Story:Michael Donkor
THE Bank of Ghana (BoG) will by the end of this month introduce a system of codeline truncation to facilitate the quick clearing of cheques.
It will also introduce an automated clearing house (ACH) for the clearing of electronic debits and credits by the same period.
The Governor of the BoG, Dr Paul Acquah, announced this when he launched the Ghana Banking Survey 2008 results in Accra yesterday.
The survey was conducted by PricewaterHouseCoopers and the Ghana Association of Bankers,and covered all the banks in the country.
On the theme: “Raising the Bar: increase in the minimum capital requirements and implications for the industry,” the annual survey seeks to assess the current performance of the banking industry as an important component of the economy, and project trends in the coming years.
Dr Acquah challenged commercial banks to raise their capital base to meet the opportunities and challenges that had come along with reforms in the industry.
He said if that was done, the economy would grow at an accelerated pace and the standards of living of the people would rise while the country advanced towards a middle income status.
The BoG last year prepared a discussion document asking banks to increase their minimum capital from GH¢7 million to GH¢60 million by 2012, in view of the sophistication of the financial system, the ever growing local economy and the fact that local banks should be able to compete internationally.
Dr Acquah noted that the economy was becoming increasingly complex, and that high value financial transactions were likely to occur in the future.
He has therefore urged commercial banks to inject capital into the industry to build the capacity so as to financing bigger projects as well as volumes of trade without posing risks to financial stability.
Dr Acquah said the range of financial services had broadened with innovation, which had become a characteristic of the industry.
He said the potential for expanding loan portfolios and providing sophisticated financial services was constrained by a bank’s capital.
He said total shareholders’ funds stood at approximately Gh$870 million at the beginning of this year for all the 25 banks.
Dr Acquah said this figure could be compared with the annual syndicated short-term loan of some $800 million raised on the international capital market for the purchase of cocoa.
He said from the perspective of the BOG as a regulator, the growing sophistication of the banking system required that they introduced risk-based supervision along with an electronic reporting system to reinforce the macro-prudential anchor.
He gave the assurance that the BoG would continue to pursue policies and programmes aimed at developing a vibrant financial system capable of harnessing financial resources for the development and growth of the economy.
He said the BoG appreciated the healthy working relationship that existed between the BoG, banks and other stakeholders.
He expressed the hope that the co-operation would be deepened to enhance performance of the banking industry by using the new bar set by the increase in the regulatory capital as a pivot and a historic benchmark for the growth of the industry.
A partner of the Advisory Services at PricewaterHouseCoopers (PWC), Mr Vish Ashiagbor, who presented a synopsis of the report said the survey which was conducted annually focused on analysis of financial performance using information reported by the banks.
He said at the end of the survey, although the price of crude oil shot up, the economy stayed on course.
Mr Ashiagbor said the banking industry had reached a stage where survival was strictly tied to creativity and ability to grab opportunities.
He said any slip ups would be heavily punished by the market, while “creativity and hard eye for opportunities” will be rewarded.
Mr Ashiagbor said the industry grew, and deposits as well as credit followed suit.
He said it was also realised that as competition intensified, margins squeezed and portfolio management improved.
The PWC Partner said the banking industry was making significant progress with most of the growth indicators on the ascendancy.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Stop Assault on Journalists-GJA(Centre Spread) Jnue 10, 2008
Story: Michael Donkor
THE President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Mr Ransford Tetteh, has appealed to all stakeholders to desist from assaulting journalists in the discharge of their legitimate duties.
He said anybody who disagreed with the work of a journalist was entitled to make his opinion either through a rejoinder or make a complaint to the National Media Commission (NMC) for redress.
He said these physical attacks on journalists had the potential to mar the coveted image of Ghana as one of the most media-friendly countries in Africa.
Mr Tetteh made the appeal when the executive members of the GJA presented a petition to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr Joe Ghartey, and the Speaker of Parliament on the alleged attack on the Central Regional Editor of the Daily Graphic, Mr Joe Okyere, by the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam Constituency and former Central Regional Minister, Mr Isaac Edumadze.
The petition called on Parliament to investigate and take appropriate action concerning the role played by Mr Edumadze in assaulting Mr Okyere while that of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice called on him to speed up action on the case concerning the assault when the police complete their investigations and submits the docket to the Attorney-General’s office.
