Single-digit inflation and the cost of living dichotomy in Ghana

The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) at the weekend called for a review of the Ghana Statistical Services (GSS) methodology used in calculating inflation figures.

“GSS needs to review its system, especially if it is widely believed that the existing methodology is outdated and that it does not fully represent current expenditure patterns.”

Dr. J. K. Kwakye, IEA Senior Economist stated in a research document on: “Single-digit inflation and the cost of living dichotomy in Ghana.”

In what appeared to be a subtle attempt to professionally shield the GSS from the current mountain of criticisms from a section of the public on its methodology in arriving at single-digit inflation rates, IEA said: “We do not expect that GSS would manipulate the data in order to achieve inflation figures that suit any particular constituency or constituencies, as that would be professionally unethical.

“We want to believe that GSS applies the same methodology all the time in calculating its inflation figures

According to Dr. Kwakye some people have tried to compare what they see to be much higher movements in the prices of some of the items in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) basket with the rate of inflation compiled by GSS and have argued that the GSS might be understating the true rate of inflation.

He said the way to validate GSS’s inflation estimates would be to start from the raw data collected for the 242 items.

Current CPI Basket and Weights base year 2002 on 12 out of 242 items indicates that food and non-alcoholic beverages was rated 44.91 per cent; alcoholic beverages, tobacco 2.23 per cent; clothing and footwear 11.29 per cent; housing, water, electricity, gas and others 6.98 per cent; and furnishings, household equipment 7.83 per cent.

The rest are health 4.33 per cent; transport 6.21 per cent; communications 0.31 per cent; recreation and culture 3.04 per cent; education 1.60 per cent; hotels, cafes and restaurants 8.28 per cent; and miscellaneous goods and services 2.99 per cent.

Dr. Kwakye said the 12-item aggregated form of the CPI basket with the composite items and their relative weights, one can argue about what need to be in the basket and what need not be in as well as about the relative weights given to individual items.

“In fact, one may even go down to the entire 242 items in the CPI basket in making these arguments. The decision as to what has to change in terms of the individual items or their weights should be informed by the changing patterns of consumer spending in Ghana.

“For example, one may argue about the appropriateness of giving Communications a weight of only 0.31 per cent if it is believed that this does not truly represent its relative importance in consumers’ spending,” he stated.

Dr. Kwakye therefore suggested a constructive engagement with the GSS in a debate to bring about any deserved changes.

The GSS currently measures inflation by using a basket comprising 242 consumer goods and services. The base year for computing the inflation figures is 2002.

The GSS periodically collects price data on the 242 items. The primary data is collected mostly in non-standardized units, which are then standardized by GSS. The individual items in the CPI basket have weights based on the last consumer spending survey.

The weighted prices are converted into indices with 2002 as the base year.

The average price index for all the 242 items is used to compute the rate of change of the index or inflation over a period of time—a month, quarter, or year—by comparing with previously-calculated indices.
It would be recalled that the opposition New Patriotic Party's vice presidential candidate first raised concerns about the GSS inflation measurement. The GSS dismissed his assertion but within days the IMF delegation to Ghana confirmed his assertion and tasked the GSS to recalculate the inflation figures from January 2011 as well as increase the number of items in the CPI basket from 242 to 275.

Ill Health of President Mills occupies the attention of strife-laden Ghana

Amid chaotic security situation across seven out of ten regions, Ghanaians have found themselves being occupied with the state of health of President John Evans Atta Mills. The president has been heavily criticised in the last few days for failing to speak out against the pockets of violence across the country. Ghana is going through a period of instability both on the security and economic fronts and there is a feeling of pessimism and despondency among the people.  The calls for his comments became more prominent following the clashes which claimed three lives at Hohoe in the Volta Region. Sources at the Castle earlier told the media the president had been taking some days off to rest due apparently to temporary incapacitation caused by infirmity.The president left Accra June 16, 2012 evening for urgent medical attention in the United States described by officials as 'a routine medical check-up'. 

This follows days of rumours about his ill health in recent times. The President of Ghana was last seen in public performing official function at the Allied Air crash scene near Kotoka Airport on Sunday June 3 2012 and is now officially declared temporary incapacitated. In other words, President Mills will be unable to do his official duties for the unknown future. 

The president did not indicate how long he will be staying out other than saying a "few days" and an assurance that there was no cause for alarm stressing that the check-up is a normal one. It would be recalled that President Mills spent almost the whole of the last quarter of 2011 in the US on the pretext of taking his vacation interspersed with official assignments. Ghanaians were suspicious and there were claims that he left the Presidential jet on a tarmac in New York and secretly travelled to Cuba for cancer treatment. Officially President Mills has told Ghanaians he is suffering from sinus. It is however doubtful if his condition is due to sinus and has become a subject of speculation for a long time. According to one of the Wikileaks transcripts quoting the Deputy Minister of Tourism but then the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) Deputy General Secretary, Mohammed Baba Jamal, President Mills is dying of throat cancer. Mr. Jamal added that Professor Mills will never make public admission of his diseased throat as it is considered 'unfavourable and untenable practice in African politics' to disclose a politician's sick status.

Article 69 clause 1 subsection (c) of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic Ghana states that the President shall be removed from office if he is found, in accordance with the provisions among other things "to be incapable of performing the functions of his office by reason of infirmity of body or mind."

I am sure you the reader must be wondering why quoting this constitutional provision when President Mills is only going to the USA for a routine medical check up. Well, for your information, it is usual for the casual observer but a serious sign for any political animal. This seriousness arises out of three things emanating from statement released by President Mills regarding this trip. Firstly, routine medical check-up, secondly staying 'few days' and thirdly 'no cause for alarm'. The fact of the matter is that our President has always denied ever going to the USA for medical reasons so how can Mills now officially announce that he is going there for 'a routine medical check-up'? Anything said to be routine refers to regularity with well defined periodicity and this is where the second matter raises eyebrows. If indeed Mills is going for routine medical check-up, how come he sounded unsure of his duration abroad? If it is routine, then he has been doing this over time now and must be accustomed to a certain timeframe within which this medical treatment is conducted. And so why the unsolicited assurance that there is no cause for alarm? Is there something he is not telling Ghanaians? Is he incapacitated and therefore unable to perform his official functions?

Mills with blackened palm said 

to be due to effects of medication

This disease is cancerous tumours that develop in the throat (pharynx), voice box (larynx) or tonsils. Throat cancer can also affect the piece of cartilage (epiglottis) that acts as a lid for the windpipe. It is attributed to heavy smoking, chewing tobacco and excessive alcohol use. Treatment for throat cancer often causes complications that may include speech problems such as mispronunciation of words like the famous ecomini instead of economy.

