Presidential candidate for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kennedy Agyapong, has criticized Kwabena Agyapong for accusing him of fabricating an information regarding a contribution he (Ken) made to the party.
Kwabena Agyapong, a former deputy general secretary of the NPP, is reported to have said in an interview with Kumasi-based Angel FM that Ken Agyapong lied when he stated that he repaid a $3 million loan contracted by the party in 1991.
According to Kwabena Agyapong, Ken Agyapong’s claim cannot be true because the NPP did not exist in 1991.
“I will not boast about my wealth, as others do, claiming they gave $3 million to the party in 1991. In 1991, was NPP in existence? NPP was established in 1992. Under military rule, obtaining $3 million from a bank is impossible,” the former NPP general secretary said.
Reacting to this while addressing delegates of the NPP in theCentral Region, Ken Agyapong accused Kwabena Agyapong of being mischievous because he (Ken) never said the loan was contracted in 1991.
Ken, who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central, added that the former NPP general secretary could not have been privy to the said payment because he was a ‘nobody’ in the party by then.
“I said in 1992 when Adu Boahen was elected flagbearer of the NPP myself and Oppong Bio went to CalBank to borrow $3 million to support the party, you can ask Fred Oware if I am lying.
“Kwabena Agyepong at the time supported Dr Safo Adu, he didn’t support Prof Adu Boahen. Dr Konadu Apraku, lawyer Kwadwo Afram Asiedu and I, we walked straight to the bedroom of Adu Boahen, Kwabena Agyapong couldn’t do that because he didn’t support the man.
“He has done his part for the NPP but he should also give us credit. When he even had an accident some of us including Gifty Kleman, Ursula Owusu and Grudle went round campaigning for him to be elected general secretary. At that time, the authorities were against him. But he couldn’t give us credit for supporting him, such things are not good for the party,” he said.
The Majority Leader and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has mounted a strong defence for the 1st Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu, after the latter endorsed Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
He stated that the 1st Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu, did no wrong with his declaration of support for the vice president in the NPP flagebearship race.
According to him, the 1st deputy speaker is not a leader of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) either in parliament or the party’s national executive and is at liberty to endorse any of the candidates who will be contesting in the party’s presidential primaries.
Speaking in an Oyerepa TV interview, on Thursday, April 27, 2023, the majority leader, who is also the Member of Parliament for Suame, added that, unlike Osei-Owusu (Joe Wise), he is not at liberty to endorse any of the presidential aspirants because he is a leader in parliament and it is his job to bring all the MPs together.
“I’m the majority leader in parliament and irrespective of the person who is picked to be the party’s presidential candidate, I have to galvanise support in parliament. It is just like asking the party’s chairman or the general secretary whom they support… it will be prejudicial.
“Joe Wise is the 1st deputy speaker but when you are talking about the leadership of the parliamentary caucuses, the deputy speakers are not included.
“He (Joe Wise) can express his opinion openly but some of us must be circumspect,” he said in Twi.
In an interview earlier in April, the first deputy speaker of parliament said that majority of NPP members of parliament are behind Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia in his bid to become president.
Joe Wise said he is one of the over 100 MPs supporting the presidential bid of Dr Bawumia.
“Most of the NPP MPs at the last count were about 118 MPs and I am one of them. I speak for myself and my support for Bawumia, and I know over 100 NPP MPs also support Bawumia,” he told the morning show host of Kumasi-based Oyerepa TV, Kwesi Parker-Wilson.
Ghanaian politician, Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor in his book, Gold Coast Boy (A Memoir), praised the country’s current president, Nana Akufo-Addo.
He referred to Akufo-Addo as a ‘seasoned appointee’ with regards to his works during the John Agyekum-Kufuor’s administration.
Dr Addo-Kufuor recalled the position the president held and the impact he made.
He was given the portfolio of the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General. He had been educated at Lancing College, Sussex, England; the University of Ghana; and the Inns of Court School of Law, London. Called to the Ghana Bar in July 1975, he co-founded the Akufo-Addo, Prempeh and Co. law firm and was its senior partner.
“This reputable Chamber had trained many of the country’s contemporary lawyers, a number of whom had become justices of the court, attorney-generals, and more. A past President of the Greater Accra Branch of the Ghana Bar Association, Nana Akufo-Addo was the Director of the Human Rights Commission in Ghana, which last defended many journalists in court,” he wrote.
To some, most daring was the fact that Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor at a point suggested Nana Akufo-Addo was the back bone of the party as “he had no equal.”
According to him, the president’s gift to wow the crowd completely with his speech was reason for the decision. The setting for his statement was the 2016 general election.
“Nana Akufo-Addo had been elected leader and flagbearer of the party for the 2016 elections. Having sat next to each other in the cabinet for seven years, a few words about him would be in order. In parliament, our seats were never too far from each other. When he emerged the leader of the party in his first contest in the primaries in 2007, I as a contestant, was not completely surprised.
“Unlike many of us in the contest, he had been deeply involved in political activity from many years before entering parliament in 1997. He, therefore, had had great exposure. His campaign machine was elaborate and well-resourced and had many experienced and loyal supporters.
“So far as his oratorical skills are concerned, he had no equal in the party. He, obviously, had taken a long time to prepare himself for political leadership, and he reaped the harvest with the time came,” he added.
Dr. Kwame Addo-Kufuor also described the first cabinet of John Agyekum Kufuor as one with a high calibre of persons, whom he said the people of Ghana were lucky to have had.
Some of these appointees were Alhaji Aliu Mahama as vice president, J H Mensah as Senior Minister, Nana Akufo-Addo as Minister of Justice and Attorney General, and later Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yaw Osafo-Maafo as Minister of Finance, Albert Kan-Dapaah as energy minister; and Hackman Owusu-Agyeman.
Others were Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Dr. Richard Anane, Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku, Pro. Christopher Ameyaw Akumfi and Kwadwo Baah Wiredu.
Krobea Kwabena Asante, aNew Patriotic Party (NPP) activist, has provided proof to refute a recent allegation that northerners were given preference in ministerial selections.
Kennedy Agyapong, a candidate for the NPP’s flagbearer position, said in a widely shared video about his campaigning in the Western Region that the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government had offended him by appointing persons of northern ancestry to key positions in his administration.
He told the gathering that he failed to understand whether Northerners in the party are the only people who voted for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to be elevated to such enviable positions.
Krobea Asante via a Facebook post gave a breakdown of all ministerial positions under the government since 2021.
“I just did my analysis of ministerial appointments from 2021- to date and the data shows that the argument ofHon Ken is not accurate,” his post read in part.
“Again, the phraseology “North” is very problematic in its usage. The 5 regions are different and so when making analysis it should be region specific. Can it also be said that when analysising appointments from the South we should add all the 11 regions we know for our computation?” he added.
What Ken Agyapong said:
Kennedy Agyapong was speaking in the Western Region when he made this known charging members of the party in the area to also crave to enjoy the spoils of the NPP they have also labored for.
“We were here in the Western Region when they appointed the Vice President from the North, Interior Minister from the North, Defence Minister, Sports Minister, Lands Minister, Tourism Minister from the North. Why? Are they the only ones who vote?
He continued “If they want to be tribal,we will also be tribal. The party does not belong to them. They have used the Central and Western for years and after they have made it, they want to treat us as their slaves. We are not animals, we are human beings.”
In support of his assertion that the Akufo-Addo administration has produced more than two million jobs in the last six years, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia provided statistics.
He stated in a Facebook post that the list is to show “naysayers” who questioned the statistics that the facts are accurate, therefore must “do away with negative thinking.”
The Vice President found it necessary to address the matter as some citizens cast aspersions on the work done by the government when Dr Bawumia delivered a speech at the national Eid-ul-Fitr celebration in Independence Square over the weekend.
Attached comprehensive data which specified the ministry, the agency or department of the ministry in which the jobs were created as well as the number of jobs created under each category from 2017 to 2022.
A prospective presidential contender for the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, has criticized those who think he is unqualified to represent the party in the 2024 elections.
The vociferous Assin Central Member of Parliament said his critics say he is not “presidential material” because he does not speak impeccable English like some of his contenders.
According to him, the youth needs a candidate who will provide them with jobs and alleviate their sufferings and not a candidate who is only interested in wearing expensive suits and always speaking the Queen’s English.
Kennedy Agyapong also said it seems his opponents want to undermine all the sacrifices he had made for the NPP over the years.
“Who in the party has worked more than me? I have made lots of sacrifices for the party by using my money to fund party activities. Today they are saying I’m not presidential material. What is presidential material? Is presidential material someone who can speak good English, wears suits and does not care about the welfare of the youth?”
“Between someone who says good to see you and the other who encourages you to get up to go to work, which one of them is presidential material? We want jobs, we are not joking at all. We are tired of listening to big English all the time,” he asserted.
Mr. Ohene Agyapong called on the delegates to make a wise choice by electing a formidable candidate who can lead the party to help the party win the 2024 general elections.
“My advice goes to all the delegates to try and make the right choice in the election of a presidential candidate for the party. You will bear the brunt if you make wrong choices that will send the party into opposition. Make no mistake during the primaries to elect just any candidate. I will use the little money I have for myself till I die and not spend on party members anymore,” the MP said.
The outspoken lawmaker said this when he addressed NPP delegates in Koforidua in the Eastern Region.
A former president of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, has blamed the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for destroying farmlands in mining zones through illicit mining (galamsey).
The galamsey report by Prof Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, according to Mr. Mahama, is clear evidence of this assertion.
Speaking to delegates in Sefwi Wiawso as part of his tour of the Western North area, John Mahama stated that the NPP government’s galamsey activities have destroyed important agriculture fields.
“The former Minister and Chair of the Committee leading the fight against galamsey has in the report revealed that the galamsey activities are done by NPP bigwigs. Since the NPP assumed office, most of the country’s farms have been destroyed because of illegal mining.”
The aspiringNational Democratic Congress (NDC) Presidential Candidate, also said the country’s cocoa sector is on the verge of collapse because of the mismanagement of the sector by the Akufo-Addo government.
Mr. Mahama maintained that the government’s failure to adjust the producer price of cocoa annually and the delayed payment of farmers for cocoa beans are part of the factors destroying the sector.
“Under the previous NDC administration, we ensured that there was an upward adjustment in the producer price [of cocoa] every year. But that is not the case with this government. Price adjustments are taking place after four years. This is what is collapsing the sector”, he stated.
Mr. Mahama added that the sector must be supported, noting that some farmers no longer find farming cocoa lucrative.
He referred to a farmer who said he will give out his land for galamsey because the returns are far better than farming.
