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Tag: Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa

  • New revelation about Kusi Boateng shows he has two mothers – Okudzeto reveals

    New revelation about Kusi Boateng shows he has two mothers – Okudzeto reveals

    Member of Parliament for North Tongu has made another shocking revelation with regards to Reverend Kusi Boateng, secretary of the Board of Trustees.

    Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said he has discovered that Rev. Kusi Boateng has two biological mothers – Yaa Gyamfua and Agnes Ataah

    According to him, he discovered that aside from the double dates of birth and double TIN numbers, Rev. Kusi Boateng also used two different names to represent his mother’s identity in his Taxpayer Registration Form.

    On the 13th of August, 2013 when he filled his Taxpayer Registration Form at the GRA under the name Victor Kusi Boateng with September 7, 1971 as the date of birth, he declared that his mother’s maiden last name is Ataah, and her first name is Agnes.

    “… Last night, Paul Adom Otchere in Rev Kusi Boateng’s defence told the country for the first time that the reason why Rev Kusi Boateng had to, at some point, drop Kusi Boateng and was using Kwabena Adu Gyamfi is that, during the Rawlings coup, his father was killed as part of the military excesses. Paul revealed that Rev Kusi was then told to take his mother’s name. So, Adu Gyamfi is his maternal name. When he was going for his , told GRA that his mother’s last name is Gyamfua and her first name is Yaa. So that aligns with what Paul Adom Otchere said on Good Evening Ghana.

    “So, I decided to go for what he told GRA when he was Victor Kusi Boateng and I think GRA didn’t know they are dealing with the same person. So as Victor Kusi Boateng, he told GRA in his own handwriting on the 20th of August 2013 that his mother’s maiden last name is Ataah and her first name is Agnes.

    “I’m revealing it for the first time that he only doesn’t have two names, two dates of birth, he also has two mothers,” he said on Good Morning Ghana.

    The National Cathedral has been one of the topical issues this week following some shocking revelations made by The North Tongu MP.

    On Monday, January 16 the lawmaker accused the Secretary of the National Cathedral Board of Trustees, Rev. Victor Kusi-Boateng, of a conflict of interest and possession of multiple identities.

    According to him, Rev. Victor Kusi-Boateng appears to be using questionable means to divert funds from the National Cathedral project.

    He has since petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to investigate the matter.

    In his petition, Mr Ablakwa accused Rev. Kusi-Boateng of receiving GH¢2.6 million from the National Cathedral Board, alleging that he was the same person as Kwabena Adu Gyamfi.

    He also claimed that Rev. Kusi-Boateng used multiple passports and identification cards with different names and dates of birth.

  • What are you waiting for, deal with me now! – Ablakwa responds to Rev. Kusi Boateng

    What are you waiting for, deal with me now! – Ablakwa responds to Rev. Kusi Boateng

    Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has responded to a threat to sue him for deliberate defamation.

    The threat was contained in a January 16 press statement issued by Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng, secretary to the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral, who has been at the center of a series of allegations made by the MP.

    Speaking on Accra-based Radio Gold (January 18, 2023), the MP dared the clergyman to deal with him and stop issuing threats if he really believes he is innocent of the allegations he (Ablakwa) has made so far.

    “How does he think parliamentary oversight works? We are doing our work and nobody will intimidate us,” the MP submitted adding that he expected the man of God to deny using two official names, different dates of births, two tax numbers, professions, addresses and that he “is not having dual personality.”

    Ablakwa said he expected the statement to state categorically that he was lying about his allegations and not for the reverend to hide behind an enquiry by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).

    “…deal with the specific issues. Than this business of trying to hide under CHRAJ, that after CHRAJ I will deal with the MP, what are you waiting for? Deal with me now.

    “He should deal with me now, I didn’t know he is such a coward, what is he waiting for, deal with me now! Damn coward. He rather is issuing threats because he knows he will not be arrested,” Ablakwa stressed.

    Among other allegations, Ablakwa has published ‘irregular’ payments from the National Cathedral accounts to a company closely associated with the clergyman. He also alleges that Rev. Kusi Boateng uses Kwabena Adu Gyamfi on some other official documents.

    The Trustees of the Cathedral has formally rejected the allegations of irregular payment explaining that the accused only extended a loan to the board and was later paid a full refund without interest.

    Source: Ghanaweb

  • National Cathedral is an ill-conceived project with respectable people as its face – Kufuor Foundation Boss

    National Cathedral is an ill-conceived project with respectable people as its face – Kufuor Foundation Boss

    The Chief Executive Officer of the J.A. Kufuor Foundation, Prof. Baffuor Agyemang Duah, has described the scandals that have befallen the construction of the National Cathedral of Ghana as a tragedy.

    Speaking in an interview on XYZ TV, which was monitored by GhanaWeb, Prof. Agyamang Duah said that the cathedral project was supposed to be spearheaded by the clergy, but it appears some individuals are making the decisions for them.

    “The whole project was ill-conceived… initially my thinking was that this was a private initiative, which means that funds would be mobilised privately. And I think they attempted that; because I understand that they engaged somebody, a fundraiser, to do that, and perhaps because the private fundraising did not go well, that is why they decided to use state money for what they call seed money.

    “The fact is that the controversies about the cathedral reflect a very flawed national project, badly conceived and badly executed. And the government succeeded in lining up some respectable individuals to be the face of the project,” he said.

    “And from what we are hearing from members who have resigned, major decisions concerning the project were not even taken by the Board of Trustees. It seemed like there were some private individuals behind it who were making all the decisions… so mixing private sentiments and desires with public resources and topping it with religious faces is what has caused this tragedy,” he added.

    Prof. Agyemang Duah, a governance expert, noted that the modus operandi of the stakeholders involved in the construction of the cathedral was not in consonance with good governance practices.

    He also said that he is not surprised about the scandals that are now meeting the construction of the cathedral.

    Prof. Agyeman Duah made these remarks while reacting to the latest corruption exposé on the National Cathedral by MP for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, portions of which suggested impropriety on the part of the secretary to the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral of Ghana, Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng.

