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I Do Not Know What A PDF Is – Afari Gyan
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- Category: Elections & Governance
- Created on Monday, 15 July 2013 00:00
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I Do Not Know What A PDF Is – Afari Gyan
{sidebar id=10 align=right}The Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan on Monday told the Supreme Court hearing the election petition challenging the outcome of the 2012 presidential election that he was not familiar with what Portable Document Format (PDF) is.
His answer followed his disagreement with Mr. Philip Addison, lead counsel for the petitioners that an extract of a voters register produced by the latter was the same as what the EC used to conduct the elections.
PDF is an electronic file format invented by Adobe Systems which allows the reliable reproduction of published material and is capable, among others, of containing clickable links and buttons, form fields, video and audio.
Addison was leading evidence on alleged double registration in the voters register used for the election and pointed out that a number of some duplications were captured in the register as handed the New Patriotic Party for the election.
But Afari-Gyan insisted the extract could not have come from the official register because the arrangements were different from what the petitioners had produced as extracts.
Mr. Addison however pointed out that unless the Electoral Commission gave the NPP a register different from what it gave other parties, the extract was from the very one the EC issued which he said was in a pdf format and therefore could not be altered.
“My Lords this is not the register we used for the election,” Dr Afari-Gyan pointed out when Mr. Addison sought to tender the extract.
Addison: This is the register given to the New Patriotic Party.
Afari-Gyan: This is not the register we used for the election
Addison: Is this not the register given to the New Patriotic Party?
Afari-Gyan: I cannot confirm that.
Addison: By what process do you confirm that this is the register given to the New Patriotic Party?
Afari-Gyan: We, we gave exactly the same register to everybody. The same register to everybody.
Addison: You did not give hard copies, you gave a soft copy.
Afari-Gyan: Well the soft copy will be the same, to everybody.
Addison: And the soft copy is in pdf form which cannot be altered. Do you know as a fact that it was in pdf form and it cannot be altered?
Afari-Gyan: We gave you a register, I don’t know what the form it was in.
Addison: I’m suggesting to you that it was in pdf form and it cannot be altered.
Afari-Gyan: Your suggestion may be correct, may be wrong, I cannot confirm that.
After a back-and-forth between counsel and witness on whether the register given the NPP was the same as was used for the election and Dr. Afari-Gyan’s insistence that he needed to verify with his office what format of the register was given the NPP, the bench stepped in with Justice Rose Owusu asking Dr. Afari Gyan whether he knew what a pdf format is, to which the EC chairman said ‘no’.
Mr. Addison has been leading evidence on Monday on petitioners'claims that there were duplicate polling station codes which could not have represented results from the special voting exercise as well as claims of instances of double voter registrations for the 2012 elections.
Source: Daily Graphic
No commentsThe Arrest and the Stoning of Stephen
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- Category: Religion
- Created on Sunday, 14 July 2013 00:00
- Hits: 6558
The Arrest and the Stoning of Stephen
A Review of the Expansion of Christianity: ...The High Priest asked Stephen “Is this true?” Stephen answered, “Brothers and fathers, listen to me...the Most High does not live in a house built by human hands. As the prophet says...”
Ghana’s Economy Is In Tatters
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- Category: Business & Finance
- Created on Tuesday, 09 July 2013 00:00
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Ghana’s Economy Is In Tatters
{sidebar id=11 align=right}“The economy is in tatters, and things are getting worse. Government is no longer in denial. There is now consensus that the economy is in bad shape. This is why it is lamentable that the president is sounding from the rooftop that wherever he has gone to, he is being commended for managing the economy well.”
These words were contained in a press conference on “Ghana’s Troubled Economy” addressed by the Economic Team of the New Patriotic Party headed by Yaw Osafo Maafo.
The former Finance minister, under the Kufuor-led NPP administration, explained that Ghana’s economy under the John Mahama-led National Democratic Congress government is facing a myriad of problems including “the huge public debt; the lamentable fiscal deficit, the humongous arrears, unbridled overspending, worsening unemployment, deteriorating utility services, and failing social services.”
These problems, according to Mr Osafo Maafo, are largely as “a result of the reckless expenditures of the 2012 election year” now catching up with all of us, for which the ordinary Ghanaian is now having to bear the brunt of the bad expenditure behaviour of the Mahama government during the 2012 elections.
He explained further that the problems confounding the economy were expressly stated in the Bank of Ghana’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) report of 22nd May 2013, where the governor of the Bank of Ghana admitted that “Economic activities have slowed down, and both business and consumer confidence have weakened.”