“He doesn’t mind selling his farm for galamsey because there’s no profit from the cocoa business today. Payment of farmers for their cocoa purchases is no longer instant, and they do not get any bonus. Farmers must now wait for three to four months to receive payment”, he added.
The former president is visiting all nine constituencies in the region and is expected to continue to the Ashanti Region.
On May 31, 2023, more than 11 million unregistered SIM cards will be terminated, this is according to the National Communications Authority (NCA).
Addressing the press in Accra, the Director General of the NCA, Joe Anokye, said, “One of the things to note is that active mass SIM registration for existing SIMs is coming to a close and as mentioned earlier, we have about 11 million SIMs which are yet to begin the registration process, these subscribers have up to the end of May 2023 to complete their SIM registration or have their SIMs deactivated from the network”.
He assured that the data safety of Mobile subscribers within the Central SIM registration database is intact.
Concerns have been raised about some breaches of data by industry watchers, but the Authority says the integrity of the system is intact.
The NCA also justified a directive to major industry player, MTN to suspend its data zone service.
Mr. Joe Anokye said MTN which had been identified as a Significant Market Player breached regulations.
“MTN should not charge lower for voice, SMS, and data. MTN should not charge off-net calls. MTN has so far been in compliance with the directive. However, in January 2023, the NCA took notice of MTN data zone bundle, the 24-hour data bundle for the various data allocations. Some market players raised concerns, NCA engaged MTN and reviewed the product. We realised that the MTN data bundle was the lowest on the market and in violation of the directive. It was directed to discontinue the service,” he explained.
A former representative for Tema East, Titus Glover, stated that all parties involved must work together to combat unlawful small-scale mining (Galamsey).
The government is involved, Chiefs, the media and civil society are all involved, he said while speaking on the Big Issue on TV3 Wednesday April 26.
He further admitted that fighting the menace has been a daunting task however, the President and his government are determined to continue to war against the practice.
The former Deputy Transport Minister further urged the president to sack “all persons who are making his work difficult.”
He indicated the criticisms aroundgalamsey do not go to the people who making the work of the President difficult rather, they go to the President and the Vice President.
Titus Glover said he is not comfortable when the President and the Vice are constantly attacked for the galamsey menace.
Kwabena Adjei Agyepong, a former general secretary of the New Patriotic Party [NPP], has asked Ghana Premier League clubs to lower entrance prices to draw more spectators to games.
Poor attendance has been reported at all of the stadiums this season.
The former pundit underlined in an interview that it would be much more prudent economically to lower gate fees rather than raise pricing.
He continued by saying that since reasonable admission prices can draw more spectators to the stadiums, clubs should do so.
“I think perhaps we should work with the clubs to also reduce the cost. I think that filling the stadium like Kumasi, with 50,000 people paying Ghc5.00 is better than making it Ghc20.00 and just a thousand or two thousand people if you watch the mathematics,” said the former broadcaster told Kumasi-based LUV FM.
“Times are hard, with all respect those who watch football are people who struggle but they love the game. They have to travel and now we know transport fares are high, they have to eat and so therefore the ticket prices we have to look at it, and then encourage them [fans] and let’s mount a deliberate campaign,” he emphasized.
Meanwhile, the 2022/23 Ghana Premier League games continue today and Thursday in the matchday 28 games at the various stadia.
An aspiring New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, has said that if he were President Akufo-Addo, he would have promptly taken actions regardingProfessor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng‘s galamsey report.
In a report presented to the Chief of Staff in March 2021, the former Minister of Science, Environment, Technology and Innovation accused some NPP officials of engaging in and promoting illegal mining.
But Kwabena Agyepong, a former General Secretary of the NPP seeking to be elected the party’s presidential candidate for the 2024 presidential election, says action on the report should be taken immediately, adding that the report should not have been on the desk of the President for two years without attention.
Speaking to Nhyira FM’s Nana Jantuah on Kuro Yi Mu Nsem, Kwabena Agyepong said “that report will not lie on my desk for two years without attention if indeed he did.”He however said Prof. Frimpong-Boateng could have come out boldly to tell the President to implement some recommendations in the report and resign if the President failed to do so.
“Why has Prof taken so long? Now that you are out people would say it is because you are no more (in government) that’s why you are coming out now. I would have expected that when he was the Minister then, the firm action would be to come out to Cabinet that I want to do this and that and if the President says he wouldn’t agree, then he resigns,” he opined.
Meanwhile, Mr. Agyepong says he will put a moratorium on surface mining, including community mining, to regenerate the forests in the country should he become President.He says the only mining activity he would approve as President is deep mining which involves huge capital to make sure mining is done sustainably.“I have said that mining has not been good for Africa. What has Ghana gotten from mining? Go to where we mine in the country and you will see abject poverty. I don’t like the galamsey at all,” he said.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale North, Alhassan Suhuyini, has made some allegations regarding the government’s fight against illegal mining in the country.
He has accused the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) of hypocrisy in its fight against illegal small-scale mining, popularly known as galamsey.
The MP argues that the NPP lost votes in galamsey communities during the 2020 elections not because of its commitment to the fight against galamsey, but because of its failure to address the issue in a fair and transparent manner.
Speaking in a panel discussion on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana on April 25, 2023, he asserted that Professor Frimpong-Boateng, who previously served as the Minister for Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation, had recently admitted to the insincerity of the government’s fight against galamsey in his explosive report on the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) presented to the Chief of Staff.
According to Suhuyini, the community members and chiefs in the affected areas were upset because the government had banned all forms of mining, yet some bigwigs and party people were given protection to mine in forest reserves.
He alleged that soldiers were brought in to provide protection for people to mine in their communities during the supposed ban.
“I said it in 2020 when the president and his communicators went on a rampage saying that they lost in galamsey communities because of their fight against galamsey, that it wasn’t true. Professor Frimpong-Boateng admits to what I said then, the reason why they lost in those areas is because the people were witnesses to the ununiform fight, and the people were angry by that because they had been stopped from mining but there was evidence that, there are big wings and party people who were given protection to mine in those forest reserves, when they had been stopped from mining.
“So, it was as a result of their disappointment, in the way the fight was waged that they punished the NPP, it was not because the NPP was committed to the fight and for which reason they lost votes, no it was the hypocrisy, and that is what Professor Frimpong Boateng admits to, the community members were upset, chiefs were upset…because soldiers were brought to provide protection for people to mine in their communities when there was supposed to be a ban.
“…this has come to confirm what we have always suspected, that there was never a fight in the first place, there was a platform created for people to be protected and for the operation to be limited to a few,” he said.
Executives of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Eastern Region’s Abuakwa South constituency have refuted allegations made in the contentious report of the former Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) that galamsey was taking place directly in the garden of President Akufo-Addo’s home in Kyebi.
Contrary to claims made in the report written by Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation and chairman of the IMCIM, no anonymous youth organizer of the NPP in Kyebi had engaged in illegal mining in a region close to the president’s home, according to a statement released on Tuesday and signed by Felix Nyarko Acheampong, the party’s constituency communications officer, and Julius Okyere, the constituency secretary.
“In the first place, to state that “the Youth Organizer of the NPP in Kyebi” is involved in any kind of illegality, is only vague, as such allegation falls short of indicating what level of the party structure the said Youth Organizer occupied at the time of the supposed incident. Was he/she a Polling Station, Constituency, Regional or National Youth Organizer? There is nothing like a local Youth Organizer anywhere in the NPP Constitution.
“Indeed, if his reference to Kyebi is meant to indicate that the supposed wrongdoing is attributable to a certain Constituency Youth Organizer, then the Constituency executives wish to emphatically state, that the then Constituency Youth Organizer has never been associated whatsoever, with galamsey operation; hence, rendering this allegation short of substance.
“Secondly, the very location of the President’s Kyebi residence in itself, makes it impossible for any illegal mining operation to take place even close to it. Except those who do not know the house, everyone would attest to the fact that the President’s house is not obscured, as it is closely surrounded by many other houses. For that matter, to suggest that an illegal mining operation has taken place near the walled house, to the extend that it affected parts of a supposed garden in the house, only lives much to be desired about what method at all was used for such operation.
“To add to the above, the President does not even have a garden, so to speak, in his Kyebi residence; therefore, to state that a section of his garden was affected, is nothing but palpable falsehood. The Learned Professor would have, perhaps, been forgiven if he had only maintained that such report got to him through a phone call placed to him by Mr. Eric Antwi of the office of the President; but to have continued to say that he personally followed up to see with his very eyes, the supposed incident, simply casts a huge slur on the integrity of both the Former Minister and his work as Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee. We entreat well meaning media houses to come to the President’s residence in Kyebi to check and double check the facts on the ground, and compare same with the allegations contained in that section of Professor Frimpong-Boateng’s report.
The school feeding program’s caterers have stated they won’t submit to threats to restart work.
For about three weeks, the caterers have withdrawn their services in demand for payment of arrears and an increase of the cooking grant per child from 97 pesewas to three cedis.
They want leadership of the programme to desist from issuing threats in addressing their challenges.
About a week before the group withdrew their services, they received the first term payment of the same year, an amount they say does not cover the full term.
Most caterers say they are being chased by their suppliers and banks where they secured loans for the contract.
They are unwilling to return to cooking for the pupils.
Many of the caterers were contracted to serve hot meals in schools in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some of the caterers are still owed by the government.
Meanwhile, the caterers are pointing to some anomalies in the school feeding programme and have called for an audit.
Director of Communications for the opposition National Democratic Congress, Sammy Gyamfi has hit back at NPP stalwart, Gabby Otchere-Darko over his response to the IMCIM report authored by Prof Frimpong-Boateng.
Mr Gyamfi rubbished the justification given by Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko in response to allegations of interference made against him by the former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Professor Frimpong Boateng.
According to him, Mr Otchere-Darko’s argument of acting professionally as a lawyer when he called Prof. Frimpong-Boateng on phone does not conform to the ethics of the legal profession.
“He said he is a lawyer and that if his client had been asked to stop work because they are engaged in alleged illegality he had a right to act through a phone call. Which law school or course thought you that as a lawyer when a minister stops your client, a mining company from working for going beyond what their prospecting licences permit you pick a phone to call the minister?” he questioned during an interview on Adom TV.
Prof Frimpong-Boateng in a 36-page report recalls how Gabby Otchere-Darko, a cousin of the president and an influential member of the ruling NPP, called him on phone to question his decision to order for the dislodgment of equipment of a Mining Company Imperial Heritage which Prof. Frimpong Boateng argues was mining illegally with a prospecting license in forest reserves.
