Ghana to lose $1.5 billion over "uninteligent contract"

The former Deputy High Commissioner for Britain is raising alarm over what he says is an “unintelligent contract” entered into by the government of Ghana and an American company, Balkan Energy Company LLC. Mr Gregg Murray alleges that government of Ghana continues to lose a whooping amount of $1.5 billion every year, as a result of the contract. According to him, only an “extremely stupid” person could enter into such an agreement and wondered which official signed on behalf of government. Balkan Energy Company LLC was contracted in 2007 to repair and operate the Osagyefo Badge which is expected to generate 185 megawatts of power, with its dual fired unit which can operate on diesel as well as natural gas. Balkan Energy is also expected to convert the barge into a combined cycle power plant with an incremental capacity of 60MW within 9 months after the effective date of the agreement at a cost of about $100 million. But Mr Murray in an interview with Citi News said the deal was fraudulent and urged the government to abrogate the contract. “They are charging government of Ghana $45 million a year for providing electricity from a plant which already belongs to the government Ghana. It is like you lease your own car to somebody, they are going to lease the Osagyefo barge for $10 million a year.” “…I wish I understood why nothing has been done,” I think the government is very concerned to act legally. “It is hard to say whether the agreement was just negotiated by somebody extremely stupid and incompetent and corrupt.” “Either way this contract must be abrogated or it is going to cost the people of Ghana an amount of $1.5 million,” he sniped. Gregg Murray also mentioned another agreement entered into with Zakheim by the Volta River Authority, of which the former is to provide turbines to the people of Ghana. According to him the agreement stinks of corruption and called on government to take immediate action. Mr Murray also criticized recent statements from the British High Commission which sought to prevent any government investigations into deals entered into with the British companies operating in the country. The current High Commissioner Nicholas Wescott has however denied any wrong doing from the commission. Story by Nathan Gadugah with additional files from Citi FM and Daily Guide

CORRUPTION IN CEPS WHO DOESN'T KNOW?

The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Duffour, has taken the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) to task and challenged its leadership and workers to rid the service of its perceived corruption.

In addition to its corrupt image, the minister also chided the service for failure to meet its revenue collection targets, saying nothing could explain the sloppy performance it registered.

He expressed regret at the frequent negative reports of corruption and malfeasance within the service and told the Commissioner of CEPS and the entire staff to be proactive and boldly come up with interventions to raise the sunken image of the service and win back public trust and confidence.

n his admonition, Mr Duffour had said, "Much as the government accepts that there are logistical and technical challenges hindering your delivery, the growing trend of negative conduct and reportage go on to retard the country's development, thus leaving the citizens in poverty."

He noted that the Tema collection of the service accounted for 55 per cent of the country’s total domestic revenue mobilisation but the service failed to achieve the set target, which he said dwindled massively last year to about 40 per cent, a situation he described as spelling doom for the country's growth.


Dr Duffour was at the port for a day's working visit to familiarise himself with the revenue collection modules of CEPS.

He expressed regret that allegations of corruption, malfeasance and massive fraud in the service continued to make headlines, quizzing, "Why can't you go out and embark on a massive image cleansing exercise that will go into restoring the service’s trust among the public?"

"It always saddens me to see my picture in the papers each time unspeakable publications about the service get to the public, just because 1 am your sector minister," he lamented.

WHO WILL DELIVER GHANA?

There is too much poverty in the country:in the cities and in the countryside.

There is too much corruption in the country: in the NDC and NPP, police service and CEPS; at the harbours; in the universities, polytechnic, teachers' training and nursing schools sex for grades and money for admission. Many people are victims.

The illiteracy level in the country is very high: 44% of the adult population cannot read and write. Unemployment is very high between 25 and 50%. Many of the youth have no jobs and have resorted to illegal activities such as armed robbery, prostitution and other social vices.Graduates from our universities are without jobs either and many are doing their best to leave the country for the corrupt politicians.

Water pollution and poor sanitation is everywhere in our cities. The people of Teshie and Nungua are using the sea and the coast as places of convenience because they have no access to toilets. Many people in our cities and towns are without quality and the right quantity of water. In some communities, residents have to live without water for weeks if not months, yet there is a president and his ministers who receive tens of millions of cedis every month for not providing the people with water.

People live in mud houses roofed with raffia leaves in most of our rural areas. They are without electricity, water and social security. In the cities people have no mortgage, they face high renting and utility bills with poor services. Power cuts is everywhere in the country, yet every month the minister of energy receives millions of cedis for not providing the people with the facilities thy need.

