The Aggrieved workers say they’ll close down their Union offices if their leaders don’t provide them reasonable reasons by close of Wednesday, August 11, 2021.
.The Aggrieved Public Sector Workers of Ghana have given an ultimatum to leaders of the various labour unions to come out clear on actions being taken against the 4% salary increment agreed on their behalf.
The workers, who are fumed over the unreasonable compromises reached by its representatives at the salary increment negotiations says its leadership have been adamant despite calls by the public sector workers to reject chicken change given them.
In a statement released by the group and signed by its Lead Convenor, Norbert Gborgbortsi, it says all Union offices would be closed down by close of day Wednesday, August 11, 2021, if nothing comes from the leadership.
The group has also informed the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Bagbin, of their intention to petition him on August 18 where they are going to stage a demonstration.
Read the full statement below:
PRESS RELEASE
AGGRIEVED PUBLIC SECTOR WORKERS GHANA – ACTION NOW OR NEVER
A timeline was given to the organised labour to reconvene a meeting with government and renegotiate the 4% salary increment but the leadership is adamant and is bent on perpetuating illegality by forcing members to accept the percentage increment.
The leadership which is supposed to be law abiding is doing otherwise whilst the members rather turn to be law abiding.
If by 11th of August 2021, nothing is heard about the leaderships’ position on the issue of renegotiations, members accross the country will have no option than to close down all Union offices until further notice.
We are reliably informed that the various leadership have recently increased their allowances to a minimum of 100% , some with effective date backdated to 2020 and arrears paid in full.
If you can spend and pay yourselves handsomely but will refuse to let us have what is due us from the government, we will be left with no option than to close all Union office accross the nation before our pending national demonstration scheduled to take place on the 18th of August 2021.
Today 5th August, 2021, at the National Police Headquarters in Accra, some conveners of the “FixTheCountry” demonstration called on the Acting Inspector-General of Police (Ag.IGP), Dr. George Akuffo Dampare as part of a post demonstration interaction and also to express their gratitude to the Police Administration for the level of professionalism demonstrated on 4th August 2021.
During the interaction, Mr. Kumi Danso and other members of the conveners took turns to thank the Police Service and the Acting IGP for the show of discipline, professionalism and above all, the level of respect for human rights as exhibited on the day of the “FixTheCountry” demonstration.
The Ag. IGP in response, also thanked the group for their cooperation and reassured them of the commitment of the Ghana Police Service to ensure that there is peace and security in the country. He added, “Our doors are always open, we are your friends, therefore, let’s work together to make our nation a safer place to live”. He also indicated his satisfaction about the good conduct of Police personnel detailed for the demonstration duty.
At the meeting were, Director-General (DG) Special Duties Commissioner of Police (COP) Mr. Christian Tetteh Yohunu, DG National Patrols Department COP Mr. Akuribah Yaagy, DG Criminal Investigation Department COP Mr. Isaac Ken Yeboah, DG Private Security Organisation COP Mr. Alphonse Adu-Amankwaah, DG Research and Planning COP Mr. Paul Manly Awini, DG National Patrols Department COP Mr.Patrick Akolgo, DG Police Intelligence Department COP Mr. Edward Tabiri, DG Police Professional and Standards Bureau COP Mr. Redeemer Vincent Dedjoe, Accra Regional Commander, DCOP Mr. Afful Boakye Yiadom and Commanding Officer, Formed Police Unit ACP Mr. Henry Otoo.
We are glad to share with you some photos from the meeting chaired by the Ag IGP.
The Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Freddie Blay, has noted that the NPP government has so far proven its ability to better position Ghana for economic growth and prosperity even in the face of difficulties. He explains that the NPP government has excelled in its leadership, in managing the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), adding that the government would continue to work to ensure that the country’s democratic system is beneficial to all Ghanaians.
Mr. Blay was speaking during a ceremony to mark the 29th anniversary of the NPP at its headquarters in Accra, on Thursday, August 5, 2021.
The celebration is on the theme, “NPP at 29: a tradition for stability, prosperity and continuity”.
The event was attended by President Akufo-Addo, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, and other national executives of the party.
Democracy
The NPP Chairman, indicated that it was time for the NPP to develop an improved version of democracy that provided quality and long lasting development beyond the four-year cycle for the citizenry.
“When it comes to Ghana body politic and democratic development, as champions of democracy, the NPP owes Ghanaians a duty of care in ensuring that our democratic system is beneficial to its people.
“The party must have a clear roadmap on how it seeks to remain in power beyond 2024 and work hard for the government to achieve such a very ambitious task,” he urged.
He said the occasion of the party’s 29th anniversary calls for sober reflection on the democratic journey both for the party and the country. “Let us ask if our best has been good enough for the greater Ghanaian population and ensure that we create a stronger reconnection with the people,” he added.
Mr. Blay also used the opportunity to encourage members of the party to prioritise unity within the party to enable it achieve its objectives.
“I want to charge the members of the party to prioritise unity over parochial interest. This is the only way that we will still be on top of government and our contract with the people of Ghana in terms of its development.”
Legal practitioner Mr Kissi Agyebeng has been sworn in as the new Special Prosecutor of Ghana.
Mr Agyebeng was administered the Oath of Office and the Oath of Secrecy by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo today, August 5, 2021 at the Jubilee House in Accra.
He was approved unanimously by Parliament for the role last week after vetting by the Appointments Committee.
Mr Agyebeng becomes the second person to occupy the office of Special Prosecutor after Mr Martin Amidu who resigned in November 2020 amidst controversy.
Profile of Kissi Agyebeng
According to his profile, on the University of Ghana School of Law website, Mr Agyebeng has been a lecturer since October 2006, teaching and researching into Criminal Law, International Humanitarian Law, International Law, Corporate Law and Legal Research and Writing.
He was awarded the Bentsi-Enchill Prize for Best Graduating Student of the University of Ghana School of Law in 2001.
He proceeded to the Ghana School of Law and was called to the Ghana Bar in October 2003, earning the E.N. Sowah Memorial Prize for Best Student in Family Law.
Since then, he has successfully argued numerous cases before the superior courts of Ghana and participated in several international arbitration hearings.
Mr Agyebeng has a wide range of expertise in consulting for public sector institutions, including the A-G’s Department, EXIM Bank Ghana Ltd, the Youth Employment Authority, the National Lottery Authority, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, the Ghana Trade Fair Company Limited and the Ghana Olympic Committee.
He is also an associate at the African Centre for Cyber Law and Cyber Crime Prevention and the National Moot Court Coordinator for the Commonwealth Moot Court Competition on International Criminal Justice.
He has also served as the Vice-Chairman of the Appeals Committee of the Ghana Football Association.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said on Thursday, 5 August 2021, during the New Patriotic Party’s 29th-anniversary celebration at the party’s Accra headquarters that he is confident another NPP administration will succeed his government.
“Today, the challenges that confront our country, the difficulties that we have been plunged into by the COVID-19 pandemic are going to give us the opportunity to grow stronger and stronger and that strengthening of our party and its organs means one thing, and I am very confident of it that on December 7, 2024, the new NPP presidential candidate is going to win the election”, he said.
Mr Akufo-Addo said: “Our objective and responsibility are to do whatever is necessary to make sure that that victory is forthcoming”.
“We have to continue our way forward in Ghana”.
“We cannot continue to accept the backsliding that takes place every now and then”.
“It hasn’t benefited our nation and will not benefit our nation”, Mr Akufo-Addo noted.
According to him, the “foundations that we are laying today for the prosperity of our nation will be shaken if again through our own fault we allow the path of progress to be diverted.”
Speaking at the same event, the party’s Chairman, Mr Freddie Blay, said: “I want to charge the members of the party to prioritise unity over parochial interest”.
“This is the only way that we will still be on top of government and our contract with the people of Ghana in terms of its development.”
“This is the only party that can deliver that, and we must keep it so, and we must be very united irrespective of our own personal interests,” he said
The National Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Freddie Blay, has said President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is moving Ghana forward despite the “ugly noises” from the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Speaking at the party’s 29th-anniversary on Thursday, 5 August 2021 at the party’s Accra headquarters, Mr Blay said: “The core value of the New Patriotic Party is commitment and dedication to public service”.
“We must never forget what defines who we are – which is the democratic ideals of serving in the interest of the people to build a better Ghana”, he reminded.
“And I believe this is what Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is doing at the moment, irrespective of the ugly noises and, sometimes, direct confrontations”, Mr Blay said.
“What will keep us in power and help us build a sustainable future is our dedication to delivering faithfully the promises we made to the people of this country,” he said.
At the same event, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said he is confident another NPP administration will succeed his government.
“Today, the challenges that confront our country, the difficulties that we have been plunged into by the COVID-19 pandemic are going to give us the opportunity to grow stronger and stronger and that strengthening of our party and its organs means one thing, and I am very confident of it that on December 7, 2024, the new NPP presidential candidate is going to win the election”, he said.
Mr Akufo-Addo said: “Our objective and responsibility are to do whatever is necessary to make sure that that victory is forthcoming”.
“We have to continue our way forward in Ghana”.
“We cannot continue to accept the backsliding that takes place every now and then”.
“It hasn’t benefited our nation and will not benefit our nation”, Mr Akufo-Addo noted.
According to him, the “foundations that we are laying today for the prosperity of our nation will be shaken if again through our own fault we allow the path of progress to be diverted
• Collins Dauda and four others have been slapped with 52 charges for causing financial loss to the state
• Appearing before a High Court Wednesday, the MP for Asutifi South Constituency was granted a self-recognisance bill because he is a public officer
• The case has been adjourned to Wednesday, October 13
The Accra High Court has granted former Chief Director of the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Highways, Collins Dauda, who has been charged for causing financial loss to the state a self-recognisance bail.
Collins Dauda, together with 4 others have been slapped with 52 charges by government.
Out of the 52 charges, 14 has been levelled against Collins Dauda.
The High Court took this decision after the Attorney General, Godfred Dame made a request on the basis that Collins Dauda is the only public officer among the rest accused by the government.
Godfred Dame in his submission to the court requested that Collins Dauda‘s passport be deposited at the court registry.
The Member of Parliament for Asutifi South Constituency’s lawyer, Thadeus Sory, opposed this motion, arguing that, his client will need his passport for travels.
The court, presided over by Justice Comfort Tasiane, also granted the other four accused persons bail with various amounts and sureties.
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Kwaku Agyemang Mensah and Alhaji Ziblim Yakubu were granted bail in the sum of $65 million each.
Andrew Clocans, was granted $179 million bail.
Nouvi Tetteh Angelo, was also granted bail in the sum of $13 million with three sureties.
The case has been adjourned to Wednesday, October 13.
Background
The Government of Ghana has filed 52 charges of willfully causing financial loss to the state on two former ministers, a former Chief Director of the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Highway, a contractor and a consultant.
Of the 52 charges, 14 have been levelled against Alhaji Dauda who currently is the Member of Parliament for Asutifi South.
In the charge sheet sighted by GhanaWeb, the Attorney General argues that the contractor that executed the project was paid $179 million for doing a $68 m worth of work.
The Akufo-Addo government under the leadership of Samuel Atta Akyea, as Minister for Works and Housing, amended and restated the Works Agreement and effected payments of over $5.6 million to the contractor for the abandoning Saglemi project yet, neither Atta Akyea nor his Chief Director has been charged for any wrongdoing by the current government, according to National Democratic Congress (NDC) National Communications Officer Lawyer Sammy Gyamfi.null
“And so assuming the lack of Parliamentary approval for the Works Agreement or a variation of same constitutes a crime, then why hasn’t Atta Akyea or his Chief Director been charged? Why this obscene selective application of the law?,” the private practitioner quizzed on Accra Joy FM monitored by MyNewsGh.com
According to the NDC spokesperson, the legal suit against former Minister of Works and Housing under erstwhile NDC administration Hon. Collins Dauda and others is frivolous and a poor attempt by the vindictive Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government to create a convenient excuse for their abandonment of the Saglemi Housing project.
“That $200 million was not given to Collins Dauda. Anyone who tells you that money was given to Mr Dauda is a liar. That money was presented to the Ministry of Finance and the Housing Ministry only supervised the project,” Lawyer Sammy Gyamfi told host.null
“What Parliament had to approve was the terms of the loan agreement as required under Article 181 (1) of the Constitution which they did and not the Works Agreement. In any case, the Works Agreement was amended and restated by the Akufo-Addo government without Parliamentary approval”, the young politician added.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson for Eric Opoku says the money Mr Dauda is alleged to have misapplied was not given directly to him, it was rather disbursed by the Ministry of Finance
The caretaker District Executive Chief (DCE) for Ellembelle District Assembly in the Western Region, Kwasi Bonzoh, has said President Akufo-Addo will re-nominate him as the DCE for the area.
Kwasi Bonzoh who was nominated by President Akufo-Addo and subsequently confirmed by the Assembly Members of Ellembelle in 2017, is seeking re-appointment to serve the Ellembelle District Assembly for another four years.
Speaking to newsmen in the area on Tuesday, August 3, 2021, the Ellembelle NPP 2020 parliamentary candidate, Kwasi Bonzoh appealed to the residents of Ellembelle District to remain calm as President Akufo-Addo is getting ready to officially announce his MMDCEs within this month.
“I understand the list has delayed but let us remain calm and have hope in the President to release the list on his appointed time and I know the list will be released very soon”, he pleaded.
Asking whether the President will re-nominate him or not, Kwasi Bonzoh boldly said President Akufo-Addo would re-nominate him to continue his good works.
“I know President Akufo-Addo is going to re-nominate me because of my good works, since I became the DCE, I have done a lot of projects for Ellembelle District and I have made President Akufo-Addo popular in Ellembelle District because of the works I have done on his behalf”, he said.
He added that: “Today through my leadership we have asphalted Esiama to Nkroful road, we have built many schools in Ellembelle District, we are constructing so many town roads in Ellembelle District, we have built a fish market complex at Nzema Aiyinasi among others”.
He, therefore, took the opportunity to rubbish reports circulating on social media that a certain young man has been nominated by the President as the next District Chief Executive (DCE) for Ellembelle.
“Officially I have not been re-nominated but it is some people who are writing on social media that a certain young man I don’t want to mention his name has been nominated as Ellembelle DCE, every morning they will post a picture of that young man congratulating him so it not my supporters who are congratulating me”
“I have told my supporters and my well-wishers not to make noise on social media and allow the President to do what is right but I know the President, Akufo-Addo will mention my name and even if the President did not mention me, I will still support the NPP and my supporters should not fear”, he concluded.
President Akufo-Addo is expected to officially announce his MMDCEs within this month to steer affairs of the local Assemblies. The General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), John Boadu has disclosed that President Akufo-Addo would release the MMDCEs list immediately the President has returned home from his UK trip.
According to him, the infusion of youthful people and other factors, including ethnic background, also contributed to the delay in settling for the selected persons.
“The committee has finished and presented its report to the president. There is the need to ensure gender balance, the infusion of youthful people, and also to respond to local dynamics and ethnic backgrounds as well,” John Boadu told Citi News.
Per Article 243 (1) of the 1992 Constitution, the District Chief Executive for every district shall be appointed by the President with the prior approval of not less than two-thirds majority of members of the Assembly present and voting at a meeting.
Member of Parliament for Wassa East, Isaac Agyei Mensah has accused the Akufo-Addo government of failing to fulfil his numerous promises.
The former Deputy Minister for Roads and Highways under the Mahama administration said the government was reluctant to admit there are several challenges confronting Ghanaians that need to be tackled head-on to assuage the suffering of Ghanaians.
Speaking to Kwame Minkah on Tonton Sansan on TV XYZ, the MP noted the demands of the thereby triggering calls for the country’s leaders to fix the country.
“The president knows there are challenges to fix that…If there are nit challenges there would not be leaders so the leaders know there are problems. However, it is good to remind leaders to act always,” he told host Kwame Minkah.
“The most important thing is for the government to act. Nana Akufo-Addo asked to be given the mandate to be president and Ghanaians did some when they’re asking for the problems to be fixed, his government must fix it but first of all, he must admit that there are existing problems,” he added.
Reacting to the online protests by conveners of a group known as the #FixTheCountry group, Agyei Mensah urged that government must outline its policies clearly to the citizens of the country and tell them how it is going to fix them.
“Tell us how the one district, one factory policy is going as well as the free education policy so we know where you are heading towards,” he said. “I support #FixTheCountry protest.”
The group will hit the streets tomorrow, August 4, 2021, as they demand the government to be on its toes.
The August 4 date was arrived at after an Accra High Court dismissed an application by the police seeking to injunct the protest, using COVID-19 restrictions as an excuse.
The youth are expressing their displeasure at the government on the streets after weeks of frustrations from the police to stop them from hitting the streets.
The campaign started as an online protest about broken systems within the Ghanaian economy and gained grounds in national and international discourse. Many young people jumped on the hashtags, demanding better governance from the Akufo-Addo-led administration.
The conveners of the protests have cited issues such as bad infrastructure, healthcare gaps, high standards of living, and high youth unemployment as some key concerns they demand addressed by the government within the shortest time possible.
The agitating youth will petition the president after the long protest which is expected to attract a huge crowd of frustrated citizens who are bent on venting their spleen.
An Executive of the Tema East branch of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Stephen Ashitey Adjei, has accused former President John Mahama of continuing in a life of disrespect to Ghanaian workers, years after he used his presidency to disdain them.
In a write-up, Mr. Ashitey Adjei, who is popularly called Moshake, warns that Mr. Mahama’s disrespect is only festering resentment that he has provoked for himself.
“Mr. Mahama has still not apologized to the Teacher and Nursing trainees that he denied training allowances; and the former Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GHAPOHA) workers whose retrenchment benefits he refused to pay even after his boss, former President Atta Mills had instructed payment.
“This shows that he has not repented of those misdeeds, and is not remorseful about them,” Moshake wrote.
The firebrand NDC Executive member said the former President’s attitude also creates the impression that if he is given the mandate to rule Ghana again, he will repeat the same mistakes, a thing he says does not augur well for him and the NDC which he has led in the past.
It would be recalled that when Mr. Mahama was President, he stopped the age-old arrangement to pay training allowances to nursing and teacher trainees.
This became a fatal mistake for his Presidency and the NDC’s government as the NPP, led by then opposition leader, Nana Akufo-Addo, capitalized on it to successfully paint Mahama and the NDC as wicked.
Mr. Mahama also made the classic political blunder of explaining his thick skin against insults by saying he had become like a dead goat, another political misstatement that became powerful ammunition in the hands of the New Patriotic Party.
Moshake has never forgiven Mr. Mahama for those blunders which cost the NDC power because he says that former President Mahama made those mistakes out of listening to former President Kufuor, the NPP’s first Presidential success.
According to him, Mahama had given ear to Kufuor in a bid to silence the NDC’s party founder, late former President Jerry John Rawlings and that Mahama’s hobnob with Kufuor was what estranged Rawlings almost permanently from the NDC.
But for Moshake, the most grievous mistake Mahama should not have made was disrespecting a last wish of former President John Mills for whom Mahama had served as Vice President, after Mills had issued a fiat for some former workers of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) to be paid.
Mr. Mahama, he says, scoffed Mills’ instruction after Mills had suddenly died in office, leaving the workers, many of whom have since died of abject poverty, unpaid of their severance entitlements.
“To think that several years after Mahama did these things, he has not had the humility to apologize shows the kind of person that he is,” Moshake wrote, adding, “the unfortunate thing is that, he is a former leader of the NDC and this rubs on all of us. Mahama must not rule Ghana again.”
A former deputy spokesperson for the John Mahama 2020 campaign, Magaret Ansei has slammed President Nana Akufo-Addo for failing to transform Ghana as he promised in the run-up to the 2016 general elections.
The former MCE for Suhum who was speaking on Tonton Sansan on TV XYZ emphasized the need for Ghanaians to express their frustrations to the government through protests to help put the Akufo-Addo administration in check and also remind it of its mandate.
She was speaking on the justification or otherwise of the online protest, #FixTheCountry.
Madam Ansei, who is affectionately called Magoo, told host Prince Minkah that “the fix the country demonstration is highly justified” and rallied Ghanaians to join the street protest in Accra slated for August 4, 2021.
“Ghanaians should not wait for 4 years before they voice their frustrations through the polls. It can be done now,” Madam Ansei noted as she threw weight behind the conveners of the protest.
Explaining why she saw the protest as a good initiative, Magoo noted that Akufo-Addo has “destroyed” the country with his bad policies thereby putting Ghanaians through hardship stemmed from tax and fuel hikes.
To her, the previous administration led by former president John Mahama was governed with wisdom and compassion which saw a development-driven agenda in his government.
However, she noted that under the NPP government, the country’s economy is struggling with profligacy soared among Akufo-Addo’s appointees while Ghanaians struggle to make ends meet.
“During former president, Mahama’s era, roads, hospitals, schools were built every day but same cannot be seen today under this government,” she observed.
Criticizing persons, including members of the clergy, who were loud under the Mills-Mahama administration, Magoo indicated that “It is worrying why the vociferous stakeholders who were loud under Prez Mahama are now quiet.”
Background Over the last three months, what started as an online protest about broken systems within the Ghanaian economy gained ground in national and international discourse, with many young people jumping on hashtags, demanding better governance from the Akufo-Addo-led administration.
The conveners of the protests have cited issues such as bad infrastructure, healthcare gaps, high standards of living, and high youth unemployment as some key concerns they demand addressed by the government within the shortest time possible. Although the campaign has enjoyed remarkable success on social media, attempts to hold a physical protest and to present a formal petition to the government hit the rocks, as the planned protest was prohibited by lawsuits that stalled the protest from seeing the light of day.
The Verdict
The Accra High Court, however, struck out an application by the police seeking to stop the demonstration by the #FixTheCountry movement, paving way for the demonstration on Wednesday.
In a ruling in June, the court presided over by Justice Ruby Aryeetey, struck out the application on the basis that the date for the protest (May 9) had already passed so there was no protest to be stopped.
“I’m of the opinion that the planned demonstration is passed and therefore the application is moot,” she ruled.
She, however, stated that in the event the #FixTheCountry protestors wanted to embark on a new protest, they must go through all the laid down procedures including the one relating to the restrictions on public gathering.
Conveners have said they are ready for the march on Founders’ Day.
Former Works and Housing Minister E T Mensah has denied claims that the controversial $200 million Saglemi housing project was planned to have been executed in phases.null
The Council of State member told Paul Adom-Otchere on Accra-based Metro TV’s Good Evening Ghana programme on Tuesday, 3 August 2021: “I was not involved in any phasing system”.
“We knew that we wanted to build – that is 5,000 houses to be built for workers – and it was approved”, he said.
According to him, “executive approval was given and parliament approved it, so, if anything at all, if I wanted to change something, I had to go through the same process again”.
Recently, former housing minister Collins Dauda was charged with causing financial loss to the state in connection with the Saglemi housing project.
The opposition politician is accused of intentionally misapplying the project sum of $200 million “by causing the said amount, which had been approved by the parliament of Ghana for the construction of 5,000 housing units, to be applied toward the payment of 1,412 housing units under the Saglemi Affordable Housing Project.”
Last year, Mr Dauda’s successor, Mr Samuel Atta Akyea, disclosed that all former government appointees and officials involved in the Saglemi housing project were being investigated by the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service.
Mr Atta Akyea, who described the project as a rip-off, noted that it does not measure up to the cost purported to have been invested in it.
Mr Atta Akyea disclosed this while speaking to the parliamentary press corps on Thursday, 8 October 2020.
He also condemned the habit of new governments discontinuing projects started by previous administrations.
“In relation to Kufuor’s uncompleted housing structures, the evidence is clear that the Mills government and the Mahama government did not continue it. Then, I was met with this jejune argument that we have abandoned Saglemi. I say, ‘no, we have not abandoned Saglemi,” the minister said.null
Mr Atta Akyea further noted that the Mahama-led administration ripped the country off in executing the project.
He stated: “Saglemi is tainted with embezzlement”.
“There’s no dispute about it, and I could tell you that the Ghana Institution of Surveyors has come out with a conclusive report to the effect that Saglemi is a rip-off and the amount of money that has been blown in Saglemi is over USD100 million and the housing structures over there do not measure up to the money they’ve collected”, he said. “So, I’m not here to embarrass anybody; I’m here to say that if you didn’t go into the legalities of it, how do you continue? So, now that we’ve surrendered the report of the Ghana Institution of Surveyors to CID, now, we can deal with the issue of going to continue”, he added.
Mr Atta Akyea noted at the time that: “We’re pushing so hard to deal with the issue of Saglemi; it’s not abandoned. It doesn’t give this nation credit at all.”
“They’ve invited several of them, including Honourable Collins Dauda. They’ve invited them but you see how civil NPP is; we don’t make it like a drama, so, the police are dealing with them. We’re not going to parade people like: ‘Look at how they’ve arrested this man or they’ve arrested that man’”.
“That is how civility is all about. You do not try to embarrass somebody because you think that he’s been investigated by the police. Eventually, the police might say that they do not have anything against the person and you would have embarrassed him”.
