Second Deputy Majority Whip, Habib Iddrisu, has moved for NDC’s National Communications Officer Sammy Gyamfi to be referred to the Privileges Committee over his social media attacks on leadership of the Minority Caucus of the House and the Speaker.

He made the move in a sitting chaired by Second Deputy Speaker, Andrew Asiamah Amoako Thursday.

“Mr Speaker, I hereby draw the attention of the House to comments made by Sammy Gyamfi, the Communications Officer of the NDC. Mr Speaker, this is an attack on the Speakership and the leadership of this House. Under Order 27, I want to move that this should be referred to the Committee of Privileges as precedence in this House has already shown and latest was yesterday,” he stated.

Mr Gyamfi in a post on social media in March this year criticized the party’s leadership in Parliament following the vetting and approval of some minister-designates the party had opposed.

The party had directed its members to vote against some of the nominees especially those with security portfolios.

Below are details of the post on Facebook

Comrades, the betrayal we have suffered in the hands of the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Bagbin, the leadership of our Parliamentary group, particularly Hon. Haruna Iddrissu and Hon. Muntaka Mubarak, and dozens of our own MPs, is what strengthens me to work hard for the great NDC to regain power.

“They brazenly defied the leadership of the party and betrayed the collective good for their selfish interest. And we, must not let them succeed in their parochial quest to destroy the NDC, the party that has done so much for them and all of us. The shame they have brought on the party will forever hang like an albatross around their necks.

These are hard times for all of us but we should not let the betrayal of a few quench our love for the great NDC. Rather, let it strengthen us to fight for this party. We all have an equal stake in this party. They are few, we are many. Some have sold their conscience but ours is intact. And we, can work together to rebuild the party from the ashes of 3rd March, 2021, which I call “Black Wednesday ”- Our day of self-inflicted shame.

This is the time for us to insist on the right changes in the leadership of the NDC group in Parliament or forget about them completely. The current leadership have lost their moral authority to lead and are not fit to sit on the front bench of the NDC side of the house. More importantly, it’s about time we understood, that we don’t have any NDC Speaker of Parliament. No we don’t! We have a Speaker who rode on the back of the NDC into Office to pursue his own parochial agenda and nothing more. You trust them, at your own peril

Chief Justice Anin Yeboah

The Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSSAG) has mounted a strong defence against the allegations of bribery leveled against the Chief Justice (CJ) Kwasi Anin Yeboah.

According to JUSAG, it is impossible for the CJ Justice Anin Yeboah to demand or take any bribe because “he did not become a judge only just yesterday.”

Mr Alex Nartey, the president of JUSAG in an exclusive interview with EIB Network’s Court Correspondent Murtala Inusah, urged all staff members who maybe worried over the allegations against the CJ to be focused.

“My advice to staff who may be worried is that the Chief Justice who is heading the Judiciary is a man we can trust and he will prevail at the end of the day and so everyone should focus and work as we do always and at the end of the day, the Chief Justice would be vindicated,” Mr Nartey urged the staff.

Touching on how JUSSAG as an association and a stakeholder in justice delivery system received the allegations against the CJ, Mr Natey said, it is impossible for the “Justice Anin Yeboah we know to demand or take any bribe.”

He said, the CJ did not become a judge only “just yesterday,’ but he has been around for a long time.

He added “We us Judicial Service Staff have worked with him closely at various levels as clerks, at administrative and management levels, and we know the kind of person Justice Anin yeboah is.

“He (CJ) has an impeccable integrity – and has a high standard moral character. The ethical standards with which he goes about his work that we know, we are disputing this, we can’t believe it. It is impossible with him. I believe the lawyer who made that allegation himself knows very well that, what he said cannot be true. And so, I will urge and entreat Ghanaians not to place any premium on this allegation made against the Chief Justice,” the JUSAG president rallies.

On concerns that the matter should have been referred to the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice to investigate instead of the CID, the JUSSAG president said, “I don’t think that the demands people are making are all right.”

“The office of the Chief Justice is a constitutional creation and has all means for a swift investigations, so that everyone will become clear that indeed the man is a clean man, he can’t do that and he will never do that,” he intimated.

Asked if his members are worried about the situation, he responded by saying “not at all.”

But aserted that, “we are worried to the extent that an innocent man is being pulled into an unfortunate situation that is the only worry we have.”

To this end, he said, “we take consolation from the fact that, we know the man and he is of integrity.

“We are happy work is going on and we know that at the end of the day, people who are happy about it will be proven wrong, so we are not perturbed at all, we know that, our Chief Justice is a man of integrity, and will not be involved in any such thing.”

Political motivation

On if the allegation has any political motivation, Mr Nartey said, he will not be surprised if it has.

“Well, I will not be surprised if it has a political undertone because Ghana seens to be now moving by political sentiments but unfortunately most of these sentiments born out of politics are not premised on the truth, they are only emotional and propaganda and so yes, people can always do their politics, but the truth will always prevail and that is what we are happy with.

On the call by some political parties for the CJ to step aside pending investigations, the JUSAG president said, such calls are too early.

“It is early days yet to say the Chief Justice should step aside just because, this flimsy allegation has been made,” he responded.

According to him, “the lawyer himself knows that he ought not to have made that remarks and it humilate him the more.

He said the lawyer by making those allegation is shooting himself down because ‘it doesn’t present any responsible picture to any responsible mind.:

Asked if he will be surprised if investigations prove otuerswise, he said “investigations cannot lead to any other outcome than the fact that the allegation is baseless and so that is what we look forward for.”

Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5fm/ Murtala Inusah

• Assin Central MP Kennedy Agyapong says late Nigerian preacher TB JOhsua is fakenull

• He narrates how an in-law rejected science and followed him till her death

• Agyapong has a long standing beef with some Men of God he regards as ungodly

Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong, has a long standing beef with some ‘Men of God’ he considers ungodly in their words and deeds.

Through Net2 TV and other channels under the Ken City Media group he owns, Agyapong has waged a consistent war especially on some leaders of Charismatic congregations.null

His latest pronouncement is on a Nigerian televangelist whose footprints extend across Africa and to different parts of the world – the late Temitope Balogun Joshua a.k.a. TB Joshua.

Agyapong decribed the late preacher as ‘fake’ citing the instance of how a relative died on the back of refusal to visit a doctor but rather travel to Joshua’s church, the Synagogue Church of All Nations in Lagos, seeking spiritual intervention.

While appearing on the Good Evening Ghana program on Metro TV, he was asked about pastors in general and TB Johsua in particular.

“He is fake, I have said it long time that he is fake. He is fake because my wife’s sister when she had cancer, that time she (Mrs Agyapong) was in America, brought money for the woman to go to Korle Bu.null

“In fact, a doctor actually went to her house (to assess her), the woman said no, she is going to TB Joshua. She took the money and went to Lagos, when she got to Lagos, she said she could not even see TB Joshua (except) his young pastors.”

He continued: “Then she came back and when the sister called, she said ‘oh, I am feeling good, nice, TB Joshua is good.’ This woman’s breast cancer happened again, she was begging at Korle Bu for the doctors to cut the breast because of the pain, she lived in Tema, she died.”

To buttress his point, he referred to a 2014 incident where a guesthouse within the SCOAN headquarters collapsed killing 115 people. In his view, how did TB Joshua not see that happening?

“Let me ask you a question, You said TB Joshua can heal you, why is it that he sees what is wrong with every body but when his building was collapsing he couldn’t see it, are you dumb? You are dumb!”null

He also related a recent report by a member of the church that TB Joshua has disvirgined a lot of women in the church.

“Have you seen a confession with one of the ladies that he was sleeping with all of them? The confessions of TB Joshua, that a lady has come out? As for me, the ladies are not my problem, but I am saying that a man’s structure collapsed, over 100 people died.

“So if TB Joshua can say that today Kwame Agyapong, you are going to fall sick tomorrow and I have to go and see him for prayers? Tell that to the dogs, so these are some of the things,” he charged.

TB Joshua died in early June and was buried on July 9 at the SCOAN premises where a mausoleum has been built.null

A number of Ghanaians participated in the weeklong funeral, among others Profs Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang and Joshua Alabi, Dr Sipa Yankey and Afriyie Ankrah.

Current Railways Development Minister John Peter Amewu has also confessed to being a strong follower of the Man of God praising Joshua in a video tribute. Musician Shasha Marley also performed at the thanksgiving event in Lagos.

The Good Evening Ghana programme on which Agyapong made his pronouncements aired on July 6.

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin has cautioned MPs to be mindful of their utterances outside the floor of Parliament.  

He says the immunity MPs enjoy when they speak on the floor does not extend to the media, or to the marketplace.

The Speaker, on Wednesday, referred Assin Central MP Kennedy Agyapong to the Privileges Committee for threatening to beat Luv FM’s Erastus Asare Donkor

The directive issued by the Speaker on Wednesday will enable the House to decide if the actions of Mr Agyapong breach the orders of Parliament and if so, recommend appropriate sanctions.

“This is my first time hearing this matter. As it is now, I am compelled to refer to the Privileges Committee. It is a matter the Privileges Committee will have to go into and report to the House and it is for the House to decide whether the honourable Member is contentious of the House,” the Speaker said

The committee is expected to investigate whether the MP acted in contempt of Parliament and brought the name of the House into disrepute.

Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo Markin questioned whether there was prima facia evidence for the referral.

“All I am saying is that, if care is not taken, we may end up sacrificing the rule of procedure which will amount to we creating a new path that if we are supposed to go back to it… will be a problem,” he explained on the floor.

But Speaker Alban Bagbin wants MPs to conduct themselves appropriately.

Speaking on the floor, he indicated that, “the privilege and immunity of free speech apply in full force in plenary session and committee sessions. Not when members are outside debating issues or on radio or TV.”

“That immunity doesn’t extend to you in the banking square or anywhere. Just saying anything because you think you are a member of Parliament. It doesn’t apply at all,” he fumed.

Mr Bagbin further advised the committee to be circumspect in addressing the issues judiciously to save the integrity of the House.

Mr Agyapong, on Friday, July 9, was reported to have verbally abused and threatened to attack Mr Asare Donkor, “for the journalistic work that the latter undertook during the recent shootings and killing incident at Ejura” on Net 2 TV, a television station owned by the MP

Martin-A.-B.-K.-Amidu

The former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, has stated that his only regret in life is trusting President Akufo-Addo as someone who genuinely wanted to fight corruption and get Ghana working.

In a new article, the anti-corruption campaigner said he allowed himself to be conned by the president in a naive but sincere belief that Mr Akufo-Addo was not going to use the criminal justice system to persecute his political opponents.

“The only regret I have in life is to have trusted President Nana Akufo Addo in such a sheepish manner as to have allowed him to have conned me into agreeing to be his Special Prosecutor in a naïve but sincere belief on my part that he was intent on fighting corruption and was also against using the process of criminal justice administration as an instrument of political discrimination against his political opponents.

“The position and status of Special Prosecutor was not one I would ordinarily have agreed to be nominated and appointed to after declining nomination for the Supreme Court in 1999 as I indicated on oath at my vetting but for the fact the President invited, cajoled, promised, and assured me that the appointment was going to be on terms personal to me and vowed to ensure my independence and that of the Office.”

Below is the full statement by Martin Amidu

THE DISQUALIFIACTION OF MARTIN AMIDU AS SPECIAL PROSECUTOR WOULD RATHER HAVE BEEN A DISATER FOR PRESIDNEDNT NANA AKUFO ADDO: BY MARTIN A. B. K. AMIDU

INTRODUCTION

Mr. Godfred Dame had the effrontery, childlike pomposity, and arrogance to have said in the interview he granted to Metro TV’s Good Afternoon Ghana programme that:

“What I can say is that when his office was threatened by a legal suit, his own status as the Special Prosecutor was threatened by a legal suit; Dr Dominic Ayine instituting an action against the attorney general and himself, I rather defended him [Amidu]; defended him to the best of my ability and my defence was actually upheld by the Supreme Court and that resulted in him continuing as Special Prosecutor…So, in a way, I’m responsible for his being Special Prosecutor, which he so much touts about”.

This article is a sequel to my article, “A Short Tenure Fighting Corruption and Political Discrimination Is More Honourable”, published on 9^th July 2021 in which I stated that: “I shall be demonstrating separately that the disaster (for an unfavourarble outcome) rather awaited the President …who had appointed older persons to public office, instead of Martin Amidu or Cynthia Lamptey, my deputy who were only to be affected tangentially.”

I never sought to be the Special Prosecutor to tout it as an achievement – It certainly is not!

The only regret I have in life is to have trusted President Nana Akufo Addo in such a sheepish manner as to have allowed him to have conned me into agreeing to be his Special Prosecutor in a naïve but sincere belief on my part that he was intent on fighting corruption and was also against using the process of criminal justice administration as an instrument of political discrimination against his political opponents. The position and status of Special Prosecutor was not one I would ordinarily have agreed to be nominated and appointed to after declining nomination for the Supreme Court in 1999 as I indicated on oath at my vetting but for the fact the President invited, cajoled, promised, and assured me that the appointment was going to be on terms personal to me and vowed to ensure my independence and that of the Office. The President and I at our first meeting in his office on 10^th January 2018 anticipated possible legal action by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on the age provision in Act 959 but we concluded, as seasoned constitutional lawyers, that Act 959 was constitutional, and above all it was not our place to invalidate an Act of Parliament.

THE DISHONESTY OF REMOVING A DEFENDANT’S NAME FROM THE CASE FOR THE PURPOSE OF THE GREED OF CLAIMING A POSSIBLE SUCCESSFUL OUTCOME

The NDC as the President and I anticipated at our meeting on 10^th January 2018 preceded Dr. Ayine’s action with an interview to 3FM on 12^th January 2018 and a press statement also signed by its General Secretary on 5^th February 2018. Dr. Dominic Ayine, the NDC Member of Parliament from my own region of the Upper East took freight and brought an action in the Supreme Court on 12^th February 2018 against the Attorney General as 1^st Defendant and me as the 2^nd Defendant. The Attorney General filed her Statement of the 1^st Defendant’s Case on 26^th February 2018. I filed a Statement of the 2^nd Defendant’s Case on 5^th March 2018. Dr. Ayine and his team then applied to file a Supplementary Statement of Case on 23^rd March 2018. I filed an affidavit in opposition to the application on 26^th March 2018. The Attorney General filed her affidavit in opposition on 13^th April 2018.

On the hearing of the application on 19^th April 2018 Dr. Ayine’s application was dismissed, compelling him and his team to apply to amend their Writ and Statement of Case, which were granted by the Court on 17^th May 2018.  I again filed my Amended Statement of the 2^nd Defendant’s Case on 4^th June 2018, and later the Memorandum of Issue on 9^th January 2019. The Attorney General also filed her Amended Statement of the 1^st Defendant’s Case in June 2018 and her Memorandum of Issues on 18^th January 2019. Dr. Ayine, the Plaintiff had filed his Memorandum of Issues on 30^th November 2018. The case was then ripe for hearing within twelve (12) months from 12^th February 2018.

The case was called for hearing on 5^th February 2019, almost one year since it was commenced, without the Attorney General having formally applied to have my name struck out from the suit as a Defendant. Mr. Dame who appeared for the Attorney General, was content to take advantage of the benefit of seeing and reading my lucid pleadings resulting from my long experience as an advocate of landmarked constitutional law causes in the Supreme Court alongside distinguished lawyers such as the late Rt Hon. Peter Adjatey, Mr. J. B. da Rocha and now President Akufo Addo as worthy opponents. Then suddenly and out of the blue, Mr. Dame, for the Attorney General, took Dr. Ayine with his lawyers and me, the 2^nd Defendant, by surprise by disingenuously applying orally to the Court after almost one year since the case begun to have my name struck out of the case as the 2^nd Defendant.

Dr. Ayine’s lawyer, Tony Lithur, repeated a valid argument he had made in one of his applications when Mr. Dame orally applied to have me struck out of the case as a Defendant on 5^th February 2019: “But the 1^st Defendant cannot properly speak for him on the matter. The issue is, anyhow, moot as 2^nd Defendant has since filed a Statement of Case in response to the Plaintiff’s Claim.” He should have added that by filing my Statement of 2^nd Defendant’s Case and taking part in the case from 12^th February 2018 through to 5^th February 2019 I had shown beyond all reasonable doubt that I was an Interested Party in the case and entitled as such to remain a Defendant in the suit by the Court’s own precedent on the right of interested parties to take part in constitutional cases affecting them. I had invested time and energy defending my tangential rights for a whole year. Mr. Dame slept on the case for a year like he did in the recent GPGC/Ghana arbitration. Unlike the GPGC arbitration in a foreign forum, when Mr. Dame woke-up he was less than fair and candid to the Court, the plaintiff and to me by refusing or failing to draw the Courts attention to the fact that the Attorney General was not in fact a nominal defendant as Mr. Dame claimed in his submission but a substantive defendant answering substantively for supposedly nominating the Special Prosecutor under section 13(2) and subsequently the Deputy Special Prosecutor under section 16(2) of Act 959, respectively.

The Court strangely and unfortunately, failed or refused to hear from me on this issue even though I was present, had announced myself and had been recorded as appearing for myself. My name was struck out from the suit as a 2^nd Defendant the same day. But my pleadings remained on the case docket, and I had no doubt that the judges would or had already read them and would take them into account in their consideration of the merits of Dr. Ayine’s case.

My Amended Statement of the 2^nd Defendant’s Case was published for the benefit of the public and can still be found on my website. Anybody may judge for him or herself whether my defence was not far more matured, reasoned, lucid, robust, and stronger than anything Mr. Godfred Dame thinks he filed on behalf of the Attorney General as the then 1^st Defendant to have won the case for the Government. Mr. Godfred Dame deliberately got my name struck out from the suit (almost a whole year after it started) so that the Attorney General and him could bask in my name, integrity and reputation and take credit for the outcome of the case as he now dishonourably caused to have been done first in his profile published on 9^th February 2021 and at the interview, he granted on Metro TV on 24 June 2021.

Delayed hearing and disposition of the case to render the Special Prosecutor ineffective

The Attorney General, and Mr. Dame, her deputy who appeared for her in Court, made no effort to have the case heard for more than another year. Dr. Ayine and his team wanted an early trial and so did I, to enable me to vacate the office or clothe me with the full authority to perform as Special Prosecutor. The Attorney General, for reasons best known to her and Mr. Dame, refused to formally apply for an early hearing as is the normal practice in such serious constitutional cases against the Attorney General herself and the Republic. In the interim, a High Court almost literally injuncted me from performing my duties as the Special Prosecutor when it ruled on 31^st July 2019 in an application for stay of proceedings that: “I am of the opinion that the situation at hand would amount to exceptional circumstances such that the instant proceedings ought to be stayed pending the determination of the Appeal and/ or the status of the Special Prosecutor, whichever comes first.” It meant any prosecution I mounted would face the same fate. No decision was made until on 13^th May 2020 when the Supreme Court disposed Dr. Ayine’s case.

The impression I formed (which was shared by other reasonable persons knowledgeable in the field) was that the Government that had appointed me the Special Prosecutor was, out of fear, more interested in assessing, in the interim, whether in the performance of the duties of the office I would show bias in its favour before, pressing for a hearing and disposition of the case. My reaction was to walk away from the Office, but former President Rawlings and others were prevailed upon to persuade me not to, as that would be an embarrassment to the President and the Government. I knew the catch in the case was the several more aged public officers appointed by the President to assist “The Family” enterprise who would have been affected if I walked away or was thrown under the bus. Nonetheless, my office was rendered ineffective by virtue of the ruling of the High Court, but the Attorney General and Mr. Dame, her deputy, never saw the urgency of the case being decided earlier than 13^th May 2020. Eventually it was adjudicated and decided upon by an almost entirely new panel made up of a new Chief Justice, three newly appointed judges, and three members of the original panel two of whom dissented. I resigned seven months later, on 16^th November 2020, leaving behind the more aged appointees of “The Family” who are still at post to take care of its corrupt business.

Mr. Godfred Dame appears to have deliberately and calculatingly gotten me out of being a Defendant in the case of Dr. Ayine v 1. Attorney General and 2. Martin Alamisi Amidu at the point the case was ripe for hearing so that he could claim in his biography that one of his achievements was “…for leading the efforts of the Government to… the challenge to the constitutionality of the appointment of Mr Martin Amidu as Special Prosecutor…”.  But any experienced and deep-thinking lawyer would have realized that the suit by Dr. Ayine was firstly targeted against the Attorney General who supposedly nominated me under section 13(3) of Act 959 and my prospective deputy under section 16(2) of Act 959; secondly against the President for purportedly accepting the nominations and forwarding them to Parliament for consideration for approval; thirdly against Parliament for approving the nominations; fourthly against the President again for appointing me and later my deputy to our respective positions; and only lastly and tangentially against me and later deputy for accepting the supposedly unconstitutional nominations, resulting approvals, and appointments.

CONSEQUENCES OF NULLIFYING THE APPOINTMENTS ON NANA AKUFO ADDO

Mr. Dame knows or ought to have known that even if the Supreme Court had declared my nomination and appointment as Special Prosecutor under section 13(3) of Act 959 to be inconsistent with the Constitution that decision would normally have saved any actions and decision I had taken while holding the appointment. Any decision otherwise would firstly have meant that the Office of the Special Prosecutor was never operationalized by the President since the enactment of Act 959 because it was the appointment of the Special Prosecutor that operationalized the Office of the Special Prosecutor. Secondly, the Deputy Special Prosecutor could not also have remained in office as her nomination, approval and appointment under section 16(2) would also have been unconstitutional as well on account of the reliefs sought from the Court.

Commonsense should have pointed Mr. Dame to the fact that a declaration of nullity ab initio by the Court would have been a disaster for the calculating “Puppet Master”, the President, Nana Akufo Addo, and “The Family” from which the President would never have recovered his loss of face and not for me or my then deputy. The many appointed older members and associates of “The Family” who are still at post facilitating its corruption would have been out of office. But Mr. Godfred Yebaoh Dame could not even distil these simple outcomes and consequences for the “Puppet Master” the President who made him Deputy Minister which were glaring from Ayine’s Writ and Statement of Case even after the decision of the Supreme Court on 13^th May 2020 and subsequently used my name for his profile before his parliamentary vetting, and subsequently granting the interview to Metro TV as Minister of Justice and Attorney General.

INTEGRITY OF THE OFFICE OF ATTORNEY GENERAL

The rights, privileges, and obligations guaranteed to every citizen under the 1992 Constitution will become meaningful the day every Attorney General in Ghana puts aside his or her first hat as the Minister of Justice under which he or she may act politically and concentrates on the letter and spirit of his or her professional mandate of the Attorney General under Article 88 of the Constitution. Article 88 is informed by hallowed customs and conventions enjoining fairness, candor, and impartiality to every citizen and eschewing arbitrariness and discrimination in the performance of the duties of that public office.

It does not help the integrity of that Office when its occupant hops from radio station to radio station or from TV station to TV station doing politics and threatening political opponents with investigations by the police or with civil or quasi-criminal suits for criticizing his public performance. It certainly is not good for the respect due that Office when citizens begin disrespecting the Office by mocking any occupant of the office as a “Local Champion” adding that: “This $170M judgement debt case, they should have sent it to Supreme Court or?”; or that the occupant of the office should remember that: ““You can choose to threaten us. You can choose to behave anyway you want because you’re the Attorney General. But let me put this on record to you. You will not be Attorney General forever….”; or that the occupant is interfering politically on behalf of his appointing government with the constitutionally guaranteed rights of citizens to peacefully protest and demonstrate, and to freedom of expression or speech; or for the occupant of the office to tell citizens exercising their constitutional rights even before a Court decides their case that: “If you’re demonstrating about broken promises by successive governments since independence, what is the urgency about it?”; or for the occupant of the office to be unfortunately described by a fellow citizen as: “The puppet master reveals himself”; or to be challenged by citizens to “start with the criminal complaint against those who organized the Supper Spreader!”; or “that the police were his puppets; as such he was the puppet master all along in this suit”; or to be told that: “We have an Attorney-General Department. We have hired and paid two foreign law firms, Omnia Strategy and Volterra Fietta. Yet, we fell asleep and did not take advantage of the 28-day window afforded us to challenge the arbitration panel’s decision that we should pay $170M to GPCG for terminating a contract”; et cetera, et cetera, (I could go on and on), all within less than the first three months of assuming office.

CONCLUSIONS

Mr. Dame was nowhere near this universe when I received my Qualifying Certificate Under the Legal Profession Act in September 1978 and was enrolled as a lawyer the same year. I am done with the professional practice of the law just as I declined the nomination to the Supreme Court in 1999 but it hurts to see someone who could pass for the person who was my last biological child, now an independent adult, occupying an exalted office I once occupied, for however short a period, behaving without the requisite maturity and experience of public service. I welcome Mr. Godfred Yeboah Dame’s pomposity and arrogance because they urge me on to continue criticizing him as a customary Ghanaian parent to change for his own betterment. This is the only way to depoliticize that exalted Office and put Ghana First.

