• Five immigration officers are under investigation for taking bribe
• Interior Minister says the accused persons would be punished if found guilty
• The Minister says the unfortunate actions of the officers puts the nation’s security in danger
Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery, has disclosed that personnel of the Ghana Immigration Service who have been found culpable of taking bribes to allow illegal entry into the country would face the full wrath of the law.
A recent expose’ by JoyNews revealed how GIS officers stationed at borders demand huge amounts of money from travelers to allow them smuggle goods into the country without a thorough search.
The Interior Minister who was furious after learning that people were using illegal means to gain entry into the country sent a strong word of caution to people in the illegal act.
Ambrose Dery said, “I want to warn all those who think they can use unapproved routes to get to this country and therefore sabotage our efforts at keeping extremisms out.”null
He added, “I can assure you that the Ghana Immigration Service is doing a good work and giving me daily information about the number of people that they arrest.”
According to Ambrose Dery, five GIS officers are under investigation and if found guilty, the said officers would be served with justice.
“There are disturbing news that some officers of GIS are trying by their unpatriotic activity and behaviour to sabotage us, let me make it clear to all officers that anyone found it that unpatriotic acts would be dealt with,” the minister said during the inauguration of GIS testing center in Accra.
He added, “I’m aware that about five officers are being sent through a disciplinary process of the service and we are going to make sure they will be dealt with.”
Ambrose Dery went ahead to say, “Let us make sure that our officers, pursuant to the allegations not to take money and allow people in. It will be expensive for us to jeopardize our security and covid-19 efforts.
The Ashanti regional branch of Bread Bakers Association have increased the prices of bread by 20%, effective Sunday, August 1, 2021.
The bakers explain the increment was prompted by the soaring prices of ingredients used for products such as flour, sugar, nut milk, margarine among others.
Announcing the 20% price increment at a news conference in Kumasi over the weekend, the Ashanti Regional Secretary for the Bread Bakers Association, Isaac Amoah, said, a loaf of bread priced at ¢5 will be sold at ¢6 and the GHc10 bread will now be sold at GHc 12.
Some traders also say fuel prices and freight charges at the port account for this increase.
“The wheat and flour are imported. The retailers take into consideration freight charges and fuel prices. It has slowed the market. Some of us want to leave this business. Our products are still at our shops, people do not purchase anymore,” a trader lamented.
Another said, “The freight charges are expensive. Some merchants say it has increased from 5000 to 15,000 cedis”.
There was an earlier plan to increase the prices of bread early this year but it was shelved due to calls for the prices to be maintained. Despite calls to increase prices, other bakery brands have refused to give in. Some Importers of raw materials for bread production have advised bakers to stick to a uniform price.
“The bakers association decided to have a meeting to agree on one price. Some bakers secretly started selling to the customers of other brands. This is pure madness,” one said.
Another added that “A bag of flour was sold at 190 cedis last week. It has been increased to 194 cedis this week. I suggest bakers should reduce the quantity of the loaves.
The President of the University Teachers Association of Ghana, (UTAG) has warned the government that unless their conditions of service are improved they will not call off their indefinite strike.
Speaking on the Morning Starr on Monday, Professor Charles Marfo said the salaries of lecturers in public universities across the country have dwindled over the years with the government failing to restore them to what they agreed with the government in 2012.
The 2012 conditions of service pegged the Basic plus Market Premium of a lecturer at $2,084.42.
According to Professor Marfo, the current arrangement has reduced its members’ basic premiums to $997.84.
He added that the entry-level salary of a lecturer is less than Ghc 2000 while a professor earns less than Ghc 5000 monthly.
He also revealed that the latest strike action was triggered by the increment of salaries for Article 71 Officeholders who were already being paid more than double what lecturers are paid.
UTAG on Monday, August 2, began an indefinite strike from today. In a communiqué on July 30, UTAG directed all its members to comply with the strike.
UTAG members on all campuses are to withdraw teaching and other activities like examinations, invigilation, marking of examination scripts and the processing of examination results
The association has been asking the government to restore the conditions of service agreed upon with the government in 2012.
Former Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Samuel Koku Anyidoho, has written to the General Secretary of the party, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, whom he served under, to furnish him with the record of indiscipline for which he has been supposedly expelled from the party.null
Mr. Anyidoho is also demanding the supposed expulsion letter to “enable me to advise myself on the subsequent action(s), that I need to take”.
The letter is apparently in reply to Mr. Asiedu Nketia’s letter of expulsion addressed to Mr. Anyidoho on Tuesday, July 27.
In his letter, NDC’s General Secretary said the former Presidential Spokesperson was found guilty of “misconduct” and “anti-party behaviour” by the Disciplinary Committee, a decision upheld by the Functional Executive Committee (FEC) of the party.
“The Functional Executive Committee (FEC) acting in compliance of Article 48(1) of the NDC Constitution unanimously adopted the report and accepts full responsibility for your expulsion from the party,” the letter said.
“You are, therefore, by the decision of FEC expelled from the National Democratic Congress, and for that matter, you are no more recognised as a member of the party and cannot carry yourself as such.”
But in his letter dated Monday, August 2, 2021, Mr. Anyidoho admits that all communications by his former boss may be referring to him though not receiving any official correspondence on all the allegations.
He insists that he has never infringed upon the constitution of the party.
“I do not have any history of indiscipline per the records of the party.”
He is, therefore, demanding information on these, particularly the ‘expulsion letter’.
“Please treat this letter as very urgent Sir,” he told General Mosquito, as Mr. Asiedu Nketia whom he challenged is popularly known.
Lawyers for embattled Member of Parliament for Assin North, James Gyakye Quayson have filed an Appeal against the Cape Coast High Court judgment that canceled the 2020 Assin North Parliamentary election that saw him being elected as MP.
According to the lawyers, the decision of the court was not based on settled laws and were in violation of the 1992 Constitution.
They are asking the Court of Appeal to overturn the decision of the Cape Coast High Court.
The writ was filed at the Court Complex in Cape Coast on Monday.
The Cape Coast High Court on Wednesday 28th July 2021, canceled the 2020 Parliamentary election held in the Assin North constituency which saw the opposition National Democratic Congress(NDC) candidate James Gyakye Quayson being elected as Member of Parliament.
The Court presided over by Justice Kwasi Boakye on Wednesday, July 28, 2021 ordered for a fresh election to be conducted in the constituency.
The court has also restrained James Gyakye Quayson from holding himself as the MP for Assin North constituency.
The petitioner, Michael Ankomah Nimfah, contended that Quayson held dual citizenship as a Ghanaian and a Canadian at the time of his election, and therefore must be restrained from performing the duties of a Member of Parliament.
Election petition
Mr Quayson polled 17,498 votes as against 14,793 by the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP’s) Ms Abena Durowaa Mensah, in the December 7, 2020 parliamentary election.
However, on December 30, 2020, a resident of Assin North, Mr Michael Ankomah-Nimfah, filed a parliamentary election petition at the Cape Coast High Court challenging the eligibility of Mr Quayson to be a Member of Parliament.
He contended that the MP was not eligible on the basis that at the time he (Quayson) filed his nomination to contest as a parliamentary candidate, he was still a citizen of Canada
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has admonished African governments to build robust financial compliance systems and ensure its strict enforcement, to protect and optimise the resources at the continent’s disposal.
He said for Africa to be able to transform herself, and become the epitome of economic empowerment and self-reliance, she needs to have the wherewithal to ensure effective resource management, and to prevent illicit outflows from the continent.
Speaking on the theme: “Financial Crime Compliance and ESG-The Future of African Investment”, at the EBII Africa Investments Risk and Compliance (IRC) Summit at the weekend, at the University of Oxford, the President referenced a recent report that put the cost of financial crime compliance across all financial institutions, globally, at an all-time high of $180.9 billion for the year 2020.
He pointed out that part of the reality in Africa was that there were huge illicit financial outflows, as captured in the 2015 Thabo Mbeki report on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa, which revealed that Africa was losing, annually, more than $50 billion through illicit financial outflows.
“Five years later, according to UNCTAD’s Economic Development in Africa Report 2020, the figure has gone up from US$50 billion to $88.6 billion each year. That is a lot of money in any currency, and it is money we ill-afford to forego. It is money that would make a significant addition to the investable funds of the continent,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo stated that persons, largely the multinational companies, who come to do business in Africa, are involved in these illicit transactions, with the complicity of some Africans.
“We must, therefore, build robust financial compliance systems, and ensure strict enforcement as a deterrent. A strong regulatory environment, whilst reducing these illicit outflows, would, in the end, lead to more private capital being attracted to the continent for genuine investment,” he added.null
The President noted the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) new initiative that would require multinationals to pay tax in countries where they have commercial, not jurisdictional, presence, was a welcome enterprise, saying, the “acid test of our friendship with countries, which are the hosts of these multinational corporations, should be the extent to which they oblige them to comply with this new initiative.”
He was pleased that the G7 Nations had accepted the OECD’s initiative, and backed the principle with a proposal for a 15% minimum tax rate for multinational groups on their revenues from the countries of operation.
“It is clearly a positive step in the right direction. We, in Africa, must be both vocal in defence of our interests, and vigorous in promoting remedial measures,” he stressed.
Whilst expressing relief that Ghana had been removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) ‘Grey List”, following the renewal of the international community’s confidence in Ghana’s Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism regime, President Akufo-Addo pointed out that many of the regulatory requirements put in place are cumbersome and expensive for small countries.
“For example, the FATF’s Recommendation 32 requires countries to take measures to prevent terrorists and criminals from using cash couriers to finance their activities, and launder their funds. Countries are required to implement a compulsory declaration system requiring everyone crossing a border and transporting currency or bearer negotiable instruments of a value exceeding a certain threshold to declare it to the authorities. To Africa’s predominantly cash-based economies, this is a daunting task.
“You might, thus, find your country falling foul of the regulations, not because you have done anything wrong, but because you do not have the means to keep up with the paperwork. It would be worthwhile for all stakeholders to agree on efficient, workable measures. And yet, there is not really an option of opting out,” he stated, reiterating “we would have to demonstrate that we can play by the rules, just as the investors should, and, thereby, safeguard the future of African investments,” if Africa is to be an integral part of the financial world.
Rev John Ntim Fordjour, Deputy Minister for Education, has stated that quality education will help deal with poverty.
The Minister, who is also the MP for Assin South, made this know during a two-day tour to some selected schools within his Constituency.
The selected schools also received some donations from the minister. The school’s include Assin Manso SHS – which happens to be Ntim Fordjour’s alma mater – Assin Amoabin DA Primary and Assin Asamankese DA JHS.
Rev Ntim Fordjour also urged the pupils and students of the schools he visited to commit themselves to improved learning outcomes and become innovative in their studies so as to be empowered above the limitations of poverty which is the bane of any underserved community.
He said the government is committed to ensuring the reading and writing proficiency of every school-going Ghanaian child by the age of ten years.
To this end, it will put in place the conducive learning environment and the necessary interventions to guarantee this outcome.null
“Children are the future of the country, and nothing should hinder them from achieving their dreams. There are, among them, those with exceptional talents and skills, gifted and talented kids and they need to be guided and mentored appropriately,” the Deputy Minister said.
Some of the items the minister presented to the schools included Exercise books, sets of crayons, Pencil packs, veronica buckets, handwashing soap and a digital piano.
On behalf of the School, The Headmaster, Mr. Seth Adjei thanked the Deputy Minister for the items and promised to put them to good use.
Present were some Traditional Rulers, the Representative of the District Director of Education, Mr. Alex Adjei, and Officials of the Ministry of Education.
Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, says government remains fully committed to achieving the fiscal deficit target of 9.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) for this year, aimed at returning to the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) thresholds, by 2024.
Provisional fiscal data for January to June 2021 from the 2021 mid-year fiscal policy review indicates an overall fiscal deficit of GH¢22.3 billion, equivalent to 5.1 of GDP, against a programmed target of GH¢22.7 billion, 5.2 percent of GDP.
“The implementation of the 2021 Budget has been successful so far. We remain fully committed to achieving the fiscal deficit target of 9.5 percent of GDP for the year in order not to derail from the objective of returning to the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) fiscal deficit and primary balance thresholds of 5 percent of GDP and positive primary balance, respectively, by 2024,” Mr. Ofori-Atta said this in Parliament while presenting the 2021 mid-year fiscal policy review of the budget statement and economic policy of the government.
According to the Minister, provisional fiscal data for the half year of 2021 shows government raised total revenue and grants of GH¢28.3 billion, equivalent to 6.5 percent of GDP, against a programmed target of GH¢32.4 billion which is equal to 7.5 percent of GDP.
Similarly, total expenditure, including the clearance of arrears, amounted to GH¢50.6 billion, equivalent to 11.7 percent of GDP, against a programmed target of GH¢55.1billion or 12.7 percent of GDP.
This means government, during the period, was able to cut its programmed expenditure by about GH¢4.5 billion, whereas revenue also fell short by GH¢4.1 billion.
The deficit for the period was financed from both foreign and domestic sources, of GH¢15.2billion and GH¢7.1billion, respectively. Foreign financing constituted 68.3 percent of the total financing, which includes inflows from Eurobond proceeds, whereas, domestic financing represents 31.7 percent of total financing.null
Nonetheless, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its staff report for the 2021 Article IV Consultation, projected a wider budget deficit of 13.9 percent of GDP in 2021, including energy and financial sector costs.
The Fund’s forecast is hinged on the fact that government’ says it will rely on tax compliance to generate more revenue, especially from the newly introduced taxes, a move, the IMF says, may not yield the expected results, given the experience of past compliance challenges and complexities.
Government projects to add revenue equivalent to 1.4 percent of GDP through the new taxes introduced in the 2021 budget. However, the IMF says this will fall short by 0.5 percentage point, to 0.9 percent for the year. Effectively, government will realise about GH¢4 billion, compared to the over GH¢6 billion it has projected to attain from the taxes.
Again, the budget statement noted that government embarked on a frontloading of it financing need. As a result, the public debt stock, as a percentage of GDP, increased from 76.1 percent at the end of December 2020 to 77.1 percent of GDP at the end of June 2021 — inclusive of the financial and energy sector bailouts.
“The increase in the debt stock was mainly because of the Eurobond issuance in April 2021, COVID-19 pandemic effect, contingent liabilities, and front-loading of financing to meet cash flow requirements for the first half of the year,” Mr. Ofori-Atta said
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has debunked claims over the genuineness of the Covid-19 test being conducted for passengers on arrival at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).
According to the GHS, such viral complaints are erroneous.
Currently, all passengers arriving in Ghana are to have in their possession a negative Covid ‑19 PCR test result in English from an accredited laboratory in their country of departure.
The tests are to be done not more than 72 hours before the scheduled departure.
In addition, passengers who arrive in the country are made to undergo another Covid-19 test on arrival before they are given the pass to enter the country.
However, some passengers who had the negative PCR test but tested positive at the KIA have raised concerns over what they say are discrepancies in the outcome of such tests.
The GHS responding to allegations by two passengers over the test conducted at the KIA said their claims are ill-informed.
It said, while one of the passengers has been discharged after three days, the other is due for a re-test.
The GHS said, “While the Ghana Health Service empathizes with persons who test positive on arrival and the attendant stresses that such an event presents to passengers, we are also concerned at the many false reportages being circulated, especially in social media. To this end, we wish to address some erroneous impressions created in the minds of some sections of the population by the false information being circulated by some arriving passengers in Ghana,” the GHS said in the statement.
According to the GHS, the testing at the airport before implementation underwent rigorous quality checks and was found to be highly sensitive.
In addition, the FDA conducts regular monitoring of the work at the airport to ensure that it is up to standard adding that the service provider at the airport also has its internal quality control checks to ensure results produced are accurate.
“In conclusion, the service would like to assure the general public of our full confidence in the FDA approved Covid-19 testing system at the Kotoka International Airport and will continue to enforce the testing at the airport,” portions of the statement further read.
KIA testing
Since the KIA was re-opened to international travel on 1st September 2020, a total of 398,803 passengers have so far been tested for Covid-19 upon arrival at the KIA as of 31st July 2021.
Out of the total 2,386 have tested positive for Covid-19, representing 0.6% of the total Antigen tests conducted at the KIA for arriving passengers.
Out of those who have tested positive, 1494 (63%) have been males and 892 (37%) have been females.
Again, 987 (41%) have been Ghanaians and 1,399 (59%) non-Ghanaians
The Fisheries Minister says until fishers at Elmina stop illegal fishing, they’ll still not be allowed to fish despite the lift of ban on fishing.
The Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister, Mavis Hawa Koomson says fishermen in Elmina of the Central Region will continue to observe the closed season despite the reopening of the sea for artisanal and inshore fleets.
In an interview with JoyNews after the reopening ceremony at Sekondi Fishing Habour on Saturday, Madam Koomson explained that the decision is to serve as punishment for the fishermen to stop illegal fishing activities.
The Minister further stated that since the fishers refused to accept her campaign against illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing activities when she visited on Tuesday, June 27, it is important her outfit keeps them in check for some time.
“After my presentation on Tuesday, they said I said, they should stop the Saiko and light fishing which they were not happy with and so I should reverse that statement and I said no. I wasn’t ready and so they said if I am not going to reverse, I should take back the items I brought for them and I did”.
“Now they are begging, they have come to apologize, I am told they had a press conference, one of the chief fishermen is here to apologize but we still have to punish them for that I will not hide it,” she added.
She noted that the fishers will be refused premix fuel and other logistics they need from the government for their fishing expedition for some time until they are willing to comply with the directive of legal fishing.
National Best Fisherman 2019, Joseph Hemans Asmah who represented the fishing community in Elmina appealed to the sector minister to temper justice with mercy.
He explained to JoyNews that those involved are not fishermen but people he described as ‘guru boys.’
“The fishermen were sitting down patiently waiting to hear from the minister but the guru boys they did that so I have to be here and apologize.
“If the woman says she won’t give us premix where will we get premix? If the woman says she won’t give us outboard motors at control price where will we get some to buy? Whenever we are in need and we go and she closes her door to us those who did it, won’t feel it,” he said.
The Vice-president, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has called for the strengthening of unity and promotion of cooperation between the nation’s two leading religious groups, Muslims and Christians to ensure a more impactful development in the country for citizens.
Speaking at the opening of the first National Muslims Conference in Accra on Friday, July 30, 2021, Dr Bawumia welcomed the development-based vision of the Muslims Conference, adding that faith-based groups, particularly Muslims and Christians, have contributed immensely to aiding government’s development efforts.
The Annual Muslims Conference, which is organised under the auspices of the National Chief Imam and the Muslim Caucus of Parliament, seeks to bring together the various Islamic sects, as well as Muslim groups, to tackle development issues affecting Muslims in Ghana and the nation as a whole, such as education, finance and healthcare.
Whiles commending Muslim stakeholders for coming together to establish the Conference, he urged them to stay united, and also forge hands with their Christian brothers and sisters for more impactful development.
“Mr. Chairman, I am proud to say that as an immutable religious community in the country, Muslims, just like Christians, have been involved in nation-building,” Dr. Bawumia said.
“It is my expectation that with a concerted inter-faith effort, and in partnership with various stakeholders, especially our brothers from the Christian religious divide, the Ghana Muslims Conference will chart a path which will make meaningful contributions towards the development of our country.”
A CALL FOR STRENGTHENING OF INTER-FAITH TOLERANCE
Dr. Bawumia told his fellow Muslims that despite the peace and tolerance between Muslims and Christians in the country, there is the need to guard against endangering it, by eschewing acts which divide, and embracing acts which unite the two groups for greater peace and development for the citizenry.
“Mr. Chairman, Ghana is one of the luckiest countries in the world, where we can say we are a model of religious tolerance in the world. Muslims and Christians have been living together in peace,” Dr Bawumia said.
“However, despite the very good relationship that exists between Muslims and non-Muslims in Ghana, there is the need to deepen the peaceful co-existence among the diverse religious faithful in the country.”
“Relationships that engender peace must be grown from strength to strength; for any lapse in such relationships can be exploited by belligerent individuals and groups to destroy the hard-won cordial relationships established through decades of efforts towards peaceful co-existence among various religions in the country.”
EDUCATION
The inaugural theme of the Conference focused on the promotion of education, and Dr. Bawumia commended organisers for prioritising education, which he said remains the surest route to alleviating poverty.
The Vice President said the Free SHS policy was implemented by the Akufo-Addo government was implemented to ensure that every Ghanaian child, especially those from excluded communities, get free access to education to at least the secondary level.
He also listed a number of educational interventions and infrastructure projects the Akufo-Addo government has provided in Zongo communities which included construction of classroom blocks, roads, bridges, water systems, health facilities, and the award of scholarships to 40 students to study medicine in Cuba.
The Conference, which will end on Sunday, August 2, was also graced by some members of the Diplomatic Corp
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stated that for Africa to be able to transform herself, and become the epitome of economic empowerment and self-reliance, she needs to have the wherewithal to be able to protect and optimise the resources at her disposal.
To this end, President Akufo-Addo, speaking at the EBII Africa Investments Risk and Compliance (IRC) Summit, on Friday, 30th July 2021, at the University of Oxford, has admonished African governments to build robust financial compliance systems, and ensure strict enforcement of these systems.
Speaking on the theme “Financial Crime Compliance and ESG – The Future of African Investment”, the President stated a recent report has put the cost of financial crime compliance across all financial institutions, globally, at an all-time high of $180.9 billion for the year 2020.
Part of the reality in Africa, according to President Akufo-Addo, is that there are huge illicit financial outflows, as captured in the 2015 Thabo Mbeki report on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa, which revealed that Africa was losing, annually, more than $50 billion through illicit financial outflows.
“Five years later, according to UNCTAD’s Economic Development in Africa Report 2020, the figure has gone up from US$50 billion to $88.6 billion each year. That is a lot of money in any currency, and it is money we ill-afford to forego. It is money that would make a significant addition to the investable funds of the continent,” he said.
Persons, largely the multinational companies, who come to do business in Africa, the President said, are, undoubtedly, involved in these illicit transactions, with the complicity of some Africans.
“We must, therefore, build robust financial compliance systems, and ensure strict enforcement as a deterrent. A strong regulatory environment, whilst reducing these illicit outflows, would, in the end, lead to more private capital being attracted to the continent for genuine investment,” he added.
Welcoming the OECD’s new initiative that would require multinationals to pay tax in countries where they have commercial, not jurisdictional, presence, President Akufo-Addo stated that the “acid test of our friendship with countries, which are the hosts of these multinational corporations, should be the extent to which they oblige them to comply with this new initiative.”
He was, thus, glad to note that this principle has been publicly accepted by the G7 Nations, at their recent conference, with a proposal for a fifteen percent (15%) minimum tax rate for multinational groups on their revenues from the countries of operation.
“It is clearly a positive step in the right direction. We, in Africa, must be both vocal in defence of our interests, and vigorous in promoting remedial measures,” he stressed.
Whilst expressing relief that Ghana had been removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) ‘Grey List”, following the renewal of the international community’s confidence in Ghana’s Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regime, President Akufo-Addo pointed out that many of the regulatory requirements put in place are cumbersome and expensive for small countries.
“For example, the FATF’s Recommendation thirty-two (32) requires countries to take measures to prevent terrorists and criminals from using cash couriers to finance their activities, and launder their funds. Countries are required to implement a compulsory declaration system requiring everyone crossing a border and transporting currency or bearer negotiable instruments of a value exceeding a certain threshold to declare it to the authorities. To Africa’s predominantly cash-based economies, this is a daunting task,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo continued, “You might, thus, find your country falling foul of the regulations, not because you have done anything wrong, but because you do not have the means to keep up with the paperwork. It would be worthwhile for all stakeholders to agree on efficient, workable measures. And yet, there is not really an option of opting out.”
If Africa is to be an integral part of the financial world, the President reiterated that “we would have to demonstrate that we can play by the rules, just as the investors should, and, thereby, safeguard the future of African investments
The young boy eating fufu as his Our-Day meal in the viral photo has been found after a well-meaning Ghanaian promised to sponsor his education.
Oswald’s our day letter drew a lot of attention nationwide, along with wholesome conversations about children in deprived areas. A trending photo of a young boy having fufu as his Our-Day meal in a rural school emerged from these conversations. After the picture went viral, a good samaritan offered to sponsor the boy’s education until college if he can be found.
“A friend is looking for the boy in the picture, he wants to sponsor him till college!! Please help me find him. Share!!!!!”
Once again, the power of social media was put to the test, and it prevailed. The young boy has been found!. According to the Facebooker who found the boy, Daniel is a pupil of Nkwantappng DA school in the Ashanti region. “Found him. He is in the Ashanti region, making arrangements to go see him. His mother is mentally deranged, and his father is deceased. His elder brother dropped out of school at class 5, he has joined galamsey. So he can support his other siblings. This life.”
Some Ghanaians opined that the support towards Oswald’s our day celebrations could have gone a long way to help children in rural and deprived areas. Others also felt the corporate organisations are ‘pro-poor and support the less privileged through their CSR activities.
• President Akufo-Addo has touted the success of the Free SHS policy
• He says the policy has granted more people access to education
• He said that government is considering making tertiary education free
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has dropped hints of a replication of the Free Senior High School policy at the tertiary education level.
According to the president, the prospect of making tertiary free has been mooted at top level and discussions are ongoing to achieve same.
Speaking at the Global Education Summit held in London on Thursday, July 29, President Akufo-Addo expressed confidence that making tertiary education free would grant more people access to education just like the Free SHS program.
“For now, what has been put in place is a system where students at the tertiary level are provided loans while in school to help them cater for their needs, but we’re considering free Tertiary education too,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo noted that the Free SHS policy has driven up Ghana’s budget for the education sector and that there are plans to invest more in the initiative.
He stated that Free SHS has been a success and handed education opportunities to Ghanaians who would have been left out due to lack of finance.
“It’s one of the highest on the continent, and we intend to ramp it up even more,” the President stated.
Adding that “the policy has reversed decades of exclusion, which denied, on the average, one hundred thousand young men and women, annually, entry to senior high school education because of the poverty of their parents.
Outgoing Inspector General of Police James Oppong-Boanuh has underscored the role played by the Ghana Police Service in the maintenance of peace and security under his tenure.
He said in the midst of resource constraints, the Service has supported Ghana to attain global recognition.
He made this known in his remarks during a Pull-Out Ceremony held in his honour at the National Police Training School on Friday, July 30.
“I am bowing out today with pride and a strong conviction that this Service is blessed with a number of committed officers who are going to support the incoming IGP to successfully continue from where I left,” he stated.
“It is important to underline that the role of the security agencies, which is internally led by the police service, cannot be overemphasized.”
He is of the firm belief that “we can do more to become one of the most peaceful countries in the world, with the rest of leadership and supply of resources to the service”.
He called for support for his successor, George Akuffo Dampare, who takes over from him with effect from Sunday, August 1.
“It is in this vein, that I want to encourage all personnel of the service and the good people of this country to give the necessary support to the incoming IGP and his administration to discharge the core mandate of the police service in maintaining law and order
• Sam Nartey George says the anti-LGBTQ Bill will not criminalise homosexuality
• He said it is to expand legislation on homosexuality
• The Bill is championed by some eight MPs
Sam Nartey George, has debunked suggestions that the proposed anti-LGBTQ+ Bill being championed by some eight MPs is seeking to criminalise homosexuality in Ghana.
He explained on Newsfile, Saturday, July 31, monitored by GhanaWeb that, the bill will rather expand the legislation on homosexuality.
He further noted that the bill is not a new law because the Criminal Offenses Act, section 104 Act 29, is clear on unnatural carnal knowledge, thus criminalising homosexuality, but the bill is to respond to the rapid advocacy of homosexuality.
“When I get calls from international media houses, even local media houses who says you are seeking to criminalise homosexuality, I say to them no, I’m seeking to expand existing legislation on homosexuality,” Samuel Nartey George said.