“So, all those people who were involved in Saglemi, they’ve started inviting them. I’m telling you and even people working in my Ministry, they’ve started inviting them. So, investigations are ongoing, let’s leave the police to do its work. There’s no propaganda or party issues about theft, theft is theft,” the minister added.
• John Dramani Mahama says the government should not roll out new programmes
• He stated that, it will be better for the government to focus on completing abandoned projects
• Mahama made this known when he visited the Volta Region together with some Minority MPs
Former President John Dramani Mahama, has advised the Akufo-Addo administration to not roll out new projects, but instead focus on the old projects and complete them.
Speaking to the media during his recent visit to the Volta Region, Mahama observed that there are so many uncompleted projects by successive administrations that are dotted across the country which need completion.
“It’s a major problem; everywhere you go in the country you find projects left by previous governments that were not continued. That is why we said that when we come [back] into office, for the first year, we were not going to start new projects; we were going to use the resources to continue and finish all the projects that have been abandoned by previous governments,” Mahama stated.null
“You don’t go building a new secondary school when you have a secondary school that has been abandoned. I think that is what [the] government should do; suspend new projects, spend the resources, and finish ongoing and existing projects.”
John Dramani Mahama added: “In everything, you prioritise, depending on how things are and I think that the plight of the people that we’ve seen here deserves some attention if the funds are available to continue this project.”
The former President expressed worry that the recent tidal waves incident had destroyed the homes of some residents in the Volta Region.
He joined the Volta Caucus in Parliament to visit the affected residents and presented some relief items to them.
Addressing residents of Agavedzi in the Ketu South constituency after he presented relief items including building materials to victims of the recent tidal waves devastation, Mahama assured the region of a comeback to wrestle power from the incumbent NPP.null
“I want to take the opportunity through you, the people here, to thank all our brothers and sisters in the Volta Region for the strong support you showed for me in the 2020 polls. You didn’t disappoint me at all; you did your part and you did your best. And so I want to thank you.
“Let us not be disappointed and discouraged, they say he who fights and loses lives to fight another day. What we have to do is to focus on the party, selecting a flagbearer to lead us again and I’m sure by 2024 by the grace of God, NDC will come back into the office,” he said.
• University of Ghana is to pay a judgement debt of $165 million for terminating a contract in 2018
• The order was made by a US Federal Court
• The court indicated that the University defaulted on a flagship developmental partnership programme
A US Federal Court has awarded a $165 million judgement debt against the University of Ghana for wrongly terminating the Africa Integra Contract in 2018.
The University of Ghana had defaulted on a flagship developmental partnership programme backed by the US government; therefore, Global Insurer Chubb Ltd. asked a New York federal judge to confirm a $165 million arbitration award against the University.
In a Law360 report sighted by GhanaWeb, a petition filed in the Southern District of New York, W.P Carey investment trust won the award in 2018 after the University of Ghana terminated an agreement to construct and maintain four new facilities and a dormitory on its campus. The award reflects the value of rent income that the new campus facilities would have generated, Chubb told the court.null
“SEC reports show that the $64 million partnership was signed in 2016, with a mortgage financing agreement from the U.S. State Department’s Overseas Private Investment Corp. (now Development Finance Corp.) of up to $41 million. The project was insured with a Chubb corporate country risk policy. According to a public information summary filed with OPIC, the project would help meet a demand for higher education in Africa. University press releases said the expansion would help attract and accommodate Ph.D. students, transforming the school into a first-class research institution,” the report stated.
University of Ghana was unable to procure a contractually required letter of credit, according to the Chubb petition, and moved to terminate the contract, triggering arbitration in 2018. The W.P. Carey trust settled with Chubb for $45.6 million later the same year — $10 million more than what it spent on the project — transferring its right to collect tenant default damages, according to company financial records.
The report further explained that while Chubb’s petition stated that the agreement was terminated because of the university’s failure to procure a letter of credit, the deal appeared to go sour earlier, when a new vice chancellor took office and openly voiced his opposition to the contract in a series of inflammatory letters and statements to the press. According to W.P Carey’s partner, Africa Integras, the companies had already poured tens of millions of dollars into the expansion, and the project was only a year away from construction completion.
Andrea Pizziconi, founder and managing principal, told Law360 that new chancellor Ebenezer Owusu was “actually offered several options to obtain the letter of credit. However, against the strong advice of his own advisers, Owusu refused to proceed with any of the options presented to him.” Pizziconi noted that his actions seemed “personally motivated as even the Ghanaian government, at times, attempted to intervene to avoid the disastrous termination of the project that ensued.”
In a 2019 press release, the university denied being subject to any arbitration award. Meanwhile, Owusu personally attacked his predecessor and Pizziconi in the press.null
The project would have expanded the university’s facilities by 60%, Pizziconi said. “As it stands today, I estimate that at least 20,000 additional Ghanaian students were prevented from enrolling at UG because those facilities were not finished,” she said.
The financial default also cast a chill over development projects across the region, “since UG was a flagship project for education public-private-partnerships in Africa generally,” Pizziconi added. “This impact exacerbated the losses felt across the continent with so many universities keen to access private finance to address their own infrastructure constraints.”
“Now, to make matters worse, if this claim is not paid, the entire insurance industry will become more reticent to insure key infrastructure projects in Ghana, which will impact the country’s entire development agenda,” she continued. “Also, with an unpaid insurance claim, the U.S. government’s Development Finance Corp. will struggle to proceed in financing other projects in Ghana that require government commitments, which could cost Ghana billions in development financing.”
The University of Ghana did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Counsel for Chubb declined to comment.
According to Chubb’s petition Thursday, the court has no basis to refuse confirmation of the award, which falls under the New York Convention.null
Chubb is represented by Kurt W. Hansson, Joshua M. Bennett and Jonathon C. Drimmer of Paul Hastings LLC.
Counsel information for the University of Ghana was not immediately available.
The Ashanti Region has as at July 31, this year, recorded a total of 304 COVID-19 deaths, the Regional Security Council (REGSEC) has disclosed.
Eighty-eight of the cases were recorded in the last three months of this year, REGSEC Chairman and Regional Minister, Simon Osei-Mensah, told the media in Kumasi.
The Region, he said, had also recorded 1, 253 active cases of the pandemic from April to July, the second-highest of such cases to be documented in the country.
Mr. Osei-Mensah indicated that the emergence of the new Delta variant of the pandemic was responsible for the upsurge in mortalities and active cases in the Region.
“The Council is warning the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to enforce strictly the existing safety protocols for the safety of the public,” the Minister stated.
According to him, it was mandatory for the Assemblies to work with the security agencies to enforce the safety protocols, especially at public places.
“They should adhere to the government’s directive of ensuring limited people at public gatherings, including funerals, weddings, churches, amongst others.”
He cautioned commercial drivers not to allow passengers without nose masks to get on board their vehicles.
“Any driver who fails to comply with this directive will be in trouble,” he noted, saying, the REGSEC had given authority to the police to arrest offenders and deal with them in accordance with the law.
Mr. Osei-Mensah observed that the emergence of the new Delta variant had increased the risk factors associated with the pandemic, therefore, it was expected of all and sundry to abide by the existing safety protocols.
Ernesto Yeboah has said Ghanaians should begin thinking of a better Ghana without NDC NPP.
A Co-Convenor of the #FixTheCountry demonstration, Ernesto Yeboah, has charged Ghanaians to begin imagining a better Ghana without NPP and NDC.
At the Independence Square Wednesday, August 4, 2021, Ernesto told Ghanaians to discard the notion of Ghana’s existence being dependent on the two political parties.
“Let us start thinking of having a better Ghana without thinking of the NDC and NPP. Don’t think you don’t have a Ghana without NPP and NDC,” he indicated.
Responding to government officials who asked Ghanaians to fix themselves when the hashtag #FixTheCountry started on social media, Mr. Yeboah said they’ve fixed themselves by gathering the filth the protesters left on the streets.
He displayed a ‘polythene bag’ containing empty water bottles, sachet water disposal and other garbage.
Mr. Yeboah called for the abolition of the 1992 Constitution which serves only a group of people at the expense of others.
“When we asked our leaders to fix the country, they told us to fix ourselves. We’ve fixed the refuse we made on our way here,” he told the crowed and showed them evidence.
Convenors of the demonstration have hinted of the protest being replicated in the other regional capitals.
Captain Smart says Ghana will be fixed at all cost
Captain Smart’s conviction of Ghana becoming a better place was reemphasised when thousands joined him and others to stage the #FixTheCountry protest.
During his speech at the Independence Square Wednesday, August 4, 2021, Captain Smart, a leading member of the demonstration noted the protest will change the fortunes of the country to assuage the usual challenges confronting the people.
The era, where graduates stay home for half decades without jobs after graduation will cease.
“Whether they like it or not, this country will be better. It’ll never happen again that the youth of this country will complete university and stay unemployed,” he expressed.
Proceeding with his speech, he mentioned series of corruptible incidents from various governments since the inception of the 4th Republic.
“Before Rawlings became president, he told us he is going to make Ghana better but he sold Nsawam Cannery to his wife before leaving office”
“Kufuor gave Professor Kassim Kassanga $5 million for mango plantation and he brought only three trees”
“President Mills’ time was when the money was given to Woyome whilst he warned them not to pay. Then Mahama came and guinea fowls flew to Burkina”
“Nana Addo said he’s going to protect us but police officers are being killed anyhow. Ahmed Suale was killed after which Ken Agyapong said he knows the killer but Nana Addo hasn’t done anything about it”
“The outgone IGP sat on a radio station and deceived Ghana police about their salary increment”
“31 people are going to use $3.5 million to purchase vehicles whilst the youth of Ghana have no jobs,” he narrated to the protesters.
He added that president Akufo-Addo cannot utter his “I’m not corrupt” mantra anymore because he is surrendered by corrupt people and it was time Ghanaians rethink their lives without the NPP and NDC.
Some angry NABCO Personnels who are not unhappy with their GH¢700.00 monthly allowance joined FIX THE COUNTRY Demonstration as they Captured something serious for Government and the Roads Minister. They didn’t only capture their small allowance which needs to be fixed.
Former US President Barack Obama has scaled back plans for a big birthday party amid a rise in Covid infections nationwide.
Mr Obama turned 60 on Wednesday and had planned a major celebration on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts this weekend.
But as the highly contagious Delta variant has led to a surge in new infections, Mr Obama has announced plans to scale back the event.
Only close friends and family will now attend.
His spokesperson said the outdoor event on Saturday was planned months ago “in accordance with all public health guidelines”. But he and his wife Michelle Obama have now decided to limit its size.
“President Obama is appreciative of others sending their birthday wishes from afar and looks forward to seeing people soon.”
Media reports say hundreds of people were invited to the occasion, with rumours that actor George Clooney, director Steven Spielberg and talk show host Oprah Winfrey were all on the guest list.
But criticism about the event has grown with cases.
Daily cases have risen to an average not seen in months, while the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced that masks should again be worn indoors for both the vaccinated and unvaccinated in light of rising infections.
The Obamas had reportedly encouraged people to get tested before attending, and have repeatedly urged people to get vaccinated.
Asked this week about the event, White House press secretary Jen Psaki advised attendees “to follow public health guidelines, which I know the former president… would certainly advocate for himself as well.”
Reports say President Joe Biden, who served as vice-president under Mr Obama, had chosen not to attend the party
Three persons have died in a ghastly road crash that occurred at Vume near Sogakope, on the Accra-Sogakope highway on the evening of Tuesday, 3rd August 2021.
Kasapa News has gathered that the vehicle was being driven by a Dabala junction-based Customs Officer who together with his colleagues were pursuing another vehicle suspected to be carrying some smuggled goods.
According to some eyewitnesses, some youth in the area who became agitated over the incident set the vehicle ablaze a situation that forced the deployment of some military and police personnel to the scene to restore calm.
Meanwhile, the Sogakope police commander has declined comments on the issue when Kasapa News’s Faisel Abdul-Iddrisu contacted him.
Bodies of the victims have since been deposited at the Sogakope District hospital for preservation.
Former President and 2020 NDC Presidential candidate John Dramani Mahama has expressed his appreciation to the people of Volta Region for the support he received during the 2020 elections.
According to Mr. Mahama, the region known as the world bank of the opposition NDC did not disappoint him in spite of losing the election once again to President Akufo-Addo.
Addressing residents of Agavedzi in the Ketu South Constituency after presentation of relief items including building materials to victims of recent tidal waves devastation on behalf of the NDC minority caucus and on his own behalf, Mr. Mahama assured the region of a comeback to wrestling power from the governing NPP
Speaking to Kasapa News after touring the devastated areas, the former President once again bemoaned the abandoning of projects started by his administration by President Akufo-Addo.
According to him if the Nana Addo administration had continued with a sea defence project, residents would not have had their homes washed away.
Mr. Mahama wants the government to halt the commencement of new projects until old ones are completed as promised by the NDC in its 2020 manifesto.
Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara is in self-isolation after being in contact with someone who had tested positive for Covid-19, the presidency has said.
The name of the person was not released.
President Ouattara has encouraged the Ivorian population to get vaccinated while respecting the protection measures in place in order to fight the disease.
If the president’s isolation is prolonged he might not be able to take part in the official Independence Day ceremony in a few days as is usually the case.
Ivorians will be celebrating the country’s Independence Day on 7 August
Apostle Dr. Daniel Adjei, Head pastor of Evangelical Methodist Church, Joshua Kwame Ampadu Cathedral, Asylum Down has indicated that he personally joined the fixthecountry demonstration because ‘my church collection and tithes have reduced’.
According to the Apostle, who looked very frustrated while speaking on camera “Nowadays when our church members come to church, they can’t give offering. They can’t pay their tithes because all our members are broke. There are no jobs in this country. That is why I have joined this demonstration”.
On Wednesday, thousands of demonstrators bussed from all parts of the country on Founder’s Day hit the Principal streets of Accra with the intentions of mounting pressure on the Nana Akufo-Addo government to create more jobs under the social media hashtag #FixTheCountry.
The Protestors, led by some disappointed media personalities, and celebrities among the youth were clad in black and red attires blowing vuvuzelas amidst the chanting of patriotic and war songs as early as 7am when they stormed the venue to commence the demonstration against the ruling government.
Earlier, the Police advised the protestors to respect all directives by the police during the march to ensure a smooth exercise.
They urged them to adhere to all COVID-19 safety protocols – wearing face masks, ensuring social distancing, and avoiding handshakes.
But they totally disregarded the social distancing protocols in the over three-kilometer walk demonstration from the Obra Spot at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle as they carried placards with inscriptions such as: “Honesty will make Ghana heaven”, “Corruption breeds poverty”, “Turn all prisons into hotels and put prisoners on state farms”, “Stop tribal discrimination”, “Fix our education system now” among others.
The much talked about the street protest on Wednesday starting from the Obra Spot through the principal streets of Kwame Nkrumah Avenue, Farisco, TUC, Kimbu, the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), through the Atta Mills Highway, and end at the Black Star Square.
#FixTheCountry is a hashtag being used by a group of independent, non-political Ghanaians, the middle class, and some celebrities with a call on the government for urgent social and economic reforms in the country.
The campaign started on Tuesday, May 4, 2021, after thousands of Ghanaians on social media, specifically on Twitter, got hooked up to the hashtag #FixTheCountry to protest poor governance and challenges in the Ghanaian economy.
Within 24 hours after the hashtag started the online campaign spread and gained nationwide attention promoting calls for street protests.
Leaders of the protest chose Sunday, May 9, 2021, for the demonstration but the police, on Thursday, May 6, obtained a restraining order from the High Court, presided over by Justice Ruby Aryeetey, against the protest march until the restriction on public gathering was lifted.
However, a Supreme Court Panel, presided over by Justice Yaw Appau, later set aside the High Court order that barred the protest indefinitely saying the order was in error and proceeded to quash it.
But they were later given the green light to hit the streets
Seventy-nine per cent of all the new COVID-19 cases fuelling Ghana’s third wave are of the Delta variant, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, has revealed.
The total tests done so far is 1,459,845 with an overall positivity rate of 7.3 per cent, Dr Kuma-Aboagye told journalists at a press briefing organised by the Information Ministry on Wednesday, 4 August 2021 that as of 1 August, “we have confirmed a total of 106,434”.
The total number of recoveries is 98,814, he said.
So far, a total of 854 have died.
According to him, before the third wave, the death toll was 817.
Dr Kuma-Aboagye said the trajectory of the active cases is “steep” and “worrying”.
“That tells us in the last few weeks, we have increased our cases from 1,600 to 6,766 in one month”, he illustrated.
“There’s been a very steep rise in the active cases in the last two weeks”, he noted.
Also, he said: “We are having increasing hospitalisation and deaths”.
Additionally, he observed: “We are having emerging hotspots outside Accra and Kumasi”.
Volta, Bono and Bono East regions, he noted, are the new hotspots.
“We also have workplace and school outbreaks taking place”, he noted.
Dr Kuma-Aboagye bemoaned the “total disregard to the use of face masks by the general population”.
“And, unfortunately, the Delta variant has become the dominant variant as we speak now, especially in the Greater Accra”.
“The third wave is on its way up… there’s a steep rise”, he added and put it down to non-adherence to protocols, the huge unvaccinated population and non-adherence to home isolation protocols
The Speaker of Parliament Alban S. K. Bagbin, has urged countries in Africa to direct their energies towards building stronger institutions and systems that work.
He said globally, countries that have succeeded in this endeavor, tend to discharge their mandates for the benefits of their people.
The Speaker made the call after the President of Angola, João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço addressed Parliament on Tuesday, 3 August 2021.
President João Lourenço on Tuesday led a high powered delegation from his country to address Parliament as part of a three-day official visit to Ghana.
President João Lourenço was met on arrival in parliament by the Speaker who was accompanied by his two deputies and the leadership from both sides of the house.
The Angolan President during his address commended the 8th Parliament and Speaker Bagbin’s leadership, for being able to steer the affairs of the house despite its unique nature.
He called for deeper cooperation between the two countries in building a formidable energy sector, parliamentary diplomacy and good governance.
Speaker Bagbin commended President João Lourenço for his dedication in tackling corruption head-on and reducing economic graft in his country.
Ghana’s parliament, he said, was encouraged by that feat which he said, would guide its watch-dog role to give constructive criticism to the government and its agencies.
That, he said would help put the government in check to account to the people
The Ghana Medical Association (GMA), the umbrella body of doctors in the country, has threatened to strike in October if, by the end of September, their outstanding arrears are not cleared.
In a communiqué issued after a National Executive Council meeting, the group said the strike will start with the withdrawal of services to out-patients.
Subsequently, the “withdrawal of all in-patient services will begin the following week (effective Friday, 8th October 2021) if all the issues are still not completely resolved”.
They will then declare a full-blown strike by mid-October.
The strike threat by the doctors comes on the heels of ongoing industrial actions by other labour unions.
The National Labour Commission (NLC) recently asked the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) and the Senior Staff Association of Universities of Ghana (SSA-UoG) to suspend their separate strike actions and come to the negotiating table for talks.
In two separate letters to either union, the NLC said the parties are hereby invited to appear before the commission on Thursday, 5 August 2021 at 11 am (UTAG) and 12: 30 pm (SSA-UoG), “for hearing of the matter in dispute”.
They noted that the “invitation is in accordance with section 139 of the Labour Act 2003, Act 651”.
“In view of the COVID-19 protocols, the representation by each side is restricted to a maximum of two persons and this must also be noted”, the correspondence signed by Dr Bernice Welbeck, Director, Administration/HR, said on Monday, 2 August 2021.
Meanwhile, the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) has appealed to both UTAG and SSA-UoG not to suspend their intended strike.
Both UTAG and SSA-UoG started their separate indefinite strikes today, Monday, 2 August 2021.
In a press statement issued on Monday, NUGS urged the two unions to reconsider their decision as a “mark of good faith towards students”.
“The National Union of Ghana Students appreciates UTAG and SSA-UoG for the patience and sacrifice of their membership toward service rendered to Ghanaian students and the nation at large”.
“We believe strongly that the answers UTAG and SSA-UoG are seeking from the government are for the right reasons.”
“That notwithstanding, we disagree with the strike approach, considering its effect on students, especially within the abnormal times we find ourselves in and the earlier obstruction of academic work by the global shutdown.
“UTAG and SSA-UoG must as an act of good faith toward students and the government avoid an entrenched position in all dialogues to address their concerns.”
“We appeal to our lecturers to stay in the classroom for the sake of the future generation as they continue to negotiate with the appropriate quarters since Ghanaian students shouldn’t always be at the receiving end.”
Announcing the strike, UTAG said: “We write on behalf of the National Executive Committee of UTAG to inform and/or remind you of the intended strike of UTAG. By this notice, all campuses are to withdraw all teaching and related activities – teaching, examination, invigilation, marking of examination scripts, processing of examination results, etc., from Monday, 2 August 2021 until further notice. We encourage all members on our various campuses to comply with this directive”, the letter signed by Prof Charles Marfo, National President and Dr Eric K.K. Abavare, National Secretary, said.
A few weeks ago, UTAG’s NEC notified the National Labour Commission (NLC) of its intention to strike. The industrial action, according to UTAG, is against the “government on the grounds of its failure to address the worsening conditions of UTAG’s members within an agreed period”.
A statement co-signed by the same national executives dated 15 July 2021, indicated: “Specifically, negotiation of our conditions of service, which was started some two years ago and was early this year scheduled to end by the end of this month, July 2021, has overly been delayed with no end in sight,” adding: “In our last meeting with government, UTAG strongly indicated to the government that if by the agreed date of the end of negotiations – i.e. 31 July 2021 – no agreement is reached, the association would have no option but to resort to indefinite strike”.
UTAG has, therefore, decided “to withdraw teaching, one of its main duties, from 2 August 2021 if no agreement is reached by 31 July 2021”.
Similarly, SSA-UoG, in a statement, said the government failed to “respect and fulfil the agreements between both parties at different intervals.” The association also accused the government of “contemptuous and total disregard to the National Labour Commission’s (NLC) directives on January 28, 2021, upon hearing from both parties to resolve all our concerns within a three-month stipulated period, which also regrettably elapsed on March 31, 2021, repugnantly.”
It said “all members of the Senior Staff Associations across all the 16 public universities in Ghana (SSA-UOG and FUSSAG) are required to lay down their tools until further notice.”
A few days ago, the association – which declared a strike on 18 May 2021, to compel the government to pay its members’ tier 2 pension contributions and also demanded the award of market premium and non-basic allowance, as well as the finalisation of negotiations of the members’ conditions of service – but later froze it upon the intervention of the National Labour Commission and the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC), threatened a worse form of its earlier industrial action if the government did not fulfil the promises it made which prompted the group to suspend the strike on 11 June.
An earlier statement signed by Mr Zakaria Mohammed, National Chairman, said, at the 12th National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held at the University of Cape Coast on 9 and 10 July 2021 respectively, the Senior Staff Association – Universities of Ghana (SSA-UoG) discussed and resolved the following: 1. The inability of Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) to communicate feedback on our counter proposal to government by Wednesday, 7 July 2021 as promised;
The SSA-UoG suspended its strike action on 11 June 2021 on the promise of commitment by the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission with Vice-Chancellors Ghana (VCG) as guarantors to completely resolve and conclude all outstanding issues on the negotiation table from 30 June to 19 July 2021.
Since the last negotiation meeting on 30 June 2021 on our counter-proposal to the government, the FWSC was to secure the needed mandate and communicate feedback to SSA-UoG.
This has since remained a mirage and it is creating agitations, fear and panic among our rank and file because there have been similar illusive promises in the past that never saw the light of day. 2. Computation of interest on Tier 2 and roadmap for payment;
The government requested SSA-UoG to submit names of its technical team to work hand in hand with the government technical team on the computation of interest on the outstanding Tier 2 Pension Contributions Arrears paid by Government. As requested by the government, SSA-UoG have since submitted names of its technical team to the government on 30 June 2021 which has since not been acknowledged.
It is our fervent belief that government has acted in bad faith.
3. Interestingly enough, the National Labour Commission (NLC) in all the above infractions being perpetrated against SSA-UoG and its loud silence on their part as a statutory body is not only worrying but also very shocking, as it is seen as an arbiter grounded in law. 4. The National Executive Council of SSA-UoG have resolved to resume full strike in the unlikely event that the government fails to meet the deadline as promised and agreed upon by all parties.
We, therefore, direct all the 14 public universities of SSA-UoG to keep themselves in readiness for a full-blown strike as resolved by NEC.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is calling for a concerted effort to break away from the neo-colonial structure where the country export raw materials without adding any value which in his view does not inure to the country’s benefit.
He called on Ghanaians to help drive the nation to its destination where there will be a united, developed, prosperous, free, democratic and independent nation.
Nana Akufo-Addo said these in his Founders’ Day message on Wednesday, 4 August 2021.
Founders’ Dayis a nationalpublic holidayobserved to commemorate the contributions of all the peoplewho led the struggle for Ghana’s independence.
The Founders’ Day was formerly called “Founder’s Day”with the letter “S” appearing after an apostrophe and it was celebrated to earmark the achievements ofDr Kwame Nkrumah Ghana’s first president and his role in attaining independence for the country.
But the Akufo-Addo-led government insisted others helped in the independence struggle and deserved to be celebrated as well.