Martin A. B. K. Amidu

Tamale North Lawmaker Alhassan Suhuyini has said he felt obliged to raise the issues against his colleague Member of Parliament for Assin Central Kennedy Agyapong on the floor of the House because of his background as a journalist.null

This comes after the Speaker Alban Bagbin has referred Mr Agyapong to the Privileges Committee of Parliament for his utterances against a journalist , Erastus Asare Donkor.

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.

His company has filed a formal complaint against Mr Agyapong.

On Wednesday July 14, 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.null

“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.”

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.null

“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,

“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.”

Source: 3news.com

Dr Stephen Kwabena Opuni — Former CEO of the Ghana Cocoa Board

A former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Dr Stephen Kwabena Opuni’s application to change the judge handling his trial will be decided by the Supreme Court on July 28, this year.

A five-member panel of the apex court presided over by Justice Jones Dotse fixed the date for the ruling yesterday July 13, 2021, after hearing arguments by lawyers for the former COCOBOD boss, and a deputy Attorney –General (A-G), Mr Alfred Tuah-Yeboah.https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?gdpr=0&client=ca-pub-1220784161199635&output=html&h=280&slotname=3976749912&adk=3253444420&adf=1531280845&pi=t.ma~as.3976749912&w=336&fwrn=7&lmt=1626263407&psa=1&format=336×280&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.graphic.com.gh%2Fnews%2Fgeneral-news%2Fghana-news-supreme-court-rules-on-opuni-s-application-july-28.html%3Futm_medium%3DSocial%26utm_campaign%3DEchobox%26utm_source%3DFacebook%23Echobox%3D1626261737&flash=0&wgl=1&dt=1626263407138&bpp=8&bdt=3153&idt=-M&shv=r20210708&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3D8aa82c6848f4ffb9%3AT%3D1626261601%3AS%3DALNI_Mb5ST3kv3xv5PnCAkdKk8CajPhsuQ&prev_fmts=412×343%2C160x600&correlator=2970443524752&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=1648609693.1626261603&ga_sid=1626263408&ga_hid=924543448&ga_fc=0&u_tz=0&u_his=1&u_java=0&u_h=892&u_w=412&u_ah=892&u_aw=412&u_cd=24&u_nplug=0&u_nmime=0&adx=38&ady=1073&biw=412&bih=797&scr_x=0&scr_y=525&eid=31060474&oid=3&pvsid=252267423847305&pem=583&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2F&eae=0&fc=896&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C412%2C0%2C412%2C797%2C412%2C797&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7CpoeE%7C&abl=CS&pfx=0&fu=0&bc=31&ifi=3&uci=a!3&fsb=1&xpc=yPBifhKdTD&p=https%3A//www.graphic.com.gh&dtd=681

Other members of the panel were Justices Gabriel Pwamang, Agnes Dordzie, Avril Lovelace -Johnson and Issifu Omoro Tanko Amadu

Dr Opuni, and Seidu Agongo, CEO of Agricult Ghana Limited, an agrochemicals company, are on trial on accusation of causing financial loss of more than GH¢271 million to the state.

Agongo is accused of using fraudulent means to sell substandard fertiliser to the COCOBOD for onward distribution to cocoa farmers, while Dr Opuni is accused of facilitating the act by allowing Agongo’s products not to be tested and certified as required by law.

The two have denied any wrongdoing and have pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

Opuni’s case

Dr Opuni’s application at the Supreme Court is his fourth attempt to have Justice Clemence Jackson Honyenuga, a Justice of the Supreme Court, with additional responsibility as a High Court judge, taken off his trial.

He invoked the supervisory jurisdiction of the apex court, seeking an order of certiorari to quas

Veteran lawyer Steve Raymond Dapaa-Addo has been appointed the new Executive Director of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) by President Akufo-Addo.

His appointment took effect from July 9, 2021.

The EOCO boss practised his law in Ghana as a State Attorney and in Nigeria. While in Nigeria, he worked with the Rivers State Ministry of Justice. He was subsequently handed the position of Director of Civil Litigation.

He joined EOCO in July 2019 from the National Security Secretariat as a Special Advisor to the Office.

Mr. Dapaa – Addo succeeds Mr Frank Adu-Poku, who retired in May this year

• Gabby Otchere Darko says the former First Lady, Lord Mahama should not be pressured to refund salaries and allowances paid to her

• He explains that her husband, former President Mahama’s failure to set up an Emolument Committee to look into such payments is the cause of the current confusion

• The governing NPP stalwart’s stance stems from several calls for the former First Lady to follow the precedence set up by First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo and wife of Vice President Bawumia, Samira

In a rather interesting twist of events, a leading member of the NPP and nephew of President Akufo-Addo has jumped to the defence of the Former First Lady and wife of John Mahama.

Gabby Otchere Darko in a tweet on the morning of Wednesday, July 14 reacted to increasing calls for Mrs Lordina Mahama to follow the footsteps of her counterparts to refund monies paid to her in the form of salaries and allowances during the tenure of her husband as president.

According to him, her husband, John Dramani Mahama ought to be blamed rather for failing to do due diligence during his tenure as president.null

Following the decision of First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo and wife of the Vice President, Samira Bawumia to refund the monies, New Patriotic Party’s General Secretary, John Boadu challenged the former First Lady, Lordina to follow suit.

“…let me say this emphatically. Former President Mahama’s wife, Lordina Mahama, must, as a matter of urgency, refund all monies paid to her since January 2017 till now. Those she received as far back as 2009 should also be refunded. The monies she has received from that time till now would amount to GHC3.2 million,” John Boadu charged in an interview on TV Africa.



Several other Ghanaians have jumped on the wagon to pressurise Lordina Mahama to make the payments. In fact, a statement was widely circulated on social media purporting that the former First Lady had taken the cue and was going to refund the monies to the state.

But in a quick rebuttal, she posted the said statement on her social media pages and labelled them as fake, an action which was also mirrored by her husband, John.

Reacting to the development, while defending Madam Lordina, Gabby Otchere Darko blamed former President Mahama for failing to establish an independent Emoluments Committee as a recommendation from the 2011 Constitution Review Commission report.

“Leave Lordina Mahama alone! She doesn’t have to refund her alawa. Not her fault her husband who says he believes in the 2011 Constitution Review Commission Report’s recommendation to set up an Independent Emoluments Committee yet he never ever saw the need to attempt to do it.” Gabby’s tweet read.



Source: www.ghanaweb.com

The Initiators of Change Foundation, an organisation focused on governance, poverty reduction, empowerment and human resource has presented a Lifetime in A Portrait Award to the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, after he was adjudged Africa’s Digital Revolutionary Leader of the Decade.

A citation accompanying the award read:

“Upon your assumption of office as The Vice President of Ghana, we recognise that you have re-directed Ghana’s manual systems to that of digitization to fasttrack the national development agenda.

“You spearheaded the paperless and digitization agenda of Ghana to formalise and transform the country’s economy and further bring about inclusion. Notable among your initiatives include the Zipline technology otherwise known as drones for quicker healthcare delivery, paperless National Health Insurance registration and renewal, paperless port system, digitization of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), National Digital Property Addressing System, National ID Cards, ECG power purchase made easy, mobile payments interoperability platform, and many others.

“These technological introductions have reduced the cost of doing business and have rather increased productivity.

“For these and many more, the Initiators of Change Foundation would want to honour you as ‘Africa’s Digital Revolutionary Leader of the Decade’ in recognition and appreciation of the positive impact you have made on society and the development of Ghana.”

Presenting the Award to Dr Bawumia at the Jubilee House, Accra, on Tuesday, 13 July 2021 the Foundation, represented by its Executive Director, Kofi Gyan, and several members of the Board of Trustees including Most Rev Dr Aboagye-Mensah, former Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church, praised the Vice President for “the good work he is doing” to help accelerate Ghana’s development.

The Award, a pencil art drawing of the Vice President, is to symbolise the enduring legacy of Dr Bawumia’s works and is “in recognition and appreciation of the positive impact you have made on society and the development of Ghana,” they added.

Noting that the Foundation had in the past recognised and awarded several distinguished persons, including all past Presidents, some politicians and civil servants, Mr Gyan explained that a decision was taken to recognise and award distinguished public servants to mark a special occasion of the Foundation’s life.

“This year, 2021, the Foundation is 10 years, and as part of our 10th anniversary, the Board decided that we should focus on public servants, because public servants are also doing a lot in terms of the development of the country. Your Excellency, after deliberations, considerations and research, your name came up, as ‘Africa’s Digital Revolutionary Leader of the Decade’.”

Vice President Bawumia thanked the Foundation for the “great honour” done him, and pledged his continued commitment for achieving President Akufo-Addo’s vision to move Ghana to the next stage of her development while reducing the burden on the poor and the vulnerable who are largely excluded from society.

“This is why we thought digitization and the digital revolution in Ghana would be one of the key ways of helping the poor and include them,” he explained.

The Initiators of Change Foundation (ICF) is a non-governmental organization focusing on governance, poverty reduction, empowerment and human resource development. Its Board of Trustees include Most Rev Dr Aboagye-Mensah, former Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church; Prof (Mrs) Miranda Greenstreet; Prof Alexa Ntim Abankwa; Hon Kwame Amporfo Twumasi; Dr Joyce Aryee; Dr Mrs Nana Yaa Owusu-Prempeh; and Dr Isaac Owusu Mensah. Former President John Agyekum Kufuor is Life Patron

• Okudzeto believes that MPs should not accept the loan offernull

• He believes that MPs should be able to contract private loans to purchase their cars

• He and Patrick Yaw Boamah have filed a bill to stop government from making deductions from the salaries of MPs

Samuel Okudzeto, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu and colleague Patrick Yaw Boamah of Okaikwei Central have initiated moves to stop Parliament from approving a request by the Ministry of Finance to provide a $28million loan facility to members of parliament for the purchase of cars.

The two MPs on Tuesday, July 13, 2021 sponsored a bi-partisan Private Members Bill with the aim of stopping the house from approving the loan.

In the bill, the two MPs argued that like all groups under Article 71, the government must provide vehicles for MPs for their official assignment and not for them to purchase cars personally.

Confirming the development on Asempa FM, Okudzeto Ablakwa said the bill will cure the age-long practice of MP purchasing their own cars for official duties instead of government doing it for them as stipulated in the constitution.null

He insisted that MPs who desire to buy their own cars should enjoy no support from the state in doing so.

“That will simply require that government stops the monthly deductions from MP’s salaries so we will be free to broker individual car loan deals based on our salary structure, constituency terrain and other personal preferences,” he added.

In an earlier interview, the lawmaker had called for an overhaul of Article 71 to meet current demands.

“I have long held the view that the entire Article 71 emoluments regime is in urgent need of a major overhaul. We need to demolish this apartheid superstructure and create new conditions of service framework for public officials which are more equitable, transparent, justifiable, and acceptable to the people who employ us.

“If the executive branch of government does not have the resources to provide duty vehicles for MPs as it does for MMDCEs, CEOs of State Institutions/SOEs, Ministers, Judges, Civil Servants, Security Services, and so on and so forth, then MPs who need car loans should be allowed to make their own private car loan arrangements with the banks just as most private-sector workers do.

”Source: www.ghanaweb.com

The Municipal Chief Executive(MCE) for Ejura-Sekyedumase, Mohammed Salisu Bamba has withdrawn his application for MCE position.

According to him, he arrived at the decision for the peace of the municipality and in the general unity and growth of the governing New Patriotic Party(NPP).

In a letter addressed to the Chairman, MMDCEs Vetting Committee, Hon. Bamba expressed his sincere appreciation to President Akufo Addo for the confidence reposed in him to serve in his first term of office.

He also graciously thanked the good people of the Ejura-Sekyedumase constituency for giving him the opportunity to serve them in the 6th Parliament between 2013 to 2017 to the best of his ability.

“I have always worked in the interest of my party and country, and it is in that spirit that I am withdrawing myself for consideration.

“I will like to firmly assure the people of the Municipality, my party members and the public that I will continue to work for the general good of the municipality, my party and the country,” the statement ended.

Hon. Mohammed Salisu Bamba has been accused of having a hand in the death of Ejura-based Social activist, Mohammed Alhassan aka Kaaka after some persons alleged to be his bodyguards reportedly clubbed Kaaka to death.

He vehemently denied any association with the said suspects when he appeared before the Committee of Inquiry investigating the murder in Ejura last week

Founder of the All Peoples Congress (APC), Hassan Ayariga, has disagreed with the decision of the First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addot to refund all the allowances paid her.

Mr Ayariga stated that First Ladies play an important role in the governance of the country through the emotional and physical support they give to the president.

Therefore, he said, they deserve to be paid the allowances.

“First, I think it is a wrong idea that  she [Rebecca Akufo-Addo] refunded the money,” he said on Good Evening Ghana on Tuesday July 13.

“If the president is not well the First Lady is the first person to know,” he further stated while explaining the role of the First Lady.

His comments come after Mrs Akufo-Addo has refunded all the allowances paid her since 2017.

On Tuesday July 13, she issued a Consolidated Bank Ghana Limited cheque for GH¢899,097.84 as a refund of all allowances received since 2017.

She had announced on Monday, July 12, that due to the “extremely negative opinions” which have laced conversations on her allowances, she was refunding every pesewa.

She also served notice not to receive any monies that have been allocated to be paid to her pursuant to recommendations of the Professor Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu Committee, which was tasked in 2019 to review emoluments of Article 71 office holders.

She found the public debate “distasteful, seeking to portray her as a venal, self-serving and self-centered woman who does not care about the plight of ordinary Ghanaian”.

Barely 24 hours after that, her office has written to the Chief of Staff, Frema Osei Opare, to present the cheque number for the full refund of the monies.

“Her Excellency, the First Lady remains committed to her role as First Lady and is devoted to her charity work championing the wellbeing of women and children in Ghana,” wrote Mrs Shirley Laryea of the Office of the First Lady.

Second Lady Samira Bawumia has also announced that she will refund all allowances paid her since 2017, when her husband became the Vice President of Ghana.

A statement issued by her office on Tuesday, July 13 also indicated that Mrs Bawumia will not accept any monies allocated her as per recommendations by the Professor Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu Committee.

“Mrs Bawumia continues to be committed to the service of the nation,” the statement noted.

It added that she stays committed “to deliver humanitarian interventions and initiatives in the areas of health, education and economic development

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has apologised to the Overlord of the Waala Traditional Area, Naa Fuseini Seidu Pelpuo IV, and to the people of Wa for the brutalities meted out to some residents by some soldiers earlier this month.

Addressing Naa Fuseini Seidu Pelpuo IV on Tuesday, 13th July 2021, at the beginning of his 2-day working visit to the Upper West Region, President Akufo-Addo indicated that the unfortunate incident was one of the reasons for his visit to the Region.

According to the President, even though the Minister for Defence, the Minister for the Interior, as well as the hierarchy of the military, have come to apologise to residents of Wa, and have taken measures to deal with the soldiers who perpetrated the act, he also deemed it necessary to come to Wa personally and render an apology.

One of the fair reasons why I came, is because of the incident that occurred here in Wa between the garrison, some soldiers here and the people of Wa. The military leaders have been here and they have promised you that they will deal with those who were responsible.

“I have come to add my voice to that of the soldiers, as well as the Minister for Defence, to say how sorry I am about the incident, and to let you know that we will do everything possible to make sure that such an incident is not repeated,” he said.

With the Minister for Defence, Hon. Dominic Nitiwul, indicating that Government will be responsible for the medical bills of those who were injured, President Akufo-Addo thanked the Wa-Naa for recognising that “the promises that have been made have been kept and that now we should put that issue behind us and move forward.”

The President continued, “And I want to congratulate you on the very statesman-like pronouncements that you made on that occasion. You sure look like the senior traditional leader that you are.”

With the threat of terrorism real along the Ghana-Burkina Faso border, he noted that it is only the cooperation of the people of Wa and the security forces that will make it possible for Ghana to prevent terrorists from carrying out an attack in the country.

“So, I want to add my voice to yours in calling upon the people to continue to work closely with the security forces to make sure that we can keep the terrorist menace out of our country. And that means that we should not dwell too much on this incident that occurred. As human beings, mistakes occur. The important thing is how you correct them, and move forward,” the President said.

Thanking Naa Fuseini Seidu Pelpuo IV, once again, for the leadership, he has displayed in the course of the unfortunate saga, President Akufo-Addo noted that “It is one of the lucky aspects of my period as President, that all through Ghana, especially in the northern parts of this country, I have very wise traditional rulers who are helping me in the governance of this country. Fortunately for me, you are one of them

• Professor Samuel Kobina Annim has been rushed to a hospital for medical attention

• This comes after he encountered an unusual occurrence during his presentation

• The sad incident was contained in a video sighted by kwesi tv 24

It was a rather sad moment when the head of Ghana Statistical Service, Professor Samuel Kobina Annim went speechless on stage while updating the public on the progress of the ongoing Population and Housing Census exercise.

In a video sighted by kwesi tv 24 Professor Samuel Kobina Annim who appeared perfectly fine began to stammer and stagger momentarily.

“We also have some…,” these were the words he said before going mute while struggling to complete the sentence.null

He was immediately attended to by some young men at the event who tried to ascertain what the problem was whilst trying to get the event which was streaming live off air.

Professor Samuel Kobina Annim has since been reported to be receiving treatment at a health facility.

It is still unknown what accounted for the unfortunate incident.

https://cdn.jwplayer.com/players/zHvF2GEA-eqk5XVg5.

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Caterers of the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) say they want an urgent increment in the feeding grant, insisting that the amount being allocated by the Government to prepare daily nutritious meals for pupils is woefully insignificant.

According to them, the GHC1.00 is not enough to purchase food items on the market to prepare quality meals and serve in the right quantity for the children, most of whom come to school on empty stomach.

They disclosed that an amount of GHC0.03 is even deducted from the source as tax component from each of the GHC1.00 paid to them [caterers]. This implies that the caterers do not receive exactly the GHC1.00, but GHC0.97 per child per day.

Some of the caterers in the Bono East Region complained bitterly to some officials of the Ghana School Feeding Programme and the World Food Programme who had come to the region for a weeklong joint monitoring to assess the performance of the caterers and the impact of the school feeding programme.

The distraught caterers even though appreciated the Government for the introduction of the school feeding programme and the great impact it is making in the lives of millions of Ghanaian children in the deprived schools, they disclosed how it is sometimes inconveniencing most of them.

“We have tried so much to be quiet over the years hoping that something will be done to increase the feeding grant to at least GHC2.00 or GhC2.50 so that we can meet the cost of food items on the market but to no avail. We are crying and crying but nobody seems to hear us out. Prices of items are being increased almost every day, and so the President must know that we cannot go to the market with the same GHc1.00”.

The caterers asserted that a bag of beans which was sold between GhC250.00 and GhC300.00 last year, now sells between GhC800.00 and GhC950.00. A bowl of gari has also moved from GhC6.00 to GhC25.00, a maxi bag of local rice moved from GhC200.00 to GhC450.00 and prices of cooking oil, meat, fish and vegetables have also gone up astronomically especially in the last 6 months.

They indicated that, even though it is a policy direction for all the caterers to patronize locally produced foodstuffs from the local farmers, almost all the caterers prefer the imported foods because they are far cheaper.

The caterers said that some of them are still managing to cook for the school children because the imported food suppliers are always willing to supply food and other items like tin tomatoes, cooking oil and canned fish to them on credit, unlike the local farmers.
They also raised serious concern about the long delay in the payment of their arrears by the government, which they indicated, put them under unnecessary pressure.

“We are supposed to pre-finance the cooking for just one term and receive payment the following term. But for a long time now, the government always fails to pay us on time; and most at times we do not receive our payment in full. Sometimes instead of 66 cooking days’ arrears, the government can decide to pay us 20, 25 or 30 days and we will have to struggle for a long time before we will receive the remaining payments. And because we have to pay our cooks and suppliers at all cost, we always have to go and borrow from different sources, which put us in an uncomfortable situation”.

In reaction to the concerns raised by the caterers, the GSFP National Coordinator Mrs. Gertrude Quashigah appealed to the caterers to calm down and exercise restraint, noting that everything is being done towards the upward adjustment of the feeding grant.
She said management of GSFP has been engaging the government for a while now on the issue. According to her, the GSFP has submitted a compelling proposal to the government through the supervisory ministry for an upward adjustment of the feeding grant.
Mrs. Quashigah further revealed that between GHC2.00 and GHC3.00 has been proposed taken into account the prevailing economic trend in the country. She expressed optimism that government would respond positively to the proposal.

She recalled that in 2018 government accepted GSFP’s proposal and increased the feeding grant from GHp.80 to GHC1.00. She, therefore, assured the caterers and Ghanaians in general that government is genuinely committed to the sustainability of the programme.

Our schools are collapsing as pupils keep joining Sch. Feeding beneficiary schools – headmasters

Some basic schools headmasters in the Pru East District in the Bono East Region have passionately appealed to the Government to consider adding them to the Ghana School Feeding beneficiary schools.

According to the headmasters, pupils keep leaving their schools to join others that are benefiting from the Ghana School Feeding Programme just to have free meals.
The under-pressure headmasters besieged the vehicles of some officials of the Ghana School Feeding Programme and the World Food Programme (WFP) who had visited the district for joint monitoring and vehemently poured out their frustrations.

They demanded that their schools be included in the feeding programme before they are collapsed. The headmasters including; Mr. Simpoe Yaw of Yeji R/C Primary ‘B’, Mr. Ismael N. Khalid of Daru Saeed Islamic Primary and Mr. Frederick Dapaah of Yamba D/A Primary schools, said that most of their pupils were from extremely poor homes and as a result had to come to school on empty stomachs.

“Most parents don’t give their wards any money for feeding and they don’t also cook for the children before they come to school. So therefore, when those hungry children see that in the other nearby schools they are enjoying free school feeding meals they quickly decide to join those schools”.

According to them, the situation has affected most of the schools that are non-beneficiaries of the school feeding programme. The headmasters claimed that they have made several complaints and even invited the District Chief Executive for the area to their schools to assess the situation but they only receive assurances.

The District Chief Executive (DCE) for Pru East, Mr. Joshua Kwaku Abonkrah who later joined the GSFP/WFP joint monitoring team confirmed the claims by the headmasters.
According to him, he personally made efforts and wrote to the national secretariat of the Ghana School Feeding Programme for more schools but could only get four additional schools to be captured under the programme.

He said that the entire district currently has only 11 schools that are benefiting from the school feeding programme.

Mr. Abonkrah therefore added his voice to the calls by the frustrated headmasters and called the management of the Ghana School Feeding Programme to increase the number of beneficiary schools in the district in order to save most of the non-beneficiary schools from collapsing.

The DCE revealed that the school feeding programme is serving as a great motivation to the majority of school children in the area most of whom are from extremely poor homes.
He said that, previously, the district being a prominent fishing area had a large number of school going age children who preferred to trade or labour on the river (Volta Lake) to going to school.

“But upon assumption of office, I have managed to push majority of the children into school through advocacy and community sensitizations. So it will be a great disincentive to some of us if all those children should go back to fishing because both their parents and the government cannot feed them to continue to stay in school”.

Mr. Abonkrah was optimistic that the Government would consider increasing the number of beneficiary schools in the district anytime there is an opportunity for expansion.
He appealed to the headmasters and the teachers in the district to keep their spirit high as he continues to lobby the authorities concerned.

The DCE also cautioned all parents to send their children of school-going age to school rather than using them as labourers on the farms and for fishing

The three suspects in police grips

The Upper East Regional Police Command have arrested three suspected armed robbers  operating within  Nabdam and Zebilla Districts of the Upper East Region.

The suspects have been  identified as Yidaana Shamshudeen, 23; Maxwell Ziaba, alias Strongman, 19; and Bodozina Awudu alias ‘Network Absorber’, 20.

They  were picked up from their various hideouts at  Pelungu in the Nabdam District and Datoko in the Zebilla District respectively.

Upon a search, police found one locally manufactured pistol and three cartridges of ammunitions, a double-edge knife, two unregistered motorbikes, five gold detectors and five mobile phones.

According to the police, the suspects have admitted  that they are armed robbers and were behind recent attacks on some Mossi gold buyers at mining communities in Gbane in the Talensi District.

During an identification in Bolgatanga,the police said,  two persons who claimed to be victims of armed robbery, identified two of the suspects as their attackers and also proved ownership of two of the gold detectors which was part of items found on suspects .

“It is believed that many armed robbers hide in guest houses, frequent night clubs and pubs after their operations,” the police said in a statement issued and singed by ASP Fianku Okyere, the Public relations officer for the command.

They have called on  hotel operators in the region to be vigilant and volunteer information to enable the police  fight crime

The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) will from September 1, this year embark on an exercise to delete the names of more than 13,000 pensioners, aged 72 and above, from its payroll.
It said the affected persons had failed to complete or renew their pensioner certificates and explained that the exercise would ensure that pensions were paid to the right persons.

SSNIT added that the accounts of such pensioners would only be reactivated when they renewed their pensioner certificates.

Lifeline

A statement issued by SSNIT yesterday said: “To avoid any inconvenience, the Trust is entreating pensioners who are yet to complete their Pensioner Certificates to do so by August 30, 2021.”

