The Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX) says it has created the needed modern, interactive and appropriate technological marketplace that connect people with markets to trade in commodities.
Speaking at a press conference on Sunday 4th July 2021, the Chief Executive Officer of the exchange Tucci Goka Ivowi has enabled all users (farmers, cooperatives, buyers, brokers, merchants etc.) to trade on the platform anywhere in the country irrespective of location.
She said the exchange has a membership base of 220 members out of which 116 are brokers, 67 are associate members and 37 trading members adding that a further 320,000 smallholder farmers have been trained and are set to be onboarded in the coming weeks.
Providing updates on the progress of the exchange since its inception in 2018, Mrs Ivowii said the exchange is positioned as a national and regional exchange to formalize Ghana’s and West Africa’s agricultural sector and provide better access to agricultural and financial markets for participants.
She said GCX has been able to create the needed connection between Ghanaian smallholder farmers to agricultural and financial markets in Ghana and across the West Africa Region and beyond in a way that has created new opportunities to increase Ghana’s competitiveness in global markets.
“We started by trading in Ghana for Ghanaian farmers but in the next face, when you talk about the region we have started with landlocked countries. We are already dealing in cross-border trading with countries like Burkina Faso and Niger. The idea is to bring them formally to the exchange so we are increasing our reach in the West African market than the wider African market,” she noted
Mr Freddie Blay, National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), says party politics is a critical and vital element of effective democratic governance.
He said party politics was used to contest ideas in the people’s interest.
He said the vanquished political side should, therefore, demonstrate political maturity and desist from undermining the process through incessant propaganda.
Mr Blay said this when during the sod-cutting for the Volta Regional NPP Office Complex, laying of a foundation stone and signing of an agreement between the Party and the Contractor, Nyasmond Company Limited, in Ho.
“Today we are witnessing some political parties abandoning their manifesto and struggling to fix-Ghana agitation, stating that the best way to fix the country is not by shouting from rooftops and on social media.”
He said Ghana would be fixed by developing proper policies that would win the aspirations and mandate of the people “and that is what the NPP government is pursuing.”
“Let the edifice reflect the values of the NPP and be committed to accelerating development.”
He entreated party supporters to exhibit selflessness to deliver to the expectation of the people and detest the culture of enriching oneself, a recipe for disaster and remember to put Ghana first.
“Remember to work in the spirit of commitment of service to the region and nation as a whole.”
Mr. Fred Oware, CEO of Bui Hydropower, who represented the Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, said the Volta region was striving for its rightful place in the annals of the political dispensation, recounting that “gone were the days when even wearing of T-Shirt in the region was seen as a taboo.”
He paid glowing tribute to the party’s forebears in the region, including the late Tommy Amematekpor, a former Presidential Staffer, for laying a good foundation for the advancement of the NPP.
“It is important at this juncture for the old and new to come together for a guaranteed future,” he said and pledged GHC20,000 and 500 bags of cement on behalf of the Vice President.
Nana Henry Boakye, National Youth Organiser of the NPP, said the 2020 elections presented the best results for the party in the region since inception, which he attributed to the Executives in the region.
He said the vibrant executives were giving the necessary visibility to the party and needed the support of all to succeed
• The NDC has received the backing of the Ghana Police Service to protest on July 6
• The party has invited the #FixTheCountry campaigners to join them
• But the the campaigners have turned down the invite
The National Democratic Congress has extended an invitation to the #FixTheCountry campaigners to join its “March for Justice’ protest scheduled for July 6, 2021.
The #FixTheCountry campaigners have been trying to hold a protest but the Ghana Police Service has become their impediment.
While the police have failed to provide them with security in accordance with the laws of the country to demonstrate, the NDC has managed to get the green light to protest on Tuesday.
Following the granting of their request, George Opare Addo, the National Youth Organizer has urged members of the #FixTheCountry campaign to leverage on the NDC’s platform and make known their grievances.null
“I have criticised clearly the decision of the government to prevent the #FixTheCountry movement from embarking on their constitutionally mandated right to demonstrate. I believe that with the police agreeing that they will be around to provide us security, it is time that they also look at the issues pertaining to the fix the country movement.
“But I am asking everybody, especially members of the Fix The Country movement to join hands with the NDC. We are fighting for almost the same thing. I will speak with their leadership and tell them where they can align with our views and opinions so that they come and then whatever they want to do they can use our platform to convey their message,” he said on Citi FM.
The invitation was however turned down by Oliver Barker-Vomawor who said that joining the NDC will be an affront to the principles on which the campaign was birthed.
He said, “one of the things we need to be mindful of is that #FixTheCountry is not a group or entity. When individuals speak, they speak on their own mandate, so I cannot speak for the collective but I think we need to discuss the role of all political actors, including the government and the NDC as well, as to their engagement in the mess we find ourselves.”
“Now if they are coming forth honestly and acknowledging their role in the mess, that’s fine but if they shift blame, then I don’t think that it aligns with the questions we are asking because we have said that the problems have been with the successive governments and that puts the NDC squarely in what we think is wrong with how this country has been run for some years. So just because they have been granted the chance to protest and ours was denied doesn’t mean our interests necessarily align,” he added.
Former President John Dramani Mahama on Saturday opened a three-day retreat for Communications Officers and members of the Communications Team of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Ho.
Mr. Mahama who was the NDC’s Presidential Candidate for the 2020 elections commended the party’s Communications Team for promoting and explaining the party’s ‘People’s Manifesto’ to Ghanaians, noting that the policies outlined in the manifesto became the most talked-about by Ghanaians because it reflected the aspirations of the people.
He also applauded the team for the reliance on facts and data. Mr. Mahama encouraged the NDC Communicators not to worry about the frequent resort to personal attacks and intimidation by the party’s main opponents.
Decrying the recent spate of murders in the country, President Mahama expressed his condolences to the families of Kaaka and two others who were killed in Ejura. He observed that the rising tension and general state of insecurity engulfing the country are reflective of the leader himself, noting that the situation is “unfortunate.”
Mr. Mahama also urged his party’s members and other sympathizers to work hard to return the party to power to rescue Ghanaians from the many challenges they are suffering under Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government.
The 3-day Retreat was put together by the National Communications Bureau of the NDC
The number of active COVID-19 cases in Ghana has risen to 1,674, the latest figures of the Ghana Health Service indicate.
Of that number, 9 are in critical condition and 19 cases have been categorised as severe.
Since mid-March 2020, a total of 796 people have died of the virus.
Ghana has recorded a total of 95,914 since the virus entered the country last year, with 93,444 recoveries.
Regional breakdown:
Greater Accra Region – 52,710
Ashanti Region – 15,984
Western Region – 5,936
Eastern Region – 4,407null
Central Region – 3,551
Volta Region – 2,609
Northern Region – 1,660
Bono East Region – 1,446
Bono Region – 1,425
Upper East Region – 1,320
Western North Region – 916
Ahafo Region – 775null
Upper West Region – 500
Oti Region – 459
North East Region – 231
Savanna Region – 123
Meanwhile, the Delta variant of the pandemic has been detected in a senior high school in the national capital, Accra.
This was disclosed by the Director of Public Health at the Ghana Health Service, Dr Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe.
He said: “Yesterday [Friday], we had information that the school had actually detected a Delta variant and this, somehow, confirms what we were anticipating”.
“The parents of the students who have been infected have been informed”, he said.null
The Ministry of Information, on Friday, announced that the Delta variant has been found in a community within the country.
“At 10:00hours on Friday, 2 July 2021, the Covid-19 task force was advised by the Ghana Health Service that the Delta variant of the SARS-Cov-2 virus has been recorded within a community (ie non-arriving passengers) in the latest round of genomic sequencing”, the Ministry posted on its Facebook page.
It said the “relevant agencies are taking the necessary steps to ensure that spread is contained”.
The positive persons, it noted, “are in good health”.
“The task force will provide further details at 13:00hours on Sunday, 4 July 2021”, the ministry promised.
It urged the general public to “adhere strictly to the COVID preventive etiquette while going about permitted activities”.
About two weeks ago, six Delta variants of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19 virus) were detected from all the samples taken between April and June 2021 at the ports of entry, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) disclosed.
A statement signed by the Director-General of the GHS, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, on Tuesday, 22 June 2021, however, said at the time that “no Delta variant has been detected from samples taken from cases in the community”.null
According to the statement, the AstraZeneca and Sputnik V vaccines are effective against the deadly Indian strain of the Coronavirus detected, known as the Delta variant in Ghana recently.
In reaction to an online publication discrediting the potency of vaccines against the Delta variant of the virus, detected at the Kotoka International Airport, the statement noted that “reports that Sputnik-V and AstraZeneca vaccines are not effective against the Delta strain of SARS-Cov-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) are untrue”.
The statement revealed that according to data from the Public Health England (PHE), “two doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine are highly effective against hospitalisation due to the Delta variant and showed no deaths among those vaccinated.”
“A study conducted by Gamaleya Center suggests that Sputnik-V is more efficient against the Delta variant of coronavirus, first detected in India, compared to other COVID-19 vaccines,” the statement said.
“The data also suggest that the AstraZeneca vaccine is effective against symptomatic disease caused by the Delta variant,” GHS added.
The statement further reiterated the measures put in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus at the airport saying: “All passengers who test positive are put under mandatory isolation.”
“All positive samples are sent for further testing (genomic sequencing) to identify the variants”.
It added that variants sequenced from samples of positive cases at the Airport do not necessarily end up in the community
Former President John Mahama has observed that the heightening state of insecurity characterised by murders and brutalities, is reflective of President Nana Akufo-Addo.
Decrying the recent spate of murders in the country, Mr Mahama, who was speaking at Ho, Volta Region, on Saturday, 3 July 2021, at the opening of a retreat for communicators of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), expressed his condolences to the families of lynched social media activist Ibrahim Kaaka Mohammed and the two others who were shot and killed by soldiers in Ejura, Ashanti Region, as they marched to demand justice for Kaaka.
He observed that the rising tension and general state of insecurity engulfing the country are reflective of the leader himself, noting that the situation is “unfortunate.”
The NDC’s presidential candidate for the 2020 elections, commended the party’s communication team for promoting and explaining the party’s ‘People’s Manifesto’ to Ghanaians, noting that the policies outlined in the manifesto became the most talked-about by Ghanaians because it reflected the aspirations of the people.
He also applauded the team for the reliance on facts and data.
Mr Mahama encouraged the NDC communicators not to worry about the frequent resort to personal attacks and intimidation by the party’s main opponents.
He also urged members of the NDC and other sympathisers, to work hard to return the party to power to rescue Ghanaians from the many challenges they are suffering under Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government.
The 3-day retreat was put together by the National Communication Bureau of the NDC
Dr Mohammed Ibrahim Awal, Minister for Tourism Arts and Culture has disclosed that plans are advanced for all roads leading to tourist sites in the county to be fixed as a step to improve tourism infrastructure as well as patronage.
He indicated that government intends to invest heavily in the tourism sector to strengthen its base to create jobs and employment for an estimated one million youth in the country and called on all stakeholders to support the industry in that direction.
The Minister made this known when he paid a courtesy call on Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori-Panin, the Okyenhene at Kyebi, and met with industry players in Koforidua as part of a day’s working tour of the Eastern Region.
Dr Awal hinted that processes had begun to identify and develop two iconic tourists sites in the Eastern Region to international standards as part of the job creation drive and tourism and expressed hope that the traditional authorities would support the ministry to realize that goal.
He observed that the covid-19 pandemic had dealt a huge blow in the tourism sector disclosing that the sector recorded a decline of over one million tourist visits in 2019 to less than 300,000 tourists in 2020 “undoubtedly this has resulted in the loss of thousands of jobs as well, aside from all others” he added.
The Minister who later in the company of Mr Seth Acheampong Eastern Regional Minister and Mr Okraku Mantey, deputy Tourism Minister visited the Boti falls and the Bunso arboretum urged the management of Boti falls to gear up towards infrastructure improvement.
On domestic tourism, he said the Ministry was putting measures in place as part of post-covid-19 plans to ensure that at least one million Ghanaians every year would have visited tourist sites across the country.
The Police is poised to provide the necessary security for the safety of the planned demonstration by the youth of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Tuesday, July 6, in Accra.
In a message posted on its Facebook page, the Police said the decision followed a meeting Mr James Oppong-Boanuh, the Inspector-General of Police, held with the organisers of the planned demonstration, at the Police Headquarters in Accra on July 2.
It said all matters relating to the march were discussed and agreed, including the routes and COVID-19 protocols.
It would be recalled that the NDC in a letter to the Inspector-General of Police, dated Wednesday, June 30, and signed by Mr George Opare Addo, its National Youth Organiser, declared the Party’s planned demonstration, dubbed: “A March for Justice Demonstration and Street Protest”.
“This is to notify you that the NDC through its Youth Wing will hold a demonstration and street protest dubbed, “A March for Justice” in Accra, on Tuesday, 6th July from 0800 hours in the morning to mid-day,” the letter said.
“This letter is sent your way in line with the Public Order Act. The Act (491) stipulates that the Police be notified under section (1) of any special event within the meaning of the Public Order Act.”
The letter said that the protest was to demand justice for “all persons killed and brutalized by state-sponsored thuggery and/or adventurism by police and military forces”.
It said the planned protest was also to seek social justice for the unemployed youth.
The protest would follow these routes: “One chapter would start from Madina, the other from the Accra Business District, the third from Osu and the last from Lapaz.
“We will all meet at the Jubilee House to present a petition to the President of the Republic, to the Inspector-General of Police at the Police Head Office and the Speaker of Parliament at Parliament Houses,” it stated.
“We are willing to meet with the Police for further discussions on the subject matter.”
The Police had earlier expressed their unwillingness to provide security for mass protestors in view of the threat such activities posed as COVID-19 super spreaders.
Tema Regional Director of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), Charles Buabin, has called on Ghanaians to patronise various tourism sites in the country as COVID-19 restrictions are eased steadily.
He mentioned the Shai Hills Game Reserve and the Chenku Waterfalls at Shai Osudoku, Dodowa Forest, the Greenwich Meridian Line at Tema Community One, an imaginary line dividing the planet into two equal halves, East and West, as some tourism sites to visit in and around Tema.
Other sites he mentioned include the Sakumo Ramsar Site, a wetland of international importance; the Tema Manhean Fish Landing Beach; the African Ancestral Wall and Fort Vernon both at Prampram; and the Water Sport at Volta Estuary, and other notable recreational and hospitality facilities.
Mr. Buabin told the Ghana News Agency in Tema as part of the “#ExperienceGhana #ShareGhana” campaign being undertaken by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, the Ghana Tourism Authority, and other tourism industry players; to encourage Ghanaians to visit tourism sites to ultimately revamp the industry.
The campaign seeks to increase arrivals to 600,000 by 2022 and one million by the end of 2024 with a West African Regional Target aimed at increasing arrivals from 180,000 presently, to 400,000 by 2024.
Mr. Buabin noted that the tourism sector was the hardest hit by the outbreak of COVID-19 and brought national and global tourism to a standstill.
He said even though the sector was grounded temporarily with a rapid drop in demand and a surge in job losses as a result of the direct bearing that COVID-19 preventive restrictions posed, the situation was steadily picking up at all levels.
He said, to make up for the gap that had arisen as a result of the pandemic, the Ministry of Tourism had made it a policy to re-launch domestic tourism and to promote it aggressively for Ghanaians to patronise tourism sites and hospitality facilities.
He, therefore, reiterated the call for the public to patronise some notable tourism sites in Tema and its environs, and the country as a whole to not only enhance tourism but make Ghana the preferred tourist destination.
“Every country that has a strong tourism sector has to also be a formidable but complementary domestic tourism sector, and that is what the Ministry and the Authority are working at achieving,” he stated.
He noted that Ghana had a lot to offer and most Ghanaians did not exactly know the country so well, and as part of the recovery plan from the pandemic, it was needed to stimulate demand for the tourism sector, make it more viable and rebuild destinations by encouraging visits.
Mr. Buabin said, “We are of the view that national cohesion can be enhanced and achieved when a lot more travels go on in addition to feeding the hotels with a constant source of occupancy for people to become more conversant with the country”.
Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has led a government delegation to Ejura in the Ashanti Region to commiserate with the families of the three people who died in Ejura earlier this week.
The three, Ibrahim Mohammed alias Kaaka, was lynched while the other two, Abdul Nasir Yussif and Murtala Mohammed, died from gunshots fired at a crowd of demonstrators by soldiers following the death of Kaaka.
The Vice President’s visit on Friday, followed an earlier one on Thursday by the Minister for the Interior, Ambrose Dery.
The Vice President’s delegation, which included National Security Minister Albert Kan-Dapaah, Ashanti Regional Minister Simon Osei-Mensah and National Chief Imam Sheikh Usman Nuhu Sharubutu, called on the families of all the three victims, and also visited the injured.
At the bereaved families homes, Mr Osei-Mensah, who spoke on behalf of the Vice President, commiserated with the grieving families and assured them of the government’s quest to investigate the circumstances that led to the death of their loved ones for appropriate action to be taken.
Sheikh Nuhu Sharubutu led Islamic prayers for the three victims and also prayed to Allah to comfort the bereaved families.
Vice President Bawumia donated GH¢20,000 cedis to each of the three bereaved families, and also gave each of the injured GH¢10,000.
Dr Bawumia and the National Chief Imam later joined the Muslim community to observe Jummah prayers at the Ejura Central Mosque.
The Founder and Leader of All People’s Congress (APC), Hassan Ayariga has observed that second-cycle education remains expensive despite the government’s Free Senior High School (SHS) programme.null
He claims parents and guardians are now obliged to pay more under the governing NPP’s Free education than before.
“This is because they now pay private teachers and accommodation for their wards who are placed at far distance,” he said during the APC’s press conference on national issues.
According to him, the tons of trouble seen under the government’s flagship policy – Free SHS is overwhelming.null
“Students are unable to complete their syllabus before the semester end. Our academic standards have fallen below educational standards. Our children are becoming indisciplined and irresponsible,” he said.
He added: “Free SHS policy has become a disaster and Teachers, headmasters and parents cannot intervene because of fear of intimidation and dismissal.”
Dr. Hassan Ayariga had always maintained that the free SHS programme was fraught with many challenges and that the programme will produce dangerous graduates and professionals for Ghana
The national youth organiser of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr George Opare Addo, has said the Ghana Police Service, at a meeting on Friday, 2 July 2021, “withdrew” its “earlier letter that they sent to us” saying they cannot provide security for the party’s ‘march for justice’ event “and they’ve agreed that it’s our legal right to demonstrate, so, they will provide the necessary protection that we need for the demonstration”.
“What we did at the meeting is that we agreed the routes we’ll be using for the demonstration”, Mr Opare Addo told Charles Akrofi on Class91.3FM’s 505 news programme on Friday, 2 July 2021.
The Inspector-General of Police, Mr James Oppong-Boanuh, wrote to the leadership of the youth wing of the NDC on Friday and invited them for the meeting at 4 pm.
The letter, signed by the Director-General/Operations of the Ghana Police Service, COP Kwaku Boadu-Peprah, said: “The Inspector-General of Police respectfully requests a meeting with the leadership of the demonstration, today, 2 July 2021, at 4:00 pm at the national police headquarters, Accra, for further discussion on security implications and arrangements for the intended demonstration”.
Prior to the meeting with the IGP, The youth wing had warned that it would defy a no-demonstration order by the police and proceed with the march on 6 July.
The group wrote to the Ghana Police Service informing it about the march in a letter on 30 June 2021.
The letter, signed by the NDC’s national youth organiser, Mr George Opare Addo, indicated that “this protest is to demand justice for all persons killed and brutalised by state-sponsored thuggery and/or adventurism by police and military forces”.
But the Ghana Police Service, in a letter signed by the Greater Accra Regional Commander, DCOP E. A. Sakyi stated: “The Accra Regional Police Command acknowledged receipt of your letter dated 30th June 2021 on the above subject matter [‘A March For Justice’ demonstration and street protest] and wish to inform you that restrictions imposed by the Executive Instrument (E.I) 395 to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has still not been lifted.
“The Regional Command also refers you to section 4 of the Public Order Act 1994 (ACT 49) particularly concerning Public Health”.
“The Command, therefore, cannot provide you with the needed security during your intended demonstration and street protest please,” the letter added.
But in a counter-statement signed by Mr Opare Addo on 1 July 2021, the group indicated that the police does not have the legal right to restrain them from embarking on the demonstration.
“The general public is hereby informed that section 4 of Act 491 specifically clothes the Minister for the Interior with the power to impose a curfew in the country, and so far as we are concerned, no part of Accra is under curfew for which reason demonstration cannot be held as the police erroneously want us to believe”.
The statement continued: “The weakest of all reasons cited by the police was its reference to EI 395 in its letter. For the records, EI 395 was birthed on the strength of section 2 of the Imposition of Restriction Act, 2020 (Act 1012) and gazetted on December 23, 2020.
“It is instructive to note that section 4 of Act 1012 provides for ‘a restriction imposed under subsection (1) of the section (2)’ and shall be for a period of not more than three months. If the police was not meticulous and not preoccupied with petty partisan politics, it would have known that EI 395 expired in March 2021. In effect, there is no law as EI 395 to be adhered to”.
“We want to inform the general public, who have received notice of the ‘A MARCH FOR JUSTICE’ street protest with enthusiasm and eagerness that there is no law which gives the Ghana Police Service the power to stop demonstrations or protests”.
“In other words, the power to stop lawful demonstration does not rest with the police”.
“We have taken a decision to stand in for the several young people at the mercy of the injustices of the system; with lost hopes, no jobs, no opportunities and yet being killed and oppressed. The government must work for the generality of the people whose taxes finance the luxurious living and wishes of a select few in the public service,” the statement added
The Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has urged actors in the Ghanaian political space to fashion out a mechanism to tackle issues of suspicion during election.
He said suspicion around election processes triggered huge mistrust among political actors and could serve as a basis of violence if not curtailed.
Mr Oppong Nkrumah, who is also the Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi in the Eastern Region, was speaking at a three-day National Stakeholders Dialogue on countering “Post-2020 Election Violence and Building Consensus for Greater Political Tolerance in Ghana” held at Ada.
The dialogue was organised by the National Peace Council with support from the Commonwealth Secretariat and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Proposals
He urged the participants, to among other recommendations, come out with proposals that would deal with the phenomenon of suspicion around electoral processes.
Mr Oppong Nkrumah bemoaned the situation where some unscrupulous persons used the very important electoral processes to achieve infamy.
Those individuals, he said, embarked on nefarious activities such as ballot box snatching and other activities that resulted in violence and associated offences.
Fact-checking
The minister appealed to the media to play its fact-checking role well during the election process instead of amplifying the interest of parties, which sometimes generated tension and could lead to violence.
He said the role of the media in the electoral process was not to amplify the suspicions and interest of parties or players but to do that which the nation required of them such as subjecting claims put out by political actors to scrutiny through fact checking.
The United Nations Development Programme Resident Representative, Dr Angela Lusigi, while recognising the significant progress and good track record Ghana had chalked up on elections, said the country must recognise that evolving tensions, misunderstandings and pockets of violence had marred recent elections.
She said it was time to change that negative trajectory and show Ghana’s good example to the rest of the world.
Dr Lusigi appealed to the stakeholders to make good use of the opportunity to work collectively to consolidate Ghana’s democratic gains as a nation.
She said by committing to dialogue and peaceful means of resolving differences and misunderstanding, safe spaces would be created for a better future for all.
• Ken Ofori-Atta went to parliament and pleaded for more time
• Ablakwa has warned that he will initiate a Vote of Censure on the finance minister
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, North Tongu MP, is unhappy over the Finance Ministers delay in answering questions related to the cost involved in President Akufo-Addo’s recent trip abroad in a luxury jet which caused the country £15,000 per hour.
The MP is of the view that the Business Committee of Parliament is helping the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, not to appear before the House to account.
He, has, therefore, threatened to initiate a vote of censure against the Minister if he continues to delay in coming before the House to render accounts.null
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa had filed an urgent question demanding answers from Ken Ofori-Atta on the cost involved with the use of a private jet for President Akufo-Addo’s trips instead of the presidential jet.
