Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta has asked all Ghanaians to join hands in growing the local economy to benefit all.
Presenting the 2022 budget statement in Parliament on Wednesday November 17, he said every adult Ghanaian will have to contribute to the delivery of critical infrastructure, social services and improve lives.
This revenue mobilisation, he said, must be a collective effort and we must all contribute to make this a reality.
“A key focus of the budget fiscal consolidation to enhance debt and fiscal sustainability as we implement our economic revitalisation and transformation programme post Covid-19 to save more lives from the Covid-19 pandemic and better the lives of Ghanaians.
“It is for this reason that Government is proposing for the consideration and approval of Parliament the revenue enhancing and expenditure rationalisation measures in this budget.
“In deed the approval and implementation of the measures will lead to significant fiscal adjustment from a projected fiscal deficit (including Energy IPP Payments and Finsec Clean-up cost) of 12.1% of GDP in 2021 to 7.4% in 2022, representing an adjustment of 4.7 percentage points in just one year.
“Mr. Speaker not only are we significantly bringing the fiscal deficit down, we are posting a primary surplus of 0.1% of GDP in 2022 from a negative primary balance of 4.7% in 2021.
“Mr. Speaker these measures will no doubt slow down debt accumulation and will put the debt to GDP ratio on a declining path. We expect this new paradigm shift to create the needed fiscal space to continue to support broad-based inclusive growth.
“Mr. Speaker, as a people, we are very proud of our history and heritage. We believe in our ability to be self-sustaining. After all, we are a country that became the world’s largest producer of Cocoa with farmers working on small farmlands. These farmers bring in US$2billion annually.
We believe in our capability to mobilise the resources (human, natural and domestic finances) to transform our lives. This will require that we share the burden so that every adult Ghanaian will contribute to the delivery of critical infrastructure, social services and improve lives. This revenue mobilisation must be a collective effort and we must all contribute to make this a reality.
“Mr. Speaker, the Ghana Statistical Service has completed the preliminary report on the 2021 Population and Housing Census. The Census provided useful information that will inform the effective planning and implementation of government policies. However, the data presented also shows some trends that need to be addressed to build a more equitable society.”
Contrary to claims that the Member of Parliament for Madina is outside the country performing parliamentary duties, Francis Xavier Sosu has been strangely spotted in Parliament for the 2022 budget reading after ‘missing’ court hearings on two occasions.
He was spotted in the Chambers after he failed to honour a criminal summons filed against him by the Ghana Police Service.
Sosu was summoned by the court following several failed attempts by the police to arrest him for allegedly breaching the public order law during a recent demonstration he led his constituents to embark on in the area.
The legislator has however failed to appear in court on two occasions after being served court summons.
According to a letter, signed by a Deputy Clerk of Parliament, Eric Owusu Mensah, and addressed to the Registrar of the Kaneshie District Court in response to a hearing notice noted that the MP was still on Parliamentary duty, and out of the jurisdiction.
The letter as read by the Court Clerk on Tuesday, “Francis-Xavier Sosu is attending at the proceedings of the 3rd Meeting of the 1st Session of the 8th Parliament which commenced on Tuesday 26th October 2021, and is also currently representing Parliament and the country in a conference in the United States of America”. His lawyer, Kojoga Adawudu also claimed that his client was not available.
The MP organised a demonstration exercise on October 25, 2021, for some of his constituents to express their displeasure over the poor nature of their roads.
The exercise came off amidst the blocking of roads and burning of tyres, as well as alleged destruction of public property.
Francis-Xavier after failing to honour police summons accused the security agency of being disingenuous with their account of events.
Meanwhile, Mr. Sosu appearance in Parliament Wednesday raised doubts in the minds of some Ghanaians that the MP was indeed out of the country
This was announced by the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta in his presentation of the 2022 budget statement and economic policy to Parliament on Wednesday, November 17, 2021.
Explaining the rationale behind the scraping of the road tolls, the Minister said the revenue that accrues to the state for the construction and maintenance of roads is inadequate and hence, government has to look elsewhere to equitably generate revenues for the construction and maintenance of our roads.
“Over the years, the tolling points have led to heavy traffic on our roads and lengthened travel time from one place to another, impacting negatively on time and productivity. The congestion generated at the tolling points, besides creating these inconveniences, also leads to pollution in and around those vicinities.
“To address these challenges, Government has abolished all tolls on public roads and bridges. This takes effect immediately the Budget is approved. The toll collection personnel will be reassigned. The expected impact on productivity and reduced environmental pollution will more than off-set the revenue forgone by removing the tolls,” he added.
The Minister said to compensate for the road tolls, government is looking to introduce innovative ways of raising revenue such as the proposed 1.7% phone transactions levy payable by mobile money users per transaction above GHS 100. He said this will help government to shore up revenue inflows to fund road projects in the country
Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta has told Parliament that no public sector worker was laid off despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the country’s finances.
Presenting the government budget statement for the 2022 fiscal year on Wednesday November 17, he highlighted the negative impact of the pandemic on the local economy.
“I am proud to announce that not a single public sector worker was laid off as a result of the impact of the pandemic on our economy and finance.
“We have managed to pay them monthly and we are grateful to the unions for their cooperation in this regard.”
Mr Ofori Atta further told Parliament that small and medium enterprises have been the hardest hit following the outbreak of the pandemic.
The government, he said has initiated steps to support the SMEs cope with the situation.
“Under the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme Business Support Scheme (CAPBuSS), Ghana Enterprises Agency provided 302,001 successful applicants across various sectors and regions with loans amounting to GHȼ523.11 million.
“Mr. Speaker, we also ensured payment of our obligations to contractors and provided payroll support to some State-owned Enterprises to guarantee jobs.
“Thankfully, our President led and acted, decisively and intelligently and his leadership paved the way for many other countries in Africa and beyond.”
Minister of Finance Kenneth Nana Yaw Ofori-Atta has admitted that the country is facing economic challenges due to the high expenditure which characterised the 2020 financial year.
He told legislators on Wednesday, November 17 that the country recorded a total budget deficit of 15 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020.
“Mr. Speaker, we are under no illusions as to the economic challenges facing our country today,” he said in his delivery of the 2022 budget statement and government’s economic policy.
“How to ease the sufferings of Ghanaians, transform the economy to create jobs and share the expected wealth across all households, such as providing security and education are what keep the President awake at night. How to broaden the revenue base, keep a grip on expenditure, protect the public purse and at the same time build with urgency the needed infrastructure, collecting revenue, managing our debt and expenditure commitments, and paying the bills to stimulate economic activity are the orders he has given to us, his Ministers and other appointees, to carry out over the next three years.”
He assured that they will steer the economy back to stable waters just like the President had stated in the height of the deadly pandemic.
“Mr. Speaker, we have no doubt in our capacity as a government to turn things around,” he promised.
“We turned around the economic crisis we inherited in 2017. We are turning around the economic crisis the pandemic brought in 2020. The challenge is on and we are determined to prevail and with the people behind us and the Almighty on our side we know we shall prevail.”
Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has said that the Akufo-Ado administration has better records in the management of public sector debt than what the National Democratic Congress (NDC) did.
He indicated that the debt figures and statistics do not favour the main opposition party.
Speaking to TV3 ahead of the 2022 budget presentation on Wednesday November 17, the Ofoase Ayirebi lawmaker indicated that when the NPP administration took over in 2017, several measures including the enactment of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, were put in place to check government spending.
“There are rules about borrowing that we ourselves have come to parliament to put in place that borrowing need not to be zero but it should not be more than 5 per cent of GDP, that is what we call the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
This portrayed a government that was willing to ensure fiscal discipline, he added.
“Because of Covid we have had to suspend it and we are now around 10 per cent of GDP , you will see in this budget the fiscal part coming back down. We are bringing it down to about 7.9 per cent. In the next budget may be about 6 per cent and we will bring it back to 5 per cent.
“It is evident that we are reducing the rate of debt accumulation, it is evident that we are reducing the deficit of 11 to about 5. If you look at the cedi denominated debt stock, I keep telling my colleagues, you will be misled because if the exchange rate is one cedi one dollar, if you owe hundred dollars , it is hundred million cedis. If the exchange rate changes to 1.5, you don’t need to borrow more , the next morning the same hundred million dollars is now hundred and fifty million cedis . So if you see that it was 100million cedis is now 150 million cedis , you have more than fifty million cedis and that, show me what you have done with it.
“That fifty million changed in a cedi denominated debt stock. It is not as a result of borrowing. That is why all over the world they use debt to GPD ratio , they use deficit , they use other debt sustainability indicators and that is what we are encouraging that we should also now watch those ones and see because for the cedi denominated debt stock it can very much misleading . Even for that those who want to do politics with we can compare their about 9 billion cedis that the NDC inherited to the about 124billion that they left. And compare the 124 billion of the NPP to the about 300 billion that we have now and strike the percentage and see who will be ore responsible when it comes to debt. But that kind of nominal comparison wont get us anywhere. Even if we choose to play that game we will play it better than our colleagues on the other side but that kind of game wont get us anywhere.”
Former President John Dramani Mahama recently said that Ghana’s current debt situation was exposing the country to very high risk of debt default.
He indicated that the debt has ballooned to unsustainable levels- topping 80% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) owing to the mismanagement of the economy by the government.
“Our debt has ballooned to unsustainable levels- topping 80% of GDP- exposing us to very high risk of debt default. Almost all of our tax revenue is used to service our debt and the effect has been the introduction of several new taxes.
“This has led to rampant increments in the prices of goods and services. This is primarily responsible for the hardships Ghanaians are going through now.
Government says it has been providing support for victims of the tidal wave that affected Keta and its environs on November 6, 2021, barely two days after the wave hit.
Contrary to speculation that it had abandoned victims, Volta Regional Minister, Archibald Yao Letsa said the government through the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) has been supporting victims with relief items.
This comes at the back of claims by the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ketu South constituency, Dzifa Abla Gomashie and other leading members of opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) that the government has abandoned victims of the tidal wave.
However, Mr Letsa in an interview with journalists on Monday, November 15, 2021, described their claims as unfortunate because the government has taken several steps towards alleviating the plight of the victims.
“We have been in contact with the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) ever since the tidal waves hit. In the week that it struck, we got some relief items from them, and these relief items were dispatched to the area. These include mattresses, blankets, mosquito nets, mats, rice, maize, cooking oil and detergents. When the items arrived, I gave the instructions that they should be sent to Keta and distributed to the three affected assemblies: Ketu South, Keta and Angloga,” he said.
While empathizing with the people of Keta, Mr Letsa said a long-term solution was also being pursued by the government to end this perennial disaster. He said phase two of the Keta sea defense is in the offing and in due time, work will start.
He also assured that government will not neglect the victims of the tidal wave and will do all it can to offer support in every possible way.
A leading member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Ashanti Region Afrifa Yamoah Ponkoh has admitted that the NDC accepted defeat in 2020 because of some influential people in society who spoke to the leadership.
According to him, the records proved that the NDC won the election but the power was stolen by the use of security personnel and the machinations of the Electoral Commission (EC).
Yamoah Ponkoh said in as much as he will blame the Electoral Commission (EC) for their problems, the NDC should also take part of the blame because they did not manage their elections well.
He indicated that although the NDC will continue to let the world know they were cheated in 2020, they have decided to be more vigilant in 2024 where they know they will wrestle power from the governing NPP.
“Kwame, they have a point when they say we do not have our own collated results because I believe we have to take some of the blame because I cannot defend that everything went smoothly for us. I will be a hypocrite to say that we managed our elections well. We have our shortcomings but if you do the maths, I tell you that John Mahama won.
NDC won the majority of seats too but it was a calculated machination they engaged in that worked for them with the help of certain people especially some people who were clad in Military uniform who are not Military men. These people went to kill people in Techiman.
I’m still saying and I will not hide it that the declaration of Nana Akufo-Addo as the winner of the 2020 election was a lie, he stole the election, the EC rigged the election but we have kept quiet because there are elderly people in the country. But we have decided to drum home what happened as a move to ensure vigilance in the 2024 election”, he said on Accra-based OKAY FM.
Former President of Ghana and the leader of the NDC in the 2020 election, John Dramani Mahama has said that he is willing to testify if ECOWAS will investigate Ghana’s 2020 elections and the fraud that went on.
He believes that the Electoral Commission stuffed ballot boxes because the Commission printed extra one million ballot papers which was in contravention of the electoral laws of the land.
The NDC as a political party has also petitioned the new Inspector-General of Police to as a matter of urgency probe their claims of printing extra one million ballot papers by the electoral Commission.
Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame says the National Democratic Congress continuous claims that the 2020 elections were rigged is just a ploy to win back confidence of their supporters over their shambolic performance in the 2020 elections.
According to him, NDC is misleading their supporters into believing that their flagbearer, John Mahama performed better than he actually did in the last elections.××
The AG said that the NDC’s continued insistence without proof that the 2020 general elections were not credible is just a desperate attempt to take the spotlight off the abysmal performance of their candidate.
He wondered why the party would take up its allegations to the police after it failed to prove its case at the Supreme Court during the election petition hearing.
The Attorney-General was speaking at the Commonwealth Election Professionals Initiative Africa Region Training Program in Accra on Monday, November 15, 2021, where he also commended the Electoral Commission for conducting credible and fair elections in the midst of the pandemic.
“Where that [claim] emanated from, I don’t know. What is even more surprising is the forum at which they made the allegation. They had the opportunity of filing such a claim at the Supreme Court, and they couldn’t even prove it. They couldn’t even tell the number of votes they obtained. I think it shows the total confusion that they are living under and in my view, it is just an attempt to unnecessarily deceive their supporters to think that Mahama performed any better, he did not,” Godfred Dame said.
The National Democratic Congress has recently petitioned the Inspector General of Police (IGP), to probe the alleged illegal printing of excess presidential ballot papers in the 2020 general elections.
The party has also insisted that there was over voting in the 2020 elections.
The party said its petition was occasioned by the fact that there had not been any update on investigations on electoral malpractices and violence that characterized the election and voter registration exercise.
The NDC has consistently said there was over-voting in the 2020 general elections.
The Electoral Commission recently urged the Ghana Police Service to investigate claims by former president John Mahama that there was over one million votes in the 2020 general elections credited to the eventual winner, President Akufo-Addo.
A Deputy Chairperson of the EC in charge of Corporate Affairs, Dr. Eric Bossman Asare, disputed the claim and appealed to the police to immediately investigate it.
The Kaneshie District Court has for the second time, adjourned the case involving the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Madina, Mr Francis-Xavier Sosu.
This was after the MP, who has been charged for unlawfully blocking a public road and the destruction of public property, failed to appear before the court for the second time forcing the court presided over by Oheneba Kufuor to adjourn the case to November 29.
When the case was called today (Nov 16), counsel for the legislator, Mr Victor Kwadjoga Adawudu, told the court that his client was still out of the country and was expected to return next week.
He, therefore, prayed the court to adjourn the case to November 29.
For his part, the prosecution, represented by Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Sylvester Asare told the presiding judge that the Police had not received any communication to indicate the inability of the accused person to attend court.
Letter
The judge, in his response, indicated that he had received a letter on his file signed by the Deputy Clerk to Parliament, Eric Owusu Mensah which read: “Please refer to your letter No. KDC/202/22 and dated 9th November, 2021 which attached a Hearing Notice on the above matter for service on the Honourable Member for Madina Constituency, Hon. Francis-Xavier Sosu”.
The letter further read; “I have been directed by the Rt. Hon. Speaker to bring to the attention of the Hon Court that the Hon. Member is attending at the proceedings of the 3rd Meeting of the 1st Session of the 8th Parliament which commenced on Tuesday 26th October 2021 and is also currently representing Parliament and the Country in a conference in the United States of America”.
“Pursuant to article 117 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic, I am unable to bring the service to the attention of the Member of Parliament as requested” the letter dated the 10th of November 2021 indicated.
After the court had read the letter, ASP Asare requested a certified true copy of the said letter for police records.
The court subsequently adjourned sitting to 29 November 2021.
Background
The MP joined his constituents of Ayi-Mensah, Danfa and the Otinibi in a demonstration over poor roads on Monday, October 25, 2021.
During the protest, some of the protestors allegedly blocked roads, burnt tyres and destroyed some public property.
Following the demonstration, the police have been unsuccessful in their attempts to arrest Mr Sosu with Parliament upholding its privileges and requesting proper procedures for MPs who must face criminal prosecution.
It is the case of the police that Mr Sosu had questions to answer in respect of the criminal act the protestors engaged in they tried to invite the MP to assist with investigations.
However, the MP had been on the defence that he followed due process in organising the protest and, therefore, stated that there was no basis for his arrest.
After the first attempt to arrest him, Mr Sosu filed a formal complaint in Parliament accusing the Greater Accra Regional Operations Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Mr Isaac Kojo Asante, and the Adentan Divisional Commander, ACP Mr Eric Winful, of contempt of Parliament.
The Speaker of Parliament has since referred the complaint against the two police officers to the Privileges Committee of Parliament.
He was first expected to appear in court on Monday, November 8, this year but was absent.
The prosecution notified the court that the Police had received a letter from the Speaker of Parliament indicating that Lawyer Sosu was out of the country on Parliamentary duties, a situation which compelled the court to adjourn the case to today (Nov 16).
According to Akua, the landguard says people have been throwing faeces on his land everyday which has become worrying to him.
An aggrieved landguard has butchered a cripple at Weija in the Ga South Municipality of the Greater Accra Region.
Onua TV/FM’s Akua Sarpomaa, who narrated the incident to Captain Smart on ‘Maakye’ said the landguard went to the residence of the cripple and assaulted all the inhabitants after a faecal material mixed with urine and tied in a polythene was thrown at him from the cripple’s house whilst weeding on the property.
According to Akua, the landguard says people have been throwing faeces on his land everyday which has become worrying to him.
Unfortunately for the perpetrator(s), the last one they threw splashed his face whilst weeding the place, getting him furious to storm the house where it was thrown from and started beating everyone up.
Akua added that, the landguard entered the room where the cripple was and started beating him up, making him fall on the ground from his wheelchair.
“He then hit his eyes with the grip of the gun he was holding and butchered his skull and neck with a cutlass,” Akua narrated Tuesday, November 16, 2021.
“You better kill me than to beat me and leave me like this,” the cripple is said to have uttered when the landguard started beating him.
According to reports, there is no toilet facility in the said house, and residents find it difficult affording the public toilet in the area, making them dispose off faeces on the said property.
The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) is to fully operationalize Family Planning in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) Benefit Package, in line with the national agenda of attaining Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030.
The First Lady, Mrs. Rebecca Akufo-Addo made the announcement at the official launch of the 2021 NHIS Week celebration, themed, “NHIS: Using the Ghana Card for Expanding Access to Health Care,” held at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC).
She further announced a one week “Waiver” for new members and those who will renew their membership during the week-long celebration.
Family Planning has improved the lives of hundreds of millions of people. Its overall contribution to poverty reduction, gender equality, public health, development and human rights cannot be underestimated.
The Health Minister, Hon. Kwaku Agyeman-Manu said government would consistently support the NHIA to succeed in attaining Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
“The President as part of his regional tours recently opened two new District Offices for the NHIS in the Amansie East district in the Ashanti Region and the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai district in the Western North Region. We will deliver our promise of binging primary healthcare services to the doorsteps of our people without fail,” he stressed.
The Health Minister appreciated the NHIA’s home grown innovations. “I am delighted that the NHIA continues to introduce new innovations to expand the NHIS operations. As a government, we will continue to ensure that the NHIS finances are released on time to solve the problem of unpaid bills to healthcare providers. The smooth operationalization of the National Health Insurance Scheme is government’s major priority,” he reiterated
The Member of Parliament for Assin Central and chairman of the Parliamentary select committee on Security, Defense, and Intelligence, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, has filed a defamatory suit against United States-based self-styled journalist, Kevin Taylor, and his Loud Silence Media (LLC) organisation, seeking US$9.5 million in damages.××
According to a 15-page court document filed at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division, Agyapong’s action “arises from the false and defamatory statements in a series of videos and an email correspondence published by Defendants (Keven Taylor and Loud Silence Media) via Facebook, YouTube, and other social media platforms about Plaintiff” (Kennedy Ohene Agyapong), a Member of Parliament (“MP”) of the Republic of Ghana, reputed entrepreneur, philanthropist, and well-known businessman”.
“With malice and reckless disregard, Defendants falsely ascribed Plaintiff on several occasions as a criminal.
Defendants falsely stated that Plaintiff is a “murderer,” “drug dealer” and “drug addict,” “thief,” and green card fraudster”.
“These false and defamatory statements have caused severe harm to Plaintiff’s personal, business, and political reputation. Plaintiff has also suffered severe embarrassment and personal humiliation due to Defendants’ defamatory statements,” the nature of the action section of the suit read.
Factual background
The factual background given in support of the action states among others that the: Defendants till date continue to repeat these false and defamatory statements about Plaintiff on their social media platforms and other news outlets or platforms have also shared or republished Defendants’ false statements.
“As Defendants are aware, Plaintiff is not a murderer: Plaintiff has never been the prime suspect of any murder investigation, he has never been charged or been before any grand jury for murder, nor has he been convicted of murder in any jurisdiction”.
“As Defendants are aware, Plaintiff is not a “drug dealer:” Plaintiff has never been investigated for engaging in the business of illegal drugs, he has never been charged with engaging in illegal drugs, nor has he been convicted for engaging in illegal drugs in any jurisdiction”.
“As Defendants are aware, Plaintiff has not participated in immigration (green card) fraud. Plaintiff has never been investigated by the United States Center for Immigration Services (USCIS) or any law enforcement for engaging in green card fraud, he has never been charged with green card fraud, nor has he been convicted for engaging in green card fraud in any jurisdiction”.
“As Defendants are aware, Plaintiff is not a thief. Plaintiff has never been investigated for engaging in theft, he has never been charged with engaging in theft, nor has he been convicted for engaging in theft in any jurisdiction” Kennedy Agyapong’s suit stated as part on the facts in the court action.
Mr Agyepong’s suit further contends that “Defendants’ factual assertions to the contrary are false, offensive and damages the reputation of Plaintiff as an MP.
Their false factual assertions are offensive and damages the reputation of Plaintiff as a reputed entrepreneur and businessman. “Defendants published the false statements about Plaintiff maliciously and without regard to the truth or falsity of the statements made”.
“Defendants either knew the falsity of those statements or acted in reckless disregard of the truth and chose to peddle falsehood that Plaintiff is a murderer, “drug dealer,” immigration fraudster, and a thief”.