    On January 16, 2023, the MP made some allegations against Rev. Kusi Boateng, who is the secretary to the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral of Ghana.

    In an earlier revelation about the National Cathedral, Okudzeto Ablakwa said a whopping GHC 2.6 million was dished out to a company named JNS Talent Centre Limited.

    Further investigations into the alleged payment led to the discovery of one Kwabena Adu Gyamfi as a director of JNS Talent Centre.

    Having confirmed the identities of two out of the three directors of the centre, Ablakwa dug deeper in a bid to discover the identity of the third director, Kwabena Adu Gyamfi.

    According to his findings, citing a number of documents, Kwabena Adu Gyamfi was the same as Reverend Kusi Boateng, who had allegedly been operating under the pseudonym Kwabena Adu Gyamfi.

    But Kusi Boateng, in a statement sighted by GhanaWeb, said that the allegations made against him by Ablakwa are mere fabrications.

    He said that the accusations the MP made against him were for political purposes, adding that he has not engaged in any criminal activity in his dealings with the National Cathedral project.

    Rev. Kusi Boateng also said that he is waiting on the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), which has been petitioned by Ablakwa, to investigate him.

    He added that he will explore the legal options available to him against the MP for deliberately defaming him.

  • I pray you are wrong about Reverend Kusi Boateng – Adom-Otchere to Okudzeto Ablakwa

    I pray you are wrong about Reverend Kusi Boateng – Adom-Otchere to Okudzeto Ablakwa

    Paul Adom-Otchere, the board chairman of the Ghana Airport Company Limited says he is praying to God to ensure that Reverend Kusi Boateng, the secretary of the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral is exonerated of the charges levelled against him by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu.

    The host of Good Evening Ghana on Metro TV says much as he believes in the credibility of Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, he is hopeful that Reverend Kusi Boateng will be cleared of the allegations for which he has been hauled to the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).

    He commended Reverend Kusi Boateng for indicating his readiness to collaborate with CHRAJ and said that posture fills him with confidence that the embattled clergyman is innocent of the allegations.

    “The matter is before CHRAJ and I’m happy that in his response Reverend Kusi Boateng welcomed the challenge that Okudzeto is sending him to CHRAJ. It tells all of us that he will be able to establish his innocence. I pray to God and I sincerely hope Okudzeto is wrong on this matter even though I take him seriously,” he said.

    Okudzeto Ablakwa on Tuesday, January 17, 2023 petitioned CHRAJ to investigate Reverend Kusi Boateng over the alleged payment of GH₵2.6 million paid him by the National Cathedral secretariat.

    The petition was the actionable move of an explosive set of allegations he made against Reverend Kusi Boateng which among other things include double identity claims.

    In an explosive set of allegations which he described 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 GHC2.6million 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.

  • National Cathedral will cost over a billion dollars – Ablakwa projects

    National Cathedral will cost over a billion dollars – Ablakwa projects

    The National Cathedral project is estimated to cost at least a billion dollars when completed, according to North Tongu Member of Parliament Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.

    Ablakwa has since last year waged a dogged campaign for accountability on the construction of the facility which is currently officially estimated to cost US$350 million.

    He is concerned particularly by the amount of public funds dedicated to the project despite earlier government communication that it will be funded by the Christian community.

    “My analysis is that this project is more than a billion dollars, it is more than a billion dollars by the time we are done paying for the recklessness of president Akufo-Addo,” he said in an interview on Accra-based Radio Gold (January 18).

    Meanwhile, Ablakwa has praised Bishop Dag Heward-Mills for his candour in addressing issues related to the project in his leaked resignation letter of August 2022 as a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral.

    The lawmaker added that even if there was a national consensus on the need to build the facility, “will the wisest thing to do be not to look for a greenfield, an unencumbered land?” he asked lamenting how public and private structures were demolished to make way for the project.

  • National Cathedral will cost over a billion dollars – Ablakwa projects

    National Cathedral will cost over a billion dollars – Ablakwa projects

    North Tongu Member of Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, is projecting that the cost of the National Cathedral project will hit a billion dollars or more by the time construction is completed.

    Ablakwa has since last year waged a dogged campaign for accountability on the construction of the facility which is currently officially estimated to cost US$350 million.

    He is concerned particularly by the amount of public funds dedicated to the project despite earlier government communication that it will be funded by the Christian community.

    “My analysis is that this project is more than a billion dollars, it is more than a billion dollars by the time we are done paying for the recklessness of president Akufo-Addo,” he said in an interview on Accra-based Radio Gold (January 18).

    Meanwhile, Ablakwa has praised Bishop Dag Heward-Mills for his candour in addressing issues related to the project in his leaked resignation letter of August 2022 as a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral.

    The lawmaker added that even if there was a national consensus on the need to build the facility, “will the wisest thing to do be not to look for a greenfield, an unencumbered land?” he asked lamenting how public and private structures were demolished to make way for the project.

  • I will seek redress against Ablakwa’s defamatory statements – Rev. Kusi Boateng

    I will seek redress against Ablakwa’s defamatory statements – Rev. Kusi Boateng

    Secretary to the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral of Ghana, Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng, has hinted that he will take action with respect to deliberate defamation targeted at his person by a lawmaker.

    Rev. Kusi Boateng said he was currently committed to responding to a formal enquiry in respect of allegations made against him by Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.

    The MP mentioned the clergyman in his ‘Mother of all scandals’ publication on January 16, 2023, alleging principally that Kusi Boateng was using two different identities on official documents.

    He had earlier on alleged that an amount of GH¢2.6 million was ‘irregularly’ paid out from the chest of the National Cathedral to JNS Talent Centre, a company closely associated to Kusi Boateng.

    In his response to the accusations, the clergyman stayed away from directly addressing the identity issue but said he welcomed the enquiry by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), following the lodging of an official petition by Ablakwa.

    Kusi Boateng’s statement of January 16, 2023 added: “When all is done, I will seek redress against Mr. Ablakwa for his deliberate defamatory statements against me.

    “I will continue to contribute my quota to the National Cathedral project and offer my services to the country to the best of my ability,” the statement concluded.

