The ruling New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) National Executive Committee and National Council will meet today to decide when to hold the party’s presidential and parliamentary primaries.
The meeting will also announce a date for the opening of nomination for both elections.
The much-anticipated meeting was postponed from January 31st to today following the absence of many of the Council members.
Reports attributed to the Council said the party has set November 2023 to elect its presidential candidate, January 2024 to elect parliamentary candidates for constituencies with sitting NPP Members of Parliament (MPs) and April 2024 for constituencies without sitting NPP MPs.
But in a statement, the NPP said timelines in the above were not accurate and dates were yet to be concluded.
The former Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen has declared his intention to contest the flagbearership slot and lead the NPP. He will contest former Agriculture Minister, Dr Akoto Afriyie and former Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko who have all declared their intention to contest.
On Wednesday, February 1, a former Member of Parliament for the Mampong Constituency, Francis Addai-Nimoh formally announced his intention to contest the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) flagbearership race when nominations are opened.
The former legislator said preliminary research conducted by his team coupled with consultation and advice from some elders of the party, psyched himself to bring on board his professional knowledge and values to retain political power.
The staff of the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) is calling for the removal of its Managing Director, Osmani Aludiba Ayuba for performing below par.
In a petition presented to the Board of Directors of the company, the staff cited among other things the “worse financial performance of NEDCo, lack of a clear strategy for the company, exorbitant sole source procurement of point-of-sale devices and worsening distribution losses,” to back their demand.
They added that the company has retrogressed since Mr Ayuba took over as the managing director some three years ago.
“The net financial loss of NEDCo instead of improving has deteriorated from GH¢315.398 million in 2018 to GH¢392.406 million as of September 2022. The estimated net loss for 2022 is over GH¢400 million. This means NEDCo’s performance deteriorated by at least 24% over the period,” the staff said in the petition sighted by Citi News.
They add that the “cash flow situation of NEDCo is worsening every day. As a result, NEDCo is unable to pay most of its suppliers and contractors. As of September 2022, NEDCo was indebted to its major suppliers to the tune of GH¢1.8 billion. NEDCo is struggling to raise Letters of Credit to procure critical materials and equipment required for its operation under the watch of Mr Ayuba.”
As part of steps to press home their demand, the staff from Wednesday, February 1, have hoisted red banners across all the operational areas and service centres in NEDCo.
According to the petition, the distribution loss alone within the Tamale metropolis is estimated at 12 million cedis of revenue loss each month.
They also alleged that the managing director and his team of leaders have spent over $40 million in the last three years on needless projects.
“A contract of GH¢57.68 million awarded to Meinergy Technology to supply and install 40,300 Smart Split Prepaid Meters in Tamale is not yielding the desired results for NEDCo. Out of the over 24,000 Longi Meters deployed so far, 60% of the meters do not have the new PURC-approved tariff effective September 1, 2022, primarily due to integration issues with the Hexing Billing System.
“For almost 5 months, NEDCo management is unable to ensure that the affected customers pay the right tariff for the power consumed. It is estimated that NEDCo has lost GH¢2.2 million in revenue over the 5-month period.”
Adding that, “about 11,000 of the meters were also given free of charge to customers without them paying the required new service fees. This has occasioned an estimated loss of GH¢7.7 million in revenue”.
Meanwhile, the Board of Directors has appealed to the aggrieved staff to be patient and allow them to resolve their grievances.
President Akufo-Addo has announced that Ghana will begin the process of constructing a War Command College this year.
The Commander in Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces revealed on February 1, 2023 that he had tasked the Military High Command to activate processes towards that goal within this year.
“The government will not relent in its effort to transform the Ghana Armed Forces into a formidable modern force and will continue to help enhance the capacity and capability of the Armed Forces towards the development of our nation.
“I have tasked the Ministry of Defense and the Military High Command to begin the process of establishing a War College in Ghana this year. The Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) has been tasked to provide the seed capital,” he added.
The president was speaking at the 2023 West Africa Soldier’s Socialization Activities (WASSA) of the Ghana Armed Forces, at Burma Camp in Accra.
“The government and the people of Ghana continue to appreciate the sacrifices of the Ghana Armed Forces Forces towards ensuring peace and security both internally and externally,” he stressed.
February 1, busy day for CIC
President Akufo-Addo had a busy day aside from the WASSA, inagurating critical facilities for the military and donating equipment for their operations.
He wrote on his Facebook wall: “As part of Government’s effort towards addressing the accommodation deficit of the Armed Forces, this morning, I commissioned a newly constructed 300 Bed capacity Joseph Siaw Agyepong Young Soldiers’ Block at the 37 Military Hospital, which will accommodate newly posted young soldiers to commence their basic training in medical care.
“I also handed over the UN Level IV COVID-19 Field Hospital located near the Air Force Base, Accra, to the military High Command. I familiarised myself with the operations of DIKMAC Ltd, which is an armoured vehicle assembly plant located in Burma Camp, and also handed over a fleet of vehicles (175 in total) to the Headquarters 15 Armoured Brigade.
“Commissioning the ultra-modern CDS office complex was one of the highlights of the day, for it is an edifice befitting the CDS and his staff.
“I also cut the sod for the construction of a General Headquarters Office Complex for GHQ, and also for the construction of two thousand (2,000) housing units for the Navy,” the post accompanied by pictures of his engagement concluded.
The President of the Republic, Akufo-Addo, has commissioned a three hundred (300)-bed capacity young soldiers’ block at the 37 Military Hospital.
Commissioning the Block on Wednesday, 1st February 2023, President Akufo-Addo stated that the 37 Military Hospital, usually, finds itself with a lot of young soldiers posted to the Unit to commence their basic training in medical care.
Over the years, he explained that “the number has been increasing with nowhere to house these young soldiers, as they have to be on the hospital premises to learn their trade.”
According to the President, it is for this reason that then Director General of Health Services, Brigadier General Ralph Ametepe, conceived and started this project in 2016.
“With the use of internally generated funds, the project stood at fifty percent (50%) complete in 2018. Running out of funds in 2018 meant that the project stalled. It is good to note that successive Directors at the Hospital continued the project, albeit at a slow pace, until the project was revived in 2021 by the current Chief of Defence Staff,” he said.
The President continued, “I am told that the Chief of Defence Staff, in 2021, made an appeal to the Jospong Group of Companies to assist with the completion of this block, a request which was duly heard and answered. Jospong Group of Companies agreed to complete the project as a Corporate Social Responsibility at no cost to the Ghana Armed Forces. Jospong, well done, ayekoo!!”
Whilst assuring the officers, men and women of the Armed Forces of Government’s commitment to their welfare and well-being, he noted that since in assumption of office in 2017, his Government rolled out a number of measures to help deal with these challenges facing the Armed Forces.
These include phases one and two of the Barracks Regeneration Project and the Military Housing Projects, which I launched in 2017 and 2021, respectively. Government is also striving to complete stalled SSNIT and Ministry of Defence projects commenced in 2016 to add to the accommodation stock. These, together with ongoing accommodation projects, he explained, will provide some three thousand (3,000) accommodation units for the Ghana Armed Forces soon, and it will be the largest provision of accommodation units for the Armed Forces.
“We will continue to stay true to the pledges we made in our 2016 and 2020 manifestoes, which brought into and retained my party, the New Patriotic Party, and I, in office. Government will continue to construct much-needed accommodation infrastructure to enable the 37 Military Hospital and the Ghana Armed Forces perform its role as required by the Ghanaian people,” the President said.
Later in the day, President Akufo-Addo also commissioned a new administration block for the Chief of Defence Staff, at Burma Camp, and also handed over a UN Level IV Field Hospital to the Ghana Armed Forces.
In an exclusive interview with Citi News shortly after he made the disclosure before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in Parliament, he said the role handed him is not new and has always existed per law.
The Minister added that he had already been doing that but the President Akufo-Addo had to make it official.
The announcement of the designation, previously under the purview of the Finance Minister, has been misconstrued by observers as a creation of an entirely fresh Ministry by the government.
“I appeared before the [Public Accounts] Committee and the chairman asked me which Minister is responsible for SSNIT and I read the letter to him. So, it’s not any new thing. I still remain the Minister for Employment except that I have additional responsibility with oversight of pensions. That’s the simple terms of reference to see over SSNIT and National Pensions Regulatory Authority as my agencies for policy directives”, Mr. Baffour-Awuah told Citi News‘ Umaru Sanda Amadu.
The appointment which is in accordance with section 211 of the National Pensions Act 2008 (ACT 766) will see the minister steering the affairs of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) and the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) effective January 30, 2023.
“The law says that the President has to designate a specific Minister for pensions. So that is what he has exactly done just that to a greater extent, I was playing that particular role, but I had not been officially designated as Minister responsible.”
“It’s just been more official. To be very honest, hitherto, it was under the Minister of Finance. So I am surprised by the publications because this was just to clear a point by the Committee”, he added.
New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential hopeful, Alan Kyerematen has made a strong case for the delegates of the party to choose him as their candidate for the 2024 elections.
Speaking in an interview on Angel FM on Tuesday, January 31, 2023, Alan said that the party needs a candidate who can win not less than 80 percent of the votes in the Ashanti Region.
The former trade and industry minister added that not only can he win the party over 80 percent of the votes in the Ashanti Region but he can pull a good number of votes for strongholds of the largest opposition party, the NDC.
“We are not just looking for a flagbearer, we are looking for someone who can help the NPP retain power… Everybody knows that the Ashanti Region is the backbone of the NPP… And so for a difficult election, which I perceive is going to happen in 2024, you need a candidate that is going to win at least 80 percent of the votes in the Ashanti Region to guarantee us victory.
“You need a candidate who can do two things, consolidate your base and reduce the strength of your opponent. We all know that the base of the NDC is the Volta Region but many people have been asking why Voltarians like me so much.
“Everybody in Ghana knows that the people of the Volta Region have taken me to be one of them. I believe that I am the candidate who can win 80 percent of the votes in the Ashanti Region and also compete with the NDC in the Volta Region for their votes to be reduced,” he said in Twi.
Alan added that he has name recognition and he is known in every corner of Ghana.
“I have been working with Akufo-Addo all these years and there is no village where Akufo-Addo is known where I’m not known,” he said.
The former Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, is expected to face stiff competition from the likes of Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and former Food and Agriculture Minister, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, for the flagbearership position of the NPP.
New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential hopeful, Kennedy Agyapong, has said that he is not corrupt and that he has never taken a bribe.
Speaking in an interview on Good Evening Ghana on Tuesday, January 31, 2023, which was monitored by GhanaWeb, Agyapong said that he will never engage in activities that will make him rich at the expense of the people of Ghana.
He then proceeded to narrate how he rejected a $3 million bribe from an Indian businessman who wanted to get a government project with his help.
“I met an Indian last week and he said there is a project that he thinks I can influence. The actual cost of the project is ($)26 million.
