Half of the 400,000 extra students who benefitted from the Akufo-Addo government’s free senior high school programme were girls – a situation that deprived most middle-class families of house helps – since the girls’ parents went for their wards from such homes so they could access free secondary school education, Vice-president Mahamudu Bawumia has revealed.

Speaking at the launch of the Konkomba Education Endowment Fund on Sunday, 7 November 2021, Dr Bawumia said: “An additional 400,000 students have benefitted from Free SHS half of them were girls; many of whom would have been at home because their parents could not have afforded [SHS education]”.

“In fact, when we implemented Free SHS, a lot of middle-class families in Accra and the other cities were finding it difficult to get house girls because the parents of the girls came for them and put them in school”, he noted.

“So, Free SHS has been very beneficial for the girl-child in education”, said Dr Bawumia.

Justifying the policy, Dr Bawumia said: “We introduced Free senior high school education to create equal opportunities for the poor without compromising quality”.

He said despite the good intentions of the policy, “there were those who opposed and bastardised” it.

“They said ‘it was a hoax; a 419 promise’.”

“They said if they had GHS2 billion, they will not spend it on Free SHS. They said Free SHS would collapse the education system”, he recalled.

“In fact, if we had listened to them, if we had listened to them, Free SHS would not have happened”, Dr Bawumia insisted, “But, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo stuck to his guns and we successfully implemented the Free SHS policy”.

He observed: “Thankfully, the predictions of doom for Free SHS have not materialised”.

Buttressing his point, he said: “The recent results of the first batch of Free SHS graduates, has shown that quality has not been compromised”.

“Indeed, the 2020 results of the WASSCE candidates is the only year in the past six years that more than 50 per cent of the candidates who sat the examination, obtained between A1 and C6 in all core subjects. This is the first time in six years

The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) has been adjudged Africa’s best investment promotion agency for the third year consecutively by the Capital Finance International magazine (CFI.co).

In the citation for the award, the CFI.co highlighted GIPC’s multi-level approach to investment attraction – leveraging technology, social media, and other ingenious initiatives to deliver on its mandate.

It further touted the Centre’s effectiveness, in fashioning and supporting ground-breaking measures that have enhanced Ghana’s investment climate.

The GIPC has in recent times upscaled its activities to keep up with changing business trends, as it seeks to continually provide top-notch services to investors.

The Centre adopted a dynamic system that makes aggressive use of digital media, coupled with high-level stakeholder engagements and business-to-business (B2B) linkages.

It has also broadened Ghana’s investment pool, with increased advocacy for Diaspora Direct Investment (DDI), followed through by the establishment of a Diaspora Investment Desk (DID).

This compounded with the set-up of an Aftercare Division, aimed at providing post-investment services to nurture lasting stakeholder relationships.

Moreover, in line with the global drive for sustainable investments, the GIPC collaborated with the UNDP to launch the SDG Investor Roadmap, which aims to mobilize private-sector investments to advance the Sustainable Development Goals.

The aforementioned multifaceted drive by the Centre, helped it to attract an impressive amount of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) amid the COVID-19 crisis, leading Ghana to rank as the best country in West Africa to invest, per the latest report by the Rand Merchant Bank.

It, therefore, becomes unsurprising that, the GIPC has again, been pronounced the best IPA in Africa, by CFI.co, for the third year running.

The prestigious award arrives, right at the time, when the Centre’s CEO, Mr Yofi Grant, has been reelected as the Director for Sub-Saharan Africa on the Steering Committee of the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA).

Commenting on GIPC’s recent feat, Mr Grant opined that the award is “testament to the great work being done by the Centre and the progress it has made so far”.

He added that “the Centre will continually strive to do more, to ensure that Ghana cements its place, as the investment hub of Africa”.

Aside from the GIPC, other big winners of this year’s CFI.co awards included; the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), Mckinsey & Company, JPMorgan Chase & Co., China Construction Bank (CCB), Germany’s Commerzbank (CBKG.DE), and the UK’s NatWest Bank, the new CFI.co award adds to other respected honours the Centre has received over the last few years.

It was similarly named the best Investment Promotion Agency in West and Central Africa for five years in a row, by the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) awards.

AIM is the world’s leading investment-focused event, initiated by the UAE Ministry of Economy, to acknowledge and enrich institutional, corporate and individual investors.

The Takoradi Habour Circuit Court A has granted GHS50,000 bail to journalist Paa Kwesi Simpson, one of the suspects involved in the false kidnapping case at Mpohor in the Western Region.

The court granted bail to the host of Takoradi-based Connect FM’s morning show on Monday, 8 November 2021.

He is to provide two sureties.

The court had earlier denied bail to the two suspects on Thursday, 4 November 2021 over the alleged false publication of the kidnapping of 26-year-old Stephanie Kumiwaa.

Both have been charged with the publication of false news with the intent of causing fear and alarm to the public contrary to the Public Order Act; and false publication of news through an electronic device contrary to the Electronic Communications Act, 775 of 2008.

Prosecutor Superintendent Emmanuel Basintale, who read the charge sheet, prayed the court not to grant bail to the two accused persons.

The two pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The defence counsel, Mr Ebo Donkor, in his plea, said: “So, A1 must be treated as a victim”, arguing: “The police have not been able to tell the court that it is false that he actually had a relationship with the girl and didn’t publish anything to be guilty of the second count”.

He continued: “For A2, it is very unfortunate for him to find himself here. The fact does not, in any way, suggest that A2 made any false statement anywhere”.

“A2 has never published any false news anywhere.”

The two are expected to reappear in court on Tuesday, 16 November 2021.

The Takoradi Divisional Police Command recently launched investigations into the alleged kidnapping of the 26-year-old woman.

The incident was alleged to have taken place on Sunday, 17 October 2021, and was published in the media.

A statement issued by the Ghana Police Service and signed by its Western Regional Head of Public Affairs Unit, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Olivia Adiku on Wednesday, 3 November 2021, however, revealed that the incident was false.

“Checks at the Mpohor Police District Command indicated that no such case had been reported there.”

According to the police, following the publication of the incident, it arrested the “alleged boyfriend of the victim, 33-year-old Stephen Kumi” and one other person, Paa Kwesi Simpson, “who published the story” to assist them with investigations.

They were later arraigned

The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has sworn into office, a new Governing Board for the Veterans Administration of Ghana (VAG), in line with the Veterans Administration, Ghana Act (Act 844).

The 13-member Board is led Maj. Gen Clayton Yaachie (Rtd), and includes Brig. Gen Amoah Boakye, Col Emmanuel T Darquah (Rtd), Capt. Ben Edmund Duah (Rtd), Hon Maj Derek Oduro (Rtd), Maj Anim Alex (Rtd), Ex-WO1 Koranteng Samuel Smart, Ex-WO1 Omane Joseph Evans, Ex-WO1 Dozie Kwesi Gyilley, Ex-WO1 Daniel Kwateng, Hon Cecilia Amoah, and a representative each from the Ghana Armed Forces and the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare.

Inaugurating the Board at the Jubilee House on Monday, 8th November, 2021 Vice President Bawumia reiterated the commitment of the Commander in Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, H.E. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to the welfare of the retired soldiers.

“I wish to congratulate our veterans and service men and women for their patriotism, love and willingness to serve and sacrifice for our dear nation, Ghana.

“They dedicated their lives to the service of this country and also offered important services and aid to other nations in need. Their welfare and well-being are, therefore, a national obligation that we cannot neglect.

“The welfare of our veterans, attracts the greatest attention of this government. The President and Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, identifies with the interests of our military veterans. He is committed to furthering the cause of veterans and supporting VAG projects and programmes.”

Government, he said, is aware of the key issues of great interest to the military veterans, such as encroachment on VAG’s landed properties, pensions, health-related issues, and livelihood for those strong enough and eager to work and support family.

“I wish to reiterate His Excellency the President’s commitment to resolving these issues and uplifting the welfare and well-being of our cherished veterans. Furthermore, this government is determined to ensure that VAG is managed in line with best practices that will yield results to the benefit of all military veterans”, he assured.

He charged the new Board to resolve the contemporary challenges facing veterans and military widows, and make their tenure of office a memorable one.

“It is my prayer that you will move the affairs of VAG beyond the expectations of its members. I have no doubt that you would have provided the required directions and guidance for VAG to improve and increase the welfare of our military veterans by the end of your tenure.

“I entreat you to ensure that the needs of our veterans are well taken care of. Let us serve them well as they have served our nation

Professor Stephen Adei, an educationist and economist has called on “independent voices” in the country to speak up and contribute to the development of Ghana.

Prof Adei said the development of the country cannot be left for the politicians alone.

Speaking on Asaase FM, he said, “What is needed is independent voices and people who don’t depend on the system for survival. And I believe that especially people in academia have a lot more to do. People in businesses are very vulnerable because our system has a way of crippling your business irrespective of what you are doing for Ghana if you get to the wrong side of the politician.”

He cited social media commentary as the reason why some “sane voices” are not being heard.

“…especially these social media insult that’s why you don’t hear people like Kwame Pianim, Ishmael Yamson; these are people who have brains but they don’t talk because a serial caller will just insult you…

“I think that certain voices must be heard. I think that there is too much silence and therefore the only people you are hearing are these politicians.”

He added, “But there is the need for independent voices that put Ghana first [to be heard] and you won’t get from the typical politician because of their trade… I can tell you, we need only 50 sane voices and Ghana will change.”

Source: asaaseradio.com

The Konongo-Odumasi District Court today, Monday, 8 November 2021, remanded five students of the Konongo Odumasi Senior High School, for seven days.

The students are standing trial for the murder of their colleague.

The minors are being kept at the Juaso juvenile detention centre.

Preliminary investigations reveal that the suspects are form 2 students.

According to a statement issued by the police, signed by its Director-General, Public Affairs, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ASP) Kwesi Ofori,the suspects “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 victim was rushed to the Konongo Odumase Government Hospital for treatment but was pronounced dead on arrival.”

The statement added that the “police is in contact with the family of the deceased and providing them with all the necessary support”.

The police said it is of the “firm conviction” that “bullying and other forms of punishment among students must be discouraged by all to guarantee the safety of students who are the future leaders of this country.”

The police, therefore, advised parents and guardians to “caution their children against engaging themselves in such unlawful conduct.”

The Konongo District Police Commander, DSP Osei Adu Agyemang, who confirmed the arrest of the students of the school earlier, stated: “These five suspects who are all in Form 2, ganged up and decided to go to House Three and then bully the first years”.

“They first attacked and assaulted some of them”.

“They further moved to the mini-market on campus and grabbed another first-year student and attempted to drag him away to molest him but he was rescued”, he narrated.

“This action infuriated Emmanuel Osei Frimpong [the key suspect] who went and attacked a first-year student but was stopped by the deceased

Leaders in the West African sub region have expressed reservations about the volatile political situation in Mali.××

They think the manner in which the transitional administration is handling matters there could distabilise the peace in neghbouring countries.

A communique issued after an extraordinary meeting of the authority of head of States and government in Accra on Sunday said “the Authority remains concerned about the deterioration of the security situation in Mali, as a result of the heightened political uncertainties in the country.”
It has therefore called on the Transition Authorities to intensify their efforts to improve the security situation, especially by ensuring effective state presence in the affected areas.

“In this context, the Authority calls on the neighbouring countries to step up security presence along their borders with Mali and instructs the ECOWAS Commission to deepen the ongoing discussions with the African Union Commission with a view to enhancing the security situation in the Sahel”, it said.

They have also called for a more robust and offensive mandate and enhance the operational capacity of Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali to deal with terrorism challenges in that country.

ECOWAS has thus resolved to request the United Nations Security Council to make the necessary amendments to the mandate of MINUSMA.

Transition Process

On the political front, the Chair of ECOWAS informed the Authority of the official notification by the transition authorities of their inability to meet the transition deadline of February 2022.

The Authority highly deplored the lack of progress made in the preparations for the elections,  including the absence of a detailed timetable of activities for the conduct of elections on the agreed dates.

The Authority therefore reiterated the need to adhere to the transition timetable in respect of the elections scheduled for 27th February 2022 and calls on the Transition Authorities to act accordingly to ensure expeditious return to constitutional order.

Accordingly, the Authority has asked the International Community to take the necessary measures to ensure that the transition authorities respect their commitment to an expeditious return to constitutional order.

In conformity with the decision taken on 16th September 2021,  it has also decided to impose sanctions with immediate effect against individuals and groups who have been identified, including the entire Transition authorities and the other transition institutions.
These sanctions will also be imposed on the members of their families.

The sanctions include a travel ban and a freeze on their financial assets.

It further instructed the President of the Commission to consider and propose additional sanctions at its next Ordinary Session on 12th December 2021, should the situation persist.

They have also called on the African Union, the United Nations, and the bilateral and other multilateral partners to endorse and support the implementation of these sanctions whilst condemning the expulsion of the ECOWAS Permanent Representative to Mali in this critical context.

They have since asked the transition authorities to uphold the spirit of dialogue and collaboration with the ECOWAS Commission to ensure a successful transition.

Resolution On Guinea

On the political transition in Guinea, the Authority reaffirmed its demand for the unconditional release of the deposed President, Alpha Condé.

It took note of the recent developments in Guinea, particularly the adoption of the Transition Charter, the appointment of a civilian Prime Minister and the formation of the Transition Government.

That notwithstanding, it urged the Transition Authorities to urgently submit a detailed timetable of activities to be carried out under the transition towards the holding of elections, in accordance with the decisions of the Extraordinary Summit of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government held on 16th September 2021.

The Authority still upheld its decision to suspend Guinea from all ECOWAS governing bodies as well as the travel ban and freeze of financial assets imposed on the members of the CNRD and their family members, until constitutional order is restored.

They have since appointed Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas as Special Envoy to Guinea with a view to strengthening dialogue with the Transitional authorities towards a successful and short transition process

The Director of Elections for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Elvis Afriyie Ankrah has asked the Minority lawmakers to reject any body guard to be given to them by the government.

In his view, the new guards have become a threat to the Members of Parliament (MPs).

This follows the interdiction of the body of Madina MP, Francis-Xavier Sosu.

Inspector Agbavor was cited for alleged misconduct, forming the reason for his interdiction.

He is accused to have recklessly driven into a crowd after a protest on the Ayi Mensah-Danfa Road, endangering the lives of two senior officers and other civilians.

The Parliamentary Protection Unit was tasked to assign a new guard to the first-time MP.

Speaking on this matter in an interview with TV3’s Evelyn Tengmaa, Mr Afriyie Ankrah said “If I were the Minority MPs I would reject all those body guards because they have become a threat.

“If a body guard is performing his lawful and dutiful functions and because of that the Police service will withdraw the person then it doesn’t add up.  Because he did his duty as somebody who is meant to protect his subject. But for protecting his subject you said you have interdicted him. So are all the other MPs safe? Who knows if they are not being even spied on.”

Meanwhile Sosu is expected to make an appearance before court today Monday November 8 to answer questions relating to his alleged involvement in a violent protest in his constituency.

This comes after 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.”

South Danyi Member of Parliament, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekopr however, revealed that as of Saturday November 6, Sosu on parliamentary duties outside of the country.

Mr Dafeamekopr has therefore, refuted claims by the Police that he had been served the criminal summons to appear in court.

Speaking on the Key Points show on TV3/3FM Saturday November 6 with host Dzifa Bampoh, Mr Dafeamekopr said “Sosu has not been served, he is not even available at the moment.

“I think that there will be an opportunity for Sosu to be served. But I heard something very interesting from  ACP Kwesi Fori. He actually said to the whole country that they have issued a criminal summons and the Honorable Sosu has been duly served. That is a blatant falsehood.

“The Honorable Sosu as we speak is on Parliamentary duties outside of this country. He is likely to return tomorrow or Monday.”

When Dzifa drew his attention to the fact that Sosu’s personal assistant may have been served the summons he retorted saying “You don’t serve criminal summons on aides

The case involving Madina Lawmaker Francis-Xavier Sosu has been adjourned to November 16 by the Kaneshie District Court in Accra.

The prosecution told the court on Monday November 8 that they had received a letter from the Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin indicating that Sosu is currently on parliamentary duties out of the country.

Earlier, Sosu’s colleague MP for South Danyi Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, revealed that as of Saturday November 6, the embattled lawmaker was not in Ghana.

Mr Dafeamekopr therefore refuted claims by the Police that he had been served the criminal summons to appear in court.

Speaking on the Key Points show on TV3/3FM Saturday November 6 with host Dzifa Bampoh, Mr Dafeamekopr said “Sosu has not been served, he is not even available at the moment.

“I think that there will be an opportunity for Sosu to be served. But I heard something very interesting from  ACP Kwesi Fori. He actually said to the whole country that they have issued a criminal summons and the Honorable Sosu has been duly served. That is a blatant falsehood.

“The Honorable Sosu as we speak is on Parliamentary duties outside of this country. He is likely to return tomorrow or Monday.”

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

Speaker

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has told the court in a written letter that the Madina MP Francis-Xavier Sosu is out of the country on parliamentary duties.

This was announced on Monday November 8 when the case involving Sosu was called.

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 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

John Dumelo-Melo Foods

Actor turned Politician cum farmer John Dumelo has outdoor a new product from his ginger farm. Organic ginger paste from Melo Foods is the hottest item on the market at the moment.

Political Activist John Dumelo started entrepreneurial advocacy as soon as he turned into a farmer. Taking his fans and the youth on his entrepreneurial journey, he has become a strong advocate for self-sufficiency and sustainability.

Over the weekend, John Dumelo shared a new product from his farm, organic ginger paste. He captioned the Instagram post, “Adding value to ginger. Fresh from the farm. No preservatives. #Melofoods On the market soon.

Adding value to our raw products has been a continuous discussion in the public sphere to create more value for Ghanaian products on the global market. Unfortunately, unrefined products do not fetch in as much revenue as value-added-product would.

Wishing Melo Foods a sustainable journey on our markets and beyond

Parliament will this week begin considering memoranda it has received from the public on the anti-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI) Bill.

The Bill, also known as Proper Human Sexuality and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, is now before the Parliament’s Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.

So far, the Committee has received over 150 memoranda from the individuals, groups and faith-based organizations and has programmed to hear ten petitions each week.

Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, made the announcement when he presented the Business Statement for the third week ending, Friday, November 12, 2021, to the House.

Mr Afenyo-Markin also explained that per calculations the Committee would be hearing ten memoranda in a week, meaning it would take 15 weeks to complete the exercise.

He said after the Committee had finished the hearing, it would prepare a report and present it to the House.

“It is important that all those who brought the memoranda are heard by the Committee,” he added.

The Bill, since its introduction last July by eight Members of Parliament (MPs) from both sides, has generated numerous comments and reactions from both proponents and opponents, including legal luminaries and academics.

However, both sides of the House have indicated their readiness to outlaw the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI ) practices in the country based on its culture, morality and values.

The Speaker of the House, Alban Bagbin, while sticking to the position of outlawing the practice, has, however, indicated that the House would not engage in filibustering the proposed piece of legislation.

He further indicated that the House would conduct an open hearing into the Bill and a vote on the Bill would be done publicly.

GNA

President Akufo-Addo has disclosed that the government has settled the Energy Legacy Debt.

The President made this known during the swearing-in ceremony of the Governing Board of the Public Utilities and Regulatory Commission at the Jubilee House.

Ghana’s energy sector is believed to be plagued with billions of accumulated debt for decades.

This is generally referred to as the legacy debt. This has resulted in the government’s inability to occasionally purchase fuel for the production of power and pay independent power producers leading to intermittent power outages.

President Akufo-Addo disclosed that the government is negotiating with independent power producers, IPPs, to make power affordable.

“Government has enhanced the financial system through several interventions including paying out the energy legacy debts. Furthermore, negotiations with seven independent power producers…The terms of whose contract retains substantial financial charges on the State are ongoing. All in the view of ensuring that power is affordable for industrial commercial and residential use”, according to President Akufo-Addo.

Source: gbcghanaonline.com

Lawmaker for Madina, Francis –Xavier Sosu, is expected to make an appearance before court today Monday November 8 to answer questions relating to his alleged involvement in a violent protest in his constituency.

This comes after 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.”

Meanwhile, South Danyi Member of Parliament, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekopr has revealed that as of Saturday November 6, Sosu on parliamentary duties outside of the country.

Mr Dafeamekopr has therefore, refuted claims by the Police that he had been served the criminal summons to appear in court.

Speaking on the Key Points show on TV3/3FM Saturday November 6 with host Dzifa Bampoh, Mr Dafeamekopr said “Sosu has not been served, he is not even available at the moment.

“I think that there will be an opportunity for Sosu to be served. But I heard something very interesting from  ACP Kwesi Fori. He actually said to the whole country that they have issued a criminal summons and the Honorable Sosu has been duly served. That is a blatant falsehood.

“The Honorable Sosu as we speak is on Parliamentary duties outside of this country. He is likely to return tomorrow or Monday.”

When Dzifa drew his attention to the fact that Sosu’s personal assistant may have been served the summons he retorted saying “You don’t serve criminal summons on aides

 President Akufo-Addo ,Alassane Ouattara, President of the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire at the ECOWAS summit

Heads of State and governments of ECOWAS, say demand for expeditious return to constitutional rule in Guinea and Mali not negotiable

Heads of State and governments of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), have reaffirmed their demand for expeditious return to constitutional rule in the Republics of Guinea and Mali within the shortest possible time.

In a communique issued on the 7^th of November 2021, after they held an extraordinary session on the political situation in Guinea and Mali, at the Kempinski hotel gold coast city in Accra, the Heads of State indicated that they remain deeply concerned about the deterioration of the security situation in Mali, as a result of the heightened political uncertainties in the country.

ECOWAS Demand

They (ECOWAS leaders) therefore called on the Transition Authorities to intensify their efforts to improve the security situation, especially by ensuring effective state presence in the affected areas.

“The Authority reiterates the need to adhere to the transition timetable in respect of the elections scheduled for 27th February 2022 and calls on the transition Authorities to act accordingly to ensure expeditious return to constitutional order”.Some of the ECOWAS leaders who attended the summit stand as the ECOWAS anthem is played

“Accordingly, the Authority calls on the International Community to take the necessary measures to ensure that the transition authorities respect their commitment to an expeditious return to constitutional order” the communique stated concerning Mali.

Guinea Situation

On the political transition in the Republic of Guinea, the Authority reaffirms its demand for the unconditional release of President Alpha Condé. The Authority further indicated in the communique that it “takes note of the recent developments in Guinea, particularly the adoption of the Transition Charter, the appointment of a civilian Prime Minister and the formation of the Transition Government”.

ECOWAS urged the Transition Authorities to “urgently submit a detailed timetable of activities to be carried out under the transition towards the holding of elections, in accordance with the decisions of the Extraordinary Summit of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government held on 16th September 2021”.

“The Authority decides to uphold the suspension of the Republic of Guinea from all ECOWAS governing bodies as well as the travel ban and freeze of financial assets imposed on the members of the CNRD and their family members, until constitutional order is restored” the communique read.

Guinea Envoy / Next Review

The Authority appointed H.E. Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas as Special Envoy to Guinea with a view to strengthening dialogue with the transitional authorities towards a successful and short transition process. Additionally, the situation in Mali and Guinea ECOWAS leaders said will be reviewed at the Ordinary Summit of the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government on 12th December 2021.

Opening Ceremony

President Akufo-Addo in his opening statement as chairperson of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) at the opening ceremony of the Extraordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government on the political situation in the Republics of Guinea and Mali, said ECOWAS leaders will deliberate on two reports to be laid before the leaders at their close door session.

According to President Akufo-Addo, a report on his visit to Guinea on the 17^th of September 2021 and same to Mali on the 17^th of October 2021, will be given consideration at the ECOWAS leaders meeting.

