Personnel from the Central Regional Police Command have arrested a third person in connection with the murder of Ms. Georgina Asor Botchwey, according to a Ghana News Agency report.
The suspect, 26-year-old mason, who was identified as Abbey, is said to have been contracted by one of the accused persons to dig the pit in which the victim was hurriedly buried.
Abbey is said to be an in-law of ‘contractor’ Christopher Ekow Quansah, (Nana Clarke) the Tufuhen of Mankessim, who is facing charges of murder along with self-styled pastor, Michael Darko (Sofo Kofi).
The GNA report said Quansah, confessed to have hired the husband of one Esi Akyere to dig the pit in his houses at Mankessim.
Police with the support of the chiefs arrested Abbey who happens to be a member
of the community youth volunteer group. He confessed receiving GH¢50in two installments after earlier denying that he had been contracted.
Abbey said the Tufohen paid him a first instalments of ¢20 and ¢30 after he had completed the task.
Baffled by the revelation of the suspect, the sources said, the chiefs assembled all the members of the Youth Volunteer Group and impressed on them to confess if they were complicit in the murder case, but they all denied any knowledge of it, the GNA report added.
Meanwhile, family of the victim were a the Cape Coast Regional Hospital mortuary where they identified the body of Ms. Botchwey.
The deadline for SIM card re-registration ends today, September 30, 2022.
This comes after the Minister for Communication and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, extended the deadline for the sim card re-registration initially scheduled for July 31, 2022.
The minister said the extension had become necessary owing to challenges such as delays in the rollout of a self-serving registration app and delays in the acquisition of Ghana Cards, which is the mandatory document for the registration.
“Upon consultation with the industry and in view of the challenges enumerated above, I have very reluctantly decided to grant a final conditional extension.
“The programme will be extended to September 30 to end on the anniversary of its commencement. That will give us one full year of SIM registration to be reviewed at the end of this month and any SIM that has not been fully registered by the end of August will be barred from fully receiving certain services including voice and data services. It will also be more expensive to use unregistered SIMs. The full range of punitive measures will be announced at another press briefing in September,” the minister stated.
The SIM card registration exercise began on October 31 2021, and was expected to end on March 31 2022; however, as of March 17, over 14 million SIM cards had been linked to the Ghana Card, with over 10 million Bio-captures conducted and 99,445 new SIMs registered.
Due to some factors, including the fact that over 7.5 million citizens and residents were yet to obtain Ghana Cards to enable them to register their SIM cards, it was clear the deadline for completion of the re-registration of the remaining active SIM cards could not be met.
As a result, the ministry extended the deadline to July 31, 2022.
However, many are still facing challenges in acquiring their Ghana Card.
Another suspect has been arrested in connection with the ritual murder in Mankessim of a student nurse, Georgina Asor Botchwey.
The Ghana News Agency, reported the name of the suspect as one Abbey, he is said to be the husband to the niece of one of the suspects, Nana Clarke. The Modern Ghana news portal gave his name as Kobbie.
According to reports, he was hired to dig the hole in which the deceased was buried at Nana Clarke’s residence in Mankessim.
He becomes the third suspect to be picked in connection with the murder, the two others being Nana Clarke (real name Christopher Ekow Quansah) and Pastor Michael Darko Amponsah (Sofo Kofi).
The two are facing charges of conspiracy to commit crime to wit murder and murder, contrary to Section 46 of the Criminal and Other Offences Act, 1980, Act 29.
A Cape Coast District court presided over Her Lordship Bernice Mensima Ackon remanded them on their last appearance on September 2.
The court agreed to the request of prosecution – led by DSP Daniel Gadzo – for more time to conclude investigations. The case was adjourned to October 4, 2022.
Watch the latest episode of The Lowdown below:
The Lowdown: Role of the diaspora in the development of Africa
CEO of the Aaron Manvel Foundation Millie Lorene Tucker and Gary Hope, the CEO of FLCC – Bring Back Hope Foundation underscore the need for the African diaspora to help develop the continent in this episode of The Lowdown on GhanaWeb TV. According to the women trying to make and create a change in Ghana, our forefathers were sold away and made to develop strange lands. Thus, coming back home and developing their home country is the best thing to do especially when resources are available.
Bernard Allotey Jacobs has charged the leadership and members of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) to protect the President of the Republic, Akufo-Addo, at all costs.
The former National Democratic Congress (NDC) Central Regional Chairman was alarmed at the embarrassment that the president had to endure at the Global Citizen Festival held in Accra on Saturday, 24th September, 2022.
The President was booed by a section of the crowd gathered at the event while addressing them.
The disgruntled patrons could be heard chanting ‘away’ to elicit their disapproval of the President’s presence during the concert which was televised on national screens and via YouTube to an audience across the globe.
Expressing his resentments over the patrons’ conduct, Allotey Jacobs accused the opposition NDC of orchestrating the move.
As a veteran in politics, he strongly believed the NDC stationed some people within the crowd to hoot at the president and also mobilized bloggers to blog it so as to create an impression that Nana Addo is unpopular with the masses.
“You would realize that some bloggers have been organized behind the scene just to take pictures and then make noise about and that is propaganda,” he told Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM’s morning show “Kokrokoo”.
Allotey also took a swipe at the rank and file of the NPP for failing to avert the incident.
“Your leader is always your leader. You should ensure any path he charts is clear. What he (President) said was full of wisdom and hope . . . They should be conscious of themselves that though it’s left with two years for the President to end his tenure, once he is the leader of the party, he needs the protection of every party member. For the party, your leader is more important than anything else,” he advised the ruling party.
Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani, Mr Dramani said though the chances of the NDC regaining political power remained high, it would not be an easy battle.
He, therefore, asked the members and supporters to intensify campaigns for victory.
He said the Party needed loyal and committed members to reach out to and propagate the proven track records and achievements of the NDC to persuade the voting population at the grassroots.
Mr Dramani, now vying for the Deputy Constituency Organiser position in the Party’s impending branch elections, said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) had failed Ghanaians and was unable to fulfil the majority of its 2020 election promises.
This, he added, had provided an opportunity for the NDC to take advantage to intensify its campaign to make Ghanaians understand that “it is only the NDC that can alleviate their plight.”
Mr Dramani said: “We need a vibrant youth to lead the Party in the constituency not only to capture that seat from the NPP but also widen the presidential votes in the next general election.”
He appealed to supporters to contribute their quota to help rebuild and strengthen the Party to recapture power from the NPP to better the lives of the ordinary people.
Deputy Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts Minister, Mark Okraku Mantey, is among the few government appointees who has a totally divergent view on the recent incident where President Akufo-Addo was reportedly booed.
In interview on Accra-based Hitz FM, Okraku Mantey said he was at the Black Star Square for the Global Citizen Festival but did not hear any boos except cheers.
“I was there. Until I left there and came home the following day, I didn’t know he was booed. I didn’t hear the chants, the shouts. I didn’t hear all that.
“I was with the president, his family, the Accra Mayor and the security team throughout the event. The crowd was too huge that it could have happened on just one side,” he stated during the interview.
His views are contrary to the New Patriotic Party’s position that the boos and jeers were orchestrated by members of the opposition National Democratic Congress.
Member of Parliament for Adaklu, Governs Kwame Agbodza, referencing the deputy Minister’s view that he only heard cheers for the president asked whether that meant it was the NDC members at the venue who were cheering the president.
In a tweet dated September 28, Agbodza asked: “Oh this is a new twist… It means the NDC organised the ‘CHEERING’ ?
“If so, then I guess President Akufo Addo must thank the NDC and encourage them to do more cheering…,” he added.
If so, then I guess President Akufo Addo must thank the NDC and encourage them to do more cheering…????
Thousands of patrons were at the Black Star Square to witness the concert that had a number of local and international artistes performing.
As host of the event, the president was called upon to give his remarks, which happened to be a prepared speech that lasted over six minutes.
The booing happened when he started his speech saying: “The whole world is in Ghana today.”
What started initially as people showing their disapproval of his presence on the stage, turned into loud clapping and chanting of the words: “away, away…,” the president, however, stayed the course and delivered his full speech.
As if that was not enough, people on social media latched on to the development to mock the president.
The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has assured customers of Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) of its commitment to ensuring that the Company resolves technical anomaly regarding the purchase of electricity.
The Commission, in a statement, said it was closely monitoring the situation and was in full discussions with the service provider to address the issue.
The ECG on Tuesday, September 27, 2022, informed its customers on the Ecash and PNS metering systems that due to a technical challenge, purchase of electricity credit had been interrupted, affecting customers in Volta, Takoradi, Tema, Cape Coast, Kasoa, Winneba, Swedru, Koforidua, Nkawkaw, and Tafo.
The Company on Thursday, September 29, 2022, said that it was working to rectify the technical anomaly, which had affected the purchase of electricity.
It, therefore, urged customers in the Greater Accra, Central, Eastern, Western and Volta regions to visit the Company’s district offices to purchase electricity.
Meanwhile, some customers have described the incident as unfortunate and asked the PURC to direct ECG to compensate those affected.
Northern Regional Minister Shani Alhassan Sayibu says eight hospitals under Agenda 111 in the Northern Region are expected to be completed by December 2023.
He said the Region which is also benefiting from the construction of a psychiatric hospital, the first of its kind in the five regions of the Northern part will also be done at the same time.
The Minister said this when he addressed stakeholders at the maiden Northern Regional Coordinating Council meeting for 2022.
The council meeting is the highest decision-making body in the region, which meets periodically to review the progress of the various activities, projects and programmes in the region.
Alhaji Shani said construction works have started in most of the districts whilst others are yet to commence.
He named the beneficiary districts and municipalities under the Agenda 111 projects as Mion, Wulensi, Kpandai, Saboba, Kumbungu, Nanton, Savelugu and Sagnarigu.
On security, the Minister commended the various security agencies for their proactive interventions which he said have contributed to reducing crime and insecurity in the region.
“We experienced some incidences earlier in the year, relating to some robberies in Tamale and some parts of the region.
“The response of our security agencies especially in Tamale has contributed to dealing with crime to the barest minimum. The current police visibility in town and traffic intersections has been quite effective,” he said.
Alhaji Shani urged the citizenry to support security in the fight against crime.
“We expect the cooperation and support of the entire citizenry to maintain law and order throughout the region,” he added.
He also cautioned those who engaged in negative activities such as wrongful parking, petty trading and among others around the Tamale interchange to desist from those activities.
“The Metropolitan Assembly should fashion out measures to ensure sanity at all times around the interchange”.
He also urged residents to inculcate the habit of monitoring activities of everyone and report suspicious behaviour and activities so that the police can deal with crimes like kidnapping, killing, armed robbery, rituals and occultism among other vices in the region.
“It is also imperative that we give attention to looming threats of violent extremism which has engulfed our neighbouring countries and especially, Burkina Faso.”
