Yaw Adomako Baafi, a former Communications Director for the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), has refuted suggestions that vice president Mahamudu Bawumia is responsible for the meltdown of Ghana’s economy because he is the head of the country’s Economic Management Team (EMT).
According to him, the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is solely responsible for the performance of Ghana’s economy and the EMT is only an advisory body.
Speaking in an Okay FM interview monitored by GhanaWeb, Adomako Baafi added that arguments that Bawumia cannot be the flagbearer of the NPP because of the performance of the economy are flawed because other members of the EMT are also contesting to be the party’s candidate for the 2024 presidential elections.
“The economic management team is just an advisory body; they don’t implement anything. And even if it is so, Alan Kyerematen was part of the Economic Management Team, the agriculture minister (Dr Afriyie Akoto) was also part of the Economic Management Team.
“All the people who are contesting for the flagbearership position of the NPP were part of the EMT. The work of the EMT is a team work so Bawumia cannot blamed if things are not going well,” he said in the Twi dialect.
The former NPP communication director also refuted suggestions that Bawumia cannot be the flagbearer of the NPP, because he is new to the party.
He said that the number of years one has served in a party should not matter in the selection of a presidential candidate and that the most important factor that is to be considered is competence.
He added that Bawumia has proven that he can led Ghana by the way he assisted President Akufo-Addo in developing the country.
Member of Parliament (MP) for Essikado-Ketan, Mr Joe Ghartey, has officially informed President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of his intention to contest in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Presidential primaries slated for the latter parts of 2023.
Mr Ghartey who was a former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice paid a courtesy call on the President at the Jubilee House, in Accra, to inform him of his Presidential ambition.
Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Mr Ghartey said the call afforded him the opportunity to, among other things, thank the President for the confidence reposed in him during his first term of office when he found him worthy of serving as the Minister of Railways Development.
Mr Ghartey assured the President that he and his team would run a decent campaign for the flagbearership position, and work hard for the party to retain power beyond 2024.
Mr Ghartey made it clear that he would take immediate action if any member of his team became wayward and attacked others unnecessarily.
He thanked the President for taking time off his busy schedule to meet with him and wished him and the Government well.
President Akufo-Addo wished Mr Ghartey well saying his desire was to ensure that NPP retained power in 2024 and beyond.
He said his role was to ensure a fair playing field and was prepared to support anyone who emerged victorious in the primaries, while calling for a decent campaign.
A new survey conducted by Global Info Analytics, a polling company in Ghana, has revealed that 71% of citizens are of the view that, Ghana is headed in the wrong direction.
The poll also revealed that 60% of New Patriotic Party (NPP) affiliates disapprove of the path the country is headed while 81% of affiliates of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) also say the party is on the wrong path.
On the question of whether the NPP can “break the eight”, 24% of voters believe the party can “break-the-eight” whilst 59% said they can’t and 17% had no opinion.
The poll shows the president’s job approval rating has made a significant recovery from 26% in October, leaping to 32% in January 2023, whilst his disapproval declined sharply from 69% in October to 59% in January 2023.
The vice president enjoys 32% approval and 58% disapproval. In the case of Alan Kyerematen, 35% of voters approved of his performance as Trade and Industry minister whilst 45% disapprove of his performance.
The poll used a sample size of 5,844. The sample size was allocated to all the regions based on the total number of voters in each of the regions as per the Electoral Commission’s 2020 register.
A random selection of 30% of constituencies from each region was then selected and allocated the regional quota based on the total voters in each of those constituencies.
Respondents were selected randomly in the streets, homes and workplaces.
In the race to lead the NPP for the 2024 elections, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and Mr Kyerematen are tied with no clear favourite.
The poll conducted between 31st December 2022 and 15th January 2023, shows the race to lead the NPP is a dead heat among NPP voters as Dr Bawumia has lost the slender lead he enjoyed in October 2022 over Mr Kyeremanten.
The poll now shows Dr Bawumia and Mr Kyerematen are level at 40% apiece among NPP voters.
However, among general voters, Mr Kyerematen’s lead over Dr Bawumia has been cut from 41% to 32% compared to 44% to 31% in October 2022. New Patriotic Party Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, is in third place with 14% of the votes.
The NPP is yet to set a date for its presidential primaries to elect a flagbearer for the 2024 elections.
Mr Kyerematen who resigned from his post is likely to face off with the former Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto and former Railways Minister Joe Ghartey who has also declared his intention to contest for the slot.
Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has his stance on same-sex relationships, a subject that has recently gained attention.
Dame said based on his religious, moral and cultural viewpoints, he was totally against anything that promoted same-sex ideology.
“I am seriously anti-gay, that’s a point. 100%. I had the opportunity to express it in a programme that I did in 2006,” he told Paul Adom-Otchere on the January 17 edition of Good Evening Ghana programme.
“I think that it is abominable, that is my view, Christian, moral, cultural, however you want to term it,” he added.
Asked how he would handle a relation who subscribes to the ideology, he responded: “I will actually make a conscious effort to rid the person of such a situation.”
Dame was responding to questions on the anti-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ+) bill, a private members’ initiative, that is currently before Parliament.
He is due to appear before the parliamentary committee sitting publicly to receive views on the bill which has split public opinion, between hardliners who are in full support of the bill and the human rights advocates who argue that the bill in its current form is repressive and dangerous.
Dame observed that the bill in its current form needed some amount of reworking in parts citing the fact that it imposes a financial burden on the state and also contains sections that are repetitions of existing laws.
The bill, officially known as ‘The Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill’ was laid before the House last year and referred to the Committee for among others, public consultation.
It was sponsored by eight MPs, seven from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and one from the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and former Trade and Industry Minister Alan Kyerematen are tied for the party leadership position ahead of the 2024 elections, according to a recent nationwide poll conducted by Global InfoAnalytics.
The polls conducted between 31st December 2022 and 15th January 2023, show the race to lead the NPP is a dead heat among NPP voters as Dr Bawumia has lost the slender lead he enjoyed in October 2022 over Mr Kyeremanten.
The poll now shows Dr Bawumia and Mr Kyerematen are level at 40% apiece among NPP voters.
However, among general voters, Mr Kyerematen’s lead over Dr Bawumia has been cut from 41% to 32% compared to 44% to 31% in October 2022.
New Patriotic Party Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, is in third place with 14% of the votes.
The NPP is yet to set a date for its presidential primaries to elect a flagbearer for the 2024 elections.
Mr Kyerematen who resigned from his post is likely to face off with the former Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto and former Railways Minister Joe Ghartey who has also declared his intention to contest for the slot.
The poll shows the president’s job approval rating making a significant recovery from 26% in October, leaping to 32% in January 2023, whilst his disapproval declined sharply from 69% in October to 59% in January 2023.
A former New Patriotic Party (NPP) Central Regional First Vice Chairman, Horace Ekow Ewusi, has predicted a landslide victory for the party in the 2024 election.
Mr Ewusi says he believes the party is now more forged in unity and will increase the gains it secured in the 2020 election.
He was speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen following a reconciliation event last weekend in Cape Coast to patch the cracks in the party ahead of the 2024 general election.
The NPP, ahead of the 2020 general election, had 19 parliamentary seats in the Central Region while the NDC had four.
But the NPP lost nine of its parliamentary seats due to which the NDC swept 13 while the former secured 10 and managed to win 19 constituencies in the presidential election.
Scores of party faithful blamed the outcome on what they described as disunity in the region.
However, Mr Ewusi has touted the party has built a formidable front in the region, adding the Chairman Kutin-led administration is now more experienced which will make their victory an easy one.
“We have been able to write our wrongs and the one who did it in 2020, Chairman Kutin who helped us to secure those constituencies knows how he did it. I’m convinced he is more experienced now and will do much better. The elephant will surely smile at us in the Central Region,” he said.
He added the reconciliation event was a step in the right direction and commended the former and current executives for making it possible.
Former District Chief Executive (DCE) for Sekyere Afram Plains and a staunch member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Fuseini Donkor has envisaged that nothing can stop Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia from becoming the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP)
He disclosed that over the period, Dr Bawumia has become popular at the grassroots level in the party and that is easy to be manifested during the polls.
According to him, current President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is aware the party does not like it when a sitting president imposes a presidential candidate on them the reason, he is very tactical in openly supporting his popular Vice President.
According to him, Former President Kufuor tried to impose John Alan Kyeremanten on the party in 2008 but failed because the party members did buy into that idea.
Speaking on Nhyira Fm monitored by MyNewsGh.com in Kumasi, Fuseini Donkor revealed that, “Kufuor felt Ghana would be safe in the hands of Alan than Nana Addo but the party also said they knew him (Akufo-Addo) long ago so the party defied President Kufuor”.
He further explained that, because the NPP party does not want Presidents to choose a leader for them, “that is why they (Akufo-Addo and co) were smart enough to lay the foundation on the grounds for Bawumia. So on the grounds, they’ve already built everything for Bawumia”
The Minister for Justice and Attorney General, Godfred Dame, has said that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is in pole position to win power for an unprecedented third consecutive term.
According to him, both the NPP and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) want to set a new record in the 2024 election, with the NDC seeking to bring a former president back to power, but his party has the upper hand.
Speaking in a Good Evening Ghana interview on Tuesday, (January 17, 2023), which was monitored by GhanaWeb, the attorney general said that Ghanaians will choose the NPP over the NDC in the 2024 elections because of the record of the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government.
“I think the NPP has always been in a better position to break the 8. And indeed in 2008, President Akufo-Addo nearly broke the 8… so we have always stood the chance of breaking the 8.
“And I think that now on account of the human resources at our disposal, on account of the record of the government indeed we stand a better chance of breaking the 8.
“Breaking the 8 has not been done before but so is the return of a former president to power. We want to break the 8, they want to reignite the past. And I think that the people of Ghana will reject it with every ability that they can command,” he said.
Dame stated that the NDC has nothing new to offer and that Ghanaians will reject them.
He went on to say that the NDC’s new national executives are people the NPP has previously defeated and will do so again.
Shatta Wale has been seen in several videos warning President Nana Akufo-Addo’s critics to be careful what they say.
Dancehall artist Shatta Wale claims that anyone who believes that the New Patriotic Party (NPP)-led government has paid him to speak on their behalf is mistaken.
Shatta Wale has been seen in several videos telling President Nana Akufo-detractors Addo’s to be careful what they say about his leadership style.
His remark relates to the American rapper Meek Mill’s music video, which featured footage of Jubilee House and received negative public reaction as a result.
Many faultfinders blamed poor leadership for the perceived blunder which they argued undermined Ghana’s seat of government.
In one of the videos, Shatta Wale said no one knows what transpired between Meek Mill and the President adding that the President has the wisdom to run the country and also allow which guest to welcome at the Jubilee House.
In a video posted on his Facebook wall today, January 18, Shatta Wale said the NPP has not paid him to defend them adding that the last time he saw the President was when he visited him at the Jubilee House years ago.
“Some people are saying NPP has given Shatta Wale money to speak on their behalf because he is the outspoken person and the best person to do that. You are wrong in saying that because I have not received money from anyone,” he said in the video
Touching on other matters, Shatta Wale said people should stop wasting their time since God keeps blessing him despite the negative vibes.
“Anyone who has evil thoughts against me will fall and it is a fact. God is blessing me because I don’t think evil of anyone so I always succeed,” he said.
The Dancehall King maker added that he made good money at last year’s Christmas and any event that he wasn’t billed for was because the organisers could not afford his price.
The Ashanti Region New Patriotic Party (NPP) Constituency Chairmen Association has requested that the party hold its flagbearer election immediately.
According to the association, if the election is conducted early, it will give them enough time to prepare and market the party’s flagbearer before the 2024 elections.
In a press release, the group also indicated that another reason they want an early congress is to afford the party enough time to resolve outstanding conflicts and challenges resulting from the elections.
They added that a formal petition will be presented to the National Executive Committee (NEC)for consideration.
Read the full statement below:
ASHANTI NPP CONSTITUENCY CHAIRMEN ASSOCIATION CALLS FOR EARLY CONGRESS
WE THE Ashanti Regional Constituency Chairmen Association would like to add our voices to the call for the party to organise early congress to elect the flagbearer for the 2024 general elections.
There is no doubt that the 2024 elections will be a crucial one which will require comprehensive processes and preparations.
Our decision to support this call for early congress is therefore based on a number of valid and genuine considerations.
Some of these include:
1. An early congress will afford the party enough time to prepare and market the eventual winner and flagbearer ahead of the elections. This will help ensure that we do not repeat the 2008 experience which gravely affected the party leading to its eventual defeat.