In response however, Gabby pointed out that he was only acting in his capacity as a senior partner of Africa Legal Associates and legal representative of the company.
But according to Sammy Gyamfi, Mr Otchere-Darko’s decision to call the then minister on phone was nothing short of influence peddling.
“[As a lawyer] you write a letter to the institution that stopped your client. Once you start picking up phones and calling… If he was not the cousin of President Akufo-Addo would have been able to call Prof Frimpong-Boateng on phone? Lawyers we don’t work with phones when it comes to government, you write a letter. The phone call he made was just to peddle his influence, he was flexing his power; he was trying to show the minister that the people you were touching are my clients, my peopled and I am the president’s cousin, the de facto prime minister,” Sammy Gyamfi who is also a legal practitioner argued.
The report by Prof. Frimpong Boateng was authored in March 2021 and details the challenges he faced during his tenure as chairperson of the erstwhile Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM).
The former minister in the report submitted to the Chief of State alleged that some officials of the government and political actors were actively involved in illegal mining,
He further accused some individuals of interfering in the fight against galamsey.
Meanwhile, the presidency despite failing to act or respond to the report which was submitted to the Chief of Staff some two years ago has reacted to the former minister’s claims after the report was recently leaked to the media.
According to the presidency, the document authored by the former minister is without supporting evidence despite the various allegations implicating government officials as being involved in illegal mining or interfering in the fight against same.
“Indeed, the allegations contained in the document are at best hearsay. It is instructive that since Prof. Frimpong-Boateng’s meeting with the Chief of Staff in March, 2021, he has taken no step nor acted in furtherance of the matters contained in the document,” the presidency said in a statement dated April 22, 2023.
The presidency in the rejoinder dated Saturday, April 22, 2023, said “The document being discussed was not an official report formally delivered to the Office of the President. On the contrary, it can only be rightly referred to as a catalogue of personal grievances and claims made by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, intended to respond to some issues he faced as Chairperson of the IMCIM.
“The document was handed to the Chief of Staff at the Office of the President on March 19th 2021, in an informal meeting, where Prof. Frimpong-Boateng complained about public attacks and criticisms made about his tenure as Chairperson of the IMCIM.”
According to the presidency, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng’s report did not have any official status and was not supported with any evidence despite the allegations contained in it.
“The document did not have a transmittal or cover letter nor, indeed, an addressee, such as to suggest that it was submitted to the Chief of Staff for action. It is noteworthy that the IMCIM was a creature of Cabinet, and any formal report on its activities would, normally, be submitted to Cabinet through the Cabinet Secretary, or directly to the President of the Republic as Chairperson of Cabinet. Till date, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng has done neither.
“It is important also to point out that, whilst Prof. Frimpong-Boateng makes serious allegations against some government appointees, as having been involved in, supporting or interfering with the fight against illegal mining, not a single piece of evidence was adduced or presented to enable the claims to be properly investigated,” the presidency noted.
Senior Vice President of IMANI Africa, Kofi Bentil has indicates that Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia is the best choice as the next president of Ghana.
According to him, the vice president has put his best foot forward amongst the number of individuals who have expressed interest in the presidency ahead of the 2024 election.
“You may say I’m biased, but this is the reason why!!
This week of all the people running for President, the greatest stuff I heard was from DMB [Dr Mahamudu Bawumia].
“Read and see if you agree!
“You see, we have to pick Someone to run this town.
“For now I still think he’s the best.
“If I find a better one I promise I will tell you,” the vice president of IMANI stated in a Facebook post.
His statement was in reaction to the address delivered by the vice president at the African Development Conference held recently at the Harvard Law School in the United Kingdom.
Speaking on the topic “Reimagining Africa’s Growth on our Terms: Lessons from Ghana’s Digitalisation Story,” Dr Bawumia advocated the need for Africa to deal with its challenges in order to earn a voice at the global table.
According to Kofi Bentil, the vice president’s address was not mere words as it outlines the visions of government under Dr Bawumia.
“I already see people commenting that it’s only words. Yes. I believe God created the earth with words. Everything starts from declarations. Where is the one you prefer, where are his words? I want to hear all of them,” he noted.
Ahead of Ghana’s next presidential elections, the two main political parties, the ruling New Patriotic Party and the opposition National Democratic Congress are gearing up to elect their flagbearers.
Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has emerged as a frontrunner in the NPP race, having received wide endorsements from within and outside of his party.
On the NDC front, former President John Dramani Mahama who is regarded by some members of his party as the presumptive flagbearer is in the lead ahead of the party’s May 13, congress.
Former Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister, Joseph Yammin says he longer has trust in the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr. Akuffo Dampare
He stated that he used to be a fan of current IGP Dr. Akuffo Dampare but has now fallen out with him.
He says his kit gloves attitude towards the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and his iron fist approach to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had made him dislike him there more.
Mr Yammin who is now the National Organizer of the NDC suggests he will not sit in any meeting with the IGP if it’s under his behest as he cannot be trusted.
He was speaking to Julius Caesar Anadem of the Ultimate Breakfast Show in Kumasi monitored by MyNewsGh.com.
“I was a fan of him, I know him, the NDC worked with him at the castle under John Atta Mills, may his soul rest in peace. We know him and how professional he is, but now I am disappointed with his performance. I Joseph Yammin with a little security background I am disappointed in him”
“I won’t waste time sitting in any meeting with the IGP, because the IGP is not there to play the game . I don’t trust him. He is bad in my eyes. Is it the IGP who determines which statements are good or bad?”, he wondered.
“He started so well but he will end up being the worse if he continues to play the game according to the dictates of the NPP”, he lamented.
A member of New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) communications team, Ellen Ama Ofosuaa Daaku, says the ruling party is working to resolve all of its challenges before the 2024 elections.
Speaking on TV3, she said this is to ensure “Ghanaians vote for us again.”
She noted that in a worse case scenario, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) cannot be considered an alternative.
According to her, “the NDC must put themselves together and make themselves a credible alternative.”
Madam Ellen Ama Ofosuaa Daaku asserted that the NDC has already accepted defeat, linking this to the presence of the Electoral Commission Chair, Jean Mensa.
The NPP is putting everything in place to make sure Ghanaians vote for us again in 2024. The NDC is not a credible alternative – Ellen Daaku#TV3NewDaypic.twitter.com/Ks51E0V1VS
“As it is now, it looks like they have already psyching their party followers because of Madam Jean Mensa who is still the EC chair, we are going to lose,” she said.
A 2021 report on the work of the defunct Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), has alleged a concerning cover-up scheme that involved private legal practitioner Gabby Otchere Darko.
The scheme was reportedly aimed at shielding those responsible for harmful mining practices in the Krobo and Apaprama Forest reserves.
The report indicates that President Akufo-Addo was informed about the cover-up scheme and vowed to take action.
However, it is not clear if the President has followed through on his promise to “deal with it”.
This revelation has raised important questions about the government’s commitment to protecting Ghana’s natural resources and preserving the environment for future generations.
Lawyer Gabby Otchere is a leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and cousin of president Akufo-Addo.
According to the Prof a call from the lawyer insisted that he gave a company the permit to engage in illegal mining.
The former minister stated that Gabby who was supposed to assist the president was rather the one encouraging the illegal activity.
Meanwhile, the lawyer has denied that he had interfered in the work of the IMCIM.
According to Gabby he called the then- minister to inquire about his client, a business that held the necessary permissions to mine in the country.
“We were ready to dislodge Heritage Imperial Limited, a company that was destroying the Krobo and Apaprama Forest Reserves and in the process had also polluted and diverted the course of River Offin as can be seen in the satellite images below. I informed the President about the behaviour of Mr Gabby Asare Otchere Darko and he promised to deal with it.
“Heritage had a mining exploration permit issued in July 2019, aforest entry permit issued in November 2018, and also an EPA permit yet the soldiers went and seized the equipment of Heritage and so I called the soldiers and was told that it was the Minister who had sanctioned them and so I asked the Minister what the issue was with the equipment seizures and the Minister said they were prospecting and not exploring and that was the conversation that we had,” he added.
The 37-page report was prepared in 2021 and handed over to the Chief of Staff.
According to Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, some NPP leaders paid Chinese citizens to participate in galamsey on their behalf.
“Throughout our struggle with illegalities in the small-scale mining sector, what baffled me was the total disregard of the President’s commitment to protect the environment. I can state without any equivocation that many party officials from the National to the unit committee level had their friends, PAs, agents, relatives, financiers or relatives engaged in illegal mining,” the report said.
“Most of them engaged Chinese working for them. I am not referring to party people who had their legitimate concession and were mining sustainably as they were instructed to do. There are appointees in the Jubilee House that are doing or supporting illegal mining or interfering with the fight against the menace,” he added.
The Professor served under President Akufo-Addo in his first tenure in office.
He headed the committee established by President Akufo-Addo in March 2017 to combat unlawful small-scale mining.
Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), Lands and Natural Resources (MLNR), Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), Chieftaincy & Religious Affairs, Regional Re-Organisation and Development, Monitoring and Evaluation, Water and Sanitation, Interior, Defense, and Information are some of the ministries that made up the Committee.
The Committee’s duties included regulating and sanitizing small-scale mining operations in the several mining regions to make sure that miners adhere to the law.
However, the Committee was disbanded soon after the 2020 presidential election.
Former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof Frimpong Boateng, has disclosed that former Forestry Commission boss, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, popularly known as Sir John was involved in galamsey.
According to the Professor, the late Sir John had a Chinese gang operating on his behalf.
Blowing the cover of ‘bigwigs’ who were involved in galamsey during his tenure as Minister, Prof Frimpong-Boateng who doubled as the chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), said Sir John “gave forestry entry permits to mining companies, both large and small scale, including those of foreign nationals for prospecting activities at a time when the President had put a ban on that activity.”
He said this could be a reason why the Forestry Commission never migrated onto the GalamStop Platform.
“Through Charles Owusu, the Director of Operations at the Forestry Commission, Sir John had Chinese gangs doing mining on his behalf,” he added.
Prof Frimpong-Boateng further disclosed that Mr. Kwadwo Owusu Afrivie (aka Sir John) was actively giving out timber concessions, even in forest reserves for logging.”
“The issue about rose wood exploitation is something that is beyond the scope of this report. I remember that at a meeting in the conference room of the President, I told the President in the presence of Sir John that the greatest danger to the forests of Ghana was Sir John,” he added.
The document dubbed “Report on the work of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM)” made captivating revelations about the (gold) mining industry, especially persons involved in illegal mining and the works and gains chalked by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) during the Professor’s tenure as the chairman.
