NHIA BLAMES KUFUOR`s GOV`T FOR CEO`s WOES

… Accuses administration of selling bungalows to cronies
Posted: The Chronicle |Thursday, February 04, 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu


The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) yesterday accused the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration of causing the barrage of attacks on the credibility and personality of its current Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Sylvester Mensah.
According to the authority, “but for this greedy sale of government properties by the previous NPP government, the incumbent NDC administration would not be renting residential premises for its appointees.”

Speaking at a news conference in Accra yesterday, in response to speculations about the activities and operations of the Authority, which has been in the spotlight for the last couple of days, the deputy Director of Corporate Affairs and Strategic Direction of the NHIA, Eric Ametor-Quarmyne, said, “if the former government was not driven by greed to sell government bungalows, the issue of official accommodation for CEOs like that of the NHIA, would not have been an issue today.”

This, he said, was evident in the fact that before the Kufuor administration took over the reigns of power in the year 2001, the government had over 100 bungalows within Accra.

He however noted that the “non-commonsensical sale of these bungalows to NPP functionaries, has left only 52 of them,” stressing, “Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey is still fighting in court to own a government bungalow, which is jut a two-munite drive away from the NHIA office premises.”

Since the inception of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in 2004, the Authority said there had not been any official residence for its chief executives.

They were thus compelled to write to the Ministry of Works and Housing for the allocation of one government bungalow for development into a duty post accommodation for its Chief Executive.

However, Ametor-Quarmyne said the Authority was told there was none, saying, “meanwhile the NPP government was busy selling those same bungalows to themselves, party executives, their friends and cronies.”

The matter of duty post accommodation for the CEO of the Authority was succinctly captured in an official memorandum sent by the Director of Administration to the Chairman of the NHIA Council on July 15, 2009, part of which read as follows, “the NHIA does not have an official accommodation to serve as duty post for its chief executives. Perhaps, the required urgency has not been attached to the matter of securing a duty post accommodation for chief executives of the NHIA, because two successive chief executives of the NHIA had been on secondment to the NHIA from other public institutions, which offered them official accommodation during their tenure at the NHIA.”

This, according to the Authority, was the reason why the NHIA Council decided to rent an official duty accommodation for the current CEO, since he was the first ‘independent’ CEO of the organisation.

The Authority said that the amount and figures being bandied around as monies used in securing accommodation for its CEO, cannot in anyway be compared to those offered to other chief executives of state institutions of similar standing in the country.

The Authority also dispelled rumours about the salary of its CEO, Mr. Sylvester Mensah, which it said was much lower than those of most other CEOs in analogous state institutions.

In comparison with the salary of the immediate past Chief Executive of the NHIA, Mr. Mensah is said to be currently receiving 65% of what Mr. Ras Boateng used to receive when he was the CEO of the Authority.

Under the current circumstance, the Authority says Mr. Mensah receives no other allowances currently, stressing, “the same Board which applied discretion in approving the rental of a duty post accommodation for the CEO, was the same Board that approved a cut of 35% in the salary of Mr. Sylvester Mensah, as compared with that of Mr. Ras Boateng.”

“Currently, Mr. Mensah does not enjoy any other allowance, aside of receiving a cut in salary, compared to the exorbitant salaries the Kufuor administration paid its staff,” stressed Ametor-Quarmyne.

Instead, he said that since he took over as CEO of the NHIA in June 2009, Mr. Sylvester Mensah has instituted far-reaching reforms, indicating that “during the past seven months of his being in office, the prudent management reforms and judicious use of the tax payers’ money have resulted in a mighty expenditure savings of 53% of the Authority’s budget for last year, translating into an amount of GH¢6,451,267 or ¢64,512,670,000.”

He therefore asked rhetorically, “how can such a person now be portrayed as a spendthrift, can only be the wildest imagination of someone on a mission of mischief and a smear campaign.”

Oquaye raises red flag

…Over Achimota school lands
Posted: The Chronicle |Thursday, February 04, 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Dome-Kwabenya constituency in the Greater Accra region, Professor Mike Oquaye has expressed grave concern about the level of encroachment on the Achimota school lands by private developers. This follows a directive by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), asking for the closure of the School, due to a collapse of its sewerage system.
Making a statement on the floor of Parliament yesterday, Prof. Oquaye said the problem has been caused by encroachers who are building at what he described as ‘satanic speed’ on the part of the School land called ‘the Folly’, where the entire sewerage system has been channeled, since the time of Guggisberg.

Though not a product of the school, Prof. Oquaye, who is also the second deputy Speaker of Parliament said he was struck by what he saw when he visited the school to have a first hand information about developments in the school.

“People are building unlawfully on the main channels, causing the system to collapse”, he said, stressing that “any serious Ghanaian who cares to visit the school will see the broken main sewage lines, leakage of human excreta and liquid waste, plus the foul stench which engulfs the atmosphere. As a result, the School poultry farm has since collapsed.”

For this reason, the veteran politician has called on President Mills to salvage his own alma mater, the Achimota School, since according to him “the school lands are vested in the President of Ghana.” He stressed the urgent need for government to compulsorily acquire all houses built on the school land and give it back to the school, asking government to set up a Commission to identify ‘bona fide’ purchasers and compensate them accordingly.

