The opposition National Democratic Party (NDC) has reacted to President Akufo-Addo’s assertion that he inherited a catastrophic economy from the previous NDC government led by John Dramani Mahama.
At the just-ended 66th anniversary commemoration of Ghana’s independence held at Adaklu in the Volta Region on Monday, March 6, 2023, the president said he inherited a severely-challenged economy, whose rate of growth, at the time, was the lowest in over two decades.
In response, the Deputy National Communications Officer of the NDC, Godwin Ako Gunn, stated that the president does not comprehend economics if, after seven years in office, he continues to place the responsibility on his predecessor.
If the president cares to know, the NDC lost power in 2016 and he assumed office in 2017.
“So what is the rationale in still blaming your predecessor for the mess you have created because of your mismanagement?”
The president must have some sort of myopia, according to the NDC’s deputy national communications officer, for him to have said that.
He asserts that the president is contrasting apples with oranges.
He emphasized that what had happened during the president’s reign was clearly black and white.
At Ghana’s 66th Independence Day celebration in Ho on March 6, 2023, the rich “voodoo” tradition of the Volta people was on display.
The crocodile that greeted President Akufo-Addo at the parade materialized out of thin air.
The crocodile, in accordance with regional tradition, was a component of the Zagbetor, a revolving raffia.
Without using its feet, the raffia-made Zagbetor could rotate and move from one location to another. Its feet were totally undetectable.
This was to showcase the magical and spiritual efficacy of the deity in the area and how they possess supernatural powers to move about without legs.
At the parade, the Zagbetor was rotating and putting up gymnastics when a crocodile dropped from nowhere, moved straight to President Akufo-Addo, and prostrated in obedience to a higher authority.
The scene caught the attention of many, considering how the crocodile was able to obey human direction and carry out the task without any fault; it was under the influence of supernatural power.
Many believe the people of the Volta region hold their culture in high regard, and at the parade, they graciously displayed it with pomp and pageantry.
President Akufo-Addo has pledged to revive theeconomy before leaving office.
He made this known when speaking at the 66th Independence Dap Parade at Adaklu-Tserefe near Ho on March 6, 2023.
According to him, the country saw significant economic growth prior to COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine War, which is why it is currently experiencing difficulties.
Despite this, he reaffirmed his commitment to making reforms throughout his short time in office.
“The next 22 months of my mandate will be focused on restoring the economy we had beforeCOVID-19 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine to the period of rapid growth. It is a solemn pledge I am making to you my fellow Ghanaians, and one which I am determined to fulfil,” he stated.
Speaking on the theme for this years celebration, “Our Unity, Our purpose, Our Purpose” the president said that the nation had not fully realised the potential, dreams, and aspirations of its forebears, who fought for its independence.
The Coalition of Nation Builders Corps (NABCo) has accused the government of using phony representatives to march in the Independence Day parade as NABCo beneficiaries.
The Coalition stated in a statement that the “young men and women” posing as NABCo trainees were actually members of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).
They are demanding an apology from the government.
The Coalition argues that given their current economic circumstances, no reasonable trainee will drive to the parade grounds and stand in the hot sun to celebrate Ghana’s independence.
“At this juncture that we are going through inhuman treatment, for history sake, people may see celebration of Independence Day as an important occasion, but realistically the celebration is needless to we NABCO trainees in this time of severe hardships and cruel economy.
“Our critical investigation after the programme indicates that, the young men and women who were in traditional cloth were NPP party faithful who were compelled to represent NABCO Trainees,” part of the statement read.
The Coalition further wondered why the government would think NABCO trainees will march when their nine months arrears have still not been paid.
“A critical and analytical look at the pictures clearly show a well-organized group of minors paraded to match to deceive and create a smokescreen that the NABCO programme is in activation, but the fact remains that, the NABCO scheme collapsed right after 2020 elections,” it said.
I must, first of all, welcome our Special Guest of Honour, the President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau and current Chair of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), His Excellency Umaro Sissoco Embaló, and members of his delegation to Ho, capital of the Volta Region, and to Adaklu, the venue for this ceremony. Senhor Presidente, você é bem-vindo ao Gana.
Ghana is proud of the strong ties of cooperation and friendship that exist between our two countries, and I am also happy that President Embaló succeeded me as Chairperson of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS. It is my hope that our two nations will continue to work together to build a sustainable future of progress and prosperity for our respective countries and populations, and to maintain healthy relations between our two nations.
Your Excellency, we are very glad that you accepted our invitation to share this special day with us. Even though you have been to our country on many occasions, your stay has largely been in Accra, our nation’s capital. Today, you are in Adaklu and, I dare say, in one of the most beautiful, and serene parts of our country, and you are amongst people who pride themselves on their sense of hospitality. I hope that, by the end of the visit, you will agree with this claim.
I extend the appreciation of the nation to the children from all across the nation who took part in the march, and I commend the cultural groups for their spectacular performances, which exemplified the greatest aspects of Ghanaian culture. It is always a delight also to watch personnel from our security services on parade, putting up spectacular drills. This year’s parade and display of drills are no exception, and, have become eagerly awaited aspects of our independence day celebration. Kudos to them!!
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the part of Ghana that has produced, arguably, the nation’s two greatest composers, Ephraim Amu, composer of that great anthem, Mia denyigba lorlor la (Yen ara asase ni), who taught us to take pride in our culture, and Phillip Gbeho, composer of Ghana’s vibrant and much loved national anthem; Daniel Chapman Nyaho, one of Ghana’s most eminent administrators who, at independence, helped ensure a seamless transition when the British left; the Reverend Ametorwobla, that powerful orator who proved you could be both a priest and a politician; and Esther Ocloo, née Nkulenu, trail-blazer and industrialist extraordinaire, whose entrepreneurial spirit lives on. This is part of Ghana that also gave us Komla Agbeli Gbedemah, Ghana’s first Minister for Finance and one of the founding fathers of our nation, and the charismatic Jerry John Rawlings, first president of the Fourth Republic and Ghana’s longest-serving head of state.
The greatest achievement of our independence is the fact that we have welded different ethnic entities into one nation. Although the Gold Coast was the precursor to our independent Ghana, it was a collection of disparate groups. It was the attainment of independence that gave us our common identity as Ghanaians.
An important historical fact is that, of all the different peoples that have formed our modern nation, it was only the people of the Volta, Oti and part of the current Northern Regions who had the unique opportunity to choose to join the territory that became Ghana at independence. I am referring, of course, to the 1956 plebiscite in which, on May 9th of that year, the people of the then British Togoland voted to join the Gold Coast on the attainment of her independence a year later. Without that significant historical event, we would not have Ghana as we know it today.
Today, we celebrate the anniversary of the day we achieved the enviable status of becoming the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to be free of colonial rule, and, with this, came the weighty obligation to serve permanently as a barometer of the continent’s progress.
Sixty-six (66) years down the line, we have worked hard to live up to this responsibility, even though we acknowledge that we have not fully realised our potential and the dreams and aspirations of our forebears, who fought for the independent Ghana we have today.
For well over a century, our forebears fought to liberate our nation from the chains of colonialism and imperialism. The several wars fought against the British by the Ashantis, the last of which featured the celebrated Yaa Asantewa; the successful mobilisation of public opinion by the Aborigines Rights Protection Society, whose leading spirits were Jacob Sey, Joseph Casely-Hayford, John Mensah Sarbah, Kobina Sekyi, against the sequestration of our lands by the British; the formation, in 1947, of the nation’s first political party, the United Gold Coast Convention, UGCC of blessed memory; the triggering of mass resistance by Nii Kwabena Bonney (Boycott Hene) through the boycott of goods of European traders; the riots that consumed the nation following the senseless shootings of unarmed ex-service men at the Christiansborg Crossroads on 28th February 1948 and the killings of Sergeant Adjetey, Corporal Attipoe and Private Odartey Lamptey, which enraged the people and sparked riots across the country; the subsequent arrest of the UGCC leaders, who have gone down in history as the legendary “Big Six”, JB Danquah, Emmanuel Obetsebi-Lamptey, Edward Akufo-Addo, Ebenezer Ako Adjei, William Ofori-Atta, Kwame Nkrumah, by the colonial authorities, who held them responsible for the disturbances; the establishment of the Watson Commission, which helped design the path towards independence in 1957; and the formation, in 1949, of the Convention Peoples’ Party by Kwame Nkrumah, together with K.A Gbedemah and Kojo Botsio, which, thereafter, became the principal organ for the prosecution of the nationalist agenda.
Our forebears were united and strengthened in realising one common purpose – the attainment of independence. It did not matter where they came from; it did not matter which tribe they belonged to; it did not matter which religious persuasion they subscribed to; and their standing in society certainly did not matter. They recognised the fact that colonialism did not inure to our nation’s collective benefit, and they were determined to end it. And, indeed, they did.
On that historic night of 6th March 1957, after decades of agitation by the pioneers and members of the nationalist movement, Kwame Nkrumah, our nation’s first leader, made the momentous proclamation of Ghanaian independence at the Old Polo Grounds in Accra, which we celebrate with joy every year.
The theme for this year’s celebration, “Our Unity, Our Strength, Our Purpose”, should imbue in us the constant desire to seek the progress, prosperity and development of Ghana, no matter the circumstances confronting us.
The 4th Republic represents the longest period of stable constitutional governance in our history. We should be united in the goal of protecting it, for it is only its free, democratic form of governance and the intelligent management of the economy that will bring the upliftment Ghanaians to want and deserve.
We should continue to strive to ensure that no Ghanaian child is denied access to quality education, hence the groundbreaking and transformative Free SHS policy. We should continue to guarantee access to affordable healthcare for all in every part of our country, by continuously improving the National Health Insurance Scheme, expanding healthcare infrastructure and enhancing general health delivery; we should continue to work towards achieving food security, and the modernisation of our agriculture; we should continue to work to become a value-added, industrialised economy, which no longer depends on the production and export of raw materials, but on the things we make; we should continue to work to open up all parts of our country through the construction of roads, rail, ports and airports; we should continue to work to improve accountability, efficiency and transparency in the delivery of public services; we should continue with the process of digitalisation; we should continue the difficult but necessary task of ridding our environment of the menace of galamsey; and we should continue to pay our taxes, and demand that our leaders put them to good use.
Above all, we should continue to guard and protect jealously the security and integrity of our nation against dangers from outside and within our borders.
We cannot allow those who seek to divide us along the lines of ethnicity or religion to succeed. Let us deepen the cohesion that exists amongst us, and let us wear, with pride, the badge of being called Ghanaian. There is no better homage we can pay to the memories of all those who fought to free us from the shackles of colonialism and imperialism than to dedicate this 66th independence anniversary to working even harder for the unity, strength and purpose of our dear Ghana.
Fellow Ghanaians, I am very much aware of the current difficulties confronting our nation, and we are working hard to resolve them. But, maybe, we should also count our blessings on how, together, we are managing the difficulties. We all see the images around the world. Here in Ghana, we have not had any fuel queues, we have not suffered shortages of food and essential items, nor the catastrophe of dumsor. Undoubtedly, major global developments have had a negative impact on our domestic economic performance. We have witnessed historic highs in global inflation and food prices; rising global interest rates triggered by the tightening of monetary policy of central banks across several advanced economies to tame rising inflation; an energy crisis with crude oil prices reaching unprecedented highs, at one point, above one hundred and twenty dollars (US$120) per barrel; the strengthening of the US dollar against all other currencies; the tightening of global financing conditions especially for emerging markets and developing economies; and the largescale disruption of the global supply chain.
