The freshly built Kumasi International Airport‘s runway is currently undergoing a test run for standardization purposes.
The exercise comes ahead of the facility’s full operations of scheduled and chartered flights later this year. The Ashanti Region is expected to leverage the new airport to attract more tourists, ease international air travel for persons in the northern sector of the country, create jobs and boost the local and national economy.
The Ashanti Region is expected to leverage the new airport to attract more tourists, ease international air travel for persons in the northern sector of the country, create jobs and boost the local and national economy.
Kwabena Marfo, a broadcast journalist with Despite Media group has censured Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta over the decision to include pensioners in the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).
Kwabena Marfo says the move by the finance ministry smacks of heartlessness and insensitivity on the part of finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.
He wonders if Ken Ofori-Atta exhorted his mind to the plight of the pensioners and the possible effect of the move on them before rolling out the programme.
“He is heartless and insensitive to the plight of the people. Only someone who doesn’t care and has concern for people will do what Ken Ofori-Atta is doing. Most of the people you see holding the bible are hypocrites.
“If you want to sin and go scott free, just take up the Bible. These are some of the reasons people don’t go to church. If Ken Ofori-Atta was in my church, I wouldn’t step there. I won’t even attend his church. I have never seen a heartless human being like that. How do you go after the monies of pensioners. These little monies from the pensioners and you want to touch it.
“Has he thought about the people who could die as a result? Has he thought about the people who will not able to afford medications? How can you take the country ransom and behave like we are slaves. We shall see in 2024,” he fumed.
The decision to include pensioners in the DDEP has courted controversy with concerns over how the over-60-year-olds will survive.
Peter Kojo Nyansepe, a 77-year-old sick retiree is dreading the program as he believes it could drive him to his grave.
He told Joy News that he will picket at a branch of the GCB to retrieve his monies.
“I gave the money to the Ghana Commercial Bank so they’ll give me the money before I come. I’m going to stay there.
“If they say the money is not there, I’m going to stay there. I’m going to stay there until they carry me wherever they want to carry me because I cannot walk myself so they’ll carry me.
“Wherever they want to carry me they have to carry me and go. That’s the only thing I can do. I cannot fight them also”, he said.
Meanwhile the Pensioner Bondholder Forum called off its earlier threat to picket at premise of Ministry of Finance last week.
The decision follows invitations for extensive talks with the ministry over the DDEP.
Founder and Leader of Heaven’s Gate Ministries, Prophet Nicholas Osei popularly known as Kumchacha has lamented the impact of economic hardship on Ghanaians and is advocating for the sale of the nation to its former colonial masters.
Speaking in an interview on Onua FM monitored by GhanaWeb, the man of God asserted that Ghanaians are suffering as a result of the NPP-led government’s poor leadership.
He continued by saying that in his perspective, it would be preferable for the country to be run by colonial overlords rather than having black folks mismanage the nation.
“Masa things are hard, and how the system has become, if possible, let’s sell the country and share the proceedings. Since we gain our independence. If the whites were still ruling us, I’m sure by now we would have developed.
“Looking at South Africa and how the whites have developed their country, is so sad. How can a country that gain independence more than 60 years ago still keep borrowing? Just look, we have cocoa, oil, timber, gold, diamond and everything but still, we’re struggling. Which country is this,” he fumed.
Meanwhile, Ken Ofori-Atta, Ghana’s finance minister rendered an apology to Ghanaians for economic difficulties on November 18, 2022, when he appeared before the Parliamentary ad hoc Committee hearing the Motion of Censure against him.
He acknowledged that the economy is facing difficulties and the people of Ghana are enduring hardships.
He said he sees and feels the terrible impact of the challenges and would continue to work hard to resolve them to help mitigate the hardships for the citizens.
“Today, I acknowledge our economy is facing difficulties and the people of Ghana are enduring hardships.
“As the person, President Akufo-Addo has put in charge of the economy, I feel the pain personally, professionally, and in my soul. I see and feel the terrible impact of the rising prices of goods and services on the lives and livelihoods of ordinary Ghanaians,” he told the Committee.
He added that he has taken note of the plight of businesses in the country as they struggle to stay in business.
“I feel the stress of running a business. But, it is the strength and perseverance of the Ghanaian people that inspire me and my colleagues in government every morning, to press on,” Ofori-Atta said.
The minister added that “is what gives me the strength to press on to find solutions and relief for Ghanaians to the myriad of problems that our country and the rest of the world are facing, especially, since March 2020.”
It will be better if we sell the nation and share the money among ourselves. – Prophet Kumchacha on Efie Ne Fie with the 3 Wisemen#OnuaNews #OnuaFM pic.twitter.com/T5ofTYGNIG— Onua FM (@onua951fm) January 20, 2023
Databank, a company partly owned by the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta has reportedly bagged GH₵159million from government for its Transaction Advisory services on government bond issuance since 2017.
The claim is being made by the Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor who said his calculations were based on a document supplied to the committee that probed the Vote of Censure motion against Ken Ofori-Atta last month.
In a tabular representation of the figures, Dafeamekpor alleged that government paid GH ₵85 million to Databank in 2021. The lowest figure was 2019 where GH₵11.83million was paid to Databank.
The document, posted on social media, was captioned: “This is how much Ken Ofori Atta and his company have made from the borrowings he’s made so far for this Govt….very staggering amount of money in fees. How much taxes has he paid on these huge fees earned from the borrowings?”
One of the grounds for the censure motion against Ken Ofori-Atta was claim of conflict of interest over the involvement of Databank in Government of Ghana’s Capital Market transactions.
His counsel at the time, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko defended that the Commission of Human Right and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and not Parliament was clothed with the power to investigate issues of conflict of interest.
After rounds of legal banter between Gabby Otchere-Darko and Dr Dominic Ayine who was the co-chair of the committee, conflict of interest was struck out as one of the grounds for the investigations.
One of Ofori-Atta’s deputies, John Ampontuah Kumah asked critics of the Finance Minister to seek interpretation at the Supreme Court over the matter.
“Those who are so pained by the current situation should go to court, the Supreme Court or the High Court. So that we can all be guided because, as far as I am concerned, these two public officers have acted within the law. Even at their vetting, they’ve disclosed this; every information has been put out there. All of a sudden, it is turning out to be another unheard of situation,” he said.
Economist and Political Risk Analyst, Dr. Theo Acheampong is urging government to review its target of reaching a 55% Debt-to-GDP ratio by 2028.
He views the target as too ambitious adding that it imposes undue pressure on government, forcing it to further burden some categories of bondholders.
Dr. Acheampong believes that if the 55% Debt-to-GDP target is further pushed to 2032, there will be enough room for negotiations.
Speaking on Citi FM/TV‘s news analysis programme, The Big Issue, Dr. Achempong said “if we want to exclude the individual bondholders from the whole exercise as well as the pension fund and others, we need to relook the 55% Debt-to-GDP ratio target for 2028. We need to go back to the drawing board even in terms of the whole fiscal arrangements and renegotiate with the IMF”.
“The 55% target can be pushed further to say 2032, this will allow for more negotiations. The terms of the programme are too onerous, it imposes an undue burden on different categories of bondholders, and will have a ripple effect of further slowing down the economy.”
In the government’s quest to address the country’s economic woes, the government launched the debt exchange programme to invite holders of bonds to voluntarily exchange approximately GH¢137 billion domestic notes and bonds of the Republic including ESLA and Daakye for a package of new bonds.
It is currently unclear how many institutions and individuals have signed onto the programme.
The domestic debt exchange program since its announcement has faced huge opposition from labour groups that managed to get pension funds exempted. Several groups made up of individual bondholders have also rejected the programme by the government.
The individuals have threatened to sue the government if not excluded insisting the programme will negatively impact them.
Meanwhile, the deadline for signing up has been further postponed to Tuesday, January 31, 2023.
Founder and Leader of Heaven’s Gate Ministries, Prophet Nicholas Osei popularly known as Kumchacha has stated that American rapper Meek Mill who shot a music video at the Jubilee House of Ghana took advantage of the country’s weak security system.
Making his submission in an interview with Onua FM monitored by GhanaWeb, the man of God claimed that Meek Mill would not have been able to film the music video in the Jubilee house if the nation’s security apparatus had been in full effect.
“Do you know that the system is weak? if the system is not weak how can a guy from America go and sing at the Jubilee House? That guy shouldn’t even be blamed. I learnt people were blaming him but he shouldn’t be blamed. Because when he came to Ghana, he realized the weak security system and took advantage of it. So, Meek Mill came to Ghana and did this, how?” he questioned.
Meek Mill who performed at the Afrochella event in Accra, was later spotted with the President at the Jubilee House together with Akufo-Addo’s daughter who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Creative Arts Council.
Ghanaians expressed outrage after the American rapper released a video of a song he shot at the Jubilee House.
The video saw portions of the Presidency, from the frontage, through the main corridors, in the main conference hall, and behind the presidential lectern causing Ghanaians to fume, describing the art as a denigration of the seat.
He later deleted the video and subsequently apologised saying he never meant to insult Ghanaians.
Former Ghana Football Association (GFA) Chairman, Alhaji MND Jawula, has died at the age of 74.
The veteran Ghanaian football administrator died in Nashville, United States.
He was the leader of Ghana’s football governing body from 1997 to 2001.
Before his rise to the top of Ghana football administration, Alhaji Jawula was chairman of the 1995 Black Starlets team that won the World Cup in Ecuador.
He last served as Chairman of the seven-member Ghana Premier League Management Committee from 2019.
Alhaji Jawula was also a board member of Real Tamale United and a CAF Interclub Committee Member.
Aside football, he was the Lepowura of the Kujolobite Gate of Lepo-Kpempe in the Northern Region.
Founder and Leader of Ghana Union Movement (GUM) Rev Christian Kwabena Andrews popularly known as Osofo Kyiri Abosom, has lambasted the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral project for reasons known to him as lack of priority.
According to the Founder and General Overseer of the Life Assembly Worship Centre, no true man of God will support the national cathedral project because president Akufo-Addo is building the cathedral with state funds which is a completely misplaced priority.
“The truth is, we the pastors living in the country and calling for the construction of the national cathedral. Those who are board members and are calling for the cathedral are not true men of God. If they are true men of God, they will not support this thing. Tell the public for me. President Akufo-Addo is he a pastor? has he been called by God, for him to come and build a church for God? If you want to build a church go and buy your own land,” he angrily said.
He furthered that, the president is spending limited resources on the cathedral, which is unacceptable even in the eyes of God, in whose name the cathedral is being erected.
“If the President can hear the voice of God, he would know that people are hungry and are not about the cathedral, Does Nana Addo hear the voice of the Lord? He doesn’t, if he does, he wouldn’t be carrying his chair around,” he added.
