UK Minister calls on NPP

Stephen O'Brien, the United Kingdom's Minister for African Development, Saturday, 23 rd July 2011, paid a courtesy call on the New Patriotic Party at the offices of Nana Akufo-Addo, 2012 flagbearer of the NPP.

 
Osei Kyei Mensa-Bonsu, minority leader in Parliament, Shirley Ayorkor Bochway, minority spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, and Peter Mac Manu, former NPP national chairman, constituted the NPP delegation who met the Minister for African Developement.

 
Mr O'Brien, on the other hand, was accompanied by Peter Jones, High Commissioner of UK to Ghana, and Sally Taylor, Country Director of the Department for International Development (DFID).

 
Welcoming the UK delegation, Hon Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, stated that Nana Akufo-Addo, together with Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, NPP National Chairman, would have loved to meet him [Stephen O'Brien] in person and his delegation, but due to other commitments, including the listening campaign being embarked upon by the NPP flagbearer, they were unable to do so and as such had delegated them to meet with the UK delegation.

 
Addressing the delegation, the Minority Leader spoke about a wide range of issues, particularly zeroing in on the impending 2012 elections and its attendant issues, corruption, human rights, and the use of oil revenues in Ghana.  

 
Osei Kyei-Mensa-Bonsu, first and foremost, retraced Ghana's relationship with the United Kingdom including bilateral trade agreements spanning years and aid worth millions of pounds each year Ghana received from the UK.

 
According to the minority leader, Ghana has been hailed as a democratic success story, with the 2008 elections being a highlight of this story. However, issues relating to the conduct of by-elections under the leadership of President Mills gave him cause for concern.

 
Osei Kyei-Mensa-Bonsu cited the violent incidents that surrounded the conduct of the Akwatia, Chereponi and Atiwa by-elections and the non-prosecution of perpetrators of violence against innocent civilians as a possible recipe of what is to come in the 2012 elections.

 
The Minority leader also delved into the issue of the impending biometric voter registration exercise. According to him, this development is a step in the right direction but was, however, worried about the timetable of activities or lack thereof of the EC towards the exercise. He hoped, just as was in the case of Nigeria which used 2 weeks to compile their biometric register, Ghana's registration exercise will not be unduly delayed.

 
Corruption, according to Osei Kyei-Mensa-Bonsu, was reaching dizzying heights under the Mills administration. He cited numerous cases of inflated contract sums, the new “craze” of sole sourcing of contracts contrary to the procurement law and also touched on the acquisition of aircrafts for the military, which he said was bubbling with shady deals.

 
Delving into Ghana's discovery of oil in commercial quantities, the minority leader expressed concern about the broken down flow meter, which till date, has not been replaced. The use of a dip stick was an indictment on Ghana's ability to correctly determine the quantity of oil she exports.

 
The Minority Leader ended by saying Nigeria did not end up the way it is now, with regards to its oil now becoming a curse, over night but through the systemic neglect of “basic things” like this and he hoped Ghana would not tread along this slippery path.

 
Mr Peter Mac Manu, on his part, appreciated the visit and urged the UK government to interest itself in the happenings in Ghana particularly in the upcoming biometric registration exercise and the 2012 general elections. He assured the delegation that NPP is working hard to be elected in a peaceful manner, come 2012.

 
Mr O'Brien on his part thanked the NPP for the warm reception he received and stated that he had duly acknowledged the concerns raised by the Osei Kyei-Mensa-Bonsu and will pass them on to the appropriate bodies for redress.

 
The Minister who is a Conservative party MP stated that he appreciated the role of opposition in multi-party democracy as the Conservative party itself was in opposition for about 11 years   only and came to power last year.

 
Among other issues, Mr O'Brien urged Ghana to respect the rights of homosexuals and “go easy” on them. He stated that the hard-line taken by the Malawian government against homosexuals in their country has resulted in the UK withdrawing all of its £19 million a year aid to that country.  

 
Mr. O'Brien was appointed Parliamentary under Secretary of State for International Development on 13 May 2010.

 
He is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Eddisbury. Prior to his appointment at DFID, he served as Shadow Minister for Health and Social Care, Shadow Minister for Skills and Higher Education, and Shadow Secretary of State for Industry. He was Chairman of the Malaria Consortium from 2006 to 2010 when he took up his government posting.