IMANI ALERT TO PRESIDENT MAHAMA: HOW GhS 1.2bn ($500M) TIER 2 PENSION CONTRIBUTIONS MAY BE INVOLVED IN THE CONTROVERSIAL FORTIZ-MERCHANT BANK SALE SAGA

The Merchant Bank Allegations

There are serious allegations that the Bank of Ghana has made some of the Temporary Pension Fund Account (TPFA), Tier 2 PENSION funds being held at BoG) to Fortiz to purchase Merchant Bank. The TPFA would have accrued Ghs 1.3bn in the past three years that it had not been remitted to contributors’ Corporate Trustees. There are common denominators in the Fortiz-Merchant Bank saga and the TPFA. Mr. Mawuli Hedo is a Director of Both Fortiz and First Bank, the Scheme Administrators of the Temporary Pension Fund Account being held at the Bank of Ghana. Obviously, another interesting common denominator in all this is the Bank of Ghana itself. They are once Custodial Bank holding the TPFA. Is it true that they have made the TPFA available to Fortiz in their quest to purchase Merchant Bank? Doesn’t the Ghanaian pension contributor have the right to know?

Alas, the state’s Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) is another common denominator. SSNIT has been the collection vehicle of the Tier 2 since January 2010 when the implementation of the three-tiered pension system started. This they did till October 2012 – for some companies. All companies that have yet to select a licensed trustee to run their Tier 2 contributions still pay to SSNIT. Again, SSNIT is the majority shareholder of Merchant Bank. The more one knows, the clearer it looks what exactly is happening.

Though NPRA indicated that it was going to invest TPFA in Treasury Bills pending the registration of Pension Schemes, provisional statements released by NPRA in October 2012 indicated a return on investment of 2.75% per annum. This is disappointing given that the average Treasure Bill returns between January 2010 and October 2012 is around 15% per annum. Additionally the same provisional statement covered a period of 18months instead of the 34 months period (January 2010 to October 2012) over which contributions had been made into the TPFA.

The NPRA did indicate, in their Public Notice on their website in October 2012 that accrued benefits and contributions paid into the TPFA would be remitted to Trustees chosen by employers, starting January 2013. This has not happened up till now.

One of the serious implications of this situation is that people who were 54 years and younger when implementation started in January 2010 WILL NOT get the full value of their lump-sum benefits, upon retirement at 60. Thus all Ghanaian workers - both private sector or public sector workers - who were 54 years old or younger as at January 2010 will not get their full lump-sum benefits from Tier 2 Pension Schemes as NPRA is still holding on to 34 months of workers contributions and accrued benefits. There is no word from the National Pensions Regulatory Authority as to when these funds will be paid to the contributors or even how it will be paid.

Background

In September 2009, the Board of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) was set up to oversee the implementation of the National Pensions Act, 2008 (Act 766). The Act seeks to create a unified pension system under a three tiered pension structure, with SSNIT as the manager of the First Tier, and Approved Trustees (Corporate & Individual Trustees) as operators of the mandatory Tier 2 and Voluntary Tier 3 schemes.

In January 2010, the Temporary Pension Fund Account (TPFA) was set up to provisionally administer Tier 2 contributions pending the licensing of Trustees and the registering of Pension Schemes. Employers, from January 2010, remitted 5% (Tier 2 contributions) of their employees’ salaries to the TPFA. This continued for most employers till October 2012. First Bank was appointed by to be the Administrators of the TPFA, with Bank of Ghana serving as the Custodial Bank. NPRA itself, acting ultra-vires of the Pensions Law, acted as the Fund Managers of the TPFA.

In October 2011, the NPRA issued the needed administrative guidelines to make way for the full implementation of the Act. Private companies - Corporate Trustees, Fund Managers and Pension Fund Custodians - purposely established to fully administer the Tiers 2 and 3 schemes were licensed by the NPRA on March 16, 2012.

The NPRA finally, after almost 3 year wait without much information to workers and service providers, registered Pensions Schemes at the end of October 2012. Full implementation under of the reforms - Act 766 - thus started in November 2012.

What the Law Says
Section 218(4) says that the Board of NPRA shall within 90 days of licensing Pension Fund Managers, Pension Fund Custodians and Trustees, compute and transfer the accrued contributions and returns in the TPFA to Occupational Pension Funds opened by Trustees of employers’ choice and registered by NPRA. Pension Fund Managers, Pension Fund Custodians and Trustees have been licensed since March 16th 2012, over 18 months now, and yet it took the NPRA till end if October 2012 to register Schemes. The NPRA has not complied with Section 218(4).

Conclusion and Recommendation
With everything going on, we recommend that:

1. All activities of the TPFA should be audited by an external auditor.
2. Accrued contributions in the TPFA should be transferred into registered Tier 2 Pension Schemes selected by the various employers.
3. Bank of Ghana should submit a report on its stewardship of the TPFA.