Mr Tetteh explained that the GJA had decided to seek redress through the two statutory bodies of the country to send the right signals to all that it was always appropriate to use legal means to seek relief for wrongs done to anybody in society and that the resort to assault in the face of provocation was not helpful in any democratic dispensation.
He said the 2007 worldwide Press Freedom Ranking of Reporteur San Frontier (Reporters without Borders) ranked Ghana third in Africa after Mauritius and Namibia.
He said this country ranked 29th out of a total of 169 countries in the world, even above some developed democracies such as the United States of America, France, Italy and Japan and called on all citizens to sustain this record by tolerating divergent views.
Mr Tetteh said the GJA took a serious view of the incident at Mr Edumadze’s residence and believed a speedy action from the end of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice on the completion of investigation by the police and Parliament would be a good signal that the country was irreversibly committed to the rule of law.
He said the GJA was also worried that these attacks could likely undermine the progress the country had made in democratic development since the Fourth Republic.
Mr Tetteh said the GJA, following reports of the incident, sent a fact-finding mission to Cape Coast on May 29, 2008.
It was led by the General-Secretary, Mr Bright Blewu, and made up of the Treasurer, Mrs Yaa Oforiwaa Asare-Peasah; and Legal Advisors, Mr Kwasi Afriyie Badu and Mrs Marian Kyei, both members of the association.
He said information gathered by the fact-finding mission indicated that the incident took place on the premises of Mr Isaac Edumadze’s house at Ejumako-Ochiso.
Mr Tetteh said in separate accounts, Mr Philip Baidoo of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, who had taken Joe Okyere to Mr Edumazde’s house, said he personally witnessed agents of Mr Edumadze beat up Mr Okyere mercilessly on the explicit instructions of Mr Edumadze while Mr Okyere on the other hand insisted that the attack was led by the MP himself.
Mr Joe Ghartey described the situation as unfortunate but said under the Constitution the Attorney-General’s office had no right to investigate cases but only to prosecute.
He said when the news of the alleged assault broke out, his outfit referred the matter to the Inspector General of Police for investigation.
Mr Ghartey gave the assurance that the law would not be twisted and added that the government was committed to the Universal Human Rights and would do everything possible to uphold it.
He said the Attorney-General’s office would take the necessary action after the investigations by the police.
He proposed that a Human Rights Committee, to be co-chaired by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice and the President of the GJA with four members each from the two bodies, be established to address complaints of assault, particularly those involving the ordinary Ghanaian.
Mr Ghartey said in the interim, anybody who would suffer any assault should call the Human Rights hotline, 0273448788 or 0245623434 to make complaints.
At Parliament house, the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Freddie Blay, received the petition on behalf of the Speaker of Parliament.
He commended the GJA for respecting the laws of the land and going through the right processes to seek redress.
He gave the assurance that the petition would be handed over to the Speaker for a speedy redress of the matter.
Mr Blay called on all politicians to respect journalists and see them as partners in nurturing the country’s infant democracy.
THE President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Mr Ransford Tetteh, has appealed to all stakeholders to desist from assaulting journalists in the discharge of their legitimate duties.
He said anybody who disagreed with the work of a journalist was entitled to make his opinion either through a rejoinder or make a complaint to the National Media Commission (NMC) for redress.
He said these physical attacks on journalists had the potential to mar the coveted image of Ghana as one of the most media-friendly countries in Africa.
Mr Tetteh made the appeal when the executive members of the GJA presented a petition to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr Joe Ghartey, and the Speaker of Parliament on the alleged attack on the Central Regional Editor of the Daily Graphic, Mr Joe Okyere, by the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam Constituency and former Central Regional Minister, Mr Isaac Edumadze.
The petition called on Parliament to investigate and take appropriate action concerning the role played by Mr Edumadze in assaulting Mr Okyere while that of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice called on him to speed up action on the case concerning the assault when the police complete their investigations and submits the docket to the Attorney-General’s office.
Mr Tetteh explained that the GJA had decided to seek redress through the two statutory bodies of the country to send the right signals to all that it was always appropriate to use legal means to seek relief for wrongs done to anybody in society and that the resort to assault in the face of provocation was not helpful in any democratic dispensation.
He said the 2007 worldwide Press Freedom Ranking of Reporteur San Frontier (Reporters without Borders) ranked Ghana third in Africa after Mauritius and Namibia.
He said this country ranked 29th out of a total of 169 countries in the world, even above some developed democracies such as the United States of America, France, Italy and Japan and called on all citizens to sustain this record by tolerating divergent views.
