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It does appear that my public opposition and condemnation of the directive issued by the Ghana Health Service and the Ghana Airport Company that seeks to impose mandatory vaccination restrictions on the right of entry into Ghana of citizens, has stirred up the hornet’s nest. That is understandable given the considerable public interest in the matter of forced vaccinations. After, a careful and objective consideration of the contrived justifications being mounted by some for compulsory COVID-19 vaccination restrictions on the right of entry into Ghana, I am fortified in my belief that same is unconstitutional, illegal and unjustifiable, as the directive is neither supported by law nor the science of COVID-19. 1. Article 12 of the 1992 Constitution enjoins the Executive, Legislature, Judiciary and all other organs of government and its agencies to respect and uphold the fundamental human rights and freedoms provided under Chapter five (5) of the 1992 Constitution. 2. Article 21(1)(g) of the 1992 Constitution expressly guarantees the freedom of movement of all persons in Ghana, which means the right to move freely in Ghana, the right to leave or to enter Ghana and immunity from expulsion from Ghana. 3. As a lawyer, I know that the fundamental human rights and freedoms provided under Chapter five (5) of the Constitution are not absolute but subject to certain exceptions or conditions. Clause 4 of article 21 of the Constitution allows for the imposition of certain restrictions on freedom of movement. However, it is clear from the terms of Article 21(4) of the Constitution, that the freedom of entry into Ghana of a citizen of Ghana is not one that is or can be subject to the imposition of restrictions by a law. Per Section 2(1) of the Imposition of Restrictions Act (Act 1012) 2020, only the restrictions specified under Article 21(4)(c)(d)(e) of the Constitution can be imposed by the President through an Executive Instrument. 4. Article 21(4)(c) of the Constitution provides for the imposition of restrictions that are reasonably required for defence, Public safety, Public health or the running of essential services, on the freedom of movement and residence within Ghana of all persons (including citizens). Note that this provision relates only to the imposition of restrictions on the freedom of movement and residence within Ghana and not the right of entry into Ghana by citizens. 5. Article 21(4)(d) of the Constitution provides for the imposition of restrictions on the freedom of entry into Ghana or movement in Ghana of a person who is not a Citizen of Ghana. It is thus clear from the provisions of Article 21(4)(c)(d)(e) that the Constitution has not provided for the restriction of the freedom of entry into Ghana of a citizen. It is therefore right to say, that only the right of entry into Ghana of non-citizens can be reasonably restricted by law as provided under Article 21(4)(c). The new directive by the Ghana Airport company which seeks to impose a restriction (compulsory vaccination) on the freedom of entry into Ghana of citizens is patently unconstitutional, hence null and void. There is no constitutional justification whatsoever for same and I challenge anyone who holds a contrary view to adduce evidence of any such provision in the Constitution. 6. The claim that the Public Health Act, 2012 (Act 851) provides for Public vaccination and compulsory vaccination is true but not absolute as same is subject to three (3) exceptions, all of which are present in the instant case of mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations. A full reading of sections 21, 22 and 25 of the Public Health Act, 2012 shows that Public vaccination and the power of the Health Minister to make an order for compulsory vaccination is not at large, but subject to specific conditions. 7. Specifically, Section 21 of the Public Health Act exempts and prohibits Public vaccination in a situation where a person has natural immunity to a disease or a vaccine would be injurious to health. 8. With regards to section 22 of Act 851 which provides for compulsory vaccination, note that compulsory vaccination can only be done upon the issuance of an Executive Instrument by the Health Minister, which per my checks at the Assembly Press has not been done in the instant case of compulsory COVID-19 vaccination for travelers leaving or coming to Ghana. Also, per section 22, the Health Minister’s power to order compulsory vaccination is not absolute as cases where the vaccine is determined by the Public vaccinator to be injurious to health are exempted. Note, that the exercise of the discretion given to a Public vaccinator to determine whether or not a vaccine “would be injurious to health” is governed by Article 296 of the 1992 Constitution and therefore ought to be exercised in a fair and candid manner and not capriciously or arbitrarily. This is trite legal learning. 9. Additionally, section 25 of the Public Health Act, 2012 (Act 851) which provides for “Power of Entry for vaccination” by a Public vaccinator does not apply to situations where a person has natural immunity to a disease or in cases where the vaccine would be injurious to health. 10. I wish to state for emphasis, that there is no law in Ghana that gives government an unconditional right or power to forcefully vaccinate people even during a Public Health Emergency as government is seeking to do. Any Executive Instrument issued by the Health Minister ordering compulsory vaccination must comply with the conditions and exceptions provided under section 21, 22 and 25 of the Public Health Act, 2012 (Act 851). Even in cases where a law may be passed to impose restrictions on the freedom of movement or residence within Ghana on grounds of Public health or safety, such restrictions must be reasonable as provided by Article 21(4)(c). And the test of reasonability is objective and not subjective. 11. Again, there is no law in Ghana that gives government the right or power to deny a citizen of Ghana entry into Ghana if he or she refuses to be injected with a vaccine. Not even section 22 of the Public Health Act, (Act 851) 2012, contemplates, envisages and provides for that remedy. Subsection (2) of section 22 provides that an Executive Instrument issued by the Minister of Health ordering compulsory vaccination may prescribe “at what age a person is liable to a penalty for non-compliance”. And I submit that the penalty or remedy for non-compliance to compulsory vaccination by a citizen of Ghana cannot be denial of entry into Ghana as same will violate Article 21(1)(g) and 21(4)(d) of the 1992 Constitution. 12. More importantly, based on the totality of the legal and scientific evidence available, I strongly contend that compulsory COVID-19 vaccinations is not reasonable for the following reasons: A) None of the six (6) COVID-19 vaccines that are being forced on Ghanaians have been approved by the Food and Drugs Authority of Ghana. I) Information published on the website of the FDA on 28th October, 2021 indicates that none of the six COVID-19 vaccines have been registered or approved in Ghana by the FDA as required by section 118 of the Public Health Act, (Act 851) 2012. The FDA has only given Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to six (6) unregistered/unapproved vaccines namely: Sputnik V, Covishield, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca. II) At page 7, paragraph 3.2 of the FDA’s Guidel
ines for Emergency Use Authorization of Medical Products issued on 15th March, 2019 (Version No.: 01), Emergency Use Authorization is provided when “an unregistered medical product can be authorized for use during a declared public health emergency involving heightened risk of affliction or attack on the health, safety and security of the general public. The FDA continues to say that, that these (EUA) medical “products and their uses are not approved or cleared or registered under section 118 of the Public Health Act (Act 851)”. II) Also, at page 20, paragraph 4.11.2 of the above-mentioned FDA’s guidelines, the Food and Drug Authority of Ghana “recommends that: * recipients be given as much appropriate information as possible given the nature of the emergency and the conditions of the authorization”. * And that, “recipients must have an opportunity to accept or refuse the Emergency Authorized Product”. * “Recipients also must be informed of available alternatives to the product and of their risks and benefits. * Also the Authority recommends, written information be given to recipients in the simplest language possible and that same should “include the significant known and potential risks and benefits of the product and the extent to which the potential risks and benefits are unknown”. See https://www.fdaghana.gov.gh › …PDFGuidelines for emergency use authorization of medical products It glaringly clear from the foregoing, that the directives by the Ghana Health Service and the Ghana Airport Company seeking to impose mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations on all persons traveling to or out of Ghana violates the FDA’s own guidelines. I wonder if my critics will describe the FDA as an “anti-vax or conspiracy theorist” institution since their rules proscribe forced vaccinations relative to medical products or vaccines that have only been given Emergency Used Authorization and not approved or registered. B) The unregistered/unapproved COVID -19 vaccines have proven to be significantly ineffective. (I) All the earlier claims and narratives that suggested that COVID-19 vaccines prevent one from getting the virus and reduce the rate of transmission of the virus, the rate of severe illness or hospitalizations and deaths have been found to be false and revised accordingly. It has been scientifically established that fully vaccinated persons can still be infected by the virus (breakthrough infections) and can be severely ill of the breakthrough infection, hospitalized and even die. The number one advocate of COVID-19 vaccines, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Chief Medical Advisor the President of the USA has said that hospitalization among fully vaccinated persons in the US has reached significant levels. See https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/hospitalizations-rising-fully-vaccinated-us-fauci-says-rcna5907. Also, the UK Prime Minister, Borris Johnson has publicly stated that fully vaccinated people can be infected by the omicron variant and infect other people. II) Also, data from a scientific study conducted by Lancet Europe, one of the World’s most oldest and internationally reputable medical agencies, and published on 1st December 2021, show that vaccinated people spread the virus more than unvaccinated people. See https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanepe/article/PIIS2666-7762(21)00258-1/fulltext III) Additionally, the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), a Public Institution that is part of the United States National Library of Medicine, a branch of the National Institute of Health has published a scientific research report that indicates that countries and counties with higher vaccination rates such as Israel (60%), Portugal (75), Iceland (75%) among others, have higher COVID-19 positive cases per one million people than countries such as Vietnam (10%), South Africa (10%) among others with relatively lower vaccination rates. See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8481107/ IV) It is a notorious fact that the first case of the early cases of omicron infection in the US and other countries were found mostly