The police have arrested two suspected armed robbers and shot dead another on Thursday (13 October) at Asuofua Asamang in the Ashanti Region.
The deceased, who was later identified as Issaka Muniru was shot when he attempted to fire at the police in an operation. He was rushed to the hospital for treatment, but was pronounced dead on arrival.
The police also succeeded in arresting two of his accomplices, Kwaku Boateng alias Form Noede and Kojo Gyamfi.
“The two are currently in police custody and will be put before the court to face justice,” an official statement said.
The police retrieved a pistol, which was allegedly used to fire at the officers, and 13 rounds of live ammunition.
The deceased, Issaka Muniru and his robbery syndicate have been involved in a series of robberies within the Kumasi metropolis and its environs for years, the police said.
Brush with the law
Before his demise, Issaka Muniru was standing trial with three other accomplices Ernest Agyei Badu alias gangster, Rider, and MBY at the Nkawie Circuit Court for robbing one Pastor Emmanuel Barfour Awuah of Abuakwa Abakomadi at gun point on 26 May 2021, and making away with his two gold wrist watches, mobile phones and an unspecified amount of money.
Police say the deceased was granted bail by the court but he jumped the bail and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest. His accomplices are still attending trial at the court.
“In another robbery where Issaka Muniru, now deceased, was named as the gang leader, three other members of his gang, Charles Kojo Fosu, Yaw Anim and Paul Osafo were arrested by the police but he managed to escape. The three suspects have since been remanded into prison custody,” said the statement.
Meanwhile, the statement commended the Ashanti regional police command, particularly, personnel of the regional intelligence and operations teams who conducted the operation.
“We would like to assure the public that we will continue to carry out our constitutional mandate of protecting life and property and maintaining law and order even at the peril of our lives,” the statement added.
Kwasi Kwarteng has written to the Prime Minister of the UK, Liz Truss, indicating that he has accepted her decision to sack him.
The outgoing Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom was at post for only six (6) weeks, making him only second in the history of the country to have served this briefly in the office.
In an earlier report by the BBC, it said that Kwasi Kwarteng’s sacking was influenced from a mini-budget he presented that has since sparked financial turmoil and revolt from Conservative Members of Parliament.
In a response to the news, the British-born Ghanaian politician said that even before taking up the job, he knew he could not tow the lines of those before him, thereby the need to adopt more drastic approaches.
Accepting the decision, he added that he knew the country’s fight against its current difficult economic challenges would be a tough one.
“You have asked me to stand aside as your Chancellor. I have accepted.
“When you asked me to serve as your Chancellor, I did so in full knowledge that the situation we faced was incredibly difficult, with rising global interest rates and energy prices. However, your vision of optimism, growth and change was right.
“As I have said many times in the past weeks, following the status quo was simply not an option,” he wrote in a statement.
Kwasi Kwarteng also explained that while the challenges exist, he is optimistic in the vision of the Prime Minister, knowing too from many years of friendship with her that she is making the right decision.
“For too long this country has been dogged by low growth rates and high taxation – that must still change if this country is to succeed.
“The economic environment has changed rapidly since we set out the Growth Plan on September 23. In response, together with the Bank of England and excellent officials at the Treasury we have responded to those events, and I commend my officials for their dedication.
“It is important now as we move forward to emphasise your government’s commitment to fiscal discipline. The Medium-Term Fiscal Plan is crucial to this end, and I look forward to supporting you and my successor to achieve that from the backbenches.
“We have been colleagues and friends for many years. In that time, I have seen your dedication and determination. I believe your vision is the right one. It has been an honour to serve as your first Chancellor,” he wrote.
Kwasi Kwarteng’s six-week tenure as the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the UK has been dogged with a few major incidences, including the British press calling him out for smiling during the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
Kwasi Kwarteng became the first black person to become UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance Minister) following his appointment by UK Prime Minister, Liz Truss, on September 6, 2022.
Kwarteng was born Akwasi Addo Alfred Kwarteng in Waltham Forest, East London, in May 1975 to Ghanaian parents, Alfred and Charlotte, who had both immigrated to the United Kingdom a decade earlier as students.
His parents, who went on to become an international economist and a barrister respectively, sent him to an expensive private prep school that produced numerous Cabinet-level politicians. He then attended the famous Eton college – a production line for British leaders including Boris Johnson and David Cameron.
Henceforth, any Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executive in whose jurisdiction acts of environmental degradation are recorded will be sanctioned, Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr Henry Kwabena Kokofu, has warned.
Noting that Ghana was deteriorating into the worst state of environmental destruction, Dr Kokofu said the time to crack the whip on environmental offenders is now.
Citing the recent floods and filths that engulfed some parts of the country, he stressed that stringent measures would be taken to punish offenders, irrespective of their position in government in accordance with the law.
Mr Kokofu who was speaking at a stakeholder engagement with Metropolitan, Municipal and Districts Assemblies (MMDAs) in Accra yesterday said it was the responsibility of state institutions to rather fish out persons guilty of committing environmental offences instead of looking on for the deterioration to continue.
He stated that the local government Act 2016 (Act936) placed a huge responsibility on the MMDAs to be responsible for the development, improvement and management of human settlement and the environment in the districts.
Explaining he said, section four of the Act also mandated the district assemblies to take the steps and measures that were necessary and expedient to execute approved development plans for their various districts.
Touching on the construction of edifices on waterways, the CEO stated that in the event of floods caused by the presence of such buildings, vulnerable people suffered alone when demolition exercises are carried out leaving authorities at the district assemblies who issued such permits to go scot free.
This, he said, was unfair, stressing that all persons responsible for playing roles which ended up resulting in any form of disaster must be made to face the law.
Mr Kokofu urged authorities of all district assemblies across the country to take environmental issues seriously by ensuring they went strictly according to the laws governing their operations.
“We must remind ourselves of our statutory roles to ensure that the environment in which we live is protected and preserved in order to sustain it,” he stressed.
Director in charge of environmental assessment and management, EPA, Mr Kwabena Badu-Yeboah, in his presentation indicated that the seeming lack of land use plans and development control, re-zoning issues, springing up of noise making within communities, development within wet lands and mangrove areas and the indiscriminate siting of activities like waste recycling in residential areas were all issues that affected the environment.
Touching on the negative impact of noise making, he charged residents of noisy areas to take persons and organisations responsible for the noise making, to court, including churches.
“There must be discipline and tranquility wherever human beings are but it seems impossible for this to happen within some communities in Ghana so I encourage residents to report noise makers to the relevant authorities. Sanity must be restored in the system,” he added.
He indicated that the EPA identified MMDAs as key stakeholders when it comes to sustainable development.
Former President John Dramani Mahama is in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, for the 10th Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa.
He was received at the Bahur Dar airport by the President of Amhara Region, Dr yilkal kefal Amhara and officials of the Tana Secretariat.
The three-day Forum is on the theme “Managing security threats: building resilience for the Africa we want”.
The former Ghanaian leader is the Chairperson of the Tana Forum and will present a report on the State of Peace and Security in Africa for 2021.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is expected to officially open the Forum, with the President of Sudan, the Vice President of Uganda, a number of former presidents and prime ministers and officials of the African Union in attendance.
Over one hundred participants are attending the Forum in person, with others joining the virtual session.
In a message to participants, President Mahama said the world is experiencing a host of challenges, adding that, “our continent, Africa, and the world must address ongoing socioeconomic, political, and security challenges head-on.”
“The African continent is mired by unconstitutional changes of government, intra-state conflict, and terrorism that continue to punctuate our peace and security spheres. Our continent has witnessed six ‘successful’ coups, and two attempted coups in the last two years alone. Authoritarian entrenchment seems almost a hallmark not only in Africa but around the globe”, he added.
The Tana Forum is an initiative in response to the African Union’s Tripoli Declaration of August 2009 for “African-led solutions” and to peace and security as a collective “intellectual challenge”.
The annual Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa was initiated by the Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS) of the Addis Ababa University (AAU) and the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. The Forum brings African leaders, decision-makers, and stakeholders to engage and explore African-led security solutions.
Members of the Tana Board are H.E. Hailemariam Desalegn, former Prime Minister of Ethiopia, H.E. Dr. Joyce Banda, former President, Republic of Malawi, H.E. Catherine Samba-Panza, former President, Central African Republic Central African Republic, and H.E. Michelle Ndiaye, Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission.
The others are Amb. Lakhdar Brahimi, former Algerian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Lassina Zerbo, Executive Secretary, Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), Amb. Soad M. Shalaby, Director-General, Egyptian African Centre for Women (EACW), Mr. Alain Foka, Journalist, Radio France International, France and Professor Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba, Former Director and Chief Executive Officer, Kenya School of Laws.
Pollster, Ben Ephson says the opposition National Democratic Congress’ Chairman Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo and current General Secretary Asiedu Nketia are both lacing their boots to lead the NDC as flagbearer in the 2028 election.
According to him, he has picked intelligence that the NDC will want an Akan to lead the party in 2028 hence Aseidu Nketia’s move to contest Ofosu-Ampofo for the chairmanship.
“If you are chairman at least you will put in place structures towards 2028 because post-2024, you will be in charge having conducted primaries for potential delegates. And as chairman who have worked within the party at the highest levels, National Executive positions, they will know the way about people they have nurtured along the line to control triggers, which will ensure that people who will support them are in positions to be able to help them,” he explained on Morning Starr with Francis Abban Friday.
He continued: “If it has not happened doesn’t mean that it cannot happen. When I heard the Intel I kept it in my pocket and for Asiedu to step up means a lot. Because normally you will see Asiedu will want to stay where he is and help the candidate most likely John Mahama or if Duffuor wins.”
Meanwhile, the General Secretary for the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia has officially declared his candidature for the chairmanship position of the NDC.
“Yes I have the intention of picking up a form to contest the chairmanship position when nominations are opened,” the NDC scribe told Accra Fm Thursday, 13th October 2022.
According to him, he best fits the position as he’s gained vast experience as a politician to occupy the chairmanship position of the largest opposition NDC.
“I participated in the struggle against the military dictatorship in this country, after which I came to Parliament. I was there for 12 years and chaired several committees.”
“I tasted executive positions by being the Deputy Minister in charge of Agriculture. I have served as Board Chairman, among others.”
“I am confident that with my experience I will be a good leader and example to my party,” he added
The Municipal Education Director of Effia Kwesimintsim Municipality, Mrs Kate Biney says very stringent measures will be ensured to prevent cheating in the upcoming Basic Education Certificate Examination (B.E.C.E) that is billed to start on Monday , October 17, 2022.
Speaking on Takoradi-based flagship morning programme Y3nsom with host Kwame Malcolm, on preparedness of the candidates ahead of the examination, the Municipal Education Director hinted of thorough search on the candidates.
” …West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) has given the needed orientation for supervisors and made it clear what is expected of them. The teachers themselves do not go to the examination centre, then you leave the children to go to the centre and then searched. This time we are going to do thorough searching so if you hear we are frisking their armpits etcetera understand; as males will search males and females attend to females. Due to what happened during WASSCE, WAEC has information on how candidates hide the foreign material as now it is not as open as in their shoes. They now hide it in their panties as menstrual pads, in between their belts, even they wear double nose mask and hide it in between ;under their neck collars and our muslim colleagues, thier hijabs will be searched;” she emphasised.
Mrs Kate Biney said that they will be searched to their pants.
“We will search their pants and the women invigilators can notice if one is really menstruating or has hidden a foreign material there. What is happening is unacceptable, the boys can hide it in their scrotum in between their testicles. We will feel the hijabs if it contains any material aside their hair. We know Muslim ladies do not expose their hair so we will not remove it but when we are suspicious we will ask you to remove it and shake it and wear it again and proceed;” she further explained.
Mrs Kate Biney this is to ensure no cancellation occurs because most candidates are not in to cheat and must not be made to pay for the actions and inactions of a few recalcitrant ones. She further revealed that the invigilators will not be retained in a particular class for the full tenure of the examinations but will be rotated.
Mrs Kate Biney revealed that the candidates have been well prepared for the examinations ahead.
“Even when there was a strike, candidates were going to school in mufti and teachers met to teach them and they were doing peer teaching as well.
In my catchment area, Nana Brempon, Coba Yalley and the Effia area even when the schools were locked the pupils were there being prepared. The problem is the perception of “apor” (leakage) so I conditioned them that the “apor” is the past questions and the more they kept on solving them it leaves them better prepared;” she emphasised.
The lawyer of Energy Minister Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Baffour Awuah, has taken a swipe at the National Communication Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi, after a court in Accra slapped him (Gyamfi) with GH¢500, 000 damages.
Sammy Gyamfi was ordered to pay GH¢500,000 damages to Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh (NAPO) by the General Jurisdiction High Court (12) on Thursday, October 14.
This comes after the court, which was presided over by Justice Charles Gyamfi Danquah, ruled in favour of the minister on a defamation suit he filed in 2019 against Sammy Gyamfi.
Dr. Opoku Prempah, when he was the education minister, sued the NDC communicator for alleging that one of the suspects arrested in connection with the kidnapping of two Canadian girls in Kumasi, Seidu Mba, was his (Dr. Prempah’s) errand boy.
Speaking on the matter in an Asempa Radio interview monitored by GhanaWeb, Lawyer Baffour Awuah said that the GH¢500,000 damages slapped on Sammy Gyamfi is making him repent.
He added that the punishment given to Sammy Gyamfi should serve as a lesson to politicians in Ghana who are fond of making unguarded statements against their opponents.
“Today, I listen to Sammy Gyamfi and from his pronouncement, I sensed that he is changing. Let me commend him. If cases like these continue in our courts, it will make our politicians mindful of their utterances in the public space.