“Since these visits, the military governments of both Mali and Guinea have sent delegations to meet with me here in Accra to outline their plans for the future. Those will be the subject of our closed door meeting” President Akufo-Addo said.A cross-section of other attendees and ECOWAS leaders at the summit

*Heart-rending Events in West Africa*

President Akufo-Addo, on behalf of ECOWAS also expressed the solidarity and sympathies of the Authority with Niger and Sierra Leone, where two target events which occurred claimed over one hundred lives. The President led ECOWAS leaders to observe a minute silence in memory of the victims and the population of the two countries.

“On Tuesday, 2^nd November, more than 68 Nigerian civilians were killed in an attack by jihadists groups in Banibangou near the Malian border. The information was confirmed on November the 4^th by the government of Niger” President Akufo-Addo said.

“On Saturday, November the 6^th, about a hundred Serra Leoneans perished after an oil tanker collided with a lorry in Freetown. Some hundred people are in the hospital after sustaining injuries during the explosion. We express our deep regrets and condolences on these sad incidents” ECOWAS chair President Akufo-Addo added

 Operations manager of the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo), Ing Mark Baah

The Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) has given assurance that the days of erratic power supply, popularly known as “dumsor”, are over

The Operations manager of the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo), Ing Mark Baah, has said the government’s vision of revamping the country’s energy sector to provide stable and reliable power to Ghanaians is on course following the completion of the Accra Central and the Pokuase Bulk Supply Plant (BSP).

“We want to improve on our transmission capacity, and we do that because we are planning the system in such a way so that should any part of the country go off as a result of maintenance or fault, the customer should not even sense it because the remaining BSPs can come in to support,” Ing Baah told the media in Accra on Sunday (7 November).

According to him, though other energy sector projects like the Kasoa BSP, upgrade of major transmission lines between Accra and Tema and the upgrade of transmission lines in Kumasi are still ongoing and will be completed soon, the government has so far worked to significantly reduce the congestion on the existing ECG feeders which “will result in improved reliability of power supply to meet the growing power demand in the country.”

Though the country is enjoying stable supply of electricity, these projects he explained, when completed will further lead to the reduction in technical losses along GRIDCo’s transmission system and ECG’s power distribution networks, thereby improving the financial viability of the utilities as well.

He said the days of erratic power supply, popularly known as “dumsor”, occasioned by the lack of investment in the sector brought “so much discomfort, inconvenience and sent a lot of Ghanaian businesses on their knees are over”, stressing that the current upgrade in the country’s transmission capacity will help improve the socio-economic conditions of Ghanaians

A teacher has been put before an Adentan Circuit Court for allegedly defiling a student and sexually molesting another.
Joshua Aggrey is said to have had sex with one of the victims now aged 16.
In the case of the other victim aged 13, Aggrey allegedly fondled her breasts, neck and buttocks in his house.
The accused person is being held over charges of defilement and indecent assault.
He is accused of fondling the 13-year-old victim’s breast, neck and buttocks with the intent to arouse her sexual feeling.
The Court, presided over by Sedinam Awo Balokah, preserved the accused person’s plea awaiting the medical reports of the victims.
Aggrey has been remanded into Police custody to reappear on November 16.
Prosecuting, Chief Inspector Jacob Nyarko, who held brief for Chief Inspector Maxwell Lanyo, said the complainant was also a teacher.
The prosecution said the complainant, the accused person and the two victims were in the same school.
Chief Inspector Nyarko said the complainant had information that the accused person was having sexual relationship with some of the students.
The prosecution said the complainant, following the information, engaged the victims, with one alleging that the accused person had had sex with her when she was not yet 16 years.
It said the 13-year-old victim also informed the complainant that the accused person used to fondle her on different occasions in his house but he did not have sex with her

A bridge on the 35-kilometre road from Assin Anyinabrim in the Assin South District to Breman Asikuma in the Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa District has caved in.
The bridge, constructed four decades ago had shown visible signs of collapse and eventually caved in after hours of torrential rains accompanied by windstorm that hit the area Friday night.
No casualty has been reported, but the area had been barricaded to caution commuters against any tragedy.
Communters had to use long alternative routes from Assin Nsuta- Bepokokoo-Breman-Awhiam road or the Assin Manso-Breman Asikuma stretch.
The Assin Anyinabrim community mostly farmers and residents used the bridge regardless of its threat to them.
Some road users in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on Saturday, appealed to Government to repair the road to ensure smooth and safe transportation of goods and people.
“We are going through unbearable difficulties of sending our farm produce to market to make ends meet”, Madam Grace Addo, a 55-year-old farmer lamented.
“A quick response to our appeal to the Assin South District Assembly and government to fix the road would save the situation,” she said.
A teacher, Theophilus Amakye Mensah, appealed for an alternative route to be created with dispatch to enable students cross to school.
“Many students who cross the bridge everyday from the Breman Asikuma section cannot do so from now. The bridge has become a death trap so many parents won’t allow their children and wards to use it at the peril of their lives,” he stated.
Mr Frederick Dankwa, the Assemblyman for Assin Anyonabrim Electoral Area, regretted the situation and indicated that the Assembly in collaboration with the Department of Feeder roads were working to remedy the situation.
He acknowledged the glaring imminent collapse of the bridge and attributed it to the recent use of some heavy machinery and equipment by a contractor working on a section of the road.
Similarly, in Assin-Homaho, a farming community in the Assin South District, river Atonsu had overflown its channels and cut off the community from Assin-Fosu, the only accessible route to the Assin-Fosu Municipality.
Commuters and many farmers were stranded for hours on both sides of the river following the Friday evening downpour.
Though, there was no casualty, portions of the road which is under construction were washed away by the floods.
Other Affected communities are; Assin-Yaw Boamah, Mfanti, Abaasi, Domiabra, Haruna, Appiakrom and Akoyem

Nana Aba and Abena Korkor after the show on Saturday

General Manager of Ghone TV, Nana Aba Anamoah has responded to allegations by ex-TV3 presenter, Abena Korkor that she slept with some influential persons in Ghana.
In an interview on UTV’s United Showbiz program on Saturday night, she said it’s all lies. “She’s spewed a lot of lies about me,” she noted.
“Abena is on social media saying all sorts of rubbish about me and they were all falsehood. Typically, Ghanaians believed it…but these things I don’t talk about them because I don’t have the time. The only person I am worried about is my son because he sees them and it hurts him,” she added.
Nana Aba spoke after Abena Korkor made a surprising appearance at UTV’s studio to render an unqualified apology to her.
According to Abena, she was so sorry to have caused Nana Aba pain by saying stuff she shouldn’t have said when she suffered a relapse as a result of her bipolar issues.
“In my relapses, I said certain things that I shouldn’t have said that resulted in so many unnecessary things. I feel remorseful and wouldn’t want to go down the line fifty years and my story would be that people then wanted to build something with me I just dragged them now in a very negative way. I don’t want that to be my story,” she said.
“I hope today will be the beginning of something new. Something that will last. If she forgives me, this will not be the first time, she’ll be forgiving me. She has called me several times as a big sister and advised me on things I shouldn’t do anymore and how I should carry on with a brand I should create for myself. She has advised me on so many occasions. Sometimes things get out of hand and I say certain things. So before all of you, I want you to help me apologise to her,” she pleaded.
“In the past, I was giving ways out but I was scared to follow those things and I’m now ready to follow those things. Now I have more faith and conviction that my relapse that’s what happened was my relapse. I’m back to the Abena Korkor before the hullabaloo,” she added.
Nana Aba accepted her apology but had to clear the air on the allegations against her and her news anchor at Ghone, Serwaa Amihere.
She said she was disappointed by Abena Korkor’s action but holds nothing against her and will continue to help Abena Korkor if she avails herself.
“I am lost for words to be honest because I don’t know Abena from anywhere. When her first issue came she was then in UCC (University of Cape Coast), I looked for her number and I called her. I asked her not to give up and go back to school to write her exams. Abena is extremely intelligent so I was encouraging her,” she disclosed.
“Recently when she had her issues with the station she was working with, I called her back because I felt she was talking too much. I called her to my office and told her that let’s change the trajectory, let’s change the narrative… and talk about mental health. I asked her to bring a proposal and she did it within two days. She sent a brilliant proposal. I want us to do something on mental health, not just on TV but to go to schools and communities and call on the UN because we don’t take health seriously. And that’s what I wanted to do for her,” she further said.
But she added that “Three days later Abena is on social saying all sorts of rubbish about me and they were falsehood. Typically Ghanaians believed it…but these things I don’t talk about them. I don’t have the time. The only person I am worried about is my son because he sees them and it hurts him. And I was wondering: Abena me so I just forgot about it. A Plus called me I said it’s ok, let it slide. Then the girl that I nurtured, the girl no one believed in, the girl who has given all sweat and energy to become who she is today, Serwaa, Abena comes on Instagram, cooked some crap about Serwaa and for the next two-three weeks it’s about Serwaa.”
“Serwaa was in a lot of pain just because of what she started and I don’t know at what point we will stop blaming bipolar for it. She has apologised. I am not Jesus Christ, I am not God so I can’t pretend to hear her. I have nothing absolutely against Abena Korkor. She’s spewed a lot of lies about me and now she is apologising. She will always be a special human being to me. I just hope that she means her words going forward,” Nana Aba stated

At least six persons have sustained gunshot wounds after indiscriminate gunshots during the enstoolment of a top national security capo as Akyampimhene of Suhum in the Eastern region on Saturday, November  6, 2021.

The victims were rushed to Suhum Government Hospital in an ambulance.

The injured include ushers and drummers at the traditional event.

The gunshot incident occurred in the house of the newly enstooled chief Nana Amoako Darko after a firearm being carried by a police officer went off.

Starr News has gathered that some of the victims were in critical condition.

The enstoolment of the top national Security capo at the Jubilee House, Nana Amoako Darko as Akyampimhene of Suhum brought a joint team of about 100 armed national security operatives, Military and Police who took over the streets of Suhum amidst indiscriminate firing of live bullets into the air.

The gunshots escalated when the Nana Amoako Darko was being paraded in town to show him to the subjects.

This created fear and panic among residents of suhum

The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), has urged its members not to increase fares until it concludes negotiations with the government at its upcoming meeting on Tuesday, November, 9 2021.

According to the Union, even though its talks with government to scrap some taxes and levies placed on petroleum products have not been fruitful, a meeting with government on Tuesday will determine if transport fares will be increased or not.

Speaking to Citi News, the General Secretary of GPRTU, Godfred Abulbira Adogma, said “…as it stands, we are going to meet government this Tuesday, to discuss the way forward on the increment of fuel prices. So, we are cautioning our members to hold on unless the discussion on Tuesday is concluded before we can know the actual line of action, whether there will be fare increment or levies will be reduced”.

He further added that, their main focus is not on the increment of fares which will in turn put pressure on people, but rather they want government to scrap off some taxes and levies placed on petroleum products.

“This time round we don’t want to be in a hurry to go and calculate and go straight to increase the fares just to pass on the burden of the fuel increment unto the consumer. Practically, we are focusing on whether or not some of the levies on petroleum products can be scrapped off, so that is what we intend to achieve coming Tuesday.

Ghanaians want to see a reduction in transport fares following the removal of the Price Stabilization and Recovery Levies (PRSL) on petrol, diesel, and LPG for two months as approved by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA).

But the GPRTU has advised the public to be measured in their expectations for a reduction in transport fares.

The union has accused the government of acting in bad faith despite contractual assurances of stabilizing the prices of fuel that will lead to maintaining transport fares at least in the short term since they were last increased in June 2021.

Fuel prices have in the past few months witnessed upward and downward adjustments, with the recent being an increase of 2.59%, a situation, industry players have criticized.

In a related development, the much-anticipated temporary suspension of some levies in the price build-up of fuel at the pumps is yet to take effect even as the second pricing window commences.

This is because Parliament is yet to give the NPA the approval needed to scrap the levy.

Source: Kennedy Twumasi

Two women have been arrested by the Police for operating a fufu ‘chop bar’ under the Malam overpass in Accra.

The Police action happened after EIB broadcaster Francis Abban posted a video of the chop bar on Facebook  Saturday morning.

The two, Ruth Owusu, 32, and Mary Entia 35  are currently in the custody of the Accra Police while their Cooking Utensils, mortar, and pestles have been retrieved.

In August this year, two persons were arrested by Police for running a fufu joint on the pavement at the Pokuase Interchange

Former President John Dramani Mahama has said the outgoing Japan Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency Tsutomu Himeno built on the diplomatic and developmental relations between the two countries.

Mr Mahama said his service to Ghana was remarkable.

In a Facebook post, he said “I had the opportunity to bid my friend, His Excellency Tsutomu Himeno of Japan, a happy farewell at the end of his tenure in Accra.

“Thank you for your services to Ghana and for helping build on the diplomatic and developmental relations between our two countries.”

Read below the full statement of His Excellency Tsutomu Himeno when he first arrived in Ghana in 2018…

I am happy to introduce myself as Japanese Ambassador to the Republic of Ghana.

I arrived in Ghana in December 2017.

I am very happy to be here.

Ghana is known by its history of achieving its independence in 1957 ahead of the “Yeay of Africa” 1960 and of having played a very important role in that regard.

Ghana, the country of Freedom and Justice, and Japan are united by our shared values such as democracy and the rule of law.

Japan and Ghana have enjoyed good relations in their long history thanks to so many people such as Medical Dr. Hideyo Noguchi who came to Ghana to conduct research on Yellow fever but died here in May 1928, 90 years ago.

Other examples contributing to our good relations are long-time business relations such as cocoa-bean trade from Ghana to Japan, economic cooperation from Japan to Ghana over decades in multiple areas including Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers across the nation, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges in many ways.

I am looking forward to making my contribution, with your help, to further promoting the good Japan-Ghana relations, building on the invaluable contribution by so many of you.

Our entire team of the Embassy will do our best to help strengthening friendly relations between Japan and Ghana and would appreciate your kind advice and cooperation.

Tsutomu HIMENO

Source: 3news.com|Ghana

 Gideon Boako, spokesperson to the Vice-President

Dr Gideon Boako at the Office of the Vice-President says the digitisation agenda by the government is creating more jobs to stimulate economic growth

Dr Gideon Boako, the spokesperson to the vice-president, has said digitalisation is playing a critical role in the government’s quest to reduce the rate of unemployment in the country, despite a contrary claim by the opposition.

The Communications director of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi, has said that Ghana’s challenges do not lie in digitalisation.

“Of what use is ‘E-this and E-that’ to the ordinary Ghanaian who is jobless and cannot even afford to buy mobile data to access these digital platforms?” he asked.

“Digitalisation is good. It helps people to do things effectively with ease. The NDC/Mahama administration has a superior record in that regard. But digitalisation is useless unless it is linked to the economic empowerment of the people,” Gyamfi added.

Digitisation creating jobs

Reacting to the comments at a news conference on Friday (5 November), Dr Boako said digitalisation is rather making life easy for Ghanaians by creating more jobs.

“There is also the contention on how digitalisation can help create jobs or reduce the rate of unemployment. Someone even said ‘y33p3 adwuma a wose digitalisation’ to wit, ‘we need jobs and you are talking about digitization’. But I dare say that digitalisation is making it possible for many jobs to be created in both the private and public sectors,” Dr Boako said.

“Think of that young university student or graduate who does not have the required start-up capital to rent physical space or shop to ply her trade. She is able to skip this hurdle and trade using the social media platforms like Instagram, facebook and so on. Her shop is her dormitory or hostel, car booth or bedroom. She is able to advertise her products, get orders and receive payments through the mobile money interoperability with no hustle.

“She has a job now and hires a delivery man to deliver the goods to the buyer, thereby creating job for the delivery man also. The volumes of trade taking place via this technologically driven medium and the number of people employed in this space could be mind-blowing. There are many people today, who have turned their home kitchens into restaurants, yet no one visits them physically to eat. They advertise using digital technology, receive orders using digital technology, receive payments suing digital technology and move their incomes to bank accounts using digital technology. This is how digitization is creating jobs,” Dr Boako stated.

Below is the full statement

Good afternoon. It is an honour for me to join you all here today for such an important conversation. This interactive session with you will center on Ghana’s digitization agenda and how it fits well into President Akufo-Addo’s vision of building a modern Ghanaian economy anchored on digital technology. It is a conversation and political resolution that we must have as a country if indeed we want to be equally competitive in the global space.

Thankfully, the current political leadership led by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is showing the needed interest and commitment to create a modern Ghanaian economy that can compete favourably globally and conform to the dictates of the fourth industrial revolution.

Undoubtedly, the global development paradigm is moving, some may argue has moved, from the industrial age into the technology and information age. This transition is coming with its own transition terms – such as E- commerce, E-procurement, E-marketing, E -business and electronic money. Not to be left behind is E-governance in the public sector, which is our focus this afternoon, and with it comes all the others earlier mentioned.

In nearly five years, this government has been pursuing aggressive digitization and digitalization agenda by using ICT as a tool to achieve better governance. The overarching objective is to get government public institutions to use ICT to enhance their ways and means of linking with the general public in ways to reduce costs, improve performance, increase ease of access and speed of delivery and effectiveness. It is about how government organizes itself—its administration, rules and regulations and frameworks to coordinate and perform public administration.

Overcoming Bureaucratic hurdles through Digitization

For many post-colonial societies like ours that appear stacked in the old antiquated ways of doing things, technological innovations and digitization are just what is needed to leapfrog years of public administration reforms that have almost become a never-ending business, in some cases even more bureaucratic, more red-tape, more opaque and impediments to doing business.

Much of the public sector administration which this government inherited were actually set up as instruments of governance of the people by the ruling class. It is a rigid public sector, unbending, centralized and in many ways slow in responding to public needs. And, I must say majority of the public administration systems even as at today are pretty much the same, despite the interventions we are seeing. They all have to be fixed and now.

Following the brilliant Public Lecture delivered by the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia on digital economy at Ashesi university some four days ago Ghanaians have had some reawakening on the potentials of digitalization and digitization for economic development.

Embracing digital technologies means providing strategic drivers to create open participatory and trustworthy public sectors, to improve social inclusiveness and government accountability, and to bring together government and non-government actors to develop innovative approaches to national development and long-term sustainable growth.

A World Bank study has shown that every 10% increase in broadband penetration boosts GDP by an average of 1.3% and every 10% increase in mobile teledensity results in a 0.7% increase in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of a nation. This means Digital Governance, which will need these tools to be successful, is crucial to economic transformation of developing nations like Ghana.

How is Ghana’s digitisation agenda improving the economy?

Many pundits and analysts have tried to either explain or seek clarity on how Ghana’s digitization agenda is linked to economic management or economic development? While the theoretical explanations for the digitization and economic growth nexus is clear and established, the consequential practicalities of this linkage appear unclear to some. I will attempt to highlight a few of this.

Digitization, exchange rate depreciation, debt levels, cost of goods and services

In trying to appreciate how the deployment of digital technologies can help reduce the cost of goods and services we need to understand how price build ups of goods occur through exchange rate exposures. It must be understood that one means by which the currencies of countries become exposed is rising debt levels. As our debt levels and debt service burdens increase we need more foreign currency to settle our debt service obligations when they fall due. This consequentially exerts dampening effects on our local currency’s performance hence leading to depreciation. A country with an increasingly depreciating currency has higher imports cost, which is corollary passed on to prices of goods on the market.

Countries borrow because their domestically mobilized revenues are inadequate to finance critical expenditures. This arises from a highly informal economic architecture, inefficient tax administration systems and smaller than required tax nets. What governments have done in the past is to increase the tax burden of the few who are willing and pay taxes thereby collapsing business and causing unemployment. Surprisingly, despite the widespread technical and street view that the solution to getting increased domestic revenue is broadened tax base, successive governments have done little to stem the tide.

The solution offered by this government is to use digital solutions such as the national I.D card system. The beginning of this commitment is the aggressive manner in which government executed the national I.D card registration. In furtherance to that we have integrated the National I.D and replaced it with the GRA Tax Identification number. As indicated by the Vice President, this integration automatically raises the number of Ghanaians with Tax Identification Numbers from 4% to 86%.

This has broadened the tax base and made it possible for many Ghanaians to be identified as potential tax payers. We have moved a step forward following the Vice Presidents challenge to GRA to make the processes of filling taxes easier and simple to be done using a mobile application device. This device is available on Ghana.Gov Mobile App (which is available on Google Playstore or Apple App Store). The Ghana.Gov Mobile App is also a platform that ensures that payments for government services are done electronically and funds channeled to government accounts instead of being pilfered.

So clearly, we see the direct impact of the digitization agenda on the potential for Ghana to mobilize more revenues domestically without overburdening the tax payer. We also see how doing this could potentially cut down on our debt levels and consequently help us to attain a relatively stable currency and reduce the rate of inflation.

Digitization and job creation

There is also the contention on how digitization can help create jobs or reduce the rate of unemployment. Someone even said ‘y33p3 adwuma a wose digitization’ to wit, ‘we need jobs and you are talking about digitization’. But I dare say that digitization is making it possible for many jobs to be created in both the private and public sectors.

The concept of digital technologies has come with what could be seen as the virtual means of trade, put differently as e-commerce.

Think of that young university student or graduate who does not have the required start-up capital to rent physical space or shop to ply her trade. She is able to skip this hurdle and trade using the social media platforms like Instagram, facebook and so on. Her shop is her dormitory or hostel, car booth or bedroom. She is able to advertise her products, get orders and receive payments through the mobile money interoperability with no hustle.

She has a job now and hires a delivery man to deliver the goods to the buyer, thereby creating job for the delivery man also. The volumes of trade taking place via this technologically driven medium and the number of people employed in this space could be mind-blowing. There are many people today, who have turned their home kitchens into restaurants, yet no one visits them physically to eat. They advertise using digital technology, receive orders using digital technology, receive payments suing digital technology and move their incomes to bank accounts using digital technology. This is how digitization is creating jobs.

Digitization and economic growth – GDP

Some also ask, why don’t you talk about economic growth (like gdp growth) since that is what you are known for? Yes, everything we do is geared towards enhancing economic growth and increasing the growth spurt. But quite interestingly having the desire and wish to increase growth is one thing and putting in place the systems to serve as vehicle for that economic take off is another. We keep on doing the same things in the old-fashioned away and still expect new results.

Growing up, through my youthful days to my adulthood I have been hearing rhetoric about how we are blessed as a country with abundant natural resources such as gold, diamond, bauxite, oil, cocoa and so on and still we are not developed. There have been talks about how better or at par we were with countries such as South Korea, Malaysia etc. but today are miles away from us in terms of development. While we complain about the hopelessness of the society we have created for ourselves, we equally must be aggressive in thinking outside the box to offer the most contemporary solutions to our long-standing challenges. The complaints and rhetoric will not do the magic.

How can we have increased economic activity and growth when we do not put in place systems to make trade and commerce executed efficiently and effectively with speed. Before we implemented mobile money interoperability we saw how difficult and slow it was for people to pay for services and receive money, either remittances or debt payment from one another. In an economy where velocity of money is low, economic activity is slowed down and growth is hampered. We have addressed this economic challenge with an economic solution underpinned by digital technology called the mobile money interoperability. It has made life easier, simpler, and brought efficiency into our payment system architecture.

Another way to look at this also is the use of electricity. In today’s modern world access to and use of electricity is so central to economic development. How can a society or an economy compete globally when it is designed in such a way that access to electricity is severely impaired by the lack of physical infrastructure and technologies to make it easier to be accessed?

We lived in a country where after sixty years of independence a factory or worker had to stop working for hours because electricity units are used up and vendors have gone to sleep? How do you ensure productivity and growth with this ‘bed-time-no-electricity’ mentality? Today, through digital technology, we have made it possible for millions of Ghanaians to have access to electricity from an app on their phones without having to shut engines of machines.