Reliefs sought
The Ghanaian lawmaker to this end, is seeking seven (7) reliefs from the commonwealth of Virginia court.
First, an injunctive relief prohibiting Defendants, and each of them, from posting on any media outlet any further defamatory remarks, per se or otherwise”.
Second, “an apology from Defendants’ via and through the same channels Defendants used to defame Plaintiff including LSM social media platforms and email correspondence sent to individuals, including the mayor of Worcester”.
Third, “compensatory damages, including economic and non-economic damages of at least $9,500,000.000 and fourthly, “punitive damages in the amount of $350,000.00 pursuant to Va. Code § 8.01-38.1.
The fifth, sixth and seventh reliefs Mr Agyapong is seeking are “Attorneys’ fees, or consideration of such fees in determining punitive damages, costs, of this action and disbursements, to the extent permitted by law, Pre- and post-judgment interest; and Such other or further relief as the court deems just”.
A final year student of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) has absconded and left a suicide note after she lost a total of GHC200,000 in online forex trading.
According to roommates of Nancy Asante Bannor, their friend who has been in forex trading for some time now has become an agent through whom lot of people including her church members invest in the platform.
According to them, they returned from church service Monday night to see a note from their friend narrating her ordeal and the fact that her clients do not appear to be believe that the investment has indeed been depleted on the trading platform.
In the note sighted by Starrfm.com.gh, Miss Asante Bannor said ” I don’t know what the night has for me and what awaits me but the only thing I pray for now is death and nothing else. Please tell God to forgive me and if possible give me another chance. I can’t kill myself at home that’s why I came back and I can’t do it here as well. Please forgive me”.
The matter has been reported to the Adabraka Police.
One of her roommates Bernice Mensah told StarrFM.com.gh Tuesday that the incident has shocked everyone in the hostel since their friend is well behaved and has no history of misdemeanor.
“She is a good girl and a good friend. She is well behaved and a good student. Her parents have been informed of the incident and her father says she should come home but she hasn’t gone home. She says the people she invested the money for do not trust that the money is indeed missing and they now suspect her”.
Koku Anyidoho is former Deputy General Secretary of the NDC
He was suspended from the party in February 2021
He has rubbished the suspension and is on the warpath with Johnson Asiedu Nketia
Former Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Samuel Koku Anyidoho, has described his former boss, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, as a parasite who has outlived his parasitic usefulness.
According to him, the current general secretary of the NDC cannot consider himself “one of the true owners of NDC” despite serving the party for some decades now.
“The NDC has real owners. Johnson Kwadwo Asiedu-Nketiah is not and shall not be one of the true owners of NDC. Asiedu-Nketiah is a parasite who has outlived his parasitic usefulness,” he said in a tweet.
Although it is unclear what may have sparked the outburst of the founder of the Atta Mills Institute, ardent observers of Ghana’s political space have attributed it to the current feud with the chief scribe of the NDC over his suspension.
The NDC in February this year suspended Samuel Koku Anyidoho.
Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, in a letter dated February 8, 2021, said the Functional Executive Committee of the party met on January 20, 2021, to consider two petitions brought against the Chief Executive Officer of the Atta Mills Institute by members of the party.
He explained that the two petitioners lodged an official complaint against his former deputy, “which is viewed in breach of the party’s disciplinary code for its members as contained in the NDC constitution.”
Johnson Asiedu Nketia indicated that after deliberations on the petition, the party decided to suspend Koku Anyidoho based on Articles 46(1), 46(6) and 46(8)(b) of the party’s constitution.
But in an Accra-based Okay FM interview, Samuel Koku Anyidoho rubbished the suspension from the party, insisting his membership was not in doubt.
“Nothing has happened to me in the NDC…I have not received any letter of suspension. I am saying that they are bluffing…I am saying that the NDC belongs to all of us. As I speak to you today, let me state unequivocally that nobody can push me out of the NDC. Let anybody dare to push me out of the NDC, and we will see what will happen. God forbid that through me, Koku Anyidoho, that the NDC will be destroyed. In the same vein, God forbid that I, Koku Anyidoho, will do something to destroy Ghana’s democracy. I work for this Republic, I work for this nation, and my membership of the NDC is not in doubt,” he said.
The Head Pastor for the Glorious Power Ministries International, Isaac Owusu Bempah has stated that whiles he gives due respect to everyone in the country, it must be noted that he is fearless and even President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo knows that.
It was widely reported last week that he had been re-arrested by Police shortly after a case he was involved in was dismissed by the court.
But in an interview last week carried on a number of social media channels, including Gh Page TV on YouTube, Owusu Bempah dismissed the report.
“We give respect to everyone but we don’t fear anyone. And no one can gag anyone in Ghana. For all it is worth, we give due respect to the President of the country but I, Owusu Bempah, do not fear anyone in Ghana.
“Even he (the president) admits that Owusu Bempah will speak truth to power if need be. We are all people and mistakes are bound to happen but if they want the issues to be laid out in court, a lot of shocking tales will be revealed in court,” he added.
The preacher also suggested that there were some influential persons who were behind some of his current headaches.
“I will let everyone know that it was some influential persons who asked me to make that move, in due course, all those issues will come to light. So let all our well-wishers know that everything is in God’s hands. All will be well in due time.
“God will take charge of our affairs as he always has. If a person hates you, they wish your downfall but we thank God for his protection in all things,” he added.
Owusu Bempah is known to be a supporter of Akufo-Addo and a sympathizer of the ruling New Patriotic Party. He is facing charges for his role in a publicly filmed threat on a female preacher, Nana Agradaa, months back.
A private legal practitioner, Maurice Ampaw, has cautioned the government that its (mis)treatment of Owusu Bempah could cost them the 2024 general elections
The Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, has said he is worried about the recent death of members of the party.
This comes after reports of the death of the former Minister of Transport, Dzifa Attivor, in the early hours of Tuesday, November 16, 2021.
“Too many of our people are dying and that’s a big worry for us (NDC),” Ofosu-Ampofo said on the ‘Anopa Bofuo’ morning show on Angel FM.
Reacting to the news of her death, Samuel Ofuso-Ampofo described her death as a big blow describing her a key member of the party.
“I called her ‘The Special One’ because she was a very key member of the party,” Ofosu-Ampofo noted.
Dzifa Aku Attivor, former Minister for Transport under the NDC government died in the early hours of Tuesday, November 16, 2021, after being sick for a while.
She was 65-years-old.
Dzifa Attivor was one of the leading members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Volta Region.
The Ghanaian politician and businesswoman was appointed February 2013 as the Minister for Transport until she resigned in December 2015 due to a controversial bus re-branding contract.
The former Minister’s family is expected to receive sympathisers at her Adentan residence in Accra later in the day
Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin has apologized for using a picture from a different jurisdiction to make a case in Ghana following the tidal waves in Keta in the Volta region.
Speaking on the New Day show on TV3 Tuesday November 16, he said “…Let us come to the issue of the picture which some people conveniently decided to highlight on to score a point.
“Yesterday I apologize for it sincerely for relying on that picture to connect to to the realty. we all make mistakes , we rely rely on World Bank reports , UNCESCO Funded research, BBC report on the activity of sand winning and its effect are all over.”
His comments come after some Ghanaians have asked him to apologize for his action.
For instance, private legal practitioner and member of the communications team of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Gordon Edudzi Tameklo, stated that for the benefit of hindsight the majority caucus in parliament should retract and render an apology to the people of Keta for the alleged picture of sand winning activities in the area that has resulted in the tidal wave.
He said the picture bandied about by the deputy majority leader in parliament Alexander Afenyo-Markin on Friday, November 12, has nothing to do with Keta but rather a foreign image from Sierra Leone that was showcased by the majority caucus to justify the affliction that has visited the area.
Mr Tamekloe said in the people’s time of grief, what the majority side shouldn’t have done was to associate a conduct or an act that does not represent the people of Keta and its environs thus it is only fair that they apologize and retract those pictures.
He however stated that anyone who has an appreciation of the coast line from Axim to Keta would appreciate that “the issue of sand winning is not a recent phenomena and the records will show that Job 600 was built with sand that they basically got from our shore line”.
Mr Tamekloe posited that the problem of sand winning in the area is not in “commercial quantity” but the picture the majority caucus exhibited in parliament has to do with sand winning in commercial quantities leading to environmental challenges.
According to the legal practitioner, that is an entirely different issue thus there should be no premise to blame sand winning on the tragedy that has visited Keta and the affected communities in the region.
He said the majority caucus got it all wrong and that they should do the needful to retract and apologize to the people of Keta.
Mr Tamekloe said this in an interview with Johnnie Hughes on the New Day show on TV3, Monday, November 15.
He was reacting on the back of the hullabaloo in parliament over an alleged photo of sand winning activities in Keta and its environs that was exhibited by the majority caucus in parliament on Friday, November 12, to prove that the people are engaged in sand winning in commercial quantities that resulted in the tidal wave on the area.
“The majority in parliament put up a picture claiming that picture is as a result of sand winning in the area. First of all, we need to reprimand, if I may use that word, the majority group in using that picture. It has nothing to do with Keta, it is only fair that with the benefit of hindsight, the majority group will retract and apologize to the people in those areas.
“In their time of grief, what you should not do is to associate a conduct or an act which is not what they represent so it is only fair that they apologize and retract those pictures. They were taken in Sierra Leone, they have nothing to do with Ghana,” he charged on the New Day.
Vice President Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has admonished leaders, especially political leaders, to use their positions very well so that they can make a meaningful impact on their people.
Addressing thousands of Muslims at the 2021 National Chief Imam’s Maulid in Accra over the weekend, Dr. Bawumia said leadership position is a special grace from God, and as such, it is important for those who benefit from this grace to work in the interest of the people.
“The National Chief Imam always says that when Allah bestows His grace on you, be thankful to Him and let the people also benefit from the grace,” Dr. Bawumia said.
“For us political leaders, the position we hold is by the grace of God, which should not be for our interest.
“So when we have this position, it has to be for the good of the people; everybody, especially the vulnerable, women, men and the poor.
“As a leader, the people will always ask you; what did you do for us with the position? We have to work and do the right thing so that the people will benefit.”
Maulid is the celebration of the birth of Prophet Muhammad S.A.W.
The Vice President was the Special Guest for the ceremony
Specialist Consultant Marlon Anipa is reported dead a few days after getting wholly endorsed as the District Chief Executive (DCE) of the newly created Guan District.
Family sources in Hohoe confirmed the news to 3news.com on Tuesday November 16.
He officially started work Monday November 15 and toured some centres in the ongoing Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in the district, the sources added.
The District was created for the people of Santrokofi, Akpafu, Likpe and Lolobi (SALL) who were without a district and a constituency following the creation of the Oti Region in 2018.
After a successful inauguration of the newest district on Friday, October 8, 2021, Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Decentralisation Daniel Botwe, by powers vested in him by the President, nominated Marlon Anipa as the Chief Executive.
He was handsomely endorsed by Assembly members on Friday, November 5 after he polled 18 out of 18 votes, representing 100 percent.
Alban Bagbin on Morning Starr | Photo: Miranda Aforkor Tetteh
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has stated that the Police Administration cannot arrest the Member of Parliament (MP) for Madina, Francis Xavier Sosu after they approved the Madina demonstration.
Addressing the Speaker’s Breakfast Forum in Kumasi on Monday, 15th November, 2021, Mr. Bagbin described the attempts by the Police to arrest the MP as obstruction of his duties as a Legislature.
“This public discourse in recent times about the privileges and immunities of MPs, officers of Parliament, and Parliament itself, is not new. Since I became an MP, it has been coming up from time to time, and even now, a number of these things come to my desk, and we have processed them well. You are all aware a number of MPs are before the court, and they are being prosecuted. So, there is nobody saying, MPs or Parliament are above the law no.
“But this particular instance of the Member of Parliament for Madina, I can put my neck on it. That you have no such powers after he had gone through all the processes with you, and you set the date and as well send your men to the procession. He is addressing them then you send a different contingent to go and arrest him while he is talking to his constituents. That is obstruction and Article 122 is very clear on that, that constitutes contempt. How can that be said to be the speaker preventing an MP from being arrested. We cannot tolerate that,” he stated.
Background
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has rejected a request from the Police Administration to release the Member of Parliament for Madina Constituency, Francis Xavier Sosu to assist in investigations.
In a statement responding to the Police, the Deputy Director Legal in Parliament, Nana Tawiah Okyir stated that portions of the 1992 Constitution bars the request by Police.
“I am directed by the Rt. Hon. Speaker to inform you that proceedings of the 3rd Meeting of the 1st Session of the 8th Parliament commenced on Tuesday 26th October, 2021 and having regard to the limitations of Article 117 and 118 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic, he is unable to release the Member of Parliament as requested in your letter,” Deputy Director Legal disclosed.
The Police Administration after several failed attempts to arrest the legislator alleged to have breached the law during a recent demonstration by residents of Oyarifa and its environs filed charges against the MP at the Kaneshie District Court in Accra.
This was because the police received a letter from the Speaker of Parliament indicating that Lawyer Sosu is out of the country on Parliamentary duties.
The Court subsequently adjourned the case to Tuesday, 16TH November, 2021
FINANCE MINISTER Ken Ofori-Atta is expected to present next year’s national budget statement to Parliament on Wednesday.
This follows the reversal of an earlier announcement which put the date for Monday, November 15, 2021.
However, Second Deputy Speaker and MP for Fomena, Andrew Asiamah Amoako, has announced it will take place on Wednesday since Parliament will discuss a lot of issues on November 15.
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, last year, presented the budget to Parliament because Mr Ofori-Atta had travelled outside the shores of Ghana to seek medical attention.
Speaking to journalists in Accra on new things to expect from the budget on Wednesday, Information Minister, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, indicated that the Akufo-Addo-led administration could initiate new taxes in the 2022 budget to mobilise revenue for development projects.
According to him, “Obviously, we would need to introduce some new broad-based taxes if we are to rake in the needed revenues to deliver what our people desire.”
“New taxes may have to be imposed on items that exclude the poor and do not have a high cascading effect so that it does not increase the difficulties that the Ghanaian is going through.”
Recently, there have been national discussions by CSOs and other stakeholders on comprehensive ways by which the government could mobilise revenue to bridge the wide fiscal deficit.
Also, the coronavirus pandemic has caused the country’s revenue levels to reduce because of the slowdown in business activities.
Furthermore, regarding tax to gross domestic product (GDP), Ghana appears to be trailing most of its peers in West Africa.
Ghana is recording below 15%, countries in the sub-region like Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria are doing an average of 18%. This, therefore, has brought to the fore whether an increment in taxes could assist Government make some more money and undertake its development projects.
Mr. Oppong Nkrumah says Government has to find ways to pool resources through taxes to fund the demands for roads, schools and hospitals, among others
Sani Dangote, the vice president of the Dangote Group and brother to Aliko Dangote, is dead.
Mr Dangote reportedly died in the United States Sunday after a protracted illness.
Relatively less popular than his billionaire brother, Mr Dangote had investments in manufacturing, agriculture, banking and oil services.
He sat on the boards of several companies including Dangote Cement, Dangote Sugar, Dangote Agro Sacks, Dangote Refinery, Petrochemical and Fertiliser company.
He was better known for his role as the Chairman of Dansa Holdings, a subsidiary of the Dangote Group that produces beverages.
He also owned Dansa Foods Limited, Dansa Energy, Sagas Energy Limited, Bulk Pack Services Limited, Dansa Agro Allied Limited, and Dangote Farms Limited.
He was a member of several Chambers of Commerce, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Shipping of Nigeria
The Tamale Magistrate Court has remanded 43 year old headteacher of of St Charles Lwanga R/C Junior High School Jashain Emmanuel into prison custody.
He is to reappear on November 29, TV3’s Northern Regional correspondent Christopher Amoako who was in court, reported.
He was arrested after he allegedly took some 31 pupils of the school to harvest rice from his farm leafing to the boat accident.
The 43-year-old was arrested after he turned himself in to the police.
On Friday November 12 at about 3pm, 10 out of 31 pupils of the St Charles Lwanga R/C JHS who were returning from their headteacher’s farm in a canoe got drowned after the boat on which they were crossing the Mabor river capsized.
Nine out of the ten missing bodies have since been retrieved by a search party.
• John Mahama has accused the Akufo-Addo government of abandoning projects
• He says no previous government has acted as the current government
• Mahama says when he comes to power, projects will be continued
Former President John Dramani Mahama has said that the phenomenon of abandoning projects started by previous administrations was a specialty of the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo-led government.
He stated last week in an interview on Power FM / TV XYZ that none of the previous governments under the Fourth Republican Constitution had resorted to such tactics.
“It is only under this government, under Nana Addo’s government that we are seeing this. Since Rawlings’ era did you hear that Kufuor had abandoned any projects of the Rawlings era?
“All contractors continued working, those who finished did and others had their contracts terminated etc. When Kufuor left and Atta Mills came, did we hear anything like that? We did not. It is only this government so media people should put the blame where it matters. It is happening now under this government.”
He continued: “I have pledged not to abandon any projects when we come to power because when the plaudits come, they go to the one who started and the one who completed it.”
He cited the case of the Bui dam project, explaining that the Rawlings government birthed its conception, Kufuor and Mills administrations secured funding and works began. He stressed that it was for this reason that he invited the then ex-president Kufuor to be part of the inauguration ceremony when he was President.
“But this government would rather abandon projects because the credit will go to Mahama so they have opted to abandon lots of projects. Look at the hospitals, the schools are not as painful as the hospitals. Roofs have been destroyed by rains and facilities are rotting away. I mean, it is not Mahama’s money, it is our commonwealth,” he added.
His views were on the back of recent reports about E-block projects started under his government but left uncompleted five years on.
A comment by the Aflao Paramount chief received a presidential response that was slammed as insensitive and defended by pro-government persons
Vice President Dr Mahamdudu Bawumia has highlighted on the need for all to embrace religious tolerance in the country.
He believes that this will ensure that the peace of the country is maintained.
He said this in a Facebook post after joining the National Chief Imam and the Muslim Ummah in Accra for the 2021 National Maulid, which is the celebration of the birth of Prophet Muhammad S.A.W.
“I reminded the congregation about the essence of the occasion, and the need for all to continue to embrace tolerance and cooperation with members of other religious divide, to maintain the peace our country enjoys.”
He also mentioned the efforts by the Akufo-Addo administration in uplifting zongo communities.
“I also shared with them President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s massive investment in the development of Zongo and other deprived communities through the Zongo Development Fund and other development authorities , in the areas of education, infrastructure, vocational training, entrepreneurial support, and the positive impact these investments are having on communities and the people,” he said
The South African Football Association (SAFA) has made clear its intention to file an official complaint with world football governing body FIFA as well as continental counterpart CAF for a replay of the 1-0 defeat to Ghana in Cape Coast on Sunday, November 14.
According to the Chief Executive Officer of SAFA, Tebogo Motlanthe, there were many infractions in the game on the part of the match officials.
“I think from our hearts is to say the match officials have decided the game which is not what is supposed to happen,” he told South African journalists prior to the team’s departure on Monday, November 15.
“So, we as the Association have decided that we will be writing to both CAF and FIFA first to investigate how the game had ended and secondly to also challenge some of these decisions.”
The game was won by the Black Stars courtesy a penalty by captain Andre Ayew, sending the 2010 World Cup quarter-finalists into the play-offs.
The match was handled by Senegalese Ndiaye Maguette, who was assisted by compatriots Samba Elhadji Malick (Assistant I) and Camara Djibril (Assistant II).
The Fourth Referee was Gueye Daouda while Togolese Lawson-Hogban Latre-Kayi Edzona served as the Referee Assessor.
Kachalla Babagana Kalli from Nigeria was the Match Commissioner while Ghana’s Christian Baah served as Covid-19 Officer.
Mr Motlanthe indicated that immediately after the match, they lodged a complaint with the Match Commissioner.
He said SAFA will officially address journalists in South Africa on Wednesday “after we would have done [and] ticked all our boxes and submit of course a full complaint which is supported by all the evidence which was there to say that game either it was manipulated or the referee had done something wrong before the game”.
In 2017, FIFA ordered a replay of the 2018 World Cup Qualifier between South Africa and Senegal after referee Joseph Lamptey was found guilty for awarding a non-existent penalty against the Teranga Lions.
The Lions won the replay and booked a ticket to Russia.
“Of course, we are looking at the precedent which FIFA set by ordering us to replay Senegal and we think if justice needs to be served the decision should be taken against this Ghana game.”
‘Robbed’
Mr Motlanthe said not only does the penalty make them feel robbed but also there were a lot of questions about many decisions by the referee.
As a result, SAFA will engage the services of an expert to gather all the pieces of evidence to make a stronger case with their complaint
Two hundred and fifty selected journalists are set to benefit from a Media Capacity Enhancement Programme (MCEP) annually paid for by the Ministry of Information.
The Ministry of Information which announced this at the launch of the programme in Accra on Sunday November 14, 2021, said the programme is expected to provide continuous in-service training for media personnel drawn from across the country in order to improve their skills for the industry.
“The role of the Ministry is simply to provide bursaries to participant from the media landscape who will benefit from this capacity enhancement programme annually. Under the programme, a skills gap analysis has been conducted by a working committee of experts and a curriculum based on gaps has been developed. The independent committee has also selected a faculty comprising academics and senior media practitioners from across the country, to administer the program.”
Deputy Information Minister Fatima Abubakr who led a Press Briefing to launch the program said the programme is in line with one of the key strategic objectives of the Ministry which is to assist in the development of the information sector for which reason a successful implementation of the programme is expected to transform Ghana’s media landscape.
Present at the launch were the heads of the implementating partner Organisations the programme including the Rector of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ), Prof. Kwamena-Kwansa Aidoo, Chairman of the National Media Commission, Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafoh and the President of the Ghana Journalists Association, Roland Affail Monney as well as members from media umbrella bodies such as the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA) and the Private Newspaper Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG).
On his part, Prof. Aidoo who is also the Chairman of the committee tasked to provide support for the full implementation of the programme was excited about the rolling out of the programme. He said the programme will help equip journalists in the country with the right skill set to be able to go about their jobs.
Mr. Monney also indicated that the programme could not come at a better time than this. He encouraged journalists to take advantage of it and gain the requisite skills in journalism and media practice.
The MCEP will provide continuous on the job training at regular intervals for media practitioners to improve their skills, support training targeted at content creation for media practitioners, provide a regular platform to support media-introspection on subject related to media management, corporate governance, and media business models and encourage ethical journalism.
Journalists interested in the program will have to apply online and be selected by the working commitee comprising representatives of partner organisations
About 571,894 final year junior high school (JHS) students are beginning their Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) from today, Monday, November 15.