Farmers have no access to tractors and fertilisers and have to plant using cutlasses and hoes every planting and harvesting season. They have no access to irrigation facilities and if nature fails to provide them with water then they are doomed.

There is entropy of infrastructure decay in the country. There are no proper waste management system.The traffic jams and pollution in Accra and Kumasi are unbearable.

There is food shortage everywhere and prices are beyond the reach of ordinary Ghanaians as a result malnutrition is increasingly affecting most of the children especially in the rural areas.

Poverty is driving more and more children into the streets of Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi, Ho, Tema and many others. Children serving as head potters are visible everywhere in the country. They are selling ice water, coconut, plantain chips and other hawking activities. They are sacrificing their education to find food for themselves. The MPs, the president, the vice president and their ministers drive by: some of them even stop to buy the stuff these children are selling without asking question why these children who are supposed to be in school and be trained as future leaders are on the street selling.

Most hospitals are without essential medicines and medical staff are in short supply in most health institutions. The minister of health says there is no money for medicines but every month taxes are paid so where does the money go?

Ghana has not modernized at all. 52 years after independence we still carry things on our head and wash our clothes with our hand. Nothing is manufactured in the country not even bicycles let alone cars, computers, dish washers and heavy equipments that help nations to develop. We are a nation that depend on what others have used and thrown away. Our economy is is littered with used computers, used clothes, used cars things that most Ghanaians could not do without. NDC and NPP have been promising to build castles in Ghana, yet people are living mud houses. We cannot even device plans to help our farmers to increase food production. We have not recognised that the cutlasses and hoes they have been using since the time of slavery and colonialism cannot help us to move forward as a nation.

Rawlings and his P(NDC) spent 19 years joking and toying with Ghanaians and the problems facing them. Kuffour and his NPP spent 8 years talking more and doing little.

Attah Mills has been in power for one year and has not found his feet yet, though his ministers are enjoying tax payers' money, driving Land Cruiser while fishermen have no premix fuel.

There is corruption at the Castle where Alex Segbefia who is the deputy chief of staff at the Castle and his men are rapping Tema harbour of cars that have been seized by the state. Those at the helm of affairs are doing their best to loot as much as they can for themselves leaving Ghanaians to suffer.

Frustration, hopelessness and desperation are written in the face of many Ghanaians. Ghanaians appear to have no leader: a leader who will provide jobs for the youth; a leader who will provide infrastructure for the economic take off, a leader who will transform Ghana's railway sector into viable transportation industry; a leader who is a problem solver and not just arm-chair president.

Come 2012 NDC and NPP politicians aided by the corrupt press and media practitioners will come with the same pack of lies, deceits and with smooth words: vote for us and we will do this and that but once they get to parliament they cannot even put a bill together to solve some of the problems. Once they become ministers they cannot even formulate policies let alone implement one.

Ghanaians are suffering not because we are poor in terms of natural resources. We are poor because we have bad political leaders who are interested in getting power without using the power to help develop the nation for all to benefit. Those entrusted with the management of the nation are simply visionless. They love to drive in convoy at the expense of the nation yet have no idea how to help Ghana become a food sufficient nation. More than 52 years after independence we still import rice from China and India and there is no sign that the importation will stop soon.

Ghana is a leading gold exporter but where does the money go? Ghana is a leading cocoa exporter but where does the money go? Rawlings couldn't give a straight answer when he was asked. Kuffour could'nt give a straight answer either. We continue to receive grants from rich countries in the global north but the politicians and their business friends are not allowing it to have impact in the country.

Hundreds of loan agreements have signed and billions of dollars have been received by our governments (Rawlings and Kuffour and now Mills) and we are paying heavy fees for it yet Ghanaians cannot trace where all the loan money has gone or the projects it has been used to complete.

It is so sad that the leaders who came after Nkrumah have done very little to add to the foundation he laid. I don't know what would have happened to Ghana had Nkrumah not built Akosombo dam. I don't what would have happened to Ghana had Nkrumah not built Tema city and the harbour with all the infrastructures and industries such as Valco. Nkrumah spent 9 years from 1957 to 1966 doing all these landmark projects, Rawlings and his PNDC spent 19 years doing nothing but selling what Nkrumah built and where did the money go? Rawlings and his PNDC couldn't even maintain the things Nkrumah did let alone adding some to it. They had to allow it to rot and decay because they did not have any idea how important those things were to the economy of our country. Kuffour spent 8 years selling Ghana Telecom and where did the proceed go?