“The guy comes to say that he can do it for $9 (million) and of course as a businessman, he has to make a profit with whoever introduced him, $3 (million), making $12 (million). Then he said to me, I’m going to give you $3 million so I will add it to the $12 (million) to make $15 million and I said no to him.
“I said Ghana first, I don’t want the $3 million if you know you can do the job for $12 million so be it. The young men that come from America with their tickets and everything whatever you want to give to them it is okay but me I will not take any money,” he narrated.
Agyapong, the Member of Parliament for Assin Central, said that the business told him that he (Agyapong) is the only person, he has met in Africa who has rejected such a huge amount of money.
“The Indian man, who was there with his young engineer son, said wow, I have goose pimples. I have worked in Africa for 22 years and I have never seen an African reject $3 million like you did,” he said.
The Akufo-Addo government has closed the gap between industry and TVET over the last five years, according to the director general of the Commission for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
Dr Fred Kyei Asamoah explained that the establishment of Sector Skills Bodies which are made up of industry players and academia and groups of related industries that come together under a common structure to drive growth and competitiveness across the sector by focusing on the exploration of business opportunities, innovation and capacity needs within the sectors had led to bridging the gap in the sector.
Dr Fred Asamoah made the announcement on Tuesday during a press briefing in Accra.
He described the establishment of the Sector Skills Bodies as crucial since it played a lead role in the development of TVET curriculums and standards generation in the TVET sector.
Again he stated that the government conducting Skills Gap Analysis and Audit for the sector led to the identification of challenges in the sector which have been resolved bringing about the upgrading, restructuring and provision of the needed resources to boost effective teaching and learning in all TVET institutions leading to improved standards within the Competency-Based Training (CBT) Framework.
The Director General indicated that developing 100 Curriculum or Competency Based Training (CBT) packages from level one (proficiency) to level five (higher national diploma) of the national TVET qualification framework as part of the Ghana Jobs and Skills Project was also part of the reforms being implemented by the Government.
He mentioned that that was in addition to the already existing 47 curriculums which have already been developed by the Commission since 2017 under the new leadership.
Dr Asamoah further indicated that, although one of the biggest drawbacks to the provision of quality TVET in the past was the poor state of training facilities and equipment and lack of linkage to the industry, the government has the past five years invested massively in the TVET sector to change the story.
Upgrading and modernization
The Director General said the upgrading and modernization of all the erstwhile 34 National Vocational and Technical Institutes (NVTIs) have been completed and inaugurated.
“We are also constructing 5 new District TVET centres of excellence ongoing with that of Anyinam and Pakyi No. 2 near completion whiles that of Assin Jakai, Manso Abore, and Akomadan at various stages of completion”, he said.
“The Ghana-China Project for the rehabilitation and upgrading of Technical Universities and Technical Institutes which includes the construction of new workshops/laboratories and supply and installation of equipment fit for disciplines in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Welding technology, Automotive maintenance, Civil Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering was completed and inaugurated last year”. Dr Asamoah added.
The Director General spoke about the first phase of the construction of 32 state-of-the-art TVET institutions amounting to some $158 million, which commenced last year (2022) in nine regions which has infrastructural projects containing industry-standard equipment and can be found in all the Technical Universities and selected Technical Institutes across the country.
Commendation
The Director General used the occasion to thank industry players for their support of the Government’s reforms so far and called on them (Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Federation of Professional Trade Association of Ghana (FEPTAG), Private Enterprise Foundation-PEF, Ghana Employers Association and the individual industries) to continue their support to the Government, through the Ministry of Education and the Commission’s vision of transforming Ghana’s Economy through a robust TVET system.
Dr Asamoah also used the opportunity to draw the attention of all TVET providers and institutions who are yet to be accredited by the Commission that, by law, which is; Section 43 of Act 1023, Education Regulatory Bodies Act,2020 and the Pre-Tertiary Act,2020 (Act 1049), every training institution in the TVET space needed approval from the Commission by way of accreditation to operate and entreated all those who are yet to comply with this law to contact the Commission for modalities on how they can be registered and accredited.
The Domestic Debt Exchange Scheme of the government continues to be opposed by organized labor, and the group has vowed to vehemently oppose any attempts to repackage the program to include pension funds.
Government had earlier exempted pension funds from the undoubtedly most resisted programme yet ever after many agitations.
The deadline for signing up for the programme which was expected to have ended on January 31, 2023, was extended to February 7 for further engagement.
To this end, Organized Labour in a statement signed by Secretary General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Anthony Yaw Baah reiterated their stance on the programme.
Organized Labour in a three-point statement laid said:
“1. Per the Agreement between Government of Ghana and Organised Labour, signed on Thursday, December 22, 2022, with the Finance Minister, Hon. Ken Ofori-Atta and Hon. Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, executing same on behalf of the Government of Ghana and Dr Anthony Yaw Bank, Secretary General of TUC, on behalf of Organised Labour, paragraph 1 stated as follows: “Government has decided to grant exemption to pension funds in the DDE Programme.”
Organised Labour hereby reiterates that, this position is final as far as involvement of Pension Funds in the DDEP is concerned. By this, Organised Labour and ALL our Pension Schemes are not participating in any DDE Programme as per the aforementioned exemption from government.
2. Any contrary communication or position is alien to us and should be dismissed by all well-meaning Ghanaians. Any attempt to go contrary to this agreement will be resisted by Organized Labour.
3. We assure all workers of Ghana that, Organised Labour will continue to safeguard their interest at all times.”
The Managing Editor of The Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr, has described as reckless the removal of the Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu by the leadership of the National Democratic Congress.
He said the NDC has created room for speculation amongst the party’s political opponents.
“This is a reckless move, absolutely reckless move. So what have you achieved? You have created conditions for all manner of speculations. I was listening to some of my friends in the NPP discuss this matter, come and see, it’s like they have won a bonanza.
“One of them actually went to the extent of saying John Mahama directed this move because he has a rift with Haruna, he wants to show Haruna some sense. This is not true, John Mahama was not comfortable with this move,” Mr. Pratt said on the Alhaji and Alhaji show on Radio Gold.
He described the popularity of the MP for Tamale South as legendary adding that his removal will affect the fortunes of the party up north.
“His popularity is legendary and anytime he has been touched, there have been repercussions. He is not God, he is not all-knowing, he is not omnipotent, he is not omnipresent, he can be removed. But if you want to remove him there are things that you have to do knowing the political circumstances. Were those things done?” the Editor of the Insight Newspaper asked.
According to him, though the outgoing Minority Leader has his shortcomings, he is the primus inter pares in the Northern region.
“Haruna Iddrisu may have all his faults, but he is the primus inter pares [first amongst equals] in the Northern Region. I have been to Tamale on many occasions, I went to school in Tamale, and I know Tamale fairly well. This is a man who comes to Tamale and he doesn’t drive a car. I have seen him riding just an ordinary bicycle moving from place to place holding caucuses in the streets, and playing cards with members. I have seen him on a motorbike going to funerals and so on,” Mr. Pratt noted.
There have been some disagreements amongst the Minority caucus after the party replaced Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu with Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson.
Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, MP for Ellembelle also replaced Ketu North MP, James Klutse Avedzi as the Deputy Minority Leader while Kwame Governs Agbodza replaced Asawase MP, Muntaka Mubarak as the Minority Chief Whip.
Some MPs signed a petition to reject the decision of the party over lack of consultation. Another set of MPs also petitioned the leadership of the NDC to ignore calls for the reshuffling to be reversed.
The Council of Elders of the NDC subsequently called on both sides to cease fire.
The Odumase-Krobo Circuit Court in the Eastern Region on Tuesday, January 31, 2023, convicted and sentenced 72-year-old Eric Danso, alias Aboloway to seven years imprisonment with hard labor, for defiling his 13-year-old granddaughter.
The court presided over by Kwasi Apiati Abadu (Esq) heard that the suspect committed the crime on the 8th of December, 2022 when he took advantage of the absence of the victim’s grandmother whom she lived with by luring her into his room and defiling her.
The court handed down the sentence after the convict pleaded guilty to defilement contrary to section 101 of Act 29/60 as amended by section 11 of Act 544/98.
Detective Chief Inspector Daniel Apedo, prosecuting, told the court that, the complainant, Regina Amoako, mother of the victim lived at a different location within the Sekesua community in the Upper Manya Krobo District of the Eastern Region while the convict lived in the same community but in a different house with the victim and her grandmother.
According to him, the convict had been making sexual advances towards the victim, a class six pupil of the Presby Primary School at Sekesua for some time now.
He furthered that on the 8th of December, 2022 at about 13:30 hours, the victim was alone in the house with the convict who took advantage of the situation by requesting that she helped him find his remote control in his room.
The victim obliged the request and while searching for the remote, Danso allegedly pushed her onto a wooden structure in the room, forcibly undressed her and had sexual intercourse with her.
The prosecution furthered that though the victim shouted for help, nobody came to her rescue.
Detective Chief/Insp Daniel Apedo added that the victim afterward narrated her ordeal at the hands of her grandfather to her biological mother, Regina Amoako and an official report was made at the Asesewa District Police Station.
A police medical report form was issued to the complainant in respect of the victim, whom accompanied by police, sent the latter to the Asesewa Government Hospital for assessment.
The medical officer subsequently confirmed the incident in the endorsed medical report form.
Based on this, the septuagenarian was arrested where he, during interrogation admitted the offence before an independent witness and pleaded for forgiveness.
After investigations, the accused was charged with the offence and dragged to court.
The convict was widely known for playing various roles in the erstwhile Akan drama series on TV.
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has announced plans to deal decisively with traders who display their goods on the bare floor for sale and at unauthorised places at Agbogbloshie market, the biggest food market in Accra.
According to the AMA, its Public Health Officials would begin a special operation to crack down on the traders at Agbogbloshie market on the 1st of February 2023, throughout the month, to ensure the safety of both traders and buyers.
The Chief Executive of the AMA, Elizabeth Naa Kwatsoe Tawiah Sackey disclosed this on Tuesday when she paid an unannounced visit to the market ahead of an exercise to decongest the city.
She noted that as part of the special operation traders found selling behind the dwarf wall and along the road, would be arrested, fined and prosecuted adding that vehicles parked on the shoulders of the road would be towed.
“We are going to enforce the bye-laws to the latter. Traders selling behind the Agbogbloshie market dwarf wall will not be spared, anyone caught will be arrested, fined or sent to court…The traders have already been educated not to display their foodstuff on the bare ground for sale but the practice persists. We will enforce the law and ensure that they leave the mandated 3 feet gap between the ground and their foodstuff,” she said.
The AMA boss who led the team reiterated that some of the traders after all the education and engagements over the years against displaying their goods on the bare ground and at unauthorised places, continue to go contrary and therefore the Assembly would not show any mercy in dealing with such offenders anymore.
She also cautioned buyers to refrain from buying from the roadside of all the markets in Accra to avoid arrest and prosecution while bemoaning the possibility of getting involved in an accident while displaying goods at or buying from the roadside.
