Finance Minister, Seth Terkper, has said the country is not broke at all, contrary to suggestions to that effect.
He said the fact that government is experiencing some liquidity challenges does not necessarily mean the nation has no money.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show Friday, the minister explained that the liquidity challenges have arisen due to the ballooning of the wage bill, paying contractors as well as buying more crude to support the energy sector, among other things.
He further explained that if a family that earns 3,000 and spends 2,500 now has to spend 300 more, could that family be said to be broke?
The minister, therefore noted, that the imbalances being experienced in the management of the economy should not be equated to “being broke”.
All we have to do, Mr Terkper insisted, is liquidity management.
On the issuance of the Eurobond, the Finance Minister stated that global interest rates are low now and that government, upon advice from some international experts, believes this is the right time to float it.
“We are optimistic the bond issue will be a success,” he asserted, “government is being very careful, we won’t be reckless” in issuing the bond.
When we first got hinted on the current relationship status of Ghanaian actress-Nadia Buari and Nollywood actor-Jim Iyke, many thought that it was one of those mere sayings.
Then the two were seen at almost everywhere from Lagos to Dubai to UK just to name a few places together, many still had the notion that these two were just playing for the cameras.
The beat went on pounding as news hit us concerning the fact that Jim Iyke actually paid his former girlfriend-Kenturah to stage the scene in his ‘Unscripted’ script. Following up on that issue, another one broke that Jim and Kenturah have said “bye-bye” to each other.
That news didn’t sink well to many, though the signs were becoming more visible that even a blind man could envisage an iota of truth in it.
Recently the issue of Nadia Buari having a son just surfaced. Photographs shows that they are replica and nothing can be said to hamper the fact that the boy is for a Nigeria business mogul based in the USA. Before anything less, news have it that Nadia is pregnant for Jim and so on and so forth.
Will it be fair to conclude that these are publicity exploits? Will it be fair to say that we aren’t happy to have an inter-nation union? Will it be fair to say that we aren’t happy for Nadia who has found a ‘good’ ‘bad’ boy?
Finally, yesterday they broke the whole news themselves on twitter telling us that they are dating with Nadia saying he calls her ‘Space’, whilst Jim prefers to be called ‘Skittles’ by her.
All we can say from here is that we wish them well in years to come as the coming days, weeks, months, years will provide more answers and, whatever happens, there will be no shortage of drama.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) today made an official application to the Inspector General of Police requesting for police protection for Gloria Akuffo, a member of the legal team for the petitioners in the ongoing Supreme Court case challenging the December 2012 elections, as well as for lead counsel for the petitioners, Philip Addison.
This request was made after two ‘macho men’ on a motorbike, on Friday 17th May 2013, two days after the office of Gloria Akuffo was burgled, went to the offices of Akufo-Addo, Prempeh & Co. demanding to know the residential address of Gloria Akuffo.
Upon arrival in the building, the two were referred to floor that houses the law firm and demanded from the Secretary, the residential address of Gloria Akuffo. The Secretary turned down their request and turned them away as she told them Gloria Akuffo did not work at Akufo-Addo, Prempeh and Co. and such did not where she lived.
The secretary subsequently reported the matter to Mr Alex Quainoo, one of the senior lawyers at the firm and also a member of the legal team of the petitioners.
In light of this and other incidents, Captain Koda (rtd), the Head of Security of Nana Akufo-Addo’s outfit, earlier this week, went to the offices of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to inform him of these events and ask for official police protection for Gloria Akuffo and other members of the legal team.
The IGP subsequently asked Captain Kodah to come with a formal written application, copied to the Director of Operations of the Ghana Police Service, DCOP John Kudalor, so the Police Service could formally act on the request. This official request, in the form of a letter, was presented to the IGP this morning.
It is recalled that there was a recent break in of the office of Gloria Akuffo. This occurred in the morning of Wednesday May 15, 2013 resulting in the theft of two computers as well as the hard drive and memory of a server in the office.
The first intrusion of her office was on Sunday December 16, 2012, barely a week after the general elections, and at a time the NPP had indicated its preparedness to challenge the December 2012 elections in court.