in fully vaccinated people. https://www.reuters.com › world › usMost reported U.S. Omicron cases have hit the fully vaccinated -CDC | Reuters In short, the totality of available scientific data shows that the unregistered COVID-19 vaccines have proven to be ineffective in reducing the rate of COVID-19 infections or transmissions. Why then must people be forced to take so-called vaccines that have not been approved by the FDA of Ghana and has largely proven ineffective relative to its intended purpose? C) The unregistered COVID-19 vaccines have proven to be significantly unsafe. I) As I have already indicated, the FDA’s EUA guidelines indicates clearly, that none of the COVID-19 vaccines have been approved or registered. In other words, the FDA has not concluded its study, research and/or investigations into COVID-19 vaccines and do not have sufficient data on their efficacy and safety. This is why they have not yet approved the vaccines. II) COVID-19 vaccines such as the Pfizer vaccine, have been found to pose several serious adverse effects ranging from Nervous system, respiratory, Cardiac, psychiatric, musculoskeletal, vascular, blood disorders and even deaths or fatalities. The first batch of documents released by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the US related to Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine after a federal judge ordered that they must comply with a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that was filed by a government accountability group called Public Health and Medical Professionals for Transparency, titled Cumulative Analysis of Post-Authorization Adverse Event Records Reports, shows that in just the first 90 days of the vaccine’s roll out under the FDA’s EUA – from December 1st. 2020 – February 28th, 2021 – there were over 42,086 case reports of Adverse reactions and 1,223 deaths. Note that this is only the 500 pages of 329,000 pages of documents that the FDA of USA is yet to release. As a matter of fact, while it took the the US FDA 108 days to approve the Pfizer vaccine after it was given EUA, the US FDA is demanding for 55 years to release the same data that informed their decision to license Pfizer vaccine. III) Also, the WHO’s own data published on their VigiAccess.org Portal shows a total of over 2.6 million reports of Adverse Drugs Reactions to COVID-19. This number is very alarming as it is far higher than the total Adverse Drugs reactions of all vaccines ever produced in the history of the world over the entire duration that they have been administered. It should be clear to any objective mind, that given the fact that the COVID-19 vaccines have not be approved or registered, the Food and Drugs Authority cannot vouch for its safety. It is therefore unlawful, unreasonable and unconscionable to compel rationale human beings to take unapproved vaccines that may be injurious to their health, lest they lose their right of entry into Ghana and other civil liberties and fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution of Ghana. D) What is even worse, is that the manufacturers of the unregistered COVID-19 vaccines have been indemnified by governments across the world including Ghana against any legal suits arising out of any Adverse Drug Reactions or any form of liabilities, including willful misconduct on their part. This begs the question as to why our government will force us to take unapproved vaccines that its manufacturers are not ready to accept responsibility for. If the vaccines are safe, why is Pfizer, Moderna and the other manufacturers insisting on indemnification as a pre-condition for the supply of the vaccine? I salute the Indian government for rejecting the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines on grounds of this unconscionable indemnification conditionality among others, even in the midst of heightened and widespread COVID-19 positive cases. See https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-govt-wont-buy-pfizer-moderna-vaccines-amid-local-output-sources-2021-09-21/ E) Further more, the compulsory vaccinati
on directives issued by the Ghana Health Service and the Ghana Airport company do not take into cognizance peculiar underlying medical conditions or contraindications that may make the vaccines unsafe for some groups. In medicine, contraindication refers to a condition that serve as a reason not to take a certain medical treatment due to harm that it will cause the patient. However, the compulsory vaccination directives for travelers issued by the Ghana Health Service and the Ghana Airport Company do not make provision for any contraindications. For instance, save persons below 18 years of Age, no exemptions are made in the directive of the Ghana Health Service for people with severely immunocompromised health status, such as people with cancer receiving chemotherapy, people with HIV infection, people on long-term steroid therapy, people with advanced diabetes among others. Neither the FDA of Ghana or the Ghana Health Service has published any data or information on the impact of COVID-19 vaccines on people with some of these special conditions. This makes the wholesale compulsory vaccination for all persons above 18 years of Age unlawful and unreasonable. The evidence show that these unregistered vaccines may be injurious to the health of people with certain underlying medical conditions. (F) Again, the compulsory vaccination directive by the Ghana Airport Company and the Ghana Health service does not take into consideration people who have developed natural immunity to the COVID-19 disease and hence exempted from Public Vaccination and/or Compulsory vaccination as stipulated by Sections 21 and 25 of the Public Health Act, 2012. The Public Health Act, 2012 of Ghana is very clear, that persons with natural immunity to a disease cannot be forcefully vaccinated for that disease. Whereas, natural immunity is acquired from exposure to the disease organism through infection with the actual disease, Vaccine-induced immunity is acquired through the introduction of a killed or weakened form of the disease organism through vaccination. Either way, if an immune person comes into contact with that disease in the future, their immune system will recognize it and immediately produce the antibodies needed to fight it. Active immunity has been found to be long-lasting, and sometimes life-long. Studies from Public Health England (PHE) suggest that antibodies from people who had recovered from COVID-19 gave at least 83% immunity against re-infection. Due to this, hospitals in Michigan, now allows employees to opt out of vaccination if they present evidence of previous infection and a positive antibody test in the previous three months. See https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2021/09/09/spectrum-health-workers-can-use-natural-immunity-vaccine-mandate-exemption/8262491002/ and a publication by Medscape, one of the most authoritative sources of medical information in the world has corroborated this. https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/960533 There have been scientific studies in Isreal, where Anonymized Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) were retrieved from MHS’ centralized computerized database for the study period of March 1, 2020 to August 14, 2021. MHS which is a 2.5-million-member, state-mandated, non-for-profit, second largest health fund in Israel, which covers 26% of the population and provides a representative sample of the Israeli population demonstrated that natural immunity confers longer lasting and stronger protection against infection, symptomatic disease and hospitalization caused by the Delta variant of SARS. The research uncovered that SARS-CoV-2-naïve vaccinees or people who had received the Pfizer Covid vaccines for the first time had a 13.06-fold increased risk of being infected again with the Delta variant compared to those previously infected who had developed natural immunity. See https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.24.21262415v1 G) Finally, it is an incontrovertible fact, that trials and investigations into the efficacy and safety of COVID-19 vaccines have not been concluded by the FDA of Ghana. This why the vaccines have only be given EUA and not approved by the FDA. Therefore forcing people to take these unapproved vaccines which are still being investigated amounts to conducting scientific experiments on human beings without their informed consent. This is a clear violation of the Patients Charter provided under the Sixth Schedule of the Public Health Act, (Act 851) 2012 and all known medical ethics. CONCLUSION It is against the backdrop of the above-enumerated issues that I insist that the directives issued by the Ghana Health Service and the Ghana Airport Company that seek to impose mandatory vaccination on the right of entry into Ghana is unconstitutional, illegal, unreasonable and therefore unacceptable. For the avoidance of doubt, I am not against COVID-19 vaccinations per se. I believe that those who voluntarily opt to take the COVID-19 should be allowed to do so. What I am against is the unlawful imposition of restrictions (compulsory COVID-19 vaccination) on the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of entry into Ghana, particularly of citizens. What I am against, is the unlawful decision to forcefully vaccinate all persons traveling into or out of Ghana including citizens with an unapproved, ineffective and unsafe vaccine. No country in Africa has adopted this tyrannical compulsory vaccination approach to restrict the right of entry or freedoms of their people like we are witnessing in Ghana. In fact, I am yet to find any country in the world that has imposed compulsory vaccination restrictions on the right of entry of its own citizens. Even South Africa that is reported to have recorded about 3.1 million positive cases with over 90,000 deaths has rejected COVID-19 vaccine mandates. The President of South Africa, H.E Cyril Ramaphosa in an address to the South African nation few weeks ago assured all persons in South Africa that no one will be forced to take any COVID-19 vaccine against their will and that, those who refuse to take the vaccines will not suffer any punishment or discrimination or impediments to their rights and freedoms. Brazil has done same. This is the kind of responsible leadership we need in Ghana and not the leadership that is quick to to sacrifice the rights and freedoms of its people for financial aid that comes with compulsory vaccination conditionalities under the guise of public health. To those who are sincerely interested in knowing the truth about these issues, do not believe everything and anything you are told hook, line and sinker. Don’t be deceived by the uniformed advise or recommendations of officials or persons who hold big titles, most of whom are ignorant about some of these issues. Do your own study so you can make an informed choice for yourself. For knowledge they say, is power. I salute the Ghana Chapter of the International Human Rights Commission for speaking up against this unlawful and unconscionable directive by the Ghana Health Service. And I call on all men of conscience to speak up without any fear of misrepresentation, vilification or stigmatization. I am determined to join other like-minded persons to resist this oppression and grave injustice through every available legal means. COVID-19 vaccinations must be by choice and not by force. Signed, Sammy Gyamfi Legal Practitioner & Citizen of Ghana. NB: The views expressed in this piece are entirely mine and not that of any group that I am a member of or speak for.