A 37-page report byformer Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng has revealed that some New Patriotic Party (NPP) officials at Jubilee House are engaged in small-scale unlawful mining (galamsey).
According to him, these individuals prevented him from addressing the issue, as well as the committee he headed.
Minister of information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has denied claims made in a 37-page report on illicit mining that he engineered a plot to assassinate Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, the former minister for science, environment, technology, and innovation.
According to the report written by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, Mr. Oppong Nkrumah organised a meeting of NPP and NDC journalists in Dodowa on February 8, 2020, to discuss a plan to assassinate Prof. Boateng.
According to Frimpong-Boateng, the outcome of the meeting led to subsequent negative media reports about him.
But in a response, Mr Oppong Nkrumah described the claims as completely false.
According to him, he only attended a PRINPAG (Private Newspaper Publishers Association of Ghana) event, jointly organised with the Bank of Ghana on financial reporting and never held any meeting to oust anybody from the government.
“Indeed, the facts are that it was Prof Frimpong-Boateng himself who wrote to the Ghana Police Service in January 2020 reporting the loss of some excavators and calling for an investigation.
It was Prof. Frimpong-Boateng himself who in subsequent media interviews mentioned that the number of excavators missing was about 500.
Again on or around February 20, 2020, it was Prof Frimpong-Boateng himself who at Parliament House (During interviews on the SONA) engaged in exchanges with the media about the said excavators and promised that they will be recovered”.
“For the record, these are the matters that occasioned the media reports about Prof Frimpong-Boateng and the said excavators. Further, it was Prof. Frimpong-Boateng himself who was later to be seen in a video making comments about the anti-galamsey fight and the release of excavators.
“I Kojo Oppong Nkrumah was not responsible for his initial police report, his subsequent interviews, or any of the claims he made.
To be clear, it was Prof Frimpong-Boateng’s own reports, interviews and videos that generated his media challenges around the time. I am thus disappointed that he would, in this document, seek to blame me for the media reports.”
“Over the years, I had nothing but great admiration for Prof Frimpong-Boateng’s public-spirited works and as an inspirational citizen.
I feel gravely offended over the false claims he has made and the hurtful conclusions he has sought to exact about me precisely because of the great esteem in which I have held him.
“I trust that in the coming months and years, he will reflect deeply upon his own actions and comments which have led to his challenges. He should kindly leave me out of his personal fights. I am utterly disappointed but I forgive him.”
One of the NPP big wigs Joseph Albert Quarm, mentioned in the IMCIM ‘galamsey’ report, has has denied the assertions made in the report that he obtained extensive mining concessions and sold them to private parties.
The said report titled: “Report on the IMCIM and the way forward”, is reported to have been authored in 2021 by former Minister for Environment and Science, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng and presented to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo through the Chief of Staff.
Reacting to the report on Citi FM’s eyewitness news and monitored by the medi, the former member of parliament for Manso Nkwanta, stated that the content of the report implicating him are false.
“…Totally lies, in the first place, do I own a concession? let alone twelve or twenty-four or multiples of concessions, I do not own a concession, he said.
“Secondly, once I don’t have a concession, how can I sell a concession to someone indeed, he who alleges must prove,” he insisted.
According to Joseph Quarms, the former minister must come out publicly to accept ownership of the report and to provide the evidence that proves same.
“To me, once he has not accepted on your station that the report is from him, I can’t say much but if indeed he has accepted that the report is from his outfit, the for a mining concession, you must have documents covering it, bearing my name Joseph Albert Quarm,” he further stated.
He also dared Prof Frimpong-Boateng to produce documents that bear his name as claimed by the report.
“I will rather advise that your station should request from him to produce all the documents bearing my name for mining purposes,” he challenged.
What the report said about Quarm’s involvement:
It is on records that the activities of some senior members of the NPP accounted for the anger at the community level.
Hon. Joseph Albert Quarm, the former MP for Manso Nkwanta exemplifies such individuals. This member of Parliament for the Manso Nkwanta Constituency in the Ashanti Region and at the same time member of the board of the Minerals Commission.
He used his position as a member of the Minerals Commission to acquire several dozens of large-scale concessions in his district, ostensibly for community mining purposes. He ended up selling these concessions to private individuals, including party member for two thousand Cedis per concession.
This infuriated the party in the constituency so during the 2020 primaries to select a candidate the electorate voted against Hon, Quarm, the sitting MP, who was more resourced that the other candidate.
Although there were allegations that he “camped” delegations and attempted to bribe them, he lost to a lesser-known individual who did not have any financial muscle.
According to him, these individuals prevented him from addressing the issue, as well as the committee he headed.
“I can state without any equivocation that many party officials from the national to the unit committee level had their friends, PAs, agents, relatives, financiers, or relatives engaged in illegal mining. Most of them employed Chinese workers.
“I am not referring to party people who had their legitimate concession and were mining sustainably as they were instructed to do.
“There are appointees in the Jubilee House who are engaging in or supporting illegal mining or interfering with the fight against the menace,” excerpts from the document said.
According toProfessor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, majority of the ministers appointed to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) abandoned the committee.
The Ministers of Sanitation and Local Government and Rural Development were the only ministers who remained to serve on the Committee, according to Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng.
President Akufo-Addo established the Committee in March 2017 to combat unlawful small-scale mining.
Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), Lands and Natural Resources (MLNR), Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), Chieftaincy & Religious Affairs, Regional Re-Organisation and Development, Monitoring and Evaluation, Water and Sanitation, Interior, Defense, and Information are some of the ministries that made up the Committee.
The Committee’s duties included regulating and sanitising small-scale mining operations in the various mining regions to ensure that miners adhere to the law.
However, the Committee was disbanded soon after the 2020 presidential election.
The report also revealed how a former NPP representative in the Ashanti Region sold concessions that had been obtained unlawfully for GHC 200,000 each.
“Hon. Joseph Albert Quarm, the former MP for Manso Nkwanta exemplifies such individuals. He was a member of parliament for the Manso Nkwanta Constituency in the Ashanti region and at the same time a member of the board of the Minerals Commission.
He used his position as a member of the Minerals Commission to acquire dozens of large scale concessions in his district, ostensibly for community mining purposes.
“This infuriated the party in the constituency, so during the 2020 primaries to select a candidate, the electorate voted against NPP MP, the then sitting MP, who had more resources than other candidates,” parts of the report said.
The report emerged after President Akufo-Addo instructed the Police to look into the earlier accusations made by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng in March.
The distinguished scholar, who served under President Akufo-Addo in his initial tenure in office, stated that corruption extends as far up as Jubilee House, where the administration is located.
A cousin of President Akufo-Addo has fought off claims that he interfered with his efforts to fight the illegal mining menace as indicated in a report by the former Environment Minister, Prof Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng .
In an attempt to set the record straight, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko accused the Professor of twisting the events.
He said he never asked the cardiothoracic surgeon, who doubled as the former Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), to engage in any illegality or to condone same.
This comes after Prof Boateng submitted names of people in government frustrating his effort to fight what is locally called ‘galamsey’ when he was Environment Minister.
A 36-page document written by Prof. Boateng addressed to the president, the Chief of Staff, and the police included Mr Otchere Darko’s name.
Portions of the report read: “We were ready to dislodge Imperial Heritage from Kobro Forest when Mr Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko called to inform me that he was the lawyer for Heritage Imperial Limited, a company that was destroying the Kobro and Apaprama Forest Reserves and in the process had also polluted and diverted the course of the River Offin, as can be seen in the satellite images below.
“I informed the President about the behaviour of Mr Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, and he promised to deal with it.”
But Mr Otchere-Darko is fighting back.
According to the NPP stalwart, he only called the renowned medical doctor to seek information on his client – a company that had the permits to mine in the country.
“Heritage had a mining exploration permit issued in July 2019, a forest entry permit issued in November 2018, and also an EPA permit yet the soldiers went and seized the equipment of Heritage and so I called the soldiers and was told that it was the Minister who had sanctioned them and so I asked the Minister what the issue was with the equipment seizures and the Minister said they were prospecting and not exploring and that was the conversation that we had.
“My intervention was to understand why a legitimate company with all the requisite permits was stopped from doing their work and that is what lawyers do,” he said in an interview with Accra-based Citi FM on Thursday.
He added that Prof Frimpong-Boateng deliberately twisted his mediation to cause public disaffection for him.
“The Minister deliberately twisted the inquiry by a lawyer of a client’s issue to be an interference and the thing is, it was even a phone call that lasted not more than four minutes, and he ended by saying Heritage shouldn’t have been issued with the license,” Mr Otchere-Darko explained.
The outspoken politician said the former minister misunderstood his responsibilities.
“It tells you how weak the [former] Minister’s understanding of his position is. If what I did was illegitimate, why didn’t he take the right action? He said he had reported me to the president as if he is a teacher and the president is a headmaster, and I am a prefect,” he added.
According to Dr. Mustapha Hamid, CEO of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), all other candidates in the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) race for flagbearer know that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia will win, but they are only competing because it is within their legal rights to do so.
“Well, I back Dr Bawumia. He’s going to win the NPP primaries. There is absolutely no doubt about it. Oh yeah! It’s done. I am sure the others [ aspirants to the flagbearer position] know. But it’s a competition so it’s okay for them to show up,” he said confidently.
Other aspirants to the flagbearer position include former Trade Minister Alan Kyeremanten, former NPP General Secretary Kwabena Agyapong, maverick MP Kennedy Ohene Agyepong, and former Agriculture Minister Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto.
All these persons, according to Dr Hamid, are aware that Dr Mahamudu Bawumia will win the contest. For him, Dr Bawumia’s stellar performance as Vice President and qualities make him the best to lead the NPP.
“First of all, he is arguably the most active Vice President we have had in this Fourth Republic…You would agree that this is the Vice President who has been in the forefront of policy and who has not just taken a back seat as Vice President but who is in the forefront of implementing stuff,” he added.
The NPP flagbearership election is scheduled to take place in November 2023 as campaigns heat up and people make their biases known.
The Member of Parliament for the Subin constituency in the Ashanti region, Eugene Boakye Antwi, has alleged that President Akufo-Addo and NPP hopeful, Alan Kyerematen, engaged in vote buying during the 2007 NPP congress.
He revealed the breakdown of monies paid by top politicians of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) during two consecutive congresses.
The MP specifically cited the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) 2007 presidential primaries held at the University of Ghana, Legon as well as the 2010 round-off primaries of the party.
According to him, most of the contestants tried to influence the election outcome by using money, but their efforts were unsuccessful.
