MEET PROFESSOR KWAMENA AHWOI ; he prefers academia to politics

The history of decentralization in the country can never be told without his input as he is a master architect when it comes to that sector. He is so vexed in the decentralization process such that he has been an icon there.

Recently he made his first inaugural lecture on the topic “functions, functionaries and funds: is there an alternative decentralization implementation strategy?” as part of the requirements to the attainment of the status of a professor.

It also marked the 50^th anniversary celebrations of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration.

At his lecture he came up with very shocking revelations some of which include the ceasure of  the Ministry of Local Government being a sector Ministry and should be converted into a Secretariat for Decentralisation and Local Governance within the Presidency.

This is necessary in order to give it the kind of authority which is required to give instructions to other sector Ministers, instructions which are so necessary if decentralisation is to be effectively implemented.

The present situation in which the Ministry with a sector Minister seeks to give instructions to colleague Ministers, almost acting like a primus inter pares, is deeply resented by the other Ministers and their top advisors.

“The least we can do to help whoever is in charge of decentralisation is to elevate him or her to a position in which he or she is perceived as speaking with “The President’s Voice”.

He is an oxford university Rhodes scholar as well as a university of Ghana pioneer tobacco company scholar, and currently a lecturer at the GIMPA school of governance and leadership, Professor Kwamena Ahwoi.

Although he seemed to have left front line politics, he acts in advisory capacities and roles in terms of legal and constitutional affairs not forgetting his best and known role of trouble shooting on governance.

The first question I asked him was how he blends academia with politics and which one he would choose over the other.

Quickly he replied that he preferred to do his academic work, because in academia, you are allowed to do things individually and get across your view point without any compromises. Also when you know something is right, you put it in the same way without any hurdle.

“In academia you have more room to operate”.

But in politics you don’t always say or do what is right but instead you do what the collective agrees on because at times you can think seriously that you are right on a position you have taken then you take to a cabinet or party level and they don’t agree with you.

You would be left with only two options either to give in to the collective decision or you resign.

“Politics does not always allow you to put across your point of view as forcefully as you would to and it does not also allow you to act the way and manner you think is correct because of the principle of collective responsibility”.

Prof. Kwamena Ahwoi says he cannot stomach the internal intrigues of partisan politics because he is at his best when he is debating the opposition instead because sometimes you can waste a lot of time on very personal and trivial things which ordinarily should not even take a second of your time.

The second reason why he would not do front line politics is because politics as risky as it is and with the many temptations it is very easy to make a wrong move or mistake especially when one has been in it for a longtime.

After being in politics for 19 years without blemish or mistake, and gaining an enviable track record, it would be best to exit from front line politics knowing that it is extremely risky on his part to go back.

“My experience is that in life you exit when you are at your glory”.

HOW HE ENTERED POLITICS       

The learned professor was pursuing his post graduate programme at Oxford university and came back to Ghana in 1978 but could not stand the system so in 1979 he planned to leave after getting an appointment at the Zambian University but just then, June 4 happened.

So GBC gave him an appointment to host a political programme which was formerly hosted by a former vice chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Ivan Addae Mensah. His task included an interview with all the nine presidential aspirants in the third republic.

When the coup happened I was a lecturer at the law faculty of the University of Ghana so Jerry Rawlings invited him to be part of a committee of enquiry to investigate some disturbances in the police which he did successfully.

“After that my political career was launched”.

When Rawlings staged his second cone back in 1981, Prof. was one of the ten people he announced on radio to come to the gomda barracks to help out which he did exceedingly so when PNDC by constitutional rule became NDC he is still a part.

WE AND THE RAWLINGS’S

Prof Ahwoi thinks that he and his brothers owe no allegiance or personal loyalty to former President Rawlings as long as the days of the prosecution of the revolution are over although he invited them.

He did not plan for a life in politics because of his academic work as such when it was time for the revolution, they were invited to join so he diverted his ways and joined but when the political party (NDC) was formed, the loyalty was transferred to the party instead of the founder.

“Our belief is that whoever is the leader of the party at any time is the one we owe an allegiance to, so if Rawlings has a problem with Prof. Mills am not going to add that to my problems”.

“For as long as Prof. Mills is the leader of the NDC, I will give him that loyalty”.

Asked if he would do same if Nana Konadu should have won the Sunyani delegates congress, he replied in the affirmative adding that as a politician if you don’t do that then you don’t have an organization especially when he is one of the architects of his party.

“I will be the last person to confuse loyalty to the party and loyalty to the founder of the party because the two are not the same. It would surprise you that if Nana Konadu should have won Sunyani, I would have switched my loyalty to her”.

But the professor conceded that he had not spoken to the founder of his party in the last two years otherwise he was speaking to him always when they were in opposition

He says the fracas between them and the founder of their party is not just a development with the Ahwoi’s but also with other members who were with him and have decided to work with the president now.