Credit Mr. Franklin Cudjoe(Imani Ghana)

Do African Leaders Truly Respect our Freedom Fighters?

The world received news of the death "anti apartheid hero" Nelson Mandela. Though it is sad we can not say we didn't quite expect it.He had paid his due to his society,country and the world at large.
We hear from the international media messages from leaders of various countries expressing solidarity and condolence to S.A and the entire Africa.

UK Prime MinisterVerified account ‏@Number10gov

PM signs Nelson Mandela condolence book: Your generosity, compassion & forgiveness have given us lessons to live by pic.twitter.com/JN1N343vGr

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff until Monday' sunset to mourn the death of Nelson Mandela

"His commitment to transfer power and reconcile with those who jailed him set an example that all humanity should aspire to, whether in the lives of nations or our own personal lives. And the fact that he did it all with grace and good humour, and an ability to acknowledge his own imperfections, only makes the man that much more remarkable"-Barrack O. 

Ghana's Kuffour says Mandela is a rare species of human race,and 

Prez John Dramani say Mandela Taught a Continent to Forgive!

In all of this i ask,Does Africa really value the toil of freedom fighters like Mandela,Nkrumah and the rest of them?

The answer that rings in my ears is 

 mostly negative.The new breed of African leaders seem to be struggling to understand why the likes of Mandela will risk their live for the independence of their homeland.

The continent with its own people in leadership is bedeviled with various forms of corruption,depriving its citizens basic amenities from water,lights,schools roads,modern markets among others.

On the contrary,politicians are seem living a life of luxury and amassing wealth through dubious deals.

Most economies on the continent is stagnant coupled increase cost of living with each passing day.

Our fore bearers had ideals they stood for,fought for and were prepared to die for such ideals.That's what made them heroic!

But these days we have lip service politician echoing problems of society and neglect by the ruling parties only get the chance to perpetuate worse.

President Mahama's first report card

Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama charmed voters last year with his "Onetouch", but 12 months on some are questioning if he has the skills to manage the country's growing economy.

Twelve months after Mahama, 55, won the disputed election, Ghana's deficit has grown bigger, the cost of living is higher and a gloomy outlook  for west Africa's second-largest economy.

When the former vice-president was thrust into the top job by the death of his predecessor John Atta Mills in July 2012, some analysts questioned if he was ready to be chief executive.

After a period of national mourning for Mills, the election season came in speedily and so Mahama campaigned, no job performance, became the subject of scrutiny.

But the focus has since shifted 12months on!
He's still a very personable, likable guy. He is certainly still more likeable than some of the other political figures that he is compared to," Victor Brobbey, a researcher at the Centre for Democratic Development disclosed in an interview with AFP

But "a significant amount" of his appeal has eroded, added Brobbey.

"The economic problems he's facing now are somewhat of his own making.It's difficult to dispute that," he added.

Ghana has boasted some of the highest growth rates in the world in recent years, including eight per cent in 2012, driven largely by exports of gold, cocoa and now oil, which the nation of 25 million began producing in 2010.

But the bad news started for Mahama right after his inauguration in January.

In February, the government announced that it had overshot its deficit target by nearly double, going from 4.8 per cent of GDP at the beginning of 2012 to 12.1 per cent of GDP at the beginning of this year.

Fitch downgraded Ghana's debt rating to "B" from "B+" over its deficit. As the year went on, inflation jumped to 13.1 percent and the cedi plummeted, becoming one of Africa's worst performing currencies.

Brobbey said skyrocketing deficits were a common result of elections in Ghana, which has held six presidential votes since 1992 but is regarded as one of the most stable democracies in the region.

Other west African countries are still struggling with authoritarian rule and unrest, but analysts say the peolple of Ghana now have higher expectations, particularly demanding that revenue from commodity exports is well spent.

Financial analyst Sydney Casely-Hayford said the inexperienced Mahama has shown weak leadership in his first year.

"In terms of success stories we haven't done much," he said, adding that Mahama "is probably trying to figure out who he is and how he got here and what power and authority he has".

Reports released in mid-2013 sounded alarm bells over the nascent offshore oil sector.

Promises to spend oil revenue carefully on infrastructure, debt payments and agricultural development have not been well executed, the Accra-based Africa Centre for Energy Policy also added.

Instead, too much money has been devoted to unproductive political offices.

The Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas has said that failure to close tax loopholes on private energy firms have cost the country tens of millions of dollars. Anny Osabutey, a journalist with Ghana's respected Joy FM radio and a frequent critic of government,said there were too many unanswered questions about how the administration has been spending its money.

