By Ebenezer Hanson
The World Bank over the last 15 years, it is said, has been moving towards a policy of greater transparency by making more information available to stakeholders. The Executive Directors and the Bank Management have periodically reviewed the policy and expanded its scope: for example, in 1993, 2001 and 2005 the Board approved proposals to allow public access to additional documents. The result has been a fairly wide-reaching disclosure policy. It is in this spirit that the Bank in 2009 is rethinking its disclosure policy.
Last week the Bank, as part of a global consultation process, organized a forum in Accra to seek the views on the proposed policy revision from a wide range of stakeholders including civil society organizations, academia and the media, among others. In an approach paper, “Toward Greater Transparency: Rethinking the World Bank’s Disclosure Policy”, which formed the basis for the deliberations at the forum, the Bank acknowledges the limitations of the existing so-called “positive list”, hence its decision to dispense with it.
The “positive list” outlines the categories of information that are normally available to the public, subject to certain “constraints”. The approach paper notes, “Even though the policy contains provisions for considering the disclosure of information that is not listed, the existence of such “positive list” creates the perception that there is a presumption against the disclosure of information that is not on that list.”
Expatiating, Ms. Shakuntala V. Gunaratne of the World Bank, submits that although the Bank is doing away with the “positive list”, it will maintain a clear list of “exceptions” that is easier to interprete and implement. “The Bank would deny access to information for which there is a compelling reason for confidentiality- for example, personal information about staff; confidential or sensitive information given to the Bank by member countries and the other third parties with the express understanding that such information would not be disclosed; security information; or information that is subject to attorney-client privilege.”
However, it is the lack of explicit principles defining what should be categorized as confidential or strictly confidential that has become the source of dissent. Speaking on “The Nexus between World Bank Disclosure Policy and Freedom of Information” at the forum, a human rights activist and member of the Coalition on Freedom of Information, Mr. Sheshe Akoto-Ampaw, feared that the non-publication of the principles could be fertile grounds for arbitrariness on the part of officials tasked with the release of information. “The Bank should spell out the principles else they will become tools for arbitrariness”, he insisted. He adds that, “All stakeholders should assist the Bank so that the rules applicable to non-disclosure will not undermine or subvert the very goals the Bank is seeking to achieve with the new policy.”
Mr. Akoto-Ampaw also disagreed with the proposal that certain country-owned information would be treated confidential. “Is it because the country owns the information then it becomes confidential or there will be rules governing it?” he asked. His divergent stance is conceived in the idea that
“information owned by government is owned on behalf of the citizens and since governments are accountable to the people, the information must be made known to the people.” He was also uncomfortable with certain historical information which will be exempted at all times describing it as “problematic”.
While welcoming the establishment of an appeal mechanism with the power to review a previous decision refusing a request for a piece of information, he was concerned with the composition of the appeal committee. “Will it be composed of officials from the bank?” he quizzed, adding that the best practice leans towards an independent regulatory mechanism.
Mr. Akoto-Ampaw advised that careful note must be taken of the words used in the document on the policy “else we hail it only to realize later that desired goals have not been achieved”.
The Bank’s disclosure policy states a “presumptive in favour of disclosure”. This paradigm shift is consistent with the Bank’s model, which recognizes the importance of transparency as a critical tool for enhancing good governance, accountability and development effectiveness.
The Disclosure Policy framework would be organized around four basic principles. These are maximizing access to information; a clear list of “exceptions” that is easier to interpret and implement; a clear framework for processing requests for information and the right to appeal.
As a development finance institution, the Bank strives to be transparent about projects and programmes share its global knowledge and lessons of experience with the widest possible audience, and enhance the quality of its operations by engaging with the development.
As an intergovernmental organization owned by countries, the Bank is accountable for public money, has an obligation to be responsive to the questions and concerns of its shareholders. The Bank has also established the disclosure of information helps attracts purchasers to its securities.
Responding to some of the criticisms raised by Mr. Akoto-Ampaw during the discussion session, the World Country Director for Ghana, Mr. Ishac Diwan, explained that the Bank might classify certain snippets of information confidential because “premature disclosure could affect a country’s national security or financial trends, for instance, the country’s exchange rate.”
Mr. Abdulai Daramani of Third World Network-Africa (TWN-Africa) objected to some of the timelines placed on certain projects relative to disclosure of information arguing that the “ moment a project is completed information on it should be disclosed”.
Ms. Gunaratne assured the forum that the concerns raised would be considered in the draft policy to be submitted to the World Bank Board Management.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
School Feeding Programme; a promising venture bogged down in bottlenecks
By Ebenezer Hanson
In 2005, the Government of Ghana with support from the Government of Netherlands launched the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP), amid high hopes of improving enrollment and ensuring children do not abandon school because of hunger.
Since its inception, the programme has recorded some achievements in the areas of school enrolment and retention of pupils in beneficiary schools. According to the second research report by SEND-Ghana in 2008, the programme is feeding 595,000 pupils in public primary schools with the aim of scaling up the figure to the benefit of 1,040,000 children by the end of 2010. The programme, SEND-Ghana further reveals, has so far spent a total of 65.7 million Ghana Cedis. The research covered 23 schools in 21 districts in the Upper East, Upper West, Northern and Greater Accra Regions, where SEND has its operations.
Nevertheless, the research unearthed countless, disturbing hiccups which are rendering the objectives of the rather promising project unrealizable. The bottlenecks identified include; the lack of basic infrastructural services, health challenges and the non-provision of certain expected agricultural services by the relevant agencies.
For instance, “About 61% of the beneficiary schools did not have good kitchen structures. This has adversely affected the maintenance of hygienic environment for food preparation,” the report revealed.
Similarly, 78% of the beneficiary schools did not have adequate stocks of kitchenware especially plates and cups. As a result, pupils were required to eat in turns.
“This coping strategy unduly prolonged lunch breaks in the affected beneficiary schools, thus reducing contact/instructional hours with negative effects on education”.
