Josephine Mensah has opened up on her faked pregnancy plot which has taken over the Ghanaian traditional and social media space in the last few days.
Josephine who has been arrested and is currently at the Takoradi central police station confirmed she got pregnant but got a miscarriage in the fourth month of the pregnancy.
She told the police during an interrogation that she connived with her mother to fake the pregnancy pretending all was well with her.
According to her, she was afraid to lose the benefits she was getting from her husband thus faked the pregnancy and later pretended she has been kidnapped.
Kessben FM’s reporter in Takoradi, Nana Yaw Kumi in an interview with Ali Baba Dankambari on Breaking News said when Josephine was asked about how she hid the baby-bump from her husband, she narrated to the police that he covered her fake baby bump with cloths and denied her husband sex between four and five months
The driver’s mate is said to be battling for his life at the Tema General Hospital.
A driver of a trailer with registration number GN 3161-09, is feared dead after he skidded off the road into a ditch on the Tema Motorway.
The driver’s mate is said to be battling for his life at the Tema General Hospital.
The accident reportedly occurred around 10:00 pm on Friday.
The trailer, which was carrying crates of empty beer bottles, landed in a major storm drain near the Adjei Kojo underpass on the motorway.
The Tema Motorway is notorious for road accidents almost on a weekly basis. Many have blamed these accidents on the deteriorated nature of the road, whereas others have blamed it on reckless driving.
Road crashes have killed more than 1,000 people in the country from January to April 2021.
This was disclosed by May Obiri Yeboah, the Director-General of the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA).
She said last year, 2,500 people died from road crashes, adding that the figure is the highest since 1991.
Josephine had admitted that she hatched the plot alone without the help of any relative – ACP Kwesi Ofori.
The Acting Director of Public Affairs of the Ghana Police Service, ACP Kwesi Ofori, says Josephine Panyin Mensah faked her pregnancy to court her husband’s admiration and acceptance.
Speaking on Citi TV/Citi FM’s The Big Issue, ACP Ofori said the woman’s decision to fake the pregnancy and kidnapping was purely based on issues relating to her marriage.
He however clarified that Josephine had admitted that she hatched the plot alone without the help of any relative.
“From her account, she said she did it alone just to satisfy her husband. It was a pure family issue that she wanted to portray that she was pregnant. She did all that for the admiration of her husband.”
Josephine Panyin Mensah, has been in the news since last Thursday after the media reported that she was nine months pregnant and had been kidnapped during a dawn walk.
She resurfaced a week later at Axim in the Western Region without her alleged pregnancy or baby.
She had claimed that she delivered the same day she went missing and that the kidnappers had stolen her baby.
The Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah subsequently claimed Josephine was not pregnant as reported, a claim subsequently corroborated by the Ghana Police Service.
Police conducted two separate medical tests on Josephine at different hospitals, with both reports proving that she was never pregnant.
Josephine’s relatives and neighbours however disagreed with the report of the Ghana Police Service.
ACP Ofori said the Police will soon decide on the next line of action.
Many have wondered why the woman will fake a pregnancy and put herself through so much stress when she already has one child for the husband
The Ghana Police Service has placed a GHC50, 000 bounty on a robbery gang attacking residents within the Greater Accra Region.
In a statement, the Police stated that it has instituted some urgent additional security measures to arrest the gang and urged the public to bear with Service regarding the scaled-up measures to deal with the threat.
The Director-General, Public Affairs, ACP Kwesi Ofori, also called on the public and corporate institutions who intend to withdraw and deposit huge sums of money to exercise caution or contact the Police for assistance for such transactions.
“Any suspicious behaviour or movement of persons should be reported immediately to the Police on the emergency numbers, 18555, 191, 0302773906 or 0302787373,” the statement added.
The Police Service thanked the public for their continued assistance and further assured that with the support of the public, communities will remain safe.
Josephine Panyin Mensah Simons has reportedly confessed to a team of medical and investigation officers attending to her at the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital in the Western Region that she was not pregnant, a top police source has told Takoradi based Empire Fm.
The top police source further told Empire News she has since asked for forgiveness amidst uncontrollable tears from the husband Michael Simons who appears to be innocent and in a state of shock.
The victim now a suspect, according to the police, has not had sexual intercourse with the husband Michael for the past three (3) to four (4) months claiming that she could lose her baby.
The source further revealed that during their observation of Josephine since Tuesday, September 21, 2021, she neither spotted nor requested a sanitary pad to soak blood that might be dropping from her as a result of her given birth.
The police source added that all laboratory tests and analyses done so far suggest that the she was neither pregnant nor given birth.
However, a senior medical officer at the Effia-Nkwanta hospital name withheld, the facility providing medical assistance to Josephine says the victim was probably suffering from Pseudocyesis.
Pseudocyesis is defined by the DSM-5 as a false belief of being pregnant that is associated with objective signs and reported symptoms of pregnancy, which may include abdominal enlargement, reduced menstrual flow, amenorrhea, subjective sensation of fetal movement, nausea, breast engorgement and secretions, and labor.
Mother of Josephine Panyin Mensah, Agnes Essel has confirmed her daughter had been with her for the past three weeks until the day she was allegedly kidnapped.
According to her, during that period, her daughter had been visiting the Takoradi Hospital for checkups.
She said her daughter has an antenatal book which according to her confirms she was pregnant.
Meanwhile, the Administrator of the Takoradi Hospital popularly known as European Hospital, Rev. Osei Boateng, has also confirmed that Josephine frequented the hospital before she went missing.
Member of the National Democratic Congress’ legal team, Abraham Amaliba, has pointed out that he “smells a rat” concerning the new statement released by the police on the Takoradi kidnapping victim Josephine Panyin Mensah, naming her as a suspect in her alleged kidnapping.
He thus drew a comparison of the Police statement on the alleged kidnapping with that of the alleged murder of the social activist Macho Kaaka in Ejura, saying two persons were arrested in that case and later “his brother was arrested just to muddy the waters”.
Mr Amaliba said he is sceptical about the new twist in the police statement because the doctor of the European Hospital where the victim went for her antenatal pointed out that he needed clearance from the regional medical association before he could put out the information about the victim’s pregnancy status.
The private legal practitioner thus quizzed if such clearance had been given to the doctor, which the police failed to address in their statement.
He quizzed that by considering the victim as a suspect in her alleged kidnapping, does that mean the police are moving away from the crime of kidnapping because, to him, the victim cannot kidnap herself.
Mr Amaliba also indicated that it could be how the Western Regional Minister came out too quick to comment on the issue the way he did may have formed the basis for the new statement by the police on the matter.
He thus called it “a cover-up”, which will not work under the vigilant eyes of Ghanaians because to him, the victim, her family, market women and community all attested to the fact that she was indeed pregnant.
Mr Amaliba noted that the police declaring her a suspect is “dangerous” because there are many kidnapping cases in Takoradi. It will put fear in people to come out to report when they are kidnapped.
He said Takoradi had seen its fair share of kidnapping, and because of the oil boom in that region, it has registered a high influx of miscreants in that enclave. So for the police to come out with such a statement when the doctor told the media that he needed clearance before releasing anything must be taken with a pinch of salt.
Mr Amaliba made this statement in an interview with Berla Mundi on the New Day show on TV3, Thursday, September 23.
He was commenting on the heels of a new statement by the Western Regional Police Command naming the victim of the alleged kidnapping Josephine Panyin Mensah as a suspect in the matter.
“I smell a rat; with this, I smell a rat. This is akin to the Kaaka case, where two people were arrested for threatening his life and all of a sudden, we saw a somersault where his brother was included just to muddy the waters. I smell a rat because the doctor of the hospital indicated that he needed clearance before [he] could put out the information. Does it mean that the clearance has been given? We have not been told by the police. By taking the woman who is a victim of an alleged kidnapping to be a suspect, are we now moving away from the crime of kidnapping? Because you can’t kidnap yourself”, Mr Amaliba charged on the New Day show.
Kumasi Mayor, Sam Pyne, has wondered who cut the umbilical cord of the baby at the time the missing but found pregnant woman was conceiving.
Sam Pyne, who also believes the woman, Josephine Panyin Mensah faked her pregnancy said the Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, did no wrong in making the announcement. Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah had earlier said that, per preliminary investigations, the 28-year-old woman was not pregnant.
Speaking on UTV’s Adekye Nsoma programme monitored by GhanaWeb, Sam Pyne called on the Ghana Police Service to probe further in this case.
“The police should critically look into this matter and bring to bear those involved in this case. But I don’t see anything wrong with the statement of the Regional Minister because he is supposed to calm down nerves,” the Kumasi Mayor said.
“How did she give birth?…Who cut the umbilical cord during her child birth, what shows?…In some of the cases, if you tell a child about it, the child will understand and give you the conclusion,” he added.
“The police did not sit aloof because they were a team of 40 officers looking for her. Now, the police are still investigating so if we start giving new narratives, we tend to destroy evidence,” Sam Pyne cautioned.
Josephine who failed to return home after going for an early morning walk was said to be nine months pregnant when she went missing.
Josephine Panyin Mensah was reported to the police as missing on September 16, with later reports indicating that some alleged kidnappers got in touch with her family to demand a ransom for her return.
She was found by a carpenter in Axim on Tuesday, September 21, 2021.
She was unable to speak from trauma and according to the carpenter, she requested for a pen and paper where she communicated through that.
Neighbours of a 28-year-old lady allegedly kidnapped in Takoradi, Josephine Panyin Mensah, insist she was pregnant at the time she reportedly went missing.
Even though they cannot medically prove their claims, they insist that everything showed that Josephine Panyin Mensah was heavily pregnant.
This comes on the back of pronouncements by the Western Regional Minister, Kobby Okyere Darko Mensah, that an intelligence report he has received suggests that Josephine was not pregnant.
Western Regional Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Charles Bissue, has counted claims that the police is covering up a possible kidnapping crime in Takoradi by naming the victim as a suspect, saying opinion-makers must be wary not to throw dust into the eyes of the public.
He said it is apparent to everyone in the country when the three girls were kidnapped in Takoradi and no report was coming out, the police were lampooned by the public but today, the police have released a statement on the alleged kidnapping of a supposed pregnant woman who was freed without her baby.
Mr Bissue said the state agencies such as the National Investigation Bureau (NIB), the police and the hospital in question have been consistent in addressing the public on the alleged kidnapping of Josephine Panyin Mensah.
He then pointed out that he sympathizes with the victim and her family if the alleged kidnapping turns out to be true because she has rights to her independence but if she is complicit in the alleged kidnapping then she needs to be punished.
Mr Bissue emphasized that the victim has the right for an independent examination to ascertain the facts of her claims so it is not right for anyone to polarize the system by creating fear and panic in the country.
He implored the public to leave the police to conduct the investigation into the alleged kidnapping in Takoradi.
Mr Bissue said when the police are wrong the public condemn them and thus pleaded with the police to beef up security in the Western Region.
He said that is how to build a country and not just because one is in opposition thus must attack everything.
Mr Bissue made this call in an interview with Berla Mundi on the New Day show on TV3, Thursday, September 23.
He was commenting on the heels of the statement by the Western Regional Police Command on the alleged kidnapping of Josephine Panyin Mensah and thus naming her as a suspect in her alleged abduction and the claims that the police are covering up a possible kidnapping crime in the Western Region.
“The lady has a right, even though she is a victim she has a right. She has the right for an independent examination so all these avenues are there to explore so let’s not polarize the system and actually cause fear and panic. Let’s rely on the police when they come out, when the police are wrong we attack them. So I sit here and plead with them to beef up security in the Western Region, that is how we build a nation”, he implored on the New Day show.
• Cecilia Dapaah has been accused of “sleeping on her job”
• Her ministry says this claim is misleading
• The MSWR says they are doing a lot in the sector and so cannot be said to be sleeping
The Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources has described as misleading the claims that its minister is supervising clogged gutters and dirty streets in Accra.
This is in response to a story carried by GhanaWeb on Tuesday, August 24, 2021, with the title, “Kwame Minkah blasts Abena Dapaah over clogged gutters, dirty Accra streets” but sourced from myxyzonline.
In that story, the host of Tonton Sansan on TV XYZ, Prince Kwame Minkah, hit hard at Cecilia Dapaah, the sector minister, over the filth taking over the streets of Accra amid huge budgetary allocation for the sanitation sector.
He went on to say that she had failed to show leadership in tackling the indiscriminate disposal of waste in the national capital, adding that she is “sleeping on her job.”
But in a rejoinder made available to GhanaWeb, the ministry says the comments do not represent the actual facts.
“The Ministry would like to state categorically that the publication is misleading and does not portray the actual facts in relation to the mandate of the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR) which is under the leadership of Hon. Cecilia Abena Dapaah.
“Per Article 245 of the 1992 constitution, and the Local Governance Act 2016, Act 936, with Amendment (Act 940), the issues raised in the publication fall within the functions of the Metropolitan Municipal and District Assemblies and not the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources,” the statement said.
Also, the statement clarified that contrary to claims that they were doing little work, they had made giant strides in the sector, including the improved access to potable water to over 420,000 people.
“However, regarding the concerns about water shortages in some parts of Accra, the Ministry would like to state that some significant investments have been made by government through GWCL in that direction.
“The implementation of the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) Water and Sanitation Project has improved access to potable water to over 420,000 people (equivalent to 85,000 Households) living in the GAMA. The achievement is as a result of about 282km length of distribution and service pipelines laid; undertaking about 10,242 New Service Connections and the establishment of Low-Income Consumer Support Unit (LICSU) in Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) to promote and sustain water supply delivery to Urban Poor. The cost of the project was US$48. 1 million,” it stated.
“You can send the recommendation to the Business Regulatory Reforms Unit (BRRU) or you can write directly to the Chief Director at the MoTI and attention the BRRU,” said Mrs. Afriyie Addo.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI) is calling on the public to assist the government in its institutional automation agenda.
As part of government’s intention to digitalise the economy for effective service delivery by state institutions, the MoTI, which is coordinating the processes says the public’s contribution on how they want some enterprises to function will be of much benefit.
Head of Business Regulatory Reforms (BRR) Programme at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Diana Afriyie Addo, disclosed during one of IMANI-GIZ’s Dialogue Series.
With the session theme on ‘Business registration, regulation, property rights and its impact on Ghana’s business climate’, the event brought together stakeholders to discuss how the challenges in the sector will be addressed.
Elucidation on land acquisition and its registration, the Registrar General’s development so far on digitalising their services, what the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) is doing, the MoTI’s role in coordinating these activities amongst others were discussed.
In an exclusive with Ghanasonline.com, Mrs. Afriyie Addo avowed the public can either use the complaint units of the various institutions for these recommendations, or write directly to the ministry.
“Some of the activities that we are reforming are being implemented by institutions and it is services that they’re rendering and if you go there and you are not satisfied with the service, most of the institutions there have complaint units and you can also communicate to us because we are doing the work together.”
“So if you have any institution that’s rendering a service and you know there is something that needs to be done with this particular service that they’re rendering, then you can send us that recommendation so that we also communicate to that institution.
“You can send the recommendation to the Business Regulatory Reforms Unit (BRRU) or you can write directly to the Chief Director at the MoTI and attention the BRRU that these are the recommendations that you have in relation to a reform that needs to be done for a particular institution,” she explained.
The Ministry, according to Mrs. Afriyie Addo also have a portal that can be accessed on http://www.bcp.gov.gh.
The Revenue Protection Team of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in Tema has caused the police to arrest a fake staff of the company who have been selling meters to residents of Klagon and its environs.××
He was said to have installed a commercial meter supposed to be at Nungua to someone at Klagon.
The suspect has since been arrested and handed over to the Klagon Police for further investigation and possible prosecution.
Speaking to DGN Online, the Nungua District Manager of ECG, Prosper Avadetsi mentioned that his outfit received reports about some illegal activities within Sakumono, Nungua and its neighborhoods.
Based on the tip off, a monitoring team was instituted to embark on a 6 weeks program to check the possibility of illegal connections in the said areas, according to him.
He mentioned that the monitoring program, which was started in the third week of September 2021 is expected to end in October 2021.
Last week, the monitoring team detected that some wooden structures within the catchment area have been connected to power directly from the network, adding that about 20 wooden structures also have connected power from one meter, a situation which the company frowns upon.
“We had reports from the public on suspicion that a particular area filled with kiosks within our operational areas had connected power illegally.
“All those found out to have connected power illegally had their supply disconnected and processed for the Revenue Protection Unit of the Tema Region to take over,” the District Manager stated.
Mr. Avadetsi further noted that at one premises in Klagon, the Monitoring Team realized that a commercial meter had been mounted at a residential facility.
“Because every meter has a geo code which pre-determines the locality for which the meter is to be used and it was realized, per the geo code of the meter that it was to be in Nungua and not Klagon. Further on-field investigations with the customer revealed that a gentleman who had posed as ECG worker was the one who had installed that meter,” he stated.
According to him, the Team was able to apprehend the gentleman who has since been handed over to the Klagon Police.
The Nungua District Manager therefore urged the public “to desist from contracting ECG services from persons who are not workers or authorized agents of the company as this could lead to loss of resources for potential customers as well as loss of revenue for the company
Clad in red, neighbours of the victim, who has now been declared a suspect, chanted war songs and rained curses on various authorities for making such claims.
Some angry residents in Takoradi have rejected reports by the Ghana Police Service that 29-year-old Josephine Panyin Mensah faked her pregnancy and kidnapping.
They also expressed dissatisfaction over the arrest of Josephine’s mother, husband and one other person as accomplices in the alleged self-kidnapping case.
Clad in red, neighbours of the victim, who has now been declared a suspect, chanted war songs and rained curses on various authorities for making such claims.
Earlier today, the Police, in a statement, confirmed that the victim was never pregnant.
According to the Police, their preliminary investigation into the issue has revealed that the victim may have conspired with some persons to stage the whole incident.
Already, the Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah made similar comments which triggered an uproar among some residents in the area on Wednesday.
But the agitated residents of Sekondi who spoke to JoyNews’ Western Regional Correspondent, Ina-Thalia Quansah, insisted Josephine was over nine months pregnant before her mysterious disappearance.
According to them, the Police have not visited the neighbourhood as part of their investigation.
“When Josephine disappeared, we took the right steps and went to the appropriate authorities to report the case and ask for their intervention. But now that she has been found they are attempting to accuse her of being untruthful.
“…I know that God in heaven knows that she is pregnant. God has been with her throughout those six days that she went missing, He will definitely intervene this time too,” a resident told JoyNews.
Following the efforts by the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Samuel A. Jinapor and that of Operation Halt, the Tano River is on the verge of returning to normalcy.
The Minister who made a whistle-stop at the Tano river on the sidelines of his one-day tour of the Western North Region, said that this is the clearest river he has seen since his assumption of office.
He thanked the Regional Coordinating Council and called for sustained effort to ensure that the river fully returns to it original state.
On his part, the Mineral Commission’s District Manager for Bibiani Mr. Emmanuel Bain said ” the restoration of the river we see today comes at the back of the collaboration between the Western North Regional Coordinating Council, the Minerals Commission in the region, and largely due to the policy directives of our abled Minister”
The Tano River was highly polluted due to the activities of illegal mining, popularly known as “Galamsey”
Government will this week begin the designation of 150 institutions as critical information infrastructure, which will require them to adhere to minimum security standards to protect their systems and data from cyber-attacks, the Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has said.
Parliament last year passed the landmark Cybersecurity Act 2020. The law establishes the Cyber Security Authority, protects the critical information infrastructure of the country, regulates cybersecurity activities, provides for the protection of children on the internet, and develops Ghana’s cybersecurity ecosystem.
It is also targeted at positioning Ghana to prevent, manage and respond to cybersecurity incidents.
The Minister explained that almost every sector is using ICT software applications and services to enhance efficiency, which exposes the data to cyber-attacks that could have a major impact on the socio-economic life in the country.
“We will do the designation this week, and then the whole programme will be launched during the cybersecurity month celebrations next month. And then we’ll start working with the sectors to bring up their systems to acceptable international level,” she told Business24 in an interview during the Ladies in ICT programme in Accra.
She further indicated that once the identified institutions have been designated, the Cyber Security Authority will work with them to upgrade their security systems to protect their data.
“The internet has become a critical infrastructure and facilitator of engagements for individual users, businesses, and government across the globe. In Ghana, the increasing reliance on the internet and Information Communication Technology has led to increased cybersecurity incidents such as ransomware, cyber theft, banking fraud, cyber espionage and other cyber-attacks targeted at critical information infrastructure. These cybersecurity incidents have affected critical sectors of the country including energy, telecommunications, banking and finance, and have caused disruptions in the delivery of essential services. If unchecked, it can undermine the security and economy of the country,” she said.