Meanwhile, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a Member of Parliament for North Tongu who has been a staunch advocate against the construction of the National Cathedral, on grounds that the timing, location and process are wrong has made some allegations Reverend Kusi Boateng.
In his latest set of allegations, Okudzeto Ablakwa sought to establish that Reverend Kusi Boateng was actively operating with two different identities.
“As I revealed on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana programme a while ago; when Paul Adom Otchere claimed on his show last night that Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng AKA Kwabena Adu Gyamfi was advised to use his mother’s name following the demise of his father; what Paul didn’t want Ghanaians to discover is the fact that in addition to the double dates of birth and double TINs; Rev. Kusi Boateng also mystifyingly claims to have two biological mothers.
“On the 13th of August, 2013 when he filled his Taxpayer Registration Form at the GRA under the name Victor Kusi Boateng with a date of birth of September 7, 1971; he declared that his mother’s maiden last name is Ataah, and her first name is Agnes.
“He was subsequently given a Taxpayer Identification Number for his Victor Kusi Boateng name as P0002502682.
“Curiously, on the 24th of March, 2016 he returned to the GRA, this time with the name Kwabena Adu Gyamfi and date of birth of December 30, 1969. He strangely declared a different biological mother with a maiden last name of Gyamfua and a first name of Yaa.
“This is how he secured another TIN — P000627241X.
“Interestingly, he declared on the forms that he is not a registered taxpayer even though he was and already had a TIN.
“Therefore, from unimpeachable official records, Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng miraculously has two biological mothers — Yaa Gyamfua and Agnes Ataah. (See copies attached)”, he posted on social media.
Yaw Adomako Baafi, a former Communications Director for the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), has refuted suggestions that vice president Mahamudu Bawumia is responsible for the meltdown of Ghana’s economy because he is the head of the country’s Economic Management Team (EMT).
According to him, the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is solely responsible for the performance of Ghana’s economy and the EMT is only an advisory body.
Speaking in an Okay FM interview monitored by GhanaWeb, Adomako Baafi added that arguments that Bawumia cannot be the flagbearer of the NPP because of the performance of the economy are flawed because other members of the EMT are also contesting to be the party’s candidate for the 2024 presidential elections.
“The economic management team is just an advisory body; they don’t implement anything. And even if it is so, Alan Kyerematen was part of the Economic Management Team, the agriculture minister (Dr Afriyie Akoto) was also part of the Economic Management Team.
“All the people who are contesting for the flagbearership position of the NPP were part of the EMT. The work of the EMT is a team work so Bawumia cannot blamed if things are not going well,” he said in the Twi dialect.
The former NPP communication director also refuted suggestions that Bawumia cannot be the flagbearer of the NPP, because he is new to the party.
He said that the number of years one has served in a party should not matter in the selection of a presidential candidate and that the most important factor that is to be considered is competence.
He added that Bawumia has proven that he can led Ghana by the way he assisted President Akufo-Addo in developing the country.
A Ghanaian based in the United States of America has been stabbed at Winneba in the Effutu Municipality of the Central Region.
Charles Kwesi Amissah who lived and worked in the US and has returned home after retirement narrowly escaped death when he was attacked by two unknown assailants on Friday, January 20, 2023.
The victim is in critical condition and receiving treatment at the Winneba Special and Trauma Hospital.
Information gathered by Kasapa News’ Yaw Boagyan indicates that two young men entered his compound at Low-cost, a suburb of Winneba, and one pointed a gun at him only to realize after a careful look that the gun was a toy one.
He, therefore, took the risk to fight him when he demanded for his car key, but in the process, the other thief joined the attack and stabbed him with a knife rendering him helpless.
He attempted to prevent them from driving his V6 Toyota car away by standing behind it but the robbers reversed with speed knocking him down under the car.
The robbers however failed to drive off because of a heap of bricks on the compound, forcing them to run away leaving the car when he shouted for help.
Some neighbours heard his shouts and rushed to his aid and took him to the hospital.
The case has been reported to the Winneba Police station for an investigation.
Executive President of the Center for Employment of Persons with Disability (CEPWD), Mr. Alexander Tetteh has admonished that Ghana is not getting the development it should have because the country has not been treating the vulnerable people well.
He expressed worry over how persons with; the aged, disabilities, orphans, widows, and the likes are not treated well in the country that is endowed with all the natural resources needed for social and economic growth of its citizens.
Mr. Tetteh condemned how about 500 persons with disabilities who lost their livelihood as toll collectors after the cessation of toll collections on the roads have been neglected by the ministry of roads and highways despite the promise to reassign them to other sectors of the ministry.
Leader of the former toll collectors, Rashad Mohammed Rahmat also revealed that one of their female colleagues committed suicide because she was saddled with debts and couldn’t bear the shame and pressure.
The Executive President of the Center for Employment of Persons with Disabilities has also described the construction of the national cathedral as a misplaced priority by the government of Ghana.
“Obedience is better than sacrifice. You have disabled people, down-trodden people who are suffering, who don’t have food to eat and the money to use to buy food for them. You say you are buying brick and mortar, and breaking grounds to build a national cathedral for whom to come and worship in it?” Mr. Tetteh questioned
According to him, it is more godly for the churches to come to the side of the vulnerable because if the churches can come together to contribute money to build a cathedral, then they should come together and help establish livelihood for the vulnerable in the society.
“Even those who are coming to worship, if they don’t eat, how do they go to worship? Can’t we worship God in our homes? Won’t God listen? God no longer lives in houses built with human hands. God lives in us. If I am able to live well and pray to God, he will listen and bless this nation but if I am here and I am hungry and I am wailing, don’t you think he will bring curses to our nation?” he lamented
Mr. Tetteh told Helen Appiah Ampofo on the 3FM Sunrise Morning Show that he is afraid things are going to get tougher this year and especially difficult for persons with disabilities living in Ghana.
“The year is going to be very difficult for everybody, especially persons with disabilities. We are going to face it seriously. It means the kind of life we are having now which is difficult is going to be more difficult and it looks very scary and I don’t know what strategies that government has for the marginalized. Even the common fund for persons with disabilities is not well managed” he feared.
As far as is widely known now, it is clear that the Inspector General of Police of Ghana, COP Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, holds a view that the current style of popular prophets in this country should be regularised.
Among the number of things he said in reaffirming his stance on why there is a new directive that prophets in the country operate cautiously or risk courting the force of the police service, the IGP said that even for him, he finds it interesting that until he got into office, no one had ever prophesied about him before.
“Honourable chair, before I became IGP, nobody prophesied about me. Now I’m IGP and everybody is prophesying about me. I have no problem with it because I’m a public figure, but why should it be such that you find something or God has revealed something to you and you want to share it with me, then you’ve to make it a showmanship? And tell the whole country that I’m about to die, which I’m not afraid of,” he said.
Besides, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare added, many of prophecies by some of these faith-filled pastors create a lot of needless fear and panic in the country.
Again, the police chief reiterated he is not afraid to die.
But who and who have prophesied about the IGP, and what have those prophesies been?
GhanaWeb puts together the list for its readers below:
At the start of 2023, one of the prophecies that were broadcast about the IGP, COP Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, came from the founder and leader of Prophetic Hill Chapel, Nigel Gaisie.
In his prophecy, the outspoken preacher said that he saw that IGP Dampare’s boots had been taken from him, implying that there was an imminent sacking of the police chief.
“The Lord took my spirit to the Republic of Y3mpe Nokore, and I saw that there was a change in IGP. In the realms of the spirit, I saw the IGP and his boots were taken off.
“I dreamt, I saw and it’ll come to pass if they don’t pray about it,” he said.
IGP will be poisoned:
In 2021, a London-based pastor only named as Rev. Evans, prophesied that he saw the death of the IGP.
Explaining further in a video that was shared online, he said that in what he saw, Dr George Akuffo Dampare was poisoned at a dinner party during Christmas.
“Mr. Dampare, we will still have to prophesy. There are some prophecies we need to come out and say it even though there are false prophets. We know what you are doing is good but we can’t keep quiet. Ghana IGP, I have seen that you went to some Christmas dinner. After eating, you found yourself in the midst of Sir John,” he said.
President of Pro-Forum and former Ghana Ambassador to India Sam Pee Yalley has described the controversial National Cathedral project as an avenue for the government to embezzle state funds.
He likened the project to a fish pond stocked with fortunes.
“Even in the name of God, they have found an avenue to steal state funds,” Mr Yalley said in an interview monitored by 3news.com.
“This is not a Cathedral, it is a national fish pond.”
Former Ambassador Sam Pee Yalley also touched on the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme currently being tabled by government to address the country’s heavy debt.
To him, “Ghana has gone under 7 years of fraudulent governance”.
He accused the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, and the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, of destroying all the legacies John Dramani Mahama built whiles in power.
“Before Ofori-Atta took up the position as Finance Minister, Mahama had done huge investment. But, immediately, he assumed office he began mismanaging things,” he said.
He described the Programme as fraudulent.
“Nobody trusts the government anymore. Many programmes this government has embarked has turned out to be fraud.”
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has hinted of plans to intensify the decongestion exercise to clear pedestrian walkways off traders by next week.
According to the Assembly, this strict measure is being enforced in order to reduce filth as well as increase mobility within the metropolis.
Speaking to Citi News, the Head of AMA’s Public Affairs Department, Gilbert Nii Ankrah explained that, his outfit has “already deployed information vans in town to announce its new measures.”
He stressed that, traders who refuse to adhere to the directive will be prosecuted.
The Lands and Natural Resources Ministry as part of its renewed effort to fight the destructive illegal mining and formalise the small-scale mining sector will in the next six months introduce three high-speed Diamond DA-42 aircraft for surveillance.
A Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resource, George Mireku Duker who is the Chairman of the recently established Joint Committee during an inspection of the aircraft at the Takoradi Airforce Base said this would be in collaboration with the Ghana Airforce and the Ghana Chamber of Mines who are expected to pay for the retrofitting of the aircraft at a cost of €700,000 before they are deployed.
“These are specialised aircraft for surveillance and recognisance, and we believe our regularisation effort could help in getting things done, especially getting the galamsey menace controlled. That is why my government is collaborating with private partners like the Chamber of Mines. They have come together on this one, and we anticipate that they will take up the cost and use it to monitor their activities and also help in checking the galamsey”, he said.
George Mireku Duker, after inspecting the aircraft said the sustainability of the government’s current flagship policy of gold for oil policy would heavily depend on a formalised small-scale mining sector, hence the Lands Ministry will keep up the fight till the sector is formalised.
“As I speak, government has embarked upon a gold for oil policy and if we are going to be vigorous about that journey, then we must have a regularized industry… I believe the President is so determined in fighting the galamsey canker on ours and fortunately for us, due to the collaboration the Ministry has with the Chamber of Mines, we have come together to restore these special aircraft to assist in fighting the galamsey,” he added.