“Talk of Ceicilia Johnson, Sherry Ayitey, Satir Ocran, Totobi Kwakye, captain Tsikata, P.V. Obeng and a host of others”.

So it is not just the Ahwoi’s it still has to do with the question of loyalty.

ELECTIONS 2012

He is very optimistic that the NDC is going to win the 2012 elections because the president’s track record is an enviable one which is not bad at all.

The president according to him is humble, does not rush in taking decisions, a good listener, and a deep thinker hence he is being described as a slow person.

He says when a party has previously had a leader like former president Rawlings they find someone else whose attributes are the exact opposite of the former president as a welcome decision and a big relieve.

The chances of his party according to him are very bright because they have a core support of 42% as well as the opposition so now what they fight for is the floating voters.

“With all my experience I can tell you that between Prof. Mills and Nana Addo more than 90% of the floating voters will vote for president Mills”.

According to Prof. Ahwoi who is one of the most influential people in government, the 2012 elections would be a first round win for Prof. Mills because the NPP’s presidential candidate if it were another person than Nana Addo it would have been a bit difficult.

“Nana Addo has too much baggage on his head although his party says “Ye nim no fri tete”.

What he thinks his party has to work on is voter apathy because if they get their people to vote the elections can never get into a second round.

PERSONAL

Born to a sefwi father and a Fante mother, Professor Kwamena Ahwoi is the third of eight siblings.

He is an Oxford University Rhodes Scholar and University of Ghana Pioneer Tobacco Company Scholar. He holds a Bachelor of Civil Law (LL.B.) respectively from the two universities.

He was a Lecturer in Law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Ghana, Legon, before joining the Government of the Provisional National  Defence Council (PNDC) in 1982.

Mr. Ahwoi was PNDC Secretary (Minister) of Local Government from 1988 to 1993. He was a member of the “Akuse Group” that prepared the PNDC blue print on local government reform and decentralization in 1987 entitled “District Political Authority and Modalities for District Level Elections” that popularly came to be known as the “Blue Book”.

After that, he directed, supervised and chaired the Inter- Ministerial Task Force that prepared the first major legislation and decentralization, the Local Government Law on 1988, PNDCL 207. He also made substantial input into the work of the Committee of Experts (Constitution) and the consultative Assembly whose respective work finally culminated in Chapter 20 of the 1992 Constitution on “Decentralization and Local Government”.

As Minister of Local Government, he piloted the Local Government Act of 1993, Act 462, as well as the other major legislation on Local Government such as the District Assemblies Common Fund Act, 1993, Act 455; the National Development Planning (System) Act, 1993, Act 480; and the Local Government (Urban, Zonal and Town Councils and Units Committees Establishment) Instrument, 1994, L.I. 1589, through Parliament. He was also the Minister who signed into existence the Legislative Instruments establishing the 110 metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies in 1988/89.

In 1997/98,      Professor Ahwoi had the unique honour of holding both the Local Government and Foreign Affairs ministerial portfolios. He has considerable international experience in the area of local government and decentralization. He was for a very long time a member of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) based in London, UK; President of the Afro-Asian Rural Reconstruction Organization (AARRO) based in New Delhi, India; and a founding member of the Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) based at the Secretariat in London. He has addressed Conferences of the United Nations, the International Union of Local Authorities, the European Parliament, HABITAT and AFROCITIES and participated in scores of international conferences, seminars, workshops and roundtables on local government and decentralization. He also advised on decentralization programmes in several African countries.

As legal academic, Professor Ahwoi’s passion was jurisprudence. His seminal article on “Kelsen, the Grund Norm and the 1979 Constitution “published in the University of Ghana Journal is still compulsory reading in the course on the “Pure Theory of Law” at the University of Ghana Law Faculty. At GIMPA, he has written and published extensively on local government and Decentralization, climaxed by his book on “Local Government and decentralization in Ghana” published by Unimax Macmillan. This has become the leading work on the subject on Ghana.

Professor Ahwoi has four children and is married to Mrs. Comfort Nada Lomotso Ahwoi, a lawyer who works with the Legal Department of the Bank of Ghana.

NO DEAL! Parliament fails to reach consensus on controversial $3bn Chinese loan

Linda Akrasi Kotey

The people’s representatives do not see eye to eye on the relevance of the acquisition of a US$3 billion loan the government of Prof. John Evans Atta Mills seeks to contract from China, in view of the controversial US$1.5 billion STX Korean deal that is becoming an embarrassment to all Ghanaians.

Parliament has, for the third time, failed to debate and approve the $3 billion loan being sourced from China to finance infrastructural development projects under the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA). At the sitting yesterday, both the Minority and Majority sides failed to reach a consensus on the issue.

It has always been the convention for the various committees that handle loan facilities brought before them by the executive, to come to a consensus before recommending to the entire House to either reject or approve of them.

The Committee on Finance and Poverty Reduction, which sat to study the aforementioned agreement, however, failed this time, to reach a consensus.