He argues, “the script of the law makes you realise that in 1960, the intent of that law was to criminalise homosexuality. Gayism was the main thing at the time so you see that the wording of them was actually focused on gayism aspect of homosexuality” adding the bill is to specifically “tighten and strengthen the legal framework.”
The Ningo-Prampram MP further noted the police have in the past arrested some persons they allegedly accused of being involved in the act, but “they are unable, based on section 104, to carry out proper prosecution because section 104 is no longer fit for the purpose, given the scope.”
“Again, you also have our cultural values that need to be protected and most importantly is the growing boldness of advocacy for something that is illegal,” he said.
Sam George noted a recent research conducted has revealed that homosexuals are now advocating in Senior High Schools, with some heads of schools raising concerns about the act.
“They are setting up recruitment drives in our Secondary Schools; they have pimps in the secondary schools who they pay monies to [recruit the students].”
He said, it is unfortunate and this activity is a threat to the nation as it is “now becoming a commercial enterprise.”
Dubbed “The Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021”, the private members’ bill being championed by some eight MPs seeks to ensure up to a 10-year jail term for LGBTQ+ people.
The draft bill has faced much opposition from groups and individuals who advocate for the rights of LGBTQ+ people.
The draft bill, widely circulated on social media, has yet to be officially laid before the Parliament of Ghana.
A private member’s bill is foreign to the constitution of Ghana and the conventions of the Ghanaian Parliament.
The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), has declared an indefinite nationwide strike starting in August.
“We write on behalf of the National Executive Committee of UTAG to inform and/or remind you of the intended strike of UTAG. By this notice, all campuses are to withdraw all teaching and related activities – teaching, examination, invigilation, marking of examination scripts, processing of examination results, etc., from Monday, 2 August 2021 until further notice. We encourage all members on our various campuses to comply with this directive”, the letter signed by Prof Charles Marfo, National President and Dr Eric K.K. Abavare, National Secretary, said.
A few weeks ago, UTAG’s NEC notified the National Labour Commission (NLC) of its intention to strike.
The industrial action, according to UTAG, is against the “government on the grounds of its failure to address the worsening conditions of UTAG’s members within an agreed period”.
A statement co-signed by the same national executives dated 15 July 2021, indicated: “Specifically, negotiation of our conditions of service, which was started some two years ago and was early this year scheduled to end by the end of this month, July 2021, has overly been delayed with no end in sight,” adding: “In our last meeting with government, UTAG strongly indicated to the government that if by the agreed date of the end of negotiations – i.e. 31 July 2021 – no agreement is reached, the association would have no option but to resort to indefinite strike”.
UTAG has, therefore, decided “to withdraw teaching, one of its main duties, from 2 August 2021 if no agreement is reached by 31 July 2021”.
Meanwhile, the Senior Staff Association of Universities of Ghana has also declared a strike effective the same day – 2 August 2021 – in connection with the failure by the government resolve issues concerning their conditions of service.
The association also accused the government of “contemptuous and total disregard to the National Labour Commission’s (NLC) directives on January 28, 2021, upon hearing from both parties to resolve all our concerns within a three-month stipulated period, which also regrettably elapsed on March 31, 2021, repugnantly.”
It sad “all members of the Senior Staff Associations across all the 16 public universities in Ghana (SSA-UOG and FUSSAG) are required to lay down their tools until further notice.”
A few days ago, the association – which declared a strike on 18 May 2021, to compel the government to pay its members’ tier 2 pension contributions and also demanded the award of market premium and non-basic allowance, as well as the finalisation of negotiations of the members’ conditions of service – but later froze it upon the intervention of the National Labour Commission and the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC), threatened a worse form of its earlier industrial action if the government did not fulfil the promises it made which prompted the group to suspend the strike on 11 June.
An earlier statement signed by Mr Zakaria Mohammed, National Chairman, said, at the 12th National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held at the University of Cape Coast on 9 and 10 July 2021 respectively, the Senior Staff Association – Universities of Ghana (SSA-UoG) discussed and resolved the following:
1. The inability of Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) to communicate feedback on our counter proposal to government by Wednesday, 7 July 2021 as promised;
The SSA-UoG suspended its strike action on 11 June 2021 on the promise of commitment by the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission with Vice-Chancellors Ghana (VCG) as guarantors to completely resolve and conclude all outstanding issues on the negotiation table from 30 June to 19 July 2021.
Since the last negotiation meeting on 30 June 2021 on our counter-proposal to the government, the FWSC was to secure the needed mandate and communicate feedback to SSA-UoG.
This has since remained a mirage and it is creating agitations, fear and panic among our rank and file because there have been similar illusive promises in the past that never saw the light of day.
2. Computation of interest on Tier 2 and roadmap for payment;
The government requested SSA-UoG to submit names of its technical team to work hand in hand with the government technical team on the computation of interest on the outstanding Tier 2 Pension Contributions Arrears paid by Government. As requested by the government, SSA-UoG have since submitted names of its technical team to the government on 30 June 2021 which has since not been acknowledged.
It is our fervent belief that government has acted in bad faith.
3. Interestingly enough, the National Labour Commission (NLC) in all the above infractions being perpetrated against SSA-UoG and its loud silence on their part as a statutory body is not only worrying but also very shocking, as it is seen as an arbiter grounded in law. 4. The National Executive Council of SSA-UoG have resolved to resume full strike in the unlikely event that the government fails to meet the deadline as promised and agreed upon by all parties.
We, therefore, direct all the 14 public universities of SSA-UoG to keep themselves in readiness for a full-blown strike as resolved by NEC
Former Youth Organizer and current National Organizer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Sammi Awuku, has been appointed as the new Director-General of the National Lottery Authority (NLA).
His appointment has been approved by the Council of State in line with the law governing the appointment of the NLA organizational head.
Until his new appointment, Mr. Awuku also served as Board Chairman of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA), a specialized government agency charged with the mandate of coordinating and facilitating employment opportunities for young people in Ghana.
Sammi Awuku is expected to resign from his current position as the National Organizer of the NPP.
Awuku takes over from the former Director-General, Kofi Osei Ameyaw, who was directed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on the 10th of March 2021, in a letter signed by the Secretary to the President, Nana Bediatuo Asante, to hand over to the Finance Director, Ernest Mortey, after his one-year contract elapsed in February.
The NLA, where Sammi Awuku will be serving, is a public service institution designed to provide an enviable corporate platform that encourages creativity, innovation, and best management practices
Ghana’s Vice-president, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has said African economies need digital currencies backed by central banks in order to give credibility to transactions.
Addressing participants at the opening of the International Trade and Finance Conference (GITFiC 2021) in Accra on Tuesday, Dr Bawumia said, with the advent of digitisation, digital currencies springing up on the African continent is imminent, but he was quick to warn that what African economies need central bank-backed digital currencies, not cryptocurrency.
Responding to a question on the readiness of the continent for an African digital currency, especially with the presence of the AFCFTA, Dr Bawumia stressed on the imminent adoption of digital currencies, but added that such moves should be backed by African Central banks, just as the Bank of Ghana has initiated a pilot digital currency.
“Digitisation and the advent of digital currencies is something that is definitely coming”.
“We are facing it and I am very, very happy that the central bank of Ghana is beginning a pilot digital currency and I think it will ultimately be the way to go for Africa”.
“That we will adopt, or we should end up trying to adopt a digital currency,” Dr Bawumia said.
“But I think that a digital currency that is backed by the central banks that give a lot of credibility to transactions and I think this is where we should be headed and the Bank of Ghana is leading the way”.
“I expect other central banks to come forward with this in the future. It is the way to go.”
The conference was attended both physically and virtually by senior officials of African central banks, the African Union, West African Monetary Institute members of the Diplomatic Corps, and other key stakeholders in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)
General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress(NDC) Johnson Asiedu Nketiah says they will stop at nothing to ensure the verdict of the Cape Coast High court in relation to the dual citizenship case of the Assin North MP is overturned.
“We know that the EC, Government and Judiciary can collude to disfavour our interest in this saga but we’ll fight hard in court because that is our only option. I won’t be surprised if the EC may swerve us and go ahead with a by-election even when we’re in court but we will stay the course in our legal battle,” he told host Bonohene Baffuor Awuah on Ghana Kasa Thursday.
According to him, there were machinations within the judicial system that ended up with the “miscarriage of justice” in the Assin North legal challenge but they remain unfazed and will fight it.
Stay of Execution
The main opposition NDC has said it will apply for Stay of Execution in the Cape Coast High Court judgment that nullifies the election of the Assin North MP James Gyakye Quayson.
According to the National Communications Officer of the party Sammy Gyamfi, although the party is ready for a by-election, they will insist on justice to be served in the matter.
“Let me put on record that the NDC is not afraid of any by-election. We are confident of victory in any by-Election if we get to that stage. All we want is for justice to be done. And we will stop at nothing to ensure that justice is done.
“Our lawyers will apply for a Stay of Execution of the orders of the trial judge and Appeal the flawed judgment ASAP. This travesty of justice will not be allowed to stand.
“The NDC is also determined to formally petition the Judicial Service for disciplinary action to be taken against the Registrar and other Judicial Officers of the Cape Coast High Court who engaged in those shameful gymnastics earlier this morning. Such partisan and unscrupulous persons are not fit to serve in that respectable independent arm of government,” Mr Gyamfi wrote in a statement after the judgment.
The Cape Coast High Court has cancelled the 2020 Parliamentary election held in the Assin North constituency which saw the opposition National Democratic Congress(NDC) candidate Joe Gyakye Quayson being elected as Member of Parliament.
The Court presided over by Justice Kwasi Boakye on Wednesday, July 28, 2021 ordered for a fresh election to be conducted in the constituency.
The court has also restrained James Gyakye Quayson from holding himself as the MP for Assin North constituency.
The petitioner, Michael Ankomah Nimfah, went to court claiming that Quayson held dual citizenship as a Ghanaian and a Canadian at the time of his election, and therefore must be restrained from performing the duties of a Member of Parliament
Fishermen in Elmina in the Komenda Edina Eguafo Abrem District in the Central Region have apologized for rejecting some food items provided by the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Mavis Hawa Koomson.
In an interview with Kasapa News, the Elmina Best Fisherman John Badu condemned the hostility from his colleague fishermen against the Minister and apologized to her.
“This is unfortunate and we are really sorry for what happened. It’s a poor spectacle and I condemn unequivocally the behaviour of the fishermen. She’s our mother and I plead with her to forgive us.”
The angry fishermen jeered and booed at the Minister and her entourage who had packed bags of rice and gallons of cooking oil ready for distribution to them.
They chanted war songs indicating their protest. “Yenngye oooo yenngye oooooo,” meaning, “we will not accept them, we will not collect them.
The Minister’s entourage had no option other than to pack the items back into a waiting pick-up truck.
Not even the intervention of the Omanhene of the Edina Traditional Area, Nana Kodwo Conduah, could change the minds of the fishermen.
The Fishermen contended that Madam Koomson abandoned them when the season was closed for a month and did not see the need for the supposed kind gesture from the Minister after they had endured the season which is almost over
Following the outpour of love to the young 9-year-old Oswald, who wrote a moving letter to his mother towards his “Our Day” in school today, Friday, July 30, 2021, the National Democratic Congress has also made an interesting offer to the boy.
George Opare Addo, the National Youth Organiser of the party, has offered to give the young boy a party card to join them.
He explained that the party believes the boy is a bright child and should be groomed to be a better economist than Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
“Oswald is such a bright boy. No doubt he will be a great addition to the social democracy tradition. His party card is ready, @NDCYouthWing is willing to pay his dues till he turns 18. With focus and time, he will not disappoint in managing our currency and be a better economist than @MBawumia,” he wrote.null
Some 5,397 active COVID-19 cases are currently being battled by Ghana’s authorities.
The death toll has also shot up to 831.
Also, 394 fresh cases have been confirmed.
Since mid-March 2020, a total of 103,789 people have had the virus in Ghana.
Out of that number, 97,561 have recovered.
President Nana Akufo-Addo recently said the upsurge in COVID-19 cases clearly shows that Ghana is experiencing a third wave, which he put down to the relaxing of adherence to the safety protocols.
“As per data available from the Ghana Health Service, it appears that, unfortunately, our nation is experiencing a third wave of COVID-19 infections”, the president said in his 26th national address on COVID-19 on Sunday, 25 July 2021.
“These increased infections have largely been driven by the Delta Variant of the virus, which, according to the World Health Organisation, has increased transmissibility rates, and, in our case in Ghana, has led, in recent weeks, to a rise in hospitalisation and ICU bed uptakes, and, tragically, deaths”, he noted.
Indeed, he said, in Update No.25, “the last update I rendered, our total active case count stood at one thousand, three hundred and fourteen (1,314), with our daily infection rate standing at one hundred (100). One million, one hundred and twenty-one thousand, one hundred and sixty-eight (1,121,168) COVID tests had been conducted, out of which ninety-two thousand, four hundred and sixty (92,460) persons had been infected, ninety-one thousand, one hundred and forty-six (91,146) persons had recovered, with a total of seven hundred and eighty-three (783) deaths”.
As of Wednesday, 21st July 2021, however, “ten (10) weeks later, the Ghana Health Services is now reporting that our total number of active cases stands at four thousand and ninety-four (4,094). A total of one million, three hundred and ninety-four thousand, five hundred and forty (1,394,540) tests have been conducted, out of which one hundred and one thousand, one hundred and seventy (101,170) persons have been infected with the virus, and ninety-six thousand, two hundred and fifty-five (96,255) persons have recovered”.
“Sadly”, he bemoaned, close to 40 more people have died from COVID over the last 10 weeks, with Greater Accra and Greater Kumasi Metropolitan areas remaining the hotspots of infections. “This entire development is very alarming, especially as we are being told by officials of the Ghana Health Service, that the recovery rate is on the decline”.
“Fellow Ghanaians, it is obvious from the data that we have let our guard down, with many going about their daily duties in clear breach and disregard for the protocols”.
“At a time when the economy is on the rebound, and business activities picking up, we must do everything possible to contain this outbreak”, he urged, adding: “We cannot afford to return to the days of partial lockdowns, which brought considerable hardships and difficulties for all of us”.
The president announced a ban on all post-funeral receptions and said one-week funeral anniversaries should be “restricted solely to family members, and should not exceed a duration of two hours”.
He also directed that all funerals should not go beyond two hours.
The 26th COVID-19 address came 24 hours after the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) warned that fully-vaccinated persons are testing positive for the fast-spreading Delta variant with very high viral loads.
NMIMR observed, “with concern”, some characteristics of the new Delta variant of SARS-Cov-2 detected at the institute’s testing centre since April 2021.
In a statement issued on Saturday, 24 July 2021, the Institute said the “positive cases have very high viral loads indicated by low cut-off thresholds (CT values) obtained in the real-time RT-PCR assay”.
The CT values for the majority are between 15 and 20 compared to higher values above 30, seen previously, NMIMR noted.
The Institute also said it has observed that “the positive individuals are taking longer to clear the virus”, explaining: “This is evident in the number of retests that still test positive”. NMIMR also revealed that its recent sequencing of SARS-Cov-2 has revealed an “increased circulation of the Delta variant in Ghanaian communities compared to the earlier Alpha variants”.
“The higher viral loads observed in recent cases are attributable to the Delta variant”, the statement said.
Transmission of SARS-Cov-2 is directly linked to how much virus is shed in droplets during sneezing and coughing, which also determines the spread through talking, singing and other related activities.
The Delta variant has been reported to spread faster than the other variants and our testing observations confirm that. The statement said some clinical specimen submitted to the Institute have tested positive with high viral loads.
“Also, 7.34 per cent (840/6,538) of the positive cases recorded from asymptomatic persons who visit the walk-in centre to test for travel, work- or school-related purposes from 1 June to 22 July 2021, have equally high viral load”, NMIMR noted.
Noguchi warned: “With a population of more than 80 per cent unvaccinated, the country must be concerned that if these, apparently healthy carriers, transmit the virus to the unvaccinated, we may have a more serious outbreak to deal with as a nation”.
Some of these positive cases, it noted, “have taken the full dose of COVID-19 vaccines”. “It is, therefore, recommended that the government take a second look at the state of adherence to COVID-19 preventive protocols and appropriate restrictions”.
A few days ago, President Nana Akufo-Addo said the rising number of active COVID-19 cases shows that “we’ve let our guard down”.
Addressing Muslims at the Eid-ul-Adha celebration at the National Central Mosque at Kanda, Accra, President Akufo-Addo said: “The COVID-19 pandemic is still with us – unfortunately”.
“This means that for the second year running, we are having to hold a subdued Eid celebration”, he observed. “As we continue to count on the grace of God to protect our country from the ravages of the pandemic like he has since its outbreak, we can only minimise its health effects and avoid a full-blown third wave if we continue to be responsible and observe the safety and hygiene protocols.”
He noted: “The recent increase in the number of infections is a source of worry for me and, indeed, for all Ghanaians”.
“From the rising numbers, it is safe to conclude that we have let our guard down and are beginning to live our lives and conduct our businesses as though we are in normal times”.
“It is important to repeat that the virus is still with us and until each one of us receives a dose of the vaccine, the protocols must continue to be a part and parcel of our daily activities,” he added
The Majority in parliament has described as irresponsible and disappointing, the reaction by the Minority caucus and the National Democratic Congress, to the Cape Coast High Court’s nullification of the Assin North parliamentary poll, which, consequently, ousts opposition MP Gyekye Quayson, from the chamber and paves the way for a by-election.
The Minority and the NDC, have both suggested in various comments after the court’s decision, that the judiciary was being used to whittle down the numbers of opposition MPs in parliament.
Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu, in the course of the discussions, also said such eventualities would pose a threat to the cooperation between the two sides.
Deputy Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, however, told the parliamentary press corps in an interview on Friday, 30 July 2021 that “the least we expect of them [Minority] is to be a bit responsible”.
He said: “I was surprised to hear Mr Haruna Iddrisu make a statement to the effect that cooperation will suffer”.
“What is the meaning of cooperation will suffer? That you’ll frustrate government business? That you’ll become an obstructionist because you’ve lost a case in court? That you’ll undermine the business of government in parliament?” the Effutu MP wondered.
He said: “I think that such words should not be coming from the minority that ‘cooperation will suffer’”, quizzing: “So, you go to court and lose, you come and obstruct government business?”
“The people of Ghana must know, therefore, that the agenda of the NDC is to make them suffer by frustrating government business”, Mr Afenyo-Marking argued.
He said the majority caucus in parliament, “takes this opportunity to express its disappointment in the affairs of the NDC minority in respect of the high court ruling in the matter of Assin North constituency”.
“We are disappointed because we expect the NDC minority, no matter how desperate they are for power, to wake up to the reality of the rule of law which is part of the governance of this country. For the avoidance of doubt, I may want to read article 125(1) and (3): ‘Justice emanates from the people and shall be administered in the name of the republic by the judiciary, which shall be independent and subject only to this Constitution’. (3): ‘The judicial power of Ghana shall be vested in the judiciary. Accordingly, neither the president nor parliament nor any organ or agency of the president or parliament shall have or be given the final judicial power’” he quoted.
In his view, the NDC minority has “gained notoriety for always coming out to scandalise the judiciary any time a ruling or judgment does not go in their favour”.
The lawmaker recalled that when the NDC took a similar action against an NPP MP in the past, the Danquah-Busia-Dombo party did not cry wolf as the current opposition is doing.
“There’s precedence in the matter that just occurred at the Cape Coast High Court. In that precedence, Hon. Adamu Sakande, who was the MP for Bawku Central, was asked whether or not at the time he was filing, he owed allegiance to any other country. His answer was: ‘He was in the process and that he had initiated the process of giving up his British citizenship’”.
“This matter travelled all the way to the Supreme Court and the court’s position was clear: That at the time he filled the form, he had still not given up the British citizenship. Accordingly, he was not qualified to be a candidate, let alone coming to occupy the chamber of parliament”.
“He was denied the opportunity, and not only that; the fact that he had lied on oath, bear in mind that the form we fill at the EC, you depose to an affidavit and because he misled the EC and that in itself was a criminal offence, the state prosecuted him and he was convicted and sentenced. He served a jail term. May his soul rest in peace”, Mr Afenyo-Markin said.
He then asked: “What is different from the Sakande case that the NDC is complaining [about]? You see, the same NDC would want to put up a legal challenge – when they win, they are happy; when they lose, they come home crying. That is unfair. You’ve gone to court, you contested the case, you’ve lost. This issue of somebody having dual citizenship and not giving up was started by the NDC. They made sure that this man was jailed …”
“The complainant did not only pursue the civil angle, he also pursued the criminal angle. He was a witness in court. Did we at the time say that the NDC was interfering in the judicial process or that the NDC is telling us that they interfere with judicial processes or that when they had power, that was what they were doing. Is that what they want to tell us? You see, we owe a duty to ourselves and this country to protect the peace”.
He said the bahaviour of the minority caucus and the NDC could threaten the peace of the country.
“When we do these things to escalate tension and mislead people into believing that our institutions are not working, all that we are calling for is chaos. All that we are calling for is lawlessness. And I believe that the minority NDC in parliament and its leadership, should not have come to scandalise the court. The least they could do was to respect the court decision”.
“Perhaps, the court has even been lenient. If the court had really wanted to pursue that matter, it would have taken a judicial notice and even convicted him for contempt of court. So, even when a court has been lenient, in spite of all the behaviour of the MP-elect in this matter, the minority still finds a platform to attack the government and for that matter, the NPP”. “It is important to state that the effect of the NDC minority press conference, was to play to the gallery. They must be seen to be upholding and protecting mage of the judiciary and not to be scandalising the judiciary. Technically, the NDC is creating the impression that institutions must not have their independence to work
Mr Kissi Agyebeng’s nomination for the Special Prosecutor slot has been approved by parliament.
First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Joe Osei-Owusu told the house on Friday, 30 July 2021 that the “motion is adopted,” adding: “Mr Kissi Agyebeng has been confirmed as a nominee for the position of Special Prosecutor.”
Once sworn into office, Mr Agyebeng will succeed Mr Martin Amidu, who resigned in the lead-up to the 2020 elections amidst claims that the president had interfered in his mandate.
Parliament’s Appointments Committee unanimously recommended the approval of Kissi Agyebeng just after his vetting on Thursday, 22 July 2021.
The Chairman of the committee, Mr Joe Osei-Owusu, announced the recommendation, saying: “We put our recommendation for the house to determine whether to approve or disapprove our recommendation”, adding: “As to how other people view his [nominee’s] answers, I’d rather leave it to them and stay within the rules to make recommendations to the house”.
“The committee unanimously agreed to recommend him to the house for approval,” Mr Osei-Owusu said.
During his vetting, Mr Agyebeng told the committee that he intends to guard his independence jealously in carrying out his mandate in terms of investigating, preventing, prosecuting corruption cases and managing seized, frozen or confiscated properties.
In his view, the relevance of the OSP cannot be overemphasised and, thus, warned: “…The day we scrap this office is the day we say goodbye to our fight against corruption”.
“Its relevance is borne out by its attributes and its uniqueness”, he argued, adding: “It is unique, as compared to all the other law enforcement agencies in respect of its mandate because no other institution has been carefully designed and thought-out to fight corruption specifically as Act 959 has done and Hon Chair, in respect of this, the office of the special prosecutor is the gold standard under the UN convention against corruption and the AU convention on the prevention and combatting of corruption”.
“The international community, including Ghana ratified these conventions in the early 2,000s, I think 2002 if I’m not wrong, that every jurisdiction requires such a specialised agency, it should be made independent with a specialised trained staff to focus on the fight against corruption”, he observed.
According to him, the OSP is relevant because the Attorney General “is a member of cabinet, he’s part of the government. How independent would he be in terms of certain individuals if they were to fall foul of the law if, for instance, they are also members of cabinet or members of the government?”
“But in respect of the OSP, the person manning it, who is not part of the government machinery, who is independent; and Hon Chair, if given the nod, I’m going to guard my independence jealously,” he said.
Mr Agyebeng also admitted to the committee that: “I am not naive to assume that I am coming to stop corruption”, adding: “There’s no way I can stop corruption”.
“God himself will not acclaim to that but I am going to make corruption very costly to engage in”, Mr Agyebeng told the committee.
Mr Agyebeng is the Chairman of the Electronic Communications Tribunal.
Mr Agyebeng was nominated as Ghana’s second Special Prosecutor following the resignation of Mr Martin Amidu.
Mr Amidu resigned from the position on 15 November 2020 citing interference by President Nana Akufo-Addo in his job.
In a letter to the Presidency, Attorney General Godfred Dame said: “Kissi Agyebeng possesses the requisite expertise on corruption and corruption-related matters and is of high moral character and proven integrity and satisfies all the other requirements stipulated in section 13(1) and (2) of Act 959.”
Section 13(8) of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959) requires the President to appoint a person qualified for appointment as Special Prosecutor to that position, within six months of the Office of Special Prosecutor becoming vacant
The building blocks for the Akufo-Addo administration’s vision to transform the Ghanaian economy and prepare her for the fourth industrial revolution are taking shape and will soon make all aspects of life better, Vice-president Bawumia has stated.
These building blocks, anchored on technology, are designed to improve public administration and the delivery of public services, formalise the economy, improve revenue mobilisation, deepen and broaden financial inclusiveness in the growth processes, and curb bribery and corruption.
Speaking at the first Graduation and fourth Matriculation ceremony of the Madina Institute of Technology (MIST) on Thursday, July 29, 2021, Vice-president Bawumia said Ghana’s rapid adoption of digital technologies since 2017 has been driven broadly by two considerations: the imperatives of change in the global economy, and the need to tackle our development challenges.
“We have since 2017 worked hard to leverage technology for development. We have developed what I call Digital Transformation Enablers. These include the famous Ghana Card, the Digital Address System, the Mobile Money Interoperability, the Universal QR Code and the Ghana.Gov platform”.
“It is these enablers that are enabling several applications and making digital transformation as drivers of growth possible.”
Citing the bottlenecks associated with accessing public services, Dr Bawumia indicated that the ongoing infusion of technology would soon put paid to the many human interfaces that lend themselves to corruption.
“Public institutions and bureaucracies have for far too long stuck to cumbersome structures, systems and procedures.
“We have sluggish centralised bureaucracies, rigid rules, hierarchical chains of command and highly interpersonal in its delivery of public services. No matter how educated you are, how much trigonometry and algebra you have learnt, they will want you to accept that getting passport or applying for business license is so complex you need “middlemen” and ‘goro boys’. These lead to the emergence of incentives conducive to bribery and corruption.
“In fact, of the many reforms to strengthen and improve the efficiency of public administration and eliminate the incentives for corruption, I strongly believe that digitisation can accomplish in short order what many years of public sector reforms have failed to achieve.
“Ghana is on an irreversible march for change. We consider digitisation in all areas of public administration as an important goal to be accomplished,” he declared.
Dr Bawumia emphasised that the linchpin for the success of the transformation agenda is human capital development, which is also receiving top priority from Government.
“President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is focused on the vision of developing human capital for the transformation of the country. Our young people especially, are central to this agenda, and it is this vision that informed the implementation of the Free Senior High School programme since 2017.
“The interest of the youth in science, technology and innovation, therefore, must be encouraged and nurtured. These are the building blocks for the new Ghana; a data-driven, knowledge-based digital economy.
Dr Bawumia commended authorities of the M.I.S.T. for staying true to their vision of science and technology education, saying the ongoing efforts to secure accreditation to roll out programmes in Computer Science, Information Technology, Data Science and Innovation and Technology Management are most welcome.
“This is a step in the right direction as we aim to develop additional capacity in the areas of Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data and Connectivity. It is not by accident that Google and Twitter are all finding their way to Ghana.” He added.
M.I.S.T.
Established as a non-profit organization in 2013 by the Madina Foundation for Science and Technology (MFST), M.I.S.T. was granted institutional accreditation by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission in June, 2016 and has institutional and programme (Engineering) affiliation with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi and the University for Development Studies (UDS), Tamale.