The MP mentioned some of the key contenders in that election, including Alan Kyerematen, Hackman Owusu Agyeman, and Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, among others, alleging that all of them paid huge sums of money to try and sway the election in their favour, however, despite their financial clout, they all lost to Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who emerged as the winner in all the two consecutive congresses.
Speaking in an interview with Hello FM on April 20, 2023, he disclosed that during the 2007 NPP congress, the then-flagbearer of the party, now the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, paid three hundred Ghana cedis, in comparison, five other candidates, including Alan Kyerematen, paid five hundred Ghana cedis each.
With respect to the 2010 congress, where Nana Addo went up against Alan Kyerematen, Eugene Boakye Antwi revealed that Nana Addo paid five Ghana cedis, while Alan Kyerematen paid four times that amount, twenty Ghana cedis.
“2007, among the seventeen people who stood for the election, I was Nana Addo Dankwa’s polling Agent at Legon, but about 5 people paid more than Nana Akufo-Addo, Nana Akufo-Addo paid GHS 300.00 and about five people paid five hundred but they didn’t vote for them.
“…let’s go back again, 2010 primaries, Nana Addo and Alan Kyerematen round two, Nana Addo paid GHS 5.00 and Alan Kyerematen paid GHS 20.00, he paid GHS 5.00 and Alan Kyerematen paid four times of it that is GHS 20.00 but the delegates voted for Nana Addo. So is not all about the money,” he said.
His revelations come at a time when there are growing concerns about the role of money in Ghanaian politics and allegations of vote-buying in the party’s upcoming primaries as some party stalwarts and flagbearer hopeful has hinted at displaying cash during the election.
Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng has accused the Information Minister, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, of plotting to run him down in his report to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo.
The purpose of the 37-page report, dated March 19, 2021, submitted by the former minister of environment, science, and technology was to inform the president about the Committee’s efforts to combat illicit mining and the “path forward.”
As sighted by GhanaWeb, the former minister in his report made several allegations against some government and political party officials who made various attempts to thwart his efforts in clamping down on illegal mining.
One of the big names indicted in the report is the Minister for Information who according to Mr Frimpong Boateng gathered and incited a team of journalists to attack him.
“On Saturday the 8th of February 2020. Mr. Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, the Minister for Information assembled a group of journalists from both NDC and NPP-affiliated media houses at the Forest Hotel in Dodowa to discuss a strategy to bring me Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng down.
Whilst they were there a journalist from among the group called a friend of mine, also a journalist, and informed him about the plot that was being hatched.
He further informed my friend to watch out for headlines in some newspapers in the days following the meeting,” he stated in the report.
Subsequent to the said meeting, the report to the president captured that various stories were published in the media against his person and that beyond that, the minister for information sought to run him down during cabinet meetings.
“On Monday, 10′ February 2020, the INFORMER Newspaper, whose Editor was at the meeting had the Banner Headline on its front page as reproduced below:
“As if that was not enough on Thursday, 13th February 2020 at the 71st Cabinet Meeting, Mr. Oppong-Nkrumah in his regular report to Cabinet talked about news that was trending in the week.
As part of his report, Prof. Frimpong Boateng alleged that some members of the Committee including Kojo Oppong Nkrumah sabotaged his work.
“It must be noted that Mr. Oppong-Nkrumah, as Minister for Information, was a member of the IMCIM and he never called me to find out what I knew about ‘missing excavators’ but he found it worthwhile to magnify it in press and also present the falsehood before Cabinet for reasons best known to him and his co-conspirators.
If Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah and the likes of him have presidential ambitions they should pursue it on merit and not attempt to destroy a hard working patriot, whose only ambition is work to achieve a Ghana Beyond Aid,” the report captured.
“After the 2020 general election, Oppong-Nkrumah on many occasions attributed the below expectation performance of the NPP to the Government’s management of the ‘banking crisis and the galamsey fight’.
The fact is that those who did not vote for the NPP in the galamsey areas were not the miners but rather the hundreds of thousands of people living in the communities bordering the forests reserves, who were being harassed by mining companies such as Heritage Imperial,” he added.
Following his removal from office by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in 2020, Prof. Frimpong Boateng disclosed that his exit from the Science and Technology Ministry was a grand scheme orchestrated by some elements in the government and the New Patriotic Party.
According to him there were people in government that wanted him out because of his stance on illegal mining activities in the country.
In his report on illegal mining, formerenvironmentminister Prof. Frimpong Boateng expressed his horror at what he claimed to have learned through a phone call from attorney Gabby Otchere Darko, who allegedly instructed him to permit a mining business to operate in the Krobo and Apaprama Forest Reserve.
According to the report, which was allegedly written by the former minister, he was horrified because the lawyer who was closer to the president and should have supported his fight against Galamsey was the one fronting for the company to engage in illegality.
Prof. Boateng, in the said report, revealed that the lawyer had called claiming to be the legal representative for Donald Entsuah and his friend Simon Ayman, a Candian national, whose company C&J Aleska had reportedly caused havoc to theDiaso Forest Reserve.
The portion of the report read: ”The major pronouncement made by the President, when he took office in January 2017 that touched the hearts and rekindled the enthusiasm of many Ghanaians, including me, was about his preparedness to put his presidency on the line to fight the menace of illegal mining.
I took this statement literally and seriously and I was determined to do everything I could to protect the environment and biodiversity.
I was expecting people such as Mr. Gabby Asare Otchere Darko, Captain Kodah and others like them, who knew the President better and certainly had his interest and success at heart, to support the fight against illegal mining. I was thus horrified to receive a telephone call from Mr. Otchere Darko telling me he was the legal advisor to Mr. Donald Entsuah and his Imperial Heritage Mining Company and that the company should be allowed to work in the Kobro and Apaprama Forest Reserves.
It was this same Donald Entsuah and his friend Simon Ayman, a Canadian national, whose company C&J Aleska caused havoc in the Diaso forest. These two gentlemen were close allies of the Mahamas and soldiers from the Ghana Army gave them protection. Captain Mahama died in the course of his duty protecting Donald Entsuah’s interests.
The IMCIM was able to dislodge E&J Aleska from Diaso. Shortly thereafter Donald Entsuah established Imperial Heritage Mining Company and was given a prospecting licence to work in the Kobro and Apaprama forests in Amansie Central. Here again, he managed to get military protection contrary to all directives from government. Worse still, an important NPP member also provided legal advice.”
It added ”Going forward, if there will ever be such an undertaking, I expect the President’s pronouncement and wishes to be respected and supported, especially by those close to him.
For four years there were directives from the President and his Cabinet that were designed to help fight illegal mining. These directives were to be respected and carried out by Ministries and some agencies.”
Secretary-General of the Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC), Dr Yaw Baah, has lamented the country’s poor economic state which has been worsened by successive governments.
According to him, Ghana should have been at a good place since its Fourth Republic but that has not been the case due to deliberate mismanagement.
He alleged that both the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC) have sabotaged Ghana by selling her assets to foreigners.
“We know that even though we have been stable for the past 30 years politically, economically we are down to the extent that Ghana can now not pay our debts.”
“These two parties – NPP and NDC – have sold all our assets to foreigners such that we now have to rely on debt to develop our country,” he said.
He said there is nothing good to write home about when Ghana is compared to her sister countries in Africa.
“Our incomes are terrible and even if we compare with our neighbours within the region, our incomes are among the lowest.”
He called for a rethink, asking civil society to take up the responsibility of developing a roadmap for Ghana.
A parliamentary candidate hopeful of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Keta constituency, Dr. Emmanuel Jones-Mensah, dismissed claims that he is not eligible to contest the seat.
He, however, has stated that he remains focused on his goal and will not budge to any cheap propaganda.
According to a statement issued by Livingstone Pay-Charlie, Jones-Mensah’s campaign manager, publications that have been made to the effect that his candidature has been put on hold due to eligibility are false.
“Dr. Emmanuel Kojo Jones-Mensah and his campaign team are focused and resolute on campaigning towards an emphatic victory on May 13 in Keta.
“It has come to our attention that some individuals within the NDC who have a personal vendetta against Dr Jones-Mensah are behind fake media publications purporting to state that his eligibility to contest in the Keta NDC primaries as a parliamentary aspirant has been put on ice, pending further investigations.
“We want to state that there’s no iota of truth whatsoever in these media publications,” the statement said.
The camp of Dr. Jones-Mensah also indicated that, contrary to claims that there is a question about the eligibility of their candidate, that matter has actually been resolved.
The statement added that the determination by the Volta Regional NDC Vetting Committee also found that the legal issues being thrown at their candidate had also been determined to be unfounded.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the Volta Regional NDC Vetting Committee sitting in Dzodze on April 5 established that Dr. Jones-Mensah has valid NDC membership, dismissing an initial petition filed by one, Eric Detologo. At the national headquarters of the NDC last week Thursday April 13, the Appeals Committee heard two appeals against Dr. Jones-Mensah from Eric Detologo and Kwesi Djokoto, an aspirant in the Keta race. While the NDC 2023 guidelines guiding the internal parliamentary primaries preclude the two from appealing, the special Appeals Committee decided to hear them on the basis that they are party members.
“The two appeals were found to be frivolous, without material fact and vexatious, and same were dismissed. A full report of the Appeals Committee has since been published via a communique. Per the structural workings of the NDC, the clearance by the Appeals Committee for Dr. Jones-Mensah to contest has brought finality on this matter. The scurrilous fake media agenda is an exercise in futility,” the statement added.
Background:
A close source of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Keta constituency has told GhanaWeb that the Functional Executive Committee (FEC) of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has confirmed that the name of a parliamentary hopeful for Keta, Emmanuel Jones Mensah, is not in the official database of the party.
The source explained that it has been confirmed by the party that the candidate’s name does not appear in its database.
“The Functional Executive Committee at its meeting today, Tuesday 18th April, 2023 deferred its decision on the eligibility of Mr. Emmanuel Jones Mensah, an aspirant in the Keta Constituency Parliamentary primaries of the party.
“This was after FEC considered the report of a special committee that has been set up to determine certain special appeals emanating from the decisions of vetting committees of the party.
During deliberations on the findings of the special committee by FEC, it became apparent that Mr. Emmanuel Jones Mensah’s name is not in the official Ashaiman database of the party as at 2018,“ the source said.
The party, the source added, has since put the decision on the eligibility of Emmanuel Jones Mensah on hold.
Read the full statement issued by Dr. Emmanuel Jones-Mensah below:
Thursday 20th April, 2023
DR. JONES-MENSAH FOCUSED ON VICTORY DESPITE FAKE NEWS ATTACKS
Dr. Emmanuel Kojo Jones-Mensah and his campaign team are focused and resolute on campaigning towards an emphatic victory on May 13 in Keta.