On the health front, the report identified untrained catering services providers, non-observable of basic health standards though teachers were especially trained to provide pupils with health education. There was also no checks on Body Mass Index of pupils and about 43% of the pupils were not de-wormed since 2007. The research also observed that personnel of the Ghana Education Service (GES) were not involved in the monitoring of food prepared as the emphasis is only on just providing a meal for a pupil.
In addition, the research found that Farmer Based Organizations (FBOs) did not act as linkage source for the supply of foodstuffs to beneficiary schools. Thus farmers were not benefiting from the GSFP. “Stakeholders from nearly 87% of beneficiary communities indicated that farmers did not benefit from any form of extension services. Similar to the health service experience, District Directors of Agriculture were not active in the programme implementation. Almost none of them were aware of the plans, objectives and strategies of the GSFP.”
Again on education, the assessment indicates that, contrary to expectations the supply of high value education service was generally lacking due to poor pupil teacher which stands at 83:1. However, the pupil-teacher ratio captured in the report seems to be at variance with the nation’s figure reported in 2007 Annual Progress Report of Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS 2). The Pupil/Teacher ratio for primary school was 34:1 and 18: 1 for Junior High School (JHS) in 2007.
While the Report blames the lack of collaboration among the complementary services for the challenges of the GSFP, the programme is also tottering under the yoke of financial crisis.
The revelation was contained in Parliament's Committee on Local Government report on the 2009 Annual Budget Estimates of the Ministry presented to the House.
According to the Report, the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) is likely to miss its target of feeding 800,000 pupils this year unless the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development finds an amount of over 46 million Ghana cedis to finance its budgetary gap.
While the GSFP needs 63,823,980.00 Ghana cedis to achieve its objective, the Ministry only allocated it 17 million Ghana cedis, creating a shortfall of 46,823,980.00 Ghana cedis
"The Committee noted that despite the intention of the Ghana School Feeding Programme to increase its coverage to over to 800,000 pupils at a cost over 63,823,980.00 Ghana cedis the Ministry has allocated only 17 million Ghana Cedis to the programme," the Committee observed with regret.
It therefore recommends strongly to the Ministry that the total amount for the programme should be sourced from the HIPC or MDRI funds for the year 2009.
Ghana Government provides the bulk of the funds for the programme and the Netherlands, which complemented it with 50% of the feeding cost, suspended the arrangement in the latter part of 2007. Hon. Joseph Yieleh Chireh told the Public Agenda in an interview that the Netherlands suspended their funding because of the adverse findings made against the GSFP Secretariat by the Pricewater House Audit Report. Nevertheless, the Committee takes consolation in the fact that "the Dutch Government is prepared to contribute about 12.8 million Ghana cedis to the feeding programme if its activities are streamlined and its house put in order."
The first National Co-ordinator of GSFP, Dr. Kwame Amoako Tufour lost his job over the findings, and was replaced by Mr. Michael Nsowah, a former Director General of the Ghana Education Service.
The Committee recommends, among other things, the establishment of a Ghana School Feeding Fund, the use of proceeds from National Lotteries, and that of the Nutrition Component of the National Health Insurance Scheme as well as applying portions of either the Communication Service Tax or the GETFund to address the Programme’s financial problems.
A representative of the Ministry Of Local Government and Rural Development who was present at the SEND-Ghana Report launch made some pointed remarks which seemed to have summed up the difficulties confronting the programme. She put the blame right on the manner the programme was conceived and implemented.
“I am not surprise about the outcome of the study. The Programme started without a lot of orientation and sensitization leading to varied interpretations of the project concept and until this is addressed the problems will recur,” she submitted. She added that the nature of the GSFP calls for a lot of collaboration which requires a lot of commitment.
The foregoing amply shows that the GSFP requires a complete overhaul to dissect the myriads of challenges buffeting it, and the appropriate solutions found to fix them. Another lesson is that similar future programmes need to be thought out well and wider consultations with all stakeholders have to done to get everybody on board. This is the only way to preclude the recurrence of some of the teething problems.
As Prof. Ellen Bortei-Doku Aryeetey, Senior Research Fellow at ISSER, University of Ghana, observed in her review of the Report, the document should not serve as the basis for crucifying the programme but rather it should spur on all stakeholders to work towards the improvement of the programme.
“From a policy practice point of view the low marks obtained relative to some of the benchmarks should serve as opportunities for improving the implementation process, rather than a platform for the condemnation of the programme,” emphasized Prof. Aryeetey, who is also Head of Centre for Social Policy Studies, University of Ghana.All stakeholders should ensure that this commendable pro-poor programme does not fail as the full realization of its objectives will propel the nation on in her quest to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 1 which requires that Ghana eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by 2015
In 2005, the Government of Ghana with support from the Government of Netherlands launched the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP), amid high hopes of improving enrollment and ensuring children do not abandon school because of hunger.
Since its inception, the programme has recorded some achievements in the areas of school enrolment and retention of pupils in beneficiary schools. According to the second research report by SEND-Ghana in 2008, the programme is feeding 595,000 pupils in public primary schools with the aim of scaling up the figure to the benefit of 1,040,000 children by the end of 2010. The programme, SEND-Ghana further reveals, has so far spent a total of 65.7 million Ghana Cedis. The research covered 23 schools in 21 districts in the Upper East, Upper West, Northern and Greater Accra Regions, where SEND has its operations.
Nevertheless, the research unearthed countless, disturbing hiccups which are rendering the objectives of the rather promising project unrealizable. The bottlenecks identified include; the lack of basic infrastructural services, health challenges and the non-provision of certain expected agricultural services by the relevant agencies.
For instance, “About 61% of the beneficiary schools did not have good kitchen structures. This has adversely affected the maintenance of hygienic environment for food preparation,” the report revealed.
Similarly, 78% of the beneficiary schools did not have adequate stocks of kitchenware especially plates and cups. As a result, pupils were required to eat in turns.
