The Ghana Armed Forces(GAF) has warned the public against false job postings.
GAF claims to have observed a phony online connection promoting hiring for the years 2023 and 2024.
GAF wishes to caution the general public to desist from patronizing this fraudulent link (https://recruitmentfile.net/gaf.recruitment/), which is being circulated on social media platforms, especially WhatsApp and Facebook.
A statement issued said “GAF wishes also to state that it is not conducting any enlistment or recruitment at this material time, and has not advertised such for the year 2023/2024. The public and persons interested in joining GAF should stick to the certified and official channels that GAF uses in announcing recruitments and enlistment exercises; that is the national dailies. (Daily Graphic and Ghanaian Times)
“GAF once again reiterates that, it does not advertise on social media and does not engage middlemen in such exercise. Therefore, the public should take heed of the education and numerous reminders to desist from paying monies through ‘mobile money’ to unscrupulous persons who claim to be recruitment agents of GAF.”
It added “GAF further states that, in conjunction with other Security Services, such unscrupulous persons engaged in the fraudulent act are continuously being tracked down and those arrested will be dealt with severely according to the law.
“Once again, GAF wishes to state that it is not conducting any 2023/2024 recruitment/enlistment exercise at this material time. The public is kindly advised to take note and report any advertisement and persons soliciting monies for such exercises, to the nearest Military Installation or Police Station. GAF requires the cooperation of the public to nib their fraudulent activities in the bud.”
A private attorney, Albert Gyamfi, has stated that taking money from a deceased person’s bank account to pay for their funeral is illegal and punishable by law.
According to the lawyer, although this is a common practice in the Ghanaian sociocultural context, the act, by law, is characterised as intermeddling with the property of the deceased, an act that is punishable by law.
Mr Gyamfi further explained to the host of The Law, Samson Lardy Anyenini that the bank account of a deceased by law is immediately closed off when the person is declared dead.
Thus, no relative can access the bank account of the deceased until a letter of administration (LA) or probate has been granted to them to have access to the bank account, he said.
“Let me sound this warning, the general practice has been that when a person dies, people would want to go into his bank account for money for the organization of the funeral. That is intermeddling. Wherever the family will find a room to organize the funeral, they should do so. And when probate has been granted, then if there’s any property to liquidate that debt, they use his property to do so.”
“But you cannot go into his bank account, withdraw money for purpose of a funeral. As soon as the person dies, doctors declare him dead, his bank account is closed until probate has been granted,” Mr Gyamfi cautioned while contributing to a discussion on The Law on Sunday. Withdrawing money from a deceased’s account to organise funeral is a criminal offence – Lawyer
Subsequently, he shared that in a situation where an individual gathers the properties of a deceased person to safe keep the assets but does not deprive the entitled persons of the use of the property, such an act was not categorised as intermeddling with the properties of the dead person.
“If you look at section 17, the law principally says, unlawfully deprive the entitled persons of the use. So, the law has a mens rea of you unlawfully depriving persons of the use. So, if I am only gathering them for safekeeping, I am not depriving people of the use,” Mr Gyamfi emphasised.
Hence, referencing a scenario whereby the deceased person was the owner of a vehicle that was being used as a commercial vehicle, the lawyer advised that a driver in such a case keeps the sales received safe until legitimate administrators are appointed to whom the driver can give an account of the money received.
However, he warned that the inability of the said driver to account for the money is categorised as intermeddling.
So, the lawyer stated that, “If you are unable to account and some monies are gone somewhere, then you can be said to have been depriving the beneficiaries of the use, and you will be guilty of intermeddling.
“So gathering properties in good faith for purposes of administration in mind does not amount to intermeddling,” Mr Gyamfi reiterated.
The government, according toDr. Kwame Asah-Asante, is fast to propose new tax bills but are unable to give specific accounting of the money collected through these levies.
“The issue is that, are we going to be able to manage the resources so well that will be derived from this revenue? We have seen it time and again that our leaders are quick to come out with tax or taxes, but the money generated from it, we find it difficult to account for them,” he said on Monday.
On March 31, Parliament approved three new tax bills proposed by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.
According to Mr Ofori-Atta, the bills are crucial for the progress of government’s pursuit of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal.
The new tax bills include; the Income Tax Amendment Bill, The Excise Duty Amendment Bill and the Growth and Sustainability Amendment Bill and are expected to rake in close to GHs4 billion.
Speaking on the AM Show on JoyNews’, Dr Asah-Asante reiterated that the passing of the bills “is a good beginning for our journey to the IMF” but indicated that those in charge have not been accountable.
The political scientist lamented citizens’ inability to demand accountability and as a result, government always slaps taxes on the people without disclosing details of revenues gained.
Meanwhile, he added that the government’s energy that is being used to make sure that it gets the basics right in securing an IMF deal could be channelled into creating home–grown solutions where there would be no need to seek an IMF bailout.
“If you look at how government wants to meet all the specifics directed by the IMF, right? They want to get all those basics right to have the facility.
“Then I ask myself; that energy that you derive from the system to pursue this programme, couldn’t you have used it in your economy, build the necessary capacity that you don’t go to the IMF,” he said.
According to him,Ghana always finds itself “in tears” as a result of some unfavourable conditions attached to the IMF deal.
The Minority in Parliamenthas disproved claims that the caucus didn’t make a valiant effort to oppose the three new tax legislation voted on Friday.
Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Sam Nartey George, on the Citi Breakfast Show on Monday suggested that the clerks in Parliament have some questions to answer on how they went about Friday’s head count.
“If we had acquiesced we wouldn’t have gone through the vote, we wouldn’t have accounted for our 136, we wouldn’t have challenged what appeared to be an error in counting. We are aware now that at the time we did the first count Ahmed Tuferu was not in Parliament.
“There are two [majority] MPs who also walked in after the clerks had finished taking the vote from the majority side, so clearly, that vote shouldn’t have read 136, 137, but be that as it may, the Speaker only announces what it is presented to him,” Mr George told host Bernard Avle.
He added that “the clerks have a question to answer as to how they managed to get 137.”
Parliament on Friday, March 31, passed the Excise Duty Amendment Bill 2022, the Growth and Sustainability Levy Bill, 2022, the Ghana Revenue Authority Bill 2022 and the Income Tax Amendment Bill 2022.
The financial bills seek to raise about 4 billion Ghana Cedis annually as part of domestic revenue mobilisation.
The bills are also crucial to aid the government’s quest to facilitate the Board Approval for the $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) Programme staff-level agreement.
The Minority in Parliament earlier communicated its opposition to the bills, but the bills were passed despite an MP from the majority suffering a near-fatal accident on his way to the House.
Superintendent Effia Tenge, the Ghana Police Service’s Head of Public Affairs at the Volta Regional Command, has resigned from her position.
Mrs. Tenge announced her exit which takes immediate effect on Friday in a post to journalists she has worked with in the Volta region.
“…this is to inform you that I have formally exited my post as Director, Public Affairs and for that matter the Ghana police service,” she wrote.
She added that, “I want to use this medium to thank you all for your immeasurable support during my appointment as Public Affairs Officer of the noble profession. We will definitely meet again hopefully in a different working environment.”
Until her arrival in the Volta region, Mrs. Tenge was the head of Public Affairs Unit of the Ghana Police Service in the Greater Accra region for several years.
She was first appointed into the service as a Public Affairs Officer in 2005 and stationed at the Media Monitoring Center of the Police Public Affairs Directorate, National Headquarters where she served and later became the supervisor, placing her in a vantage role to conduct media analysis of police and security-related information and deal with potential negative publicity likely to affect the reputation of the institution.
Effia Tenge introduced the Police Regional News Magazine ‘Police Diary’ to ensure regular information flow on law enforcement activities that promotes police professionalism, respect for human rights, transparency in police operations, and accountability to the public.
She was a lead advocate against sexual and gender based violence and also led several sensitization campaigns on the crime of kidnapping in schools.
Just recently, Mrs. Effia Tenge led another campaign against substance abuse and school hooliganism across the Volta region.
She is regarded an astute communicator with an enviable working relationship with the media and the general public.
Her premature retirement has undoubtedly come as a shock.
A sugar industry is under construction at Fawoman in the Banda District of the Bono Region as part of the government’s One-District-One-Factory (1D1F) initiative.
The facility, which is expected to begin full production by the end of 2024 is being done through an equity agreement between the Bui Sugar Limited, a Chinese company, and the Bui Power Authority (BPA).
Under the initiative, BPA has provided a total of 13,000 acres of land to the Bui Sugar Limited for the cultivation of sugarcane plantation to feed the factory when it begins operation.
So far, 250 acres out of the 1,200 acres of land which has been cleared, has been cultivated with sugarcane by the investor.
When the entire 13,000 or 6,000 hectares of land provided under the collaboration is cultivated and the factory starts full operation, it is expected to produce a total of 60,000 metric tonnes of raw sugar annually for local consumption and for export.
These came to light when the Bono Regional Minister, Justina Owusu-Banahene and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BPA, Samuel Kofi Dzamesi, visited the facility to see how it is progressing. Construction
Shedding light on the operations of the Bui Sugar Limited, the Managing Director of the company, Wan Wei Hua, explained that the actual construction of the factory block would begin in June, this year.
“The construction of factory and installation of equipment is expected to last for one-and-a-half years before the commencement of production,” he said. Mr Samuel Kofi Dzamesi, CEO of the Bui Power Authority admiring the sugarcane plantation Caption
He explained that currently the company’s focus was on the provision of adequate raw materials and preparations for the construction of the factory block.
Mr Hua said 500 local people had already been employed for the cultivation of the sugarcane plantation for now, adding that about 1000 more people would be added by the time that the factory will start production. Agreement
For his part, Mr Dzamesi explained that BPA entered into agreement with the Bui Sugar Limited in March 2022 since the Act that established the authority empowered it to enter into such agreements.
He said it was expected that the facility would provide about 1,500 direct employment and more than 5,000 indirect employment when it was in full operation. Bui Sugar Limited Caption
Mr Dzamesi expressed his gratitude to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and board members of BPA for the approval of the establishment of a facility that would go a long way to improve the socio-economic lives of people in the area and beyond.