He also explained what informed government to take the cost-effective route of undertaking repair works instead of purchasing new equipment which will serve the same purpose.
“This is an effort we are making to clamp down on recalcitrant persons who are still determined to destroy our industry. We want to streamline and regulate activities in the mining sector… We believe that it is cost-effective compared to procuring drones and other equipment. Though drones may have their efficiencies, this could be in the air for hours without being noticed and collect evidence that can be used in a court of law“, he noted.
The Diamond DA-42 aircraft were procured and delivered in 2011 to the Ghana Airforce originally for offshore surveillance but has over the period developed faults with the communication and surveillance software.
George Mireku Duker mentioned that the work on the aircraft is expected to last six months.
“The servicing works on the aircraft will see the replacement of crashes, hard drives, outdated software and engines among others”, he assured.
A briefing on the state of the Diamond aircraft were led by W02 Hoggar Charles, an Aircraft Technician of the Ghana Airforce.
Some students of the Mensah Sarbah hall of the University of Ghana have sued the management of the school for denying them access to their halls.
The students believe this is an infringement on their fundamental human rights to education, freedom from unlawful discrimination and fair administrative justice guaranteed under the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana.
They want the court to enforce these rights.
Students of the University of Ghana (UG), have been left stranded on campus following the university’s new residential policy.
On Monday, January 16, 2023, some affected students of Commonwealth hall numbering about 40 were turned away by security personnel of the school from accessing their hall.
Presidential Staffer Dennis Miracles Aboagye has accused North Tongu Member of Parliament Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa of harming the reputation of innocent people before availing himself to the facts of a matter.
He says the opposition lawmaker engages in drama and theatrics when issues come up only to realise later that he did not have the facts.
Whenever Mr Ablakwa’s falsehoods are exposed by the facts, he quickly changes his claims, Mr Miracles Aboagye said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, January 21qhil3 contributing to a topic on the National Cathedral project.
“I am worried that a Member of Parliament will embark on this dangerous activity. Investigate and find out facts before coming out and calling names,” he said.
On Tuesday, January 17, Secretary to the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral, Rev Kusi Boateng rejected the allegations made against him by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
Mr Ablakwa had presented what he described as “unimpeachable” and “incontrovertible” evidence against him.
According to the opposition lawmaker, Rev Kusi Boateng is the third “mystery” director of JNS Talent Cantre Limited, a firm he had earlier accused of receiving GH¢2.6 million illegal cash transfer from the Secretariat.
Unimpeachable and incontrovertible evidence confirms that Mr. Kwabena Adu Gyamfi is the famous Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng who still serves on the National Cathedral Board as an Executive Council Member/Director,” he said.
For the avoidance of doubt, he added, there is no distinct Kwabena Adu Gyamfi. Kwabena Adu Gyamfi is a criminal creation of Rev. Victor Kusi-Boateng.
The two are therefore one and the same, he said.
“Rev. Victor Kusi-Boateng AKA Kwabena Adu Gyamfi thought he had outwitted every Ghanaian, particularly our authorities whom he dribbled for many years; but the day of reckoning is finally here.”
Mr Ablakwa has further petitioned the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice ( CHRAJ) to look into the matter.
But responding to him in a statement, Rev Kusi Boateng said he looks forward to CHRAJ’s probe.
“I wish to assure the public that the statement made by Mr Ablakwa are a twisted narration of events to pursue a malicious political agenda. There has never been any criminal intent nor any crime committed in my dealings with the government of Ghana or National Cathedral,” he said.
Host of Good Evening Ghana, Paul Adom Otchere, has asserted that Reverend Kusi Boateng, a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral has predicted all presidential election results correctly since 1992.
Marking his submission on his Good Evening Ghana show on January 20, 2023, the Board Chair of the Ghana Airport Company Limited revealed that, Rev Kusi Boateng foretold President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo about his defeats in the general elections of 2008 and 2012 as well as his eventual victories in the 2016 and 2021 elections.
“Now here is a man Rev Kusi Boateng, I will tell you the story. Who has predicted correctly as they tell us every election since 1992? In 1992 he predicted that JJ Rawlings will win the election and he won …in 2000 he predicted that the NPP will come to power through JA Kuffour and that happened, and in 2004 it happened. 2008 is the interesting one.
“So, in 2008 Rev Kusi Boateng. You can understand his history because of his father. Eeerm ‘the buckler’ I would like to call it with the soldiers, he doesn’t really like political parties coming out of the PNDC. So, NDC is not something that he is thinking about because he will say or as some people say ‘they killed my father’.
“But in 2008 he is reported to have met President Akufo-Addo in Kumasi and had told him, sir, this election you are going to lose narrowly but I can see God telling me that you will be president of Ghana.
“But in this election, you’re not going to be successful, you’re going to lose narrowly… So, as soon as that happened, the people who heard him said wow this guy said it, this prophet said it. So, in 2012 let’s go back to him again.”
He added “In 2012 Rev Kusi Boateng then engaged with Akufo-Addo’s people again, and he told them that I’m very sorry to say, this time again you will not win but I see you going to court, and you will win the court case, but it doesn’t make you the president.
“…then in 2016 Rev Kusi Boateng predicted a landslide victory for Akufo-Addo and it happened. So, from that time, he became friends with the people.
Paul Adom Otchere furthered that Rev Kusi Boateng has also foretold that the NPP would win the general elections of 2024, but the election will be marred by violence.
Meanwhile, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a Member of Parliament for North Tongu who has been a staunch advocate against the construction of the National Cathedral, on grounds that the timing, location and process are wrong has made some allegations against Reverend Kusi Boateng.
In his latest set of allegations, Okudzeto Ablakwa sought to establish that Reverend Kusi Boateng was actively operating with two different identities.
“As I revealed on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana programme a while ago; when Paul Adom Otchere claimed on his show last night that Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng AKA Kwabena Adu Gyamfi was advised to use his mother’s name following the demise of his father; what Paul didn’t want Ghanaians to discover is the fact that in addition to the double dates of birth and double TINs; Rev. Kusi Boateng also mystifyingly claims to have two biological mothers.
“On the 13th of August, 2013 when he filled his Taxpayer Registration Form at the GRA under the name Victor Kusi Boateng with a date of birth of September 7, 1971; he declared that his mother’s maiden last name is Ataah, and her first name is Agnes.
“He was subsequently given a Taxpayer Identification Number for his Victor Kusi Boateng name as P0002502682.
“Curiously, on the 24th of March, 2016 he returned to the GRA, this time with the name Kwabena Adu Gyamfi and date of birth of December 30, 1969. He strangely declared a different biological mother with a maiden last name of Gyamfua and a first name of Yaa.
“This is how he secured another TIN — P000627241X.
“Interestingly, he declared on the forms that he is not a registered taxpayer even though he was and already had a TIN.
“Therefore, from unimpeachable official records, Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng miraculously has two biological mothers — Yaa Gyamfua and Agnes Ataah. (See copies attached)”, he posted on social media.
The Management of the National Service Scheme (NSS) has released postings for 15,517 trained teachers.
The trained teachers were enrolled to undertake their mandatory national service for the 2023/2024 service year.
In a statement signed by the NSS Executive Director, Osei Assibey Antwi, it said, “The Management of the National Service Scheme (NSS) has today, 20th January 2023, released postings of a total of FIFTEEN THOUSAND, FIVE HUNDRED AND SEVENTEEN (15,517) trained teachers who enrolled to undertake their mandatory national service for the 2023/2024 service year”.
The statement further directed the trained teachers to check their placements via its website.
“All eligible trained teachers are required to log onto the Scheme’s website at https://www.nss.gov.gh to check their placements and proceed to print their appointment letters for endorsement by respective user agencies. Regional validation and registration for prospective service personnel will begin on 20th January 2023 and end on 28th February 2023 at all NSS regional centres across the country,” the statement indicated.
The statement admonished service personnel deployed to accept their postings.
The statement advised, “All service personnel deployed are hereby entreated to accept their postings as part of their civic responsibilities and contributions towards national development. The Management extends best wishes to you all”.
However, the statement further instructed prospective service personnel to begin their national service on February 6, 2023.
“The Management further directs all prospective service personnel to begin their national service on 6th February 2022, after completing the registration process,” the statement said.
Samuel Pyne, the mayor of Kumasi was unable to hold his anger following persistent heckling from a former General Secretary of the People’s National Convention during a panel discussion on Asempa FM.
Sam Pyne was making a case for the National Cathedral and criticizing Okudzeto Ablakwa’s “campaign” against Reverend Kusi Boateng, a member of the Board of Trustees of the cathedral project.
He first sought to dismiss claims of double identity against Reverend Kusi Boateng, as alleged by Ablakwa, by using himself as an example.
“My baptism card has Samuel Kwabena Sakyi. My O’ level certificate has Samuel Pyne. My A level has Samuel Cobbinah Pyne. They wrote the Kwabena like how Fantes does theirs. I never used my A-level for training college. I used my A-level,” he said.
He then moved on to justify why it is appropriate for the government to build a cathedral for the country.
He rebuffed the notion that the cathedral is a promise of the president to his God and therefore should not be built with state funds.
“I support the Cathedral 300%. I have contributed to the project because I know God and what God has done for me. The NDC started desecrating that project from the first day. They’ve not seen anything good with it. They argue that the cathedral is the president’s personal wish so he should fund it, why don’t they say same about Free SHS”, he said.
Atik Mohammed, the former PNC scribe, also a panelist then interjected: “the Free SHS is for the public so he can use the public money.”
Sam Pyne fired back “is the cathedral for his father or when he is leaving office he will go with it.”.
Despite repeated calls by the host of the show for Atik Mohammed to desist from heckling, Sam Pyne, Atik continued with Sam Pyne occasionally lamenting about how it was affecting his presentation.
Meanwhile, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has said that the National Cathedral could cost the country $1billion.
He is concerned particularly by the amount of public funds dedicated to the project despite earlier government communication that it will be funded by the Christian community.
“My analysis is that this project is more than a billion dollars, it is more than a billion dollars by the time we are done paying for the recklessness of president Akufo-Addo,” he said in an interview on Accra-based Radio Gold (January 18).
Having a taste of anything for the first time can come with its own beauty, but these Ghanaian nurses showcased their awe at seeing and feeling snow for the first time in a more enthralling way.
At the first opportunity, when these nurses, who work for Kingsbridge Private Hospital in Belfast, Northern Ireland, had the chance, they made their way to the streets, allowing the wintry flakes to fall on their faces.
According to the Belfast Telegraph, the moment the nurses – two women and one man – enjoyed this historic moment, was captured in photographs.
The photos have since delighted a lot of people on social media, the report added.
“Adwoa Aninkore, Richmond Koomson and Freda Dowaah had watched from inside the hospital as snow fell while they worked their rounds earlier in the day.