The name was changed from “Founder’s Day” to “Founders’ Day” to include others who helped in the struggle for independence
The National Labour Commission (NLC) has asked the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) and the Senior Staff Association – University of Ghana (SSA-UOG) to stay in action and appear before the Commission on Thursday August 5, 2021.
A statement from the NLC, signed by its Director of Administration and Human Resources, Dr. Bernice A. Welbeck for the Executive Secretary said the Commission read in the media a letter dated 30th July, 2021 titled: “Withdrawal of Teaching and Related Activities on Member Campuses” by UTAG.
It also read in the media a letter dated 30th July, 2021 titled: “Notification and Resumption of Indefinite Industrial Strike” by SSA-UOG.
The letter stated that the actions were to commence yesterday, August 2, 2021.
The Commission, therefore, urged the Associations to stay in action and appear before it on the aforementioned date for hearing of the matter in dispute.
The invitation is in accordance with section 139 of the Labour Act 2003, Act 651, the statement said.
It said in the view of the COVID-19 protocols, the representation by each side was restricted to a maximum of three persons and called on both parties to take note.
Parliament on Tuesday concluded the debate on the 2021 Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review of the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government, with divergent views from both sides of the House on its merits.
The Majority Side supported the statement, describing it as a review of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s programme for accelerated recovery from the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Minority, on the other hand, accused the Minister of Finance of presenting a superficial budget review, which it called; “the New Patriotic Party’s 2021 Manifesto” rather than mid-year budget review.
Winding up the debate, the Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, said the Mid-year Policy Statement would restore and sustain macro-economic stability.
He said the policy document would help to attain improved fiscal performance through enhanced revenue mobilisation, strengthen the economy and ensure investor confidence.
“It’s the vision of President Nana Akufo-Addo to create an optimistic, self-confident and prosperous nation through the creative exploitation of human and natural resources, and create a fair society in which economic opportunities exists for all,” the Majority Leader said.
He discounted the position of the Minority Caucus that the 2021 Mid-year Budget Review was superficial, adding that the document was based on policies and principles.
The Minority NDC, on its part, indicated that the government’s decision not ask for additional money deserved no commendation.
“I’m not impressed by government’s decision not to request more funds,” Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu said, and suggested that the Government should have used the Mid-year Budget Review to withdraw some new taxes introduced earlier in the year.
Mr Iddrisu said Ghana’s economy was ont doing well, and on the brink of collapse due to the crippling debt of the nation.
He said the country was rather spending more money servicing debts against investing in state infrastructure, pegging the debt stock at GHS332 billion.
He bantered at the President and Minister for relying on debt relief and debt forgiveness for solutions.
The debate began on Friday, July 30, after Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister of Finance, on the authority of President Akufo-Addo, had read the document to the nation, through Parliament, on Thursday, July 29, 2021, in Accra.
His presentation was in accordance with Section 28 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921), which provides that the Government details its programmes and policies for the rest of the year.
The presentation provided the economic and fiscal performance of the economy for the first half of 2021, and provided an update on the implementation of key programmes.
The Finance Minister announced strategies by Government to create employment for Ghanaians in general and the youth in particular, and highlighted the status of the implementation of the Ghana CARES “Obaatanpa” Programme.
The Ghana CARES “Obaatanpa” Programme seeks to revitalise and transform the economy to pre-pandemic times and focussed on revenue, expenditure, and financing performance for the first half of 2021.
It further provided an overview of the implementation of the 2021 Budget, touching on the assurance of government on securing Covid-19 vaccines for vaccination and effective domestic revenue mobilisation. GNA
•ET Mensah claims Sam George peddled lies in his comment on the Saglemi Housing suit
•He says the initial plan included electricity, sewage and things, contrary to Sammy Gyamfi‘s claims
•Sammy Gyamfi has referred him to his own documents
Sammy Gyamfi, the Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress, has issued a quick response to assertions by former Minister of Works and Housing, Enoch Teye Mensah (E.T. Mensah) that he (Sammy Gyamfi) peddled falsehood in his take on the charges levelled against Alhaji Collins Dauda by the state.
Mr Mensah who featured on Tuesday’s edition of the Good Morning Ghana said that claims by Sammy Gyamfi that the initial plan for the construction of the Saglemi Housing Project did not include certain elements.
“Everything is not true, it is packed with lies. You [host of the programme] should have alerted me, I would have come with the handover notes. The project started when the STX became a fiasco. It was Mills’ project, he was the one who signed and gave the approval,” he said.
But in a sharp rebuttal, Sammy Gyamfi said that his remarks on the issue are from documents that are in the public domain.null
Sammy Gyamfi insisted his assertions are nothing but the fact which can be validated with documents.
“The issues about the “Saglemi” Housing Project which are being disputed by Hon. E.T Mensah are well-documented matters of public record. Facts are sacrosanct, and same shall be laid bare to settle all the issues in contention” he posted on Facebook.
Sammy Gyamfi in a lengthy epistle defending Collins Dauda said that the hike in the valuation of the Saglemi Housing Project was because certain amenities such as electricity, drains, sewage systems etc were not catered for in the initial design.
“It is instructive to note, that the Minister of Works and Housing at the time, Hon. E.T Mensah informed Parliament during the debate on the approval of the loan facility, that the 5000 housing units will not be built at a go, but rather over a period of time, that is, in phases. This is captured in black and white in the Parliamentary Hansard of 23rd October, 2013.
“Subsequent to the grant of Parliamentary approval, the Ministry of Works and Housing under Hon. E.T Mensah prepared and executed a Works Agreement with the Contractor for the project, Construtora OAS Limited. It is in the Works Agreement that government decided to build the 5000 housing units in 4 phases. The consultant for the project was AESL. Note that Parliament had already approved the loan agreement, and therefore the Works Agreement which was an issue of implementation by the Ministry was not required to be approved by Parliament.
“Under the Works Agreement, Government was supposed to provide a serviced plot of land with roads, water, electricity, drains, sewage systems and other ancillary facilities for the smooth takeoff of the project, the cost of which had not been factored into the amount of $US200 million approved by Parliament for the project. Since government did have any funds to fall on to discharge these responsibilities, the decision was taken by the ministry to use part of the approved amount of the project ($US200 million) for all the necessary ancillary works to pave way for the construction of the housing units and to make the project site a commercially viable and habitable community. This is what informed the decision by the Ministry to do the project in Phases, as the Minister, Hon. E.T Mensah had already intimated to Parliament. Clearly, the 5,000 houses could not be built at a go,” he posted
• Haruna Iddrisu says there will be more strikes in the public sector
• He said, the 4% increase in wages is a recipe for industrial conflicts
• UTAG is currently on strike
Haruna Iddrisu, the Minority Leader has envisaged more strikes in the public sector following the UTAG strike.
He attributed this to the 4% increase in the public sector salaries has contributed greatly to the instability on the Labour front.
This increase, he noted, is a “recipe for the industrial conflicts”.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament, the Tamale South MP explained, “The public sector workers of Ghana can have no smiles into 2022. When inflation is at 8% or 9%, the appropriate thing to do in terms of minimum wage negotiation is to place the wage increase not above inflation.
“So, if you say inflation is 8% or 9%, increase the wages by just 8% or 9%, that is the best practice and that has been the practice.”
According to the Minority Leader, the strike action by UTAG and other staff from the various universities is not surprising, indicating that this is one of many to come.
“Going into the future, we should be ready to bear the consequences of an unstable labour environment, which is likely to be characterised by protests, and strike actions which ultimately, will affect the productivity of our country,” Iddrisu said.
The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), directed members to withdraw all teaching and related activities on various university campuses beginning Monday, August 2.
Members of the Association laid down their tools and have stayed off teaching, examinations and invigilation, marking of examination scripts and processing of results until further notice.
A former Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Enoch Teye Mensah, has said that the comments made about him by National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Sammy Gyamfi in the suit against Collins Dauda over the Saglemi Housing project, were all lies.null
He said the facts do not support what Sammy Gyamfi said about him.
This comes after the Attorney-General (A-G) and Minister of Justice, Godfred Dame earlier this week filed court processes to prosecute former Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Alhaji Collins Dauda; his successor, Dr. Kwaku Agyeman-Mensah, and three other persons for allegedly wilfully causing financial loss to the state over the Saglemi Affordable Housing Project.
The state is hitting the accused persons with 52 counts of criminal charges against them for allegedly misapplying the state’s $200 million to pay for less than 1,500 affordable housing units at Saglemi, instead of the 5,000 units parliament granted approval for.
In response to the suit, Sammy Gyamfi said in a statement among other things that “It is instructive to note, that the Minister of Works and Housing at the time, Hon. E.T Mensah informed Parliament during the debate on the approval of the loan facility, that the 5000 housing units will not be built at a go, but rather over a period of time, that is, in phases. This is captured in black and white in the Parliamentary Hansard of 23rd October, 2013.
“Subsequent to the grant of Parliamentary approval, the Ministry of Works and Housing under Hon. E.T Mensah prepared and executed a Works Agreement with the Contractor for the project, Construtora OAS Limited. It is in the Works Agreement that government decided to build the 5000 housing units in 4 phases. The consultant for the project was AESL. Note that Parliament had already approved the loan Agreement, and therefore the Works Agreement which was an issue of implementation by the Ministry was not required to be approved by Parliament.”
But Mr ET Mensah who is currently a member of the Council of State said on the Good Evening Ghana show on Tuesday August 3 that “Every thing is not true, it is a packed of lies. You [host of the programme] should have alerted me, I would have come with the handover notes.null
“The project started when the STX became a fiasco. It was Mills’ project, he was the one who signed and gave the approval.”
Below is Sammy Gyamfi’s full statement on the sui
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE “SAGLEMI” HOUSING PROJECT.
AKUFO-ADDO GOVERNMENT PERSECUTING HON. COLLINS DAUDA OVER “SAGLEMI” HOUSING PROJECT.
1. In the year 2012, the NDC government in line with its vision of addressing the huge housing deficit facing the country secured a loan of $US200 million from Credit Suisse International for the construction of up to 5,000 affordable housing units.
2. The terms of the loan agreement was approved by Parliament on 23rd October 2013, in line with Article 181(1) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana. Note that, Parliament only approved the Loan Agreement and not the Works Agreement for the project.null
3. It is instructive to note, that the Minister of Works and Housing at the time, Hon. E.T Mensah informed Parliament during the debate on the approval of the loan facility, that the 5000 housing units will not be built at a go, but rather over a period of time, that is, in phases. This is captured in black and white in the Parliamentary Hansard of 23rd October, 2013.
4. Subsequent to the grant of Parliamentary approval, the Ministry of Works and Housing under Hon. E.T Mensah prepared and executed a Works Agreement with the Contractor for the project, Construtora OAS Limited. It is in the Works Agreement that government decided to build the 5000 housing units in 4 phases. The consultant for the project was AESL. Note that Parliament had already approved the loan Agreement, and therefore the Works Agreement which was an issue of implementation by the Ministry was not required to be approved by Parliament.
5. Under the Works Agreement, Government was supposed to provide a serviced plot of land with roads, water, electricity, drains, sewage systems and other ancillary facilities for the smooth takeoff of the project, the cost of which had not been factored into the amount of $US200 million approved by Parliament for the project. Since government did have any funds to fall on to discharge these responsibilities, the decision was taken by the ministry to use part of the approved amount of the project ($US200 million) for all the necessary ancillary works to pave way for the construction of the housing units and to make the project site a commercially viable and habitable community. This is what informed the decision by the Ministry to do the project in Phases, as the Minister, Hon. E.T Mensah had already intimated to Parliament. Clearly, the 5,000 houses could not be built at a go.
6. Also, the initial drawings presented to the Ministry of Works and Housing by the developer was based on the Brazilian building code and not fit for the Ghana setting. In fact, it was on this basis that the local district assembly refused an application for building permit for the project. The project Consultant (AESL) and the Contractor was then tasked under the Works Agreement to generate the appropriate designs and drawings for the project.
7. Under the Works Agreement, the first Phase of the project was to deliver about 1,500 housing units which was going to be bought by the Off-taker, Ghana Home Loans and proceeds from same was supposed to be paid into a revolving Escrow Account to be used for the next Phases, until all the 5,000 housing units were delivered. The claim that the decision to build 5000 housing units was reviewed downwards to about 1500 houses is therefore palpable falsehood.
8. At no point was the objective of building 5,000 houses approved by Parliament changed or varied, save that, same was supposed to be delivered in Phases. And this was going to be delivered with the approved amount of $US200 million only and nothing more.null
9. When Hon. Collins Dauda took over as Minister for Works and Housing, he only amended and restated the Works Agreement in line with the provisions of same, and reduced the number of Phases from 4 to 3 to shorten the project duration.
10. It is instructive to note, that the approved funds for the project was at all times in the custody and control of the Ministry of Finance, which was responsible for effecting payments for actual work done by the contractor. Payments were made upon the project consultant raising Interim Payment Certificates (IPCs) for actual work done and same being recommended for payment by the Chief Director of the Ministry of Works and Housing. All payments made under the erstwhile NDC government went through this due process and was commensurate with actual work done on the ground. Hon. Collins Dauda was not responsible for either raising IPCs or effecting payment for work done.
11. The project consultant (AESL) who raised all the IPCs hasn’t been accused or charged by the Akufo-Addo government for any wrongdoing.
12. Save a half-baked draft report by the Ghana Association of Surveyors which was done in an unprofessional manner and without recourse to AESL, the project consultant, there is no proper Audit that has established over payment or any case of embezzlement or wrongdoing in the implementation of the project. There hasn’t been any misapplication of funds or financial loss to the State.
13. It is worthy of note, that the Akufo-Addo government under the leadership of Hon. Samuel Atta Akyea as Minister for Works and Housing, amended and restated the Works Agreement and effected payments of over $US5.6 million to the contractor for the project. Yet, neither Atta Akyea nor his Chief Director has been charged for any wrongdoing by this government.
14. For emphasis, the claim that Parliament approved an agreement for 5,000 housing units but that was reviewed to about 1500 houses without recourse to Parliament is false. Firstly, at no point did government indicate that it was going to stop the project at building 1500 houses only, which is just Phase 1 of the project. The decision that the 5000 housing units should be built in Phases was provided for in the Works Agreement which was executed by Hon. ET Mensah. What Parliament had to approve was the terms of the loan Agreement as required under Article 181 (1) of the Constitution which they did, and not the Works Agreement. In any case, the Works Agreement was amended and restated by the Akufo-Addo government without Parliamentary approval. And so assuming the lack of Parliamentary approval for the Works Agreement or a variation of same constitutes a crime, then why hasn’t Atta Akyea or his Chief Director been charged? Why this obscene selective application of the law?null
15. What is germane in all this, is the failure and/or refusal of the Akufo-Addo government to complete the about 90% complete Saglemi housing project (Phase 1) for the benefit of Ghanaians. The case against Hon. Collins Dauda and others is frivolous and a poor attempt by the vindictive Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government to create a convenient excuse for their abandonment of the Saglemi Housing project. If there has been any financial loss to the State at all, then it has been occasioned by the people who have recklessly abandoned and supervised the deterioration a 90% complete project for almost five (5) years. The Akufo-Addo/Bawumia Government should stop persecuting innocent people and rather take urgent steps to complete the project which they have left to rot. The Ghanaian taxpayer deserves better.
• E. T. Mensah says the Saglemi Housing project is a project of President Mills
• He said, it was initiated to address the housing problems for workers
• He revealed that, OAS Limited was to construct a 5,000 housing unit for workers
Enoch Teye (E.T.) Mensah, a Member of the Council of State, has been explaining how the Saglemi Housing project was conceived under the John Evans Atta Mills administration.
According to him, the late President told him as a Minister of State in charge of Works and Housing that, he would want to do something to address the housing problems for workers.
He said, at that time the STX deal to construct a 200,000 housing unit for the security services had become a fiasco, which led him on behalf of the government of Ghana to abrogate the STX contract.
A committee of housing was then formed under the ministry and an announcement was made for an alternative contractor.
Mr Mensah explained during an interview on Good Evening Ghana Tuesday, August 3, stating the contract was awarded to Construtora OAS Limited for the construction of a 5,000 affordable housing unit.
“We were lucky that over the years, the government had acquired some land to build houses for the people; the housing committee [I formed] selected Saglemi…We had to prepare to go to Parliament [to lay the offer before the house]…it was close to elections at the time and so, the President decided that he will approve it, thus, give executive approval to the proposal so that we take it to Parliament, that was how come President Mills gave executive approval; that was his project,” he indicated.
He noted that, Construtora OAS Limited started work around the facts and data that was presented to Parliament given birth to the Saglemi Housing project.
“…Again, we brought in the offtaker thus Ghana Home Loans to offtake all 5,000 housing units and to hand them to the workers. We have then even registered workers who were going to occupy it,” he said.
When asked by the host of the show that Ghana Home Loans was to offtake and pay the money to who, the former Ningo-Prampram MP said, the loans were to be paid to Credit Suisse, an investment banking company.
“Because the loan was lodged in Bank of Ghana and the interest of the creditor was who was going to pay…,” Mr Mensah stressed.
He stated further anybody who would say the cost of the housing project excluded sewage, road and the service plot then he “doesn’t know what he is talking about”.
“I’m surprised at what is happening because when Prof Mills died and some of us were removed [from the ministry] and new persons were appointed, I prepared a detailed handing over notes and I gave Alhaji Collins Dauda my copy. He knows it and he should have a copy as well,” E. T. Mensah noted.
Angolan President Joào Manuel Lourenço, has ended his three-day State visit to Ghana. President Manuel Lourenço called on President Akufo-Addo at the Jubilee House to bid him farewell.
The Angolan President expressed his appreciation to President Akufo-Addo, government and the people of Ghana for the warm reception offered him and his delegation.
He stressed the need for the two countries to deepen bilateral ties and follow up on some Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) signed during the visit and implement same for their mutual benefits.
President Akufo-Addo, was grateful for the visit. He said the visit has further deepened the ties of cooperation between Ghana and Angolan.
Sammy Gyamfi, National Communication Officer, NDCWed, 4 Aug 2021Source: GNA
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament, James Gyekye Quayson, whose election was challenged and quashed on the grounds that he was holding dual citizenship has been revealed to have delayed in obtaining his renunciation certificate because of the coronavirus pandemic.
This latest information comes after he was ordered by a Cape Coast High Court to vacate Parliament with immediate effect and the cancellation of the results of parliamentary elections in the Assin North Constituency in the Central Region, which Mr. Quayson won on December 7, 2020. He is appealing the decision.
Speaking in an interview monitored by MyNewsGh.com, Sammy Gyamfi, National Communication Officer of the NDC said Mr. Quayson denounced his Canadian allegiance as far back as December 2019.
According to the young NDC lawyer and spokesman speaking to Tikese of Okay FM, under Canadian law, it took “normal” 6 months to be given a renunciation certificate when one denounces allegiance, hence Mr. Quayson should have ideally received his certificate by June 2020. However, it instead, “took 11 months… and we all know the pandemic that came to disrupt our lives”.
Sammy Gyamfi said but for the Coronavirus pandemic, it was a forgone fact that Mr. Quayson would have had no delays.
Even with the 11 months delay, Lawyer Sammy Gyamfi argued that the NDC MP still did not fall foul of the law, as an existing Supreme Court decided case, Paa Kwasi Nduom Vs the Electoral Commission shows EC nomination is not limited to filing and submitting papers.null
Sammy Gyamfi expressed strong confidence in the appeal the party has filed to challenge the judgement given by the Cape Coast High court presided over by Justice Kwasi Boakye who ordered for fresh elections to be conducted in the constituency.
The court held that filing of parliamentary nomination forms by Mr. Quayson when he held a Canadian Citizenship at the time of filing the said nomination forms between October 5-9, 2020 with the Electoral Commission (EC) violates Article 94 [2] [a] of the 1992 Constitution, Section 9 [2] [a] of PNDCL 284 and C.I. 127.
The court condemned the EC’s decision to clear Mr. Quayson to contest the 2020 parliamentary elections in the Assin North Constituency when the latter was not qualified as a candidate on account of his holding allegiance to Canada other than Ghana, which violates Article 92 [2] [a] of the 1992 Constitution, Section 9 [2] [a] of PNDCL 284, as amended and C.I. 127.
The court said Mr. Quayson’s election “is null and void and of no legal effect whatsoever as same violates the electoral laws of Ghana,” because at the time of the election the respondent was not qualified to contest as a candidate in accordance with the electoral laws of Ghana.Source: GNA
The General Overseer and Founder of God’s Crown Chapel, the Eagles Cathedral, Rev. Reindolph Oduro Gyebi, has prophesied that anyone who speaks against the National Cathedral’s construction will die a miserable death.
During his mid-Year Budget Review reading on Thursday, July 29, 2021, at the Parliament House, Finance Minister Ken Ofor-Atta made a passionate appeal to Ghanaians to help the government build the proposed National Cathedral by donating GHC100 a month.
The Finance Minister’s statement has received mixed reactions from the general public. While some agree with the government on this initiative, others also think otherwise.
Expressing his views on the government’s initiative in an interview on HardBall’ on Accra-based Hot 93.9FM, Prophet Reindolph Oduro Gyebi, better known as the Eagle Prophet, said anyone who would speak against the building of the Cathedral would die a miserable death.null
According to the Eagle Prophet, known for his doom prophecies, “building the national cathedral was a command from God to the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo; anyone who speaks against it will die miserably or be put to shame by God.”
The National Cathedral will be commissioned on March 6 2024.
A 34-year-old man suspected to be mentally unstable has set himself ablaze to prevent arrest after inflicting knife wounds on his father at Santa Maria.
According to the Odorkor Police, a complaint was received from the father of the suspect on 31st July 2021 to the effect that his son Harry Amponsah suspected to be mentally ill attacked him with a cutlass and inflicted wounds on his left arm.
The complainant led Police to his house in Santa Maria to arrest his son. The suspect upon seeing the Police quickly entered his room and locked the door.
While in his room, the Police suddenly saw smoke emanating from the suspect’s room.
When the door was forcibly opened, the suspect was found on his bed in flames and a deep knife wound on his stomach.
The fire was quenched and he was rushed to the Police Hospital for treatment.
The police found a kitchen knife and a gallon of petrol which has been retained by the Police for further investigations
Last week at an Education summit in the United Kingdom, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo disclosed for the first time that government had plans of replicating the Free Senior High School policy at the tertiary level.
According to the president, the subject of free tertiary education has been discussed at top levels because it is seen as a natural consequence of broadening the base for SHS.
But for musician turned politician, Kwame A-Plus, the announcement is a case of the president taking his “promises” international.
“Chairman take the promising distin go international. He’s making the other presidents look useless for no reason,” he captioned a video in which Akufo-Addo is making a strong case for Free SHS and why government is planning to extend the policy to the next level.
At a point in his first term, the president was referred to by a section of the public as ‘King Promise’ in jest for the many unfulfilled promises that the ruling New Patriotic Party and the Akufo-Addo led government had failed to execute.
President defends Free SHS, hints of Free Tertiary in London: “For now, what has been put in place is a system where students at the tertiary level are provided loans while in school to help them cater for their needs, but we’re considering free Tertiary education too,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo noted that the Free SHS policy has driven up Ghana’s budget for the education sector and that there are plans to invest more in the initiative.
He stated that Free SHS has been a success and handed education opportunities to Ghanaians who would have been left out due to lack of finance.
“It’s one of the highest on the continent, and we intend to ramp it up even more,” the President stated.
Adding that “the policy has reversed decades of exclusion, which denied, on the average, one hundred thousand young men and women, annually, entry to senior high school education because of the poverty of their parents.”
It has emerged that the alleged killer of the Police constable in Damango in the Savannah Region left behind a note on the wall with the inscription “ We love together, we die together” and hand written with blood.
On August 2, the police officer was found dead in a pool of blood with wounds believed to be knife stabs.
Secondly that Sunday evening, the boyfriend told other tenants in the house that he is travelling with the lady to Kumasi and that the lady has gone to town to buy certain items and he is following suit”.
According to the Savannah police, series of events make the boyfriend a prime suspect in this case.
“So, if Monday morning we see this heinous crime being committed, we cannot suspect anybody other than the boyfriend.
“Another clue is that the person who killed the lady tried hanging himself unfortunately; the ceiling fan detached from the ceiling so all these elements go to show it was the boyfriend who committed the crime,” revealed.
According to the police account, after the crime was committed the murderer locked the door to the room.
Other tenants, mostly student nurses, were not around at the time. However, Inspector Agyekum Owusu said one other tenant who was around the house witnessed an unusual behaviour of the boyfriend but did not expect the man would murder the girlfriend.
“The only tenant who was in the house suspected something: the guy would come out and look around and enter the room. Anytime he comes out he will lock the trap door so she suspected something
The office of the president has, in a letter to pressure group Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA), stated that the civil society group’s request for the suspension of the Chief Justice pursuant to Article 146 (10), is premature.
The presidency explained that this is because “there has not been any appointment of a committee to inquire into the petition you submitted.”
ASEPA petitioned the president to remove Chief Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah for being cited in an alleged $5-million bribery allegation.