“This coping strategy unduly prolonged lunch breaks in the affected beneficiary schools, thus reducing contact/instructional hours with negative effects on education”.
On the health front, the report identified untrained catering services providers, non-observable of basic health standards though teachers were especially trained to provide pupils with health education. There was also no checks on Body Mass Index of pupils and about 43% of the pupils were not de-wormed since 2007. The research also observed that personnel of the Ghana Education Service (GES) were not involved in the monitoring of food prepared as the emphasis is only on just providing a meal for a pupil.
In addition, the research found that Farmer Based Organizations (FBOs) did not act as linkage source for the supply of foodstuffs to beneficiary schools. Thus farmers were not benefiting from the GSFP. “Stakeholders from nearly 87% of beneficiary communities indicated that farmers did not benefit from any form of extension services. Similar to the health service experience, District Directors of Agriculture were not active in the programme implementation. Almost none of them were aware of the plans, objectives and strategies of the GSFP.”
Again on education, the assessment indicates that, contrary to expectations the supply of high value education service was generally lacking due to poor pupil teacher which stands at 83:1. However, the pupil-teacher ratio captured in the report seems to be at variance with the nation’s figure reported in 2007 Annual Progress Report of Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS 2). The Pupil/Teacher ratio for primary school was 34:1 and 18: 1 for Junior High School (JHS) in 2007.
While the Report blames the lack of collaboration among the complementary services for the challenges of the GSFP, the programme is also tottering under the yoke of financial crisis.
The revelation was contained in Parliament's Committee on Local Government report on the 2009 Annual Budget Estimates of the Ministry presented to the House.
According to the Report, the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) is likely to miss its target of feeding 800,000 pupils this year unless the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development finds an amount of over 46 million Ghana cedis to finance its budgetary gap.
While the GSFP needs 63,823,980.00 Ghana cedis to achieve its objective, the Ministry only allocated it 17 million Ghana cedis, creating a shortfall of 46,823,980.00 Ghana cedis
"The Committee noted that despite the intention of the Ghana School Feeding Programme to increase its coverage to over to 800,000 pupils at a cost over 63,823,980.00 Ghana cedis the Ministry has allocated only 17 million Ghana Cedis to the programme," the Committee observed with regret.
It therefore recommends strongly to the Ministry that the total amount for the programme should be sourced from the HIPC or MDRI funds for the year 2009.
Ghana Government provides the bulk of the funds for the programme and the Netherlands, which complemented it with 50% of the feeding cost, suspended the arrangement in the latter part of 2007. Hon. Joseph Yieleh Chireh told the Public Agenda in an interview that the Netherlands suspended their funding because of the adverse findings made against the GSFP Secretariat by the Pricewater House Audit Report. Nevertheless, the Committee takes consolation in the fact that "the Dutch Government is prepared to contribute about 12.8 million Ghana cedis to the feeding programme if its activities are streamlined and its house put in order."
The first National Co-ordinator of GSFP, Dr. Kwame Amoako Tufour lost his job over the findings, and was replaced by Mr. Michael Nsowah, a former Director General of the Ghana Education Service.
The Committee recommends, among other things, the establishment of a Ghana School Feeding Fund, the use of proceeds from National Lotteries, and that of the Nutrition Component of the National Health Insurance Scheme as well as applying portions of either the Communication Service Tax or the GETFund to address the Programme’s financial problems.
A representative of the Ministry Of Local Government and Rural Development who was present at the SEND-Ghana Report launch made some pointed remarks which seemed to have summed up the difficulties confronting the programme. She put the blame right on the manner the programme was conceived and implemented.
“I am not surprise about the outcome of the study. The Programme started without a lot of orientation and sensitization leading to varied interpretations of the project concept and until this is addressed the problems will recur,” she submitted. She added that the nature of the GSFP calls for a lot of collaboration which requires a lot of commitment.
The foregoing amply shows that the GSFP requires a complete overhaul to dissect the myriads of challenges buffeting it, and the appropriate solutions found to fix them. Another lesson is that similar future programmes need to be thought out well and wider consultations with all stakeholders have to done to get everybody on board. This is the only way to preclude the recurrence of some of the teething problems.
As Prof. Ellen Bortei-Doku Aryeetey, Senior Research Fellow at ISSER, University of Ghana, observed in her review of the Report, the document should not serve as the basis for crucifying the programme but rather it should spur on all stakeholders to work towards the improvement of the programme.
“From a policy practice point of view the low marks obtained relative to some of the benchmarks should serve as opportunities for improving the implementation process, rather than a platform for the condemnation of the programme,” emphasized Prof. Aryeetey, who is also Head of Centre for Social Policy Studies, University of Ghana.All stakeholders should ensure that this commendable pro-poor programme does not fail as the full realization of its objectives will propel the nation on in her quest to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 1 which requires that Ghana eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by 2015
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Separating the Justice Ministry and Attorney General: Case of Much Ado About nothing?
Analysis by Ebenezer Hanson
A fortnight ago the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) jointly organized a seminar to deliberate the vexed issue of whether the separation of the Justice Ministry from the Office of the Attorney-General (A-G) will curb the perceived abuse of power of criminal prosecution and thus promote good governance.
The Seminar indeed lived up to expectation as the three eminent speakers who led the discussions did justice to the topic, illuminating participants on their positions and convincing some to buy into their thoughts. The speakers were Dr. Obed Yao Asamoah, Patron of the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), Prof. E.V.O Dankwa, a former law lecturer of the University of Ghana and Mr. Vitus A. Azeem, the Executive Secretary of Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII).
The contributions that ensued were a pointer to the fact that majority of the participants share the view that the two positions should be split as advanced by Dr. Asamoah and Mr. Azeem.