The questions were admitted by the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin and on June 1, 202, the first part of the question which had to do with the airworthiness of the falcon jet and was answered by the Minister for Defence, Dominic Nitiwul.
The second part of the question which involved cost and is to be answered by Ken Ofori-Atta is still pending because when the finance minister appeared before the house, he pleaded for more time to furnish the House on the cost of President Akufo-Addo’s recent trips.
Due to the minister’s plea, the question was subsequently taken off the Business Statement of Parliament, although the Minister had about two weeks earlier to prepare for the response.
But on Thursday, July 1, a memo from the former deputy education minister to the Chairman of the Business Committee of Parliament, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu read:null
“With all due regard, I do not need to remind your esteemed committee that our Standing Orders under the provisions of Order 64 are unambiguous, that urgent questions have a strict window of ten working days within which they shall be responded to. That window has long elapsed.
It is imperative that an unfortunate impression is not created that the Parliament of Ghana is happy to undermine its own constitutional mandate of oversight by appearing to be assisting ministers to evade accountability and in the process weakening the democratic efficacy of the legislative arm.
I am also deeply concerned that Parliament seems to be creating a category of a Super Minister who is not subject to the Standing Orders of the august House. Why should the Finance Minister be given the latitude at his own whim to respond to an urgent question whenever he so desires?”
Ablakwa further indicated that, Ken Ofori-Atta’s conducted regarding the urgent question is unacceptable and must not be condoned in any way.
The MP could not comprehend how computing the bills of the president’s trip will be too complex to produce.null
He, then, warned, “May I humbly serve notice that if the current contumelious hijack of Parliament by the Finance Minister is allowed to fester, a good number of my colleagues and I will not hesitate to exercise our mandate under Article 82(2)(b) of the 1992 Constitution to initiate a Vote of Censure on the Finance Minister.”
• Ghana Armed Forces say it will deal with soldiers captured on video assaulting Wa residentsnull
• This was contained in a statement signed by Colonel Aggery-Quashie
• The soldiers were in search of a mobile phone
The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has indicated that, it will institute an internal disciplinary measure to deal with some of the soldiers who were involved in brutalising Wa residents over a missing mobile phone.
In a statement signed by Colonel E. Aggrey-Quashie, Director Public Relations, the GAF condemned the acts by the soldiers and stated that, “such unprofessional conduct by the military will not be condoned by any member of the force.”
The statement explained further that, “[the] unprofessional conduct took place on Thursday, 1 July 2021 and at a time when the Commanding Officer of the soldiers, and the Chairman of the Regional Security Council were both out of town on official engagements.null
Internal disciplinary measures have been instituted to deal with all those who will be found culpable in this unprofessional conduct by the soldiers.”
Some armed soldiers have been caught on camera brutalising residents of Wa in the Upper West Region on Thursday, July 1, over a missing mobile phone supposedly belonging to one of the soldiers.
According to one eyewitness, one of the soldiers is believed to have boarded what is referred to as “Yellow Yellow” or “Mahama Cambo” and lost his phone.
The incident is said to have started at 1:00 pm and lasted for close to an hour at the Wa main traffic.null
Several of the victims are said to have sustained various degrees of injury.
Two of them are currently on admission at the Wa Municipal Hospital.
A 29-year-old vulcanizer, who was a victim, is suspected to have developed a fracture in his right thigh during the assault.
This comes after soldiers opened fire on protesters at Ejura in the Ashanti Region, leading to the death of two people and four others injured.
The Public Relations Officer of the Upper West Regional Coordinating Council, Cletus Awuni, who was also a victim, told an Accra based Citi FM that, the soldiers dragged him out of a car and interrogated him for filming the incident.null
The GAF said, due to the seriousness of the matter, “the Chief of the Army Staff is leading a high-powered military delegation to Wa to meet the traditional and opinion leaders to find an amicable way of resolving this unfortunate incident. The delegation will also explore means to assuage the anger of the people and promote good neighbourliness.”
“The Ghana Armed Forces once again wishes to assure the people of Wa and the general public that their safety is paramount at all times, as such would not condone any unprofessional conduct by any member of the force,” the statement concluded.
Chief Justice, Kwasi Aning Yeboah, has declined a request by former Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) CEO, Dr Stephen Opuni, to transfer his case to a different judge.
The case is currently being heard by Supreme Court Judge, Clemence Honyenuga, who is sitting as an additional High Court judge.
The former COCOBOD boss has on two occasions pushed for Justice Honyenuga to recuse himself.
Both attempts have failed, and Dr Opuni ordered to open his defence on June 18, 2021.
However, Justice Honyenuga announced on Friday that he had received a copy of the petition sent to the Chief Justice.
Although he did not indicate the petition’s content or what it seeks to achieve, he announced that Mr Opuni has also filed another application at the Supreme Court seeking its intervention.
Reacting to the issue, the Director of Public Prosecution, Yvonne Attakora Obuobisa, said the state is not aware of the petition.
Justice Honyenuga then adjourned the case, adding that he awaits what decision the Chief Justice will take on the petition.
Earlier, JoyNews sources had indicated that Dr Opuni is seeking to have Justice Honyenuga removed from the case over allegations of bias.
Dr Opuni and businessman Seidu Agongo have been on trial since 2017 over an alleged $217 million loss caused to the state in the purchase of fertilizers.
But when the case was called on Thursday, July 1, 2021, Justice Honyenuga indicated he has received a copy of the Chief Justice’s response to Dr. Opuni’s petition.
According to him, portions of the response states, “your petition in respect of the above subject matter has been considered after serious thought. I have noticed from the petition that the learned judge has not made any prejudicial statements to infer that there is real likelihood of bias against you as an accused person; in the case in which you are yet to open your defence.
“In view of the fact that no serious allegation of likelihood of bias has been established, I will decline the invitation to transfer the case to another judge. This does not preclude you, in the exercise of your constitutional rights to report to the juridical process for the transfer you are respectfully requesting for.”
Justice Honyenuga after reading the letter indicated that he had every right to order Dr Opuni to now open his defence.
He, however, adjourned the matter because another application filed by Dr Opuni at the Supreme Court remains pending.
“I would in the circumstances adjourn this case to abide by the judgment of the Supreme Court. Consequently, this case stands adjourned to July 15, 2021,” he stated
Four suspected armed robbers have been arrested by a community watch volunteer group in Banda Nkwanta in the Bole-Bamboi district of the Savannah region.
Information gathered indicates that the suspected armed robbers were in possession of firearms and preparing to execute a robbery attack.
The suspects are Zakaria Hamidu, 32, Hamadu Amadu, 26, Osman Amadu 28 and Bukari Ali, 37.
The Savannah Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Supt. Adjekum Owusu, who confirmed the incident to DGN Online said police received information from one Kamal Deen Osman alias “eight eight” a community watch volunteer member of Banda Nkwanta indicating that on June 29, 2021 at about 7:20pm, he spotted suspect Zakaria Hamidu in Banda Nkwanta Mosque during prayers, carrying something in a bag suspected to be a gun.
According to him, the suspect Zakaria went out to meet suspects Amadu Hamadu, Bukari Ali, Osman Amadu all Fulani descendants and one other person who escaped.
Supt Owusu said the community watch members arrested the suspects and when they conducted a search on them one locally manufactured single barrel gun was found in the bag of suspect Zakaria Hamidu.
The suspects have been handed over to the Bole Police and will be arraigned before court after investigations
The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has hailed the decision by the Bank of Ghana to implement a Gold Purchase Programme designed to purchase locally-produced gold, describing it as a master stroke in the quest for stronger macroeconomic management and in providing a bulwark for the Cedi.
Addressing participants at the Ghana Gold Expo 2021 (Ghana Mining Week ’21), a mining policy forum, in Takoradi, on Thursday, 1st July 2021, Vice President Bawumia said the benefits of having a healthy amount of physical gold in a country’s reserves are varied and enormous, including shoring up the value of the local currency. The BoG decision, he indicated, is a “game changer.”
“The launch and implementation of the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme by the Bank of Ghana and the Community mining programme together are going to be a catalyst for the formalization of our Artisanal Small scale sector. The Domestic Purchase Programme by the central bank and other programmes by PMMC and Ghana Revenue Authority will in the coming years set everybody’s mind at ease regarding the volume and value of gold legitimately exported and reserved.
“Ghana is Africa’s largest gold producer, having overtaken South Africa in 2019. But Ghana’s extracted gold assets are based on the royalty take, limited dividends and corporate income tax.
“These fiscal gains are typically taken in cash, and about 80% paid into the Consolidated Fund. The Bank of Ghana holds moderate amount of physical gold of 8.7 tonnes as part of its reserves. For nearly 3 decades, almost 60 years, we have not added an ounce to our reserve holdings.
“But gold has now become the cornerstone of central banks’ modern reserve management. Central banks have become the third force behind jewellery and technology and investment sectors in the global gold demand in the past decade.”
Recalling his suggestion to the Bank of Ghana a year ago to consider exploring the possibility of purchasing locally-produced gold as a way of boosting the economy and shoring up the value of our currency, Dr Bawumia expressed delight that the Bank had taken the challenge up and implemented it.
“The Bank of Ghana spent a whole year carefully studying the entire gold production value chain and putting in place the necessary internationally acceptable procedures and has, since June 2021, begun a Gold Purchase Programme that will strengthen the future macroeconomic management and shore up the Cedi over time with real gold backing. The benefits are enormous and we can only hope and encourage the Bank to continue with this initiative.”
According to the World Gold Council, central banks acquired a record level of about 670 tonnes to boost their reserves. Gold has now become the cornerstone of Central Banks’ reserve management. In 2020, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Turkey was the largest annual gold buyer, adding 134.5 tonnes to its official gold reserves, followed by India (93.8 tonnes), United Arab Emirates (22 tonnes) and Qatar (9.18 tonnes).
Ghana’s entire gold reserves, at 8.7 tonnes, is equivalent to only 6.9 percent of South Africa’s gold reserve holdings of about 125.3 tonnes, despite being the largest gold producer in Africa and sixth in the world. The South African Reserve Bank has managed and held gold reserves since 1925 and purchases nearly all locally-produced gold. Other major players in the financial sector, such as the IMF and the World Bank, also hold large reserves of gold.
The BoG intends to focus its purchasing plans on artisanal small scale mining, which account for 50% of Ghana’s gold production. With government rolling out Community Mining Schemes and providing the miners with equipment and new technology that requires very little water, sometimes just a barrel, to extract the gold from the ore without using zero mercury or cyanide, the impact of a ready market for sustainably mined gold on the environment and the lives of the people in mining communities is expected to be far reaching.
Each Community Mining Scheme engages 3,000 miners, and with a projected 100 of such schemes by the end of the year, the incidence of galamsey and youth unemployment are expected to be significantly reduced, if not completely eliminated.
Works and Housing Minister, Francis Asenso-Boakye has reiterated the government’s commitment to tackling floods which have been a burden to the country over the years.
He told parliament whiles addressing the increasing risk of flooding across the country that the Nana Addo-led government is keen on curbing the situation.
According to him, about GH₵450 million has already been invested in the National Flood Control and Priority Drainage Programme to tackle the situation.
“Clearly, this level of commitment to tackling the problem which has resulted in a reduction of flooding incidents in the past few years is unprecedented and commendable.” He said
Adding that “The government is also collaborating with the World Bank to invest more than $200 million to address solid waste and flood risk challenges in the Odaw Drainage Basin. The project will also see the development and implementation of a Flood Early Warning System to enhance community safety and resilience.”
Read below his full statement
STATEMENT BY FRANCIS ASENSO-BOAKYE (MP) MINISTER FOR WORKS AND HOUSING ON ‘ADDRESSING THE INCREASING RISK OF FLOODING ACROSS THE COUNTRY’.
Mr. Speaker, perennial flooding across the country poses a significant threat to government’s accelerated socio-economic development agenda. Lives have been lost, properties destroyed, people displaced, transport links disconnected, economic activities disrupted and livelihoods uprooted because of flooding. Flooding also impacts adversely on the mental health of victims and undermines their ability to contribute meaningfully to economic growth.
Ghana ranks highly among African countries most exposed to risks from multiple weather-related hazards. In the past three (3) decades, the country has experienced seven major floods. The devastating flood event in the Odaw Drainage Catchment on 3rd June 2015 led to an unfortunate loss of about 150 lives – may their souls rest in perfect peace – and about 50,000 people were directly affected to varying degrees.
The causes of flooding in the country are multi-faceted. They include inefficient drains, undersized culverts and uncontrolled development in flood plains, wetlands and waterways. Additionally, indiscriminate dumping of solid waste into our drains by households contribute significantly to urban flooding. Across the country, we see new developments and buildings springing up in waterways and flood plains (buffer zones) blocking the flow of storm water and worsening the risk of flooding.
Mr. Speaker, on 24 and 25 June 2021, several areas in Kumasi experienced severe and devastating flooding. This affected commercial areas such as the new Kejetia market, Central market, Asafo market and Bantama High Street. Several shops and homes experienced flooding and goods worth millions of Ghana Cedis were destroyed. Similar reports have been received from Koforidua and Takoradi and indeed other parts of the country. Following my visit to the affected areas in Kumasi on Monday 28 June 2021, the increasing risk of flooding associated with climate change is clear and we as a nation need to take bold steps to tackle this challenge holistically.
Mr. Speaker, since taking office in January 2017, the government of President Akufo-Addo has invested about GH₵450 million in the National Flood Control and Priority Drainage Programme compared to the GH₵88 million invested by the previous government between 2011 and 2016. Clearly, this level of commitment to tackling the problem which has resulted in a reduction of flooding incidents in the past few years is unprecedented and commendable.
The government is also collaborating with the World Bank to invest more than $200 million to address solid waste and flood risk challenges in the Odaw Drainage Basin. The project will also see the development and implementation of a Flood Early Warning System to enhance community safety and resilience.
Mr. Speaker, while the government is making every effort to ensure flood risk is minimised, it is important to highlight that government alone cannot do this; it must be a shared responsibility. It is therefore incumbent on every citizen to complement the effort of government, take their own safety seriously and be more mindful of the manner in which solid waste is disposed of.
Additionally, individual homebuilders need to avoid paving all of their compounds and make room for storm water infiltration by introducing vegetation. I further wish to call on MMDAs to strictly enforce planning laws and Building Codes to prevent development in waterways, floodplains and wetlands. Where these are flouted, the MMDAs need to take decisive action to rectify the situation urgently in the interest of protecting the good people of Ghana.
Mr. Speaker, Cabinet at its sitting on Thursday 24 June 2021 approved for the consideration of Parliament, the Bill for the establishment of the Ghana Hydrological Authority. The Authority will undertake hydraulic modeling to inform housing and infrastructural development planning across the country to ensure that they are steered away from flood prone areas. The Authority will also develop and promote higher drainage standards, including the use of nature-based drainage solutions.
Moreover, the Authority will ensure that flood risk assessments are undertaken for all major infrastructural developments, so they are resilient to both current and future flood risks. The proposed Hydrological Authority Bill will include a National Hydrology Fund which will facilitate the effective functioning of the Authority including attracting private sector participation in drainage provision.
It is my earnest expectation, Mr Speaker, that in view of the enormous advantages of setting up the Ghana Hydrological Authority, Parliament will lend its full support, when the Bill comes before this August House for approval.
Mr. Speaker, on that note, I wish to thank you for this opportunity.
The police providing security for the relocation of onion sellers at Agbogbloshie in the Ablekuma Central to Adjen Kotoku had to fire warning shots and tear gas at some people it described as “criminals” on Thursday, 1 July 2021, the deadline for all the sellers to have moved.
The Operation’s Commander, DSP Kwesi Ofori, told journalists that: “It is a peaceful exercise that has been discussed and planned regarding the evacuation of onion traders from Agbogbloshie to Adjen Kotoku”.
“The market women have fully cooperated and they are not even here currently because they are even setting up at Adjen Kotoku. But it is some criminal elements that want to take advantage of the situation to mar the operation”, he said.
“You can see the security forces taking every step to protect the traders wherever they are. Some groups of criminals have intended to burn and disrupt their businesses and cause mayhem,” he noted.
Greater Accra Regional Minister, Mr Henry Quartey, is leading the relocation of the onion sellers as part of his ‘Let Make Accra Work’ pet project, which involves decongesting slums and removing unauthorised structures in the capital city.
He told journalists at the Agbogbloshie site that as of the deadline, more than 90 per cent of the sellers had moved and that “means they have shown good faith, they have done very well” and “I salute them”.
“This is the capital city of Ghana and this is what we find ourselves in”.
“We had intended to use three days to clear the place but from the look of the magnitude of filth, we may spend about a week in doing that job”.
“Now that we’ve cleared the place, we won’t allow even a single person to come to the site again. It is done. We are going to move on. We’ve taken possession of the land and we’ll put it to good use”, he said
The Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen has described Ghana’s partnership with Toyota Tsuho as a game-changer after the official commissioning of the program.
Mr. Kyerematen led a team of high-powered government delegation to commission the ultramodern assembling plant for Toyota vehicles under the Tsuho Manufacturing firm.
The latest technological partnership, the third after Volkswagen Ghana and Kantanka Automobile Industries, is expected to help reduce import figures by a considerable percentage.
Speaking at the official commissioning ceremony, the Trade Minister highlighted the economical benefits of the partnership as part of five major reasons behind the deal.
“The government’s decision to establish automobile industry in Ghana was to achieve some strategic objectives which include the following; to establish a fully integrated and competitive industrial hub for automotive assembling in collaboration with the private sector; to generate highly skilled jobs in automotive assembly and the manufacture of components and parts, with spillover effects into other sectors of the economy; and to establish an asset-based vehicle financing scheme for locally assembled vehicles to ensure affordability for vehicle buyers;
“Again, government seeks to improve balance of payments through competitive import substitution and export market development; and improve vehicle safety and environmental standards; as well as transform the quality of the national road transport fleet and safeguard the natural environment”, he explained.
On the potential benefits Ghana stands to gain from the partnership, the Sector Minister described the latest deal as a step in the right direction.
“Ghana imports over 100,000 vehicles per annum, which makes motor vehicles among the leading imported commodities into the country, accounting for about 15% of the annual import bill. The development of the automotive industry in Ghana, therefore, is a game-changer for the Ghanaian economy aimed at significantly reducing our import bills and contributes towards improving the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP)”, the Trade Minister added.
The Minister also revealed plans by government to empower Ghanaians in the production of vehicular parts to ease the importation burden alongside ensuring job creation.
“In addition to this and to ensure the systematic progression of registered assemblers into manufacturing of vehicles, the government has prioritized the development of components and parts manufacturing through a local partnership with foreign multinational companies.
“In pursuit of this, the Ministry of Trade and Industry is collaborating with the Africa Association of Automotive Manufacturers (AAAM) and other relevant stakeholders to develop and implement a comprehensive Supplier Development Programme aimed at creating viable domestic enterprises capable of supplying components for local assembly and the global supply chain,” Mr. Alan Kyerematen told the press.
Former Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko, has said officials within the Energy Ministry forged his signature and filled forms with it when he was at the Ministry.
However, he said, he was able to detect the forged signatures due to his banking background.
“I saw a lot of things at the ministry. People forged my signature at the Ministry but because of my banking background I was able to detect it,” he said on Net 2 Wednesday, June 30.
He was speaking on matters relating to the $170 million judgement debt Ghana has been slapped with.
He said he is in favour of a thorough investigation into the circumstances that resulted in the $170million judgement debt payment.
Asked whether he supports calls for investigations into the causes of the payment of this debt, he said “By all means, So far as there is a crime why not. I am for investigations all thorough and through. People must be held accountable if found culpable. Lessons must be learnt.”
A London-based United Nations Commission on International Trade Law tribunal has ordered the government of Ghana to pay a contractually defined “early termination payment” of more than US$134.3 million plus interest and costs.
This follows the termination of the contract between the government of Ghana and an independent power producer, Ghana Power Generation Company (GPGC) in 2018.
This has resulted in accusation and counter accusations among officials of the present administration and the previous Mahama administration.
For instance, Former Power Minister Dr Kwabena Donkor told the Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame that the $170million judgment debt to the Ghana Power Generation Company (GPGC), was as a result of wrongful termination and not wrongful signing of the agreement.
The Pru East lawmaker told Dzifa Bampoh on the First Take on 3FM Wednesday June 23 that the agreement went through due process before it was signed.null
Mr Dame had said the decision by the signatories to sign such an agreement was uninformed.
“The fundamental question that we asked is why the agreement was entered into in the first place? Why did John Jinapor and his former boss execute the signatory of this agreement and afterwards set up a committee to review those agreements?
“It is because you yourself had realised that this was going to result in excess capacity,” he said.
“Indeed, the cost was very, very monumental. As per the report of the PPA Committee, if all the agreements signed by John Jinapor and his former boss had been allowed to run, each year, the nation was going to be exposed to payment to the sum of $586 million.
“Cumulatively, between 2013 and 2018 the nation was going to pay as much as $1.76 billion,” he told Joy News.null
Reacting to his comments, Dr Kwabena Donkor told Dzifa that “The awards was given for wrongful termination, not for wrongful signing. I am therefore surprised that the Attorney General does not deem it fit to confirm that whoever terminated will also be referred to the CID.
“The Ghana Power Generation Company (GPGC) was sent to cabinet, it had cabinet approval. Indeed, the Secretary to Cabinet wrote to Parliament on the 3rd of July 2015, and parliament approved the agreement.
“It went through the constitutional process set out for these agreements.
“This agreement had the lowest tariffs of all the emergency power purchasing agreements. It had the shortest duration, four years and that agreement did not require any financial security from the state of Ghana and therefore it was one of the agreements negotiated.
The National Youth wing of the New Patriotic Party has learned with profound concern reports of the alleged murder of Ibrahim Mohammed aka Kaaka and the unfortunate death of two protesters in Ejura in the Ashanti Region.
At the outset, we condemn in no uncertain terms the alleged mob attack that led to the untimely death of Kaaka and also the use of disproportionate force by the joint security force against the rampaging youth in Ejura.
We sincerely sympathize with the families of the deceased and pray that the good Lord comfort and strengthen them in the difficult times they find themselves.
As agonizing and regrettable as the death of these three individuals are, the Youth wing, in all humility, appeals to the youth in Ejura to calm down and tread a path that engenders peace, love and unity to honor the memories of the dead.
As youth we hold the key to the future of our great nation and we cannot jeopardise this great task by resorting to instant retaliation and violence which threatens the peaceful coexistence in our country.
We welcome and support the directive from H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to the Minister of Interior, Hon. Ambrose Dery, MP, to immediately conduct Public Inquiry into the circumstances that led to the unfortunate occurrences on Tuesday, 29th June, 2021.
Again, we add on to the numerous calls on the Police to expedite investigations into the unfortunate death of Kaaka and serve justice to him and the bereaved family by bringing the perpetrators to book.
That said, It is deeply worrying that the opposition NDC seeks to use these very unfortunate and tragic occurrences as an opportunity to undermine the peace and progress we have collectively attained in almost 30 years of our democracy, admired and spoken about in the Sub-Region.
As citizens of Ghana and as Youth, it is our duty to denounce and condemn such statements which rather weakens our strength as a nation in fighting atrocious acts.
We must take up the call for social justice in an appropriate manner which ensures that all are protected and we contribute in the collective effort to support the peace process.
Once again, we solemnly commiserate with the families, friends and loved ones of the deceased and wish the injured a speedy recovery.
An enumerator in the ongoing 2021 Population and Housing Census in the Bawku West District of the Upper East Region died and another sustained injuries when the motorbike they were travelling with crashed into a cargo truck at Saka, a suburb of Zebilla on Wednesday.
The truck had been parked on the road and the motorbike crashed into it.
The deceased was identified as Faisal Issah, a nurse by profession while the other accident victim who sustained injuries was identified as Gifty Abane Alalbilla, a teacher.
According to eye witnesses, the accident happened on Wednesday (June 30, 2021) at about 6:30am.