• Lawyer Samuel Okudzeto has advised that the benefits of the president’s travel should be the country’s focus
• He stated that the attacks on the president’s travel is not productive for the country
• He spoke to Joy FM on Wednesday
Lawyer Samuel Okudzeto, has indicated those who accuse President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of expensive travels should rather focus on the benefits that the President’s travel has on the country.
According to him, the constant attacks on the President based on his travel is not productive for the country.
GhanaWeb monitored comments he made on Joy FM during an interview on Wednesday, September 22, that, there are some benefits that the country gains any time the President travels. Adding that Ghanaians should not spend more time criticizing the travel and how much it cost but also consider the benefits derived by the country.null
“When he was going to Germany, there was hue and cry. ‘Why is he travelling? He takes these expansive planes? It cost so much per day.’ People do not understand what diplomacy is all about. Diplomacy is an expensive process, but there are always benefits.
“The President cannot sit down there in the Jubilee House and think all these [benefits] will just be coming to us. I don’t think it (attacks) is productive and helps the country,” the member of the Council of State said.
He argued further, “… We spend more time criticising than sometimes looking at the benefit that comes to us because we don’t even study the system.”
The veteran lawyer is of the view that, if there are concerns over the President’s travels, there are a lot of propositions that can be done to explore other ways he can travel rather than the “daily wholesale attacks” rained on him.
“That is why I am saying that as a nation we can agree on certain basic principles so that we all operate upon them instead of these attacks,” Sam Okudzeto stressed.null
Lawyer Sam Okudzeto’s comments come at a time the North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa is demanding full disclosure of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s foreign travels in a yet to be filed urgent question in Parliament.
According to the MP, President Akufo-Addo on his trip to the US to attend the 76th session of the UN General Assembly hired “the same ultra-luxury aircraft he used to the UK and Germany.”
He alleged the President’s attendance by way of travel expense to and from the summit is costing the taxpayer GH₵3.7 million.
Ablakwa explained to Joy FM on Tuesday, September 21, that, “the fundamental objection to this chartering of luxurious aircraft is that we have a functioning Presidential jet. It is in a pristine state, it has not gotten to the end of its lifespan.”
The Ranking Member on Foreign Affairs Committee in an earlier post on Facebook accused Eugene Arhin, the Director of Communications at the Presidency when he said the President did not travel in a luxurious aircraft during his trips to Germany and the UK of “peddling falsehood” especially when he was unable to provide alternative facts.null
In a post on his Facebook timeline, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa wrote:
“A presidential spokesman should not be desecrating what is expected to be hallowed precincts of the seat of government in this Goebbelian manner.
“I can authoritatively confirm without a scintilla of doubt or any equivocation for that matter that President Akufo-Addo on his current trip to the United States of America has again chartered the same ultra-luxury aircraft he used to the UK and Germany — the Luxembourg-based luxury jet registered LX-DIO and operated by Global Jet Luxembourg. Same Boeing 737-900ER BBJ3 with Manufacturer Serial Number (MSN) 62515 and Line Number 5659.”
Meanwhile, the Presidency has indicated that Ghana’s Presidential jet was used by George Oppong Weah, the President of Liberia, when he attended an ECOWAS summit in Accra recently.
In a Joy News report monitored by GhanaWeb, the presidency claim the decision for the Liberian President to use the Presidential jet was based on a request made to the office of the President.
A video sighted online shows Ghana’s Falcon landing on the tarmac with the inscription ‘Republic of Ghana’ as Liberia President George Oppong Weah in white apparel steps out of the presidential jet at the Kotoka International Airport.
Speaker of Parliament Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin has launched, virtually, in Accra, this year’s Inter-Schools Public Speaking Competition, with a call on the contestants to use the platform to influence and change lives positively.
“Use public speaking to influence society positively,” Speaker Bagbin stressed.
He commended the formation of youth groups to participate in discussing national issues, saying such groups that ensured participation by the citizenry in governance must be encouraged by all.
Speaker Bagbin said: “The formation of youth groups and movements in response to the call of his Excellency the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to Ghanaians not to be spectators, but citizens in the governance of the country should be encouraged and supported by all well-meaning Ghanaians.
He added: “So youth groups such as Youth in Politics, youth in development, fix the country now are all positive developments that should be encouraged and supported and this resonates well with the call of the Interschool public speaking competition for the youth of Ghana to participate in the debate on nation-building.”
The theme for this year’s competition is: “Digital Inclusion: Promotion and Protection of Child Rights Online.”
Speaker Bagbin observed the facilitation of digital technology in mass communication, scholarship and research, business and commerce and medicine, and said it also kept businesses afloat in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Digital technology, the Speaker noted, however is challenged among others, by elusive digital identity which give rise to cybercrime and online fraud.
Children are also vulnerable to cybercrimes.
Speaker Bagbin noted that a number of legislations in Ghana that are put in place to protect the people from digital infringements.
He suggested to the youth to tap deeply into their imagination in the search and application of knowledge to break new grounds in their endeavours as he wished the best orator to emerge from the competition.
Birthed in 2020, the competition runs this year form 21st September 2021 to 20th November 2021; and is organized by DeeDee Global Limited, in partnership with Secretariat of the Speaker of Parliament, the Ghana Education Service, Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation, the Ghana National Data Centre/National Information Technology Agency and Data Protection Commission.
It is designed to discover, recognize and foster the dynamism, creativity and initiative of the Ghanaian youth in promoting a culture of patriotism and national development.
It is aimed at building a genre of speakers who will use public speaking to influence society positively; and offers students the acknowledgement and encouragement towards a successful career in public relations, compeering, film and advocacy.
According to the organizers, the entry video is a freestyle oration on the theme “DIGITAL INCLUSION: PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF CHILD RIGHTS ONLINE.”
Schools can use one or more persons to convey the theme under 3minutes. Videos beyond 3 minutes will be disqualified. Each school may enter ONLY one video for the competition. Shortlisted schools will proceed to subsequent stages.
The Grand Finale (plenary, that is, “Speaker of Speakers” Session) happens every year in-person on 20th November in order to join the UN and the rest of the world in commemorating Universal Children’s Day.
This year’s finals, therefore, is on Saturday, 20th of November, 2021.
Social Commentator, Bernard Allotey Jacobs, has lauded President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo over the release of the MMDCE nominee’s list.null
The Minister of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Dan Botwe, has released the list of nominees for Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs).
Out of the 260 nominees, 38 are females, 222 are males.
These nominees if approved will assist in discharging the mandate of President Akufo-Addo at the local government.
Dan Botwe, speaking at a press conference on the MMDCEs list, said; “The whole idea is service to the nation. So far, as I am concerned and all well-meaning Ghanaians know, you are aspiring to serve our motherland. If the opportunity has not been given to you to serve, there cannot be any reason for disturbances”.
“If truly you wanted to serve, then there is absolutely no basis for you to involve in disorderly conduct,” he added.null
Making submissions during ‘Kokrokoo’ programme on Peace FM, Allotey Jacobs praised the President for not falling for the pressure to hurriedly release the list.
“The appointment of MMDCEs, it’s more tougher than that of ministerial appointment because the DCE or Municipal Chief Executive or Metro Chief Executive, you’re close to the people,” he said.
He also commended the President for engaging all relevant stakeholders in the nomination process saying, “participatory democracy is what he (President Akufo-Addo) has done in the appointment of MMDCEs. Chiefs have been involved. Parliamentarians, those belonging to his party, have been involved. The party itself has been involved.”
President Akufo-Addo has decried moves by some countries in Europe in not recognizing Covishield, the Indian version of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
According to President Akufo-Addo, “one unfortunate development appears to be the recent measures on entry into some countries in Europe, which suggest that Covishield, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured in India, is not recognised by some countries in Europe.”
The President made this known on Wednesday, 22nd September 2021, when he took his turn to speak at the 76th United Nations General Assembly, currently ongoing in New York, in the United States of America.
His comments come on the heels of the “simplified travel measures” announcement by recently by the UK Government, and, indeed, by some countries in Europe, which comes into effect from 4th October.
The measures specify that persons who have received double-dose vaccines such as Oxford-AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna or the single shot Janssen vaccine “under an approved vaccination program in the UK, Europe, US or UK vaccine programme overseas” will be considered fully vaccinated.
The rules also consider persons who have received jabs under public health bodies in Australia, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahrain, Brunei, Canada, Dominica, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea or Taiwan as fully vaccinated.
“What is intriguing is the fact that this vaccine was donated to African countries through the COVAX facility. The use of vaccines as a tool for immigration control will be a truly retrogressive step,” the President noted.
Ghana, President Akufo-Addo said, has so far received five million doses, which have been administered to frontline health workers and those classified as being most at risk.
“Five million is not a figure to be sneered at, particularly when we consider the situation in many other African countries. We are grateful that our efforts at the management of the pandemic and vaccine distribution have been recognised, and we have received these amounts so far. We are still hoping to vaccinate twenty million of our people by the end of the year,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo continued, “Ghana agrees with the call of the Rome Declaration of Global Health for voluntary licensing and technology transfers to boost vaccine production. The Africa Union is working with WHO, WTO and other global partners to expand its vaccine manufacturing and deployment.”
He told the Assembly that Ghana recognised that vaccination is the way to protect populations, and revitalise societies.
In the case of Africa, the President stated that vaccinating seventy percent (70%) of the population in the shortest possible time, as is being done elsewhere in the world, means some nine hundred million Africans have to be vaccinated.
He stressed that the Afreximbank’s structuring of the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Taskforce’s two-billion-dollar acquisition of four hundred million Johnson & Johnson vaccines is part of the historic African Union’s COVID-19 Vaccine Development and Access Strategy.
“It is a critical milestone in our collective fight against the pandemic, in a continent suffering the worst brunt of vaccine nationalism. The Africa Vaccine Acquisition Taskforce vaccine programme, partly manufactured in South Africa, is the single largest and most far-reaching trade transaction since the entry into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area in January this year,” he added.
President Akufo-Addo described it as an “eloquent testimony” to the benefits of domestic production and pooled procurement in Africa, as envisioned by the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement.
COVID-19 has been damaging
Recounting his statement at the 2017 UN General Assembly, where he indicated that he wanted to build an economy that was not dependent on charity and handouts, President indicated that the significant progress that had been made by Ghana between 2017 to 2020, where an average growth rate of 7% was recorded, had been eroded.
“In 2020, when the global economy and sub-Saharan Africa’s contracted by 3.5% and 2.1%, respectively, Ghana was one of the few countries that produced a positive growth rate. This is a testament to our determination to build a Ghana Beyond Aid,” he said.
However, he stated that many economies in Africa are in recession, as the virus’s impact on economies and livelihoods has been devastating.
“The latest numbers from the African Development Bank indicate that African economies, which contracted by 2.1% in 2020, are yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. More than thirty million Africans fell into extreme poverty in 2020, and nearly forty million could do so in 2021,” he said.
The social impact of the pandemic, President Akufo-Addo reiterated, “has been devastating; over one hundred and three million African jobs have been lost. Women, who account for forty percent (40%) of total employment, have been most hard hit
Ghana’s Presidential Jet Falcon 900 EX-Easy is being used by Liberia President George Weah to the UN General Assembly in New York, North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has revealed.
The lawmaker also notes that President Akufo-Addo hired a luxurious jet that costs the state $14,000 per hour for the same trip, with the explanation that Ghana’s jet was not fit for long travels.
According to Mr Ablakwa, the incessant use of tax payer’s money for luxurious travels needed to be investigated.
This is the third time the MP has blown the whistle over the president Global Jet Luxembourg hired jet travels following his recent travels to the UK on the 27th of July 2021 to attend the Global Education Summit and last week’s state visit to Germany, Including trips to South Africa, etc.
According to manufacturers, the cabin is divided into multiple sections to guarantee exceptional comfort. It provides a VIP lounge for relaxation, Five-Star dining facilities, a Royal Master bedroom, Cinema Room specially delineated for watching movies which is a separate accessory from other in-flight entertainment systems, and a complete luxury shower.
Even though the government has failed to justify the hired jet, Defence minister Dominic Ntiwul once disclosed that the president needed to take a bath while in the air, a feature Ghana’s jet does not provide.
Speaking to Francis Abban on the latest development, Mr Ablakwa said “if it’s about size, it’s the same thing, if it’s about capacity, what’s the difference between a 17-seater and a 19-seater? What the president has gone to hire is a 19-seater. Then if it is about refueling, remember some of the NPP propaganda said ‘we don’t want the president to be stopping and refueling like a trotro passenger.
“Again, what the president has chartered now could not take him to the United States, he had to do a one-hour stop for refueling at the Luxiere international airport. If he had used our presidential jet, he needed one stopover to refuel, it’s the same thing. It’s clear to me, as the defense minister said in parliament the last time, it’s all because of luxury.”
Since Ghana received President Kufuor’s ordered Falcon in 2010, both President Mills and President Mahama have used the long-range aircraft for all presidential travels
It is turning out that the claims by a 28-yer-old woman in Takoradi that she was pregnant and kidnapped are false, Western Regional Minister Kwabena Okyere Darko Mensah has said.
Speaking on Kessben TV’s morning show, Mr Darko Mensah said: “I received a call from NIB yesterday that she had been found and was at the Axim hospital”.
“According to the police, they suspect that the story was fake per their preliminary investigations”, he said.
He noted that the “medical doctor who attended to her even suspects that she may not have been pregnant, as has been reported.”
“They are even surprised at how this story has gone so far”, the minister noted.
He said “this is the immediate information I have”.
“Nevertheless, the police are still with her and are conducting further investigations,” he added.
Mrs Josephine Simons went missing on Thursday, 16 September 2021.
She was later found on Tuesday, 21 September around Axim and taken to the Axim Government Hospital for treatment.
She said in writing that she was kidnapped and delivered on the day she went missing.
Mrs Simons, according to her husband, Michael Simons, had been living with her mother since she was expecting a child.
As part of her daily physicals, she went on a routine morning walk from the Amanoo road to the Paa Grant Roundabout area but did not return home on that fateful day.
After her mother reported the case to the husband, a search team was formed and combed the major health facilities in the area suspecting she may have gone into labour and was rushed to one of the health posts but to no avail.
In the course of the day, the husband told local media that some strangers called his mother-in-law demanding a ransom so they release the heavily pregnant wife.
Takoradi became infamous for the kidnapping and killing of some four young girls a couple of years ago.
The provisional results show that Ghana’s population has increased by 6.1 million since 2010 when the population was around 24.7 million
The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has announced on Wednesday that provisional results from the 2021 Population and Housing Census indicate that Ghana’s population is now 30.8 million.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra, Professor Samuel Kobina Annim, the Government Statistician, said the provisional results show that Ghana’s population has increased by 6.1 million since 2010 when the population was around 24.7 million.
Breaking down the numbers, Prof Annim said there are more females (50.7%) in Ghana as compared to males representing 49.3%.
He said the final population results will be presented on 18 November 2021.
The 2021 PHC is Ghana’s first duly digital census and the first census in an African country to be conducted successfully during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The provisional results highlight findings from the 2021 PHC Preliminary Report which focuses on population size and sex composition, population density, and structures by region.
The preliminary report is the first of several census data products to be released over the next two years.
Abor Police in the Volta Region have arrested a convicted criminal, Alpha Junior Kenedu who escaped from police custody with a hacksaw allegedly smuggled into the cells by his wife, DGN Online can report.
The cell break is reported to have happened on Sunday morning at around 3:30 am when the 31-year-old convict cut off metals at the ventilation area of the cells and escaped.××
Junior Kenedu who was convicted and sentenced to a jail term of 3years by the Circuit Court in Keta on August 16, 2021 was waiting for his Covid-19 test result for him to be conveyed to the Ho Central Prison.
However, on Sunday dawn September 19, 2021, the convict broke the cells and escaped.
Preliminary Police investigations reveal the convict used a hacksaw suspected to have been smuggled into the cells through the window by his wife whose name was only mentioned as Abla.
He reportedly damaged the metal frames in the window of the cell thereby aiding his husband toescape from the cells.
The District commander organized a search party and through that the said convict was arrested in his hideout at Wute near Tadzewu in the Volta Region
Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwesi Amoako-Atta says government will soon weed out or blacklist all non-resourceful contractors in order to sanitize the construction sector and pave way for effective delivery of government road projects.
“In Ghana, the challenge is that everybody wants to be a contractor but most of them are not resourceful and government is taking steps to stop that from next week,” he emphasized.××
Mr Amoako-Atta stated this whilst addressing the media in Wa after visiting districts in the Upper West Region to inspect work on the roads that were washed-off by floods following torrential rains that occurred on August 12, 2021, in the region.
He said per the law on contracts, contractors were supposed to be paid only when they have finished executing the contract apart from mobilization, but because of the non-resourceful situation of some of these contractors, they were not able to execute these contracts before payment.
And this according to the Minister, was affecting the plans of government to the people of the country and that government would therefore not allow this to continue.
Mr Amoako-Atta noted that it was true that government had some outstanding claims to pay to contractors and they were making frantic efforts to do so, pointing out that this was the more reason why contractors needed to be resourceful enough to be able to execute road projects whilst allowing government a little space to pay.
He said no government could boast of not having outstanding payments, noting that since President Akufo-Addo took over office in 2017, there were outstanding payments dating back to 2011, stressing that despite this, government was able to pay almost 12 billion Ghana cedis to contractors during the first term.
Mr Amoako-Atta disclosed that a total of 106 road projects were currently being executed in the Upper West Region across the three road agencies including the 50kms Han-Tumu Road, which arguably was the most deplorable major road in the region.
He said everything was being done to ensure that the roads were completed by end of 2022, adding that they were monitoring every contractor and any of them that was proving incapable of delivering would have his/her contract terminated without any hesitation.
He said government would, however, stand by contractors who exhibited capability by supporting them where necessary to enable them execute their contracts within schedule and to the benefit of the people of the country.
Mr Amoako-Atta noted that 2021 was another year of roads following the success of 2020, which was declared the year of roads by President Nana Akufo-Addo, thereby, urging contractors to support government by delivering quality and timely road contracts to the people of the country.
The Roads and Highways Minister expressed government’s gratitude to the four contractors who worked diligently to reconnect the washed-off roads in the Upper West Region, which restored normal socio-economic activities in the region.
He assured that all areas of roads that could be potentially washed-off would be re-engineered at the appropriate time to prevent any damage when floods hit again anytime in the future.
Mr Amoako-Atta was accompanied by his Deputy, Madam Mavis Nkansah Boadu, the Upper West Regional Minister, Dr Hafiz Bin Salih, the Deputy Minister for Sanitation, Amidu Chinnia Issahaku, and other directors of the Ministry.
Madina MP Francis-Xavier Sosu has told residents of Danfa and Amrahia in the Greater Accra Region that he did not promise to fix the roads during the campaign season last year because he knew that was not the role of a lawmaker.
The residents accused him of failing to fulfill campaign promise he made to them in last year’s elections.
The residents have registered their displeasure over the poor road network in the area.
The MP, according to the residents in statement is on record to have promised the residents to fix the poor state of the road stretching from Amrahia and Danfa all the way to Ayimensa toll booth.
According to the residents, in his bid to win the 2020 elections he (Francis Sosu) was emphatic the poor road network would be fixed and even went ahead to accuse the then sitting MP, Boniface Abubakr of failing to address the problem.
“We have been expecting the current National Democratic Congress Member of Parliament for Madina Constituency Mr. Francis Sosu to continue from where Ahaji Boniface left, but so far, nothing has been done after all the promises to win the hearts and minds of the residents.
“We are aware of the steps taken by the former Member of Parliament for the Madina Constituency and first Minister for the defunct Ministry of Inner-City and Zongo Development under the leadership of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Alhaji Abubakar Saddique Boniface tp get the roads in the area reconstructed before his exit from office.
“In fact, Alhaji Boniface during his time as MP, had the local chiefs and dignitaries visit the roads and announced the presence of the contractor on site”.
But reacting to their claim in a statement, Mr Sosu said “First and foremost, the fact that issue of roads are being raised during a year where government has touted as “Second Year of Roads” shows the insincerity and failure of Government with respect to its responsibility and pledges to the people of Ghana. After two solid years of Government claims of fixing roads in Ghana dubbed “First and Second Year of Roads”, it is obvious that the Akufo Addo-Bawumia led Administration has been engaged in a politics of rhetoric and not real development. This abdication of responsibility cannot be laid at the doorsteps of the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area. This also shows the failure and incompetence of the Assembly led by the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for the area in performing her functions as the Representative of the President and foremost development agent within the Constituency.