The development compelled the House to suspended sitting, after the motion had been moved to enable both sides to reach a consensus.

When sitting resumed, the members informed the Speaker that they needed more time to study the report of the Finance Committee, to enable them properly debate the issue.

The joint report by the Finance and Poverty Reduction Strategy indicated that though they could not reach a consensus, the majority decision was that the facility, which is being sourced from the China Development Bank, would contribute to providing comprehensive and accelerated infrastructural development across the country.

It also said the Majority bench on the committee was of the opinion that the projects earmarked for funding under the facility were critical to the nation’s development, especially, the gas infrastructure development.

The Majority, therefore, opined that approval must be given to enable the various subsidiary agreements to be negotiated and presented to the House for approval. They also suggested that since the terms of the agreement were not in question, approval should be given.

The Minority members serving on the committee, however, argued that since the definition of ‘Facility Agreement’ includes a subsidiary agreement, approval of the facility would necessarily imply the approval of the subsidiary agreements, which are not yet known.

They were also of the opinion that the approval of the financing agreement was inextricably linked with the approval of the other requests and, therefore, it would be improper to approve the financing agreement without seeing the relevant subsidiary agreements.

They, therefore, suggested that the China Development Bank be given only a letter of comfort.  Additionally, the agreement should be treated as a Memorandum of Understanding, and be approved to give government the green light to negotiate the subsidiary agreements.

The NPP Minority also raised the issue of gaps in the agreement, with emphasis on places in the agreement marked as “to be agreed” or “to be inserted,” as shown in some of the clauses.

The Committee observed that the goal of the facility was to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the oil and gas sector operations, value adding industrial minerals processing ventures, and agro industrial ventures.

Below is part of the report prepared by the Finance Committee for the consideration of the entire House.

“The Majority of members of the committee agreed that request 1.1, asking the House to agree to the master agreement was in order and, therefore, the committee should recommend it to the House for approval. However, the Minority disagreed with that opinion.”
“Honourable members of the Committee were of the opinion that the projects earmarked for funding under the facility are critical to the nation’s development, especially, the gas infrastructure development.

“The Majority, therefore, opines that approval must be given to enable the subsidiary agreements to be negotiated and presented to the House for approval. Again, they suggested that since the terms of the agreement were not in question, approval should be given in accordance with Article 181 of the 1992 Constitution.
“The dissenting Minority, however, argued that since the definition of ‘facility agreement’ includes subsidiary agreements, approval of the facility agreement would necessarily imply the approval of the subsidiary agreements, which are not yet known.
“They were also of the opinion that the approval of the Master Facility Agreement (MFA) is inextricably linked with the approval of the other requests, and therefore, it would be improper to approve the MFA without seeing the relevant subsidiary agreement.
“They suggested that the China Development Bank (CBD) should be given only a “Letter of Comfort”, otherwise, the agreement should rather be treated as a Memorandum of Understanding, and be approved to give government the greenlight to negotiate the subsidiary agreement and bring them back for approval in that context, so that it does not constitute a binding contract…
“The request, asking Parliament to approve the earmarking of 40 % of the financing for disbursement under subsidiary agreement to enable government to access the best technology and expertise available, was similarly being premature, since such subsidiary agreements are not available, and even when they become available later, it would still be required to be laid before Parliament for their consideration and approval.
“The committee, therefore, recommends to the House to consider the request redundant at this time.”
Conclusion

“Upon critical examination of the Master Facility Agreement, the committee, by Majority decision, finds that the facility would contribute to provide a comprehensive and accelerated infrastructural development across the country.
“The committee, therefore, by majority decision, recommends to the House to adopt this report and approve by resolution for signing by government, the Master Facility Agreement for a three billion United States dollars (US$3,000,000,000) term loan facility between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the China Development Bank to finance agreed infrastructure development projects, under the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA), in accordance with Article 181 of the 1992 Constitution and Sections 3 and 7 of the Loans Act 1970 (ACT 335).”

Meet first female CEO of Chamber of Mines

By Linda Akrasi 

After an hour’s chat with her at her airport-based office, I came to understand why she has been described with adjectives such as industrious and devoted Christian among others.

Most women, when asked who their role models are, usually mention her name, and that is Madam Joyce Rosalind Aryee for you. Currently the Chief Executive of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Madam Aryee is also a public relations executive, a counselor, and an environmental consultant.

She strongly believes that women are as important as men, and must be given the fullest opportunity to be a part of the development process at all levels.

To her, women can exhibit certain strong leadership characteristics that are useful in our national democracy. “It is less likely for women to be corrupt and dip their fingers into the public purse. I am not saying it is impossible, but the emphasis is on less likely.”

Women, according to her, have a heart for the poor, “so if you are a developing country, and you want to pursue a pro-poor agenda, it is very useful to have women in some critical sectors of the economy. If by this, I am a feminist, fine, but I would not say get rid of all women and put men there.”

