| Saturday, November 21, 2009 02:24:10 AMEx-Minister charged with stealing rice 
Akwasi Osei-Adjei, former Minister for Foreign Affairs, has been charged with stealing among others, over his role in an “economic diplomacy” to get the Government of India to lift a ban the country had placed on the exportation of food so as to allow Ghana import some £10,000 worth of rice from the country.
Daily Guide gathered that the government of Ghana is claiming that some of the sacks of rice are nowhere to be found while others have gone bad.
 
This culminated in Osei-Adjei being charged with stealing, causing financial loss to the state, abuse of public office, conspiracy to commit crime, and contravention of the Public Procurement Act.
Already, the government of Ghana is selling the said rice and Osei-Adjei has been in and out of court several times with the Attorney General over his involvement in the purchase of the rice and the decision of the Bureau of National Investigations to seize his traveller’s passport.
Daily Guide published in May this year that it had information that sections of a report compiled by the Government Transition Team had penciled Mr. Osei-Adjei for prosecution over supposed findings that he, in his capacity as Foreign Affairs Minister, used state machinery to import rice from India to the tune of £10,000 and that the rice was to be shared for members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The story had noted that he would be thus used as the first sacrificial lamb to justify claims by the Atta Mills Government that the past officials were corrupt, and as a prelude to his prosecution, damning portions of the said report had been leaked to the media so as to prepare the minds of the public and also weigh public opinion on the matter.
Osei-Adjei, in explaining the matter, told DAILY GUIDE the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not import rice and did not import the rice in question.
He stated that he used an “economic diplomacy” to get the Government of India to waive a ban the country had placed on the exportation of food, so as to allow Ghana import rice from the country.
He said that happened during the recent food crisis in Ghana when many countries placed a ban on the exportation of food.
According to him, after the India Government lifted the ban, a number of Ghanaian banks were informed of the facility and it became a purely private issue as the Ghana government had no further role to play.
“I remember we informed three different banks and the National Investment Bank wrote back to us that they were interested. The India Government then recommended a company and it purely became a private transaction.
“The bank then did all the economic and financial due diligence and saw that it was a viable venture and that they could even sell the rice at a cheaper price to Ghanaians and still make profit and that was what happened. The reports are there to confirm so I do not see the head or tail of all this,” he said.
The ex-Minister said the Ghana Government did not and was not to pay for the importation, did not act as guarantors and did not indemnify any of the parties, but only got the Indian government to lift the ban on exportation of food.
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| | OSAFO MAAFO LAUDS RE-INTRODUCTION OF RICE IMPORTATION TAXES
…But cautions government against over reliance
By Issah Alhassan, Kumasi, November 20, 2009
 | | Former Finance Minister in the previous administration of NPP, Mr. Yaw Osafo-Maafo |
A former Finance Minister in the previous administration of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Yaw Osafo-Maafo has lauded the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government’s decision to re-introduce the duty tax on importation of rice and other staple foods into the country. He has, however, cautioned the government to support local production to avert possible shortages. p> The two time cabinet Minister in the Kufuor administration said while the decision for the re-introduction of the duty tax would serve as a means of raising revenue for government and also provide a level playing field for local producers, failure on the part of the government to provide specific outlines aimed at boosting local production could result in shortage in supply, thereby raising the price of the product. The former Member of Parliament for Akim Oda, said government must ensure adequate provision of incentives to local farmers, such as provision of loan facilities, fertilizers and other chemicals necessary to stimulate local production, in order to meet the demands of the market, adding that other issues such as land tenure system must be adequately addressed to encourage local stakeholders to invest in the production. The failed Presidential candidate of the NPP was giving a general overview on the government’s budget statement presented to Parliament last Wednesday in an interview with ANGLE FM in Kumasi, on Thursday. According to him, the government can no longer sacrifice its meagre revenue for foreign importers at the expense of local producers, contending that “it is better to let importers pay importation duties and allow consumers to pay realistic prices than to lose revenue through subsidy.” The government of ex-President Kufuor removed import duties