He asked management of the company and the chiefs and people of the area to continue to corporate to ensure peaceful co-existence for the successful completion and operation of the sugar factory.
On how much BPA will earn from the sugar factory, Mr Dzamesi explained that “The agreement we have with them is on equity. That is if they produce sugar we take a percentage. I cannot disclose the percentage but I want to assure you that nobody can cheat BPA”. Bono Regional Minister
For her part, Ms Owusu-Banahene said “I am impressed by how this project is been executed. I think it will be the game changer to the people of this area, the Bono Region and the whole country”.
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She observed that beside the production of raw sugar, the by-product could also be used for the production of animal feed among others.
Ms Owusu-Banahene added that the execution of the sugar factory project was an indication of what the government’s 1D1F initiative could do to improve the socio-economic lives of the people and called on Ghanaians to support the initiative.
She commended the BPA for its foresight and called on other CEOs in and MMDCEs to emulate such an example and come up with laudable initiatives that could rake in incomes to the country. Mobilise resources
The Banda District Chief Executive, Emmanuel Akone, appealed to the Bono Regional Coordinating Council to pay particular attention to the God given assets of the region and mobilise the needed human and material resources to invest in crop production through mechanised irrigation, aquaculture and animal rearing.
“We are proud to be a beneficiary of the on-going construction of sugar and cashew factories under the Government’s One-District One-Factory policy”, he stated.
Article 71 of the Constitution of Ghana, spells out that the salaries and allowances of Article 71 office holders, be determined by the President, on the recommendations of a committee of not more than five persons appointed by him and acting upon the advice of the Council of State.
The Article 71 officeholders include the President, the Vice-President, the Speaker of Parliament, the Chief Justice, and the Justices of the Supreme Court.
But Mr Fuseini told Samson Lardy Anyenini on Newsfile on Saturday that the conditions stated in Article 71 created room for discrimination against some public officers.
According to him, Article 71 officeholders are also public officers, and the provisions of Article 71 enabled the Article 71 officeholders to receive preferential treatment.
This, he pointed out, contradicted Article 17 of the Constitution, which spells out that there must be equality before the law, thus his advocating for the removal of Article 71.
The lawyer, while contributing to a discussion on Newsfile, Saturday, April 1, told the host, Samson Lardy Anyenini, “Article 71 should be deleted in its entirety because it appears to me to be it is inconsistent with article 17 of the constitution, which deals with non-discrimination.
“All officers under article 71 are public officers, and so there should not be discrimination between the Article 71 office holders and all other office holders,” he added.
Additionally, Mr Fuseini stated that he believed that the Independent Emolument Committee has been recommended by the constitution review committee for Article 71 to be examined and substituted with a different arrangement.
Over the first five months of operation, theGhana Revenue Authority (GRA) monitoring teams had recovered more than GH86 million for government.
The teams, which conduct market surveillance for compliance, comprise the Tema team, based at Tema Harbour; Eastern Frontier, based at Dabala in the Volta Region; Western Frontier in Kumasi, Ashanti Region, and the Vehicle Task Force whose operation is nationwide.
Their operation also led to the interception and detention of 273 uncustomed vehicles between the last quarter of 2022 and the end of February 2023.
Speaking to journalists about the initiative in Accra, the Commissioner of Customs of the GRA, Seidu Iddrisu Iddisah, said the recoveries made by the team would contribute to the revenue drive of the state and ensure that the security of the country was intact.
Background
The Customs Division of the GRA came up with the monitoring team initiative to ensure importers pay the right amounts of duty and also to serve as a tool to curtail smuggling across the country.
In October 2022, four monitoring teams were inaugurated to undertake risk-based and intelligence-driven operations across the country.
The teams also arrested some uncustomed goods and carried out other related assignments which involved the interception of substances suspected to be Indian hemp, among others.
According to the Customs Division of the GRA, an assessment of the operations of the teams between October, 2022 and February, 2023 indicated that the teams had significantly impacted on revenue mobilisation.
No compromise
Giving a breakdown of the amount recovered to the state, Mr Iddisah said the Tema team alone collected GH¢85 million while the Western Frontier team also recovered a total collection of GH₵1.46 million.
The Vehicle Task Force intercepted and detained 193 uncustomed vehicles in the last quarter of 2022 and 80 vehicles between January and February 2023.
Mr Iddisah explained that the monitoring teams served as another layer of security measures put in place by the Authority.
The Commissioner of Customs said the monitoring team was also one of the layers of enforcement as the monitoring teams operate at certain strategic areas to ensure that “if someone is able to dodge from the entry points, these teams will be able to apprehend them for the right amount of duties and customs processes to be done.”
He commended the teams for the successes chalked up, saying since they were “set up towards the latter part of last year to February, Tema team alone has collected over GH¢85 million and seized other goods that did not meet the standards required for the country”.
The Commissioner of Customs said in the operation of the teams there was no room for compromise and cautioned that the team would not compromise on any unethical exercise by any importer or trader against the country’s customs laws.
Harassment
On the concerns of some team members harassing innocent traders at some of the country’s borders, Mr Addisah admitted that such complaints had been made in the public domain but without any concrete evidence.
“We have always encouraged people to come out with evidence of our team members harassing individuals or any form of corruption so that we can investigate and deal with the officers involved.
He explained that the teams were guided by a code of ethics and conduct and when it was breached, the necessary sanctions were applied accordingly.
The Vice-Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Professor Mrs. Rita Akosua Dickson, recently met with the Tamale Chapter of the KNUST Global Alumni Association as part of the university’s effort to track how its products contribute to the development of the nation.
The event, which took place on March,11, 2023 was to showcase the contribution of KNUST has made over the years and to engage the alumni on the critical role they could play to support the University.
Prof. Dickson, said products of the University could be found in all sectors of the economy and were contributing their quota to the national development.
“Teknokrats are found on every part of the globe. We are everywhere creating opportunities for people, making the problems of humanity our problem and professing solutions to them,” she said.
She said there was the need to protect and promote the KNUST brand for the growth of the institution.
She also praised the staff and students of KNUST for their roles in lifting the high the flag of KNUST and winning laurels in respective global competitions.
She cited the recent achievement of KNUST Debate Team, who came second in the World Universities Debating Championships.
She called for the alumni and promised to fix emerging challenges to ensure the university’s continual growth
In his welcome address, Kwame Ohene-Ampofo, the Tamale Chapter President of the KNUST Alumni Association, was grateful to the Vice-Chancellor and her team for the initiative and pledged the Chapter’s support to the development of the University.
For his part, the Global President of the association, Dr. Kwaku Agbesi, lauded the Vice-Chancellor for paying particular attention to KNUST alumni and its activities.
According to him, her interventions have resulted in the marked progress in the alumni hostel project, currently ongoing on campus.
As part of activities marking the 70th anniversary of KNUST, Dr. Agbesi said the Global Executives established a Garden in Mamfe, awarded full educational scholarships to three future Teknokrats of the University, organised mentorship programme for final year students, held a virtual for Global Teknokrats with the Vice-Chancellor and visited the North America Chapter of the Association among others.
The Senior Assistant Registrar of the Advancement and Alumni Relations Office (AARO) of KNUST. James Kwasi Oberko, highlighting the vision of the Vice-Chancellor, informed the alumni that the office has been resourced to liaise between the alumni and the university for their mutual benefit.
He urged the Tamale Chapter to promote the University by conceiving, executing and taking active part in Chapter related activities.
Present at the meeting included Prof. Gabriel Teye, former Vice-Chancellor of the University for Development Studies; Prof. Bashiru Imoro Ibn-Saeed; Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Tamale Technical University, Yaw Nimo-Baffour, Finance Officer of KNUST and Ibrahim Mahama, a globally acclaimed artist.
According to Mr. Samuel Kofi Dzamesi, the Chief Executive Officer, the Electricity Company of Ghana owes theBui Power Authority(BPA), the owners of the Bui Generating Station, more than US$612 million.
He expressed his disappointment in the inability of the ECG to pay the authority as the power produced and supplied to the company remained the only problem confronting the operations of the 404 Megawatts (MW) dam, situated in the Banda District of the Bono Region.
Speaking in an interview with the media during a visit by Madam Justina Owusu-Banahene, the Bono Regional Minister to the dam’s plant site at Bui, Mr Dzamesi said almost 99 per cent of the power produced was sold to the ECG.
Accompanied by some members of the Bono Regional Security Council, as well as the District and Municipal Chief Executives, the Regional Minister was at the site to acquaint herself with hydro power generation and other operations of the authority.
Mr Dzamesi said, “I can assure you since the inception of the BPA, the ECG has never, ever been able to pay more than 30 percent of what we generate. What I mean is for every 100 units of power generated, the ECG pays 30 units.”
“In fact, if the ECG is able to pay all the money, I think by this time we could do much more than what we are doing on the solar,” he stated.
In 2022, he said the Authority raked in US$74 million-dollar profit, being the highest generated so far, since the dam started actual production, but added the amount was inclusive in the ECG’s debt.
“Last year, by the grace of God we had rainfall that was able to fill to the highest capacity of the dam’s level of 183 and we got little more over the 183-capacity level. So, we were able to make 1,554 gigawatts hour last year,” Mr Dzamesi stated.
The Chief Executive Officer said BPA had the biggest solar plant in the West Africa sub region, saying it had targeted to construct 250MW solar plant to augment power generation at the Bui Generating Station.
Mr Dzamesi explained the authority was currently undertaking feasibility studies on the Western Rivers, and he was hopeful “by the end of the year, we will get contractors who would start very serious hydro power plant either on Rivers Pra, Ankobra or Tano.”
“In fact, the BPA is the first company to hybridize solar power and hydro power. When I say hybridization, it means a smooth transition from hydro to solar or from solar to hydro or the two of them moving together,” he said.
Mr Dzamesi commended President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s government for the support in making the authority to achieve its 250MW solar project.
He said the BPA was undertaking serious expansion work on its solar project indicating “under his leadership we have added 50MW of solar and by the end of the year we are adding additional 40MW on-land here, 50MW in Yendi, and 5MW on the dam’s reservoir here.”
Officially known as the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), it serves as the top medical facility in the Ashanti Region and is perhaps the second largest medical facility in the entire nation.
