Former trainees under the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) have given the government a one-week ultimatum to pay their 9-month arrears.
According to them, several engagements with the government to pay allowances owed to them have proved futile.
Speaking to Citi News, the Public Relations Officer of the former NABCO trainees, Naa Techie expressed his sentiments over the delay in payment of arrears owed them.
“A number of demonstrations have been staged. If you would recall, we earlier sent an official petition to the Speaker of Parliament to add his influential voice to our resentment for the payment of arrears and nothing has been done about it. We have submitted another petition to the NABCO secretariat and they have not responded. We haven’t heard anything from them,” he said.
Expressing the emotions of these former NABCO trainees, he said, “the indication is that NABCO trainees have been left in limbo. NABCO Trainees have been subjected to incessant public ridicule, and they have also been subjected to severe hardships and are in a state of starvation to death.”
Naa Techie also confirmed that a letter has been sent to the finance minister, and they are awaiting his feedback. However, he threatened several protests till their demands are met.
“We have sent a letter to the finance minister. Probably it will end next week Wednesday and we will stage several demonstrations if demands are not met,” he added.
The NABCO program was introduced in 2018 as one of the policies of the Akufo-Addo-led government to ease unemployment in the country.
However, a directive was issued for all beneficiaries to remain at their post even though the program ended in 2021.
On December 19, 2022, I held a meeting between the leadership of the various drivers union in Akoasi, the Unit Committee and the Chief Inspector in charge of the Akoasi Police Station on the new transportation fares directive issued by the Ghana Road Transport Cordinating Council and the GPRTU of TUC.
Considering the distance from Nkawkaw to Akoasi (19.5 km) and that of Akoasi to Abirem, and juxtaposing with the new fares chart issued by the GPRTU and the Ghana Road Transport Cordinating Council, it was resolved that all taxes from Nkawkaw to Akoasi and from Akoasi to Abirem must charge Nine Ghana Cedis (GHC9.00).
Per the calculations, it was supposed to be Eight Cedis Fifty Pesewas (GH¢8.50), but due to the difficulty in getting the Fifty Pesewas (0.50P) change it was agreed to be adjusted or pegged at the GH¢9.00.
This proactive measure was taken to prevent any unpleasant occurrences between our cherished drivers and the traveling public.
We are by this statement directing all drivers and the passengers to strictly comply with the agreed fares to help prevent any unpleasant situations.
I thank the leadership of the various drivers union in Akoasi, the Chief Inspector in charge of the Akoasi Police Station and the Unit Committee of Akoasi for attending the meeting.
The Deputy National Women’s Organiser of the ruling political party, N.P.P, Hon Mimi Duah on Sunday, 18 December upon her chain of political engagements at Bono East and Ashanti Region still made time to attend an orientation section organized by the Kwadaso Constituency Women’s Organizer, Madam Jenet Awuah.
During her Media engagement, a journalist asked if the re-election of Dr. Hanna Louisa Bissiw as the National Women‘s Organiser for the opposition NDC poses any threat to Madam Kate Gyamfuah.
Hon Mimi Duah replied, “Our mother Kate Gyamfuah worked against the same person during the last election. We all witnessed her abysmal performance as a failed national women organizer for NDC and a Parliamentary candidate for Tano North.”
Her constituency even rejected her, it is only the NDC that Ghanaians as of today know they are not a better alternative that will re-elect Dr. Bissiw to marshal women. She is the same old Bissiw we know “Dada no a”.
Obaatanpa Kate Gyamfuah as she is affectionately known by all has demonstrated great leadership in leading the NPP Women’s Wing across the nation. Statistics rightly prove women’s votes increased in the last election which made the NPP government to retained political power. NPP Women and women in Ghana know what is good for their children’s future and it is better with the NPP.
Obaatanpa Kate Gyamfuah through her ambition to get in touch with every woman in NPP has authorized all constituency women to organize an orientation workshop for all polling station women organizers in their constituencies.
When Hon Mimi Duah was speaking to the polling station executives gathered, she humbly extended greetings from the party’s national executives, especially the National Women’s Organizer.
She wished them a merry Christmas and a prosperous new year ahead of 2023.
She further thanked them for showing up in their numbers to listen to what their leaders had to tell them and also to acquire knowledge to help the constituency women organizer and other executives to achieve the target of the party which is to Break the 8!
She encouraged them to continue working harder for the sake of the party and talk to their community members about policies of the NPP government that have helped the poor in society. She further asserted that the party can only fulfill the Ghanaian’s expectations and individual needs if only the party stays in power for a longer period.
“Let’s all work hard to support our Constituency women organizer by talking about the party’s programs and policies to our neighbors, the party cannot satisfy everybody at the same time unless we work hard to keep the party in power for a longer period. You did not get the positions by chance, the people trust and voted for you or gave you the mandate with the other executives to win political power.”
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Kwadaso Constituency, Hon Dr. Kingsley Nyako, the constituency executives, and many more dignitaries attended the program to empower and support the women in the constituency. Some media houses were also there to capture the event.
Over alleged assassination attempts on the life of the Aowin Paramount Chief, Beyeeman Tano Kwaw Benbuin III, the chiefs of Aowin are calling for the dismissal of Western North Regional Minister Richard Ebbah Obeng.
A petition signed by at least sixteen sub-chiefs in the enclave and forwarded to the president said the regional minister was complicit in the numerous attacks on the life of the traditional leader, including assaults with offensive weapons.
They contend that despite the knowledge of the Regional Security set up on the eight separate attacks on the paramount chief, he [Omanhene] has not received the protection that he requires, and neither has there been any clear investigation into the assassination attempts.
“We would like to bring to your notice that it is alleged that the Western North Regional Minister, Hon. Richard Ebbah Obeng, supports the perpetrators’ assaults on the Omanhene and his palace. The alleged involvement of the Western North Regional Minister in the ongoing attack on the palace is now an open secret in Enchi.
It is hard to believe that the Regional Minister, who is an indigene of Aowin and the Head of the Regional Security Council (REGSEC), to date, has been silent and unconcerned about the unrest and insecurity in Enchi and Aowin in general. To confirm this, he has not even paid a visit to the palace, nor has he even sent a sympathetic message to the Omanhene and the people of Aowin, in spite of his numerous visits to Enchi.
The chiefs and community leaders, which comprise former MPs and church leaders, are appalled by the actions and inactions of the Regional Minister, especially about his inexplicable silence despite the countless courtesy calls paid to him before and after the tragic incidents.
“We are reliably informed that Ellis Famieh Duncan, Mannah Kofi Nzoleh, Nana Kwame Nkansah II (a.k.a Louis Yamoah), Bernard Amoaka Mussey, Acquay Nortey and Opayin Ayepa Bullu who are the kingpins and the prime perpetrators of these incidents have been invited by the Regional Police Command, Sefwi Wiawso and granted bail after their statements have been taken on that same day. All these matters were engineered by the Regional Minister,
Hon. Richard Ebbah Obeng .On May 2022, we did a follow-up about the matter of the stolen funds from the Aowin Traditional Council’s bank account undertaken by Nana Kwame Nkansah II, Nana Kojo Sekantia II and others including an injunction on the Aowin Traditional Council.
We were, however, invited to the Regional Police Command and were told that the Regional Minister had intervened and wanted to settle the disputes among Nananom. Since then, no efforts have been made to deal with this matter.”
“Considering the numerous attacks on the Omanhene and the palace, we would therefore like to appeal to your office to help launch a thorough investigation into the various assassination attacks on the Omanhene and the death of the four (4) people, and also to provide adequate security for the protection of the life of the Omanhene.
“We also appeal to you, Mr. President, to investigate the inactive and odd behaviour of the Western North Regional Minister, Hon. Richard Obeng Rocky. We see him as a Regional Minister who does not see Aowin as part of his jurisdiction and therefore does not work in the interest, development, and peace of the Aowin Municipality.”
As public opposition to the controversial National Cathedral‘s construction grows, President Nana Addo Danqua Akufo-Addo has reassessed his justification for why Ghanaians should support it.
This time, the president’s reason for building the national cathedral is no longer his personal gratitude to God for helping him win the 2016 elections to become president, as has been widely propagated by promoters of the edifice, but rather to thank God for sparing Ghana from the ravages of civil war, as have been witnessed by most of our neighbors in the subregion.
Speaking at the centenary celebration of the Ga Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana at the Black Star Square in Accra, on December 18, President Akufo-Addo said the cathedral, when built, will help Ghana thank God for “sparing us the ravages of civil war that have bedevilled the histories of virtually all our neighbours and the outbreak of deadly mass epidemics, but also as a rallying point for the entire Christian community of Ghana, which represents seventy-plus percent of the population.”
This is a remarkable departure from what the president said at the launch of the project on December 29, 2018: “…the building of the National Cathedral is to serve as a gesture of thanksgiving to God for his blessings, favour, grace and mercies on our nation, and to give me an opportunity to redeem a pledge I made to Him before I became President.
“It will provide us with an avenue to call the nation to prayer, to worship, to celebrate, and to mourn. It will house a Bible Museum and will be an iconic infrastructure for national, regional and international pilgrimage and tourism. It will create jobs and serve as a catalyst for technology and skills transfer into our country,” President Akufo-Addo stressed.
Meanwhile, Parliament has put on hold its approval for the cathedral project pending explanations on how previous expenditures were disbursed.
According to Tamale Central MP, Murtala Mohammed, who spoke to Joy News on December 13, “What the Committee decided was that we cannot just approve this GH₵80 million; we must know how the other GH₵339 million was spent. What did it constitute?
“The GH₵80 million you want us to approve, how did it find space in the budget line of the Ministry of Tourism when the Minister and the directors could not speak to the questions we were asking? What constitutes the GH₵80 million, they should give us a breakdown.”
President Nana Addo Danqua Akufo-Addo’s government has insisted on building a befitting National Cathedral for the republic at a time when people are dealing with excruciating hardship amid rising costs of living, a weakened economy, and high debt-to-GDP exposure.
Many Ghanaians have spoken against the timing of the project, especially when the Finance Minister is at the IMF begging for 3 billion dollars to put the economy back on the path of recovery while announcing various levels of haircuts on investments and suspending the servicing of parts of the nation’s foreign debt.
Editor of Ghanaian online news portal, WhatsUp News, David Tamakloe, has commended the efforts of the Ghana Police Service throughout the year for what he believes to be a remarkable year for the country’s security agency.
According to him, despite the numerous demonstrations and uproar the country has experienced this year, the police have maintained sanity and order across the country and hence deserve special mention.
In an interview on the Happy Morning Show during the ‘Editors Take’ edition, Mr. Tamakloe reiterated that the upcoming Christmas festivities pose another tough challenge for the police.
He, therefore, charged the police service to take advantage of the busy weeks ahead to maintain a positive image in the minds of Ghanaians.
“We need to appreciate the good works of the Ghana Police force this year. Despite some challenges, they’ve stood their ground. Their work at this time of the year is always very difficult. They do their best to see to it that the country keeps its sanity in times like this. In terms of accidents, criminals and the busy nature of our cities and roads, they do their best to keep things running. So, we’ll give them their flowers and encourage them to continue the good works,” he told Samuel Eshun.
“The few bad officers who take advantage to make money during this situation should be cautioned and rather take advantage of the festive situations to keep the image of the police service intact and they’ll reap the benefits when everything is said and done,” he added.
Visitors who have not had the COVID-19 vaccination are now permitted to enter the country, according to Patrick Kumah Aboagye, director general of the Ghana Health Service.
He claims that those who haven’t had their shots will however undergo a ‘PCR’ test on arrival.
“Previously what we had was that if you are not a Ghanaian and you were not fully vaccinated you cannot come, but now you can come, but if you come in and you’re not vaccinated, whether unvaccinated or partially vaccinated you have to do a ‘PCR’ test 48 hours before you travel to Ghana and upon arrival, we will test you at the airport,” he said.
The Director General further noted that a lot of tourists will be flocking to the nation for the holidays, therefore precautions have been taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This was mentioned during a ministry press briefing on Sunday, December 18, 2022.
“A surge in COVID-19 cases among international arrivals is expected largely due to; anticipated increase in the number of arrivals; increase in global travel with the associated risks of disease transmission; similar experience during past Christmas season; possible emergence of new strains of concern; increased activities in-country also likely to contribute to a possible surge.
“The Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service will continue to implement the protocols on international travel as currently exists. Increased surveillance and monitoring of new strains and persons returning from countries of concern,” he added.
The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has reported that 12,000 people in Ghana are internally displaced as a result of sociopolitical events or natural disasters.
The data released by the GSS to mark International Migrants Day said findings from the 2021 Population and Housing Census indicate that there are 11,717 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ghana.
The reasons for internal displacement are socio-political factors (55.2% of IDPs) or natural disaster (44.8% of IDPs).
According to the figures, one in every 10 (10.7%) of the IDPs have stayed less than one year in their current place of residence with six in 10 (60.8%) having been displaced for five years or more.