on rice and other staple foods brought into the country, somewhere last year, in the heat of the global economic crisis, as a means of cushioning consumers against the astronomical increases in food products, particularly rice, at the time. But Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, in presenting the budget statement last Wednesday, announced the government’s decision to re-introduce the tax in order to protect local farmers from unfair competition. The former Finance Minister also described as positive, the decision by the government to build the economy around Agriculture, but was very pessimistic about its ability to implement programmes outlined in the fiscal policy statement. Mr. Osafo-Maafo, however, slammed government for performing poorly at the micro level for the 2009 fiscal year, saying the inability of the government to control inflation, the downward trend recorded in the GDP growth of 4.7% and reduction in domestic revenue for the fiscal year, had resulted in the contraction of the economy, which according to him, could lead to the creation of unemployment. “My heart bleeds for the graduates of this country who are coming out of school, there would be a bale to secure job because the government has failed to create the enabling environment for job seekers,” he noted. He also took a swipe at the government for failing to take bold initiatives on taxation, rather than relying on foreign donor support. Mr. Osafo-Maafo, popularly known as “Oyeadeeyie” also disagreed with the government’s position on deficit and arrears, describing it as technically wrong and appealed to the Centre for Economic Policy Analysis (CEPA) to come out and set the record straight. He stressed the need for the government to present a true picture of the economic situation in the country and desist from vilifying the previous administration by concocting unrealistic figures. On the question of whether adequate provisions were made for cocoa farmers, the ex-finance minister stated unequivocally that the government had not dealt fairly with cocoa farmer, after failing to balance price on both sides insisting that “payment of bonus, rather than paying farmers realistic prices would in no way prevent smuggling.” Source: The Chronicle
Vodafone deal: Kufuor did it all alone?with Menna Rawlings in attendace 
Fresh documents available to The Insight indicate that former President J.A Kufuor single handedly negotiated Ghana Telecom’s price tag of $900 million with officials of Vodafone.
The former President did this at a series of meetings in London and Accra with Vodafone Chief Executive Arun Sarin.
A document on the meetings between the Government of Ghana and Vodafone Group reveals that President Kufuor met with Vodafone chiefs on 9th November 2007 and 9th march 2008, before then Communication Minister Benjamin Aggrey-Ntim was brought in.
Another document which is a report of a preliminary meeting with Vodafone on 3rd June, 2008 also confirms that the price of Ghana Telecom had long been decided.
Then Minister of Communications Dr Aggrey Ntim said at the meeting that: “The meeting was continuing from earlier negotiations held with higher authority and therefore the meeting was to provide information reflecting the views of the constituting institutions in the privatization exercise.
“The work of the meeting was therefore not to engage in negotiations but to draw the Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) and also consider what measures would be required to transfer the national optic fibre backbone.”
According to the document, the Ministry of Communications was coordinating the exercise and that Government had agreed for Vodafone to purchase 70 per cent of Ghana Telecom including the transfer of Telecom including the transfer of the Optical Fibre backbone.
On 9th November 2007 when President Kufuor met with Vodafone in Accra, one Menna Rawlings, Deputy High Commissioner was present with the Vodafone side comprising Arun Sarin, Gavin Darby and Herbert Osei-Baidoo.
On 13th to 14th November 2007 in Accra, Gavin Darby and Herbert Osei-Baidoo met with the Government of Ghana but here is no record to show those who actually represented Ghana.
Former President Kufuor also met alone with Arun Sarin, Gavin Darby, Herbert Osei-Baidoo and Matthew Kirk, all of Vodafone on 9th March 2008 in London.
For all the seven meetings held with Vodafone, Mr. J.A. Kufuor participated in a record seven.The import of Mr. Kufuor single-handedly negotiating the sale of Ghana Telecom was that no other price could be accepted by his government.
This probably could explain why the government did not accept the price of over $1 billion offered by South African Telecom. The sale of Ghana Telecom to Vodafone went through Parliament with a lot of public outcry.
In Parliament, the agreement laid before the house indicated that Ghana Telecom was being sold to Vodafone International BV of Holland. After the deal was approved, the buyers are now going with the name Vodafone Plc of UK.
A ministerial Review Committee investigating the deal has heard startling revelations including allegations that each member on the then NPP majority side in Parliament was paid US$5,000 for voting in favour of the agreement to sell Ghana Telecom.
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