These phenomena have manifested in Ghana in the form of the depreciation of our currency, the decline in gross international reserves, high inflation, elevated debt burden, significant fiscal stress, constrained domestic and external financing, and reduced GDP growth. It is these that have brought hardships upon our people. Government has deployed a number of fiscal interventions to help bring relief to Ghanaians, and, I am confident that, sooner rather than later, we will see significant results of relief and recovery. In two days, on Wednesday, 8th March, I will, in the Chamber of Parliament, deliver a Message on the State of the Nation, where I will delve into much greater detail the entirety of the package of policies Government is implementing to bring back the days of rapid growth.
Fellow Ghanaians, there is one thing I want all of us to remember, and that is that, when I assumed office on 7th January 2017, I inherited a severely-challenged economy, whose rate of growth, at the time, was the lowest in over two decades. By dint of hard work, prudence and creativity, we managed to turn things around, creating an economy which, for the years 2017, 2018, and 2019, the years before the onset of COVID-19, was amongst the fastest growing economies not only in Africa but also in the world, recording an annual GDP growth rate of seven per cent. We were the best place to do business in West Africa, and, in 2021, we were described as the most attractive destination for investment in West Africa. The next 22 months of my mandate will be focused on restoring the economy we had before COVID and the Russian invasion of Ukraine to a period of rapid growth. It is a solemn pledge I am making to you, my fellow Ghanaians, and one which I am determined to fulfil.
Before I take my seat, I want to inform you that, in fulfilment of the announcement I made at last year’s Founders’ Day Celebration, I will, on Tuesday, 14th March 2023, confer national honours on some citizens of our country, who distinguished themselves in the fight against the pandemic of COVID-19. Through their actions, they helped protect and preserve our population and won global acclaim for Mother Ghana. I will, also, on that day, express the nation’s gratitude to the legal team of men and women who were charged with ensuring that the maritime boundary dispute with Ghana’s immediate, western neighbour, the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, ended favourably for Ghana, thus ensuring that our western maritime resources, including their potential oil and gas reserves, remained legitimately in our possession.
I am sure we all saw the three (3) helicopters belonging to the Police Service joining this morning’s celebration. It is the first time in our nation’s history that the Police Service is employing the use of helicopters to improve its operational efficiency. The acquisition of these helicopters is to honour the pledge I made at the 2019 end-of-year Police WASSA, and I assure the officers, men and women of the Service of Government’s continued support in helping them to discharge effectively their mandate.
Ladies and gentlemen, in choosing to celebrate this year’s Independence Day in the Volta Region, I hope it affords all of us the opportunity to enjoy the beauty and breathtaking scenery that abounds here. This is the Region that has the highest mountain in Ghana, and other spectacular peaks from which to gaze at the surrounding splendour. This is the Region that has marvellous waterfalls and naturally occurring landscapes and historic monuments on its coast. It is the Region of spellbinding and beautiful music and intricate dances. It is a Region with interesting cuisine. It is a tourist destination without comparison. I urge you all to explore its unique attractions.
In conclusion, fellow Ghanaians, I want to assure you that my devotion to the Ghana Project is unwavering. The enemy we face is not each other. We can only win this battle if we stick together, and pull in the same direction, regardless of our divergent viewpoints. I am confident that we are on the right path, and I ask for your support so that we can continue the transformation of Ghana in peace.
Once again, on behalf of all of us, I thank President Embalo and his entourage for coming to join us on our special day. Happy 66th Independence Anniversary Celebration to us all, and may God Almighty bless us all, and our homeland Ghana, and make her great and strong.
President Akufo-Addo has entreated Ghanaians to desist from immensely dwelling on the challenges the country is facing.
According to the president, the people of Ghana should also make it a point reflect on some of the achievements Ghana has chalked over the years.
Addressing Ghanaians while commemorating the 66th Independence Day celebration, he said “Fellow Ghanaians, I’m very much aware of the current difficulties confronting our nation and we are working hard to resolve them. And maybe, we should also count our blessings in how together we are managing the difficulty.
We all see the images around the world. Here in Ghana, we have not had any fuel queues, we have not suffered shortage of food and essential items. All the catastrophe of ‘dumsor’. Undoubtedly, major global developments have had a negative impact on our domestic economic performance.”
He mentioned that historic highs in global inflation and food prices, rising global interest rates triggered by tightened monetary policy of central banks across several advanced economies to take rising inflation have had a negative impact on the local currency and elevated the country’s debt burden.
President Akufo-Addo has however assured that his government has been working hard to restore an indebted and challenged economy it inherited in 2017.
This year’s celebration was held at Ho in the Volta Region for the very first time under the theme “Our Unity, Our Strength, Our Purpose.”
The Special Guest of Honour for the celebration was President Umaro Sissoco Embalóof Guinea Bissau, who is also the Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
Financial crimes, according to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, have grown to be a major worry for governments all over the world over the past 30 years as they pose serious risks to the growth and stability of national economies.
In order to deal with this threat, he stated it is necessary to create reliable financial compliance systems and maintain strong enforcement of the systems.
Mr Akufo-Addo said these when he was speaking at EBII Africa Investments Risk and Compliance (IRC) Summit in London on Saturday July 31.
He further expressed concerns about how developed economies treat Africa during trade and investment agreements.
He noted that the rules of engagement in trade and investment that exist among the developed economies change whenever Africa becomes the focus of the trade agreements.
He told the gathering that “We have all agreed that for Africa to be able to transform ourselves and become the epitome of the economic empowerment and self-reliance, she needs to have the wherewithal to be able to protect and promote the resources at a her disposal hence the need to build a robust financial compliance systems and ensure strict enforcement of the systems.”
The reason for this is that, he said “financial crimes have over the past 30 years become a major concern for governments around the globe as it represents a significant threats to development and stability of the economies of countries around the world.
“I’m happy that the theme of this nature which is a regular feature of deliberations for investors in Europe, America and Asia should have Africa as its focus.
“ I am saying so because Africa, which since ancient time, has been defined by outsiders as the continent that always provides something new, something strange to surprise or excite the rest of the world , or the place for venture or the place to be exploited.
“It is the place where the normal rules and guide behavior elsewhere can be and are suspended. Once it is the continent of Africa, things must necessarily be somewhat different. From as far back as we can think, we will see that the world has always dealt with Africa in a manner that is different from how other parts of the world are regarded and threated .
“The rules that have been drawn up to guide the rest of the world in trade , investment , ethics, environment, governance which are accepted as part of normal conventions have thrown out or changed when the area of operation moves from Oxford to Cape Coast.
“If the African continent were not seen as a place where regular rules can be and are regularly flouted, I dare say we will not be gathered here today to grapple with the subject of this conference.
“Top of the problems, of course, is that there is so little trade between African countries and so little intra-investment among African nations . Thus when we talk about investment in Africa reference is instinctively to non-Africans and a decade ago when China made a significant entry to Africa investment on our continent was limited to western companies in the countries . It is not surprising therefore that the western counties carried into the investment arena the same attitude they had towards African counties as their former colonies.”
He however stated that “We do not ask that Africa be treated specially as fragile and to be handled with care.”
Former President John Dramani Mahama has said the failure of the Akufo-Addo-led government does not offer him any kind of pleasure.
At the launch of his presidential campaign at Ho in the Volta Region on Thursday, he noted that “I’m not the kind of leader who derives pleasure from or can smile at my country’s failing, even the failing of my political opponent.”
According to the former statesman, there are many who have said his statement that posterity will be the judge of time has been realised as the country has been plundered to a state of crisis.
He noted that even in “the face of the abysmal performance of the NPP government, and their harrowing dismantling of our country’s prospect,” he will be a wise man who learns from the mistakes of others.
“As far as I am concerned, there is no vindication from the suffering of the Ghanaian people,” he added.
A former president, John Dramani Mahama, has for the umpteenth time blamed the Akufo-Addo-led administration for the country’s economic woes.
Mr Mahama indicated that despite the hard work of his administration, Ghanaians decided to vote for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2016 general elections due to the “lofty” promises by the then opposition party in hope that their problems will be resolved.
However, they have been disappointed by theAkufo-Addo government, he said.
Speaking during his campaign launch to contest in the presidential primary of theNational Democratic Congress(NDC) ahead of the 2024 general elections, in Ho on Thursday, March 2, Mr Mahama said “This government has been clueless and in many ways callous the unthinkable has happened and our country today is broken on all fronts, Ghana is bankrupt.
“We are saddled with debts we simply can’t pay, we have suffered the global humiliation of defaulting on our debts and being downgraded by all credit rating agencies to the lowest level ever seen in our history”
He added “Our economy is in the worst ever shape with suffering and pain on an unprecedented level.”
He further said he does not take his decision to contest in the flagbearer elections of the NDC lightly.
In his view, the 2020 general election is the most important and defining poll in the Fourth Republic hence his decision to contest.
Speaking at his campaign launch in Ho on Thursday, March 2, he said “For the 2024 elections which I consider to be the most important and defining poll of our time, I have not taken this step lightly, it has been the product of months of prayer, broad consultations and sober reflections.
“I have searched my sole and paid close attention to your voices, to your daily struggles and to your present national predicament.”
He added “At this stage, Ghana demands experience not experiment, Ghana demands togetherness and not divisiveness, now is the time for the bravery of heart and clarity of purpose.”
A prospectiveNew Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Francis Addai-Nimoh, has questioned whether any Akufo-Addo cabinet minister can successfully steer the NPP to victory in the 2024 general election.
He claims that the party requires a “new face” in order to win the general election.
He made this statement after visiting the Manhyia Palace to declare his intention to run in the NPP presidential primaries.
There, the Asantehene advised the party to carefully select a candidate who is likely to win power.
“The mantra of the party now is, we need to break the eight. For the first time, we are ready to set this record in the political discourse of our country. I believe it is possible, it can be achieved. One of the conditions I have outlined about the possibility of this is that the party needs a new face. A new face that is unblemished, a new face that will come with a fresh appeal,” Addai-Nimoh said.
“A new face that has a natural appeal to unify people, not any anyone with an artificial ability but one that the people resonate with, and a new face that is not part of the current administration. That is what the records show, that if you have a candidate who is part of the outgoing government, you are not likely to win,” the flagbearer hopeful added.
Addai-Nimoh is on his second attempt, seeking to become the NPP’s presidential candidate for the 2024 general elections.
“So, I think we need a new face so that is what I have been championing to the grassroots and rank and file of the party that if we are determined, we can set this record by getting a new face and that new face is no other person than Addai-Nimoh.
The Herald is receiving conflicting information regarding the true owners of the 600,000 tonnes of Russian fuel that Bloomberg, an international business news network, has revealed were brought to and kept in tanks in Ghana.
While some have connected the shipment to Platon, a Tema-based corporation, others have sought to link it to the Ghanaian government, claiming that Platon lacks the capacity to accept delivery of such a sizable shipment because it can only refine a meager 20,000 tonnes.
