PETITION: Afred Agbenyo Takes His Campaign Further

Ghana's Speaker of Parliament Doe Adjaho

Mr. Fred Kwesi Agbenyo, a member of the communications Team of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has taken his campaign for made in Ghana goods a step further.

He has petitioned Parliament to pass a law that makes it mandatory for all state institutions and agencies to use locally manufactured furniture.

In a petition addressed to the Speaker of Parliament, Mr. Agbeyo argues that such a move would boost the local furniture industry.

He also believes that the move will result in substantial savings for the Ghanaian tax payer, generate employment and promote technical education.

The full text of the one page petition is reproduced below.

THE SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT
PARLIAMENT HOUSE

ACCRA

Dear Sir,

PETITION: USE LOCALLY MANUFACTURED FURNITURE IN ALL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AND INSTITUTIONS IN GHANA.

Ghana is a great country blessed with sufficient human and natural resources. It is an undeniable fact, that we have not as a nation been able to bring these two resources together effectively for the development and growth of this country. Social vices that one mind can think of has become our lot as a republic; unemployment has become the concern of the youth.

Mr. Speaker, one hardly passes by an office without seeing some broken furniture packed in one corner or the other. It is shocking, Mr. Speaker, the amount of the tax payer's money that institutions spend in a year in procuring furniture and other decorative materials in this country. Often times, this expensive furniture that are imported into this country do not last for more than three months.

It is per the above, that I wish to petition the Parliament of the Republic of Ghana through your good office to consider the passage of a Law that makes it mandatory for all State Institutions and Agencies to use locally manufactured furniture.

The employment opportunities that would be created in this country when this law is passed, is unimaginable. It would also go a long way to save the tax payer a lot of money. Technical education would be enhanced and school drop outs would find hope; not forgetting the economic benefits that the country stand to gain.

Mr. Speaker, I am available and ready to submit a detailed research and the cost benefit analysis on this petition at your request to be considered by the Honourable House.

Yours faithfully,

Fred Kwesi Agbenyo

(A GHANAIAN) 

SPECIAL REPORT ON SOU

Chief of Staff at Ghanaian Presidency Prosper Bani

By Ekow Mensah

In the course of The Insight's investigations into the operations of Special Operations Unit at the office of the President, we  obtained an official analysis of Gazettes for Auction by the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).

 The confidential document is more than revealing. It alleges collusion between some customs officials and importers and we are making the document available to our readers Please read on;

Introduction:

The Special Operations Unit (SOU) conducted a critical analysis of the gazettes of goods and vehicles to be sold in the suspended published auctions of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA). This preliminary review and some related background checks point to some possible reasons behind the conduct of the sale on the blind side of the Chief of Staff.  The analysis is based on Republic of Ghana Gazette Number 4 (marked A), 5(marked B)and 7 (marked C).

AIM:

The aim of this brief is to inform the Chief of Staff of preliminary findings upon the suspension of the Auction Sales of the Customs Division of GRA.

Observations

The Unit made the following critical observations.

1. The Customs Division failed to include the Chief of Staff in the entire process.This calls for concern, as sourcesreveal that the Division was requested in December 2012, to submit lists for auctions.      A look at the Gazettesreveal numerous occurrences of concern which would have been addressed had a copy been given to the Chief of Staff as required.   

     

2. Certain items in the list were consigned to government ministries, departments and agencies, who failed to collect their consignments. These may lead to major losses to the state in the forms of ordering cost and import duties. The listing of these items for auction sales is unacceptable since these costs may have been budgeted for. The remote possibility that certain private individuals ordered these items in the name of the state intentionally to eventuallybuy them in auction salesalso exists. The items in this category include the following:

a. Sixteen (16) containers of fuses, personal effects and treated pine poles consigned to the Electricity Company.

b. Eleven (11) containers of medical equipment and branded condoms consigned to the Ministry of Health.

c. One (1) container of computer equipment on board for the Ministry of Communications.

d. One (1)container of pipes for the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority.

e. One (1) container of liquid pumps and accessories forthe GhanaWater Company Ltd.

3. A large quantity of items included in the suspended auction and the descriptions of goods was also of concern.The SOU does not know whether the Customs Division hadexhausted their options of informing the consignees to claim or collect their imports, although they would have been expected to do so.  There is the need for a conscious effort to contact importers to collect their imports so that the state could benefit more from the actual duties as against the relatively minute income from auctions.