With deep concern, the mayor again admonished traders to erect platforms on which their goods would be displayed for sale instead of displaying them on the bare floor to avoid contamination.
She also warned traders and commuters against littering and indiscriminate dumping of refuse into drains.
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) through its Public Health Department prosecuted 477 environmental health and sanitation offenders in 2022 representing 61% out of the 784 cases recorded for the year.
The offences included; accumulation of refuse, food safety issues, waste collection registration failure, unsanitary drains, overgrowth of weeds, open defecation, littering in the city centre and other environmental health and sanitation offences contrary to the Public Health Act 851 (Act 2012), AMA 2017 Bye-laws.
One person has been confirmed dead with another missing after two teenagers allegedly fell into a galamsey pit at Anwiafutu near Nyinahin in the Atwiman Mponua District of the Ashanti Region.
The deceased has been identified as Kwabena Anane, 17, while Ata Derrick, 18, is still missing in the pit.
The teenagers according to residents fell into the river after some security men suspected to be forest guards chased them while searching for gold in an abandoned pit.
The sad incident according to residents occurred on Monday, January 30, 2023.
One of the community members who witnessed the incident narrated the story to OTEC News.
“They were five boys who went to the area in search of gold in some abandoned pits in the forest, we were told that some forest guards chased them out of the forest forcing two of the boys to fall into the pits.”
“Although the boys had the skill to swim out of the pits, the forest guards allegedly pelted the boys with stones forcing the two to drown; now we have retrieved the lifeless body of only one of the two who fell into the pit”.
“The body we retrieved had serious cuts confirming claims that the forest guards attack the boys with stones while trying to get out of the pit.”
Meanwhile, residents in the community have vowed to deal drastically with any forest guard who will come to the area if nothing is done about the situation.
A presidential candidate for the New Patriotic Party(NPP), Kennedy Agyapong, has refuted rumors that he will most likely withdraw from the party’s upcoming primary elections because he is acting on the instructions of another contender.
According to him, those claims are false and thus urged his teeming supporters to treat such reports with contempt.
He emphatically said that “Read my lips, I am not doing the bidding of anybody. I am genuinely contesting to become the President because I can do it better.”
He noted that “I am 62 years old, and I believe I am old and experienced enough to also contest and become the President of our country on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party in 2024”.
Speaking on Net2 TV, he insisted that his decision to become the president in 2024 on the ticket of the NPP is non-negotiable.
“I am surprised because the support is coming from angles and corners. Even those in NDC and my own NPP members are supporting my bid”.
“Some people that I don’t know in person, I am told, have erected my billboards in the Northern parts of the country to support my ambition”, he said with a smile on his face.
Sounding happy, he said other people have printed his (Kennedy’s) campaign T-Shirts and caps to help him, stressing that he would surely become president in 2024.
According to him, he would win the upcoming NPP presidential primaries and go ahead to win the ultimate (presidential elections), slated for December 2024.
On another engagement, speaking to a cross-section of his supporters in the United States, Agyapong stressed that he was more of a leader than a politician, explaining that as a leader, he was focused more on national development whereas politicians are focused on the next election.
He said, “I don’t want to be president for eight years, I only want to be president for four years, challenge me and see how it will be done, and there is a difference between a leader and a politician”.
“A leader is the one who thinks of the development of his country and takes bold decisions irrespective of the repercussions. And the politician is the one who thinks of tomorrow’s election and therefore is not bold to take decisions”.
“And so, I don’t think of tomorrow’s election, I think of today and how I can make a difference,” he stressed adding that even if he was going to spend the full eight-year constitutional term, “Ghanaians will decide after four years, I won’t be afraid, I will invest in Ghana and create employment for the youth,” he said to a loud applause.
Mr. Agyapong, who is hoping to succeed President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as leader of the NPP going into the 2024 elections has a hallmark of speaking truth to power without fear or favour irrespective of which political party is in power is a rare positive trait among his peers.
The MP for North Tongu, Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa, has called the controversy surrounding the leadership transition in the minority caucus a pointless diversion.
According to him, the focus of the National Democratic Congress and its MPs should be on helping find solutions to the numerous challenges the people of Ghana are facing.
Ablakwa said that the issue surrounding the change in the minority leadership has overshadowed important national issues including the debt exchange programme and corruption allegations in the government’s COVID-19 expenditure, as well as the construction of the National Cathedral of Ghana.
“If you look at the current situation in our country, we are in a very turbulent chaotic time. We are really in crisis and we see what is happening with the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme, where so many people have been forced to take haircuts… we have an avalanche of corruption reports, look at the Auditor Generals’ Report on COVID-19, look at our own exposé.
“The Ghanaian people expect us to be focused on those matters, to offer leadership, to be their voice because that is why they sent us to Parliament.
“So, the point I am making is that, this is a needless distraction,” the MP said in a JoyNews interview monitored by GhanaWeb, on Tuesday, January 31, 2023.
Ablakwa, therefore, called on his colleague National Democratic Congress MPs to finalize the matter on their leadership and move on to national issues.
“So, some of us have been urging colleagues that we have to quickly close ranks, deal with this matter expeditiously and move on to the national issues,” he added.
The change in the leadership of the minority caucus of Parliament has led to some confusion in the NDC, with some members of the party, including some Members of Parliament, saying that the party’s parliamentarians should have been consulted before the move.
The NDC leadership has appointed the former Deputy Minister of Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, as the minority leader in the 8th Parliament of Ghana’s Fourth Republic. He replaced the MP for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu.
According to the NDC, Kofi Armah Buah, MP for Ellembele, will take over as the Deputy Minority Leader.
While Kwame Governs Agbodza, MP for Adaklu, will replace Asawase MP Muntaka Mohammed as the Chief Whip.
Ahmed Ibrahim, MP for Banda, has been maintained as the First Deputy Minority Whip, while Comfort Doyo Cudjoe-Ghansah, MP for Ada, is the Second Deputy Minority Whip.
Some MPs of the party have petitioned its National Executive Committee (NEC) to suspend the appointment of the new leadership of the party in Parliament.
The NDC MPs, including Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka (MP for Asawase), Dominic Ayine (MP for Bolgatanga East), and Cletus Avoka (MP for Zebilla), who are calling for the suspension, argue that the appointment was not made by any of the party’s decision-making structures but was imposed by just a few people.
Secretary General of the Ghanaian Trades Union Congress (TUC), Dr. Anthony Yaw Baah, has pleaded for the inclusion of single mothers in the new National Rental Assistance Scheme.
Speaking during the launch of the Scheme in Accra, the TUC boss explained that there is the need for such people to be given premium treatment in the distribution of such national initiatives.
He stressed that while initiatives like this are important, they should really be implemented in the national scope as they are designed, and not limited to only a few parts of the country.
“I’ll want to urge the implementing agency and the ministry that, the TUC will always be there to support this project. We are always willing to help secure accommodation, not only accommodation, but decent accommodation to all workers.
“So, we want to urge you to, as quickly as possible, extend this to all the regions because when you do something and you call it National Rental Assistance Scheme and you limit it to regions – not all the 16 regions, it’s a little problematic. It doesn’t matter how many you support in a region; I think you should try and do that,” he said.
Dr. Anthony Baah further added that in the case of single mothers, it becomes a better deal when they are offered such opportunities, more than when it is offered to others who do not necessarily have dependents.
“I also want to appeal to the ministry and all those who access the application, let’s prioritize women, especially mothers with children and without husbands; the single mothers. You see, if you provide accommodation to a single mother who has two children, it’s much better than providing accommodation for others who have no children. I’m saying this because of the experience I’ve gathered,” he added.
The member of parliament for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga, has chastised the Ghana Armed Forces for the killing and mistreatment of some of his constituents and vowed to do everything in his power to seek reparation.
According to a statement issued under the name of the MP, on the night of Tuesday, January 31, 2023, there were reported gunshots heard in the Bawku township.
This, he added, was part of efforts by the military to ensure that it brought the situation under control, but things spiralled and, in the end, some six civilians are said to have been killed at the hands of the soldiers.
He said that the people who were killed were first chased and then shot, per the information available to him.
“Let me condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the infliction of mortal casualties on innocent civilians by members of the Ghana Armed Forces in Bawku today. This is totally unacceptable and I will leave no stone unturned in my fight for redress for these victims.
“Report reaching me is to the effect that there were gun fires last night across the Bawku town. The military, as part of their efforts to curtail the situation, chased anyone they saw, Information reaching is to the effect that they were chasing some people and other people saw those being chased running and also took to their heels. The military shot at them and in the process killed six civilians,” he stated.
Mahama Ayariga further explained that one of the people who were killed was a little boy who had also gone into hiding, bringing the number of reported deceased to 7.
He added that some other persons were physically abused, including an assemblyman.
“A little boy who also run to hide behind some grasses was also shot. The grass caught fire and burnt him to death, making the number 7. In addition, the Assemblyman for Missiga Electoral Area was physically assaulted by military personnel and sustained serious injuries.
“Several unspeakable brutalities have been reported,” he added.
Vehemently condemning what transpired in his constituency, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP called out the continuous attacks of the military on his citizens.
He has therefore called on the government to immediately investigate the matter, while calling for calm among the people of the Bawku township.
“This is totally unacceptable and I condemn the military in very strong terms. There was similar killing of two men at patelmi because they allegedly broke curfew laws. This is preposterous. The Government must immediately investigate this report and bring to book the perpetrators of this dastardly act.
“I urge everyone to lay down their weapons and let’s work towards peace and not give opportunities to others to inflict such inhuman treatment on us,” he added.
A former representative for the Mampong Constituency, Francis Addai-Nimoh, has formally declared his intention to run for the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) flagbearership when nominations are accepted.
The former legislator said preliminary research conducted by his team coupled with consultation and advice from some elders of the party, he said psych himself to bring on board his professional knowledge and values to retain political power.
“I am humbled that my astute team has assessed my qualifications and motivations using some three criteria. Driven by my personal convictions, I am confident that my professional background and values can be useful in shaping the necessary initiatives that will significantly improve our country and coupled with the clarion call I have been receiving over these last years from our party members, rank and file and from wide consultations with elders of the party, I, Addai-Nimoh, I have thereby decided and officially announcing my candidacy to be elected as the next flagbearer of the NPP.”
Mr. Addai-Nimoh contested in the NPP’s presidential primaries in 2014 and lost. Addressing the media at the GNAT Hall in Accra, the former MP promised to bring unity and consolidate the performance of the current NPP-led government.
The Minister for Employment and Labor Relations, Ignatius Baffour Awuah, has been named the Minister in charge of Pensions by President Akufo Addo.
The appointment which is in accordance with section 211 of the National Pensions Act 2008 (ACT 766) will see the minister steering the affairs of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) and the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) effective January 30, 2023.