“Secondly, the 1992 Constitution of the Republic and Local Government Act 2016 (Act 936) proscribes clear roles and functions of Members of Parliament and Metropolitan/Municipal/District Chief Executives. As MP for Madina Constituency, it is my responsibility to call the attention of the Executive branch of Government to the challenges facing the area when given the opportunity.
“This I have done and continue to do through various means and fora when given the opportunity including through questions to the Minister responsible for Roads and Highways on the floor of Parliament, through questions to Ministers designate responsible for related sectors during Vetting of Nominees as Member of the Appointments Committee of Parliament, among others.
Again, the fact that for the past four (4) years, attempts have not been made by the Akufo Addo-Bawumia led Administration to fix the roads in Madina Constituency considering and despite the fact that the former MP for the area also doubled as a Minister of State shows how much the NPP Government led by President Akufo Addo have failed the people of Madina Constituency.
“Hence, the calls for me to fix the roads shows the lack of attention to development in the Constituency and the confidence the people have in me to address this challenge despite being in office for only eight months. This lack of seriousness to issues of local governance and development of communities in Ghana is reflected in delays in nomination of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives nine months after elections.”
• Youth groups are an important voice in the governance process
• Speaker Alban Bagbin says these groups must be commended not condemned
• He says their activism amounts to being citizens not spectators
Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has spoken about the need for young people to be heard in their demand for accountability and inclusivity in nation-building and development.
According to him, giving the youth a voice in the affairs of the country provides seamless integration of their concerns in nation-building and thus promotes sustainable development.
In a statement carried by TV3, he stressed that youth groups that have come up in recent times must be commended and not condemned. He said these groups were playing their roles in seeking to be active participants in the governance of the country.
“In recent times in Ghana, there are some positive developments in the country that should be commended but not condemned.
“The formation of youth groups and movements in response to the call of the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to Ghanaians not to be spectators but citizens in the governance of the country should be supported by all well-meaning Ghanaians.
He continued: “So youth groups such as ‘Youth in Politics,’ ‘Youth in Development,’ ‘Fix The Country Now’ are all positive developments that should be encouraged and supported.”
Recently, a group of young activists emerged under the banner of #FixTheCountry campaign, a largely online group that leveraged on social media to demand good governance and accountability.
A planned march was torpedoed by Police months back before they managed to secure a court order that allowed them to protest in Accra in August. A second protest took place in Sekondi Takoradi on 21st September.
The #FixTheCountry campaign has been accused of political bias on several occasions by pro-government persons who say the group tilts towards and is even funded by the main opposition National Democratic Congress.
But the NDC’s 2020 flagbearer and former president, John Dramani Mahama, during his ongoing ‘Thank You Tour’ dismissed the talk of financing the group stressing that its activities were as a result of collective political failure.
The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has announced the results of the 2021 Population and Housing Census will be released on Wednesday September 22, Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has said
Mr Oppong Nkrumah in a statement on Tuesday September 21 said the release of the report is an important milestone in the 2021 PHC dissemination strategy that aims to promote wide usage of census data for research, policy and planning and share lessons learned from the implementation process with national and international partners.
The GSS brought the data collection for the 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC) to a conclusion on 8th August 2021
He said between now and 8th August, they will want all persons who have not yet been counted to come out and say they have not been counted.
“We appeal to the public to use the official channel for reporting. On the tollfree number 0800-426-426 or any of the other numbers 059-147- 6895, 020-685-0157 059-147-6893, 059-147-6884, 020-685-0157, and 055-162- 5567,” the Government Statistician said Professor Samuel Annim at a press conference on Monday August 2.
Okatakyie Afrifa said the youth in the last three decades have experienced nothing but governance that leaves more to be desired.
A #FixTheCountry protester in Sekondi in the Western Region, Okatakyie Afrifa-Mensah says they joined the demonstration to drum home to present and past governments that Ghanaians deserve better.
“We want the leadership to know that we are tired of substandard governance and leadership, governments that have no plan and directionless leadership,” he told JoyNews’ Ina-Thalia Qunasah.
He said the youth in the last three decades have experienced nothing but governance that leaves more to be desired. “We are telling them [political leadership] that we have had enough of the political pettiness such as National Democratic Congress (NDC) government not continuing the project of its predecessor New Patriotic Party (NPP) government and vice versa,” he said.
Lead by social media activists, the protest, which started on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp, has been highlighting economic problems and government management.
After several back and forth with the Ghana Police Service, the activist and their supporters marched in Accra on August 4, against President Akufo-Addo’s government.
Dressed in red and black and chanting patriotic songs, protesters waved placards declaring “corruption breeds poverty” and “fix our education system now” as they marched in the city centre.
“Nana Akufo-Addo, we’re suffering. Do something for us. Nothing is working,” were the words of one of the protesters in Accra. “The government must wake up,” another demonstrator said.
The demonstration was the most recent anti-government protest since March when a top court dismissed the main opposition party’s challenge to Akufo-Addo’s re-election late last year.
One of the conveners of the campaign, Oliver Barker Vormawor, said after the Accra demonstration that they will take the drive to other regions including the Ashanti, Western, Volta and Northern.
The Western region protestors said they are asking for the same thing every Ghanaian wants: to fix the system.
“It cannot be that the region we exploit oil from does not have much in terms of infrastructure to boast of…when you walk around you see the level of hopelessness in the eyes of the youth. They do not have jobs and there is an issue of insecurity that we want to be fixed,” the protester said.
A few days ago, the Western Regional Police Command began a search for a missing 9-month pregnant woman, Josephine Panyin Mensah, who is yet to return home after leaving home on the dawn of Thursday, September 16, for a dawn walk in Takoradi.
Reports suggest that the missing pregnant woman has been found at Axim.
Protesting traders lock up shops of foreigners in Koforidua
General Secretary of Traders Advocacy Group Ghana (TAAG), Nana Poku, has rejected the closure of shops belonging to some foreigners especially Nigerians in Ghana.
He said the closure does not paint a good picture of Ghana to the outside world.
His comments come after members of the Eastern Region branch of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) on Monday, September 20 locked several shops belonging to foreigners, especially Nigerians, Koforidua.
The action is to register their displeasure about the continuous involvement of foreigners in retail trade in the Region.
The GUTA members undertook a peaceful protest, first of all, wielding placards before closing the shops belonging to the Nigerians.
They posted notices against the shops and draped them with red bands.
The Public Relations Officer of GUTA, Darlen Nana Boateng, says members will use all legal means to prevent foreigners from engaging in retail trading in the Region.
“Those who don’t have papers, we will keep their shops closed,” he said.
“We won’t allow them to take over our business. The Ministry of Trade [and Industry] is aware of our action.”
But speaking to TV3, Nana Poku said “Closing shops in Ghana is primitive and outmoded way of doing things. It creates an image out there that when you go to Ghana you are chased out of your shops.
AfCFTA headquarters is in Ghana and how come you put a behaviour of stopping people to trade in Ghana. It cannot work.”
Following the delay in the release of the Committee’s report, families of the killed youth say they have become apprehensive and have hence written to the Presidency to furnish them the report.
The families of the youth who were killed during the Ejura disturbances have written to the Presidency requesting for copies of the report of the committee that probed the issue.
“Earlier today, we, the families of the victims of the Ejura shootings, and the family of Ibrahim Anyass Mohammed, alias Kaaka, resolved to submit separate Right to Information requests to the Office of the President, and to the Minister of Interior, requesting access to the Report of the Ministerial Committee constituted at the request of the President to look into the Ejura Shootings.”
“With the above in mind, we have requested access to the report of the Ministerial Committee into the Ejura Shootings, in the hope that releasing the report for public discussion could kick-start the long-delayed process needed to provide justice for our families, and our community,” they added in a statement.
They explained that they took the action following the delay in making the report public.
“Despite repeated assurances by Government officials that the Report will be released expeditiously, including a claim by the Minister for Information that the Report will be released latest by the end of last week; no such steps have been taken. As a result, we have become apprehensive about the commitment of the Government to releasing the report, and to working towards justice for our families.”
The families of the victims say that the appropriate authorities have taken no steps to investigate, arrest or prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes, many weeks on due to the delay in releasing the committee’s report.
Meanwhile, a member of the Justice Koomson Committee that probed the Ejura disturbances, Dr. Vladimir Antwi-Danso, has said it is unfair to ask the committee to pile pressure on the government to publish the Ejura report.
Speaking to the media, Dr. Antwi Danso said the committee is done with its work, hence the onus now lies on the government to make the report public.
“Our work ended with the submission of our findings to the government, and it ends there. I will still insist that it is not our duty to demand the publication of the report. Legally, we don’t have the right… It is also not fair,” he said.
Background
Nearly two months ago, on 29 June 2021, some military personnel deployed to Ejura, following some disturbances, shot and killed some of the residents.
The disturbances occurred following the killing of Kaaka a social activist in the area.
Following the incident, the President of Ghana called for a public inquiry into the shooting incidents, and a Ministerial Committee was subsequently put in place.
The report was submitted to the government on July 27, 2021.
The President of the Republic and Co-Chair of the Group of Eminent Advocates of the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has urged world leaders to hasten the implementation of the 17 UN SDGs in order to build a fairer, healthier, safer and more prosperous world for all.
According to President Akufo-Addo, “As our world strives to deal with the challenges posed by the pandemic, we have to turn the crisis into an opportunity, and ramp up actions necessary to achieve the SDGs.”
Speaking at the 2021 SDGs Moment on the “Decade of Action”, on Monday, 20th September 2021, at the UN Headquarters, the President recounted the 2019 Declaration, where world leaders declared the years 2020 to 2030 as the Decade of Action, and called on all Member States to step-up and scale up significantly actions to give the world a fighting chance of achieving the SDGs by 2030.
He indicated that, a few months after the historic Declaration, the entire world was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has since had a devastating effect on lives and livelihoods, and significantly undermined prospects of achieving the SDGs.
“Available estimates indicate that, in 2020 alone, some 124 million people in the world were pushed back into extreme poverty, with some 132 million people experiencing hunger as a result of the pandemic. The net effect of these adverse developments is that our world is unlikely to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by 2030,” the President said.
Describing the quest to achieve the SDGs, in the wake of the pandemic, as becoming more daunting, he urged world leaders “to think big, act big and act smartly.”
As countries take action to address the effects of the pandemic, President Akufo-Addo stated that “we cannot afford to perpetuate unsustainable development, by disturbing the critical balance between economic, social and environmental imperatives.”
He continued, “Our recovery measures and interventions cannot and should not be de-linked from actions to ensure prosperity, promote peace, protect people, and safeguard the planet. Undeniably, the SDGs provide a sound framework for responding to the pandemic, and putting communities, businesses and ecosystems on a sustainable pathway.”
Proposing “two essential ingredients for the task of building forward better, and scaling-up actions to hasten progress towards the realisation of the SDGs”, the President noted that, firstly, there is a pressing need to bridge the US$ 2.5 trillion SDGs financing gap, especially for developing countries, where the human development deficit is indeed greatest.
“With an estimated US$360 trillion available in global financial assets, as of 2019, the resources to finance the SDGs are certainly available. The question raised is whether the rich countries of the world are, thus, prepared to accept the new paradigm of the SGDs, and play their part or not,” he noted.
The President’s also touched on the world’s ability to access and deploy innovative solutions and new technologies, that will greatly speed up progress towards the goals.
“New forms of social practice and organization, as well as new and improved technological products and processes, are key enablers for achieving the SDGs. Whilst embracing innovation, deliberate steps should be taken to discourage innovations that contribute to environmental degradation, that are disruptive of livelihoods, and that exacerbate inequalities,” President Akufo-Addo added.
All is set for the much talked about ‘Okada for Car’ initiative as government has acquired mini vehicles to be used for the intervention.
The governing NPP promised commercial motorbike riders, popularly known as ‘Okada’, a better alternative should it win a second term.
The promise is now set to be actualised with the acquisition of a number of mini vehicles to kick start the initiative, which will see Okada drivers exchange their motorcycles for a car on special and flexible terms with government.
The ‘Okada for Car’ initiative was announced by Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia in the build-up to the 2020 elections.
In the heated ‘Okada’ debate, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) promised to legalise the operations of Okada if elected back to power – a position many kicked against, considering the high rate of fatalities in the Okada business as well as the nuisance it creates on the road.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP), however, announced its plans to provide the Okada riders what it called “a better and safer alternative” by providing them opportunities to own vehicles in a special, flexible barter agreement and terms.
Government has now taken a big step towards fulfilling the promise by acquiring hundreds of mini-vehicles to start with the first phase of the ‘Okada for Car’ initiative.
Okada riders interested in owning one of the vehicles will be registered and then hand over their motorbikes in exchange for the vehicle.
Government will then register the vehicle in the driver’s name, while the driver pays in flexible instalment terms, the difference in value between the motorbike and the vehicle.
Government sources have revealed only Okada motorbikes which are registered with the DVLA will be eligible to swap their motorbikes for the vehicle.
Also, the National Identification card will play a key role in the entire process, as it will be a key requirement.
Vice President, Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia says materialism and the “get rich quick” syndrome is driving some people in society to kill and destroy.
He said there was the need for the Catholic Church and faith-based bodies to help the Government to address the problem of materialism and the “get rich quick” syndrome which was fast eroding the moral fabric of the Ghanaian society.
He appealed to the leadership of the Catholic Church and faith-based bodies to lay more emphasis in their sermons, the need for people to uphold high more values, such as hard work, honesty and integrity.
Dr Bawumia said this in a speech delivered on his behalf by Mr John Peter Amewu, the Minister of Railways Development, at the climax of the Centenary celebration of the building of the Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Minor Basilica in Navrongo, Upper East Region.
The celebration was on the theme; “100 years of existence of the Minor Basilica, celebrating our membership of the household of God, (Eph 2, 19).”
They were given a place to settle in Navrongo where there was a colonial military presence, and they planted the seed of Catholicism, and built a Chapel, now known as the Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows.
The Vice President congratulated the Catholic faithful of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese as they marked the Centenary of the construction of the first Catholic Church in Northern Ghana from 1920 to 2020.
Dr Bawumia said “For a Church that has been here 100 years, I must commend you for maintaining this beautiful edifice which has become one of our national tourist centres. I am informed that this Church is the mother Church and the cradle of Catholicism in Northern Ghana.”
He urged the congregants to follow the good example of the Missionaries and to remember that while good and sacrificial work might not be readily acknowledged, “Posterity will speak favourably of your good deeds in due time.”
In his sermon, the Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana, Most Reverend Henryk Mieczyslaw Jagodzinski called on the congregation to reflect on the sorrowful moments of the mother of Jesus Christ, Mary, when she went through suffering during the death of her son.null
“Today, it will be good to stop a moment and think about our lady’s pain and sorrows. She is our mother, it will be good to stop for a moment and say to our lady, thank you for accepting to be mother when the angel said it to you.”
He said “It was there on Calvary that Jesus gave us Mary as our mother, not only to take care of us, but also that, we may feel that we are the offspring of this woman who is to overcome Satan.
“After all, this is why the Lord Jesus defeated Satan on Calvary so that each of us will introduce the fruit of that victory in his or her life,” the Apostolic Nuncio said.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Atta-Mills Institute (AMI), Koku Anyidoho has described the late Ama Benyiwa Doe as a true fearless nationalist.
In eulogizing the female politician who died on Sunday, Mr. Anyidoho said the late Benyiwa-Doe was a fearless patriot.
According to him, she was also a woman of valour in every sense of the word.
To him, she was a pillar of strength for the good and solid old days of the PNDC and NDC.
Aside from these attributes, he also described her as a confidant of the late Professor John Evans-Atta Mills.
He tweeted and said: “A true fearless patriot & nationalist. A woman of valour in every sense of the word. A pillar of strength for the good old solid days of the PNDC/NDC; and a solid confidant of President Atta-Mills. Untie Ama Chavez: I salute you for serving Ghana well. We shall meet one day”.
She was a former National Women Organiser for the NDC also served as the MP for Gomoa West from 1992 to 2004.
Operatives of the National Security have arrested one Gideon Darko, who is reported to be behind the rogue website, Jerusalema, which is purported to be leaking question papers in the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
The suspect was arrested on Friday at his hideout in Kasoa in the Central Region.
Last week, WAEC announced that it had rescheduled two papers after detecting a possible leakage of the questions on social media and on “rogue” websites prior to the exams that were due last Wednesday.
“The cheating social media groups were in full swing prior to the conduct of the mathematics and the English language papers on 9th and 13th September,” the Head of the Council’s Test Administration Division, George Ohene-Mantey, said.
The Head of Legal at WAEC, Reverend Victor Brew, in a Citi News interview said his outfit is working with all relevant agencies to ensure that the suspect faces the law.
“There is this gentleman called Gideon Darko who was arrested at Kasoa on Friday, September 17, 2021. We have actually been doing some surveillance underground which led to his arrest.”
“This actually is not the first time because when the examinations start, this “Apor” thing is a whole big thing around the country but we set our intelligence in motion right from the start and it led to his arrest”.
Meanwhile, WAEC has announced new dates for writing the Physics and Business Management papers which were postponed.
WAEC in a statement said the Physics exam will be taken on Friday, October 1, 2021, while the Business Management exam will be written on October 7, 2021, at 8.30 am and 1:00 pm respectively.
Two people have been confirmed dead while eleven others are in critical condition following an accident at Ekumfi Esaakyire on the Winneba-Cape Coast High way.
The accident happened Saturday morning around 6:20 am between a Toyota Fish vehicle with registration number CR-748-17 and a Sprinter bus with registration number GT-5860-20.
Reports say the Toyota vehicle fully loaded with passengers was traveling from Accra to Cape Coast and the Sprinter bus was also traveling from Mankessim to Accra when they collided at the sharp curve at Ekumfi Esaakyire.
The driver and one other at the front of the Toyota fish died while the victims were being conveyed to the Winneba Trauma Hospital.
An eyewitness blamed the accident on the driver of the Toyota Fish whom he said was speeding at the curve while overtaking
A suspected armed robber has been shot dead in a failed robbery attack on the Adonteng Rural Bank branch in Abomosu in Atewa West District in Eastern Region.
The deceased armed robber was part of a robbery gang that attempted to attack the bank at about 1:55 am Friday, September 17, 2021.
According to the branch manager of the bank, Bernice Brago, the men armed with guns, all wearing face masks exchanged gunshots with the private security man on duty Adomako Samuel when he noticed them.
Police visited the scene of crime upon receiving information and found that the armed men had broken part of the glass door leading to the bank hall and part of the window frame.
Police further found one empty BB cartridge and a crowbar.
The Police team combed the area and found the lifeless male body in a pool of blood. He was later identified as Annor Joseph, 34, a native of Abomosu, lying dead, about 120 meters behind the bank with his itel mobile phone lying beside him.
Gunshot wound was detected in his throat.
The Deputy Public Relations Officer of the Eastern Regional Police command Inspector Francis Gomado said the itel mobile phone and the crowbar were retrieved by Police as exhibit while the body of the deceased has been deposited at the Kibi Government Hospital morgue for preservation awaiting autopsy.
Rampant armed robbery attacks in parts of the Eastern region have reduced following the deployment of the Anti-Armed Robbery Taskforce by the Acting Inspector General of Police Dr.George Akuffo Dampare
On state television, the junta’s statement read in part, “The former president is and remains in Guinea. We will not yield to any pressure.”
Junta leader Col. Mamady Doumbouya said Conakry would not surrender deposed President Alpha Conde.
Regional leaders have put pressure and sanctions on the junta members.
After a meeting with regional leaders Friday, Guinean junta leader Col. Mamady Doumbouya dismissed the idea of letting deposed President Alpha Conde leave the country.
The Guinean junta, which overthrew Conde on September 5, said it will not cave to demands from regional mediators. It also dismissed chatter that West African leaders had negotiated a way for Conde to leave Guinea.
On state television, the junta’s statement read in part, “The former president is and remains in Guinea. We will not yield to any pressure.”
ECOWAS responds
Ghanaian President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, currently the chair of the regional bloc ECOWAS, and Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara visited Doumbouya on Friday. Ouattara had hoped to leave with Conde, according to Reuters news agency.
Ouattara told Radio-Television Guineenne (RTG) at the Conakry airport: “I met my brother Alpha Conde, who is doing well. We will remain in contact.”
Thursday, ECOWAS slapped targeted sanctions on the Guinean junta leaders ranging from travel restrictions to the freezing of bank accounts for the leadership and their families.
