Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, UNHCR sign pact for return of Ivorian refugees

Friday, October 7, 2011

By Edmund Mingle
Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire yesterday renewed their friendship as Ivorian President, Alassane Ouattara, expressed immense gratitude for the support his country is enjoying from Ghana towards peace building and development.

Presidents John Evans Atta Mills and Quattara, after bilateral discussions at the Castle in Accra as part of the Ivorian leader’s one day official visit to Ghana, lauded the gains made from the relations between the two nations and further advance their already flourishing partnership.

Apart from aiming to boost the ties between the two nations, the visit is to demonstrate Cote d’Ivoire’s gratitude to Ghana for the significant role it played in resolving of the political crisis that hit Cote d’Ivoire early this year.

Among other things, the visit was in furtherance of the shared commitment to good neigbourliness, between the Ghana and Cote Cote d’Ivoire, and also provided the opportunity for the leaders to review their political, security and economic relations for improvement.

President Ouattara, who was full of praise for Ghana, said his government acknowledges the need to fully cooperate with Ghana addressing outstanding issues such as the repatriation of Ivorians who took refuge in Ghana during the crisis.

“We are highly appreciative of your support,” he said at a luncheon at the Castle in his honour, after the bilateral talks which culminated in the signing a tripartite agreement between Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and the United Nations High Commission for Refuees (UNHCR).

The tripartite agreement was reached following the conclusion by the two leaders of the need for the refugees to return home voluntarily to help in the rebuilding of their country.

Signed by Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, Daniel Kablan Duncan, Foreign Ministers of Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire respectively, and Sharon Cooper, UNHCR Country Director, the agreement involves the arrangements for the voluntary repatriation of about 18,000 Ivorian refugees back home.

Commending President Mills for his contribution in solving the crisis in Cote d’Ivoire, President Quattara said; “You are indeed a peace maker.”

He thanked President Mills for the “wise counsel” to all the parties in the political impasse, and also thanked Ghana for accommodating the more than 18,000 Ivorians who sought refuge in Ghana.

“We trust that we will continue to enjoy your assistance as we rebuild our country,” he said at the luncheon which was attended by Ministers, Members of the Diplomatic Corps, the Chief Justice, Security Chiefs and leaders of the various political parties.
President Ouattara, who earlier laid a wreath at the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum in honour of Ghana’s first President, said he was happy to be in Ghana, indicating that Ivorians hold Ghana in high esteem.

You have demonstrated that you are a reliable friend and neigbour,” he said, as he responded to the toast proposed by President Mills.

President Mills, proposing the toast, was glad peace had returned to Cote d’Ivoire, saying “what affect you affects us.”

“We have a lot in common, and we will do all we can to support you to promote peace and the growth of democracy in Cote d’Ivoire,” he said.

He also commended the President Ouattara for the progress being made in the implementation of the road map to peace and development in that country, and expressed optimism that the development efforts would be successful to ensure that that country regained its position in the commity of nations.

“You can count on our support,” he told the Ivorian leader.

A joint communiqué issued at the end of the visit, said the leaders also discussed the issue of the common maritime boundary between the countries heightened by the oil discovery in Ghana, and expressed their satisfaction with the progress sofar made in negotiations regarding the delimitation of the boundary.

“They reaffirmed their shared disposition to continue working towards achieving an amicable and mutually acceptable conclusion on the deliberations,” it said.

The two sides, it said, accordingly agreed to reconvene the next Joint Border Delimitation Consultative Meeting in Abidjan next month.

Responding to questions from journalists at the airport before departure, President Ouattara, assured ex-combatants who are among the refugees in Ghana, of their safety when they return home.

President Mills, for his part, warned the refugees of lawlessness, saying an abuse of Ghana’s laws would not be tolerated.

He also warned that “we will not allow anybody to use our territory to destabilize Cote d’Ivoire,” and urged the Ivorian ex-combatants in Ghana to accept the olive branch being offered by President Quattara and return home.
END

ECG improves operations

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

By Edmund Mingle

The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) says the recent investment injected into its operations is paying off, as its transmission systems records impressive improvement.

According to the company, the injection of new equipment, improvement in its network transmission system and the re-orientation of the staff, have helped to drastically reduce the power outages across the country.

In addition, the company continues to improve its revenue generation, with the distribution of some 580,000 prepaid meters in Accra and Cape Coast, while plans are advanced to extend the distribution of the prepaid meters to other urban areas.

