Ghana Gas to Evacuate Natural Gas by End of Year

Hannah Awadzi

The Ghana National Gas Company Limited is to begin evacuating gas from the Jubilee Fields by the end of this year.

Mr Victor Sunu-Attah, Director in charge project development of the company, who announced this at a press briefing on Friday, said the company hoped to complete the mechanical integration of the various components of the gas in order to start the commercial evacuation.

The press briefing was to clarify issues regarding their operations.

He said the Jubilee Field already in production was the main anchor field for the phase one of the gas infrastructure project. Currently the Field produces an average daily oil of 85,000 barrels and associated gas production of about 107 Million Standard cubic feet per day.

The first phase of the project, which is estimated to cost about $750 million, is expected to generate employment, create new infrastructure to support a vibrant petroleum and petrochemical industry and provide the opportunity for a more competitive pricing of indigenous gas as well as help generate much lower cost power.

“The Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) from the project will meet the national demand and will eliminate the periodic shortages,” Mr Sunu-Attah said.

Dr George Sipa Yankey, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gas Company, said it was determined to build a first-class gas company and deliver a first-class infrastructure for the country.

He said the project execution was led by a global consortium headed by Sinopec under an Engineering Procurement Construction Commissioning (EPCC) contract.

Dr Sipa-Yankey further noted that the project was a turnkey project which means that the Ghana Gas has no responsibility in the selection of sub-contractors in the execution of works.

Commenting on the local content obligations, he said, a number of Ghanaians had been engaged to provide goods and services for the project, which included haulage, rental of equipment, supply of laterites, right of way clearance, geo technical studies, typographical surveys and environmental and social impact assessment.

Dr Sipa Yankey said the company was collaborating with Takoradi Polytechnic and Kikam Technical Institute for the training of technicians, operators, welders and pipe fitters for operation and maintenance of the pipeline.

He emphasized the need to evacuate natural gas from the Jubilee field quickly to ensure optimal production of the Field and to avoid flaring.

Dr Kwesi Botchwey, Board Chairman of company, said the project was using Ghanaian expertise indicating their capacity to execute such a project.

He advised Ghanaians to learn to appreciate and use their own national capacities and resources.

The Ghana National Gas Company was incorporated in July 2011 by the Government of Ghana in its determination to commercialize the country’s gas resources.

The company, which aims at building, owning and operating gas infrastructure required for gathering, transporting and marketing of natural gas resources in the country, is thus focus on gas monetization by adding value and providing natural gas to markets for the benefit of the people

Corruption not an exception at the Passport Office

Hannah Awadzi

The process of acquiring a Ghanaian passport looks uncomplicated on the surface. One needs to purchase a passport application form from an approved point of sale, fill the form and submit it together with relevant documents at the passport application centre.

The applicant is then invited to take a digital photograph and biometric data finger prints and then the applicant receives a submission receipt which contains the passport collection date. Depending on the type of form that an applicant purchases it takes about one to two weeks for one to receive the passport.

However, the reality in acquiring a Ghanaian passport is far from what is stated above. Adobea, an undergrad at the University of Ghana, said: “I got to the passport office which is near the Central Business district (Tema station) at 06:00 hours and I was told I could not submit because they had already received the applications for the day”.

According to this man, those who want to submit application forms need to get there latest by 05:00 hours to be able to be counted among the 120 applications which he said were received daily.

Frustrated Adobea said, “I stay at Kwabenya (a suburb of Accra) what time do I need to wake up to be able to get to Tema Station at 5.00 AM.”

Adobea said she hanged around the premises to check if she could be a bit lucky but since she did not know anybody working at the office, “I had to go back home very disappointed”

Many applicants for a Ghanaian passport get frustrated the first time due to similar experiences, it has almost become a norm that one must know someone before one gets easy access to the office, otherwise one has to pay extra to get things going smoothly.

A visit by the GNA to the passport office confirmed the story. When the GNA got there at 10.00 hours the main entrance where applicants are invited to enable the officers to take the biometric details were locked. There were people sitting under mounted canopies on the premises.