The name of the hospital which was built in 1954, as it suggests is in honor of Komfo Anokye, the great priest who per history was instrumental in the rise of the Asante Kingdom.
But whereas official documents and people outside Kumasi know the hospital as Komfo Anokye, the locals prefer to call it Gee.
For most people in Kumasi, the name Gee rings a bell easier and faster than Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.
The use of Gee as the alternative and perhaps more popular name for the hospital has triggered the inquisitiveness of many people who have been longing to know about the history behind it.
GhanaWeb thus spoke to a site guide at the Komfo Anokye Hospital who detailed the story behind the use of ‘Gee’ as the moniker for the Ashanti Region’s premier hospital.
“The word Gee is not the official name of the hospital. It is the name of one of the contractors who built the hospital. The name of the firm was Gee, Walker & Slater Ltd. Compared to Walker and Slater, Gee was more easy to pronounce so he was more known to the indigenes. That’s how come the name of the hospital is called Gee.”
According to ghanasonline.com, the hospital was initially called Kumasi Central Hospital before being changed to Komfo Anokye Hospital.
The report adds that “Samuel Gee, after the construction of the hospital, attempted to pull out the Komfo Anokye sword, at times using heavy-duty machinery, but failed.”
TheCommissioner of Police (COP), Kofi Boakye, is scheduled to retire on Wednesday, April 5, 2023.
This was revealed by Kwame Sefa Kayi on the Friday, March 31 edition of his show.
Sefa Kayi, while paying tribute to Kofi Boakye for the incredible things he accomplished in his career, mentioned Wednesday, April 5 as the day the celebrated policeman will officially retire from the service.
“Next week Wednesday, Kofi Boakye will be sixty. He will retire next week Wednesday. I can’t tell if there will be a pull-out ceremony for him but next week Wednesday, he will leave the police service,” he said.
His revelation drew a statement of eulogy from the guests on the show who are great admirers of COP Kofi Boakye.
Dr Smart Sarpong reminisced how Kofi Boakye declared war on armed robbery in the Western Region and managed to reduce it to the barest minimum.
He promised to attend the pull-out ceremony and honor COP Kofi Boakye if one is held in his honor.
“There used to be a lot of robbery activities in the Western Region but he fought it. In Kumasi, he fought and won against armed robbery activities. We should set a day aside to celebrate him.”
Opanyin Agyekum, the head of the linguistics department of the University of Ghana also commended COP Kofi Boakye for his tremendous service to the country.
COP Kofi Boakye is widely remembered and celebrated for how he combated armed robbery activities in the Ashanti Region when he was the regional commander.
Meanwhile, Effia Tenge is widely reported to have tendered her resignation to the top hierarchy of the police last week as she prepares to take on a new role in the Parliament of Ghana.
As Ghanaians continue to digest the news that dominated the media space on Saturday, April 1, 2022, it has emerged that COP Kofi Boakye is also on his way out.
The government’s justifications for tax approval, according to Cape Coast University Business School (CCUBS) Dean, Professor John Gatsi, could be characterized as parliamentary blackmail.
Speaking on Starr Today with Lantam Papanko, the Cape Coast University Dean indicated that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has still not approved Ghana after a number of approvals for the deal by Parliament.
“I think he is just using the economy to blackmail Parliamentarians to vote for the bill and to use a section of Ghanaians to press on Parliamentarians to approve the bill. We started with E-Levy. The government told all of us that when E-Levy is passed everything is going to be cool. E-Levy was passed that was not to be. E-Levy should be passed so that we don’t go to IMF and E-Levy is passed and we are on our way to IMF.
“Other bills came the same way. We have to do Domestic Exchange Program and after that the IMF will be out. If the Domestic Exchange is not done then the IMF deal will not go through. Domestic Exchange was done and then they say we need to expand the revenue bill. Increase VAT by 2.5 percent, it was approved,” Mr. Gatsi stated.
He continued: “Remove the Bunch-mark Value from the port it was approved, then they say they were going for External Debt and Restructuring and about clinching the deal but something is left. We have to approve these tax bills again before we are over. If that is not done the IMF deal will not be approved and if the IMF deal is not approved then the economy will collapse. That is just blackmail.”
Meanwhile, Parliament March 31, 2023 through a Majority decision has passed three new taxes.
These are Income Tax Amendment Bill, Excise Duty Amendment Bill, and Growth and Sustainability Amendment Bill.
These taxes are expected to generate approximately GH¢4 billion per year to supplement domestic revenue.
According to Mr. Ambrose Dery, the Interior Minister, two platoons of the Formed Police Unit (FPU) would soon be dispatched to the Bunkpurugu-YunyooPolice District Commandto bolster local law enforcement in the area.
This, he said would go a long way to help curb the increasing cases of robberies and other violent crimes in the North East Region and the Bunkpurugu-Yunyoo area.
Mr Dery said this in response to a question by Dr Abed-Nego Azumah Bandim, National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Bunkpurugu.
The MP asked the Minister what measures have been put in place to curb the increasing cases of armed robberies in the Bunkpurugu-Nakpanduri District.
The Minister said the Bunkpurugu-Yunyoo District Police Command was responsible for the Bunkpurugu-Nyankpanduri and Yunyoo-Nasuan Local Government Districts.
He said there were three Police Stations in two Districts with 49 Police personnel, which indicates that the Police to civilian ratio in the district was one Police to 2,842 civilians.
Mr Dery noted that this ratio was far below the United Nations requirement of a 1:500 Police civilians ratio.
He reiterated that this notwithstanding, the Police Administration had put in place measures to combat robberies and other violent crimes in the district.
The measures he mentioned included intelligence-led Policing, mounting Police Check Points at robbery-prone areas, and escort of commercial vehicles and market women to and from various markets.
Other measures included foot and vehicle patrols and organised swoops at criminal hideouts.
“Some newly passed out constables have been posted to augment the existing Police strengthen in the District to perform visibility duties,” he stated.
Martin Kpebu, a private attorney, has asserted that he has given up advocating for gays in society since he cannot speak on behalf of the faceless.
According to him, they should come out and speak or fight for themselves for themselves
Mr Kpebu explained that he is aware of big lawyers in thiscountry who are homosexual but are not prepared to come out publicly to defend their actions.
Speaking on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, April 1, he said “To be very frank with you I do not intend to go into the merits of the debate on LGBTQ. I have made comments on it in the past, briefly stating that if some people want to fight for it it is within their right to fight for it but the reason I am no longer interested in joining this debate aggressively is that the people who practice LGBTQ, they don’t want to show their faces. So I ask, how am I going to advocate for a faceless person?
“So that is the disconnect. It is a very sensitive matter, I have been crying here Saturday to Saturday that the Ghanaian doesn’t want to fight, this is another of that. Privately, I have seen big lawyers involved, big lawyers who are gays and they can’t fight for themselves and you are saying Kpebu should come and fight, no, you can’t fight everything. There are big lawyers, I am telling you on authority, in this country involved and they don’t want to show their faces. At least they should come out, let’s see them explain their situation.
“I have been telling some of them privately that if we even get fifty of them to snap a picture, and come out to address a press conference when they speak, they will evoke compassion.”
The discussion on the Key Points centered on President Akufo-Addo’s decision to dissociate from the Proper Human Sexual Rights & Ghanaian Family Values Bill also known as the Ant-Gay Bill.
Proposed under a Private Members’ Bill, the anti-gay bill is expected to criminalise some of the activities of homosexuals in Ghana.
Answering a question put to him at the Jubilee House on Monday, March 27 when US Vice President Kamala Harris called on him, President Akufo-Addo confirmed that the bill is currently before Parliament, which will decide on it, but most of its provisions are being fine-tuned.
“It hasn’t been passed, so the statement that there is legislation in Ghana to that effect is not accurate,” he said.
“Parliament is dealing with it and at the end of the process, I will come in,” he added.
President Akufo-Addo welcomed US Vice President Harris to the seat of government as part the latter’s three-day visit to the country.
She stressed how strongly she feels about the importance of supporting and fighting for the cause of human rights including rights of LGBTQs.
“For the American press who are here, you know that a great deal of work in my career has been to address human rights issues, equality issues across the globe including as well as the LGBTQ community and I feel very strongly about the importance of supporting freedom and supporting and fighting for quality among all people.”
The administration of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has formally exonerated some executives of the Students Representation Council (SRC) who were suspended in 2020 following accusations of financial mismanagement.
According to the management, former President of the SRC, Michael Abuah, and former Speaker of the SRC Parliamentary Council, Andrew Anokye Kyeremateng, the vice-president, Reginald Amo Yeboah and Financial Secretary, Derek Dadzie were exonerated by the school’s Disciplinary Committee after series of investigations over allegations of misappropriation.
“Following an allegation of misappropriation of funds levelled against you, a committee was constituted to investigate the said allegations.
“Based on the investigations conducted and the evidence elicited, the Committee concluded that you did not misappropriate the funds for your travel.
“The Vice-Chancellor, as the Chief Disciplinary Officer of the University, has considered the Committee’s report and accepted the recommendations of the Committee for your exoneration.
“I therefore, write on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, to exonerate you accordingly,” a letter signed by the Deputy Registrar of the University, Mrs Margaret Dzisi, dated March 23, 2023, stated.
The Management of KNUST in August 2022 issued a letter asking the president of the SRC and some executives to step aside of allegations of malfeasance.
“Pursuant to the allegations of misconduct against you for which reason the University has empanelled the Junior Member Disciplinary Committee (JMDC) to investigate same per letters referenced LWS/621A and dated August 18, 2022, I write on behalf of the Registrar to inform you to step aside as the President of the Student Representative Council (SRC) by close of today the 25th of August 2022, pending the outcome of the official investigations into the alleged matters,” the statement said.
“By a copy of this letter, the SRC Judicial Committee is to ensure, in accordance with the SRC Constitution, that no hiatus is created in the administration of the student body.
“The Judicial Committee should liaise with the Director of Students Affairs for the necessary actions to be taken for the effective running of the SRC Administration,” the notice said.
This was after the executives of the SRC had been accused of misappropriating funds meant for a trip to South Africa.
