A TALE OF TWO WORLDS

 IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

On 23 October 2014 a Boeing 737 passenger jet landed at Cranfield University in Bedfordshire, United Kingdom, where it will be used by students as a research and training tool. The B737-400 airliner has been donated to the University by British Airways following its retirement from service. Prof Phil John, a professor from the University said the plane would "provide a highly significant resource, unique in European academia, and further enhances our capabilities and industrial scale facilities at the university"

IN GHANA

In 2010, when Ghana decided to retire its DC10 plane, we decided to turn it into a restaurant to serve local and gourmet food to the Middle Class of Ghana who also had the bright and unique idea of liquidating Ghana Airways. This is indeed a trailblazer in Africa. Is this Kwame Nkrumah’s Ghana?

Editorial

Let The People Speak!

The claim that West African leaders and their bosses in the west are looking for a democratic solution to the crisis in Bukina Faso is false.

What they are really doing is to make sure that the people of Burkina Faso are denied the gains of their “revolution” and that another Compaoré who would dance to the tune of France and others is installed.

 They do not want another Sankara and they hate the prospect of the ideas of Sankara germinating in the country.

 After all, some West African leaders conspired with France and the forces of internal reaction to topple and assassinate Sankara.

 These leaders, under the guise of democratic transition want a government which will join them in betraying their people by signing an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union.

 The people of Burkina Faso know what they want and that is why they took great risks in toppling Campoare without the help of these West African leaders.

Let the people speak their own language.

2nd TIER PENSION

A Letter From The Local Government Service Secretariat

The Ag CEO

National Pension Regulatory Authority
Accra

Dear Sir,

RE: CONFIRMATION OF APPOINTMENT

We write to confirm the appointment of Pensions Alliance Trust Ltd. as the Corporate Trustee of the Tier 2 Pensions Scheme of the Local Government Service employee group. This is with reference to the letter from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Reference number RSD/ADM/10/12 and the subject title "Appointment as Corporate Trustee for Tier 2 Pension scheme of Employees on Government of Ghana Payroll" date 25th October 2012.

Kindly accord all the necessary courtesies for registering and managing our scheme.

Thank you

Yours faithfully,

Akwasi opong-Fosu

HEAD OF SERVICE

Government says Pension Fund not used to purchase bank

 

Dr Omane Boamah

The Government has denied claims that it has transferred pension funds to Pension Trust Alliance to purchase Merchant Bank.

“We wish to state that per information available to Government this claim is totally false, absolutely unfounded, mischievous and was only invented to justify earlier falsehoods,” Dr Edward Kofi Omane-Boamah, the Minister of Communication, said.

“We challenge anybody who has contrary opinion to boldly step forward to contradict this position. Let us allow decorum and truth to prevail in the discourse.”

He said the funds that had accrued so far were being safely kept by the Bank of Ghana and had been prudently invested for the benefit of pensioners.

Dr Omane-Boamah who was addressing a press conference on Monday in Accra on the strike by organized labour on the Tier Two Pension Fund assured pensioners of their retirement income security under the Scheme.

He said of concern to government was the observation that in discussions that had gone on so far about the organized labour strike, an attempt had been made by sections of society to distort the facts surrounding the Tier Two Pension Scheme matter with a view to misinforming Ghanaians.

“Notwithstanding earlier engagements between Government and Labour Union Leaders, in the immediate aftermath of the declaration of the strike action, strenuous efforts have been made by Government to ensure a speedy resolution of the impasse through dialogue and negotiations,” he said.

The Minister said one of the most deceptive narratives which was often repeated by persons who were not familiar with the actions taken so far to implement the new pensions regime had been that government in violation of provisions of the Pensions Act (Act 766) unilaterally imposed a Trustee on public sector workers.

He said it was instructive to note however that those who advanced this argument often fell short of stating the relevant provisions which government had violated.

