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A Civil Society group- Food Sovereignty Ghana (FSG) has won a landmark lawsuit against the Ghanaian government on Genetically Modified Organism foods (GMOs). A Fast Track High Court in the capital, Accra ruled in favor of FGS that the production and sale of GMOs cowpeas and rice in Ghana is illegal and should be stopped with immediate effect. FSG sued the National Bio-safety Committee set up by the Ghanaian government and Ghana’s Ministry of Agriculture last year in a bid to prevent them from releasing and commercializing genetically modified cowpeas and rice. But before the court gives it ruling on the matter, Ghana began releasing and commercializing GM foods in a very controversial way. The court said the Agriculture Ministry cannot approve the sale of GM foods until it rules on the case brought before it by FSG.

According to the FSG, the Ghanaian government cannot go ahead to implement the process for genetically modified foods since it has failed to comply with the provisions of the main Bio-safety Act. Ghana is a signatory to the Cartagena Protocol on Bio-safety which in part requires parties to promote public awareness and education regarding the safe transfer, handling and use of living modified organisms. The agreement also requires parties to consult the public on decisions regarding food bio-safety. Lawyer of FSG, George Tetteh Wayo commended the court for upholding the Rule of Law in the country, urging the Ghanaian government to create public awareness of GM foods before commercializing it. “This case is the first GMO case in Ghana. We are pushing this case to its final conclusion. The right thing must be done and respected. They need to consult the public and engage stakeholders. The Constitution of Ghana is clear on public awareness, how many Ghanaians can identify GMO cowpea on the market,” he told the press after the ruling.

Ghana is one of the few African countries that have allowed the introduction of GM foods. Currently, field trials of modified rice and cowpeas as well as cotton are underway in the Ashanti and Northern regions of the country. There were lots of debates about GMOs when a bill seeking to introduce the Plant Breeders Right Bill (PBRB), which protects the rights of scientists and corporations to seeds or crops, developed for Ghana was laid before the Ghanaian Parliament. For the crops in question, the country will have to depend on certified seeds invented by multi-national and other GMO seed producers, thus surrendering Ghana's food sovereignty to individuals and organizations in the developed world. Civil Society groups and anti-GMOs campaigners protested publicly, warning members of parliament and the government never to pass the PBRB which will allow GMOs into the country. But the Ghanaian Parliament somehow managed to pass the bill through the floor of parliament which many independent observers say was done without taken into consideration the concerns raised by some section of the Ghanaian public. Genetic modification refers to techniques used to alter the genetic composition of an organism by adding specific useful genes. These useful genes could make crops high-yielding, disease resistant or drought-resistant.The process used to alter the organism is known as genetic engineering. GMOs are the source of genetically modified foods and are also widely used in scientific research and to produce goods other than food.

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Ngwa Bertrand

04.Mar.2015

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Oil companies in Ghana have started laying off their workers to prevent loses due to fall in the price of crude on the world market. Crude oil on the world market has fallen to a record low of around $47 dollars and this is expected to affect the economies of the oil exporting countries especially those in the developing world. Ghana’s President, John Dramani Mahama said in January that the country will lose some $700 million oil revenue this year as a result of the falling price of crude on the world market. Ghana makes an average of $1.2 billion annually from crude oil production but the fallen price of the commodity on the world market has brought the expected revenue down to $500 million. Five major companies, Halliburton, Schlumberger, Stella Logistics, Baker Hughes, and Expo Gas have begun a retrenchment exercise seeing over hundred Ghanaian workers going home. The retrenchment started last month and is expected that more workers will be laid off this month. These companies are the ones working in the Jubilee Fields where Ghana’s oil rigs are located.

The companies issued a joint statement stating that it has issued notice to the General Transport, Petroleum and chemical workers union to begin negotiating with affected workers for their redundancy package. The General Transport, Petroleum and chemical workers union is responsible for maintaining the welfare of employees working with the oil companies. The Deputy General Secretary of the General Transport, Petroleum and Chemical Workers Union- Francis Sallah confirmed in an interview that they have officially received a retrenchment notice from the oil companies.  “Halliburton has served notice to lay off 5 Ghanaians, Schlumberger has written to us of 20 or 30, Stella Logistics says it is looking at cutting it total overheads cost by 25 percent, Baker Hughes is laying off around 20, and Expo 6 or 7”, he confirmed. He also added that the union is currently in talks with all the companies to arrive at acceptable redundancy package for all the affected workers. Some of the workers are said not to be happy with the decision and are likely to demonstrate this week against the decision.