    Read the full statement by Kusi Boateng below:

  • Rev. Kusi Boateng answers to the accusations made by Ablakwa

    Rev. Kusi Boateng answers to the accusations made by Ablakwa

    Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng, the secretary to the board of trustees of the National Cathedral of Ghana, has come out for the first time since he was referenced by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the member of parliament for North Tongu, in the publication known as the “Mother of all Scandals.”

    On January 16, 2023, the MP leveled various accusations against Rev. Kusi Boateng, the secretary to the National Cathedral of Ghana’s Board of Trustees.

    Okudzeto Ablakwa claimed in a previous revelation concerning the National Cathedral that a whopping GH2.6 million was given to a business called JNS Talent Centre Limited.

    Further investigations into the alleged payment led to the discovery of one Kwabena Adu Gyamfi as a director of JNS Talent Centre.

    Having confirmed the identities of two out of three directors of the centre, Ablakwa dug deeper in a bid to discover the identity of the third director, Kwabena Adu Gyamfi.

    According to his findings, citing a number of statutory documents, Kwabena Adu Gyamfi was the same as Reverend Kusi Boateng, who has allegedly been operating under the pseudonym Kwabena Adu Gyamfi.

    Reacting to his in a statement sighted by GhanaWeb, Kusi Boateng said that the allegation made against him by Ablakwa are mere fabrications.

    He said that the accusations the MP made against him are for political purposes, adding that he has not engaged in any criminal activity in his dealings with the National Cathedral project.

    “I have taken note of some defamatory publications and allegations made against my person by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, MP for North Tongu.

    “I wish to assure the general public that the statements made by Mr. Ablakwa are a twisted narration of events to pursue a malicious political agenda. There has never been any criminal intent nor any crime committed in my dealings with the Government of Ghana or the National Cathedral,” parts of the statement read.

    Rev Kusi Boateng said that he is waiting on the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) which has been petitioned by Ablakwa to investigate him.

    He added that he will explore the legal options available to him against the MP for deliberately defaming him.

    Read the full statement by Kusi Boateng below:

  • Akufo-Addo’s cabinet blows GH¢2million on one retreat at Peduase – Ablakwa alleges

    Akufo-Addo’s cabinet blows GH¢2million on one retreat at Peduase – Ablakwa alleges

    The MP for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, claims that one cabinet retreat held at the Peduase Lodge cost the tax payers GH2 million.

    Ablakwa claimed that available documents indicate the government blows the above-stated amount on a single cabinet retreat it held at the Peduase Lodge.

    In a panel discussion on Accra FM, Ablakwa promised to disclose the details of the expenditure in the course of the year.

    Ablakwa lamented that had the government heeded to his calls for frugality, the country will not be in the mess it finds itself in.

    “Some of the revelations I will be making this year are about the cabinet. If Ghanaians listened and took the revelations serious, we wouldn’t be where we are. You’ll be shocked that they spend GH¢2million on every cabinet retreat at Peduase.

    “In the course of the year, I will release the breakdown. There is no genuine effort. They claim that they will not be using Land Cruisers but only saloon cars in Accra but they are still importing them. We will be putting out the documents soon,” he said.

    Ablakwa added a future NDC government has a fiduciary duty to Ghanaians to prosecute all the persons behind the current economic mess.

  • Akufo-Addo can’t complete National Cathedral project – Ablakwa

    Akufo-Addo can’t complete National Cathedral project – Ablakwa

    The Member of Parliament for the North Tongu constituency in the Volta Region, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has downplayed the possibility of President Nana Akufo-Addo completing the National Cathedral project before his tenure ends in 2024.

    President Nana Akufo-Addo has on various occasions stated his willingness to complete the project despite the economic crisis and criticisms.

    In a meeting with the Clergy at the Jubilee House on Monday, January 9, President Akufo-Addo said no matter what happens he will remain resolute and ensure that the National Cathedral gets to a very advanced stage before the end of his tenure.

    But speaking on the Eyewitness News on Thursday, Okudzeto Ablakwa said the lack of progress on the project in the past ten months is an indication that it cannot be completed before the president’s tenure ends.

    “Is this the time to do this, we are rushing to do this in four years, we are making history and it is the wrong history. The Washington national cathedral was built within 82 years. The Milan cathedral was more than 500 years. The Italians took their time, in periods of drought and economic hardship they took their time.

    “This month is 10 months since the contractors left the site so when I hear the president screaming that we will build it, it is laughable, anybody familiar with this project knows that it is not possible.”

  • Ablakwa’s “false claims” on Rev. Kusi Boateng & Cathedral Board, exposed by new documents

    Recent documents reveals that North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has wrongfuly accused National Cathedral Secretariat and Rev. Victor Kusi-Boateng.

    Kusi Boateng who is Secretary to the Board of the National Cathedral and also founder and Leader of the Power Chapel Worldwide Prophet was earlier fingered by the MP in an alleged “misappropriation” exposé of National Cathedral funds to his spiritual son, Rev. Johannes Eshun.

    The North Tongu MP claimed he discovered alleged diversion of GHS2.6million of National Cathedral funds to a company known as JNS Talent Centre Limited owned by Rev. Johannes Eshun.

    According to him, the incorporation information, JNS Talent Centre Limited’s given registration number which is CS695622015 has one Johannes Eshun, Sheila Eshun and Kwabena Adu Gyamfi directors and that the company has no track record in construction and design which was gifted the GHS2.6million of the National Cathedral Secretariat has links to Rev. Kusi Boateng.

    The MP’s allegation caused the public to insult Rev. Prophet Johannes Eshun and his father Rev. Victor Kusi-Boateng, Founder of Power Chapel Worldwide.

    It has now been revealed the amount the MP claimed was paid for no work done or misappropriated was rather a documented loan without interest advanced by JNS Limited to the National Cathedral Board to pay off outstanding contractual commitments which it duly paid back.

    Records of Bank transactions shows the Cathedral Board wrote to the company for the loan and received a reply back with bank records proving same.