The Herald’s checks on the current position of Theseus, the Crude Oil Tanker carrying the huge consignment said, it is “at West Africa reported 8 days ago by AIS. The vessel is en route to GH TEMA, sailing at a speed of 12.7 knots and expected to arrive there on Feb 24, 12:00. The vessel THESEUS (IMO: 9304825, MMSI 341750000) is a Crude Oil Tanker built in 2006 (17 years old) and currently sailing under the flag of St Kitts & Nevis– an island country and microstate located in the West Indies.
But the development has raised concern on the claim that Deputy Energy Minister, Agyapa Mercer, had recently announced that the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) was going to start refining crude oil, hence the fuel is being linked to the government as what the minister talked about.
However, industry players who have sought to link the owners of the 600,000 tonnes of Russian fuel consignment to Platon which has been linked to both the Chinese, as well as some Eastern European countries, are of the view that even if TOR does not own it, it will eventually be refining and selling it in Ghana since it has the capacity to do.
There are, however, questions being thrown around as to why Ghana will be taking delivery of Russian fuel although President Nana Akufo-Addo, has openly spoken against Russia’s military operations in Ukraine with Ghana voting twice at the United Nations (UN) in disapproval of the Russian.
The second question is what will be the reaction of Western countries to Ghana over 600,000 tonnes of fuel from Russia, especially so when the country is begging the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a US$3 billion bailout. Many believe there could be sanction if it’s established that Ghana had received the fuel, which is yet to be pumped out of the Theseus.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the European Union and US barred fuel imports from the former Soviet leader.
Bloomberg reports that its tanker tracking data show that “The last signal from the vessel was on Sunday evening, by which time unloading had not begun. Its cargo was due to be pumped into storage tanks in Tema”.
This comes on the back of the Ghana Government’s controversial gold-for-oil policy.
Bloomberg, had reported that “a cargo of Russian oil is heading for storage tanks in Ghana, a nation that exports crude itself and is on the doorstep of two regional supply powerhouses.
The development suggests that traders could be scouring the market for new buyers of Russian barrels after the European Union stopped almost all seaborne imports from the country in December.
The bloc’s measures made Moscow hugely reliant on Chinese and Indian purchases.
The tanker Theseus arrived in Ghana’s territorial waters on Friday carrying about 600,000 barrels of Russian oil from a port in the Black Sea, according to tanker tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.
Its cargo was due to be pumped into storage tanks in Tema, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The last signal from the vessel was on Sunday evening, by which time unloading had not begun.
Russia is under pressure to sustain its oil revenue after the Group of Seven and the European Union imposed punishing sanctions on the country’s energy industry.
Almost all European Union companies are prohibited from buying Russian crude and petroleum products or providing important services such as insurance to nations that buy such exports above a capped price.
In December, Russia’s petroleum revenues dropped nearly 20 percent from the previous month after the price cap triggered big discounts on the nation’s crude, according to the International Energy Agency.
The crude will be stored in tanks at the Tema Oil Refinery, the people said. The firm didn’t respond to requests for comment.
When the tanker was en route to the country, the CEO of Ghana’s National Petroleum Authority CEO said the shipment would be blocked if it was bound for the country. The NPA didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment after it reached the West African nation’s territorial waters.
The shipment to Tema would be the first time Russian oil has been delivered to a West African country since at least October 2018, tracking data show.
Ghana itself is a small oil exporter, shipping an average of about 140,000 barrels a day over the past six months, according to tanker tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. It’s also next to Nigeria and Angola, the two biggest suppliers in sub-Saharan Africa.
After sanctions were imposed on Russia, the nation directed crude exports toward China and India, upending global oil flows and the maritime industry.
With Europe previously having been by far the largest market for Russian oil, that narrowed the nation’s pool of buyers dramatically. It also meant the barrels had to be discounted at the point of export to compensate for relatively high delivery costs.
President Akufo-Addo has implored countries considered to be allies of Ghana to support Ghana’s request for a $3 billion extended credit facility (ECF) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
A staff level agreement (SLA) between Ghana and the Fund has previously been agreed upon, but the Executive Board of the Fund has not yet given its approval.
The President expressed optimism that it will happen by the end of the month.
On Tuesday, February 28, at Peduase Lodge in the Eastern Region, President Akufo-Addo addressed members of the diplomatic corps as part of the 2023 Presentation of Diplomatic Greetings.
He pointed out that already Ghana has had the tacit support of the so-called Paris Club.
“Just as we manged to achieve a staff level agreement with the Fund in record time in December last year whose terms were systematically fulfilling including the difficult but ultimately highly successful process of the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme, I am confident that with the cooperation we have received from the members of the Paris Club and the People’s Republic of China, which had sent a delegation from China’s EXIM Bank to Accra over the weekend to meet with officials of the Ministry of Finance, we shall be able to go to the Board of the Fund to conclude finally the agreement by the end of March,” he said.
“This will set the stage for the strong recovery of Ghana’s economy. Needless to say, we will hope that all Ghana’s friends will weigh in with words of support at the Fund.”
President Akufo-Addo conceded that the country’s balance of payment in 2022 was thrown out of gear as a result of many factors including the Russia-Ukraine war, plunging the country into “considerable difficulties”.
But he indicated that the move to IMF was for a “short term” to repair the country’s public finances.
Following persistent negotiations with Chinese authorities for debt cancellation, President Akufo-Addo is sure Ghana will achieve a final agreement with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout by the end of this month.
He claims that a meeting with the Chinese Exim Bank is going well and suggests that the nation may close a deal with the Paris club.
At the annual gathering of ambassadors and high commissioners yesterday night at the Peduase lodge, he made this statement in a speech.
“Just as we managed to get the staff level agreement in recorded time in December last year, whose terms we’re systematically fulfilling including the difficult but ultimately highly successful process of the domestic debt exchange programme, I’m confident that with the cooperation that we’re receiving from the Paris Club and the People’s Republic of China which has sent a delegation from China’s EXIM Bank to Accra over the weekend to meet with officials of the Ministry of Finance, we shall be able to go to the board of the Fund to conclude finally the agreement by the end of March. This will set the stage for the strong recovery of Ghana’s economy,” he said.
His assurance follows his appeal to Germany to “encourage” China, an ad hoc member of the Paris Club, to support Ghana’s debt restructuring efforts.
In order to support the initiatives that would enable Ghana to resume economic growth, he said it is imperative that the Paris Club quickly creates a creditors committee with the participation of other official creditors.
When the German Finance Minister, Christian Lindner, visited the President at Jubilee House in Accra, the President made the call.
On Sunday, February 26, President Akufo-Addo traveled to the Gonja Kingdom to partake in Yagbonwura Professor Tuntunba Boressah Jakpa I’s seventh-day funeral rites.
Sam Abu Jinapor, the member of parliament for Damongo, and Justin Kodua Frimpong, the general secretary of the NPP, were among the dignitaries who accompanied the president.
The Overlord of Gonja Sulemana Tuntunba Boressah Jakpa I passed on 5th February 2023 after a brief illness.
The Akufo-Addo administration was recommended to slash expenditures and the size of the government by the German ambassador to Ghana, Daniel Krull.
But, Daniel Krull has been instructed to be more explicit about the areas in which he wants the government to cut spending.
The Chief Executive Officer of the National Youth Authority(NYA) Pius Enam Hadzide indicated that the easiest thing to do is to just call for cuts in government spending and not give specifics.
The German Ambassador while addressing the press on Friday, wondered why Ghana has been crying to the international community for help when the country continues to operate a large size government bigger than that of Germany.
“I only can compare with other countries like my own and I can just come to the conclusion that the number is much higher than in my country. So that might bring me to the conclusion that maybe there’s room for improvement.”
“Well, of course, it depends very much on what kind of expenditures you’re looking at… I’m convinced this is true for if I look at the budget of the German Foreign Ministry of the German government, I’m convinced there are important tasks that can be cut without hurting economic development. And I’m convinced without going into details this also is true for Ghana. There are certain expenditures that can be lowered substantially and make an important impact, and it has to be part of the package.
“I mean, I cannot go out to the international community and say I need help, but I’m not willing to cut my own budget expenditures. I have to be careful not to cut the social expenditures that are destroying lives and families. I have to be very careful not to take measures that might negatively impact economic growth.
“But I’m convinced there are many expenditures that could be looked at very carefully and can be lowered substantially,” he said.
But speaking on the Big Issue, on TV3 Tuesday February 28, Mr Hadzide said “First of all, I think that we must understand that there are rules that govern international diplomacy, and as much as Ambassadors and representatives of sovereigns are allowed certain levels of laxity, there are rules within the Vienna Convention that must guide our narrative.
“I have listened to the Ambassador, he said a lot of good things and he had a lot of vote of confidence for what is happening within our jurisdictions.
“It is reported that he said something about the size of the government, I heard him say that we need to cut public expenditure. If it is about cutting public expenditure, we are aligned with that one. Mr President himself has said, members of the government have said and I have said that we need to find the balance for public expenditure and public government revenue. So yes, it is easy to say we should cut our expenditure but expenditure in what [areas]? We should cut expenditure in the road sector because that is public expenditure or expenditure in education or we should cut our expenditure in the health areas?
“So our development partners must appreciate the severity of our problems and the need for us to jump-start if we have to compete on equal terms. It is easy for them to say cut expenditure here, cut expenditure there.
“I hold the view that these our development partners or bilateral partners and so on, they are not really and truly out there in our best interest. If they had their way, Africa would be a production force for them to be feeding their economies, that was the intention that even drove them to come in the first place to colonize us.”
Mr Hadzide further indicated that it is not automatic that the country should implement whatever demands that are made by the partners.
“When they make their subscriptions, we must look at it in our own context and take our own decisions.”
H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana, has stated that he will take all necessary steps to ensure that the late Black Stars winger Christian Atsu is given a respectable funeral.
The President made this statement on Monday, February 27, when he welcomed the player’s family and Ghana FA officials to the Jubilee House.
“I want the Chief of Staff to make sure we organise a state-assisted funeral for Christian Atsu depending on the date that you the members of the family and the GFA will select.
“Everything will be done from the point of view of the government to make sure that he is given a dignified exit. I owe it as my responsibility as President to make sure that that happens,” President Akufo-Addo stressed.
The Ghanaian President continued, “The decision as to when the funeral will take place depends on the family. That is the tradition in Ghana. Whatever the decision, whatever date you choose, you should know that the government will stand squarely behind you to make sure that we give him a fitting burial”.
Christian Atsu’s funeral has not yet been scheduled, but his family has set March 4 as the start of aone-week mourning period.
Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, a member of parliament for the Western Region’s Juaboso Constituency, has blasted Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s administration for focusing on the wrong issues.
The lawmaker stated in an interview with Neat FM on February 24, 2023, that the government is investing millions of cedis in the construction of the National Cathedral even though the Ghana Health Service has reported a shortage of standard childhood vaccination vaccines, which he claims demonstrates a complete lack of priorities.
Why must we wait until there is a shortage of the vaccine before announcing that there won’t be any immunisations available for around six, two, or three months?
“Sometimes when you hear things like this and if you don’t take care you might end up saying something that will bring issues. It is very serious, first; it was in only the Northern part of the country (vaccines shortage), and now it is getting all over the country.
“What I want to assure everyone is that when we are talking about a global pandemic or disease, we all need to be worried and concerned.