Special Index project on corruption by the Institute of Economic Affairs of Ghana revealed last week that there is no transparency in the awarding and signing of contracts in the oil sector by the Ghanaian government. Ghana discovered its offshore oil and gas fields in 2007. By 2010, it had started pumping the first oil. Since then, oil has been produced in commercial quantities, and over the next 20 years, it could earn up to US$20 billion in export revenue for the country. It is expected that this will present an opportunity for the growth of the country’s economy but the picture has began to look different from what is expected. Quite a number of companies are scrambling to trade with Ghana in the oil sector. It is very difficult to verify their numbers due to restrictions on certain government documents, allowing them to continue to operate in the dark with the help of corrupt politicians.

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Ngwa Bertrand

02.Mar.2015

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Ghana will soon launch its national airline to replace the defunct national courier which suffered a devastated liquidation and ceased operation in 2005. This particular airline is said to be a joint initiative from the current Ghanaian government with a majority of support from the private sector. Ghana’s President, John Mahama told reporters at the commencement of refurbishment of a regional airport in the northern city of Tamale that the new national airline being considered by his government will be vibrant to compete with other African airlines. He urged the Ghanaian public to support and invest in the airline when it starts operation. In the recent past, independent observers and Civil Society Organization have expressed fears over the ability of the Ghanaian government to manage a commercial airline due to the previous failure.

Ghana’s first President, Kwame Nkrumah in 1958 established the first national airline-Ghana Airways with a startup capital of ₤400,000. The then government held 60 percent stake, with the defunct British Overseas Airways Corporation holding the remainder in the first independent nation in sub-Sahara Africa. But successive Ghanaian governments failed to sustain it due to mismanagement and corruption. However, President Mahama said his government has put in place the appropriate measures to ensure that the airline will not suffer the fate of the previous one. “For those who have apprehension I want to assure you even though it’s a new national airline, it is being done with the private sector. Government will be minority shareholder and the airline company that we partner with will have absolute management control”, he said.

According to the president, Ghana cannot afford to lose out on the current booming aviation business around the world. He urged the private sector to take the lead role in rushing for the shares of the new airline to become majority shareholders instead of given that opportunity to the government. Apart from establishing the new airline, the government is currently upgrading its regional airports to meet International Aviation Standards across the country. Last month, an Ethiopian cargo airline from the Togolese capital-Lome, crashed landed at Ghana’s international airport. There were no casualties. Since the incident, pressures have been mounting on airport authorities to relocate the airport to a different place where human activity is limited. The Kotoka International Airport is the only international airport for Ghana but human settlement is threatening the safety of the airport.

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Ngwa Bertrand

26.Feb.2015

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has finally agreed a $1 billion economic bailout program with Ghana. The deal was reached on Wednesday in New York but the agreement is however subject to approval by the IMF Board. Ghana is hoping to restore its ailing economy within the next three years on the advice of the IMF. In early February this year, government said it had concluded most of the outstanding issues concerning the negotiations and the deal will soon take off. Civil Society Organizations have said that the country’s economy might collapse if emergency measures are not taken by the government to seek external intervention. But critics of the IMF program have said that it will further worsen the country’s ailing economy. Opposition Spokesperson on Finance at Ghana’s Parliament, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei has said that people should brace up for harsher economic times following the government turning for an IMF bailout. "We are in for tough times, in the short term there will be difficulty. Utility prices will go up as a result, and the government will be asked to cut down expenditure by the IMF", Mr. Osei told Joy News.

But the Managing Director of the IMF, Christine Lagarde has downplayed such assertions that a bailout programme from IMF could see Ghana go through another phase of hardship. "There is always in partnership a bit of hardship to go with it. If the Fund is called upon to help, it is that the country feels that it cannot decide certain things on its own. It needs backup support, financing to make sure that it has access to enough funding to finance itself", she said. She added that it is in the interest of IMF to see Ghana restoring its fiscal discipline and macroeconomic stability and insisted that the IMF has changed its policy, moving away from the structural adjustment programme. "Structural adjustments-that was before my time. I have no idea what it is. We do not do that anymore. No, seriously, you have to realize that we have changed the way in which we offer our financial support. It is really on the basis of a partnership", Mrs. Lagarde added. The Ghanaian government requested last year for an IMF bailout after it struggled with the economy. Ghana’s currency fell about 40% against the major trading currencies, making it the worst-performing currency in Africa. Inflation shot up from a single digit to almost 15%, bringing a sharp rise in goods and services in the country. Ghana first sought IMF help in the 1980s when the country was under military rule. The implementation of the IMF’s program then saw subsidies wiped, public sector jobs cut and low wages for workers.

