COALITION URGES PARLIAMENT TO PASS RTI BILL AS A MATTER OF URGENCY.

The Coalition on the Right to Information Ghana, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO)has urged Parliament to as a matter of urgency, pass the Right to Information Bill (RTI). The request is aimed to guarantee citizens’ citizen’s access to information as provided in the Constitution. The non-governmental organisation (NGO) made the appeal at a news conference aimed at sensitizing the citizenry on the latest developments on the RTI Bill in Accra yesterday. Addressing the media, Nana Oye Lithur, expressed disappointment at the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Communications and Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, delay in submitting their report to Parliament. She however, recalled that the RTI Bill which was first laid before Parliament in February, 2010 took over another year to collate views from Ghanaians through regional consultations. Nana Oye Lithur, a human rights advocate, therefore laid the blame on the Select Joint Committee. She said the coalition submitted an option paper to the Joint Committee suggesting specific amendments to the bill. The suggestions included timeliness, appeal processes, exemptions, fees and the issue of an Independent Information Commission (IIC). “The Joint Committee omitted the question of timeliness for disclosure of information upon request, a matter that was major throughout the regional consultations” she added. She also noted that the issue of the IIC brought up some differences as the Joint Committee suggested the Commission for Human Right and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) for that role. She said the coalition’s was of the view that CHRAJ had a three-pronged mandate of tackling anti-corruption, human right and Ombudsman which they thought would make it overburdened, therefore the need for the Commission. She explained that the Joint committee had not informed the Coalition of its findings after regional consultations despite their several requests. Nana Oye Lithur noted that Mr. Cletus Avoka, the Majority Leader in parliament assured the coalition that Parliament would pass the bill before going on recess by July, 2012 adding that, “we have barely 8 working days to the end of July and we have not heard anything.” She further called on the public to guard against any attempt to pass a frail Bill which not reflect true transparency and accountability from public officials. Professor Kwame Kakakari who chaired the function called on citizenry to lobby their respective Members of Parliament to help pass the bill as soon as possible. He hinted that the coalition wanted a quality RTI Bill for Ghanaians. The Vice President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Affail Monney impressed upon the media to consider the RTI Bill as very necessary for their profession. He urged media houses to give it the necessary prominence to ensure that the Bill was passed into law quickly. “The media stand to benefit mostly from this bill as accurate information is very paramount to the profession” he said.

Embassy Fair Organised In Accra

A maiden embassy fair has been organised in Accra yesterday for embassies and diplomatic missions in Ghana. The move is to educate the general public about the activities of such institutions.

Organised by Precise Marketing Solutions Limited, the two-day Embassy Fair aims to encourage the embassies to promote their services and show-case their achievements and contributions they had made to the socio-economic development of Ghana

In her opening remarks, the Head of Mission at the African Union (AU) Diaspora African Forum, Dr. Erieka Bennett called on Ghanaians to liaise with the Diaspora community to explore opportunities in Africa for sustainable economic. She said the Diaspora community contributed about 1.2 billion dollars to the economy to help accelerate the pace of economic development.

The South African High Commissioner, Jeanette Ndhlovu explained that South Africans were becoming fond of Ghanaians after the impressive performance of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. “South Africa regards Ghana as a friendly destination for trade and investment especially in areas like Mining and Agriculture” she said.

The Deputy Head of Mission at the Turkish Embassy, Ipek Zeytinoglu, urged businesses to explore business opportunities in Turkey. “We provide the Ghanaian construction industry with some materials as our citizens also buy raw materials from Ghana for further processing” she added.

The Chief Executive Officer of Precise Marketing Solutions, Stephen Gyasi-Kwaw explained that the event was to offer Ghanaians some education by the diplomatic community of their respective country as well as promote the services and facilities they have to offer.

“This event is to help bring the missions together and educate Ghanaians on their operations, showcase their business and investment opportunities in their respective countries” he added He asked Ghanaian businesses and companies to leverage on the opportunity provided by the fair to network in order to tap into the competitive global market.

“Generally, we aim to bridge the information gap between the general public and diplomatic missions in Ghana in visa and travel information and trade and investment advice,” said Mr. Gyasi-Kwaw, adding that the company planned to hold the event annually.

Fire Guts NDC Odododiodio Constituency Office.

Fire on Wednesday gutted the Odododiodio Constituency office of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) near Palladium in Accra. The fire which started around 4pm destroyed the one storey building and damaging properties worth thousands of Ghana Cedis.