More than half of (57.3%) of IDPs reside in four regions: Greater Accra (19.2%), Northern (14.1%) Ashanti (13.7%) and Central (10.2%) regions.
The adult literacy rate for IDPs is twice that of persons that are not displaced: four in every 10 (41.3%) IDPs aged 15 years and older are not literate compared to two in every 10 (21.9%) non-IDPs.
The percent of children aged four to 17 years who have never been to school is three times higher for IDPs (15.2%) than non- IDPs (4.8%).
The census also provides statistics on international migrants in Ghana.
It said the leading drivers of immigration to Ghana is employment (36.9%), settlement (22.7%) and marriage or family unification (25.0%).
For males, getting employment (49.8%) is the most frequent purpose for migration while for females, it is migration for marriage or family unification (46.9%).
A greater share of migrants is male (60.5%) compared to females (39.5%). Almost half (48.3%) of international migrants have lived in Ghana for five years or more
The International Migrants Day is commemorated on 18th December every year to highlight the contribution of migrants and the challenges they face.
The Minister of Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has encouraged the Tertiary Students’ Confederacy of the New Patriotic Party (TESCON) to work hard and support the administration in order to make the NPP appealing to Ghanaians.
Dr. Prempeh made this charge when he addressed TESCON Executives and Members of Institutions in the Ashanti Region on Saturday, December 17, 2022, at the Ashanti regional TESCON Conference.
Dr. Prempeh, who is also Member of Parliament for Manhyia South in the Ashanti Region, said the NPP’s quest at winning a 3rd term bid, which has become known as “breaking the 8,” will not come on a silver platter but through hard work and determination.
He charged TESCON to lead the conversation on the achievements of the NPP as better managers of the Ghanaian economy even in the face of exogenous shocks.
“TESCONITES, we have a responsibility to lead the conversation on the NPP record especially in the 1st term of the Akufo-Addo administration before these ‘force majeures’ badly hit our economy. This intellectual exercise which is underpinned by incontrovertible facts and data will cement the NPP’s long held reputation as better managers of the Ghanaian economy than the NDC” he said.
Dr. Prempeh said the recent appreciation of the Ghanaian cedi, resulting in the reduction of fuel prices and prices of other commodities was the result of deliberate policy measures the Akufo-Addo administration has been implementing.
He expressed the confidence that the Ghanaian economy will even see further strength in the coming days for the needed relief to be brought to Ghanaians.
“For our political opponents, the NDC, they have failed to mention one thing they would do differently in the unlikely event the come to power. All they are relying on is that the global challenges collapses Ghana’s economy, but by the grace of God, we will be out of the woods soon,” he added.
Dr. Prempeh also said that the power stability that Ghana is experiencing was also a result of prudent management of the energy sector.
“In the wake of these economic difficulties, by the grace of God and proper management, the lights are on and there is fuel availability,” he said to a tumultuous applause.
He said the NPP is the only political party in Ghana that has the blue-print for the prosperity and progress of the country and therefore asked the young NPP supporters not to despair.
“We will continue to support TESCON through the needed capacity building so that you can support the party win the 2024 elections just like in the years 2000, 2004, 2016 and 2020.
The minister, also known as ‘Napo’ urged TESCON to be proud of the achievements and record of the NPP and expressed optimism that the NPP will win the 2024 elections.
An ex-Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of the Ejisu-Juaben Municipal Assembly in the Ashanti Region has identified causes for the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) defeat Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo.
According to Afrifa Yamoah Ponko, the delegates voted against the outgone National Chairman because of his dealings with some elements in the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).
He stressed that delegates were just not enthused about the administration of the outgone chairman.
“And the delegates were resolved to show him (Ofosu Ampofo) the exit,” he stressed.
“We vehemently registered our protest against his administration by massively voting against him,” he said.
“Some of us knew he (Ofosu) was going to lose to the current Chairman,” he added.
He noted that delegates were not ready to forgive the outgone chairman for the harm he had caused the party in the 2020 general elections.
He explained that the delegates were angry with the former National Chairman’s mismanagement of the party.
He accused the previous NDC administration under the watch of the outgone National Chairman of hobnobbing with the NPP.
“At the congress grounds, delegates were just waiting for the whistle to be blown by the Electoral Commission for them to vent their spleen on Ofosu-Ampofo’s administration,” Mr Ponko claimed.
He said the vote against Ofosu-Ampofo was a protest vote against the way and manner the chairman, handled the affairs of the party.
The former MCE and a stalwart of the party in the Ashanti Region assigned the above reasons to the National Chairman’s defeat while speaking in an interview with Odehyieba Kofi Essuman, host of Accra 100.5 FM’s Ghana Yensom Morning show on Monday, December 19, 2022.
He said at the grounds, delegates made it clear they needed a new direction for the party going into the 2024 general elections.
He said that many of the delegates held the view that the NDC won the last elections but victory was snatched from the party because of the ineptitude of some officers of the party.
“Some of these officers failed to live up to the expectations of delegates,” he argued.
The National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Johnson Asiedu has couched an identity for himself with the symbolic smocks he wears at virtually every major party event.
Among the numerous smocks he wears, there’s one particular smock he is noted for donning for some of these events.
The smock is a black one with party colours, which also contains emblems.
Speaking in an interview, he revealed that he often appears in this symbolic smock whenever there is a battle.
He explained at the National Delegates Congress, he chose to wear his symbolic smock to indicate his readiness for the battle – elections.
“I wear this type of costume occasionally, when the occasion demands. It is our traditional war battle dress, so when you are going into battle you wear it and you know I’m referred to as the General of NDC for a good reason because people think that whenever there is crisis, I am the one who is called upon to take the lead. Traditionally this is the regalia of a war general and so on occasion like this is the dress…,” he said.
Johnson Asiedu Nketiah has been elected National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress.
At the National Congress held on Saturday, December 17, 2022, Asiedu Nketiah secured 65.17% of the total vote cast to win the election.
His closest competitor, Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo polled just 33.81% of the total vote cast.
According to the Electoral Commission, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah garnered 5,569 while the incumbent Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo managed 2,892 votes.
Through its informants’ reward program, the Ghana Revenue Authority(GRA) has been able to retrieve more than $93 million as well as an extra GH421 million from foreign and domestic corporations doing business in the country.
These were hitherto taxes that the State could have lost as a result of the firms’ unwillingness to pay until the intervention of these informants who used the Informant Application system to draw the attention of the Authority.
The Informant award scheme is a means of awarding individuals, entities or organizations who offer information to the GRA on persons who commit offences or companies under the tax laws of Ghana.
Acting Head of Intelligence at the Ghana Revenue Authority, Wisdom Xetor said the scheme has been helpful in retrieving monies that the state would have easily lost.
“It is a scheme that is yielding results and many are providing information that is leading to the recovery of monies that would have been lost if this avenue was not provided for them to provide information to us about impropriety relating to tax.”
Mr Xetor said the respective informants have been rewarded handsomely for their initiative.
The Informant Award Scheme is a means of rewarding individuals, entities or organisations which offer information to the GRA about persons or companies who attempt to evade taxes under the tax laws of Ghana.
This information is relied upon to enforce compliance with tax laws.
It is also often relied upon to determine whether a person is registered as a taxpayer, whether a taxpayer files his tax returns, or whether the correct amount of tax has been declared and paid, etc.
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has said that if proper precautions are not taken during and after the Christmas season , the country could record a new COVID-19 strain.
The Service indicates that, the country is likely to experience a surge in COVID-19 cases given that some countries around the world have seen hikes in cases due to a change in weather conditions.
At a media briefing in Accra, the Director General of the GHS, Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye expressed the Service’s preparedness to contain any upsurge.
“There is also a potential for a new variant just like we had during the last Christmas -the Omicron variant. So, we also have to look at that as a risk factor, and so we need to be alert and make sure that we sustain the gains made so far, so we don’t go back to where we were many months ago.”
He also mentioned that, the mass vaccination campaign re-launched last week ahead of the yuletide has recorded a little over one million people receiving the jab.
Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye urged opinion leaders to continue to entreat their opinion leaders to take the vaccines.
The Ghana Health Service from Wednesday, December 14, commenced the vaccination of citizens who are yet to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
The latest vaccination drive which ends today, Monday, December 19, 2022 was expected to last for five days to prevent a possible surge in cases of Covid-19 before, during and after the Christmas festivities.
Under the theme, Protect Yourself, Protect Your Family, Get Vaccinated Against Covid-19, this edition was expected to vaccinate over 1.4 million people between 14th and 18th December 2023.
The GHS has currently administered a total of 21,179,341 vaccine doses as of November 30.
Existing Covid-19 prevention measures at the airport for visitors have been strengthened to reduce the number of cases which may enter the country.
Ghana’s largest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), just came out of a successful National Executive Congress at the Accra Sports Stadium where Asiedu Nketiah emerged winner in the National Chairmanship race.
Asiedu Nketiah’s win saw the end of the reign of Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo as the National Chairman, and also saw the election of some women into the executive team of the NDC.
Ahead of the race, GhanaWeb looked at the 16 females who were contesting for some of the positions in the party.
In this updated article, we take a look at the successful women candidates and which positions they won.
Here they are:
Dr. Sherry Ayittey
Dr. Sherry is a veteran female member of the NDC and has served in many ministerial portfolios. She has served as Minister of Health, Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, and, Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development.
She was a member of the 31st December Women’s Movement, a non-governmental organization affiliated to the NDC, whose president is Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, wife of Jerry Rawlings; former President of Ghana.
She has been elected as the Second Vice Chairperson of the NDC.
Barbara Serwaa Asamoah
Barbara Serwaa Asamoah is a Ghanaian lawyer and politician. She is the deputy general secretary of the National Democratic Congress.
She was also the Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources from 2013 to 2017.
Barbara has been retained as a Deputy General Secretary of the NDC.
Dr. Hanna Louisa Bissiw
Dr. Hanna Bissiw is an outspoken member of the NDC.
She was the Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture from 2013 to 2017, and the former Member of Parliament for Tano South, in the Brong Ahafo Region Ghana.
Hannah Bissiw started her political career in 2008. She rose through the ranks from being a member of the NDC Manifesto Committee in 2008, Deputy Minister of State (Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing in 2009, Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, and also Member of Parliament for Tano South from 2012 to 2017.
She has been retained as the National Women’s Organiser of the NDC.
There were also the election of three women to serve on the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the NDC. They are Victoria Kuma-Mintah, Cecilia N. Asaga, and Araba Tagoe.
Below is list of all the national Executives of the NDC
President Akufo-Addo has defended the need to complete the construction of the National Cathedral.
He insists that the controversial project will signify an appreciation to God who he believes has spared the country from conflicts and plagues over the years.
According to him, the project whose 2023 budgetary allocation approval has been suspended will be geared toward thanking God for “sparing us the ravages of civil war that have bedevilled the histories of virtually all our neighbours and the outbreak of deadly mass epidemics but also as a rallying point for the entire Christian community of Ghana, which represents seventy-plus per cent of the population.”
He spoke during the centenary celebration of the Ga Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana at the Black Star Square in Accra on December 18.
Addressing the congregants, President Akufo-Addo further courted the support of Ghanaians to make the country a better place for all.
“I need the support of every Ghanaian, together with the prayers of the church, to help me and my government carry out our mandate successfully,” he added on Sunday.
Key among the clergy present at the event were the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rev. Prof. Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante.
On December 13, the Trades and Industry Committee of Parliament put on hold the approval of ₵80 million allocated for the construction of the National Cathedral.
The allocation, which was made to the Ministry of Tourism (MoT), failed to receive endorsement by the Committee because members want more answers from the sector Minister.
According to Tamale Central MP, Murtala Mohammed who disclosed this to JoyNews, until the Committee is satisfied, they will approve the Ministry’s estimates without the funds allocated to the National Cathedral.
“What the Committee decided was that we cannot just approve this GH₵80 million, we must know how the other ¢339 million was spent. What did it constitute?
“The ¢80 million you want us to approve, how did it find space in the budget line of the Ministry of Tourism when the Minister and the directors could not speak to the questions we were asking? What constitutes the ¢80 million, they should give us a breakdown,” he disclosed in an interview with JoyNews.
In the wake of the economic downturn, many are asking why the construction of the National Cathedral remains the subject of big-ticket spending in the spending plans of the government.
Already, some ¢339 million has been spent on the project, an edifice that President Akufo-Addo says is his personal pledge to God.
But, the Okyehene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin II has pleaded support for the building of the National Cathedral so as not to bring shame to President Akufo-Addo.
Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, the new Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has described his election as the leader of the Party as “a call to duty.”
“Sunday’s event indicate that the NDC is not done with me yet. I see this election as a call to duty; the duty is enormous,” he said when he delivered his victory speech on Sunday morning to climax the Party’s National Executive Elections.
Mr Nketiah, who had served as General Secretary of the NDC for 17 years, dethroned Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, who became the Party’s Chairman in 2018, but lost his re-election bid.
Mr Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, a former Propaganda Secretary of the NDC is now the new General Secretary.