Dr. Asamoah, the longest serving A-G Ghana has ever had since independence, pointed out that since colonial times political persecution under the guise of criminal prosecution has been common. He observed that the fusion of the two offices have led to instances where “many a time governments have demanded accountability of others particularly opposition party members and perceived enemies other than their own members”.
He explained into detail drawing largely on proposals of the Constituent Assemblies of 1968 and 1978 that separation would do the criminal justice a lot of good, hence promote good governance. But he stresses that mere separation would not achieve the desired results unless the Attorney-General is guaranteed security of tenure.
According to him, the security of tenure for the A-G could be ensured if some three key arrangements are instituted. First, making the process for removal of the A-G from office difficult; second, insulating the determination of his salary, allowances and pension from political interference; and the third but not least, avoiding a change in the regime of salary and allowances while in office.
He also recalled that to guarantee the A-G’s position under the 1968 proposals the A-G’s position was equated to that of a Judge of the Supreme Court and in 1978 linked the position to that of the Superior Court of Judicature other than the Chief Justice.
Mr. Azeem cited the cases of Australia, Canada, England and Wales, Hong Kong South Africa, Thailand, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, Israel and Jamaica where the two positions have been either split or fused and pointed from social and practical cases the merits and demerits in each case. He concluded that, the ends of justice are better served if the two positions are kept distinct.
“In fact, I dare to state that the political position of the Attorney-General affects his/her relationship with some anti-corruption agents especially if they are perceived as anti-government. Some of these institutions have had cause to complain about the refusal of the Attorney-General to prosecute cases they have investigated and recommended prosecution,” Vitus referred to the situation in Ghana.
But Prof. E. V. O Dankwa, who was privileged to a Member of the Committee of Experts who drafted the proposals for the 1992 Constitution, dissented from the thought-provoking presentations of Dr. Asamoah and Mr. Azeem. His position which was cogently and coherently articulated made some of the participants to critically re-examine their earlier stance which were predicated on Asamoah’s and Azeem’s.
He first clarified a misconception which many have associated with Article 88(1) of the 1992 Fourth Republican Constitution. He elucidated, “The Committee of Experts did not propose that the A-G should be a Minister of Justice but rather a Minister of State”.
Article 88(1) stipulates, “There shall be an Attorney-General of Ghana who shall be a Minister of State and the principal legal adviser to the Governments”.
To him, the arguments advanced by the two speakers that the separation of the two offices fly in the face of reality and “it is not clear whether the separation will lead to good governance. I don’t think the present arrangement should be disturbed”.
He adds, “Pressure can be brought to bear on public officials just as politicians,” countering the reasoning that if the A-G is made purely a public office and not political it could lead to transparency in criminal prosecutions.
Prof. Dankwa submits that besides precluding a potential source of conflict between the A-G and Minister of Justice, the fusion also obviates overlapping of functions between the two offices.
He is, however, convinced that the wheels of justice would be better oiled and frontiers of good governance expanded if the personality appointed the A-G asserts his independence in addition to being endowed with certain personal qualities and virtues. These include impartiality, steadfastness, respect for the rule of law, respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms, and possess the culture for non-discrimination against persons irrespective of gender, religion, ethnicity among others.
“The President himself must possess these qualities in order to influence his subordinates including the Attorney-General,” he adds.
During the discussion session, some contributors contended that the Chairman of the Electoral Commission is able to assert himself because of the security of tenure he enjoys under the Constitution.
But Prof. Dankwa dismisses the assertion submitting although some judges enjoy security of tenure yet they have given judgments which have raised a lot of eye brow in this country. A participant strengthened this point when he submitted that the EC Chairman could have compromised his position if he wanted to regardless o f the fact he enjoys the afore mentioned guarantees.
It has also been said in certain quarters that some Director-Generals that the State broadcaster, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), has had enjoyed immunity in that they were appointed by the National Media Commission(NMC), yet at one time or the other, they acted in a certain manner which all reasonable persons regarded a pandering to the government of the day.
Flowing from this premise is that it is not merely ensuring the security of tenure of the office of the A-G or similar positions, but it depends to a large extent on the ability of the individual occupying the position to assert his/her independence which is also predicated on personal beliefs in principles such as impartiality, the respect for the rule of law and fundamental human rights and civil liberties, culture of non-discrimination and the like.
It is worthy of note to recall that when the Appointments Committee of Parliament sought the views of Mrs. Justice Georgina Theodora Woode, then Appeal Court Judge and Chief Justice designate, on whether the position of the A-G should be separated from that of the Justice Minister, her answer was that it would not make any difference in as much as the appointing authority to the two positions remains the same.
It thus appears that the experts themselves are not unanimous on the issue. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) promised in their 2008 manifesto to keep the two positions distinct and so were the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and the People’s National Convention (PNC). Let us go at it and experiment it, at the end of the day the fruits it will bear will show whether we as a nation have engaged in an action whose consequences are what we set for ourselves or we have done much about a project which has yielded nothing.
A fortnight ago the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) jointly organized a seminar to deliberate the vexed issue of whether the separation of the Justice Ministry from the Office of the Attorney-General (A-G) will curb the perceived abuse of power of criminal prosecution and thus promote good governance.
The Seminar indeed lived up to expectation as the three eminent speakers who led the discussions did justice to the topic, illuminating participants on their positions and convincing some to buy into their thoughts. The speakers were Dr. Obed Yao Asamoah, Patron of the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), Prof. E.V.O Dankwa, a former law lecturer of the University of Ghana and Mr. Vitus A. Azeem, the Executive Secretary of Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII).
The contributions that ensued were a pointer to the fact that majority of the participants share the view that the two positions should be split as advanced by Dr. Asamoah and Mr. Azeem.
Dr. Asamoah, the longest serving A-G Ghana has ever had since independence, pointed out that since colonial times political persecution under the guise of criminal prosecution has been common. He observed that the fusion of the two offices have led to instances where “many a time governments have demanded accountability of others particularly opposition party members and perceived enemies other than their own members”.