“During an evening break, they were delighted to see another shower and didn’t hesitate to dash outside,” the report stated.
Unable to hide her excitement, Adwoa, who was celebrating her 26th birthday on the same day, told the news portal that it made her feel like a baby.
“I felt like a child. Inside, I had that childlike feeling of joy.
“I was excited because I have only seen snow on the TV, and it was really, really nice to see it and feel it for real. I just wanted to soak the moment in.
“Where I live in Ghana, we have a rainy season and a dry season and here you have rain and a lot of cold and wind. You can get up in the morning and it is dry, and then in the afternoon it is raining. The weather here is a lot,” she is reported to have said.
The nurses are among 20 medical staff from across Africa who responded to an international recruitment campaign launched by Kingsbridge in 2021.
Eight girls trafficked to Ghana to be sex workers have been rescued, with seven of them repatriated to Nigeria by the Ghana Police Service and the Cape Coast office of the Social Welfare Department.
The young girls, aged between 15 and 22, were trafficked into the country under the pretext of securing them white collar jobs to enable them to improve their standard of living.
Two of the girls were rescued at Diaso, the Upper Denkyira West District capital, three at Mankessim in the Mfantseman Municipality, and three at Assin Awisen in the Assin South Municipality of the Central Region.
However, a 22-year-old lady among them was later freed by the Department when the caretaker of the Social Welfare Shelter reported that she was causing problems at the home.
Mr Alexander Ofosu Yeboah, the Unit Head in-charge of the Children Residential Home of the Department, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said human trafficking cases were mostly high during vacations.
The rescued girls were repatriated through the International Organisation for Migration after identifying their families in Nigeria.
He said the perpetrators deceived the victims, who were secondary school girls, of providing basic needs and giving them jobs that could change their lives and make them comfortable.
According to Mr Yeboah, the rescue mission was possible based on intelligence gathered by the police and the victims reporting the incident to them after realising they had been deceived.
The Department provided shelter for them throughout their stay in the country until they were identified and sent back to their country.
The perpetrators, all Nigerians, are on the run except one female who was arrested and sentenced to five years imprisonment in hard labour, Mr Yeboah said.
The menace was rife in mining, farming, and fishing areas of the region where many trafficked girls were sent to engage in sexual activities for their masters, he said.
Mr Yeboah said human trafficking was the inhuman practice that negatively affected the future of its victims and needed collective efforts to reduce to its barest minimum.
Laws governing human trafficking must be strictly enforced to scare perpetrators from involving in the act, he noted.
On challenges confronting the Department, Mr Yeboah said, sadly perpetrators of trafficking were mostly freed or released due to the 48- hour clause in police cells.
He said since most of the perpetrators were foreigners, granting bail was not guaranteed because they had no relative or family member in the country to stand in for them.
He, therefore, appealed to the Government to either extend the 48 hours period for trafficking perpetrators or enact a law to process them for court right after arrest.
The Ministry of Tourism has disclosed to the Public Accounts Committee that the project account of the Marine Drive Project is empty.
The Chief Director of the Ministry of Tourism, John Yaw Agbeko said this is affecting the steady progress of the project.
“There is no money in that account,” he said on Friday when he appeared before the Committee.
He further indicated that “works under the Marine Drive Project are progressing very slowly” due to a lack of funds.
The Auditor-General in its 2020 report indicated that an amount of GH¢387,106 allocated for the Marine Drive Project was misapplied and it recommended a refund to the project’s account.
However, after three years the amount is yet to be refunded.
John Yaw Agbeko told the Committee that “it was not in his capacity to know where or how the money was utilized”.
He said the project is no longer supervised by the Tourism Ministry but rather it is under the supervision of the Office of the President.
The 241-acre Marine Drive Accra renovation project is being led by Ghana’s Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture.
The project’s brief, which has its roots in the country’s 1960 declaration of independence, called for a plan to create Accra’s iconic skyline and turn the capital’s city centre into a premier tourist destination.
The Marine Drive Accra project would also deliver crucial infrastructure to support the nation’s emerging creative and cultural sectors.
Member of Parliament for North Tongu has made another shocking revelation with regards to Reverend Kusi Boateng, secretary of the Board of Trustees.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said he has discovered that Rev. Kusi Boateng has two biological mothers – Yaa Gyamfua and Agnes Ataah
According to him, he discovered that aside from the double dates of birth and double TIN numbers, Rev. Kusi Boateng also used two different names to represent his mother’s identity in his Taxpayer Registration Form.
On the 13th of August, 2013 when he filled his Taxpayer Registration Form at the GRA under the name Victor Kusi Boateng with September 7, 1971 as the date of birth, he declared that his mother’s maiden last name is Ataah, and her first name is Agnes.
“… Last night, Paul Adom Otchere in Rev Kusi Boateng’s defence told the country for the first time that the reason why Rev Kusi Boateng had to, at some point, drop Kusi Boateng and was using Kwabena Adu Gyamfi is that, during the Rawlings coup, his father was killed as part of the military excesses. Paul revealed that Rev Kusi was then told to take his mother’s name. So, Adu Gyamfi is his maternal name. When he was going for his , told GRA that his mother’s last name is Gyamfua and her first name is Yaa. So that aligns with what Paul Adom Otchere said on Good Evening Ghana.
“So, I decided to go for what he told GRA when he was Victor Kusi Boateng and I think GRA didn’t know they are dealing with the same person. So as Victor Kusi Boateng, he told GRA in his own handwriting on the 20th of August 2013 that his mother’s maiden last name is Ataah and her first name is Agnes.
“I’m revealing it for the first time that he only doesn’t have two names, two dates of birth, he also has two mothers,” he said on Good Morning Ghana.
The National Cathedral has been one of the topical issues this week following some shocking revelations made by The North Tongu MP.
On Monday, January 16 the lawmaker accused the Secretary of the National Cathedral Board of Trustees, Rev. Victor Kusi-Boateng, of a conflict of interest and possession of multiple identities.
According to him, Rev. Victor Kusi-Boateng appears to be using questionable means to divert funds from the National Cathedral project.
He has since petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to investigate the matter.
In his petition, Mr Ablakwa accused Rev. Kusi-Boateng of receiving GH¢2.6 million from the National Cathedral Board, alleging that he was the same person as Kwabena Adu Gyamfi.
He also claimed that Rev. Kusi-Boateng used multiple passports and identification cards with different names and dates of birth.
Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has responded to a threat to sue him for deliberate defamation.
The threat was contained in a January 16 press statement issued by Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng, secretary to the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral, who has been at the center of a series of allegations made by the MP.
Speaking on Accra-based Radio Gold (January 18, 2023), the MP dared the clergyman to deal with him and stop issuing threats if he really believes he is innocent of the allegations he (Ablakwa) has made so far.
“How does he think parliamentary oversight works? We are doing our work and nobody will intimidate us,” the MP submitted adding that he expected the man of God to deny using two official names, different dates of births, two tax numbers, professions, addresses and that he “is not having dual personality.”
Ablakwa said he expected the statement to state categorically that he was lying about his allegations and not for the reverend to hide behind an enquiry by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).
“…deal with the specific issues. Than this business of trying to hide under CHRAJ, that after CHRAJ I will deal with the MP, what are you waiting for? Deal with me now.
“He should deal with me now, I didn’t know he is such a coward, what is he waiting for, deal with me now! Damn coward. He rather is issuing threats because he knows he will not be arrested,” Ablakwa stressed.
Among other allegations, Ablakwa has published ‘irregular’ payments from the National Cathedral accounts to a company closely associated with the clergyman. He also alleges that Rev. Kusi Boateng uses Kwabena Adu Gyamfi on some other official documents.
The Trustees of the Cathedral has formally rejected the allegations of irregular payment explaining that the accused only extended a loan to the board and was later paid a full refund without interest.
The only thing he says he is afraid of is birth and not death.
Answering questions on the directive against the publication of doom prophecies while appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament on Thursday, January 19, he said “Why should it be such that you found something, God has revealed something to you and you want to share it with me, you have to make it showmanship and tell the whole country that I am about to die, which of course I am not afraid of.
“The only thing I am afraid of is birth because if you don’t want to die you shouldn’t allow yourself to be birthed, so once I have been born, I am going to die.
“As for death, the only thing I can do is to become a friend of it so that it can treat me with some leniency.
“So, the point is that you go and make such an announcement to the whole world, and I have a wife, I have children, I have a parent who is alive and I have family members. So every day when I live in my house and I always get up around 3AM, but today, I slept up to 5 AM, my wife will be thinking that I am dead. This is something she is going to live with for the rest of her life. Why is it that God himself did not tell us when we are going to die, it means a lot.”
He further justified the directive regarding the communication of negative prophecies.
He insisted that nobody has the right to cause fear and panic through prophecies.
Dr Dampare told the PAC that “Even then, if you have a prophecy about somebody dying, you have a way to communicate it in our typical Ghanaian environment even in proverbs for the person to decipher but you don’t put fear and panic in the person, the person’s immediate family, and the person’s extended family and the whole country.
“Honourable Chair, you were elected to be Members of Parliament by our votes therefore, you have been empowered by the Constitution and other laws to make certain pronouncements, which is acceptable. But those who are prophets, who elected them over my life to just get out there and make pronouncements about me when I am not a member of your family, I am not your church member and probably the person might not even believe in God.
“We [Police] are deep-seated Christians that we don’t joke with Godliness but we will also not allow anybody to use God to create a mess and confusion because God is not a God of confusion and God is not a God of disorderliness.”
The Police cautioned Prophets over the way and manner they communicate prophecies.
“As the year 2022 draws to a close, we wish to once again entreat the general public, especially faith-based groups to ensure continuous compliance with the law as it relates to the communication of prophecies,” the police said in a statement on Tuesday, December 27, 2022.
“Let us continue to remember that whereas we have the right to practice our faith in religion, freedom of worship and speech, this right must not be exercised in violation of the rights of others and the public interest,” it added.
The warning that was first given 2021 forced some prophets to adopt different styles in communicating prophecies.
A security analyst, Adam Bonaa has advised the government to take steps in addressing the concerns of the Small Scale Miners Association.
This comes on the back of the two weeks ultimatum given to the government by the Small Scale Miners Association to flush out illegal miners operating in the forest reserves in the country.
According to the miners, they will flash out the illegal miners from the forest if the government fails to do so after the ultimatum.
Commenting on the matter on Starr News, Mr. Bonaa indicated that the laws of the country justify the actions the Small Scale Miners want to take.
“I think we should take it very seriously. We should treat it as a country very seriously. But I think that they are within the law if they decide to flash out illegal small-scale miners and foreigners and by extension Chinese nationals who are depleting our forest cover and destroying our water bodies.