2. As expected in any democratic electoral process across the world, elections like these have the potential to foment internal rifts and troubles amongst supporters of opposing candidates, therefore an early congress will afford the party the opportunity to address some of these fallout and build united front to achieve victory.
3. We also believe that an early congress will afford the party enough time resolve outstanding conflicts and challenges resulting out of the elections.
4. An early congress will also give government and the sitting President the peace of mind to implement its policies and programmes, whilst carrying the entire party machinery along.
In conclusion, we members of the Ashanti Regional NPP Constituency Chairmen Association will present a formal petition to the National Executive Committee (NEC) for consideration in the upcoming meeting slated for January 31.
Signed
Mr. Dominic Bosompim 0244258138
Chairman, Odotobri Constituency
Dean, Constituency Chairmen Association Ashanti Region
First National Vice Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Chief Sofo Awudu Azorka has called all educated members of the party to accept to work as polling agents on the day of elections in the year 2024.
According to him, the NDC would need such individuals will be able to cross-check all rigging activities planned by the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).
“If you know you are learned who can read and write then you have to go to the polling station to work on the day of elections. Go and work as polling agents, when they count two, you also count same”, Chief Sofo Awudu Azorka said in an interview with TV XYZ monitored by MyNewsGH.com.
“Don’t wait for anyone to employ you as polling agents before you do so”, he added.
Chief Azorka warned that people with the intent of getting positions and jobs in the next NDC government must first join their leader John Mahama in the campaign and the struggle to win power and not wait till they win before they appear with the CVs for jobs.
“I’m telling you that don’t wait till the old struggles and win before you go to him with your big CVs for positions. Go and work as polling agents, when they count two, you also count the same. Don’t wait for anyone to employ you as polling agents before you do so”, he stressed.
“They have been rigging the elections, but not always and this is going to be the last. It is the last one”, he added.
The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, has advised the Member of Parliament of North Tongu Constituency, Samuel Okudzato Ablakwa to cease spreading what he views to be misinformation about the National Cathedral and its board of trustees and rather pursue a presidential ambition.
Speaking in an interview on Wontumi TV, Wontumi stated that Haruna Iddrisu will be the NDC’s flagbearer in a few years and that Ablakwa stands a chance of becoming his running mate if he plays his cards well.
“See, Mahama will lose in the 2024 elections, so, Okudzato Ablakwa has to be humble so that when Haruna Iddrisu is becoming a flagbearer he will consider you as his running mate. But now you’re tarnishing your image. Mahama cannot come again. He has already been president and vice so that’s the end for him,” Wontumi said.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has been a staunch advocate against the construction of the National Cathedral, on grounds that the timing, location and process are wrong.
He made some allegations against Reverend Kusi Boateng, secretary to the Board of Trustees for the National Cathedral in a social media post dated January 16, 2023.
In an explosive set of allegations which he describes as the Tsar Bomba of all scandals, Ablakwa claimed that Reverend Kusi Boateng holds multiple passports and identification cards with some bearing the name Kwabena Adu Gyamfi.
“You will recall that in my earlier exposé of the scandalous GHS2.6million cash transfer from the National Cathedral Secretariat to JNS Talent Centre Limited, I pointed out that incorporation documents reveal that the three directors of JNS Talent Centre Limited are Johannes Eshun, Sheila Eshun and Kwabena Adu Gyamfi.
“I also later revealed that Rev. Johannes Eshun is a branch pastor of National Cathedral Executive Council Member/Director, Rev. Victor Kusi-Boateng’s Power Chapel Worldwide.
“Hitherto, the third director—Mr. Kwabena Adu Gyamfi has remained a mystery figure.
“I am now able to reveal the true identity of this mystery director of JNS, Kwabena Adu Gyamfi.
“Definitely, the code has finally been cracked and it shocks to the marrow!
“Unimpeachable and incontrovertible evidence confirms that Mr. Kwabena Adu Gyamfi is the famous Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng who still serves on the National Cathedral Board as an Executive Council Member/Director.
“For the avoidance of doubt, there is no distinct Kwabena Adu Gyamfi. Kwabena Adu Gyamfi is a criminal creation of Rev. Victor Kusi-Boateng. The two are therefore one and the same.
“Rev. Victor Kusi-Boateng AKA Kwabena Adu Gyamfi thought he had outwitted every Ghanaian, particularly our authorities whom he dribbled for many years; but the day of reckoning is finally here.
“From unassailable and irreproachable documents in my possession, Rev. Victor Kusi-Boateng AKA Kwabena Adu Gyamfi uses multiple passports and multiple identification cards with different names and different dates of birth as his special modus operandi,” he wrote on Facebook.
Nana Obiri Boahen, the former Deputy General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has expressed his displeasure with President Akufo-Addo’s choice of Ken Ofori-Atta as caretaker Minister of Trade and Industry.
Nana Obiri Boahen asserted that the president erred in appointing Ken Ofori-Atta to the trade and industry ministry in place of Alan Kyerematen. He stated that while legally and constitutionally, the president’s choice was correct, it was wrong politically and morally.
Speaking in an interview on Wontumi TV, he added that it confuses him that the president’s advisors sat unconcerned for such a decision to be taken given that the finance minister was already experiencing backlash from a section of the public.
“With all due respect and with all humility to the president, that decision for the president to allow Ken Ofori Atta to take charge was wrong. Constitutionally the president was right, legally the president was right, but politically it was wrong and morally it was wrong. Constitutionally, if a cabinet minister is not around, a cabinet minister must replace him.
“Legally he is also right but politically it was dangerous and incorrect. That discretion was not well exercised. The minister of finance is facing backslash and his own MPs are calling for his sacking, so appointing such a person will cause confusion.
“Morally in terms of politics, it is sending a wrong signal, so I’m happy that he has been changed. But I’m surprised that the advisors of the president couldn’t prompt him,” he said.
He continued by expressing his happiness at Abu Jinapor’s appointment as the new caretaker minister at the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Abu Jinapor has replaced Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, who was given stewardship of the trades ministry a few days ago after the resignation of Alan Kyerematen.
A statement which was issued by the Director of Communication at the Office of the President, Eugene Arhin, indicated that the appointment of Abu Jinapor as caretaker trade minister will take effect from Monday, January 16, 2023.
Private legal practitioner, Gabby Otchere-Darko, has indicated that the refusal by individual bondholders to accept government’s debt exchange programme will worsen the country’s economic crisis.
According to the NPP stalwart, the widespread rejection by the bondholders will not augur well for the country, hence the need for them to soften their stance.
In a series of tweets on Sunday evening, he explained that even though the terms of the debt exchange programme will affect individual bondholders, it is a necessary step which must be taken to salvage the economy.
He said if the bondholders fail to cooperate with government, their bonds may be affected in the future in addition to a further deterioration of the economy.
“Ghana is in a very difficult place. What we are seeing with the mobilisation of agitation on individual bondholders poses a real and serious risk worse than what we witnessed when opposition to E-Levy succeeded in derailing an already shaky macroeconomic situation from 2021”, portions of his tweets read.
“The debt exchange programme is voluntary for individual bondholders but a very necessary evil for our economy.
Its success is critical to restoring macroeconomic stability, securing an IMF prog. It hits those of us holding bonds very hard. A straight no to it is no solution!”, Mr Otchere-Darko stressed.
“If the no-compromise opposition to it wins, what then has been achieved? It may lead to national debt default.
So what then happens to the value of your bonds after! Potentially worthless. If participation is low, we jeopardize resolving the economic crisis and hardships”, he wrote.
In concluding his comments on the matter, he said, “I’m sorry but we have to face the hard/painful truths. We ain’t sitting pretty.
Our focus must be on how the burden to individual bondholders may be possibly eased; but not to take the hardline position of simply saying no to particpation. It will come back to hit us harder!”.
While noting the possible dangers if the programme does not go through, he called on individual bondholders to rally behind government to help restore the economy.
The remarks by the founder of the Danquah Institute comes in the wake of growing public agitations from individual bondholders about government’s proposed domestic debt exchange programme.
In a bid to rescue the economy and secure a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), government has proposed that all bondholders will not receive any interests on their bonds for the 2023 financial year.
The payment of dividends, according to government is likley to begin next year, 2024 at a discounted rate of 5%.
In relation to this, bondholders who may want to transfer or even forfeit their bonds will not even be able to get the full principal they initially invested as bonds.
This proposal, since its announcement has been rejected by many bondholders who have subsequently expressed frustration about the development.
In their view, if the proposal is implemented, they will suffer a great deal of loss, with many of them stating that their investments may even become unprofitable.
Some of the aggrieved bondholders, who recently interacted with JoyNews have thrown their hands in despair, with others contemplating suicide.
The affected investors say with government’s intended management of their bonds, they may not even be able to meet their expenses such as rent, feeding and the payment of fees for their wards.
They have therefore called on government and other relevant stakeholders to intervene in the matter.
In this regard, policy analyst, Senyo Hosi, who is part of the crusade is currently mobilising all affected bondholders to collectively resist the move by government.
Speaking on JoyNews‘ PM Express last week, he stated that the proposal by government is ‘insensitive’ and must be outrightly resisted.
Meanwhile, government insists the debt exchange programme is the way to go in rescuing the economy.
The General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Justin Kodua Frimpong, has said that there will be special dispensation for incumbent Members of Parliament in the party’s upcoming primaries.
Kodua Frimpong says the era where certain MPs were protected and not allowed to be contested is over.
Speaking on Kumasi-based Angel FM, the NPP scribe said that no candidate will be allowed to go unopposed in the primaries.
According to him, this move is part of lessons derived from the 2020 elections where the party lost a number of seats to the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
He explained that even in cases where a candidate will not be contested, the party will leave the window for the declaration of intent and purchase of forms opened until the deadline.
He is confident that the practice will help instill unity in the party and prevent the acrimony that usually comes with such arrangement.
“For the parliamentary primaries, nobody will go unopposed. We will not protect anyone. We are not going to give any considerations. It will not happen. We will open the door for any member who qualifies to stand for the elections.
“If you work hard and the constituents express confidence in you that you should go unopposed, then fine. Even with that, nominations will be opened until closing date. The practice of protecting people did not help us in 2020. These are some of the measures we are implementing to bring peace and unity in the party,” he said.
He also disclosed that the party has opened its doors to some disgruntled members who left to compete as independent candidates in the 2020 elections.
Kodua Frimpong says that the party is determined to heal the wounds of the previous elections and go into the 2024 elections with a united front.
The party has set January 31, 2023 to decide on the date for its presidential and parliamentary primaries.
A former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Joe Ghartey, has assured ex-President John Agyekum Kufuor, and by extension, the entire ‘elephant family’, that he will not work to divide the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) during his campaign for the party’s flagbearer job.
He gave the assurance when he visited the former president at his Aburi residence in the Eastern Region on Thursday, January 12, 2023.
Announcing to Mr. Kufuor his intention to contest the upcoming presidential primaries of the NPP, Joe Ghartey said he will not disparage any of the other candidates for the race.
Ghartey pledged to promote unity in the NPP before, during, and after the presidential primaries.
President John Agyekum Kufuor was visibly delighted that Joe Ghartey had come to inform him about his presidential ambition.
Ghartey served as Deputy Attorney General and Minister of Justice and subsequently substantive Minister of Justice under former President Kufour.
Mr. Kufuor, who ruled Ghana from 2001 to 2009, seized the opportunity during the visit to express how happy he was with the performance and professionalism of Joe Ghartey as Attorney-General and Minister of Justice.
He recounted how, before becoming Attorney-General in 2006, Ghartey was lawyer to his mother, Obapanyin Ama Dapaah, and subsequently lawyer for his elder sister, Nana Druwaa.
Commenting on the conduct of the upcoming primaries, Mr. Kufuor cautioned that all the candidates should show sportsmanship, and that at the end of the race, whoever wins should be supported by all.
He reminded Joe Ghartey that the NPP as a party did not belong to any single individual and that no one is bigger than the party. He also urged that it was important at all times to protect the integrity of the party.
According to John Agyekum Kufuor, he was still confident that the NPP was a better option when it came to the governance of Ghana.
He expressed the hope that the party will work hard and win the 2024 general elections.
Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, a leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has said that a close family member of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo told him that the current happenings in the country are not ordinary.
Speaking in a JoyNews interview monitored by GhanaWeb, Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe said that the problems the president is facing in governing the country have spiritual connotations.
“He (the family relation) said, “Doc what is happening to your brother (Akufo-Addo)?” And I said I don’t know; you are there with him.