The deceased was reportedly riding while Alalbilla was the pillion and they were on their way to collect census data at Googo and Tambigu communities in Zebilla when the accident occurred.
Issah died on arrival at the Zebilla District Hospital while Alalbilla is currently responding to treatment at the Bawku Presbyterian Hospital.
Sources at the Zebilla District Hospital said the deceased suffered severe head injuries and multiple fractures.
The deceased was a nurse stationed at the Zebilla Senior High Technical School Clinic while his colleague was a teacher employed by the Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED), an international non-governmental organization founded in 1993 to teach students of the Zebilla Senior High Technical School.
The District Census Officer, Mr Thomas Awuni told Graphic Online that the unfortunate accident has thrown the community and other enumerators into a state of shock and sadness.
He expressed condolences to the bereaved family and wished Alalbilla the other accident victim a speedy recovery .
He explained that the counting exercise will not be affected since other enumerators will be reassigned to the communities affected due to the unfortunate accident.
Issah has since been laid to rest in his hometown in Bawku in line with Islamic tradition.
The Inspector-General of Police, Mr James Oppong-Boanuh, has justified the use of lethal force by his personnel in handling the protesters who marched in Ejura, Ashanti Region, recently.
Two protesters were killed by the police and soldiers on the ground.
The spontaneous protest was sparked by the lynching of social media activist Ibrahim Kaaka Mohammed a day earlier.
“So, depending on the nature of the situation, you are dealing with, then you can go through all these,” he said.
“Let me add that if you are dealing with unarmed demonstrators, then you will not go for live amour but when you see somebody in the crowd holding a weapon, which is capable of being used to kill or injure a police officer, our laws permit us to use lethal force to eliminate that threat to the officers on duty.
“So, it depends on the situation you are dealing with,” he said.
Meanwhile, President Nana Akufo-Addo has instructed the Minister for the Interior, Mr Ambrose Dery, to conduct a public inquiry into the circumstances that led to the shooting and killing of the two protesters on Tuesday, 29 June 2021.
A statement signed by the Director of Communications at the Office of the President, Mr Eugene Arhin, on Wednesday, said the Interior Minister is to provide a detailed report from the inquiry, with recommendations for appropriate action, within ten days; that is by 9 July 2021, to President Akufo-Addo.
The president, the statement said, is deeply saddened by the deaths of Ibrahim Mohammed, alias Kaaka, Abdul Nasir Yussif and Murtala Mohammed.
He extended his condolences to the families of the deceased and wished the injured a speedy recovery.
The commotion at Ejura happened following the burial of Kaaka at Mempeasem cemetery at Ejura on Tuesday after he was attacked by unknown mob.
Some irate youth, after his burial, blocked the main Ejura Atebubu road, thus, impeding traffic flow to demonstrate for justice.
The police moved in with military reinforcement to quell the situation but the irate youth, according to the police, charged on the security personnel with all manner of implements, including firearms, clubs, machetes and stones.
The security officials fired into the crowd killing two and injuring seven.
Some Ghanaians have taken to social media to condemn the security personnel
• Nana Aba Anamoah has condemned the decision of the Christian Council to remain silent over the Ejura killings
•She finds it disappointing that the council has not addressed the issue yet
•The murder of the three protesters has earned the government criticism from a cross-section of Ghanaians
Popular TV/Radio presenter, Nana Aba Anamoah has described as disappointing, the ‘deafening silence’ of the Christian Council of Ghana, on the various issues that have plagued the country recently.
According to GHONE’s general manager, the Council’s decision to keep mute at a time when it is required for them to condemn the killings of three #FixTheCountry protesters in Ejura is worrying and unbefitting of leaders who represent the largest faith denomination in the country.
Following the unrest, many citizens have mounted pressure on the clergy to condemn the government for allegedly watching on while security operatives misconduct themselves with the latest being the Ejura shootings.
The latest to join the group of persons adding their voice to the subject is Nana Aba who finds it unacceptable that these Christian leaders have refused to address the issue.
“The Christian Council of Ghana is the biggest disappointment. They could roar for days. Now dier it’s just meooowww,” she wrote on Twitter on June 30, 2021.
Meanwhile, scores of individuals including civil society organizations and the opposition National Democratic congress have openly condemned the shooting incident.
The likes of Kweku Baako jnr, Professor Gyampo, Kwame Sefa Kayi have questioned why the military were deployed to control the protesters at Ejura.
Speaking on Kokrokoo on Wednesday, June 30, 2021, Kweku Baako said ” “I’m disturbed about the military intervention and intrusion. I cannot reconcile myself with it. I know there is a principle that if internal security is difficult for police to handle, they bring the military but there are procedures.
“I still don’t believe there was a sufficient base to bring in the military. I think it was an overkill. Apart from that, they are not trained for crowd control. Their rules of engagement is different. Their skills are different. This whole tragedy was completely avoidable. It doesn’t help the image of Ghana. It’s just not right and it ought to be condemned ought right. I can’t stand it and I don’t think it was right. The army high command should check their contingent there,” he said.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo after coming under attack for being silent on the issue has also instructed the Minister of Interior to investigate the issue.
The Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, said beginning next week government would disburse GH¢55million grant to players in the tourism industry to support their businesses.
According to the minister, the sector lost about 75 per cent of its resources and about eight million Ghana cedis due to the COVID-19 pandemic, last year, and the grant was for industry players to bounce back.
Briefing the media after a visit to some tourism facilities in the Greater Accra Region, the sector minister said ads would be rolled out in the dailies, and urged players to apply.
Dr. Awal said he had toured about nine regions already, and had planned to visit all the 16 regions to see their tourism attractions to ensure they were developed into acceptable standards and new ones created where necessary.
“The objectives of the Government is to, at least, develop two iconic sites in each of the 16 regions. Ghana is now number three in West Africa to Senegal and Gambia and we do not think this is enough,” he said.
“We think that Ghana is so big and endowed so by the end of 2024, we want Ghana to be the most attractive tourist country in West Africa.
“That is why we are touring these sites to see where to partner with the traditional authorities, and the communities to uplift the sites. We are the most peaceful nation in West Africa with very diverse cultures, forts and castles, which are unique selling points that Ghana can develop,” he added.
Dr. Awal said with the task to make tourism, arts and culture the number one of Ghana’s economy, the ministry would ensure that the sector contributed five million dollars annually to the economy, by the beginning of next year.
On developing domestic tourism, he said plans were also underway to train all stakeholders in the value chain to become competitive on both the local and international markets.
“Domestic tourism is one of the key things the President wants us to promote, so the Ghana Tourism Authority has rolled out the ‘Experience Ghana’ and ‘Share Ghana’ to whip up interest and encourage people to explore the country.
Dr. Awal said the ministry was working to attract at least 250,000 people to visit Ghana under the ‘Beyond the Return’ campaign by the last quarter of this year, adding that this is also aimed at creating jobs, and generate revenue for the country.
Some of the tourist sites visited were the National Museum, James Town Light House and Receptive Facility, Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, and Labadi Pleasure Beach.
The government has condemned the incidents of violence that claimed the lives of 3 persons and led to 3 persons sustaining various degrees of injury after a youth protest in Ejura in the Ashanti Region of Ghana yesterday.null
The youth protest was after Ibrahim Mohammed, a resident of Ejura was attacked by unknown persons last Friday and subsequently died on Monday.
Addressing journalists in Accra on Wednesday, June 30, 2021, Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, condemned the act of violence and called on the security agencies to swiftly carry investigations on the matter.
The Minister said: “our security agencies should be quick and clinical in getting to the bottom of this and other unresolved comes. While we understand that police investigations sometimes take a while, it does not instil confidence in the population if such acts go unresolved and unpunished. So the police need to get to the bottom of this, and justice must be done.
“A credible investigation also needs to be conducted into the crowd rioting and crowd control incidents of 29th June. This will bring clarity to the sequence of events and ensure that if any persons acted inappropriately, those persons are punished,” he added.null
Saaka, 45, was reportedly attacked by some unknown people in Ejura last Friday. He died on Monday afternoon, June 28, 2021, at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi where he was receiving treatment.
Meanwhile, checks with the Regional Police Command indicate that two suspects have since been picked up by the police in connection with the death of Saaka.
This the Minister appealed for calm even as the security agencies work to bring perpetrators of the heinous crime to book.
Multiple award-winning dancehall artiste and leader of the Shatta Movement, Shatta Wale, has described as “educated fools and ‘disappointmented’ graduates’ social media activists who are engaged in the #FixTheCountry campaign.
The past few months have seen Ghanaian youth take to social media to demand accountability, good governance and better living conditions from governments under the hashtag #FixTheCountry.
The advocacy has garnered huge support that caught the attention of the government which engaged the leaders of the movement on the way forward. Attempts by the campaigners to have a protest have been foiled by the police through a court action but the campaign continued online unabated.
The recent murder of one of the members of the #FixTheCountry campaigner, Kaaka Ibrahim Mohammed, by a mob in Ejura in the Ashanti Region reignited the campaign and got many talking both on social media and in mainstream media
The Takoradi Technical University in the Western region has rusticated sixty-five (65) students of the University for various Examination Malpractices.
A document intercepted by Empire News means the affected students can no longer hold themselves as students of TTU for two semesters.
Confirming the university’s decision to Empire News’ Emmanuel Ohene Gyan Public Relations Officer of Takoradi Technical University, Ekow Payin Nketsiah Richardson, said the decision was taken after the disciplinary committee exhausted all its processes and took the decision to rusticate the affected students effective from the second semester of the 2020/2021 academic year
“As a centre of excellence we can achieve a lot only if we churn out good products, and it involves discipline, we want the corporate world to value our certificates, examination malpractices is a serious offence and the school frowns on that.”
Richardson emphasised out of the sixty-five rusticated, fifty-one (51) of them are males while fourteen (14) of them are females.
The hardest-hit department was the HND Mechanical with seventeen (17) rusticated students followed by HND Electrical with seven (7) rusticated students.
The other department including welding, construction, accounting, among others had between five (5) to just a student (s) being rusticated.
Meanwhile a level 300 procurement and supply student, Constance Asante has initiated legal processes against the management of Takoradi Technical University for including her name in the list of students who have been rusticated for various examination malpractices.
Uncle of the student, Kingsley Fredricks has also accused the disciplinary committee of TTU of what he claims to be twisting of facts of her siblings when she appeared before the committee after she was charged with what the university termed as misconduct.
Constance Asante was charged with unacceptable conduct (improper use of university’s logo without authorisation, assembling and plotting to organise an unlawful demonstration, inciting students against management and displaying posters to demonstrate on all social media without approval.
But her uncle in a separate interview with Emmanuel Ohene-Gyan denied all the charges claiming that his niece only wanted a breakdown of the school fees structure after they realised that the school fees posted to students for payment is different from what was on the students portal.
Highlighting some events which according to her, have made government unpopular, the actress has established that president Akufo-Addo seems unconcerned about them.
Reacting to the death of the late Kaaka Anyass Ibrahim Muhammed, a popular #FixTheCountry activist, who was allegedly murdered by some persons believed to be bodyguards of the Ejura MCE, Yvvone has condemned why a person who seeks the interest of the country could be silenced forever.
In a Twitter post on June 29, 2021, Yvonne wrote:
“Mr President you will be remembered for the many things happening under your watch. Nobody must die for protesting for A BETTER GHANA,”
The outspoken actress has been a strong activist in the #FixTheCountry campaign in recent times.
She has consistently criticized the Nana Addo government for failing on its promise to Ghanaians
The Ministry of Trade and Industry says government is on course in making the country the manufacturing hub of the continent, as it has so far identified more than 200 exporters who are receiving support to export to potential markets.null
Mr. Anthony Nyame-Baafi, a technical advisor to the ministry, speaking on behalf of the Minister, Alan John Kwadwo Kyeremanten, said the government in 2017 realised there was the need to increase exports, especially of value-added products.
“So from 2017, the ministry started to implement this industrial transformation agenda, and the first one was the 1 District 1 Factory (1D1F), which basically is to add value to the raw materials,” he said at a National Trade Forum in Accra.
He explained that under the Industrial Transformation Agenda, the government has a strategic plan to develop the automobile, pharmaceutical, petrochemical, industrial starch, bauxite, and iron and steel industries, which will enhance the country’s exports.
“We believe that can enhance production for both local consumption and export. Now you know, for example, that VW from Germany has come to do some manufacturing and will be exporting to neighbouring countries,” Mr. Nyame-Baafi said.null
He added that as part of the strategy to boost manufacturing and export, the ministry launched the National Export Development Strategy last year, with the country now in full gear to enhance its exports to the United States market under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), to the European Union (EU) market under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), and to the continental market under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCTA) agreement.
“So, we can say with confidence that from this year onwards our export is going to be enhanced and we will increase our export revenue from what we gained in 2019.”
Mr. Nyame-Baafi said the government is aware of the challenges facing exporters and is doing a lot to resolve them, including by providing training to help exporters meet the quality standards of the European Union and other key external markets.
Citing an example, he added that “for smoked fish exports, the Ghana Standards Authority trained some fishmongers, and now they are able to meet the international standard.”
I add my voice to calls for calm following the shooting to death of two persons and the injury to many in Ejura today, following the murder of youth activist Ibrahim ‘Kaaka’ Mohammed. I have just seen a video of the firing of live ammunition into a crowd by persons wearing military attire, after the burial of the murdered youth activist.
I urgently call on President Nana Akufo-Addo to initiate an immediate de-escalation of the situation in Ejura. 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.
My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims and the Ejura community.
John Dramani Mahama Former President of Ghana Tuesday June 29, 2021
There were heated exchanges in open court as the Member of Parliament for Assin Central Ken Ohene Agyepong and lawyers of investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas traded in vulgar language.
Under cross-examination lawyers of Anas sought to enquire about the personal competency of Ken Agyepong regarding a video he obtained from Salis Newspaper, one of the basis for his ‘Who Watches the Watchman.’
Unhappy with counsel’s use of the word “incompetent” the MP who is the respondent in the GHc25 million defamation suit from Anas, exploded in open court.
“The words he (counsel) used were an insult to me (Ken Agyepong). He earlier said I’m incompetent…You are foolish, who the hell do you think you are? I am a Member of Parliament. My Lord, he (Counsel) is disrespecting me. Have you campaigned before?, a visibly angry Ken Agyapong asked.
Sammy Darko, one of the lawyers of Anas rose to his feet and said if the witness (Ken Agyapong) disrespects the Bar, he is disrespecting the court.
According to him, the action and the conduct of the witness is disrespectful to the court.
The court presided over by Justice Eric Baah intervened and said, lawyers and witnesses address the court and not lawyers of the parties. If there is any foul language used, it goes against the dignity of the court.
The court said, ‘I agree that the unprinted words used by the defendant are not acceptable and I call on him to withdraw his words”
The court also urged Counsel for the plaintiff to also watch his words in dealing with the matter and urged him to focus on the substance of the case.
The Assin Central MP Ken Agyepong subsequently apologised to the court and tempers were calmed down.
The court accepted the apology of the witness but cautioned the lawyer for the plaintiff to be mindful of the words used.
Who Watches the Watchman
In the substantive matter, the court has ordered the showing of Ken Agyepong’s video titled ‘Who Watches the Watchman’.
The watching of the said video has become necessary after the Member of Parliament for Assin North mounted the witness box to give evidence.
The lawyer for Ken Agyepong, Rapheal Agyapong prior to adjourning proceedings prayed for the exhibits to be shown to the court.
Though the lawyers of Anas indicated that, the showing of the over 2 hours video will further delay the case, the court said, the proper procedure is that, the admissibility of the video can only be determined after it had been played.
*Cross-examination *
Under cross-examination, Ken Agyepong told the court that, the Salis newspaper brought him the video and according to them, it was recorded as far back as 2010.
According to him, they brought it to him around 2018, when Kwesi Nyantakyi was accused by the plaintiff that the former GFA president was corrupt during his tenure as GFA boss.
Though agreed with counsel that, per his own admission he cannot testify to the authenticity of the content of the exhibits Who Watches Watchman, he explained that, “I can testify because, I did further investigations before, I showed the video.”
He said, the first video was recorded in Lagos Town in Accra and the second one was recorded in a prosecutor’s office.
‘The first video ‘KOA1’ and is titled ‘Who Watches The Watchman’. It happened in Lagos Town in Accra when the plaintiff was trying to extort money from a group of fraudsters who had gone to defraud a man who wanted to buy gold.
“The second one was the plaintiff talking to a prosecutor in the said case about how to destroy the case by giving the prosecutor $5k and also claimed to have given money to the CID Head,” he explained.
He further told the court that, ‘I’m not the author, but when I saw the video, I did my own investigations by calling some people im the video. I called Aziz and he confirmed that Yes, the meeting did happen at Lagos Town. Aziz further came on air to admit that it was true. I called the current EOCO director who was then the CID Director that the plaintiff mentioned in the video that he has given him (CID Director) money. So after the check then we showed the video. I admit that I’m not the author but I did my investigations to authenticate the truth in that video.
“My Lord, simply put, I was told and also saw the video to support what the Salis Newspaper told me. They have a video, that is what has been tendered in,” he noted.
Background
Sometime in 2018, the ace international investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas dragged the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central, Mr Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, to court for defaming him.
Anas was asking the High Court to award aggravated damages to the tune of GH¢25 million arising from defamatory materials published by the MP.
He said, the MP had been publishing materials in his bid to discredit the investigative journalist, who had released an explosive piece on the rot in Ghana football.
Displeased with the MP’s actions, Anas through his lawyer, Mr Kissi Agyebeng, sued Mr Agyapong for the award of general damages for defamation in the defendant’s publications.
A journalist, Mr Listowell Yesu Bukarson, has been granted the lawful attorney to stand in for Anas.
Publications
The publication complained of are a May 29, 2018, live programme in Twi on Adom TV, where Mr Agyapong categorically stated that Anas was a blackmailer, corrupt, an extortionist and evil.
According to the statement of claim, the defendant, in a similar manner, published defamatory words on May 31, 2018 via Oman FM, a private radio station owned by the defendant.
The statement of claim also stated that the defendant published more defamatory materials against the plaintiff via other platforms to the extent of releasing pictures purported to be those of the investigative journalist in his bid to blow the latter’s cover.
The Ashanti Regional Police Command says it has begun an investigation into the circumstances leading to the shooting incident at Ejura on Tuesday, June 29, 2021.
The Police in a statement noted that it will probe what caused the violent clashes between the joint police and military personnel and residents in the area.
Two persons were shot dead following a clash between residents of Ejura and the security personnel over the death of Ibrahim Mohammed otherwise known as Kaaka.
Several others also sustained serious injuries in the process.
The statement from the Police said: “Preliminary investigation shows that following the burial of Ibrahim Mohammed @ Kaaka at Mempeasem cemetery at Ejura today 29th June 2021, some irate youth blocked the main Ejura Atebubu road impeding traffic. The Police moved in with military reinforcement to quell the situation but the irate youth charged on the security officers with all manner of implements including firearms, clubs, machetes, and stones. The security officials fired shots to disperse the angry mob who failed to retreat but rather massed up at all corners. The death and injuries were recorded in the process.”null
It has also asked the public to provide information that could assist them in their investigation.
“The security situation as at 3:30pm is calm. However, security has been reinforced to ensure total stability. The Regional Command has also taken over investigation into the murder of Kaaka and appeals to all who have credible information to share with the Command at the Central Police Station. The strictest confidentially is assured,” part of the statement read.
Ghana’s Speaker of Parliament has described LGBTQI+ sexuality as a pandemic “worse” than COVID-19.
“This pandemic must be fought by all of us”, he said on Tuesday, 29 June 2021 when an eight-member bipartisan committee of lawmakers, led by Ningo Prampram MP Sam Nartey George, presented to him, a private members’ bill to criminalise LGBTQI+ sexuality in Ghana.
“I can tell you it’s worse than COVID-19”, Mr Bagbin said, adding: “Now, I’m happy our beloved country, Ghana, is together in this”.
The “faint-hearted”, he noted, “will soon be stranding to come back to join the fight”.
“His Excellency the President has spoken, our traditional leaders have spoken, our religious leaders have spoken. Together, Ghanaians have spoken”, Mr Bagbin added.
He assured Ghanaians that Parliament will work assiduously to pass the bill by the end of the year.
The bill, apart from criminalising LGBTQI+ sexuality, also seeks to ban the airing of LGBTQI+ materials on media platforms among other things.
In attendance were members of the clergy, chiefs, other religious groups and opinion leaders, who have vowed to fight the LGBTQI+ community with one voice.
Presenting the bill, Mr George expressed confidence that it will become a reference law for other African countries
FOUR Young men are currently receiving treatment at the Begoro Government Hospital in the Fanteakwa North District of the Eastern Region following violent clashes amidst the firing of gunshots over a land dispute.
The incident reportedly occurred over the weekend at Dedeso, a community near Begoro when they stormed there with some others to settle a land dispute.
Genesis
The construction of the Akosombo Hydroelectric Dam in 1961 inevitably created the Volta Lake which displaced 730 villages with a total population of 80,000 people.
These displaced people were relocated and resettled by the state in 52 townships spread over six regions of the country; namely Volta, Oti, Eastern, Bono East, Northern, and Savannah, covering 20 districts of the country.
Angry residents of Dedeso, a VRA resettlement community a few months ago held a press conference accusing the acting Chief of Begoro – Osabarima Bosompem Ayirepe II sacking them from government acquired land through the use of gun-wielding thugs violently grabbing farmlands from families and asking them to vacate their ancestral homes since the area belongs to Akyem Abuakwa.
They say the 8,700.24Km square land was acquired by the government of Ghana in 1969 by Executive Instrument (EI.54) for the resettled families for agricultural purposes and that land is being taken away from them by the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Council.
The agitating residents claimed that Osabarima Bosompem Ayirepe II – Regent of Begoro has invaded the community with gun-wielding thugs chasing away farmers and taken away their farmlands amidst gunshots that, the lands belong to Akyem Abuakwa since Dr. Kwame Nkrumah did not pay compensation for the lands acquired.
Recent Attacks
However, to enable them to settle the land dispute, the residents led by one of the chiefs from Begoro Palace went to the Police to escort them to the community.
A Police officer at Abouso Police post, Constable Kinni Daniel, 28, who narrated the incident said while he was on duty at Abouso station one Nana Bimpong of Begoro palace in the company of about 20 men on board Kia Bongo truck with registration no. GW 551-21 and a motorbike came to inform him that they needed a police escort to Dedeso to settle a land dispute.
According to him, based on that information, he led them to Pertiefoo near Dedeso, one of the areas in a land dispute between the Dedesohene and the Krobos.
He said on their arrival, they were confronted by the Krobos, adding that sensing imminent danger, he fled to Dedeso police station to seek refuge together with the chief.
Constable Kinni Daniel narrated that, he then called for a reinforcement from Begoro command, quickly proceeded to Dedeso to restore law and order but before the team arrived, two men who were butchered were in a pool of blood, dumped at the roadside.
The Police as gathered rushed them to Begoro District Hospital and currently receiving treatment. DGN Online learnt that, the Kia Bongo truck which conveyed the men was set on fire at the roadside by the angry residents. While the melee was ongoing, it started to rain, and due to the heavy downpours and the muddy nature of the road, the Police weren’t able to cause any arrest.
However, on the following day at about 7am, the police visited the scene of the crime at Ashaiman cottage and an investigation revealed that one Peter a Krobo who sustained a cutlass wound during the clashes was missing where a search was dispatch to look for him.
The Police also established that one Abu Nasan alias Lasagbe aged 58 who claimed his 15,000 cedis cash was stolen from the room thatch house building was close to the scene of the crime was damaged and the room was ransacked.
The Begoro District Police Commander, ASP Aboagye Duffuor when contacted said investigation is still ongoing and the situation closely monitored
The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has condemned what he describes as the “mindless killing” of #FixTheCountry activist and member of the Economic Fighters League, Ibrahim “Kaaka” Mohammed.
Mr Ablakwa, in a statement to mourn the late Kaaka, said a culture of impunity and murderous intolerance cannot be allowed a foothold in the country.
He said “justice for Kaaka must be swift and non-negotiable.”