Mr Tetteh said the GJA took a serious view of the incident at Mr Edumadze’s residence and believed a speedy action from the end of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice on the completion of investigation by the police and Parliament would be a good signal that the country was irreversibly committed to the rule of law.
He said the GJA was also worried that these attacks could likely undermine the progress the country had made in democratic development since the Fourth Republic.
Mr Tetteh said the GJA, following reports of the incident, sent a fact-finding mission to Cape Coast on May 29, 2008.
It was led by the General-Secretary, Mr Bright Blewu, and made up of the Treasurer, Mrs Yaa Oforiwaa Asare-Peasah; and Legal Advisors, Mr Kwasi Afriyie Badu and Mrs Marian Kyei, both members of the association.
He said information gathered by the fact-finding mission indicated that the incident took place on the premises of Mr Isaac Edumadze’s house at Ejumako-Ochiso.
Mr Tetteh said in separate accounts, Mr Philip Baidoo of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, who had taken Joe Okyere to Mr Edumazde’s house, said he personally witnessed agents of Mr Edumadze beat up Mr Okyere mercilessly on the explicit instructions of Mr Edumadze while Mr Okyere on the other hand insisted that the attack was led by the MP himself.
Mr Joe Ghartey described the situation as unfortunate but said under the Constitution the Attorney-General’s office had no right to investigate cases but only to prosecute.
He said when the news of the alleged assault broke out, his outfit referred the matter to the Inspector General of Police for investigation.
Mr Ghartey gave the assurance that the law would not be twisted and added that the government was committed to the Universal Human Rights and would do everything possible to uphold it.
He said the Attorney-General’s office would take the necessary action after the investigations by the police.
He proposed that a Human Rights Committee, to be co-chaired by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice and the President of the GJA with four members each from the two bodies, be established to address complaints of assault, particularly those involving the ordinary Ghanaian.
Mr Ghartey said in the interim, anybody who would suffer any assault should call the Human Rights hotline, 0273448788 or 0245623434 to make complaints.
At Parliament house, the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Freddie Blay, received the petition on behalf of the Speaker of Parliament.
He commended the GJA for respecting the laws of the land and going through the right processes to seek redress.
He gave the assurance that the petition would be handed over to the Speaker for a speedy redress of the matter.
Mr Blay called on all politicians to respect journalists and see them as partners in nurturing the country’s infant democracy.
Globacom launches network in Benin(Inside Africa) June 9, 2008
Story:Michael Donkor,Cotonou
GLOBACOM (Glo) Telecommunication network services of Nigeria has launched its network in Benin to provide telecommunication services in that country.
Launching the programme, Benin's Minister of Communication, Mr Desire Adadja on behalf of the President of Benin, Dr Thomas Boni Yayi said the entrance of Glo into Benin Republic’s telecommunication market was expected to transform the sector.
He said he had always wished that Glo, having changed the landscape in Nigeria, would come to Benin to make communication better for the people.
Mr Adadja noted that, Glo had enhanced the relationship between Benin and Nigeria with the step it had taken.
He said the step had removed the border between the two countries and would enable the people of Benin and Nigeria to communicate and interact as one.
The Chairman of Globacom, Dr. Mike Adenuga Jr., in a telecast message said Glo’s intention was to change the telecommunication landscape in Benin Republic and the business environment in Africa.
He stated that Glo would build the biggest and bestnetwork in Africa.
He assured the people of Benin Republic that Glo would give them a top quality network at affordable rates.
“When we gave this proposition upon our launch in Nigeria five years ago, some people felt it was a tall ambition. A few years down the line, they have begun to take us more seriously”, Dr Adenuga said.
Earlier at a press conference, the company said it had pioneered the introduction of Per Second Billing (PSB) into the country.
PSB gives the subscriber the power to pay only for the actual time spent on the phone.
This generally contrasts with the bundled seconds which operates in the Benin telecoms market at the moment.
For example, a subscriber who speaks for 21 seconds automatically pays for 40 seconds since he is bundled to 20 seconds each time.
But with Glo Per Second Billing platform, the caller only pays for 21 seconds or any exact seconds the call lasted.
The company also announced the commencement of its value added services like Multi-Media Messaging Service (MMS), Glo Magic Plus, Vehicle Tracking, Caller Tunes and Mobile banking.