“Sometimes it is very sad, the kind of life that we expect, you don’t have vaccines but you’re saying you want to build a Cathedral.
“Does it make sense? Are we human beings? the children of this country are dying and you’re saying you want to build Cathedral,” he lamented.
He continued by saying that the government must take proactive steps to meet all of the needs of the health sector. He also said Parliament’s committee on health will ensure that they handle all national health issues.
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has assured that the routine child immunisation vaccine would be available in two weeks.
The Director-General of GHS, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye explained that efforts are underway to restock the vaccines in an interview with Citi FM.
The poorest people are bearing the burden of food inflation because the cost of the cheapest items at supermarkets has increased by an astounding 21.6% in only one year.
According to a Which? survey, the cost of value items has been rising more rapidly than total grocery inflation, which was 15.9% across all major supermarkets.
This includes the average cost of milk, which increased by 26.1%, and the increase in price of pork sausages at Asda from 80p to £1.27.
Other big price increases include Sainsbury’s muesli rising from £1.20 to £2.25, and tins of sliced carrots up 63% from 20p to 33p at Tesco.
The price of cheese went up by 23.8% overall, but some individual examples surged by as much as 96.6%.
The findings suggest those who are likely to be already struggling to feed their families and pay their bills during the cost-of-living crisis are being hit disproportionately with the sharpest food increases.
In comparison, branded goods rose by 13.2% over the year, own-label premium ranges were up 13.4% and standard own-brand items increased 18.9%.
The average price of milk has risen by a staggering 26.1%
However, Which? found the discounters were generally still cheaper than their competitors.
Sue Davies, Which? head of food policy, said: ‘It’s clear that food costs have soared in recent months, but our inflation tracker shows how households relying on supermarket value ranges are being hit the hardest.
‘Supermarkets need to act and Which? is calling for them to ensure everyone has easy access to basic, affordable food ranges at a store near them, particularly in areas where people are most in need.
‘Supermarkets must also do more to ensure transparent pricing enables people to easily work out which products offer the best value and target their promotions to support people who are really struggling.’
The President was supposed to address the country on Tuesday, February 28.
The postponement was announced by the majority leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, when he delivered the business statement for the third week ending Friday, March 3.
The majority leader did not give any specific justification for the postponement.
If nothing changes, the address will take place two days after the Volta Region’s 66th independence anniversary celebration.
A sitting president must perform the exercise in accordance with Article 67 of the 1992 Constitution.
The German ambassador to Ghana, Daniel Krull, has stated that his government is eager to help Ghana communicate to its creditors outside of Germany, particularly China, but only if certain requirements are met.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Friday, February 3, urged Germany to “encourage” China, an ad hoc member of the Paris Club, to support Ghana’s debt restructuring efforts.
The President made the call when the visiting German Finance Minister, Christian Lindner called on him at the Jubilee House, Accra.
In an interview with Joy News, Mr Krull said it is important thatGhanagets certain important measures in place before any help is extended from his government.
“First of all, we insist that those measures that can be taken here in this country have to be taken. The second condition is that, yes, we are willing to take our share of responsibility as one of the major bilateral donors to Ghana.
“Let me point to three elements. The biggest loss maker in Ghana is the energy sector. In this sector alone, each year, $1.5 billion in new debt is piled up. So if that is not solved, and you ask the IMF for $10 billion, you still will not solve the problem in the medium term.
“So there has to be an answer in Ghana to the 50% technical and non-technical losses in the energy sector. If that is not resolved, I don’t see how we can help find a sustainable solution for the financial problems of the country.”
Mr Krull added “the second part is on the other side of the budget and that is the revenues. Ghana has the lowest one of the lowest tax to GDP ratios, not even 13%. So we have been cooperating with the local authorities and setting up a very smart system of property tax collection. So I think that is an important way forward and this has to be done and processes and decision-making have to be faster to meet the goals, to be able to meet the targets that have been agreed with the IMF”.
The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, on Thursday, disclosed that the government’s planned high-level meeting with Chinese creditors over Ghana’s debt restructuring has been postponed to late March 2023.
According to him, this is due to the upcoming National People’s Congress of China which is scheduled for early March.
However, bilateral talks will continue ahead of this important mission, Citi News sources have gathered.
China and its agencies hold about $1.7 billion of Ghana’s $5.5 billion bilateral debt and the specialised nature of their lending windows means that Ghana cannot add them to the model used to negotiate with the G20 and the Paris Club members.
Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr. has taken a swipe at African leaders, especially the Akufo-Addo-led government for their persistent attribution of the ongoing economic hardships to the Russia/Ukraine war.
The leaders have been talking about how the war between the two countries has negatively impacted Ghana’s economy in various sectors including the agricultural sector.
Government communicators try on daily basis to make Ghanaians understand why the Russia/Ukraine conflict is a major contributory cause of their woes.
But to Mr. Pratt, it is shameful to blame Ukraine.
Settling on the challenges in the agriculture sector, Mr. Pratt disclosed that there are some leaders who till date keep blaming Ukraine saying there is food crises in Ghana because of the war.
This, to him, is preposterous as he explained that Ghana has arable lands to produce food.
” . . If you have 40 percent of the arable lands of the world and you have to go to Ukraine for food, are you not ashamed? . . . Why are our leaders crying that we can’t find food because of Ukraine war? What a shame? What an admission of failure; crass incompetence?”, he wondered how the nation is expected to develop.
Kwesi Pratt spoke on Peace FM’s flagship programme “Kokrokoo.
The New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) deputy director of communications, Ernest Owusu Bempah, claims that the NPP is unconcerned by former President John Dramani Mahama’s plan to run for president.
He was hopeful that Ghanaians “will not choose a dead goat over a limping elephant,” in the upcoming general elections.
Mr. Bempah said the 2024 elections will be based on track record which Ghanaians can easily attest to the hardships and mess they went through under Mr. Mahama’s tenure and reject him on that score.
He said persons, especially young people with financial difficulties couldn’t go to school during Mahama’s administration but president Akufo-Addo’s government has made free SHS a reality and has so far catered for some five million students.
Reacting to Mahama’s decision to run for president in the 2024 elections, Mr Owusu Bempah told journalists that “we all know our political history, what has Mahama got to offer the people of Ghana? As Vice President, as a caretaker president and the sitting president, for six years, he ran the economy like a casino economy. His key legacy was dumsor which was a nightmare for every Ghanaian. Hundreds of thousands of jobs were lost.”
He said the Mahama administration was so bad at managing the economy that the “economy was on its knees when there was no global crisis”.
“We handed over an economy that had discovered oil in commercial quantity, GDP was about 14 percent when we were leaving power but when Mahama took over before 2012, GDP dropped to 3.5 percent, that tells how he ran the economy down. This is the economy that NDC left, with abysmal performance in all sectors,” Mr. Bempah further lamented the damage done by Mahama’s administration.
Mr. Bempah also intimated that the mess caused by John Mahama was so widespread that the suffering it brought was cross-sectoral.
“The ordinary barber, the hairdresser, the trotro driver suffered. We were not in a pandemic, yet this was the growth, it was terrible under NDC. In 2013 depreciation of the Cedi was 14.5 percent, in 2014 it was 31.3 percent depreciation. We are talking about the dead goat. Most of the Ghanaian industry collapsed under NDC regime, from PNDC to Mahama NDC, so I am daring them to come and tell us that it is not right.
“In the banking sector, the interest rate was about 35 to 40 percent under Mahama, high cost of borrowing, there was no crisis, and corruption was the order of the day. Mahama institutionalized corruption in this country, they made corruption part of our body politics, to the extent that the leader himself was part, such as Kanazoe fiasco, Airbus scandal, Isofotone. A company cited by Bloomberg and New York Times as one of the most corrupt companies in the world was awarded the $280 million contract to build the circle interchange.”
He therefore advised Ghanaians to be wise because “Mahama is coming for just four years” and “what will he do in four years that he couldn’t have done in his six years as president?”
According to reports, the 16-year-old student took the knife out of their bag before stabbing the instructor in the middle of a lecture.
The attack happened at a private school in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, near Bordeaux (Picture: Metro.co.uk)Police outside the private Catholic school (Picture: AP)Police rushed to the scene this morning (Picture: AFP)
While the motive is yet to be established, LeMonde reported they may have been suffering from mental health issues.
Neither the attacker, nor the victim have been named by authorities.
Pap Ndiaye, the French education minister, confirmed he was on his way to Saint-Jean-de-Luz.
He said in a statement on Twitter: ‘Immense emotion following the death today of a teacher at Saint-Thomas-d’Aquin high school in Saint-Jean-de-Luz.
‘My thoughts go to their family, colleagues and students.’
Pyrénées-Atlantiques senator Frédérique Espagnac said she ‘totally condemns this act of violence against a teacher’.
Meanwhile, local prosecutor Jerome Bourrier confirmed a murder enquiry has been opened.
French government spokesperson, Olivier Véran, told reporters during a press conference the government would support educators across the country in the wake of the incident.
‘I can hardly imagine the trauma that this can represent,’ he said.
On Tuesday, 21st February 2023, President Akufo-Addo handed over 700 vehicles to the Ghana Police Service to assist their mandate in ensuring safety in the country.
He presented 100 pick-up vehicles, 600 motorbikes and 6 Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) vehicles, in addition to commissioning the National Police Headquarters facelift project.
Police Pick-up vehicles
The president noted that all regions across the country are soon going to benefit from the services of this specialised unit.
“These Regional Formed Police Unit (FPUs) will be spread across 140 bases in various communities. Without any doubt, their presence will enhance greatly security, law and order in the country,” he added.
Armoured Personnel Carrier
Until recently, the FPU was only stationed in Accra, but through support from government, the Unit was extended to Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.
Currently, government is working on providing the remaining regions an FPU.
Assin Central’s representative in parliament, Kennedy Agyapong, was captured among the group that arrived in parliament to support the vetting of the Minister of Trade and Industry-designate, Kobina Tahir Hammond, .
KT Hammond is before the Appointments Committee of Parliament over his nomination by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addoas the Minister of Trade and Industry-designate.
His appointment came after Alan Kyerematen resigned to focus on his presidential ambitions, after serving in that capacity from January 2017 to January 2023.
In photos that GhanaWeb captured during the vetting, the Assin Central MP is seen walking into the hall with the entourage that had come in to support the minister-designate.
President Nana Akufo-Addo has urged the international community to send a clear message to coup plotters that coups have never been, and will never be durable solutions to Africa’s political, economic and security challenges.
According to President Akufo-Addo, “Statements condemning coups alone without corresponding action will, however, achieve little or nothing, as witnessed in recent times. This problem requires collective agreement, effective deterrence, bold action and, equally important, adequate preventive measures.”
Delivering the keynote address at a side event organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, in Munich, Germany, on Friday, 17th February 2024, he stated that “there are those who still hanker after authoritarian, personal rule, because they claim Africa is underdeveloped and democracy is cumbersome, and we need to get things done in a hurry.”
Quoting from the 2019 Annual Risk of Coup Report, he indicated that Africa has experienced more coup d’états than any other continent, which, he said, is “an unsavoury statistic”.
Citing the case of Ghana, President Akufo-Addo noted that political instability described much of the early decades of the nation’s life as an independent nation, and Ghana became notorious for sampling every and any type of political experiment.