“We are going all out to sustain and improve on the gains made in our operations,” Anthony Gyampo, acting Managing Director of ECG told journalist during an interaction in Accra.

He although the company has achieved success in its operations recently, it was aware that there was more room for improvement, and was therefore taking the necessary measures to provide more satisfactory services to all customers.

At the moment, he said most of the revenue generated by the company, which remains the best power distributor in the West Africa, was being re-invested into its operations, saying “we want to give our customers value for their money.”

He said as a result of the recent investment, new transmission lines and more transformers have been installed to ensure that the transformers are able to accommodate the load on them.

Currently, he said the company was on the verge of extending its new Loss Reduction and Network Improvement System, which was successfully piloted in Teshie in Accra, to other parts of the country.

The system, which is part of the short to medium term plan, ensures that fewer customers are hooked to a power transformer so as for effectively management of the load.

For the medium to long term plan for the management effective management of load so as eradicate power outages caused by faulty transformers, Mr. Gyampo noted that the company was moving towards the secondary automation which involved the installation of a scada system to automatically distribute the load from a faulty transformer to others in good condition.

“This will prevent the power loss to customers on that faulty transformer,” he explained.

In addition, he said the management was in the process of upgrading monitoring systems in their stations to quickly detect faults on transformers and transmission lines around the country.

He noted that they were focusing more on the network transmission improvement, because about 80 per cent of outages were due to faulty transformer which do not take much time to repair, indicating that it would make the response time highly rapid.

The company generated its revenue from government funds, loans and tariffs, but according the Mr. Gyampo, the revenue from tariffs was being adversely affected by illegal power connections.

“Some people have made it their duty to steal power for their businesses, but we continue to step up the fight against illegal connections,” he said.

Touching on measures to address the menace, he said the company was introducing systems to make it more difficult for people to steal electric power.

Among the measure, he said the electric meters have been made in way that it cannot be tampered with, while others are put in lockable enclosures.

Apart from these, he said the company has enhanced its public education against illegal connection, adding that they have instituted award scheme to reward informants who provide tip off to the company about illegal connections.

On debt owed the company, he explained that the company was resorting to various measure, including legal actions, to have debts paid by defaulting customers.

Mr. Gyampo commended the staff, particularly the engineers, for the contribution, which have helped to improve the fortunes of the company, assuring them management would continue provide enhanced remuneration.

“A lot of work has gone into improving our operations, and credit goes to the engineers,” he stressed, and also thanked the government and partners for the continuous support.
END

President Jonathan receives doctorate degree from GIMPA......and calls for responsible governance

By Edmund Mingle
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan at the weekend accepted an honorary law doctorate degree from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), as he called on African governments to live up to their responsibilities.

“Today, in this rapidly globalizing world, we in this region must use the State as an agent of change, development and progress,” he said.

He expressed the need for the governments to transform the State to be positively receptive to the yearnings of their people for integration, commerce and free movement of goods and services.

“Indeed the State must unleash the creative genius of our people, and their unbounded energy and industry that in the past centuries, gave rise to the Trans Saharan Trade and sustained our people for generations,” he said.

In his keynote address at a special Golden Jubilee Congregation of GIMPA in Accra where the award was conferred on him, as part of his two-day official visit to Ghana, President Jonathan, said the days when states dictated to their people, especially in the areas of commerce and industry, was over.

“We have a clear duty to ensure that about 230 million of our brothers and sisters in our sub-region live in harmony, peace, and security, and to pursue their trade and vocations without undue hindrance imposed by State and their agencies,” he reminded the governments in West Africa.

The Nigeria leader congratulated GIMPA on its 50th anniversary, and its contribution towards providing quality human resource for public administration in Ghana and other African countries.

He called on African governments to investment more in human resource training institutions like GIMPA, indicating that without the right competences and expertise, national development objectives cannot be achieved.

“The economic challenges that we wish to overcome, and the social transformation that we aim to achieve in our countries, cannot be address if we do not imbibe the ethos of professionalism and expertise in management and public administration,” he said.
He expressed appreciation to GIMPA for the honour, and urged the Institute to continue to cooperate and partners similar institutions across the continent to enhance the quality of human resource for the transformation of public institutions.