The NDC and the NPP are toying with Ghana's secondary school system: 3 years for NDC, 4 years for NPP meanwhile they are sending their children to be educated abroad leaving Ghanaians to suffer from their selfish and ill conceived policies.

Will NPP's Alan Kyeremanteng and Akuffo Addo save Ghana? I don't think so. Because they are part of the same wagon that has not deliver to Ghanaians. Can Mills save Ghana? Well his style of governance shows that unemployment and many of the woes he came to meet will worsen. He has not shown any clear policy direction as what he wants to do or achieve for Ghana.

We have been mining gold for decades yet Ghanaians cannot even buy products made from gold. We have been selling gold at the international gold market for decades and ordinary Ghanaians do not know where the money goes. No one in Ghana except the corrupt NDC and their equally corrupt NPP rivals who know where the proceeds go. Now they are happy that we have discovered oil and are seriously strategising to steal so Ghanaians will continue to live in poverty again.

If Ghana is going to be a nation for all its people then the is the need for a leadership that will aggressively implement policies and programmes that will transform the nation from its current economic predicament. A leadership that will mobilize all the resources in the country to develop Ghana for all its citizens to benefit.

Ghanaians sit up and beware of who you vote for in 2012.

Credit: Lord Aikins Adusei

NDC and NPP:They know the road to power but they do not know how to solve Ghana's worsening poverty situation

That Ghana has huge natural resources that with the right political leadership could be utilised to benefit majority of the people who are living on $2 a day is a fact. That Ghana is deeply poor is a fact. That Ghana is governed by corrupt visionless people masquerading political leaders is also a fact. There is no argument that the poverty situation in Ghana keeps worsening everyday despite the fact we have people calling themselves ministers, MPs, presidents and vice president who are drawing huge pay cheques, bonuses at the expense of the people yet do not know how to lead the people out of poverty.

Why was Nkrumah able to build the whole Tema city with roads, industries in nine years? Why was he able to build Akosombo Dam and other industries in the country with just 9 years? Didn't Rawlings spend 19 years in power, what can we remember him of? If Rawlings had built another Akosombo dam wouldn't Ghana had been better? Didn't Kuffour spend 8 years in power, what can we remember him of? Is it not the selling of Vodafone and other national assets?

Nkrumah from 1957 to 1966 managed to build Akosombo dam, Tema harbour, VALCO, GIHOC distilleries, Jute factory, KNUST, established hospitals, secondary schools, training and nursing schools. Rawlings in his 19 years sold almost all of these factories and where did the proceeds go? Do you? Into his personal bank accounts. Just look through Ghana from Accra to Wa can you see anything remarkable that was done by Rawlings or Kuffour?

Why was Nkrumah able to do them? Was he a magician? No he wasn't a magician he was a visionary, thinker, a real politician who cared for the people of Ghana and was bent on helping Ghana to develop. He knew what he wanted for Ghana and was determined to do it. He built schools, infrastructures that made a middle income country. Can we say the same about Rawlings and Kuffour and Papa Attah Mills? Do they have vision...hmmm I don't think so. Are they forward thinking people who want the best for Ghanaians? Hmmmm...I don't think so.

Think twice when you vote for NPP and NDC politicians for they the road to power but they do not know the road to solving the worsening poverty situation in Ghana.

Where are the Independent Minded MPs in Ghana?

Government cannot be wrong all the time. Opposition parties cannot be right all the time. Ghana needs independent minded MPs who will be willing to call a spade a spade without conforming to the politics of the same. In Ghana issues are always discussed based on political lines where MPs of the ruling government always vote in favour and vote for the policies of government whether they be good or bad, whether the policies hurt farmers in his constituency or not, whether traders will be affected by the policies. There are no independent opinions in the ruling government. There are no independent opinions in the opposition parties either and Ghana is getting a bad deal. Why are our MPs not able to speak their mind freely for the good of Ghana? Do they have to vote on party lines all the time to the detriment of the nation and her people?

Due to lack of independent minds in both the the NDC and NPP the country is always driven by politics of the same. Ghanaians must begin to think about voting for independent candidates who do not support any of the major parties whose members continue to mismanage the nation while living on fat bonuses at the expense of the tax payer.