"When you say everything has been eaten to the bone, people begin to wonder, who ate it?" he said.

A scandal erupted last month when deputy minister of communications Victoria Hammah was recorded as saying that she would stay in politics until she became a millionaire. She was fired immediately.

Other scandals involving private companies making off with millions in taxpayers' money by overcharging the government various services partially executed and those that has nothing to show for.

The government has promised prosecutions in the case, but they have been slow to happen.

"I think the president has tried to pretend that he's only just stumbled on corruption in Ghana and he's playing a lot of lip service and trying to appease people into thinking he's actually doing something," said Casely-Hayford.

Brobbey credited Mahama with taking steps to curb the deficit by cutting subsidies on fuel and raising taxes and electricity rates.

The jumps in those costs have raised prices on everything from bus tickets to clean water and brought small, sporadic protests in poor neighbourhoods around the capital Accra.

The president's political position is strong, as his National Democratic Congress controls parliament.

But analysts said the opposition New Patriotic Party is still formidable and could easily exploit Mahama's fumbles. 

Info culled from  http://www.africareview.com

Few thingz to avoid while driving this holiday period

Hi everyone, it's a new day and the holiday period is speedily catching up with with us to usher in 2014.

Its a period most Nigerians refer to as"ember months". For those who don't understand. "ember" simply refers to the last quarter of the year with the suffix -ember.In Ghana it is believed that most of the accidents in year occur during this period simply because most of our folks rush to get things done, make extra cash for spending during the yuletide. With that in mind,I decided to write this to remind us of things we shouldn't be doing while driving. Some have become so common that they'll almost be regarded as normal. Still it's good we are mindful,so we get to say hello to ourselves in 2014, we will wish each other "a happy new year"Bellow i make a few list some of the thingz we gotta to be mindful about,not in any special order though!

Making or answering calls:This is a practice that has almost come to stay, despite numerous warnings.You yes you,are guilty of this.What can you do?Try placing your phone in your bag, drop it on the back seat and turn on the radio so u don't hear it ring or find it difficult to reach while driving.Hands-free have been recommended for people who by all means must pic their calls. I hope they don't take a call that distract their attention from the road.

 

Texting: Also guilty of this practice?It is absolutely wrong. It divides your attention from the road. Funny thing is, the text may actually wait, so why do it at that time?

 

Drinking alcohol: Lots of people have gone to jail and an early grave for this. Others to the hospital, sustaining permanent injuries and other Morgue.If you must drink, get someone you know and trust to take you home or call a taxi

Sleeping: This phenomenon may sound strange but it does happen. Most times though, not entirely the fault of the perpetrators. But if you took medications whose side effects includes dizziness/drowsiness, don't drive. if you are extremely tired, don't drive.There are times you really know you'll probably be sleeping on the steering wheel.You may just take a nap. 

No hurries

 

Eating: Another one you can't run from. You try to eat something with the excuse "I can hold with one hand. No flying nylons and drink with straws to avoid covering my line of vision". Thankfully, many cars these days have a space to keep your water bottles, so you don't have to worry about your drinks spilling. A bit safer than using both hands or drinking from a cup large enough to cover your whole face, still doesn't make it the right practice.

 

Driving with a child or pet on your lap: You may wanna show a little more affection by driving around with your kid or pet,but with all the seat belts in the car and car seats in the market, why carry your child of pet on your lap while driving?Regardless of how short or long the distance maybe,it still doen't make it a good practice.

 

Putting on make up/Changing your clothes: My cousin's wife and my lady supervisor may be the greatest culprits. We most likely will attribute this to heavy traffic in the capital city. Changing clothes,absolutely hilarious! what happened to your room or a stationary car?If you seem to be running late, at least put on the major items, carry your shoes and wear them upon arrival. Try to make the outfit a simple one like a dress. I almost didn't believe people o this until i saw it "feely feely"

Loud music: After hitting hard on the ladies,this one is mostly attributed to the fun loving guyz."I love good music and I love to blast it in my car" a "Naija"friend once mentioned.It becomes a distraction when you can't hear the honking of the car behind you or when you start dancing with your buddies and lose your concentration.

 

Keep it SAFE! Your family needs you,your friends needs you and your work definitely need your contribution

 

 

 

Ghana's Vice President Amissah-Arthur Resign?

If information published by the new statesman is anything to go by,Ghana's government and its people in general may be sitting on a fence.
The newspaper hinted that Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur had tendered a resignation letter to the Prez John Dramani Mahama 2months ago in protest against his relegation to the background in the scheme of affairs of the Mahama led National Democratic Congress government.The source also disclosed that Mr Amissah-Arthur only backtracked on his decision after being “talked to by leaders and bigwigs of the NDC” on the consequences his resignation would have on the governance of the country and the image of the NDC.
The Vice President has been livid about with no clear-cut schedule, and he believes his expertise is not being utilized in helping to run the affairs of the nation.