“And his conclusion to me was that he thinks what is going on now is spiritual. This is exactly what he told me just some few days ago,” he said.
The statesman said that if the president or the country is under a spiritual attack “then we have to sit up properly.”
“Because some of the things that Nana Addo does, I don’t understand them, honestly,” he added.
The statesman said that he will for now withhold the identity of the family member but will disclose it in the future.
Between theNational Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), to be politically accepted on any regional level in the country, is a big deal.
But even more specific and significant for these two leading political parties in the country are what kind of numbers or voter turnouts they religiously receive from these regions, collectively.
As is widely known or accepted, the people of the Volta Region have historically always warmed up towards the NDC more, just as the Ashanti Region does for the NPP.
In more specific terms, these regions have become unconventionally known as the ‘world banks’ of these political parties. And rightly so, they have been for many years.
For instance, in the Ashanti Region, out of the 46 constituencies in the region, the NDC currently only has 4 seats to its name. That number has remained the highest number of seats the NDC has had in the region since 1996.
In the Volta Region, until 2020, the NPP had never won a seat. Currently, the tally is 17 to 1 seat in the region for the NDC and the NPP respectively. Previously, since 1996, the NDC had always won all the seats in the region (16 seats in 1996, 15 seats in 2000, 15 seats in 2004, 15 seats in 2008, 18 seats in 2012, and 18 seats in 2016).
Let us not forget also that the founding fathers of both the NDC and the NPP have formed a great part of why there is such a voting pattern for their parties in both the Volta and Ashanti Regions. Jerry John Rawlings of the NDC hails from the Volta Region, while the Danquah-Dombo-Busia trio of the NPP are predominantly from the Ashanti Region.
Could the narrative be taking an interesting twist, or turn, or direction? Well, it may depend on how you take a look at it.
And it would have been a fairer assessment if this was with respect to both regions but interestingly, the bus seems to be stopping more with the Volta Region.
It all started with the conversations on who has done what, and who has done more or not for the region. Ordinarily, that should have been an easy pass for the NDC, who are more preferred in the region, but some questions have arisen on whether or not they actually deserve such a comfortable acclamation.
What exactly did Mahama do for Volta Region? – Obed Asamoah asks:
As the NDC, just as the NPP, prepares to elect a new flagbearer to lead it into the 2024 general elections, a leading member of the National Democratic Congress, Dr Obed Yao Asamoah, has become one of the people to draw in this whole ‘what have you done for the Volta Region’ conversation.
He has asked for answers from former President John Dramani Mahama on exactly what he has done for the Volta Region.
He questioned what the 2020 flagbearer of the party did for the region that is considered the stronghold of their party, while he was in political office, and for which reason he would seek their votes again to lead the NDC into election 2024.
According to Dr. Asamoah, Mahama’s failure to establish tangible developmental projects in the Volta Region resulted in residents voting against the NDC.
Supporting his claim, Dr. Obed Asamoah said the evidence can be seen from how much, in terms of numbers, the percentage of voter turnout from the region in the 2020 elections were, as compared to those of his predecessors; the late John Evans Atta Mills and the late Jerry John Rawlings.
“Vote Region is supposed to be the World Bank of the NDC. What exactly did Mahama do for the Volta Region?
“Remember in the last election, he did not get the kind of votes Jerry and the others were getting; 80, 90 percent (in presidential elections),” he said.
But then something that had happened a few months earlier seems to lend support to the questions being posed by the NDC stalwart.
In November 2022, during the 60th anniversary of the Hogbetsotso Za of the Anlo people, the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, made an appearance upon an invitation.
During his address, he courted the anger of residents present, becoming a victim of a booing incident targeted at the presidency, after he started making statements about the achievements of his party, the NPP, in the Volta Region.
As Agbotadua Kumassah, a member of the Hogbetsotso Planning Committee explained later, the people gathered at the grounds of the event started getting agitated when the vice president started talking about the economy.
He explained that the people, being well-aware that some of the things he was saying were false, started to boo at him.
“When he entered the economic situation, that is when the problem started. He mentioned, among others, that they built more airports than any other government, they built more roads than any other government and the people who were there did not see the roads, the airports, the roads he was referring to.
“So, that brought some agitation and it became very difficult to control the people because what he was saying, none of them happened in the area,” he explained.
Agbotadua Kumassah also explained that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s explanations on the government’s works in the digitization field, compounded the anger of the people, leading to them booing at him.
But how true or not are the things he said about what they had been doing?
NPP’s development feats in Volta Region evident – Makafui Woanya:
Being the man at the helm of things in the region for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Makafui Woanya, the regional chairman, has said countless times that his party has been able to perform creditably in the region albeit not so welcomed politically.
He explained in a graphic.com.gh report on January 5, 2023, that the NPP government has been able to revive and perform remarkable progress in some key infrastructural development projects in the region.
Some of these, he mentioned, are the steadily progressing Eastern Corridor Road Project, which is nearing completion; and the ongoing Southern Sector Water Systems Extensions Project.
“The University of Health and Allied Sciences, which the NDC is always quick to claim as their baby, is seeing massive infrastructural expansion,” he explained.
NPP drew its biggest strength from the Volta Region:
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has not been left out of the narratives or claims of what each party has been doing in the Volta Region.
In August 2020, the president said that the NPP considers the Volta Region as a “hallowed ground” that is symbolic of its struggle during the days of the party’s formation.
He added that history had even confirmed that the region had endorsed the NPP, and served as a place of refuge for its political fugitives during its darkest days, and for which reason the party can never discriminate against them.
“It was here in this region that people were most passionate about the political tradition. It was from here that the first people had to flee into political exile after independence, and it was in this region that many chiefs had to flee into political exile, and some died there.
“Many people forget that when J.B. Danquah, the first in the trinity of the Danquah-Dombo-Busia political tradition contested Kwame Nkrumah for the presidency, on Ghana becoming a republic in 1960, Danquah did not win in his home constituency in Akyem Abuakwa.
“But he won in two constituencies, one is right here in Anlo and the other is Ho West. If there was a little brittle tribal bone within my makeup, which there is not, I would not choose the Volta Region as a target. History would not allow me,” he said during a durbar of chiefs of the Anlo State at Anloga, during a working tour of the area.
John Mahama answers questions about what NDC has done for Volta Region:
Dr. Obed Asamoah’s questions have however not been left hanging because like a premonition, the former president, John Dramani Mahama, had touted his achievements in the Volta Region in 2021.
So, two clear years before such a question would be posed, the former president had already spelt out some of the achievements he had made in its ‘world bank.’
Among the tall list of things he said his government had achieved, were in educational infrastructure, health projects, roads, water and sanitation, among many others.
And much later, while speaking at a grand durbar to mark the climax of the Asogli Yam Festival in Ho, President John Mahama lamented the number of abandoned projects in the region, assuring the people that the next NDC government would complete them all.
“Projects started by the NDC have been abandoned and others that are to be completed in the region are being done at a slow pace. For some of the projects, this government asked contractors to stop work.
“But I make a commitment of the NDC that, God willing and thanks to your votes, in 2025, all these projects will resume,” he assured.
Volta must carry NDC as a religion – Fifi Kwetey:
Being the newly-elected General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Fifi Kwetey, who is also the former Member of Parliament for Ketu South, appears to have a strong say on whose side the Volta Region should stick with.
In a GNA report of Thursday, January 12, 2023, Fifi Kwetey said the region must cement its place as an unmovable bastion of the NDC.
Admitting that the region’s hold as the fortress of the NDC has weakened in recent times, also because indigenes have become increasingly discouraged from identifying with it, he urged them not to lose sight of the fact that the NDC is a party birthed from their backyard.
“Volta is the region where saviours of the nation come from as far as this country is concerned but we need to know who we are, and somehow, we know who we are, and we need to start appreciating who we are.
“Volta must appreciate NDC and back it no matter what. It should become like a religion. We need to let our people appreciate that this is what we are. And I believe if we knew who we were, the situation where the love for this party would start dwindling in this region should not happen,” he said.
The general elections of 2024 is less than 2 years away and although both the NDC and the NPP have each successfully elected new party executives, there are still a few major political hurdles to surmount before the big day in December 2024.
New flagbearers and the election of parliamentary candidates that will represent the parties at the constituency levels in the country will solidify the preparedness of each side of the political coin towards the general polls but it cannot be lost on anyone that with the historic breakthrough that the NPP has made into the Volta Region by winning its first ever seat in parliament, the battle lines are surely drawn.
The Volta Region will play a central role in the elections and whoever emerges the winner will have to command a lot of influence from this region.
Between the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), to be politically accepted on any regional level in the country, is a big deal.
But even more specific and significant for these two leading political parties in the country are what kind of numbers or voter turnouts they religiously receive from these regions, collectively.
As is widely known or accepted, the people of the Volta Region have historically always warmed up towards the NDC more, just as the Ashanti Region does for the NPP.
In more specific terms, these regions have become unconventionally known as the ‘world banks’ of these political parties. And rightly so, they have been for many years.
For instance, in the Ashanti Region, out of the 46 constituencies in the region, the NDC currently only has 4 seats to its name. That number has remained the highest number of seats the NDC has had in the region since 1996.
In the Volta Region, until 2020, the NPP had never won a seat. Currently, the tally is 17 to 1 seat in the region for the NDC and the NPP respectively. Previously, since 1996, the NDC had always won all the seats in the region (16 seats in 1996, 15 seats in 2000, 15 seats in 2004, 15 seats in 2008, 18 seats in 2012, and 18 seats in 2016).
Let us not forget also that the founding fathers of both the NDC and the NPP have formed a great part of why there is such a voting pattern for their parties in both the Volta and Ashanti Regions. Jerry John Rawlings of the NDC hails from the Volta Region, while the Danquah-Dombo-Busia trio of the NPP are predominantly from the Ashanti Region.
Could the narrative be taking an interesting twist, or turn, or direction? Well, it may depend on how you take a look at it.
And it would have been a fairer assessment if this was with respect to both regions but interestingly, the bus seems to be stopping more with the Volta Region.
It all started with the conversations on who has done what, and who has done more or not for the region. Ordinarily, that should have been an easy pass for the NDC, who are more preferred in the region, but some questions have arisen on whether or not they actually deserve such a comfortable acclamation.
What exactly did Mahama do for Volta Region? – Obed Asamoah asks:
As the NDC, just as the NPP, prepares to elect a new flagbearer to lead it into the 2024 general elections, a leading member of the National Democratic Congress, Dr Obed Yao Asamoah, has become one of the people to draw in this whole ‘what have you done for the Volta Region’ conversation.
He has asked for answers from former President John Dramani Mahama on exactly what he has done for the Volta Region.
He questioned what the 2020 flagbearer of the party did for the region that is considered the stronghold of their party, while he was in political office, and for which reason he would seek their votes again to lead the NDC into election 2024.
According to Dr. Asamoah, Mahama’s failure to establish tangible developmental projects in the Volta Region resulted in residents voting against the NDC.
Supporting his claim, Dr. Obed Asamoah said the evidence can be seen from how much, in terms of numbers, the percentage of voter turnout from the region in the 2020 elections were, as compared to those of his predecessors; the late John Evans Atta Mills and the late Jerry John Rawlings.
“Vote Region is supposed to be the World Bank of the NDC. What exactly did Mahama do for the Volta Region?
“Remember in the last election, he did not get the kind of votes Jerry and the others were getting; 80, 90 percent (in presidential elections),” he said.
But then something that had happened a few months earlier seems to lend support to the questions being posed by the NDC stalwart.
In November 2022, during the 60th anniversary of the Hogbetsotso Za of the Anlo people, the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, made an appearance upon an invitation.
During his address, he courted the anger of residents present, becoming a victim of a booing incident targeted at the presidency, after he started making statements about the achievements of his party, the NPP, in the Volta Region.
As Agbotadua Kumassah, a member of the Hogbetsotso Planning Committee explained later, the people gathered at the grounds of the event started getting agitated when the vice president started talking about the economy.
He explained that the people, being well-aware that some of the things he was saying were false, started to boo at him.
“When he entered the economic situation, that is when the problem started. He mentioned, among others, that they built more airports than any other government, they built more roads than any other government and the people who were there did not see the roads, the airports, the roads he was referring to.
“So, that brought some agitation and it became very difficult to control the people because what he was saying, none of them happened in the area,” he explained.
Agbotadua Kumassah also explained that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s explanations on the government’s works in the digitization field, compounded the anger of the people, leading to them booing at him.