Mr Baffour Awuah made this known when he appeared before the Public Accounts Committee on Wednesday, February 1.
The new ministerial appointment which takes immediate effect comes after the Minority warned that any new ministerial appointment will not be tolerated as the country embarks on a domestic debt restructuring to revive the ailing economy.
Beneficiaries of the National Rental Assistance Scheme are required to repay any loans received with a 12 percent interest rate, according to Emmanuel Hovey Kporsu, head of public relations at the Rent Control Department.
Mr Kporsu said the interest will be split between the government and the scheme.
“This is a revolving fund from which the government is also going to benefit. The interest on it is about 12 percent and there is a cost-sharing between the government and the service provider. If we are to pay the rent, and we pay GH¢1000, 12 percent will be added and that 12 percent will be shared between the service provider and the government, and it will be reinvested into the scheme,” Mr Kporsu said in an interview on Face to Face on Tuesday, January 31.
He also disclosed that the scheme will be eventually extended to all 16 regions of the country after the pilot phase in five regions namely; Greater Accra, Ashanti, Western, Eastern, and Bono East Regions.
Applicants who intend to rent an apartment that cost more than GH¢1500 monthly are not qualified under the scheme.
The government on Tuesday, January 31, duly launched the National Rental Assistance Scheme as part of measures to provide decent accommodation for Ghanaians.
Ghanaians above the age of 18 with a valid national ID card and verifiable employment with an income, qualify for a rent loan in five to ten working days under the scheme.
Total rent is paid to the prospective landlord of the applicant and the applicant in turn makes a monthly payment to the National Rental Assistance Scheme.
Mr Kporsu added that applicants will be evicted from the apartment if they default on the monthly repayment arrangement with the scheme.
Speaking at the launch in Accra on Tuesday, January 31, vice president Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia said the five regions were “selected for the pilot because they are where there is pressure on rent in the country.”
Dr. Bawumia said, unlike previous policies which are often marred by defaulters, the National Rental Assistance Scheme is in collaboration with private investors who wouldn’t want their investments to go down the drain and will use any means possible to retrieve their funds which will also eliminate any form of political interference.
He also disclosed that the government through the Ministry of Works and Housing has submitted a bill to Parliament seeking to replace the current rent law which was passed over five decades ago and has lost its relevance.
“I am happy to inform you that the government has made significant strives as far as the housing sector and renting management are concerned. Government acting through the Ministry of Works and Housing has submitted to Parliament for consideration and passage, a rent bill to replace the existing Rent Act of 1963 Act 220. The current Act was passed by Parliament 59 years ago and therefore its relevance has been outlived by the current population growth, urbanization, housing availability, and general trends.”
The Kasoa branch manager of popular retail shop, Melcom, has been arrested by the revenue protection taskforce from the Ghana Revenue Authority over failure to issue VAT invoices on some items sold to customers.
He was arrested on Wednesday, February 1. His arrest brings to eight, the number of shop managers arrested on the third day of the operation by the compliance unit of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
The GRA rolled out the Electronic VAT Invoicing system in 2022 in its quest to track taxes paid on goods purchased.
With the current Value Added Tax rate at about 25%, some shops have adopted schemes to bypass the system in order to keep a low price rate to attract customers.
According to the GRA, shop managers have found a smart way of directing purchases through other systems other than the customs-approved system.
The suspected shop managers will be arraigned according to the GRA after their statements are taken.
On Tuesday, the Managers of the East Legon branch of Max Mart shopping centre, Community 25 branch of Palace shopping mall, and Second Cup Coffee shop at Dzorwulu were arrested and detained by the Ghana Revenue Authority for non-compliance with tax laws and bypassing the Electronic VAT Invoicing system.
The three managers are made up of two foreigners and a Ghanaian.
According to GRA, the managers of the respective malls deliberately outsmarted the Electronic VAT Invoicing system by recording multiple sales of items under one unit.
A residential fire at Abuakwa in the Atwima Nwabiagya Municipality of the Ashanti Region have claimed the lives of a family of three.
The unfortunate incident involves a 28-year-old mother, Abigail Manu, and her two daughters, Nora Yeboah and Philipa Yeboah who were 9 and 6 years respectively.
According to eyewitnesses, two other family members in the house were able to escape, but the three were trapped inside and were burnt to death in the process.
The intervention of officers prevented the fire from spreading to neighbouring houses.
The affected house has been completely destroyed.
An eyewitness, Stephen Wundomor told Citi News “we heard the victims screaming and calling for help but were only able to rescue two out of the five persons who were trapped in the fire.”
This comes a few weeks after a police officer and his family perished in a similar fire incident at Apromase in the Ashanti region.
It’s close to three years after his dilemma, yet, the former Auditor-General, Daniel Yaw Domelevo, who was ordered to proceed on leave and was subsequently removed from office by President Nana Akufo-Addo, has still not received his entitlements, including wage arrears.
President Akufo-Addo in a statement dated Monday, June 29, 2020, and signed by the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin, directed Mr Domelevo to take his accumulated annual leave of 123 days and hand over all matters relating to his office to Mr Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu, the Deputy Auditor-General, to act as Auditor-General.
A subsequent letter by President Akufo-Addo on March 3, 2021, signed by Nana Asante Bediatuo, the Secretary to the President said, “The attention of the President of the Republic has been drawn to records and documents made available to this Office by the Audit Service, that indicate that your date of birth is June 1, 1960 and that in accordance with article 199 (1) of the Constitution, your date of retirement as Auditor-General was June 1, 2020,” the letter said, adding by extension, therefore, “the President is of the view that you have formally left office.”
Surprisingly three years after he was ousted from Office, the former Auditor-General has not received his entitlement and salary arrears despite two separate letters to the presidency.
In a letter sighted by citinewsroom.com, the Executive Secretary to the President, Nana Asante Bediatuo urged the Board of the Ghana Audit Service to review the claims of Mr Domelevo and take the necessary action.
“The Office of the President is in receipt of letters dated 5th November 2021 and 4th November 2022 respectively from the former Auditor-General, Mr Daniel Yaw Domelevo, regarding emoluments and entitlements due him upon retirement. The contents of the letters have been duly noted and are hereby forwarded to you for your kind attention.
“This Office would be grateful if the Board of the Ghana Audit Service could review the claims of Mr Domelevo and take the necessary action in respect of them as soon as practicable. Kindly keep this Office informed of all steps taken in respect of this matter.”
Davis Mac Iyalla, a well-known Nigerian born British LGBTQIA+ rights activist who sworn in as a traditional chief in Yamonransa in the Central Region over the weekend, is no longer in that position.
The chiefs of Nkusum Traditional Area stripped him of the title and reversed his installation on the grounds that he failed to reveal his true identity to them.
According to the traditional leaders, they had known him only as Kweku Adu, a resident of Cape Coast, for the past 10 years and only got to know that he was actually known as Davis Mac Iyalla, an LGBTQIA+ rights activist only a few moments to the installation. In view of that, they (the chiefs) decided to reverse the process and that Mac Iyalla cannot refer to himself as a chief anymore.
“During the process of his installation as Amankorehen, (Nkosuohen ie Development chief), information came that Kweku Adu is also known as Davis Mac-Iyalla and has been supporting LGBTQIA+ and it’s related activities.
“Immediately this information came to our attention, we called for the whole process of Mac-Iyalla to be halted. We wish to state that no title has been conferred on him as Amankorehen of Yamonranza.”Nana Okese
The popular gay activist was outdoored at a ceremony at Yamonransa, under the stool name Nana Kweku Gyasi I. However, Nana Okese Esandoh IX, Paramount chief of the Nkusukum Traditional Area, disclosed that the traditional council was not aware that Mac Iyalla was a gay activist and had thus refrained from conferring that chieftaincy title on him.
The traditional leader explained that, he got to know Mac-Iyalla through some friends in Cape Coast, who recommended that he had been supportive with developmental projects. He made known that he discussed the issues with the Ebusuapayin (family head) of Yamonransa to install him as Amankorehen to help with the area’s development.
Among others, the Chief indicated that, the Amankorehen was to organise the African-American people who have traced their roots to Yamonransa to support the area’s development. Nana Esandoh admitted that Mac-Iyalla had shown some dedication and commitment to the development of the area.
“His broader vision to attract investors from America and Europe, particularly the United Kingdom to boost economic activities is great.”Nana Okese
Fall From Palanquin Incident
Davis Iyalla was carried in a palanquin through the Yamonransa township, pouring schnapps along the route. The palanquin ride did not go smoothly, as he fell off the palanquin to the ground on his way to the durbar grounds.
On reaching the grounds, Davis together with the paramount chief, Nana Okese Esandoh, were held in an engagement with police officials for about an hour before the proceedings continued with an amended programme lineup. The swearing of oath of allegiance to the Omanhene in state on the initial programme lineup was cancelled.
Mac Iyalla in his address disclosed that, he had completed all traditional formalities emphasizing that he was now a chief. He stated that he was born Nigerian but now a British citizen saying by “the grace of God he practice what he preaches”, ie human rights for all persons.
“I don’t believe in discrimination. Whether you are tall, short black, white, yellow or green you are a human being and I will fight for that my belief to the very end. No matter what it cost me. I am not a hypocrite and I will not start now to be a hypocrite. You don’t need to like me but you have to respect my views.”Davis
Mac Davis explained that, he came to know the Omanhene in April 2022 when the Omanhene had been in a chieftaincy dispute for 13years. He said soon after knowing him (the Omanhen) they worked to ensure he was gazetted in December 2022 and sworn into the regional house of chiefs. “I am a man of action. When I enter somewhere I bring change. Whenever I enter anywhere if I say I want to do something I do it and I do it very well.” he averred.
The gay actitivist, asserted that he belonged to Nkusukum Yamonransa and nobody can take it away from him. “Let us not waste time. Let us celebrate and enjoy. I have completed the process as a chief.” he declared.
News of his installation on various social media received a lot of attention with many criticizing the chiefs for installing him.
Senyo Hosi, the convener of the Individual Bondholders Forum (IBF), claims that the government’s improved terms for the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme are significantly better.
Mr. Hosi explained that the revised terms of the programme are an improvement from what was originally tabled by the government.
The government further extended the deadline for the programme to February 7, 2023, following the expiration on January 31, 2023.
This follows the agreement government reached with the Ghana Association of Banks (GAB), Ghana Insurers Association (GIA), and the Ghana Securities Industry Association (GSIA).
Government says a revised and final Exchange Memorandum will be released by February 2, 2023.
Speaking on the Eyewitness News, with Umaru Sanda Amadu, Mr. Hosi noted that, “Well this is not what we asked for or not, the consensus we reached with government was that it was going to make an offer to individuals. And then we can make an assessment, the process remains voluntary.”
“Subject to how the offer may work for you, you may accept it. If you don’t accept it, government will still honour its own obligation to you. When you look at the offer currently, it’s a massive improvement from what was originally on the table”.
