The Hohoe District Police has intercepted two cartons of AAA and BBB cartridges on board a Yutong bus travelling to Kpassa in the Oti Region.
The Police acted on intelligence and dispatched a team to search all vehicles entering the district from Accra.
At about 3:45 pm on November 3, the team stopped a red Yutong bus with registration No. GT 5919-16 travelling from Accra to Kpassa.
A search was conducted on the bus and two cartons containing AAA and BBB cartridges, respectively, were found concealed in the side compartment of the bus.
All 29 passengers on board the said vehicle denied ownership of the cartridges.
The driver in charge of the bus, Robert Ofosu Nyanor, 50, and his conductor, Godwin Aniwo, 32; were immediately placed under arrest for further interrogation.
The bus was impounded.
The suspects were later released on police enquiry bail as the investigation continues
The 30-year-old female teacher who bruised a nine-year-old girl’s body with mercilessly caning for allegedly not doing her homework has been arrested by the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit of the Manhyia Divisional Police Command of the Ashanti Region.
Elizabeth Tweneboah Kodua teaches at the Happy Royals International School in the Asokore Mampong Municipality.
She was handed over to the police by her uncle.
The police are interrogating her as part of the investigations.
The little girl’s father, Mohammed Saani, on Thursday, told journalists: “I was at work when I got a phone call that a teacher has beaten my child because she failed to do the homework assigned to her”.
“I didn’t expect that it will be this severe”, he said, adding: “When I saw the way she has been brutally whipped – with bruises all over – I couldn’t control my anger”, he said.
“When I tried confronting the headmaster, he got so upset.
“He said the teacher had already explained her action to him, so, I reported the case to the police and took my child to the hospital”.
“How cruel can a teacher be?”
“If I had met the teacher physically, I wouldn’t have spared her at all,” he said
Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Ernest Addison has said digitisation of bank accounts has enabled customers to conduct financial services through online platforms in a seamless manner without stepping foot in the banking hall.
The positive aspect of these, he said, is the broad acceptability of these technology driven financial services due to its convenience, efficiency and affordability.
Governor Addison added that this has also instigated innovative digital financial products services by banks and financial technology firms, to further reinforce financial inclusion.
Speaking at the Standard Chartered digital banking, innovation & fintech festival on the theme “Regulation as an enabler for digitising the financial sector” on Wednesday November 3, he said “The current vibrant state of Ghana’s digital financial service ecosystem is a product of well-thought-out and carefully crafted reforms and policies, spearheaded by the Bank over the past two decades.
“After a series of strategic policy papers, the Bank of Ghana facilitated the passage of the Payment Systems Act 2003 (Act 662), which provided the legal basis and regulatory anchor for the introduction of technology in the banking industry. With this Law, a real time gross settlement system, which is the Ghana Interbank Settlement (GIS) system, was implemented.
“This infrastructure significantly improved the efficiency of wholesale and large value interbank funds transfer and liquidity management.
“Subsequently, additional institutional reforms carried out in line with Act 662 paved the way to establish the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems Limited (GhIPSS) in May 2007. Since then, GhIPSS has rapidly transformed the payment ecosystem through the implementation of interoperable interbank retail payment systems, including electronic cheque clearing, automated clearing house for direct debit and credit funds transfer, instant payment, gh-Link card, and mobile money interoperability.
“These systems, in addition to complementary systems by banks, have facilitated straight-through processing of payment transactions swiftly and efficiently with marginal errors relative to manual processes.
“The next step was to strengthen the regulatory frameworks so as to diffuse the benefits of the improved interbank systems to the wider society and tackle financial exclusion in a practical and affordable manner.
“This led to the issuance of Branchless Banking Guidelines (BBG) in 2008, which provided the regulatory support for mobile money through partnerships between banks and telecommunication companies.
“A further review of the BBG led to the Electronic Money issuers and Agents Guideline in 2015 to address some regulatory challenges and boost adoption of the mobile money concept. These regulatory changes provided the needed boost to the expansion of mobile money operations and set the stage for financial technology in Ghana
A former Constituency Youth Organizer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Kwahu Afram Plains South, Yaw Agyei, has reportedly been shot dead.
Information gathered from party folks said the deceased was whisked away by some unidentified men from his house at Ekyi in an unregistered vehicle before he was later found dead with gunshot wounds.
Constituency Secretary Kelvin Glover confirmed the incident to 3news.com.
He says a report has been made to the police task force in the Afram Plains area for investigations to commence.
In a tweet, Mr. Sosu said, “Law School is not a privilege, it is a constitutional right for every qualified Ghanaian.”
The Madina MP, who’s a human rights lawyer, Francis-Xavier Sosu, has disagreed with the Attorney General, Godfred Dame’s assertion that practicing law is a privilege and not a right.
In a tweet, Mr. Sosu said, “Law School is not a privilege, it is a constitutional right for every qualified Ghanaian.”
“Articles 37 and 38 of our Constitution require the State to provide adequate educational facilities to guarantee equal access and opportunities to “lifelong education” without limits,” he argued further.
Mr. Dame’s comments stressed the need for lawyers to uphold ethical standards in the legal profession.
“Along with it comes a moral obligation and a legal duty to uphold the dignity of the profession to ensure that the privileged call to the bar is not abused through unprincipled and disreputable conduct,” he said at the induction ceremony of new executives of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) earlier this week.
Mr. Sosu and the South Dayi MP, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, are working on getting the Legislative drafting department of Parliament to put together a Private Member’s Bill to amend the Legal Professions Act, 1960, Act 32.
The bill will, among other things, seek to amend Act 32 to exclude the Chief Justice and other Justices of the Supreme Court from the General Legal Council and redefine its functions.
The General Legal Council has been under fire for its handling of School of Law entrance exams.
In the most recent entrance exam, 790 out of 2,824 candidates passed, representing 28 percent.
A further 499 students are fighting to be admitted after they meet the pass mark of the entrance exam despite failing one of the exam sections.
The pass rate is in line with previous years, except for 2020, where 1,045 students out of 2,763 passed the entrance examination.
In 2019, only 128 candidates out of a total of 1,820 passed the exam.
In 2017, 500 students were admitted into the School, with 450 students admitted in 2016.
The pass rate has in the past sparked calls for a reform of legal education in Ghana.
Vice-president Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has reminded Governors of central banks on the continent and other stakeholders that coordination and collaboration among institutions engaged in the ongoing quest to integrate African payment systems is key to avoid duplication, reduce costs and engender efficiency in the use of resources.
Dr Bawumia said this in his keynote address at the virtual Association of African Central Banks (AACB) Annual Payment Systems Conference on Thursday morning, 4 November 2021.
He also urged the AACB Payment Systems Task Force and its working groups to collaborate with the Afreximbank PAPSS project to ensure the delivery of a single integrated payment platform that serves “our purpose of promoting intra-African trade.”
“As custodians of the payment systems, the central banks must take the lead in this integration effort,” Dr Bawumia said
The Minority in Parliament has accused the Majority side of attempting to undermine the authority of the Speaker, Mr Alban Bagbin, in connection with attempts by the police to arrest Madina MP Francis-Xavier Sosu.
“The minority leadership notes with great consternation and disappointment the press statement by the Majority leadership.
“The minority leadership considers the press statement as an attempt to undermine the authority of the Rt. Hon Speaker Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin and weaken the institution of parliament,” the minority caucus said in a statement signed by its leader Haruna Iddrisu.
The statement is in response to a statement from the majority side who are of the opinion that the Speaker is attempting to change the rules to protect Mr Sosu from the police.
The speaker has refused to release Xavier-Owusu to the police for investigation after the MP led his constituents to demonstrate over poor roads in his constituency.
The demonstration turned chaotic when the constituents blocked some roads and destroyed public property.
The police, after several failed attempts to arrest the MP, has obtained a court summons and charged the MP with obstructing the highway and causing damage to public property.
The Speaker in a letter told the Police that to arrest a sitting MP, the appropriate procedure is to secure from the Speaker, a certificate that the MP in question is not attending to Parliamentary business.
He noted that anything short of this will not be entertained by Parliament.
Mr Bagbin stated that the immunities and privileges of MPs are not absolute but the procedure for causing the arrest of a sitting MP must be in accordance with the constitution.
The statement said: “The Majority Leadership views the foregoing response by Speaker Bagbin as a troubling departure from how his predecessors handled such requests. To avoid doubt, when both Rt. Hons. Joyce Bamford Addo and Edward Doe Adjaho received those requests during their days in office, they responded by inviting the relevant MPs, held discussions with them, and then asked them to report the requesting Police or investigative authorities.
“Again, during his tenure as Speaker, Rt Hon Professor Mike Oquaye modified the arrangement, including making the Speaker’s Conference Room available to the Police to meet with MPs they were interested in and to conduct initial investigations. He did this to protect the dignity of MPs while at the same time ensuring that MPs are not put above the law.
“Now, the Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, Rt. Hon Bagbin appears to be instituting new rules that seem to undermine the Rule of Law without any prior discussions with the Leadership of the House. We ask: What exactly has changed? As a group, the Majority believes firmly that constitutionally guaranteed immunity for MPs in our democracy must not only be protected always but jealously guarded as well. However, never should we, as a Parliament, make the mistake of allowing immunity to be construed to mean impunity.”
But the Minority, in a statement on Thursday, disagreed with the Majority’s claims.
They insisted that the Speaker was only trying to make the police follow proper procedure in arresting a sitting MP.
“The police attempted to arrest him on Sunday 31st October 2021 while he was worshipping in church. This was in spite of the fact that the police wrote to the Speaker on 27 October 2021 and the Speaker replied and reiterated the fact that there is a procedure that is to be followed with respect to inviting a Member of Parliament to assist in investigations and until that procedure is followed, he as Speaker would not entertain their request. A criminal summons was subsequently issued against the MP with charges to appear before the court on 8th November 2021.
“The Majority Leadership is being mischievous and disingenuous by ignoring the fact that the Police refused to comply with the established protocols of dealing with matters affecting MPs by not, first of all, contacting the Speaker who would have then made the necessary arrangements for them to meet with the affected MP,” the Minority stated.
Meanwhile, the Police administration has filed two charges against Mr Sosu. The charges include obstructing the highway and causing damage to public property.
The lawmaker is expected to answer the charges on November 8 in court
Former President John Mahama has donated GHS100,000 to the management of Radio Gold to help the private FM station resume operations after the restoration of their licence recently by the National Communications Authority.
The donation of the money was made on behalf of the former president on Wednesday, 5 November 2021.
The governing board of the NCA, the spectrum regulatory agency, under the chairmanship of Mr Isaac Emmil Osei-Bonsu, approved new radio licence applications for Radio Gold, Radio XYZ and over 131 others recently.
A statement released by the NCA said a decision has been taken by the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation to have the licences for the closed radio stations renewed.
The two stations, which are aligned to the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), were among scores of others shut down by the Akufo-Addo government for not paying their operating licence fees for several years and flouting other obligations in line with their licences.
The decision was seen by the NDC as discriminatory.
The party, thus, questioned the governing party’s commitment to press freedom.
The NCA, in 2017, insisted that freedom is best protected when rules of the game are respected by its key players.
The authority defended the closures as being “in line with Regulations 65(1) of the Electronic Communications Regulations, 2011, L. I. 1991”, which states that: ‘A person shall not use a radio frequency without authorization from the Authority’.
The National Communications Authority argued that it was simply enforcing its legitimate powers by shutting down FM radio stations that were operating without authorisation.
The Comptroller General of the Ghana Immigration Service, Kwame Asuah Takyi has said, although the country’s borders are porous, his outfit has been able to intercept over 49,000 West African citizens who tried to enter the country illegally since the borders were closed as a means of curbing the spread of COVID-19.
He said the Ghana Immigration Service is working effectively with other security agencies to protect the borders of the country.
Speaking to Citi News during his visit to some borders and unapproved routes in the Volta Region, Kwame Asuah Takyi said his outfit will do everything possible to prevent illegal entry into the country through land borders.
“The borders in the whole country are porous, but we are doing our best. As we speak today, we have intercepted over 49,000 West African citizens who tried to enter Ghana. So our officers are doing great work, not only the immigration service, but all the other security services.”
Ghana’s land borders remain closed to human traffic except for the transportation of cargo, amidst the threat of COVID-19.
However, illegal migrants from neighbouring countries including Burkina Faso, Mali, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Nigeria and others keep sneaking into the country and are being intercepted by the immigration officers.
Investigations by officials of the Immigration Service show most of the undocumented migrants tried entering Ghana for farming and other economic activities.
The Ghana Immigration Service has assured that it is poised to prevent irregular immigration and is urging the public to collaborate with the state agencies to deal with the situation.
Border closure: We’ll deal with illegal immigrants, Ghanaian accomplices – Nana Addo The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had earlier warned that foreigners who enter Ghana illegally will be dealt with together with their Ghanaian accomplices.
Akufo-Addo expressed his displeasure over how “a few Ghanaians are aiding some West African nationals to enter our country [Ghana] illegally, despite the closure of our borders. Not only will persons who enter our country illegally be strictly dealt with, but so will Ghanaians who facilitate their entry”.
“These are unpatriotic acts and must stop. We cannot continue to allow a few persons, who are motivated by their own selfish, money-making interests, to endanger the lives of the rest of the population.”
The price of fuel in Ghana has gone up by 3.3% per gallon at the pump setting social media on fire after Total Petroleum effected the first of expected increases tonight with a litre at Ghc6.90.
Before the increase of 3.3% increase per gallon, a litre of petrol and diesel was selling at Ghc6.80 at the various filling stations but will now be sold at Ghc6.90 translating into Ghc31.05 per gallon from Ghc30.06 for both petrol and diesel.
This comes the government promised the removal of the Price Stabilization and Recovery Levies (PRSL) component of fuel prices for two months but which is yet to take effect due to parliamentary approval hurdle.
Despite, the Executive Director of the Institue for Energy Security (IES), Nana Amoasi VII, had expressed fears that the measures announced by the government to check prices were not adequate, describing the government’s approach as “knee-jerk” because prices could keep going up because of the system being run.
“If care is not taken, we will see this price surging on the market consistently. You will ask how the government will negotiate to solve the situation, but unfortunately, where the government sits today, it will be able to reduce these taxes by more than 10 percent and the approach the government has taken, we call it knee-jerk because it is not sustainable… There are other things the government must do to ensure that fuel prices remain stable. You can take away all the taxes, but trust me because we have mechanisms that have broken down, we will still come to the same GH¢6.80 per litre in less than six months because we have become price takers”, he emphasized.
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) on the other hand accused the government of insensitivity over fuel prices
Communications and Legal Team Member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Abraham Amalibah has accused the ruling government of employing the Police Service to pester Madina Member of Parliament (MP), Francis-Xavier Sosu.
He believes members of the government are seeking to contravene parliamentary standings and processes, just because he belongs to the opposition NDC.
“Gov’t officials are using the Police to harass Francis Xavier-Sosu, undermine the Speaker of Parliament and also undermine the institution of Parliament,” he told Don Kwabena Prah on Happy98.9FM’s Epa Hoa Daben political talk show.
Abraham Amalibah expressed his surprise at the Police saying they will arrest the MP on the grounds of disrespect. “I want to know under which section of the criminal offenses act that someone is arrested for showing disrespect to the Police. You can only arrest someone for committing a main offense and not for disrespect.”
The legal mind noted that because an MP cannot be arrested during the execution of Parliamentary duties, the former Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye made provisions for them (MPs) to be questioned in Parliament. He believes the Police could have fallen on this provision rather than publicly declare his arrest.
“But what I am seeing now is that the government is using the Police against Sosu. They’re using the Police against him because he is an opposition MP and so is the Speaker of Parliament,” he reiterated.
Earlier reports indicate that personnel from the Ghana Police Service stormed the church premises of Madina lawmaker, Francis-Xavier Kojo Sosu, to arrest him over his protest on Monday, October 25.
Sosu, a lawyer and Member of Parliament for Madina, led the youth to protest deplorable roads in his constituency.
During the demonstration on Monday, the police attempted to arrest the lawmaker for what they described as an unlawful protest.
The police were, however, resisted by the youth while the MP fled from the scene.
The Ghana Police Service has, however, denied any claims that personnel were sent to arrest the MP in church.
Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi has called on Ghanaians to blame the current economic hardship in the country on the gross mismanagement of the country by the Akufo-Addo administration not COVID-19.
Speaking on Angel FM’s Anɔpa Bɔfoɔ on Wednesday, the NDC man said he is shocked that Ghanaians have accepted the ‘baseless’ claims of the NPP that the harship in the country is global.
According to him, the country would have been better off if the current administration had managed the numerous grants that were given to the country due to the COVID-19 outbreak in the country.
“We were lucky as a country and had lots of inflows when COVID-19 struck…we didn’t suffer like the other economies which suffered as a result of lock down and others…we had 45 Billion as revenue.
This was more than what we got in 2019, so it’s a lie when someone cliams that the country’s revenue inflows took a nose dive when COVID-19 stuck…,” he said.
He further mentioned that the country benefitted a lot from other international agencies during in the heat of the COVID-19 outbreak. “IMF gave the country $2 billion because of COVID…even President Mahama had just 950 million dollars from IMF from Romania in his four years. Apart from that, this Goverment because of COVID went to Parliament and sought for approval to borrow GHC 10 million from Bank of Ghana, even with that, they over-borrowed by going for GHC 20 million Ghana cedis…,” he said.
Against this backdrop, the NDC man said it is never true that country’s finances suffered because of COVID-19.
“Even the free things, that were given to the citizenry because of elections, the citizens were made to pay for it after the elections, so what is the Government talking about…,” he added.
The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has said the recent attempts by the police to arrest the Member of Parliament (MP) for Madina, Mr Francis-Xavier Sosu, was done in a manner that offends the letter and spirit of the Constitution. Besides, he said, the police showed disrespect to him.
A statement issued yesterday and signed by the Deputy Clerk-to-Parliament, Mr Eric Owusu Mensah, on behalf of the Clerk-to-Parliament, on the attempts to arrest the MP, said the Speaker found it difficult to comprehend what the police did.
Chronology of events
Giving a chronology of events, the statement said while the initial attempt to arrest the MP was referred to the Committee of Privileges on October 27, 2021, the police service wrote to the Speaker to release the MP to report to the Police Headquarters to assist in investigations on Thursday, October 28, 2021, at 10 a.m.
In response, the Speaker caused a response to be written to the Police Service to the effect that the House was sitting and that an MP could not be released to assist in investigations when the member was attending proceedings or performing any duty of MP.
According to the statement, in spite of the Speaker’s response to the police and the pendency of a contempt complaint by the MP as well as the referral to the Committee of Privileges by the Speaker, the police service decided to proceed with their decision to attempt to arrest him.
“This is a clear violation of the provisions of the 1992 Constitution and gross disrespect to the Rt. Hon. Speaker and Parliament,” the statement said.
Blatant affront
The statement also described as disingenuous and a blatant affront to Parliament, how the police service ignored the letter he sent to them .
“The Police Service, instead of engaging the Rt. Hon. Speaker and the leadership of the House, surreptitiously attempted to arrest the Member of Parliament on Sunday, November 1, 2021 in church, where he fellowships.
“The Rt. Hon. Speaker acknowledges that Members of Parliament are not above the law.
The issue is not that a Member of Parliament cannot be investigated or arrested.
The issue is the procedure to follow to investigate or arrest a Member of Parliament,” it stated.
While indicating that the immunities and privileges of MPs were not absolute, the statement said the procedure for causing the arrest of a sitting MP or serving a court process must be in accordance with the Constitution.
“The appropriate procedure is to secure from the Speaker a certificate that the member in question is not attending to parliamentary business.
Anything short of this should not be entertained by the House,” the statement cautioned
The statement further stated that Mr Sosu, in an attempt to lawfully discharge his mandate as an MP, led his constituents to exercise their freedom of assembly to demonstrate against the state of roads in the Madina Constituency.
It indicated that from the facts provided by Mr Sosu, he complied with all the provisions of the Public Order Act, 1994 (Act 491) and engaged the police service till the event took place.
“It must be made known that the police service proposed the new date for the demonstration after disagreeing with the initial date proposed by the Constituents.
The statement pointed out that the MP who was undertaking a lawful duty, felt he had been distracted from the discharge of his functions, and in compliance with Article 122 of the Constitution, legitimately claimed the abuse of privilege.
MPs subject to law
The statement recounted the several occasions MPs from both sides of the House had been investigated, arraigned and tried since 1993, saying that “some members are presently before various courts of law and investigative bodies.”
Pointing out that the police service and other security agencies had investigated and continued to investigate MPs from both sides, and in all instances, the statement added that the Office of the Speaker had engaged and facilitated the work of the police service.
“Let it not be suggested per these happenings that MPs and Parliament are not subject to the law.
The transaction implies that AirtelTigo will now operate as a state-owned entity of the Government of Ghana
The Government of Ghana has fully acquired the telecommunications firm AirtelTigo, Bharti Airtel has said in a regulatory filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
“This is further to our announcements dated 27 October 2020, and 16 April 2021, regarding the Government of Ghana’s takeover of ownership of AirtelfTigo Joint Venture. We wish to update you that the transaction has been completed and 100% shares of Airtel Tigo have been transferred to the Government of Ghana,” Bharti Airtel stated in the filing.
AirtelTigo is a joint venture between Bharti Airtel and the telecoms operator Millicom International Cellular SA, which worked together in Ghana.
The Indian telecoms operator owned a 49.95% stake in the joint venture. The venture was finalised in 2017.
“Suitable” investments
The transaction implies that AirtelTigo will now operate as a state-owned entity of the Government of Ghana. The terms of the transaction stipulate that 100% of Airtel Tigo’s shares have been transferred to the Government of Ghana.
“The unsustainable non-controlled JV will be handed to the Government of Ghana, who are committed to reviving the company, making suitable investments etc and operat[ing] the company while protecting the interests of the customers, employees of the company and all other stakeholders,” Bharti Airtel said in an earlier statement.
Under the terms of the transfer, which was agreed on a “going concern” basis, the sovereign will also acquire all customers, assets and liabilities of the joint venture.