The Electronic Tax Clearance Certificate for the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has been launched in Accra by Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
The Electronic Tax Clearance Certificate app is an integrated digital platform which enables taxpayers to do three key things at a go: access and generate their tax clearance certificate online, file their tax returns and also check their tax compliance status.
There are also three options for accessing the platform; either through a QR Code, the platform’s online portal or through a USSD short code *880#, with either a smart or a ‘yam’ phone.
Launching the platform, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, who has spearheaded government’s digital transformation, said the introduction of the Elctronic Tax Clearance Certificate by the GRA, further signifies government’s commitment to its digitalization agenda.
Dr. Bawumia lauded the GRA for taking advantage of government’s digitization drive and the transformation of delivery of services through technology, to introduce what he called, life-changing solutions, such as the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS) at the ports, amongst others.
“The introduction of the Electronic VAT platform-E VAT – has also signalled the beginning of an era of transparency and accountability in VAT. Over the years the contribution of VAT to Government revenue has gradually declined and Government had to find ways to remedy this situation,” Dr. Bawumia said.
He added, “furthermore, the introduction of the cashless mode of payment of taxes has enabled taxpayers to pay taxes conveniently through either mobile money, bank transfer or other cashless means. The introduction of the Ghana.gov platform has also enabled us pay for provision of government services digitally and conveniently”.
The Vice President expressed delight at “digital remedies”, which he said, have been introduced by the government, “to revolutionize the manual ways of providing services in the Public Service”.
Some of these initiatives, he noted, are the introduction of the Ghana Card as a unique identifier of individuals in Ghana.
“Apart from helping build on our national identification system by leveraging on technology, the Ghana Card helps to identify individuals for tax purposes,” the Vice President said.
Dr. Bawumia said, “your Ghana Card is also your Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN). In effect, your Ghana Card is your reference for registration, filing of returns, making payments of tax due and accessing other services provided by GRA.”
He stressed, “other areas of digitalization that have transformed lives and businesses are the Digital Addressing System which helps to identify and locate places, the National Electronic Pharmacy Platform (NEPP) which enables you to order lifesaving drugs; the Mobile Money Interoperability which lets you have a bank account in your pocket; medical drones which are helping to deliver medical supplies to inaccessible areas faster, thereby saving lives. These are but a few of the many initiatives of how technology has improved services for all of us”.
Before officially declaring the Electronic Tax Clearance Certificate launched, Dr. Bawumia touched on the significance of submitting and declaring tax returns to the development of a nation.
“Let me use this platform to urge all Ghanaians and indeed all who earn incomes in Ghana to faithfully submit their tax returns and to declare any taxes due”.
He reiterated, “taxes are the lifeblood of any country and are used to build nations. When we faithfully declare and pay our taxes we will be in a position to hold government accountable for what our tax money is being used for. Let us really join hands to develop the country”.
On his part, the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, said the introduction of the Electronic Tax Clearance Certificate will improve efficiency and also improve revenue mobilisation.
Other dignitaries present were the Commissioner General of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Dr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, GRA staff amongst others.
Ghana’s first president of,Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, had his image engraved on a Guinean coin.
Dr. Kwame is said to have been close friends with Guinea’s first president, Sekou Toure as during his reign as president of Ghana, he sent £10 million to Guinea when its economy was being destroyed for voting for independence from France.
During Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s overthrow in 1966, Sekou Toure said “Ghanaian traitors have been mistaken in thinking that Nkrumah is simply a Ghanaian. He is a universal man.”
Ghana’s first president went into exile in Guinea after a coup to overthrow him in 1966 and was made a co-president of thecountry by his friend, Sekou Toure.
Sekou Toure revered and loved his friend so much that even in death, he honoured Dr. Kwame Nkrumah by embossing his face on the 5 sylis note and coin of Guinea.
This syli currency was Guinea’s legal tender between 1971 and 1985 and the word means elephant.
President of theGhana Union of Traders Association(GUTA), Dr. Joseph Obeng, has voiced his displeasure over the three revenue tax revenue that has been approved by Parliament.
Dr. Obeng bemoaned the implications of the taxes approval and said it will affect the rate of tax compliance by businesses because it will be a discouraging act to honour.
He said Ghanaian businesses are particularly not competitive in the West African Sub-Region due to the high taxes that they have to pay.
“Businesses are not competitive in the subregion and that is why some of us have to go and buy goods from Togo, so additional taxes will really affect our trade. It is going to make us pay a multiplicity of taxes and that is why we called it an obnoxious tax system.”
Dr. Obeng further lamented the high commercial lending rate which he said is another big incentive for businesses in the country.
Commercial lending rate is at 40 percent, and how do you wantbusinesses to pay this and still have money to pay all these taxes? We are very disappointed at how we are producing our democracy here because it is all about imposition, this approval is going to impede our growth.”
Parliament yesterday, March 31, passed the Income Tax Amendment Bill, Excise Duty Amendment Bill, and Growth and Sustainability Amendment Bill which collectively, are expected to generate approximately GH¢4 billion per year to supplement domestic revenue.
Dr. Obeng also tasked the government to look at other sectors to raise revenue other than overly burdening local businesses with taxes.
We should curtail the leakages at the Free Zones and warehousing to help raise the needed revenue.
A professor of economics at the University of Ghana Business School, Godfred Bokpin, has hinted that a successful tax framework, rather than more ineffective tax bills, is what Ghana needs to help produce the needed revenue.
Professor Bokpin bemoaned the many existing taxes which he stated if properly implemented, should have been enough to raise the needed revenue for the government.
He indicated it will be difficult for the government to boost the economy using taxes because far too few people are burdened with taxes while the larger population is not captured in the tax bracket.
“There is no way you can grow your economy with the number oftaxeswe have in the country. We have so many taxes in the country yet still we want to introduce more to raise more revenue.
“We are just burdening a faithful few in terms of deepening the tax system rather than broadening it, and we can close the gap by improving efficiency. The inefficiency in our VAT alone is 2.87 percent of our GDP, in other words, we could generate more than $1 billion without increasing the rate of VAT.”
“If you look at corporate tax rates, it is just a few that are captured, the inefficiency in our corporate tax productivity is more than 75 percent, and you don’t close the gap by introducing additional taxes and also increasing the rates paid,” Professor Bokpin added in an interview on Eyewitness News on Citi FM.
The government is seeking to have three new revenue bills passed by parliament as it seeks to rake in GH¢4 billion per year to shore up revenue to fix the ailing economy and secure a Board approval for a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The bills which include the Excise Tax Stamp and Excise Duty amendment bills, Income Tax amendment bill and Growth and Sustainability levy bill are already being rejected by some business groups and Parliament is expected to vote on the bills today [March 31].
The Kumawu seat in the Ashanti Region has been declared vacant by Speaker of Parliament, Rt Hon. A.S.K. Bagbin.
This follows the death of Philip Atta Basoah, the former Member of Parliament.
The Speaker has therefore, directed the EC to hold a by-election for a replacement of the late MP.
Article 112 (5) of the 1992 constitution states that “whenever a vacancy occurs in Parliament, the Clerk to Parliament shall notify the Electoral commission in writing within seven days after the vacancy occurred, and a by-election shall be held within thirty days after the vacancy occurred.”
The former lawmakee died on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, where he had been on admission briefly.
He’s said to have been struck with a stroke while sleeping.
TheDistrict Chief Executive(DCE) for Kumawu and the New Patriotic Party(NPP) executives have been barred by the family of the late MP, Hon. Philip Basoah from attending his funeral.
The ban according to the family, targets the DCE of the area in particular Mr. Samuel Addae Agyekum who has been accused severally of engineering evil against the late MP.
“The NPP executives must count themselves out of all funeral arrangements and everything concerning my late brother’s funeral”, the brother of the late MP Mr. Solomon Basoah warned on live radio
Giving reasons for the decision by the family on Kumasi-based Angel FM, Mr Solomon Basoah revealed that, “on Wednesday I was told they (NPP executives in the district) wanted to come to the family so I called theDCEand he also confirmed. Just after speaking with the DCE, I called Justin Kodua and told him my mother is old and she is aware of all that the party did to my brother in Kumawu. Sometimes they insult my mother herself which she is aware. It is likely she will go with her son if she sees the Kumawu executives at the funeral. Therefore, none of the party executives of Kumawu must step foot at the funeral. They must count themselves out of all funeral arrangements and everything concerning my late brother’s funeral.”
The District Chief Executive Officer Hon Mr. Samuel Addae Agyekum was also accused by the family of spreading falsehood about the late MP while he was on his sick bed battling for his life.
In the next three weeks, the World Bank’s Public Sector Reform for Results Projects (PSRRP) will deliver two enormous industrial printing machines to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration.
Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, said the arrival of these machines would help the Passport Office to clear all outstanding backlogs within a week.
“It is imperative to indicate that these giant industrial machines have the capacity to print about two thousand passports within an hour,” Madam Ayorkor Botchwey stated on the floor of Parliament in her response to a question by Mr William Okofo-Dateh, National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Jaman South.
The MP asked the Minister about the steps being taken by the Ministry to reduce the huge backlog of processed passport application forms since 2022.
Madam Ayorkor Botchwey said the steps being taken by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration to reduce the backlog of printed passports were improving the capacity of passport printing machines and increasing the capacity to vet completed applications.
She said the Passport Office’s inability to print all processed applications within the stipulated time frame last year, as she had indicated on several numerous platforms was largely due to supply chain challenges, which was a result of COVID-19 pandemic and most recently, the Russia-Ukraine war.
“Fortunately for us, Mr Speaker, the Ministry took delivery of three hundred thousand passport booklets in October, 2022,” she stated.
“Mr Speaker, I am pleased to inform this august House that with the number of booklets supplied, the backlog cases reduced from over 120,000 in October 2022 to 22,698 by December 2022, but for the frequent breakdown of our printing machine, all the backlogs would have been cleared.”
She said it must be noted that completed applications go through various levels of vetting to ensure that only eligible applicants were issued with the Ghanaian passport.
Adding that to this end, the Passport Office had increased the number of vetting staff, who were also tasked to do extra hours occasionally, including working on weekends to clear outstanding passports yet to be printed.
“Mr Speaker, whilst efforts are underway to clear the backlogs, Passport Application Centres, particularly those in Kumasi and Accra have been saddled with the phenomenon of uncollected passports,” she said.