The sanctions are in response to the junta’s decision not to free Conde
Who is Alpha Conde?
Conde was deposed on September 5. He was detained during the coup.
Conde first came to power in 2010, during Guinea’s first democratic elections since independence from France in 1958.
Last year, Conde pushed for a constitutional referendum to make it possible for him to seek a third term in office. This led to massive demonstrations which often turned violent.
He did win a third term though in October only to be ousted in a coup ten months later.
Veteran Ghanaian actor Psalm Adjeteyfio has disclosed some of the reasons between his current predicament.
According to the ‘Taxi Driver’ actor, he abandoned his family at the peak of his career.
In an interview on the Delay Show, Mr. Adjeteyfio, who is popularly known as TT, said he exchanged his children for a demon.
“I then left my matrimonial home and followed this lady to Cape Coast to seek greener pastures. I didn’t know I was going after a demon,” he bitterly said.
Psalm Adjetefio who was recounting his ordeal amid tears, said he is sure he would have been in jail by now if he got to know earlier about the treatment the young lady subjected his children through.
“If I had known of the maltreatment earlier, I would have been serving a life sentence because I would have murdered the lady, thank God I was made aware later”.
Although the veteran actor said he had apologized several times to his children, he repeatedly asked them in a live TV show for their forgiveness.
“Now that I am sick, it is these same children who are taking care of me and my health,” TT said as he broke down in tears.
The Minister for Lands and Natural, Resources, Samuel Jinapor, has turned in 18 impounded containers of Rosewood to the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral for the construction of the Cathedral Project.
The presentation was done on Friday, 17th September, 2017 at a short ceremony at the Forestry Commission’s depot in Accra.
This follows the inspection and confistication of the 5 containers of Rosewood by the Sector Minister, Jinapor at the Tema Port on Friday, 30th July 2021, where he disclosed the intent of government to donate all confiscated rosewood towards the construction of the National Cathedral.
He said that this act of donation is proof of the transparency in the management of the natural resources the President of the Republic promised and as appointees given the opportunity to assist the President in preserving and managing the natural resources, they will ensure that this transparency is done with a high sense of intergity.
Adding that “we will go on to work to ensure the cartel and syndicate behind the harvesting and exportation of these rosewoods are dealt with to help protect our environment”
Abu Jinapor also hinted that the government is putting in place measures to ensure that Ghana does not become a criminal transit point for Rosewood trade and exportation.
On his part, Deputy Minister of Finance Ken Ofori Atta John kumah who represented his Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta expressed profound gratitude to the Lands Minister and the Forestry Commission for such a gracious offer towards the construction of the edifice.
He said this means the Ministry will no longer have to cough up funds to purchase wood for the project and used the opportunity to appeal to Ghanaians to support in kind and cash towards the completion of the National Cathedral.
The representatives from the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral, Rev. Prof. Dr. Paul Frimpong Manso and Rev. Dr. Joyce Aryee also added their voice in appreciation to the Ministry for this donation.
Rev. Frimpong Manso in his words of appreciation on behalf of the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Apostle Prof. Opoku Onyinah, solicited support for the cathedral by reiterating that the National Cathedral is not for the President, neither is it for the government but for Ghanaians and so they should celebrate this worthy cause.
Rev. Dr. Joyce Aryee also expressed joy for this gesture saying ” Rosewood is seen as one of the most expensive wood in the world and so it is good that we are going to use this kind of wood for the house of God”
She also called on Ghanaians to donate generously as the President has suggested, a minimum of 100gh cedis a month. She said if this is really followed through, they would have more than enough funds to complete the Cathedral and would not have to go into the coffers of the country for any more funds.
The vision of the President for the National Cathedral is for the edifice to provide a historic opportunity and to put God at the center of our nation’s affairs and serves as a symbol of our eternal and continuous gratitude to Him, for the favours that He continues to shower and restore on our nation
A Physics teacher at Achimota Senior High School in Accra has been found hanging in his room, the Accra Regional Police Command has confirmed.
Forty-eight-year-old Clifford Nkrumah’s body was found hanged by the ceiling on Thursday, 16 September 2021.
He is suspected to have taken his own life.
The police has launched an investigation into the matter.
A few weeks ago, the Deputy Director of Mental Health at the Ghana Health Service, Dr Amma Ampomaa Boadu, revealed that a total of 417 attempted suicide cases have been recorded in the country for the first half of the year.
The Ashanti Region topped with 61 cases followed by the Eastern Region with 60 cases.
Speaking to the media at a mental health literacy training programme organised by the Mental Health Authority for some journalists in Kumasi, Dr Boadu said the Upper East came third with 47 cases while Greater Accra and Central regions had 37 cases each.
Dr Boadu said the Volta region recorded 35 cases, Oti region, 22; Bono East region, 21; and Western North region, 17.
Bono, North East, and Upper West regions recorded 16 cases each.
Others are Western region, 14; Ahafo region, 11; Northern region, 4; and Savanna region, 3.
She noted that media reportage on suicide cases contributed to the increasing cases while mental health challenges also played a major role.
Dr Boadu said her office will continue to intensify the advocacy and promotion of mental health and also train more health workers to be able to identify common mental health disorders.
She noted that when people have challenges and go to facilities, they sometimes do not have the medications.
She called on the government and civil society organisations to invest more in mental health.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Mental Health Authority, Prof Akwasi Osei, also said mental illnesses have risen, which is contributing to attempted suicide cases in the country.
He noted that mental health issues have not been given the necessary attention they deserve because the nation has inadequate mental health facilities to take care of patients
Member of Parliament for Awutu Senya East, Mavis Hawa Koomson, has said women in Ghana’s political terrain are considered as prostitutes by their male counterparts.
She indicated that women have had to ensure severe hardship and verbal abuse meted out to them by their male counterparts.
This situation, she said, must stop because they have what it takes to govern a country.
The Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development further expressed optimism that her party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) will produce either a female president or vice, in the near future to demonstrate to the world that the NPP is a party that gives women opportunities to serve.
“A female politician goes through a whole lot of embarrassments. They think if you are a female and you are a politician you are a prostitute. Why do you have to say it? We are not.
“We are fighting for our place in politics and in governance. There is no way we can do very good politics and governance in our country without women participating.
“I contested against a male in 2021 and 2026 and the kind of insults. To the extent that I was told my three children have different fathers which is not true. I have three children with the same man my husband.
“To me, it is high time we moved away for refusing women their rightful place when it comes to politics. This is within our political party and our opponents.
“Political offices are not too sensitive for women to hold. I know there will be a time in this country that we will have a female president or even a female vice. We saw it in the last elections when the NDC went in for Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyeman.
“I think NPP is rather more in the position to do it this than the NDC. In future even it will happen it will be in the NPP, we have a lot of great women in our party,” she said on Good Evening Ghana programme Thursday September 16
A branch secretary of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Awutu Senya West constituency, Mr Emmanuel Kwame Lartey, has hacked his fellow party man, Mr Ebenezer Akrade, a branch youth organiser, with a machete over some GHS600 given them during the 2020 polls by Gizella Tetteh Agbotui, the current MP for the constituency.
The money was meant to be shared among the constituency executives but Mr Lartey pocketed the money for himself.
For almost a year, Mr Lartey had allegedly refused to give the other executives their share despite several demands to that end.
On Thursday, 16 September 2021, the victim, Mr Akrade, made an umpteenth attempt to get his share of the money from Mr Lartey, resulting in his hacking by the latter.
The confrontation occurred around 1 pm when the organiser met the cutlass-wielding secretary who was on his way to the farm.
The secretary, according to eyewitness accounts, after having been confronted by the orgainiser, inflicted deep machete wounds on the victim, who is currently battling for his life at the hospital.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will today, Thursday, 16 September 2021, submit a list of nominated Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) to the Minister for Local Government and Regional Re-organisation Dan Botwe.
This was disclosed by the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin in a Facebook post.
Mr Dan Botwe, he said is expected to announce list very soon.
The government has been criticised for the delay in appointing new MMDCEs with some critics arguing that it is stalling developments across the country.
Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Minister of Foreign Affairs
The Foreign Affairs Minister says ECOWAS sent a delegation to Guinea to engage Condé but failed
Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, says the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) tried on several occasions to stop Alpha Condé from changing Guinea’s constitution.
President Condé of Guinea, deposed on 5 September, changed the country’s constitution to seek a third term in office.
Botchwey was addressing a press conference in the lead-up to an ECOWAS Heads of State summit in Accra on Thursday.
The minister said reports that the sub-regional block had looked on and failed to prevent Condé from going ahead to change the constitution are inaccurate.
Paddling beneath the surface
“What you see from the outside is that everybody is relaxed. That is not the case: there is a lot of engagement,” she told journalists on Wednesday.
“If we take the example of Guinea, if you recall, there was a referendum after the change of constitution … ECOWAS did not sit aloof and watch this happen.
“We engaged and I was even part of delegations that went there, sent by heads of state to engage with all stakeholders and to try and stop this … and engage with the president as well. But unfortunately, it did not happen,” the minister said.
She added: “When something like this happens let’s not assume that behind the scenes there is nothing happening.
“I can assure you that when anything of the sort happens, behind the scenes the heads of state, knowing fully well … that the country has signed on the protocol or the charter, but also is a sovereign state, … we have done everything behind the scenes with that colleague to engage.”
Leaders meet in Accra
Meanwhile, West African leaders will meet on Thursday to decide how to respond to the coup in Guinea and how to pressure the junta leaders to return the country to constitutional rule, the Foreign Minister said.
The 15-member ECOWAS has condemned the putsch that overthrew President Alpha Condé on 5 September. It was the third coup in West and Central Africa since April.
The bloc suspended Guinea from the decision-making bodies of the organisation last week and sent a mission to meet the coup leaders
The Koforidua Circuit Court “B” presided by Her Honour Mercy Adei -Kotei has convicted the 30-year-old carpenter who abducted and defiled a 14-year-old girl, to seven (7) years imprisonment with hard labour.
Keteku Enock Yaw was convicted on his own plea of guilty on the first count of defilement.
He, however, pleaded not guilty to the second count of abduction hence expected to reappear before the court for trial to continue.
The Prosecuting Officer Chief Inspector Richmond Keelson told the Court on September 7, 2021, when the case was first heard that, the complainant in the case who stays with the victim travelled to Nkawkaw to attend a funeral on August 27, 2021 and left the victim in the care of her sister.
She was informed upon arrival on August 30, 2021 that the victim had gone missing since August 28, 2021.
During the search of the whereabouts of the victim, her dress was found hanging on a dry line on the corridor of the convict’s room in the same vicinity.
The convict came out of the room when the door was knocked. The complainant and a witness in the case forcibly entered the room only to see the victim lying on the bed of the accused person.
He was arrested and handed over to DOVVSU. The victim said the accused had sexual intercourse with her and locked her in the room whenever he went out.
The convict admitted having sexual intercourse with the victim only twice.
A police medical report was issued to the victim which a medical doctor confirmed that the victim had been defiled.
He was charged with abduction and defilement.
The victim told Starr news the convict Keteku Enock Yaw had Sexual intercourse with her four times a day and locked her in the room whenever he went out.
“He had sexual intercourse with me four times daily. He locks me in the room whenever he is leaving to work. He bought food for me once a day. Bled during the first day. Now I feel pain. He bought some dresses for me that when I give birth then I would wear them
WAEC has postponed the writing of Business Management and Physics in its ongoing WASSCE over leakage.
Information reaching SmartMediaGh.com has it that the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) has postponed Physics and Business Management papers over leakage.
The papers, which were supposed to be written today, Wednesday, September 15, 2021 were postponed due to alodged publication of the questions on social media.
The Council has scheduled the papers to Monday, October 11, 2021.
Meanwhile, Education think tank, Africa Education Watch has commended the examination body for the action taken.
Barely four hours after the founder and leader of Glorious Word and Power Ministries Reverend Isaac Owusu Bempah was denied bail and remanded into Police custody by an Accra High Court, he is said to have suddenly taken ill.null
MyNewsGh.com gathers that the renowned Pastor who always boasts of being friends with the President of Ghana Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has been rushed to the Police Hospital where he is on admission under armed police guard.
He is said to have been handcuffed to his sickbed while a police guard is stationed by him to ensure that he does not escape pending his discharge.
Sources at the Police Hospital reveal that he had been calling on friends in higher offices within the corridors of power to plead with them to get at least the handcuffs off him as he receives medical attention but that has proven futile.null
It could be remembered that Rev. Owusu Bempah and four others were remanded by an Accra High Court for assaulting Police officers who were at his church to effect an arrest on Sunday, September 12, 2021.
Owusu Bempah and his Junior Pastors were seen on videos on social media threatening new convert Nana Agradaa while brandishing guns.
In a separate video, the Pastor was seen with his Junior Pastors had stormed the residence of Nana Agradaa and were threatening an attack on her if she had stepped out of her house to the compound.
Former President Jonh Dramani Mahama has called Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia to console him for the loss of his mother.
The death of the Vice President’s mother was announced by the Vice President in a statement and Mr Mahama has become the latest of a growing list of personalities who have shared their message of commiseration with Dr Bawumia and his family.
“I just got off the phone with my brother, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, to console him and the entire family on the loss of their mother, Hajia Mariama Bawumia earlier this morning.
May Allah grant her a peaceful rest,” Mr Mamaha shared on his Facebook page.
The Vice President in a statement announcing the death of his mother said, “Hajia Mariama passed away peacefully this morning in Accra. Burial is scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday, September 14, 2021, in Walewale.”
Hajia Mariama fondly called Maame was born on September 15, 1939, and died at the age of 81. She died two days away from her 82nd birthday.
Vice President Bawumia in a birthday message to his mother in 2019, described her as caring and supportive.
According to the Vice President, he owed his success to his mother who together with his late father laid a firm foundation for him.
“Happy 80th birthday to my lovely mum, Hajia Mariama Bawumia (alias Maame). I always thank the Almighty God for giving me such a caring and supportive mother. She has always been there for us. The pillar. I am who I am today because of the foundation she and my late father laid for me. I cannot thank her enough. Maame still plays a pivotal role in my life. Her insights are piercing. A mother’s love is truly special. Happy birthday Maame from me and all your children. We love you so much. May Allah grant you a long life and good health,” the Vice President wrote.
Hajia Mariama Bawumia is a native of Kpasenkpe in the West Mamprusi District of the North East Region and was one of the first northern female students to have gained admission to the prestigious Wesley Girls High School in Cape Coast in the Central Region.
• Godfred Dame has expressed his sentiment over the phenomenon of lawyers evading taxes
• He said it is against the code of ethics of the profession to evade tax obligations
• Ken Ofori-Atta earlier revealed close to 6,000 lawyers were evading taxes
The Minister for Justice and Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has expressed his displeasure over the phenomenon of Ghanaian lawyers evading their obligations.
This comes after Finance Minister in an earlier interview granted to Asaase Radio revealed that many professionals including close to 6,000 lawyers in the country were not honouring their tax obligations.null
But Godfred Dame believes this is rather unfortunate as many lawyers tend to live luxurious lifestyles which does not correspond to the revenue they generate.
Addressing fellow members of the bar at the 2021 Bar Conference in the Upper East Region on Monday September 13 2021, Godfred Dame pointed that tax evasion by lawyers was a criminal act and contrary to the rules and ethics of the profession.
“It is sad to say that many lawyers are caught in the phenomenon of tax evasion, as they unjustifiably avoid being caught in the tax net, either by understating their profits or concealing their true incomes. The luxurious lifestyles of certain lawyers, riding in the plushest of vehicles and acquiring top-end properties, are hardly commensurate with the amount of taxes they pay,” Godfred Dame said.
“I entreat lawyers to honour the fullest of their tax obligations, as not to do is not only criminal but also bothers on a gross violation of professional rules. The legal professional conduct and ethical rules requires lawyers to demonstrate the highest level of ethical behaviour and integrity at all times,” the Attorney General added.
Government, through the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, supported over 75,000 people along with the coastal communities with food items during the closed fishing season.
The intervention was to reduce the effects of the closed season on the livelihoods of fisherfolks and promote compliance.
Mrs Mavis Hawa Koomson, the Sector Minister, who announced this during the Minister’s briefing in Accra on Sunday, said 15,000 bags of rice and 6,250 cartons of cooking oil were distributed to over 75,000 people along with the coastal communities.
The Ministry also distributed approved fishing nets to some fishermen in the Volta and Central regions.
The closed season occurred from July 1 to August 312021 which covered Artisanal and Inshore fleets and Industrial fleets to ensure the fishes rejuvenated and grew into maturity.
Mrs Koomson also announced that the government was acquiring four patrol boats to help the security agencies guard the marine life and ward off fisherfolks who over exploited the country’s sea waters.null
The four patrol boats would be deployed in each of the four coastal regions namely; Central, Greater Accra, Volta and Western regions.
This would facilitate frequent inspection at sea, offshore and for prompt response to detecting infringements at the VMS centres, the Minister stated.
She also explained that the acquisition of the boats would also accelerate the fight against piracy on the West African coast.
The Minister said a research vessel would be procured soon to aid a scientific analysis of marine life.
“Research vessels are important means through which the condition and change in marine ecosystems and marine fish stock can be assessed to define allowable catch quantities,” she added.null
She believed the procurement of a research vessel would help bridge the current gap within the “fisheries sector’s ability to obtain marine data to support effective management of marine.
On washing of dead fishes ashore in April this year, Mrs Koomson said the Water Assessment Examination conducted by the Fisheries Commission revealed that the fishes in Osu died because of low oxygen concentration in their tissues.
That condition in the seawater caused stress to the fishes leading to their death.
Additionally, the dolphins that were washed ashore in Accra, and Brewire-Akyenim in the Nzema East of the Western Region died because of drastic temperature change and sonar disturbance leading to trauma, dehydration and suffocation under the collapse of their weight.
She said those factors were natural and could therefore not be prevented
Construction of phase two of the Tema motorway interchange begins by November 2021 says Ministry of Roads and Highways.
This is as a result of the signing of an agreement between the Government of Japan and the Government of Ghana on Friday September 10, 2021.about:blankabout:blank××
Ambassador of Japan to Ghana, Himeno Tsutomu, and a Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, signed agreement.
The minister lauded the Japanese government for its continued support to Ghana in different sectors including energy, agriculture, medical, and infrastructure, more importantly, road infrastructure.
He acknowledged that through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Japan is not only supporting the Tema Motorway Interchange project, but also the construction of a new bridge across the Volta River on the Eastern Corridor road.
“Upon completion, it is my hope that the projects would ensure safe, efficient road transportation and contribute to the efficient flow of goods and services as envisioned by the government of Ghana led by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo,” the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration said.
Kwasi Amoako-Atta told the media after the signing of the agreement that the project will begin in earnest since the funds have been made available.
He explained that the agreement entails the financing of the phase two of the Tema motorway interchange project and rehabilitation of national trunk road N8 by the Japanese government.
According to him, “There is a company that executed the first phase. But it is not automatic that they will be elected to do the second phase. But whatever it takes, the contractor will come from Japan. Now that the agreement has been signed, the way is now opened for the project to start, so between now and November, the Tema Motorway project will commence for the second phase.
“The N8 which is the Twifo Praso- Assin Fosu is also in the second phase. The first phase links the Bekwai road and that has already taken off. The contractors are there as we speak and there are lots of work ongoing on there. There is no hindrance at all. Ghana is always proactive, and the President wants to see this action implemented.”
The phase 2 project is a continuation of the phase I project, which helped to improve the section of the road between Assin Praso and Bekwai.
The approximately $60million project is part of government’s international corridor road improvement plan whose objective is to facilitate trade within the West African sub-region.
The construction works involve the transformation of the parallel two-tier interchange into a three-tier interchange by a Japanese construction firm known as Messrs Shimizu Dai-Nippon.
This is expected to hasten turnaround time at the interchange. It is also, generally, expected to improve the capacity, safety, and efficiency of transport and freight on the Tema Motorway roundabout
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has cut sod for the second phase of construction works on the main University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) Campus in Ho.
The 68-million-dollar China Aid phase two project will provide fully equipped state-of-the-art administration block, School of Nursing and Midwifery, classrooms, offices, libraries, and laboratories to mitigate the infrastructure challenges of the University, since its establishment in 2012.
President Akufo-Addo, who was on a working visit to the region said the university had persisted and continued to prove its worth with countless achievements and assured of government’s readiness to help it expand.