Kaaka, 45, a resident of Dagombaline at Ejura was ambushed in front of his house when he was returning home on his motorbike at about 1:30 pm on Saturday, 27 June 2021.
He was rushed to the Ejura Government Hospital but was later referred to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital where he died while on admission on Sunday, 28 June 2021.
The Ashanti regional police command has arrested two suspects in connection with his murder.
The police has commenced investigations to ascertain whether the murder was linked to his work as a journalist or the #FixTheCountry movement.
• Macho Kaaka was attacked by a mob on June 25, 2021
• He was admitted to the Komfo Anokye Hospital where he died on Monday, June 28, 2021
• The police has arrested two persons as part of investigations into the mob attack
The Ashanti Regional Police Command has confirmed that it has arrested two persons in connection with the attack and subsequent death of #FixTheCountry advocate Ibrahim Mohammed known popularly as Macho Kaaka.
This was made known by the Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Godwin Ahianyo who is the Public Relations Officer of the Ashanti Regional Police Command.
ASP Ahianyo at a press conference announced that Ibrahim Issaka also known as Anyass and Fuseini Alhassan were picked up on Monday, June 28, 2021 around 10:45pm.
Whiles urging the public to exercise restraint on the issue, ASP Ahianyo said the police will look into suspicions that he was attacked because of his activism works on social media.null
He said ‘the witness accounts show that the deceased Kaaka was ambushed in front of his house when he was returning home on his motorcycle around 1:30am on Sunday June 27, 2021.
“Police investigation will also extend to rumorsrumours that the deceased was a journalist and a member of #FixTheCountry movement to ascertain if the murder was linked to his work or the movement.”
Maacho Kaaka died at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, three days after he was attacked by a mob on the dawn of June 25, 2021.
The youth of Ejura in the Ashanti Region where he hails are pointing accusing figures at the Metropolitan Chief Executive of the area.
“Do you know how many people have died since this guy was forced on us as MCE? NPP will collapse and this town can’t contain us if Sualisu Bamba is forced on us again. How many people must die before Akufo-Addo realizes he has imposed a tyrant, incompetent and heartless mafia boss as our MCE.
“First, it was Rauf, and one guy at Hiawoanwu and now Kaaka. What we are telling the President is that enough is enough. We won’t sit down for Bamba and his boys to rule this town like a separate territory,” Inyass Awudu, a member of the youth group said.
• Sammy Gyamfi says the attack on Anyass Ibrahim is another indication of the insecurity in the countrynull
• He has blamed the attack and subsequent death of the activist on the NPP
• He says Ghanaians are afraid to speak out on issues due to fear of being victimized
Even before the police conclude their investigations into the death of Kaaka Anyass Ibrahim, Sammy Gyamfi, the National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress, is convinced that the mob that attacked him are members of the New Patriotic Party.
Despite not having any evidence to substantiate this claim, Sammy Gyamfi has no doubt on his mind that members of the governing body ‘killed’ the social activist.
In an interview with Accra-based Okay FM, monitored by GhanaWeb, Sammy Gyamfi said that the death of Kaaka is further proof of the perception of the culture of silence and insecurity, which in his wisdom have become pervasive in the country.null
The premise of this allegation by the legal practitioner is that prior to being assaulted, Kaaka published threats by some supposed NPP members.
“There is hardship in the country and people are afraid to talk because they are afraid for their lives. Today, they have killed Kaaka. NPP killed Kaaka. Kaaka stays in Ejura and has been on this #FixTheCountry campaign. He has been talking about abandoned projects. Before he was attacked by a mob, he announced that he has been threatened by the known NPP members. He even published the threats. He was beaten by a mob,” he alleged.
Sammy Gyamfi spoke with utter conviction that Kaaka was allegedly targeted by the NPP and was killed by the party.
“My fact is that the persons who attacked him before he died are known members of the NPP. That is why there are disturbances at Ejura. They (NPP) killed him,” he said.
Kaaka Anyass Ibrahim, known widely as Macho was assaulted by some yet-to-be-identified persons on the dawn of June 25, 2021.null
He sustained injuries and was admitted to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital where he, unfortunately, passed on Monday, June 28, 2021.
His death has triggered disturbances in Ejura with the youth threatening reprisal attacks against the Municipal Chief Executive of the area for sanctioning the assault.
Meanwhile, the wife of the deceased has suggested that she is aware of the persons who threatened her late husband.
“Before the attack, he told me that someone had warned him against posting some issues on social media. I even warned him to stop since that could lead to his death, but he wouldn’t listen. I know the person that issued the warning to my husband. We want the police to thoroughly conduct investigations into it to ensure the perpetrators are arrested,” Zahada Hudu said.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has ruled that the Ministry of Works and Housing and the Ministry of Transport be surcharged with the cost of organising its sitting on Thursday, June 24, 2021.
This was after the two ministries had failed to appear before the committee without any prior notice.
The two ministries have also been asked to bear the cost of the day’s live broadcast of the sitting on national television and media coverage aimed at bringing the Committee’s work closer to the public.
Ruling
The Chairman of the Committee, Mr James Klutse Avedzi, who gave the ruling, also warned ministries, departments and agencies that take the work of the committee for granted.
He reminded them that Article 103 (6) of the 1992 Constitution granted the Committee, like any other Committee of Parliament, the powers, rights and privileges of a High Court in relation to enforcing the attendance of witnesses and examining them on oath, affirmation or otherwise.
He said the Public Accounts Committee and the Committee on Subsidiary Legislation were the only Committees of the House chaired by a Member from the Minority side of the legislative body and that was to deepen the mandate of the Committee in scrutinising properly the audited accounts of government institutions.
National reclamation scheme
Meanwhile, at the sitting of the PAC yesterday, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources (MLNR), Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, disclosed that the government would roll out a comprehensive national reclamation scheme and plant different species of economic trees to replenish vegetation cover across the country.
The scheme, which was being finalised, was expected to start from July this year.
Job losses
Under the scheme, he said, former illegal miners, who lost their jobs due to the government’s clampdown on galamsey, would be recruited to plant millions of trees in degraded mining communities and depleted forests.
“I had an opportunity to go on an aerial tour and you will see that the whole landscape has been degraded and we are now working to roll out a national reclamation programme which will see us reclaiming all the lands, and hopefully in the process, the young men and women who have fallen out of the crackdown on illegal mining can be recruited to reclaim these lands and plant economic trees,” he said.
The minister, who was accompanied by the officials of the various agencies under the MLNR, particularly the Lands Commission, was before the committee to respond to questions raised by the Auditor-General on the operations of agencies in the lands and natural resources sector.
He and other accompanying officials answered questions pertaining to the activities of the Lands Commission, the granting of licences and permits for natural resource exploitation, abuse of the ban on rosewood export, measures to sustain trees planted under the Green Ghana Day (GGD), fundraising for the GGD and youth in afforestation.
He also answered questions on the national afforestation and reclamation programme, illegal mining, alternative livelihood for former illegal miners and the management of the Achimota Forest enclave.
Alternative livelihood
Responding to a question on the government’s support for formal illegal miners, Mr Jinapor, who is also the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Damongo, said the President’s vision and strategy for the small-scale industry was not to just clamp down on galamsey but the provision of alternative livelihood which was dear to the heart of the President.
In his view, the government was determined to make it a viable industry which would employ the youth and contribute to the economy.
Small scale mining
He told the committee that the small-scale mining sector contributed 40 per cent of the country’s gold output last year and “we are not at all against small-scale mining.”
“What we are against is illegal small-scale mining and the efforts we are making now, which has got the Ghana Armed Forces involved, exclusively is in respect of the red zones — the water bodies and forest reserves of our countries,” he said.
Survival of trees
On how to nurture to maturity tree seedlings planted during the Green Ghana Day, Mr Jinapor said there was a whole strategy to ensure the survival of the over five million trees that were planted on June 11, this year.
He pointed out that from now till the next Green Ghana Day next year, a programme would be rolled out to ensure that more trees would be planted, especially in protected forests and major highways.
On the flouting of the ban on the harvesting, transportation and export of Rosewood from Ghana, the minister said matters of the natural resource sector and issues about Rosewood, which was one of the sought-after species of wood everywhere in the world, had become a complicated issue.
He, however, gave an assurance that adequate measures had been put in place to actively police the activities of those harvesting and exporting Rosewood in the northern part of the country.
To fortify the ban on Rosewood exports, the minister said the MNLR had also entered into partnership with chiefs from the northern Ghana, particularly those from the Savannah Region, who had placed a total ban on the harvesting of shed trees and Rosewood.
With regard to the mechanism for auctioning illegally harvested woods, he expressed worry about the manner in which individuals and groups behind illegal logging formed criminal cartels to benefit from the auctioning of confiscated illegal logs.
“What I have found personally as minister is that in many cases, the criminal cartels involved in this illegal logging find other unorthodox means of participating in the auctioning.
“The enforcement regime we have now is deterrent enough. So, we are examining it at the level of the ministry and to decide whether we should, for instance, begin to burn what we confiscate or give them to other institutions. These are questions which need answers to,” Mr Jinapor added.
The Criminal Division of the Accra High Court presided over by Justice Ruby Aryeetey has dismissed preliminary objections that among other things challenged the capacity of the Attorney General in the matter.
The police has filed an application before the court to restrain the #FixtheCountry protest from their intended protest.
Lawyers of the conveners (Respondents) on Monday, June 21, raised three preliminary objections including one that challenges the capacity of the Attorney General to be in the matter.
The courting in its ruling said, the AG is the principal legal head of the state and the matter before the court is one that is being brought in the name of the Republic.
EIB Network’s Court Correspondent Murtala Inusah reports that following the dismissal of the objections, the court is now proceeding to hear the substantive matter.
Earlier, before the Objections were raised, Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame said, the application before the Court is seeking an order directed at the organizer and conveners of an intended demonstration dubbed #FixtheCountry protest match.
The AG said it is to restrain the Associate officers, agents, assigns, and workmen on grounds of public safety, public security, and public health till the restrictions imposed on large public gatherings are lifted by law or in accordance with the law.
But, the lawyers of the respondents raised objections to the application before the court.
Opposing to the application, Mr. Dame contended that, the Objection that the application violates Article 491 is a “totally absurd proposition.”
The application he said is properly before the court and the Objection is wholly misconceived.
There is nothing pressing or urgent about the intended #FixTheCountry demonstration for it to be allowed to come off, Attorney General Godfred Dame has argued.
In an interview with Francisca Kakra Forson on Accra-based Metro TV’s Good Afternoon Ghana programme on Thursday, 24 June 2021, Mr Dame wondered: “…What is the purpose for this demonstration?”
“They [#FixTheCountry conveners] say they are demonstrating on account of broken promises by successive governments, so, that shows really it’s a demonstration on their own showing”, explaining: “It’s not about the NPP”. “It’s on account of factors that have resulted since independence, so, it’s not urgent, it’s not pressing”, he asserted.
Stressing his arguments against the intended demonstration, Mr Dame asked: “If you’re demonstrating about broken promises by successive governments since independence, what is the urgency about it?”
“And, in any case”, he observed: Are they not also mobilising through other means – social media and what have you?”
Anyway, he pointed out, “the matter is in court. [It’s as] simple as that. I’ll rest my argument here”.
The Supreme Court quashed an earlier ruling by the high court that placed an injunction on the demonstration until COVID-19 was no more.
The injunction was on account of a prayer by the police to the high court to stop the march in keeping with the mass-gathering restrictions instituted by the government to mitigate the spread of the virus, which has, so far, killed close to 800 people in Ghana since it was first confirmed in the country on 12 March 2020.
The state and the conveners are still battling out the matter in court.
Mr Dame believes although the Akufo-Addo government has been magnanimous to the #FixTheCountry campaigners in terms of its overtures to them, he suspects they are up to no good.
“They actually indicated that they wanted to be heard, so, what did the government do? In an unprecedented fashion, the government constituted virtually its top leaders in government to engage them on their concerns”.
“I was one of them, the minister of defence, minister of foreign affairs, minister for the interior, minister of finance, and a few other ministers – national security minister. Clearly it was successful. When I was at the meeting, they actually refused to speak. I understand when I left, they made a few remarks and that was it. I don’t know why. So, that tells you the motive is, perhaps, more mischievous and deeper than [meets the eye]”, he told Kakra Forson.
Responding to why the court case has become more like a personal pet project of his, Mr Dame riposted: “I’m hands-on if necessary because the buck rests with the attorney general”, explain: “I’m the principal legal adviser to the president of Ghana; this is a matter of immense public interest, a matter that the president has deemed it necessary to convene most of his top ministers; finance, trade, interior, defence, foreign affairs, to meet such prospective demonstrators and the matter has resulted in a court proceeding; what is awkward or what is absurd about the attorney general representing state?”
“It shows that the government is actually concerned about them and that concern was exhibited long before we even went to court – by engaging them”, he noted
Seasoned Journalist, Kweku Baako Jnr. has rubbished accusations by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) against the Chief Justice that he is trying to gag lawyers of the party.null
The Chief Justice has petitioned the General Legal Council to summon Dr. Dominic Ayine over some alleged scandalous comments made by the latter.
“His Lordship the Chief Justice therefore finds his alleged disparaging comments totally unacceptable and would like you to investigate the matter,” the CJ said in his petition.
Dr. Ayine is said to have undermined the independence of the Judiciary during a public forum but he has refuted the claims, insisting he made his comments in good faith.
“As I have stated in this response, as a lawyer, I have a special responsibility to engage in criticism of the work of the judiciary. By reason of my training and experience, I am better placed than most of my fellow citizens to point out deficiencies in judgments and in the performance by the judiciary of its core constitutional mandate,” he asserted.
NDC General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, in a press conference organized by the party on the petition, accused the CJ of suprevising a “judiciary tyranny”.
Dissecting the issue during a panel discussion on Peace FM’s ‘Kokrokoo’, Kweku Baako rebuked the NDC for creating an impression that members of the party who are lawyers are facing intimidation by the CJ.null
Mr. Baako wondered why anybody would think the NDC affiliated lawyers are being intimidated seemingly to say it is untrue.
He disclosed that the lawyers have already confessed and apologized before the GLC, therefore questioned the logic of the NDC presser.
“The problem I have is that you have these lawyers, good lawyers, experienced lawyers members of a party; that is not the material point. The material point is that we are now being told by their party that these lawyers affiliated to them appear to have been singled out and are being intimidated into submission of some sort. Now, these lawyers, they’re lawyers; not people like us. They go before the Committee, a Committee which is part of their own profession, all this thing is captured in the Legal Professional Conduct And Etiquette Rules 2020 (LI 24/23)… They submit themselves to this; I don’t know maybe at a gunpoint and yet we have their party… there soliciting some sympathy… on their behalf that they’re being intimidated,” he stated.
“Don’t they have their own senses? Aren’t they trained minds? Aren’t they learned people? Aren’t they members of the learned profession? When they go to the Committee, what animal is that Committee?”, he lashed out at the NDC.
He called on the lawyers to ‘stand up and fight’ for themselves if they think they haven’t offended the law.
“If they know they have done anything wrong or violated their own (ethics of their profession)…why do you allow yourself to be intimidated into submission. I don’t want to buy that…I am not prepared to accept that they’re so docile.”Source: peacefmonline.com
A London court has awarded US$170 million judgment debt against Ghana for terminating power deal with GPGC
Former Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko believes Ghana would have lost more than $170m if some energy deals were not cancelled.
He added that it is unfair for the NDC to chastise them for the US$170 million judgement debt
A former Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko, has said the Government of Ghana’s decision to abrogate the power contract with Ghana Power Generation Company (GPGC) was not out of place, Citi News has reported.
The London Commercial Court of international arbitration has granted a US$170 million judgment debt against the Government of Ghana for terminating an agreement with an independent contractor, GPGC.
But speaking to Citi News, Mr Agyarko justified that Ghana would have incurred a cost running over US$170 million if the agreement was still made to stand.
“We have paid almost over US$1 billion for excess capacity. The review committee estimated that the contract as they were if they were allowed to stand, the country will be paying at the end of the 13th year US$7.2 billion in excess capacity charges.null
“Now if the country is going to be saddled with US$7.2 billion for excess capacity, we needed to rethink. In the PPA review, what it said was that if we could get the termination and the management of all the excess capacity, the liability that we will be faced with is about US$600 million out of pocket,” he said.
He further said that it is unfair for the John Dramani Mahama-led administration to accuse the NPP government of causing financial loss to the state when the NDCs are the signees of the excess contracts.
“Now $600 million in year one compared to US$7.2 billion, now even if you do the next present value calculation and bring the $7.2 billion into a one-year payment, we are still better off. I don’t understand why the people whose time these excess capacity contracts were signed now have the guts and the audacity to accuse people who are trying to manage the mess they created,” he told Citi News.
The judgement debt saga has sparked serious conversations, with many calling for the prosecution of the officials involved in the termination.
Others have also suggested that Mr Boakye Agyarko, who was the then Energy Minister, failed to engage extensively in exploring other options instead of a cancellation of the agreement
Leadership of the Coalition of Aggrieved Customers of Menzgold (CACM) on Wednesday, June 23 met the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, over their plight with respect to the locked-up funds.
They claimed for the past three years they have been reeling over the locked-up funds not only at Menzgold Ghana Limited but also at Brew Marketing Ghana, which belonged to Nana Appiah Mensah, popularly known as NAM1.
The meeting is part of the customers’ engagement with relevant stakeholders with respect to their grievances.
“The discussion among other things also centered on the impact of the banking sector clean-up on social finances,” a communique issued after the meeting said.
“We urge all customers to rally support behind leadership as we pursue justice for all
The Commercial Court in Accra has declared the appointment of Nii Amanor Dodoo as receiver of Unibank Ghana limited as a breach of the specialized deposit-taking institutions act (act 930).
The court also ruled Mr. Amanor Dodoo’s acceptance of the job is in breach of the Act. The court subsequently struck out all matters on the docket regarding the case.
The court made the declaration Thursday, June 24,20201 when it granted an application by Dr Kwabena Duffuor to strike out a writ of summons issued by the receiver for illegality and a consequent lack of capacity in the takeover of Unibank.
The court presided over by Justice Afi Agbanu-Kudemor held that Nii Amanor Dodoo ought not to have accepted the appointment as receiver when he acted as a member of the team of accountants from KPMG who were appointed by BOG as the official administrator of Unibank as his acceptance of the appointment was a clear case of conflict of interest and therefore illegal.
Lawyers for Dr. Duffuor declined to comment on the ruling after the hearing.
Background
uniBank went into official administration on March 20, 2018, and was eventually collapsed by the Bank of Ghana on August 1, 2018.
The local bank was one of five banks merged by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) into the Consolidated Bank Ghana Limited.
Official Administrator, KPMG, in the course of its audit discovered that about GHS5.7 billion was owed by shareholders of uniBank as of March 20, 2018.
The GHS5.7 billion was the focus of a previous suit by Nii Amanor Dodoo who was acting as the Receiver.
Among other things, the bank’s interest income and other sources of income were said to be insufficient to cover the associated cost of funds of underlying borrowings and liabilities, as well as overheads of about GHS0.31 billion per annum.
These claims have, however, been challenged by the bank’s directors and Dr. Duffuor also sued to get the court to declare the license for the Consolidated Bank null and void
A former Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Koku Anyidoho has raised issues with the payment of judgement debts in Ghana.
He wondered how long Ghana will continue “to bleed from self-inflicted wounds?”
“So, Judgement debt has reared its ugly Medusa-like head in Ghana again? I sat in Cabinet & saw the extent to which Prez Atta-Mills Laboured to pay Judgement debts he inherited. For how long will the Motherland continue to bleed from self-inflicted wounds? I weep for Ghana,”
His comments come after a London-based United Nations Commission on International Trade Law tribunal has ordered the government of Ghana to pay a contractually defined “early termination payment” of more than US$134.3 million plus interest and costs.
This follows the termination of the contract between the government of Ghana and an independent power producer, Ghana Power Generation Company (GPGC) in 2018.
Former Minister of Power, Dr Kwabena Doinkor, under whose watch the deal was signed said the emergency power agreement signed with Ghana Power Generation Company (GPGC), went to cabinet and parliament for approval,
He told Dzifa Bampoh on the First Take on 3FM Wednesday June 23 that the agreement met all the constitutional requirements hence the $170million judgement awarded against the government of Ghana for the termination.
Mr Donkor was reacting to a comment by Attorney General Godfred Dame that the decision by the signatories to sign such an agreement was uninformed.
Gofred Dame had said in relation to the judgement debt that “The fundamental question that we asked is why the agreement was entered into in the first place? Why did John Jinapor and his former boss execute the signatory of this agreement and afterwards set up a committee to review those agreements?
“It is because you yourself had realised that this was going to result in excess capacity,” he said.
“Indeed, the cost was very, very monumental. As per the report of the PPA Committee, if all the agreements signed by John Jinapor and his former boss had been allowed to run, each year, the nation was going to be exposed to payment to the sum of $586 million.
“Cumulatively, between 2013 and 2018 the nation was going to pay as much as $1.76 billion,” he told Joy News.
Reacting to his comments, Dr Kwabena Donkor told Dzifa that “The awards was given for wrongful termination, not for wrongful signing. I am therefore surprised that the Attorney General does not deem it fit to confirm that whoever terminated will also be referred to the CID.
“The Ghana Power Generation Company (GPGC) was sent to cabinet, it had cabinet approval. Indeed, the Secretary to Cabinet wrote to Parliament on the 3rd of July 2015, and parliament approved the agreement.
“It went through the constitutional process set out for these agreements.
“This agreement had the lowest tariffs of all the emergency power purchasing agreements. It had the shortest duration, four years and that agreement did not require any financial security from the state of Ghana and therefore it was one of the agreements negotiated
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• Godfred Yeboah Dame said he was involved in the arbitration proceedings of the casenull
• He also debunked the assertion that the state did not handle which has led to the judgement debt
• Dame indicated the trial which was conducted virtually lasted for one week
Godfred Yeboah Dame, the Attorney General and Minister for Justice has said with the recent case of a London Court awarding a judgement debt against the Republic of Ghana, he was involved only in the arbitration proceedings.
He explained that, during the proceedings, he conducted the trial with some state hired external lawyers as well as lawyers from the office of the Attorney General.
“I was involved only from the point of the arbitration proceedings…I was entrusted with the conduct of the trial; I conducted the trail together with external lawyers of the state, thus Amofa and Partners; we also had lawyers from the office of the Attorney General that was in August 2020, I was involved,” Dame told Citi TV in an interview monitored by GhanaWeb.null
He debunked the assertion that the state did not handle which has led to the US$170 million judgement debt.
“People are now alleging that the state did not handle the matter. Clearly, it was wrong, the matter was actually handled prior to me becoming Attorney General. The matter was handled when I was Deputy Attorney General and I am saying the arbitration which was instituted in 2018 was vigorously contested by the state; where it filed the relevant challenges to the arbitration processes that were comminuted in the trial,” Godfred Dame said.
He further indicated that the trial which was conducted virtually lasted for one week.
“It was not like other matters that we had to travel to London, in this case, we sat in Accra and did the trail virtually and each day, the proceedings lasted the whole; it started from 9 am and ended at 5 pm.
It was a full trial and it was witnessed by various members of the government; the Minister for Energy, John Peter Amewu even came to witness proceedings and saw me on my feet arguing the matter, office of the President sent representatives and all…The trial was in August and the proceedings were adjourned for the delivery of award [judgement] and the judgement was given in January 2021. Ordinarily, that ought to have ended the matter because arbitration proceedings are not appealable. Arbitral awards are final; there is a finality to arbitral awards.null
The state was outraged with the imposition of this amount. The judgement debt was $134 million, cost about $3 million and now people are saying $170 million, well, I don’t know where the mathematics came from; I’m not a mathematician, my competence is in law,” Godfred Dame stated further.
The Government of Ghana was ordered by a London-based United Nations Commission on International Trade Law tribunal to pay a contractually defined “early termination payment” of more than US$134.3 million plus interest and costs.
The agreement between the government and GPGC, an independent power producer, was terminated in 2018.