    Rev. Johannes Eshun who is also said to be a branch pastor of Rev. Kusi Boateng’s church — Rev. Eshun’s branch is the Power Chapel Worldwide, Bethel Arena was smeared wrongly by the North Tongu MP without proper investigation or due diligence.

    “It remains a mystery what kind of services JNS Talent Centre Limited provided to the National Cathedral Secretariat to pocket a cool GHS2.6million. Or could it have been that they were sharpening the talent of Architect David Adjaye?” Mr. Okudzeto Ablakwa wrote with false claims.

    “When I called up Madam Sheilla Eshun, a director of TNS to assist with my constitutional oversight duties, the seemingly startled lady said she had scanty information on the GHS2.6million cathedral transaction and that she will prefer I speak to her MD who is currently out of the country and therefore will ask her MD to get back to me in 2 weeks when he returns to Ghana.” He added.


    The MP failed to reach out to the National Cathedral Board for an explanation before running to town. The MP insists he was right despite all new facts.

    Source: myinfo.com.gh

  • Ghana cannot get debt forgiveness with its huge expenditure – Ablakwa

    Ghana cannot get debt forgiveness with its huge expenditure – Ablakwa

    The Member of Parliament for the North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has stated that it is nearly impossible for Ghana to secure debt forgiveness from its creditors.

    According to him, the “lifestyle” of the country does not merit the gesture it may want from creditors.

    Ablakwa intimated that the country’s expenditure on certain projects and activities such as the building of the National Cathedral and the “chartered flights” are not representative of the country’s problems.

    He, however, stated that unless the government adopts more head-on measures, debt forgiveness is impossible.

    “We were declared a Highly-indebted poor country. In less than 20 years after we got debt forgiveness, see where we are now. Are we not ashamed of ourselves?

    “They are not even ashamed to go around seeking debt forgiveness on chartered flights. We are appealing for debt forgiveness but are building a cathedral. If the President does not change his ways, we will not get the debt forgiveness we seek,” he was quoted by citinewsroom.com.

    Ghana announced a suspension of Eurobond debt payments in December after it announced a domestic debt restructuring programme.

    The country is however expecting a financial bailout from the International Monetary Fund to shore up its reserves and deal with the depreciation of the cedi.

    Source: Ghanaweb

  • National Cathedral: Ablakwa lauds Prophet Oduro, others for demanding accountability

    National Cathedral: Ablakwa lauds Prophet Oduro, others for demanding accountability

    Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has celebrated members of the clergy who he says are demanding accountability on the part of government with respect to the National Cathedral project.

    In a January 10, 2023 post on his verified social media pages, the lawmaker wrote: I salute all Christian Leaders & Christian Organisations who have epitomized their teachings to us by publicly & courageously demanding accountability on President Akufo-Addo’s scandalous Cathedral project.

    “I am also eternally grateful to all the Men of God who call & say special prayers with me, and the many others I am yet to meet including Christians of diverse denominations who pray for us and boldly encourage the pursuit of truth and transparency.

    “Please keep inspiring us, for God and Country. Truth Stands.”

    His post was accompanied by screenshots of website articles with respect to clergymen who are demanding accountability from government over the project.

    Among the clergymen are Prophet Oduro, Rev. Owusu Bempah as well as concerns by the Christian Council and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference.

    President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo recently donated GHC100,000 as part of his commitment to see to the completion of the project by the 2024 deadline.

    So far, about GHC340 million of public funds has been pumped into the project with Parliament recently rejecting GHC80 million budgeted for the project in 2023.

    Source: Ghanaweb

  • Meek Mill’s Jubilee House video: Minority will push for sanctions – Ablakwa

    Meek Mill’s Jubilee House video: Minority will push for sanctions – Ablakwa

    Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a member of parliament representing the North Tongu constituency, has said that the minority in parliament would not give up on efforts to impose penalties on those who permitted American rapper Meek Mill to film a music video at the Jubilee House, the seat of government.

    Mr. Ablakwa insists that Meek Mill did not only desecrate the Jubilee House with his explicit lyrics in the music video but also breached the country’s security hence heads must roll.

    Speaking in an interview with Citi News‘ Fred Duhoe, Mr. Ablakwa said: “Sanctions must be meted out to those in charge of security. There’s always someone who gives final authorization, who opens the doors, who is in charge of security at the Jubilee House. All those people in the chain of command, who have brought this monumental disgrace to this country must be shown the exit.”

    “I can assure you that this not a matter that we in the opposition will raise and allow it to die out. We in the Minority will pursue this matter vigorously. We will continue to demand answers as a house with a constitutional mandate of oversight. We will pursue this matter and ensure that sanctions do apply. This also poses a security risk even to successive governments,” he added.

    Background

    After performing at the Afronation Concert in Ghana on December 29, 2022, American rapper, Meek Mill, was invited to the Jubilee House by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

    Days after the visit, he released a music video with explicit lyrics on Instagram which was shot at the Jubilee House.

    Some Ghanaians were angry with the development because they are often prevented from filming at national security installations and sometimes molested yet a foreigner was given full access to the Jubilee House.

    Meek Mill subsequently apologised for the video saying it was not in any way meant to disrespect Ghanaians or the Presidency.

  • National Cathedral: American consultant was paid GH¢28m for organising GH¢794,990 fundraiser – MP

    National Cathedral: American consultant was paid GH¢28m for organising GH¢794,990 fundraiser – MP

    Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has released a report that the government of Ghana paid a consultant over GH¢28 million for the organisation of a fundraiser in support of the construction of a National Cathedral.

    According to the opposition MP, the state despite paying such an amount to the consultant realised only GH¢794,990 after the fundraiser was held in the United States of America.

    “Latest Cathedral documents I am analyzing expose a shocking payment of an unbelievable GH¢28.2million (GH¢28,244,716.97) from Ghanaian taxpayer funds to one Mr. Cary Summers, an American President & CEO of the Nehemiah Group.

    “Mr Cary Summers is described on the website of President Akufo-Addo’s Cathedral as a ‘Consultant for the United States.’

