Accra, May 16, GNA – President John Evans Atta Mills left Accra late Wednesday for the United State of America to attend the 2012 G8 Summit scheduled for May 18 and 19 at Camp David near Washington.   The meeting which would address global food security issues is also attracting three other African Leaders who were also invited to parley with the world's richest nations.   The three others are; Dr Thomas Yayi Boni, African Union Chairman and Benin President, Mr Ato Meles Zenawi, Ethopian Prime Minister and Mr Jakaya Kikwete, President of Tanzania.   In a pre-departure interview, Mr Kwasi Ahwoi, Minister of Food and Agriculture, observed that Ghana’s invitation to the summit was an indication that she was doing something right, since she has been invited for the second time within the last few years.   He said the emphasis of the meeting would be how the developed world, the group of the eight industrialized countries including America could assist developing countries to scale up their  food production.   According to him, Africa would make a strong case to the developed countries for a more level playing field so that Africa’s food production would increase rather than turn the continent into a dumping ground of food products from other continents.   “There is going to be paradigm shift this time. We will make a strong case to the G8 to expand their assistance for food production in Africa”, he said.   According to Mr Ahwoi, Ghana would suggest that there must be more subsides to support small scale farmers to venture into large scale food production and create strong partnership among small, medium and large scale commercial operators in the agriculture sector.   He explained that Ghana was currently running the Ghana Agriculture Commercial Programme aimed at bridging the gaps between small, nucleus and out grower farmers.   “Ghana and Africa need more capital”, Mr Ahwoi emphasized, adding that the US government is expected to lead in convincing the other G8 members to commit to supporting developing nations to increase food production.   Mr Ahwoi said the World Bank was making available 100 million dollars and the US, 45 million dollars to support Ghana’s agriculture.   “We expect to come back home with a basketful of pledges as well as a partnership framework agreement that would be signed to indicate when programmes that would be agreed on shall be executed”, he said.   President Mills was seen off at the Kotoka International Airport by Vice President John Dramani Mahama, Mr Henry Martey Newman, Chief of Staff and some Ministers of State and Members of Parliament.             GNA

Accra, May 16, GNA - Mr William Kwasi Aboah, Minister of the Interior, has called on the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), to ensure that laws to regulate the movement of people in and out of the country were applied to the letter.       "There is a growing perception, that the country is being flooded with illegal immigrants. Some manage to acquire working permits through the back door, and others stay in the country illegally."       The Interior Minister made the call during his maiden familiarization tour of the GIS in Accra on Wednesday.        He said during the last few months, the Ministry had received reports of illegal immigrants in the small scale mining sector, which was raising "serious" security and environmental issues.        "Illegal immigrants have been arrested with weapons and investigations have shown that most of them did not have the required work and residence permits, while others possessed forged or wrongly issued ones," he said.        Mr Aboah said it appeared most of these illegal immigrants entered the country through the visa on arrival facility, and challenged the GIS to "review the visa issuing procedures, ensure a tighter work permit adjudicating process, and put in place a more robust enforcement system."        The Sector Minister commended the GIS for its "Four Year Strategic Plan" launched in September 2011 saying, "I have read the document and appreciate your efforts to address the challenges of the Service."         He said government was aware of the huge shortfalls of logistics and financial requirements of the Service, including acute shortage of office and residential accommodation, vehicles, weapons for the Border Patrol Unit, and communication equipment.        Mr Aboah said it was the avowed commitment of government to equip the GIS and other security services "to enable you perform effectively and efficiently".        He urged GIS personnel to brace themselves up for the "crucial" role they would be playing in Election 2012 adding that "remember the oath you took on your enlistment into the Service. Endeavour not to compromise your professionalism under any circumstances".         Commissioner of Police Dr Peter Wiredu, Acting Director General of GIS, said Mr Aboah, had played a great part in the institutional development of the GIS, during his four-year period as the Director of the Service, from 1994 to 2001.         "Records available speak volumes of relentless efforts Mr Aboah put in, during the formative years of the newly established Ghana Immigration Service, a legal creature of PNDC Law 226, in 1989.         The GIS Director General said presently, the Service faced dire logistical constraints, which hampered its operations saying "naturally, the rapid growth and expansion of the GIS over the past 23 years have brought in its trail, challenges, particularly in the areas of institutional funding and essential logistics, which continues to hamper the administrative and operational effectiveness of the service in many ways".        He said the Service faced a huge deficit in its office and residential accommodation for its estimated 4,000 personnel and that less than 10 per cent of the personnel were provided with accommodation facilities, mostly from private rented premises.   He said inadequate supply of vehicles, communication and other operational facilities, greatly hampered the duties of personnel saying "most Regional Commanders do not have dependable means of transport as command vehicles and officers and men have resorted to the purchase of uniforms, materials and other accessories from shops on their own volition.         Dr Wiredu said GIS would mainly need funding from government, to achieve it's four-year strategic plan adding that GIS would ensure, that it lived up to its mandate and contributed to ensuring the total security and stability of the nation.     GNA