The examination is to qualify them for placement into senior high schools (SHSs).
Over 2,000 centers have been set up across the 16 regions of the country for the examinations run by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).
They are starting with Social Studies and French.
The examinations are scheduled to end on Friday, November 19.
According to WAEC, officials of the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) have been deployed to monitor the process to prevent malpractices.
The Council said Covid-19 protocols have also been put in place across the 2,158 centers as hand sanitizers will be given to all candidates.
“Just as we were the first country, south of the Sahara, to gain our independence, Ghana’s distinguished diplomat, Patrick Seddoh, was the first African to be elected chairperson of the Executive Board of UNESCO in 1983. We were also the first African country to have a female representative on the Executive Board, in the person of another distinguished diplomat, Mrs. Therése Striggner-Scott. I say this to demonstrate how proud we are of our membership of UNESCO.”
These were the words of the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Friday, 12th November 2021, at the 75th Anniversary celebration of the founding of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in Paris, France.
Speaking at the ceremony, President Akufo-Addo indicated that UNESCO is, arguably, the outstanding global agency to have emerged out of the formation of the United Nations.
Ghana, the President said, was not there at that seminal ceremony in London, as she were entering, at the time, the active phase of her struggle for freedom from British colonial rule..
“But twelve (12) years later, in 1958, a year after our independence, we took our rightful place as a member of UNESCO. It has since been sixty-three years of fruitful, cordial co-operation, and the benefits are evident,” he said.
According to President Akufo-Addo, from the training of science teachers for our schools in 1965, UNESCO has helped shape many policies in Ghana’s educational sector, including the recent National Teacher Policy, the Science, Technology and Innovation Policy, and the mainstreaming of biosphere conservation plans in the national development agenda.
“At the time when there was only one media house in Ghana, needless to say state-owned, UNESCO helped establish private, independent newspapers and radio stations, contributing to the making of a vibrant and free media, the envy, today, of many on the continent, and, indeed in the world,” he said.
The President continued, “With Ghana serving as the unfortunate location for seventy-five percent (75%) of the slave dungeons built on the West coast of Africa to facilitate the barbaric, inhumane Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, we have been able to preserve significant numbers of these World Heritage sites with the assistance of UNESCO”.
In contemporary times, he noted that UNESCO has been able to redefine and reposition itself to address the pressing needs of the world.
“When the pandemic of COVID-19 struck, it assisted several countries, including Ghana, to help ensure that the education of hundreds of thousands of children was not truncated,” the President said.
Just as UNESCO believes that education is a human right for all throughout life, President Akufo-Addo indicated that Ghana, ”through the Free Senior High School policy”, is committed to every Ghanaian child having access to a minimum of senior high school education”.
Tertiary education, he added, has also seen a major boost in infrastructural development, with some sixty (60) public tertiary institutions now able to accommodate our fast-expanding student population.
With UNESCO’s mandate broadening considerably beyond what the founding members may have envisaged, President Akufo-Addo stressed the importance of its niche areas of expertise not being compromised.
“UNESCO is its Member States, this anniversary is ours too. It has been seventy-five (75) years of multilateral solidarity, and we must continue for the next seventy-five (75) years to deepen our co-operation even further in the areas of education, natural sciences, social and human sciences, culture, communication and information to achieve the future we want, and leave no one behind,” the President added
The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has commended Muslim and Christian leaders in Ghana for their immense contributions to religious tolerance and peace in the country.
Addressing thousands of Muslims on Saturday, at the 2021 National Maulid – the celebration of the birth of Prophet Muhammad, S.A.W – Dr. Bawumia said Ghana’s global credentials as a religious tolerant and peaceful nation, has been made possible by the understanding and camaraderie between leaders of the two major religions in the country.
“The increasing rate of religious tolerance in the country, leading to the peace we continue to enjoy, has been the collective efforts of all, including, Muslim and Christian leaders,” Dr. Bawumia said.
“When the National Chief Imam paid a surprise visit to a church a few years ago and the BBC reported it, the renowned global broadcaster was not only telling the world the uniqueness of Sheikh Sharubutu, the remarkable story, was also about the beauty of our country; how religious tolerance reigns in Ghana, and how peaceful our country is. This happened at a time there had been religious upheavals around the world.”
“I acknowledge and appreciate overtures many Christian leaders continue to extend to the National Chief Imam and other Islamic clerics across the country.”
The Vice President called for a continuation of such collective efforts to maintain the peace of the country, to ensure a conducive atmosphere for the government to continue with the development of the nation.
“Maintaining the peace we enjoy in our communities and country, should be the concern and responsibility of all, regardless of political or religious affiliation. Without tolerance, there will be no peace. And without peace, there will be no development” Dr Bawumia urged
“We need to jealously guard this, because, without peace, our government would not have had the conducive atmosphere to achieve so much in the past five years in the areas of infrastructure development, inclusive policies to reduce the suffering of Ghanaians and massive investment in education, etc.
“We need to jealously guard this, because, without peace, our government would not have had the conducive atmosphere to achieve so much in the past five years in the areas of infrastructure development, inclusive policies to reduce the suffering of Ghanaians and massive investment in education, etc. “
“As a government, maintaining and promoting peace in our country has always been a priority, and it is no fluke that Ghana has been ranked the most peaceful country in West Africa and 2nd most peaceful country on the African continent for 2021 by the Global Peace Index
The Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, has heaped glowing tributes on the Vice President of the Republic, Mahamudu Bawumia.
In a statement made on the floor of Parliament on Friday, 12th of November, 2021, the Effutu Member of Parliament said;
“Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia is another calm character, easy of address, a determined soul, ready to serve his country”
The Deputy Majority Leader made these remarks ahead of the commemoration of the nine years of passing into the glory of the late Vice President, Aliu Mahama, who passed away on November 16, 2012, in Accra.
Hon. Afenyo-Markin likened Dr. Bawumia’s calmness and other traits to those of Aliu Mahama of blessed memory.
He also emphasized that just like the late Vice President, Dr. Bawumia is an emblem of unity and that religious groups are at peace with one another and will continue to be under him.
This endorsement of Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia by Hon. Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin goes to give credence to the fact that most of the party’s supporters, including its leadership, believe and know that the New Patriotic Party will break the eight if he (Bawumia) is elected as the party’s presidential candidate ahead of elections 2024.
TEIN in a statement asked the Vice President to admit he has failed and apologize to Ghanaians.
Their statement comes after Dr Bawumia had taken a swipe at critics of government’s impassioned drive to digitise the country’s economy.
He stressed that a digitised economy is a massive economy, which, to him, is so obvious for any Sixth Former to understand.
“Ladies and gentleman, the digitised economy is a massive economy,” he stated at the 76th graduation ceremony of the Trinity Theological Seminary, Legon, on Saturday, November 13.
“That should be obvious to anybody who has done Sixth Form Economics and they should understand,” he added.
“But if you don’t understand that it is a massive economy, then you shouldn’t blame me. You should blame your Sixth Form Economics teacher.”
The Vice President’s comments come after his opponents threw a barrage of criticisms at him for reducing economic management to digitalisation.
It followed his address to students at the Ashesi University on Tuesday, November 2 on ‘Transforming An Economy Through Digitalisation: The Ghana Story’.
Some of his critics said he appears to have taken up the role of the Minister of Communications and Digitalisation. Others like his major opponent John Dramani Mahama thought the economy is still in serious crisis under the current government.
The former Vice President said at a public lecture on Wednesday, November 10 that the solution to the country’s problems has been reduced to PR, sloganeering, divisive rhetoric, populism, plain political deception and suchlike.
“Beyond these spirited linguistic acrobatics, the plain truth, which we all see and feel, is that the Ghanaian economy is in deep crisis,” the former President stated at the end of his 16-region Thank You tour.
“At the micro level, we feel the heavy impact of a troubled economy when we go to the market and find prices of basic items rising with alarming rapidity.”
But Dr Bawumia believes the measures put in place by the current government by way of the digital infrastructure have already even begun paying dividends.
“Through digitalisation, we have been able to tackle corruption at the Passport Office,” the Vice President cited.
“It used to be very endemic [but] today you can sit at home , apply for your passport and it can actually be delivered for you at home.”
But in a statement signed by its Deputy Coordinator, Ekow Djan, TEIN said “Ghana’s economy is in deep crisis under the self-styled economic guru Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
“This is the time we expect the Vice President to eat a humble pie and apologize to Ghanaians for his failure as the Head of the Economic Management Team. Ghanaians can no longer bear this hardship
Three people have been shot dead while six others are in critical condition after armed robbers attacked and exchanged fire with Small scale miners who were returning from their mining site at Adaboi in Upper Denkyira West District of the Central region.
The three people who were killed were part of the workers on the site.
Information gathered by Yaw Boagyan revealed that this is not the first time such a robbery incident has happened in the area.
Speaking in an Interview the Upper Denkyira West District Police Commander, ASP Ernest Agyakum said the incident happened around 8 pm Friday, November 12th when two persons were killed on the spot including an Okada rider while the other one died at the hospital.
The three bodies have been deposited at the Dunkwa On-Offin government hospital morgue waiting for autopsy while the police have also begun an investigation in the matter.
According to the police, they suspect some of the miners are informants to the armed robbers.
He stressed that a digitised economy is a massive economy, which, to him, is so obvious for any Sixth Former to understand.
“Ladies and gentleman, the digitised economy is a massive economy,” he stated at the 76th graduation ceremony of the Trinity Theological Seminary, Legon, on Saturday, November 13.
“That should be obvious to anybody who has done Sixth Form Economics and they should understand,” he added.
“But if you don’t understand that it is a massive economy, then you shouldn’t blame me. You should blame your Sixth Form Economics teacher.”
The Vice President’s comments come after his opponents threw a barrage of criticisms at him for reducing economic management to digitalisation.
It followed his address to students at the Ashesi University on Tuesday, November 2 on ‘Transforming An Economy Through Digitalisation: The Ghana Story’.
Some of his critics said he appears to have taken up the role of the Minister of Communications and Digitalisation. Others like his major opponent John Dramani Mahama thought the economy is still in serious crisis under the current government.
The former Vice President said at a public lecture on Wednesday, November 10 that the solution to the country’s problems has been reduced to PR, sloganeering, divisive rhetoric, populism, plain political deception and suchlike.
“Beyond these spirited linguistic acrobatics, the plain truth, which we all see and feel, is that the Ghanaian economy is in deep crisis,” the former President stated at the end of his 16-region Thank You tour.
“At the micro level, we feel the heavy impact of a troubled economy when we go to the market and find prices of basic items rising with alarming rapidity.”
But Dr Bawumia believes the measures put in place by the current government by way of the digital infrastructure have already even begun paying dividends.
“Through digitalisation, we have been able to tackle corruption at the Passport Office,” the Vice President cited.
“It used to be very endemic [but] today you can sit at home , apply for your passport and it can actually be delivered for you at home.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has said they believe that the former Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) Dr Stephen Opuni is being persecuted by the Attorney General, Godfred Dame following the accusation of causing financial loss to the state made against him and businessman Seidu Agongo.
A statement signed by General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia said “It is doubtful whether the trajectory of the trial of Dr. Stephen Kwabena Opuni, Seidu Agongo and Agricult with its twists and turns would convince the ordinary and well-informed citizen that the ends of justice would be served regardless of the outcome of the case.
“It is in this regard and without prejudice to the pending criminal trial of the accused persons that we call on the Attorney General and Minister of Justice to stop the persecution of the accused persons by withdrawing the charges or entering a nolle prosequi.
“We believe that such a course of conduct is appropriate because the action of the Attorney General in the past in escalating a simple criminal trial to the level of political gamesmanship with Dr. Stephen Kwabena Opuni being mischievously presented as the poster child of NDC-Government corruption who must be jailed by all means because ‘fair is foul and foul is fair’ make it abundantly clear that the criminal trial of the accused persons is not a criminal prosecution. Instead, it is political persecution by the Attorney General masquerading as an exercise in Rule of Law and criminal justice.
“We and all those who seek justice shall continue to pray for the accused persons in the hope that they are vindicated by the truth and the law at the end of the trial. We urge them to fight with courage and perseverance to the very end.”
This comes after the Supreme Court on Tuesday October 26, 2021, reinstated Justice Honyenuga as the judge for the hearing of Dr Opuni’s case.
A seven-member review panel in a 4-3 majority decision overturned an earlier decision by the court that stopped Honyenuga from presiding over the case.
That was after the court upheld a review application by the Attorney-General (A-G), Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame.
The NDC in their statement said “Unfortunately, an enhanced panel of seven judges, including two (2) additional judges to the original panel of five (5), granted the application of the Republic on 26th October 2021, by 4 to 3 majority decision, and reversed the ruling of the ordinary bench. This meant that the Supreme Court had affirmed and endorsed the exclusion of the 18 exhibits and further given judicial approval for the Judge to continue with the hearing of the Opuni case in spite of the prejudicial comments he made which is referenced in paragraph 2 above.
“It is worthy of note that the ruling of the enhanced panel was preceded by its own drama. Despite the rules of ethics of the Bar that parties to an action must avoid ex-parte communication with judges sitting on matters in which they are involved, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame paid a visit to Justice Jones Dotse, the presiding Judge in the review application, to “discuss Ghana School of Law matters” on 11th October 2021. While we cannot confirm what was indeed discussed at the meeting, the conduct of the Attorney General in visiting Justice Jones Dotse exhibits poor judgment of the highest order and casts a cloud of suspicion over what was discussed at the said meeting.
“In another example of poor judgment, the Attorney General, after the delivery of the ruling of the review panel, described the majority ruling of the ordinary bench that ruled in favour of Dr. Stephen Kwabena Opuni as “an aberration of justice” and that Dr. Stephen Kwabena Opuni was running away from ‘Judgment Day’.
” The question that needs to be asked is whether the Attorney General is privy to the eventual conviction and imprisonment of Dr. Stephen Kwabena Opuni by Justice Clemence Jackson Hoeyenuga on ‘Judgment Day’. And if we may ask, of all the judges in Ghana, why should Justice Clemence Jackson Hoeyenuga be the only judge to hear the criminal trial involving Dr. Stephen Kwabena Opuni, Seidu Agongo and Agricult.
“We in the NDC are confident that if the words uttered by the Attorney General had been said by other lawyers they would have earned an invitation to the Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council for breaches of the ethical rules of the Bar.
“As a party, we are vehemently opposed to the ruling by the Majority of the review panel of the Supreme Court dated 26th October, 2021. There are certain features of the majority’s ruling that cause us great concern. In the first place, the characterization by the majority of the prejudicial statements made by the Judge as referenced above as constituting the Judge’s evaluation of the evidence and his expression of opinion on the quality of the evidence before him beggars belief and raises more questions than answers.
“We are at a loss as to why the Supreme Court would prohibit a High Court Judge from hearing the Kennedy Agyapong Contempt Case on the basis of real likelihood of bias just because the Judge had used the expression ‘severely punished’ while the same Court did not see a real likelihood of bias against the accused persons from the clear prejudicial statements of the presiding Judge in the Opuni case stated above. Strangely, the review majority failed or neglected to make any reference to its ruling in the Kennedy Agyapong contempt case, the most recent Supreme Court authority on judicial bias.
Even more bizarre and worrying, is the fact that the review majority committed patent and avoidable factual errors in their ruling of 26th October, 2021. As has been said about the US Supreme Court and we believe this holds true also for our Supreme Court, ‘We are not final because we are infallible, but we are infallible only because we are final’. The finality of Supreme Court judgments, of necessity, casts a duty on the Court to avoid errors that could easily be avoided upon a close scrutiny of the record of a case.
“It is unfortunate that the review majority committed an avoidable factual error when it stated at page 11 of the ruling that: ‘ It must be remembered that the only question brought to the court was whether the trial judge had committed a jurisdictional error by failing to call on the accused person to speak to the excluded exhibits before ruling that the exhibits could be excluded, and not whether the exhibits were admissible or inadmissible per se’. In our humble view, this is patently incorrect since the grounds of review of Dr. Stephen Kwabena Opuni challenging the Judge’s ruling on the submission of no case make no reference to ‘jurisdictional error
The Police have arrested two persons in the Upper West Region for allegedly robbing and injuring two victims.
They are Musdeen Issahaku and Alhassan Musah
NEWS RELEASE: TWO ROBBERS ARRESTED, ONE OTHER SHOT DEAD
THE POLICE HAVE ARRESTED TWO PERSONS IN THE UPPER WEST REGION FOR ALLEGEDLY ROBBING AND INJURING TWO VICTIMS. PLEASE READ MORE FROM THE ATTACHED. PIC.TWITTER.COM/GCF1ZPBDGB— Ghana Police Service (@GhPoliceService) November 14, 2021
The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) in the Ashanti Region has arrested seven Nigerians including two suspected to be involved in cybercrime.
The suspects were apprehended at Ampatia Hemang in Atwima Kwanwoma district of the Ashanti Region.
They were alleged to have in their possession, Ghana cards and Health Insurance cards.
Confirming the arrest the Nkawie District Commander of the Ghana Immigration Service, DSI Justice Dzisa Akpedonu who led the operation said the suspects were living in the same house.
He mentioned that two laptops, smartphones five, other phones three, a landline, and power banks believed to be used for their fraudulent work were retrieved.
The suspected Nigerian criminals, he added have been transported to the Ghana Immigration Service headquarters in Adum-Kumasi for interrogation and thorough investigation
During the visit, Mr Mahama asked the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) and other state agencies to increase commitment towards relief provision for victims of the disaster, TV3’s Roland Walker who is in the rea reported on Saturday November 13.
Mr Mahama was accompanied by some Members of Parliament in the region.
He donated several items to the victims.
It is recalled that the Member of Parliament for the Ketu South constituency, Dzifa Abla Gomahsie criticised the governemnt for dpoing, in her view, little to assit the people.
In calling for a state of emmeregcny to be declared in the area, she said the president must at all cost fix the perennial problem.
“The state of emergency should have been declared yesterday [ Sunday]” she told journalists on Monday November 8 on the heels of the tidal waves that affected Keta and its environs on Saturday, November 6, that has destroyed properties and rendered about 700 people homeless in the area.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye has said that while government makes all the necessary efforts to avert tidal waves from happening, coastal residents should also avoid practices that expose them to vagaries of the rising sea levels.
According to him, there have been reported cases of sand winning, uprooting of mangrove along the coastal stretch.
If these continue, he said, the investments by government cannot yield the needed protection.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra on Monday November 8, “I must reiterate that Government acknowledges the urgent need to permanently address the devastating effects of tidal waves in the affected towns of Agavedzi, Salakope, and Amutsinu communities in the Ketu South Constituency.
“These communities are on the same coastal stretch as Blekusu, also in the Ketu South Constituency. This coastal stretch is characterized by narrow beaches and the effects of tidal waves along the coastal stretch can be very devastating, and consequently result in beach erosion, loss of land, property and sometimes extensive flooding in the event of wave overtopping.
“The erosion of the beaches also impacts negatively on fishing, which is the main source of livelihood of the communities along this coastal stretch.
“As part of measures to curb these devastating incidences in these towns, in July 2015, the Ministry of Works and Housing engaged Messrs Amandi Holding Limited to design and construct coastal protection works along this stretch, starting from Blekusu and working towards Agavedzi, Salakope, and Amutsinu under the Blekusu Coastal Protection Project.
“The project, which protects 4300 metres (i.e., 4.3 kilometres) of the coastal stretch, had the first phase completed in July 2019, and has since functioned effectively, protecting lives, livelihoods and properties while reviving fishing activities.”
He added “The Ministry of Works and Housing (Government) notes the sense of urgency for undertaking the second phase of the project to protect Adina, Agavedzi, Salakope, and Amutsinu communities and others to the east of Blekusu. To this end, the Ministry is commenced urgent steps to implement the second phase of the project.
“The Ministry has finalized the Evaluation of the relevant proposal to start the works under the second phase of the project.
“It is important to note that in April 2021, a technical team from the Hydrological Services Department of the Ministry, upon my directive, travelled to the affected communities to engage the Municipal Chief Executive of Ketu South Municipal Assembly and some community leaders on the matter of the implementation of the second phase of the project. I have also had the opportunity to visit these communities, together with the technical team from the Ministry and the Hydrological Services Department, in June this year, to have a first-hand understanding of the situation.
It is envisaged that the completion of the works envisaged under the second phase of the project will cover a minimum coastal stretch of 8,000 metres (8 kilometres) and this will surely ensure the total protection of the people of Agavedzi, Salakope, and Amutsinu communities and other affected communities within the Constituency that continue to bear the brunt of this occasional disasters.
The scope of works under the second phrase of Blekusu Coastal Protection Project (Phase 2) entails the construction of 37 armour rock groynes, with land reclamation, to protect eight (8) kilometres of coastal stretch.
“The Ministry is currently engaging the Ministry of Finance to raise the needed funding for the implementation of the second phase. It is important to note that value addition is critical in ensuring that a platform for recouping the capital investment is provided. Thus, in addition to protecting lives and properties, the works under the Blekusu Coastal Protection Project (Phase 2) will protect the beaches and its environs against encroachment by the sea, arrest the current environmental deterioration, mitigate the social and economic consequences of beach erosion, and strengthen the economic and production base of the area through enhanced fishing activities
Three of them are still missing. A search party is currently searching for them.
Seven students of the St. Charles Liwanga Junior High School in the Saboba District of the Northern Region are feared dead after one of the two canoes they were cruising in capsised in the Oti River.
Three of them are still missing. A search party is currently searching for them.
The students numbering 31 were returning from the headteacher’s farm when the disaster happened.
The students had gone with the headteacher to harvest rice in Butuin, a community in the overseas area.
Saboba District Police Commander, ASP Shine Zokoiku, confirming the accident on JoyNews said a search party was able to rescue 21 survivors and recovered the 7 deceased who got drowned.
He said unconfirmed reports indicate the boat was overloaded, hence the disaster.
ASP Zokoiku said Police have begun investigations into the accident.
He said the dead bodies are currently at the Saboba District Police Station waiting to be moved to the Yendi hospital for preservation.
Meanwhile, Brother of the headteacher, David Takah told JoyNews the family does not know his whereabouts currently, as efforts to reach him have failed.
Chairman of the Committee, Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi, cited time constraints as the reason for the suspension of the hearings.
Parliament’s Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee has temporarily suspended public hearing on the Anti-LGBTQ+ bill.
On Thursday, November 11, during the first public hearing, groups that are in support of the bill touted it as one that reflects the views of majority of Ghanaians on the subject matter, while the groups against the bill described it as one that is in breach of human rights and against Ghana’s cultural values.