Sulemana Braimah writes On the 2022 budget, the NDC caucus in Parliament just acted like their party did in the last election. “We have won, we have won” only to suffer a humiliating defeat. On the budget, they claimed, “we have rejected it, we have rejected it ” only to be humiliated in the end. I hope one day, we can trust what they claim or say. Now, we don’t even know their true position on the budget and the catastrophic E-levy. At some point, their leader says he agrees to a 1% E-levy. At the same time, the same minority group says their position remain unchanged. Then you are left wondering, which position they are talking about. The position of their leader or which position? Then my friend Okudzeto Ablakwa is reported to be claiming some sort of victory over what he says is cabinet withdrawal of the allocation of Ghc241million E-levy service fee. Then you wonder why will that be of interest. If there is no E-levy will there be an E-levy service fee? What the people are opposed to, and will suffer from, is the E-levy itself and that is what the people were looking up to the opposition to save them from. In the end, the people were just given a hopeless hope. The masses had hoped that for once, the oppostion will use their numbers to truly defend their interest. At this stage, I forsee E-levy in operation. I hope one day, we can trust what the NDC says or claims.

The former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu has said the Minority Caucus in parliament has betrayed Ghanaians three times since the second term of President Nana Akufo-Addo started in January 2021. In an article on the 2022 budget imbroglio, Mr Amidu, who described the behaviour of the Minority as one reminiscent of the biblical Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus Christ, said the first betrayal was the approval of some contentious ministerial nominees of the president despite having earlier vowed to reject them. “The second betrayal and sell-out came on 29 March 2021 when, without any tangible reason explaining its volte-face, the Minority Leader seconded the approval of the Minister of Finance nominee in a consensus voice vote in parliament”, the former Attorney General wrote. “The third betrayal and sell-out began Nicodemusly, with what appeared to have been the repentance of Judas Iscariot in the first two betrayals of the Ghanaian electorate on Friday, 26th November 2021, when we, the people, were deceived into believing that the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy had been rejected by parliament because of the vigilance of the Minority caucus in parliament”, Mr Amidu said. He noted that the NDC Minority caucus had, “unbeknown to the public, been assimilated into Nana Akufo-Addo’s one-party Kabuki dance ensemble”. “The Minority and the Majority held a secret meeting on 30 November 2021 at which the Minority agreed to absent itself from the main parliamentary sitting that day to enable the Majority abuse the 1992 Constitution and Standing Orders of Parliament in purporting to rescind the rejected 2022 Budget of 26 November 2021”, he alleged. In his view, the Majority caucus, which has “internalised the egoism of power of the government, has learnt to recruit the Minority for the Nana Akufo-Addo one-party Kabuki dance”. “The Minority caucus has, since the beginning of the second term of the Nana Akufo-Addo government, accepted integration and has become ‘the lizard that jumped from a high iroko tree to the ground [and] said he would praise himself if no-one did’ even when the electorate and its own ordinary members see them as traitors to the Constitutional role assigned an opposition party of 137 Members of Parliament in an equally split parliament”. “The Minority enabled the appointment of the Minister of Finance together with any 2022 Budget hardships he inflicts upon Ghanaians. Judas Iscariot repented. The NDC can do the same”, he said. Read Mr Amidu’s full epistle below: THE EGOISM OF POWER & THE LIZARD THAT JUMPED FROM A HIGH IROKO TREE TO THE GROUND – THE 2022 BUDGET: BY MARTIN A. B. K. AMIDU “Radix Malorum Est Cupiditas” THE FIRST BETRAYAL On 3rd March 2021, the Minority in Parliament contrary to its own avowed negative evaluations approved the affected ministerial nominees of the President for appointment. The Ghanaian electorate, including some members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Executive and its mass followers outside Parliament, who had the benefit of viewing what transpired in Parliament during the vetting process through public broadcasting felt betrayed, and disappointed by the brazen sell out by the NDC caucus in Parliament to the Government in the approval process. The Functional Executive Committee (FEC) of the NDC (NDC-FEC) held a crisis meeting the next day, 4th March 2021 and acknowledged in a press statement that: “… whatever the disappointment and disagreements may be especially from among the rank and file of the party, care should be taken not to allow these to degenerate into unnecessary bickering at the expense of party discipline and cohesion.” The statement added that: “We are also of the view that urgent action is required to deal with the matter and consequently we have initiated a consultation process with the Party’s Council of Elders in this regard. It is in our collective interest as a party to address challenges facing the Caucus Leadership and the Backbench as a whole. This task will be tackled expeditiously so as to preserve the unity, cohesion and resilience of the NDC parliamentary Caucus.” The tempers of Ghanaians and the ordinary members of the NDC itself were not assuaged by this appeal. Consequently, the Minority Leader on 5th March 2021 had to make a public statement on behalf of the Minority caucus in Parliament to reject claims that the Minority caucus had been influenced with money to vote to approve the ministerial nominees. He was at pains to point out in the statement that the caucus will never make money or consideration the basis of their engagement with the ruling party: “The Leadership and entire Parliamentary caucus of the NDC wish to reiterate our commitment to the cause of the great National Democratic Congress. We expressly reaffirm our resolve to hold the Akufo-Addo government to account over the coming days, months and years for their stewardship to the Ghanaian people. This is nonnegotiable. You may be disappointed in this outcome but we will not disappoint or let you down in the future. The Caucus has never been and would never be for sale.” The Council of Elders of the NDC then met with the Leadership of the NDC on Tuesday, 9th March 2021, to discuss the developments in Parliament arising from the approval of some of the Ministers designate on 3rd March 2021. As a squeal to this meeting the Council of Elders met again on Tuesday, 9th March 2021 with the Leaderships of the NDC and the NDC caucus in Parliament following which the Chairman of the Council of Elders issued a statement collectively agreeing that the incident of 3rd March 2021 in Parliament where some ministerial nominees were approved was “regrettable and unfortunate, and runs contrary to the principles and values of the party.” (Emphasis supplied). In the words of the press statement signed by the Chairman of the Council of Elders: “The Caucus Leadership have since pledged to uphold the principles and values of the party in our collective bid to develop our country. …. The Council urged the National leadership of the party to resolve issues relating to the Caucus leadership in Parliament and called on the rank and file of the party to remain calm, and provide the needed support to our Caucus in order to hold the Akufo Addo government strictly to the principles of probity and accountability.” Judas Iscariot could not keep faith with this first compact of integrity with the electorate facilitated by the Council of Elders for even one month. THE SECOND BETRAYAL The second betrayal and sell-out came on 29th March 2021 when without any tangible reason explaining its volte-face the Minority Leader seconded the approval of the Minister of Finance nominee in a consensus voice vote in Parliament. The real culprits behind the shameless compromises and sell out became public knowledge the next day, 30th March 2021 when the Squealer of the NDC appeared on Peace FM to admit the NDC-FEC’s responsibility and gave reasons for the betrayal by the Minority Caucus of the Ghanaian electorate. Peace FM reported the story as follows: “General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has revealed reasons why the Minority Caucus on the Appointments Committee approved Finance Minister-designate Ken Ofori-Atta. And it is shocking to the core as it is vain.” It was ind
eed shocking to the core as it was vain. The Squealer of the NDC said on air that: “We have strategies as a political party and some of the NDC leaders sat down and considered the approval of the nominee as to whether passing or failing him, which one will be in the interest of the party. So, we all decided that if we allow him to be the finance minister, it will be in the interest of the NDC….We realised during the vetting of the finance minister, he was exposed in all his wrong deeds…The banks he collapsed, PDS deal and bad financial decisions he superintended over; we needed him to be there to remind Ghanaians what he has wrought on this country…. tell Nana Akufo-Addo that if it is this lame-back finance minister he wants to still be in control of the country’s finances, so be it, and that is why we told our people to approve him.” The capitulation of the Minority caucus in Parliament in approving the Minister of Finance nominee who is now bent on inflicting a draconian and harsh 2022 Budget with economic and social hardships on Ghanaians was the handy work of a former Minister of Finance of the NDC and the NDC-FEC as I have written and pointed out in my analysis available online and on my website as: “The MPs Double Salary Criminal Investigation Docket Was Handled By the Attorney-General and Never By Martin Amidu As Special Prosecutor”, at page 3 under the sub-title – ‘The Double Salary & Other Criminal cases were Negotiated for Ministerial Approvals’ thereof. THE THIRD BETRAYAL The third betrayal and sell out began Nicodemusly with what appeared to have been the repentance of Judas Iscariot in the first two betrayals of the Ghanaian electorate on Friday, 26th November 