Accra, May 16, GNA – The Supreme Court by a unanimous decision on Wednesday ruled that the Power Purchasing Agreement (PPA) on the Osagyefo Power Barge was an international business transaction, but the Arbitration Provisions did not constitute an international business transaction.   The seven-member panel chaired by Mr Justice William Attuguba therefore, directed the Commercial High Court to dispose off the case.     The other members were, Dr Justice Date-Baah, Mr Justice Julius Ansah, Mrs Justice Sophia Adinyira, Mr Justice Anni Yeboah, Mr Justice Sule Gbadegbe and Mrs Justice Vida Akoto-Bamfo.      The court's ruling was on the constitutional interpretation on the lease agreement of the Osagyefo Power Barge between the Government and Balkan Energy Ghana, whether the Power Purchase Agreement and Arbitration Provision were international business transactions.      The agreement was signed on July 27, 2007.       Dr Justice Date-Baah reading the two-hour judgement, asked Parliament to enact a bill on what constituted international law in lease agreements in the country.       It said "Giving the complexity of international business transaction, our view is the substance and not the form”.       The State sued Balkan Energy Company LLC, Balkan Energy Ghana Limited and Mr Philip David Elders at the Commercial High Court challenging the legitimacy of the Power Purchase Agreement that leased the Osagyefo Power Barge to Balkan Energy in 2007 to operate.       Under the Power Purchase Agreement, 125-megawatts Osagyefo Barge was leased to Balkan Energy Ghana, wholly owned by Balkan Energy Company LLC, to repair, rehabilitate and commission it within 90 days of the effective date as defined in the agreement.       However, the contract did not go through Parliament, which violated Article 181 of the Constitution which principally deals with Parliamentary ratification of loan agreements.        While Article 181(1-4) deals with Parliamentary ratification of loan agreements, Article 181(5) extends the requirement to “international business transactions’ to which the Government is a party.         It states that: “This article shall, with the necessary modifications by Parliament, apply to an international business or economic transaction to which the Government is a party as it applies to a loan”.         During the trial, the State led by Mr Martin A.B.K. Amidu, then Attorney-General, raised two constitutional issues and prayed the Commercial High Court to refer the issues to the Supreme Court for interpretation but the court declined the request. Mr Amidu disagreed, citing several factors which made an international business transaction.   He pointed out that the expression of interest in the commissioning of the Barge and negotiations for the PPA were conducted entirely by Balkan Energy LLC which entered into a memorandum of understanding and undertook to execute the project.         Mr Amidu was seeking among other reliefs, a declaration that the agreement constituted an international business transaction to which the Government was a party and is unenforceable as infringing Article 181(5) of the Constitution.            However, the Supreme Court (SC) on November 2, 2011 ruled that by the Lower Court’s refusal to refer the issues to the SC for interpretation, it “usurped the jurisdiction of this court” and breached Article 130 (2) of the constitution.         It said the Lower Court missed the point when it presumed that there was no cause for the matter to be referred, adding that, the Lower Court ought to have referred the issues to the SC to avoid usurpation of its powers.         The SC therefore, referred the matter to itself and ordered the Commercial High Court to stay proceedings in the substantive case pending the determination of the constitutional issues.           The seven-member panel on December 6, 2011 asked the parties to address the questions of what international business transaction was in the context of Article 181(5) of the Constitution and whether a government's contract with a Ghanaian legal person could ever be an international business transaction in their statement of case.          The defendants argued that the PPA was a valid contract between the Government and a Ghanaian company.          It was not an international business or economic transaction to which the government is a party and needed Parliamentary approval under Article 181(5) of the Constitution.          Citing the Companies Act (Act 179), they claimed that the nationality of a company is determined on the basis of where it is incorporated, adding that under section 302(2) and Schedule 1, clause 1 of the Companies Act, an ‘external company’ is “a body corporate formed outside Ghana.”           They also referred to Section 315 and Schedule (1) clause (1), saying the term “non-Ghanaian company” was defined as “any association incorporated or to be incorporated outside Ghana not being an external company as defined in section 302 of this Act”.   GNA