Mr Joseph Yammin, a former Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister, also won the National Organiser contest.
While thanking the delegates for the confidence reposed in the new National Executive Members, Mr Nketiah said his foremost task would be to unite the rank and file of the Party for victory in the 2024 parliamentary and presidential elections.
“This is a victory for the NDC and that their defeat(losing candidates) is not a defeat in the actual sense but an indication that the Party needs them to serve in other positions,” he said.
He described the Party’s National Executive Congress as an election to “regain the independence of this country,” adding: “We are prepared to sacrifice everything, including our lives to ensure that the country is rescued.”
Former President John Dramani Mahama congratulated all the new executives and commended the Party’s delegates for their sacrifices and efforts to the progress of the Party.
“I believe the delegates have the best wisdom and they have told us what they want. It is our duty to work with the blueprint,” he said.
Mr Mahama urged the new executives to “cut their celebrations short” and set to work immediately.
“(Election) 2024 has the highest stake and the executives must understand the responsibilities entrusted on their shoulders,” he said.
In his congratulatory message to the newly-elected national executives of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama had to be prompted after he made the mistake of referring to Asiedu Nketiah as General Secretary instead of his new role of National Chairman.
The moment was funny and perhaps awkward and reminiscent of President Akufo-Addo’s ‘manka no yie kwraa’ intervention after he mistakenly referred to the New Patriotic Party’s parliamentary candidate of Odododiodioo as Nii Lante Vanderpuye instead of Nii Lante Bannerman.
But when someone occupies a role for 17 years, it becomes difficult for anyone to within five minutes of that person taking over a new role, move on and address him with the credentials of his new position.
Such is the formidability and astuteness of General Mosquito as he is called. For seventeen years he served as General Secretary of the NDC and became synonymous with the position in Ghana’s body politics.
It, therefore, came as a shock when he announced that he was going to move up the ladder and test new waters as National Chairman of the NDC.
The shock was premised on two things;
Why would he leave a position he has been so good at and why would he take up the option of challenging Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo who had also had quite an eventful journey in Ghana’s politics?
But if there was anyone in Ghana politics who could pull this off successfully under the prevailing circumstances, it certainly was Asiedu Nketiah.
It, therefore, came as a shock to no one that at the end of voting on Sunday, December 18, Aseidu Nketiah was named winner of the chairman race with total votes of 5,569.
GhanaWeb today looks at the five reasons behind his success
Experience
In Ghana’s body politics, there is not one person with more experience in intra-party elections than Asiedu Nketiah.
Spending seventeen years in a position that returned a high turnover in the camp of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) means Asiedu Nketiah had mastered the rudiments of winning intra-party politics.
Per his own calculations in his interview with UTV, there have been about six General Secretaries in the NPP since he took over the same role in the NDC and spending such time there teaches you experience.
The NDC’s internal processes are still beautiful – Ofosu-Ampofo
0 seconds of 2 minutes, 47 secondsVolume 90%
In his now famous supposedly leaked audio, Asiedu Nketiah spoke about how he had mastered the art of winning intra-party elections.
He knew what to say and what to do to swing votes in his favor and fortunately for him, his closest competitor Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, perhaps, came against the wrong man at the wrong time.
’ We can’t do without him’
Possibly a view from his supporters but when leading members of the NDC talked about Asiedu Nketiah versus Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo race, there was the sense that much as they appreciate the work of Ofosu-Ampofo, Asiedu Nketiah was too valuable a person and institution not to be deeply involved in the party’s organization.
From the Deputy Minority leader to the former MP for Tamale Central, Inusah Fuseini who spoke on Joy News, there was some acceptance that Asiedu Nketiah makes the NDC tick and that without him the party will struggle, especially going into a must-win election.
Even Victor Smith who openly campaigned against Asiedu Nketiah appreciated that fact, the reason he recommended that should Ofosu-Ampofo have won, Asiedu Nketiah was going to be appointed campaign manager of the NDC for the 2024 elections.
And that idea is not lost on Asiedu Nketiah either. In his leaked audio, he stated that he would have loved to retire but he knows the party, NDC, at this point cannot stand without him.
Ofosu-Ampofo’s ‘questionable’ loyalty to Mahama
Throughout his spell as national chair, Ofosu-Ampofo lived under the tag of not being a Mahama person and with John Mahama currently being the de-facto leader of the party, anyone in an opposing camp stood a high chance of losing intra-party elections.
As claimed by Insuah Fuseini, there is suspicion within the ranks of the NDC that Ofosu-Ampofo has surrounded himself with persons who are identified to be anti-Mahama.
Unlike Ofosu-Ampofo, Asiedu Nketiah is seen to be a person who will do everything within the law to make sure John Mahama returns to the Jubilee House.
Despite John Mahama’s public denial of same, the suspicion that Asiedu Nketiah’s remains a pro-Mahama candidate continues to fester.
Election 2020
Election 2020 proved decisive in the NDC elections for two things. The first one was the election petition and the second was the election of Alban Bagbin as Speaker of Parliament, which outcome is a product of the hung parliament produced by the 2020 elections.
Despite being the one who mounted the witness box in the 2020 election petition, Asiedu Nketiah, as heard in the notorious audio absolved himself of any blame and placed the whole petition fiasco at the doorsteps of Ofosu-Ampofo.
Dirty politics it may seem but that may have been enough to make people, especially NDC delegates, appreciate the issues and vote for him.
Also, there had been a plethora of witnesses from NDC Parliamentarians that but for Asiedu Nketiah’s presence in Parliament on the eve of January 6, 2021, Alban Bagbin could not have won the elections.
These two things were cited by Asiedu Nketiah and his team to drum home the reason for him to win the role.
Natural progression to the top
Some persons argue that Asiedu Nketiah’s decision to run for the chairmanship slots was a self-actualization move for him as he was suffering fatigue of occupying the General Secretary role. He made mention of this in his interviews with Okay FM and UTV on Friday.
There was also a widespread conspiracy that Asiedu Nketiah’s decision was part of a bigger plan by the party’s leadership to introduce someone from the Volta block who identified more with the Volta Region into the national executive committee.
According to reports, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey was impressed upon to offer himself for the position as the party believed that his presence in the committee would benefit the party and its relationship with the Volta Region.
Inusah Fuseini made allusions to this grand plot in his discussion with Joy News.
The former leader of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, has aired his dissatisfaction with the Akufo-Addo-led administration.
Speaking to party members at the NDC national delegates election on December 17, 2022, at the Accra Sports Stadium, Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo said that the Akufo-Addo administration’s level of mismanagement is so evident that even witches from his village have realized and are worried.
“Even the witches and villages from Kyebi say catastrophe, NPP’s Akufo-Addo-Bawumia catastrophic scent ‘agye bebiaa’ has spread everywhere, the NPP catastrophic performance in government has been so repugnant that their own party could not stand the stench of their own rotten government, they started what looks like a cleansing and deodorizing exercise by demanding the sack of Ken Ofori-Atta as finance minister,” he said.
Meanwhile, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, a former NDC general secretary, defeated Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo in the election for national chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that was held in the Accra Sports Stadium on Saturday, December 17, 2022.
At the close of polls, Johnson Aseidu Nketiah pulled a total vote cast of 5,569 representing 65.17% whilst Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo garnered 2,892 votes representing 33.81%.
The immediate-past National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, has said that the victory of all the candidates in the just-ended national delegate congress is a foretaste of what to expect in the 2024 general elections.
He expressed confidence in the newly-elected team, adding that the 2024 elections is a battle that the new executives will be able to handle.
He made this known in his official statement to congratulate the new crop of NDC leadership, led by Asiedu Nketiah, the new National Chairman.
“Let us appreciate that this victory is simply a prelude to the battle ahead of us. I pray that we quickly recover from our individual pain and dented reputation to restore our public morality so we can join forces to soldier on,” he said.
Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo lost his re-election bid to Asiedu Nketiah, the former General Secretary of the party, in a 5,569 to 2,892 vote.
Congratulating the new executives, Ofosu-Ampofo stated that there had been unnecessary internal vilifications prior to the elections, which he hoped people would put behind them and forge ahead for victory in 2024.
“On behalf of Team Ofosu Ampofo, I wish to congratulate the newly elected National Chairman and other National Executives of our dear party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) who emerged victorious at the just ended 10th National Delegates Congress held at the Accra Sports Stadium on Saturday, December 17, 2022.
“While this elections needlessly witnessed the worse form of inner vilification, personal attacks and public injury to the hard-won reputation of our Party through various means of public spaces and on social media platforms, this insensitivity would inadvertently affect our restitution, unity and cohesion needed to engender the collective prosecution of our agenda for victory 2024,” he added.
The new executives were sworn into office by officials of the Electoral Commission of Ghana at the Accra Sports Stadium, minutes after the official results were declared on Sunday, December 18, 2022, morning.
Fifi Kwetey, a former Member of Parliament for Ketu South, was also elected as the new general secretary of the party.
Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh, the Energy Minister, has asserted that the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) continues to be the greatest option for Ghanaians as compared to the opposition National Democratic Congress, despite the country’s economic challenges.
He pointed to the depreciation of the Ghana cedis against the Dollar as one of the problems government had been faced with but was quick to add that it would have been worse if any other political party was in charge of the Ghanaian economy at this time.
Speaking to members of the Tertiary Students Confederacy (TESCON), in the Ashanti Region at a conference in Kumasi, NAPO as he is popularly called said the cedi which dropped to an all-time lowest in history would have hit Ghs48 to a dollar if the National Democratic Congress(NDC) was in power.
“The worse in NPP is far better than the best in NDC. Some of you are motivated to serve NPP, know that you are motivated to serve the best. It is only NPP that can make Ghana better. No matter the circumstances that you are in, just imagine if it was NDC it would have been times three. If NDC was in government the dollar that could have gotten to 16 would have gotten to 48,” he said.
He admonished the young patriots to keep faith with the party and government amidst the prevailing challenges and eschew in-fighting, animosity and acrimony as such tendencies could potentially affect the ability of the party to break the 8.
“No TESCON member should have a divided mind about 2024. It is better to be the garden boy of the ruling party than to be the landlord of the opposition party,” he added.
The vice-chair of the Ada National Democratic Congress (NDC), Kenneth Kabu Kano, is under criticism from social media users because of a statement he made ahead of the NDC National polls.
The vice-chair brashly stated that he will step down from his position as vice-chair of the party should Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo lose the election.
“Ok I will put it on the line, I said he will win the chairmanship position (Ofosu-Ampofo), I said if he doesn’t win, I will resign as the vice chairman of the Ada constituency,” he said.
After the NDC national elections on Saturday, December 17, 2022, however, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, a.k.a. General mosquito, defeated Ofosu-Ampofo, by a wide margin to lead the party ahead of the 2024 general elections.
Following the results of the elections, some social media users are now demanding for Kabu Kano to step down, arguing that he must leave the position immediately in order to redeem his integrity.
Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, at the National Congress held on Saturday, December 17, 2022, secured 65.17% of the total vote cast to win the election.
His closest competitor, Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo polled just 33.81% of the total vote cast.
According to the Electoral Commission, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah garnered 5,569 while the incumbent Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo managed 2,892 votes
The Chairman of the National Executive Committee, Ghana National Chamber of Pharmacy, Harrison Abutiate, says the unstable Ghanaian currency and delayed payments to pharmacies, particularly by government facilities, are crippling the pharmaceutical industry.
He said members of the Chamber had extended credits to local distributors, clinics, hospitals and other health facilities but the delay in payment was worrying.
Other factors exacerbating their plight are the high-interest rates and increased benchmark values.
Mr Abutiate said this at the India-Ghana Pharma Business Summit, dubbed; “Managing the Economic Challenges in Pharma Business in Ghana,” which brought together the value-chain industry players to discuss areas of collaboration in both countries.
“The current developments had eroded our finances and business survival….and with the other challenges, the situation does not help in production, planning and pricing of medicines in Ghana,” he said.
Mr Abutiate said the situation necessitated the Chamber’s decision to return to the ‘Cash & Carry’ method recently.
He said action should be expedited on the Dawa Industrial Zone project, a 150-acre land to be developed into a Pharma park, where the production of various pharmaceutical products would be undertaken by various entities under a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV).
Mr Micheal Okyere Baafi, the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, said the Government took keen interest in the operations of the pharmaceutical industry and was developing a policy to attract investments into the business.
It had already given out US$ 415 million as loans through Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs).
“We are only doing about 30 percent of the whole demand of the Pharmaceutical businesses in Ghana, and summits like this can spur collaboration and investments to bridge the gap,” he said.
Mr Sugandh Rajaram, the Indian High Commissioner to Ghana, said Indian businesses were ready for opportunities to partner with their Ghanaian counterparts to explore the pharma trade.
Export from India to Ghana in 2022 was about US$ 200 million, he said.
Mr Rajaram said it was time the local pharmaceutical companies worked with Indian businesses to ensure value addition.
Chief Executive Officer of Korle Bu Hospital, Dr. Opoku Ware Ampomaa, has lauded the insurance industry for voluntarily giving 2,015 units of blood to the National Blood Bank in 2022.