“Even though applicants are usually informed through text messages that their passports have been printed and sent to the various Passport Application Centres, a lot of passports are yet to be collected.”
Madam Ayorkor Botchwey said the Ministry recently issued a public announcement and some applicants did turn up and collected their passports.
She said the Ministry would continue to course such announcements to be made periodically.
“I wish to use this opportunity to apologize to our compatriots who are yet to receive their passports and also to assure this august House and the entire citizens that the Ministry has put in place enough measures to prevent a future occurrence of this unfortunate incident and promise smooth and efficient service delivery,” she stated.
She also assured the House that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration continuous to give urgent applicants for passports the utmost attention that it requires.
Jacob Iddris, the member of parliament for Savelugu, has been given a bench warrant by the Tamale High Court, presided over by Justice Richard Kogyapwah.
The MP has been charged with two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm.
On December 9, 2020, state prosecutors said they found an AK-47 rifle and 60 rounds of ammunition in an office they said belonged to the MP.
The National Democratic Congress had stated that the party office was an open space and the weapon could have been put there by someone else and not the MP. The party also raised concerns about the search which they alleged was conducted without the presence of the owners of the facility.
The search followed some shooting that led to the death of one person. An unknown assailant shot a 12-year-old dead and injured three others in Savelugu on December 8, 2020, after the declaration of the 2020 election result.
Divisional Police Command, DSP Twumasi Ankrah, at the time said the Police were able to retrieve AK47 guns upon their arrival at the scene.
The accused and his lawyer failed to appear in court on Friday when the case was called. The accused had written to the court about some pressing assignment he had to execute in Parliament and prayed the court to bear with him. The judge had earlier raised concerns over his absence in court.
The Chief State Attorney appealed for a warrant for his arrest following the absence of the MP in court. The plea of the state prosecutors was granted. The judge thus issued the bench warrant for the MP.
Justice Anin Yeboah, Ghana’s Chief Justice, has tasked the personnel of the Judiciary Service with carrying out their jobs with diligence and professionalism in order to give hope to the helpless who depend on the courts.
Speaking during the commissioning of theKasoa High Court, Justice Anin Yeboah underscored the need to have decent courts across the country to help in the resolution of disputes and therefore, admonished the judicial staff to be professional in their dealings.
“I urge the staff to exhibit a high level of professionalism in the discharge of their duties and I will want to remind them that most clients who patronise our services are often physically and emotionally distressed and they will need comfort and help as they turn to the courts for justice.”
The Chief Justice also warned the staff against vices such as extortion and urged the public to report any judicial officer who indulges in the act for onward action to be taken.
“Harassments of all forms including the threat and extortion of money from people who come to the court for redress is the cruellest way of treating our own people and I urge the public to stand firm and refuse to yield to the unsanctioned demands of judicial officers and don’t be afraid to report such judicial officers for actions to be taken against them.”
He further disclosed that the Kasoa District Court will later this year be retooled to serve as a child-friendly gender-based court to handle domestic violence cases which are on the rise within the Kasoa enclave.
Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has asserted that no suspicious activity occurred during the passing of the tax Bills although the member of parliament for Nanton, Mohammed Hardi Tuferu wasn’t present.
The MP was involved in anaccidenton Friday while on his way to Parliament to partake in a vote on the financial bills under consideration.
The MP was driven to the house in an ambulance with the Whips on both sides of the house directed by the Speaker to confirm the situation.
Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin after proceedings clarified why the legislator was counted as part of the votes.
”Members who are incapacitated shall upon reporting their incapacity to the Speaker through the Clerk shall be recorded. We have some of our members that are incapacitated and what I did was to ask the Whips to go and physically see them to assess their incapacitation and whether they are of sound mind.”
“I did not do anything untoward. I only followed the rules.”
The former president John Mahama’s remarks on the poor condition of Senior High Schools (SHS) in the country have been supported byDr. Clement Apaak, the member of parliament for Builsa South.
According to him, the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) monitoring report supports the unpleasant nature of food supplied to schools.
This comes on the back of the formerPresident John Mahama expressing some concerns on the challenges that have bedeviled the SHS in the country.
Commenting on the development, the Builsa South lawmaker who doubles as the deputy ranking member on the Education Committee in Parliament questioned why unregistered tomato paste will be supplied to schools.
“JM is right. Our SHS students are fed insect infested beans, soup made from rotten groundnuts, banku made from weevil infested corn.
“Our wards are fed expired food items such as tomato paste, milk and mackrell. Will you feed such to your pet dog? Expect a detailed article soon,” Mr. Apaak stated.
He continued: “Auditor-General reports, the PIAC 2018 FSHS monitoring report support the case that our SHS students in some cases are fed unwholesome and expired food supplied by unscrupulous buffer stock food suppliers. Why will tomato paste not registered with the FDA be supplied to schools?”
Dr. Yakubu Akparibo, an aviation specialist, has recommended that government entrust the national airlines in the care of a private sector.
Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show, he said that the profit made from aviation in recent times is not so much compared to previous times and there is the fear that government might run at a loss should it take the risk.
“I think at this point government should not put any investment in this airline and to me, even in the future I don’t think government should invest in an airline, they should leave it to the private sector,” he said.
“Now the profit margins in aviation is very small, it’s not like in the 80s and 70s, you know those days we didn’t have GSA and so many safety leverages and stuff, now profit margins are very small, he said. Leave new national airline to private sector – Expert tells government
Dr. Akparibo added that, when these state airlines are established, it could pave the way for state officials to use them freely for their official duties which could subsequently lead to huge debts.
“You know if it’s government-owned sometimes they probably would want to use it for official trips and travels and they may not pay and stuff and normally that leads to the airlines getting more debts and eventually bankruptcy so I think the government should leave the airlines to the private sector,” the expert indicated.
Speaking on the same show, retired international airline pilot, Michael Foli also said that instead of establishing a national airline, government should rather invest in domestic airlines to make them more efficient and reliable.2
“Government should rather divert its attention to helping domestic airlines, there was a time when domestic airlines were not being charged tax on the purchase of fuel, that was a way the government was encouraging domestic airlines,”
“I am not sure, I think this was in Rawlings’ era or Atta Mills’ era but now I am told by one of those operators that they pay full tax and it’s over-burdening their operations,”
“If a private company wants to set up an airline, sure it’s an open market, let them do it, let the government sit back,” Mr. Foli said.
Ghana’s new national airline, Ghana Airlines will commence operations in the third quarter of this year, 13 years after the country’s second state-owned carrier stopped flights.
The new name was announced by Finance MinisterKen Ofori-Atta during the 2023 budget presentation to the Ghanaian Parliament. Mr Ofori-Atta also stated that Ghana expects the airline to be operational in 2023.
Ghana’s Aviation Minister, Joseph Kofi Adda revealed that the airline would be based in Accra, Ghana and would operate routes to West Africa and future routes to destinations in Europe, North America and Asia.
The establishment of Ghana Airlines will bring the 13-year absence of a national carrier in Ghana to an end. This follows the collapse of former national airlines Ghana Airways in 2004, and Ghana International Airlines, in 2010.
Mohamed Baakoe, a member of the Mfantsipim Old Boys 1989 year group, presented about GHC250,000 worth of laptops to Mfantsipim School to support the growth of the National Mathematics and Science Quiz team as well as the ICT development of the school.
The presentation was made by Baakoe to the Ebusuapanyin of the Mfantsipim Old Boys Association (MOBA), Captain Paul Forjoe at the MOBA secretariat, off the Liberia Road in Accra in February.
Baakoe in making the presentation highlighted the significance of Information and Communication Technology to the development of the youth. He indicated that as someone who had benefitted significantly from the training in Information and Communication Technology, he deemed it integral that all students, especially at High School benefit from practical training in ICT with the requisite equipment such as the laptops donated.
The IT Lead at DRW noted that his company recognizes the significance of such support to educational institutions and is ready to sustain its collaboration with Mfantsipim once it recognizes the benefits of the equipment to the school.
Captain Forjoe thanked Baakoe and DRW for their donation and was confident the laptops will go a long way to support the school’s e-learning drive.
Several members of the MOBA 1989 Year Group were on hand to support Baakoe donate the laptops to the school. Also present were Kodwo Morgan and Yaw Subri of the MOBA Secretariat.
Mr. Baakoe who hails from Cape Coast, having engineered the presentation of the laptops to the School also found time out of his limited schedule to spend a couple of days volunteering at the school’s e-learning facility, which is managed by another Old Boy, Seth Ahene.
Aside his mission of helping the virtual development of the school, Baakoe took the opportunity to identify firsthand the school’s technological needs to serve as a guide in seeking further support for the school.
The new Electoral Commission‘s Constitutional Instrument (CI) which intends to make the Ghana Card the only document for continuous voter registration in the country has been rejected by Parliament.
The House has rejected the move by the Electoral Commission (EC) to make the Ghana Card the only document for continuous voter registration in the country.
Parliament has also maintained that the guarantor system which is a means of getting an eligible voter with the required document registered must also be maintained.
A report of the Committee of the Whole also objected the EC’s move to limit continuous registration exercises to the regional, district capitals and offices determined by the commission.
In order to increase improved safety, Madam Emily Young, the Chief Executive Officer of the non-governmental organization Moving Health Ghana, has renovated some tricycle ambulances for use by communities in the Sissala East Municipality of the Upper West Region.
The tricycle ambulances will help reduce referral time, thereby improving access to health care in real-time.
The communities are Kong, Bugubelle, Banu, Bawiesebelle, and Nabugubelle.
The Moving Health ambulance is a low-cost three-wheel vehicle that has provided access to safe, affordable, reliable emergency transportation to geographically neglected areas.
Madam Young announced this at Tumu at a workshop to relaunch and hand over the refurbished ambulances to the five communities.
She said other old ones would be refurbished for the benefit of other communities, which would bring the number to 10 in the Sissala East Municipality.
“The ambulances will be kept in the Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds to improve emergency health care,” she added.
“Our goal is to expand nationwide, and we think the system we have been able to design in Sissala East is applicable to many places in Ghana, Africa, and other parts of the world”.