It has come to our attention that some individuals within the NDC who have a personal vendetta against Dr Jones-Mensah are behind fake media publications purporting to state that his eligibility to contest in the Keta NDC primaries as a parliamentary aspirant has been put on ice, pending further investigations.
We want to state that there’s no iota of truth whatsoever in these media publications.
For the avoidance of doubt, the Volta Regional NDC Vetting Committee sitting in Dzodze on April 5 established that Dr. Jones-Mensah has valid NDC membership, dismissing an initial petition filed by one, Eric Detologo. At the national headquarters of the NDC last week Thursday April 13, the Appeals Committee heard two appeals against Dr. Jones-Mensah from Eric Detologo and Kwesi Djokoto, an aspirant in the Keta race. While the NDC 2023 guidelines guiding the internal parliamentary primaries preclude the two from appealing, the special Appeals Committee decided to hear them on the basis that they are party members.
The two appeals were found to be frivolous, without material fact and vexatious, and same were dismissed. A full report of the Appeals Committee has since been published via a communique. Per the structural workings of the NDC, the clearance by the Appeals Committee for Dr. Jones-Mensah to contest has brought finality on this matter. The scurrilous fake media agenda is an exercise in futility.
We are therefore inviting the Disciplinary Committee of the NDC to call to order the media sponsors of this needles fake news and propaganda with the aim of twisting and slanting decisions of the Vetting and Appeals Committees to cause disaffection and opprobrium.
Despite the attacks and vile media propaganda, the campaign of Dr. Jones-Mensah is focused on taking the message of unity, hope and transformation to the delegates in Keta Constituency. No amount of distraction will sway our attention until resounding victory is delivered on 13th May.
What is needed at this crucial moment of our reorganization is to be united as one family and concentrate on capturing power from the NPP in 2024 to liberate Ghanaians from their suffering and long standing hardship. Ghanaians are looking up to us and we must not fail them.
To all sympathizers, loved ones and supporters of Efo Kojo, we emplore all of you to remain calm and focused, for the victory of Dr. Jones-Mensah is perfected by the Almighty God. The victory of the NDC is coming again! Eye Zu !!! Eye Za !!!
Issued by: Livingstone Pay-Charlie, CAMPAIGN MANAGER, TEAM JONES-MENSAH
Comments by Abetifi MP and Agric Minister, Bryan Acheampong, have been described by the Ghana Police Service (GPS) as ‘not criminal.’
According to the police, comments ‘do or die’ comments made by Former President, John Mahama; and Chairman of the NDC, Aseidu Nketiah, also do not qualify as ‘criminal comments.’
The Inspector General of Police, Dr. Akuffo Dampare, said this following a meeting held with the leaders of both the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
It will be recalled that the Minister for Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong, during the NPP’s Arise and Build Health Walk in Kwahu, was captured saying that the governing National Patriotic Party (NPP) will not hand power over to the opposition party, the National Democratic Congress, in 2024.
The former president on a campaign platform is also reported to have said in 2020 that the NDC was ready to match the NPP ‘boot-for-boot’ and in another instance, that the upcoming elections will be a do-or-die affair.
On his part, the chairman of the NDC in his victory speech, was also captured saying that the NDC is prepared to sacrifice everything, including their lives, to achieve victory.
Ever since, both parties and other individuals and groups have written to or called on the police CID, to arrest the people involved for making what they describe as inciteful remarks.
It is on the back of this that the IGP said the comments as made by the politicians, failed the criminal threshold test thereby making it unlawful to arrest the persons involved as it’s been demanded by both parties.
In a newspaper report by the DailyGuide, on April 20, 2023, stated that the police briefed both political parties on initiatives it has taken to ensure a safe election environment leading to the 2024 election.
Key among them are the National Election Security Task Force Secretariat (NEST) and the Legal Unit to probe all politically related incidents to determine if it warrants arrest or not.
John Dramani Mahama, a prospective 2024 presidential contender for the opposition National Democratic Congress(NDC), claims that party agents who will be taken to the National Collation Center, often known as the “strongroom” of the Electoral Commission (EC), will bring their own tea and purchase their own biscuits.
In the 2020 Presidential election petition filed by NDC’s Presidential candidate John Dramani Mahama at the Supreme Court, Rojo Mettle- Nunoo and Dr. Kpessah Whyte who were representatives of the party at the collation Center were blamed for dereliction of duty.
This was after the duo accused the Electoral Commission boss Jane Mensah of ‘tricking’ them to leave the premises to go and see Mr Mahama after which she announced the results on their blind side.
In one of the instances of cross-examination by Justin Amenuvor, the lead counsel of the Electoral Commission (EC), the former Deputy Health Minister Rojo Mettle- Nunoo said “I was offered tea, I wasn’t offered any biscuit” while he waited for the Electoral Commissioner for clarity on some anomaly observed in some of the results.
The Supreme Court stated in its verdict that Rojo Mettle -Nuno and Dr. Kpessah Whyte both second and third witnesses respectively for the petitioner John Mahama should rather blame themselves for leaving the National Collation Centre, that, they did not do their job of strict observation of the collation process therefore must accept the consequences.
Addressing delegates of the NDC at Ashaley Botwe in Greater Accra Region, on Tuesday as part of nationwide campaign tour ahead of the NDC’s Presidential Primaries, John Mahama said the party is going to be extra vigilant in 2024 election adding [on lighter note ] that, the party’s representatives at the strongroom will be provided their own tea and biscuits.
“We are not going to sleep. We are going to match them at the collation centers. We will be in the collation centers until the last ballot is accounted for. e are going to Match them in the EC’s strongroom. This time we don’t want tea we don’t want biscuit. Those we select to go to the strongroom we will give them our own tea and we will buy them digestive Biscuits to go to the strongroom”.
Mr. Mahama strongly stated that packing EC with activists of the ruling New Patriotic Party will not deter the NDC’s resolve to police the election results.
“Because they are afraid of losing the 2024 election they have started putting NPP activists as members of the Electoral Commission so that they can control the referee but when I say it is a Do or Die affair it means that it is a critical election whether they put NPP chairman on the electoral commission we shall match them boot for boot. We are going to match them at the polling stations we don’t Wana cheat anybody, but we don’t want anybody to cheat us. So we are going to mark them at the polling station and make sure that no extra ballot papers come from somewhere into that ballot box”.
Mr. Mahama charged branch and constituency executives of the NDC to actively get involved in the electoral processes in their respective polling stations and be very vigilant .
“Elections are won or lost at the polling stations..and in all your branches you have polling station. Vigilance at the polling stations is going to be in your custody. Campaigning in the polling station is going to be in your care and so we are going to rely on you to make sure that the election in your polling station is going to be free, fair and transparent. And we are putting in a robust system to be able to transmit out results and you the branch and constituency executives are going to be involved. It is a new system we will come and explain it to you”
Inspector-General of Police,Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, has demonstrated his will to ensuring that the country is free from criminals.
Dr. Dampare says with the help and assistance of other security agencies, the fight against crime will be relentless.
He gave this assurance during the commissioning of a police barracks at Kwabenaya in Accra.
“My colleagues and I are working in partnership with other security agencies to give you the biggest of assurances to the government and the people of Ghana that we will never sleep nor rest until this country is at peace with itself,” Inspector-General of Police assured.
In a similar move, the police administration engaged the leaders of the two major parties on how best to defuse political tensions as part of efforts to maintain decorum on the country’s political landscape.
On Monday, April 17, 2023, the Ghana Police Service met with the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the oppositionNational Democratic Congress (NDC) to discuss some political disagreements at the meeting called by the Inspector General of Police.
This was said in a statement issued by the Service after the engagement urging the parties to be decent in their operations.
“They should do their politics and allow the Police to do policing. We, therefore, called on them to support us including by criticizing us constructively to do a professional job in line with our constitutional mandate”, the Ghana Police Service mentioned in its release signed by its Director of Public Affairs, ACP Grace Ansah-Akrofi.
Very startling discoveries have been made about the 2007New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential primaries held at the University of Ghana Legon by Eugene Boakye Antwi, the member of parliament representing the Subin seat in the Ashanti region.
He claimed that despite their best efforts, the majority of candidates failed to use money to sway the election’s results.
The MP mentioned some of the key contenders in that election, including aspiring Alan Kyerematen, Hackman Owusu Agyeman, and Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey among others, alleging that all of them paid huge sums of money to try and sway the election in their favour, however, despite their financial clout, they all lost to Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who emerged as the winner.
“…Nana Akufo, I followed him in 2007, the day that we voted, I was his polling agent at Legon, Hon Alan Kyerematen paid more than him, he paid five hundred, and Hon Hackman Owusu Agyeman paid more than him.
“…I have given you an example, I said December 22, 2007, at Legon, Hon Hackman Owusu Agyeman paid money more than Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Hon Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey also paid more money than Nana Addo, Hon Alan Kyerematen also paid more money than Nana Addo, all of them paid more money than Nana Addo but most of the voters realized that Nana Addo deserved it so all of them voted for him,” he said.
Speaking in an interview with Okay FM on April 19, 2023, he explained that the NPP’s tradition of selecting its flagbearer is based on merit, message, long service, and loyalty, and not on financial considerations.
He further expressed his belief that the upcoming election is not about money, but about the candidate’s message and their track record of service and loyalty to the party.
“…the kind of tradition that we live with, is not about money that determines who becomes a flagbearer or an MP but is about the message. From President Kufour up till now, all the delegates voted based on the message, long service, and loyalty …those are their criteria.
“So, I don’t see any changes now, because the party that I know, they don’t change easily. So, when it is time, everyone needs to go and sell his or her message…So if someone says, I have given TNT, money and all that, those things don’t count during the voting process, what counts is one’s message to the delegates or the voters…because a similar thing happened just in 2007 and it is not that far,” he added.
His revelations come at a time when there are growing concerns about the role of money in Ghanaian politics and allegations of vote-buying in the party’s upcoming primaries as some party stalwarts and flagbearer hopeful has hinted of displaying cash during the election.
Report coming in is that New Patriotic Party (NPP) supporters in Akyem Swedru constituency of the Eastern Region have threatened to vote against the party should the incumbent MP, Kennedy Nyarko be retained.
The supporters claim that the MP has not been productive as expected with regards development in the constituency.
One of the many issues facing the constituency is the lack of good roads. They noted as Chairman of the Select Committee on Roads and Transport in Parliament, Mr Nyarko should have been able to lobby and get their roads constructed.
They have also accused the MP of ‘’gross disrespect and divisive attitude’’, per reports from Onua News.