Digitisation and cost of credit

We have had years of life in Ghana where the identity and traceability of people have remained problematic. This has imposed huge risk on borrowers, hence the higher risk premium placed when people seek bank loans. We are addressing this problem with the national I.D and digital property address system. (Describe how banks certify borrower identity and traceability now). Ones the integration of the national I.D and the banking databases is ready, banks will have trust and confidence in a borrower’s identity and traceability. This will obviously bring down the cost of credit.

Conclusion

Let me conclude by saying that we have had decades of systems that are either malfunctioned, regressive, inefficient and not fit for modern day living. It has taken political will on the part of Government to put these new systems in place. The status quo benefits the few to the detriment of the many. Furthermore, there is little immediate political benefit from implementing these innovations. It takes some time for the full benefits of digitalization to become obvious to many and manifest in our lives. Politicians generally cannot afford to wait. The infrastructure we have put in place for digitalization is soft infrastructure. It is not like a road or a bridge you can point to. But it is a powerful and an expanded highway for development.

• It is making it easy and simple to renew your national health insurance membership without having to travel to join long ques and pay bribes
• It is making it possible for you to check whether or not the car you want to buy is insured
• It is making it possible to buy for your electricity units irrespective of your location or time of the day.
• When the e-pharmacy is done it will afford you the chance to find which pharmacy has your prescribed drug and whether it is FDA approved or not with ease
• It is making it possible for all, particularly rural settlers to apply for government scholarship and receive same without travelling to Accra
• It is making it possible for taxi and okada riders to pick any customer and receive payments irrespective of the telecommunication company they have their mobile money accounts with

Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has urged the vibrant youth of the country to take more advantage of the digital revolution the government is undertaking.

The Ghanaian economy has undergone a significant digital transformation over the past four years, with many technological innovations and e-commerce springing up.

Delivering a public lecture at the Ashesi University Tuesday evening on the impact of digitization on the Ghanaian economy, Dr. Bawumia said digitization is a youth revolution, which presents huge prospects for the brilliant Ghanaian youth in terms of job creation, and also to enable them to contribute more to the development of the nation.

“The digital revolution is a youth-driven revolution. It is your revolution,” Dr. Bawumia said.

“There is a growing body of empirical evidence that illustrates the capacity of digital technology to create jobs, significantly boost productivity,  increase income and support wealth creation.”

“I am excited about the prospects of the nation we are building, the brilliant minds being nurtured who are contributing towards this vision and I look forward to all of you playing a role in making our nation great and strong.”

Dr. Bawumia noted that the obvious digitization progress government has made in the areas of unique biometric national identification system, digital address system, mobile money interoperability, digitization of many government services, among others, is only a work in progress, and more is being done with the youth in mind and, and to be the driving force.

 “Having put together these large databases as a result of digitization, our focus would now turn inter alia to data analytics through big data, artificial intelligence, machine learning to provide solutions to many challenges we face.”

“We will leverage on the progress we have made with digitalization to drive innovation for the youth.”

^We are not yet where we want to be, but we have made a great start and there is a lot more to come. There is also more to be done to embed these major digital reforms in the everyday lives of Ghanaians as adoption and usage of digital technology increases.’

“We have put in place new systems and we should all commit to adopt them and utilize them for maximum impact in the coming years,” Dr Bawumia urged

The National Youth Organizer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Lawyer Henry Nana Boakye (Nana B) has taken a swipe at the National Democratic Congress (NDC) over their responses to the government’s agenda to use digitalization to transform the economy.

It would be recalled that the Vice President, H.E. Alhaji Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia held a public lecture at Ashesi University to delineate an array of digital policies being implemented by the government to drastically reduce the inefficiencies and corruption in public Services delivery; enhance domestic revenue mobilization; improve efficiency in the health sector; provide financial inclusion and a cash-lite economy among other things.

As expected, the NDC has been responding to the issues raised in the lecture by Dr. Bawumia; however, their responses have been scruffy, uncoordinated, conflicting and have drifted into personal attacks on the person of the Vice President according to section of the public.

Reacting to the NDC, Nana B has strongly cautioned the NDC to desist from exposing their ignorance and emptiness on the subject matter in a brazing manner.

“It’s quite shocking that the NDC that have proven, overtime, to be clueless and bankrupt in knowledge and understanding of digitization and digitalization could gather confidence to speak against the unprecedented digital infrastructure being built by this government to make life very simple and easy for Ghanaians” Nana B has said.

He added that “it’s trite knowledge that the NDC is incompetent in the field of digital technology. In 2016 and 2020 elections, they couldn’t put up a system to collate their results — such a basic exercise that a first year IT student could have done with such ease, the incompetent NDC couldn’t do it”.

The Youth Leader of the NPP has thus advised Ghanaians to be weary of the plain lies and fabrications of the NDC directed at discrediting government policies that have far reaching benefits for the ordinary Ghanaian.

“This government has been people centered and every single policy we have implemented has brought comfort to the citizenry. Today, Ghanaians can sit in the comfort of their homes to renew their NHIS, open bank account and so on. I entreat Ghanaians to support the government to deliver on its mandate” Nana B added.

Source: Peacefmonline.com

Another suspect believed to be part of armed robbery syndicates that have been operating in Kwahu Afram Plains has been shot dead by the Anti-Armed Robbery taskforce.

The deceased Dickson Yaw Agyei Danso is a popular political activist of the NPP.

He is the plaintiff who filed a motion that was granted by a High court preventing then-incumbent Member of Parliament Joseph Appiah from contesting the 2016 Parliamentary election on basis of having Criminal records.

Dickson Yaw Agyei Danso was also the local Chairman of the Ghana National Cargo Drivers Association. He claimed to be a former contract Operative of the National security.

Starr News has gathered that Yaw Agyei was picked in his house at Ekye Amanfrom by armed personnel of the Anti-Armed Robbery taskforce on Thursday October 4,2021 at about 11:30 am upon intelligence.

However, the suspect was reported to have been shot dead at about 4:00 pm same day and the body deposited at the Donkorkrom Presbyterian Hospital Morgue.

This is the second time a robbery suspect has died under such bizarre circumstances.

This has created fear among residents forcing them to sleep earlier than before .

Death of 1st Suspect

A few weeks ago, a suspected armed robber was shot dead by the Anti-Armed Robbery Taskforce.

Kwasi Thomas alias Gambo was killed when he allegedly attempted to escape from Police after his arrest.

Starrfm.com.gh has gathered that Gambo was arrested by the police based on intelligence at dawn while asleep with his wife at Ekye Amanfrom in the Kwahu Afram Plains South District.

However, he allegedly attempted to escape from lawful arrest while being transported to the Donkorkrom Divisional Police command hence was gunned down.

Some residents the deceased was highly suspected by townfolks of his involvement is the decades-old robbery menace.

Gambo left behind six children and a wife.

Arrest of Robbery Suspect.

Just this week , the Anti Armed robbery task force arrested a 35-year-old phone repairer in connection with the deadly mobile money robbery attack in Ekye Amanfrom which a motor rider was shot dead .

Robbery Menace in Afram Plains

Kwahu Afram Plains area has been battling with highway robbery incidents for about two decades. Many have been shot dead, while others sustained injuries. Victims have lost huge monies and personal belongings.

Owing to this, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr.Geroge Akuffo Dampare deployed the Anti-Armed robbery squad to the area upon assumption of office.

The IGP subsequently led some top management members of the Ghana Police Service to visit Kwahu Afram Plains on September 22, 2021, to court the corporation of Traditional leaders and residents for the renewed commitment of the Police to fight the menace.

However, the robbers struck again on Saturday, October 9,2021 at about 7:30pm and gunned down a motor rider, identified as Bright during the robbery of a mobile money vendor

Finance Minister to present 2022 Budget on November 15

The Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin has informed Parliament that the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of Government would be presented on 15th and not 17th November 2021 as originally advertised.

He explained that the reason was to enable the House to attend its post-budget workshop with members checking in on Friday, November 18, and staying till they leave on Sunday, November 21, 2021.

Mr Afenyo-Markin said this when he presented the Business Statement for the third week ending, Friday, November 12, 2021, to the House.

Mr Afenyo-Markin, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Effutu, clarified that the House would start the debate on the budget from Monday, November 22 and conclude on Friday, November 26, 2021.

Having regard for the limited time frame for the approval of the Budget and Appropriation Bill 2021, he urged members to be active in the debate on the budget.

He entreated Committee Chairpersons, particularly those with urgent and time-bound referrals, to endeavour to present their reports for consideration as early as possible before the House was seized with consideration of the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of Government

South Danyi Member of Parliament, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekopr has revealed that his colleague lawmaker for Madina, Francis –Xavier Sosu is currently on parliamentary duties outside the country.

Mr Dafeamekopr has therefore, refuted claims by the Police that Sosu has been served the criminal summons to appear in court.

The Police had officially charged Sosu for causing damage to public property.

The Director General, Public Affairs Directorate of the Police Service, ACP Kwasi Ofori, said on Wednesday November 3 he had been duly served and was  expected to appear in court on November 8.

“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 Police had been seeking to arrest him for allegedly involving in a violent protests in his constituency.

The National Democratic Congress  MP had led some of his constituents to embark on a demonstration against deplorable roads in his constituency.data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==

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.”

Speaking on the Key Points show on TV3/3FM Saturday November 6 with host Dzifa Bampoh, Mr Dafeamekopr said “Sosu has not been served, he is not even available at the moment.

“I think that there will be an opportunity for Sosu to be served. But I heard something very interesting from  ACP Kwesi Fori. He actually said to the whole country that they have issued a criminal summons and the Honorable Sosu has been duly served. That is a blatant falsehood.

“The Honorable Sosu as we speak is on Parliamentary duties outside of this country. He is likely to return tomorrow or Monday.”

When Dzifa drew his attention to the fact that Sosu’s personal assistant may have been served the summons he retorted saying “You don’t serve criminal summons on aides

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Friday, 5th November 2021, opened formally the Ghana Office of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), at an event in Kempinski, Accra.

JETRO is one of the companies President Akufo-Addo engaged with in his official visit to Japan nearly three years ago. Toyota Tsusho, is one of the companies the President engaged with, for which an assembly plant has been established in Ghana.

With Ghana and Japan having had strong, longstanding bilateral relations since 1957, resulting in co-operation in the fields of agriculture, education, energy, finance, food, governance health, infrastructure, manufacturing, and peace and security, JETRO has played a significant role in the successful implementation of several of these trade and investments programmes, which have provided support in boosting the productivity and sustainability of many small and medium scale enterprises in Ghana.

Speaking at the event, President Akufo-Addo stated that the establishment of the JETRO Ghana Office, which has been duly staffed and resourced, is an important development towards deepening Ghana’s economic co-operation with Japan.

According to President Akufo-Addo, “It provides a permanent administrative mechanism for strengthening bilateral dialogue and cooperation on trade, investment and private sector development programmes between Japan and
Ghana.

The JETRO Ghana Office should help facilitate business linkages by directly addressing the language barrier between Ghanaian and Japanese companies.”

Continuing, the President indicated that “As an agency of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, External Trade and Investment (METI), JETRO is better placed, also, to support more diligently the full cycle of mission goals and follow-up actions required to close deals brokered from overseas trade missions, exhibitions and executive visits.”

With JETRO fully in place, he indicated that the time has come for a more co-ordinated approach by Ghana and Japan to undertake joint initiatives, which will complement the work the Ghanaian Government is already doing to empower the private sector to take advantage of long-standing and beneficial bilateral cooperation, as well as of key Trade Agreements such as the game-changing African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement, the European Union-Ghana Interim Economic Partnership Agreement, the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme, the US African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the Ghana-UK Trade Partnership Agreement, and the various Japanese Co-operation Agreements under the TICAD initiative.

President Akufo-Addo was convinced that, working closely with the Ministry of Trade and Industry, JETRO will fully align its development co-operation to assist the Ministry of Trade and Industry to implement Ghana’s comprehensive Industrial Transformation Programme.

“Industrialisation is a matter of utmost priority and urgency for this Government, especially in addressing the challenge of job creation for our youthful population, and in exploiting fully the opportunities available for Made-in-Ghana products in export markets,” he added.

The President told the gathering that Ghana is looking forward to more substantial investments by Japanese companies into her manufacturing sector for Ghana to realize its full potential as a regional manufacturing hub for Africa.

He indicated that Ghana has laid out a host of well-structured sector-specific incentives for manufacturing for domestic consumption and for exports to foreign markets. Additionally, Government, working closely with Parliament, is willing and capable of designing the right legislative and regulatory measures necessary to attract catalytic investments into key strategic sectors of the economy.

⁷ļ“The Ghana Automotive Manufacturing Policy, for example, is highly regarded by our peers in the auto industry as one of the best in Africa. Progress made by Volkswagen and Toyota Tsusho in setting up new Assembly Plants here in Ghana, and the imminent plans of Nissan and Suzuki to follow suit early next year, bear ample testimony to my government’s firm determination to industrialize rapidly the Ghanaian economy to propel growth, and address the problem of unemployment amongst our youth,” President Akufo-Addo added

“I am praying that whatever is going on here is not going to be a nine-day wonder,” one resident said.

Construction works have resumed on the Ayi Mensah – Danfa – Otinibi road in the La Nkwantanang-Madina Municipality of Accra after some residents, led by the Madina MP, Francis-Xavier Sosu, held a demonstration on October 25, 2021.

Residents who spoke Citi News were hopeful that the contractor would see through the rehabilitation works which started in December 2020.

“I am praying that whatever is going on here is not going to be a nine-day wonder,” one resident said.

“The contractor made everybody know that when the rains go down, he will come on-site, so we are very happy that the contractor is in, and he has started work,” another added.

Though this development followed the controversial protest by the residents, in which some roads were blocked, the former Madina MP, Alhaji Boniface Abubakar Siddique, said the resumption of work was not as a result of the protest.

“This one is not because of the demonstration. They even called the contractor to wait and come after the demonstration, but the contractor said no. He didn’t get the contract out of a demonstration.”

Mr. Siddique also said Mr. Sosu would have saved himself the trouble by staying away from the demonstration.

“If the MP could have stopped the demonstration, it would have been better for him, but he went ahead. You don’t go on the demonstration for contract or for development.”

“I don’t think Akufo-Addo will award contracts based on demonstrations. That is not the best and this country should not be turned into a boxing ring,” the former MP added.

The CEO of the construction firm working on the road, Emmanuel Boadi, further explained that the rainy season had prevented his team from commencing work.

“The area is waterlogged. We can’t work in the rainy season. That is why we tried to beg them to give me up to the dry season,” he said.

The rains haven’t stopped after the protest nonetheless, making people question why they’re on site following the former MP and contractor’s comments.

Source: Citinewsroom

Veteran Ghanaian actress, Adwoa Smart, has made some revelations about her private life, and she hopes Ghanaians will come to her aid to fulfil her long life dream of owning a house.

Belinda Naa Ode Oku, with the showbiz name Adwoa Smart, has been acting in movies for so long that she has become an integral part of the history of the Creative Arts industry. In an interview with Accra FM, Adowa Smart revealed her dark childhood and how she continues to struggle years after becoming famous.

“I have really been through a lot, especially from my childhood. I have been through so many things. I grew up as an only child… My elder brother died before I met him… It was my grandmother who took care of me. Then my aunt (may her soul rest in peace) came for me to go and live with her. Then she set me up with a trading business… so I used to hawk all over town.

Through this business, I met a woman called Auntie Rose (may she rest in peace). She sold oranges at the Kaneshie market. She said I was interesting. So she would take me to see Maame Dokono (Grave Omaboe). During the auditions, she asked me to dance. Immediately I did, she took a liking to me and said she would take me as her daughter,” she recounted with eyes full of tears.

Upon being asked what Ghanaians should do for her, Adwoa Smart replied that she would love to own a house. She said she wants to help people off the streets, but her room in her family house cannot accommodate them. She further stated that all her travels were sponsored, and she is not as comfortable as people think.

“To be honest, staying in a family house is not easy… I had a child, but it died. So I don’t have any children. I am not married. I don’t have a house. By the grace of God, I am alive, not dead.

The very thing on my heart is to own a house. So that I can see something profitable from all my toils. I couldn’t voice out because I was ashamed… I want a house. If I get a house, I can also help someone.”

By Grace Somuah-Annan|3news.com|Ghana

The Hohoe District Police has intercepted two cartons of AAA and BBB cartridges on board a Yutong bus travelling to Kpassa in the Oti Region.

The Police acted on intelligence and dispatched a team to search all vehicles entering the district from Accra.

At about 3:45 pm on November 3, the team stopped a red Yutong bus with registration No. GT 5919-16 travelling from Accra to Kpassa.

A search was conducted on the bus and two cartons containing AAA and BBB cartridges, respectively, were found concealed in the side compartment of the bus.

All 29 passengers on board the said vehicle denied ownership of the cartridges.

The driver in charge of the bus, Robert Ofosu Nyanor, 50, and his conductor, Godwin Aniwo, 32; were immediately placed under arrest for further interrogation.

The bus was impounded.

The suspects were later released on police enquiry bail as the investigation continues

Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Ernest Addison

Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Ernest Addison has said digitisation of bank accounts has enabled customers to conduct financial services through online platforms in a seamless manner without stepping foot in the banking hall.

The positive aspect of these, he said, is the broad acceptability of these technology driven financial services due to its convenience, efficiency and affordability.

Governor Addison added that this has also instigated innovative digital financial products services by banks and financial technology firms, to further reinforce financial inclusion.

Speaking at the Standard Chartered digital banking, innovation & fintech festival on the theme “Regulation as an enabler for digitising the financial sector” on Wednesday November 3, he said “The current vibrant state of Ghana’s digital financial service ecosystem is a product of well-thought-out and carefully crafted reforms and policies, spearheaded by the Bank over the past two decades.

“After a series of strategic policy papers, the Bank of Ghana facilitated the passage of the Payment Systems Act 2003 (Act 662), which provided the legal basis and regulatory anchor for the introduction of technology in the banking industry. With this Law, a real time gross settlement system, which is the Ghana Interbank Settlement (GIS) system, was implemented.

“This infrastructure significantly improved the efficiency of wholesale and large value interbank funds transfer and liquidity management.

“Subsequently, additional institutional reforms carried out in line with Act 662 paved the way to establish the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems Limited (GhIPSS) in May 2007. Since then, GhIPSS has rapidly transformed the payment ecosystem through the implementation of interoperable interbank retail payment systems, including electronic cheque clearing, automated clearing house for direct debit and credit funds transfer, instant payment, gh-Link card, and mobile money interoperability.

“These systems, in addition to complementary systems by banks, have facilitated straight-through processing of
payment transactions swiftly and efficiently with marginal errors relative to manual processes.

“The next step was to strengthen the regulatory frameworks so as to diffuse the benefits of the improved interbank systems to the wider society and tackle financial exclusion in a practical and affordable manner.

“This led to the issuance of Branchless Banking Guidelines (BBG) in 2008, which provided the regulatory support for mobile money through partnerships between banks and telecommunication companies.

“A further review of the BBG led to the Electronic Money issuers and Agents Guideline in 2015 to address some regulatory challenges and boost adoption of the mobile money concept. These regulatory changes provided the needed boost to the expansion of mobile money operations and set the stage for financial technology in Ghana

A former Constituency Youth Organizer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Kwahu Afram Plains South, Yaw Agyei, has reportedly been shot dead.

Information gathered from party folks said the deceased was whisked away by some unidentified men from his house at Ekyi in an unregistered vehicle before he was later found dead with gunshot wounds.

Constituency Secretary Kelvin Glover confirmed the incident to 3news.com.

He says a report has been made to the police task force in the Afram Plains area for investigations to commence.

By Yvonne Neequaye|3news.com|Ghana

In a tweet, Mr. Sosu said, “Law School is not a privilege, it is a constitutional right for every qualified Ghanaian.”

The Madina MP, who’s a human rights lawyer, Francis-Xavier Sosu, has disagreed with the Attorney General, Godfred Dame’s assertion that practicing law is a privilege and not a right.

In a tweet, Mr. Sosu said, “Law School is not a privilege, it is a constitutional right for every qualified Ghanaian.”

“Articles 37 and 38 of our Constitution require the State to provide adequate educational facilities to guarantee equal access and opportunities to “lifelong education” without limits,” he argued further.

Mr. Dame’s comments stressed the need for lawyers to uphold ethical standards in the legal profession.

“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 said at the induction ceremony of new executives of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) earlier this week.

Mr. Sosu and the South Dayi MP, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, are working on getting the Legislative drafting department of Parliament to put together a Private Member’s Bill to amend the Legal Professions Act, 1960, Act 32.

The bill will, among other things, seek to amend Act 32 to exclude the Chief Justice and other Justices of the Supreme Court from the General Legal Council and redefine its functions.

The General Legal Council has been under fire for its handling of School of Law entrance exams.

In the most recent entrance exam, 790 out of 2,824 candidates passed, representing 28 percent.

A further 499 students are fighting to be admitted after they meet the pass mark of the entrance exam despite failing one of the exam sections.

The pass rate is in line with previous years, except for 2020, where 1,045 students out of 2,763 passed the entrance examination.

In 2019, only 128 candidates out of a total of 1,820 passed the exam.

In 2017, 500 students were admitted into the School, with 450 students admitted in 2016.

The pass rate has in the past sparked calls for a reform of legal education in Ghana.

Source: Citinewsroom 

Vice-president Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has reminded Governors of central banks on the continent and other stakeholders that coordination and collaboration among institutions engaged in the ongoing quest to integrate African payment systems is key to avoid duplication, reduce costs and engender efficiency in the use of resources.

Dr Bawumia said this in his keynote address at the virtual Association of African Central Banks (AACB) Annual Payment Systems Conference on Thursday morning, 4 November 2021.

He also urged the AACB Payment Systems Task Force and its working groups to collaborate with the Afreximbank PAPSS project to ensure the delivery of a single integrated payment platform that serves “our purpose of promoting intra-African trade.”

“As custodians of the payment systems, the central banks must take the lead in this integration effort,” Dr Bawumia said

The Minority in Parliament has accused the Majority side of attempting to undermine the authority of the Speaker, Mr Alban Bagbin, in connection with attempts by the police to arrest Madina MP Francis-Xavier Sosu.

“The minority leadership notes with great consternation and disappointment the press statement by the Majority leadership.

“The minority leadership considers the press statement as an attempt to undermine the authority of the Rt. Hon Speaker Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin and weaken the institution of parliament,” the minority caucus said in a statement signed by its leader Haruna Iddrisu.

The statement is in response to a statement from the majority side who are of the opinion that the Speaker is attempting to change the rules to protect Mr Sosu from the police.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k8q7Jpn-SuPlr0SAABDQxZz78mGox3UE/preview

The speaker has refused to release Xavier-Owusu to the police for investigation after the MP led his constituents to demonstrate over poor roads in his constituency.

The demonstration turned chaotic when the constituents blocked some roads and destroyed public property.

The police, after several failed attempts to arrest the MP, has obtained a court summons and charged the MP with obstructing the highway and causing damage to public property.

The Speaker in a letter told the Police that to arrest a sitting MP, the appropriate procedure is to secure from the Speaker, a certificate that the MP in question is not attending to Parliamentary business.

He noted that anything short of this will not be entertained by Parliament.

Mr Bagbin stated that the immunities and privileges of MPs are not absolute but the procedure for causing the arrest of a sitting MP must be in accordance with the constitution.