Government has encouraged the general public to disregard a publication in Monday’s edition of the Daily Searchlight newspaper alleging that a fleet of BMW saloon cars has been purchased for use by Ministers of State.
In a statement signed by Deputy Minister for Information and Media Relations Felix Ofosu Kwakye, Government denied ever purchasing any BMW vehicles for Ministers of State.
The government has however advised media houses to cross check information regarding its activities with the appropriate agencies in order to forestall such false publications.
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has tasked local manufacturers to produce quality goods in order to attract the attention of consumers and boost businesses.
He observed that constant demand by people in authority for Ghanaians to patronize locally manufactured goods would be in vain if manufacturers always produce inferior goods.
Otumfuo stressed the need for local manufacturers to work assiduously to come out with attractive and quality products.
This was contained in a statement delivered on behalf of Asantehene by Nana Kwaku Amankwah Sarkodie II, Sawiahene during the opening of the Association of Ghana Industries’ (AGI) International Trade Fair and Indutech 2013 in Kumasi.
The Asantehene charged local manufacturers to adopt modern market strategies such as branding of wares so as to gain the interest of local consumers and improve sales in the process.
The King said producing the wares alone doesn’t guarantee enhanced sales, urging the manufacturers to be innovative to woo more people to patronize their products.
Otumfuo bemoaned Ghana’s over reliance on imported rice, warning that Ghana would face challenges if the countries fail to deliver.
He, therefore, suggested that government should ban the importation of rice and assist farmers and schools in the country to cultivate rice on large-scale, noting that Ghana has vast lands to produce its own rice.
The fair is under the theme, ‘Improving Market Share of Made in Ghana Goods, the Challenges of Access to Market.’
Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, Minister of Trade and Industry, in a speech read on his behalf, said his ministry is currently implementing a new Industrial Policy and an Industrial Sector Support Programme (ISSP.)
This new initiative, he noted, is aimed at revitalizing and promoting Ghana’s manufacturing industries in order to make them locally and internationally competitive.
Samuel Apenteng, Vice President, AGI, in his remarks, observed that Ghana’s economy had become vulnerable due to the influx of cheap products.
He suggested that Ghana should create conducive business environment to reduce cost of operations and make Ghanaian products more competitive.
Mr. Apenteng said that the current energy crisis in the country was making Ghanaian industries less competitive, saying “the AGI continues to dialogue with the VRA, ECG, and GRIDCo and we are informed of measures being undertaken to bring the situation under control.
Chairman of the Trade Fair Committee, William Awuku, said 100 exhibitors and 25,000 visitors were expected to take part in the fair, adding that the fair would offer help to manufacturers to display their products at a particular place and make profits.
Following confirmation of international clearance, Fulham Football Club is delighted to announce the free transfer signing of Ghana international Derek Boateng on a one-year deal with an option for a further year.
The 30-year-old midfielder was previously at Ukrainian side FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, whom he played for against Fulham in last season’s UEFA Europa League qualification round.
Prior to moving to the Ukraine, Boateng made more than 70 appearances in just over two seasons at Spanish side Getafe and has represented his country on 46 occasions.
Boateng started his professional career at Kalamata FC in Greece in 1999 before moving to Panathinaikos in 2001. His move to Fulham and the Barclays Premier League follows spells in Greece, Israel, Germany, Spain and Ukraine.
Speaking from Fulham’s Motspur Park Training Ground, Boateng said: “I’m very happy that I have signed and I want to thank the Chairman, the Manager and the Board at Fulham Football Club. I’ve been working hard to come here and I’ll do my best for the Club.
“It’s been a long road for me but now I’m here I’m so happy and I can’t wait to start and give everything I have.”
Germany is the most positively viewed nation in the world in this year’s annual Country Ratings Poll for the BBC World Service.
More than 26,000 people were surveyed internationally for the poll.
They were asked to rate 16 countries and the European Union on whether their influence in the world was “mainly positive” or “mainly negative”.
Germany came out top with 59% rating it positively. Iran was once again the most negatively viewed.
Global views of Europe’s biggest country have improved significantly in 2013, according to the poll.
It was conducted for the BBC by GlobeScan and PIPA, who conducted face-to-face and telephone interviews with randomly selected people, mainly in urban centres, in 25 countries around the globe.