As representatives of the ‘people’, Prof. Oquaye also urged Parliament as an institution to set a Committee to look into the issue and act accordingly.

Even before any such Committee is set, the Dome-Kwabenya MP asked that the security agencies to be employed to save Achimota School, describing it as a national heritage. “The school is associated with Nkrumah, Busia, Akufo Addo, Rawlings, Atta Mills, Jawara of Gambia and Mugabe of Zimbabwe, the school is a national heritage and a tourist attraction, it is worthy of preservation, not destruction”, he noted.

The MP recalled how in the late 1980’s, the Board of the School attempted to sell portions of the school land to private individuals, though it had no legal right to sell Achimota School lands, which are by law vested in the Head of State of Ghana. At the time, he said people were asked to come for refund of their monies when this illegal act became public.

According to him, without documents of ownership and approved plans, began to build with indecent haste.

Sometime later, he said the Owoo family who sold the land to the then Governor, Gordon Guggisberg stepped in and started selling the land they had already sold, whilst other land contractors and macho men waded in.

The resultant chaos, he said “is too indecent to recount.”

Prof. Oquaye noted that another set of encroachers expanded the assault to ‘the Foyer’ area on the southern side of the school and went to the extent of building a disco, which the school had to demolish.

That notwithstanding, he emphasized that pilfering, drug usage, drunkenness, refuse dumping and sand winning activities, which have put the lives of young school children at risk on the schools campus, should be condemned by all well-meaning Ghanaians, since in his opinion “these acts of indiscipline causes the fires and road accidents all over our dear nation.”

Furthermore, he said “any purported attempt by any person, body or authority, other than the President of Ghana, to alienate Achimota School Lands is bogus, void, illegal and of no effect”, stressing that “no building permit – not one – has been approved by the authorities.”

In the final analysis, Prof. Oquaye said “if any serious Ghanaian sits unconcerned when Achimota is bleeding, then God indeed help us all.”

SSPP RAISES EYEBROWS AMONG GOV`T WORKERS

… As civil, local gov’t staff kick against provisions
Posted: The Chronicle |Wednesday, February 03, 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

The Civil and Local Government Staff Association, Ghana (CLOGSAG) has raised issues over the government’s decision to implement the newly-introduced Single Spine Pay Policy (SSPP).

They claim their concerns have not been dully addressed, and as such, have indicated their preparedness to kick against their inclusion in the policy.

Addressing a news conference in Accra yesterday, the Acting Executive Secretary of the Association, James Amissah, threatened to reject their inclusion on the new salary structure, since, “this time round, it is look before we leap. If we are pressed to the wall, the person who is pursuing us, we will turn and face him,” he said.

Though the Association claims it does not have any intention whatsoever to disrupt or frustrate the implementation of the SSPP, Mr. Amissah noted, “we would not accept any pay policy that would disadvantage our members during its implementation.”

This is because it has continued to draw attention to issues relating to internal and external inequities in Placements/Gradings, which tends to put members of the CLOGSAG at a disadvantage.

The Association finds it strange that the recommended placements for various grades of its constituents on the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS), which is a component of the Single Spine Pay Policy (SSPP), are lower than those on the Ghana Universal Salary Structure (GUSS).

According to the group, a closer examination of the placements also reveals that two grades haveg in some instancesg been put on the same level, with one high and the other low, implying that an officer could be promoted and still remain on the same level.

The Association argued, “such an arrangement was found to be problematic by a technical team constituted by the (then) Ministry of Public Sector Reforms in 2008.” The technical team was said to have recommended that the horizontal movement on a level should be used to reward performance, whilst promotion should involve a vertical movement.

The CLOGSAG also noted that out of the 1,306 jobs in the services, only 26 were placed on ‘high steps’ constituting 2%, whilst the remaining 1,280 jobs (98%) were placed on ‘low steps’, stressing: “in certain instances placements have been done without regard to job content, but rather to the place of work, thereby introducing inequity across service classifications.”

The Association said it cannot fathom why most of these concerns had not been dully addressed, but yet the ‘supposed’ Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) was pushing for the implementation of the SSSS without any comprehensive guidelines on the SSPP, though the latter is a component of the former.

The Acting Executive Secretary noted, “you cannot deal with the SSSS in isolation,” asking “is it not strange that the FWSC would want to negotiate with stakeholders the base pay on the SSSS, when it has not developed the relevant policy guidelines for implementation?”

Meanwhile, the CLOGSAG has persistently advised that any new salary regime, be it SSSS or whatever, should either retain or improve upon the prevailing annual increments.

When asked what would happen if their concerns were not duly addressed, the Acting Executive Secretary said: “the time will come,” and asked the government and the implementing agencies of the new salary policy, to do the proper thing before things get out of hand.

Later, Mr. Amissah told The Chronicle in an interview: “we are already on GUSS, so if I realise that it is going to disadvantage me, I will force and remain on the GUSS,” asking, “others opted out of the GUSS in 1999, what happened to them?”