2021 when We, the People, were deceived into believing that the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy had been rejected by Parliament because of the vigilance of the Minority caucus in Parliament. The NDC Minority caucus had, unbeknown to the public, been assimilated into Nana Akufo-Addo’s one-party Kabuki dance ensemble. The Minority and the Majority held a secret meeting on 30th November 2021 at which the Minority agreed to absent itself from the main parliamentary sitting that day to enable the Majority to abuse the 1992 Constitution and Standing Orders of Parliament in purporting to rescind the rejected 2022 Budget of 26th November 2021. The latest in the Nana Akufo-Addo one-party Kabuki dance is that, as expected, a letter with reference number PS/CS/167 dated 10th November 2021 [sic] under the signature of the Clerk to Parliament and addressed to the Minority Leader has put an end to the Kabuki dance as far as the sham attempts by the Minority caucus to save face in the name of rescinding the rescission of the rejected 2022 Budget on 30th November 2021 is concerned. The two paragraphs of the letter state: “Please refer to your communication dated 7th December 2021 on the Motion relating to a ruling of the Hon. First Deputy Speaker on Wednesday, 1st December 2021. The Hon. First Deputy Speaker, pursuant to Order 13 (2) of the Standing Orders of Parliament, has directed that I inform you that the Motion is not admitted. Meanwhile, the reality, substance and purpose of the Nana Akufo-Addo Kabuki dance were achieved in the acceptance by the Minority caucus on Tuesday, 7th December 2021 of the Majority decision on 30th November 2021 rescinding and approving the 2022 Budget. On 7th December 2021, the Minister of Finance laid before Parliament a modification to the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government for deliberations. The First Deputy Speaker directed that modification be made to the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of Government by attaching the modification submitted by the Minister of Finance to the original budget. The Minority Leader acknowledged the modification laid by the Minister of Finance and in preliminary comments to the Speaker’s directives for modifications to the 2022 Budget was reported by Joy News to have said that “the Minority was a very responsible opposition; declaring that ‘and therefore, we engage and we are engaged with Government, appreciating that social consultation is important to save our country and the economy…”’. He also said that: “Mr Speaker, we believe that the e-levy is punitive and it will undermine our quest to build a critical economy in seeking to tax (electronic financial) transactions,” Mr Iddrisu said. … So, Mr Speaker, we on this side (of the House), we are unable to support the Government in its quest to impose an e-levy at 1.75 per cent on momo (mobile money) and affiliated transactions including remittances… Therefore, we stand opposed, and at every level that e-levy is introduced, we will stand united to oppose it because of the effects on the core poor of the Ghanaian people.” On the next day, 8th December 2021 the NDC’s Squealer told Ghanaians that the NDC MPs are using every legal means to reject the budget. In typical Orwellian doublespeak fashion, he prepared the public’s mind for the obnoxious compromise with the Majority when he stated in his contradictory speech at the NDC Public Forum on the 2022 Budget that the approval of the Budget does not mean the e-levy has been approved since Select Committees have to further assess the fiscal policy. The General Secretary then gave the order of the FEC to the Minority caucus in Parliament in the following words: “So, we are at a stage where maybe from tomorrow, we will revisit the approval or non-approval of the budget. But whatever happens, we still stand by our position and we have agreed with our MPs that a boycott is not an option because if we boycott, what it means is that all these other stages will be a railroad. So, we will be present and undertake our key responsibility of holding the elephant accountable.” (Emphasis supplied). The Minority caucus had thus moved away from the draconian hardships and ills that afflict the 2022 Budget to concentrate on the E-Levy as its main objection to the rejected 2022 Budget which it treacherously facilitated to reinstate. The NDC Minority Leader was under instructions from the NDC-FEC to test the waters with the announcement he made on 2nd December 2021 at the 10th Anniversary launch of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications on the Minority accepting a 1% e-levy. This position was repeated by the NDC Squealer in his address to the NDC Public Forum on 8th December 2021. This explains the massive rescue operations undertaken by the NDC outside and inside Parliament to redeem the image of its Minority Leader after his speech at the 10th Anniversary launch of the Chamber of Telecommunications backfired. Anybody reading my last article – “The Shameless Compromises of the One-Party Political Elite against the Ghanaian Electorate” should have noticed that because I knew the real traitors behind the scenes, I portrayed the Minority Leader’s speech as the NDC position and not his own. The Ghanaian electorate had been hoodwinked with a circus of deceptions since 26th November 2021 of sham disagreements amongst the Nana Akufo-Addo one-party dance ensemble in Parliament. Rational and reasonable patriotic Ghanaians have always been on the alert to the machinations of such comprador political elites. Patriotic citizens were never deceived. Patriots unravelled every step in the betrayal process. We are now at the stage of what the two caucuses in parliament wanted and anticipated the most in the 2022 Budget season – the Budget Committee hearings and specially, the accompanying allowances of various forms and shapes. As usual, the Christmas calls and both sides must be one in the Kabuki dance against the interest of the Ghanaian electorate. There were still ugly noises by the Minority on Friday 10th December 2021 about demands for the financial proposals in the 2022 Budget including the e-levy to be laid before the House for appropriate consideration to avoid hasty approval under a certificate of urgency. The Minority Chief Whip stated on Friday that: “Mr Speaker, in the business statement from Tuesday to Friday,
conspicuously missing was the financial bills including the Electronic Transaction bill.” Parliament may rise on 21st December 2021 instead of 17th December 2021 ostensibly to give it time to consider outstanding estimates and other matters. But this is going to be business as usual amongst Nana Akufo-Addo’s Kabuki dance ensemble which has fully integrated the Minority caucus as it has been during each budget season. The Budget, as an important policy, and the Appropriation Act affecting the economic and social wellbeing of Ghanaians for the next year will be railroaded through Parliament and passed without prior consultation with affected stakeholders and We the People. We the People can go to hell. The next election is three years away in 2024. CONCLUSIONS The Majority caucus which has internalised the egoism of power of the Government has learnt to recruit the Minority for the Nana Akufo-Addo One-Party Kabuki dance. The Minority caucus has since the beginning of the second term of the Nana Akufo-Addo Government accepted integration and has become “the lizard that jumped from a high iroko tree to the ground said he would praise himself if no-one did” even when the electorate and its own ordinary members see them as traitors to the Constitutional role assigned an opposition party of 137 Members of Parliament in an equally split Parliament. The Minority enabled the appointment of the Minister of Finance together with any 2022 Budget hardships he inflicts upon Ghanaians. Judas Iscariot repented. The NDC can do the same. The best defence for the 1992 Constitution is for all patriots to continue exposing the one-party political elite who are really comprador bourgeoises for neocolonialist interests for who they really are by putting Ghana First! Martin A. B. K. Amidu Source: ModernGhana

By Koku Mawuli Nanegbe I have been more than shocked hearing President Nana Akufo Addo made the claim that amongst all of Ghana’s Presidents, he has made the boldest efforts in terms of corruption fight and fought it the hardest. I was shocked because that claim is a palpable untruth and unsurprising many Ghanaians have started confronting him on same. I recalled CDD’s Prof. Gyimah-Boadi in an interview on Citi FM the day President Akufo Addo clandestinely removed Auditor General, Daniel Domelevo from office. “As for President Akufo Addo’s credibility in terms of anti-corruption, I am afraid to say it is in tatters. It has been in tatters for a while but this (Auditor General, Daniel Domelevo’s) removal from office puts a nail in the coffin. I see Domelevo as a victim of well-orchestrated actions by individuals who are [government] officials and by state institutions,” he said. The very day President Akufo Addo made that absolutely false claim at the “International Anti-Corruption & Human Right Week” celebration, a listener to “Eye Witness News” on Citi FM sent a text message which reads; “it appears President Akufo Addo is fighting the corruption in a different Ghana”. It was the most perfect response for me at that time to Nana Akufo Addo as I listened to the ensuing discussions aboard a vehicle from Koforidua to Accra. But to have President Akufo Addo who deep down his heart knows the reality; that corruption is worse in his regime but pretending and stating something to the contrary, is by itself a case of corruption. What President Akufo Addo did, it is a massive psychological strategy or ploy; to merely continue talking as though something about the subject matter (fighting corruption) is truly happening on the ground to hoodwink the people. This is based on the notion that majority of Ghanaians are mostly tempted to believe what they consistently hear. Two other Appointees, aside President Akufo Addo who employed same strategy to normalize (diffuse) corruption perception around them were Pius Hadzide and Charles Bissue who in between the times of their scandals were consistently made to appear on Radio/TV, defending the Akufo Addo government. The investigative report on the Australia