It would be recalled that Guinea-Bissau's President Malam Bacai Sanha died on Monday 9 January 2012 after a long period in a Paris hospital aged 64.

Will President Mills be capable of completing the remaining six months of his tenure of office considering the demands of electioneering campaign for a second term bid and its toll on one's health? Only time will tell!

Carpenters of death inspire 'Zombie Furniture' (Ndaka)

Are you looking for furniture that will both tie the room together and make your guests gag with fear?

BRC Designs probably has what you're looking for. The razor-sharp minds over at the design house, based in Spartanburg, South Carolina, have unleashed a terrible plague upon the world of home decor: "zombie furniture." These are seats and couches with dripping blood, raw patches that look like skin was torn off and a general appearance of getting ready to animate itself and shuffle over to eat your flesh. And the horror of this festering line doesn't end there, with its origin stretching all the way over the ocean to Ghana's famous carpenters of death.

An Xiao Mina at Core77 has the full story of how this sleep-disturbing (yet swanky!) stuff got made, but here's the short version. BRC chief Benjamin Caldwell traveled to Ghana to apprentice with the country's coffin builders, who produce unique boxes meant to reflect the lifestyle and accomplishments of the deceased. Picking up a plane and chisel, Caldwell settled in with Eric Anang, grandson of the renowned artisan Kane Kwei, whose studio has churned out coffins in the guise of red fish, flashy cars and, weirdly, a pig for the businessman who introduced swine to Accra.

'Amina Bus' acquitted in Yutong mass rape trial'

The Ashaiman-based 26 year old hairdresser and mother of three children, Amina Mohammed, the lady who was involved in the controversial highway robbery and mass rape saga has been acquitted and discharged. All accusations that were leveled against her have been dropped and set free. According to the judge, the prosecution failed to adduce any evidence to support the charges of causing fear, alarm and deceit of a public officer it leveled against the accused.

Truth has prevailed as Amina Mohammed walks free

Amina captured national attention following her statement on Adom FM that there was a mass rape of women on a Bawku-bound Yutong bus during a robbery attack at Kubiase on 11th October 2010. She claimed the armed robbers forced male passengers to have sex with their female counterparts, including a father who was supposedly forced to sleep with his 14-year-old daughter. She was subsequently arrested and charged with causing fear and alarm as well as deceit of public officer contrary to Section 208 of the Criminal Code. She pleaded not guilty to the charges.

All six witnesses called by the prosecution confirmed that indeed there was a robbery attack but they escaped narrowly except the mass rape aspect. The investigator for the case Cpl. Issah Mohammed described Amina’s story as a cock and bull one.


When the story hit the media, there was uproar in government. Official state spokespersons initially denied it outright fearing backlash for loose policing and weak government. Instead, the state adapted a blame game accusing the opposition rather of fabricating the story to create tension in the country and tarnish the image of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) Mills-led administration.

The presidency together with security chiefs cast doubts on the armed robbery and mass rape of passengers. According to Koku Anyidoho, Head of Communications at the Presidency and until last Friday mouthpiece at the Presidency, they (President Mills and his security capos) were convinced the report was made up and labelled it as a hoax. He released a statement to the media that there was no record of armed robbery or mass rape for the police or security personnel to follow up. Then Police PRO, Akwasi Ofori also did likewise but it latter emerged that the driver of the Yutong bus in question had actually lodged a complaint and written statement to the Ejisu Police following the incident.

Amina said she hopes to rebuild herself now that the outcome of the case has been determined. She said her marriage and family life generally had been negatively affected by the case but she added she had forgiven members of her family who despised her because of the case.

The living legacy of this incident and trial is that the name 'Amina' has become synonymous with Yutong Bus as well as mass rape and highway robbery such that you can hear people say Amina bus ('Amina bus' in another accident, No Rape On Amina Bus, Three victims of 'Amina bus' accident run away from hospital,

Amina Bus Rape: Ken Agyapong Implicated…Goes Ballistic And ..., Gov't not behind twist in Amina bus rape saga - Pelpuo) in reference to either Yutong as a bus or being involved in a negative incident like accident and robbery. 

Media outrage over Bradley-Pacquiao decision but wasn't bad for boxing

Timothy Bradley Jr. earns stunning, controversial split-decision win over Manny Pacquiao. The vast majority of reporters covering the fight at ringside had it for Pacquiao. Harold Lederman, a former professional judge, scored it 11 rounds to one for Pacquiao.

Arum was outraged, at one point referring to the judges as "The Three Blind Mice," while he was introducing Pacquiao at the post-fight news conference.

"Can you believe that?" Arum said. "I had it 10-2! After I got into the ring after the fight, I went over to Bradley and said 'You did very well.' He said, 'I tried hard, but I couldn't beat the guy.' This is crazy. You talk about killing boxing? All three scorecards you throw out."

It was unfair to Pacquiao, who deserved to win.

Bradley's win over Manny Pacquiao was a joke, but it wasn't bad for boxing. Timothy Bradley's controversial split-decision victory over Manny Pacquiao on Saturday in their World Boxing Organization welterweight title fight at the MGM Grand Garden was one of the best things that could have happened for the sport. 

It was a fast-paced, back-and-forth scrap between a pair of quality boxers at the peak of their professions.

That Bradley won a decision the vast majority of those in attendance and watching on television around the world thought was laughably wrong is hardly the "death knell" for boxing that promoter Bob Arum said it was seconds after the verdict was read.

Controversy sells. The bigger the controversy, the bigger the rematch.

This rematch will be bigger than Saturday's bout by a wide margin. Bradley will become a star; he's already a charismatic guy who performed well when he finally got his chance on the big stage. And Pacquiao's legion of fans will rally to his support, believing he was wronged and demanding justice in a second fight.

"Some rounds, I took off and relaxed and didn't throw so many punches," Pacquiao said. "I could give him three rounds, and almost every round I hurt him. I know he felt that." 

Judge Jerry Roth had it 115-113 for Pacquiao, but he was overruled by his counterparts, C.J. Ross and Duane Ford, who had it 115-113 for Bradley. Ross gave Bradley the final three rounds and five of the last six. Ford scored five of the last six for Bradley as well. 

But bad for boxing? Not in a million years. More people were talking about the fight when it ended than would have been had Pacquiao gotten the wide verdict most had expected.

It's created a lucrative rematch for November and helped turn Bradley into a star.

Even to those who felt Pacquiao won, there had to be a respect for Bradley, who fought a spirited, high-paced battle despite injuring both of his feet. He attended the news conference in a wheelchair.

 

Is 'President' Anyidoho's Communications empire gone?