The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, performed the tape cutting ceremony to officially start the Institute in September 2017 as a University College, and was Guest of Honour at the first Graduation, of 64 students
Mr James Oppong-Boanuh has urged the police service and Ghanaians to support his incoming successor, Dr George Akuffo Dampare, to succeed.
At a Pull-Out ceremony held in his honour on Friday, 30 July 2021, at the National Police Training School in Accra, the outgoing Inspector General of Police said: “I am bowing out today with pride and a strong conviction that this service is blessed with a number of committed officers who are going to support the incoming IGP to successfully continue from where I left”.
“It is important to underline that the role of the security agencies, which is internally led by the police service, cannot be overemphasised”, he noted.
“In the midst of resource constraints and other organisational challenges, we have supported our country to attain global accolades”, Mr Oppong-Boanuh added.
“I believe we can do more to become one of the most peaceful countries in the world with the rest of leadership and supply of resources to the service.
“It is in this vein that I want to encourage all personnel of the service and the good people of this country to give the necessary support to the incoming IGP and his administration to discharge the core mandate of the police service in maintaining law and order”, he urged.
President Nana Akufo-Addo appointed Commissioner of Police (COP) Dr George Akuffo Dampare as acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP) not too long ago.
Dr Dampare is the current Director-General in charge of Administration at the Ghana Police Service.
Profile of Dr George Akuffo Dampare:
Dr George Akuffo Dampare is the youngest Acting Inspector–General of Police (IGP) to be appointed in the fourth Republic and the eighth youngest since Ghana gained independence. Prior to this appointment, he was the most senior police officer after the just retired IGP.
Dr Dampare joined the Ghana Police Service (GPS) as a Constable in December 1990 at age 20 and rose through the ranks to become Commissioner of Police (COP) 24 years later at age 44 in 2014, the rank he held until his appointment.
During his over thirty-year career as a police officer, Dr Dampare has made significant contributions to policing in Ghana and beyond as enumerated below:
At the leadership and management level, Dampare has had the rare privilege of serving as the Head (Director-General) of almost every major department, giving him greater insight into the administration of policing in Ghana. Specifically, Dr Dampare has been Director-General for Administration and Director-General for Welfare twice. He has also served as Director-General for MTTD, Director-General for Research & Planning, Director-General for Operations, Director-General for ICT, Director-General for Finance and Director-General for National Patrol Department (Police Visibility Department).
Other leadership positions Dr Dampare previously held include Commandant of the Police Command and Staff College, Accra Regional Police Commander, Regional Commander for Railways, Ports and Harbour (now Police Marine Department), Municipal Commander for Cape-Coast and Chief Internal Auditor of the GPS.
As the Director-General for National Operations, Dr Dampare created an efficient system where fragmented units were consolidated to create effective and complete departments such as the establishment of an Anti-armed Robbery Unit (the COMBAT Unit) to aggressively fight robbery and other violent crimes. He also created the Intelligence Unit within the National Operations Department, which later informed the creation of a Police Intelligence Department at the national level.
As Accra Regional Police Commander, Dampare introduced an innovative and proactive policing strategy called the “Continuous Stakeholder Engagement Programme” where all stakeholders were included and involved in policing the Region. For the first time, through this initiative, the Ghana Police Service under his leadership, visited Political Parties in their offices to engage them.
As Director-General in charge of Welfare, Dr Dampare introduced an innovative social welfare scheme where he led officers from the Department to visit the homes of scores of sick and bedridden police officers across the country, and also introduced strategic medical interventions to facilitate their wellness.
Still at Welfare, Dampare initiated a process at Dodowa and Kasoa to reclaim lands owned and paid for by police officers. The matter had become a national security threat as many officers were angry at the failure of the leadership of the police administration to intervene in the situation which had lasted for close to a decade. In 2013, under the leadership of the then Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Mohammed Ahmed Alhassan, Dr Dampare led a team of officers, working day and night, to restructure the Armoured Car Squadron (ACS) Unit into the Formed Police Unit (FPU) within a record time of ten (10) weeks. This task had remained impossible for over fifteen years. The FPU has now become one of the police units undertaking internal police operations and international peacekeeping missions under the United Nations and African Union.
As the Director-General of the National Patrol Department (Police Visibility Department) and under the leadership of the then IGP, Mohammed Ahmed Alhassan, Dampare supervised the implementation of the novel “Police Visibility” programme which saw the presence of police personnel at most intersections and communities in Ghana.
Again, during the implementation of the vision of the then IGP, Mohammed Ahmed Alhassan, for the creation of the Police Service Command and Staff College at Winneba and the Police Service Public Safety Training School at Pwalugu, Dr Dampare was the leader of the technical teams that ensured the full operationalization of these two specialist training institutions.
Dampare is credited with the idea that led to the establishment of the office of the Armourer-General which serves as the central point for accounting for arms and ammunitions within the Ghana Police Service as well as the establishment of the Service Enquiry Monitoring Unit (SEMU) with the responsibility of managing the GPS disciplinary system. As Coordinator of the National Inter-Ministerial Task Force for the 2007 Ghana Floods which was under the overall leadership of Dr Mrs Mary Chinnery-Hesse (then Chief Advisor to H.E. President J.A. Kufuor), Dr Dampare led a team, within a seven-month period, to develop and implement a National Disaster Management Model, which brought all United Nations Agencies, Red Cross and Civil Society organisations, among others, together, to successfully manage the disaster.
As Director-General for Finance, Dampare led a Police Technical Implementation Team to work with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, to migrate the Police Service onto the Single Spine Salary Structure as the first institution in the country to successfully complete the migration.
Still as Director-General for Finance, Dampare also introduced the payment of recruits’ allowances through the bank by getting them bank accounts as well as ATM cards. He also engaged the banks and got them to build ATMs at the Police Training Schools at no cost to the Government.
Under the visionary instructions of the then IGP, Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, Dampare also led a team to establish the Procurement Unit of the GPS and ensure full implementation of the Procurement Act. He introduced cost-saving measures in the repair of Service vehicles and the use of hotel accommodation, among others. Dr Dampare led a team of officers to use mostly donations from the private sector to give a facelift to the Police Headquarters by constructing a Public Affairs building, the Integrity Square, the Police Fitness and Social Centre and a Helipad. The CID Headquarters building was also refurbished under his leadership.
As Accra Regional Commander, Dampare raised sufficient capital from the private sector to complete a new office complex and re-roofed 90% of all office buildings at the Regional Headquarters which had been in a deplorable state for years.
During his policing career, Dr Dampare has undertaken numerous law enforcement courses at tactical, operational, strategic leadership and management levels, making him an all-round police officer with the required skills and competencies commensurate with his rank.
Aside from his policing, Dr Dampare previously worked as a Research Fellow and lecturer at King’s College London, University of London. He also lectured at the University of Cape-Coast (UCC), Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Regent University College and the Data Link University College. He is also one of the pioneer lecturers at the Business School of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi. Having passed the GCE Ordinary and Advanced level examinations as a private candidate in 1989 and 1992 respectively, Dr Dampare proceeded to study accountancy and became a Chartered Accountant in 1996 at age 25. He also holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Finance and Management from the King’s College, London, University of London, and has two Master of Science degrees with distinction in Accounting & Finance, from London South Bank University, UK and Business Systems Analysis & Design from City University of London, UK.
Dr Dampare also has a certificate in High Impact leadership from the Institute for Sustainability Leadership, University of Cambridge, UK and a certificate in Leadership and Management from the Aresty Institute of Executive Education, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, USA.
Dr Dampare is a member of a number of professional associations including the International Association of Chiefs of Police (ICP), International Association of Crime Analysts (IACA), the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICA) and the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA).
Dr Dampare has also served and continues to serve on several boards including the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) Governing Board, Data Link University College Council, Police Central Disciplinary Board and the Pumpkins Foundation Board (a philanthropic organization for underprivileged children, including those with autism). He is married to Anita and has six children
THE ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has set up a National Complaints Committee, which will receive formal grievances against any member who breaches a new code of conduct adopted by the National Council ahead of the presidential and parliamentary primaries.
According to the party, the code of conduct is to regulate the conduct of party members ahead of preparation for the crucial 2024 elections.
A press release issued by the General Secretary, John Boadu, on Tuesday, said the National Council decision has taken immediate effect and they will do well to ensure there is sanity ahead of the process so that the party will remain united to prosecute the 2024 agenda.
The statement said, “It shall be the duty of the National Complaints Committee to investigate each complaint of violations of this Code of Conduct to determine whether or not there is a prima facie case.”
Prima Facie
“Where the Committee has established a prima facie basis in a particular complaint, it shall make a referral to the National Disciplinary Committee for the necessary disciplinary actions in line with the provisions of the Constitution.”
The National Complaints Committee is made up of Frank Davies, who is the Chairman of the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee, Hackman Owusu Agyeman, who is the Chairman of the National Council of Elders, and John Boadu, the General Secretary.
“The National Council of the NPP, conscious of events of the past and the need to forestall reoccurrence and to instill discipline in Party administration, has adopted this Code of Conduct to regulate the conduct of Party Members in both Presidential and Parliamentary Primaries for Election 2024 during the Pre-Presidential and Parliamentary Primaries period,” the release said.
It added that “the Code of Conduct has been formulated in accordance with Article 18 of the New Patriotic Party’s Constitution and it is applicable to Party supporters and actors including Government Appointees; Ministers; Members of Governing Boards/Councils; Chief Executive Officers of Governmental Institutions; Members of Parliament; Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives; Aspirants/Potential Candidates; their Supporters and all other Members of the Party.”
“Sanctions shall be imposed on any member or supporter of the party, who fails, neglects, or refuses to comply with the orders of this Code of Conduct.
“Possible sanctions include fines, suspension, expulsion from the party or disqualification from holding any office or position in the party for a stated period,” the release stated.
The release emphasised that the party reserves the right to disqualify any potential presidential or parliamentary candidate or aspirant who either directly or indirectly breaches the new code of conduct.
Code of Conduct
Under the code of conduct, the party said members, supporters, and sympathisers at all levels are mandated to refrain from using the media (traditional or social) to attack the integrity and reputation of other members, particularly leading members perceived to be nurturing presidential or parliamentary ambitions, refrain from openly debating on the suitability, desirability or otherwise of the candidates until the party formally opens nominations through the General Secretary.
The NPP members have been asked not to initiate early gatherings camouflaged as activities or meetings which has the tendency of promoting the interest of a prospective presidential or parliamentary candidate, refrain from making any public statements or inferences through any print or electronic media including online portals and all social media outlets regarding the propriety or otherwise of any presidential or parliamentary candidate.
The members are entitled to hold their regular party meetings but shall desist from holding discussions on the suitability or otherwise of any prospective presidential or parliamentary candidate, and also desist from using their public office or portfolio within or outside the party to promote the interest of any prospective candidates for unfair political advantage.
They have been asked to not covertly or overtly solicit campaign contributions, gifts and other incentives in cash or kind, not hold any campaign activities for themselves or for any prospective candidate or form any groupings or association within or outside the party for or against any prospective candidate.
The party said that prospective presidential or parliamentary candidates shall be held responsible for the actions and inactions of any person or group of persons identified as supporter(s) of a particular candidate which are in flagrant breach of the code of conduct if the prospective candidate is seen explicitly or implicitly lending support or condoning and not publicly denouncing the activities of any such person or group of persons
Government has taken a decision to donate all confiscated rosewood, towards the construction of the National Cathedral, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor has announced.
According to the minister, persons and institutions found in connection with the criminal act would be handed over to the Police for necessary action. Mr Jinapor announced the new policy when he paid a working visit to Tema Port to ascertain for himself, how the ban on the export of rosewood is being enforced or otherwise.
He also inspected five containers which have been confiscated, noting that the confiscated Rosewood will be conveyed to the Achimota Depot of the Forestry Commission for onwards delivery to the National Cathedral project.
Speaking with the media after the tour, Mr Jinapor commended the leadership and officials of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) for the good work done so far, and urged them to strictly enforce the ban.
“Our determination to ensure the sustainable utilization and management of our natural resources with a sense of integrity is unflinching,” he firmly stated
A Ho Circuit Court has today granted bail to 88-years old Kwami Kudzodzi, also known as Papavi Hogbedetor, the leader of pro-seperatist Homeland Study Group.
The frail-looking octogenarian was arraigned before the court earlier today, following his arrest on Wednesday, 28 July at his private residence in Ho.
Papavi has been on the police wanted list for several months for declaring the Volta region as an independent Western Togoland in November 2019.
A bail application filed on his behalf on health grounds was granted by the court to the tune of Sixteen Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHC16,000) with sureties who are required to provide to the court a valid ID of themselves.
The case has since been adjourned to August 10, 2021.
President Akufo-Addo says government will allocate additional resources to the educational sector to address increasing access and infrastructure as a result of the free senior high school programme.
About 23 per cent of the country’s budget goes into the sector, but the free access has exposed challenges impacting quality.
But addressing the Global Education Summit in London on Thursday, the President said government is fully committed to ensuring every Ghanaians child has access to education.
“We’re spending some 23 per cent of our budget on education. It’s one of the highest on the continent, and we intend to ramp it up even more.”
For President Akufo Addo, introducing and implementing Senior High School (SHS) policy has ensured that hundreds of thousands of young Ghanaians who previously, would have had their education truncated at the Junior High School level now have the opportunity to further their education.
According to him, the introduction and acceptance of the Free SHS policy promoted by his government has expanded access to education dramatically, enabling hundreds of thousands of young men and women to go to Senior High School from all corners of our country.
“The policy has reversed decades of exclusion, which denied, on the average, one hundred thousand young men and women, annually, entry to senior high school education because of the poverty of their parents,” he said
With the free senior high school program now a reality, President Akufo Addo indicated government is looking at replicating it at the tertiary level.
President Akufo-Addo said his government is likely to add free tertiary education as well.
“I don’t want to give a timeline, but I’m sure it’s possible,” he said.
“For now, what has been put in place is a system where students at the tertiary level are provided loans while in school to help them cater for their needs, but we’re considering free Tertiary education too,” he said.
The Ministry of the Interior has announced Wednesday, August 4, 2021, as a public holiday.
The holiday, Founders’ Day, is to celebrate all persons who contributed in various ways towards Ghana’s independence.
“The public is hereby informed that Wednesday, August 4, 2020, which marks Founders’ Day, is a Statutory Public Holiday, and should be observed as such throughout the country,” Ambrose Dery, the Interior Minister said in a statement.
This will be the third time the day is being marked in the country after Parliament approved it as a Statutory Holiday in 2019.
It replaced Founder’s Day, which was celebrated on September 21 every year to mark the birthday of Ghana’s first President, Kwame Nkrumah.
Nonetheless, 21st September still remains a statutory public holiday in honour of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah
The free water policy was announced by President Akufo-Addo to cushion Ghanaians during the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak last year
The government has so far spent GHC836.82 million in total on implementing the free water policy to counter the COVID-19 pandemic, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has said.
The programme, which ran from April to December 2020, was extended to June this year for lifeline domestic customers.
Delivering the government’s Mid-Year Budget Review in Parliament on Thursday (29 July), Ofori-Atta said: “Mr Speaker, as part of the government’s social interventions for supply of free water under the COVID-19 initiatives, the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources partnered Ghana Water Company Ltd (GWCL) and the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) to ensure the full realisation of the objective. The programme started in April 2020 and was supposed to have ended in December 2020.”
Ofori-Atta added: “However, the government decided to extend it to June 2021 for domestic customers whose monthly consumption does not exceed five cubic metres.
“In all over ten million urban dwellers were supplied with potable water by GWCL from April to December 2020. Currently, a total of over 2.30 million urban domestic dwellers whose monthly consumption does not exceed five cubic metres are benefiting from the programme. The cost of the programme to date is GHC836.82 million.”
The Finance Minister said water supplied to rural and peri urban areas by the Community Water and Sanitation Authority (CWSA) accounted for GHC100.28 million as at June this year.
“Mr Speaker, CWSA, on the other hand, supplied 17.92 million cubic metres of potable water to rural and peri-urban population of 5.81 million at a total cost of GHC100.28 million between April 2020 to June 2021.
Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, the Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has bemoaned the extreme hardship Ghanaians are having to bear under the leadership of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
According to him, the suffering of Ghanaians from an ever-increasing cost of living coupled with a further increase in existing taxes has placed a number of people in dire situations hence the need for President Akufo-Addo to “stretch a hand of cooperation to all Ghanaians, able to play a role in rescuing our dear nation from the abyss it is falling.”
“I’m pleading with President Akufo-Addo to take the measures needed to bring relief to suffering Ghanaians,” he said on Accra-based Kingdom FM.
According to him, the NPP Government is even worse than any government Ghana has ever had.
He continued: “In addition, I encourage the President and his close associates to seize the occasion to create an atmosphere that is more tolerant of criticism and devoid of intimidation in order for the media, CSOs, and individuals to freely express themselves and contribute to national discourse.”
He indicated that although some past governments were referred to as ones that superintended over economic hardships, the difficult times Ghanaians are currently living in under the Akufo-Addo administration are the “worst” in many years.
“I continue to remain focused on growing the Atta-Mills Institute, building Asomdwee Park, and flying high the legacy of President Atta-Mills. My Bible tells me that, in ALL things, I should give thanks to God Almighty for His grace and mercies. I love Ghana!”
These were the response of Samuel Koku Anyidoho, the former Deputy opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) General Secretary and once Director of Communications during the Prof. Mills administration, who was suspended last year and finally sacked on Tuesday evening from the party.
Koku Anyidoho, who now heads the Atta Mills Institute, has been posting series of tweets on social media since the NDC in a letter signed by it General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, said the party has expelled the once powerful NDC guru.
He replied on social media that, “When Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery; they did not know they were selling him into his God-given destiny to become a Prime Minister in Egypt. What evil men mean for wickedness; God turns it around for good. I am a Son of God.”
He added, “I am happy that all kinds of pretentious groups are working to keep the legacy of President Atta-Mills alive. By their fruits, we shall know them.” “Hypocrites and parasites,” he stated, adding, “I foresee very soon, all kinds of pretentious groups will pop up to say they love Atta-Mills because of the solid job the Atta-Mills Institute has done to keep the memory of the late President alive. My prayer is for President Akufo-Addo to build Asomdwee Park and shame the Pretenders.”
Sacking Drama
Some have claimed he was sacked through the media and that nobody in the party has sent the expulsion letter to him, others are claiming the party has notified him officially.
The NDC General Secretary, Mr. Asiedu Nketia, was on radio yesterday justifying the sacking and said sarcastically that everybody in the party was now happy over the decision and that they were even going to ‘throw’ a party over the incident.
Social Media Letter
The NDC on Tuesday evening said they have with immediate effect, sacked Koku Anyidoho from the party after finding him culpable for gross misconduct and anti-party behaviour.
They then asked Koku Anyidoho, who has served the NDC in different capacities in the past, to return all party property in his custody without delay.
The expulsion was executed by the Functional Executive Committee (FEC) of the NDC, after it considered a report and recommendations of the National Disciplinary Committee.
The sacking letter, authored by Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, said, “At its meeting on Tuesday, July 27, 2021, the Functional Executive Committee of the National Democratic Congress considered the report and recommendations of the National Disciplinary Committee on the case of misconduct and anti-party behaviour brought against you (Mr. Samuel Koku Anyidoho), pursuant to Article 48 (1) (9) (a) of the NDC Constitution.
“The committee’s report (which is attached for your perusal) found you guilty of the said allegations of misconduct and anti-party behaviour and recommended your outright expulsion from the party.
“The Functional Executive Committee (FEC) acting in compliance of Article 48 (1) of the NDC Constitution unanimously adopted the report and accepts full responsibility for your expulsion from the party,” part of Mr. Anyidoho’s sacked letter said.
It stated that it would be illegal and against the constitution of the NDC if Mr. Anyidoho overtly or covertly continues to carry himself as an NDC member, stressing that, “You are no more recognised as a member of the party and cannot carry yourself as such.”
The NDC letter was also emphatic that Mr. Anyidoho has no right to possess any party item or property, especially now that he (Anyidoho) has been expelled for good from the largest opposition political party.
“You are by this letter and pursuant to Article 48 (10) of the party’s constitution directed to return any party property that may be in your custody and you shall also forfeit any moneys, dues of subscription fees that you may have made to the party.”
It would be recalled that until his expulsion on Tuesday, Mr. Anyidoho was under suspension from the NDC for gross misconduct and anti-party behaviour, a charge which eventually led to his sacking from the party
Ghana’s total petroleum receipts (i.e. proceeds from liftings and other petroleum receipts) for the first half of 2021 amounted to US$330.3 million, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has revealed to parliament on Thursday, 29 July 2021 in the mid-year budget review.
Of these, proceeds from the sale of the volume of crude oil liftings consisting of the 58th and 59th from the Jubilee field, the 7th from the SGN field, and the 18th from the TEN field totalling 3,840,517 barrels, contributed US$232.24 million.
Out of the total receipts, an amount of US$98.34 million was transferred to GNPC, made up of equity financing cost of US$60.9 million and GNPC’s share of the net-carried and participating interest of US$37.5 million.
An amount of US$76.8 million was transferred into the Ghana Petroleum Funds (GPFs), out of which the Ghana Heritage Fund (GHF) received US$23.0 million while the Ghana Stabilisation Fund (GSF) received US$53.7 million.
The Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) account received a total of US$155.2 million, out of which US$21.7 million was allocated to the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF), leaving a net ABFA of US$133.5 million to fund projects in specified priority sectors of the economy
• The National Cathedral is expected to be ready for the public by March 6, 2024
• The Minister of Finance announced this in Parliament during the reading of his Mid-Year Budget Review
• He explained that this edifice will become a sacred space for formal religious activities of State
The National Cathedral will be open on March 6, 2024, declares the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.
He explained that with the progress of work so far, works on the national edifice should be completed by the said date and open to the public.
“Mr. Speaker, work on the National Cathedral is progressing speedily, and following the program of the contractors, — and with God helping us, — the National Cathedral is expected to be officially commissioned on March 6, 2024.
“Upon completion, the National Cathedral would provide a sacred space for formal religious activities of State and symbolize the enormous contribution of faith to Nation Building,” he said.
He made this known while delivering the Mid-Year Budget Review to the Parliament of Ghana on Thursday, July 29, 2021.
• The president said the youth should look out for big opportunities from the government
The president of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has urged the youth of the country to brace up for big opportunities that are to be introduced soon.
Making this known through the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, he said that even though the recent times have been challenging, what the government has in the pipeline will be beneficial to them.
Delivering the 2021 Mid-Year Budget Review in Parliament, the minister explained that the president acknowledges that there have been difficulties in recent times and is initiating opportunities that will uplift their businesses.
“The last couple of years have not been easy for our young people. Your education has been disrupted; for many of you, your business plans are on hold because of lack of funding or opportunities. You may have lost your job or are simply tired of joining long queues or filling job application forms for vacancies that are filled even before your ink is dry.
“But we have a message for you: big opportunities are coming, and the President wants you to be part of that. The President is determined to see as many of you having the opportunity to help shape our future. We value your input, and even as we roll out programmes to support you, we will continue to engage,” he stated.
Fishermen at Elmina have rejected food items provided to them by the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Mavis Hawa Koomson.
According to them, the Minister had announced to them that when the season opens, she will not entertain light fishing on the sea again, hence, their rejection of the food items.
Light fishing is the process of fishing that attracts fish by hooking, gill-netting or by any other gear.
The light source may be by means of a fire torch, pressure kerosene lamp, gas-lit lamp and battery or generator assisted incandescent lamp.
Fisheries experts say such practices are inimical to the growth of the fishing industry but the fishermen at Elmina insist, it remains one of the ways of survival in the fishing business.
They are, therefore, of the view that, should the law be enforced by the minister, they would be deprived of their livelihood.
Though the ban on fishing is expected to be lifted on Sunday dawn, the fishermen said the minister’s stance on light fishing was worrying.
According to them, asking them to stop light fishing is tantamount to going hungry because the resources in the sea have depleted and they cannot do without that method of fishing.
The fishermen contend further that Madam Koomson did not show them enough care when the season was closed for a month by bringing them food until they had endured the season which is almost over that she was bringing them food.
The angry fishermen jeered and booed at the Minister and her entourage who had packed bags of rice and gallons of cooking oil ready to distribute them.
They chanted war songs indicating their protest. “Yeengye oooo yennngye oooooo,” meaning, “we will not accept them, we will not collect them.”
The Minister’s entourage had no option other than to pack the items back into a waiting pick-up truck.
Not even the intervention of the Omanhen of the Edina Traditional Area, Nana Kwodwo Conduah, could change the minds of the fishermen.
“We have endured the closed season with its attendant hunger and other difficulties. It is not today that the season was almost over in three days- that she is bringing us food,” one fisherman remarked.
The Minister and her entourage had to leave the hostile environment they found themselves.
• The Finance Minister has said the country’s inflation rate and interest rate are lower than it was in 2016
• He also said government did not go to the IMF for bailout programmes
• Ken Ofori-Atta said the country’s inflation rate and interest rate are lower than that of 2016
The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has subtly jabbed the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) for raising what they termed as red flags in the Akufo-Addo led government.
Among other concerns raised by the NDC were the rise in public debts and the potential burden it has on future generations.
Appearing before Parliament to present the mid-year budget review on Wednesday, July 29, 2021, the Finance Minister attributed the rising debt levels to the outbreak of coronavirus.null
He furthered that despite this hindrance, workers have not been laid off and the most talked-about teacher trainee allowance and nursing trainee allowances have not been cancelled.
Also, he noted that, the country’s inflation rate and interest rate are lower than that of 2016.
Ken Ofori-Atta said the exchange rate has been more stable under President Akufo-Addo’s term as compared to the Mahama administration in 2016.
He stressed that these proofs are enough to show that the Akufo-Addo led government has properly managed the economy.
“Notwithstanding our elevated debt levels as a result of COVID-19, our inflation rate is lower than it was in 2016, our interest rates are lower than it were in 2016, our exchange rate is more stable than it was in 2016, our foreign exchange reserves are much higher than they were in 2016 and we did not have to lay off any workers nor cancel teacher trainee and nursing trainee allowances,” he told parliament.null
“Furthermore, we did not go to the IMF for bailout programmes and neither have we built an interchange for the price of 3. This is because we have managed the economy much better than it was managed up to 2016,” he added.
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) charged the Akufo-Addo led government to stop excessive borrowing from the Western world.
According to a member of the Finance Committee in Parliament, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, if government is not guided with their borrowing, the next generation would be burdened with public debt.
Speaking at the Policy dialogue on the economy held in Accra on Monday, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson said, the Akufo-Addo government should invest in infrastructure and other beneficial projects.
He averred that, “Everyone borrows but please when you borrow, borrow smartly. Borrow not for chop chop but pay for things that can repay for itself. Even advanced countries borrow. When they borrow, they build infrastructure. They do things that can repay itself. They don’t borrow for chop chop and it is important we make that point.”null
“What the NPP is seeking to do now is to actually give all of us, our kids, our generations a burden of carrying a public debt. A debt that when we are not careful, we cannot pay,” he added.
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has told Parliament during the delivery of the mid-year budget statement on Thursday, July 29 that the Akufo-Addo administration took bold and decisive measures to deal with the negative impact of the covid on the economy.
Mr Ofori-Atta told the House that the huge negative impact of COVID-19 on the global economy was to be expected because no country around the world expected a pandemic of this magnitude.
However, he said governments around the world including that of Ghana acted with prudent measures to deal with the situation.
“The hardship of covid 19, the stress, negative impact on employees and employers was unprecedented but expected because no country in the work had prepared for it.
“We took responsible, innovative and decisive and bold actions to tackle the crisis,” he said.