The Committee is expected to give audience to the authors of over 150 memoranda on the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values bill.
Closing the first session of public hearings on Thursday, Chairman of the Committee, Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi, cited time constraints as the reason for the suspension of the hearings.
“We haven’t finished with the public hearings. There are other memoranda that we have received but we are constrained with time and we cannot predict what time we would have to meet and continue,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ningo-Prampram MP, Samuel George, and one of the sponsors of the anti-LGBTQI Bill, described as satisfactory the first day of public hearings on the bill.
“I think it was a good day. Everyone had their say and democracy won. Ghana continues to be a beacon of the African continent. I am reliably informed that in many European countries where Private Members are laid, the public does not have the opportunity to send in memos talk of public presentation as it was done. So I think this is a feather in our cap as a people.”
The Concerned Ghanaian Citizens which made an appearance on day 1 of the public hearing called on the committee to advise parliament to reject the Bill.
Spokesperson of the group, Akoto Ampaw, said the speaker of Parliament exercised unreasonable discretion in admitting the bill.
In the group’s view, the bill violates the fundamental human rights of Ghanaians and promotes hate.
Other groups that appeared before the committee on the first day of hearing included the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council, the Human Rights Coalition, Amnesty International and Advocates for Christ.
Ghanaian social commentator, Kwame A-Plus has underscored that the Akufo-Addo led administration is one of the worst ever Government in the history of Ghana.
A Plus reckons there is virtually no difference between the ruling National Patriotic Party and the opposition National Democratic Party.
According to the outspoken social commentator, both political parties have been playing politics with issues of fuel which they don’t have control of but turn to deceive the masses on the subject.
Speaking on Maakye with Omanhene on Kessben FM/TV, A-plus stated he can’t really say much of the current fuel hikes because he knows the government does not have direct control about that.
He lamented that unfortunately the two political parties have always been playing politics with the issue of fuel prices but turn to face the reality when in Government.
“It has always been that. They will be promising about what they know they cannot do. On the issue of fuel, they don’t have control.
So I can’t talk much about that. However, when there’s hardship in the country, You don’t go and buy a plane or hire a private jet and be bathing in the air.
That’s very bad. This government is one of the worst governments ever in the history of Ghana.
It has taken 5 years for the Bishops Catholics to have noticed this. Very soon, Asantehene will also come to say it” He said.
Former President John Dramani Mahama has hailed embattled Madina Member of Parliament (MP), Francis-Xavier Sosu for showing leadership by rallying his constituents to protest for fixing of road.
The MP has been embroiled in a standoff with the Ghana Police Service for his alleged role in criminal offences during the October 25 protest.
“As part of their mandate, MPs are supposed to show leadership. Xavier Sosu was leading his constituents to demand their share of national development,” Mahama said of the conduct that has landed the MP in court in an interview on a local radio station.
The MP is facing two charges of unlawful blockade of a highway and destruction of public property in the aftermath of a protest he led against bad roads in parts of his Constituency on October 25.
Police tried to arrest him on the day of the protest but failed, an official request to Speaker Alban Bagbin to have the MP released for questioning was also turned down.
A second arrest attempt was foiled last two weeks at the premises of a church where the MP was worshipping.
He is currently the subject of criminal charges even though he failed to appear in court on November 8 because he was out of the jurisdiction on Parliamentary duty.
The Ghana Police Service’s attempts to arrest/formally invite him for interrogation has triggered a seeming faceoff with Parliament.
The legislative house looked united behind Sosu till last week the Majority caucus criticized the Speaker’s decision to not release Sosu when Police placed an arrest.
On the said issue, Mahama said it was needless that the Police and Parliament are in an impasse over a matter that can be settled via laid-down processes.
“There are also procedures they can use to resolve this matter, including inviting the police to speak to the MP involved in the speaker’s office. You do not just arrest and interrogate him. Under our constitution, there is the separation of powers and special dispensation to deal with MPs who violate the law.”
“The president can use the police to harass other arms of government. This is why MPs are enjoying a certain immunity. That is why the police treat their cases differently,” Mahama stressed.
Mahama’s appearance on Tuesday, November 9, 2021, on Power FM / TV XYZ preceded his Greater Accra Regional ‘Thank You Tour’ which rounded up a national tour that has been on for the past few months.
Former President John Dramani Mahama has admonished the Ghana Police Service to follow laid-down procedures in seeking to interrogate Member of Parliament for Madina, Francis-Xavier Sosu.
According to him, there is a reason why MPs enjoy a certain level of immunity and also that there is a precedent for how they are treated in case they are needed by law enforcement agencies. He believes that the current impasse between Parliament and the Police was needless and could easily be solved.
“There are also procedures they can use to resolve this matter, including inviting the police to speak to the MP involved in the speaker’s office. You do not just arrest and interrogate him.”
“Under our constitution, there is the separation of powers and special dispensation to deal with MPs who violate the law.”
“The president can use the police to harass other arms of government. This is why MPs are enjoying a certain immunity. That is why the police treat their cases differently,” Mahama said on
Tuesday when he appeared on a local radio station.
His appearance on Power FM preceded his Greater Accra Regional ‘Thank You Tour’ which rounded up a national tour that has been on for the past few months.
“As part of their mandate, MPs are supposed to show leadership. Xavier Sosu was leading his constituents to demand their share of national development,” Mr. Mahama said of the conduct that has landed the MP in court.
The MP is facing two charges of unlawful blockade of a highway and destruction of public property in the aftermath of a protest he led against bad roads in parts of his Constituency on October 25.
Police tried to arrest him on the day of the protest but failed, an official request to Speaker Alban Bagbin to have the MP released for questioning was also turned down.
A second arrest attempt was foiled last two weeks at the premises of a church where the MP was worshipping.
He is currently the subject of criminal charges even though he failed to appear in court on November 8 because he was out of the jurisdiction on Parliamentary duty.
Former President John Dramani Mahama has said the government intends to increase taxes as it prepares to present the 2022 budget.
The 2022 budget will be presented before parliament by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta on 15 November 2021.
According to Mr. Mahama, the country is reeling in debt and wonders how much more hardship the people of Ghana can endure under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.
Addressing the Greater Accra House of Chiefs as part of his Thank You tour in the region on Tuesday, 10 November 2021, Mr. Mahama noted that the economy had been run into a ditch.
He told the chiefs and queen mothers gathered that “this government has been on a spending spree, borrowing spree, today, debt is overwhelming us, we’ve never been in debt to this extent ever before in our lives, even at the time we went HIPC our debt to GDP was not almost 80 percent. Today, we are almost 80 percent of debt to GDP even with a rebased economy.”
“So the economy has been run into a ditch and I know that in a few days’ time, they will read the budget and it’s the intention of this government to increase taxes and increase tariffs on electricity and water and all that,” Mr. Mahama predicted.
“How much more hardship can the people of Ghana take?” he quizzed adding that “we as the NDC, we’ll play our part and give a voice to the voiceless and let people in authority know what the people of Ghana are going through and so we shall play our role properly as the opposition in this country.”
Mr Mahama further noted that people living along the coast have not been left out of the suffering and hardship as a result of bad government.
“In all this hardship, we cannot forget that there’s a growing poverty in coastal communities in this country and it comes all the way from Aflao to Axim because the traditional occupations of our people have been affected,” he stated.
He explained that “If it is fishing, today if you go to all our coastal communities including our coastal communities here in Greater Accra, the fishermen go and come back with nothing because there’s overfishing by commercial trawlers in the sea.
“In our time, we equipped the navy with boats so that they could patrol the 20 Nautica miles and prevent the commercial trawlers from fishing within that place.
“Today, many of the navy’s boats are broken down and those that are working, they can’t buy fuel to put in them to go and patrol. And so, sometimes you are standing and you see fishing trawlers within the coastal boundary where they’re not supposed to fish and that is affecting the fortunes of our local fishermen.”
The Communications Director for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Yaw Buaben Asamoa, says former President John Dramani Mahama is ranting because he thinks Ghanaians will re-elect him in 2024.
Former President John Dramani Mahama is currently on a ‘Thank You” tour which will end today, November 10, 2021.
John Dramani Mahama during his tour said the Akufo-Addo government intends to increase taxes, as it prepares to present the 2022 budget.
He said the economy had been run into a ditch and that the country is reeling under debt and wonders how much more hardship the people of Ghana can endure under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.
He called on the Akufo-Addo administration to up its game in dealing with the hardships Ghanaians are saddled with at the moment.
“So, the economy has been run into a ditch and I know that in a few days’ time, they will read the budget and it’s the intention of this government to increase taxes and increase tariffs on electricity and water and all that… How much more hardship can the people of Ghana take?” he wondered, adding: “We, as the NDC, will play our part and give a voice to the voiceless and let people in authority know what the people of Ghana are going through and, so, we shall play our role properly as the opposition in this country,” Mahama said during the tour.
Addressing the comments of the former President in an interview with the host of ATINKA FM’s Am Drive, Yaw Buaben Asamoa explained that the former President is still peeved considering the margin with which he was defeated in the 2020 general elections. According to Buaben Asamoa, the NPP is focused and will continue to work in the interest of Ghanaians.
“If you are in opposition and you want the people to re-elect you this is how you speak and so some of these comments we the NPP will not worry our head. He just wants to win the hearts of Ghanaians with the rants. He was in power and we knew what he did. If Ghanaians really liked what he did during his tenure, they would have re-elected him,” Buaben Asamoa told Kaakyire Ofori Ayim.
There were near fisticuffs in Parliament on Friday during a news conference on the tidal waves destruction in Keta and surrounding areas.
The Deputy Majority Leader, Alex Afenyo-Markin addressing the media accused residents of engaging in excessive sand winning at the beach.
He showed a picture of several tipper trucks lined up on a coastline being loaded with beach sand.
He used the pictures to demonstrate that the people of Keta are engaged in serious sand winning.
However, some minority MPs who were around and heard the allegation decided to challenge that assertion.
The MP for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, who is a native of Woe in the Anloga district reacted by collecting the picture from Mr. Afenyo-Markin.
However, before he could get to the podium, Mr. Afenyo-Markin and Dr. Stephen Amoah forcibly took the picture away from him.
Dr. Amoah again attempted to disrupt his address which resulted in some heated exchanges
The first daughter of the late JJ Rawlings who doubles as the Member of Parliament for Klottey-Korle, Dr Zenator Rawlings has reiterated that, Ghana is still retrogressing and lurking contrary to the late father and the former President JJ Rawlings’ prosperous plans for Ghana as a country before his demise.
Speaking on behalf of the family at the commemorating of first Anniversary of the late JJ Rawlings at the Holy Spirit Cathedral in Accra, she sorrowfully added that, Probity and Accountability were not just popular words of the late father but actions that cannot be taken away from the late President.
Zenator furthered that, the journey of combating corruption in the country has been a complex journey for Ghana but while he lived, he never conceded to it She, therefore, urged both politicians and entire Ghanaians to emulate from his good leadership which is the only way to combat corruption in the country
The police has provisionally accused the husband of Rhodaline Amoah-Darko, a staffer of the Lands Commission in Kumasi of being behind her disappearance. The husband, Dr Wilberforce Aggrey, has therefore been put before the Asokwa District Court in Kumasi and accused of kidnapping.
According to the police, their investigations have so far revealed a linkage of mobile phone communications to implicate the husband, who is a lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi.
Communication from her mobile phone allegedly from suspected kidnappers demanding a ransom emanated from a location (cell tower) close to her residence. A communication from the husband’s phone reporting the incident to some relatives also emanated from a similar location (cell tower), according to the police per their investigations.
According to the police, the husband has provided incoherent statements on the matter. The Asokwa District Court has since granted an order for the police to submit Dr Aggrey for a psychiatric examination due to the incoherent statements from him on the matter. A police prosecutor on Friday told the court that the husband in reporting the case said Rhodaline had been kidnapped from their home and he can’t find her.
From the police, per their investigations, the messages from Rhodaline’s phone to the husband’s phone, and later from the husband’s phone to other relatives all emanated from a location (cell tower) near their residence. Based on that, the husband was invited for interrogation.
According to the prosecutor, Aggrey admitted that he sent those messages from Rhodaline’s phone because he was threatened that if he did not do that, his family will be harmed. He indicated to the police, according to the prosecutor that he had to send his wife to a place closer to the Volta Lake to ensure that she was safe. The police said he has since not been able to tell them the location of Rhodaline and that investigations are still ongoing. He has also not been able to tell where Rhodaline’s phone is as of now.
Related: We have no evidence linking husband to disappearance of Lands Commission staffer – Police It will be recalled that on October 27, 2021, the police in a press statement indicated that there was no evidence to link the husband to the disappearance of Rhodaline.
“It must be placed on record, that as of today, Wednesday, October 27, 2021, the Police have no evidence linking Dr. Aggrey to the disappearance of Rhodaline,” the police statement indicated. “Investigations are still ongoing and at this point, we are unable to disclose any information to the public on the matter”.
The Police statement further urged persons to desist from creating and circulating unconfirmed reports on the case since their actions can impede Police investigations. “The public shall be fully updated on this issue once investigations are completed. Let us endeavour to respect the privacy of the families involved.
A form two (2) student of Ofori Panin Senior High School (OPASS) in the Eastern Region has died.
The General Arts student Andrews Appiah Tinkorang alias Agabus died at the Eastern Regional Hospital in Koforidua.
The death of the student has been linked to weeding punishment meted out to him despite his ill health. He is reported to have collapsed while serving the punishment.
However, the management of the school has debunked claims that the student was asked to weed as punishment.
According to the school, the student’s phone was seized and was only asked to pick dry leaves which had littered the environment as punishment considering his ill health.
Management says the student had an abnormal growth around the neck hence looked sick but his condition worsened and was paled.
His father who is an old student was asked to take him to the hospital.
He was reportedly taken home two weeks ago by the parents who live in Suhum but died three days ago at the Regional Hospital in Koforidua.
At a Board meeting held on Friday, the matter was probed by the members of the board with both the headmaster and housemaster debriefed by the board on the matter
Pollster Ben Ephson has noted that no present member of the party founded by her father can extend an invitation to the former First Lady as she left on her own accord.
Dr Zanetor Agyeman Rawlings had called on the leadership of the party to do the needful to bring her mother back to the NDC, adding that she was an integral part of it.
But reacting to her statement on the Hot Edition on 3FM Friday, Ben Ephson told Eric Mawuena Egbeta that the onus on the former First Lady since no one from the NDC sacked her.
“It’s unfortunate this has come at a time we’re commemorating the old man’s first anniversary. But I think that Nana Konadu walked out of the party on her own volition and if the late president couldn’t stop her, who else can bring her back. She walked out on her own and if she decides to walk back into the party I don’t think that anybody will stop her. So rather she should have a tête-à-tête with her mother and ask the mother to eat a humble pie and come back”, the pollster advised.
Citing results of elections the former first Lady garnered after standing for the presidency, Ben Ephson intimated that Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings is not as influential in the NDC as she may have hoped.
“Is there anybody more important in the NDC or the Rawlingses life than the late president? I’m sure the president would have tried to stop her and she defied the former president and went ahead. Posterity has shown that she was wrong in leaving. I think that maybe she tried to equate her popularity with that of the late president. Yes she’s hardworking, she helped the NDC in the formative years and so on but she and the former president were poles apart in terms of popularity and strength within the party”, Ben Ephson added
• Sammy Gyamfi has stated that Akufo-Addo won’t be forgiven if Ghana misses the World Cup
• The Black Stars missed the last edition of the World Cup
• Sammy Gyamfi believes Akufo-Addo must resign if Ghana misses the 2022 World Cup
The NDC’s Communications Director, Sammy Gyamfi believes that Ghanaians will never forgive President Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo if the Black Stars fails to qualify for the World Cup.
According to him, it would be better if the president resigns now because Ghanaians can’t afford to watch the next edition of the World Cup in 2022 without the presence of the Black Stars.
“When he failed in 2018 we forgave him, this reseat too he wants to fail, then it will better if he resigns,” Sammy Gyamfi said.null
Sammy Gyamfi who spoke to Asempa FM on Thursday stated that Ghanaians would remember Akufo-Addo as the only president in the 4th republic who failed to help the Black Stars qualify to the World Cup.
The NDC communicator explained that it’s a shame the Black Stars are struggling to qualify for the World Cup despite having so many talented players.
He said, “I know NPP sympathizers would agree with me that we have to qualify at all cost. How can a footballing nation like Ghana, Abedi Pele’s Ghana and we are struggling to qualify to the World Cup?”
“No wonder when bad leaders governs the country, they suffer, but we are pleading with them to deliver,” Sammy Gyamfi stated.
Ghana would have to win their final game against South Africa on Sunday to advance to the next stage of the African 2022 World Cup Qualifiers.
The Minority in Parliament have threatened not to approve the budget statement for the 2022 fiscal year if the Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta fails to show how the 2021 budget was spent.
Member of Parliament for Asawase, Muntaka Mubarak, said it was necessary for the government to tell the people of this country how the previous budget was utilized.
The Finance Minister Mr Ofori Atta is scheduled to present the budget statement in Parliament on Wednesday November 17.
Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, had said Parliament would start the debate on the budget from Monday, November 22, and conclude on Friday, November 26, 2021.
Speaking in an interview with TV3, Muntaka Mubarak said “ This budget, we have sent signal that if you don’t bring the details on how you spent the 2021 budget you are going to have it very difficult with us getting approval for 2022.
We will insist on the details, show us the details so you don’t come and tell us.”
The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Friday, 12th November, 2021, inaugurated an 11-member Constitution Review Committee, chaired by the Deputy Majority Leader and MP for Efutu, Hon. Alexander Afenyo Markin, to undertake a review of the Party Constitution based on the amendment proposals received from members of the Party.
After swearing-in the members of the Committee, the General Secretary of the Party, John Boadu, explained the Committee’s mandate to include: “compiling all the proposals for amendment into a single document for onward circulation to every Regional and Constituency office through my Office ahead of the Party’s National Annual Delegates Conference in line with Article 19 of the Party Constitution.
The Committee will also be required to incorporate all the amendment proposals and motions that will eventually be adopted by the National Annual Delegates Conference into a new document, which then becomes the revised Constitution of the Party”.
The Committee is constituted as follows:
Lawyer Alexander Afenyo Markin (Hon.) – Committee Chair
Lawyer OB Amoah (Hon.)
Lawyer Joseph Dindiok Kpemka
Lawyer Henry Kokofu
Lawyer Joyce Opoku Boateng
Lawyer Naana Nsafoa Sarpong
Dr. Richard Asante Yeboah
Dr. Alex Glover Quartey
Kwodjo Afari
Lawyer Mujeeb Issah Kele
Alhaji Iddi Muhayu-Deen – (Secretary to the Committee)
Speaking for and on behalf of the members of the Committee, the Chairman, Hon. Alexander Afenyo Markin, welcomed the rare opportunity to serve on the Committee and thanked the Party Leadership for the privilege. He promised that the Committee would effectively discharge its mandate in furtherance of the Party’s interest and to vindicate the confidence that has been reposed in them.
The Party is expected to hold its 2021 National Annual Delegates Conference, to among other things, consider the review committee’s Report, from Saturday, 18th December to Monday, 20th December, 2021, at the Baba Yara Sports stadium in Kumasi, the Ashanti regional capital
Chief Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah has advised traditional authorities to desist from settling cases of child abuse and sexual violence at home.
He reminded them the 1992 constitution did not allow chiefs and queens to do so and urged them to report such cases to the Police for the law to take its course on offenders.
Justice Anin-Yeboah gave the advice when he inaugurated a child-friendly Gender-based Violence Court at Dormaa-Ahenkro in the Dormaa Central Municipality of the Bono Region.
The UNICEF refurbished the Dormaa Circuit Court and equipped it with child-friendly equipment including; testifying and children playing rooms with books and toys to meet the desired standards.
“Chiefs and queens must not try to intervene when there are child and sexual abuse cases,” Justice Anin-Yeboah stated, indicating the interest of the child must always be paramount”.
He explained as the embodiment of the people, the judiciary would always require the support and cooperation from traditional authorities in handling cases of sexual and gender-based violence that happened in local communities.
Justice Anin-Yeboah explained the judiciary was going through vigorous reformation to make justice delivery accessible to all and commended UNICEF and its partners for their continuous support to the judiciary.
Earlier, Madam Justina Owusu-Banahene, the Bono Regional Minister urged the public to remain vigilant and feed the Police with information about people with questionable characters as well as cases of domestic violence.
Osagyefo Osaedeeyo Agyeman-Badu II, the Paramount Chief of Dormaa Traditional Area commended the government, saying the judicial system had seen a level of transformation and improvement.
“If the government does something wrong we criticise, so it is also good to commend the government when it does something good,” Osagyefo Dr. Agyeman-Badu II also the President of the Bono Regional House of Chiefs indicated.
Mahama Ayariga, the Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, has shot down fears being expressed by some persons that any MP who goes against the anti-gay bill currently before parliament, could risk losing their seat in parliament.
He explained that there is nothing new about MPs losing elections for which reason he would remain unfazed if his stance on the bill will cost him his seat.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for Ningo-Prampram, Sam Nartey George, and 7 other MPs are sponsoring the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021, which is to make the practice of homosexuality in the country an illegality.
While the bill is currently being considered in the House, not everyone has agreed with the entirety of the bill, with a number of them calling for some details of it to be modified.
One of such persons is Mahama Ayariga.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with GhanaWeb, he explained that the reason he has a problem with the bill is that even for him as a parent, should this bill passed, it would not be helpful to him.
Asked if he has no fears of losing his seat for pushing against the bill, he immediately shot such fears down.
“…don’t say somebody has an issue with a particular provision of the bill and therefore he is gay and lesbian and I don’t think that approach will help, because trust me, those who say you are if you an MP and you don’t support this bill you will lose election, people have been losing election since Adam time even when this bill was not before parliament.
“So, it’s not supporting this bill or being against it that will make you lose an election. So, some provision of the bill some MPs will definitely be against it other provision they will support. That should not categories them as pro-gay or anti-gay. The constitution is our benchmark,” he said.
Already, the lead sponsor on this bill, Sam Nartey George, has had a few face-offs with some international media organizations, completely flooring these interviewers and receiving a lot of commendation from Ghanaians
Member of Parliament for Asawase, Mubarak Muntaka has noted that Ghana’s Parliament is weak.
He explained that lawmakers from the government side are unable to make their dissenting views on policies and initiatives that are introduced by the government known to the public even when they feel strongly to do so.
This, he said, is a as a result of fear of being victimized by the governing party and the government itself.
