Author: newsfilegh

Government is working to reduce corporate income tax by five per cent next year, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has announced. This means businesses would pay 20 per cent of their profits as corporate income tax as against the current 25 per cent. This new measure, which the minister said would be captured by the 2018 budget statement to be presented to Parliament in November this year, is to create a business friendly environment for the private sector. Government has since this year reviewed about 15 taxes in a bid to relieve the plight of taxpayers and increase the tax net.…

A report into Tanzania’s mining industry finds that an offical was given a gift of diamonds worth 200 million dollars in dubious circumstances. The country’s mining industry came under the spotlight today as two parliamentary committees are presenting reports to President John Magufuli, after investigating diamond and tanzanite mining deals. The reports implicate several former ministers and top government officials in signing corrupt deals. In one incident, the investigation found a top government official received a gift of diamonds worth $200m (£153m) in dubious circumstances. The reports are also faulting the government for relying on mine company statistics for key…

Balancing the needs of petroleum consumers and petroleum service providers is very crucial to the National Petroleum Authority’s operations. Section 2(f) of the NPA Act 2005 (Act 691) mandates the Authority to monitor the standards of performance and quality of service provision rendered by the petroleum service providers (PSPs) to the consumer. As a regulator of the petroleum downstream industry,  the NPA is concerned about the growing number of calls by consumers concerning poor quality fuel and inaccurate quantity of fuel dispensed at the pumps at various stations. In order to ensure sanity in the sale and marketing of petroleum…

The Chief Fire Officer of the Ghana National Fire Service, Dr. Albert Brown Gaisie, has been relieved of his current post and re-assigned to the National Security. Sources told 3News Thursday that his deputy will take over as the new Chief Fire Officer. It is unclear what prompted the changes and what Dr. Gaisie’s role at the National Security will be. 3News sources say government will soon issue a statement to announce the new changes. Dr. Gasie was appointed as the Chief Fire Officer 16th December, 2014. READ: I’ve not appointed a new Chief Fire Officer – Interior Minister In…

The six-month suspension handed Member of Parliament for Tema West, Carlos Ahenkorah, by the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) for allegedly impeding the execution of a decision by the assembly is to be lifted. The Assembly per a resolution passed Wednesday, suspended the MP after he was accused of obstructing officials of the assembly from carrying out a demolition exercise in the metropolis. Some local governance expected have criticised the suspension on grounds that due process was not followed. A statement issued Thursday and signed by the Chief Executive of the Assembly Felix Mensah Nii Anang and the Presiding Member Richard…

Staff of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) in Accra have been locked out of their office as they demand the immediate removal of their Chief Executive, Samuel Sarpong, who has been accused of operational mismanagement. The staff are also resisting what they believe to be a decision by the directors of PURC to reinstate Nana Yaa Jantuah who resigned her post as the Public Relations Director of the regulatory body. TV3’s Catherine Frimpongmaa reported from the PURC headquarters that the workers claim the directors of PURC on Wednesday invited Nana Yaa Jantuah into a closed door meeting after which…

Fifty-seven oil marketing companies (OMCs) have been sanctioned by the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) for engaging in various infractions detrimental to the interest of consumers. All the affected OMCs are in the Greater Accra Region. They were fined a total of GH¢261,000 for serving customers with lower volumes of fuel, using non-approved GSA seals and breaking GSA seals meant to stop cheating at the pumps. The acting Director-General of the GSA, Prof. Alex Dodoo, told the Daily Graphic in an interview in Accra on Wednesday that the companies were sanctioned within a 12-month period. He said the GSA undertook periodic…

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Wednesday, underscored the need for the United Nations (UN) to undergo structural renovation to make it a more effective multi-lateral organisation. He observed that although many African nations were not present at the time the UN was formed, the Continent was now playing an active role in the comity of nations, thus, these and many other changes on the global scene should reflect in the structure of the UN to enable such nations to play active roles in the world body. President Akufo-Addo made the call when the new Ambassador of Norway to Ghana,…

The Ministry of Energy says Ghana is on track in pursuing its programme to harness nuclear energy as a long term energy alternative. The country’s energy resource assessment indicates the present energy sources of hydro, thermal, gas, solar and wind will not be enough to meet the total energy requirements in the future. Ghana is currently generating almost 5,000megawatts of electricity but available capacity hovers around 2,000megawatts. Nuclear energy is sourced to guarantee the base load in electricity generation without subject to water in the dam, the supply of gas to the plant, or availability of sun for solar. “When…

The Chief Executive Officer of McDan Shipping Company, Daniel McCauley has denied claims by the Minority in Parliament that he has a secured a supply contract with the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD). He has also refuted claims that he leveraged on a perceived relationship with the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta to secure a GH¢10.45million Agriculture Development Bank (ADB) loan. According to him, he secured the loan purely on a business basis. The Minority at a press conference on Tuesday accused Mr Ofori-Atta of usurping the authority of the board of ADB by approving the credit facility to McDan Shipping…