In education, the Minister urged the various assemblies to pay attention to the current and yet-to-be-written examinations adding that the students should be motivated to give in their best.
Alhaji Shani also talked of roads being constructed in the region to improve transportation and economic activities.
Judges and Magistrates have lamented the non-payment of their allowances on time, disclosing that their allowances are in arrears for several months.
According to the President of the Association of Magistrates and Judges, Justice Henry Kwofie, these allowances form an important part of their conditions of services and called on the government to honour this obligation.
Speaking at an annual conference of Judges and Magistrates, Justice Henry Kwofie explained that at the alarming rate of hike in food prices, it is necessary for their allowances to be paid on time so that it is not devalued.
“As I speak I am told that the fuel allowances for the first quarter was released only last week to the judicial service…I think that this is very necessary and that the situation where we always have to fight. You will recall My Lords that even this year some previous allowances outstanding from last year were paid and that was because of the instrumentality of the Chief Justice.
“I think that situation is not acceptable, allowances are part of our remuneration and we are entitled to it and we must be paid and paid promptly especially taking into consideration the recent increases in the price of fuel and petroleum products,” he lamented.
Justice Henry Kwofie also raised concerns about some courts which are in a deplorable state across the country and called on government to fix them.
Although he acknowledged government’s effort being made toward the accommodation of Judges, Justice Henry Kwofie said more needs to be done with respect to Judges’ accommodation.
“We want to draw the attention of the authorities while carrying out this infrastructural development of the very deplorable situation of the Cape Coast court complex. The Association has decided that we will drum home this deplorable condition of the Cape Coast court complex.
“The Cape Coast court is not fit for the purpose for which it was built and something urgently needs to be done about the Cape Coast court because it is not even safe for the Judges and the staff who work in that building and there is also the issue of an abandon High Court complex in Wa,” he added.
Meanwhile, Chief Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah has charged judges to play a role in safeguarding the cyber rights of citizens and treat all who come before them equally under the law.
“Yours is to dispense justice and to uphold the rule of law irrespective of public clamour,” the Chief Justice urged.
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) is now able to sell credit at its district offices after some disruption to its prepaid metering systems that left customers stranded.
Currently, customers in the Greater Accra, Central, Eastern, Western and Volta Regions can visit ECG district offices to purchase electricity.
ECG in a statement assured customers on its prepaid metering systems that its team “is working progressively to rectify the technical anomaly which affected the purchase of electricity.”
Some Electricity consumers have been counting their losses, with some saying their businesses have been affected negatively following their inability to purchase electricity.
Since Tuesday, ECG customers both domestic and commercial who have run out of power supply have not been able to make purchases due to what officials from ECG have referred to as a technical challenge.
Some ECG vending centres and offices were turning people looking for electricity away.
The National Communications Authority (NCA) has urged the Accra High Court to dismiss a suit seeking to stop the regulatory body from blocking the SIM cards of people who fail to register them with Ghana Cards by September 30, 2022.
The nine applicants wanted the court to put an injunction on the NCA on the basis that they had registered for Ghana Cards but were yet to get them from the National Identification Authority (NIA) in order to register their sims.
However, the NCA, in its affidavit in opposition filed Thursday, September 29, 2022 argues that the suit is incompetent because the Ghana Cards of the applicants were ready but they had failed to collect them from the NIA.
According to the NCA, a search conducted by the NIA upon request by the NCA, through its lawyer, Gary Nimako Marfo, revealed that the Ghana Cards of the applicants had been printed but they had failed to pick them up.
“It is clear that the applicants have been indolent and have not taken any positive steps to collect their Ghana Cards from the National Identification Authority,” the NCA argued.
It is also the case of the NCA that the suit was failed to invoke the jurisdiction of the court because the affidavit in support of the applicants’ case was not sworn before a commissioner of oath as required by the rules of court.
Reliefs
In their application filed on September 22, 2022, the applicants were seeking seven reliefs.
First, they sought a declaration that the impugned directive of the respondents requiring the applicants to re-register their mobile phone sim with the Ghana Card as the only identity document, at a time when the National Identification Authority had not been able to issue Ghana Cards to applicants, was in breach of Articles 21, 23 and 296 of the 1992 constitution of the Republic of Ghana, the National Communications Authority Act 2008 (Act 769), the Subscriber Identity Module Registration Regulation 2011 (LI 2006) and the National Identity Register Regulation 2012 (LI 2111) and so, to that extent, null and void.
Second, they wanted a declaration that the impugned directives of the respondents, on the use of the applicants’ mobile phone sim cards and network services, imposing punitive measures/sanctions commencing 5 September 2022, breach Articles 21, 23 and 296 of the 1992 constitution of the Republic of Ghana, the National Communications Authority Act 2008 (Act 769), the Subscriber Identity Module Registration Regulation 2011 (LI 2006) and the National Identity Register Regulation 2012 (LI 2111) and so, to that extent, were null and void.
Third, the applicants sought a declaration that the impugned directives of the respondents to applicants’ mobile telecommunication companies to block, disconnect, deactivate, churn and/or in any other way or manner limit the use of the applicants’ mobile phone sim cards and network services by 30 September 2022, at a time when there was no reasonable possibility of applicants receiving their Ghana Cards from the National Identification Authority on or before 30 September 2022 for the purpose of using the identity cards to register their sim cards, was unfair, unreasonable, contrary to law and to that extent, unenforceable.
The group says out of the 71 vacant positions with 116 applicants, no one from the Upper West Region was selected, although the applicant with the highest score in the exams conducted emerged from the region.
The caucus says eight of the shortlisted applicants from the region were disqualified because they lacked the needed knowledge on the management of district health directorates and epidemic outbreaks.
Describing the situation as unfair, the Secretary of the Upper West NDC Caucus in Parliament, Dr. Sebastian N. Sandaare called on the Ghana Health Service to audit the recruitment process to ensure regional balance.
“The Ghana Health Service is reminded of the duty to act fairly and reasonably in the exercise of its administrative authority, as contained in Article 23 of the 1992 constitution.”
“The Ghana Health Service is enjoined to prohibit discrimination and prejudice on grounds of places of origin,” the MP said.
Amidst the worsening economic conditions and government’s plan to secure an IMF support programme, Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta is hopeful of a “Ghana miracle” to salvage the economy.
Addressing the media on the state of the Ghanaian economy on Wednesday, the Minister said, “the sanctity and the well-functioning of the financial system are sacrosanct” and the country’s economy can only revive with the support and trust of all Ghanaians.
Ken Ofori-Atta in his address was optimistic and likened the revival of the country’s economy to the great Celtic Miracle in Ireland in the 1980s when Ireland was one of Europe’s poorest economies and described as the “beggars of Europe“.
However, Ireland’s economic situation changed in the 1990s and its economy recorded an impressive average growth rate.
This is the miracle Ken Ofori-Atta is hoping will materialise in the country’s economy.
“The sanctity and the well-functioning of the financial system are sacrosanct and we need the support and trust of all Ghanaians to deliver this. Let us join hands to get this done.
“The great Celtic Miracle in Ireland in the 1980s was the result of such collaborations, especially with Labour and we shall also be blessed with the Ghana Miracle,” the Minister said.
Meanwhile, the government in a bid to revive the economy has announced a 5-Member Committee consisting of prominent financial services professionals to lead extensive stakeholder engagements across all the key segments of the financial sector – banking, asset, management, pensions, and insurance – as part of moves to protect the financial system.
This is coming following the probability that the nation may undertake a debt restructuring programme.
The announcement of the Committee Members is expected to be made in the coming days.
According to Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, the committee will immediately get to work to engage key stakeholders in the financial services sector, additional to ongoing engagements with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), social partners (labour unions, employers, and FBOs), academia, industry professionals, and the leadership of Parliament.
This, he says, is government ambition to protect the financial sector.
The CEO of Danadams Pharmaceuticals Industry (Ghana) Limited, Dr Yaw Adu-Gyamfi, is at the Criminal Court in Accra over alleged fraud and forgery in his dealings with the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID).
The former President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) is also set to lose his properties including the Danpong Medical Centre and Head Office of Danpong Health Group among others.
According to court documents available to Myjoyonline, Danadams is said to have taken a loan using documents the Bank describes as “forged” as a prerequisite for the facility.
Loan request for anti-retroviral and anti-malaria drugs production
According to the EBID, by a Loan Agreement (No. 0078/AP/LA/BIDC/05/2013) dated 21st May 2013, it approved a loan facility of US$9,417,600.00 to Danadams for the production of anti-retroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS patients in the entire ECOWAS region.
“The loan facility was secured by two legal mortgages dated 4th August 2014, in respect of Dr Yaw Adu Gyamfi’s properties he made available to EBID for the payment of the principal amount, interest and other charges covenanted to be paid by Danadams to EBID in the event of a default on the loan facility.
“It was also secured by a legal charge created by Danadams in EBID’s favour in respect of equipment alleged by Dr Adu Gyamfi to be purchased by Danadams with the resources of the loan facility from an Indian Supplier.
According to EBID, “It was also an express term of the Loan Agreement that Danadams should open an escrow account with a reputable bank in Ghana to be funded with an amount of US$340,000.00 (representing one maturity in principal and interest) as a condition precedent for EBID’s disbursement of the first tranche of the loan in the sum of $6,020,840.00.
The Bank explained that this was “In order to induce EBID to disburse the first tranche of the loan, Dr Adu Gyamfi delivered to the Bank a letter dated 31st July 2014, purporting to emanate from the Royal Bank of Ghana, advising EBID of the opening of the escrow account and also assuring EBID that the account had been funded with the initial amount of US$340,000.00 as stipulated in the Loan Agreement. (This fraudulent letter is attached as ‘Appendix A’).”
It added, “Dr Adu Gyamfi also delivered to us a horde of official documents, including customs documents, purporting to show that Danadams had pre-financed the purchase of the equipment from the Indian company in the total sum of $6,020,840.00 through swift transfers made through Royal Bank of Ghana.”
“On the basis of the foregoing, and/or acting on the faith of these representations and induced thereby, EBID disbursed the first tranche to Danadams’ account with SG SSB Bank Ltd, Accra, the total sum of $6,020,840.00 on 14th January 2015, which Dr Adu Gyamfi acknowledged by a letter dated 15th April 2015.”
However, EBID said it later came to know that “The letter dated 31st July 2014, which Dr Adu Gyamfi presented to advise EBID about the opening of an escrow account was not issued by the Royal Bank of Ghana as he made us to believe. On the contrary, it was an elaborate forgery he created by cloning Royal Bank’s official stationary and also forging the signatures of the Bank’s officials on it.
“A supervision mission to the Royal Bank of Ghana conducted by EBID officials before disbursement of the second tranche of the facility revealed that even though the escrow account (No.1410310748215) was truly opened by Danadams with the Royal Bank, it was not funded with the sum of $340,000.00. It was during this mission that the Royal Bank delivered to EBID the actual letter they issued to Danadams which was not delivered to EBID.”