But, in a statement, the majority stated that the failure of the Speaker to release the embattled lawmaker to the police for an investigation like his predecessors did, was troubling.https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-4549410436183225&output=html&h=250&slotname=4705176708&adk=1921530005&adf=387235050&pi=t.ma~as.4705176708&w=300&lmt=1636111664&psa=1&format=300×250&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmobile.classfmonline.com%2Fnews%2Fpolitics%2FYou-re-undermining-Speaker-s-authority-Minority-to-Majority-28304&flash=0&wgl=1&dt=1636111663665&bpp=5&bdt=1187&idt=1153&shv=r20211101&mjsv=m202111010101&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3D32c534b2313908e2-22a2fd42c3cc000c%3AT%3D1636111556%3ART%3D1636111556%3AS%3DALNI_MZTe0SltXKGLJP2GSjrDS14nUYY1Q&prev_fmts=0x0%2C300x250%2C300x250%2C300x250&nras=1&correlator=6291204084145&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=1618250286.1636111555&ga_sid=1636111664&ga_hid=674280593&ga_fc=1&u_tz=0&u_his=1&u_h=892&u_w=412&u_ah=892&u_aw=412&u_cd=24&u_sd=2.625&adx=56&ady=3451&biw=412&bih=797&scr_x=0&scr_y=0&eid=44753739%2C31062423%2C31062938%2C31060475&oid=2&pvsid=3063445839093416&pem=975&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2F&eae=0&fc=1920&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C412%2C0%2C412%2C797%2C655%2C1267&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7CEebr%7C&abl=CS&pfx=0&fu=1024&bc=31&ifi=5&uci=a!5&btvi=3&fsb=1&xpc=goH0CsYIsz&p=https%3A//mobile.classfmonline.com&dtd=1180

The statement said: “The Majority Leadership views the foregoing response by Speaker Bagbin as a troubling departure from how his predecessors handled such requests. To avoid doubt, when both Rt. Hons. Joyce Bamford Addo and Edward Doe Adjaho received those requests during their days in office, they responded by inviting the relevant MPs, held discussions with them, and then asked them to report the requesting Police or investigative authorities.

“Again, during his tenure as Speaker, Rt Hon Professor Mike Oquaye modified the arrangement, including making the Speaker’s Conference Room available to the Police to meet with MPs they were interested in and to conduct initial investigations. He did this to protect the dignity of MPs while at the same time ensuring that MPs are not put above the law.

“Now, the Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, Rt. Hon Bagbin appears to be instituting new rules that seem to undermine the Rule of Law without any prior discussions with the Leadership of the House. We ask: What exactly has changed? As a group, the Majority believes firmly that constitutionally guaranteed immunity for MPs in our democracy must not only be protected always but jealously guarded as well. However, never should we, as a Parliament, make the mistake of allowing immunity to be construed to mean impunity.”

But the Minority, in a statement on Thursday, disagreed with the Majority’s claims.

They insisted that the Speaker was only trying to make the police follow proper procedure in arresting a sitting MP.

“The police attempted to arrest him on Sunday 31st October 2021 while he was worshipping in church. This was in spite of the fact that the police wrote to the Speaker on 27 October 2021 and the Speaker replied and reiterated the fact that there is a procedure that is to be followed with respect to inviting a Member of Parliament to assist in investigations and until that procedure is followed, he as Speaker would not entertain their request. A criminal summons was subsequently issued against the MP with charges to appear before the court on 8th November 2021.

“The Majority Leadership is being mischievous and disingenuous by ignoring the fact that the Police refused to comply with the established protocols of dealing with matters affecting MPs by not, first of all, contacting the Speaker who would have then made the necessary arrangements for them to meet with the affected MP,” the Minority stated.

Meanwhile, the Police administration has filed two charges against Mr Sosu. The charges include obstructing the highway and causing damage to public property.

The lawmaker is expected to answer the charges on November 8 in court

Former President John Mahama has donated GHS100,000 to the management of Radio Gold to help the private FM station resume operations after the restoration of their licence recently by the National Communications Authority.

The donation of the money was made on behalf of the former president on Wednesday, 5 November 2021.

The governing board of the NCA, the spectrum regulatory agency, under the chairmanship of Mr Isaac Emmil Osei-Bonsu, approved new radio licence applications for Radio Gold, Radio XYZ and over 131 others recently.

A statement released by the NCA said a decision has been taken by the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation to have the licences for the closed radio stations renewed.

The two stations, which are aligned to the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), were among scores of others shut down by the Akufo-Addo government for not paying their operating licence fees for several years and flouting other obligations in line with their licences.

The decision was seen by the NDC as discriminatory.

The party, thus, questioned the governing party’s commitment to press freedom.

The NCA, in 2017, insisted that freedom is best protected when rules of the game are respected by its key players.

The authority defended the closures as being “in line with Regulations 65(1) of the Electronic Communications Regulations, 2011, L. I. 1991”, which states that: ‘A person shall not use a radio frequency without authorization from the Authority’.

The National Communications Authority argued that it was simply enforcing its legitimate powers by shutting down FM radio stations that were operating without authorisation.

Read the NCA’s full statement below:

Source

The Comptroller General of the Ghana Immigration Service, Kwame Asuah Takyi has said, although the country’s borders are porous, his outfit has been able to intercept over 49,000 West African citizens who tried to enter the country illegally since the borders were closed as a means of curbing the spread of COVID-19.

He said the Ghana Immigration Service is working effectively with other security agencies to protect the borders of the country.

Speaking to Citi News during his visit to some borders and unapproved routes in the Volta Region, Kwame Asuah Takyi said his outfit will do everything possible to prevent illegal entry into the country through land borders.

“The borders in the whole country are porous, but we are doing our best. As we speak today, we have intercepted over 49,000 West African citizens who tried to enter Ghana. So our officers are doing great work, not only the immigration service, but all the other security services.”

Ghana’s land borders remain closed to human traffic except for the transportation of cargo, amidst the threat of COVID-19.

However, illegal migrants from neighbouring countries including Burkina Faso, Mali, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Nigeria and others keep sneaking into the country and are being intercepted by the immigration officers.

Investigations by officials of the Immigration Service show most of the undocumented migrants tried entering Ghana for farming and other economic activities.

The Ghana Immigration Service has assured that it is poised to prevent irregular immigration and is urging the public to collaborate with the state agencies to deal with the situation.

Border closure: We’ll deal with illegal immigrants, Ghanaian accomplices – Nana Addo
The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had earlier warned that foreigners who enter Ghana illegally will be dealt with together with their Ghanaian accomplices.

Akufo-Addo expressed his displeasure over how “a few Ghanaians are aiding some West African nationals to enter our country [Ghana] illegally, despite the closure of our borders. Not only will persons who enter our country illegally be strictly dealt with, but so will Ghanaians who facilitate their entry”.

“These are unpatriotic acts and must stop. We cannot continue to allow a few persons, who are motivated by their own selfish, money-making interests, to endanger the lives of the rest of the population.”

The price of fuel in Ghana has gone up by 3.3% per gallon at the pump setting social media on fire after Total Petroleum effected the first of expected increases tonight with a litre at Ghc6.90.

Before the increase of 3.3% increase per gallon, a litre of petrol and diesel was selling at Ghc6.80 at the various filling stations but will now be sold at Ghc6.90 translating into Ghc31.05 per gallon from Ghc30.06 for both petrol and diesel.

This comes the government promised the removal of the Price Stabilization and Recovery Levies (PRSL) component of fuel prices for two months but which is yet to take effect due to parliamentary approval hurdle.

Despite, the Executive Director of the Institue for Energy Security (IES), Nana Amoasi VII, had expressed fears that the measures announced by the government to check prices were not adequate, describing the government’s approach as “knee-jerk” because prices could keep going up because of the system being run.

“If care is not taken, we will see this price surging on the market consistently. You will ask how the government will negotiate to solve the situation, but unfortunately, where the government sits today, it will be able to reduce these taxes by more than 10 percent and the approach the government has taken, we call it knee-jerk because it is not sustainable… There are other things the government must do to ensure that fuel prices remain stable. You can take away all the taxes, but trust me because we have mechanisms that have broken down, we will still come to the same GH¢6.80 per litre in less than six months because we have become price takers”, he emphasized.

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) on the other hand accused the government of insensitivity over fuel prices

The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has said the recent attempts by the police to arrest the Member of Parliament (MP) for Madina, Mr Francis-Xavier Sosu, was done in a manner that offends the letter and spirit of the Constitution.
Besides, he said, the police showed disrespect to him.

A statement issued yesterday and signed by the Deputy Clerk-to-Parliament, Mr Eric Owusu Mensah, on behalf of the Clerk-to-Parliament, on the attempts to arrest the MP, said the Speaker found it difficult to comprehend what the police did.

Chronology of events

Giving a chronology of events, the statement said while the initial attempt to arrest the MP was referred to the Committee of Privileges on October 27, 2021, the police service wrote to the Speaker to release the MP to report to the Police Headquarters to assist in investigations on Thursday, October 28, 2021, at 10 a.m.

In response, the Speaker caused a response to be written to the Police Service to the effect that the House was sitting and that an MP could not be released to assist in investigations when the member was attending proceedings or performing any duty of MP.


According to the statement, in spite of the Speaker’s response to the police and the pendency of a contempt complaint by the MP as well as the referral to the Committee of Privileges by the Speaker, the police service decided to proceed with their decision to attempt to arrest him.

“This is a clear violation of the provisions of the 1992 Constitution and gross disrespect to the Rt. Hon. Speaker and Parliament,” the statement said.

Blatant affront

The statement also described as disingenuous and a blatant affront to Parliament, how the police service ignored the letter he sent to them .

“The Police Service, instead of engaging the Rt. Hon. Speaker and the leadership of the House, surreptitiously attempted to arrest the Member of Parliament on Sunday, November 1, 2021 in church, where he fellowships.

“The Rt. Hon. Speaker acknowledges that Members of Parliament are not above the law.

The issue is not that a Member of Parliament cannot be investigated or arrested.

The issue is the procedure to follow to investigate or arrest a Member of Parliament,” it stated.

While indicating that the immunities and privileges of MPs were not absolute, the statement said the procedure for causing the arrest of a sitting MP or serving a court process must be in accordance with the Constitution.

“The appropriate procedure is to secure from the Speaker a certificate that the member in question is not attending to parliamentary business.

Anything short of this should not be entertained by the House,” the statement cautioned

The statement further stated that Mr Sosu, in an attempt to lawfully discharge his mandate as an MP, led his constituents to exercise their freedom of assembly to demonstrate against the state of roads in the Madina Constituency.

It indicated that from the facts provided by Mr Sosu, he complied with all the provisions of the Public Order Act, 1994 (Act 491) and engaged the police service till the event took place.

“It must be made known that the police service proposed the new date for the demonstration after disagreeing with the initial date proposed by the Constituents.

“It is difficult to comprehend the fact that the MP, who had engaged the police service prior to the demonstration, would be the subject of attempted arrest by the police in the company of the police contingent deployed to assist in the demonstration,” it notedhttps://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-2623005858729319&output=html&h=343&adk=3559006387&adf=3229197991&pi=t.aa~a.2816640267~i.62~rp.1&w=412&lmt=1636062480&num_ads=1&rafmt=1&armr=3&sem=mc&pwprc=2278969447&psa=1&ad_type=text_image&format=412×343&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.peacefmonline.com%2Fpages%2Fpolitics%2Fpolitics%2F202111%2F455156.php%3Futm_source%3Ddlvr.it%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook&flash=0&fwr=1&pra=3&rh=319&rw=382&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&sfro=1&wgl=1&fa=27&dt=1636062480022&bpp=27&bdt=14242&idt=-M&shv=r20211101&mjsv=m202111010101&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3Db6fc1ed91fd09da3-22937992c3cc00a7%3AT%3D1636062476%3ART%3D1636062476%3AS%3DALNI_MaK-YCr1VMpOLIOJlQ4nIuRaN0L4Q&prev_fmts=0x0%2C412x343%2C412x343&nras=2&correlator=6813822240276&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=615652459.1636062477&ga_sid=1636062477&ga_hid=402975709&ga_fc=1&u_tz=0&u_his=1&u_h=892&u_w=412&u_ah=892&u_aw=412&u_cd=24&adx=0&ady=4466&biw=412&bih=797&scr_x=0&scr_y=190&eid=31062422%2C31063354%2C31060475&oid=2&pvsid=3358691287175539&pem=423&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2F&eae=0&fc=1408&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C412%2C0%2C412%2C797%2C412%2C797&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7Cs%7C&abl=NS&fu=128&bc=31&ifi=9&uci=a!9&btvi=2&fsb=1&xpc=dN8ECdIOQS&p=https%3A//www.peacefmonline.com&dtd=130

The statement pointed out that the MP who was undertaking a lawful duty, felt he had been distracted from the discharge of his functions, and in compliance with Article 122 of the Constitution, legitimately claimed the abuse of privilege.

MPs subject to law

The statement recounted the several occasions MPs from both sides of the House had been investigated, arraigned and tried since 1993, saying that “some members are presently before various courts of law and investigative bodies.”

Pointing out that the police service and other security agencies had investigated and continued to investigate MPs from both sides, and in all instances, the statement added that the Office of the Speaker had engaged and facilitated the work of the police service.

“Let it not be suggested per these happenings that MPs and Parliament are not subject to the law.

 

Source: Graphiconline.com

The transaction implies that AirtelTigo will now operate as a state-owned entity of the Government of Ghana

The Government of Ghana has fully acquired the telecommunications firm AirtelTigo, Bharti Airtel has said in a regulatory filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

“This is further to our announcements dated 27 October 2020, and 16 April 2021, regarding the Government of Ghana’s takeover of ownership of AirtelfTigo Joint Venture. We wish to update you that the transaction has been completed and 100% shares of Airtel Tigo have been transferred to the Government of Ghana,” Bharti Airtel stated in the filing.

AirtelTigo is a joint venture between Bharti Airtel and the telecoms operator Millicom International Cellular SA, which worked together in Ghana.

The Indian telecoms operator owned a 49.95% stake in the joint venture. The venture was finalised in 2017.

“Suitable” investments

The transaction implies that AirtelTigo will now operate as a state-owned entity of the Government of Ghana. The terms of the transaction stipulate that 100% of Airtel Tigo’s shares have been transferred to the Government of Ghana.

“The unsustainable non-controlled JV will be handed to the Government of Ghana, who are committed to reviving the company, making suitable investments etc and operat[ing] the company while protecting the interests of the customers, employees of the company and all other stakeholders,” Bharti Airtel said in an earlier statement.

Under the terms of the transfer, which was agreed on a “going concern” basis, the sovereign will also acquire all customers, assets and liabilities of the joint venture.

The company said in its September-end quarterly results that its Ghana operations had about 5.1 million customers

The Finance Minister has urged stakeholders in the digital space to work together to remove barriers to accessing technology in the country

Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister for Finance has said digital technology is Ghana’s chance at becoming a dynamic, competitive and prosperous economy.

Ofori-Atta was speaking at the Standard Chartered Digital Banking, Innovation and Fintech Festival dubbed “Enabling the Digital Economy for the 21st Century” in Accra on Wednesday (3 November 2021).

He said, “Digital technology is our chance at becoming a dynamic, competitive and prosperous economy as such we must work together to see all the remaining barriers of technology access removed.” 

Ofori-Atta added, “Overall, government and the private sector each have a responsibility to ensure that Ghana is equipped to succeed in the digital age…”

Also speaking at the same event, Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia said the government remains committed to the policy of building a digital economy and a financial ecosystem

Dr Bawumia challenged stakeholders to continue to innovate whilst collaborating, emphasising that it is still possible to collaborate and compete at the same time.

He said, “Collaboration will cement the ecosystem further. The digital economy thrives on information and collaboration. Banks, fintechs, telecom companies, governments, regulators and consumers should form one big bloc sharing information and feedback that loops everyone. Collaboration will provide opportunities for entities with different specialisations to work together to achieve bigger goals.”

Financial inclusion

Dr Bawumia added, “Fundamentally, there is no inconsistency between competition and collaboration. I know that many of the stakeholders in our ecosystem, the private sector are very profit-driven. The Central Bank has to guard jealously the safety and stability of the system and strive to get financial inclusion.

He said, “But if we don’t collaborate, then everybody would be in silos, but once we come together in one ecosystem, then we are able to derive economies of scale from that collaboration, where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. We are very focused on inclusion, and this is why it is very important, that as we build these systems, we try to bring everybody on a common platform

 The US deputy national security advisor Daleep Singh confers with Vice-President Bawumia

Daleep Singh’s visit to Ghana follows his participation in COP26 in Glasgow, where President Biden reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to address the climate crisis

The US deputy national security advisor Daleep Singh visited Accra recently to discuss President Biden’s Build Back Better World initiative with stakeholders and to meet with the vice-president, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.

Singh’s visit to Ghana follows his participation in COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, where President Biden reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to address the climate crisis while mobilising investment capital to build infrastructure that drives sustainable economic recovery.

“Ghana is our first stop in Africa after COP26 to meet with partners about President Biden’s Build Back Better World initiative.

Ghana is our first stop in Africa after COP26 to meet with partners about President We will work together to support high-quality, sustainable improvements to address the demand of countries with major infrastructure needs,” Singh said.

His meeting with Dr Bawumia is a continuation of the close bilateral engagement between the Biden and Akufo-Addo governments, which included the meeting at the White House between Vice-President Kamala Harris of the United States and President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana in September.

This was followed by the recent visit of Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Mary Catherine (“Molly”) Phee.

While in Accra, Singh also met with infrastructure stakeholders, including companies working in Ghana. Continuing his trip to West Africa, Singh will visit Dakar, Senegal on Friday and Saturday

 Dr Mahamudu Bawumia

Dr Mahamudu Bawumia says Ghana now has the infrastructure to implement a property tax system across the country

The Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia says the government has developed a national common platform for property tax administration for the country

He said the common platform will operate across all the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies across the country.

Dr Bawumia said it is unacceptable for property owners to evade taxes, adding that the lack of an effective property tax regime accounts for this evasion by owners of properties.

Speaking at a public lecture at Ashesi University, on the “Role of Digitalisation in Transforming the Economy,” Dr Bawumia indicated that a digital platform has been developed and will soon be launched, through which homeowners will receive tax bills, pay taxes as well as track their payment history. 

“We lack the key elements to implement and monitor an effective property tax regime. An effective property tax regime requires that we are able to identify all properties, access the value of all properties, identify and maintain a property ready database, send property tax bills to the owners and enforce the payment of taxes.” 

He said, “Thanks to the implementation of the National ID, the National Digital Property address system, the mobile money interoperability and the Ghana.gov project, Ghana now has the infrastructure to implement a property tax system.

“We have been working on this over the last two years and thanks to the hard work of Minister of Local Government and Rural Development as well as the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, with support from the Minister for Finance and the Lands Commission.” 

Bawumia said, “We have finally developed a national common platform for property tax administration for Ghana which will operate across all the MMDAs in Ghana. The platform is ready and is expected to be implemented by the ministry of local government.”

The government over the years have been advised to broaden the tax net to raise more revenue. 

Some experts have proposed that the country should go back to property taxes through simple automation to plug the loopholes while urging the government to ensure value for money by providing basic social amenities such as roads, electricity, water and others to justify the collection of rates

Two persons including a media practitioner are assisting police with investigations into what may likely turn out to be another fake kidnapping saga at Mpohor in the Western Region.

The culprits, Stephen Kumi, 33-year-old supposed boyfriend of a certain Stephanie Kumiwaa, the lady who was said to have been kidnapped and Paa Kwesi Sampson of Connect Fm.

The boyfriend is languishing in police cells whilst the journalist has been released on bail.

According to a statement issued by the Police and signed by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Olivia Ewerabena Adiku, Head of Public Affairs at the Western Regional Police Command, on October 17, 2021, Ghanaweb carried a publication written by Paa Kwesi Sampson of Connect Fm in Takoradi.

Immediately, the Takoradi Divisional Police Command initiated investigation into the case involving one Stephanie Kumiwaa, a 26-year old at Mpohor.

The police liaised with the Mpohor District Police Command and checks revealed that no such case was reported and police without wasting time arrested the two suspects who reported the story.

During police interrogation, Stephen told police that he met Stephanie on Facebook and started dating.

He said on October 17, 2021, Stephanie called to inform him that she was visiting him but did not show up.

Two days after, on October 19, 2021, he received a phone call from a friend of Stephanie that someone called Stephanie’s phone number that she has been kidnapped and the suspected kidnappers are demanded ransom of GHC2,000.

However, police escorted Stephen Kumi to Mpohor and all efforts to locate the residence and family members of Stephanie and Sandra for confirmation of the alleged incident proved futile.

Stephen Kumi was immediately arrested and detained while Paa Kwesi was granted police enquiry bail.

The police have therefore cautioned the media in the area to be circumspect with their reportage and always make sure they crosscheck information from the Western Regional Police Command before publication

Sam Okudzeto

Former President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), Sam Okudzeto has described the two Members of Parliament (MP) belonging to the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) who are hiding under a private member bill to humiliate the Chief Justice under the guise of amending the legal education as jokers.

Sam Okudzeto warned that there could be repercussions for the two MPs, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, South Dayi MP and Francis-Xavier Sosu, Madina MP, adding that they should not misbehave with the Private Member’s Bill to amend the Legal Professions Act, 1960, Act 32.

He was optimistic that their attempt is nothing but a big joke.

He advised the two lawyers to keep quiet because there can be more troubles than they realised since they will be dealt with in accordance with the rules and laws that have been laid down.

Nelson Dafeamekpo and Francis-Xavier Sosu have proposed amendment to the composition of the General Legal Council (GLC), excluding the Chief Justice and other Justices of the Supreme Court.

The MPs, through the Private Member’s Bill, is trying to realign “the functions of the GLC and to provide for reforms in legal education such that accredited faculties of law with the requisite facilities would be licensed to run professional law courses, provide for discipline of lawyers and related matters to give effect to Article 37(1) of the 1992 constitution.”

The main aim of the bill is to have the Chief Justice and other Justices of the Supreme Court taken off from the GLC.

However, in an interview on Accra-based Radio station, on Wednesday, November 3, 2021 Sam Okudzeto, a member of the Council of State said that the two MPs are ignorant of the law wondering how they are practicing as lawyers.

According to him, “If they are lawyers, then their understanding of the law leaves a lot of question. I have been a member of the disciplinary committee for many years; I am still there… if I tell you the number of complaints that keep coming there…

“So I don’t see how the qualified lawyer is going to appear before the court, and you say that those who are going to appear before do not have any power of control over their training or education.

“It’s a joke. I must confess that they are jokers, and I don’t know who they are, and I don’t want to know who they are.

“They have problems; I think they should go and keep quiet because there can be more troubles than they realised in the fact that we are concerned. However, if you misbehave, we will deal with you in accordance with the rules and laws that have been laid down,” he said

The Adentan Circuit Court has issued a bench warrant for the immediate arrest of the former CEO of defunct Menzgold, Nana Appiah Mensah, popularly known as NAM 1, and two others after failing to appear in court over fraud charges.

The other two are Gabriel Kwamigah alias Gabby and Eric Amponsah Bediako also known as Cana.

They have been charged with conspiracy to defraud by false pretence.

The court ruled on Tuesday (2 November) for the three accused persons to appear before it on Thursday but they failed to honour the invitation.😲😲😲

Their lawyer Yaw Dankwah told the court his clients are “unavailable” prompting the police investigator Chief Inspector Maxwell Lanyo to inform the court that the accused persons have declined to respond to several police invitations.

But Lawyer for the three accused persons, Yaw Dankwah, speaking to the media after court proceedings, says his clients should have been served personally with the criminal summons.

“They have never been arrested. They have never been cautioned, yet the police have come to court with four counts of charges again them,” Mr. Dankwah complained.

He explained that they were caught off guard by the charges which came on Tuesday and had asked for an adjournment of the case for two weeks.

Mr. Dankwah said the judge did not grant his request and gave them up till today [Thursday] to be in court.

“Unfortunately, they could not. They are out of the city,” he said.

It is unclear if the warrant is related to the collapse of Menzgold.