MMS enables the user to send a combination of data, voice and pictures to loved ones, while Magic Plus enables the user to keep abreast of latest developments in information, entertainment and business.
Dr Adenuga said Glo had substantially covered the country, a position which puts it ahead of its competitors.
He said what had taken other networks six to seven years to achieve had only taken Glo Mobile Benin six months to accomplish.
“Today, even before launch, we have more base stations, we have greater switch capacity and greater network capacity than any network currently existing in the country" he added.
He said Glo had 156 base stations across the country while the closest competition had 120 base stations,”.
Glo presently has a total network capacity for three million subscribers.
GLOBACOM (Glo) Telecommunication network services of Nigeria has launched its network in Benin to provide telecommunication services in that country.
Launching the programme, Benin's Minister of Communication, Mr Desire Adadja on behalf of the President of Benin, Dr Thomas Boni Yayi said the entrance of Glo into Benin Republic’s telecommunication market was expected to transform the sector.
He said he had always wished that Glo, having changed the landscape in Nigeria, would come to Benin to make communication better for the people.
Mr Adadja noted that, Glo had enhanced the relationship between Benin and Nigeria with the step it had taken.
He said the step had removed the border between the two countries and would enable the people of Benin and Nigeria to communicate and interact as one.
The Chairman of Globacom, Dr. Mike Adenuga Jr., in a telecast message said Glo’s intention was to change the telecommunication landscape in Benin Republic and the business environment in Africa.
He stated that Glo would build the biggest and bestnetwork in Africa.
He assured the people of Benin Republic that Glo would give them a top quality network at affordable rates.
“When we gave this proposition upon our launch in Nigeria five years ago, some people felt it was a tall ambition. A few years down the line, they have begun to take us more seriously”, Dr Adenuga said.
Earlier at a press conference, the company said it had pioneered the introduction of Per Second Billing (PSB) into the country.
PSB gives the subscriber the power to pay only for the actual time spent on the phone.
This generally contrasts with the bundled seconds which operates in the Benin telecoms market at the moment.
For example, a subscriber who speaks for 21 seconds automatically pays for 40 seconds since he is bundled to 20 seconds each time.
But with Glo Per Second Billing platform, the caller only pays for 21 seconds or any exact seconds the call lasted.
The company also announced the commencement of its value added services like Multi-Media Messaging Service (MMS), Glo Magic Plus, Vehicle Tracking, Caller Tunes and Mobile banking.
MMS enables the user to send a combination of data, voice and pictures to loved ones, while Magic Plus enables the user to keep abreast of latest developments in information, entertainment and business.
Dr Adenuga said Glo had substantially covered the country, a position which puts it ahead of its competitors.
He said what had taken other networks six to seven years to achieve had only taken Glo Mobile Benin six months to accomplish.
“Today, even before launch, we have more base stations, we have greater switch capacity and greater network capacity than any network currently existing in the country" he added.
He said Glo had 156 base stations across the country while the closest competition had 120 base stations,”.
Glo presently has a total network capacity for three million subscribers.
World Bank Approves $145 million to Ghana(Business page) June 5, 2008
Story: Michael Donkor
THE World Bank has approved three credits for Ghana totalling $145 million, in fulfilment of its commitment to provide assistance to the budget annually under the Multi-Donor Budget Support (MDBS) framework.
The credits include additional funding valued at more than $20 million, to support measures designed urgently to help Ghana deal with the rising cost of living due to the global food and oil price hikes.
The other two are Poverty Reduction Support Credit of $100 million and Agriculture Development Policy Operation of $25 million.
The support is a harmonised partnership framework in which the government and a number of its development partners provide direct funding for the implementation of the Ghana Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy through the annual budget.
Since its inception in 2003, a total of $1.7 billion has been disbursed under the framework, with over $700 million coming from the World Bank alone, through six Poverty Reduction Support Credits.
The World Bank Country Director in Ghana, Mr Ishac Diwan, in an interaction with some selected journalists in Accra last Tuesday, explained that the $20 million was an additional amount meant to ensure that the mitigation measures as announced by the President benefited that poor and most vulnerable in society.
He said that amount had been divided into two equal parts and was to be used to support the purchase of fertiliser to encourage farmers to grow more crops during these trying times.
Mr Diwan said the second part will support the government’s LEAP programme and lactating mothers.
The World Bank Country Director described the measures as timely, saying, “they are to ensure that the poor and vulnerable in society escape to some extent, the very hash conditions that the increasing world food prices and soaring oil prices had brought to the world”.