Amidst the desolate landscape of total confusion in government, Ghanaians have been asking lately who is in charge of this country. Well, it might look as though finally some answer has come albeit late in the day and could be confirming the adage 'how are the mighty fallen and the weapons of war perished'! Can decline be detected early and avoided? Well many Ghanaians have been talking also of the fact that they could spot the subtle signs that the successful propaganda machinery of the then opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) is actually on course to sputter in government as propaganda can't certainly sustain them in power. You need concrete evidence in government to sustain propaganda but unfortunately for the ruling NDC, it is things fall apart, the centre cannot hold. They speak and publish unprecedented achievements but like the famous MTN mobile network advert line goes 'na unprecedented achievements wo hen? The spin doctors keep blaming the opposition for everything that goes wrong in government including even glaring security failures.

The beginning of the end of impunity for Ghana's once all-powerful thug clothed as Director of Communication to President Mills of Ghana appeared so sudden. It was a normal Friday and the event was a FIFA world cup football qualifying game at Kumasi. The Black Stars of Ghana hosted the Crocodiles of Lesotho. The Stars were cruising comfortably by 4 - 0. Then suddenly the stadium floodlights went off and hell broke. Some soccer commentators called it a Black Friday, others said national day of disgrace. It took over one and a half hours to restore power and restart the match which ended 7-0. However, in between that interval, a lot of drama went on in government.

Love lost President Mills & Koku Anyidoho before

Koku Anyidoho issued a statement firing the Ashanti Regional Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG). In fact this position does not actually exist in the lexicon of the ECG. The ECG rather has Kumasi East and Kumasi West ECG Directors. But as it was, Anyidoho claimed the ECG director had been sacked because the president was very upset with the incident.

As it turned out and later confirmed by a statement from the Information Ministry the president never took such a decision. So as the events subsequently unfolded, the Presidency was left with no option but to get rid of both Anyidoho and his Communications Directorate. A statement signed by the Chief of Staff to the Mills administration, Newman appears to have cleverly omitted the word 'scrapped'. It is pretty easy to read between the statement that the 'Director of Communications' at the Presidency and his outfit has been sidelined for those comments he made which he said was from the President. In the statement, the Presidency is seeking to direct the media to henceforth disregard any communications purporting to emanate from the President if it is not signed either by the secretary to the President or the Chief of Staff.

Read the full statement

PRESS RELEASE

The Office of the President wishes to state that all directives and decisions emanating from the Presidency including appointments, are communicated formally and signed by the Secretary to the President or in some instances by the Chief of Staff.

All other Government information is communicated through the Ministry of Information by Press Release or other means and in some cases where appropriate by the relevant sector Ministries, under the direction of the Minister-in-charge.

The Office of the President wishes the Media and General Public to be guided by these procedures and channels for communicating Government information.

Signed J. H.M. NEWMAN [CHIEF OF STAFF] 

The question though still remains 'who is in charge in Ghana: President Mills or 'President' Koku Anyidoho?

Damirifa due President Koku Anyidoho, I have rotten teeth but still keeping my integrity intact! 

All things shall pass indeed!!!

Fastest-growing industries to watch

This decade's biggest business will take place in weird fields you least thought of according to IBISWorld, the market research firm. IBISWorld recent release of an annual report of the fastest-growing industries based on absolute revenue growth has established growth for the last 10 years, and expected performance for the next five years. The list of 10 industries serves as a good measure of our fiscal and social priorities.

Here is a breakdown of the hottest industries to watch.

1. Generic Pharmaceutical Manufacturing

Generic pharmaceutical manufacturing has sustained growth since 2002 because it reduces the out-of-pocket healthcare costs for the consumer. On average, this industry experienced annual revenue growth of 9.6 percent, and it's expected to see an average of 6.3 percent growth from now to 2017.

2. Solar Panel Manufacturing

Revenue for solar panel manufacturing has grown at an annual rate of 32.3 percent for the last 10 years, and it's expected to continue growing by about 8.2 percent each year until 2017. Jobs are expected to grow in all the major sectors of the solar power industry: manufacturing, project development, construction, operation and maintenance, and installation. And this profession is expected to grow by an impressive 42 percent from 2010 to 2020.

3. For-Profit Universities

For-profit universities have experienced average revenue growth of 13.6 percent from 2002 to 2012, and they should see 5 percent revenue growth annually in the coming years. Counselors are needed at all types of schools as employment growth in this position is expected to jump 19 percent by 2020.  

4. Pilates & Yoga Studios

  Health clubs and classes have blossomed among employees and baby boomers seeking a low-impact exercise regimen. Revenue in this industry grew at an average rate of 12.1 percent over the last 10 years. Up to 2017, industry revenue is poised to grow at an average annual rate of 4.8 percent. A Pilates or yoga instructor types of professions receive some of the highest marks for job satisfaction and the BLS forecasts 60,400 new openings for instructors up to the year 2020. 

5. Self-Tanning Product Manufacturing

Self-tanning lotions and gels have had a good 10 years, with annual revenue growth for the manufacturing of these products reported at 22.7 percent. For the next five years, revenue growth for manufacturing self-tanning products should be 10.7 percent, on average. According to the BLS, there should be 223,400 new sales rep jobs this decade. 

6. 3D Printer Manufacturing

3D printing is the vanguard process of converting a digital file into a three-dimensional object, and it introduces the possibility for streamlining the manufacturing for many products across industries. Its average annual revenue is expected to grow by 14 percent for the next five years. Keep in mind this is a profession that should grow 33.5 percent this decade. 

7. Social Network Game Development

Social networking games are genius as the designers give the gaming industry a stake in the hysteria over websites thereby offering members free-to-play online games. These social network games then profit with onscreen advertising and by selling virtual goods that could be used during the course of play. IBISWorld found that this industry's revenue increased an average annual 128 percent from 2002 to 2012, and expects it to grow at an annual rate of 22 percent for the next five years.

8. Hot Sauce Production

We've changed our ordering habits, broadened our cooking repertoire, and created a demand for the ingredients most needed to create these dishes. Production for one such ingredient--hot sauce--has seen average revenue growth of 9.3 percent per year from 2002 to present, and production is projected to continue swelling at an annual rate of 4.1 percent for the next five years. The BLS reports the potential for more than 117,000 jobs for restaurant cooks from now to 2020. Hiring prospects are best for cooks with formal and specialized training.

9. Green & Sustainable Building Construction

According to IBISWorld, the demand for energy-efficient buildings has skyrocketed, and government programmes provide further incentive for corporations to design, build, and operate their buildings in a more responsible manner. Green and sustainable building construction grew 28.9 percent annually from 2002 to present. From 2012 to 2017, this industry should grow at an average annual rate of 22.8 percent. 