    “Curiously, after receiving our GH¢28.2million, he spearheaded a US fundraising event for the Ghanaian government & Cathedral Secretariat which raised only a paltry GH¢794,990.01,” Mr Ablakwa said in a Facebook post.

    Describing the incident as a “classical case of causing financial loss to the state,” Mr Ablakwa said the payment could be seen as an act of generosity or wastefulness.

    “Only the Ghanaian government pays GH¢28.2 million for less than GH¢800,000 — which is all Cary Summers has raised for Ghana in three long years. A classical case of causing financial loss to the state.

    “The Ghanaian government must be either the most generous or the most wasteful government in world history. When advocates of this scandalous cathedral project tell us it’s been such a blessing, we now understand exactly what they mean,” he added.

    Samuel Ablakwa has been a fierce critic of the National Cathedral project which is bedevilled with several controversies surrounding its funding.

    The project which is estimated to cost some $400 million according to the government will see the invested money recouped by serving as a tourist attraction.

    However, critics citing the disbursement of state funds towards the construction have questioned the priority given to the project under the current economic circumstance.

    National Cathedral project is state-owned, not Akufo-Addo’s property – Ofori-Atta clarifies

    Source: Ghanaweb

  • NDC to elect flagbearer in March 2023 – Ablakwa claims

    NDC to elect flagbearer in March 2023 – Ablakwa claims

    North Tongu Member of Parliament Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has disclosed that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will choose its flagbearer for the 2024 elections in March of this year.

    According to him, “the functional executive committee (FEC) and the National Executive Council (NEC) will meet and agree with the publication of the timetable for the election of the flagbearer”.

    “In March we are going for an election. An election to choose the flagbearer after the flagbearer is elected, he has to choose his running mate, but let me be clear here, the time timetable isn’t out yet, but these are the discussions going on behind the scene”.

    Mr. Ablakwa also stated that the election of the flagbearer should have taken place on December 7, 2022, a delay he feels is a violation of the party’s constitution.

    He is confident that former President John Mahama will receive 95% of the valid votes cast.

    “Remember that, our constitution says when we are in opposition we must elect our flagbearer 2 years before the main election, so technically speaking we are late, we should’ve done this election on December 7, 2022… For this reason, I don’t expect it to go beyond March,” he told the morning show host of Kumasi-based Oyerepa TV Kwesi Parker-Wilson.

    During the polls for the flagbearership competition, former Finance Minister Kwabena Duffuor and former Mayor of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly Kojo Bonsu are anticipated to challenge former President Mahama.

  • Ablakwa claims Mahama will win DC primaries by 95%

    Ablakwa claims Mahama will win DC primaries by 95%

    Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, believes that former President John Mahama will easily win reelection as the NDC’s 2024 flagbearer.

    He predicts that the former President will win with almost 95% of the total valid ballots cast.

    This was included in a list of forecasts the congressman posted on his Facebook wall on the first day of the year in 2023.

    Regarding the party’s primaries, he voiced confidence that Mahama would win.

    “Former President John Mahama will emerge victorious from the 2023 NDC Flagbearer Primaries with more than 95% of valid votes cast”, he noted in the first paragraph of his 2023 forecasts.

    Mr. Ablakwa added, “Former President John Mahama expected to retain Professor Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang as his Running Mate for the 2024 presidential election”.

    Mr. Ablakwa also predicted that the National Cathedral’s contentious contractors will give up on the project, which has been a cause of protests around the country.

    He also said that the nation’s economic problems will continue to worsen, which would increase public dissent.

    Former president John Dramani Mahama is now preparing to lead the National Democratic Congress in an attempt to unseat the NPP in the 2024 elections.

    Even if he hasn’t openly stated it, there have been numerous convincing indications that he intends to lead the party, including a vast majority of NDC MPs who have consistently stated that they will support the former president.

    Even though Mahama has not yet made a public statement about his future plans, Mr. Ablakwa’s forecasts are related to the support Mahama has attracted.

    However, despite the support that John Mahama’s candidacy is receiving, some NDC members believe that the NDC would have a better chance of winning the 2024 elections if a fresh candidate other than Mahama were to emerge.

    According to these dissenters, Mahama’s appeal has dwindled amongst Ghanaians due to the many scandals that rocked his government between 2012 and 2016 when he was voted out of power.

    They therefore want a new face to shoulder the responsibility of the party’s flagbearership going into the 2024 general election.

    In line with these calls, former mayor for Kumasi, Mr Kojo Bonsu and former Finance Minister, Dr Kwabena Duffuor are currently warmimg up to unseat John Mahama.

    Mahama will win NDC primaries by 95% - Okudzeto Ablakwa
    A flyer of Dr Duffuor which has been circulated by some party faithful in recent times

    But the chances of these two men have been dismissed by many party supporters and some analysts who say that, both gentlemen do not have the wherewithal to deflate the clout and appeal of John Mahama in the party.

    Rumors from close sources within the NDC however have it that, the party’s presidential primaries will be organized in March this year to allow the NDC ample time to campaign and prepare for the 2024 contest.

  • A lot of Ghanaians will be angry with Akufo-Addo in 2023 – Ablakwa

    A lot of Ghanaians will be angry with Akufo-Addo in 2023 – Ablakwa

    Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a member of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), believes that in 2023, popular resentment of Akufo-Addo would intensify.

    The politician claims that this will be exacerbated by the government’s proposed debt swap program, which has already encountered intense opposition from a portion of the people.

    He remarked in a Facebook post at the beginning of the new year that, in his opinion, this resistance will negatively impact Ghana’s IMF agreement, which will exacerbate the economic problems in the nation.

    “Public agitations against the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/Ofori-Atta debt exchange programme predicted to reach a crescendo as an overwhelming majority of Ghanaians will outrightly reject the draconian terms.

    “The debt exchange resistance and considerable turmoil would lead to a substantial delay in an IMF Board Agreement, which development will further exacerbate Ghana’s current economic calamity”, the MP wrote.

    After experiencing a record fall, the nation’s economy has become a hot topic of discussion during the past year.

    Excruciating reports of hardship on the part of many Ghanaians accompanied the economic downturn.