He said the poverty reduction support remained the cornerstone of donor support for Ghana’s poverty reduction strategy, while the environmental governance programme and agricultural development policy will provide new important support for policy reform on natural resources and environment, as well as the agriculture sector.
He said policy actions under the poverty programme would focus on the implementation of various reform programmes to accelerate private sector-led growth by facilitating private sector development and increasing agricultural productivity and exports; develop human resources by consolidating achievements in education, health, and water and sanitation.
He explained further that these would also promote good governance by deepening decentralisation, strengthening public financial management and enhancing efficiency, transparency and accountability in public investments and service delivery at both central and decentralised levels.
Mr Diwan expressed the hope that the natural resource programme would support governance reforms in the interrelated sectors of forestry and wildlife, mining and environmental protection.
He said they were intended to ensure effective forest law enforcement, improve the mining and forestry sectors, revenue collection, management, and transparency.
Mr Diwan said it would also address social issues in forest and mining communities, environmental protection into growth, safeguards and adaptation to climate change.
He added that it would also initiate support to the adoption and future implementation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI++) approach in the existing forestry and mining sectors as well as in the emerging oil sector.
Mr Diwan noted that the agricultural development policy would support the recent positive achievements in the agricultural sector, including: Further diversification of horticulture exports; addressing constraints to productivity of food crops and improving the planning and execution of budgets in the sector.
He said the programme specifically supported the government’s national agricultural strategy by promoting key reforms essential for the growth of the sector.
Mr Diwan said in addition, it provided support to help the country respond to recent rises in global food prices.
He explained that these operations focused on accelerating the kind of growth that benefited the poor; improved environmental sustainability for the benefit of future generations; supported the delivery of basic services, especially water, to the citizens across the country, and continued to work towards better and more inclusive governance.
THE World Bank has approved three credits for Ghana totalling $145 million, in fulfilment of its commitment to provide assistance to the budget annually under the Multi-Donor Budget Support (MDBS) framework.
The credits include additional funding valued at more than $20 million, to support measures designed urgently to help Ghana deal with the rising cost of living due to the global food and oil price hikes.
The other two are Poverty Reduction Support Credit of $100 million and Agriculture Development Policy Operation of $25 million.
The support is a harmonised partnership framework in which the government and a number of its development partners provide direct funding for the implementation of the Ghana Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy through the annual budget.
Since its inception in 2003, a total of $1.7 billion has been disbursed under the framework, with over $700 million coming from the World Bank alone, through six Poverty Reduction Support Credits.
The World Bank Country Director in Ghana, Mr Ishac Diwan, in an interaction with some selected journalists in Accra last Tuesday, explained that the $20 million was an additional amount meant to ensure that the mitigation measures as announced by the President benefited that poor and most vulnerable in society.
He said that amount had been divided into two equal parts and was to be used to support the purchase of fertiliser to encourage farmers to grow more crops during these trying times.
Mr Diwan said the second part will support the government’s LEAP programme and lactating mothers.
The World Bank Country Director described the measures as timely, saying, “they are to ensure that the poor and vulnerable in society escape to some extent, the very hash conditions that the increasing world food prices and soaring oil prices had brought to the world”.
He said the poverty reduction support remained the cornerstone of donor support for Ghana’s poverty reduction strategy, while the environmental governance programme and agricultural development policy will provide new important support for policy reform on natural resources and environment, as well as the agriculture sector.
He said policy actions under the poverty programme would focus on the implementation of various reform programmes to accelerate private sector-led growth by facilitating private sector development and increasing agricultural productivity and exports; develop human resources by consolidating achievements in education, health, and water and sanitation.
He explained further that these would also promote good governance by deepening decentralisation, strengthening public financial management and enhancing efficiency, transparency and accountability in public investments and service delivery at both central and decentralised levels.
Mr Diwan expressed the hope that the natural resource programme would support governance reforms in the interrelated sectors of forestry and wildlife, mining and environmental protection.
He said they were intended to ensure effective forest law enforcement, improve the mining and forestry sectors, revenue collection, management, and transparency.
Mr Diwan said it would also address social issues in forest and mining communities, environmental protection into growth, safeguards and adaptation to climate change.
He added that it would also initiate support to the adoption and future implementation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI++) approach in the existing forestry and mining sectors as well as in the emerging oil sector.