Mr Kennedy Nyarko has been in Parliament since 2012.
Renowned pollster Ben Ephson has dismissed claims bribery allegations peddled by the Ashanti Regional campaign manager for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential hopeful, Alan Kyerematen.
In an interview on Akoma TV on April 13, Collins Owusu Amankwah, who is the Ashanti Regional campaign manager for Alan and a former Member of Parliament for Manhyia North, claimed that Ben Ephson’s polls are not credible and alleged that the pollster makes favourable predictions for politicians who pay him.
However, in response to these allegations, Ben Ephson stated that he is measured in what he says now, adding that “When you are bathing and a man comes for your cloth, you don’t run naked after the person.”
Ben Epson highlighted that over his 22 years of research, he has achieved 83% accuracy, he also noted that in 2019, he was part of a team of University of Ghana lecturers who conducted research on the list of MPs who were likely to lose their seats.
“So, I have seen what Alan’s Ashanti Regional campaign manager has said, so let me take my time and say this, there is this saying that goes like ‘When you are bathing and a man person comes for your cloth, you don’t run naked after the person, so I have been very measured in what I say.
“In 2019, the University of Ghana lecturers that did research about the list of MPs who will lose their seat, I was part of them …he doesn’t believe in research, and he also said I take money and conduct polls…in twenty-two years (22) I have gotten 83% accuracy.
“I have done 7 polls, national polls…if he wants to help his candidate, Alan, there are people at Alan’s camp who come to me and ask why I said he will be third and I have explained to them,” he added.
Pollster Ben Ephson has predicted a landslide win for Vice President in the 2024 election should he be given the nod as the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
“If Bawumia is made the flagbearer of NPP, he comes with two main advantages; that is many Christians feel comfortable with him even though he is a Muslim and Muslims who used to vote for the NDC would switch and vote for NPP.
“The Muslims have now noticed that the NDC has taken them for granted for far too long because they don’t take Muslims for even running mate,” he asserted.
He also stated that former President John Dramani Mahama will have it difficult winning the 2024 presidential election.
According to him, the former president will most certainly win the flagbearership of the opposition National Democratic Congress but will face a bigger challenge in winning the presidency.
“Mahama will win but it is 2024 that will be his problem. Mahama will win the NDC slot, he will win easily but 2024 is going to be his problem,” he stated during an interview on Hello FM.
Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party, the two main leading political parties are set to elect their flagbearers.
In the NPP race, Mr Ephson has predicted a landslide win for Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia who is one of the lead contenders.
In an interview with Onua TV in early April, Ben Ephson said Dr Bawumia will go ahead to win the presidency if he is elected the flagbearer of the NPP.
Member of parliament for Bortianor-Ngleshie-Amanfro, Sylvester Matthew Tetteh, has criticized member of parliament for Ningo Prampram, Sam Nartey George, for chastising the Akufo-Addo-led administration over the current state of the economy.
Speaking on a panel discussion on TV3’s ‘The Big Issue’ programme, on Monday, Sam George said that the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government are full of thieves, whose only aim is to steal from the people of Ghana.
He said that after stealing all the country’s resources, the government is now going into the pockets of Ghanaians to also steal them through its domestic exchange programme,
“The recklessness and callousness of these bunch of kleptocrats that we have running this country are…,” Sam George was saying before he was interjected by Sylvester Tetteh.
The MP for Bortianor-Ngleshie-Amanfro described Sam George’s comments as uncivilised and urged the host of the programme to check him.
“The words being used are not the best… We should have a very civil conversation… you come to a programmeand all you get is insults,” he said.
Sam George rebutted; “there can be no civility when you are stealing from me, you are stealing from my parent, you are stealing from our grandparents and you say I should be civil”.
Sylvester Tetteh, who was getting frustrated, berated Sam George for his comments saying, “a lot of people are watching including our kids. You don’t come on TV and come and insult people.
“We come and sit on national television and all we heap on the good people of this country is full of insults. Why are you not discussing issues, the content of the subject matter you are not discussing it and you come here and insult people? What kind of attitude is this.”
According toErnest Owusu Bempah, the NPP’s deputy communications director, President Akufo-Addo’s initiatives have already placed the party in a strong position to govern the country come 2024.
According to him, Akufo-Addo’s sterling performance has given the NPP a message that it can use to convince the people of Ghana to help the NPP ‘break the 8’.
Speaking in an interview on Onua TV, on Monday, monitored by GhanaWeb, Owusu Bempah added that one of the policies that Ghanaians will be forever grateful to Akufo-Addo for is the “almighty” Free Senior High School (Free SHS).
“Akufo-Addo has laid a foundation for us to take a very critical message to the people of Ghana (for the 2024 elections).“He (Akufo-Addo) has done a lot of things. First of all, you can speak of the social intervention policies including the almighty Free SHS policy.
“This policy will have a sterling impact on the ordinary Ghanaian.Today people who could not dream of having secondary education are in school,” he said in Twi.
He also said that the major opposition political party, which is the National Democratic Congress (NDC), said the implementation of the Free SHS policy was impossible, but today it has been rolled out and ordinary Ghanaiansare benefiting from it.
“Free SHS policy is very important, it is a key fundamental … forget about the problems we are facing including the shortage of food and infrastructure issues. The most important thing is that the policy has been implemented,” he added.
Themilitary shouldn’t be a part of the primary security taskforce for the 2024 general elections, according to security analyst Dr. Adam Bonaa.
He said they should just be on standby for support if need be.
“They should not be part of the core tasksforce for the elections, they should be on standby,” he said on the Big Issue on TV3 Tuesday April 18.
Dr Bonaa was commenting on the meeting that the Police held with the leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Monday.
The meeting which was called at the instance of the Inspector-General of Police was necessitated by press statements issued by the parties and subsequently followed by petitions to the Police Service with each party calling on the Police to arrest certain individuals of the other side for some alleged offences.
At the meeting, both parties were given the opportunity to air their grievances.
The main issue raised by them was in respect to comments by some political actors from both sides of the divide considered to be inflammatory.
The Police told the leadership of NDC and the NPP not to interfere with their job.
The Police said in a statement after a meeting with the leadership of the two parties that they “should do their politics and allow the Police to do policing. We therefore called on them to support us including by criticising us constructively to do a professional job in line with our constitutional mandate.
As we commend the leadership of the two political parties for availing themselves and contributing to the success of the meeting, we would like to call on Ghanaians to help us in our effort to build an independent Police service which will serve the greater good of the Ghanaian people and not the interest of any individual or group of people.
“Once again, we wish to assure the public that we remain committed to ensuring peace, security, law and order in the country at all times including before, during and after all elections in the country,” the statement said.
Director general of the National Lotteries Authority (NLA), Sammi Awuku, has endorsed vice president, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) candidate for the 2024 general elections.
Awuku, who is also the former National Organizer of the NPP, stated that he does not believe in the “aduru woso” (it is your time) principle when it comes to choosing a flagbearer for the party.
Instead, he believes in selecting someone who can do the job well.
Speaking in an interview with Movement TV on April 17, 2023, he maintained that Dr. Bawumia possesses all the qualities needed to lead the party effectively.
According to him, the Vice President is accommodating, religiously tolerant, and humble.
“I have said that theVice Presidentis a personal friend, I think he possesses some values, some virtues that I believe if he wants to contest, and Ghanaians support him, he will go far.
“I don’t believe in the ‘aduru woso’ (it is your time) principle, every election goes with its own strength and whenever there is vacancy people fight for it, with his politics of inclusion, he draws everyone closer, you will also realize that he is tolerant religiously.
“This is a man that when you invite him to church programs he goes to, you will see him in the Mosque and in the Church, he doesn’t discriminate and he respects everyone also.
He emphasized that as a one-time organizer at the youth and national levels, he has an eye for successful mobilization and campaigning.
“When he consults, and the party opens nominations and he wants to go, I will support him if he comes to me for my support,” he said.
He added that Bawumia’s leadership style has been evident in the various roles he has played in the party and the government.
Awuku’s endorsement comes at a time when the NPP is yet to hold its primaries to select a flagbearer for the party ahead of the 2024 elections.
New Patriotic Party (NPP) Presidential candidate hopeful, Kennedy Agyapong, has revealed that he cannot be intimidated by money in his quest to becoming Ghana’s president.
Speaking to party faithful in the Awutu Senya East Constituency as part of his campaign, the Assin Central Member of Parliament said he will willingly prove his affluence by being extra charitable.
“Whoever thinks he is a man and would want to scare me with money when the time comes, I will show him that I am also a man and that I have richer. I will put on a show here in Awutu Senya East, I will display cash,” he stated to chants from elated NPP members.
As sighted in the video shared by Oman Channel, the flagbearer hopeful entreated electorates to be bold in choosing who they wish to lead the country come 2025.
“So let everyone have patience. We want peace in NPP so we can win the elections but the fact that we want peace does not mean anyone should try and scare us. Nobody can scare you. When it comes to the election vote for whomever you wish to vote for. You have your own mind,” he said.
The NPP has set November 4, 2023, to hold presidential primaries to elect a flagbearer.
The winner of the contest will lead the party as its flagbearer in the 2024 presidential elections.
The Majority leader cum Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has refuted claims that the Akufo-Addo led administration has bloated the number of Justices at the Supreme Court.
Setting the record straight, he said what the President has done is to replace potential Justices of the court who are due for retirement soon.
Responding to questions posed by the host of Kumasi-based Ashh Fm, Oderfour Quasi Kay, on Thursday April 13, 2023, the leader of Government Business linked the president’s nominations to the Supreme Court to that of effective delivery of justice rather than political expediency as speculated by the opposition NDC.
He mentioned names such as the Chief Justice, H.L Justice Annin Yeboah, H.L Justice Dotse, and some other Justices of the Apex Court who are due for retirement in few months from now.
He emphasized that, for effective and efficient administration of justice, and to ensure continuity of cases, the president could not have waited until the final exit of those due before he could nominate others to replace them.
The leader of Government Business, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, took time to engage the grassroots on what had pertained during the last session of Parliament.
Political pundits, and the grassroots would attest to this undeniable fact that Ghanaians would grossly miss the astute legislator when he finally bows out of Parliament for his constant interactions with the grassroots which keeps them informed at all times.
Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has, over the years, made conscious effort to engage the grassroots and to educate them on the happenings in Parliament with the slightest of opportunities available for him to do so without hesitation.
This is in spite of his busy schedules as the Majority Leader, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Leader of Government Business and the Vice Chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, amongst others.
He concluded by extending his heartfelt condolences to the families of the two departed souls of the Members of Parliament who have joined their ancestors in Eternity.
