November 22

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02 DAILY QUOTE I am blessed to have so many great things in my life - family, friends and God. All will be in my thoughts daily — Lil' Kim. CONTENT ANNIVERSARIES Fri. Dec. 7 — Farmer’s Day Tues. Dec. 25 — Christmas Wed. Dec. 26 — Boxing Day DAILY HERITAGE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2018 Published by: EIB Network / Heritage Communications Ltd. Managing Editor: William Asiedu: 0208156974 Editor: Kofi Enchill: 0265653335 ISSN: 0855-52307 VOL 7 Location: Meridian House (Starr FM) Ring Road. Box AD 676, Adabraka, Accra,Ghana. Telephone: +233-0302- 236051, 020-8156974 026-5653335 www.dailyheritage.com.gh Adverts/Mktg: Paul Ampong-Mensah 024-4360782 Fax: +233-0302-237156 Email: news@dailyheritagegh.com.gh heritagenewspaper@yahoo.co.uk Press Freedom under threat in E/R BY KWAME ACHEAMPONG THE GHANA Journalists Association (GJA) has demanding justice for an Akwatia-based journalist who was arrested, put into cells for two days and subsequently remanded by a court without any legal representation. The journalist, Odiasempa, was allegedly arrested in a Rambo style after he did a story which unearthed some misconducts of the Akwatia district Police commander. “The GJA -Eastern Region is unhappy and vehemently condemns the circumstances that led to this unfortunate happening. “The police have indicated not to be in the position to tell us what really transpired except to say that the case has gone beyond them and that it was still being investigated by the Crime Unit. However, our investigations indicate that Odiasempa was charged for impersonation and defamation for which he was hurriedly processed for court without a legal representation and was subsequently remanded by the court,” the GJA said. In a statement, the GJA called on the Inspector General of Police to investigate the issue and bring his staff to order. Below is the statement: THE INCIVILITY AT AKWATIA MUST NOT BE ENTERTAINED! The attention of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) – Eastern Region has been • As GJA seeks justice for journalist remanded without fair trial drawn to a Rambo style arrest and subsequent remand of an Akwatia based reporter Ebenezer Ofori Agyei (A.K.A. Odiasempa) – respectively by the Akwatia Police and the Kade Magistrates Court last Wednesday November 14, 2018. The GJA -Eastern Region is unhappy and vehemently condemn the circumstances that led to this unfortunate happening. The police has indicated not to be in the position to tell us what really transpired except to say that the case has gone beyond them and that it was still being investigated by the Crime Unit. However, our investigations indicate that Odiasempa was charged for Impersonation and defamation for which he was hurriedly processed for court without a legal representation and was subsequently remanded by the court. Since the police is not in the position to give us detail of the matter, we will present what we have gathered per our enquiries: At about 3pm last Wednesday November 14, 2018, the Akwatia Police Commander, one DSP Yaw Agyekum Dankwa, ordered his men to arrest Odiasempa. The men effected the arrest and presented him to their boss. Eventually, DSP again ordered his men to Odiasempa’s home, ransacked his room and seized his laptops, phones and other electronic gadget. Odiasempa was locked up till Friday November 16, 2018 and was processed for court at about 11am same day on the charges of defamation and impersonation. According to our enquiry, Odiasempa had gathered information which suggested that DSP Dankwa was allegedly misconducting himself in line of duty which sort to harass residents of Akwatia, especially drivers. The District commander was alleged to have been demanding bags of cement, fowls etc. from alleged recalcitrant drivers in exchange for their freedom. After gathering the negative reports from his sources which included some drivers operating in Akwatia and one of the District Commander’s junior officers, Odiasempa is said to have unsuccessfully used all means to approach the Commander to get his side of the matter. Odiasempa went ahead to publish the story of the alleged misconduct of the Police Commander (though without his side of the issue) on a number of radio stations in the country. According to our enquiry, upon hearing the news about himself, DSP Dankwa allegedly ordered his men to arrest the reporter. Without any shred of protecting, promoting and condoning acts of unprofessionalism, the Eastern GJA believes the action of DSP Yaw Agyekum Dankwa is uncalled for and we wish to remind that the days of throwing media workers into jail in a ‘Kangaroo’ style is over. As far as we are aware, the journalist was executing his duty to maintain sanity in the society by ensuring that society is rid of corrupt practices. In any case, even if Odiasempa’s work seemed to have defamed the police commander, there was an avenue for him to rejoinder. The Rambo style with which DSP Dankwa ordered his men to arrest him, seize his gadget, put him in cells and arraigned him before court as though he had committed a heinous crime, is uncalled for and deemed an abuse of power. Again, we deem the police commander’s action to be intimidatory and an affront to freedom of the press and fundamental human rights as ascribed in the 1992 constitution. We further call on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the entire police hierarchy to call DSP Yaw Agyekum Dankwa to order and investigate all allegations of extortion and corruption against him. The GJA, and for that matter the Eastern Media, has enjoyed a mutual working relationship with the Ghana Police Service at all levels and we hope this relationship continues. Ghana