“The one-party-state of the First Republic was overthrown in our first military coup, and the Second and Third Republics, which were practising democratic governance, were also overthrown by coup d’états. My father, President of the 2nd Republic, was overthrown some 51 years ago, on 13th January 1972. Kutu Acheampong’s coup brought his stay in office to an end,” he said.
The President continued, “the instability instigated the collapse of the economy and led to the exodus from the country of many citizens and professionals. We have probably not still recovered from the tendency to want to leave the country as the answer to difficult situations.”
He noted, however, that for the past 30 years of our 4th Republic, Ghana has enjoyed political stability under a multi-party constitution, and the longest period of stable, constitutional governance in our hitherto tumultuous history.
The President told the gathering that the separation of powers is now a real phenomenon in Ghanaian life, promoting accountable governance. Efficient public services are now within reach.
“We have, in this period, experienced, through the ballot box, the transfer of power from one ruling political party to another on three occasions in conditions of peace and stability, without threatening the foundations of the state.
“The Ghanaian people have manifested in this era their deep attachment to the principles of democratic accountability, respect for individual liberties, human rights and the rule of law. It has also brought with it more or less systematic economic growth, and boosted immensely our self-confidence,” he added.
Condemn all Coups
The reappearance of coups in Africa, the President stated, in all its forms and manifestations must be condemned by all, since it seriously undermines “our collective bid to rid the continent of the menace of instability and unconstitutional changes in government, as currently defined by the frameworks enshrined in the Lomé Declaration, the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, and other important regional and continental instruments”.
In as much as drivers of unconstitutional changes are largely domestic, President Akufo-Addo noted that the international dimension cannot be overlooked.
“Foreign involvement in fomenting unconstitutional changes, often in favour of repressive governments, foreign economic interests and other would-be geo-political benefits, are contributory factors. Some foreign entities regard coups in African countries as a means of enhancing their regional ambitions,” he said.
He continued, “As such, they engage in all sorts of disinformation campaigns in a bid to disparage the authority of democratically elected governments and instigate opposition protests against incumbents.”
In implementing existing continental and regional instruments and protocols, the President noted that defaulting Member States are condemned and suspended from the activities of continental and regional bodies, and individual coup-makers are sanctioned.
“However, the reality is, these sanctions have not been applied uniformly. Whilst we are quick to sanction military coup leaders, civilians, who achieve similar ends via the manipulation of constitutions to remain in power, for example, go without sanctions, although their actions are clearly prohibited in our legal instruments. This means that the existing frameworks need to be strengthened to capture such infractions,” he added.
The Finance Minister Ken Ofori Attaon Thursday, February 16, 2023 presented a statement on government’s Domestic Debt Exchange Programme(DDEP).
The finance imnister, during his presentation, said all pensioners who failed to tender their old bonds for new ones under the exercise have been exempted from the programme.
Also present in the house to witness proceedings were members of the Pensioner Bondholders Forum who had been picketing at the finance ministry for the past eight working days, protesting against the inclusion of their investments in the programme.
As is usual of him, the finance minister, Ken Ofori Atta, began his presentation with a quotation from scripture.
“Mr speaker I come in peace and as expected, if I look at Psalm 105, it says that let’s give thanks and note that we should rejoice with the lord and make his great deeds known to people,” he said, attracting varied reactions from both sides of the house.
He then proceeded to make his presentation to the house, explaining why the government had taken some decisions for the DDP.
After, his presentation, the MPs had time to react to what had been said and during that period, three more scriptures were quoted by some MPs.
The first to quote from the Bible was the MP for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who was disappointed in the minister’s decision to rejoice in the face of the country’s economic crisis.
“Mr. Speaker, what is even so obnoxious and irritating is the minister’s opening remarks that this is the time to rejoice in the Lord. Jesus Christ of Nazareth! The minister forgets that in Proverbs 29:2, the Bible says that when the wicked rule, the people mourn, the people groan, there is pain. There is pain and anxiety when the wicked rule.”
He added that “This is no time to rejoice. If the minister is still rejoicing, then our problems are bigger than I ever imagined. Because it tells us that the president, his vice president, and his finance minister are in a bubble; they are totally out of touch. They are in a world of their own, and they are still in a rejoicing mood.”
Then came the turn of the MP for Nhyiaso, Stephen Amoah, who is popularly called Sticka. Mr Amoah sought to assure the pensioners who were present in the house that the finance minister’s quote did not mean he was happy with the country’s present situation.
“1 Thessalonians 15: 16-18, the Bible states emphatically without any ambiguity, that in all circumstances we should give thanks to God and that is the will of God for his children. So our fathers and mothers it’s not that finance minister is happy with what is happening but finance minister believes in God, we all believe in God and God says that whether we’re going through pain or pleasure we should give thanks…”
He was of the view that the minority members were pushing things out of proportion.
The Member of Parliament for Asunafo South, Eric Opoku, refused to be left out of the scripture quoting as he referenced parts of the bible when he had his turn.
He made reference to a time in the Bible when a king went to the older generation for advice when important decisions needed to be made.
“Mr Speaker, typical of the finance minister, he began the statement with a quotation from the bible and I’d like to do the same thing. Mr Speaker, 1 Kings 12:6 Solomon [Rehoboam] once sought the expertise of old men who helped him make important decisions about the kingdom of Israel but Mr Speaker, he did not touch the livelihood of these old men. He sought their expertise but never touched the livelihood of these people,” he said.
The scripture reads “Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked.”
He further expressed his displeasure in the government and by extension, the finance minister’s decision to include pensioners in the domestic debt exchange programme.
“He wants to fall on the savings of the aged, our mothers and fathers who have contributed their quota to this state and as we speak, they don’t have anything to live on except the little that they have saved. The minister is saying that without the savings of these people Ghana cannot get out of the trouble.”
For him, the nation would be in a better place if the president reduced the size of his government and collapse some government institutions which are not functional.
Like other minority MPs before him, Mr Opoku ended his submission by calling on the finance minister to resign stressing that he will not be forgiven for what he has done to the country.
Reacting to this however, the speaker of parliament told the MP that even though he started his submission with a quote, his ending statement was “not biblical at all.”
Seeking to respond to this, Eric Opoku said “There is forgiveness but in the judgement day no one will be forgiven.”
A former Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo, stated that while Ghana’s presentConstitutionhas served the nation well, a revision is long required.
She made the observation in an interview where she expressed her views about the freedoms that the 1992 Constitution gave to citizens.
“Nobody tells me what to think, except God and nobody can tell me what to do with my time and what to say about anything going on in this country,” he said reacting to her recent decision to join an anti-government picketing event.
“Thank God we have a constitution, flawed though it might be, but at least the right to say what I want to say and the freedom of conscience, that’s mine and nobody will trample on it however influential they are,” she said.
She also told host of the Upfront programme on Joy News earlier his week that a constitutional review was long overdue, positing that it should have been implemented incrementally over the years to make it a stronger guiding document.
In her opinion, the 1992 Constitution and how it was birthed should have given Ghana the perfect grounds to build successive governance architectures but that has not been the case.
Asked in an interview with Joy News (February 15) whether she was disappointed in the current New Patriotic Party(NPP) government, the former CJ said: “I have been disappointed with every single government we have had under this (1992) constitution…
“… because after all that we went through with the military and everything and we centered the constitution as guiding principle, at least constitutionalism should have been what should have been guiding us.
“But we have eroded so many standards, principles. It is not only the NPP government, a far as I am concerned, every government has failed us,” she emphasized.
Evolution of Ghana’s Fourth Republic
President John Agyekum Kufuor completed his second term in office in 2009 having taken office in 2000 from late Jerry John Rawlings. It was Rawlings who kick started the Fourth Republic in 1993, serving two terms till 2001.
The election to replace Kufuor was a two-horse race between Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and late John Evans Atta-Mills. The latter contesting for the third consecutive time beat Akufo-Addo in a runoff vote.
Mills died while in office paving the way for his then Vice President John Dramani Mahama to become president. Mahama won the 2012 polls but lost his re-election bid to Akufo-Addo in 2016.
Akufo-Addo beat him in 2020 with both men seeking re-election, that is their final terms in office.
President Akufo-Addo has paid tribute to the late Black Stars player, Christian Atsu, who was reported dead today after being rescued from the rubble in Turkey.
Prior to his demise, there were reports that the player could still be alive under the debris following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake which hit Turkey and Syria on February 6, 2023.
Responding to such news, President Akufo-Addo prayed for Christian Atsu, to be found “safe and sound.”
Unfortunately, the 31-year-old kicked the bucket and has left Ghanaians in a state of mourning.
Reacting to his demise, the president comforted himself and Ghanaians by recalling Job 1: 21, which he said states: “The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away.”
On behalf of Ghanaians, he extended his sincere, heartfelt condolences to the widow, children and family of Christian Atsu.
According to him, “Ghana football has lost one of its finest personnel and ambassadors, one who will be difficult to replace” adding that “he will be sorely missed.”
President Akufo-Addo concluded by stating that “May his soul rest in the Bosom of the Almighty until the Last Day of the Resurrection when we shall all meet again. Amen!”
Kwaku Kwarteng, the member of parliament for Obuasi West, wants parliament to reduce spending as well in order to salvage the faltering national economy.
Mr. Kwarteng who served as a Deputy Finance Minister under the first term of the Akufo-Addoadministration says MPs should stop using V-8s and stop receiving ex-gratia at the end of every term of office.
The Chairman of the Finance Committee was contributing to the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme discussion on the floor of Parliament, when the Finance Minster, Ken Ofori-Atta appeared before the House to brief them on the DDEP.
“Mr. Speaker how many times have we not heard the people who elected us into office say that there are issues with the V8s that we use? How many times have we not heard our people complain about the ex-gratia we take?
“Mr. Speaker I’m making the point that the problem we have on our hands today is not just a debt treatment matter. There is the need to deal with a fundamental weakness that has characterised the management of our economy for decades,” MP for Obuasi West said.
Sophia Akuffo, a former Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana, has expressed her annoyance at the association of her name Akuffo with that of President Akufo-Addo.
Speaking on JoyNews, she said people make a linkage “as though I have no merit or capacity, yes that irritates me but I dont let it bother me”.
The former Chief Justice (CJ) claimed she finds it “irritating” that people refer to the President for whom she was appointed as a family member.
The previous chief judge also discussed her “ideology.”
“If you insist on ideology… the ology ology which I thought was outdated after Communism… Maybe I can say I am egalitarian…” she revealed.
She said she was first appointed to the Supreme Court straight from private practice by late former President John Rawlings before President Kufour appointed her to the African Court and President Akufo-Addo made her Chief Justice. She said she cuts across as a “friend of everyone and an enemy to none”.
The National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) National Communications Bureau has severally accused the Akufo-Addo government of running a family members and friends government.
The party released at the bureau’s 6th edition of the Moment of Truth, a forum the party has used to comment on important issues of governance and government policies since 2018.
But Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo later replied that he has only two family relatives in his Government.
According to the President, all allegations levelled against him to be running a family and friend Government are not true.
Nana Addo disclosed that, one of the family relatives in his Government is Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta – the Finance Minister of the Republic of Ghana. “Mr. Ken Ofori Atta is my cousin.” He said and added that Amoako-Atta, Roads Minister is also related to him.