The revised terms, he noted, “for the pensions fund, you will just be losing about 15% as against the original one of 50%, so it depends on how it works for you, it may be good. Another thing you may be looking at is your market expectations. You may be looking at a market act where the rate could really crash. When that happens the secondary market will give you a very good yield, and you may be able to exit. But these are decisions everybody would have to take”.
A statement from the Finance Ministry on January 31, 2023, noted that a number of “developments have necessitated the final extension of the deadline from 31st January 2023, to Tuesday 7th February 2023, and a new settlement date of Tuesday 14th February 2023 that will be confirmed via the new Exchange Memorandum”.
Stakeholders were awaiting the government’s next move given the agreements it recently reached with groups of individual bondholders and players in the banking and insurance industry.
The extension of the deadline for the debt exchange will make room for some finalised terms with subscribers of the programme.
The revised terms are as follows:
a. An affirmation that all individual bondholders are free not to participate;
b. However, upon a successful DDEP there will be very few of the ‘old bonds’ in circulation, and likely limit its tradability;
c. In this regard, the Government is pleased to make available the following alternative offer to encourage all individual bondholders to participate in the Exchange:
i. All individual bondholders who are below the age of 59 years will be offered instruments with a maximum maturity of 5 years, instead of 15 years, and a 10% coupon rate;
ii. All retirees (including those retiring in 2023) will be offered instruments with a maximum maturity of 5 years, instead of 15 years, and a 15% coupon rate.
Additionally, discussions are being finalised with Organized Labour and Pension Fund Trustees, on a separate arrangement in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding signed with Organized Labour on 22nd December 2022, and in line with government’s debt management Programme.
With this, Government encourages all stakeholders to participate in the DDEP, an essential step towards meeting our debt sustainability targets and restoring macroeconomic stability and economic growth.
These developments have necessitated the final extension of the deadline from 31st January, 2023, to Tuesday 7th February, 2023, and a new settlement date of Tuesday 14th February, 2023 that will be confirmed via the new Exchange Memorandum.
The Government appreciates the cordial engagements with the various stakeholders since the beginning of the DDEP, that have made such remarkable progress possible.
“All bondholders are hereby encouraged to commence all administrative processes towards their participation in the Exchange, in line with the agreements reached”, the statement concluded.
The District court in Achimota presided over by His Worship Prince Owusu, has ordered an insanity test to be conducted on the suspect, Patrick Asiedu, who is behind the widely circulated audio in claiming the police stopped and put narcotics in his vehicle.
The court gave the order on Tuesday, January 31, 2023, when the accused reappeared before it.
The accused who also claimed to be a doctor was again remanded into police custody to reappear on 14th February 2023.
A preliminary police investigation established that Patrick Asiedu was not a medical doctor as he claimed in the audio but an Uber driver.
The police also revealed that it had confirmed that the narrative he recorded and shared on social media in the viral audio did not happen.
“The investigations show that the entire story narrated in the audio tape is false and a total fabrication by the suspect.”
“The supposed military intervention and the alleged fight between the Police officers and the Military described in such dramatic detail in the audio tape are all false and a figment of the suspect’s imagination,” the police statement dated January 18, 2023, signed and issued by Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Grace Ansah-Akrofi, the Director of Police Public Affairs on Wednesday night said.
The Ghana Police Service has started an inquiry into an alleged incident at the West Hills Mall that resulted in Shadrach Arloo’s death, a 32-year-old man.
In a press release dated January 31, 2023, the Police administration said its officials had contacted a relative of the deceased, Perpetual Didier, who first made the allegation in a viral audio.
“The attention of the Police Service has been drawn to a viral video in which a female who identifies herself as Perpetual Didier alleges that the action of a Police Officer has caused the death of her brother.
“The Police Professional Standards Bureau (PPSB) has commenced investigation into the allegation and has contacted Madam Perpetual Didier to assist the investigation,” Assist. Superintendent of Police, Victor K Dosso assured in the press release.
Executive Director of Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch), Kofi Asare, has said that the Ghana Education Service and the Ministry of Education turned down a request to acquire data on the Computerized School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS).
According to him, following some petitions from concerned stakeholders including parents and schools heads about issues emerging from the CSSPS, Eduwatch had initiated the RTI request to assess the effectiveness and equity of same.
“We have also been concerned at Eduwatch about the proper functioning of the CSSPS because we appreciate why the system was birthed, and so when we received concerns from parents and school authorities and all that including government agencies about issues emerging from the angle of effectiveness and equity, then we were concerned,” he said.
The purpose of the request he said was to ascertain whether government was indeed living up to its promise of allocating 30% of school placements in Category A schools to students from public basic schools.
The government had initiated the quota allocation system to provide equity in Ghana’s education system; however, concerns have been raised about its effectiveness.
“So we actually requested from the CSSPS, we made an RTI request to the Director General of the GES requesting for the placement data to enable us undertake an analysis. Our concern was actually the 30% allocation for public basic students.
“We wanted to be sure the extent to which we have been given public basic school students their 30% in the category A schools. It was an equity analysis. It was denied. We petitioned the Ministry, it was denied. As I speak, we are still engaging the RTI on the next step after this was denied. We won’t play around this time,” he said.
According to Kofi Asare, access to such data would help Eduwatch “to conduct research and advise government on how best to improve its own policy’s effectiveness through transparency.”
Meanwhile, in the latest JoyNews-Fourth Estate documentary, ‘School Placement for Sale’, it has been discovered that some persons have been collecting bribes from parents who want their children to be placed in Category A schools.
So far, eight persons exposed in the documentary have been arrested by the police.
According to editor-in-chief at Fourth Estate, Manasseh Azure, the suspects have been charged and arraigned.
Vice President Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia says the landmark initiatives such as the digital address system and mobile money interoperability introduced in the first term of the government as part of the digital transformation drive are paying dividends.
He said those initiatives have become the building blocks for new programmes such as the National Rental Assistance Scheme, which was launched on Tuesday, January 31.
Speaking at the launch, Vice President Dr Bawumia charged the implementing ministry, the Ministry of Works and Housing, not to renege on its oversight responsibility in ensuring that the programme is successful.
The programme is starting off in six regions – Greater Accra, Ashanti, Northern, Western, Eastern and Bono East.
But the Vice President said sooner than later it will be expanded to the rest of the country.
Minister of Works and Housing Francis Asenso-Boakye announced a GH¢30 million seed money for the take-off of the programme.
He the first six regions were considered on the basis of higher rent advance issues recorded.
Scheme Manager Richard Acheampong said the process has been so simplified that even a fifth-grader can go through.
He, however, indicated that an affordability assessment will be conducted for each application before approval.
Speaking at the event, the Secretary of National Tenants Union, Frederick Opoku, charged government to make the application process fair and transparent in order to rid it of favouritism.
Secretary-General of the Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC) Dr Anthony Yaw Baah appealed to the authorities to consider single mothers for the policy.
He said the launch comes timely as it will bring a big relief to a lot of workers.
Barely 24 hours after claiming journalist Latif Idrissu was not touched by any police officer, the Attorney General’s office is aggressively pursuing settlement talks.
State Attorney, Nancy Rita Twumasi Asiamah, literally begged the court for the case to be put on hold.
“My lady, my instructions are to ask for an adjournment. As we indicated on Monday, we have written to the police to advise them to settle.
“We are yet to get a response and I have been asked to please ask for an adjournment while we pursue that. I am pleading,” she stated.
This did not sit well with trial judge Justice Cynthia Wiredu who pointed out that the case has been outstanding since 2019 and earlier settlement talks had failed.
“Parties even settle cases after judgement. You had the opportunity to settle and failed to do so. The fact that you are pursuing this does not mean I cannot do my work.
“You have your instructions, I also have my work to do. Is it to delay the court? The trial can continue? Any time there is a settlement we can look at that,“ the judge said.
Lawyer for the journalist and The Multimedia Group, Samson Lardi Anyenini, told the court that his side was not opposed to the idea of settlement.
His concern was, however, the fact that the case had been delayed unduly.
“Respectfully, as we indicated to the court yesterday, plaintiffs have been amenable to settlement. We only wish that once same is commenced it will be speedy.
“Seeing that the suit has been pending for a very long time. While the first plaintiff, in particular, continues to bear the cost of medical treatment both in Ghana and the USA,“ he stated.
Justice Wiredu urged both sides to pursue the settlement talks without taking entrenched positions.
Mr Anyenini pointed out at this stage that certain comments made by the police were problematic.
He made reference to court documents in which the police had claimed the assaulted journalist was not suffering from any complications.
“Even in the face of clear medical evidence, they claim nothing has happened. Such positions don’t help”, he stated.
Justice Wiredu advised the police to consider getting an independent examiner if necessary.
She stressed that settlement is always the best approach.
Mahama Ayariga, MP for Bawku Central has warned that if the Governor of the Bank of Ghana does not step in and seek legal clarity on the programme to support banks through the Ghana Financial Stability Fund (GFSF), the implementing agency; Ghana Amalgamated Trust PLC (GAT) will end up offloading the shares of the domestic banks to third parties. This will effectively end up in the expropriation of the interests of existing owners of our indigenous Ghanaian banks.
In a letter written by Mr. Ayariga to the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, the law maker raises concerns about what he says are the illegality and opaqueness of the operations of GAT and GFSF and how they could ultimately enable the take-over of our domestic banks by cronies of decision makers for the sector.
Mahama Ayariga has therefore called on both the Governor of the Bank of Ghana and Parliament to step in to ensure legal and policy clarity in terms of the intervention being made by Minister Ken Ofori-Atta to deal with the threats to the banking sector occasioned by the implementation of the Domestic Debt Exchange (DDE) programme.
“The Minister of Finance has announced a debt restructuring programme involving a debt exchange by government domestic bond holders. Our total external debt stood at about GHC383 billion as at November 2022. Domestic debt constituted GHC195 billion. Total debt was therefore GHC578 billion in November 2022.
“Banks in Ghana hold about half of the entire domestic bonds of the Government of Ghana and individuals hold 11% of the Government bonds. The Minister of Finance has compelled domestic banks to “voluntarily” engage in a debt exchange with the Government in relation to the bonds they hold. This involves reduced coupons and deferred payments. Definitely, the liquidity, solvency and capitalization of these banks will be negatively affected. This also creates a problem for the financial sector as individual investors will be scared. Coming after the recent banking sector “cleanup” and the collapse of some banks it generated, people will shy away from depositing their funds in bank accounts. Our entire financial sector is in danger of collapsing,” parts of the statement said.
The Minister for Finance has announced a Ghana Financial Stability Fund and directed banks to approach Ghana Amalgamated Trust PLC for a rescue package. This letter to the Governor and those copied seeks to point out the danger of this remedial prescription of the Minister for Finance.
The National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, has refuted assertions that the party is divided following the change in its parliamentary leadership.
According to him, the reactions being seen as a result of the reshuffle are normal and should be expected after any change, citinewsroom.com reports.