“Even though it is a young University, already, its receiving lots of laurels and accolades and rankings…therefore, there is the need for the Government to ensure the infrastructure is at the measure of the University,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo said China continued to hold firm her friendship with Ghana, which would continue to grow into progressive partnerships.
“It gives me the opportunity to express once again, the strong appreciation of the Government and the people of Ghana to the Government of the People’s Republic of China. The solidarity the Chinese Government and people continue to exhibit towards us is something that, Mr Ambassador, we appreciate very much indeed,” he said.
“The various things that make up Ghana’s Foreign Policy to China are well known. We are not deviating and we will not deviate from the One China Policy. It continues to be an important cornerstone of the Foreign Policy of our country.”
The President recognised the University’s role in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, saying it was a testing centre for the region and surrounding areas.
Mr Lu Kun, the Chinese Ambassador, said the development would aid the school’s advancement to provide more professionals to sustain the government’s bold health delivery initiative; Agenda 111.
“China and Africa will embark on a long journey of collaborations based on the One China principle,” he said.
Mr Lu said the collaboration had long flourished in education and would be expanded to other areas, adding: “China will always remain Ghana’s ultimate friend and partner
As a partner in the fight against the coronavirus, China would work with Ghana to secure the much-needed vaccines, he said.
Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Education Minister, said the project showed government’s commitment to expanding tertiary education intake to help meet the country’s educational needs.
He said the coronavirus pandemic made it more crucial to prioritise educational demands, and expressed the hope that the project would be timeously delivered.
Chinese Nantong Si Jian Construction Company is executing the project within a 22-month period, and the Government of Ghana will provide road infrastructure and other inputs as part of a counterpart-funding component.
Professor John Owusu Gyapong, the Vice Chancellor of the University, said upon completion, the University would add close to 30,000 square meters of floor space, and the student population would grow from the current 6,000 to 10,000.null
He acknowledged government’s dedication to the development of the prime Health University to make it a centre of excellence.
“It is always humbling to see that you take great interest in the development of UHAS. UHAS is determined to be a star in tertiary education, and your constant interest in us gives us all the zeal and commitment to push this agenda to provide quality health manpower to solve our country’s health needs,” he said to President Akufo-Addo.
“Indeed, it is a necessary and crucial aspect of the overall goal of this University, which will facilitate our mandate as a university dedicated solely to the training of health professionals for national development.”
“Your efforts at expanding infrastructure are, therefore, laudable and highly commendable and a testament to the Government’s commitment to the health sector and the wellbeing of its citizens.”
The Vice Chancellor said the school would require high volume buses and good roads as it developed and appealed to the President to help achieve that.
President Akufo-Addo stopped to inspect work on the Fodome Campus of the University on his way to the sod-cutting ceremony, and told the traditional leaders in Hohoe that the Government was seeking some 160 million dollars to develop it into a “separate independent” institution in the enclave
• Spokesperson of the Chief Imam has explained why he donated to support Christians
• According to him, the move was symbolic
• He stated that it was part of efforts to encourage peace and solidarity
Spokesperson of the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Armiyawo Shaibu has brought clarification as to why the Islamic leader made donations to support the Christian community.
According to him, Sheikh Osmanu Nuhu Sharubutu’s actions form part of efforts to foster unity between religions in the country.
His donation of some GHC50,000 amount and a visit by the Chief Imam to the Christ the King Catholic Church during Easter in 2019 he further stated, was a symbolic move in the same direction.
Speaking to Citi FM, he said,
“The Chief Imam wants to emphasise that religious diversity is upheld in Islam. But it doesn’t stop at diversity. It goes further to establish a basis for dialogue and for authentic engagement across religious divides,” he explained.
On the church visit in 2019, he said,
“That same day that the Chief Imam entered the church, that was the day when Christians were bombed in Sri Lanka.”
“Because our people are not used to it here, that is why I described it as revolutionary,” Sheikh Shaibu added.null
Sheikh Armiyawo Shaibu’s comments come on the back of some criticism some sections of the public channelled towards the National Chief Imam in August this year.
Sheikh Shaributu made the donation when the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Apostle Prof. Opoku Onyinah and the President of the Ghana Bishops Conference, Archbishop Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle paid a courtesy call on him at his Fadama residence in Accra.
Following this, some members of the Muslim community criticized his actions.
Sheikh Shaibu however believes by the donations, “The Chief Imam has brought honour and dignity beyond what you can imagine to Muslims in this country. The Chief Imam [achieved this] by his way of doing things, especially how he accommodates Christians.”
One person has been confirmed dead while about ten passengers have been seriously injured in a gory accident at Ekumfi Akwakrom in the Ekumfi District of the Central Region.
The accident occurred on the Winneba-Cape Coast Highway Thursday evening around 4:00 pm.
The accident was between a Metro Mass bus with registration number GS 2614-17 which was from Accra heading towards Secondi Takoradi and a Toyota Corolla with registration number GV 22-14 also from Mankessim in the opposite direction.
Investigations conducted by EIB Network’s Central Regional Correspondent Yaw Boagyan revealed that that, the Toyota Corolla in an attempt to overtake another vehicle in a sharp curve collided with the Metro Mass Bus.
Speaking to some of the victim’s in the Metro Bus they said, the metro bus driver saw the Toyota Corolla making a wrongful overtaking and in an attempt to swerve the bus collided with the Toyota corolla causing the driver of the Toyota to die instantly leaving 10 passengers in the metro bus seriously injured including the driver.
Some Eyewitnesses in the community called the Fire Service and the Police from Mankessim who cut the Vehicle into pieces before removing the deceased who was stuck in the car.
The injured people are receiving treatment at the Mankessim Roman Catholic Hospital whiles the deceased have been since deposited at Saltpond mortuary for Preservation and autopsy.
The deceased is yet to be identified.
The Vehicles have also been sent to the Jedu Police Station for investigations.
The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Friday, 10th September 2021, commissioned the Hohoe Technology Solution Centre, one of five (5) new facilities being established by the Rural Enterprise Programme of the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
The Hohoe Technology Solution Centre, located at Gbi Godenu, and constructed at a cost of GH¢6.07 million, will support Government’s industrialization agenda, particularly the 1-District-1-Factory initiative.
The key functions of the Technology Solution Centre will be the production of spare parts and repair services for district factories and oil and gas industry, the manufacturing of agro-processing equipment, and the provision of training for human resources capacity building
The Hohoe TSC is expected to serve factories, artisans and other customers in the following districts in Volta and Oti, including Hohoe, Afadjato South, Kpando, North Dayi, Jasikan, Kadjebi, Biakoye, and the soon to be inaugurated Guan District.
The Hohoe Technology Solution Centre is one of five Centres spread around the country, with the others located at Kumawu in the Ashanti Region, Savelugu in the Northern Region, Elmina in the Central Region and Dormaa Ahenkro in the Bono Region.
The five new TSCs are an upgraded version of and an addition to the original 26 Rural Technology Facilities (RTF) established by Rural Enterprises Programme across the country, in collaboration with GRATIS and the host district assemblies.
The RTFs were established to serve as magnets for industrial activity and have been equipped to perform as hubs for technology promotion, dissemination and transfer to the informal sector. They also provide skills training to master crafts persons and apprentices.
Their main roles and functions were to increase the productive capacity of rural producers and to promote the commercialization and specialization of agriculture within the framework of national economic growth.
The new TSC model was conceived in 2017 by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, under the general plan to realign the Rural Enterprises Programme to be consistent with Government’s Industrialisation Policy.
The TSCs have enhanced capacities with much bigger workshop buildings and workshop spaces for machining and fabrication, offices, classrooms, showrooms, kitchenette and conference facilities.
They are equipped with modern machinery and tools to provide the technology solution needs of industries within their catchment.
The Minister of Communication, Ursula Owusu Ekuful says the registration of mobile SIM cards is expected to begin on 1st October 2021.
The exercise, which will last for six months, will end on 31st March 2022.
Any SIM which is not registered at the end of this exercise will be blocked, according to the Minister.
The Minister disclosed this in a Facebook post.
Re-register your SIMs with Ghana card – Bawumia
In a bid to rid the country’s cyberspace of fraud, monitor and track down persons who use their phones for criminal activities, the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia recently disclosed that plans are underway to ensure that all Ghanaians with SIM cards re-register them using the National Identification card also known as Ghana card.
Speaking at the 5th Ghana CEO Summit in Accra, the Vice President noted that any individual who fails to take part in the exercise risks losing his or her SIM card.
“We all have to do that otherwise we’ll lose that SIM card. That will really give us a real identity for all MoMo transactions. For example, it takes away fraud that is taking place like SIM box and through MoMo”, he added.
The move has been criticized by the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu who has argued that undertaking a SIM re-registration exercise will not solve the issue of Mobile Money fraud as expected by Dr. Bawumia.
He said the Vice President is “ill-informed, inept and highly naive,” with that assumption.
“The solution to the challenges of fraud within the electronic money ecosystem goes beyond SIM registration,” he said.
“We hold the view that the mandatory re-registration of SIMS provides no substantial benefit in the fight against electronic money fraud, and will face practical challenges such as inbound travellers who require a SIM card without a national ID,” he added.
The government has taken delivery of over 1.2 million doses of Moderna vaccines from the United States government.
The vaccines are expected to complement efforts to protect Ghanaians from the virus.
An additional 1.3 million Pfizer vaccines are expected in Ghana by the end of September.
Ghana has already made use of 177,600 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Before the latest round of vaccinations with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, only 405,971 had received both doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine whilst 865,422 had received one dose.
A few weeks ago, Ghana took delivery of some 249,000 doses of Astrazeneca vaccines from the UK government to support its vaccination drive.
Despite a slow start to the vaccine rollout, the government remains committed to vaccinating 20 million Ghanaians by the end of 2021.
The Presidential Vaccine Manufacturing Committee says Ghana will need $200 million to fully manufacture COVID-19 vaccines in Ghana.
The Committee led by Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng says the project will be a private-public partnership arrangement aimed at getting all involved
President Nana Akufo-Addo is expected to start his tour of the Western and Western North regions today, Friday, 3 September 2021.
The president will travel around the two regions within four days.
Apart from his expected interactions with the chiefs and traditional leaders in those regions, the president is also going to cut sods for some projects.
Per an itinerary released by Issah Fuseini, the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Regional Director of Communications, on the first day of the visit, the president will pay a courtesy call on the Dompim Chief in his palace and later inaugurate the Narubizi Rubber Factory under the 1D1F in the Wassa East District.
Additionally, the president will call on the acting Paramount Chief of Shama at Yabiw in the Shama District.
He will also meet with the Nzema chiefs at Nzema Manle in Esiama in the Ellembelle District.
In the Shama District, the president will visit Keda Ghana Ceramics Company Limited in Aboadze, producers of Twyford ceramic tiles to inaugurate the third phase of the factory and also cut the sod for the commencement of the fourth phase.
The president, on day two, will inspect the Dixcove Landing Beach in the Ahanta West Municipality, cut the sod for the commencement of the Takoradi-Tarkwa road in Tarkwa, as well as inspect the construction of a Polyclinic at Bogoso in the Prestea-Huni Valley Municipality.
The president will also pay a courtesy call on the Chief of Wassa Akropong in his palace in the Wassa Amenfi East District and leave for Sefwi- Wiawso in the Western North Region
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has directed that, henceforth, no Public Institution should deal in or allocate any land without the explicit approval of the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources.
He said, “the days when Public Lands were dissipated without regard for Public interest are over.”
The President stated this when he inaugurated a 25-member National Lands Commission at the Jubilee House today, September 1, 2021.
President Akufo-Addo pointed out that, the duty of the members of the National Lands Commission is to manage Public Lands saying that, “these Lands are vested in the President for the people of Ghana.”
He emphasized that, Public Lands allocated to State Institutions remained Public Lands, vested in the President and managed by the Lands Commission.
The President also charged the newly sworn-in members to aggressively pursue the digitization of the records of the Lands Commission, noting that “most of the reforms needed to build efficient Land administration will be within our reach if we are able to move away from manual registration to digital registration.”
He further reminded members of the National Lands Commission of the New Lands Act 2020 (Act 1036), which he said, gives a good foundation for the reforms being pursued by the Commission.null
President Akufo-Addo also urged the Commission to perform their functions under the general direction of the Sector Minister in accordance with the Constitution.
Describing the task ahead as daunting, he expressed conviction that, with focus, good policies and determination, the National Lands Commission will deliver on its mandate and urged them to give maximum support to the dynamic Sector Minister, Samuel A. Jinapor to help transform Land Administration in Ghana.
On his part, the Chairman of the National Lands Commission, Lawyer Alex Quaynor assured the President that, the Commission was focused on meeting the thirty (30) days turnaround time for registration of title or deeds by the Commission target.
He also expressed the team’s appreciation to the President for reposing much confidence in them and pledged to deliver
He also commended the Vice President, Dr Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia and Hon. Samuel Jinapor for their unwavering commitment and support to the Commission in ensuring that Ghana gets a robust Land Administration
The Hon Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto has disclosed that the Government through his ministry want to break the neck of mono cropping spearhead by the cocoa industry to bring in more money in eight to ten years as being done in Cote D’Ivoire .
The minister said the cocoa sector has single handedly sustained the Ghanaian economy for over 130 years and there is the need to diversify it to bring in more cash crops to augment the industry. “Cocoa brings us 2.5 billion dollars a year but if we add other cash crops like coconut, cashew, coffee, palm oil, Shea butter and others we can make about eight times what cocoa is giving us within the next ten years.
As a result, the National Tree and Crops Authority has been charged to come out with modalities and schemes to rope in these other cash crops to earn us more foreign exchange”. The minister intimated that Cote D’Ivoire earns about 15 billions dollars annually through diversification and thinks Ghana can do same because we have better conditions and opportunities than them.
He asserted that, this will be done by our peasant farmers whose efforts have seen the sustainability of the cocoa Industry for that past one hundred and thirty years.
“We believe our small scale farmers can handle this one too .All what we need to do is to provide the inputs,services, policies, programs, training for the them like we have been doing in the cocoa sector for them to leverage the opportunities.
The minister said when this government took over in 2017, the Agric sector was almost down in every sector. For instance; maize, rice, sorghum, tubers, vegetable and the rest were almost gone. He disclosed that the EU had banned Ghana from exporting vegetables as a result of our refusal to comply with the laid down rules and standards.
He indicated that all the sectors ; vegetables, tubers, cereals, cash crops, poultry and livestock have seen dramatic upturn from 2017 todate. On the issue of fertilizer he told the press that his government had stepped up supply and given subsidy which is not done in any West African countries.
He however agreed that due to COVID-19 the commodity had seen price hikes beyond government control but still government is doing its best to ensure supply to farmers. The minister gave out this information when he met the Press in Accra on Sunday, 29th August ,2021. To buttress his points, he showed statistics and pictorial presentation to the newsmen with verifiable facts and figures.
He touched almost all sectors of his ministry like construction of warehouses, irrigation, improved seeds, extension services, vehicles for the regional offices, dams support for the poultry and live stock sectors, etc.
• Alan Kyerematen has condemned clashes between supporters of the party at funeral in Suhum
• He says their actions do not represent what the NPP stands for
• He has also criticized the attempt by some persons to rope him and Dr Bawumia into the chaos
Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, the Minister of Trade and Industries, has condemned the attempt by some persons to blame the violence that ensued at a funeral in Suhum on the perceived frosty relationship between him and Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
In a statement issued in response to the incident which occurred on Saturday, August 28, 2021, Alan Kyerematen said that it has taken notice of a deliberate attempt to rope him and Bawumia into the fracas.
He described in no certain terms that the reports are untrue and a calculated effort by some people.null
“Rumors currently circulating on social media that the clash was between my supporters and those of our Vice President are not only completely false but mischievous and have been contrived to bring both the Vice President and my good self into public ridicule”.
“The incidence of reported violent clashes between supporters of our great party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Suhum constituency of the Eastern Region on Saturday, August 28, 2021, is most unfortunate and must be condemned by all well-meaning Patriots.
“I believe strongly that any disagreement whether relating to a contest for position or differences in ideas and opinions should not be manifested in such violence in a party such as ours. The ideals of our party and tradition call for peaceful and harmonious coexistence and our motto, (Development in Freedom), has no place for violence,” parts of his statement read.
What happened in Suhum
At least two persons sustained injuries during clashes between two rival groups of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Suhum Constituency of the Eastern Region.
Bernard Kwasi Amoani, 51, sustained a deep cutlass injury in the head in the melee. He is on admission at the Suhum Government Hospital while Alexander Odei who suffered a minor injury on the upper lip has been treated and discharged.
The chaos was triggered when Frank Asiedu Bekoe, popularly known as Protozoa eyeing to unseat the incumbent Member of Parliament Boafo Kwadwo Asante, and some party communicators and Serial Callers attended the funeral of the late father of one of the communicators identified as Opare on Saturday, August 28, 2021. While at the funeral, the Member of Parliament and his entourage led by the Constituency chairman Frederick Ofosu also arrived.
Tension began to build up when followers of the MP allegedly started casting aspersions on Protozoa and his group and even blocked them from greeting the MP.
Mr Odei popularly known as Big Deal took the microphone to announce that they were leaving for other engagements but wanted to place on record that they have been prevented from greeting the MP.
This did not sit well with supporters of the MP who attacked him sparking the free for fight. The driver of the MP Jamalo allegedly pulled a cutlass and inflicted a wound on the head of his victim.
“When we went the MP and his entourage came and met us the serial callers and Protozoa at the funeral so the MP thought it is Protozoa who brought us there so he blocked us from greeting him. So one guy by the name Big Deal went to take the microphone to announce that we are leaving for another engagement but placing on record that the spokesperson for the MP says the MP doesn’t recognize us so if the mourners did no see us greeting the MP it wasn’t deliberate. So Hannah went to forcibly take the Mic from him subsequently Nana Obo went to slap him which the Communication officer from Asamankese attempted to separate them and bring calm but was he hacked,” an eyewitness said.
Later in the day, Charles Gyasi, Suhum Constituency Youth Organizer accompanied by Martin Odei and Ernest Lartey, all executive members of Suhum Constituency New Patriotic Party went to the Suhum Police station to report the incident.
Police together with complainants proceeded to Suhum Government Hospital where victim Kwasi Amoani was seen at the Emergency ward under stable condition responding to treatment.
Police medical forms were prepared and issued to victims to be endorsed.null
The Public Relations Officer of the Eastern Regional Police Command DSP Ebenezer Tetteh confirmed the incident when contacted.
He said the Suhum Police command is Investigating it to bring the culprits to book.
Ghanaian actor Van Vicker has said that he is not for or against the #FixTheCountry campaign. He rather believes a ‘Let’s Fix the Country’ agenda, will work better for the country’s development.
According to him, fixing the country is a collective effort by both citizens and the government. That is why he finds a middle ground between ‘Fix Yourself’ and ‘Fix the Country’.
In an interview on Citi FM’s Traffic Avenue on Tuesday, he told Jessica Opare-Saforo and Kwaku David that if the leaders are corrupt, it has a toll on the people so it also behoves the citizens to adhere to the regulations they bring and be responsible.
“I think it’s a collective effort because if they say let’s clean our surroundings and I decide not to do it, it has a lot of repercussions,” he said.
“So it’s a collective effort, it’s not just a matter of government fixing it. It is about we all fixing it so I am not taking a stance that we should fix ourselves, neither is it government should fix the country. It is collectively; let’s fix the country,” Van Vicker noted.
The ‘Fix the Country’ campaign is an agenda that started on social media a few months ago, with most celebrities joining the buzz.
About two weeks ago, thousands of Ghanaians hit the streets to demonstrate for the same cause.
Supporters of the ‘Fix the Country’ campaign believe that Ghanaians deserve better than they are being given by the leaders, at present.
Government officials must not demonize the Fix the country movement because it is not an issue of just the New Patriotic Party (NPP) but all parties in Ghana, Former President John Dramani Mahama has said.
He said this when he was speaking to the chiefs and people of the Upper West Region on Tuesday August 17 as part of his thank you tour after the 2020 elections.
Mr Mahama who was the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in last year’s polls noted that the youth need employment to enable them keep body and soul together hence their call for the system to be fixed.
“Our youth are getting disappointed in our democratic governance, they don’t see any future for themselves. One of the major tragedies of this administration which is intangible is the fact that our institutions are being bastardised. As the institutions are bastardised people don’t see any future in terms of what opportunities are available for them.
“Youth unemployment has been a problem for governments all over the world but is particularly a problem for governments in Africa. We have twelve million graduates coming out of universities and tertiary institutions all across the African continent yet we are producing six and seven million jobs a year and so what happens to the other five million graduates who cannot find employment.