Aunty Joyce, as she is popularly referred to, also noted that the current government had not lived up to expectations, so far as the appointments of women into positions are concerned. “The statistics show that the President has not lived to his word, and has even, in some cases, dropped women and replaced them with men. I don’t know what the reasons are, but sometimes, you hear that they cannot find the women.”

She argued that the women can always be found, “but it is just that we seem to be practicing the winner takes all, so if there are women who don’t belong to the right side of government, then they won’t be considered.”

She is indeed looking for a time “where we would really have an all-inclusive government that naturally, would bring a lot of competent people on board.  The political parties must also realise that it is not everyone who holds a party card, even though such people would be patriotic and very passionate about national development and be in a position to assist.”

“We need to get leaders to go beyond acrimony, because once you are elected president, it is not just for your party, but for the whole country.”

Whilst men even try to sometimes avoid challenges, Madam Aryee, a devout Christian, rather loves that, because it enables her to identify difficult situations and address them. Immediate results are also not a part of her, because she always shares ideas with others, since wisdom is not in only one person’s head.

Joyce is an orphan, as her father died when she was just seven years old, and her mum passed on some fifteen years ago. As a single parent, her mum had to go through hell in bringing she and her siblings up.

Her mum, as an educationist, wanted to bring all her children up through schooling, so she had to complement her salary with trading in baking, in order to make sure that her children went through school.

After going through difficulties to become what she is today, Joyce thinks she has to use her time appropriately. As a result, she has turned down proposals to serve some of the corporate boards in the country.  “I pace my time out, because most boards meet quarterly, so I try and do my best.”

According to her, her first responsibility is to the Chamber of Mines, where she has been serving as Chief Executive for the past ten years. Although the chamber is a private sector mining industry association, they work more with the government, hence the perception that it is state-owned.

Touching on her personal life, Joyce Aryee said she has been married twice. Her first husband, with whom she has a 33 year old son, is a medical doctor called Dr. Mainoo, head of the popular Pro-Vita Hospital which has been saving motherless women with artificial insemination.

They lived together in Germany for many years, and relocated back to Ghana later. The breakdown of the marriage is attributed to the fact that they may not have known each other very well, because they met for a short time, and jumped into marriage.

Joyce Aryee says she married as a decision, because everyone was pressurising her that she was getting old and needed to marry. It was also based on a recommendation of a close friend’s mother, who happened to be Dr. Mainoo’s aunt.

“I suppose locating to a strange place with a different language made the pressures great, maybe it also contributed to that,” she hinted.

After some years, she met Dr. Charles Yves Wereko-Brobbey, who she had known since infancy, because their parents worked at the same place, and his senior sister happened to be her good friend.

They got married in 1996, but the marriage later broke down. Marrying again is however, not on her radar.

“When you’ve tried marriage twice and it has not worked, then you ask yourself if you have to try it again. Maybe my prince charming is still on his way. At age 65, I ask how much I can give to somebody.”

She admits that a lot of people look up to her as their role model through her motivational speeches and her ministry, but it does not mean that they should not get married and use her stance as an excuse.

If marriage were not good, God would not have created it. I have also been a single parent before, but I will not wish it on my worst enemy. Maybe, because I had only one child, managing was not all that difficult, but what about people who have more.”

She has, therefore, advised those who want to marry to learn to wait and get to know those they want to marry, because they are going to spend the rest of their lives together, so the issue about rushing into it is not good.

“I always tell people that when they sense in their heart and head that they are not ready, they should not allow anyone to pressurise them.

“I don’t discourage marriage, not at all. I maintain that we should instead be ready for it.”

Salt and Light is a ministry to her credit. It is one of encouragement and motivation, but not a church or a fellowship. She took the name from Mathew 5: 13- 16. “Salt, for me, stands for Christians, as well as light.”

Born to a Fante mother and a Ga father, Aunty Joyce hails from Anorhor in the Greater Accra Region. She has four siblings, two females and two males. She is the second of four children. Her mum hails from Elmina in the Central Region.

She admires her aunt, Mrs. Frances Ademola, and Dr. Leticia Obeng, who she says is extremely intelligent and very nationalistic. and that is where she learnt the wearing of traditional clothes.

Joyce Aryee is a professional with a versatile range of qualifications and a rich mix of personal skills. Her abilities are primarily in the fields of environmental management issues, communication, public relations, and the complete development of the human being

With over 40 years of public and private sector service, Joyce has acquired a wealth of experience, including editing and managing publications. She was the editor of an educational magazine, and a contributing editor of a leading Ghanaian business publication.

Dr. Aryee worked for the Environmental Protection Agency, but in 1983, while at the Ghana Standards Board, she was appointed Secretary of Information.

She was later appointed and made the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) Secretary for Education, and later as a non-Cabinet Minister to the National Commission for Democracy as Special Assistant to the Chairman.

Her service at the ministries and commission resulted in tremendous growth and stability in these sectors of the Ghanaian economy. Dr. Aryee played a very key role in the democratisation process while serving at the National Commission for Democracy.