10. Online Eyeglasses & Contact Lens Sales

IBISWorld predicts online sales for eyewear and contact lenses will flourish, especially with new technologies that allow customers to upload their image and virtually test how they'll look in the eyewear they're browsing. Revenue for the online eyewear and contact lens sales industry has grown by 28.2 percent, on average, annually for the last 10 years. Up to 2017, revenue is expected to grow 8.8 percent annually.   

"Hairy Poppins" dog foster dad abandoned newborn baby

The deserted infant, photo via Ghana News Agency

A farm dog has attained hero status after spending a night protecting an abandoned newborn human. Authorities say the dog, along with its two-week-old charge, was found under a bridge in Winkongo (which is near Bolgatanga, the Upper East Regional Capital of Ghana), near the farm where he lives – with the tiny baby snuggled against him. Rather than abandon (or eat) the vulnerable tot, the dog curled up next to him for the night, refusing to leave his side. So Hairy Poppins joins the rank of a hero hound dogs after saving the life of this abandoned two-week-old baby.

A search party had been convened to look for the dog, not the baby, when the pooch's worried owner got concerned that he hadn't returned home in the evening. Searchers spent most of the night tracking the hound through nearby fields and woods, and came upon the unlikely pair quite some time later; finally locating him under the bridge near the farm he calls home, they were surprised to find the dog curled around a human infant. 

Madam Rosemary Azure, Director of Health for the Talensi-Nabdam District, shared the remarkable story with the Ghana News Agency at a ceremony for a different occasion entirely – the launch of two vaccines that will help prevent diarrhea and pneumonia – although it's not impossible that officials will find themselves presiding over a medal presentation to "Hairy Poppins" sometime soon.

Heroic canine foster dads neglected baby

The baby himself is in relatively fine fettle after his adventure. His umbilical cord had not been cut, and had gotten infected, but the little one was otherwise unharmed; he's had all his vaccinations, and is currently in the custody of a local health directorate until new, non-bridge arrangements can be made for him. Azure noted that she couldn't say what had led to the baby's desertion by his mother, but speculated that the parents were teenagers, and took the opportunity to caution locals against unprotected sex. Police are investigating.
There have been a few such doggy heroes in Africa.
Perhaps most famous is the Kenyan stray now known as Mkombozi, who was foraging for food in 2005 when she found an abandoned infant girl in a plastic bag.  Mkombozi (which means “liberator” in Swahili) carried the baby back to her own litter of puppies – across busy roads, through a barbed wire fence and into one of the impoverished neighborhoods of Nairobi.

GTV still mentally imprisoned by the past

A new media monitoring report, the African Media Barometer, has criticised the standard and focus of reportage of the state-owned Ghana Television (GTV), describing its style as the “lazy way.”

According to the report composed by a group of experts from civil society and facilitated by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES), “GTV news go the lazy way, follow the status quo and seem still to be mentally imprisoned by the past.”

The report confirms incessant criticisms of the state-owned broadcaster for its inequitable representation of events and its slant towards ruling political parties and the government of the day.

This house-style of GBC, according to Kabral Blay Amihere, Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC), is contrary to constitutional provisions which require that GBC should offer everybody fair and equal opportunities on its platforms.

GBC, which wields one of the widest media platforms in the country, has had several occasions where its priorities have been criticized.

 Last week, when an all-important Parliamentary enquiry was to be held and broadcasted publicly, GTV declined to beam the broadcast with the excuse of technical hitches. This move was widely criticized because GTV was seen as trying to shield government officials who were cited for complicity in a popular judgment debt scandal; The Construction Pioneer scandal.

“As I read the report, I said to myself, GBC is bound to sit up and change its ways,” Mr. Blay Amihere stated when he launched the African Media Barometer in Accra on Wednesday.

“GTV news bulletins usually follow the hierarchy of government institutions, with the President and Vice President leading the news, followed by ministers in the order of their seniority,” stated the damning findings in the Barometer, which prides itself as the first home grown analysis of the media landscape in Africa.

Ransford Tetteh, a member of the committee that drafted the report, explained that the report was designed to specifically criticize the media landscape in Ghana constructively, in the hope of improving content and standards in the industry. “We know, as the media fraternity, we don’t want to be assessed, yet we jump onto the bandwagon to assess others. We will only be relevant if we do this self regulation,” he noted. 

The Barometer made a series of useful observations and critique of all the important aspects of the Ghanaian media.

The FES has been on the forefront of the advocacy for democracy and media freedom in Ghana.

In the 1990s, the publication of the annual state of media reviews in Ghana and West Africa, supported by the FES, allowed the Ghana Journalists Association and its West African arm (WAJA), as well as other industry stakeholders to do a thorough assessment of the media’s performance in the sub-region.

“The barometer meets the goals of the initiative of allowing self-assessment of the Ghanaian media landscape and offers an honest analysis that can help us to deepen media practice and democracy in Ghana”, the NMC boss said.

IMF backs Bawumia And Orders GSS To Recalculate Inflation Figures

The International Monetary Fund has literally thrown its weight behind the recent analysis of the nation’s economy by Mahamudu Bawumia, Vice Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party.

It has consequently called on the Ghana Statistical Service to rebase the Consumer Price Index used for calculation of inflation figures beginning from 2011.

As a result of this directive, the GSS will update its consumer price index which currently uses 2002 as its base year, resulting in new weightings for the components of its CPI basket.

This change is to apparently provide a more accurate reporting of inflation, and would also see the inflation basket of goods increasing from 242 to over 270 goods.

The visiting IMF mission to Ghana, in a meeting held last week with heads of the GSS, made this demand, indicating to the Statistical Service that single-digit inflation as has been recorded was not having any correlation with important economic variables.

It is recalled that on Wednesday May 2 2011, Dr Bawumia in the “State of our economy” speech stated that most Ghanaians were not feeling the impact of government’s much touted attainment of single-digit inflation.

According to the renowned Economist, the figures did not “add up”, wondering why the nation should be experiencing rising cost of living, exchange rate stability and high interest rates in an economy with single-digit inflation.

In his speech, Dr Bawumia stated expressly that “It could be a measurement issue, but the established relationships between inflation and key economic variables appear to have gone missing for now?”

He explained that the missing relationship between inflation and other key economic variables “could be a measurement issue.”

This statement was explained by government and surprisingly by the Head of the Ghana Statistical Service, Philomena Nyarko, as an attack on the integrity of the service, resulting in attacks on the personality of the NPP Vice Presidential Candidate.

In an interview with Reuters last week, in which he confirmed the IMF directive, Magnus Ebo Duncan, head of economic statistics at the Ghana Statistical Service, stated that the move to rebase the inflation figures would set the new base year as 2011.

“There will be additions to the basket and most of the weightings will also change because the structure of people’s expenditure has changed over the years,” Mr Ebo Duncan told Reuters.