is far advanced to entertain this incivility. We also expected that the court would have also done due diligence since a charge of defamation or even impersonation could not attract a week remand on a defendant. This is harsh! We equally call on the Chief Justice and Attorney General to investigate the particulars which influenced the Kade Magistrate Court’s decision to remand the reporter. We are therefore calling on the police hierarchy and the judiciary to relook into this matter and ensure that due diligence and justice are followed. ODIASEMPA MUST BE RE- LEASED NOW!!! Signed Maxwell Kudekor , Chairman – GJA. Mc Anthony Dagyenga, Secretary – GJA, Eastern Region NLA pays GH¢30m into Consolidated Fund BY PHILIP ANTOH philip.antoh@dailyheritage.com.gh THE LEADERSHIP of the Public Forum for Economic Justice (PFEJ) has commended the Director-General of the National Lottery Authority (NLA), Mr Kofi Osei-Ameyaw, for achieving breathtaking and amazing innovations at the authority in less than two years. “We want to commend Mr Osei- Ameyaw for shining at the NLA since his appointment by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in March 2017 to replace Brigadier-General Ahiaglo (Rtd) •Mr Kofi Osei-Ameyaw, NLA boss • For 2017 as the Director-General of NLA,” it said. In a statement signed by PFEJ’s National Convener, Mr Bismark R. Ansah, and issued in Accra yesterday, the Forum said “we like to state clearly that under the leadership of Mr Osei- Ameyaw, NLA had paid into the Consolidated Fund an amount of GH30 million for the year 2017.” The statement copied to the DAILY HERITAGE in Accra, noted that the achievement was unprecedented as compared to the GH¢16 million the former Director-General, Mr Ahiaglo, paid into the Consolidated Fund for the year 2016. According to the statement, the leadership of Mr Osei- Ameyaw was able to convince the economic management team of the government to abolish the 7.5% income tax on the commission of Lotto Marketing Companies as well as ensure the removal of the 5% withholding tax on lotto prizes. “Per our checks at the National Lottery Authority, Mr Osei- Ameyaw's leadership with the support from the Board of NLA has contributed hugely to the refurbishment of the lotto marketing companies national head office in Accra. “We would like to commend him and the Board of NLA for taking pragmatic steps and initiatives to positively redefine the lottery business in Ghana,” the statement noted.
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH DAILY HERITAGE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2018 03 2019 budget commendable RENOWED ECO- NOMIC Think Tank, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has, after a critical examination of the 2019 Budget Statement presented by the Finance Minister, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, commended the 2019 Budget. The IFS, however, pointed out key areas government could focus on to achieve the needed economic transformation that Ghanaians crave for. At a post-budget press conference held at the Institute’s Head Office in Accra, Leslie Dwight Mensah, Senior Economist and Research Fellow at the IFS pointed out that though the Institute supports the prominence given infrastructure in the 2019 Budget, it believes there is a need to anchor Ghana’s infrastructure development on a long-term national infrastructure plan. The Research Fellow said the long-term national infrastructure plan “will identify, cost, and prioritise the country’s infrastructure requirements on a long-term basis to meet the demands of a modern, middle-income economy. The infrastructure plan itself should be based on a long-term national development plan.” Finance Minister Presenting the 2019 Budget Statement in Parliament, Mr Ofori-Atta said infrastructure, both hard and soft, was the backbone of economic development and growth, as well as a source of jobs and wealth for a majority of people. “In a rapidly changing global marketplace, traditional infrastructure like electricity and power, transport and logistics, water and sanitation, roads, highways, and railways have combined with new, mostly soft infrastructure like digitisation of government services to enable emerging economies like ours leapfrog the development path to prosperity. “Mr Speaker, this Government, is committed to embarking on an inte- • Says IFS, but cautions govt to anchor planned infrastructure dev. on long-term national plan grated infrastructural development programme across the country that will move goods, food items and people from one location to another that will create jobs and prosperity and ensure value for money for Ghana as well as position Ghana as the transportation, energy and logistics hub in the region.” The Finance Minister, for instance, said “Cabinet had given approval for the establishment of a Home-Based Airline with private sector participation to provide regional and inter-continental services for efficient movement of people, goods and services as well as promote tourism. Strategic investors will be engaged, and the airline is expected to commence operations in 2019.” Commenting on the government’s elaborate plans on infrastructure, some of which funding are not captured in the budget, the IFS said “we also want to draw attention to a recurring practice in the country whereby various amounts which are borrowed to finance infrastructure are not captured in the budget. The increase in such extra-budgetary borrowing activities has important fiscal and debt sustainability implications for the country. “There is the need therefore to control the growth of these activities and to widen the coverage of the fiscal accounts to incorporate these transactions. We believe that it would be appropriate—and