There were those who said they were there for collection purposes, while others were waiting for people; in fact they were waiting for their “connection men” to be able to enter.

There is another door at the back, where “Those who know somebody” pass to see the directors or their cronies. That door is guarded by officials. One cannot easily enter the premises as you definitely need to be accompanied to get through to the hall.

And guess what? In the office the staff are busily processing the daily 120 forms plus the forms of people who know someone there.

One big question that lingers on the minds of many is why it has become an acceptable norm that in Ghana you either know somebody or you be prepared to pay extra for a service such as acquiring a Ghanaian passport.

Many seem helpless and ask what can be done about it. And for those who try to question the wrong process, people look at you so strangely, perhaps thinking whether you are a visitor to Ghana.

Systemic corruption is corruption which is primarily due to weaknesses of an organisation or a process. It can be contrasted with individual officials or agents who act corruptly within the system.

Factors which encourage systemic corruption include conflicting incentives; discretionary powers; monopolistic powers; lack of transparency; low pay; and a culture of impunity.

Specific acts of corruption include bribery, extortion, and embezzlement in a system where corruption becomes the rule rather than the exception.

In Ghana, it seems that corruption is fast becoming the rule rather than the exception. It actually seems unbelievable if one meets somebody who is ready to help without having the intention of receiving something extra apart from what he or she is due. People experience these frustrations in almost every office that one requires a service.

Many persons responsible for providing services in offices use their office to intimidate people requiring their services or extort monies from them even for doing their legitimate and expected work schedule for which they get paid at the end of the month.

It has become the norm and so perpetrators of such offences do not care a hoot. The question they ask is what you (who are requiring the service) can do to them. Whom do you report such behaviours to? And even if you manage to report, nothing gets done and nothing changes.

Ghanaians hope that those currently campaigning for the high office of president would one day respond to their plight. “There is corruption everywhere” should not be the response.

ECOWAS campaigns to end violence against women

Hannah Awadzi

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission and the Africa Unite Campaign are rallying ECOWAS Member States to help end violence against women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa.

To this end, the Fifth Regional Committee Meeting of Africa Unite held at the headquarters of ECOWAS Commission in Abuja on August 2nd to 3rd, agreed on the joint implementation of Africa Unite’s communication strategy by the two organisations.

A statement issued by the Department of Communication, ECOWAS Commission copied to Ghana News Agency in Accra on Tuesday said using the strategy, Africa Unite and partners were expected to shed more light on violence against women and girls, and also increase public awareness and social mobilisation against the phenomenon.

The campaign will help mobilise support for African Governments to fulfill their commitments to end violence against women and girls as well as empower women and their communities to stop violence by demanding accountability.

The statement said Dr Adrienne Diop, Commissioner for Human Development and Gender, reaffirmed ECOWAS’ commitment to the campaign, with Africa Unite and the UN Women as allies.

Similarly, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Mrs Salamatu Hussaini Suleiman, noted that women were always vulnerable during conflicts in the Region.

Ms Jennet Kem, a representative of Africa Unite, the Regional Component of the UN campaign to end violence against women and girls, said the group would continue to adopt and enforce national laws to address and punish all forms of violence against women and girls.

The statement said the group argued that violence prevented women from enjoying human rights and fundamental freedoms such as the right to life and security of persons to attain the highest standards of physical and mental health, education, work and housing, and to participate in public life.

Africa Unite is an inter-agency initiative that groups some 14 UN organisations in support of African countries to undertake coordinated, substantial and sustained actions to eliminate violence against women and girls.

The meeting was also attended by representatives of UN Women, the UN Economic Commission for Africa, the Swedish Ambassador in Nigeria and officials of the ECOWAS Commission.

ECOWAS – INTERPOL drug operation results in arrest of 74 drug traffickers

Hannah Awadzi

Law enforcement agencies responsible for drug investigations in three ECOWAS countries have completed a week-long capacity building training-cum-operational activities in Benin, Togo and Ghana.