Mr Duncan did not say what the impact of the re-basing would be on the headline figure which rose to a one-year high of 9.1 percent in April as a result of the weakness of the cedi currency.

However, he noted the weighting of transport costs in the basket – which includes fuel – would rise from the current 6.21 percent, a level that is lower than what pertains in other West African countries.

“The weight of transport as we have it now is the true reflection of the 2002 base year and until 2003 when fuel prices, for example, were significantly increased, Ghanaians were spending less on that area,” he said.

Source: thestatesmanonline

Oil Boom Is Vote Curse for Ghana’s Mills as Cedi Slumps

Ghana’s currency has become a victim of the economy’s success following an oil boom, depreciating the most against the dollar this year in Africa after Malawi’s kwacha and eroding support for President John Atta Mills as he seeks re-election.

The cedi has weakened 14 percent to 1.9098 per dollar since the beginning of January, the fourth-biggest decline in the world, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. By the time Mills and his ruling National Democratic Congress party face voters in a Dec. 7 election, the cedi may be at a record low of 2 per dollar, according to Standard Bank Group Ltd. (SBK), Africa’s biggest lender. 

Ghana’s debut as an oil producer in 2010 fueled the fastest economic expansion on the continent last year, spurring growth in imports of everything from machinery and oil to food, driving up demand for foreign currency and undermining the cedi. Consumers are now paying more for rice, cars, TVs and clothing as inflation soared to a 14-month high of 9.1 percent in April.

“The downside of a weak cedi is rising inflation,” Yvonne Mhango, a Pan-African economist at Renaissance Capital in Johannesburg, said in an e-mail. Growth in consumer prices may accelerate to 14 percent by the end of 2012, implying “there is an upside risk to interest rates, which is negative for credit growth and also raises the government’s debt-servicing costs.”

Re-Election Campaign

Ghana doesn’t have the manufacturing capacity to sustain the needs of an economy that expanded 14.4 percent in 2011 and is forecast by the government to grow 9.4 percent this year. Imports surged 20 percent in the first quarter to $4 billion compared with a year earlier, according to the Bank of Ghana.

Mills’ re-election campaign, which focuses on his economic successes since coming to power in 2008, may be a victim of the cedi’s slump. The president will face New Patriotic Party leader, Nana Akufo-Addo, at the polls after defeating him by less than 1 percentage point four years ago.

“If this government doesn’t do something about the cedi soon it will be bad news for President Mills,” Kofi Manu Asamoah, 52, an importer of spare parts for Mercedes-Benz vehicles, said in an interview from his shop in Accra, the capital. “I am running at a loss because I spend more to buy dollars to pay for my imports,” Asamoah said, leaning against a shelf in his shop that was empty of customers.

With reserves at $4.4 billion, covering about three months of import requirements, the central bank is running out of ammunition to halt the cedi’s decline. Two interest rate increases this year have had limited success.

‘Losing Side’

“The cedi’s situation is hurting us, we are on the losing side,” Kwasi Okoh, managing director of Aluworks Ltd. (ALW), an aluminum-products maker in the port city of Tema, said in an interview on May 8. “We purchase our raw materials in dollars so by the time we have sold our produce we have a shortfall in sales.” Costs have risen by 15 percent in the first quarter, he said.

Ghana’s economy depends on imports for “almost everything from rice to clothing to toothpicks” and rising costs may push up wage demands, Kwabena Nyarko Otoo, director of the labor research and policy institute of the Ghana Trade Unions Congress, said in an interview in Accra on May 17.

“If the cedi continues to fall then we could see some labor agitations for further increases in salaries to restore real income lost to price hikes,” he said.

Rising Costs

The currency’s slump boosted costs at Guinness Ghana Breweries Ltd. (GGBL), a unit of London-based Diageo Plc (DGE) that makes the popular lager beer, Star, by as much as 12 percent in the first four months of the year compared with a year earlier, Anthony Attu, the company’s treasury manager, said in a phone interview from Accra on May 8.

“Our budget this year for the exchange rate was 1.6 per dollar and 2.5 per pound sterling, but these levels have already been broken,” he said.

The election itself is a source of cedi weakness as investors bet the government will struggle to keep spending in check, threatening a repeat of 2008 when pre-vote expenses boosted the budget deficit to 14.5 percent of gross domestic product. The shortfall is expected to reach 4.4 percent of GDP in 2012, according to the government.

“There is a lot of concern among investors and international community as to whether the government will be able to keep within the budget deficit target this year,” James Clinton Francis, a sub-Saharan Africa researcher at Eurasia Group, said in a phone interview from Washington. “The stakes are very high for both parties in the December elections and that gives them the incentive to spend.”

Philomena Annan, a grocer in Bubiashie, a suburb of Accra, is desperate for some relief as costs of staple foods, such as rice, climb.

“We are really suffering now,” Annan, 45, said in an interview on May 8. “I can’t even add profit margins to already high prices. President Mills must do something about the cedi.”

Sex bug growing resistant to drugs

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that a potentially dangerous sexually transmitted disease that infects millions of people each year is growing resistant to drugs and could soon become untreatable.

The U.N. health agency is urging governments and doctors to step up surveillance of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea, a bacterial infection that can cause inflammation, infertility, pregnancy complications and, in extreme cases, lead to maternal death. Babies born to mothers with gonorrhoea have a 50 percent chance of developing eye infections that can result in blindness.

A scientist in the agency’s department of sexually transmitted diseases, Dr. Manjula Lusti-Narasimhan said "this organism has basically been developing resistance against every medication we’ve thrown at it." This includes a group of antibiotics called cephalosporins currently considered the last line of treatment.

She disclosed ahead of WHO’s public announcement on its ’global action plan’ to combat the disease that "in a couple of years it will have become resistant to every treatment option we have available now." 

Lusti-Narasimhan said the new guidance is aimed at ending complacency about gonorrhoea and encouraging researchers to speed up their hunt for a new cure.

Ghana joins 'Cluster Munitions-free Coalition'

Ghana has been included in the 34 African countries adopting an Action Plan with the ultimate aim of a cluster munitions-free Africa. A Regional meeting held in Ghana's capital, Accra has concluded with a strong Action Plan globally on the ban of cluster bombs. 

The Action Plan lays out practical steps to promote and achieve continent-wide membership of the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, which comprehensively prohibits the use, production, stockpiling, and transfer of these weapons.

The document reaffirms the partnership between states, the UN, and civil society to achieve the goals of the treaty and ensure it is fully implemented at the national level.

"Africa has been motivated by putting an end to the devastating harm these weapons cause to civilians, and for this reason it has been a pioneering continent in banning cluster bombs," said Ms.