4. Items belonging to companies which are known to operate bonded warehouseswith Customs Division were listed for auction sales. Thisdoes not appear healthy since there is no apparent reason for the failure such companies to clear their goods. This gives some credence to allegations that some consignees intentionally leave their high duty items in the portsonly to buy them at very low prices once they are listed for auction.The large number of customers mostly expatriate, energy and mining companies which form the majority in this group, calls for questioning.They include the following:

a. Newmont Ghana Gold Ltd/ Newmont Golden Ridge Ltd – 9 containers.

b. Woodfields Energy Resources Ltd – 13 containers

c. Sunda Ghana Investments – 12 containers.

d. Duraplast Ltd - 9containers.

e. Golden Star (Wassa) Ltd - 9containers.

f. Gold Field Ghana Ltd - 4containers.

g. Hull Blyth Ghana Ltd - 6containers.

h. GCC Resort/Kempinski Hotel – containers.

5. Certain items which have been left unclaimed in large quantities are restricted to particular industries. Examples include large quantities of spares parts for the mining industry and Ferro Silicon for Ferro Fabrik Ltd which can only be auctioned to a few companies and possibly the consignees themselves.These are among cases which suggest the possibility of allegations that importers intentionally refuse to collect high duty items so that they could buy them at lower values in the auction sales.

6. A large number of containers listed in the gazette showed no description of the contents and consignees.This practice is a cause for significant concern bearing in mind the allegations that a large number of overstayed containers in the port have been unstuffed secretly. Moreover, all overstayed containers are procedurally unstuffed once identified for auction.There are also possibilities that the dates of arrival have not been shown because they are not really due to allow the freedom to dispose of them without raising eye brows.  Hence the withholding of details could only point to possible foul play.

   

RECOMMENDATIONS

The special operations Unit wish to make the following recommendations:

1. The attention of governmental organisations should be drawn to the need to pay for and clear their goods. Companies whose containers of high duty items have been included in the gazette should be called to clear them with the appropriate penalties for non-collection.

2. That directives are given by the Chief of Staff to ensure that Customs Division follows directives on auction sales strictly.

3. The GRA should establish a desk in its Debt Collection Unit to keep track of these special cases of non-collection of imports by expatriate and mining companies and government agencies.

4. SOU should conduct further investigation to confirm or deny information on the arrangements by companies which may be running illegal dealings that deny government the appropriate duties, a situation that is known to some employees and agents of these companies. 

Conclusion

Although not fully confirmed, the contents of the gazettes which were collected from open sources have provided a cogent basis for questioning anomalies. These may possibly be at the base of well-oiled machinery for leakages in the nation's revenue. There is therefore the need to stringently question these references to support effective measures for the future.

Cuba

 

Cuban School Children

By Iris De Armas Padrino

Cuba is implementing measures to support fertility in the demographic context of lower birth rates and population growth which the country has been experiencing for more than 18 years.

Dr. Roberto Álvarez Fumero, head of the Ministry of Public Health’s Maternity-Neonatal department, pointed out that, over the period 1970-2012, the country’s birth rate dropped 13%, while population growth declined 6%.

The expert explained that the measures are meant to provide more information to men and women, especially adolescents, about contraceptive options available. The goal is to promote wanted pregnancies and reduce abortions, which have become the fundamental cause of infertility over the last few years.

He emphasized that the country is making an effort to improve the kinds of contraceptives provided, although availability in Cuba is among the best in the world. Oral and injectable contraceptives, much safer than intrauterine devices, are being promoted.

"A program providing comprehensive attention to sexuality exists and its implementation must become more effective. Adolescents need to develop a more responsible attitude; fundamentally they should use condoms to protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases and reduce unwanted or unplanned pregnancies," he said. He additionally explained that Cuba has a program for infertile couples, which begins with services provided at the municipal level, where 60% of the problems preventing the conception of a child are resolved.

Provincial centers for assisted conception are also in place, plus three clinics with advanced technology to meet the demand for these types of services. These new facilities are located in the González Coro Gynecology-Obstetrics Hospital in Havana; the Gustavo Aldereguía in Cienfuegos, and the Vladimir Ilich Lenin in Holguín, and join the existing clinic at the Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital in the capital. 

Homosexual shadow of the Vatican

The Vatican City

By Igor Bukker

Rumors about the existence of homosexual lobby in the Vatican have been circulating for a long time. Analysts believe that a 300-page secret report of the Cardinals that, among other things, discussed sex and corruption among the high priests of the Roman Curia contributed to the abdication of Pope Benedict XVI. The presence of perverts at the Chair of St. Peter seems to be confirmed by the current Holy Father. What should we think about it in light of the reform of the Roman Catholic Church conceived by Francis?

Pope Francis said in Spanish: "We are talking about the gay lobby, it is true, it does exist ... We need to see what we can do about it ..." (Se habla del "lobby gay", y es verdad, está ahí ... hay que ver qué podemos hacer ...). Officially, the Vatican has neither confirmed nor denied the statement of the head of the Catholic Church made at a private meeting with the representatives of the religious confederation of Latin America and the Caribbean region (Confederación Latinoamericana y Caribeña de Religiosos y Religiosas, CLAR). The first report about it appeared on the website of the Chilean Reflexion y Liberacion, and later CLAR delegates from Chile publicly apologized to the Pope for the publication of this article.