The company said in its September-end quarterly results that its Ghana operations had about 5.1 million customers
The Finance Minister has urged stakeholders in the digital space to work together to remove barriers to accessing technology in the country
Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister for Finance has said digital technology is Ghana’s chance at becoming a dynamic, competitive and prosperous economy.
Ofori-Atta was speaking at the Standard Chartered Digital Banking, Innovation and Fintech Festival dubbed “Enabling the Digital Economy for the 21st Century” in Accra on Wednesday (3 November 2021).
He said, “Digital technology is our chance at becoming a dynamic, competitive and prosperous economy as such we must work together to see all the remaining barriers of technology access removed.”
Ofori-Atta added, “Overall, government and the private sector each have a responsibility to ensure that Ghana is equipped to succeed in the digital age…”
Also speaking at the same event, Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia said the government remains committed to the policy of building a digital economy and a financial ecosystem
Dr Bawumia challenged stakeholders to continue to innovate whilst collaborating, emphasising that it is still possible to collaborate and compete at the same time.
He said, “Collaboration will cement the ecosystem further. The digital economy thrives on information and collaboration. Banks, fintechs, telecom companies, governments, regulators and consumers should form one big bloc sharing information and feedback that loops everyone. Collaboration will provide opportunities for entities with different specialisations to work together to achieve bigger goals.”
Financial inclusion
Dr Bawumia added, “Fundamentally, there is no inconsistency between competition and collaboration. I know that many of the stakeholders in our ecosystem, the private sector are very profit-driven. The Central Bank has to guard jealously the safety and stability of the system and strive to get financial inclusion.
He said, “But if we don’t collaborate, then everybody would be in silos, but once we come together in one ecosystem, then we are able to derive economies of scale from that collaboration, where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. We are very focused on inclusion, and this is why it is very important, that as we build these systems, we try to bring everybody on a common platform
The US deputy national security advisor Daleep Singh confers with Vice-President Bawumia
Daleep Singh’s visit to Ghana follows his participation in COP26 in Glasgow, where President Biden reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to address the climate crisis
The US deputy national security advisor Daleep Singh visited Accra recently to discuss President Biden’s Build Back Better World initiative with stakeholders and to meet with the vice-president, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
Singh’s visit to Ghana follows his participation in COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, where President Biden reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to address the climate crisis while mobilising investment capital to build infrastructure that drives sustainable economic recovery.
“Ghana is our first stop in Africa after COP26 to meet with partners about President Biden’s Build Back Better World initiative.
Ghana is our first stop in Africa after COP26 to meet with partners about President We will work together to support high-quality, sustainable improvements to address the demand of countries with major infrastructure needs,” Singh said.
His meeting with Dr Bawumia is a continuation of the close bilateral engagement between the Biden and Akufo-Addo governments, which included the meeting at the White House between Vice-President Kamala Harris of the United States and President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana in September.
This was followed by the recent visit of Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Mary Catherine (“Molly”) Phee.
While in Accra, Singh also met with infrastructure stakeholders, including companies working in Ghana. Continuing his trip to West Africa, Singh will visit Dakar, Senegal on Friday and Saturday
Dr Mahamudu Bawumia says Ghana now has the infrastructure to implement a property tax system across the country
The Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia says the government has developed a national common platform for property tax administration for the country
He said the common platform will operate across all the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies across the country.
Dr Bawumia said it is unacceptable for property owners to evade taxes, adding that the lack of an effective property tax regime accounts for this evasion by owners of properties.
Speaking at a public lecture at Ashesi University, on the “Role of Digitalisation in Transforming the Economy,” Dr Bawumia indicated that a digital platform has been developed and will soon be launched, through which homeowners will receive tax bills, pay taxes as well as track their payment history.
“We lack the key elements to implement and monitor an effective property tax regime. An effective property tax regime requires that we are able to identify all properties, access the value of all properties, identify and maintain a property ready database, send property tax bills to the owners and enforce the payment of taxes.”
He said, “Thanks to the implementation of the National ID, the National Digital Property address system, the mobile money interoperability and the Ghana.gov project, Ghana now has the infrastructure to implement a property tax system.
“We have been working on this over the last two years and thanks to the hard work of Minister of Local Government and Rural Development as well as the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, with support from the Minister for Finance and the Lands Commission.”
Bawumia said, “We have finally developed a national common platform for property tax administration for Ghana which will operate across all the MMDAs in Ghana. The platform is ready and is expected to be implemented by the ministry of local government.”
The government over the years have been advised to broaden the tax net to raise more revenue.
Some experts have proposed that the country should go back to property taxes through simple automation to plug the loopholes while urging the government to ensure value for money by providing basic social amenities such as roads, electricity, water and others to justify the collection of rates
The Executive Director for policy think tank Institute for Liberty and Policy Innovation (ILAPI), Mr. Peter Bismark has stated that the Nation Builders’ Corps policy (NABCO) was a vote-buying employment scheme meant to deceive the beneficiaries into voting for the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Speaking on the Class Morning Show on Wednesday, 3 November 2021, Mr Bismark told show host Kofi Oppong Asamoah that “you know, NABCO is not employment, let’s put it that way, it is not an employment program, it is a training program mainly for vote-buying so I call it a vote-buying employment scheme.”
He further indicated that the NABCO policy was a strain on the budget of the government, and beyond the budget, it had no policy paper or blueprint.
“There was no document or blueprint on NABCO. They had no document on the exit plan. There was nothing like that,” he added.
In his view, NABCO would have succeeded if the government had taken time and managed the policy as a socio-economic policy.
The NABCO initiative which was launched by PresidentNana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Tuesday, 1st May, 2018 came to end in October 2021.
President Akufo-Addo while launching the programme was confident that by the time NABCO trainees exit the scheme “the requisite work readiness skills and experience, often deemed a barrier to their employment as fresh graduates, would have been resolved.”
One hundred thousand youth were employed in seven priority areas termed modules. The modules were – Educate Ghana; Heal Ghana; Feed Ghana; Revenue Ghana; Digitise Ghana; Enterprise Ghana; and Civic Ghana
Two persons including a media practitioner are assisting police with investigations into what may likely turn out to be another fake kidnapping saga at Mpohor in the Western Region.
The culprits, Stephen Kumi, 33-year-old supposed boyfriend of a certain Stephanie Kumiwaa, the lady who was said to have been kidnapped and Paa Kwesi Sampson of Connect Fm.
The boyfriend is languishing in police cells whilst the journalist has been released on bail.
According to a statement issued by the Police and signed by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Olivia Ewerabena Adiku, Head of Public Affairs at the Western Regional Police Command, on October 17, 2021, Ghanaweb carried a publication written by Paa Kwesi Sampson of Connect Fm in Takoradi.
Immediately, the Takoradi Divisional Police Command initiated investigation into the case involving one Stephanie Kumiwaa, a 26-year old at Mpohor.
The police liaised with the Mpohor District Police Command and checks revealed that no such case was reported and police without wasting time arrested the two suspects who reported the story.
During police interrogation, Stephen told police that he met Stephanie on Facebook and started dating.
He said on October 17, 2021, Stephanie called to inform him that she was visiting him but did not show up.
Two days after, on October 19, 2021, he received a phone call from a friend of Stephanie that someone called Stephanie’s phone number that she has been kidnapped and the suspected kidnappers are demanded ransom of GHC2,000.
However, police escorted Stephen Kumi to Mpohor and all efforts to locate the residence and family members of Stephanie and Sandra for confirmation of the alleged incident proved futile.
Stephen Kumi was immediately arrested and detained while Paa Kwesi was granted police enquiry bail.
The police have therefore cautioned the media in the area to be circumspect with their reportage and always make sure they crosscheck information from the Western Regional Police Command before publication
Former President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), Sam Okudzeto has described the two Members of Parliament (MP) belonging to the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) who are hiding under a private member bill to humiliate the Chief Justice under the guise of amending the legal education as jokers.
Sam Okudzeto warned that there could be repercussions for the two MPs, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, South Dayi MP and Francis-Xavier Sosu, Madina MP, adding that they should not misbehave with the Private Member’s Bill to amend the Legal Professions Act, 1960, Act 32.
He was optimistic that their attempt is nothing but a big joke.
He advised the two lawyers to keep quiet because there can be more troubles than they realised since they will be dealt with in accordance with the rules and laws that have been laid down.
Nelson Dafeamekpo and Francis-Xavier Sosu have proposed amendment to the composition of the General Legal Council (GLC), excluding the Chief Justice and other Justices of the Supreme Court.
The MPs, through the Private Member’s Bill, is trying to realign “the functions of the GLC and to provide for reforms in legal education such that accredited faculties of law with the requisite facilities would be licensed to run professional law courses, provide for discipline of lawyers and related matters to give effect to Article 37(1) of the 1992 constitution.”
The main aim of the bill is to have the Chief Justice and other Justices of the Supreme Court taken off from the GLC.
However, in an interview on Accra-based Radio station, on Wednesday, November 3, 2021 Sam Okudzeto, a member of the Council of State said that the two MPs are ignorant of the law wondering how they are practicing as lawyers.
According to him, “If they are lawyers, then their understanding of the law leaves a lot of question. I have been a member of the disciplinary committee for many years; I am still there… if I tell you the number of complaints that keep coming there…
“So I don’t see how the qualified lawyer is going to appear before the court, and you say that those who are going to appear before do not have any power of control over their training or education.
“It’s a joke. I must confess that they are jokers, and I don’t know who they are, and I don’t want to know who they are.
“They have problems; I think they should go and keep quiet because there can be more troubles than they realised in the fact that we are concerned. However, if you misbehave, we will deal with you in accordance with the rules and laws that have been laid down,” he said
The Adentan Circuit Court has issued a bench warrant for the immediate arrest of the former CEO of defunct Menzgold, Nana Appiah Mensah, popularly known as NAM 1, and two others after failing to appear in court over fraud charges.
The other two are Gabriel Kwamigah alias Gabby and Eric Amponsah Bediako also known as Cana.
They have been charged with conspiracy to defraud by false pretence.
The court ruled on Tuesday (2 November) for the three accused persons to appear before it on Thursday but they failed to honour the invitation.😲😲😲
Their lawyer Yaw Dankwah told the court his clients are “unavailable” prompting the police investigator Chief Inspector Maxwell Lanyo to inform the court that the accused persons have declined to respond to several police invitations.
But Lawyer for the three accused persons, Yaw Dankwah, speaking to the media after court proceedings, says his clients should have been served personally with the criminal summons.
“They have never been arrested. They have never been cautioned, yet the police have come to court with four counts of charges again them,” Mr. Dankwah complained.
He explained that they were caught off guard by the charges which came on Tuesday and had asked for an adjournment of the case for two weeks.
Mr. Dankwah said the judge did not grant his request and gave them up till today [Thursday] to be in court.
“Unfortunately, they could not. They are out of the city,” he said.
It is unclear if the warrant is related to the collapse of Menzgold.
Mr. Appiah Mensah had previously been slapped with 13 counts of defrauding by pretenses, money laundering, abetment, and carrying on deposit-taking business without license contrary to Section 6 (1) of the Banks Specialised Deposit-taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930).
This was after he was accused of defrauding 16,000 customers of about GHS 1.68 billion😲😲😲
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) party’s Communications Officer, Sammy Gyamfi, has trivialized the activation of the e-passport function of the National Identification Card (Ghana Card) as announced by Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
According to Sammy Gyamfi, Ghana Card which is expected to serve as an e-passport in the coming years is just an identification document to complement the already existing Ghana passport.
Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia in an earlier conference said “by the end of first quarter of 2022, Ghana Card will be recognized globally as an e-passport and can be verified in all International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) compliant borders,” which currently is made up of 197 countries and 4,000 airports.
He added that Diasporan Ghanaians who hold the Ghana Card should not have to obtain visas on their return to the country when the activation is completed.
However, speaking with the co-host of Angel FM’s Anↄpa Bofoↄ morning show, Nana Yaa Brefo, Mr. Gyamfi said that the Ghana Card cannot replace the e-passport because unlike the latter, the NIA card does not have a page to be stamped and it can only be used within visa free countries.
“In the real sense of E-passport, it is the same traditional passport which is the book. The back has been embedded with a micro cheap (RDIF Micro cheap) and the data of the user is captured on the digital page and your picture is also stored in digital form.null
“So if you are holding an e-passport, it’s like you are bearing a booklet but with a cheap embedded in the back cover whereby wherever you go, you can use that passport. It is a security feature.
“But our Ghana Card is not the same as that e-passport, because you can only travel with it to countries that are visa free. So, if you are going to an Ecowas country like Nigeria, you don’t need visa or neither the Caribbean countries.
“They are visa free. With that if you hold Ghana Passport you will be able to travel into those countries with it. If you don’t have it, you can travel with the Ghana Card without Visa.
“But if you are going to the US, Europe UK, where you require entry visa, You can’t use the Ghana Card because there is no page where you can stamp the entry visa. You need e-passport which is a booklet.”
Former National Democratic Congress (NDC) member and stalwart, Allotey Jacobs, has eulogised Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, describing him as a modern day Kwame Nkrumah.
The former Central Regional Chairman of the NDC praised the Vice President after his public lecture on Tuesday at the Ashesi University.
Mr. Jacobs said Bawumia’s lecture and focus on digitalising Ghana is worth applauding.
“Yesterday’s presentation was special or something unique that is being created that will move this country forward,” he noted on Peace FM’s Kokrokoo Show on Wednesday, November 3, 2021.
The embattled NDC man who has been sacked from the party over misconduct and misbehaviour opined that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is the next Kwame Nkrumah.
“God Bless Bawumia… there is some magic in that man. … we are seeing the re-emergence of Kwame Nkrumah in Bawumia,” he added.
He pleaded with Ghanaians to support the Akufo-Addo government, particularly Bawumia.
Dr. Bawumia during his lecture at Ashesi outlined and showed what the Akufo-Addo administration has been able to achieve by digitizing sectors in the economy.
He spoke on the theme: “Transforming An Economy Through Digitization; The Ghana Story”.
Dr. Kwame Nkrumah is Ghana’s first president who saw the development and industrialization of the West African country after independence.
• Sammy Gyamfi has questioned the importance of the proposed E-Pharmacy to the ordinary Ghanaian
• The E-Pharmacy will be launched in Ghana by end of 2021
•45 pharmacies are currently piloting the E-Pharmacy
Communications Director of the opposition National Democratic Congress, Sammy Gyamfi, has questioned the government about the impact the proposed E-Pharmacy will have on the ordinary Ghanaian.
This comes on the back of the announcement made by Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, about the possible introduction of E-Pharmacy which will make Ghana the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to implement the innovation.
Dr. Bawumia said that the E-Pharmacy will ensure pharmacies in the country are digitized on a platform to enable consumers to gain access to purchase medicines.
“To address the challenge of patients or person facing difficulties when trying to find medicines in pharmacies, I challenged the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana to digitize the operations of pharmacies in Ghana. Following this and working with my office, the Pharmacy Council in collaboration with the private sector has completed work on a digital platform; E-Pharmacy for all pharmacies in Ghana and a pilot of 45 pharmacies is currently ongoing,” he said.
Reacting to this, Sammy Gyamfi has questioned the vice president on how it can help improve the livelihood “of the many Ghanaians who are suffering”.
He added that the solutions to Ghana’s numerous economic problems do not lie in digitization lectures.
“Of what use is E-Pharmacy to the ordinary Ghanaian who is reeling under excruciating economic hardships as a result of the introduction of excessive taxes and steep increases in fuel prices by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government?
“Of what use is “E-this and E-that” to the ordinary Ghanaian who is jobless and cannot even afford to buy mobile data to access these digital platforms?” Sammy Gyamfi said in an opinion piece published by MyJoyonline.com
Government has announced plans to digitalize the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) as part of the ongoing digitalisation of the nation’s economy.
According to the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, a digital School Feeding Programme will ensure efficiency, speedily transfer of data and transparency in the social intervention programme.
Dr. Bawumia made the announcement during his address on the digital economy held at the Ashesi University in the Eastern Region on Tuesday 2nd November, 2021.
He was of the view that the digital system will largely address most of the challenges of GSFP especially the alleged “issues of ghost schools and ghost children”.
Meanwhile, the Management of the Ghana School Feeding Programme led by Dr. Mrs. Gertrude Quashigah in line with the government’s vision has already procured some 300 brand new Tablets to pilot the digital system in some selected districts in all the 16 regions of Ghana which was fully funded by the World Food Programme (WFP).
GSFP Management and their partner, WFP, have also finished the practical training of key stakeholders in all the regions including headteachers, circuit supervisors and school feeding staff at national and regional levels on the use of the tablets for monitoring and evaluation purposes.
The piloting of the GSFP digital monitoring system commenced on 1st November in the selected districts; and it will be followed by the digitalisation of the entire school feeding programme by the Government in earnest.
The Madina MP has been charged with “obstructing public highway and causing damage to public property” and will appear in court on 8 November
The police have filed charges against the Madina MP, Francis-Xavier Sosu, over “unlawful road blockade and destruction of public property”.
“The police have obtained criminal summons and have been duly served for him [Sosu] to appear in court on 8 November,” the director general of the Ghana Police Service, ACP Kwesi Ofori, told the media on Wednesday (3 November 2021).
He said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) lawmaker has been charged with “obstructing public highway and causing damage to public property.”
The police are after the legislator over his alleged involvement in a protest in his constituency which led to an “unlawful road blockade and destruction of public property”.
The Criminal Investigation Division (CID) of the Ghana Police Service wrote to the Speaker on Wednesday (27 October 2021) requesting the release of the MP.
However, in a response, issued through the deputy director of legal services, Nana Tawiah Okyir, the Speaker said: “I am directed by the Rt Hon Speaker to inform you that proceedings of the 3rd Meeting of the 1st Session of the 8th Parliament commenced on Tuesday 26 October 2021 and having regard to the limitations of Articles 117 and 118 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic, he is unable to release the Member of Parliament as requested in your letter.”
Matter of privileges committee
The Speaker said he had already referred the case to the privileges committee of Parliament to probe “breach of parliamentary privilege and contempt by ACP Isaac Kojo Asante and ACP Eric Winful of the Accra Regional Police Command and the Adenta Divisional Command respectively”.
In a statement on Sunday (31 October), the police said: “The MP, Francis-Xavier Sosu, was invited on the day of the protest to assist the police for his alleged involvement in the unlawful blockade of a road and the destruction of public property but he declined the invitation.
“He declined further invitations, citing parliamentary privilege.
“Three other persons have been interrogated on this matter and we shall continue to use every legal means to interrogate all other suspects including the Honourable MP for Madina,” the statement added.
Denial of arrest
The police also denied going to the MP’s church to effect his arrest on Sunday.
“Stories circulating that some police personnel had been dispatched to arrest the MP at a church today Sunday (31 October 2021) are untrue,” said the statement, signed by ACP Kwesi Ofori on behalf of the Police Service.
“Any plain-clothed police personnel found on the premises of the church may have been there for intelligence purposes and not to effect an arrest.”
The Minister for National Security, Albert Kan-Dapaah has disclosed that challenges from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic made it impossible for Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia to redeem his promise of installing security cameras in all Police Stations across the country as scheduled.
The National Security Minister made the disclosure when responding to questions on the floor of Parliament on the state of affairs on the project.
As part of the project, Dr. Bawumia in February 2018 announced plans by the government to fix CCTV cameras in all Police stations across the country.
“This phase commenced in January, 2020 and was initially scheduled to be completed in 18 months. However, due to logistical challenges introduced by the Covid-19 pandemic, project completion is now slated for December, 2021,” Kan-Dapaah revealed in Parliament.
Currently, the Police have some 900 police stations in total operational across the country and this Phase 2 project is providing CCTV coverage for all 432 Regional, Divisional and District Police stations out of the 900, to enable monitoring of these installations; and the remaining stations would be covered in subsequent phases of the project.
Roll out is currently ongoing, and all 432 stations are expected be completed before close of the year.
The Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Mrs Cecilia Abena Dapaah, has entreated people who urinate in open drains to stop the practice because “gutters are not their washrooms”.
The minister, who wants an end to this attitude, noted that “there are generations in Ghana who think urinating anywhere, anytime is their right” but added: “It’s wrong and we must all speak against this.”
“There are people who sit in very posh cars, they park anywhere, anyhow and urinate…and that must stop,” she added.
“We should change our attitudes,” she said.
The minister was speaking at the Mole XXXII WASH Conference held at Ejisu in the Ashanti Region on the theme: “Repositioning the WASH sector for emergency response and sustainable development”.
She called on Ghanaians, especially parents, to ensure their children do not urinate in open sewers because it is wrong.
She also appealed to illegal small-scale miners (galamseyers) to stop their activities because they are destroying surface waters.
She wants Ghanaians to be bold and speak out when they see water bodies being destroyed by illegal mining activities
Former President John Dramani Mahama has called on African countries to build effective partnerships to put their economies back on more resilient recovery pathways from the COVID-19 pandemic. “The speed and quality of the economic recovery process from the pandemic will depend on our shared collective responsibility. Despite the devastating effects of the pandemic, Africa can accelerate and build back better,” he said.
Mr. Mahama made the call when he opened the Third African Economic Congress in Lagos yesterday.
The three-day virtual congress, on the theme: “Accelerate Africa: Building Back Better”, is a response to a growing call for action to accelerate Africa’s capacity to recover from the pandemic and forge a path towards building an inclusive, and development-driven continent.
It covers panel sessions on agriculture, finance, trade, technology, youth, women, security, health and energy.
Vulnerabilities
Admittedly, Mr. Mahama said, COVID-19 had been one of many challenges that had aggravated Africa’s vulnerabilities and exacerbated existing development challenges.
“COVID-19 is impacting and impeding the previously steady progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, whose target date is only eight years away.
“So insidious has it been that it has literally relegated many of the challenges facing our people – challenges such as unemployment, bad governance, corruption, inadequate health facilities, poor roads, insecurity among others.
Mr. Mahama said there was no doubt that the times had been very challenging for Africa and the rest of the world.
However, he said, one thing that was clear was that when the pandemic finally ended, the sanitary practice that had been cultivated would remain with the people.
The former President further noted that the pandemic had also pushed Africans to be more innovative and ensure a better use of technology to manage time.