Mr Diwan noted that the agricultural development policy would support the recent positive achievements in the agricultural sector, including: Further diversification of horticulture exports; addressing constraints to productivity of food crops and improving the planning and execution of budgets in the sector.
He said the programme specifically supported the government’s national agricultural strategy by promoting key reforms essential for the growth of the sector.
Mr Diwan said in addition, it provided support to help the country respond to recent rises in global food prices.
He explained that these operations focused on accelerating the kind of growth that benefited the poor; improved environmental sustainability for the benefit of future generations; supported the delivery of basic services, especially water, to the citizens across the country, and continued to work towards better and more inclusive governance.
Pension Draft Bill Ready. Parliament is next(Front Page) June 5, 2008
Story: Michael Donkor
CABINET has approved the draft bill on the National Pension Reform Scheme.
The bill, which seeks to create a unified pension structure for the public sector to ensure retirement income security for Ghanaian workers, is to be submitted to Parliament for consideration.
If approved by Parliament, a contributory three-tier pension scheme, comprising two mandatory schemes and a voluntary scheme, will be introduced.
The first tier is a mandatory basic national social security scheme which will incorporate an improved system of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) benefits, compulsory for all employees in both the private and public sectors.
The second tier, which is a work-based pension scheme, will be mandatory for all employees but it will be privately managed. It is designed primarily to give contributors higher lump sum benefits than presently available under the SSNIT pension scheme.
The third tier will be a voluntary provident fund and personal pension supported by tax benefit incentives.
The Chairman of the Pension Reform Implementation Committee, Mr T. A. Bediako, announced this at the bi-annual joint steering committee meeting of the Ministry of Public Sector Reforms in Accra yesterday.
He said a Pensions Regulatory Authority had been proposed in the bill to oversee the administration and management of the three-tier pension scheme.
The authority, among other things, will register pension schemes and regulate the affairs and activities of trustees of registered schemes.
It will also supervise a modified SSNIT under a board of trustees to manage the basic national pension scheme to cater for the first tier of the scheme and advise the government on the overall policy on pension matters in Ghana.
For his part, the Minister of Public Sector Reforms, Mr Samuel Owusu-Agyei, said a Civil Service Bill had been forwarded to Cabinet for approval.
The bill is aimed at aligning the Civil Service with the provision in the Constitution in respect of the role of the Head of the Civil Service.
PNDC Law 327 gave the Head of the Civil Service the position of a Minister of State but that has been made ineffective with the promulgation of the 1992 Constitution.
The bill also proposes for chief directors to be called permanent secretaries, in compliance with the practice in Commonwealth countries, and better define their roles as permanent servants of the government and not directors of policy.
Mr Owusu-Agyei said the government remained committed to the implementation of recommended pay policies but added that it was mindful of its resource-base constraints, hence the need to move in phases to avoid over-running the national budget.
He said significant progress had been made in the delivery of training programmes specifically designed for the leadership of the Civil Service.
CABINET has approved the draft bill on the National Pension Reform Scheme.
The bill, which seeks to create a unified pension structure for the public sector to ensure retirement income security for Ghanaian workers, is to be submitted to Parliament for consideration.
If approved by Parliament, a contributory three-tier pension scheme, comprising two mandatory schemes and a voluntary scheme, will be introduced.
The first tier is a mandatory basic national social security scheme which will incorporate an improved system of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) benefits, compulsory for all employees in both the private and public sectors.
The second tier, which is a work-based pension scheme, will be mandatory for all employees but it will be privately managed. It is designed primarily to give contributors higher lump sum benefits than presently available under the SSNIT pension scheme.
The third tier will be a voluntary provident fund and personal pension supported by tax benefit incentives.
The Chairman of the Pension Reform Implementation Committee, Mr T. A. Bediako, announced this at the bi-annual joint steering committee meeting of the Ministry of Public Sector Reforms in Accra yesterday.
He said a Pensions Regulatory Authority had been proposed in the bill to oversee the administration and management of the three-tier pension scheme.
The authority, among other things, will register pension schemes and regulate the affairs and activities of trustees of registered schemes.
It will also supervise a modified SSNIT under a board of trustees to manage the basic national pension scheme to cater for the first tier of the scheme and advise the government on the overall policy on pension matters in Ghana.
For his part, the Minister of Public Sector Reforms, Mr Samuel Owusu-Agyei, said a Civil Service Bill had been forwarded to Cabinet for approval.