The Deputy Minority Chief Whip indicated that this has contributed to the weakening of Ghana’s Parliament.
He told TV3 in an interview that “People on the government side don’t want to be seen to be opposing things that are coming from the government even when they now, deep down their heart that their conscience and principles don’t support it.
“Sometimes what they try to do, those who have a little conviction, is to stay away. But to openly speak against it is difficult.data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==
This is what is contributing to the weakening of parliament and we need to be able to overcome it.
“I have said that that the challenges of this country, 70 per cent of them in my view is coming from a weak parliament. You see the Congress of America, you see the Parliament in UK, something happens and the next day the committee is holding public hearing, they don’t even give the technocrats time, under the heat and before the public they are questioning you.
“So, when people are going to act they are careful because they don’t want to appear before the Congress, they don’t want to appear before a parliamentary committee.
“Do we do that here? Most of our chairpersons are from the majority, even to call the meeting is a problem. The person doesn’t want to be seen to be acting because this agency head is a party person
Chief Executive Officer of the National Builders Corps (NABCo), Dr Ibrahim Anyars has said that the programme has been successful because it achieved its aim of amplifying the employability profile of graduates to be legible for employment after their exit point.
“The scheme is very successful because all the schemes that we set to do and the mandates stipulated by the President has been achieved. It has been a great success for this administration.”
The scheme he stated, also provided jobs and reduced unemployment in the country.
Speaking in an interview with Berla Mundi on TV3 New Day, the CEO further stated that the scheme addressed issues like work experience, professionalism, interview values and other qualities that kept beneficiaries away from the job market.
He added that these have enriched the employable skills of beneficiaries who are yet to be employed in either the public or private sector.
Mr Ibrahim indicated that beneficiaries have gone through career guidance transitions and the scheme has generated and defined clear career pathways of beneficiaries.
“The scheme was a structured partnership and a structured learning program to assist graduates exit with career pathways and help in their exit profiles,” he said.
Addressing the questions raised to the permanency of trainees, the CEO of the scheme mentioned that trainees were supposed to be prioritized for job opportunities especially in the public sector, however, some trainees failed to follow requisite procedures for enrollment into various organizations.
“For, every beneficiary who enrolled appropriately will have access to a personal detail of even their allowances,” he added.
Ibrahim Anyars also mentioned that most NABCo beneficiaries also transitioned to permanent employment into public and private sectors, adding that, it is therefore a misrepresentation to suggest that some trainees left the scheme to stay idle at home due to inconsistent payment of their allowances.
“Most NABCo beneficiaries transitioned into permanent employment in the public sector. Others also had private sector… It is quite a misrepresentation to suggest that someone just leave the scheme and sit at home and do nothing.”
He further stated that there was a cut-off point for employment of the scheme and that influenced the decision of ceasing recruitment in the third year of the scheme.
Speaking on concerns raised by Heal Ghana, one of the modules of the program, he explained that payments were ceased to beneficiaries because reports from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) indicated that all qualified nurses have gained permanent jobs so they were no longer beneficiaries of the scheme.
“The feeling was that all heal Ghana trainees would have left upon the conversations we had with the Ghana Health Service until we realized that there were still some trainees who had other qualification,”
“We stopped payment to Heal Ghana, and we requested for data from the Ghana Health Service and through the data we realized that all qualified nurses have left us so we shouldn’t pay any qualified nurse.”
He added that “we later realized that there were quite a few of the Heal Ghana trainees that have been unreported in other regions and having employments but still on the scheme.”
Mr Ibrahim Anyars reiterated that majority of beneficiaries have gained experience in skill development which makes them viable for job opportunities worldwide.
The CEO also revealed that 27,000 people were also employed in the Ghana Education Service (GES) which is a subsidy of educational module of the scheme.
The National Builders Corps (NABCo) was launched on Tuesday, May 1, 2018 by President Akufo-Addo to tackle youth unemployment in the country.
In its first, the initiative absorbed 100,000 youth to assist in service delivery in seven prioritized areas in the public sector.
These areas are Education Ghana, Feed Ghana, Heal Ghana, Revenue Ghana, Civic Ghana, Digitize Ghana and Enterprise Ghana.
The initiative also absorbed diploma and degree holders from accredited tertiary institutions.
The President in a speech on the day of the launch assured that by the end of the three year period, “the requisite work readiness skills and experience often deemed as a barrier to their employment as fresh graduates, would have been resolved.”
According to the President, over 49,000 trainees have been absorbed.
The initiative ended on Sunday, October 31,2021 and beneficiaries are lamenting of no permanent jobs provided for them.
Vice President Dr Mahamdud Bawumia has launched in Accra Friday November 12, Ghana’s National Centre for Coordination of Early Warning And Response Mechanism.
This forms part of ongoing efforts by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) leaders to identify any potential dangers ahead of time and proffer solutions.
The Centre’s role, according to Dr Bawumia, is to warn government of the threats to human security, propose appropriate actions, and to coordinate and ensure monitoring of the implementation of responses to the warning at both the national and regional level.
“I am confident that through the needed directions and other support, the Ghana Centre would be well positioned as a national strategic centre of excellence that shall inform decision-making to respond to crisis in Ghana and West Africa,” he said.
The founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of defunct Capital Bank, William Ato Essien, shed tears yesterday as he continued his examination-in-chief in the GH¢620m trial where he and two others are accused of stealing from the bank, leading to its insolvency.
The accused was telling the court about the overall performance of the insolvent bank against other banks in the country following its classification as class one universal bank, when he started showing signs of emotional breakdown.
Genesis of Bank
Mr. Essien began telling the court about the genesis of Capital Bank, explaining how it metamorphosed from First Capital Plus Money Lending and Microfinance Company which later became First Capital Plus Savings and Loans before Bank of Ghana gave it licence to become a universal bank.
“In 2011, First Capital Plus Savings and Loans applied to become a Class One universal bank from its savings and loans status. Later 2011, we received a provisional licence with conditions precedent to be fulfilled. By the Grace of God, latter part of 2012, all of the conditions precedent were duly fulfilled and the final approval of a class one universal banking licence was granted. And so First Capital Plus Bank started its operations as a class one universal bank early 2013,” Mr. Essien told the court.
Bank Performance
Baffuor Gyau Ashia Bonsu, who held the brief of Thadeus Sory for the accused person asked him what “was the performance Capital Bank as against the other banks when it became a fully-fledged universal bank?”
Mr. Essien said based on the banking survey in 2015, Capital Bank had risen from number 23 to number 16 by reference of its performance among its peers.
He said in 2016, Capital Bank was adjudged as the fastest growing bank and in the latter part of 2016, and the first quarter of 2017, according to an on sight report by the Bank of Ghana, Capital Bank was rated number eight (8) among the community of banks in Ghana.
Voice Change
It was at this point that Mr. Essien’s voice changed and his eyes was filled with tears, which prompted his lawyer to plead with the court if the accused person could be provided with a tissue paper to wipe the tears and a woman from the gallery offered him a pack.
Mr. Essien after wiping his tears was then offered a bottle of water by the court and he continued his examination-in-chief by indicating that Capital Bank was on its way to drive the first and foremost innovative product of putting money on mobile phones.
Cedipe Platform
“The product name is called ‘Cedipe’. In the first year of our operation in 2013, we had a customer base of 120,000 current account, an unprecedented achievement that has never happened in any bank at its infant stage. My Lord, ‘Cedipe’ was so successful to the extent that customers began to deposit money by our scratch cards as a means of payment and so my Lord, the board and management decided to revise the name from ‘Cedipe’ to speed banking,” he said.
He continued that “speed banking is what has come to be known as MoMo by MTN, Tigocash by AirtelTigo, and Vodacash by Vodafone. In a recent report by the Bank of Ghana, mobile money has hit a whopping GH¢100 billion by way of transaction in just a month. My Lord, this is the vision that Capital Bank stood for. And so in front of how well we were doing as a bank, there was absolutely no doubt that all that it required just a matter of time and Capital Bank would have become a household name.”
Bank Objective
The lawyer then asked the accused person the main objective of Capital Bank, and Mr. Essien said the bank had five objectives.
“The first was to provide timely and relevant financial solution to the small and medium enterprises. The second was the focus to eradicate financial illiteracy through organised workshops. The third was to increase the unbanked from the informal sector to the banking sector. The fourth was to graduate micro and small enterprises into medium and eventually large enterprises. The last focus was to achieve banking convenience for our masters – we call our customers masters through the use of technology. So even at the savings and loans level, we were the first Savings and Loans Company to have issued cheque books and ATM cards with fully fledged ATMs at all our 15 branches at the time,” he said.
Initial Capital
Asked about how initial capital was raised for the formation of Capital Bank, he said First Capital Plus money lending and micro finance started with an initial capital of Gh¢500,000 which grew to GH¢12 million plus balance sheet size in 2008.
He said they were able to roll out capitalisation of the required amount by the Bank of Ghana out of the GH¢12 million at the time and the company from 2009 up until 2013 grew shareholder funds from GH¢12 million to GH¢62 million.
“By the grace of God, it was out of these shareholder funds in loans and advances that were presented to the Central Bank and upon due diligence from the Central Bank on both the Capital availability and verification together with the fit and proper test conducted by the Bank of Ghana in addition to other operational precedents, we received approval to operate as a class one universal bank from the savings and loans status in 2013.
• Anyihodo remembers daughter, Rawlings a year after death
• Former President Rawlings died at the age of 73
•There will be a remembrance mass to observe the anniversary
Former Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Samuel Koku Anyidoho, has labelled the month of November 2020 as a very “hard month” for him.
This he said was a result of a double tragedy that befell him in the month.null
He mentioned that he lost both his daughter and Former President Jerry John Rawlings to the icy hands of death in November last year.
“Hmm!!! November 2020, was really a hard month for me. Lost my daughter on the 8th; Papa J passed on 12th. Today is exactly a year since Papa J left. He did his bit for God and Country. One day, one day; we shall ALL go too! May his soul rest well in the Lord. Shalom,” he said in a tweet reflecting on the 1-year anniversary of the passing of the late founder of the NDC.
Former President Jerry John Rawlings passed away on November 12, 2020, at the Korle–Bu Teaching Hospital at the age of 73.
The family of the late head of state will hold a remembrance mass today, November 12, 2021, to mark the first anniversary of his passing at the Holy Spirit Cathedral at Adabraka in Accra.
The Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia on Thursday, November 11, 2021, delegation from his family to the Manhyia Palace to thank the overlord of the Asante Kingdom for the generosity Otumfuo Osei Tutu II showed him during his mother’s demise.
The vice president leading a family delegation to the Manhyia Palace said he was overwhelmed when a delegation from the palace was sent to Mamprugu to witness the final funeral rites of the late Hajia Mariama Bawumia, his mother.
“We came showing gratitude in our fathers’ house and I can’t thank you enough for what you did during my mother’s demise, we are all grateful for what you did, the whole of Mamprugu.”
He said Otumfuo’s actions indicate his commitment to unity and his family as a whole and Mamprugu is appreciative of that.
He says now, he has no mother and father and that Otumfuo has indeed shown that he is a father to all.
“You really were involved in the funeral, you showed I’m your son, now I have no mother or father, you are my everything that is why we are here today to show our utmost appreciation.”
Dr. Bawumia was at the palace with his family and some executives of the governing New Patriotic Party
COP Kofi Boakye did not mince when he came face to face with Afia Schwarzenegger, Shatta Wale and some other Ghanaian celebrities.
Speaking at the meeting between the Ghana Police held with creative industry players on Wednesday, COP Kofi Boakye expressed worry over demands some of the celebrities made at (IGP), George Akuffo Dampare.
During the open forum meeting, some celebrities who were present complained about mishandling and inappropriate treatment from some police personnel.
According to them, they deserve some privileges befitting their status as celebrities but COP Kofi Boakye thwarted the opinion and pointed out that no one is above the law.
“I want to say that the sense of entitlement of celebrities is becoming overwhelming. And I just don’t get it. Some of the things that you do are disgusting, truth be told. If we cannot arrest pickpockets, we cannot arrest armed robbers. No one is above the law. When you fault it, and the law has to deal with you, we will. So, that it will deter others,” he said.
He continued that “if you want privileges, what privileges do you want? That you can pull a weapon anytime, and nothing would be done to you? No, that is not possible. We cannot do that.”
The outspoken senior police also noted that there is a need to clarify who a celebrity is and who deserves that title.
“Who is a celebrity? What is the operational definition of the word celebrity? I think we should get that because I am confused. We are confused. Is it that when you appear in one film, or you do one song, you qualify to be called a celebrity or what? And you see, because we are confused, we do not know what you want,” he said.
The meeting was held at the Police Headquarters in Accra on Wednesday, November 10 with some senior police officers in attendance.
Award-winning Ghanaian female journalist, Nana Aba Anamoah, has revealed that she is very disappointed in Akufo-Addo for failing to deliver his campaign promises.
Nana Aba Anamoah reacting to a tweet from GHOne TV asking what a politician once said referenced Nana Addo’s infamous statement ‘y3 te sika so nso 3k)m de y3n’.
She went ahead to tag the official Twitter handle of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to draw remind him of the promise he made to Ghanaians when he was begging for power.
Before Nana Addo was voted into power as the head of state, he slandered John Mahama on several platforms that Ghana has enough resources to feed the entire citizenry but because of Mahama’s incompetency, Ghanaians are hungry under him.
He also promised to make Ghana small Heaven because he has the men with the skill and capacity to lead the country to the promised land.null
Unfortunately, Ghana is now “more than hard” under Nana Addo. The prices of fuel water and electricity tariffs have skyrocketed ever since Nana Addo assumed power.
Most Ghanaians, apart from Nana Aba have been let down by Nana Addo whom many people thought would have been the finest president in the history of the Republic.
As the government gears up for the presentation of the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy in Parliament, there is an ongoing national conversation on how the government should go about its revenue mobilisation in order to close the gaping fiscal deficit in its books.
With dwindling revenue streams attributable to the slowdown in business activities occasioned by the Coronavirus pandemic, Ghana is lagging behind most of its peers within the West African sub-region as far as the tax to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio is concerned.
While Ghana is doing below 15 per cent, countries in the sub-region like Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria are hovering around an average of 18 per cent, raising questions about whether or not increasing taxes in the 2022 budget will help the government shore up revenue inflows to fund development projects.
The Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, in an interview with journalists in Accra on Wednesday, 10 November 2021, suggested that as demand for public services like the construction of roads and hospitals has seen an uptick, one of the ways the government can bring about development is to mobilise more domestic revenue to enable it to satisfy the legitimate needs of the people.
“Obviously, we would need to introduce some new broad-based taxes if we are to rake in the needed revenues to deliver what our people desire”.
“New taxes may have to be imposed on items that exclude the poor and do not have high cascading effect so that it does not increase the difficulties that the Ghanaian is going through”, he said.
According to him about, 8 per cent to 12 per cent of the country’s GDP, which ideally should come to the government, is not coming in.
Yet, he noted, these economic activities are ongoing and are being recorded, forcing the government to find ways to mobilise funds through taxes to fund the demands for roads, schools, hospitals.
He said the government’s target through the 2022 budget is to consolidate the gains made so far in previous years and reboot the economy and set it back on track
As the government gears up for the presentation of the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy in Parliament, there is an ongoing national conversation on how the government should go about its revenue mobilisation in order to close the gaping fiscal deficit in its books.
With dwindling revenue streams attributable to the slowdown in business activities occasioned by the Coronavirus pandemic, Ghana is lagging behind most of its peers within the West African sub-region as far as the tax to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio is concerned.
While Ghana is doing below 15 per cent, countries in the sub-region like Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria are hovering around an average of 18 per cent, raising questions about whether or not increasing taxes in the 2022 budget will help the government shore up revenue inflows to fund development projects.
The Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, in an interview with journalists in Accra on Wednesday, 10 November 2021, suggested that as demand for public services like the construction of roads and hospitals has seen an uptick, one of the ways the government can bring about development is to mobilise more domestic revenue to enable it to satisfy the legitimate needs of the people.
“Obviously, we would need to introduce some new broad-based taxes if we are to rake in the needed revenues to deliver what our people desire”.
“New taxes may have to be imposed on items that exclude the poor and do not have high cascading effect so that it does not increase the difficulties that the Ghanaian is going through”, he said.
According to him about, 8 per cent to 12 per cent of the country’s GDP, which ideally should come to the government, is not coming in.
Yet, he noted, these economic activities are ongoing and are being recorded, forcing the government to find ways to mobilise funds through taxes to fund the demands for roads, schools, hospitals.
He said the government’s target through the 2022 budget is to consolidate the gains made so far in previous years and reboot the economy and set it back on track
Mr Mahama said he has personally lost friends to the pandemic because they did not believe in vaccination.
Using himself as an example, the 2020 flagbearer of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) said the vaccines are safe and have no dire effects.
Delivering a thank-you address to Ghanaians on Wednesday, 10 November 2021 for the support they showed him in the last election, Mr Mahama said: “COVID-19 is still here with us and those of you who have not yet taken your vaccination, I appeal to you, it saves life. I’ve lost too many friends to covid-19 because they did not believe in vaccinations and I can assure you the vaccinations are safe you can take them and you’ll have no adverse repercussions.
“I’m a living testimony of the vaccinations and I can tell you there have been no adverse repercussions on my mortal being and, so, those of you who have not taken it, please remember to go and take your covid-19 vaccines”.
Figures from the Ghana Health Service indicate that some 3,188,114 vaccine doses have been administered in the country as of 5 November 2021.
As of the same date, Ghana’s total recorded covid-19 cases stood at 130, 608 with 128,131 recovered and discharged.
Some 1,203 people have died from the virus while the active cases stand at 1,247
The current Attorney General, Godfred Dame is extremely political, Member of Parliament for Asawase Muntaka Mubarak, has observed.
In the view of Mr Muntaka, Godfred Dame is likely to become the worst Attorney General in the history of the country if he is not measured in his work.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with TV3’s Evelyn Tengmaa on Wednesday November 10, he accused Dame of suppressing the weak rather than fighting for them
“As an Attorney General, his responsibility is to protect the weakest. You hear him make such statements as, it is not a right, it is a privilege. Well, privilege for the few? For people like him? So, we are putting a motion that, in that same year admission, this 2021, there were people who didn’t even write the exams but they have been given concessional admission because they are the privileged few.
“That cannot be right, we can’t create society like that. His posture is giving me an impression that in his view, he thinks seeking justice may not be a right, it will be a privilege that is seen in the Opuni matter even at the Supreme Court, re-empaneling, going for a review, meeting a judge who is supposed to sit on a panel. Attorney general that often is supposed to be the one that protects the weakest in our society, not to intimidate the innocent ones.
“I think that the way he is carrying himself if we are not careful to put a break on him he may end up being one of the worst Attorney Generals we have because he seems to be too political and he forgets the mandate of government.”
His comments come at a time his side in Parliament have presented a memorandum to the Speaker of Parliament that is seeking to pass vote of censure against Godfred Yeboah Dame for failing to implement a resolution of Parliament to admit 499 law school students .data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==
The memorandum reads “That This Honorable House passes a vote of censure on the Honourable Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame, in respect of the following conduct: Refusal, without justifiable basis, to implement the resolution of this Honorable House unanimously passed on October 29, that the General Legal Council admits into the Ghana School of Law 499 students who sat for and passed the entrance examination of the Ghana School of Law for the 2021/22 legal year In accordance with its own published grounds rules, Impugning the image and integrity of this Honorable House through statements unbecoming of the holder of the office of Attorney General and Minister of Justice of this Republic.”
The move was occasioned by what they call the failure of Mr Dame to comply with the resolution they passed to get the law students who obtained the 50 per cent pass mark in the entrance examinations admitted into the law school.
Mr Dame had told to Parliament that the resolution they passed was not binding.
The AG indicated that Parliament is devoid of the power through the use of Parliamentary resolutions, to control the process of admission into the Ghana School of Law.
The House on Friday October 29 resolved that all LLB students who obtained the 50 per cent pass mark in the law school entrance examinations should be admitted. The unanimous decision was arrived at by voice votes in Parliament.
But in a response, the AG said “Respectfully, I am aware of a resolution passed by Parliament at its sitting on Friday, 29th October, 2021 in these terms: … The General Legal Council is hereby directed to proceed and admit all the students who passed in accordance with the advertised rules of the examinations.. The Attorney-General is the leader of the bar in Ghana and he must see to it that the directive that 499 students who scored 50 marks are admitted is complied with.
“We do not want to get to contempt of Parliament issues. Whilst recognising the general legislative powers of Parliament in Ghana, except as have been circumscribed by the Constitution, I am constrained to advise that Parliament is devoid of a power through the use of Parliamentary resolutions, to control the process of admission into the Ghana School of Law.
“The mode of exercising legislative power enshrined in article 106 of the Constitution does not admit of resolutions.
“In accordance with section 13(1)(e) and (f) of the Legal Profession Act, 1960 (Act 32), the power to regulate admission of students to pursue courses of instruction leading to qualification as lawyers and to hold examinations which may include preliminary, intermediate and final examinations has been vested in the General Legal Council.
“It is correct that section 1(5) of Act 32 stipulates thus: “The Council shall in the performance of their functions comply with any general directions given by the Minister”.
“In my respectful opinion, this provision underscores the capacity of the Executive not the Legislature, through the Minister responsible for the General Legal Council, i.e. the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, to direct and advise the Council on major matters of national importance.
“In this regard, it is pertinent to indicate that by a letter dated 18th October, 2021 received at my office on 21* October, 2021, His Excellency the President forwarded the contents of a petition by the “499 candidates” to me for my comments in order to enable him respond. Another petition dated 20th October, 2021 by the National Association of Law Students was also delivered
to the President.
“Upon delivery of my comments on the matters raised in both petitions and following further consultations with my good self, by a letter dated 26th October, 2021 (three clear days before the resolution of Parliament), received at my office on 27th October, 2021, the President directed me to, pursuant to section 1(5) of Act 32, … make the necessary intervention to the General Legal Council, on behalf of the 499 students, to address the issue …
“Within the constraints of the law, I am following up on the directive of the President to make the necessary interventions on behalf of the ‘499 students’ Be that as it may, it is imperative to correct a few erroneous impressions contained in the impugned Parliamentary resolution of 29th October, 2021.The notice in the Daily Graphic of 14th May, 2021 inviting applications from suitably qualified Ghanaians for admission into the Ghana School of Law did not state a pass mark of fifty percent (50%) or any at all as a basis for admission. The notice stated that applicants may be granted admission if they have passed the entrance examination conducted by the GLC.