“The reason why I am saying this is that Sammey Gyamfi always speaks without polishing his words. He always uses harsh words without excuses. They (politicians) to court and say my lord and after coming out of the court, you hear them denigrating the judges.
“But now I observe that his (Sammy Gyamfi) utterances are changing because GH¢500,000 is not a small amount of money so it will make you change,” he said in Twi
The woes of the founder and leader of Heaven Way Champion International Ministries, Evangelist Patricia Oduro Koranteng, alias Mama Pat, seem to be deepening as fresh charges of fraud have been pressed against her.
The Accra Circuit Court 9, where Agradaa is facing seven (7) counts of fraud charges, on Monday refused her bail application and remanded her in custody.
The court which was sitting on her case for the second time, scheduled Agradaa’s next appearance for Monday, October 17, 2022.
However, in the latest twist, Agradaa was put before the Accra Circuit Court 10 in the early hours of Friday, October 14, 2022, where six new counts of fraud were pressed against her.
According to Angel FM’s court correspondent, Ama Brako Ampofo, Agradaa was brought before the court presided over by Evelyn Asamoah to answer the 6 new charges emanating from the statements of six persons who were victims of her alleged money-doubling scam.
Agradaa is said to have initially declined to give her plea when the charges were read because of the absence of her lawyer in court.
She, however, pleaded guilty to all six counts of fraud.
The presiding judge, therefore, ordered her remand for two weeks and adjourned the case to October 24, 2022.
Evangelist Patricia Oduro Koranteng, who is a former fetish priestess, was arrested on Sunday, October 9, 2022, following widespread allegations of fraud.
Her arrest followed allegations by some members of her church that the former priestess defrauded them of their monies during an all-night church service.
The calls for the sacking of Ghana’s Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, have reignited following the sacking of the UK’s Finance Minister, Kwasi Kwarteng, early on Friday.
The UK’s Chancellor of Exchequer was sacked by British Prime Minister Liz Truss on Friday, October 14, 2022, after just six weeks of his appointment.
His dismissal has largely been attributed to the performance of the British economy over the last few weeks and the failure of his mini-budget to result in a positive impact.
The announcement of his sacking has seen several Ghanaians take to social media to demand the sacking of Ghana’s finance minister.
Ken Ofori-Atta has been the subject of some critics calling for the heads of some officials in the current government.
The calls are largely grounded in the current performance of the Ghanaian economy and the current economic hardship.
See some social media reactions below:
Stop bothering yourself, fellow Ghanaians. @NAkufoAddo won’t learn from the UK. Tweaa!! Ken Ofori Atta means more to him, personally, than the good of Ghana & your welfare. Nepotism! Corruption! Clueless! Incompetent!
Let’s head roll in Ghana…Kwasi Kwarteng didn’t exhibit a quarter of Bawumia and Ken Ofori-Atta incompetence but he’s been sacked…what is @NAkufoAddo waiting for to sack his Finance Minister and @MBawumia as head of EMT??? pic.twitter.com/05wrrTgkmB
Them sack Kwasi Kwarteng in less than 6 weeks but Ofori-Atta is in his 6th year as our Finance Minister.???????????????????? pic.twitter.com/bwgIOkMMKC
You see difference in Ghana n UK? Kwasi Kwarteng came in and within a month or so of incompetence he’s fired by Liz Truss! Bawumia and Ken Ofori Atta have been incompetent for 6 years now and they are still at post! And you want Ghana to develop? Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo why?
— Is RAYOE in your playlist?!❤️???? (@GhanaSocialU) October 14, 2022
Kwasi Kwarteng sacked in less than 7 weeks being appointed as Finance Minister in the UK but Ken Ofori Atta is still the Finance Minister in this economic woes for 6 years?
Clearly, Ghana’s Presidency doesn’t have serious goals.
In UK Kwesi Kwarteng has been sacked after 40 days as chancellor while in Ghana Ken Ofori Atta still maintains power after almost 6 yrs with more than 120% cedi depreciation.. ???? ????
The system in UK functions very well and effectively. In other news, Ken Ofori-Atta is still Ghana’s Finance Minister.
When we say life no balance, this is what we mean pic.twitter.com/Y4hwyy04et
Kwasi Kwarteng hasn’t done a fraction of the damage Ken Ofori-Atta has caused the Ghanaian economy but he gets to be sacked and Ken is showered with praises from his family member, President H.E @NAkufoAddo as Ghanaians languish in more pain.
Sad — no justice in the world. ????????
— Kwame Gabby Emu Ye ???????? ???????? (@KwameEmuYe) October 14, 2022
A lady Liz Truss even have the balls sack her chancellor for non performance and we have Akufo Addo always applauding Ken Ofori Atta when the cedi is now 12.10 to a dollar
The General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, has charged delegates of the party to vote against the incumbent National Chairman, Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, in the upcoming national delegates conference.
Asiedu Nketia, who has officially announced his bid to contest Ofosu-Ampofo for the chairmanship slop, argued that the current executive lacks the courage and the skills to face the governing New Patriotic Party in the 2024 elections.
This, he believes if not changed, could threaten the party’s chances in the upcoming general elections.
The General Secretary cited the 2019 Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election as an example where Chairman Ofosu-Ampofo, without any proper consultation, announced the party’s decision to pull out from the election after the shooting incident.
He added that Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo also asked the party’s polling agents and observers to also leave the various polling stations, a situation that portrayed an act of cowardice.
“Ofosu-Ampofo called me and I warned him against that decision but he didn’t listen. I was out of the country at the time but the information and facts I had received on the ground showed that we were winning the election, so I was against the decision. He also called John Mahama and the president also asked him not to do that but he also didn’t listen.
“So, you see, as a leader you need to fight in times of crisis and he (Ofosu-Ampofo) doesn’t have the courage to do so. As for me, everyone knows that when you threaten me, I will threaten you back so I have no fear and I am not timid and that is the kind of leadership you need to face the NPP in the upcoming 2024 elections,” he said.
Speaking with the host of Kumasi-based Oyerepa TV, Kwesi Parker-Wilson, on Friday, October 14, 2022, and monitored by GhanaWeb, Asiedu Nketiah further stated that the decision did not only cost them the seat, but it also became the basis for the NPP to abuse members of the party during the 2020 elections.
“You remember the security guys said it’s a dress rehearsal so in 2020 they abused our men and even killed about 8 persons during the general elections. But if we had persisted and stayed through the end of the by-election, NPP wouldn’t have had the courage to do what they did in 2020, including manipulating the outcome of the elections,” he added.
Asiedu Nketiah however said that none of these things have soiled the cordial working relationship he has with his National Chairman.
“I still have a very cordial relationship with Ofosu-Ampofo in spite of my decision to contest him. We still go about with our normal duties and my decision to contest the chairmanship position won’t bring about division,” he said.
The NDC goes to the polls in November 2022 to elect new national executives.
The Okaikwei North Municipal Assembly on Friday, October 14, 2022, conducted a decongestion exercise along the Achimota Overhead section of the N1 Highway.
The exercise saw the removal of several traders and structures along the stretch.
The exercise was led by the Municipal Chief Executive for Okaikwei North, Boye Laryea, and formed a part of the agenda by the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey, to rid the national capital of filth.
According to the MCE, the exercise is aimed at decongesting the stretch by removing unauthorised traders and structures contributing to traffic congestion amidst road safety hazards.
However, some traders who were affected by the exercise expressed disappointment over the removal of their structures, which, according to them, would deprive them of their livelihoods.
Okaikwei North Assembly evicts traders at Achimota overhead, demolish structures
The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has stated that a statement by the sector Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor about the role of the Ghana Armed Forces in the fight against illegal mining (galamsey) has been misreported by a section of the media.
In a statement dated Friday, October 14, 2022, the Public Affairs Directorate of the Ministry said the the statement made by the minister at a press conference on Thursday had been misconstrued in some media reports.
“The attention of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has been drawn to publications in a section of the media to the effect that the military is to be blamed or held responsible for any failures in the fight against illegal mining. These publications attribute this comment to the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Samuel A. Jinapor, MP, during his Press Update on the fight against illegal mining at the Ministry of Information on Thursday, 13th October, 2022.
“While the Ministry welcomes and commends the Ghanaian media for their interest and enthusiasm in matters involving illegal mining, for the avoidance of doubt, the Minister did NOT say the military is to be blamed or held responsible for any failures in the fight against illegal mining. What the Minister said was to the effect that the military has been put fully in charge of the operations on the ground. Accordingly, they are to carry out their mission without interference from any person whatsoever. They are to take instructions only from the military high command on matters relating to the ongoing operations, and in accordance with their established command and control structures,” the ministry said.
“The above comments have, obviously, been misunderstood by a section of the media,” the statement added.
We will fish out, prosecute galamsey kingpins – Abu Jinapor
The ministry emphasised its confidence in the Ghana Armed Forces in leading the fight against Galamsey, saying it has “has absolute confidence in the professionalism, Capability and integrity of the Ghana Armed Forces to accomplish this mission.”
At the press conference on Thursday, the land’s minister outlined various measures by the government to deal with the canker of illegal mining.
Mr Jinapor told the press that the government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo remains resolute in the fight against galamsey, which is threatening several of Ghana’s water and river bodies.
The General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, has charged delegates of the party to vote against the incumbent National Chairman, Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, in the upcoming national delegates conference.
Asiedu Nketia, who has officially announced his bid to contest Ofosu-Ampofo for the chairmanship slop, argued that the current executive lacks the courage and the skills to face the governing New Patriotic Party in the 2024 elections.
This, he believes if not changed, could threaten the party’s chances in the upcoming general elections.
The General Secretary cited the 2019 Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election as an example where Chairman Ofosu-Ampofo, without any proper consultation, announced the party’s decision to pull out from the election after the shooting incident.
He added that Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo also asked the party’s polling agents and observers to also leave the various polling stations, a situation that portrayed an act of cowardice.
“Ofosu-Ampofo called me and I warned him against that decision but he didn’t listen. I was out of the country at the time but the information and facts I had received on the ground showed that we were winning the election, so I was against the decision. He also called John Mahama and the president also asked him not to do that but he also didn’t listen.
“So, you see, as a leader you need to fight in times of crisis and he (Ofosu-Ampofo) doesn’t have the courage to do so. As for me, everyone knows that when you threaten me, I will threaten you back so I have no fear and I am not timid and that is the kind of leadership you need to face the NPP in the upcoming 2024 elections,” he said.
Speaking with the host of Kumasi-based Oyerepa TV, Kwesi Parker-Wilson, on Friday, October 14, 2022, and monitored by GhanaWeb, Asiedu Nketiah further stated that the decision did not only cost them the seat, but it also became the basis for the NPP to abuse members of the party during the 2020 elections.
“You remember the security guys said it’s a dress rehearsal so in 2020 they abused our men and even killed about 8 persons during the general elections. But if we had persisted and stayed through the end of the by-election, NPP wouldn’t have had the courage to do what they did in 2020, including manipulating the outcome of the elections,” he added.
Asiedu Nketiah however said that none of these things have soiled the cordial working relationship he has with his National Chairman.
“I still have a very cordial relationship with Ofosu-Ampofo in spite of my decision to contest him. We still go about with our normal duties and my decision to contest the chairmanship position won’t bring about division,” he said.
The NDC goes to the polls in November 2022 to elect new national executives.
The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has said he is not afraid to hold the so-called powerful people behind illegal small-scale mining, otherwise known as ‘galamsey’, accountable.
According to him, the ongoing trial of alleged ‘galamsey’ kingpin, Aisha Huang, who many have said has connections in high places in government, is a testament to his resolve to curb the menace of illegal small-scale mining.
Speaking in an Adom FM interview monitored by GhanaWeb, Jinapor added that the fact that the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Dame, has taken over the case of Aisha Huang shows the seriousness of the government in the fight against ‘galamsey’.
“With all the sincerity and condor that I can marshal out of my being, I’m totally blind to the so-called powerful people. Who are those powerful people?
“Take for example, Aisha Huang. When her issue came up, what most people said was that nothing would happen to her, she would not be prosecuted because she is highly connected to the highest level, she has sex tapes and all that. In the end, we took her to court, and we slapped the most punitive charges against her.
“We are prosecuting her in a very spirited manner. Those of you who understand the country’s laws know that for the Attorney General himself to be prosecuting this matter of Aisha Huang tells you the importance the government places on it,” he said in Twi.
Samuel Abu Jinapor, who is also the Member of Parliament for Damongo, added that the AG has even secured a remand until the determination of the case of Aisha Huang, which means that the alleged ‘galamsey’ kingpin will be in the custody of the police until the court provides its judgement.
The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, has reaffirmed the government’s unwavering commitment to the fight against illegal small-scale mining.
He warned that any individual engaged in or funding illegal small-scale mining would face the full rigours of the law.
The Minister, who was briefing the press in Accra on Thursday on the renewed efforts in the military operations, also known as Operation Halt II, said the government would prosecute all persons engaged in this menace.
“Under the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Act 995, the punishment for foreigners engaged in illegal mining is 20 years imprisonment, plus a fine of not less than 1.2 million Ghana Cedis, plus deportation after serving the sentence.
And for Ghanaians, the minimum punishment is 15 years imprisonment and a fine of
GHC120,000.00,” he stated.
The Minister indicated that Operation Halt II would continue to support measures put in place to ensure that river bodies and forests are rid of illegal miners such as the continuous declaration of river bodies as red zones for mining, suspensions of reconnaissance and prospecting activities in Forest Reserves and the procurement of speed boats to patrol the river
bodies.
Mr Abu Jinapor said he joined the Attorney-General in court for the prosecution of four Chinese nationals involved in illegal mining, including Aisha Huang.