As a Senior Mentor for the African Leadership Initiative, a leadership formation programmes, Dr. Aryee serves on Boards of Governors/Councils of several organisations such as the Private Enterprise Foundation, Ghana Eye Foundation, Energy Foundation, Central University College, Stanbic Bank, Finatrade Foundation, Glico General, Bible Society, the Roman Ridge School to mention a few.

She is also the Chairperson, United Nations Global Compact Local Network in Ghana, a Fellow of the Institute of Public Relations, Ghana, Fellow-Ghana Institute of Management, and an Honorary Fellow of the Ghana Institution of Engineers.

She has also participated in several mining conferences in South Africa and Canada, and as a Guest Speaker at the “Women in Mining Conference” in Australia.

She has travelled widely, often in her official capacity, to Europe, visiting countries like Germany, the United Kingdom (UK), France, Ireland, Switzerland, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Austria, Spain, Norway and Denmark.

She has also been to Asia (Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and India), the Americas (U.S.A. and Cuba), the Middle East (Israel and United Arab Emirates), and Africa (Tanzania, Gabon, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Libya, Liberia, Algeria, Mali, Nigeria and Kenya.)

Profile: The man Professor Kofi Agyekum

When the roll call is made about those who have contributed to the promotion of local languages on our radio stations, Professor Kofi Agyekum, head of the Linguistics Department of the University of Ghana, Legon, will certainly be one of them.

He was the one who pioneered the use of local languages to discuss national issues on Radio Universe, and later copied by the other radio stations in the country.

It is no wonder that people, who listen to radio nowadays, especially Peace FM, always like his line of argument on all issues. He started his local language broadcast on April 10, 1997, when he returned from Norway, by translating newspaper headlines into the Akan language on Radio Universe.

“It was a thirty minutes programme, where I translated the editorials of the various newspapers and broadcast them, and later introduced phone-ins which caught up very well after a month. Peace FM took it from us,” Opanin Agyekum, as he is popular known on the airwaves, said in an interview with The Chronicle at his office in Accra.

The gentle professor, who is well admired across the political divide of the country as result of his objective way of handling national issues, threw light on his educational background, his humble beginnings as a child, lifetime achievements, and politics of this country.

He recalled a paper he wrote in 2004 called “Invective language in contemporary Ghanaian politics,” which had a chapter on the use of insults, which has become hackneyed in the country of late.

What he did was to look at about four major newspapers at the time – Palaver, Democrat, Statesman and Daily Guide. He looked at this, vis-a-vis the theory on invectives. “Sometimes it is targeted at the person’s occupation, the person’s religion, ethnic affiliation, in politics, on the person’s party.”

Opanin Agyekum is convinced that the politicians think if they have an insulting mouth, it is then that they can win power. “It is an open secret that people are awarded some positions, because in the 2008 elections, they were very vocal and could use invectives. This, he said, was a very dangerous phenomenon we should all fight against.

The Professor suggested to the two flagbearers of the leading parties in the country to sit down at a round table and look at the way forward about the this insult menace. “You see, all the guys who are now insulting are younger than those they insult. So, it tells you that they don’t have the cultural training.

“It is possible to be richer than someone who was born before you. It is also possible to be beautiful or more handsome than someone who was born before you. And it is also possible to be an intellectual or more intelligent than someone who was born before you. But, it will never be possible for you to be older than someone who was born before you. That cannot happen. It goes contrary to nature.

“For people who are older than you, how do you guarantee that you would grow as old as they are? President Mills is around 67 years, and Nana Addo is over 60 years. Assuming that they can go past 60 years, how can they guarantee that they would be as healthy as the President who is touring the country? There are a lot of people under 40 years who are bedridden with sickness.”

The head of the Linguistics Department at Legon has, therefore, asked politicians to draw a line between insults and criticisms, because “you can criticise positively, but what is being done now on the political arena is not the best.

“The moment you criticise, you should be ready to provide an alternative, because you cannot go about to say something is just wrong. You should be able to provide an answer that would make it right.

“So, why not just concentrate on the issues and criticism, and leave out the personalities, because whether you like it or not, no matter how bad that person is, that is what his party wants.

“Are you saying that your eyes are more open than all those who voted for Mills, are all of them blind, are they not aware of his character, and still they say that is the one they want. Are all those in the NPP not aware of who Nana Addo is, but they voted for him,” he asked.

Prof. Agyekum noted that character assassination should be left out of politics, so that politicians can rather concentrate on the issues, because at the end of the day, Ghanaians want a society which is highly developed and better than it was last year.

The media, according to him, had a role to play in this regard, and be feeding the reading public with the right information, instead of sensational ones. “If we don’t take care, news would be nothing, but only sensational,” he stressed.

He called on the media to be very proactive, especially, the electronic ones, as to the kind of people they put on their network, “because we have a country to protect.”