The bill is aimed at aligning the Civil Service with the provision in the Constitution in respect of the role of the Head of the Civil Service.
PNDC Law 327 gave the Head of the Civil Service the position of a Minister of State but that has been made ineffective with the promulgation of the 1992 Constitution.
The bill also proposes for chief directors to be called permanent secretaries, in compliance with the practice in Commonwealth countries, and better define their roles as permanent servants of the government and not directors of policy.
Mr Owusu-Agyei said the government remained committed to the implementation of recommended pay policies but added that it was mindful of its resource-base constraints, hence the need to move in phases to avoid over-running the national budget.
He said significant progress had been made in the delivery of training programmes specifically designed for the leadership of the Civil Service.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Ghana prepares for nuclear energy station(Centre Spread Lead) June 3, 2008
Story: Michael Donkor
Seventy graduate engineering students are being taken through preparatory work at the School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences of the University of Ghana towards the establishment of a nuclear energy station in Ghana.
Site studies are also being undertaken for the selection of an appropriate location for the nuclear power station.
When completed by 2018, the nuclear power station will generate 400 megawatts of electricity to augment that of the Akosombo Dam.
The Minister of Communications, Dr Benjamin Aggrey-Ntim, said the move formed part of government effort at finding alternative means of generating electricity.
He was speaking at a Regional Training Course for Trainers in the Use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) training materials in nuclear analytical techniques in Accra yesterday.
The five-day programme was organised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in collaboration with the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission under the African Regional Co-operative Agreement (AFRA) project.
It is being attended by professionals in the field of nuclear and allied sciences from Africa.
Dr Aggrey-Ntim challenged the scientists to expose the practicality in nuclear energy to the people because there was so much fear when nuclear activities were mentioned.
He said it was time the country ran a nuclear power plant hence the need to demystify nuclear activities.
Dr Aggrey-Ntim urged the participants to use what they had learnt in the past to support their countries.
He urged them to let the results of their work be felt by all while they provide adequate security for people.
The Director-General of the Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT, Dr Dorothy Gordon, said the IAEA recognised the need to further master the potential of nuclear analytical techniques.
She said it was in view of this that IAEA, in collaboration with some African consultants, had developed an educational tool in nuclear analytical techniques in the form of e-learning ICT materials.
Dr Gordon said the objective of the training course was to train experienced professionals of the participating African countries in effective use of ICT-based teaching materials for nuclear analytical techniques.
She said during the training course the participants would learn how to use the developed ICT materials in nuclear analytical techniques and integrate them into their national nuclear programmes.
The acting Director-General of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, Prof. Geoffrey Emi-Reynolds, said the course was to ensure that nuclear science was promoted in Africa.
Seventy graduate engineering students are being taken through preparatory work at the School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences of the University of Ghana towards the establishment of a nuclear energy station in Ghana.
Site studies are also being undertaken for the selection of an appropriate location for the nuclear power station.
When completed by 2018, the nuclear power station will generate 400 megawatts of electricity to augment that of the Akosombo Dam.
The Minister of Communications, Dr Benjamin Aggrey-Ntim, said the move formed part of government effort at finding alternative means of generating electricity.
He was speaking at a Regional Training Course for Trainers in the Use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) training materials in nuclear analytical techniques in Accra yesterday.
The five-day programme was organised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in collaboration with the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission under the African Regional Co-operative Agreement (AFRA) project.
It is being attended by professionals in the field of nuclear and allied sciences from Africa.
Dr Aggrey-Ntim challenged the scientists to expose the practicality in nuclear energy to the people because there was so much fear when nuclear activities were mentioned.
He said it was time the country ran a nuclear power plant hence the need to demystify nuclear activities.
Dr Aggrey-Ntim urged the participants to use what they had learnt in the past to support their countries.
He urged them to let the results of their work be felt by all while they provide adequate security for people.
The Director-General of the Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT, Dr Dorothy Gordon, said the IAEA recognised the need to further master the potential of nuclear analytical techniques.
She said it was in view of this that IAEA, in collaboration with some African consultants, had developed an educational tool in nuclear analytical techniques in the form of e-learning ICT materials.
Dr Gordon said the objective of the training course was to train experienced professionals of the participating African countries in effective use of ICT-based teaching materials for nuclear analytical techniques.
She said during the training course the participants would learn how to use the developed ICT materials in nuclear analytical techniques and integrate them into their national nuclear programmes.