“The notice also did not state the manner in which a pass mark set by the GLC would be determined. It is clear therefore, that, a contention that the “originally announced” or “advertised” pass mark was “50%”, is erroneous and insupportable.
In so far as any matter bordering on a ‘pass mark’ is concerned, the notice in the Daily Graphic stated as follows:
“E. ADMISSION PROCEDURE
The admission process is as follows:
(i) The General Legal Council determines the number of candidates to be admitted to the Professional Law Course for the academic year.
(ii) Applicants may be granted admission if they have passed the written examinations organized by the General Legal Council for the
2021/2022 Academic Year, on payment of the required fee and submission of the application form and all supporting documents required online.
On this same issue, Executive Director of the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Professor Henry Kwasi Prempeh also said the resolution was not binding.
Prof Prempeh who is also a Ghanaian lawyer explained on the Key Points on TV3/3FM Saturday October 30, with host Dzifa Bampoh that Parliament makes a number of resolutions, of which some are binding and others are not.
The one directed to the GLC and the law school, he said, fell in the latter category.
Prof Prempeh said “I am delighted to see Parliament really weigh in on this matter. This is a long-running battle and I think that it is good to have the political class weigh in this way.
“Parliament makes decisions in a number of ways. They can pass a bill, if signed it becomes an Act of Parliament. It also operates by passing resolutions. Some of the resolutions are binding, some are not binding.
“This is one of the resolutions in the latter category , it is not binding. But, it does registers Parliament’s collective disapproval of the way and manner in which a statutory body like the GLC has been handling this matter of access to legal education.”
During the debate on the floor of the Huse on Friday October 29, Member of Parliament for Asawase, Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak told the GLS and the Law school that the study of law in Ghana is not limited to a select few.
He said all Ghanaians are allowed to pursue legal education and education in general.
He said “I know that there are a lot of institutions in this country that are very conservatives but with the kind of problem we have as a country you cannot give a conservative position and expert to make progress . This idea, with the greatest respect to the former Chief Justice, that we won’t open up for anybody to become a lawyer. Who is anybody? Every Ghanaian matter just as your son and daughters.
“It is not the sons of lawyers and doctors or politicians or the influential that have the only right to be able to have access to any profession in this country. If they don’t know we must tell that they should go and admit everybody who has passed before the next academic year starts.
Deputy Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, said the GLC and the Ghana School of Law would be acting in bad faith if they fail to heed the resolution passed by Parliament for all the LLB students who obtained the 50 per cent pass mark to be admitted into the law school.
“We are telling the Ghana law school that they continuously frustrating students, they are making the study of law unattractive. I know that the post call students they had started lectures , they started last week but for the Professional law they are starting next week,” he said on the floor of the House.
“It is not too late to admit them because they have passed,” he added.
In a subsequent interview with TV3’s Komla Klutse, Mr Afenyo-Markin said “For anybody who may think that they may exercise a discretion not to respect our directive, I will say, that will be in bad faith for them to fail to respect this directive of Parliament.
“We have a responsibility and we are simply re-echoing what they themselves have said publicly. That is why we added that yes, the Learned Attorney General with oversight responsibility should ensure that they comply with the resolution passed by Parliament.
“If a body, recognized by law will refuse a resolution of parliament then I think that body does not believe in the rule of law and I don’t think that is what the General Legal Council and Ghana School of Law will do. It has the Chief Justice as its head and we believe that he as Chair will take this in good faith and quickly take steps to address this.
“I will not want to go into the issue of contempt, whether if they fail we would have to take another step. We know that the constitution is clear on failing to comply with parliamentary orders but I don’t think we will get there.”
This development emerged at a time the Human Rights Division of the Accra High Court adjourned the case brought before it by some ‘failed’ LLB students against the General Legal Council (GLC) and the Attorney General (AG).
On Friday October 29, the court presided over by Justice Nicholas Mensah Abodakpi adjourned the case to November 9 after the Attorney General requested for a short adjournment to file certain processes.
“With the consent of the parties and their lawyers this case would be adjourned to Nov 9, 2021,” the judge is reported to have said.
The students are demanding that the court “further retrains the respondents from treating the applicants as students who failed the said examinations pending the final examination of this matter on grounds set forth and such further orders the court may deem fit.”
They also want a declaration that the failure of the 2nd respondent (the Attorney General) to reign in the 1st respondent for the conduct of the 1st Respondent as stated constitute a dereliction of the 2nd respondent’s duties under Act 32
Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin, has declared a state-assisted burial in honour of the late Nana Ampadu.
This statement was announced at the Weekly Jubilee Press Briefing taking place today at the Jubilee House.
“Finally, the President has taken the decision to honour the late, legendary Ghanaian highlife musician, Nana Ampadu, with a state-assisted burial in honour of his services to the growth of Ghanaian music. This information will be duly communicated to the family of the late singer. And a befitting burial ceremony will be held for this noble son of Ghana.”
Highlife musician Nana Ampadu died on Tuesday, September 28, after a short illness. May his soul rest in peace
The Director of Communications at the Presidency, Mr Eugene Arhin, has told former President John Dramani Mahama that the economy has been managed better under the Akufo-Addo administration.
But for the prudent use of state resources, he said, the government could not have successfully implemented programmes including the free Senior High School (SHS) programme to benefit Ghanaian children.
He also said the fact that Mr Akufo-Addo’s mandate was renewed in the 2020 elections was an indication of the confidence the people had and continue to have in the current administration.
His comments come after Mr Mahama had told President Akufo-Addo to up his game in dealing with the hardships Ghanaians are saddled with at the moment.
Mr Mahama noted that times are hard for Ghanaians. The economy, in his view, is not doing well hence, the destitutions.
Speaking on Tuesday November 9 as part of his tour of the Greater Accra region, Mr Mahma said “I think that this government has to sit up.”
He added “The tragedy of our current national situation is that we have a government that appears completely unwilling to acknowledge the problems and even begin the process of addressing them. We are instead confronted with an administration that believes that these major problems can be wished away through PR, sloganeering, divisive rhetoric, populism, and plain political deception.
“Take our present economic state for example. At a time when everyone is crying out over the excruciating hardships brought on by excessive taxation, ever increasing cost of living, weekly fuel price increases, this government chooses to recite a hackneyed mantra, that there are indicators that show that the economy is doing well.
“Even if we were to overlook the mismatch between these claims and the very visceral suffering and pain people are going through in their daily lives; it beggars belief, that the same people saying this were only six years ago, dismissing any linkage between the welfare of Ghanaians and economic indices.
“They said, then, that they had visited markets and were not experiencing single digit prices as the inflation rate then would dictate. They insisted then, that the best way to measure the strength or otherwise of the fundamentals of the economy was to look at the exchange rate, for its depreciation would expose the weakness therein. These days however, even as the exchange rate depreciates to very worrying levels, they say we have strong economic fundamentals.
“Beyond these spirited linguistic acrobatics, the plain truth, which we all see and feel, is that the Ghanaian economy is in deep crisis. At the micro level, we feel the heavy impact of a troubled economy when we go to the market and find prices of basic items rising with alarming rapidity. We also feel it when we go to the fuel station and find that the already high price of fuel has been increased again.”
But responding to him, Mr Eugene Arhin said on Thursday November 11 that “You all recollect that the president took oath of office on 7th of January 2017 and again on 7th of January 2021 and on both occasions he pledged to protect the public purse. That is exactly what he has done and continues to do.
“The transformation that has taken place in all aspects of our national life point to an economy that has been well managed, a public purse that is being well protected and the benefits are showing.
“Indeed if president Akufo-Addo had superintended over the wanton dissipation of the public funds, firstly, the Ghanaian people would not have reposed confidence in him barley 10 months ago by returning decisive margin of victory for him in the 2020 elections.
“The free SHS which guarantees a minimum of senior high school education for all Ghanaian children and has already granted access to some 400,000 children would not have been possible if the public purse was not being protected
President Akufo-Addo will this afternoon, lead the Ghanaian delegation to attend, at the invitation of UNESCO’s Director General, Audrey Azoulay, the 75th anniversary ceremony of the founding of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which is being held at its headquarters in Paris, France, the Director of Communications ta the Presidency, Mr Eugene Arhin has said.
The United Nations Charter, which came into effect on 16th November 1945, provided for the creation of a specialized agency in the fields of education and culture, and the President will, on Friday, 12th November, deliver a statement, at the height of the commemoration, on the impact UNESCO has had in Ghana, and what Ghana expects from UNESCO in the coming years.
President Akufo-Addo will from Saturday, 13th November, to Saturday, 20th November, take a much-deserved, long overdue seven-day leave of absence, during which he has accepted an invitation to preside over the panel that will adjudicate a debate in the French Parliament on “The Trial of Progress”, on Friday, 19th November.
The President is expected back in Ghana on Saturday, 20th November, and, whilst away, the Vice President, Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia, will act in his stead
Mr Mahama stated that when he was the Head of State, his administration was opened to Ghanaians but that is lacking currently.
Speaking at a thank you Forum in Accra on Wednesday November 10, he said “Another key plank of our administration’s strategy was transparency in our public financial management system and in our national discourse.
“The opacity within our current national discourse about economic indices undermines our collective progress. Debates about the true state of the nation, its debt levels, exchange rate trajectory or even growth numbers underpin the need for strong institutions that cannot be subverted by individual preferences.
“Under the Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), we implemented best-practice control systems to improve accountability in public financial management. We plan to pick up from where we left off. We also promulgated the Public Financial Management Act to align our fiscal management practices with international standards.
“Whiles strengthening the economy for sustainability our government further had our eyes firmly on growth and productivity. We did not believe we could recklessly borrow our way out of underdevelopment.
“A major hinderance to mobilizing sufficient resources to fund our development is corruption. We have in recent times witnessed acts of corruption, cronyism and decadence that lower the pedigree and reputation of the Office of the President – not forgetting the dubious and opaque Agyapa Gold Royalties deal, which this government is still hankering after with plans of executing and hosting in a tax haven.
“I must at this point recognise the nationalistic truth and outpouring of the sentiments of many Ghanaians by the Catholic Bishops Conference on Monday. Until we are bold to reflect what we are all experiencing under this government, the situation will continue to worsen, and we are all going to be worse off from suffering.”
He added “civil servants, doctors, nurses, teachers, businessmen and women, traders, farmers, drivers, and the teeming unemployed youth of Ghana, this government is our common national tragedy. We may yet have to endure these very difficult times for a while more due to a combination of factors.
“But I come to you this evening with a simple message. Do not – out of avoidable hardships and difficulties – despair to the point of losing hope and giving up on Ghana. Do not lose hope! Instead, I urge you to hope and work hard for a better Ghana and a better future under a new NDC administration in 2025.
“I am talking about a future where your name, your ethnicity, your tribe, your circumstances of birth will not determine how you are treated in your own country by your own government. I recall the words of the Most Reverend Japhet Yao Ledo during my thank you tour of the Volta Region, and I stand this evening to assure the people of the region and the nation at large that all successive NDC administrations will continue to be national and people-centred ones, sharing the national cake, equally and beneficially to all regions and parts of the country
Member of Parliament for Asawase, Muntaka Mubarak, has claimed that some students were admitted into the Ghana Law School this year without taking part in the entrance examinations.
He described this admission as ‘concessional.’
Speaking in an exclusive interview with TV3’s Evelyn Tengmaa on Wednesday, November 10, the Minority Chief whip accused the Minister of Justice and Attorney General Godfred Dame of suppressing the weak rather than fighting for them regarding the admission process into the law school.
“As an Attorney General, his responsibility is to protect the weakest. You hear him make such statements as, it is not a right, it is a privilege. Well, privilege for the few? For people like him? So, we are putting a motion that, in that same year admission, this 2021, there were people who didn’t even write the exams but they have been given concessional admission because they are the privileged few.
“That cannot be right, we can’t create a society like that. His posture is giving me an impression that in his view, he thinks seeking justice may not be a right, it will be a privilege and that is seen in the Opuni matter even at the Supreme Court, re-empaneling, going for a review, meeting a judge who is supposed to sit on a panel. The Attorney-general often is supposed to be the one that protects the weakest in our society, not to intimidate the innocent ones.
“I think that the way he is carrying himself if we are not careful to put a break on him he may end up being one of the worst Attorney Generals we have because he seems to be too political and he forgets the mandate of government.”
His comments come at a time his side in Parliament has presented a memorandum to the Speaker of Parliament that is seeking to pass a vote of censure against Godfred Yeboah Dame for failing to implement a resolution of Parliament to admit 499 law school students.
The memorandum reads “That This Honorable House passes a vote of censure on the Honourable Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame, in respect of the following conduct: Refusal, without justifiable basis, to implement the resolution of this Honorable House unanimously passed on October 29, that the General Legal Council admits into the Ghana School of Law 499 students who sat for and passed the entrance examination of the Ghana School of Law for the 2021/22 legal year In accordance with its own published grounds rules, Impugning the image and integrity of this Honorable House through statements unbecoming of the holder of the office of Attorney General and Minister of Justice of this Republic.”
The move was occasioned by what they call the failure of Mr Dame to comply with the resolution they passed to get the law students who obtained the 50 per cent pass mark in the entrance examinations admitted into the law school.
Mr Dame had told to Parliament that the resolution they passed was not binding.
The AG indicated that Parliament is devoid of the power through the use of Parliamentary resolutions, to control the process of admission into the Ghana School of Law.null
The House on Friday October 29 resolved that all LLB students who obtained the 50 per cent pass mark in the law school entrance examinations should be admitted. The unanimous decision was arrived at by voice votes in Parliament.
But in a response, the AG said “Respectfully, I am aware of a resolution passed by Parliament at its sitting on Friday, 29th October, 2021 in these terms: … The General Legal Council is hereby directed to proceed and admit all the students who passed in accordance with the advertised rules of the examinations.. The Attorney-General is the leader of the bar in Ghana and he must see to it that the directive that 499 students who scored 50 marks are admitted is complied with.
“We do not want to get to contempt of Parliament issues. Whilst recognising the general legislative powers of Parliament in Ghana, except as have been circumscribed by the Constitution, I am constrained to advise that Parliament is devoid of a power through the use of Parliamentary resolutions, to control the process of admission into the Ghana School of Law.
“The mode of exercising legislative power enshrined in article 106 of the Constitution does not admit of resolutions.
“In accordance with section 13(1)(e) and (f) of the Legal Profession Act, 1960 (Act 32), the power to regulate admission of students to pursue courses of instruction leading to qualification as lawyers and to hold examinations which may include preliminary, intermediate and final examinations has been vested in the General Legal Council.
“It is correct that section 1(5) of Act 32 stipulates thus: “The Council shall, in the performance of their functions, comply with any general directions given by the Minister”.
“In my respectful opinion, this provision underscores the capacity of the Executive, not the Legislature, through the Minister responsible for the General Legal Council, i.e. the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, to direct and advise the Council on major matters of national importance.
“In this regard, it is pertinent to indicate that by a letter dated 18th October, 2021 received at my office on 21* October, 2021, His Excellency the President forwarded the contents of a petition by the “499 candidates” to me for my comments in order to enable him respond. Another petition dated 20th October, 2021 by the National Association of Law Students was also delivered to the President.
“Upon delivery of my comments on the matters raised in both petitions and following further consultations with my good self, by a letter dated 26th October, 2021 (three clear days before the resolution of Parliament), received at my office on 27th October, 2021, the President directed me to, pursuant to section 1(5) of Act 32, … make the necessary intervention to the General Legal Council, on behalf of the 499 students, to address the issue …
“Within the constraints of the law, I am following up on the directive of the President to make the necessary interventions on behalf of the ‘499 students’ Be that as it may, it is imperative to correct a few erroneous impressions contained in the impugned Parliamentary resolution of 29th October, 2021.The notice in the Daily Graphic of 14th May, 2021 inviting applications from suitably qualified Ghanaians for admission into the Ghana School of Law did not state a pass mark of fifty percent (50%) or any at all as a basis for admission. The notice stated that applicants may be granted admission if they have passed the entrance examination conducted by the GLC.null
“The notice also did not state the manner in which a pass mark set by the GLC would be determined. It is clear therefore, that, a contention that the “originally announced” or “advertised” pass mark was “50%”, is erroneous and insupportable.
In so far as any matter bordering on a ‘pass mark’ is concerned, the notice in the Daily Graphic stated as follows:
“E. ADMISSION PROCEDURE
The admission process is as follows:
(i) The General Legal Council determines the number of candidates to be admitted to the Professional Law Course for the academic year.
(ii) Applicants may be granted admission if they have passed the written examinations organized by the General Legal Council for the
2021/2022 Academic Year, on payment of the required fee and submission of the application form and all supporting documents required online.
On this same issue, Executive Director of the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Professor Henry Kwasi Prempeh also said the resolution was not binding.
Prof Prempeh who is also a Ghanaian lawyer explained on the Key Points on TV3/3FM Saturday October 30, with host Dzifa Bampoh that Parliament makes a number of resolutions, of which some are binding and others are not.
The one directed to the GLC and the law school, he said, fell in the latter category.null
Prof Prempeh said “I am delighted to see Parliament really weigh in on this matter. This is a long-running battle and I think that it is good to have the political class weigh-in this way.
“Parliament makes decisions in a number of ways. They can pass a bill, if signed it becomes an Act of Parliament. It also operates by passing resolutions. Some of the resolutions are binding, some are not binding.
“This is one of the resolutions in the latter category , it is not binding. But, it does registers Parliament’s collective disapproval of the way and manner in which a statutory body like the GLC has been handling this matter of access to legal education.”
During the debate on the floor of the Huse on Friday October 29, Member of Parliament for Asawase, Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak told the GLS and the Law school that the study of law in Ghana is not limited to a select few.
He said all Ghanaians are allowed to pursue legal education and education in general.
He said “I know that there are a lot of institutions in this country that are very conservatives but with the kind of problem we have as a country you cannot give a conservative position and expert to make progress . This idea, with the greatest respect to the former Chief Justice, that we won’t open up for anybody to become a lawyer. Who is anybody? Every Ghanaian matter just as your son and daughters.
“It is not the sons of lawyers and doctors or politicians or the influential that have the only right to be able to have access to any profession in this country. If they don’t know we must tell that they should go and admit everybody who has passed before the next academic year starts.
Deputy Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, said the GLC and the Ghana School of Law would be acting in bad faith if they fail to heed the resolution passed by Parliament for all the LLB students who obtained the 50 per cent pass mark to be admitted into the law school.
“We are telling the Ghana law school that they continuously frustrating students, they are making the study of law unattractive. I know that the post call students they had started lectures , they started last week but for the Professional law they are starting next week,” he said on the floor of the House.
“It is not too late to admit them because they have passed,” he added.null
In a subsequent interview with TV3’s Komla Klutse, Mr Afenyo-Markin said “For anybody who may think that they may exercise a discretion not to respect our directive, I will say, that will be in bad faith for them to fail to respect this directive of Parliament.
“We have a responsibility and we are simply re-echoing what they themselves have said publicly. That is why we added that yes, the Learned Attorney General with oversight responsibility should ensure that they comply with the resolution passed by Parliament.
“If a body, recognized by law will refuse a resolution of parliament then I think that body does not believe in the rule of law and I don’t think that is what the General Legal Council and Ghana School of Law will do. It has the Chief Justice as its head and we believe that he as Chair will take this in good faith and quickly take steps to address this.
“I will not want to go into the issue of contempt, whether if they fail we would have to take another step. We know that the constitution is clear on failing to comply with parliamentary orders but I don’t think we will get there.”
This development emerged at a time the Human Rights Division of the Accra High Court adjourned the case brought before it by some ‘failed’ LLB students against the General Legal Council (GLC) and the Attorney General (AG).
On Friday October 29, the court presided over by Justice Nicholas Mensah Abodakpi adjourned the case to November 9 after the Attorney General requested for a short adjournment to file certain processes.
“With the consent of the parties and their lawyers this case would be adjourned to Nov 9, 2021,” the judge is reported to have said.
The students are demanding that the court “further retrains the respondents from treating the applicants as students who failed the said examinations pending the final examination of this matter on grounds set forth and such further orders the court may deem fit.”
They also want a declaration that the failure of the 2nd respondent (the Attorney General) to reign in the 1st respondent for the conduct of the 1st Respondent as stated constitute a dereliction of the 2nd respondent’s duties under Act 32.
Former Central Regional Minister, Kwamena Duncan, has responded to the remarks by the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference in which the Bishops bitterly complain about the administration of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
The President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Most Rev. Philip Naameh, speaking at this year’s plenary assembly of the Association in Wa on Monday, November 8, accused government of not protecting the public purse.
“Though poverty stares us in the face, it appears lost to those with power. The expressed commitment of the President of the Republic to protect the public purse, a promise that citizens welcomed, seems to be an illusion now,” he said.
He questioned; “Are those managing the public purse not concerned about waste and misapplication of resources that belong to all Ghanaians? Can this be referred to as irresponsible use of power or the lack of compassion and empathy?”
The Most Rev. Philip Naameh further cautioned politicians against taking the will of the electorate for granted, saying “those who are entrusted with power that comes from our collective will must know that what they do with that (power) shapes what we all will become in the future”.
The Catholic Bishops also bemoaned the economic situation confronting the populace, highlighting challenges in various sectors of the economy with emphasis on education, cyber crime, health, prostitution among others and admonished the government to find a lasting solution to the challenges.
Kwamena Duncan, in reply, finds the Bishops’ statements to be baseless as he argued on Peace FM’s ‘Kokrokoo’ Wednesday morning that the Bishops failed to state the basis for the claims.
Describing the claims as ‘omnibus’, the former Minister sent a word of caution to the Bishops saying, “if care is not taken, we will get to the point where every politician is quote unquote corrupt. What that means is that then we will be undermining the very governance system and [the consequences] I’m saying that this country cannot be the consequences”.
“This is an omnibus allegation against politicians, and what that means is that you may imperceptibly be causing a certain lack of confidence in politics, in governance and the consequences will not also be good for our country, for democracy and even the church,” he stressed.
He, however, noted that he isn’t in support of politicians engaging in corrupt practices or any wrong thing but he also wouldn’t accept that the Bishops make false accusations.
“Me, I will be part of those who will condemn a politician who does wrong. I will be part. If me, myself, I’m involved in any wrongdoing; look, I submit myself to condemnation. But if I also have no basis, it is unacceptable that I do politics or in my capacity as a politician, Minister, Deputy Minister, President that it’s easy that as for politicians, you can accuse them left, right, center and go scot free; then a paramount Pastor, I join the bandwagon. That is not fair. That is not proper.”
