Daily Heritage June 23:17

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Quake Edition FEB 98.qxp_Layout 1 6/22/17 8:46 PM Page 7 22ND JUNE 2017 THURSDAY CURRENCY PARIS CODE BUYING SELLING US Dollar USDGHS 4.3510 4.3554 RATES Pound Sterling GBPGHS 5.5092 5.5161 Euro GBPGHS 4.8544 4.8587 10 DAILY HERITAGE FRIDAY, JUNE 23, 2017 WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH Kenya trade expo in Ghana to boost intra-African trade KENYAN BUSI- NESSMEN will have opportunity to explore investment and trade opportunities in West Africa following a trade exposition to be held in Ghana in November, this year. The trade exposition targeting established and emerging businessmen is aimed at enhancing trade relations between Kenya and Ghana following seven key trade agreements signed by the two countries in December 2014. The bilateral agreements were established to position Ghana as the gateway for trade to West Africa while Kenya will help in accessing the East African region. Briefing the media, Mr Nuku Kamsa-Quarshie, Ghana’s Acting High Commissioner to Kenya, said the expo will boost intra- African trade by enabling businessmen to explore trade opportunities in the two countries. •Mr Nuku Kamsa-Quarshie, Ghana’s Acting High Commissioner to Kenya(1st L), with some of the co-founders of the trade expo Kamsa-Quarshie said Kenyan’s manufacturers have prime opportunity to explore business in Ghana following initiatives like free zones and building of one factory in every district, which is meant to enable manufacturers from outside to set-up profitable ventures. “Ghana is now embracing private-sector-driven tertiary education with a surge of private universities having come up in the last four or five years. However, there is no tertiary institute for the hospitality industry which causes a great gap when it comes to tourism development, he said. He added that Ghana is ideally placed to become a hub for hospitality training in West Africa just as Kenya is for East Africa. GRA seals off offices of Agams Group, two others • Over tax indebtedness THE GHANA Revenue Authority (GRA) has sealed off the offices of three companies during a distress action to compel them to fulfil their tax obligations to the state. The companies are ACI Construction, a subsidiary of the Agams Group of Companies, which owes the state over GH¢14.3 million in taxes; Eagle Star Enterprise Limited, an engineering and construction firm, GH¢604,175.00 and Logistics Supplies Services Limited, GH¢460,779.00 A fourth company, the National Communications Backbone Company, a firm set up by Vodafone Ghana Limited to provide the bandwidth needs of Internet service providers and offer other technology services, said to owe over GH¢30 million in taxes, made arrangement with the tax authorities to clear its indebtedness. Briefing the media in Accra, Mr Henry Sam, the Coordinator of the Special Revenue Mobilisation Task Force, said the exercises were geared towards ensuring full compliance with the provisions of the tax laws and to shore up tax revenue to meet the 2017 target of GH¢34 billion. He said the Special Revenue Mobilisation Task Force, in collaboration with the Tax Office, recovered tax revenue amounting to over GH¢66.3 million between January 2017 and June 2017. He said the task force had earmarked a list of 14 delinquent taxpayers, who owed the state over GH¢63 million for distress action. He added the affected tax defaulters are located in Accra and Kumasi, adding that the action would be sustained across the country throughout the year and beyond. The taskforce coodinator explained that the action was the last tool of mobilisation that the GRA could use to collect monies owed to it, adding that the companies would be given an ultimatum to pay and if they failed the Authority would take custody of their assets and sell them to defray the taxes owed. Mr Sam urged taxpayers to voluntarily comply with the tax laws by filing all tax returns, issue VAT invoices for taxable supplies and effect payment of all relevant taxes on or before the due date to avoid embarrassment. Source: Myjoyonline.com
Quake Edition FEB 98.qxp_Layout 1 6/22/17 8:46 PM Page 8 WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH DAILY HERITAGE FRIDAY, JUNE 23, 2017 11 Politics If you steal from one author it's plagiarism; if you steal from many it's research – Wilson Mizner Making the NDC more attractive BY ANDREWS KROW LOOKING FIRST at the National Democratic Congress (NDC), its doctrine or beliefs were - in 1991-1992- by no means clear cut as when the party constitution was adopted during the formative stage. Intra-party conflict is one of the features of party politics. Divergence of nature of men that makes them adopt different approaches and stance on issues creates this atmosphere in our parties. A political party is an assemblage of men who share in similar philosophy but expression of divergent views within a political organisation predispose members to articulate divergent views or interests which sometimes invite intra-party conflicts which if not managed well, breeds factionalism as happened to the NDC between 2001 and 2005 and within the New Patriotic Party prior to the 2016 election. Intra-party conflict Conflict is common in all social groups and inevitable but we must always differentiate genuine and healthy intra-party conflict from the tendency where individuals pursue their personal or individual parochial interest to the detriment of the party. Political parties make