Vaccination
Mr. Mahama called on governments on the continent to adopt a radical shift in strategy to secure and vaccinate their populations.
He said the development of vaccines by several countries on different continents should inspire Africa to look both outward and inward for solutions.
In addition, he said, the continent must improve affordable access to medical supplies, by building quality and cost-effective healthcare infrastructure, and manufacturing capacity for pharmaceuticals, medicines and vaccine production.
“This is why, as President of Ghana, I developed a programme and supported Ghanaian pharmaceutical industries with stimulus packages to improve their efficiencies and enhance productivity,” he told the congress.
New normal
Mr. Mahama challenged businesses, people, financial institutions and governments to rapidly adjust to the ‘new normal’.
“A robust digital infrastructure is necessary for a resilient build back. Digital education of the population is important for the youth, including the old,” he said.
Mr. Mahama recalled a proposal he made to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) to agree to an arrangement with such persons affected by the pandemic, particularly those in the private sector, such that it paid them a small part of their contributions to enable them to survive during periods of hardship.
“The COVID-19 lockdown periods demonstrated clearly that the success of a nation depends on businesses, in addition to its SMEs, which employ millions and are key drivers of development,” he said.
Quality of growth
As Africa built back, he said, priority should be placed on the quality of growth to impact on the livelihoods of the people.
Mr. Mahama said growth must be more equitable and focused on sectors that were better able to create jobs.
“This is the reason we need to deepen democracy in Africa and empower citizens and civil society organisations to advocate inclusive and shared growth. This is what our national discourse, and the intra-African discourse, must be about. We also need honesty and transparency from governments,” he stated.
Climate change
He said the continent must build back by paying greater attention to climate change and global warming.
“Treating the earth better for sustainable development will in itself prevent pandemics and improve the supply chain crisis that the world is experiencing now. In addition to these, we must fully implement the African Continental Free Trade Area to create competitive industrial manufacturing capacity and wider trade and investment opportunities and fast-track Africa’s industrialisation. This will position our African economies to withstand future global shocks better,” he said.
The practice of law is not a right but a privilege, along with it comes the moral obligation and a legal duty to uphold the dignity of the profession and ensure that the privilege of being called to the bar is not abused through unprincipled and disreputable conducts, said the Attorney General and Minister of Justice Godfred Yeboah Dame to the new executives of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA).
He pointed out to the new President of the GBA that he is assuming office at a time that the question of ethics and standards at the bar has assumed “imminent significance” where the standard of practice has declined to its lowest depth.
Speaking of what he said he experienced at the Supreme Court, the conduct of some lawyers in certain cases they handled, where according to the AG “ethics is virtually thrown to the dogs in the dishonorable quest for some lawyers to win a case”.
Mr Dame said it is only when legal practitioners maintain the highest level of ethical standards that the law will continue to be a noble profession with no compromise in the country.
He admonished the new executives of the GBA to be responsible for preventing and condemning any act of “illegal pressure” on the judiciary.
“You have to be on guard against unscrupulous persons targeting the independence of the judiciary by tarnishing its image unjustifiably.
“I must also state that the judiciary should also assert its might by acting against such persons with a firm fist in the situations where lawyers misconduct themselves in court but judges fail to apply the relevant sanctions, contributing in equal measure to the destruction of the integrity of the judiciary,” Mr Dame said.
He appealed to the members of the bar to re-embrace the virtues of good practice which will guarantee the purity, dignity and majesty of the courts to be upheld in the country.
Mr Dame was addressing a gathering at the swearing-in ceremony of the new executives of the Ghana Bar Association in Accra.
“Mr President and new executives, you owe a duty to drive home the point that the practice of law is not a right, it is a privilege, along with it comes the moral obligation to uphold the dignity of the profession and ensure that the privilege of being called to the bar is not abuse,” admonished the AG
The National Identification Authority (NIA) will from today commence operations in its 16 regional and 275 district offices across the country based on the following plan: A. From November 3-5, 2021 – Setting up, conducting public sensitisation and engaging with community leaders on the impending operations of the Regional and District offices.
This will also enable newly-appointed officers to familiarise themselves with their various communities and undertake other preparatory activities; B. From November 8-16, 2021 (except weekends) – Issuing Ghana Cards to Ghanaians who registered during the mass registration but could not receive their cards.
From November 17, 2021 onwards – Continuation of issuance of Ghana Cards to applicants; D. From November 17, 2021 onwards – Registering and issuing Ghana Cards to Ghanaians aged 15 years and above; E. From November 29, 2021 onwards – Replacement of lost, stolen, and damaged Ghana Cards; F. From November 29, 2021 onwards – Updating of personal information of applicants in the National Identity Register (NIR).
The NIA will announce in due course the timelines for the registration of Ghanaians under 15 years.
The Regional and District offices of the NIA will operate within the usual business hours from 8:00am to 5:00pm, Monday to Friday.
The Premium Registration Centre at the NIA Head Office will be open for business on Wednesday, November 3, 2021
Speaker of Parliament, Alban S.K Bagbin has issued a reply letter to the Ghana Police Service on the release of the MP for Madina, Francis Xavier Sosu, for interrogation.
According to the letter, the speaker stated the Madina MP will be engaged in legislative proceedings so he cannot be released!!
“I am directed by the Rt. Hon. Speaker to inform you that proceedings of the 3rd Meeting of the 1st Session of the 8th Parliament commenced on Tuesday 26th October 2021, and having regard to the limitations of articles 117 and 118 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic, he is unable to release the Member of Parliament as requested in your letter.
“The Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament further directs that I refer you to the provisions of article 122 of the 1992 Constitution and to inform you that on Wednesday the 27th October, 2021 he referred to the Privileges Committee of Parliament, allegations of breach of parliamentary privilege and contempt by ACP Isaac Kojo Asante and ACP Eric Winful of the Accra Regional Police Command and the Adenta Divisional Command respectively,” the letter signed by the Deputy Director of Legal Services of Parliament stated.
Prior to this, the Police have declared its intention to interrogate Mr. Sosu after he led a protest against bad roads in his constituency where some of the protestors blocked roads and burnt tyres and allegedly destroyed some state property.😲😲😲😲
Police have mentioned that the action of the constituents amounted to criminal activity and have tried to invite the MP (who led the demonstration) to assist with investigations after he resisted arrest when some police officers tried to arrest him during the protest.
It is believed (by some political analysts) that Sosu supervised an illegality by ALLOWING HIS CONSTITUENTS to apply lawless methods during their demonstration.
This action by the residents led to reinforcement from the police, whose Formed Police Unit (FPU) rushed to the scene with combat vehicles.
The police reportedly made a second attempt to arrest Mr. Sosu while he was in Church on Sunday though the Police administration has denied the reports. Stating those men were there for intelligence gathering.
In response to the police, Mr. Sosu was of the view that albeit the protestors had blocked roads during the protest, there was no basis for any arrest because he had followed due process in organising the protest.
He went further and filed a formal complaint in Parliament citing two police commanding officers of contempt of Parliament after the first attempt by the police to arrest.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, referred the complaint against the two police officers to the Privileges Committee of Parliament.
The officers cited in Mr. Sosu’s complaint were ACP Isaac Kojo Asante, the Greater Accra Regional Operations Commander, and ACP Eric Winful, the Adentan Divisional Commander.
At what Point can an MP be arrested?
Articles 117 and 118 which form the basis for the Speaker’s refusal to release the Madina MP and MP’s behaviour must be subjected to legal interpretations.
The Supreme Court will be The Best Place to Address This Issue.
Indeed many Ghanaians are NOW calling for a Full Scale Review of the 1992 Constitution, the “Legal Bible” which EMPOWERS and PROTECTS the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary.
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has noted that one of the biggest problems impeding financial sector development in developing countries is the issue of financial exclusion.
This means that, he said, most of the population is excluded from fully participating in the financial system because they are unable to open and operate bank and financial services accounts.
This, according to him, reinforces the dominance of cash payments.
Delivering a public lecture at the Ashesi University on Tuesday, November 2, he said “ When we assumed office in 2017, we decided to use digitization to solve this problem. The data showed that 70% of people in Ghana had no bank accounts but 80% of the adult population had mobile phones with 30 million mobile money accounts.
“It was also not possible to send money to customers of different telecom companies. So we asked the questions: why can’t we make it possible to send mobile money across different telecom companies and also why can’t the mobile money account function like a bank account ‘by making it interoperable with bank accounts?
“Thanks to the Bank of Ghana and Ghana Interbank Payments and Settlement System (GhIPSS) the mobile money payments interoperability has made it possible to transfer money seamlessly across different mobile money providers and between bank accounts and mobile wallets. It has also solved the major problem of the over 70% of people not having bank accounts.
“Today, because of mobile money interoperability (MMI), you can transfer money from a customer of one telco to a customer of a different telco and also make payments from your mobile money account into any bank account and you can receive payments from any bank account into your mobile money account.
“You can receive interest on savings, acquisition of loan (e.g. qwick loan) on your mobile wallets. As a result of MMI over 90% of the adult population now have access to a “bank account”.
“Ghana is the first country in Africa and one of the few in the world to achieve this type of interoperability between bank accounts and mobile wallets. I would like to note that even in the USA the Federal Reserve Bank does not have interoperability in its Real-Time Payments Network. The American Bankers Association in a letter to the Fed in September 2021, called on the Fed to strive towards interoperability with the Real-Time Payment Network.
“Achieving mobile money interoperability (MMI) in Ghana is, therefore, no small feat, especially at the cost, we did it. The data shows that because of MMI, Ghana is the fastest growing mobile money market in Africa. Total value of mobile money transactions in 2020 was GHC570 billion ($100 billion). Six years ago, it was GHC35 billion.
“Banks are also responding to the competition for the unbanked from the mobile money service providers. Next month, all banks in Ghana will launch a bankwide momo wallet which will be available to customers and non-customers through a mobile App. It is similar to other mobile money Apps from Vodafone, Airtel TiGo and MTN. You will be able to move money from any bank or momo account into this wallet and you can also generate your personal QR Code from this bankwide app. I think this will bring about a healthy competition between the mobile money service providers and the banks which should result in lower charges for money transfers.”
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah (L) with Founder of Ashesi University during the public lecture by Dr Bawumia
Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has said the government is leveraging technology to improve how things are done and to offer value to Ghanaians.
His comment follows the public lecture delivered by the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia in which he highlighted how the administration is solving problems with technology.
The Ofoase Ayirebi lawmaker in series of tweets said “Across various facets of the economy, the @NAkufoAddo administration is leveraging technology to improve how things are done and to offer value to Ghanaians. Thank you Vice President @MBawumia for making time to participate in the fireside conversation. #BawumiaSpeaks.”
ACROSS VARIOUS FACETS OF THE ECONOMY, THE @NAKUFOADDO ADMINISTRATION IS LEVERAGING TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE HOW THINGS ARE DONE AND TO OFFER VALUE TO GHANAIANS.
“It is Digi time in Ghana and Vice President @MBawumia led the conversation on how Government is implementing a new system as a foundation to drive the digital transformation in Ghana. #BawumiaSpeaks.”
IT IS DIGI TIME IN GHANA AND VICE PRESIDENT @MBAWUMIA LED THE CONVERSATION ON HOW GOVERNMENT IS IMPLEMENTING A NEW SYSTEM AS A FOUNDATION TO DRIVE THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN GHANA. #BAWUMIASPEAKSPIC.TWITTER.COM/Y1FPEQSB0O— Kojo Oppong Nkrumah (@konkrumah) November 2, 2021
During the lecture at Ashesi University on Tuesday November 2, Dr Bawumia announced that from the first quarter of 2022, the Ghana Card will be globally recognised as an e-passport.
He indicated that the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has duly accepted the usage of the cards as e-passport from the second quarter of 2022.
According to him, Wednesday, October 13, 2021 marked a milestone for Ghana as the country was officially received as the 79th member of ICAO.
He said with this move, the country’s major identification document produced by the National Identification Authority (NIA) will be allowed as a source of identification – in this case an e-passport – for international travels.
“This means that by the end of the first quarter next year, the Ghana Card will be recognised globally as an e-passport,” he stressed, adding: “When this happens, holders of the Ghana Card will be allowed to board any flight to Ghana.”
This means that the Ghanacard will be recognized as an e-passport and can be read and verified in all ICAO compliant borders (in 197 countries and 44,000 airports in the world). When this happens, holders of the Ghanacard will be allowed to board any flight to Ghana.
“Furthermore, the good news for diasporan Ghanaians is that when the Ghana Immigration Service is linked to the NIA architecture diasporan Ghanaians who hold the Ghanacard should not have to obtain visas to travel to Ghana. We expect this to be operational by the end of the first quarter of next year. Ghana is one of the few countries in the world where the national ID card is also an e-passport.”
The Tertiary Education Institutions Network (TEIN) wing of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has expressed dissatisfaction with the public lecture delivered by Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia at the Ashesi University on Tuesday November 2.
TEIN noted that the Vice President is now shifting the goalposts by, in their view, moving away from the politics of economics to be focusing on digitalisation.
A statement signed by the National Deputy TEIN Coordinator, Mr Ekow Djan said “While in opposition we were made to believe he was the Economist who had the solutions to all our challenges. Today, he’s no more interested in Economics rather, Information Technology (IT).
“Dr. Bawumia never mentioned “Digitalization/Digitization” while a Running Mate in opposition— he was always on Exchange rate, Borrowing, Revenue generation. What has become of the dollar to cedi rate? Is he not aware his administration has borrowed more than any administration? Our Dept to GDP ratio is close to 80%.
“And he still has the effrontery to speak in this country? Well, the Ghanaian voter is discerning. Our Economy is nothing to write home about.
“Probably that’s the more reason why he’s abandoned Economics and conferred onto himself “Honorary Minister for Communication and Digitization”.
“We could only wish him well in his new office. Upon all the unfulfilled promises, Vice President Bawumia has once again chosen to promise unborn babies to issue them Ghana Cards. Governance is a serious business— [Former] President Mahama will always be vindicated.”
The Vice President during the lecture said there was a link between economy and digitalisation for which he keeps touting the efforts by the government to build a digital economy.
He said among other things that “There is a lot to say about these but today, I want to focus my remarks on how we are transforming Ghana’s economy through digitization because it is important that we highlight the critical nature of digitizing the economy and how it underpins the reforms that the citizenry expect of government.
” We can only build a vibrant modern nation if we have strong systems and institutions that work. Otherwise we will be stuck in a vicious cycle of rhetoric and underdevelopment.
“Under the leadership of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo, we have focused on pursuing digitization as part of our economic strategy because the Fourth Industrial Revolution is upon us and we must be part of the modern world. There is a growing body of empirical evidence that illustrates the capacity of digital technology to create jobs, significantly boost productivity, increase income and support wealth creation.
“The World Bank in a 2020 report observed that well-functioning digital economies are expected to achieve faster growth, offer more innovative services and create more jobs. The World Economic Forum’s Global Information Report estimates that “an increase of 10% in a country’s digitization score fuels a 0.75% growth in GDP per capita”.
“It is therefore clear that going forward, countries that fail to digitalize their economies are likely to be uncompetitive in the emerging global digital revolution.”
He added “On coming into office, we moved quickly with the issuance of biometric national ID cards (The Ghanacard) to the population. The Ghanacard project was initiated by President Kufuor but abandoned for 8 years.
“The card has world class features. It captures 10 fingerprints as well as the iris of individuals. It is also consistent with the ECOWAS standards and bears the ECOWAS logo. It is compatible with any reader which is compliant with EMV contactless communication protocol.
“So far, 15.5 million people have been enrolled on the Ghanacard by the NIA and most of the population will be enrolled by 2022. NIA will open an additional 291 offices tomorrow across all districts and regions to complete the exercise.
“The issuance of the Ghanacard has provided Ghana with a database that will be the anchor for all transactions in the future, providing unique identity to all individuals.”
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has asked all road users especially drivers to exercise caution in order to decrease the rate of accidents in the country.
President Akufo-Addo said this while extending his condolence to the families of the burnt accident victims. He also wished the injured a speedy recovery.
President Akufo-Addo in a tweet urged all road users, especially drivers, to drive safely always, and help reduce the spate of road accidents in the country.
“I have learnt with considerable sadness of the tragic accident, at Akomadan, that has claimed the lives of some 30 people in the early hours of this morning. I extend my condolences to families of the deceased and wish the injured a speedy recovery,” he said.
He added “I continue to urge all road users, especially our drivers, to drive safely always, and help reduce the spate of road accidents in the country.”
Some accident victims have been confirmed burnt beyond recognition while 25 others ran to safety when a Daewoo passenger bus crashed into a Kia Towing truck on the Offinso-Techiman road in the Bono Region.
The 25 people have been rushed to a nearby health center while the five are being retrieved by personnel from the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana National Fire Service.
The Akomadan District Police Commander, DSP Gyasi Agyeman, who broke the news to 3FM’s Sunrise hosted by Alfred Ocansey on Tuesday, explained that the accident occurred at around 4:30am on Tuesday.
He explained that “a bus loaded with passengers from Nandom to Kumasi with a registration number GT 4215 – 17 crushed into a parked Kia Towing car with registration number GT 6983 – 12”.
DSP Gyasi said “about 25 were able to escape but five of them were trapped and burnt beyond recognition”.
“You could see their bodies in the vehicles. Five are dead beyond recognition. The injured have been rushed to the hospital”.
The Commander said “according to the passengers, some alighted at Techiman, Kintampo and other places, along the road so it was not a fully loaded bus”.
“We can say for a fact because they could see the bodies from the vehicles. At the time the fire service was able to quench the fire, the five people had been burnt. It is a VIP type passenger bus that could take about forty plus passengers”.
He said that “the driver of the towing car was safe. One of those burnt was behind the steering of the bus so we presume that he was the driver”.
DSP Agyeman said “the driver was alleged to be speeding because my men flashed him to stop at the checkpoint but he refused ”.
“Some of the passengers even said they got angry with him for the reckless driving, so a few meters after our check point, he ran into the truck”.
DSP Agyeman who said he resumed office just yesterday as the District Police Commander said “I just resumed office yesterday as the District Commander and this is my welcome address”.
The Vice President has hinted of plans by the government to launch an E-Pharmacy project to address challenges faced by members of the public in accessing medicines.
He explained that several patients spend long hours searching for pharmacies where they can obtain prescribed medications, sometimes at very expensive prices.
Delivering a public lecture on Ghana’s digital economy, at the Ashesi University on Tuesday, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia revealed that the Pharmacy Council in collaboration with the private sector have been urged to digitize their activities.
“Basically, the digital E-Pharmacy platform will offer the opportunity to everyone through a mobile phone to upload your prescriptions and find out which pharmacies near you have the drugs. Secondly, you can compare the prices for the same drug offered by different pharmacies, so that you can buy from the lowest priced pharmacies.”
According to him, the project is currently being piloted with 45 pharmacies.
Persons who want to purchase drugs he added will be able to order through mobile money or GhQR (Scan and Pay) when the project is launched.
“The medicines will then be delivered to customers at home through courier service,” he added.
“The E-Pharmacy platform will also check fake or counterfeit drugs because the platform will be linked to the FDA, which will monitor thereal-timembers of all products in real time. Any drug for which the FDA does not have a batch number will be classified as fake,” the Vice President said.
“The E-Pharmacy is scheduled to be launched before the end of the year. I would like to thank the Pharmacy Council and the Ghanaian private partners for being very proactive and for tolerating my hounding,” he added.
President of Ghana Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has asked drivers to learn to drive safely in order to reduce road accidents in the country.
On Monday, seventeen people, including 10 children were confirmed dead in an accident involving a sprinter bus and an articulated truck in the Abofuor Forest in the Ashanti region.
The accident occurred at about 3:30 am on Monday when the Man Diesel truck with registration number GS 4339-17 collided head-on with the Kumasi-Daboya bound Mercedes Sprinter bus with registration number GT 6075-15.
On Tuesday, another accident occurred on the Kumasi-Techiman Highway when a bus collided with a KIA Rhino after which the bus caught fire and burnt some six persons beyond recognition.
Reacting to the series of accidents, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in a tweet said he was saddened by the news.
While wishing bereaved families his condolences, the President used the opportunity to caution drivers and users of the road to be cautious and drive safe in order to protect lives especially during this season.
His tweet read “I have learnt with considerable sadness of the tragic accident, at Akomadan, that has claimed the lives of some 30 people in the early hours of this morning.
“I extend my condolences to families of the deceased and wish the injured a speedy recovery. I continue to urge all road users, especially our drivers, to drive safely always, and help reduce the spate of road accidents in the country.”
Ghana’s Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has touted Ghana’s management of the Covid-19 outbreak as world-class.
He asserted that despite the negative effect of the pandemic, the government has put in place several measures to mitigate the devastating effects.
He was speaking at an event hosted by Ashesi University.
He was addressing the students in how digitalization is transforming the economy and positioning Ghana for the emerging global digital revolution.
The lecture was on the theme, Transforming an Economy through Digitization: The Ghana Story.null
Dr. Bawumia, who is spearheading the government’s digitalization drive, explained the government’s vision, the measures undertaken so far, and the impact of digitalization on the general Ghanaian economy and service delivery, both by government and the private sector.
He said although Covid-19 had had some devastating effects on our economy, the government has achieved a lot.
Dr. Bawumia indicated that the record of the NPP in its first term is unprecedented and no government in Ghana’s history can compare.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, every new born child delivered in Ghana next year will get, within a few months, a Ghanacard number, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has announced.
Speaking at a public lecture to shed more light on the digital strides chalked by the Akufo-Addo government since it assumed office as part of measures to make public services more accessible and affordable, Dr Bawumia said the actual card will be issued when the child is grown and the biometrics are fully formed (after age 6).
This, Dr Bawumia said, forms part of digital reforms being undertaken at the Births and Deaths Registry to make it more in tune with the times and provide better protected information on the citizens and residents of Ghana.
The Vice President, who made the disclosure while speaking on the theme “TRANSFORMING AN ECONOMY THROUGH DIGITALIZATION- THE GHANA STORY” on Tuesday, November 2, 2021 at the Ashesi University, Berekuso, said the transformation at the Birth and Deaths Registry was welcome news.