Anti-virus software entrepreneur John McAfee has been found dead in a Barcelona prison cell hours after a Spanish court agreed to extradite him to the US to face tax evasion charges.
The Catalan Justice Department said prison medics tried to resuscitate him, but were not successful.
It said in a statement that “everything indicates” McAfee took his own life.
A controversial figure in the tech world, his company released the first commercial anti-virus software.
McAfee VirusScan helped to spark a multi-billion dollar industry in the computer world, and was eventually sold to technology giant Intel for more than $7.6bn (£4.7bn).
In October 2020, John McAfee was arrested in Spain when he was about to board a plane to Turkey, and accused of failing to file tax returns for four years, despite earning millions from consulting work, speaking engagements, crypto-currencies and selling the rights to his life story.
He was also accused of concealing assets, including a yacht and real estate property, also in other people’s names.
Spain’s National Court authorised his extradition to the US to faces the charges on Wednesday morning.
In recent years, McAfee repeatedly claimed that there was a plot to get him – however the court said there was “no revealing evidence” that he was being prosecuted for political or ideological reasons, El Pais reported.John McAfee, shown here in Miami Beach, Florida, was a controversial figure in the technology sector
The entrepreneur, who was born in Gloucestershire, England first came to prominence in the 1980s when he founded his tech company and released McAfee VirusScan.
Although a pioneer of computer security, he once admitted to the BBC that he never actually used the software on his own computers – or any anti-virus software for that matter.
He also launched unsuccessful bids to become the Libertarian Party’s candidate for the presidential elections in 2016 and 2020.
In 2019 McAfee expressed his disdain for taxes, tweeting that he had not filed tax returns for eight years because “taxation is illegal.
In the same year he was briefly detained in the Dominican Republic for allegedly bringing weapons into the country.
McAfee never fitted into the mould of what a tech entrepreneur might look like. He was brash, reckless and never far away from the next scandal.
Mcafee himself is best known for the company he founded and named
It was wildly successful and made him a rich man. He also helped to create a multi-billon dollar computer security software industry in the process.
McAfee was a visionary, but also hot headed. It was his temperament that got him into trouble throughout his life.
In 2012 he was arrested in Guatamala, having been on the run in Belize where police were investigating the death of his neighbour.
He always denied any involvement in the murder.
A prominent libertarian, engaging speaker and crypto enthusiast, McAfee still had the ability to make money. His latest brush with law enforcement was due to alleged tax evasion on his recent earnings.
He will be remembered, rightly, as an important figure in the development of the technology scene of the 80s and 90s. But he will also be remembered as a deeply controversial figure, who at times seemed intent in taking a path in life that might lead to trouble.
• The new Land Act was passed by parliament and assented to by President Akufo-Addo in December 2020null
• According to Dr Bawumia, the law will combat widely known chaos at the Lands Commission
• He urged stakeholders to remain committed to the implementation of the new Land Act
Many people have over the years complained about how tedious the land administration process is at the Lands Commission anytime they visit the premises.
Due to this, the government has resorted to the digitization of the process to ensure sustainable land administration and management.
Addressing participants at a national symposium, Vice President of the Republic, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia said vigorous implementation of the new Land Act 2020 (Act 1063) will fight the ‘demons and principalities’ Ghanaians meet at the Lands Commission.
He said, “To address these critical challenges in the land sector, and to optimize the contribution of land in the socio-economic development of Ghana, the government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is committed to change through the application of technology.null
“The digitization of the Land Commission has now become very imperative and I have every confidence that the team that we have at the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources is a formidable team working with the Lands Commission and I believe we are going to slain this dragon and make sure we fight the demons and principalities that we meet in the process of land administration,” he stated.
Dr Bawumia furthered that he has established a liaison unit in his office to assist both the Lands Commission and the relevant ministry to expedite the digitization processes.
The new Land Act introduces new provisions relating to customary land management, compulsory acquisition and vesting of lands, electronic conveyancing and spousal land rights.
It also provides for stringent jail terms for various offences related to land, all with the view to assist in sanitizing the land sector.
President Akufo-Addo and WO II Esther Saan, aka Mama Gee
A witness in the case of the alleged coup plotters, Major General Nicholas Andoh, has insisted that the 10 persons who are standing trial for allegedly plotting to overthrow the NPP government actually planned to capture and kill President Nana Akufo-Addo.
Major General Andoh, who is the prosecution’s second witness, while under cross- examination debunked claims by Victor Adawudu, counsel for Dr. Frederick MacPalm and four others that, the accused persons on no occasion discussed any plans to over to overthrow the government.
He told the court that the accused persons, as part of their plans to overthrow the NPP government, sought to procure weapons – an AK47 riffle through Gershon Akpa, a civilian employee with the Ghana Armed Forces and their discussion on plans to overthrow the government and eventually kill the President were seen in videos recorded by operatives of the Ghana Armed Forces and the Bureau of National Investigations.
“I am putting it to you that there was no occasion that the accused persons planned to overthrow the government as you want this court to understand,” counsel for the accused, Victor Adawudu challenged the witness.
“This assertion is false. There were discussions, there was a plan, it was drawn on paper, areas were selected to be captured, attacked and blocked. It was discussed and seen in the video. The plan was seen in the video at Laskala. The same plan and sketch was seen in a drawer of Dr. MacPalm at the Citadel Hospital 14 months after the discussion,” the witness told the court.
Major General Andoh continued that “the IEDs (Improvised Explosive Device) and the pistols were seen in the video and were physically located at the Citadel Hospital and then the sedative chemical that was put in the IEDs, two samples were found during a search at the Citadel Hospital. All the meetings centered on the overthrow of the government and to cause havoc in the country.”
Trial
The 10 accused persons include Dr. Frederick Yao MacPalm, proprietor of the Citadel Hospital at Alajo in Accra who is suspected to be the mastermind of the plot; Donya Kafui aka Ezor, a local weapon manufacturer; Bright Alan Debrah Ofosu aka Bright Alan Yeboah or BB, Lance Corporal Ali Solomon, Lance Corporal Sylvester Akanpewon, Lance Corporal Seidu Abubakar and WO II Esther Saan Dekuwine aka Mama Gee.
The rest are Johannes Zikpi, a civilian employee with the Ghana Armed Forces, ACP Dr. Benjamin Agordzo of the Ghana Police Service and Col. Samuel Kojo Gameli.
Second Witness
Major General Andoh, who is the Chief of Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces, led in his witness-in-chief by the Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, told the court that Dr. MacPalm masterminded the plot to overthrow the government.
He said analysis of a joint surveillance revealed that the medical doctor was the brain behind the coup and that “he took practical steps to recruit military and police officers through BB (Bright Alan Debrah) to advance his cause.”
He also outlined some of the important meetings held by the accused persons at various venues where they discussed among other things how to carry out the coup, and how to capture or block some key installations in the country in order for their plans to succeed.
Cross-Examination
Mr. Adawudu, who is the counsel for Dr. MacPalm and four other accused persons, asked the witness whether he was at any of the meetings that he spoke about, and the durations of the meetings as well as the video and audio recordings.
Major General Andoh told the court that he was not at any of the meetings and could not specify the duration of the meetings as well as the durations of the video and audio recordings, but added that as the Director of Defence Intelligence at the time, he did not need to be at the meeting “but by my structures I could monitor through the recordings and reporting that I received. So my account is based on the review of the videos and reports I received from my operatives.”
The lawyer of Dr. MacPalm then suggested to the witness that since he was not at the alleged meetings he could not tell what was discussed at these meetings.
The witness in his reply said, “I can, on the basis that all the videos, audios and the verbal briefings I received turned out to authenticate the activities that were physically uncovered.”
The lawyer also suggested to the witness that “it is not a crime to procure a rifle in Ghana,” but the witness said, “My Lord, it is a crime to procure an assault rifle without permission. It is a crime.”
Dr. MacPalm’s Lawyer: And I’m also putting it to you that when you procure a rifle, you have to register it. Is that not so?
Witness: My lord AK47 rifle is the preserve of security agencies and their procurement must be authorised.
Dr. MacPalm’s Lawyer: I am putting it to you that it is not a crime to procure a rifle and register it in Ghana.
Witness: My lord, the procurement of assault rifle – AK47 is an assault rifle and it is not permitted for any individual not even in the military to acquire. It is meant for the police, the army and the security agencies
Mr John Mahama managed the economy better as president than the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government has done so far, opposition MP Isaac Adongohas claimed.
Speaking at a public lecture organised by the Coalition for Restoration on Wednesday, 23 June 2021, the Bolgatanga Central lawmaker said argued: “For a country to grow, GDP is irrelevant if you cannot collect a greater proportion of it to fund government activities”.
So, he noted, “it is always important to find out if the government’s revenue collection systems are efficient, then it is taking more from the GDP or the national income, in order to fund further growth”.
The ranking member of the finance committee of parliament added: “So, when a government is not taking more from the GDP, what it simply means is that it must now go and borrow because people are earning money and he doesn’t even know how to collect the money to fund development”.
Adducing comparative evidence to buttress his claim, Mr Adongo said Mr Mahama, from 2013 to 2016, “did an average total revenue and grants of 17.9 per cent, almost 18 per cent of GDP”.
However, “the first four years, with one of the best economies in the world, as the head of the economic management team, he [Vic-President Mahamudu Bawumia] did 15.2 per cent”, Mr Adongo compared.
“I don’t see how 15.2 per cent is a better manager of raising revenue to 17 to 18 per cent”, he contrasted.
On domestic revenue which includes grants, Mr Adongo said Mr Mahama “did 17 per cent as against 14.8 per cent” of the current government.
“Now, we are looking at tax revenue, alone; we did 13.3 per cent, they did 12 per cent”, he noted
Actor, Prince David Osei, has admitted that times are hard in Ghana. This comes after months of living in self-denial and calling on Ghanaians to fix themselves rather than urge the government to make things right.
Prince David Osei making this known in a tweet said “I know times are tough everywhere but things will get better… Keep believing”.
His acknowledgement that times are hard is a shock to many considering the fact that he urged the people of Ghana to rather fix themselves. The youth in Ghana are complaining of the times. Fuel prices keep increasing every fortnight and that has affected prices and the standard of living across the country.
The government blames the hardship on COVID-19 and its accompanying financial commitments for the suffering but however, turn around to blame the citizens for not fixing themselves as the cause of the country’s problems.
Although there are efforts to demonstrate, these efforts have been thwarted by the Ghana Police Service who has decided to take the issue to court to restrain the citizens from registering their displeasure.
Attorney General (AG), Godfred Yeboah Dame says the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, will investigate the Power Purchasing Agreement signed between government and Ghana Power Generation Company (GPGC), exposing the nation to a financial loss.
He said the agreement was unnecessary and ill-informed because the country did not need excess power at the time and that an inquiry would be instituted into the matter to protect the public purse.
The AG said the agreement contained clauses, which rendered the government liable for payment of huge sums of money, saying, “irrespective of whether it was terminated before it became effective or not, government was exposed to financial loss.”
The Commercial Court in London, reportedly refused to allow Ghana to bring a belated challenge to an UNCITRAL award worth over US$134 million in favour of a power contractor, ruling that national elections and COVID-19 pandemic, did not make the state’s delay reasonable.
The case started under Gloria Afua Akuffo, then Minister of Justice and Attorney General, with Godfred Yeboah Dame as one of her Deputies.
State attorneys, including Helen Akpene Awo Ziwu, Anna Pearl Akiwumi Siriboe and Grace Oppong Dolphy in Accra, were also mentioned in the case as having failed to beat a 28-day deadline.
The delay resulted in the State having to pay US$170 million in damages to the claimants; Ghana Power Generation Company (GPGC) located at 1 Airport Square Building, 7TH Floor, Accra.
In a ruling on Wednesday, June 8, 2021, Justice Butcher, refused to grant the government a time extension to set aside the award, saying, the State’s grounds for challenging it were “intrinsically weak”.
The underlying dispute is about government’s alleged wrongful rejection in 2018 of a contract for a “fast-track power generation solution” – involving the relocation of two aero derivative gas turbine power plants to the government’s territory.
A London-seated UNCITRAL tribunal composed of former ICC Court President John Beechey as chair, J William Rowley QC and Ghanaian academic, Albert Fiadjoe, issued its final award in January, ordering the government to pay a contractually defined “early termination payment” of more than US$134.3 million plus interest and costs.
The tribunal also dismissed the government’s counterclaim, according to reports.
It is said the award is worth around US$170 million and under English law, the government had 28 days to bring a challenge to the award.
Three days before the expiry of that deadline, the government’s then solicitors, Omnia Strategy applied to the court for a 56-day extension, due national elections and COVID-19, reports indicate.
The court, reportedly, agreed to extend the deadline for any challenge to March 8, but the government only brought its set-aside application on April 1, now represented by Volterra Fietta.
Reports say, in the latest ruling, Butcher J, said the government’s delay was “significant and substantial”, as its request for a second extension had come 38 days after the statutory deadline and 27 days after the first extension expired.
That an entity may have “bureaucratic decision-making processes, ” does not justify delay, the court said, adding that, for arguments about Covid-19 , the evidence as to the way in which the pandemic had affected the government was “wholly inadequate”.
The judge reportedly said there was no unfairness in denying an extension, as the government had already been granted one extension and was solely responsible for having missed the deadlines.
Mr Dame, also the Minister of Justice, blamed the signatories to the agreement for the $170 million judgement debt and said “the fact as borne out by the PPA committee’s report was that the agreement, together with other agreements, had resulted in such excessive power supply to the state.
The state was going to lose $586m per annum and a cumulative cost of about $7.6billion dollars between 2013 and 2018.”
“So I think that when it comes to financial loss, it is so clear in my mind that the responsibility lies clearly with those who entered into the agreement.
The basic point is that the entry into this transaction was unnecessary. The entry into this transaction was what resulted in financial loss to the state.”
Executive Director, Africa Centre for Energy Policy, Benjamin Boakye, said it was “extremely reckless for us to pay this amount because people engage in power play,” and said it was important that government officials paid attention to agreements approved by Parliament to avoid judgement debts. GNA
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says Africa must forge stronger partnerships, and move boldly to tackle the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.null
He said it was imperative that the continent abandoned half-hearted partnerships, and develop new approaches that support self-sustaining economic growth and development to recover from the scourge of the pandemic.
He was speaking on Wednesday at the opening of the African Development Bank group’s (AfDB) virtual 2021 Annual Meetings.
President Akufo-Addo noted that Africa could not afford to ignore the significant challenge facing it as a result of the pandemic, which had claimed some 130,000, pushed its economies into contraction and exposed its structural fragility.
He said the continent ought to seek new pathways to recover from the challenges of the COVID-19, saying, “In an unprecedented global event of this magnitude, we must engineer a response that will help accelerate our structural transformation.”
“Our will in seeing it through must be total,” he emphasized.null
The three-day Annual Meetings is being held on the theme, “Building Resilient Economies in Post COVID-19 Africa.” The meetings will provide a platform for the Bank’s Board of Governors to share their countries’ experience in addressing the pandemic and the policy measures they are employing to rebuild economies and livelihoods.
Commending the AfDB for its coordinated response to address the economic fragilities arising from the pandemic, President Akufo-Addo urged that the bank be resourced “to position it as the catalyst for our economic advancement.”
He told the meeting that there was need to re-awaken bonds of solidarity between the Bank Group, African Union Organs and Institutions, and Regional Economic Communities, and demonstrate a united commitment towards rebuilding back better.
“With the right set of targeted investments from the AfDB, countries will accelerate their growth and job creation, and lay the foundations for a sustainable recovery and economic build-back. The AfDB has a distinct role that no other bilateral or multilateral development partner can match,
he said.
President Akufo-Addo was hopeful to see additional collaborations, partnerships, and the continued allocation of substantial resources “towards initiatives that accelerate our chances at building back boldly, better and greener.”
“I ask that we remain focused on promoting inclusive growth, especially in digitalisation, health, agriculture, industrial processing, and eliminating gender disparities.
Other participants in the meetings also said the Bank would be critical in the building of more resilient economies in the post-pandemic period.Source: GNA
The Minority in Parliament has staged a walkout over a debate to approve or not four deputy ministerial nominees of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
The caucus had hinted of boycotting debate on the approval of the four because its members were not present during their vetting by the Appointments Committee.
They were said to have been vetted on Friday, June 11, a day set aside for all Members of Parliament to help in the nationwide planting of trees dubbed Green Ghana Day.
The Minority’s strong case to have the four deputy ministers-designate re-vetted was ignored on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday, June 23, prompting the walkout.
The four deputy ministerial nominees are Techiman South MP Martin Adjei-Mensah Korsah, for Local Government and Rural Development, Lariba Zuweira Abudu, for Gender, Children and Special Protection, Amidu Issahaku Chinnia, for Sanitation and Water Resources, and Diana Asonaba Dapaah, for the Justice
Guillaume Soro has already been convicted of embezzlement and was sentenced last year to 20 years in prison
A court in Côte d’Ivoire on Wednesday sentenced former prime minister and rebel leader Guillaume Soro in absentia to life in prison on charges of plotting a coup against his former ally President Alassane Ouattara.
Soro, who is in exile in Europe, was charged with conspiracy and an attempted attack on state authority.
His lawyers have previously condemned the charges as politically motivated and said there was no evidence to show he was guilty.
The case has raised tensions in a country still recovering from a brief civil war a decade ago, during which Soro led the rebels that swept Ouattara to power after a disputed election.
Soro went on to serve as prime minister and speaker of parliament under Ouattara, but the two men later fell out as the president made clear he would oppose Soro’s own presidential ambitions.
Prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Soro in December 2019, just before he planned to return home from Europe to launch his presidential campaign.
He was also accused of stealing public funds, for which he was convicted and sentenced last year to 20 years in prison. He denies those charges too.
The court on Wednesday also handed 20-year prison sentences to several of Soro’s close associates for participating in the coup plot. It dissolved his political party and ordered the seizure of its property and any weapons acquired by Soro and his allies.
Soro used the 2010-2011 civil war and its aftermath to stockpile hundreds of tonnes of weapons, United Nations investigators have alleged. Soro has denied this.
A video of South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa that shows him asking where his missing iPad is has been shared widely online.
A seemingly distraught Ramaphosa kept saying it had been stolen, adding “this is the problem of always handing your gadgets to other people”.
“They stole it… I had my iPad I had it in my hand, it’s gone,” he said.
He had risen to address an event but did not have his speech with him.
The president was asked to sit down and wait as officials tried to locate the gadget.
He afterwards made his speech – and the presidency’s head of digital communications tweeted that the “first ipad has been found”.
The presidency later said he was making a “light-hearted point while waiting for his iPad”.
South Africans online reacted to the lost iPad moment:
Simon Grindrod tweeted: “In many countries, presidents and prime ministers travel around with the nuclear codes for their missile systems. In SA, our own president’s team can’t even safeguard his private iPad.”
“The president had the same expression of despair as many of us whose stuff gets stolen daily,” Tumi Nkosi wrote.
Just as the Chief Justice referred a former Deputy Attorney General Dominic Ayine to the General Legal Council (GLC) for the comments he made against the justices, it will be interesting to see if Mr Kwasi Anin-Yeboah will also refer Tsatsu Tsikata to the GLC for saying that ‘In this last petition, I think as we all saw virtually in all the decisions, the Chief Justice will write an opinion and everybody was on board’, private legal practitioner Professor Kwaku Asare, has said.
Mr Tsikata who was the lead counsel for John Dramani Mahama in the 2020 Presidential Election Petition, criticized the Supreme Court for dismissing the petition.
In an exclusive interview with TV3, he maintained that the apex court made errors in its decisions.
He said unlike the 2012 Election Petition judgement when all the judges gave reasons for the positions they took on the main points of the case that was not the case in the 2020 Presidential Election Petition.
“Each of the judges had a chance to articulate the reasons and to explain their point of view from a legal authority standpoint. In this last petition, I think as we all saw virtually in all the decisions, the Chief Justice will write an opinion and everybody was on board”, he said.
Commenting on this development, Professor Asare said “It will be interesting to see if the CJ will refer Tsatsu to the GLC for saying that “In this last petition, I think as we all saw virtually in all the decisions, the Chief Justice will write an opinion and everybody was on board.”
“Lawyers are footsoldiers of the Constitution and must be free to defend the Constitution as vigorously as possible subject only to the court rules, none of which bars them from expressing any opinion they want on an adjudicated case.
“In fact, law journals will be boring if all lawyers and commentators could do was to praise court opinions or to shy away from questioning the independence of the courts.
“No constitution will be adequately protected if the law regulator is allowed to create a monopolist provider of legal education and to also serve as the monopolist monitor of what those who are allowed to practice can say in and out of the courtrooms.
“The GLC is a moribund regulator that has stifled the growth of the law and justice in this country.
Dr. Akuritingayine must be freed, the CJ must focus on improving justice delivery, the GLC must be scrapped, and GOGO must be launched.”
Vice-President Mahamadu Bawumia has said the government is committed to applying the necessary technology to expedite the digitalisation of land registration and acquisition process in Ghana.
At a national symposium on the new Land Act 2020 (Act 1036), Dr Bawumia expressed confidence that technology will help put an end to the difficulties associated with land acquisition in the country.
Last year, parliament passed a new law to govern land administration in the country, which is expected to address the perennial problems of violence and fraud associated with land acquisition and registration.
The Land Act was passed by parliament and given presidential assent on December 23 last year to revise, harmonise and consolidate the law.
Speaking at a national symposium on Wednesday, 23 June 2021, Dr Bawumia said: “It is worth noting that successive governments have tried resolving the challenges in our land administrative system but these efforts have often come with various complications and inefficient deployment of resources”.
“Governments after governments, bank loans after bank loans; our fundamental problems of land acquisition persist nonetheless. Seemingly unsolvable, citizen complaints get louder and louder so citizens resort to land guards”, he observed.
“To address these critical challenges in the land sector and to optimise the contribution of land to the socio-economic development of Ghana, the government of Nana Akufo-Addo is committed to changing, through the application of technology”, the land processing system so that “Ghana can make strides when technology becomes a driver for all sectors of the economy”.
“Therefore, as part of the digitisation agenda of the government, I have established, in my office, a liaison unit, which is working to assist the Lands Commission and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to expedite the digitisation process…”, he said.
“Under the new Land Act, electronic conveyances have been captured. This can only be realised, however, by the establishment of a robust digitised land sector agency and this has been incorporated in the Land Act…
“I have every confidence that the team we have at the ministry of lands and natural resources is a firm and formidable team working with the Lands Commission and I believe we are going to slay this dragon and make sure that we fight the demons and principalities that we meet in the process of land administration.”
For his part, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, said his office is committed to fully ensuring the effective roll-out of the new Land Act 2020.
He was confident that theAct will streamline registration and administration of lands in the country and bring an end to the age-old tussle in land acquisition and registration.
Mr Jinapor said the ministry will be collaborating with the judiciary and relevant stakeholders to enforce the law to ensure an effective land administration.
The minister also added that the government will not hesitate to prosecute culprits who fall foul of the new Act
Acting on a tipoff that the suspect would send a package containing pistols via a parcel delivery service in Istanbul’s Fatih suburb, police examining the delivery service’s branch found the unlicensed pistols inside a black bag left by the suspect identified as 37-year-old.
Police raided a house in the suburb of Şişli and arrested the suspect.
Istanbul authorities said the suspect was already indicted in Ghana for arms smuggling
A notorious armed robber, Iddrisu Adams Koomi, who had been involved in series of armed robbery attacks at Tontokrom and its environs has been arrested by the Police.
The suspect, who had been on the police’s wanted list was arrested based upon actionable intelligence.
Upon interrogation, Iddrisu Adams Koomi mentioned one Okro, Barrier and one other he claimed he did not know his name as accomplices.
According to the Police, three pump action guns and 28 AAA cartridges, quantity and one sellotaped parcel of dried leaves suspected to be Cannabis were found on him upon a search in his room.
He later decided to lead police to the places of abode of his accomplices in crime.
However, in the course of the journey, the suspect jumped out of the vehicle.
In the quest of the police to immobilise the suspect, who was trying to escape from lawful custody, the police fired and the suspect was hit by the bullet.