It said presently, there were about 13,451 pensioners, 72 years and above, who received monthly pensions, but were yet to complete or renew their pensioner certificates.

“All such pensioners should visit the nearest SSNIT office to renew or complete their Pensioner Certificates,” it said.

Challenged

The release said those with mobility challenges might contact SSNIT to schedule a home visit for the completion or renewal of their pensioner certificates.

It further added that “pensioners visiting a SSNIT office for the Pensioner Certificate renewal are strongly encouraged to carry along their Ghana Cards to have their SSNIT and NIA numbers merged if they have not done so already.”

Giving a background to the exercise, the release said since 2018, the Trust had on a monthly basis, been deleting the names of pensioners aged 72 and above who failed to complete or renew their pensioner certificates.

The exercise, however, halted in March last year due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

SSNIT Pensioner Certificate

Explaining the pensioner certificates, the release said they were issued to pensioners, aged 72 who retired under PNDCL 247 and 75 years for those who retired under Act 766 and renewed annually.

“This is a mechanism put in place by the Trust to ensure that pension is paid to only retirees who are alive.

“Pensioners who fail to renew their Pensioner Certificates are deemed to be deceased and their names consequently deleted from the Pensioners’ Payroll,” it said.

Savings from past exercises

As of the beginning of the year, the Trust has saved about GH¢144 million from the deactivation of accounts of 11,478 pensioners since 2018.

In June 2021 alone, the SSNIT Pension Scheme paid 231,316 pensioners over GH¢250 million. The highest-paid pensioner receives GH¢129,979 each month, while the lowest-earning pensioner is paid GH¢300.

Source: graphiconline.com

Six people have been arrested for piercing a cane into the anus of an alleged thief who broke into a shop at Agogo in the Asante Akyem North Municipality of the Ashanti Region.

The victim, identified as Enock, 16, is alleged to have broken into the shop but was caught and his hands and legs tied.

The six then forced a stick (cane) into his anus.

The bizarre act, which was recorded in a video, went viral on social media and led to the arrest of the perpetrators.

Speaking on Akoma FM‘s current affairs and political show GhanAkoma Monday, July 12, District Police Commander for Asante Akyem North Chief Superintendent Owusu Bempah explained that “after watching the video and upon thorough analysis with some natives of Agogo, we were able to identify the six perpetrators who were captured in the video and swiftly arrested them.”

C/Supt. Owusu Bempah further indicated that “one of the suspects named Francis Obeng Amoako aged 79 confessed and later claimed after inserting the stick into the victim’s anus, they untied him and then the victim removed the stick and left”.

Speaking on the matter later, the Konongo Divisional Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Shaibu named the perpetrators Kofi Asadu, 29, Francis Obeng Amoako, 79, Obeng Mensah, 30, Osei Bonsu, 53, Boakye Dankwa, 65, and Kwasi Marfo, 24.

They have been charged for causing assault and have been remanded until the next hearing on Tuesday, July 27.

Source: 3news.com

Samira Bawumia

Second Lady Samira Bawumia says she will refund an amount of GHc887,482.00 she received as allowance from the state since her husband took office in January 2017.

It comes after the First Lady Rebbeca Akufo-Addo decided to refund her allowances back to the state following public outcry over a recommendation by the Presidential emolument committee to regularise their salaries.

Details of recommendation for First and Second Ladies

Prof. Ntiamoa-Baidu Committee

The Professor Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu Committee report dated the 18th of June 2020, submitted its recommendations to President Akufo-Addo in fulfilment of the Article 71 provision of the 1992 Constitution which enjoins every sitting President before the end of his four (4) year mandate, to set up a committee to make recommendations on the emoluments for Article 71 office holders.

As part of the five (5) member committee’s report, they recommended the payment of a salary equivalent to a Cabinet Minister who is a Member of Parliament (MP) to the First Lady while her husband is in office and the payment of a salary equivalent to 80% of salary of a Minister of State who is a Member of Parliament (MP) if the spouse served one full term as President or 100% of salary of a Minister of State who is a Member of Parliament (MP) if the spouse served two or more full terms as President.

With the Second Lady, the committee’s report, recommended the payment of a salary equivalent to a Cabinet Minister who is not a Member of Parliament (MP) to the Second Lady while her husband is in office and the payment of a salary equivalent to 80% of salary of a Minister of State who is not a Member of Parliament (MP) if the spouse served one full term as President or 100% of salary of a Minister of State who is a Member of Parliament (MP) if the spouse served two or more full terms as Vice President

The police at the Cantonments have intercepted a weapon believed to be a pistol concealed in a pack of food meant for a robbery suspect.

The high vigilance of a police officer on duty foiled the attempt to smuggle the firearm by a twenty-three-year-old lady.

According to Greater Accra Police PRO Efia Tengey “on July 11, 2021, at about 4:45 pm, a young lady aged about 23years with Nigerian accent came to the charge office with two packs of Papaye labeled fast food to be served on a robbery remand prisoner in cells.”

“When the food was carefully inspected by the duty officer on duty, a locally manufactured pistol with one aa cartridge was found concealed in one of the packs with the food covering it.”

She added in a brief made available to starrfm.com.gh “unfortunately, the lady managed to flee the scene. Strenuous efforts are underway to trace and arrest the lady.”

Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5fm

A lightning strike killed at least 16 people and injured many more in Jaipur in northern India on Sunday.

The victims were taking selfies in the rain on top of a watchtower at the city’s 12th Century Amer Fort, a popular tourist attraction.

Dozens have also died in lightning strikes in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh states.

Lightning strikes kill some 2,000 Indians on average every year, according to official data.

A senior police officer told the media that most of the people among the dead at the fort’s tower were young.

Twenty-seven people were on the tower and the wall of the fort when the incident happened and some reportedly jumped to the ground.

Sunday alone saw nine more deaths from lightning strikes reported across Rajasthan state where Jaipur is located, according to local media reports.

At least 41 people – mostly women and children – were reportedly killed in Uttar Pradesh state. The highest toll of 14 was recorded in the city of Allahabad (also known as Prayagraj).

Two men, who were taking shelter under a tree, died on the spot after they were struck by lightning in Firozabad city. The remaining deaths occurred in several districts across the state.

At least seven died in Madhya Pradesh. Experts say casualty numbers are high in the two states because a large number of people work outdoors in agriculture and construction.

The chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi have announced compensation for the families of those who died.

India’s monsoon season, which sees heavy rains, typically lasts from June to September.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that deaths by lightning strikes have doubled in the country since the 1960s – one of the reasons they cited was the climate crisis.

The data says lightning incidents have increased by 30%-40% since the early- to mid-1990s. In 2018 the southern state of Andhra Pradesh recorded 36,749 lightning strikes in just 13 hours. More than 100 people died in two states in June last year in lightening-related incidents.

Officials say they are more common in areas with thinner tree cover, leaving people vulnerable to being struck.

Safety tips when lightning strikes

• Seek shelter inside a large building or a car
• Get out of wide, open spaces and away from exposed hilltops
• If you have nowhere to shelter, make yourself as small a target as possible by crouching down with your feet together, hands on knees and head tucked in
• Do not shelter beneath tall or isolated trees
• If you are on water, get to the shore and off wide, open beaches as quickly as possible

The South Dayi MP, Rockson Dafeamakpor, has said he will follow through with his lawsuit challenging the Presidential Spouse emoluments even if the wives of the incumbent President and Vice President decline the recommended emoluments.

Speaking on The Point of View on Citi TV, Mr. Dafeamakpor said his main concern was with the approved recommendations that the spouses of president and vice presidents receive Article 71 emoluments.

In his suit, he argues that the recommendations on the spousal emoluments breached Article 71 of the 1992 Constitution.

“That [the wives of the President and Vice President declining the emoluemnts] is not the issue. The issue is about the recommendation affecting other occupants of those offices,” he said.

“So it is to affect future applicants of those offices. So all we are saying is if you are so minded bring a Bill to Parliament and let us do this properly so that we can look at the conditions of service for the spouse,” he added.

Former President Mahama took issue with these developments saying it is an attempt to sneak the First and Second Ladies into the Article 71 officeholders group.

Per the Constitution, Article 71 officeholders include the President, the Vice-President, the Speaker of Parliament, the Chief Justice and Justices of the Supreme Court, Members of Parliament (MPs), Ministers of State, political appointees, and public servants with salaries charged to the Consolidated Fund but enjoying special constitutional privileges.

Mr. Dafeamakpor is being supported by a fellow legislator, Clement Apaak of Bulisa South in his lawsuit.

The recommended emoluments 

Per the recommended emoluments, the spouse of the President is to be entitled to the payment of a salary equivalent to a Cabinet Minister-MP while in office.

After leaving office, they will be entitled to a salary equivalent to 80 percent of the salary of a Minister of State-MP if the spouse served one full term as President or 100 percent of the salary of a Minister of State-MP if the spouse served two or more full terms as President.

For the spouse of the Vice President, they will be entitled to payment of salary equivalent to a Cabinet Minister non-MP when in office.

After leaving office, the spouse of the Vice President will be entitled to a salary equivalent to 80 percent of the salary of a Minister of State non-MP if the spouse served one full term as the Vice President or 100 percent of the salary of a Minister of State non-MP if the spouse served two or more full terms as Vice President.

The emoluments were part of recommendations by the five-member Professor Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu set up in June 2019 by President Nana Akufo-Addo to make recommendations on the salaries and other gratuities of Article 71 officeholders.

Former Special Prosecutor Martin Alamisi Burnes Kaiser Amidu has launched fresh attacks on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, calling his public statements on the fight against corruption as “highfalutin”.

In his latest ‘epistle’ issued on Monday, July 12, Mr Amidu drew the attention of all and sundry to the expiry of the three-year mandate of the governing board of the Office of Special Prosecutor (OSP) and asked civil society to be particularly alert in the selection of their representative.

“At the time President Akufo-Addo was making his highfalutin statements he knew that he had collaborated with his dual nationality citizen friends populating a particular Civil Society Organization to rig the nomination and electoral process for selecting the representative of the Anti-Corruption Civil Society Organizations,” he wrote.

“The paradox is that the Anti-Corruption Civil Society Organizations knew this and had no courage to ensure that the sanctity of the nomination process of their representative was not raped.

“Their attempt to rent a press to speak for them did not work because of the hypocrisy involved and the unthinkability that members of Anti-Corruption Civil Society Organizations would be afraid to fight this form of corruption themselves.”

The former Attorney General stressed that he is making the facts known this time around in order to ensure that the Office  performs its role without partiality.

“The Office of the Special Prosecutor needs to be operationalized and established as a specialized independent anti-corruption agency and not an adjunct of the Presidency as it has been for the past eight months.

“The Office will be of no use to the taxpayer if it is going to be another law enforcement and intelligence agency like the police service and other so called ‘independent accountability agencies’ who every reasonable and rational Ghanaian knows are tied to the apron strings of the rhetorical President Nana Akufo Addo and ‘The Family’.”

Source: 3news.com

Highway robbers terrorizing commuters in Pru East, West, Sene East, and Sene West Districts, and the Atebubu-Yeji Highway within the Eastern Corridor of Bono region have reportedly killed a driver in the latest deadly robbery attack on Sunday, July 11.

The armed robbers attacked a Sprinter Benz mini bus with registration number AW 4099-12 with passengers onboard, shot and killed the driver through the windscreen before robbing the passengers who were mostly traders.

The latest incident has stirred anger among the residents who are threatening a demonstration over the rampant robbery incidents in the area which the police seem to have no antidote to.

The incident is happening on the heels of a boycott of classes by teachers in Sene East and West since Thursday over the killing of two teachers and injuring of others by armed robbers.

The Sene East District Secretary of Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) Patrick Owusu told Starr News they will only return to the classroom if they see intensified Police patrol and erection of Police checkpoints on robbery-prone areas.

According to him, the armed robbers mostly strike on Wednesdays when most traders transport their goods for Thursday market in the area.

A petition addressed to stakeholders by GNAT stated that ”due to the current happenings in our district we the teachers of Sene-east have withdrawn our services until further notice. These are the reasons why we are withdrawing our services: The killing of the late Elija Asante, a teacher. Dated on the 6th May 2021. The current shooting of our colleague, late Ennin- Prah Junior, a teacher on the 7th July 2021.The shooting of our brother Mr. Emmanuel A. Gyamfi who also escaped from death during the armed robbery attack. Dated on 22nd June 2021. Another attack on our colleague Mr. Boadum Seth, a teacher. Dated on 17th March, 2021″.

The petition added that “yesterday’s incident happens to be the fourth time a robbery incident has occurred at the place where Ennin-Prah Junior was killed. Meanwhile, the police have set a barrier 200 meters away from where the incident happened. In view of the above, we are withdrawing our services until the following demands are met:
Provision of proper and competent military patrol team”.

They demanded the “provision of police visibility at every 200meters along Atebubu – Kwame Danso – Kojokrom road. The mounting of unnecessary barriers by the police within the townships must be avoided. Arrest and prosecute the armed robbers who killed our colleagues”.

Starr News has gathered that the Bono East Regional Minister Mr. Kwasi Adu Gyan has met with the teachers and assured them of improved security.

The Pru East Member of Parliament Dr Kwabena Donkor has recently lamented over the rampant armed robbery attacks and insecurity along the Eastern Corridor of the Bono Region.

The former Power Minister, therefore, called on the National Security, Interior Minister, and the Inspector General of Police to engage their men to clamp down on the criminals to safeguard traders and commuters

The 53-year old cleaner whose legs and arm were chopped off following an accident at the Tema tollbooth involving a tippper truck loaded with sand has passed on.

Isaac Koomson, a cleaner at the toll booth number 2 on the motorway reportedly died at the Tema General Hospital whiles receiving treatment.
Confirming the incident to DGN Online, Chief Inspector Stella Dede Dzakpasu, Tema Regional Police spokeswoman indicated that
the cleaner died two hours later while receiving treatment at the said facility.

According to her, police proceeded to the hospital and confirmed the development.

Meanwhile, his body has been deposited at the hospital’s mortuary pending autopsy.

Motor Traffic Accident.

On July 12, 2021 at about 6:30am, suspect driver Isaac Osei was driving Howo Sino Truck with registration number GG 3564-20 loaded with gravels from Dawhenya towards Kaneshie.

At the Tema Toll Plaza, he knocked down Isaac Koomson and crashed the said booth which had Ernest Antwi as the attendant injuring him in the process.

The truck subsequently ran into the rear portion of a Nissan Saloon car with registration number GG 5401-15 driven by Emmanuel Arthur with two female passengers on board.

The concrete booth fell on a Mercedes Benz Actros Truck with registration number GE 7873-18 driven by Emmanuel Agyei who had stopped to pay the toll as the three vehicles suffered various degrees of damages.

Seven persons who sustained injuries in the accident were rushed to the Tema General Hospital for treatment

 Chief Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah

A private legal practitioner, Akwasi Afrifa, has made a startling allegation against Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah before the General Legal Council

The Chief Justice, Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah, has petitioned the director general of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, to investigate bribery allegations leveled against him.

A private legal practitioner, Akwasi Afrifa, in a letter he wrote in response to a complaint filed against him (the lawyer) by Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta, the chief of Efutu and Gomoa Adjumako traditional area made some startling allegations against Justice Yeboah.

The letter dated 12 July 2021 and signed by the Judicial secretary, Justice Cynthia Pamela Addo, notes that, “the attention of His Lordship the Chief Justice has been drawn to copies of letters from a Lawyer (Akwasi Afrifa, Esq) and his client, the plaintiff in the matter of OGYEEDOM OBRANU KWESI ATTA Iv v GHANA TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY & LANDS COMMISSION, to the Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council, and which letters are making rounds on social media. His Lordship is saddened that without any shred of evidence, his name has been dragged into this sordid and potentially criminal matter.”

The judicial secretary’s letter notes further that, “his Lordship confirms that he does not know the plaintiff and has not met or seen him anywhere, except in the court room when he rises to announce his name when his case is called. His Lordship asserts that he has had no personal interaction either with the plaintiff or his lawyer on this matter or in any other matter. His Lordship further asserts that he has not demanded or received any money from any person to influence any decision in this matter or any other matter.”

Stressing further on the extent to which the Chief Justice has had any dealing with the parties involved in the case around which the accusations against him are premised, the letter states that “the records show that the plaintiff unsuccessfully petitioned for the recusal of His Lordship the Chief Justice and His Lordship Justice Victor Jones Mawulom Dotse from the matter, on a claim that they were prejudiced against him. The records further show that the Chief Justice was the only Judge on a panel who recently on 31t March 2021 dissented in an application at the instance of the plaintiff Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta IV in favour of the respondent, Ghana Telecommunications Co. Ltd”.

To this end, the judicial secretary states in her letter that, “to ensure that this matter is fully investigated, His Lordship has directed that a formal complaint be made to the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service for investigations and any necessary action. He has further directed that a Petition be lodged with the Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council in respect of this specific matter.”

“His Lordship is available to assist with all investigations into this matter, while he considers his own civil legal options to ensure that this matter is dealt with to its logical conclusions,” the letter added.

Ogyeedom’s denial

In a related development, Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta VI has discredited the allegations made against the chief justice by Afrifa. In a rejoinder, the chief of Efutu and Gomoa Adjumako traditional area stated that, “my attention has been drawn to a media publication allegation against my good self and some prominent third parties, including the Chief Justice.”

“I unequivocally deny all allegations of intended bribery or actual bribery of any judge including the Chief Justice, who I have never met or known personally apart from seeing him a distance from the bench,” he stated.

He added: “I re-emphasise that I have never met the Chief Justice before nor dealt with him directly or indirectly in official or private capacity, neither do l know where he lives nor have his phone number to have communicated with him”.

“I have since applied for a copy of the said response to my petition against Mr Afrifa in which those fabrications and allegations are said to be contained and will appropriately react to the General Legal Council upon receipt of same,” the rejoinder further stated.

Background

Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta VI dragged his former lawyer to the General Legal Council, through a petition dated 1 March 2021, to have him sanctioned concerning his handling of a case involving the petitioner and Ghana Telecommunications Company Limited.

Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta VI in his petition disclosed that the Lawyer Kwasi Afrifa who was handling his case asked him to pay an amount of USD 100,000 which he was going to use for “legal gymnastics” after he paid him GHC 300,000 as his engagement fees.

Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta VI said he realized the Lawyer did not use the money for the said ‘legal gymnastics’ and therefore sacked him from handling the case and asked that the monies be paid back to him.

The lawyer is said to have paid USD 25,000 but has refused to pay the remaining USD 75,000, so after several attempts to retrieve his money, Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta VI wrote to the General Legal Council to retrieve his money

A 15-year old student of Accra Academy Senior high School at Bubuashie, Accra, has been arrested for allegedly being behind recent fire outbreaks in the school.

He is siad to have confessed to setting fire to the dormitopry blocks, including a new dormitory block, which was razed down completely becuase he was forced into the school by this parents against his will.

The senior high school form two student, whose identity has been withheld by the police is said to have claimed responsibility for the last three fire incidents which ravaged dormitories, belongings of students such as trunks, chop boxes, with food items, beds and other valuables, including money.

The fire outbreks in the school have also destroyed property of the school, educational materials of students and some personal effects of the students. The boy who was handed over to the police a week ago has been charged for causing unlawful damage contrary to section 172(1)(b) of the criminal and other offences act 1960 (act 29).

During interrogations by the police, the juvinile suspect allegedly admitted being behind three fire outbreaks in the school. The boy allegedly told the police that he burnt the dormitory blocks because he did not like the school and also because he wanted to be a day student, instead of the boarding option which was offered him duing his admission. The boy who claimed he had been enrolled in the school against his wish, indicated that he hatched a plan to torch the dormitories with the hope that the school would be closed down.

The suspect also wanted his boarding students status changed to a day student, following the burning of th dormitories.

Source: PeaceFM

• A client claims his lawyer suggested he paid an amount of money for ‘some ways and means’null

• The lawyer has however denied the claim

• The case is before the General Legal Council

The Chief Justice, Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, and lawyer Akoto Ampaw have been named in a statement by one Kwasi Afrifa of O&A Legal Consult, addressed to the Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council, in which he [Afrifa] alleges that his client, Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta VI, once told him that “the Chief Justice had demanded a bribe of US$5,000,000 for a successful outcome of his case.”

Kwasi Afrifa’s statement dated July 8, 2021, is a response to a claim by Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta VI that he [Afrifa] while handling his case – Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta VI v Ghana Telecommunications Co. Ltd. – suggested to him [Ogyeedom] to “provide an amount of US$100,000 to enable him to do some ways and means (gymnastics)” on the case “so that we can obtain a favorable decision.”

Ogyeedom in his petition to the GLC on March 1, 2021, said despite knowing he had a good case before the Supreme Court of Ghana, he heeded the advice of his lawyer. However, he later realized that money was not used for the intended purpose.

“…so I fired him from the case and asked him to refund the money but he has since refunded US$25,000 leaving a balance of US$75,000 due and owing to me. All efforts to retrieve the amount have failed,” Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta VI stated while he appealed to the Chairman of the General Legal Council to help him retrieve the remaining amount from lawyer Kwasi Afrifa.null

In a three-paged response available to GhanaWeb, Kwasi Afrifa has unequivocally denied all the claims. According to him, he never suggested to Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta VI to provide any amount for what he described as ‘ways and means’.

While Kwasi Afrifa admitted to being Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta VI’s former attorney, he refuted the latter’s claim of requesting and taking funds to bribe the Chief Justice.

“At the end of July 2020, the Petitioner informed me that friends of his who were highly connected politically had taken him to see the Chief Justice who had agreed to help him win his case on condition that he drops my goodself as the lawyer handling the case for him and engage Akoto Ampaw Esq in my stead,” Kwasi Afrifa said.

“He further informed me that the Chief Justice had demanded a bribe of US$5,000,000 for a successful outcome to his case and that he had already paid US$500,000 to the Chief Justice. He further indicated that he was hard-pressed to raise the remainder of the US$5,000,000 and so I should refund some of the GH¢300,000 paid me as fees because he had in line with the advice of the Chief Justice, engaged Akoto Ampaw Esq as solicitor to continue the case before the Supreme Court,” Afrifa added.



After the said demand was made, Afrifa said he rather took a decision to refund the amount Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta VI paid him for handling his case. This, he argued, he did out of a sense of dignity.null

He said: “we aggregated the GH¢300,000 paid to me as being the equivalent of US$50,000 which I was to refund to him without any timeline being indicated. He said he wanted the payment in dollars because he was raising the remainder of the money to be paid the Chief Justice, and that currency was the currency of choice.

“On the 27th of January 2021, I paid an amount of US$25,000 to the petitioner and subsequently paid US$15,000 to him making a total of US$40,000 so the outstanding amount that I have to refund to him is US$10,000. I am ready willing and able to make the said payment of US10,000 when I appear before the Committee on the 15th of July, 2021.”

Below is the petition and the response.



https://drive.google.com/file/d/1alwozi2MXRgs4lu42dhPtuwMbMomDAw4/preview

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

The Ashanti Regional Police Command is on a manhunt for a fetish priest, Black Akasha, said to be a key suspect in the murder of Israel Agyei Manu, an Uber driver.
The decapitated body of Manu was found at Feyiase-Akoyem in the Bosomtwe District, on Sunday, July 04, and police investigations led to the arrest of three suspects, who had so far been arraigned.
The three accused persons, Rashid Ibrahim, 32, Richard Addai, 35, an assistant to the fetish priest, and Anthony Sekum, 22, labourer, have been charged with murder and abetment of crime.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Eric Akwaboa, of the Bosomtwe District Police Command, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said the fetish priest “is a wanted man given the fact that he is a key suspect in the case.”
In November, 2020, he said, Rashid, the principal accused person, saw an advertisement on the television by Akasha, the fetish priest, inviting interested persons wanting to get rich to see him for quick money.
Consequently, he proceeded to the wanted man’s shrine and was charged GHS 900.
According to DSP Akwaboa, after incantations, the fetish priest directed the accused to bring a human head to perform the rituals for money.
He said on July 04, Rashid in pursuance of his mission, hired the services of Manu, the victim, to Feyiase-Akoyem, adding that when they arrived, Rashid pleaded with the victim to accompany him to pick his speakers in a nearby bush.
However, somewhere along the way, the accused person butchered and cut off the head of the victim.

GNA

Commissioner for Customs, Colonel Retired Kojo Damoah, has appreciated the tremendous efforts of the various sector Commands for exceeding revenue targets to the tune of GHC1.6 billion in 2020.

“It is not a mean achievement bearing in mind the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on many economics and for ours, which mainly depended on import and export”, he added.

The Commissioner of Customs during a familiarisation visit to the Western Command, called for continuous improvement, vigilance at borders to save the country of the leakages.

By 2021, the Commission is expected to raise over GHC65 billion for the country’s development.

Colonel Damoah told servicemen that the target was an opportunity for them to work harder and exceed budget estimation.

“I am working hard to improve upon working conditions for personnel and vehicles so that we can collect more and have more for ourselves also”, he added.

The Customs Division according to Him, worked with three core mandates: Trade, Security and Revenue and encouraged men and women of the Commission to pay more attention to internal security and the carriage of prohibited goods.