He explained into detail drawing largely on proposals of the Constituent Assemblies of 1968 and 1978 that separation would do the criminal justice a lot of good, hence promote good governance. But he stresses that mere separation would not achieve the desired results unless the Attorney-General is guaranteed security of tenure.
According to him, the security of tenure for the A-G could be ensured if some three key arrangements are instituted. First, making the process for removal of the A-G from office difficult; second, insulating the determination of his salary, allowances and pension from political interference; and the third but not least, avoiding a change in the regime of salary and allowances while in office.
He also recalled that to guarantee the A-G’s position under the 1968 proposals the A-G’s position was equated to that of a Judge of the Supreme Court and in 1978 linked the position to that of the Superior Court of Judicature other than the Chief Justice.
Mr. Azeem cited the cases of Australia, Canada, England and Wales, Hong Kong South Africa, Thailand, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, Israel and Jamaica where the two positions have been either split or fused and pointed from social and practical cases the merits and demerits in each case. He concluded that, the ends of justice are better served if the two positions are kept distinct.
“In fact, I dare to state that the political position of the Attorney-General affects his/her relationship with some anti-corruption agents especially if they are perceived as anti-government. Some of these institutions have had cause to complain about the refusal of the Attorney-General to prosecute cases they have investigated and recommended prosecution,” Vitus referred to the situation in Ghana.
But Prof. E. V. O Dankwa, who was privileged to a Member of the Committee of Experts who drafted the proposals for the 1992 Constitution, dissented from the thought-provoking presentations of Dr. Asamoah and Mr. Azeem. His position which was cogently and coherently articulated made some of the participants to critically re-examine their earlier stance which were predicated on Asamoah’s and Azeem’s.
He first clarified a misconception which many have associated with Article 88(1) of the 1992 Fourth Republican Constitution. He elucidated, “The Committee of Experts did not propose that the A-G should be a Minister of Justice but rather a Minister of State”.
Article 88(1) stipulates, “There shall be an Attorney-General of Ghana who shall be a Minister of State and the principal legal adviser to the Governments”.
To him, the arguments advanced by the two speakers that the separation of the two offices fly in the face of reality and “it is not clear whether the separation will lead to good governance. I don’t think the present arrangement should be disturbed”.
He adds, “Pressure can be brought to bear on public officials just as politicians,” countering the reasoning that if the A-G is made purely a public office and not political it could lead to transparency in criminal prosecutions.
Prof. Dankwa submits that besides precluding a potential source of conflict between the A-G and Minister of Justice, the fusion also obviates overlapping of functions between the two offices.
He is, however, convinced that the wheels of justice would be better oiled and frontiers of good governance expanded if the personality appointed the A-G asserts his independence in addition to being endowed with certain personal qualities and virtues. These include impartiality, steadfastness, respect for the rule of law, respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms, and possess the culture for non-discrimination against persons irrespective of gender, religion, ethnicity among others.
“The President himself must possess these qualities in order to influence his subordinates including the Attorney-General,” he adds.
During the discussion session, some contributors contended that the Chairman of the Electoral Commission is able to assert himself because of the security of tenure he enjoys under the Constitution.
But Prof. Dankwa dismisses the assertion submitting although some judges enjoy security of tenure yet they have given judgments which have raised a lot of eye brow in this country. A participant strengthened this point when he submitted that the EC Chairman could have compromised his position if he wanted to regardless o f the fact he enjoys the afore mentioned guarantees.
It has also been said in certain quarters that some Director-Generals that the State broadcaster, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), has had enjoyed immunity in that they were appointed by the National Media Commission(NMC), yet at one time or the other, they acted in a certain manner which all reasonable persons regarded a pandering to the government of the day.
Flowing from this premise is that it is not merely ensuring the security of tenure of the office of the A-G or similar positions, but it depends to a large extent on the ability of the individual occupying the position to assert his/her independence which is also predicated on personal beliefs in principles such as impartiality, the respect for the rule of law and fundamental human rights and civil liberties, culture of non-discrimination and the like.
It is worthy of note to recall that when the Appointments Committee of Parliament sought the views of Mrs. Justice Georgina Theodora Woode, then Appeal Court Judge and Chief Justice designate, on whether the position of the A-G should be separated from that of the Justice Minister, her answer was that it would not make any difference in as much as the appointing authority to the two positions remains the same.
It thus appears that the experts themselves are not unanimous on the issue. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) promised in their 2008 manifesto to keep the two positions distinct and so were the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and the People’s National Convention (PNC). Let us go at it and experiment it, at the end of the day the fruits it will bear will show whether we as a nation have engaged in an action whose consequences are what we set for ourselves or we have done much about a project which has yielded nothing.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Growing inequality is a threat to our democracy, TUC warns
By Ebenezer Hanson
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) of Ghana has called on the government to take immediate steps to address the ever growing inequality between the rich minority and the poor majority, warning that the imbalance could undermine the country’s nascent democracy.
“Government must take urgent and concrete steps to bridge the ever growing gap between the minority rich and the poor as such a state of affairs could potentially undermine the country’s growing democracy,” warned Mr. Kofi Asamoah, Secretary- General of the TUC, at this year’s May Day celebrations at the Independence Square last Friday.
To this end, he urged Prof. Atta Mills-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) to embark upon economic and social policies that to seek to bridge the gap thereby giving meaning to the NDC’s claim to social-democratic credentials upon which it canvassed for and won the mandate of Ghanaians.
“A large majority of Ghanaian workers receive take-home-pay that cannot take them home. Even those of us who are employed in the formal economy receive very low wages that assure us of a decent living standard. The recent increase in the minimum wage is largely nominal if account is taken of the rate of depreciation of the cedi against the major currencies and the current rate of inflation. There is no real gain. We are likely to experience a significant fall in real wages this year. This has serious implications for the Decent Work Agenda Poverty Reduction Strategy.” he noted.
