Power Minister Inaugurates Power Substation At Nyankpala

Power Minister

The Minister of Power, Dr. Kwabena Donkor has inaugurated a 52.6 million Ghana cedi electricity substation at Nyankpala in the Tolon District in the Northern Region for the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo). 

The 34.5 kilovolts primary substation and its associated distribution lines would address systemic inadequacies such as suppressed demand, excessive long lines, lack of capacity due to overloaded transformers, undesirable voltages among others. 

Government in 2013 secured a grant from the government of Japan for some power projects. The grant was meant to improve the power distribution system at some selected areas across the country. The Nyankpala project would create additional opportunities for NEDCo to connect many households to the national grid. This by extension would also afford NEDCo the opportunity to increase its revenue generation and capacity. 

Inaugurating the facility, Dr. Kwabena Donkor commended the government of Japan for the grant and technical support provided for the project. Dr. Donkor acknowledged that NEDCo since its establishment had had a number of challenges which the government and ministry was committed to resolving. 

He said in strengthening a distribution utility that served 64 percent land mass of the country, the people had a right to quality, reliable and improved service. He stressed that he would not rest on his oars in assisting NEDCo to improve its capacity, both operationally and strategically. 

The Minister of Power also expressed dismay at the recent vandalism of the offices and equipment of NEDCo by some unknown assailants in the Tamale Metropolis. Dr. Kwabena Donkor condemning the act, vowed to deal ruthlessly with the perpetrators of such a crime. 

It would be recalled that recently some unknown assailants stormed the commercial service office of NEDCo in Tamale to vandalize equipment and property in protest over routine power outages in their vicinity. 

The Tamale Metropolitan Security Committee (METSEC) placed a 5,000 Ghana cedi bounty on the perpetrators of the crime. But no one has since been arrested up till date.

Dr. Kwabena Donkor condemned the act and said he would not hesitate to relocate the head office of NEDCo to Techiman in the Brong-Ahafo Region if such acts of vandalism continued. He said he would absolutely have no regret in taking such a decision, noting that the era of vandalism particularly in Tamale must come to an end. 

The Power Minister made a call to the Regent of Dagbon Kampakuya Naa Abdulai Yakubu to advise the people of Tamale in particular, that as a minister, he would not tolerate their behaviour. 

The Deputy Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Abdul-Basit Fuseini also observed that the power substation would contribute significantly in the stabilization and efficient distribution of power in the region.

He urged residents to take advantage of the availability of the power to facilitate and expand their businesses so as to improve upon their income levels.                                           

Pilgrims Missed Being Airlifted From Tamale Airport To Mecca

Mrs. Dzifa Attivor

Muslims from the Upper West, Upper East, Northern and Brong Ahafo Regions of Ghana, who are preparing to embark on the 2015 pilgrimage to Mecca, would not fly directly from the Tamale Airport as earlier promised by the ruling government.

During the organisation of the 2014 pilgrimage to Mecca, President John Dramani Mahama made a pledge to airlift all pilgrims from Northern Ghana from the Tamale Airport to Mecca. At the time, the airport was to undergo construction to upgrade it to an international standard and also extend the length of the current runway which was much shorter in distance and therefore, was not suitable for bigger aircrafts to land and take off. 

But it seems the President’s promise would not come to pass. This is because, Queiroz Galvao, the Brazilian contraction company working on the airport recently hinted it would not be able to finish work as planned. Work was supposed to come to an end by August or September 2015, but the contractors insisted that they need at least six more months to finish. 

The contractors who briefed the Minister of Roads and Transport, Dzifa Attivor during her recent working visit to Tamale to inspect the ongoing project, said construction of the runway had delayed due to huge deposits of clay soil encountered by the company, and which required a considerable amount of time to remove all of it.

Proposed Outlook After Completion of Work

Mrs. Attivor expressed disappointment about the failure of the contractors to complete the first phase of the project on the set date. She said she expected the timeline for completion of the project to be met so that pilgrims to Mecca could fly direct from Tamale so as to save them time and money by travelling to Accra.

The first phase of the project involves the extension of the current runway from 2,480 metres to 3,940 metres and the installation of a complete lighting system to enable aircrafts land and takeoff in the night. 

Mrs. Attivor told the contractors that the government would not accept any additional cost for any extra work being done. The Minister was also confident that the yet to be completed Tamale International Airport would to a large extent, bring a lot of economic benefits to northern Ghana through foreign investments and a boost in the tourism industry. 

The Project Manager of Queiroz Galvao Constructions, Mr. Ruben Claudio Weto said the first phase of the project was at its last stage and was confident work would be completed by six months time.

Govt Makes Huge Investments To Improve Potable Water Access In Northern Region

Dr. Kwaku Agyeman Mensah

As part of efforts to meet its Strategic Investment Plan by 2025, the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) through the support of the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing has signed various contracts with international corporations to rehabilitate and expand most of the water systems in the Northern Region.

Sector Minister Dr. Kwaku Agyeman Mensah, who revealed this during his recent visit to the Northern Region, said the GWCL and the government had contracted a loan facility of US$189 million for the Tamale Water Rehabilitation and Expansion Project.

Additionally, he said another US$30 million had been contracted for the rehabilitation and expansion of the Yendi Water Supply System, US$19 million for the Damongo Water Supply System as well as Bole, Salaga and Buipe Water Supply Systems. 