“We are privileged to be part of the national security architecture and we should, therefore, be mindful and careful in our checks at the borders to avoid intrusion of drugs, arms among others”.

He said, the country’s religious tolerance must promote trade development under guard and that officers have the greatest responsibility to preserve the peace through proper surveillance and vigilance.

The Assistant Commissioner, Gloria Farmah, the Sector Commander, Takoradi Collection Customs Division said the Integrated Customs Management Systems though without challenges had helped in chalking successes and commended the lead team for regular engagement.

The Takoradi command, have so far collected GHC293.05 million between January and June 2021.

She said containers have also increased from 4,522 to 5,368 representing an 18.7 increment.

Assistant Commissioner said a special task force, training on specialised commodities and an elite examination team has been formed to maximize revenue.

The Command, according to her, had undertaken a number of projects with support from the Commissioner’s Self Assisted Projects.

A new Cenotaph was later inaugurated.

The Commissioner is expected to make stop overs at various industries including TACOTEL, Keda industries, Western Diamonds and the Port of Takoradi.

GNA

The suspect holding the severed head of his boss

Residents of Sefwi Amoakrom in the Bia West District of the Western North Region were thrown into a state of shock Thursday afternoon after a 22-year-old man, Francis Awuni, beheaded his 45-years-old boss Mr Azumah in his rice farm.

The suspect after the dastardly act is said to have reported himself to the police and confessed to killing his boss who’s a father of six. He was later arrested.

The Assemblyman for Amoashed Electoral Area, Hon. Edward Takyi who in an interview with Kasapa News confirmed the horrific incident said the suspect claimed his late boss had cut him with the machete as he tried to kill him for money rituals but he (suspect) managed to overpower him and chopped off his head.

The Assemblyman said the deceased (Azumah) went to the Northern part of Ghana to hire Francis Awuni as labourer to work on his farm and has been doing so for the past three months.

He noted that the suspect is a very quiet guy who’s not known to be on drugs, hence many residents are shocked he could commit such a crime.

Francis Awuni is in Police custody assisting investigations while the body has been deposited at the Bia West Government hospital for an autopsy report

The issue of handling spouses of Political office holders is not a new one; it has engaged the attention of all governments since the advent of the 4th Republic.

Under various administrations, considering their sensitive positions, there had to be a consideration of how to support the spouses of the President and the Vice President in fulfilling  the roles that our modern democracies expect them to play, such as empowering women, girlchild education, reproductive health issues, teenage pregnancy, assistance to widows, fighting early marriage, preventing mother to child transmission of HIV, STEM for girls, and even as far as the welfare of grandmothers banished to witch camps.

The practice thus far, has been that some expenses of the spouses of the President and Vice President in carrying out their expected roles are funded by the Office of the President. This includes fueling of vehicles, security, clerical staff, stationery, hosting of local and foreign guests and all such expenditures.

The distinction must be made, however, that this is separate from allowances payable to spouses of the President, Vice President, former Presidents, former Vice Presidents and former Heads of State.

In the first Government of the 4^th Republic (the Rawlings Administration), some recommendations were made to provide allowances to the spouses of the President and Vice President and additionally, as a gesture of reconciling with our past, the spouses of former Presidents and Heads of State.

Since this convention was established by the Rawlings administration, issues in respect of allowances of the spouses of the President and Vice President and spouses of former Presidents and Heads of State have largely been handled administratively and provided for under the budget of the Office of the President.

This week, a raging issue that has generated passionate debate among many Ghanaians, both on social media and in the traditional media space – TV and Radio – has been in respect of a report, confirmed by Government that the spouses of President Nana Akufo-Addo and Vice President Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia are to be placed on a monthly salary at the level of a Cabinet Minister.

We are told that the 7^th Parliament of the Republic of Ghana, which was dissolved at midnight of January 6, 2021, approved the recommendation in the Report of the Presidential Committee on Emoluments for Article 71 Office Holders (January 2017 to December 2020), chaired by Professor Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu.

The news, particularly at this time of austerity, has generated some level of outrage among the populace, and I can understand the anger of those opposing the recommendation of the Ntiamoa-Baidu Committee and its subsequent approval by parliament.

It should be made clear, also, that the recommendation in respect of spouses in the Ntiamoa-Baidu Committee report, which covers the years January 7, 2017 to January 6, 2021, is solely in respect of the Spouses of President Akufo-Addo and Vice President Bawumia.

The challenge, however, is that the spouses of the President and Vice President are not captured among Article 71 Office Holders and, therefore, there is no legal or constitutional basis for it.

It should be noted that the recommended salaries for the Spouses in the Ntiamoa-Baidu report are captured as part of the emoluments of the President and the Vice President. This seems like an attempt to sneak the First and Second Ladies into the article 71 office holders’ group. This is clearly problematic.

Indeed, the Ntiamoa-Baidu Committee rightly makes the case on page 51 of its report as follows: “The Committee notes that neither Article 71 nor any of the provisions in the Constitution bestows benefits on spouses of Presidents and Vice Presidents. Similarly, no legislation mentions what the State should provide for spouses of Presidents and Vice Presidents.”

The question then is: if the Committee recognises the above, and therefore appreciates that there can be no legal or constitutional basis for seeking to bestow any such benefits on the spouses of the President and Vice President (VP), why then did it proceed to provide for the payment of monthly salaries pegged at the level of a Cabinet Minister to both the First Lady and wife of the VP who served in the period 2017 to 2020, even if it was conveniently enveloped as part of the emoluments of the President and Vice President?

And why did Parliament also approve, as has been reported, this recommendation without a review?

Article 71 is an entrenched clause in the 1992 Constitution and nothing short of a referendum can be used to amend or vary that clause as per article 290 of the Constitution. The Committee, and indeed the Government, cannot use a short-cut to circumvent well laid-out constitutional rules.

Furthermore, pegging their salaries at the level of a Cabinet Minister suggests that all conditions and benefits that come with the Committee’s recommendation for a Cabinet Minister will likely apply. This recommendation, therefore, is inappropriate and its approval, if true, is unfortunate.

As earlier mentioned, it is a fact that over the years, successive governments have continued the convention of providing the offices of the First Lady and Second Lady with allowances. The practice has included the payment of quarterly allowances to the surviving spouses of former Presidents, former Vice Presidents and former Heads of State, which practice has been appreciated by the beneficiaries as a token from the State.

Anyhow, if Government wishes to formalize these allowances, it must bring some form of enabling legislation to back these payments, noting that best practice in other democracies do not support payment of salaries to spouses of office holders.

This debate also brings back to the fore my oft-repeated position that the recommendation for the establishment of an Independent Emoluments Commission must be carried through.

I believe that instead of trying to unconstitutionally enlarge the scope of Article 71 office holders for the purposes of determining emoluments, the Government must as a matter of urgency set up the Independent Emoluments Commission.

To provide some background, the establishment of an Independent Emoluments Commission (IEC) was a recommendation of the Constitution Review Commission in 2011. It was endorsed in the Government’s White Paper and both the Edu-Bandoh and Ntiamoa-Baidu Committees made a case for its urgent establishment. In fact, I am on record to have championed this position.

If this proposed Independent Emoluments Committee is established, the Commission will not only stop the practice of setting up a new emoluments committee every four years and coming up with varying recommendations but will ensure that salary administration in Ghana is rationalized and equity is brought into the system.

To emphasise this point, let me share a recommendation from the Edu-Bandoh Committee Report: ​​“The future of public sector salary regimes needs to be built on the guiding principles outlined in this report in determining and making recommendations on the emoluments of Article 71 Office Holders for 2013 – 2017. It is important that salary adjustments of all public sector workers take into account such principles as equity and fairness, productivity, cost of living, motivation, ability to pay, as well as accountability, among others. The future of fixing salaries of office holders in the Ghanaian public sector will be strengthened if the guiding principles are upheld in all sectors for the realization of equity and fairness in the public sector salary administration.”

The times are dire, and the economy is under severe stress. Any attempt to broaden the scope and for that matter turn the spouses of the President and VP into permanent office holders, in addition to the support provided to their offices, would appear unreasonable.

I recall that I entered the 4^th Republican Parliament in the same year as President Nana Akufo-Addo. As a young MP, I remember we debated an amendment to the Assets Declaration Law to expand its ambit. One of the groups targeted for addition was spouses of public office holders including the President, Vice President, Ministers among others.

Leading those who vehemently opposed the inclusion of spouses was President Akufo-Addo. I remember one of the main thrusts of his argument was that a spouse could not have known that their partner would end up in high office at the time they got married. It would therefore be unfair to subject them to the hazards of an assets declaration regime (it would be in the Hansard somewhere).

Have the chickens come home to roost? A spouse may not have known that their partner would end up in high office at the time of marriage, so would it not be unfair to bestow upon them salaries as part of their husband’s emoluments in office?

Finally, it has also been indicated that the First and Second Ladies have been receiving allowances from 2017 to date. Should the Government choose to ignore the cries of the citizenry, as seems to be the pattern of the day, steps must then be taken to ensure that the Committee’s recommendations are not retroactively applied, leading to double payments.

John Dramani Mahama
Former President of Ghana
Accra- Ghana
Friday July 9, 2021

The military personnel who took part in the recent brutalities against some civilians in Wa, the Upper West regional capital, have been punished.

Only the Duty Officer was spared.

The soldiers brutalised the civilians while searching for a stolen mobile phone of one of their colleagues.

A four-member committee that probed the incident has submitted it preliminary findings, which said a total of 86 soldiers were involved in the misconduct.

The Orderly has been demoted from Staff Sergeant to Corporal.

Also, the Guard Commander and Sentry have been demoted from Corporal and Lance Corporal, respectively to Private.

The Duty officer, a Lieutenant, is yet to be tried.

Eight others, all private soldiers, who are among 30 of the 86 identified soldiers, who have already been tried, have been sentenced to a 30-day detention.

The erring soldiers passed out between April 30, 2021, and June 4, 2021, and were posted to the 10 Mechanised Battalion Aggrey barracks.

The four-member committee under the auspices of the National Security office, is made up of personnel from the military and the National Investigation Bureau (NIB).

Led by Colonel B. Z Ayorrogo, the other members include Lt Col George Eduah Beesi, Francis Aboagye and Maxwell Dassah.

They found that eleven civilians suffered various degrees of injury as a result of the assault.

One of the injured persons is Gafur Mohammed, who suffered fractures.

Also, the committee found that 13 mobile phones, a tricycle and an amount of GHS1,460 got missing during the raid by the soldiers.

So far, seven of the phones have been found and the rickshaw returned to its owner

The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Ernest Addison, has said the process to set up a Bank Clinic, which began in 1987, and subsequently transitioned the current Bank of Ghana Hospital, which was officially inaugurated on Thursday, 8 July 2021, “has been a long one, captured over a 34-year period”.

“We have moved from a Clinic with out-patient facilities and limited operations to a Medical Facility with both in- and out-patient comprehensive facilities”, Dr Addison said at the opening ceremony today.

“I am certain that the transition process will not stop here but will continue and the Bank will provide all the necessary support in this endeavour. The Bank stands ready to work with the new Management in diverse ways possible to achieve this objective”, he noted.

He noted that “we are honoured to commission this edifice, which resulted from the foresight and hard work of our predecessors”, adding: “Indeed, successive management teams in the Bank deserve commendation for the good work of supporting and improving on the facilities of the Clinic up until this point of the transition to a hospital”.

“Let me take this opportunity, therefore, to specially acknowledge the then-Governor, the late Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, who began this whole process, and then-Governors Dr Henry Wampah and Dr Issahaku Nashiru, who successfully steered, implemented, and executed the Hospital Project to the state in which the new management met”.

Read Dr Ernest Addison’s full speech below:

Keynote Address at the Formal Opening of the Bank Hospital

Dr. Ernest Addison, Governor, Bank of Ghana

Forecourt, The Bank Hospital, Shippi Rd, Cantonments, Accra: GL-075-89218

July 2021

Hon. Minister for Finance, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta,

Hon. Minister for Health, Mr. Kwaku Agyeman-Manu,

Chairman of the Council of State, Nana Otuo Siriboe II,

Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Ghana, Most Rev. Dr. Paul Kwabena Boafo,

Deputy Governors of the Bank of Ghana,

CEOs of Banks,

Former Governors of the Bank,

CEO of the Bank Hospital,

Immediate Past Board Members of the Bank,

Heads of Department and Staff of the Bank,

Distinguished Invited Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. Good morning and welcome to this landmark event in the history of the Bank. Let me first thank you for taking time off your busy schedules to grace this occasion with your presence. Ladies and Gentlemen, thirty-four years ago, the Bank of Ghana opened a Clinic to serve the healthcare needs of staff and to enhance productivity at the workplace. Since then, the facility has expanded steadily and today, we are witnessing the final transition from a Clinic to a fully-fledged Hospital, not only for Bank Staff but also for use by the public.

2. Mr. Chairman, going down memory lane, the idea of the Bank Clinic was initiated in 1987 by the then-Governor, the late Dr. Agama, and his two Deputies at the time. That decision led to the conversion of the Bank’s Club House at No 43, 7th Avenue Extension, North Ridge into a Clinic. This was a brilliant choice because the Clubhouse at the time also served the social needs of staff who used the facility to help unwind after work and engage in sporting activities which provided added health benefits.

3. A recruitment drive was then set in motion, led by consultants from the Public Health Department of the Ghana Medical School. In April 1988, Dr. (Mrs.) Jane Ansafo-Mensah (who is in our midst today) was engaged to spearhead the formation and actualisation of the Bank of Ghana clinic. Having successfully put in all the requisite governance and operational framework to ensure its smooth running, Dr. Ansafo-Mensah eventually became the Foundation Head of the facility and helped with the selection and recruitment of the rest of the medical staff made up of Nurses, Pharmacists and Laboratory Technicians.

4. The Clinic opened its doors to Bank staff on 6th June 1988 with a small team consisting of one Doctor, one Nursing Sister, two Staff Nurses, and a pharmacist who joined later in September 1988. The full complement of staff was engaged by the end of December 1988. At the early stages, the Bank Clinic operated under the Welfare Office of the then Administration Department but was elevated into a Medical Department in 1989, and Dr. Ansafo-Mensah, the Foundational Head of the Clinic, became the first Head of Department. On her retirement in 2000, she was succeeded by Dr. Ben Foleson (2000-2001), then Dr. Kwaku Afriyie (2001-2010), and later Dr. (Mrs.) Esther Kitcher (2010 – 2018), who served dutifully and retired from the service of the Bank. We are, indeed, grateful to these forbearers of the Bank Clinic for the quality health care and other services rendered to staff during their tenures.

5. Guided by the core values of respect, excellence, accountability and teamwork, the Bank Clinic has provided quality cost-effective care to ensure a healthy and productive workforce. Indeed, the Bank Clinic has come a long way over the period, with an expanded clientele base from Bank staff (both active and retired) and dependents, staff of other institutions such as the West African Monetary Institute, GhIPPS, Central Securities Depository, Access Bank Limited, National Banking College, to name a few. The records indicated that the Medical Department attend to over 14,000 patients per year at an estimated 1,200 patients per month. Given the size and facilities at the Bank Clinic, the statistics clearly showed an uncongenial working environment, characterised by general congestion and clientele dissatisfaction. Furthermore, total active and retired staff population had increased to over 3,000, with a dependent population of about 10,000, which was projected to exceed 15,000 in the coming years.

6. Mr. Chairman, these numbers struck a chord with the Bank’s Management as it was obvious that the Bank Clinic was faced with limited facilities which constrained adequate provision of quality health care for the client population and required urgent action. To address this problem, Management of the Bank in 2012, mandated the then General Services Department and the Medical Department to develop a Needs Assessment to form the basis for the development of a hospital for the Bank. Through a Competitive Tender Process in 2013, a Design and Build Contract was signed between the Bank and Universal Hospitals Group (UHG) for the construction of a 65-Bed Hospital on the Bank’s property at East Cantonments at a cost of about 80 million Euros. This was expected to expand the infrastructural base of the Bank Clinic to adequately cater for its growing clientele, provide quality healthcare services, and create a congenial environment for effective operations within the Clinic.

7. Subsequently, a ten (10) member Committee, drawn from various Departments of the Bank, two external Consultants from the University of Ghana Teaching Hospital Project and the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) Clinic respectively and the Bank Secretary, was constituted to develop a Blueprint for the proposed 65-bed Hospital and submit a report to Management. Some members of the Committee undertook a study tour of selected hospitals in Turkey and South Africa for purposes of obtaining first-hand information on clinical operations of model hospitals. The Hospital project finally started on April 2, 2014.

8. Mr. Chairman, with the change in Government in 2017, a new Management was constituted for the Bank. At the time of taking office in April 2017, the new Management inherited three different Bank Projects at different stages of completion, namely, the development and construction of the 65 bed-hospital, and a 56-bedroom guest houses in Takoradi and Tamale. Based on the work completed on the hospital project, the Board took a decision to continue with the remaining works to completion.

9. On April 2018, the hospital was finally handed over to the Management of the Bank with some critical outstanding issues relating to substantial IT related matters, architectural finishes, as well as electrical, mechanical, and biomedical installations. While the technical team were working with the contractor to resolve all the outstanding issues and the training of the staff on these installations, an implementation Committee was set up to help with the operationalisation of the hospital following the recommendations of the Blueprint Committee.

10. Inasmuch as we acknowledged the usefulness of these ongoing projects to support health care and recreational facilities of bank staff, the Board and the Management recognised the conflicting roles in pursuing the core mandate of the Bank, which is to ensure price and financial stability to foster growth, and effectively managing a hospital. Consequently, the Board and Management decided to carefully craft a path that would ensure sustainably managing this Hospital to best serve the interest of the Bank and the country at large. Therefore, the Board, having recognised that the Bank lacked the expertise to effectively manage a hospital complex, initiated a process to partner the private sector to effectively and sustainably manage The Bank Hospital.

11. On the Business model guiding the operations of a hospital, the implementation Committee recommended that The Bank Hospital should be set up as a commercial entity operating as a general hospital, to provide world-class OPD services, diagnostic services, and medical urology. The Committee recommended that the Hospital needed to be operated via a multi-disciplinary teamwork approach with the clinical business units at the OPD being allowed to generate its own income to meet some of its operational costs. Based on these considerations, the Bank of Ghana Board and Management opted for the Management Model of over 3-5 years.

12. In line with the recommendations, the Bank appointed a sub-Committee of the Board of Directors to oversee the tendering process. Given the complex nature of the services being sought by the Bank, the Committee conducted a two-staged tender process to select a partner with the necessary level of technical capacity to operate a 65-bed, multi-speciality hospital as well as the financial proposal most advantageous to the Bank. Phase 1 of the Tender Process focused on the technical capacity of the bidding parties. From nine bidders, the Committee selected four parties, who demonstrated the necessary technical ability. These four parities were invited to attend separate meetings at the Bank Hospital in Accra, providing a further opportunity to gather information from the bidding party.

13. Going into Phase 2 of the Tender Process, the four short-listed bidders were provided with an updated RFP requesting more detailed technical information as well as a highly detailed financial proposal and model. After going through a lengthy selection process, Halcom Management Services (HMS) of South Africa was appointed by the Bank to manage the Hospital on behalf of the Bank. And subsequently, the Committee commenced detailed due diligence of the counterparty ahead of final negotiations. Subsequently, the Bank appointed a transaction lawyer to help with the negotiation process.

14. Mr. Chairman, all these processes were conducted with the collective will, cooperation and commitment of all involved to the best interest of the Bank of Ghana. So, finally, here we are today with this state-of-the-art Bank Hospital, that is designated to not only serve staff but also add to the efforts at addressing the health care needs of the country. On July 1, 2020, the Bank of Ghana Clinic relocated to The Bank Hospital premises and commenced primary healthcare services for staff and pensioners.

15. Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, the process to set up a Bank Clinic, which begun in 1987, and subsequently transitioned to this edifice has been a long one, captured over a 34-year period. We have moved from a Clinic with out-patient facilities and limited operations to a Medical Facility with both in- and out-patient comprehensive facilities. I am certain that the transition process will not stop here but will continue and the Bank will provide all the necessary support in this endeavour. The Bank stands ready to work with the new Management in diverse ways possible to achieve this objective.

16. Today, Mr. Chairman, we are honoured to commission this edifice which resulted from foresight and hard work of our predecessors. Indeed, successive management teams in the Bank deserve commendation for the good work of supporting and improving on the facilities of the Clinic up until this point of the transition to a hospital. Let me take this opportunity, therefore, to specially acknowledge the then-Governor, the late Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, who began this whole process, and then-Governors Dr. Henry Wampah and Dr. Issahaku Nashiru, who successfully steered, implemented, and executed the Hospital Project to the state in which the new management met. I also want to acknowledge the various Committee members and the entire team who worked tirelessly with dedication to accomplish the task. Today, only a few of the core members of the Committee are still at post but to those who have left the service of the Bank, we all say “A BIG THANK YOU” for the instrumental roles each of you played in executing this project.

17. I also want to thank the various Boards of Directors who served the Bank during this whole process, from planning to completion of the Hospital, for their invaluable service to the Bank. The last group of people to receive recognition should obviously be the entire staff of the Bank of Ghana, both active and retired. We all agree that the Hospital was successfully completed because of the cooperation and supportive attitude of members of staff.

18. Finally, on behalf of the immediate past Board of Directors, Top Management and Staff of the Bank and on my own behalf, I wish the Management team of the Bank Hospital success in the delivery of quality health care services within a serene environment of professionalism, commitment, and trust.

Thank You and God Bless Us All

A 34-year-old man, Kwasi Kumi who allegedly murdered his wife, aged 39, after a misunderstanding that ensued between them on Tuesday, is under police arrest at the hospital.

After murdering his wife, Kwasi Kumi attempted suicide, which landed him in hospital.

The incident occurred at Breman Asikuma, a suburb of the Asikuma- Odoben-Brakwa (AOB) District of the Central Region.

The body of the deceased, Adiza Ibrahim, has been deposited at the Our Lady of Grace Hospital morgue for autopsy and preservation, while the suspect is assisting police investigations.

Regional Public Relations Officer (PRO), DSP Irene Serwaah Oppong, confirmed the incident to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Cape Coast on Wednesday.

She said on Tuesday, July 06 at about 8pm, one Adams Quainoo and Mariama Ayub Bawa reported to the police that around 5:30pm, three persons came visiting the deceased’s house and informed the complainants of her demise.

Police PRO explained that the complainants upon hearing the information rushed to the deceased’s room, forced it open and found her lying in a pool of blood.

She indicated that the two quickly informed the police and they proceeded to the scene, found her in a supine position in a pool of blood and the Police after careful inspection of the body, identified a big cut on the chest, made with a kitchen knife in the wound of the deceased.

Information gathered by the police revealed that a misunderstanding ensued between the couple and after some time, the suspect locked the door and bolted.

Same day at Ekumfi Otuam, the Police received information that a man suspected to have taken poison was found lying unconscious at the roadside.

DSP Oppong said the police hurriedly got to the scene and sent him to Apam Government Hospital for treatment and after gaining consciousness, he confessed to the police that he attempted suicide.

Police PRO said the team probed further and later he disclosed he had committed a crime at Asikuma.

The Ekumfi Police then contacted the Asikuma team and were informed of the murder of the suspect’s wife, which had been reported to the station.

She said the suspect is under armed guard at the hospital while receiving treatment.
GNA

A total of 35 Senior High School students in Suhum Municipality in the Eastern region have delivered while seven are heavily pregnant.

The pregnancies and the deliveries occurred between March 2020 to April 2021 in three Senior high schools.

The schools are; Islamic Girls Senior High School which recorded 15 deliveries and 4 pregnancies. Suhum Technical Senior High Schools (SUTESCO) also recorded 8 deliveries and pregnancies while Suhum Presbyterian Senior High School (PRESEC) recorded two (2) deliveries and 2 pregnancies.

The Suhum Municipal director of Education, Esther Quaye said this during the inauguration of the ‘Municipal Advocacy Platform for Back to School campaign taskforce’ instituted to ensure that school dropouts return to school after the long closure of schools as a result of Covid-19.

The Municipal Education Director said, at the basic level, five students ages 12 to 20 years were impregnated during the period.

Even though there were concerns that the implementation n of the double-track system as part of the Free Senior High School Policy increased the risk vulnerability of female students, the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 led to a lockdown and 10 months closure of schools worsened the menace.

More than 100,000 teenage pregnancies were recorded nationwide during 2020.

The Municipal Education director stated that, even though there is the likelihood that some pupils have dropped out of school in the Suhum Municipality to engage in other economic activities such as Okada, hawking, selling on the streets, immoral activities among others, evidence shows that, Public basic schools in the municipality have seen an increase in enrollment as some parents have withdrawn their children from Private Schools to Public schools.

She stated that total enrolment in all 68 public Kindergartens in the municipality has increased from 4169 in March 2021 to 4,466 in May 2021. Again, enrolment in all 78 public primary schools has risen from 13,088 to 13,543. At the Junior High School, level enrolment also saw an increase during the same period from 566o to 6149

The five military personnel caught up in the alleged coup plot to overthrow the ruling NPP Government sold their conscience and betrayed the trust reposed in them, Major General Nicholas Andoh, the Chief of Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces has told an Accra High Court where the accused are standing trial for offences of high treason.

