Sydney, Australia Monday 23 Oct. 2006 — The Minister for Public Sector Reforms, Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, met Ghanaians resident in Sydney, Australia, to explain the contents of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), which was signed on 1 August 2006 in the United States of America.
Dr Nduom explained that the MCA program was going to deliver significant benefits to the country’s poor, most especially those in the rural areas. He explained that the program is principally focused on agriculture, roads, and in a limited extent to public education, sanitation and water.
Various questions were put to the Minster, but most notably, in an answer to a question put to him by a member of the audience whether there were conditions attached to the grant, Dr Nduom said there were no conditions, and or conditionality attached to the MCA. Dr Nduom explained that the MCA was a grant which is a reward for good governance to encourage other countries to do more for their people.
The Minister in his presentation encouraged Ghanaians abroad to apply for positions which are advertised on the MCA website so that they can bring their acquired expertise to bear on the success of the program.
Present at the meeting was His Excellency, Mr Kofi Sekyiamah, the Ghana High Commissioner to Australia; Professor Adei, Rector of GIMPA, Professor Woode, Chairman of the Public Services Commission and Mr Felix Ograh, Research Analyst and Head of Procurement at the Ministry of Public Sector Reforms. The event was moderated by the President of the Ghana Association of New South Wales, Mr Eric Tweneboa.
In a later interview with an African radio program on 88.9FM in Sydney, the Minister was shown a copy of the document which was presented to the U.S Congress by the Bush administration which stated that:
Source: GhanaWeb