During the operation, about 74 drug traffickers were arrested while 7,894,275 kilogrammes of assorted narcotic drugs were seized.

A statement issued by the Department of Communication, ECOWAS Commission and copied to Ghana News Agency in Accra on Tuesday said the combined events between July 23-29, involved three days training in Lomé, Togo, followed by three days of operations from July 26-28 in Togo, Benin and Ghana, and a day’s debriefing of the investigators.

The exercise was funded by ECOWAS, with INTERPOL’s trainers and ECOWAS representatives participating as observers.

The operation, code-named “ATAKORA”, was launched with particular focus on drug trafficking at airports, sea ports and land borders in the three countries by engaging 36 investigators and law enforcement agencies in the countries involved.

The breakdown of the seizures was 376,675 kilogrammes in Benin, 24 kilogrammes in Ghana and 7,493,600 kilogrammes in Togo.

The statement said the operation was carried out within the framework of the ECOWAS Regional Action Plan on Drugs and INTERPOL’s action in support of member countries from the African Region.

It was aimed at detecting and dismantling criminal organised networks using West Africa to traffic cocaine, heroin, cannabis and psychotropic substances.

Boisterous activities characterises President Mills’ One week celebrations

Hannah Awadzi

Some motor cyclists screeched noisily and dangerously around the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra as a way of marking the one week celebration of late President John Evans Atta Mills’ demise on Tuesday afternoon.

Clad in black and red with red bands around their wrists and necks, the cyclists rode noisily in a long file causing heavy vehicular traffic around the Kwame Nkrumah Circle.

They showed their skills in motor riding with some standing on the bikes amidst cheering whilst others tilted theirs sideways to show their prowess.

Other people also blocked the streets near the Efua Sutherland Children’s’ Park displaying various traditional dances with loud music playing at the background.

The mourners both old and youth also wore red and black cloths with red bands tied around various parts of their body trooping in and out of the park.

Most commercial drivers also decorated their vehicles with red bands and tooted their horns through town, some with NDC paraphernalia and portraits of the late President Mills.

Telecos and Cabinet in Agreement over scratch card issue

Hannah Awadzi

The Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications says it fully supports the recent call by Cabinet that mobile network operators print their scratch cards locally.

A statement issued by the Chamber in Accra on Tuesday 12th of June said all the mobile network operators print their scratch cards in Ghana and they are in support of the domestic printing industry.

“The network operators – Airtel, Expresso, MTN, Tigo, Vodafone – they all, as a matter of fact, print their scratch cards in Ghana; it’s part of a commitment to help strengthen the domestic printing industry and indeed local businesses as a whole. Therefore the operators and the government are in accord; we’re aligned on this matter.” the Chief Executive of the Chamber, Mr. Kwaku Sakyi-Addo, said.

The statement referred to last week’s a front-page news story in the state-owned Ghanaian Times reported that the Cabinet had directed that mobile network operators print their scratch cards locally.

The directive followed concerns raised about foreigners penetrating businesses such as retail trade reserved for Ghanaians. Printing is however not one of the industries protected from foreign participation.

The mobile network operators launched the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications last year as a private initiative by the mobile network companies, to enable them make collective inputs into telecoms policy, legislation and regulation.

The telecoms sector employs over 1.5 million people and has invested over US$5.6 billion into the Ghanaian economy. Close to 40 per cent of their revenues go to the government in the form of taxes, the statement said.

Chiefs and people of Akuse complains about their elimination from registration exercise

Hannah Awadzi

The Chiefs and people of Akuse on Wednesday complained that they have been eliminated from the on-going Biometric registration exercise and therefore called on the Electoral Commission to follow the law.

At a press conference organized by the Chief and people of all the six electoral areas in Akuse, Mr George Amanor, Spokesperson for the Chief of Akuse, said: “The Electoral Commission should be the first to champion the rule of Law, they should ignore the private intermeddling effort of the Lower Manya District Assembly Chief Executive to undermine the rule of law.”