Visa scandal on Deputy Minister, Pius Hadzide’s and the Presidential staffer, Charles Bissue galamsey bribe matter vis avis how President Akufo Addo handled these 2 critical matters and others lend credence to the ploy. Whereas President Akufo Addo refused to make public the Visa scandal investigation report he commissioned, his government frustrated the effort of the Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu who was keen on investigating and prosecuting Charles Bissue. It is the reason why the corruption related cases of Pius Hadzide and Charles Bissue are hardly seen as topical issues today. But how really did President Akufo Addo fight corruption?? Here, I encourage all of us to read the Ghana Olympic Committee/Commonwealth Games Association (GOC)/(CGA) President, Ben Nunoo Mensah’s report on the Visa scandal at the time the news broke in Australia. GOC/CGA President, Ben Nunoo Mensah was emphatic that 2 National Sports Authority (NSA) staff; Christy Ashley and Hussein Addy who acted as Data Entry clerks for the Commonwealth games admitted to inserting illegal names into the list of participating teams. For instance, the report says Hussein Addy admitted to having been instructed by the International Games Committee (IGC) Chair, Pius Hadzide to illegally insert 12 names as guests of the games, whereas Christy Ashley also admitted that NSA Director General, Robert Sarfo Mensah and NSA Board Chair, Kwadwo Baah Agyemang respectively instructed her to insert 4 and 5 illegal names into the list. What is however, very interesting is that when you check the investigation report the Police National Headquarters CID issued on the matter, prime suspects – Christy Ashley and Hussein Paddy didn’t feature in it. GOC/CGA President’s report is all enough for any serious leader to rely on to deal with the perpetrators of the crime and the shame the Visa scandal brought to Ghana. Under Nana Akufo Addo, Ghana’s arguably most determined Auditor General (AG), Daniel Domelevo was sacked from office purely because as corrupt as the Akufo Addo government is, it felt uncomfortable with the work of the Auditor General (AG) who was only executing the constitutional mandate of the office. AG Daniel Domelevo’s deliberate persecution started with the appointment of one of Ghana’s backward former Auditor General, Edward Dua Agyemang as Board Chair of the Ghana Audit Service whose job ostensibly was all to frustrate Daniel Domelevo as he (Domelevo) hardly knew peace working as Auditor General. The last straw to break the camel’s back perhaps was Daniel Domelevo’s indication to do a forensic audit of the Akufo Addo government’s reckless COVID-19 related expenditures which occasioned a clandestine move to force Mr Domelevo to proceed on a supposed 123 days accumulated leave which was later extended to 167 days. On his return from leave, on March 2, 2021, it appeared other devilish plots were well hatched; the next day, March 3, President Akufo Addo forced Daniel Domelevo into an early retirement. Whereas Daniel Domelevo was forcibly retired at age 59, a year ahead of his retiring age, his Board Chair, Edward Dua Agyemang is still at post at age 84years. We are also witnesses to how Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu had to resign his position, accusing President Akufo Addo of breathing down his neck, particularly on the Agyapa scandal for which Mr Amidu tagged Nana Akufo Addo “the Mother Serpent of corruption”. This was on the back of the fact that, one fine Sunday whilst Ghanaians pwere in church Worshiping their Maker, President Akufo Addo had invited Martin Amidu to the Jubilee House and was seeking to order him to do a bidding of the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Attah which Mr Amidu rejected. Ken Ofori Attah himself had sometime earlier at dawn visited Mr Amidu’s home on same but albeit unsuccessful. At the height of the Agyapa controversy, Martin Amidu told Ghanaians to ask Ken Ofori Attah what he came to do in his (Martin’s) house at such ungodly hour at 5am? It was the Akufo Addo manipulative attempt which Martin Amidu could not stand that made him to resign. Again, Daniel Domelevo and Martin Amidu are highly rated for Anti- corruption and President Akufo Addo’s conduct towards them gave him away on his true commitment to Anti-corruption. Lest we forget that in 2019, Foreign Diplomats also could no longer remain mute on corruption matters in the country, forcing the Ambassadors of Netherlands, Norway, France, Czech Republic to challenge the government to confront corruption as it was sinking the image of the country. The Dutch Ambassador to Ghana, H.E. Ron Strikker for instant was blunt, advocating for a “Ghana Beyond Corruption” just as “Ghana Beyond Aid” because corruption is scaring away potential investors from their respective countries away and that lends credence to NPP’s Ken Agyapong’s Oman FM outburst that investors in Ghana seeking to meet President Akufo Addo are each charged $20,000 at the Jubilee House before being made to meet with the President, an act which he says will collapse the Akufo Addo government. The appointment of ABA Agyei as Public Procurement Authority (PPA) CEO and the “contracts fo
r sale” scandal he himself and his companies were mired in, for me is the height of the corruption matters under Nana Akufo Addo. I have no doubt only Prez Akufo Addo knew why he brought him to PPA because no serious leader interested in fighting corruption will appoint ABA Agyei to man PPA as his previous records on procurement at Ghana Water Company was more than scandalous and was with severe consequences. While at that, I have a question which has been lingering on my mind; how is it that a President who claimed he has protected the public purse is under whose watch the public purse leaked the most?? According to the Auditor General’s report, Financial irregularities between 2017 – 2020 amounted to Gh33 billion, averaging Gh8.3 billion per year, an average which is even higher than all the Financial irregularities averages of previous years. How have you protected the public purse when Ghana’s 2020 fiscal deficit is unprecedented 15.7%, which is over 300% higher than the 5% threshold for which reason this Intensive Care Unit (ICU) confined economy needs a revival, explaining why government is bent on imposing an unfair, regressive, draconian E – Levy on the people, caring little or not about its consequential effects on the overall economy. In 2019 alone, Prez Akufo Addo spent Gh62 million in only 9 months on Presidential travels that hardly brought any benefit to the people, also in less than 4 months in 2021, he spent Gh25 million on luxurious private jets in what has become known as “Serwaa Broni” travel and tours. In the 4th Republic, President Akufo Addo’s presidential vehicles are the most expensive to be used by any President. $250,000 Lexus – LX570 (4×4), $200,000 Maybach and $14,000 per hour private jet charter. How are these extreme cases of opulence and profligacy protection of our meagre public purse?? The saddest part is that upon all the claims of his personal or private life riches, he could not buy any of those top end vehicles for himself, or charter a $14,000 per hour private jet at the time but inconsiderately doing so now at the expense of the real needs of the suffering people. How is it also that, the one who claimed to have fought corruption the hardest, is yet to prosecute a single one of all his stinkingly corrupt Appointees? Mere words as Prez Akufo Addo is using doesn’t fight corruption. Dear reader, I do not intend bothering you with with what GYEEDA CEO Hon Abuga Pele, NIA CEO, Silvester Mensah, former Deputy Minister, Vicky Hammah etc have had to suffer in the hands of the government H.E. John Mahama leads when they had to face varied cases of prosecution, BNI investigations, dismissal for merely fantasizing to make $1million in politics. It was more than a nightmare and particularly that of Hon Abuga Pele, as painful as it was. According to H.E. John Mahama,” the easiest thing any government can do is to prosecute the Appointees of his opponents. However, the mark of a true leader is having the courage to prosecute your own”. That’s a simple test which Prez Akufo Addo had woefully failed and will continue to fail because he is never a man of his words on his corrupt and failing Appointees. I have said that it is after President Akufo Addo’s exit from office that we will know his true worth and how he is loved by the people, regardless of the fact that he already holds a title as Ghana’s worse President. Even the terribly performing Somalia currency (shilling) may someday appear to be in a competition over value with him. Koku Mawuli Nanegbe (The writer is News Editor, The Catalyst Newspaper and an Advocate at SDDDF-Africa)

Adnan Adams Mohammed The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) has revealed that it has a scheduled meeting with the Civil Society Organizations and other stakeholders this week to discuss the proposed Aker Energy/AGM and Ghana Petroleum National Corporation (GNPC) deal. PIAC says it has already met GNPC separately but wants to meet some Civil Society Organizations on the deal so it can state their position on the deal. Already, the Alliance of Civil Society Organizations working on Extractives, Anti-Corruption and Good Governance, have raised red flags on the deal as they claim Ghana will be shortchanged, if the government goes ahead to fork out US$1.65 billion for shares in two oil blocks. The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) wants to acquire stakes in two oil blocks—a 37% share in the DeepWater Tano/Cape Three Points (DWT/CTP) operated by Aker Energy and a 70% stake in the South DeepWater Tano( DWT/CTP) field operated by AGM Petroleum. “PIAC is doing independent analysis of the proposed GNPC-Aker/AGM deal”, Lawyer Nasir Alfa Mohammed, Vice Chair of PIAC, disclosed at PIAC’s 10 years Anniversary Public Forum in Accra, last week. “We have met GNPC already, we will meet CSOs on Monday. Then we will speak on the deal.” The Finance Minister in presenting the 2020 budget listed the deal as one of transactional agreements to be laid in Parliament for ratification next year. But the Minority in Parliament has stood against the laying of the deal in Parliament. The deal, when sealed, will mean GNPC will possess significant stakes in the offshore oil blocs, with Ghana’s shares