Mr. Appiah Mensah had previously been slapped with 13 counts of defrauding by pretenses, money laundering, abetment, and carrying on deposit-taking business without license contrary to Section 6 (1) of the Banks Specialised Deposit-taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930).

This was after he was accused of defrauding 16,000 customers of about GHS 1.68 billion😲😲😲

The case has been adjourned indefinitely….

• Sammy Gyamfi has questioned the importance of the proposed E-Pharmacy to the ordinary Ghanaian

• The E-Pharmacy will be launched in Ghana by end of 2021

•45 pharmacies are currently piloting the E-Pharmacy

Communications Director of the opposition National Democratic Congress, Sammy Gyamfi, has questioned the government about the impact the proposed E-Pharmacy will have on the ordinary Ghanaian.

This comes on the back of the announcement made by Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, about the possible introduction of E-Pharmacy which will make Ghana the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to implement the innovation.

Dr. Bawumia said that the E-Pharmacy will ensure pharmacies in the country are digitized on a platform to enable consumers to gain access to purchase medicines.

“To address the challenge of patients or person facing difficulties when trying to find medicines in pharmacies, I challenged the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana to digitize the operations of pharmacies in Ghana. Following this and working with my office, the Pharmacy Council in collaboration with the private sector has completed work on a digital platform; E-Pharmacy for all pharmacies in Ghana and a pilot of 45 pharmacies is currently ongoing,” he said.

Reacting to this, Sammy Gyamfi has questioned the vice president on how it can help improve the livelihood “of the many Ghanaians who are suffering”.

He added that the solutions to Ghana’s numerous economic problems do not lie in digitization lectures.

“Of what use is E-Pharmacy to the ordinary Ghanaian who is reeling under excruciating economic hardships as a result of the introduction of excessive taxes and steep increases in fuel prices by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government?

“Of what use is “E-this and E-that” to the ordinary Ghanaian who is jobless and cannot even afford to buy mobile data to access these digital platforms?” Sammy Gyamfi said in an opinion piece published by MyJoyonline.com

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Government has announced plans to digitalize the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) as part of the ongoing digitalisation of the nation’s economy.

According to the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, a digital School Feeding Programme will ensure efficiency, speedily transfer of data and transparency in the social intervention programme.

Dr. Bawumia made the announcement during his address on the digital economy held at the Ashesi University in the Eastern Region on Tuesday 2nd November, 2021.

He was of the view that the digital system will largely address most of the challenges of GSFP especially the alleged “issues of ghost schools and ghost children”.

Meanwhile, the Management of the Ghana School Feeding Programme led by Dr. Mrs. Gertrude Quashigah in line with the government’s vision has already procured some 300 brand new Tablets to pilot the digital system in some selected districts in all the 16 regions of Ghana which was fully funded by the World Food Programme (WFP).

GSFP Management and their partner, WFP, have also finished the practical training of key stakeholders in all the regions including headteachers, circuit supervisors and school feeding staff at national and regional levels on the use of the tablets for monitoring and evaluation purposes.

The piloting of the GSFP digital monitoring system commenced on 1st November in the selected districts; and it will be followed by the digitalisation of the entire school feeding programme by the Government in earnest.

Source: 3news.com|Ghana

 Francis-Xavier Sosu, MP for Madina

The Madina MP has been charged with “obstructing public highway and causing damage to public property” and will appear in court on 8 November

The police have filed charges against the Madina MP, Francis-Xavier Sosu, over “unlawful road blockade and destruction of public property”.

“The police have obtained criminal summons and have been duly served for him [Sosu] to appear in court on 8 November,” the director general of the Ghana Police Service, ACP Kwesi Ofori, told the media on Wednesday (3 November 2021).

He said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) lawmaker has been charged with “obstructing public highway and causing damage to public property.”

The police are after the legislator over his alleged involvement in a protest in his constituency which led to an “unlawful road blockade and destruction of public property”.

The Criminal Investigation Division (CID) of the Ghana Police Service wrote to the Speaker on Wednesday (27 October 2021) requesting the release of the MP.

However, in a response, issued through the deputy director of legal services, Nana Tawiah Okyir, the Speaker said: “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 26 October 2021 and having regard to the limitations of Articles 117 and 118 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic, he is unable to release the Member of Parliament as requested in your letter.”

Matter of privileges committee

The Speaker said he had already referred the case to the privileges committee of Parliament to probe “breach of parliamentary privilege and contempt by ACP Isaac Kojo Asante and ACP Eric Winful of the Accra Regional Police Command and the Adenta Divisional Command respectively”.

In a statement on Sunday (31 October), the police said: “The MP, Francis-Xavier Sosu, was invited on the day of the protest to assist the police for his alleged involvement in the unlawful blockade of a road and the destruction of public property but he declined the invitation.

“He declined further invitations, citing parliamentary privilege.

“Three other persons have been interrogated on this matter and we shall continue to use every legal means to interrogate all other suspects including the Honourable MP for Madina,” the statement added.

Denial of arrest

The police also denied going to the MP’s church to effect his arrest on Sunday.

“Stories circulating that some police personnel had been dispatched to arrest the MP at a church today Sunday (31 October 2021) are untrue,” said the statement, signed by ACP Kwesi Ofori on behalf of the Police Service.

“Any plain-clothed police personnel found on the premises of the church may have been there for intelligence purposes and not to effect an arrest.”

Below is the full statement:

The Minister for National Security, Albert Kan-Dapaah has disclosed that challenges from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic made it impossible for Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia to redeem his promise of installing security cameras in all Police Stations across the country as scheduled.

The National Security Minister made the disclosure when responding to questions on the floor of Parliament on the state of affairs on the project.

As part of the project, Dr. Bawumia in February 2018 announced plans by the government to fix CCTV cameras in all Police stations across the country.

“This phase commenced in January, 2020 and was initially scheduled to be completed in 18 months. However, due to logistical challenges introduced by the Covid-19 pandemic, project completion is now slated for December, 2021,” Kan-Dapaah revealed in Parliament.

Currently, the Police have some 900 police stations in total operational across the country and this Phase 2 project is providing CCTV coverage for all 432 Regional, Divisional and District Police stations out of the 900, to enable monitoring of these installations; and the remaining stations would be covered in subsequent phases of the project.

Roll out is currently ongoing, and all 432 stations are expected be completed before close of the year.



Source: starrfm.com.gh

The Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Mrs Cecilia Abena Dapaah, has entreated people who urinate in open drains to stop the practice because “gutters are not their washrooms”.

The minister, who wants an end to this attitude, noted that “there are generations in Ghana who think urinating anywhere, anytime is their right” but added: “It’s wrong and we must all speak against this.”

“There are people who sit in very posh cars, they park anywhere, anyhow and urinate…and that must stop,” she added.

“We should change our attitudes,” she said.

The minister was speaking at the Mole XXXII WASH Conference held at Ejisu in the Ashanti Region on the theme: “Repositioning the WASH sector for emergency response and sustainable development”.

She called on Ghanaians, especially parents, to ensure their children do not urinate in open sewers because it is wrong.

She also appealed to illegal small-scale miners (galamseyers) to stop their activities because they are destroying surface waters.

She wants Ghanaians to be bold and speak out when they see water bodies being destroyed by illegal mining activities

Former President John Dramani Mahama has called on African countries to build effective partnerships to put their economies back on more resilient recovery pathways from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The speed and quality of the economic recovery process from the pandemic will depend on our shared collective responsibility. Despite the devastating effects of the pandemic, Africa can accelerate and build back better,” he said.

Mr. Mahama made the call when he opened the Third African Economic Congress in Lagos yesterday.

The three-day virtual congress, on the theme: “Accelerate Africa: Building Back Better”, is a response to a growing call for action to accelerate Africa’s capacity to recover from the pandemic and forge a path towards building an inclusive, and development-driven continent.

It covers panel sessions on agriculture, finance, trade, technology, youth, women, security, health and energy.

Vulnerabilities

Admittedly, Mr. Mahama said, COVID-19 had been one of many challenges that had aggravated Africa’s vulnerabilities and exacerbated existing development challenges.

“COVID-19 is impacting and impeding the previously steady progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, whose target date is only eight years away.

“So insidious has it been that it has literally relegated many of the challenges facing our people – challenges such as unemployment, bad governance, corruption, inadequate health facilities, poor roads, insecurity among others.

Mr. Mahama said there was no doubt that the times had been very challenging for Africa and the rest of the world.

However, he said, one thing that was clear was that when the pandemic finally ended, the sanitary practice that had been cultivated would remain with the people.

The former President further noted that the pandemic had also pushed Africans to be more innovative and ensure a better use of technology to manage time.

Vaccination

Mr. Mahama called on governments on the continent to adopt a radical shift in strategy to secure and vaccinate their populations.

He said the development of vaccines by several countries on different continents should inspire Africa to look both outward and inward for solutions.

In addition, he said, the continent must improve affordable access to medical supplies, by building quality and cost-effective healthcare infrastructure, and manufacturing capacity for pharmaceuticals, medicines and vaccine production.
 
“This is why, as President of Ghana, I developed a programme and supported Ghanaian pharmaceutical industries with stimulus packages to improve their efficiencies and enhance productivity,” he told the congress.

New normal

Mr. Mahama challenged businesses, people, financial institutions and governments to rapidly adjust to the ‘new normal’.

“A robust digital infrastructure is necessary for a resilient build back. Digital education of the population is important for the youth, including the old,” he said.

Mr. Mahama recalled a proposal he made to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) to agree to an arrangement with such persons affected by the pandemic, particularly those in the private sector, such that it paid them a small part of their contributions to enable them to survive during periods of hardship.

“The COVID-19 lockdown periods demonstrated clearly that the success of a nation depends on businesses, in addition to its SMEs, which employ millions and are key drivers of development,” he said.

Quality of growth

As Africa built back, he said, priority should be placed on the quality of growth to impact on the livelihoods of the people.

Mr. Mahama said growth must be more equitable and focused on sectors that were better able to create jobs.

“This is the reason we need to deepen democracy in Africa and empower citizens and civil society organisations to advocate inclusive and shared growth. This is what our national discourse, and the intra-African discourse, must be about. We also need honesty and transparency from governments,” he stated.

Climate change

He said the continent must build back by paying greater attention to climate change and global warming.

“Treating the earth better for sustainable development will in itself prevent pandemics and improve the supply chain crisis that the world is experiencing now. In addition to these, we must fully implement the African Continental Free Trade Area to create competitive industrial manufacturing capacity and wider trade and investment opportunities and fast-track Africa’s industrialisation. This will position our African economies to withstand future global shocks better,” he said.

 

 

Source: graphiconline.com

The practice of law is not a right but a privilege, along with it comes the moral obligation and a legal duty to uphold the dignity of the profession and ensure that the privilege of being called to the bar is not abused through unprincipled and disreputable conducts, said the Attorney General and Minister of Justice Godfred Yeboah Dame to the new executives of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA).

He pointed out to the new President of the GBA that he is assuming office at a time that the question of ethics and standards at the bar has assumed “imminent significance” where the standard of practice has declined to its lowest depth.

Speaking of what he said he experienced at the Supreme Court, the conduct of some lawyers in certain cases they handled, where according to the AG “ethics is virtually thrown to the dogs in the dishonorable quest for some lawyers to win a case”.

Mr Dame said it is only when legal practitioners maintain the highest level of ethical standards that the law will continue to be a noble profession with no compromise in the country.

He admonished the new executives of the GBA to be responsible for preventing and condemning any act of “illegal pressure” on the judiciary.

“You have to be on guard against unscrupulous persons targeting the independence of the judiciary by tarnishing its image unjustifiably.

“I must also state that the judiciary should also assert its might by acting against such persons with a firm fist in the situations where lawyers misconduct themselves in court but judges fail to apply the relevant sanctions, contributing in equal measure to the destruction of the integrity of the judiciary,” Mr Dame said.

He appealed to the members of the bar to re-embrace the virtues of good practice which will guarantee the purity, dignity and majesty of the courts to be upheld in the country.

Mr Dame was addressing a gathering at the swearing-in ceremony of the new executives of the Ghana Bar Association in Accra.

“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 the moral obligation to uphold the dignity of the profession and ensure that the privilege of being called to the bar is not abuse,” admonished the AG

The National Identification Authority (NIA) will from today commence operations in its 16 regional and 275 district offices across the country based on the following plan: A. From November 3-5, 2021 – Setting up, conducting public sensitisation and engaging with community leaders on the impending operations of the Regional and District offices.

This will also enable newly-appointed officers to familiarise themselves with their various communities and undertake other preparatory activities; B. From November 8-16, 2021 (except weekends) – Issuing Ghana Cards to Ghanaians who registered during the mass registration but could not receive their cards.

From November 17, 2021 onwards – Continuation of issuance of Ghana Cards to applicants; D. From November 17, 2021 onwards – Registering and issuing Ghana Cards to Ghanaians aged 15 years and above; E. From November 29, 2021 onwards – Replacement of lost, stolen, and damaged Ghana Cards; F. From November 29, 2021 onwards – Updating of personal information of applicants in the National Identity Register (NIR).

The NIA will announce in due course the timelines for the registration of Ghanaians under 15 years.

The Regional and District offices of the NIA will operate within the usual business hours from 8:00am to 5:00pm, Monday to Friday.

The Premium Registration Centre at the NIA Head Office will be open for business on Wednesday, November 3, 2021

Speaker of Parliament, Alban S.K Bagbin has issued a reply letter to the Ghana Police Service on the release of the MP for Madina, Francis Xavier Sosu, for interrogation.

According to the letter, the speaker stated the Madina MP will be engaged in legislative proceedings so he cannot be released!!

“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 articles 117 and 118 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic, he is unable to release the Member of Parliament as requested in your letter.

“The Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament further directs that I refer you to the provisions of article 122 of the 1992 Constitution and to inform you that on Wednesday the 27th October, 2021 he referred to the Privileges Committee of Parliament, allegations of breach of parliamentary privilege and contempt by ACP Isaac Kojo Asante and ACP Eric Winful of the Accra Regional Police Command and the Adenta Divisional Command respectively,” the letter signed by the Deputy Director of Legal Services of Parliament stated.

Prior to this, the Police have declared its intention to interrogate Mr. Sosu after he led a protest against bad roads in his constituency where some of the protestors blocked roads and burnt tyres and allegedly destroyed some state property.😲😲😲😲

Police have mentioned that the action of the constituents amounted to criminal activity and have tried to invite the MP (who led the demonstration) to assist with investigations after he resisted arrest when some police officers tried to arrest him during the protest.

It is believed (by some political analysts) that Sosu supervised an illegality by ALLOWING HIS CONSTITUENTS to apply lawless methods during their demonstration.

This action by the residents led to reinforcement from the police, whose Formed Police Unit (FPU) rushed to the scene with combat vehicles.

The police reportedly made a second attempt to arrest Mr. Sosu while he was in Church on Sunday though the Police administration has denied the reports. Stating those men were there for intelligence gathering.

In response to the police, Mr. Sosu was of the view that albeit the protestors had blocked roads during the protest, there was no basis for any arrest because he had followed due process in organising the protest.

He went further and filed a formal complaint in Parliament citing two police commanding officers of contempt of Parliament after the first attempt by the police to arrest.

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, referred the complaint against the two police officers to the Privileges Committee of Parliament.

The officers cited in Mr. Sosu’s complaint were ACP Isaac Kojo Asante, the Greater Accra Regional Operations Commander, and ACP Eric Winful, the Adentan Divisional Commander.

At what Point can an MP be arrested?

Articles 117 and 118 which form the basis for the Speaker’s refusal to release the Madina MP and MP’s behaviour must be subjected to legal interpretations.

The Supreme Court will be The Best Place to Address This Issue.

Indeed many Ghanaians are NOW calling for a Full Scale Review of the 1992 Constitution, the “Legal Bible” which EMPOWERS and PROTECTS the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary.

Sources: DGN online and Afrisearch Ghana Media 🇬🇭

Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has noted that one of the biggest problems impeding financial sector development in developing countries is the issue of financial exclusion.

This means that, he said, most of the population is excluded from fully participating in the financial system because they are unable to open and operate bank and financial services accounts.

This, according to him, reinforces the dominance of cash payments. 

Delivering a public lecture at the Ashesi University on Tuesday, November 2, he said “ When we assumed office in 2017, we decided to use digitization to solve this problem. The data showed that 70% of people in Ghana had no bank accounts but 80% of the adult population had mobile phones with 30 million mobile money accounts.

“It was also not possible to send money to customers of different telecom companies. So we asked the questions: why can’t we make it possible to send mobile money across different telecom companies and also why can’t the mobile money account function like a bank account ‘by making it interoperable with bank accounts?

“The answer to these questions was the implementation of the ground-breaking mobile money interoperability system.

“Thanks to the Bank of Ghana and Ghana Interbank Payments and Settlement System (GhIPSS) the mobile money payments interoperability has made it possible to transfer money seamlessly across different mobile money providers and between bank accounts and mobile wallets. It has also solved the major problem of the over 70% of people not having bank accounts.

“Today, because of mobile money interoperability (MMI), you can transfer money from a customer of one telco to a customer of a different telco and also make payments from your mobile money account into any bank account and you can receive payments from any bank account into your mobile money account.

“You can receive interest on savings, acquisition of loan (e.g. qwick loan) on your mobile wallets. As a result of MMI over 90% of the adult population now have access to a “bank account”. 

“Ghana is the first country in Africa and one of the few in the world to achieve this type of interoperability between bank accounts and mobile wallets. I would like to note that even in the USA the Federal Reserve Bank does not have interoperability in its Real-Time Payments Network. The American Bankers Association in a letter to the Fed in September 2021, called on the Fed to strive towards interoperability with the Real-Time Payment Network.   

 “Achieving mobile money interoperability (MMI) in Ghana is, therefore, no small feat, especially at the cost, we did it. The data shows that because of MMI, Ghana is the fastest growing mobile money market in Africa. Total value of mobile money transactions in 2020 was GHC570 billion ($100 billion). Six years ago, it was GHC35 billion.

“Banks are also responding to the competition for the unbanked from the mobile money service providers. Next month, all banks in Ghana will launch a bankwide momo wallet which will be available to customers and non-customers through a mobile App. It is similar to other mobile money Apps from Vodafone, Airtel TiGo and MTN. You will be able to move money from any bank or momo account into this wallet and you can also generate your personal QR Code from this bankwide app.  I think this will bring about a healthy competition between the mobile money service providers and the banks which should result in lower charges for money transfers.”

By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has asked all road users especially drivers to exercise caution in order to decrease the rate of accidents in the country.

President Akufo-Addo said this while extending his condolence to the families of the burnt accident victims. He also wished the injured a speedy recovery.

President Akufo-Addo in a tweet urged all road users, especially drivers, to drive safely always, and help reduce the spate of road accidents in the country.

“I have learnt with considerable sadness of the tragic accident, at Akomadan, that has claimed the lives of some 30 people in the early hours of this morning. I extend my condolences to families of the deceased and wish the injured a speedy recovery,” he said.

He added “I continue to urge all road users, especially our drivers, to drive safely always, and help reduce the spate of road accidents in the country.”

Some accident victims have been confirmed burnt beyond recognition while 25 others ran to safety when a Daewoo passenger bus crashed into a Kia Towing truck on the Offinso-Techiman road in the Bono Region.

The 25 people have been rushed to a nearby health center while the five are being retrieved by personnel from the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana National Fire Service.

The Akomadan District Police Commander, DSP Gyasi Agyeman, who broke the news to 3FM’s Sunrise hosted by Alfred Ocansey on Tuesday, explained that the accident occurred at around 4:30am on Tuesday.

He explained that “a bus loaded with passengers from Nandom to Kumasi with a registration number GT 4215 – 17 crushed into a parked Kia Towing car with registration number GT 6983 – 12”.

DSP Gyasi said “about 25 were able to escape but five of them were trapped and burnt beyond recognition”.

“You could see their bodies in the vehicles. Five are dead beyond recognition. The injured have been rushed to the hospital”.

The Commander said “according to the passengers, some alighted at Techiman, Kintampo and other places, along the road so it was not a fully loaded bus”.

“We can say for a fact because they could see the bodies from the vehicles. At the time the fire service was able to quench the fire, the five people had been burnt. It is a VIP type passenger bus that could take about forty plus passengers”.

He said that “the driver of the towing car was safe. One of those burnt was behind the steering of the bus so we presume that he was the driver”.

DSP Agyeman said “the driver was alleged to be speeding because my men flashed him to stop at the checkpoint but he refused ”.

“Some of the passengers even said they got angry with him for the reckless driving, so a few meters after our check point, he ran into the truck”.

DSP Agyeman who said he resumed office just yesterday as the District Police Commander said “I just resumed office yesterday as the District Commander and this is my welcome address”.

Source: 3news.com|Ghana

The Vice President has hinted of plans by the government to launch an E-Pharmacy project to address challenges faced by members of the public in accessing medicines.

He explained that several patients spend long hours searching for pharmacies where they can obtain prescribed medications, sometimes at very expensive prices.

Delivering a public lecture on Ghana’s digital economy, at the Ashesi University on Tuesday, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia revealed that the Pharmacy Council in collaboration with the private sector have been urged to digitize their activities.

“Basically, the digital E-Pharmacy platform will offer the opportunity to everyone through a mobile phone to upload your prescriptions and find out which pharmacies near you have the drugs. Secondly, you can compare the prices for the same drug offered by different pharmacies, so that you can buy from the lowest priced pharmacies.”

According to him, the project is currently being piloted with 45 pharmacies.

Persons who want to purchase drugs he added will be able to order through mobile money or GhQR (Scan and Pay) when the project is launched.

“The medicines will then be delivered to customers at home through courier service,” he added.

“The E-Pharmacy platform will also check fake or counterfeit drugs because the platform will be linked to the FDA, which will monitor thereal-timembers of all products in real time. Any drug for which the FDA does not have a batch number will be classified as fake,” the Vice President said.

“The E-Pharmacy is scheduled to be launched before the end of the year. I would like to thank the Pharmacy Council and the Ghanaian private partners for being very proactive and for tolerating my hounding,” he added.

Source: rainbowradionline.com

President of Ghana Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has asked drivers to learn to drive safely in order to reduce road accidents in the country.

On Monday, seventeen people, including 10 children were confirmed dead in an accident involving a sprinter bus and an articulated truck in the Abofuor Forest in the Ashanti region.

The accident occurred at about 3:30 am on Monday when the Man Diesel truck with registration number GS 4339-17 collided head-on with the Kumasi-Daboya bound Mercedes Sprinter bus with registration number GT 6075-15.

On Tuesday, another accident occurred on the Kumasi-Techiman Highway when a bus collided with a KIA Rhino after which the bus caught fire and burnt some six persons beyond recognition.

Reacting to the series of accidents, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in a tweet said he was saddened by the news.

While wishing bereaved families his condolences, the President used the opportunity to caution drivers and users of the road to be cautious and drive safe in order to protect lives especially during this season.

His tweet read “I have learnt with considerable sadness of the tragic accident, at Akomadan, that has claimed the lives of some 30 people in the early hours of this morning.

“I extend my condolences to families of the deceased and wish the injured a speedy recovery. I continue to urge all road users, especially our drivers, to drive safely always, and help reduce the spate of road accidents in the country.”

Source: mynewsgh.com

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, every new born child delivered in Ghana next year will get, within a few months, a Ghanacard number, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has announced.

Speaking at a public lecture to shed more light on the digital strides chalked by the Akufo-Addo government since it assumed office as part of measures to make public services more accessible and affordable, Dr Bawumia said the actual card will be issued when the child is grown and the biometrics are fully formed (after age 6).

This, Dr Bawumia said, forms part of digital reforms being undertaken at the Births and Deaths Registry to make it more in tune with the times and provide better protected information on the citizens and residents of Ghana.