But how true or not are the things he said about what they had been doing?
NPP’s development feats in Volta Region evident – Makafui Woanya:
Being the man at the helm of things in the region for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Makafui Woanya, the regional chairman, has said countless times that his party has been able to perform creditably in the region albeit not so welcomed politically.
He explained in a graphic.com.gh report on January 5, 2023, that the NPP government has been able to revive and perform remarkable progress in some key infrastructural development projects in the region.
Some of these, he mentioned, are the steadily progressing Eastern Corridor Road Project, which is nearing completion; and the ongoing Southern Sector Water Systems Extensions Project.
“The University of Health and Allied Sciences, which the NDC is always quick to claim as their baby, is seeing massive infrastructural expansion,” he explained.
NPP drew its biggest strength from the Volta Region:
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has not been left out of the narratives or claims of what each party has been doing in the Volta Region.
In August 2020, the president said that the NPP considers the Volta Region as a “hallowed ground” that is symbolic of its struggle during the days of the party’s formation.
He added that history had even confirmed that the region had endorsed the NPP, and served as a place of refuge for its political fugitives during its darkest days, and for which reason the party can never discriminate against them.
“It was here in this region that people were most passionate about the political tradition. It was from here that the first people had to flee into political exile after independence, and it was in this region that many chiefs had to flee into political exile, and some died there.
“Many people forget that when J.B. Danquah, the first in the trinity of the Danquah-Dombo-Busia political tradition contested Kwame Nkrumah for the presidency, on Ghana becoming a republic in 1960, Danquah did not win in his home constituency in Akyem Abuakwa.
“But he won in two constituencies, one is right here in Anlo and the other is Ho West. If there was a little brittle tribal bone within my makeup, which there is not, I would not choose the Volta Region as a target. History would not allow me,” he said during a durbar of chiefs of the Anlo State at Anloga, during a working tour of the area.
John Mahama answers questions about what NDC has done for Volta Region:
Dr. Obed Asamoah’s questions have however not been left hanging because like a premonition, the former president, John Dramani Mahama, had touted his achievements in the Volta Region in 2021.
So, two clear years before such a question would be posed, the former president had already spelt out some of the achievements he had made in its ‘world bank.’
Among the tall list of things he said his government had achieved, were in educational infrastructure, health projects, roads, water and sanitation, among many others.
And much later, while speaking at a grand durbar to mark the climax of the Asogli Yam Festival in Ho, President John Mahama lamented the number of abandoned projects in the region, assuring the people that the next NDC government would complete them all.
“Projects started by the NDC have been abandoned and others that are to be completed in the region are being done at a slow pace. For some of the projects, this government asked contractors to stop work.
“But I make a commitment of the NDC that, God willing and thanks to your votes, in 2025, all these projects will resume,” he assured.
Being the newly-elected General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Fifi Kwetey, who is also the former Member of Parliament for Ketu South, appears to have a strong say on whose side the Volta Region should stick with.
In a GNA report of Thursday, January 12, 2023, Fifi Kwetey said the region must cement its place as an unmovable bastion of the NDC.
Admitting that the region’s hold as the fortress of the NDC has weakened in recent times, also because indigenes have become increasingly discouraged from identifying with it, he urged them not to lose sight of the fact that the NDC is a party birthed from their backyard.
“Volta is the region where saviours of the nation come from as far as this country is concerned but we need to know who we are, and somehow, we know who we are, and we need to start appreciating who we are.
“Volta must appreciate NDC and back it no matter what. It should become like a religion. We need to let our people appreciate that this is what we are. And I believe if we knew who we were, the situation where the love for this party would start dwindling in this region should not happen,” he said.
The general elections of 2024 is less than 2 years away and although both the NDC and the NPP have each successfully elected new party executives, there are still a few major political hurdles to surmount before the big day in December 2024.
New flagbearers and the election of parliamentary candidates that will represent the parties at the constituency levels in the country will solidify the preparedness of each side of the political coin towards the general polls but it cannot be lost on anyone that with the historic breakthrough that the NPP has made into the Volta Region by winning its first ever seat in parliament, the battle lines are surely drawn.
The Volta Region will play a central role in the elections and whoever emerges the winner will have to command a lot of influence from this region.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central Kennedy Agyapong has been justifying why he deserves to lead the party in 2024.
He claims he has committed a lot of sacrifices for the party including paying off a loan of $3 million with interest that the party contracted when the party had nothing in the year 1992.
“I paid the loan with interest, and it took us eight years, Super Care Company LTD; my company took eight years to pay back the loan with interest. Three million dollars at that time plus interest in 1992. Even today as we speak, $3 million is a lot of money how much more 31 years ago.” Kennedy Agyapong said this in an interview with NET 2 TV.
According to the businessman, when the party won the elections in 2001 after a long struggle. However, Former President John Agyakum Kufuor never left him out and he is always grateful to him.
“That is why I will always give credit to President Kufuor. When he came to power, for the first four years I didn’t get any job to do, so when I went to tell him about it, he was shocked.
Kennedy Agyapong added that he purchased pickups for the NPP during elections.
“In 2004, Myself and Mr. Oppong, we bought 100 pick-ups for the party. In 2008 myself and Oppong again bought 240 TATA pick-ups for the NPP for every constituency” he claimed.
The majority leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has said that his caucus will be holding a final meeting to determine the next set of actions on their demand for the removal of Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
Speaking in an Oyerepa TV interview monitored by GhanaWeb, the majority said that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament would engage the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, after the meeting.
“The decision for Ofori-Atta’s removal was a caucus decision… As a leader, I will be talking to the MPs on an individual basis, and we will put together their reservations.
“We still must have a caucus meeting (upon return) after which we will meet the president. And I believe that the right thing will be done,” he said in Twi.
The leadership of the NPP signed an agreement with the Members of Parliament of the party, which obligated them to be present for the reading of the 2023 budget by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
A meeting between the lawmakers and leaders of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was held on November 23, at which some agreements were reached.
The main points are that Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, will be supported in presenting the budget and seeing through its appropriation, as well as allowed to see through the current phase of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The meeting was held on the back of a renewed call by some 98 NPP MPs, who threatened to boycott the budget presentation if Ofori-Atta presented it.
Meanwhile, Ofori-Atta has also been made caretaker minister for the Ministry of Trade and Industry after Alan Kyerematen’s resignation.
Pollster and political analyst, Ben Ephson has slammed New Patriotic Party(NPP) Flagbearer hopeful, Alan Kyerematen over his comment that some policy decisions of President Akufo-Addo were wrong.
The immediate-past Trade and Industry Minister in his address to officially declare his intention to contest the flagbearership race of the governing NPP, commended the President for laying a good foundation for the country’s development.
He, however, stated that he disagreed with some of the policy decisions of the President.
The former Ghana’s Ambassador to the US said a future Alan Kyerematen led-government will mainstream the private sector as the engine of his transformation agenda and also run a lean government if given the nod.
“The President has laid a strong foundation for the socio-economic development of our country, although I believe there are things that could have been done differently. My vision is to build a superstructure on this foundation that will bring prosperity to our nation.”
But speaking to Naa Dedei Tettey on Morning Starr on Starr 103.5FM Wednesday, Pollster Ben Ehpson questioned why Alan Kyerematen did not resign as Trade and Industry Minister over these disagreements with the President as a matter of principle.
“If you are a minister and the President is exiting and you want to campaign and in your speech you say that certain things that were done could have been done better, maybe in the coming days he’ll want to go further. But I thought that it was a bit unnecessary, maybe he has his own campaign strategy and so that is the only part that I was a bit surprised about.”
“You are not going to run a campaign on you, Alan Kyeremateng. You are going to campaign on the record of the NPP government for the past six to seven years. I’m sure people are going to ask him to give examples of what has not been done right. If he disagreed vehemently with what had not been done right what prevented him from resigning? If you thought it was so bad that in your first address announcing your desire to contest you are taking the President on, you have not been sentenced by any court to be a minister, he could have just said because of a few things, Mr President I can’t take up your job.”
John Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen announced his intention to run for the position of New Patriotic Party flagbearer on January 10, 2022, six days after announcing his resignation as minister of trade and industry.
In a national broadcast shared across various media platforms, the multiple-times NPP flagbearer contestant also outlined some of his ideals while appealing to delegates of the party to elect him as their choice when the time comes.
Despite lauding the government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for laying a strong foundation on which he intends to build his future government, Mr Kyerematen also made certain pronouncements that appear as subtle attacks directed at the government in which he served.
I believe there are things that could have been done differently
While highlighting his relationship with President Akufo-Addo and praising his government, Mr Kyerematen was quick to point out in his speech that certain things under the current administration could have been done using different approaches.
“The President has laid a strong foundation for the socioeconomic development of our country, although I believe there are things that could have been done differently. My vision is to build a superstructure on this foundation that will bring prosperity to our nation,” he stated.
We promised never to go back but we have gone back to IMF
For the government of President Akufo-Addo, one of the things that has brought heavy criticism upon the president and his “men” is the decision to seek financial support from the International Monetary Fund.
Despite kicking against calls to seek a bailout from the Fund amidst severe economic challenges, the government in a dramatic turn of events is currently seeking a $3 billion loan facility from the IMF.
According to Mr Kyerematen, although government made earlier promises to refrain from going to the IMF for help, they ultimately resorted to that because of challenges somewhat beyond their control.
“This is the seventeenth time that we have gone to the IMF over the last 57 years. We promised never to go back but we have gone back.One of the lessons that we have learnt from the recent developments is that Ghana’s economy is still fragile, vulnerable and susceptible to both external and domestic shocks.
Words without actions
Mr Kyerematen while seeking to highlight his campaign policy dubbed Great Transformational Plan (GTP), outlined what he said are seven critical issues that needs consideration.
According to the flagbearer hopeful, it has become imperative for the country to be action-oriented towards achieving results instead of engaging in talks.
Describing Ghana’s current state as “No Action Talk Only (NATO)” the former minister emphasised the need for the trend to be reversed.
“Ghana is gradually becoming a NATO country – “No Action Talk Only”. We need to remember that the use of time is a zero-sum game. What Ghana needs now are solutions and actions not debates,” he noted.
Cutting the size of government
Before the onset of Ghana’s current economic challenges, President Akufo-Addo was cited by his critics as leading an overly sized government causing strain on public resources.
The recent economic challenges of the country have deepened the accusation against the government and the need for the president to cut down on his numbers.
Without explicitly agreeing with the critics of his former appointing authority, Mr Kyerematen in his address noted the need for the size of the government to be trimmed while promising to do so if he wins power.
“The architecture of Government will be overhauled by consolidating some existing Ministries, Departments and Agencies. This will mean running a lean Government structure that will ensure operational efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of Government services,” he stated.
A diplomatically neutral state
President Akufo-Addo was recently called out by some critics for alleging that the Russian paid mercenaries were operating a mine along Burkina Faso’s border with Ghana.
The president who noted the situation as a concern to the US Secretary of State during a US-Africa Leaders Summit said the government of Burkina Faso had given out the mine to the Wagner Group as payment for work done.
Prior to the statement by the president which was deemed by many as potential grounds for a diplomatic row with Russia, the government had also been criticised for condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking in his national address on Tuesday, Mr Kyerematen noted that a government of Ghana under his leadership will be neutral on matters of the international community.
“Ghana’s diplomatic and economic relations with the International Community under the GTP will be predicated on the principle of ‘positive neutrality’, based on the strategic interests of Ghana, as well as our shared commitments for the preservation of peace around the world and respect for humanity,” he stated.
A broken economy?
Before concluding his address, the flagbearer hopeful signed off with a number of proverbs to inspire hope and belief in his course.
“Akyea na emmui” he alluded to a popular Akan saying which translates to “It is bent but not broken.”
For those concerned about the current state of Ghana’s economy fraught with high cost of living and hardship, this was a way by the flagbearer hopeful to elicit hope amidst the challenges.
A pro-NPP youth group in the Upper West Region wants all government appointees and members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) currently holding offices to relinquish their post if they intend to contest the party’s flagbearership race.
The group is urging such persons to follow the steps of the Former Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen and the Minister for Agriculture, Owusu Afriyie Akoto who recently resigned to focus on the NPP race.
Addressing a press conference in Wa, the convener of the group, Ahmed Marzuk said, “we would like to use this medium to urge all current ministers and party members holding other portfolios in government who intend to run for the NPP flagbearer position to follow the example of Alan and resign.”
The Former Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen and Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr, Owusu Afriyie Akoto have quit their ministerial positions to contest the NPP flagbearership race.