The president discussed the new development with the ministers of defense, interior, local government, and information as well as the directors of the nation’s main security agencies, according to a news report by citinewsroom.com.
Akufo-Addo is said to have stated that his administration would see to the resolution of the chieftaincy conflict.
“Unfortunately, it’s a poor time for us; we have first of all a big crisis on our hands in Bawku as we speak. Things are happening which are causing a lot of problems for the security there, and I was in a meeting with them,” the president is quoted to have said.
The Overlord of the Mamprugu Traditional Area, Naa Bohugu Mahami Abdulai Sherigah II, enskinned a new chief for Bawku in the early hours of Wednesday, February 15, 2023.
The new chief, who was enskinned at the Nayiri palace in Nalerigu, is called Alhaji Seidu Abagre, GhanaWeb can confirm.
Jubilations were seen all over the forecourt of the Nayiri palace in Nalerigu, the North East Regional capital, as well as the traditional city of Mamprugu.
Meanwhile, soldiers were at the Nayiri’s Palace to ensure that there is peace and security while the residents jubilated.
The new chief enskinned, Alhaji Seidu Abagre, is expected to be accompanied by some elders from the Nayiri Palace to Bawku after they perform all the traditional activities in Nalerigu.
The Government of Ghana has, however, condemned the installation of a new chief for Bawku by the Overlord of the Mamprugu Traditional Area, Naa Bohugu Mahami Abdulai Sherigah II.
In a statement issued by the Ministry for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, on Wednesday, February 15, 2023, the government said that Naba Asigri Abugrago Azoka II is still the Bawku Naba.
It added that the security apparatus in Bawku has been instructed to arrest anybody who holds himself out as Bawku Naba other than Naba Abugrago Azoka II.
There has been heightened tension in Bawku as a result of renewed sporadic gunshots in the outskirts of the Bawku township.
At least 6 people, according to a Joy News report, were killed, and 10 injured in fresh shootings in Bawku on Wednesday, February 8, 2022.
The Overlord of the Mamprugu Traditional Area, Naa Bohagu Abdulai Mahama Sheriga ll, in March 2022, pledged to find a lasting peace to the long-winded Bawku Chieftaincy dispute which has eliminated many lives following the disturbances in the area.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo nominated Ken Ofori-Atta to be Ghana’s finance minister in 2017. After the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) won the 2020 elections, Ofori-Atta was renominated.
On January 27, 2017, Ofori-Atta took over as minister of finance, and she has held that position for almost seven years.
However, the current administration is having economic problems, which have led to calls for the minister’s resignation, citing his responsibility for the suffering Ghanaians are currently going through.
On the other hand, the government has made an argument for why the current economic issues cannot be entirely attributed to poor economic management but rather partly to outside factors that are beyond its control pointing to the COVID-19 outbreak and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine as the key external drivers of the economic crisis.
Calls for the head of the finance minister intensified when the government announced plans to seek an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout.
Generally, the opposition party accused the minister of misleading Ghanaians because the latter had stated on various occasions that the government wouldn’t seek the IMF’s assistance, which in their opinion was a sign of incompetence and mistrust on the part of the minister; hence their call for his resignation or dismissal.
Meanwhile, the minister still holds his position despite several requests for his resignation and various attempts to have him removed from office.
GhanaWeb compiles five possible reasons why the minister still remains in office.
1. President Akufo-Addo’s refusal to sack the minister
Akufo-Addo has come under public backlash for his decision to keep the minister in his position.
It may be recalled that some 88 Members of Parliament held a press conference on Tuesday, October 25, 2022, to voice their disquiet and demanded the head of Ken Ofori-Atta and the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Charles Adu Boahen.
The MPs demanded the resignation of Ken Ofori-Atta over the failing economy.
After meeting with the president and the national leadership of the NPP, the rebel MPs agreed to cooperate with the minister to present the 2023 budget, see to its appropriation and to also reach an initial agreement with the IMF.
The stated conditions have since been met and some of the rebel MPs have stated that they are waiting on the president to act on the agreement reached with the MPs.
However, the committee, at the end of their hearing said that they did not make any specific findings at the end of their job.
Presenting the report to parliament on December 8, 2022, co-chairman Kbina Tahir Hammond said: “The committee was not able to come out with any findings.”
Subsequently, the vote of censure failed because the majority caucus left the chamber during the voting and according to the constitution, the destiny of the minister must be decided by two-thirds of the house.
Before walking out, the leader of the majority side, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said that his group is washing its hands off the process to remove the finance minister because it did not follow due procedures.
3. The family dynasty
President Akufo-Addo has been accused of feeling reluctant to relieve Ken Ofori-Atta of his post because they are related by blood.
Ofori-Atta is president Akufo-Addo’s cousin and the president is reported to be loyal to his family members hence the unwillingness to sack the embattled minister.
The Member of Parliament for Subin, Eugene Antwi, said in an interview that the president is being blinded by his relations with Ofori-Atta.
“New Patriotic Party, (NPP) is running a democracy and not a family dynasty. I do not think it is too much to ask the President to ask two people to step aside from his government,” he said.
But president Akufo Addo speaking in an interview with OTEC FM on Monday, October 17 2022, said he has full confidence in the Minister.
He insisted that Ofori-Atta cannot be blamed for the current economic woes the country is facing.
“I came to office in 2017 under a stringent IMF programme. This same man was able to manage the affairs of our economy in such a way that in my first term, we were one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.
“An average growth rate of 7% which allowed us to initiate programmes such as Planting for Food and Jobs. So, somebody who has been able to do that. The current difficulties are not his fault. So how do I do it (sack him)? What will be the basis? What will be the rationale,” the president said.
4. IMF deal
President Akufo-Addo is said to have told rebel MPs in a meeting last year to allow Ken Ofori-Atta to seal an IMF bailout for the country before his future is decided.
Reports and media statements by some persons who attended the meeting were that the president is convinced a deal could be reached with the IMF and a decision will be made afterwards.
Even though the MPs insist Ofori-Atta was tasked to deliver an initial agreement (i.e., a staff-level deal that was reached last December), others have interpreted the president’s words as the completion of the IMF talks.
The Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Ahiagbah has responded to former President John Dramani Mahama on his comment that “President Akufo-Addo’s administration is not only indifferent in the fight against corruption – they are collaborators!”
Responding to him also in a tweet, Mr Ahiagbah said “At least President Akufo-Addo is clear about his incorruptibility. #Ghana”
Mr Dame wrote against the decision by the Auditor-General to publish the report on Covid expenditure.
Per Article 187(5) of the Constitution, Mr Dame explained, the Auditor-General is mandated to submit his report to Parliament to draw attention to any irregularities in the accounts audited?
The Auditor-General report stated that “During our review, we noted that senior management staff and other supporting staff of the Ministry of Information paid themselves a total amount of GH¢151,500.00 as COVID-19 risk allowance for coming to work during the lockdown.”
It further indicated that the Ministry of Health (MoH) entered a contract signed on 15 December 2021 for the supply of 26 Toyota Hiace Deluxe Ambulances valued at US$4,049,460.12 out of which US$607,419.02 was paid to vide PV No. IPF 22-007 of 2 September 2022 is to be delivered by 15 January 2022.
However, the report said, the ambulances remained undelivered as of 28 November 2022.
But the Attorney General in his letter said ” “I observe that the report of the special audit on the Government’s COVID-19 transactions has been published on the website of the Audit Service. In light of the constitutional provisions pertaining to the duty of the Auditor-General after the preparation of audit reports, I consider a publication of the COVID-19 audit report or indeed any audit report particularly when the same has not been either considered by Parliament or referred to a committee of Parliament, premature.”
Mr Dame has however justified the letter he wrote.
He stated that it is astonishing that CDD-Ghana disputes the propriety of the Attorney-General rendering legal advice to the Auditor-General, and construes same as “an interference with the independence of the auditor general”.
A proper reading of the Constitution, especially the provisions on the Public Services of Ghana, leads to the inescapable conclusion that the Attorney-General is fully vested with the constitutional function of giving legal advice to all the Public Services specifically listed in Article 190(1) of the Constitution, including the Audit Service, and such other public services as will be established by law.
Article 295 indicates that the public services listed in article 190 and other public services established by Parliament pursuant to its legislative powers, are part of the civil offices of Government.
In the face of the explicit constitutional mandate of the Attorney-General under article 88 of the Constitution as principal legal adviser to the Government, it is incomprehensible and rather illogical how an assertion may be made that the Attorney-General has no capacity to render legal advice to the Auditor-General.
Such an assertion can only be as a result of a simplistic and limited view of relevant provisions of the Constitution of Ghana.
According to Ernest Owusu Bempah, the NPP’s deputy communications officer, the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has handled the economy successfully despite the difficulties.
He said the party will win the 2024 general elections after assuring that the Akufo-Addoadministration will tackle the economic challenges that have arisen as a result of external factors including the Russia-Ukraine war and the Covid-19.
Speaking to journalists in Accra on Wednesday, February 15, he said “During the Mahama administration, Ghana’s economy was running at a 3 percent growth rate. Under the NPP before Covid it was doing 8 percent, that tells you how we managed the economy better than the NDC.”
He added “NPP has been able to captain the country through the storm even though there are challenges. One can imagine if Mahama and his NDC were leading this country Ghanaians by now will be wallowing in abject poverty, people wouldn’t be able to afford three square meals a day.
“There will be total darkness because of dumsor, joblessness will be the order of the day, the youth will be perplexed if Mahama had been the leader of this country at this time.
“Despite all the challenges now, school children are going to school for free, and road networks are being built across the country.
“If it happened during the Mahama era you wouldn’t see all of these, they will blame it on the challenge. But we believe that as a political party before the 2024 elections, these challenges shall pass and NPP will come out united with leadership to win the elections and break the 8.
“The NDC, John Mahama as an alternative is empty, they have been therefore when there were no crisis, we saw what they did and they have nothing.”
Former Cief Justice, Sophia Akuffo, is unimpressed with how administrations have performed since the 1992 Constitution took effect.
Even the New Patriotic Party (NPP), where she served as Chief Justice, is subject to her criticism of underperforming political leaders.
These remarks were delivered by her in an interview on JoyNews which is yet to be aired.
She believes that, to the detriment of the citizenry, succeeding administrations have consistently put the constitution on the back burner.
“I’ve been disappointed with every single government under this Constitution. Because, after all that we went through with the military and everything and we centered the Constitution as the guiding principle, at least, constitutionalism should have been what should have been guiding us,” she told Raymond Acquah.
According to her, “we have eroded so many standards, we’ve eroded so many principles. Yes, it’s not only the NPP government, as far as I’m concerned, every government has failed.”
On February 14, 2023, President Akufo-Addo and Member of Parliament for Dome Kwabenya, Sarah Adwoa Safo, came together for a local school inauguration ceremony.
Up to July 2022, Sarah Adwoa Safo served as the minister of gender, women, and social protection.
After more than a year away on an extended leave from the ministry and a contentious absence from Parliament, President Akufo-Addo removed her of her duties.
When President Akufo-Addo opened and turned over the Kwabenya Model Kindergarten School, the MP featured prominent in images released by the administration.
BSW International built the facility for the residents of Kwabenya through the Ghana Education Service (GES).
Adwoa Safo was captured holding the red tape along with other guests like the Education and Greater Accra Regional Ministers who were also in attendance. She was also seated on the dais with the Education Minister sandwiching her and the president.