According to the Bank, “After the fraud had been detected, the Royal Bank issued a letter dated May 11, 2016, to Dr Adu-Gyamfi disassociating itself from his fraudulent activities and threatening to take legal action to purge their image.
“Swift payments delivered to EBID by Dr Adu Gyamfi as evidence of the purchase of equipment from the Indian Company were elaborate forgeries manufactured by him.”
The EBID further said, “Customs Declaration Forms delivered to EBID by Dr Adu Gyamfi as evidence of the importation of the equipment were fake or forgeries.
“Notwithstanding that he had executed or created a legal mortgage over his properties to secure Danadam’s repayment obligations to EBID, Dr Adu Gyamfi subsequently used the same property to secure Danadam’s repayment obligations to Royal Bank under a different facility in the sum of GH¢7 million from Royal Bank.”
The Bank said Dr Yaw Adu Gyamfi diverted the proceeds of the loan to other purposes other than for the purchase of the equipment, including paying off existing liabilities he and his company owed to SG-SSB Bank and other creditors.
Royal Bank distances itself from support letter
In its defence in a court document sighted by Joy News, the third defendant (The Royal Bank) – now defunct – told the Commercial Division (6) of the High Court in Accra that, “the first defendant (Danadams Pharmaceuticals) acting by the second defendant (Dr Yaw Adu-Gyamfi) approached them for a facility to construct a facility for the production of Anti-Retroviral and Anti-malaria drugs in Ghana.”
Under the terms of the facility, Danadams was expressly required to open an escrow account with a reputable bank in Ghana to be funded with an amount of $340,000 (representing one maturity in principal and interest) as a condition precedent for EBID’s disbursement of the facility.
In order to induce EBID to make disbursement of the loan, Dr Adu Gyamfi allegedly delivered to the Bank a letter dated July 31, 2014, purporting to emanate from the Royal Bank of Ghana, advising EBID of the opening of the escrow account and assuring EBID that the account had been funded with the initial amount of $340,000 as stipulated in the Loan Agreement.
According to the Royal Bank, on May 11, 2016, a delegation from EBID visited it “to enquire about the creation of an escrow account opened in the joint names of the Plaintiff and first defendant.
The Royal Bank “confirmed to the said delegation that indeed at the request of the first defendant, the escrow account has been opened but the same has not been funded. It was at this meeting that the delegation produced a letter dated July 31, 2014, allegedly coming from the third defendant and confirming that the same had been funded in the sum of $340,000.”
It further told the court that “on reading the content of the said letter produced by the delegation from EBID, third defendant noticed that the said letter was completely different in form and content from the one the third defendant wrote to the first defendant in relation to the opening of the escrow account.
“Third defendant avers that indeed the letter was produced by the delegation of EBID purporting to be coming from the third defendant in relation to the escrow account was complete forgery for the following reasons;
“(a) the letterhead on which the said letter was written was a complete forgery as the same was different from the normal letterhead used by the third defendant
(b) the letter written by the third defendant did not include the sentence “in addition, we write to confirm that an amount of $340,000 has been deposited in the Escrow Account Number 1410310310748215
(c) the characters in the terms of font etc are completely different from the ones written by the third defendant
(d) the signatures of the third defendant’s Head of Business Banking and Advisory Services was obviously forged as it is completely different from that of the said official of the third defendant
(e) the letter written by the third defendant to the first defendant was not copied to anybody but the which was produced by the delegation of EBID was actually copied to the President of the Plaintiff.
According to the Royal Bank, “they did not only deny the authorship of the said forged letter to the delegation of the plaintiff but the third defendant also wrote a letter dated 11 May 2016 seeking to know from the first defendant the source of the said letter as the same did not emanate from the third defendant. The said letter was copied to the plaintiff.
“…instead of the first defendant responding to the letter dated 11 May 2016, as aforementioned, the second defendant rather chose to respond by a WhatsApp message in which he referred to the forgery as a mistake and apologised to the third defendant for the wrongdoing.”
The Royal Bank also said apart from the WhatsApp message, “the first defendant also sent their lawyer namely Peter Dadzie” to its offices to “plead with the third defendant not to send to the Plaintiff, the Plaintiff’s copy of the letter aforementioned but this request was turned down.”
The Royal Bank, therefore, was surprised that EBID added it to the suit.
Reaction from Danadams
In documents to the Court 2020 sighted by Myjoyonline, Dr Yaw Adu Agyei Gyamfi “pleaded not guilty to all the charges.”
“A reading of the charge sheetwill confirm that the prosecution itself concedes that the basis of this whole prosecution is a loan agreement which Danadams as a Company secured and has defaulted in paying and that EBID as a bank is only using the criminal prosecution to frustrate and tarnish the hard-earned reputation of Dr Yaw Adu Agyei Gyamfi when at all times material EBID is much aware that the issue is a civil matter.
“It is not in doubt that Danadams Pharmaceuticals Limited secured the loan facility from EBID, it is also not in doubt that there has been a default on the part of Danadams Pharmaceuticals Limited. We wish to state emphatically that Dr Yaw Adu Agyei Gyamfi is innocent of the offences he has been charged with and that his prosecution is only a carefully crafted attempt to tarnish his hard-earned reputation.”
Judicial Service writes to Police Service
On July 12, the Judicial Secretary wrote to the Director General of the Police Legal Directorate asking it to help EBID to start the attachment process as granted in a judgement by the Court.
The Judicial Service explained that this was to “forestall any breach of peace that may arise, it will be greatly appreciated if you could detail armed Policemen to assist the Officers to execute the Writ.”
The Police Legal Directorate in return wrote to the regional Commander to assist EBID to carry out the process of attachment of the first and second defendants’ property.
The Association explains that the interference from political cohorts within government in the running of the Civil Service is one of the major contributory factors to the worrying situation.
Speaking at the 5th Nathan Annang Quao Lectures on the theme “Abuse of political power in the Ghanaian Civil Service: the bane of National Development,” the Executive Secretary of the Association, Dr. Isaac Bampoe Addo called on the government to wean itself from the activities of the service.
“Our evidence reveals that the so-called ghost names that cannot be identified in the civil service payroll have turned out to be personal assistants of politicians,” Dr. Bampoe said.
He complained further that “permanent consultancies for key functions of the services have been outsourced to party apparatchiks and consultants.”
“This has compromised the quality of services provided by most civil servant organisations,” Dr. Bampoe said.
He also noted that capacity building opportunities have also been “hijacked by politicians”.
“The ones they are not able to hijack are sabotaged to the disadvantage of the nation.”
Failed New Patriotic Parliamentary aspirant for Kpone Katamanso, Hopeson Adorye has accused three leading members of the opposition National Democratic Congress of orchestrating the public booing of President Akufo-Addo.
President Akufo-Addo while presenting an address at the Global Citizen Festival held in Ghana on Saturday, September 24, 2022, was booed by some patrons of the event.
While trumpeting the accusation by the ruling New Patriotic Party that the incident was orchestrated by the NDC, Hopeson Adorye has gone on to name three officials of the party as the brains behind the booing.
In an interview with Okay FM, Hopeson Adorye alleged that the Editor of the Herald Newspaper, Larry Dogbey, Member of Parliament for Tamale North, Alhassan Suhuyini and NDC Communication Team Member on Creative Arts, Baba Sadiq were the masterminds behind the booing incident.
According to him, the three recruited seventy-five boys from Fadama and paid them GH¢120 to boo at the president.
He noted that the plot was masterminded after Baba Sadiq being an entertainment industry player picked up information that the president will be at the festival.
“Because Sadiq of 3 Music Awards is an industry player and has a connection with the lead organizers, when he heard it, he and Larry Dogbe and Suhuyini met at a particular place to plan.”
“They contracted 75 boys from Fadama and paid each one of them GH¢120. The videos trending is a testament to it. It was from one particular shot,” Hopeson Adorye alleged.
However, Baba Sadiq and Larry Dogbe who were both named by Hopeson Adorye as accomplices to the plot have both denied the allegation.
“Obviously, this can come from somebody who is not well in the brain. For a person to actually say this is what Sadiq will engage in; I am above that. I am above these things. I will never engage in such things. It’s a lie,” Baba Sadiq in a reaction on Okay FM said.
He noted that the allegation was a deliberate attempt to run him down.
“We have people who practice very bad politics and they will stop at nothing to destroy people they think are hardworking, people that are above them, people that have shown and proven that the things they do, they cannot do the littlest of it,” the CEO of 3Music said.
Hopeson Adorye who was adamant about Baba Sadiq’s response alluded that he has voice recordings of a meeting between the plotters of the hooting.
However, Baba Sadiq emphasised that he is yet to meet Alhassan Suhuyini in the entire year and has never met Larry Dogbey before.
He dared Hopeson Adorye to produce the supposed voice recording noting that he is waiting on the advice of his lawyers to decide on his next line of action.
19-year-old, Mercy Amoah has given an account of how she became a drug addict at an early age, the regret she felt after her pregnancy, and a plea for help to quit drugs.
In an interview on Ghetto Life Story on SVTV Africa, Mercy revealed that her friends influenced her into a life of drugs. She mentioned that she dropped out of school while in Junior High. She noted that her father wanted her to attend a catering school, but that dream was shattered.
“I couldn’t tell him I was pregnant till after he bought the admission forms. He was disappointed but still asked me whether I would like to go back to school after giving birth. I couldn’t respond. All I did was cry,” Mercy explained tearfully.
According to Mercy, she followed her friends to do drugs mainly while they worked as prostitutes. Speaking on the drugs she took, Mercy mentioned “Estacion, Rohypnol, lean, hashish, amnesia. My friends taught me all these while in school. We often went out after school.”
Mercy indicated no advantages came with the drug life she chose. Instead, it took a lot from her, physically and socially.
The single mother is jobless and depends on her boyfriend to survive, while the two-year-old baby lives with her grandparent.
Nicknamed Araba Tupac, Mercy told host DJ Nyaami that she wishes to quit the lifestyle, but she has nowhere else apart from home, Ashaiman.
“If only I could find someplace to stay for a few months because our family house is located inside the ghetto. If I could live in a place where these drugs are inaccessible. I know I would change so my father would see a new Mercy,” she added.
A Ghanaian machine operator, Isaac Boateng, has reportedly suffered deep knife wounds after his throat was slashed by his Chinese employer at Kweikuma in the Sekondi-Takoradi Municipality.
According to a report by 3news.com sighted by GhanaWeb, the Chinese national is a senior in a company contracted to erect structures close to the apartments of the Ghana Navy flats.
An eyewitness account disclosed the incident occurred while workers of the company were demanding the payment of their salaries.
“We have worked for the whole month and our salaries had not been paid so we had a meeting and asked our Chinese employer why we have not been paid. One of our colleagues went to the Chinese boss to find out what was wrong with the salaries because we have families and we are also owing some people.
