Minister Grilled On Presidential Palace

Accra, Nov 16, GNA - The Minority in Parliament on Thursday pinned Mr. Kwadwo Mpiani, Chief of Staff and Minister of Presidential Affairs against the wall, grilling him on the progress of work on the proposed Presidential Palace.

The grilling was also on why the Ministry of Communications did not have a substantive Chief Director and the National Communications Authority (NCA) did not have a substantive Director General.

Mr Mpiani in his responses, which obviously did not go down well with the Minority, came up to the Dispatch Box several times to answer questions some of which got him fumbling in the specifics and the legalities.
The questions stood in the name of Mr Haruna Iddrisu, NDC-Tamale South and Ms Akua Dansoa, NDC-North Dayi.

Mr Mpiani could not tell the House the exact estimated cost of the Presidential Palace project, arguing that, "in construction, it would be improper on my part to come to stand here and give you the exact amount of the project.

"You all know that in construction, there are variations that come up at one time or the other. I cannot tell."
This brought Mr Alban Bagbin, Minority Leader to his feet saying: "Mr Speaker, We want the Minister to take this House serious and tell the people of this country, the taxpayers, the estimated cost of the Presidential Palace because according to him, " it is their taxes which pay us and the Minister of Presidential Affairs."
Replying, Mr Mpiani said he takes the House seriously, indicating that he was one time a Member of Parliament. He said Parliament approved 30 million dollars earlier this year and that was the cost.
To this, Mr Bagbin said the Minority was interested in knowing the exact estimated cost, stressing that, not long ago, government came to Parliament for an additional five million dollars in the supplementary budget for the project.

Mr Iddrisu, who like a number of his colleagues in the Minority, stood up several times to question the Minister, said it was not right for the Minister to give answers in halves that leave the House in doubt and pleaded with the Speaker to make the Minister get to the bottom of the matter on the floor.

The Speaker at this point cooled down the heat when he asked Mr Iddrisu to reframe his question, during which Mr Mpiani consulted with his colleagues for an answer.

Mr Mpiani said work on the seat of government and Presidency being executed by Messrs Sharpoorji Pallonji and Co Limited of India is expected to be completed by December 31, 2007. The project started on July 2, 2006.

He noted that construction works was 14 per cent complete and was well ahead of schedule, indicating that at the current pace, "it is expected that the project would be completed at least one month ahead of schedule."
Mr Mpiani, when asked what he meant by 14 per cent complete said if the Minority wanted specifics, he was ready to supply it, stressing that he did not have the full details.

Answering the question on why the Ministry of Communications did not have a substantive Chief Director, the Minister said the Public Services Commission interviewed a number of applicants for appointment in 2005 and 35 of the number have been short-listed.

"As part of the selection process, due diligence had to be done on all candidates. So far due diligence has been completed on 29 of them. "Due diligence is yet to be done on the remaining five persons, one of whom has been earmarked for the Ministry of Communications. The Minority then queried further saying it had taken too long for the appointment of a substantive Chief Director, arguing that perhaps "due diligence" was taking most of the time.

On the matter of the NCA, the Minority wanted to know why the Authority had consistently had acting heads.

Mr Mpiani said among other things, the Director-General shall be appointed by the President in accordance with the advice of the Board in consultation with the Public Services Commission and that Article 40 of the 1992 Constitution provided that the Minister for Transport and Communications shall have Ministerial responsibility for the Authority. When Dr Benjamin Kumbuor, NDC-Lawra-Nandom said there was no such Ministry as Transport and Communications in Ghana, Mr Mpiani said: "Mr Speaker the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana said in Article 40 that the Minister for Transport and Communications, who am I to change it", he questioned.