According to him, the present economic decline is more shocking when viewed against the backdrop that this administration has been the most fortunate government in the history of Ghana in terms of the quantum of resources received.
Speaking at a forum in Accra on Wednesday November 10 as part of his thank you tour of the region, he said “The tragedy of our current national situation is that we have a government that appears completely unwilling to acknowledge the problems and even begin the process of addressing them. We are instead confronted with an administration that believes that these major problems can be wished away through PR, sloganeering, divisive rhetoric, populism, and plain political deception.
“Take our present economic state for example. At a time when everyone is crying out over the excruciating hardships brought on by excessive taxation, ever increasing cost of living, weekly fuel price increases, this government chooses to recite a hackneyed mantra, that there are indicators that show that the economy is doing well.
“Even if we were to overlook the mismatch between these claims and the very visceral suffering and pain people are going through in their daily lives; it beggars belief, that the same people saying this were only six years ago, dismissing any linkage between the welfare of Ghanaians and economic indices.
“They said, then, that they had visited markets and were not experiencing single digit prices as the inflation rate then would dictate. They insisted then, that the best way to measure the strength or otherwise of the fundamentals of the economy was to look at the exchange rate, for its depreciation would expose the weakness therein. These days however, even as the exchange rate depreciates to very worrying levels, they say we have strong economic fundamentals.
“Beyond these spirited linguistic acrobatics, the plain truth, which we all see and feel, is that the Ghanaian economy is in deep crisis. At the micro level, we feel the heavy impact of a troubled economy when we go to the market and find prices of basic items rising with alarming rapidity. We also feel it when we go to the fuel station and find that the already high price of fuel has been increased again.
“We further feel it when our rents are increased or when we get onto the trotro and find that fares have gone up because of increases in fuel prices. Importers feel the pinch because duty at the ports have become almost impossible to pay due to the amount of taxes slapped on them.
“The daily struggle of Ghanaians to make ends meet would be impossible to recount in one address. The question we ask, however, is how have things moved from bad to worse so quickly when we were promised a much better and more affordable standard of living? I would say this is the direct result of the mismanagement of the Ghanaian economy by its current managers. The present economic decline is even more shocking when viewed against the backdrop that this has been the most fortunate government in the history of Ghana in terms of the quantum of resources received
Former President John Dramani Mahama has said that his party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) willing to engage the Electoral Commission (EC) in constructive dialogue with a view to addressing the clear shortfalls of the present electoral process and fashion out one that meets the expectations of all if we are to avoid the unfortunate incidents of 2020.
Mr Mahama had made a number of accusations against the EC after the 2020 polls. He accused the commission of thumb printing one million ballot papers in favour of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
He had alleged when he addressed the Divisional Chief of Prestea Himan, Nana Nteboah Prah, recently, as part of his Thank You tour of the Western Region that “More than one million extra ballot papers were printed, which the EC claimed happened by mistake but on the day of the elections, some of the more than one million extra ballot papers had already been secretly thumb-printed in favour of the NPP.”
The Presidential Candidate of the NDC in last year’s elections added “And, so, all these things dented the credibility of the polls and caused an embarrassment”,
“The former President has said the EC thumb-printed one million ballot papers for the President of the Republic. This is untrue; and it is a great matter that undermines the credibility of the electoral system and should not be ignored.”
But speaking at a forum held in Accra on Wednesday November 10 as part of his thank you tour, Mr Mahama said “We in the NDC have duly learned useful, even if bitter lessons, from the entire episode.
“We are willing to engage the EC in constructive dialogue with a view to addressing the clear shortfalls of the present electoral process and fashion out one that meets the expectations of all if we are to avoid the unfortunate incidents of 2020.
“We have started this process by proposing a number of reforms to the electoral process and we continue to carry out consultations with stakeholders. We look forward to having an opportunity with the Electoral Commission to discuss these reforms and their possible implementation.”
He added “Despite the disappointment of the loss, I deemed it appropriate to extend my appreciation and gratitude to Ghanaians who found me worthy enough to vote for in their millions. The over 6.2 million people who, according to the officially declared results, spent time in long queues over a period of 12 hours to vote for me, deserve all the appreciation I can muster. Their show of support is a great source of encouragement for me and the great NDC, which I led into the election, that we have the trust of Ghanaians and that with the right approach, we will be victorious next time.
“That trust, was also reflected in the spectacular gains we made in the Parliamentary elections in which we moved from 106 seats to 137, marking an increase of 31. It is trite knowledge that but for the underhand manoeuvring and misuse of security agents to overturn the true outcome in several constituencies, we would be in the Majority in Parliament now.
“I acknowledge the participation of those who chose to repose confidence in our opponents and voted for them. I extend thanks to them as well because their decision to exercise their franchise has left our democracy the richer for it.
“To give expression to my eternal gratitude to Ghanaians, I have in the last few months toured the length and breadth of this country to personally convey my thanks for this massive support. I interacted with Ghanaians across the political and socioeconomic divide and experienced the challenges that they are going through, both in rural and urban areas.
“Throughout these interactions, one thing has become resoundingly clear, and it is that our country is not on the right path. We are clearly headed for a major ditch if immediate action is not taken to reverse the trend. I also asked, after listening to many of the people who spoke in these interactions, what we can do collectively to address the excruciating hardship and suffering confronting many a Ghanaian.
“The problems of our country are legion, and hydra headed. As I distilled from my interactions with the people of Ghana on this tour, the most pressing problem is the impact of the ailing economy on livelihoods, prospects and dreams
He said the spectre of tens of thousands of frustrated and desperate young men and women, running and falling over themselves to apply for very limited positions in security agencies, as recently seen, is most heart breaking and deeply disturbing.
“Unemployment has truly become a national security crisis,” he said at a forum in Accra on Wednesday November 10 as part of his thank you tour.
“Here too,” he said “the government’s approach has been one of nonchalance and the bundying about of dubious employment creation figures. This has been coupled with ad-hoc and unsustainable measures that have led to the throwing back onto the street of tens of thousands of NABCO recruits with virtually no hope of finding sustainable employment.
“At the core of our message to the people of Ghana in 2020 was jobs, because the unemployment issue was staggering. And the youth bulge has surely become a major threat to our country. From all the pillars of our policy planks in the People’s Manifesto – Infrastructure for Growth, Fixing the Economy, Tax cuts for jobs, developing a Digitally Functional Economy among others, our focus was on Jobs and Prosperity for all.
“But for the actions of the Electoral Commission and the Supreme Court of Ghana, an NDC administration would have been in place today, and the implementation of our various peoplecentred policies would have provided you, and all of us, better conditions of living than we see today.
“Unemployment continues to plague our country and it is clear this government has no sustainable plan to address it. The botched NABCO experiment has proven not to be the pathway and the means to an end. We need to come together and face youth unemployment head-on.
“The NDC’s one million (Edwumapa) Jobs Creation Plan, the free TVET and National Apprenticeship Programme as contained in our manifesto are still relevant and available for this government to draw on for implementation. If well implemented, we can create an average of 250,000 jobs every year for the youth of Ghana.
“In our manifesto, we also provided plans to make Ghana a 24-hour economy – with three shifts of 8- hours each a day. Our plan was to aggressively diversify our economy, provide more public sector jobs, enhance productivity and add value to our products for export. This would answer Goal 8 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) – Decent work and Economic Growth.
“When I recently addressed the African Economic Congress, I urged Africa to engage and incentivise technology companies to focus on neglected areas and sectors that will impact the lives of our people such as agribusiness and health.
“I further, encouraged Fintech companies to show more differentiation and diversification instead of the seeming over-concentration on creating payment platforms that are high yielding today. I believe, for example, that telemarketing and online internet shopping will continue to offer opportunities for our youth in the distribution value chain.
“These are not things that I talk about in a vacuum. They are well thought through and structured solutions ready for implementation. On pages 41 and 42 of the abridged version of the 2020 People’s Manifesto, we have laid out how a digitally functional economy will be developed to among others build on the infrastructure needed, train and create jobs, ensure expanded financial inclusion, introduce next generation agriculture, cyber security among others
Former President John Dramani Mahama has stated that creating sustainable jobs requires strategic investment in the agriculture value chain, particularly agro-processing where the country has a huge growth potential. To achieve that goal, he said it was important for the government to provide an enabling environment for private sector investment.
Speaking on Accra-based Power FM today (November 9) at the start of his Greater Accra Regional ‘Thank You’ tour, Mr Mahama said, “the opportunities are there if we put our investment in the right places”.
One million jobs policy
He said in the interest of national development, the government could tap into the one million jobs initiative in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) manifesto for the 2020 elections.
He explained that the one million jobs initiative was more focused on creating sustainable jobs in the agriculture sector through the prioritisation of agro-processing.
Mr Mahama noted that as part of the one million jobs initiative, processing plants were to be set up in the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo regions for the processing of cashew.
He also said more attention had to be given to the oil palm industry to create more jobs.
“We believe that investment in these areas in line with the one million job initiatives will create opportunities for many people to earn a livelihood.
The government can look at it and implement it in the national interest,” he said.
Self-inflicted
The former President accused the government of contributing to the unemployment situation in the country through the closure of some indigenous banks that were the main providers of loans for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
He observed that following the closure of the banks, SMEs found it difficult to access loans from the big banks and financial institutions.
He also blamed the government for what he described as “excessive borrowing”.
Mr Mahama said although the public debt had risen from GH¢120 billion in 2016 to GH¢375 billion in 2021, the government had failed to invest in infrastructure and only focused on consumption expenditure.
He said it was worrying that while the government borrowed more, it had failed to put the resources to good use.
Corruption
Touching on the fight against corruption, the former President blamed President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for paying lip service to dealing with the menace.
“He appointed a Special Prosecutor and when Mr Martin Amidu (the Special Prosecutor) resigned, he described the President as the mother serpent of corruption.
This is a big indictment on his corruption fight,” he said.
Again, he said although some government officials were reported to have been involved in corruption, they were cleared through non-transparent processes.
Mr Mahama said the posture by the President to always insist that whistle blowers brought hard-core evidence against public officials before they were investigated did not paint a good picture of someone who was willing to fight the menace.
“There will be cases of corruption in every government but how you deal with them when they occur is what matters,” he stressed.
General hardship
The former President said his tour of the 16 regions this year showed that there was economic hardship in the country.
According to him, the mood across the country was that of despair and disappointment as people had unmet needs because of the government’s unfulfilled promises.
The Minority Caucus in Parliament is plotting the removal of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame from office.××
According to the Minority, the Attorney General must go for disobeying orders to admit the 499 aggrieved law students.
They have therefore filed a motion seeking the removal from office of the Attorney General, because he refused to kowtow to the House’s resolution to the General Legal Council (GLC) to admit the aggrieved 499 law students.
Last week, a bipartisan resolution was passed after the Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, and the Deputy Minority Leader, James Klutse Avedzi, made a case for it by placing a compulsion on the Attorney General and Minister of Justice to see to it that the GLC enforces the resolution.
However, in response, Lawyer Dame told Parliament it does not have the power to direct him to enforce the resolution.
He stated that the directive has no locus, explaining that “We do not want to get to contempt of Parliament issues. Whilst recognising the general legislative powers of Parliament in Ghana, except as have been circumscribed by the constitution, I am constrained to advise that Parliament is devoid of a power, through the use of parliamentary resolutions, to control the process of admission into the Ghana School of Law,” said the Attorney General in his response.
“The mode of exercising legislative power enshrined in Article 106 of the constitution does not admit of resolutions. In accordance with Section 13(1)(e) and (f) of the Legal Profession Act 1960 (Act 32), the power to regulate admission of students to pursue courses of instruction leading to qualification as lawyers and to hold examinations which may include preliminary, intermediate and final examinations has been vested in the General Legal Council.”
Few days after the response from the Attorney General, the Minority Chief Whip, Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka, on Tuesday in a memorandum addressed to the Speaker stated that the Attorney General has impugned the “image and integrity” of the House by refusing to carry out the orders.
Censure Of Votes Against Ministers Of State
According to Article 82 of the constitution, a two-thirds majority of Parliament is needed to pass any vote of censure against Ministers of State after the motion has been debated within 14 days upon receipt of the motion by the Speaker of Parliament.
82 (1) Parliament may, by a resolution supported by the votes of not less than two-thirds of all the members of Parliament, pass a vote of censure on a Minister of State.
(2) A motion for the resolution referred to in clause (1) of this Article shall not be moved in Parliament unless- (a) seven days’ notice has been given of the motion; and
(b) the notice for the motion has been signed by not less than one-third of all the members of Parliament;
(3) The motion shall be debated in Parliament within fourteen days after the receipt by the Speaker of the notice for the motion
(4) A Minister of State in respect of whom a vote of censure is debated under clause (3) of this article is entitled, during the debate, to be heard in his defence.
(5) Where a vote of censure is passed against a Minister under this article, the President may, unless the Minister resigns his office, revoke his appointment as a Minister.
(6) For the avoidance of doubt, this article applies to a deputy minister as it applies to a Minister of state
Black Stars have landed in Johannesburg where they aim to beat Ethiopia in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier on Thursday.
Ethiopia opted to play the match at the Orlando Stadium after CAF banned them from using their home ground, the Bahir Bar Stadium, because it does not meet the required standards for a Fifa World Cup qualifier coupled with the troubles in the Tigray region.
Black Stars arrived on Wednesday with the technical team led by Milovan Rajevac and the playing body by captain Andre Ayew.
THE BLACK STARS 🇬🇭 HAVE ARRIVED IN JOHANNESBURG 🇿🇦 AHEAD OF THEIR #WCQ2022 CLASH WITH ETHIOPIA 🇪🇹
Meanwhile, Deputy Captain Thomas Partey isn’t included as he is still in London because of a groin injury.
US-based Jonathan Mensah – injured – and youngster Felix Afena-Gyan also didn’t make the trip. For the latter, his club AS Roma refused to release him.
Ghana are second in Group G with nine points, one behind leaders South Africa who play Zimbabwe in the same city, raising the stakes in the group.
Should both Ghana and South Africa win their respective games, the group winner will be decided on Sunday at the Cape Coast Stadium where the two meet
The Minister for Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum has urged senior students to desist from bullying junior ones in various senior High Schools in the country.××
According to him, bullying is a thing of the past and must not be entertained in this modern world.
His comments follows the recent bullying of a first year student of the Konongo Odumase Senior High School in the Ashanti Region which lead to his death.
Speaking at a Public Lecture held in Accra on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education for Socio-Economic transformation on Monday, 8 November 2021, the Minister condemned the act of bullying of junior students in schools by seniors known locally as ‘Homo, stressing that ,every necessary thing must be done to put an end to the practice.
The Minister advised students to refrain from such acts by creating a welcoming atmosphere for each other in school and not to become oppressors.
“Homo in schools is a relic of the past and has no space in this century. Fresh students who go to school should be treated like brothers and sisters and not bullied.
Preliminary investigations reveal that, the suspects involved in the case are form 2 students who went on a bullying spree on the night of Friday, 5 November 2021 after prep hours, leading to the attack on the now-deceased Samuna Larhan, aged 17.
The Education Minister has therefore assured of immediate action being taken to ensure that similar action does not occur in schools
Management of Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) is hinting of load shedding following the collapse of communication mast on its 33OkV Aboadze-Kumasi Transmission Line.
The problem the power generation company fears it might be affecting the national power system.××
A statement issued by GRIDCo on Wednesday November 10, 2021 in Accra said “A Communication mast collapsed and fell on the 330kv Aboadze to Kumasi Transmission Line, resulting in in the collapsed of two adjacent towers”.
The incident which took place at Bogoso in the Western Region has affected the national power system and will lead to some load management.
Meanwhile, GRIDCo says it is “working around the clock to replace the fallen towers within the shortest possible time “.
The General Overseer of Glorious Word Power Ministry International, Reverend Isaac Owusu Bempah, has been re-arrested by the police pending the announcement of fresh charges against him.
The pastor has been standing trial along with two others for threatening to kill Nana Agradaa.
The three were re-arrested shortly after they got discharged by the circuit court presided over by Her Honour Afia Owusua Appiah.
It followed a prayer to the court by Chief Inspector Dennis Terkpetey for the accused persons to be discharged in connection with the earlier charges levelled against them.
Their first arrest followed the wide circulation of a video on social media that captured the pastor’s aides brandishing a gun as they threatened to kill Nana Agradaa.
They pleaded not guilty.
The court granted Rev. Owusu Bempah a self-recognisance bail of GHS 100,000.
His aides were each granted bail of GHS100,000 with two sureties.
Also, the pastor was granted a GHS400,000 bail in another case in which he, together with three others: Michael Boateng, Frederick Ohene, and Nathaniel Agyekum, was charged for causing harm and unlawful damage to a police vehicle.
They will appear before the court on 15 November 2021 over these charges
The Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Kwasi Amoako Atta, has said demonstrations do not build roads and wondered why educated people also join such ‘fix our roads’ protest marches.
Speaking to the press after inspecting the 31.7 km Kwafokrom-Apedwa road in the Eastern Region, which forms part of the Accra-Kumasi dualisation project, Mr Amoako Atta said: “It is unreasonable for anybody to say that all roads everywhere should be fixed simultaneously”.
“So, these demonstrations should stop”, he commanded.
“Sometimes, you get people who are supposed to know better, well-educated people who should advice their colleagues, joining demonstrations”, he observed.
“Demonstrations don’t build roads,” he added.
Mr Amoako Atta said he has instructed the contractors on the project to make sure they execute it quickly and open the stretch to the public by the end of 2021.
“I have charged the contractors to ensure that they complete the stretch of the road covering a distance of 31 km by the end of the year”.
“I have asked them to introduce night work to compensate for any delay,” he said
Vice-president Dr Mahamudu Bawumia on Tuesday, 9 November 2021, swore into office a 13-member Governing Council of the Ghana Prisons Service in Accra.
Dr Bawumia charged the Council, led by Most Rev Peter Paul Yelezuome Angkyier, with members including the Minister for the Interior, Ambrose Dery; and Buipe-Wura Mahama Abdulai Jinapor II, to be mindful of the rise in population and the increasing trend in crime, and take steps toward transforming the prisons into centres of reformation and rehabilitation.
Dr Bawumia said the government is committed to the passage of the Prisons Bill, and will work with all stakeholders to both re-tool the Prisons Service and work toward the introduction of non-custodial sentencing alternatives to decongest the prisons
Mrs Samira Bawumia, the wife of Vice-president Mahamudu Bawumia, has called on the global community to incorporate more female perspectives in the design and implementation of clean energy solutions.
The wife of the Vice-President, was speaking at the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 Energy Access event, organised by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), ENERGIA and Global Women’s Network for the Energy Transition (GWNet) at COP26, currently being held in Glasgow, Scotland.
According to the wife of the Vice-President, incorporating more female perspectives will enable the world achieve SDG7 by the year 2030.
SDG7 is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly geared towards ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
The Minority is seeking the removal of the Attorney General from office for supposedly undermining or disrespecting Parliament.
The Minority in Parliament has filed a motion asking the Speaker of Parliament to trigger the necessary processes for the House to pass a vote of censure against the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame.
This follows Mr. Dame’s refusal to facilitate the admission of some 499 students who were denied admission to the Ghana School of Law despite Parliament’s order.
The motion means that the Minority is seeking the removal of the Attorney General from office for supposedly undermining or disrespecting Parliament.
Parliament had directed the General Legal Council, through the Attorney General, to admit the 499 candidates, but the office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice had said the request is illegal.
It said Parliament cannot direct the GLC on processes for admission into the Ghana School of Law just by a resolution.
“Whilst recognizing the general legislative powers of Parliament in Ghana, except as has been circumscribed by the Constitution, I am constrained to advise that Parliament is devoid of power through the use of Parliamentary resolutions, to control the process of admission into the Ghana School of Law”, a statement from the AG’s office mentioned. The response from the office from the AG has not sat well with the Minority, who has called on the Speaker of Parliament to take swift action.
“That this Honorable House passes a vote of censure on the Honourable Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame, in respect of the following conduct: Refusal, without justifiable basis, to implement the resolution of this Honorable House unanimously passed on October 29, that the General Legal Council admits into the Ghana School of Law 499 students who sat for and passed the entrance examination of the Ghana School of Law for the 2021/22 legal year in accordance with its own published grounds rules, impugning the image and integrity of this Honorable House through statements unbecoming of the holder of the office of Attorney General and Minister of Justice of this Republic”, a memorandum from the Minority Chief Whip, Muburak Mohammed Muntaka to the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin had said.
Mr. Dame recently came under public criticism after he emphatically stated that practicing law is a privilege and not a right.
He said this during the induction ceremony of new executives of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) earlier this week.
“Mr. President and new executives, you owe a duty to drive home the point that the practice of law is not a right, it is a privilege. Along with it comes a moral obligation and a legal duty to uphold the dignity of the profession to ensure that the privileged call to the bar is not abused through unprincipled and disreputable conduct,” he advised.
Constitution on censure of votes against Ministers of state
According to Article 82 of the constitution, a two-thirds majority of Parliament is needed to pass any vote of censure against Ministers of State after the motion has been debated within 14 days upon receipt of the motion by the Speaker of Parliament.
82 (1) Parliament may, by a resolution supported by the votes of not less than two-thirds of all the members of Parliament, pass a vote of censure on a Minister of State.
(2) A motion for the resolution referred to in clause (1) of this Article shall not be moved in Parliament unless- (a) seven days notice has been given of the motion; and (b) the notice for the motion has been signed by not less than one-third of all the members of Parliament;
(3) The motion shall be debated in Parliament within fourteen days after the receipt by the Speaker of the notice for the motion
(4) A Minister of State in respect of whom a vote of censure is debated under clause(3) of this article is entitled, during the debate, to be heard in his defence.
(5) Where a vote of censure is passed against a Minister under this article, the President may, unless the Minister resigns his office, revoke his appointment as a Minister.
(6) For the avoidance of doubt, this article applies to a Deputy Minister as it applies to a Minister of state.
Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, has assured that justice will be served in the murder of the Konongo Odumasi Senior High School student, while calling for an end to bullying in schools.
“I’ve spoken to the parents of the students involved. I can assure you that justice will be served,” he stressed and called for an end to bullying in Senior High Schools (SHS).
Dr Adutwum said this at an event organised to update the public on gains made in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) at the Academic City University College, Accra.
He said senior students in SHSs were to create a welcoming environment for their juniors instead of bullying them. Dr. Adutwum said the practice was barbaric and called on school authorities and other stakeholders to ensure discipline in schools.
“This practice has no place in the 21st century. Senior students are to help their juniors to appreciate the school environment and develop their skills and talents,” he stressed.