Meanwhile, the party has fixed January 31 to announce dates for the primaries.
Other emerging names including Vice President Dr, Mahamudu Bawumia, Kennedy Agyepong, Kwabena Agyepong, Joe Ghartey, are yet to openly announce their interest in the presidential slot of the NPP.
In the midst of the current economic crisis, Mr. Kwabena Agyei Agyepong , a flagbearer candidate for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has reinforced calls on the Government to cut the number of ministers in order to give a good message to the populace.
He denounced the appointments of multiple deputy ministers, saying each minister should not have more than one deputy to reduce the cost of running the Government and enhance efficiency.
Speaking on a news programme monitored by the Ghana News Agency, Mr. Agyepong said the framers of the 1992 Constitution did not envisage larger Governments, hence their decision to peg the number of cabinet ministers at 19.
“I have never believed in having multiple deputy ministers. I think the President has one Vice President, so every minister should have one deputy.
“Small, lean, mean Government means that you are going to be efficient, more effective and the President will have a handle of his Government. It is important that we do these things, especially in financial distress,” he said.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, at the beginning of his second term in office in 2017, trimmed down the number of ministries in his second administration from 36 to 29 and scrapped 41 ministerial positions.
The President had appointed 126 ministers in his first term.
With Ghana’s economy taking a nosedive, there have been persistent calls on the President to further downsize his Government to reduce costs.
Mr. Agyepong said the scrapping of more ministerial positions would send a positive signal to the people about the Government’s readiness to sacrifice.
“The quantum may not be enough, but it sends a moral message and signal to the rest of the people,” he said.
Mr. Agyepong said the political class must demonstrate sacrifice and selflessness to win the trust of the people and rally them to develop the country.
“It is all about service, sacrifice, and selflessness. If you don’t have these character traits, you don’t have any business going into politics,” he said.
Mr. Agyepong said governance and development issues that had bedevilled the country could not be blamed on the Constitution but on bad leadership.
He bemoaned what he described as the lack of patriotism and readiness to serve among the political class and the people at large, saying: “We need the kind of leaders that are prepared to take difficult decisions and so that all of us will be doing what is right; putting our country first before everything.”
Former Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto says he will continue to support the government to succeed despite his resignation on Tuesday, January 10.
According to him, he will not relent in supporting the Akufo-Addo government to transform the economy.
In a Facebook on Wednesday, January 11, he thanked President Akufo-Addo for appointing him to serve in his government.
“I expressed my utmost appreciation to His Excellency for the opportunity to serve him and the people of Ghana from 2017 until now.
“I also pledged my continue support in all diverse ways, to him and the NPP administration as we work hard to fulfill his vision of transforming the economy of Ghana and the lives of the people,” excerpt of his Facebook post said.
Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto also thanked the staff of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
“I further wish to express profound gratitude to the people of Ghana, the hardworking staff of the Ministry for all the support over the years,” he said.
Meanwhile, he added “I will in the coming days make public, my next political journey.”
Former Trade Minister, Alan Kyerematen, has finally informed Ghanaians the reason behind his decision to resign from post.
On Tuesday, Mr Kyerematen noted that he resigned last week Thursday in order to focus on his presidential ambition.
He hopes to run on the ticket of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) in 2024.
Below is the full speech delivered by the former minister:
NATIONAL BROADCAST BY HON. ALAN KYEREMATEN, OUTGOING MINISTER FOR TRADE & INDUSTRY
• FELLOW COUNTRYMEN & WOMEN • FRIENDS OF GHANA
Let me start first by wishing you all a happy, healthy, productive and a prosperous New Year.
Secondly, I wish to express formally, my profound gratitude to His Excellency the President for the opportunity given me to serve the good people of Ghana in his Administration over the last six years, and for graciously accepting my resignation as Cabinet Minister responsible for Trade and Industry, with effect from 16th of January 2023.
Thirdly, I wish to use this platform to formally announce my decision to contest the flagbearership of the New Patriotic Party when the Party officially opens nominations for that purpose.
His Excellency the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has been a good friend of mine and will always remain so based on our shared commitment to the ideals and principles that inspired the founding fathers of our great Party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP). We have competed in the past but have always worked together thereafter.
The President has laid a strong foundation for the socioeconomic development of our country, although I believe there are things that could have been done differently. My vision is to build a superstructure on this foundation that will bring prosperity to our nation.
The pre-COVID-19 performance of our economy, the flagship programmes including the Free SHS, the One District One Factory (1D1F) Initiative, the Planting for Food and Jobs programme, the Agenda 111 project and the COVID-19 Response initiatives, are all testimonies of the strong leadership that the President has provided over the last six years.
In spite of all of the above however, it is an undeniable fact that the combined effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war has stampeded our country into a crisis of unprecedent proportions, with its negative impacts on the economy, on businesses, and on our social lives.
I have no doubt that the anticipated International Monetary Fund (IMF) Support Package will restore confidence in our economy, and bring it back to the pre-COVID levels.
Fellow Countrymen and Women This is the seventeenth time that we have gone to the IMF over the last 57 years. We promised never to go back but we have gone back. One of the lessons that we have learnt from the recent developments is that Ghana’s economy is still fragile, vulnerable and susceptible to both external and domestic shocks.
This primarily is as a result of the fact that our economy is highly dependent on the export of commodities with little or no value addition. Indeed, the 5.1% projected GDP growth for the Ghanaian economy for 2023 is based on the anticipated increase in commodity prices.
To avoid going back to the IMF, we need a new Plan. A Plan that will lead us to a more self-reliant and resilient economy. That Plan must move Ghana from Stability and Growth to Transformation.
Fellow Countrymen and Women If by the will of God and through your goodwill, I am voted first, as the flagbearer of the NPP and subsequently as President of the Republic in the next general elections, I will become the transformational leader of our time, who will build on the foundations laid by successive leaders of our nation over the last sixty-five (65) years.
To achieve this strategic goal of transforming our dear country to become the shining star of the new Africa, I will as President, launch and lead the execution of the Great Transformational Plan (GTP) of Ghana which will span the period 2025 to 2030.
The Post-COVID Economic Recovery Programme (P-CERP) currently being implemented with the anticipated support from the IMF from 2023 to 2025, will be a transitional economic programme leading to the roll out of this Great Transformational Plan.
Fellow Countrymen and Women Before I proceed to provide a brief insight into the key elements of the Great Transformational Plan, seven critical considerations would need to be taken into account to guarantee the success of the Plan.
The primacy of the Private Sector in our national development agenda. The Private Sector, both domestic and foreign, formal and informal has to be at the centre of our transformational agenda. The Government’s focus must be to facilitate the process of making our private sector competitive, by creating an enabling environment for businesses.
Attitude to work and enforcement of discipline. We as a people should appreciate the need for discipline in all spheres of our national lives and change our attitude to work. Whether you are working for the Private sector or for Government, as a worker, you are not doing a favour to your employer. It is your duty to ensure that you earn your living from the efforts of your labour.
Corruption and petty theft or thievery, particularly from the public purse, deny our country the benefit of utilizing its tax revenue and other resources for the development of our country.
The arrogance of power has been a major obstruction to progress in our country. People in positions of authority must understand that leadership is an opportunity to serve the people, and not to lord over them. In servant leadership, humility is an asset and not a weakness.
Passion for excellence. As a country we must celebrate competence and excellence and not mediocrity.
As a people, we must focus more on getting things done than talking. Ghana is gradually becoming a NATO country – “No Action Talk Only”. We need to remember that the use of time is a zero-sum game. What Ghana needs now are solutions and actions not debates.
And last but not the least, our politics in Ghana is too divisive. This keeps out some of our best talents in offering themselves for political appointments. Yes, we pride ourselves as being the bastion of democracy in Africa, but that does not mean that we should allow partisan politics to destroy our collective interests.
These seven critical considerations outlined above, will provide what I will describe as the ‘soft power’ for the effective implementation of our Great Transformational Plan.
Fellow Countrymen and Women, Let me now provide a brief synopsis of the Great Transformational Plan (GTP). The GTP will be anchored on the following key pillars:
A Strong Macroeconomic Environment: The success of the GTP will depend primarily on strong macroeconomic fundamentals, which will include among other things, a stable currency, low inflation, sustainable debt levels, revenue optimization and tight expenditure control to guarantee fiscal balance, low competitive interest rates, strong external reserves backed by high levels of liquidity to support the financial sector. To a large extent, the IMF support programme when fully executed, will create the appropriate conditions that will underpin the Great Transformational Plan.
A New Agricultural Revolution (NAR) for Ghana: The NAR will be based on five critical elements. i. Optimizing Value to Farmers by the establishment of Farmer-owned Large Scale Commercial Farms and Processing Facilities which will bring the full benefits of the agriculture value chain to farmers. ii. Introducing Technology and Innovation into Agriculture, through Research & Development (R&D) in Agronomy, Mechanization, Irrigation, and Plantation Management. This will build on the foundation laid by the Planting for Food and Jobs and Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD) Programmes. Our farmers cannot be competitive without technology and innovation. iii. The establishment of Licensed Food Distribution and Marketing companies by the Private Sector throughout the country at the district level, to be supported by the Government. These companies will constitute a vital link between farmers and Market Queens in the urban and peri-urban areas. It will be complemented by the introduction of a digitalized food distribution and marketing online platform which will connect producers to buyers and consumers. iv. The strengthening of the Ghana Commodity Exchange as the marketplace for all actors in the Agricultural value chain. v. Deepening the current regime for lending and financing for the agricultural sector. vi. Enhancing the de-regulation of the Cocoa sector by deepening private sector participation in the buying and marketing (including export) of Cocoa. vii. Mass Citizens participation in Agriculture by introducing an ‘Operation Own a Farm’ programme for the Ghanaian citizenry in general.
Industrial Transformation: This will build on the successes of Government’s Ten Point Industrial Transformation Programme including the One District One Factory (1D1F) initiative; the establishment of Strategic Anchor Industries to diversify the economy beyond Cocoa and Gold e.g the Automobile assembly, Garment and Textiles, Pharmaceuticals and the Petrochemical industry; enhancing the growth and development of Small and Medium Enterprises; establishment of Industrial Parks and Special Economic Zones; and supporting Domestic Retail Trade and Distribution.
Accelerated Infrastructure Development: Promoting Private sector financing for public infrastructure such as Roads, Railways, Ports and Harbours, Water Supply Systems, Public Housing etc, which will reduce Government’s exposure to the financing of such infrastructure projects.
Digital Mainstreaming: Digitalization will be mainstreamed in all Government and Public sector activities, building on the current work led by the Ministry of Communication and Digitalization.
Energy Security and Diversification: Greater emphasis to be placed on developing renewable sources of energy, by fast-tracking the execution of Government’s energy transition strategy, including but not limited to nuclear and hydrogen energy.
Decarbonization and Climate Resilience: Scaling up Government’s current efforts at reducing Ghana’s carbon footprints and facilitating access to the carbon trading markets, as well as establishing mechanisms to strengthen the country’s preparedness against the negative effects of climate change.
National Security and Defence Optimization: Deploying resources to strengthen National Security and Defence Mechanisms and Infrastructure, to deal substantively with emerging security threats and challenges, particularly in the Sahalian region.
Downsizing Government: The architecture of Government will be overhauled by consolidating some existing Ministries, Departments and Agencies. This will mean running a lean Government structure that will ensure operational efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of Government services.
Strategic Engagement with the International Community: Ghana’s diplomatic and economic relations with the International Community under the GTP will be predicated on the principle of ‘positive neutrality’, based on the strategic interests of Ghana, as well as our shared commitments for the preservation of peace around the world and respect for humanity. I will in the next several months provide further details of this Great Transformational Plan in the new ‘Alan K Prime Time Talk Show’ to be introduced. I will also seek inputs from the people of Ghana as I go round in the regions and districts on my campaign tours.
Fellow Countrymen and Women The execution of the GTP will require our collective efforts, irrespective of political orientation, ethnicity or religion. It will lead to a new dawn of Restoration, Rebuilding and Reward.
The future of our country is bright. I want you fellow countrymen and women, to make me your next President when the time comes, and you will see a significant difference in your lives.
Fellow Countrymen and Women, I want you to invest in your own future by supporting my campaign. I will therefore be launching a mass “Ketewa biara nsua” Campaign and “Adopt a Constituency Initiative”, which will afford Ghanaians from all walks of life the opportunity to be part of my campaign.
For all those who will have the honour and privilege of being Delegates to select the Flagbearer of our great Party, the NPP, please remember, Alan Kyerematen is your Candidate to win power for you in 2024.