“In the heat of the argument, the Chinese boss pulled a flick knife and slashed the throat of our colleague. He has incurred deep wounds, blood traces could be seen everywhere. He has been rushed to the Effiankwanta Hospital and we pray he will survive,” Boat who is also a Ghanaian employee of the company alleged.
He disclosed that the local workers numbering about 80 were protesting in demand of their GH¢18 accumulated daily wage.
“Some military [officers] intervened and calm was restored later but the foreigner who committed the crime is still walking around. We are in pain and demand justice for our brother. We are about eighty workers here and they pay each of us GH¢18 a day for the tedious construction work are doing here,” he added.
Meanwhile, the working of the company is said to have been taken over by the presence of strong state security while the company has since commenced the payment of the outstanding salaries.
A case about the incident has also been filed with the Adiembro Police station for further action.
“The Police have taken my statement and I’m still under treatment,” the victim, Isaac Boateng is reported to have said.
The Comptroller General of the Ghana Immigration Service, Kwame Asuah Takyi has sued the managers of TV3, Media General over some alleged incidents of defamation.
The suit which makes GH¢20 million demand in damages also named the host of the morning show on the television network, Johnnie Hughes as a co-respondent.
According to details of the suit published by Dailyguidenetwork.com, the host on the Johnnies Bite, a segment on the show, made statements that were defamatory to the person of the Immigration Service boss.
“Comptroller General, you were interdicted in 2013. That is what your officers are saying for the same visa fraud and permit malpractices. As of your 2019/2020 since your directive came, you are bringing all those pets to you. The people are begging to ask questions again. What are you up to? Are you doing something again?
“They say they don’t understand why you have tried to centralise everything when you have made guilty in the past and went on interdiction. Until 2017, you were interdicted five (5) years.
“The corruption must stop, Takyi must go” the suit repeated some statements said to have been made by the journalist between August 24 and September 23, 2022, on the programme.
According to the plaintiff, the journalist by his statements described him as a corrupt official who treats his officers unfairly and poorly and as well uses his office to settle personal issues with other officers.
Kwame Asuah Takyi also averred that the publication by the journalist has caused right thinking persons to believe he has a questionable character and is unfit to fulfil his mandate as Comptroller General. The plaintiff added that the defendant caused right thinking persons to see him as using his office to enrich himself.
The allegations by the journalist, according to Mr Kwame Asuah Takyi, are false and calculated to dent his image and lower his reputation in the eyes and minds of right thinking members of the public.
The plaintiff deems the statement by the journalist to be defamatory and has asked as part of his demands that the defendants are ordered by a court to retract and delete the publication from its various media platforms, websites, archives or records.
He is also demanding an unqualified apology through the same medium where the statements and publications were made against him.
In addition, the Immigration Service boss is asking for a reward of GHC20 million in damages as well as an order restraining the defendants or assignees from further publication or causing to be published the said words or any other words.
Watch the latest episode of The Lowdown below:
The Lowdown: Role of the diaspora in the development of Africa
CEO of the Aaron Manvel Foundation Millie Lorene Tucker and Gary Hope, the CEO of FLCC – Bring Back Hope Foundation underscore the need for the African diaspora to help develop the continent in this episode of The Lowdown on GhanaWeb TV. According to the women trying to make and create a change in Ghana, our forefathers were sold away and made to develop strange lands. Thus, coming back home and developing their home country is the best thing to do especially when resources are available.
The second Vice Chairman of the New Patriotic Party in the Fanteakwa south constituency, Nana Kofi Akomea Jnr has waded into the booing at President Akufo-Addo with a call to the youth.
The experienced NPP Communicator believed the youth could have addressed their supposed displeasure in a different way instead of on such a global stage.
President Akufo-Addo was booed ‘Away, Away, Away’ at the Global Citizen Festival in Accra over the weekend when he was invited on stage to address the many participants present at the event.
Nana Kofi Akomea Jnr in an interview with the reporter described the incident as unfortunate and disgracing to hoot at the first gentleman of the land to the world.
Even though he did not apportion blame on any individual or group, he found it difficult to understand why some people can plan and hoot at the President, knowing well that the world was watching.
According to Nana Kofi Akomea Jnr, he does not believe the cation of the participants has to do with the state of the economy but may come with reasons unknown to Ghanaians.
He stressed that the Akufo-Addo-led government has been touted as one of the many Presidents who has handled the economy amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war and rather needs commendations from Ghanaians and not the other way round.
“I will urge Ghanaians, especially the youth to trust in the Akufo-Addo-led NPP government as a lot is being done to redeem the image of the current global economic crisis,” he said.
12 persons believed to be land guards including a private developer have been arrested by the military led by the North East Regional Minister over a land dispute between a private developer and the youth of Gambaga.
The private developer, Tanko Fatau Alias Balewa allegedly encroached on several plot lands in the Gambaga community belonging to the District Assembly.
The victims were subsequently handed over to the East Mamprusi Municipal police command in Gambaga for further interrogation.
Tanko Fatau in 2021 had challenged by the youth of the community in order not to put up the structure but he went ahead to develop the land which was later demolished by the angry youth.
The case was sent to court hence, the private developer was supposed to reappear in court next month, 13 October 2022, before he was arrested with the land guards by the military.
Following the agitations from the youth to prevent the private developer from developing the land, he (Tanko Fatau alias Balewa) brought some land guards from Tamale in the Northern Region to guard the land.
It is said that two persons from the community received some gun wounds after they exchanged gunshots with the land guards yesterday, 27 September 2022.
After the arrest, two AK 47 rifles, two Pump action guns, one pistol, and 1001 live ammunition were retrieved from the victims by the military.
Meanwhile, the North East Regional Minister and the Regional police command have declined to comment on the issue.
However, they have both assured that they will address the media at the appropriate time.
The tourism industry of the Upper West Region has been described as a virgin entity due to the untapped potential of its tourist attractions and hospitality industry, a renowned industry player has said.
Abdul-Aziz Pelpuo, a seasoned tour guide with many years of accolades and experience in tourism lamented why industry players in the region continued to falter in the promotion of tourism the region has failed to use technology to their advantage in that regard.
He disclosed that only 3 out of the numerous tourist sites have been documented for easy accessibility to tourists far and near, despite the unique tourist products that the region can boast of.
“I’ll describe tourism in the region as a virgin entity. A virgin entity because the tourism industry in the region remains untapped. If you look from all angles, these tourist products, the tourist attraction themselves, the hospitality industry, that’s, the hotels, guest houses, among others, restaurants, chop bars (eateries), in the U/W/R remains untapped.
“And now, what will bring people to our region? – the tourist attraction. Before people come to sleep in our hotels or eat from chop bars, there must be something that would lead them to Upper West Region and these are our tourist attractions.
“And that’s why I say we have very unique tourists attractions that you can’t find anywhere in the world but in the U/W/R but most of these tourists attractions that I’m about to mention, you can’t even find them on Google, you can’t find them on even a simple tourism brochure, you can’t read it from any tourism book.”
“That’s why I describe it as untapped potential. I can mention an endless number of tourist attractions in the region but you can’t find more than 3 on record.
Mostly, you could find Wechau Hippo Sanctuary and then you could also find Gbollu Slave Defence Wall and you could also find the Gbelle Game Reserve,” he lamented.
He attributed the development to the ignorance of the locals of host communities over their inability to appreciate the worth of their tourist products as well as the ineptitude of the institutions mandated to promote such facilities that are under their watch, bemoaning how some of these tourists have been left to rot.
He made these comments in an interview with GhanaWeb Tuesday, September 27, 2022, to assess the tourism potential in the Upper West Region.
The seven-time award-winning best regional tour guide and two-time national best added that it takes the provision of tourism infrastructures such as good roads and health facilities, functioning telecommunication network, and potable drinking water, among other social amenities, to get a thriving tourism industry.
He indicated it is only when those facilities are in place that private investors would be attracted to invest their resources in tourism products to attract tourists to the region knowing they can recoup their resources.
“We have tourism products and we have tourism infrastructure. If government mandated to provide the infrastructure is able to do so, then the private sector can come in to develop the product. Bad road networks – all the roads, as in all the roads leading to the tourist sites (in the Upper West Region) I know, are in a deplorable state. Even the famous Hippo Sanctuary at Wechau you know, there is no good road linking Wechau to the angles, the Mashroom Rock (road too) the same thing, Nanvile Termite Hills, …
Just last two weeks, I had to return a group of 12 (people) just because the road to the Termite Hills was not accessible. So 12 people came from the USA, all the way to Wa. We had to turn back after Sankana halfway, we had to turn back because it had rained and the road was not just accessible.
“Telecommunication network is another thing. Imagine how we use our phones now. So imagine somebody going to an area where there is no telecommunication network, I can’t make a call, I can’t access the internet. You don’t expect people to go there. Those are part of the tourist infrastructure. Now good healthcare: we have the Gbelle Reserve where we have lots of wild animals – bufalloes, elephants, antelopes, and so on, but there is no clinic in and around that area.
So people would not go there. There is no good road there, no telecommunication there, no potable water, and no healthcare facility. So why would people go there? So those are part of the infrastructure. So if government is able to put these infrastructures in place, then individuals or private investors can now come in to develop the products,” Abdul-Aziz Pelpuo stated.
The National Executive member of the Tour Guides Association of Ghana enumerated a few of the available tourist sites in the region as follows:
“Mystery Bleeding Rock (Busa – Wa municipal); Baobab Tree House with a natural door and a window carving with the capacity of the inside able to accommodate about 10 average humans (Busa – Wa municipal); Tomb of a colonial British agent who was instrumental in the demarcation of the northern territories of Ghana that helped to sign treaties with the natives to get them out of the British protectorates (Wa municipal);
Mushroom Rocks (Wuling – Jirapa municipal); and Nanvile Termite Hills (Nadawli-Kaleo). Others are: Mystery Footprints on a Baobab Tree (Ulo – Jirapa municipal); Museum of President of the Third Republic, Dr. Hilla Liman (Gbollu); Gbollu Slave Defence Wall (Gbollu); Gbele Game Reserve (Daffiema-Bussie-Issa district); Crocodile Pond (Sombo – Wa municipal); and Sacred Grove Water Spring (Babile-Brefu: Lawra) and so on.
Ras Bob as he is affectionately called, said the Ghana Tourism Federation includes all the industry players from the private sector – the Hoteliers Association, the Tour Union, the Tour Guides Association, and the Car Rental Association.
According to him, all members of the aforementioned associations are from the private sector and could only discover or identify the tourist sites and then inform the regulators to certify and licence them and then do the promotion of those products.
World Tourism Day
The United Nations World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO) World Tourism Day is observed on September 27 every year with the aim of fostering awareness among the International community about the importance of Tourism and its social, economic, political, and cultural values.
This year’s event was with the theme: Rethinking Tourism. This year’s official World Tourism Day celebration was held in Bali, Indonesia to highlight the shift towards tourism as a crucial pillar of development.