Shedding more light on the Bank of Ghana’s report, Yaw Osafo Maafo, stated that the MPC report made it explicitly clear that lending rates are hovering around 30 percent because of excessive domestic borrowing by government; there is rising cost of business as a result of erratic electricity and water supply; and the inability of business to borrow and grow their activities due to the drying up of credit.
To make matters worse, the NPP man also revealed that donor inflows, within the first four months of 2013, have also fallen below target.
“The consequence of the decline in both domestic and foreign inflows is that our deficit in the first quarter has escalated out of target (by 28 percent). What this suggests is that we are unlikely to achieve even the outrageously high deficit of 9 percent programmed into the 2013 budget statement,” Mr Osafo Maafo revealed.
PUBLIC DEBT
Ghana’s alarming public debt, according to the NPP Economic Team, is one of the signs of the bad economic management this country has been subjected to under the NDC, and “also one of the causes for our economic woes.”
Mr Osafo Maafo noted that the Mills-Mahama administration inherited a total public debt of US$8billion, equivalent to GH¢9.5billion at the beginning of 2009. Within 4 years and a half, Mr Osafo Maafo stated that this debt has escalated to GH¢38.5billion, meaning that under the NDC, Ghana is adding GH¢6.4billion every year to its public debt.
“A great chunk of this total debt, indeed, 55 percent, is from domestic borrowing”, Mr Osafo Maafo stressed, adding that this development means that government has been competing with, and squeezing out private enterprise from borrowing from the banks.
“This trend explains the reason interest rates on government bills (91-day, 182-day and 1-year fixed note) have risen from about 11 percent in December 2011 to about 23 percent in December 2012. This has caused lending rates to rise. Private enterprises cannot access capital to grow their business in order to employ the youth,” Mr Osafo Maafo maintained.
He continued, “Unless we change cause, the unemployed youth will continue to roam the streets without employment with all the attendant social vices.”
ARREARS
Recounting how the NDC stigmatized the NPP for “distressing the economy” with “huge arrears” amounting to GH¢1.8 billion, Mr Osafo Maafo revealed that in 2012 government arrears had hit GH¢5.4 billion of which GH¢4.8 billion was incurred in 2012 alone.
These debts, according to Mr Osafo Maafo, are owed to suppliers of goods and services, including small and medium businessmen and women such as road contractors, health service providers, students on scholarship abroad, capitation grant to schools, COCOBOD, NHIS, DACF, GETFund, SSNIT, BoG, OMCs, among others.
SPENDING OUTSIDE BUDGETED APPROVALS
Another sign of the mismanagement of the Ghanaian economy by the NDC government, according to Mr Osafo Maafo, was the spending outside budgeted approvals, which occurred in every year of the NDC’s rule.
Mr Osafo Maafo revealed that in 2009, the NDC government overspent the approved budget by GH¢300 million; shot to GH¢800 million in 2010; increased to GH¢1.3 billion in 2011; and at the end of 2012 stood at a “stomach churning and mind-blowing GH¢4.8 billion.”
“Within this shell of a figure, the respective overshooting by the respective MDAs is as follows: Ministry of Interior GH¢19 million; Ministry of Health GH¢27 million; Ministry of Education GH¢60 million; Ministry of Environment, Science & Technology GH¢60 million; Ministry of Energy GH¢70 million; GYEEDA GH¢200 million,” Mr Osafo Maafo noted.
He continued, “Ministry of Roads and Highways GH¢270 million; Ministry of Youth and Sports GH¢350; Office of Government Machinery GH¢650 million, including GH¢15 million for guinea fowl business, and GH¢33 million for tree planting, all in the name of SADA.”
DECLINING ECONOMIC GROWTH
Touching on the slow growth of the economy and its attendant decline in both business and consumer confidence, Mr Osafo Maafo noted that this negative development is not new.
He maintained that over the past four years and half, there has been unsatisfactory economic growth in spite of the fact that the nation has had so many opportunities, including oil revenues.
Mr Osafo Maafo recounted how in 2008, the economy grew in real terms by 8.4 percent, without the nation benefitting from crude oil exports.
However, as at 2012 Mr Osafo Maafo noted that the economy grew by 7.9 percent, both oil and non-oil sub-sectors put together, adding that “the oil proceeds are not being used to grow the economy.”