The Minister said the high school curriculum was going to be enhanced and structured towards industry needs with STEM being a key feature of the high school curriculum to help students develop their interests and talents before they got to the tertiary level.
“Our development as a country is hinged on education. Therefore, we need to restructure our education system to meet contemporary needs,” he reiterated.
The Police arrested five students of the Konongo Odumasi Senior High School for allegedly stabbing a 17-year-old student identified as Sam-una Larrham to death.
The students, who are in Form Two, after prep on Friday, allegedly ganged up with the intention to bully their juniors. However, some Form One students resisted the intimidating actions of their seniors resulting in one of the students stabbing the deceased.
Ningo Member of Parliament Samuel Nartey George, has told Gabby Otchere Darko, a leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NDC) that the filaure of the Eurobond should not be blamed on the anti-gay bill that is currently before Parliament.
In the view of Sam George, the problems with the Eurobond had to do with the shambolic and abysmal economic performance of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo,
His comments come after the Daily Statesman newspaper which is published by Gabby Otchere Drako had carried on the front page of the Tuesday edition that “Ghana’s bond flop blamed on Sam George analysts says anti gay advocacy could have serious economic implications.”
Earlier, Gabby had said in a tweet that the bill will only lead to Ghana being blacklisted for promoting hate.
“Gay+ activities are already illegal in our country. But, we aren’t known to hate. The President has given his word he won’t legalise it.
“This Bill only serves one purpose: to get Ghana blacklisted for promoting hate! Surely, the promoters of the Bill can’t say they aren’t aware,” the leading member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) said in a tweet.
But responding to Gabby, Sam Goegr in a Facebook post said “Dear Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, you give me too much credit. Even though I wished I could see the back of your Cousin’s government as quickly as possible, I am not as powerful as you claim.
“The problem with Ghana’s Eurobond is the shambolic and abysmal economic performance under Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
“When the head of your economic team has become a twisted tech conman, it fails to engender trust in your economy.
“The fundamentals are weak and the international markets are exposing you. Ghana’s once enviable bonds are turning to toilet paper under your watch. This is all on you lot and no one else.
“Even the most gay financial analyst is thinking of profit as his bottom line. Your bonds do not offer that. Anyway, Ghana beyond aid! Let’s go
The circuit court on Tuesday asked the police to release all the phones they seized from Shatta Wale and his support team to them
The Circuit Court in Accra has on Tuesday (9 November) ordered the police to release a mobile phone belonging to dancehall artiste, Charles Nii Amarh Mensah, popularly known as Shatta Wale, to him.
The judge Emmanuel Marvin Essandoh also ordered the police to release the mobile phones of three other persons – Kojo Owusu Koranteng, Shatta’s personal assistant, Eric Vanetor, a graphic designer and Iddrisu Yussif, a beautician – to them.
The police seized their mobile phones to assist in investigations. The phones were released upon the request of their lawyer, Jerry Avenorgbor, who argued it amounted to a breach of their fundamental human rights.
The case has been adjourned to 7 December 2021.
The case
Shatta Wale is on a self-recognisance bail after spending a week in police custody over false publication. He has pleaded not guilty for publication of false news and causing fear and panic when he first appeared in court last week.
The other three were also charged with abetment of criminal and were also admitted to GHC100, 000 bail each with one surety, who should be a public servant.
Arrest
The police on Tuesday (19 October) arrested Shatta Wale over alleged gunshot attack.
“After we publicly declared him and one other person wanted, the suspect, Shatta Wale, turned himself in today Tuesday 19 October 2021, at 8.59pm.
“He has been arrested to assist the police in investigations for his alleged involvement in the creation and circulation of information intended to cause fear and panic,” the statement from the police said.
“Preliminary investigations by the police reveal the widely reported gunshot attack on Shatta Wale yesterday Monday, 18 October 2021 was a hoax,” it added.
“No one will be spared if police investigations point to their possible criminal culpability in this matter. We want to caution any individual or group to desist from making false claims and engaging in acts, capable of disturbing the peace of the country because the law will come after you,” the statement said
Ghana is in a state of despair, former President John Dramani Mahama has said.
Mr Mahama said he discovered the hopelessness after touring the country to thank Ghanaians for their votes in the 2020 election.
Speaking on Monday, 8 November 2021 ahead of his last tour which is scheduled to be in the Greater Accra region on Tuesday, 9 November 2021, Mr Mahama said the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the lies of the government.
In an interview on Accra-based TV XYZ, he said he observed during his tour across the country that: “We’re in a state of despair; people are sad, people have regretted because this is not what the government promised them.”
“Before the elections, they did a lot of things, i.e., free water, free light, free this and they spent GHS11.9 billion of the COVID funds from March to December and a lot went into convincing people”.
“They gave small business loans via MoMo of about GHS2,000 but today, we are all paying that back,” he stated.
According to the 2020 flagbearer of the main opposition NDC, the economy is in tatters.
He said: “Very soon the finance minister will be presenting the budget and you’ll realise the economy is in tatters”.
“They said the economy was resilient and the vice-president said if there was any external shock, for six months, Ghana will not need any external intervention. But within two weeks of COVID, we went to the IMF for money. What happened to that resilient economy?” he quizzed.
In his view, everything the government promised and said was “lies”.
“The economy had no buffers and, so, within two weeks of a COVID situation, [there was a] lockdown; we were begging the IMF for money… , so, it shows there’s a certain culture of lying about things and all that to deceive Ghanaians and we can see that it has all unravelled and the truth is here for all to see,” he added
The main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has said it has not consented to any branded T-shirts or paraphernalia bearing the inscription; “Do or Die”.
This was disclosed by the National Communication Officer of the party, Sammy Gyamfi, in a statement on Tuesday, November 9, 2021.
According to the party, its attention has been drawn to branded paraphernalia, including T-shirts with the inscription; “Do or Die”, making the rounds on various social media platforms.”
It continued that the paraphernalia which bear the official logo and colours of the party, “appear to portray violence under a misguided and malicious misrepresentation of “Do or Die,” a statement which was made by the former President John Mahama during his ‘Thank you tour’.
It added that: “Neither the NDC nor any of its assigns has sanctioned these paraphernalia which are the obvious creation of some faceless individuals who are up to mischief” and urged the general public “to disregard such images and treat them with the contempt they deserve
• Former President Mahama has accused Dr Bossman Asare of harbouring disdain towards him
• The NDC wants independent probe into election 2020
• NDC further requests EC Chairperson to open herself up for interrogation
Former President John Dramani Mahama has stated that the Deputy Electoral Commissioner in Charge of Corporate Services, Dr Bossman Asare, by his demeanour and actions comes off as someone who holds a personal grudge against him.
Speaking on the EC’s response to his allegations of fraud in the 2020 presidential election, Mr Mahama in an interview with TV XYZ noted that the deputy chair in addressing the press conference made it look like he was addressing his arch-rival.
“He comes off as an NPP person. His posturing, his body language and everything. The way he was arguing with me the time he was reading their response was like he was fighting with his rival. I mean the way he was going about it; it was as if he has a grudge with me,” Mr Mahama said.
But according to the former president, the National Democratic Congress as a party has its eyes on the EC Chairperson, Madam Jean Adukwei Mensa, whose bias is not that apparent to open herself up to an investigation on their allegations.
“Right from the start he described the NDC as an existential threat to democracy, he has already declared his stance and so we have no hope in him. The person we have hope in is Jean Mensa because she is the Chair of the Commission and so she bears the ultimate responsibility, not Bossman Asare.
“For him, we know he is an NPP man. I know he is an NPP man, we know his track record at the University of Ghana before he became commissioner. He was an NPP man and so for him, we don’t talk about him,” he emphasized.
Former President Mahama, who was the 2020 presidential candidate of the opposition NDC, has on several occasions accused the EC and the government of perpetrating fraud in the elections.
The EC on the other hand has refuted the claims insisting that the authenticity of the 2020 election results is evident in the Supreme Court decision to reject Mr Mahama’s petition against the declaration of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as the winner.
Mr Mahama, on the other hand, has been making demands for an independent probe into the elections of 2020.
Defense counsel for Dr Frederick Yao Mac Palm, one of the accused persons standing trial for alleged treason, has told Staff Sergeant Sule Kwadwo Awarf, prosecution star witness, that the idea of the alleged coup d’état has been his brain-child.××
“The idea of coup d’état has been your brain-child and you spared no effect to bring out various ideas and suggestions in furtherance of that,” the defense counsel said during a cross examination of the witness.
However, Staff Sergeant Awarf said that was not true, “if I was part, I would not charge him for him to pay us for our Service,” he added.
The Defense counsel insisted that Dr Mac Palm and Bright Alan Debrah, alias “BB” were just actively involved in the Take Action Ghana (TAG- a non-governmental organization founded by Dr Mac Palm) activities.
Mac Palm’s lawyer said he (Sule) was the one who kept pushing BB that he should be serious and that his (Sule’s) men were ready but Sule answered that that pressure came from Dr Mac Palm.
Counsel retorted that all the videos played showed that his client had not featured in any of them.
Yes, my lord, Sule answered, saying that he (Mac Palm) being the big man cannot be attending meetings all the time, so they (Sule and BB) attended the meetings and later briefed him about the progress.
The lawyer disputed and said what Sule told the court that they did the discussions and later brief Mac Palm was not true. But Sule disagreed and said after their last meeting, he and BB proceeded to Mac Palm’s Hospital to brief him about the fee for the soldiers and where to get the weapons.
In another instance, the lawyer pointed out to Sule that in one of the videos, he even proposed contract killing of the executives but Sule said he was asking Mac Palm how he wanted it because he contracted them.
“What he wanted from us is what we will do for him. Dr Mac Palm was asking whether we would chase the captives (President and key members of government) to their house one by one, so I asked whether it was in the form of contract killing and he said no, we should rather capture them and separate them in different places.
Defense counsel: “What You told the court is not born by the video watched, nowhere did Mac Palm object to anything in like manner, the Court heard.
Sule: He didn’t speak louder because he was afraid someone might record him.
On the issue of securing some weapons to augment the locally made ones by Donyo Kafui, alias Ezor, the lawyer said Sule was heard in the video bargaining for the procuring of the G3 rifle and AK 47.
Sule said the bargaining was done by BB because Mac Palm asked the two (Sule and BB) to look for the assault rifles to buy, adding that he did not know where they sold them as well as guessed the prices at between GHC5,000 and GHC6,000 just to please Mac Palm.
“You didn’t only mention the price range (GHC5000-GHC6000) of weapons but also in previous video, you stated where it could be procured,” the lawyer quizzed and Sule answered in the affirmative, stating that because he (Mac Palm) told them to get the weapons, “so I intentionally told Dr Mac Palm that they cannot be gotten unless conflict areas like Bawku,”.
The Defense counsel challenged the date, time and duration of the video recordings and Sule insisted the device was not tampered with and it was used as it was handed to him by his superiors.
Dr Mac Palm, Chief Executive Officer of the Citadel Hospital, Donyo Kafui, black smith, BB, Freight Manager, Johannes Zikpi, Signaller with the Ghana Armed Forces, Warrant Officer Class Two (WO2) Esther Saan, Corporal Seidu Abubakar, Corporal Sylvester Akanpewu, Lance Airforce Corporal (LAC) Ali Solomon, Colonel Kojo Gameli and Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Benjamin Agordzo are being tried over varied alleged crimes including conspiracy to commit crime, high treason, possession of weapons and abetment of crime.
They have all denied the offence and are currently on bail
Director of Elections for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, has said the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) is trying to divert attention of Ghanaians from the mismanagement of the economy by harassing Madina Member of Parliament, Francis-Xavier Sosu.
In his view, Sosu’s issue is being used to intimidate Ghanaians from demonstrating against the economic difficulties they are saddled with at the moment.
Mr Afriyie Ankrah told TV3’s Evelyn Tengmaa in an interview on Friday November 5 that “It is an agenda, the NPP is under pressure, they stole the elections and they cannot manage the economy. Do you know the debt to GDP ratio? It is 90 per cent.
“They are going back to the IMF that they condemned. The country is in a mess, nothing is working. So, these are all diversionary tactics, they want to use fear and intimidation.
“This country does not belong to Akufo-Addo and his people, it belongs to all of us.
“You cannot have one section of the people being treated one way and another being treated the other way. What about Hawa Koomson who fired the gun? She herself said ‘I fired the gun’.”
Meanwhile, the case involving Sosu has been adjourned to November 16 after the Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin told the court in a written letter on Monday November 8 that Sosu is out of the country on parliamentary duties.
After proceedings the Madina Constituency Secretary for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Abdul Razak told journalists that “The court made it clear to the lawyers that they received a letter from the speaker of parliament that the honorable member of Parliament is on parliamentary duty outside the country and he has been sent by the speaker and I think he is has been sent together with other ranking members .
The case was adjourned to November 16 by the Kaneshie District Court in Accra.
The Police had officially charged him for causing damage to public property.
The Director General, Public Affairs Directorate of the Police Service, ACP Kwasi Ofori, said on Wednesday November 3 that he had been duly served and was expected to appear in court.
“The Police has obtained a criminal summons and has been duly served for him to appear in court on November 8…as we enumerated the charges includes obstructing the highway, causing damage to public property,” he said.
The National Democratic Congress MP had led some of his constituents to embark on a demonstration against deplorable roads in his constituency.
The demonstration started peacefully at Danfa around 6:00am but later saw demonstrators burning tyres and mounting roadblocks on the Ayi Mensah-Danfa Road.
Sosu has however denied saying “That any allegation of the Police about my involvement in unlawful blockade of road and destruction of public property is false and an afterthought carefully manufactured by the police to shift attention of the people of Ghana from the key issues of bad roads raised by our protest and demonstration.”
Tullow Ghana has announced on Monday November 8 that it has taken delivery of the MV Flat Confidence following the successful Offshore Vessel Inspection Database (OVID) testing on 5th November 2021.
The MV Flat Confidence vessel is the first Ghanaian-owned, Ghanaian-flagged marine vessel to support offshore activities in the oil and gas industry in Ghana.
The MV Flat Confidence was acquired by Flat C Marine Offshore Limited, following a long-term contract granted by Tullow Ghana to the company that enabled them to raise finances to procure the vessel.
In 2020, Tullow Ghana embarked on an initiative to develop the local capacity of the oil and gas industry through the adoption of the marine sector with the aim of creating opportunities for indigenous Ghanaian companies to own and operate vessels to support the oil and gas industry, and upscale the capacity of Ghanaian personnel in the marine sector.
The presence of the Flat Confidence vessel reflects Tullow’s commitment to develop and support capability growth to international standards in marine sectors. The marine sector adoption initiative aims at enhancing indigenous participation with 100% Ghanaian-owned and operationally Ghanaianflagged offshore vessels.
This is also part of Tullow’s Shared Prosperity agenda which includes optimising local content and developing supplier capacity.
The 71-meter long and 19-meter wide vessel will be operational in the Western region of Ghana and will support the work of Tullow Ghana’s two FPSOs – Kwame Nkrumah and John Evans Atta Mills.
Commenting on the historic achievement, Managing Director of Tullow Ghana, Wissam Al Monthiry said: “As a leading oil and gas company in Ghana, we recognise the active leadership role we must play to develop local capacity for participation in the oil and gas industry.
That is why last year, we adopted the marine sector to develop local capacity in that sector to support the oil industry. We are extremely happy to have achieved this and we appreciate our key stakeholders, joint venture partners, Government of Ghana, Ports and Harbours Authority, the Ministry of Energy and the Petroleum Commission for their efforts in helping us make this possible. Hopefully this is the start of something progressive.”
Oil companies in Ghana play a significant role in accelerating the socio-economic development of the country. Over the years, Tullow and its partners have succeeded in empowering and supporting Ghanaian businesses to participate in the oil and gas industry
The Minister of Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye has said that while government makes all the necessary efforts to avert tidal waves from happening, coastal residents should also avoid practices that expose them to vagaries of the rising sea levels.
According to him, there have been reported cases of sand winning, uprooting of mangrove along the coastal stretch.
If these continue, he said, the investments by government cannot yield the needed protection.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra on Monday November 8, in connection with the tidal waves that affected Keta and its environs on Saturday, November 6, that has destroyed properties and rendered about 700 people homeless in the area that “I must reiterate that Government acknowledges the urgent need to permanently address the devastating effects of tidal waves in the affected towns of Agavedzi, Salakope, and Amutsinu communities in the Ketu South Constituency.
“These communities are on the same coastal stretch as Blekusu, also in the Ketu South Constituency. This coastal stretch is characterized by narrow beaches and the effects of tidal waves along the coastal stretch can be very devastating, and consequently result in beach erosion, loss of land, property and sometimes extensive flooding in the event of wave overtopping.
“The erosion of the beaches also impacts negatively on fishing, which is the main source of livelihood of the communities along this coastal stretch.
“As part of measures to curb these devastating incidences in these towns, in July 2015, the Ministry of Works and Housing engaged Messrs Amandi Holding Limited to design and construct coastal protection works along this stretch, starting from Blekusu and working towards Agavedzi, Salakope, and Amutsinu under the Blekusu Coastal Protection Project.
“The project, which protects 4300 metres (i.e., 4.3 kilometres) of the coastal stretch, had the first phase completed in July 2019, and has since functioned effectively, protecting lives, livelihoods and properties while reviving fishing activities.”
He added “The Ministry of Works and Housing (Government) notes the sense of urgency for undertaking the second phase of the project to protect Adina, Agavedzi, Salakope, and Amutsinu communities and others to the east of Blekusu. To this end, the Ministry is commenced urgent steps to implement the second phase of the project.
“The Ministry has finalized the Evaluation of the relevant proposal to start the works under the second phase of the project.
“It is important to note that in April 2021, a technical team from the Hydrological Services Department of the Ministry, upon my directive, travelled to the affected communities to engage the Municipal Chief Executive of Ketu South Municipal Assembly and some community leaders on the matter of the implementation of the second phase of the project. I have also had the opportunity to visit these communities, together with the technical team from the Ministry and the Hydrological Services Department, in June this year, to have a first-hand understanding of the situation.
It is envisaged that the completion of the works envisaged under the second phase of the project will cover a minimum coastal stretch of 8,000 metres (8 kilometres) and this will surely ensure the total protection of the people of Agavedzi, Salakope, and Amutsinu communities and other affected communities within the Constituency that continue to bear the brunt of this occasional disasters.
The scope of works under the second phrase of Blekusu Coastal Protection Project (Phase 2) entails the construction of 37 armour rock groynes, with land reclamation, to protect eight (8) kilometres of coastal stretch.
“The Ministry is currently engaging the Ministry of Finance to raise the needed funding for the implementation of the second phase. It is important to note that value addition is critical in ensuring that a platform for recouping the capital investment is provided. Thus, in addition to protecting lives and properties, the works under the Blekusu Coastal Protection Project (Phase 2) will protect the beaches and its environs against encroachment by the sea, arrest the current environmental deterioration, mitigate the social and economic consequences of beach erosion, and strengthen the economic and production base of the area through enhanced fishing activities.”
Parliament, on Friday, 5 November 2021, failed to vote on a motion to adopt the report of the Finance Committee on the Annual Report on the Collection and Utilisation of the African Union Import Levy for the 2020 Fiscal Year, as a result of the lack of quorum.
The Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Andrew Asiamah Amoako, who presided over the business of the house, initiated moves for the chamber to engage in public business after a debate on the Business Statement for the following week.
First Deputy Minority Whip and Member of Parliament (MP) for Banda, Ahmed Ibrahim drew the attention of the House to the fact that by his reckoning, the Members in the House did not exceed 91, which fell below the number required for business to commence.
The Deputy Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo insisted that business continues for at least 10 minutes to ostensibly enable MPs observing proceedings from their offices as a result of the Covid-19 protocols to resume their seats in the legislative chamber,
Kweku Kwarteng, the Chairman of the Finance Committee subsequently moved the motion for the adoption of the Report which was subsequently seconded and debated but the Deputy Speaker had no luxury to put the question to vote as another constitutional issue was raised.
The Deputy Minority Leader James Klutse Avedzi drew the Speaker’s attention to Article 104 of the 1992 Constitution which states that matters in Parliament shall be determined by the votes of the Majority of Members present and voting, with at least half of all the Members of Parliament present.
An attempt by the Deputy Majority Leader to call for a head count was aborted as Minority NDC Members of Parliament began exiting the parliamentary Chamber as counting was ongoing while a visibly worried Second Deputy Speaker brought proceeding to a close, thus putting the vote on hold.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwesi-Amoako Atta was in the House to answer 10 constituency-specific questions in respect of the bad and deplorable conditions of roads in those constituencies and plans the Ministry has to award them on contrast.
The constituencies are Adentan, Evalue-Ajomoro-Gwira, Yendi, Nalerigu/Gambaga, Afram Plains South, Builsa South, Wa Central and Prestea/Huni-Valley
The rejected Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) nominee of Juaben in the Ashanti Region, Mr Alex Sarfo Kantanka, will, on Tuesday, 9 November 2021, appear before the Special Prosecutor (SP).
This follows the commencement of investigations into “allegations of corruption and corruption-related offences” against him by the office of the Special Prosecutor.
A letter signed by Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng directing Mr Kantanka to appear before him, said: “The OSP considers you a person necessary for investigations.”
The SP also gave Mr Kantanka the option to appear before him with a lawyer.
Mr Sarfo Kantanka was granted a self-recognisance bail by the police after his arrest on Monday, 1 November 2021, for allegedly bribing assembly members to confirm him as the MCE for the area.
The rejected MCE nominee was heard in a video asking for a refund of bribes he had paid to the assembly members to endorse his nomination.
The Juaben Municipal Assembly nominee, also known as ‘Aluta’, was heard saying: “Everyone should get ready to give me a refund, so, I can go. Dorothy, give me my money. You should all give me a refund. Yeboah, give me my money.”
“You don’t know me, right? You guys said I’m not good. You have taken my money and you’re misbehaving. I’ll take my money”, he’s heard saying in the video.
A statement issued by the police and signed by its Public Affairs Director, Mr Alexander Kwaku Obeng on Tuesday, 2 November 2021, indicated: “The arrest was in connection with a viral video of the nominee,” who was allegedly demanding a refund of the monies.
It added: “After the investigation, a caution statement was taken,” and Mr Katanka was “granted bail.”
The nominee was unable to secure the two-thirds majority of the votes cast to become the MCE.
He could only manage six out of the 26 votes cast in the first round
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo has left Ghana for Praia, Capital of Cape Verde, to attend the swearing in ceremony of H.E Jose Maria Neves, President-elect of Cape Verde.
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