It is reported that he sustained gun shot wounds and died whilst being rushed to hospital for medical attention.
Meanwhile, the body of the deceased has since been deposited at St.Martins Hospital, Agroyesum for preservation and autopsy.
The police also assured that efforts are underway to get his accomplices arrested.
Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources Cecilia Abena Dapaah had tasked the Water Resources Commission and the Water Research Institute to carry out a scientific probe on the extent to which the activities of illegal miners have contaminated Ghana’s waters.
She also tasked the agencies to recommend the most effective approach to regaining water quality.
Preexisting studies suggest that the country may need about two decades to regain aquatic life destroyed by the activities of illegal miners who operate on the rivers.
However, in a bid to ascertain the actual contaminations and to find immediate solutions the Water and Sanitation Minister said the Water Research Institute will in the coming days provide a full report on the level of damage which will inform the most appropriate solution to deal with the matter.
Ms Dapaah said these at a news conference in Accra on Wednesday, 23 June 2021.
The Ghana Water Company has warned that if the activities of illegal miners are not brought to an immediate stop, the country will have to import drinking water in the next 10 years.
To salvage the situation, the government has deployed a security team called Operation Halt II to stop all forms of mining on rivers in the country.
As part of their mission, the team has been tasked to burn all excavators found parked near river beds either in operation or not.
Ghana’s economic activity is recovering faster than what has been observed with its peers due to the prudent fiscal measures put in place to deal with the effect of the coronavirus pandemic, Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Ernest Addison has said.
He explained that the central bank responded to complement government’s Covid-relief measures with a raft of policy and regulatory measures to loosen financing conditions, ease liquidity pressures, and keep supply of credit to support critical sectors of the economy.
In particular, he said the BoG reduced the policy rate by 150 basis points to 14.5 per cent; reduced the primary reserve requirements and the capital conservation buffer for regulated financial institutions.
In collaboration with other stakeholders, the Bank also announced a reduction in the cost of mobile money transactions and purchased a 10-year Government of Ghana COVID bond with a face value of GH¢10.0 billion to augment governments’ financing requirements.
In his key note address at the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce & Industry CEO business forum, Dr Addison said “domestically, we have also seen the gains from these policies introduced to contain the effects of the pandemic— the Ghanaian economy has performed far better than its peers, and economic activity is rebounding faster than we observe with our peers with the Bank of Ghana’s Composite Index of Economic Activity showing a 26.8 percent year-on-year growth in March 2021. The HIS Markit Ghana Purchasers Managers Index, which gauges the rate of inventory accumulation by managers of private sector firms and measures dynamics in economic activity, also improved to 52 in April 2021, from 51.7 in March.
“Amidst the pandemic, inflation rose sharply from single digits and peaked at 11.4 percent in July 2020. Inflation has now declined from the double digits to 7.5 percent in May 2021, back to pre-COVID levels and within the medium-term target band of 8±2 percent.
“Average bank lending rates have trended down from a high of 26.2 percent in December 2017 to 20.9 percent in May 2021. At the May MPC meetings, the Policy Rate was lowered by 100 basis points to 13.5 percent on account of muted risks to the inflation outlook. The lower policy rate is expected to trigger further downward adjustments in interest rates more broadly.
At the Moment data coming in from the UK indicate that if you are fully immunized, two doses of the vaccines Astrazaneka, you are good to go.”
“In total, about GH¢1.5 billion loans were restructured, of which the Manufacturing sector accounted for 24.5 percent share, Services with 24.3 percent, and Transport, Storage and Communication had 11.5 percent.
“These timely fiscal and monetary policy responses helped avert a very sharp contraction of the economy and spurred a faster recovery in the domestic economy.”
One of the greatest images on the campus of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) is the conglomeration of trees that provide an amazing canopy in a combination of natural and built environment.
On entering the campus, one is greeted with the refreshing ambience of a ‘university in the forest’.
Apart from its academic excellence, which the university guards with jealousy, another unique thing on which the institution places premium is environmental protection, which dates back to the time when the then Asantehene, Otumfuo Sir Osei Agyeman Prempeh II (1931–1970) gave out a vast tract of virtually virgin forest for the establishment of the first university in Kumasi.
There is a policy which consistently encourages the university community to pay particular attention to its environment.
Aesthetics
With an enormous deal of green space and extraordinary commitment to sustainability, KNUST’s organic environment — the trees and the green grass and the way they are immaculately maintained — typifies the aesthetic standard that has kept the institution as a bastion of environmental friendliness.null
There are economic, as well as medicinal, trees, some of which are used for teaching purposes.
Green Ghananull
The management of the university has a vision to keep the campus environmentally friendly and super serene for teaching and learning.
Therefore, since the launch of the government’s Green Ghana Project on June 11, this year, the university, in spite of its green environment, has not stayed back.
In response to the Green Ghana Project, KNUST has so far planted 6,000 tree seedlings (2,000 on the main campus and 4,000 on its virgin land at Anwomaso, which is earmarked for another campus).
“We are taking the Green Ghana Project very seriously. As you look around, the university is beautifully green, but we continue to plant more trees,” the Pro Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Prof. Ellis Owusu-Dabo, told the Daily Graphic in Kumasi last Saturday.
One student, one tree
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. (Mrs) Rita Akosua Dickson, led staff and students to plant 2,000 trees at the Prince of Wales Park, KNUST, and other sites on campus on June 11, in an exercise dubbed: ‘One student, One tree’, which was supported by Friends of Rivers and Water Bodies, an environmental non-for-profit organisation which donated 1,000 seedlings.
“We supported the university in that important exercise because we believe that KNUST is a good example of what commitment to the environment is all about,” the President of Friends of Rivers and Water Bodies, Nana Dwomoh Sarpong, said.
Supporting learning
The Pro Vice-Chancellor said: “We want an environment that supports learning. Our philosophy is to become an ecological teaching and learning hub”.
He said the university’s tree planting activities were intensified during the tenure of the immediate past Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Kwasi Obiri-Danso, which practice was being continued by the current Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Dickson.
Prof. Obiri-Danso, as part of his effort to improve the aesthetic beauty of the campus, also collaborated with Friends of Rivers and Water Bodies to plant over 2,000 tree seedlings of various species on the campus. Significantly, the seedlings that were planted have been well nurtured.
The Students Representative Council (SRC) had equally engaged in the planting of trees on the campus.
On October 20, 2019, the SRC organised its biggest tree planting exercise as part of its special initiatives, with the trees being nurtured.
Filling spaces
The KNUST believes that it still has open spaces that must have vegetative cover.
“Naturally, some of the trees will die, and because of the long period it takes trees to grow, we believe we have to plant consistently,” the University Relations Officer (URO), Dr Daniel Norris Bekoe, told the Daily Graphic.
He was of the belief that life could be better with trees, saying that given the adverse effects of global warming, creating a serene atmosphere for teaching and learning was the way to go.
“So, as you go round the campus, you see students sitting under trees studying,” Dr Bekoe said.
Community rules
“Every member of the university community is encouraged to protect the environment, and for that reason no one is allowed to cut trees in the university. Even when a tree branch obstructs someone in his house, the person cannot cut it because the rule is that you have to invite the estate department to come and prune.
“There is a special budget for the maintenance of the university environment.
“We have all kinds of species for teaching and learning, especially botany and herbal medicine. Now herbal medicine has become part of the health medicine and so we plant medicinal trees,” Dr Bekoe said.
According to the URO, anytime people visited the campus, one conspicuous thing that hit them was the green environment.
“Many Ambassadors and High Commissioners who have come here have been amazed at the way we keep the environment. They are thrilled by how we keep the environment and the amazing infrastructure,” he said
The Member of Parliament for North Tongu Constituency in the Volta Region, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has made an interesting revelation of the new rumored appointment of former Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports, Curtis Perry Kwabla Okudzeto. According to Mr. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, they are cousins and felt the President should have offered him a better position in his second term.
Mr. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa and Perry Kwabla Okudzeto bears the same surname. They are both from the Volta region as well. However, it was never public knowledge if they relate. The two belong to different political parties, whilst Samuel Okudzto Ablakwa is a member of the National Democratic Congress, Mr. Perry Kwabla Okudzeto is with the New Patriotic Party. Mostly, some families, due to their extended nature are hidden until an insider reveals their real identities.
Mr. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa in interaction with Philip Osei Bonsu confirmed that Perry Kwabla Okudzeto is a direct cousin. “Perry Okudzeto is my direct cousin. He is Uncle Paul’s son. He indicated. It is unknown who Uncle Paul is since Mr. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa did not reveal but he is sure to be a member of the family.
He added that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo should include Perry Kwabla Okudzeto in his appointment list. But the host of the program confirmed to him that Perry Kwabla Okudzeto is rumored to have been appointed as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA). In response, Mr. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa indicated that the position is a demotion since his cousin was a Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports.
“I hope President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has other plans for him. I heard is going to the NPA as a Deputy CEO which the family considers a demotion but we will take it like that, it is better than nothing”. He noted. Form Deputy Minister to Deputy CEO.
He further indicated that Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has not been fair to the people of the Volta Region by appointing only Peter Amewu as a substantive minister in his government. “Our constitution talks about regional balance but the whole Volta region has just a minister in this administration”. He indicated.
But there are similar examples of relatives belonging to different political parties in Ghana. However, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa should be appreciative of the position offered by his cousin since there are several members of the New Patriotic Party (#NPP) who are still lobbying for positions in government.
The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Dame, on Monday, June 21 urged the High Court hearing the case between organisers of the yet-to-be-staged #FixTheCountry demonstration and the Ghana Police Service to make same a criminal matter.
He, therefore, said he was competent enough to intervene as the Chief Prosecutor of the Republic.
This came to light in court on Monday as the organisers fight an injunction sought by the police against their intended demonstration.
Reports say the Minister of Justice was in court, as at previous sittings, to move a motion but told the court that the earlier reliance on the Civil Procedure Act will be changed.
However, lawyers for the #FixTheCountry campaigners were surprised as no charges on this new development were preferred against them, neither was a plea as to guilt or otherwise taken.
“Further, the Attorney-General did not address the fact that even the reliefs sought by the Republic in this case, an injunction, is a civil remedy and not a criminal remedy,” the campaigners stated in an update from the court, which adjourned hearing to Friday, June 25.
The Minister for Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh has expressed his commitment to strengthening the relationship between Ghana and Nigeria to tap into the latter’s rich experience in the petroleum sector for the mutual benefit of the two countries.
Dr Opoku Prempeh was speaking following a visit to Abuja where he met with his Nigerian counterpart.
The two ministers centered their discussions on leveraging on the experience of Nigeria with which has decades of discovery know-how.
ECOWAS The minister who is also the Chairman of the Committee of Energy Ministers of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), said there is the need for collaborative efforts and drawing of useful lessons Nigeria has accumulated over the years.
With Ghana recently joining the comity of oil producing nations, he said, “there is the need to take lessons from Nigeria and learn from all the mistakes they made regarding the signing of petroleum agreements and maximizing their quota of local content and local participation, something Ghana is still getting a grasp on.”
He said it was heartwarming that he and his Nigerian counterpart deliberated their positions on the global conversations around energy transition and what the implications were for developing countries such as Ghana and Nigeria.
Powering industrialization Dr Prempeh said whilst it is important to recognize the need to gravitate towards clean energy, “African countries must make this move organically, in order to use available fossil fuels to power the industrialization agenda across the continent.”
The Minister and the Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum Resources also discussed the need for the African Petroleum Producers Organisation (APPO) to protect the interest of petroleum resource rich nations.
“We both shared our commitment to support the APPO, which are championing the cause for Africa to be dealt with fairly when it comes to decisions such as prices and importation of petroleum products,” he said.
Going forward Dr Prempeh said he is looking forward to hosting his counterpart in Ghana to continue the discussions.
Collaboration vital For his part, the Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, commended the Dr. Prempeh for the move and called for more collaboration.
Ghana and Nigeria over the years have collaborated in many areas especially gas and power supply as well.
Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong, has advised the youth not to spend most of their time at religious centres praying and casting out demons when there is work to be done.null
According to Kennedy Agyapong who believes in hard work, pastors always take advantage of the weak to dupe them of their hard-earned income.
He said, “Don’t rely on any pastor for your destiny, the moment you go to the Pastor, he knows you’re vulnerable so they begin to put fear in you. When you have the money you give it to them by the time you realize you’re broke.”
Speaking at a ceremony to mark his 61st birthday ceremony, the parliamentarian said, “If you doubt me think about this, go to church 7-days in a week but the very day I go to church, I’m given a front seat because they know Kennedy Agyapong has arrived so everything will be sorted.”
The businessman stated that he would have been dead by now if there were indeed witches who hunt people because of his bragging lifestyle.
According to Kennedy Agyapong, it was high time the youth of the country took their destiny into their own hands instead of pushing blame on people.null
“There is no witch anywhere; when you fail in life and you attribute it to your mother, father but when you were smoking jar, was your grandmother there. When you were stealing from your boss, were they there,” he said as monitored by GhanaWeb.
He added, “If there were witches, I would have been dead by now because I run my mouth.”
He, however, attributed his source of wealth and life on earth to God because “When I go to bed I don’t know where my spirit goes but I know there’s a superior being and he is God, who will not make anyone toil in vain.”
• GHS has denied reports that AstraZeneca and Sputnik V vaccines are not effective against the Delta strain of COVID-19null
• This was contained in a press release copied to GhanaWeb
• Prof Gordon Awendare had said, vaccines may not be entirely effective against the Delta variant
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) says it is untrue for anybody to suggest that the AstraZeneca and Sputnik V vaccines are not effective against the new Indian Delta strain of COVID-19 which has been detected in Ghana.
Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, Director-General, GHS, in a statement copied to GhanaWeb indicated that the claims were not backed by data.
“According to Public Health England (PHE), two doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine are highly effective against hospitalization due to the Delta variant and showed no deaths among those vaccinated.null
A study conducted by Gamaleya Centre suggests that Sputnik-V is more efficient against the Delta variant of coronavirus first detected in India, compared to other COVID-19 vaccines,” the statement read in parts.
Professor Gordon Awendare, Head of the West Africa Centre for Cell Biology and Infectious Pathogens, WACCBIP, University of Ghana, told Joy Prime on Monday, June 21, that the AstraZeneca and Sputnik V vaccines may not be entirely effective against the Delta variant.
“Now we have to be looking at the right vaccines. All this while, we’ve been fixed on AstraZeneca and Sputnik V but we have to shift towards more of Pfizer and others which have a better chance of protecting against this variant. Because the future is, we are going towards these aggressive variants,” he said.
Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye’s statement noted the data available to the GHS “suggest that the AstraZeneca vaccine is effective against symptomatic disease caused by the Delta variant”.null
He assured Ghanaians that, “in the midst of global supply shortages, the MOH and GHS are diligently working with Government to ensure that adequate vaccines are procured to protect the population. The MOH, GHS and the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) are working collaboratively to ensure that vaccines that come into the country are safe and effective.”
Dr Kuma-Aboagye, then urged, “Ghanaians to take advantage of [the] vaccination when their turn is due while entreating the general public to adhere to the COVID-19 prevention protocols i.e., wearing of face masks, practising of hand hygiene and physical distancing as part of the strategies.”
GOVERNMENT HAS raised GH¢1.86 billion from the sale of a seven-year bond to tackle the country’s debt burden.
Proceeds from the bond, which drew near-record demand, would help refinance the debt of a five-year bond which is due to mature.
The long term bond, expected to offer both safety and liquidity, was snapped up by investors who oversubscribed it by 3.3 per cent with the interest cost of the debt instrument going down by 6.4 per cent from 24.5 per cent to 18.10 per cent.
This means significant savings for government on its interest payment aimed at restructuring its debt.
This debt re-profiling is understood by experts to give the government the economic space to repay debts that are falling due.
Government plans to issue a gross amount of GH¢21,430.00 million, of which GHȼ17,301.00 million is to rollover maturities.
The remaining GH¢4,129.00 million is fresh issuance to meet government’s financing requirements, according to the Ministry of Finance.
Per the Ministry’s issuance calendar for April to June, 2021, the government aims to build benchmark bonds through the issuance of the instruments of the 91-day and 182-day will be issued weekly; and the 364-day bill will be issued bi-weekly also through the primary auction, with settlement being the transaction date plus one working day; securities of two-year up to seven-year will be issued through the book-building method
• The NDC and the NPP MP for Techiman South are in court over the 2020 polls
• The NDC is to pay a GH¢4000 fine
• This was reduced from GH¢7000 after the lawyers of the NDC argued against it
A GH¢4000 fine has been slapped on the National Democratic Congress (NDC) by the case management conference of the Techiman South Parliamentary Election petition, by the Wenchi High Court.
Christopher Beyere Baasongti, who represented the NDC in the parliamentary elections of 2020 at the constituency, had sued the current Member of Parliament, Martin Adjei-Mensah Korsah, and the Electoral Commission, praying it to quash the declaration of the MP as winner of the polls.
Listening to the case at the case management sitting on Tuesday, the court partially granted the petitioner’s motions for an amendment of his suit, on the grounds that “no proper collation” was done in the 2020 Techiman South Parliamentary elections as well as another relief, the portal reported.
But the petitioner, Christopher Beyere Baasongti, rather received a punitive cost of GH¢7,000.00 which was later reduced to GH¢4,000.00, following a series of legal arguments.
The court also said it was also for the delay in the court proceedings.
Peter Mac Manu, the 2020 election Campaign Manager for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who was also in the court, explained that the NDC is deliberately trying to delay the process of the court.
“The judge did not allow all the [NDC’s five] motions to fly. Rather, he gave them two [out of the five] to go and amend… They repeated some of the dismissed motions already ruled on, and because of that they were initially awarded a cost of GH¢7,000, and after several pleadings for review, the judge settled on GH¢4,000 against the petitioner.
“I think we’ve been moving on, but the NDC should stop the up and down, amendments and motions. This should be avoided as far as possible,” he said.
However, the NDC did not make any comments.
The case will be recalled on June 30, 2021, for further hearing.
The officers in the image were facilitated into the service by the MP
The Member of Parliament for Mpohor in the Western region John Kobina Abbam Saani has posted images of some new police officers he helped to get into the service.
According to the lawmaker, he facilitated the recruitment of the five new officers who passed out over the weekend.
“As always, I was filled with much joy and satisfaction, when the gentlemen and their families paid a courtesy call on me yesterday, 20-06-21, to show gratitude for having facilitated and supported their recruitment into the distinguished service. I was particularly super glad to know that Master Emmanuel Nyarko of Obrayebona received the best shooter award at the graduation ceremony,” he wrote on Facebook.The MP being introduced at a rally by the President during the 2020 polls
He said the move is part of efforts in creating jobs in his constituency.
Some Ghanaians have in recent times raised concerns over the seemingly partisan nature of the Police force and other security agencies.
Below are details of the write up on the Facebook wall of the MP
MORE JOBS FOR THE YOUTH: The JOHN SANIE Agenda.
Last Friday, 18-06-21, five gallant young men from the Mpohor District, namely: Messieurs Simon Inkoom (BOPP), Emmanuel Nyarko (Obrayebona), Godbless Agbasah (Mampong), Stephen Abekah (Tumantu) and Nabot Nyarko (Senteaw), successfully graduated from the Upper East Regional Police Training Schhol in Pwalugu to become full-fledged Police Officers.
As always, I was filled with much joy and satisfaction, when the gentlemen and their families paid a courtesy call on me yesterday, 20-06-21, to show gratitude for having facilitated and supported their recruitment into the distinguished service. I was particularly super glad to know that Master Emmanuel Nyarko of Obrayebona received the best shooter award at the graduation ceremony.
Gradually, we are fiercely tackling, and shall eventually eradicate the canker of youth unemployment from our society.
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has confirmed that forty-one students belonging to a school (name withheld) in the Greater Accra Region have contracted COVID-19 and are undergoing treatment.
Speaking with Beatrice Adu on the Big Bulletin on Monday (21 June), Asiedu-Bekoe Franklin, a physician epidemiologist at the GHS said the issue was detected four days ago and had initially begun with five students from the same dormitory.
He said after contact tracing, forty-one tested positive to COVID-19.
“Actually, that is about four days now and five students started showing symptoms and we identified their contacts and that was over ninety contacts. We did a test and the number of students who tested positive were forty-one.”
He added, “The forty-one affected students are asymptomatic and are confined in a dormitory because most of them were dormitory mates. Only the initial five showed symptoms and are doing well now,” Asiedu-Bekoe said.
Information from the Ghana Health Service website indicates that, Ghana has recorded 95,059 confirmed COVID-19 cases with 93,005 recoveries and discharge. The number of active cases stands at 1,260 with 45 new cases and a COVID-19 death toll of 794.
Africa is in the middle of a full-blown third COVID-19 wave and there is need for more vaccination, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.
The total infections have crossed the five million mark and at least seven African countries have run out of vaccines.
“Africa needs millions more doses here and now,” WHO’s Africa Regional Director Matshidiso Moeti said.
South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Ethiopia and Egypt have recorded the most virus cases in the continent.
Uganda and Namibia are experiencing a deadly third wave, with dozens of fatalities recorded daily. A total of 136,030 people have succumbed to the virus in different African countries, according to WHO.
The Delta variant is in 14 African countries while the Beta variant, first detected in South Africa, is in 25 countries.
The WHO says there’s no clear timeline on when more vaccines will be available but there is an urgent need for them.
Onion sellers at Agbogbloshie in Accra have thronged the governing New Patriotic Party(NPP) headquarters protesting against the planned relocation of their market centre by the Regional Minister. The onion sellers want the Minister, Henry Quartey to shelve the relocation plan for now and give them ample time to prepare themselves for the exercise.
Meanwhile, they have debunked allegations by the Greater Accra Regional Minister that they have contracted a spiritualist to have him killed.
Speaking to Kasapa News, the traders said the Minister should not pay attention to the lies being peddled around, since they have no such intention of killing him as it’s been rumoured.
“We beg the Minister, and we never said we will not relocate so he should not out of anger move us forcefully. He should give us 2-years so that by then we can pay off the loans we’ve injected into our business. There is no truth in the claims that we are using a spiritualist to kill him, never, we can’t do that,” one of the traders stated.
An 18-year-old woman died while she was having sex on her wedding night after suffering a heart attack.
Cops said the young bride was consummating her marriage with her new husband, 29, when she started to feel unwell and collapsed at the couple’s home in the city of Ibirite in Brazil on Thursday evening.
The husband dashed out to call his neighbour for help and ordered a taxi to take his wife to hospital, O Tempo reports.
The couple had been married during a ceremony at the husband’s farm earlier in the day.
The devastated man said he wasn’t sure if he could continue living in the same city in Brazil following his wife’s death.
It comes after a Colombian woman died after having sex for five hours while taking drugs.
The 32-year-old was said to have complained of feeling unwell before going into cardiac arrest in Cali, Colombia.
The woman is believed to have lost consciousness and begun “convulsing”, El Periodico reports.
Her male partner reportedly called for help, but emergency services took too long to arrive and he decided to wrap her in a sheet and rush her to the University Hospital del Valle in a taxi, it is claimed.
But medics couldn’t save her and she died shortly after arrival.
The National Democratic Congress has slammed Chief Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, describing his petition to the General Legal Council against lawmaker, Dominic Ayine, as an attempt to suppress free speech.
Dr Ayine is reported to have said the Supreme Court failed to apply the rules of procedure during the trial. He is also believed to have raised concerns over the regular dismissal of the petitioners’ applications during the case.
He made the comments at an event organised by the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) and the KNUST.
The petition by the Chief Justice urged the GLC to probe the lawmaker over the comments and apply the necessary sanctions.
Addressing a Press Conference on Monday, the General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia called on the Chief Justice to immediately the petition against the MP for Bolgatanga East.
“Public confidence in the judiciary must be earned and not forced on us. How many times have you heard any court telling anybody that I’m going to give a judgment but I’m warning you not to talk about it?” Mr Asiedu Nketia popularly known as General Mosquito said.