Together We shall break the Eight!
As we do say in our local Ghanaian dialects: • #Akyea na emmui (symbolizing Hope) • #Mu sadaqa da yo; saboda anfaani go be! (Let’s Sacrifice for the future) • # Èkpè deka metuna hò(r) o! (a symbol of unity and collective effort) • # Mòfiaamò baaye nii! (we shall all enjoy)
God bless our homeland Ghana and make our nation great and strong!!
According to the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, his office has started an investigation into the circumstances surrounding an anonymous, wealthy businessman’s alleged effort to bribe several New Patriotic Party lawmakers to soften their demand for the resignation of Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
This information can be found in the Office of the Special Prosecutor’s half-year report (OSP).
“The Office has triggered a liaison with the Office of the Speaker of Parliament in this regard,” the report revealed.
The OSP says that the report’s distribution complies with Section 3(3) of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959).
The 13-page report provides information on the corruption cases that the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has looked into and brought to justice as well as highlights of the Office’s work from August 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022.
The Special Prosecutor, Mr. Kissi Agyebeng, outlined the cases that are currently being prosecuted, those that have been resolved, and ongoing investigations in the report.
The anonymous wealthy businessman’s alleged effort to bribe the NPP MPs is one of the continuing instances being investigated.
“The Office has commenced investigation into allegations of an attempt by an unnamed and wealthy businessman to bribe some members of the majority caucus of Parliament,” part of the report read.
It would be recalled that in October last year, some New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentarians demanded the sacking of Ken Ofori-Atta as Finance Minister for alleged poor performance.
The MPs, numbering about 80, held a press conference to impress upon the President to relieve his cousin of the responsibility of managing the national purse or risk losing their support for government business going forward.
They also asked that the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Charles Adu Boahen, be subjected to a similar fate.
It was addressed by MP for Asante Akyem North, Andy Appiah-Kubi.
According to him, the call had been communicated to the Presidency through the leadership but to no avail.
“Notice is hereby served that until such persons as aforementioned are made to resign or removed from office, we members of the Majority caucus here in parliament will not participate in any business of government by or for the President [or] by any other minister,” he explained.
Later, in an interview on JoyNews PM Express, the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonso revealed that an unnamed businessman visited Parliament house to mediate the impasse.
He explained that in the heat of the arguments in Parliament, the said businessman met some of the legislators.
“I’m told on authority that some businessman came here and tried to do something,” he told Evans Mensah.
The Suame MP insisted that it was meant to help persuade the members of the house against nudging the Minister out of office.
“I was told that he came here and tried to mediate in his own way what he thinks the problem is,” he said.
“He further narrated that “he was repelled by the people and was told not to involve himself. So he went away.”
This assertion was confirmed by Mr. Andy Appiah-Kubi in a blow-by-blow narration of how the wealthy Ghanaian businessman attempted to influence the Majority Caucus to back off on their request.
The MP in an interview on Top Story, said the wealthy businessman on the day after the Press conference was held to demand Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta’s dismissal, requested to meet the 80 NPP MPs in Parliament.
His request was subsequently granted. According to Mr. Appiah-Kubi, during the meeting, the business tycoon tried to influence the MPs to rescind their request.
The lawmaker said he offered a ‘fat’ envelope which contained some undisclosed amount of money for the MPs to back off from their demand.
However, Mr. Appiah-Kubi noted that the MPs turned down the affluent man’s request and asked him to stay off the matter.
Mr. Kissi Agyebeng says he is poised to find out who the businessman is and take the necessary action.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has been hailed as a party of ideas and transformation by Ghana’s Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
According to him, the governing NPP has “implemented transformational ideas” and should be credited for how smoothly the country is being run.
The Vice President said this at the NPP’s thanksgiving service held on Thursday.
Dr. Bawumia listed the widely criticized gold for oil policy as one such transformational policy.
“We are a government of ideas and transformational ideas, and we are thankful to God for the wonderful ideas that this government has been able to implement.
We have implemented the gold for oil policy and the public and the country will soon see its benefits in the next few months and that is going to reduce the demand at the Bank of Ghana for foreign exchange and bring down the fuel prices, and you have already seen the fuel prices coming down.”
The Vice President first gave a hint of the barter of “sustainably mined gold for oil” at an AGI Awards night organized in Accra in November which he indicated was “key to addressing the economic crisis confronting the country in its energy needs.”
He blamed the hike in fuel prices on the depreciation of the cedi which lost over 50 percent of its value in 2022.
Dr. Bawumia said, in a bid “to address this fundamental challenge that we all face of depreciation and its impact on fuel and utility prices and food and so on, the government has opted to implement a policy of using our gold to buy oil products.”
The Ashanti Regional Women’s Organiser for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Ama Ampomah has appealed to persons hawking in front of streets around the Kejetia Redeveloped market to turn to the Race Course and take over sheds that are lying unoccupied.
The Women’s leader speaking to the media on Wednesday afternoon after presenting food items and organising a buffet for 68 market queens at the race course said she was surprised to see about 600 sheds and shops unoccupied at the arena.
She noted that spaces available could cater for all hawkers seen selling around the streets of Dr Mensah, Hello fm and other streets in the Central Business District of the Kumasi Metropolis.
“I am shocked seeing all these sheds unoccupied and I would therefore appeal to all hawkers in and around Adum and Kejetia to come here and occupy sheds here so that we can continue our trading activities in decent atmospheres”, Nana Ama Ampomah appealed.
SUPPORT The Women’s Organiser also appealed to the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and all stakeholders including the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council (ARCC) to work out a plan to encourage the hawkers to take spaces at the race course.
The Women’s Organiser also asked the NPP regional executives to take interest in the matter and carry out some sensitization efforts to get hawkers in the metropolis to occupy spaces at the Kumasi race course market.
The Women’s Organiser also promised to lobby for funds from the Micro and Small Loans Scheme (MASLOC) to resource market Queens who needs such to expand their businesses.
“I know you need funds to expand your businesses and as Women’s leader I promise to use my influence to lobby the MASLOC secretariat to advance some support to you”
APPRECIATION Nana Yaa Foriwaa, Race Course Market Queen commended the Regional Women’s Organiser for visiting them every year to show them kindness and to eat with them.
She also praised for her listening to their concerns and touring to the arena to see things for herself.
Madam Foriwaa said she was happy that assurances had been given them to attend to their issues including lobbying for them to get loans from MASLOC and also the bad bridge leading to the main arena.
“We are happy that our lady, Nana Ama Ampomah has once again taken time to eat with us and to tour the place where we trade so she could best help to carry our concerns to government and those who matter for redress and we know when this place is well set up many would rush to come here”, the Queen Mother stated.
Bismark Boateng, the chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Ayawaso Central constituency, believes breaking the 8-year jinx is a possibility for the party in 2024.
The party’s chair indicated that the unprecedented achievements of President Akufo-Addo will make it easier for the NPP to win the 2024 general elections.
According to him, what the party needs are to unite its front, avoid the infightings and any differences and unite its front for victory in 2024.
In his opinion, the party should improve its communication and communicate its achievements so that Ghanaians are aware of what the president has accomplished, making it easier for them to vote for the NPP in 2024.
He was speaking on Nyankonton Mu Nsem on Rainbow Radio 87.5Fm.
He admitted that there had been some economic challenges, but the current administration is putting in measures to address these challenges.
“Breaking the eight is possible. Nothing has changed. The belief we had and the factors that gave us hope of breaking the eight have not changed. We still have hope. We are doing a lot to make this country run smoothly. We must deal with our conflicts and remain united in order to break the eight.”
Despite financial difficulties, the president is building roads. Despite the fact that we are experiencing hardship, we are seeing massive works across the country. President Akufo-Addo has accomplished much, and we are confident that we will surpass the eight-year mark as a result of his efforts.
A member of parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong, has criticized the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo administration’s National Buildings Corps (NABCO) initiative as a poor choice of strategy.
According to him, most of the trainees under the programme, who were posted to government agencies, were paid for no work done.
Speaking to some Ghanaians in Nevada, USA, in an audio-visual shared by Nsem Pii TV, Ken Agyapong said that the government should have used the money for the programme to establish factories that will provide decent employment to Ghanaian youth.
“The youth must take their destiny into their own hands, (but) then again, what police did we implement (to help with unemployment)? I think that we made was with the introduction of NABCO.
“NABCO trainees were posted to government offices and ministries where they were doing nothing and being paid GH¢700 every month.
“The money the government used (for NABCO) could have been used to establish industries that could have provided 20,000 permanent employment out of the 100,000 trainees to reduce the number of unemployed youth,” he said in Twi.
Agyapong, who has indicated his intention of contesting in the presidential primaries of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), noted that President Akufo-Addo should be praised for some of his policy initiatives, including the One District, One Factory programme.
Undoubtedly, 2022 will be one of the most difficult years Ghanaians have ever experienced, especially for those who did not experience the 1980s drought.
Many expect the father of the country, the president, to give hope to the citizenry with his public pronouncements. Unfortunately, some statements President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo made added insult to injury for many Ghanaians.
The president’s comments that annoyed Ghanaians were mostly made during his tour of some parts of the country.
Here are three statements by Akufo-Addo that did not sit well with many Ghanaians:
To those of you saying bad things about me in the Ashanti Region, I will shame you all – Akufo-Addo
President Akufo-Addo, while speaking during a sod-cutting ceremony for the Suame Interchange on October 18, 2022, as part of his Ashanti Region tour, berated his political detractors in the region.
According to him, these people will be shamed one by one for the numerous things he has done for the people of the region, which is considered the ‘political world bank’ of his party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
President Akufo-Addo stated that for the past six years that he has been in office, the people of the Ashanti Region have benefitted enough from his government; therefore, his detractors cannot say otherwise.
“And to those of you going around saying bad things about me in the Ashanti Region, one after the other, they are all going to be shamed convincingly today, tomorrow and the day after.
“In spite of our present difficulties, which I know will be gone as soon as possible, I continue to be excited about the future prospects of the nation, and I urge all Ghanaians to join hands in building the Ghana that we want, we can realize it if we all work at it,” he said.
Your threats to vote against the NPP don’t frighten me – Akufo-Addo
The president once again raised eyebrows in an interview on OTEC FM during his tour of the Ashanti Region when he stated how unfazed he was about the NPP losing the next general elections.
He explained that while there are threats to vote against them, he is unmoved, adding that the intimidation of voting against the NPP due to unfulfilled promises or lack of development under his tenure is a voter’s personal decision he cannot be bothered about.
“People make those kinds of threats; they don’t frighten me. Somebody votes for you, and somebody supports you. It’s because they want you to do certain things for them. I understand that. But there is no need for people to say that if I am unable to do this and that… those are their own issues to deal with. Of course, I will do it (the road).
“But if it comes to the election and you choose to vote for the NDC, that is your own issue; that is not my worry because nobody holds your thumb to vote; it is your own work. The important thing is that I understand my responsibility, and we will deal with it,” the president said.
I’m not so sure if Aisha Huang was deported – Akufo-Addo
In September 2022, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo contradicted statements by some of his appointees that illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) kingpin, Aisha Huang, was deported from Ghana in 2018.
Speaking in an interview on Stone City Radio in Ho during his tour of the Volta Region, which GhanaWeb monitored, Akufo-Addo expressed uncertainty about whether Aisha Huang was deported.
According to the president, it is likely that the ‘galamsey’ queen was never deported but fled the country in 2018.
“… I am not still sure whether she was, in fact, deported or whether she fled the country the first time and has now come back or whatever. There still seems to be some uncertainty about it.
“Whichever way it is, she has become a sort of nickname for all that the ‘galamsey’ represents and also, unnfortunately, for the involvement of Chinese nationals in this illicit trade,” he said.
Oppong Nkrumah’s shocked expression after Akufo-Addo said Aisha Huang wasn’t deported.
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has urged Apostle Isaac Owusu-Bempah, Head Pastor of the Glorious Word Power Miracles International, to remain praying for Ghana’s peace as well as on behalf of the administration.
Dr Bawumia indicated that Ghana has enjoyed peace due to the prayers of Men and Women of Ghana including Mr Owusu-Bempah.
He said this when he attended the Christmas church service at the Glorious Word Power Miracles International on Sunday December 25.
“Today, Ghana is one of the most peaceful countries, the most peaceful country in West Africa and the second most peaceful country in the whole of Africa, we should thank God.
“I believe that we are a peaceful country not by a coincidence but by the grace of God, we have men and women of God who keep praying for the this country and God is listening to our prayers.