As part of the celebration, Ghana developed a sub-theme dubbed: Promoting Domestic Tourism for Wealth Creation in Communities to grow the interest of Ghanaians in tourism with the Upper West Region hosting the event in Wa municipal under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture.
The Ranking Member of Parliament’s Mines and Energy Committee, John Jinapor, has refuted claims by the government that the Russia-Ukraine war and the COVID-19 pandemic are the cause of the challenges in Ghana.
According to him, data from the Ministry of Finance shows that these two events have been a blessing to the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government.
John Jinapor, who made these remarks in an XYY interview monitored by GhanaWeb, explained that because of the Russia-Ukraine war and the COVID-19 pandemic, the government had exceeded most of its revenue projections.
“If you look at the summary of the financial data of the country from January to June this year, which was published by the Ministry of Finance, you will notice that the government has benefited from these two things, particularly because of the rise in the prices of petroleum prices.
“The Summary of Central Government Operation, which was published by the ministry, shows that the country at the end of the 2nd quarter collected 127 percent of its projected tax revenue from oil products. When it comes to royalties from oil production, we have gotten 133 percent of projected revenue. For the financial sector levy, we have gotten 133 percent of projected revenue.
“For the COVID-19 levy, we have gotten 170 percent of what we budgeted for. We have gotten 150 percent of the oil revenue we budgeted for. So, one can observe that Ghana is rather benefiting from the Russia-Ukraine war in terms of revenue when it comes to the government side,” he said in Twi.
Jinapor, who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Yapei-Kusawgu, further stated that Ghanaians are going through a lot of hardship because the government has refused to use the windfall in revenues to bring some reprieve to the citizenry.
Meanwhile, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, during his speech at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, said that the Russia-Ukraine War was having a devastating impact on Ghana and other African countries.
“As we grappled with these economic challenges, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine burst upon us, aggravating an already difficult situation. It is not just the dismay that we feel at seeing such deliberate devastation of cities and towns in Europe in the year 2022; we are feeling this war directly in our lives in Africa.
“Every bullet, every bomb, every shell that hits a target in Ukraine, hits our pockets and our economies in Africa. The economic turmoil is global with inflation as the number one enemy this year,” the president said.
The founder and leader of the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG), Percival Kofi Akpaloo, has doubted the ability of Agriculture Minister Owusu Afriyie Akoto to manage the government’s flagship Planting for Food and Jobs programme.
He argued the sector minister has run out of ideas to add any progress to the development of the agricultural sector.
“There was a major problem with the prices of the raw materials, especially maize and soybean. Maize, for instance, went up by 100%, and then wheat and soybean all went up,” he said.
“Why must we import frozen chicken and maize while we can grow some in Ghana? President Akufo-Addo has to relieve him of his post, “Kofi Akpaloo exclusively told Accra-based Angel FM.
He further revealed that the Minister for Agriculture had disobeyed the president’s directives to save the local poultry industry.
President Akufo-Addo has often touted the progress of the planting for food and jobs programme, alluding to the feat it has achieved.
This, he said, is a complete misapplication of the subsidies.
He believes it would only be proper if the sector minister is relieved of his position.
Leading member of the ruling New Patriotic Party, Dr Amoako Baah, has claimed that President Akufo-Addo pleaded with Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, to rescind a decision to resign from office.
In an interview with Joy FM, Dr Amoako Baah argued that President Akufo-Addo is insisting on the finance minister keeping his job because he is his relative.
“If the finance minister was not a relative of the president, he himself would have resigned. I hear he tried to resign actually; the president begged him not to. All because the president needs him. Whatever it is he was doing, he is the one who understood what he was doing. He was the one who made it work, and so the president needs him no matter what. This situation we are in is not like other times. This is a peculiar situation of family and friends,” he stated.
There are calls for Mr Ofori-Atta to be relieved of his position, with some critics citing the current economic challenges facing the country.
The decision by the government to enter an International Monetary Fund programme despite its earlier position against the IMF has also been cited by several critics of the finance minister.
Dr Amoako Baah, in the interview, described Mr Ofori-Atta leading Ghana’s IMF negotiations as counterfeit logic.
“How is it possible that the very person that is trumpeting the idea that we are not going to the IMF, we have the means to make it work, we don’t need to go to the IMF, we are a proud nation and all of that. Then we end up at the IMF and suddenly this same person is the one who has become the champion of dealing with the IMF. How is that possible?” he questioned.
Dr Amoako Baah, who is a senior political science lecturer, called the minister’s integrity into question, saying, “This is what is called counterfeit logic; it has no integrity nor whatsoever.”
The National Democratic Congress (NDC)Tema East Constituency Treasurer hopeful, Charles Amoako-Brobbey, has submitted his nomination forms to contest in the upcoming National Democratic Congress (NDC) Constituency elections.
Speaking shortly after the filing, Freshers Charles Amoako-Brobbey promised to abide by the roadmap and guidelines given by the party to ensure a peaceful and successful contest, adding that he will commit to helping roll out programmes and policies that will promote the welfare of his constituents.
“This marks the birth of a new dawn in my long-time ambition of serving the welfare and interest of my fellow constituents at a higher level. As a party member, I have faithfully served my party to the best of my individual ability and learned a lot of valuable lessons which I carry along into mainstream politics,” he said. “It’s my determination, most of all, to help promote monetary discipline and policies that will promote the general welfare of my fellow Tema East constituents,” he added.
The NDC will hold its Constituency elections on October 22, 2022.
This follows a successful branch election of party executives across all branches of the party some weeks ago.
The party subsequently opened nominations for the Constituency elections on September 20, 2022, and closed the process on September 24, 2022.
A member of Amoako-Brobbey’s team, Jonathan Darah Mandela, branch Secretary, also urged all NDC members in Tema East to take conscious notice of Mr Amoako-Brobbey’s industriousness as a private businessman, his generosity as a renowned philanthropist, especially to party members, and his commitment in keeping faith with the NDC both at the national level and at the Constituency level over the years.
He said, “no matter where one’s allegiances lie, these are the most crucial things that any well-meaning party member should look out for in a leader, especially one who seeks to hold the sensitive office of a party Treasurer.”
In a goodwill message, Mr. Amoako-Brobbey wished his fellow aspirants well in the upcoming contest.
“I wish all aspirants the very best as we keenly contest each other in a healthy manner that will inure to our collective benefit,” he noted.
A statement from Laud Anoo Konadu, popularly known as ‘Dancegodlloyd’, has been interpreted by some persons as a confirmation of rumors that he has parted ways with the ‘DWP’ Academy.
In the last couple of days, rumors have been rife that Dancegod, who is a co-founder of the ‘Dance With a Purpose’ (DWP) Academy wasn’t on good terms with his other partners.
It was said that the ‘dance god’ had parted ways with the Academy following a misunderstanding he had with one of the managers of the group, Quables.
The rumors intensified when he was absent on stage while the team played their role as backup dancers for American singer, Usher, at the Global Citizen Concert.
This happens to be the Academy’s second international recognition after featuring in Beyoncé’s ‘King Already’ music video and Dancegodlloyd who has been touted as the team’s ‘poster boy’ wasn’t present to relish the moment.
In the quest to calm waters after the event, Nicholas Botchway popularly known as ‘Afrobeast’, one of the founders of the Academy, tried to convince the public that Dancegodlloyd was absent because he had to attend to another equally important assignment in Nigeria.
“Dancegod Lloyd happened to be in Nigeria during the rehearsals. He missed 90% of the entire rehearsal sessions and even though he was through with his project before the final rehearsal kicked off, he couldn’t join the crew to perform because the list of dancers had already been submitted to the Global Citizen Festival event organizers.
“The thing is, they wanted a certain amount of number and Dancegod Lloyd wasn’t available at the time,” Afrobeast earlier said in an interview with Hitz FM.
But in a twist of events, Dancegodlloyd in a TikTok live session has dispelled the narrative.
This was when a fan asked why he was absent on stage during the group’s performance with Usher.
The worried fan also quizzed whether the rumors flying out there concerning his fallout with the team were really true and he said:
“Don’t let anyone lie to you. Don’t let them lie to you. I have done what I can do and the rest is up to them. People are ungrateful and they will always be ungrateful. Remember that.”
“I do things for people from the deepest part of my heart and I don’t want anything in return,” the dancer added.
Ghana’s Highlife and Afrobeats singer KiDi has been in hot waters in the last 24 hours after Twitter users dug up old tweets including one where he described media personality, Deloris Frimpong Manso aka Delay as an ill start.
The 10-year-old tweet which reads: “I think Delay is an illiterate *shruggs*” has attracted a response from the victim who has schooled the famous singer.
Delay who interviewed KiDi in 2018 has explained that being tagged as an illiterate doesn’t stop one from achieving their goals in life.
“Illiteracy is not a crime. I guess the end justifies the means after all. I made it in life so that’s what matters!” she exclaimed.
Delay, an old Aburi Senior High School student, also obtained a degree from Methodist University College.
She is best known for her control over the Twi language and her ability to host top personalities in the country on her show.
Meanwhile, some have expressed concern over why netizens continue to dig up past tweets of KiDi when the singer apologised in 2020.
The Lynx Entertainment signee in a statement at the time rendered an unqualified apology to the general public and explained that his old tweets were made without considering the ‘negative impact’ on the victims.
“I’ve posted some things on social media when I was too young to understand how it would negatively affect those I talked about. But life has taught me to always appreciate people’s hustle, and never speak ill about someone else. Let’s take me as an example so we are more supportive of each other on social media.
“I apologise to those I offended with these actions from my past. I hope we can focus our energy on putting Ghana music on the map together. Love,” read KiDi‘s statement in 2020.
Check out the tweet below:
— The Delay Show Is Back On TV3 ????????☀️ (@delayghana) September 28, 2022
Member of Parliament for Adansi Asokwa in the Ashanti Region, Kobina Tahir Hammond, has revealed that as an up-and-coming politician, he used to stay in his lane.
His comment followed a harsh critique he delivered on the youth following an incident where President Akufo-Addo was booed.
A section of the crowd at the Global Citizen Festival at the Black Star Square on September 24, clapped and chanted ‘away, away’ when Akufo-Addo mounted the stage to deliver an address.
KT Hammond is among public officials who chastised the youth for engaging in insulting attitude. He described them as empty heads and people who cannot govern even if given the opportunity.
Challenged that he also started off as a young politician, he retorted: “When I started off as a young man, was that how I was doing it? When I was a young man like you, I stayed in my lane. I stuck to my lane.
Asked whether the president had to attend the event at all, he replied: “I don’t know about that, about the movement of the president, about whether he was advised to go or not. It is not the issue. What we are talking about in the end we saw the President there.
“Whatever was going on there, I did not know, I hadn’t heard of it before, we are hot, we don’t know about everything going on. The President owns the nation and so he goes there. But that does mean you should hurl abuse?”