He made the commendation when Commissioner of Insurance Dr. Justice Yaw Ofori called on management and staff of the teaching hospital last week.
Dr. Justice Yaw Ofori led his team of insurance practitioners to the Child Health Unit of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital to give thanks and close the 2022 blood donation year. He urged other corporate organisations to emulate the gesture of the insurance industry and donate voluntary to the blood bank.
According to the Commissioner, the insurance sector voluntarily offered to donate blood to the needy in August 2021; that year the industry donated 822 units to the blood bank, and after three months in 2022 the voluntary donation had risen to 2,015 units nationally.
The CEO of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital also urged the National Health Insurance Scheme to absorb trauma cases into its ambit. He assured insurers that the hospital is also making in-house arrangements to solicit for blood donors in the near future. He revealed that so far the insurance industry has donated the highest ever in Ghana within a space of three months.
In a related development, the insurance industry also donated equipment to the maternity ward.
Prior to the general election in 2024, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, the general secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has given a stern warning to the New Patriotic party.
Fifi Kwetey admonished the NPP government to manage the country carefully to avoid economic difficulties that would cause immeasurable pain for Ghanaians.
He asserts that the NDC would unseat the NPP administration in the general election of 2024, thus they should exercise care in managing the economy to prevent it from worsening.
In addition, he stated that the new leadership will join forces to work together to recapture power in 2024 in an interview with GhanaWeb after winning the election for General Secretary.
“To the NPP all I can say is that, work hard to make sure you do not destroy our county worse, I mean much more than they have done, I mean what we’ve seen has been a moral calamity, what we are seeing has been a complete collapse of morality and therefore we pray that they do not do that, that is my hope, they have been a complete disaster, don’t make it worse and more difficult for the NDC to be able to come and do too much difficulty for the sake of Ghana and for the sake of the younger generation, don’t make it worse,” he said.
Fifi Fiavi Kwetey won the General Secretary race of the National Democratic Congress, replacing Asiedu Nketiah who won the National Chairman contest.
At the National Congress held on Saturday, December 17, 2022, Fifi Kwetey polled the highest number of votes to confirm his status as the new CEO of the NDC.
He got 4,543 of total vote cast to win the race.
Fifi Kwetey took to social media to announce his victory, indicating that he has been called by fellow candidate Dr. Peter Otokunor to be congratulated.
Ex-President John Dramani Mahama has taken a swipe at the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo after he admonished African leaders to stop begging the West.
President Nana Addo urged the leaders to earn global respect and change poor perceptions about the African continent stressing “if we stop being beggars and spend African money inside the continent, Africa will not need to ask for respect from anyone, we will get the respect we deserve. If we make it prosperous as it should be, respect will follow”.
He made the remarks during the opening of the US-Africa Leaders‘ Summit in Washington DC.
“Africans are more resilient outside the continent than inside. We must bear in mind that to the outside world, [there’s] nothing like Nigeria, Ghana or Kenya, we are simply Africans. Our destiny as people depends on each other,” he added.
Delivering a speech at the NDC delegates conference, Mr. John Mahama mocked the President for preaching virtue but practicing vice.
“Our dear country, Ghana, that has been a poster boy of democracy, good governance and economic progress stands on the brink of bankruptcy and economic ruin. Yet, we have a President who enjoys sprouting the rhetoric of self-suspect and restrain from begging western nations for support and yet he has spent the last several weeks on the telephone with western leaders asking them to beg the IMF to grant Ghana the recently announced staff-level agreement for an extended credit facility. Our dear nation has never been so put to shame and come close to being a beggar nation as we are today”, he stated.
He further said “this NPP government has done the worst to erode the belief of Ghanaians in our democracy. Many Ghanaians see their situation as hopeless and are willing to take the hazards of dying in the Mediterranean sea or electrocution on a high tension transmission line in Kasoa”.
Mr. Mahama however urged Ghanaians not to lose hope.
“…countrymen and women, let us not despair; they say the darkest hour is before the dawn and they also say, in every adversity, we find opportunity and Bob Marley also say when one door is closed, another is opened. Ghana shall rise to a new dawn!”
Transfers and lack of funding have been identified as some of the barriers affecting effective execution of planned institutional activities of the National Labour Migration Technical Working Group (NLMTWG).
Currently most donors are shifting their support packages towards displacement as the result of the Russia-Ukraine war whiles the domestic budget cut for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) are also making it difficult for the institutions to execute their action plans for the year.
This came to light at the fourth quarter meeting of the group, attended mainly by Directors of stakeholder institutions in the migration sector, including the Ministries of Employment and Labour Relations, Foreign Affairs and The Interior, and their affiliate departments and agencies.
The two-day meeting was funded by the Migration for Development and Equality (MIDEQ) project undertaken by the Centre for Migration Studies, University of Ghana, Legon and attended by 46 representatives of stakeholder institutions.
The meeting is to initiate process of developing the Annual Labour Migration Institutional Work Plan to advance the course of implementation of the National Migration Policy in 2023.
It will also reinforce the collective efforts from the NLMTWG to support the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations execute the National Labour Migration Policy.
Professor Joseph Teye, a Co-Director of MIDEQ Project, said the MIDEQ Project was funded by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)/ Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF).
He said: “The project is thought to be the world largest migration project and made up of 100 institutions, and the project is being done in 12 countries”.
“When we said 100 institutions it means it include some of the organisations that are not necessarily contacting the research but are part if the research. So all the UN agencies that deals with migration are part if the project,” he explained.
Prof. Teye said the MIDEQ project explores South-South migration in six corridors that links migrants countries of origin and destination.
The corridors are Burkina Faso-Cote d’Ivoire; China-Ghana; Egypt-Jordan; Ethiopia-South Africa; Haiti-Brazil, and Nepal-Malaysia. The CMS is doing China-Ghana corridor.
He said they were focusing on global south because “ if you look at migration movement about 60 per cent of movements are happening within the global south and yet, most of what we hear about migration is about migration is talking about south-north migration”.
He said findings would be used to deal with policy in the south-south migration in general, so maybe we can also build on what we got from China to Ghana and Ghana to China to make policies for Ghana and Nigeria.
“We will share our findings with you to see how you can incorporate some of them into the National Labour Market Policy,” he added.
Mr Ernest Berko, Deputy Director, PPME, said the technical working group was a mechanism in place to ensure all relevant agencies draw activity out of the implementation plans of the policy and also implement them themselves.
“We meet every quarter to look at how far we have gone with the implementation and how to support each other to address the challenges that we have.
Today’s meeting is fruitful because we are able to report on work done so far and identified some challenges and what can be done to address them.
He said: “Going forward, we’re just going to look for activities that we could not implement this year and also come out with some mitigating strategies for the challenges identified, and then how we can reposition themselves to ensure that the challenges they faced do not repeat next year so that we will achieve the objective of the policy,” he added.
Prof. Mary Boatemaa Setrana, the Director of CMS, said as part of their mandate was capacity building workshops and also host MIDEQ project with other researchers with CMS on it.
She expressed the hope that as they share their findings, they would see how to integrate south-south migration issues in the policy.
She noted that most of the discussions in policy circles did not focus on south-south migration as they always think about Europe.
“We are hoping that through this discussion of developing the work plan we can integrate some of the ideas.
“Though we sharing issues like migrants’ protection and migrants’ access, they are same everywhere and so hope that as we share, it is not only our corridor but they reflect on other corridors and we can use all the findings and what we learn from it to also plan our 2023 Labour Migration work plan,” she said.
Mr Dennis Benneh Diawus, a Planning Officer at PPME and the rapporteur for the group, said some of the activities were beyond the purse of the institutions and advised them to look at the low hanging fruits and go for achievable plans within the year.
The National Migration Policy was passed by Parliament in 2016 but has not been implemented ever since.
Parts of the capital Accra have experienced another earth tremor six days after two mild tremors struck some areas in the region.
People took to social media to post about the incident, with most asking other users for confirmation if they felt it too because they were a bit sceptical and doubtful an earth tremor will occur a few days after a confirmed shake.
Of particular mention is persons residing in Kasoa, most of whom say they felt a shake around 7:30 pm on Saturday, December 17.
When the first two tremors struck on Monday, December 12, 2022, the Ghana Geological Survey Authority confirmed the incident and assured the public that investigations would be launched to ascertain the magnitude and epicentre of the shake, but that is yet to happen and Ghanaians are reported experiencing a third occurrence in less than a week
Another earth tremor just a minute ago, tell me it’s a lie coz maybe I felt it alone #EarthTremor#earthquake
Some may not be surprised at this current shake after the Principal Seismologist at the Ghana Geological Survey Authority (GGSA), Nicholas Opoku warned residents of Accra to be prepared for more earth tremors in the future after the December 12 tremor.
Mr. Opoku said the country has been recording some occasional shakes except that their magnitude wasn’t high enough to be felt.
“This is not a new thing. We have been experiencing this from time to time…even the most recent ones were in 2018, 2019, and 2020. What we have been saying all this while is that Accra and its environs are situated in the earthquake-prone zones so from time to time, we will be experiencing these minor earthquakes until such a time that a major one will occur.”
Mr. Opoku said there was a “shake that occurred on December 16 at about 5:45 am and a major one occurred at 6:03 am at a 2.7 magnitude.”
As part of efforts to give hope to Ghanaians in these trying times, the Jospong Group of Companies (JGC) and Zoomlion Ghana Limited (ZGL) used its Annual Thanksgiving Service (2022) to reach out to lost souls, and win them for Christ.
As a directive from the Executive Chairman of JGC, Dr. Joseph Siaw Agyepong, staff members of JGC and ZGL, on Thursday, December 8, 2022, marched on the streets to speak to people about the unfailing love of Jesus Christ.
The evangelism programme, which began from the group’s premises through to the School Junction end of the main Ashley Botwe-Nmai-Dzorn in Accra, saw the participants interact with people on the streets, homes, and in vehicles about the saving grace of Christ. Many who received the good news were excited about the fact that Christ is the centre of the JGC and ZGL.
Speaking in an interview with the media on the essence of the programme, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of JGC, Mrs. Sophia Kudjordji, said the outreach was meant to remind Ghanaians that all hope was not lost.
She said the only way to be joyful in life was to surrender one’s life to Christ and experience peace as well. Just as cleanliness is next to Godliness, she admonished Ghanaians to ensure that their environment was treated with respect.
For her part, the Communications and Corporate Affairs Director of ZGL, Mrs. Emma Adwoa Appiaa Osei-Duah, entreated the citizenry to take advantage of the free bins initiative currently ongoing, stressing, however, that they may soon be required to pay for it.
She again urged the public to eschew the practice of dropping trashes around, and rather adopt the attitude of putting them into dustbins.
Earlier, the Mission Director of the Church of Pentecost, Apostle Emmanuel Agyeman Bekoe, stated that the Lord deserves to be celebrated for what He has done and who He is. He explained that celebrating God for His greatness was very vital, especially in the light of His mighty works.
Sharing the word of God with a gathering of staff members and heads of departments of JGC and ZGL, Apostle Agyeman Bekoe underscored the importance of celebrating the Lord always.
According to him, God ought to be worshipped for all His deeds. He further explained that offering thanksgiving to God means sounding trumpets and other musical instruments. While in the Old Testament, thanking the Lord means singing and marching to the glory of the Lord, praying and singing are characteristics of the New Testament era, he averred.
Tracts and placards bearing inscriptions – such as Are you ready for His coming?; Jesus still saves; Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Light; Jesus, your Shepherd is looking for you – were on display, with the aim of reconnecting lost souls back to their Maker.
Gospel Musician Akesse Brempong, who was the Guest Artiste, graced the celebration with his melodic ministrations, as well as the Present King Choir. There were amazing displays from various departments within the Jospong Group and Zoomlion.
According to Professor H. Kwasi Prempeh, Executive Director of the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), the Fiscal Responsibility Advisory Council is not powerful enough to serve as “a domestic substitute” for the International Monetary Fund (IMF), preventing Ghana from turning to the Bretton Woods organization for a bailout.
The President, in the exercise of his constitutional powers (Article 58), on 28 December 2018 (Ghana Gazette No. 173), established two major Councils that will offer independent advice on fiscal responsibility and ensure the stability of the entire financial system (across all the sub-sectors, from banking through pensions & fund/asset management to insurance etc.) respectively.
They are the Fiscal Responsibility Advisory Council (Fiscal Council) and the Financial Stability Advisory Council (Financial Stability Council).
Both Councils are made up of 7 members each, the latter’s members being institutional representatives.
The term of the members of each Council shall lapse with the term of the President under whom s/he is appointed unless s/he resigns or is otherwise terminated/terminates before then.
Among its many functions, the FSC, which brings together all the different regulatory agencies in the financial services sector, will “identify and evaluate the threats, vulnerabilities, and risks to the stability of the financial sector,” ensuring, especially, that we receive early-warning of cross-industry exposures that pose systemic risks and deploy appropriate measures in managing them.