As part of efforts to deal with the effect of the covid on the local economy, the central bank unexpectedly cut its benchmark interest rate to the lowest in more than nine years to support the recovery of the economy.null
The monetary policy committee reduced the rate to 13.5% from 14.5%, Governor Ernest Addison told reporters on Monday in Accra, the capital. All four economists in a Bloomberg survey expected the rate to remain unchanged.
Ghana’s central bank was one of the first in sub-Saharan Africa that stepped in last year by cutting lending rates to shield the economy from the fallout of plunging oil prices and lockdowns to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. While the 150 basis-point cut announced in March 2020 was the last monetary policy support it provided and output expanded at the slowest pace in 37 years, the West African economy still fared better than most of its peers, where gross domestic product contracted.
Economic activity has picked up strongly, even as new taxes that were implemented this month weighed on consumer and business confidence, Addison said. GDP could expand by 4.6% this year, according to International Monetary Fund projections.
Inflation dropped to a 13-month low of 8.5% in April, moving close to the centre of the central bank’s target range as food-cost growth eased. That’s after the rate was above the target band of 6% to 10% for most of the past year. The MPC expects the rate of price growth to reach the midpoint of the target range by June.
Positive moves in the economy and on the direction of inflation, as well as the fact that the risks associated with last year’s election are over, gave the MPC room to bring down the policy rate to signal progress, Addison said.
The Koforidua Circuit Court “B” Presided by Her Honour Mercy Addei Kotei has sentenced a 54-year-old businessman to a jail term of 9 years and five months for throwing acid on his 22-year-old ex-girlfriend and her mother at Awukugua-Akuapem in the Okere District in Eastern region.
The convict, Nana Yaw Mante, who is the biological father of the District Chief Executive for Okere in December 2020 attacked the victims with acid while in their room at Awukugua.
They both sustained serious injuries and were hospitalized, treated, and discharged.
The convict committed the act few months after the Koforidua Magistrate Court “A” found him guilty and convicted him to a fine of GHC1,200 and ordered him to pay a compensation of GHC1000 to the 22-year-old ex-girlfriend for filming and circulating her sexually explicit videos and pictures.
He entered a warrant of good behavior and to stay away from the victim.
Before delivering the judgment Wednesday, July 28, 2021, the Presiding Judge of Koforidua Circuit Court “B” Her Honour Mercy Addei Kotei took into consideration the previous conviction to apply the highest sentencing.
The convict pleaded for clemency and begged to be sent to either Nsawam Prison or Ankaful Prison to begin his jail term.
Previous case.
The 54-year-old Businessman was put before a Koforidua Magistrate Court for filming and circulating nude videos of his 22-year-old ex-girlfriend.
He was charged for obscenity contrary to section 281(i) B of the Criminal Offence Act,29/60.
The Prosecutor, Sergeant George Defia told the Court presided over by His Worship Nana Osei Assibey on Tuesday, May 19 that the convict and the victim, a Senior High School dropout are both natives of Awukugua in the Okere District of the Eastern Region.
According to the prosecuting officer, four years ago, Nana Yaw Mante met the victim who was then 18 years and had dropped out of school due to financial challenges.
Under the pretense of assisting her financially to go back to school, took undue advantage and entered into a sexual relationship with her.
The family of the victim became suspicious and confronted the accused person but he denied having sexual relations with the victim. The relationship hit the rocks due to disapproval and pestering by the family. However, in 2019, the convict convinced the victim and they reunited.
Nana Yaw Mante, for fear of losing the victim again, told her that he had taken her to a shrine and the gods were demanding to see her nakedness.
In November 2019, he lured the victim to Dawu near Adukrom-Akuapem where he recorded series of sexually explicit videos of themselves.
He later shared the videos of the victim with her Aunty and two other men he alleged were also dating the victim. The videos went viral on social media in February 2020.
The victim reported the incident to the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit(DOVVSU) at the Regional Police Headquarters in Koforidua.
He was arrested on February 7, 2020, and in his caution statement admitted recording the sexually explicit videos of the victim and sharing same.
The receivers of the videos confirmed to Police during interrogation that the accused sent it to them but denied circulating on social media.
The Member of Parliament for Assin North Constituency, James Gyakye Quayson, has charged his supporters and, by extension, all sympathetic Ghanaians not to be worried by events on Wednesday, July 28 at the Cape Coast High Court.
He insinuates that the judgement by Justice Kwasi Boakye annulling results of December 7, 2020, Parliamentary Elections is a result of “dark machinations of an elite few”.
He assured his supporters that “I am in high spirit and confident that this momentary travesty shall rather make us emerge stronger”.
These were contained in a statement he issued on Thursday, July 29.
“Our massive victory in Assin North on December 7, 2020, was a pure and legitimate one-handed over to us by the discerning people of Assin North and we shall resist every attempt to subvert the true will of the people,” he stated.
“Victory from the masses is far superior to the dark machinations of an elite few.”null
He expressed gratitude to the chiefs and people of Assin North as well as the rank and file of his party for their support over the last 24 hours.
“The solidarity from the rank and file of the NDC and the general public as a whole has renewed my confidence in a brighter future for this country regardless of the treacherous momentary setbacks.”
He charged his supporters not to be discouraged and that “the confirmation of our historic victory beckons”.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP, who won the parliamentary elections, had his citizenship challenged by a resident of Assin Bereku, Michael Ankoma-Nimfah.
But the opposition party has since served notice the judgement will be challenged at the Supreme Court.
Government has outlined plans to create about 1 million jobs as part of a three-year strategy to address youth unemployment in the country.
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta made this known during his presentation of the mid-year fiscal policy review to Parliament on Thursday July 29, 2021.
According to him, though government through its flagship programmes like the 1 District 1 Factory (1D1F) and Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) has created significant number of jobs, the issue of youth unemployment in the country still persist and it is thus putting measures in place to create more and better jobs for young Ghanaians, both in the public and the private sectors of the economy.
He said: “I have had extensive discussions with my colleague Ministers of Employment and Labor Relations, Youth & Sports and Lands & Natural Resources. These conversations culminated in a comprehensive strategy to sustainably address youth unemployment. New programmes will be introduced and existing ones scaled-up and refocused to meet the aspirations of our youth.
“We will work together to sensitize and connect the youth to the numerous opportunities being made available by Government programmes, including a 3-year strategy to create job opportunities for 1 million Ghanaian youth. There are currently about 5 on-going programmes through which we intend to create these jobs,” he said.
Although the economic disruptions occasioned by the COVID-19 has led to more people losing their jobs, Mr. Ofori-Atta said government’s plan to reboot the economy and set it back in motion through the Gh¢100 billion Ghana CARES ‘Obaatanpa’ revitalization programme will be vital in the country’s journey towards the creation of this 1 million jobs.
This he said will help accelerate competitive import substitution and export expansion to generate sustainable jobs for the teeming youth (under 35 years), which constitutes about 71% of the population.
Ken Ofori-Atta says the government will not impose new taxes on Ghanaians or ask for more money for its transformation agenda
The Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has given assurance to Ghanaians that the government is not going to impose more taxes on them after the devastating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Presenting the 2021 Mid-Year Budget Review in Parliament on Thursday 29 July 2021, Ofori-Atta said the government is proud to defend its performance in the first half of the year under review.
“I am not here today to ask for more money. I have not come to ask for more taxes. I have come to update the House on the performance of the economy for the first half-year of 2021 and our plans for the unexpired term of the year,” he said.
Transformation agenda
Ofori-Atta said the government’s transformation agenda for the year remains on course, adding: “However, with COVID-19 still with us, it is important to stress that this recovery is only the beginning; a beginning that requires our collective sense of responsibility and action as citizens to guide, protect and participate in the recovery efforts.”
“One of the serious impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the loss of jobs, which has exacerbated the unemployment problem, particularly among the youth. As such, government is ready with a comprehensive programme to tackle this intractable problem. The goal is to create employment opportunities for a million of our young people over the next two and a half years by igniting a high spirit of entrepreneurship. We will count on the support of this august House.
“Our focus on taxes is to collect what is due the Republic. To this end, we are building a robust framework to expand Domestic Revenue Mobilisation to focus on compliance and enforcement nationwide. We 7 have established the Revenue Assurance and Compliance Enforcement (RACE). The remit of RACE is to identify and eliminate revenue leakages in areas such as petroleum bunkering, gold and minerals export, port operations, transit goods, warehousing, border controls and free zones operations, to name but a few,” he added.
Ebs
Ofori-Atta said the government has outlined plans to create about one million jobs as part of a three-year strategy to address youth unemployment in the country.
According to him, though the government through its flagship programmes like the 1 District 1 Factory (1D1F) and Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) has created significant number of jobs, the issue of youth unemployment in the country still persists and it is thus putting measures in place to create more and better jobs for young Ghanaians, both in the public and the private sectors of the economy.
He said: “I have had extensive discussions with my colleague ministers of employment and labor relations, youth and sports and lands and natural resources. These conversations culminated in a comprehensive strategy to sustainably address youth unemployment. New programmes will be introduced and existing ones scaled-up and refocused to meet the aspirations of our youth.
“We will work together to sensitise and connect the youth to the numerous opportunities being made available by Government programmes, including a three-year strategy to create job opportunities for 1 million Ghanaian youth. There are currently about five on-going programmes through which we intend to create these jobs
• The vetting committee of MMDCEs has completed its work and submitted its report to President Akufo-Addo
• President Akufo-Addo will name MMDCEs soon
• This was made known by the General Secretary of the governing New Patriotic Party
Following the ministerial appointments made by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo months ago, Ghanaians were expecting that the list for Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) would be announced but there has been a delay with that.
The General Secretary of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), John Boadu has been explaining why the appointment of MMDCEs has been delayed.
According to him, the team set up for the vetting of the MMDCEs aspirants had to make sure there was a gender balance in their selection.null
Also, the infusion of youthful people and other factors including ethnic backgrounds contributed to the delay in settling for the selected persons.
Meanwhile, the committee formed to vet the MMDCEs aspirants have completed their work and have submitted the report to President Akufo-Addo.
“The committee has finished and presented its report to the president. There is the need to ensure gender balance, the infusion of youthful people, and also to respond to local dynamics and ethnic backgrounds as well,” John Boadu told Citi News.
Per Article 243 (1) of the 1992 Constitution, the District Chief Executive for every district shall be appointed by the President with the prior approval of not less than two-thirds majority of members of the Assembly present and voting at a meeting
The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia says African economies need digital currencies backed by central banks to give credibility to transactions.
Addressing participants at the opening of the International Trade and Finance Conference (GITFiC 2021) in Accra on Tuesday, Dr Bawumia said, with the advent of digitization, digital currencies springing up on the African continent is imminent, but he was quick to warn that what African economies need are central bank-backed digital currencies, not cryptocurrency.
Responding to a question on the readiness of the continent for an African digital currency, especially with the presence of the AFCFTA, Dr Bawumia stressed the imminent adoption of digital currencies but added that such moves should be backed by African Central banks, just as the Bank of Ghana has initiated a pilot digital currency.
“Digitization and the advent of digital currencies is something that is definitely coming. We are facing it and I am very happy that the Central Bank of Ghana is beginning a pilot digital currency and I think it will ultimately be the way to go for Africa. That we will adopt, or we should end up trying to adopt a digital currency,” Dr Bawumia said.
“But I think that a digital currency that is backed by the central banks; that gives a lot of credibility to transactions and I think this is where we should be headed and the Bank of Ghana is leading the way. I expect other central banks to come forward with this in the future. It is the way to go.”null
The conference was attended both physically and virtually by senior officials of African central banks, the African Union, West African Monetary Institute members of the Diplomatic Corps, and other key stakeholders in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Social commentator, Bernard Allotey Jacobs, has jabbed the leadership of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) for dismissing their former Deputy General Secretary, Koku Anyidoho.
A statement issued by the NDC under the signature of the party’s General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia indicated that Mr. Anyidoho has been sacked from the party with immediate effect.
“The Functional Executive Committee (FEC), acting in compliance of article 48(1) of the NDC constitution unanimously adopted the report and accepts full responsibility for your expulsion from the party. You, are, therefore by the decision of FEC expelled from the National Democratic congress and for that matter, you are no more recognized as a member of the party and cannot carry yourself as such,” portions of the statement read.
The statement further directed Koku Anyidoho to “return any party property that may be in your custody and you shall also forfeit any monies, dues or subscription fees that you may have made to the party”.
In reaction to Koku’s dismissal, Allotey Jacobs feared for the future of the NDC with the party left in the hands of the current leadership, with particular emphasis on Mr. Asiedu Nketia.
Allotey Jacobs seemingly regretted playing a role in the election of Mr. Asiedu Nketia as the party’s Chief Scribe saying their decision, which they made after being convinced by the late Ex-President Jerry John Rawlings to vote for Mr. Asiedu Nketia, had “boomerang on us”.
On the trend that the party is taking, Allotey strongly opined that any person who dissents to the party’s ways is seen as a threat and therefore faces dismissal.
This, to him, shouldn’t be encouraged stating, “today, any dissention, you’re sacked. You’re suspended. You’re this; you’re that! And they keep the ignorant and the innocent ones going that what we’ve done is good for the party but well I no longer belong to that party”.
Allotey Jacobs warned the party executives not to rejoice over their acts because they will one day taste the punishment they’re dishing out to others.
There are 163 convicts on death row in Ghana and they are treated as convicts serving life imprisonment, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, told Parliament.
He said, however, that since July 1993, the death penalty had never been carried out although a number of accused persons had been sentenced to death.
The Attorney General and Minister of Justice said this when he appeared before Parliament to respond to a question by MP for Madina, Francis-Xavier Kojo Sosu, who wanted to know the steps being taken to amend the laws to abolish the death penalty.
The abolition was recommended by the Constitution Review Commission in 2011.
In response, the Minister said the death penalty in Ghana had constitutional and statutory underpinnings in terms of creation of offences for which the penalty is death.
The offences include high treason, murder, genocide, piracy and organised criminal group contrary to provisions set in the Criminal Offences Act, (1960), Act 29.
He said the offence of high treason was created by Article 3(3) of the 1992 Constitution and a penalty of death is stipulated in the provision for its commission.
Further, Article 19(2)(a) provides a clue that the framers of the Constitution were cognisant of the existence on the statute books of Ghana of offences punishable by death other than high treason.
The provision in setting out the procedure for a trial of a certain class of offence, stipulates thus: “A person charged with a criminal offence shall (a)in the case of an offence other than high treason or treason, the punishment for which is death or imprisonment for life, be tried by a judge and jury.”
The Minister explained that high treason was not tried by a judge and jury and that the provision in Article 19(2)(a) on the clear wording, therefore, suggests that the framers of the Constitution contemplated the existence of offences for which the punishment would be death or life imprisonment.
“It is my respectful submission that an abolition of the death penalty would imply an amendment of articles 3(3) and 19(2)(a) of the Constitution as well as provisions of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29)” the Minister said, adding; “An amendment of Act 29 is the duty of Parliament, and not the Executive.
Mr Dame, however, said an amendment of articles 3(3) and 19(2)(a) of the Constitution must be effected through a recourse to the procedure stipulated in Article 290, since the provisions were entrenched.
He submitted that the processes to trigger an amendment of an entrenched provision, including the provisions on the death penalty, were the prerogative of Parliament.
The Minister said following the completion of the work of the Constitution Review Committee in January 2010, the Constitution Review Implementation Committee was established in September, 2012, to implement the Government White Paper on the recommendations.
The Constitution Review Implementation Committee proposed 40 amendments of entrenched provisions with two additional consequential amendments and transitional provisions, as well as 50 non-entrenched proposed amendments and six additional clauses.
To achieve this, the Constitution Review Implementation Committee, before the expiry of its mandate on 31st December, 2016, presented to the then Attorney-General, Mrs Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong, a Constitution (Amendment) (Entrenched Provisions) Bill, and a Constitution (Amendment) (Non-Entrenched Provisions) Bill.
Clause 2 of the Constitution (Amendment) (Entrenched Provisions) Bill provides for the abolition of the death penalty.
The Minister said effectively, this would have replaced the death penalty with imprisonment for life without parole.
However, given the limited time, inadequate consultation and the requirement of a referendum under Article 290 of the Constitution, the Constitution (Amendment) (Entrenched Provisions) Bill did not go through the processes constitutionally required for its passage.
According to the Minister, when Ms Gloria Afua Akuffo assumed office as the Attorney-General, she established the Constitution Amendment Review Committee on 17th October, 2018 to review the work and identify practical ways to facilitate the implementation of the proposed amendments.
Mr Dame said the Committee, which he chaired, observed that the manner in which the erstwhile Constitution Review Implementation Committee had proposed 40 amendments of entrenched provisions with two additional consequential amendments and transitional provisions, as one bill, to be voted upon at one referendum was not feasible, unwieldy and not in the national interest.
“The intended exercise could actually be interpreted as an attempt to force the hands of the electorate to make such an important decision without reference to the substantially diverse nature of the amendments,” the Minister said.
“This approach was inherently unconstitutional as the free choice of the electorate, which is an essential aspect of the referendum exercise, would have been defeated.”
Mr Dame said the Committee, in identifying practical ways to facilitate the implementation of the proposed amendments, noted that the proposed amendments needed to be prioritised with reference to those, which were of utmost public interest and importance and those, which could be amended within the shortest possible time.
The abolition of the death penalty was not one of them, he said, and that given that the Constitution was not amended to abolish the death penalty, the amendment of section 49 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), and sections 294 and 295 of the Criminal and Other Offences (Procedure) Act, 1960 (Act 30) on the death penalty had also not been effected and were still on the statute books.
•The Central Regional General Secretary of the NPP wants James Quayson prosecuted for perjurynull
•He has petitioned the CID the investigate and prosecute James Quayson
•The Cape Coast High Court has ruled that Quayson was not eligible to contest the 2020 elections
After losing his seat as the Member of Parliament for Assin North, James Gyaakye Quayson, the Parliamentary candidate of the National Democratic Congress for the 2020 election will now have to fight against going to jail as criminal proceedings have been instituted against him.
The Central Regional Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party has disclosed that he filed a petition at the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service in January 2021, demanding that James Quayson be investigated for committing perjury.
Richard Techie-Mensah told Citi News on Wednesday, July 28, 2021 that James Quayson lied to the state during the filing of nomination forms for the 2020 elections.null
He claims that James Quayson told a judicial officer then that at the point of filing his forms in October he owed allegiance to no country aside Ghana.
Following the ruling by the Cape Coast High Court, Richard Techie-Mensah is of the view that James Quayson committed perjury by lying under oath and must be prosecuted for same.
This position was re-affirmed by the National Youth Organizer of the NPP, Henry Nana Boakye (Nana B) in an interview with the press in Cape Coast after the ruling.
Nana B said that the party will assist the CID to investigate the issue and prosecute James Quayson.
“Our Regional Secretary has made a formal complaint to the CID, so I am very sure that the CID in its judgement will consider it and critically assess it, and we’re also going on with the criminal proceedings. The laws have not changed regarding filing nominations and dual citizenship, so we are looking forward to the law taking effect. Don’t forget that before the swearing-in there was an injunction against him for holding himself up as an MP, and I am very sure that criminal charges will be pressed against him,” he said.null
Precedent
A similar issue that easily comes to mind is of the late Adamu Dramani Sakande who was convicted on counts of false declaration of office, perjury and deceiving a public officer.
He was found guilty of stating that he owed allegiance to no other country at a time his citizenship renunciation process had not been successful.
Sakande was sentenced to two years imprisonment by the Fast Track High Court on July, 27, 2012.
He was granted presidential pardon by John Mahama in December 2012 after battling heart-related illness whiles in prison. He died in 2020
• Speaker of ParliamentAlban Bagbin has clarified comments he made relative to Ghana – Nigeria trade
• Reports emerged that Bagbin had called Ghanaian businesses opportunists during an address in Nigeria
• The Speaker has clarified his comments and accepted an apology from GUTA
Alban Bagbin, Speaker of Parliament, has clarified comments he is reported to have made suggesting that Ghanaian traders were opportunists when he addressed Nigeria’s National Assembly on July 7, 2021.
Bagbin told officials of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) during a meeting on Tuesday: “I was talking about others trying to take an opportunity of some weaknesses in our system.
“How can I go to Nigeria to serve Ghanaians and attack them before Nigerians and call my own people opportunists? Where is this coming from?” he quizzed.null
“I will never go and sell Ghana for a pittance. If I wanted money, by this time I would have been one of the richest in Ghana,” Mr. Bagbin said.
Bagbin in his address in Abuja had cautioned that both nations “must not fail to prevent opportunists from taking undue advantage of loopholes in our systems that may jeopardise the economic countries of our respective countries.”
GUTA president Dr. Joseph Obeng who led a delegation that met with Bagbin in Parliament, subsequently apologized for the critical views that his group aired over the purported comments.
He, however, stressed the need for the legislature to continue to push for the interest of Ghanaian businesses.
The GUTA boss also insisted that a proposal to reconsider the US$1 million minimum capital requirement for Nigerian traders operating in Ghana needed to be maintained because reviewing it down will affect Ghanaian businesses.null
Bagbin also assured that the Ghana Investment Promotion Council, GIPC, law which imposes that requirement among other parameters remained intact and will not be altered.
It is based on that law that Ghanaian businesses have clashed with Nigerian traders in parts of the country to the extent of closing down those that are in contravention of regulations.
The law bars a foreigner from investing in or participating in the sale of goods or provision of services in a market – be it petty trading, hawking or selling products in a stall at any place.
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has collected GHc25.89 billion in tax revenue as against GHc26.1 billion targeted for the first half of the year, resulting in a GHc212 million shortfall.
The GRA said it collected GHc18.45 billion in domestic tax revenue and GHc7.44 billion from international trade or customs.
Deputy Commissioner in charge of Research, Strategy, Policy and Programmes at GRA, Dr Charles Addae, announced this at a media briefing in Accra on Wednesday when giving an update on the country’s tax mobilization efforts and measures undertaken to shore up the taxes.
He said the tax revenue collected in the first half of the year showed a nominal growth of 25.6 per cent.
Dr Addae explained that if the tax collections from other tax revenue sources such as energy debt recovery, sanitation levy, Valued Added Tax and airport charges, the GRA had collected GHc27.17 billion as against a target of GHc27.25 billion, representing a GHc28 million shortfall.
Assessing the average performance of the Authority, Dr Addae said it showed that the Authority was hovering around 47.6 per cent, which was above 46 per cent recorded over the past five years.
On the contribution of the various regions to the country’s tax revenue, Dr Addae said the Greater Accra Region contributed 60.28 per cent, Western 5.02 per cent and Ashanti 4.2 per cent.
The rest of the other 13 regions’ contributions to the nation’s tax revenue were very minimal, he added.
Dr Addae observed that with the linkage of the GRA’s database to the National Identification Authority’s database, it discovered that 33,500 professionals, including medical doctors, engineers, lawyers and IT experts who had Ghana-Card but did not have tax identification numbers (TIN).
He explained that those elite professionals were earning high incomes and had, therefore, invited them for interrogation to ascertain whether or not, they were paying taxes on their earnings.
“We are chasing them because now we have their house and mobile phone numbers but that doesn’t mean that they don’t pay taxes until we have finished the interrogation,” Dr Addae explained.
Dr Addae indicated that the Authority was working collaboratively with German International Corporation (GIZ) and the Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development Ministry to digitise and capture houses and properties being used for commercial businesses and residential purposes to charge the appropriate tax rent on them.
He advocated the need to intensify tax education drive and enforcement mechanisms to shore up the tax revenue.
The GRA, this year, set a target of GHC60 billion in tax revenue and based on the first-half performance, Dr Addae believed that it would meet the target
THE Ghana Education Service (GES) is commencing the distribution of the “One Teacher One Laptop” initiative for some Teachers in second cycle institutions across the country.
The GES in a press statement urged the Regional Directors of Education, to ensure a smooth distribution process, and also liaise with headmasters/mistresses of Senior High Schools in their Regions to provide them with a validated list of names and staff 1D numbers of Teachers in their various schools to get the laptops.
The teachers as gathered are to ensure they submit the various particulars to the Director-General latest by midday, Friday, 30 July 2021.
Earlier Announcement
Earlier, the GES had announced the plans to secure laptops for all teachers in the country, even though some of the teachers kicked against the decision.
The GES Director-General, Prof. Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa who announced this in a letter to teacher groups said the development was in consultation with all the teacher unions and each teacher must compulsorily have one and own it as a “personal asset”.
Per the letter, the government will pay 70% of the cost of the laptop which the teachers pay 30% themselves through deductions from their salaries directly from the Controller and Accountant General’s Department.
According to the GES, all materials needed for effective teaching by the teachers will be uploaded into it, and it makes it very useful especially within this period of COVID-19.
“Consequently, the government through the Ministry of Education (MoE) is supporting Ghana Education Service (GES), working closely with the Teacher Unions within the GES to secure laptops for all teaching staff of the service.”
“The laptops are to be owned as personal assets of the individual teachers, and it is mandatory for each teacher since much of the materials for teaching will be uploaded on them.
Thus, to enhance the performance of teachers, the curriculum, Teachers Resource Pack, Continuous Professional Development (CPD), and Professional Learning Communities (PLC) modules as well as the textbooks on core subjects will be preloaded on the laptops.
“Working with the National Teaching Council (NTC), it is intended that the portfolio of teachers towards their professional progression and licensing will be uploaded unto the system to enable teachers to access their build-up online.”
“Government has agreed to pay 70% of the cost while the individual teacher is to pay 30%. These amounts have been agreed upon in consultation with the Teacher Unions.”
The GES said each teacher is to sign an acknowledgment form stating all personal particulars and also authorizing the deduction of the amount from their salaries.
THE New Patriotic Party (NPP) has set up a National Complaints Committee, which will receive formal complaints from members against any other member who breaches a new code of conduct adopted by the National Council ahead election of presidential candidate.
According to the party, the code of conduct is to regulate the conduct of party members ahead of the presidential and parliamentary primaries for the 2024 elections.
A press release issued by the General Secretary, John Boadu, on Tuesday said the decision takes immediate effect, as it is to guide party members before the formal opening of nominations for the primaries.
An exception has, however, been made for parliamentary aspirants in constituencies that do not have NPP Members of Parliament (MPs) – orphan constituencies.
The statement said, “It shall be the duty of the National Complaints Committee to investigate each complaint of violations of this Code of Conduct to determine whether or not there is a prima facie case”.
“Where the Committee has established a prima facie basis in a particular complaint, it shall make a referral to the National Disciplinary Committee for the necessary disciplinary actions in line with the provisions of the Constitution.”
The Committee is made up of Frank Davies, who is the Chairman of the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee, Hackman Owusu Agyeman, who is the Chairman of the National Council of Elders, and John Boadu, the General Secretary.
“Sanctions shall be imposed on any member or supporter of the party, who fails, neglects, or refuses to comply with the orders of this Code of Conduct.
“Possible sanctions include fines, suspension, expulsion from the party or disqualification from holding any office or position in the party for a stated period.”
The release emphasized that the party reserves the right to disqualify any potential presidential or parliamentary candidate or aspirant who either directly or indirectly breaches the new code of conduct.
Read the full statement below:
NPP ISSUES CODE OF CONDUCT FOR PRE-PRESIDENTIAL AND PARLIAMENTARY PRIMARIES AHEAD OF THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL AND PARLIAMENTARY PRIMARIES OF THE PARTY
The National Council of the NPP, conscious of events of the past and the need to forestall reoccurrence and to instill discipline in Party administration, has adopted this Code of Conduct to regulate the conduct of Party Members in both Presidential and Parliamentary Primaries for Election 2024 during the Pre-Presidential and Parliamentary Primaries period.
The Code of Conduct has been formulated in accordance with Article 18 of the New Patriotic Party’s Constitution and it is applicable to Party supporters and actors including Government Appointees; Ministers; Members of Governing Boards/Councils; Chief Executive Officers of Governmental Institutions; Members of Parliament; Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives; Aspirants/Potential Candidates; their Supporters and all other Members of the Party.