According to him, the soldiers were trained to be professionals, however, “their actions amounted to selling their conscience and betraying the trust reposed in them.”

Major General Andoh, who is the Second Witness, was responding to questions under cross-examination by E.A. Avordoagbor, counsel for Dr. MacPalm, who asked the witness whether it was his evidence that the soldiers who were allegedly complicit, were not professional because they failed to report the alleged coup plot to their superiors.

The lawyer asked about his qualification as a Major General and the fact that he told the court he had relied on the video and audio evidence presented to him by military operatives that were planted to monitor the activities of the alleged coup plotters.

The lawyer also questioned the witness on the authenticity of the videos and audios presented by the informants, and the possibility of those materials being tampered with.

Major General Andoh told the court that he is an infantry officer and has had all the necessary training requisite for professional development as well as training in Defence Intelligence.

Touching on the authenticity of the videos and audios, the witness told the court that the videos submitted to him correlated with the physical evidence that were seen when the accused persons were arrested.

“When there is a video about a sketch that is being prepared for attack of certain areas and in the video BB (Bright Alan Debrah) indicated that he was going to give it to his boss and on September 20, 2019 that sketch was found in Dr. MacPalm’s drawer, there is no way to question the authenticity of the video. If there is a video of Dr. MacPalm lamenting that he has given GH¢2,000 to Mr. Gershon Akpa, a civilian employee of the Ghana Armed Forces to procure AK47 assault rifle and Mr. Akpa is invited on September 23, 2019 and he confirms that Dr. MacPalm gave him the GH¢2,000 and because he could not provide the AK47 he had to return the money. If there is a video showing the production process of pistols and IEDs with Dr. MacPalm and Sule inspecting, and the IEDs are physically discovered in the X-ray lab of the Citadel Hospital, then there is no reason to think that the video had been tampered with because the videos and physical are the same,” the witness told the court.

The military officer said “My Lord, I have indicated to this court that what was seen on the videos was seen physically on the ground. What we saw in the video and what we saw on the ground, there was no doubt. The technical experts from the School of Languages who transcribed the audios also established the correlation. The WhatsApp conversations that were extracted were in tandem with the activity and all the reports that came from BNI did not leave any doubt about the authenticity of the audios and videos.”

Take Action Ghana

Mr. Avordoagbor then touched on Dr. MacPalm’s organisation – Take Action Ghana (TAG) and said it was “an instrument of mass mobilisation with a purpose of forming a political party.”

The witness disagreed and said “there are statements on the WhatsApp communication to the effect that the seeds of the Arab Spring had been sewn awaiting a trigger. There were clear statements of coup d’etat, revolution and very violent words which attracted caution by Dr. MacPalm of infiltrators taking note for which reason an executive platform was established for purpose of reserving the use of those insidious languages and denying the generality of TAG membership from access to that sort of information.”

Lawyer: I am putting it to you that all the WhatsApp messages you submitted indicated that A1 (Dr. MacPalm) is a democrat, a trained medical officer who believes in the tenets of democracy and change of government by lawful means.

Witness: It is false. Dr. MacPalm mindful of the criminal connotation of his activities strived to acquire weapons and violent equipment surreptitiously and all the activities that followed from the time that he declared his intension to overthrow the government do not point to democratic practices.”

Lawyer: The totality of your analysis were derivative of secondary sources which you put in evidence and forming the basis of your case before this court.

Witness: As a professional intelligence officer, I deem the evidence I have laid before this court very solid, factually supported and delivered in fair and firm manner consistent with the oath I took at the beginning of this process

The Mamponteng District Court has remanded into police custody three accused persons for their involvement in the Ntonso-Aboaso clashes on Monday, July 5.

The accused persons, Nantomah Ishaw, a barber, 20, Ernest Boakye, a driver’s mate, 22 and Kwadwo Manu, a driver’s mate, 23, were charged with rioting with weapons.

The Court presided over by Thomas Kwadwo Soyori did not take their pleas and they would reappear on July 28, 2021.

Police Inspector Abdul Rahman Zakaria, prosecuting, prayed the Court to remand the accused persons into police custody so that they could assist the police with a thorough investigation into the matter.

He said tension between two youth groups in the Kente-weaving community, located within the Kwabre-East District, resulted in property damage with minor injuries to some members of the feuding factions.

Inspector Zakaria said vehicles were smashed and some shops damaged in the heat of the confrontation, which necessitated a police reinforcement to maintain law and order.

He said the police arrested five persons but after screening by the police, three out of the five persons were charged and brought before the Court.

GNA

The Minister for Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, has indicated the government’s resolve to increase rice production in the Bono East Region.

He made the observation on Wednesday, July 7, 2021, while addressing a gathering of farmers, extension officers, agricultural inputs dealers, regional directors at the Regional Coordinating Council, Bono East Region, as part of his tour of the region.

According to him, Bono East possess a high capacity for rice production, adding that “You have a high capacity with regards to your land to produce as much rice to feed the whole of the country.”

To this end, Dr Afriyie Akoto assured the rice farmers of the government’s support to enable them to increase productivity and achieve that set goal.

He urged the farmers and the assembly to prioritise the government’s projects in the area while entreating them to ensure the country reaped the full benefits.

To ensure that government attends to the needs of the farmers directly without recourse to the assembly, the minister admonished the farmers to organise themselves into farmer groups to engender swift response to their needs.

With regards to the maintenance of government projects, he noted that government would prefer to employ the services of the private sector for continual sustainability.

He indicated the government’s desire to sustain investment in agriculture to enable the sector to succeed, adding that the support of the private sector would also be engaged.

This, according to him, would ensure sustainability thereby enabling the country to reap the full profits.

Farmers in Yerenpenso in the Bono East Region appealed for a livestock council to facilitate swift interactions between the ministry and the farmer association.

“.What we need now is a livestock council so that we can channel our challenges to the ministry for urgent attention,” the Leader of the livestock farmers, Mohammed Bin, disclosed.

Mr Bin further pointed out that the establishment of a livestock council would aid farmers to relay their challenges to the government for a swift response.

Yam and maize farmers within the area also called for the need to fix their roads to aid their activities.

At Quest Farms, producers of maize seeds for the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) at Dawadawa within Kintampo North District of the Bono East Region, the Farm Manager, Bendong Jonas, appealed for irrigation facilities to ensure year-round cultivation of crops.

He also noted that a reduction in the price of fertilisers would help increase agricultural produce in the region.
Currently, he said, the farm produces crops such as cashew, mango aside from maize for MoFA for onward distribution to farmers on the government’s flagship programme, Planting for Food and Jobs (PFFJ).

Earlier, the minister called on the chief of Tachiman.

The minister on Monday and Tuesday toured and interacted with farmers and agricultural extension officers in the Ahafo and Bono regions respectively

Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia on Wednesday, 7 July 2021, opened the 2nd edition of the International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference in Accra with a call on all stakeholders, especially players in the maritime industry, to work closer together to combat the surge in piracy attacks and increasing cases of Kidnapping for ransom.

Statistics indicate there was a 34% increase in actual and attempted pirate attacks in 2020 in the Gulf of Guinea, as well as a rise in the number of cases of kidnapping for ransom and hostage-taking.

In 2020, 130 out of 135 persons kidnapped globally were reportedly abducted in the Gulf of Guinea alone.

Dr Bawumia stated that the government, on its part, is determined to modernise and re-equip the Ghana Navy and other sectors of the Ghana Armed Forces as well as key stakeholders to scale up their level of readiness to face the growing challenge

The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) had covered almost half of the expected households to be enumerated as of last Sunday, seven days into the 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC).

Data received from 99.2 per cent of enumeration areas in all 16 regions and 272 statistical districts indicate that an average of 42.1 per cent of the expected households have been enumerated.

The completion rate ranges from 27.09 per cent in the Greater Accra Region to 63.89 per cent in North East Region.

In nine out of the 16 regions, enumeration completed on day seven (first week) of the 14-day exercise is in excess of 50 per cent.

“The exercise has been smooth over the past one week,” the Government Statistician, Professor Samuel Kobina Annim, told the Daily Graphic last Monday.


The assessment, he said, was based on systems for monitoring, which included the enumeration tracking dashboard, consistency checks and edit specifications.

He said the assessment also relied on reports from key officials on the ground, such as field officers, district data quality management teams, national monitors and international observers.

He said the seamless transition from listing to enumeration and the identification of areas needing support for the completion of listing also contributed to the smoothness of the exercise.

Challenges

Prof. Annim said the challenges encountered so far had all been anticipated, including the inability to meet respondents during the day time due to people leaving early for work and returning late in urban areas and in rural farming communities people leaving early for their farms and returning late.

Others were flooding, which prevented enumerators from accessing some communities and crossing to island and over-bank communities, the discovery of extinct and emerging localities, challenges with synchronising data and accidents involving field officers, he added.

Refusals

In some communities, the enumerators also encountered refusal by residents to participate in the exercise, he said.

Those places were in the Jaman North and the Kassena Nankana West districts as well as the Kassena Nankana municipality, the Government Statistician said.

Timelines

“Census undertaking is always characterised by mop-ups. However, GSS is confident that the exercise will be completed within the stipulated time, except for pockets where the challenges outlined above will delay the completion of work,” Prof. Annim said when asked whether the exercise could be completed within the stipulated time frame, looking at the work done so far.

The GSS, he said, was deploying targeted interventions in those areas to speed up the pace of work.https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-9851803229604827&output=html&h=343&adk=3559006387&adf=3229197991&pi=t.aa~a.2816640267~i.52~rp.1&w=412&lmt=1625683065&num_ads=1&rafmt=1&armr=3&sem=mc&pwprc=1604435693&psa=1&ad_type=text_image&format=412×343&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.peacefmonline.com%2Fpages%2Flocal%2Fnews%2F202107%2F448056.php%3Futm_source%3Ddlvr.it%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook&flash=0&fwr=1&pra=3&rh=319&rw=382&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&sfro=1&wgl=1&fa=27&dt=1625683065486&bpp=34&bdt=2656&idt=34&shv=r20210630&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3Dbd57c2af65e79f6b-221265ae63c90076%3AT%3D1625682968%3ART%3D1625682968%3AS%3DALNI_MbLeRuegGuFpkXCjwiAiNSZrtHUgQ&prev_fmts=0x0%2C412x343%2C412x343&nras=2&correlator=3090158220216&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=615138548.1625682967&ga_sid=1625682967&ga_hid=2120794604&ga_fc=1&u_tz=0&u_his=1&u_java=0&u_h=892&u_w=412&u_ah=892&u_aw=412&u_cd=24&u_nplug=0&u_nmime=0&adx=0&ady=3343&biw=412&bih=797&scr_x=0&scr_y=90&eid=42530672%2C31060474%2C31061218%2C31061662%2C31061684&oid=3&pvsid=2807872616010343&pem=829&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2F&eae=0&fc=1408&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C412%2C0%2C412%2C797%2C412%2C797&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7Cs%7C&abl=NS&fu=128&bc=31&ifi=6&uci=a!6&btvi=2&fsb=1&xpc=GslRU63jLm&p=https%3A//www.peacefmonline.com&dtd=161

The measures included the deployment of support enumerators and engagement with opinion leaders and community members to persuade their neighbours and people to avail themselves for the exercise, he said.

“Given the current completion rate in the Greater Accra, Central, Eastern and Western regions, additional days will be needed to complete enumeration in the relatively large enumeration areas,” Prof. Annim stated.

Accidents

The Government Statistician said the issue of accidents was a concern and that the management of the service had been working to address since the start of data collection, saying it had been cited in briefings to Parliament and the Chair of the National Census Steering Committee during the listing exercise.

He said in his public pronouncements, he had been urging field officers to exercise caution, particularly when riding, as motorbike accidents were the leading cause of the injuries reported.

Prof. Annim indicated that funds for the purchase of Wellington boots had been made available to field officers working in areas where they needed to protect themselves from snake and dog bites.

“An online accident reporting form is being used for monitoring the number of accidents across the country and the severity of the injuries to field officers involved for the necessary actions to be taken,” he pointed out.

Monitoring

The Government Statistician noted that the 2021 PHC aimed at complete coverage and quality data, and that the GSS had put in place several real-time data monitoring and field supervision mechanisms to ensure that those objectives were achieved.

However, he said, the support of the public was required to complement those efforts.

“Members of the public are thus urged to call the census call centre to report if their households have not been enumerated by July 8, this year.

“The call centre numbers are 0800-426-426, 059-147-6893, 020-685-0157, 055-162-5567 and 059-147-6895,” Prof. Annim indicated.

 

Source: graphiconline.com

A Professor at the University of Ghana, Ransford Gyampo has rejected the approval of salaries for the First and Second Ladies of Ghana.null

He told TV3’s Selorm Amenya in an interview that the offices of the First and Second ladies are just ceremonial offices and so institutionalizing salary payments to the occupants will not be an ideal situation.

Parliament has approved a recommendation by a five-member committee which was set up in June 2019 by President Akufo-Addo, to him and to Parliament on the salaries and allowances First or Second ladies.

This has angered some members of the Ghanaian society who have accused President Akufo-Addo of making this payment.

Professor Gyampo said “If we want to take good care of the spouses or the wives of former heads of state particularly heads of state who may have passed on. If they have surviving spouses and they are living like puppets, it is not nice. There is nothing wrong if we decide to take good care of those spouses of former heads of state.

“Even if we have to do that, it should not be dependent on the magnanimity of any president. It should be formally legislated. The heads of state after they have served and they have retired. they are taken care of till they will pass on. So if a head former head of state passes on and then he has a surviving wife I think that it doesn’t hurt anything if the state decides to take care of the surviving spouse. But like I said, this should not be because somebody wants to be nice to them but the state itself must actively formalise this relationship and take good care of them.”null

“That is different from telling me about the spouse of sitting president and the spouse of sitting vice president. I am told about the approval by parliament that the spouse of the sitting president and the spouse of the sitting vice president plus spouses of former heads of state, whether these former heads of states are alive or dead, should all be taken care of. I think it is not the way to go. Let us draw a line of demarcation between the two.”

“The office of the First Lady is merely ceremonial. The office of the second lady is also ceremonial. These are not formal structures, they are dysfunctional structures, informal structures that I admit could go a long way to shape and influence how governance is conducted.”

Information Minister Kojo Oppong dismissed the concerns saying “The President does approve salaries and benefits for the Executive. Under Article 71, the First Lady and Second Lady are not office holders so no one can determine their benefits under that article.

“However, a committee only recommended that an arrangement for the spouses be made formal and that received approval from Parliament,” he indicated.

Meanwhile, the Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West African (MFWA) Sulemana Braimah, has urged First and Second ladies, Rebecca Akufo-Addo and Samira Bawumia respectively to be prepared for public examination in whatever action they take following the parliamentary approval of their salaries.null

Commenting on this development in a tweet, Mr Braimah said “Now that the First Lady and Second Lady are on Cabinet Minister-level salaries, they should be ready for massive public scrutiny. They are now our employees too.”

The Executive Director of the Centre for Democratic Governance, Professor H Kwesi Prempeh has also rejected the approval of payment of allowances of the First and Second ladies.

He stated that the Article 71 Emoluments Committee has no authority to recommend payment of any allowance or emolument to First or Second Spouses, as these are not Article 71 offices or office holders.

In a Facebook post on this development, Professor Prempeh said “The mandate of an Article 71 Emoluments Committee is limited to recommending the salaries and other benefits and privileges of those office holders specified in Article 71, sections (1) and (2). That list of covered office holders is exhaustive. The Article 71 Emoluments Committee has no authority to recommend payment of any allowance or emolument to First or Second Spouses, as these are not Article 71 offices or office holders. And, of course, the Constitution does not require or compel a President or Vice President to have a spouse; bachelors and bachelorettes are welcome. As far as the Constitution is concerned, s3 w’aso awar3 a, you know what to do.”

“If Government wants to pay First and/or Second Spouses from the public fisc, it must introduce a Bill to that effect. The clear import of Articles 108 and 178 of the Constitution is that Parliament cannot, on its own accord, initiate or approve payment of any such emoluments (which would necessarily be paid from public funds) without a bill to that effect emanating from and introduced by the Government and duly passed into law.”null

“The political class cannot use the Article 71 process to smuggle in salaries or allowances for First and Second Spouses.”

“If that’s what they want done, they must get the Government to boldly introduce a Bill to that effect, making a case for such emoluments, and thereby allow and ensure public participation in the legislative debate on this matter. This is not something that can be done on the blind side of voters and taxpayers.”

“Anyway, why stop at First and Second Spouses? Why not the Third Spouse (since the Speaker gets to act as President sometimes) or the Fourth (so the Chief Justice, too, can enjoy some marital privileges on the back of taxpayers), and on and on and on. And while we are at it, shall we also subject First and “Second Spouses to the asset declaration laws, in their own capacities? What about the sweet “end-of-service” benefits? Indeed, when we place First and Second Spouses on the public payroll, we, essentially, convert their voluntary roles into “public offices” as that term is understood under Article 295. Is that the idea? Do they then become subject to all the laws applicable to public offices and officers?

”Source: 3news.com

• 

Lt. Col. Kwasi Ware Peprah, Commanding Officer of the 4th Infantry Battalion says the military officer seen kneeling in viral photos and videos during the Ejura protest did not fire any shots as many believed. On Tuesday, June 29, 2021, security personnel shot and killed two people among some young people demonstrating as part of their quest to ask for answers following the death of activist, Ibrahim’ Kaaka’ Mohammed.

Speaking before a committee probing the killings, Peprah claimed the yet-to-be-identified soldier did not fire at anyone when he kneeled as many stated based on the videos shared online.

The Ghana Armed Forces has disclosed that some protesters at the Ejura demonstration started firing first at the security personnel before they also responded by targeting those who shot at them.

Brigadier General Joseph Aphur, General Officer Commanding Central Command, said this when he appeared before the committee set up by the government to probe the disturbances that led to the loss of two lives in Ejura.

He told the committee that the security personnel first issued verbal warnings and fired warning shots but that did not deter the angry youth.

He said they had no choice but to fire into the crowd targeting those who were firing gunshots at them.

Brigadier Aphur explained: “When we got to the general area of the cemetery, and they [protesters] started issuing warning threats to the police and military team, we started giving verbal warnings, which we do in the military, but they didn’t listen”.

“So, we fired warning shots, and we realised that some shots were also fired from the crowd. At that stage, it was becoming too bad for civilians to be firing at the security personnel.”

“I think the commander, at that stage, then had to use minimum force by ordering his personnel to begin firing at those who were firing from the crowd to maim them”.

“After our fire, we didn’t have instant deaths. They were evacuated to the hospital, where we later heard two died”, he said.

“But, at the instant of our fire, the crowd withdrew and everything came under our control,” he added.

He further told the committee that the situation could have been worse if they had not taken those steps.

“Of course, when you [security personnel] fire warning shots, and you see people firing from the crowd, certainly you have to use live ammunition to maim them because after, we also arrested two persons with weapons that we have reported to the police.”

Wednesday is day two of the committee’s sitting.

The Minister for the Interior, Mr Ambrose Dery, under the instruction of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, appointed the three-member committee on Thursday, 1 July 2021, to enquire into the circumstances that led to the shooting of two civilians by military personnel during a demonstration by angry youth of Ejura, following the murder of Ibrahim Mohammed aka ‘Kaaka’, a social media activist

The Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, sees no point in the ‘March for justice’ demonstration embarked upon by the youth of the opposition National Democratic Congress on Tuesday, July 6, 2021.

According to him, the concerns raised by the NDC youth wing which compelled them to demonstrate, were already being addressed by the government.

“The substance of the issues they raised, economic hardships, security challenges, among others, are things that the government has already been speaking about. If you take economic challenges, in March 2020, the President forewarned us that despite the growth and gradual improvement that we were seeing, we were going to sacrifice some things to protect lives and livelihoods because we know how to bring the economy back to life, but we do not know how to bring people back to life.”

“We literally had to throw away all the gains we made three years into our first term to protect lives. Today, it has come to the point Osei-Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu foretold when reading the budget in Parliament that we are going to go through a difficult phase of recovery. Things are not the same as they were, not just in Ghana, but around the world. We have already put in place measures to revive the economy,” he defended.

Thousands of members and sympathizers of the NDC joined the march to call on the government to fix several issues in the country, including an end to the brutalization of citizens by security agencies.

Mr. Oppong Nkrumah in an interview on Eyewitness News first commended the NDC youth for “comporting themselves.”

“To a large extent, they comported themselves, and we can commend them for that. We can also commend the police and the security officers for being professional.”

On the growing concerns of insecurity in the country, Mr. Oppong Nkrumah said “this insecurity concerns they raised, even before we got here today [Monday], the government has launched a National Security Strategy.”

“Those who are tagging the phenomenon of excesses of security as new are not being truthful. What is the government doing about it? We have launched investigations and are looking at getting the report and recommendations to nip the phenomenon in the bud,” he added.

When host of Eyewitness News, Umaru Sanda Amadu, asked whether the three-member committee of inquiry constituted to probe the Ejura killings will amount to anything, the Ofoase-Ayeribi lawmaker said “words of assurances alone do not mean anything. The most important thing is that we allow the committee to finish its work and come up with a report and make recommendations. We will then decide on adopting some of the recommendations.”

“I am not sure there is going to be a white paper from this ministerial committee of inquiry, that is mostly with a Commission of inquiry. The facts and recommendations will be made public, so we decide on the next step,” he added.

‘March for justice’ demo: NDC youth petitions Nana Addo, parliament over ‘growing insecurity’

The protesting youth of the NDC on Tuesday, July 6, 2021, submitted a petition to the presidency and Parliament after their ‘March for Justice’ demonstration.

The National Youth Organizer of the party, George Opare Addo, after reading out the content of the petition, presented it to the Deputy Chief of Staff in charge of operations, Emmanuel Bossman, who gave assurances that the document will be given to President Akufo-Addo.

There have been growing concerns about the use of the military for civil events that ordinarily should be handled by the police.

The incidents that have angered many include the killing of some Ghanaians during the 2020 election, the invasion of Parliament by soldiers, the latest killing of two persons, and the injuring of four others who were protesting at Ejura in the Ashanti Region.

The brutalization of some residents of the Upper West Region in Wa by some soldiers over a supposed stolen phone has also been widely condemned.

Armed robbery and murder cases have also been on the rise in parts of the country.

Source: Citinewsroom.com

Hundreds of residents of Adina, Salakope-Amutinu, and Agavedzi whose homes have been ravaged by the sea during the recent tidal wave incidents have been left frustrated as they struggle to find accommodation amidst persistent heavy rains in the area.

The communities located along the Keta Lagoon have lost their houses and properties worth millions of cedis to the sea due to the destructive waves.

But three weeks after a tour of the area by the Minister for Works and Housing, Francis Asenso Boakye who indicated the government’s commitment to ensuring that work starts soonest on Phase II of the Keta Sea Defence project, the displaced victims are yet to find a decent place to lay their heads.

The displaced victims for the most part of the first half of 2021 have been sleeping on the streets -a situation that further endangers their lives.

The situation, has, however, worsened due to the persistent heavy rains in the area, leaving the victims frustrated and traumatized.

Reacting to the issue, Member of Parliament for the area, Abla Dzifa Gomashie called on the government to take steps to temporarily relocate the victims while the sea defense project commences.

She said, “As a layperson, I can see the land across from the lagoon but that will be just me speaking. I think the MCE, the Regional Minister, Minister for Works and Housing, and that of Roads, these four people can come together and help us solve the problem of where the people can temporarily be accommodated while we look at the bigger picture of the sea defense project. As the representative of the people in Parliament, I am just appealing that the state responds to us as required.”

Madam Gomashie further stated that the victims are Ghanaians who equally deserve a decent place of accommodation while stressing that anything other than that will be a failure on the part of the government.

On Monday 5 July, the MP presented some clothing to the affected communities on behalf of the Ghana Muslims Mission in addition to bags of corn from her own off

First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo has called for an urgent need to ensure that poor and vulnerable persons get access to the needed resources, and services to achieve optimum nutrition.

She made the call when she participated in the opening session of a two-day congress organised by the Ghana Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics on the theme “Synchronizing the Frontiers of Nutrition and Dietetics for sustainable National Impact”.

This Congress was organised to enable the Academy and other relevant stakeholders, to take the necessary actions to ensure Ghana meets her nutrition goals.

Mrs Akufo-Addo said although Ghana is on track to achieving its goals according to the 2020 Global Nutrition Goals, the country has still not made much progress towards exclusive breastfeeding, reducing stunting and wasting in children and curbing diet-related non-communicable diseases such as adult obesity and diabetes.

She thus urged the Academy and relevant stakeholders including the Ministries of Health, Finance and Economic Planning and Agriculture, to make adequate investments to ensure optimal nutrition for Ghanaians

The Minister for Finance, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta, has presented a loan agreement for $28 million to Parliament for the purchase of 275 vehicles for members of the 8^th Parliament.

According to the papers presented to Parliament, the loan will be sourced from the National Investment Bank, NIB.