    Given the circumstances, the Cedi experienced an all-time low value relative to the US dollar and other major trading currencies, which increased the cost of fuel and other goods and services.

    The country had to eventually knock on the doors of the International Monetary Fund for an economic bailout on July 1, 2022, despite earlier assurances that the economy would stabilize.

    The decision was sharply criticized as well, with many Ghanaians accusing the NPP of applying different standards to it than it did to the NDC when it was in opposition for approaching the IMF.

    A portion of the population also used social media to call for the resignation of Ken Ofori-Atta, the finance minister. The hashtag “KenMustGo” gave this more traction.

    Others in the House of Representatives joined the chorus and demanded the dismissal of Mr. Ofori-Atta.

    However, despite the protracted unrest, there was a little respite when the cedi began steadily increasing against the dollar in the latter months of the year.

    In view of this, the institute of Energy Security (IES) also predicted that, fuel products will reduce, starting Sunday, January 1, 2023.

    However, Mr Ablakwa believes that the temporary cool of Ghanaians will soon be overthrown with more agitations from government.

    Meanhwile, government has assured that it is throwing in all arsenals at its disposal to restore the economy and place it on a more desirable footing.

    This was contained in the President’s earlier Christmas Day message, as well as his New Year message to Ghanaians at the beginning of 2023.

  • Kwesi Pratt and Okudzeto Ablakwa ‘clash’ about the behavior of NDC MPs in Parliament

    Veteran journalist Kwesi Pratt Jr. expressed disagreement with Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa‘s thoughts on the functioning of the minority caucus in Parliament. Ablakwa represents North Tongu.

    On Saturday, December 24, 2022, Pan African TV had a town hall meeting where the subject of the performance of NDC MPs in 2022 was discussed.

    On the more than three-hour show, a panel featuring Kwesi Pratt and Ablakwa discussed important concerns in the nation.

    Okudzeto Ablakwa asked about the performance of the Haruna Iddrisu Caucus attempted to clarify what he contends was an erroneous impression by the general public that the Minority MPs have been in bed with government and not done enough to protect the interest of Ghanaians.

    Ablakwa posited that the narrative that the NDC MPs are not doing enough is an orchestration of the New Patriotic Party to make the NDC MPs share blame for the mishaps of the Akufo-Addo administration.

    Whiles admitting there have been times when he has had reasons to be unhappy with the caucus, Ablakwa said the NDC MPs have generally been good.

    He argued that with the NPP having a slim advantage in terms of the numbers, it will always be difficult for the NDC MPs to have their way as it will always come down to the numbers.

    But Kwesi Pratt countered Ablakwa’s views and the attempt to hold brief for his colleagues.

    Pratt protested that despite being disadvantaged by the numbers, the minority caucus has not done enough to champion the interest of Ghanaians.

    Below is the brief banter

    Pratt: When people say that NDC MPs can do better, it is true. They can do better than they are doing now. We are told that the first part of the budget is principles and policy, who said that you cannot shoot down principles and policies.

    Okudzeto: You know better than that. We don’t have the numbers .

    Pratt: You can always call for balloting after the voice vote but you didn’t.

    Okudzeto: Because they were more than us. They accounted for their members.

    Pratt: People who criticize NDC MPs may not necessarily vote for NPP but they want the good of the country and the NPP. I have been watching Parliament and in all honesty, If I’m to mention my top five MPs, I would mention Okudzeto Ablakwa. He’s done so well and his record is clear but Sammy becareful not to defend the indefensible, it will take away from your credit. Not all your colleagues are like you. You cannot criticize them in public but don’t defend them.

    Okudzeto: I still think that it will be unfair to blame us especially when we do not have the numbers.

  • Minority blocks GH₵1.3bn budget for new AICC structure, new embassies

    The government’s 2023 plans to demolish the Accra International Conference Centre(AICC) and build a new one for €116 million were thwarted by members of parliament from the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), both in the Foreign Affairs Committee and in plenary last night, Tuesday, December 20, 2022. (GHC 1.3 billion).

    The MPs also successfully blocked proposals to open new Ghanaian embassies in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Mexico.

    MP for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who disclosed this in a Facebook post, said the government cannot be defaulting on its loan obligations and imposing “crude haircuts, particularly on pensions for the vulnerable aged and still be pursuing fanciful projects which can be deferred to better economic times in the future.”

    This comes after the trade, industry, and tourism committee of parliament also rejected the GHC 80 million budgetary allocation for the construction of the National Cathedral.

    The minority side of the committee voted against the budget in a 11:10 majority decision.

    A member of the committee, Mr. Yussif Sulemana, told journalists on Tuesday, December 20, 2022: “I can tell you on authority that at the end of the day, we had to vote, and after the vote, the minority carried the day. We have voted against it, and we are saying that this is not the time for us to be spending that huge sum of money on building a cathedral.”

    The Bole-Bamboi MP said: “Apart from that, we were told at the committee level that they had already spent GHC 339 million, and when we asked them to give us evidence of how the money was spent, it was a challenge.”

    Again, he noted, “We were told that they have moved the cathedral from wherever it was to the ministry of tourism. And the question I put to them was that the organisation that is handling this cathedral, the secretariat, is it under the ministry of tourism?”

    “If it’s not under the ministry of tourism, then it means that you want to use the ministry as a conduit to send the money wherever you want to send it, and we, the minority, will not accept it.”

  • Minority blocks GH¢1.3bn budget for new AICC structure, embassies in Jamaica, Mexico

    The government’s 2023 plans to demolish the Accra International Conference Center and build a new one at a cost of €116 million were thwarted by members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in both the Foreign Affairs Committee and in plenary yesterday night, Tuesday, December 20, 2022. (GHC1.3billion).

    Additionally, the MPs were able to stop plans to establish additional Ghanaian embassies in Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, and Mexico.

    Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a member of parliament for North Tongu, revealed this in a Facebook post. He claimed that the government could not be enforcing “crude haircuts, particularly on pensions for the vulnerable elderly and still be pursuing fanciful projects which can be deferred to better economic times in the future.”