This Code of Conduct is thus applicable during the period preceding the opening of nominations for prospective Candidates to contest for the Party’s Presidential and Parliamentary Elections, and shall be in force until the General Secretary, on behalf of the National Executive Committee/ National Council, officially declares that, positions for Presidential and Parliamentary Elections are opened to prospective Candidates as stipulated in the Party’s Constitution.
Presidential Primaries and the National Complaints Committee:
A National Complaints Committee has been constituted to receive complaints of violations and breaches of this Code of Conduct, through the General Secretary. The National Complaints Committee is made up of the following persons:
a) Chairman of the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee, Lawyer Frank Davies
b) Chairman of the National Council of Elders, Hon Hackman Owusu Agyeman
c) General Secretary of the Party, Mr. John Boadu
It shall be the duty of the National Complaints Committee to investigate each complaint of violations of this Code of Conduct to determine whether or not there is a prima facie case. Where the Committee has established a prima facie basis in a particular complaint, it shall make a referral to the National Disciplinary Committee for the necessary disciplinary actions in line with the provisions of the Constitution.
Parliamentary Primaries and Complaints of Violations
Complaints of violations or breaches of this Code of Code regarding Parliamentary Elections/Primaries shall be handled in accordance with the Party’s Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures enshrined in Article 4 of the Party Constitution. Accordingly, any member of the Party who alleges that there has been a breach of any provision(s) of this Code of Conduct by another Member, shall lodge a complaint/petition against that Member with the respective Constituency Disciplinary Committee through the Constituency Executive Committee, for the necessary actions.
Sanctions For Breaches of the Code
Sanctions shall be imposed on any member or supporter of the Party, who fails, neglects or refuses to comply with the orders of this Code of Conduct. Possible sanctions include fines, suspension, expulsion from the Party or disqualification from holding any office or position in the Party for a stated period.
Orphan Constituencies
This Code of Conduct as it relates to Parliamentary Primaries shall apply in full force but with the necessary modifications by the National Executive Committee (NEC) to the conduct of Parliamentary Primaries in Constituencies where the Party has no sitting Members of Parliament (i.e. Orphan Constituencies). Accordingly, the National Executive Committee reserves the right to alter the applicability of this Code in Constituencies where the Party has no sitting MPs in respect of Parliamentary Elections.
THE CODE OF CONDUCT:
1. Members, Supporters, Sympathizers of the Party at all levels shall:
a) refrain from using the media (traditional or social) to attack the integrity and reputation of other members particularly leading members perceived to be nurturing Presidential or Parliamentary ambitions;
b) refrain from openly debating on the suitability, desirability or otherwise of Presidential or Parliamentary Candidates until the Party formally opens nominations through the General Secretary;
c) not initiate early gatherings camouflaged as activities or meetings which has the tendency of promoting the interest of a prospective Presidential or Parliamentary Candidate;
d) for the specified period, refrain from making any public statements or inferences through any print or electronic media including online portals and all social media outlets regarding the propriety or otherwise of any Presidential or Parliamentary Candidate;
e) be entitled to hold their regular Party meetings; but shall desist from holding discussions on the suitability or otherwise of any prospective Presidential or Parliamentary Candidate;
f) desist from using their public office or portfolio within or outside the Party to promote the interest of any prospective Presidential or Parliamentary Candidate in order to gain unfair political advantage;
g) for the period preceding the election of Presidential and Parliamentary Candidates, not offer money, gifts or other incentives that has the potential to directly or indirectly influence the outcome of the election of any prospective Candidate;
h) not covertly or overtly solicit campaign contributions, gifts and other incentives in cash or kind during this period;
i) not hold any campaign activities for themselves or for any prospective Candidate until such time that the Party so declares;
j) not form any groupings or association within or outside the Party for or against any prospective Presidential or Parliamentary Candidate;
k) not anonymously prosecute campaign activities on any platform in furtherance of the interest of any prospective Presidential or Parliamentary Candidate.
2. Communicators of the Party shall not use both traditional and social media platforms to campaign for or against any prospective Presidential or Parliamentary Candidate, and any Communicator who breaches the Code of Conduct shall be suspended from speaking for and on behalf of the Party. This is without prejudice to any other sanctions prescribed in the Constitution.
3. For the avoidance of doubt, prospective Presidential or Parliamentary Candidates shall be held responsible for the actions and inactions of any person or group of persons identified as supporter(s) of a particular Candidate which are in flagrant breach of this Code of Conduct if the prospective Candidate is seen explicitly or implicitly lending support or condoning and not publicly denouncing the activities of any such person or group of persons.
4. The Party reserves the right to disqualify any potential Presidential or Parliamentary Candidate or aspirant who either directly or indirectly breaches this Code of Conduct.
For emphasis, this Code of Conduct comes into force on this 27th Day of July, 2021, and shall remain in full force until the General Secretary of the Party, on behalf of the National Executive Committee/National Council officially declares Nominations for Presidential and Parliamentary Elections duly opened for prospective Candidates.
The Cape Coast High Court judge was wrong in his ruling that cancelled the 2020 parliamentary election results in Assin North, Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu has said.null
The court on Wednesday, July 28 annulled the 2020 parliamentary election result.
A cost of 10,000 has been awarded against the Electoral commission and 30 thousand against Joe Gyekye Quayson who until the cancellation of the result was the Assin North MP.
The presiding judge, Justice Kwasi Boakye said Mr. Quayson was “restrained from holding himself out as Member of Parliament-elect for the Assin North constituency within the Central Region of the Republic of Ghana and further presenting himself to be sworn in as Member of Parliament-elect as such until the final determination of the petition.”
One Michael Ankoma-Nimfah, a mason and resident of Assin Bereku filed a petition against over dual citizenship.
The Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu accused the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) of using the courts to attempt to win majority seats in Parliament.null
He said there is an attempt to change the 137-137 seats for both the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the NPP by the governing party through the use of the courts.
Mr Iddrisu indicated that the NDC MPs will resist any such attempt by filing an appeal against the Cape Coast ruling that cancelled the 2020 parliamentary election results.
Speaking at a press conference in Parliament on Wednesday, July 28, he indicated that the courts are now being used to tilt the balance of power in Parliament following the equal numbers being controlled by both the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
“We in the Minority remain unshaken, we are confident that is our seat and will remain our seat, and we will contest the ruling. The judge erred both in law and in fact. It is a travesty of justice but what is worrying, we don’t want to believe that the courts of Ghana have been captured and that the courts of Ghana have become forums being used surreptitiously to tilt the balance of power.”
“We are equal, 137-137. What is happening is the courts now being used to tilt the balance of power and to weaken time tested historical notion of checks and balances. Justice must not only be done but must be manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done.”null
A United States –based Ghanaian Professor Kwasku Asare also expressed same concerns saying, the “ Quayson court, as in the Sakande court, erred in interpreting Article 94(2)(a) and compounded the error by equating allegiance to citizenship.
“Natural born Ghanaians owe an indivisible, indelible and permanent allegiance to Ghana and Ghana only. Those interested in this can read Judge Coke in the famous Calvin case, as further restated by Blackstone. Or if you want something with ECOWAS flavor, see Dr. Willie Ogebide v. Mr. Arigbe Osula (2004) 12 NWLR Part 886.
“Article 94(2)(a) preceded Article 8(2), which allowed dual citizenship. It is misinterpretation on steroids to hold that Article 94(2)(a) was meant to disqualify dual citizens from holding public office when that same Constitution, prior to Act 527, outlawed dual citizenship.
“The Judge must stay his ruling and refer the matter to the Supreme Court for interpretation.
“It is because of these errors, motivated by the politicization of citizenship, that we have moved for the repeal of Article 94(2)(a) and other Articles, inserted in 1996, that allow dual citizenship but impose public-office holding restrictions unrelated to Article 94(2)(a).
Regional Minister’s Accra Agenda Exposes Negative Attitudes Of Some Residents At Ayawaso Central
As part of the “Let’s Make Greater Accra Work” agenda, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey, together with the Municipal Chief Executive and Municipal Coordinating Director of Ayawaso Central, on Tuesday undertook an inspection tour of the municipality to assess some spatial and environmental concerns in the area.
Mr. Quartey who doubles as the Member of Parliament for Ayawaso Central was embarking on a decongestion exercise to rid the vicinity of unwanted and illegal structures in the municipality.
The tour led to the removal and demolishing of some unauthorized structures sited in the area especially close to the Kokomlemle Government school, Alajo storm drain, and Malata Market.
Hitting the streets on the “Make Accra work” agenda, the team made a stop at Panama at Kokomlemle, where some structures built along drains were either removed or demolished.
The Regional Minister however expressed his disappointment in the work of the Municipal Environmental and Health Officer (MEHO).
He was alarmed at the volume of filth piled up in drains and on the shoulders of the road, thereby requesting the whereabouts of the Municipal Environmental Health officer, who was nowhere to be found.
Amid tears and angry rants, some owners of the illegally constructed structures tried to stop the officials from doing their job but the police intervened to restore order.
A resident who had diverted wastewater from her residence onto the streets also attracted the displeasure of the regional minister.
“Koku will go to court,” former Central Regional Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Bernard Allotey Jacobs has disclosed.
The former NDC Deputy General Secretary and CEO of the Atta Mills Institute, Koku Anyidoho has been expelled from the party on grounds of indiscipline.
Details Of Koku Anyidoho’s Dismissal
According to a statement signed by the NDC General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, Mr. Anyidoho exhibited an anti-party conduct and that the Functional Executive Committee (FEC) of the party considered the report of the National Disciplinary Committee on the “complaint of misconduct” brought against Mr. Anyidoho pursuant to article 48(1)(9)(a)of the NDC constitution.
“The Functional Executive Committee (FEC), acting in compliance of article 48(1) of the NDC constitution unanimously adopted the report and accepts full responsibility for your expulsion from the party.”
“You, are, therefore by the decision of FEC expelled from the National Democratic congress and for that matter, you are no more recognized as a member of the party and cannot carry yourself as such,” portions of the statement read.
The statement further directed Mr. Koku Anyidoho to “return any party property that may be in your custody and you shall also forfeit any monies, dues or subscription fees that you may have made to the party”.
Background
The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the NDC was petitioned to expel its former Deputy General Secretary.
The petition filed by a Deputy Bono Regional Communications Officer of the party, Eric Adjei, cited Koku Anyidoho was showing gross misconduct saying “the petition is grounded on many instances, ill-will speeches accentuated by malice and calculated to subject the party to public ridicule”.
Koku To Take Legal Action
Reacting to the issue during Peace FM’s “Kokrokoo” programme, Allotey Jacobs, who was also expelled from the party on same grounds, bemoaned the Committee’s decision against Koku Anyidoho.
He revealed that Mr. Anyidoho wasn’t served with any letter of suspension neither was he summoned before the Disciplinary Committee, hence arriving at a decision to sack him is inappropriate and for that, he will “defend his cause”. Explaining why the party’s FEC decided to dismiss their former Deputy General Secretary, Allotey said Mr. Anyidoho had told a truth about the leaders at a function to commemorate late President John Evans Atta Mills.
According to Allotey Jacobs, the truth that Koku shared was that the NDC leaders had sat aloof and unconcerned for the President and leader of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo to renovate the burial place of the late President.
Koku Anyidoho found the act by the President worth appreciating but condemned the NDC leaders, therefore infuriating his party executives to take such harsh decision against him.
“Koku will go to court. First, there was no letter of suspension served on him. I chat with Koku everyday; we’ve been a team from 2002 . . . we’ve been so close and you take us out but, well, what goes around comes around. Koku will go to court because [1] they didn’t serve him with a letter of suspension. They didn’t give him a letter to appear before the Disciplinary Committee.
“Those at the party headquarters know where Koku lives, then all of sudden, they claim they have had a FEC meeting. Anyway, every Tuesday, they hold their FEC meeting and then we don’t know whether the devil was walking in the shadows of the meeting. Whether the devil was present, whether his shadows influenced the decision as to what we read yesterday that Koku has been expelled from the NDC party. He will defend his course,” he told host Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM’s ”Kokrokoo”.
The minority in Parliament says it will contest the ruling of a high court in Cape Coast which annulled the 2020 Assin North Parliamentary results and called for a re-run of the elections.
The court also directed the National Democratic Congress’ James Gyakye Quayson from holding himself as MP.
The petitioner Mr Michael Ankomah-Nimfa, filed processes at the Cape Coast High Court to annul the declaration of Mr James Gyakye Quayson as the Member of Parliament for the constituency.
The NDC candidate polled 17,498 votes in the 2020 general elections to beat the NPP’s Abena Durowaa Mensah’s 14,793.
It later emerged that Mr Quayson held dual citizenship contrary to Article 94 (2) (a) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, which states: ‘A person shall not be qualified to be a Member of Parliament if he – (a) owes allegiance to a country other than Ghana’.
Reacting to the court ruling, the Minority in a press conference on Wednesday, 28 July 2021 said they will appeal the ruling.
Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu told the media “He [Quayson] won outright as a citizen, born and bred in that community but for some time had to settle in Canada. He subsequently, as I understand, renounced his citizenship, express so far back in 2019, got his certificate at least before the elections.
Mr Iddrisu indicated that “we will contest the ruling, the judge erred both in law and in facts. It’s a travesty of justice. What is worrying, we don’t want to believe that the courts of Ghana have been captured and the courts of Ghana have become forums being used surreptitiously to tilt the balance of power.
“We are equal, 137-137. What is happening is the courts are now being used to tilt the balance of power and to weaken the time-tested historical notion of checks and balances.”
He insisted that “justice must not only be done but must manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done. What happened this morning in Cape Coast, we are told that even when the Supreme Court of Ghana directed Hon Quayson and his legal team to go and file appropriate legal motions for the matter to be referred to the Supreme Court, he was denied that. That is repugnant and upfront to his right to a fair trial guaranteed under Article 19 of the 1992 construction.”
“Danger begets our democracy with the developments happening,” he added
• This comes after several complaints from some members of the party about Anyidoho’s behaviour towards the party in public
• According to Asiedu Nketia, the party acted according to their constitution
The general secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has revealed that there were several calls from Koku Anyidoho’s constituents and other party members across the country to expel him for his misconduct in public.
According to him, the sacking of Koku Anyidoho from the NDC will make party members very happy.
The NDC general secretary said despite the pressure mounted on them to act hastily, they turned a blind eye to them and acted based on their constitution.n
He furthered that Koku Anyidoho was given time to recuse himself before the action taken against him but he did not show up.
In an interview with Citi News, Asiedu Nketia said, “We think that this decision will actually bring entire jubilation across the country because we have been under enormous pressure to act speedily, but we kept our membership reminded that we have all subscribed to a party constitution and due process for everything that we do so they should exercise patience and let us go through the full cycle.”
“So our members were actually impatient with us over this decision and if we had listened to them even including his constituents, we would have even acted in breach of the party constitution, but we felt that every offender should have his day in court. So let us afford him the opportunity to purge himself of any wrongdoing. But unfortunately, he declined that opportunity and we didn’t have any option other than to bring the full force of the law on him,” Asiedu Nketia added.
In a letter sighted by GhanaWeb, Koku Anyidoho was expelled from NDC after the Functional Executive Committee (FEC) of party met.
Part of the statement read, “You are, therefore, by the decision of FEC expelled from the National Democratic Congress and for that matter, you are no longer recognized as a member of the party and cannot carry yourself as such.”null
Koku Anyidoho has been asked to return any property in his custody belonging to the party.
Also, he will forfeit monies, dues or subscription fees that he’s made to the party while he was an active member.
• Atta Mills died while in office on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
• He was buried at the Asomdwee park in Accra
• According to Koku Anyidoho, the place has now been evaded by brothels
Chief Executive Officer of Atta-Mills Institute, Samuel Koku Anyidoho, has said he hopes President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo honours his pledge to rebuild the Asomdwee park.
According to him, the park when reconstructed will shame persons who claim they love the late Evans Atta Mills yet, did nothing to make his burial ground (Asomdwee park) neat.
In a tweet sighted by GhanaWeb, the Atta Mills Institute CEO said, “I foresee very soon, all kinds of pretentious groups will pop up to say they love Atta-Mills because of the solid job the Atta Mills Institute has done to keep the memory of the late President alive. My prayer is for Prez Akufo-Addo to build Asomdwee Park & shame the pretenders.”
Koku Anyidoho had earlier accused former president, John Dramani Mahama, of refusing to rebuild the deteriorating Asomwdee Park where late ex-President Atta Mills was laid.null
He stressed that Mahama has done nothing to honour the memory of the late Evans Atta Mills.
Koku Anyidoho said this during the commemoration of Atta Mills’ death on Saturday, July 24.
Prof Atta-Mills died, while in office on Tuesday, July 24, 2012, at the 37 Military Hospital, three days after his birthday.
Pollster and Managing Editor of the Dispatch, Ben Ephson has predicted a victory for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Assin North by-election following the annulment of the 2020 parliamentary elections in that constituency by a cape coast High Court.
Mr Ephosn told Johnnie Hughes on the Mid Day news on 3FM Wednesday, July 28 that electoral statistics favour the NPP going into the by-election.
“This seat is more of an NPP seat than NDC. In 2020 there was a split in terms of the NPP in this constituency. In 2016 the NPP won the seat 15553 votes and NDC 10751, the margin of victory for NPP was 4802.
“In 2020 NPP had 14,793, NDC had 17,498, and margin of victory for NDC was 2733. In the run-up to the 2020 elections, there was a split in front of the NPP. When the margin is not huge in such by-elections the incumbent government always wins so yes he may go for appeal, if the appeal is thrown out, it is going to be fresh elections and likely NDC might lose.”
The Court on Wednesday, July 28 annulled the 2020 parliamentary election result.
A cost of 10, 000 has been awarded against the Electoral commission and 30 thousand against Joe Gyekye Quayson who until the cancellation of the result was the Assin North MP.
the presiding judge, Justice Kwasi Boakye said Mr. Quayson was “restrained from holding himself out as Member of Parliament-elect for the Assin North constituency within the Central Region of the Republic of Ghana and further presenting himself to be sworn in as Member of Parliament-elect as such until the final determination of the petition.”
One Michael Ankoma-Nimfah, a mason and resident of Assin Bereku filed a petition against over dual citizenship.
Private legal practitioner and member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Henry Nana Boakye (Nana B) has said the cancellation of the Assin North parliamentary election results by the Cape Coast High Court is a victory for rule of law.
Speaking to the media after the court ruling, Nana B said “Today is another victory for rule of law. This a petition that was filed by our own friend Michael Ankomah-Nimfah.
“Today the court, after almost six months has upheld our position and the petitioner’s position for that matter.null
“We had repeatedly said Honourable Quayson at the time of filing his nomination to contest as an MP was a Canadian and also a Ghanaian.”
Mr Alex Segbefia, a private legal practitioner for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) disagreed with the court saying this is a matter that the Supreme Court has to make pronouncement.
“If they nominate a judge to be in any position when does he become judge? At the point of nomination?
“ It is when he is sworn in so there are three separate dates and this is a matter we think the Supreme Court has to actually rule on.
“There is a time of filing, there is a time of election in this particular case. When the elections took place was he a citizens of this country or not, and then there is a time of when he actually swore that He is a Member of Parliament.”
The central Motor Transport & Traffic Department (MTTD), of the Ghana Police Service has embarked on a Speed Enforcement exercise to check over speeding at accident prone areas and arrested 26 offenders in Accra.
The special exercise which was carried out at Tesano on Wednesday, 28 July 2021 is part of an ongoing exercise by the MTTD, in Partnership with the Accra Metropolitan Assembly and Bloomberg Philanthropies to reduce the carnage on our roads and pedestrian knock downs mostly caused by excessive speeding at major intersections such as Anyaa School junction, Weija STC traffic light, Opeibea intersection, Tesano stretch N4, etc.
It is observed that some motorists do not drive within the 50kph speed limit stipulated by law in the city, a situation that calls for stringent measures to enforce it.
Similar operations have been carried out at various locations such as Korle-Bu, Anyaa, Kojo Thompson Road, Kawukudi among others and offenders arraigned before motor courts where fined between GHC 350 to GHC 2,400 on the average.
Those arrested at Tesano for flouting the speed limits are processed to appear before the Abeka Motor Court on Thursday, 29 July, 2021.
Sammy Gyamfi is NDC’s National Communications Director
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) says it will apply for Stay of Execution in the Cape Coast High Court judgment that nullifies the election of the Assin North MP James Gyakye Quayson.
According to the National Communications Officer of the party Sammy Gyamfi, although the party is ready for a by-election, they will insist on justice to be served in the matter.
“Let me put on record that the NDC is not afraid of any by-election. We are confident of victory in any by-Election if we get to that stage. All we want is for justice to be done. And we will stop at nothing to ensure that justice is done.
“Our lawyers will apply for a Stay of Execution of the orders of the trial judge and Appeal the flawed judgment ASAP. This travesty of justice will not be allowed to stand.
“The NDC is also determined to formally petition the Judicial Service for disciplinary action to be taken against the Registrar and other Judicial Officers of the Cape Coast High Court who engaged in those shameful gymnastics earlier this morning. Such partisan and unscrupulous persons are not fit to serve in that respectable independent arm of government,” Mr Gyamfi wrote in a statement after the judgment.
The Cape Coast High Court today ruled that the lawmaker was not eligible to contest the seat.
Petitioner, Michael Ankomah Nimfah, contended that Quayson held dual citizenship as a Ghanaian and a Canadian at the time of his election, and therefore must be restrained from performing the duties of a Member of Parliament.
Below are details of a statement by Sammy Gyamfi
I have taken notice of a decision by the Cape Coast High Court that has annulled the Assin North Parliamentary Election, held on December 7, 2020.
1. First and foremost, let me condemn in no uncertain terms, the shameful manipulation of court processes by the Registrar, Ustaz Hamza of the Cape Coast High Court and other judicial officers of the Court that frustrated and prevented the filing of a formal application by lawyers of the Assin North MP this morning, for the trial Court to refer the Consitutional questions that have arisen in the conduct of the case to the Supreme Court for determination before proceeding to give judgement.
It is reprehensible and appalling to say the least, that Judicial officers who are paid by the State and are supposed to exhibit independence, impartiality and professionalism in their work have compromised their integrity and lent themselves as pliant tools for the manipulation of judicial processes in favor of the ruling New Patriotic Party. The day of reckoning and accountability for those unprofessional and partisan judicial officers will surely come.
2. Let me make the point that the judgment of the trial Court is fraught with many errors of law which have ccasioned a gross miscarriage of justice to the people of Assin North. The decision by the trial judge that Hon. Quayson was not qualified to contest as MP in the December 2020 elections is contrary to section 20(1)(d) of the Representation of People’s Law, PNDC Law 284 and a true a proper interpretation of Article 94(2)(a) of the 1992 Constitution, both of which provides in effect that, a person must be qualified to contest as MP at THE TIME OF HIS ELECTION and at the time of him becoming an MP (that’s at the time of swearing in) respectively.
3. It is the considered view of the NDC, that Hon. James Quayson was qualified to contest as MP in the December 2020 elections by virtue of the fact that he applied to renounce his Canadian citizenship before he filed his nominations to contest as MP in October 2020. He was actually issued a certificate of renunciation in November 2020 before the Parliamentary Election on December 7, 2020. He was therefore qualified to be MP at the time of his election as required by section 20(1)(d) of PNDC law 284 and at the time of his swearing-in, as prescribed under Arricle 94(2)(a) of the Constitution. The December 2020 Assin North Parliamentary election in question was therefore lawful and valid in our view and we think the trial judge has erred in annulling same.
4. The claim by the trial judge that the Supreme Court has determined in the “Zanetor case” that a person must be qualified to be an MP at the time of the issuance of the Notice of Poll/opening of nominations by the Electoral Commission and that Hon. Quayson was not qualified to contest as MP because even though he had applied to renounce his Canadian citizenship, he had not been issued with a renunciation certificate as at the time of Nominations in October 2020, is palpably misconceived.
This is because the Zanetor case bordered Article 94(1) of the 1992 Constitution relative to the requirement for a person to be a Registered Voter before he can become an MP. The Assin North case on the other hand borders on Article 94(2)(a) of the Constitution which provides that a person shall not be qualified to be a Member of Parliament, “if he owes Allegiance to any country other than Ghana”. We therefore hold the view, that the two cases are materially distinguishable.
5. Note that Section 20(1)(d) PNDC law 284, provides clearly that a person must be qualified to contest as MP at the time of the election relative to the issue of allegiance to a country other than Ghana. Also, note that Article 94(2)(a) was not interpreted by the Supreme Court in the Zanetor case which is the ratio the trial Judge appears to have applied in the Assin North case.
6. More importantly, the whole Assin North Election Petition borders on the interpretation and enforcement of Article 94(2)(a) of the 1992 Constitution which falls within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. That Article has never been interpreted by the Supreme Court before. As we speak, an action has been filed by a citizen of Assin North, Mark Nti to invoke the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court for an interpretation of that same provision, Article 94(2)(a) of the 1992 Constitution. The judge should have therefore referred these constitutional questions that to the Supreme Court for determination as he is enjoined to do by law.
7. It is instructive to note, that when Hon Quayson filed his nominations in October 2020, some NPP people within the Assin North constituency petitioned the District Office of the Electoral Commission for him to be disqualified on grounds that he is a citizen of, and owes Allegiance to Canada. The District EC officer then referred the matter to the Headquarters of the EC for determination. The EC demanded that Hon. Quayson provides or adduces his certificate of renunciation of his Canadian Citizenship which he did. It was on this basis that the petition was dismissed and Hon. Quayson cleared to contest.
8. Let me put on record that the NDC is not afraid of any by-election. We are confident of victory in any by-Election if we get to that stage. All we want is for justice to be done. And we will stop at nothing to ensure that justice is done.
9. Our lawyers will apply for a Stay of Execution of the orders of the trial judge and Appeal the flawed judgment ASAP. This travesty of justice will not be allowed to stand.
10. The NDC is also determined to formally petition the Judicial Service for disciplinary action to be taken against the Registrar and other Judicial Officers of the Cape Coast High Court who engaged in those shameful gymnastics earlier this morning. Such partisan and unscrupulous persons are not fit to serve in that respectable independent arm of government.
The Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid has said that the NPA will not hesitate to revoke the licenses of industry players who continually flout the rules.
Dr. Abdul-Hamid said this at a meeting with board members of the Association of Oil Marketing Companies (AOMCs) at GIMPA on Monday.
The meeting was part of his stakeholder engagements, meant to open channels of dialogue for the smooth operation of the industry.
“We shall not hesitate to revoke the licenses of industry players who continually flout the rules.
Over the years, the NPA has been too lenient with people who flout the rules. And this has given opportunity to many people to flout these rules with impunity” he said. “We cannot all be in a conspiracy to run down our country and yet turn round and blame government for what goes wrong” Dr. Abdul-Hamid added.
Dr. Abdul-Hamid said, illegal bunkering, third-party supplies and failure to pay taxes and levies due government are all gross violations of the law and henceforth, those found culpable will face the full sanctions as permitted by law.
The CE of NPA told the oil marketers that it is in their own interest that the market is regulated properly. “Otherwise, when the industry collapses, your businesses will collapse with it” he added.
The Chief Executive whilst seeking the support of AOMCs in order to sanitize the industry assured them the authority will itself play by the rules and ensure an even playing field. “The lawyers tell us that they who seek equity must come with clean hands” Dr. Hamid stated.
He therefore urged them to play by the rules, so that they will have the moral authority to demand same from the regulator.
The CE of NPA said that after 16 years of operation, the NPA Act (Act 691) will be reviewed to meet with current trends in the downstream petroleum industry.
Dr. Abdul-Hamid said that in reviewing the NPA Act, the licensing and inspections regime will be looked at, to make sure that those who acquire OMC licenses really have the capacity to operate in the industry.