“The Office of the Attorney-General is working to ensure expeditious trial in these matters and if found culpable, they will be made to face the full rigours of the law,” he stated.
According to the Minister, the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, met with the
National House of Chiefs and urged them to rally behind the government in this fight.
“This is because, every galamsey site, falls within the jurisdiction of traditional authority. And if the traditional authorities stand with us and we can come to grips with this matter.
“The President also met with MMDCEs and has charged them to ensure that they rid their jurisdiction of illegal small-scale mining,” he added.
He disclosed that the government has rolled out advertisements on television and radio, to educate the general public about the dire consequences of illegal mining.
“So that people like the 62-year-old man who sold his cocoa farm to galamseyers for GHC30,000.00 will appreciate the consequences of their actions on the nation and future generations,” he emphasized.
Liz Truss is due to give a press conference in the Downing Street briefing room in just under half an hour’s time.
Our political correspondent Tamara Cohen is outside Number 10 and has captured this picture of quite lively scenes outside of the gates.
It looks like some colourful flares have been set off near the entrance to Downing Street where security and members of the Metropolitan Police are gathered.
Mr Philp is understood to have been the pioneer behind the government’s mini-budget plan to scrap the 45p tax rate for highest earners, which was reversed in a spectacular U-turn a few weeks ago.
He has been moved to a different department, the Cabinet Office, as paymaster general.
Mr Philp is the second member of Liz Truss‘s Treasury team to be removed from the department today, with her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng having been sacked earlier this afternoon.
Ed Argar has been promoted into Mr Philp’s former role as chief secretary to the Treasury.
For the first time, former President John Dramani Mahama has opened up about why he and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) could not provide the needed evidence to make their case in the 2020 election petition.
On December 30, 2022, the former president dragged the Electoral Commission led by Jean Mensa (1st Respondent) and Akufo-Addo (2nd Respondent) to the apex court over the 2020 presidential elections on an allegation that the results announced by the EC were not the accurate results.
The petition details “serious violations of the 1992 Constitution by the Electoral Commission and its Chairperson and Returning Officer for the Presidential Election, Mrs. Jean Adukwei Mensa in the conduct of their constitutional and legal responsibility.”
The petitioner sought, among others, a declaration from the Supreme Court to the effect that “the purported declaration of the results of the 2020 Presidential Election on December 9 2020, is unconstitutional, null and void and of no effect whatsoever.”
But the seven-member panel of the Supreme Court on March 4, 2021, held that the petition filed by former President John Dramani Mahama was unmeritorious and unanimously dismissed all other applications moved by the petitioner, including two reviews.
Speaking in a VOA interview monitored by GhanaWeb, John Dramani Mahama intimated that NDC could not make its case because the pink sheets used by the EC to record the election results did not make room for the people to be verified before they could vote.
“In the last elections, a lot of things went wrong. On the pink sheets that we record the results, they did not make allowance for the number of people biometrically registered.
“And that is why when we went to court, and they said, why don’t you bring your pink sheet? It would have been useless because you bring the pink sheet, and there is no recording of the number of people verified.
“It is only when you have that recording which must match up with the number of ballots in the box (that you can make a case). And so, if the Electoral Commission gives you a form that does not make provision for the people verified then what is the need for us to put our figures in the verification machine,” he said.
The former president further stated that most of the challenges in the 2020 elections have still not been resolved.
He added that the NDC has taken a cue from what happened in the 2020 election and has decided to go into the next election with its “own referrer”.
After sacking Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor after just 38 days in the job, Liz Truss now has to appoint his successor.
But who could she choose?
No announcement has been made yet, but here are a few names emerging as possible front-runners:
Jeremy Hunt
The former health secretary could make a return to the front benches for the first time since July 2019.
Mr Hunt was foreign secretary for a year under Theresa May’s leadership and before this, also held the health secretary and culture secretary briefs under David Cameron.
Mr Hunt was also one of Rishi Sunak‘s most prominent backers in the leadership contest against Ms Truss.
If appointed as chancellor, this could be seen as an attempt by Ms Truss to try and win over the critics within her own party and steady the Conservative ship.
Sajid Javid
The former chancellor has been publicly criticising the government this week – adding his voice to growing calls that benefits must be raised in line with inflation.
Could this be an advantage? Maybe the markets will trust someone who went toe-to-toe with Ms Truss in recent days.
Therese Coffey
She is currently the deputy prime minister and the health secretary – another close ally of Ms Truss.
Ms Coffey last month defended the PM from criticism that she has appointed a “cabinet of chums”.
Simon Clarke
The new levelling up secretary is a close ally of Ms Truss, and was present at the meetings to put together the much-maligned mini-budget.
He has reportedly written to the PM with a set of proposals intended to boost house-building and economic growth.
Nadhim Zahawi
The current Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has sought to quell disquiet in Tory ranks, warning: “Delay is our biggest enemy.”
He has said colleagues must “focus” on delivering for the country, as any “dither” will “end in defeat” for the party.
Mr Zahawi was promoted to chancellor by Boris Johnson on 5 July 2022 following the resignation of Rishi Sunak earlier that day in the dying days of Ms Truss’s predecessor’s government.
The following day, he and other members of Mr Johnson’s cabinet gathered in Number 10 calling on the PM to resign.
Mr Kwarteng replaced him as chancellor in Ms Truss’s cabinet.
PM press conference to be held at 2.30pm
The prime minister’s press conference will be held at 2.30pm in the Downing Street briefing room, Number 10 has said.
‘Changing the chancellor doesn’t undo the damage that’s been done’ – Reeves
Labour MP Rachel Reeves has spoken out since the news that Kwasi Kwarteng has been sacked by Liz Truss as chancellor.
Ms Reeves says that the country doesn’t just need a change in chancellor, “we need a change in government”.
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Javid and Zahawi among names mentioned inside Number 10 as PM looks to replace chancellor
Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby has said she expects the PM to announce her new chancellor at this afternoon’s press conference.
Rigby says the names Sajid Javid and Nadhim Zahawi have both been discussed inside Number 10 today.
“There are other names that could come up. Simon Clarke, the Level Up Secretary, though he is also very much signed up to the growth of gender equality.
“There are other names that are swimming around such as Jeremy Hunt.”
Rigby adds that some Tory MPs would certainly be ready to accept a more broadly based cabinet, bringing in people from different wings of the party rather than the tight coterie around Liz Truss.
“They would like to see this,” she says. “Just talking to more and consulting with them more. And it’s possible that she would she would gain the support enough of her of her party to survive for a while if she changes completely and takes that sort of line.”
Kwarteng ousted from Number 11 less than 24 hours after saying he was ‘not going anywhere’
Kwasi Kwarteng has left Number 11 Downing Street after being sacked by Liz Truss.
The former chancellor left the building via the front door and smiled at the cameras as he entered a government vehicle.
Just yesterday afternoon Mr Kwarteng told reporters in Washington DC he was “not going anywhere.”
Here’s the clip:
Kwarteng confirms sacking in letter to prime minister
Kwasi Kwarteng has confirmed he has today been sacked as chancellor after just 38 days in the role.
Publishing a letter he has written to Prime Minister Liz Truss on Twitter, Mr Kwarteng said it had been “an honour” to serve as her first chancellor.
Describing the “incredibly difficult” situation Ms Truss’s government inherited, Mr Kwarteng’s letter adds: “However, your vision of optimism, growth and change was right.
“As I have said many times in the past weeks, following the status quo was simply not an option.
“For too long this country has been dogged by low growth rates and high taxation – that must still change if this country is to succeed.”
Despite growing calls for further U-turns over the government’s controversial mini-budget, Mr Kwarteng describes his Medium-Term Fiscal Plan – due to be unveiled on 31 October – as “crucial”.
He says he believes the PM’s “vision is the right one”, adding that he looks forward “to supporting you and my successor” from the back benches.
Mr Kwarteng’s letter concludes: “Your success is this country’s success and I wish you well.”
Kwasi Kwarteng’s rise and fall, from Eton scholar to chancellor
Kwasi Kwarteng’s stint as chancellor was perhaps as short as his rise to the top of politics was swift.
Mr Kwarteng was promoted to chancellor by Liz Truss on 6 September from his previous post as business secretary under Boris Johnson.
Within 38 days he had been sacked, his downfall set in motion by the economic turmoil unleashed by his mini-budget.
He insisted his tax-cutting mini-budget was the best way to encourage growth, saying the turmoil in the UK economy was part of global pressures caused by the Ukraine war and the pandemic recovery.
But after open revolt among Tory MPs and a surge in the polls for Labour forced U-turns on two of his major policies, the prime minister decided it was time for him to go.
Mr Kwarteng is not used to failure, rising up the political ranks fairly quickly after becoming an MP in 2010 – although that did take a few attempts.
In the eyes of many MPs, Truss is as much to blame as Kwarteng
Although there’s still no official confirmation, it now appears that Kwasi Kwarteng has been sacked as chancellor.
We await to hear Liz Truss’s reasoning for this, but it looks like part of an economic reset in government and a signal to MP and markets that a new approach is being adopted.
So will it work?
Remember, Liz Truss promised most of these tax cuts during her leadership campaign.
In the eyes of many MPs, she is as much to blame as the chancellor.
One former cabinet minister told Sky News the prime minister would eventually have to leave office as well.
“She is as guilty as Kwasi Kwarteng and I don’t think it is good enough that she throws him under the bus and can then expect to proceed as if the problem is sorted”, said the senior Tory.
Lib Dems call for general election after chancellor sacked
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has called for a general election in response to Kwasi Kwarteng being sacked as chancellor.
Sir Ed has accused Liz Truss of having “broken our economy” and said it is “time for the people to have their say”.
“This mustn’t just be the end of Kwarteng’s disastrous chancellorship, it should be the death knell of the Conservatives’ reckless mismanagement of our economy,” he said in a statement.
“It didn’t suddenly start with Kwarteng, but it must end now.
“People are angry, fed up and worried about the future.
“Most of all they are furious that Conservative MPs seem to think this is an acceptable way to conduct the government of our country in these difficult times.
“Enough is enough.
“It started with Boris Johnson failing our country, and now Liz Truss has broken our economy, it is time for the people to have their say in a general election.”
Kwasi Kwarteng sacked as chancellor by Liz Truss, Sky News understands
Kwasi Kwarteng has been sacked as chancellor after just over a month in the role, Sky News understands.
Two sources informed our deputy political editor Sam Coates of the update – though it has not been officially confirmed.
Mr Kwarteng was appointed on 6 September after Liz Truss took office as prime minister and has served just 38 days in the role.
Yesterday, Mr Kwarteng had told reporters in Washington DC that he was “not going anywhere” despite growing calls for him to resign over his controversial tax-cutting mini-budget which saw the pound slump to a record low.
It means he is the second shortest-serving UK chancellor on record.
Conservative Iain Macleod is the shortest-serving chancellor after dying of a heart attack 30 days after taking the job in 1970.
The country has had four chancellors in the last three years since 2019 – Mr Kwarteng, Nadhim Zahawi, Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid.
The next chancellor will be the seventh Conservative chancellor in 12 years.
‘It’s a matter of survival for her now’ – would ousting her chancellor be enough to save Truss?
Discussion is happening at all levels in the Conservative party about whether the prime minister can survive – even if she replaces her chancellor.
As one senior minister in her government put it to me this morning before reports that Kwarteng would be sacked: “I honestly don’t think either of them, Liz or Kwasi have a clue, I don’t think they know what they’re doing.”
“They’ve got one shot to satisfy the markets,” the minister said – with a full U-turn on the corporation tax freeze and perhaps more: “The worst possible thing, now the markets have priced in a U-turn on corporation tax would be mealy mouthed partial U-turn.”
“But my instinct is she won’t survive. She’s introduced herself to the country in the worst way imaginable, and people’s views of her are quite settled now.
“Even if she stays, you can’t have a chancellor who has lost the confidence of the markets, that’s never happened before that I can remember”. The minister said the prime minister might need a complete reboot of the Treasury team to restore confidence, but having jettisoned key parts of her economic programme, “she is a husk.”
This minister and others point out that her controversial supply-side reforms are likely to be opposed in parliament – as are spending cuts on the scale that may be needed to pay for her measures.
Other MPs also say she will need a humiliating change of direction to survive. One long-serving MP said: “It’s unfair for Kwasi to go in the sense that it was all her idea, but politics isn’t fair. It’s a matter of survival for her now, there are discussions going on but it’s not organised yet.”
Former cabinet minister says Truss ‘has to go’
A former Conservative cabinet minister has told Sky News that Prime Minister Liz Truss “has to go” as there is “nothing she can do to retrieve her position”.
Discussing the potential corporation tax U-turn, they said: “It was the centrepiece of her campaign, the bit that distinguished her from Rishi.
“She is as guilty as Kwasi Kwarteng and I don’t think it is good enough that she throws him under the bus and can then expect to proceed as if the problem is sorted.
“Crucially, she has damaged the Tory brand when we could say the economy was safe in our hands. We can’t now.
“She has to go. There is nothing she can do to retrieve her position.”
PM doing news conference alone doesn’t bode well for Kwasi Kwarteng
Back from Washington and now inside Downing Street, it may not be long before we learn what Kwasi Kwarteng’s fate will be.
One possible indication of where we’re going may be lurking in who is due to attend the press conference this afternoon.
Given we expect a major announcement on the government’s plan for the economy, you would expect the chancellor to be involved – not least to reassure the markets that Liz Truss still had faith in her man in the Treasury.
But asked directly if the chancellor would be at this afternoon’s press conference, a Downing Street source replied simply saying “PM presser”.