The president started the necessary processes in dealing with the petition when it got to his attention but ASEPA has been requesting vital information on the processes so far.
Responding to the civil society organisation, the presidency, in a letter signed by Nana Asante Bediatuo, Executive Secretary to the president, stated: “We are not aware of any law, rule or practice that requires a petitioner to be furnished with what you describe as vital information and, therefore, it could not have been contemplated that the information you requested in your letter could have been made available to you in any event.”
“In our view, having submitted the petition, nothing more is required of you in the matter to warrant any reports being made to you, further to our acknowledgement of receipt,” the letter added.
Meanwhile, the Chief Justice has denied ever demanding or receiving any bribe from one Ogyeedom Obranu Kwasi Atta IV, a plaintiff in a case at the courts, a statement issued by the Judicial Service on Monday, 12 July 2021 and signed by Justice Cynthia Pamela Addo, Judicial Secretary, said.
The denial followed an allegation by a lawyer, Mr Kwasi Afrifa, to the effect that Ogyeedom Obranu Kwasi Atta IV had told him (Kwasi Afrifa) that the CJ demanded a bribe of $5 million to help him (Ogyeedom Obranu Kwasi Atta IV) get a favourable outcome at the courts.
The statement issued by the CJ, however, said: “His Lordship is saddened that without any shred of evidence, his name has been dragged into this sordid and potentially criminal matter”.
“His Lordship confirms that he does not know the plaintiff and has not met or seen him anywhere except in the courtroom when he rises to announces his name when his case is called”, the statement noted.
It added: “His Lordship asserts that he had had no personally interaction either with the plaintiff or his lawyer on this matter or any other matter”. “His Lordship further asserts that he has not demanded or received any money from any person to influence any decision on this matter or nay other matter”.
“Indeed, the records show that the plaintiff, unsuccessfully petitioned for the recusal of His Lordship the Chief Justice and His Lordship Justice Victor Jones Mawulom Dotse from the matter, on the claim that they were prejudiced against him”, the statement continued.
It said: “The records further show that the Chief Justice was the only judge on the panel, who recently on 31 March 2021, dissented in an application at the instant of the plaintiff Ogyeedom Obranu Kwasi Atta IV in favour of the respondent, Ghana Telecommunications Company Limited”.
Further, the Judicial Service said: “To ensure that this matter is fully investigated, His Lordship has directed that a formal complaint be made to the CID of the Ghana Police Service for investigations and nay necessary actions”.
“He has further directed that a petition be lodged with the disciplinary committee of the General Legal Council in respect of this specific matter”.
His Lordship is available to assist in all investigations into this matter while he considers his own civil legal options to ensure that this matter is dealt with to its logical conclusion.
The CJ’s denial comes 24 hours after the plaintiff also denied the bribery allegations.
Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta VI, in a short statement issued on Sunday, 11 July 2021, said the allegations were false.
Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta VI dragged Mr Afrifa, his former lawyer, to the General Legal Council, through a petition dated 1 March 2021, to have him sanctioned concerning his handling of a case involving the petitioner and Ghana Telecommunications Company Limited. In the petition, Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta VI said: “I engaged the said lawyer, Mr Kwasi Afrifa, to handle my case, in which engagement we agreed on a fee of GHS300,000, which I paid him in full”.
“In the course of handling the case, he suggested to me that it was in my interest to, besides his fully paid-up fees, provide an amount of USD100,000 to enable him to do some ‘ways and means’ (gymnastics) on my case so that we can obtain a favourable decision”.
“Being naïve and eager to see to the completion of my case favourably, I acceded to his request for him to have the money to go and perform the said gymnastics to ensure success in my case. Although I believed in the strength of my case, I decided to give him the said money based on the advice he gave”, the petition wrote.
However, he said: “I realised, from is demeanour, that he did not use the money for its intended purpose as advised, and, so, I fired him from the case and asked him for a refund of the money but he has since refunded USD25,000 leaving a balance of USD75,000. All efforts to retrieve the remaining amount have failed”, he complained. “I am appealing to you, as the chairman of the General Legal Council of lawyers, to help me retrieve my USD75,000 from Kwasi Afrifa”, he pleaded via the petition.
Responding to the claims made against him in the petition, Mr Afrifa said: “At the end of July 2020, the petitioner informed me that friends of his, who were highly connected, politically, had taken him to see the Chief Justice, who had agreed to help him win his case on condition that he drops my good self, as the lawyer handling the case for him, and engage Akoto Ampaw Esq in my stead”.
“He [petitioner] further informed me that the Chief Justice has demanded a bribe of USD5 million for a successful outcome of his case and that he had already paid USD500,000 to the Chief Justice”, he claimed.
“He further indicated that he was hard-pressed to raise the remainder of the USD5 million and, so, I should refund some of the GHS300,000 paid to me as fees because he had, in line with advice of the Chief Justice, engaged Akoto Ampaw Esq as solicitor, to continue the case before the Supreme Court”, he noted. “Out of a sense of dignity on my part, I told him that I would rather refund the entire GHS300,000 paid to me and bear the cost of air travel, hotel bills and other expenditure incurred by me in prosecuting his cases at Cape Coast and in Accra”, Mr Afrifa wrote.
He continued: “We aggregated the GHS300,000 paid to me as being the equivalent of USD50,000, which I was to refund to him without any timeline being indicated. He said he wanted the payment in dollars because he was raising the remainder of the money to be paid the Chief Justice and that currency was his currency of choice”.
“On the 27 January 2021, I paid an amount of USD25,000 to the petitioner and subsequently paidUSD15,000 to him, making a total of USD40,000, so, the outstanding amount that I have to refund to him is USD10,000”, he insisted, adding: “I am ready, willing and able to make the said payment of USD10,000 when I appear before the committee on 15 July 2021”.
“I categorically deny ever suggesting to the petitioner that he provide any money whatsoever for what he cryptically describes in the said petition as ‘ways and means (gymnastics)’. I certainly have not and will not collect or receive any such money from him”. In his denial press statement, however, Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta VI said: “My attention has been drawn to a media publication – allegations against my good self and some prominent third parties, including the Chief Justice”.
“I unequivocally deny all allegations of intended bribery or actual bribery of any judge including the Chief Justice, who I have never met or known personally apart from seeing him a distance from the bench”, he noted.
He added: “I re-emphasise that I have never met the Chief Justice before nor dealt with him directly or indirectly in official or private capacity, neither do I know where he lives nor have his phone number to have communicated with him”.
“I have since applied for a copy of the said response to my petition against Mr Afrifa in which those fabrications and allegations are said to be contained and will appropriately react to the General Legal Council upon receipt of same”, announcing: “Stay tuned for the truth
Defence Minister Dominic Nitiwul, through the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has asked parliament to pass a €111 million agreement for the supply of six L-39 next-generation aircraft for the Ghana Armed Forces.
The supplier is AERO Vodochody AEROSPACE a.s of the Czech Republic.
Some seven aircraft were to have been acquired for the Ghana Armed Forces before the end of 2020.
The Defence and Interior Committee is considering the request after it was referred to it.
Per the Defence ministry’s Medium Term Expenditure Framework for 2020 – 2023, as of 30 June 2019, it had “overhauled three Casa Aircraft for the Ghana Air Force and two helicopters which were grounded since 2012.”
Additionally, the government is also targeting to “refurbish 15 aircraft by December 2020
The Ministry of Information (MOI) and the Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC) have launched Spark Up, an investment initiative to promote investments in Ghana’s economy, stimulate growth and move the country forward from the COVID-19 induced setback.
The initiative which is an annual investment summit is aimed at reigniting the passion for investment in Ghana and create a platform for investors and investment facilitators to discuss investment challenges and find solutions to them.
Unveiling the initiative in Accra on Tuesday, August 3, 2021, Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said it is about time the country put in measures to take advantage of the numerous investment opportunities.
He said: “it is with excitement that the GIPC, the Ministry of Finance supported by the Ministry of Information come together to introduce an annual investment summit of the GIPC which brings together the various stakeholders in the value chain.
“Heads of State may have done their part by traveling the world to sell Ghana’s investment potential, GIPC may have followed up telling everybody about the various investment opportunities and have attracted them to register $2.7 billion worth of investment with 27,000 direct jobs. Our role now is helping to ensure that these investments are onboarded and that is why Spark-up has been created.”
On his part, GIPC boss, Yofi Grant touted the initiative as one of the innovative ways of bringing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the country as well as reinvigorate local investment in critical sectors of the economy.
He said the goal of Spark Up is to revive interest in investing in Ghana and to help restore economic growth as we emerge from the economic downturn brought on by the pandemic
The first of Spark Up conferences will be held on 6th September, 2021. It will be opened by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Ghana in an opening ceremony followed by series of investment conferences to market the investment opportunities in the country.
Speakers at the opening ceremony will include the President, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Trade and Industry, the Minister of Information and the Chief Executive of the GIPC, and other high-profile personalities
Government, in the coming weeks, will launch National Alternative Employment and Livelihood Programmes for illegal small-scale miners affected by the activities of Operation Halt II.
The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, who announced this in Parliament last Thursday, said this forms part of the government’s efforts to create jobs for young people in the country.
According to him, the programme will be anchored on six main interventions and named them as the National Land Reclamation and Re-afforestation; Agricultural and Agro-processing; Apprenticeship, Skills Training and Entrepreneurship; Responsible, Viable and Sustainable Community Mining; Mine Support Services and Community Enhancement Projects.
“These initiatives will target mainly illegal miners displaced by the ongoing efforts to sanitise the mining industry,” he noted.
Mr. Ofori-Atta stated that the government recognised the need to protect the country’s environment, just as it found it necessary to provide alternative employment and livelihoods for “our compatriots who will inevitably fall through the cracks.”
“We are determined to ensure the responsible or sustainable exploitation of the lands and natural resources of our country,” he posited.
He also said the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, in line with the President’s directive, had held a National Dialogue, followed by two Regional Dialogues on Small Scale Mining.
“Following this, several measures are being put in place to build a sustainable, viable and responsible small scale mining industry that protects the national environment.”
“The Ministry will beef up the personnel and other logistics of the Inspectorate Division of the Minerals Commission to undertake strict monitoring and enforcement of our mining laws,” the Finance Minister intimated.
He disclosed that the Lands Commission had commenced the process of regional education and sensitization on the new Land Act, 2020 (Act 1036).
He said the Lands and Natural Resources Ministry intended, for the rest of the year, to undertake digitization of the records of the Lands Commission, and added that the move would reduce the time for registration to a maximum of one month.
“The digitization will also be a step forward towards the implementation of the Electronic Conveyance introduced by the Land Act. With these interventions, the government seeks to develop an efficient, robust, land administration anchored on integrity, which responds to the needs of the citizenry and contributes to the development of the national economy.”
Jinapor
The Minister of Lnads and Natural Resources, Samuel Abdulai Jinapor asserted that “this year’s budget review is intended to enhance the effort the government laid out in March this year. We are seeking to get into the mode of recovery to get the national economy work again in order to create the thousands of jobs for the Ghanaian youth.”
According to him, he feels happier because the government, through the budget review, has recognised the loss of job and livelihoods of some Ghanaians who were engaged in illegal mining activities.
“This is why President Akufo-Addo, through the Finance Minister, has announced the National Alternative Employment and Livelihood Programmes, which seek to provide employment to illegal miners who have fallen out.
“These will create 800,000 jobs in the five mining regions – ie. Ashanti, Eastern, Central, Western, and Western North,” the Minister told the Parliamentary Press Corps after the budget
A High Court in Kumasi last Friday, set aside a $15.3 million judgment entered against the government following the seizure of equipment of a private company by the taskforce of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining in 2018.
The court presided over by His Lordship Justice Samuel Diawuo, on July 30, 2020, held in a judgment after trial, that, the invasion of the mining site and the seizure of its excavators and equipment of Heritage Imperial Company, was unlawful.
The court as a result, ordered recovery of the sum of US$15,304,714.20 being the value of machinery and equipment seized from the plaintiff’s site by the Inter-Ministerial Taskforce on Illegal Mining on December 6, 2018 or its current value in cedis; general damages of GH¢500,000; and costs of GH¢100,000 against the state.
However, on July 13, 2021, the Attorney General filed an application for an order setting aside the judgment as a nullity and vitiated by a lack of jurisdiction of the High Court to entertain the action.
Arguing the application himself on July 23, 2021, the Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, contended that the commencement of the action by plaintiff without regard to the mandatory statutory stipulations of the State Proceedings Act, 1998 (Act 555), was unlawful.
He further contended that the order for payment by the Government of Ghana of the sum of US$15,304,714.20, was manifestly unlawful and utterly without basis, as no indorsement on the writ of summons issued in action supported the move.
He explained that the rules of court required a writ of summons to be indorsed with a concise statement of the nature of the claim made, or the relief or remedy required in the action.
In no part of either the writ of summons or the pleadings of the statement of claim did the plaintiff claim the sum of US$15,304,714.20 against the state.
“The relief of US$15,304,714.20 granted by the court was a material and specific one, clear notice of which had to be given on the writ of summons and statement of claim. The Court thus did not have jurisdiction to grant the relief of US$15,304,714.20,” the AG had argued.
Mr. Dame further said the company failed to indicate on its writ of summons whether the claims against the defendants were either jointly and severally or jointly or severally and the judgment of the court also failed to indicate that, insisting that the reliefs granted were unenforceable.
The Attorney General asserted that the default in stating whether reliefs claimed by plaintiff or granted by the court were jointly and severally or jointly or severally was a fundamental and incurable defect which avoids the entire judgment, as the 1st defendant, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, did not have capacity to be sued under Ghana law.
The Attorney General also contended that the failure of plaintiff to claim the relief of US$15,304,714.20 on its writ of summons was clearly intended to deceive the court and deprive the state of appropriate revenue, as appropriate filing fees were paid on the reliefs awarded to Heritage Imperial Company.
The act of the plaintiff in concealing the specific cost of the equipment it alleged to have acquired, according to Mr. Dame, was one calculated at overreaching not only the court but also the Government of Ghana, and therefore ought not to be rewarded by the court.
Delivering the ruling, the court presided over by Justice Diawuo held that a Superior Court has inherent jurisdiction to set aside its own judgment it was plainly entered without jurisdiction or is offensive to any provision of the laws of the country.
He found the failure of the plaintiff to state the specific relief claimed by the plaintiff on its writ of summons a fundamental defect, especially as it resulted in the state being deprived of the fruits of the appropriate filing fees.
Failure of a party to indorse the specific relief claimed by that party on its writ of summons, with the consequential effect of the plaintiff not paying appropriate filing fees, meant that the court had no jurisdiction to consider the case placed before it.
The judge ruled that to the extent that the court had no jurisdiction to consider the claim before it, the judgment was a nullity and would be set aside.
Case Background
Sometime, in 2017, the government, in order to tackle the menace of illegal mining, set up an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining and the committee was assisted by a taskforce made up of members of the security forces and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials.
On December 6, 2018, the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining invaded Heritage Imperial Company’s mining concession and seized its equipment, machinery and monies.
Claiming that the invasion and seizure were unlawful, the company on February 20, 2019, instituted an action for reliefs, including a declaration that the invasion of the plaintiff’s mining site and the seizure of its excavators and equipment is unlawful.
The company then sought an order directed at the defendants to release the plaintiff’s machineries, equipment and monies seized by the taskforce of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining from its concession.
The company had said in the alternative, the court should assess the cost of the machineries and equipment, the value paid to the plaintiff as well as general damages with cost of the proceedings including counsel’s fees on a full indemnity basis
It has emerged that a total of 181,277.319 cubic metres of Rosewood salvaged and exported during Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration only earned Ghana GH¢93.98 million.
The amount is far less than GH¢291.807 million earned by the country from the export of 108,773.171 cubic metres between January 7, 2017 and January 7, 2021, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources has revealed.
Answering questions on the Floor of Parliament and interacting with the press corps after on Monday, Mr. Samuel Abdulai Jinapor gave the breakdown of the 181,277.319 cubic metres of Rosewood salvaged and exported by the Mahama government.
According to him, in 2013 a volume of 40,998.646 cubic metres Rosewood was exported at the value of GH¢17.28 million, 20,823.978 cubic metres in 2014 at GH¢8.155 million, 22,770.16 cubic metres in 2015 at GH¢13.010 million, and 96,684.519 cubic metres in 2016 at GH¢55.534 million.
On the other hand, 56,190.892 cubic metres of Rosewood was sold for GH¢148.814 million in 2017 with 42,561.031 cubic metres in 2018 sold for GH¢112.946 million and 10,021.248 cubic metres in 2019 sold for GH¢30.047 million, adding that they were no export in 2020 and 2021.
The Minister said President Akufo-Addo government had not only taken far-reaching interventions to protect the forest cover of the country, but also made the country to reap better benefit from salvaged Rosewood.
“Since 1900, the forest cover of Ghana has been deleted by 80% and therefore required urgent measures to be implemented since it was getting to a point our very survival as a country was to be threatened,” he told the media.
“In a very unprecedented and dramatic fashion, President Akufo-Addo has taken the measures with consequential interventions regarding the harvesting of Rosewood,” he argued.
He disclosed that available data showed that between January 7, 2013 and January 7, 2017, a total of 13 companies were issued with permits to salvage Rosewood.
Mr. Jinapor mentioned the companies as Trans-Atlantic Resources Limited, GL Interlink Limited, Riyaad Farm and Wood Limited, Dero Limited, Kofi Vinyo and Company Limited, Jowak Limited, and Time Concept Limited.
The rest are Boakyewaa Enterprise Limited, Adu-Tutu and Sons Limited, Sikadon Woods Limited, Kambonse Ghana Limited, Savannah Investment (GH) Limited, and Brasoma Company Limited.
The Minister noted that in 2017, after the government re-imposed the ban on harvesting of Rosewood, a decision was taken to diversify participation in the salvaging of already harvested Rosewood, as it was noted that some of the companies holding licenses were actually subletting with onerous conditions.
“Between January 7, 2017 and January 7, 2021, a total of 104 different companies were granted salvage permits to evacuate Rosewood from the bush,” he revealed.
He pointed out that “an analysis of the figures showed that while the number of permits issued between January 7, 2017 and January 7, 2021 far exceeds the permits issued between January 7, 2013 and January 7, 2017, more Rosewood was salvaged and exported from the country between 2013 and 2017 than between 2017 and 2021.”
“And although the volumes exported between 2013 and 2017 far exceeds the volumes exported between 2017 and 2021, the revenue accruing to government from these exports between 2017 and 2021 is more than triple the revenue that accrued to government between 2013 and 2017,” he stressed.
He noted that since he became the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources on March 5, 2021, he had not, to date, granted a single authorization for the harvesting, salvaging or exporting of Rosewood.
The Minister said he did not intend to grant authorisation in the foreseeable future until such time that the Government is satisfied that the harvesting of the species will be sustainable
President Nana Akufo-Addo has appointed Mr Michael Oquaye Jnr. as the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Free Zones Authority (GFZA).
Ghana’s former High Commissioner to India, will, thus, be leading the Authority designed to promote the processing and manufacturing of goods through the establishment of Export Processing Zones (EPZs), as well as encourage the development of commercial and service activities at sea and airport areas.
Mike Oquaye Jnr., son of former Speaker Prof Mike Oquaye, will be replacing Mr Michael Okyere Baafi, who is now the MP for New Juaben South in the Eastern Region.
Mr Baafi is also the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry
Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has urged the chiefs and people of Atibie and the entire Kwahu range and its environs to patronize the five-day free medical outreach being embarked upon by the Ghana Medical Relief (GMR) in partnership with the Kwahu Professionals Network (KPN)in the area.The former President gave the advice when the GMR medical team paid a courtesy call on him at his residence in Accra at the weekend.
The GMR is a non-profit organization based in the United States of America and would be providing general health screening, pediatrics, dental, urological, obstetrics and health education to more than 5,000 people in the Atibie and other areas of the Eastern Region from August 2 to Friday, August 6, 2021.
Former President Kufuor said; “Doctor Owusu and this powerful team have come from United States to render humanitarian medical service…I know that they’ve targeted the Atibie hospital as the major hospital to go and render service to the people on the Kwahu Mountains.
“I want to use this occasion to appeal to all the people around to go for this free service.”
He pledged his support for the group for their commitment to such activities to deprived communities in Ghana.
Dr Samuel Kwapong Owusu, the President of GMR expressed gratitude to the former President for hosting the team and looked forward to the Ghana Medical Relief partnering with the John Agyekum Kufuor (JAK) Foundation to improve the health of the citizens especially in deprived communities.
The medical team, which is under the leadership of Dr Owusu and Dr William Rockson has in previous years visited Anomabo in the Central and Asiakwa in the Eastern Region and provided similar services to over 3,000 indigenes of those areas.
The organization made up of medical practitioners and volunteers work in collaboration with hospitals, churches, and agencies in the United States for supplies and medical equipment that are then donated to hospitals and clinics, while also providing free medical services to deprived communities in Ghana annually.
To date, the organization has donated hospital beds, ultrasound machines, examination tables, cardiac defibrillators, operating room equipment, and numerous medical supplies/medications to several hospitals and clinics in Ghana.
In a related development, Davis Ansah Opoku, the Member of Parliament for Mpraeso in the Eastern Region has applauded the GMR for their commitment to provide health services to deprived communities.
He made the commendation when the executives of the Kwahu Professionals Network (KPN), partners of this year’s medical outreach welcomed the medical team to the country at a brief ceremony.
Mr Opoku assured the team of the communities readiness, saying that there have been massive awareness creation in the media at Kwahu to ensure that residents in and around Atibie benefit from the gesture
A deputy National Youth Organiser of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Edem Agbana has charged the Akufo-Addo government to fix the economy and make life bearable for Ghanaians.
Speaking on the Morning Update on TV XYZ, Agbana, a youth activist, argued that the government led by Akufo-Addo has failed to deliver on their promises to Ghanaians prior to the 2016 elections.
He said in opposition, Candidate Akufo-Addo chastised the erstwhile Mahama administration for taking loans to embark on infrastructural development, saying they will not borrow to build but are doing the opposite of what they campaigned on.
Currently, the country’s public debt stands at 322 billion Cedis, with the Akufo-Addo government contributing to about 60% of Ghana’s public debt stock since independence.
At an NDC Ranking Members forum dubbed “Policy Dialogue on the Economy” at the UPSA Auditorium in Accra yesterday, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, disclosed that the country had attained a HIPC status due to the reckless borrowing by the NPP government.
“The IMF Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA) in 2019, put Ghana at High Risk of Debt Distress. This was before Covid-19. The situation worsened by the end of 2020. With the planned borrowings in 2021, the situation is likely to deteriorate further,” Dr Forson stated. However, the government is touting that the economy is growing faster despite a COVID-19 third wave starring at the country.
But Edem Agbana says if the country’s economy is doing well as the government is projecting, Ghanaians do not need President Akufo-Addo to announce it.
“The point is that all these things about Ghana being the fastest growing economy and all of that does not lie with the President of the Republic to tell us. If the economy is strong and is growing, we’ll feel it in our pockets,” Agbana told host Eric Ahianyo. “There are indicators; there are things that everybody uses in judging how well an economy is doing.”
“We see how prices of goods and services are rising, we see how the debt situation is,” he lamented and urged the government to be truthful to the suffering masses whose taxes offer officials comfort.
He commended the NDC MPs for exposing the government whenever they “manipulate” economic figures to favour the government.
“Even the World Bank in 2019 admitted that the government had submitted some figures that were incorrect,” he added.
Agbana also noted that the NDC, through the forum, presented the alternative to economic recovery as they “gave a true picture of the economy.”
He observed that the country’s debt-to-GDP- ratio was about 57% under the Mahama administration but candidate Akufo-Addo who kicked against that ahead of the 2016 polls rather escalated it to 74% debt to GDP ratio.
He said Akufo-Addo had added 171.222 billion Cedis to Ghana’s public debt, hastening that there is nothing good about the economy Akufo-Addo presides over.
To him, the terrible economic indicators “exposes the inability of the Akufo-Addo government to manage the economy.”
Johnson Asiedu Nketia, the General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress has said that the party acted within its rules with the decision to expel former deputy General Secretary, Samuel Koku Anyidoho.
According to him, the party’s regulations state clearly what ought to be done in such circumstances as Anyidoho found himslef and the rules were applied without favor.
Asiedu Nketia said neither him nor any party official is above the dictates of the party’s laws and that once you fall foul, you will be dealt with.
“Party membership is not categorized into high profile or low profile. All members are equal and same before the law and that is what has been done in this case. We work according to our rules,” he told JoyNews.
Asiedu Nketia further urged Koku Anyidoho to return all properties of the party in his care.
He warned that the party will take legal action against him if he fails to submit the materials to the appropriate authorities.
“We urge him to return any party property in his care whether at the constituency, regional or national level that we may not know of. Failure to do so will mean that we will apply the laws.” Asiedu Nketia said.
In a statement announcing his axing from the party, Asiedu Nketia said that: “The Functional Executive Committee (FEC) acting in compliance of Article 48(1) of the NDC Constitution unanimously adopted the report and accepts full responsibility for your expulsion from the party.”