Prof. Agyekum had his elementary school education from stage one to Form Four at Kokofu- Edwinase in the Ashanti Region, where he was also born.  He continued to the Nkoransa Training College for four years.

He afterwards pursued a three year teacher’s diploma at the School of Ghanaian Languages at Ajumako. He then proceeded to the University of Ghana to pursue B.A. in linguistics, and Russia for his first degree. He pursued his graduate studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheimin, Norway. He came back in 2003 to start teaching at the university, where he had his PhD.

In 2005, he had an Associate Professorship and attained full Professor in 2010. Currently, Opanyin Agyekum, as he is popularly called, has 39 general articles, three books, and some chapters in books to his credit. The most recent publication being “the Ethno-Pragmatics of Amannebo in Akan, which is an article in a journal called “Language and Dialogue.”

This paper captures the concept of ‘Amanebo’, looks at its structure from the beginning to the end, and at the context under which it is crucial. It also helps the reader to recount events from the last time “the person met you, up till this time.”

There is also another one on “The Ethno-Pragmatics of Akan Palace language,” which is in a journal called Journal of Anthropological Review in Mexico.

This article, according to Professor Agyekum, also “looks at the palace language as quite different from the one we use, so there are certain basic terms you meet in the palace that ordinary people do not know.”

Prof. Kofi Agyekum has an educational foundation in his name, which is to help poor and brilliant students in his hometown.

He admires people who are humble and sober, irrespective of their status in society. He also likes religious people, because he says without God, you cannot do anything.

Opanin Agyekum has four children, two male and two female. He has been married for 33 years to Mrs. Abena Akyaa Agyekum.

In 2007, he was awarded the best teacher for the humanities, and a national award of Order of the Companion of the Volta in 2008 by then President Kufuor for his contribution to public education and the media.

Heated debate in Parliament as MINORITY GRIPE OVER $105M JETS …for Ghana Armed Forces

The decision by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government to acquire five new aircraft for the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), at a total cost of €71 million and $105,370, 177.09, became a subject of a heated debate in Parliament yesterday, by the Majority and Minority sides.

The aircraft include an Embraer E 190 jet, with a hanger costing $105,370, 177.09, two BA 42 Guardian Surveillance jets costing €11 million, and another two CT95 aircraft costing €60 million.

Though the two sides agreed that the GAF must be equipped, the Minority made several references to statements made by members of the then minority side, who are now the majority, especially, Enoch Teye Mensah and Dr. Benjamin Kumbuor, when the Kufuor government wanted to buy a presidential jet.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) member for Atwima Mponua, Isaac Asiamah, who led the Minority onslaught, accused the government of profligate expenditure, arguing that the amount being used to buy the two CT95 aircraft could have even bought three aircraft.

According to him, checks he conducted on the internet revealed that the price of the two aircraft was cheaper than the figure they were being asked to approve.

He, therefore, wondered whether due diligence was done before approval was given to purchase the aircraft. “The difference alone in the two can buy a third one,” he added.

Asiamah was also not happy with a $17 million loan the House was being asked to approve to construct hangers to house GAF aircraft. To him, the hanger was just a garage, and he did not, therefore, understand why it should be so expensive.

But, the Defence Minister, General Joseph Henry Smith (rtd), disagreed with the member arguing that he had got it all wrong. According to the Minister, the hanger is rather very huge and would, upon completion, house the presidential jet as well, which is currently being parked in the open, together with the two additional aircraft.  “At the end of the day, the hanger would carry three aircraft stationed in it,” he added.

The Minister disclosed that part of the $17 million loan would also be used to put up a building to house crew members on the Air Force. General Smith indicated that the acquisition of the aircraft would enhance the capability of the Air Force by playing its maritime role with the navy, in support of the oil and gas industry, and anti-drug trafficking operations.

At the end of the heated debate, the House approved the loan, which is being sourced from the Deutsche Bank S.A.E of Spain for the acquisition of the two aircraft.

 

Political colouration of Civil Servants must stop -Haruna

The Minister of Communications, Haruna Iddrisu has called on public servants to stop displaying partisan loyalties, but rather make meaningful contributions to public service and the growth of the country. The Minister regretted that state resources are used to train Ghanaian workers who are often compelled to exit public service after clearly showing their political affiliation. “The Proceed on Leave syndrome, to me, is an unacceptable practice.” The Minister said this when he was making a contribution to the Political Transition bill, which is currently before Parliament. The bill seeks to establish a framework for the political transfer of administration from one democratically elected government to the other. According to the Minister, the dilemma has always been how patriotic they would be to the in-coming administration, and whether they share in the political philosophies and values of that administration or not.“Would they work as saboteurs, or they would support the in-coming administration to succeed,” he asked. He said there was the need for cooperation between and among political parties and the leadership of this country,as well as public office holders to be committed, and to avoid the slightest question of impropriety. This, he said, was because the transitions of 2001 and 2009 were all centered on impropriety. He also entreated public officials to, at all times, distinguish between what was state property and individual or personal property, and also know what should be paid for by the state, and what should be paid for by an individual. He stated that the country must also learn to honour people who have served the country in different respects. “It is a harmless duty for an in-coming President to say farewell to an out-going President.” This, he stressed, was just enough to recognise that that out-going President had done their part, either for a four or eight year period.“Our problem in this country is that we fail to recognise what other people have done.” Mr. Iddrisu noted that too many Ghanaians have suffered, because of the tag put on their heads as belonging to this party or the other. He mentioned that politicians must respect the right of Ghanaians, because sovereignty resides in them, as such when a politician says that his party would rule forever, it would be an affront to the constitution. He also cautioned fellow Ministers to learn how to prepare their handing over notes, particularly, as the election period approaches, “because the issue is not whether your party’s mandate has been renewed or not. Transition means a new era will dawn, and a new administration would come into being.”

