MPs assess Ebola Preparedness at Aflao border

Regional minister (in cap) with Fritz Baffour (m) and other Cittee members

Members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Defence and Interior have paid a day’s working visit to the Aflao border in the Ketu-south Municipality of the Volta region to assess the security situation and the necessary preparations put in place to prevent the deadly Ebola virus from entering the country.

The border is the major transit point to Ghana’s eastern neighbours of Togo, Benin and Nigeria, which has reported cases of the disease that has plagued three other West African countries including Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

Briefing the Committee members on the preparations to combat the deadly virus, the Volta Regional Director of Health Services, Dr. Joseph Teye Nuertey said since news on the outbreak of the disease broke in April, the Health authorities  and other stakeholders has embark on consistent public education programmes on the disease as well as training of frontline health officials.

He disclosed that 20 Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) which the region received, were distributed among the Port Health Department at the border and two hospitals out of six health facilities designated to deal with the disease. The two are the Aflao Government hospital and the Regional hospital in Ho, excluding the Jasikan, Hohoe, Sogakofe, Nkwanta hospitals because of the inadequacy of the PPEs.

‘Ministers must declare assets at vetting’- Governance Expert

Harrison Belley

A governance consultant and a member of the Right to Information (RTI) Coalition in the Volta region, Mr. Harrison Kofi Belley has called for a review of the Assets Declaration Law to compel Public officials especially Ministers and their Deputies to declare their assets before the appointment committee of Parliament during vetting.

This, he said would ensure timely declaration and eliminate the tendency for false declaration by appointees, noting that ‘the law in its current form do not promote transparency as officials only list their assets on paper ,seal it in an envelope , and send it to the Auditor General, who is also not permitted to verify the information presented .‘

Article 286 (1) of the1992 Constitution requires "a person who holds public office to submit to the Auditor General a written declaration of all property and assets owned by or liabilities owed by him directly or indirectly."

Speaking at a stakeholder forum in Ho last Wednesday on the Right to Information (RTI), Mr. Belley posited that public declaration of assets by appointees would ensure greater transparency and accountability in governance, as it will empower the populace to verify and monitor the activities of such officials.

The forum organised by the Right to Information (RTI) Coalition with support from STAR-Ghana was on the theme ‘Promoting the passage of an effective RTI law in Ghana; Mainstreaming RTI into the Local Governance Structure’ and attended by members of various interest groups from both formal and non-formal sector.

Mr. Tenaso Kofi Gbedema, the Volta regional RTI focal person underscored the importance of the right to information bill but said passing it in its current state will not serve its intended purpose, noting that ‘the RTI a fundamental human right and the torch stone for all freedoms.’