“It is beginning to show, in Nigeria they have the SARS movement, it was like a rebellion against police oppression but who are those who took part in the SARS movement ? It was the unemployed youth .
“Let us not think if you are enriching yourselves you are safe. When the youth rise up they think that everybody who is living a good life is one of the people oppressing him that is why he cannot get a job.
“We must not allow that situation to happen in Ghana .
“What we should be doing as leaders is to listen to them because these are our children.
“Fix it is not a problem of only NPP, it is a problem of only NPP, it is a problem of Ghana, all of us and so when people in government think that these young people we must demonize them , it is not because of NPP, it is all of us, we have expressed disappointments in our collective leadership
The Anglican Church has sacked its priest who was filmed kissing students of the St. Monica’s College of Education in Asante Mampong in the Ashanti Region.
The priest has been identified as Father Balthazar Obeng.
The decision as gathered was taken after a crunch meeting convened by school authorities in Asante Mampong over a kissing incident that went viral on Monday, amid calls from the public and civil society organizations for the Chaplain’s head.
The school has withdrawn all duties assigned to the Priest, as he ceases to be the Chaplain and lawyer of the school until further notice.
In the footage, which went viral, the priest, Father Balthazar Obeng, is seen kissing three female students before a cheering congregation.
However, the third lady seemed unwilling but eventually gave in to the deed.
The Anglican Church of Ghana has already expressed its dissatisfaction about the matter and has initiated internal investigations.
The church in a statement indicated that “the said Priest will be dealt with by the norms and values of the Anglican Communion where morality is extremely revered in the Church.”
An Education think tank, Africa Education Watch, has also demanded that the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) investigates the matter and apply sanctions where necessary.
The Acting Principal of the school, Dr Okyere Korankye disclosed that the affected students are being supported by the school’s counselling unit.
SOME STUDENTS of Saint Monica College of Education, Asante Mampong in the Ashanti Region have launched a strong defence for the Reverend Father Larbi who planted deep kisses on some graduating students of the teacher’s training school.
Midday yesterday, a video went viral on social media involving an ordained Reverend Father who happens to be the chaplain of the St Monica’s College of Education giving some female students of the school deep kisses on their lips.
In the video, the Reverend Father who was seen clad in his green gown pulled each of the students towards him and gave them a passionate kiss on the lips in turns to the estacy of other students..
In order to have a full feel of what he intended to achieve, some of the students were asked by the preacher of the gospel to have their nose masks on them removed in the midst of Covid-19 before he gave them the kiss.
Shockingly, the congregation which was filled with a lot of students and parents yelled happily and cheered up the Rev. Father whilst he was satisfying his desires.
The Reverend Father has received bashing and questioning as to the reason behind the act which seemingly goes in contrast to his tenants as a priest after the video went viral.
Interestingly, some students of the college who described themselves as ‘Concerned Students of St Monica’s have defended their Chaplain.
The students in a statement said they stand with the Reverend Father who have been condemned by a section of the public and condemned the bloggers who shared the videos on their blog without any inquiry.
They believe that it was the Father’s way of honoring some deserving students after he gave them certificates and sums of money.
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia says the Akufo-Addo-led government is determined to do more to reduce the suffering of Ghanaians.
He noted that the Government, over the past four years, had worked hard to significantly reduce a chunk of the sufferings imposed on Ghanaians by the erstwhile National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration.
In a Facebook post on Friday to mark International Youth Day, the Vice President listed about 50 hardships, which the previous NDC government imposed on Ghanaians, which the government of President Akufo-Addo had worked hard to reduce through various interventions.
Some of those interventions include; relative stability in electricity supply, resumption of public sector employment which was frozen, online and easy access to government services, revival of national health insurance, restoration of allowances for nursing and teacher trainees, restoration of employment for nurses, free access to senior high school, among several others.
Dr. Bawumia preceded the 51 sufferings the Akufo-Addo’s government had reduced, with a direct message to the Ghanaian youth, acknowledging challenges they were facing including effects of the Coronavirus pandemic, and reiterated government’s resolve to address them.null
“Yesterday, we marked the International Youth Day in Ghana and across the world. I would like to remind the youth of our dear country that the NPP promised to reduce the suffering Ghanaians were going through under the economic mismanagement of the NDC,” Dr. Bawumia wrote.
“After four years in office, what is clear is that even though many Ghanaians are facing challenging times especially as a result of the economic implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government of the NPP under the leadership of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has, through policies implemented, delivered largely on its promise of reducing the suffering of Ghanaians even though we have a lot more to do in that direction.”
“We have not completely eradicated hardships, but we have made significant progress.
We count on your continuous support as we deal with the other challenges facing our nation
The husband who allegedly murdered his wife in cold blood at Bibiani Dagede in the Western North Region has been remanded into Police custody by the Bibiani Magistrate Court on Friday to reappear on August 27, 2021.
The Prosecuting Officer Chief Inspector Benjamin Owusu Agyemang told the Court Presided by His Worship Peter Dapileh Banoe that, on August 5, 2021, Police in Bibiani received a distress call from the Uncle of the deceased Mr. Enock Gyasi Ekoobah popularly known as Rasta that his nephew has been murdered in cold blood by unknown assailants in her room.
Police rushed to the scene and found the deceased in a pool of blood and after taken inventories, conveyed the body to the mortuary for preservation and autopsy.
The Prosecuting officer said preliminary investigation revealed that the deceased was allegedly killed by her husband Mr. Emmanuel Okyere Baffour, 28, a businessman who was married to the now-deceased Joyce Johnes Affi Jacika for two years and both resided in Kronum-Afrancho a suburb of Kumasi on Offinso Road.
According to him, the Police investigation further revealed that, before the incident, the deceased called her mother on phone to complain bitterly about the abuse she was suffering at the hands of the husband and stated among other things that, the husband beats her with a belt and sometimes even urinates into a Don Simon drink and forces her to drink.
However, the mother advised her to exercise patience and not to walk out of the marriage.
Fed up with the abuse, she packed out of the house early part of August this year to seek refuge in her parents’ house at Bibiani Dagede when the husband had travelled to Accra.
Upon the return of the accused husband on August 5, 2021, at about 11:45 am, he stormed the house of his in-laws and violently attacked the deceased with sharp metal and killed her instantly and went into hiding.
According to him on August 6, 2021, the police went to court for a warrant and through their collaboration with Kumasi Manhyia Zongo police, the accused was arrested at Oforikrom and handed over to Bibiani police.
He was arraigned before a court under a provisional charge of murder.
Police in the Volta region and the Narcotics Control Commission have seized some 9,752 slabs of cannabis, projected to cost GHS4.87 million.
The product was intercepted in the Volta regional capital, Ho during a joint operation in the early hours of Tuesday while being conveyed in a Mercedes Benz truck with registration number GC 3690-09 which has an inscription: “HASKY 1,” at the back.
According to Mr. Francis Opoku Amoah, Head of Communications at NACOC the interception of the substance was as a result of months of intelligence work done by the commission on the production and distribution of cannabis within the Volta region.
The cannabis which was packed in 128 sacks was being transported from Dzameni in the South Dayi District of the Volta region through the capital towards the southern part of the region.
Mr. Opoku Amoah further stated that investigations have began into the issue.
The Kumbungu District Assembly in the Northern Region says it has put in place a strategy to respond to the possible spread of the new delta variant of COVID-19 in the district.
According to the district assembly, as part of the plan, which it is carrying out in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the Kings Medical Centre, a Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG) facility operating in the Kumbungu District, some health personnel have been trained and deployed into communities within the district.
Their duty is to identify visitors and head porters who arrive from some areas in the southern part of the country, described by the GHS as hotspots of the disease, for check-ups to prevent the spread of the virus.
The exercise, with support from the Foreign Commonwealth Development Office of the United Kingdom (UK), is also to assess the risks, immediate and intermediate needs for screening, contact tracing, testing of suspected cases, and referral of confirmed cases to the treatment centre.
Although the district has not recorded any case of the new variant of COVID-19, the assembly and its collaborating institutions have heightened surveillance in the area to deal with any possible case of infection and prevent its spread.
Measures
The District Coordinating Director for Kumbungu, Mr Mahmud M. Osman, who disclosed this at a media briefing in Kumbungu last Friday, said the assembly had information that some visitors, including some head porters, had arrived in the district from the hotspots of the disease, hence the measures to help curb the spread of the virus.
“It is important that we ensure that the activities planned and measures that have already been put in place are implemented immediately following the announcement of the upsurge in cases in those hotspots, coupled with the arrival of foreigners and the head porters in the district,” he said.
“As a closely-knit society, we are all responsible for reducing our own risk of infection and that of our communities. Simple preventive measures that everyone can adopt to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19, include frequently washing hands using clean running water and soap, or alcohol-based hand rub, wearing of face mask when going out of your home, refraining from spitting in public places, avoiding close contact with anyone who has fever and cough, avoiding handshakes, practising social distancing and avoiding crowded places, among others,” he added.
He said the fight against rumours and misinformation was a vital part of the battle against the virus and that all citizens were encouraged to report any rumour or suspected case of COVID-19 in the communities to the nearest health facility or call on the District Director of Health Services for proper investigation.
Adherence
Meanwhile, a visit by the Daily Graphic to the Kumbungu town and its environs saw non-compliance with the COVID-19 safety protocol as some residents were seen not wearing the face masks, while those who wore it did so inappropriately by wearing it on their chins.
Amina Issah, a resident, told the Daily Graphic that the wearing of the face masks at public places must be strictly enforced to ensure compliance as some residents had completely ignored that directive.
“The wearing of the face masks in public must be made compulsory to prevent a possible spread and infection in the district,” Mumuni Musah , also a resident, stated.
President Akufo-Addo has commissioned the Bono Region Headquarters of the Fire Service, a newly constructed Maternity and Mental Block at the Sunyani Government Hospital, and the Administration Block for the 3rd Battalion Infantry Base in Sunyani.
As part of the President’s working visit to the Bono Region on Wednesday, 11th August 2021, his first port of call was the Bono Region Headquarters of the Fire Service, whose construction started in 1992, but was abandoned and left to the vagaries of the weather. Consequently, most of the columns and load bearing walls were gradually losing their structural integrity.
That is why wpon assumption of the Akufo-Addo government, an assessment carried out in July 2017, which indicated that, if works did not commence on the building, it might have to be pulled down.
Indeed, the non-existence of a Regional Headquarters in the Region was seriously hampering the work of the Command of the Fire Service, since it had to compete with Sunyani Municipal Fire Station for offices.
To this end, the Akufo-Addo government made available GH¢2,820,884.29 for the construction of the office complex, which was duly completed on 4th May 2021. Phase two of the project, which will include the construction of a maintenance workshop, accommodation for staff, and a canteen will commence soon.
Maternity Block
The President’s next port of call was to commission the new maternal and mental health block of the Sunyani Municipal Hospital.
The old facility, prior to the construction of a new facility, attended to some eighty thousand clients a year. Following the high delivery rates at the maternal ward, there was the urgent need for expansion of the facility, hence the construction of the new maternity block by the Sunyani Municipal Assembly.
The Mental Health Clinic was also built to provide health services to reduce the risk of chronic diseases related to stress, anxiety and substance abuse in the municipality and in the region as a whole.
Road construction
President Akufo-Addo also inspected ongoing construction of town roads within the Sunyani Municipality, being undertaken through the Master Project Support Agreement (MPSA) with Sinohydro Corporation Limited of China.
The implementation of this Contract has meant that the “Construction/Rehabilitation of selected Roads and Interchanges in Ghana – Phase 1 Lot 6 (Sunyani Inner City Roads)” is now in progress.
The cost of the construction of the roads is US$45,020,399.32), with the total length of roads to be covered totalling 39 kilometres, i.e., 29kms in Sunyani and 10kms in Berekum. The contract implementation period is two years, i.e. 24 calendar months, with the contractor expecting to complete the work by 21st June 2023.
3BN Admin Block
President Akufo-Addo also commissioned a new administration block for the 3rd Battalion Infantry Base in Sunyani. The building was constructed by the Middle Belt Development Authority, as part of the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (US$1 million per constituency) project.
The President also inspected ongoing work on the construction of new staff quarters for officers, men and women of the battalion
The Chief of the Chiraa Traditional Area in the Sunyani West District of the Bono Region, Nana Afari Mintah, has told Ghanaians that Ghana can only be “fixed” if all the citizens come together to play their respective roles.
Nana Afari Mintah expressed these sentiments on Wednesday when President Akufo-Addo called on him at his palace during his two-day tour of the Bono Region.
“Nana, not long ago, some young men, who call themselves fix the country advocates, demonstrated. Nana, I and my queen-mother will help you in fixing the country. Governance is not for a single person or few people to undertake.
Fixing Ghana is a collective responsibility – Chiraa chiefs to Ghanaians “It is a collective responsibility. It is for all of us to contribute our quota in developing the country. Therefore, let us all, in unity, support the President in discharging his vision to develop Ghana,” he said.
Citing examples of citizens which are detrimental to the development of the nation, the Chiraa Chief stated that “If you want to fix Ghana and you are into galamsey, can you do it? Our water bodies have been destroyed through galamsey. How do we fix a country with this attitude?” he queried.
On the same topic, the Chief of Chiraa asked if the country can be fixed with the attitude of degrading forests and the natural environment and refusing to pay taxes.
“Our forest reserves, left for us by our forefathers, forests which belong to the state, you enter them and fell down the trees, you degrade them. How do you fix it? Pay taxes, you say I will not pay, you dodge it. Can you fix it?”
He also asked how the country could be fixed or developed “when people go to work at 11 am when they are to be there at 9 am”.
The Chief reiterated that “if we all unite and listen to the President and do what we are supposed to, I know Ghana will develop”.
On roads, Nana Afari Mintah praised President Akufo-Addo for living up to expectations with his year of roads pledge.
“When he talked about the year of roads, it wasn’t a fluke. Today we have seen it ourselves. A road network, which has been unattended to for years, regimes upon regimes have come and gone, but it has never witnessed even an upgrading; today, we see it being constructed.”
On education, Nana Afari Mintah expressed gratitude to President Akufo-Addo for the various infrastructural projects and other interventions for the Chiraa Senior High School.
“In all sincerity, what Nana has done for us, the Chiraa Senior High School, when the students were 2,155, where they would sleep was a challenge. At a point in time, we even considered renting a house for the students to stay in.
“The MP, Ignatius Baffuor Awuah, told me to exercise patience. As we speak, thanks to you, Nana Addo, within a short time, we have three girls’ dormitories. We no longer have any challenges for the girls. The boys also have dormitories. There are also enough classroom blocks, Nana; the people of Chiraa are grateful to you.”
Though the Chiraa Secondary School was built in 1982, it was under the tenure of President John Agyekum Kufuor that the school had a bus.
The bus, the chief continued, is no more. He, therefore, appealed to President Akufo-Addo to help the school with a bus.
The Chief also asked for an administration block to be constructed for the Chiraa Senior High School, which he said, has been without one for ages.
“We lack an administration block for a school that is almost 40 years. A town with no palace is no town. An administration block with an ICT Centre will help us,” he appealed to the President.
The Chief of Chiraa also praised President Akufo-Addo for implementing a pro-poor policy like the Free Senior High School program, Planting for Food and Jobs and the One District, One Factory initiative.
He used the opportunity to appeal to the President to establish an agro-based factory in the district as farming is the mainstay of the people.
“Farming is the mainstay of the people of Chiraa, thanks to the Planting for Food and Jobs. So we would appreciate it very much if we get a factory here that would process our farming produce into finished and exportable goods,” he said.
Concluding his speech, the Chief of Chiraa expressed confidence in His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo that he would heed his call to facelift Chiraa and its environs.
• The final resting place of Atta-Mills is under reconstruction
• The refurbishment of the park costs GH¢4.4 million
• The CEO of Atta-Mills Institute is optimistic the Asomdwee Park will be opened to the public in the coming year
Chief Executive Officer of Atta-Mills Institute, Samuel Koku Anyidoho, has announced that the final resting place of the former head of state, the late Professor Evans Atta-Mills will be commissioned next year.
He made this announcement on micro-blogging site, Twitter on Tuesday, August 10, 2021 sighted by GhanaWeb.
Koku Anyidoho in his post said, “9 years ago today, August 10, 2012, Prez Atta-Mills was laid to rest by the People of Ghana @ the Asomdwee Park. He invested in his relationship with me so he is reaping positive results via the Atta-Mills Institute. Asomdwee Park will be commissioned next year. RIP Sir.”null
The Asomdwee Park is undergoing reconstruction and when completed, it will have a mini-museum, an audio-visual library with free Wifi, a conference room, restaurant and a ceremonial ground with a statue of the former statesman, Evans Atta-Mills.
General maintenance of the park, refurbishment of dilapidated buildings and the provision of drainage infrastructure costs GH¢4.4 million, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Coastal Development Authority (CODA), Jerry Ahmed Shaib noted.
Atta Mills ruled Ghana from January 7, 2009 until his sudden death on July 24, 2012.
9 years ago today, August 10, 2012, Prez Atta-Mills was laid to rest by the People of Ghana ???????? @ the Asomdwee Park.He invested in his relationship with me so he is reaping positive results via the Atta-Mills Institute. Asomdwee Park will be commissioned next year. RIP Sir???? ???? pic.twitter.com/OacOm3EUW8— Samuel Koku Anyidoho???????? (@KokuAnyidoho) August 10, 2021
Over 73,000 Nation Builders Corps, NABCO beneficiaries are to be placed in various institutions across the country when they exit in October this year after three years of service.
This, according to President Akufo-Addo would give way for the recruitment of a new batch of NABCO Trainees into the system.
The President said about seventy-two thousand personnel have responded to questionnaires as part of the process of placing them in permanent jobs.
President Akufo-Addo said this in an interview with GBC’s Radio BAR in Sunyani as he begins his two-day tour of the Bono region.
A policewoman has been found dead in a hotel at Nkawkaw in the Eastern region.
The deceased police officer Lance Corporal Sarah Adjei stationed at Quarter Masters Store of Nkawkaw Divisional Police command was found dead in a room inside Mishihi Hotel.
Starr News has gathered that the Manager of the hotel Richard Nimoh on Saturday, August 7, 2021, reported at Nkawkaw Central Police station that the policewoman booked and lodged at the hotel. She was later found dead in the hotel room at about 7:00 pm.
Police together with the complainant proceeded to the scene and found the deceased dressed in a multi-colored straight dress over black underwear with a pair of black slippers and lying dead in a prone position on the floor.
The body was inspected and blood was found outside the nostrils with a swollen right cheek, a police report said.
A handwritten note was found beside the body which reportedly read, “Dear Mr Timothy Dampare, I told you that I owed people money and you decided to help me and you have been with me in my house for one week now and you have refused to help me, so if anything happens you have caused it, Mr Timothy Dampare.”
The body has been conveyed to the Police Hospital morgue in Accra for preservation and autopsy while the investigation continues.
The incident is happening less than a week after another policewoman Constable Sandra Asiedu was allegedly murdered at Damango.
According to a Police statement, she was found in a pool of blood with wounds believed to be knife stabs.
An amount of Ghc10,000 bounty has been placed for the arrest of her boyfriend who is the prime suspect and at large.
The Minority, National Democratic Congress (NDC) Caucus, is calling on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to sanction, possibly dismiss, Health Minister Kwaku Agyeman Manu for singular decisions and breaching the Ghanaian Constitution in the Sputnik vaccine deal.
“I must say that the Minister should be sanctioned,” Minority Chief Whip Alhaji Mohammed- Mubarak Muntaka said, at a hurriedly organised press conference at the Parliament House, in Accra, on Friday night.
Alhaji Muntaka added: “He (Health Minister) must be removed by the President. He is not fit to occupy the office of a Minister of State; and must, therefore, be removed from office henceforth, failing, which this House must pass a vote of censure on the Minister.”
The press conference was held moments after the bipartisan Adhoc Committee of Parliament probing the contract agreements for the purchase and supply of Sputnik-V vaccines had presented its report to the plenary, before the House adjourned sine die to resume in October.
Furthermore, it emerged at the hearing that the vaccines were overpriced, and the supplier terminated the contract after the bipartisan probe had begun.
The Minority Caucus accused the Minister of Health for failing to uphold the Constitution and the laws of Ghana by not seeking parliamentary approval on the deal.
The Minority Chief Whip said: “It is beyond any reasonable doubt the Minister betrayed his oath of office and for that matter, and he also failed to uphold the Constitution and the laws of our country.”