He lamented the situation where many OMCs currently fall short of the requirements for holding their licenses and said that soon, all such licenses will be revoked.
“As the industry is being sanitized, all those who have fallen short of the requirement will have their licenses revoked, he said.
The Chief Executive of the AOMCs, Mr Kwaku Agyemang-Duah appealed to the NPA to take steps to check the activities of some new entrants who are taking advantage of some loop holes in the sanctions regime to make quick money.
Mr. Agyeman-Duah said the failure on the part of the NPA to check such people is a disincentive to those who play by the rules. Mr. Agyeman-Duah introduced Mr Felix Gyekye, the Vice-Chairman of the association as the new Chairman following the resignation of its Chairman, Mr Henry Akwaboah.
On his part, Mr. Gyekye said they were glad that Dr. Abdul-Hamid is committed to tackling the problems of the industry head-on. He assured the NPA, that the AOMCs will support the NPA to sanitize the industry
The Secretary to the President is urging the public to disregard claims that he has bought the Holiday Inn Hotel in Accra for his wife
Secretary to the President, Nana Bediatuo Asante
The Secretary to the President, Nana Bediatuo Asante, has described reports that he has bought the Holiday Inn Hotel in Accra for his wife as false.
A public notice issued by his lawyers said: “We are instructed to inform the general public that there is [not one] iota of truth in the rumours. We state unequivocally that neither our client nor his wife has purchased or has any interest whatsoever in the said Holiday Inn Hotel.
“Indeed, several persons, including media practitioners both in Ghana and abroad, have contacted our clients to inform him of these rumours,” the notice said.
It added that the reports are attempts to tarnish his hard-won reputation.
“It is obvious that the deliberate circulation of these rumours [is] intended to paint our client in a negative light in view of the very senior position he holds in government.”
Private legal practitioner and member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Henry Nana Boakye (Nana B) has said the cancellation of the Assin North parliamentary election results by the Cape Coast High Court is a victory for rule of law.
The Court on Wednesday July 28 annulled the 2020 parliamentary election result.
A cost of 10, 000 has been awarded against the Electoral commission and 30 thousand against Joe Gyekye Quayson who until the cancellation of the result was the Assin North MP.
the presiding judge, Justice Kwasi Boakye said Mr. Quayson was “restrained from holding himself out as Member of Parliament-elect for the Assin North constituency within the Central Region of the Republic of Ghana and further presenting himself to be sworn in as Member of Parliament-elect as such until the final determination of the petition.”
One Michael Ankoma-Nimfah, a mason and resident of Assin Bereku filed a petition against over dual citizenship.
Speaking to the media after the court ruling, Nana B said “Today is another victory for rule of law. This a petition that was filed by our own friend Michael Ankomah-Nimfah.
“Today the court, after almost six months has upheld our position and the petitioner’s position for that matter.
“We had repeatedly said Honourable Quayson at the time of filing his nomination to contest as an MP was a Canadian and also a Ghanaian.”
Mr Alex Segbefia, a private legal practitioner for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) disagreed with the court saying this is a matter that the Supreme Court has to make pronouncement.
“If they nominate a judge to be in any position when does he become judge? At the point of nomination?
“ It is when he is sworn in so there are three separate dates and this is a matter we think the Supreme Court has to actually rule on.
“There is a time of filing, there is a time of election in this particular case. When the elections took place was he a citizens of this country or not, and then there is a time of when he actually swore that He is a Member of Parliament.”
Interior Minister Ambrose Dery has stated that no one implicated in the Ejura shooting incident would be left unpunished.null
He said this after he had received a-54 page report comprising findings and recommendations on the shooting incident at Ejura in the Ashanti Region.
Receiving the report, Mr Ambrose Dery said ‘I am happy today to receive the Committee’s report which was chaired by His Lordship. I am hopeful that the Committee has done a good job and will study the report and its findings and recommendations and report appropriately to His Excellency, the President of the Republic.
The Minister urged the good people of Ghana to be determined and have confidence in the government which is committed to promoting peace in the country because security issues affect all.
He also assured Ghanaians that the report will be taken very seriously and at the appropriate time, the report will be made public.
He described the incident as regrettable saying the report would be taken seriously.null
He posited that one is proven innocent until proven guilty and the assertions by some sections of the public that they lacked confidence in the Committee to conduct good work was premature.
According to him, after he has finished studying the report, they will come out with their position on the matter.
He expressed his condolence to the families that lost their dear ones in the unfortunate incidents. On behalf of His Excellency, the President, the Minister thanked the Chairman and Committee members, the Ashanti Regional Minister, Service Commanders in the Ashanti Region, the Media, the Chiefs and Elders and all the good people of Ejura for cooperating with the Committee during its Public Hearings.
At the instruction of His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Ghana, a three-member Ministerial Committee was constituted by the Minister of the Interior to undertake a public inquiry into the circumstances that led to the death of two persons at Ejura.
The Committee was chaired by Justice George Kingsley Koomson, an Appeal Court Judge and other members of the Committee were Dr Vladimir Antwi-Danso, a Security Expert, and Ms Juliet A. Amoah, Executive Director of Penplusbytes and Ms Marie Louise Simmonds, Principal State Attorney as the Secretary to the Committee
The three-member committee which investigated the mayhem that rocked Ejura in the Ejura/Sekyedumase District of the Ashanti Region, leading to the killing of two people and injuries to four others, on June 29, has submitted its report.
The report was presented yesterday to the Minister of the Interior, Ambrose Dery, who had set up the committee on the instructions of President Akufo-Addo.
The minister said he was not ready to disclose the content of the report until he has studied and submitted it to the President.
Purported Recommendation
Snippets from the report indicate that the committee has recommended that the Ejura-Sekyedumase Municipal Chief Executive, Mohammed Salisu Bamba, should be removed from office.
The MCE is on record to have said before the report came out that, he is not even interested in seeking to retain his position following the violence.
The military officer who led the soldiers to quell the violence has been penciled to face sanctions as well as the transfer of the District Police Commander for Ejura-Sekyedumase, DSP Philip Hammond.
The families of the deceased and the injured are also to benefit from compensation per the committee’s recommendations.
For the future of policing in Ejura, the committee recommended an upgrading of police infrastructure at Ejura and the expansion of the police force in Ejura.
To help the community, the committee also recommended the creation of community centres under the Zongo Development Fund.
Main Work
The committee that held daily public sittings, taking testimonies from witnesses, was chaired by Court of Appeal judge, Justice George Kingsley Koomson, with Security Analyst, Dr. Vladimir Antwi-Danso, and the Executive Director of Penplusbytes, Juliet Amoah for civil society organisations while Marie Louise Simmons, a Principal State Attorney was secretary to the committee.
The committee inquired into the circumstances that led to the shooting of the two civilians namely: Abdul Nasir Yussif and Murtala Mohammed, by military personnel during a violent demonstration by angry youth of Ejura, following the death of Ibrahim Mohammed aka Macho Kaaka, a social media activist.
Kaaka had been attacked by unknown people on the night of June 26 and was on admission at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi but died on Monday, June 28, and by the next day, his death had triggered violence in Ejura.
The military had been called in to quell the violence after it became obvious the police could not contain the situation.
Already, three people namely Fuseini Alhassan, Issaka Ibrahim and Idi Mohammed, who is believed to be the brother of Kaaka, have been appearing before a circuit court in Kumasi, charged with conspiracy and murder in connection with Kaaka’s death.
Report Presentation
Presenting the report, Justice Koomson said “we knew that it was a very delicate assignment with huge national expectation. We can assure you that we attached serious importance to the task we were given and treated every issue with meticulous attention and detail.”
He added that, “Having assured ourselves after listening to 22 witnesses and reviewed volumes of documents including audio and videos, we have come with our findings and proffered some recommendations. And we hope the government through your good self (minister) will give a good ear to them and try to accept and implement them.”
Official Receipt
Receiving the report on behalf of government, the Minister of the Interior conveyed the gratitude of government to the committee for the work done.
He said, the findings of the report were “a matter of immense public interest” and assured that “we will take the report very very (sic) seriously.”
He added that he would study the report first and then submit it to the President, saying “at the appropriate time, we will make the report public and available for people to express their opinions on it.”
The minister also commended sections of the public for ‘stepping up’ to demand key witnesses to appear before the committee to testify even when some said the committee did not have the ‘coercive powers’ to get anyone to testify.
To Justice Koomson and his team, the minister said “this country owes you for the good work that you’ve done. I believe this report will help us resolve conflicting stories and above all contribute to better the security situation of the country.”
Prior to the presentation, the committee had met briefly with the minister behind closed doors. Journalists were invited about 12:30pm where a brief presentation was done but the details of the report were not disclosed.
President’s Order
Barely 24 hours after the deadly scenes, President Akufo-Addo, had instructed the Minister of the Interior, “to conduct, forthwith, a Public Inquiry into the circumstances that led to the unfortunate occurrences of Tuesday, June 29, 2021.”
The statement which was signed by Eugene Arhin, Director of Communications at the Presidency said “the Interior Minister is to provide a detailed report from the Inquiry, with recommendations for appropriate action, within ten days, i.e., by July 9, 2021, to President Akufo-Addo,” adding, “The President is deeply saddened by the deaths of Ibrahim Mohammed, alias Macho Kaaka, Abdul Nasir Yussif and Murtala Mohammed. He extends sincere condolences to the families of the deceased, and wishes the injured a speedy recovery.”
The committee initially had 10 days to submit its report for the President to act on it, but in the course of the proceedings they asked for an extension of time which was duly granted by the minister.
A total of 22 witnesses appeared before the government committee and whilst rounding up their activities, Justice Koomson announced that out of the total number, 19 appeared before the committee in public and three others appeared in-camera due to security reasons.
He had said the committee officially kick-started it’s hearing on July 5, 2021 and ended on Friday, July 16, 2021, pointing out that prior to the sittings at the Prempeh Assembly Hall in Kumasi, the committee had visited Ejura to sensitise the people.
Evidence Received
According to him, 555 pictures in soft copies, 117 video evidence, eight documentary evidence, two written statements, two physical evidence in the nature of spent cartridges and one audio evidence were received from people.
Justice Koomson announced that the committee used three days to review the evidence obtained, stressing that in general, 12 days were used by the committee members to examine the evidence at hand.
Massive Patronage
According to him, the committee members, including himself, were satisfied by the number of people from Ejura, who took time to travel all the way to Kumasi and cooperated with the committee to undertake its core mandate.
“The people of Ejura duly participated and cooperated to make the committee’s work successful. At least, seventeen out of the 22 people that appeared before the committee in Kumasi were the people from Ejura and that is encouraging,” the judge said.
He also remarked that family members of the injured and deceased people as well as some of the demonstrators, appeared before the committee.
Cemetery Return
The violence started when the irate protesters who were returning from the cemetery after the burial of Macho Kaaka, started pelting stones at the few police personnel around.
They reportedly besieged the police station, vandalised some vehicles, and also blocked the Ejura-Atebubu highway, causing a gridlock.
The unprovoked attacks were rapidly getting out of hand so it compelled the few policemen to flee the scene and call for reinforcement, and a joint police and military team arrived quickly.
The security forces, who were armed-to-the-teeth, then started to fire bullets to disperse the angry crowd, who were then destroying all ruling New Patriotic Party items in the Ejura township, leading to the shooting of six people with two sudden deaths.
Initial Politics
The murder of Macho Kaaka was given a political twist when some people sought to politicise the subject by associating the deceased with the ‘#FixTheCountry’ campaign.
Even before the police could delve into the case, those claiming to lead the #FixTheCountry protesters had claimed that until the gruesome murder of Macho Kaaka, he was one of their organisers.
Before he was declared dead, they started making social media posts to the effect that one of the #FixTheCountry leaders had been beaten by people belonging to the government.
Mahama De-Escalation
Former President John Dramani Mahama waded into the unfortunate incident and appeared to create the impression that President Akufo-Addo was not doing anything about the situation.
He said in a statement that, “I urgently call on President Nana Akufo-Addo to initiate an immediate de-escalation of the situation in Ejura,” and added that “there must be a very thorough investigation of both the murder of the youth activist and the security rules of engagement, which resulted in the shooting to death of the two others.”
Subsequent Events
However, subsequent events are showing that the death of Macho Kaaka may not be linked to politics after all.
The assertion that he was murdered because he was criticising the government has since been debunked when it became clear that the deceased was not even a member of the #FixTheCountry political group.
Some have even claimed that Macho Kaaka was a supporter of the government and was a member of the NPP in good standing.
He was said to have even campaigned for one lady who is aspiring to become the next DCE of Ejura Sekyedumase
An articulated truck with registration number, GT1597 H has been involved in a nearly fatal accident on the Ablekuma highway in Accra.
The incident which occurred on Wednesday around 1:30 am was quite dangerous as the truck left the roadway and came into contact with another vehicle.
The truck believed to be heading towards Amasaman from Takoradi and loaded with Spare parts veered off the road after the driver attempted maneuvering for a slower moving vehicle, a driver’s mate recounted.
Although there wasn’t any casualty involved, the incident has brought massive vehicular traffic on the Ablekuma stretch affecting the smooth movement of motorists.
The police are yet to move to the scene as of the time the report was being filed early Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile, residents and commuters have lamented the gross indiscipline on the Ablekuma Curve Junction on the part of motorists especially, the public transports popularly called ‘trotro’ and ‘Pragya
The Manager of Vector Control Unit of Zoomlion, Rev Ebenezer Kwame Addae has underscored the need for massive disinfection across all public places in the country in the wake of an imminent third wave of Covid-19.
He explained that such an exercise was necessary to help mitigate the spike in what appears to be a third wave of the deadly Delta variant.
Ghana has recorded the deadly Delta variant in some schools across the country, a situation he described as worrying and unfortunate.
Rev Addae said these when Zoomlion disinfected the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) to ensure the safety of both airport staff and passengers.
Places disinfected included departure and arrival halls, washrooms amongst others.
Rev Addae noted that a nationwide massive disinfection of all public places in the country will complement the government’s effort at combating the virus to prevent further surge
From Monday, August 2, 2021, all academic activities on the various university campuses will grind to a halt as the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), says it will withdraw services until their conditions of service are duly addressed.
According to UTAG, the decision is a result of the government’s failure to properly resolve their concerns which has to deal with their condition of service.
UTAG last month lamented what it calls the slow nature of ongoing negotiations and government’s posture on the issue that has been on the table since 2018 which is causing growing tension among its members on the various campuses.
Addressing a press conference here in Accra National President for the Association Professor Charles Marfo said in light of government’s feet dragging attitude, members of UTAG, effective Monday, 2 August will lay down their tools indefinitely.
Below are details of the statement read at the press conference:
NATIONAL SECRETARIAT UNIVERSITY TEACHERS ASSOCIATION OF GHANA
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology,
PMB, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana
28th July 2021
Distribution: All UTAG Branches All Media Houses
STALLED NEGOTIATION ON THE CONDITIONS OF SERVICE OF UTAG MEMBERS
Good morning ladies and gentlemen of the Press. The National Executive Committee (NEC) of UTAG is grateful to you for coming to cover our press conference. This press conference has become necessary due to the failure of Government to cooperate with UTAG to complete negotiations on its Conditions of Service (CoS), which started in August 2018.
Although some progress has been made in some respects, the key areas at the core of our CoS have seen no progress and it appears there is no end in sight whilst our members continue to wallow in worsening economic conditions. It is instructive to note that the few times UTAG has had to meet Government over the negotiations of its CoS, Government has always failed to respect the Rules of Engagement signed between the two parties to guide the negotiations, specifically, the full complement of key Government officials who could be described as having locus and, for that matter, capable of committing Government into any serious discussion are always absent.
It is in the face of this exhibition of bad faith and abysmal progress made in the negotiations that we find ourselves here today. For emphasis, the progress made so far is abysmal and, indeed, nothing to write home about. Ladies and gentlemen, UTAG finds this lukewarm attitude of Government as worrying and frustrating, hence, the need for this press conference to inform the public of the unfair treatment against UTAG.
UTAG wishes to state clearly that the Association is not in any way seeking to make anybody or institution unpopular as some narratives, unfortunately, seek to portray. Rather, all we seek to do is to let the public and everyone else understand that UTAG members have been left to wallow in worsening conditions of service for far too long and that we deserve some meaningful attention.
Ladies and gentlemen, here is a brief account of how low UTAG members have fallen in terms of their CoS over the years. In 2003, upon a recommendation by a Standing Joint Negotiation Committee (SJNC), Government accepted a five-year (2004-2008) roadmap for improvement in the levels of remuneration for senior members of the public universities in Ghana. At the end of the road map in 2008, the monthly entry point salary of the Lecturer was USD1,500 payable in Cedi equivalent.
Per the agreement of the five-year roadmap, general increases in salaries in subsequent years would apply to the USD1,500. Also, with the advent and subsequent implementation of the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) policy for public sector workers in the country, in the negotiations that ended in January 2012, an Interim Market Premium (IPM) was fixed at 114% of the basic salary and this led to a Lecturer being paid the Cedi equivalent of USD 2,084.41 from January 2012. It is important to note that the 114% of the basic salary was determined to ensure that the gains made with the SJNC in 2003 would be sustained. Ladies and gentlemen, one key element in the implementation of the SSSS was the fact that no employee was to be made worse off with the new pay regime.
Nevertheless, the academic senior member has become worse off following the implementation of the SSSS pay policy. At the beginning of 2020, the entry gross salary (i.e., Basic plus Market Premium) of a lecturer in the public universities was USD997.84 (GHC5,687.66) far less than the USD1,500 per month that was reached at the end of the roadmap in 2008 and further improved with the SSSS in 2012 to USD2,084.42. Clearly, you can see the drop of over USD1,086.57; i.e., GHC6,193.45, a drop which is more than the Lecturer’s present take home pay. I believe you will agree with UTAG that this is unacceptable.
Indeed, the question one would naturally ask is, “Do we aspire for progression in income as works or otherwise?”! Ladies and gentlemen, for the sake of industrial harmony and in order not to compound the already jeopardised academic calendar of the public universities, UTAG demands that Government should just restore the 2012 values for the Lecturer without recourse to adjustments. UTAG believes that this demand is appropriate and fair. If Government finds this difficult to do, UTAG is willing to follow a road map as suggested by the Prof. Yaa Ntiamoa Baidu’s report on the Presidential Committee on Emoluments for Article 71 Office Holders, June 2020.
Ladies and gentlemen, in the preamble of Prof. Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu’s report, specifically at page (xi), I quote/unquote: “the Committee strongly urges the Government to also spare no efforts at reducing the wide gap between the highest and lowest paid Public Servant in the Country. This can be achieved by implementing a roadmap (as was done during the tenure of former President Kuffuor for the health and tertiary education sectors) for enhancing the salaries of public sector workers on the Single Spine Salary Structure. The goal must be that the salary earned by every worker should enable him/her to live in dignity”. This snippet is iterated elsewhere again in the document. Ladies and gentlemen, you may recall that in a press release dated 17th June 2021, UTAG stated that “further delay on the negotiation beyond the end of July 2021 will compel UTAG to advise itself”. We also like to state that, until our demands are considered and met in-toto, UTAG would have no other option than to embark on industrial action by withdrawing teaching, which includes the conduct of examinations, marking of examination scripts, and other related matters, starting from Monday, 2nd of August 2021 until further notice.
All UTAG members are requested to remain calm and resolute for it is NOW OR NEVER. Thank you very much.
The Supreme Court has, today, Wednesday, 28 July 2021, barred High Court Judge Clemence Jackson Honyenuga from hearing the case involving ex-COCOBOD CEO Stephen Opuni and businessman Seidu Agongo.
The court also said the issues Justice Honyenuga dismissed while hearing the case will be admitted.
Justice Honyenuga has been accused of political bias against the accused persons.
It is recalled that in a video that went viral ahead of the 2020 polls, Justice Honyenuga, in his stead as Torgbui Ashui Nyagasi V of the Nyagbo Traditional area, told president Akufo-Addo during his tour of the Volta Region that “…we wish to congratulate you for the excellent manner you are governing this dear country of ours, it is our hope that with your vision and the gains made in your first term, Ghanaians may consider giving you another four years”.
The lead counsel for Dr Opuni, Mr Samuel Codjoe, raised objections to the judge’s continuous sitting on the case since, in his estimation, the supposedly criminal case has metamorphosed into a political one with some NPP bigwigs including a deputy Attorney General, Mr Godfred Dame, backing the re-election bid of the governing party on the success of this case.
This, he said, makes the judge unfit to continue the trial since his comments seem to align with the aspirations of the NPP.
Justice Honyenuga, in his ruling on March 16, 2020, dismissed the motion for his recusal describing it as incompetent and misconceived.
He further described the allegations of bias against him as “mere perceptions and exaggerated to suit the first accused and others” adding that “the allegations, the alleged comments are non-judicial and will not constitute bias or any other matter”.
On July 13, lawyers of Dr Opuni told the Supreme Court about how one of two pieces of evidence that gave contrasting accounts on Lithovit fertiliser, was rejected by Justice Clemence Honyenuga, as he sought the judge’s removal from the case.
Moving the application, Mr Codjoe argued that ”a statement given by a farmer, which said Lithovit fertiliser was good, was rejected and another one which a farmer said Lithovit was bad, was accepted.”
He contended that the accused person senses a possible bias and would not be given a fair hearing if the judge is allowed to continue with the case.
Dr Opuni and businessman Seidu Agongo are in court for allegedly causing GHS217 million financial loss to the state in connection with the procurement of fertiliser by COCOBOD.
The Minority in Parliament has accused First Deputy Speaker of Parliament Joseph Osei Owusu (Joewsie) of scheming to protect the Member of Parliament for Assin Central Kennedy Agyapong after he was hauled before the Privileges Committee.
Lawmaker for Sagnarigu, Alhaji ABA Fuseini said a request by Mr Joewsie that the hearing should be done via zoom is an indication of a plot to have the businessman and politician, Mr Agyapong shielded.
He told journalists in Parliament on Tuesday July 27 that “Ever since the committee was constituted this is the first meeting of the committee.
“When the chairman said the meeting should be done via zoom we said what the basis was for that. The best is for members to come physically to meet so we do not see any basis for zoom meeting. “The same chair advocating for zoom is sitting in parliament with more than hundred people. I have a lost if respect for him but on this one he has goofed.”
The Speaker Alban Bagbin has referred Mr Agyapong to the Privileges Committee of Parliament for his utterances against a journalist with the Multimedia Group, Erastus Asare Donkor. Mr Agyapong on Friday, July 9, is reported to have allegedly threatened to attack Mr Asare Donkor, “for the journalistic work that the latter undertook during the recent shootings and killing incident at Ejura” on his television station.
The Multimedia Group filed a formal complaint against Mr Agyapong.
On Wednesday July 14, Alhassan Suhuyini raised the issue on the floor of the house and asked the Speaker to refer the matter to the Privileges Committee.
He said “Mr Speaker, I think that as a former journalist I feel obliged to draw the House’s attention to this conduct of an Honorable colleague of this house which in my view, brings this house into disrepute.
“Mr Speaker, I urge you to exercise your powers under 27 and refer this conduct of the Honorable which is becoming unacceptable, to the Privileges Committee to ascertain the veracity of the comments that were made and recommend sanctions if possible that will act as deterrent to other members who may be tempted to act like him.” In response to his request, the Speaker accordingly referred Mr Agyapong to the committee. He said he cannot take a decision on Mr Agyapong over his utterances against a journalist in Ghana.
That decision to determine whether or not the conduct smacks of abuse of privileges, he said, rests with the lawmakers as a House, to take.
As it is now, I am compelled to refer it to the Privileges Committee. I want to emphasize that it is the House that will take the decision, it is not the speaker, it is not any other person apart from the House.
“That will be your collective wisdom that come to the conclusion whether what is alleged is just a mere allegation or is supported by facts and whether those facts constitute contempt of the House and abuse of a privilege of members,
“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 does not extend to you in anywhere else. So pleased the committee should go into the matter, submit the report.”
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in accordance with Article 146(6) of the 1992 Constitution, has begun the process to remove Chief Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah, if found guilty of a $5 million bribery allegation.
First of all, a prima facie case should be found against the Chief Justice before the full process of his impeachment is triggered.
This was contained in a response from the Presidency to a petition filed by pressure group Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA).
ASEPA had petitioned the Presidency and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) over the allegations levelled by Kumasi-based lawyer Akwasi Afrifa against the Chief Justice.
Lawyer Afrifa was responding to a petition filed at the General Legal Council (GLC) by a former client, Nana Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta II, who accused the lawyer of taking $100,000 legal fees from him when he could not continue the case.
The renowned lawyer also cited Anthony Akoto Ampaw, who has since responded to the claims made by Mr Afrifa.
Akoto Ampaw issues stringy-worded response to lawyer Akwasi Afrifa It is on the back of all these that ASEPA’s Executive Director petitioned the Presidency to trigger the process to oust the Chief Justice, who has also reported the matter to the GLC and the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service.
Find the Presidency’s response below:
The Office of the President has stated that President Nana Akufo-Addo has commenced the appropriate processes for the removal of Chief Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah.
The Presidency made this known in response to a petition from the Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA).
A letter sent to ASEPA from the Office of the President, signed by the Secretary to the President, Nana Bediatuo Asante, said the President commenced the processes in accordance with Article 146 (6) of the 1992 Constitution.
The Chief Justice has been accused by a lawyer of taking a $5 million bribe.
The National Youth Organizer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Lawyer Henry Nana Boakye (Nana B) has cut sod for the construction of 30-bed Children’s ward and O. P. D. Clinic at the Tafo Government Hospital as part of initiatives marking the celebration of his 40th birthday, dubbed “Nana B @40”.
The project is to be completed between 12 and 18 months of commencement.
The project when completed will have on the right wing a Paediatric OPD with a Waiting Area, 2 Consulting Rooms, and a Treatment Room.
The Children’s ward which will be on the left-wing will have 20 Bed General Children’s Ward; Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit with three (3) Intensive Care Stations; Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) with a minimum of five (5) Incubators; Nurse’s Station and Storage: Staff Restrooms and Washrooms; and Inpatients’ Washrooms.
“Besides caring and providing for sick children in emergency and chronic settings, the facilities we are building will contribute in essential ways to primary health care for children ” Nana B has said.
On his part, Hon. Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh, Minister for Energy, who was the guest of honor, commended the NPP Youth Leader for taking up the initiative to help in the delivery of quality health care to children in a serene environment that utilizes technology and state of the art equipment.
The Medical Superintendent of the Hospital Dr. Kwame Agyeman acknowledged the workload on the current facility which serves about 34,000 children of which he admits is woefully inadequate and puts more pressure on the facility, he expressed gratitude to Nana B for choosing Tafo Government Hospital to put up such a wonderful edifice.
The sod-cutting ceremony was graced by the Ashanti Regional Minister, Hon. Simon Osei-Mensa, Hon. Ekow Vincent Asaffuah (MP for Tafo Pankrono), Hon Asamoah Boateng (CEO of SIGA), Lawyer Justin Kodua Frimpong (CEO of YEA), and Tafohene, Nana Agyen Ababio.
Also Present were the Ashanti Regional Organiser, Regional women organizer, and some Regional Youth Organizers together with Tafo-Pankrono Constituency Youth Organizers
The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and the Ghana Tourism Authority in collaboration with the Pan African Historical Theatre Festival (PANAFEST), have finally begun the 2021 celebrations.
The lined up multiple events which begun on Monday 26th July 2021 is scheduled to end on August 1, 2021. This year’s celebration is on the theme: ‘Securing the African Family: Our Health, Our Wealth Our Soul.’
According to the Chairperson for the PANAFEST Foundation, Prof. Esi Sutherland-Addy, the even is bent on honoring heroes like Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Dr. Edward Burghart Du Bois, Dr. George Padmore and other great ancestors who have built on the Pan-African ideals and to rise above and beyond the shadows of slavery and celebrate the African spirit of resilience.