“I want to thank Rev Owusu-Bempah for his prayers for this country I want to ask that he should continue praying for Ghana and the government.”
Member of Parliament for Adaklu, Kwame Governs Agbodza, has described as ridiculous the Ghana Revenue Authority’s decision to ensure Ghanaians get a tax clearance certificate for the registration of vehicles and renewal of professional driving licences.
He said the revenue collection authority cannot forcibly take the meagre money unemployed people have for tax clearance.
Speaking on the floor of parliament, the Adaklu MP entreated all to reject the move by the government to introduce a tax clearance certificate requirement for the registration of vehicles and the renewal of professional driving licences.
“Mr Speaker, as I speak, there is no GRA office in Adaklu; you are telling me that the trotro operator should look for a GRA office before registering for a driver’s licence,” he said.
“I agree if the professionals should have tax clearance before they re-register for certificate. It is absurd to ask ordinary Ghanaians to get a tax clearance before obtaining driver’s licences, the guy is unemployed, so which tax do you want him to declare? We must all oppose because you can not squeeze tax out of people who are unemployed,” Kwame Governs Agbodza stated.
According to the Ghana Revenue Authority, a tax clearance certificate is issued by the Commissioner General to confirm a taxpayer has met all applicable tax obligations, i.e., filing of returns and payment of taxes, or has satisfactory arrangements for installment payments for arrears with the GRA at the date of issuance.
The Ghana Revenue Authority has now moved from issuing physical TCCs to Electronic Tax Clearance Certificates (E-TCC) to fasten the tax payment process.
A representative for Assin Central parliament, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, visited the national leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Tuesday, December 20, as a courtesy call in order to learn about recent events there.
Mr. Agyapong was full of praise for the national officers for how they have taken steps to bring the party and government together for a common purpose.
He said closeness in party and government is important for ensuring unity since it affords the opportunity for the government and other officials to liaise with each other in the implementation of policies and ideologies.
He eulogized the national executives and urged them to do more in strengthening the ties between the party and the government as it helps to augment unity. Mr. Agyapong said he is concerned very much for party unity and urged all those who aspire to lead it to do their best in that regard.
He pledged his support for anyone who would be endorsed to lead the party and said, once he would need everyone’s support should he become the next leader, he is ever prepared to help others.
He said the NPP cannot afford to relinquish political power as the alternative party would be worse and scary. He advised the NPP not to waste time on the newly elected NDC national executives especially Mr. Asiedu Nketiah and Fiifi Kwetey as they are only propagandists.
Mr. Agyapong recalled in 2008 when these same people out of their propaganda, fabricated documents and assigned money in false bank accounts for him and other NPP appointees at the time and made Ghanaians believe that they had stolen money from the state.
Hon. Agyapong said that, although these stories were deliberately fabricated by the NDC but many Ghanaians bought into and it affected the fortunes of the NPP. He has therefore cautioned his party members to take the fight to the NDC this time round but not to sit down to remain callous while they lie to Ghanaians.
A New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament, Eugene Boakye Antwi, has wondered why the country is continuously entertaining the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.
Describing it as “nonsense,” the Subin MP said that if this was happening in another jurisdiction, such things would never have been allowed to fester.
According to a myjoyonline.com report, the MP, who is part of some rebel parliamentarians who are seeking the sacking of their party member, the Minister of Finance, made this known while speaking in an interview on JoyNews.
He stated that they are determined to keep President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s promise of removing the minister after he completes his tasks of presenting the 2023 budget to parliament and leading the conclusion of the IMF talks.
“…these are major policy failures that in any civilized democracy, Ken Ofori-Atta will not stand on his feet. Why are we entertaining such nonsense? Excuse my French.
“… what have we got against him as a person? You brought something to us; we are talking about those issues, and you forget about this and say that we want to unseat somebody in the constituency just because you have failed?
“You saw us in the Chamber fighting our NDC guys to pass the e-levy. So, what have we not done for Ken Ofori-Atta to succeed as a finance minister and I say posterity will judge us if this is personal,” he said.
Eugene Antwi further said that he was elected as an MP by his people and as such, all he is seeking is in their interest first, just as it is for the good of the country, far more than anything that will please the president.
“Nobody made me an MP, Akufo-Addo did not make me an MP. God made me an MP. I was elected just as Akufo-Addo was elected so nobody should dare threaten anybody. When you veer into that realm you even muddy the waters more… I contested the primaries like Akufo-Addo contested the primaries to become president.
“The fact that we have taken this position does not mean that it is directly directed at President Akufo-Addo, no. We are talking about the supreme interest of the party. No individual is bigger than this party including Nana Akufo-Addo.” he added.
Over 80 MPs from the majority party have openly declared their opposition to Ken Ofori-Atta, calling on the president to fire him.
The MPs have recently reactivated their demands after the minister fulfilled the requirement of President Nana Akufo-Addo to have him stay on a little longer to complete the IMF deal and present the 2023 budget to parliament.
Ruling party, New Patriotic Party (NPP) has said it is imperative the National Democratic Congress (NDC) provides a formidable team in the 2024 elections.
The party contends that the opposition party’s defeat in the polls will demonstrate Ghanaians’ confidence in the NPP to governthe country for yet another term.
“2024 is a foregone conclusion, we would win the election with the wider margin that will confront the NDC not to make an attempt to even appear before the Supreme Court,” he said on Saturday. We need a healthy NDC, we don’t want to defeat a limping horse,” a representative of the NPP said while delivering a solidarity message to the NDC.
The NDC held its 10th National Delegates Congress on Saturday, December 17, to elect its remaining new national executives.
The event which was held at the Accra Sports Stadium, was attended by party members from all over the country bringing together 9,200 delegates from the 276 constituencies.
At the end of the exercise, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, won the chairmanship contest with 5,569 votes while his opponent, Samuel Ofosu-Ampofogained 2,892 votes.
For the Vice chairmanship position out of the eight who contested, Sheriff Abdul-Naziru, Dr. Sherry Ayittey, and Awudu Sofo Azourka were elected as vice chairs.
Former Member of Parliament for Ketu South, Fiifi Fiavi Kwetey, was crowned the General Secretary of the party.
Deputy General Secretary, National Organiser, Deputy National Organisers, National Communications Officer, Deputy Communications Officer and Zongo Caucus Coordinator went to Barbara Serwaa Asamoah, Joseph Yamin, Kobby Barlon Elikem Kotoko, Sammy Gyamfi, Malik Basintale, Ako Gunn and Mamah Mohammed Cole Younger respectively.
National Communications Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi, has accused the party’s re-elected Youth Organiser of hiring members from their biggest contender, the NPP, to openly vilify and attack him.
According to him, Pablo, whose mandate as National Youth Organiser was renewed last Saturday, held a meeting with NPP communicators last night and fed them with narratives to malign his person.
Speaking on Accra-based Onua TV on Wednesday morning, he explained that some of the NPP communicators who Pablo met last night, later called him to leak Pablo’s dubious intentions.
He said those communicators wondered why Pablo, a national executive of the NDC would want to stab a fellow executive, in the person of Sammy Gyamfi.
The NDC spokesperson however refused to mention the names of his informants, but tressed that George Opare Addo, popularly known as ‘Pablo’, was behind the scheme to have his name soiled.
“He met them (NPP communicators) last night and fed them with false narratives”, he stressed in the local Twi dialect.
However, the campaign coordinator for George Opare Addo, Abubakar Mutiu-Rahman, has refuted the said allegations by the NDC’s National Communications Officer.
In a statement shortly after Sammy Gyamfi’s claims on Onua TV on Wednesday morning, Mutiu-Rahman said Pablo has not met any NPP communicator as Sammy Gyamfi alleged.
He said Pablo is committed to the cause of the NDC and would not embark on any such treacherous move to destroy the party.
“The claim that Pablo met with NPP Communicators yesterday is false, at no point has Pablo met any NPP communications team, not previously or yesterday.
Mr Gyamfi must prove when and where this meeting took place as well as who the participants were”, the statement emphasised.
“There is no greater insult than the claim of being a traitor to one’s party; we will not countenance any more of such allegations from Sammy Gyamfi and his ilk. We will allow this to slide but let no one mistake it for cowardice.
Pablo is very much committed to leading a united front for the NDC Youth Wing. He’s willing to work with all and sundry to ensure HE John Dramani Mahama is elected President, so we can rescue this nation”, the statement concluded.
The comments by both parties come in the wake of the outcome of the NDC’s recently held National Youth and Women’s Congress.
At the said Congress, the incumbent National Youth Organiser, George Opare Addo, retained his seat in a keen contest again former Ashanti Regional Youth Organiser, Brogya Genfi.
However, the supporters of Pablo as well as himself believed that Brogya Genfi was supported by Sammy Gyamfi and other bigwigs in the NDC; including close associates of former President, John Dramani Mahama.
This has subsequently created a feud between Sammy Gyamfi and Pablo and his allies.
Speaking on Asempa FM yesterday, Pablo said he is disappointed in the schemes that were orchestrated by Sammy Gyamfi to remove him.
Meanwhile, the NDC’s National Communications Officer says he supported Brogya Genfi based on his rapport with him; adding that he did not go on rampage to attack Pablo during the contest.
Speaking on Onua TV, Sammy Gyamfi also denied the allegations that close associates of Mahama, such as the former Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, were all behind Brogya Genfi.
He further discounted Pablo’s claims that he had spoken about his health during the campaign period.
The Deputy Communications Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Rabi Salifu says the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has been peddling falsehood about the cedi-dollar depreciation rate.
According to her, the NDC hired some influencers on TikTok to raise false alarm about the strength of the cedi.
“The NDC went to get few people to stage them, to say come out and throw fear in the system, they came out to say by December dollar was going to be ₵25 which is not happening”, she said.
“They came to say the dollar was going to get stronger and stronger, the speculations we were all condemning were all triggered by the NDC”, she also added.
Rabi Salifu is the Deputy Communications Director of NPP.
Speaking on Joy Prime’s Prime Morning, Rabi Salifu said that this false speculation created fear and panic in people, causing them to hurriedly exchange their cedis for dollars to maintain the value of their currency.
“They threw in speculations, people held the dollars and our cedi was underperforming”, she alleged.
The Deputy Communications Director of the NPP believes that the NDC’s attitude has intensified or worsened the country’s inflation rate.
When the host of the programme challenged her for evidence since the claims had not been proven to be factual, Rabi Salifu insisted that she has evidence to support her claim.
Her claim comes two months after President Akufo-Addo asked Ghanaians to stop unfounded speculations about the value of the local currency against other major trading currencies across the globe.
Cautioning against the speculations, he said government would deal with all persons who publicised such false pieces of information on the value of the Cedi.
“Fellow Ghanaians, as the French would say, l’argent n’aime pas le bruit, to wit, money does not like noise, sika mpɛ dede. Where there is chaos, where there is noise, where there is unrest, you will not find money. If you talk down your money, it will go down. If you allow some unidentifiable person to talk down your money, it will go down”, he counselled.
The Minister of Trade and Industry, has promised to cover the printing costs of all the New Patriotic Party (NPP) delegates’ albums for the 275 seats in the nation before the party’s flagbearer primary.
The seasoned politician made this pledge during his official meeting with the new national executives of the party at the National Headquarters at Asylum Down in Accra.
In addition to the pledge, the minister, also known as Alan Cash, donated an amount of one hundred thousand Ghana cedis (GHc100,000) to the HQ to support the day-to-day administration and management of the party’s activities as well as its executives.
The meeting, which was to interact with the hierarchy of the party in line with solidifying relationships between them and the government, saw scores of top-ranking officials join the minister.
Addressing the assembled party faithful, Alan Kyerematen urged the leadership of the party to earn the trust of grassroots voters by conducting a fair and unbiased election.
He called on them to rally behind the leadership of the party and the government in these difficult economic times.
“We can only break the eight if we stay together and act as a unit. We can survive through cooperation and commitment to our various duties. The national executives will organize one of the best national delegate conferences in recent years. To this end, I am going to fund the entire printing cost of all 275 constituency delegates’ albums.
“It is to help the party conduct the election… A free and fair election will trickle down to the average voter since they won’t feel manipulated or machinated,” Alan Kyerematen told the assembled party sympathisers.
The soft-spoken trade and industry minister also urged members to support the government in its industrial transformation drive and job creation and to discuss how the party can win the 2024 general elections.
He used the platform to also highlight the success stories of the One District, One Factory (1D1F) programme, among a host of other activities that the party can take advantage of and communicate to Ghanaians the benefits that they can derive from them.