Are NDC MPs saying in Parliament saying everything that Mills has been doing is good if no then why they not letting their voices heard for the good of our country? Are the NPP MPs in Parliament saying everything that Mills has done is bad if no then why those who think otherwise are are not letting their voices to be heard for the good of our country?

Do you know what your vote can do? Very soon the president and his vice and the MPs will come begging you again to vote for them so they can keep you in poverty for another four years. Say no when they come.

If there is an independent candidate in your constituency listen to what he/she stands for and vote for him or her. Because if you vote for NDC or NPP MPs they will blindly put their interest and the interest of their parties first. Ghana and you will come second. You can let them think by refusing to vote for them.

"Ghanaians Must Sit Up"

Will Ghanaians vote for NDC and NPP for another 4 years of poverty?

Why do Ghanaians keep punishing themselves by electing corrupt NDC and NPP men and women who think nothing more than their own stomach? Have you seen any independent minded Member of Parliament in either the NDC or NPP speaking for Ghanaians or for Ghana other than themselves and their parties? Has anyone in the NPP or NDC being advocating for economic help for the poor in the country? Have you heard from your MP since he or she was elected in 2008? Has the regional minister in your region being doing anything to help the poor farmers and traders? Has the district chief executive been doing anything to help you and your community get water, waste bins, clean environment, and sanitation facilities in your community?

Don’t you know as a citizen of Ghana you have the right to know what your tax is being used for? Why have you kept silence when you do not have a job? Have you forgotten that Ghana is paying the minister of employment fat salary and bonuses to provide jobs for Ghanaians?

Why have you not taken any action when your community is without electricity? Have you forgotten that the Minister of Energy receives millions of cedis to ensure that you get electricity? Why have you not gone to his office to find out why he continues to receive salaries and bonuses every month yet you do not have electricity? Take action now. Organise the people who live in your community and are suffering like you and go to the minister, his deputy and the directors responsible for providing the service they are denying you, and ask for answers. Don’t take no for answer, demand answers now.

"Ghanaians Must Sit Up"

NDC and NPP and their politics of Inaction (Corruption)

When they were in opposition the National Democratic Congress [NDC] constantly accused the New Patriotic Party [NPP] of being corrupt and the accusation continued when President Mills government took office. The NPP has been accused by the NDC for appropriating millions of dollars during the celebration of Ghana@50. The NPP has also been accused of making profits from the building of the Jubilee House built to house the presidency. The allegation has forced President Mills to delay moving into House. The allegations against the NPP seem to go on by the day with P.C. Appiah Ofori a member of the NPP party going public to accuse Members of Parliament belonging to the NPP. He accused them of receiving $5000 each during the sale of Ghana Telecom in which they were asked to vote to support the motion.

The NPP too has countered the NDC’s accusations by pointing to the massive corruption that existed during the 11 years of PNDC and 8 years of NDC rule. They also point to recent revelations that suggest the NDC transition team spent a whopping 3.61 billion cedis on tea and water within two months.

NPP also points to revelations in Nigeria and Ghana newspapers that the Governor of Rivers State of Nigeria Mr. Rotimi Amaechi paid $3.5 million to ex-President Rawlings which was used to bankroll their 2008 election campaign that brought them victory.

NPP says the NDC is like a silver calling the kettle black and points to recent information in public domain that Mahama Ayariga the spokesperson for President Mills has illegally acquired five tractors meant for poor Ghanaian farmers. He took five tractors meant for underprivileged farmers and paid for only one whose price was further reduced for him.

NPP says the NDC should shut because it has no moral right to accuse its members of corruption. They accused the NDC of shady deals and point to Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak who used his office as a charity buying pampas, khebab and travelling around with his girl friend.

And as if that is not enough Nana Ohene-Ntow, the General Secretary of the NPP in a hot exchange with Kofi Adams has called on Jerry Rawlings to come clean if he is not corrupt. Nana Ohene-Ntow told Adams who doubles as the spokesperson for Rawlings and NDC Deputy Youth Organiser, “he [Rawlings] should tell Ghanaians how he got money to build his mansion at Agyirigannon, how he financed his children’s fees abroad, and those who provided him the 4 wheel drive vehicles.If he fails to provide the hard facts, he should desist from disturbing the peace of this country”.

The fact of the matter is that both parties are corrupt. Their members are getting richer everyday while majority Ghanaians live on $2 a day, without adequate food and shelter, water and sanitation. The mistake Ghanaians are making is that they keep voting for these individuals who are more interested feeding themselves and their families than taking care of the entire population.