He said: “Government believing not only in the rule of law but also the fact that the demand by labour unions to choose trustees for the Tier Two pensions will leave the future of workers, especially when they retire, almost entirely at the mercy of private interest; who cannot provide the same guarantee the concern for citizens' welfare compels Government to provide, decided to seek judicial pronouncement on section 129 of the law.”

“We are unable to dissect the merits and demerits to support our case out of respect for the courts,” he said.

“We believe a determination of this matter will put to rest any lingering doubt about who has capacity to appoint Trustees to manage Pension Funds. The answer of interpretation as we all knows lies in the bosom of the Judge.”

Dr Omane-Boamah said another distortion of the issue had been that government could not account for Tier Two contributions deducted since 2010.

He said the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) clarified this matter last week when it addressed a press conference on October 30.

Dr Omane-Boamah said in pursuant to Section 218 of Act 766, every employer is enjoined to open a Temporary Pension Fund Account (TPFA) into which all Tier 2 deductions will be kept in trust until such time that Trustees are appointed and Fund Managers duly registered.

According to him, the NPRA said the total balance on account held by the Bank of Ghana as at October 27, 2014 was GHȼ1,641,117,027.70 and that included returns accrued after investment in treasury bills.

He said workers were adequately represented on the Boards of SSNIT and the NPRA Board by highly respected Trade Unionists and therefore had opportunity to regularly learn about the status of their pension funds anytime they required such information as good corporate governance dictates.

“The notion therefore that Government has concealed the details of the funds accrued so far, is misleading,” the Minister said.

He said another distortion making the rounds was that “workers will have choice if Labour Union Leaders are allowed to appoint Trustees and Fund Managers.”

Dr Omane-Boamah said this claim could not be true as what the labour unions had done was to also appoint a single trustee each for their various registered schemes and knowing that this was binding on all workers it cannot be true to assert that the labour leaders were offering Ghanaian workers the power of choice.

“Once again this claim has clearly been thrown in the mix just to further promote issues by those who think they stand to benefit in a cloud of confusion. We have a message for them, their machinations will not work,” he said.

He appealed to organized labour to respect the court order by calling off their strike, while negotiations continue.

Govt for People Forum held in Tamale

Prez John Dramani Mahama

Dr Edward Omane Boamah, Minister of Communications, has urged businesses to reduce their imports and buy from local producers to enable them to grow their businesses to meet local demands.

He said this would also ensure the sustainable growth of the economy for the benefit of all.

Dr Omane Boamah said this when he addressed the “Government for the People’s Forum” held at Tamale, on Tuesday. It was attended by people from all walks of life in the region.

The forum has been instituted by the government as a means to provide an insight into its activities as well as serve as a platform to interact with the people.

Dr Omane Boamah said the challenges facing the country were as a result of the structure of the economy, therefore, there was need to transform the structure of the economy if the challenges were to be addressed.

To this end, he said, the government was working to promote the consumption of made in Ghana products to change the situation.

He said the government was also working to revive and strengthen local industries to improve their capacity to expand their operations to create jobs.

Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, Minister for Roads and Highways, said the government was committed to improving the road infrastructure to amongst others promote efficient transportation.

Alhaji Fuseini mentioned some of the road projects that had been completed, including the Tamale-Tolon Road and assured that a lot more roads would be completed on schedule to open up towns and communities to promote business activities.

Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a Deputy Minister of Education, said education was one of the high priority sectors of the government as it received about 30 per cent of the total budgetary allocation for all the Ministries.

Mr Okudzeto Ablakwa said the education system continued to remain one of the most preferred as there were currently over 10,000 foreign students studying at the tertiary institutions.

He commended the 12 labour unions, especially those in the education sector, for calling off their almost two-week old strike  and asked that the teachers did more to make up for the lost contact hours.

Alhaji Mohammed Muniru Limuna, Northern Regional Minister, enumerated a number of projects undertaken in the region and appealed to the residents “to unite and uphold peace at all times in this region so that we can focus more on the task of development.”

GNA