The House on Friday, 9th July, 2021, constituted a nine-member Adhoc Committee, chaired by Deputy Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, with Vice Kwabena Mintak Akandoh, also Ranking Member of the Health Committee, to investigate the procurement contracts between the Government of Ghana and Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum and one other for the supply of Sputnik-V COVID-19 vaccines.
The Committee on Friday, 6th August, 2021, presented its report to the House.
In the report, the Committee found out that the Ministry of Health did not comply with the requirements of Article 181(5) of the Constitution in respect of its agreement with an intermediary, Messrs Al Maktoum.
It also determined that the agreements were entered into without prior approval by the Public Procurement Authority under Sections 40 and 41 of Act 663.
“Indeed, at the time of completing its work, PPA was yet to do the ratification,” the report stated in part.
The Health Minister had indicated at the probe that no money was paid to the company despite an initial 20,000 supplied to Ghana, but the Committee stated in its report that 50 per cent of the total contract sum was actually paid.
The committee urged the Minister for Finance to take steps to recover the money due to the Republic in respect of the amount of US$2,850,000.00 (Cedi equivalent of GH¢16,331,640.00) being the cost of the Sputnik-V vaccines that were proposed to be procured.
“The committee, by consensus, recommends to the House to adopt this report.”
Members of the Committee were Dr Nana Ayew Afriyie, Chairman of the Health Committee; Mr Bernard Ahiafor, MP for Akatsi South; Mr Kwame Anyimadu Antwi, MP for Asante-Akim Central, Mr Ernest Norgbey, MP for Ashaiman; Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu-Agyare, MP for Techiman North; Ms Sheila Bartels, MP for Ablekuma North; and Mr Farouk Aliu Mahama, MP for Yendi Constituency.
The terms of reference of the Committee was to determine whether or not the transaction for the procurement and supply of the Sputnik V vaccine between the Government of Ghana (GOG) represented by the Ministry of Health and Al Maktoum S.L Group qualifies as international Business or Economic transaction under Article 181(5) of the Constitution, and if so, whether it was subjected to prior approval of Parliament.
Also, the Committee is to determine the procurement process that was followed and the propriety of same and the prices of the vaccines as well as determine whether the services of the middleman were procured in the transaction and if so, having propriety regard to the relevant laws.
Additionally, the Committee is to ascertain the cost of the vaccines and the justification of the cost vaccines, and whether the transaction guaranteed value for money for Ghana.
Moreover, the Committee is to determine whether or not any consideration was passed from the GOG to the middleman, suppliers, or any other person.
Furthermore, for the Committee to determine or not the Ministry of Health misled Parliament during the consideration of the transaction for the procurement of the vaccine.
The Committee also to inquire into any other matters connected to the purchase and supply of the Sputnik V vaccine in the agreement between the GOG and the private office of Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum and S.L Global.
The Committee had was given three weeks to report to the House.
Ghana is unlikely to reach an intended 60 or 70 percent of herd immunity in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic, by the end of this year, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has said.
Herd immunity occurs when a large portion of a community becomes immune to a certain disease. This often reduces the spread of the disease from person to person which in turn, protects the entire community even with persons who are immune to that disease.
Ghana had initially planned to vaccinate some 20 million citizens by the end of October 2021 but the finance minister says government is unlikely to inoculate the entire population within the period.
In an interaction with Accra-based, Asaase Radio, Ken Ofori-Atta outlined a number of factors as to why Ghana will be not able to achieve a certain percentage of herd immunity.
“I get confused with questions like this when you know that the supply element now has changed considerably and it is evident that the way in which the world dealt with this ensured that Africa was not going to get the supply. It is only now that we seem to have resolved it.”
“…It is unlikely that we will get to head immunity of 60% or 70% by December but we certainly will have a road map which ensures that doses would be coming in regularly so that our people are protected.”
Though Ghana has commenced a vaccination programme, the country has been lagging with the availability of enough vaccines to inoculate citizens. This is a result of global shortages and the availability of enough vaccines on the market.
According to the Ghana Health Service, only a little over a million citizens out of over a 30 million population have been vaccinated.
Some workers of the Petroleum Commission have been placed under surveillance after it emerged that they are leaking sensitive information to industry players who are using it against government.
The Minister of Energy Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh, made the disclosure during the inauguration of the governing board of the Petroleum Commission in Accra on Friday.
He tasked the board to fish out such unpatriotic persons who have a penchant for leaking confidential information.
“If we all looked at the oil and gas sector and we are not happy it’s because the regulator is either not strong or asserting itself and we begin to lose our powers from within ourselves. Staff of the Commission who will have friends outside the commission instead of being patriotic to Ghana…I will leave it like that… Staff of the Commission who have friends outside the commission to the detriment of Ghana and Ghanaians, that is the number one big problem and I hope that you’ll look at it and the Commission will find out what is going on.
“Those who are leaking information by benefit of being in the Commission and leaking information to other third bodies to use against government, we are watching. Because when the whole of Ghana has decided to go in a certain way nobody in the Commission should feel so knowledgeable that he can outwit the board.
A member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Benjamin Essuman has filed a petition against former NDC Member of Parliament and current Member of the Council of State, Enoch Teye Mensah.
The petition, which was addressed to the National Chairman of the NDC and the General Secretary of the party, was presented to the party’s secretariat at the National Headquarters, on Thursday, August 5th.
Mr Essuman in the petition referred to an interview that Mr E.T Mensah granted on Metro TV’s Good Evening Ghana, on Tuesday 3rd August, in which the former MP and former Minister rubbished the claims of NDC and its National Communication Officer on the Saglemi Housing project describing it as outright falsehoods.
The petitioner cited provisions in articles 47, 48 and 49 of the NDC Constitution as the legal basis for his action and also grounds upon which Hon. ET Mensah must be dragged before the Disciplinary Committee.
He is further demanding that Mr ET Mensah per his conduct, be sanctioned for what the NDC Constitution describes as ‘anti-party behaviour’.
Below is the petition.
PETITION AGAINST HON. ENOCH TEYE MENSAH FOR ENGAGING IN ANTI-PARTY CONDUCT
I write as the NDC Branch Secretary of New City Lodge B, Taifa, in the Dome Kwabenya Constituency, and hereby invoke my rights under Article 49(1) of the Party’s constitution which states: “Any member who has reasonable grounds to believe that another member or other members of the Party are in breach of the provisions of Clause 8 of Article 48, may lodge a petition in writing to an appropriate Executive Committee for redress.”
Mr. Chairman, I bring to your attention that on 3rd August, 2021, a former National Youth Organizer of the party who was the Minister of Youth and Sports, and who is a former Minister of Employment, former Minister of Works and Housing and also former NDC Member of Parliament (MP) for Ningo Prampram between 1993 and 2017, Hon. Enoch Teye Mensah, extremely misconducted himself as a leading member of the party and therefore must suffer the consequences thereof.
Regardless of all the high ranking positions occupied by Hon Enoch Teye Mensah, he is subject to the dictates of the Party’s Code of Conduct as stated in Article 48(1) and (8) of the Party’s Constitution, especially with Article 48(8) stating: “A Party member may be subjected or may be made subject to Party discipline for any of the following: (a) breach of any of the provisions of this Constitution (b) anti-Party conduct or activities likely to embarrass the Party or bring the Party into hatred, ridicule or contempt.
ELEMENTS OF MY PETITION
On 3rd August, 2021, Hon Enoch Teye Mensah was a guest on Good Evening Ghana, a socio-political show on Metropolitan Television (Metro TV) and made presentations that did not only contradict the official party position of the party, but he did injure the reputation of the NDC party and its leading members. (Exhibit attached).
Hon. Enoch Teye Mensah on Metro TV and in reaction to a statement issued by the party’s National Communication Officer, regarding the Saglemi Housing project, categorically denied his role captured in the statement and went further to say that the Party officer “lied”. (Exhibit attached)
CONCLUSION
Mr. Chairman, I am alarmed and feel humiliated by the conduct of Mr. Enoch Teye Mensah, which has scandalized the peaceful and progressive state of the NDC.
In my reading of Article 47 of the Party’s constitution which deals with the code of Conduct for Party members, I find the conduct of Hon. Enoch Teye Mensah to be in direct conflict with 47(a), 47(b) and 47(e).
For the avoidance of doubt, Article 47(a) says “Each Party member shall faithfully comply with and apply the following rules of conduct: (a) ensure the unity and cohesion of the Party at all times.”
Mr. Chairman, by going on national television to oppose the contents of a statement issued by a national officer and much so describing the National Communication Officer and others as spreading “lies” Hon. Enoch Teye Mensah did not ensure “the unity and cohesion of the Party”. Again, by his decision to go on TV with the intention to contradict the statement issued by the Communication Officer of the Party, Hon Enoch Teye Mensah “defend the name of the Party as well as its decisions” as demanded under Article 47(b).
Finally, the statements uttered by Hon Enoch Teye on Metro TV to oppose the position of senior party officials and functionaries, are in clear violation of Article 47(e) which states that Party members must: “show loyalty to the Party at all times”.
• E. T. Mensah says the Saglemi Housing project is a project of President Mills
• He said, it was initiated to address the housing problems for workers
• He revealed that, OAS Limited was to construct a 5,000 housing unit for workers
Enoch Teye (E.T.) Mensah, a Member of the Council of State, has been explaining how the Saglemi Housing project was conceived under the John Evans Atta Mills administration.
According to him, the late President told him as a Minister of State in charge of Works and Housing that, he would want to do something to address the housing problems for workers.
He said, at that time the STX deal to construct a 200,000 housing unit for the security services had become a fiasco, which led him on behalf of the government of Ghana to abrogate the STX contract.
A committee of housing was then formed under the ministry and an announcement was made for an alternative contractor.
Mr Mensah explained during an interview on Good Evening Ghana Tuesday, August 3, stating the contract was awarded to Construtora OAS Limited for the construction of a 5,000 affordable housing unit.
“We were lucky that over the years, the government had acquired some land to build houses for the people; the housing committee [I formed] selected Saglemi…We had to prepare to go to Parliament [to lay the offer before the house]…it was close to elections at the time and so, the President decided that he will approve it, thus, give executive approval to the proposal so that we take it to Parliament, that was how come President Mills gave executive approval; that was his project,” he indicated.
He noted that, Construtora OAS Limited started work around the facts and data that was presented to Parliament given birth to the Saglemi Housing project.
“…Again, we brought in the offtaker thus Ghana Home Loans to offtake all 5,000 housing units and to hand them to the workers. We have then even registered workers who were going to occupy it,” he said.
When asked by the host of the show that Ghana Home Loans was to offtake and pay the money to who, the former Ningo-Prampram MP said, the loans were to be paid to Credit Suisse, an investment banking company.
“Because the loan was lodged in Bank of Ghana and the interest of the creditor was who was going to pay…,” Mr Mensah stressed.
He stated further anybody who would say the cost of the housing project excluded sewage, road and the service plot then he “doesn’t know what he is talking about”.
“I’m surprised at what is happening because when Prof Mills died and some of us were removed [from the ministry] and new persons were appointed, I prepared a detailed handing over notes and I gave Alhaji Collins Dauda my copy. He knows it and he should have a copy as well,” E. T. Mensah noted.
A Police Constable (name withheld) has been found dead at her residence at Damongo in the Savannah region today, Monday 2nd August 2021.
According to a Police statement, she was found in a pool of blood with wounds believed to be knife stabs.
The body has since been deposited at West Gonja District Hospital, pending investigation. The statement said her boyfriend is highly suspected and the Police are on a manhunt for him.
It added that the Police administration has also started processes to inform the family of the deceased and assured that it will update the public on the matter.
Former President John Dramani Mahama has said his attention has been drawn to a number of fake Facebook accounts in the name of his daughter, Farida Mahama, and which have been posting materials in her name.
A statement he issued said “We want to inform the general public especially the Facebook Community and media houses that Ms. Farida Dramani Mahama does not have a Facebook account, neither has she or her parents sanctioned the creation of a Facebook Group in her name.
“While steps have been taken to officially notify Facebook of the fake accounts in her name, the public is hereby advised to kindly disregard all pages and groups posting and making comments under posts as Farida Mahama.
“An Instagram page set up by the same scammers in the name of Farida, @farida_mahama_ is also fake. The general public is kindly advised to desist from any engagements with the said account believing that it is Farida Dramani Mahama
The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has assured the nation that Government will not spend beyond the approved budget for 2021.
He gave the assurance in Parliament on Thursday, July 29, 2021, while presenting the mid-year budget review.
Touching on the general performance of the Ghanaian economy in 2021, he stated that the country did not see a spike in the exchange rate after an election year, for the first time in the history of the fourth republic.
The Minister explained to the House that the Ghana Cedi had depreciated by 0.6 percent against the US dollar, but was appreciating by 3.6 percent against the Euro, since the beginning of the year to date.
The cedi has been relatively stable in the past four years and maintained its stability even in this pandemic year, he said.
He indicated he had not gone to Parliament to ask for more money, adding that he was not in to demand for more taxes either.
He rather stated that he was in to update the House and the country on the performance of the economy during the first half of the year.
He also assured that more taxes will not be introduced as a means of generating more revenue.
Mr. Ofori Atta explained was not demanding more money or introducing new taxes due to various interventions it had put in place to get the country’s economy back on track amidst the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to him, the discipline and seriousness which the current government attached to managing the economy have yielded positive results
Ghana’s total public debt stock as a percentage of Growth Domestic Production (GDP) as of June stands at 77.1 percent.
The figure increased marginally from 76.1 percent at the end of December 2020 to 77.1 percent of GDP at the end of June 2021.
Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister of Finance, who said this on Thursday when presenting a mid-year budget review to Parliament, said the stock included the financial and energy sector bailouts but excluded the Financial Sector Bailout.
He noted that the increase in the debt stock was mainly due to the Eurobond issued in April 2021, COVID- 19 pandemic effect, contingent liabilities, and front-loading of financing to meet cash flow requirements for the first half of the year.
Mr. Ofori-Atta stated that the implementation of the 2021 Budget had been successful and assured that the government was committed to achieving the fiscal deficit target of 9.5 percent of GDP for the year.
He said the Government would ensure financial discipline in order not to derail the objective of returning to the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) fiscal deficit and primary balance thresholds of five percent of GDP and positive primary balance, respectively, by 2024.
The Finance Minister said the provisional fiscal data for Jan-June 2021 showed that total revenue and grants amounted to GH¢28.3billion, equivalent to 6.5 percent of GDP, against a programmed target of GH¢32.4billion or 7.5 percent of GDP.
He said for the same period, total expenditure, including the clearance of arrears, amounted to GH¢50.6billion, equivalent to 11.7 percent of GDP, against a programmed target of GH¢55.1billion or 12.7 percent of GDP.
Mr. Ofori Atta noted that the fiscal deficit for the period was financed from both foreign and domestic sources.
He stated that the net foreign financing of GH¢15.2billion constituted 68.3 percent of total financing and included inflows from Eurobond proceeds.
Mr. Ofori-Atta said the total domestic financing amounted to GH¢7.1billion, representing 31.7 percent of total financing.
Presentation of the 2021 Mid-year review of the budget statement to Parliament is in accordance with Section 28 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921).
Under the Act, the Minister for Finance is expected to present the Mid-year Budget Review to Parliament not later than 31st July of each financial year.
The presentation provided the economic and fiscal performance of the economy for the first half of 2021 as well as an update on the implementation of key programs, including, strategies by the government to create employment for Ghanaians in general and the youth in particular.
It highlighted the status of the implementation of the Ghana CARES “Obaatanpå” Programme, which sought to revitalize and transform the economy to pre-pandemic times.
The Minister for Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has stated that his belief in future technologies for clean energy which nuclear power is central to, remains unshaken.
Dr. Prempeh made this statement when he inaugurated the Board of Directors for Nuclear Power Ghana (NPG) at a short ceremony earlier today at the Ministry. He stated that at a time where Ghana is working assiduously towards boosting Ghana’s industrialization with clean and reliable energy systems such as nuclear and renewables, the NPG has been positioned strategically positioned to facilitate this drive. He expressed his belief that the new board will coordinate the efforts of all stakeholders in this regard.
“Renewable energy sources are expected to grow significantly which will make nuclear power, an important part of today’s clean energy drive. By turning to clean energy systems for electricity generation, we will be able to decarbonize key areas such as transportation and other environmental pollution activities”, the Minister emphasized.
He charged the board focus on providing relevant resources to build a strong safety culture and resilience management systems which will ensure that in the planning and development of nuclear infrastructure and related activities in Ghana, the government’s purpose will be achieved.
In his remarks, the new Board Chair, Prof. Nyarko, expressed his team’s gratitude to the President for reposing such confidence in them and urged them to work together as a team in order to overcome all challenges and provide benefits to the state.
The other members of the seven-member board include Hon. William Owireku Aidoo, Dr. Stephen Yamoah, Hon. Patricia Appiagyei, Mr. Emmanuel Antwi-Darkwa, Mr. Anthony Selom Dzadzra, and Dr. Robert Bright Sogbaji
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has sent a strong warning to people who despite the rise in COVID-19 cases in the country are not adhering to the key safety protocol of mask wearing.null
Addressing the nation for the 26th time on measures taken against the spread of the deadly virus, Akufo-Addo blamed non-wearing of mask for the recent increase in infections and warned that people who are found guilty will have themselves to blame.
“It is extremely troubling to note that the high compliance rate with mask wearing has fallen alarmingly. The wearing of masks in public places, fellow Ghanaians, continues to be mandatory.
“There are no exceptions to this rule, and strict conformity with this protocol will be enforced. Anyone found to be flouting this directive will have him or herself to blame. We cannot afford to allow the recklessness of a few to endanger the lives of the majority of persons in the country.”
Akufo-Addo confirmed that Ghana is experiencing a third wave of infections as a result of the Delta Variant of the virus, which, according to the World Health Organisation, has increased transmissibility rates.
Ghana’s active cases, as of Wednesday, 21 July 2021 stands at 4,094.
The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has challenged Ghana’s youth, particularly the large number of graduates, to take advantage of Government’s various initiatives and interventions, particularly in the area of digitalization, to make a positive difference in their lives and the nation as a whole.
Reminding the youth that they are the future of Ghana, Dr Bawumia urged them to fully utilise their innate and learned abilities to “step up, do something great, and be counted.”
Vice President Bawumia made the call at the 13th Congregation of the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) on Saturday 24th July, 2021 during which 870 graduands, drawn from the UPSA School of Law and School of Graduate Studies, were awarded various degrees after years of study.
The University also conferred an Honorary Doctorate Degree on the Minister for Energy and MP for Manhyia South, Hon Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, for his meritorious service while serving as Minister for Education, during which he implemented a number of epoch-making policies and programmes, including the Free Senior High School (FSHS).
“A good society requires men and women ready to use their intellect and knowledge to addressing society’s problems and finding solutions to the benefit of the many. A good society requires a generation of citizens who are always looking for opportunities to lift up the weak in society, opening doors wider for the less privileged in society.
“And it also requires respect for our fellow citizens and a desire to brighten the corner where ever you are. Mother Ghana needs you – your intellect, your knowledge, your discipline and your dedication to work” he urged the graduates.
Commending the authorities of UPSA for leveraging technology in adapting to the ‘new normal’, including plans to migrate to a smart and paperless electronic platform for its day-to-day administration in the wake of Covid 19, Dr Bawumia said the pandemic has presented many challenges across several sectors of our economy, including the educational sector, and it is important that all stakeholders support Government’s digitization drive.
“Access to internet connectivity ensured that academic work, commercial transactions, social interactions and other academic and administrative activities were uninterrupted.
“Government initiated a free-wifi project to provide Wi-Fi connectivity to 722 public Senior High Schools, 46 Colleges of Education, 16 regional offices and 260 District Education Offices. So far, 13 public universities have joined.
“The benefits of a Free Wi-Fi Project for promoting education is enormous; not least, it will ensure continued learning. More importantly, lecturers, teachers and students will have access to the necessary educational information to enhance teaching, learning and research in our Universities and Colleges across the country.
“Education is the heartbeat of his Excellency President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. He is passionate about producing citizens who are productive, problem solvers, innovators and have the nation at heart.
“Digitization is a catalyst for reaching every youth with quality education and we are determined not to leave anybody behind.”
Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh
Vice President Bawumia commended the authorities UPSA for recognizing the many accomplishments of Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh aka Napo, “the hard-working, former Minister of Education, who executed Government’s bold flagship programme: Free SHS with distinction.
“In recognition of his many accomplishments, Hon. Prempeh was recently invited by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) to serve on its Mission 4.7 High-Level Advisory Group as an Honorary and Meritorious Member.