The letter dated Tuesday, July 27, 2021 continued: “You are, therefore, by the decision of FEC expelled from the National Democratic Congress and for that matter you are no more recognised as a member the party and cannot carry yourself as such.”
The Acting Inspector General of Police, George Akuffo Dampare, has thrown his weight behind the conveners of the #FixTheCountry demonstration and assured them of providing them with maximum security.
This was contained in a presser released by the Economic Fighters League after a meeting with newly appointed IGP and other members of the police top hierarchy in Accra on Monday, August 2.
The meeting, which was called by Mr Akuffo Dampare, was, according to him, to “assure the protesters of maximum protection from the start to the end of the August 4 #FixTheCountry protest”.
They ended the meeting by assuring the IGP and all Ghanaians the protest will be a peaceful one and that anyone who comes there with the intention to foment trouble will be handed over to the law enforcers for further prosecution.
The protest will begin at the Obra Spot at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle Interchange through the Farisco Traffic Light towards the TUC-Kinbu Senior High School road.
A member of the legal team of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Abraham Amaliba, has said that his party will win the Assin North by-election if President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) do not use thugs to intimidate voters.
“I have told Nana Akufo-Addo not to send hoodlums and blood sucking people to the place as they did in Ayawaso. If they don’t do that we will win the seat.”
“The good people of Assin North also know how difficult the country is now,” Mr Amaliba said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, July 31.
The Assin North seat has become vacant after the Cape Coast High Court annulled the parliamentary election results of 2020 in that constituency.
A cost of 10, 000 has been awarded against the Electoral commission and 30 thousand against Mr Gyekye Quayson who until the cancellation of the result was the Assin North MP.
The presiding judge, Justice Kwasi Boakye said Mr. Quayson was “restrained from holding himself out as Member of Parliament-elect for the Assin North constituency within the Central Region of the Republic of Ghana and further presenting himself to be sworn in as Member of Parliament-elect as such until the final determination of the petition.”
One Michael Ankoma-Nimfah, a mason and resident of Assin Bereku filed a petition against over dual citizenship.
A private legal practitioner and law lecturer at the University of Professional Studies Accra (UPSA) Justice Abdulai has said that he foresees a criminal prosecution being initiated against the Assin North lawmaker Joe Gyekye Quayson whose election has been cancelled by the Cape Coast High Court.
Asked whether he can contest again for the seat in the by-election, Justice Abdullai said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, July 31 that “I foresee the state coming after him. This is a pure criminality. It has happened to Adamu Sakande and I do not see any different treatment in this as well. So he may not be able to contest again.”
Regarding this, Mr Amaliba responded by saying “If the judgment of the court is what we are going by there will be nominations and he has the certificate. People have thought that he was sitting down with a foreign nationality, so he is qualified. With the issue of he being prosecuted. On what basis? Deceit of public officer. How will it be a deceit of public officer if the EC itself which is the public officer called him and okayed him. I give you my certificate, you were not sleeping, you looked at it and you said it is Okay then you turn around say I have deceived you.
“In fact even if he is being prosecuted he can still contest and we will take this seat.”
James Gyakye Quayson has charged his supporters and, by extension, all sympathetic Ghanaians not to be worried by events on Wednesday, July 28 at the Cape Coast High Court.
He insinuates that the judgement by Justice Kwasi Boakye annulling results of the December 7, 2020 Parliamentary Elections is as a result of “dark machinations of an elite few”.
He assured his supporters that “I am in high spirit and confident that this momentary travesty shall rather make us emerge stronger”.
These were contained in a statement he issued on Thursday, July 29.
“Our massive victory in Assin North on December 7, 2020 was a pure and legitimate one handed over to us by the discerning people of Assin North and we shall resist every attempt to subvert the true will of the people,” he stated.
“Victory from the masses is far superior to the dark machinations of an elite few.”
He expressed gratitude to chiefs and people of Assin North as well as the rank and file of his party for their support over the last 24 hours.
“The solidarity from the rank and file of the NDC and the general public as a whole has renewed my confidence in a brighter future for this country regardless of the treacherous momentary setbacks.”
He charged his supporters not to be discouraged and that “the confirmation of our historic victory beckons”.
Award-winning Ghanaian rapper, Sarkodie has officially joined the Sony Music Publishing UK label.
This was announced in a tweet by the distribution label.
“We are beyond excited to welcome @sarkodie to the SMP family! Great things to come,” the tweet read.
The rapper and songwriter also took to his Twitter to share the big announcement with his fans when he tweeted: “Officially part of the SMP @SonyMusicPubUK family”null
Sony Music Publishing is an American music publisher, part of the Sony Music Group owned by Sony Entertainment. The company was formed as Sony/ATV in 1995 with the merger of the original incarnation of Sony Music Publishing and ATV Music, which was owned by entertainer Michael Jackson. It is the No. 1 global music publisher & home to the world’s greatest songwriters: The Beatles, Beyonce, Calvin Harris, Ed Sheeran, Lana Del Rey, Pharrell, Queen & more.
Not too long ago, Sarkodie released a new album dubbed ‘No Pressure’ which featured among other acts, UK rapper Giggs.
• Sammy Gyamfi has said the ruling that ousted the Assin North MP from Parliament was plagiarized from Wikipedia
• He stated that the case did not go through a trial
• The NDC has since filed an appeal to overturn the ruling
Sammy Gyamfi, National Communication Officer, NDC, has indicated that the ruling of the High Court in Cape Coast which has ousted the Assin North legislator from Parliament was full of plagiarized contents from Wikipedia.
A High Court in Cape Coast on Wednesday, July 28, 2021, declared the 2020 parliamentary election held in the Assin North Constituency as null and void.
According to the trial judge Justice Boakye, the National Democratic Congress’ 2020 parliamentary candidate for the constituency, James Gyakye Quayson breached the provisions of the constitution concerning dual citizenship.null
He, then, ordered for a fresh election to be conducted in the constituency.
But speaking on Joy FM, Monday, August 2, Sammy Gyamfi stated that the trial judge determined the case in accordance with Canadian law.
“And if you look at section 1 subsection 2 of the Evidence Act of Ghana, issues of foreign law are questions of facts which the Supreme Court has said can only be determined at the trial stage through the abduction of evidence; in this case, there was no evidence before the court.
“He [the trial judge] resorted or if you like plagiarized some writings from Wikipedia and sort to determine issues of foreign law on his own as a judge with when he has no such powers under the Evidence Act in this country; he didn’t even allow the matter to go for trial, abduction of evidence or expert witness to be called so clearly, he did not determine that issue with accordance with the law,” Gyamfi explained.
He further indicated that the decision of the judge to annul the election on grounds that the NDC legislator was not qualified at the time of nomination “violates section 20(1)(d) of PNDC Law 284 which says that a High Court can only annul a parliamentary election if the candidate was not qualified as of the time of election no nomination, so, the judge got that wrong.”
Meanwhile, the NDC has filed an appeal to overturn the decision of the High Court in Cape Coast.
According to the lawyers of the ousted MP, the decision of the court was not based on settled laws and was in clear violation of the 1992 constitution.
Background
After he was declared winner in the constituency’s election, James Gyakye Quayson was dragged to court by Michael Ankomah-Nimfa, a resident of Assin Bereku in the Central Region.
Akomah-Ninfa filed a petition at the Cape Coast High Court seeking to annul the declaration of James Gyakye Quayson as the Member of Parliament for the Assin North Constituency for owing allegiance to Canada.
In November last year, a group calling itself ‘Concerned Citizens of Assin North’ petitioned the Electoral Commission in the Central Region to withdraw the candidature of Gyakye Quayson, arguing that he owes allegiance to Canada.
According to Article 94 (2) (a) of the 1992 constitution of Ghana, “A person shall not be qualified to be a member of Parliament if he or she – (a) owes allegiance to a country other than Ghana.”
The National Democratic Congress (NDC), had insisted that their MP is “a full citizen of Ghana who owes no allegiance whatsoever to any other country. He is a Ghanaian in law and, in fact, qualifies to be a Member of Parliament according to the laws of Ghana.”
Koku Anyidoho, the Chief Executive Officer of the Atta Mills Memorial Institute, has fired a subtle jab at the General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, known in the political circles as General Mosquito
Anyidoho who responds to the tag ‘Koku the bull’ suggested that Asiedu Nketia will not succeed at whatever he is plotting against him.
“As a student of literature, I have read volumes of books but never read that a solid bull was ever conquered by an intransigent mosquito,” he wrote on his Twitter timeline.
The former deputy General Secretary of the NDC is challenging the party’s claims that he has been expelled from it.
According to him, he has not received any letter to the effect hence remain a member of the party.
“I am please requesting for the ‘expulsion’ letter for my perusal to enable me advice myself on the subsequent action(s) that I need to take.
“In case that you have obliterated by phone number from your records, you can please reach me on 0208138709. Please treat this letter as very urgent sir! I remain a loyal member of the National Democratic Congress,” part of his letter read.
Koku Anyidoho was sacked from the NDC after he was found guilty of breaching aspects of the party’s disciplinary codes.
A letter from the Functional Executive Committee (FEC) of the party dated July 27, 2021, to him said, “the National Democratic Congress considered the report and recommendations of the National Disciplinary Committee on the case of misconduct and anti-party behaviour brought against you (Mr Samuel Koku Anyidoho), according to Article 48 (1) (9) (a) of the NDC Constitution.”
It added: “The FEC acting in compliance of Article 48 (1) of the NDC Constitution unanimously adopted the report and accepts full responsibility for your expulsion from the party.
“You are, therefore, by this decision of FEC expelled from the NDC and for that matter, you are no more recognised as a member of the party and cannot carry yourself as such.”
On his first day in office, Acting Inspector General of Police, Dr Akuffo Dampare, has re organized the police service through transfers and new responsibilities.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Samuel Kwasi Ofori, In-charge (i/c) of Operations, Greater Accra Region, is now the Public Affairs Director (PAD) General of the Ghana Police Service (GPS).
Superintendent Mrs Sheilla Kessie Abayie-Buckman, the PAD of the Service is now in charge of the Judicial Police in the Eastern Region.
All these take effect from August 1, 2021, according to a circular signed by Dr Dampare.
Superintendent Alexander Kwaku Obeng, in charge of MTTD, Headquarters is now the Director, PAD.
Whilst Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mrs Elizabeth Effia Tenge, incharge of Accra PAD moves to Volta Regional PAD, DSP Ms Juliana Obeng incharge of PAD CID, is now at Accra Regional PAD.
The rest are Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP)/Mr. Francis Agrippa Oppong, Dir/M & I Unit/Hqrs to Director, Pensions and ACP/Mr. Banabas Nambont Nasumong, i/c Dodowa Division to i/c IRD/Hqrs.
As ACP/Mr Isaac Asante, i/c Dansoman Div/AR moves to Director Operations/Accra Region ACP/Mr. Samuel Winful, Estate/National/Headquarters (Hqrs) moves to i/c Adenta/Division/AR.
ACP/Mr Joseph Owusu Ansah, National/Hqrs will now be to i/c Ashaiman Division/Tema Region (T/R).
It said Chief Superintendent (C/S) Mr Samuel Ammisah, i/c Ashaiman Division (Div)/TR moves to Finance/Hqrs whereas C/Supt/Dr. Baba Iddrisu, Director/ Transport (TPT) moves to Director/DTS/AR.
C/Supt/Mr Alex Kwame Safo-Adu, Deputy Chief Staff Officer is now the Chief Staff Officer as C/Supt/Mr Raymond Adofiem Director/CTU moves to Director/HROT.
C/Supt/Mr Joseph Owusu-Bempah, i/c Adenta Div. is currently the i/c Dansoman Division as C/Supt/Mr Joseph Owusu, Suhum District/ER moves to i/c Dodowa Division/TR.
DSP/Mr. Andrews Kofi Okonengye i/c Berekum/District (Dist) moves to MTTD/Nat.Hqrs.
It added that C/Supt/Mrs Priscilla Eva Bempong, Nat/Hqrs/AR is now taking to Cantonments/District/AR and C/Supt/Mrs Fanny Aboagye, i/c IRD/Hqrs to Estate Unit/Hqrs.
C/Supt/Mr Theodore Hlormanu, Nat/SWAT/Hqrs goes to i/c OPS/Kasoa/Region, C/Supt/Mr. Kwame Tawiah, SEMU/Hqrs to i/c Nat/SWAT/Hqrs, C/Supt/Mr. Jerome Wawal Kay Kanyog, R,P & ICT/Nat.Hqrs to i/c SEMU/Hqrs, Supt/Mr Al-Meyao Abass Kwarasey CO/RDR to Director/CTU/Hqrs and Supt/Mrs Grace Ansah Asamoah, Dir. DTS/AR to Deputy Chief Staff Officer/Hqrs.
“Supt/Mr Abdul-Latif A. Nbonwura, Osu/District moves to Karaga Dist/Northern Region as the i/c, Supt/Mr. Kwame Gyasi, ii/c East Legon Dist/AR to i/c Peki District/VR, Supt/Mr Anthony Arthur, i/c Finance/BER to Finance/Hqrs/AR, Supt/Mr Mohammed Issah Cantona, NPD/HQ to i/c Suhum District/ER and Supt/Mr. Charles Nyarko Baffour, Finance/HQ to i/c Finance/BER.”
Others are Supt/Mr Henri Ayisi Mensah, Transformation/HQ to i/c Oyibi District/AR, Supt/Mr John Atanga, Police Council/HQ to i/c Airport/District MTTU/AR, Supt/Mr Thomas Kwasi Obah, Cantonments District/AR to Effutu West Dist/CR, DSP/Mrs Cecilia H. Appiah-Ampofo, i/c DOVVSU/Airport/Div/AR to i/c Legon Dist/AR and DSP/Mr. Maister Klay, i/c Legon District/AR to i/c Osu District/AR.
The circular said DSP/Mr Peter Kwesi Okyere, i/c Peki/District/VR to i/c Transports/Hqrs/AR, ASP/Mr Simon Kesseh, Nat/Hqrs/AR to Police Council Secretariat. GNA
One person perished and 12 others sustained various degrees of injuries in a fatal accident at Brahabebome near Obuasi in the Ashanti Region, on Monday, August 02.
The accident involved a Tata bus and a Hyundai Grace mini bus.
Police Corporal Winfred Acheampong of the Obuasi Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) briefing the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Obuasi, said the severity of the head-on collision left the Hyundai driver perishing on the spot and his mortal remains had since been deposited at the morgue for autopsy.
Ten other passengers on board the Hyundai, as well as the two passengers in the Tata bus, who sustained injuries were sent to the Obuasi Government Hospital for treatment.
Corporal Acheampong said of the twelve injured, a pregnant woman, as well as another passenger with life-threatening injuries had been transferred to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH).
The ‘Proper Human Sexual and Ghanaian Family Values Bill’ 2021 has been finally laid in parliament.
The second deputy speaker Andrews Amoako who was presiding on Monday, August, 02, 2021 referred the bill to the Constitutional, Legal, and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament.
The Bill is a private members’ legislation sponsored by eight Members of Parliament – seven from the NDC and one from the NPP.
The bill mostly titled the anti-LGBTQ bill, proscribes people of the same sex to engage in sexual activity. People engaged in the act could be fined or jailed for between three to five years.
• Five immigration officers are under investigation for taking bribe
• Interior Minister says the accused persons would be punished if found guilty
• The Minister says the unfortunate actions of the officers puts the nation’s security in danger
Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery, has disclosed that personnel of the Ghana Immigration Service who have been found culpable of taking bribes to allow illegal entry into the country would face the full wrath of the law.
A recent expose’ by JoyNews revealed how GIS officers stationed at borders demand huge amounts of money from travelers to allow them smuggle goods into the country without a thorough search.
The Interior Minister who was furious after learning that people were using illegal means to gain entry into the country sent a strong word of caution to people in the illegal act.
Ambrose Dery said, “I want to warn all those who think they can use unapproved routes to get to this country and therefore sabotage our efforts at keeping extremisms out.”null
He added, “I can assure you that the Ghana Immigration Service is doing a good work and giving me daily information about the number of people that they arrest.”
According to Ambrose Dery, five GIS officers are under investigation and if found guilty, the said officers would be served with justice.
“There are disturbing news that some officers of GIS are trying by their unpatriotic activity and behaviour to sabotage us, let me make it clear to all officers that anyone found it that unpatriotic acts would be dealt with,” the minister said during the inauguration of GIS testing center in Accra.
He added, “I’m aware that about five officers are being sent through a disciplinary process of the service and we are going to make sure they will be dealt with.”
Ambrose Dery went ahead to say, “Let us make sure that our officers, pursuant to the allegations not to take money and allow people in. It will be expensive for us to jeopardize our security and covid-19 efforts.
The Ashanti regional branch of Bread Bakers Association have increased the prices of bread by 20%, effective Sunday, August 1, 2021.
The bakers explain the increment was prompted by the soaring prices of ingredients used for products such as flour, sugar, nut milk, margarine among others.
Announcing the 20% price increment at a news conference in Kumasi over the weekend, the Ashanti Regional Secretary for the Bread Bakers Association, Isaac Amoah, said, a loaf of bread priced at ¢5 will be sold at ¢6 and the GHc10 bread will now be sold at GHc 12.
Some traders also say fuel prices and freight charges at the port account for this increase.
“The wheat and flour are imported. The retailers take into consideration freight charges and fuel prices. It has slowed the market. Some of us want to leave this business. Our products are still at our shops, people do not purchase anymore,” a trader lamented.
Another said, “The freight charges are expensive. Some merchants say it has increased from 5000 to 15,000 cedis”.
There was an earlier plan to increase the prices of bread early this year but it was shelved due to calls for the prices to be maintained. Despite calls to increase prices, other bakery brands have refused to give in. Some Importers of raw materials for bread production have advised bakers to stick to a uniform price.
“The bakers association decided to have a meeting to agree on one price. Some bakers secretly started selling to the customers of other brands. This is pure madness,” one said.
Another added that “A bag of flour was sold at 190 cedis last week. It has been increased to 194 cedis this week. I suggest bakers should reduce the quantity of the loaves.
The President of the University Teachers Association of Ghana, (UTAG) has warned the government that unless their conditions of service are improved they will not call off their indefinite strike.
Speaking on the Morning Starr on Monday, Professor Charles Marfo said the salaries of lecturers in public universities across the country have dwindled over the years with the government failing to restore them to what they agreed with the government in 2012.
The 2012 conditions of service pegged the Basic plus Market Premium of a lecturer at $2,084.42.
According to Professor Marfo, the current arrangement has reduced its members’ basic premiums to $997.84.
He added that the entry-level salary of a lecturer is less than Ghc 2000 while a professor earns less than Ghc 5000 monthly.
He also revealed that the latest strike action was triggered by the increment of salaries for Article 71 Officeholders who were already being paid more than double what lecturers are paid.
UTAG on Monday, August 2, began an indefinite strike from today. In a communiqué on July 30, UTAG directed all its members to comply with the strike.
UTAG members on all campuses are to withdraw teaching and other activities like examinations, invigilation, marking of examination scripts and the processing of examination results
The association has been asking the government to restore the conditions of service agreed upon with the government in 2012.
Former Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Samuel Koku Anyidoho, has written to the General Secretary of the party, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, whom he served under, to furnish him with the record of indiscipline for which he has been supposedly expelled from the party.null
Mr. Anyidoho is also demanding the supposed expulsion letter to “enable me to advise myself on the subsequent action(s), that I need to take”.
The letter is apparently in reply to Mr. Asiedu Nketia’s letter of expulsion addressed to Mr. Anyidoho on Tuesday, July 27.
In his letter, NDC’s General Secretary said the former Presidential Spokesperson was found guilty of “misconduct” and “anti-party behaviour” by the Disciplinary Committee, a decision upheld by the Functional Executive Committee (FEC) of the party.
“The Functional Executive Committee (FEC) acting in compliance of Article 48(1) of the NDC Constitution unanimously adopted the report and accepts full responsibility for your expulsion from the party,” the letter said.
“You are, therefore, by the decision of FEC expelled from the National Democratic Congress, and for that matter, you are no more recognised as a member of the party and cannot carry yourself as such.”
But in his letter dated Monday, August 2, 2021, Mr. Anyidoho admits that all communications by his former boss may be referring to him though not receiving any official correspondence on all the allegations.
He insists that he has never infringed upon the constitution of the party.
“I do not have any history of indiscipline per the records of the party.”
He is, therefore, demanding information on these, particularly the ‘expulsion letter’.
“Please treat this letter as very urgent Sir,” he told General Mosquito, as Mr. Asiedu Nketia whom he challenged is popularly known.
A Police Constable (name withheld) has been found dead at her residence at Damongo in the Savannah region today, Monday 2nd August 2021.
According to a Police statement, she was found in a pool of blood with wounds believed to be knife stabs.
The body has since been deposited at West Gonja District Hospital, pending investigation. The statement said her boyfriend is highly suspected and the Police are on a manhunt for him.
It added that the Police administration has also started processes to inform the family of the deceased and assured that it will update the public on the matter.
Lawyers for embattled Member of Parliament for Assin North, James Gyakye Quayson have filed an Appeal against the Cape Coast High Court judgment that canceled the 2020 Assin North Parliamentary election that saw him being elected as MP.
According to the lawyers, the decision of the court was not based on settled laws and were in violation of the 1992 Constitution.
They are asking the Court of Appeal to overturn the decision of the Cape Coast High Court.
The writ was filed at the Court Complex in Cape Coast on Monday.
The Cape Coast High Court on Wednesday 28th July 2021, canceled the 2020 Parliamentary election held in the Assin North constituency which saw the opposition National Democratic Congress(NDC) candidate James Gyakye Quayson being elected as Member of Parliament.
The Court presided over by Justice Kwasi Boakye on Wednesday, July 28, 2021 ordered for a fresh election to be conducted in the constituency.
The court has also restrained James Gyakye Quayson from holding himself as the MP for Assin North constituency.
The petitioner, Michael Ankomah Nimfah, contended that Quayson held dual citizenship as a Ghanaian and a Canadian at the time of his election, and therefore must be restrained from performing the duties of a Member of Parliament.
Election petition
Mr Quayson polled 17,498 votes as against 14,793 by the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP’s) Ms Abena Durowaa Mensah, in the December 7, 2020 parliamentary election.
However, on December 30, 2020, a resident of Assin North, Mr Michael Ankomah-Nimfah, filed a parliamentary election petition at the Cape Coast High Court challenging the eligibility of Mr Quayson to be a Member of Parliament.
He contended that the MP was not eligible on the basis that at the time he (Quayson) filed his nomination to contest as a parliamentary candidate, he was still a citizen of Canada
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has admonished African governments to build robust financial compliance systems and ensure its strict enforcement, to protect and optimise the resources at the continent’s disposal.
He said for Africa to be able to transform herself, and become the epitome of economic empowerment and self-reliance, she needs to have the wherewithal to ensure effective resource management, and to prevent illicit outflows from the continent.
Speaking on the theme: “Financial Crime Compliance and ESG-The Future of African Investment”, at the EBII Africa Investments Risk and Compliance (IRC) Summit at the weekend, at the University of Oxford, the President referenced a recent report that put the cost of financial crime compliance across all financial institutions, globally, at an all-time high of $180.9 billion for the year 2020.
He pointed out that part of the reality in Africa was that there were huge illicit financial outflows, as captured in the 2015 Thabo Mbeki report on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa, which revealed that Africa was losing, annually, more than $50 billion through illicit financial outflows.
“Five years later, according to UNCTAD’s Economic Development in Africa Report 2020, the figure has gone up from US$50 billion to $88.6 billion each year. That is a lot of money in any currency, and it is money we ill-afford to forego. It is money that would make a significant addition to the investable funds of the continent,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo stated that persons, largely the multinational companies, who come to do business in Africa, are involved in these illicit transactions, with the complicity of some Africans.
“We must, therefore, build robust financial compliance systems, and ensure strict enforcement as a deterrent. A strong regulatory environment, whilst reducing these illicit outflows, would, in the end, lead to more private capital being attracted to the continent for genuine investment,” he added.null
The President noted the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) new initiative that would require multinationals to pay tax in countries where they have commercial, not jurisdictional, presence, was a welcome enterprise, saying, the “acid test of our friendship with countries, which are the hosts of these multinational corporations, should be the extent to which they oblige them to comply with this new initiative.”
He was pleased that the G7 Nations had accepted the OECD’s initiative, and backed the principle with a proposal for a 15% minimum tax rate for multinational groups on their revenues from the countries of operation.
“It is clearly a positive step in the right direction. We, in Africa, must be both vocal in defence of our interests, and vigorous in promoting remedial measures,” he stressed.
Whilst expressing relief that Ghana had been removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) ‘Grey List”, following the renewal of the international community’s confidence in Ghana’s Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism regime, President Akufo-Addo pointed out that many of the regulatory requirements put in place are cumbersome and expensive for small countries.
“For example, the FATF’s Recommendation 32 requires countries to take measures to prevent terrorists and criminals from using cash couriers to finance their activities, and launder their funds. Countries are required to implement a compulsory declaration system requiring everyone crossing a border and transporting currency or bearer negotiable instruments of a value exceeding a certain threshold to declare it to the authorities. To Africa’s predominantly cash-based economies, this is a daunting task.