“The law mandates them if you look at section 12 of the criminal code, the 12.1(B) talks about a private person may arrest without a warrant a person who commits an offence in his presence. The D talks about an offence of injury to public property and water bodies, forest reserve all these names I have mentioned we will refer to as public property,” Mr. Bonaa stated.
He continued: “And so, I think the two weeks ultimatum they have given if the government or whoever is responsible for it refuses to act, I don’t think they will be breaching any law if they enter into these areas and arrest all these suspected foreign nationals or suspected illegal small-scale miners and hand them over to the police within a reasonable time. That is what the law says and they wouldn’t be breaching any law. The only thing is that the state should not wait for that to happen because the spillover we might not be able to deal with it.”
According to the security analyst, the state has been careless in dealing with illegal small-scale miners and the Chinese or foreign nationals who he alleged are destroying the water bodies and forest cover.
Mr. Bonaa, therefore, advised the State to act fast in dealing with the situation since the consequences and spill-over could be dire and may not be easily handled by the security agencies.
“So, as far as I am concerned the State should for once take up that mantle and ensure that they don’t look on while the private citizens decide to invoke section 12 of the criminal code. We shouldn’t sit and say go ahead and arrest these people because they are committing an offence that involves injury to public property. Like you referred to, most of these guys are armed, with sophisticated weapons like AK47s, some of them have pump action guns, side arms and the list is unending.
“I wouldn’t be able to tell what format the arrest is going to be. Are they concerned small-scale miners also going to be armed going there? Then you are likely to have an all-out war because then they are going to go in for probably a shootout. Probably, if that happens then the state is going to come back to its senses and perform its national duty by ensuring that our water bodies are not destroyed.”
A group of Pentecostals is calling for the immediate resignation of the chairman of the board of trustees of the National Cathedral Professor Opoku Nyinah.
According to the group, the continuous stay of Professor Opoku Nyinah as the board chairman amidst controversies ridicules the Church of Pentecost as he is the immediate past chairman.
In a press release, the convener Timothy Atayaa added that it is an open secret many Ghanaians, including Pentecostals, are not happy with this project and as such, are not happy with any person involved in this project, not excluding our Professor Opoku Onyinah.
“We wish to express disappointment over the involvement of our immediate past chairman, Professor Opoku Onyinah, in the controversial National Cathedral project, as he is currently the Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
“The National Cathedral project, which came about as the fulfilment of a personal pledge by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is one of the most criticized projects in Ghana today, having been shrouded in a lot of shady dealings, the unconstitutional and illegal use of public resources, and all of kinds controversies surrounding the project.
“We are not against the building of a cathedral, but considering the manner in which this particular project was conceived and how it is being executed, coupled with the time at which it is being executed, there are a lot of question marks about this project, the statement added
Below is the press release:
19/01/2023
PROFESSOR OPOKU NYINAH SHOULD RESIGN AS CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OVER THE CONTROVERSIAL NATIONAL CATHEDRAL PROJECT
We wish to express disappointment over the involvement of our immediate past chairman, Professor Opoku Onyinah, in the controversial National Cathedral project, as he is currently the Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
The National Cathedral project, which came about as the fulfilment of a personal pledge by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is one of the most criticized projects in Ghana today, having been shrouded in a lot of shady dealings, the unconstitutional and illegal use of public resources, and all of kinds controversies surrounding the project.
We are not against the building of a cathedral, but considering the manner in which this particular project was conceived and how it is being executed, coupled with the time at which it is being executed, there are a lot of question marks about this project.
The president initially told Ghanaians that the project was not going to cost the taxpayer even a cedi, but what we see today is that a lot of public and private buildings have been pulled down at the expense of the taxpayer. Also, state resources are being illegally and dubiously channelled into this project in these excruciatingly hard times, with people being paid with the taxpayer’s money for no work done on this project, among many others.
There are numerous places in Ghana where we can converge to seek the face of God so why still insist on carrying out this project even at a time the economy is critically seeking life support from the IMF? At a time when Ghanaian children are still studying under trees, some having to lie on their stomachs to learn in school, and with no textbooks, and even schools without chalks for teaching, not to even talk about computers? We are also in a period where SHSs across the country have no food to feed our children, our health insurance is almost collapsed, hospitals are without beds and it is the very time the president wants to build a cathedral. Are we serious as a country?
The Church of Pentecost recently handed over a prison facility to the state, and even though it is part of our social responsibility, this is first the primary responsibility of the government. At the time, the current Chairman of the church, Prophet Opoku Onyinah, did not envisage the need for a national cathedral.
Also, the open secret is that many Ghanaians, including Pentecostals, are not happy with this project and as such, are not happy with any person involved in this project, not excluding our very own Professor Opoku Onyinah.
We, therefore, call for the resignation of Professor Opoku Onyinah, who is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral, as his continuous involvement ridicules the Church of Pentecost.
Convener Concerned Pentecostals Timothy Ataaya The Church of Pentecost
The Chief Executive Officer of the J.A. Kufuor Foundation, Prof. Baffuor Agyemang Duah, has described the scandals that have befallen the construction of the National Cathedral of Ghana as a tragedy.
Speaking in an interview on XYZ TV, which was monitored by GhanaWeb, Prof. Agyamang Duah said that the cathedral project was supposed to be spearheaded by the clergy, but it appears some individuals are making the decisions for them.
“The whole project was ill-conceived… initially my thinking was that this was a private initiative, which means that funds would be mobilised privately. And I think they attempted that; because I understand that they engaged somebody, a fundraiser, to do that, and perhaps because the private fundraising did not go well, that is why they decided to use state money for what they call seed money.
“The fact is that the controversies about the cathedral reflect a very flawed national project, badly conceived and badly executed. And the government succeeded in lining up some respectable individuals to be the face of the project,” he said.
“And from what we are hearing from members who have resigned, major decisions concerning the project were not even taken by the Board of Trustees. It seemed like there were some private individuals behind it who were making all the decisions… so mixing private sentiments and desires with public resources and topping it with religious faces is what has caused this tragedy,” he added.
Prof. Agyemang Duah, a governance expert, noted that the modus operandi of the stakeholders involved in the construction of the cathedral was not in consonance with good governance practices.
He also said that he is not surprised about the scandals that are now meeting the construction of the cathedral.
Prof. Agyeman Duah made these remarks while reacting to the latest corruption exposé on the National Cathedral by MP for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, portions of which suggested impropriety on the part of the secretary to the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral of Ghana, Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng.
On January 16, 2023, the MP made some allegations against Rev. Kusi Boateng, who is the secretary to the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral of Ghana.
In an earlier revelation about the National Cathedral, Okudzeto Ablakwa said a whopping GHC 2.6 million was dished out to a company named JNS Talent Centre Limited.
Further investigations into the alleged payment led to the discovery of one Kwabena Adu Gyamfi as a director of JNS Talent Centre.
Having confirmed the identities of two out of the three directors of the centre, Ablakwa dug deeper in a bid to discover the identity of the third director, Kwabena Adu Gyamfi.
According to his findings, citing a number of documents, Kwabena Adu Gyamfi was the same as Reverend Kusi Boateng, who had allegedly been operating under the pseudonym Kwabena Adu Gyamfi.
But Kusi Boateng, in a statement sighted by GhanaWeb, said that the allegations made against him by Ablakwa are mere fabrications.
He said that the accusations the MP made against him were for political purposes, adding that he has not engaged in any criminal activity in his dealings with the National Cathedral project.
Rev. Kusi Boateng also said that he is waiting on the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), which has been petitioned by Ablakwa, to investigate him.
He added that he will explore the legal options available to him against the MP for deliberately defaming him.
The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament has faulted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration for spending $2.8 million and €1.79 million for the payment of rent for home-based staff of 21 missions.
The Auditor General in its 2020 report described the payment of these rents as uneconomic and recommended the use of mortgage systems to curtail the situation.
But appearing before the committee, the Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong, said the proposed mortgage system of accommodation for missions has been a challenge.
He said the government’s policy is to acquire properties for all its missions abroad but securing finance has been a major challenge to the Ministry.
“The government’s policy is to acquire properties for the missions, residency and chancery but the reality on the ground is that it is not easy for Foreign Missions to get mortgages in these foreign countries. So far we haven’t succeeded. We are exploring a whole range of avenues to try and raise the needed funds.
“We have made some progress, and we are hopeful that we will get there.”
The Committee also raised concerns about the Ministry’s payment of GH₵7.9 million for a project which cost GH₵1.4 million to start in 2007.
The project according to the Ministry was abandoned by the contractor in 2008 but had the contract reviewed in 2017 to GH₵7.9 million despite the initial payment of about 90 percent of the amount.
The leadership of the Christian Council of Ghana (CCC) has called for prayers for Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta to gain God’s wisdom and direction regarding the Domestic Debt Exchange programme.
A statement issued by the Council on Thursday, January 19 asking the Finance Minister to suspend the debt exchange programme for further engagement, said “The leadership of the Christian Council of Ghana will continue to pray for the managers of our economy, especially the finance minister, for God’s wisdom and direction in this matter, and we urge all churches to do same.
“We strongly believe that God will see us through this difficult situation. Let us keep our hopes alive.”
The Council further stated that it has examined the concerns of the Individual Bondholders Association of Ghana (IBHAG), the Pensioner Bondholders Forum, church members and the general public and has identified lapses in the debt restructuring programme, a major one being lack of consultation with affected individuals and institutions.
“With the current economic hardships in the country and the agitations among the general public, it is in the nation’s interest for the Finance Ministry to suspend the 31 st January deadline given to individuals to sign on to the program and rather propose a road map for dialogue to make the process participatory such that the outcome would be acceptable to all.
“The Council believes that thorough engagements with stakeholders would help the government to appreciate the concerns of the Ghanaian people and put measures in place to address some of the challenges of the programme.
“The CCG also wants to encourage the media to be diligent with reportage on the debt restructuring program and ensure that they speak to professionals on the matter to avoid false information that would further heighten the already situation of fear and panic in the country,” a statement issued by the Council on Thursday, January 19 said.
It added “The leadership of the Christian Council of Ghana will continue to pray for the managers of our economy, especially the finance minister, for God’s wisdom and direction in this matter, and we urge all churches to do same. We strongly believe that God will see us through this difficult situation. Let us keep our hopes alive.”
Police at Axim in the Evalue-Ajomoro-Gwira Municipality of the Western Region have arrested two suspects who allegedly contracted nine Ghanaians and a Chinese to embark on illegal mining activities on the Okoben Mining Company Limited gold concession at Dominase.
The two suspects are the Chief of Ablebo, Nana Miensah, and one Ramsey, who is alleged to be a National Security officer.
The names of these leaders who employed the ten suspected illegal ‘galamseyers’ including a Chinese national, came up after the ten were arrested by the joint team of police, National Investigations Bureau (NIB) and National Security personnel at Axim.