    This comes after the trade, industry and tourism committee of parliament also rejected the GHC80 million budget allocated to the construction of the National Cathedral.

    The minority side of the committee voted against the budget in an 11:10 majority decision.

    A member of the committee, Mr Yussif Sulemana told journalists on Tuesday, 20 December 2022: “I can tell you on authority that at the end of the day, we had to vote and after the vote, the minority carried the day. We have voted against it and we are saying that this is not the time for us to be spending that huge sum of money on building a cathedral”.

    The Bole-Bamboi MP said: “Apart from that, we were told at the committee[-level] that they had already spent GHS339 million and when we asked them to give us evidence of how the money was spent, it was a challenge”.

    Again, he noted, “we were told that they have moved the cathedral from wherever it was to the ministry of tourism. And the question I put to them was that that organisation that is handling this cathedral, the secretariat, is it under the ministry of tourism?”

    “If it’s not under the ministry of tourism, then it means that you want to use the ministry as a conduit to send the money wherever you want to send it and we, the minority, will not accept it”.

    This comes after the trade, industry and tourism committee of parliament also rejected the GHC80 million budget allocated to the construction of the National Cathedral.

    The minority side of the committee voted against the budget in an 11:10 majority decision.

    A member of the committee, Mr Yussif Sulemana told journalists on Tuesday, 20 December 2022: “I can tell you on authority that at the end of the day, we had to vote and after the vote, the minority carried the day. We have voted against it and we are saying that this is not the time for us to be spending that huge sum of money on building a cathedral”.

    The Bole-Bamboi MP said: “Apart from that, we were told at the committee[-level] that they had already spent GHS339 million and when we asked them to give us evidence of how the money was spent, it was a challenge”.

    Again, he noted, “we were told that they have moved the cathedral from wherever it was to the ministry of tourism. And the question I put to them was that that organisation that is handling this cathedral, the secretariat, is it under the ministry of tourism?”

    “If it’s not under the ministry of tourism, then it means that you want to use the ministry as a conduit to send the money wherever you want to send it and we, the minority, will not accept it”.

  • Minority blocks demolition of AICC, opening of new Ghanaian embassies

    Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has revealed that government’s plan to demolish the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) and construct a new one has been rejected.

    The decision was taken on Tuesday night at the Foreign Affairs Committee and at the plenary, according to Mr Ablakwa.

    The new edifice would have cost government €116million (GHS1.3billion).

    The facility was built in 1991, to host the 10th Ministerial Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement.

    It has since become the convergence point for many national and monumental events over the past 30 years.

    However, engineers have deemed the facility unfit for purpose as structural defects have been uncovered during recent expert assessments.

    On the back of this, funds were allocated as part of the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s approved ¢574.7 million 2022 Budget, to see to the reconstruction of the edifice to prevent any looming disaster.

    Minority insisted that the details of the procurement processes leave much to be desired.

    In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Mr Ablakwa also noted that the Minority has blocked the decision to open new Ghanaian embassies in Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago & Mexico.

    He argued that government under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo cannot “still be pursuing fanciful projects” when it is “defaulting on its loan obligations & imposing crude haircuts, particularly on pensions for the vulnerable aged.”

    According to the North Tongu legislator, such projects can be “deferred to better economic times in the future.”

     

     

     

     

  • History will remember Ofori Atta as first minister to face censure vote – Ablakwa

    Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has stated that the country will forever recognize the Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta, as the first to face a censure vote despite failed attempts in parliament to remove him from office

    His comment comes few minutes after the majority’s failure to participate in summing up to the number of votes required to impeach the minister.

    Nonetheless, Mr Ablakwa is “exceedingly proud that NDC MPs chose to align with suffering Ghanaians but not the disastrous & destructive Ken Ofori-Atta.”

    Adding that “No matter the outcome, history will eternally remember that Ken was the first Minister to face a censure vote,” he wrote on twitter.

    The vote of censure against the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, failed after less than 183 Members of Parliament voted to oust the embattled Minister.

    136 National Democratic Congress MPs voted on Thursday to demand removal of Mr Ofori-Atta but NPP New Patriotic Party MPs staged a walkout and decided not to support the motion of their colleagues from the opposition side of the House.

    Members of the Majority caucus of Parliament staged a walkout as Parliament voted to decide the fate of the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta after the debate on the report of the censure motion.

    The Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Mensah, who led the walkout said his side cannot be part of a process that was baseless and politically motivated.

     

    Source: The Independent Ghana

     

     

  • Ghana to be hit with GHS120m judgment debt over national catherdral project – Ablakwa

    A judgement debt worth GHS120 million may hit Ghana over the construction of the national cathedral project, Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has revealed.

    In a Facebook post, the legislator explained that Waterstone Realty Apartment Complex has dragged the Lands Commission to court for its “reckless decision” to demolish the Waterstone Realty Apartment Complex to pave way for the construction of the cathedral.

    He blamed President Akufo-Addo for this development, adding that “Bad leadership created the current economic crisis.”

    In a writ of summons, the plaintiff, Waterston Reality Limited noted that the defendant, Lands Commission, had been directed to pay the sum $4721000 being the market value of the two-storey multipurpose building complex at the time of compulsory possession and demolition by defendants.

    A further order “directed at the defendants to pay the Plaintiff the sum of $995,508.52 being the difference in terms of the established market value of the plaintiff’s property on the land being the sum $4,721,000 and the actual value of the property as of May 2018 when the defendant repossessed the property,” per the document shared by Mr Ablakwa.

    The Lands Commission was also to pay the sum of $54,000 being loss of rent, general damages and cost including cost of engagement of solicitors.

    Meanwhile, work on the construction of the national cathedral has been halted due to insufficient funds.

     

  • 2023 budget has not been approved; three more stages left – Ablakwa

    Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has clarified that the 2023 budget statement and economic policy has not been approved by Parliament as reported.

    On Tuesday, it was widely reportedly by media houses that Parliament has approved the budget statement.

    According to Mr Ablakwa, Parliament has just concluded its debate and approval of the policy.