“I am very happy that he has also been recognised and honoured at home by UPSA. A well-deserved honour, and it reinforces the high regard many have of him for his remarkable leadership role in the promotion of quality education in Ghana.”
UPSA
Established in 1965 as a private institution, UPSA was taken over by the Government of Ghana in 1979. The Institute attained fully fledged university status on 1st September, 2008, when it was granted a Presidential Charter. On 9th October, 2012, the Institute was renamed the University of Professional Studies, Accra following the Presidential assent to the University of Professional Studies Bill passed by Parliament on 31st July of the same year to bring into effect the University of Professional Studies Act, 2012 (Act 850).
Captain Smart says he is not afraid of Kennedy Agyapong and has told him to refine his attitude as a Member of Parliament.
Captain Smart has called the bluff of Assin Central MP, Kennedy Agyapong for his pronouncements. He says unlike other media houses and journalists, he is not afraid of the legislator’s brags.
Following the Member of Parliament’s (MP’s) call to get a journalist assaulted for testifying before the Commission of Inquiry probing the Ejura killing incidents, Mr. Smart says it was time Ken Agyapong lived to the Honourable title attached to his office as a member of the legislative arm of government.
“It’s like every media house in Ghana is afraid of Ken Agyapong, but me, I’m not afraid of you”
On the Smart Show streamed live on YouTube Monday, July 18, 2021, Mr. Smart said there hasn’t been any iota of wisdom in most of the MP’s comments, one of the reasons he has not been responding to him.
“You’ve said so many things but because there is no sense in any of them, that’s why I don’t respond”
He also said “I don’t like personal beef so I usually don’t do those things” adding that Ken Agyapong “started so well from 2013 defending the ordinary Ghanaian –one other reason I usually don’t respond to things you say because I admire anybody that stands and speak for the ordinary Ghanaian”
He added that Ken Agyapong’s benevolence exhibited towards the needy whenever he came to Multimedia won his heart, even though he later preached every good deed offered people to the public.
Like the MP saying “if he were the president” during his threats to Mr. Asare Donkor, Captain Smart said he would have lashed Ken Agyapong and got him impeached as an MP if he had his way.
He, however, advised him to stay off the media for one month and reflect over his actions and come back as an honourable man.
His Committee, the Defence and Interior, Smart noted is the heart of Ghana and the reason he should be weary of his actions rather than always “disgracing the president.”
Kenneth Koranchie, a phone repairer and witness in the J.B. Danquah Adu murder trial, says all his testimonies; either written or oral, are the same.
The witness told the court that in 2016, he had the opportunity to give a statement in connection with the murder of the Abuakwa North MP, after one of the accused persons brought two phones purported to belong to the late MP for decoding.
The witness, during a cross-examination by Yaw Dankwah, Counsel for the accused persons (Daniel Asiedu aka Sexy Dondon, and Vincent Bossu, aka Junior Agogo) said the evidence he gave in open court was the same as the written statement.
When asked whether he informed the police that the statement they took from him was a summary version of what happened, the witness said after reading the statement to him, he got the sense that it reflected the details of what happened.
He disagreed with the Counsel that he gave a statement to the Police last year and said it was last two years.
The case has been adjourned to July 21, 2021.
Asiedu and Bossu are being held for their various alleged roles in the cold bloody murder of Mr Adu at his residence at Shaishie, near East Legon, on February 9, 2016.
Asiedu is additionally being held over robbery, while both face a charge of conspiracy to commit robbery.
They have, however, denied the offences before a seven-member jury and remanded into lawful custody.
•Kennedy Agyapong insist that he has a good case against Kweku Baako
•He alleges that Kweku Baako is corrupt
•He has cautioned the NPP to be careful with Kweku Baako
The Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong has signalled that his legal tussle with veteran journalist Kweku Baako Jnr will not see an end soon as he believes the charges levelled against him by the journalist holds no water.
The Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper sued Kennedy Agyapong at the High Court on charges of defamation.
The court ruled in his favour but Kennedy Agyapong has appealed the case with a ruling yet to be delivered on the matter.null
Speaking on ‘The Seat Show’ on Net2 TV on Monday evening (July 19), Kennedy Agyapong said he will not make any payment to Baako as he remains convinced that he has a strong defense.
“Kweku Baako, what help have you provided people in this country. You wish they charge me with treason so you are accusing the prosecutor of doing a poor job. Come and charge me with treason yourself. What happened when you took me to court? I said I won’t pay a dime so I have taken the case back to court. He knows we have a court case but he is always talking about me,” he said.
Kennedy Agyapong also warned leadership of the New Patriotic Party to be wary of their engagement with Kweku Baako Jnr.
“I’m warning the NPP to be careful with Kweku Baako and Anas else they will topple their government. What has he achieved in this country? He moves around and speaks like he knows more than anyone in this world,” he said.
Kennedy Agyapong touched on a number of issues including the claims of contempt of parliament levelled against him by the Member of Parliament for Tamale North, Alhassan Suhuyini.null
Suhuyini cited Kennedy Agyapong for contempt after which the case was referred to the Privileges Committee for deliberations and recommendations.
Kennedy Agyapong asserts that he is not innocent and will prove his innocence before members of the committee.
“What I said was that for such a person you beat the hell out of him. I said that if I were the president. Am I the president? It was a hypothetical statement that I made.
“I’m surprised the issue has been taken to the Privileges Committee but we will go there. There are discerning MPs who don’t just consume information. You are bringing that propaganda job to Parliament,” he hit at Suhuyini.
• Prophet Badu Kobi has established that no amount of hate can send him to his early grave
• He said he won’t allow his enemies to kill him as they did to the late Prophet TB Joshua
• Prophet Badu Kobi has been subjected to criticisms for his numerous failed prophecies
General Overseer of the Glorious Wave Chapel International, Prophet Emmanuel Badu Kobi, has warned that he won’t let people frustrate him to the point of death as they did to the late Prophet TB Joshua.
In a bid to hit back at critics, Prophet Badu Kobi said the Synagogue Church of Nations’ Founder was killed for speaking the truth but he (Badu Kobi) won’t allow such a thing to happen to him.
The man of God has been under attack on social media for his failed prophecies in recent times.null
He was labelled a ‘fake prophet’ after his prophecy about England winning the ‘Euro 2020’ failed to happen. Also, his predictions that Brazil would win the ‘Copa America’ trophy failed to materialize as they lost to Argentina.
But reacting to the several backlashes from the general public, Prophet Badu Kobi said he has developed a thick skin against them.
During his sermon on Sunday, July 18, 2021, he established that:
“It is next week I’ll answer talkers. Today I won’t bother about anybody. They killed TB Joshua, they think I will allow them to kill me? Badu Kobi has gone through Tribal persecution, yet it did not affect him. I have faced political persecution yet I survived. People watch me on TV and speak against me. Badu Kobi this, Badu Kobi that and yet it couldn’t bring me down. So when it comes to societal persecution, I don’t even remember. I slept very well, I ate very well. You are wasting your time. I know what I’m doing. If people can do better than me, they won’t talk about me.”
In a similar light, it can be recalled that sometime in 2020, Badu Kobi was subjected to immense backlash after his predictions that Donald Trump and John Mahama would be re-elected as presidents failed to happen.null
As we all wait patiently for President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to name his Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives of all the MMDAs across the country, it is important for party members, and supporters of the various aspirants, to exercise circumspection and restraint when the list comes out.
Very much often, supporters of victors have the tendency to showcase their joy and overdo it. This has the potential to get supporters of the aspirants who weren’t successful angry.
To those who may lose out now, know that the President can appoint one person at a time to man an assembly. If today you are not mentioned, do not see it as the end of the world or your political career. Just accept it, support the confirmation of the victor and together, help him or her to succeed for the greater good of the party in particular and the country in general.
It is painful, no doubt, when you lose out in such instances after investing your time, energies and resources in the party but failing to win this position, take consolation in the fact that others have also made similar sacrifices for the party but are yet to be rewarded. They will be rewarded in time and so will you.
I entreat everybody to accept the decision of the President when the list comes out. It is for the good of the party as well as the country.
Let’s strive to build a better party and that starts with accepting the outcomes of the committee’s work as submitted to the President for consideration.
I believe in the President, I believe in you, let us all believe in the party and work towards making it great and strong.
Our collective positive and reconciliatory reaction will immensely contribute to our effort to break the 8 in 2024.
May God bless the President. May God bless the NPP. May God bless Ghana
The Attorney-General (A-G), Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame, has filed a petition at the Accra High Court seeking an order to wind up (dissolve) a network marketing company known as Quest Net Limited (QNET).
In the petition filed at the Commercial Division of the Accra High Court last Monday, the A-G accuses the company of engaging in dishonest, illegal and fraudulent business activities.
“Investigations by the National Security Council Secretariat disclosed that the respondent (QNET) operates in a manner akin to a Ponzi scheme by luring clients to make deposits and investments with them which they eventually lose,” the petition said.
“Petitioner avers that to become a member of the false schemes put in place by respondent, respondent requires prospective subscribers to purchase various online items for various sums ranging between GH¢5,000 and GH¢15,000,” the petition said.
The principal legal advisor to the government further avers that investigations indicated that QNET also took money from people with the false representation that it could help them find jobs.
“The respondent lures unsuspecting members of the public to pay the sum of about GH¢5, 000 for the purpose of placing them in various jobs which turned out to be a hoax,” the petition added.
After taking the money, the A-G said the company would then orchestrate the arrest of its victims who try to make noise about its “fraudulent activities.”https://71f43fd1004d36d6fa83bd0688e5ea29.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
Alleged money laundering
Mr Dame further contends that the activities of QNET are mostly dominated by Nigerians, Burkinabes, Ivorians , Malians and Togolese, who launder the proceeds from their illegal activities.
“The petitioner says the widespread criminality and illegality for which the respondent is being operated has grossly undermined its existence in the Ghanaian community,” the petition added.
According to the A-G, investigations have shown that QNET is part of Quest International also known as QI Group which is located in Hong Kong, a company operating in many countries.null
However, the A-G said owing to its “illegal activities”, the company has been banned in the USA, Canada, Australia, Rwanda, Iran, Sri Lanka, Syria, Afghanistan and La Cote d’Ivoire.
Legal basis
The petition was filed under the Corporate Insolvency and Restructuring Act, 2020 (Act 1015), Section 84 (1) of Act 1015 allows the A-G, the Registrar-General, a creditor of a company or a member of the company to present a petition to the High Court for the official winding up (dissolution) of a company if (a) the business or objects of the company are unlawful, the company is operated for an illegal purpose, and (c) the business being carried out by the company is not authorised by the constitution of the company.
Based on the above provision of Act 1015, the A-G is seeking an order from the High Court for the official winding up of Quest Net Limited, and order restraining the directors, members and officers of the company from exercising any powers that pertain to the running of the company.
Mr Dame also wants the court to “appoint the Registrar of Companies, in her capacity as an Official Liquidator to exercise the powers of a liquidator including manage the assets of the respondent Quest Ney Limited pending the making of a winding order by this Honourable Court.”
The management of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), says it has begun engagement with private hostel owners over the high cost of rental fees.
This follows a protest by the students on Friday, July 16, 2021, to demand reductions in the hostel fees.
The students, during the protest, lamented some owners have increased their fees to as high as 90 percent.
The management in a statement said those hostels were not part of the Private Hostels Association (PHA), whose members review rental fees in collaboration with the university,” parts of the statement read.
It added: “Management wishes to assure the general student body and the public that every effort is being made to provide decent and secured accommodation for students on campus.”
However, it has assured these owners have been identified with efforts underway to bring about reductions.
“Consequently, discussions are ongoing with three(3) private investors for the construction of hostels beginning next academic year,” parts of the statement read.
The Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery has declared Tuesday, July 20, 2021 as a statutory public holiday to mark the Eid-ul-Adha celebration.
According to a statement signed by Mr. Dery, Eid-ul-Adha day should be observed as a holiday throughout the country.
The statement reads, “The general public is hereby informed that Tuesday, 20th July 2021 which marks Eid-ul-Adha, is a Statutory Public Holiday and should be observed as such throughout the country
The Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA) has filed a petition with the US Department of State through the US Embassy in Ghana, to invoke Visa Restrictions against Member of Parliament Kennedy Agyapong pursuant to Section 212 of the US Immigration and Nationality Act.null
Section 212(a)(3)(c) of the Act allows the US Government to impose Visa Restrictions against persons of members of a Foreign Government who threaten, surveil, suppress, harass or harm a Journalist.
Among other things ASEPA is also asking the US Government to extend the ban to the current Ghanaian Government and all its officials including the President until the Government resolves the Murder of Ahmed Suale, arrest and prosecute the culprits.
ASEPA is also asking for the ban popularly known as the Khashoggi ban instituted by the US Government after the murder of Saudi Journalist Jamal Khashoggi to be extended to Parliament of Ghana and it’s officials if they fail to remove Kennedy Agyapong as Chairman of the Defence and Interior Committee of Parliament.
The petition has since been filed at the US embassy in Accra this morning.
The Speaker Alban Bagbin has referred Mr Agyapong to the Privileges Committee of Parliament for his utterances against a journalist with the Multimedia Group, Erastus Asare Donkor.null
Mr Agyapong on Friday, July 9, is reported to have allegedly threatened to attack Mr Asare Donkor, “for the journalistic work that the latter undertook during the recent shootings and killing incident at Ejura” on his television station.
The Multimedia Group filed a formal complaint against Mr Agyapong.
On Wednesday July 14, Tamale North MP Alhassan Suhuyini raised the issue on the floor of the house and asked the Speaker to refer the matter to the Privileges Committee.
He said “Mr Speaker, I think that as a former journalist I feel obliged to draw the House’s attention to this conduct of an Honorable colleague of this house which in my view, brings this house into disrepute.
“Mr Speaker, I urge you to exercise your powers under 27 and refer this conduct of the Honorable which is becoming unacceptable, to the Privileges Committee to ascertain the veracity of the comments that were made and recommend sanctions if possible that will act as deterrent to other members who may be tempted to act like him.”null
In response to his request, the Speaker accordingly referred Mr Agyapong to the committee.
He said he cannot take a decision on Mr Agyapong over his utterances against a journalist in Ghana.
That decision to determine whether or not the conduct smacks of abuse of privileges, he said, rests with the lawmakers as a House, to take.
“As it is now, I am compelled to refer it to the Privileges Committee. I want to emphasize that it is the House that will take the decision, it is not the speaker, it is not any other person apart from the House.
“That will be your collective wisdom that come to the conclusion whether what is alleged is just a mere allegation or is supported by facts and whether those facts constitute contempt of the House and abuse of a privilege of members,null
“It is important for me to emphasize here that the privilege and immunity of free speech applies in full force in plenary session and committee sessions, not when members are outside debating issues or on radio and TV. You don’t have that right, that privilege, that immunity to just say anything because you are a member of parliament.
“We are not above the law. It is for good reasons because you represent a large number of people, you should be given the full immunity to be able to say what the people say they want you to say. That is why you say it here and you are covered.
“That immunity doesn’t extend to you in anywhere else. So pleased the committee should go into the matter, submit the report.
Tamale North Member of Parliament Alhassan Suhuyini has said Ghanaians are right in the criticism against the $28million MPs’ car loan because their condition of living is worsening.
Speaking in an interview with TV3’s Parliamentary correspondent Komla Kluste on Thursday July 15, he said “Let us take our time. People are right in the way they are complaining about the situation because they live in worse conditions . so they are right the way they are complaining but we as leaders must appreciate that it is within their right to complain as they do but it is our duty to take actions that will be better for the state
“To also go sentimentally to say because you are criticizing us we will go for an option that we all know on the face value is more burdensome on the state is not an act of leadership, with all due respect.”
Member of Parliament for Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam Casiel Ato Forson has called on all legislators to support the decision to stop the MPs car loan arrangement.
He said on the floor of the House on Thursday July 15 that the time has come for such an arrangement to stop.
“Every four years, two vehicles are given to Members of Parliament are given loans to procure vehicles.
“That is why we have firmly recommended to this House. We want to urge members that the time has come for all of us to accept that going forward we will not accept this car loans , It shouldn’t be a car loan , we also deserve duty post vehicles. We want to urge members to reject car loans going forward,” the member of the Finance Committee said.
In Parliament on Thursday July 15 during a debate on the $28million car loan for lawmakers, Member of Parliament for Tamale Central Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed told some of his colleague MPs who oppose the facility not be pretend to be who they are not.
This comes after his colleague Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has said in relation to the loan that the impression has been created as though the lawmakers in the house for their personal gains.
Contributing to a debate on whether or not this should be approved on Thursday July 15, Mr Ablakwa said “The impression is created as though the 275 Members of Parliament of this house are here just for ourselves. We are not here for ourselves, we are here for the people of Ghana.
“We went to the people and offered ourselves with a vision to serve them and to deliver on the hopes and aspirations of our people and to achieve for our collective good a country that is based on success on progress, on development that our people will be well and duly served and that their wellbeing at all times will be our focus.
“That is what we wake up every morning to do. We need to re-assure the good people of this country that it has never been about us.”
In reply, Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed said “In as much as I agree with such admonishing, I want to entreat myself and my colleagues we shouldn’t be pretentious over such admonishment. It shouldn’t just come from our lips, we must be seen demonstrating that.
“If the four wheel drive is a luxury to some members of parliament I say that it is not a ;luxury to others . It is not an idea of us being admonished that we should demonstrate that we love the people of this country.
“That is our responsibility and let us see that in our action. I will want to caution myself and caution my colleagues when the cameras are before you don’t tyr to play saint , when the cameras are before you don’t try to pretend to be who you are not because we know the conduct of everybody and if we begin to question the con duct of people , I don’t think that is what the people of this country want. I agree that don’t give us any car loan.”
Murtala Mohammed had told Mr Ablakwa to return the two cars he bought from loan facilities for legislators if he is a principled person.
He described the position taken by Ablakwa regarding the car loan facility for legislators as hypocritical.
He accused Mr Ablakwa of lacking principles relative to this matter.
Ghana’s Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta submitted to parliament for approval a loan agreement of $28 million pending consideration by the Finance Committee, a facility that has been approved by the House on Thursday July 15.
This is for the purchase of 275 vehicles for members of the 8th Parliament.
This move has divided opinions among members of the Ghanaian public and also the legislators themselves on whether or not this is a good decision in the midst of the severe economic hardship Ghanaians are saddled with.
Okudzeto Ablakwa on Wednesday July 14 revealed that he and some of his colleague lawmakers from across the political divide had made progress in getting parliament to reject the 28million car loan facility for the legislators.
He stated that he and his colleague from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Patrick Boamah cosponsored a private member’s motion which the Rt. Hon. Speaker admitted for urgent debate this week.
“Glad we made major progress today in our efforts to have Parliament reject the US$28million MPs’ car loan facility.
“Really elated that my colleague NPP MP, Patrick Boamah and I cosponsored a private member’s motion which the Rt. Hon. Speaker admitted for urgent debate this week,” he said in a tweet.
Mr Boamah who is the Vice-Chairman of Parliament’s Finance Committee has said in an earlier interview that if he has his way, he will tell the legislators to reject the facility.
“For me, if I have my way I will tell my colleague MPs to reject that facility for the simple reason that all the other arms of government vehicles are procured for them without having to go through this process where the media is always on the back of MP s for contracting a loan.
“I don’t see the reason why we should be the subject for this public bashing,” he told journalists on Wednesday July 7.
Commenting on this development, Mr Murtala said “I remember in the coffee shop he called me while he was standing with the contact person of one of the companies and he was asking me whether I will take my car from that company, so where is the principle in this? Since when did he realise that taking the car is unconscionable?
“He has gotten two cars and a new MP who is coming who doesn’t even have a motorbike, whose constituency is farther than his, whose constituency is broader than his, who also needs to discharge his responsibilities by being mobile, such an MP should not be given a car? Let us get serious in this country.”
“This is not a principle. Then he should retune the other cars two cars,” he told Joy Prime on Thursday July 15.
“Okudzeto is not just a colleague Member of Parliament, myself and him we have come a very long way. He has taken the loan two times. I went to Parliament with him the same time when he took the car loan. In the Seventh Parliament I wasn’t there but he took the loan.
“So where is the principle in this? Since when did he realize that taking the car was unconscionable . Who is he trying to deceive?
“This is not a principle position. I remember in the coffee shop he called me while he was standing with the contact person of one of the companies and he was asking me whether I will take my car from that company, so where is the principle in this? Since when did he realise that taking the car is unconscionable?”
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