The booing incident: Exactly what happened?
Thousands of patrons were at the Black Star Square to witness the concert that had a number of local and international artistes performing.
As host of the event, the president was called upon to give his remarks, which happened to be a prepared speech that lasted over six minutes.
The booing happened when he started his speech saying: “The whole world is in Ghana today.”
What started initially as people showing their disapproval of his presence on the stage, turned into loud clapping and chanting of the words: “away, away…,” the president, however, stayed the course and delivered his full speech.
As if that was not enough, people on social media latched on to the development to mock the president.
Global Citizen is the world’s largest movement of action takers and impact makers dedicated to ending extreme poverty NOW.
The voices of millions of Global Citizens around the world are driving lasting change towards sustainability, equality, and humanity by taking action every day.
The Global Citizen Festival started as a music festival where fans take actions to end extreme poverty in order to earn free tickets to attend.
Former New Patriotic Party parliamentary candidate for Kpone Katamanso, Hopeson Adorye, has alleged that people who booed President Akufo-Addo at the recently held Global Citizen Festival were paid an amount of GH₵120 by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Speaking in an interview with Accra-based Okay FM on September 28, Adorye alleged that the NDC through the Chief Executive Officer of 3 Music Awards, Baba Sadiq, Larry Dogbe and one Suhuyini organized seventy-five Fadama boys to stage the incident.
He opined that the booing was orchestrated by the NDC as a result of the one-sided video from the incident even though ‘all the bloggers in Ghana were present and streamed live’.
He mentioned that the president was not originally billed to be at the event but was able to make it because he had arrived a day earlier from the 77th United Nations General Assembly.
Baba Sadiq, he alleged was the mastermind having picked up information from organizers of the event that the president was going to be present.
“Per the information I had, it was the Trade or the Tourism Minister who was supposed to be at the festival to address the attendees.
“But the fact that the president attended one in South Africa and requested that if it comes to Ghana, he will be happy. It was going to Nigeria.
“One of the two ministers was supposed to come because of President Akufo-Addo’s UN engagement. But fortunately, the president was able to arrive before the day of the event.
“They had conversations with him and it was agreed that he will come. Because Sadiq of 3 Music Awards is an industry player and has a connection with the lead organizers, when he heard it, he and Larry Dogbe and Suhuyini met at a particular place to plan.
“They contracted 75 boys from Fadama and paid each one of them GH¢120. The videos trending is testament to it. It was from one particular shot,” Hopeson Adorye said.
President Akufo-Addo was among high-profile dignitaries who graced the Global Citizen Festival which took place at the Black Star Square in Accra on September 24.
When it was his turn to deliver a short presentation, a section of the crowd began to chant and clap ‘away, away….’.
The president remained calm and delivered his speech. Deputy Communications Officer of the New Patriotic Party Ernest Owusu Bempah has in a statement accused the opposition National Democratic Congress as orchestrating the plot to embarrass the president.
However, the NDC has rejected the accusation insisting that the booing was only an indication of the frustrations of Ghanaians.
US rapper Coolio, known for the iconic hit Gangsta’s Paradise, has died at the age of 59.
His longtime manager Jarez Posey told US media the artist was found unresponsive on the bathroom floor of a friend’s house in Los Angeles.
Coolio started making music in the 1980s, but he cemented his place in hip hop history when he recorded Gangsta’s Paradise in 1995.
The exact cause of his death on Wednesday has not yet been revealed.
However Mr Posey told TMZ, which first reported the news, that paramedics believed he may have had a cardiac arrest.
Coolio, whose real name was Artis Leon Ivey Jr, won a Grammy for Gangsta’s Paradise, which was part of the soundtrack for the movie Dangerous Minds starring Michelle Pfeiffer.
The haunting track continues to be widely listened to and has just passed a billion streams on Spotify, according to his official website.
Over a career spanning four decades he recorded eight studio albums and won an American Music Award and three MTV Video Music Awards.
His other hits included Fantastic Voyage, Rollin’ With My Homies, 1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin’ New), and Too Hot.
He was active right up until his death – Coolio was in the middle of a tour with other 90s stars including Vanilla Ice and Young MC, and they performed in Texas just a few days ago.
“I’m freaking out I just heard my good friend Coolio passed away,” Vanilla Ice wrote on Twitter.
Snoop Dogg referenced Coolio’s world-famous track in his own tribute, writing: “Gangstas paradise. R I P.”
He also shared a picture of the two posing on the set of the music video for Gangsta Walk, a track they collaborated on in 2006.
“This is sad news. I witness first hand this man’s grind to the top of the industry,” fellow rapper and actor Ice Cube said.
MC Hammer described Coolio as “one of the nicest dudes I’ve known”.
“Good people. RIP Coolio,” he wrote, sharing a black and white picture of the rapper, and later posting a second picture of the pair together, along with Tupac and Snoop Dogg.
Reggae Dancehall artiste, Addi Self, will tour the United States of America for the first time to promote Slum To Hills Mixtape which was released on his birthday on September 19, 2022.
Powered by Blibo Entertainment Inc., a US-based events company that has hosted Davido, Kwesi Arthur, Medikal, Shatta Wale and Bisa Kdei among others, Addi Self will touch base with fans in multiple states in the last quarter of the year and early 2023.
24 hours after the release of the 7-track Slum To Hills Mixtape, it moved from number 44 to 22 and then number 1 on the Ghana iTunes Top Albums Chart which features Sarkodie’s Highest album at number 2 and Adele’s 25 at number 3.
The mixtape features the single “We Did It” featuring X-Zone, Don Cash, Gariba and Yaronzamani on track 7. The video for “We Did It” was released two months ago and has over 45,000 views on YouTube.
The tracklist starts with Mama on track 1; Camela featuring Joint 77 and Natty Lee on track 2; Loyalty on track 3; Different Breed on track 4; Letter to Bigger Heads on track 5; Dash Way on track 6 and then We Did It on track 7.
Tracks 1,2,4,5 and 7 were produced by Bisik Beat; track 3 was produced by Beat Boy and mastered by Bisik Beat and then track 6 was produced by Beat Boy.
For bookings on the Slum To Hills USA Tour, call 419 944 9903.
Singer Worlasi has announced the impending release of a new song titled ‘Caveman’.
Stating that the song will be out on streaming platforms on Saturday, October 1, 2022, he also indicated featuring Highlife star Kwabena Kwabena on it.
Worlasi made the announcement on Twitter with a snippet of the song attached in a visualizer which spans 17 seconds.
American R&B and Pop star, Usher Raymond IV, has shared three (3) key lessons fast rising artistes can adopt for a flourishing career.
The musician who has been in the industry for almost three decades has still remained relevant, producing hit albums throughout his time.
Usher who was in Ghana for the Global Citizens Festival told Y107.9FM’s Jonny Stone on the ‘Y Campus Express’ show, “number one on my three biggest lessons in music is that you need to decide on what you want to do and be unwavering about it no matter how complicated it gets. As long as you are connected to that dream and there is the passion, you will not give up.”
The vocalist believes every musician must have a voice of their own, especially in the midst of many voices trying to influence their path. He charged musicians to find their own way and tell their own stories with their own energy.
Taking a cue from the popular saying; “To whom much is given, much more is required”, Usher posited that young artistes must be ready and willing to put in the work. “Who you hang around is important, they can stop or aid you in achieving your goal so you must be well aware of your surroundings.”
Former First Lady and Political, Women and Children Activist, Nana Konadu Agyemang-Rawlings, has disclosed what inspired her decision to adopt the chic African look.
Witnessing the imminent death of Ghana’s textile industry, she took it upon herself to bear the touch of reviving and promoting the industry.
Recognized as a local fabric fashion in Ghana and beyond, she made it a point to represent Ghana and Africa by wearing clothes sewn from African print always.
Speaking to Eunice Tornyi on e.tv Ghana’s ‘African Women’s Voices’ show, she said, “I was asked to go have a look at Ghana Textiles Printing (GTP). I met a guy who was about two years ahead of me in (KNUST) there looking so morose. So, I asked him why he was sad and he said, well I don’t know why they brought you here because there was nothing going on.”
According to the young man she spoke to, they were not working because they had no ink, fabric or nothing they could work with. Hence,they were just there with nothing to do because the factory had collapsed.
“He said all other factories had also collapsed due to the same challenges. So, I decided to go round and I met two other ladies who took me round and explained to me what was happening and that, hardly is anyone buying fabric anyway. Also, because almost all the educated people preferred designer names over the African print, collapsing the market.”
She emphasized that these informed her decision to choose to wear African prints to help revive the textile industry.
“Now, it meant that I should own the cloth before I can wear it so, I spoke to my mum about my decision to be wearing only African prints to functions which she agreed and supported me,” she stated.
The agency at the center of Kirani Ayat and the Ghana Tourism Authority, GTA, feud, Samsal, has denied ever granting permission to the Authority to use the promotional video it produced with some part of the musician’s video.
In a September 28, 2022 statement, the agency explained that it entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with GTA to promote Digital Wrist Band – a wrist band that granted access to highly sought after events slated for the Christmas season – to tourists and foreigners.
Per the MoU, the agency said GTA was to give it the needed support in terms of finances and logistics in order to produce video content to market Ghana to the world in that regard.
Consequently, Samsal said it put together a video reel (mood board) for the GTA that included parts of Ayat’s ‘GUDA’ video to demonstrate the vision it had for videos it intended to subsequently create for the campaign.
It stated emphatically that it did grant GTA the permission to share the mood board whiles also categorically denying that the video put out by the Authority and president was not the very one it had created.
“We put together a video reel (“mood board”) which we showed to the GTA as inspiration and creative direction for the videos we intended to produce during the campaign. The mood board was a mash up of scenes from different videos, including the video for Ayat’s “GUDA”, and other videos shot by David Nicol-Sey, a fellow creative who we have worked on several campaigns with (and who directed the campaign video for Discovery Bands).
“For the avoidance of doubt, the video which the President and the GTA have put in circulation is not the mood board we created. It contains snippets from the mood board. However, we never authorized the GTA to publish the mood board or sense from it. The signed MoU was explicit that our delivery obligations related to new content which would be financed by the GTA,” part of the statement read.
The Agency further revealed that following the failure of GTA to deliver on its financial obligation as agreed upon under the MoU, it used it own funds to create a video to promote Discovery Bands.
It stated that even though it submitted it to GTA, the Authority is yet to publish its works which it said contained ‘lovely scenes from Ghana’.
The agency maintained that it was therefore taken aback when it sighted the ‘repurposed’ publication of the earlier mood board it created on various platforms.
“Unfortunately, the GTA did not finance the creation of any work as agreed. Using our own funds, we created our own video (see enclosed) to promote Discovery Bands and submitted same to GTA. The GTA has not posted the Discovery Bands video (which also depicts lovely scenes from Ghana and which we worked with David Nicol-Sey to shoot) nor has it fulfilled any of its content financing obligations under our MoU.