Referring to a Daily Graphic publication on 24th of March, Mr Amanor said the Electoral Commission (EC) was not carrying out the registration in the area because the District Security Committee of the Lower Manya Krobo District Assembly had directed the EC to suspend the exercise in the area.

He said: “It is important to remind the general public especially EC that we the people of Akuse who live in six specifically designed electoral areas namely: Akutue, Osorkutu, Salom, Zongo, Bungalow and Amedeka are not taking part in the Exercise.”

Mr Amanor who was support by the presence of the Chief of Akuse and the entire chiefs in the remaining electoral area noted that all the inhabitants of the six electoral areas were inhabited by people who are Osudokus and owe allegiance to the Osudoku Traditional Council.

“We condemn with all vehemence the pretension of the Lower Manya Krobo District Assembly Chief Executive who is still reeling under the serious misapprehension that the six electoral areas belong to Lower Manya Krobo District Assembly,” he said and urged the EC to rescind its decision and come to Akuse to register the people.

The EC had earlier announced the suspension of the registration exercise in the area with the reason that there was a legal suit in the area.

A statement issued by the EC acknowledged that; “In view of a pending suit before the Supreme Court in a matter in which Charles Mate Kole and another are challenging the placement of the above mentioned electoral areas of the Lower Manya Krobo District under the Dangme West District in L.I. 1983.

“The Electoral Commission has decided to put registration of voters in the affected electoral areas on hold until the determination of the matter by the Supreme Court on the June 13.”

The Commission however assured all eligible voters in the affected electoral areas that it would make and announce arrangements for them to be registered as soon as the decision of the Supreme Court was made known

Stakeholders discuss electoral dispute resolution

Hannah Awadzi

Participants at a meeting on electoral disputes on Tuesday debated whether the Supreme Court should be made an election court, and thus broaden the electoral dispute resolution processes in Ghana or vice versa.

The participants, who were of diverse views, included civil society actors, journalists, legal practitioners and officials from the judiciary.

They discussed the theme: “Strengthening the Judiciary to deal with Human Rights Abuses during Election 2012.”

Mr Rowland Atta-Kesson, Associate Consultant at Law and Development Association, a legal firm, made the main presentation.

He said that the Supreme Court should be made an electoral court to enable people, who took such cases to court to get maximum satisfaction.

Mr Atta-Kesson explained that, the 1992 Constitution stated that, electoral cases should end at the Appeal Court but said such cases should go to the Supreme Court.

He said the system must ensure that voters’ decision prevailed and that legal elections depended on legal correction of any mistake, therefore, judicial resolution had become fundamental.

Mr Atta-Kesson said the High Court must take care of all aspects of electoral disputes including those involving the creation of electoral constituencies.

Mr John Bosco Nabarese, First Deputy Judicial Secretary, announced that a review of an Election Manual was in the process and added that the Judicial Service would train judges and lawyers to enable them to facilitate adjudication of electoral disputes.

He mentioned the speed at which electoral disputes were settled, and said that if the cases kept too long in court the public might lose interest in the court system.

Mr Nabarese said, the issue of the Supreme Court being made an election court should be subjected to further debate to ensure that the right thing was done.

Other participants agreed that the duration of cases was important and some suggested that special rules for settling electoral processes in court be put in place to speed the process to ensure shorter duration of electoral dispute cases.

Ms Daphne Lariba Nabila, Executive Director of Legal Resource Centre, organisers of the meeting, explained that the centre was seeking views on election disputes, to enhance the process and ensure that people understood and involved in the legal process of settling electoral disputes

Youth in Environmental Management Project launched

Hannah Awadzi

A project that aims at providing support to the youth in Anlo and other selected coastal communities to strengthen their knowledge, skills, attitudes and ability to adapt to changes in the physical environment was launched in Accra on Monday.

Dr Elaine Lawson, Research Fellow at the Institute for Environment and Sanitation Studies, University of Ghana said the project was expected to have an immediate impact on children, saying, “Children and the youth may have special roles to play in community education programmes.”