Series of activities for the Panafest/emancipation celebrations include community events such as wreath laying ceremonies in Accra, a Pan African Arts Market (Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park) and Creative Explosion: African World Artists at the National Theatre in Accra.
The 2021 Panifest / Emancipation on Monday begun with wreath laying ceremony at the following venues, W.E.B. Du Bois Centre, George Padmore Research Library and Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park.
Today Tuesday, July 27, 2021, also saw the return journey & akwaaba ceremony from Cape Coast Castle’s Door of Return to Elmina Castle forecourt, opening ceremony for colloquium at the University of Cape Coast, opening of bazaar / expo and evening performance at the Centre for National Culture, Cape Coast
Sammy Gyamfi is NDC’s National Communications Director
The National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress Sammy Gyamfi has accused the registrar at the Cape Coast High Court of colluding with the governing NPP to manipulate court processes against the Assin North MP James Gyakye Quayson .
According to him, the registrar Ustaz Hamza has refused to show up or open the registry of the court to enable lawyers of the embattled MP to file the motion for the trial judge to refer the case to the Supreme Court.
“The NDC can see a deliberate and evil conspiracy between the Court’s registry and the NPP to manipulate the court processes and decision in their favor, all in an effort to steal the Assin North seat from the NDC. And this begs the question as whether or not the trial judge is privy or party to this shameful conduct of the Court’s registry.
“It is very shameful to say the least, that Judicial officers who are supposed to exhibit independence, impartiality and professionalism in their work have compromised their integrity and are lending themselves as pliant tools for the manipulation of judicial processes by the desperate and despotic NPP/Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government,” he wrote on Facebook.
The Cape Coast High Court will today make a ruling on the legitimacy or otherwise for the MP to hold himself out as a legislator.
The petitioner, Michael Ankomah Nimfah, contends that Quayson held dual citizenship as a Ghanaian and a Canadian at the time of his election, and therefore must be restrained from performing the duties of a Member of Parliament.
Below are details of the write up by Sammy Gyamfi
Folks, it does appear that the Registrar of the Cape Coast High Court, Mr. Ustaz Hamza and some other judicial officers in the Court’s Registry are in cahoots with the New Patriotic Party to prevent lawyers for the Assin North NDC MP from filing certain legal processes before the Trial Judge who has set today for his Judgement on the matter sits this morning.
You will recall that yesterday, the Supreme Court directed lawyers for the Assin North MP to go back to the High Court and make a formal request for the trial judge to refer the case to the Supreme Court on grounds that same borders on the interpretation and enforcement of the Constitution and therefore falls within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, if they are so minded.
In furtherance of this directive, the National Chairman of the NDC and Lawyers for the Assin North MP were at the Court’s registry by 8am this morning, which is the official time the registry opens, to file the necessary legal processes. As at the time of this writeup, 9am, the registry and filing room of the Court remain locked and the Registrar and other relevant judicial officers who are paid by the State to facilitate the filing of such legal processes are not at work. All efforts to reach them have proven futile.
This is exactly the same way the Registrar and Registry of the Court behaved in the processes leading to the service of an Order of Injunction on the Assin North MP and counter-attempts by lawyers for the MP to challenge same on 6th January, 2021 before the Speakership Election in Parliament.
The NDC can see a deliberate and evil conspiracy between the Court’s registry and the NPP to manipulate the court processes and decision in their favor, all in an effort to steal the Assin North seat from the NDC. And this begs the question as whether or not the trial judge is privy or party to this shameful conduct of the Court’s registry.
It is very shameful to say the least, that Judicial officers who are supposed to exhibit independence, impartiality and professionalism in their work have compromised their integrity and are lending themselves as pliant tools for the manipulation of judicial processes by the desperate and despotic NPP/Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government.
Sad day for judicial independence. The NPP can have its way today, but the truth shall surely prevail at the end of it all!
A Cape Coast High Court has cancelled the parliamentary elections in the Assin North constituency in the 2020 parliamentary elections.
The court presided over by Justice Kwasi Boakye, ordered for fresh elections to be conducted in the constituency.
Background
The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked for the withdrawal of an application seeking its supervisory jurisdiction in a case where the Cape Coast High Court is set to decide a petition challenging the eligibility of the Assin North MP.
The apex court argued that due process was not followed. The application was subsequently withdrawn by lawyers for the MP, paving the way for the Cape Coast High Court to rule on the matter Wednesday.
This comes after Lawyers for the Member of Parliament for Assin North, Joe Gyaakye Quayson withdrawn an application seeking to invoke the supervisory jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to interpret certain constitutional provisions.
The MP’s lawyer, Justin Pwavra Teriwajah had tried without success, to get the Cape Coast High Court hearing the election petition involving his client, to refer Article 94, Clause (2a) of the 1992 Constitution to the Supreme Court for interpretation.
A five-member Supreme Court presided over by Justice Yaw Apau, struck the application out after the MP’s lawyer had withdrawn it.
The judges explained to the lawyer that he should have formally applied to the High Court to refer the said constitutional provision to the Supreme Court for interpretation, and if he refused, there would have been grounds to refer the same to the Supreme Court
In his desperate attempt to reclaim power (that he and the NDC so carelessly lost due to gross incompetence), the former President, John Mahama, has sponsored the activities of these protestors with a whopping £85,000 (Eighty Five Thousand).
Additionally, a new NDC party branch in Telford was commissioned in the UK as a decoy to further support the activities of NDC and CPP operatives who have merged in the UK to form a #FixTheCountry group to incite well meaning Ghanaian citizens in the U.K. and back home against the Akufo-Addo government.
Reports from reliable sources have revealed that Mr Mahama visited the United Kingdom from the 6th of July and left on the 21st of July 2021, followed by his wife Lordina Mahama on the 22nd of July.
The main purpose of the former President’s visit, was to meet up with the organizers of the #FixTheCountry demonstration to provide funding for their activities.
#FixTheCountry faithfuls and the leadership of the NDC chapter in UK were spotted at the former President’s favourite hang out in Kensington.
It can therefore be strongly declared that the so called social media movement #FixTheCountry was born by the National Democratic Congress and some element from CPP to instigate citizens of the country against the incumbent government.
The so called organizers of the demonstrations are remotely controlled by current and former NDC executives in the UK. One of the organisers, Nana Yaw has been good to blindside #FixTheCountry group of the ill gotten funds from Former President Mahama by soliciting for pennies from unsuspecting followers on social media platforms.
Guest to the Telford branch maiden meeting was the national organiser of NDC – Joshua Akamba, former deputy chief of staff – Alexander Segbefia and the leadership of #FixTheCountry. The headline message from the meeting captured on tape, was to empower the NDC diaspora Chapters to write and propagate false articles to destroy the good name of the country earned by the President, HE Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
The faithfuls of the #FixTheCountry protest had an injunction placed by the Supreme Court of Ghana which prevented them holding a demonstration in Ghana. However they have written to the metropolitan police in London to stage a protest in the United Kingdom after the infusion of huge sums by the former President. It is important to note that the so called #FixTheCountry movement have always denied to be an arm of any political group. It is now evidently clear that they are a strong arm of the opposition, NDC, being used to hoodwink and incite well meaning Ghanaians in Ghana and the Diaspora
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service has still not built and presented any docket on the case involving the murder of Ahmed Hussein-Suale to the Office of the Attorney-General (AG) for prosecution
Although the CID has been investigating the case since Suale was murdered in January 6, 2019, it is yet to present any docket on the case to the A-G.
The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame, disclosed this in his response to a question posed by the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Mr Samuel Okudjeto Ablakwa.
Mr Ablakwa sought to find out the status of the pursuit of justice in some unresolved murder cases in the country. The cases include those of Ahmed Suale, Mr J. B. Danquah Adu, Mr Ekow Hayford, and Professor Emmanuel Benneh.
Courtesy call
On the case of Ahmed Hussein-Suale, Mr Dame said he had not been briefed on the matter.
He said the Inspector General of Police (IGP), however, paid a courtesy call on him on March 29, this year and being concerned about the failure to resolve that and the other homicides, he enquired about the state of investigations into them.
“I emphasised to the IGP and his team the need to conclude investigations for action to be taken as soon as practically possible,” he stated.
Hussein-Suale, an investigative journalist with Tiger Eye P.I., was assassinated on January 16, 2019 near his family home in Madina, Accra.
The murder is presumed to be linked with his work.
Murdered MPs
Mr J. B. Danquah, who was the MP for Abuakwa North in the Eastern Region, was murdered in 2016, with police investigations leading to the arrest of Daniel Asiedu, who is currently standing trial.
Mr Dame said the trial of the accused was ongoing in the High Court, presided over by Her Ladyship Lydia Osei Marfo.
He said the case was pending before the same court, then presided over by Justice Buadi who was later transferred to Ho.
“While this case was pending before him, an order was made for the first accused person to be examined by a psychiatrist to ascertain whether he is fit to stand trial. The psychiatrist concluded that the first accused was fit to stand trial,” he stated.
He said prosecution had so far called two witnesses who had been cross-examined, with an intention to call nine witnesses.
Mr Ekow Hayford, who was the MP for Mfantseman, was also killed in 2020, during a highway robbery incident.
The MP, who was returning from a campaign late at night, was shot by the robbers, after his driver allegedly attempted to drive through the robbery scene.
Mr Dame said on May 10, this year, a robbery attack similar to what claimed the life of the MP took place, during which the police were quick to react by opening fire. They subsequently killed one of the robbers and arrested the rest.
The A-G said further investigations revealed that the robbers were the same people involved in the robbery that killed Mr Hayford.
Charges
He said the police on July 13, this year, conducted an identification parade involving the three suspects.
The Attorney-General said a number of victims, including some of the occupants of the late MP’s vehicle, identified them as the armed men who robbed them.
“Investigations have revealed that the late MP was shot by Mohammed who is now deceased.
“The suspects, who are in custody, having been convicted of an earlier offence, have been arraigned on charges of conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit robbery and robbery,” Mr Dame said.
Murder of university don
On the case of Prof. Benneh, Mr Dame said in the course of investigations, three suspects were arrested, with the first suspect, Mr James Nana Womba, who is believed to have strangled Prof. Benneh to death, dying while in police custody.
He said after investigations had been concluded, the docket was forwarded to the A-G’s Department, which recommended the prosecution of the suspects.
“On May 21, 2021, a bill of indictment was filed to commence the prosecution of the second suspect, Ebenezer Kwayisi. The third suspect, Opambuor Agya Badu Nkwansah, was discharged after a study of the docket revealed that he was not at the scene of the crime when the offence was committed although he was invited by James Womba to help him rob the deceased,” he explained.
He said the second suspect had been charged with abetment of murder, with his committal held at the Kaneshie District Court, which committed him to the High Court for trial.
“The prosecution is waiting for the notice of arraignment at the High Court for the trial of the accused,” he said.
It has emerged that Health Minister Kwaku Agyemang Manu signed the contract for the purchase of the Sputnik V Vaccine before seeking the advice of the Attorney General (AG) as required by law.
The AG, according to documents sighted by Starr News, however, raised concerns over the fact the deal did not secure parliamentary approval as required by law.
Again, the AG raised concerns over the fact that the ministry had to go through a middleman to procure the vaccine instead of the manufacturer.
The Minister told the Ad Hoc Committee of Parliament tasked to probe the controversial Sputnik V vaccines procurement agreement that accumulated frustrations to procure the vaccines for the country compelled him to disregard parliamentary approval as required by Article 181 5 of the 1992 constitution.
In the minister’s justification, he had plans to formally seek parliamentary approval after independently approving the $64.6 million contract.
When asked, “Ghana has an embassy in Russia, You are aware that it has a Trade minister, Russia has a diplomatic relationship with Kwame Nkrumah’s Ghana, yet you went ahead to sign a contract with a private person on the 9th of March to get vaccines from Russia before you wrote on the 23rd of March to the Russian minister of trade, and then on 28th of April to the foreign minister of Russia, will you say this was prudent under the circumstance?”
Mr Agyeman-Manu responded “the best at the time was what I did. For prudence, at the time of the pandemic and my frustrations, I would not say so. If it were now, that would have been different.”
He was then asked, “…that you used your best effort to get diplomatic channels to enable you to reach the manufacturer or the Russian authority directly, is that correct?” He replied “yes.”
Asked again if “you even did so by producing letters as evidence of such correspondence is that correct? You further indicated that it was after all those best endeavors had proved futile before you dealt with the Sheikh, is that correct? In his defense, Mr Agyeman-Manu retorted “that might not be correct. I dealt with the Sheikh before frantic efforts to get the vaccines from the right source.”
“So, were you being untruthful to this committee when you indicated that you used your best effort to get direct access to the manufacturer and the Russian authorities before you dealt with the Sheikh? He answered, “I quite remember I have said this anywhere, what I said was that I made efforts but I didn’t juxtapose the timing of the efforts that I made.”
Mr Agyeman-Manu was further questioned, “you stated to the chair of this committee that originally you were not even interested in dealing with private people and that it was after your best endeavors proved futile that’s when you dealt with a private person and the records are there to show.”
He responded: “that is correct. the best endeavors were not being done with the Russians. When we started looking for vaccines, we relied on COVAX and the Africa Medicines Supply Platform,these were not private citizens.”
“But when efforts from COVAX failed because India blocked their routes for export, and Africa Medicines Supply Platform indicated that they couldn’t supply any vaccines till August, I was then motivated to begin to look at private sector people to see if we can get the vaccines.”
He added, “after I had dealt with Al Maktoum, I started writing to try to find out from the right source to see if we can get it cheaper
Chief Executive Officer of the State Transport Corporation (STC), Nana Akomea, has cautioned Ghanaians against threat of the COVID-19 third wave in Ghana.
The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Sunday, July 25, 2021 confirmed that the country has been hit by a third wave of the disease.
In his 26th address to the nation, the President said “as per data available from the Ghana Health Service, it appears that unfortunately, our nation like many others is experiencing a third wave of covid infections…largely driven by the Delta variant of the virus, which, according to the World Health Organisation, has increased transmissibility rates, and, in our case in Ghana, has led, in recent weeks, to a rise in hospitalization and ICU bed uptakes, and, tragically, deaths”.
Speaking on Peace FM’s ‘Kokrokoo’ programme, Nana Akomea noted that the third wave which is as a result of the Indian variant called Delta variant is the most dangerous of all the variants, hence warned Ghanaians not to trivialize the President’s instructions regarding the disease.null
He disclosed that, unlike the first wave where the virus affects the throats and nostrils of the victim, the new variant directly infects the lungs of the patient and kills faster.
“This virus is said to be lighter and stays in the air longer. When you contract it, this virus is also said to affect your lungs straight, and by the time you realize you have pneumonia. At first, the virus would be located in your throat or nostrils, but this third wave goes straight to your lungs. So, it’s dangerous than the first two,” he told host Kwami Sefa Kayi.
Nana Akomea advised the citizenry to mandatorily adhere to the wearing of nose mask and practice all the other COVID-19 safety protocols to avoid rapid transmissions and infections
Former Deputy Health Minister, Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye has issued strong caution to Ghanaians who enjoy traveling abroad to suspend their travels this year.
According to him, looking at the rate of the Coronavirus infections across the globe, it won’t be safe for any person to travel outside the country.
President Nana Akufo-Addo has confirmed that Ghana has been hit by a third wave of COVID-19.
In his 26th address to the nation, Sunday, the President said “as per data available from the Ghana Health Service, it appears that unfortunately, our nation like many others is experiencing a third wave of covid infections…largely driven by the Delta variant of the virus, which, according to the World Health Organisation, has increased transmissibility rates, and, in our case in Ghana, has led, in recent weeks, to a rise in hospitalization and ICU bed uptakes, and, tragically, deaths”.null
Dr. Okoe Boye advised travelers to specifically cities like Dubai and others in foreign countries to postpone it accentuating that, “if it’s not very important business or a very, very urgent thing, defer travel to next year”.
He explained the virus prefers cold areas, so traveling overseas is one of the riskiest ways to contract the disease.
“It’s not by mistake that UK recorded about 50,000 cases a day; it’s because it’s cold there. So, when you’re going to cold territories, if it’s not too necessary, wait awhile . . . Don’t go to Dubai this season . .
Her Excellency Hajia Alima Mahama has reaffirmed the Government of Ghana’s determination to continue strengthening bilateral relations with the Government of the United States of America.null
She also confirmed Ghana’s commitment to partner with the United States Government in various areas of development.
The Ambassador made this note on Wednesday, July 27, 2021, after President Joseph R. Biden accepted her letters of credence by which President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo accredited her as the Ambassador of the Republic of Ghana to the United States.
She is the first female Ambassador of Ghana to the United States.
Ambassador Hajia Alima Mahama brings a lot of experience to the role having served as a two-term Member of Parliament, cabinet minister and international consultant for several multinational organizations.
She first served as a Member of Parliament for the people of Nalerigu-Gambaga Constituency from the year 2001 to 2005, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development from May 2001 to April 2003 and Deputy Minister of State, Ministry of Trade, Industry and President’s Special Initiatives, from May, 2003 to January, 2005. She later served as the Minister of State for the Ministry of Women & Children’s Affairs from January 2005 to January 2009.null
Prior to her current appointment as Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, H.E Hajia Alima Mahama served again as the Member of Parliament for the people of Nalerigu-Gambaga Constituency and the Minister of State for Local Government and Rural Development from January 2017 to January 2021.
Her extensive non-governmental and international experiences include roles such as Senior Technical Advisor at Danida, Consultant OXFAM, Faculty of Salzburg Seminar in Austria and Senior Planner, and Gender and Development Coordinator Northern Region Rural Integrated Programme (NORRIP), a Ghana Government and Canadian International Development Agency initiative.
Hajia is a Barrister at Law and was called to the bar in 1982. She holds a Master of Arts Degree in Development Studies with a specialization in Regional Development Planning from the Institute of Social Studies (ISS), The Hague, Netherlands.
Preceding that, she obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Law and Sociology from the University of Ghana. She is both a Pearson Fellow and a Humphrey Fellow.
Ambassador Hajia Alima Mahama has concurrent supervision over Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica and Belize
Mr Samuel Abdulai Jinapor, Minister for Lands and Natural Resources has said the government is set to digitise all records at the Lands Commission to reduce the turnaround time for registration of lands.null
When successfully done, processing land documents for registration could take only a maximum of 30 days to complete.
Mr Jinapor said the government was engaging the private sector to provide the needed support to successfully launch the scheme. “We are engaging the private sector to provide the capital and technical expertise required to implement this scheme.”
Mr Jinapor said this during the inauguration of the reconstituted Governing Board of the Northern Regional Lands Commission in Tamale.
The 23 Member Board, expected to serve a four-year tenure, was sworn into office by the Northern Regional Supervising High Court Judge, His Lordship Justice Richard Mac Kogyapwah.
Mr Jinapor said since most of the lands in the region were owned by skins and families, it was prudent that the reconstituted Board of the Lands Commission set up Customary Land Secretariat to ensure proper land administration in the region.null
He said, “The Commission is enjoined by the Lands Act, 2020 (Act 1036) to collaborate with the Administrator of Stool Land to ensure the establishment of this Secretariat for each skin, clan, or family that owns the land.”
Alhaji Sulemana Mahama, Executive Secretary to the Lands Commission urged members of the Board to serve as advocates against the incidence of land mismanagement at the local level to preserve lands for development projects in the region.
He noted that the issue of land mismanagement was a crime punishable per the new Lands Act, android charged members to ensure fairness and transparency in the administration of land.
Mr Dubik Yakubu Mahama, Chairman of the reconstituted Governing Board, expressed gratitude to the government for the confidence reposed in them and called for collaboration amongst stakeholders in the execution of their duties.
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia says it is time African governments embrace digital currency (bitcoin) to facilitate trade and enhance other productive sectors of their economies.
He, therefore, lauded the Bank of Ghana’s decision to pilot digital currency later this year towards its nationwide roll-out in the near future, saying that it would give it the needed credibility and legal backing for usage.
Addressing participants at the opening ceremony of the Fifth Ghana International Trade and Finance Conference (GITFiC) in Accra on Tuesday, Dr Bawumia said, Intra-African trade had created the need to establish a Single Central Payment platform on the African continent where financial system operators could carry out all cross-border payments smoothly.
To that end, the Vice-President believed that the Pan African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS)- a central payment and collection infrastructure- would allow businesses on the continent to clear and settle transactions in their local currencies without depending on third-party currencies.
He said it would also provide an alternative to the current high-cost and long correspondent banking relationships by facilitating trade and other economic activities across the continent through a single, low-cost, and risk-controlled payment clearing and settlement system.
The event brought together Governors of the Central Banks in Africa, captains of industry, chief executives of financial institutions, and the diplomatic community to share ideas and engage in conversations that would create a conducive environment for boosting economic activities and promote growth.
It was held on the theme: “Facilitating Trade and Trade-Finance in AfCFTA; The Role of the Financial Services Sector”.
Vice-President Bawumia noted that digitisation had become one of the most consequential policies of President Akufo-Addo’s government and pivotal towards increasing economic activities, macroeconomic stability, and growth.
In that vein, a robust and resilient financial system would provide an impetus for productive investments, expand opportunities for jobs and wealth creation.
“As you may recall, in a bid to improve liquidity and strengthen the banking sector, the Bank of Ghana implemented a new prudential regulatory framework.
“The banking sector clean-up was aimed at promoting a financially stable banking sector.
“Concurrently, digitisation has also become one of the most consequential policies of the Nana Akufo-Addo government. When the scourge of the COVID-19 pandemic hit and forced many economies into partial and total lockdowns, it reinforced the need to pursue digitization,” Dr Bawumia emphasised.
He stated that mobile banking was proving to be a more convenient alternative to traditional banking channels as several routine banking and money transactions were now executed through mobile phones and electronic payment systems.
“Indeed, one has to recognise that for the financial services sector to play its role, there must be financial inclusion.
“The implementation of Mobile Money Interoperability in Ghana has shown that more people can be financially included, and this needs to be rolled out across Africa to ensure the growth of the AfCFTA vision,” he added.
To leverage digital technologies and digitized data, he said, the Central Bank had rolled out a couple of systems through its Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GHIPSS).
They include the e-zwich, Gh-Link, Mobile Money Interoperability, and QR Code and making sure that the underlying payment system runs smoothly is the least we should expect of the financial system if we are to realize the vision of continental free trade.
He stressed that since payments were at the heart of the day-to-day operations of a free trade system, negative spillover effects could be serious if something goes wrong.
Therefore in 2019, the Government introduced the Payment Systems and Services Act, 2019 (Act 987), under the supervision of the Bank of Ghana, to consolidate the laws relating to payment systems, payment services, and regulated institutions in the electronic money business.
The advent of this legislation, Dr Bawumia explained that, had helped deepen financial intermediation and financial inclusion, not only in Ghana but across the continent.
” I am hopeful that the rollout of the Pan – African system will synchronize successfully with the payment systems architecture developed by Central Banks across Africa and bring about a reduction in cost, time variability, and decreased liquidity requirements of commercial banks and central banks settlements.
“I encourage the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), a partner entity in this conference, to help its members build a solid and resilient productive capacity to benefit from the AfCFTA implementation.
That, he said, would complement the Government’s effort in providing both the required leadership and investments in implementing the continental trade protocols and related action plans.
He expressed the belief that the conference would deepen the conversations on the need for Africa to design its unique models, which would provide an enabling structural transformation of Africa’s economy and thereby, placing Africa on a sustainable long-term growth path.
Former Deputy General Secretary of the biggest opposition party, National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Koku Anyidoho is resolute all will be well despite his expulsion from the party.
In a series of tweets, Mr Anyidoho borrowed the popular mantra of President Nana Akufo-Addo saying “This too shall pass”.
In another tweet, he said: “I continue to remain focused on growing the Atta-Mills Institute, building Asomdwee Park, & flying high the legacy of President Atta-Mills. My bible tells me that, in ALL things, I should give thanks to God Almighty for His grace and mercies. I love Ghana”.
In a separate tweet again he noted that “Vindication lies in the womb of time. Shalom”.
Mr Anyidoho was expelled from the party on Tuesday, 27 July 2021 for misconduct and anti-party behaviour.
A letter from the party addressed to Mr Anyidoho to that effect said: “The Functional Executive Committee (FEC), acting in compliance of article 48 (1) of the NDC constitution, unanimously adopted the report and accepts full responsibility for your expulsion from the party”.
The NDC said Mr Anyidoho cannot be “recognised as a member of the party and cannot carry [himself] as such.”
Additionally, the letter said Mr Anyidoho “shall also forfeit any money, dues, or subscription fees that you may have made to the party”.
Mr Anyidoho was first suspended by the party after a meeting by FEC on 20 January 2021.
At that meeting, FEC, according to a letter to Mr Anyidoho signed by General Secretary Johnson Asiedu Nketia, “considered two separate petitions from two registered members of the National Democratic Congress, each of which lodged an official complaint against your conduct, which is viewed to be in breach of the party’s disciplinary code for its members as contained in the NDC Constitution”.
The petitioners are Mr Mobarak Abdul-Karim (Oti Regional Communication Officer) and Eric Adjei (Deputy Communication Officer, Bono Region).
“At the end of its deliberations, the following decisions were taken in accordance with articles 46(1), 46(6), 46(8)(b) of the party’s Constitution: that with immediate effect, your membership of the NDC has been suspended; that the petitions be referred to the party’s DisciplinaryCommittee for further action”,
“You are, therefore, by this letter, to take note and notice is hereby given that your membership of the NDC is suspended pending the hearing and final determination of the petition against your conduct”, the letter directed
President Nana Akufo-Addo has started the necessary processes in dealing with a petition by civil society group Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA), by which the pressure group wants Chief Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah removed from office for being cited in an alleged $5 million bribery allegation.
A statement signed by Nana Asante Bediatuo, the Executive Secretary to President Nana Akufo-Addo, titled Re: In Re: Petition to invoke Article 146 for the removal of Chief Justice, said: “I write to acknowledge receipt of your updated petition in respect of the above subject matter and to inform you that the President of the Republic has, in accordance with Article 146 (6) of the Constitution, commenced the appropriate processes subsequent to being petitioned for the removal of the Chief Justice”.
Meanwhile, the Chief Justice has denied ever demanding or receiving any bribe from one Ogyeedom Obranu Kwasi Atta IV, a plaintiff in a case at the courts, a statement issued by the Judicial Service on Monday, 12 July 2021 and signed by Justice Cynthia Pamela Addo, Judicial Secretary, said.
The denial followed an allegation by a lawyer, Mr Kwasi Afrifa, to the effect that Ogyeedom Obranu Kwasi Atta IV had told him (Kwasi Afrifa) that the CJ demanded a bribe of $5 million to help him (Ogyeedom Obranu Kwasi Atta IV) get a favourable outcome at the courts.
The statement issued by the CJ, however, said: “His Lordship is saddened that without any shred of evidence, his name has been dragged into this sordid and potentially criminal matter”.
“His Lordship confirms that he does not know the plaintiff and has not met or seen him anywhere except in the courtroom when he rises to announces his name when his case is called”, the statement noted.
It added: “His Lordship asserts that he had had no personally interaction either with the plaintiff or his lawyer on this matter or any other matter”. “His Lordship further asserts that he has not demanded or received any money from any person to influence any decision on this matter or nay other matter”.
“Indeed, 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 the claim that they were prejudiced against him”, the statement continued.
It said: “The records further show that the Chief Justice was the only judge on the panel, who recently on 31 March 2021, dissented in an application at the instant of the plaintiff Ogyeedom Obranu Kwasi Atta IV in favour of the respondent, Ghana Telecommunications Company Limited”.
Further, the Judicial Service said: “To ensure that this matter is fully investigated, His Lordship has directed that a formal complaint be made to the CID of the Ghana Police Service for investigations and nay necessary actions”.
“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 in all investigations into this matter while he considers his own civil legal options to ensure that this matter is dealt with to its logical conclusion.