It could be seen as an untactful move. In fact, according to a fairly informed source, the Italian Primate is not saddened by the fact that his words have become public knowledge. In reality, the Vatican did not try to refute the statement. On the contrary, head of the Vatican Holly See Press Office Father Federico Lombardi only noted that he would not comment on the content of a private conversation, which can be viewed as a confirmation of what was said.

Marco Politi, a famous Italian journalist specializing in Vatican affairs, in an interview with radio "Voice of Russia" said that he believed that in many ways these words have been incorrectly interpreted. He added that there was no "gay lobby" in the Vatican, i.e., groups of people pushing their personal interests. However, such lobby, for example, may exist in a secular state. At the same time, the truth is that the Vatican does have a gay community that is far from righteous. There are also some gay men who use their ties with the Vatican "power groups" within the Curia. However, these power groups have no pronounced sexual orientation and simply represent part of the group fighting for power in the Curia.

In fact, by this statement Father Francis wanted to convey to the public his intention to begin "cleansing" that would aim at fighting against corruption, as well as suppression of inappropriate behavior on the part of individuals, both heterosexual and homosexual. 

From a confidential source of the German magazine FOCUS reporters learned that if two priests in the highest rank, namely, the prefect of the Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith and Cardinal of the inner circle Pope John Paul II, had been accused of homosexuality, it would inevitably contribute to the resignation of the Pope. This is history.

Today, the Latino priest Francis made a statement that forced a timid professor of theology Benedict to firmly close his lips. This is the first indication that Francis wants to reform the Roman Curia and has encountered resistance. A few months ago, the Pope invited eight cardinals who should make proposals for the reorganization of the Curia and support him in the management of an updated universal Church, because he, by his own admission, is not "a good organizer."

In the past one hundred days since his election, Francis Pope never called himself the Great Pontiff (Pontifex Maximus), introducing himself only as a Bishop of Rome (Episcopus Romanus). He does not wear red papal shoes and a short red cape, and during sermons he does not sit on the throne but faces the congregation as a simple priest. And it is not only about the change of external attributes and calls to serve the poor asking nothing in return.

The Russian service of Radio Vatican on Thursday reported that Pope Francis established a special Pontifical Commission for the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR), or, in other words, the Vatican bank. The saying "Letting gospel principles to penetrate into the economic and financial activities" means ruling out of any possibility of "laundering" mafia money through the bank or bribing the Italian politicians that took place in the 1990s and earlier.

Before reading the Angelus prayer at noon on June 23^rd the Pope called on 80 thousand pilgrims and faithful who gathered in St. Peter to have the courage to go against the flow and not lose hope. FOCUSpublished a statement of Marco Politi about the events in the heart of the Roman Catholic Church who said that while many have not yet realized that Francis could start a revolution, there is an obvious icy wind blowing against the new Pope behind the high walls of the Vatican.

Is there equality in the nuclear club?

By Andrei Mikhailov

Russian President Vladimir Putin considers it impossible to break the balance of strategic deterrence and decrease effectiveness of Russian nuclear forces. In general, Russia, of course, agrees with the need to reduce strategic weapons. Yet, the Russian administration believes that all other members of the nuclear club should do the same, without exception.

At a recent meeting on the prospects of the state defense order and the implementation of arms programs before 2020, Vladimir Putin said that nuclear disarmament should not cause damage to the defensive capacity of the country.

In addition, non-nuclear high precision weapons continue to develop in the world very actively.  The countries possessing such new weapons can significantly increase their offensive potential. Why should Russia disarm, in fact, unilaterally?

"We can not allow the balance of the strategic deterrence system to be broken. Therefore, the establishment of military and space defense will continue to remain one of the key areas of military construction," Putin said at the above-mentioned meeting. 

The President reminded that by 2015, Russian aerospace defense troops should have not less than a half of state-of-the-art weapons, and in 2020 - 70 percent. Vladimir Putin also noted that the potential of aerospace defense forces was increased with the help of Voronezh-M and Voronezh-DM radar stations. In addition, Russia has passed into service Panzer-S anti-aircraft missile system and continues serial supplies of S-400 air defense missile systems to domestic troops. To crown it all, Russia continues working on the S-500 system that will be able to solve combat tasks in near space.

U.S. President Barack Obama has recently put forward an initiative to reduce American and Russian strategic offensive arsenals by one-third. He also suggested Europe should cut tactical nuclear weapons as well. Apparently, Obama's initiative made Putin make a statement on the creation of equal conditions for the disarmament of all countries of the nuclear club. 

