May 02.05.2012 - Latest GhanaWeb-News

China's largest oil trading firm, UNIPEC has taken over the marketing of Ghana's share of crude Oil from the Jubilee field.

JOYBUSINESS has learnt the firm took over the role from January this year.

This was after the Ghana National Petroleum Company decided not to review its contract with Vitol and Woodfields which ended last year.

UNIPEC is expected to market Ghana's crude for the next fifteen and half years.

Joy Business sources say UNIPEC has taken over as part of conditions covering the recent 3 billion Chinese loan.

UNIPEC is a subsidiary of SINOPEC, the firm constructing the 700 million dollars gas processing plant in the western region.

President Mills has assured Ghanaians that his government will not renege on its commitment to expand the country’s economy by putting more Ghanaians to work through job creation.

He said that the 2008 NDC manifesto has job creation as one of the four pillars supporting the better Ghana Agenda.
The President was addressing a workers rally to mark this year’s May Day Celebrations at Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo region.
He said the government also recognizes the fact that the private sector is the engine of growth and that a greater chunk of the 3 billion dollars Chinese loan his administration secured from the Chinese Exim Bank, will be channeled into that sector.
President Mills emphasized that the government recognizes the need to continue to produce the kind of atmosphere which will enable the private sector to create jobs. He said “We have targeted certain areas and indeed our procurement of loan is really targeted at sectors which will help us create job for our people”

According to President Mills, despite the challenges, one should acknowledge what other methods and contributions they have made.
He used the occasion to declare his firm commitment to ensuring free and fair elections in December, stressing that the law will deal ruthlessly with all trouble makers.
“ I want to assure you of my determination and with the help of Almighty God, to assure that our elections are free, fair and transparent. The law will be no respector of status, it will deal with everybody alike and we will make sure that those who decide to break the law are indeed made to face the rigours of the law,” the President assured.

Employment Minister Moses Asaga says the issue of unemployment has taken a global dimension but stressed Ghana is well on track to resolving the problem.
According to him, his sector, based on a directive by the president for all ministers to bring forward areas of job creation has been able to liaise with private institutions to create jobs for a number of unemployed youths in the country.
He was commenting on the frustrations by Secretary General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) Kofi Asamoah about the growing joblessness in an economy said to be expanding.

Moses Asaga told Joy News the issue of unemployment is key in many countries of the world and has in other countries toppled various regimes.
He cited the Arab Spring, Europe and in the US where unemployment has led to several forms of destabilization.
In Ghana, the Employment minister said all other ministries are working feverishly to provide various job opportunities for the youth.

He said under LESDEP and in conjunction with RLG Communications his ministry is providing several youths with tools to set up their own businesses.
The sector minister also regretted the poor safety and working conditions for many workers in the country.
He said on assumption into office, he has taken steps to equip the Factory Inspectorate Divisions with the necessary facilities to enhance the quality of work.
According to him, just last week the Division paid unannounced visits to some companies and were depressed at the conditions under which the workers were working.
He said the employers have been asked to improve upon those conditions, failure of which the companies will be closed down.

The True Statesman
info@thetruestatesman.org

2ND MAY 2012

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the New Patriotic Party Vice Presidential candidate, has stated emphatically that no economy can be managed with propaganda.
“The lesson from history for governments is that you cannot manage the economy with propaganda. In fact, you can engage in all the propaganda you want but if the macroeconomic fundamentals are weak, the exchange rate will expose you.” Dr. Bawumia stated.
The renowned economist made this statement at the 5th Ferdinand Ayim Memorial Lectures held in Accra on Wednesday.
Dr. Bawumia came to this premise after taking the packed auditorium filled with members of civil society, supporters of the New Patriotic Party, media practitioners and various other observers through a concise analysis of the Ghanaian economy today.

Lecturing on the theme, “The State of the Economy”, Dr. Bawumia took his time to deflate the much touted single digit inflation talk of the ruling National Democratic Congress by pointing out that while inflation was said to be in single digits, it had no correlation to the cost of commodities in the markets, general cost of living, the interest rates and also the exchange rates of the Ghana cedi.
Dr. Bawumia mentioned the prices of basic commodities such as Gari, Maize, Pure Water, Cement as well as prices of fuel products and tariffs of water and electricity, school fees, road tolls etc. which had all seen triple digit increases and quizzed why the much talked about single digit inflation was not reflecting on the ground.
“Mr. Chairman, How many Ghanaians have seen a single digit increase in the prices of what they normally buy in the markets and shops over the past year? I can testify that if you try to give your spouse a single digit increase in chop money, she would not be amused.”