A citation accompanying the award described the Nigeria leader as “an icon of exemplary leadership in Africa.”

It also described him as “an astute politician, outstanding public servant, distinguished scholar, patron of peace and a true statesman” who served with distinction as Vice President before being elected as President of Nigeria.

The citation traced his achievements from his days in school, through his time as a university lecturer, his venture into politics and to his assumption of office as leader of Nigeria, saying with a tenacity, wisdom and integrity, “you have lit every path you have treaded, and made a difference in the lives of many people.”

President Mills, who also grace the celebration, congratulated his counterpart for the achievement, and hoped that it would inspire others in the region to aspire offer selfless service to their nations.

He also congratulated GIMPA for the milestone achievement, and gave assurance of government’s continued support to enable it to build on the gains made in the past 50 years of existence.
END

Ghana, Nigeria resolve to improve ties

Monday, October 10, 2011

By Edmund Mingle
Ghana and Nigeria have resolved to in their friendship with the hope of advancing their economic cooperation for the benefit of their people.

Presidents John Evans Atta Mills, and his Nigerian counterpart, President Goodluck Jonathan, who was in Ghana over the weekend, agreed that although the longstanding political, cultural, and social collaboration between the two were flourishing, the economic cooperation needed more improvement.

In that regard, they agreed at the end of talks to institute the necessary measures to remove all barriers to effective trade between Ghana and Nigeria.

At a pre-departure news conference on Saturday at the end of the two-day State visit of the Nigeria leader, the two Presidents expressed optimism that the commitment of their governments towards their promotion of the political and cultural relations, would continue to permeate the economic cooperation between the two West Africa nations, both of whom play leadership roles on the continent.

Presidents Mills and Jonathan also expressed the resolve of their governments to work together towards improving the integration of the West Africa, bearing in mind that the actions of the two countries affect the progress of the sub-region.

Ghana, President Mills said, was fully committed to the relations with Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, stressing that cooperation with the country’s neighbours, was a priority to the government.
“We have the right commitment to regional cooperation,” he said, adding that Ghana was aware of its responsibility as a leader in Africa, to continue to promote regional integration and quality trade.
“There is more we can achieve through cooperation and partnership with countries like Nigeria,” he said.
He believes the common development challenges that face Ghana and Nigeria are not insurmountable, and therefore, called for the right co-operation and collaboration between the two countries so that they will be able to overcome these Challenges with a common solutions.

For his part, President John, who is the chairman of ECOWAS, also gave assurance of his government’s preparedness to increase trade with Ghana, and also promote regional economic integration.

“You can’t talk about trade when you can’t move goods from Accra to Lagos freely,” he said, deploring the slow pace of integration of the sub-region.

Luckily, he said all the West African States are politically stable, which provides an impetus for economic growth that would help in promoting the progress of the sub-regional economic through increased regional trade.


President Jonathan, who was honoured with an honorary law doctorate degree by the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration on Saturday, commended Ghana for the impressive democratic and economic performance, as well as its contribution to the progress of the continent over the years.

He said apart from Ghana blazing the trail for the emancipation of Africa from colonialism, Ghana continues to show clear political leadership for the rest of the continent to emulate.

Earlier at a State Banquet held in his honour, President Jonathan was sure that effective cooperation between Ghana and Nigeria would greatly contribute to strengthening ECOWAS.

He also urged both Ghanaian and Nigerian investors to take advantage of the flourishing ties between the two nations, and explore the business opportunities in Ghana and Nigeria.

“This is because our efforts to attract foreign investors will not yield much if we do not invest locally,” he said.

Similarly, President Mills, proposing the toast at the banquet, called for more partnership between the people of the two nations for the proper investments.

He said Ghanaians and Nigerians have to work together in the common good of the two nations, since Ghana and Nigeria abound with high caliber of expertise in various fields.

President Mills congratulated his guest on his election as the President of Nigeria, saying it was “a demonstration of the determination of African countries to embrace and entrench democracy and rule of law.”

Also former university don, President Mills commended President Jonathan, who shared a similar background, for transcending academia into politics successfully, saying “academia cannot be left out of politics entirely.”

To contribute to the sustenance of democracy in Africa, President Mills reiterated his resolve to ensure that Ghana's 2012 election was free, fair and transparent.

“This is because the country has a standard to maintain, and to send the right signal to the rest of world that Africa is changing for the better,” he said.

END