President Akufo-Addo with Sarah Adwoa Safo and other ministers in his government
In comments during the launch, Akufo-Addo stressed the importance of quality and inclusive early childhood education, stating that it enables all children, irrespective of their physical, emotional, social or medical challenges, to come together at school, to play and learn together.
He said the absence of this deprives the child of play and other critical things of childhood, like cognitive, motor, physical, social, emotional, core competencies and language development.
It is for this reason that Mr Akufo-Addo said his government has embarked on the construction of some 350 kindergarten blocks, for which 160 have so far been completed while several dilapidated KG blocks have also been renovated but without mentioning numbers.
“We will continue to invest in education, and help secure our country’s future, for these interventions are geared towards the growth and development of Ghana,” he stated adding “we are preparing our youth for the birth of a prosperous society – a society which creates opportunities for all its citizens, rewards creativity and enterprise, honesty and hard work.”
The UN Sustainable Development Goal 4.2 explicitly seeks to ensure that, by 2030, all girls and boys will have access to early childhood care and development to prepare them for primary education.
Senior Legal Team Member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Ashanti Region Evans Amankwah says the Akufo-Addo government has suppressed freedom of speech in the country.
He believes the government is using state security to intimidate members of the opposition and prevent them from speaking on issues of national interest.
Amankwah gave this remark after his client Razak Koampah Avoliya, the constituency youth organiser of the opposition party was remanded by the Asokwa Circuit Court, last Thursday (February 9).
Koampa, aka ‘Mosquito’, turned himself in after he was declared wanted by the police for allegedly inciting political violence captured in a viral video. The 32-year-old was detained, charged and arraigned. A push for bail by Lawyer Amankwah and his team was shot down by the court.
Shocked by the court’s verdict Lawyer Amakwah said: “I am dumbfounded that the court refused bail at this point. As a lawyer no matter how bad the decision of the court you need to respect it. People have made more serious, treacherous and threatening statements than this. Kennedy Agyapong and Sammi Awuku made similarly serious statements and what happened to them?
“Razak Koampa is in high spirits and this time I am speaking as a lawyer and a politician that the incarceration or remand of Razak will not intimidate NDC youth…Nobody can gag our freedom of speech. If putting us behind bars is what they intend doing then we want the IGP and the Interior Minister to build more cells”, the visibly emotional lawyer told reporters.
Ahead of the 66th Independence Anniversary Celebration planned to take place in Ho, the Volta Regional Capital, a delegation led by the Minister for Transport, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, has visited the Airport to inspect it.
The team paid a working visit to the Airport to examine sections of the airport including the Arrival and Departure halls, Air Traffic Control, Fire Station, and Emergency Operations Center, among other things, with the Volta Regional Minister, Dr. Archibald Letsa.
Kwaku Ofori Asiamah was given the assurance that the airport would be ready to welcome guests and dignitaries who would be passing through the airport for the celebrations.
The Minister was accompanied by Hon. Emmanuel Bossman, Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr Paul Adom-Otchere, Board Chairman of GACL, Board Members of GACL, Mrs. Pamela Djamson – Tettey, Managing Director, GACL, Mr Daniel Acquah, Deputy Director General, Technical, GCAA and other officials of Ghana Airports Company Limited and Ghana Civil Aviation Authority.
The Ho Airport was constructed to boost tourism and trade in the Volta Region.
The Minister of Tourism, Arts, and Culture, Dr. Ibrahim Awal, has urged African states to use the natural and human resources that the continent is endowed with to further socioeconomic development.
“Africa has so many riches, but reaps so little benefit,” he added. As a result, it’s time to include traditional authorities, religious figures, and civil society groups to promote inclusive and sustainable development.
In this regard, it’s critical to realize the possibilities of the multi-party democracy that most African nations have chosen for peace and advancement on the continent.
Dr Awal made the call in a speech read on his behalf at the 11th edition of the Pan African Leadership, Investment Summit and Honours in Accra, on Friday.
He lamented the insecurity and political upheavals in Sub-Saharan Africa, which was retarding socio-economic progress, and called on the governments to tackle those challenges head-on to ensure peace and development.
Professor Hugh Aryee, the Country Director, of the UNIPGC, Africa, in his welcome remarks, entreated African governments to always factor the views of the masses into decision-making processes to enable the chosen multi-party democracy to thrive.
“The masses at the local and national levels should be involved in the governance processes. The multi-party democracy shouldn’t be about elections alone, but a participatory one where the views of the people are respected,” he said.
Prof. Aryee urged the authorities to develop the political will and commitment to decouple the security services and election management bodies from the political space and manipulations, without which “we cannot build any strong public institutions run on professional values”.
The Global President of the UNIPGC, Ambassador Dr Jonathan Ojadah, took the opportunity to induct the UNIPGC’s regional executives and envoys into office to implement the various development projects.
The United Nations International Peace and Governance Council is a global civil society organisation established to accelerate peace, good governance and eradication of poverty across the world.
It is also to strengthen government’s efforts to handle civil and ethnic conflicts and inter-state wars, as well as the negative impact of civic globalisation, terrorism and human rights abuses.
He said that in honor of its fifth anniversary, the Chamber, which was more inclined toward trade and investments, had moved its emphasis this year to empowering young in agribusiness, education, and ICT.
At the opening of the Chamber’s fifth anniversary celebration in Accra, Dr. Oduro-Antwi said this.
He said: “GITAC will provide scholarships to students including exchange programmes and give support to innovative ideas from the youth. They will also benefit from programmes like the health tourism, technological fair and musical festival.”
The events which would be year-round began with the media launch and between February 22 and 24 there would be an educational fair where about 20 universities from India would be in attendance to share knowledge with the Ghanaian counterparts.
In March, there would be another educational fair where Ghanaian youth and students would apply for Indian scholarships with the requisite qualifications.
Similarly, a Global African Trade Advisory Chamber would be launched in Dubai and in April, the GITAC would engage the media to understand and propagate the Chamber’s events.
Whilst in May there would be the Global Annual Event, there would also be health tourism where technologies used in building clinics in just three days would be exhibited in June with a technological fair taking place in July.
Mr Nazeer A. Khan, a Member of GITAC, said Indian members of the Chamber had investments, including hospitals and polyclinics in Ghana.
He said: “We are ready to help the students with scholarships in India. The education opportunities there are very cheap.”
Reverend Edward Randolph Koranteng, Board Chairman, GITAC, said the events were geared towards developing the human capital that would serve as a business product to be sold and exported to yield profit for the economy.
He said the world was now sustained by the knowledge economy, adding that “the knowledge economy addresses how education and knowledge can serve as a productive asset.”
“This aspect of the economy relies greatly on capabilities instead of natural resources or physical contributions in the knowledge economy,” he said.
Dr. John Kwakye, director of research at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), claimed on September 13, 2022, that the government’s move to request financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was only a temporary fix to the nation’s economic problems.
He believed that a long-term fix was necessary to address the economic situation.
The economic expert stated in a tweet that the IMF was only a temporary fix for our economic issues.
In order to promote policies that would change the economy from having a colonial structure to a modern industrial economy, he continued, “the long-term answers demand fiscal discipline and mobilizing our own enormous resources.”
Read the full story originally published on September 13, 2022 by Ghanaiantimes.
The Director of Research at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Dr John Kwakye, has described the government’s engagement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a short-term solution to the country’s economic challenges.
According to him, the long-term solution required fiscal discipline and mobilising the country’s abundant resources to support policies that would transform the economy.
In a tweet on Saturday, the economic expert said “IMF is a short-term solution to our economic problems.”
“The long-term solutions require fiscal discipline and mobilising our own abundant resources to support policies that would transform the economy from its colonial structure to a modern industrial economy,” he added.
However, some economists and the Ghana Trades Union Congress have expressed their concerns because of the conditions that an IMF programme comes with.
But others are of the view that an economic programme with the Fund is long overdue since the Ghanaian economy has lost credibility following the downgrade of its credit rating by all three rating agencies (Fitch, Moody’s and S&P).
This has denied the country access to the international capital market, whilst inflation and the local currency have been impacted significantly.
Despite all these challenges, the IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, has reiterated her outfit’s commitment to reaching an agreement with the government by the end of this year for an economic programme.
According to her, Ghana’s current economic woes are not self-inflicted ones but exogenous shocks such as COVID-19 and the Russian/Ukraine War.
Speaking with Joy News at the Africa Adaptation Summit in Rotterdam, Holland, Madam Georgieva, said the present economic imbalances are not due to bad policies by the government.
Again, the new IMF Mission Chief for Ghana, Stephane Roudet, arrived in the country last week.
Roudet whose appointment took effect from September 1, 2022, paid a visit to the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta and his team and the Governor of the Bank of Ghana and his team as well.
Roudet’s visit lays the groundwork for a full mission towards the end of September 2022.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo pleaded for African nations to stop pleading with the West for favors on December 14, 2022, in order to gain international respect.
“If we stop begging and spend African money on the continent, Africa would not need to beg for recognition from anyone; we will receive the respect we deserve,” he asserted. Respect will come if we restore it to its proper state of prosperity.
In an address at the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit in Washington, DC, President Akufo-Addo made this statement.
Read the entire article, which was first published on December 14, 2022, on www.ghanaweb.com.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has called on African countries to absorb themselves from begging from the West to earn global respect and move away from old-aged perceptions of the continent.
Delivering remarks at the ongoing US-Africa Leaders’ Summit in Washington DC, President Akufo-Addo extolled Africa’s skills and manpower which he believes can bring significant change when well harnessed.
“If we stop being beggars and spend African money inside the continent, Africa will not need to ask for respect from anyone, we will get the respect we deserve. If we make it prosperous as it should be, respect will follow,” President Akufo-Addo is quoted by BBC.com.
“Africans are more resilient outside the continent than inside. We must bear in mind that to the outside world, [there’s] nothing like Nigeria, Ghana or Kenya, we are simply Africans. Our destiny as people depends on each other,” he added.
President Akufo-Addo’s remarks come after Ghana on December 13, 2022, secured a Staff-Level Agreement with the International Monetary Fund for US$3 billion under an Extended Credit Facility (ECF).
On December 14, 2021, business tycoon Dr. Kofi Amoah of Ghana lamented the meager wages paid to workers in his country.
“If you look at the salaries for a lot of Ghanaians who are working, their head is below the water they cannot breathe; so, when they come to work you do not have 100% of their focus because at the end of the month the money you give them cannot take care of everything so they have to be thinking of something else to supplement their income,” he said.
He also added: “So, let’s say you are doing fee education which is good. A lot of people are being educated but the teacher’s salary is mind is not, therefore, the quality of education given is not the best.”
Good pay would ensure workers are focused on the job
Paying workers well essential to Ghana’s development
Salary structure in Ghana should be looked at, Economist
Ghanaian business mogul and economist, Kofi Amoah, has said the salaries of most Ghanaian workers including public sector workers were not the best.
Kofi Amoah who said this in an interview on GhanaWeb TV stated that the payment structure in Ghana had to be thoroughly looked at to ensure that employers in Ghana including government pay workers the right salaries.
He said this was so essential because paying workers well would ensure employees focus on their duties at work which would enhance productivity and innovation.