huge electoral gains from creating systems which support aggregation of varying interests of its members and go out and articulate a united front. Labour Party went through same intra-party clashes between the Bervanites and the Gaitskellites and it was not based on individual’s personal interests, but, on rearmament, anti-America issues and health policies. Like all other pro-left political organisations, the NDC must consider intraparty democracy as a central tenet of its philosophy Sovereignty of the party The sovereignty of the party is paramount and decisions by the party must be based on that •Ebenezer Kofi Ofori Porturphy, chairman of NDC philosophy, the need to promote an image of unity and efficiency is now and must avoid the tendency of allowing anti-NDC media platforms to scrutinise its internal debates The party must have its set of goals which represent the realities of the time and pursuance of these set of goals would limit the destructive impact of internal conflicts. Being a human organisation with people holding divergent views, intra-party conflict will remain a recurrent phenomenon and will continue to find expression in different forms and at different stages in the process of making the party all want it to be. Ideologically, I don't think the party has departed sharply from its philosophy, the massive infrastructure development embarked upon from the Rawlings era to the time of Mahama attests to this fact. How to reach out to its natural base should be the party's focus and that could be actualised if the party factors into its scheme of things, issues about the current demographic picture of the country. The public takes stands on current issues, this affects their voting depends on the Conflict is common in all social groups and inevitable but we must always differentiate genuine and healthy intra-party conflict from the tendency where individuals pursue their personal or individual parochial interest to the detriment of the party. Political parties make huge electoral gains from creating systems which support aggregation of varying interests of its members and go out and articulate a united front. depth of their feeling and the degree to which one party is regarded. This is the reason why the party must quickly get out of its internal clashes to begin serious work on policy formulation for the public to know which policies the party could be identified with. The failure of the incumbent to deliver on its promises is not enough to defeat it, each party works to identify itself with popular and its opponents with unpopular attitudes on major issues. Voters who are attached to one particular party tend to accept the view of specific issues enunciated by that party's leaders rather than take a stand on current problems and then adjust their party loyalties. That is what the party must watch going forward. To narrow its policies and plans around its core base will not attract others to their fold. This is because the attitudes of the parties can have different electoral implications at different times. Parliamentary slots There are other issues worth the attention of all supporters - how candidates for its parliamentary slots are selected and the party's influence on the selection process. Because the parties are rooted in the communities, it is important it takes serious look at the issue to avoid the rigmaroles witnessed during the last primaries and their negative effects or consequences on the overall results of the party. I don't see the wisdom in someone who may not be popular or not known in a constituency, contesting a sitting Member of Parliament. Such moves have their negative psychological effect on the core party base, as well as the public. True philosophy Can the party recapture its true philosophy to meet the thinking of the public or electorate? It is not about lacking intellectuals or not utilising its intellectual base, rather the party at a point departed from its policy of looking at all areas such as its students base and others who are supposed to strengthen the foundation of the party when in government or outside. Ghanaians have a particular mindset which is not different from the mental chemistry of persons in countries where poverty is prevalent. They see parties that share common philosophy with their thinking and disposition as their natural allies; they abhor aristocratic tendencies and other bourgeoisie tendencies. We have many professionals and people within the middle class zone who believe in egalitarianism who are against acquisition of primitive wealth. How to identify these persons and bring them on board is the issue. People are no more interested in the old revolutionary ways and the philosophy of social democracy doesn't support political radicalism with its revolutionary tendencies. We have many in the legal fraternity, the academia and other professional bodies who share in the values of the NDC. The failure of the incumbent to deliver on its promises is not enough to defeat it, each party works to identify itself with popular and its opponents with unpopular attitudes on major issues. Voters who are attached to one particular party tend to accept the view of specific issues enunciated by that party's leaders rather than take a stand on current problems and then adjust their party loyalties. That is what the party must watch going forward.
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Daily Heritage June 23:17

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