Standardize Ex-Gratia Payments

Saturday November 20, 2010
By Edmund Mingle
Professor Stephen Adei, former Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) has revived the debate on ex- gratia, calling for a review of Article 71 to standardize the payment of emoluments to senior public officials. Presenting a critique of Article 71 of the Constitution which determines the emoluments paid to the President and top public officials, at a roundtable discussion organized by the Institute of Economic Affairs in Accra, on Wednesday, Prof. Adei identified some shortcomings of the Article which he believes should be changed.Although he did not fault the spirit of Article 71, he said the loopholes have led to its abuse in practice.

Article 71 of the Constitution creates and defines the conditions of service in terms of salaries, emoluments and privileges to top level officials of the three arms of government, allowing Members of Parliament (MPs) to approve those of the President and other members of the executive whilst the President also approves for the MPs.

For instance, he said, while the spirit of Article 71 is to honour top public servants, its implementation has created the impression that that class of public servants must have a special salary and allowances vastly different from the general public service conditions.

Describing the enjoyment of a different condition of service by Article 71 office holders as against other public sector workers as totally wrong, he said that could be corrected by stating clear percentage difference between what should be paid to Article 71 officers and lower level public servants.

That, he said, would ensure that the repeated confusion over the calculation of emoluments and end of service benefits were resolved, since the allowances of the Article 71 office holders would appreciate as the general salary levels in the public sector appreciated.

In most jurisdictions around the globe, he said the conditions of service for top level public officers was directly linked to that of other public sector workers and not the current Ghanaian situation where top officers in the Article 71 category enjoyed astronomically high packages as against what was given other public sector workers.

Prof. Adei, whose paper was on the topic, "Determination of emoluments - a critique of Article 71 of the 1992 Constitution, said Article 71, was not explicit in defining what constituted emoluments."

"This leaves room for wide interpretations," he stressed, indicating that there was a need for a clear definition of emoluments to avoid abuse.

The professor of economics and leadership, also expressed concern over the inclusion of the emoluments of the leadership of the Judiciary under Article 71, saying it has a tendency to affect the independence of the Judiciary.According to him there was a need for the conditions of service of the Chief Justice (CJ) and Justices of the Superior Courts to be separated from Article 71 and placed under Chapter 11 which dealt with provisions of the Judiciary."

In all Common Law countries, the Chief Justice is the highest paid public servant," he noted, adding that the inclusion of the CJ and Justices of the Superior Courts of the Judiciary among the beneficiaries of the Article 71, was not healthy towards promoting the independence of the judiciary, he stressed.

He stated that the inclusion of the CJ and Justices of the Superior Courts as well as Auditor-General and all others outside Parliament and the Executive among the beneficiaries of the Article 71, was like mixing apples with pears because such officers enjoyed tenured terms of office and their appointment was on merit unlike the legislature and the executive who occupied elective positions.

In addition, Prof. Adei recommended that the Article should be specific as to whether all Presidents have to set up a new committee to determine the emoluments of Article 71 officer holders.

Touching on the issue of appointment of the Committee that makes recommendations for the determination of the emoluments for Article 71 office holders, Prof. Adei noted that Article failed to draw the criteria for the appointment of members of the Committee, leaving the President with options to appoint "cronies" as members as was evidenced in the Chinery Hesse Committee.

Also, the approval process of the recommendations by the Committee, he said, was fraught with issues which put too much pressure on the MPs to demonstrate selflessness, integrity, leadership and public spiritedness.

Professor Adei called on the Professor Ewurama Addy Committee constituted to work on the emoluments under Article 71, to take advantage of the ongoing Constitution review in helping to amend the Article to make its implementation more effective and efficient

"The ongoing Constitutional review exercise offers a window of opportunity to address the weaknesses of the Article 71," he stressed.