The Minister assured GWCL workers of government’s commitment to provide the necessary support for them to deliver efficiently. He urged management of the company to continue to adopt innovative ways of collecting bills to enhance their service delivery to existing and new customers.

Managing Director of the GWCL Fred Lokko who accompanied the Minister also announced that by the beginning of August 2015, the company would introduce prepaid meters to all its customers nationwide.

The policy, he explained, was intended to enable the GWCL check illegal connections and non-payment of bills which had become a bane on its revenue mobilisation effort. Mr. Lokko said the refusal of customers to pay bills was making it impossible for the company to maintain, rehabilitate and expand its machines in order to meet the demands of existing and new customers. 

According to him, the company over the years struggled to collect bills from customers after providing them water. Adding, he observed that most customers were comfortably enjoying the services of the company, but felt reluctant to pay their bills. 

About 50 percent of treated water produced by the GWCL is unaccounted due to non-payment of bills, illegal connection and incessant leakages mostly caused by high water pressure and construction activities of contractors or private citizens. When it is eventually rolled out across the country, the prepaid water metering system would ensure that customers pay before consuming water and not the vice versa. “It is going to be pay and consume” instead of “consume and pay later”, Mr. Lokko pointed out.

He regretted that the prepaid meters were introduced on pilot basis in one of the regions some years ago but it met some opposition from the public. But this time round, he said customers would have no option than to embrace the policy in order to save the company from dying.

Stop Flouting Standing Orders-GDCA To MMDAs

It has emerged that, many metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) in Ghana are not fully complying with requirements in the model standing orders (MSOs) enshrined in the Local Government Act of 1993, Act 462. 

Responding to a questionnaire during a survey conducted in 2014 by the Ghana Developing Communities Association (GDCA), it came to light that majority of respondents had low awareness on the frequency and types of Assembly meetings as required by the MSOs. 

“A small percentage of the respondents (7%) were aware of “requested meetings” whilst “ordinary meetings” was the most widely known among the respondents (30%)”, lead researcher Paul Osei-Kufour, said at the launch of the report in Tamale recently.

According to Mr. Osei-Kufour who is also Programs Manager, CDD-Ghana Tamale Office, the survey revealed that, half of respondents (83%) interviewed indicated that MMDAs did not adhere to the mandatory period of notice required for summoning Assembly members to ordinary and requested meetings of the Assembly.  

The survey, he said, also found out that notice of MMDA meetings were not published in newspapers and local radio stations as required by the MSOs. “None of the MMDAs interviewed was found to have published notice of its meetings in the newspapers”, he stated.

Dubbed: “Decentralisation in Ghana; Survey on The Model Standing Orders Of District, Municipal And Metropolitan Assemblies”, the survey was conducted in 25 districts nationwide by GDCA with funding support from DANIDA and STAR-Ghana.

Executive Director of GDCA Alhaji Osman Abdel-Rahman, said the survey sought to examine the extent of MMDAs compliance with the requirements in the MSOs regulating the conduct of District Assembly meetings in Ghana. Adding, it was also to assess the degree of stakeholders’ knowledge and awareness on the MSOs; as well as to provide recommendations to enhance citizens’ oversight and monitoring of the conduct of District Assembly meetings. 

The team of researchers, he said, administered a set of three questions including: (a) what is the level of awareness and knowledge on the MSOs of MMDAs?; (b) what is the degree of MMDAs compliance with key provisions in the MSOs regulating the conduct of District Assembly meetings in Ghana?; and (c) what recommendations can be made to enhance citizens participation in the District Assembly process in Ghana? 

MSOs provides for various types and meetings to be conducted by MMDAs including notification of meeting, service of notice, quorum for a meeting, election functions and removal of a presiding member and district chief executives, motions, questions, raising of point of order, adjournment, rules of debate, minutes and translations of standing orders, among others.

There are basically five types of meetings that are supposed to be held in every Assembly. The five basic meetings are: inaugural meetings, ordinary meetings, requested meetings, special meetings and emergency meetings. 

Furthermore, it emerged that, in almost all of the MMDAs, minutes of meetings of MMDAs reached Assembly members when the next summons were being submitted. “Out of the respondents who confirmed receiving minutes after attending Assembly meetings, most of them (49) indicated that they received the minutes two (2) months/beyond 8 weeks after Assembly meetings”, Mr. Osei-Kufour noted.

He further pointed out that, a large majority of respondents (71%) stated that their MMDAs had not fixed the fee for the public to pay to obtain copies of minutes of meetings of the Assembly contrary to the provisions in the MSOs.  

While recommending that the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) strictly enforce the fixing of fees for the public to pay to obtain copies of minutes of Assembly meetings, the report also said, “at best, this provision could be expunged in view of the fact that the parliamentary Hansard is free and not for sale”.

The report also recommended that “MLGRD should consider placing time limits on preparation and circulation of minutes of Assembly meetings to the Assembly members” in view of the significance of the minutes of MMDAs at the local level. 

Civil Society Organisations, the media and the MLGRD have also been asked to deepen public education and sensitisation on the MSOs as it places obligations on MMDAs whilst enhancing social accountability.

The report further urged the MLGRD to make announcement of MMDAs meetings in widely circulated newspapers and local radio stations mandatory as against the persuasive clause in the MSOs so that the public is well informed and is able to track District Assembly meetings at the local level.