Month: April 2024

A community scorecard on the performance of service providers on revenue mobilisation and utilisation has scored Ghana Water Company Limited 34.16 per cent.

The scorecard, generated by citizens in the Tamale and Sagnarigu Municipalities, based their assessment on issues of inadequate water supply to residents, inappropriate water billing, quality of water supply, and poor customer service, among others.

This was made known at a consultative forum held in Tamale to come out with data that would empower citizens and civil society organisations to legitimately engage local governments for improved social service delivery, especially on pro-poor services.

The forum, organised by Norsaac, an NGO, in collaboration with the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) and EDUWATCH, and funded by Oxfam in Ghana, formed part of the implementation of a two-year project dubbed: ‘Strengthening Advocacy on Inclusive Democracy in Ghana (SAID-Ghana)’.

It brought together stakeholders, including chiefs, youth groups, market
women associations, hoteliers’ associations, and labour unions for more comprehensive training on the use of the community scorecards to help make duty-bearers in the two assemblies more transparent and accountable.

Three thematic areas were considered for the assessment, which included water supply, electricity and mobilisation and utilisation of revenues at the assemblies.

The scorecard also scored Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) 39% in view of issues of interrupted power supply, illegal connections, challenges in the billing processes and poor customer service.

The assemblies also scored 48.44 in terms of revenue mobilisation and utilisation.

Mr James Nachibu, Programme Manager at Norssac, speaking during the event in Tamale, said the exercise was targeted at enhancing transparency and accountability from duty-bearers to improve social service delivery for the citizenry.

He said the outcome of the scores would serve as the basis for citizen-local government engagements through sector
reviews, and annual performance reviews amongst others.

Dr Kojo Impraim, Director of Research and Advocacy at MFWA, said citizens must demonstrate more patriotism by coming out with empirical data on issues affecting them to draw government and other stakeholders’ attention to their plight.

Alhaji Mohammed Seidu, Vice Chairman of Livestock Farmers Association in the Tamale Metropolis expressed worry over poor delivery and access to social services, especially water supply, saying it was adversely affecting their businesses.

He was optimistic that the service providers, after the interface meeting with them, would put in place measures to improve their services for sustainable development.

Source: Ghana News Agency

It is said that sin has many tools, but deception is the handle that fits them all. It is worrying that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is quickly carving out a niche for itself as a master of the art of deception. I’m, therefore, cynical about their future campaign promises, and my cynicism is definitely not without cause. I have some justifications to make. Some of the broken promises of the NPP are as follows:

Expansion of the railway to the northern part of Ghana, construction of a public university in every region, building a factory in every district, creating 500,000 jobs every year, engaging 20,000 sanitary inspectors every year, and construction of fifty thousand housing units per year, just to mention a few.

Unfortunately, most of these were not fulfilled. The question many people would want to ask is: did the NPP lie in their campaign, or, to use a less pejorative term, did they mislead the electorate for political gain?

For instance, one constituency, one million dollars was a funny promise. In
Ghana, we have the District Assembly Common Fund, so why not promise to put that one million into that statutory fund? And they wanted to allocate one million to a purely electoral area that is not self-accounting. If this was not an avenue for looting, what else could it have been?

Pure negative intent because the constituencies are pure political divisions under the MPs, who have no locus in our constitution to manage funds. In any case, are the challenges of all the constituencies homogeneous? Absolutely no! This was a pure one-shop solution, a deceptive strategy used to win power.

In the promise of creating 500,000 jobs a year, the youth of this country are the best judges as to whether this promise was fulfilled. Interestingly, Nana Akufo-Addo and Dr. Bawumia did not tell the people of Ghana how they were going to create those jobs.

Conversely, President John Dramani Mahama outlined his job creation strategy, which he called Livelihood Empowerment through Skills Development, using YEA, then Entreprene
urship Development using YES, revival of GIHOC Holding, Farmer Service Centre concept, expanding job avenues by building more schools, more health facilities, expanding military garrisons, and increasing police and other security agencies numbers and roles. Growing the economy to 8% automatically churned out jobs, and this is what is called a clear job creation strategy.

The failed promises of the Akufo-Addo and Bawumia-led governments brought hunger, suffering, and economic recession to this country. What is the guarantee that Bawumia will do differently if given the mandate to rule this nation?

Source: Ghana Web

With votes from approximately 45% of polling stations counted, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate in the Ejisu Parliamentary by-election, Kwabena Boateng, is leading the contest.

As reported by Accra-based Asempa FM, provisional results from 90 out of the 204 polling stations in the Ejisu Constituency show Kwabena Boateng leading with 58.09%.

Ing. Kwabena Owusu Aduomi, the independent parliamentary candidate, has secured 40.8% of the votes.

The other candidates in the by-election – Esther Osei of the CPP, Beatrice Boakye of the LPG, and independents Gabriel Agyemang Joseph and Attakorah Joseph- collectively account for less than 1% of the votes.

In the meantime, Aduomi has accused the NPP of using monetary incentives to sway voters in the ongoing election.

He labelled the alleged vote-buying by NPP members, including party leaders, as shameful.

Aduomi, addressing the media at a polling station, expressed his astonishment at the party’s methods to compete against an independent candidate like himse
lf.

He asserted that he would win if the election was conducted without interference.

Aduomi also conveyed his contentment with the electoral process, particularly noting the peaceful atmosphere at the polling stations.

Source: Ghana Web

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) recently hosted a validation workshop focused on contingency plan financing for disaster risk management agencies.

Notable participants included key government bodies such as the Ministry of Finance, the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), and the National Insurance Commission (NIC), among others, alongside Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).

The primary objective of the workshop was to validate the contingency plan document, ensuring its accuracy and completeness.