Women In Politics Inspire New Aspirants

Tuesday November 30, 2010
By Edmund Mingle
A group of women politicians in a meeting
A group of women in leadership positions in the country has inspired female aspirants to higher political offices to assert themselves in order to win the confidence of society.
According to them, a sure way to break gender disparity against women in the Ghanaian society was for women to develop themselves to be in the position to provide development solutions.

The women leaders, including Ministers of State, Members of Parliament and Executive of the various parties agreed on the need for female aspirants to be more assertive, during discussions at a two-day seminar at Atimpoku at the weekend.The seminar, organized by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) had the theme, "Towards increased women s participation and representation in Parliament."
It also brainstormed on the way forward for women empowerment and how to improve the number of females in leadership position.
Mrs. Betty Mould-Iddrisu, Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, contributing to the discussion, said although public office comes with huge challenges for women, it was incumbent on women themselves to overcome those challenges to prove to society that they could equally deliver like their male counterpart.
She gave the assurance that those of them in leadership positions would continue to work hard to deliver so as to justify the confidence society has reposed in them.
That, she said would go a long way to encourage society to give more opportunities to women.

Mrs. Juliana Azumah Mensah, Minister of Women and Children s Affairs, for her part, believed that women have a lot to offer society, adding it would take a lot of effort to address the challenges hindering the progress of the female gender in society.
"I think we women have to prove a little more because more is required of us," she told the seminar.

In addition, the Minister, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ho East, urged women aspiring to leadership positions to be humble and serve their communities well because society appreciates people who dedicate themselves to the service of the nation.

Mrs. Susan Adu Amankwah, Greater Accra Regional Chairperson of the Convention People s Party, in her remarks, observed that although some gains have been made in the fight for increased numbers of women in the legislature and in governance, more work remained to be done.Frema Osei-Opare, MP for Ayawaso West Wuogon, in her contribution, urged women aspirants for political leadership positions to invest in themselves."

"We need to work hard to win the confidence of the public," she said.She said aside the national efforts to ensure gender parity in governance in favour of women, there was a need for the women themselves to work for positions based on their ability to deliver, rather than relying on the benevolence of their male counterparts.
Citing her political life as an example, she said there was the need for women aspirants to be very active in their parties and communities so their good works would put them up.

Ms. Otiko A. Djaba, National Women's Organizer of the New Patriotic Party, for her part, called for more co-operation and partnership among women irrespective of their political affiliation in order to advance the cause of the female gender.She reminded them of the need to be supportive of each other and fight for space since it would not be handed over to them freely.

President lauds Siemens, Atholl power project

Monday, December 13, 2010

By Edmund Mingle
President John Evans Atta Mills has commended Siemens Energy and Atholl Energy for their active participation in the country’s energy sector, as the group prepares to undertake the second phase of a 180 mega watt power generation plant to augment the nation’s power supply. According to the President, the energy sector was critical to the growth of the economy, and therefore it was important that the private sector played an active role to achieve energy sufficiency to support industry and business operations.

President Mills gave the commendation when the executives of Siemens Industrial Gas Turbines and Atholl Energy called on him at the Castle on Friday to brief him about the expansion plan for the power project.

The first phase of the Tema Thermal II Power Plant, Ghana’s first modular gas turbine power station, producing 50mega watt of electricity from five turbines, has been completed and handed over to the VRA for operation by the group.

As part of the second phase, the Siemens is proposing to expand the capacity and increase production from the current 50MW to 120MW and a further increase to 180MW if preferred by the government.

President Mills endorsed the group’s plan for the expansion, stressing the need for various opportunities to be utilized to enhance power production in the country.

The government, he assured would fully cooperate with the group to ensure that the objectives of investing in the power plant were achieved for the benefit of Ghanaians.

Nick Muntz, Managing Director of Siemens Energy, the world’s second largest manufacturer of gas turbines which are primarily used for electricity generation and in the offshore oil and gas industry, who lead the delegation, thanked the President for the support.
He said the group shared in the government’s development vision and would offer the necessary investment support towards power generation and job creation.