Accompanying the minister were Sylvester Tetteh, MP for Ngleshie Amanfrom; Carlos Ahenkora, MP for Tema West; Catherine Afeku, former Minister for Tourism; Yaw Buaben Asamoa, former MP for Adenta; Dr Alhassan Samare, former Upper East Regional Minister; Alhaji Mumin COP aka Jack Sparrow, a senior NPP member in the Northern Region and Board chairman of GNPA; and some others.
Alan Kyerematen has already contested in three previous flagbearer primaries and has been heavily tipped by political experts to replace President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as the presidential candidate of the NPP in the 2024 general elections.
So far, names such as the vice president, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, and the Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong, have come up as potential contenders for the vacant position.
Former Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper has lauded the government for their role in promoting democracy in the country.
He described a keynote address by Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia at the International Democrat Union conference in Washington DC as excellent while praising the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) for their “tremendous” work in support of freedom and democracy locally and internationally.
Stephen Harper, who served as Prime Minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015, made this known in a tweet after Vice President Bawumia’s keynote address at the IDU Conference recently.
“My congratulations to the VP of Ghana, H.E., Dr. @MBawumia for his excellent keynote address at IDU Forum 2022 in Washington, D.C. I commend the @NPP_GH party for their tremendous work to support freedom and democracy, both at home and across the African continent. #IDUDC,” he tweeted.
In his keynote address at the IDU Conference, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, among others, expatiated on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukrainian crises on trade.
He noted that while these issues have brought about disruptions in global trade and instigated the adoption of some inward-looking policies by some countries, they have also presented an opportunity for enhanced collaborations on trade diversification.
The IDU is made up of center-right conservative political parties around. The union offers these parties opportunities for networking and collaboration. It was formed in 1983.
Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Ahiagbah says the reason for the rejection of the debt restructuring programme is due to the difficulties it will pose for bondholders.
Mr. Ahiagbah stated that the fear of the bondholders is also attributable to their inadequate understanding of the debt restructuring programme.
Speaking on Newsfile on Saturday, the politician said, “The basis for that rejection (of the debt restructuring programme) is a question of lack of understanding and the genuine fear that where are we going?”
However, Mr. Ahiagbah explained that the prevailing economic crisis has put the Akuffo-Addo-led administration in a situation where they have to take certain decisions to revive the economy.
He indicated that one of those actions is the debt restructuring programme.
The NPP spokesperson noted that if the government could secure the necessary cooperation from various institutional investors to tout the benefits of the programme, the country could pay off all of its debt.
“If we have the level of participation, if we get the support and the voluntary participation of all these institutional investors to drive this forward, we are likely to redeem our country from this debt trap that we have caught ourselves in,” he told host, Samson Lardy Anyenini.
Mr. Ahiagbah also indicated that the government’s aim in introducing the debt restructuring programme is to build a robust economy.
“It’s not a thing to do just now to get out of it, and then reverse back there, but we are going to leverage the occasion to build ourselves sustainably to a place where we will not get to this place again,” he assured.
Nana Obiri Boahen, a former deputy general secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has condemned the accusations leveled at former President John Agyekum Kufuor for his statements on the current state of the nation.
Speaking in a Neat FM interview monitored by GhanaWeb, Obiri Boahen said that no member of the NPP can say that the things Kufuor talked about are false.
He added that the hardships in the country are real and the former president should be allowed to express his views.
“The other time. I said that ‘akpeteshie’ (local alcohol) is now GHS4 per tot. Yesterday, I heard that in Sunyani, it is now selling GHS5 per tot and the full bottle is being sold at many places for GHS25. So, the reality of the situation on the ground is that the hardship is becoming scary.
“Yesterday, I read what President Kufuor said at a meeting with IMANI and it is generating a lot of issues. If President Kufuor speaks, who am I to criticise him? And I will never doubt anything President Kufuor says because of his experience in politics.
“No NPP member will not be cornered about the things Kufuor said… I have seen that people have started insulting him, what did he say wrong? Did he insult someone, did he talk against someone,” he said in Twi.
The former NPP General Secretary added that Ghanaians should brace for more hardships because prices of goods and services tend to go up during festive periods.
A recent outburst by outspoken New Patriotic Party(NPP) Member of the Parliament(MP) for Assin Central Constituency Kennedy Ohene Agyapong has lend some credence to assertions that Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s role in management of the economy has been thwarted by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
Dr. Bawumia has in recent times been accused of failing to demonstrate his economic prowess as Head of the Economic Management Team following the bad performance of the cedi against the dollar among other economic challenges.
However, the onsets of events and significant instances have raised concerns over the efforts of the Vice President in finding solutions to the current economic situation.
It has strongly been asserted that Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta is effectively obstructing the Vice President on matters that bother on key economic decisions and actions.
Speaking to party members in Bolgatanga as part of his campaign to be elected flagbearer of the NPP, Kennedy Agyapong lamented the loss of some $12 million as a result of the depreciation of the Ghanaian currency.
“From March this year to August this year, through exchange rate, I have lost $12 million. So today I don’t even count it,” he said to delegates.
The maverick MP stated that he would not have bullied by a Finance Minister if he were in the position of Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
“If I’m a vice president, how can a finance minister bully me?” He questioned.
This recent outburst has been described by political watchers as grapevine information that points to a worrying situation where it is believed that Ken Ofori Atta as Finance Minister is given priority over the Vice President in decision economic decisions making.
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Former President John Dramani Mahama has said that Ghanaians made a mistake by voting out his government in the 2016 presidential elections.
According to him, in spite of the achievements of his government, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was able to convince Ghanaians that he was incompetent, which led to his being booted out of office.
Mahama, who made these remarks while addressing constituency and regional executives of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Upper West Region, added that Ghanaians are now suffering the consequences of the wrong choice they made in 2016.
“Whatever happens in this country affects everybody. When we make a wrong choice, it affects us not today, but tomorrow and tomorrow next, and next year and the year after.
“We made that wrong choice in 2016. Despite everything we did, the people of Ghana were convinced that we were incompetent, and so they voted against us. And the effects of that decision in 2016 are continuing to follow us every day till now,” he said.
Mahama also said that Ghanaians should not accept the excuses of the government that the Russia-Ukraine war and the COVID-19 pandemic are what caused the hardship in the country.
He implied that the government’s poor management is causing unprecedented hardships for Ghanaians.
The former president, therefore, urged the executives of the party, from the polling stations to the national level, to work hard to rescue Ghanaians from the current NPP government.
The Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, has congratulated the Black Stars of Ghana on their victory over their South Korean counterparts in the ongoing 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) stalwart took to social media to show his love for Ghana and the senior national team.
A brace from the hugely talented Mohammed Kudus added to an opener from Mohammed Salisu to send the Black Stars on their way.
Moments after that priceless 3-2 triumph over their Asian opposition, Alan Kyerematen took to his official media handles to heap praises on the gallant Black Stars for raising high the flag of Africa.
“Congratulations to the Black Stars on their impressive 3-2 victory over South Korea today in the ongoing 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
“The players exhibited a sense of discipline, resilience and determination to fight till the last whistle,” he wrote.
He also assured the boys of the support of the entire country as they continue their campaign in the World Cup.
“All of Ghana is behind you. March on gallantly as you do battle in the next matches and bring glory to our motherland.
“Go Black Stars ????????
Go for Gold.
“God bless our homeland Ghana! #Believe #Qatar2022,” he added.
The Black Stars will book a place in the last 16 if they emerge winner against South American giants, Uruguay, in their last group stage match of the campaign.
A second place finish could set up a Ghana versus Brazil clash at the ongoing football festival depending on how the Samba Boys perform in their last two matches.
Hopeson Adorye of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has questioned the realistic nature of a recent budgetary directive to the effect that the use of V8 within Accra has been banned.
He questions whether or not those with V8 cars will be given new saloon cars in order for them to quit the usage of the V8s.
“With the issue of V8s, I am wondering how it will be done. Are we going to buy new saloon cars for Ministers or what? Because most of them use V8s already,” he submitted on Oman FM’s Boiling Point programme, November 24.
He also questioned the issue of fuel cuts of 50% for appointees: “Even this government fuel that has been slashed, how do we want the appointees to work? As for that one, I disagree, so what should they do?
“Some of these things must be tackled realistically. Imagine a Minister with a fuel coupon of 2,000 cedis, now having 1000 cedis but his full tank costs 1,800, so if their car runs out of fuel after three days, what do I do?” he quizzed.
What Ofori-Atta said about V8s and fuel allocations
Under the section of the budget on “Implementation of the Cabinet directives on expenditure measures,” the Minister said:
Mr. Speaker, as the first step toward expenditure rationalisation, the Government has approved the following directives which take effect from January, 2023:
● All MDAs, MMDAs and SOEs are directed to reduce fuel allocations to Political Appointees and heads of MDAs, MMDAs and SOEs by 50%. This directive applies to all methods of fuel allocation including coupons, electronic cards, chit systems, and fuel depots. Accordingly, 50% of the previous year’s (2022) budget allocation for fuel shall be earmarked for official business pertaining to MDAs, MMDAs and SOEs;
● A ban on the use of V8s/V6s or its equivalent except for cross-country travel. All government vehicles would be registered with GV green number plates from January 2023;
● Limited budgetary allocation for the purchase of vehicles. For the avoidance of doubt, the purchase of new vehicles shall be restricted to locally assembled vehicles;
● Only essential official foreign travel across government including SOEs shall be allowed. No official foreign travel shall be allowed for board members. Accordingly, all government institutions should submit a travel plan for the year 2023 by mid-December of all expected travels to the Chief of Staff.
A one-time parliamentary aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for Kpone Katamanso, Hopeson Adorye, has disclosed that he has officially left the National Security Secretariat.
In a post shared on Facebook, Hopeson Adorye said that he had officially handed over his duties at the secretariat.
Adorye, who was previously the Deputy National Security Coordinator in Charge of Airports, added that he had also been sworn out of office.
“Monday 28th November 2022 around 2 pm, I handed over to my HR at the National Security and sworn out of office. Thank you all. “Nyame nti y3b3 didi,” the post read.
Hopeson Adorye had previously announced on live radio this week that he had been fired from his government job.
He said during a discussion on Oman FM’s Boiling Point programme, on which he is a regular guest; that he had been fired purposefully because of his support for Alan Kyerematen.
Adorye is a vocal supporter of the Trade and Industry Minister in respect of the minister’s rumoured bid to lead the NPP as flagbearer when elections take place next year.
“God will cater for us, we will eat, uncle (referring to the show host), God has got us. How we toiled in opposition for Akufo-Addo to come to power, we will do same for Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen to come.
“I’m not a zombie, uncle, I was told that my support is not towards a particular camp so I should be dismissed, I have been dismissed. ‘Your appointment has been terminated with immediate effect.’ That is why I am stressing that God will cater for us, we will never die,” he stressed.
View Adorye’s post plus his live announcement below:
A former National Security Ministry official, Hopeson Adorye, has recounted some key contributions he made for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) following his dismissal from his post at the National Security.
Lamented the circumstances under which he recently lost his job, he maintained his resolved and stated emphatically that he is unperturbed by the turn of events.
He maintained that his contributions to the party, particularly the rise to the presidency of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is well known.
Speaking for the first time about his dismissal on Oman FM’s Boiling Point programme last week, Adorye disclosed how he purportedly helped secure the Volta Region from vote manipulation by way of Togolese being brought into Ghana to vote for a particular party.
“You can testify that I was not seated behind the fence wall, I was in the thick of affairs. Ghana – Togo border operations,” he told host of the show, before adding: “I did it with four youth organizers in the Volta Region, we did it at the blind side of the regional executives.
“Because if we had informed them, they will claim they had plans to do it,” he added before narrating how it wasn’t until the day of vote in 2016 when he met the regional secretary at Kpando, then the secretary said they had gotten wind of his undisclosed operations.
He stated further that with his operation, the other party that usually brought illegal voters in, failed so to do: “We all saw the results in Volta Region, when they went to recruit voters, it was unsuccessful but this is my reward today?”
On his dismissal, he stressed: “I’m not a zombie, uncle, I was told that my support is not towards a particular camp so I should be dismissed, I have been dismissed. ‘Your appointment has been terminated with immediate effect. That is why I am stressing that God will cater for us, we will never die.
“I have left it all to God, we won’t sleep hungry. I know it is not my minister who will do this, Kan-Dapaah will not do this. But from what I am hearing, I pity those who issued the instruction,” he added.