The FC also has, as one of its functions, a mandate to “develop and recommend to the President fiscal responsibility policies for the maintenance of prudent and sustainable levels of public debt, ensuring that the fiscal balance is maintained at a sustainable level, and the management of fiscal risks in a prudent manner, to achieve efficiency, effectiveness and value for money in public expenditure.”
The members of the Fiscal Council as of the time it was first established include Dr. Paul Acquah, Mr. Abdallah Ali-Nakyea, Prof. Eugenia Amporfu, Dr. Nii Noi Ashong, Prof. Augustine Fosu, Dr. Robert Osei, and Dr. Nii Kwaku Sowa.
The institutional representatives of the Financial Stability Council as of the time it was first established include Dr. Ernest Addison (BoG), Elsie Addo Awadzi (BoG), Charles Adu Boahen (who was recently fired by the President, represented the Ministry of Finance), Justice Yaw Ofori (NIC), Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh (SEC), Hayford Atta Krufi (NPRA), and Ignatius Wilson (DPC).
Speaking at a roundtable organised by the Citizen’s Coalition in Accra on “Interrogating Ghana’s 2023 budget and Economic Policy as a pathway to Economic recovery”, Prof Prempeh said a stronger Fiscal Council could do Ghana a lot of good.
“Part of what I think has gotten us to this problem is that when we started off the Eurobond thing, it was good”, he observed, adding: “But I think that given the nature of our politics and our governance, it should have been very clear to us that we need a domestic IMF substitute”.
“That is, if IMF is not there, you need, yourself, to put in certain guard rails and certain institutional frameworks so that you will be more fiscally responsible and not have to go back to the IMF,” he said.
“We have an IMF substitute on paper called the Fiscal Council and even the one that was on paper was really not that strong. If you want to go to the IMF and you are still not fiscally disciplined, it won’t work,” he said.
At the same event, Prof Prempeh said the National Cathedral is not a sensible project to undertake in the midst of an economic crisis.
In his view, the government could use the site for the project, for a more sensible venture.
“When you are in a crisis, you can do exceptional things, I don’t see anything in the budget to suggest that this is a crisis and that this is being done as an emergency measure,” Professor Prempeh said.
“This is not the time for vanity projects but we have preserved a vanity project in the form of the cathedral. I was expecting that this being a crisis period, we will reflect on that decision and say: ‘even if this is sensible to do at all’ – and I do not think so – that it will not be the appropriate period or we will change the idea to something else”.
“There is a lot that we can still do with that site which can make sense”.
“So, generally it is a missed opportunity in terms of seeing this as a crisis moment and seeing it as a moment to reset the button”, Prof Prempeh noted.
“I think we have not quite done that”, he stressed.
“It looks to me that it is purely an emergency thing targeted at the IMF to approve a loan, as opposed to something that is going deep into the structure and our governance,” Professor H. Kwasi Prempeh admonished in his assessment.
Prof Prempeh is in good company with pressure group OccupyGhana which recently recommended that the government suspend all public expenditure on the National Cathedral considering that the country is going through an economic crisis.
“Whatever arguments there might have been to support spending now-non-existent money on the proposed National Cathedral, have been eroded by the dire straits that the nation faces”, the group said in a statement.
“Our current situation makes the continued commitment in the budget to spend GHS80m on the cathedral, look like a vanity project”, it noted.
OG said: “We lose nothing by suspending expenditure on that project until the economy recovers”.
The National Cathedral was a personal promise made to God by then-presidential candidate Nana Akufo-Addo if he won the 2016 election.
Read OccupyGhana’s full statement below:
Our ref: OG/2022/054
OCCUPYGHANA PRESS STATEMENT
Accra, 7 December 2022
GHANA’S CURRENT ECONOMIC SITUATION – OUR FURTHER THOUGHTS AND PROPOSALS
OccupyGhana has noted, with considerable concern, the Finance Minister’s announcements on restructuring portfolio investments.
While IMF support depends on the proposed ‘haircuts,’ they are extremely painful to the many Ghanaians who have participated in these investments.
Simply, under this government’s watch, Ghana has become broke under circumstances that were avoidable and are inexcusable and unpardonable.
As we stated in our press release dated 28 October 2022 (Our ref: OG/2022/050) and titled GHANA’S CURRENT ECONOMIC SITUATION – OUR THOUGHTS AND PROPOSALS, the nation would not be in this situation but for the government’s failed, risky economic strategy that borrowed heavily from the international market to fund expenditure, pay maturing debt, support the cedi and possibly control the effect of the depreciation on inflation.
This risky strategy effectively relied on good fortune and extremely astute economic management, both of which failed.
Thus, although the government would seek to blame the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war for this disaster, it cannot evade or avoid the fact that our debt was unsustainable even before these external factors kicked in and compounded an already precarious situation.
TWO BROAD COMMENTS
We have two broad comments on the announcements that request Ghanaians to forego legitimately earned funds to help the government out of the disaster it has created.
First, we consider the finance minister’s announcements as nothing more than an offer from the government to institutional portfolio investors to accept new terms that vary the terms under which the latter acquired the government’s securities.
We think that the government has no power under the law and the Constitution to unilaterally impose fresh terms on portfolio investors; negotiation and the mutual consent of all parties will be required.
Second, notwithstanding the claims that individual investors are insulated from the proposed ‘haircuts,’ the millions of Ghanaians whose funds (pension or otherwise) have been invested by institutional fund managers in government securities, will be the ultimate losers in this new offer.
That is because those fund managers will simply pass the cuts on to their clients and customers.
There is simply no way to understate the terrible consequences that this state of affairs has caused and will cause to Ghanaians.
That is why we believe that any offer to the citizens, who are already hit with the multiple effects of inflation and cedi depreciation, to essentially bail the government out of its self-afflicted disaster, must come with an acceptance of failures and a firm commitment to do better.
TEN RECOMMENDATIONS
We, therefore, recommend 10 things that the government may act upon.
First, reduce the number of government appointees by at least fifty per cent.
This may be achieved by consolidating several ministries and slashing the number of political appointees (ministerial and otherwise), such as all deputies and the like, and entrusting public servant-technocrats with the responsibility of supporting substantive heads.
This will send a powerful message in these tough and painful times that the government is serious about its commitment to doing better while requesting sacrifices from the general public.
Second, let the president pay income taxes, too.
We should remove the tax exemption granted to the president under article 68(5) of the Constitution.
While the actual savings from this might not be much, it is hugely significant and relevantly symbolic.
The president must lead by example.
When he pays his taxes, then he can demand that the rest of us pay taxes too.
Third, it is time to rationalise the so-called ‘article 71 benefits.’
Ghana needs to end the three-decade-old grand conspiracy among the political class that milks Ghana under the false argument that article 71 authorises so-called ‘ex gratia payments.’
We must eradicate the multiple claims of ex gratia; the multiple claims over different administrative/government terms do not make sense and are difficult to sustain.
We must also immediately end the false scheme by which successive governments deliberately delay the setting up of the emoluments committee till the end of their terms, so that salaries and emoluments are agreed upon and calculated literally at the ‘midnight’ of the outgoing government, considered and adopted in secrecy to precious little debate, and then applied retrospectively.
Ghanaians only get to find out the huge pay-outs to the executive and legislators after the fact.
We demand that the committees are established at the start of each government so that we know what and how much the political actors are entitled to when they assume office.
The current government must establish the committees NOW.
Fourth, revise all tax exemptions, especially those granted to incomes and gains from portfolio investments.
The government must, as a matter of urgency, amend section 7(1)(p) to (v) of the Income Tax Act, 2015 (Act 896) to remove all or some of the exemptions on incomes and gains from portfolio investments.
These are not normal times, and we propose imposing a specific, time-bound withholding income tax regime on such earnings.
Ghana may consider re-granting the exemptions when we have recovered.
Fifth, intensify and institutionalise GRA’s invigilation activities.
In addition, the legal sanctions for under-reporting and tax evasion must be drastically applied.
Sixth, explain the source of funding of the proposed Financial Stability Fund (FSF).
Extreme transparency of the proposed programme and its implementation is required.
If the government is broke and requires an IMF bailout, where will the monies for the FSF come from?
Seventh, pursue the Auditor-General’s disallowances and surcharges.
The government must show some seriousness in pursuing those the Auditor-General has found to have caused loss to Ghana.
To the best of our knowledge, the government is doing nothing to enforce the Auditor-General’s disallowances and surcharges.
The president issued a terribly belated instruction to heads of institutions to provide to him the names of all persons identified to have caused losses to the state in the Auditor-General’s reports.
The president’s deadline has come and gone with no communication or indication on whether the names were indeed supplied to the president, and what the president is going to do with them.
Eighth, end galamsey.
The government has to address the galamsey menace as a matter of urgency, as our natural resources are plundered and the ecosystem destroyed.
The much-publicised Kumasi meetings do not appear to have borne fruit.
We have written to the president, at least, 9 times in the past six weeks, in addition to several other previous statements on this, challenging the government to properly regulate artisanal mining in a way that benefits the nation.
They have all been ignored.
Our current efforts will come to nothing if this canker is allowed to overcome any future economic recovery.
Ninth, slash all non-critical government expenditures. Implement a ruthless focus on prioritising government projects and expenditures, and ensure a strict relationship to GDP growth going forward.
And, the government must provide monthly reports on how much money all announced cost-saving measures have delivered.
We specifically recommend the suspension of all fees and allowances paid to persons appointed by the government to serve on various boards.
We also recommend suspending all expenditures on the proposed National Cathedral.
Whatever arguments there might have been to support spending now-non-existent money on the proposed National Cathedral, have been eroded by the dire straits that the nation faces.
Our current situation makes the continued commitment in the budget to spend GHS80M on the cathedral, look like a vanity project.
We lose nothing by suspending expenditure on that project until the economy recovers.
Tenth, rationalise the president’s flagship programmes.
This includes the Free SHS scheme.
Every Ghanaian who can pay fees should pay.
Limit the scheme to only those who can prove that they are not capable of paying fees.
In conclusion, a government that is pleading with Ghanaians to bail it out of a self-afflicted disaster, must ‘bear fruits worthy of repentance.’
The Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) has discounted claims that a liquid substance that was said to have leaked from one of its pipelines located in the Eastern region was diesel oil.
This comes after a viral video shared on social media showed residents living in the Atimpoku area siphoning the substance after the pipeline located at BOST’s ‘Maame Water’ depot was reportedly damaged.
BOST in a statement issued on December 18 however clarified that the reported liquid was a sludge consisting of water, dirt and fuel residue which was spilled following a pressure testing undertaken on a refurbished pipeline.
“The pipeline had been decommissioned from 2015 due to vandalism of the line by unknown assailants. This resulted in BOST resorting to the use of Bulk Road Vehicles, popularly known as tankers in the haulage of petroleum Products from the Tema to the Akosombo Depot for onward transmission using river badges to the Buipe Depot in northern Ghana.”
“Repair works on the pipeline commenced a year ago and was expected to be completed by the third quarter of the year 2022. Due to the impact of the construction of the Railway Line from Tema to Mpakadan in the Volta region, the line had to be re-routed which affected the completion time,” it explained.
BOST further noted that it commissioned the installation of a leak and intrusion detection system on the line for the safety and security of its operations after it was recommissioned.
“For a proper assessment of the degree of damage at the commencement of the repair works, water was pumped up the line to help with the full detection of all leakages for repairs.”
“After the repair works, the company carried out a pressure testing of the line to be sure all the leakages detected have been rectified. It is this pressure testing which resulted in the pushout of a sludge in the Maame Water area which is being reported in the media. The sludge is a combination of water, dirt and fuel residue formed in the pipeline which was pushed out in the pressure testing,” BOST explained.
It also emphasized that the tanks at the Maame Water depot have been empty over the last couple of years adding that BOST had not pumped products up the pipeline since the repair works are yet to be fully completed for a hand-over and recommissioning.
“The exposed content of the line due to the testing has been foamed by the BOST Team with support from the Ghana National Fire Service and works are underway to ensure a clean-up of the area of the spillage,” the statement added.
The company also assured that has been zero environmental impact as the spilled slop was contained within the drains in the area which happened to be choked.
“There was no spillage into the waterbodies around the area including the Volta Lake. The spills in the drains have been recovered with the support of the BOST team which has been on site since morning,” it noted.
The oil storage and transportation company however assured the public that the situation is under control adding that there are no financial cost implications of the said spillage since same was carried out to check the integrity of the repaired pipeline.
It was a successful year for Black businesswomen in the United States, as several saw their wealth significantly increase through new deals, acquisitions, and business expansion.
Emma Grede, for example, experienced a significant rise in her net worth. With a current fortune of $360 million, Grede derives her net worth from ventures such as Kim Kardashian’s shapewear brand Skims and size-inclusive fashion brand Good American, which she co-founded with Khloe Kardashian in 2016.
