Tuesday, November 11, 2025
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Special Prosecutor’s Bill not a requirement for prosecution –  Senior Minister

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Senior Minister Yaw Osafo Maafo has stated that the Special Prosecutor’s Bill is not a sole requirement for prosecuting corrupt government officials but rather one that creates an independent body for addressing such specific cases of corruption.

He said: “I believe that we have put too much emphasis on the special prosecutor. People have been prosecuted and sentenced and jailed in this country without a special prosecutor. The laws are very clear. We need it because it will help accelerate and facilitate matters.”

The Senior Minister made the statement in an interview during the 25-year Thanksgiving Celebration of Ghana’s democracy.

After more than 170 amendments had been made to the bill, Parliament passed the Office of the Special Prosecutor Bill in November last year, which will allow for the establishment of an independent anti-corruption institution to deal with public officials who have been deemed or found liable to corrupt dealings.

The Bill gives power to a new independent prosecutor who will be tasked with the responsibility of prosecuting past and present public officers deemed to have been corrupt.

However, the Senior Minister said the state can still prosecute corrupt officials without necessarily having the Special Prosecutor’s bill in place. “We cannot say that without the special prosecutor we cannot prosecute clients. We can still fight corruption with or without the special prosecutor”.

Speaking on the relevance of the thanksgiving celebrations on the country’s democratic credentials, Osafo Maafo said the fact that there hasn’t been any military intervention for 25 years especially after five military interventions since independence is worth celebrating. He added that It will impact on the unity of the nation.

He said: “we have gone through four Republics and the longest is the fourth republic, this brings together all Ghanaians from all political persuasions to celebrate this silver jubilee and I think it’s a very important occasion for national recognition, national unity and to remind ourselves where we’re coming from. There have ben 5 military interventions, but we’ve had 25 years without military intervention and we should congratulate ourselves for this stability”.

He advised President Akufo-Addo to continue consulting other political parties to get other opinions other than from his own political party because politics should not be a reason for national division.

Philippe Coutinho: Barcelona unveil Brazil playmaker at Nou Camp

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Philippe Coutinho’s £142m move to Barcelona was officially confirmed on Monday as the playmaker was unveiled to fans at the Nou Camp.

The 25-year-old Brazilian signed a contract alongside Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu, before performing keepy-uppies in front of supporters.

A deal for Coutinho to join Barcelona from Liverpool was agreed on Saturday.

“I want to thank the president and everyone who has made it possible,” said Coutinho.

“I am very happy, it’s a dream come true and I hope to be up to the job on the field.”

Bartomeu added: “All the Barca fans are excited to have Coutinho here.

“It hasn’t been easy but his effort in coming, along with his strength and patience, have been key.”

Coutinho passed his medical, but it did show he has a right thigh injury – which kept him out of Liverpool’s 2-1 win at Burnley on New Year’s Day.

Barcelona said the midfielder was likely to be out for around three weeks, meaning the earliest he could realistically make his debut is the Catalan derby against Espanyol on 4 February.

Investing in Africa’s next stage of growth

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David Bohigian is Executive Vice President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. Government’s development finance institution.
Edward A. Burrier

There are many ways to measure development in a region, a country or even a continent. Freedom, prosperity, health and stability are all pillars of progress, and opportunity is the foundation.

But this week as I return to Africa for the first time in ten years, I am reminded that investors are one of the most reliable indicators of development and overall progress. Investment flows signal recognition of an opportunity, and can herald accelerating development beyond aid-based need.

There was a time when relatively few foreign investors recognized Africa’s potential. But for several years now, Africa has been widely seen as a region that not only had a great need for investment in infrastructure, healthcare, technology and agriculture, but also a place that offered investors some of the best opportunities on the planet.

Today, many of the world’s fastest-growing economies are in Africa, and the World Bank, which measures the ease of doing business in 190 countries around the world, recently identified Sub-Saharan Africa as the region that leads the world in adopting reforms to improve the business climate.

These strong rankings and growth rates are certainly impressive. Perhaps even more compelling are the other signs that confirm Africa’s improving business climate is a long-term trend that will likely endure through the ups and downs that all economies experience.

Recent research shows that the investor interest Africa is seeing today is part of a structural change that is likely to be sustained through periods of economic downturn like the recent slump in commodities prices that have hit many African economies. In 2016, there was a 32 percent rise in capital investment projects in Africa.

Indeed, while aid dollars have traditionally dominated capital flows into Africa, investment is growing rapidly. As these investors tap into Africa’s potential, they are also helping to fuel its growth.

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) is a U.S. agency that helps businesses invest in developing markets around the world and we’ve long recognized the potential of Africa and its people. Our portfolio in Africa has grown from about $1 billion in 2002 to $7 billion today.