Afi Yakubu of the Foundation for Security and Development (FOSDA), the Cluster Munitions Coalition's (CMC) national member in Ghana.

"African countries have urged each other to unite and lead the way in ensuring all governments in the region join the treaty" Ms. Yakubu said.

Countries in attendance voiced clear support for the universalisation of the treaty. Mauritius, which is yet to join the treaty, said its National Humanitarian Law Committee will soon consider whether it can accede to the Convention's terms.

A total number of 34 African states took part in the conference including three that are yet to ratify the Convention - Eritrea, Mauritius and Zimbabwe.

Another 18 African countries have signed, but still need to ratify as well as 13 full States Parties.

Chairman Kwame charged with bank fraud

One of the most influential leaders in D.C. government, the chairman of the District of Columbia Council, Kwame R. Brown was charged with a single count of bank fraud and accused of overstating his income by tens of thousands of dollars. He was accused in a criminal information, a document that generally signals that a defendant has agreed to plead guilty. was charged Wednesday with lying about his income on loan applications, the latest allegation of criminal wrongdoing to roil the local government in the nation's capital.

Brown becomes the second D.C. council member since January to be criminally charged and the allegations also come as federal authorities investigate the 2010 campaign of Mayor Vincent Gray, who preceded Brown as council chairman.

Chairman Kwame

Brown's lawyer, Frederick Cooke, did not return calls seeking comment and did not speak to reporters camped outside of Brown's office ahead of a 3 p.m. meeting with fellow council members. The U.S. attorney's office said it would have no comment on the charge.

Court papers say Brown misstated his income by tens of thousands of dollars in loan applications submitted in 2005 for a home equity loan and for a new boat. Federal authorities had also been investigating his 2008 campaign for financial improprieties, but the charging documents do not include any campaign-related allegations.

The council functions as a state legislature in D.C., with its 13 members voting on legislation and a multi-billion-dollar budget that affects all corners of city life.

Brown was charged six months after then-Council member Harry Thomas Jr. pleaded guilty to stealing more than $350,000 in city funds earmarked for youth sports and arts programs. Thomas resigned after being charged and was replaced in a special election last month. In a separate investigation, two former campaign aides to Gray pleaded guilty to charges stemming from illicit payments intended to encourage a minor candidate in the race to badmouth Adrian Fenty, the then-incumbent.

Brown was elected to the council in 2004 and ascended to chairman in January 2011, after Gray became mayor.

Reports monitoring events at the Wilson Building has confirmed Kwame Brown will resign from the DC Council Thursday June 7, 2012. He is expected to make a statement Wednesday afternoon.

Chairman Kwame R. Brown, (no relation to Chairman General Kwame Safa Kayi of Peace FM in Accra, Ghana) was born on October 13, 1970, in Washington, D.C. He is an American politician in Washington, D.C., who is currently chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia and was an at-large member of the council from 2005 to 2011. Brown graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School and participated in the Mayor's Youth Leadership Program. Brown continued his education at Morgan State University in Baltimore, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing. Brown is a graduate of both the Minority Business Executive Program, & Advanced Business Executive Program at the Amos Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College and the Senior Executives in State & Local Government Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

Brown was first elected to the Council in 2004, winning 55.4% of votes citywide in the general election, after defeating incumbent Council member Harold Brazil in the primary with 54.09% of the vote.
Brown was up for reelection in 2008 and faced no opposition in the Democratic primary. When asked why no one was running against him, he stated, "People run because they're tired of elected officials not doing anything." Brown, who lives in Hillcrest, continued, 'No one's running, because I've done what I said I was going to do."

Nature intervenes to halt insensitive Queen Elizabeth's wanton dissipation

It is so strange and awful that amid recession and economic despair, we still see an institution that has outlived its relevance displaying opulence and profligacy with carelessness abundance. In Britain, Europe and the Commonwealth today, majority of the citizenry are suffering because they have a privileged leadership that is detached from their worries and pains. What is painful is that the Chief Executive Officer of found it necessary to organise very expensive programmes to mark her reigns. Like greedy landlords and lousy banks, the British monarchy fails to connect to the people hence shows or expresses no concern about the plight of millions of ordinary people hustling daily to eke a living and instead chose to spend colossal sums of pound sterling to celebrate Elizabeth II's diamond jubilee. One wonders what there is for her to celebrate anyway when in reality the so-called British Empire has disappeared during her tenure and Britain has become a US poodle in a sense. The Monarchy's lack of sensitivity and failure to weigh up the risks and not to care about the suffering masses has incurred the wrath of the divine powers to intervene. The main obsession of Elizabeth is just to display her ill-gotten fortune. They are the privileged family born with a silver spoon in their mouth were getting dressed to show their pomp and glory when true wielders of real power came down like angels of God descending on King Herod and devoured him, striking Prince Philip leading to his hospitalisation. He was admitted to a hospital in London with a bladder infection, casting a shadow over events to mark the monarch's 60 years on the throne.

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Elizabeth II. He is the United Kingdom's longest-serving consort and the oldest serving spouse of a reigning British monarch. The Duke of Edinburgh was taken to King Edward VII Hospital in London this afternoon, from Windsor Castle, as a precautionary measure after developing a bladder infection, which is being assessed and treated," the royal household said in a statement on its website. "Prince Philip will remain in hospital under observation for a few days. He is, understandably, disappointed about missing this evening's Diamond Jubilee concert and tomorrow's engagements."

The prince missed a concert in the evening outside Buckingham Palace, the queen's central London residence, as well as the next day's service of thanksgiving at St. Paul's Cathedral in the city's financial district. The couple took part in a 1,000- boat Diamond Jubilee pageant on the River Thames the previous day, watched by an estimated 1 million people amid driving rain and unseasonably cold temperatures.

The anticlimax to Elizabeth's wanton dissipation of resources in a period of economic recession is a well deserved natural response. What poor men and women suffering under the weight of over taxation could not do, God has decided to fight on behalf of his people. Let us all learn to show concern for right things done at the wrong time make it wrong. Elizabeth II must show concern and compassion towards the suffering poor and curb the excesses, profligacy, and opulence.All things shall pass and generations to be born to this family will one day live as wretched as the desert and then feel what millions are going through.

Gaddafi glorification controversy

Libya's Supreme Court has agreed to review the constitutionality of a new law that criminalises the glorification of ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi or any of his supporters.

The appealing lawyer told the court othat Law 37, which was passed by the ruling National Transitional Council in May 2012, violated constitutional freedoms of expression.

"This law is a violation of the basic freedoms of human rights and will help to damage freedoms in Libya," said Saleh al-Marghani. "The law itself helps to glorify Gaddafi more than keep it in check. We ask the court to accept our appeal."