The acting Director-General of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, Prof. Geoffrey Emi-Reynolds, said the course was to ensure that nuclear science was promoted in Africa.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Meeting on anti-malaria drugs held(Centre Spread) June 2, 2008
Story: Michael Donkor
A stakeholders meeting to develop and deliver new anti-malaria drugs through effective public-private partnerships has ended in Accra.
The meeting was attended by distinguished personalities including former President of Mozambique, Mr Joaquim Chissano; Baroness Chalker, chair of Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) board of directors and the Minister of Health, Major Courage Quashigah (retd).
The meeting organised by MMV, a non-profit organisation, was dedicated to reducing the burden of malaria in disease-endemic countries by discovering, developing and facilitating the delivery of effective and affordable anti-malaria drugs.
The Vice-President of MMV, Mrs Anna Wang, said Ghana planned to introduce two new anti-malarial drugs by 2010 for the treatment of malaria.
She said the drugs were Coartem Dispersible, which is specially designed for children, and Pyramax for adults.
According to Mrs Wang, the drug for children easily dissolves in water and has a sweet flavour while the one for adults would be taken once a day for three days.
She added that the Spanish government had made available a three million euro grant to expand the distribution of affordable drugs and resources worldwide.
Major Quashigah said malaria was plunging many African countries including Ghana into poverty.
He said further that in countries where malaria was endemic, income levels were lower compared to countries with no malaria.
He says every year, the government spends GH¢664 million in the fight against malaria, adding that the amount formed 10 per cent of the country’s GDP growth.
Major Quashigah said this included the prevention and treatment of malaria and that the vast majority of people treating malaria through the use of herbal medicines were not included in this category.
Mr Chissano urged African leaders to support the fight against malaria in the region.
He said one could not talk of peace while diseases such as malaria and HIV/AIDS as well as malnutrition continued endemic in the region. He observed that under-funding and lack of research had undermined efforts to reduce malaria in the region.
He added that Africa still had a long way to go in the eradication of malaria and called for concerted efforts to battle the disease.
Some institutions were given awards for their efforts in the fight against malaria. They were Norvatis Institute, which was given an award for their exemplary work in the development of Coartem Dispersible while the MMV Annual Project of 2007 award went to the Eskitis Institute of Griffith University in Australia for their innovative use of technology and progress to identify malaria targets from natural products.
A stakeholders meeting to develop and deliver new anti-malaria drugs through effective public-private partnerships has ended in Accra.
The meeting was attended by distinguished personalities including former President of Mozambique, Mr Joaquim Chissano; Baroness Chalker, chair of Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) board of directors and the Minister of Health, Major Courage Quashigah (retd).
The meeting organised by MMV, a non-profit organisation, was dedicated to reducing the burden of malaria in disease-endemic countries by discovering, developing and facilitating the delivery of effective and affordable anti-malaria drugs.
The Vice-President of MMV, Mrs Anna Wang, said Ghana planned to introduce two new anti-malarial drugs by 2010 for the treatment of malaria.
She said the drugs were Coartem Dispersible, which is specially designed for children, and Pyramax for adults.
According to Mrs Wang, the drug for children easily dissolves in water and has a sweet flavour while the one for adults would be taken once a day for three days.
She added that the Spanish government had made available a three million euro grant to expand the distribution of affordable drugs and resources worldwide.
Major Quashigah said malaria was plunging many African countries including Ghana into poverty.
He said further that in countries where malaria was endemic, income levels were lower compared to countries with no malaria.
He says every year, the government spends GH¢664 million in the fight against malaria, adding that the amount formed 10 per cent of the country’s GDP growth.
Major Quashigah said this included the prevention and treatment of malaria and that the vast majority of people treating malaria through the use of herbal medicines were not included in this category.
Mr Chissano urged African leaders to support the fight against malaria in the region.
He said one could not talk of peace while diseases such as malaria and HIV/AIDS as well as malnutrition continued endemic in the region. He observed that under-funding and lack of research had undermined efforts to reduce malaria in the region.
He added that Africa still had a long way to go in the eradication of malaria and called for concerted efforts to battle the disease.
Some institutions were given awards for their efforts in the fight against malaria. They were Norvatis Institute, which was given an award for their exemplary work in the development of Coartem Dispersible while the MMV Annual Project of 2007 award went to the Eskitis Institute of Griffith University in Australia for their innovative use of technology and progress to identify malaria targets from natural products.
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