Mr Amissah-Arthur, the source said, only agreed to be Vice President, following the death of the late President Mills, and subsequently running mate to President Mahama in the 2012 elections, after an agreement had been reached that he would head all areas of the government regarding finance and the economy.Prez Mahama on the other hand was going to superintend over all other areas but the economy.


“Amissah Arthur, after being assured of control over the economy and other matters relating to the financial sector, as well as a say as to who gets appointed onto boards of governmental institutions had his dreams shattered,”  as it now turns out that Mr. Amissah Arthur has been relegated to the background and is now a ceremonial Vice President just attending events the President cannot attend. He is now seen as the fifth most powerful person at the Presidency, after President Mahama, Chief of Staff Prosper Bani, Deputy Chief of Staff Valerie Sawyer,and Stan Dogbe the
now seen as the fifth most powerful person at the Presidency, after President Mahama, Chief of Staff Prosper Bani, Deputy Chief of Staff Valerie Sawyerr; and Stan Dogbe the presidential staffer.

 The New Statesman further hinted that any ‘appointment’ made by Mr.Amissah-Arthur for placement onto boards of governmental institutions has to be vetted by Stan Dogbe before onward transmission to the President.Mr Amissah's ‘appointments’ never see the light of day as they are thrown away by Stan Dogbe the source added.
His lack of activity and the lack of respect for his office,prompted Mr Amissah-Arthur to tender in his resignation as Vice President of the Republic of Ghana which John Mahama received.

Following the alleged rifts, declaration of loyalty by staff at the Presidency has began as witness during Rawlings-Arkaah administration.The former Ambassador to Nigeria under the Mills administration, Baba Kamara, is said to have pitched camps with Mr Amissah-Arthur, despite being appointed as a senior Advisor to the President,registering his displeasure about sidelining the VP.
Bara Kamara had been a close associate of Vice President Amissah-Arthur with their friendship spanning over three decades

Anglican Priest Arrested For Rape

Rev. Fr Emmanuel Quartey a 39-year- old priest of the Anglican Church was on Monday remanded in prison custody when he made an appearance before a Cape Coast Circuit Court for allegedly raping a 20-year-old woman.

His plea was not taken and will subsequently be making an appearance on December 11.

Chief Inspector Ockom told the court presided over by Mrs. Eva Bannerman Williams that on Sunday October 17 Hannah, a resident of Siwdo in Cape Coast approached Rev. Quartey to help her break a blood covenant she had with her boyfriend.

Rev. Fr Quartey agreed to help her and asked Hannah to meet him on October 18 in a hotel in Elmina.

She complied and met Rev. Fr Quartey in one of the rooms where he forcibly had sex with her and warned her not to tell anyone or she would die.

The prosecution said out of fear the victim kept the incident to herself until November 6 when she broke her silence and informed her older sister about it.

A complaint was made on November 8 at the Cape Coast Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) and the accused was arrested.


Source : GNA

Lack Of Leadership The cause Of Africa's Woe's

The Omanhene of Essikadu, Nana Kobina Nketsia V says one of the major challenges dragging the development efforts of Africa is lack of leadership.

Its a known fact Africa has all the natural & human resources anyone could think of however, the citizens wallow in abject poverty because the leaders who are placed in the helm of affairs  to effectively manage/utilize these resources for the benefit of the masses are simply selfish and greedy.

According to him, these negative attitudes have resulted in the vicious cycle of poverty among the people and advocated drastic measures to rectify the situation.

Nana Nketsia made this known in Takoradi when he chaired an official launch of the Global Leadership Network, a civil society organisation, aimed at nurturing leaders that would ensure accountable and responsive leadership in the country.

He said a good leader needs to be dynamic in order to bring transformation on the lives of his subjects and hence underscored the need for those in leadership positions to set good example and be role models.

He noted that a good leader is not to play politics, but rather exhibit statesmanship that embraces everybody.

The Omanhene, who is also a historian and lecturer at the University of Cape Coast, said Ghanaians must imbue themselves with the traditional value systems that accentuate honesty, discipline, hard work, truthfulness and humility which are the bedrock for development.

The Founder and President of the Network, Mark Kakraba-Ampeh said its objective is to raise leaders to respond to the immediate challenges of the present time and lay a solid foundation for the development of leadership for future generations.

He said the Network would be established in educational institutions and organize training programmes for various social, economic and interest groups to imbue in them the tenets of leadership.

Mr Kakraba-Ampeh called on the President John Dramani Mahama, to tackle the wanton corruption resulting in the dissipation of the national wealth by politicians in league with private businessmen and civil servants.


Source: GNA