He added that “The judiciary, like parliament or executive, is not above criticism…Our laws and constitution protect the integrity and independence of the judiciary and not the sensibility of a judge. The notion that the judicial arm of gov’t is beyond reproach is a fantasy that can’t be sustained.”
Mr Asiedu Nketia also accused the Chief Justice of targeting NDC affiliated lawyers and called on him to stop the witch-hunt.
“It’s no coincidence that virtually all the lawyers who have been reported to the disciplinary committee of the General Legal council by the Chief Justice, Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah in recent times are aligned to the NDC. What is the Chief Justice’s personal interest in the punishment of NDC affiliated lawyers that his he’s so keen to initiate unwarranted actions against them
Some youth groups in the Ashanti region have threatened to shut down branches of the Lighthouse Chapel International in the region over a critical sermon delivered by the leader of the church Bishop Dag Heward-Mills which appeared to attack the Ashanti Monarch Otumfuo Osei Tutu.
The said sermon, which has found its way onto social media, is said to be questioning the impact of the influential king on his subjects and community.
According to the group, the popular televangelist has slighted the revered traditional leader and must go beyond an apology to atone for his sins.
“We are calling on Bishop Dag to seek wise counsel within 48 hours. Otherwise, none of his churches in the Asanteman enclave will be allowed to operate. Also, we are warning all and sundry who hide behind religion and politics to push this evil agenda against Asanteman and his royal majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu. We will let them know that we will meet them up with brute force” the General Secretary of one of the groups Kwabena Frimpong said.
Bishop Dag Heward-Mills has however apologised over the sermon.
In an apology, the Preacher said: “I am deeply saddened that a message I shared at a conference, nearly 20 years ago, has been taken out of its context and circulated by persons who have previously declared that they will maliciously cause our churches in Kumasi to be closed down.
“I wish to apologize to His Majesty Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II for any disrespect, insult or harm caused him or his royal court. Please accept my profound apologies for the statements I made”.
Bishop Heward-Mills has been in the news lately following reports of some misunderstanding between him and some of his pastors which has ended up in court. The pastors accuse the church of not paying their social security
Emmanuel Dakorah, 26, alias Obour, and Richard Suleman, 28, have been charged with causing fear and panic.
They are expected to appear before a Kumasi court on Tuesday, June 22 as they seek bail.
Brother of Obour Reverend Alfred Dakorah, whose pump action gun was brandished in the video, has been granted a police enquiry bail.
His pump action gun has, however, been seized by the police.
The gun-toting boys’ video started circulating on social media as the perpetrators of the deadly attack on a bullion van in Jamestown on Monday, June 14.
But they came out to claim innocence, invoking curses on all those who shared their video.
The Managing Editor of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Kweku Baako Jnr seems confused over some deals the country is involved in as far as purchasing of the COVID-19 vaccine is concerned.null
Ghana is securing some 3.4 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccines through Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum; acting as the middleman.
Ghana has negotiated for the vaccines at $19 per dose instead of the ex-factory price of $10 per dose and according to a report by a Norwegian tabloid Ghana was being shortchanged by Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum.
According to Kweku Baako, the deal to purchase this vaccine is not clear to him.
“How many people are we dealing with . . . ?” he sought to know.
Parliamentary approvalnull
The renowned Journalist further indicated that the Russia-Sputnik deal with Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum “has serious challenges and I hope we’ve not gone far with that deal”.
This is “because it must go to parliament in accordance with article 181:5 (of the 1992 constitution). The agreement might have been signed but it cannot be effective until it gets parliamentary approval”.
“. . but I learnt there are other deals making the whole saga confusing; it is not good enough,” he added.
Overpriced purchase of Sputnik V vaccines
Responding to a media publication regarding the overpriced purchase of Sputnik V vaccines, the MoH said the move was against the background of non-response from direct channels and global shortages of the vaccine.null
It confirmed the MoH on March 9, 2021, responded to an offer from the private office of Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the supply of a total quantity of 3.4 million doses of Sputnik V vaccines, at a unit cost of US$19.
“The unit price was negotiated at a meeting held at MoH, with representatives from MoH and Office of Dalmook Al Maktoum, who had travelled to Accra for the purpose. The MoH, after ascertaining the type and nature of the vaccine, through the delivery of 15,000 doses, placed an order for the supply of 300,000 doses of the vaccine at a cost of US$5,700,000,” the statement said.
“This is yet to be delivered. This undertaking includes an option to opt-out of any obligations if supply conditions are not met,” the statement added.
A report by a Norwegian newspaper published on June 3, 2021, alleges that the Ghana government has signed a contract for the purchase of Sputnik V vaccine with an Emirati official which it said was involved in the controversial Ameri power deal and a Norwegian citizen charged with money laundering in Norway.
The newspaper alleges that Ghana is buying the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine produced in Russia for $19 per dose from businessmen instead of $10.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has cautioned the leadership of both majority and minority against springing surprises on him while presiding on the floor.
The caution follows some dramatic scenes on the floor Thursday evening during the presentation of the report of the Appointments Committee on some 12 deputy ministerial Nominees including a deputy Education Minister-designate Gifty Twum Ampofo.
The minority shot down an attempt by the majority to secure an expedition of approval since a member of the Appointments Committee Alhassan Suhuyini voted against her approval at the Committee level.
The Speaker ordered a headcount which was disrupted by the majority side.
Addressing the MPs on Friday, the speaker charged leaders on both sides to adequately brief him during pre-sitting meetings and not make moves on the floor that may undermine his authority.
He warned the MPs that Thursday’s episode must not repeat itself.
Ghana has been ranked the second most peaceful country in Africa in the 2021 Global Peace Index report by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP).
The IEP is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit think tank dedicated to shifting the world’s focus to peace as a positive, achievable, and tangible measure of human well-being and progress.
A look at the snapshot of the global state of peace as captured in the report, Ghana is ranked 38th in the world out of the 163 countries reviewed. Ghana scored 1.715 which represents a two point move upwards from the previous Global Peace Index report.
Other African rankings
Mauritius, the only African country ahead of Ghana in the Peace index on first position in Africa ranked 28th in the global space. Botswana took the third place in Africa and was ranked 41st on the global peace index.
Iceland is ranked number one as the most peaceful country in the world with a score of 1.1. New Zealand, Denmark, Portugal and Slovenia are ranked second, third, fourth and fifth respectively.
Least peaceful countries
The five least peaceful countries in the world, according to the 2021 global peace index are Iraq (ranked 159th), South Sudan (ranked 160th), Syria (ranked 161st) Yemen (ranked 162nd) and Afgahanistan (at the bottom ranking163rd)
COVID-19 impact on peace
As part of the key findings of the 2021 Global Peace Index, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which has wreaked massive economic havoc around the world also had “a significant impact on levels of conflict and violence”. The level of civil unrest the report says “rose in 2020, fuelled in large part by responses to coronavirus restrictions”. Over 5,000 pandemic-related violent events were recorded between January 2020 and April 2021 worldwide.
“The deterioration in militarization and improvement in ongoing conflict were both influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a major negative impact on economic activity, human movement, and international relations in 2020. The pandemic had a noticeable impact on the violent demonstrations and political instability indicators, with 25 and 46 countries respectively recording deteriorations on these indicators,” the report further highlighted.
Global peace deterioration
According to the Index, “the average level of global peacefulness deteriorated by 0.07 per cent in the 2021 Global Peace Index. Although a relatively small deterioration, this is the ninth time in the last 13 years that global peacefulness has deteriorated”.
The report notes that “in the past year, 87 countries recorded an improvement in peacefulness, while 73 countries recorded a deterioration. Three countries recorded no change in their overall score. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region remained the world’s least peaceful region. It is home to three of the five least peaceful countries in the world. However, it recorded the largest regional improvement over the past year”.
Europe the report says “remains the most peaceful region in the world. The region is home to eight of the ten most peaceful countries, and no country in Europe is ranked outside the top half of the index”.
The GPI and IEP
The 2021 Global Index report is the 15th edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI), which ranks 163 independent states and territories according to their level of peacefulness. Produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), the GPI is the world’s leading measure of global peacefulness.
The report presents the most comprehensive data driven analysis to-date on trends in peace, its economic value, and how to develop peaceful societies. The GPI covers 99.7 per cent of the world’s population, using 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators from highly respected sources, and measures the state of peace across three domains: the level of Societal Safety and Security, the extent of Ongoing Domestic and International Conflict, and the degree of Militarization.
IEP achieves its goals by developing new conceptual frameworks to define peacefulness; providing metrics for measuring peace; and uncovering the relationships between business, peace and prosperity as well as promoting a better understanding of the cultural, economic and political factors that create peace.
IEP is headquartered in Sydney, with offices in New York, The Hague, Mexico City, Brussels and Harare. It works with a wide range of partners internationally and collaborates with intergovernmental organizations on measuring and communicating the economic value of peace
• Manasseh Azure Awuni says some judgements are an insult to judicial integritynull
• He is of the view that they are even serious than Dr Ayine’s comments on the Election Petition
• Some public institutions are charging the citizens for access information by using the RTI law
Manasseh Azure Awuni, an Investigative Journalist, has observed that some judgements by the courts in Ghana are an insult to judicial integrity.
An Accra High Court in a judgement directed the National Communication Authority (NCA) to accept GH¢1,500 from the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) for the information it requested regarding the number of radio stations operating in the country as of the end of the third quarter of 2020.
Since the Right to Information (RTI) Law was passed in 2019, concerns have been prevalent over how state agencies have gone about its implementation.null
Some citizens in their quest to access information have sometimes been met with resistance by state officials charging monies to provide information, the latest victim being the MFWA.
MFWA had prayed the High Court, among other reliefs, to declare that the amount of GH¢2,000 demanded by the NCA to generate the information constitutes constructive denial, refusal, failure or neglect, and breach of Applicant’s right to information under Article 21(1) (f) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
But the court was not convinced and slashed only GH¢500 from the NCA’s proposed amount.
Though the RTI law allows for some fees to be charged, it requires that this is done in line with the Fees and Charges Act. However, the Parliament has yet to decide on the approved amounts.
In a post on his Facebook timeline to Chief Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, Manasseh Azure Awuni linked the judgement by the High Court to Dr Dominic Ayine being hauled before the General Legal Council’s disciplinary committee over comments he made on the 2020 Election Petition.null
Manasseh Azure Awuni wrote, “Chief Justice, some judgments insult the integrity of the judiciary more than Dominic Ayine‘s words. Take note, sir.”
Samson Lardy Anyenini, recently announced 2019 Ghana Journalist of the Year, has also expressed his dissatisfaction with the unregulated fees charged for acquiring information from state departments and agencies.
Lardy Anyenini opined on Newsfile that public institutions charging fees for public information demanded by the citizens makes “nonsense of the law”.
• Charles Owusu says he has resigned from the Forestry Commissionnull
• He says it has nothing to do with the death of Sir John
• He has appealed for support for the commission
Charles Owusu, head of monitory at Forestry Commission has revealed that he has resigned from the commission.
Making the disclosure on Peace FM, Charles Owusu wished the company well and urge Ghanaians to embrace the Green Ghana project.
He paid tribute to the late Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, Sir John for elevating him to the position he held before his resignation.
He disclosed that the resignation has got nothing to do with the demise of Sir John but would not disclose the reason for his resignation.null
“The time has come for some of us to take a step away and allow the Forestry Commission to do their job. I have tendered in my resignation. I was already working with the Forestry Commission but when Sir John was made CEO, he offered me some of his duties as head of monitoring.
“Sir John is no longer alive and it is not because he is not alive I can’t everything so I have resigned. I wish the commission well and I hope everything they doing will be a success,” he said.
Charles Owusu came under public scrutiny following non-adherence to coronavirus protocols at the funeral of Sir John.
He revealed later that he was arrested and granted by the Ashanti Regional Police Command.
“I went to the Ashanti Regional police headquarters. I went with other family members from Wonoo. We were about five. We were invited two days ago by the Mamponteng police that the GMA had petitioned the IGP over the breaches at the funeral so we should be investigated. “I had a conversation with them and they told us the signal is from regional command. I was not feeling well so we asked for some days and went this morning.
“The case is before the Regional Police CID. We were quizzed on the provisions we made. After the conversation, the police informed me that I have been arrested so I need someone to bail me. I was in charge of the funeral so I decided to step up and avail myself as the family member,” Charles Owusu narrated.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will from March 2022 reduce its current 15-member Commission to seven.
The decision, which was taken at the ended of the 59th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government in Accra is aimed at cutting down cost.
The new seven-member structure Commission, which takes effect from March 2022, will consist of the President, the Vice President and five other Commissioners.
The Session, which was formally opened by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Chair of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, was attended by all ECOWAS Member States, with the exception of Mali, due to a military coup d’etat there.
The Accra Meeting adopted the reconstituted ECOWAS Council of the Wise for Preventive Diplomacy, with Dr Goodluck Jonathan, a former Nigerian President as the Chairman.
Dr Jonathan is currently serving as the ECOWAS Chief Mediator in the Malian crisis.
The reconstituted Council consists of 30 members, two from each of the 15-Member States of ECOWAS.
Ghana’s representatives to the Council are Mrs Gifty Afenyi-Dadzie, a former member of Council of State and Dr Williams Collins Asare, a former Country Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The 59th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government in a communique urged the Malian Transition Government to abide by the transition programme and hand over power to an elected civilian administration in 2022.
The Session reaffirmed its commitment to intensify the fight against terrorism and insecurity in the Sahel.
To address the issue of piracy at sea, the Accra Meeting reiterated ECOWAS leaders’ commitment to strengthen maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea.
The Session extended the mandate of the ECOWAS Mission in The Gambia (ECOMIG) to ensure the security of their December 2021 polls.
With regards to efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the West Africa region, the Session tasked the West African Health Organization (WAHO) to intensify its efforts in the local production of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The Accra meeting agreed to launch the ECOWAS single currency, the Eco by 2027.
Abuja will host the next ECOWAS regular Session in December.
• The NMC, after hearing a complaint case brought to it by lawyer for a former DVLA boss, has ruled that Kwame Sefa Kayi errednull
• The NMC has therefore ordered that he begs the former DVLA boss or risk forfeiting his license
• The NMC also wants him to offer an apology on air
The National Media Commission has issued an order to award-winning broadcaster and host of Accra-based Peace FM’s Kokrokoo Morning Show, Kwame Sefa Kayi, to apologize for claims made against Yao Amegashie, a former DVLA boss, some years ago.
Specifying the nature of the apology, the NMC has asked the ace broadcaster to go on his knees and offer his apology to the former Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority boss or risk losing his license to practice on air.
In a report by ghanaguardian.com, Sefa Kayi further claimed that Yao Amegashie was asked to proceed on leave in 2001 after former president, John Agyekum Kufuor, came into office but was recalled to the same position in 2009 when the National Democratic Congress’s John Evans Ata Mills became president.
This, Yao Amegashie held, were non-factual claims by Kwame Sefa Kayi, and offensive to his person.null
Following this, the former DVLA boss ordered his Lawyer, Dometi Kofi Sokpor, to report Kwame Sefa Kayi to the Disciplinary Committee of the NMC.
Several years after deliberating on the case, the Committee is said to have found Kwame Sefa Kayi guilty, with a ruling that he begs Yao Amegashie over the false claims.
As part of the ruling, the broadcaster is expected to go on air and announce that all the words he said about Amegashie were false and then ensure that the same apology is published on Peace FM’s official website.
This, the report added, is for the world to know that what he said about Amegashie were from his own imaginations and not realistic.
In its explanation, the NMC said that the only time it can revoke a license of a media practitioner is when such a person flouts its orders, especially since they cannot impose fines as would the courts.
The mandate of the National Media Commission is to, among other things, regulate and bring sanity to Ghana’s media.Source: www.ghanaweb.com
• It’s Fathers’ Day and the First Lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo, has sent her wish to her husband, the presidentnull
• She touted what she said are the sleepless nights the president has just to make this country work
• She also celebrated all fathers for their commitment and dedication to making lives better
The country needs fixing; at least that is the assertion of a lot of Ghanaians today but in celebrating her husband on the occasion, the First Lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo, eulogized the president, praising what she described as his sleepless nights just to make the country work.
In what appears to be a subtle commentary on the ragging #FixTheCountry campaign that has swept through social media in the last months, the First Lady, used her Fathers’ Day wish to the president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to tell the world how the Number One man is literally breaking his back to fix the country.
In a Twitter thread, Rebecca Akufo-Addo wrote, “Over the last four years having watched and prayed for my husband as father of the nation, I have had a close view of the sleepless nights, the countless overstretches and the physical strain to make this country work. @NAkufoAddo remains a father we all would be proud of.”null
She also celebrate all the towering efforts of fathers across the country, stressing that it is a day that reminds us of the “commitment and dedication” of all fathers.
“Every Fathers’ Day is a reminder of the commitment and dedication the journey of fatherhood requires. A lifetime of commitment to providing for us and giving us the adequate protection needed to grow,” she wrote.
Every Fathers’ Day is a reminder of the commitment and dedication the journey of fatherhood requires.
A lifetime of commitment to providing for us and giving us the adequate protection needed to grow.— Rebecca Akufo-Addo (@RAkufoAddo) June 20, 2021
• President Akufo-Addo has called for a collaborative effort from ECOWAS countries to be vigilant against terrorismnull
• He also urged neighbouring countries to help with the production of COVID 19 vaccines in Africa
• High on the agenda of the ECOWAS meeting will be the address of the security issue in Mali last month
I welcome Your Excellencies to your second home, Accra, Ghana’s capital, for the 59th Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). I acknowledge with gratitude the presence of the representatives of the African Union and the United Nations, and Members of the Diplomatic Corps, and, most especially, that of Madam Louise Mushikiwabo, our Rwandan sister, who is the Secretary-General of La Francophonie, and our Special Guest. I say a hearty akwaaba, our word of welcome, to each one of you, and I hope you are enjoying the famed Ghanaian hospitality.
On behalf of the Government and people of Ghana, I thank all ECOWAS Member States and all AU Member States for the support of Ghana’s recent successful candidature for a non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council for the years 2022-2023. Ghana received the highest number of votes on the day, i.e., one hundred and eighty-five (185) out of one hundred and ninety (190) votes.
It would not have been possible without your active support. I assure you, Excellencies, that Ghana will make sure that Africa’s voice is heard loud and clear in the deliberations of the Security Council, both on matters affecting our Region and the Continent, and on global issues, and we will consult broadly to define Africa’s interests.
Africa’s Common Position on UN Reform, based on the Ezulwini Consensus, is one matter Ghana is determined to urge on the global agenda. We will work to solicit the backing of countries around the world for this long, overdue reform. We believe it is time to correct the longstanding injustice that the current structure and composition of the UN Security Council represents for the nations of Africa.null
Excellencies, let me congratulate warmly our brothers and colleagues, H.E. Mohamed Bazoum and H.E. Patrice Talon, who have been elected as Presidents of the Republic of Niger and of the Republic of Benin, respectively, since our last Summit. I offer them my and the Community’s best wishes for their success during their terms of office. I commend also the Republics of Cote d’Ivoire and Cape Verde for the conduct and outcomes of their latest legislative elections. Our Region continues to strengthen its democratic credentials through the holding of successful elections.
Excellencies, the Agenda for this meeting has been well defined. At our Extraordinary Summit, in February 2021, you entrusted me with the task of leading the reflection on the institutional reform of our Organisation. The purpose of the reform is to improve the performance and operational efficiency of ECOWAS Institutions, in order to ensure the implementation of integration programmes for the economic and social development of the Region.
The reform focuses on the optimal structure of the Commission and other Institutions, on modalities for the allocation of statutory positions, and on streamlining ECOWAS’ operating costs. These were the subjects of several meetings at the ministerial level, and their conclusions will be presented to us for our adoption or otherwise during our Closed Session.
Furthermore, as part of the consolidation of our solidarity and pursuant to the decision taken at our last Extraordinary Summit, we will consider, for adoption, a rotation mechanism that will enable the various linguistic groups of our Community and each Member State a fair, orderly opportunity to lead and represent the Community in regional, continental and global affairs.
The importance of all these issues is an indication of the richness and depth of our community. I remain convinced that the quality of our discussions and the decisions we take together will, as is customary, be commensurate with the ambitions we have for our Region.
I hope we can agree quickly on these matters so that we will have the time to delve into and take decisions on the great issues, which face us, of terrorism, violent extremism, democracy, peace and security, health and the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and the rapid economic recovery of our Region from the effects of the pandemic.https://cec547fee202ec1aead6525a18693b1b.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
Unfortunately, we are still confronted with serious security challenges with deadly terrorist attacks and kidnappings, not only in the frontline countries, namely Mali, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Niger but also in the coastal countries of our Region, such as Cote d’Ivoire. Recently, the terrorist attack, which resulted in the death of someone hundred and thirty-two (132) civilians, including children, in Burkina Faso, on 5th June, is the latest such outrage.
I went, in the name of the Community, to Ouagadougou, on Wednesday, 9th June, to commiserate with President Roch Marc Christian Kabora, and offer our condolences, sympathies and support to the Government and people of Burkina Faso in their dark hour.
Excellencies, these developments should reinforce our collective commitment to pursue and implement, with renewed vigour, the decisions taken at our Extraordinary Summit on Terrorism on 14th September 2019. This concerted effort, which must be a major issue and a priority objective for the Community, is the best way for us to address this security challenge. It is a matter of dignity and sovereignty, which affects all nations in the Region. None of our countries is insulated from the threats of terrorism.
Whilst thanking the countries that have already contributed to the ECOWAS Regional Security Fund, I appeal to other countries, who are yet to contribute, to do so.
We must also pay urgent attention to the growing threat to maritime security in our Region. Acts of piracy and maritime destabilisation are on the rise in the Gulf of Guinea, thus affecting trade in our community, and increasing the cost of imported products. We must operationalise the maritime centres we have established in the Region, and agree on the way forward to combat these acts of piracy. We cannot hand over control of the Gulf to pirates.
Excellencies, we will have the opportunity to discuss the political situation in Mali, with a view to assessing the progress made since our last decisions taken at the Emergency Summit held here in, Accra, on 30th May, when we suspended Mali from our Organisation, pending the restoration of democratic rule. We will hear a report from the ECOWAS Mediator on the Malian Crisis, His Excellency Goodluck Jonathan, former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and the President of the ECOWAS Commission, His Excellency Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, who went together to Mali after the investiture of Colonel Goita.null
One issue of concern for all of us has to do with the pandemic of COVID-19, which continues to ravage the world and our Region. The strong measures taken at national and regional levels, since the outbreak of the pandemic, have enabled us to contain and mitigate, with the blessing of the Almighty, its impact in our respective countries, the tragic deaths we have recorded, notwithstanding.
We need, as a community, to contribute to the global discourse on access and availability of vaccines for all the peoples of the world. Through the COVAX initiative, all the countries in the Region have taken delivery of some vaccines, supplemented by direct procurement by some Member States. I thank foreign friends of the Community who have contributed to funding the initiative. We note, however, that the quantities received are woefully insufficient.
We must, thus, continue to work on the purchase and production of vaccines in our Region. We have to encourage Members of our Community, Nigeria, Senegal, and my own country, Ghana, which are making the effort to produce their own vaccines. We cannot afford to be naked the next time.
The recent decision of the G7 to provide more vaccines to developing countries is commendable, just as is its decision on the taxation of multinational companies. It is a first step towards addressing the illicit flow of funds, in which these multi-national companies play a major part, and which lead to the huge exodus of resources from our Continent. There is still more to be done.
Excellencies, beyond these challenges, we must work to achieve strong economic growth, based on the construction of resilient economies. Let us continue to focus on the implementation of programmes and projects, in all areas of national life, to ensure job creation and the well-being of our peoples.
This requires that we strengthen our regional integration by pursuing the free movement of goods and people, and the development of our economic infrastructure and our human capital bases. In this regard, the entry into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), on 1st January 2021, offers us a historic opportunity to enhance our levels of intra-regional trade, and inspire the momentum for rapid economic growth. We have to rise to the occasion and change our destiny.null
Work on the Community’s single currency must also continue. According to our programme, the new convergence pact and the new roadmap for its implementation will be submitted for adoption during this Summit.