Accra, May 16, GNA - The Pharmacy Council on Wednesday inducted 126 newly qualified and registered pharmacists into the service, to help bridge the gaps in access to health care.      Mr Joseph Nyoagbe, Registrar of Pharmacy Council, inducting the pharmacists said the country would need 1,238 pharmacists to meet health care expectation from the public.     “Currently there are 2,184 pharmacists on our register as at April 30, 2012. This includes pharmacists in the Diaspora. This brings to the ratio one pharmacist to 11,300 people,” he said.      The induction on the theme: “Going Beyond Strategy to Action-The Pharmacist, Your Reliable Partner” was organised by the Pharmacy Council, the regulatory body of Pharmacy practice in Ghana.      He said the theme affirmed and demonstrated the commitment of Pharmacy Council to the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) programme and activities as stated in its Programme of Work for 2012, using its mandate as well as legitimate regulatory tools available in realising this shared vision.      Mr Nyoagbe congratulated the newly qualified members and urged them to uphold the ethics of the profession and exhibit a high sense of commitment towards the quality delivery of health care in their respective areas of operation.      He urged them to insist on high standards and shun the inordinate profit motives that override public and national interests.      Mr Nyoagbe however, stated that the success of the reforms within the health sector of which pharmacy was part depended largely on the calibre of health professionals employed.    “Human resources are a strategic capital in any sector especially in service and health organisations, where the various clinical, managerial, technical and other personnel are the principal input making it possible for most health interventions to be performed,” he said.      Mr Nyoagbe noted that human resource had a more prominent role and account for an even higher proportion of total costs in developing economies such as Ghana, which had the large number of community-based health care that relied less on equipment and advanced technology.      He argued that the performance of pharmacists was therefore, determined by the policies and practices that defined the timing of their recruitment, number, qualifications, deployment and their working conditions.     “Critical choices must therefore, be made in relation to the processes that will influence the performance and retention of pharmacists,” he said.      Mr Nyoagbe however, indicated that there were strong indications that pharmacists were eager and prepared to put their professional expertise and competence at the disposal of the Ministry towards the transformations aimed at improving access to health and pharmaceutical care, bringing efficiency, preventing and controlling diseases, thus bringing good health, wellbeing and happiness to all.      He appealed to MOH to give more attention to the regulatory sector, especially the Pharmacy Council by increasing investment, adding “It will be our hope that such investments shall be channeled into developing institutional capacities, training, infrastructure and management systems and reliable vehicles,” for effective and efficient operation.       Professor Emeritus Kwame Sarpong, Formal Provost, College of Health Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), urged the inductees to strive to attain the highest level of excellence in their careers, which included exploring innovations to meet the ever changing global health demands.       He said the new generation pharmacist needed to focus more on factors that promote changing professional roles to include activities that positively impact patients’ drug therapy outcomes through disease state management.      Mr Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin, Minister of Health, reminded the inductees that by their induction, they had been elevated into a respectable society which demanded excellence and hard work to put their skills and knowledge to the service of humanity.      He urged them to be guided by the principles that went into their training, eschew mediocrity in order overcome the daunting challenges ahead of them.      Mr Bagbin gave the assurance that the Ministry would continue to create the environment to make their work easier.      Mr Ebenezer Ahenkan was awarded the John Ocran Award for being the overall best student in the 2011 Ghana Pharmacy Professional Qualifying Examination; Ms Audrey Serwaa Bonsu was adjudged the best in Pharmacy Practice, while Mr Albert Kwabla Tetteh won the prize for the best in Pharmacy Law and Ethics.      They were presented with certificates and cash.   GNA

Tamale, May 16, GNA – The Rural Enterprises Programme (REP) on Wednesday held a sensitisation workshop for Municipal and District Assemblies (MDAs) in the three northern regions on the implementation arrangements of the Programme and conditions for enrolment.      The objective of the workshop, which was attended by Municipal and District Chief Executives and District Coordinating Directors, was to inform and create awareness on the effectiveness of the REP for the leadership of the MDAs that did not participate in the REP phases one and two, which had been under implementation since 1995.      The implementation of the phases one and two of the REP covered 66 districts, and the government is now rolling out phase three to cover more districts to bring the total number of participating districts to 161.      Ms Hannah Tetteh, Minister of Trade and Industry who opened the workshop in Tamale spelt out the conditions for enrolling onto the programme and called on the MDAs to take advantage of it to create a better Ghana.   