That suggests the prime minister will be doing this alone, and it doesn’t bode well for Kwasi Kwarteng.
Cabinet ministers have ‘no idea what’s going on’
Our political editor Beth Rigby has been speaking to cabinet ministers this morning amid reports that Liz Truss could be set to dismantle parts of her controversial mini-budget later today.
The senior ministers she has spoken to have said they “have no idea what’s going on – either about the chancellor’s position or the possible decision to raise corporation tax from 19% to 25% in April after all”.
Chancellor arrives back in Downing Street ahead of expected U-turn
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has arrived in Downing Street after returning from the US amid expectations he will scrap parts of his mini-budget to reassure markets.
If Truss is to reset her administration and junk tax cuts – should she do it with someone like Sajid Javid?
As they often do at times like this, rumours are swirling about who could replace Kwasi Kwarteng if he is to leave his post as chancellor.
One name frequently linked to vacant cabinet posts is Sajid Javid, and today is no different.
But if the former chancellor is to re-enter the Treasury, it’s worth remembering his recent history of pledging his own unfunded tax cuts.
During his relatively brief campaign to become prime minister in the summer, Mr Javid pledged tax cuts broader in scope than the ones Liz Truss was promising at the time.
In his pitch for the top job, there were plans to shelve the corporation tax rise that is about to be U-turned on; as well as to scrap the national insurance rise; and bring forward the cut to the basic rate of income tax.
If Liz Truss is to reset her administration and junk tax cuts in a bid to reassure the markets, can she do it with someone like Sajid Javid who is so closely linked to a similar prospectus for government?
A humiliating U-turn is necessary, but the real damage is done – Reeves
Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves is the latest MP to comment on speculation of a major U-turn on Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget.
She said: “A humiliating U-turn is necessary – but the real damage has already been done to millions of ordinary people now paying much higher mortgages and struggling to make ends meet.
“This is a Tory crisis made in Downing Street. They have plunged our economy into chaos and crisis with Truss’s discredited trickle down approach. It won’t be forgiven or forgotten.
“Only a Labour government has the credibility, authority and plan to fix things.”
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Who could be the next chancellor if Kwarteng is sacked?
Sky’s deputy political editor Sam Coates is weighing in on this question.
He says it is uncertain whether Kwasi Kwarteng will retain his job as chancellor.
“Could it be Simon Clarke?” Coates asks.
Mr Clarke is currently serving as Secretary of State for Levelling Up. He served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2021 to 2022.
“Well, he’s an ideological bedfellow of Liz Truss. He was in the meetings to put together the mini-budget.
“But will the markets trust him if they think that he also shares the trust of economic values that have taken this to this point?”
He adds: “Could it be Theresa Coffey? She’s currently the deputy prime minister and the health secretary’s very close ally.
“She’s been in some, but not all of the economic meetings.”
Government is set to U-turn on keeping corporation tax low, Sky News understands
The government is set to raise corporation tax despite promising not to do so in the mini-budget, Sky News understands.
The prime minister had vowed to scrap the planned tax rise from 19% to 25% next April, a key policy of her pro-business growth plan, during the Conservative leadership campaign.
The change in direction is the second major tax cut U-turn after the government confirmed it would not go ahead with a plan to scrap the 45p top rate of tax.
Kwarteng being sacked is ‘inevitable’, Sky News told
Sky’s political and business correspondent Mhari Aurora reports that a former cabinet minister has told her that Kwasi Kwarteng being sacked is “inevitable”.
According to the Reuters news agency, a government spokesperson has refused to comment on speculation that Mr Kwarteng has been sacked.
It follows a report by the Times newspaper in the last half an hour which has suggested the chancellor has already been dismissed.
We will of course bring you more on this as we get it.
The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) yesterday launched the 7th round of the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) at Winneba.
The launch paves way for field officers to begin data collection for the 2022 GDHS, (7th round) estimated to cost $4.2 million.
This followed five weeks (32 days) of training for about 220 field officers recruited for the exercise.
Data collection for the field exercise would begin on October 17, 2022 and end on January 20, 2023.
The GDHS which is a population-based survey to collect demographic, health and socio-economic data for planning and monitoring of policies, started in 1988.
The exercise is done at least every five years and the last one was done in 2014.
Speaking at the launch here, the Government Statistician, Professor Samuel K. Annim, said the GDHS is an international exercise, which Ghana uses to collect demographic, socio-economic and health data for national planning.
He said the survey, which would take 90 days to complete would collect data on issues including fertility rate, contraceptive use, child and maternal mortality, nutritional status of women and children, child marriage, toilet facilities, water and breastfeeding.
“The survey exercise will also create awareness on HIV/AIDS, malaria and incidence of malaria in the country,” Prof. Annim, stated.
He said the survey would cover 18,540 households across the country and about 23,577 women between the ages of 15 and 49; and 5,812 men between 15 and 59 would be interviewed.
He said the data collected would be analysed in comparison with the data on the Population and Housing Census and the Annual Household Income and Expenditure Survey.
The government statistician said the data collected would help the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service in their policy planning, formulation and monitoring.
Prof. Annim said the objective of the exercise was to update the data of the previous GDHS.
He said for the first time GSS did district analysis of the data to help provide interventions for the local people “to leave no one behind.”
Prof. Annim said the analysis and dissemination of the GDHS would be done in real time as GSS had deployed electronic data collection tools for that.
He commended the government, its donors and development partners for sponsoring the programme.
The Director of Family Health Division of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Kofi Issah, who chaired the programme, said the exercise was an important one.
He said the data that would be collected would help in policy planning and monitoring.
Dr Issah commended the GSS for its continuous development of the GDHS.
The Programme Director, Dr Kerzia Malm, for her part, said she was excited malaria was one of the component of the 2022 GDHS.
Dr Peter Takyi Peprah, the Project Coordinator the 2022 GDHS, said the survey would help to collate up-to-date data on health and socio-economic data, stressing GDHS was a powerful tool to measure so many health indicators.
On day four of the prelims, two schools tied for the highest points of the day. University Practice SHS and Abetifi Presby SHS both won their contest with 79 points.
They both also tied as the schools with the second-highest points in the preliminary contests. St Thomas Aquinas leads with 85 points.
University Practice SHS competed with Presby SHS, Suhum and EPC Mawuko Girls’ SHS. Presby SHS left with 37 points and Mawuko Girls’ 14.
They also won GHC800 in the Goil Riddle Bonanza after answering three riddles correctly.
Meanwhile, Abetifi Presby SHS contested with Acherensua SHS and Kalpohin SHS.
The losing schools finished with 37 and 14 points respectively.
Aburi Presby SHS also put up an impressive fight in their contest. They secured a slot at the one-eighth stage with 64 points.
They competed with Nungua SHS and Atebubu SHS.
Mawuli School bagged a spot at the one-eighth. They competed against Fijai SHS and Boaamponsem SHS.
The Volta Region based school won the contest with 39 points. Fijai SHS followed closely with 35 points.
Winning their contest with 41 points, Krobo Girls is through to the next stage of the NSMQ competition.
They beat St Mary’s Girls’ SHS, who finished with 27 points and Bueman SHS, who finished with 8 points, to win the competition.
The girls also won GHC800 in the Goil Riddle Bonanza and GHC2000 for the Prudential Life NSMQ star award.
Also, competing at the one-eighth stage of the NSMQ competition is Tarkwa SHS.
They beat Effiduase Senior High Comm School and Sekondi College with 31 points.
Adventist SHS sailed through the preliminary stage to the one-eighth stage with 64 points.
They faced Kpando SHS and Al-Azhariya SHS in the contest. The two schools lost with 15 and 13 points respectively.
After failing to go further in the competition last year, Mfantsipim School returned to the NSMQ with hopes of beating the 2021 records.
For their first contest, the boys qualified for the one-eighth stage with 61 points. Their competitors West Africa SHS finished with 43 points while Sandema SHS only got 12 points.
Mfantispim in addition to their win, took home GHC800 for winning the Goil Riddle Bonanza.
For some of these schools who lost today’s contest and those who lost in the previous days, the prelims may not be the last NSMQ competition for them this year.
About 18 schools who had high marks but did not win, after a tally, will gain a chance to compete in the one-eighth stage.
The 2022 National Science and Maths Quiz is produced by Primetime Limited and sponsored by the Ghana Education Service in partnership with Absa Ghana. It is supported by GOIL, Prudential Life Insurance, AirtelTigo, Dano Milk, Newmont, Accra College of Medicine, Academic City University College and YFM.
The broadcast of the National Science & Maths Quiz on JoyNews is supported by Virtual Infosec Africa, Virtual Security Africa, Vita Milk, Cowbell, Alumni by Enterprise Life, Faytex Toilet Roll, Ace Medical Insurance, Azar Group, Kings Group Limited, Family Health Medical School, DBS, KORBA and Lumetrust from Pharmatrust.
Kwasi Kwarteng of Ghanaian descent has been relieved of his duties as the Finance Minister of the United Kingdom.
He was appointed on Tuesday, September 6, 2022 by newly sworn-in Prime Minister Liz Truss.
Mr Kwarteng was the first black person to assume such a position in the United Kingdom.
His dismissal comes amid speculation that Prime Minister Truss will today, October 14, announce a U-turn on parts of the mini-budget.
Mr Kwasi Kwarteng, serving for 39 days, becomes the second shortest-serving UK chancellor on record.
The shortest serving chancellor, Iain Macleod, died of a heart attack 30 days after taking the job in 1970.
Since 2019, the UK has had four chancellors, including Nadhim Zahawi who served the third shortest tenure with 63 days during a short-lived reshuffle under Boris Johnson, and Sajid Javid who served 204 days – the fourth shortest tenure on record.
Kwasi Kwarteng reacts
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Kwarteng said he took on the job “in full knowledge that the situation we faced was incredibly difficult”.
He wished Prime Minister Liz Truss well with her plans for the economy, noting that “we’ve been colleagues and friends for many years”.
He also promised to support Truss from the backbenches.
Twenty-six African countries voted in favour of the resolution, rejecting Moscow’s controversial referenda in four Ukrainian regions. Nineteen others abstained.
Mali, the Central African Republic, Ethiopia, the Republic of Congo, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda, and Zimbabwe were among the African countries that abstained. Eritrea, which had previously voted to reject a UN resolution condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine, also abstained.
Three of these countries hosted Russian diplomatic chief, Sergei Lavrov, during his tour of the region in July.
Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Sao Tome were absent from the assembly.
The General Assembly of the 193 member states had met in an emergency meeting. It adopted the resolution with 143 votes in favour, with five countries against and 35 abstaining, including China, India, Pakistan, and South Africa, despite diplomatic efforts by the United States.
The five states that voted against were Russia, Belarus, Syria, North Korea, and Nicaragua.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian Foreign Minister,DmytroKuleba, toured Africa in an effort to counter Russia’s apparent hold on the continent. The goal was to persuade leaders to support Kyiv.
He was forced to cut his visit short after Moscow intensified its bombing of Ukraine.
The Director-General of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Eric Nana Agyemang-Prempeh, has called on the public to desist from politicising moves to demolish unauthorised structures along waterways.
According to him, the country was sitting on a time bomb with the continuous encroachment and illegal activities around ecological sites and the worst could happen if ‘harsh’ decisions were not taken.
Speaking to journalists at an event to commemorate this year’s International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction in Accra yesterday, Mr Agyeman-Prempeh said a case in point was the recent flooding of communities in the Weija-Gbawe and Ga South constituencies due to the Weija Dam spillage.
“Had it not been for the level of encroachment around the dam and its passageway we wouldn’t have seen this extent of damage. A lot of the buildings there do not have permit yet you go in to demolish and it turns into NPP, NDC.
“Ghana will move forward, we will reduce the flooding’s if we stop politicising everything and allow the District Assemblies to do their work and go all out to demolish all unauthorised structures in our waterways causing floods.”
Touching on the local theme for the commemoration; “Earthquake disaster risk reduction through effective early warning,” the Director-General although Ghana was far away from major earthquake zones in the world, it was prone to earthquake and earth tremor disasters.
He recalled incidences as far back as 1981 and recent earth tremor in 2019 prompting the establishment of a technical committee to propose interventions that would improve Ghana’s earthquake preparedness and response.
Following the adoption of the committee’s report, Mr Agyeman-Prempeh said, eight earthquakes early warning equipment has been installed at vantage locations within the capital including the Weija-Gbawe Municipal Assembly, NADMO Headquarters, Parliament and the Jubilee House.
“The government considers earthquake to be a most serious occurrence that can set us back on our development journey and more importantly militate against safety of our citizens and we are committed to taking all needed measures to avert future disasters,” he said.
The Chief Director of the Ministry for the Interior, Mrs. Adelaide Anno-Kumi, delivering a speech on behalf of the sector minister, underscored the importance of early warning systems to reducing disasters significantly.
While expressing sympathy to recently affected persons of the Weija Dam spillage, Mrs Anno-Kumi stressed the need for the populace to be well-informed on evacuation and disaster management methods to reduce extent of destruction.
The Country Director of United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Mr Abdourahamane Diallo, gave highlights of a newly produced documentary and educational materials to sensitise the public particularly students, on disasters.
“There is still a lot more that we need to do collectively to ensure that Ghana gets the holistic capacity development that it needs to prepare adequately for an earthquake disaster or any other disaster.”
He thus invited all key stakeholders to explore additional ideas that “can be brought on board to design effective interventions towards disaster risk reduction.”
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected that Ghana will end the year with a Debt-to-GDP of 90.7 per cent.
This according to myjoyonline.com was captured in its Fiscal Outlook Report released on the sidelines of the on-going IMF/World Bank Annual meetings in Washington DC, USA.