However, not all Black businesswomen in the United States had such fortunate this year. Some, like cosmetics billionaire Robyn “Rihanna” Fenty, saw their net worth drop due to rising interest rates, the uneven reopening of the pandemic, and market uncertainty caused by the war in Europe.
Despite these challenges, many Black businesswomen in the United States were able to achieve success and increase their wealth, showcasing their hard work, determination, and resilience.
It is important to recognize and celebrate these achievements, as they inspire and encourage other women of color to pursue their entrepreneurial goals.
According to data from Forbes, here is how these businesswomen rank.
1. Oprah Winfrey
Net worth: $2.5 billion
Source: Media
Oprah Winfrey, the talk show host turned media mogul, has a net worth of $2.5 billion, making her the wealthiest Black woman in America, according to Forbes.
Oprah has transformed her hit talk show, which aired for 25 years, into a media and business empire. To preserve and grow her fortune over time, the leading media mogul has reinvested profits from her show, as well as profits from films like “The Color Purple,” “Beloved,” and “Selma,” into key assets and entities in the media industry.
This year, Oprah faced some setbacks, including a decrease in her net worth from $2.6 billion at the start of the year.
Despite these challenges, Oprah’s media empire continues to thrive, thanks to her shrewd business acumen and her determination to succeed.
She recently earned $6.6 million from the sale of her Montecito estate in California, which she had purchased for $10.5 million just a year ago.
2. Robyn “Rihanna” Fenty
Net worth: $1.4 billion
Source: Music and Cosmetics
Robyn “Rihanna” Fenty is a successful musician and entrepreneur with a net worth of $1.4 billion. She is the second-richest Black woman in the United States. However, her net worth has declined by $300 million since the beginning of the year, going from $1.7 billion to $1.4 billion.
Fenty’s main source of wealth is her cosmetics company, Fenty Beauty, which she launched in collaboration with LVMH Mot Hennessy Louis Vuitton in 2017.
The company sells makeup and skincare products on Sephora shelves and online to more than 150 countries, and is expected to bring in over $550 million in revenue in 2020.
In addition to Fenty Beauty, Rihanna has recently filed two applications for Fenty Hair with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, indicating her plans to launch a haircare line under the Fenty brand.
The Fenty Hair collection will include a range of accessories such as hairbands, bows, clips, ribbons, scrunchies, wigs, curlers, pins, brushes, and combs, further expanding the Fenty brand’s presence in the fashion and cosmetics industries.
3. Sheila Johnson
Net worth: $780 million
Source: CableTV
Sheila Johnson is a successful American businesswoman and co-founder of the cable TV channel BET, or Black Entertainment Network.
According to Forbes, she is one of the richest Black women in the United States. Johnson was the first African-American woman to achieve a net worth of at least $1 billion, but her fortune has decreased to $780 million in recent years.
However, data from Forbes shows that her net worth has increased by more than $30 million in the current year, going from $750 million at the beginning of the year to $780 million as of now.
4. Janice Bryant Howroyd
Net worth: $630 million
Source: Workforce Solutions
Janice Bryant Howroyd is a leading businesswoman and one of the richest Black women in the world, with a net worth of $630 million. She founded ActOne in 1978 with just $1,500, including a $900 loan from her mother, and a fax machine and phone. Today, the agency has more than 17,000 clients and 2,600 employees in 19 countries.
In 2019, Howroyd released her second book, “Acting Up,” in which she shared her advice for conquering the business world. Her net worth has increased significantly from $285 million in 2020 to its present value of $630 million.
In addition to her successful agency, Howroyd also owns several dozen properties, including commercial rental properties and personal residences.
5. Beyonce Knowles
Net worth: $450 million
Source: Music, Fashion
Beyonce Knowles is a highly successful musician and one of the wealthiest women in the world, with a net worth of $450 million, according to Forbes.
In addition to her music career, Beyoncé has also had multiple clothing lines, including her activewear line, Ivy Park, which has a partnership with Adidas.
In November 2022, Beyonce received nine new Grammy nominations, bringing her lifetime total to 88 and tying the record for the most nominations in Grammy history. She shares this record with her husband, further solidifying her place as a dominant force in the music industry.
6. Emma Grede
Net worth: $360 million
Source: Fashion
Emma Grede is the founder and CEO of Good American, a premium apparel label in the United States that promotes a healthy body ideal with a full and inclusive size range.
She co-founded the company with Khloé Kardashian in 2016, and it has since become one of the most successful apparel launches in history, with sales reaching upwards of one million dollars on the first day.
Grede was raised in East London by a single mother and began working a paper route at the age of 12, saving her earnings to buy fashion magazines. She later founded fashion and entertainment marketing agency ITB Worldwide in 2008 and became the first Black woman to serve as an investor on the popular ABC series Shark Tank.
7. Serena Williams
Net worth: $260 million
Source: Tennis, Investments
Serena Williams, one of the most successful and wealthy Black women in America, has a net worth of $260 million. Williams is also widely regarded as one of the greatest female tennis players of all time, having earned over $94 million in career prize money.
However, Williams’ success extends beyond her achievements on the tennis court. She has also made smart investments through her firm, Serena Ventures, which has invested in over 60 startups.
In March 2022, Serena Ventures raised an initial fund of $111 million. Recently, Williams launched a new company called Will Perform as part of her efforts to enter the booming sports recovery industry. This industry includes both large and small-scale stakeholders, such as wellness centers, sports recovery spas, and gyms.
Since appearing on Forbes’ annual list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women in 2019, Williams’ net worth has increased by $20 million, from $240 million at the start of the year to $260 million at present.
According to Mr. Seth Terkper, a former finance minister, who was speaking to the media on Saturday as he arrived at the Accra Sports Stadium for the 10th National Delegates Congress of the National Democratic Congress, the announcement of the Staff-Level Agreement reached with the International Monetary Fund has helped the Cedi’s performance against the US dollar (NDC).
“The Government must expedite action on its domestic and external debt restructuring Programme to sustain the gains, he said.
The government announced Tuesday, December 13, 2022, that it had reached a Staff-Level Agreement on a three-year US$3 billion Extended Credit Facility (ECF), with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to support the country’s economic policies and reforms.
The agreement was reached after a visit by the IMF team led by Mr Stéphane Roudet, Mission Chief for Ghana, from December 1 to 13, 2022, to discuss with the Ghanaian authorities IMF support for their policy and reform plans.
The loan support programme is aimed at restoring Ghana’s macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability, protect the vulnerable, preserve financial stability, and lay the foundation for strong and inclusive recovery and growth.
However, the staff-level agreement is subject to IMF Management and Executive Board approval and receipt of the necessary financing assurances by Ghana’s partners and creditors.
The member of parliament for Builsa South, Dr. Clement Apaak, has requested that Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta be transparent about the exact cost of implementing the Free SHS policy.
He thus wants Mr Ofori-Atta to report to Ghanaians the same figure he gave to the IMF as the cost of the Free Senior High School policy.
Mr. Ofori-Atta has stated that FSHS policy and other social intervention policies of the government will not be affected by the Staff-Level Agreement agreed on with the International Monetary Fund.
Addressing the media in Accra on December 13, 2022, the Finance Minister indicated that various education programmes including the FSHS will not be cancelled as part of the IMF support programme.
The Minister further stated that the government will be embarking on a review of the FSHS for efficiency.
However, the Finance Minister has been accused of giving different figures regarding the actual amount spent on the flagship programme from 2017 to 2021.
In view of this, the Builsa South lawmaker is requesting Mr. Ofori-Atta to begin his so-called review by discussing the actual figures he mentioned to the IMF.
“Start the review by telling us what figure you (Ken Ofori-Atta) reported to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as cost of implementing Free Senior High School (FSHS) from 2017-2021.
“Is it the 7.62B you reported in the 2021 Mid-Year budget or the 5.3B he reported in the 2022 Mid-Year budget or both?” the MP queried in a tweet on December 14, 2022.
Different Figures Reported As Cost of Free SHS In 5 Years To Parliament And Matters Arising
As it is already known publicly, the NDC in Parliament has filed a motion, sponsored by Hon. Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka and 128 of us – to pass a vote of censure on the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta; in accordance with Article 82 of the 1992 constitution of the Republic of Ghana.
This historic motion, slated to be moved on Thursday, November 10th, 2022, is composed of seven specific charges levelled against Ken Ofori-Atta. Thus, the purpose of this article, is to provide a specific example of conduct by the Finance Minister which is deliberately dishonest and disrespectful to Parliament, for which sanctions, are justified. I will illuminate my case with figures Mr. Ofori-Atta presented to Parliament in 2021 and 2022 as total cost of funding Free SHS in five years, from 2017-2021. The difference between the cost in five years, reported as GH¢7.62 billion in the 2021 Mid-Year Review Budget and the reported cost for same period, GH¢5.3 billion in the 2022 Mid-Year Review Budget is GH¢2.32 billion. This is and remains problematic. I provide details below.
On Wednesday July 21, 2021, Ken Ofori-Atta, in response to a question as to whether government had taken a loan to fund the implementation of the Free SHS policy I asked, said the following in answer: “Mr Speaker, government has taken no loan to specifically finance the Free SHS policy. The Free SHS has since its inception been financed from the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) and from the Government of Ghana (GoG) funding sources. Over the five years, a total amount of GH¢7.62 billion has been allocated to implement the Free SHS programme. Out of this amount, GH¢4.18 billion was sourced from GoG, representing 54.76 percent, while the balance of GH¢ 3.44 billion representing 45.24 percent, came from ABFA.” This answer is captured in the Parliamentary Debates, Official Report, on Wednesday 21st July 2021, Fourth Series Vol.113 No.32, column 040-041.
A few days later, Ken Ofori-Atta presented the Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review of the 2021 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana, to Parliament on Thursday, 29th July, 2021. He repeated what he said in response to my Parliamentary question. In paragraph 284 on pages 49-50, he said: “Mr. Speaker, the Free SHS School Policy has since its inception been financed from the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) and Government of Ghana (GoG) funding sources. Over the five years, a total amount of GH¢7.62 billion has been allocated to implement the Free SHS Programme. Out of this amount, GH¢4.18 billion was sourced from GoG, representing 54.76 percent, while the balance of GH¢3.44 billion, representing 45.24 percent, came from ABFA.”
Given, that he repeated the response to my question in the Mid-Year Review Budget of 2021; that “GH¢7.62 billion had been spent to implement the Free SHS programme,” and a further breakdown of “GH¢4.18 billion (54.76%) from GOG sources and GH¢3.44 billion (45.24%) from ABFA,” it came as a shock that he strangely reported GH¢5.3 billion as the total investment made to implement the same Free SHS for the same period, from 2017-2021, in the 2022 Mid-Year Review Budget.
For the avoidance of doubt, Ken Ofori-Atta presented the Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review of the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana to Parliament on Monday, 25th July, 2022. In paragraph 466 on page 90 of the official statement, Ken Ofori-Atta is quoted as follows: “Mr. Speaker, we have invested in the future of our children through the Free SHS where GH¢5.3 billion has been spent to enable 1,261,495 student have access to secondary education.”
The suddenly less and unexplained cost of funding the Free SHS policy was also verbally stated by Ken Ofori-Atta, during his 2022 Mid-Year Budget Review Speech on Monday, 25th July, 2022. The video recording of his speech captures him vocalise the following, under Free SHS Programme. In paragraph 60 on page 17, Ken Ofori-Atta said: “Mr. Speaker, we have placed human capital development at the core of our national transformation efforts since 2017. We have invested GH¢5.3 billion to enable 1,261,495 Ghanaian children access secondary education under the Free SHS programme at the end of 2021 to improve access to education.”
This unexplained reporting of a far less cost of implementing the Free SHS programme in five years as captured in official Parliamentary records, and documents made available by Ken Ofori-Atta himself to Parliament, offends Parliament in every way, shape and form. How can the Minister report GH¢7.62 billion as the total cost of Free SHS in five years, provide a breakdown in nominal (GH¢4.18 billion GOG and GH¢3.44 billion ABFA) and in percentage terms (54.76% GOG and 45.24% ABFA) in reply to my question, repeat same in the 2021 Mid-Year Review Budget, suddenly, without explanation, report a generic GH¢5.3 billion as the cost incurred in implementing the same Free SHS programme in five years in the 2022 Mid-Year Review Budget Statement and as contained in his 2022 Mid-Year Budget Review speech?
Reporting vastly different figures of GH¢7.62 billion and GH¢5.3 billion as cost of the same programme, Free SHS, for the same period, 2017-2021, a difference of GH¢2.32 billion to Parliament, is questionable. If the earlier figures reported in 2021 were in error, the proper thing to do was to withdraw the GH¢7.62 billion reported, explain what occasioned the error, apologise and seek leave of Parliament to amend to the correct figure, since records of the house already captured GH¢7.62 billion a year earlier as cost of Free SHS in five years. This was not, and still has not been done. So, as it stands, Parliamentary records have both GH¢7.62 billion and GH¢5.3 billion as the cost of Free SHS from 2017 to 2021. This can not be allowed to go unchallenged.