He again took on the relationship between inflation and interest rates. Dr. Bawumia observed that between 2001 and 2008, inflation was cut by more than half from 40.5% to 18.1%. At the same time, the interest rate saw a commensurate decrease by almost half from 44% to 27%. He however, noted that while inflation has dropped from 18.1% in 2009 to some 8.8% today, the interest rate had only witnessed a negligible decrease from 27% in 2008 to 26% currently.
Dr. Bawumia also used the incoherent relationship between the inflationary figures and the exchange rates to question the veracity of the single digit inflation rates. He wondered why the exchange rate of the cedi was fast depreciating while the inflation was in single digits and stable, noting, “Ladies and Gentlemen, something does not add up. The rapid exchange rate depreciation observed suggests that inflation could be higher than what is being captured by the official data.”
In tackling the depreciation of the cedi more concisely, the NPP Running Mate stated that the free fall of the cedi which was being witnessed “is a vote of no confidence by market players in the management of the economy”. He added that as a result of this apparent lack of confidence in the management of the economy, many players were now anticipating the cedi to dollar rate to reach 2:1 soon.

He lamented that instead of tackling the fundamental causes of the rapid depreciation of the cedi, the government was rather trying to blame speculators for the fall in the cedi.
The former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana pointed out that credibility and transparency was extremely important in successfully managing an economy. “You cannot manage an economy by propaganda. You cannot claim to have created 1.6 million jobs and your Minister for Employment would say he cannot vouch for that. You cannot ask government officials that when they see a small goat, they are supposed to tell us that it is a big fat cow! and expect the markets to consider you credible. You cannot claim that all the gold reserves in the Bank of Ghana have disappeared and expect the markets to consider you as credible. Today, we have a Green Book touting “unprecedented” achievements! Hyperbole has its place but certainly does not belong in the realm of economic management. The best response Ghanaians can give to the Green book is to show the NDC a red card in the December 2012 elections”, Dr. Bawumia asserted.

Over 600 residents in the Old Abirem in the Birim North District of the Eastern Region have been left homeless following a devastating rainstorm, Monday.

85 houses were drowned by the floods with markets, churches and roads badly hit as well.
District Chief Executive of the area Mavis Ama Frimpong told Joy News the flood was a “serious disaster.”
According to her, the whole community was cut-off from the electricity grid several days after the rainstorm.
A victim of the rainstorm told Joy News they have been rendered homeless after strong winds blew off the roof of their buildings with the torrents washing away their properties.

The District National Disaster Management Organization Eric Yakah said they have visited the affected areas to assess the extent of damage.
He said the District NADMO office is without relief items for which reason they have sent SOS message to the National NADMO office for support.
He hoped the national office will soon attend to the needs of the victims.

In search of the almighty tertiary institution certificates, admission-seeking Nigerians storm Ghanaian schools and in the process invest over a billion dollars in the Ghanaian economy. Ajayi Oluwapelumi reports.
NOT much was known of the numerous Nigerian youths schooling in the Republic of Ghana, and the huge sum of money being invested in the Ghanaian education system in form of school fees paid annually by Nigerian students until Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, gave the intimidating figures in 2011 revealing that over 71,000 Nigerian youths were schooling in Ghanaian higher institutions.

The reason, which is unconnected to the consistent industrial action by lecturers; the corruption-soaked process of gaining admission, lack of a structural education system, in-conducive environment and insecurity; which is quite the opposite of what Ghanaian education system offers; a development which has resulted in droves of Nigerian youths moving to Ghana to seek admission in whatever school they find it in all the 10 regions that make up Ghana. Thus, Nigerian students in Ghana are spending over one billion dollars annually as school fees.
And because of this, admission into various higher institutions in Ghana, most especially, private ones, is always easy to get; with flexible system designed to suit foreigners and locals.
Complementing the edge they have over Nigerian higher institutions is the constant electricity and peaceful atmosphere, among other basic amenities which often suit the desire of an average Nigerian.
Aside from the $1billion investment of Nigerian students on education in Ghana, another value Nigerians schooling in Ghana are adding to Ghana is the boost of Ghanaian real estate and medium scale businesses.
House rent has continued to skyrocket as a result of high demands for accommodation by students who are ready to pay any amount to get a descent place to lay their heads, a development which estate agents are already busy exploiting, while landlords who have tasted how profitable it is to rent out their apartments to Nigerians have started building new ones in order to accommodate more Nigerians and other foreigners who still crave for a shelter despite the cut throat rate.