The report, also forecasts that the Debt–to-GDP could reduce to 87.8 per cent in 2023.
According to the IMF, revenue expressed as a ratio of GDP could also hit 14.1 per cent at the end of 2022.
It will subsequently increase to 14.7 per cent in 2023 and 15.4 per cent in 2024”, the report said, classifying Ghana as a Low Income Developing Country.
Ghana is currently undergoing Debt Sustainability Analysis with the IMF and the World Bank. This is expected to help the country ascertain the true levels of the debt stock.
The country was recently classified as a High Risk of Debt Distress by the World Bank and IMF in its Debt Sustainability Analysis.
The two Bretton Wood institutions are currently conducting a new Sustainability Debt Analysis on Ghana – a situation that could influence the outcome of an economic programme with Ghana by the end of 2022.
The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has already indicated that government is working hard to reach a programme with the IMF by November 2022.
The government is hoping to secure a programme with the IMF before the 2023 Budget presentation in parliament within the same period.
In October 2022, data from the Bank of Ghana pegged the country’s debt stock at ₵402 billion as of July 2022, representing 68 per cent of GDP.
Some financial observers have stated that with an expected expansion of the economy and an IMF programme, the country’s debt stock may not reach “unsustainable levels”.
The World Bank in its Africa Pulse Report released in October 2022 projected that Ghana will end 2022 with a Debt –to –GDP ratio of 104 per cent.
The Ghana Police Service says it has received new complainants in the ongoing case of fraud involving the founder and leader of Heaven Way Champion International Ministries, Evangelist Patricia Oduro Koranteng alias Nana Agradaa.
According to the police, it is in the process of taking statements from some 30 persons who were also victims of the alleged money-doubling scam perpetrated by Nana Agradaa on her own church members.
This was stated in court on Thursday, October 13, 2022, when Agradaa appeared before the Accra Circuit Court 9 for a second time.
Agradaa was arrested on Sunday, October 9, 2022, following widespread allegations that she had scammed some members of her church.
She was put before court on charges of defrauding by false pretences and engaging in charlatanic advertisement in newspapers contrary to Section 137 of Act 29/60 on Monday.
With seven complainants involved in the case at the time, the counts were separated into seven on same charges when the court remanded her into custody to reappear on Thursday.
Arguing for an extension of her remand on Thursday, DSP Sylvester Asare of the prosecution informed the court about the 30 new complainants whose statements are now being taken for investigations to be carried out.
According to the prosecution, the suspect will most likely interfere in police investigations when granted bail.
DSP Sylvester Asare hence prayed the court to remand the suspect for two weeks to give the police enough time to conduct its investigations.
In opposition to the prosecution’s request, the defence bench led by Reynold Twumasi Ankrah said the accused is a mother whose infants need her at home.
He emphasised that the accused is ready to meet bail conditions and appear before the court for her trial.
The presiding judge, Mr Bright Acquah having been convinced by the prosecution’s argument however remanded the suspect into custody but for just 4 days and urged the police to conclude its investigations by the adjourned date.
The case was thus adjourned to Monday, October 17, 2022.
The Ghana Police Service have stated that the management of Today TV, owned by embattled founder and leader of Heaven Way Champion Ministries International, Evangelist Patricia Oduro Koranteng, has refused to assist in its ongoing investigations.
Evangelist Oduro Koranteng, alias Nana Agradaa, was arrested on Sunday, October 9, 2022, on allegations of fraud and put before the Accra Circuit Court 9 on Monday.
During her second appearance in court on Thursday, October 13, 2022, the prosecution led by DSP Sylvester Asare prayed to the court for an extension of Agradaa’s remand in police custody as she is likely to interfere in investigations if granted bail.
The defence bench led by Reynold Twumasi Ankrah, in praying the court to grant his client bail, argued that the police have yet to establish any concrete evidence to back its charges against the accused.
He revealed that the police, now on a fishing expedition for evidence, have written to the management of his client’s TV station for some footage.
But responding to the issue of the letter to the management, DSP Asare argued that the police already have in their possession the video contents which have gone viral on the internet.
He, however, confirmed that the police have indeed written to the management of Today TV extending an invitation for assistance in its investigations.
The prosecutor indicated that the invitation was ‘’blatantly refused’’ by the managers, who said their response was solely dependent on the instructions of the accused person.
The prosecution, which was arguing against granting the accused person bail, said the decision by the managers of the TV station was a direct confirmation of her ability to interfere in police investigations if granted bail.
“It will go a long way to thwart police investigations and amount to an acquittal before trial,” DSP Asare told the court.
In his decision, the presiding judge, Mr Bright Acquah, agreed with the prosecution that the suspect may interfere in investigations if granted bail and therefore remanded the suspect into custody.
“She could end up paying off the complainants,” the judge stated.
The court adjourned the case to Monday, October 17, 2022.
Agradaa was arrested in connection with allegations of a money-doubling scam she perpetrated against members of her church.
She is facing two charges for defrauding by false pretences and engaging in charlatanic advertisements in newspapers contrary to Section 137 of Act 29/60 on Monday.
Former New Juaben North Constituency Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwadwo Boateng-Agyemang, has lashed out at the party’s former National Chairman, Freddie Blay, over his involvement in the case of four foreign nationals facing trial for illegal mining activities.
Three Chinese nationals and a Vietnamese national are facing trial in Accra High Court as accomplices of alleged galamsey kingpin, Aisha Huang.
During the trial on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, Lucy Ekeleba Blay announced in court that she was holding brief as counsel for the defence in the place of the former NPP National Chairman.
This has led to widespread criticism over the decision of Freddie Blay to represent the accused persons in the face of the government’s fight against galamsey.
Sharing such sentiments on Top FM’s Final Point hosted by Kwabena Owusu Agyemeng, the former constituency chairman accused Freddie Blay of making a mockery of the government’s fight against galamsey.
He thus called on Freddie Blay to render an apology for his actions and withdraw his services as counsel for the accused persons charged with engaging in illegal small-scale mining.
“How many people have had the opportunity of being a national chairman? And the benefits that you have got from the NPP as a party; from parliament as a second deputy speaker, as first deputy speaker and as a national chairman. God has been faithful to you. If he is listening to me now by tomorrow morning, he and his partners must issue a statement to apologise and withdraw from the case,” he said.
He emphasised that the fight against galamsey is a collective fight which requires every official to play a role and not be left to only the president to deal with.
“We need to address issues right; leadership is not only the presidency. Everyone has a role to play, so if we focus our expectations on one person, we have failed. That is why I allude that fighting galamsey is like fighting drug barons trading in cocaine,” he added.
Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go, and Zhang Zhipeng have been charged as accomplices of Aisha Huang who is also facing charges in a separate trial on galamsey charges.
However, for some critics, the former NPP national chairman’s representation of the accused persons is a decision that lacks discretion considering the fight against galamsey and its impact on Ghana’s water and forest bodies.
The Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD) staff across all sixteen regions of Ghana are threatening to withdraw validation services to public sector workers and subsequently boycott the forthcoming production of third quarter national accounts of the Consolidated Fund, over nonpayment of Special Duty Allowance (SDA) and other administrative issues.
In a latest petition dated October 11, 2022 intercepted by Starr News, the aggrieved staff stated that “Our petition has become necessary following the worsening conditions of all CAGD staff and failure on the part of leadership to prioritize our welfare.
We are by this calling on management to address these issues within fourteen days failure of which we will advise ourselves including abstinence from the forthcoming production of 3rd quarter national accounts of the Consolidated Fund.No SDA, No accounts validation exercise”
According to the CAGD staff, their action has become necessary following delays in payment of the allowance at every year-end, an allowance that used to be part of staff salaries in the past.
Detailing their grievances they stated that “We, the staff of CAGD across the Sixteen Regions of Ghana hereby call upon you and your leadership to address the following issues bordering us, with immediate effect:2021 SDA be paid immediately and that of 2022 be paid by the end of the year whiles subsequent SDAs be consolidated into our monthly salaries”
Additionally, they demand that “maintenance allowances for 2021 and 1st,2nd and 3rd quarters of 2022 should, as a matter of urgency, be paid without further delay”
The angry Controller and Accountant General Department staff also want management to initiate steps to prepare and implement better salary structure to reflect what other staff in sister Departments enjoy.
The staff wants CAGD to be elevated to Authority to empower it to work independently.
“Besides ensuring efficient disbursements of public funds, the Department also withholds and pays taxes into the consolidated fund.
Steps should be initiated to make the department either a Service or Authority. This will enable the Department to ensure professionalism without undue interference”.
They are also demanding that “Transfer or posting grant for all CAGD staff be borne by the department henceforth. Management should see to the formation of a vibrant labour union for all staff of the department. This will put to rest, the perceived sabotage by CLOGSAG so far as our SDA is concerned”.
The staff also requested for quarterly and timely government of Ghana releases to all Finance Units of the District Assemblies as its being done for other Departments.
According to them, delayed releases to CAGD Regional Directorates should be addressed and the amount increased to enhance smooth administration of the offices.
They also want Chief Accountants of the Department to be placed on level 23 and ACAG moved to level 24.
The Controller and Accountant-General’s Department is mandated by the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921) to: “Receive all Public and Trust monies payable into the Consolidated Fund (done through its staff stationed in all government departments including the revenue collecting ones).
Government has directed that, henceforth, no mining concession or licence should be granted to any applicant unless the Paramount Chief of the area is formally consulted to seek his input.
Additionally, the regional ministers and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) of that particular jurisdiction should also be formally consulted to bring their views to bear on the granting of mining concessions to any individual or company.
Samuel Abu Jinapor, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources announced this at a media briefing in Accra on Thursday, 13 October 2022, to update the public on new measures being implemented by the Government to combat illegal small-scale mining, otherwise known as “galamsey”.
In view of the President’s directive, Mr Jinapor has issued a Ministerial Fiat to the Minerals Commission to halt all processes leading to the recommendation for granting of mining concessions and licences until the Commission has sought the inputs of the aforementioned authorities.
The directive, the Minister said, had become very necessary to enable the traditional and local authorities to play a central role in the fight against illegal small-scale mining, which had wreaked havoc on the environment and water bodies.
Mr Jinapor stated that when the President met the National House of Chiefs in Kumasi recently, the chiefs raised concerns about them being neglected regarding issuance of mining licences and granting of mining concession to individuals.
Therefore, whenever there was illegal mining within their traditional areas, they had no power to stop it because they did not play any meaningful and active part in the granting of the licences and concessions.
With the enforcement of the Ministerial Fiat, traditional rulers and MMDCEs would play a central role in the fight against galamsey.
The Minister highlighted gamut of measures implemented by the Government so far to stop the galamsey menace including the procurement of speed boats to patrol rivers, training of river guards, forest reserves declared as “red zones” for mining and distribution of mercury-free gold processing machines (gold kachas) to small-scale miners.
The others are the collaboration between the Lands Ministry and the Attorney-General’s Office to prosecute illegal miners, both Ghanaians and foreigners, rolling out of Community Mining Schemes for local people, recruitment and engagement of about 80,000 people for alternative livelihood programme, frequent operations by the military (Operation Halt) to mining sites to arrest and burn excavators belonging to illegal miners and setting up of 83 district mining committees to oversee mining at the district level.
It has also launched another Operation Halt II campaign being spearheaded by the Military High Commands in the southern, middle belt and northern commands, which would be sustained until galamsey is brought to a satisfactory situation.
The government has, therefore, allocated significant funds and logistics to the new military operation, Mr Jinapor stated.
He, thus, called for collaboration with all stakeholders and change of attitude by all Ghanaians to help in fighting the menace.
Prices of petroleum products are expected to see a rise again beginning Sunday, October 16 as part of the adjustments for the 2nd pricing window of this month.
Fuel prices across pumps within the country are projected to see an increase of an average of 10% for both petrol and diesel, according to the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC).
From observed figures within the downstream industry, and forex movements, COPEC anticipates an average price escalation of about 10.12% for both petrol and diesel based on the increase in price of crude oil on the international market and the depreciation of the cedi.
“Between the current window and the next window due, 16 Oct 2022, Crude oil price is observed to have seen an increase of 3.66% from $89.46 to $92.73 per Barrel, whilst the Dollar index has further gone up by about 4.08% from GHS10.21 to GHS10.627 per Dollar as per Government rate (Conservative figures) though actual market rates are quite higher currently,” COPEC observed.
The corresponding international processed Petroleum prices for the next window averages as follows:
Petrol: $964.75/MT (up by 15.72%)
Diesel: $1,097.15/MT (up by 9.60%)
Internally, the projected average price of both Petrol and Diesel for the next window are expected to be GHS13.77/L, showing a price jump of 10.12% over the current Mean fuel Prices for both products across the various OMCs trading.
From observed data, Petrol, which is currently selling at an industry average of GHS11.06/L is likely to be sold at GHS12.38/L (11.88% higher) from 16 October 2022 whilst Diesel currently selling at an industry average of GHS13.95/L is likely to be sold at GHS15.16/L. (8.72% higher)
For LPG, the international price is estimated to hit $618.34/MT (up by 3.81%); the price of LPG is likely to go up by 5.04% to sell around GHS10.21/kg.
Considering no sudden jerks in Crude Oil pricing, that may lead to changes in Petrol, Diesel and LPG Prices on the International market, the Mean Ex-pump prices are expected to be within the projected figures by +/-2% as indicated below:
Petrol: GHS12.12/L to GHS12.63/L
Diesel: GHS14.86/L to GHS15.46/L
LPG: GHS10.01/kg to GHS10.41/kg
COPEC in a statement, therefore, implored the petroleum service providers to be considerate of applying the full force of the indexes in their pricing.