The NTC passed Law 37 on May 2 and raised public outrage among civil societies and Libyan legal experts who said the law violated the spirit of freedom of expression.

The law prescribes prison sentences for the glorification of Gaddafi as well as publishing any news "harming the February 17 revolution". 

Somethings like the 'Animal Farm' never change regardless of the personalities at the centre of the game.

Nun Angers Vatican over sexuality critique

The Vatican on June 4, 2012 sharply criticized a book on sexuality written by a prominent American nun, saying it contradicted church teaching on issues like masturbation, homosexuality and marriage and that its author had a "defective understanding" of Catholic theology.

The Vatican's orthodoxy office said the book, "Just Love: A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics" by Sister Margaret Farley, a member of the Sisters of Mercy religious order and emeritus professor of Christian ethics at Yale Divinity School, posed "grave harm" to the faithful.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said that in the 2006 book, Farley either ignored church teaching on core issues of human sexuality or treated it as merely one opinion among many.

Farley said she never intended the book to reflect current official Catholic teaching. Rather, she said, she wrote it to explore sexuality via various religious traditions, theological resources and human experience.

The Farley critique, signed by the American head of the congregation, Cardinal William Levada, comes amid the Vatican's recent crackdown on the largest umbrella group of American sisters. The Vatican last month essentially imposed martial law on the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, accusing it of undermining church teaching and imposing certain "radical feminist themes" that were incompatible with Catholicism.

It ordered a full-scale overhaul of the group and appointed three bishops to carry it out.

The crackdown on Farley, a top American theologian, will likely fuel greater resentment at Rome among more liberal-minded American sisters.

The Vatican examination of the book began in 2010 and involved seeking Farley's responses to its concerns. After her replies failed to satisfy the Congregation, it moved to a full-fledged "examination in cases of urgency" that concluded Dec. 14.

Pope Benedict XVI approved the decision last March and ordered the decision published.

In its statement, the Vatican singled out specific problems in Farley's book which it said "affirms positions that are in direct contradiction with Catholic teaching in the field of sexual morality."

Farley, for example, writes that masturbation doesn't raise any moral problems and can actually help relationships rather than hinder them. The Vatican asserted that according to church teaching "masturbation is an intrinsically and gravely disordered action."

Farley wrote that homosexual people as well as their activities should be respected. Church teaching holds that gays should be respected but that homosexual acts are "intrinsically disordered."

On gay marriage, Farley said legal recognition of gay marriage can help transform the stigmatization of gays. Levada wrote back that approving gay marriage would not only signal approval of "deviant behavior" but would obscure the value of traditional marriage between man and woman in society.

"The principles of respect and non-discrimination cannot be invoked to support legal recognition of homosexual unions," he wrote.

In her statement, Farley said she had aimed to propose a framework for sexual ethics that "uses a criteria of justice" in evaluating sexual relations.

She acknowledged that her responses to certain issues do depart from traditional doctrine, but said they nonetheless were coherent in theological and moral traditions.

"The fact that Christians (and others) have achieved new knowledge and deeper understanding of human embodiment and sexuality seems to require that we at least examine the possibility of development in sexual ethics," she wrote.

She said she appreciated the Vatican's work but lamented that her positions weren't reflected in the Congregation's final document.

Allied Air Cargo plane crashes 12 people at El-Wak

Ghana's Minister of Transport, Collins Dauda has set up a five member committee chaired by Captain Alex Grant Sam to probe the June 2 Allied Air Cargo Boeing 727 200 crash landing at Kotoka Airport in Accra. It is to establish among others the cause of the June 2nd crash of Nigerian plane, the extent of the damage and also the cause of the accident that claimed twelve lives. Officially ten persons were reported dead but some sections of the media are challenging the number saying twelve died. The probe is mandated by aviation regulations. What is not clear yet is the accuracy of the probe report and appropriateness of the probe recommendations to come out of the probe. Africa is described by aviation experts as the graveyard for outdated planes. This is often compounded by lack of adherence to strict aviation regulations by authorities thereby compromising air safety. Perhaps Ghana has been spared such air crashes due to the paucity of airlines plying her skies but with her economy expanding especially among the middle class, this will change and the real challenge confronting the country will come to the fore.
Disaster hit the Allied Air Cargo Boeing 727 200 plane when it crash landed at Accra's Kotoka International Airport on Saturday night after overshooting the runway and slamming into a bus loaded with passengers on nearby El-Wak street thereby killing all 12 people on board instantly on impact. So far eight of the twelve deceased have been identified. Officials of Ghana Airport Company, managers of the airport said preliminary investigations have revealed that the Nigerian cargo jet landed in a pool of water during heavy rains before overshooting the runway.

The Boeing 727 200 craft first smashed through the  fence wall perimeter that runs around the airport before hitting the bus. A spokesman for the Ghana Fire Service, Billy Anaglate,  said that all 10 passengers in the bus were killed on impact. The plane's four crew members appear to have survived the crash and were rushed to nearby Airport Clinic for treatment.

Wreckage of cargo liner Allied Air Cargo

The Allied Air Cargo plane was travelling from Nigeria to Ghana. It was carrying general goods including textiles, perfumes and clothing from Nigeria to the Ivory Coast via Accra. At the landing it was short of the boundary, and it went off onto the road side. It crashed into a bus that was bound for Accra after the plane broke the barrier and went onto the road and hit the vehicle and unfortunately in the vehicle everyone ended up dying. Ambulances, police and military security quickly cordoned off the neighborhood where the plane crashed. The area is near to El-Wak Sports Stadium and Hajj Village, where Muslims in the country stay before they journey to Mecca.

Local television stations showed images of the plane lying across a road with parts of its nose, wing and undercarriage torn off. The flight crew were shown jumped off and received help from emergency responders. All four crew, including two pilots survived the crash. There was also a badly mangled minivan and ten bodies next to the crashed plane. Ghana's Vice President John Dramani Mahama later visited the scene of the crash and expressed the government condolences to the family of the victims. He urged all to exercise restraint while investigation is carried out to determine the cause of the crash.

Ghana with a population of about 25 million has not had a major airplane crash in recent years. Saturday's crash was the first in decades in Ghana whose airspace has a fairly high safety record, compared with other countries in the West Africa region. The last air emergency the country had was in June 2006, when a TAAG Linhas Aereas De Angola flight to Sao Tome hit birds during takeoff. The plane landed safely and none of the 28 people onboard were injured. According to Ghana Airport Company operations at the airport remained normal with all flights on schedule as two aeroplanes took minutes after the incident. 
The accident however raises concern about reasonableness of allowing new high rising buildings in the area adjacent the airport called Airport City as well as the sitting of the headquarters of a church close to the flight path of the airport. Some people joke that one day God may get tired, go to sleep and the Prayer Cathedral could become another Ground Zero. Maybe, and just maybe radical decision to relocate the Accra Airport about 18 kilometres away from the built-up and heavily encroached present site must be made without wasting anymore time.

