“… Member of parliament Kobina Tahir Hammond…called the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill a minefield, cautioning MPs: ‘We must be very, very conscious as a nation, extremely conscious. There can be proper governance without a certain amount of secrecy…You don’t open up the entire gamut of government to the prying eye of the entire public’… And, before his full-throated apology, Lawyer Mr. K. T. “Hybrid” Hammond jabbed that Dr. Kunbuor’s statement was “…the most disgraceful statement that has ever been made by any member in (Parliament); it is insulting, it is foolish and should never be allowed…I ask for the statement to be withdrawn immediately…Mr. Speaker, I ask for the stupid and useless and foolish statement to be withdrawn immediately…it is palpable nonsense…According to the Record from Parliament, on that day in July, debate on the bill was not completed because among other reasons……”, (Mr. K. T. “Hybrid” Hammond, as shadowed by Prof Lungu, 10 Sep 16).
To continue….
We must say that if there ever, ever, has been a “…most disgraceful statement that has ever, been made by any member in (Parliament), it is that statement by Lawyer Kobina Takir “Hybrid” Hammond with the respect to the “prying eye of the entire public” on matters and interests the “entire public” themselves owe, fund, and preserve in their own sovereign interest.
LAWYER KOBINA T. “HYBRID” HAMMOND HAS NO LOVE FOR FREEDOM OF INFORMATION BILL, NEITHER!
Kobina Tahir “Hybrid” Hammond had the audacity to inform Ghana a couple of months ago while in Ada, while on the Peoples’ dime, that regardless of what the NDC does, if the NPP comes to power this election cycle, they, the NPP, will revert back to the Ghana “Hybrid System”, if the NDC does the right thing by Ghana and adopts Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) for Ghana, same laws used by all progressive countries to accrue more oil revenues for their countries, ad sovereign owners of the oil/resource.
Imagine that!
Then there is the case just 2 days after the initial meeting with GIGS, on 9 July, earlier. In that case, the Ghana Parliament was discussing the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill (or as they weakly call it, the Right to Information (RTI) bill)).
Apparently, if Mr. Hammond, now with the NPP minority has his way, the FOI bill will never see the light of day. According to the Record from Parliament, on that day in July, debate on the bill was not completed because among other reasons:
“…Member of parliament Kobina Tahir Hammond…called the bill a minefield, cautioned: ‘We must be very, very conscious as a nation, extremely conscious. There can be proper governance without a certain amount of secrecy…You don’t open up the entire gamut of government to the prying eye of the entire public’…”.
To that Hammond bewildering “secrecy and conscious as a nation” statement, MP and Minister for Science and Environment, Mr. Mahama Ayariga replied that “…it is the time to pass an RTI law….’I think this country has been cautious enough. It is rather time for us to courageously move forward when it comes to the passage of the Right to Information Bill..(because)…’good governance…underpins our constitution’…”.
So the other questions for Mr. Tahir “Hybrid” Hammond are these:
1. What is Mr. Hammond afraid of?
2. Why is it is a bad thing when “the prying eye of the entire public” is focused on items the public buys and pays for? You know, all those oil contracts, benefits, taxes, liabilities accrued, equipment purchased, oil cash actually received, etc., by Parliament and Mr. Hammond, on behalf of the People of Ghana.
Imagine!
Every month “high” public official Mr. Hammond receives more than GH¢12,000.00, all tax-free, with a catalog of free benefits (free housing, free staff, free transportation, per diem, etc), all tax-free. Mr. Hammond does not pay income tax on all his income and benefits. But it is the Ghanaian worker who lives in Akatechi, Kofevi, Navrongo, Cape Coast, Ho, Berekum, Cabo Corso, Ogwa, Kumasi, Tamale, Tema, Bongo, Karachi, Paga, Kukurantumi, Zvalungu, and all places in-between earning a whole lot less money, it is they who actually pay taxes to support Mr. Hammond, Mr. Dagadu, and a whole heap of them.
Yet, Mr. Hammond wants secrecy for oil contracts. Mr. Hammond has no love for access to information held by government by citizens. To boot, Mr. Hammond wants less money for Ghana, even though the PSA accrues more money for Ghana, in the medium- to long-term.
So, we ask this simple question of Mr. Kobina T. “Hybrid” Hammond and the NDC Deputy Minister For Energy and Petroleum, Mr. Benjamin Dagadu.
QUESTION: If Texas/USA, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, etc., can have the “Gold-Standard” Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) that will over the medium- to long-term pay Ghana billions more in oil revenues, why can’t Ghana have it?
Why resist the PSA mathematics, logic, science, and symbolism?
Here is our bottom-line!
We believe that Mr. Kobina Tahir “Hybrid” Hammond, Mr. Dagadu, Damongo Mutawakilu, and all those officials in Parliament who support the NPP-contrived Ghana Hybrid System, or are otherwise silent, ought to sit up and do right by Ghana without further delays and loss of oil revenue to Ghana.
Oil, after all, depletes!
We are calling on all of them!
Order!
Order!
Order!
Order!
SOURCES:
1. Ghanaweb. I’m sorry – KT Hammond begs, 7 December, 2013, (www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/I-m-sorry-KT-Hammond-begs-294396).
Our thanks to the numerous Fair-Trade Oil Share Ghana (FTSO-Gh) supporters in Ghana and all over the world who continue to report on the FTOS-Gh Campaign and Petition.
Subj: K. T. Hybrid Hammond is Scared FOIB Will Lead to Ghana’s Lost $6 Billion-plus Oil Cash (2)