It added: “We are without equivocation, mindful that, the projected figures are conservatively lower than what the actuals could be due to the continuous depreciation of the local currency.”
It further admonished: “Government to do whatever it deems necessary, to ensure an urgent stabilisation of the cedi to the Dollar exchange rate in order to prevent pricing of petroleum products getting to an impending disaster as the effect of these steep increases in fuel prices cuts across all sectors of the local economy and to also further ensure some drastic reductions of some of the existing taxes and levies on Petroleum products to help ease the burden on consumers.”
Traders in the Ashanti regional capital – Kumasi – have called on government to take all revenues at the point of entry of goods and desist from harassing traders with other taxes.
According to the Executive Secretary of the Ashanti Business Community, Charles Kusi Appiah-Kubi, the business community was poised to pay corporate income tax and Pay As You Earn.
However, traders can no longer pay Value Added Tax (VAT) to government.
Mr Appiah-Kubi added that it is about time government finds more innovative ways to collect taxes for the betterment of the country.
Speaking at a press conference in Kumasi on Wednesday, October 12, 2022, he said, “Government should take all its revenue from the points of entry. Take all the charges you want to charge at the point of entry or at the manufacturing and leave us alone.”
“We are ready to pay our corporate income tax and our Pay As You Earn (PAYE), but we can’t pay the VAT again,” the Executive Secretary of Ashanti Business Community stressed.
On Monday, October 10, 2022, some traders in Kumasi locked up their shops in protest of the frequent depreciation of the cedi.
They also cited the high cost of doing business and the collection of exorbitant taxes by the government as some reasons for the protest against the government.
According to the traders within the central business district, the demonstration will last for three days.
They explained that the protest also aims to kick against the decision by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to station their officers at each shop to record Value Added Tax (VAT) on products they sell.
At least GH¢2 million will be pumped into the construction of the controversial astroturf in Tumu in the Upper West region, the Contractor for the project, Sinkare has clarified.
He told Francis Abban, host of Morning Starr on Starr 103.5 Fm, that the 100 by 120 feet pitch alone will cost 1.1 million cedis.
The rest of the money is for floodlights and ancillary works, Mr Sinkare said.
There has been a hue and cry over the project cost after the sod-cutting by Vice President, Mahamudu Bawumia on Tuesday, October 11, 2022.
The average cost of astroturfs has been between 300,000 and 600,000 Ghana cedis, according to the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC).
Some Ghanaians on social media reacted to the cost of the Tumu astroturf project questioning why government will splurge GH¢2 million to construct an artificial pitch.
In July 2022, government revealed that it constructed 30 astroturfs at a total cost of GH¢40,779,395.79.
However, a report by PIAC also quoted that the cost of the astroturfs amounted to GH¢8,188,000 million, a massive variance of GHS32,591,395.44.
President of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), Joseph Obeng, has dropped a hint concerning the closure of shops in Accra to protest the unfair implementation of tax measures by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
This development comes after traders in parts of the central business district of Adum in Kumasi locked up their shops in protest against rising taxation on their goods.
The traders attributed the action to the pressure to honour payment of income tax, high cost of store rentals and charges from the metropolitan assembly.
They have argued that the cumulative taxes are crippling their businesses and have vowed to sustain the action until the GRA withdraws their personnel stationed at shops to record sales of products for tax purposes.
Reacting to the protest on Atinka FM’s AM Drive with host Kaakyire Ofori Ayim, President for the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), Joseph Obeng described the compulsory implementation of the new electronic platform by GRA as imbalanced.
He added that what GRA has done to the VAT system makes compliance very difficult.
According to Joseph Obeng, the Greater Accra Regional Branch of GUTA will meet to take the necessary steps to protest GRA’s unfairness.
“The capital of most traders have depleted over 50%. The value of our monies has reduced. You have a system that does not ensure fairness, you have a system that does not ensure equity, you have a system that runs trade concurrently in the same market that we have the standard rate that one pays 90.25 percent and then we have VAT rate of four percent and then we have those who do not pay the VAT at all and they are all legitimate. What system is this? We will make a definite statement come Tuesday and everyone will know the way forward,” GUTA President Joseph Obeng told Kaakyire Ofori Ayim.
In her usual praise-singing mood, the founder and leader of Heaven Way Champion Ministries International, Evangelist Patricia Oduro Koranteng, turned up at the Accra Circuit Court on Thursday, October 13, 2022, for her second appearance on fraud charges.
Agradaa, who is facing two charges of defrauding by false pretences and engaging in charlatanic advertisement in a print media, was remanded by the court on Monday.
Prior to her arrival at the court premises, some of her church members had already turned up awaiting her presence.
The sombre mood of the church members was replaced with enthusiasm when a police pickup truck arrived with Nana Agradaa sandwiched in between some officers in the back seat.
Spotting her usual heavy makeup, Agradaa, who was wearing a white overall dress, alighted from the truck and started singing a gospel tune, and in unison, the church flock gathered at the court premises joined in the singing until she was led into the courtroom and the doors of the court banged in their faces.
While the court was hearing an application by Agradaa’s lawyers to grant her bail, her church members who remained on the premises of the court engaged in frantic prayers.
Their prayers however failed to yield the desired result as the court presided by Mr Bright Acquah, declined the request for bail following a marathon of legal arguments between the defence and prosecution bench.
The judge, who was convinced by the prosecution’s argument that the former fetish priestess may interfere in police investigations when granted bail, ordered that the suspect be taken into custody to reappear on Monday, October 17, 2022.
With a transparent pair of sizable Gucci fashion sunglasses sitting across her eyes, Agradaa, who made it a point to correct prosecutors about her title as “Evangelist Doctor” during her first appearance in the court, rather spotted a pensive mood during the hearing on Thursday.
Her exuberant self, however, came to light once again when she was brought out of the court to be taken away back into police custody.
With her church members available to back her up, the evangelist elevated into praise singing mode.
The police pickup truck that had to take her away had a bit of a challenge navigating through the crowd of singing church members who had swamped the car.
In her parting message to her church leader, one of the church members was heard shouting, “we will die for you, we will die with our last blood.”
Evangelist Patricia Oduro Koranteng was arrested by the police on Sunday, October 9, 2022.
Agradaa, was arrested in connection with allegations of a money-doubling scam she perpetrated against members of her own church.
The former secretary to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Charles Bissue, has urged the then Chairman of IMCIM and ex-Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, to come clear on the 500 excavators that were alleged to have gone missing.
Speaking in an Adom FM interview monitored by GhanaWeb on October 10, Charles Bissue intimated that Prof Frimpong Boateng’s claim that the 500 excavators seized from illegal miners in 2020 went missing is not false.
He added that because of the former ministers’ irresponsible utterances on the excavators the government is always ashamed when the issue comes up.
“Prof (Frimpong Boateng) was the one who said the excavators were missing but he has stepped aside and left it hanging on the government. This is what is hurting me now and that is why I have been calling for him to come out and speak on the matter.
“Because people keep referring to the 500 missing excavators as a failure of the government but this is not the truth. He has to come and explain to Ghanaians what actually transpired for peace to prevail.
“Prof Frimpong-Boateng owes a duty of care to the state… you have made a reckless statement which is now hanging on the government, come out and tell Ghanaians what you said is false for the government to be exonerated,” he said in Twi.
Prof Frimpong-Boateng in 2020 alleged that some members of the ruling NPP including former First Vice-Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Central, Horace Ekow Ewusi, had sold 500 excavators, the government seized from illegal miners.
The General Secretary of Convention Peoples Party (CPP), Nana Yaa Jantuah, has called for the immediate resignation of the past Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Blay, as the board chairman of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).
She explained that Blay had to resign because his law firm is representing the accomplices of the alleged illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) kingpin, Aisha Huang, who the government, which he is part of, is prosecuting.
Speaking in a TV3 interview monitored by GhanaWeb, Jantuah berated Freddie Blay for defending Aisha Huang’s accomplices.
He reiterated that the action of the former NPP chairman is ethically wrong and amounts to a clear case of conflict of interest.
“This is a man who is part of the governance of an organization in the NPP government and his law firm is defending galamsey. What do they seek to achieve? Are they just playing?
“I thought he had even left GNPC, but he is still there. Being the board chair is not of GNPC, it means you are part of the government. It is the people who are in government who become board chairmen because it is assumed and believed that they believe in the agenda of the government in power. That is why they put them there, to direct governance as board chairman.
“You are in government and your firm is defending a government that the president of this country has put his job on the line to stop. I think he should resign as board chair of GNPC. I don’t know why he is still there because it is a conflict of interest. You can eat your cake and have it,” she said.
She indicated that she is very disheartened that a member of the government is supporting something that is killing Ghanaians and destroying the country’s lands and water bodies.
Freddie Blay, who is the immediate past chairman of the NPP, has come under heavy criticism after it emerged that he is the main lawyer for Huang’s four co-accused in a case related to galamsey.
Lucy Ekeleba Blay, a private legal practitioner, in court on Tuesday (October 11), said that she was holding brief for Freddie Blay in the case of the four accomplices in the persons of Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go and Zhang Zhipeng.
Dr Kofi Amoah has charged the powers that be to go the whole nine yards in dealing with persons and companies that flout the nation’s laws on mining.
The astute businessman and economist was reacting to news that structures and machinery belonging to Akonto Mining had been burned by government officials because it had no permit and thus was illegally mining in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve.
In a tweet shared on Thursday, Dr Amoah wrote, “No More Tin “gods” in Ghana. AKONTA MINING must be prosecuted for engaging in illegal mining in an area it had no permit. Burning of structures must not be the end but the beginning of having the laws of Ghana to work Hon Jinapor must show his mettle now!
Akonta Mining which has been in the news lately is owned by New Patriotic Party, NPP, Ashanti Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi Bosiako, alias Chairman Wontumi.
According to reports, the destruction of the properties took place on Wednesday, October 12, 2022.
Pictures shared by myjoyonline.com showed several structures made of wood and roofing sheets burning along with some amount of machinery believed to be used in the firm’s operations.
Akonta Mining, which Wontumi insists was into regular mining and not illegal small-scale mining, that is galamsey, was operating from the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve until recently when the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources ordered a halt to their operations.
No More Tin “gods” in Ghana
AKONTA MINING must be prosecuted for engaging in illegal mining in an area it had no permit
Burning of structures must not be the end but the beginning of having the laws of Ghana to work
Hon Jinapor must show his mettle now! https://t.co/XkfRxuxlo2
— CitizenKofi (@amoah_citizen) October 13, 2022
The operation was thus undertaken almost 24-hours after deputy Lands Minister, Benito Owusu-Bio had toured the affected forest reserve.
In a statement issued on September 30 and signed by minister Samuel Abu Jinapor, the Ministry said the firm did not have license to operate from “the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve in the Amenfi West Municipality in the Western Region.”
The ruling government has had a difficult time fighting the illegal mining menace which threatens the food and water security of the country.
According to experts, if the rate and scale of the galamsey destruction is not halted, Ghana will have to import water in the next few years due to the obliteration of the various water bodies.
Former deputy General Secretary of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Koku Anyidoho, has said that the outgoing General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, should have been sacked from the party after the 2016 election.
According to him, Asiedu Nketia, who was the party’s National Campaign Director in the 2016 elections, should have been sacked because he was mainly responsible for the NDC losing that election.
In a tweet shared on Tuesday (October 12), Anyidoho added that Nketia was responsible for the loss of the Tain parliamentary seat even though the constituency is a stronghold of the NDC.
“Asiedu-Nketiah should have been SACKED from NDC at the end of the 2016 General Election, when, as GS & National Campaign Manager, he was viciously responsible for the disgraceful loss of his TAIN constituency – a very safe NDC Seat. His evil antics shall no longer be tolerated,” the tweet Anyidoho shared read.
Meanwhile, Johnson Asiedu Nketia has officially declared his intention to contest for the chairmanship position of the NDC.
Mr. Nketia made the declaration in a joint interview on Accra100.5FM and CTV morning shows, today, Thursday, October 13, 2022.
“Yes, I have the intention of picking up a form to contest the chairmanship position when nominations are opened,” the NDC scribe told joint hosts Emmanuel Quarshie (The Hitman) and Nana Out Darko.
Mr. Nketia also debunked assertions that the General Secretary position might be weakened when he hangs his boots from that role.
The NDC goes to congress on the December 17, 2022.
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has been charged to continue to pursue the vision of renowned Ghanaian politician, teacher and king Simon Diedong (SD) Dombo.
Chief of Duori, Naa Dombo III during a courtesy call on him by the Vice President as part of his official working visit to the Upper West Region, tasked him with the responsibility of pursuing to the letter, the vision of the late Member of Parliament for Jirapa-Lambussie, who was a key founder of the Northern People’s Party, the forebears of today’s New Patriotic Party.
According to him, the family acknowledges his contributions in re-igniting the link between the two families that championed the vision of the tradition.
He described his intervention as timely and prayed God grants him the strength and fortitude to soldier till the dream of the two families that started decades ago is achieved.
“We acknowledge your intervention in re-establishing the link between the Dombos and the Bawumias. I am by this tasking you to pursue the vision of your father Dombo from where he left off. You have henceforth been tasked with the responsibility as a true son to achieve this dream that was birthed decades ago”, he charged.
Naa Dombo III also bestowed on him a Chieftaincy title “Leweh” to wit “the chief (Dombo) has returned”.
He explained that it was as a result of the traits of the late SD Dombo seen in Dr Mahamudu Bawumia that led the Dombo family to honour him with the title to encourage him to achieve his assigned task. Dr. Bawumia was also named as co-Chairman of the SD Dombo Foundation.