View of India deteriorates
A three-point increase in Germany’s average rating returned it to the top of the BBC list, displacing Japan, which saw its positive ratings drop from 58% to 51%, and fell from first to fourth place overall.
The UK saw a bigger increase in positive ratings than any other country and climbed to third place in the table, in the wake of its hosting of the 2012 Olympics.
The poll also indicates that positive views of China and India have fallen sharply around the world over the last year. After improving for several years, views of China have sunk to their lowest level since polling began in 2005, putting it in ninth position.
India is ranked 12th, with negative views (35%) slightly outnumbering positive ones (34%) for the first time.
But Germany, whose economy has done better than almost every other in Europe in recent years, scored well across the world in the poll.
In Ghana, 84% of people polled said Germany’s influence was mainly positive, while 81% in neighbouring France and 76% in Australia felt the same. The big exception to the trend was in recession-hit Greece, where a majority of people polled gave Germany negative ratings.
Positive views of the EU dropped to their lowest level last year but have stabilised this year, rising one point to 49% on average.
But this figure masks significant changes. There has been a sharp drop in positive ratings by Germans, down 14 points to 59%. Canadians and Americans both give significantly lower ratings to the EU. In the UK, positive views of the EU continue to fall steadily and, for the first time this year, more Britons rate it negatively (47%) than positively (42%).
Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and Iran came out worst in terms of how they are viewed globally. Only 15% of respondents said they saw Iran as having a mainly positive influence.
Alex Kofi Mould, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of National Petroleum Authority (NPA), says until Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) is privatized or sold to private investors, it cannot perform to expectation, let alone compete internationally.
According to him, government currently does not have the money to invest into TOR and therefore it would be appropriate if the current managers of the economy allow investors to take over the state refinery.
Speaking recently at a presentation on opportunities for bulk distribution companies in Accra, Mr. Mould stated: “TOR is a huge organisation that needs a lot of money to maintain and also keep a standard to be able to compete with the international market. Government, as a shareholder, should ensure that TOR is fit for growth. And how Government looks for the money depends on Ghanaians.”
But analysts in Ghana’s petroleum sector have expressed different views, saying TOR would be bought by government officials as they have since the beginning of their tenure of office ‘given a dog a bad name to hang it.’
An analyst, who refused to be named, noted that “if government is saying that it cannot support TOR at this time, how can it ensure it is handled well when it is sold to investors?”
“It should invest into refinery if it can do it better and more efficiently than the private sector and ensure that there are cheaper products that are supplied consistently at the right time. “If government cannot do that then we should encourage the private sector to come into that industry.
“We can do this by not protecting the government sectors and as such stifling the private sector from competition. Government should not allow its agencies to pay a different price on petroleum products while the private sector pays a different price. They should pay the same price, compete on a level field and ensure that any organization it invests in is fit for growth and can compete with the private sector.
Do we want the taxpayer to pay it or Government to go and borrow it or do, we want TOR as an organisation to stand alone and borrow and do it. As a shareholder, government needs to step up to that responsibility and spell out exactly how it wants to do it. That has nothing to do with NPA. The NPA’s job is to give licences out to anybody who wants to compete in this space – the supply and distribution chain of petroleum products- to ensure that the consumer receives quality products at the right price and also services that are given to the consumer, they should have choice.
Asked how margins are set on petroleum products in relation to what pertains in the developed world, Kofi Mould noted that the petroleum sector is a heavily private sector one.
“Although NPA is the government regulator, we did not compete with participants. We ensure that the framework is open to all and that those who can meet the standards have a fair playing field.
“We have to encourage people to invest and to do this, they have to be reasonable return. You cannot have 17 bulk distribution companies (BDCs) if the return is not good. Some are bound to wither away. Likewise we cannot have over 60 oil marketing companies if the return is not good. You can’t have over 2000 trucks moving products around the country with over 150 transporters in this sector if the margin is not good.
Nana Ato Dadzie, a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) legal team in the on-going 2012 Presidential Election Petition has said it was obvious that lead counsel for the petitioners, Philip Addison, was going to face a tougher time in court in his re-examination of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
According to him, the re-examination is an opportunity to clarify what has been asked but not an opportunity to start afresh a new cross-examination which was attempted by Mr. Addison.