The design was community-led, and it would be expanded to Wa East and other parts of the region and the country to respond to health emergencies.
Mr Isaac Quansah, the Country Director of Moving Health Ghana, said the NGO decided to improve upon the existing tricycle ambulances, launched in 2019, after complaints on their usage to effectively assist pregnant women to access emergency services.
“We have now built a multi-purpose new fabrication centre in Pulima near Tumu, where these emergency ambulances are designed and fabricated by artisans from the local area.”
“I am proud to say we can produce these refurbished ambulances here for any community that needs them.”
The ambulances come with improved ventilation, spacious with seats for four persons, a stretcher suitable for pregnant women and the sick, a locker to keep medicines, windows, fan, and lights bright enough to carry out emergency care.
They also have public address systems and serine to send out information.
Mr Quansah said the tricycles were robust and could function smoothly on “the bad road networks in the area” to reduce the delays in accessing emergency health care.
Madam Maria Johana Yourpor, the Regional Coordinator, Northern Development Authority, commended the organisation for taking up the challenge to solve women’s issues and promised an effective collaboration for the success of the project.
Mr Mohammed Issah Bataglia, the Country Director of Virtue Foundation, a partner to Moving Health, recalled an encounter he had with a pregnant woman in labour and later depicted that experience in a photograph, captioned: “Why must a woman die giving birth to a human being, can’t we do something about this?”.
This received attention from other partners and they started the idea to use the local emergency ambulances to help women in labour to reach health facilities faster.
He appealed to the communities to take good care of the ambulances to sustain them.
The Sissala East Municipal Manager of the National Ambulance Service, Mr Mohammed Yakubu, said the vehicles had been out of commission since October, 2022 and appealed to the Assembly to help repair them.
The Growth and Sustainability Levy Bill 2022, the Ghana Revenue Authority Bill 2022, and the Income Tax Amendment Bill 2022 have all been approved by the parliament.
The financial bills presented to Parliament by the government seeks to rake in about 4 billion Ghana Cedis annually as part of domestic revenue mobilisation.
The bills are also crucial to aid the government’s quest to facilitate the Board Approval for the $3 billion International Monetary Fund(IMF) Programme staff-level agreement.
The Minority in Parliament earlier communicated its opposition to the bills.
Cape Coast South lawmaker, George Ricketts-Hagan ahead of the votes expressed the Minority caucus’ commitment to resisting the bills as a bold statement to the government that it cannot be reckless with its expenditure and expect Ghanaians to pay the price.
As part of measures to meet the criteria set by the IMF to qualify for a bailout, the government has completed tariff adjustment by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), Publication of the Auditor-General’s Report on COVID-19 spending, and Onboarding of Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) and Road Fund on Ghana integrated financial management information system (GIFMIS).
The international and domestic bond markets are shut for the financing of government programmes, forcing the government to rely on Treasury Bills and concessional loans as the primary sources of financing for the 2023 fiscal year.
Government in justifying the introduction of the taxes said they are critical for recovery from the current economic crisis.
TheGhana Health Service (GHS) Bono Regional Directorate is concerned about what it describes as a failure on the part of doctors to accept postings to the area.
Regional Director, Dr. Kofi Amo Kodieh, said out of 32 doctors posted to the region, only 9 showed up for work.
Speaking at a health forum in Sunyani, Dr. Kofi Amo Kodieh said the situation is getting dire appealing to stakeholders to ensure that incentives are put together to attract medical officers to the region.
“32 doctors were posted to this region, unfortunately, only 9 of them reported because Bono is not deemed to be one of the affluent regions to attract doctors. We would like to urge our stakeholders to as a matter of urgency put together incentives that will attract medical doctors to this region,” Bono Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service said.
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has advisedGhanaians to disregard speculations that the institution plans to soon make a GH500 coin the official unit of exchange in the country.
Reports are rife on social media alleging that such a coin, with samples already viral, is in the works.
But the apex bank said it has no such intentions.
The Director for Currency Management at the Bank of Ghana, Dominic Owusu, dismissed the reports and described them as false.
“When there is a currency issuance or change, the Bank of Ghana will come with an appropriate press release to inform the public. We saw on social media that the central bank will issue a GH¢500 note or coin, but the bank has not done any such thing. So it’s not true,“ Mr Owusu clarified.
Mr. Owusu also responded to reports that the one pesewas coin is no longer legal tender.
“The central bank has not demonetised the one pesewa coin,” he said in a Joy News interview.
Mr. Owusu further urged Ghanaians to handle the cedi notes with care to prevent them from getting worn out easily.
“We want the education out there for people to learn how to handle the cedi not to worn out. That’s why you journalists are here, and I want you to help the central bank in that quest. The bank is also doing its part and will make sure all is done to save the cedi”, Mr. Owusu stressed.
The Member of Parliament for Cape Coast South, Kweku Ricketts-Hagan has asserted that rather than concentrating on passing revenue laws, thegovernment should reduce excessive expenditure.
The government is seeking approval for some revenue bills which are currently before Parliament to rake in about 4 billion Ghana Cedis annually.
The bills are the Income Tax Amendment Act, the Excise Duty Amendment Act, and the Growth and Sustainability Act.
Ahead of the consideration of the financial bills, the lawmaker spoke to journalists in Parliament.
“There are serious expenditure items that need to be looked at. One of them remains obviously to reduce government ministers and other wasteful expenditures like the National Cathedral and other things they intend to spend money on. I don’t want anybody to be telling us that without those things we cannot survive.
The lawmaker added, “we don’t need that together with anIMF programme. We have got countries that went to IMF without going through debt restructuring and these kinds of tax reviews, before they got the programme. They got the programme and worked through these things to achieve whatever the IMF wanted us to achieve”.
The government fears failing to pass the new tax bills on Friday, March 31, will jeopardize the country’s chances of a quick economic recovery and Board approval for an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout.
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the Information Minister, is concerned that if these bills are not passed, plans to raise money to supplement domestic revenue will be thwarted.
“If we don’t do what we have to do for the country, we will have major challenges. So, this is a set of measures we must ensure is worth passing. This is a major bridge we have to cross in closing this revenue gap and ensure that there is more liquidity”, he stressed.
He thus appealed to the Minority in Parliament to support the passage of the revenue bills currently before the house in order to help the government secure the $3 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
A private attorney and member of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Kwame Jantuah, has requested that medical professionals inform the public about the risks associated with anal sex.
He says when the public becomes aware of the effect of annual sex on the body, they will resist homosexuality with all their strength.
Speaking on the Big Issue on TV3 Friday, March 31 in relation to the Proper Human Sexual Rights & Ghanaian Family Values Bill, also known as the anti-Gay Bill, Mr. Jantuah said “I don’t know why the medical profession is quiet, we should have them here and let them explain to us what anal sex does to human beings, the kind of damage it does to that part of the body.”
I don’t know why the medical profession is quiet, they should come out to explain to the public the implications of anal sex – Lawyer Kwame Jantuah on LGBTQ+ rights in Ghana#TV3NewDaypic.twitter.com/S5Dq09e0BF
Meanwhile, the Ant-Gay Bill has been laid in Parliament.
Hopefully, the report shall be debated and adopted today Friday, March 31, Ranking Member on the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament, Rockson Nelson Dafeamekpor said.
This will pave way for the Consideration of the Bill.
“Join us and pray for us,” he tweeted on Friday.
Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin earlier told the Constitutional, not to be intimidated by anyone regarding the Anti-Gay Bill.
He asked the committee to report back to him if they are encountering any challenges.
“Please, committee members that we referred the Bill to, we want the report, don’t be intimidated by any person,” he said during a breakfast meeting with the Parliamentary Christian Fellowship on Tuesday, March 28.
He added “Please let the report flow, we need to legislate. Our friends just passed their law in Uganda, we may not go the way they have gone, our Constitution is very clear as to the direction we should move and so we should be guided by that because if we pass any law against the Constitution, it is unconstitutional.”
His comments come at a time President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo dissociated from the Anti-Gay Bill.
Proposed under a Private Members’ Bill, the anti-gay bill is expected to criminalise some of the activities of homosexuals in Ghana.
Answering a question put to him at the Jubilee House on Monday, March 27 when US Vice President Kamala Harris called on him,President Akufo-Addo confirmed that the bill is currently before Parliament, which will decide on it, but most of its provisions are being fine-tuned.
“It hasn’t been passed, so the statement that there is legislation in Ghana to that effect is not accurate,” he said.
“Parliament is dealing with it and at the end of the process, I will come in,” he added.
President Akufo-Addo welcomed US Vice President Harris to the seat of government as part the latter’s three-day visit to the country.
She stressed how strongly she feels about the importance of supporting and fighting for the cause of human rights including rights of LGBTQs.
“For the American press who are here, you know that a great deal of work in my career has been to address human rights issues, equality issues across the globe including as well as the LGBTQ community and I feel very strongly about the importance of supporting freedom and supporting and fighting for quality among all people.”
Ranking Member on the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament,Rockson Nelson Dafeamekpor has called for support and prayers as the anti-Gay bill has been laid before parliament.
Hopefully, he said, the report shall be debated and adopted today Friday, March 31.
This will pave way for the Consideration of the Bill.
“Join us and pray for us,” the South Dayi Member of Parliament tweeted on Friday.
Earlier, another ranking Member on Committee Bernard Ahiaforassured the Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin that the committee would not be intimidated by anyone from doing its work in relation to the Anti-Gay Bill.
Mr Ahiafo said he is a lawyer and is full of indomitable spirits therefore, he cannot be intimidated by anyone.
He told TV3’s Parliamentary correspondent Komla Kluste in an interview on Wednesday, March 29 that the committee is ready to take the second reading of the Bill if it is programmed by the Business Committee.
He said “I can speak for myself, I am a man with an indomitable spirit and I don’t think I can be intimidated in any manner whatsoever by anybody. I am a lawyer, I will look at the law, look at the constitution and look at what needs to be done.
“That is exactly what I am going to do without any fear or favor and so let me assure the Speaker that the committee is made up mostly of lawyers and they cannot be intimidated,
“What the committee is supposed to do, the Committee has done it, and our report is ready. If the Business Committee programmes it today, we can take the second reading of the anti-LGBTOI Bill today, if it is programmed tomorrow we can take the Bill tomorrow.”
Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin earlier told the Constitutional, not to be intimidated by anyone regarding the Anti-Gay Bill.
He asked the committee to report back to him if they are encountering any challenges.
“Please, committee members that we referred the Bill to, we want the report, don’t be intimidated by any person,” he said during a breakfast meeting with the Parliamentary Christian Fellowship on Tuesday, March 28.
He added “Please let the report flow, we need to legislate. Our friends just passed their law in Uganda, we may not go the way they have gone, our Constitution is very clear as to the direction we should move and so we should be guided by that because if we pass any law against the Constitution, it is unconstitutional.”
His comments come at a time President Akufo-Addo dissociated from the Anti-Gay Bill.
Proposed under a Private Members’ Bill, the anti-gay bill is expected to criminalise some of the activities of homosexuals in Ghana.
Answering a question put to him at the Jubilee House on Monday, March 27 when US Vice President Kamala Harris called on him, President Akufo-Addo confirmed that the bill is currently before Parliament, which will decide on it, but most of its provisions are being fine-tuned.
“It hasn’t been passed, so the statement that there is legislation in Ghana to that effect is not accurate,” he said.
“Parliament is dealing with it and at the end of the process, I will come in,” he added.
President Akufo-Addo welcomed US Vice President Harris to the seat of government as part the latter’s three-day visit to the country.
She stressed how strongly she feels about the importance of supporting and fighting for the cause of human rights including rights of LGBTQs.
“For the American press who are here, you know that a great deal of work in my career has been to address human rights issues, equality issues across the globe including as well as the LGBTQ community and I feel very strongly about the importance of supporting freedom and supporting and fighting for quality among all people.”
Member of Parliament of theOdododiodio constituency, Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpuye, journalist Kwami Sefa Kayi have reminded each other of their long time in service to the country.
On the Kokrooko Show on Peace FM, the two seasoned journalists who had for a long time were reuniting for the first time in a while, one was quick to crack a joke.
The MP wittingly jabbed Kwami Sefa Kayi by pretending to want to know if it was indeed the Kokrooko show host who was on the line.
Giggling at the situation, Kwami also jokingly replied that how could he go on retirement when Nii Lante Vanderpuyewas still in active service.
The MP for Odododiodio had, hitherto, been a regular panellist on the Kokrooko Show, but in recent years, has not done so.
This was the situation that was presented to the two when Kwami Sefa Kayi sought to ask the MP why that was so, leading up to the brief moment of jest between the two.
This is how their conversation went:
Lante Vanderpuye: “… Am I speaking with Kwami? I thought you have gone on retirement?”
Kwami: “Ei, when you are still in active service, am I supposed to go on retirement?”
The two laughed over the matter and moved on to the substantive issue.
The Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2021 (anti-LGBTQI bill), which Parliament is yet to review, has caused a debate between veteran attorney Moses Foh-Amoaning and Prof. Takyiwaa Manuh, an emerita professor at the University of Ghana.
Speaking in a GBC interview on Thursday, monitored by GhanaWeb, Prof Takyiwaa Manuh urged that people who engage in LGBTQI activities should be accepted because they already exist in communities in Ghana.
She suggested the Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2021 (anti-LGBTQI bill), which is being championed by Foh-Amoaning and other Ghanaians, is driven by hate and should be rejected by the Parliament of Ghana.
The academic described Foh-Amoanging as her junior at the bar and said that the people championing the anti-LGBTQI bill have ulterior motives.
Reacting to this, Lawyer Foh-Amoaning, who joined the programme through a phone call, berated Prof Takyiwaa Manuh for demeaning him and for saying that Ghanaians should accept LGBTQI+ activities.
“What do you mean that I’m your junior at the bar, I’m your junior so what. You say we have an agenda, really! You (Prof Takyiwaa Manuh) don’t have an agenda. You think we don’t know those who are behind you.
“Do you know what homosexuals do, what are the practises of homosexuals? A lady of your age, you are saying that a man should take his penis and push it through the anus. Is the anus the aorist for sex? Professor, I’m asking you, is the anus the aorist for sex?
“How can you say that our culture accepts a thing like this that a man should take his penis and put it through faeces,” he said.
The lawyer also refuted the assertion that people who are championing the anti-gay bill are driven by hatred.
Meanwhile, the Parliament of Ghana is excepted to debate and pass the anti-gay bill today, Friday, March 31, 2023.
This is after the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament present the final draft of the bill, which was sponsored by a group of bi-partisan Members of Parliament, to the plenary.
Parliament on Friday paid tribute to the late Kumawu Member of Parliament, Philip Atta Basoah.
The MPs took turns to recount fond memories of the 54-year-old as well as make some recommendations to the House on how to ensure the safety of Parliamentarians.
Mr Basoah was confirmed dead on Tuesday morning, March 28, 2023, while receiving treatment at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
Member of parliament for the Jomoro Constituency in the Western Region, Dorcas Affo-Toffey, has detailed how the two years of court proceedings regarding her nationality have had an impact on the residents and development of her district.
The MP said some investors she contacted refused to come and invest in Jomoro because she was in court in the first two years of her tenure.
Madam Affo-Toffey gave these explanations in an interview on Onua FM’s drive time show Efie Ne Fie with Dr. Prekese on Thursday, March 30, 2023.
The Sekondi High Court in November 2022 dismissed a petition that sought to challenge the eligibility of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP).
That meant Dorcas Affo-Toffey could continue to be an MP and continue to represent the people of Jomoro in Parliament.
The court said per her application and subsequent issuance of a Ghanaian passport, she automatically lost the Ivorian nationality.
The court held that per Ivorian laws, immediately the MP acquired a Ghanaian passport, she automatically ceased to be an Ivorian and therefore there was no need for her to have formally renounced her Ivorian citizenship as argued by the petitioners.
Reacting to the issue, Madam Affo-Toffey explained that Jomoro can boast of several natural resources that when utilized, can create several employment opportunities not only for the people in Jomoro Constituency, but also the entire country, yet poverty is rampant.
“My constituency has two different areas. The coastal area and farming area and we are blessed as constituency. We have oil, cocoa, coconut, rubber, cassava and others but we have bad roads in some areas, bad telecommunication networks which I have been able to solve – unemployment and electricity challenges in some small towns,” she explained.
The MP added that “on schools, we have just two SHSs, one was built by Nkrumah and the one was done during NDC era. Some communities were cut off from the rest…but we get cocoa from there. They carry sick people on a stretch”.
She explained that due to the nature of poverty in the area, she started contacting some investors in the US for them to come and create jobs in Jomoro but these investors did not come because of the court case.
“I travelled to the US and met two huge companies who were willing to come and invest in Jomoro but they said, we are coming because of you and you are in court so we cannot come. So the court petition did not help me at all. It did not help me and my people. They would have done a factory for both coconut and cassava processing. The frustrations were too much but I am not perturbed and discouraged”.
Madam Affo-Toffey said “you are in Parliament but you do not know what will happen next. The court for two years did not help the development of me and my people”.
Commenting on her achievements despite the court petition which delayed development, the MP said “every witch is afraid of me because my people pray for me always because of what I have been able to do for them in these few years despite the court petition”.
“I have given over 350 SHSs students educational material such as mattresses.I have given over 200 tertiary students scholarship to study, I have built CHPS compound for some communities, I supplied pharmaceuticals to clinics, hospital and CHPS compounds, I have done over 600 desks to school….My target is to do over 2,000. I have the carpenters who manufacture them in the constituency. On water project, there were schools that pupils walk kilometres to drink water and return to school. I have provided them with potable water. My target is to do something for every community. I have decided to do the rest by the end of the year”.
Madam Affo-Toffey added that “I am building a 6-unit classroom block for one of the communities. I have done a bridge …three of those bridges…but the one in a place called Mitica is the best because since the inception of the town, no one has been able to go there with a car but I have done it. I don’t think even if my common fund for four terms cannot pay that for the Mitica Bridge but I have done them all”.
The representative for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has criticised the Minority for increasing the size of government by approving all six of President Akufo-Addo‘s ministerial nominees.
The swipe comes after the Presidency released the report on the number of staffers at the Presidency.
The number of employees has increased from 934 in 2020 to 995 in 2021 and 1048 this year.
The North Tongu legislature believes rejection of the new nominees would have sent a strong signal to the government about the protest to its large size.
“I am sure that if last Friday, March 24, all 136 of us had voted rejecting those new 8 appointees, I don’t think President Nana Addo would have had the courage to do this. In the sense, I’m forced to blame some of my colleagues, the traitors among us who have brought us here”.
“Because we are basically emboldening this President, telling him that he can do his worst because allies within the opposition will continue to cheer you on in secret. We will continue to endorse your callous policies. And I am deeply pained, so horrified and hurt by the treachery of some of our colleagues”.
A document submitted to Parliamentby the Office of the President revealed that 1048 staffers work at the Presidency serving various administrative and domestic roles.
The report submitted to Parliament is in accordance with section 11 of the Presidential Office Act, 1993 (Act 463).
The report covers three key areas, namely the number of Presidential Staff employed at the Office of the President during the period, the ranks and grades of these staff, and employees of other Public Services assigned to the Office of the President.
The report revealed that during the reporting period, there were two (2) Ministers of State and forty-four (44) Senior Presidential Staffers at post. The other Political Appointees at the Office of the President numbered three hundred and fifteen (315).
Some staff of the company have recently come under attack while executing the company’s ongoing revenue mobilisation programme to recover some GH¢5.7 billion owed by the consuming public.
ECG cited the detention of its personnel by the Ghana Post Company over a GH¢89,000 debt to buttress its caution.
Some personnel of the Company were detained on March 28 by Ghana Post Company when they attempted to disconnect power over the GH¢89,000 debt.
In a statement the ECG therefore, cautioned the general public against illegal connections and attacks on its personnel in the line of their duty which it said is a crime under Ll 2413.
It said it will not countenance any attacks and hesitate to disconnect any customer that owes the Company or threatens its staff.