He added that the majority of NDC faithful have accepted the change in the party’s parliamentary leadership.
“The NDC is not fragmented at all; it’s still a very united party. The truth about every decision is that every change comes along with new gainers, so you will definitely have some reactions.
“But the change has been welcomed by the majority of NDC members across the country, I guess even here [UK]. The reshuffle has brought some new excitement on the front of NDC,” Asiedu Nketiah is quoted to have said while addressing NDC supporters in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The national chairman also explained that the party’s change in parliamentary leadership was long overdue.
“This leadership ought to have been reshuffled around March 2021. I explained to Ghanaians that, because of our court case, we didn’t feel like proceeding with that work. And I indicated clearly that it was a work in progress and that somewhere along the line, we will come out to indicate to Ghanaians who our next leadership will be.
“And so I’m surprised that people were surprised about the move. In fact, we were running late for the changes,” he added
The change in the leadership of the minority caucus of Parliament has led to some confusion in the NDC, with some members of the party, including some Members of Parliament, saying that the party’s parliamentarians should have been consulted before the move.
The NDC leadership has appointed the former Deputy Minister of Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, as the minority leader in the 8th Parliament of Ghana’s Fourth Republic. He replaced the MP for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu.
According to the NDC, Kofi Armah Buah, MP for Ellembele, will take over as the Deputy Minority Leader.
While Kwame Governs Agbodza, MP for Adaklu, will replace Asawase MP Muntaka Mohammed as the Chief Whip.
Ahmed Ibrahim, MP for Banda, has been maintained as the First Deputy Minority Whip, while Comfort Doyo Cudjoe-Ghansah, MP for Ada, is the Second Deputy Minority Whip.
Some MPs of the party have petitioned its National Executive Committee (NEC) to suspend the appointment of the new leadership of the party in Parliament.
The NDC MPs, including Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka (MP for Asawase), Dominic Ayine (MP for Bolgatanga East), and Cletus Avoka (MP for Zebilla), who are calling for the suspension, argue that the appointment was not made by any of the party’s decision-making structures but was imposed by just a few people.
An NDC Minority Caucus meeting that was supposed to resolve topics of contention over a leadership change has been postponed again.
This meeting became necessary following the removal of Haruna Iddrisu, Muntaka Mubarak and James Klutse Avedzi as leaders of the Caucus with the appointment of Dr Ato Forson as the new leader.
Other appointments include MP for Ellembele as Deputy Minority Leader and Adaklu MP, Governs Kwame Agbodza as Minority Chief Whip.
Some 70 NDC MPs have kicked against the decision and have called for its rescission.
The MPs have addressed petitions to the NDC Council of Elders, former President John Mahama and Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin.
Party leaders were expected to meet the Caucus today to iron out these issues but the meeting has been postponed indefinitely.
Last week the Caucus was expected to meet on the same issue but the meeting did not materialise.
A source within the caucus told JoyNews’ Parliamentary Affairs Correspondent Kwaku Asante that the postponement of the meeting was necessary because tensions were still high within the Caucus and both sides of the argument have not softened their stance.
Again, following a petition to the party’s Council of Elders, some meetings have been arranged to bring the matter to finality.
The Council of Elders is meeting with some of the 70 MPs who have signed a petition asking for broader consultation on the matter.
The party is racing against time to calm the waters before Parliament resumes on Tuesday, February 8.
Members of the Korle Bu Doctors Association (KODA) have threatened to lay down their tools.
According to the doctors, the management of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital has exhibited bad faith by failing to meet the agreed deadline on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) and the Ministry of Health regarding the 13th-month salary payment.
They accused the management of refusing to heed the content of their letter dated 13th December 2022 not to make any unilateral payment of 25 percent on the arrears unless a clear timeline for payment for the rest of the arrears has been agreed upon.
“The management of Korbu refused to meet its own deadline of ‘reverting with the timelines for the settlements of the outstanding amount by 27th January 2023’ as captured in its letter to KODA dated 3rd January 2023.
“Beginning the 30th of January to 5th of February 2023, KODA expects management to come out with clear timelines for the payment of the arrears and to make this payment centralized one instead of departmental after all every payment goes into a central pool.
“If nothing is received KODA members would withdraw service to the Outpatient department as well as elective surgeries and procedures. This will commence on 6th February to 10th February 2023,” the road map for the strike said.
It added “if nothing is heard from the 13th of February onwards emergencies would be refused till all inpatients are discharged.
“It is the hope of KODA executives that this would be given its desired attention.”
Government is prepared to build a new school building in the neighborhood of the eight students who drowned on their way to school, according to Minister of Education Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum.
According to the minister, the move is part of efforts to address the calamity which befell the indigenes of Atikagome about a week ago.
Speaking on Accra-based GTV, he stressed the need for the safety of children to be treated with utmost priority.
He said government is committed to that cause, hence the plans to put up a befitting school edifice for the young lads within the community, which will also serve as memorial for their departed colleagues.
“I’ve directed that I’ll respond to the promise by the regional minister to build a school in that community where the children were traveling from so that they don’t have to travel from that community.
It will be reaclled that about a week ago, eight school children drowned in the Volta Lake following the capsizing of a boat on which they were travelling.
According to the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), the deceased were among 20 pupils who were in the boat travelling from Atikagome to Wayokope, where their school is located.
Twelve pupils however, managed to swim to safety.
The eight deceased, NADMO said, comprised five boys and three girls between the ages of five and twelve.
The Sene East District Director of NADMO, Ibrahim Wudonyim, told Graphic Online that before they got to the accident scene, some community members and Marine Police had managed to retrieve all eight bodies from the Lake.
“It’s something that’s on our emergency procurement system. We want to get PPA approval within a very short period of time and put up that building there to be in memory of those children we lost”, Dr Adutwum said.
He explained that the incident happened around 7:00am on Tuesday, January 24 and that the boat capsized midway.
The bodies of the deceased were subsequently sent to Atikagome, a fishing community.
The community was also thrown into mourning, shock and fear as a result of the incident.
Following this development, an education advocacy group called on government to provide life jackets to pupils and staff in island communities who commute by water.
In a statement commiserating with families of the deceased pupils, Eduwatch Africa said it was saddened by the deaths.
The group therefore called on the Ghana Education Service and other relevant stakeholders to roll out measures to avert such disasters in the future.
Meanwhile reacting to this in his interview on GTV on Monday, the Education Minister hinted that plans were afoot to resource such schools with life jackets and other relevant kits to enhance their safety.
“It something that we take seriously”, Adutwum added.
Spokesperson for the Ministry of Education, Kwasi Kwarteng, has assured that the internal investigation into accusations of corruption concerning the computerized school selection and placement system has been finalized.
According to him, the report is ready and “all consequential decisions within the report will be communicated.”
His comment comes on the back of a JoyNews-Fourth Estate documentary, ‘School Placement for Sale’ where it was revealed that some agents have been receiving bribes from parents to place their wards into Category A schools.
The documentary had further revealed that an earlier report concerning the nefarious phenomenon had been made to the Police CID for investigation by the outgone Director General of the Ghana Education Service, Professor Kwasi Opoku Amankwah and investigations had been initiated.
However, the Police investigations were cut short for an internal investigation spearheaded by the Ministry of Education to carry on.
Speaking concerning the internal investigation on JoyNews’ PM Express, Kwasi Kwarteng said, the Committee set up by the Minister of Education to carry out the investigation have already submitted their recommendations to the Minister.
“There were some recommendations from the committee and of course, some of the recommendations bother on internal decisions that even the Minister for Education himself must take. There were other decisions that we also had to rely on institutions like National Security, the Police and what have you.
“GES also had their role to play. But the point is that the report is ready, the Minister of Education has the report and all consequential decisions within the report will be communicated,” he said.
He said the only reason the report has delayed is because the Ministry had to await information from other institutions like the Police and the Ministry of National Security in order to draw conclusions and recommendations.
Kwasi Kwarteng assured stakeholders of the Ministry’s resolve to continuously work with them to ensure that the guiding principle of transparency and equity of the CSSPS is protected.
The Member of the Parliament for Afigya Kwabre North in the Ashanti Region, Collins Adomako-Mensah has lamented the impact of the new minority leadership in parliament, branding it as an incompetent and weak working force.
The lawmaker claims that the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) current leadership are not qualified enough to manage a country if power is ever transferred to them, because in his opinion, they are incapable compared to the previous leaders.
Speaking in an interview on Wontumi TV, the MP asserted that the nation is experiencing an economic crisis and needs competent and good leadership to manage its affairs rather than what he perceives to be weak leadership in the minority’s recent reshuffle.
“I always say that for the NDC, their problem is that they’ve been in government before. That’s their biggest problem. Now that Ghana is having a debt exchange programme because of an economic crisis, everybody knows that the economy is weak. Can you imagine handing a weak economy to weak leadership?
“How can we hand a weak economy to weak leadership? Because as we speak, we don’t even know who the minority leader is? “…then it won’t be a matter of debt exchange but rather double debt exchange. It will be chaotic, how do you do this?” he lamented.
The NDC, through its General Secretary Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, wrote to the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, to announce the replacement of three members of its leadership in the House: the Minority Leader, the deputy Minority Leader, and the Minority Chief Whip.
The NDC picked Ato Forson to replace Haruna Iddrisu as leader of the Minority Caucus. Other changes are Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, MP for Ellembele, who is the new deputy Minority Leader.
While Kwame Governs Agbodza, MP for Adaklu, will replace Asawase MP Muntaka Mohammed as the Minority Chief Whip.
Ahmed Ibrahim, MP for Banda, has been maintained as the first deputy Minority Chief Whip, while Comfort Doyoe Cudjoe-Ghansah, MP for Ada, is also retained as second deputy Minority Chief Whip.
An Accra Circuit Court has granted bail to lawyer of Evangelist Patricia Asiedua Oduro Koranteng, popularly known as Nana Agradaa.
Theophilus Donkor, had been charged with verbally assaulting police officers who were in the process of arresting Agradaa.
Theophilus Donkor’s bail comes after he pleaded not guilty to assault on a public officer and offensive conduct conducive to the breach of peace.
He was granted a self-recognisance bail by the court presided over by Rosemond Baah Tosu, Graphiconline.com reports.
The two parties were asked to consider resolving their case outside the court.
Mr Donkor is, however, to reappear on February 27, 2023.
Meanwhile, the lawyer has filed a motion challenging the authority of the police who arrested him.
Graphic.com stated that “the personnel from the Cantonments Police Station who arrested him did not have the authority to do so because the alleged crime was committed around the Accra Metropolitan Assembly area, a jurisdiction outside the operations of the Cantonments Police Division.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has justified its decision to spend over GH¢7 million on a project that was expected to cost a little of GH¢1 million cedis.
In a statement, the Ministry described media reports on the project as inaccurate and detailed reasons that accounted for the project shooting up to GH¢7 million.