The illegal miners arrested at Dominase
The names of Ghanaians who are Paul Aboagye, Asamoah Gyan, John Yembiri, Richard Sackey, Boris Laari, Kofi Bakaro, Boti Kofana Kwame Owusu and the Chinese national, Wei Yunzhao.
Upon their arrest on Wednesday, January 18 on the Okoben Mining Company Limited’s gold concession at Dominase, the suspects mentioned the Chief of Ablebo, Nana Miensah, one Ramsey, a national security officer and one Kumah of Kedadwen, as those who brought them to the concession of the company.
Surprisingly, two of the Ghanaian suspected illegal miners told the Axim Police that they were National Security operatives.
Seven Ghanaians, including one Chinese, were arrested at Dominase for invading gold mining concession of the Ghanaian-owned mining company.
The nine male miners were among hundreds of Ghanaian illegal miners, including loads of foreign nationals who managed to invade the legally acquired gold mining concession of Okobeng Mining Company Limited in Dominase.
These unlicensed miners used heavy-mining equipment to engage in large-scale illegal mining activities on the concession of Okoben Mining Company Limited on the blind side of the state mining regulatory institutions in Ghana, including Minerals Commission and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
These illegal miners who did not even have environmental permits or licenses from the government of Ghana managed to engage in large-scale gold mining activities before the owner of the concession, Nana Okoben Amponsah, got hints and quickly reported the matter to Axim Divisional Police Command.
Following the official report Nana Okoben Amponsah lodged with the police, a joint team of police, National Investigations Bureau (NIB) and National Security personnel from Axim in the Evalue-Ajomoro-Gwira Municipality moved to the site to effect the arrest of total of nine illegal Ghanaian miners and a Chinese national.
The swoop, conducted by the Ghana Police Service in collaboration with the NIB and National Security, formed part of the government’s renewed fight against illegal mining.
Information available indicates that the illegal miners who invaded the concession were more than ten but some, predominantly the foreign nationals, managed to run way at the time the National Security officers stormed the site to affect the arrest.
The miners managed to indiscriminately mine gold in the concession without the knowledge of the owner of the company, Nana Okoben Amponsah.
They had also managed to clear large tracts of arable cocoa farmlands in a forest at site of the company and tributaries of the Ankobra River had also been heavily polluted by their activities.
The team confiscated some excavators and many other heavy mining items.
These illegal miners are currently in custody of the Axim Divisional Police Command assisting the police in their investigations.
The Chief Executive Officer of Okoben Mining Company Limited, Nana Okoben Amponsah expressed worry that despite the ban on illegal mining activities by the central government some “unpatriotic” Ghanaians are aiding foreigners to mine and destroy his gold mining concession at Dominase he lawfully and legally secured for the past 24 years ago.
“How is it possible that despite the number of caution and announcements, people still have the effrontery to be engaging in illegal mining? What worries me the most is how our own people find it convenient to collaborate with foreigners on this destruction spree?”
He said: “It is very sad. But I make a solemn promise that we will not rest. If it means going after them every day, than that it exactly what we will do.”
The effort to provide free tablets to all Senior High School (SHS) pupils has been challenged by Member of Parliament for Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson.
The vice president Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has been asked to explain how government plans to finance it.
In a tweet, which was retweeted by Former President John Dramani Mahama, Dr Ato Forson said “Dr Bawumia, your frivolous promises are largely responsible for Ghana;’s bankruptcy! Basic schools in the North East Region don’t have tables and chairs yet you are promising 1 student 1 tablet! How will you fund this? Borrow more? Where lies your priorities Mr. Veep?”
Dr Bawumia promised that all SHS students are going to be given free laptops this year.
These tables, he said are loaded with textbooks on them for their studies.
This is a game-changing development, he said.
“This year, we are on course to provide all Senior High School students in Ghana with tablets that are loaded with textbooks on them for their studies.
“That’s a very game-changing development. We will have past questions preloaded on these tablets that will be distributed,” he said while speaking at this year’s New Year School at the University of Ghana, Legon on Tuesday, January 17.
A new survey conducted by Global Info Analytics, a polling company in Ghana, has revealed that 71% of citizens are of the view that, Ghana is headed in the wrong direction.
The poll also revealed that 60% of New Patriotic Party (NPP) affiliates disapprove of the path the country is headed while 81% of affiliates of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) also say the party is on the wrong path.
On the question of whether the NPP can “break the eight”, 24% of voters believe the party can “break-the-eight” whilst 59% said they can’t and 17% had no opinion.
The poll shows the president’s job approval rating has made a significant recovery from 26% in October, leaping to 32% in January 2023, whilst his disapproval declined sharply from 69% in October to 59% in January 2023.
The vice president enjoys 32% approval and 58% disapproval. In the case of Alan Kyerematen, 35% of voters approved of his performance as Trade and Industry minister whilst 45% disapprove of his performance.
The poll used a sample size of 5,844. The sample size was allocated to all the regions based on the total number of voters in each of the regions as per the Electoral Commission’s 2020 register.
A random selection of 30% of constituencies from each region was then selected and allocated the regional quota based on the total voters in each of those constituencies.
Respondents were selected randomly in the streets, homes and workplaces.
In the race to lead the NPP for the 2024 elections, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and Mr Kyerematen are tied with no clear favourite.
The poll conducted between 31st December 2022 and 15th January 2023, shows the race to lead the NPP is a dead heat among NPP voters as Dr Bawumia has lost the slender lead he enjoyed in October 2022 over Mr Kyeremanten.
The poll now shows Dr Bawumia and Mr Kyerematen are level at 40% apiece among NPP voters.
However, among general voters, Mr Kyerematen’s lead over Dr Bawumia has been cut from 41% to 32% compared to 44% to 31% in October 2022. New Patriotic Party Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, is in third place with 14% of the votes.
The NPP is yet to set a date for its presidential primaries to elect a flagbearer for the 2024 elections.
Mr Kyerematen who resigned from his post is likely to face off with the former Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto and former Railways Minister Joe Ghartey who has also declared his intention to contest for the slot.
One of the seriously injured victims of the Appiatse disaster, Joseph Arhin Junior, is seeking an amount of GH¢65,000 to fix his broken leg after the explosion in January last year.
The 45-year-old victim, who was the head of Physical Planning at the Amenfi East Municipality until the sad incident, told Nhyiraba Paa Kwesi Simpson, the host of Connect FM’s Omanbapa morning show that he was returning from work when the accident happened.
“I was returning from Wassa Akropong to see my family in Takoradi. A few meters to Appiatse, we realized there was heavy traffic and a tanker vehicle was on fire so our driver alerted us and returned.
“We were looking for another vehicle when the tanker exploded and all of a sudden I heard people screaming for help. I decided to go and assist those who were badly injured and that is when I realized my left leg has been affected.”
According to him, it was a Good Samaritan who came to his rescue.
“I started screaming for help and a man came, he wanted to help me but there was no vehicle. He managed to get a tricycle but there was no fuel. He dropped me and another person whose intestines were already out into the bucket of the tricycle and pushed us to a nearby filling station where we were fortunate to have a vehicle to the Wassa Akropong Government Hospital. At a point, I wanted to chop off the leg because there was no hope,” he indicated.
Mr. Joseph Arhin Junior has spent the past year seeking medical attention for his leg to be reconstructed.
”I’m now a prisoner in my own house. I spent my life savings to get my leg to where it is now but I need more. I later had information that the government was paying all the bills so I sent them my receipts but I was not given all the amount spent. Now my fears and worries are that if I’m not able to go through the reconstruction process, I will not be able to walk and take care of my family again. I’m not blaming anyone, I’m only pleading for assistance to get my leg reconstructed. Any individual or organization that can help should reach out to Connect FM in Takoradi,” he indicated.
The Appiatse Disaster Relief Committee has marked the first anniversary of the deadly explosion that claimed many lives in January last year.
Sixteen persons were recorded to have lost their lives with many more victims receiving treatment.
A Tamale High Court has affirmed the election of Abdulai Jacob Iddriss as Member of Parliament for Savelugu Constituency.
Mr Jacob Iddriss’s election in 2020 was challenged by the Parliamentary Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Muhamed Abdul-Samed Gunu.
According to the petition, the election of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP was invalid owing to widespread malpractices and irregularities which he maintains affected the outcome of the impugned elections.
The NDC candidate polled 19,577 votes to beat the petitioner, who polled 19,478.
Giving his ruling on Friday, January 20, Justice Daniel Obeng awarded GH¢40,000 in damages to the NDC.
The victory was affirmed for Abdulai Jacob Iddriss to continue to serve as MP for Savelugu.
Meanwhile, the court also affirmed the victory of NPP’s John Bennam Jabaah for Zabzugu Constituency.
His election was also challenged at the same court.
Paul Adom-Otchere, the board chairman of the Ghana Airport Company Limited says he is praying to God to ensure that Reverend Kusi Boateng, the secretary of the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral is exonerated of the charges levelled against him by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu.
The host of Good Evening Ghana on Metro TV says much as he believes in the credibility of Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, he is hopeful that Reverend Kusi Boateng will be cleared of the allegations for which he has been hauled to the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).
He commended Reverend Kusi Boateng for indicating his readiness to collaborate with CHRAJ and said that posture fills him with confidence that the embattled clergyman is innocent of the allegations.
“The matter is before CHRAJ and I’m happy that in his response Reverend Kusi Boateng welcomed the challenge that Okudzeto is sending him to CHRAJ. It tells all of us that he will be able to establish his innocence. I pray to God and I sincerely hope Okudzeto is wrong on this matter even though I take him seriously,” he said.
Okudzeto Ablakwa on Tuesday, January 17, 2023 petitioned CHRAJ to investigate Reverend Kusi Boateng over the alleged payment of GH₵2.6 million paid him by the National Cathedral secretariat.
The petition was the actionable move of an explosive set of allegations he made against Reverend Kusi Boateng which among other things include double identity claims.
In an explosive set of allegations which he described as the Tsar Bomba of all scandals, Ablakwa claimed that Reverend Kusi Boateng holds multiple passports and identification cards with some bearing the name Kwabena Adu Gyamfi.
“You will recall that in my earlier exposé of the scandalous GHC2.6million cash transfer from the National Cathedral Secretariat to JNS Talent Centre Limited, I pointed out that incorporation documents reveal that the three directors of JNS Talent Centre Limited are Johannes Eshun, Sheila Eshun and Kwabena Adu Gyamfi.
“I also later revealed that Rev. Johannes Eshun is a branch pastor of National Cathedral Executive Council Member/Director, Rev. Victor Kusi-Boateng’s Power Chapel Worldwide.
“Hitherto, the third director—Mr. Kwabena Adu Gyamfi has remained a mystery figure.
“I am now able to reveal the true identity of this mystery director of JNS, Kwabena Adu Gyamfi.