Based on the amount and the number of individuals involved, each MP is expected to receive over $100,000 for the purchase of a vehicle.

The Finance Committee of the House is expected to consider the loan agreement and report to the house.

Meanwhile, Parliament on Tuesday, July 6, 2021, also approved $200 million additional funds from the World Bank for Ghana’s COVID-19 response programme.

The funds will be channelled towards the procurement of vaccines and other activities to strengthen the country’s health system

A man believed to be in his 40s has allegedly defiled a primary five pupil of the Ajumako Essaman Methodist Basic School after he had earlier raped her mother at Ajumako Essaman in the Central Region.

According to the victim, the man named Nana Eduah called her under the guise of sending her to buy him foodstuffs only for the suspect to defile her as he covered her mouth to prevent her from calling for help.

The victim revealed to Kasapa FM’s Central Regional Correspondent Yaw Boagyan that after the dastardly act, the man threatened her with death if she ever revealed what happened.

“He gave me money to go and put it in his room and when I went there he came over me and pushed me on his bed and raped me till blood oozed from my vagina and I couldn’t walk home instantly so I waited until evening time before going home,” she recounted.

According to the victim, she and her mother sweep and wash for the accused.

Meanwhile, the mother of the victim Diana Forson also claimed that the suspect has raped her.

She has threatened to hang herself for what she calls shame that has come over her in the community.

Madam Forson revealed that she used to do household chores for the suspect but he takes advantage of her due to her poverty.

She has accused the suspect of conniving with the police to thwart her efforts at getting justice.

Following an official complaint, the police in the area have asked for a medical report to confirm the child was actually raped.

Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5fm/Yaw Boagyan

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has presented its second petition to the leadership of Parliament following a five-hour march on Tuesday, July 6 to demand justice for the atrocities caused by the security agencies under the current government.null

The first petition was presented earlier to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on whose behalf a Deputy Chief of Staff, Emmanuel Adumua-Bossman, received at the Jubilee House.

Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin was absent and so leadership of both the Majority and Minority was at hand to receive the petition.

Leader of the protest, George Opare Addo, who is also the National Youth Organiser of the largest opposition party, has warned that further action will be taken if the demands contained in the petition are not met.

“The demonstration is one of many options that is available to us,” he told TV3‘s Komla Adom after presenting the petition to the leadership of Parliament.

“This is the first step and subsequently if nothing happens, we will advise ourselves and take other measures that will compel this government to keep to the oath of office that they swore to us.”null

Stampede at Parliament gate as NDC protesters struggle to enter

There was stampede at the entrance to the Parliament as protesters of the March for Justice demonstration by the NDC clashed with security officers.

There was a clear disregard for the social distance protocol on Covid-19 as the organisers made their way to the legislative assembly to present a petition to the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin.

Presidency receives NDC’s March for Justice petition

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has presented its petition to the Presidency as scores of supporters marching in Tuesday’s protest head to Parliament House.null

Dubbed ‘March for Justice’, the protest is demanding justice for families who have lost relatives as a result of “state-sponsored thuggery” – as the NDC puts it – in the hands of the police and military under the current administration.

It is under the auspices of the Youth Wing of the party.

The first of two petitions was presented by NDC’s General Secretary Johnson Asiedu Nketia and Women’s Organiser Hannah Bissiw.

It was received at the Jubilee House by a Deputy Chief of Staff, Emmanuel Adumua-Bossman.

https://cdn.jwplayer.com/players/8c7eHsAV-eqk5XVg5.

Source: 3news.com

A Fighter General of the #FixTheCountry Campaign, Commander Hardi Yakubu says it is hypocritical for the NDC to be appearing as if they are genuinely concerned about the issues concerning Ghanaians when they are part of the problems.

Although not part of the NDC’s ‘March for justice’, he said the #FixTheCountry Campaign supports anyone who tries to embark on a demonstration to register their frustrations.

The #FixTheCountry Campaign, which started on the microblogging site, Twitter had some unhappy Ghanaians venting their displeasure over what many describe as a failure on the part of successive governments to improve the lives of the citizenry.

The campaign sought to get the government to fix the country in areas such as the rising youth unemployment, dilapidated health system, skyrocketing home-renting structure, poor road networks among others.

Although the campaigners wanted to the campaign to the next level, by proposing a demonstration, they were denied the right to do so because according to the Ghana Police Service, the restrictions imposed on the country due to the covid-19 pandemic had not been lifted.

However, the Ghana Police Service provided security for the youth wing of the NDC during their ‘March for Justice’.

Speaking on Atinka TV’s morning show, Ghana Nie with Ekourba Gyasi Simpremu, Commander Hardi Yakubu said,”So long as the person is a Ghanaian, the person has the bonafide right to protest. We, however, find it very contradictory and very hypocritical that some of the things that the NDC itself was supervising and presiding over are some of the things that they are protesting against now.”

He continued that,” When the NPP was in opposition, a lot of things that they were speaking against are the things that they are doing now. So, this is the kind of situation we have in our political arena, where the two political parties are mainly engaged in a play of a political trend game; when they are in opposition, they know everything right under the sun, but when they are in government, they become deaf and dump to all the problems of the country

ATINKA TV

The United States Embassy in Ghana has issued an alert to all Americans especially those living in the capital over a planned demonstration by the main opposition National Democratic Congress against the government.

The Embassy told its citizens that the march is likely to draw a large crowd and disrupt traffic.

“Considerable police presence and heavy congestion are expected along the planned route, beginning from Accra Mall at 6 am and then moving south towards Parliament House throughout the day,” the alert said.

The embassy has asked its citizens to monitor local media for updates, exercise caution if in the vicinity of any large gatherings or protests, plan for alternate travel routes, and comply with all police and security service instructions.

The NDC’s march according to the party is to help raise awareness about the state of insecurity and lawlessness in the country.

The party also said Tuesday’s protest is to compel President Akufo-Addo to wake up from his slumber and act with urgency.

“The converging point of the march is the Accra Mall, then we proceed onto Liberation Road to OpeibeaHouse then through the Aviation Road through Lands Commission. From there, we proceed to the Flagstaff House through the Switchback road. From thereon, we will use the Ako-Adjei interchange to Parliament house,” the party said in a statement.

In a separate statement, the NDC also noted that the march is meant to remind President Akufo-Addo of his responsibilities toward the people of Ghana, especially in the area of public safety and security

The Ashanti Regional Minister Simon Osei-Mensah has said the Regional Security Council(REGSEC) has no brief on the identity of the security personnel who shot and killed 2 persons at the June 29 protest against the murder of a social media activist in Ejura.null

He reiterated before the committee of inquiry that it has not been established yet who killed the two locals in the midst of the protest.

Footage from the scene on June 29 shows four soldiers moving in a horizontal line with a Police water cannon charging on the protestors.

The security personnel initially were shooting into the sky, but the demonstrators were unfazed and kept moving forward. The Military personnel then started shooting into the crowd.null

Two people were hit, and the crowd scattered, with some of the protestors running helter-skelter for cover.

Meanwhile in his account before the government committee of inquiry during the committee’s maiden sitting on Tuesday, July 6, the regional minister claimed that the violence in the community after the death of Ibrahim Mohammed was incited by one Abee Wakaz.

https://cdn.jwplayer.com/players/CJL7bdl6-eqk5XVg5.

Source: kasapafmonline.com

Mohammed Iddrisu alias Kaaka was attacked by his own brother Baba Iddi preliminary Police investigations has revealed.

Baba Iddi has since been arrested, arraigned, and remanded into police custody and helping in police investigations.

It is recalled that on 26 June 2021, the police in Ejura received a complaint from one Haruna Mohammed that his brother, Kaaka, aged 45, had been ambushed and beaten by some unknown assailants while on his motorbike returning home.

Kaaka became unconscious and was rushed to the Ejura Government Hospital for treatment.

He was later transferred to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital for further treatment where he died on 28 June 2022.

The police has appealed to anyone who has any information on the incident to volunteer it.

The three-member Ministerial Committee commissioned to conduct a public enquiry into the shooting incident at Ejura in the Ashanti Region will start sitting on Tuesday, July 6, at the Prempeh Assembly Hall in Kumasi.

The committee, which is chaired by an Appea Court Jusdge, Justice George Kingsley Koomsom will receive evidence from witnesses at its sitting, which commences at 10 am each day, a statement issued by the Committee, said.

The statement, signed by Kwabia Owusu Mensah, Media Liaison Officer for the Committee, invited the media to give coverage to proceedings at the sitting.

Minister of the Interior, Ambrose Dery, leading a government delegation on a recent visit to Ejura, announced the setting up of the three-member committee, saying it had ten days within which to work and give recommendations to the government.

The other members include Dr Vladimir Antwi-Danso, a security expert, and Ms Juliet Amoah, Executive Director of Penplusbyte, a Civil Society Organization (CSO).

Ms Maria Louise Simmons, a Principal State Attorney, is to serve as Secretary to the Committee.

The statement said the probe was necessitated by the June 29 disturbances and shooting incidents, which claimed two lives and resulted in four people sustaining various degrees of injuries.

Two young men, Nasiru Yussif and Murtala Mohammed, both in their 20s, who lost their lives in the tragedy, had since been buried.

The incident was triggered by the death of one Ibrahim Mohammed, alias Kaaka, 45, who was said to have been brutally assaulted while returning home on a motorbike three days before the disturbances.

Three accused persons, Ibrahim Issaka, Fuseini Alhassan and Iddi Mohammed, arrested in connection with Kaaka’s death, were remanded into police custody by the Asokwa District Court.

They were charged with conspiracy to commit crime and murder.

The court presided over by Mrs Akua Adu Boahen did not take the accused persons’ pleas when they made an appearance on Friday, July 2, and will re-appear on July 22, 2021.

Meanwhile, members of the Committee, accompanying a government delegation, including the Minister of the Interior, paid a fact-finding visit to Ejura on Monday

The Chief Executive Officer of Menzgold Ghana Limited Nana Appiah Mensah has been taken ill and has been asked to see his doctors.

Nana Appiah Mensah, affectionately called NAM1 was not in court on Tuesday, July 6, for the Case in which he has been arraigned for fraud.

Before the Circuit Court in Accra presided over by Her Honour Mrs Evelyn Asamoah, his lawyer Audry Twum holding Kwame Akufo’s brief said their client is “coughing.”

“My Lady, our client is not well. He has been coughing and we have asked him to see the doctors this morning. Our apologies to the court for his absence,” his counsel told the court.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Slyvester Asare, the Prosecutor in the case said the accused has always been in court and for the sake of his absence, he prayed for the case to be adjourned.

EIB Network’s Court Correspondent Murtala Inusah reports that the case has been adjourned to September 2, 2021, after the parties had approached the bench (judge) upon the prosecutor’s request.

The prosecution failed to file processes

At the last court sitting on May 27, the prosecution was unable to file processes as per the court orders.

Earlier, the court presided had ordered the prosecution to file the necessary processes prior to the May 27 sitting. The court warned it would be forced to strike out the case should the prosecution fail to do so.https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-8731784857660975&output=html&h=343&adk=124763032&adf=1827346561&pi=t.aa~a.86673156~i.21~rp.4&w=412&lmt=1625575742&num_ads=1&rafmt=1&armr=3&sem=mc&pwprc=7938084553&tp=site_kit&psa=1&ad_type=text_image&format=412×343&url=https%3A%2F%2Fstarrfm.com.gh%2F2021%2F07%2Fmenzgold-case-adjourned-to-sept-2-over-nam-1s-cough%2F&flash=0&fwr=1&pra=3&rh=310&rw=372&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&sfro=1&wgl=1&fa=27&dt=1625575742686&bpp=15&bdt=4092&idt=-M&shv=r20210630&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3Da7194831a247fb70-227c845766c900b8%3AT%3D1625575509%3ART%3D1625575509%3AS%3DALNI_MbwTz7lFAQVopyon2QGIgaMrQ9hjg&prev_fmts=0x0&nras=2&correlator=7115865126487&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=628740914.1625575510&ga_sid=1625575740&ga_hid=1878872465&ga_fc=0&u_tz=0&u_his=1&u_java=0&u_h=892&u_w=412&u_ah=892&u_aw=412&u_cd=24&u_nplug=0&u_nmime=0&adx=0&ady=1826&biw=412&bih=797&scr_x=0&scr_y=898&eid=44745303%2C31060474%2C31061218&oid=3&pvsid=2555045300386826&pem=691&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2F&eae=0&fc=1408&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C412%2C0%2C412%2C797%2C412%2C797&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7Cs%7C&abl=NS&fu=128&bc=31&ifi=2&uci=a!2&btvi=1&fsb=1&xpc=qUgTcidJre&p=https%3A//starrfm.com.gh&dtd=116

But, ASP Asare said, the prosecution was unable to file the processes on time as directed by the court and “we submit that in all humility this is no deliberate attempt to delay this court.”https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-8731784857660975&output=html&h=343&adk=124763032&adf=2596165538&pi=t.aa~a.86673156~i.23~rp.4&w=412&lmt=1625575742&num_ads=1&rafmt=1&armr=3&sem=mc&pwprc=7938084553&tp=site_kit&psa=1&ad_type=text_image&format=412×343&url=https%3A%2F%2Fstarrfm.com.gh%2F2021%2F07%2Fmenzgold-case-adjourned-to-sept-2-over-nam-1s-cough%2F&flash=0&fwr=1&pra=3&rh=310&rw=372&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&sfro=1&wgl=1&fa=27&dt=1625575742686&bpp=12&bdt=4093&idt=-M&shv=r20210630&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3Da7194831a247fb70-227c845766c900b8%3AT%3D1625575509%3ART%3D1625575509%3AS%3DALNI_MbwTz7lFAQVopyon2QGIgaMrQ9hjg&prev_fmts=0x0%2C412x343&nras=3&correlator=7115865126487&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=628740914.1625575510&ga_sid=1625575740&ga_hid=1878872465&ga_fc=0&u_tz=0&u_his=1&u_java=0&u_h=892&u_w=412&u_ah=892&u_aw=412&u_cd=24&u_nplug=0&u_nmime=0&adx=0&ady=2309&biw=412&bih=797&scr_x=0&scr_y=898&eid=44745303%2C31060474%2C31061218&oid=3&pvsid=2555045300386826&pem=691&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2F&eae=0&fc=1408&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C412%2C0%2C412%2C797%2C412%2C797&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7Cs%7C&abl=NS&cms=2&fu=128&bc=31&ifi=3&uci=a!3&btvi=2&fsb=1&xpc=FeJfJUvSKR&p=https%3A//starrfm.com.gh&dtd=156

According to ASP Asare, “the records will show that at the last sitting, we indicated and pleaded with the court as it is in the interest of justice” and that “this morning we are again on bended knees, although standing, we ask that you give us the necessary ear.”

He said, Prosecution will ensure that “we file the necessary processes. We pray that in the interest of justice, my Lady grants an adjournment to enable parties to put their house in order.”

On March 2, the court warned it would be forced to strike out the case.

The court said it was unhappy about the delay on the part of the prosecution to file the necessary documents to commence the trial.

On that day, ASP Asare, the prosecutor in the case, again prayed the court, to give them more time be to able to file their witness statement and other documents.

It was the case of the prosecution that, the number of victims involved in the case is over 16, 000 people and therefore more time would be required by the prosecution to do the necessary investigations.https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-8731784857660975&output=html&h=343&adk=124763032&adf=1780817769&pi=t.aa~a.86673156~i.35~rp.4&w=412&lmt=1625575742&num_ads=1&rafmt=1&armr=3&sem=mc&pwprc=7938084553&tp=site_kit&psa=1&ad_type=text_image&format=412×343&url=https%3A%2F%2Fstarrfm.com.gh%2F2021%2F07%2Fmenzgold-case-adjourned-to-sept-2-over-nam-1s-cough%2F&flash=0&fwr=1&pra=3&rh=310&rw=372&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&sfro=1&wgl=1&fa=27&dt=1625575742686&bpp=10&bdt=4092&idt=-M&shv=r20210630&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3Da7194831a247fb70-227c845766c900b8%3AT%3D1625575509%3ART%3D1625575509%3AS%3DALNI_MbwTz7lFAQVopyon2QGIgaMrQ9hjg&prev_fmts=0x0%2C412x343%2C412x343&nras=4&correlator=7115865126487&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=628740914.1625575510&ga_sid=1625575740&ga_hid=1878872465&ga_fc=0&u_tz=0&u_his=1&u_java=0&u_h=892&u_w=412&u_ah=892&u_aw=412&u_cd=24&u_nplug=0&u_nmime=0&adx=0&ady=3494&biw=412&bih=797&scr_x=0&scr_y=898&eid=44745303%2C31060474%2C31061218&oid=3&pvsid=2555045300386826&pem=691&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2F&eae=0&fc=1408&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C412%2C0%2C412%2C797%2C412%2C797&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7Cs%7C&abl=NS&fu=128&bc=31&ifi=4&uci=a!4&btvi=3&fsb=1&xpc=ZcvBm0ryoZ&p=https%3A//starrfm.com.gh&dtd=180

ASP Asare prayed with the court for time and begged the court not to strike out the case.https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-8731784857660975&output=html&h=343&adk=124763032&adf=1816775246&pi=t.aa~a.86673156~i.37~rp.4&w=412&lmt=1625575742&num_ads=1&rafmt=1&armr=3&sem=mc&pwprc=7938084553&tp=site_kit&psa=1&ad_type=text_image&format=412×343&url=https%3A%2F%2Fstarrfm.com.gh%2F2021%2F07%2Fmenzgold-case-adjourned-to-sept-2-over-nam-1s-cough%2F&flash=0&fwr=1&pra=3&rh=310&rw=372&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&sfro=1&wgl=1&fa=27&dt=1625575742686&bpp=11&bdt=4092&idt=11&shv=r20210630&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3Da7194831a247fb70-227c845766c900b8%3AT%3D1625575509%3ART%3D1625575509%3AS%3DALNI_MbwTz7lFAQVopyon2QGIgaMrQ9hjg&prev_fmts=0x0%2C412x343%2C412x343%2C412x343&nras=5&correlator=7115865126487&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=628740914.1625575510&ga_sid=1625575740&ga_hid=1878872465&ga_fc=0&u_tz=0&u_his=1&u_java=0&u_h=892&u_w=412&u_ah=892&u_aw=412&u_cd=24&u_nplug=0&u_nmime=0&adx=0&ady=3920&biw=412&bih=797&scr_x=0&scr_y=898&eid=44745303%2C31060474%2C31061218&oid=3&pvsid=2555045300386826&pem=691&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2F&eae=0&fc=1408&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C412%2C0%2C412%2C797%2C412%2C797&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7Cs%7C&abl=NS&fu=128&bc=31&ifi=5&uci=a!5&btvi=4&fsb=1&xpc=P08ytNnB7H&p=https%3A//starrfm.com.gh&dtd=202

NAMI was initially charged with abetment of crime, defrauding by false pretences, carrying on a deposit-taking business without a licence, sale of minerals without a licence, unlawful deposit-taking, and money laundering.

It is alleged that the accused had taken various sums of money, totalling GH¢1.6 billion from customers.

The State had previously on June 24, 2020, filed new charges against the CEO of Menzgold, also known as NAM 1 at the Accra Circuit Court.

ASP Sylvester Asare then told the Court that his directives were that he should hold on to the new charges and the plea taking of the accused.

Bail

The Circuit Court on July 26, 2019, granted NAM 1 bail in the sum of GH¢ 1 billion cedis with five sureties, three to be justified.

He had pleaded not guilty to all initial 13 charges levelled against him by the State. The state had since amended its charged sheet which is yet to be moved.

He is also to report to the police every Wednesday at 10:00 hours.

Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/Murtala Inusah

Members of the opposition National Democratic Congress have slammed President Akufo-Addo describing him as a “dictator” as they hit the streets of Accra to protest.

Supporters of the NDC are also decrying what they say is the growing injustice in the country under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo.

The party said the “march will also signal the beginning of public sensitization activities to compel the government to rid the security agencies of NPP hoodlums and misfits who have been recruited and are being used to terrorize innocent and peace-loving Ghanaians. The march will also be in solidarity with the silent majority of security personnel who are concerned about the undue politicization of recruitment and appointments to the detriment of professionalism and discipline”.

Meanwhile, the party’s General Secretary Johnson Asiedu Nketia has called on participants to observe the COVID-19 protocols as they press home their demands.

“As we march for justice tomorrow, in protest against the growing levels of insecurity, lawlessness and impunity under the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government, it is important that we endeavour to observe all the necessary COVID-19 safety protocols in the interest of the health of protestors and the nation at large.

“This has become even more imperative, given the emergence of the deadly Delta Variant of the novel coronavirus in the country.

therefore wish to urge the Organizers of tomorrow’s demonstration to ensure strict adherence by all protestors to the following precautionary guidelines:

“All protestors should endeavour to wear face masks throughout the march. That is, from the converging point to the end-point,” he said in a statement on Monday.

It added: “Social distancing at arm’s length between rows of protesters should be maintained at all times throughout the march and physical contact avoided as much as possible.

“Protestors should endeavour to use hand sanitisers periodically in the course of the march Protestors should wash their hands at the end-point of March before dispersing

Sixty tricycle riders, illegally operating in the Cape Coast Metropolis, were on Monday, arrested by the Central Regional Police Command during a special operation to clamp down on illegal acts.

The Operation was targeted at the tricycle riders many of whom are boys of school going age, as well as others operating without license or insurance certificates.

Regional Public Relations Officer (PRO), DSP Irene Serwaah Oppong, briefing the media, expressed concern about the rate at which people were being killed and maimed by tricycles in the Metropolis.

She explained that punishment for riders who operated against the law were either to pay a fine of 25 penalty units or serve a jail term of 30 days, depending on which one the court decides.

She said those arrested would be arraigned before court on Tuesday.

DSP Oppong said the law does not permit tricycles to be used for commercial purposes in the country and any person who goes contrary to it must face the consequences.

She disclosed that, 12 out of 25 riders arrested last month, were being prosecuted at the law courts.

DSP Oppong revealed that most accident cases recorded in the Metropolis within the first quarter of this year was caused by reckless and careless driving of these riders, and there was the need to expedite action to curtail further losses and damages.

She appealed to the public to desist from engaging tricycles for commercial purposes because it was harming a lot of lives and properties in the Metropolis.

“We are appealing to the public to stop patronizing tricycles since its usage was not safe for humans “.

DSP Oppong called on traditional and opinion leaders and all relevant stakeholders within the Metropolis to help stop the illegal usage of tricycles.

She commended Nana Conduah VI, Omanhen of Edina Traditional Area for his decisiveness in banning commercial tricycles in his area and called on other leaders to reciprocate this action to support the Police.

She further pledged the unflinching support of the Police in maintaining peace as well as law and order in the region.

The joint operation, was embarked on by officers from the counter terrorism unit, operations unit and others from the SWAT.

GNA

The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, does not approve salaries and benefits for the Executive and, by extension, for the First Lady and wife of the Vice-President, the Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has said.

He has, therefore, described as misleading, information making the rounds that President Akufo-Addo had given approval for Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo and Mrs Samira Bawumia to receive same salaries as Cabinet ministers.

While confirming that there had been an increment in allowances for the spouses of the President and the Vice-President, Mr Oppong Nkrumah emphasised that that was an approval given by the Seventh Parliament.

“The President does approve salaries and benefits for the Executive. Under Article 71, the First Lady and Second Lady are not office holders so no one can determine their benefits under that article.

“However, a committee only recommended that an arrangement for the spouses be made formal and that received approval from Parliament,” he indicated.

Precedent

Mr Oppong Nkrumah explained that an arrangement that was introduced by former President John Agyekum Kufuor during the start of his Presidency in 2000 had seen spouses of Presidents and Vice Presidents, since then, enjoy allowances, though there was no formal documentation to support that.

The allowances given the two ladies of the executive were considered as part of the privileges of the President and Vice President.

“President Kufuor, in his wisdom, instituted this because of the bad situations of some spouses of some former Heads of States then. Presidents Mills and Mahama even increased the rates of these benefits during their time.

“The truth of the matter is that all surviving spouses of Heads of State, current and former, have always received salaries. Lordina Mahama, Naadu Mills, Matilda Amissah-Arthur, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, Faustina Acheampong, Fulera Liman etc have all been receiving salaries since President Kufuor’s time.

“What has happened now is that the arrangement has been made formal but that was done legally based on the recommendation by the Emoluments Committee,” the Information Minister emphasised.

Recommendation, approval

Mr Oppong Nkrumah further said the Emoluments Committee, set up in 2019 and chaired by Professor Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu, as part of its recommendations, proposed that the allowances given to the spouses of the President and Vice President be formally included in the review of the entitlements for the executive.

“That recommendation was then forwarded to the Seventh Parliament which then gave the approval and it is now to be implemented. It is, therefore, not true as it is being circulated that the President has approved of emoluments to the First Lady and Second Lady,” he stressed.

The Emolument Committee

The five-member committee was set up in June 2019 by President Akufo-Addo to make recommendations to him and to Parliament on the salaries and allowances payable, and the facilities and privileges available to article 71 office holders.