“It, therefore, came as a surprise to us when we noticed that content from the mood board has been repurposed and put into circulation instead of the GTA fulling its obligations under the MoU by providing us with logistics and budgetary support for the creation of similar content to market Ghana,” the statement said.
The revelation by Samsal contradicts the stance of the Ghana Tourism Authority which claimed earlier during the brewing copyright saga that it legitimately acquired permission from an agency [later named Samsal] for the use of the promotional video which featured portions of Ayat’s ‘GUDA’ video.
It will be recalled that Kirani Ayat took to Twitter to express his displeasure at the use of his works without permission.
He was reacting to a tourism promotion video that was posted on President Akufo-Addo’s Twitter handle.
“The president of Ghana has used my video “GUDA” in this ad to promote Ghana. I was actively reaching out to the Ministry of Tourism in 2018/19 to use this video to push tourism in the North and got NO reply, yet today it’s in an ad and no one reached out to me for permission,” Kirani Ayat tweeted.
The government is currently battling a case of intellectual property breach arising from the use of video content in a ‘Visit Ghana’ campaign promo.
But it is not the first time the Akufo-Addo government has found itself in such an unpleasant situation.
On its first day in office, the president had egg on his face when it emerged that portions of his speech had been plagiarized. There has been one other blunder in between the January 2017 incident and the recent one.
Particulars of the three incidents are;
Ghana Tourism Authority vs. Kirani Ayat
Musician Kirani Ayat had reason to call out the government after it emerged that a ‘Visit Ghana’ video posted on the social media handle of the President earlier this week had footage that belonged to him.
Whereas he insists that no government agency had sought his permission to use the material, the Ghana Tourism Authority, GTA, which produced the video said it had received authorization from an agency, Samsal, to use the material dismissing reports of intellectual property breach.
In a September 28, 2022 statement, the agency explained that it entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with GTA to promote Digital Wrist Band – a product that granted access to highly sought after events slated for the Christmas season – to tourists and foreigners.
Per the MoU, the agency said GTA was to give it the needed support in terms of finances and logistics in order to produce video content to market Ghana to the world in that regard.
Consequently, Samsal said it put together a video reel (mood board) for the GTA that included parts of Ayat’s ‘GUDA’ video to demonstrate the vision it had for videos it intended to subsequently create for the campaign.
“We put together a video reel (“mood board”) which we showed to the GTA as inspiration and creative direction for the videos we intended to produce during the campaign.
“The mood board was a mash up of scenes from different videos, including the video for Ayat’s “GUDA”, and other videos shot by David Nicol-Sey, a fellow creative who we have worked on several campaigns with (and who directed the campaign video for Discovery Bands).
“For the avoidance of doubt, the video which the President and the GTA have put in circulation is not the mood board we created. It contains snippets from the mood board. However, we never authorized the GTA to publish the mood board or sense from it. The signed MoU was explicit that our delivery obligations related to new content which would be financed by the GTA,” part of the statement read.
Ghana Beyond Aid document ‘steals’ photo of Kenya skyline
In 2019, it emerged that the Ghana Beyond Aid office had used a photo of Nairobi skyline for the cover page of its official document.
The document was put together by a committee headed by the then senior minister and was launched by President Akufo-Addo on May Day.
It depicted high rise buildings over a green landscape. One of the buildings in the image, however, turned out to be the headquarters of Dawit Insurance in Nairobi.
The Ghana Beyond Aid Charter and Strategy Document was 61 paged and had seven chapters spelling out the role of government and citizens to wean the country off dependence of donors.
An apology was subsequently rendered for the gaffe.
2017 inauguration speech and Bush’s plagiarized paragraphs
Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo came under fire on Sunday when it emerged that his inaugural address plagiarized quotes from speeches by U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, this is how a Reuters report of January 8 started off.
The two sentences that had become center of the pliagiarism row that had taken over social media were:
“I ask you to be citizens, citizens not spectators, citizens not subjects, responsible citizens building your communities and our nation,” and.
“Though our challenges are fearsome, so are our strengths. Ghanaians have ever been a restless, questing, hopeful people and we must bring to our task today the vision and will of those who came before us.”
The Reuters report observed that, the first sentence almost matched one from George Bush’s inaugural address in 2001, while the second mirrors Bill Clinton’s inaugural speech in 1993 with only the country name changed.
The Director of Communication at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin explained that the issued were “complete oversight and never deliberate,” noting that the speech contained four correctly attributed quotations.
Joyce Bawah Mogtari, an aide to former President John Dramani Mahama, has urged Adansi Asokwa Member of Parliament, Kobina Tahir Hammond, to wake up to the dawn of a new dispensation for the youth.
Her comments come on the back of the MP’s viral video in which he is seen interacting with journalists and making critical comments about the youth for booing President Akufo-Addo at the Global Citizen Festival over the weekend.
In a Twitter post on September 28, the aide said the youth were now more at the center stage of affairs and had a huge voice – a deviation from the past status quo of silence.
She mentioned that as a result, they have become influential and cannot be overlooked the world all over.
“Hon K.T Hammond should please wake up and smell the roses! All over the World, young people have taken center stage! They have a huge voice, are a huge constituency and should not be overlooked or described in such disparaging terms,” Bawah Mogtari tweeted.
What K. T Hammond said
In an interview with journalists earlier this week, the legislator expressed his disgust at the booing of President Akufo-Addo while arguing that it was not right for the youth to disrespect the president and by extension elders in the society, especially for political reasons.
He urged the youth to at all times remain humble and accord the necessary respect to people who are advanced in age.
K. T Hammond added that the platform on which the president spoke was not a political one to warrant the reaction he had from some patrons of the event.
“We don’t live in a country and do that. Let’s be humble. Whatever we do, the president is the executive head of this country. When he came, he didn’t say anything. It wasn’t even a political platform,” he stated.
Built on mutual trust for development, bilateral trade volume between Ghana and China peaked at US$9.57billion in 2021 from US$6.67billion in 2017, the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Lu Kun has disclosed.
Representing a 12 per cent year-on-year increase, China’s direct investment also increased by US$15 million, making Ghana, China’s largest trading partner in Africa.
The Chinese Ambassador disclosed this at a durbar to commission a 22-km Cape Coast inner city road infrastructure funded by the Chinese government through the Sinohydro agreement.
He attributed the steady rise in trade and investments to the strong demand for Chinese products by Ghanaians as well as measures put in place by both countries to leverage the long-standing relations.
The Vice-President, Dr Mohamudu Bawumia, together with Mr Kwasi Amoako Atta, Roads and Highways Minister joined the chiefs of the Area to commission the road project aimed at expanding access to ease traffic and accelerate development.
Elated by the increasing trade volumes between China and Ghana, the Ambassador said: “These are not just numbers, but a symbol of China-Ghana friendship we value and cherish.”
“The China-Ghana ties have been kept on a sound momentum of high-level bilateral exchanges and ever-increasing trust built on mutual strong conviction for development.
“The decades of solid relations remain a springboard for a win-win China-Ghana cooperation hinged on consolidating bilateral traditional friendship, deepening pragmatic cooperation, and broad consensus building on issues of mutual concern,” he stated.
The Chinese Ambassador indicated that China and Ghana have always supported each other on issues concerning their core and major interests, keeping close cooperation in the international and regional arena and thus safeguarding the relationship.
Through that, Mr Kun said the Chinese government had financed, partnered, and executed several critical national projects relating to the economic growth and the livelihood of people in Ghana.
Key among them are the National Theatre, office complexes of the Foreign Ministry and Defence Ministry, the University of Health and Allied Sciences in Ho and the Cape Coast Sports Stadium.
Others are the Atuabo Gas Processing Project, Bui Dam, and Kpong Water Supply Expansion Project, Asogli Power Plant, and Africa World Airline (AWA) which have played a key role in resolving the power shortage and promoting the interconnection of the sub-region.
Lately, the Chinese equipment and technologies have accelerated the pace of integration with local enterprises and capital, bringing into being several local star enterprises and adding fuel to the enthusiasm for Ghana’s cooperation with China.
On people-to-people exchanges, he said cultural exchanges were close and ever-increasing on mutual understanding, as wood sculpture, music, and dance, among other forms of tourists, enjoyed high popularity among Chinese tourists.
Mrs Justina Marigold Assan said the completion of roads was key to the region’s investment drive to become the preferred investment destination in the country.
She said the Region remained the most preferred destination in Ghana’s quest to continuously attract investment from the Diaspora.
The Co-Chair of the Ghana Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative, Dr. Steve Manteaw says the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation’s payment of revenues accrued from 7% interest in the Jubilee and TEN petroleum fields to Ghana Offshore Holding Company is a breach of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA).
Dr. Manteaw who is a former Chairman of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) told Citi News, GNPC must return the over $100 million revenues from crude lifting as a result of the 7% which was acquired by GNPC on behalf of the state back into the Petroleum Holding Fund in accordance with PRMA.
“Anadarko was a partner to the Jubilee and the TEN project Production Agreements. Anadarko’s interest was subsequently acquired at the international level by another oil company called Occidental. Occidental later decided to offload its operations in Africa and therefore took a decision to sell their interest in Jubilee and TEN previously acquired from Anadarko. GNPC was assigned 7% of the stake and we (state) had to pay for 7%. A company in an offshore jurisdiction was therefore incorporated, Ghana Offshore Holding Company, to hold the 7%.”
“The Petroleum Revenue Management Act stipulates that all petroleum revenues howsoever derived are to be first deposited into the Petroleum Holding Fund. There is a good reason for that, which is to enable us track the revenue flows and demand accountability in terms of how they are disbursed and utilized.
Contrary to this provision in the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, my information is that Ghana has lifted some oil in respect of that 7% and GNPC has deposited the proceeds from that transaction in an offshore account in the name of the Offshore account”, he explained.
“My view is that, this is a departure or a complete contravention of the provisions of the petroleum revenue management acts and GNPC has no legal basis for keeping a portion of petroleum revenues outside the petroleum revenue management framework. We’ve had some discussions and GNPC has proffered some explanations but I remain to be convinced that, that action sits well within the legal framework“ he added.
Dr. Steve Manteaw moreover said the public can test the issue at the court to get GNPC to return the proceeds to the Petroleum Holding Funds.
“We (GHEITI) are doing further consultation and reviewing their (GNPC) explanations in the context of the law. If we think that we are still in disagreement with the position of GNPC, we will let GNPC know and if GNPC is still refusing to do the needful, then of course every citizen of this country has the right to go to court to seek a mandamus to comply GNPC to do what the law says it must do which is to bring it back into the Petroleum Holding Fund.“
Built on mutual trust for development, bilateral trade volume between Ghana and China peaked at US$9.57billion in 2021 from US$6.67billion in 2017, the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Lu Kun has disclosed.