In addition, Mr.Asamoah urged the government to continue, expand and deepen the social interventions pursued by the previous government, which included the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the School Feeding Programme (SFP), the Metro Mass Transport and the Lively Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP)
The TUC, he said, was equally concerned about the about employment security of labour and was therefore worried about a recent high court ruling which said “employers could terminate the employment of their employees without giving any reason”. In the TUC’s view this could severely undermine the consensus reached in the various tripartite consultations that led to the passage of the law.
“The ruling of the High Court continues to be a source of unrest among workers as some employees are using the ruling as basis not only to get rid of so-called trouble workers and unionists but also to circumvent laid down regulation on redundancy declaration and obligation arising there from”.
The theme for the celebration was, “Improved Standard of living through Decent Work-a Pre-requisite for sustaining Democratic Governance”.
In his maiden address at May Day celebrations, coming exactly after 125 days in office, President John Mills first reminisced occasions when he participated in May Day celebrations first as university teacher with TEWU, then as Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner and later as Vice President.
Responding to some of the issues raised the TUC, President Mills called on all Ghanaians to put aside partisanship and collectively find home-grown solutions to the global economic crises of which Ghana is not immune.
He disclosed that he task a committee to review the recent Pension Law which was passed last year. He added that government is committed to the payment of the single spine salary. Besides, he tasked all boards to take action on wrongful dismissals that have taken place in the past.
Prof. Mills appealed to junior workers whose salaries had not seen any improvement over the last three years to be patient with the government and promised that they would improve upon their conditions.
He said the NDC government is determined to improve the living conditions of Ghanaians especially the rural poor.
.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) of Ghana has called on the government to take immediate steps to address the ever growing inequality between the rich minority and the poor majority, warning that the imbalance could undermine the country’s nascent democracy.
“Government must take urgent and concrete steps to bridge the ever growing gap between the minority rich and the poor as such a state of affairs could potentially undermine the country’s growing democracy,” warned Mr. Kofi Asamoah, Secretary- General of the TUC, at this year’s May Day celebrations at the Independence Square last Friday.
To this end, he urged Prof. Atta Mills-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) to embark upon economic and social policies that to seek to bridge the gap thereby giving meaning to the NDC’s claim to social-democratic credentials upon which it canvassed for and won the mandate of Ghanaians.
“A large majority of Ghanaian workers receive take-home-pay that cannot take them home. Even those of us who are employed in the formal economy receive very low wages that assure us of a decent living standard. The recent increase in the minimum wage is largely nominal if account is taken of the rate of depreciation of the cedi against the major currencies and the current rate of inflation. There is no real gain. We are likely to experience a significant fall in real wages this year. This has serious implications for the Decent Work Agenda Poverty Reduction Strategy.” he noted.
In addition, Mr.Asamoah urged the government to continue, expand and deepen the social interventions pursued by the previous government, which included the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the School Feeding Programme (SFP), the Metro Mass Transport and the Lively Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP)
The TUC, he said, was equally concerned about the about employment security of labour and was therefore worried about a recent high court ruling which said “employers could terminate the employment of their employees without giving any reason”. In the TUC’s view this could severely undermine the consensus reached in the various tripartite consultations that led to the passage of the law.
“The ruling of the High Court continues to be a source of unrest among workers as some employees are using the ruling as basis not only to get rid of so-called trouble workers and unionists but also to circumvent laid down regulation on redundancy declaration and obligation arising there from”.
The theme for the celebration was, “Improved Standard of living through Decent Work-a Pre-requisite for sustaining Democratic Governance”.
In his maiden address at May Day celebrations, coming exactly after 125 days in office, President John Mills first reminisced occasions when he participated in May Day celebrations first as university teacher with TEWU, then as Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner and later as Vice President.
Responding to some of the issues raised the TUC, President Mills called on all Ghanaians to put aside partisanship and collectively find home-grown solutions to the global economic crises of which Ghana is not immune.
He disclosed that he task a committee to review the recent Pension Law which was passed last year. He added that government is committed to the payment of the single spine salary. Besides, he tasked all boards to take action on wrongful dismissals that have taken place in the past.
Prof. Mills appealed to junior workers whose salaries had not seen any improvement over the last three years to be patient with the government and promised that they would improve upon their conditions.
He said the NDC government is determined to improve the living conditions of Ghanaians especially the rural poor.
.
Use media freedom to fight hunger, poverty, disease- Stratcomm CEO
By Ebenezer Hanson
The CEO of Stratcomm Africa, Ms. Esther Cobbah, has advised Ghanaian journalists to use the media freedom they enjoy to rid the country of poverty, hunger and disease. Media freedom, she believes, would not have far reaching impact if it does liberate the ordinary Ghanaian from the ills of the society.
“Freedom of the media would be meaningless unless it is linked with the total liberation of ordinary Ghanaian from poverty, hunger, disease and poverty,” she told journalists at Stratcomm’s 15th Anniversary Media Launch in Accra last Wednesday.
Relying on the Lord Jesus Christ’s admonition that unto whom much is given much would be required, Ms. Cobbah demanded of the media to go beyond the ordinary and pursue causes that would bring true freedom to Ghanaians.
The Ghanaian media has been ranked as one of the most vibrant and freest in Africa. Chapter 12 of the 1992 Fourth Republican Constitution of Ghana guarantees the freedom and independence of the media. Article 162 provides, among other things, that “Freedom and independence of the media are hereby guaranteed; subject to this Constitution and any other law not inconsistent with this Constitution; there shall be no censorship in Ghana .
“There shall be no impediments to the establishment of private press or media; and in particular, there shall be no law requiring any person to obtain a licence as a prerequisite to the establishment or operation of a newspaper, journal or other media for mass communication or information.
“And Editors and publishers of newspapers and other institutions of the mass media shall not be subject to control or interference by Government, not shall they be penalized or harassed for their editorial opinions and views, or the content of their publications.”