“Easily one of the most depressing visits I have paid to a government office during my time as Vice President was to the Births and Deaths Registry headquarters. There clearly was insufficient investment in the institution. It was messy and it was sad. It turned out that the Births and Deaths Registry had three separate databases as registers for births and deaths and these databases were in silos. It is not surprising therefore that corruption and fake birth certificates thrived in this environment,” he noted.
“Thankfully, the process of digitization of the records is almost complete and the three databases have been cleaned up and integrated. Furthermore, we are integrating the births and deaths register with the databases of Ghana Health Service, National Identification Authority, Ghana Statistical Service, Immigration and the Police so that the record of births and deaths should be consistent across all these databases.”
E-Pharmacy
Outlining a long list of innovations either undertaken or on the cusp of take-off, Vice President Bawumia announced, among others, the impending launch of the E-Pharmacy, which would involve the digitization of pharmacies in Ghana.
“Patients or people generally face difficulties when trying to find medicines in pharmacies. They have no way of knowing which pharmacies have the medicines. They could go to five pharmacies before getting lucky. Sometimes patients are directed to go to specific pharmacies to buy the medicine, denying them any advantage there might be of choosing from a lower priced shop. People also don’t know what the prices of the medicines are at different pharmacies and tend in their time of vulnerability to just buy at the prices offered when they find the drug. It is also difficult to tell whether the medicines are genuine or fake. There is also the problem of drug abuse with prescription medicines like Tramadol.
“To address these problems, in 2019, I challenged the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana to digitize the operations of pharmacies in Ghana. Following this and working with my office, the Pharmacy Council in collaboration with the private sector has completed work on a digital platform for all pharmacies in Ghana and a pilot of 45 pharmacies is currently ongoing.
“Basically, the digital E-Pharmacy platform will offer the opportunity to everyone through a mobile phone to upload your prescriptions and find out which pharmacies near you have the medicines. Secondly you can compare the prices for the same drug offered by different prices so that you can buy from the lowest priced pharmacies.”
Consumers will also be able to order the drug and pay for it on the phone through mobile money or GhQR (Scan and Pay), etc. The medicines are then delivered to the customers at home through a courier service.
As well, “The E-Pharmacy will enable Ghana address the issue of drug abuse. Those prescribed controlled medicines like Tramadol for example will only be given a one-time CODE sent via SMS (once the prescription is uploaded) to use at the pharmacy. The e-pharmacy platform will also check fake or counterfeit medicines because the platform will be linked to the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) which will monitor the batch numbers of all products real time. Any drug for which the FDA does not have a batch number will be classified as fake.”
The E-Pharmacy is scheduled to be launched before the end of the year, making Ghana the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to have a national scale E-Pharmacy and one of only a few countries in the world with a national scale E-pharmacy.
The lecture, which was attended by members of academia, students, the clergy, chiefs, and other members of the general public, was the latest by Vice President Bawumia, aimed at getting the citizenry, particularly the youth, to have a greater appreciation of the work being done in the digital space, and solicit their views on other areas that may need special attention
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has urged the newly appointed Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) to be proactive in informing the people about the various projects and interventions rolled out by the Akufo-Addo-led government.
“The upcoming 2024 Elections is going to be fought at the local level and so you need to know the projects we have done in your districts and be proactive in telling the people.
“The NDC is very good at propaganda. In fact, they’re specialists in that and so the only way we can counter the propaganda is with facts and data because they’re afraid of that,” Dr Bawumia added.
He said the delivery tracker that captured the various government’s projects would be upgraded with a new version so that the assemblies could directly update it with new projects.
He, therefore, entreated the MMDCEs to work hard to transform the economic fortunes of the people at the local level, saying; “So approach your work with confidence and seriousness because our record will, and always be superior to that of the NDC’s record”.
Vice President Bawumia gave the advice at a training and orientation workshop for the newly appointed MMDCEs in Accra.
He mentioned some flagship initiatives rolled out by the Akufo-Addo-led administration during the first term and new ones being undertaken now to improve service delivery.null
The orientation, organised by the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Decentralisation, is intended to equip the MMDCEs with knowledge and skills to provide efficient leadership at the local level.
The event was on the theme: “Building Successful Leadership for Local Economic Transformation and Improved Service Delivery”, which enabled them to network and share ideas towards the government’s transformation agenda.
“The Akufo-Addo-led government wants to transform Ghana and so what government has done since assuming office is to decentralise development and ensure inclusion.
“This is what has underpinned the philosophy and economic strategy of governance of this country so that no part of the country is left behind in terms of access to development,” Dr Bawumia emphasised.
He stated that government was putting together database for farmers and fisherfolks across the country towards the digitisation of fertilizer and pre-mix fuel distributions to curb corrupt practices
• Efia Odo has bemoaned the low performance of the cedi
Vice President, Dr Mahamadu Bawumia, has on several occasions reminded Ghanaians especially the opposition party, the National Democratic Congress of all the efforts made by Nana Addo’s administration in stabilizing the local currency.
According to Dr Bawumia, the strong economic policies rolled out by the ruling government has saved Ghana’s economy.
Despite the claims by the Vice president, the cedi continues to struggle against other currencies especially the dollar.
“We did arrest the runaway depreciation in the cedi and therefore if you look at the record in terms of the depreciation of the cedi in the last four, five years or eight years, we will see that since the NPP government came to power, the rate of the cedi depreciation is 50% less than what it was before. That is what the data shows, so it’s 50% less,” said Dr Bawumia in an interview on Joy FM in May 2020.
Reacting to the recent development, actress Andrea Owusu known in showbiz as Efia Odo has called out Dr Bawumia at a time where the cedi is performing badly.
Efia in a tweet dated November 2 wrote: “If the fundamentals are weak the exchange rate will expose you. That was true then and it’s true now. VP Bawumia $1 is now 6.1 Ghana cedis, who’s being exposed now?”
Prophet Nigel Gaisie, Founder and Leader of the Prophetic Hill Chapel has tasked the Inspector General of Police to focus more on the utterances of politicians.
He said the law of causing fear and panic is mostly flouted by the utterances of politicians.
In an interview with Accra based TV3, Prophet Gaisie said prophecies by men of God do not cause fear and panic as it’s been suggested in some quarters.
Speaking in relation to the recent arrest of Stephen Akwasi known as Jesus Ahuofe, the prophet who prophesied the death of dancehall artist, Shatta Wale, Prophet Gaisie said “If state apparatus really want to talk about prophecies, if they want us to educate them on prophecy you don’t go and pick the Anglican, respectfully.
“But you pick the prophets like me, Bishop Owusu Bempah, Bishop Salifu Amoako, third generational prophets.
“Anybody that says [our prophecies cause fear and panic], I think that person is carnal because the work we are doing is not academic, it is not intellectual, it is spiritual. I have never seen any Ghanaian prophet take a gun and go shoot somebody physically.
Inspector General of Police, Dr George Akuffo Dampare Inspector General of Police, Dr George Akuffo Dampare “I have never seen any Ghanaian prophet gather to stage a coup or whatever.
“So, what is the insecurity that is? We are rather helping the nation, we are the gate watchers. If we are talking about fear and panic, if the Finance Minister comes up and tells me that the government payroll is full that is fear and panic.”
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has made an audacious claim that his government’s initiative to set up a factory in each district of Ghana under the One District One Factory Programme has made the Akufo-Addo government more prolific than any other the country has had in the establishment of factories.
“We have more factories set up under our government than any other government since independence,” Dr Bawumia stated.
He made this claim on Tuesday, November 2 while addressing an audience at Ashesi University.
Dubbed ‘Bawumia Speaks’, the event was themed ‘Transforming An Economy Through Digitalisation: The Ghana Story’.
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has announced that from the first quarter of 2022, the Ghana Card will be globally recognised as an e-passport.
He has indicated that the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has duly accepted the usage of the cards as e-passport from the second quarter of 2022.
According to the Vice President, Wednesday, October 13, 2021 marked a milestone for Ghana as the country was officially received as the 79th member of ICAO.
He said with this move, the country’s major identification document produced by the National Identification Authority (NIA) will be allowed as a source of identification – in this case an e-passport – for international travels.
“This means that by the end of the first quarter next year, the Ghana Card will be recognised globally as an e-passport,” he stressed, adding: “When this happens, holders of the Ghana Card will be allowed to board any flight to Ghana.”
Dr Bawumia, who was the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Governor until 2008, said Ghanaians in the diaspora will then need no visas to travel to Ghana.
“Therefore, the good news to diasporan Ghanaians is that when the Ghana Immigration Service is linked to the NIA architecture, diasporan Ghanaians who hold the Ghana Card should not have to obtain visas to travel to Ghana.
“We expect this to be operational by the end of the first quarter of next year.
“Ghana is one of the few countries in the world where the national ID card is also an e-passport.”
So far, over 15 million Ghanaians have been enrolled on the Ghana Card with a target of the government to cover most of the population by the end of 2022.
The Ghana Card has become the sole document for the ongoing nationwide SIM card registration exercise, which ends in March 2022.
“The issuance of the Ghana Card has provided Ghana with a database that will be the anchor for all transactions in the future, providing unique identity to all individuals
Defence Lawyers in the ongoing treason trial involving ten persons have prayed the Accra High Court to out rightly reject the recordings done by the star prosecution witness.
Some of their reasons were the fact that the over 70 videos’ dates, times, places and situations varied, stating that whilst the time on the recordings indicated 2013, the alleged offence occurred between 2018 and 2019.
Victor Kwajoga Adawudu, counsel for four of the accused persons, said the prosecution (investigators) breached the constitution, in that they did not secure a court warrant before doing the secret recordings.
Again, he said that the recordings violated the fundamental human rights of the accused persons because they were obtained in violation of their rights as they were secretly recorded.
Mr Adawudu noted that some of the contents were irrelevant to the matter before the Court, citing a portion of one of the videos where a third party was recorded as part of the video when he called one of the accused persons, though nobody gave the permission for the recording.
The various recordings, he said, which talked about different roles played by some of the accused persons must be separated and analysed differently and not to be put together on one hard drive as done by prosecution, saying that every bit and piece must meet the admissibility criteria.
Anthony Lartey, Counsel for Johannes Zikpi, who associated himself with the mentioned submissions, also said the recordings were not authentic (had been tampered, that is manipulated with through editing or alteration) and not original because they were not in their raw footage form, unedited of what was allegedly recorded by the prosecution’s star witness- Staff Sergeant Sule Awarf.
He explained that to render the recordings admissible, Prosecution was under duty to produce the original, unmanipulated, unedited recordings whereas the Court was also entitled to examine the original recordings, stressing that those before the Court must be rejected in the interest of justice.
Bede Tuuku, Counsel for Lance Corporal Ali Solomon, also associated himself with the objections raised and added that the exhibits sought to be tendered in court were not from proper custody, saying that Staff Sergeant Awarf was not even privy to the content because he only sent the recordings to Colonel Amponsah, (in charge of the Military Academy Training School and first prosecution witness in the case) who in turn downloaded and accessed the contents without him (Sule) knowing the content.
The rest of the lawyers associated themselves with the submissions made by their colleagues.
In a rebuttal, Yvonne Attakorah Obuobisa, Director for Public Prosecution (DPP), prayed the Court to accept the recordings as evidence without which prosecution’s case would be jeopardised.
She emphasised that the materials were relevant and must be admitted because they had witness and the witness had also talked about all the facts in them important to help determine the case.
The right to privacy is not absolute. It can be infringed upon in the interest of the state, she said.
The DPP argued that the information was original and was not recorded in 2013 but between 2018 and 2019, it was procured by the Ghana Armed Forces and the original date was the same registered when it was first used.
With the authenticity, she said the chain of custody had not been broken which made the recordings original, witnesses identified them as well as Staff Sergeant Awarf having knowledge of the contents.
Dr Frederick Yao Mac Palm, Donyo Kafui, alias Ezor, Bright Alan Debrah, alias BB, Johannes Zikpi, Colonel Samuel Kojo Gameli, Warrant Officer Class Two Esther Saan, Corporal Seidu Abubakar, Lance Corporal Ali Solomon, Corporal Sylvester Akanpewe, Assistant Commissioner of Police Benjamin Kwasi Agordzo have been charged for varied offences such as conspiracy to commit crime, high treason, abetment of crime and possession of arms.
They have denied the charges and are being tried by a three-member-judge panel.
National Democratic Congress (NDC) National Communications Director Sammy Gyamfi has described the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) as a celebrity IGP who is only interested in media hype and not doing the real work.
This description comes after a report by the Ghana News Agency indicates that violent crimes in Ghana were up by 20%.
Sammy Gyamfi argues that the current IGP instead of fighting crime in Ghana has rather focused on hounding political opponents of the current government; a move he sees as sickening and worrying.
“The rate of violent crimes in Ghana has reached alarming levels in recent time. Yet, our new IGP is busy hounding political opponents, Pastors, socialites and musicians over less weightier matters, while real criminals are having a field day.”
To him, this Inspector-General of Police is only good at clamouring attention to himself but the real work on the grounds continue to suffer.
“This is what happens when you have a celebrity IGP who is only interested in media hype; a people who are easily hoodwinked by publicity stunts; and a #SerwaahBroniGov’t that majors in the minors,” the NDC communications director said in a tweet.
Ghana News Agency Report
The Ghana Public Safety and Crime Report has said that violent crimes went up from 183 in 2020 to 220 from January to June 2021, representing a 20 per cent increase.
This was contained in a report assessing crime wave in the country which indicates that the top five most reported violent crimes were murder or manslaughter, armed robbery, assault, burglary and suicide.
Nana Yaw Akwada, Chief of Party at the Bureau of Public Safety (BPS) at the presentation of the report said firearms use in the commission of violent crimes had increased by 79 percent over the same period compared to 2020.
“Seventy-four per cent of reported armed robbery cases involved the use of firearms, while 20 percent of homicides involved firearm use. More than 80 per cent of violent crimes occurred outside of the place of abode or homes of victims; these included roads and highways, offices, business or trade spaces, places of worship, and other transitional spaces.https://e2a6a14c8657817a038fd89bf964bb4d.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
“More than 95 per cent of armed robbery incidents occurred outside of home, and 76 per cent of murder or manslaughter cases were reported to have occurred out of home. Violent crime deaths reportedly increased from 134 in 2020 to 171 in 2021 representing a 28 percent increase,” he said.
Nana Akwada said Central region recorded most suicide cases of six out of a total of 21 cases for the period in 2021, representing 29 per cent of suicides reported across the country; followed by the Greater Accra region with 14 per cent of such cases.
He said most armed robbery incidents occurred in the Greater Accra region forming 24 percent of all armed robberies with the Ashanti region following with 16 percent of incidents.
“Fifty per cent of all property crimes reported for the period occurred in the Greater Accra. More females (59 percent) were reported as victims to murder or manslaughter cases, while 81 percent of males were reported as victims of armed robbery events,” he said.
Sources say an amount of GH¢5,000 was allegedly paid to each of the 26 assembly members.
The two-time rejected MCE nominee for the Juaben Municipal Assembly, Alex Sarfo Kantanka has been granted bail after he was arrested by the police for allegedly bribing Assembly members to influence their vote in his favour.
Mr Kantanka was sighted in a viral video demanding a refund of monies paid to the assembly members for his endorsement.
Sources say an amount of GH¢5,000 was allegedly paid to each of the 26 assembly members.
Police, however, opened investigations into the alleged bribery case to ascertain when the alleged bribe was paid to the Assembly members.
During the first confirmation process, the Juaben MCE nominee had five out of 26 votes cast.
The election was subsequently postponed twice for various reasons after the President re-nominated him for the second time.
The nominee, in the second election, garnered only 10 votes out of the total 26, with one rejected ballot.
The nominee after losing went into the assembly’s conference room where the members were gathered to demand a refund of the money he allegedly paid to the assembly members.
One of the assembly members, Patrick Yeboah, claimed he was assaulted by the nominee outside the conference room after the election.
He added that he was prevented from retaliating.
In a viral video on social media Myjoyonline.com has learnt Mr Kantanka is captured using unprintable words on some assembly members, who he believed voted against him.
The police subsequently intervened to get him out of the premises.
The nominee’s supporters also massed up at the assembly grounds threatening to assault all assembly members locked up in the building.
The police had to whisk away the Regional Minister from mob assault.
Representative of the Ashanti Caucus of MPs, Emmanuel Agyei Anhwere, was, however, assaulted by the mob.
Former President John Dramani Mahama has said that there is no doubt that these are very challenging and unprecedented times for Africa and the rest of the world.
However, he said, despite all the challenges and heartbreaks this pandemic has ushered humanity to, when the pandemic is finally over, one sanitary practice that will remain for sure will be the washing of hands more often or the use of hand sanitisers.
He noted that admittedly, COVID-19 is one of many challenges that has aggravated Africa’s vulnerabilities and exacerbated existing development challenges. COVID is impacting and impeding the previously steady progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), whose target date is only eight years away.
Mr Mahama said this in his opening remarks at the African Economic Congress 2021 on the theme ‘Accelerate Africa: Building Back Better’.
He said “So soon, COVID is in its 2nd year! This is why we must thank Nancy and her team for the initiative to put together the African Economic Congress (AEC).
“I missed my first opportunity to join the deliberations because of other commitments. I am glad for yet another invitation, this year, on the theme “Accelerate Africa: Building Back Better”.
“The theme for this year’s programme offers an opportunity to reflect on our collective response so that we can build resilience during future pandemics. Additionally, it provides options to reset our economic progress by leveraging the inclusiveness exhibited during the crisis.
“I am happy to announce that an Independent Global Health Panel that I am honoured to be part of, is advocating the establishment of a Global Public Health Convention that will ensure adequate Pandemic Preparedness and Response.”
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has released beneficiaries of the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) in the Upper West Region.
This was disclosed in a letter addressed to the Regional Director of NABCO in the region.
The letter dated Monday, 1 November 2021, signed by the Medical Director of the Upper West Regional Hospital, Robert Ameniya said: “Following your contractual agreement to end the services of NABCO beneficiaries in the various institutions on 31 October 2021, we are by this letter releasing all NABCO beneficiaries to you with effect from 1 November 2021 for further action. “
It further stated that: “By this letter NABCO beneficiaries posted to this hospital are informed to stay off until further notice.”
It also thanked the NABCO beneficiaries for their support, adding that: “We will reach out to you if we need your services.”
The NABCO initiative, launched by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in 2018, was to employ some 100,000 unemployed graduates.
Beneficiaries were paid GHS700 and worked for a three-year period.
Modules under the initiative included Educate Ghana, Feed Ghana, Revenue Ghana, Heal Ghana, Digitise Ghana Enterprise Ghana and Governance Ghana.
President Akufo-Addo speaking on Kumasi-based Ash FM in a recent tour of the Ashanti Region noted that the initiative will continue to recruit more jobless graduates.
“We are looking at recruiting many more into the programme in the coming days,” the President posited.
Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta told the truth when he recently said the public payroll was full, Mr Charles Adu Boahen, Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance has said.
Speaking at the Graphic Business/Stanbic Bank Breakfast Meeting on Tuesday, 2 November 2021 about the direction of the yet-to-be-presented 2022 budget, Mr Adu Boahen said the fiscal policy document will “…last but not the least, focus on job creation, especially targeted at the youth and also entrepreneurship because we believe that – especially in the environment we are today – we really need to find ways to create a more entrepreneurial society: a society where everybody is not afraid to venture out and try a business or some kind of occupation and provide them with the tools and the training to be able to do so”.
In his view, “if we all or a lot of us try something entrepreneurial, more likely than not, we might create two, three, four jobs in the process”.
“I think it was two weeks ago [that] my minister mentioned that the public sector payroll is full much to the consternation of a lot of people but I think he was just telling the truth”, he noted, adding: “And, if we have that mindset, I think we’ll start to look outside of the box and outside of the typical employment channels to see what there’s available”.
Mr Adu Boahen observed that some young Ghanaians are leveraging social media to expose and market their talent, craft and startups to the world, which he commended and encouraged.
“I must say I’ve been very impressed by what I see online and the creativity and the resourcefulness of the Ghanaian people; and, if you go on Instagram and you see the fashion and artistry and creativity of Ghanaians who now have a global platform of the likes of Amazon and Instagram to be able to showcase their works; so, that challenge we had when we were growing up where if you wanted to start something, you had to virtually go from door to door or spend a lot of money on advertising, you really don’t have that barrier-to-entry now, in terms of trying to come up with your own products and I must say there are some really talented people around”, he admired.
Citing some examples, he recalled: “There was a text going around the other day about a gentleman who is doing furniture and there were pictures of it and his number was on the bottom and I saw some of the furniture and I was like: ‘Whoa; this is really good stuff!’ And, you know, with WhatsApp and Instagram, he can reach tens of thousands of people”.
“So, maybe, the only challenge or impediment for people like that is startup capital. So, we need to figure out a way to provide that $5,000 or GHS10,000 for startups and same in the agricultural sector”, he noted.
Mr Adu Boahen also recalled listening to a radio station earlier this year which “interviewed a gentleman who had a piggery and you know, when you listen to him and where he started from and what he has today, you realise that you don’t really need a lot of money to start a piggery and it can be quite a lucrative business”.
He continued: “And then they also interviewed a lady who had gone into palm in a joint venture with some chiefs and now has a pretty sizeable plantation and I was very impressed”.
“And there was another gentleman they spoke to who was growing corn and the sort of analyses he had applied to corn-growing – I was like ‘whoa!’ – including spacing, how to maximise every acre. And I was like: ‘We are thinking’”.
“And, so, I think we need to really encourage that entrepreneurship drive and find a way to create a more entrepreneurial society right from the curriculum in the schools so that we provide the youth with the right tools to be able to capitalise on that rather than sit at home waiting for that public sector job”, Mr Adu Boahen stressed
Six passengers have been burnt to death while 22 others have sustained injuries in a gory car crash on the Akomadan-Kumasi road in the Ashanti region.
The accident occurred Tuesday morning, 2 November 2021.
The bus with a registration number GP 4215-17 aboard passengers from Nandom to Kumasi went in flames after it crashed into a Kia Rhino towing vehicle with a registration number GB 6983-12 which had been parked on the roadside.
