My Ghana Electronic Desk

By Edmund Smith-Asante Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, Mr Alan Kyerematen and Ms Hanna Tetteh Three former Trade Ministers — Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, Mr Alan Kyerematen and Ms Hanna Tetteh — yesterday gave recommendations that they said could reverse the country’s continued trade deficit.

By Edmund Smith-Asante The Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, has challenged commercial banks in the country to accept the risk to do export financing. “You are not doing enough – the Ghanaian financial institutions,” he said, adding that the banks were not bold and courageous enough to do export financing.

By Edmund Smith-Asante, PARLIAMENT HOUSE Mrs Mona Helen Quartey at the Vetting The President’s nominee for the Deputy Minister of Finance portfolio, Mrs Mona Helen Kabuki Quartey, last Friday showed that she meant business when she renounced her United States citizenship so as to take up the appointment.

By Edmund Smith-Asante, PARLIAMENT HOUSE A former Deputy Chief of Staff during President John Evans Atta Mills’s tenure (2009-2013), Mr Alexander Percival Segbefia, has stressed that he did not apply for British citizenship at any time during his sojourn in the UK, although he could have done that if he so wished.

By Edmund Smith-Asante, PARLIAMENT HOUSE Members of Parliament (MPs) have raised an issue about their exclusion from a list of state officials who will receive courtesies from Ghana’s High Commission in the UK, should they travel there on official duties.

By Edmund Smith-Asante, PARLIAMENT HOUSE As part of its consultation process with stakeholders to fine-tune the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA) II for 2014 to 2017, the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) on Tuesday met with the joint Committee on Finance and Poverty Reduction Strategy in Parliament.

By Edmund Smith-Asante, PARLIAMENT HOUSE Mr Emmanuel Kwadwo Agyekum There was a baptism of fire for the Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Emmanuel Kwadwo Agyekum, when he stood in for the substantive minister to answer questions for the ministry last Tuesday. Questions flew from both sides of the House with the Minority especially asking the deputy minister a flurry of queries.

By Edmund Smith-Asante Benin Speaker of Parliament Prof Nago The Speaker of the National Assembly of Benin, Professor Mathurin Coffi Nago, has advocated that West African parliaments should hold consultations among themselves in order to be able to make contributions to the democratic process and socio-economic integration in the sub-region.

By Edmund Smith-Asante Despite several interventions that have been made by the government to stem corruption, it persists in the country, Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Nadowli/Kaleo, has admitted in Parliament. “In spite of moral crusades, executive instruments and the declaration of zero tolerance for corruption, corruption remains a serious issue in the country,” he said.

By Edmund Smith-Asante The Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Prof. Kwame Karikari, has stated that one of the gaps in Ghana’s democracy is its weakness at the grassroots level.

By Edmund Smith-Asante A Deputy chief manager representing the director of Banking at the Bank of Ghana (BoG) on Wednesday told the Judgement Debt Commission that there was no  “special judgement debt account” at the BoG.

By Edmund Smith-Asante Ghana's inability to develop at the pace the countries with which it gained independence are developing has been blamed on outdated portions of its 1992 Constitution.

By Edmund Smith-Asante Dr Yao Graham (left) in a chat with the Country Director of the UNDP, Mr Dominic Sam (middle), and Dr Joseph Atta-Mensah after the opening of the colloquium. An official of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Mr Joseph Atta-Mensah, has stressed the need for cohesion between the African Union (AU) and all regional blocs to make integration possible.

By Edmund Smith-Asante Two speakers at a three-day colloquium on Africa’s economic integration in Accra have expressed their optimism that the continent can achieve its desire of using a common currency but it is dependent on several factors.

By Edmund Smith-Asante Deputy Commissioner, Large Tax Office (LTO), Mr Kaleo Rogation Adams with GRA lawyer A construction company, Carl Plotner (CP), which later became Construction Pioneers (CP), did not fulfil any of its tax obligations to the country from 1991 to 2001.

By Edmund Smith-Asante The National Chairman of the Association of Road Contractors (ASROC) Ghana, Mr Joseph Ebo Hewton, says the businesses of many contractors are collapsing, while others have abandoned their sites or are working at a slow pace, as a result of the delay in payment for works executed for as long as 12 to 16 months.

By Edmund Smith-Asante A joint military and civilian campaign on how to deal with the scourge of malaria in West Africa opened in Accra on May 13.

By Edmund Smith-Asante A visit to the dentist is not what many people like to do, unless they have a dental problem that needs to be solved.

By Edmund Smith-Asante African leaders have taken the flak for their delay in responding appropriately to the abduction of the 276 schoolgirls by Islamic insurgents, Boko Haram, on April 14, 2014. Specifically, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has been accused of waiting for three weeks before speaking about the abduction.

By Edmund Smith-Asante Handwritten passports will no more be valid for travel from November 2015. This is due to a directive from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to all member countries to phase them out by the said date. Member countries have therefore begun taking steps to ensure those passports are not used by their citizens by the November 2015 deadline.