When I travel with a team from OPIC to Ghana and West Africa this week, I’ll see the impact that investment has had, from Cameroon — where a new hospital is providing sight-saving surgery to thousands — to Togo, where a major power plant tripled electricity generation capacity.

Here in Ghana, OPIC has supported investment in many sectors, from a sweeping project to introduce more advanced healthcare equipment, to a major power plant, to a mortgage company that helped simplify land registry, enabling more people to purchase homes.

These projects are all a testament to the local governments that have committed to adopting reforms to attract more investors, as well as the people of Africa, who comprise a large and growing population that are recognized around the world as a powerful force. By 2050, a full quarter of the world’s population will be Africans, most of them under the age of 30.

OPIC is proud to support investment that is having such a positive impact, but we also understand that much more must be done to create opportunity for Africa’s rapidly growing, increasingly urban population, and to connect the continent to the rest of the world.

Better supply chains will be needed to improve trade within countries and across borders. Thousands of miles of road will have to be paved. Ports will have to be modernized. More power generation capacity will have to be added. And all this will require significant resources.

In recent years we’ve seen how investment has helped transform Africa. Investors have built critical infrastructure like power plants that are not only improving the quality of life in places like Ghana but also supporting increased business activity. By strengthening telecommunications networks, they have helped foster connectivity with the rest of the world.

They are providing financing to small businesses that are a key source of jobs and opportunity, and they are investing in Africa’s smallest farms, helping them improve their yields and reach larger markets.

And these investors will be essential to Africa’s next wave of growth. As long as Africa continues to offer opportunities for investment, development will continue to foster growth and stability.

 

 

 

 

KLM to pay €600 compensation for overbooking flight

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Dutch carrier, KLM, is to pay passengers who were denied boarding due to over booking on an Accra-Amsterdam bound flight on Saturday January 6, 2018 an amount of €600 (Euros) as compensation.

In all, sixteen (16) passengers were affected, out of which 13 passengers went home and three were booked in a hotel. All affected passengers received GHȼ 50 from the airline to cover their cost of transportation back home.

Air France-KLM has been operating in Ghana for decades, offering unmatched service to all passengers.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is the oldest scheduled airline in the world still operating under its original name.

In 2016, the KLM Group operated worldwide flights with over 200 aircraft, generating €10 billion revenues and employing 32,000 staff from its Amsterdam base.

The airline has won numerous awards in recent times including the “Best Airline” at the annual awards ceremony for Dutch leisure travel, the “Nederlandse Vakantie Awards”.

FDA restricts time for airing Alcoholic advertisement on TV and Radio

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The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) says they are determined to maintain their stance on advertisements on alcoholic beverages despite concerns being raised by affected parties.

This announcement follows a press release by the FDA, reminding the general public, especially the Media, Advertisers, as well as Manufacturers and Importers of alcoholic beverages that effective 1st January, 2018, advertisements on alcoholic beverages are supposed to be aired from 8pm to 6am only.

This is in accordance with the FDA’s Guidelines for the Advertisements of Foods (section 3.2.6) and specifically the requirements for advertisements of alcoholic beverages, which states that “Radio and Television advertisements shall not be aired between the hours of 6:00 am and 8:00 pm”.

This information, which is in the FDA’s Guidelines for the Advertisements of Foods, has already been communicated to the general public through the media.

All media houses and advertisers are therefore urged to treat as important and comply in the interest of public health and safety.

Additionally, kindly be informed that all advertisements of FDA regulated products that would be approved by the FDA from 1st January, 2018, are supposed to include the phrase “this advert has been vetted and approved by the FDA”.

Meanwhile, the general public is encouraged to provide information on any activities that are likely to endanger public health and safety with respect to FDA’s mandate through any of the following numbers;

HOTLINES – 0299802932, 0299802933,

TOLL FREE NUMBER – 0800151000 (free only on Airtel and Vodafone)

SMS SHORTCODE –  4015.

 

Agricultural programmes will be depoliticized – gov’t assures

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The Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, in charge of Horticulture, George Oduro, has reiterated the commitment of the government to improve the lives of farmers in the country through the modernization of the country’s agricultural sector.

He said government’s interventions in the agricultural sector through pragmatic policies will not be politicized whilst insisting that everyone who deserves to benefit will do so without any discrimination.

According to the Deputy Minister issues of agriculture and one’s access will not be reduced to political affiliations particularly under the leadership of the President, Nana Akufo Addo and the Agric Minister, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto.

He observed that the politicization of government programmes, particularly in the area of agriculture has not helped the growth of the sector and farmers, in the past, a development the current government administration intends to avoid.