Source: Peacefmonline.com
Ghana's economy robust – Terkper tells NPP
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- Category: Business & Finance
- Created on Wednesday, 10 July 2013 00:00
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Ghana's economy robust – Terkper tells NPP
{sidebar id=11 align=right}Finance Minister Seth Terkper says Ghana’s economy is not in tatters contrary to arguments by the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP).
He said the stabilisation levy introduced by the former Kufuor administration is no different from what the current Mahama administration is doing, adding that: “This is not the first time we are using temporary measures to try and resolve positions”.
Mr. Terkper also noted that the Kufuor administration sought solace in the same tax instrument during the global food crisis and so wondered why the opposition was hitting hard at the government for doing same.
He told XYZ News on July 9, 2013 that the government is only making efforts to “re-align the budget” and added the refinancing a loan is not borrowing to pay interest and demanded to know from the NPP if they did not do a similar thing under former President Kufuor when the country signed up to the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative in 2001.
The minister also denied claims that the government has introduced five new taxes to shore-up revenue due to the precarious nature of the country’s coffers.
At a press conference in Parliament on Tuesday July 9, 2013, former Finance Minister Yaw Osafo Maafo said: “The economy is in tatters, and things are getting worse. Government is no longer in denial. There is now consensus that the economy is in bad shape. This is why it is lamentable that the president is sounding from the rooftop that wherever he has gone to, he is being commended for managing the economy well.”
The press conference, titled: “Ghana’s Troubled Economy” was organised by the Economic Team of the NPP headed by Mr. Osafo Maafo”.
The former Finance minister, under the Kufuor-led NPP administration, explained that Ghana’s economy under the John Mahama-led National Democratic Congress government is facing a myriad of problems including “the huge public debt; the lamentable fiscal deficit, the humongous arrears, unbridled overspending, worsening unemployment, deteriorating utility services, and failing social services.”
These problems, according to Mr Osafo Maafo, are largely as “a result of the reckless expenditures of the 2012 election year” now catching up with all of us, for which the ordinary Ghanaian is now having to bear the brunt of the bad expenditure behaviour of the Mahama government during the 2012 elections.
He explained further that the problems confounding the economy were expressly stated in the Bank of Ghana’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) report of 22nd May 2013, where the governor of the Bank of Ghana admitted that “Economic activities have slowed down, and both business and consumer confidence have weakened.”
As far as Ghana’s public debt is concerned, Mr. Osafo Maafo said it is one of the signs of the bad economic management this country has been subjected to under the NDC and “also one of the causes for our economic woes.”
Mr. Osafo Maafo noted that the Mills-Mahama administration inherited a total public debt of US$8billion, equivalent to GH¢9.5billion at the beginning of 2009. Within 4 years and a half, Mr Osafo Maafo stated that this debt has escalated to GH¢38.5billion, meaning that under the NDC, Ghana is adding GH¢6.4billion every year to its public debt.
“A great chunk of this total debt, indeed, 55 percent, is from domestic borrowing”, Mr Osafo Maafo stressed, adding that this development means that government has been competing with, and squeezing out private enterprise from borrowing from the banks.
“This trend explains the reason interest rates on government bills (91-day, 182-day and 1-year fixed note) have risen from about 11 percent in December 2011 to about 23 percent in December 2012. This has caused lending rates to rise. Private enterprises cannot access capital to grow their business in order to employ the youth,” Mr Osafo Maafo maintained.
Recounting how the NDC stigmatised the NPP for “distressing the economy” with “huge arrears” amounting to GH¢1.8 billion, Mr Osafo Maafo revealed that in 2012 government arrears had hit GH¢5.4 billion of which GH¢4.8 billion was incurred in 2012 alone.
These debts, according to Mr Osafo Maafo, are owed to suppliers of goods and services, including small and medium businessmen and women such as road contractors, health service providers, students on scholarship abroad, capitation grant to schools, COCOBOD, NHIS, DACF, GETFund, SSNIT, BoG, OMCs, among others.
On spending, Mr Osafo Maafo revealed that in 2009, the NDC government overspent the approved budget by GH¢300 million; shot to GH¢800 million in 2010; increased to GH¢1.3 billion in 2011; and at the end of 2012 stood at a “stomach churning and mind-blowing GH¢4.8 billion.”
“Within this shell of a figure, the respective overshooting by the respective MDAs is as follows: Ministry of Interior GH¢19 million; Ministry of Health GH¢27 million; Ministry of Education GH¢60 million; Ministry of Environment, Science & Technology GH¢60 million; Ministry of Energy GH¢70 million; GYEEDA GH¢200 million,” Mr Osafo Maafo noted.