The Akomadan District Police Commander, DSP Gyasi Agyemang told Class News’ Elisha Adarkwah that the driver of the passenger bus was overspeeding and declined to stop at a police checkpoint when he was stopped by the police.
He said the bus, however, rammed into the towing vehicle which had been parked about 10 metres away from the checkpoint where the driver declined to stop.
Mr Gyasi said the bus caught fire from the front and about 22 of the passengers were able to run for their lives but sustained some injuries.
Six passengers were burnt beyond recognition.
He said the driver of the bus was able to escape and he is currently on the run.
Mr Gyasi said those who sustained injuries have been rushed to the Akomadan government hospital for treatment
“Ghana acknowledges the importance and effects of Climate Change, and the urgent need to combat it, and we acknowledge equally the importance of protecting our development. We believe that a balance must be struck and maintained between our social, economic and environmental imperatives.”
These were the words of the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Tuesday, 2nd November 2021, when he delivered Ghana’s statement at the UN Climate Change Conference, COP 26, currently ongoing in Glasgow, Scotland.
Taking his turn to address delegates on day 2 of the Summit, President Akufo-Addo stated that climate change is the greatest threat to the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals, as it has enormous impact on the fundamentals required for survival on earth.
“Even though we, in Africa, are the least of the contributors to this phenomenon, responsible for less than four percent (4%) of the global volume of carbon emissions, we suffer the most because our agrarian and resource-driven economies are peculiarly susceptible to the effects of climate change, and our capacity to withstand its shocks is weak,” he said.
Agriculture, water, energy, and the extraction of mineral resources, the President said, are essential drivers of developments in African countries, but, at the same time, are characteristically sensitive to changing climate.
With the African Development Bank stating that Africa will need some US$3 trillion “in mitigation and adaptation by 2030” to enable her implement nationally determined contributions, he noted that the question of financing Africa’s commitments naturally arises.
“The Almighty has blessed our lands with abundant natural resources, and it would be wholly unfair for the world to demand that Africa abandons the exploitation of these same resources needed to finance her development, and help us to cope better with the threat of climate change, at a time when many countries on the continent have only just discovered them,” President Akufo-Addo said.
He continued, “The development and industrialisation of the wealthy nations of today were also hinged on the exploitation of their natural resources. This development came at the expense of pollution and the emission of greenhouse gases. Even today, the western world is responsible for 76% of carbon emissions.”
Africa, the President said, is naturally very disappointed by the failure of the wealthy nations to honour their commitments of making available one hundred billion dollars (US$100 billion) annually to the poorer countries to assist the continent in the fight against climate change, and by the unavailability of the technology transfer that will help Africa find sustainable ways of charting a path out of this existential crisis.
“Those same nations are, however, insisting that we abandon the opportunity for rapid development of our economies. That would be tantamount to enshrining inequality of the highest order, a totally unacceptable conclusion,” he added.
President Akufo-Addo stressed that “We must find a solution that is equitable and fair; a solution that levels the playing field; a solution that recognises the historical imbalances between the high emitters and low emitters. Ghana, therefore, supports the call for debt-for-climate swaps, which will address a multitude of issues in one fell swoop.”
He, thus, urged world leaders to use COP 26 as “a turning point to create a more prosperous, greener and fairer world, which maintains the balance between the social, economic and environmental requirements of all nations of the earth, rich and poor.”
Success, in this endeavour, he reiterated, is the greatest inheritance the world can leave for current and future generations.
Protecting Ghana’s Forests and Oceans President Akufo-Addo also participated in the World Leader’s Summit on protecting the world’s forests and oceans, held on the sidelines of COP 26.
Describing deforestation and forest degradation as the “greatest challenges to sustainable forest management” in Ghana, the President stated that Ghana has, in the course of the last two decades, adopted several policies and programmes, such as National Forest Plantation Development Programme and the Ghana Forest Plantation Strategy, aimed at restoring her lost forest.
“In June this year, I led the entire country, through the Green Ghana Project, to plant over seven million trees, far above the five million we had targeted. Next year, we aim to plant a minimum of twenty million trees, and we have already begun earnest preparations towards this,” he added.
The President Assured that “from 2024 and beyond, we aim to reduce emissions by some ten million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in the cocoa-forest landscape, through the implementation of the Ghana Cocoa Forest REDD+ Programme, one of five ecological landscape-tailored programmes in Ghana’s REDD+ Strategy.”
Ghana, President Akufo-Addo stressed, through her Nationally Determined Contributions in the forestry sector, “is committed to supporting the global target of halving emissions by 2030, and attaining neutrality by 2050”.
Oceans Reiterating Ghana’s commitment to managing sustainably her ocean, as the historic Transformation Document that was launched in December last year enjoins the country to do, the President added that the country is putting in place the requisite structures and processes to finalise her Sustainable Ocean Plan by 2025.
“The pressing threats we face are marine security, due to the prevalence of piracy and armed robbery on our seas, the mounting menace of Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported fishing (IUU), overfishing and its attendant decline in fish stocks, and plastic pollution,” he said.
As Ghana deal with these challenges, in partnership with the United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and Law of the Sea, “we are also conducting an Ocean Governance Study to help us strengthen our legal and institutional framework for ocean management”.
In addition, the President noted that to help reduce the excessive pressure, over-exploitation and to replenish Ghana’s falling marine fish stocks, just as was done last year, he told the gathering that Ghana has implemented a closed season for artisanal and industrial finishing.
“The results have been a phenomenal success, and we intend to continue to implement this policy with huge positive dividends over the medium-term. We must leverage our collective political influence, build strong partnerships with business leaders and influencers in civil society to drive effectively the implementation of the Transformations Document by all countries,” he added.
The Central Regional Police Command has arrested over 100 stripers, prostitutes and suspected criminals at three separate nightclubs at Kasoa in the Awutu Senya East Municipality of the Central Region.
Police say the suspects were in the nightclubs smoking and performing lewd acts on women with bottles and their fingers.
In an interview with EIB Network’s Central Regional Correspondent Yaw Boagyan, Deputy Central Regional Police Commander ACP Oduro Amaning revealed that the situation was terrible and degrading with young men “fingering women, inserting bottles in their vagina and smoking Indian hemp.”
ACP Oduro Amaning also entreated parents to monitor the activities of their female children and also search their bags before going out to reduce the level of deviant behaviour ongoing in the country.
The suspects have been taken to the Kasoa Police station awaiting to be processed for court.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will today, Tuesday, November 2, address world leaders at the ongoing United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in Glasgow, Scotland.
A former minister of energy, Boakye Agyarko, has declared his ambition to contest for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) 2024 presidential primaries after serving the party faithfully, loyally and hard, adding that he stands a better chance of leading Election 2024 as a flagbearer to “Break the 8” year rotation of governance between the NPP and NDC.
According to Mr. Agyarko, he is “fit for purpose”, for which reason he has resolved to put himself up to be elected by the party delegates.
The NPP stalwart once again reiterated his dream to lead the party in the next general elections on the Kumasi base OTEC FM’s breakfast show dubbed “Nyansapo” on Thursday, October 28, 2021
The one-time contestant in the party’s flagbearership position in 2008 said his faithfulness and loyalty to the party are unquestionable, adding that he will practically lead the party to yet another unprecedented victory should party delegates give him the nod.
Boakye Agyarko told the programme’s host, Captain Koda, that, he has enough experience and qualities to break the eight-year rotational governance between the NPP and the National Democratic Congress NDC.
Boakye Agyarko disclosed that the reason for which he left his base in the United States of America to come to Ghana was to contribute to the development of the country.
“It was the presidential race of 2007 that brought me back from the US. I left the US to participate in our politics and in fact, I was a participant in our politics before the unfortunate incident of June 1983 sent me into exile. I was in exile for 18 years. I never quit politics and will never quit politics because public service is my first passion. When the time comes, it shall be made known,” he said.
He however encouraged all members of the NPP to focus on helping Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo deliver a successful second term.
Boakye Agyarko admonished that the failure of the NPP government will have a devastating effect on Ghana’s democracy hence the need for all members of the party to join forces and ensure a successful final term for the president.
“In 2008, I was a contestant, one of the 17. I stayed to pay my dues. I consider myself fit for purpose and so I will not resale from that ambition or that objective. But at the end of the day it is for the grassroots to decide,” he added.
Mr. Agyarko has, since the commencement of the party’s annual regional delegate’s conference been involved in the process.
The former Campaign Manager of the NPP has already participated in three regional conferences, Savanah Region, Upper West, and Upper East. Sources say, his involvement in the process is to energize his base ahead of the crucial flagbearership race
South Danyi Member of Parliament, Rockson Nelson Dafeamekpor, has said Parliament is going to withhold the budget of the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General if the 499 LLB students who obtained the 50 per cent pass mark in the law entrance exams are not admitted as directed by the House.
Mr Dafeamekpor who is not happy with the tone of the response to Parliament by the Attorney General (AG) Godfred Yeboah Dame following the resolution to get the students admitted, dared the AG and by extension, the government to submit their budget for parliamentary approval and they will meet the same lawmakers the AG had made a “condescending” statement against.
He told Dzifa Bampoh in an interview on First Take on 3FM Monday November 1 that he was scandalized by the tone of the AG’s letter to the legislature.
“I am scandalized by the decision of the Attorney General. I am further scandalized by the tone of the AG’s response to Parliament, it is a very condescending. The AG is fighting a turf war with Parliament.
“If the Attorney General says that, prior to the resolution of Parliament, he had received the instruction from the President to intervene to address the concerns of the 499, the question you ask yourself is what the concerns of the 499 are?
“The 499 are simply saying they were charged monies by the GLC to write an exams, notice and conditions which were publicized on 14th of May this year, to them they had complied with all the conditions therein and when the results came out they the 499 have discovered that they had passed the exams and so they should be admitted in addition to the 79.
“So if the president had instructed the Attorney General to intervene the simplest thing the Attorney General would have to do is to instruct the GLC to go ahead and admit them.
“If Parliament, a day or two, also gives directive, what he should be saying is that, indeed we are grateful that Parliament has passed a resolution to this effect but the good news is that the president has also directed me. So with the support from Parliament and with the instruction from the President you are in a firm position to take progressive steps to get the GLC to admit them. This is how the AG should be speaking. The AG is saying that Parliament has no power to direct him to give instruction to the GLC to admit the students.”
“We are waiting for them they should bring the budget,” he added.
“Why wouldn’t we withhold their budget if they fail to admit the students. If you are not performing your functions to the best of your ability we will withhold your budget.”
The House on Friday October 29 resolved that all LLB students who obtained the 50 per cent pass mark in the law school entrance examinations should be admitted. The unanimous decision was arrived at by voice votes in Parliament.
The unanimous decision was arrived at by a voice votes in Parliament.
But the Godfred Yeboah Dame told to Parliament that the GLC was not under compulsion to comply.
The AG indicated that Parliament is devoid of the power through the use of Parliamentary resolutions, to control the process of admission into the Ghana School of Law.
He said “Respectfully, I am aware of a resolution passed by Parliament at its sitting on Friday, 29th October, 2021 in these terms: … The General Legal Council is hereby directed to proceed and admit all the students who passed in accordance with the advertised rules of the examinations.. The Attorney-General is the leader of the bar in Ghana and he must see to it that the directive that 499 students who scored 50 marks are admitted is complied with.
“We do not want to get to contempt of Parliament issues. Whilst recognising the general legislative powers of Parliament in Ghana, except as have been circumscribed by the Constitution, I am constrained to advise that Parliament is devoid of a power through the use of Parliamentary resolutions, to control the process of admission into the Ghana School of Law.
“The mode of exercising legislative power enshrined in article 106 of the Constitution does not admit of resolutions.
“In accordance with section 13(1)(e) and (f) of the Legal Profession Act, 1960 (Act 32), the power to regulate admission of students to pursue courses of instruction leading to qualification as lawyers and to hold examinations which may include preliminary, intermediate and final examinations has been vested in the General Legal Council.
“It is correct that section 1(5) of Act 32 stipulates thus: ‘The Council shall in the performance of their functions comply with any general directions given by the Minister’.
“In my respectful opinion, this provision underscores the capacity of the Executive not the Legislature, through the Minister responsible for the General Legal Council, i.e. the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, to direct and advise the Council on major matters of national importance.
“In this regard, it is pertinent to indicate that by a letter dated 18th October, 2021 received at my office on 21* October, 2021, His Excellency the President forwarded the contents of a petition by the “499 candidates” to me for my comments in order to enable him respond. Another petition dated 20th October, 2021 by the National Association of Law Students was also delivered
to the President.
“Upon delivery of my comments on the matters raised in both petitions and following further consultations with my good self, by a letter dated 26th October, 2021 (three clear days before the resolution of Parliament), received at my office on 27th October, 2021, the President directed me to, pursuant to section 1(5) of Act 32, … make the necessary intervention to the General Legal Council, on behalf of the 499 students, to address the issue …
“Within the constraints of the law, I am following up on the directive of the President to make the necessary interventions on behalf of the ‘499 students’ Be that as it may, it is imperative to correct a few erroneous impressions contained in the impugned Parliamentary resolution of 29th October, 2021.The notice in the Daily Graphic of 14th May, 2021 inviting applications from suitably qualified Ghanaians for admission into the Ghana School of Law did not state a pass mark of fifty percent (50%) or any at all as a basis for admission. The notice stated that applicants may be granted admission if they have passed the entrance examination conducted by the GLC.
“The notice also did not state the manner in which a pass mark set by the GLC would be determined. It is clear therefore, that, a contention that the “originally announced” or “advertised” pass mark was “50%”, is erroneous and insupportable.
In so far as any matter bordering on a ‘pass mark’ is concerned, the notice in the Daily Graphic stated as follows:
“E. ADMISSION PROCEDURE
The admission process is as follows:
(i) The General Legal Council determines the number of candidates to be admitted to the Professional Law Course for the academic year.
(ii) Applicants may be granted admission if they have passed the written examinations organized by the General Legal Council for the
2021/2022 Academic Year, on payment of the required fee and submission of the application form and all supporting documents required online.”
President Nana Akufo-Addo’s nominee for East Gonja Municipal Assembly Mohammed Tamimu has been rejected for the second time by members of the assembly amidst some intimidation claims.
The nominee failed to secure two-thirds of the votes cast after obtaining only 9 out of a total of 34.
Hundreds of residents trooped to the premises of the East Gonja Municipal Assembly to witness the confirmation.
More security personnel comprising police, prisons and fire service were deployed to the venue.
The youth earlier had a confrontation with the security after some people were denied access to the place.
Voting began at quarter past 11:00am.
Before the voting, the Savannah Region Minister, Saeed Muhazu Jibril, appealed to the Assembly members to put aside their differences and confirm the nominee.
“I want to on behalf of the nominee and his family apologize to you all for whatever reason you don’t want to confirm him. To err is human and to forgive is divine,” he said
One by one the Assembly members took their turn to vote.
In less than an hour, all 34 assembly members went through the voting process.
After counting, the President’s nominee obtained 9 out of a total of 34 valid votes cast.
The youth who were gathered outside began to jubilate over his rejection.
This is the second time the nominee failed to get confirmation from the assembly members
After weeks of controversies amidst anxiety and uneasiness relating to reports of fake kidnap cases in the Western Region, there has yet been another reported case of an alleged kidnap.
The name of the alleged victim has been given as Stephanie Kumiwaa, 26.
Stephen Kumi, who is the boyfriend of the victim, tells Connect FM’s OMANBAPA morning show host, Nhyiraba Paa Kwesi Simpson, the last time he spoke with Stephanie was on Sunday, October 17.
According to him, on that fateful day, Stephanie, a resident of Mpohor told him she would be coming to visit him after church.
“I didn’t hear from her again after the long chat on phone, only for me to be called the next day by some guys using my girlfriend’s phone that they had kidnapped her and that I should pay GHS2,000 otherwise she would be raped and used for rituals,” Stephen recounted to Paa Kwesi Simpson
According to him, after days of back and forth, he and a friend of the alleged victim, whose name has only been given as Sandra, contributed GHS1,000 and sent to the guys through Stephanie’s phone, only for the alleged kidnappers to still demand for another GHS2,000.
The case was then reported to the Mpohor Police and the Assembly member of the town.
As at November 1, 2021, the whereabouts of Stephanie is yet to be known while the alleged kidnappers have not been heard from for over a week
“ACP Kwesi Ofori and the IGP should tell their fib to class 1 kids that the plain cloth officers were there to gather intelligence. A bsolute bumble!,” Sam George said.
Ningo-Prampram MP, Sam George has described as lies the Ghana Police Service’s explanation concerning the alleged attempted arrest of Madina MP during church service.
The Police, in a statement, said, “stories circulating that some Police personnel had been dispatched to arrest the MP at a church today Sunday, October 31, 2021, are untrue.
“Any plain-clothed Police personnel found on the premises of the church may have been there for intelligence purposes and not to effect an arrest.”
Reacting to the above statements on his Facebook wall, he said, “ACP Kwesi Ofori and the IGP should tell their fib to class 1 kids that the plain cloth officers were there to gather intelligence. Absolute bumble!”
He added that as the Police have determined to use legal means to interrogate all suspects, including the Madina MP, Francis-Xavier Sosu, “they must be guided by Articles 117 & 118 of the 1992 Constitution and Standing Orders 28 & 30 of Parliament.”
The Police have been seeking to arrest Madina MP, Francis-Xavier Sosu, after organising a protest that had ended riotously.
The protestors had blocked the Ayi Mensah-Danfa road by burning tyres and preventing the free flow of traffic.
The MP who had refused the Police’s invitation to assist them in investigating the matter stated that the Police attempting to arrest him on the protest grounds was an act of lawlessness.
He has subsequently filed a contempt of Parliament against two of the Police Officers and the Adenta Police Command for their actions.
According to Sam George, though he realises the need to support the Police to maintain law and order, “we shall resist them when they act outside the remit of the law with reckless abandon and in a capricious manner unbecoming of officers of the law.”
His conviction is based on the violence that characterised the Ayawaso-West Wuogon bye-elections, where he was slapped across the face by a state security agent.
“I have been a victim of the lack of professionalism and irresponsibility of SOME police officers and national security personnel, and I have made it my life mission to continue to fight for reforms in what should be a model public service institution, and I would rest not until we rid the Police Service of these despicable bad nuts. The Police is NOT above the law,” he concluded.
The MCE-nominee (left) in a conversation with an assemblyman
The rejected MCE-nominee for Juaben in the Ashanti region Alex Sarfo Kantanka has been bailed after he was arrested by Police in Kumasi for allegedly paying bribes to assembly members.
The nominee was seen in a viral video demanding a refund of alleged bribes he paid assembly members for his confirmation.
The police have commenced investigations to determine if the alleged bribes were paid to the assembly members prior to the voting or otherwise.
Background
The disappointed nominee who could not control his emotions at the loss accosted an assembly member to return the bribe he took earlier before the confirmation.
According to Francis Yeboah Adumasah, an assembly member who doubles as the welfare committee chairman of the assembly, ”as a welfare chairman, it is my responsibility to get the assembly members who came for the assembly meeting their transportation, while going for the transport money from the finance officer the nominee attacked me to refund the money he gave me and so I informed the Ashanti regional minister Simon Osei-Mensah and his police bodyguard”.
“In our earlier meeting in which the nominee failed to secure the two-thirds majority of the total votes Yes, he gave money but not today’s election. The money he gave me I used for the work he assigned me to do so what’s his problem’?’ he questioned.
He described the rejected nominee as a ‘bitter loser’ explaining “you can’t win assembly elections without paying for electorate transportation.”
Member of Parliament for the Atwima-Nwabiagya South Constituency Emmanuel Adjei Anhwere, who was in the Juaben to monitor the election was also attacked by the disappointed nominee’s supporters.
However, the timely intervention of the police restored calm to the area
The Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, says Ghana’s legislature will do what is best for the country in relation to the anti-gay bill which is currently before the House.
He told TV3’s Dzifa Bampoh in interview that the lawmakers will do what is appropriate regarding this bill.
Asked about his reaction to concerns that Ghana is likely to face sanctions from the international community if the bill is passed, he replied saying “Let us pass the bill, we will do what is appropriate. In our dealing with the international community the interest of Ghana withhold, we should consider the interest of Ghana, but the same constitution also says that we should also submit to international treaties.”
“That is why I am saying let us get there and I believe that ultimately, Parliament will do what is best for this country.,” the Suame Lawmaker said.
On this issue of the anti-gay bill, the Executive Director of the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Professor Henry Kwasi Prempeh has told the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin that he acted inappropriately in his comments.
In the view of Prof Prempeh, the Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament is supposed to serve as the referee and not a player in the matter.
Therefore, he said, a comment made by the Speaker to the effect that the bill was going to be passed smacks of impropriety on his part.
Mr Bagbin shared his views on the ongoing debate on homosexuality in Ghana and also on the antigay bill.
He said he is pro-life therefore parliament will pass the bill as soon as possible.
“Ghanaians have spoken with one voice. I sit here as Speaker of Ghana, I represent Ghanaians and the country Ghana. We have spoken with one voice that we don’t want anything to do with whatever things they add,” Mr Bagbin said in an earlier engagement.
Speaking on the Key Points on TV3/3FM on Saturday October 30, Prof Prempeh said “There is no question that from the beginning, even before the bill was laid the RT Honorable Speaker, a very good friend, had made promises about when the bill was going to be passed. This was completely out of order for a Speaker. Our speaker is not the Speaker of the House in the US, he is not Nancy Pelosi.
“Nancy Pelosi is a an elected member of congress, she votes, she participates in debates, that is their system so she can have an opinion about a bill, express it and do all kinds of things to enhance it, our speaker is not of that kind.
“Our speaker actually is like a referee, an umpire of debate in the house and it is quite unsavory for him to be the person promising when the bill will be passed and that it will be passed by all means. I think from the very beginning the Speaker has acted inappropriately in this matter. There is nothing special about this bill.”
The controversial anti-gay bill which is currently before parliament has already divided opinion in the Ghanaian public discourse.