“You might, thus, find your country falling foul of the regulations, not because you have done anything wrong, but because you do not have the means to keep up with the paperwork. It would be worthwhile for all stakeholders to agree on efficient, workable measures. And yet, there is not really an option of opting out,” he stated, reiterating “we would have to demonstrate that we can play by the rules, just as the investors should, and, thereby, safeguard the future of African investments,” if Africa is to be an integral part of the financial world.
Rev John Ntim Fordjour, Deputy Minister for Education, has stated that quality education will help deal with poverty.
The Minister, who is also the MP for Assin South, made this know during a two-day tour to some selected schools within his Constituency.
The selected schools also received some donations from the minister. The school’s include Assin Manso SHS – which happens to be Ntim Fordjour’s alma mater – Assin Amoabin DA Primary and Assin Asamankese DA JHS.
Rev Ntim Fordjour also urged the pupils and students of the schools he visited to commit themselves to improved learning outcomes and become innovative in their studies so as to be empowered above the limitations of poverty which is the bane of any underserved community.
He said the government is committed to ensuring the reading and writing proficiency of every school-going Ghanaian child by the age of ten years.
To this end, it will put in place the conducive learning environment and the necessary interventions to guarantee this outcome.null
“Children are the future of the country, and nothing should hinder them from achieving their dreams. There are, among them, those with exceptional talents and skills, gifted and talented kids and they need to be guided and mentored appropriately,” the Deputy Minister said.
Some of the items the minister presented to the schools included Exercise books, sets of crayons, Pencil packs, veronica buckets, handwashing soap and a digital piano.
On behalf of the School, The Headmaster, Mr. Seth Adjei thanked the Deputy Minister for the items and promised to put them to good use.
Present were some Traditional Rulers, the Representative of the District Director of Education, Mr. Alex Adjei, and Officials of the Ministry of Education.
Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, says government remains fully committed to achieving the fiscal deficit target of 9.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) for this year, aimed at returning to the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) thresholds, by 2024.
Provisional fiscal data for January to June 2021 from the 2021 mid-year fiscal policy review indicates an overall fiscal deficit of GH¢22.3 billion, equivalent to 5.1 of GDP, against a programmed target of GH¢22.7 billion, 5.2 percent of GDP.
“The implementation of the 2021 Budget has been successful so far. We remain fully committed to achieving the fiscal deficit target of 9.5 percent of GDP for the year in order not to derail from the objective of returning to the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) fiscal deficit and primary balance thresholds of 5 percent of GDP and positive primary balance, respectively, by 2024,” Mr. Ofori-Atta said this in Parliament while presenting the 2021 mid-year fiscal policy review of the budget statement and economic policy of the government.
According to the Minister, provisional fiscal data for the half year of 2021 shows government raised total revenue and grants of GH¢28.3 billion, equivalent to 6.5 percent of GDP, against a programmed target of GH¢32.4 billion which is equal to 7.5 percent of GDP.
Similarly, total expenditure, including the clearance of arrears, amounted to GH¢50.6 billion, equivalent to 11.7 percent of GDP, against a programmed target of GH¢55.1billion or 12.7 percent of GDP.
This means government, during the period, was able to cut its programmed expenditure by about GH¢4.5 billion, whereas revenue also fell short by GH¢4.1 billion.
The deficit for the period was financed from both foreign and domestic sources, of GH¢15.2billion and GH¢7.1billion, respectively. Foreign financing constituted 68.3 percent of the total financing, which includes inflows from Eurobond proceeds, whereas, domestic financing represents 31.7 percent of total financing.null
Nonetheless, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its staff report for the 2021 Article IV Consultation, projected a wider budget deficit of 13.9 percent of GDP in 2021, including energy and financial sector costs.
The Fund’s forecast is hinged on the fact that government’ says it will rely on tax compliance to generate more revenue, especially from the newly introduced taxes, a move, the IMF says, may not yield the expected results, given the experience of past compliance challenges and complexities.
Government projects to add revenue equivalent to 1.4 percent of GDP through the new taxes introduced in the 2021 budget. However, the IMF says this will fall short by 0.5 percentage point, to 0.9 percent for the year. Effectively, government will realise about GH¢4 billion, compared to the over GH¢6 billion it has projected to attain from the taxes.
Again, the budget statement noted that government embarked on a frontloading of it financing need. As a result, the public debt stock, as a percentage of GDP, increased from 76.1 percent at the end of December 2020 to 77.1 percent of GDP at the end of June 2021 — inclusive of the financial and energy sector bailouts.
“The increase in the debt stock was mainly because of the Eurobond issuance in April 2021, COVID-19 pandemic effect, contingent liabilities, and front-loading of financing to meet cash flow requirements for the first half of the year,” Mr. Ofori-Atta said
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has debunked claims over the genuineness of the Covid-19 test being conducted for passengers on arrival at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).
According to the GHS, such viral complaints are erroneous.
Currently, all passengers arriving in Ghana are to have in their possession a negative Covid ‑19 PCR test result in English from an accredited laboratory in their country of departure.
The tests are to be done not more than 72 hours before the scheduled departure.
In addition, passengers who arrive in the country are made to undergo another Covid-19 test on arrival before they are given the pass to enter the country.
However, some passengers who had the negative PCR test but tested positive at the KIA have raised concerns over what they say are discrepancies in the outcome of such tests.
The GHS responding to allegations by two passengers over the test conducted at the KIA said their claims are ill-informed.
It said, while one of the passengers has been discharged after three days, the other is due for a re-test.
The GHS said, “While the Ghana Health Service empathizes with persons who test positive on arrival and the attendant stresses that such an event presents to passengers, we are also concerned at the many false reportages being circulated, especially in social media. To this end, we wish to address some erroneous impressions created in the minds of some sections of the population by the false information being circulated by some arriving passengers in Ghana,” the GHS said in the statement.
According to the GHS, the testing at the airport before implementation underwent rigorous quality checks and was found to be highly sensitive.
In addition, the FDA conducts regular monitoring of the work at the airport to ensure that it is up to standard adding that the service provider at the airport also has its internal quality control checks to ensure results produced are accurate.
“In conclusion, the service would like to assure the general public of our full confidence in the FDA approved Covid-19 testing system at the Kotoka International Airport and will continue to enforce the testing at the airport,” portions of the statement further read.
KIA testing
Since the KIA was re-opened to international travel on 1st September 2020, a total of 398,803 passengers have so far been tested for Covid-19 upon arrival at the KIA as of 31st July 2021.
Out of the total 2,386 have tested positive for Covid-19, representing 0.6% of the total Antigen tests conducted at the KIA for arriving passengers.
Out of those who have tested positive, 1494 (63%) have been males and 892 (37%) have been females.
Again, 987 (41%) have been Ghanaians and 1,399 (59%) non-Ghanaians
The Fisheries Minister says until fishers at Elmina stop illegal fishing, they’ll still not be allowed to fish despite the lift of ban on fishing.
The Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister, Mavis Hawa Koomson says fishermen in Elmina of the Central Region will continue to observe the closed season despite the reopening of the sea for artisanal and inshore fleets.
In an interview with JoyNews after the reopening ceremony at Sekondi Fishing Habour on Saturday, Madam Koomson explained that the decision is to serve as punishment for the fishermen to stop illegal fishing activities.
The Minister further stated that since the fishers refused to accept her campaign against illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing activities when she visited on Tuesday, June 27, it is important her outfit keeps them in check for some time.
“After my presentation on Tuesday, they said I said, they should stop the Saiko and light fishing which they were not happy with and so I should reverse that statement and I said no. I wasn’t ready and so they said if I am not going to reverse, I should take back the items I brought for them and I did”.
“Now they are begging, they have come to apologize, I am told they had a press conference, one of the chief fishermen is here to apologize but we still have to punish them for that I will not hide it,” she added.
She noted that the fishers will be refused premix fuel and other logistics they need from the government for their fishing expedition for some time until they are willing to comply with the directive of legal fishing.
National Best Fisherman 2019, Joseph Hemans Asmah who represented the fishing community in Elmina appealed to the sector minister to temper justice with mercy.
He explained to JoyNews that those involved are not fishermen but people he described as ‘guru boys.’
“The fishermen were sitting down patiently waiting to hear from the minister but the guru boys they did that so I have to be here and apologize.
“If the woman says she won’t give us premix where will we get premix? If the woman says she won’t give us outboard motors at control price where will we get some to buy? Whenever we are in need and we go and she closes her door to us those who did it, won’t feel it,” he said.
Samuel Takyi has won his Olympic quarter-final to guarantee himself a medal at Tokyo 2020, a first Olympic medal for a Ghanaian athlete in 29 years.
Takyi beat Colombia’s 32-year-old southpaw DavidCeiber Avila, a far more experienced fighter, in the quarter-final, taking two of three rounds to send the Ghanaian contingent in the stands wild.
Similar celebrations were happening across Ghana on a historic day in the ring, and they may get louder as Takyi moves on to the semi final where he’ll face the USA’s Ragan Duke.
Duke eliminated Irish boxer Kurt Walker in his quarter-final bout.
The 20-year-old has caused a sensation by making the podium after his selection for the boxing team in Tokyo initially caused eyebrows to raise.
Now it’s hands in the air as “The Golden Ring Warrior” has brought it home, the first Olympic medal since the football team won bronze at Barcelona 1992.
And the first boxing medal since middleweight Prince Amartey who took the bronze in Munch 1972.
Takyi joins Ghanaian Olympic greats Clement Quartey, a light welterweight who won silver in Rome 1960, Eddie Blay a bronze light welterweight medallist from Tokyo 1964 and Prince Amartey who made history in Munch 1972.
Now it’s Takyi’s time.
Samuel Takyi’s path to the podium
He didn’t even like boxing when he was younger, football was his thing, but when he slipped on the gloves for the first time it was game over for football and boxing was suddenly all that mattered.
Honing his skills at the Discipline Boxing Academy in Accra, Takyi quickly proved he has what it takes at international level.
He defeated the top-seeded featherweight Mohamed Hamout of Morocco at the the 2020 African Olympic boxing qualifiers in Dakar, Senegal.
And also bounced back from defeat in the semi-finals to Everisto Mulenga by beating Isaac Masembe of Uganda to finish in third place in the qualification tournament, punching that ticket to Tokyo.
In the preliminary round of 32 the young boxer received a bye.
In his round of 16 bout Takyi outclassed Ecuador’s Jean Carlos Caicedo, a unanimous decision taking him to the quarter-finals.
Takyi turns the tables in quarter final battle
His biggest challenge came in the quarter-finals against Ceiber Avila, the Colombian was eliminated at Rio 2016 before the medal rounds and was all out to make it count in what is likely his last Olympic Games.
Ceiber came out swinging, the much smaller fighter, he stayed in close and tried to negate Takyi’s height and reach advantage, smashing Takyi with body shots and surprising Ghana’s great hope with his work rate.
It was tenacious stuff from the Colombian whose punches-per-minute rate was off the charts, and the Colombian won the first round unanimously.
Takyi had to respond and stop the swarm, doing much better in the second round, upping the intensity, moving out of range of Ceiber’s wild swings and inside body work.
The Ghanaian took round two by 3-2 to leave himself a chance, 1-1 going into Round 3.
But it looked like it was going the veteran’s way as he tied up Takyi in the final round, spoiling and dragging and running down the clock.
But Ghana’s man has a maturity beyond his years, finished really strong, Ceiber Avila hanging on, trying to run down the clock, the young star grew, exploding into the final minute to land the punches that mattered.
He convinced three of five judges and that was all he needed.
The Ghanaian’s star is on the rise, and now he’ll have more than 30 million people in his corner him as he fights for a shot at Ghana’s first ever gold medal on Tuesday.
When is Samuel Takyi fighting?
Samuel Takyi vs. Duke Ragan Tuesday 3 August 11:30am JST
Ghana’s gold-medal threat Samuel Takyi will fight the USA’s Duke Ragan on Tuesday 3 August 11:30 JST.
The Vice-president, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has called for the strengthening of unity and promotion of cooperation between the nation’s two leading religious groups, Muslims and Christians to ensure a more impactful development in the country for citizens.
Speaking at the opening of the first National Muslims Conference in Accra on Friday, July 30, 2021, Dr Bawumia welcomed the development-based vision of the Muslims Conference, adding that faith-based groups, particularly Muslims and Christians, have contributed immensely to aiding government’s development efforts.
The Annual Muslims Conference, which is organised under the auspices of the National Chief Imam and the Muslim Caucus of Parliament, seeks to bring together the various Islamic sects, as well as Muslim groups, to tackle development issues affecting Muslims in Ghana and the nation as a whole, such as education, finance and healthcare.
Whiles commending Muslim stakeholders for coming together to establish the Conference, he urged them to stay united, and also forge hands with their Christian brothers and sisters for more impactful development.
“Mr. Chairman, I am proud to say that as an immutable religious community in the country, Muslims, just like Christians, have been involved in nation-building,” Dr. Bawumia said.
“It is my expectation that with a concerted inter-faith effort, and in partnership with various stakeholders, especially our brothers from the Christian religious divide, the Ghana Muslims Conference will chart a path which will make meaningful contributions towards the development of our country.”
A CALL FOR STRENGTHENING OF INTER-FAITH TOLERANCE
Dr. Bawumia told his fellow Muslims that despite the peace and tolerance between Muslims and Christians in the country, there is the need to guard against endangering it, by eschewing acts which divide, and embracing acts which unite the two groups for greater peace and development for the citizenry.
“Mr. Chairman, Ghana is one of the luckiest countries in the world, where we can say we are a model of religious tolerance in the world. Muslims and Christians have been living together in peace,” Dr Bawumia said.
“However, despite the very good relationship that exists between Muslims and non-Muslims in Ghana, there is the need to deepen the peaceful co-existence among the diverse religious faithful in the country.”
“Relationships that engender peace must be grown from strength to strength; for any lapse in such relationships can be exploited by belligerent individuals and groups to destroy the hard-won cordial relationships established through decades of efforts towards peaceful co-existence among various religions in the country.”
EDUCATION
The inaugural theme of the Conference focused on the promotion of education, and Dr. Bawumia commended organisers for prioritising education, which he said remains the surest route to alleviating poverty.
The Vice President said the Free SHS policy was implemented by the Akufo-Addo government was implemented to ensure that every Ghanaian child, especially those from excluded communities, get free access to education to at least the secondary level.
He also listed a number of educational interventions and infrastructure projects the Akufo-Addo government has provided in Zongo communities which included construction of classroom blocks, roads, bridges, water systems, health facilities, and the award of scholarships to 40 students to study medicine in Cuba.
The Conference, which will end on Sunday, August 2, was also graced by some members of the Diplomatic Corp
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stated that for Africa to be able to transform herself, and become the epitome of economic empowerment and self-reliance, she needs to have the wherewithal to be able to protect and optimise the resources at her disposal.
To this end, President Akufo-Addo, speaking at the EBII Africa Investments Risk and Compliance (IRC) Summit, on Friday, 30th July 2021, at the University of Oxford, has admonished African governments to build robust financial compliance systems, and ensure strict enforcement of these systems.
Speaking on the theme “Financial Crime Compliance and ESG – The Future of African Investment”, the President stated a recent report has put the cost of financial crime compliance across all financial institutions, globally, at an all-time high of $180.9 billion for the year 2020.
Part of the reality in Africa, according to President Akufo-Addo, is that there are huge illicit financial outflows, as captured in the 2015 Thabo Mbeki report on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa, which revealed that Africa was losing, annually, more than $50 billion through illicit financial outflows.
“Five years later, according to UNCTAD’s Economic Development in Africa Report 2020, the figure has gone up from US$50 billion to $88.6 billion each year. That is a lot of money in any currency, and it is money we ill-afford to forego. It is money that would make a significant addition to the investable funds of the continent,” he said.
Persons, largely the multinational companies, who come to do business in Africa, the President said, are, undoubtedly, involved in these illicit transactions, with the complicity of some Africans.
“We must, therefore, build robust financial compliance systems, and ensure strict enforcement as a deterrent. A strong regulatory environment, whilst reducing these illicit outflows, would, in the end, lead to more private capital being attracted to the continent for genuine investment,” he added.
Welcoming the OECD’s new initiative that would require multinationals to pay tax in countries where they have commercial, not jurisdictional, presence, President Akufo-Addo stated that the “acid test of our friendship with countries, which are the hosts of these multinational corporations, should be the extent to which they oblige them to comply with this new initiative.”
He was, thus, glad to note that this principle has been publicly accepted by the G7 Nations, at their recent conference, with a proposal for a fifteen percent (15%) minimum tax rate for multinational groups on their revenues from the countries of operation.
“It is clearly a positive step in the right direction. We, in Africa, must be both vocal in defence of our interests, and vigorous in promoting remedial measures,” he stressed.
Whilst expressing relief that Ghana had been removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) ‘Grey List”, following the renewal of the international community’s confidence in Ghana’s Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regime, President Akufo-Addo pointed out that many of the regulatory requirements put in place are cumbersome and expensive for small countries.
“For example, the FATF’s Recommendation thirty-two (32) requires countries to take measures to prevent terrorists and criminals from using cash couriers to finance their activities, and launder their funds. Countries are required to implement a compulsory declaration system requiring everyone crossing a border and transporting currency or bearer negotiable instruments of a value exceeding a certain threshold to declare it to the authorities. To Africa’s predominantly cash-based economies, this is a daunting task,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo continued, “You might, thus, find your country falling foul of the regulations, not because you have done anything wrong, but because you do not have the means to keep up with the paperwork. It would be worthwhile for all stakeholders to agree on efficient, workable measures. And yet, there is not really an option of opting out.”
If Africa is to be an integral part of the financial world, the President reiterated that “we would have to demonstrate that we can play by the rules, just as the investors should, and, thereby, safeguard the future of African investments
The young boy eating fufu as his Our-Day meal in the viral photo has been found after a well-meaning Ghanaian promised to sponsor his education.
Oswald’s our day letter drew a lot of attention nationwide, along with wholesome conversations about children in deprived areas. A trending photo of a young boy having fufu as his Our-Day meal in a rural school emerged from these conversations. After the picture went viral, a good samaritan offered to sponsor the boy’s education until college if he can be found.
“A friend is looking for the boy in the picture, he wants to sponsor him till college!! Please help me find him. Share!!!!!”
Once again, the power of social media was put to the test, and it prevailed. The young boy has been found!. According to the Facebooker who found the boy, Daniel is a pupil of Nkwantappng DA school in the Ashanti region. “Found him. He is in the Ashanti region, making arrangements to go see him. His mother is mentally deranged, and his father is deceased. His elder brother dropped out of school at class 5, he has joined galamsey. So he can support his other siblings. This life.”
Some Ghanaians opined that the support towards Oswald’s our day celebrations could have gone a long way to help children in rural and deprived areas. Others also felt the corporate organisations are ‘pro-poor and support the less privileged through their CSR activities.
• President Akufo-Addo has touted the success of the Free SHS policy
• He says the policy has granted more people access to education
• He said that government is considering making tertiary education free
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has dropped hints of a replication of the Free Senior High School policy at the tertiary education level.
According to the president, the prospect of making tertiary free has been mooted at top level and discussions are ongoing to achieve same.
Speaking at the Global Education Summit held in London on Thursday, July 29, President Akufo-Addo expressed confidence that making tertiary education free would grant more people access to education just like the Free SHS program.
“For now, what has been put in place is a system where students at the tertiary level are provided loans while in school to help them cater for their needs, but we’re considering free Tertiary education too,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo noted that the Free SHS policy has driven up Ghana’s budget for the education sector and that there are plans to invest more in the initiative.
He stated that Free SHS has been a success and handed education opportunities to Ghanaians who would have been left out due to lack of finance.
“It’s one of the highest on the continent, and we intend to ramp it up even more,” the President stated.
Adding that “the policy has reversed decades of exclusion, which denied, on the average, one hundred thousand young men and women, annually, entry to senior high school education because of the poverty of their parents.
Outgoing Inspector General of Police James Oppong-Boanuh has underscored the role played by the Ghana Police Service in the maintenance of peace and security under his tenure.
He said in the midst of resource constraints, the Service has supported Ghana to attain global recognition.
He made this known in his remarks during a Pull-Out Ceremony held in his honour at the National Police Training School on Friday, July 30.
“I am bowing out today with pride and a strong conviction that this Service is blessed with a number of committed officers who are going to support the incoming IGP to successfully continue from where I left,” he stated.
“It is important to underline that the role of the security agencies, which is internally led by the police service, cannot be overemphasized.”
He is of the firm belief that “we can do more to become one of the most peaceful countries in the world, with the rest of leadership and supply of resources to the service”.
He called for support for his successor, George Akuffo Dampare, who takes over from him with effect from Sunday, August 1.
“It is in this vein, that I want to encourage all personnel of the service and the good people of this country to give the necessary support to the incoming IGP and his administration to discharge the core mandate of the police service in maintaining law and order
• Bulldog intends to fully support his daughter career even if she chooses the path of prostitution
• The artiste manager said he won’t hesitate to guide his daughter through
prostitution if she declares interest in it
• Bulldog is noted for passing controversial comments
Controversial artiste manager and entertainment critic, Bulldog has disclosed that he will support his children’s choice of career whether immoral or socially acceptable.
According to Bulldog, he will lend his full support to his 13-year-old daughter if she chooses to venture into prostitution and his son if he also intends to be an armed robber.null
“If my daughter wants to be a prostitute, that’s her choice and I’ll guide her through it. I’ll support her 300%. If my son also wants to be an armed robber, I’ll support him also. I’ll give him the best ideas to be a better thief.” He stated in an interview with Delay.
When asked why he’ll permit his children to venture into such dangerous lifestyles, Bulldog stated;
“Being a thief is an attitude that can be likened to the lifestyle of politicians in Ghana. Most of them are thieves so there’s nothing wrong if my children wants to do same.”
It can be recalled that Bulldog on the same platform stated that his wife is going through hell putting up with his ‘wild’ and ‘notorious’ character.
The outspoken artiste manager asides from his controversial statements is also noted for having a tendency to assault people.
Bulldog sometime in June 2020 revealed in an interview with Nana Aba Anamoah that he has lots of assault cases filed against him.
• Sam Nartey George says the anti-LGBTQ Bill will not criminalise homosexuality
• He said it is to expand legislation on homosexuality
• The Bill is championed by some eight MPs
Sam Nartey George, has debunked suggestions that the proposed anti-LGBTQ+ Bill being championed by some eight MPs is seeking to criminalise homosexuality in Ghana.
He explained on Newsfile, Saturday, July 31, monitored by GhanaWeb that, the bill will rather expand the legislation on homosexuality.
He further noted that the bill is not a new law because the Criminal Offenses Act, section 104 Act 29, is clear on unnatural carnal knowledge, thus criminalising homosexuality, but the bill is to respond to the rapid advocacy of homosexuality.
“When I get calls from international media houses, even local media houses who says you are seeking to criminalise homosexuality, I say to them no, I’m seeking to expand existing legislation on homosexuality,” Samuel Nartey George said.
He argues, “the script of the law makes you realise that in 1960, the intent of that law was to criminalise homosexuality. Gayism was the main thing at the time so you see that the wording of them was actually focused on gayism aspect of homosexuality” adding the bill is to specifically “tighten and strengthen the legal framework.”
The Ningo-Prampram MP further noted the police have in the past arrested some persons they allegedly accused of being involved in the act, but “they are unable, based on section 104, to carry out proper prosecution because section 104 is no longer fit for the purpose, given the scope.”
“Again, you also have our cultural values that need to be protected and most importantly is the growing boldness of advocacy for something that is illegal,” he said.
Sam George noted a recent research conducted has revealed that homosexuals are now advocating in Senior High Schools, with some heads of schools raising concerns about the act.
“They are setting up recruitment drives in our Secondary Schools; they have pimps in the secondary schools who they pay monies to [recruit the students].”
He said, it is unfortunate and this activity is a threat to the nation as it is “now becoming a commercial enterprise.”
Dubbed “The Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021”, the private members’ bill being championed by some eight MPs seeks to ensure up to a 10-year jail term for LGBTQ+ people.
The draft bill has faced much opposition from groups and individuals who advocate for the rights of LGBTQ+ people.
The draft bill, widely circulated on social media, has yet to be officially laid before the Parliament of Ghana.
A private member’s bill is foreign to the constitution of Ghana and the conventions of the Ghanaian Parliament.
The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), has declared an indefinite nationwide strike starting in August.
“We write on behalf of the National Executive Committee of UTAG to inform and/or remind you of the intended strike of UTAG. By this notice, all campuses are to withdraw all teaching and related activities – teaching, examination, invigilation, marking of examination scripts, processing of examination results, etc., from Monday, 2 August 2021 until further notice. We encourage all members on our various campuses to comply with this directive”, the letter signed by Prof Charles Marfo, National President and Dr Eric K.K. Abavare, National Secretary, said.
A few weeks ago, UTAG’s NEC notified the National Labour Commission (NLC) of its intention to strike.