in Aker Energy increasing to 47% while that in AGM blocs goes up to 85%. The Minority clarified that although it was not opposed to the GNPC’s planned acquisition, it has concerns over the inflated cost of the oil blocs. It has therefore called for an independent audit of the deal by the GNPC to ensure value for money. “We in the Minority is not against the policy or decision for GNPC to acquire higher stakes in the said oil blocks per se. However, it must be made clear that we have serious concerns about the proposed hyper-inflated purchase price of the blocks and demand that all the necessary due diligence, independent audits, valuation and appraisals must be conducted by GNPC to ensure value for money for the country before the deal is approved by Parliament.” However, the deal, according to the Ministry of Energy, will result in the formation of a joint operating company with Aker Energy, AGM and GNPC Explorco, the operating subsidiary of the state oil company, as partners. The GNPC is counting on Norway’s Aker and the United State’s AGM to build the muscles of GNPC Explorco, to become a profitable operator–exploring and drilling oil. Over the years, there has been waning interest from western investors in pumping money into the hydrocarbon (petroleum) industry considered as one of the many catalysts for climate change. It’s at a time when there is a demand for a cut down in carbon emissions. With the increasing consciousness about cleaner energy, the GNPC fears that as the funding sources for the sector dry up, Ghana will be left with billions of barrels of crude underground and without the financial and technical capacity to drill. The World Bank and the Bank of England have already raised red flags about the serious risk climate change poses to trillions of dollars of fossil fuel (petroleum) investments. But it is not deterring the GNPC. By this deal, the 38-year-old national oil company wants to position itself for the global energy transition at a time the national budget is heavily dependent on funds from oil and gas. Apparently, the CSOs, who appear to be on a rescue mission, say Parliament remains the last hope for stopping the deal, which they say has no value for money. Although Parliament’s Joint Committee on Energy and Finance has recommended approval of the government’s request for a loan to seal the deal, the 15 CSOs say the lawmakers need to step in, given that the executive has failed the due diligence test, “ostensibly glossing over important threats of the transaction to the country’s fiscal situation.” A breakdown in a memo the Ministry of Energy sent to Parliament shows that while US$1.3 billion is for acquiring Aker’s interest, US$350 million is for the development cost of developing one of the blocks –Pecan phase 1. However, the Committee slashed down the amount requested by the government from US$1.65 billion to US$1.45 billion. They also asked the GNPC to go back and further negotiate the cost down. The CSOs, including the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), Ghana Anti Corruption Coalition, Integrated Social Development Centre, Institute for Energy Security (IES), Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas (CSPOG) and Imani Centre for Policy and Education, want the lawmakers to “institute a full-scale investigation into the transaction.” The purpose, they say, should be to “verify the actual cost incurred by Aker so far on the Blocks, clarify the inconsistencies in the presentations by GNPC and allow for open consultation and hearing to provide opportunities for independent expert opinions.” In 2018, Aker Energy bought the deepwater Tano Cape Three Points block from Hess Energy for $100 million, announcing plans to embark on a “significant” oil exploration and production in Ghana, Reuters reported. When Aker took over the oil blocks, it triggered what would become major amendments in the Petroleum (Exploration and production) Act, 2016 (Act 919). The CSOs say two amendments to Akers agreement tamed the regulator, the National Petroleum Commission, limiting its regulatory powers on the activities of the company. The consequence was not lost on energy experts, who believed that the changes reduced the state’s share in the partnership with Aker, and snuffed out GNPC Explorco’s involvement in the deal in a manner that would build its operating capacity. But by May 2021, the plans went south as Aker announced plans to offload part of its 50% shares. Making a case for the GNPC’s lack of capacity to be an operator, they pointed to a billion dollars sunk into the company’s operations in the last 10 years in anticipation that it would become an operator. According to them, the investment does not reflect on the field or GNPC’s balance sheet. “So far, about US$1 billion has been given to the Corporation, but it has failed to drill one well. The country needs a clear pathway for supporting the national oil company, rather than using billions of dollars of the public’s money in risky bets that might instead go to support Ghana’s health, education and economic development,” they said in a value-for-money analysis of the deal. They continued: “otherwise, the guise of the energy transition will only be a smokescreen to waste more resources and line the pockets of foreign companies and people who may be short-changing the country deliberately.” However, the then Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GNPC, Dr. Kofi Koduah Sarpong believed the CSOs are completely being misguided because their concerns are borne out of the lack of facts and real-time information and that they must avail themselves to be thoroughly briefed on the arrangement going forward. PIAC seems to have the final say as an oversight body on behalf of Ghanaians
and therefore we patiently wait for their response as soon as possible.

The President of the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara, has met with Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi to discuss the status of the fast-tracked development of the Baleine discovery, which will be the first net-zero development in Africa for scope 1 and scope 2 emissions. The Prime Minister Patrick Achi, the Secretary General of the Presidency, Abdourahmane Cissé, the Minister of Water and Forests Alain Donwahi, the Minister of Finance Adama Coulibaly, the Minister of Education Superior and Scientific Research Mr. Adama Diawara and the Minister of Mines, Oil Resources and Energy Thomas Camara also attended the meeting. Eni has committed to a phased development strategy for the Baleine field, through an accelerated development (Phase 1) with start-up by 2023 that will allow an optimized time-to-market. In parallel with the first phase, the full-field studies will advance. The project will leverage the best available technologies to minimize GHG emissions, implementing high efficiency plant solutions, process energy recovery and the reduction and control of fugitive emissions. As part of the meeting, and in order to promote decarbonisation in the country, Eni and the Ivorian Ministry of Mines, Petroleum and Energy signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which provides for initiatives in the field of Natural Climate Solution aimed at offsetting greenhouse gas emissions through the protection, sustainable management and restoration of degraded natural ecosystems; agricultural development initiatives focused on the cultivation of oil crops and the collection of natural waste and Used Cooking Oil (UCO), to be used as bio-feedstock for biorefineries (biogas, biomethane); the identification and possible development of power production projects from renewable or low carbon sources, with a focus on solar power; the implementation of local development projects in line with the National Development Plans of the Government of Cote d’Ivoire and with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations, including clean cooking initiatives focused on the construction and distribution of improved cookstoves which contribute to access to energy and emission offset, while at the same time creating development opportunities for local SMEs. In addition, Eni and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research have signed a MoU between Eni Corporate University and the Institut National Polytechnique Houphouët-Boigny to cooperate on capacity building initiatives to contribute to the training of local human resources. The potential of Baleine, in Block CI-101, is estimated at over 2 billion barrels of oil in place and about 2.4 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of associated gas, which will contribute to increase energy production in Côte d’Ivoire, strengthening the country’s role as a regional energy hub. The CI-101 block is operated by a consortium made up of Eni, the operator, and Petroci Holding. In the country, Eni owns stakes in blocks CI-205, CI-501, CI-504 and CI-802, all with the same partner Petroci Holding.

Adnan Adams Mohammed As the debate of fuel price cut by GOIL rages on, a former Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has shot down a claim by the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) that, the Petroleum Deregulation has rather increased fuel prices. The former CEO refuted that the claim indicating that the Petroleum Deregulation Policy was achieving its purpose in the realm of the four specific objectives which included removing the influence of government in the price of petroleum, fair competition, transparency in pricing and attracting investment into the sector. This comes in the wake of a giant in the downstream petroleum sector, GOIL unexpectedly reduced it pump price by GHp15 to respond to a call by commercial transport owners through a strike action for fuel prices to be reduced. The action decision of GOIL had pushed other Oil Marketing Companies to accused GOIL of allowing the government to control its pricing, which brings back a situation of price regulation. “There is more investment in the sector, the banks are now willing to invest in the sector by buying the fuel or investing the fuel station; as you can see fuel station spring up like a mushroom in the country – there is station at every corner – and this is because we have about a 100 oil marketing which are ridiculous of a country of these seize”, Alex Mould, the former CEO of NPA and Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) said in an interview.