An elated Bawumia later paid glowing tribute to one of the pillars of the NPP at his graveside where he laid a wreath and prayed for his peaceful repose.
The late Douri-Na, was reputed to be the first educated chieftain in the Upper Region of Ghana.
He was one of the founders of the Northern People’s Party and became its first Chairman with Mumuni Bawumia (the Vice President’s father as Vice Chairman). The Northern Peoples Party later merged with other parties to form the United Party.
During the Second Republic, Dombo was also a member of the first Parliament under the membership of the ruling Progress Party after he was elected in the 1969 Ghanaian general elections.
He was Minister for Health and then Minister for Interior in the Busia administration.
Social media activist and convenor of the #FixTheCountry pressure group has filed an application at the High Court praying the Court to throw out the Attorney General’s bill of indictment and summary of evidence filed against him to stand trial at the High Court on two counts of Treason felony.
Oliver Mawuse Barker-Vormawor has been indicted by the State on two counts of treason felony contrary to section 182(b) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) and treason felony contrary to section 182(b) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).
In Court
In Court today 13 October 2022, a lawyer for #FixTheCountry convenor, Justice Srem-Sia told the Court presided over by Justice Mary Yanzuh, that he has filed the said application and served it on the State.
Assistant State Attorney, Alice Odame Koranteng when she stood up on her feet indicated in Court that the Attorney-General’s department is yet to see the application.
However, the state she said will get it and respond appropriately to it. She, therefore, asked the Court for an adjournment so she can do the needful.
By Court
Justice Mary Yanzuh’s Court after hearing the parties ruled that the case cannot continue until the application of the accused person has been heard.
To that end, she adjourned the sitting to Friday 21 October 2022, for the applicant’s lawyers to move their motion.
Bill of Indictment
The Bill of Indictment dated 30 May 2022 and signed by the Director of Public Prosecution, Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa, which is now being challenged by #FixTheCountry convenor, notes that “Oliver Mawuse Barker-Vormawor, in February 2022, in Ghana, through a post on your Twitter social media account published to people in Ghana and the rest of the world, endeavoured to usurp the executive powers of the Republic by advocating for the violent overthrow of the constitution”.
Witnesses/Exhibits
According to the summary of the evidence, the state indicates that it intends to call three witnesses at trial. They are Andrew Okyere, No 55341 D/CONST Dunstan Guba and D/CPL Mark Owusu.
The state will also be tendering some eight exhibits to support their case at the trial. They are the investigation cautioned statement of the accused (Oliver Mawuse Barker-Vormawor) dated 11 February 2022, Charged statement of the accused dated 11 February 2022 and the investigation cautioned statement of the accused dated 16 February 2022.
The remaining exhibits are the charge statement of the accused dated April 1, 2022, Facebook and Twitter posts of the accused person from February 2021 to February 2022, the Facebook post of the accused person on 30 April 2022, an Intelligence report from the Cybercrime unit, and an Intelligence report from National Security.
Background
In a series of Facebook posts that led to the arrest of Barker-Vormawor on 11 February 2022 and his ongoing prosecution, he described the Ghana Armed Forces as “useless” for not acting despite the public uproar against the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy), which came into effect on 1 May 2022.
“If this E-Levy passes after this cake bullshit, I will do the coup myself. Useless Army!” Barker-Vormawor wrote in one of his posts.
In another post, he said: “Okay, let’s try again. If this E-Levy still passes after this cake bullshit, then may God …. Help us to resist the oppressor’s rule, with all our will and might forevermore. (2x). Useless Army. Anaa, the value is the same?”
Police arrest
Oliver Mawuse Barker-Vormawor was picked up by the Tema Regional Police on Saturday 12 February 2022, for allegedly saying that he would stage a coup in Ghana if Parliament passed the E-Levy Bill.
A police statement published on 12 February 2022 said that Barker-Vormawor is being kept at the Tema Regional Police Command to assist with further investigations into his social media post.
First court sitting
After his charges were read to him in open court on 14 February, Assistant Superintendent of Police Sylvester Asare, read the brief facts. Barker-Vormawor’s lawyer, Akoto Ampaw, applied for bail for his client but the state opposed the application.
In her ruling at the Ashaiman district court, Magistrate Eleanor Barnes Botchway said she did not have the mandate to grant bail in a case involving a charge of treason felony.
She subsequently remanded the accused into police custody and, working with the two-week timeline required by law to have the accused on remand make an appearance in court, she adjourned the sitting to 28 February 2022.
Brief facts
The brief facts as presented in court by DSP Sylvester Asare state that “the accused person is a lawyer and convenor of a social movement, namely ‘FixTheCountry’.
Sometime in February 2022, the Ashaiman Police received a report that the accused person was inciting some groups of persons believed to be members of the FixTheCountry movement.
“That on receipt of the report, the police mounted surveillance on the accused person until his arrest at Kotoka International Airport on Friday 11 February 2022, when he arrived from the United Kingdom (UK). Preliminary investigation has revealed that the accused is a lawyer and a PhD student at Cambridge University, UK.”
The facts further say that “it has also been established during investigation that the accused for some time now has been inciting some group[s] of persons through the social media [sic] to undertake an unlawful enterprise to usurp the executive powers of the Government of Ghana”.
“Pursuant to his preparation to usurp the executive powers of the Government of Ghana, accused further published on his Facebook wall that the Ghana army is useless and went ahead to declare his intention in a Facebook post to stage a coup if the Electronic Transaction Levy [E-Levy] is passed by Parliament.”
The National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi, has stated that he will be filing a notice of appeal and an application for stay of execution to challenge a decision of the High Court that went against him.
Sammy Gyamfi had been dragged to court by the Minister of Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, for alleging that one of the suspects arrested in connection with the kidnapping of some two Canadian girls in Kumasi, Seidu Mba, was his (Dr. Prempeh’s) errand boy.
This was during the period when Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh was the Minister of Education in 2009.
After years in court, the General Jurisdiction High Court (12) in Accra, presided over by Justice Charles Gyamfi Danquah on Thursday, October 13, 2022, ruled against Sammy Gyamfi, ordering him to pay GH¢500,000 damages to the complainant, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh.
In his response in a post on Facebook, Sammie Gyamfi stated that while the court ruled against him, he disagreed with the decision, adding that the court erred.
“After three years of litigation, the court today held that the said comment was defamatory and consequently awarded damages of GH500,000.00 and cost of GH50,000.00 against me.
“It is my considered view that the honorable court erred as its decision is contrary to the evidence that was put before the court. More importantly, I hold the view that the court’s decision to totally disregard the testimony of my witness, DW1, Mafus Jibril who testified that the said Seidu Mba was in fact the errand boy of Plaintiff and was in his company when he (DW1) was attacked in Manhyia sometime in 2012, constitutes a grave miscarriage of justice,” he wrote.
He added that he will take up the case in a higher court, hopeful that he will be served justice.
“Consequently, my lawyers will be filing a notice of appeal and an application for stay of execution to challenge the decision of the High Court forthwith. It’s my hope that justice will be served,” he added.
Commenting on his victory, the Minister of Energy, who is also the Member of Parliament for Manhyia South, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, issued a statement to express his happiness about the outcome of the case.
“A declaration that the words complained of and published by the defendant and contained in paragraph 14 herein are defamatory of the Plaintiff’s character.
“An order of the honourable court directed at the defendant to publish an unqualified retraction and an apology with the same prominence of the defamatory words received within seven days after the judgment.
“An order of the honourable court for a perpetual injunction restraining the defendant, his agents, assigns, servants and any person claiming authority from the defendant from further making/or publishing any defamatory words against the Plaintiff.
“The sum of One million Ghana Cedis (GHS1,000,000) in damages for the defamation,” the statement said.
The National Communications Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress, Sammy Gyamfi, has been ordered to pay GH¢500,000 damages to the Minister of Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, by the General Jurisdiction High Court (12) in Accra.
This comes after the court, which was presided over by Justice Charles Gyamfi Danquah, ruled in favour of the minister on a defamation suit he filed in 2019 against Sammy Gyamfi.
Dr. Opoku Prempah, when he was the education minister, sued the NDC communicator for alleging that one of the suspects arrested in connection with the kidnapping of two Canadian girls in Kumasi, Seidu Mba, was his (Dr. Prempah’s) errand boy.
The energy minister, who is also the Member of Parliament for Manhyia North, asked that the court awards him GH¢1,000,000 in damages against Gyamfi.
“A declaration that the words complained of and published by the defendant and contained in paragraph 14 herein are defamatory of the Plaintiff’s character.
“An order of the honourable court directed at the defendant to publish an unqualified retraction and an apology with the same prominence of the defamatory words received within seven days after the judgment.
“An order of the honourable court for a perpetual injunction restraining the defendant, his agents, assigns, servants and any person claiming authority from the defendant from further making/or publishing any defamatory words against the Plaintiff.
“The sum of One million Ghana Cedis (GHS1,000,000) in damages for the defamation,” a declaration statement by the energy minister read.
During the hearing on Thursday (October 13, 2022), Justice Charles Gyamfi Danquah ruled that Sammy Gyamfi, by his comments, defamed Dr. Opoku Prempeh, asaaseradio.com reports.
In addition to the GH¢500,000, the judge ordered Sammy Gyamfi to apologise and retract the defamatory statement he made with the same prominence the defamatory words received within seven days after the judgment.
He also ordered the NDC National Communicator not to make or publish defamatory words against the energy minister.
He said the committee was obligated to initiate pragmatic policies and actions to prepare the Authority to effectively deliver on its mandate in the nation’s nuclear power programme.
Dr. Kwaku Afriyie (middle) with the members of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority Board
Inaugurating the board, in Accra yesterday, he also tasked the board to ensure that nuclear devices for medical and agriculture purposes that would come into the country were well regulated.
The seven-member board which is the thirdfor the NRA is chaired by Professor Aba A. BentilAndam, a fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences with members including Professor Isabella A. Quakyi also from the Academy.
Others are Colonel Tim Ba-Taa-Banah, National Security Ministry; Daniel Adumuah, Adentan Municipal Chief Executive; Ebenezer Appah-Sampong, Environmental Protection Agency; DrNii K. Allotey, NRA and Prof. Edward Akaho, Former Director-General of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission.
After many years of preparations, President Akufo-Addo, last month, approved the inclusion of nuclear power into the country’s power generation mix, indicating readiness to go nuclear.
The announcement of the government’s approval, called the National Position, is one of the key 19 infrastructure issues under phase one of the programme, a guideline set by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“The board is a requirement in international circles, because if it does not exist we would not have the IAEA permission to proceed and that would be against international law, so this board is very important,” said Dr Afriyie.
He said the country, having completed the first phase, had initiated the second phase with a call for expression of interest from vendors and identification of sites for the project.
“Your inputs should ensure the proper management of the resources of the Authority, and also ensure that the Authority is abreast with all emerging new technologies.
“I urge you to be passionate about this duty, bring your years of experience, expertise and excellence which all of you are noted for, to bear on the task ahead. Above all, take your mandate as a “sacred calling” for which posterity would applaud your memory,” he said.
Prof. Andam thanked and assured the president that the board would be committed to the task ahead, initiate policies and see their quick implementation, and ensure good governance in the NRA.
“I can attest to the fact that members of this board are known for their lives of service and commitment to the nation. This gives me the confidence that history will show that in our day we met the demands which our time requires of us,” she said.
A total of 187 persons charged with different mining offences have been convicted and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment in the Eastern Region since 2017.
They include 29 Nigeriens, seven Nigerians and three Chinese.
The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame told journalists that prosecution was conducted by the Eastern Region Office of the Attorney-General headed by Chief State Attorney, Mrs Emily Addo-Okyireh.
Mr Dame said since the designation of the High Court 3 and Circuit Court B, in Koforidua as courts to deal with illegal mining cases by the Chief Justice, Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah, the Office of the Attorney-General prosecuted all cases on illegal mining brought to its attention.
He said most of the cases were tried in Circuit Court B, Koforidua presided over by Mrs Mercy Adei-Kotey, now a Justice of the High Court.
The Attorney General said that most of the accused were tried and sentenced under the old section 99 of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703).
The Section 99(1) of Act 703 prescribed a penalty of a minimum fine of three thousand penalty units or imprisonment for a term of not more than five years for the offence of buying or selling minerals without a licence.
For the offence of undertaking a small scale mining operation without a licence or acting in contravention of a provision of Act 703 in respect of which an offence is created, section 99(2) of Act 703 stipulated a penalty of a minimum fine of one thousand penalty units or to imprisonment for a term not more than three years.
Mr Dame said in spite of that provision, prosecutors succeeded in getting custodial sentences imposed on the accused in 40 out of the 48 cases being prosecuted, with the court exercising discretion to impose a fine in eight of the cases.
Under the new law, Mr Dame noted that 33 of the convicted persons including 11 foreigners were convicted and sentenced under the new Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Act 995) between August 2021 and September 2022 and are currently serving various prison terms of 15 years, 20 years and 18 years together with fines imposed in the various cases in which they were convicted.
Mr Dame, however, expressed displeasure with the decision of the Circuit Court to impose sentences between three years and five years on the accused in five of the cases involving the trial of 47 persons, which were filed before the passage of Act 995 but which were determined after the Act had come into force on August, 19, 2019,
This, he said, was contrary to the law as Act 995 substituted the punishment regime provided for under Act 703 with a new punishment regime which increased the penalty for engaging in illegal mining operations and illegal trading in minerals.
In the view of the Attorney-General, the substitution of the former section 99 of Act 703 with a new section 99 under Act 995 implied that a court of law engaged with the conduct of a case pending before it, was obliged to apply the new penalties provided for by the law rather than applying the old penalties existing under the law which was no longer in force.