This artificial rent hike has also caused groaning among majority of Ghanaians who claim that the properties were not of much value before Nigerian students flooded every part of Ghana.
According to Constance Dickson, who spoke with the Nigerian Tribune, “house rent in certain places, for example Koforidua and Accra, was not this expensive before, but the high inflow of foreigners, most especially Nigerian students, has stepped up demand for accommodation, which, according to the principle of Economics, automatically leads to high rate.
And the disadvantage of this development is that many poor Ghanaians now have to pay through their noses to either keep their rented apartments or secure new ones.''
The decision of some landlords who demand that house rents are paid in US dollars majorly in highbrow cities like Accra, Tema, Kumasi and other regions where universities are situated has also heightened the stress in successfully securing a comfortable apartment.
One would wonder if Nigerians seeking admission in Ghanaian higher institutions never get bothered by these challenges of paying hard currency as directed by some schools and landlords; the struggle of securing an apartment and coping with all kinds of discrimination due to the dented image of the country.

But all these seem to be the least of their problems as far as they secure admission in the school of their choice.

According to Olatubosun Ademuyiwa, a Nigerian student of the All Nations University, “We see ourselves as a people who can survive against all odds as long as we get the best education we came here for, which guarantees us hope for a brighter future, instead of being victims of strike every semester.”

Nigerian Tribune investigation reveals that many Nigerians schooling in Ghana see the country's education system as a rescue option from many months of strike and complicated admission process into university, compared to Ghanaian universities which don't require candidates to pass UTME to gain admission.
The population of Nigerian students in Ghana has also been responsible for the creation of a sister body of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) Ghana chapter, presided over by the founding president, Micheal Opeyemi Ige, a student of University of Winneba, Ghana. He also doubles as Nigerian Youth Ambassador for Peace and Security Council, Modern African Union Summit and the winner, of the Outstanding Student Award recently organised by the Nigeria High Commission.

Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune on how NANS Ghana came into existence, he said, “the campaign for the establishment of a student association, different from the already existing International Students Association, started in 2009 with the objective of creating a platform that would not only connect all Nigerian students, but also protect the interest of thousands of Nigerians spread across Ghanaian higher institutions; projecting the good image of Nigeria and to maintain a cordial relationship with the National Union of Ghana Students.
“We came up with the interim National Executive Council and Senate in June 2010, where I was appointed as the interim president, while the Senate comprises of NANS presidents in all schools.
“In 2011, we had our first general election which was witnessed by the representatives from Nigerian High Commission and the media. I contested and became the first elected president of NANS Ghana on 12th March 2011.''

Micheal Opeyemi, while relaying some of the challenges Nigerian students encounter in Ghana, expressed his concern for the exorbitant school fees charged foreigners; mind blowing accommodation charges and discrimination, but concluded that they were part of the sacrifices Nigerian students had to make in order to pass through a well structured and flexible educational system.

In his words, “it's quite challenging schooling in Ghana, because we pay as foreign students, which also mean some of the schools, which are majorly private universities, often require that we pay in hard currency and of course, much more than what our Ghanaian counterparts pay.
“Moreover, we also pay huge amount of money for accommodation. Sometimes, we are required to pay two years in advance. But we still intend to adapt in order to enjoy the value of what Ghanaian educational system offers and her peaceful and conducive environment of learning.
“For example, in terms of flexibility; there are schools that could wave a year for you, as far as you can prove that you are above 25 years old, with good grades though. This means, you automatically start from 200level.

“Another interesting thing about Ghanaian education system is you can sign up for summer school, a system which keeps you in school to continue your studies while others choose to go on break; if this process is taken, the student could spend two years and some months for a four-year course.
“And to complement the dynamic educational system is the ambience of peace, security, constant electricity and pipe-borne water; which makes life more comfortable and the atmosphere more suitable to learn. Even though the living standard is high, which eats more into the pockets of the students.''

Opeyemi, speaking on the achievements of NANS so far, said, “the name 'NANS' is our first achievement, because without the name, it would have been difficult for us to face many challenges that have surfaced in the process of promoting the good image of Nigeria; standing in the gap for students who get involved in trouble.
“NANS Ghana has also been registered with the Ghana Director General Office, and we have a certificate to function as a non-governmental organisation. We also do orientation for new students about their new environment, while we also use platforms provided by the Ghana-Nigeria media organisations to re-orientate Ghanaians about their wrong perspective that Nigerians are arrogant, fraudulent and violent.
“We also try as much as possible to encourage Nigerians coming to school in Ghana to make sure that their first port of call should be the Nigerian High Commission, where they will be registered and given a consular card, which is quite important in helping such a student, anytime they get into trouble or when their international passports get missing.
“We have also been able to establish a relationship with the Nigerian High Commission, which is our supervisory body.
“Another achievement we can proudly point at was the Nigeria independent celebration in Ghana which took place here on the 29th of September, which we held in collaboration with the Nigerian High Commission.
“As a pressure group, we have been assured by the NHC that our colleagues who graduate from Ghanaian institutions would not find it difficult to participate in the mandatory National Youth Service Corps in Nigeria.
“We would also like to put it on record here that NANS Ghana Chapter is still pressing for a comprehensive and accurate database of the total number of Nigerian students, a national tour to all schools where Nigerians are studying in Ghana.
“We are also pressing for bursary for all students here because there are times some of our students get stranded here financially,” he said.