REP is an initiative by the government aimed at lifting individuals and households out of poverty and it is funded by the government, International Fund for Agricultural Development and the African Development Bank .      Its objective is to increase the number of rural micro and small enterprises that generate profit, growth and employment opportunities in participating MDAs.      The REP will mainstream the promotion of Medium Skill Enterprise (MSE) into existing public and private institutions, and it is expected to benefit 200,000 clients including at least 100,000 women which would facilitate the establishment of 36,000 new businesses and strengthen 70,000 businesses and generate 100,000 jobs.      Ms Tetteh stressed that REP was demand-driven adding that only MDAs that showed commitment would be selected to participate.   She called on the MDAs to demonstrate readiness and ability to implement the programme to facilitate their selection.      She said owing to decentralisation, there was need to create a department of trade and industry at districts to liaise with the Ministry of Trade and Industry for support and other business related activities.      Mr Moses Bukari Mabengba, Northern Regional Minister, whose speech was read on his behalf, said REP was a channel that the districts could use to better the lives of the people.     He said: “As part of implementation of the Programme, the Regional Coordination Council would provide backstopping to the districts through the Regional Committee on MSE Promotion” to ensure that the new districts participated effectively to improve the livelihood of the people.      Mr Kwasi Attah-Antwi, National Programme Director of REP said the workshop was second of three, planned to cover the entire country adding, the success stories of the Programme was dependent on the acceptability, leadership, ownership and commitment shown by beneficiary districts.      Mr Attah-Antwi, therefore, appealed to the beneficiaries to maintain the same motivation and commitment to enable them to have the full benefit of the REP.     GNA

Accra, May 16, GNA - Mr Alhassan Azong, Minister of State in-charge of Public Sector Reform on Wednesday reaffirmed government's commitment to implementing the proposed new approach strategies for Public Sector Reform in the country.        He said the new approach approved by Cabinet in August 2009 was geared towards having Sector Ministers assume responsibilities for and become proactive in tapping resources for public sector reform for their sector programmes.        Mr Azong was speaking at the opening session of a two-day seminar in Accra on the development of pilot performance and evaluation contracts for two subvented agencies in the Health and Education sectors.        The seminar was sponsored by the French Government, as part of its support to Ghana’s Public Sector Reform organised at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).         Mr Azong said the health and education sectors were the largest pro-poor public services with the highest number of subvented agencies, thus making it easier to replicate the pilot performance contracts.         He said the delivery of basic public services by these two selected institutions to the populace and the quality of these services must measure favourably against Millennium Development Goals, Ghana Shared Growth Development Agenda and the Strategic Plans for these sectors.         Mr Azong explained that the new approach to public sector reform posed new roles and responsibilities by placing accountability for public sector reform collectively with Cabinet and individually in the hands of Ministers of State.         He mentioned that the new approach was initiating institutional structures to help in fostering responsive and adaptive capacities of the public sector, adding that, the proposed approach was a problem-solving system, rather than a standard public reform programme.         Mr Azong said government would continue to pursue Subvented Agencies Reform Programme (SARP) as part of the broader public sector reforms, designed with the objectives of reducing the recurrent burden on the national budget.          He noted that the Subvented Agencies Act of 2006 provided the signing of performance contracts with the Agencies to reduce their dependency on government subvention and improve efficiency, productivity and accountability.            Mr Frederic Clavier, French Ambassador to Ghana said the seminar would go a step further in the re-organisation and enhancement of Ghana’s subvented agencies.         He said the subvented agencies played an important role in the implementation of public policies formulated by government at national, sector, regional and local levels to deliver public services to institutions and the citizenry.         Mr Clavier expressed his country’s preparedness to continue to partner with government to implement other programmes that would move the nation forward, hoping that at the end of the seminar, a draft performance contract would be developed and signed by the respective departments and officials.         Mr Jones Yaw Sarkodieh, Lecturer at GIMPA said performance contract was one of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank sponsored reform programmes introduced to government to developing countries in the late 1980s to ensure State-owned enterprises performance.         He explained that performance contract was a freely negotiated performance agreement between the Government, acting as owner of government agency and management of the agency with specified intentions, obligations and responsibilities of the two contracting parties.        Mr Sarkodieh said signing a performance contract committed public officials to perform to or beyond the specified targets which created transparency in the management of public resources.     GNA