The Vice President, who made the disclosure while speaking on the theme “TRANSFORMING AN ECONOMY THROUGH DIGITALIZATION- THE GHANA STORY” on Tuesday, November 2, 2021 at the Ashesi University, Berekuso, said the transformation at the Birth and Deaths Registry was welcome news.

“Easily one of the most depressing visits I have paid to a government office during my time as Vice President was to the Births and Deaths Registry headquarters. There clearly was insufficient investment in the institution. It was messy and it was sad. It turned out that the Births and Deaths Registry had three separate databases as registers for births and deaths and these databases were in silos. It is not surprising therefore that corruption and fake birth certificates thrived in this environment,” he noted.

“Thankfully, the process of digitization of the records is almost complete and the three databases have been cleaned up and integrated. Furthermore, we are integrating the births and deaths register with the databases of Ghana Health Service, National Identification Authority, Ghana Statistical Service, Immigration and the Police so that the record of births and deaths should be consistent across all these databases.”

E-Pharmacy

Outlining a long list of innovations either undertaken or on the cusp of take-off, Vice President Bawumia announced, among others, the impending launch of the E-Pharmacy, which would involve the digitization of pharmacies in Ghana.

“Patients or people generally face difficulties when trying to find medicines in pharmacies. They have no way of knowing which pharmacies have the medicines. They could go to five pharmacies before getting lucky. Sometimes patients are directed to go to specific pharmacies to buy the medicine, denying them any advantage there might be of choosing from a lower priced shop. People also don’t know what the prices of the medicines are at different pharmacies and tend in their time of vulnerability to just buy at the prices offered when they find the drug. It is also difficult to tell whether the medicines are genuine or fake. There is also the problem of drug abuse with prescription medicines like Tramadol.

“To address these problems, in 2019, I challenged the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana to digitize the operations of pharmacies in Ghana. Following this and working with my office, the Pharmacy Council in collaboration with the private sector has completed work on a digital platform for all pharmacies in Ghana and a pilot of 45 pharmacies is currently ongoing.

“Basically, the digital E-Pharmacy platform will offer the opportunity to everyone through a mobile phone to upload your prescriptions and find out which pharmacies near you have the medicines. Secondly you can compare the prices for the same drug offered by different prices so that you can buy from the lowest priced pharmacies.”

Consumers will also be able to order the drug and pay for it on the phone through mobile money or GhQR (Scan and Pay), etc. The medicines are then delivered to the customers at home through a courier service.

As well, “The E-Pharmacy will enable Ghana address the issue of drug abuse. Those prescribed controlled medicines like Tramadol for example will only be given a one-time CODE sent via SMS (once the prescription is uploaded) to use at the pharmacy. The e-pharmacy platform will also check fake or counterfeit medicines because the platform will be linked to the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) which will monitor the batch numbers of all products real time. Any drug for which the FDA does not have a batch number will be classified as fake.”

The E-Pharmacy is scheduled to be launched before the end of the year, making Ghana the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to have a national scale E-Pharmacy and one of only a few countries in the world with a national scale E-pharmacy.

The lecture, which was attended by members of academia, students, the clergy, chiefs, and other members of the general public, was the latest by Vice President Bawumia, aimed at getting the citizenry, particularly the youth, to have a greater appreciation of the work being done in the digital space, and solicit their views on other areas that may need special attention

Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has urged the newly appointed Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) to be proactive in informing the people about the various projects and interventions rolled out by the Akufo-Addo-led government.

“The upcoming 2024 Elections is going to be fought at the local level and so you need to know the projects we have done in your districts and be proactive in telling the people.

“The NDC is very good at propaganda. In fact, they’re specialists in that and so the only way we can counter the propaganda is with facts and data because they’re afraid of that,” Dr Bawumia added.

He said the delivery tracker that captured the various government’s projects would be upgraded with a new version so that the assemblies could directly update it with new projects.

He, therefore, entreated the MMDCEs to work hard to transform the economic fortunes of the people at the local level, saying; “So approach your work with confidence and seriousness because our record will, and always be superior to that of the NDC’s record”.

Vice President Bawumia gave the advice at a training and orientation workshop for the newly appointed MMDCEs in Accra.

He mentioned some flagship initiatives rolled out by the Akufo-Addo-led administration during the first term and new ones being undertaken now to improve service delivery.null

The orientation, organised by the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Decentralisation, is intended to equip the MMDCEs with knowledge and skills to provide efficient leadership at the local level.

The event was on the theme: “Building Successful Leadership for Local Economic Transformation and Improved Service Delivery”, which enabled them to network and share ideas towards the government’s transformation agenda.

“The Akufo-Addo-led government wants to transform Ghana and so what government has done since assuming office is to decentralise development and ensure inclusion.

“This is what has underpinned the philosophy and economic strategy of governance of this country so that no part of the country is left behind in terms of access to development,” Dr Bawumia emphasised.

He stated that government was putting together database for farmers and fisherfolks across the country towards the digitisation of fertilizer and pre-mix fuel distributions to curb corrupt practices

.Source: GNA

• Efia Odo has called out the Vice President

• Actress says the fundamentals are weak

• Efia Odo has bemoaned the low performance of the cedi

Vice President, Dr Mahamadu Bawumia, has on several occasions reminded Ghanaians especially the opposition party, the National Democratic Congress of all the efforts made by Nana Addo’s administration in stabilizing the local currency.

According to Dr Bawumia, the strong economic policies rolled out by the ruling government has saved Ghana’s economy.

Despite the claims by the Vice president, the cedi continues to struggle against other currencies especially the dollar.

“We did arrest the runaway depreciation in the cedi and therefore if you look at the record in terms of the depreciation of the cedi in the last four, five years or eight years, we will see that since the NPP government came to power, the rate of the cedi depreciation is 50% less than what it was before. That is what the data shows, so it’s 50% less,” said Dr Bawumia in an interview on Joy FM in May 2020.

Reacting to the recent development, actress Andrea Owusu known in showbiz as Efia Odo has called out Dr Bawumia at a time where the cedi is performing badly.

Efia in a tweet dated November 2 wrote: “If the fundamentals are weak the exchange rate will expose you. That was true then and it’s true now. VP Bawumia $1 is now 6.1 Ghana cedis, who’s being exposed now?”

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has made an audacious claim that his government’s initiative to set up a factory in each district of Ghana under the One District One Factory Programme has made the Akufo-Addo government more prolific than any other the country has had in the establishment of factories.

“We have more factories set up under our government than any other government since independence,” Dr Bawumia stated.

He made this claim on Tuesday, November 2 while addressing an audience at Ashesi University.

Dubbed ‘Bawumia Speaks’, the event was themed ‘Transforming An Economy Through Digitalisation: The Ghana Story’.

More to follow

A former minister of energy, Boakye Agyarko, has declared his ambition to contest for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) 2024 presidential primaries after serving the party faithfully, loyally and hard, adding that he stands a better chance of leading Election 2024 as a flagbearer to “Break the 8” year rotation of governance between the NPP and NDC.

According to Mr. Agyarko, he is “fit for purpose”, for which reason he has resolved to put himself up to be elected by the party delegates.

The NPP stalwart once again reiterated his dream to lead the party in the next general elections on the Kumasi base OTEC FM’s breakfast show dubbed “Nyansapo” on Thursday, October 28, 2021

The one-time contestant in the party’s flagbearership position in 2008 said his faithfulness and loyalty to the party are unquestionable, adding that he will practically lead the party to yet another unprecedented victory should party delegates give him the nod.

Boakye Agyarko told the programme’s host, Captain Koda, that, he has enough experience and qualities to break the eight-year rotational governance between the NPP and the National Democratic Congress NDC.

Boakye Agyarko disclosed that the reason for which he left his base in the United States of America to come to Ghana was to contribute to the development of the country.

“It was the presidential race of 2007 that brought me back from the US. I left the US to participate in our politics and in fact, I was a participant in our politics before the unfortunate incident of June 1983 sent me into exile. I was in exile for 18 years. I never quit politics and will never quit politics because public service is my first passion. When the time comes, it shall be made known,” he said.

He however encouraged all members of the NPP to focus on helping Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo deliver a successful second term.

Boakye Agyarko admonished that the failure of the NPP government will have a devastating effect on Ghana’s democracy hence the need for all members of the party to join forces and ensure a successful final term for the president.

“In 2008, I was a contestant, one of the 17. I stayed to pay my dues. I consider myself fit for purpose and so I will not resale from that ambition or that objective. But at the end of the day it is for the grassroots to decide,” he added.

Mr. Agyarko has, since the commencement of the party’s annual regional delegate’s conference been involved in the process.

The former Campaign Manager of the NPP has already participated in three regional conferences, Savanah Region, Upper West, and Upper East. Sources say, his involvement in the process is to energize his base ahead of the crucial flagbearership race

South Danyi Member of Parliament, Rockson Nelson Dafeamekpor, has said Parliament is going to withhold the budget of the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General if the 499 LLB students who obtained the 50 per cent pass mark in the law entrance exams are not admitted as directed by the House.

Mr Dafeamekpor who is not happy with the tone of the response to Parliament by the Attorney General (AG) Godfred Yeboah Dame following the resolution to get the students admitted, dared the AG and by extension, the government to submit their budget for parliamentary approval and they will meet the same lawmakers the AG had made a “condescending” statement against.

He told Dzifa Bampoh in an interview on First Take on 3FM Monday November 1 that he was scandalized by the tone of the AG’s letter to the legislature.

“I am scandalized by the decision of the Attorney General. I am further scandalized by the tone of the AG’s response to Parliament, it is a very condescending.  The AG is fighting a turf war with Parliament.

“If the Attorney General says that, prior to the resolution of Parliament, he had received the instruction from the President to intervene to address the concerns of the 499, the question you ask yourself is what the concerns of the 499 are?

“The 499 are simply saying they were charged monies by the GLC to write an exams, notice and conditions which were publicized on 14^th of May this year, to them they had complied with all the conditions therein and when the results came out they the 499 have discovered that they had passed the exams and so they should be admitted in addition to the 79.

“So if the president had instructed the Attorney General to intervene the simplest thing the Attorney General would have to do is to instruct the GLC to go ahead and admit them.

“If Parliament, a day or two, also gives directive, what he should be saying is that, indeed we are grateful that Parliament has passed a resolution to this effect but the good news is that the president has also directed me. So with the support from Parliament and with the instruction from the President you are in a firm position to take progressive steps to get the GLC to admit them. This is how the AG should be speaking. The AG is saying that Parliament has no power to direct him to give instruction to the GLC to admit the students.”

“We are waiting for them they should bring the budget,” he added.

“Why wouldn’t we withhold their budget if they fail to admit the students. If you are not performing your functions to the best of your ability we will withhold your budget.”

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.

The unanimous decision was arrived at by a voice votes in Parliament.

But the Godfred Yeboah Dame told to Parliament that the GLC was not under compulsion to comply.

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.

He 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.”

By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana

President Nana Akufo-Addo’s nominee for East Gonja Municipal Assembly Mohammed Tamimu has been rejected for the second time by members of the assembly amidst some intimidation claims.

The nominee failed to secure two-thirds of the votes cast after obtaining only 9 out of a total of 34.

Hundreds of residents trooped to the premises of the East Gonja Municipal Assembly to witness the confirmation.

More security personnel comprising police, prisons and fire service were deployed to the venue.

The youth earlier had a confrontation with the security after some people were denied access to the place.

Voting began at quarter past 11:00am.

Before the voting, the Savannah Region Minister, Saeed Muhazu Jibril, appealed to the Assembly members to put aside their differences and confirm the nominee.

“I want to on behalf of the nominee and his family apologize to you all for whatever reason you don’t want to confirm him. To err is human and to forgive is divine,” he said

One by one the Assembly members took their turn to vote.

In less than an hour, all 34 assembly members went through the voting process.

After counting, the President’s nominee obtained 9 out of a total of 34 valid votes cast.

The youth who were gathered outside began to jubilate over his rejection.

This is the second time the nominee failed to get confirmation from the assembly members

“ACP Kwesi Ofori and the IGP should tell their fib to class 1 kids that the plain cloth officers were there to gather intelligence. A bsolute bumble!,” Sam George said.

Ningo-Prampram MP, Sam George has described as lies the Ghana Police Service’s explanation concerning the alleged attempted arrest of Madina MP during church service.

The Police, in a statement, said, “stories circulating that some Police personnel had been dispatched to arrest the MP at a church today Sunday, October 31, 2021, are untrue.

“Any plain-clothed Police personnel found on the premises of the church may have been there for intelligence purposes and not to effect an arrest.”

Reacting to the above statements on his Facebook wall, he said, “ACP Kwesi Ofori and the IGP should tell their fib to class 1 kids that the plain cloth officers were there to gather intelligence. Absolute bumble!”

He added that as the Police have determined to use legal means to interrogate all suspects, including the Madina MP, Francis-Xavier Sosu, “they must be guided by Articles 117 & 118 of the 1992 Constitution and Standing Orders 28 & 30 of Parliament.”

The Police have been seeking to arrest Madina MP, Francis-Xavier Sosu, after organising a protest that had ended riotously.

The protestors had blocked the Ayi Mensah-Danfa road by burning tyres and preventing the free flow of traffic.

The MP who had refused the Police’s invitation to assist them in investigating the matter stated that the Police attempting to arrest him on the protest grounds was an act of lawlessness.

He has subsequently filed a contempt of Parliament against two of the Police Officers and the Adenta Police Command for their actions.

According to Sam George, though he realises the need to support the Police to maintain law and order, “we shall resist them when they act outside the remit of the law with reckless abandon and in a capricious manner unbecoming of officers of the law.”

His conviction is based on the violence that characterised the Ayawaso-West Wuogon bye-elections, where he was slapped across the face by a state security agent.

“I have been a victim of the lack of professionalism and irresponsibility of SOME police officers and national security personnel, and I have made it my life mission to continue to fight for reforms in what should be a model public service institution, and I would rest not until we rid the Police Service of these despicable bad nuts. The Police is NOT above the law,” he concluded.

Source: Cornelis Kweku Afre||Myjoyonline

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Cape Coast North, Kwamina Mintah-Nyarku, is urging the government to legalise the activities of tricycles popularly called ‘pragyia’ to reduce the increasing rate of unemployment in the country.

He believes legalising and regulating ‘pragyia’ would also reduce crimes and violence rates as well.

He also urged the riders to be disciplined, law-abiding, and adhere to the motor traffic rules and regulations to avoid accidents caused by their careless and reckless driving and also adhere to the directives by the Assembly and negotiate with leaders if the directives would affect their business in the Metropolis.

The MP speaking at a day’s summit with ‘Pragyia’ riders in the Cape Coast Metropolis called for effective and informed dialogue with stakeholders to legalise the business to ease the plight of the youth.

Earlier, persons in the Cape Coast Metropolitan Area who are below 25 years have been banned from riding ‘pragyia or aboboyaa’ starting Monday, November 15, 2021.

The Management of the CCMA said the directive which is “as provided by law” and other related directives were taken at a meeting of the Cape Coast Metropolitan Security Council was held on September 15, 2021.

The Paramount Chief of the Oguaa Traditional Area in the Cape Coast Metropolis in the Central Region, Osabarima Kwesi Atta VI, also threatened to ban the use of the tricycle.

He said the tricycle which has become a major means of transportation in several towns in Cape Coast has led to the loss of several lives due to reckless riding.

According to him, criminal activities have increased in the Cape Coast metropolis due to the introduction of the pragyia

The Head Pastor of Believers’ House of Prayer Ministries, Bishop Chris Ablordey, has said the two officers in mufti who stormed his church to allegedly arrest Member of Parliament for Madina, Francis-Xavier Sosu, were not able to provide any arrest warrant.

He said they were only able to provide ID cards which showed they were from the Criminal Investigative Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service.

He told journalists on Sunday that “When the ministration was going on he was preaching, somebody walked in with a nose mask and later the ushers informed me that there are some security persons around and they will like to have a word with me. So, quickly, I went outside to meet with them, they came with pickup and said they are here to arrest honourable because they invited him four days ago but he couldn’t report himself so they are here to take him away.

“I tried finding out from them about their arrest warrant , they couldn’t provide but they showed me their ID card that they are coming from the CID headquarters,” he told Accra based Starr FM.

For the second time in just two weeks, Sosu has escaped Police arrest.

The latest one was when Police stormed his church on Sunday October 31 to arrest him for allegedly partaking in a violent demonstration in his constituency

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin had earlier referred a complaint made by Sosu to the Privileges Committee.

This was after Sosu officially lodged a complaint against the Accra regional police operations commander Isaac Kojo Asante on Wednesday October 27 to the Speaker for attempting to arrest him in line of his parliamentary duty.

The Speaker in his ruling said “The committee will investigate the complaint and will submit a report to the house for the whole consideration of the matter.”

He added “I receive complaints. I receive information about police service personnel pursuing Members of Parliament on both sides of the house, and I have on a number of occasions intervened to talk to the authorities and to draw their attention to the law.”

“Members of Parliament have some special rights because of the peculiar nature of the position, functions, and duties of the Member of Parliament.”

Sosu was seeking the police chief and others to be hauled before the privileges committee for contempt of parliament.

“The Police officers  under the command of the said  ACP Isaac Kojo Asante m, the regional operations commander  and Eric Wilful  the Divisional Commander of Adenta Aokobi  led their boys  to manhandle me  and virtually held, me , humiliated me  right in the presence  of my constituents with whom  we were demanding for better roads.”

He escaped police arrest on Monday, October 25 as he finished addressing protesters at Ayi Mensah.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) 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.

TV3’s reporter Joseph Armstrong Gold-Alor said this action by the residents led to reinforcement from the police, whose Formed Police Unit (FPU) rushed to the scene with combat vehicles.

After he addressed the demonstrators, reiterating the power of the people over people in power, the MP came under attack from the police, who attempted to pick him up.

There was commotion as a result of the attempted arrest.

The demonstrating residents, however, resisted the police and vowed to fight back if their representative in Parliament is arrested.

The police then arrested one of the opinion leaders. He is said to be a chief of the area.

The attempt to arrest Sosu attracted condemnation from his colleague Lawmaker for Ningo Prampram, Sam Nartey George.

Sam George as he is popularly called, questioned the presence of the National Security Operatives and Police Personnel at the Church premises of his colleague MP.

“So why is the Ghana Police Service disregarding a directive from the Rt. Honourable Speaker of Parliament on the intention to arrest the Honourable MP for Madina, Lawyer Francis-Xavier Sosu?” he wrote on his Facebook wall.

He continued “Who are the Police Officers at the Church premises at Ritz Junction in Madina seeking to arrest the MP? Is the IGP aware of this order and what it means in the face of Mr. Speaker’s directives?”

“Well we can assure the IGP and the Police Officers involved that the full might of Parliament’s Privileges Committee would be brought to bear on their actions if they want a show down. Enough of the disrespect for Parliament. The Constitution is clear on the processes to arrest a sitting Member of Parliament.

“We would respond in full measure and drastically! That is a promise!” he reiterated.

By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana

The National Security are currently at the church premises of Madina Member of Parliament, Francis Sosu Xavier, to arrest him over his protest on Monday 25th October 2021.

But the Member of Parliament seems to have escaped the arrest today [Sunday], October 31, 2021, at the Believers House of Prayer Ministries in Madina.

According to some party supporters who massed up at the church, the security personnel surrounded the church in an attempt to arrest the lawyer while he was worshipping in the church on Sunday.

Madina Constituency Secretary for NDC, Abdul Razak Husseine, says the MP was taken to an undisclosed location by the Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mabarak.

The NDC constituency chairman also told Citi News that the national and regional leadership of the party has taken over the matter.

• Government to make TVET attractive

• Free TVET key component of government’s Free Senior High School initiative

• 17 Technical and Vocational Institutes being upgraded and modernized

Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has said the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector is a key catalyst to propel industrialisation.

According to him, government remains committed to creating avenues for jobs through investments in TVET.

“TVET is a key catalyst to spurring industrialization and decent job creation for the citizens of this country. For sustainable development to occur, there is an urgent need for us to pay significant attention to training highly skilled human resources to serve as key drivers of the economy.”

“A Ghana beyond aid could only be possible when the youth are equipped with competitive global skills and introduced to various skilled careers.”

The Vice President said this when he launched the 2021 National Skills Competition and TVET Expo in Accra.

Touching on some key initiatives launched by the Akufo-Addo government in the TVET sector, the vice president said “to begin with, we have sanitized the TVET sector to ensure the effective regulation, administration and promotion of technical and vocational education and training for the transformation and innovation for sustainable development.”

“Our government has ensured the passage of the Education Regulatory Bodies Act, 2020 (Act 1023). The Education Regulatory Bodies Act resulted in the merger of the erstwhile Council for TVET (COTVET) and National Board for Professional and Technician Examination (NABPTEX) to establish the Commission for TVET (CTVET),” he added.

He added government has established sector skills bodies to focus on exploring business opportunities, innovation and capacity needs within the sectors.

Meanwhile, some 17 Technical and Vocational Institutes across the country are being upgraded and modernized.

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

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

 The Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye

The affected persons, according to the GHS, are nomads in selected communities in West and North Gonja of the region who have never been vaccinated against yellow fever

At least eight persons have died from a strange disease suspected to be yellow fever in the Savannah Region, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has said.

The affected persons, according to the GHS, are nomads in selected communities in West and North Gonja of the region who have never been vaccinated against yellow fever.

A statement issued by the GHS on Friday (29 October) said a team of experts from the Ghana Health Service, Centre for Disease Control (CDC) , World Health Organization (WHO), Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) have been dispatched to support the region to investigate and institute appropriate measures.

The Ghana Health Service has asked persons living in the region who have fever, general weakness, headache nausea and vomiting to immediately report to the nearest health facility.

It has also advised the general public to vaccinate themselves against yellow fever and avoid mosquito bites.

Below is the full GHS statement:

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) says the Electoral Commission (EC) cannot free itself of blame from the deaths recorded in the 2020 general election.

Addressing a news conference in Accra on Thursday, General Secretary of the Party, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, said the Commission’s posture before and during the elections was a major contributory factor that led to the deaths.

This comes at the backdrop of recent comments by the Commission that it could not be held liable for the violence that ensued during the conduct of the elections which led to the deaths of some eight persons.

The Commission had said that it was not responsible for security even though it collaborated with the security agencies under the platform of the Elections Security Taskforce and therefore, attempts to lay the security lapses at its doorsteps was unfortunate.

Mr Nketiah, however, said comments from the Commission were shocking and unfortunate considering that it was the failure on its part to put in place adequate measures to protect the lives of everybody that led to the violence and subsequent deaths.

He explained that the EC and the Ghana Police Service were in charge of the National Election Security Task Force responsible for all security arrangements for the elections.

“Indeed, the person in charge of security at both the collation center and polling station are the returning officer and the presiding officer, respectively, both of whom are officials of the EC.

“The NDC and other observers have incontrovertible evidence that it was the conduct, inaction and determination by various EC officials to subvert the will of the electorates in the various constituencies and the subsequent demands of the NDC representatives that the right thing be done that led to the horrific killing of eight of our compatriots. The EC can therefore not extricate itself from the complicity in the needless loss of lives witnessed in the 2020 elections,” he said.

Mr Nketiah called on the new Inspector General of Police to initiate investigations into the circumstances that led to the deaths of the eight persons and bring justice to them and their families.

The General Secretary said the assertion by the Commission that the 2020 was the most transparent, credible and successful in the country’s history saying was not true; “How can a successful election lead to the deaths of eight innocent Ghanaian citizens.”

He urged the Commission to accept the lapses that occurred in the 2020 elections and work towards improving its image, to enable it to regain confidence of Ghanaians and all stakeholders.