Participants were tasked with confirming their roles and responsibilities, identifying any additional data needed, and finalising specific activities for stakeholders in case of a disaster.

Madam Amina Sammo, the UNDP’s Project Coordinator, highlighted the importance of contingency planning, emphasising its role in facilitating a prompt response once insurance payouts are triggered.

She stressed that the plan outlines clear roles, responsibilities, and fund allocation, serving as
a crucial tool to enhance government preparedness for emergencies.

Ms. Sammo emphasised that the validation process would enhance stakeholder engagement and collaboration, leading to a more effective response during emergencies.

She maintained that the contingency plan would afford the vulnerable population, particularly in the inner cities and Zongo areas, ready funds to remedy emergencies in some of these areas.

She noted that the validation would identify potential risks, missed opportunities, and areas for improvement to strengthen the plan.

During the workshop, Mr Frank Aggrey, a Deputy Director of NADMO, underscored the significance of insurance as a risk factor, emphasising the need for thorough discussion.

NADMO has developed a comprehensive contingency plan detailing the roles and responsibilities of its partners.

Madam Akua Asante, representing the Insurance Development Forum (IDF), highlighted the uniqueness of the plan, citing its alignment with project objectives and government support.

Dr
. Eric Twum, a Disaster Risk Consultant, outlined the aim of the contingency plan to provide funding for flood mitigation in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA), covering 25 out of 29 municipalities.

Dr Twum emphasised the urgency of addressing rising sea levels, warning of the potential inundation of critical institutions like Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital and Osu Castle if preventive measures are not implemented promptly.

Source: Ghana Web

After the day’s proceedings have concluded, a successor for the late Member of Parliament for Ejisu, John Kumah, will have been elected.

That is the expectation, even as the Electoral Commission (EC) oversees the by-election currently underway in the Ashanti regional constituency.

Known to be a stronghold of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in political terms, the election has attracted considerable attention from many election watchers. This interest is partly due to the fact that a former MP, who previously served under the NPP, is contesting in this race as an independent candidate.

However, Kwabena Owusu Aduomi, a three-time MP, will not be the sole independent candidate in the race.

The other two are Gabriel Agyemang Joseph and Joseph Attakora.

Representing the Convention People’s Party (CPP) is Esther Osei, who is listed first on the ballot sheets.

Beatrice Boakye, representing the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG), is also competing, with the final candidate being Kwabena Boateng for the New Patriotic P
arty.

The results from the 204 polling stations are expected to begin arriving after the official end of polls at 5 pm.

In total, 106,812 voters are anticipated to participate in the by-election.

It is noteworthy that the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Ghana’s largest opposition party, did not present any candidates for the election.

Source: Ghana Web

The Office of the Registrar of Companies (ORC) has announced that starting from May 1, 2024, an increased penalty will be applied to companies that are in default.

The penalty fee has been raised from GHS650 to GHS1,000.

This measure is intended to act as a deterrent against the non-filing or late filing of annual returns.

This new directive will affect both private and public companies limited by shares, as well as private and public companies limited by guarantee (including schools, churches, associations, NGOs, CSOs, foundations, etc.).

“In accordance with Section 126 of the Companies Act, 2019 (Act 992), which mandates that every company file their Annual Returns at least once a year or within thirteen (13) months after incorporation,” a statement from the ORC read.

The Office stresses that it is compulsory for every incorporated company in Ghana to file an annual return, whether it is operational or not.

It is required that the annual return be certified by a director and secretary of the company
and submitted to the Office of the Registrar of Companies along with the audited financial statements for the year, as stipulated in section 126(1) of the Companies Act, 2019 (Act 992).

“Consequently, effective from May 1, 2024, the ORC will impose an updated penalty of GHS1,000.00, up from GHS650.00, on companies in default for each month the default persists, in line with section 126(7),” the ORC declares.

“Should a company fail to comply with this section, the company and every officer of the company in default will be liable to pay the Registrar an administrative penalty of twenty-five (25) penalty units (approximately GHS300.00) for each day the default continues,” it added.

However, the ORC clarifies that the increase in penalty fees is not meant to financially burden companies but rather to serve as a deterrent to those companies that persistently operate without adhering to the Companies Act, 2019 (Act 992).

“Companies with a financial year running from January 1 to December 31 are required to fil
e their Annual Returns in the first quarter of the subsequent year,” it stated.

“Additionally, companies with a financial year beginning on September 1 and ending on August 31 must file their Annual Returns in the last quarter of the preceding year. Annual returns may also be filed for a period determined by the directors of the company,” the Office concludes.

Source: Ghana Web

A gruesome accident that occurred at Dadwen area near Obuasi, within the Adansi North District of the Ashanti Region, has claimed the lives of five individuals and left over 14 others critically injured.

The incident involved multiple vehicles, including a Toyota Hiace ‘trotro’ with registration number AS 2889-19, driven by 19-year-old Osei Ahenkorah, which was traveling from Dunkwa to Kumasi.

Another vehicle involved was a trailer with registration number AS 468-S, driven by 41-year-old Kofi Mahama, heading from the Anwiankwanta highway to Obuasi.

Additionally, a Jetta salon car with registration number GT 3171-11, driven by 40-year-old Ofori Samuel Ankrah, was also part of the collision.

Eyewitnesses reported that the Toyota Hiace ‘trotro’ was traveling at a high speed and lost control, veering off its lane and crashing into the trailer at Dadwen.

Out of the 20 passengers on board the Toyota vehicle, including children, fourteen survived with injuries, while four individuals tragically lost their live
s at the scene.

Fortunately, both the driver of the trailer vehicle and his mate survived the collision.

The bodies of the deceased individuals were transported to the Obuasi Government Hospital morgue for further arrangements.

Source: Ghana Web