Addressing Chiefs and people in the Ahafo as part of ongoing efforts by MoFA to engage various stakeholders in the implementation of government’s flagship “Planting for Food and Jobs” campaign, Mr. Oduro urged traditional rulers to rally their subjects to participate in the programme.

He noted that government is ready to offer incentives to the youth to go into farming, stressing that the success story has been demonstrated in the smooth implementation of the pilot phase of the PFJ programme, in 2017.

Mr. Oduro, who is also the member of Parliament for the New Edubiase constituency, in the Ashanti region, noted that the government intends to register about half a million farmers and similarly support them with incentives to increase productivity and improve their income, in this crop season.

He explained that it is part of this reason that MoFA is soliciting the cooperation of all stakeholders to ensure the successful implementation of government’s agriculture programmes.

Under the PFJ programme, for instance, the government is said to have guaranteed a ready market for farmers through a comprehensive arrangement with aggregators. With the introduction of the Warehouse Receipt System, it is expected that farmers can now access financial support from banks using their receipts as collateral.

The traditional rulers from the Ahafo enclave made up of Tepa, Maaban, Goaso, Acherensua, Bechem, Asuhyiae, and others pledged to allocate 40,000 acres towards farming in their areas.

Twenty thousand (20,000) acres of this land is hoped to be used for rice production whilst the remaining 20,000 will go into the cultivation of bamboo for the generation of electricity and other products.

The project, being spearheaded by the Paramount Chief of Maaban, Nana Darko Montwi II, is expected to create jobs for youths in the catchment communities.

Nana Darko Montwi II said investors for the bamboo project have already visited the area to do a feasibility study, and therefore, commended the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, for lending his support to the project.

The Paramount Chief of the Tepa Traditional Area, Nana Atwerewaa Ampem II, said there was no doubt agriculture holds the key to solving the numerous youth unemployment in the country. He, therefore, pledged his full support towards the Planting for Food and Jobs campaign and encouraged the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to pursue the project.

ASA Savings and Loans donates to Kumasi Children’s Home

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The ASA Savings and Loans Limited in Kumasi has donated a number of items at the cost of over GHS5,000 for the upkeep of children at Kumasi Children’s Home.

The items which included three file cabinets for administrative use, marker boards for teaching, toiletries, washing bowls, bags of rice among an assortment of other items were said to be part of the company’s corporate efforts to support society.

Handing over the items to officials of the Home, the Operations Manager of ASA Savings and Loans, Mr. Sajibur Rahman, said since the beginning of their operations in the country, from 2008, the company has supported a number of institutions across the country.

He noted that besides this support ASA Savings and Loans Limited has made it part of its corporate culture to periodically organize health screening exercises for residents of communities within their catchment areas, in the six regions of the country that they operate.

He said for the almost ten years of being in operations in the country the company has been recognized severally including being adjudged the ‘Best Tax Payer’ by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and as well as other numerous prestigious awards.

The ASA Savings and Loans was ranked 20th in last year’s Ghana Club 100 awards organized by the Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC).

Mr. Rahman disclosed that the company intends to expand its operations this year, by opening 15 additional branches across the country.

The Ashanti Regional Director of the Department of Social Welfare, Madam Patricia Kyeremanteng-Berchie, at the presentation of the items, said caring for the children is a huge responsibility that cannot be left only to government.

She, therefore, insisted that support from the private sector and benevolent organizations and individuals is required to complement the efforts of government.

For instance, she said the number of the children at the care of the Kumasi Children’s Home is about 100, from a day old to 18 years and above.

She expressed appreciation of the Home for the gesture and equally asked for other organizations and individuals to emulate the gesture.

The Ashanti Regional Manager of ASA Savings and Loans Limited, Mr. Haiul Hasan, assured the caregivers that the gesture will not be the end of their support. “More will be done to support the care of the children here,” he stated.

Ghana ready to roll out FLLEGT licensing system

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Despite several delays in the processes to conclude work on the regime to guide the sourcing of legal timber for the consumption of the local wood industry and the export market, it has emerged that plans are now far advanced to commence and test the FLEGT licensing regime this year.

The rollout of the system is expected to subsequently pave way for the issuance of the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) license, which among others seek to combat illegal trade in forest and timber product with the aim of reducing forest degradation.

The implementation and issuance of the FLEGT license will guarantee the legality of timber and other timber products exported to Europe and other international markets from Ghana.

This follows several years of deliberations from as far back as 2009 when Ghana reached an agreement with the European Union (EU) to sign the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA), which mandated that only legally produced timber should be exported to the EU market. The agreement also included the supply of legal lumber to the local market which is made up of about 84% illegal chainsaw timber.

The Vice President of the Ghana Timber Association (GTA) and the representative on the Joint-Monitoring Reviewing Mechanism, between EU and Ghana, Mr. Alexander Dadzie, who disclosed the new timelines to B&FT, also explained that the delay occurred due to the meticulous processes that had to be undertaken leading to the commencement of the FLEGT programme.