The plant, which was initiated under the emergency power programme as part of measures to enhance power generation to meet the growing power needs of households and businesses in the country, he explained could also run on diesel if gas was not available.
“The plant will operate on gas full time as part of Ghana’s base load electricity generation from January 2011,” he said.

Phase II, he said involved the changing of the plant from a single cycle to combined cycle, with the addition of three gas turbines, through which exhaust heat will be collected and used to drive the steam turbines.

“Operating on combined cycles with gas fuel, the station will be very economic and meet the highest standards f efficiency and low environmental impact,” he stressed.

The group, he said, was committed to providing technical capacity and global solutions to enable the government to achieve the better Ghana agenda for the benefit of Ghanaians.

Thomas Svanikier, Chairman of Atholl Energy, the contractors for the multi-million dollar project, for his part, thanked the government and partners for the cooperation which led to the successful completion of the first phase, “saying this is the best executed power project in Ghana in the last five years.”

In addition, he said the group would continue to contribute to the development of the energy sector through undertaking other projects that would help in achieving the government’s objective of increasing total power generation to 5000 MW by 2012.

Edward Effah, Managing Director of Fidelity Bank, which provided financial backing for the project, assured the government that the bank would lead a syndication to finance the second phase of the project.
END


1. President Mills holding discussions with Nick Muntz (left) during the courtesy call.
2. A section of the power plant in operation at Tema.

Mon

Gbagbo send special message to President Mills

Tuesday December 7, 2010
By Edmund Mingle
President John Evans Atta Mills yesterday urgently called for peace in neighbouring Cote d’Ivoire ahead of an emergency ECOWAS meeting in Abuja, Nigeria today over the political crisis that has hit Cote d’Ivoire.

The President urged the two contenders, incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo and opposition leader, Alhassane Quattara, who have both declared themselves winners of that country’s presidential election and subsequently sworn themselves into office, to allow the rule of law and peace to prevail in the interest of the people of Cote d’Ivoire.

President Mills made the call when a special envoy delivered a special message from incumbent President Gbagbo, to “fully inform President Mills of the developments” in his country.

“We are all interested in what is happening in Cote d’Ivoire and our major concern is for peace to prevail so that the lives of the people are not adversely affected,” he stressed.

President Mills, who will be joining his colleague ECOWAS Heads of State in Abuja to deliberate on the Cote d’Ivoire political impasse that has resulted in the formation of two governments by the two contenders, said peace and security should not be compromised at the detriment of Ivoriens.

The President, who had earlier in the run-up to the second round of elections in that country urged the two presidential contenders to accept the results of the elections, said the situation in Cote d’Ivoire was a disturbing one which should be addressed urgently.

He was optimistic that the outcome of today’s ECOWAS emergency meeting would help the find lasting solution to the impasse in the neighbouring Cote d’Ivoire.

The details of the message from President Gbagbo, was not given to the journalists, but Dr. Sery Bailly, a former Minister of Higher Education, who delivered the message, told journalists later that President Gbagbo wanted to fully inform President Mills of the developments so as to correct any perceptions he may have.

Asked whether it was part of a plan to lobby the government of Ghana, he denied saying President Mills was aware of what was going on in Cote d’Ivoire and could therefore not be misinformed.
“President Gbagbo want to assure President Mills that he is also interest in peace that is based on the rule of law,” he told the Press.
In what is described as a serious political crisis, the Constitutional Council overturned the results of the presidential election and declared Mr. Gbagbo the winner with 51 per cent of the total votes cast. His main challenger, Mr. Quattara, according to the council, secured 49 per cent of the votes.
This contravened the Electoral Commission’s had earlier declaration the opposition leader as winner with 54 per cent of the votes while Mr. Gbagbo obtained 46 per cent.
Mr. Gbagbo was sworn in for a third term in office at the presidential palace last Friday, but within hours, Mr. Quattara, a former Prime Minister from the predominately Muslim north of the country, was sworn in at an Abidjan hotel guarded by UN peacekeepers.
END