indeed prudent—to align these borrowings strictly with the budget cycle. The IFS intends to examine this issue more closely to come up with necessary reform proposals to enhance fiscal transparency and long-term debt sustainability.” Below is the full presentation by the IFS: Institute for Fiscal Studies Post-2019 Budget Press Statement Introduction Ahead of the reading of the 2019 budget, IFS presented its views and expectations in key areas in a press conference. After the reading, the Institute has assessed the budget in light of its expectations. The Institute is once again meeting with the press to comment on issues it deems pertinent. The presentation will cover: Economic Growth and Job Creation; Fiscal Policy Stance and Realism of the Projections; Domestic Revenue Mobilization; “There is the need therefore to control the growth of these activities and to widen the coverage of the fiscal accounts to incorporate these transactions...” Expenditure Control and Rationalization; Infrastructure Development and financing; and Exiting IMF Financial Program and Legislating Fiscal Responsibility. Our statement is intended to contribute to the public discussions as well as the debate that will take place in Parliament prior to the approval of the budget. Economic Growth and Job Creation It is recalled that Economic Growth and Job Creating was the centrepiece of IFS’ pre-budget press briefing. The views expressed therein reflected those articulated by the Institute in a paper titled: “Strong Economic Growth and Significant Reduction in Unemployment: The Critical Issues to Address in Ghana’s 2019 Budget” and published in October. Among others, the paper pointed out that unemployment has become the most serious challenge currently confronting Ghana. To ensure significant creation of jobs and minimise the problem of unemployment and its attendant socioeconomic ills, IFS suggested that strong broad-based economic growth, driven by agricultural growth and transformation, industrialization, and the closing of the country’s infrastructure gap, is critically needed. The Institute is, therefore, happy—and, indeed, feels vindicated—to see that the 2019 Budget has included agricultural modernization, industrialization, and infrastructure development in its strategic pillars, alongside improving efficiency in revenue mobilization and protecting the public purse. IFS noted that recent growth had been driven largely by the extractives sectors, but since activities in those sectors were highly capital intensive, they had not created enough jobs. The nonoil sectors, particularly agriculture and manufacturing, which have higher capacities to generate jobs, however, had virtually stagnated in the past few years and this had compounded the unemployment problem in the country. The Institute, therefore, welcomes the attention being given these sectors in the budget. The agricultural sector should be aided by scaling up irrigation facilities, extensions services, storage and preservation facilities, and marketing facilities. Regarding industrialization, the 1D1F policy could be the fulcrum to achieve major transformation of the economy so as to reduce our dependence on imports and increase employment. The 1D1F policy, however, needs careful planning in terms of the type of products, factory sizes, locations, ownership, management, and the supplychain (or raw material base). These decisions should be informed by Ghana’s previous industrialisation experience and international best practices. To ease the burden of financing the 1D1F policy on the public purse, privateand PPP-funding options should be considered. In terms of direct creation of jobs, NABCO and the YEA programs may be important interventions to help alleviate youth unemployment, in particular. However, the capacity of the state to create large numbers of jobs on a sustainable basis is always tempered by issues of efficiency, productivity and budgetary costs. Ideally, the private sector should be spearheading growth and job creation. The Ghanaian private sector, however, remains weak, bogged down by a myriad of bottlenecks, including overly regulatory burden, poor infrastructure, high taxes, high cost of credit, high cost of public services and the general adverse effects of macroeconomic instability. It is important for government to continue to enable the private sector to drive growth and durable job creation by addressing the numerous bottlenecks mentioned above that continue to inhibit the sector. Fiscal Policy Stance and Realism of the Projections The 2019 budget indicates a policy change from fiscal consolidation to fiscal expansion. This is reflected in the projected increase in the budget deficit to 4.2% of GDP from 3.7% of GDP in 2018, and follows a period of consolidation in which the deficit was also reduced from 6.5% of GDP in 2016 to 4.8% in 2017.The policy change is seen in the fact that government spending for 2019 has been projected to increase significantly. In 2019, government spending is projected to increase by a whopping GH₵15.62 billion, up from the increases of GH₵5.78 billion in 2017 and GH₵5.88 billion in 2018. If realized, the increase in government spending in 2019 will be the highest in absolute terms in the Fourth Republic. In percentage terms, the projected increase in government expenditure of 27.0% in 2019 is the highest since 2012. While this policy reversal was not exactly anticipated by IFS, it did not come as a surprise to the Institute because the consolidation process had seriously constrained fiscal policy and affected economic growth. Therefore, it was just a matter of time that some policy stimulus would be injected into the economy. • CONTINUE ON PAGE 12
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