While some, particularly the religious and traditional groupings, have supported the Bill and hopeful of its passing, others say it could incur the wrath of the international community against Ghana.
For instance, a private legal practitioner Mr Akoto Ampaw has said the way and manner the bill has been designed indicates the extremism of the mind frame that produced it.
He is totally against the bill and wants it abandoned.
“The fact that the bill goes to that extent of criminalizing somebody who is an intersex or criminalizing somebody who is asexual, this is a meaningless project, shows the extremism of the mind frame that produced that bill,” he said on TV3’s Key Points with Dzifa Bampoh on Saturday October 9.
He further said the current debate on homosexuals in Ghana is not about religious beliefs or numbers.
“First of all, I want to make the point clear that this debate is not about religious beliefs.
“Secondly, this debate is not about numbers. It is not lining up how many people support gays -30million, how many people are against gay – 2million, that is not the issue.
“The fundamental issue has to do with our constitution and rights .That is the basic issue that we have to address.”
He added “It is a bit gratifying that just recently the Majority leader in Parliament said that the matter will not be discussed on the basis of religious beliefs. I think that is a major step forward if that is how parliament is going to address this matter. It is a constitutional matter.”
The Bishops described the practice as abomination on the basis of scriptures in the Holy Bible.
“As a Church, we want this abominable practice made illegal in our country… The Bible, which is foundational to Christian beliefs and practices, condemns the practice,”
“Although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is a more or less strong tendency ordered towards an intrinsic moral evil, and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder…
“The Church rejects the unfounded and demeaning assumption that the sexual behaviour of homosexual persons is always and very compulsive and, therefore, they should not be blamed for their homosexual acts,” a statement they issued said.
It added “Nevertheless, according to the Church’s understanding of human rights, the rights of homosexuals as persons do not include the right of a man to marry a man or of a woman to marry a woman. For the Church, this is morally wrong and goes against God’s purpose for marriage. We should also point out that the European Court for Human Rights has ruled that same-sex “marriages” are not considered a human right, making it clear that homosexual partnerships do not in fact equal marriages between a man and a woman. The ruling was announced 9th June 2016 in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.”
Meanwhile, the dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), Professor Kofi Abotsi has said the debates for gay rights or criminalization in Ghana is unwinnable.
According to him, both sides are digging in and positions are becoming irrational and untenable.
“The debates for gay rights or criminalization is unwinnable! Both sides are digging in and positions are becoming irrational & untenable and this is crowding out good reasons and circumspection as lawmakers ponder the bill & it’s intents!” he said in a tweet on Thursday October 7.
The Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill was laid in the House on Monday, August 2 and read for the first time.
Reading for the first time, a clerk in the legislative assembly stated that the Bill proscribes lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) and other related activities and propaganda or advocacy and promotion for same.
It also came to light that it supports protection for children and persons who are victims or accused of homosexuality.
Second Deputy Speaker Andrew Asiamah Amoako referred the Bill to the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Committee for consideration.
“For the first time, it is referred to the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs for consideration and report,” Mr Asiamah Amoako, who is also the MP for Fomena, directed.
The Chairman of the Pentecost Church, Apostle Eric Nyamekye has asked President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to fight Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex (LGBTQI+) before he exits office.
He said although Mr Akufo-Addo has stated categorically that gayism and lesbianism will not be legalized under his watch, the President must begin to take measures to stop the gayism movement that has started in the country before he exits office.
“The church of Pentecost is 10.38 per cent of the Ghanaian population and we are against this LGBTQI+.
“Our concern is not about today, it is about the future. Today when we let in this LGBTI what is going to happen is that we are going to accept same sex marriage which the president says it is never going to happen at his watch.
“But if he allows LGBTQI to start, it is true that it is never going to happen at his watch but, by the time it gets to same sex marriage the president will not be the president of the nation. I agree with him but he should stop this, he should close the doors at where it matters and we are saying that he should close it now.
“This movement is an insult to God the creature, you are just telling God that he didn’t think enough,” he told journalists on Wednesday October 6.
The Church of Pentecost on Wednesday presented a memo to parliament in support of the steps taken to pass the anti-gay bill which is currently before the legislature.
The memo was presented to the lawmakers on Wednesday October 6
17 people are feared dead in an accident that occurred Monday dawn at Offinso Abofour in the Offinso South District of the Ashanti Region.
Sixteen others who sustained varying degrees of injuries are receiving treatment at St Patrick’s Hospital.
The accident involved a Sprinter Bus heading towards the Northern part of the country and had on board head porters numbering 31 and a Trailer loaded with logs travelling down south.
Preliminary investigations by the National Road Safety Authority indicate both drivers were tired and veered off from their lanes colliding head on.
Information gathered by TV3 has it that most of the casualties are children of the head porters.
One of the beneficiaries of the Nation Builders Corp (NABCo) has expressed frustration as to the way forward after the expiration of the programme on Sunday, October 31.
The programme was introduced in May, 2018 by the government as a stop-gap measure to solve the graduate unemployment conundrum in the country.
Contracts for the beneficiaries were to take three years with an assurance by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to make the programme permanent.
However, some organisations are yet to take a decision on the beneficiaries.
The Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), for instance, has asked all NABCo trainees to proceed on two-week leave from Monday, November 1 in order “to plan and strategize on retaining trainees for the services of the Authority”.
Speaking on anonymity on TV3‘s New Day on Monday, November 1, a beneficiary with the ‘Educate Ghana’ module said he has been asked to continue teaching despite the expiration of the programme.
He told host Berla Mundi how he was prevailed upon by the Kumasi-based demonstration school to stay on for sometime for a firm decision from the secretariat.
He said not only him, but the head of the school also is confused.
“I am just confused,” he blurted out, complaining he does not know where his payment for the rest of the time will come from.
“Clearly, there is no payment of any fund or school fees at the primary school.”
‘Knee jerk approach’
On the promised continuation of the programme by President Akufo-Addo during the electioneering period in 2020, the University of Cape Coast (UCC) graduate said there was no planned approach to that promise.
“Career pathway was a knee jerk approach,” he said.
“It was because of elections.”
But also speaking on the programme, labour expert Benjamin Arthur commended the programme and said there will definitely be a transition in the coming days.
Citing the GSA case, he said: “If you understand employment language, it tells you that something is cooking.”
He avers that it is only hard facts and data that can counter their efforts, adding that these figures are available thanks to the governing New Patriotic Party’s record in development which is way ahead of the NDC.
“Our record will always be superior to the record of the NDC. The NDC is very good at propaganda. They are specialized in that, but the only way to counter the propaganda is with facts and data. They are very afraid of facts and data.”
Bawumia was speaking on Sunday, October 31, 2021, at the end of a three-day orientation programme held for newly-appointed Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives, MMDCEs, in Accra.
He added that with the development efforts that the government was undertaking nationwide, it was the responsibility of MMDCEs to disseminate information to the local levels where they are the political heads.
By so doing, they will scuttle the robust propaganda machinery of the NDC and also put the NPP in good stead to win the 2024 General Elections.
“This coming election in 2024 is going to be fought at the local level, it is not going to be fought in Accra, so you know the projects, the NDC cannot sit in Accra and lie about projects when you in your regions and districts can tell the people what we have done.
“When you do that, they can go and check and the NDC cannot come back with propaganda. We have to be proactive and tell the people,” Bawumia added.
This is not the first time the Veep is taking potshots at the NDC, he serially accused the party of incompetence prior to becoming Vice-President and has also been highly critical of then-President John Dramani Mahama.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Cape Coast North, Kwamina Mintah-Nyarku, is urging the government to legalise the activities of tricycles popularly called ‘pragyia’ to reduce the increasing rate of unemployment in the country.
He believes legalising and regulating ‘pragyia’ would also reduce crimes and violence rates as well.
He also urged the riders to be disciplined, law-abiding, and adhere to the motor traffic rules and regulations to avoid accidents caused by their careless and reckless driving and also adhere to the directives by the Assembly and negotiate with leaders if the directives would affect their business in the Metropolis.
The MP speaking at a day’s summit with ‘Pragyia’ riders in the Cape Coast Metropolis called for effective and informed dialogue with stakeholders to legalise the business to ease the plight of the youth.
Earlier, persons in the Cape Coast Metropolitan Area who are below 25 years have been banned from riding ‘pragyia or aboboyaa’ starting Monday, November 15, 2021.
The Management of the CCMA said the directive which is “as provided by law” and other related directives were taken at a meeting of the Cape Coast Metropolitan Security Council was held on September 15, 2021.
The Paramount Chief of the Oguaa Traditional Area in the Cape Coast Metropolis in the Central Region, Osabarima Kwesi Atta VI, also threatened to ban the use of the tricycle.
He said the tricycle which has become a major means of transportation in several towns in Cape Coast has led to the loss of several lives due to reckless riding.
According to him, criminal activities have increased in the Cape Coast metropolis due to the introduction of the pragyia
The Head Pastor of Believers’ House of Prayer Ministries, Bishop Chris Ablordey, has said the two officers in mufti who stormed his church to allegedly arrest Member of Parliament for Madina, Francis-Xavier Sosu, were not able to provide any arrest warrant.
He said they were only able to provide ID cards which showed they were from the Criminal Investigative Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service.
He told journalists on Sunday that “When the ministration was going on he was preaching, somebody walked in with a nose mask and later the ushers informed me that there are some security persons around and they will like to have a word with me. So, quickly, I went outside to meet with them, they came with pickup and said they are here to arrest honourable because they invited him four days ago but he couldn’t report himself so they are here to take him away.
“I tried finding out from them about their arrest warrant , they couldn’t provide but they showed me their ID card that they are coming from the CID headquarters,” he told Accra based Starr FM.
For the second time in just two weeks, Sosu has escaped Police arrest.
The latest one was when Police stormed his church on Sunday October 31 to arrest him for allegedly partaking in a violent demonstration in his constituency
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin had earlier referred a complaint made by Sosu to the Privileges Committee.
This was after Sosu officially lodged a complaint against the Accra regional police operations commander Isaac Kojo Asante on Wednesday October 27 to the Speaker for attempting to arrest him in line of his parliamentary duty.
The Speaker in his ruling said “The committee will investigate the complaint and will submit a report to the house for the whole consideration of the matter.”
He added “I receive complaints. I receive information about police service personnel pursuing Members of Parliament on both sides of the house, and I have on a number of occasions intervened to talk to the authorities and to draw their attention to the law.”
“Members of Parliament have some special rights because of the peculiar nature of the position, functions, and duties of the Member of Parliament.”
Sosu was seeking the police chief and others to be hauled before the privileges committee for contempt of parliament.
“The Police officers under the command of the said ACP Isaac Kojo Asante m, the regional operations commander and Eric Wilful the Divisional Commander of Adenta Aokobi led their boys to manhandle me and virtually held, me , humiliated me right in the presence of my constituents with whom we were demanding for better roads.”
He escaped police arrest on Monday, October 25 as he finished addressing protesters at Ayi Mensah.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP had led some of his constituents to embark on a demonstration against deplorable roads in his constituency.
The demonstration started peacefully at Danfa around 6:00am but later saw demonstrators burning tyres and mounting roadblocks on the Ayi Mensah-Danfa Road.
TV3’s reporter Joseph Armstrong Gold-Alor said this action by the residents led to reinforcement from the police, whose Formed Police Unit (FPU) rushed to the scene with combat vehicles.
After he addressed the demonstrators, reiterating the power of the people over people in power, the MP came under attack from the police, who attempted to pick him up.
There was commotion as a result of the attempted arrest.
The demonstrating residents, however, resisted the police and vowed to fight back if their representative in Parliament is arrested.
The police then arrested one of the opinion leaders. He is said to be a chief of the area.
The attempt to arrest Sosu attracted condemnation from his colleague Lawmaker for Ningo Prampram, Sam Nartey George.
Sam George as he is popularly called, questioned the presence of the National Security Operatives and Police Personnel at the Church premises of his colleague MP.
“So why is the Ghana Police Service disregarding a directive from the Rt. Honourable Speaker of Parliament on the intention to arrest the Honourable MP for Madina, Lawyer Francis-Xavier Sosu?” he wrote on his Facebook wall.
He continued “Who are the Police Officers at the Church premises at Ritz Junction in Madina seeking to arrest the MP? Is the IGP aware of this order and what it means in the face of Mr. Speaker’s directives?”
“Well we can assure the IGP and the Police Officers involved that the full might of Parliament’s Privileges Committee would be brought to bear on their actions if they want a show down. Enough of the disrespect for Parliament. The Constitution is clear on the processes to arrest a sitting Member of Parliament.
“We would respond in full measure and drastically! That is a promise!” he reiterated.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin has communicated to the Police his inability to release Member of Parliament for Madina Francis-Xavier Sosu to them as requested
The Police are seeking to arrest the lawmaker for allegedly partaking in a violent protest in his constituency.
But in a letter dated October 28, addressed to the Deputy-Director General of Criminal Investigation Division, F.K. Agyei, the Speaker indicated that due to limitations of Articles 117 and 118 of the 1992 Constitution, Mr Sosu cannot be released.h
“I am directed by the Rt. Hon. Speaker to inform you that proceedings of the 3rd Meeting of the 1st Session of the 8th Parliament commenced on Tuesday 26th October, 2021 and having regard to the limitations of articles 117 and 118 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic, he is unable to release the Member of Parliament as requested in your letter,” Deputy Director of Legal Services, Nana Tawiah Okyir wrote on behalf of the Clerk of Parliament.
Article 117 stipulates the immunity legislators enjoy.
It says “Civil or criminal process coming from any court or place out of Parliament shall not be served on, or executed in relation to, the Speaker or a member or the Clerk to Parliament while he is on his way to, attending at or returning from, any proceedings of Parliament.”
Article 118 also states; “neither the Speaker, nor a member of, nor the Clerk to, Parliament shall be compelled, while attending Parliament to appear as a witness in any court or place out of Parliament.”
The Speaker had earlier ruled on a complaint filed against the police by Sosu that “The committee will investigate the complaint and will submit a report to the house for the whole consideration of the matter.”
He added “I receive complaints. I receive information about police service personnel pursuing Members of Parliament on both sides of the house, and I have on a number of occasions intervened to talk to the authorities and to draw their attention to the law.”
“Members of Parliament have some special rights because of the peculiar nature of the position, functions, and duties of the Member of Parliamen.”
Sosu was seeking the police chief and others to be hauled before the privileges committee for contempt of parliament.
“The Police officers under the command of the said ACP Isaac Kojo Asante m, the regional operations commander and Eric Wilful the Divisional Commander of Adenta Aokobi led their boys to manhandle me and virtually held, me , humiliated me right in the presence of my constituents with whom we were demanding for better roads.”
He escaped police arrest on Monday, October 25 as he finished addressing protesters at Ayi Mensah.
The opposition MP had led some of his constituents to embark on a demonstration against deplorable roads in his constituency.
The demonstration started peacefully at Danfa around 6:00am but later saw demonstrators burning tyres and mounting roadblocks on the Ayi Mensah-Danfa Road.
TV3’s reporter Joseph Armstrong Gold-Alor said this action by the residents led to reinforcement from the police, whose Formed Police Unit (FPU) rushed to the scene with combat vehicles.
After he addressed the demonstrators, reiterating the power of the people over people in power, the MP came under attack from the police, who attempted to pick him up.
There was commotion as a result of the attempted arrest.
The demonstrating residents, however, resisted the police and vowed to fight back if their representative in Parliament is arrested.
The police then arrested one of the opinion leaders. He is said to be a chief of the area.
The National Security are currently at the church premises of Madina Member of Parliament, Francis Sosu Xavier, to arrest him over his protest on Monday 25th October 2021.
But the Member of Parliament seems to have escaped the arrest today [Sunday], October 31, 2021, at the Believers House of Prayer Ministries in Madina.
According to some party supporters who massed up at the church, the security personnel surrounded the church in an attempt to arrest the lawyer while he was worshipping in the church on Sunday.
Madina Constituency Secretary for NDC, Abdul Razak Husseine, says the MP was taken to an undisclosed location by the Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mabarak.
The NDC constituency chairman also told Citi News that the national and regional leadership of the party has taken over the matter.
A former Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Koku Anyidoho, has asked former Finance Minister Dr Kwabena Duffuor to go ahead and attempt to lead the NDC into the next general elections as flagbearer if he has the interest.
Dr Duffuor who is also a former Governor of the Bank of Ghana is seen a video canvassing for more supporters for the NDC.
In a one-minute 21 seconds video making the rounds on some TV stations and online platforms, Dr Duffuor asks “What does the NDC mean to you?”
The video ends with the founder of the defunct Unibank saying “What the NDC means to me is that everyone in this country will have an opportunity to achieve the Ghanaian dream.”
Claims are that he has an interest in the flagbearer position of the main opposition party ahead of the 2024 general elections.
The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, left Ghana on Sunday, 31 st October 2021, to lead Ghana’s delegation to the World Leaders’ Summit of the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference (COP 26), being held from 31st October to 3rd November, 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland.
The COP26 Summit, which will be one of the largest gatherings of world leaders, will bring parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
President will deliver a statement on Ghana’s position on Climate Change, as well as measures put in place to combat the threat it poses. He will also deliver three (3) separate statements on efforts Ghana is making to protects her forests and ocean, and participate in the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Summit, being held on the sidelines of COP 26.
Whilst in Glasgow, President Akufo-Addo will hold bilateral meetings with H.E. Uhuru Kenyatta, President of the Republic of Kenya; H.E. Mr. Jonas Gahr Støre, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Norway; Hon. Robert Abela, Prime Minister of the Republic of Malta; Rt. Hon. Elizabeth Truss, MP, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs; and Mr. Raphael Mariano Grossi, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The President was accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey; the Minister for Energy, Hon. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, MP; the Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Hon. Dr. Kwaku Afriyie, MP; the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Samuel A. Jinapor, MP; and officials of the Presidency and Foreign Ministry.
The President will return to Ghana on Thursday, 4 th November 2021, and in his absence, the Vice President, Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, shall, in accordance with Article 60(8) of the Constitution, act in his stead.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Atta-Mills Institute, Samuel Koku Anyidoho is beginning to expose how his political party, National Democratic Congress (NDC) accepted that Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo genuinely won 2020 elections but behaving contrary in the public eyes for sympathy.
The NDC demanded for refund of the monies filed for their presidential candidate, John Dramani Mahama, the immediate past Deputy General of the NDC said.
According to the laws, filing fee for presidential candidates was only a deposit per a benchmark set by EC and would be refunded to candidates who polled 25 per cent of valid votes cast in the presidential election.
Per regulations 8 (1b) of C.I 127, “a candidate for presidential and parliamentary elections shall, at the time of nomination of the candidate, deposit or cause to be deposited an amount of money determined by the EC”.
Regulation 46 (1) of C.I 127 states that “Subject to regulation 13, a deposit made by a candidate under this Regulations, shall as soon as practicable after the results of an election is declared, be:
a) Returned to the candidate or the personal representative of the candidates, or b) forfeited to the state.
This according to one of the series of tweets on Friday October 29, 2021 by the Immediate-Past NDC Deputy General Secretary that “So, they accepted the EC’s announced results, & went ahead to demand for a refund of their monies? So, they have collected the refund and “chopped” and are Deceiving the Footsoldiers? I weep for my NDC!”
The statement made on social media by Koku Anyihodo indicating that the opposition wrote to the EC for refund indicates that they have accepted defeat of the 2020 elections.
Former Presidential Aide & Head of Communications, Office of the President, Ghana was of the view that his former boss, Johnson Asiedu-Nketiah is a dangerous man as far as the democracy of Ghana is concerned.
He therefore asked Asiedu Nketia to dare him to expose his letter written to the EC demanding for refund of their monies.
“I want, Asiedu-Nketiah, to dare me to expose his letter to the EC, demanding for the refund of monies based on his tacit acceptance of the 2020 General Election,” he continued.
Touching on matters concerning his party, Koku Anyidoho advised the NDC to get rid of its General Secretary for the betterment of the party.
“If the NDC does not get rid of, Johnson Kwadwo Asiedu-Nketiah, the NDC, Shall die! Let Asiedu-Nketiah account for monies he has received on behalf of the NDC from the EC,” he stated in another tweet.
• Free TVET key component of government’s Free Senior High School initiative
• 17 Technical and Vocational Institutes being upgraded and modernized
Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has said the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector is a key catalyst to propel industrialisation.
According to him, government remains committed to creating avenues for jobs through investments in TVET.
“TVET is a key catalyst to spurring industrialization and decent job creation for the citizens of this country. For sustainable development to occur, there is an urgent need for us to pay significant attention to training highly skilled human resources to serve as key drivers of the economy.”
“A Ghana beyond aid could only be possible when the youth are equipped with competitive global skills and introduced to various skilled careers.”
The Vice President said this when he launched the 2021 National Skills Competition and TVET Expo in Accra.
Touching on some key initiatives launched by the Akufo-Addo government in the TVET sector, the vice president said “to begin with, we have sanitized the TVET sector to ensure the effective regulation, administration and promotion of technical and vocational education and training for the transformation and innovation for sustainable development.”
“Our government has ensured the passage of the Education Regulatory Bodies Act, 2020 (Act 1023). The Education Regulatory Bodies Act resulted in the merger of the erstwhile Council for TVET (COTVET) and National Board for Professional and Technician Examination (NABPTEX) to establish the Commission for TVET (CTVET),” he added.
He added government has established sector skills bodies to focus on exploring business opportunities, innovation and capacity needs within the sectors.
Meanwhile, some 17 Technical and Vocational Institutes across the country are being upgraded and modernized.
The Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye
The affected persons, according to the GHS, are nomads in selected communities in West and North Gonja of the region who have never been vaccinated against yellow fever
At least eight persons have died from a strange disease suspected to be yellow fever in the Savannah Region, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has said.
The affected persons, according to the GHS, are nomads in selected communities in West and North Gonja of the region who have never been vaccinated against yellow fever.
A statement issued by the GHS on Friday (29 October) said a team of experts from the Ghana Health Service, Centre for Disease Control (CDC) , World Health Organization (WHO), Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) have been dispatched to support the region to investigate and institute appropriate measures.
The Ghana Health Service has asked persons living in the region who have fever, general weakness, headache nausea and vomiting to immediately report to the nearest health facility.