Under the chairmanship of Prof. Ntiamoa-Baidu and which also had former Majority Leader and former Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Mr Abraham Ossei Aidooh, the Chief Executive of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, Dr Edward Kwapong, the current Director-General of the Internal Audit Agency, Dr Eric Oduro Osae, and a former Managing Director, Donewell Life Insurance Co. Ltd, Mrs Stella Segbawu, the committee had two terms of reference.

They were charged to make recommendations in respect of emoluments and other privileges for article 71 office holders, as specified under the Constitution; and also to examine any other relevant matter which the Committee deemed appropriate to its work.
 
Similar committee, set up in the past, were at various points chaired by Prof. Miranda Greenstreet, Mrs Mary Chinery-Hesse, Mr Ishmael Yamson, Prof. Marian Ewurama Addy, and Prof. Francisca Edu-Buandoh.

In inaugurating the Ntiamoa-Baidu Committee, President Akufo-Addo, then, urged them to bring to the table the work and include in their deliberations, the work and recommendations of those previous committees to be able to establish consistencies

 

Source: graphiconline.com

The group, together with #FixTheCountry campaigners, has been denied a right to protest for months over similar concerns.

The Ghana Police Service dragged them to court over fears that the march could be a super spreader event of the COVID-19 pandemic but permitted the NDC to go ahead with its planned protest on Tuesday, 6 July 2021.

To this end, the Fighters, in a statement, have asked: “So, why would the system be so obvious in its bias? In allowing the NDC to march, the establishment deliberately subdues and dismantles your power as citizens, further tying your hands to the rotten system where you continue to be denied your basic needs and rights”.

The group said the NDC, just like the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), are equal partners in creating and sustaining the anti-people establishment that oppresses the citizenry.

“Once we understand this fact, we are able to see why the system can deny us our #FixTheCountry demonstration and allow the NDC to march.”

The group said it has, therefore, decided not to participate in the NDC demonstration but will not hold it against anyone for participating.

Meanwhile, the Fighters said they will organise their own #FixTheCountry demonstration on Wednesday, 4 August 2021.

Persons who practice bad fishing practices in the country have been cautioned to desist from such acts or be severely dealt with.

Mavis Hawa Koomson, Minister in charge of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (MoFAD), who gave the caution stressed that “enough was enough”. To this end, irrespective of one’s status or influence, the laws of the country will be allowed to deal with them to protect Ghana’s water resources and fishing industry.

She said “I will not be in bed with anyone who is caught for going contrary to the rules and regulations. You’ll face prosecution straight away. Even if you’re the son or daughter of the President, I’ll prosecute you because even the President is not happy with the illegality so he’ll support me.”

The Minister gave the warning when she engaged stakeholders in the fishing industry prior to the official announcement of the 2021 close season (ban on fishing). The meeting which was held in Keta in the Volta Region of Ghana brought together stakeholders from Anloga, Keta, Ketu South districts and other inland fishers in the region and beyond.

This year’s closed season which commenced on July 1, 2021 is expected to end on August 31, 2021. Artisanal fishers will be observing the ban on fishing from July 1, to July 31, 2021 while industrial fishers are observing it from July 1, 2021 to August 31, 2021.

According to the Minister Ghana have had to put in place the closed season because of activities of fisher folk, some of which were very grave fishing violations. Such as the use of carbides, light fighting, use of unapproved nets and pair trawling.

These activities have led to over-fishing that has reduced marine fishery resources to the point that some fish species are feared to have been totally depleted.

She added that the situation has also led to a massive destruction of the marine ecosystem and by extension which has some bad implications on human health.

“That is why we cannot spare any offender, such offenders must be brought to face the wrath of the law,” she reiterated.

Madam Koomson therefore appealed to all stakeholders to do all they can to adhere to the closed season. “It has nothing to do with politics, but replenishing the fish stock to avert the collapse of the fishing industry,” she appealed.

The meeting which had in attendance Awomefia of Anlo State, Torgbui Sri III, Municipal and District Chief Executives from the two coastal areas, fisher groups, a member of the Fisheries Committee in Parliament, and officials from MoFAD and Fisheries Commission also appealed to the artisanal fishers to observe the closed season to prevent international sanctions.

The Executive Director for Fisheries Commission Mr. Michael Arthur-Dadzie, said the closed season was important because it was the only means to replenish the fish stock without the use of unapproved remedies.

Mr. Seth Agbokede, the Volta Regional Vice Chairman for the Ghana National Canoe Fishermen’s Council (GNCFC) together with the National Fish Processors and Traders Association, Mrs. Cecilia Amedey indicated their groups’ readiness to support the efforts of the Ministry and the Commission aimed at ensuring the sustainability of the fishery industry.

They however appealed to the Ministry to as a matter of urgency remedy the issues of insufficient supply of premix fuel to landing beaches and cost of fishing implements

President Nana Akufo-Addo has pledged to pay for the cost of operation of conjoined twins.

The conjoined twins are at the Ridge Hospital.

Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare announced that Mr. Akufo-Addo has decided to take up the cost of the twins.

She made the announcement to the media

Hon Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen, minister for trade and industry, has made a handsome donation to the Volta regional branch of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on July 4, 2021.

At a sod-cutting ceremony organized by the region for the building of an ultra modern party office in Ho the regional capital, Alan Kyerematen who is a stalwart and a founding member of the NPP seen by many as the “darling boy” of the region, made cash donation of GHc 20,000 and material donation of 1,000 bags of cement.

Some party faithfuls who were present and could not hide their happiness and appreciation for the patriotic gesture by Alan Kyerematen kept shouting “jobs for the people, cash for the people”, “time aso ooo time aso”, etc.

The trade minister comes across as an Economist, a Lawyer and Trade / Development Expert of international stature.

Present at the sod cutting ceremony were the national chairman of the NPP, Mr Freddie Blay, as guest of honor, the national youth organizer Nana Boakye, Mr Fred Oware, former Volta regional chairman Mr Kenwood, Volta regional executives, the executives of all constituencies of the region and party members and sympathizers.

In the 2020 general elections, the New Patriotic Party performed creditably in the Volta region by way of increasing its total votes and winning the Hohoe parliamentary seat. It is expected that the new regional office complex will enhance party work and result in better performance in the region going into election 2024

• Some traders who were relocated from Agbogbloshie have commenced work at Adjen Kotokunull

• The relocation of the onion sellers to Adjen Kotoku is part of efforts to decongest Accra

• The Agbogbloshie onion market will be fenced after the ongoing demolition exercise is completed

After clearing the Agbogbloshie onion market which should be done in about a week and half, the next move of government is to fence the entire area, Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey has said.

The fenced wall according to him, is to prevent the evacuated traders and other squatters from occupying the cleared land.

He furthered that there are several government projects that will be embarked in the area when clearing is finalised.

“We will clear all the debris. Immediately after that, we will erect a fence wall. After the fence wall, there are quite a number of projects that have been lined up,” Henry Quartey told the media on July 1.null

He indicated that the initial plan was to have the market cleared in 3 days but looking at the job on the grounds, it will take one and half weeks.

“Initially, we were hoping to do this [clean-up] in three days, but clearly, it appears we will be here for a week and a half, so we are able to clear everything and make it a ground zero,” he said in an interview with the media.

Henry Quartey noted that business is running smoothly for the traders who were relocated to Adjen Kotoku.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/qR6W4ng8xrY

https://cdn.jwplayer.com/players/GlQ29esm-eqk5XVg5

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

• Efia Odo has received all kinds of verbal attacks from Abronye

• Abronye accused her of enjoying some benefits from the NDC government

• Efia Odo says Abronye talks loosely without evidence

For some time now, Efia Odo has become the ‘pet project’ for the Bono Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Kwame Baffoe, known popularly as Abronye DC.

Abronye has on Wontumi FM made all forms of allegations against Efia Odo as a retaliation to the actress’ activism on social media.

Abronye explicitly accused Efia Odo of being on receiving payments from the former Mahama government and enjoyed other benefits from elements in that government.null

He also by implication made some sexist comments which cannot be re-echoed on this platform as he failed to back none of them with evidence.

Efia Odo appeared on Angel FM on June 30, 2021, and she asked about Abronye’s abuse of her. The actress held no punches and described the loudmouth politician as a ‘parrot’ who speaks without basis.

She noted that Abronye’s incessant attacks are to scare her and make her abandon her mission to have the country fixed by the political class.

But she remains adamant that she is on a just cause and would not be swayed by the comments of Abronye DC.

She denied with utter conviction that she enjoyed salaries from the previous and rubbished claims that she used frequent Dubai during the Mahama era.null

“He is someone who is a parrot. Look at the way he talks and behaves. You are defaming me and lying on my name. How can you say that a certain man has bought a house for me when I made it clear when I first arrived in the country that I stay with my mother,” she said.

“I have never stepped foot in Dubai. Nobody has given me a ticket to Dubai and bought a house for me. I don’t need their support and I don’t want it. This is propaganda to take the focus from what we are doing. He wants to make it seem like I’ve gone to the President for money but that is not true,” she added.

Efia Odo had earlier made known her intentions of taking legal actions against Abronye for the comments he made against her.

“It’s time to start suing people for defamation of character,” Efia Odo tweeted on June 29, 2021.

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

• Before the relocation of traders at the Agbogbloshie onion market, government allocated an amount of money to the affected traders as transportation

• Scrap dealers were to get GH¢50,000 out of the GH¢100,000 to be disbursed to the traders

• These scrap dealers, according to the Greater Accra Regional Minister refused to take the money because they were not willing to move from the Agbogbloshie onion market

Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey has averred that the GH¢50,000 allocated to the scrap dealers to help them cart their goods to the Adjen Kotoku market was rejected.

His comment comes on the back of claims that he (Henry Quartey) did not give them (scrap dealers) prior notice before directing the taskforce to demolish the Agbogbloshie onion market on July 1.

The scrap dealers who spoke to GhanaWeb’s Ernestina Serwaa Asante said they were informed that it was only the onion sellers who had to move to Adjen Kotoku to continue their business.

But the Greater Accra Regional Minister shot down this claim.null

He stated in an interview with the media that the scrap dealers were kept in the know about the July 1 deadline, just as the onion sellers and cattle rearers.

As of July 1, 2021, about 90% of the onion traders and cattle rearers had relocated to Adjen Kotoku.

When the news team visited the new market, the traders said business is picking up gradually contrary to what they expected.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/qR6W4ng8xrY

https://cdn.jwplayer.com/players/GlQ29esm-eqk5XVg5

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

The immediate-past Auditor-General, Mr Daniel Domelevo, has called for a law to set a ceiling as filling fees by political parties for elected positions as part of measures to deal with corruption in the country.

According to him, the filing fees charged by parties were one of the major causes of corruption as people who paid those fees tried to recoup them when they were voted into power.


Moreover, he said the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) could create a common platform for the political parties on radio and television for campaign activities so as to deal with the money spent on campaigning.

“These guys are not philanthropists. They try to recoup whatever investments they have made and they recoup with interests. I think we have to look at how we do our election financing,” he said at a lecture held in his honour in Accra last Thursday.

Dubbed the Domelevo Accountability Lectures, the event was organised by the Centre for Social Democracy with support from Friedrich Ebert-Stiftung (FES).

It was on the theme: “Can a public officer fight corruption without political backing?”.

Ministries superfluous

Mr Domelevo, who delivered the lecture via zoom, indicated that most ministries and their agencies were superfluous and that as a means of controlling government’s revenue there was the need to realign them to save the public purse.

He said for instance that there were the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service and the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service and asked whether those two ministries could not be combined with their agencies.

Again, the former Auditor-General said the Ministries of the Interior, Defence and National Security could be combined as a means of controlling government’s spending,


“I think one Ministry of Infrastructure is enough to take care of roads, our railways, our aviation, etc. because there are departments that do professional works,” he said.

Moreover, Mr Domelevo said the creation of more regions and districts was a wasteful expenditure, adding that “the money used in building regional and district administrations could have given us better access to healthcare, education and the basic needs of the people”.

Collaboration

Mr Domelevo called for stronger collaboration among anti-corruption agencies and the media to fight the canker of the practice in the country.

“Corruption is one dangerous enemy that nobody can fight alone, and we can’t fight corruption quietly so we have to collaborate in fighting the canker.

“Most Ghanaians cheer you on when they see you fighting corruption but do not take any step to do something about the practice. This attitude must stop,” he said.

Institutions

A freelance journalist, Mr Manasseh Awuni, who was the keynote speaker, said the lack of political will did not only undermine the fight against corruption but created a hostile environment for individuals and groups that made the efforts to fight corruption.

According to him, Transparency International had come out with some key indicators to show whether there was political will to fight corruption or not and named them to include government initiatives to fight corruption, mobilisation efforts, application of credible sanctions and long-term public commitment and allocation of resources.
 
A Fellow of the CSD, Mr Mawuli Dake, said Mr Domelevo paid the price of fighting corruption by being hounded out of office.

The Director of Programmes at FES, Mr Michael Abbey, said his outfit was a social democratic organisation that sought to promote social democracy, economic development and security policy.

Source: graphic.com.gh

Several students have been left injured in a violent clash between residential students of University Hall (Katanga) and the Unity Hall (Continental) of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) on Sunday, 4 July 2021.

A vetting process for the university’s SRC elections turned chaotic, resulting in the clash accompanied by vandalism, which left several properties damaged.

There were two raucous incidents which culminated in the clashes.

The first was an alleged attempt by a management team of one of the Conti aspirants to prevent the Kantangees from gaining access to the Great Hall.

He was subsequently beaten to a pulp.

Also, a decision by the Electoral Commission to postpone the vetting as a result of the marauding bahaviour of students from the two halls.

Bottles, machetes, knives and all manner of crude weapons started flying between the Kantangees and Continentals, degenerating into total mayhem.

Security personnel on campus had a tough time restoring calm to the campus

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has granted presidential pardon to former Member of Parliament for Chiana/Paga Constituency Abuga Pele.

Abuga Pele was last month taken ill at the Nsawam Maximum Security Prison, from where he was transferred to the Greater Accra Regional Hospital and admitted at the High Dependency Unit (HDU) of the hospital.

He has since been discharged.

The former National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP was sentenced to a six-year imprisonment by an Accra High Court in 2018 for causing financial loss to the state while National Coordinator of the defunct Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA).

He was said to have acted in a manner that resulted in the loss of GH¢4.1 million by government after businessman Phillip Akpeena Assibit had made false claims that he had secured a $65-million World Bank funding for the creation of one million jobs for the youth.

Abuga Pele was found guilty on two counts of abetment of fraud and five counts of wilfully causing financial loss to the state.

Credit: 3news

The Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has led a government delegation to Ejura in the Ashanti Region to commiserate with the families of the three people who died in Ejura earlier this week.

The three, Ibrahim Mohammed alias Kaaka, was lynched while the other two, Abdul Nasir Yussif and Murtala Mohammed, died from gunshots fired at a crowd of demonstrators by soldiers following the death of Kaaka.

The Vice-President’s visit on Friday, followed an earlier one on Thursday by the Minister for the Interior, Mr Ambrose Dery.

The Vice-President’s delegation, which included National Security Minister Albert Kan-Dapaah, Ashanti Regional Minister Simon Osei-Mensah and National Chief Imam Sheikh Usman Nuhu Sharubutu, called on the families of all the three victims, and also visited the injured.

At the bereaved families, Mr Osei-Mensah, who spoke on behalf of the Vice-President, commiserated with the grieving families and assured them of the government’s quest to investigate the circumstances that led to the death of their loved ones for appropriate action to be taken.

Sheikh Nuhu Sharubutu led Islamic prayers for the three victims and also prayed to Allah to comfort the bereaved families.

Vice-President Bawumia donated 20,000 cedis to each of the three bereaved families, and also gave each of the injured 10,000 cedis.

Dr Bawumia and the National Chief Imam later joined the Muslim community to observe Jummah prayers at the Ejura Central Mosque

• Kennedy Agyapong says respect is crucial in sustaining marriagenull

• He believes that women must be good at sex and cooking to keep their marriages

• He is trying to inculcate those virtues in his children

Kennedy Agyapong, the Member of Parliament for Assin Central has itemized three qualities that he claims are key to successful marriages.

These three qualities, according to the NPP MP are, sex good, cook good and being respectful.

Speaking on the Attitude show on Net2 TV, Friday, July 2, Kennedy Agyapong argued that for a marriage union to stand the test of time, the woman must have these three things.null

He said women with such qualities tend to enjoy marriages as their husbands treat them well and grant their wishes and those who lack these qualities are seen as ‘ugly’ by their husbands as they offer nothing in the relationship.

“For a woman to succeed in marriage you must sex good, cook good and respect and you will the heart of the man. Whatever you say, he would give it to you. But you are not sexually good, you can’t cook and don’t respect, go to hell. You are out,” Kennedy Agyapong explained.

He added, “You can be the prettiest woman you’ll look ugly to your man because you don’t know how to cook. When it comes to sex too, you are bad. I say all these things to my girls because they are grown now. You must sex good, cook good and respect and that’s it. That is the gospel truth.

Any woman who wants a successful marriage must have these three things or forget it. Anyone who has these qualities is always successful and people envy her because everything goes well for her.”

Kennedy Agyapong further reveals that he and his wife are making a conscious effort to instil these virtues in their children.null

He indicated that, he has taught his children the repercussions of not having these qualities.

He said while most of his children have been responsive to his bid to inculcate these qualities, a few have not been welcoming.

Agyapong recounted an instance where his wife had to scold some of his children because they misbehaved.

Watch the video below

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

The Municipal Chief Executive for Ejura in the Ashanti region Mohammed Salisu Bamba has dismissed reports of his dismissal from office.

He said the reports are part of a grand agenda against him by certain individuals.

“From last week there were reports linking me to murder, then it was reported that I’d fled town, it was then again reported that I’ve been arrested and then today it is reported that I’ve been sacked. This shows that there’s a deliberate agenda by my detractors to defame me and get me out of office. I pity the online portals that have allowed their mediums to be used to peddle falsehood,”,” he told Ejura-based Naagyei FM Friday.

Two of Mr. Salisu Bamba’s bodyguards have reportedly been arrested in connection with the murder of an activist Ibrahim Kaaka in the town.

The opposition NDC has called for his removal after visiting the area on Thursday.

Starrfm.com.gh had earlier reported that the MCE had been sacked.

Meanwhile, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and the National Chief Imam have arrived in Ejura following the killings that took place there on Tuesday.

The two leaders are expected to meet the bereaved families and also engage the youth and opinion leaders of the community as part of efforts to restore calm.

Two residents who were part of a group of protestors who were demonstrating the killing of an activist in the community Ibrahim Kaaka were shot dead by security officers who had been deployed to restore calm.

The Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei-Mensah, has admitted he deployed security officers to the community based on intelligence he gathered.

Meanwhile, government has named a 3-member Committee of Inquiry which will conduct an inquiry into the circumstances that led to the killings.

The 3-member committee includes Justice George Kingsley Koomson, a justice of the Court of Appeal, Security Expert, Vladimir Antwi-Danso, and the Executive Director of Penplusbyte, Miss Juliet A. Amoah.

President Akufo-Ado on Wednesday ordered Interior Minister Ambrose Dery to conduct a Public Inquiry into the circumstances that led to the Ejura killings.

Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh

• Okudzeto Ablakwa has confirmed his father’s deathnull

• He said his father had been unwell for quite some time

• Randy Abbey first made the disclosure on the Good Morning Ghana show

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa the member of Parliament for North Tongu has confirmed the demise of his father.

The death of the lawmaker’s father was first revealed by Randy Abbey, the host of Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana who sent his condolences to Ablakwa and his family.

Randy Abbey further quizzed Okudzeto Ablakwa on why despite the event happening some three days ago, he had not made it public.null

“On behalf of the production, we send our commiserations. We found out that you lost your dad. For someone who is very active on social media I don’t know why it appears that the event occurred 48 hours ago and you have not posted it but we have heard it and sent our condolences,” Randy Abbey said on the show.

Okudzeto Ablakwa said that he prefers to keep family issues private and gave further details about his dad’s death.

He revealed that his father had been unwell for some time after he returned to Ghana from the United States of America.

“I like to keep out family matters from social media. He died at age 74 and unfortunately he was sick for a while since he left the United States…,” he said.

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament who sat in for the Speaker on Friday, July 2, Joseph Osei Wusu has directed the Defence and Interior Committee of Parliament to investigate the circumstances that caused the Military brutalities in Wa.

The Committee has one month to investigate, collect and collate the facts and report to the House for further action.

“As proposed by the Minority Leader and seconded by the Majority leader  I direct the Committee on Defence and Interior to proceed to Wa to investigate, collect and collate the facts and report to the House within four weeks,” the Speaker said.

The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu had appealed to the Speaker to send a delegation of members of the Defense and Interior Committee, to Wa to intervene in the Military brutalities in that part of the country.

Speaking on the floor of the House on Friday July 2, he said “I am urging you to request your committee on Defense and Interior to act expeditiously if it means visiting Wa to see for themselves.

“The development and the circumstances leading to the impunity must stop.

“I am seeking your leave as I raise this matter so that we can continue to co-exist. The continued conduct of the Military is undermining civil and public confidence in our Ghana Armed Forces who have a duty to protect us.. This is the conduct of a few of them, to be fair to them.”null

A group of military men were captured on camera in Wa in the Upper West Regional brutalizing civilians on the streets.

It is not immediately clear what may have warranted such an action by the men in uniform but eyewitnesses say they were in search of a missing mobile phone belonging to one of them.

According to one eyewitness, one of the soldiers is believed to have boarded what is referred to as “Yellow Yellow” or “Mahama Cambo” and lost his phone.

The incident is said to have started at 1:00 pm and lasted for close to an hour at the Wa main traffic Thursday afternoon.

Public Relations Officer of the Upper West Regional Coordinating Council, Cletus Awuni, who is said to have gone to find out from the military about their operations was also severely brutalized with his mobile phone also destroyed.

He was taken to the Wa Municipal Hospital but was later referred to the Upper West Regional Hospital.

Source: 3news.com

Lecturer at the Political Science Department at the University of Ghana, Professor Ransford Gyampo, has refuted claims that there is a culture of silence under the government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in the strict sense of the term.null

He said, where he sits as a political scientist and a citizen within the military regime of the Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC) in Ghana, he cannot agree that there is such a culture in the country.

Dr Gyampo stated that the culture of silence as he knew it under the erstwhile military regime, when one makes any critical comments against the government, he or she will be picked up, brutalized, vanish and even murdered but in the current regime he and countless others are still speaking their minds without fear.

Hence, for fear of being picked up, brutalized, vanished and even be murdered for being vocal against the erstwhile PNDC regime, a lot of people adopted the mute approach by not speaking their minds when their freedom and lives were at stake, which induced the culture of silence in the country.

He however said that, since you are being vocal and critical against somebody, it is a natural reaction to be intimidated or heavily responded to by such individuals. That cannot suffice to be classified as a culture of silence in the right sense of the term.

Professor Gyampo made these pronouncements in an interview with Kwaku Tutu on the 100 Degrees programme on Onua TV.null

His comments come after former AngloGold Ashanti boss, Sam Jonah KBE insinuated that the country seems to be in a culture of silence.

At a Rotary Club function last weekend, Mr Sam Jonah said “What is baffling is that those who used to have voices on these things seem to have lost their voices. People speak on issues based on who is in power.

“Is our deafening silence suggesting that we are no longer concerned about issues that we complained about not too long ago, particularly when those issues persist….. The molestation of and in some cases assassination of journalists, murder of MPs, corruption, the harassment of anti-corruption agents.”

“We have just finished another election, the 8th in the series since the beginning of our fourth Republican democratic experiment. As usual, the accolades came in from all corners of the world, and we took them with pride. What we failed to tell the world is that some people lost their lives in the course of the election,” Sam Jonah said.

But Professor Gyampo said, “You see the culture of silence that we learned in political science and what happened during the PNDC revolutionary times when you speak against the regime, you will either get lost, vanish, intimidated, brutalized and even murdered. So if you don’t want to go through all the unfortunate things that can happen to you, then you better shut up. So when you say culture of silence in stricto sensu, I don’t believe it because I am still speaking my mind.null

“Sometimes you can have people doing things to silence you or to gag you but for me it is normal because you are speaking against somebody and the person has got the right to respond. Unfortunately, sometimes the person may not respond in equal measure but I understand the terrain so I don’t mind but generally I don’t think we can utterly describe what is going on as a culture of silence in the country” the political science don stated.

Dr Gyampo said as far as one is in his or her right to criticize others, he or she must be prepared for a backlash from the people one offends. He said one must be tolerant of the people he or she criticizes and those who hit back at critics must also be civil and decorous in their approach in order to advance a healthy discourse in the interest of the country.

He, therefore, disagreed with Sam Jonah for espousing the culture of silence statement that has caught fire in the country in recent times to describe President Akufo-Addo’s government.