“Definitely, the code has finally been cracked and it shocks to the marrow!
“Unimpeachable and incontrovertible evidence confirms that Mr. Kwabena Adu Gyamfi is the famous Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng who still serves on the National Cathedral Board as an Executive Council Member/Director.
“For the avoidance of doubt, there is no distinct Kwabena Adu Gyamfi. Kwabena Adu Gyamfi is a criminal creation of Rev. Victor Kusi-Boateng. The two are therefore one and the same.
“Rev. Victor Kusi-Boateng AKA Kwabena Adu Gyamfi thought he had outwitted every Ghanaian, particularly our authorities whom he dribbled for many years; but the day of reckoning is finally here.
“From unassailable and irreproachable documents in my possession, Rev. Victor Kusi-Boateng AKA Kwabena Adu Gyamfi uses multiple passports and multiple identification cards with different names and different dates of birth as his special modus operandi,” he wrote on Facebook.
Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has his stance on same-sex relationships, a subject that has recently gained attention.
Dame said based on his religious, moral and cultural viewpoints, he was totally against anything that promoted same-sex ideology.
“I am seriously anti-gay, that’s a point. 100%. I had the opportunity to express it in a programme that I did in 2006,” he told Paul Adom-Otchere on the January 17 edition of Good Evening Ghana programme.
“I think that it is abominable, that is my view, Christian, moral, cultural, however you want to term it,” he added.
Asked how he would handle a relation who subscribes to the ideology, he responded: “I will actually make a conscious effort to rid the person of such a situation.”
Dame was responding to questions on the anti-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ+) bill, a private members’ initiative, that is currently before Parliament.
He is due to appear before the parliamentary committee sitting publicly to receive views on the bill which has split public opinion, between hardliners who are in full support of the bill and the human rights advocates who argue that the bill in its current form is repressive and dangerous.
Dame observed that the bill in its current form needed some amount of reworking in parts citing the fact that it imposes a financial burden on the state and also contains sections that are repetitions of existing laws.
The bill, officially known as ‘The Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill’ was laid before the House last year and referred to the Committee for among others, public consultation.
It was sponsored by eight MPs, seven from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and one from the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and former Trade and Industry Minister Alan Kyerematen are tied for the party leadership position ahead of the 2024 elections, according to a recent nationwide poll conducted by Global InfoAnalytics.
The polls conducted between 31st December 2022 and 15th January 2023, show the race to lead the NPP is a dead heat among NPP voters as Dr Bawumia has lost the slender lead he enjoyed in October 2022 over Mr Kyeremanten.
The poll now shows Dr Bawumia and Mr Kyerematen are level at 40% apiece among NPP voters.
However, among general voters, Mr Kyerematen’s lead over Dr Bawumia has been cut from 41% to 32% compared to 44% to 31% in October 2022.
New Patriotic Party Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, is in third place with 14% of the votes.
The NPP is yet to set a date for its presidential primaries to elect a flagbearer for the 2024 elections.
Mr Kyerematen who resigned from his post is likely to face off with the former Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto and former Railways Minister Joe Ghartey who has also declared his intention to contest for the slot.
The poll shows the president’s job approval rating making a significant recovery from 26% in October, leaping to 32% in January 2023, whilst his disapproval declined sharply from 69% in October to 59% in January 2023.
A member of the National Cathedral Board of Trustees, Rev. Joyce Aryee, says the trustees are not privy to the total seed money government is committing to the project.
“I’m still looking for it, I think that’s the question we need to go and ask–Since the state said it will give us seed money, what percentage is it giving? …No, we were not told, we were just told seed money, and we have relied on the seed money the government will find from time to time. We have not been told the exact amount the seed money is,” she told Umaru Sanda Amadu in an interview on Eyewitness News on Thursday.
When asked how the board of trustees was operating without the knowledge of government’s commitment, she noted that in such instances, they assume that they are supposed to raise the total budget and consider “the other one [government’s seed money] as a gift. It will be wonderful when the other person [government] brings his gift, otherwise, I’m building [the project without it]”.
She stated that the Articles of Incorporation make the board of trustees the project owners.
“Actually the Articles of Incorporation make us the project owners [board of trustees]. It will be a national monument,” she stressed.
The member of the National Cathedral Board of Trustees stated that they were assigned to raise funds while the government will also support them with other stuff.
“The project was never meant to be fully financed by the state and when we were called, that is what we were told. The state will do certain things and we the members of the board were to make sure that we raise the money to build the Cathedral. It was never meant to be fully financed by the state,” Rev. Joyce Aryee clarified.
She stated that the board members were not building blindly because the seed money is not the whole money for the construction of the National Cathedral.
“We are not building blindly because the seed money is not the entire money for the project,” She underscored.
The National Cathedral has always been in the news for the wrong reasons with the recent one being a GH¢2.6 million scandal currently being probed by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).
Background of National Cathedral
The National Cathedral is a promise President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo made to God ahead of the 2016 general elections.
Nana Akufo-Addo said he promised to build a national cathedral for God if he became president and pushed for the project after he was sworn into office in 2017.
He described the project as a “priority among priorities” but however said it will be funded by the Christian community.
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta in 2018 explained that: “The state is facilitating this process by providing the land, the Secretariat, and seed money for the preparatory phase. This National Cathedral partnership framework operationalizes, and indeed is a practical expression of the social partnership envisaged to foster participatory development of the country as our collective goal.”
Although the initial budget was pegged at $100 million, the amount has over the years ballooned to almost $400 million.
Gov’t releases GH¢25m seed money
Government in June 2022 granted the release of GH¢25 million to the National Cathedral Secretariat as additional seed money for the construction of the project.
A letter, signed by the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, to the Controller and Accountant’s General, directed that the money be credited to Ribade Limited, for part payment of outstanding claims.
“Authority is hereby granted to you to release the sum [of] GH¢25, 000,000.00 as additional seed money to the National Cathedral Secretariat for the construction of the National Cathedral for part payment of outstanding claims from RIBADE Limited,” the letter added.
Government has also released several amounts of money towards the project which is currently at the ground level.
To lessen the likelihood of fire outbreaks, particularly during this harmattan season, Justina Owusu Banahene, the regional minister for Bono, has urged the public to exercise caution when handling objects that easily catch fire.
The minister urged people in the region to handle naked fire in cigarettes, firewood, cooking stoves, among other sources with utmost care in order to reduce the incidents of fire outbreaks
According to Justina Owusu Banahene, there is a need to protect lives and property during the harmattan season.
The minister who sounded this note of warning during an interactive section with some pressmen in her office in Sunyani stated that this warning became necessary in order to avoid disasters in the region this season.
According to her, “as our environment becomes dusty and hazy with dryness to everything including trees, wooden items, leaves and furniture, we urge residents to be extremely careful with fire so as to prevent outbreaks because fire is nobody’s friend.
“Citizens will notice that there has been a change in the weather condition and as a result, the citizens ought to take serious precautionary measures by making sure that they install fire extinguishers in homes and offices,” she reiterated
She stated that motorists should ensure that they have fire extinguishers in their vehicles, maintain speed limits and observe road signs
She warned citizens to avoid bush and solid waste burning during this period as this might lead to fire outbreaks.
She again advised Ghanaians against the storage of petrol and other inflammable materials at homes, offices, shops and markets as their storage could aid in fire outbreaks, especially during this harmattan period when virtually all objects in the environment are dry and combustible.
Justina Owusu Banahene further urged residents of the region to always switch off electrical appliances in their offices at the close of work and at home when leaving for work or other endeavours as a way of preventing fire disasters which were often rampant during the harmattan period.
Justina Owusu Banahene further urged drivers to beware of the hazy weather condition which had reduced visibility to less than 10m, stressing that motorists should ensure that all parts of their vehicles are in good condition before embarking on any journey.
This is a season when objects of various sorts become very dry and so easily combustible with the least contact with fire. The statistics of fire around this time every year is high – a reason we should be careful lest we spark avoidable fires and cause harm and even fatalities.
The Regional Minister, acknowledge efforts the Ghana National Fire service (GNFS) is making to educate citizens on the place of safety when using LPG and other inflammable stuff, however, sustaining this education would go a long way in creating the needed awareness in handling domestic gas stoves to avoid fires.
She noted that Taking things for granted should be avoided in our relationships with the environment. We have treaded on this tangent for far too long, the fallouts too glaring to be ignored. The lives which have been lost through such fires and even infernos are many.
She affirms that Fire outbreaks have caused much anguish in homes because breadwinners have been killed and properties destroyed beyond recovery.
Mad, Justina Owusu Banahene caked on the Ghana National Fire Service should join hands with the various municipal and district assemblies within the region and even NADMO in educating the people about fires, how they are started and response mechanisms.
“That is the way to go. Education is very important in matters of safety. Schools at all levels should benefit from education, including, market places. With the rising statistics of LPG use in the country, especially in rural areas, the importance of education cannot be overemphasized,” she concluded
According to reports, two people have died after a speeding car collided with a stationary truck on the Offinso-Kodie route in the Ashanti Region.
The accident occurred Friday dawn when a Yutong bus with registration number AW-621-17 rammed into a DAF cargo truck with registration number AS-1756-X which had broken down along the road at Denase.
The driver’s mate, and a male passenger according to reports died on the spot. The Yutong bus was travelling from Zebila when the accident occurred.
Police from Kodie in the Afigya-Kwabre South district rushed to the scene to control traffic.
The injured victims have been rushed to hospital for medical attention.
A video which captures some Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) personnel struggling to salvage a burning car is making rounds on social media.
In the video, which has also been shared by GhOne TV on Twitter, the firefighters are seen frantically trying to get their fire tender to shoot out water towards a car that was nearly fully up in flames, just on the other side of the road.
One of the personnel of the GNFS is then seen trying to manually start a generator, so as to get the fire tender working.
All the while, bystanders are heard in the background, expressing how disappointed they are, while others try to explain what led to the car catching fire.
The GNFS is yet to officially respond to the video, as well as confirm whether this is actually a recent video or not.
Sylvester Tetteh, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bortianor-Ngleshie-Amanfro, has publicly endorsed Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, the former Minister of Trade and Industry, in the NPP flagbearer campaign.
According to Sylvester Tetteh, he is ready to offer his support to the former minister to ‘break the eight’ for the party.
Speaking in an interview with Accra-based Original FM, Sylvester Tetteh added that, per the party’s historical facts, Alan Kyerematen is next in line for the presidency on the ticket of the party.
“No one will inform you that it is now Alan’s turn, if you are a member of the NPP, want to enjoy the party, and are aware of its rules and policies. I am willing to assist Chief Alan in his grassroots efforts to break the eight.”
Sylvester Tetteh said that Alan Kyerematen has contributed immensely to the development of the country as the trade and industry minister.