It has also advised the general public to vaccinate themselves against yellow fever and avoid mosquito bites.
The committee has a week to investigate circumstances leading to a confrontation between the police and the military in Suame
A four-member committee has been set up to investigate clashes between the police and the military in Suame in the Ashanti Region on Friday (29 October).
“The committee has one week from Tuesday (2 November) to submit their report to enable the police administration and the military high command to determine the next line of action,” a joint statement from the police and the armed forces said.
The committee is made up of ACP Benjamin Osei Addai and ASP Ernest Kwofie of the Ghana Police Service and Colonel Jonathan Kumador and Lt. Col David Addo of the Ghana Armed Forces.
Below is the full statement:
What we know so far
The police in the Ashanti Region have confirmed that some soldiers attacked their personnel at the Suame police station on Friday (29 October) to release one of their colleagues who was arrested for riding an unregistered motorbike.
Staff sergeant Jamal Deen Mohammed who was in civilian cloth at the time of his arrest called his colleagues when he was allegedly manhandled by the police, a source told Asaaseradio.com.
A melee then ensued when the soldiers arrived to release their colleague in custody.
“A misunderstanding ensued between the soldiers and the police. The impasse was resolved after the intervention of the Ashanti Regional police commander and the commanding officer of the 4th Infantry Battalion in Kumasi,” a joint police and military statement said.
It added: “The Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Armed Forces have commenced a full-scale investigation into the incident and anyone found culpable will be dealt with administratively and according to law. The two security institutions are committed to a harmonious relationship and will not condone any proven act of wrongdoing of personnel
The Ghana Police Service must update the country on the case involving some persons who were arrested with already-thumb-printed ballot papers during the 2020 polls, the Director of Elections of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, has demanded.
Mr Ankrah told Joshua Kojo Mensah on Class91.3FM’s 505 news programme on Thursday, 28 October 2021 that “these are matters that are already in the public domain”, adding: “Indeed, if you have an IGP, who is very proactive and is arresting people for brandishing guns on social media, for which, I think, he deserves commendation – arresting people for misdemeanours, for which he deserves commendation – then all those grievous issues that occurred during the elections should also be given priority”.
Indeed, he said: “I think it’s important to look at the issues in their context”, explaining: “If you saw some of the pictures and videos, the gentleman who was arrested in Ejura with already-thumb-printed ballot papers, thumb-printed for Nana Akufo-Addo, was arrested by members of the Ghana Police Service”.
“I think it’s important to know what the Ghana Police Service is doing with that case because a proper investigation will then unravel where he got those already thumb-printed ballot papers which had the official validating stamp of the EC”, he noted.
That then, Mr Ankrah contended, “will lead to all these other matters”.
“So, I think it’s a no-brainer that these issues are already in the system”, he stressed.
He said: “However, because Dr Bossman Asare came out recently and pretended, in the face of overwhelming documentary video evidence, that these things did not occur and he said that they were going to report to the police, we are taking up that challenge”.
“Should the police say they have not seen those things, we’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and supply them with all that information and more and then they should tell us how far they’ve gone with the persons that were arrested with the thumb-printed ballot papers, those that were disposed of by us with their support – the police were part of the team that supervised the burning of the one million ballot papers and the National [Intelligence] Bureau”.
A few days ago, the Electoral Commission asked the Ghana Police Service to investigate a claim by former president John Mahama that the election management body secretly thumb-printed some ballot papers which were used to pad the results in favour of the governing New Patriotic Party in the 2020 polls.
Deputy Chairman of the EC in charge of Corporate Affairs, Dr Eric Bossman Asare, told journalists at a press conference on Monday, 25 October 2021 that: “The former president has said that the EC thumb-printed one million ballot papers in favour of the President of the Republic. This is untrue”.
“This is not a matter that should be ignored, and we call on the Ghana Police Service to investigate it,” Dr Bossman Asare added.
“This is a great matter that undermines the credibility of the electoral process and should not be ignored. We call on him to provide evidence to support this claim,” he challenged.
According to Dr Bossman, “the transparency of our process makes it totally impossible for this to happen”, explaining: “The ballots cast are cross-checked against the list of the number of voters who were verified and issued with ballot papers”.
Also, he said: “Nationwide, we had no issue of overvoting at all the 38,620 polling stations except in Savelugu in the parliamentary election where there was one over voting”.
“The police should investigate this as a matter of urgency due to its potential to derail and undermine our democracy and lead to a lack of confidence in our system and processes,” Dr Bossman Asare noted.
“More than one million extra ballot papers were printed, which the EC claimed happened by mistake but on the day of the elections, some of the more than one million extra ballot papers had already been secretly thumb-printed in favour of the NPP”, Mr Mahama alleged when he addressed the Divisional Chief of Prestea Himan, Nana Nteboah Prah, recently, as part of his Thank You tour of the Western Region.
“And, so, all these things dented the credibility of the polls and caused an embarrassment”, the 2020 flag bearer of the main opposition National Democratic Congress said.
He noted that it was important that everybody felt satisfied with the results of any election but fudging results stir up a lot of suspicion.
Mr Mahama also complained that the way the Supreme Court dealt with his election petition case was not fair. Responding to a recent assertion by the Chair of the Electoral Commission, Mrs Jean Mensa, that the 2020 polls were the best-ever for Ghana, Mr Mahama said: “I heard her [Jean Mensa] say ‘it’s the best election Ghana has ever had’ and yet you run away from scrutiny at the Supreme Court”.
“So, how do you boast that ‘it’s the best election has ever had?’”
“If you believed it’s the best election Ghana had, then you should have mounted the witness box to be interrogated for everyone to ascertain that fact
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) says the Electoral Commission (EC) cannot free itself of blame from the deaths recorded in the 2020 general election.
Addressing a news conference in Accra on Thursday, General Secretary of the Party, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, said the Commission’s posture before and during the elections was a major contributory factor that led to the deaths.
This comes at the backdrop of recent comments by the Commission that it could not be held liable for the violence that ensued during the conduct of the elections which led to the deaths of some eight persons.
The Commission had said that it was not responsible for security even though it collaborated with the security agencies under the platform of the Elections Security Taskforce and therefore, attempts to lay the security lapses at its doorsteps was unfortunate.
Mr Nketiah, however, said comments from the Commission were shocking and unfortunate considering that it was the failure on its part to put in place adequate measures to protect the lives of everybody that led to the violence and subsequent deaths.
He explained that the EC and the Ghana Police Service were in charge of the National Election Security Task Force responsible for all security arrangements for the elections.
“Indeed, the person in charge of security at both the collation center and polling station are the returning officer and the presiding officer, respectively, both of whom are officials of the EC.
“The NDC and other observers have incontrovertible evidence that it was the conduct, inaction and determination by various EC officials to subvert the will of the electorates in the various constituencies and the subsequent demands of the NDC representatives that the right thing be done that led to the horrific killing of eight of our compatriots. The EC can therefore not extricate itself from the complicity in the needless loss of lives witnessed in the 2020 elections,” he said.
Mr Nketiah called on the new Inspector General of Police to initiate investigations into the circumstances that led to the deaths of the eight persons and bring justice to them and their families.
The General Secretary said the assertion by the Commission that the 2020 was the most transparent, credible and successful in the country’s history saying was not true; “How can a successful election lead to the deaths of eight innocent Ghanaian citizens.”
He urged the Commission to accept the lapses that occurred in the 2020 elections and work towards improving its image, to enable it to regain confidence of Ghanaians and all stakeholders.
“They must immediately revert to the posture of accommodation, tolerance, consensus building, respect for stakeholders and political transparency exhibited by their forebears,” the General Secretary added.
He assured of their preparedness to engage the Commission and other stakeholders to reform and improve on the conduct of future elections. GNA
The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has said the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) must blame itself for its loss of the 2020 general elections since it failed to assign competent agents to police all the 38,000 polling stations across the country.
In his view, the NDC and its leadership must take the full blame for their defeat and stop pointing accusing fingers at the Electoral Commission.
The General Secretary of the NPP, Mr John Boadu, made the comments in an interview with Kwame Appiah Kubi on Accra100.5FM’s morning show Ghana Yensom on Friday, 29 October 2021.
According to him, the leadership of the NDC, during the last election, was so incompetent that they assigned national officers “who went to drink tea and biscuit” at the national collation centre otherwise known as the Strong Room at the Electoral Commission’s headquarters in Accra.
“What was the NDC, as the largest opposition political party, supposed to do when it got wind of the fact that some ballots have allegedly been stuffed ahead of the elections?” he asked.
Mr Boadu further questioned why the NDC failed to raise some of these concerns during the hearing of the 2020 election petition at the Supreme Court.
“Is it a case that the NDC wanted the NPP to prove their claims in court for them?” he wondered.
Mr Boadu said it was shameful that the NDC does not want to concede 10 months after the last elections but rather accusing the EC of not doing its work.
He reminded the EC not to waste its time on the “frivolous claims of the NDC.”
“As a party, all we know is that we have won an election and we are doing everything to reorganise the party’s base for the 2024 elections,” he said.
The NDC has accused the EC of rigging the 2020 polls for the government.
Meanwhile, the EC has invited the police to probe a claim by former President John Mahama that the election management body thumb-printed one million excess ballot papers and stuffed them in favour of the NPP.
Facebook has changed its corporate name to Meta as part of a major rebrand.
The company said it would better “encompass” what it does, as it broadens its reach beyond social media into areas like virtual reality (VR).
The change does not apply to its individual platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp, only the parent company that owns them.
The move follows a series of negative stories about Facebook, based on documents leaked by an ex-employee.
Frances Haugen has accused the company of putting “profits over safety”.
In 2015, Google restructured its company calling its parent firm Alphabet, however, the name has not caught on.
Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg announced the new name as he unveiled plans to build a “metaverse” – an online world where people can game, work and communicate in a virtual environment, often using VR headsets.
He said the existing brand could not “possibly represent everything that we’re doing today, let alone in the future”, and needed to change.
“Over time, I hope that we are seen as a metaverse company and I want to anchor our work and our identity on what we’re building towards,” he told a virtual conference.
“We’re now looking at and reporting on our business as two different segments, one for our family of apps, and one for our work on future platforms.
“And as part of this, it is time for us to adopt a new company brand to encompass everything that we do, to reflect who we are and what we hope to build.”
The company also unveiled a new sign at its headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on Thursday, replacing its thumbs-up “Like” logo with a blue infinity shape.
Mr Zuckerberg said the new name reflects that over time, users will not need to use Facebook to use the company’s other services.
The word “meta” comes from the Greek word meaning “beyond”.
To an outsider, a metaverse may look like a version of VR, but some people believe it could be the future of the internet.
Instead of being on a computer, people in a metaverse might use a headset to enter a virtual world connecting all sorts of digital environments.
It is hoped the virtual world could be used for practically anything from work, play and concerts, to socialising with friends and family.
Facebook said it intends to start trading its shares under the new stock ticker MVRS from 1 December.
Leaked documents
The company has had multiple hits to its reputation, with The Washington Post today reporting that Facebook withheld important information about vaccine misinformation from policymakers during the pandemic.
It was the latest in a series of stories based on internal documents leaked by ex-employee Ms Haugen to the media. Among other things, the reports have claimed Facebook sat on research that showed Instagram harmed teenage mental health, and struggled to remove hate speech from its platforms outside the US.
Mr Zuckerberg has described the reports as a “coordinated effort to selectively use leaked documents to paint a false picture of our company”.
The Nations Builders Corps (NABCO) initiative which was launched by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Tuesday, 1st May, 2018 comes to end in this month of October 2021.
Mr Akufo-Addo while launching the programme was confident that by the time NABCO trainees exit scheme “the requisite work readiness skills and experience, often deemed a barrier to their employment as fresh graduates, would have been resolved.”
According to President Akufo-Addo, “NABCO will be the vehicle to deliver one hundred thousand (100,000) jobs in seven (7) prioritised areas, defined as the following modules: Educate Ghana; Heal Ghana; Feed Ghana; Revenue Ghana; Digitise Ghana; Enterprise Ghana; and Civic Ghana.”
Explaining the rationale for the establishment of the Corps, President Akufo-Addo noted that the grim story of youth unemployment had been a tragic part of the lives of Ghanaians for far too long in Ghana.
“I gave an indication that a new employment scheme will be launched to tackle the issue of the growing numbers of graduates exiting our tertiary institutions with no job placements in sight,” he said.
NABCO’s central focus, the President said, was create employment avenues and opportunities for young people who hold diplomas or degrees from accredited tertiary institutions, adding that “NABCO will enhance the dignity and self-esteem of our graduates, and will also present them with the added benefit of efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of some essential public services.”
Meanwhile, the Ghana Standard Authority (GSA) has asked all trainees under the programme working with the authority to proceed on a two-week mandatory leave starting Monday November 1.
A notice signed by Douglas Nii Teiko Annan dated 29th October 2021 said “As part of the exit plan of the NABCO programme which ends this month, we write to inform all NABCO trainees to proceed on two weeks mandatory leave effective Monday 2021-II-1 to 2021-11-15.
“The Mandatory leave has become necessary for management in consultation with the National NABCO secretariat to plan and strategize on retaining trainees for the services of the authority
The National Democratic Congress (NDC), has expressed their willingness to assist the Ghana Police Service to investigate alleged claims of over-voting and excess printing of one million ballot papers during the 2020 polls.null
The party says it has accepted the challenge by the Electoral Commission for the police to investigate the matter as alleged by former President John Dramani Mahama.
General Secretary of the party, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah addressing a press conference said
“We take note with satisfaction Bossman Asare’s call on the Ghana Police Service to investigate the fact put out by President Mahama, given that President Mahama was on solid grounds when making this statement.
The NDC stands ever prepared to assist in any credible investigation into the matters raised”.null
He claimed that the police already has details about the allegations made which involves the possession of extra already thumb-printed ballot papers and even effected some arrests.
He noted that the electorate should rather be demanding an update on the matter
“We are aware however that Bossman Asare’s call is only a red herring because he cannot feign ignorance of the fact that the Police Service is already seized with all the evidence on this matter.
“On the specific printing of 1 million excess ballot papers and arrest of persons with thumb-printed ballot papers, the Ghana Police Service carried out the arrests and therefore should be providing updates on the status of investigations to the population. All that Bossman Asare needs to do is to call on the Attorney General to ask the police to prosecute the offenders,” he stated.
Parliament has passed a resolution for the General Legal Council to compel the Ghana Law School to admit the 499 students who sat for the 2021 entrance exams and passed in accordance with the marking scheme as advertised.
This follows a motion moved by deputy minority whip Ahmed Ibrahim, fine tuned by first deputy speaker who was presiding Joseph Osei-Owusu, and repeated by Effutu MP and deputy majority leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin.
499 students who were denied entrance into the Ghana Law School are in court challenging the decision arguing the marking scheme as advertised was changed after the exams.
After putting the question for adoption of the resolution, first deputy speaker Joseph Osei-Owusu ordered the Attorney General Godfred Dame to ensure the resolution is carried through by the Ghana Law School.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Division of the Accra High Court presided over by Justice Nicholas Mensah Abodakpi has adjourned the case in which some ‘failed’ LLB students have sued the General Legal Council and the Attorney General.
Though the 499 students were expected in court today, only 142 showed up.
When the case titled “Daniel Sackey and 142 others vs the General Legal Council” was called, the Attorney General requested for a short adjournment to file certain processes.
Patricia Ayirebe Acquah, Assistant State Attorney told the court that, she has spoken to all the parties and have agreed for a short date.
Lawyer of the Applicant Martin Kpebu, and Nana Yaw Ntrekwah for the General Legal Council, all corroborated that position.
Justice Abodakpi said “with the consent of the parties and their lawyers this case would be adjourned to Nov 9, 2021.”
Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah will on Sunday, October 31, 2021, host a live audio conversation on Twitter Spaces with young entrepreneurs to take feedback and inputs from them that will inform government policy directions as it prepares to present the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy to Parliament in a fortnight time.
Dubbed “#ListenUp”, the Spaces is the first of its kind and will feature a host of young entrepreneurs coming together in a virtual space to deliberate around entrepreneurship, its prospects and how to resolve bottlenecks in business creation.
This follows an ongoing national conversation triggered by comments passed by the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta during a recent graduation ceremony at the UPSA that the government’s payroll is full.
Mr Oppong Nkrumah who is himself an avid Twitter user will through his Twitter handle (@konkrumah) join young entrepreneurs to take inputs from them that will feed into government policy decisions for the future.
Listen Up is organized under the auspices of the Ministry of Information and is expected to be an occasional platform for deepening engagement particularly feedback from the Ghanaian people.
Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/peacefmonline.com/ghana
The pollster Ben Ephson has lashed out at the former president John Mahama over his failure to present allegations of ballot box stuffing in the 2020 elections during the 2021 Supreme Court election petition hearing.
Speaking in an interview on his “thank you” tour of the Western Region, Mahama said: “The 2020 election is one of the worst elections organised since 1992.
“Tell me which election in Ghana was ballot papers printed, yet one million ballot papers were found elsewhere … We didn’t witness this under Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan. She [Jean Mensa] knew there was ballot stuffing.”
Reacting to the claims after the National Democratic Congress (NDC) accepted a call by the Electoral Commission for the police to probe the allegation, Ephson said the largest opposition party must move on because the 2020 polls are over.
“I think that John Mahama is being unfair to his party,” the pollster told the sit-in host of The Asaase Breakfast Show Beatrice Adu on Friday (29 October).
“You had the opportunity to challenge the results at the Supreme Court. And what is happening now, if he had added … that: ‘My Lords, I’ve this evidence of a million ballots,’ I’m sure the Supreme Court would have ordered the police to investigate within two weeks. He did not do that.”
Sealed and finished Ephson said disputes relating to the presidential results in the 2020 general election are done and dusted.
He added: “The court has ruled, [but] once you keep doing this, what are you doing to yourself? The 2020 results are sealed and finished.
“I don’t think you’re energising your base with this. He [Mahama] should look ahead, because there is nothing they can do to reverse the results.
“Mahama has been misguided in all this by some of his advisors. He’s not listening to the general views.
“If the NDC’s aim is to discredit the EC I believe it’s not going to wash. The nature of the NDC is a bit far remote from their grass roots.”
The Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) High Command have commenced investigations into circumstances that led to the clash between officers of the two institutions in Kumasi on Friday October 29.
A joint statement issued by the Military Command and the Police said they had taken notice of an incident that happened in Kumasi, today, Friday, October 29, 2021, at about 10:00 am.
“The two institutions are committed to a harmonious relationship and will not condone any proven act of wrongdoing of personnel.
“we want to assure the general public of our unflinching commitment to peace , security and harmony in the country.”
ALLEGED ATTACK ON SUAME POLICE STATION BY MILITARY
THE GHANA POLICE SERVICE AND THE GHANA ARMED FORCES (GAF) HIGH COMMANDS HAVE TAKEN NOTICE OF AN INCIDENT THAT HAPPENED IN KUMASI, TODAY, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2021, AT ABOUT 10:00 AM. PIC.TWITTER.COM/HNNSF3MWNI— Ghana Police Service (@GhPoliceService) October 29, 2021
A an eyewitness said a non uniformed military officer was alegedly hit with a rifle by the police.
Report says the military officer who was riding an unlicensed motorbike was earlier stopped by the police but sped off.
The police is said to have chased him and hit him with the back of a rifle.
The military man who was not in uniform also called his colleague officers and they clashed with the police.
The skirmishes at the Suame police station created tension
“This act of his [Prez Akufo-Addo], in recent times, has found its way in our local government system,” Dr. Tamakloe said.
A founding member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Nyaho Nayho Tamakloe has said the way and manner the nominees for the position of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) were confirmed showed President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is the most lawless President ever in Ghana’s history.
According to him, the assembly members who have been empowered by the constitution to confirm or reject the nominees were unable to cast their ballot without fear or intimidation.
This development, he said, should not be swept under the carpet because in his view, they have taken the country back.
He told journalists in Accra Thursday October 28, 2021 that “Permit me to say without any fear of contradiction that Akufo-Addo is the most lawless president Ghana has ever had and does not believe in rule of law.
“This act of his, in recent times, has found its way in our local government system. The district, municipal and metropolitan concept, as we all know was established a year after the first democratic election in the fourth republic to help decentralize activities of local government into our localities for proper and drastic development.
This part of our country’s development requires free and fair election process to enable people’s representatives at the assemblies who are responsible to determine who is confirmed in the respective assemblies as the District Chief Executive, cast their votes without fear or favour .
“The composition of our assemblies are made up of experts, elected assembly members from the various electoral areas within the district, chiefs and opinion leaders. These people are expected to be people of integrity, conviction, mature and above all, with the development of their localities at heart.
“These people, per our constitution must at all times be allowed to vote for or against any government appointee who is nominated by the president without any interference or oppression or compulsion but by their own conviction. This is the sole right given to the assembly members for which no one shall influence in any shape or form i.e by threat , intimidation , assault or pressure that will interfere with the exercise of such rights.
“What do we see today? This government led by Nana Addo has taken our dear nation back. Looking at happenings in the recent confirmation of Chief Executives at the various assemblies. These acts cannot be grossed over as a nation because it is undermining the democracy that we have enjoyed for the past twenty eight years and still counting.”
It is recalled that the National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Samuel Ofosu Ampofo claimed that elected assembly members were denied their constitutional right to endorse or reject persons nominated for the position of MMDCEs in the country.
Without mentioning the areas where these happenings are taking place, he alleged that in some areas, the military and other security officers are being used to block some assembly members from having access to the auditorium where the voting is taking place to perform their duties.
He made these allegations when the presidential candidate of the NDC in last year’s elections, John Dramani Mahama met the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs as part of his thank you tour on Tuesday October 12.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo was not the only one making this claim.
Members of Parliament for Cape Coast North and Cape Coast South constituencies also accused the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) of using security forces including thugs to intimidate Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly (CCMA) members perceived to be members of the NDC to confirm the president’s nominee of Chief Executive.
According to the MPs, Kweku George Ricketts-Hagan of Cape Coast South and Kwamena Mintah Nyarko of Cape Coast North, the NPP had devised several means to ensure Ernest Arthur is forcefully confirmed.