He said the Ghana Partners have completed and fulfilled all the necessary requirement that governs the FLEGT regime, which now makes it appropriate to commence the implementation of the programme.

Commenting on the readiness of the timber and wood industry for the FLEGT programme, he insisted that the industry is well equipped with all the essential information to get them in align with the programme.

These came up at the backdrop of a workshop organized for a cross section of timber exporters on how the whole process of certification will proceed and the requirements. The ongoing sensitization, under the FAO FLEGT programme, is hoped to equip industry to be able to comply when the programme begins.

The Permit Manager of the Timber Industry Development Division of the Forestry Commission, in Kumasi, Mr. Eric Abbeyquaye, said the signing of the VPA demonstrates Ghana’s commitment towards ensuring legal timber export trade.

But he noted that the Electronic Tracking System, a crucial component of the FLEGT licensing regime, was a major cause of the delay of the start of the programme.  However, he indicated that the first trial FLEGT license has been issued and a formal report from authorities is expected as part of the processes to fully roll it out.

Mr. Abbeyquaye also mentioned that the start of the FLEGT programme will give the country the competitive urge over other countries who export timber to the EU markets. This, he said, is due to the fact buyers will have the confidence that the timber coming from the country is sourced legally whilst also observing health, environmental and other safety regulations.

He was emphatic that the start of the FLEGT licensing regime will put an end to illegal lumber particularly within the domestic market, which has been a challenge to address.

Also speaking with the Chief Executive of the Ghana Timber and Millers Organisation (GTMO), Dr. Kwame Asamoah Adams, he expressed concern about the additional cost and resources that will be required of companies to be able to fully comply with the system when it starts.

Bearing in mind some of the few bottlenecks anticipated to challenge particularly the small-scale timber operators at the start of the FLEGT licensing regime, he disclosed that efforts are being made to setup a Secretariat to assist them in their application for the license.

Dr. Asamoah Adams said the potential to revive the timber industry is not far-fetched given that Ghana has the land and climate that supports tree growth far better than some of the Scandinavian countries that are leading in the global timber and wood industry.

However, he said conscious attempt must be made to reinvigorate the industry like planting more trees and also restructure the industry to do more processing by way of value addition than just selling.

Parliament sets up 5 member committee to investigate cash for seat saga

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Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Oquaye has formed a five member committee to probe into allegations of extortion on the part of Ministry of Trade from expatriate companies. 

He announced the ruling on Friday, 5th January, 2018  when the House was recalled through a motion filed by the minority in Parliament .

The members of the committee are Ameyaw Kyeremeh (Chairman), Yaw Buabeng Asamoah, Dr Mark Assibey-Yeboah, James Klutse Avedzi, and Dominic Ayine.

It would be recalled that on the 29th of December, 2017, an application by the Minority led by its chief whip, Alhaji Mohammed Mubarak-Muntaka filed a motion, calling for investigations into the levy and collection by the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Ghana cedi equivalent of various sums of money in U.S.dollars, from expatriate businesses and related matters during the recently held Ghana Expatriate Business Awards in Accra.

Cash for seat saga: Speaker suspends sitting over ‘procedural irregularities’ in Minority motion

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Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Oquaye has suspended sitting for thirty minutes over what he describes as procedural irregularities on the part of the Minority in Parliament over their application submitted to Speaker to probe allegations of extortion on the part of Ministry of Trade from expatriate companies. 

It would be recalled that on the 29th of December, 2017, an application by the Minority led by its chief whip, Alhaji Mohammed Mubarak-Muntaka filed a motion, calling for investigations into the levy and collection by the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Ghana cedi equivalent of various sums of money in U.S.dollars, from expatriate businesses and related matters during the recently held Ghana Expatriate Business Awards in Accra.

Parliament accordingly summoned on January 5, 2018 to consider the motion filed by the minority.

The Speaker after allowing for debate from both the majority and minority sides, indicated that the application filed was fraught with procedural irregularities and subsequently suspended sitting for thirty minutes to allow the anomalies to be rectified and resubmitted.

After almost two hours break Parliament resumes sitting on the matter.

Speaker takes his seat and invites Minority to comment. The Minority challenges ruling of speaker and returns with a decision not to correct the error as pointed out by the Speaker before break.

Speaker nonetheless ignores the position of the Minority and constitutes a 5-member committee to probe the matter. The members of the committee are Ameyaw Kyeremeh (Chairman), Yaw Buabeng Asamoah, Mark Assibey Yeboah, James Klutse Avedzi, and Dominic Ayine.

The Speaker adjourns sitting.

 

 

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