Touching on part of Alan’s achievement, he asserted that a record of over 67 business resource centers have been established around the nation under the leadership of Alan Kyerematen.
“A record 67 business resource centers have been established around the nation, with 37 of them being staffed and fully functioning, and the remaining 30 having been finished but not yet put into use, thanks to the inspirational leadership of Alan Cash, the outgoing Trade and Industry Minister,” he said.
The former minister officially declared his intention to run for president in 2024 on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on January 10, 2023.
Addressing the nation on January 10, 2023, days after resigning from the government, Alan Kyerematen thanked President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and announced that he would run for the position of flagbearer when the NPP officially opens nominations.
Elizabeth Arthur, 58, has been detained by the authorities in Koforidua for preparing shito with rotten ingredients.
The woman, popularly-known as Naana, who trades in the business of selling shito in the city, was found out by some millers where she frequents to have her ingredients grinded.
This, according to a UTV reporter, Michael Akrofi, had been going on for a while until one of the millers decided to give a tip-off to the police to follow up on it.
The reporter explained that some of the items Naana uses for her shito are the peels of onions that are disposed off at ‘chop bars’.
“A miller was the first to notice this activity by the woman called Elizabeth Arthur, who is popularly known as Naana in Koforidua. She is 58 years. The millers realised that anytime she brings things to be milled, they were all rotten and unwanted things.
“The millers also know the work the woman does; she sells shito, so they were convinced that what she comes to grind is for the shito. To confirm this, the millers started observing her and truly confirmed that she was using those things to prepare her shito.
“Some of the things she sends to them are the wasted parts of onions. She does that by going there to sweep the waste with the pretext that she is going to dispose of them. When she returns home, she doesn’t even sort out the waste. She only adds some pepper to what she has, plus some ginger peels she also picks from the chop bars and then she goes to have them milled. When she is done, she prepares the shito and goes to sit by kenkey sellers to sell it.
“One of the millers eventually reported the suspicion to the police and thankfully, the police followed up on it and found her right in the act. She has since been sent to the Central Police Station,” he narrated.
The UTV reporter further explained that the middle-aged woman has since been granted bail but the police have also called on the Food and Drugs Authority, as well as well as the Standards Authority and environmental health experts to come in to help them ensure that the woman is prosecuted.
He added that the woman has been in the trade of selling shito for a very long time, supplying her product to a lot of kenkey sellers in Koforidua.
“The woman has grandchildren who she sends around to sell the shito for her,” he added.
Today, Friday, January 20, 2023, the Appiate Disaster Relief Committee will host a number of events to commemorate the victims of the mining explosion and honor the one-year milestone since it occurred.
Public Relations Officer of the Appiate Disaster Relief Committee, Thywill Quarshie, says a one-minute silence and prayers will be observed at midday today at the site of the Appiate Explosive Disaster.
Speaking to Citi News on the line-up of activities in memory of the 16 souls lost and surviving victims of the disaster, Thywill Quarshie, said the remembrance activities will begin with memorial prayers and a wreath-laying ceremony.
“At 9am today, we will move to the explosion scene where we will have experts in the mining industry, police, fire service, NADMO for lectures on safety”, he added.
The explosion occurred on January 20, 2022, after a truck carrying explosives owned by Maxam Limited got involved in an accident resulting in the explosion.
The Appiate disaster was one that destroyed a whole community. 14 persons lost their lives while hundreds sustained varying degrees of injury.
A committee was inaugurated to probe the disaster. It has subsequently presented its report to the government.
The government has fined Maxam company, which was responsible for transporting the explosives through its subcontractors $6 million.
The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, directed that $5 million of the amount be used in the rebuilding of the community.
The National Disaster Management Organisation with support from well-meaning Ghanaians, companies and organisations, has been taking care of the people by providing them with relief items and a temporary shelter.
Victims have over time been appealing for more relief items to cater for their needs.
Currently, the rebuilding of the community is ongoing.
The Appiate Support Fund, which was set up to mobilise adequate funds to rebuild the community destroyed by the fatal explosion, has received millions in donations so far.
The police officer at the center of a CFA190,000 controversy, according to Inspector General of Police Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, cannot be located.
The issue of the missing monies came to light in a 2020 report by the Auditor-General. The Auditor-General ordered that the monies be recovered.
The report stated that “the Divisional CID, Tarkwa, disclosed that cash exhibits of US$8,100.00 and CFA 40,000.00 retrieved from suspects in 2016 in the case of The Republic versus Nana Akakpo and three others were not available for our audit verification.”
The audit report also recommended that “the Divisional CID in charge to immediately produce the exhibit for our inspection, failing which the total sum should be recovered from him and disciplinary action also taken against him.”
Dr Akuffo Dampare who took his turn at the sittings of the Public Account Committee on Thursday, January 19, 2022 disclosed that the investigations by the police led to the discovery that the initial amount was underdeclared by CFA150,000. In essence the total amount of money was CFA190,000.
He said the police however managed to retrieve the money and sent it to Ivory Coast for verification of the authenticity of the notes. He said “the checks were done and the results with accompanying appendix indicate that they were all fake.
“When they were done, they were sent back to the CID office in Tarkwa. But honourable chair, there has been confusion as to who received it and the whereabouts of the money. Unfortunately, one of the three officers who were involved resigned from the Service and we’re making efforts to look for him to be held accountable.”
He revealed two of the three officers involved have however been interdicted and are subject of investigations by the Police Professional Standard Bureau.
Dr Dampare also disclosed that the US$8,100.00 which was part of the seized notes and sent to the United States of America for authentication is also missing.
He said that all efforts to retrieve the money which was sent through the US Embassy in Ghana have proven futile.
Reverend Joseph Eastwood Anaba, Founder and President of the Eastwood Anaba Ministries has been eulogized for his integrity and adherence to laws of the state.
Though the revered preacher has over the years been recognized and appreciated for his positive impact on the development of the Upper East Region and social impact on the lives of thousands of people in the region, some more good discoveries are emerging about him.
Rev. Eastwood Anaba is said to be conscious of his duties to the state and in a fashion many have deemed unusual, declares gifts he receives to and pays gift tax to the Ghana Revenue Authority.
This was disclosed by Development Economist and Senior Lecturer at the University for Development Studies Dr. Michael Ayamga Adongo.
“I know a man who walks to the GRA, declares the gifts he has received and pays the taxes required. I mean he pays gift tax. That is the man Rev. Eastwood Anaba,” Dr Adongo wrote in a social media post.
Rev. Joseph Eastwood Anaba was born on the 10 May 1961 to a Ghanaian mother and Ghanaian father in Bolgatanga, Ghana.
He had his secondary education at Presbyterian Boys’ Senior High School before proceeding to Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Ghana, where he was trained as a pharmacist. Pastor Eastwood left the pharmacy profession to go into full time ministry of the Lord in 1988.
He met his wife Rosemond who was at the time a biological science student at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana. After a period of courtship, they married in 1988 and have been married for more than 26 years with four children.
Former District Chief Executive (DCE) for Sekyere Afram Plains and a staunch member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Fuseini Donkor has envisaged that nothing can stop Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia from becoming the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP)
He disclosed that over the period, Dr Bawumia has become popular at the grassroots level in the party and that is easy to be manifested during the polls.
According to him, current President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is aware the party does not like it when a sitting president imposes a presidential candidate on them the reason, he is very tactical in openly supporting his popular Vice President.
According to him, Former President Kufuor tried to impose John Alan Kyeremanten on the party in 2008 but failed because the party members did buy into that idea.
Speaking on Nhyira Fm monitored by MyNewsGh.com in Kumasi, Fuseini Donkor revealed that, “Kufuor felt Ghana would be safe in the hands of Alan than Nana Addo but the party also said they knew him (Akufo-Addo) long ago so the party defied President Kufuor”.
He further explained that, because the NPP party does not want Presidents to choose a leader for them, “that is why they (Akufo-Addo and co) were smart enough to lay the foundation on the grounds for Bawumia. So on the grounds, they’ve already built everything for Bawumia”
A sick 77-year-old retiree, Peter Kojo Nyasepe, has vowed to stay at his bank’s premises until he receives his interest on his bonds at the end of the month.
Peter, who is a bondholder says he buys medications to survive from the returns on his bonds and therefore the returns cannot be withheld.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with JoyNews’ Joojo Cobbinah, the aggrieved septuagenarian said he opted for government bonds due to his painful ordeal with a ponzi scheme in the past.
But according to him, he is now living in anxiety due to the government’s Domestic Debt Exchange programme which will deny him the returns for this year.
“I gave the money to the Ghana Commercial Bank so they’ll give me the money before I come. I’m going to stay there.
“If they say the money is not there, I’m going to stay there. I’m going to stay there until they carry me wherever they want to carry me because I cannot walk myself so they’ll carry me.
“Wherever they want to carry me they have to carry me and go. That’s the only thing I can do. I cannot fight them also”, the distraught retiree said.
Mr Nyasepe’s sentiments come on the back of government’s proposed debt exchange programme.
In a bid to rescue the economy and secure a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), government has proposed that all bondholders will not receive any interest on their bonds for the 2023 financial year.
The payment of dividends, according to government is likely to begin next year, 2024 at a discounted rate of 5%.
In relation to this, bondholders who may want to transfer their bonds will not be able to get the full principal they initially invested as bonds.
This proposal, since its announcement, has been rejected by many bondholders who have expressed frustration about the development.
In their view, if the proposal is implemented, they will suffer a great deal of loss, with many of them stating that their investments may even become unprofitable.
Private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu, who is an avowed critic of the policy has described the programme as a ‘weapon of mass destruction’.
Speaking on Joy FM’s midday bulletin on Wednesday, the maverick lawyer reiterated his resistance.
According to him, he and other concerned citizens will continue to mount pressure on government to suspend the programme which they say will worsen the lives of individual bondholders.
“We’re still standing by the ‘no-no-no-no’. So we’re asking government to respectfully exempt individual bondholders from this exchange.
“As I’ve stated over and over, the programme, that’s the domestic debt exchange programme is proven to a weapon of mass destruction”, he stated.
Mr Kpebu continued, “It [debt exchange programme] is going to kill more citizens, it’s going to destroy more businesses. It’s going to destroy more schools and livelihoods and so on and so forth”.
Following the public agitations, government is currently in talks with individual bondholders to reach an amicable agreement.
The government, however, insists that despite the agitations, it will not back on the programme since its a vital steps in helping salvage the ailing economy.
According to the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, his outfit may modify some of the terms instead of an outright suspension which has been advocated by a section of the general public as well as the Minority in Parliament.
Addressing a press conference on Monday, the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, said the programme as currently structured will worsen the plight of Ghanaians, hence the need for the President to put it on hold and consult some more.
“We in the NDC, the Minority group call on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to immediately suspend the ongoing debt exchange programme. It is already failing”, he stressed.