Representing a 12 per cent year-on-year increase, China’s direct investment also increased by US$15 million, making Ghana, China’s largest trading partner in Africa.
The Chinese Ambassador disclosed this at a durbar to commission a 22-km Cape Coast inner city road infrastructure funded by the Chinese government through the Sinohydro agreement.
He attributed the steady rise in trade and investments to the strong demand for Chinese products by Ghanaians as well as measures put in place by both countries to leverage the long-standing relations.
The Vice-President, Dr Mohamudu Bawumia, together with Mr Kwasi Amoako Atta, Roads and Highways Minister joined the chiefs of the Area to commission the road project aimed at expanding access to ease traffic and accelerate development.
Elated by the increasing trade volumes between China and Ghana, the Ambassador said: “These are not just numbers, but a symbol of China-Ghana friendship we value and cherish.”
“The China-Ghana ties have been kept on a sound momentum of high-level bilateral exchanges and ever-increasing trust built on mutual strong conviction for development.
“The decades of solid relations remain a springboard for a win-win China-Ghana cooperation hinged on consolidating bilateral traditional friendship, deepening pragmatic cooperation, and broad consensus building on issues of mutual concern,” he stated.
The Chinese Ambassador indicated that China and Ghana have always supported each other on issues concerning their core and major interests, keeping close cooperation in the international and regional arena and thus safeguarding the relationship.
Through that, Mr Kun said the Chinese government had financed, partnered, and executed several critical national projects relating to the economic growth and the livelihood of people in Ghana.
Key among them are the National Theatre, office complexes of the Foreign Ministry and Defence Ministry, the University of Health and Allied Sciences in Ho and the Cape Coast Sports Stadium.
Others are the Atuabo Gas Processing Project, Bui Dam, and Kpong Water Supply Expansion Project, Asogli Power Plant, and Africa World Airline (AWA) which have played a key role in resolving the power shortage and promoting the interconnection of the sub-region.
Lately, the Chinese equipment and technologies have accelerated the pace of integration with local enterprises and capital, bringing into being several local star enterprises and adding fuel to the enthusiasm for Ghana’s cooperation with China.
On people-to-people exchanges, he said cultural exchanges were close and ever-increasing on mutual understanding, as wood sculpture, music, and dance, among other forms of tourists, enjoyed high popularity among Chinese tourists.
Mrs Justina Marigold Assan said the completion of roads was key to the region’s investment drive to become the preferred investment destination in the country.
She said the Region remained the most preferred destination in Ghana’s quest to continuously attract investment from the Diaspora.
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta says government will fast-track negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to ensure key aspects of the programme are reflected in the 2023 budget statement.
The Finance Minister at a press briefing on Wednesday said negotiations have been smooth so far.
“In line with the President’s dialogue with the IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, negotiations will be fast-tracked to ensure that key aspects of the programme are reflected in the 2023 Annual Budget Statement in November 2022,” he added.
He said government is committed to ensuring that a comprehensive package is negotiated with the International Monetary Fund with the aim of restoring and sustaining macroeconomic stability, ensuring durable and inclusive growth, and promoting social protection.”
“In addition, the IMF and Government Team are working to update the medium-term macro-fiscal framework to inform IMF programme design.”
The Finance Minister said no agreement has been reached with the fund on the parameters of debt operations, as government is still in the process of completing the debt sustainability analysis.
Mr. Ofori-Atta stressed that everything will be done, to protect the financial sector; and there must be room for a win-win conversation through extensive stakeholder engagement with both the domestic and external investors.
He also indicated that the Development Bank Ghana (DBG), is supporting the private sector to invest in areas that will stabilize the economy over the medium to long-term, with positive knock-on effects on job creation and economic growth.
“I am extremely confident about where we will land on this journey. We have survived a 142 percent inflation, yellow-corn hysteria, mass exodus from our country, and more recently a successful exit from the 2015 Extended Credit Facility. So let us go for the spirit of courage for the LORD is with this Nation. Let us not fear, for He who is with us is greater than all.”
The Chief Justice, Kwasi Anin-Yeboah is urging judges and magistrates not to be influenced by public criticisms in discharging their duty.
“Yours is to dispense justice and to uphold the rule of law irrespective of public clamour,” the Chief Justice said.
The judiciary has come under criticism in recent times, with President Akufo-Addo describing it as unwarranted attacks which must be condemned.
At the 2022 General Meeting of the Association of Magistrates and Judges, Justice Anin-Yeboah also said criticism of the judiciary must be constructive.
“As the saying goes, you will not value what you have unless you lose it. On this line, the consequence of losing what you have, in terms of our justice system, will be unthinkable.”
Deputy Attorney General, Alfred Tuah-Yeboah who attended the event attributed the recent attacks on the Judiciary to what he describes as a distorted coverage of court proceedings by some media firms.
He thus urged the media to collaborate with the judiciary to ensure fair reportage.
“This collaboration will undoubtedly ensure that accurate and fair information is made available to the consuming public.”
“Public perceptions of the judiciary are often coloured by misunderstandings of decisions and judgments of the court,” Mr. Tuah-Yeboah said.
Ten customers of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in the Ashanti Region have been arrested for reconnecting themselves after they were disconnected.
The ten were arrested at Abuakwa, Makro, Manhyia, Tanoso, and other communities in the Abuakwa district during a night exercise.
The power distributing company arrested the ten as part of its special exercise to improve revenue mobilisation.
The ten were among 150 customers who were disconnected for failing to pay their bills and who were involved in illegal connections in the region.
Some of the arrested customers settled their bills and were reconnected.
The ECG TaskForce Manager, Ing Fred Kwabena Bediako, told the media that the exercise forms part of efforts to reduce losses and improve the company’s revenue generation drive.
He indicated that a similar exercise would take place nationwide continuously to ensure a stop to customers reconnecting themselves.
“We thought that with last experience people would have stopped doing the self-reconnection but going out today has proved that we need to intensify this monitoring to be able to deter electricity consumers from self-reconnecting.”
He added that: “We don’t take delight in doing such things because it is tiresome and increases cost, but we are forced under the circumstance to do this exercise.”
The Lawyer for Chinese illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) kingpin, Aisha Huang, Nkrabea Effah Dartey, has berated the Accra Circuit Court 9 judge, Samuel Bright Acquah, for his decision not to grant his client bail.
Speaking in a TV3 interview monitored by GhanaWeb, on Tuesday, the lawyer said that he was disappointed by the decision made by the judge because the judge is someone, he knows to be fair-minded.
According to Effah Dartey, the Acquah was prejudicial with some of the comments he made about the effects of illegal mining before denying Aisha Huang and the three other Chinese nationals bail.
“I was in large measure disappointed today. I was disappointed because I know the judge, he is very fair all the time. In all cases that I have appeared before him, I have not had cause to complain about his decision.
“But today, I was not happy. I was not happy because a case has been called and the issue before you was bail application… With the greatest respect, all that My Lord needed to do was to write his ruling and deliver it.
“But My Lord went extempore, talking about river bodies, about Ghana Water being under pressure to supply water. My Lord was talking about fishes in the rivers. And with the greatest respect what has this got to do with the issue of whether or not the accused persons are entitled to bail,” he said.
“My view was that my lord was betraying his view on the whole case and he is in danger of opening himself up for criticism that he has prejudged the issue,” he added.
Lawyer Effah Dartey reiterated that until the accused persons are found guilty, they remain innocent.
The Accra Circuit Court 9 judge, Samuel Bright Acquah on Tuesday, September 27, 2022, while refusing bail application for Aisha Huang and three other Chinese nationals who have been accused of engaging in illegal mining and the sale of minerals without a license, called on all Ghanaians to get on board in fighting illegal mining.
He specifically made a fervent appeal to his fellow judges to take a strong position against illegal mining which he noted poses a threat to the nation.
A bodyguard of President Akufo-Addo by name Jibril, is reported to have built an ultra-modern hospital for the Muslim community in Ghana’s capital, Accra.
According to Kessben TV, the name of the hospital, which is situated at Accra Newtown, is the Islamic Hospital and it was built by the bodyguard’s foundation, the Jibril Foundation.
The purpose of the hospital is to provide quality health care to Muslims in Zongo communities who cannot afford some health care services at other health facilities in the country.
The report indicated that though the initiative was a good one many are questioning the source of Jibril’s wealth.
“The allegation is that the president’s bodyguard built this ultra-modern hospital. People are asking how a bodyguard of the president is able to build such an edifice when the Regional Minister, who is the Member of Parliament for the area, Henry Quartey, has failed.
“Where did the bodyguard get the money to put out such an edifice? This is the question most people are asking,” a Kessben TV journalist said in Twi.
There is heavy traffic on the Tema-bound section of the Accra-Tema Motorway due to a car crash which occurred close to the tollbooth.
The accident, as sighted in a video from the scene, involved a long bus with its front side mangled from the impact of the incident.
“If you are heading towards Tema from Accra this morning reconsider your decision. There is an accident close to the tollbooth,” a Twitter user, @GeniusKojo who shared the video cautioned.
The bus, as seen in the video, sits across the middle of the road whiles other vehicles struggle to meander their way out through a space behind the long bus.
Communication Team Member of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) Nana Kofi Ntiamoah, has urged Ghanaians to have confidence in the Akufo-Addo administration to navigate the nation positively through the present economic storms because, fundamentally, the NPP has a track record of doing so.
Nana Kofi Ntiamoah reminded Ghanaians that although times may be hard now, the Akufo-Addo administration inherited an even more dire situation and successfully moved the country onto a path of growth until the whole world was blindsided by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and locally, the banking sector clean-up.
He assured that despite the present difficulties, the government is working assiduously to restore the country on the path of growth and accelerated development shifted off course by the three almost concurrent challenges.
“Not long ago, we had felt similar despair. The fear of losing our lives to a pandemic and the near halt to our economy as we battled to survive each day. Some years ago also we had been confronted by very dire economic circumstances.
The joblessness of our youth, years of lights out that impacted adversely on businesses and jobs, the disappointment of dealing with a collapsed national health insurance system and inability to access health care, the bane of the cash and carry system, a nearly collapsed national ambulance system, freeze on public sector employment, an almost collapsed banking sector and so on,” Nana Kofi Ntiamoah told Accra-based Wontumi TV.
“The government of President Akufo-Addo put in much effort to turn things around and elevate the standards of living of the Ghanaian people above what the situation used to be at the time this government was formed in 2017. Taking over from then meant we had to do our best also to make things work and better.
“Together as a country, we proceeded to fix the economy. We made great gains and the records attest to this. Prior to the Coronavirus pandemic which has impacted all economies in the world, we stabilized the economy and achieved great strides,” he added.
“In the midst of the current economic challenges we face, we are putting in place the key pillars for the economic transformation of Ghana. We may not yet be where we want to be, and we may be buffeted by the winds of the pandemic and the war for yet a little while, but we have made a great start and, together, we shall finish what we started.”