When 'The Times got to the scene the police were there to ensure peace and order whiles personnel of the Ghana National Fire battling with the fire. There was also a huge crowd who wanted to catch a glimpse of the incident.

Christopher Tetteh, a victim lamented about the fire outbreak especially not being able to retrieve any of his belonging s and that of the family's. Eyewitness who spoke to Times indicated that nobody was at the office at the time of the outbreak as house occupants were all present at a funeral ceremony of the relative who resided in the house .

The Deputy Public Relations Officer, of the Ghana Fire Service, Prince Billy Anaglate indicated that his men found it difficult to access the place as it was filled with people and vehicles. “There were vehicles and people which made it difficult for us to access the place and interfered in the rapid deployment.

He attributed the difficulty they encounted controlling the fire to the presence of the plastic chairs in the house which he considered very inflammable especially when water is poured on it. When asked if they have enough water to fight the fire, “The number of tankers with two thousand and three thousand water capacities has really help in bringing the fire under control” he noted.

Commenting on the actual cause of the outbreak, he said the cause is not readily known but believes based on the preliminary information gathered indicated that there could be some electrical gadget(s) which was left plugged in the house when the occupants left for a funeral. He therefore assured that investigations would be conducted to unravel the actual cause of the fire outbreak. “There will be investigations which will be done by interviewing people who were before and after the scene and some victims.

Information obtained from these people can assist in arriving at the true cause of the problem” According to him, there were no injuries and casualties.

The Accra Central Divisional Police Commander, Oklu Gyamera cautioned the public to exercise restraint and behave appropriately when such events occur, this he said when not complied to makes their work as well as that of the Fire Service more difficult to handle.

The Member of Parliament (MP) for the Odododiodio Constituency, Nii Tackie Commey has described the incident as pathetic and rather unfortunate. He said the news of the fire outbreak came as a shock as he together with other constituency executives was sympathizing with the bereaved family of the house.

He noted that the family of the bereaved were dear to his heart and promised to support them in his capacity as MP. “I can’t leave them like that, after the fire service personnel completed their job, I will see what I can do with my widow’s might.” He said. When asked about the burnt constituency office, he said though the office was important, he wants to first concentrate on the victims of the fire outbreak first before tackling their office, he noted. However, the aspiring Member of Parliament for the constituency Nii Lantey Vanderpuye declined to comment on the issues when contacted. END

Youth Must Embrace Entrepreneurship- Musah Mohammed, GM Discovery Int.Group of Companies

The General Manager of Discovery Group of Companies, Musah Mohammed has urged the youth to embrace entrepreneurship and discard the notion that working in a multinational company will make them more successful.

He said most graduates in Ghana are over desirous of working in a multinational company which they deem will make them more successful. He added that entrepreneurship was equally a rewarding venture if taken more seriously.

“Most giant economies in the world are built on individual contributions to the state especially the youth. It is time Ghanaian youths recondition themselves to bring innovative ideas and expertise for sustainable national development” he said.

He made this known at a press launch of Discovery Forum organised by the Discovery International Group of Companies, a multinational company with several subsidiaries like Discovery Energy & Minerals Ltd, Discovery Investments Ltd, Discovery Tourism Bang Ltd, Discovery Multimedia, Discovery Hotels and Discovery Micro Finance Ltd.

According to him, the Discovery Forum is the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility which seeks to address the needs and complexities of job creation to currently augment government’s efforts in creating more jobs for the youth for sustainable national development.

“This programme in a period of two years seek to empower the youth in Ghana and enable them be their own masters as well as to help create employment for thousands of youth through their own efforts”

Mr. Musah explained that the company will assist individuals and organisations to access resource and technical support for their private enterprises. This he said will open opportunities for the beneficiaries and how those opportunities can be explored for their career development and private development.

He noted that his outfit will provide 100,000 jobs for the youth in a space of two years with special areas in Agriculture and the Oil and Gas Industry. “Two years from now the forum will create not more than 100,000 jobs for the youth.

This same initiative has been replicated in countries in the sub-region which used to be war and conflict shackled and has helped their economies immensely” he said.

Speaking briefly on the Discovery Beauty Pageant, the Producer of the programme, Edem Srem indicated that the beauty pageant is unique and different from others as it cuts across age, height, language, and academic qualification. He said the pageant is aimed at searching for beauty with creative talents which can be good for investment for human and national development. He added that the pageant will start at the regional levels and the winners of the various regions will compete for an overall national winner.

“The Discovery Pageant comes with attractive packages for various winners”