He continued, “Ministry of Roads and Highways GH¢270 million; Ministry of Youth and Sports GH¢350; Office of Government Machinery GH¢650 million, including GH¢15 million for guinea fowl business, and GH¢33 million for tree planting, all in the name of SADA.”
Source: Radioxyz
Manageable governance system; Panacea for ‘winner takes all’
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- Category: Politics
- Created on Tuesday, 09 July 2013 00:00
- Hits: 3141
Panacea for ‘winner takes all’
{sidebar id=10 align=right}We need to applaud the framers of the 4th republican constitution for doing a ‘yeoman’s job’ by steering the nation from autocratic to democratic rule, charting a good course for the nation.
However, the current constitutional arrangement seems to be treading on ‘bumpy roads’ that need sorting out quickly.
The constitution has been undergoing reviews especially under late President John Mills when a major review occurred. Recommendations made in the review have received a government white paper. Since the review is yet to be put before the people and parliament for approval, we need to do something about some portions of it.
The major problem we are grappling with is the ‘winner takes all’ character of the important parts of the constitution that is becoming a matter of concern to most people.
Some personalities that include Dr Papa Kwasi Nduom, leader of Progressive People’s Party have cried out against it.
The latest personality to do so is President John Dramani Mahama. Being a beneficiary, it was surprising to hear him mention it. But he said it as it is. Yes, ‘he who feels it knows it’. Said Bob Marley of blessed memory. He might have barred his mind to help chart a new course for us to guard against ‘abuse of office’ in the future.
The president has experienced leadership at all levels of government in Ghana as Member of Parliament, Deputy Minister, Minister, Vice President and now President.
He, including many other people, have come to realize the extent to which the presidency has been overloaded with state responsibilities. He made the clarion call when he met and feted a number of senior citizens as part of the 53rd anniversary of our republican status in Accra.
He was soliciting help from them to advice on how the nation can swim out of what is considered 'troubled waters'. He is right.
SOLUTION
The solution is simple. We need to ‘seize the bull by the horn’ by dismantling the hybrid system of governance that combined the Westminster and Presidential American Governance that has concentrated power in the hands of the president’ making him a king and not a servant of state as expected.
We have had four presidents so far since 1992, and each of them wielded too much power. They were elected to the presidency that has power to choose majority of ministers from parliament, a move that has the tendency to weaken considerably the oversight power of the legislature over the executive arm of government.
The president has to choose all district and municipal chief executives and members of boards of all government establishments. His power to dismiss and reshuffle his appointees cannot be challenged or queried. Governance under this constitution is so centralized that all bills sent to parliament has to emanate from the presidency.
PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM
In contrast, the parliamentary governance provides that leadership of the nation emanates from parliament with a Prime Minister chosen from the majority political party in parliament or parties in coalition.
CEREMONIAL PRESIDENT
The powers of such a leader is shared with a ceremonial president chosen to receive visitors of state, letters of credence, sign bills into laws and review parades during celebrations as done in advanced democracies
The activities of a prime minister would be in constant review in parliament to determine whether he could end his term or be shuffled in a vote of no confidence. Under this arrangement, the prime minister is expected to fight for a seat in parliament like all leaders and members of the opposition.
Therefore, he is himself a member of parliament and only ‘primus inter pares’. All his ministers would be appointed in parliament.
This is the constitutional arrangement suitable for an emerging democracy like Ghana. This was experienced in the first three years of the first republic when Dr Kwame Nkrumah became prime minister with the queen of England as head of state, and the Second Republic with Dr Busia as Prime Minister and late Edward Akufo-Addo as President.
We need to consider going back to this arrangement which we began with on attaining independence in 1957 till 1960 when we changed over to a republican status with an executive presidency. When we do that, all leaders of opposition capable of winning votes can also enter parliament.
Some independent candidates might also win their way to parliament. There would be no credible leader who would remain outside of parliament. They would work together with the ruling class in parliament.
If this arrangement is accepted, all government appointees to districts and municipal assemblies should be elected to office and answer to their ministers and their district assemblies. Members of boards would be chosen by the prime minister in consultation with his or her colleagues in parliament and the council of state.
Therefore, there would be no winner takes all, unlike the current arrangement where power is concentrated in one individual and his close associates operating and exerting power far apart from the people’s representatives.
Executive Director
Source: GNA