Despite spelling Lesotho, WC qualifier is overshadowed by 'presidential fiat'

Despite winning his first match in charge of the Black Stars as local manager by white-washing Lesotho by 7-0, Coach Kwasi Appiah's excellent start to his job has been overshadowed by events off the field of play. Thus Coach Appiah's Black Stars spelt seven-lettered Lesotho. There was sadly drama and disbelief as the game was suspended early in the second half because of a floodlight failure at the Baba Yara Sports stadium in the central city of Kumasi, Ghana on Friday June 1, 2012. The incident has been described variously including as a national disgrace in the 21st century. The match was suspended for nearly one and a half hour when the stadium lights went off forcing the match officials to halt play.

The game was stopped in the 54th minute with Ghana leading 4-0 through goals by Sulley Muntari, Jordan Ayew and a brace from Dominic Adiyiah. According to FIFA statistics, Ghana reached a century of goals in the FIFA World Cup qualifying with Dominic Adiyiah's first goal on the 24th minute. History loves Adiyiah Ghana's century man. This adds to the historic anecdotes to the young man’s career.He scooped a historic treble of FIFA U-20 World Cup Golden Ball, FIFA U-20 World Cup Golden Shoe and won gold as well. This was in addition to being named CAF Young Player of the Year in 2009, and also, Ghana Player of the year in 2010 by the Ghana FA.

That was where the excitement on the pitch ended.

The government communication machinery appears to be in a disarray over the course of action to take over the incident as two official sources engaged in competition of spinning. Currently there is confusion over the fate of the Ashanti Regional Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Alhaji Abdulai Kurah; as to whether he has been suspended or still at post.
Koku Anyidoho, spokesman for Ghana President John Atta Mills, says the president, who isn't at the game, is ''highly upset.''Anyidoho says ''this kind of thing is unacceptable'' and Anyidoho in a swift action told the media that Kurah had been suspended with immediate effect.  Anyidoho, said the dismissals will affect all those in line of duty at ECG and all those who have something do with the matter. He said "President Mills is upset and everybody who has a role to play in the matter will have their heads roll." 

There was however doubt as to whether the statement carries any weight especially where the ECG itself is pleading innocence as Anyidoho's overdrive is after the fact. First, a statement from the Energy Ministry quickly countered that claim hence confusion galore as government double speaks on the matter. Then the blame for the incident itself hangs in the balance as the ECG claims the fault should be placed squarely at the doorstep of the National Sports Council. PRO of the ECG, Erasmus Baidoo, said there was power supplied by the ECG and that it was a switch on the generator of the Sports Council that developed a fault resulting in the flood light going off. "There is no reason why there is no power in the stadium except that the generators of the Sports Council developed a problem," he said. According to Mr Baidoo, the stadium was running on the generators of the Sports Council and that ECG was only a backup. If flood lights went off, therefore, he noted, the ECG cannot be held accountable. His argument was confirmed by reporters at the stadium.

Characteristically, the NDC government does not appear to have a clue on the way forward.

When it was eventually restarted after delaying for over one hour, the Black Stars continue their mission by completing their straightforward win with three more goals from Jordan Ayew, Christian Atsu and Jerry Akaminko.

Ghana is hosting Lesotho in the first round of games in Africa's main World Cup qualifying competition. Recently crowned African champion Zambia and Sudan are the other countries in Group D.

Ghana Census figure conflicts with EC Biometric voter register

Analysis of the final results of the 2010 Population and Housing Census (PHC) and the Electoral Commission's biometric voter register reveals an interesting scenario for the outcome of the election particularly in the Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions. While the PHC result shows that the population of the Ashanti Region exceeds that of the Greater Accra Region by 770,326 persons (a figure that more than accounts for the whole of the population of the Upper West Region (702,110) and still has 68,216 persons more to spare yet the Greater Accra Region registered more voters than Ashanti Region. Number of voters in GT. ACCRA is 2,792,576 and Ashanti Region is 2,557,122. NATIONAL TOTAL is 14,031,793 and 26,002 polling stations. What accounts for this apparent discrepancy? Some voters were persuaded to register elsewhere rather than their usual polling station or constituency where they normally vote. Food for thought.

The final results of the fifth Ghana census conducted on  September 26, 2010 to fill the substantial data gaps arising from the creation of new districts was announced by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) in Accra on Thursday May 31, 2012. The results were based on 10 Administrative Regions and the 170 Metropolitan, Municipal and Districts that existed at the time of the census. The the objective was providing the country with up-to-date socio-economic data for planning and evaluating various government policies and intervention programmes at national, regional and district levels.It is nearly two years since the operation was conducted and some 16 months following the release of provisional results in February 2011. It is the second time a population and housing census (PHC) has been conducted as a single operation. 

The sex ratio is 95 males per 100 females. The total number of females is 12,633,978 representing 51.2 per cent while males account for 12,024,845, representing 48.8 per cent of the entire population (See Table 1.)

Table 1 - Population by Region and Sex, 2010

The population increased from 18,912,079 in 2000 to 24,658,823 in 2010.

The Ashanti Region had the highest population of 4,780,380 representing 19.4 per cent compared to 19.1 per cent in 2000. The Greater Accra Region followed with 4,010,054 representing 16.3 per cent compared to 15.4 per cent in 2000 whiles the Upper West Region had the lowest population of 702,110 representing 2.8 per cent declining from 3.0 per cent in 2000. The breakdown of the current population figures are contained in Table 2.

Table 2 - Percentage distribution of population by region, 2000 - 2010

The current population recorded represents a 30.4 per cent increase within the decade. The annual intercensal growth rate of the population is 2.5 per cent with Greater Accra Region registering the highest growth rate of 3.1 per cent whiles Upper West Region had the least growth rate of 1.9 per cent (See Table 3.)

Table 3 - Population Growth 2000 to 2010

The population density for the country has increased from 79 persons per square kilometre in 2000 to 103 persons in 2010.While Greater Accra Region with intense pressure of 1,236 person per Sq Km, Northern Region has just 35 persons sq/km (See Table 4.)

Table 4 - Population Densities by Region, 1984 to 2010

The potential workforce of the population comprising ages 15 - 64 is 14,040,893 representing 56.94 per cent while the dependency population is 10,617, 930 representing 43.06 per cent. The adult population consisting of the section of the population 18+ which is also the proportion of the population permitted to vote is 13,632,299 representing 55.28 per cent (See Table 5.)

Table 5 -  Selected Demographic Characteristics of the population