THE“TAKA, TIKA, GANGALE”, TALE …The real story and its originators

It was a simple story like any that we richly possess in our folklore, but the caliber of the story teller, Vice President John Dramani Mahama and the timing of the story, the NDC Sunyani Congress, shook the foundations of not only the Sunyani Coronation Park, but the entire nation, which was glued to TV sets, watching the unfolding events in Sunyani.

The names of the three birds have suddenly become popular in public discourse and in the media, with some DJs and presenters mixing ‘Taka’, ‘Tika’ and ‘Gangale’ in their programming.

Taking his turn to speak just before the Founder of the party, Jerry John Rawlings, the Vice President eloquently presented a northern folk story about three birds -“Taka, Tika and Gangale”, and the lesson they learnt, that combining their talents brought them better success than going their separate ways.

We caught up with Vice President John Mahama when he returned to Accra yesterday, and asked him the origin of the story and why he decided to tell it at this time, at a party’s presidential congress.

He disclosed to us that he is not the one who originated that story. “I am not the originator of the story”. He explained that the story is an old folk tale widely told in the Upper West Region and the Bole area of the Northern Region, adding that he had heard it as a child growing up in the North, but had largely forgotten about it.

Vice President Mahama indicated that until he heard it again recently from Naa Seidu Braimah, a Member of the Council of State, during a campaign visit to Wa in the run up to the recent congress.

The Vice President said after returning from his recent visit to the United States of America, he visited the Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Northern, Upper East and West Regions to campaign for the President’s endorsement at the Sunyani Congress.

He said at Wa, in the Upper West Region, where he met with delegates from all the constituencies, Naa Seidu Braimah was called to give the closing remarks, during which he recounted the story of the three birds.

“Subsequently, Alhaji Hudu Yahaya, one of the vice chairperson’s of the party told the story when they met delegates at Tamale and Bolgatanga.  Realising how profound the story was and the lesson it had for NDC as a political party, I decided to incorporate it into my statement at the congress”.

In his usual humble tone, the Vice President said “If there is any credit at all, it should go to Naa Seidu Braimah and Alhaji Hudu Yahaya”, for reminding him of the story.

What the tale meant was that there is strength in unity. The Veep also called on party faithful to leave the congress united, because it is only with that unity that God will continue to bless them.

Quoting former President John Agyekum Kufuor to boost his statement, Mr. Mahama said: “It is better to be the messenger in the ruling party than to be the General Secretary of the opposition”.

Minority grills Energy Minister …over Tsatsu’s oil company

The Minister of Energy, Dr. Oteng Adjei, had a tough time in parliament yesterday, when he tried to convince the Minority bench that he did not know anything about the alleged money paid to Strategic Oil and Gas Resources (SOGR), a company which is partly owned by Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata, former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).

Dr. Oteng Adjei insisted that he was not privy to such payments, if it were made at all, but the Minority would not take his answer, insisting that as the sector Minister he should be in the know.

It all began when the former Deputy Minister for Energy and Member of Parliament (MP) for Adansi Asokwa, K.T. Hammond, posed a question to the Minister as to whether recent newspaper publications that Mitsui Ocean Development and Engineering Company (MODEC), the company which leased the FPSO Nkrumah to the Jubilee Partners, paid some money to Strategic Oil and Gas Resources was true, and if it was, what the basis for such payments were for.

The Minister stated that so far as the Ministry was concerned, it remains an allegation by newspaper reports.

He indicated that the Ministry’s attention had never been drawn to any impropriety involving MODEC and Strategic Oil and Gas Resources.

The Minister stated that MODEC was a private company which leased the FPSO to the Jubilee Partners, and operates and maintains it on behalf of the partners.

“MODEC, we understand, sub-contracts service companies in some of its operations, as such payment could, therefore, be effected for services rendered to MODEC by contractors or consultants, based on the sub-contract agreements,” the Minister said

Dr. Oteng Adjei noted that SOGR is a privately-owned Ghanaian company, and, therefore, could be sub-contracted by MODEC for any contract.