Appearing the Public Accounts Committee in Parliament, on Friday, January 20, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said the project that was initially supposed to cost the government GH¢1,435,728.99 was executed at GH¢7,967,886.57 because the contractor did not execute on time due to ill health.
The contract for the rehabilitation of Adu Lodge Guest House was awarded to International Development Resources on March 15, 2007.
But according to the Acting Chief Director of the Ministry, Ambassador Ramses Joseph Cleland, the project came to a grind a year later due to the ill health of the contractor.
The Ministry said the project was revisited in March 2019 and upon the request of the consultant, was re-valued to GH¢7,967,886.57 for the same contractor to execute.
But the Foreign Affairs Ministry in an attempt to set the records straight said the original award to Messrs International Development Resources (IDR) on 15th March 2007 by the Architectural Engineering Services Limited (AESL) was to demolish the originally existing 3 buildings that constituted the Lodge, at the time, and construct a new building of twelve (12) bedroom at a contract sum of Fourteen Billion, Three Hundred and Fifty-Seven Million, Two Hundred and Eighty-Nine Thousand, Seven Hundred and Seventy old Ghana cedis (14,357,289.77), equivalent to One Million, Four Hundred and Thirty-Five Thousand, Seven Hundred and Twenty-Eight new Ghana Cedis, Ninety-Eight Pesewas (GH01,435.728.98) after the redenomination of the Cedi in July 2007.
The contract sum was, however, revised in October 2011 to an amount of Four Million, Four Hundred and Thirty-Two Thousand, Five Hundred and Fifty-Eight Ghana Cedis, Seventy pesewas.
Below is the full statement by the Foreign Affairs Ministry
The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament is complaining about the Electricity Company of Ghana‘s (ECG) indebtedness to the Bui Power Authority amounting to over $600 million.
The Auditor General’s report revealed that ECG failed to comply with its monthly payment plan thereby resulting in the outstanding debt as of December 31, 2022.
The report said the cash flow of the Authority could negatively be impacted if ECG continues to breach the agreed payment terms.
Speaking at the Public Accounts Committee sittings, the Chief Executive Officer of the Bui Power Authority, Kofi Dzamesi said efforts are being made to recover the money.
“I think that what the auditors say is very true, and we are taking steps to ensure that ECG pays us. But it’s becoming very difficult. But I’m happy to say that many times the Minister of Energy [Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh] does well by asking the finance ministry to come to our aid sometimes.
“So we will continue this negotiation and with the support of our minister, I think we will be able to handle this matter. But it’s really a problem,” Mr. Dzamesi stated.
The committee members recommended to the ministry of finance to ensure that ECG settles its debt to Bui and Volta River Authority (VRA).
The groups of Individual bondholders campaigning against their inclusion in the domestic debt exchange of the government are hopeful that they will be completely exempted from the program under amended parameters that the government has not yet published.
For them, including them will destroy household confidence in Ghana’s financial system and securities market.
On the Point of View on Citi TV, one of the conveners of the group and legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu said: “Sometimes we all get it wrong. Maybe the finance minister initially thought it could woo individual bondholders on board, but it didn’t turn out well. There is nothing wrong because it’s one nation. It’s been confirmed that government will honour its obligations under the existing bonds thus practically exempting us.”
The deadline for the Domestic Debt Exchange (DDE) Program expires today, Tuesday, January 31, 2023, after several extensions.
Stakeholders are looking forward to the government’s next move given the agreements it recently reached with groups of individual bondholders and players in the banking and insurance industry.
The Vice President, in charge of research at IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, Bright Simons, has even said, the Ministry of Finance is lacking the support of even Cabinet in its decision to include individual bondholders in the Debt Exchange Programme.
“What we are holding now in all probability is much better than what the Minister wants to offer. If the Minister is able to offer something better than what we are holding, then we wouldn’t be doing a debt exchange program. From what I have gathered, people are not interested in any new bonds, they want to hold on to what they currently have”, Martin Kpebu further expressed.
The individual bondholders during discussions with the committee set up by the government to resolve issues on the debt exchange programme stated that with the set target of 80% of eligible bonds, Individual Bondholders are not a critical success factor to the viability of the DDE programme, yet the impact of their inclusion has incalculable consequences.
As part of recommendations to the Technical Committee, they recommended that the government divest loss-making, defunct and troubled 17 State–own enterprises.
The Individual bondholders also suggested that the government review the Free SHS Programme to make it more efficient through effective targeting and allowing parents who can pay to do so.
The group stated that divesting the non-performing SOEs and reviewing free SHS alone will provide the government with GHS 2 billion.
It also urged the government to maintain the 2022 capital expenditure level by reducing the non–ABFA MDA and foreign finance Capex provisions by 50% which they claim will provide the 10.7 billion Ghana Cedis.
Today, Tuesday, January 31, the National Executives of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will meet with members of the Minority Caucus to discuss the changes made to their leadership in the legislature.
The meeting comes after the resistance that greeted the reshuffle which saw Haruna Iddrisu removed as Minority Leader and replaced by Dr Cassel Ato Forson.
Tuesday’s meeting is expected to explain to the caucus reasons behind the reshuffle and get the support of all aggrieved Minority MPs.
There has been a division among members of the group following a reshuffle of its leadership by the national executives of the NDC.
Speaking to journalists after a meeting with the leadership after his appointment, the Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson assured of a collaboration with the former leaders of the caucus to deliver on their mandate in Parliament.
“We have just come out of a very successful meeting with the leadership of the party. We are going to deliver on our mandate. ”
“And as has been agreed with the leadership of the party, there will be a series of activities that will be undertaken beginning from today. We will have our maiden meeting with our leadership and the party leadership on Tuesday,” he added.
As part of the leadership changes, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, MP for Ellembelle also replaced Ketu North MP, James Klutse Avedzi as the Deputy Minority Leader while Kwame Governs Agbodza replaced Asawase MP, Muntaka Mubarak as the Minority Chief Whip.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) needs a Christian as its flagbearer moving into the 2024 elections, this is according to Samuel Ayeh Paye, a former Member of Parliament for the Ayensuano seat.
He argued that the 2024 elections would be decided on the basis of religion, which is why he urged the NPP to select a Christian over a Muslim as its flagbearer ahead of the general elections of 2024.
Speaking on Adom TV’s flagship morning show Badwam, the Eastern Regional Campaign Coordinator for Alan Kyerematen explained that since John Mahama, the NDC’s top choice, is a Christian and the majority of Ghanaians identify as Christian, it was instructive for the NPP to select a Christian over a Muslim to lead the party.
Hon. Ayeh Paye pointed out that statistics show that Christians make up the majority of our people, thus any effort by the NPP to choose a Muslim as its flag bearer could hurt the party’s chances of remaining in power in 2024.
“As an NPP, I believe we should introduce someone with a Christian background,” he stated on the show hosted by Akwasi Nsiah, noting that only 17 percent of Ghana’s population is Muslim, compared to the country’s overall 71 percent Christian population.
“Whether we like it or not, the NDC will bring John Mahama who is a Christian, and once that happens, it means the 2024 election campaign will even take its major course in the churches, so let’s be careful we don’t present a candidate whose religious background will become an issue against us,” he insisted.
National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Johnson Asiedu Nketiah has all but endorsed former Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu to sail through upcoming party primaries for the Tamale South seat.
Asiedu Nketiah said the four-time Member of Parliament (MP) had become so powerful in his constituency that it would even be surprising if he is contested at all when the primaries are held later this year.
“The outgone Minority Leader, Honourable Haruna Iddrisu, he is so powerful in his constituency, he is almost always not contested at all. I have my doubts whether anybody will contest him,” Asiedu Nketiah told party faithful during a meeting in London last week.
The one-time General Secretary was addressing concerns that the January 23 changes to the party’s leadership in Parliament was going to affect some of the replaced leaders at the upcoming primaries.
“They will not be impacted by the changes, one of the ousted persons, Dr. Avedzi (former deputy Minority Leader) is not going to Parliament again,” he explained.
On the case of Mohammed Muntaka-Mubarak, Asiedu Nketiah said despite recent challenge he was facing, “we didn’t think that this change will affect his fortune one way or the other and so we felt this is the best time to undertake these changes.”
He stressed that the advantages of expedition outweighed the concerns that were being raised about the timing.
NDC rings changes in parliamentary leadership
The NDC, through its General Secretary Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, wrote to the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, to announce the replacement of three members: the Minority Leader, the deputy Minority Leader, and the Minority Chief Whip.
The NDC picked Ato Forson to replace Haruna Iddrisu as leader of the Minority Caucus.
Other changes included Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, MP for Ellembele, who is the new deputy Minority Chief Whip.
While Kwame Governs Agbodza, MP for Adaklu, will replace Asawase MP Muntaka Mohammed as the Chief Whip.
Ahmed Ibrahim, MP for Banda, has been maintained as the First deputy Minority Chief Whip, while Comfort Doyoe Cudjoe-Ghansah, MP for Ada, is also retained as second deputy Minority Chief Whip.
The Tamale High court 2 is expected to hear the corruption-related case today, January, 31, 2023 involving four officials of the authority charged by the Office of the Special Prosecutor(OSP).
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) charged the Chief Executive Officer of the Northern Development Authority (NDA), Mr. Sumaila Abdul-Rahman and his two deputies, Stephen Yir-eru Engmen in Charge of Operations, and Mr. Patrick Seidu, the Deputy Chief Executive (Finance & Administration) for alleged corruption.
Also charged with the three is Mr. Andrew Kuundaari, the Chief Executive of A&QS Consortium Limited, a private consultancy firm.
The four are charged with conspiracy to directly or indirectly influence the procurement process to obtain an unfair advantage in the award of a procurement contract.
This will be first court appearance of the four suspects.
The deputy Communication Director for the governing NPP, Kamal-Deen Abdulai says the former Electoral Commission (EC) boss, madam Charlotte Osei was lawfully removed from office.
According to him, the laws will apply on anybody irrespective of the offender’s status in the country adding that when you flout it you cannot escape the consequences that come with the offends.
His comments come on the back of former President John Mahama questioning how State institutions have been bastardized in the country by the current administration.
Delivering a lecture on “Africa’s Strategic Priorities and Global Role” at Chatham House, London last Friday January 27, 2023, the former President also recounted how the former EC boss was removed.
Commenting on the lecture by the former President on Starr News, Mr. Kamal-Deen stated that it is unfair for former President Mahama to describe the removal of the former EC boss as frivolous on an international stage such the Chatham House.
“No matter who you are, our constitution is clear that no one is above the law and for His Excellency John Dramani Mahama who hascbeen the President of the republic of Ghana before, and who swore according to the constitution of Ghana and swore to uphold all the laws of Ghana.
“It will be very unfair to the system when he says that reasons for the asking of Charlotte Osei from office were frivolous. The question that comes to mind is that was Charlotte Osei taken out of office as a result of due process of the law? As a result, she has relented on her duties and to the extent that she has flouted the laws of this country or not, and if the answer is yes then I think that President Mahama should come again.