According to Ms. Cobbah, the media is an important link in the communication chain and therefore its importance could never be overemphasized. She urged organizations to depart from the fire-fighting approach of resorting to communication institutions to resolve crisis to mainstreaming communication into their core activities.
“Throughout the 15 years of our we have observed that communication is often sidelined by many organizations; it is only run to when there is crisis which could have been avoided if it had been integrated into the organization’s activities right from the word ago. Malaria could be reduced if basic information about it is provided and sustained”.
Commenting on the theme of the celebration, “Stratcomm Africa, Raising the Bar in the Communication Industry in Ghana and Africa”, the CEO attributed the strength and resilience Stratcomm has exhibited since its inception to the abundant grace of the Almighty God, adding, they would continue to “progress on eagle wings, striving to achieve excellence and thus raise the bar in the communication industry”.
Responding to questions, Ms. Cobbah revealed that Stratcomm is gradually spreading its tentacles on the continent and could boast of offices in Gambia, Liberia, Kenya and the United States; similarly it consults for companies outside Africa. She said some of the achievements of the company include offering employment to over 35 persons, forestalling clashes in mining areas, facilitating the work of development agencies, promoting understanding between organizations and the media, offering communication and reputation management services to clients and educating communities on a wide range of issues, among other things.
Mr. Ebenezer Tetteh, Operations Manager of Stratcomm, disclosed that that the company was established in 1994 as the Centre for Develeopment and Intercultural Communication (CEDIC) out of a firm conviction of that communication could be an effective tool for achieving national development as well as international understanding. He said with only one employee in 1994, the company soon grew to have more than 35 employees in 2004.
He outlined some of the activities to mark the year long programme and these include a family day out, launch of code of conduct, signing on to the Ghana Business Code and 15th Anniversary Celebration at La Palm. The rest are Thanksgiving Service, reading lessons with school children, media fora, launch of Business in Social Action (BISA), Ghana and SA (StratcommAfrica)@15Praise Jam.
Stratcomm, he said, provides “an intellectual and highly professional environment” which offers “enormous opportunities for individual learning and professional development”. He adds, “Stratcomm Africa provides a stimulating environment for professional exposure in a variety of sectors as result of the different organizations we work with. With a desire to work for the glory of God, staff of Sratcomm Africa has a unique opportunity to practise Christian stewardship as they undertake their professional activities.”
Stratcomm engages in communication strategy development and implementation, development and intercultural communication, behavioural and social change communication, training, facilitation and event organization, public relation, advertising and marketing.
The CEO of Stratcomm Africa, Ms. Esther Cobbah, has advised Ghanaian journalists to use the media freedom they enjoy to rid the country of poverty, hunger and disease. Media freedom, she believes, would not have far reaching impact if it does liberate the ordinary Ghanaian from the ills of the society.
“Freedom of the media would be meaningless unless it is linked with the total liberation of ordinary Ghanaian from poverty, hunger, disease and poverty,” she told journalists at Stratcomm’s 15th Anniversary Media Launch in Accra last Wednesday.
Relying on the Lord Jesus Christ’s admonition that unto whom much is given much would be required, Ms. Cobbah demanded of the media to go beyond the ordinary and pursue causes that would bring true freedom to Ghanaians.
The Ghanaian media has been ranked as one of the most vibrant and freest in Africa. Chapter 12 of the 1992 Fourth Republican Constitution of Ghana guarantees the freedom and independence of the media. Article 162 provides, among other things, that “Freedom and independence of the media are hereby guaranteed; subject to this Constitution and any other law not inconsistent with this Constitution; there shall be no censorship in Ghana .
“There shall be no impediments to the establishment of private press or media; and in particular, there shall be no law requiring any person to obtain a licence as a prerequisite to the establishment or operation of a newspaper, journal or other media for mass communication or information.
“And Editors and publishers of newspapers and other institutions of the mass media shall not be subject to control or interference by Government, not shall they be penalized or harassed for their editorial opinions and views, or the content of their publications.”
According to Ms. Cobbah, the media is an important link in the communication chain and therefore its importance could never be overemphasized. She urged organizations to depart from the fire-fighting approach of resorting to communication institutions to resolve crisis to mainstreaming communication into their core activities.
“Throughout the 15 years of our we have observed that communication is often sidelined by many organizations; it is only run to when there is crisis which could have been avoided if it had been integrated into the organization’s activities right from the word ago. Malaria could be reduced if basic information about it is provided and sustained”.
Commenting on the theme of the celebration, “Stratcomm Africa, Raising the Bar in the Communication Industry in Ghana and Africa”, the CEO attributed the strength and resilience Stratcomm has exhibited since its inception to the abundant grace of the Almighty God, adding, they would continue to “progress on eagle wings, striving to achieve excellence and thus raise the bar in the communication industry”.
Responding to questions, Ms. Cobbah revealed that Stratcomm is gradually spreading its tentacles on the continent and could boast of offices in Gambia, Liberia, Kenya and the United States; similarly it consults for companies outside Africa. She said some of the achievements of the company include offering employment to over 35 persons, forestalling clashes in mining areas, facilitating the work of development agencies, promoting understanding between organizations and the media, offering communication and reputation management services to clients and educating communities on a wide range of issues, among other things.
Mr. Ebenezer Tetteh, Operations Manager of Stratcomm, disclosed that that the company was established in 1994 as the Centre for Develeopment and Intercultural Communication (CEDIC) out of a firm conviction of that communication could be an effective tool for achieving national development as well as international understanding. He said with only one employee in 1994, the company soon grew to have more than 35 employees in 2004.
He outlined some of the activities to mark the year long programme and these include a family day out, launch of code of conduct, signing on to the Ghana Business Code and 15th Anniversary Celebration at La Palm. The rest are Thanksgiving Service, reading lessons with school children, media fora, launch of Business in Social Action (BISA), Ghana and SA (StratcommAfrica)@15Praise Jam.