“The Company hereby gives public notice that any customer/consumer, be they an Individual or company who refuses to allow the Company’s personnel to perform their functions as permitted by Ll 2413, will be disconnected. Further, where an assault on our staff is committed, the consumer will continue to be disconnected until such period of time that the customer has confirmed intention in writing to ensure the safety of ECG’s personnel who have rightfully entered the premises to discharge their duties and pledge not to interfere with the company’s personnel in this regard.
“The Company further reserves its right to initiate either civil or criminal action or both against the consumer and or its officers.”
According to testimony during a misconduct tribunal, an on-duty cop had sex with an off-duty coworker in a marked police van.
Stephen Athawes and Daria Krolewicz were found guilty of gross misconduct at a hearing earlier in March.
Both former PCs had left their posts before the hearing, Devon and CornwallPolice said.
Supt Jo Arundale said “had the officers still been serving, they would have been dismissed without notice”.
‘Undermined trust’
Supt Arundale, the force’s head of professional standards, said: “On this occasion the behaviour of the officers fell below the standards expected within policing.
“Through their actions, the officers undermined the public’s trust and confidence in the police force and did not fulfil their duties and responsibilities.”
The hearing concluded on 9 March and both officers will now be submitted to the College of Policing barred list.
The panel heard Mr Athawes had been working on the night of 30 May 2021, when he dropped his crew mate back at a police station.
Following the two-day public hearing, the panel concluded that the allegations were proven
He then went in a police riot van to collect Ms Krolewicz who had been on a night out in Exeter with friends.
They then drove to a secluded car park and church yard.
The panel heard how on 17 June, Ms Krolewicz had told a colleague they had not had sex but that they had done “everything else”.
She also referred to having “done stuff in a vehicle” and disclosed that Mr Athawes’ “radio was operating so frequently they were unable to have sex”, the panel heard.
The panel upheld allegations that Mr Athawes had breached the standards appropriate to the conduct of a police officer in respect of honesty and integrity, discreditable conduct, authority, respect and courtesy and duties and responsibilities.
It was found he had knowingly planned to collect Ms Krolewicz, who was off-duty, without a policing purpose, and then engaged in sexual encounters in a marked police vehicle with her whilst he was on duty.
He also falsely told his supervisor and crew mate he was on a medication run at the time, and so unavailable for response calls, the panel found.
Ms Krolewicz was found to have breached the standards appropriate to the conduct of a police officer in respect of discreditable conduct.
Following the two-day public hearing, the panel concluded both had breached the expected standards of professional behaviour.
The panel determined that had the officers still been serving, they would have been dismissed without notice.
TheMinistry of Roads and Highwayshas responded to claims that it has redistributed funds intended for building a bridge and several roads in Afram Plains, Eastern Region.
The Members of Parliament for Afram Plains North and South, Betty Nana Efua Krosbi Mensah and Joseph Appiah Boateng respectively, claimed that the government had proposed to use the funds for construction works on the Accra-Kumasi highway instead of Adawso-Bunso to Ekye – Amanfrom.
They argued that the move would affect the food production capacity of the area.
Responding in a statement, the Ministry of Roads and Highways described the allegations by the MPs as misleading and inaccurate.
“The Ministry wishes to state that the joint statement is misleading and that the Members of Parliament could have easily sought the necessary clarification from the Ministry. The allegation by the Members of Parliament against the Ministry is biased and cannot, therefore, be accurate,” the Ministry said in its statement.
The Ministry explained that government had anticipated that two components of the project, with a total cost of €350 million will be executed concurrently, but it has not been able to conclude the arrangement of financing for the project.
The Ministry attributed the government’s inability to conclude the financialarrangements to the current debt restructuring exercise.
“It was expected that the two components of the project, with a total cost of €350 million, will be executed concurrently and be completed in thirty (30) months subject to the successful completion of the financing arrangement. It is in light of this that Government allocated about US$98 million under the US$750 million African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) Loan as a contribution to the road contract component after one of the financiers declined to participate in the financial arrangement”.
The Ministry of Roads and Highways further stressed, “It is important to state that due to the current debt restructuring exercise, Government has not been able to conclude the arrangement of the financing for the project”.
According to the Ministry, government decided to apply the allocation under the Afreximbank facility to the Accra-Kumasi corridor.
“This has informed Government’s prudent decision to apply the allocation under the Afreximbank facility to the equally important Accra-Kumasi corridor,” it said.
The Ministry said the re-allocation of the funds will be applied to Apedwa to Ejisu section of the Accra – Kumasi Road.
“The re-allocation will be applied to specifically the Apedwa to Ejisu section of the Accra – Kumasi Road. This stretch goes through major towns such as Osino, Anyinam, Enyiresi, Nkawkaw and Konongo in the Eastern and Ashanti Regions. It is common knowledge that sections of the road within these towns are usually marked with heavy traffic congestion causing a lot of delays, accidents, pedestrian-related crashes and increased travel time,” the Ministry of Roads and Highways explained in its statement.
The Ministry justified that the decision is in the interest of the welfare of Ghanaians entreating them to cooperate with the Ministry to improve the national road network.
“The Ministry wishes to assure the good people of the Afram Plains area, including the Honourable Members for the Afram Plains, and the general public that the decision taken is in the interest of the general welfare of the people of Ghana. Government is committed to addressing their road network challenges and encourages all to cooperate with the Ministry as we strive to improve upon the national road network,” the Ministry urged.
An honor given to Nana Okobeng Amponsah, CEO of Okobeng Mining Company Ltd, has been withdrawn by theGhana Health Service(GHS).
Western Regional Directorate of the Ghana Health Service presented the award to the miner for his philanthropic work towards quality healthcare delivery in the Prestea Huni Valley Municipality of the Western Region on Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at its Annual Performance Review in Takoradi.
The award was presented to Nana Okobeng Amponsah by the Western Region Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko Mensah.
However, in a release sighted by 3news.com, the award has been revoked.
Western Regional Director of Health Dr. Yaw Ofori Yeboah indicated in the release that the operations of Okobeng fall contrary to the principles of the Ghana Health Service.
The statement adds that “after numerous complaints and evidence received by the Service on the operations of Okobeng Mining Company Limited, the award has been revoked”. Find the full statement below:
The West African Examinations Council(WAEC) Chairperson, Professor Ato Essuman, has said that without skill development for students, free secondary education in Ghana will be meaningless.
Although he believes the concept ofFree Senior High School (SHS) is admirable, his worry, however, is that it falls short of teacher development and providing students with the necessary skills for the world of work or further education.
Prof. Essuman said this as the keynote speaker at the 2023 edition of Achimota Speaks at the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences on Thursday.
The theme of the event was “The Governance, Management, and Financing of Secondary Education in Ghana.”
“The argument about free secondary education is about access and not enough about the content and the outcomes expected. Matters about skills development, teacher orientation, reorientation and training and development as well as new pedagogical approaches are less stressed. Clearly, fair attention to all these is likely to produce students ready to transition either to the tertiary level or the world of work.”
He continued to say, “the policy of making secondary education free and available to all is a lofty one but such a goal will be useless and needlessly expensive if all it does is to create opportunity and give young people access without the skills that will make them great assets for the nation development or otherwise, the problems would continue to compound.”
Prof. Essuman, who is also the Dean of Education and Entrepreneurship at Methodist University College in Ghana, poked holes in what he feels to be the poor implementation of free secondary education in the country.
This, he blames for the numerous difficulties that have beset such initiatives.
“Implementing free secondary education in Ghana may have been desirable if a gradualist approach and phased implementation of the program had been adopted. Learning from other countries’ experiences may have led to better management of the policy.
“With the problem of inadequate resources and delays in funds released to schools, a strategy for mean testing to target the poor and the vulnerable could have been adopted. I do not think that as a country we have many options.”
TheBank of Ghanahas warned Ghanaians to refrain from sending gifts to others in the form of cedi bouquets and hampers.
It said the currency was issued to be used as a medium of exchange for the purchase of goods and services.
The Director of the Currency Department at the central bank, Mr.Dominic Owusu, told journalists today (Thursday, March 30, 2023) that any other use of the currency was illegal and subject to prosecution.
He said the bank had noticed that some people were using the cedi notes as bouquets and hampers as gifts during weddings, birthdays and other celebrations, a practice he said must be stopped.
He said beyond being illegal, such acts made it easier for the notes to spoil or get defaced.
Given that spoilt and worn-out notes are replaced at a cost, he said such acts affected the operations of the central bank.
Mr Owusu was speaking to journalists on how to preserve the currency as part of events marking Ghana month in March.
He said the local currency was a great symbol of the country and efforts to preserve its quality and cleanliness must be prioritised by all.
A nationwide load-shedding schedule has been announced by theElectricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in response to a decrease in power generation imposed on by the shutdown of the Atuabo gas processing plant.
The load-shedding which kicked off on Thursday, March 30, will last till Friday, April 7, 2023, between 6.00pm and 11.00pm.
The ECG in a statement explained that this is due to “maintenance works being carried out by the Ghana National Gas Company(GNGC) at Atuabo, [hence] there is a power generation shortfall. In this regard, please find below a load management schedule from Thursday, 30th March to Friday 7th April 2023, between 6.00pm and 11.00pm”.
Volta, Ashanti, Western, Eastern, Central, Greater Accra and Tema will all be affected.
“We call on our customers to bear the inconvenience with us while the Ghana Gas Processing Plant undertakes this all-important maintenance activity,” the ECG appealed in its statement.
Some of the affected places in group A include: South Odorkor, Baah Yard, Odorgonno, Awoshie Massalatsi, Been-To, Parts of Trasacco, Estates, Parts of Airport Residential Area, GHIPSS, ValCo Trust, Enterprise Market, Trust Bank, Shippers Council, ABSA Bank, Ecobank, Adabraka Free Town, Government Boys, GNTC Bottling, Nayak, Ga East Hospital, Dome New Market, Agingo, Taifa, Nkatie Burger, Mr. Adjei, Demod.
Others are Hotel Adodo, CMB Flats, Coffee Shop, Parts of Labadi, Parts of Labone, Olebu, New Ayawaso, Amamole, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Ayigbe Town, Parts of Lartebiokorshie, Alogboshie, Neoplan, Best Point, Kaneshie Flats, St. Theresa, Cocoa Clinic, Accra Sound, Kaneshie Sports Complex, Parts of Kokomlemle, Mallam Atta Market.