“All these objectives have been achieved adding that now the government is not burdened with subsiding the fuel and the price of products in the sector was transparent.” He, however, noted that the number of players in the industry was an issue the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) must address. “If you have that many players some would try to cut corners,” he said. According to him, some of the players were already cutting corners by adulterating fuel, adjusting pumps so that they would not give the right amount of fuel and selling contaminated fuel. He said the NPA should be playing its supervision role better to avert these bad practices so the consumers were not continuously violated. The former Chief Executive also attributed the hike in prices of petroleum to the excessive taxes government has placed on them. He said in addition to the reduction of the price stabilisation levy, the government must either reduce or remove the Special Petroleum Taxes on fuel products. He explained that the reason for the Special Petroleum Tax was no longer relevant and, therefore, the tax should be reduced if not scrapped totally

Celebrations take place across the Vivo Energy to mark the Group’s 10th anniversary Vivo Energy, the pan-African retailer and marketer of Shell and Engen-branded fuels and lubricants, has marked the first decade of the Group’s formation with local celebrations across its 23 operating countries and support teams. The company was formed on 1 December 2011, initially with seven Shell-branded countries, and a further eight Shell-branded countries being added to the Group within two years. In 2019, eight more countries were added, this time under the Engen-brand. Vivo Energy Ghana joined the group in 2013. In its first decade, the Vivo Energy story has been one of growth, nearly doubling the size of its Retail network. Other highlights include creation of a non-fuel retail offer, development of the Commercial offer, adding alternative Power solutions, and growth of the Lubricants business. Commenting on the milestone, Group CEO, Christian Chammas said: “1st December marks a special day in the history of Vivo Energy, and I am very proud of the immense achievements that we have achieved over our first 10 years. These include our relentless prioritisation of HSSEQ; our sustained growth; our focus on customers; and a determination to always do business the right way. Underpinning all of these is the dedication and commitment of the teams who work for Vivo Energy, and I pay particular thanks to them for their ongoing commitment to deliver our strategy, guided by our purpose.” Mr. Kader Maiga, Managing Director, Vivo Energy Ghana added: “From the very start the Vivo Energy Group set out to be a fast acting, entrepreneurial and agile organisation, supported by the strength and reputation of powerful consumer brands. In Ghana we try to live up to the Group’s ambitions on a daily basis, offering high-quality products and services to our Retail and Commercial customers, and striving to achieve the Group’s vision of becoming Africa’s most respected energy business. It is worth noting that Ghana’s retail network has almost doubled since joining the group, setting industry standards and driving innovation in the downstream petroleum sector. As it moves into its next decade, the Vivo Energy Group is stronger than ever, with favourable macro trends driving long-term demand growth in our markets. Vivo Energy will continue to invest to grow its fuel and non-fuel offerings to meet this demand, while broadening its product mix to provide long-term benefits to customers and stakeholders.

Adnan Adams Mohammed A statesman and business giant, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, have finally cleared rumors of him nurturing presidential dreams. The Former Finance Minister and Governor of Bank of Ghana at a public lecture today in Accra emphatically confirmed that, should delegates of the National Democratic Congress give him a chance to lead the party as a presidential candidate, he will happily accept the challenge and campaign to be the President of Ghana. The successful banker and political office holder in an interview with the media after he delivered a resounding lecture on the theme: “The Ghanaian Dream: Transforming The Economy Through The Creation of Jobs And Opportunities For All”, said he would welcome a decision of the delegate of the NDC to make him the presidential candidate for the party in the next general elections. “I was the Finance Minister so I was in Politics but we have not started talking about the NDC presidential race yet, if we get there and I am given the nod, why not?” Dr Duffuor posited when answering a question posed by the media at the Institute of Fiscal Studies(IFS) organised event.

In answering a further question posed to him on whom he could chose as a running mate, he noted “There are two people who are doing very well in politics, they are lawyers. “Look at Bagbin with over 30 years in politics, look at this young man Haruna, any of them. If I have Haruna Iddrisu or Bagbin, any could be my running mate, they are working hard, they are in politics and they will complement me.” Dr. Duffuor’s lecture contained proposals and recommendations on how to get our economy back on track, how to create employment in both existing and new arenas and how to use economic policy to create real change and opportunity for every man, woman and child in Ghana. Below are some key extracts of the lecture: ☑He said there’s the need to “widen the circle of opportunity” through sustainable employment generation because decent, sustainable incomes, improves the tax base and relieve pressures on the state to provide welfare and safety-net services. “As we continue our discussion today, we mustn’t forget that, behind all these numbers and policies, are real people with real hardship and it is our responsibility as a nation to address. A job is much more than an income, it is a key to dignity, self-reliance and empowerment. A job will allow a person to dream, to plan, to challenge oneself and to build and support a family who in turn will go on that journey. That is the Ghanaian dream, and it should be available to all, regardless of his or her background” ☑Dr. Duffuor said the barriers to employment must be removed to ensure inclusive opportunities in the labour market; “Our policymakers must ensure that our young women and young men have the requisite education and skills to succeed in the jobs of the modern economy. It is only through such means that our youth will have good jobs which will lift them out of poverty and which in turn will make them more stable economically and socially.” ☑He said a new commitment to “quality vocational skills”, giving them the same worth as academic education is the way forward. “Ghana must place vocational education and training at the center of job-creation strategies, so as to successfully address high youth unemployment and skills gaps in the workforce. This calls for investment in vocational education in formal institutions, where the training provided should be aligned with labour market requirements. The government should work with employers to determine these requirements and establish a program whereby employers can provide practical on-the-job experience to the trainees.” ☑He said the commercial banks’ lending rate in Ghana has remained stubbornly high for decades and the high cost of borrowing, has continued to pose a real challenge to Ghanaian business community. “There is a need for public intervention to create a level playing field in the entire bank credit market for both the larger and smaller banks. This will lower their cost of funds and thus be able to lend at a lower lending interest rate to support the growth of businesses in our economy and help generate decent jobs. We want to be a nation of entrepreneurs and in order to achieve that, we have to give people a realistic chance to start and maintain businesses, and the first step in doing so is lowering the cost of borrowing.” ☑He said a comprehensive policy reforms in the Agric Sector is needed to improve the sector’s contribution to the economy and job creation. “We need to unearth the employment generation capacity of the agro-processing sector, and in order to do that, the key constraints that inhibit growth have to be addressed. These constraints include electricity supply, access to credit, unfair practices of informal competitors, and customs and trade regulations. Policymakers must strive to incorporate such capacity building into curricula.” ☑ He spoke about developing the cassava value chain to create jobs and incomes. “It’s time to elevate the status of cassava in the national economy. Increased industrialization and commercialization of cassava to support rapid economic growth and job creation.” ☑ He said the country has a huge potential for renewable energy which remains underexploited, and it is high time we convert these renewable potentials into actual energy. “With industrialization, Ghana’s demand for electricity has been growing. This has prompted the country to seek alternative renewable energy sources to complement the currently dominant hydropower energy supply. Nevertheless, the electricity generation company, Volta River Authority, is unable to generate enough electricity to meet the demand of all sectors. Therefore, Ghana has been struggling with increased power rationing in the country over the past decade. The expansion of renewable energy has therefore become imperative to Ghana not only to fulfil people’s electricity needs but also to take initiative to reduce carbon gas emissions and to combat climate change. The fuel which is derived from natural and available resources reduces the cost of operation as it will also reduce the country’s dependence on fuels and energy from foreign sources. Furthermore, renewable energies are the cleanest and promising energy sources for future generations, with stable price and environmentally friendly due to their zero carbon emission compared to fossil fuel technologies, which are typically mechanized and capital intensive, whereas, the renewable energy industry is more labor intensive. More jobs are created for each unit of electricity generated from renewable sources and is environmentally friendly.” ☑Dr. Duffuor said sustainable forest management can become an integral component of employment generation efforts and offer some unique advantages in fulfilling several economic, social and environmental objectives. “Targeted public investment can generate about 10 million new jobs in afforestation and reforestation, eco-tourism, manage natural forests, establish and manage urban and peri-urban green spaces, i