The CJ’s denial comes 24 hours after the plaintiff also denied the bribery allegations.
Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta VI, in a short statement issued on Sunday, 11 July 2021, said the allegations were false.
Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta VI dragged Mr Afrifa, 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.
In the petition, Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta VI said: “I engaged the said lawyer, Mr Kwasi Afrifa, to handle my case, in which engagement we agreed on a fee of GHS300,000, which I paid him in full”.
“In the course of handling the case, he suggested to me that it was in my interest to, besides his fully paid-up fees, provide an amount of USD100,000 to enable him to do some ‘ways and means’ (gymnastics) on my case so that we can obtain a favourable decision”.
“Being naïve and eager to see to the completion of my case favourably, I acceded to his request for him to have the money to go and perform the said gymnastics to ensure success in my case. Although I believed in the strength of my case, I decided to give him the said money based on the advice he gave”, the petition wrote.
However, he said: “I realised, from is demeanour, that he did not use the money for its intended purpose as advised, and, so, I fired him from the case and asked him for a refund of the money but he has since refunded USD25,000 leaving a balance of USD75,000. All efforts to retrieve the remaining amount have failed”, he complained.
“I am appealing to you, as the chairman of the General Legal Council of lawyers, to help me retrieve my USD75,000 from Kwasi Afrifa”, he pleaded via the petition. Responding to the claims made against him in the petition, Mr Afrifa said: “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 good self, as the lawyer handling the case for him, and engage Akoto Ampaw Esq in my stead”.
“He [petitioner] further informed me that the Chief Justice has demanded a bribe of USD5 million for a successful outcome of his case and that he had already paid USD500,000 to the Chief Justice”, he claimed.
“He further indicated that he was hard-pressed to raise the remainder of the USD5 million and, so, I should refund some of the GHS300,000 paid to me as fees because he had, in line with advice of the Chief Justice, engaged Akoto Ampaw Esq as solicitor, to continue the case before the Supreme Court”, he noted.
“Out of a sense of dignity on my part, I told him that I would rather refund the entire GHS300,000 paid to me and bear the cost of air travel, hotel bills and other expenditure incurred by me in prosecuting his cases at Cape Coast and in Accra”, Mr Afrifa wrote. He continued: “We aggregated the GHS300,000 paid to me as being the equivalent of USD50,000, 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 his currency of choice”.
“On the 27 January 2021, I paid an amount of USD25,000 to the petitioner and subsequently paidUSD15,000 to him, making a total of USD40,000, so, the outstanding amount that I have to refund to him is USD10,000”, he insisted, adding: “I am ready, willing and able to make the said payment of USD10,000 when I appear before the committee on 15 July 2021”.
“I categorically deny ever suggesting to the petitioner that he provide any money whatsoever for what he cryptically describes in the said petition as ‘ways and means (gymnastics)’. I certainly have not and will not collect or receive any such money from him”.
In his denial press statement, however, Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta VI said: “My attention has been drawn to a media publication – allegations 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 noted.
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 I 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”, announcing: “Stay tuned for the truth
Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has called on the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to re-examine the strategy it is currently using to implement a centralized payment and settlement system for intra-African trade and commerce payments.
The Pan African Payments and Settlement System (PAPSS), developed by the Afreximbank is the first centralized payment market infrastructure for processing, clearing and settling of intra-African trade and commerce payments. It is expected to facilitate payments as well as formalise some of the unrecorded trade due to prevalence of informal cross-border trade in Africa.
Rather than requiring individual financial institutions across the continent to connect to a central database, Ghana’s Vice President believes a simpler, quicker and more effective method would be to plug in the existing payment structures being operated by African Central Banks into a central system at Afreximbank.
Dr Bawumia made the call on Tuesday, July 27, 2021 in Accra at the opening ceremony for the 5th Ghana International Trade and Finance Conference (GITFiC 2021). The Conference is being attended both physically and virtually by senior officials of African central banks, the African Union, West African Monetary Institute members of the Diplomatic Corps, and other key stakeholders in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
“It is important that I mention this, for the attention of Afreximbank and the implementers of the Pan African Payments System: If you look at the strategy and the mode that we are observing in the implementation of the Pan African Payment and Settlements System, we are seeing that individual financial institutions are being asked to connect to the system. I think it’s a very inefficient way to proceed.
“If you look at the financial systems within each of the countries, you have switches and financial institutions are all connected to these switches, whether it’s in Ghana or Nigeria or the BCEAO. I think the easiest and quickest way for us to go as a continent is to have the national switches connect directly to the Pan African Payments and Settlements System. So when the national switch in Ghana, for example, under GhIPPS, connects to PAPPS, it brings along immediately all the 23 or so banks that are functional. It would be similar in Nigeria, similar with the BCEAO. If we want to wait for each individual financial institution to connect directly, there will be a long delay in the process but we don’t have time.
“So my humble advice is that let’s move towards the national payment systems connecting directly to the Pan African Payment and Settlements System and that will bring all the financial institutions under their switches for us to move forward,” he explained.
Alluding to the theme for the Conference, “Facilitating Trade in AfCFTA; The Role of the Financial Services Sector”, Vice President Bawumia noted that a simple, efficient payment system is an integral part of ensuring continental trade.
“After all, payments are at the heart of the day-to-day functioning of free trading system. Making sure that the underlying payment system runs smoothly is the least we should expect of the financial system if we are to realize the vision of the continental free trade.”
With intra-African trade expected to improve from the single-digit levels to over 60 percent, the Pan African Payments and Settlement System will allow businesses on the continent to clear and settle transactions in their local currencies without depending on third-party currencies.
It will also provide an alternative to the current high-cost and long correspondent banking relationships by facilitating trade and other economic activity across African countries through a simple, low-cost, and risk-controlled payment clearing and settlement system.
The decision was taken by the Functional Executive Committee of the party.
“At its meeting on Tuesday, July 27, 2021, the Functional Executive Committee (FEC) of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) considered the report and recommendations of the National Disciplinary Committee on the case of misconduct and anti-party behaviour brought against you (Koku Anyidoho), pursuant to article 48(1)(9)(a) of the NDC constitution,” part of a statement from the party stated
“You are, therefore, by the decision of FEC expelled from the National Democratic Congress and for that matter, you are no longer recognized as a member of the party and cannot carry yourself as such,” it added.
Koku Anyidoho has been asked to return any property in his custody belonging to the party.
Also, he will forfeit monies, dues or subscription fees that he’s made to the party while he was an active member.
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has accused the Akufo-Addo of mismanaging the Ghanaian economy.
Delivering a lecture at the party’s ‘policy dialogue on the economy’ Monday, Ranking Member on the Finance Committee of Parliament Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson said political considerations are making it difficult for government to take remedia measures to save the economy.
“It is now beyond debate, based on the data presented, that the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government has completely mismanaged the Ghanaian economy and lost control of key economic indices.
“Political considerations are preventing the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government from taking vital remedial measures to avert total collapse of the Ghanaian economy in just over a year,” he said
He noted: “The people of Ghana need to ask questions and elicit candid disclosures and actions from the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government to prevent imminent disaster
“We urge the government to demonstrate seriousness in resolving these major problems by announcing convincing measures in the mid-year budget review”.
On debt sustainability, the Ajumako Enyan MP said: “The Debt Sustainability ratios portray a worrying picture of the Sustainability of Ghana’s Debt and should be of great concern to Government. The IMF Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA) in 2019, put Ghana at High Risk of Debt Distress. This was before Covid-19. The situation worsened by the end of 2020. With the planned borrowings in 2021, the situation is likely to deteriorate further.
“Comparing the debt sustainability indicators in 2020 to those in 2001, when Ghana was declared HIPC, it is clear the 2020 indicators are worse than those of 2001. Even though Ghana has not been declared HIPC by the Bretton Woods Institutions (BWIs), the debt sustainability indicators clearly show that Ghana is a Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC)”.
According to him, “Government may find it difficult to increase public sector wages, just as it failed to increase public sector wages to the minimum level of inflation in 2021. Government will spend more on interest servicing. International Reserves will go down due to huge outflows of foreign exchange (forex) to service debt very little inflows of forex from borrowing since there will be very little fiscal space to borrow. Low economic growth driven largely by low public investment and distortionary tax policies aimed at correcting the fiscal imbalance.
Ghana’s public debt stock shot up by ¢27.8 billion in April 2021 and May 2021 to ¢332.4 billion, the latest Summary of Economic and Financial Data by the Bank of Ghana has revealed.
This is equivalent to $57.9 billion, about 76.66 percent of Gross Domestic Product
• President Akufo-Addo says the economy has been doing better even though the world has been hit by the Coronavirus
• He explained that they have been able to do this through hard work and the grace of God
• He made reference to a certain report from Fitch Solutions to buttress his points
The president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has stressed that amidst the global pandemic that has devastated a lot of economies of the world, Ghana continues to be recording positive GDP growths.
The president explained that while the Coronavirus upset a number of government interventions that were in place prior to the onset of the pandemic, hard work on their part has ensured that the economy is not in distress.
He also explained that the country is already on track to recovery, a feat that is being confirmed by globally renowned organizations.
“Prior to the onset of COVID-19, the government had instituted a number of policies and programs which have succeeded, albeit modestly, in promoting a business-friendly environment, attracting investments, creating jobs, growing the economy, and enhancing the living standards of the Ghanaian people.
“Today, some 16 months later, these achievements have been significantly eroded thanks to COVID-19. Whereas there are positive signs of recovery emerging from many parts of the world, there are still some countries that are facing dire conditions. We in Ghana, through hard work and the grace of God, have however been placed firmly back on a path to recovery as recent credible assessments have established.
“Indeed, even in the midst of a global recession, our economy was one of the very few to have recorded a positive GDP growth in 2020. This development has been buttressed further by the news that in the first quarter of 202, the economy witnessed, according to the Ghana Statistical Service, a 3.1% rate of GDP growth. Even better, is the fact that according to one of the globally most respected credit rating agencies, Fitch Solutions, Ghana is projected to be the fasted growing economy in Africa this year, restoring our position before the pandemic,” he explained.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was speaking at the 2021 Performance Contract Signing Ceremony on Monday, July 26, 2021.
The event was organized by the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA).
Executive Secretary of the National Coalition for Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values, Moses Foh-Amoaning has hit back at the Executive Director for the Danquah Institute, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, over some comments he made about the anti-LGBTQI+ Bill and its implications on Ghana in the international community.
Following a proposed Bill to criminalise LGBTQI+ activities in the country, Mr Asare Otchere-Darko opined that the Bill predisposes Ghana to being blacklisted for promoting hate.
But in a reaction on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, Monday, Dr Foh-Amoaning challenged the claim, insisting no part of the Bill promotes hate.
“I’ve heard Gabby say that those of us who are promoting the Bill are exposing Ghana to be blacklisted for hate but if you read the law, you’ll notice that this is no way about hate,” he added.
He said the anti-LGBTQI Bill, on the other hand, is aimed at strengthening the legal framework such that it can address all the manifestations of what he described as, an LGBTQI agenda.
“The facts and the statistics show that, we need to galvanise, structure the law and ensure that the right things are done. This is not something that we have to leave, if we leave, we will be blown over,” he said.
He further cautioned Mr Asare Otchere-Darko, a staunch member of the NPP, to be mindful of his words since the promoters of the Bill include senior clergy men such as the President of the Catholic Bishops Conference, the current President of the Christian Council of Ghana.
“We are protecting everyone’s rights, including the rights of those LGBTQI activists. It is a bill that promotes proper human sexual rights and Ghanaian values. Those who accept that it is a medical condition, will not be sent to jail. Those that we are after are those who say it’s a lifestyle.
“We don’t hate. He should be very careful over the language that he uses. We can’t allow a degenerate moral behavior, packaged and superimposed on us, as a way of behaviour. That can’t be right. For my good friend Gabby, I’m sorry he should not make himself an object of colonialism,” he added.
A five-member panel of the Supreme Court presided over by Justice Yaw Appau has struck out an application from the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin North Constituency; James Gyakye Quayson over his dual citizenship case.
The apex court panel also awarded a cost of GHC5,000 against the MP in favour of the first Interested party ( Michael Ankomah Nimfah, the petitioner).
This was after his lawyer Justine Pwavra Teriwajah withdrew the application as was deemed by Justice Appau as “premature.”
The application from the MP of Assin North Constituency, James Gyakye Quayson at the Supreme Court was to invoke the supervisory jurisdiction of the apex court to assume jurisdiction over the case of his dual citizenship at the Cape Coast High Court.
The Electoral Commission was the second Interested party in the case.
In court on Tuesday, a day before the High Court in Cape Coast had fixed to deliver its judgment in the matter, the Supreme Court said there was nothing before it per the application.
The petitioner, Michael Ankomah Nimfah, contended that Quayson held dual citizenship as a Ghanaian and a Canadian at the time of his election, and therefore must be restrained from performing the duties of a Member of Parliament.
In court on Tuesday, when the parties appeared before the panel which also include Justice Gabriel Pwamang, Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, Justice Nene Amergatcher, and Justice Yoni Kulendi, the court said, the application ought to have been first raised at the High Court for a determination.
Then, the court said, if they were not satisfied or if there was any constitutional issue of interpretation, then the apex court is called up to settle.
But, following from the records, there was no decision the High Court has made for the Supreme Court to be called upon to intervene as per this Certiorari application.
Justice Appau pointed out that the application was premature and “we think you didn’t lay the foundations well.”
EIB Network’s Correspondent Murtala Inusah reports that lawyer of the MP had a tough day with the Justices before withdrawing the application.
It also came up in court that, lawyers of the MP failed to comply with the High Court’s orders to file written submissions with their hopes on the Supreme Court
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has resurrected the debate on President Akufo-Addo’s chartered flight for a recent foreign trip.
He argued the minority should cut the Finance Minister some slack since he does not have official answers to the cost of the Presidential trip.
“I think when the Minister of National Security gets invited he’ll relate to it what costs it. It is not as if the Minister is running away, he said I don’t have the responsibility. And our rules provide that you ask questions to ministers who have official responsibility to a matter,” he said during an engagement with core leadership of parliament organized by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.
He thus maintained the move was out of necessity and not luxury as argued by the minority.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa who blew the whistle summoned the defence minister Dominic Nitiwul to answer questions on the matter where he explained that the decision was borne out of security of the President and lack of adequate space in the presidential jet.
The minority leader Haruna Iddrisu at the same event on Tuesday questioned the basis for finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta’s refusal to answer the question filed by the North Tongu MP on the cost of the President’s trip.
According to the Tamale South MP Ken Ofori-Atta’s deferment of the question to the National Security minister is a breach of the Right to Information Act.
“What’s secret about a Presidential travel? if the president has travelled he’s travelled. If he’s spent money he’s spent money. If we demand it in the interest of public accountability, let it be…then why did we pass the Right to Information Act? That is an affront to that legislation if parliament itself cannot elucidate that particular information…” he said.
But the Suame MP who disagreed challenged the claims by the minority leader and further disclosed the presidential jet offers more protection than the chartered flight.
According to him, even the recent trip of the speaker of parliament Alban Bagbin to Nigeria was on the presidential jet.
Executive Director for Africa Centre for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Rashid Dramani charged the leadership of parliament to address public mistrust in the Legislature as a legacy
Ghana’s Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Bagbin, has urged West African countries to embrace and adopt Information Communication Technology (ICT), as it offers new opportunities to better-manage conflicts and build peace, especially at the local levels.
Mr Bagbin said since most conflicts on the continent are a result of election disputes, the adoption of ICT will promote inclusivity and enhance the integrity of electoral processes.
He said Ghana, for instance, introduced the Biometric Verification Devices, used to capture the biometric details of the electorate to reduce multiple registration and voting.
Beyond assisting in conflict prevention, Mr Bagbin noted that ICT also provides avenues for alternative discourse or community engagement that promotes peace and fosters non-violent attitudes and behaviours.
He noted that it is encouraging that despite the tensions and violence that characterised the conduct of elections in some countries, electoral candidates who are dissatisfied with either the process or outcome of elections, are increasingly resorting to the use of the constitutional courts in those countries to resolve electoral conflicts.
“Unfortunately, the judicial system in some countries in the sub-region is slow in the administration of justice. Indeed, the deployment of telecommunication and information technology tools provide the judiciary the opportunity to dispense justice in a more accessible, transparent, efficient, timely, and accountable manner. It is for this reason that the Judiciary in Ghana, for instance, introduced the Electronic Case Management System to expedite court processes,” he added.
While advocating the use of ICT to propel the growth of the sub-region in the areas of peace, development, education, health delivery, agriculture, the Ghanaian Speaker cautioned: “We must, however, bear in mind that whilst technology is extremely good for development, the human touch cannot be replicated.”
Mr Bagbin said these in his address at the meeting of the Joint Committee on Political Affairs, Peace, Security and African Peer Review Mechanism, Legal Affairs and Human Rights, and Telecommunications and Information Technology of the ECOWAS Parliament in Winneba today, Tuesday, 27th July 2021.
Find below details of the Speaker’s speech:
ADDRESS BY RT. HON A.S.K. BAGBIN, SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT, AT THE MEETING OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON POLITICAL AFFAIRS, PEACE, SECURITY AND AFRICAN PEER REVIEW MECHANISM, LEGAL AFFAIRS AND HUMAN RIGHTS, AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY OF THE ECOWAS PARLIAMENT ON 27TH JULY 2021 AT WINNEBA
Rt. Hon. Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Dr. Sidie Mohamed Tunis
Neenyi Ghartey VII, President of the Effutu Traditional Council
Hon. Ministers of State
Hon. Members of the ECOWAS Parliament
The Municipal Chief Executive
Distinguished Resource Persons
The Secretary-General and Staff of the ECOWAS Parliament
Invited Guests
Members of the Media
Ladies and gentlemen! It is for me an honour and a pleasure to be part of the gathering of the ECOWAS Joint Committee on Political Affairs, Peace, Security and Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), Legal Affairs and Human Rights, and Telecommunications and Information Technology. I would like to express my profound gratitude to the Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament, the Rt. Hon Dr. Sidie Mohammed Tunis for this invitation.
The theme for this meeting, which is the role of “Telecommunications and Information Technology (TIT) in Achieving Regional Development, Peace and Security and Human Rights’’ reflects the growing recognition of the importance of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in dealing with the myriad of problems we face in our Sub-region. In recent times, ICT services have become an indispensable tool in the development of every facet of our society, whether in the Health, Education, Agriculture, or Trade and Industry sectors. Indeed, telecommunication plays an increasingly vital role in enabling the participation and development of people in communities and nations disadvantaged by geography, whether in rural areas of developing nations or in the global society and economy.
As you may all be aware, the Sub-region is confronted with various challenges such as drug trafficking, child trafficking, proliferation of and trafficking in small arms, organised crime, money laundering and terrorism. Cybercrime and the insecurity in the maritime space in the Gulf of Guinea, are issues that require immediate attention. For this reason, countries in the sub-region through data collection and data sharing are strengthening their collaboration and existing co-operation with International Agencies such as (INTERPOL) and the West Africa Police Chiefs Committee (WAPCCO), in order to combat cross border crimes and terrorism.
Hon. Members, the violation of electoral processes in the conduct of elections has also been a major source of conflict leading to violence and tensions in some countries in the sub-region. It is sad to note that these tensions are occasioned by challenges related to non-consensual constitutional reviews, non-compliance with presidential term limits among others. The refusal to accept election results by sections of the society and the abuse of social media to create tensions and divisions are matters of grave concern. These undoubtedly threaten the progress made in achieving participatory democracy and therefore calls for the strengthening of democratic principles and the institution of agreeable measures to improve the election process and ensure a transparent, free, fair and peaceful elections. There is also the need to adopt mechanisms/frameworks for promoting political dialogue and peacebuilding in such countries. ICT does offer us new opportunities to better manage conflicts and build peace especially at the local levels of our societies. There is the need to promote inclusivity and enhance the integrity of the electoral processes by adopting appropriate technologies in the election management process. Ghana, for instance, introduced the Biometric Verification Devices, used to capture the biometric details of the electorates to reduce multiple registrations and multiple voting.
Beyond assisting in conflict prevention, participatory data collection and processing tools, ICT also provides avenues for alternative discourse or community engagement that promotes peace and fosters non-violent attitudes and behaviours.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is encouraging to note that despite the tensions and the violence that characterise the conduct of elections in some countries, electoral candidates who are dissatisfied with either the process or outcome of elections are increasingly resorting to the use of the constitutional courts in those countries to resolve electoral conflicts. Unfortunately, the judicial system in some countries in the sub-region is slow in the administration of justice. Indeed, the deployment of telecommunication and information technology tools provide the judiciary the opportunity to dispense justice in a more accessible, transparent, efficient, timely, and accountable manner. It is for this reason that the Judiciary in Ghana, for instance, introduced the Electronic Case Management System to expedite court processes.
Mr. Speaker, to achieve regional development through the use of ICT tools, there is the need to address concerns regarding mobile roaming services in the sub-region. According to the World Bank report 2018, there are over 320 million mobile subscribers in the Sub-region. However, the uptake of mobile data in the sub-region remains a serious challenge. It is a fact that most of the ECOWAS nationals who travel to other countries in the sub-region have to pay higher premiums on mobile usage, while others have to change their sim cards to have access to the network available in their new destination. We can only achieve regional development by ensuring that the Regulation on Roaming on Public Mobile Communications Networks in the ECOWAS Space, which was adopted by the Council of Ministers on 16th December 2017 is implemented. This regulation is intended to reduce charges paid by ECOWAS citizens for communication services while roaming within the community. Rt. Hon. Speaker, it is no gainsaying that telecommunications and information technology is fast becoming a driving force in today’s digital ecosystem by seamlessly connecting communities, businesses and governments. It is, therefore, more imperative now than ever to deploy the use of telecommunications and information technology to advance all sectors of one’s economy and also promote the development of the sub-region.
Technology and ICT are indeed very useful and critical in propelling our sub-region forward, whether in the area of peace, development, education, health delivery, agriculture, etc. We must however bear in mind that whilst technology is extremely good for development, the human touch cannot be replicated. Thus, whilst we strive to inject a lot more technology and ICT into our approaches, we should bear in mind the quote by Lyndon B. Johnson, Former President of the United States of America, which reads “If future generations are to remember us more with gratitude than sorrow, we must achieve more than just the miracles of technology. We must also leave them with a glimpse of the world as it was created, not just as it looked when we got through with it.”
On this note, Hon. Members, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, I declare the meeting open and wish you a fruitful deliberation.
The Ministry of Finance has indicated that the government has not entered into any new agreement to increase the base pay of public servants to 15%.
A statement issued by the Public Relations Unit of the Ministry of Finance on 27 July 2021 said: “The attention of the government has been drawn to media publications and agitations within the public domain in respect of this ministry’s letter dated 12 July 2021 on the payment of fifteen per cent (15%) interim premium to staff of the Civil and Local Government Services (CLOGSAG)”.
“These agitations, we believe, have arisen because the public consider the above-mentioned approval to be a new agreement”, the statement said.
“Since the interim premium of 15% is on the base pay, it became necessary to do the necessary adjustments to reflect the negotiated 4% increase in the public sector base pay for the 2021 financial year”, the statement added.
It noted: “Given the above, this ministry, as part of its communication to the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department on the implementation of the agreement on the 2021 and 2022 base pay, authorised the payment of premium and its associated arrears to CLOGSAG for 2021 in line with the existing agreement.”
The ministry, therefore, reiterated that the “government has not granted any 15% increase in base pay to any public sector institution on the Single Spine Salary Structure”, adding that “the only adjustment on the base pay for the public service still remains the 4% for the 2021 financial year.”
“Therefore, no new agreement has been reached on the payment of premium”, the statement added
Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera has sparked outrage in his country after he travelled to the United Kingdom (UK) to attend a virtual conference.
Chakwera justified his trip to the UK to attend The Global Education Summit, arguing that the internet in his country was unreliable.
Chakwera has come under criticism in his country for electing to travel to London for a summit that is being held on virtual platforms.
The Malawian president chose to travel to the United Kingdom with a 10-member entourage. The delegation included his wife, First Lady Monica Chakwera; daughter, Violet Lillie and the president’s son-in-law, Sean Kampondeni, who is the State House director of communications.
Chakwera said that he needed his daughter there because she would provide physical and emotional support during the trip as the First Lady was reportedly not feeling well.
The president has also been criticised for taking his family along, particularly Violet, an outbound air tickets sales agent who was recently appointed as a diplomat to Brussels in Belgium.
A source who spoke to the Nyasa Times said, “The president’s eldest daughter, Violet has been included on the list of a 10 member delegation to the UK presumably taking up a place meant for Foreign Affairs Minister.
“What she is going to do there, only she and her father know. It is really sad that instead of taking on the trip people who could make use of the summit and do government business, the president is taking his daughter.”
However, Foreign Affairs Minister Eisenhower Mkaka defended the move saying, “This is an education summit being co-hosted by the British Prime Minister and Kenyan President. Different heads of government and state will attend this meeting.
“They have limited the entourage to 10. Malawi is already benefiting from this Global Education Initiative. The policies to be made there will directly impact Malawi. It is imperative that the president attend this
President Akufo-Addo left the country Tuesday for an official visit to the United Kingdom.
He was seen off at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in the morning by Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia and other key government officials including Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei Opare.
The visit is at the invitation of the President of Kenya and the British Prime Minister, Uhuru Kenyatta and Boris Johnson, respectively who are co-hosting the event.
He will be leading Ghana’s delegation to the Global Education Summit, to be held from July 28th to 29th 2021 in London.
The Global Education Summit: Financing GPE 2021-2025 will be a key moment for the global community to come together and support quality education for all children.
A release from the presidency said “a centre-piece of the summit will be the opportunity for leaders to make 5-year pledges to support GPE’s work to help transform education systems in up to 90 countries and territories.”
It also indicated that “the President will also, at the invitation of the Founder/Chief Executive Officer of the Emerging Business Intelligence & Innovation (EBII) Group, attend as Special Guest of Honour, and deliver the keynote address at the 2021 African Investments Risks and Compliance (IRC) Summit, on 30th July 2021 at the University of Oxford.”
He was accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway and Minister for Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum; as well as officials of the Presidency and Foreign Ministry.
The President is expected back home in Ghana on Sunday, August 1st, 2021.
Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia will act in his stead as President in accordance with the provisions of Article 60(8) of the Ghana’s 1992 Constitution
Stakeholders in Nutrition intervention have called for tight supervision on the Ghana School Feeding Programme to ensure food served to school children are done in a safe environment and also address the nutritional needs of the children.
The call followed complaints by stakeholders at a meeting in Koforidua that food served to school children in many instances didn’t meet the four-star diet critical for the nutritional requirements of school-going children.
The four-star diet as recommended by UNICEF for children includes staples like cereals, starchy roots and tubers; legumes; fruits and vegetable sources as well as animal protection sources like milk and eggs.
The participants made the call at the Eastern Regional Stakeholders’ meeting on the school-aged Nutrition Interventions programme implemented by the Ghana Health Service in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service.
It was aimed at helping stakeholders to deepen their understanding of the nutrition programme and to agree on its operational steps at all levels.
The participants noted that the environment in which food was prepared and distributed to school children needed to be enhanced for optimal benefits.
Eastern Regional Director of Education Mary Osei Asamoah, noted that caterers were told to pre-finance and be paid later and should therefore have no excuse for not providing the right nutritional food requirement.
She said caterers were doing pure business and had been contracted based on criteria and so should not “hide behind non-payment to breach the agreement.”
She called on the Parent-Teacher Associations, School Management Committees, opinion and community leaders to report caterers who provided substandard foods to the respective Municipal and District Assemblies for action.
Earlier, Eastern Regional Nutrition officer Rhoda Kyei-Yamoah, indicated that the School-aged health and Nutrition Interventions were to improve the nutrition of children and adolescents for better health outcomes in the future
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