and Evaluation team at the presidency, Dr Tony Aidoo has accused the erstwhile New Patriotic Party of misappropriating $10 million being cash for the establishment of a database and policy evaluation outfit. According to Dr Aidoo, the opposition party had nothing to show for the amount provided by the UNDP and DFID except traces of feasibility studies. “From 2003-2008 the NPP administration [set up or] attempted to set up a similar system of monitoring and evaluation that I am doing and had a funding of almost $10 million. “...Apart from feasibility studies that were carried out I came to find that the whole output of the unit did not even contain a baseline databank. “In less than nine months I have spent less than GH¢200,000 to build up a comprehensive data bank with all the 23 ministers having their policies and programmes in that bank, 170 District Assemblies with their data in there..” Dr Aidoo was speaking to Joy FM’s Super Morning Show Host Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah on the impact his new portfolio is having on the performance of the Mills administration. The enigmatic politician said his outfit is fully IT-based with evidence-based performance monitoring system to track the performance of the various ministries, departments and agencies. Dr Aidoo said his system has been able to capture the total number of people on government payroll, but was yet to incorporate the total number of jobs created across the country. Story by Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

Ellembelle Organiser of NDC slams party faithful

The Ellembelle Constituency Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Kwame Amossah has advised party faithful not to take advantage of the democratic dispensation of the country to denigrate people in authority. He therefore asked them to channel their grievances to the appropriate structures of the party for redress. Mr Amossah who gave the advice in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Awiebo, in the Western Region, said it is unfortunate for the NDC to go public with issues that could be discussed among the party hierarchy. He said this attitude tend to tarnish the image of the party. Mr Amossah rebuffed critics of the Mills-led administration for non- performance, adding that "President Mills is a methodical man with a clear idea of his goal." He observed that in spite of the tremendous efforts of the government to stabilise the economy to better the lot of Ghanaians, the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) is not content and is always criticising the NDC for inaction. Mr Amossah therefore urged the NPP to give credit where it is due especially the drastic reduction of inflation by the government. Source: GNA

Irate NDC youth in Tamale demand restart of auction process

A meeting between the Tamale Metropolitan Security Council and leaders of an irate NDC group has ended abruptly. The meeting was called after the Gbewah youth disrupted the Assembly’s auctioning exercise on two occasions and towed away some vehicles. They claim the Assembly did not follow due procedures in auctioning the said vehicles. Contrary to police initial reports the irate youth will be arrested and prosecuted, the police rather adopted dialogue. According to Joy FM’s Northern Regional correspondent Mahama Shaibu the ring leaders of the NDC youth walked out immediately the MCE Alhaji Haruna Friday entered the meeting premises. The youth say they will not have anything to do with the MCE and promised to return the two vehicles only if the Assembly restarts the whole process. A member of the Assembly has on anonymity told Shaibu the Assembly is contemplating cancelling the exercise. Source: Joy News/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

NDC youth lock out Sissala East DCE

Supporters of the Sissala East constituency chairman of the National Democracy Congress (NDC) are said to have locked the DCE out of office on Sunday. They accuse her of allocating tractors meant for use by the assembly to her cronies including husband, but Madam Alijata Sulemana has denied the allegation. She insists only those who registered and paid for the haulage of the tractors benefited. Joy News’ Upper West Regional correspondent Rafiq Salam reports there have been several meetings in the past to resolve what seems to be a frosty relationship between the constituency chairman Mallam Musa Atia and the DCE but all have drawn blank stares. Meanwhile the constituency chairman has denied the locking out of the DCE from office, saying what his boys did was to deflate the tires of the tractors from being moved out of the assembly’s premises. In a related development, the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly has cancelled the auction of its vehicles. It follows protests by NDC youth who disrupted previous exercises and even seized two of the auctioned cars from buyers. Yesterday, a meeting was called but the group disrupted it protesting the participation of the mayor. Public Relations Officer of the TAMA, Issah Musah, tells Joy News the nullification of the auction had nothing to do with doubts raised about the credibility of the process. Source: Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

John Mahama's mess and the STX Bribery Saga!

    

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The revelation recently that the government delegation who went to Korea to negotiate for the STX deal were given $2,600 and other freebies to soften their stance in order to make deal go through is just the icing on the cake. There are bigger fishes involved and Ghanaians are going to learn to their horror that, Professor Kofi Awornor, Totobi Quakye and Vice President John Mahama have personal interest to see to it that, the STX contract goes through because of an alleged bribery scandal looming.

The Mail newspaper on Thursday July 15 quoted 'a source' as alleging that the delegation that signed the STX Korea housing deal were induced with a sum of US$2,600 each for “shopping” by the Korean company. The former Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Hon. Albert Abongo in a rebuttal the mail report stated categorically that a 12-member government delegation that signed the STX Korea housing deal on behalf of the country in 2009 were not bribed with US$2,600 by the Korean company but were only given gifts.

Hon. Albert Abongo said members of the delegation merely received gifts from the Korean company which cannot be termed as inducement. He says the gifts could not have compromised their judgments in respect of the STX housing deal.

My own check with some STX officials proved that Hon. Albert Abongo is not just telling lies but is also protecting the likes of John Mahama and Kofi Awornor who were themselves beneficiaries of the booty.

