The financial rot at GPHA...

Kufuor's nephew spends ?46m on kitchen ...And collects $100m 'rent allowance'

Palaver -- PRESIDENT Kufuor's nephew, Mr Ben Owusu-Mensah, who is the Director-General of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), spent the company's ?46 million in refurbishing his kitchen.

Not only that, Mr Owusu Mensah got the directors to approve the purchase of a ?100 million generator for his residence.

And, as if all that is not enough, the Director-General collects as much as $1,000 a month for staying in his own house.

All these are captured in documents (published elsewhere in this paper) intercepted by 'Ghana Palaver' Intelligence on the operations of the GPHA.

The 'Ghana Palaver' last week published a report on the GPHA, which called for the removal of Mr Owusu Mensah, to save the GPHA, from going the Ghana Airways way.

According to insiders, apart from the mess being created by the Managing Director, all the men in authority travel by first-class.

Meanwhile, the 'Ghana Palaver' is to serialise the report soon.

KUFUOR, A 'GIANT' FAILURE

FOR those of us, who joined the bandwagon to preach the then NPP slogan "ASIE HO" during the 2000 elections, because we had thought the NPP could perform better, we are laughing at the wrong side of our mouth.

This is because people like myself, were enticed by the sweet promises Kufuor and his cohorts made when they wanted power.

That included the immediate scratching of Cash and Carry system, the cancellation of medical treatment abroad of its government officials, hundred per cent salary increase, affordable school fees etc.

But what one has come to realize is that the Kufuor administration has gone contrary to all that it said and is even doing worse things.

It is an undeniable fact that:

? The Cash and Carry system is still in existence.

? The medical treatment abroad of top government officials is now even at its highest degree, to the extent that almost billions of cedis have been spent on Mr Peter Ala Adjetey, the Speaker of Parliament and two good friends of the NPP, Mr Adu Boahen and the Vice President's wife.

The price of petroleum products has been icnreased to 100% and is to go up again.

? To add insult to injury, a member of the partisan National Reconciliation Commission received almost 14 million a month, while the minimum wages is pegged at 9,200.

? The creation of additional ministeries and large number of Special Assistants had led to increase expenditure.

From the above, one can see that the NPP government has worsened the situation in the country.

It is no wonder that Chief Government Spokesman Kwabena Agyapong, in an interview on GTV's Breakfast Show, said that he found nothing wrong with the appointment of Mr Justice K. Acquah as the new Chief Justice by a section of Ghanaians, instead of the position being given to Mrs Joyce Bamfo-Addo because the NDC did the same by appointing Mr Justice Abban, as the Chief Justice, when there were more qualified people than him.

Ghanaians want to thank Mr Agyapong for telling them that the NPP is also treading on the footsteps of the NDC.

All other things being equal, why did he refuse to answer the questions on how much the nation had spent on his master's luxurious and sight seeing trips in the name of investment.

The President, has failed to live up his sweet promises. And to hell with the new ones.