Excellencies, the world continues to value the work of our Organisation, which is held up as a model of regional engagement on the Continent, and we must continue to do whatever is required to strengthen it and help realise its objectives.
Excellencies, I conclude my address by, again, welcoming you to Accra, and wishing our meeting success. I, hereby, declare the 59th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government open.
• Kweku Baako Jnr says there is an abundance of solutions to the cases of crime in the countrynull
• He believes that the lack of commitment to implement them is the biggest setback these documents have received
• He also stressed the fact that the country is insecure and as such, the police should admit it and fix the mess
The Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide, Kweku Baako Jnr, has explained that it is not the lack of solutions to tackle issues of security in the country, but the commitment to implement them.
In the past week, issues of crime and security have become topical after two bullion vans were attacked by armed robbers, with the first leading to the killing of a police constable and a civilian woman.
The police have since come under a lot of pressure to do something about the security situation in the country but Kweku Baako Jnr says the solutions are already there.
He explained that there are several documents that proffer the way out but there is the need for leadership across the divide to commit to implementing them, adding that this is not a present challenge.null
He also stressed that the attempt by the police administration to infer that there is no insecurity in the country because the numbers of cases of crime aren’t so abundant should not be entertained.
“The police service and other security agencies are working to cure this mischief because they realize that it has an impact on people’s sense of security as well as the economic development of this country. And I have to be very honest that this is not the first time this country has been challenged or confronted with this phenomenon and each time, the various administrations that have come and gone, including the police administration itself, regardless of the leadership, they’ve all recognized these things.
“I have this report here, dated March 1997, it’s the Justice Archer report. It was in recognition of the state of the Ghana police, not just morale and equipment; the training, the recruitment and all that.
“Each one of these documents here [referring to a number of documents he had earlier made reference to], is a clear recognition of authorities in this country, law enforcement authority, political leadership, security leadership that we have a problem. So, it’s not as if because not everybody feels insecure, it means there’s no problem. There is!
“There is a challenge for law enforcement and security management of this country and I believe, if we have to be honest, is that all these things, if we read all, you’ll see that we know what to do. It is how to do it – the commitment that we must show to operationalize these fine documents,” he said.
Kweku Baako Jnr made these known on the Saturday, June 19, 2021, edition of NewsFile on the JoyNews channel and monitored by GhanaWeb.
President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana has urged his fellow heads of state of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which he chairs, to endeavour to put in the necessary infrastructure and investment to enable them to produce their own vaccines, when the need arises, so that the continent is not caught unprepared and dependent on the western world the next time a pandemic à la COVID-19 strikes.
Currently, the continent is struggling to come by COVID-19 vaccines for her citizens due to the global scramble for them.
Speaking at the opening session of the 59th ECOWAS summit in Accra on Saturday, 19 June 2021, President Akufo-Addo said: “All the countries in the region have taken delivery of some vaccines, supplemented by procurement by some member states”.
“I thank foreign friends of the community who have contributed to funding the initiative.”
“We note, however, that the quantities received are wholly insufficient”, he complained.
“We must, thus, continue to work on the purchase and production of vaccines in our region”, he urged.
The Ghanaian leader said: “We have to encourage members of our community such as Nigeria, Senegal, and my own country, Ghana, who are making the efforts to produce their own vaccines”.
“We cannot afford to be naked the next time”, he warned.
In a recent speech at an SDG forum at the Jubilee House, the seat of Ghana’s presidency, Mr Akufo-Addo confessed thus: “We have obvious difficulties as far as the [COVID] vaccination programme is concerned”.
“Unfortunately, we are the victims of this worldwide shortage of vaccines that poor and less-advantaged nations are experiencing by not having access to the vaccines”.
“So, that, of course, is a major challenge for us, the procurement logistics and the issues involved in it.”
A member of Ghana’s COVID-19 response team,Dr Bernard Okoe Boye,also noted that the government is considering other options to get vaccines for the country.
“What is happening to Ghana is a global issue. So, what we are doing is that this government is engaging directly with other European countries who have stock of AstraZeneca and are not deploying them that much. So, we will continue to explore,” he said.
He continued: “It will be difficult to speak and state the specific date because with this Africa platform that we are using and the direct Russia government engagement people are talking about, they tell us that it will take six or 12 months before the vaccines will come and remember in a year, a lot can happen
Speaker Alban Bagbin has said the question filed by North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa about the cost of President Nana Akufo-Addo’s recent 9-day international trip on a chartered flight, will definitely be answered, denying media reports that he had rejected the question.
Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta appealed to the house for more time to collate his figures on the trip when he appeared in Parliament on Thursday, 17 June 2021.
Denying claims that he had rejected the question, Mr Bagbin said in the house that: “Let me disagree with what has been put on social media that the honourable speaker rejected the questions”.
“The questions were admitted and forwarded to the ministers and the ministers have indicated to me their readiness to come and answer the questions, so, it will be no problem”.
“The business committee should do the right thing and get them programmed for the minister to come and answer.”
Mr Ablakwa also denied the media reports.
“Kindly disregard and treat with contempt the fake news in circulation, claiming that the Rt. Honourable Speaker has rejected my urgent questions to the Defence and Minister of Finance on the state of the presidential jet and the total cost of President Akufo-Addo’s recent profligate luxury travels to France, Belgium and South Africa, respectively.”
Meanwhile, Defence Minister Dominic Nitiwul has he intends to petition the National Media Commission in connection with an attribution made to him by the media, in relation to a story about the presidential jet which, in his view, was calculated mischief.
According to him, the reports by the media that he had said President Nana Akufo-Addo could not shower in the Falcon, and, thus, it was not fit for his international travels, were wrong, since, they were couched out of wrong inferences from his comments on the floor of Parliament.
“I said ‘no president can shower in this aircraft’. I never said Akufo-Addo or John Mahama or Kufuor”, Mr Nitiwul explained to Paul Adom-Otchere on Metro TV’s Good Evening Ghana programme on Thursday, 17 June 2021.
“In fact, three presidents have used this aircraft – Mills, Mahama and Akufo-Addo”, he noted.
“I was very amazed they [media] chose to say: ‘Akufo-Addo cannot shower in it’” he noted.
“Why didn’t they say ‘John Mahama could not shower in it’? Why didn’t they say ‘President Mills could not shower in it’? Why didn’t they say that? That’s why I said it was pure mischief”, he stressed.
In his answer to parliament on Wednesday, 16 June 2021, the Bimbilla MP said: “This aircraft will carry a load of 11 persons minus the crew. When this aircraft is travelling to the eastern part of the USA or Asia, it will not load a crew of more than eight plus the luggage”.
“So, it depends on where it is going”, he noted.
Secondly, he added, “I have also said the aircraft has to do refuelling stops and, also, in this COVID-19 [era], when you are travelling to multiple destinations like the president’s recent travels, the Falcon couldn’t have been taken because he would have had to do technical stops, which are not desirable”.
“And when he is travelling with more than 20 people like he has been doing for business trips that brought huge sums of money to this country, he will need more than just a Falcon, otherwise, the others would have to go a day ahead before the president to prepare themselves.”
“In fact, the president would also have to go a day ahead because no president can shower in this aircraft. He cannot move from this aircraft straight into a meeting”, Mr Nitiwul said.
In the heat of the controversy, the Minority in Parliament said President Akufo-Addo could have used Ghana’s “airworthy” presidential jet, Falcon 9Gexe, instead of chartering the £15,000-per-hour “lavish, ostentatious and extravagant” AJC320neo flight he recently used for his 9-day trip abroad that cumulatively cost the Ghanaian taxpayer £345,000 (GHS2,828,432.80). “Today, we want to present to you further evidence that we are definitely certain that the presidential jet is available, in good shape”, Mr Ablakwa told journalists on Friday, 28 May 2021.
According to him, on 11 May 2021 – five days ahead of his 9-day trip – the president used the presidential jet to Uganda to attend the ceremony swearing-in of President-elect Yoweri Museveni.
Denying claims that the Falcon cannot travel long hours without refueling, Mr Ablakwa said the president’s Uganda trip on the presidential jet was 5h:4m while his Paris trip took six-and-a-half hours.
“The Minority insists that the Falcon could have been used”, Mr Ablakwa stressed. “One, the Falcon is airworthy and it took this same president to Uganda only a few days prior to the 16th of May when the president departed to Paris with this rather luxurious monster; the most outstanding, extravagant, luxurious airbus aircraft to be manufactured – the Airbus AJC320neo, which originally was manufactured to take 150 people at the minimum but it has been reconfigured to take only 17 people so a luxurious empire can be created”, he said.
In the Minority’s view, instead of the president using the chartered flight, which has a master bedroom, an en-suite bathroom with showers, dining facilities for all 17 passengers and sophisticated IT connectivity installations, he could have opted for other chartered flights from the same company, Acropolis Aviation.
“First of all, our contention is that the Falcon is available”, he stressed, emphasising: “It’s airworthy”.
“If it can take you to Uganda safely, it can take you to Paris safely and Brussels, Belgium safely”, he argued. “So, the point we are trying to emphasise is that in this time of austerity, where the president himself has said: Times are rough; let’s bear with him’, … the president himself embarked on this trip to go and beg for debt forgiveness and this is how you go and beg for debt forgiveness when the person you are going to beg for debt forgiveness from doesn’t travel in such luxury, in such ostentation”, noting: “The level of extravagance, the extreme opulence that the president displayed is condemnable, unconscionable”.
“How do you think these western leaders will perceive African leaders? No wonder they have very little respect for a lot of our leaders but we cannot continue this way”, Mr Ablakwa said
• He has appealed to the country’s leaders to learn from him
Legal luminary, Tsatsu Tsikata has proffered that Ghana needs a leader whose main preoccupation will be to execute a national agenda and not champion partisan or regime agenda.
Tsatsu Tsikata in a TV interview noted part of the reasons the country’s progress has been slow-paced is because successive governments tend to focus on implementing their plans for the country instead of focusing on completing the works of their predecessor.
He singled out late President Professor John Evans Mills for praise as a leader who was neither vindictive nor partisan and had the national interest at the heart of any move he made.
Tsatsu Tsikata said that, unlike other leaders who come into government with a mindset to prosecute members of the opposing party, late President John Evans Atta Mills was only concerned with what could benefit the country.null
He, therefore, appealed to leaders to take a cue from the Mills concept and focus on things that will impact the country positively.
“I look forward to the days in this country where we can actually have leaders like President Mills who are not pre-occupied with trying to prosecute and jail people from other side but say that we are all in this country together, lets see how we can enhance what has gone on before.
“Let’s see how what happened under President Rawlings, Kufuor, Mahama should be continued. That is not really what our records show we have been doing except for the example I gave,” he said.
Tsatsu Tsikata in the same interview spoke about his incarceration under the Kufuor regime and mentioned that the testimony by the states Star witness Jude Arthur untrue.
He said, “the judge had asked us to come early that day so we went at 8 o’clock earlier than usual. One of the first odd things that I noticed was that Attorney General Joe Gartey at that time, had come with his full team and he had been in court for the last one and half years but suddenly that day he is there with a full team of five people. I thought perhaps because we had been applying that what he said in the Supreme Court should be brought, so maybe he was coming to explain something about that. To cut a long story short, things turn in a different direction when the judge actually sat.”
He also added, “originally, the prosecution said they had issues with the viability of the project but then, when we went to the Supreme Court the Attorney General was saying they had no problem with the viability of the project. That was why we were insisting that the records of what the Attorney General had said in the Supreme Court should be now part of the records of the High Court proceedings together with whatever testimonies the IFC was going to be given. So we were not at the stage where judgement really should be expected.null
“I did not act on my own as an individual or GNPC didn’t just act on its own as a corporate body. We had Merchant Bank not only as a financial advisor, at that time Jude Arthur was the Managing Director of Merchant Bank, they were not only our financial advisor; they were trustees of GNPC in respect of that project. So, Merchant Bank, and specifically Jude Arthur was actually representing GNPC’s interest on the Board of Valley Farms.”
He continued: “In fact, they introduced the project to us so in terms of viability we were insistent that the records of the IFC together with what the Attorney General had admitted in the Supreme Court would set to rest the matter of viability and that was never allowed.
“Jude Arthur was the key prosecution witness against me and what was interesting was that his testimony was in many respect shown as false.
“Because we managed to get under subpoena, records from Merchant Bank regarding how the Valley Farms project became part of their work in the first place because the imp…Source:
The government of Ghana has been urged to stay away from interfering with the work of the West African Examination Council (WAEC).null
Jonathan Otchere Asante, a senior lecturer at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), made this known in an interview with Eric Ahianyo on the Morning Update on TV XYZ.
His comments come on the heels of a research findings by education Think Tank, Africa Education Watch, that has revealed damning revelations about the education sector.
The think tank wants the government to break the monopoly enjoyed by the West African Examination Council, WAEC, in assessing students and conducting examinations in Ghana.
Presenting the report, the Executive Director of Africa Education Watch, Kofi Asare, said independent international examining bodies should be given the opportunity to assess students in the basic education level so as to promote healthy competition in the examination space.
“The Education Ministry must set up a regulator of assessment to regulate WAEC and other assessment bodies before their activities become ungovernable. We need to break the WAEC monopoly. WAEC operates in other countries, but they do not have a monopoly in Nigeria, for instance, ” he said while pointing to examination malpractices in recent times.
But contributing to the development, Mr Asante backed the education think tank, saying reports of examination malpractices had become rampant in recent years, especially when the Free SHS policy was launched.null
“I think that it’s quite revealing… Most of the things that have come up are solid and more factual,” Asante said.
Jonathan Otchere also suggested that like WAEC, any activity that has many human intervention along the value chain is compromised, urging government not to get closer to the activities of WAEC.
He said the research indicates the “integrity of the [WAEC] certificate is at stake.”
Touching on the malpractices, he said ” Students attacking invigilators… Was created by the panicky situation that was created by the government. ”
Government has been blamed for buying past questions for SHs students and assuring them their examination questions would be from the books.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has cautioned the leadership of both majority and minority against springing surprises on him while presiding on the floor.
The caution follows some dramatic scenes on the floor Thursday evening during the presentation of the report of the Appointments Committee on some 12 deputy ministerial Nominees including a deputy Education Minister-designate Gifty Twum Ampofo.
The minority shot down an attempt by the majority to secure an expedition of approval since a member of the Appointments Committee Alhassan Suhuyini voted against her approval at the Committee level.
The Speaker ordered a headcount which was disrupted by the majority side.
Addressing the MPs on Friday, the speaker charged leaders on both sides to adequately brief him during pre-sitting meetings and not make moves on the floor that may undermine his authority.
He warned the MPs that Thursday’s episode must not repeat itself
Three of the four young men recently seen in a viral Video brandishing guns have been arrested by the police in the Ashanti Region. The police have asked the public to help provide information on their criminal activities.
A fourth person in the video is being looked for by the police.
They are currently in police custody pending further investigation. The Deputy Ashanti Regional Police Commander, DCOP David Agyeman Adjem said the police is appealing to the public to provide any information of criminal activities against them.
Already, the young men, one of whom has been identified as Obour has been explaining on social media that they are not criminals.
Obour said the video doing the rounds on social media was recorded a long time ago and that it happened in Wa in the Upper West Region.
According to him, they were engaged in small scale mining (galamsey) and were involved in an altercation with a rival group and after overpowering the rival group, they brandished the guns on social media.
• Dominic Nitiwul is unhappy that the media misled the public over his response to a question on Akufo-Addo’s travelnull
• He says, he will be reporting the media to the NMC
• He described headlines after his appearance in Parliament as “comedy”
Dominic Nitiwul, the Defence Minister, has expressed his displeasure over media reportage after he appeared before Parliamentarians on Wednesday, June 16, to answer an urgent question filed by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa concerning President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s luxurious travel abroad in a £15,000 per hour private jet.
According to him, media houses misquoted his response to the North Tongu MP’s question in Parliament.
Nitiwul told Paul Adom Otchere on Good Evening Ghana that he never said President Akufo-Addo wanted to shower in the sky, hence the decision for the state to hire him a luxurious £15,000 per hour private jet for his recent trip abroad.null
“I said that no President using the [Falcon] can shower in the aircraft. No president can freshen up; I never said Akufo-Addo or Mahama or Kufuor, no I never said that.
In fact, three Presidents have used this aircraft before; President Mills used it, President Mahama used it and President Akufo-Addo has also used it. I was very amazed that [the media] chose to use the word Akufo-Addo cannot shower in the aircraft,” he explained.
He asked, “Why didn’t they say, John Mahama or President Mills couldn’t shower in the aircraft, why didn’t they say that?”
Dominic Nitiwul is of the view that it was mere mischief and propaganda by the media to single out President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in their reportage and not President Mills or Mahama.
“There are three Presidents that have used this aircraft and I said no President; why did they pick Akufo-Addo’s name, what is the motivation to pick Akufo-Addo’s name?null
Were they trying to ridicule him to the people of Ghana? Why didn’t they say John Mahama?” he asked further.
Dominic Nitiwul said if he wanted to mention President Akufo-Addo’s name in his answer to the Parliamentarians, he would have done that.
“I was talking generally and not talking about a specific person nor specific period,” he noted.
The Defence Minister claims that he was shocked to have seen a headline that inferred his response in Parliament because in giving an answer to the urgent question filed by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, he never mentioned Akufo-Addo cannot shower.
“…I was hit with some propaganda headline that Nitiwul says Akufo-Addo cannot bath in a presidential jet. Obviously wrong, misleading. I saw it on my phone, on joy online, and people started sharing. I was so shocked and like what sort of journalism do we have in Ghana. I didn’t say that. Even if you wanted to infer, quote what I have said [as the headline] and say that you are inferring.null
I thought journalism should be higher than this. I thought that in journalism school, you are told not to think for the interviewer but rather quote what the interviewer has said…No minister would have said Akufo-Addo couldn’t shower in the Falcon; it is too silly and basic,” Nitiwul indicated.
He described the headline as “comedy”.
“You don’t reduce this very important topic to comedy…I think [journalism] standards have been lowered. I am actually going to petition the National Media Commission (NMC) so that at least they can use that opportunity to reaffirm what they teach journalists…yes you can infer but do the right thing by saying you are inferring. It is unfair to Akufo-Addo, unfair to Nitiwul and particularly, you are doing propaganda,” he stressed.
The Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, has told Parliament that the government paid $937.5 million to three independent power producers (IPPs) for excess capacity charge between 2017 and 2020.
He said out of the amount, AKSA was paid $347 million, Karpower $359 million and Cenpower $251 million.
Giving a breakdown of the payments, Mr Ofori-Atta stated that AKSA was paid $35.7 million in 2017, $59.4 million in 2018, $136.8 million in 2019 and $115.3 million in 2020.
In the case of Karpower, he said, the company received $65.5 million in 2017, $108.9 million in 2018, $138 million in 2019 and $46.8 million in 2020.
With regard to Cenpower, the finance minister indicated that the company received no payment in 2017 and 2018 but was paid $86.5 million in 2019 and $144.8 million in 2020.
Urgent question
Mr Ofori-Atta disclosed these when he answered a question by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale North, Mr Alhassan Sayibu Suhuyini, who asked which IPPs had received payment from the government for excess capacity charges and how much was paid to the companies in the last four years.
The MP also sought to know the quantity of megawatts (MW) that was determined to be the excess power for which the $937.5 million was paid.
In response, Mr Ofori-Atta described the latter question by the MP as a “legitimate question” but told the House that he had to go and prepare to furnish the House with the accurate answer.
He, however, told the House that the power sector was a crucial area, for which reason the government had been negotiating with the three IPPs to bring down the cost of excess capacity charges.
“Mr Speaker, we have gone a long way with AKSA, Karpower and Cenpower and co, so that the whole issue of take-or-pay will be reviewed and we’ll come down to more tolerable and sustainable levels,” he said.
McKinsey & VRA
On the question why McKinsey and Company Inc. Ghana and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) agreed to suspend a June 2018 contract, which was aimed at increasing tax revenue collection, Mr Ofori-Atta said the two entities signed a three-year service agreement which would have ended in 2021.
However, because of a leadership change at both the board and the management levels of the GRA in 2019, the McKinsey agreement, among others, was reviewed to ensure that it was in line with the new strategic direction.
The finance minister said after the review, the GRA and McKinsey mutually agreed to change the focus of the agreement from supporting only the immediate need to increase revenue collection in the 2018/2019 fiscal year to a long-term objective to create a sustainable revenue collecting entity.
“Mr Speaker, the new contract, therefore, represents this new strategic direction and is focused on three areas of digitisation, performance management and supporting the creation of a transformation office to build internal capacity,” Mr Ofori-Atta said.
The finance minister said per the contract agreement, McKinsey had been paid $7 million up-to-date and the new contract summed up to about $9 million.
Answering an urgent question by the Minority Leader, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, on total amount of temporary advances from the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to the government of Ghana for the 2020 financial year, Mr Ofori-Atta said the devastating impact of the pandemic required urgent actions to contain its negative and harsh impact on lives and livelihoods.
The minister said as part of measures to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on public finances, the Governor of BoG, the Controller and Accountant General and he triggered the central bank’s asset purchase programme, in line with Section 30(6) of the BoG Act, 2002 (Act 612) to provide the government with GH¢10 billion through the purchase of the government of Ghana COVID-19 Relief Bonds to help finance COVID-19 and related residual expenditures.
He said since the facility was raised under Section 30 of Act 612, which related to borrowing under emergency, it was structured as a long-term facility and not subjected to Section 30 (3) where repayments were to be done within three months after granting the advance.
“The terms of the COVID-19 relief bonds programme are as follows: programme size GH¢10 billion, tenure 10 years or two-year moratorium and repayment (amortising after repayment),” he said.
Mr Ofori-Atta said the GH¢10 billion was issued in two tranches, with the first tranche issued being GH¢5.5 billion on May 15, last year, and the second GH¢4.5 billion issued on September 9, last year.
“Mr Speaker, consequently, the first repayment (principal and domestic interest due) will be reflected in debt repayment schedule for the 2022 budget statement and economic policies of the government.
“Mr Speaker, the GH¢10 billion was the clear major transactions that were done from our own drawdown of deposits and from the BoG,” the finance minister said.
Mr Ofori-Atta added that there were no temporary releases from the central bank to the government last year.
Host of Peace FM’s morning show ‘Kokrokoo’, Kwami Sefa Kayi, affectionately called Chairman General, has backed the IGP’s calls on banks to buy armoured bullion vans for the transport of currencies.null
The IGP, James Oppong-Boanuh, in a statement to the press, reminded the banks of an earlier agreement between them and the Police to purchase fortified bullion vans to safeguard his officers.
“The IGP is also reminding the Association of Bankers to provide fortified armoured vehicles for carting currencies by the close of June 2021 as earlier agreed between them and the Police Service, lest the Police withdraws its officers for escort duties’,’ the statement read.
The reminder follows the murder of a Police officer at Jamestown on Monday, June 14, 2021.
Police Account
“Preliminary investigation shows that unidentified armed men on a number of motorbikes crossed the bullion van which was on a pay/collection errand at about 1100 hours and shot at the police officer who was on escort duty on the van, killing him instantly. The armed men also fired sporadically in the air and on the driver, who sustained gunshot wounds and is responding to treatment.
“A hawker was also killed by the armed men when one of two ladies on the bullion van stepped out of the van and run towards the deceased seller’s direction. Both ladies on the van, tellers of Mon-tran escaped unhurt but were sent to the hospital to be treated for trauma. Crime scene experts have already visited the scene of crime and are going through the necessary procedures,” the Police recounted.null
As a result, the IGP has directed the Director-General of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to take over the investigations.
Withdraw Your Officers
Mr. Sefa Kayi insists the IGP should be true to his word and withdraw his Police escorts if the banks don’t meet the deadline.
He believed the banks have what it takes to purchase armoured bullion vans, so any of them that fails to comply with the directive should face the penalty.
”As for me, I support the IGP that, by the end of this month, if you don’t provide security . . . he should withdraw all the Policemen. Because it’s like taking your children out there to die,” he stressed.
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