The industrial action, according to UTAG, is against the “government on the grounds of its failure to address the worsening conditions of UTAG’s members within an agreed period”.
A statement co-signed by the same national executives dated 15 July 2021, indicated: “Specifically, negotiation of our conditions of service, which was started some two years ago and was early this year scheduled to end by the end of this month, July 2021, has overly been delayed with no end in sight,” adding: “In our last meeting with government, UTAG strongly indicated to the government that if by the agreed date of the end of negotiations – i.e. 31 July 2021 – no agreement is reached, the association would have no option but to resort to indefinite strike”.
UTAG has, therefore, decided “to withdraw teaching, one of its main duties, from 2 August 2021 if no agreement is reached by 31 July 2021”.
Meanwhile, the Senior Staff Association of Universities of Ghana has also declared a strike effective the same day – 2 August 2021 – in connection with the failure by the government resolve issues concerning their conditions of service.
The association also accused the government of “contemptuous and total disregard to the National Labour Commission’s (NLC) directives on January 28, 2021, upon hearing from both parties to resolve all our concerns within a three-month stipulated period, which also regrettably elapsed on March 31, 2021, repugnantly.”
It sad “all members of the Senior Staff Associations across all the 16 public universities in Ghana (SSA-UOG and FUSSAG) are required to lay down their tools until further notice.”
A few days ago, the association – which declared a strike on 18 May 2021, to compel the government to pay its members’ tier 2 pension contributions and also demanded the award of market premium and non-basic allowance, as well as the finalisation of negotiations of the members’ conditions of service – but later froze it upon the intervention of the National Labour Commission and the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC), threatened a worse form of its earlier industrial action if the government did not fulfil the promises it made which prompted the group to suspend the strike on 11 June.
An earlier statement signed by Mr Zakaria Mohammed, National Chairman, said, at the 12th National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held at the University of Cape Coast on 9 and 10 July 2021 respectively, the Senior Staff Association – Universities of Ghana (SSA-UoG) discussed and resolved the following:
1. The inability of Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) to communicate feedback on our counter proposal to government by Wednesday, 7 July 2021 as promised;
The SSA-UoG suspended its strike action on 11 June 2021 on the promise of commitment by the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission with Vice-Chancellors Ghana (VCG) as guarantors to completely resolve and conclude all outstanding issues on the negotiation table from 30 June to 19 July 2021.
Since the last negotiation meeting on 30 June 2021 on our counter-proposal to the government, the FWSC was to secure the needed mandate and communicate feedback to SSA-UoG.
This has since remained a mirage and it is creating agitations, fear and panic among our rank and file because there have been similar illusive promises in the past that never saw the light of day.
2. Computation of interest on Tier 2 and roadmap for payment;
The government requested SSA-UoG to submit names of its technical team to work hand in hand with the government technical team on the computation of interest on the outstanding Tier 2 Pension Contributions Arrears paid by Government. As requested by the government, SSA-UoG have since submitted names of its technical team to the government on 30 June 2021 which has since not been acknowledged.
It is our fervent belief that government has acted in bad faith.
3. Interestingly enough, the National Labour Commission (NLC) in all the above infractions being perpetrated against SSA-UoG and its loud silence on their part as a statutory body is not only worrying but also very shocking, as it is seen as an arbiter grounded in law. 4. The National Executive Council of SSA-UoG have resolved to resume full strike in the unlikely event that the government fails to meet the deadline as promised and agreed upon by all parties.
We, therefore, direct all the 14 public universities of SSA-UoG to keep themselves in readiness for a full-blown strike as resolved by NEC
Former President John Dramani Mahama has said his attention has been drawn to a number of fake Facebook accounts in the name of his daughter, Farida Mahama, and which have been posting materials in her name.
A statement he issued said “We want to inform the general public especially the Facebook Community and media houses that Ms. Farida Dramani Mahama does not have a Facebook account, neither has she or her parents sanctioned the creation of a Facebook Group in her name.
“While steps have been taken to officially notify Facebook of the fake accounts in her name, the public is hereby advised to kindly disregard all pages and groups posting and making comments under posts as Farida Mahama.
“An Instagram page set up by the same scammers in the name of Farida, @farida_mahama_ is also fake. The general public is kindly advised to desist from any engagements with the said account believing that it is Farida Dramani Mahama
Former Youth Organizer and current National Organizer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Sammi Awuku, has been appointed as the new Director-General of the National Lottery Authority (NLA).
His appointment has been approved by the Council of State in line with the law governing the appointment of the NLA organizational head.
Until his new appointment, Mr. Awuku also served as Board Chairman of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA), a specialized government agency charged with the mandate of coordinating and facilitating employment opportunities for young people in Ghana.
Sammi Awuku is expected to resign from his current position as the National Organizer of the NPP.
Awuku takes over from the former Director-General, Kofi Osei Ameyaw, who was directed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on the 10th of March 2021, in a letter signed by the Secretary to the President, Nana Bediatuo Asante, to hand over to the Finance Director, Ernest Mortey, after his one-year contract elapsed in February.
The NLA, where Sammi Awuku will be serving, is a public service institution designed to provide an enviable corporate platform that encourages creativity, innovation, and best management practices
Ghana’s Vice-president, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has said African economies need digital currencies backed by central banks in order to give credibility to transactions.
Addressing participants at the opening of the International Trade and Finance Conference (GITFiC 2021) in Accra on Tuesday, Dr Bawumia said, with the advent of digitisation, digital currencies springing up on the African continent is imminent, but he was quick to warn that what African economies need central bank-backed digital currencies, not cryptocurrency.
Responding to a question on the readiness of the continent for an African digital currency, especially with the presence of the AFCFTA, Dr Bawumia stressed on the imminent adoption of digital currencies, but added that such moves should be backed by African Central banks, just as the Bank of Ghana has initiated a pilot digital currency.
“Digitisation and the advent of digital currencies is something that is definitely coming”.
“We are facing it and I am very, very happy that the central bank of Ghana is beginning a pilot digital currency and I think it will ultimately be the way to go for Africa”.
“That we will adopt, or we should end up trying to adopt a digital currency,” Dr Bawumia said.
“But I think that a digital currency that is backed by the central banks that give a lot of credibility to transactions and I think this is where we should be headed and the Bank of Ghana is leading the way”.
“I expect other central banks to come forward with this in the future. It is the way to go.”
The conference was attended both physically and virtually by senior officials of African central banks, the African Union, West African Monetary Institute members of the Diplomatic Corps, and other key stakeholders in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)
General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress(NDC) Johnson Asiedu Nketiah says they will stop at nothing to ensure the verdict of the Cape Coast High court in relation to the dual citizenship case of the Assin North MP is overturned.
“We know that the EC, Government and Judiciary can collude to disfavour our interest in this saga but we’ll fight hard in court because that is our only option. I won’t be surprised if the EC may swerve us and go ahead with a by-election even when we’re in court but we will stay the course in our legal battle,” he told host Bonohene Baffuor Awuah on Ghana Kasa Thursday.
According to him, there were machinations within the judicial system that ended up with the “miscarriage of justice” in the Assin North legal challenge but they remain unfazed and will fight it.
Stay of Execution
The main opposition NDC has said it will apply for Stay of Execution in the Cape Coast High Court judgment that nullifies the election of the Assin North MP James Gyakye Quayson.
According to the National Communications Officer of the party Sammy Gyamfi, although the party is ready for a by-election, they will insist on justice to be served in the matter.
“Let me put on record that the NDC is not afraid of any by-election. We are confident of victory in any by-Election if we get to that stage. All we want is for justice to be done. And we will stop at nothing to ensure that justice is done.
“Our lawyers will apply for a Stay of Execution of the orders of the trial judge and Appeal the flawed judgment ASAP. This travesty of justice will not be allowed to stand.
“The NDC is also determined to formally petition the Judicial Service for disciplinary action to be taken against the Registrar and other Judicial Officers of the Cape Coast High Court who engaged in those shameful gymnastics earlier this morning. Such partisan and unscrupulous persons are not fit to serve in that respectable independent arm of government,” Mr Gyamfi wrote in a statement after the judgment.
The Cape Coast High Court has cancelled the 2020 Parliamentary election held in the Assin North constituency which saw the opposition National Democratic Congress(NDC) candidate Joe Gyakye Quayson being elected as Member of Parliament.
The Court presided over by Justice Kwasi Boakye on Wednesday, July 28, 2021 ordered for a fresh election to be conducted in the constituency.
The court has also restrained James Gyakye Quayson from holding himself as the MP for Assin North constituency.
The petitioner, Michael Ankomah Nimfah, went to court claiming that Quayson held dual citizenship as a Ghanaian and a Canadian at the time of his election, and therefore must be restrained from performing the duties of a Member of Parliament
Fishermen in Elmina in the Komenda Edina Eguafo Abrem District in the Central Region have apologized for rejecting some food items provided by the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Mavis Hawa Koomson.
In an interview with Kasapa News, the Elmina Best Fisherman John Badu condemned the hostility from his colleague fishermen against the Minister and apologized to her.
“This is unfortunate and we are really sorry for what happened. It’s a poor spectacle and I condemn unequivocally the behaviour of the fishermen. She’s our mother and I plead with her to forgive us.”
The angry fishermen jeered and booed at the Minister and her entourage who had packed bags of rice and gallons of cooking oil ready for distribution to them.
They chanted war songs indicating their protest. “Yenngye oooo yenngye oooooo,” meaning, “we will not accept them, we will not collect them.
The Minister’s entourage had no option other than to pack the items back into a waiting pick-up truck.
Not even the intervention of the Omanhene of the Edina Traditional Area, Nana Kodwo Conduah, could change the minds of the fishermen.
The Fishermen contended that Madam Koomson abandoned them when the season was closed for a month and did not see the need for the supposed kind gesture from the Minister after they had endured the season which is almost over
Following the outpour of love to the young 9-year-old Oswald, who wrote a moving letter to his mother towards his “Our Day” in school today, Friday, July 30, 2021, the National Democratic Congress has also made an interesting offer to the boy.
George Opare Addo, the National Youth Organiser of the party, has offered to give the young boy a party card to join them.
He explained that the party believes the boy is a bright child and should be groomed to be a better economist than Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
“Oswald is such a bright boy. No doubt he will be a great addition to the social democracy tradition. His party card is ready, @NDCYouthWing is willing to pay his dues till he turns 18. With focus and time, he will not disappoint in managing our currency and be a better economist than @MBawumia,” he wrote.null
Some 5,397 active COVID-19 cases are currently being battled by Ghana’s authorities.
The death toll has also shot up to 831.
Also, 394 fresh cases have been confirmed.
Since mid-March 2020, a total of 103,789 people have had the virus in Ghana.
Out of that number, 97,561 have recovered.
President Nana Akufo-Addo recently said the upsurge in COVID-19 cases clearly shows that Ghana is experiencing a third wave, which he put down to the relaxing of adherence to the safety protocols.
“As per data available from the Ghana Health Service, it appears that, unfortunately, our nation is experiencing a third wave of COVID-19 infections”, the president said in his 26th national address on COVID-19 on Sunday, 25 July 2021.
“These increased infections have largely been driven by the Delta Variant of the virus, which, according to the World Health Organisation, has increased transmissibility rates, and, in our case in Ghana, has led, in recent weeks, to a rise in hospitalisation and ICU bed uptakes, and, tragically, deaths”, he noted.
Indeed, he said, in Update No.25, “the last update I rendered, our total active case count stood at one thousand, three hundred and fourteen (1,314), with our daily infection rate standing at one hundred (100). One million, one hundred and twenty-one thousand, one hundred and sixty-eight (1,121,168) COVID tests had been conducted, out of which ninety-two thousand, four hundred and sixty (92,460) persons had been infected, ninety-one thousand, one hundred and forty-six (91,146) persons had recovered, with a total of seven hundred and eighty-three (783) deaths”.
As of Wednesday, 21st July 2021, however, “ten (10) weeks later, the Ghana Health Services is now reporting that our total number of active cases stands at four thousand and ninety-four (4,094). A total of one million, three hundred and ninety-four thousand, five hundred and forty (1,394,540) tests have been conducted, out of which one hundred and one thousand, one hundred and seventy (101,170) persons have been infected with the virus, and ninety-six thousand, two hundred and fifty-five (96,255) persons have recovered”.
“Sadly”, he bemoaned, close to 40 more people have died from COVID over the last 10 weeks, with Greater Accra and Greater Kumasi Metropolitan areas remaining the hotspots of infections. “This entire development is very alarming, especially as we are being told by officials of the Ghana Health Service, that the recovery rate is on the decline”.
“Fellow Ghanaians, it is obvious from the data that we have let our guard down, with many going about their daily duties in clear breach and disregard for the protocols”.
“At a time when the economy is on the rebound, and business activities picking up, we must do everything possible to contain this outbreak”, he urged, adding: “We cannot afford to return to the days of partial lockdowns, which brought considerable hardships and difficulties for all of us”.
The president announced a ban on all post-funeral receptions and said one-week funeral anniversaries should be “restricted solely to family members, and should not exceed a duration of two hours”.
He also directed that all funerals should not go beyond two hours.
The 26th COVID-19 address came 24 hours after the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) warned that fully-vaccinated persons are testing positive for the fast-spreading Delta variant with very high viral loads.
NMIMR observed, “with concern”, some characteristics of the new Delta variant of SARS-Cov-2 detected at the institute’s testing centre since April 2021.
In a statement issued on Saturday, 24 July 2021, the Institute said the “positive cases have very high viral loads indicated by low cut-off thresholds (CT values) obtained in the real-time RT-PCR assay”.
The CT values for the majority are between 15 and 20 compared to higher values above 30, seen previously, NMIMR noted.
The Institute also said it has observed that “the positive individuals are taking longer to clear the virus”, explaining: “This is evident in the number of retests that still test positive”. NMIMR also revealed that its recent sequencing of SARS-Cov-2 has revealed an “increased circulation of the Delta variant in Ghanaian communities compared to the earlier Alpha variants”.
“The higher viral loads observed in recent cases are attributable to the Delta variant”, the statement said.
Transmission of SARS-Cov-2 is directly linked to how much virus is shed in droplets during sneezing and coughing, which also determines the spread through talking, singing and other related activities.
The Delta variant has been reported to spread faster than the other variants and our testing observations confirm that. The statement said some clinical specimen submitted to the Institute have tested positive with high viral loads.
“Also, 7.34 per cent (840/6,538) of the positive cases recorded from asymptomatic persons who visit the walk-in centre to test for travel, work- or school-related purposes from 1 June to 22 July 2021, have equally high viral load”, NMIMR noted.
Noguchi warned: “With a population of more than 80 per cent unvaccinated, the country must be concerned that if these, apparently healthy carriers, transmit the virus to the unvaccinated, we may have a more serious outbreak to deal with as a nation”.
Some of these positive cases, it noted, “have taken the full dose of COVID-19 vaccines”. “It is, therefore, recommended that the government take a second look at the state of adherence to COVID-19 preventive protocols and appropriate restrictions”.
A few days ago, President Nana Akufo-Addo said the rising number of active COVID-19 cases shows that “we’ve let our guard down”.
Addressing Muslims at the Eid-ul-Adha celebration at the National Central Mosque at Kanda, Accra, President Akufo-Addo said: “The COVID-19 pandemic is still with us – unfortunately”.
“This means that for the second year running, we are having to hold a subdued Eid celebration”, he observed. “As we continue to count on the grace of God to protect our country from the ravages of the pandemic like he has since its outbreak, we can only minimise its health effects and avoid a full-blown third wave if we continue to be responsible and observe the safety and hygiene protocols.”
He noted: “The recent increase in the number of infections is a source of worry for me and, indeed, for all Ghanaians”.
“From the rising numbers, it is safe to conclude that we have let our guard down and are beginning to live our lives and conduct our businesses as though we are in normal times”.
“It is important to repeat that the virus is still with us and until each one of us receives a dose of the vaccine, the protocols must continue to be a part and parcel of our daily activities,” he added
The Majority in parliament has described as irresponsible and disappointing, the reaction by the Minority caucus and the National Democratic Congress, to the Cape Coast High Court’s nullification of the Assin North parliamentary poll, which, consequently, ousts opposition MP Gyekye Quayson, from the chamber and paves the way for a by-election.
The Minority and the NDC, have both suggested in various comments after the court’s decision, that the judiciary was being used to whittle down the numbers of opposition MPs in parliament.
Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu, in the course of the discussions, also said such eventualities would pose a threat to the cooperation between the two sides.
Deputy Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, however, told the parliamentary press corps in an interview on Friday, 30 July 2021 that “the least we expect of them [Minority] is to be a bit responsible”.
He said: “I was surprised to hear Mr Haruna Iddrisu make a statement to the effect that cooperation will suffer”.
“What is the meaning of cooperation will suffer? That you’ll frustrate government business? That you’ll become an obstructionist because you’ve lost a case in court? That you’ll undermine the business of government in parliament?” the Effutu MP wondered.
He said: “I think that such words should not be coming from the minority that ‘cooperation will suffer’”, quizzing: “So, you go to court and lose, you come and obstruct government business?”
“The people of Ghana must know, therefore, that the agenda of the NDC is to make them suffer by frustrating government business”, Mr Afenyo-Marking argued.
He said the majority caucus in parliament, “takes this opportunity to express its disappointment in the affairs of the NDC minority in respect of the high court ruling in the matter of Assin North constituency”.
“We are disappointed because we expect the NDC minority, no matter how desperate they are for power, to wake up to the reality of the rule of law which is part of the governance of this country. For the avoidance of doubt, I may want to read article 125(1) and (3): ‘Justice emanates from the people and shall be administered in the name of the republic by the judiciary, which shall be independent and subject only to this Constitution’. (3): ‘The judicial power of Ghana shall be vested in the judiciary. Accordingly, neither the president nor parliament nor any organ or agency of the president or parliament shall have or be given the final judicial power’” he quoted.
In his view, the NDC minority has “gained notoriety for always coming out to scandalise the judiciary any time a ruling or judgment does not go in their favour”.
The lawmaker recalled that when the NDC took a similar action against an NPP MP in the past, the Danquah-Busia-Dombo party did not cry wolf as the current opposition is doing.
“There’s precedence in the matter that just occurred at the Cape Coast High Court. In that precedence, Hon. Adamu Sakande, who was the MP for Bawku Central, was asked whether or not at the time he was filing, he owed allegiance to any other country. His answer was: ‘He was in the process and that he had initiated the process of giving up his British citizenship’”.
“This matter travelled all the way to the Supreme Court and the court’s position was clear: That at the time he filled the form, he had still not given up the British citizenship. Accordingly, he was not qualified to be a candidate, let alone coming to occupy the chamber of parliament”.
“He was denied the opportunity, and not only that; the fact that he had lied on oath, bear in mind that the form we fill at the EC, you depose to an affidavit and because he misled the EC and that in itself was a criminal offence, the state prosecuted him and he was convicted and sentenced. He served a jail term. May his soul rest in peace”, Mr Afenyo-Markin said.
He then asked: “What is different from the Sakande case that the NDC is complaining [about]? You see, the same NDC would want to put up a legal challenge – when they win, they are happy; when they lose, they come home crying. That is unfair. You’ve gone to court, you contested the case, you’ve lost. This issue of somebody having dual citizenship and not giving up was started by the NDC. They made sure that this man was jailed …”
“The complainant did not only pursue the civil angle, he also pursued the criminal angle. He was a witness in court. Did we at the time say that the NDC was interfering in the judicial process or that the NDC is telling us that they interfere with judicial processes or that when they had power, that was what they were doing. Is that what they want to tell us? You see, we owe a duty to ourselves and this country to protect the peace”.
He said the bahaviour of the minority caucus and the NDC could threaten the peace of the country.
“When we do these things to escalate tension and mislead people into believing that our institutions are not working, all that we are calling for is chaos. All that we are calling for is lawlessness. And I believe that the minority NDC in parliament and its leadership, should not have come to scandalise the court. The least they could do was to respect the court decision”.
“Perhaps, the court has even been lenient. If the court had really wanted to pursue that matter, it would have taken a judicial notice and even convicted him for contempt of court. So, even when a court has been lenient, in spite of all the behaviour of the MP-elect in this matter, the minority still finds a platform to attack the government and for that matter, the NPP”. “It is important to state that the effect of the NDC minority press conference, was to play to the gallery. They must be seen to be upholding and protecting mage of the judiciary and not to be scandalising the judiciary. Technically, the NDC is creating the impression that institutions must not have their independence to work
Mr Kissi Agyebeng’s nomination for the Special Prosecutor slot has been approved by parliament.
First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Joe Osei-Owusu told the house on Friday, 30 July 2021 that the “motion is adopted,” adding: “Mr Kissi Agyebeng has been confirmed as a nominee for the position of Special Prosecutor.”
Once sworn into office, Mr Agyebeng will succeed Mr Martin Amidu, who resigned in the lead-up to the 2020 elections amidst claims that the president had interfered in his mandate.
Parliament’s Appointments Committee unanimously recommended the approval of Kissi Agyebeng just after his vetting on Thursday, 22 July 2021.
The Chairman of the committee, Mr Joe Osei-Owusu, announced the recommendation, saying: “We put our recommendation for the house to determine whether to approve or disapprove our recommendation”, adding: “As to how other people view his [nominee’s] answers, I’d rather leave it to them and stay within the rules to make recommendations to the house”.
“The committee unanimously agreed to recommend him to the house for approval,” Mr Osei-Owusu said.
During his vetting, Mr Agyebeng told the committee that he intends to guard his independence jealously in carrying out his mandate in terms of investigating, preventing, prosecuting corruption cases and managing seized, frozen or confiscated properties.
In his view, the relevance of the OSP cannot be overemphasised and, thus, warned: “…The day we scrap this office is the day we say goodbye to our fight against corruption”.
“Its relevance is borne out by its attributes and its uniqueness”, he argued, adding: “It is unique, as compared to all the other law enforcement agencies in respect of its mandate because no other institution has been carefully designed and thought-out to fight corruption specifically as Act 959 has done and Hon Chair, in respect of this, the office of the special prosecutor is the gold standard under the UN convention against corruption and the AU convention on the prevention and combatting of corruption”.
“The international community, including Ghana ratified these conventions in the early 2,000s, I think 2002 if I’m not wrong, that every jurisdiction requires such a specialised agency, it should be made independent with a specialised trained staff to focus on the fight against corruption”, he observed.
According to him, the OSP is relevant because the Attorney General “is a member of cabinet, he’s part of the government. How independent would he be in terms of certain individuals if they were to fall foul of the law if, for instance, they are also members of cabinet or members of the government?”
“But in respect of the OSP, the person manning it, who is not part of the government machinery, who is independent; and Hon Chair, if given the nod, I’m going to guard my independence jealously,” he said.
Mr Agyebeng also admitted to the committee that: “I am not naive to assume that I am coming to stop corruption”, adding: “There’s no way I can stop corruption”.
“God himself will not acclaim to that but I am going to make corruption very costly to engage in”, Mr Agyebeng told the committee.
Mr Agyebeng is the Chairman of the Electronic Communications Tribunal.
Mr Agyebeng was nominated as Ghana’s second Special Prosecutor following the resignation of Mr Martin Amidu.
Mr Amidu resigned from the position on 15 November 2020 citing interference by President Nana Akufo-Addo in his job.
In a letter to the Presidency, Attorney General Godfred Dame said: “Kissi Agyebeng possesses the requisite expertise on corruption and corruption-related matters and is of high moral character and proven integrity and satisfies all the other requirements stipulated in section 13(1) and (2) of Act 959.”
Section 13(8) of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959) requires the President to appoint a person qualified for appointment as Special Prosecutor to that position, within six months of the Office of Special Prosecutor becoming vacant
The building blocks for the Akufo-Addo administration’s vision to transform the Ghanaian economy and prepare her for the fourth industrial revolution are taking shape and will soon make all aspects of life better, Vice-president Bawumia has stated.
These building blocks, anchored on technology, are designed to improve public administration and the delivery of public services, formalise the economy, improve revenue mobilisation, deepen and broaden financial inclusiveness in the growth processes, and curb bribery and corruption.
Speaking at the first Graduation and fourth Matriculation ceremony of the Madina Institute of Technology (MIST) on Thursday, July 29, 2021, Vice-president Bawumia said Ghana’s rapid adoption of digital technologies since 2017 has been driven broadly by two considerations: the imperatives of change in the global economy, and the need to tackle our development challenges.
“We have since 2017 worked hard to leverage technology for development. We have developed what I call Digital Transformation Enablers. These include the famous Ghana Card, the Digital Address System, the Mobile Money Interoperability, the Universal QR Code and the Ghana.Gov platform”.
“It is these enablers that are enabling several applications and making digital transformation as drivers of growth possible.”
Citing the bottlenecks associated with accessing public services, Dr Bawumia indicated that the ongoing infusion of technology would soon put paid to the many human interfaces that lend themselves to corruption.
“Public institutions and bureaucracies have for far too long stuck to cumbersome structures, systems and procedures.
“We have sluggish centralised bureaucracies, rigid rules, hierarchical chains of command and highly interpersonal in its delivery of public services. No matter how educated you are, how much trigonometry and algebra you have learnt, they will want you to accept that getting passport or applying for business license is so complex you need “middlemen” and ‘goro boys’. These lead to the emergence of incentives conducive to bribery and corruption.