The Attorney-General indicated that of the 48 cases tried in the Eastern Region since 2017, in respect of which convictions have been secured, only one is on appeal.
He said that there were currently about 43 new cases involving the trial of about 250 persons including Chinese at Circuit Court B, Koforidua.
The Attorney-General said an update on the prosecution of illegal mining cases in other regions, particularly, Ashanti, Western and Greater-Accra Regions will be provided in due course.
The face of Plastic Partnership in Ghana, Naa Ayele Nobaatse, has reiterated the need for education on plastic waste in the country because of the irreparable damage it causes to the environment.
She explained that the effects are so damaging that they last for generations, especially since plastics never rust or degrade.
Speaking to a gathering during the Power of a Girl Conference organized by Power To Girls GH to mark this year’s International Day of the Girl Child, on the theme, “Girl Force, Unscripted and Unstoppable,” she stressed the importance of discouraging the improper disposal of plastics.
“If I ask you to name everything you’ve ever come across that are made of plastic, we’ll be here all day, if not more. Plastic is one of the most enduring and most powerful materials in the world. For example, put a piece of wood in the ground, and within a few years, it will be rotten. Put a piece of metal in the ground and within a few years, it will rust and decay but put plastic in the ground, above the ground, anywhere, and it remains there forever.
“This is a scary thing for the environment, and that’s why environmentalists are so concerned about how we recycle plastic,” she said.
The Power of a Girl Conference was organized by Power To Girls GH, headed by Aisha Addo.
The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, on Tuesday, cut sod for the construction of a $2 million Astroturf at Tumu in the Upper West Region.
Measuring 100 by 120 feet respectively, the multi-purpose pitch being sponsored by Ghana Gas will be completed in six months.
Speaking at the ceremony the Vice President stated that the government was doing its best to bring development to every sector of the country, although it sometimes appeared slower than expected and said the needs of the youth was at the heart of government’s agenda.
“As a country, one of our biggest challenges is youth unemployment, so government has paid close attention to this area so that even though the problem has not been solved entirely, the New Patriotic Party government has created more jobs than any other government in the 4th Republic and you can bear witness to this,” he said.
He mentioned that 600,000 people were on government’s payroll at the time the party came to power and said an additional 400,000 people had been recruited in the last five years in the health and education sectors as well as the various security services.
To ensure that the youth measured up to the human resource needs of the country, the Vice President said the government had dedicated resources to ensuring that every young person in the country attained at least a senior high school certificate hence the introduction of the free senior high school policy.
“The policy has led to a surge in enrolment into senior high school by 50 per cent and more girls are being enrolled leading to gender parity; government is also paying attention to vocational education by establishing a Technical Education Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training (TEVET) service and also included them in the free SHS policy.
He mentioned that government was building ultra-modern technical educational institutions across the country and retooling existing ones as in the case of St Claires in Tumu.
Touching on the Tumu-Wa road, Dr Bawumia promised the people of Tumu that the government would deliberate on how to acquire a dedicated fund to pay road contractors in the area to ensure that they expedite action on the construction of the road.
“I have been briefly informed that five contractors are supposed to work on the Wa-Tumu road but only one is currently at work due to non-payment of contracts as a result of challenges with disbursement of the internally generated funds (IGF) at the assembly so it is necessary that we have an input as a government to see how these contractors can be paid to make them get back to work”, he stressed.
The senior manager for Community Relations and Corporate Social Responsibility at the Ghana Gas, Mr Stephen Donkor, said the astroturf pitch was one of the numerous ways the company would want to support the development of northern Ghana and appealed to the Municipal Chief Executive to monitor the project to ensure it was delivered on time.
In a speech, the Chief of Tumu, Kuoro Richard Babini Kanton IV lauded the project as relevant and said it would provide the youth the opportunity to nurture their talents in sports and enable them to spend their leisure prudently away from social vices.
Mr. Sam Codjoe, the defence lawyer for the ex-CEO of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Dr. Stephen Opuni, has strongly argued against a suggestion by Chief State Attorney Evelyn Keelson, that his client, who, recently, had four surgical operations on his left eye, and, as a result, has been given a six-week excuse duty by his medical doctor from participating in any stressful activities, should be made to continue sitting in his trial regarding the GHS271 million financial loss case, virtually.
In his view, granting that request by the chief state attorney will be taking Ghana to the “Dark Ages”.
Four separate surgeries on his left eye compelled Dr. Opuni to miss the resumption of his trial on Tuesday, 11 October 2022, after a two-month break.
Dr. Opuni, the first accused person, is being tried with private businessman Seidu Agongo, the second accused person, in connection with the prosecution’s assertion that they caused the state to lose some GHS271 million in a fraudulent procurement of Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser from the latter’s agrochemical company, Agricult, the third accused person.
They have all pleaded not guilty to the offences and are on a GHS300,000 self-recognisance bail in the more-than-four-year-old trial.
During the hearing on Tuesday, Dr. Opuni’s lawyer informed the court, presided over by Supreme Court judge Clemence Honyenuga that his client had been given a six-week excuse duty by his doctor so he could stay away from all activities that risked straining the surgically operated eye to enable proper healing.
“My Lord, the first accused [person] is not in court today due to the fact that he’s had surgery on his eye and we have given this court a copy of the medical report indicating that he has had four different surgeries on his eye. My Lord, as contained in the medical report, he’s been given a six-week excuse duty to enable the left eye to heal. My Lord, this is the reason why he is not present in court,” Mr Codjoe explained.
He added: “And my Lord, yesterday [Monday, 10 October 2022], I showed the prosecution a copy of the medical report but because it is a confidential document, which is, it contains details of the exact surgery, so, I informed my learned friend of the exact surgery, so, I did not give them a hard copy of the actual medical report because of the confidential nature.”
“My Lord, this explains the absence of the first accused [person] in court and my Lord, as a result of his absence due to ill health, we pray that this court adjourns this case to the end of the six-week period commencing from the 23rd day of September 2022,” he pleaded.
He indicated: “My Lord, the basis of our seeking this adjournment is because the first accused person, in the exercise of his constitutional rights under Article 19(3) of the 1992 Constitution, wants to be present during the trial. Unfortunately, he’s unable to because of ill health.”
Mr Codjoe, thus, prayed the court to adjourn the matter to a time after the expiration of the six-week excuse duty, “in accordance with this constitutional provision,” which, he noted was interpreted in the case of George Bonson, alias Benjillo v the Republic.
In a rebuttal, chief state attorney Evelyn Keelson argued: “My Lord, the first accused person, who is on bail, is required to be present in this court, as undertaken in his bail conditions. My Lord, we have seen a medical report indicating that the first accused [person] has had surgery on his left eye; and in that report, the medical director has indicated that he needs six weeks to rest the eye for proper healing.”
“Respectfully, my Lord, this statement by the medical director is not binding on this honourable court. My Lord, the medical director did not indicate the basis for the six weeks he has indicated in the report. My Lord, under section 169(2) of Act 30, this honourable court cannot adjourn this matter for more than one month; and has already indicated that this court is not bound by the report, I pray that the court invites the medical director to give further and better particulars to his request for the first accused [person] to be excused for six weeks,” she went on.
She also proposed: “My Lord, in the alternative, this court can sit virtually to accommodate the first accused [person]. Indeed, my Lord, during the vacation, we were sitting virtually and it worked very well.”
Mrs Keelson also said: “My Lord, I want to state that nobody has taken away or seeks to take away the first accused person’s right under article 19(3) to be present at his trial. The first accused person is on bail and is at liberty to attend the trial.”
Citing the same case referred to by Dr Opuni’s lawyer to counter a point made by the defence team, Mrs Keelson said: “My Lord, these matters were clearly explained in the case my learned friend cited; the Benjillo case, so, my Lord, it is, therefore, our submission that this court, in the exercise of its discretion, can proceed with the case without infringing Article 19(3) since, as I have stated, the doctor’s opinion for the accused person to stay away for six weeks, is not binding on this honourable court.”
In her view, “My Lord, this court can grant the accused person some days but certainly not six weeks as suggested by the medical doctor, especially when he is not admission.”
However, Mr Codjoe counter-argued that the reasons for the six-week excuse duty were stated in paragraph 2 of the medical report contrary to the assertion by the chief state attorney, who interrupted and insisted the reasons had not been elaborated by the medical director and wondered where Dr Opuni’s lawyer was reading the alleged reasons from.
Mr Codjoe noted that though his team had no objection to the proposed summoning of the medical doctor before the court, it was “most unfortunate” for the chief state attorney to suggest that the first accused person, who is “not supposed to sit” and is “not supposed to engage in any activity which will put stress on his left eye, sit in a virtual trial and lie down in a virtual trial. My Lord, this is most unacceptable even in military regimes.”
“My Lord, even under section 170(2) of Act 30, once the person is ill and the court is satisfied that the person is ill, which can only be done through a medical report and not by a physical examination by the chief state attorney, the court grants an adjournment,” he further argued.
Mr Codjoe noted: “My Lord, by this section, it does not limit this court to the period of adjournment and my Lord, we submit that insofar as the person is ill and recovering from surgery on his eye, then the court should grant the adjournment for the accused [person] to recuperate.”
Adjourning the matter, he noted, would not be unusual in the circumstance.
“My Lord, I would add that this court will not be doing anything unreasonable or illegal, in that, the attorney general’s department, as recently as August of this year, adjourned the Ato Forson case, for very good reasons, to January.”
“My Lord, the final point is the suggestion by the prosecution that in spite of the fact that the first accused [person] is ill, the court should still put him on trial. This will take us to the Dark Ages of Ghana when we didn’t have a Constitution and/or a democracy,” he told the court.
The lawyer for the second and third accused persons, Mr Emmanuel Kumadi, said: “My Lord, respectfully, we associate ourselves with the submission by counsel for the first accused person, especially where some of the offences for which the accused persons are standing trial before this honourable court, is based on conspiracy. My Lord, it’s our humble submission that the presence of the first accused person will be needed for the continuation of the case, especially when he did not elect not to be present.”
After hearing both sides, Justice Honyenuga said: “Looking at the circumstances of this case, it is my view that in order to clear any controversy or doubts about the medical report before this court, I will order the medical director … to appear before this court with all the records on the first accused [person].”
“The Registrar of this court is to ensure that this order is served on the said medical director per his address as stated on the medical report. In the circumstances, I will adjourn this matter to Monday, the 17th of October 2022 at 10 a.m.”
The founder of Heavenway Champion International Ministries, Evangelist Patricia Oduro Koranteng has again been denied bail by an Accra Circuit Court.
The court presided over by Justice Bright Acquah on Thursday, October 13, 2022, struck out a bail plea by her lawyer, Reynold Twumasi.
This was after an initial bail denial during her first hearing in court on October 10.
State Prosecutor, represented by DSP Sylvester Asare during today’s hearing, had prayed the court for a 2-week extension of remand for the accused on the basis that, investigations were still ongoing and needed to be concluded.
This was countered by counsel for the accused who argued that there are no ongoing investigations as prosecution seeks to establish and that nothing substantial had so far been found on his client. He added that his client will be able to meet all bail conditions.
The prosecution however noted that some 30 new witnesses had emerged who had to be investigated and results concluded.
Presiding Judge, Bright Acquah subsequently granted the plea for extended remand, but however indicated that prosecution has 4 days instead of an additional week to conclude investigations for trial to proceed.
The case has since been adjourned till Monday, October 17, 2022.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Police Service have arrested repented fetish priestess, Nana Agradaa, now known as Evangelist Mama Pat.
This was announced in a statement by the Service shared via its social media handles on Sunday, October 9, 2022.
“The Police have arrested Patricia Asiedua alias Nana Agradaa following allegations of money doubling scam levelled against her by some members of the public. The suspect is currently assisting police investigation,” the statement said.
Nana Agradaa’s arrest comes on the back of allegations made by scores of her church members, who claimed that she had scammed them after an all-night service.
The former fetish priestess had advertised in a viral video that she was going to give out monies to people who would attend her all night church service on Friday, October 7, 2022.
Things however did not go as planned for many of the people who attended the service as many of them cried foul that they had given out monies to her but she failed to keep to her side of the agreement.
She eventually is reported to have sent the people away from the church, prompting the alarms they raised online.
The police have since called on all persons who were affected by the supposed scam to report to the Accra Regional Police Command to help with the investigations.
“Anyone who is a victim of the alleged money doubling scam should report to the Accra Regional Police Command for further action to assist the investigation,” it added.
Speaking in a Peace FM interview monitored by GhanaWeb, the deputy minister alleged that persons accusing him of engaging in illegal mining are part of a cartel who what him to support their chieftaincy bids.
The deputy minister, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tarkwa Nsuaem, made this remark while reacting to contrasting statements by different factions of chiefs from Tarkwa on his involvement in illegal small-scale mining, otherwise known as ‘galamsey’.
“There is a whole chieftaincy issue. If you monitored the 2020 elections, you would have observed this. There is a cartel against me. They think I have to support their chieftaincy bids.
“That is all this hullaballoo is about. Otherwise, why this counter and all that? As I have stated earlier, it does not matter even whether this person is a chief or not. What is important is the allegation. And whether he (the chief making the allegations against him) is a non-entity or not, it is important for us to observe that whatever you allege, you must provide it.
“You can not just speculate and go free,” he said in Twi.
Nana Nyonwah Panyin IV, the Chief of Dompim-Pepesa, a community in the Western Region, had accused some government officials, including the deputy lands minister, of being behind the illegal mining menace in the country.
George Mireku Duker had denied this allegation levelled against him by the chief and has filed a suit in court.
