Author: Amanda Cartey

On Accra FM, Hopeson Adorye, previously affiliated with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and now aligned with the Movement for Change, has announced his intention to publicly apologize to former President John Dramani Mahama.

Adorye intends to deliver this apology live on television, admitting that the campaign he participated in, which contributed to Mahama’s defeat in the 2016 elections, was largely founded on false accusations.

Considering the current situation under the NPP government, he remarked:

“As a human being, if you do something and you later realize the aim is not achieved, you need to speak up,” he stated.

In his statement, Adorye expressed remorse for his role in tarnishing Mahama’s reputation, saying, “I have said that one day, I will kneel down on television and say Mahama, I am sorry… The things we said about him; Mahama is a thief and all that, but Mahama was an angel as compared to today, we destroyed him for nothing.”

Asserting his integrity, Adorye emphasized that he has no association with illegal mining (galamsey) or any other dubious activities linked to certain members of the NPP.

Furthermore, he refuted any involvement in land-grabbing endeavors, specifically in East Legon, where he warned of potential legal consequences for individuals entangled in land disputes.

Adorye’s change of stance has prompted him to declare the formation of a new organization called the “Jail Them Advocacy Group.” This group seeks to advocate for the prosecution of corrupt officials within the current administration once there is a change in power.

Workers of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) urge the government and relevant authorities to prosecute illegal miners.

These workers highlight that the miners have extensively damaged lands in cocoa-growing regions across the country.

They assert that this activity severely disrupts cocoa production and results in the loss of millions of dollars in revenue annually for the nation.

Edward Ampofo, the Workers’ Representative on the Board of Directors at Cocobod, expresses concern that failure to adequately address the issue could lead to a record low in cocoa production outputs.

“The issue of the cocoa industry is becoming bleak as a result of the issue of activities of this galamsey,” he said.

Mr. Ampofo recounted the recent acquisition of a $600 million facility aimed at rehabilitating approximately 600,000 hectares of farmland impacted by swollen shoot diseases.

He explained that following a successful program, illegal miners vandalized the land in search of mineral resources, undermining the progress achieved.

“Galamsey people went back and uprooted the cocoa that we had replanted… this cocoa that we have paid compensation to farmers to replant,” he added.

The Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) of the Trade Union Congress (TUC)-Ghana, along with other labor unions, has joined forces to demand prompt payment from the government of all Tier-2 deductions and associated arrears and penalties to fund managers.

The Union emphasized that any additional delay in reimbursing fund managers with Tier-2 deductions would disadvantage Ghanaian workers regarding their pensions, particularly in terms of investment returns.

Mr. King James Azortibah, the newly appointed General Secretary of TEWU of TUC Ghana, conveyed this message in a statement issued to commemorate this year’s May Day.

“Is that how to treat people who have worked hard to keep the economy and other social development agendas of the country on course all their working lives”? 

He stated that the current status of Tier-2, which represents the lump sum for every retiree, was causing concern for both those already retired and those approaching retirement.

“It is very worrying to say that since 2020, when the first batch of retirees under the new pension scheme retired, what was paid them as a lump sum is nothing to write home about,” he said. 

Mr Azortibah appealed to the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD) to promptly remit the unions’ dues deductions in accordance with the law, to keep union activities running smoothly. 

“The over-three-month delays in releasing dues deductions by the CAGD are a major challenge, which we expect to stop immediately,” he said. 

He called on the Ministry of Finance to, as a matter of urgency, issue financial clearance for the recruitment of more non-teaching staff to fill the ever-increasing vacancies in the various educational institutions.   

“We call, for quick engagement with our social partners, to deploy modern cooking gadgets to our schools to reduce the burden of stress in cooking for large numbers in the schools,” he said. 

He called on the government to pay keen attention to negotiations to conclude the conditions of service for union members in universities and allied institutions. 

That, he stated, would ensure a conducive working environment in the universities. 

The Union had asked the citizens to join them and pray for peaceful 2024 elections.  

“The Ghanaian workers and the entire population need peace to contribute their quota to national development,” he said. 

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who represents North Tongu in Parliament, has announced his intention to take legal action against the government on behalf of the victims of the Akosombo Dam spill.

He stated that despite efforts to seek government aid for the displaced individuals, including providing new homes and assisting those who lost property, there has been no response.

Ablakwa emphasized that affected residents, feeling abandoned eight months after the disaster, deserve compensation for their losses. “It is their right.”

“To be very sincere with you, we have begun discussions with our lawyers. We’ve done everything we can do in Parliament. We have filed motions, we’ve made statements, we’ve filed urgent questions and we have engaged ministers. It’s clear that this is a clear case of government abdicating and engaging in cruel neglect. So we are considering a class action,” he told the host Evans Mensah.

“We are talking to our lawyers, and we want to take legal action to compel the government to be responsible and be responsive to the plight of the victims of this man-made disaster which they created. It appears that that’s the only realistic option we have now,” Mr Ablakwa noted.

He said that some victims have homes now as a result of support from Ghanaians, NGOs, organisations and embassies.

“We were able to get two resettlements, housing 600 people. Where will all of these displaced people be? We are on the third project now, MP and partners projects, but there’s not much we can do. The catastrophe is on a large scale, we expect the government to carry out its mandate.” he said.

The MP for North Tongu expressed discontent with the government’s failure to support the victims of the disaster, emphasizing their innocence in the matter.

Ablakwa also mentioned the absence of communication from the inter-ministerial committee established to investigate the incident, noting their request to participate in the hearings went unanswered.

The spillage, conducted by the Volta River Authority (VRA) in September 15, 2023, displaced over 27,000 individuals, as reported by the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO).

The spillage impacted nearly all communities along the lower Volta Basin, leading to widespread power outages in the affected areas.

In response, the government allocated GH¢220 million in relief efforts for communities affected by the Akosombo Dam spillage floods as part of the 2024 budget.

During Independence Day celebrations, President Akufo-Addo disclosed that GH¢80 million of the pledged GH¢220 million had been disbursed by the Ministry of Finance to aid ongoing rehabilitation efforts in affected communities.

However, Ablakwa criticized the lack of transparency surrounding the use of the GH¢80 million disbursed by the Ministry of Finance, noting the Housing Minister’s inability to provide clear details on its utilization.

“The last time we heard from the Works and Housing Minister, the government was still doing an assessment to determine how much exactly would go, what sort of resettlement and low-cost housing they promised would happen. So, the last time the Works and Housing Minister visited, he told the chief that they should prepare the land, the government would soon arrive. That was about three weeks ago.”

“When the chief asked him for designs and if they could have a look at them for the housing project, he told the chief that the designs were not ready. So, it’s a very lackadaisical, nonchalant attitude. It’s as though, let’s pretend after many months when there is an outcry and they are reminded that they have an obligation, there is a constitutional mandate imposed on them, then, they come around,” Mr Ablakwa said.

On the other hand the government, he said, has initiated many new projects in Ejisu ahead of the by-election.

“How about fellow citizens, thousands of them, living in tents? They’ve lost everything. Farmers who cannot return to their farms because their farms were submerged, and they don’t have the means to return to their livelihoods.”

“They don’t want to remain beggars. They don’t want to remain people who are at the mercy of charity. They don’t want to continue to live in abject squalor,” Mr Abakwa said.