The project on the theme: “Halting the Menace; Improving the Management of Ghana’s Coast by Engaging and Empowering the Youth,” was developed based on the need for a sensitisation activity in Ghana, in response to the rate at which coastal natural resources were being degraded.

Dr Lawson explained that benefits of targeting the youth would be immediate to long term since they would be empowered to be more involved in the decision making process, educate other youth, their parents and other adults and organise themselves to protect coastal natural resources which would eventually transform the community.

She said when the youth grow to adulthood they become difficult to change, hence the project is targeting and preparing the next generation to put things right.

Giving details of the project’s activities, Dr Lawson said there were five target communities, namely Tsokomey, in the Greater Accra Region, Akosua Village and Duakor in the Central Region, Anlo Beach in the Shama District of the Western Region and Anynui in the Ketu District of the Volta Region.

She said the team engaged in interactive programmes with the youth, support identified communities and schools, develop capacity to promote environmentally sustainable solutions.

Professor Chris Gordon, Acting Director of the Institute for Environmental and Sanitation Studies explained that the project was part of their vision to facilitate environmental and developmental issues.

He said the national capacity to ensure wise management of environmental and sanitation challenges was over-stretched, hence the need to train and educate the necessary human capacity to effectively manage the environment sustainably.

Mr Ralf Wittek, an Official of Hanns Seidel Foundation, sponsors of the project, said it was supporting the programme because they were concerned with civic education, especially, on the environment.

He said the understanding of effective environmental management was often limited, especially among migrated coastal fishing communities, who were frequently neglected of public initiatives and that such communities possessed lower average educational level and faced greater challenges to be an active part of civil society.

Mr Wittek said the focus was on the youth of five Anlo communities with the goal to enhance their environmental awareness and empower them to be more involved in the governmental decision-making processes.

He urged politicians and policy makers to have the will to take decisions that benefits the country.

US Visa processing fees to increase by April 13

Hannah Awadzi

The United States Embassy on Monday announced that the Department of State will adjust visa processing fees effective Friday, April 13.

A statement from the Public Affairs Section of the Embassy in Accra said the fees for most non-immigrant visa applications and Border Crossing Cards would increase, while all immigrant visa processing fees would decrease.

The Department is required to recover, as far as possible, the cost of processing visas through the collection of application fees.

For some reasons, the current fees no longer cover the actual cost of processing non-immigrant visas.

It said the non-immigrant visa fee increase would support the addition and expansion of overseas facilities, as well as additional staffing required to meet increased visa demand.

“Although most categories of non-immigrant visa processing fees will increase, the fee for E visas (treaty-traders and treaty-investors) and K visas (for fiancé (e)s of US citizens) will decrease.

The statement said the non-immigrant visa processing fees are as follows: Tourist, Business, Transit, Crew Member, Student, Exchange Visitor, and Journalist visas increases from $140 to $160.

Petition-Based visas (H, L, O, P, Q, and R) from $150 to $190.

Treaty Investor and Trader visas (E) reduced from $390 to $270; Finance (e) visas (K) from $350 to $240; Border Crossing Cards (age 15 and older) increased from $140 to $160;

Border Crossing Cards (under age 15) from $14 to $15.

The statement said because of re-allocation of costs associated with immigrant visas, all categories of immigrant visa processing fees will decrease therefore, immigrant visa processing fees are; Immediate Relative and Family Preference Applications from $330 to $230; Employment-Based Applications from $720 to $405; Other Immigrant Visa Applications from $305 to $220; Diversity Visa Programme Fee from $440 to $330; Determining Returning Resident Status from $380 to $275.

It said the proposed fees were published in the Federal Register on Monday, and would take effect in 15 days.

To view the interim final rule, visit http://www.regulations.gov.

The statement said comments would be accepted until 60 days after publication, at that time, the Department would consider the public comments, and the published final rule would include the Department’s response to any comments received.

It said fee information might be found on the Bureau of Consular Affairs website, travel.state.gov, and on the websites of US embassies and consulates.