 

Anita de Souza drove through the crowd @ Atiwa- AG concedes

Linda Akrasi Kotey

Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Martin Amidu, has revealed that the occupants of the vehicle which drove through an irate mob during the Atiwa bye election last year is the national women’s organizer of the NDC, Anita de Souza.

He added that when the incidence happened, the police was no where around the scene so they had to depend on eye witness accounts.

The minister said this when he was answering a question in parliament on an allegation that the national women’s organizer of the NDC, Anita de Souza and her driver run into nine people in Abomosu during the Atiwa bye election in August last year.

The minister said looking at the witness reports that came in, he could not describe exactly whether it was a mob, a crowd or a vigilante group because he was basing his answer on the docket he received from the police.

But minority leader Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu challenged the minister that the assumption that the police was not at the scene at the time of the incidence cannot be true because the police told him personally that they were eye witnesses at the event.

“Madam Speaker the minister must probe further into the matter”.

Martin Amidu explained that the driver was driving from Abomosu township towards Ekorsu on that fateful day. Of seven witnesses who made statements to the police, only four gave eye witness account of saw.

Three of the witness alleged that the vehicle was stopped for inspection of its occupants, one out of the three allege that it was the police who stopped the vehicle whilst the other two witnesses allege that it was the crowd or mob which stopped the vehicle.

The fourth witness merely says that the suspect driver drove through a police barrier at top speed and then through the mob and then lost control of the vehicle.

He stated that two of the four witness are consistent in their allegation that when the crowd saw the NDC national women’s organizer on the front seat, the crowd shouted that “this is one of the NDC members” and decided to close the barrier when half of the vehicle had already crossed.

One of the two witnesses alleged that he vehicle then drove through the people at top speed and knock most of them down. The second of the two witnesses alleges that after Anita was spotted, by some members of the mob they shouted ‘they don’t belong to us’ and ordered that the barrier should be closed.

According to the minister, after studying the docket, it appears that it was in the process of escaping the irate vigilante crowd on the vehicle and the lives of its occupants that a number of people from the crowd were accidentally knocked down with some sustaining serious injuries.

He indicated that it is clear from the docket that the mob, crowd or vigilante created a very dangerous situation after stopping the vehicle that could have been foreseen by the suspect driver.

“After a personal study of the docket, I have come to the firm conclusion that the evidence on the docket cannot cogently support the offences of dangerous driving and negligently causing harm contrary to section 1(1) of the road traffic Act 2004.

Kyei Mensah Bonsu also asked the minister to explain what he means that the residents had bounded themselves into a vigilante group or mob and gathered at the outskirts to check and flush out non residents entering and leaving the town.

“Madam Speaker may I know from the minister how he came to the conclusion that the crowd had met there to check and flush out non residents”.

The minister insisted that they had tried to capture the reports as neutral as possible and given the details because of the sensitive nature.

“That is exactly what I have done”.

 

Parliament recognizes former President Kufour’s Award

Linda Akrasi Kotey

Members of Parliament have congratulated former President John Agyekum Kufuor, for wining the world food prize award. This they say has lifted the image of the country high in Africa and the world.

Former agric minister, Ernest Akubour Debrah, told the House that the greatest honour must go to the recipient of the award for his efficient leadership in initiating the poverty and hunger reduction policies and its courage in seeing through its implementation.

He said the award was also an honour to Parliament that gave legal backing to the policies and the development partners who gave financial and technical support to Mr.Kufuor’s government.

Touching on some of the initiatives that the former government put in place, he recalled the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative which allowed the country to get reliefs from accredited countries and international financial institutions.

The relief enabled Ghana to undertake poverty reduction programmes in health, education, water and sanitation especially in the rural areas.

In the cocoa sector, the mass pest control of all cocoa farms in the country  and the provision of subsidized fertilizers for cocoa farmers increased cocoa yields and doubled cocoa production from 380,000 metric tones in year 2000 to 736,000 metric tones in year 2004.“This translated to almost doubling the income of cocoa farmers”.

The initiative he said generated employment for thousands of the youth in the rural areas and also had a huge impact on poverty and hunger reduction in the country.

He mentioned that Ghana was selected to benefit from the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) under the leadership of the former president. Through his initiative, a total grant of about $US550 million received from the MCA was devoted to agriculture. Specifically food security and horticultural development.

“The dual carriage highway from Tetteh Quashie to Mallam junction currently under construction is part of the MCA Ghana program,” he said.

The member disclosed that agriculture had a boost under the administration of the former president.   He said in implementing the food security policy objective, good quantity of farm machinery and equipment were distributed to farmers at subsidized  rates.

But communications minister, Harunna Iddirisu, in his submission said though the former president needs to be commended, that was not the first time an African leader is being commended.

He mentioned the hunger award to  former President Rawlings which he used in the establishment of the university of development studies.

Former president Kufuor and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won the $250,000 World Food Prize for cutting hunger by half while serving as president of their respective  nations.