“The re-examination a very small window of opportunity to clarify things. It was quite clear that Mr. Addison was going to have one big hell of a time from the respondents in his re-examination.
“…In practice, as soon as you stand on your feet to re-examine, the other lawyers will start raising objections so that you don’t go beyond that little window opened to redo your case. That was exactly what the respondents were doing in court,” he said.
Adding, “The objections were coming because basically Mr. Addison was asking questions which were not necessary and he was rehashing the whole argument and seeking to ask his client to lead fresh evidence in areas he thought was needed to improve. And that is not allowed,” he said.
Lawyer Philip Addison, lead counsel for the petitioners in court on Wednesday was attacked with numerous objections from the first, second and third respondents of the election case which he failed to have a smooth re-examination of the star witness, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
Speaking to GTV after Wednesday’s court proceedings, Mr. Dadzie noted that all attempts by Mr. Addison to raise issues to improve their evidence afore was rightfully objected by to Mr. Lithur and Tsikata.
However, Nana Ato Dadzie admitted that it was really a tough time for them to have battled the NPP in their re-examination, but Mr. Addison’s introduction of the re-categorized list was the main problem for the NPP to have all their questions overruled since that list had no exhibit numbers.
He sees Mr. Addison’s responses in court to challenge the nine panel judges as unfortunate behavior since he was frustrated by then.
Lead counsel for the petitioners, Philip Addison had a hectic time in soliciting responses during his re-examination of the star witness, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, in the ongoing election petition at the Supreme Court: the court overruled almost every question of his.
His re-examination was bombarded with intense objections from counsel for the first and third respondents, with occasional support from the second respondent’s counsel on Wednesday.
All objections raised against his questions were sustained except two which included the categorization of some of the polling stations, which the witnessed had admitted during his cross-examination that there were issues with labelling.
Even with this, counsel for the respondents objected to the tendering, positing that some polling station names might have been smuggled in because the exhibits have no numbers. The objection was sustained, and according to the court Addison took a “bad gamble”, and failed to “follow proper suit”.
His persistence to be given a chance to come back tomorrow with a properly labelled exhibits, was not entertained by the court.
Mr Addison, in his re-examination early on, asked the witness whether it was true from his analysis as suggested by counsel for the respondents that he only used “favourable polling stations”.
This was strongly objected to by counsel for the first respondent, Tony Lithur, who argued that there was no ambiguity in the witness’ answer during cross-examination. He asserted Dr Bawumia’s answer was clear.
The court did not take the argument by Addison that it was not limited to ambiguity, but also on issue of bad faith. By a majority decision of 6-3, the objection was sustained.
Addison proceeded to ask the witness to identify 11 out of 20 polling stations bothering on duplicated serial numbers which was in his further and better particulars he stated during the cross-examination.
But counsel for the third respondents, Tsatsu Tsikata, objected saying the witness identified the specific polling stations. President of the panel of judges, William Atuguba also indicated he had a record of the 11 identified polling stations. Addison then refrained from continuing with his question.
Again, Philip Addison wanted Dr Bawumia to make some changes in the categorization of some of the polling stations as a result of quality control and further scrutiny. But this was yet again objected by Mr Tsikata.
Mr Tsikata contended that the pleading of petitioners have not been amended, adding that their testimony in respect of quality control was specific and that it is not open in re-examination to seek questions set out already. He therefore argued that changes may require him to do another cross-examination.
James Quarshie-Idun, counsel for the second respondent, and Tony Lithur concerted to Tsikata’s argument.
Mr Atuguba however told the court judges “reserve their ruling”: the objection was subsequently overruled.
However, Mr Addison continued saying his witness was called dishonest so many times, and asked Dr Bawumia to tell the court how he arrived at his 11,158 to show there was no double counting.
Once more Lithur and Tsatsu said the issue of methodology is irrelevant.
The objection was sustained by 5-4.
Mr Addison therefore told the court that subject to the deferred ruling, he was done with his re-examination.
However he was successful in tendering in the further and better particulars of Dr Bawumia, which preceded the re-examination.