Workers being productive and innovative, he said, would lead to the development of the country.
“For a lot of Ghanaians who are working if you look at the salaries, their head is below the water they cannot breathe; so, when they come to work you do not have 100 percent of their focus because at the end of the month the money you give to them cannot take care of everything so they have to be thinking of something else to supplement their income,” he said.
“So, let say you are doing fee education which is good. A lot of people are being educated but the teacher salary is mind is not, therefore, the quality of education given is not the best,” he added
Dr Amoah explained the work of an individual should not only provide them income but should be an extension of the person as well as his/her adventurism and curiosity adding that this was the reason why employees of huge companies like Facebook are so innovative.
Dr. John Kwakye, the director of research at the Institute of Economic Affairs(IEA), has said that the Bank of Ghana’s reason for financing the budget of the government in 2022 cannot support the amount of loans made to the government.
He claimed that the BoG’s Act required that any temporary advances made to the government by the Central Bank be paid back within three months.
In a statement released last week, the Bank of Ghana defended the funding of the government’s 2022 budget with around GH44.5 billion.
It said financing the government was part of a crisis management tool used in dealing with the difficulties of 2022.
“It must be recognised that the ongoing debt operations are part of the corrective measures designed to address the financing problem of the budget. Bank of Ghana financing was part of a crisis management tool used in dealing with the difficulties of 2022,” it said.
Against this backdrop, the details of theBank of Ghana’s claims on government as of December 2022 were GH¢7.2 billion, representing its purchase of treasury bonds from banks to provide them with liquidity to enable them to meet their obligation to customers and GH¢8.9 billion, representing on-lending facilities granted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for onward lending to government.
“It will be important to recall the circumstances under which the Government of Ghana decided to seek IMF support. Ghana has lost access to the International Capital Market, and domestic revenue was significantly underperforming and not realised, pushing the state of government finances into near external and domestic default. With the above, the policy choices were not that of business as usual but rather a more challenged conduct of macroeconomic policy in the context of crisis”.
But in a tweet, Dr Kwakye said lending GH¢44 billion far exceeded the GH¢3.5 billion ceiling.
“Lending ¢44 billion in 2022 far exceeded the GH¢3.5 billion ceilings”.
“BoG’s rejoinder cannot justify the scale of their lending to the government. The Bank can provide temporary advances to the government. But they should be limited and repayable within three months per the Bank’s Act”, it added.
Elsie Addo Awadzi, the Bank of Ghana’s second deputy governor, stated in October 2020 that the country’s central bank was not to blame for the failure of the financial firms.
She claims that the BoG’s duties include regulating and licensing financial institutions, as well as removing failed institutions from the system.
It’s crucial that the media guides the public conversation in a neutral and knowledgeable way.
Headlines like “Bank of Ghana has collapsed companies” are ones we’ve heard far too frequently. Bank of Ghana never lets anything go under. No. We supervise, we license, and when an institution fails, we remove it from the system in a way that doesn’t have an impact on the system, she said.
Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Elsie Addo Awadzi, has asked the media to use the right terminologies in their reports on the sector to send the right messages to the public.
Speaking at a media sensitization workshop organised by the BoG and associations representing Specialised Deposit-taking Institutions (SDIs), the 2nd Deputy BoG Governor said some headlines distort the salient point in an event within the sector.
“It is important that the media leads the public discourse in a dispassionate and expert manner…We have heard too often, headlines such as ‘Bank of Ghana has collapsed companies’. Bank of Ghana never collapses anything. No. We licence, we supervise and then when an institution has failed, we take it out of the system in a manner that does not affect the system.
“So do not say ‘Bank of Ghana has collapsed anything’. Bank of Ghana does not collapse anything. These institutions are run and governed by their shareholders, who put their Board of Directors and a team of management. So, they collapsed the companies. We don’t collapse the companies. It is important for the media to understand that,” she stressed.
The media sensitisation event brought together key players in the sector and presented a rare opportunity for the SDI associations to better explain their operations to the media.
It also enabled the media to ask appropriate questions of the key players in the sector and provide feedback to SDIs as to what the public thinks of their service.
Elsie Addo Awadzi said it is important that the media grows to become a key partner that understands the financial sector and the regulatory framework within which the financial sector operates.
“[The financial sector] is very different from other types of businesses and it is important that the media, when they engage in discussions related to the financial sector, they do so with an understanding of regulatory environment as well as the policy environment within which the financial sector operates,” she admonished.
The Pensioner Bondholders Forum has announced that on February 14, when Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta, the minister of finance, appears before the House’s Business Committee, it will be present to observe proceedings.
The Domestic Debt Exchange Program (DDEP), which targets the bond holdings of pensioners, was announced by the government after Speaker of the House Mr. Alban Bagbin instructed the Committee to call the Minister to address the House.
On the fourth day of the picketing of the Ministry of Finance premises,Dr. Adu Anane Antwi, the Convener of the Forum, made this claim in an interview with the Ghana News Agency.
He said: “We will be at Parliament, not to picket though, because we don’t have any issue with them (Members of Parliament). We will sit at the public gallery to listen and observe proceedings.”
Pensioner Bondholders started picketing on Monday, February 5th, at the Ministry of Finance to demand total exemption from the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).
Government under the programme is proposing an exchange where maturity period of bonds of 12-15 years could be reduced to 5 years with the reduction of returns on bonds moved from the average of 18 and half per cent to 15 percent.
Pensioners are, however, adamant to the proposal stating that the exchange programme would hurt their livelihoods, saying their lives in retirement were planned around earnings from such bond investments.
Dr Samuel Armah Quaye, a retired 81-year-old private medical Practitioner, said he was in dire need of medical care hence extending his maturity period to 5 years was not proper.
“How can I wait for 5 years? I need money for my dialysis. I need my money, ” he said.
Dr Millicient Cobblah, a pensioner who was a lecturer at the Department of Animal Biology and Animal Conservation Science at the University of Ghana, said government must leave pensioners alone because they had paid their dues to the nation.
Madam Kokui Adu, a member of the Forum, said exempting the contributions of pensioners would not derail the programme because their contribution was marginal, adding “we are not that powerful”.
DDEP: My mouth is no longer gagged from speaking – Sophia Akuffo
A 5-year-old kid in Wisiwisi, in theKwahu West Municipality of the Eastern Region, is on the verge of losing three of his fingers after being stabbed by his uncle’s wife, a nursing mother.
According to a report on Angel FM, the youngster, Akwasi Alex Ofosu, was allegedly caught trying to steal fish from a soup when the breastfeeding mother discovered him.
The victim, according to an eyewitness, had lately lost his mother and was staying with his uncle and his wife.
The report also stated that the Akwasi was taken urgently to the hospital for medical attention.
“Yesterday around 6:30, I heard Kwasi crying loudly, soI asked Sister Ama to enquire why he was crying and what had occurred, she replied that she had slashed off his fingers for stealing fish from her soup. “I followed up by asking her if she had used a knife or a blade, to which she replied, ‘knife’ So I remarked, Sister Ama, you’re wicked. I then called the boy and along with another tenant gave him first aid,” a neighbour recounted.
“What I saw yesterday is that the woman chopped the boy’s fingers with a knife. One of my sisters was braiding her hair at the place and she heard the youngster crying so she asked him to come. “Even though the aunt tried to stop him from coming, the sister insisted and when the boy arrived, we saw that three of his fingers had been cut,” another witness added.
The Dean of the University of Cape Coast Business School,Professor John Gartchie Gatsi, has endorsed the idea of turning to alternative funding sources through ethical finance, particularly Islamic finance.
Prof. Gatsi believes that with a projected global asset value of $4.94 trillion by 2025, Islamic finance could offer a more cost-effective way of lending to businesses and households, as the banking industry’s growth is expected to slow down in the medium-term due to the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme.
Also known as Islamic banking, this type of finance operates on the principle of banks and clients sharing profits and losses. Prof. Gatsi argues that this system could drive infrastructure-focused public-private partnerships, as it prioritizes socially inclusive and development-promoting activities.
“Islamic finance provides almost all the products that traditional finance offers, but with a stronger emphasis on partnerships and joint ventures while promoting financial inclusion,” said Prof. Gatsi. He also called for reforms to the Banks and Specialised Deposit-taking Institutions Act, 2016, to include ethical banking and increase financial inclusion in the country.
Prof. Gatsi warned that without such reforms, the country would miss out on the benefits that ethical finance provides, including a wider choice of financial products. He added that the growth of Islamic finance in non-Muslim countries shows that the benefits of ethical finance transcend religion and should be viewed from a financial inclusion perspective.
“The focus is on development, not religion, and that’s how we should see it – as an opportunity for diversity in funding,” he said.
Developing segment
The Islamic Finance Development Report 2021 projects that the size of the Islamic finance industry will grow from $3.374 trillion across 135 countries in 2020 to $4.94 trillion by 2025, with an average growth rate of 8 percent.
The report also highlights the growth in spending on corporate social responsibility, which reached $1.28 billion. This is in line with the principles of Islamic finance, which prioritize socially responsible investments and ethical business practices.
In addition, the report notes the continued strong demand for low-risk sovereign Sukuk bonds, as evidenced by their oversubscription rates. To meet this demand, several large issuances were carried out in 2020 and the first half of 2021, with notable issuances taking place in countries such as Uganda, Nigeria, and Egypt.
Kofi Tonto, the government’s spokesperson, has urged the administration to understand the plight of Ghanaians and find a better approach to work with bondholders on itsdomestic debt exchange programme (DDEP).
On Friday, February 10, Sophia Akuffo, a former chief justice, joined a group of pensioners picketing outside the finance ministry to protest the use of pensioners’ bond yields by the government.
Since Monday, February 6, the pensioners have been picketing outside the Ministry in an effort to be excused from the Program.
Speaking to the media, she described as “wicked” and “disrespectful” government’s decision to include pensioners in the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).
She said; “We are over 70 years now, I am no longer government employed, my mouth has been unguarded and I am talking and I am saying that we have failed and it is important that the elderly should be respected. I find this wicked, I find it disrespectful, I find it unlawful, I find it totally wrong.”
“These are all people who have worked, they have worked very hard, they could have left the country when others were going but they stayed, they worked for the nation…Quite a number of people here today, when they retired last two years they have put everything into government bonds, it is a contract and now all of a sudden, you virtually want to force them to agree with you that the repayment of the yield of their investment should be as you dictate it. Why?”
“Why are we in the mess? Nobody has fully explained to us, yes we took debt, what was it used for? and where is the accountability? Exactly what was it used for? You are not telling us about how you are going to be able to make things better but just that ‘help me and I help you’, no, you help yourself first, let me see you doing something serious because we have seen these sort of things too many times”, she added.
Tackling the matter, Kofi Tonto appeared lost for words that it has come to a point where a former Chief Justice appointed by President Nana Addo would join the crusade for the government to reconsider its decision.
“This is a woman who just about three or four years ago was the fourth in command in this Republic. It may be that her money is not part but rather her relative’s or that she feels for the ordinary Ghanaian,” he said.
He appealed to the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, to heed the calls by the bondholders stressing “we should apologize to the bondholders. As a government, we have to listen to them. We have to empathize with them. We must do everything necessarily possible to bring them on board”.
He said this during a panel discussion programme on Peace FM’s morning show “Kokrokoo”.