Though I have filed questions to the Minister of Finance seeking an explanation to this questionable and contradictory reported cost of Free SHS in five years, it is necessary to share this specific example with Ghanaians to further justify why Ken Ofori-Atta must be censured. Like the other infractions we have presented as charges against Ken Ofori-Atta, it is certain that the different figures, GH¢7.62 billion and GH¢5.3 billion respectively, were deliberate, to deceive Parliament and to conceal the truth. This and other such deliberate dishonesty in reporting to the people through Parliament must attract the most severe sanctions. Indeed, Ken Must Go!
Dr. Clement Abas Apaak
M.P, Builsa South and Deputy Ranking Member On Education Committee of Parliament
As part of his effort to engage his stakeholders, Prof. Otchere Addai-Mensah, the acting CEO of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), made a courtesy visit to Hon. Sam Pyne, the head of the Kumasi Metro.
The visit was to enable him formally introduce himself as the new CEO of the sole tertiary health facility in the Ashanti Region.
In his remarks, Prof. Addai-Mensah said KATH occupies a unique position in the healthcare delivery system of the country as it is saddled with the burden of treating tertiary healthcare referral needs of about 13 regions in Ghana.
He said with such an arduous responsibility, the hospital will require the support and assistance of all stakeholders to enable it effectively meet the expectations of the public.
“Unlike the Greater Accra Region which can boast of several specialist and referral facilities like Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, the Police Hospital, the 37 Military Hospital and University of Ghana Medical Center among others, the same cannot be said of the Ashanti region.
“KATH as a sole tertiary facility serving virtually the same population as Greater Accra will, therefore, require the maximum assistance of all stakeholders including the KMA in order to enhance its capacity to meet the growing specialist healthcare needs of the 13 regions out of the 16regions in the country” he emphasized.
Hon. Sam Pyne expressed confidence in the ability of the new CEO to turn around the fortunes of the hospital. He said KATH was a highly sensitive institution, but he was hopeful that given the caliber of Prof. Addai-Mensah, the hospital will witness a turnaround during his tenure of office. He pledged the readiness of KMA to support the management of the hospital in its drive to improve the operations of the hospital.
Prof.Addai-Mensah was accompanied on the visit by some members of his management team.
The remarks made by President Akufo-Addo against the Wagner group in neighboring Burkina Faso will be investigated by parliament, according to Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu.
“I have information that our Ranking Member of Foreign Affairs, and members on the Foreign Affairs Committee will ask for details briefly to parliament on this reckless, irresponsible, unprofessional statement by the President of our Republic. If he cannot provide us with food, he should not let them bring guns on us as a country,” the Minority Leader said in an address at the NDC’s 10th Delegates Congress ongoing at the Accra Sports Stadium.
He further accused the President of creating foreign policy crisis for Ghana.
“He’s simply failed momentarily to have impulse control and to ensure balance between foreign policy and the security of our state when he openly condemned Burkina Faso and mentioned the Wagner group of Russia.
Burkina Faso summoned the Ghanaian ambassador on Friday morning for “explanations” after Ghana’s president alleged that Burkina Faso had hired the Russian mercenary group Wagner, Burkina Faso’s foreign ministry said.
Speaking to reporters alongside U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday, Akufo-Addo also alleged that Burkina Faso had offered Wagner a mine as payment.
In a statement issued after the meeting with the ambassador, Burkina Faso’s foreign ministry said it had “expressed disapproval” about the statements made by the Ghanaian president.
“Ghana could have undertaken exchanges with the Burkinabe authorities on the security issue in order to have the right information,” it said.
However, it did not confirm or deny the allegations. In a separate message to Reuters, the foreign ministry spokesperson said, without elaborating: “In any case, Burkina has not called on Wagner”.
Burkina Faso also recalled its ambassador from Ghana for a meeting, the spokesperson said.
Burkinabe authorities have not commented publicly on whether or not they are working with Wagner, a mercenary group that was hired in neighbouring Mali to help fight Islamist militants.
Meanwhile, Security Analyst, Adib Saani has questioned the propriety of the comments made by Ghana’s Leader, Akufo-Addo on the Wagner Group.
Commenting on the fallout from the development, Adib Saani said since independence, Ghana has maintained a non-aligned posture in the global political chess games between the East and the West thus “Our decision not to take sides has helped us gain respect and favor from both sides of the divide.”
He opined “But it’s absolutely demeaning for the President, flanked by his ministers, to sit infront of a Secretary of State to report on Wagner, a group that has not in any way neither threatened to invade Ghana, nor has it done anything that poses any threat to the security of Ghana.”
Saani who is also Head of the Jatikay Centre for Human Security and Peace Building maintained that Burkina Faso is a sovereign country and can decide to call on whoever to help it fight any threat to their nation.
“When Ghana hosted the Americans through the defence cooperation agreement, no country in the sub-region complained. So why does our President make such a mockery of us by going to report on an issue that has nothing to do with us hence, bring us international disrepute,” he questioned.
Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, a candidate for the General Secretary position of the National Democratic has disclosed that he has received congratulatory message from Dr Peter Boamah Otokunor.
Fifi Kwetey in a social media post said that he received a call from Dr Otokunor who wished him well in his new position.
The former Ketu South MP acknowledged the gesture from Dr Otokunor and indicated his readiness to work with him.
“Peter Boamah Otokunor called me a few minutes ago to congratulate me. Very gracious of him. I had earlier told him yesterday that I was proud of his competitive campaigning and I repeated the same this morning. I reassured him of my complete readiness to work closely with him to make our party greater and stronger.”
Though the results are yet to be declared officially by the Electoral Commission, Fifi Kwetey is believed to have won all sixteen regions of the country.
It is expected that Fifi Kwetey will be declared the winner, beating off competition from Dr Otokunor and Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah.
However, he said, the government must provide facts and figures to support the emerging trends in order to assist people make informed decisions.
“The signs are looking good but let us support it with fact,” he told journalists at the Accra Sports Stadium where the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is having its delegates conference on Saturday December 17.
He further told the government to accept blame when things are not going well with the economy and not just blame them on global factors.
“When it so going bad it is global situation but when it is going well it is the government,” he said.
His comments come on the back of positive signs seen with the strength of the Cedi against the Dollar.
The local currency has over the past few days, especially since the start of December 2022, been gaining strength against the major trading currencies particularly, the Dollar.
Per the Bank of Ghana (BoG) rate, the Cedi, as of Thursday December 15, was buying at GHS7.9975 to a Dollar and and selling at GHS8.0056 to a Dollar.
The Ghana Mine Workers’ Union (GWMU) has stated that for the sake of the nation, the government must enhance its stake in the mining sector and forcibly renegotiate current and upcoming contracts.
That, the Union said would help the country to retain greater value of the industry for the benefit of the country and its citizens.
The General Secretary of the GMWU of Trades Union Congress Ghana, Abdul-Moomin, made the call at the two-day National Executive Committee Meeting held in Accra and ended on Friday, expressed worry about the foreign domination of the mining sector and the paltry value the country retains from the sector.
“After over 100 years of mining, Ghana’s mining industry continues to be dominated and controlled by foreign interest with over 99 percent of mining companies being foreign, owning 90 percent of the shares with government left with a paltry 10 percent carrying interest. Without a doubt, the Government of Ghana has since the 80s shied away from the mining sector instead of confronting this sorry narrative of our over-dependence and reliance on a foreign-dominated sector,” he said.
He said after the Structural Adjustment Programme in the 1980s, the government left the mining sector in the control of foreign companies.
Mr Gbana said with the lessons the country had learnt over the years after extricating itself from mining, the government could enter into mining to improve its stake in the sector.
“I believe in running our own mines and/or increasing our stake in these mining companies by forcefully renegotiating existing contracts as well as future contracts in order to create and retain greater value for the citizens of this country,” he said.
Mr Gbana observed that the government over the years had chosen the ‘lazy man’s’ approach of over-relying on a “tax-royalty” fiscal regime, where the only source of its revenue depended on revenue generated from mining companies/activities in the country through taxes and royalties levied on revenue generated from production.
“In fact, on dividend payment, the least said about it the better as the so-called 10 percent government carrying interests only exists on the books as many of these companies scarcely declared any dividends and in a few instances where some do, government’s share has been a minute fraction.
Considering the generous fiscal giveaways (including excessive repatriation of mining revenues by multinational businesses, signing of stability and development agreements, which continues to deny Ghana its fair share of revenue under this so-called tax-royalty fiscal regime, we believe that the time has come for this narrative to change and ought to change quite swiftly, “ he stated.
The GMWU Secretary General added “To change however would require a change in the ownership structure of mineral assets thereby shifting from the aged-long comfort zone of over-dependence and reliance on a tax-royalty regime to active participation and control of production by negotiating/renegotiating a much greater stake in these mining companies in order to create and retain the needed value for the people of Ghana.”
The General Secretary of the Socialist Movement of Ghana (SMG), Kwesi Pratt, Jnr, who was the guest speaker, said it was worrying that Ghana, the sixth largest gold producer in the world was wallowing in.
The political atmosphere in the largest opposition party in Ghana, the National Democratic Congress, is charged as the party is set to hold its national executive elections.
The race for the party’s National Chairman position, which is being contested by the current National Chairman, Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, and outgoing General Secretary, Asiedu Nketiah, has become particularly tense, with leading members of the party declaring their support for their preferred candidates.
The 3rd National Vice Chairman of the party, Alhaji Said Sinare, is one of the people who has declared his support for Ofosu-Ampofo.
This is after Alhaji Sinare abandoned his chairmanship ambitions.
In a viral video sighted by GhanaWeb, Alhaji Sinare could be seen leading a group of NDC supporters to sing songs of praises of Ofosu Ampofo.
“Winner eh he hee winner, winner eh he hee winner, Ampofo ego win ooo, winner. Ampofo ego winner again oo, winner.
“The boys are zuzu, the girls are zaza, NDC is good for evermore more,” the group is heard chanting.
The party’s national elections are slated for Saturday, December 17, 2022.
Candidates will be contesting for various positions, including the National Chairman, National Vice-Chairmen, General Secretary, Deputy General Secretary, National Organiser, Deputy National Organiser, and the National Treasurer and Deputy National Treasurer.
Others are the National Communications Officer and Deputy, as well as the National Zongo Caucus Coordinator.
The current National Chairman of the party, Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, is expected to face stiff competition from the outgoing General Secretary of the party, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, for the chairmanship position.
Director of Legal Affairs for the New Patriotic Party, Gary Nimako, has called on former president John Dramani Mahama to, as a matter of urgency, render an apology to Ghanaians on the 2020 election petition.
The outspoken lawyer asserts that the former presidential candidate for the NDC’s 2020 general election wasted state resources on an election petition without facts.
Gary Nimako added that Mahama and the NDC caucus knew they had no evidence but accused the court of being biased against them during the election petition.
“Post-election case, there have been comments here and there that the judges have been biased against them. When, indeed, you know from day one that you have no evidence at all.
“With this revelation having come out to the public domain, I think Ghanaians deserve an apology from the NDC. Especially from former President Mahama to apologise to Ghanaians and the court because if they knew from day one that in fact, they had no evidence at all…Yet they managed to go to court with the hope that they could get Jean Mensa to mount the witness box and cross-examine her.
“They really misled Ghanaians and their supporters, and the way they treated the court. They have to eat the humble pie and apologise,” he told Ernest Kojo Manu on Joy FM’s Top Story on Wednesday.
Lawyer Nimako’s demand follows a leaked tape in which the general secretary of the party, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, revealed that the party did not have enough evidence to contest the 2020 general election results.
In the said tape, Asiedu Nketiah is heard telling party supporters why the director of IT failed to electronically compile the documentation the party required to challenge the results of the presidential election.
The NDC filed an election petition after the 2020 general election accusing the Electoral Commission of stealing the election results for the NPP.
They alleged that NPP won the polls through vote padding, arithmetic and computational errors.
However, the Supreme Court gave the final verdict in favour of President Akufo-Addo and ruled that the NDC had no basis for the petition.
The current National Organizer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the opposition party, Joshua Akamba, has urged party delegates to support national executives who are running for re-election.
According to him, the election of George Opare Addo and Dr. Hannah Bissiw as National Youth Organiser and National Women Organiser, respectively, are indications that the delegates appreciate the work done by the current executives prior to the 2020 general elections.
Joshua Akamba explained that his sterling performance as the National Organizer has helped the NDC attain equal seats in parliament with the majority, the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
He added that with his help, the party has been able to shore up the electoral deficit in the country.
This, he added, was also because he personally bought pickup trucks for regional organizers of the party, as well as lobbying for motorcycles for all 275 constituency organisers to enable them to campaign for the party.
Speaking in an interview with Kumasi-based Oyerepa TV, Joshua Akamba said that a vote against him would be an injustice to the party.
“The delegates won’t make that mistake.
“The delegates are discerning, and they believe in experience. Now, Opare Addo has won. Hanna Bissiw has won. Elorm, who is an old person, has won, so it should tell you that people want us to win power for us to salvage this country, and they won’t make the mistake of changing us.