Many military analysts, both Russian and Western ones, believe that Obama's initiative is pretty crafty. The US continues to drag Russia deeper in the process of further and very rapid nuclear disarmament. This process is totally unacceptable for Russia.

"We cannot negotiate with the United States indefinitely on the reduction and limitation of nuclear weapons bilaterally, while a number of other countries continue to expand their nuclear and missile potential. The process of disarmament should become multilateral," Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Sergei Ryabkov said.

The first treaty on the reduction and limitation of strategic offensive arms (START) between the USSR and the USA was signed in Moscow on July 31, 1991. The document stipulated the reduction of the total number of intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and strategic bombers to 1.6 million units for each country, whereas the number of nuclear warheads should not exceed six thousand units.

Nowadays, politicians and military analysts admit that the START-1 treaty was a one-sided contract for Russia. Why the Russian side signed the treaty is a different story.

The author of this article personally witnessed the results of that contract. Russia had to destroy nuclear submarines of new projects, primarily strategic subs with ballistic missiles, for the money of foreign "partners."

In Severodvinsk, for example, the United States funded the construction of a large complex to recycle submarines. As soon as the vessels were destroyed, the funding from the West stopped immediately. Now Russia has to invest heavily in the construction of another nuclear fleet ...

What will happen if Russia grants political asylum to Snowden?

Edward Snowden

By Oleg Artyukov

The situation with the former CIA officer Edward Snowden remains confusing. He has been staying in the transit area of ​​the Sheremetyevo airport for over a week, or at least it seems to be this way. In fact, Snowden has not been seen in Russia since his arrival. The only people who saw him were the passengers of his Aeroflot flight, and a lady at the reception at the transit zone, where Snowden stopped for a few minutes to look at the prices.

Of course, the situation is somewhat phantasmagoric. Usually there are dozens of people ready to immediately declare "I am a witness! And what happened?" for far less significant incidents. The SVO transit area is a blind spot in this sense. There are thousands of people, and no one has any information about the fugitive.

While the former CIA is getting used to the image of the invisible man, his fate continues to be discussed at various levels.  

Snowden's U.S. passport has been revoked, and hence he cannot leave the transit area of ​​the airport and may stay there indefinitely. The Russian authorities have nothing against the ex-CIA officer because he has not broken any Russian laws. Russia does not have an extradition agreement with the U.S., so there is no reason to extradite him. Washington, despite the warnings of the "consequences," has not yet found time to send a formal request.

Ecuador rejected the trade preferences granted by the United States after Washington openly stated that it could take away Latin American state benefits if this country gives asylum to Snowden. However, Ecuador did not provide the fugitive with documents and it is unknown when it will consider granting him asylum. Snowden ignored a similar proposal by Venezuela. The ex-CIA operative is not interested in Cuba that would definetely not extradite him.   

What about Russia? Could Russia grant asylum to Edward Snowden? On Monday, the Public Chamber of Russia discussed the situation with the American during its session.

"If Snowden acted in the public interest, protected it, then the society has the duty to defend him," said head of the Presidential Council for Civil Society Institutions and Human Rights Mikhail Fedotov. "The practice of the European Council on Human Rights emphasizes this duty of the society and the state," the adviser said. "It is important to take into account the fact that Russia is a member of the Geneva Convention on Refugees and other European human rights instruments," ITAR-TASS quoted Fedotov. "It requires us not to extradite a refugee while in the process of the application for political asylum."

Diplomats from Venezuela and Ecuador were invited to the meeting, but both ignored the invite. It should be noted that Ecuador President, Rafael Correa Delgado, stated that Snowden's fate would be decided by the Russian authorities, because for consideration of a request for asylum he must be present on the territory of the country. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov replied that the fate of the ex-CIA employee is not on the Kremlin's agenda. 

Meanwhile, Deputy Secretary of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation Vladislav Grib believes that Russia may grant political asylum to Snowden, if he asks.

"It meets all the standards of the international law, and we have no agreement with the U.S. on mutual extradition. Russia will not break any rules; on the contrary, it will comply with the provisions of the Refugee Convention. From a legal point of view, we have the right to give him political asylum. We have legal, ethical and the moral right to do so," Vladislav Grib toldPravda.Ru.

The fact that Snowden must first request asylum was stressed by a chief researcher at the Institute for International Economic and Political Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Tsipko. If this happens, he said, there would be no consequences for Russia. "No worries, Americans do this. Who would recon with us if we fear the Americans? That would be the end of Russia," he told Pravda.Ru. 

However, the political scientist is skeptical that Snowden would seek asylum in Russia. "I have a feeling that he does not want to stay here, (otherwise) he would have already asked. As an American citizen, he does not want to look like a traitor; he wants to look like a fighter for the rights of an individual. We do not consider his psychology, I think," said Alexander Tsipko.