Stratcomm, he said, provides “an intellectual and highly professional environment” which offers “enormous opportunities for individual learning and professional development”. He adds, “Stratcomm Africa provides a stimulating environment for professional exposure in a variety of sectors as result of the different organizations we work with. With a desire to work for the glory of God, staff of Sratcomm Africa has a unique opportunity to practise Christian stewardship as they undertake their professional activities.”
Stratcomm engages in communication strategy development and implementation, development and intercultural communication, behavioural and social change communication, training, facilitation and event organization, public relation, advertising and marketing.
CSOs should take interest in Oil Regulatory Framework
By Ebenezer Hanson
Ghana is on the threshold of increasing its national kitty by about 50% from 2011 if the oil begins to flow from the Jubilee Fields in the Jomoro District of the Western Region, according to a World Bank Report last year. But the question is, how much of this revenue will become beneficial to ordinary Ghanaians?
Mr. Emmanuel Kuyole, the African Regional Co-ordinator of Revenue Watch Institute, believes that the posture of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) relative to the oil regulatory framework will impact greatly on the extent to which the welfare of citizens will be maximized from oil revenue.
He has thus urged CSOs to take keen interest in the oil regulatory framework, particularly the fiscal aspects, currently being discussed by the relevant institutions before it takes its final shape and become law.
“Some of the agreements are currently being reviewed and we don’t what will happen to them. But it will be expedient for civil society to take keen and active interest in what is going on and to make the relevant input where necessary to ensure the revenue inure to the benefit of the ordinary Ghanaian,” he told participants of a two-day workshop on the use of royalties in mining and oil communities in Takoradi at the weekend. He was speaking on Civil Society Engagement on Ghana’s Extractive Industry Transparency. The workshop was organized by the Coalition on Decentralization which comprises Public Agenda, Friends of the Nation and Resource Link.
Citing excerpts of a Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning’s Report on Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GEITI) for July –December 2004, Mr. Kuyole identified lack of independent check on the fineness and purity of gold, lack of guidelines for establishing the prices of minerals won, challenges in royalty computation and the low payment at minimum 3% threshold, among others, as some the problems which have to be fixed if Ghanaians and mining communities in particular are to benefit.
“The amounts payable are not significant and even if they are paid regularly, they will not have any significant impact on development outcomes,” the reported noted. The stipulated amount was a meager 50pesewas(c 5000.00) per square kilometer.
The EITI is a global minimum standard for revenue disclosure- it combines transparency (EITI reports) and accountability (Multi-stakeholder group).
The initiative is robust yet flexible. It allows participating countries to shape their own process according to needs- These needs varies from: total disaggregation of revenue information, expansive materiality, sectors beyond oil, gas and mining, transparency of expenditures. Establish in 2003, there are 26 candidate countries globally.
Mr. Kuyole identified lack of transparency, problems of accountability, lack of capacity, among others, as some of the difficulties in the mining sector and which have to be forestalled in the oil industry.
To ensure maximum revenue for government, Mr. Kuyole challenged government to build the capacity of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to equip it to assess the exact operation cost of the mining companies since it constitutes a major determinant for calculating the revenue of the company.
During discussions, many participants agreed with Mr. Kuyole’s call for the need to build the capacity of IRS to enable them to correctly assess the total revenue of mining companies.
Ghana is on the threshold of increasing its national kitty by about 50% from 2011 if the oil begins to flow from the Jubilee Fields in the Jomoro District of the Western Region, according to a World Bank Report last year. But the question is, how much of this revenue will become beneficial to ordinary Ghanaians?
Mr. Emmanuel Kuyole, the African Regional Co-ordinator of Revenue Watch Institute, believes that the posture of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) relative to the oil regulatory framework will impact greatly on the extent to which the welfare of citizens will be maximized from oil revenue.
He has thus urged CSOs to take keen interest in the oil regulatory framework, particularly the fiscal aspects, currently being discussed by the relevant institutions before it takes its final shape and become law.
“Some of the agreements are currently being reviewed and we don’t what will happen to them. But it will be expedient for civil society to take keen and active interest in what is going on and to make the relevant input where necessary to ensure the revenue inure to the benefit of the ordinary Ghanaian,” he told participants of a two-day workshop on the use of royalties in mining and oil communities in Takoradi at the weekend. He was speaking on Civil Society Engagement on Ghana’s Extractive Industry Transparency. The workshop was organized by the Coalition on Decentralization which comprises Public Agenda, Friends of the Nation and Resource Link.
Citing excerpts of a Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning’s Report on Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GEITI) for July –December 2004, Mr. Kuyole identified lack of independent check on the fineness and purity of gold, lack of guidelines for establishing the prices of minerals won, challenges in royalty computation and the low payment at minimum 3% threshold, among others, as some the problems which have to be fixed if Ghanaians and mining communities in particular are to benefit.
“The amounts payable are not significant and even if they are paid regularly, they will not have any significant impact on development outcomes,” the reported noted. The stipulated amount was a meager 50pesewas(c 5000.00) per square kilometer.
The EITI is a global minimum standard for revenue disclosure- it combines transparency (EITI reports) and accountability (Multi-stakeholder group).
The initiative is robust yet flexible. It allows participating countries to shape their own process according to needs- These needs varies from: total disaggregation of revenue information, expansive materiality, sectors beyond oil, gas and mining, transparency of expenditures. Establish in 2003, there are 26 candidate countries globally.
Mr. Kuyole identified lack of transparency, problems of accountability, lack of capacity, among others, as some of the difficulties in the mining sector and which have to be forestalled in the oil industry.
To ensure maximum revenue for government, Mr. Kuyole challenged government to build the capacity of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to equip it to assess the exact operation cost of the mining companies since it constitutes a major determinant for calculating the revenue of the company.
During discussions, many participants agreed with Mr. Kuyole’s call for the need to build the capacity of IRS to enable them to correctly assess the total revenue of mining companies.
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