Vice president of IMANI Africa, Bright Simons, has alleged that ‘notorious gold smuggler’ Alistair Matthias still has access to top government officials.
He says the mining leases of Alistair Mathias, who said he smuggles $40 million worth of gold from Ghana in a documentary by Al Jazeera, are still valid.
In a tweet shared on Sunday, Simons said the gold smuggler still has strong ties in the government and the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The IMANI vice president was surprised that despite the revelation made by Alistair in the Al Jazeera documentary, the government of Ghana has not acted.
“Alistair Mathias’ revelations to undercover journalists posing as criminals in search of a money launderer have opened a can of worms in Ghana. Analysts see a web of corruption & intrigue entangling security chiefs, govt ministers & even a Supreme Court Judge.
“Even more intriguing is a link to cracks in the ruling party that led to a bizarre military operation against a gold mining company owned by Mathias’ one-time partners. Meanwhile, Mathias’ Ghana mining leases continue to be valid & his access to top govt officials continues,” parts of the tweets he shared read.
What Alistair Mathias said about Akufo-Addo:
Alistair Mathias, who smuggles $40 million worth of gold from Ghana every month, disclosed the kind of close relationship he has with Ghana’s president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
Alistair Mathias, who is a gold trader with expertise in designing money laundering schemes for Africans, said that his work has given him access to every president or head of state on the continent.
Speaking in the final episode of the undercover investigations of gold smuggling in Africa by the Investigative Unit of Al Jazeera, Alistair Mathis, who is one of the main characters in the video, boasted about his relationship with the Ghanaian president.
He (described as a financial architect) told the undercover reporters, who had posed as Chinese criminals seeking to launder dirty money from Africa, that his relationship with Akufo-Addo is a close one.
He also claims that the Ghanaian president is his lawyer.
“There’s no head of state or president that either of us can’t get to on this continent. Next door in Swaziland, the king is a close friend of mine. Zambia’s president is a close friend of my friend. DRC Congo, the president has invited me several times to come and build a refinery.
“Ghana’s president is a good friend of mine. In fact, he was my lawyer. Cyril Ramaphosa here; I know him. I know his kids,” he bragged.
Also, Kow Essuman, a legal counsel to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has urged Ghanaians to ignore allegations by Alistair Mathias, a Canadian gold smuggler, that the president is his law.
In a tweet shared on Sunday, April 16, 2023, Kow Essuman said that neither President Akufo-Addo nor his law firm has come in contact with Alistair Mathias.
He added that the statements made by the gold smuggler were mere fabrications.
“The President has not been in private practice since 2000, neither has the President nor his law firm, Akufo-Addo, Prempeh and Co, acted as a lawyer for this Alistair Mathias or Guldrest.
“The President does not know this Mathias or Guldrest. Ignore the spurious allegations,” the tweet he shared read.
New Patriotic Party flagbearer hopeful, Kennedy Agyapong has bragged about his track record of job creation, claiming to have created over 7,000 jobs.
He avers that with that record, he stands over and above fellow aspirants in terms of job creation, hence delegates for the upcoming primaries should be on the lookout for aspirants bearing job promises without tangible records.
“If you lack something, appreciate whoever has it, so that he would show you the way, it is no need being jealous. Those of you all over the place that you will create jobs, even your house girls are paid by government.
“Compared to me, who has over 7,000 workers in this country. Ask them, that they said they will create jobs and give us ease, how many people have you employed in Ghana?
“Don’t let them wear suit and come and lie to you. English we no go chop. Ibi our pockets dey speak, so when they come, take caution,” he added.
Speaking to some party delegates in Tema as part of his campaign to become flagbearer of the NPP for the 2024 polls, he said:
“Money can solve issues but not all issues because if it was all about money Akufo-Addo wouldn’t have become president because Mahama distributed brand new cars till chiefs also benefitted.
“At the time, we were struggling with used pickups, salt, gari, maggi cube, second-hand clothes was what we used to unseat Mahama,” he said warning his own party: “but politicians don’t learn. They don’t learn.”
Agyapong, a known financier of the NPP has serially boasted about how much monetary contributions he has made to the party since he joined in the early 90s. He has spoken about buying hundreds of vehicles for the party and even paying for an entire congress when the party sought to decentralize voting to elect a flagbearer.
Kennedy Agyapong, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central, has discussed the crucial role he played for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in forming the majority caucus of the 8th Ghanaian Parliament.
NPP presidential candidate Ken Agyapong stated that the party required independent MP Andrew Asiamah Amoako, who represents Fomena, to join their side in parliament in order to gain control of the House.
Speaking to delegates of the NPP in Tema, Ken Agyapong said that it took his intervention and his GH¢1 million for the condition given by Asiamah Amoako, who is now the 2nd deputy speaker of parliament, to be met, which made him join NPP in the House.
“If not for me, the NPP will not have majority in parliament after the 2020 elections. Because after the election, NDC had 137 parliamentarians, NPP also had 137 and there was one independent candidate.
“We wanted the independent candidate to join us and the condition he gave was that the NPP chairman for Adansi Fomena must resign before he joins us.
“I spoke to the Adansi Fomena NPP chairman and he told me that he will have resigned but a rural bank, he owes GH¢1.5 million will take him to court if he is no longer the chairman of the party in the constituency,” he said in Twi.
Ken Agyapong added that he paid GH¢1 million of the debt of the Adansi Fomena NPP Chairman, which led him to resign, for Asiamah Amoako to join NPP MPs to form the majority caucus.
Former Manhyia North MP, Collins Owusu Amankwahhas disagreed with a poll conducted by renowned pollster Ben Ephson that indicates Alan Kyerematen, the front-runner for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential nomination, is losing support from party delegates.
According to him, Ben Ephson’s claim that Alan is losing popularity is false because his polls are not credible.
Speaking in an Akoma TV interview on April 13, Owusu Amankwah, who is a member of the campaign team for Alan, alleged that Ben Ephson makes favourable predictions for politicians who pay him.
“Nobody trusts Ben Ephson now. He sits in his office and listens to serial callers to make predictions.
“He predicted that the NDC’s former chairman, Ofosu Ampofo, is going to win at the end of the day, Asiedu Nketiah won. He said that John Badu (NPP’s former general secretary) would maintain his seat, but JFK won. He said Sam George will lose his seat… He is not credible.
“We will no longer pay attention to stomach pollsters, who make predictions based on your ability to pay. Sam George has come to say that if you go to him (Ben Ephson) and give him a fat envelope, he will make projects for you,” he said in Twi.
The former NPP MP also alleged that Ben Ephson, who is the managing editor of the Daily Dispatch newspaper, is now doing the bidding of Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who has also indicated his intention of contesting in the NPP presidential primaries.
“Today he has turned the Daily Dispatch into the Daily Bawumia,” he said.
TheNew Patriotic Party‘s (NPP) 1st Vice-Chairman for the Central Region’s Mfantseman Constituency, Gabriel Amoah, has stepped down.
The 44-year-old entrepreneur told the Ghana News Agency he tendered in his resignation letter on Friday, March 31, and was received by Mr Evans Osei, the Constituency Secretary and copied to all appropriate quarters.
Though he could not deny or confirm his widely speculated intention to contest the Parliamentary slot, he was optimistic about working hard with the constituency leadership to stretch the NPP’s political fortunes in the 2024 election.
Having served the party with dedication and commitment across the ranks, Mr. Amoah said it behoved on him to go all out to mobilise the grassroots to make the constituency a stronghold of the NPP.
Elated with his resignation, he said: “After a painstaking effort and a wide consultation and deliberations across the party, I have decided to resign to work assiduously to maintain the political gains of the party in the constituency.
“I want to use this platform to remind all that energizing the base of the party is key and fundamental to the victory of the NPP in the 2024 elections.”
To him, Mfantseman is the heartbeat of the NPP and political activism in Ghana hence, he was prepared to sacrifice his resources not only to save the party in the area but make the party more attractive.
Considering the interesting history of parliamentary candidates of NPP in the Constituency, Mr. Amoah called on the supporters of the party to embark on a massive grassroots mobilization campaign to get more people on board.
That, he said, was the surest way to ensure a resounding victory for the party in the 2024 elections.
For the youth, he said: “As the youth of the NPP, we may have a tougher responsibility, but breaking the eight is a must-do for us. We must convince Ghanaians that changing a productive regime merely because it has lasted for eight years is not healthy for a country that seeks progress.
“We must prove beyond any reasonable doubt to Ghanaians why the party must not go after its two-term regime cycle. Beyond singing the chorus of ‘Breaking the Eight’, we must critically engage our minds forthwith,” he added.
Former president John Dramani Mahama has pokedPresident Akufo-Addo for failing to provide Ghanaians a stable economy despite claiming ‘we have the men’.
According to him, the NPP lacks the credibility to be trusted to turn around the economy.
During the 2012 and 2016 electoral campaigns, the then-presidential candidate Akufo-Addo that his team had the human resource to develop Ghana.
But, speaking to delegates during his visit to Kpone Katamanso on Friday, Mr Mahama stated that the NDC has come to the conclusion that this is not the case.
“In 2016, our colleagues, the NPP told a lot of lies about us. They labeled us as incompetent and they came with a lot of big and sweet promises to the people of Ghana and use that to persuade people that there will be a better government than we were.
“And so the people of Ghana tried them by voting for them. They said they should try them, ‘try me and see’. And that was a mistake the people of Ghana made because we have come to realise that after all, we have the men, we have the men. They were station boys, they don’t know anything,’” Mr Mahama said.
According to former President Mahama, the ministers who served during his administration performed better than the current administration.
Mr Mahama commented on the power purchase agreement, noting that the NDC had been chastised by the NPP for signing too many power purchase agreements.
As a result, he questioned why the government is adding to the power purchase agreement if there are so many.
“Just last week, they signed another power purchase agreements were signed to many power purchase agreements. Why are you signing another one today?”
He went on to say that the government promise of one district, one factory – one village, one dam was a hoax to sway Ghanaians’ votes. This, he explained, is because the factories are currently not operational.
“Recently, I was watching a documentary on Joy and most of those factories are not even working,” he added.
He also described as troubling the findings of a recent US State Department report on human rights violations in Ghana.
“The US Human Rights Report has come out and it makes it very bad reading, human rights abuses, corruption, torture, so many things, discrimination, everything go and read that report.”
According to him, when he assumes office, his government “will set up a governance Advisory Council. And that governance advisory council would include civil society organizations, religious leaders, chiefs, and ordinary grassroots people.
And every year, that council will release a report on the state of human rights corruption and everything in Ghana.”