SOME UNIDENTIFIED gun-wielding persons suspected to be land-guards, at about 10:00pm last Sunday, reportedly opened fired on some innocent civilians at Prampram, leaving about 24 of them with various degrees of injury.
The unidentified suspects, numbering about eight, were said to have fled the scene in three separate vehicles soon after firing so as to avoid arrest by the local police.
The whole incident began when an unknown man allegedly drove his car to a shrine in the area and started playing loud music.

His action, according DAILY GUIDE’s source in the area, did not go down well with residents of the area, especially since a ban had been imposed on noise making and drumming in the area by its traditional council as part of its traditional rituals towards the celebration of Homowo.
The source said that at about 8:30pm on Sunday, the unknown man parked his car in front of the shrine and after a while turned up the volume of the music playing in his car. So loud was the music that it attracted the attention of everybody present, including some young men who had been tasked to ensure the ban.
The enforcers, unhappy about the situation, confronted him and for unknown reasons, the man was alleged to have slapped one of them, leading to a fight.

A few minutes after the fight, a friend of the unknown man emerged from nowhere in a car, pulled out a pistol and opened fire, causing fear and panic amongst eyewitnesses and members of the task force.
A third vehicle later arrived at the scene with about six passengers. The suspects, believed to be land-guards, reportedly pulled out pump action guns and joined the earlier group to shoot at those present.

However, realizing that the police had been notified, the suspects quickly fled the scene in three separate vehicles.
The police reinforcement team from the Tema Regional Police Command however arrived at the scene late.
The police team, according to a source, helped to convey the injured persons to the Tema General Hospital for treatment.
DCOP Maxwell Atingane, the Tema Regional Police Commander who on Monday visited the scene, sounded a stern warning to persons who paraded themselves as land-guards, warning them that anyone arrested would be dealt with.
He indicated that names of the suspected land-guards had been made available to the police and assured that his outfit was doing everything possible to apprehend them.

When DAILY GUIDE visited the Emergency Unit of the Tema General Hospital (TGH) yesterday, a health personnel on duty said about 10 victims with gunshot injuries were rushed to the unit at about 11:00pm on Sunday.

The report received from the victims was that some unidentified persons suddenly fired gun shots into a crowd after a fight broke out between some unknown persons and some youth of the area.
The health personnel explained that the few health personnel on duty at the time had to work very hard to remove pellets from the scrotum, feet and arms of some male victims.
“Except one female whose condition was critical and so we had to admit her, the rest were discharged on Monday morning. Nobody died,” the personnel noted.

One of the victims who only mentioned her name as Lillian, currently on admission at the health facility, said she was heading towards her room when the incident happened.
She alleged that she saw a man get out of a car with a gun, after which she heard him instruct some gun-wielding young men to open fire on them. According to her, she did not remember what happened next as she woke up only to find herself in a hospital bed.
She told DAILY GUIDE that she sustained gunshot wounds on her chest, lower abdomen and arm.
She appealed to the police to ensure that the perpetrators were arrested and punished. Other injured persons who were rushed to other medical facilities, including the Korle- Bu Teaching Hospital and 37 Military Hospital, have been treated and discharged.

Embattled financial engineer, Alfred Woyome, has backtracked on his law suit against six of the ten people he sued at an Accra High Court for contempt.

He has discontinued the contempt action filed against the Chief Executive Officer of the Despite Group of Companies, Osei Kwame, National Chairman of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, NPP MP for Assin-North, Kennedy Agyapong and three others with liberty to re-apply.

However, he has maintained the contempt action against the CEO of Multimedia Group Limited, Kwesi Twum, Editor of Peacefmonline.com, Nana Kwadwo Asante, the Communications Director of the NPP, Nana Akomea and an NPP Deputy Communications Director, Sammy Awuku.

Counsel for the self-confessed NDC financier, Lawyer David Annan had sued ten individuals and organizations for contempt of court in the ongoing fraud case between him and the state.

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