The 2020 NPP Parliamentary Candidate for Cape Coast South failed twice to get two-thirds majority votes of assembly members after being renominated by President Akufo-Addo.
Mr Arthur, popularly known as Mayor 1, needed only four votes on Wednesday, October 6 in a second voting on his renomination to be confirmed Chief Executive.
But not even an impassioned gesture by the Central Region Minister, Marigold Assan, will move some assembly members to vote for him.
The daughter of embattled Central Regional Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress Emmanuel Kwesi Dawood on Wednesday, narrated the ordeal she went through at the hands of her father, to a Cape Coast Circuit Court.
Dawood, who was John Mahama agent for election 2020 in the Central region had on Wednesday, October 13, pleaded not guilty to defilement, incest, illegal abortion and assault and was remanded into police custody by the Court presided over by Dorinda Smith Arthur, but managed to secure a bail at a higher Court, last Thursday.
During a cross-examination by the lawyer of the accused who pleaded anonymity on Wednesday, the victim identified the accused as his biological father who had several consistent sexual encounters with her.
According to her, in the year 2019, her father lured her into his matrimonial home and informed her that he wanted to replace his love for her mother with her since their love could not last long.
The girl said, she declined a proposal to date him, but the accused ignored and forcibly had sexual intercourse with her in his matrimonial room at Agona-Swedru and revealed that their last sexual act was in the month of June, 2021 at Agona-Swedru.
“After the act, my father promised to send me abroad only if I did not disclose the ordeal to anyone, but if I did, he would make my life very miserable.
“In 2020, I got pregnant but my father took me to Atta Mensah who is his friend to abort the pregnancy and I informed the school counsellor about it,” she said.
The girl stated that when the accused heard she had informed the school counsellor, he attacked and subjected her to severe beatings, but she managed to escape.
The case had been adjourned to Tuesday, November 2 for continuation.
The Prosecutor, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Daniel Gazor, had told the Court that the accused was reported by Mavis Ayitey, mother of the victim, for allegedly having sex with his daughter multiple times, leading to a pregnancy.
He was alleged to have contacted a quack doctor, who performed an abortion on the girl, Prosecutor said.
ASP Gazor said a petition submitted by the victim’s mother to the Central Regional Police Command, said Dawood had allegedly engaged in the act since the girl was 15 years.
According to the petition, the victim, who could not bear the pain of the father’s actions anymore, on Friday, August 24, 2021, confided in her school’s Housemaster, the Prosecutor said.
The Housemaster then invited the girl’s grandmother to the school and informed her about her ordeal and they reported the case to the police, ASP Gazor, added
Member of Parliament (MP) for Madina, Francis-Xavier Sosu, has petitioned Parliament to cite two Police officers from the Adenta Divisional and Accra Reginal Command for contempt of Parliament for displaying unprofessional conduct.
He invoked the powers of Parliament under Article 117 of the 1992 Constitution and Order 28 of the Standing Orders of Parliament, and said ACP Isaac Kojo Asante, Regional Operations Commander, and ACP Eric Winful, Divisional Commander, Adenta-Abokobi should be hauled before the Privileges Committee for contempt of the House.
He said: “Right Honourable Speaker, the sub-title of Article 117 is “Immunity From Service Of Process And Arrest”. The content provides as follows, “Civil of criminal process coming from any court or place out of Parliament shall not be served on, or executed in relation to the Speaker, or a member or the Clerk to Parliament while he is on his way to attending at, or returning from any proceedings of Parliament.”
According to the Madina MP, after addressing a group of demonstrators in the Constituency, the Police informed him that they needed to send him to the Regional Commander to answer a few questions.
“I informed that I was on my way to Parliament to attend to other parliamentary duties because I was a Deputy Ranking Member and was to attended Leaders meeting in preparation to the resumption of sitting on 26th October 2021, “ Mr Sosu said.
He added that the Police insisted that he needed to come with them, but he informed them that if they wanted to put him under arrest, they had to tell him of the reasons for the arrest, and they had to write to the Speaker of Parliament to inform him before they could execute any orders on him as a sitting MP.
Mr Sosu accused the Police of flagrantly breaching the Constitutional Provision, which related to privileges of an MP as he said they led the way and attempted to forcefully apprehend him in the presence of his constituents.
The Madina MP contended that the attempt by the two officers to publicly arrest and manhandle him amounted to an act intended to impede and obstruct the legitimate discharge of his duties as a Member of Parliament,
“This is an act, which is an affront to the Parliament of the Republic of Ghana,” he said.
However, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, Deputy Majority Leader sought clarification from Speaker Alban Bagbin whether Mr Sosu in making his submission had come under Order 73, which provides that the MP should have previously notified the Speaker.
Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin in clarifying the issue stated that Mr Sosu had given him a prior notice out of which he (Speaker) gave him the permission to make the complaint before the House.
Speaker Bagbin, giving his ruling on the complaint referred the matter against the two Police officers to the Privileges Committee of Parliament.
He explained that the committee would investigate the complaint and submit a report to the House for consideration.
Speaker Bagbin also expressed concern about the conduct of law enforcement officers towards MPs, adding that, he would issue a statement on the matter in due time.
“I receive complaints. I receive information about Police service personnel pursuing Members of Parliament on both sides of the house, and I have on a number of occasions intervened to talk to the authorities and to draw their attention to the law.”
“Members of Parliament have some special rights because of the peculiar nature of the position, functions, and duties of the Member of Parliament,” Mr. Bagbin stressed.
Mr Sosu, earlier in his submission, had stated that on 25th October, 2021, he joined some youth in Adoteiman and Otinibi, which are some communities in the Madina Constituency to demonstrate against the deplorable roads in their communities.
He said the protest was done in accordance with the Public Order Act and there was no destruction of public or private properties as well as no casualties reported.
He said though some of the protestors blocked roads there was no basis for the Police to arrest anybody because they had followed due process.
Mr Sosu also insisted that the protest was in accordance with law and did not warrant his attempted arrest and manhandling by the Police. GNA
The chances of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) winning the 2024 general elections is largely dependent on contesting with a united front, some leading members of the Party have stated.
They believe the Party remains the best choice for Ghanaians based on its track record, but any internal wrangling ahead of the elections could hurt the Party’s quest to win three consecutive elections for the first time under the Fourth Republic.××
Various speakers at the Party’s Ashanti Regional Annual Delegates’ Conference at Akyawkrom in the Ejisu Municipality, underlined the need for members to work towards party unity, so as to be able to maintain power to continue to improve the lives of the good people of Ghana.
They particularly, spoke against character assassination as various aspirants for executive positions laced their boots for the internal contests.
Ashanti Regional Chairman of the Party, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, said contestants must not see opponents as enemies, because they were all seeking to serve the same party.
He entreated all contestants to be decorous in their campaigns by telling the delegates what they could do to improve the fortunes of the party rather than attacking fellow contestants.
“This is an internal contest and I believe we all mean well for the party, so let us desist from attacking our opponents in the interest of party unity,” Mr. Antwi Boasiako advised.
Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei-Mensah, also stressed the need to unite the Party from the grass root to the national level.
He said much as the NPP stood a better chance of winning the 2024 elections, the Party needed to work hard to unite all factions and address the grievances of the grass roots to secure a resounding victory.
“Let us make sure resources are equitably distributed especially to the grass root, which is the base of the Party to be energised for the task ahead,” the Regional Minister suggested.
He also spoke of the need to put together strong communication teams to propagate the impact of all the good policies being implemented by the government.
General Secretary of the Party John Boadu, called for renewed efforts from members of the Party at all levels to prosecute a good campaign to retain power.
He urged them to take active part in the membership drive currently ongoing at the polling station level, saying it was the first step towards winning the next election
• Kwesi Pratt claims Henry Quartey‘s constituency has been engulfed with sanitation challenges
• He says the minister has not shown desire to deal with the situation
• He is not impressed by his exploits so far
The Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr, has explained why he is yet to be impressed by the actions of Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey.
Pratt says unlike some Ghanaians who have been wowed by the innovations of the Minister, he still has reservations about the genuineness of his actions.
Pratt’s skepticism about Henry Quartey is premised on what he perceives to be the lack of implementation of those actions in the minister’s constituency.
Pratt stated on Metro TV that while Henry Quartey is enforcing the law in other constituencies, his area which is Ayawaso Central is engulfed with same challenges.
He cited an example of ‘dirty banners’ of Henry Quartey littered in the streets of Alajo to buttress his view.
Kwesi Pratt says until he sees those same changes in Henry Quartey’s backyard he will not join the bandwagon of praises.
“From the very beginning I stated that I’m not one of those enthused by what the Greater Accra Regional Minister is doing. I said I was waiting to see if what he is doing in Adenta, Tudu and those areas would be done in his own constituency which is Ayawaso Central and I have been watching very closely.
“I drive through Alajo a lot and if you drive through, his own torn banners and posters which have become an eyesore are still hanging there. All the electricity wires have his banners which are dirty and nobody is cleaning them. Why is the exercise not being carried with vigour in Ayawaso Central?
“Why is the exercise being carried in Tudu, Adenta, Kpone and other places and not Alajo. If the exercise is good for all, it must happen in every constituency. That for me is a problem,” he said.
Kwesi Pratt also asked the minister and the government to consider some of the concerns raised by the Ranking Member of Parliament’s Transport Committee, Kwame Agbodza.
Agbodza is arguing that Henry Quartey is not clothed with the powers to ban tricycles in Accra.
His claim has been rejected by Henry Quartey but Pratt who supports the move wants more stakeholder engagement on the matter.
“The issues about legality raised by the minority are worthy of consideration. The other issue worthy of consideration are the needs the tricycles are fulfilling. Can you imagine Accra without these tricycles carrying rubbish? What would have been the state of waste in Accra.
Former Central Regional Minister, Kwamena Duncan, has taken a swipe at Ex-President John Mahama who has accused the Electoral Commission (EC) of thumbprinting 1 million ballots for President Nana Akufo-Addo during the 2020 elections.null
The former President, who was the 2020 Presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), is reported as saying the EC used soldiers to cow his party’s polling agents at the collation centres and also stuffed ballots in favour of the President.
“2020 was Ghana’s worst election. If I was marking her, I would have given her an F. She is marking her own paper after the examination so she can give herself any mark she likes…Tell me which election in Ghana was ballot papers printed yet one million ballot papers were found elsewhere . . . We didn’t witness this under Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan. She [Jean Mensa] knew there was ballot stuffing,” the former President said in an interview quoted on 3news.com.
Kwamena Duncan, in response, finds Mr Mahama’s claims ridiculous as he wondered why he (Mahama) never forwarded such claims to the Supreme Court during his election petition case.
He read a constitutional provision that gives a 21-day period for any person who has an issue with the elections to file a case in the court to challenge the legitimacy of the winner, which President Mahama and his NDC did; however asking ”are you saying that, within 21 days after the declaration, you did not have this evidence? You did not have it?”https://77bc2be74f194bab25d9934058cdd2a3.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
“You’re worth your sort; you’re worth a political party, a former President that you had as many as 1 million stuffed in favour of your opponent and that did not come to your attention the 21-day period. It didn’t come to your attention to enable put all of that together to go to the Supreme Court and challenge it,” he was alarmed.
To him, what Ex-President Mahama seeks to do is to have power at all cost, hence resorting to making wild allegations against the EC.
“For their cause, it is either our power or nothing. For President Mahama’s cause, for the NDC cause, it is either we have the power whichever means even if this country will come crushing.”
Kwamena Duncan made these submissions on Peace FM’s flagship programme ”Kokrokoo”
Bernard Allotey Jacobs has lambasted former President John Dramani Mahama for accusing the Electoral Commission of ballot stuffing in the 2020 Presidential elections.
The former President is quoted as saying “2020 was Ghana’s worst election. If I was marking her, I would have given her an F. She is marking her own paper after the examination so she can give herself any mark she likes”.
“Tell me which election in Ghana was ballot papers printed yet one million ballot papers were found elsewhere…We didn’t witness this under Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan. She [Jean Mensa] knew there was ballot stuffing”, he added.
The EC, in reply, has called on the Police to investigate the allegations.
”The Former President has said the EC thumb printed 1million ballots in favour of the president. This is untrue. This is a grave matter that undermines the credibility of our electoral process and should not be ignored. We call on him to provide evidence to support his claim. This is not a matter to be ignored and we call on the Ghana Police Service to investigate this,” the Commission said during its ‘Let the Citizen Know’ series in Accra.
It further argued; ”The Transparency of our process makes it totally impossible for this to happen. At the polling stations, prior to the start of the elections, the empty ballot boxes are opened and displayed in the presence of everyone, and thereafter they are sealed. There are serial numbers on the ballot papers for each region and constituency. This is made known to the Agents before the elections. Our ballot papers also have security features, so any trace of new material will be clearly visible…Ballot Stuffing cannot be done-it is impossible. We call on the Former President in the interest of our democracy to provide evidence of the stuffing of the ballot boxes by the EC.”
Speaking on Peace FM’s morning show ‘Kokrokoo’, Allotey Jacobs wondered why the former President would make such allegations knowing very well the 2020 elections could not have been rigged.
“As a matter of fact, the 2020 elections is the best among the best . . . We have reached a stage in Ghana that our politics should be clean, not vile propaganda. It won’t work!”, he exclaimed.
To him, Mr. Mahama is entrapping himself, hence cautioning him and the NDC to desist from making unsubstantiated claims.
“It’s an entrapment. It’s like the former President is entrapping himself and when the Electoral Commission saw his weakness, they have also called on the Police to investigate,” he told host Kwami Sefa Kayi.
Executive Chairman of Jospong Group of Companies, Dr. Joseph Siaw Agyepong has called for absolute support for local industry.
He stated that the support can come in the form of patronising locally produced goods and services.
Speaking at a function in Accra, he said “I humbly want to talk about the support for local industry, our products. This country belongs to us and the patronising station of an investment by a local entrepreneurs is very essential.”
He added “We must encourage local entrepreneurs. Support them develop them so that they become much more giants because”
His comments come at a time Trade Minister Alan Kyeremateng has said in order to create jobs and build a prosperous Ghana, there is the need to promote local enterprises.
He believes this is the surest way to propel economic growth.
Mr Kyeremateng said this while speaking at the 2021 orientation programme for Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Executives (MMDCEs).
“Promoting local enterprises is the only guarantee for sustainable growth of the economy, creating jobs and building a prosperous Ghana,” he said.
He further indicated that the government is going to create more jobs through a ten-point comprehensive and integrated programme.
As part of the programme, there is going to be a stimulus package for existing local industries, the One District One Factory (1D1F) initiative, Strategic Anchor Industries Initiatives, Industrial parks and special economic zones, and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Development.
It also includes the establishment of Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA) which will see to the restructuring and rebranding of the National Board for Small-Scale Industries (NBSSI) into Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA) under the GEA Act.
The following are some of the priority products being promoted under the National Export Development Strategy:
Members of Parliament from the Volta Region have asked President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to apologise to the Paramount Chief of Aflao, Torgbui Adzonugaga Amenya Fiti, over the way and manner he responded to the traditional ruler.
Lawmaker for Ketu South, Dzifa Gomashie, speaking at a press conference on Thursday October 28 said the President’s comment was affront to the entire Volta region hence he must retract those comments.
“The respected traditional ruler merely advocated for an abandoned E-block in his community to be completed so his people will have fair access to education as citizens. As a bonafide tax payer that wasn’t too much to ask.
“Torgbui Fiti deserves praise for prioritising education by speaking up against the culture of abandoning inherited project. He does not deserve such disrespect from the President of the Republic of Ghana.
“The president’s conduct which we do not see him exhibit against Chiefs from other parts of the country is a total affront to the entire Volta region and the Aflao Traditional area in particular.
“We demand d retraction and apology from the president.”
Minority members on the Education Committee of Parliament visited uncompleted projects in some parts of the country. They visited was in Aflao in the Volta region.
Over there they met the Paramount Chief Torgbui Adzonugaga Amenya Fiti, who then raised issues against the failure to finish the project and further gave the government a four-month ultimatum to open the e-block community day senior high school which in his view, has stalled since 2016.
The ¢9 million project which was part of some 200 classroom blocks the erstwhile Mahama administration started was supposed to have some 26 classrooms attached and 5 departments including a science block.
Torgbui Adzonugaga Amenya Fiti speaking with the Minority side of the Education Committee who toured the uncompleted school buildings in the Ketu South constituency says, government’s approach to education is appalling.
“After senior high school education, the next degree that my people have to do is to go to border and go and do kayayo, no school.
“The only school that we have is the RC Senior High School that belongs to the Catholic Mission Minor Seminary. So this thick population have no place to go and people sit down in that big hall called parliament and not thinking about Aflao, a place after the Tema Harbour, the next revenue generation is from the Aflao border.
“I had to push the former President Mahama for the structure to be constructed over there. I had to be running from here to Accra begging. Should we beg for education?”
In response to the Chief’s comment, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo who was not happy with the ultimatum given by the Chief, in a sarcastic manner, asked the Chief to complete E-block by himself.
The President said most of the E-block projects started by the Mahama administration have been completed by his government. Others are also at various stages of completion, he said.
He said on Accra-based Peace FM Thursday, October 21 that “Many of the E-blocks are being worked on across the country.
“Is he [Aflao Chief] the one to give the minister ultimatum then he should go ahead and complete the project
A moving train has killed a 20-year old student, Stephen Ackon, at Nkotompo, a suburb of Sekondi in the Western Region.
The accident reportedly happened on Tuesday October 26 at around 7am when Stephen, a student of the Takoradi Technical Institute was on his way to school.
The Assembly man for Nkotompo, Anthony Ephraim told Connect fm that the deceased, a mechanical engineering student, was a resident of Nkotompo.
Meanwhile the Sekondi Takoradi metro National Disaster Management Organization director, James Obeng says their investigations reveal the deceased was partially deaf and may not have heard the sound of the approaching train resulting in the accident.
Former Chief of Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces, Brigadier Joseph Nunoo-Mensah seems to have given up on Ghana’s development and the opportunity to create jobs under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
The former retired soldier is worried that the majority of the youth are unemployed despite numerous promises by this Nana Akufo-Addo-led government to create jobs.
Brigadier Joseph Nunoo-Mensah who was discussing the excessive youth unemployment on NEAT FM’s morning show ‘Ghana Montie’ expressed his disappointment in the current administration.
To him, Ghana has never experienced such privation for a very long time until recently.
“I have never seen Ghana as hard as this,” the former military capo said.
He said sooner or later the “desperate” youth will rise against government as seen in other African countries.
“The desperation is coming from so many areas,” he noted.
A leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Gabby Otchere Darko has questioned the decision of the Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin to make voting on the anti-gay bill which is currently before Parliament, public.
He asked where the Speaker would be if the Members of Parliament who voted for him to win the Speaker position had done so through public vote.
“My good friend Mr Speaker must first ask himself where would he have been today if MPs didn’t have a secret ballot on Jan 6?”He asked in a tweet.
The Speaker Alban Bagbin had said that the sitting of the committee on the anti-gay bill which is currently before the House will be made public.
In his opening remarks as Parliament reconvened on Tuesday October 27, he said, “the seating of the Committee will be public and the decision of this House will be public. We will want to know where each Member of Parliament comes in.
“I know Ghanaians are expectant and there are over hundred petitions before the Committee of Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. But we will try not allow any Filibustering of this bill. Because it is not only Africa, the whole-world is looking for the outcome of this bill.”
“In fact, it has assumed some different dimensions. For me, this is healthy for a maturing democracy like Ghana. It is important we allow various shapes of opinions to canvass their position on the bill. As Ghanaians, I want to plead that we accommodate the views of others on whatever perception they have and let’s maintain the peace that we have.
“It is a law that will take into consideration the richness of common sense, human decency, morality, fact and logic. At the end of the day it will be a law that will transform this country into something else,” he added.
This directive attracted criticisms from some Ghanaians including private legal practitioner, Mr Akoto Ampaw.
In the view of Mr Ampaw, the Speaker’s directive had nothing to do with Parliamentary procedure.
Rather, he asserted, it is meant to let the majority of Ghanaians who are opposed to homosexuality to use it as a benchmark for voting in the next general elections.
He said “It is for Members of Parliament to decide whether or not the Bill will be passed. I am sorry to say that this is a bait by the Speaker that everybody votes in public so that Ghanaians will see whether they stand. It is a political bait.
“It is not a legislative process. So that the vast majority of Ghanaians who are opposed to homosexuality , as the CDD survey suggest, will use this as a benchmark for political elections, it has nothing to do with the constitutionality of the bill.”
The Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill was laid in the House on Monday, August 2 and read for the first time.
Reading for the first time, a clerk in the legislative assembly stated that the Bill proscribes lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) and other related activities and propaganda or advocacy and promotion for same.
It also came to light that it supports protection for children and persons who are victims or accused of homosexuality.
Second Deputy Speaker Andrew Asiamah Amoako referred the Bill to the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Committee for consideration.
“For the first time, it is referred to the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs for consideration and report,” Mr Asiamah Amoako, who is also the MP for Fomena, directed.
The controversial bill has already divided opinion in the Ghanaian public discourse.
While some, particularly the religious and traditional groupings, have supported the Bill and hopeful of its passing, others say it could incur the wrath of the international community against Ghana
He said this when he launched the 70th-anniversary celebration of the university in Kumasi on Wednesday October 27.
The year-long celebration is on the theme “KNUST: 70 years of global impact; A new age for a renewed focus”.
“Let me use this platform to highlight a very disturbing development which has come to my attention in recent times. That is the encroachment on university lands.
“I condemn it in no uncertain terms and strongly send a note of caution to all those involved in to deist from it or face my wrath. Let me warn the communities, the chiefs and whoever that the lands are mine and you are just caretakers to those lands .
“There is no family land here in Ashanti no Abusuapanin can claim that the land belongs to him and therefore he has the right to alienate a portion of the University land at all.
“You can go to any court , take it there I am sure also there will be a judge who will know that the constitution and the constitution of Asante says that there is no Family land in Ashanti and therefore get the lawyers to take you to court but I will get the court to also turn over the decisions to affirm my authority on the land
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