APA – Accra (Ghana)
The swearing in of three ministers, two ministers of state and a deputy minister at the Jubilee House in Accra by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Tuesday is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Wednesday
The Graphic reports that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Tuesday swore in three ministers, two ministers of state and a deputy minister at the Jubilee House in Accra, saying that although they were joining the government 19 months to the end of its tenure, there was still enough time for them to make a difference and significant contributions.
He said their various competencies, experiences and talents made that distinctly possible.
The ministers are the Minister of Trade and Industry, Kobina Tahir Hammond; the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong, and the Minister of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Stephen Asamoah Boateng.
The rest are the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam; the Minister of State at the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Osei Bonsu Amoah, and the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Stephen Amoah.
They took the oaths of Office, Secrecy and Allegiance administered by the President, who also gave each of them the scroll of office.
President Akufo-Addo said the country would soon reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to set the stage for the strong recovery of the economy.
“All of us have a duty to help make sure we get back to the years of high economic growth which characterised the years before the outbreak of the COVID-19 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” he added.
He reminded the new appointees that the quality of integrity which would permeate their work was extremely important, and that they should remember at all times the solemn commitment the New Patriotic Party (NPP) membership had made collectively and individually to serve the Ghanaian people honestly and competently.
He said they had been called to the public appointments to provide public service, not to promote their personal gains.
The newspaper says that the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) says the claim by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) that the government has over borrowed since assuming office in 2017 cannot be true.
According to the NPP, it is a false claim designed by the NDC to put the party in a bad light for political reasons.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra on Tuesday, April 4, 2023, the National Chairman of the NPP, Stephen Ayesu Ntim, said the NPP administration had managed all aspects of the economy better than the NDC would have done.
For him, if it was the NDC that was in power, Ghanaians would have been worse off.
“One of the central claims of the NDC’s false state of the nation address is that this government has over-borrowed. This is not true, but the NDC keeps repeating it,” Mr Ntim noted.
He said the opposition NDC likes to promote misinformation by computing the debt stock using nominal figures because it hides their NDC unprecedented rate of debt accumulation.
According to him, the best way to compute the debt to see which government has borrowed more, is by using the rate of accumulation.
Mr Ntim explained that former President Kufuor inherited a debt stock of approximately GHc5.4 billion in 2001 and added about 81 percent.
The Ghanaian Times reports that in a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court (SC) of Norway refused to grant leave to Messrs Jongsbru AS, a party to the judgment of Norway Court of Appeal given in favour of Ghana on November 2, 2022.
This was a preliminary decision by a three-member panel of the SC to Norwegian civil procedure rules.
The case concerns the litigation over the purchase of a property previously identified by the Republic of Ghana for use as a chancery building in Oslo.
Per the Norwegian law, if a Court of Appeal gives a judgment in a civil case and same is appealed at the SC, the court, would first, make a preliminary decision by taking into consideration, whether a new or major issue of law is raised in the matter.
The Norway SC does not hear an appeal on matters concerning the facts or evidence in a civil matter.
This judgment brings finality to the four year litigation in which the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr Godfred Dame represented Ghana.
The Court of Appeal on November 2, 2022 awarded cost of $250,000 in favour of Ghana.
The newspaper says that the Income Tax Amendment Act, Excise Duty Amendment Act, and Growth and Sustainabil¬ity Amendment Act are expected to generate approximately GH¢4 billion per year to supplement domestic revenue.
However, in separate interviews and statements issued by the var¬ious unions and compiled by the Ghanaian Times, they said the laws would negatively affect Ghanaians.
The President of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), Dr Joseph Obeng, expressed disappointment with the laws, explaining that it would affect the rate of tax compliance by businesses.
He said Ghanaian businesses were particularly not competitive in the West African Sub-Region due to the high taxes that they had to pay.
“Businesses are not competitive in the sub region and that is why some of us have to go and buy goods from Togo, so additional taxes will really affect our trade. It is going to make us pay a multi¬plicity of taxes and that is why we called it an obnoxious tax system,” he said.
High commercial lending rates, according to Mr Obeng, was anoth¬er big disincentive for businesses in the country.
“Commercial lending rate is at 40 percent, and how do you want businesses to pay this and still have money to pay all these taxes? This approval is going to impede our growth,” he said.
Dr. Obeng also tasked the gov¬ernment to look at other sectors to raise revenue other than overly burdening local businesses with taxes.
According to the Trades Union Congress’s (TUC), Deputy Secre¬tary-General, Joshua Ansah, the passage of the three new reve¬nue taxes would make life more difficult for Ghanaians, as many of the new taxes would be passed on to consumers and lead to massive job cuts.
Similarly, the spokesperson for the Food and Beverages Associ¬ation of Ghana (FABAG), John Awuni, said it was disappointing that Ghana’s lawmakers disregard¬ed the cry and agitations of the people and approved the bills.
He also expressed worry that the Association’s petition against the passage of the bills was ignored.
GIK/APA