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Ngwa Bertrand

26.Feb.2015

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A special Index project on corruption by the Institute of Economic Affairs of Ghana (IEA) has revealed that there is no transparency in the awarding and signing of oil and gas contracts by the Ghanaian government. The 2015 report titled ‘P-TRAC Project’ by the IEA examined secret documents regarding the management of Ghana’s oil and gas resources from last year. The IEA warned the Ghanaian government last week that the current rate at which it is borrowing could lead to a total collapse of the national economy. This generated some disagreement between the body and the government. And it has delivered a second blow to the government over the operation and management of the oil sector.

The IEA is Ghana’s Public Policy Institute with the aim of promoting good governance, democracy and a free and fair market economy for sustainable economic and human development. The body said the only improvement made in awarding of oil and gas contracts by the government is the establishment of the Petroleum Commission to regulate the sector and to advise the government on the award of contracts and licenses. Apart from this, the IEA said all measures put on paper before the oil business started in Ghana have been thrown to the dogs. The research capacity of Parliament which was supposed to be following the oil and gas industry with an eagle eye is completely weak, given the green light for perpetual corruptions to unfold in the awards of contracts in the oil industry.

The IEA observed that the Ghanaian parliament can help stop the corruptions in the oil sector by passing two bills into law which would allow the general public unlimited access to government transaction documents. “Progress in this area hinges on Parliament passing two important pieces of legislation that are currently before it. These are the Right to Information Bill and the Petroleum Exploration and Production Bill, both of which have gone past the first reading stage,” the IEA said. It also expressed concern over the inability of the country to implement long term development team to handle funds from the oil and gas resources. “In the absence of a long-term development plan for Ghana, decisions on expenditures in the priority areas are at the discretion of the Minster for Finance. Neither Parliament nor the Civil Society Organizations play any major role in decisions on the allocation of funds or projects to be funded”, the IEA added.

This is not the first time concerns have been raised over the lack of transparency in the awarding of government contracts in the oil and gas sector in Ghana. The opposition in parliament raised similar concerns last year. Ghana discovered its offshore oil and gas fields in 2007. By 2010, it had started pumping the first oil. Since then, oil has been produced in commercial quantities, and over the next 20 years, it could earn up to US$20 billion in export revenue for the country. It is expected that this will present an opportunity for the growth of the country’s economy but the picture has began to look different from what is expected. Quite a number of companies are scrambling to trade with Ghana in the oil sector. It is very difficult to verify their numbers due to restrictions on certain government documents, allowing them to continue to operate in the dark with the help of corrupt politicians.

 

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Ngwa Bertrand

25.Feb.2015

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Finance ministers from the Eurozone have given the green light to the reforms submitted by Greece in exchange for the four-month extension of its bailout deal after a similar move by the European Commission. As many as nineteen ministers from the Eurozone released a statement on Tuesday, agreeing to extend Greece’s financial rescue package by four months. Earlier in the day, Greece unveiled its list of proposed reform measures to the European Union in a bid to secure the extension. The four-chapter reform list, which was unveiled publicly on Tuesday, includes a series of measures for bettering efficiencies in tax collection, the social security system and government bureaucracy.

The list is also aimed at fighting corruption, improving business and backing privatization. The reform measures, which are intended to alleviate poverty, will have “no negative fiscal effect.” The ministers said in the statement that the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund confirmed that the reforms proposed by Greece were “sufficiently comprehensive to be a valid starting point.” “We therefore agreed to proceed with the national procedures with a view to reaching the final decision on the extension by up to four months,” the Eurozone foreign ministers added.

In order for the initiative to take effect, it should win the approval of parliaments in several countries in Europe especially in Germany. The head of the parliamentary group of Germany’s the ruling Christian Democrats party, Michael Grosse-Broemer, said the case will be filed by German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble in the lower house on February 27. Grosse-Broemer also expressed confidence that “wide agreement will be reached,” despite “reservations about making further payments” to Greece.

Over the past weeks, Athens and the European Union have been at loggerheads over the country’s bailout loans. The government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, whose leftist Syriza Party stormed to victory in January 25 elections, has tried to renegotiate the terms of the country’s €240-billion ($270-billion) bailout it received in 2010 in return for imposing harsh austerity measures. During his electoral campaign, Tsipras vowed to reconsider the austerity measures, which have caused mounting dissatisfaction in the country.

 

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Ngwa Bertrand

24.Feb.2015

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