“The delegates know that the strategies of the party gave us equal numbers in parliament. The devil you know is better than the angel you don’t know. That is exactly what I am telling the people—that I am the devil they know and I am better than the angel they don’t know,” he told host Kwesi Parker-Wilson of the Oyerepa Breakfast Show.
Joshua Akamba further stated that the work of a national organizer is not on Facebook or WhatsApp, arguing that his contenders who have taken their campaign and work to social media lack appreciation for the work they are vying for.
He assured the delegates that he would continue to work assiduously to ensure victory for the party in 2024.
The government has been asked to establish agricultural laboratories in rural areas so that smallholder farmers can access services for soil testing.
Professor Osei-Agyeman Yeboah, Lecturer at the North Carolina Agriculture and Technical University, who made the call, said the move would help improve farming and smallholder farmers’ access to recommendations on the best crops for their soil and the best local fertilizer recipes for good harvests.
He gave the advice during USDA-NIFA Projects outreach event for farmers at Sanpebga in the Kumbungu District to showcase the best technologies to increase productivity, food security, and nutritional health benefits in the Northern Region.
It was organized by CSIR-Savanna Agricultural Research Institute and supported by North Carolina Agriculture and Technical University and the University of Maryland East Shore.
It was on feed harvesting, silage preparation, good livestock husbandry practices, commentary feeding, crop residue management, and compost preparation, and was conducted at the farm level to create awareness of integrated soil fertility management strategies, compost preparation, farm residue recycling, intercropping and improved varieties.
Professor Yeboah, who is also the Project Leader for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Project, said, “Soil is a critical part of thriving agriculture, which provides the necessary nutrients for crop growth. However, not all soils are suitable for growing crops.”
He said regular soil testing could help improve soil health, which was typically inaccessible and too expensive for smallholder farmers.
He stated that mostly the small farmers had limited access to correct information to remedy deficiencies leading to incorrect or insufficient agro-input use that adversely affected soil health, productivity, and local ecosystems.
To address littering and other related sanitation issues in the city, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has started the “Street Sweepers” initiative.
The initiative which is being supported by sports betting company BetPawa and headline sponsor of the Ghana Premier League would see the deployment of 200 personnel to sweep four major ceremonial streets namely; John Evans Atta Mills High Street, Asafoatse Nettey Road, Kinbu Gardens through Octagon to Kinbu Gardens, and Circle to Kaneshie 1st Light.
The sweepers who will be working in two shifts of 12 hours, from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. each day would be supported by officers of the Public Health Department of AMA to enforce the sanitation bye-laws.
Speaking at the launch at the forecourt of the AMA on Wednesday, December 14, the Chief Executive of AMA, Elizabeth Sackey, said the initiative was not a duplication of “Operation Clean Your Frontage” which was launched by the Regional Minister, Henry Quartey, in June 2020 to encourage people to take responsibility for keeping their properties clean, especially their frontages but to complement it.
She assured that the sweepers would be motivated whilst calling on all stakeholders especially the hawkers and traders to police their immediate environs to support this exercise.
She disclosed that the City of Accra generates over 1,800 tonnes of waste daily, adding that to address the problem, over 300 sanitary offenders had been successfully prosecuted from January to date.
“The City of Accra alone generates waste of over 1,800 tonnes daily, the highest in the country so far. Unfortunately, most of these wastes are not properly disposed of thereby creating serious health issues for the citizens… To address this, over 300 sanitary offenders, from January to date, have been successfully prosecuted and heavy fines placed on them to serve as a deterrent to others, ” she said.
She said plans were far advanced to establish a sanitation court within the AMA’s jurisdiction to deal with issues of sanitation and related offences.
She also noted that the Assembly was undertaking other initiatives to improve sanitation within the city citing a Source Separation and Compost Project aimed at diverting 50 per cent of municipal solid waste from the landfill in line with the Accra Climate Action Plan, a Zero Waste Street Project, distribution of special poly bags to street hawkers and traders to control littering within the Central Business District (CBD) among others.
“In the coming year some of the informal waste workers and migrants will be enrolled on to the NHIS and provided with protective clothing under the Assembly’s collaboration with the Mayor’s Migration Council,” she said.
She also used the opportunity to call on stakeholders to come on board to scale up the initiative and urged other sister Assemblies to join hands with AMA to make Greater Accra the cleanest in Africa as envisioned by His Excellency the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo.
Head of PR and Sponsorship at betPawa, Nii Armah Ashong-Katai, noted that their collaboration with AMA was to achieve the company’s mission of empowering people by providing opportunities to change their lives.
“There is no simpler or more powerful way to change millions of lives for the better than by improving sanitation,” he said.
BetPawa contributed 200 coats, 100 raincoats, and 100 waste bins to the launch of Sweepers on the Street.
Present at the launch were representatives of religious bodies, the Ghana Tourism Authority, the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, security agencies, Heads of Department and Staff of AMA, Market queen mothers, and a team from the South Korean Environment Ministry.
On December 19, the son of Chinese galamsey kingpin En Huang, Aisha Huang, will make his second appearance in court.
The Criminal Division of the Accra High Court had remanded Huang Lei, the son of Aisha Huang, to the Nsawam Medium security prison.
He is standing trial together with another Chinese national, Huang Haihua for remaining in Ghana after the expiration of permits, possession of ammunition without lawful authority and possession of forged official documents.
Their lawyer Frank Kumakoh, had accused the prosecution of levelling charges unsustainable by the facts available.
He said he will be presenting a formal bail application before the Court for consideration.
Counsel also informed the court that the accused persons would change their plea on the immigration charges at the next sitting.
But the prosecution led by Hilda Craig on their first appearance on November 24, prayed the Court to commit the accused persons to the Nsawam Medium security prison while the case proceeded.
Justice Lydia Osei Marfo upon hearing the arguments remanded Huang Lei and Huang Haihua into the Nsawam prisons.
The Court also directed the Ghana Prison service to produce the accused persons to the Court on the appointed dates for their trial.
The court also ordered both the prosecution and defence to file all relevant documents for the trial.
The case which was originally adjourned to December 13, 2022, for case management has now been deferred to December 19.
Two persons have been shot to death while many others have suffered injuries of varying degrees following a confrontation between certain members of the Dzekle Royal Family and the stool father of the Battor Traditional region in the North Tongu District.
The shooting incident happened after the destoolment of the paramount chief of the Battor Traditional area.
The Paramount Chief of the Battor Traditional Area in the Volta Region, Togbe Patamia Dzekley VII, was destooled on November 27, 2022, by the stool father, Zikpitor Korsi Hottor, after it was alleged that the paramount chief had breached customs and traditions of the Battor Traditional Area.
But during a gathering to process for the firing of musketry in the Battor township ahead of a festival, supporters of the destooled paramount chief clashed with some supporters of the stool father resulting in two deaths and several persons being injured.
A resident, Charles Hottor, speaking to Citi News said the police must beef up security in Battor.
“If the police were on the street of Battor, I don’t think that lives would have been lost. They would have calmed them. They would have actually stopped people from shooting and killing each other.”
Captain Smart of Onua TV literally sacked former Member of Parliament for Kumbugu, Ras Mubarak from his show after nearly two minutes of a verbal altercation.
A video of the incident making rounds on social media captures Ras Mubarak complaining to Captain Smart over what he deemed to be noise and interference from a makeup artist in the studio.
Ras Mubarak sought to bring Captain Smart’s attention to what he estimated to be snide remarks from the lady in question expecting that she will be silenced to allow him make his point.
Interestingly, however, Captain Smart objected to Ras Mubarak’s call, questioning why he will pay attention to the staff instead of focusing on the show.
Ras Mubarak clarified that the said negative comments from the lady were putting him off balance and affecting his flow of thought.
Captain Smart, instead slammed Ras Mubarak for not ‘respecting’ the seat he occupied. According to Captain Smart, if Ras Mubarak respected the program, he would have ignored the lady’s remark and continued with his submission.
Dismayed by Captain Smart’s angry posture, Ras Mubarak then continued his protest of the state of affairs and insisted something be done about the lady’s conduct.
Captain Smart, at a point appeared to have yelled, at him and questioned why he was still in the seat if he was unhappy with the attitude of the lady.
The exchanges continued and Captain Smart eventually ordered Ras Mubarak to leave the set and called for a break.
The police have reportedly detained a 21-year-old woman who is accused of dumping her three-month-old infant at Beahu in the Ahanta West Municipality of the Western Region.
Ama Tawiah allegedly abandoned the three months old baby boy on a footpath near a bush in the farming community of Beahu about two days ago.
It was gathered that the mother, who does not hail from the farming community after committing the alleged crime boarded a car and left the area.
According to sources, later in the same day, some women who were going to the bush to look for some firewood found the baby wrapped in a cloth crying in the scorching sun, and quickly went and rescued him.
The case was subsequently reported to the police and the little baby was later handed over to the Department of Social Welfare.
The Social Welfare Department made announcements at some radio stations about the baby and the need for the mother to report to the outfit.
According to reports, the 21-year-old Ama Tawiah later reported herself and wanted to claim her baby.
DGN learned that the woman confessed to abandoning the baby and explained that it was because the father refused to accept the pregnancy and her inability to take care of the baby.
She has been detained by the police as investigation to determine whether Ama Tawiah is truly the mother of the baby commences.
AU Farouk, a representative of the main opposition NDC from the Northern Region, has passed on.
The popular serial caller to most radio and television morning shows across the country is said to have collapsed at the University of Ghana where most delegates have been lodging for the Congress.
His mortal remains have since been taken back to Tamale for burial.
NDC’s 10th National Congress
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) will today, Saturday, December 17, 2022 elect national executives for the party.
The party is moving at least 9,000 delegates to the Accra Sports Stadium from various constituencies to partake in the congress.
The key race to watch in the NDC polls is the national chairmanship position between the incumbent Chair, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, the incumbent General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, and former Member of Parliament, Nii Armah Ashiety, and Samuel Yaw Adusei.
Incumbent Chairman, Ofosu Ampofo will be facing a formidable challenge from General Secretary, Asiedu Nketiah in a high-stakes election. The two frontrunners are poised to put forth a fierce battle to secure a win after working hard for the party.
Meanwhile, an amount of GH₵1,083,000 was generated through the party’s fundraising appeal to finance the 10th national congress scheduled for today December 17, 2022 at the Accra Sports Stadium.
Below is the list of candidates vying for various positions:
CHAIRMAN
SAMUEL YAW ADUSEI
JOHNSON ASEIDU NKETIA
SAMUEL OFOSU AMPOFO
NII ARMAH ASHIETEY
ELVIS AFRIYIE ANKRAH
FIFI FIAVI KWETEY
DR. PETER BOAMAH OTOKUNOR
DEPUTY GENERAL SECRETARY
FRANCIS LANME GURIBE
CATHERINE DEYNU
BARBARA SERWAA ASAMOAH
GBANDE FOYO MUSTAPHA
KWAME ZU
BRADI PAUL OPATA
EVANS AMOO
NATIONAL ORGANIZER
JOSHUA HAMIDU AKAMBA
HENRY OSEI AKOTO
MAHDI MOHAMMED GIBRILL
SIDII ABUBAKARI
SOLOMON YAW NKANSAH
CHIEF HAMILTON BINEY NIXON
JOSEPH YAMMIN
DEPUTY NATIONAL ORGANIZER
KOBBY BARLON
HABIB MOHAMMED TAHIRU
ELIKEM ERIC KEVIN KWAME KOTOKO
ALHAJI YAW KUNDOW
COMMUNICATION OFFICER
SAMMY GYAMFI
DEPUTY COMMUNICATION OFFICER
GODWIN AKO GUNN
ADONGO ATULE JACOB
MALIK BASINTALE
KWAKU BOAHEN ANTHONY
MOHAMMED NAZIRU
ZONGO CAUCUS CO-ORDINATOR-
ABASS ZULKARNAIN KAMBARI
HON. ALHAJI BABANLAMIE ABU SADAT
MAMAH MOHAMMED COLE YOUNGER
ABDUL-AZIZ MOHAMMED
YAKUBU MAHMUD MUDI
NEC MEMBERS
EPHRAIM NII TAN SACKEY
PEREZ FERNANDEZ ARMAH LARYEA
ISSAHAKU ISSAH ADEL
REV. IRENE SENA AGBLEKE
ABDULLAH FARRAKHAN ISHAQ
MALIK ADAMA
VICTORIA KUMA-MINTAH
EMMANUEL EWOENAM YAO ADZOME-DZOKANDA
CECILIA N. ASAGA
EBENEZER EFFAH HACKMAN
NAJAWA ALHAJI ISSAH
STEPHEN LADZEDO
ANITA ANNAN
RANSFORD CHATMAN VANNI-AMOAH
THOMAS AYISI KUMAH
WONDER VICTOR KUTOR
MOHAMMED MAMUDU
ARABA TAGOE
FAMOUS KWESI KUADUGAH