“They must immediately revert to the posture of accommodation, tolerance, consensus building, respect for stakeholders and political transparency exhibited by their forebears,” the General Secretary added.

He assured of their preparedness to engage the Commission and other stakeholders to reform and improve on the conduct of future elections.
GNA

Facebook has changed its corporate name to Meta as part of a major rebrand.

The company said it would better “encompass” what it does, as it broadens its reach beyond social media into areas like virtual reality (VR).

The change does not apply to its individual platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp, only the parent company that owns them.

The move follows a series of negative stories about Facebook, based on documents leaked by an ex-employee.

Frances Haugen has accused the company of putting “profits over safety”.

In 2015, Google restructured its company calling its parent firm Alphabet, however, the name has not caught on.

Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg announced the new name as he unveiled plans to build a “metaverse” – an online world where people can game, work and communicate in a virtual environment, often using VR headsets.

He said the existing brand could not “possibly represent everything that we’re doing today, let alone in the future”, and needed to change.

“Over time, I hope that we are seen as a metaverse company and I want to anchor our work and our identity on what we’re building towards,” he told a virtual conference.

“We’re now looking at and reporting on our business as two different segments, one for our family of apps, and one for our work on future platforms.

“And as part of this, it is time for us to adopt a new company brand to encompass everything that we do, to reflect who we are and what we hope to build.”

The company also unveiled a new sign at its headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on Thursday, replacing its thumbs-up “Like” logo with a blue infinity shape.

Mr Zuckerberg said the new name reflects that over time, users will not need to use Facebook to use the company’s other services.

The word “meta” comes from the Greek word meaning “beyond”.

To an outsider, a metaverse may look like a version of VR, but some people believe it could be the future of the internet.

Instead of being on a computer, people in a metaverse might use a headset to enter a virtual world connecting all sorts of digital environments.

It is hoped the virtual world could be used for practically anything from work, play and concerts, to socialising with friends and family.

Facebook said it intends to start trading its shares under the new stock ticker MVRS from 1 December.

Leaked documents

The company has had multiple hits to its reputation, with The Washington Post today reporting that Facebook withheld important information about vaccine misinformation from policymakers during the pandemic.

It was the latest in a series of stories based on internal documents leaked by ex-employee Ms Haugen to the media. Among other things, the reports have claimed Facebook sat on research that showed Instagram harmed teenage mental health, and struggled to remove hate speech from its platforms outside the US.

Mr Zuckerberg has described the reports as a “coordinated effort to selectively use leaked documents to paint a false picture of our company”.

Source: BBC

The National Democratic Congress (NDC), has expressed their willingness to assist the Ghana Police Service to investigate alleged claims of over-voting and excess printing of one million ballot papers during the 2020 polls.null

The party says it has accepted the challenge by the Electoral Commission for the police to investigate the matter as alleged by former President John Dramani Mahama.

General Secretary of the party, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah addressing a press conference said

“We take note with satisfaction Bossman Asare’s call on the Ghana Police Service to investigate the fact put out by President Mahama, given that President Mahama was on solid grounds when making this statement.

The NDC stands ever prepared to assist in any credible investigation into the matters raised”.null

He claimed that the police already has details about the allegations made which involves the possession of extra already thumb-printed ballot papers and even effected some arrests.

He noted that the electorate should rather be demanding an update on the matter

“We are aware however that Bossman Asare’s call is only a red herring because he cannot feign ignorance of the fact that the Police Service is already seized with all the evidence on this matter.

“On the specific printing of 1 million excess ballot papers and arrest of persons with thumb-printed ballot papers, the Ghana Police Service carried out the arrests and therefore should be providing updates on the status of investigations to the population. All that Bossman Asare needs to do is to call on the Attorney General to ask the police to prosecute the offenders,” he stated.

Source: rainbowradioonline.com

Parliament has passed a resolution for the General Legal Council to compel the Ghana Law School to admit the 499 students who sat for the 2021 entrance exams and passed in accordance with the marking scheme as advertised.

This follows a motion moved by deputy minority whip Ahmed Ibrahim, fine tuned by first deputy speaker who was presiding Joseph Osei-Owusu, and repeated by Effutu MP and deputy majority leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin.

499 students who were denied entrance into the Ghana Law School are in court challenging the decision arguing the marking scheme as advertised was changed after the exams.

After putting the question for adoption of the resolution, first deputy speaker Joseph Osei-Owusu ordered the Attorney General Godfred Dame to ensure the resolution is carried through by the Ghana Law School.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Division of the Accra High Court presided over by Justice Nicholas Mensah Abodakpi has adjourned the case in which some ‘failed’ LLB students have sued the General Legal Council and the Attorney General.

Though the 499 students were expected in court today, only 142 showed up.

When the case titled “Daniel Sackey and 142 others vs the General Legal Council” was called, the Attorney General requested for a short adjournment to file certain processes.

Patricia Ayirebe Acquah, Assistant State Attorney told the court that, she has spoken to all the parties and have agreed for a short date.

Lawyer of the Applicant Martin Kpebu, and Nana Yaw Ntrekwah for the General Legal Council, all corroborated that position.

Justice Abodakpi said “with the consent of the parties and their lawyers this case would be adjourned to Nov 9, 2021.”

“This act of his [Prez Akufo-Addo], in recent times, has found its way in our local government system,” Dr. Tamakloe said.

A founding member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Nyaho Nayho Tamakloe has said the way and manner the nominees for the position of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) were confirmed showed President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is the most lawless President ever in Ghana’s history.

According to him, the assembly members who have been empowered by the constitution to confirm or reject the nominees were unable to cast their ballot without fear or intimidation.

This development, he said, should not be swept under the carpet because in his view, they have taken the country back.

He told journalists in Accra Thursday October 28, 2021 that “Permit me to say without any fear of contradiction that Akufo-Addo is the most lawless president Ghana has ever had and does not believe in rule of law.

“This act of his, in recent times, has found its way in our local  government system. The district, municipal and metropolitan concept, as we all know was established a year after the first democratic election  in the fourth republic to help decentralize  activities of local government  into our localities  for proper and drastic development.

This part of our country’s development requires free and fair election  process to enable  people’s representatives at the assemblies  who are responsible to determine  who is confirmed in  the respective assemblies  as the District  Chief Executive, cast  their votes without fear or favour .

“The composition of our assemblies are made up of experts, elected assembly members from the various electoral areas within the district, chiefs and opinion leaders. These people are expected to be people of integrity, conviction, mature and above all, with the development of their localities at heart.

“These people, per our constitution must at all times be allowed to vote for or against any government appointee  who  is nominated by the president without any  interference or oppression or compulsion  but by their own conviction.  This is the sole right given to the assembly members for which no one shall influence  in any shape or form  i.e by threat , intimidation , assault or pressure  that will interfere with the exercise of such rights.

“What do we see today? This government led by Nana Addo has taken our dear nation  back. Looking at happenings in the recent confirmation of Chief Executives at the various assemblies. These acts cannot be grossed over as a nation because it is undermining the democracy that we have enjoyed  for the past twenty eight years and still  counting.”

It is recalled that the National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Samuel Ofosu Ampofo claimed that elected assembly members were denied their constitutional right to endorse or reject persons nominated for the position of MMDCEs in the country.

Without mentioning the areas where these happenings are taking place, he alleged that in some areas, the military and other security officers are being used to block some assembly members from having access to the auditorium where the voting is taking place to perform their duties.

He made these allegations when the presidential candidate of the NDC in last year’s elections, John Dramani Mahama met the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs as part of his thank you tour on Tuesday October 12.

Mr Ofosu Ampofo was not the only one making this claim.

Members of Parliament for Cape Coast North and Cape Coast South constituencies also accused the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) of using security forces including thugs to intimidate Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly (CCMA) members perceived to be members of the NDC to confirm the president’s nominee of Chief Executive.

According to the MPs, Kweku George Ricketts-Hagan of Cape Coast South and Kwamena Mintah Nyarko of Cape Coast North, the NPP had devised several means to ensure Ernest Arthur is forcefully confirmed.

The 2020 NPP Parliamentary Candidate for Cape Coast South failed twice to get two-thirds majority votes of assembly members after being renominated by President Akufo-Addo.

Mr Arthur, popularly known as Mayor 1, needed only four votes on Wednesday, October 6 in a second voting on his renomination to be confirmed Chief Executive.

But not even an impassioned gesture by the Central Region Minister, Marigold Assan, will move some assembly members to vote for him.

By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana

Emmanuel Kwesi Dawood

The daughter of embattled Central Regional Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress Emmanuel Kwesi Dawood on Wednesday, narrated the ordeal she went through at the hands of her father, to a Cape Coast Circuit Court.

Dawood, who was John Mahama agent for election 2020 in the Central region had on Wednesday, October 13, pleaded not guilty to defilement, incest, illegal abortion and assault and was remanded into police custody by the Court presided over by Dorinda Smith Arthur, but managed to secure a bail at a higher Court, last Thursday.

During a cross-examination by the lawyer of the accused who pleaded anonymity on Wednesday, the victim identified the accused as his biological father who had several consistent sexual encounters with her.

According to her, in the year 2019, her father lured her into his matrimonial home and informed her that he wanted to replace his love for her mother with her since their love could not last long.

The girl said, she declined a proposal to date him, but the accused ignored and forcibly had sexual intercourse with her in his matrimonial room at Agona-Swedru and revealed that their last sexual act was in the month of June, 2021 at Agona-Swedru.

“After the act, my father promised to send me abroad only if I did not disclose the ordeal to anyone, but if I did, he would make my life very miserable.

“In 2020, I got pregnant but my father took me to Atta Mensah who is his friend to abort the pregnancy and I informed the school counsellor about it,” she said.

The girl stated that when the accused heard she had informed the school counsellor, he attacked and subjected her to severe beatings, but she managed to escape.

The case had been adjourned to Tuesday, November 2 for continuation.

The Prosecutor, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Daniel Gazor, had told the Court that the accused was reported by Mavis Ayitey, mother of the victim, for allegedly having sex with his daughter multiple times, leading to a pregnancy.

He was alleged to have contacted a quack doctor, who performed an abortion on the girl, Prosecutor said.

ASP Gazor said a petition submitted by the victim’s mother to the Central Regional Police Command, said Dawood had allegedly engaged in the act since the girl was 15 years.

According to the petition, the victim, who could not bear the pain of the father’s actions anymore, on Friday, August 24, 2021, confided in her school’s Housemaster, the Prosecutor said.

The Housemaster then invited the girl’s grandmother to the school and informed her about her ordeal and they reported the case to the police, ASP Gazor, added

Member of Parliament (MP) for Madina, Francis-Xavier Sosu, has petitioned Parliament to cite two Police officers from the Adenta Divisional and Accra Reginal Command for contempt of Parliament for displaying unprofessional conduct.

He invoked the powers of Parliament under Article 117 of the 1992 Constitution and Order 28 of the Standing Orders of Parliament, and said ACP Isaac Kojo Asante, Regional Operations Commander, and ACP Eric Winful, Divisional Commander, Adenta-Abokobi should be hauled before the Privileges Committee for contempt of the House.

He said: “Right Honourable Speaker, the sub-title of Article 117 is “Immunity From Service Of Process And Arrest”. The content provides as follows, “Civil of criminal process coming from any court or place out of Parliament shall not be served on, or executed in relation to the Speaker, or a member or the Clerk to Parliament while he is on his way to attending at, or returning from any proceedings of Parliament.”

According to the Madina MP, after addressing a group of demonstrators in the Constituency, the Police informed him that they needed to send him to the Regional Commander to answer a few questions.

“I informed that I was on my way to Parliament to attend to other parliamentary duties because I was a Deputy Ranking Member and was to attended Leaders meeting in preparation to the resumption of sitting on 26th October 2021, “ Mr Sosu said.

He added that the Police insisted that he needed to come with them, but he informed them that if they wanted to put him under arrest, they had to tell him of the reasons for the arrest, and they had to write to the Speaker of Parliament to inform him before they could execute any orders on him as a sitting MP.

Mr Sosu accused the Police of flagrantly breaching the Constitutional Provision, which related to privileges of an MP as he said they led the way and attempted to forcefully apprehend him in the presence of his constituents.

The Madina MP contended that the attempt by the two officers to publicly arrest and manhandle him amounted to an act intended to impede and obstruct the legitimate discharge of his duties as a Member of Parliament,

“This is an act, which is an affront to the Parliament of the Republic of Ghana,” he said.

However, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, Deputy Majority Leader sought clarification from Speaker Alban Bagbin whether Mr Sosu in making his submission had come under Order 73, which provides that the MP should have previously notified the Speaker.

Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin in clarifying the issue stated that Mr Sosu had given him a prior notice out of which he (Speaker) gave him the permission to make the complaint before the House.

Speaker Bagbin, giving his ruling on the complaint referred the matter against the two Police officers to the Privileges Committee of Parliament.

He explained that the committee would investigate the complaint and submit a report to the House for consideration.

Speaker Bagbin also expressed concern about the conduct of law enforcement officers towards MPs, adding that, he would issue a statement on the matter in due time.

“I receive complaints. I receive information about Police service personnel pursuing Members of Parliament on both sides of the house, and I have on a number of occasions intervened to talk to the authorities and to draw their attention to the law.”

“Members of Parliament have some special rights because of the peculiar nature of the position, functions, and duties of the Member of Parliament,” Mr. Bagbin stressed.

Mr Sosu, earlier in his submission, had stated that on 25th October, 2021, he joined some youth in Adoteiman and Otinibi, which are some communities in the Madina Constituency to demonstrate against the deplorable roads in their communities.

He said the protest was done in accordance with the Public Order Act and there was no destruction of public or private properties as well as no casualties reported.

He said though some of the protestors blocked roads there was no basis for the Police to arrest anybody because they had followed due process.

Mr Sosu also insisted that the protest was in accordance with law and did not warrant his attempted arrest and manhandling by the Police.
GNA

Bernard Allotey Jacobs has lambasted former President John Dramani Mahama for accusing the Electoral Commission of ballot stuffing in the 2020 Presidential elections.

The former President is quoted as saying “2020 was Ghana’s worst election. If I was marking her, I would have given her an F. She is marking her own paper after the examination so she can give herself any mark she likes”.

“Tell me which election in Ghana was ballot papers printed yet one million ballot papers were found elsewhere…We didn’t witness this under Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan. She [Jean Mensa] knew there was ballot stuffing”, he added.

The EC, in reply, has called on the Police to investigate the allegations.

”The Former President has said the EC thumb printed 1million ballots in favour of the president. This is untrue. This is a grave matter that undermines the credibility of our electoral process and should not be ignored. We call on him to provide evidence to support his claim. This is not a matter to be ignored and we call on the Ghana Police Service to investigate this,” the Commission said during its ‘Let the Citizen Know’ series in Accra.

It further argued; ”The Transparency of our process makes it totally impossible for this to happen. At the polling stations, prior to the start of the elections, the empty ballot boxes are opened and displayed in the presence of everyone, and thereafter they are sealed. There are serial numbers on the ballot papers for each region and constituency. This is made known to the Agents before the elections. Our ballot papers also have security features, so any trace of new material will be clearly visible…Ballot Stuffing cannot be done-it is impossible. We call on the Former President in the interest of our democracy to provide evidence of the stuffing of the ballot boxes by the EC.”

Speaking on Peace FM’s morning show ‘Kokrokoo’, Allotey Jacobs wondered why the former President would make such allegations knowing very well the 2020 elections could not have been rigged.

“As a matter of fact, the 2020 elections is the best among the best . . . We have reached a stage in Ghana that our politics should be clean, not vile propaganda. It won’t work!”, he exclaimed.

To him, Mr. Mahama is entrapping himself, hence cautioning him and the NDC to desist from making unsubstantiated claims.

“It’s an entrapment. It’s like the former President is entrapping himself and when the Electoral Commission saw his weakness, they have also called on the Police to investigate,” he told host Kwami Sefa Kayi.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/rdNwrQSW8BI

Source: peacefmonline.com

Executive Chairman of Jospong Group of Companies, Dr. Joseph Siaw Agyepong has called for absolute support for local industry.

He stated that the support can come in the form of patronising locally produced goods and services.

Speaking at a function in Accra, he said “I humbly want to talk about the support for local industry, our products. This country belongs to us and the patronising station of an investment by a local entrepreneurs is very essential.” 

He added “We must encourage local entrepreneurs. Support them develop them so that they become much more giants because”

His comments come at a time Trade Minister Alan Kyeremateng has said in order to create jobs and build a prosperous Ghana, there is the need to promote local enterprises.

He believes this is the surest way to propel economic growth.

Mr Kyeremateng said this while speaking at the 2021 orientation programme for Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Executives (MMDCEs).

“Promoting local enterprises is the only guarantee for sustainable growth of the economy, creating jobs and building a prosperous Ghana,” he said.

He further indicated that the government is going to create more jobs through a ten-point comprehensive and integrated programme.

As part of the programme, there is going to be a stimulus package for existing local industries, the One District One Factory (1D1F) initiative, Strategic Anchor Industries Initiatives, Industrial parks and special economic zones, and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Development.

It also includes the establishment of  Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA) which will see to the restructuring and rebranding of the National Board for Small-Scale Industries (NBSSI) into Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA) under the GEA Act.

The following are some of the priority products being promoted under the National Export Development Strategy:

1. Processed cocoa

2. Cashew (processed and in-shell)

3. Horticultural products

4. Oil seeds (processed)

5. Fish & fishery products

6. Sugar

7. Natural rubber sheets

8. Aluminium products

9. Articles of plastic

10. Textiles and Garments

11. Pharmaceuticals

12. Aluminium Products

13. Iron and Steel Products

14. Automobiles and Vehicles

15. Oil Palm Products

16. Industrial Salt

17. Petro-chemical Products

18. Machines and Machine Components

19. Industrial Starch

National Democratic Congress’s Communications Officer for the Nsawam Adoagyiri Constituency, Randy Kwame Kportufe, has allegedly committed suicide.

His decomposing body was found on Thursday inside his apartment at Ankwa Doboro, a suburb of the Nsawam Adoagyiri Municipality in the Eastern Region.

Information gathered indicates neighbours saw an increasing number of house flies around, drawing suspicion.

A search into his room found a rope tied round his neck to the ceiling fan.

His family, neighbors and party officials can’t figure out what led to his death.

The late Communication Officer, in his late 30s, is said to have been sick for a while but recovered until the untimely death.

The Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu ll has said all lands in the Ashanti region are under his care and no one can claim authority.

According to him, not even the court can rule that he has no authority over the lands in the region.

He has therefore, warned encroachers of lands belonging to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) where he serves as the Chancellor, to desist from their actions.

He said this when he launched the 70th-anniversary celebration of the university in Kumasi on Wednesday October 27.

The year-long celebration is on the theme “KNUST: 70 years of global impact; A new age for a renewed focus”.

“Let me use this platform to highlight a very disturbing development which has come to my attention in recent times. That is the encroachment on  university lands.

“I condemn it in no uncertain terms and strongly send a note of caution to all those involved in to deist from it or face my wrath. Let me warn the communities, the chiefs and whoever that the lands are mine and you are just caretakers to those lands .

“There is no family land here in Ashanti no Abusuapanin can  claim that the land belongs  to him and therefore he has  the right to alienate a portion  of the University land at all.

“You can go to any court , take it there  I am sure also there will be  a judge who will know that  the constitution and the  constitution of Asante says  that there is no Family land  in Ashanti  and therefore get the lawyers to take you to court  but I will get the court to also turn  over the decisions  to affirm my authority on the land

Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia will deliver a public lecture on the digital economy on Tuesday, 2 November 2021, Minister of Information Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has announced.

The public lecture, which will be hosted by Ashesi University, will also have an interactive session with students of the university on how digitalisation is transforming the economy and positioning Ghana for the emerging global digital revolution.

Dr Bawumia, who has spearheaded the government’s successful digitalisation drive, is expected to explain the government’s vision, the measures that have been undertaken so far and address the impact of digitalisation on the general Ghanaian economy and service delivery, both by government and the private sector.

Several international organisations will be present and with Ghana globally renowned as a digitalisation pacesetter on the African continent, Dr Bawumia is also expected to highlight the country’s success story to inspire the continent

The government of Ghana, through the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Alan Kyerematen, has handed over a GHS2 million emergency liquidity support cheque to some 98 victims whose businesses were destroyed by a fire disaster that occurred on Monday, 5 July 2021.

The inferno destroyed a three-storey market building with a basement.

Three hundred jobs were lost to the disaster.

Handing over the cheque at the market square on Wednesday, 27 October 2021, Mr Kyerematen said the government released the GHS 2,029,000.00 to be disbursed to the victims.

“This support, we believe, will go a long way to mitigate the adverse effects on your businesses as a result of the fire incident”, he said.

Read Mr Kyerematen’s full speech below:

SPEECH BY MINISTER FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY, HON. ALAN KYEREMATEN AT CEREMONY TO HANDOVER EMERGENCY LIQUIDITY SUPPORT TO MAKOLA FIRE DISASTER VICTIMS ON WEDNESDAY, 27TH OCTOBER, 2021 AT MAKOLA MARKET

• THE HON. REGIONAL MINISTER, GREATER-ACCRA REGIONhttps://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-4549410436183225&output=html&h=343&slotname=4705176708&adk=2053710314&adf=520316108&pi=t.ma~as.4705176708&w=412&lmt=1635362297&rafmt=1&armr=1&psa=1&format=412×343&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmobile.classfmonline.com%2Fbusiness%2FGov-t-gives-GHS2m-to-98-Makola-market-fire-victims-28092&flash=0&fwr=1&rs=1&rh=250&rw=300&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&sfro=1&wgl=1&dt=1635362296863&bpp=9&bdt=692&idt=945&shv=r20211020&mjsv=m202110200101&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3D58ed62bc2e3c92a0-22f98a251acc00fd%3AT%3D1635345990%3ART%3D1635345990%3AS%3DALNI_MbQ7vyJdUUCe4v1Nqrt2M_QNLHpxA&prev_fmts=0x0%2C412x343%2C412x343&nras=1&correlator=4177422547186&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=1064688528.1635345978&ga_sid=1635362297&ga_hid=1285524429&ga_fc=1&u_tz=0&u_his=1&u_h=892&u_w=412&u_ah=892&u_aw=412&u_cd=24&adx=0&ady=2124&biw=412&bih=797&scr_x=0&scr_y=0&eid=31062580%2C44752094%2C182982100%2C182982300%2C31060475&oid=2&pvsid=3489460378830324&pem=101&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2F&eae=0&fc=1920&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C412%2C0%2C412%2C797%2C412%2C797&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7CEebr%7C&abl=CS&pfx=0&fu=128&bc=31&ifi=4&uci=a!4&btvi=2&fsb=1&xpc=R4G9eDkdZ3&p=https%3A//mobile.classfmonline.com&dtd=979

• THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF NATIONAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION (NADMO)

• THE MAYOR, ACCRA METROPOLITAN ASSEMBLY

• THE CEO, GHANA ENTERPRISES AGENCY

• THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, GHANA INT’L TRADE COMMISSION

• THE DISTRICT COMMANDER, GHANA POLICE SERVICE

• THE METRO. FIRE OFFICER, GHANA FIRE SERVICE

• THE METRO. DIRECTOR, NADMO

• THE PRESIDENT, GHANA UNION OF TRADERS’ ASSOCIATIONS

• THE PROPERTY OWNERS

• DISTINGUISHED GUESTS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,

Let me, first of all, express my profound gratitude to all stakeholder organizations who provided support services to the victims of the unfortunate fire incident here at Makola market, particularly the Ghana National Fire Service, the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), the Ghana Police Service, and the Accra Metro Assembly (AMA). I wish to single out the former Mayor of Accra, Nii Adjei Sowah for the leadership he exhibited during the crisis.