There are many questions that demand answers. First of all, who introduced the STX deal to government? Was John Mahama part of the first government delegation to Korea? Why would a vice president of the republic negotiate a deal on behalf of government of Ghana using his personal address? I challenge vice president John Mahama to come out and denied his involvement in this shady deal. The likes of John Mahama have little shame to speak about corruption and good governance.

What an embarrassment! Government officials have shown their greed and lack of respect for the position they hold. How can a country develop with such corrupt leadership?

Some People respect this Mahama without realizing the harm the he is doing to the country. He is the most corrupt individual in this administration. How can a vice president negotiate such a deal for the people of Ghana if he has no personal interest?

I simply wonder if these so called leaders know what they are about. How can the Mills administration award such a huge contract to a company that does not exist? A simple background check on the company can do us some good.

It took me just under a minute to google and find out a bit about the company. This company has neither been set up recently or it has been around since 2003 as it claims on its "hosting website" just waiting for such an opportunity to come through.

The so-called "Zhenjiang International Trade Center" is a centre set up by the China Ministry of Commerce in 1984 and the building completed in 1989 around which time; this so-called STX was not in existence. I can go on and on and on and on about the lies behind this deal. This is why these so-called leaders refuse to do what is right for people to get some enlightenment.

The Real Estate Industry in Ghana have never been given a fraction of what STX Korea is been offered. To restate some of the outrageous give away to the Koreans; Ghana Government sovereign guarantee to raise funding, free land from the Government's land banks, unconditional import and income tax exemptions as well as VAT exemptions on things STX will buy locally; and full profit repatriation for both the staff and the company is just absolute hogwash if not plain nonsensical. What at all is wrong with our leaders? And for a vice president of the republic to be involved in this shady deal amidst the greasing of palms says a lot about our mentality and the primitive behavior of our leaders.

How does government expect Ghanaians to pay their Tax obligations when a big foreign company can be given so much from the Ghanaian economy and they will not pay tax and can repatriate all their profits? This is insane.

All of a sudden, the Vice Presidents' brother is a rich man tooling around town in a Bentley. This is a guy that was struggling to survive economically and he is a rich man within 18 months of his brother's administration. These people are taking advantage of our week President to do horrible things behind his back. Ghanaians are going to learn how this STX contract was sold to Mills by the three 'AMIGOS', Vice-President Mahama, Kofi Awornor and Totobi Quakye and they are going to realize what a corrupt and ruthless men we have ruling this country.

Ghana has lost its moral rudder. Since February 2000, our nation's moral development and the commitment to protect our young citizens have been encumbered by an incompetent leadership. In a world of hostile competition, where leaders fight for national interests, we have lost our nation to relational political learners who barely understand the link between the good governance and a nation's moral development. Unlike Nkrumah, and Jerry Rawlings who spoke on the moral and political aspirations of their people, our “uninsightful” leaders are skilled in supporting policies that call for the exploitation of our economy and resources by transnational corporations. While great leaders debate policies, the best way to move their nations forward, and protecting the young generation, the attention of the Ghanaian political leadership is fixated on the corrupt deals. If the proverb, “misery seeks company” is true, then our nation's political leaders have become popular experts in debating inconsequential matters while mega-problems, such as the sexual abuse of the nation's children, fester into a malignant cancer.

Until we make genuine efforts at fighting corruption by punishing corrupt officials, we are not going to make any meaningful headway in our efforts to create a better Ghana. We are quick to speak but too slow to act. We cannot speak development into being. We have to work hard to put certain things in place to form a solid foundation upon which we can build our nation. If public officials in high places do not know the difference between gifts and bribes, then we are in trouble. President Atta Mills should be bold to deal with corrupt officials by prosecuting them and asking them to pay whatever they have stolen with an additional penalty. We should make use of hidden cameras in our efforts to expose corrupt officials at all levels of government. Those found to be corrupt should be severely punished and humiliated publicly and we should be consistent at this - applying the punitive measures across the board, but especially to those within the ruling party! Charity begins at home!

Fifty-three years after independence we have problems with our water supply, some homes have not seen a single drop of water from their taps for years, we are digging borehole for water in the capitals only psychiatric hospital, our hospitals are so bad that the president and other politicians travel abroad for treatment, our power supply is so bad that investors are loosing money, and all the government can think of are affordable houses, how are they going to supply those houses with water because at the moment there is not enough water to go round, we always get our priorities wrong.

Our nation's moral problems are not beyond our control. They are an amalgam of bad leadership, a break down of law and order, the discarding of moral principles into the dustbin, and a pacifist attitude that blames everything on past leadership. While it is easy to express disapproval from an outsider's perspective, the scale of our nation's moral problems requires objective self-expression and a competent leadership that is ready to intervene should it be called upon to do so.

Ghanaians should open their eyes wide and observe things critically. This nation is blessed by nature as such is not a poor country but our leaders are killing us. Why? We vote to office and they turn their back to us pointing to us as stupid citizens. How can Ghana pay back 10 billion dollars in the said housing project? Meanwhile they are going to be beneficiaries.

These incorrigible politicians will sell the country down the drain for a pittance. The youth of Ghana must stand up to these idiots, they are short-circuiting our lives!

Ghanaba, Dickson
New, Jersey
Ghanaba2010@gmail.com