“I think it is unfair for a statesman to make such a statement. With the young people growing up we all have learnt that we need to be bonded by the laws of the country. We need to actually work with them and Charlotte Osei.
“The accusations that came for her removal emanated from the same institution, people she was working with. Even Commissioners that were at the same table had problems with her and she had problems with them.”
Mr. Kamal-Deen stated that the former President should not sit anywhere and formulate any story while the accusations and counter accusations from EC under the leadership of Charlotte Osei got her out of office.
“Me I will maintain that no matter how little a law appears and no matter how little a crime appears it is still a crime. So long as it is defined by the law as a crime and if it is punishable and if consequences are to come with them, they are supposed to come with them and of course you will face them as well.”
Akwasi Addae Odike, the founder and leader of the United Front Party(UFP), has chastised the National Cathedral Board of Trustees for what he alleges is their willingness to let President Akufo-Addo to dupe them into backing a dubious project.
He contends that the project is a personal commitment made by the president and shouldn’t be a burden on the state, and as a result, if the board ever had integrity and conscience, they should have resigned when the president began taking money from the state coffers to fund the project.
In an interview with Happy FM, the politician cum businessman asserted that the accusations levelled against some board of trustees by the Member of Parliament for North Tongu Constituency demonstrates the level of corruption and dishonesty they have engaged in, necessitating their resignation.
“The whole process was formulated on the premises of fraud. Nobody knows Jesus Christ, it is just a religion that we came to meet and worship. “Akufo Addo said he has a personal pledge with God. He told the entire nation that it was his private project to reward God. “He then formed a board of trustees who also came to tell us that the projects won’t be funded by the state. Then Akufo Addo came again and said that the building will now cost $350 million so, unless Ghanaians come and support it, now he has turned the whole cathedral into a state property.
“That was the day that all the board of trustees should have resigned if they had conscience and integrity…because same as Akufo-Addo said some time ago that, ‘I have been misled’. “So, should they? They should’ve also said that they have been misled…because they took the position because Akufo-Addo said it was his personal project, but if it’s now national, we don’t know what to tell Ghanaians so we’re sorry… the pastors that are leading in discussions with the construction of the National Cathedral have failed us. Akufo-Addo has lied and they’ve also pledged to support the lies,” he said.
Meanwhile, The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has accused Reverend Kusi Boateng, secretary and board of trustee member of engaging in a conflict of interest situation and also using double identities.
He revealed in a Facebook post that a whooping GH¢2.6million was transferred from the National Cathedral Secretariat to JNS Talent Centre Limited, a company owned by Rev. Kusi Boateng under his second name, Kwabena Adu Gyamfi.
He also alleged that the religious leader has been issued with a diplomatic passport which he finds very disturbing.
“I will want the Foreign Affairs Ministry to justify why Rev. Victor Kusi-Boateng qualified for a diplomatic passport to begin with. Otherwise, everybody will be eligible to hold a diplomatic passport in this country,” he said in an interview on Okay FM’s ‘Ade Akye Abia’ programme..
“On 25th November 2021 the Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration granted Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng a diplomatic passport. The diplomatic passport which expires on 24th November 2026 rather carries the name Kwabena Adu Gyamfi and not Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng”.
The Minority Leader, his deputy, and the Chief Whip were among the leaders who lost their positions when the Minority Caucus in Parliament underwent a leadership change last week.
When the news broke, it was met with opposition from a section of Members of Parliament (MPs) who insisted that even though the party reserved the right to reshuffle leadership, the process was defective to the extent that there was no consultation.
In response, National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Johnson Asiedu Nketiah disclosed that there were consultations and that the party took a decision after that process.
Aside being part of efforts to reorganize party structures, he identified the lack of cooperation between the Haruna Iddrisu-led Caucus and the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, who is also an NDC member, its longest serving MP till 2020 when he exited.
Bagbin’s election was largely credited to the Minority led by outgone Chief Whip Mohammed Muntaka-Mabarak’s vigilance during the voting process on January 7, 2021 when the 8th Parliament was convened.
Years down the line, the same Muntaka who raced through the chamber to retrieve a ballot from a ruling party MP, which process secured Bagbin the seat of Speaker, has routinely disagreed strongly with the Speaker on different issues.
Muntaka disagrees with Bagbin over absentee MPs petition
In April 2022, Speaker Bagbin admitted a petition against three absentee New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs – Henry Quartey, Sarah Adwoa Safo and Kennedy Agyapong.
The petition was filed by a former lawmaker, Ras Mubarak, which procedure Muntaka challenged as wrong. He said Bagbin ought to have admitted a petition from a sitting MP because Parliament was a master of its own processes.
Muntaka after the verbal exchanges filed a motion challenging Bagbin’s ruling and seeking to revoke or rescind the referral of three MPs to the privileges committee over absenteeism.
A memo addressed to the Minority Chief Whip from the principal assistant clerk at the table office said the motion had been dismissed by the Speaker.
Muntaka and Bagbin face off on vote of censure procedure
Bagbin had cause to ‘threaten’ Muntaka in November 2022 when they clashed over the procedure Bagbin opted to adopt in a Censorship Motion brought by the Minority against Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.
Muntaka during proceedings on November 11 vehemently disagreed with Bagbin’s decision to refer the censorship motion to a committee, interrupting him a number of times much to Bagbin’s chagrin
“Mr. Speaker, I come to second the motion with the clear indication that any attempt to move this matter to a committee will be a travesty of justice done to the chamber of this House.
Then the Speaker retorted again: “Hon. Members, I direct that all that the Minority Chief Whip has said after I have told him to withdraw and apologize, be expunged from the records. I so direct. Hansard expunge everything from the record.
“Minority Chief Whip, you’ll have a difficulty in catching my eye again,” reference to getting to speak again during the session.
Muntaka grants interview attacking Bagbin on multiple fronts
Late last year, following their spat over the Ofori-Atta Censure motion, Muntaka granted an interview to Accra-based Joy News, speaking to issues around his work and general operations of the House.
On Speaker Bagbin and his leadership style, Muntaka used harsh language describing Bagbin in part as a dictator who was running the House like a chief in a palace.
He insisted that the times he opposed Bagbin were on valid and legal grounds, promising to continue on that trajectory because it was in the ultimate interest of building Ghana’s parliamentary democracy.
He also compared Bagbin to his predecessor Mike Oquaye, stressing that the latter was far more accommodating of debate and readily saw the point of view of MPs unlike Bagbin.
Former Ghana Ambassador to India, Sam Pee Yalley has questioned the rationale behind President Nana Akufo-Addo’s obsession with building a National Cathedral at a time of economic austerity.
Speaking on Dwaboase on TV XYZ, the National President of the NDC Professionals Forum (PRO-FORUM) wondered which benefit the citizens stand to gain from the construction of a facility which President Akufo-Addo has said is a fulfillment of a promise he personally made to God before becoming the country’s leader.
In his estimation, the project is not a priority at a time economic hardship is being battled by almost every house hold with the government relying on the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) support to balance the country’s finances.
“President Akufo-Addo is a bad leader; He is a bad driver who has led the country to a low level…And with all these economic challenges, he is focused on building a cathedral,” he lamented.
Sam Pee Yalley, a veteran legal practitioner chastised the managers of the economy and admonished the president to focus on tackling the economic mess his cousin, Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister for Finance, has created in the country.
“In this present age when Nigeria is implementing agricultural policies to feed its people; Rwanda is developing science…Ghana under this president we are going back to Biblical times, some 2,000 years back to look for Bible quotations when others are going to the scientific world,” Pee Yalley criticised.
To him, Akufo-Addo and his cohorts are stealing from Ghanaians in the name of the project.
“Why go into a contingency vault to build a cathedral?” he quizzed.
About 339 million cedis has been withdrawn from the country’s Consolidated Fund to finance the cathedral which has over the months irked most Ghanaians due to the opaque nature of the project’s funding.
Controversies
Apart from questions of accountability which have been repeatedly raised by the Minority in Parliament, there have also been concerns about the relevance of the project as the country cannot sustain its debts coupled with high inflation.
The questions led to two eminent clergymen and members of the Board of Trustees of the controversial National Cathedral project calling for its immediate suspension.
The two – Archbishop Duncan Williams and Reverend Eastwood Anaba asked for a financial audit to be undertaken before the project could continue.
Earlier in 2022, Bishop Dag Heward-Mills, the founder and leader of the Lighthouse Chapel International resigned secretly from the Board of Trustees of the project.
In the letter sighted by Citi News, Bishop Heward-Mills expressed disappointment at the leadership of the National Cathedral for ignoring concerns he raised in several letters he wrote to them with the recent one being in June 2022 through the Ghana Charismatic Bishops’ Conference.
Part of it reads, “I feel that the treatment of the issues I have raised in my several letters has been unfortunate. My letters have been ignored in the past; not attended to for years, and at best addressed flippantly.”
“You may recall I have spoken passionately and written extensively about the costs, the design, the location, the fundraising, the mobilization of the churches, and the role of the trustees. These, if heeded, would have made our project more achievable. Generally speaking, my inputs, my opinions, and my letters have been trivialized and set aside.”
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential hopeful, Alan Kyerematen, was mobbed by his supporters, on Monday, January 30, 2023, as he arrived in the Ashanti regional capital, Kumasi.
According to reports, Alan is in Kumasi to pay a courtesy call on the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.
A viral video of Alan’s arrival at the Kumasi Airport showed a crowd of supporters amassed at the airport as they awaited his arrival.
As he was alighting from the plane, some of the supporters could be seen jumping as they shouted, “this is the next president of Ghana.”
The former minister of trade and industry is expected to face stiff competition from Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and former Food and Agriculture Minister, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, for the flagbearership position of the NPP.
Meanwhile, the vice president has been projected to be the flagbearer of the NPP in a recent study co-conducted by Outcomes International Ghana and the Centre for Sustainable African Development Initiatives (C-SADI) UK.
According to the survey, the most popular candidate for the New Patriotic Party flagbearer position in all 16 regions of Ghana is the vice president.
In all, the survey got responses from around 197,000 NPP polling station executives (PSEs) in all the regions.
“Data was obtained mainly through computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) technology between 15th November 2022 and 15th December 2022. Based on 95% confidence level and 2% margin of error a sample size of 6000 PSEs was used. However, 5641 PSEs were successfully interviewed (response rate of 94%) from all 96 constituencies.
“Greater Accra region had the highest number of PSEs interviewed with 1142 PSEs followed by the Ashanti region with 869 PSEs corresponding to 20.2% and 15.4% respectively. More than half of PSE’s who participated in the survey were Akan (54% [n=3056 PSEs]), and 46% (n=2585 PSEs) were non-Akan. In terms of religious distribution, 78% of the PSEs were Christian whilst 20.6% were Muslim,” the report stated.