mprove watersheds and protect forests from fire. Such investments can also absorb unemployed workers and school leavers, increasing their income and consumption and supporting the growth of the economy. More importantly, such investments can help rebuild natural assets that have been severely depleted in the past. A glaring example which needs to be highlighted is this. The Ghana Forestry Commission’s available data reveals that by 2008, Ghana’s forest cover had depleted to 1.2 million hectares from a forest cover level of over 8.5 million hectares on the turn of the millennium. This severe depletion was through irresponsible timber harvesting and the mismanagement of the charcoal industry. This unfortunate situation should be reversed at all cost and based on the current costs of sustainable forest management activities, 10 million jobs could help to establish, restore or improve about 8-10 million hectares of forests and woodlands, reversing deforestation and degradation, placing Ghana on the very cutting edge of the green economy.” ☑He said we need to make Recycling an easy way in Ghana to protect the earth, help the economy grow, and generate jobs. “It is a labor-intensive work, involving collection, sorting, and processing activities. It also includes other supporting roles such as facilities operations, sales, and logistical support. By making recycling a daily habit here in Ghana, we will create jobs and clean up our environment; there are no losers in this matter and no excuse not to pursue it.” ☑He said Ghana needs to create adequate fiscal space to raise infrastructure spending substantially and in order to narrow the deficits and ensure rapid economic growth and job creation. This should be done by taking bold decisions to increase public revenue and control the growth of debt service spending and consumption-based expenditures like employee compensation and purchase of goods and services. Areas that should be prioritized for increased infrastructure investment include: (1) roads, where the problem is quite pressing and has given rise to community agitations, expressed through public demonstrations, in many places; (2) health infrastructure, where investment will directly yield thousands of good, permanent jobs in the health sector; (3) electricity transmission and distribution, to ensure households and firms enjoy truly stable power supply to improve productivity; and (4) education, to eliminate, with urgency, dilapidated classroom blocks and many schools under trees that are a dent on our national conscience. “A substantial increase in infrastructure investment over a sustained period will directly grow the economy and create thousands of jobs while strengthening the economy’s productive base to support long-term growth. It will also attract private investment and create a more competitive private sector that is better placed to benefit from new opportunities for international trade, such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) project. Infrastructure projects either hope, or lack thereof. A. nation which builds is a nation with confidence, as it invests in the quality of life of its people today and tomorrow. Ghana is a growing nation, a nation on the cusp of greatness, and investing in our infrastructure is a crucial step on the journey to a bright future.” ☑Dr. Duffuor also touched on the controversial E-Levy introduced in the 2022 Budget statement. “The proposed E-Levy is very problematic because it could be fraught with serious implementation challenges. This tax could undermine the Ghanaian Digital Economy.” ☑ He said there is so much additional revenue that can be generated from the extractive sector, which is currently left in the hands of private investors who extract publicly endowed resources in the sector. Accroding to him, the IFS estimates show that by adopting the same approach that Ghana’s peers use to generate revenue from their extractive sector (oil and mining subsectors), Ghana can generate additional US$4.3 billion from the sector yearly. Currently, this amount is equivalent to more than GH€25 billion. This lost revenue clearly dwarfs the GH 6.9 billion in revenue that the proposed E-Levy is projected to fetch the country in 2022. ☑He said research conducted by the Institute for Fiscal Studies(IFS) has shown that exchange rate depreciation is a significant driver of Ghana’s public debt dynamics, as it accounted for almost 30% of the growth of public debt between 2006 and 2019. These problems call for the effective management of inflation and the exchange rate to ensure their stability to protect living standards and support rapid economic growth and development. To achieve this requires, from the macroeconomic perspective, disciplined fiscal and monetary policies. “Mr. Chairman, this has been done before. In 2009–2012 under the Mills NDC administration, our success in lowering the fiscal deficit from 14.5% of GDP in 2008 to 4% of GDP by 2011, as well as our success in slowing the rate of monetary growth, facilitated a fall in inflation from 18.1% in December 2008 to single digits for 31 consecutive months starting from June 2010 to December 2012. This remains to date the longest period of single-digit inflation in Ghana since independence. The exchange rate also achieved a measure of stability during the period, as it depreciated by 10.1% per annum on average in 2009–2012, which is one of the lowest rates of average depreciation during the Fourth Republic. The World Bank indicated in their 2011 report that in 2011, Ghana was the fastest growing economy in the World with GDP of 14.5% and a decline in interest rates to the lowest level in four decades. In his 1999 speech at “President Ball and Fundraising dinner” at the Tema Rotary Club, Dr. J.L.S Abbey lauded the 1998 Macro-Economic Performance of Ghana, saying “Last year, most of the financial targets of Government were met: monetary growth over the period was less than 18 percent: the exchange rate depreciated by less than 5% and the rate of inflation declined. These targets were achieved by the strong enforcement of laws relating to banking and use of foreign currency, by prudent use of repurchase agreements in monetary management, and by placing a limit on excessive budgetary spending by government”. We have done this before. Mr. Chairman, I have personally been part of doing this before, so I know it can be done and that it must be done.”

Tax analyst Abdallah Ali-Nakyea has wondered why the government abolished road tolls and tollbooths when the main reason for having them in the first place was to rake in more revenue for development. The government announced the scrapping of the tolls to provide a respite to vehicle owners and road users given the heavy vehicular traffic and lengthened travel time such tollbooths cause couple with the ineffective revenue collection at such points on the roads. This was announced by the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, in his presentation of the 2022 budget statement and economic policy to parliament on Wednesday, 17 November 2021. Explaining the rationale behind the scrapping of the road tolls, Mr Ofori-Atta said the revenue that accrues to the state for the construction and maintenance of roads is inadequate and hence, the government has to look elsewhere to equitably generate revenue for the construction and maintenance of our roads. “Over the years, the tolling points have led to heavy traffic on our roads and lengthened travel time from one place to another, impacting negatively on time and productivity”. “The congestion generated at the tolling points, besides creating these inconveniences, also leads to pollution in and around those vicinities”, Mr Ofori-Atta said. “To address these challenges, the government has abolished all tolls on public roads and bridges”, he announced. “This takes effect immediately the Budget is approved”, he noted. “The toll collection personnel will be reassigned”, he said. “The expected impact on productivity and reduced environmental pollution will more than offset the revenue forgone by removing the tolls,” he added. The minister said to compensate for the road tolls, the government is looking to introduce innovative ways of raising revenue such as the proposed 1.7% phone transactions levy payable by mobile money users per transaction above GHS100. He said this will help the government to shore up revenue inflows to fund road projects in the country. However, Dr Ali-Nakyea said in an interview on Accra-based Citi FM on Monday, 22 November 2021: “The question is – even last year, the policy direction was to increase the rate of tolls, so, we can get more to rebuild the infrastructure. So, what changed; which is what I complained about policy inconsistency in the economic front”. He asked: “If the reason for abolishing the tollbooths to bring e-levy has to do with congestion at the tollbooths, fumes – don’t we even suffer more congestion and fumes in traffic; not even at tollbooths, even in normal traffic?” “So, even the tollbooths can be relocated instead of being abolished because our towns and cities have grown to outstretch the tollbooths; let’s relocate [them]. “In fact, it will not be the first time of relocating tollbooths: they’ve been moved forward from time immemorial, so, let’s look at that; increase it and I believe the stakeholder discussions that were held, people were all for an increase in tolls because they could see road networks being developed” he noted. “And, if it is about congestion, we even have some lanes that are e-tickets; then you don’t go and stand there and buy, you go because you are holding it already”. “Can we then, with digitalisation, go that way so all the toll booths will be digitised or portions will be digitised and people who are regular on that lane get to pay at a point; their system will by input like we have at the University of Ghana, Legon; once you get there, the bar lifts and you are gone”. Dr Ali-Nakyea said: “Indeed if the intention is to tax e-commerce, I believe the GRA has developed a framework for the taxation of e-commerce. Did we take that to look at how to implement it or we wanted an easy way out? Because the discussion has been on so many fronts – e-commerce, transfers, MoMo and the question is: even the use of the revenue to help infrastructure and you abolish tollbooths?” He said: “For me, my worry is the tracing and tracking of the revenue, else it goes into the drain, which is why I keep complaining that if we don’t plug the loopholes and we keep increasing taxes or introducing taxes, they go down the drain because the hole becomes wider”. “If we are saying 2.8 million people are bearing the tax responsibility of over 30.8 million people, when indeed, statistics show that about 14 million are supposed to be paying tax, doesn’t it presuppose that if we are to double the two million who are bearing the burden to about four, five, even up to 10 million, then our problem is solved? Why don’t we want to go that route to ensure tax compliance and we are looking for shortcuts, easy way out because the very people who are the 2 million, will be burdened the more”. “If we think that the MoMo is going to widen the tax net, we need to apprise ourselves of the unintended consequences of withdrawals, unintended consequences of going back to the old ways; I’ll go to the bank because you are now telling me bank transfers are not included [so] I’ll go back to old ways [and] transfer through the banks. I’ll endure the queue and the traffic if it will save me that amount because remember it depends on volumes – the higher the amount the higher you are going to be paying, so, with the small ones, I do it and pay”.