“In fact, of the many reforms to strengthen and improve the efficiency of public administration and eliminate the incentives for corruption, I strongly believe that digitisation can accomplish in short order what many years of public sector reforms have failed to achieve.
“Ghana is on an irreversible march for change. We consider digitisation in all areas of public administration as an important goal to be accomplished,” he declared.
Dr Bawumia emphasised that the linchpin for the success of the transformation agenda is human capital development, which is also receiving top priority from Government.
“President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is focused on the vision of developing human capital for the transformation of the country. Our young people especially, are central to this agenda, and it is this vision that informed the implementation of the Free Senior High School programme since 2017.
“The interest of the youth in science, technology and innovation, therefore, must be encouraged and nurtured. These are the building blocks for the new Ghana; a data-driven, knowledge-based digital economy.
Dr Bawumia commended authorities of the M.I.S.T. for staying true to their vision of science and technology education, saying the ongoing efforts to secure accreditation to roll out programmes in Computer Science, Information Technology, Data Science and Innovation and Technology Management are most welcome.
“This is a step in the right direction as we aim to develop additional capacity in the areas of Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data and Connectivity. It is not by accident that Google and Twitter are all finding their way to Ghana.” He added.
M.I.S.T.
Established as a non-profit organization in 2013 by the Madina Foundation for Science and Technology (MFST), M.I.S.T. was granted institutional accreditation by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission in June, 2016 and has institutional and programme (Engineering) affiliation with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi and the University for Development Studies (UDS), Tamale.
The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, performed the tape cutting ceremony to officially start the Institute in September 2017 as a University College, and was Guest of Honour at the first Graduation, of 64 students
Mr James Oppong-Boanuh has urged the police service and Ghanaians to support his incoming successor, Dr George Akuffo Dampare, to succeed.
At a Pull-Out ceremony held in his honour on Friday, 30 July 2021, at the National Police Training School in Accra, the outgoing Inspector General of Police said: “I am bowing out today with pride and a strong conviction that this service is blessed with a number of committed officers who are going to support the incoming IGP to successfully continue from where I left”.
“It is important to underline that the role of the security agencies, which is internally led by the police service, cannot be overemphasised”, he noted.
“In the midst of resource constraints and other organisational challenges, we have supported our country to attain global accolades”, Mr Oppong-Boanuh added.
“I believe we can do more to become one of the most peaceful countries in the world with the rest of leadership and supply of resources to the service.
“It is in this vein that I want to encourage all personnel of the service and the good people of this country to give the necessary support to the incoming IGP and his administration to discharge the core mandate of the police service in maintaining law and order”, he urged.
President Nana Akufo-Addo appointed Commissioner of Police (COP) Dr George Akuffo Dampare as acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP) not too long ago.
Dr Dampare is the current Director-General in charge of Administration at the Ghana Police Service.
Profile of Dr George Akuffo Dampare:
Dr George Akuffo Dampare is the youngest Acting Inspector–General of Police (IGP) to be appointed in the fourth Republic and the eighth youngest since Ghana gained independence. Prior to this appointment, he was the most senior police officer after the just retired IGP.
Dr Dampare joined the Ghana Police Service (GPS) as a Constable in December 1990 at age 20 and rose through the ranks to become Commissioner of Police (COP) 24 years later at age 44 in 2014, the rank he held until his appointment.
During his over thirty-year career as a police officer, Dr Dampare has made significant contributions to policing in Ghana and beyond as enumerated below:
At the leadership and management level, Dampare has had the rare privilege of serving as the Head (Director-General) of almost every major department, giving him greater insight into the administration of policing in Ghana. Specifically, Dr Dampare has been Director-General for Administration and Director-General for Welfare twice. He has also served as Director-General for MTTD, Director-General for Research & Planning, Director-General for Operations, Director-General for ICT, Director-General for Finance and Director-General for National Patrol Department (Police Visibility Department).
Other leadership positions Dr Dampare previously held include Commandant of the Police Command and Staff College, Accra Regional Police Commander, Regional Commander for Railways, Ports and Harbour (now Police Marine Department), Municipal Commander for Cape-Coast and Chief Internal Auditor of the GPS.
As the Director-General for National Operations, Dr Dampare created an efficient system where fragmented units were consolidated to create effective and complete departments such as the establishment of an Anti-armed Robbery Unit (the COMBAT Unit) to aggressively fight robbery and other violent crimes. He also created the Intelligence Unit within the National Operations Department, which later informed the creation of a Police Intelligence Department at the national level.
As Accra Regional Police Commander, Dampare introduced an innovative and proactive policing strategy called the “Continuous Stakeholder Engagement Programme” where all stakeholders were included and involved in policing the Region. For the first time, through this initiative, the Ghana Police Service under his leadership, visited Political Parties in their offices to engage them.
As Director-General in charge of Welfare, Dr Dampare introduced an innovative social welfare scheme where he led officers from the Department to visit the homes of scores of sick and bedridden police officers across the country, and also introduced strategic medical interventions to facilitate their wellness.
Still at Welfare, Dampare initiated a process at Dodowa and Kasoa to reclaim lands owned and paid for by police officers. The matter had become a national security threat as many officers were angry at the failure of the leadership of the police administration to intervene in the situation which had lasted for close to a decade. In 2013, under the leadership of the then Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Mohammed Ahmed Alhassan, Dr Dampare led a team of officers, working day and night, to restructure the Armoured Car Squadron (ACS) Unit into the Formed Police Unit (FPU) within a record time of ten (10) weeks. This task had remained impossible for over fifteen years. The FPU has now become one of the police units undertaking internal police operations and international peacekeeping missions under the United Nations and African Union.
As the Director-General of the National Patrol Department (Police Visibility Department) and under the leadership of the then IGP, Mohammed Ahmed Alhassan, Dampare supervised the implementation of the novel “Police Visibility” programme which saw the presence of police personnel at most intersections and communities in Ghana.
Again, during the implementation of the vision of the then IGP, Mohammed Ahmed Alhassan, for the creation of the Police Service Command and Staff College at Winneba and the Police Service Public Safety Training School at Pwalugu, Dr Dampare was the leader of the technical teams that ensured the full operationalization of these two specialist training institutions.
Dampare is credited with the idea that led to the establishment of the office of the Armourer-General which serves as the central point for accounting for arms and ammunitions within the Ghana Police Service as well as the establishment of the Service Enquiry Monitoring Unit (SEMU) with the responsibility of managing the GPS disciplinary system. As Coordinator of the National Inter-Ministerial Task Force for the 2007 Ghana Floods which was under the overall leadership of Dr Mrs Mary Chinnery-Hesse (then Chief Advisor to H.E. President J.A. Kufuor), Dr Dampare led a team, within a seven-month period, to develop and implement a National Disaster Management Model, which brought all United Nations Agencies, Red Cross and Civil Society organisations, among others, together, to successfully manage the disaster.
As Director-General for Finance, Dampare led a Police Technical Implementation Team to work with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, to migrate the Police Service onto the Single Spine Salary Structure as the first institution in the country to successfully complete the migration.
Still as Director-General for Finance, Dampare also introduced the payment of recruits’ allowances through the bank by getting them bank accounts as well as ATM cards. He also engaged the banks and got them to build ATMs at the Police Training Schools at no cost to the Government.
Under the visionary instructions of the then IGP, Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, Dampare also led a team to establish the Procurement Unit of the GPS and ensure full implementation of the Procurement Act. He introduced cost-saving measures in the repair of Service vehicles and the use of hotel accommodation, among others. Dr Dampare led a team of officers to use mostly donations from the private sector to give a facelift to the Police Headquarters by constructing a Public Affairs building, the Integrity Square, the Police Fitness and Social Centre and a Helipad. The CID Headquarters building was also refurbished under his leadership.
As Accra Regional Commander, Dampare raised sufficient capital from the private sector to complete a new office complex and re-roofed 90% of all office buildings at the Regional Headquarters which had been in a deplorable state for years.
During his policing career, Dr Dampare has undertaken numerous law enforcement courses at tactical, operational, strategic leadership and management levels, making him an all-round police officer with the required skills and competencies commensurate with his rank.
Aside from his policing, Dr Dampare previously worked as a Research Fellow and lecturer at King’s College London, University of London. He also lectured at the University of Cape-Coast (UCC), Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Regent University College and the Data Link University College. He is also one of the pioneer lecturers at the Business School of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi. Having passed the GCE Ordinary and Advanced level examinations as a private candidate in 1989 and 1992 respectively, Dr Dampare proceeded to study accountancy and became a Chartered Accountant in 1996 at age 25. He also holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Finance and Management from the King’s College, London, University of London, and has two Master of Science degrees with distinction in Accounting & Finance, from London South Bank University, UK and Business Systems Analysis & Design from City University of London, UK.
Dr Dampare also has a certificate in High Impact leadership from the Institute for Sustainability Leadership, University of Cambridge, UK and a certificate in Leadership and Management from the Aresty Institute of Executive Education, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, USA.
Dr Dampare is a member of a number of professional associations including the International Association of Chiefs of Police (ICP), International Association of Crime Analysts (IACA), the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICA) and the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA).
Dr Dampare has also served and continues to serve on several boards including the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) Governing Board, Data Link University College Council, Police Central Disciplinary Board and the Pumpkins Foundation Board (a philanthropic organization for underprivileged children, including those with autism). He is married to Anita and has six children
THE ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has set up a National Complaints Committee, which will receive formal grievances against any member who breaches a new code of conduct adopted by the National Council ahead of the presidential and parliamentary primaries.
According to the party, the code of conduct is to regulate the conduct of party members ahead of preparation for the crucial 2024 elections.
A press release issued by the General Secretary, John Boadu, on Tuesday, said the National Council decision has taken immediate effect and they will do well to ensure there is sanity ahead of the process so that the party will remain united to prosecute the 2024 agenda.
The statement said, “It shall be the duty of the National Complaints Committee to investigate each complaint of violations of this Code of Conduct to determine whether or not there is a prima facie case.”
Prima Facie
“Where the Committee has established a prima facie basis in a particular complaint, it shall make a referral to the National Disciplinary Committee for the necessary disciplinary actions in line with the provisions of the Constitution.”
The National Complaints Committee is made up of Frank Davies, who is the Chairman of the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee, Hackman Owusu Agyeman, who is the Chairman of the National Council of Elders, and John Boadu, the General Secretary.
“The National Council of the NPP, conscious of events of the past and the need to forestall reoccurrence and to instill discipline in Party administration, has adopted this Code of Conduct to regulate the conduct of Party Members in both Presidential and Parliamentary Primaries for Election 2024 during the Pre-Presidential and Parliamentary Primaries period,” the release said.
It added that “the Code of Conduct has been formulated in accordance with Article 18 of the New Patriotic Party’s Constitution and it is applicable to Party supporters and actors including Government Appointees; Ministers; Members of Governing Boards/Councils; Chief Executive Officers of Governmental Institutions; Members of Parliament; Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives; Aspirants/Potential Candidates; their Supporters and all other Members of the Party.”
“Sanctions shall be imposed on any member or supporter of the party, who fails, neglects, or refuses to comply with the orders of this Code of Conduct.
“Possible sanctions include fines, suspension, expulsion from the party or disqualification from holding any office or position in the party for a stated period,” the release stated.
The release emphasised that the party reserves the right to disqualify any potential presidential or parliamentary candidate or aspirant who either directly or indirectly breaches the new code of conduct.
Code of Conduct
Under the code of conduct, the party said members, supporters, and sympathisers at all levels are mandated to refrain from using the media (traditional or social) to attack the integrity and reputation of other members, particularly leading members perceived to be nurturing presidential or parliamentary ambitions, refrain from openly debating on the suitability, desirability or otherwise of the candidates until the party formally opens nominations through the General Secretary.
The NPP members have been asked not to initiate early gatherings camouflaged as activities or meetings which has the tendency of promoting the interest of a prospective presidential or parliamentary candidate, refrain from making any public statements or inferences through any print or electronic media including online portals and all social media outlets regarding the propriety or otherwise of any presidential or parliamentary candidate.
The members are entitled to hold their regular party meetings but shall desist from holding discussions on the suitability or otherwise of any prospective presidential or parliamentary candidate, and also desist from using their public office or portfolio within or outside the party to promote the interest of any prospective candidates for unfair political advantage.
They have been asked to not covertly or overtly solicit campaign contributions, gifts and other incentives in cash or kind, not hold any campaign activities for themselves or for any prospective candidate or form any groupings or association within or outside the party for or against any prospective candidate.
The party said that prospective presidential or parliamentary candidates shall be held responsible for the actions and inactions of any person or group of persons identified as supporter(s) of a particular candidate which are in flagrant breach of the code of conduct if the prospective candidate is seen explicitly or implicitly lending support or condoning and not publicly denouncing the activities of any such person or group of persons
Government has taken a decision to donate all confiscated rosewood, towards the construction of the National Cathedral, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor has announced.
According to the minister, persons and institutions found in connection with the criminal act would be handed over to the Police for necessary action. Mr Jinapor announced the new policy when he paid a working visit to Tema Port to ascertain for himself, how the ban on the export of rosewood is being enforced or otherwise.
He also inspected five containers which have been confiscated, noting that the confiscated Rosewood will be conveyed to the Achimota Depot of the Forestry Commission for onwards delivery to the National Cathedral project.
Speaking with the media after the tour, Mr Jinapor commended the leadership and officials of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) for the good work done so far, and urged them to strictly enforce the ban.
“Our determination to ensure the sustainable utilization and management of our natural resources with a sense of integrity is unflinching,” he firmly stated
The former Deputy General Secretary of the NDC said exhibiting a high sense of tolerance in the face of envy-led extreme provocation, is a sign of divine maturity and wisdom.
In a tweet, the Director of the Atta Mills Memorial Institute said “Exhibiting a high sense of tolerance in the face of envy-led extreme provocation, is a sign of divine maturity and wisdom.
“I chose to be divinely wise and matured so shall refuse to be provoked. Blessed day and blessings galore over the weekend. Ghana Flag of GhanaShall not die. Shalom.”
In pursuant to an earlier decision to suspend Mr Anyidoho, from the NDC, the Functional Executive Committee (FEC) has expelled him entirely.
By the decision taken on Tuesday, July 27, Mr Anyidoho is no longer to hold himself as a member of the NDC.
In a letter signed by General Secretary Johnson Asiedu Nketia to communicate the decision of FEC to him, the former Presidential Spokesperson was found guilty of the allegations of “misconduct” and “anti-party behaviour”.
In January, FEC decided to act on two separate petitions brought before it by Oti Region’s Communications Officer, Mobarak Abdul-Karim, and Bono Region’s Deputy Communications Officer, Eric
The petitions were referred to the Disciplinary Committee for further action for which Mr Anyidoho was suspended.
“The Functional Executive Committee (FEC) acting in compliance of Article 48(1) of the NDC Constitution unanimously adopted the report and accepts full responsibility for your expulsion from the party,” the letter dated Tuesday, July 27, 2021, said.
“You are, therefore, by the decision of FEC expelled from the National Democratic Congress and for that matter you are no more recognised as a member the party and cannot carry yourself as such.”
Koku Anyidoho is expected to return any party property in his custody and shall forfeit any monies, dues or subscription fees he might have made to the party.
Exhibiting a high sense of tolerance in the face of envy-led extreme provocation, is a sign of divine maturity and wisdom. I chose to be divinely wise and matured so SHALL REFUSE to be provoked. Blessed day and blessings galore over the weekend. Ghana ????????Shall not die. Shalom ????— Samuel Koku Anyidoho???????? (@KokuAnyidoho) July 30, 2021
A Ho Circuit Court has today granted bail to 88-years old Kwami Kudzodzi, also known as Papavi Hogbedetor, the leader of pro-seperatist Homeland Study Group.
The frail-looking octogenarian was arraigned before the court earlier today, following his arrest on Wednesday, 28 July at his private residence in Ho.
Papavi has been on the police wanted list for several months for declaring the Volta region as an independent Western Togoland in November 2019.
A bail application filed on his behalf on health grounds was granted by the court to the tune of Sixteen Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHC16,000) with sureties who are required to provide to the court a valid ID of themselves.
The case has since been adjourned to August 10, 2021.
President Akufo-Addo says government will allocate additional resources to the educational sector to address increasing access and infrastructure as a result of the free senior high school programme.
About 23 per cent of the country’s budget goes into the sector, but the free access has exposed challenges impacting quality.
But addressing the Global Education Summit in London on Thursday, the President said government is fully committed to ensuring every Ghanaians child has access to education.
“We’re spending some 23 per cent of our budget on education. It’s one of the highest on the continent, and we intend to ramp it up even more.”
For President Akufo Addo, introducing and implementing Senior High School (SHS) policy has ensured that hundreds of thousands of young Ghanaians who previously, would have had their education truncated at the Junior High School level now have the opportunity to further their education.
According to him, the introduction and acceptance of the Free SHS policy promoted by his government has expanded access to education dramatically, enabling hundreds of thousands of young men and women to go to Senior High School from all corners of our country.
“The policy has reversed decades of exclusion, which denied, on the average, one hundred thousand young men and women, annually, entry to senior high school education because of the poverty of their parents,” he said
With the free senior high school program now a reality, President Akufo Addo indicated government is looking at replicating it at the tertiary level.
President Akufo-Addo said his government is likely to add free tertiary education as well.
“I don’t want to give a timeline, but I’m sure it’s possible,” he said.
“For now, what has been put in place is a system where students at the tertiary level are provided loans while in school to help them cater for their needs, but we’re considering free Tertiary education too,” he said.
The Ministry of the Interior has announced Wednesday, August 4, 2021, as a public holiday.
The holiday, Founders’ Day, is to celebrate all persons who contributed in various ways towards Ghana’s independence.
“The public is hereby informed that Wednesday, August 4, 2020, which marks Founders’ Day, is a Statutory Public Holiday, and should be observed as such throughout the country,” Ambrose Dery, the Interior Minister said in a statement.
This will be the third time the day is being marked in the country after Parliament approved it as a Statutory Holiday in 2019.
It replaced Founder’s Day, which was celebrated on September 21 every year to mark the birthday of Ghana’s first President, Kwame Nkrumah.
Nonetheless, 21st September still remains a statutory public holiday in honour of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah
The free water policy was announced by President Akufo-Addo to cushion Ghanaians during the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak last year
The government has so far spent GHC836.82 million in total on implementing the free water policy to counter the COVID-19 pandemic, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has said.
The programme, which ran from April to December 2020, was extended to June this year for lifeline domestic customers.
Delivering the government’s Mid-Year Budget Review in Parliament on Thursday (29 July), Ofori-Atta said: “Mr Speaker, as part of the government’s social interventions for supply of free water under the COVID-19 initiatives, the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources partnered Ghana Water Company Ltd (GWCL) and the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) to ensure the full realisation of the objective. The programme started in April 2020 and was supposed to have ended in December 2020.”
Ofori-Atta added: “However, the government decided to extend it to June 2021 for domestic customers whose monthly consumption does not exceed five cubic metres.
“In all over ten million urban dwellers were supplied with potable water by GWCL from April to December 2020. Currently, a total of over 2.30 million urban domestic dwellers whose monthly consumption does not exceed five cubic metres are benefiting from the programme. The cost of the programme to date is GHC836.82 million.”
The Finance Minister said water supplied to rural and peri urban areas by the Community Water and Sanitation Authority (CWSA) accounted for GHC100.28 million as at June this year.
“Mr Speaker, CWSA, on the other hand, supplied 17.92 million cubic metres of potable water to rural and peri-urban population of 5.81 million at a total cost of GHC100.28 million between April 2020 to June 2021.
The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has assured the nation that Government will not spend beyond the approved budget for 2021.
He gave the assurance in Parliament on Thursday, July 29, 2021, while presenting the mid-year budget review.
Touching on the general performance of the Ghanaian economy in 2021, he stated that the country did not see a spike in the exchange rate after an election year, for the first time in the history of the fourth republic.
The Minister explained to the House that the Ghana Cedi had depreciated by 0.6 percent against the US dollar, but was appreciating by 3.6 percent against the Euro, since the beginning of the year to date.
The cedi has been relatively stable in the past four years and maintained its stability even in this pandemic year, he said.
He indicated he had not gone to Parliament to ask for more money, adding that he was not in to demand for more taxes either.
He rather stated that he was in to update the House and the country on the performance of the economy during the first half of the year.
He also assured that more taxes will not be introduced as a means of generating more revenue.
Mr. Ofori Atta explained was not demanding more money or introducing new taxes due to various interventions it had put in place to get the country’s economy back on track amidst the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to him, the discipline and seriousness which the current government attached to managing the economy have yielded positive results
Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, the Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has bemoaned the extreme hardship Ghanaians are having to bear under the leadership of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
According to him, the suffering of Ghanaians from an ever-increasing cost of living coupled with a further increase in existing taxes has placed a number of people in dire situations hence the need for President Akufo-Addo to “stretch a hand of cooperation to all Ghanaians, able to play a role in rescuing our dear nation from the abyss it is falling.”
“I’m pleading with President Akufo-Addo to take the measures needed to bring relief to suffering Ghanaians,” he said on Accra-based Kingdom FM.
According to him, the NPP Government is even worse than any government Ghana has ever had.
He continued: “In addition, I encourage the President and his close associates to seize the occasion to create an atmosphere that is more tolerant of criticism and devoid of intimidation in order for the media, CSOs, and individuals to freely express themselves and contribute to national discourse.”
He indicated that although some past governments were referred to as ones that superintended over economic hardships, the difficult times Ghanaians are currently living in under the Akufo-Addo administration are the “worst” in many years.
“I continue to remain focused on growing the Atta-Mills Institute, building Asomdwee Park, and flying high the legacy of President Atta-Mills. My Bible tells me that, in ALL things, I should give thanks to God Almighty for His grace and mercies. I love Ghana!”
These were the response of Samuel Koku Anyidoho, the former Deputy opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) General Secretary and once Director of Communications during the Prof. Mills administration, who was suspended last year and finally sacked on Tuesday evening from the party.
Koku Anyidoho, who now heads the Atta Mills Institute, has been posting series of tweets on social media since the NDC in a letter signed by it General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, said the party has expelled the once powerful NDC guru.
He replied on social media that, “When Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery; they did not know they were selling him into his God-given destiny to become a Prime Minister in Egypt. What evil men mean for wickedness; God turns it around for good. I am a Son of God.”
He added, “I am happy that all kinds of pretentious groups are working to keep the legacy of President Atta-Mills alive. By their fruits, we shall know them.” “Hypocrites and parasites,” he stated, adding, “I foresee very soon, all kinds of pretentious groups will pop up to say they love Atta-Mills because of the solid job the Atta-Mills Institute has done to keep the memory of the late President alive. My prayer is for President Akufo-Addo to build Asomdwee Park and shame the Pretenders.”
Sacking Drama
Some have claimed he was sacked through the media and that nobody in the party has sent the expulsion letter to him, others are claiming the party has notified him officially.
The NDC General Secretary, Mr. Asiedu Nketia, was on radio yesterday justifying the sacking and said sarcastically that everybody in the party was now happy over the decision and that they were even going to ‘throw’ a party over the incident.
Social Media Letter
The NDC on Tuesday evening said they have with immediate effect, sacked Koku Anyidoho from the party after finding him culpable for gross misconduct and anti-party behaviour.
They then asked Koku Anyidoho, who has served the NDC in different capacities in the past, to return all party property in his custody without delay.
The expulsion was executed by the Functional Executive Committee (FEC) of the NDC, after it considered a report and recommendations of the National Disciplinary Committee.
The sacking letter, authored by Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, said, “At its meeting on Tuesday, July 27, 2021, the Functional Executive Committee of the National Democratic Congress considered the report and recommendations of the National Disciplinary Committee on the case of misconduct and anti-party behaviour brought against you (Mr. Samuel Koku Anyidoho), pursuant to Article 48 (1) (9) (a) of the NDC Constitution.
“The committee’s report (which is attached for your perusal) found you guilty of the said allegations of misconduct and anti-party behaviour and recommended your outright expulsion from the party.
“The Functional Executive Committee (FEC) acting in compliance of Article 48 (1) of the NDC Constitution unanimously adopted the report and accepts full responsibility for your expulsion from the party,” part of Mr. Anyidoho’s sacked letter said.
It stated that it would be illegal and against the constitution of the NDC if Mr. Anyidoho overtly or covertly continues to carry himself as an NDC member, stressing that, “You are no more recognised as a member of the party and cannot carry yourself as such.”
The NDC letter was also emphatic that Mr. Anyidoho has no right to possess any party item or property, especially now that he (Anyidoho) has been expelled for good from the largest opposition political party.
“You are by this letter and pursuant to Article 48 (10) of the party’s constitution directed to return any party property that may be in your custody and you shall also forfeit any moneys, dues of subscription fees that you may have made to the party.”
It would be recalled that until his expulsion on Tuesday, Mr. Anyidoho was under suspension from the NDC for gross misconduct and anti-party behaviour, a charge which eventually led to his sacking from the party
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