This public event is being held to hand over the emergency financial support by the government designed to mitigate the effect suffered by the enterprises as a result of the fire disaster which occurred on Monday, 5th July 2021. The inferno, as you would recall, gutted a three-storey market building with a basement situated at the currently clad area here in Makola. In all, ninety-eight (98) Enterprises were directly affected and about 300 jobs were lost to the disaster. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN

As you are well aware, trade and commerce play a critical role in the economic development of every country. Trading has become the channel between manufacturing and consumption, as every product that is manufactured is consumed in order to complete the value chain. By acting as the channel between producers and consumers, trading has the potential to provide critical information as inputs into the production process, source of employment as well as serve as a platform for revenue mobilization in support of Government projects and programmes.

It is against this background that among the components of the Ten-Point Plan for Industrial Transformation of Ghana is enhancing Domestic Retail Trade by improving market and other distribution infrastructure as well as reducing administrative bottlenecks in domestic trade. Under this component, the government has sought to provide direct support to business operators in the trade and commerce ecosystem through the introduction of a number of measures to facilitate trade in and out of the country.

For example, upon the assumption of office of the NPP Government in 2017, the Ministry of Trade and Industry took a strategic and decisive step to address the challenges in trade facilitation and customs management which were impeding the work of many traders, by introducing a new Trade Facilitation and Customs Management System, UNIPASS. This new trade facilitation system has significantly improved the operations at our ports and borders. In addition, Government took another strategic decision to support traders and micro enterprises through the provision of emergency liquidity support to the tune of GHS 600 million under the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme Business Support Scheme (CAPBuSS) when the whole world was struck by the COVID-19 Pandemic. I have recalled these few interventions to indicate to you that the Government is fully committed to the profitability and sustainability of your businesses.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,

On the 6th of July 2021, when I paid a working visit to the scene of the market fire, I assured you that the Government will provide support to you. To this end, I tasked the Ghana Enterprises Agency to liaise with other key stakeholders particularly the Ghana Union of Traders Association, Accra Metropolitan Association (AMA) and the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) to determine liquidity relief support to you, the affected victims. I also tasked GEA to work with the Ministry of Trade and Industry to ensure transparency in the disbursement of funds.

In all, ninety-eight (98) victims were identified as having suffered levels of losses as a result of the unfortunate fire incident. The Government has therefore released an amount of Two Million, Twenty-Nine Thousand Ghana cedis (GHS 2,029,000.00) to be disbursed to these victims. This support we believe will go a long way to mitigate the adverse effects on your businesses as a result of the fire incident. I wish to assure you that the team has gone through a rigorous transparent process to determine the level of support to each victim hence it is my wish that beneficiaries apply the money to take care of very critical needs.

DISTINGUISHED LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,

In conclusion, the Ministry of Trade and Industry will work with all relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies to design a new retail market system to streamline the operations of our traders in our markets.

On this note, may I invite the representatives of the 98 victims to receive the symbolic Cheque of GHS2,029,000.00 on behalf of all the victims.

I thank you for your attention

The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Dan Botwe, has expressed worries about how private developers put up properties worth millions of Ghana cedis and yet leave their access roads to be constructed by the state when they do not pay the right property tax.

According to him, this situation, which has become the norm in the country, is worrying.

Mr Botwe, who is also the Member of Parliament for the Okere Constituency in the Eastern Region, expressed this worry on Accra-based Asempa FM on Wednesday, 27 October 2021.

The lawmaker said many of these private developers build without paying any property rate yet mount pressure on the government to construct roads in their immediate space.

He said if some of the Assemblies in these areas are able to collect the appropriate tax on some of these properties, it will be easy for the government to construct many of the roads.

Mr Botwe noted that some of the Assemblies sit on gold yet they wait for the District Assemblies Common Fund for their development needs.

“Many of these Assemblies, till date, collect flat rate as property rate without any valuation on the property and the land,” he lamented

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Tuesday, 26 October 2021, inaugurated the Police Council at the Jubilee House in Accra.

The council is the highest oversight body of the Ghana Police Service, mandated by the 1992 Constitution to advise the President on policy issues relating to internal security and provide strategic direction for the operational and administrative effectiveness of the Service.

In his address, the President charged the newly sworn-in members of the Police Council to steer the service to become an accountable, responsive and professional institution.

He also tasked them to execute their mandate for the benefit of all Ghanaians and to ensure the peace and security of the country.

The Chairman of the Police Council, Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia in his response, expressed the gratitude of the council members to the President for the confidence reposed in them.

He noted that the members were aware of the task ahead, considering the sophisticated and changing nature of crime.

He gave the assurance that with dedication, hard work and selflessness, members of the council will work to redeem the name of the Ghana Police Service and make it one of the best police organisations in the world.

Dr Bawumia is the Chairman of the Council and the membership is constituted as follows:

Ambrose Dery, IGP Dr George Akuffo Dampare, Godfred Yeboah Dame, Mr Bram-Larbi Kwaku Esq., COP Joseph Boakye Appiah (Rtd.), ACP Mrs Faustina A. K. Andoh-Kwofie.

Other members include Inspector Felix Essuman, Mr Hadih A. Bin Salih and Madam Cecelia Eguakun.

Ex-COCOBOD CEO Stephen Opuni is using all manner of antics to run from judgment day as far as the GHS271-million financial loss trial involving him and businessman Seidu Agongo is concerned, Mr Godfred Dame, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, has observed.

Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, 26 October 2021, after the Supreme Court upheld his review application, through which he prayed the apex court to overturn its own earlier ruling that prohibited Justice Clemence Honyenuga from continuing to hear the matter due to alleged bias against the accused persons on his part, Mr Dame said Dr Opuni’s last application to get one of the judges, Justice Jones Dotse, to recuse himself from the case, had no grounding.

“I thought the earlier application asking Justice Dotse to recuse himself was also one of the gymnastics, as we call it, deployed by Dr Stephen Opuni and clearly, it confirms the point that he is seeking to avoid a judgment day and definitely judgment day will come”, Mr Dame told journalists.

Dr Opuni filed the application a day ahead of Tuesday’s ruling.

In his affidavit dated 25 October 2021 in support of the recusal application, Dr Opuni said his attention had been drawn to a widely circulated internet publication by one Kelvin Taylor, a Ghanaian broadcaster in the United States of America in which he alleged that Mr Dame, on 15 October 2021, went to the office of Justice Jones Dotse, the presiding judge and had an extensive meeting with him.

Dr Opuni said the alleged meeting, according to Kevin Taylor, lasted for more than two hours.

“… I state that the said two-hour meeting which, according to the broadcast of the said Kevin Taylor, took place on the said Friday, the 15th day of October 2021, after the hearing of the oral arguments on Tuesday, the 12th day of October 2021, in respect of the review application, leaves me in serious doubts of the impartiality of his Lordship Justice Jones Dotse in the review application and convinces me that the Attorney General intends to use all means to ensure that I am convicted.”

“… I have been advised by counsel and, verily believe same to be true, that it is a truism and an established principle of law that justice should not only be done but manifestly and undoubted be seen to be done”, he argued in his affidavit.

Dr Opuni added: “Unfortunately, the continuation of Justice Jones Dotse will destroy this sacred legal cliché. I pray that Justice Jones Dotse is recused as member of the review panel to enable meaning to be given to this legal cliché.”

But Justice Dotse, in response, said Dr Opuni had no grounds to call for his recusal.

He explained that while serving as Acting Chief Justice in the stead of Chief Justice Anin Yeboah who was out of the country from Monday, 11 October 2021 to Monday, 18 October 2021, he met the Attorney General but the meeting was in relation to matters concerning the Ghana School of Law.

In his affidavit in opposition to Dr Opuni’s request, Justice Dotse said: “Indeed, anybody with sound legal knowledge and training will understand that in the course of our work as Judges, it is normal for Judges of my stature and the Attorney General and senior staff of the Office of Attorney General and Ministry of Justice to come into contact on a regular basis”.

“Some of the institutions by which these contacts take place include the Judicial Council and its many Committees, the Rules of Court Committee, the General Legal Council, the Legal Service Board, to mention a few”.

“Apart from issues touching the Ghana School of Law (GSL.), which I discussed with the Attorney General on the 15th of October 2021 and which did not last more than 20 minutes, I believe that the instant application has been actuated by malice and poor judgment”.

“I am in no position to comment on the depositions in paragraphs 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 of the affidavit in support, and the brazen attempt to connect these events to me are equally in bad taste and completely unwarranted”.

“I also deny the depositions and innuendos contained in paragraphs 12 and 13 of the affidavit in support and state that these are not grounds to require a Judge to recuse himself,” Justice Dotse stated.

Buttressing Justice Dotse’s explanation, Mr Dame said: “I thought that the application for Justice Dotse to recuse himself was totally baseless, without any warrant whatsoever because the Constitution and various statutes of Ghana have placed a constitutional duty upon me”, he noted.

“By virtue of Article 153 of the Constitution, I am a member of the Judicial Council. I sit on the Judicial Council with various Justices of the Supreme Court, Justices of the Court of Appeal and Justices of the High Court”.

Also, he noted: “By virtue of the Legal Service Act, again a member of the Superior Court of Judicature sits on the Ministry of Justice’s Legal Service Board”.

Additionally, he said: “By virtue of the Law Reform Commission Act, a member of the judiciary also serves on the Law Reform Commission”. “So, there are numerous boards and numerous committees that by the Constitution and by statute, the Attorney General is required to sit on it”, he stressed.

“My visit to the office of Justice Dotse during office hours and in my official capacity as the Attorney General and Minister of Justice and in his (Justice Dotse’s capacity) also, as acting Chief Justice at that time, was clearly to discuss matters affecting the Ghana School of Law. Unless they do not want me to resolve the issues with the Ghana School of Law”, he pointed out

• President Mahama’s views in relation to illegal ballot papers are being misconstrued

• The NDC’s Director of Elections insists Mahama never spoke about a million thumb-printed ballot papers as claimed by the EC in a recent press conference

• The EC presser responded to a series of allegations Mahama has made regarding the 2020 elections

Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, the National Democratic Congress’ Director of Elections, has slammed the Electoral Commission for putting words in the mouth of former President John Dramani Mahama.

The EC held a press conference on Monday, October 25, 2021, to respond to recent allegations leveled against it by the former President relative to the conduct of the 2020 General Elections.

The presser addressed by deputy EC chairman, Bossman Asare, accused Mahama of falsely claiming that the EC had thumb printed over a million ballot papers in favour of the incumbent President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

What Dr. Bossman said:

“The Former President has said the EC thumb printed 1million ballots in favor of the president. This is untrue. This is a grave matter that undermines the credibility of our electoral process and should not be ignored.

“We call on him to provide evidence to support his claim. This is not a matter to be ignored and we call on the Ghana Police Service to investigate this.”

What Afriyie Ankrah said

Afriyie Ankrah speaking on the October 25 edition of Top Story news programme on Joy FM in Accra disputed the claims of the EC top official accusing him of trying to obfuscate clearly articulated issues the NDC has raised.

“The former president never said that the EC thumb printed over one million ballot papers. This is deliberate obfuscation of the issues. He (Dr. Asare) has deliberately taken something out of context and then he has created something else and then is asking for a response.

“What we have said …. for which we have accurate video and documentary evidence is that, after ballot papers were printed and dispatched in one of the printing houses, Inolink, it was dispatched, certificates of disposal were issued to show that all the excess ballots had been destroyed.

“There was an issue with one constituency in the Ashanti Region, so we had to come back to that printing house with our agents, when we came, we discovered over one million ballot papers and when they were questioned, they gave conflicting answers,” he added.



According to him, the NDC insisted that those discovered ballots be destroyed, following which a joint operation involving EC officials, operatives of the National Investigation Bureau, Police and media took the ballots to Korle Gonno, “we videoed it and they were destroyed. These are facts with evidence,” he stressed.

According to him, the NDC’s position was that these were the ballots that they had discovered but that Election Day thumb-printed ballot papers in the Ashanti Region could likely mean that some of such unofficial papers found their way into the system.

Mahama has on his recent Thank You tours slammed the EC and its chairperson, Jean Mensa over the conduct of the 2020 polls, which he considers the worst in Ghana’s history, a position the EC strongly repelled in their press conference.

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

General Secretary of the largest opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has chastised President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for asking the Paramount Chief of Aflao Traditional Area, Torgbui Adzonu-Gaga Amenya Fiti V to complete the E-Block Community Day Senior High School project in his area if he cannot wait.

According to him, the response from President Akufo-Addo to the Aflao Chief was pre-meditated based on the fact that Torgbui Fiti V gave an ultimatum to the Minister of Education to complete the 4 per cent remaining work on the E-Block Community Day SHS in Aflao before the next academic year.

Speaking on Okay FM’s ‘Ade Akye Abia’ Morning Show, the NDC Chief Scribe noted that President Akufo-Addo planned his response as he thinks the Chief of Aflao rather made a mistake to give the Minister of Education an ultimatum to fix the problem in his community.

General Mosquito as affectionately called indicated that President Akufo-Addo does not understand representation if he does not know that the Chief of Aflao is superior to the Education Minister and even to him as a President.null

“Between the Chief of Aflao and the Minister of Education, who is superior to give an ultimatum? The Chief can give an ultimatum to the President because the President is a servant of the people. It was not Nana Addo that installed Torgbui Fiti V as the Chief, but the Chief was part of those who put Akufo-Addo in power and so President Akufo-Addo is the servant of the people,” he argued.

“The Chief is representing the people of Aflao and they pay their taxes and so if they are demanding their share of the national cake, it is in the right direction, and so I don’t agree with those who think that the Chief was wrong to give an ultimatum. This means that they don’t understand representation,” he stressed.

He, however, bemoaned the dead silence of the National House of Chiefs over the denigration meted out to the Chief of Aflao by President Nana Akufo-Addo.

Source: peacefmonline.com

Chairman of the Police Council, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has said that the government , through the Council, is going to roll out requisite strategic interventions to protect and defend nationals and non-nationals.

In a Facebook on Tuesday October 26 after the Police Council has been inaugurated by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Dr Bawumia said “Pursuant to Articles 201 and 211 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo today swore me into office as Chairman of the Police Council and Armed Forces Council respectively.

“On behalf of the members of the Councils, I underscored the arduous task ahead in a world of increasing complexity and accelerating change.

“I assured Mr President and the good people of Ghana that we will work hard to leverage the image of the security services into an excellent status in line with the vision and mission of their transformation agenda.

“As a team, we will roll out the requisite strategic interventions to protect and defend nationals and non-nationals and also strengthen the maintenance of law and order with the support of all.”

The membership of the Council is constituted as follows: Hon. Ambrose Dery, IGP Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, Hon. Godfred Yeboah Dame, Mr. Bram-Larbi Kwaku Esq., COP Joseph Boakye Appiah (Rtd.), ACP Mrs. Faustina A. K. Andoh-Kwofie.Other members include Inspector Felix Essuman, Mr. Hadih A. Bin Salih and Madam Cecelia Eguakun.The event was attended by some members of the Police Management Board and other dignitaries

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has disclosed that Parliament will employ common sense in passing the anti-gay bill before the House.

The bill before the House has been christened the “the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Right and the Ghanaian Family Values,” for some time now has generated heated national conversations.

According to the Speaker, despite the many controversies that the bill has generated it is healthy for Ghana’s democracy.

“In fact, it has assumed some different dimensions. For me, this is healthy for a maturing democracy like Ghana. It is important we allow various shapes of opinions to canvass their position on the bill. As Ghanaians, I want to plead that we accommodate the views of others on whatever perception they have and let’s maintain the peace that we have.

“It is a law that will take into consideration the richness of common sense, human decency, morality, fact and logic. At the end of the day it will be a law that will transform this country into something else,” he stated during his opening remarks as Parliament reconvened on Tuesday.

Mr. Bagbin called on the Members of Parliament (MPs) to allow the religious bodies, the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), persons in the academia among others to participate in the deliberations.

The Rt Hon. Speaker assured Ghanaians that the process of passing the bill will be made public, “the seating of the Committee will be public and the decision of this House will be public. We will want to know where each Member of Parliament comes in.

“I know Ghanaians are expectant and there are over hundred petitions before the Committee of Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. But we will try not allow any Filibustering of this bill. Because it is not only Africa, the whole-world is looking for the outcome of this bill.”

Henry Quartey, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, says the “Operation Clean Your Frontage” campaign will be a game-changer to the menace of poor environmental sanitation in the Region.

The campaign, which was launched by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in Accra, is a clarion call on all citizens to appreciate that keeping their environment clean and green is one of the prerequisites for leading a healthy and happy life.

It is part of measures by the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council to keep the City clean.

The campaign is to enforce sanitation regulations in the City as part of the “Make Accra Work” agenda.

Mr Quartey said because sanitation and cleanliness were related to health, this needed to be tackled with all seriousness to resolve various health challenges.

He said the necessary by-laws were passed by all the 29 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the Region and approved by the Regional Coordinating Council and duly gazetted.null

Mr Quartey said the importance of the by-law was that every house owner, occupier, trader, business and institution had a responsibility to ensure that the frontage of their premises and immediate surroundings were clean.

The Regional Minister said 3,500 youth were recruited and would undergo training to form the City Response Team, just like the City Guards, to help in the implementation and policing of the agenda.

He emphasized that these officers would be trained and properly structured under supervisors, who were retired military officers, saying “they will be given the required resources to deliver and we expect them to exhibit the normal military discipline in all their activities.”

Mr Quartey said the City Response Team would police every vicinity and major intersection in Accra.

There will also be established special call centres with toll-free lines to receive calls/complaints from sanitation informants.https://78dbbd1d3e39ce8a12096c3e665717d2.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

“Indeed, we are engaging the Attorney-General to find a way to include Community Services in the sentencing regime to ensure that we do not congest the courts with sanitation issues.”

“We are offering two months moratorium for public education and mass sensitization after the project launch, full operations will therefore take off by 1st January 2022.”

Mr Amidu Chinnia Issahaku, Deputy Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, said the initiative aimed at a behavioural change which was critical in ensuring a decent environment to avoid environmental-related sicknesses.

He assured the Regional Minister and the 16 Regional Coordinating Councils of his Ministry’s continuous collaboration with all stakeholders, including the private sector, to ensure the agenda to make Accra and all parts of Ghana clean, was achieved.

Mr Augustine Collins Ntim, Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, who commended the Greater Accra Coordinating Council for leading the initiative, urged the media to support the Ministry and monitor its progress, thus, making Accra clean to attract investors and tourists for economic growth.https://78dbbd1d3e39ce8a12096c3e665717d2.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

He said the by-laws formulated on any frontage premises had been gazetted, hence tasked all MMDAs within the Greater Accra Region to ensure its implementation.

Dr Joseph Siaw Agyapong, Executive Chairman of the Jospong Group, who represented the private sector, underscored the need for effective collaboration among all stakeholders in ensuring that the objectives of the campaign were achieved.

He said, in addition to the personnel, his company was providing 85 compactors for every MMDA and 1,000 tricycles to support the campaign.

Dr Agyapong also highlighted the need for attitudinal change, saying, “the company has discovered that attitudinal change and law enforcement of by-laws are the two key challenges inhibiting a sustainable clean and healthy environment.

Source: GNA

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Communications Authority (NCA), the spectrum regulatory agency, has assured the owners of Accra-based Radio Gold and Radio XYZ, which were shut down for some Frequency Modulation (FM) infractions that they will get their old frequencies back after meeting all the demands for their re-authorisation.

Mr Joe Anokye made this known in a text message he sent to the host of Accra-based Joy FM’s news analysis programme News File, Samson Lardi Ayenini on Saturday, 23 October 2021.

In the said message read by the host of the show, the CEO of NCA assured the owners of the affected stations that they will be handed back their old frequencies.

In a statement copied to the media, the NCA said the new licences also include those of new stations across the country.https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-4549410436183225&output=html&h=250&slotname=4705176708&adk=1921530005&adf=2366005940&pi=t.ma~as.4705176708&w=300&lmt=1635089214&psa=0&format=300×250&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmobile.classfmonline.com%2Fnews%2FRadio-Gold-XYZ-others-to-get-back-old-frequencies-27984&flash=0&wgl=1&dt=1635089212494&bpp=5&bdt=4618&idt=2216&shv=r20211020&mjsv=m202110140101&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&prev_fmts=0x0%2C300x250&nras=1&correlator=6930309500956&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=582001644.1635089212&ga_sid=1635089215&ga_hid=1415430106&ga_fc=1&u_tz=0&u_his=1&u_h=892&u_w=412&u_ah=892&u_aw=412&u_cd=24&adx=56&ady=1336&biw=412&bih=797&scr_x=0&scr_y=2097&eid=31063005%2C21066435%2C31062422%2C31063139%2C31060475&oid=2&pvsid=1169887561925341&pem=965&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2F&eae=0&fc=1920&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C412%2C0%2C412%2C797%2C412%2C797&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7CEe%7C&abl=CS&pfx=0&fu=0&bc=31&ifi=3&uci=a!3&fsb=1&xpc=EW4hitrum0&p=https%3A//mobile.classfmonline.com&dtd=2255

“The Governing Board of the National Communications Authority (NCA), at a Board meeting held on 11th October 2021, approved the grant of a total of One Hundred and Thirty-Three (133) FM radio broadcasting authorizations which include new applications from entities whose FM radio stations were closed down after the 2017 FM audit as well as existing stations which applied for renewal of their expired FM Radio broadcasting authorizations,” a statement from the NCA said.

A number of radio stations including Radio Gold and XYZ were shut down by the National Communications Authority in May 2019.

The NCA explained that the closures were carried out in line with Regulations 65 (1) of the Electronic Communications Regulations, 2011, L. I. 1991, which states that “a person shall not use a radio frequency without authorization from the Authority

The National Identification Authority (NIA) has suspended the Ghana Card services at all offices of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), the Registrar General’s Department (RGD), and NIA head office.

The suspension will take effect from Monday, October 25 to Tuesday, November 2, 2021, a statement said.

This is to enable the NIA prepare to deploy staff to its permanent offices nationwide, the statement added

Source: 3news.com

Alan Kyerematen is Trade Minister-designate

The Ministry of Trade and Industry has debunked media reports that the sector Minister, Mr Alan Kyerematen, sold parcels of farmland belonging to the Komenda Sugar Development Company.In a statement issued and signed by the chief director, Mr Patrick Nimo, it said the Ministry did not have “the legal capacity or authority to initiate, negotiate and conclude the sale and transfer of any stool land assigned to the Company.”

It, therefore, described the allegation of selling some 125 acres of the farmland, in July 2018, to local farmers to distil local gin as absolute falsehood and maliciously intended to incite disaffection and mistrust against the Government, particularly the Minister.

The Ministry assured the chiefs and people of the Komenda Traditional Area that the Factory would be brought back to productive operation, as reiterated by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo during his recent tour of the Central Region.

A former Secretary to the Board of the Komenda Sugar Factory in the Central Region, Ransford Chatman Vanni-Amoah had alleged that the Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kyeremanten sold 125-acres sugarcane farm meant for the Factory to Akpeteshie (local alcoholic drink) distillers.

According to him, the NPP government upon assuming office abandoned the project and the sugarcane nursery plantation was left to overgrow due to a lack of political will to operationalize the factory.

“Before the loan of US$125 million was approved by the Parliament, the Ministry of Trade and Industry acting on behalf of the Government of Ghana entered into an agreement with Seftech India Private Ltd to pre-finance the development of 125-acre nursery plantation which ought to be transplanted onto the 2,000-acre farms by January 2017.”

He further alleged that “In July 2018 Mr Kyerematen sold the 125-acre sugarcanes to Akpeteshie distillers.”

His comments came after the President during his tour of the Central Region recently stated that the decision by Mr John Mahama to build the Komenda Sugar factory, without first establishing a sugarcane plantation, betrays every principle of construction.