“I have disagreed with him already, today won’t be the first time I’m going to say that because during the days of the real culture of silence, he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to say what he said. In my view, I think we have challenges, there are challenges that will make people cow into submission, that will make people want to coil into their shells, especially the fact that our politics is engaged in insults, mudslinging and vituperation and all manner of things that people say about people. These may be some of the challenges that will make people say: let me keep quiet and all that but I don’t think that is the culture of silence that I know in the country”, he espoused on 100 degrees

.Source: 3news.com

Five crew members aboard Atlantic Princess who were abducted by pirates on May 19, in a fishing vessel near Ghana’s Tema Habour have been released.

They were freed after 40 days in captivity.

It follows successful negotiation and payment of an undisclosed amount of money.

All crew members are reported to be safe and in good health.

Ghana’s High Commission in Nigeria is currently facilitating processes for the successful repatriation of the crew to Ghana.

According to Commander Benning, a representative of the ECOWAS Multinational Maritime Coordination Centre, Zone F, the crew are expected to arrive in Ghana on July 6. However, the five crew members kidnapped onboard FV IRIS S on May 31, this year, are still in the custody of the pirates.

They have so far spent 30 days in captivity and are also expected to be released in the coming days.

With the release of the ATLANTIC PRINCESS crew and leaving five in pirate custody, authorities say, the pirates are likely to carry out more operations in the coming days to kidnap new crew for ransom.

Intelligence available already points to this fact where a suspected pirate action group set sail to sea on Sunday June 27, this year to attack vessels. Coastal law enforcement agencies as well as international partners are encouraged to increase surveillance and patrols within the Gulf of Guinea to deter pirate attacks or enable quick response in the event of a pirate attack.

All vessels transiting the Gulf of Guinea are advised to be extra vigilant, maintain sharp lookout especially at night, observe anti-piracy measures and report suspicious activities to the necessary authorities.

Credit: GBC

Mr Dominic Nitiwul, the Minister of Defence has assured Ghanaians of a safe environment and asked the public not to panic under the current happenings of military misconduct.

He said what happened in Ejura leading to fatalities will never be covered while the Upper West military brutalities on civilians will be professionally handled to serve as a disincentive to others.

Mr Nitiwul told the GNA in an interview that he was disturbed about the unfortunate events saying, “No one can take the law into his own hands and misbehave. We are all equal before the law and there are no separate citizens who can use the law in their favour”.

He said Ghana was one but not two and stressed the need for the security apparatus to always exhibit high professionalism in dealing with the public to ensure that Ghana remained a haven to live to attract more investments.

“Normally, we don’t discuss security matters outside and that is why some members of the public might think wrongly that nothing is being done about military brutalities. We will ensure that all those who are personnel and misbehaved are punished” he said.

Mr Nitiwul said, currently there was a high powered military delegation to the Upper West Region concerning a video of military brutalities in circulation and that the President wants to see all brutalities investigated and perpetrators punished in this country.

“I assure Ghanaians that their safety is of paramount importance to the president and the country. We will make sure that personnel who misbehaved are punished to serve as a deterrent to others”.

He appealed to the public especially those in Wa, Ejura and other places that suffered or lived under dangerous security to remain calm since the government was not sleeping on the issues.

He said the public will soon appreciate the punitive measures that will be taken by the military high command against the erring personnel.

Meanwhile, Naa Fuseini Seidu Pelpuo IV, the overlord of the Waala Traditional Area, has appealed to the government to provide a compensation package for victims of the military brutalities of the military in Wa to alleviate their plight and to help settle their hospital bills.

He said the atrocities meted out to the people ought to be a concern to well-meaning citizens, and called for immediate and severe punishment for perpetrators of the atrocities.

Naa Pelpuo IV said this in Wa on Friday when a high powered delegation from the military headquarters in Accra led by Major-General Thomas Oppong Peprah, the Chief of Army Staff called on him.

Source: GNA

The Minority in Parliament has condemned Thursday’s military brutality on civilians in Wa by some soldiers who went on the rampage in search of a missing mobile phone.

Speaking about the issue on the floor of parliament on Friday, 2 July 2021, Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu urged the Speaker to cause the Defence and Interior Committee to go to the Upper West regional capital to find out the facts of the matter.

“We will not accept a state of lawlessness led by men in uniform”, The Tamale South MP thundered in parliament, adding: “I am asking the Committee to take up this matter because we risk cracking the civil-military relations that remain fundamental to our country’s peace and security.”

First Deputy Speaker, Joe Osei-Owusu, who was in the chair, tasked the committee to probe the matter.

Also, on the floor of parliament was Defence Minister Dominic Nitiwul, who condemned the brutality.

Meanwhile, Chief of Army Staff Major General Thomas Oppong-Peprah has rendered an unqualified apology to Wa overlord Naa Fuseini Pelpuo IV, for the brutish behaviour of the soldiers.

Maj. Gen. Oppong-Peprah explained that the soldiers, who misconducted themselves, were deployed to the area just about a month ago.

“Let me, first of all, apologise for whatever happened and to tell you that all those involved in this act will be brought to book. I want to reassure you that we wouldn’t let this one occurrence mar our relationship at all”, Maj. Gen. Oppong-Peprah said.

Already, the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has indicated that it will deal with the soldiers captured on a mobile phone footage randomly stopping, searching and brutalising civilians.

A statement issued and signed by the Director of Public Relations of the Ghana Armed Forces, Colonel E. Aggrey-Quashie, on 2 July 2021, indicated: “This unprofessional conduct took place on Thursday, 1 July 2021 and at a time when the commanding officer of the soldiers, and the chairman of the Regional Security Council, were both out of town on official engagements”.

“Internal disciplinary measures have been instituted to deal with all those who will be found culpable in this unprofessional conduct by the soldiers,” it further noted, adding: “In view of the seriousness of the matter, the Chief of the Army Staff is leading a high powered military delegation to Wa to meet the traditional and opinion leaders to find an amicable way of resolving this unfortunate incident”.

“The delegation will also explore means to assuage the anger of the people and promote good neighbourliness”.

The army assured the locals of Wa and the general public that “their safety is paramount at all times, as such would not condone any professional conduct by any member of the force”..

Source: Classfmonline.com

Traders who have been relocated to Adjen Kotoku will not reoccupy the demolished Agbogbloshie Market, Mr Henry Quartey, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, said on Thursday.

“The business of Agbogbloshie is over and history, it’s not going to happen, everyone is going and there is no exception,” he said.

The Minster said this during a cleaning and decongestion exercise at the Agbogbloshie Onion Sellers’ Market, organised by the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council.

He said the place would be cleared to ground zero and walled to prevent reoccupation and encroachment.

He said it was shocking and disappointing to see a place within the capital in such an insanitary state and commended Zoomlion Ghana Limited for helping to clean the area.

“We can only thank God that for probably after 16 to 20 years, and under the able leadership of President Akufo-Addo, we have been able to do this,” Mr Quartey said.

He commended the President for supporting the initiative and said: “Mostly when we’re about to do this, there is intervention from the big house but we’ve been allowed to do our work and we can only thank the President.”

He applauded the security and supporting agencies including the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, National Disaster Management Organisation, and the National Ambulance Service, for their commitment and dedication to the task.

As part of Government’s “Let us make Accra work” agenda, traders at the Agbogbloshie Market were given 500,000.00 cedis as transportation to relocate to the Adjen Kotoku Market in the Ga West Municipality by July 1, 2021.

Source: GNA

The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey, has declared that he would chase out any squatter or trader who moves back to the Agbogbloshie market after the demolition exercise.null

He stated that security would be maintained at the Agbogbloshie market to ensure that no trader returns to the enclave.

Traders at the market which included Onion traders were moved to Adjen Kotoku after two decades of struggle by successive governments.

The effort to decongest the market which is also the hub of the largest e-waste is part of the ‘Make Accra Work’ project initiated by the Minister.null

Speaking after the final demolition exercise on July 1, Henry Quartey said it will be impossible for squatters and traders to return to the market because they would have a tough time with the security personnel dispatched to man the area.

He said, “You know when I started this, everybody said it cannot happen, but read my lips, nobody is going to come back here, it is done.”

“If they come back ten times we will move them hundred times. It’s not going to happen anymore, we are done,” Henry Quartey told the media

.Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Director-General, Welfare of the Ghana Police Service, COP Maame Tiwaa Addo-Danquah, has disclosed police investigations into the murder of social activist and #FixTheCountry campaigner, Kaaka Ibrahim Mohammed, do not support claims that he was murdered because of his activism.

She would however not disclose what the police found to be the motivation for the killing saying the matter is still under investigation.

“In terms of Ejura, Kaaka’s murder, they gave the impression that nothing was not being done (sic) and that the person was attacked by people who were angry because he was an outspoken person and all that but investigation has revealed that it is actually not the case and that because the case is still under investigations he [IGP] doesn’t want to compromise the investigation”, she said.

COP Maame Tiwaa was addressing the media after the Inspector General of Police had a close-door meeting with the Economic Fighters League and conveners of #FixTheCountry, Maame Tiwaa who requested to meet with him.

The purpose of the meeting, according to the activists was to discuss issues relating to the death of the colleague, foiled protests and what they term “selective application of the law”.

She said in all the meeting was fruitful, explaining the IGP was able to engage with the activist on almost all their concerns.

By 3news.com|Ghana

Armed soldiers have been videoed randomly stopping, searching and brutalising civilians in Wa, the Upper West Regional capital, over a missing mobile phone.

Some of the locals were asked to lie in open sewers while others were doused with hot water or tasered.

It is not clear when the marauding soldiers went on the rampage but a video of the incident got widely circulated on social media on Thursday, 1 July 2021, a couple of days after some soldiers shot and killed protesters in Ejura, Ashanti Region.

One of their victims was the Public Relations Officer of the Upper West Regional Coordinating Council, Mr Cletus Awuni, who said: “They hit my head about three times and my back” and also tasered his hands and chest.

Narrating his ordeal on Thursday, Mr Awuni told Accra-based Citi FM: “This afternoon, I got a call that the military personnel were brutalising people in town. We saw that they were beating everybody. In the process of inquiring why people were being beaten, I was also beaten.”

“I called the military commander to find out what was happening and he said he didn’t know anything about what they were doing, so, the commander said he wanted to call the 2nd in command”.

“As we were speaking, people were being beaten, so, I decided to take a video and send it to the commander so he sees what the boys are doing”.

“They saw that I was filming them and they asked why I was filming them. I said I was on a phone call with their commander then they started beating me up.”

“They demanded that I delete the video and I told them I won’t delete it. They started using the taser on me to delete the video.”

“It took the intervention of one police DSP to shout at them that they are beating the PRO of the Upper West Regional Coordinating Council before they stopped beating me”, he narrated.

“They gave my phone back to me and I was driven to the hospital by my driver,” he explained.

The Head of the European Union Delegation to Ghana, Diana Acconcia, has observed that the security situation in Ghana is top-notch.

“The general impression is that the security in Ghana is very good”, she told Ayekoo Ayekoo host Nana Romeo on Accra100.5FM on Thursday, 1 July 2021 in an interview.

“I have never felt, personally, threatened or unsafe in Ghana”, she noted.

On the other hand, Acconcia noted, “we know that the situation in the region is very challenging”.

“There are the bordering countries to Ghana where, unfortunately, the security situation has deteriorated and there is also a deteriorating situation in the Gulf of Guinea in terms of maritime security”, she pointed out.

She said the EU is working with the government of Ghana to insulate the cocoa-producing country from the instability surrounding her.

“So, the situation in the region is very challenging and we are working, as European Union, together with Ghana to ensure that these regional challenges are not going to spill into Ghana”, she added.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Wednesday, 9 June 2021, in his capacity as Chair of the ECOWAS Authority, paid a visit to Ouagadougou to sympathise with the President, Government and people of Burkina Faso, following a recent terrorist attack, which claimed the lives of 160 persons.

Nana Akufo-Addo said the fight against terrorism and violent extremism is a collective one and assured President Kabore and the people of Burkina Faso of the support of the countries of ECOWAS towards ridding the region of this menace.

Source: classfmonline.com

Ghana’s Speaker of Parliament, Alban S.K Bagbin, is worried about the apparent negative image of the August House, particularly following the chaotic events which ensued on the eve of January 7, 2021, leading to his election as the number three gentleman of the land and of Eight Parliament.null

According to the Speaker, the incident has left an embarrassing moment in the minds of most Ghanaians, and perhaps, affected the image of the legislature and thus, needed urgent steps through a coordinated communication strategy to correct it.

Addressing the opening ceremony for a two-day Communications Strategy Workshop, Mr. Bagbin, stressed the need for effective communication, as part of a positive image building for the Speaker and Parliament.

The workshop, which was made very intensive, was made up of participants from selected media houses, staff of Public Affairs Department of Parliament as well members of Speakers’ Secretariat, was held at Parliamentary Training Institute on the 12th floor of Parliament’s Job 600 building.

He directed that the Public Affairs Department of Parliament together with the Communications team at his secretariat, should liaise and work together in ensuring a good image of the Parliament House.null

He said, “for example, you all know about the events of the dawn of January 7, 2021, which led to my election as the Speaker of the Eighth Parliament of the Republic of Ghana”.

The Speaker stated that “those events have left a sour taste in the mouths of most Ghanaians,” adding, “it has significantly contributed to how parliament is perceived by most stakeholders”.

According to him, “As communicators, you know that the memories of that day will live on for a very long time together with the negativities associated with it if nothing is done about what happened”.

The Communications Strategy workshop was facilitated by the Communications Consultant for the Speaker, Gayheart Mensah with assistance from Mr. Mawuko Afadzinu – Head of Marketing and Communications at Stanbic Bank Ghana, including the Director of Budgets and Research of Parliament, Mohammed Hardi Nyagsi.

Source: theheraldghana.com

The Ghana Police Service has told the major opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that they cannot be provided with security during their planned demonstration.

The Police reminded the party that the restrictions imposed by the Executive Instrument (EI) 396 to contain the spread of the virus has not been lifted.

A statement by DCOP E. A Sakyi, Police  Deputy Regional Commander/AR said on Thursday July 1 that “The Accra Regional Police Command  acknowledged receipt of your letter  dated 30^th  June 2021 , on the above subject matter and wish to inform you that  restrictions imposed by  the Executive Instrument (EI) 396  to contain the spread the COVID-19  pandemic has still not been  lifted. 

“The Regional command also refers to you to section 4 of the Public Order Act b 1994 (ACT 49), particularly concerning Public Health.

The Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Mavis Hawa Koomson has officially announced this year’s closed season for inshore and artisanal fishers along the coastal areas of Ghana.

The closed season which starts today, Thursday 1st to 31st July for canoe and inshore fishers and 1st July to August 31, 2021 for industrial trawlers was declared by the Minister at a ceremony held on Wednesday in Keta in the Volta region.

The symbolic closure ceremony was attended by leadership of fisherfolk from the Western, Greater Accra, Central and Volta regions who pledged their support towards the initiative and called on their colleagues to adhere to good fishing practices when the season finally opens.

While declaring the closure, the Minister indicated that the closed season was necessary in ensuring a reduction in excessive pressure and over-exploitation of fish stocks in the marine sub-sector.

She said, “We need to constantly remind ourselves that the Marine and inland sub-sectors have been confronted with challenges that have the tendency to overturn the benefits from the fisheries sector if no action is taken. Currently, it is evident that fishery resources are overexploited and there are signs that some fish species have depleted.”

She added that the expectation is that sustained implementation of the closed season will enable the sector to achieve long-term objectives of stock recovery.

The Minister also announced that government would provide some livelihood packages aimed that will support the fisherfolk as they observe the closed season.

“We have begun a process to ensure that you are supported during this period. We are already on the procurement process, so very soon, within a week or two, you will see us coming round to your regions, your fishing communities to give you something small to take care of your children. We would also come round with some fishing nets to share to you and it tells you that you cannot use an unauthorized net to go fishing.”

The Minister while in the region also led the distribution of some 192 outboard motors to the fishing communities in Ketu South, Keta and Anloga districts.

This year’s season closure is expected to be monitored closely by the Ministery with support from the leadership and other stakeholders in the sector in ensuring compliance by the fisherfolk.

The Government of Ghana(GoG) is in another legal quagmire after a London Court of Arbitration awarded over 70 million dollars in Judgment debt against it for wasted cost incurred through a Gas Sales Agreement in 2015.

The dispute arises out of the termination by the claimant, West Africa Gas Limited
(BVI), of a Gas Sales Agreement dated 9 October 2015 (“GSA”) made between WAGL and the Republic of Ghana (“GoG”).

The Notice of Termination was received by GoG on 30 April 2019. It included the original invoice seeking a Recovery Fee in excess of US$ 1,000,000,000.

Documents available to Kasapafmonline.com reveals that West Africa Gas Limited went on the path of terminating the contract after what they claim were impediments put in their way by the GoG which ultimately frustrated the execution of the contract.https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-8731784857660975&output=html&h=343&adk=397432749&adf=4076219850&pi=t.aa~a.86673156~i.9~rp.4&w=412&lmt=1625164682&num_ads=1&rafmt=1&armr=3&sem=mc&pwprc=6320142137&tp=site_kit&psa=0&ad_type=text_image&format=412×343&url=https%3A%2F%2Fkasapafmonline.com%2F2021%2F07%2Fghana-to-pay-wagl-over-70m-in-another-judgment-debt%2F&flash=0&fwr=1&pra=3&rh=310&rw=372&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&sfro=1&wgl=1&fa=27&dt=1625164682171&bpp=12&bdt=4555&idt=-M&shv=r20210628&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3Df2145017f9605a3c-22aaf1af46c9002e%3AT%3D1625164679%3ART%3D1625164679%3AS%3DALNI_MZCAxz1BgfhOzjxeDHisLSzQjC1dg&prev_fmts=0x0%2C300x600&nras=2&correlator=3504931369260&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=326203482.1625164680&ga_sid=1625164680&ga_hid=569335483&ga_fc=0&u_tz=0&u_his=1&u_java=0&u_h=892&u_w=412&u_ah=892&u_aw=412&u_cd=24&u_nplug=0&u_nmime=0&adx=0&ady=1233&biw=412&bih=797&scr_x=0&scr_y=272&eid=21066435%2C31060474&oid=2&pvsid=2321807774039327&pem=562&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2F&eae=0&fc=1408&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C412%2C0%2C412%2C797%2C412%2C797&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7Cs%7C&abl=NS&fu=128&bc=31&ifi=3&uci=a!3&btvi=2&fsb=1&xpc=X6MDdzwgA4&p=https%3A//kasapafmonline.com&dtd=77

At a ruling in January 2021, the London Court of Arbitration declared as follows;https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-8731784857660975&output=html&h=343&adk=397432749&adf=2019012887&pi=t.aa~a.86673156~i.11~rp.4&w=412&lmt=1625164682&num_ads=1&rafmt=1&armr=3&sem=mc&pwprc=6320142137&tp=site_kit&psa=0&ad_type=text_image&format=412×343&url=https%3A%2F%2Fkasapafmonline.com%2F2021%2F07%2Fghana-to-pay-wagl-over-70m-in-another-judgment-debt%2F&flash=0&fwr=1&pra=3&rh=310&rw=372&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&sfro=1&wgl=1&fa=27&dt=1625164682171&bpp=11&bdt=4555&idt=-M&shv=r20210628&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3Df2145017f9605a3c-22aaf1af46c9002e%3AT%3D1625164679%3ART%3D1625164679%3AS%3DALNI_MZCAxz1BgfhOzjxeDHisLSzQjC1dg&prev_fmts=0x0%2C300x600%2C412x343&nras=3&correlator=3504931369260&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=326203482.1625164680&ga_sid=1625164680&ga_hid=569335483&ga_fc=0&u_tz=0&u_his=1&u_java=0&u_h=892&u_w=412&u_ah=892&u_aw=412&u_cd=24&u_nplug=0&u_nmime=0&adx=0&ady=1659&biw=412&bih=797&scr_x=0&scr_y=272&eid=21066435%2C31060474&oid=2&pvsid=2321807774039327&pem=562&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2F&eae=0&fc=1408&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C412%2C0%2C412%2C797%2C412%2C797&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7Cs%7C&abl=NS&fu=128&bc=31&ifi=4&uci=a!4&btvi=3&fsb=1&xpc=hhPPWBx47y&p=https%3A//kasapafmonline.com&dtd=114

i. The Respondent do pay to the Claimant the sum of US$ 68,584,623.37 as the
Recovery Fee under the GSA.

ii. The Respondent do pay the Claimant simple interest on the sum awarded in (i)
above from 22 April 2019 at the annual rate of 6.5% until payment.

iv. The Respondent do pay the Claimant’s Legal and Other Costs in the sum of
£200,000.

v. The Respondent do pay the Claimant the Arbitration Costs in the sum of
£153,108.88.

v. The Counterclaim is dismissed.

vi. All other claims, including the claim for a declaration and counterclaims are
rejected

This latest judgment debt comes after the country was hit with over 170 million judgment debt following a power contract agreement between the Government of Ghana and GCGP that was wrongfully terminated.

Below is the full judgment debt

Click here

Source: Ghana/Kasapafmonline.com/102.5 Fm

Chief Imam Sheikh Usman Nuhu Sharabutu has said in consultation with his elders, he has “noted with deep concern, the discomfort in the Muslim community of Ejura and surrounding areas” over the “loss of our dear brothers”.

“Equally, disturbing”, he noted, “is the tension that continues to rise following the unfortunate incident”, which led to the death of three Muslims in the Ejura community – one being through lynching and the two others being through shooting by soldiers during a protest to demand justice for their lynched colleague Ibrahim Kaaka Mohammed, a social media activist.

The revered Muslim cleric said “there is no doubt that the rising tension constitutes a threat to the existing state of harmony in the country”, adding: “While there is the need to empathise with the bereaved families, it remains a collective responsibility to maintain peace and stability in the country at all times”.

“I, therefore, call on all stakeholders to remain calm and allow the security agencies to handle the matter in line with the ethical principles of criminal justice”, he urged.

He said “in the spirit of peace and harmony, I further urge Muslims in Ejura and surrounding areas to desist from any act that may inflame passion among the Muslim youth”.

Furthermore, the Chief Imam said, “I call on the police to investigate the matter thoroughly and ensure that in the end, justice becomes the winner”.

“Finally, I pray for Allah’s perpetual mercy on the departed souls”.

His call for peace dovetails into a similar call by the National Peace Council.

In a statement signed by its Chairman, Rev Dr Ernest Adu Gyamfi, the council expressed “grave concern that three Ghanaians have lost their lives” in the recent disturbances in Ejura, Ashanti Region.

“The council condemns this unfortunate incident and calls on the relevant agencies to conduct thorough investigations into the matter without delay”, the statement from the Peace Council said.

The council noted, “with appreciation, the president’s directive” to the minister for the interior, “to conduct a public inquiry into the circumstances that led to the unfortunate occurrences”, saying: “We encourage the proposed committee to work within the terms of reference”.

The council has also expressed “its deep condolences to the affected families” and encouraged “all persons in the community to keep calm and allow the investigations to take their full course without hindrance”.

The council further appealed to the “media and all those who make statements on the matter, to exercise maximum restraint in their pronouncements

A group, Concerned Citizens of the Komenda Traditional Area, has written to the police about its intention to march in connection with, in its view, the abandonment of the Komenda Sugar Factory in the Central Region.

The group has scheduled its march for Tuesday, 6 July 2021.

It is billed to start from Komenda and Kissi simultaneously around 6:30 am and end at the Komenda Junction by 1:30 pm.

Its letter to the district police commander, signed by the convener Samuel Awudzah and two others, said the “focus of our intended demonstration is to create public awareness about the increasing deterioration of the new Komenda Sugar Factory, as a consequence of its neglect by the authorities whose duty it is to ensure its operationalisation after it was commissioned on the 30th May 2016.”https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-4549410436183225&output=html&h=250&slotname=4705176708&adk=1921530005&adf=2366005940&pi=t.ma~as.4705176708&w=300&lmt=1625148885&psa=1&format=300×250&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmobile.classfmonline.com%2Fnews%2Fgeneral%2FKomenda-Sugar-factory-demo-set-for-July-6-25535&flash=0&wgl=1&dt=1625148884438&bpp=6&bdt=3276&idt=716&shv=r20210628&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3Da21d8d09e2e9702c-22b4dcd74ec9004e%3AT%3D1625148773%3ART%3D1625148773%3AS%3DALNI_MYCulkFpgmctOfCgGgS6zYG85tDXg&prev_fmts=0x0%2C300x250&nras=1&correlator=7864700931431&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=1619096165.1625148771&ga_sid=1625148885&ga_hid=1171476950&ga_fc=0&u_tz=0&u_his=1&u_java=0&u_h=892&u_w=412&u_ah=892&u_aw=412&u_cd=24&u_nplug=0&u_nmime=0&adx=56&ady=1362&biw=412&bih=797&scr_x=0&scr_y=0&eid=21066434%2C31060972%2C31060474&oid=3&pvsid=4147762769713330&pem=946&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2F&eae=0&fc=1920&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C412%2C0%2C412%2C797%2C412%2C797&vis=1&rsz=%7Co%7CEebr%7C&abl=NS&pfx=0&fu=0&bc=31&ifi=3&uci=a!3&btvi=1&fsb=1&xpc=rCS1qjmrFq&p=https%3A//mobile.classfmonline.com&dtd=746

Source: classfmonline.com