    Parliament is however yet to approve the specific budgetary allocations to the ministries, which is the second stage of the Budget approval process, he noted in a Facebook post.

    Parliament will then proceed to the third stage, which is to consider government’s revenue bills.

    The final stage is the approval of the Appropriation Bill which is an itemized sum of all approved estimates by the House based on which government can spend in the ensuing year.

    Some Ghanaians have criticised the Minority in Parliament for contributing to the alleged approval of the budget.

    Reacting to this, Mr Ablakwa stated that “Ghanaians did not give the NDC a parliamentary majority, neither is it an NDC President destroying our economy and introducing bitter policies to further impoverish the citizenry.”

    Nonetheless, he assured that they shall discharge their duties with “utmost integrity, good conscience, respect and solidarity with the suffering Ghanaians we represent.”

    The Minority in Parliament has threatened to reject the GH10 million budget allocation to Defence Advisory Services under the Ministry of Defense.

    Also, they have questioned why the allocation to the Contingency Vote has increased by over GH400 million from GH999 million to GH1.4 billion.

    Some items in the 2023 budget presented by Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, include a reduction in the Electronic Transaction Levy also known as E-levy -from 1.5% to 1%. The GH100 daily threshold has also be removed.

    On the other hand, government seeks to increase the Value Added Tax (VAT) by 2.5%.

    However, the Minority has registered strong disapproval with the tax measures government is introducing.

    Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, argues that in an economy deemed to be in crisis, the e-levy should be at a rate of 0.5%. According to the minority, they disagree with an increase in VAT.

    Meanwhile, Parliament is expected to adjourn its third sitting on Wednesday, December 21, 2022.

    Source: The Independent Ghana

     

  • Contingency Vote allocation from GHS993m to GHS1.4bn insensitive – Ablakwa to govt

    Government has allocated an amount of GH1.4 billion to the Contingency Vote in its 2023 budget statement and economic policy.

    Per information from Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the allocation to the Contingency Vote has increased by over GH400 million from GH993 million in 2022.

    According to him, the allocation made at a time when the government has appealed to Ghana to burden share in an economy in crisis is “mind-boggling.”

    “Significant and logical questions that arise are: why this astronomical increase in the Contingency Vote when putting priority concerns aside, a separate and legal allocation of GHS80million has this time been made for the Cathedral? 

    Should that not have led to substantial decreases in the Contingency allocation? What new scheme of create, loot and squander is brewing for which a record breaking GHS1.4billion Contingency is required?” the MP asked in a Facebook post.

    Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta informed the ad hoc committee instituted by Speaker Alban Bagbin to probe into a censure motion against him revealed that an amount of GHS339,003,064.86 was taken from the Contingency Vote to facilitate the construction of the National Cathedral project.

    For Mr Ablakwa, it is unacceptable how money allocated to the Contingency Vote has skyrocketed since 2021.

    Per the 2021 budget statement, an amount of GH186.2 million was allocated to the Contingency Vote.

    Mr Ablakwa added that it is unacceptable that the recent allocation to the Contingency Vote significantly exceeds the budget allocation made to Parliament, Judiciary and a number of ministries. 

    “Let’s put the current GHS1.4billion in proper perspective — the amount is more than twice the entire 2023 allocation to Parliament which is some GHS645.8million; the scandalous Contingency Vote provision is also three times higher than the entire 2023 allocation to the Judiciary (including judicial service) which is GHS437.3million; the outrageous GHS1.4billion is also far higher than allocations to several ministries including National Security, Attorney General, Works and Housing, Communications, Railway Development, Chieftaincy, Employment, Transport, Fisheries, Lands and Natural Resources, Trade and Industry, Tourism, Environment, Energy, Foreign Affairs, Information and Parliamentary Affairs.”

    Again, he was against the idea that the “insensitive” GHS1.4 billion Contingency Vote allocation “is higher than 14 out of Government’s 16 Flagship Initiatives.”

    The monies allocated for government’s 16 flagship initiatives include; Roads Infrastructure (GH2,639,473,980),  Free Senior High School Programme (GH2,957,502,092), Water and Sanitation Initiative (GH74,484,764), School Feeding Programme (GH969,000,000).

    The others are; Planting for Food and Jobs (GH660,562,919), Railways Development (GH164,579,149), Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (GH526,573,888), Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (GH395,070,000).

    The remaining initiatives are Nursing Trainee Allowances (GH265,200,000), Teacher Trainee Allowances (GH241,913,000), One District One Factory Programme (GH200,417,720), Regional Reorganisation and Development (GH38,800,000), National Identification Authority (GH37,600,000), Fish Landing Sites (GH26,304,000),  Zongo Development Fund (GH24,409,600) and Micro Finance and Small Loans Centre (GH14,400,000).

    The total cost for the initiatives is GH9,236,291,111.

    The allocation made to the Contingency Vote, according to Mr Ablakwa, indicates that the government is not sincere about cutting their expenditure.

    “They ought to be dealing with this Contingency Monster and not trivials such as hampers, diaries and workshops,” he suggested.

    Government has directed public sector workers, Municipal Metropolitans and District Assemblies (MMDAs) not to give out hampers to their stakeholders this Christmas as part of efforts to cut down its expenditure.

    “It beats my imagination that government has GHS1.4billion to spend in just one year as contingency, and yet refuses to use that money to employ the youth in critical sectors such as Education, Health and The Interior even as millions of jobless Ghanaians languish at home, particularly as unemployment has now reached an all-time high according to latest population census figures,” Mr Ablakwa further lamented.

    The MP is of the assertion that “government is escalating on a grander scale instead of departing from its gross economic mismanagement and insatiable appetite for reckless expenditure which has created the current economic crisis, debt overhang, and the resultant painful and crude haircuts.”

    Mr Ablakwa has therefore pledged that the Minority will resist the approval of the allocation to the Contingency Vote.

    “This sleazy, sordid, shady, selfish and scandalous GHS1.4billion Contingency Vote allocation will only worsen ongoing labour agitations for better working conditions and lead to widespread justifiable refusal by the suffering Ghanaian people to burden share with a regime that is unhinged and irredeemable,” he concluded.

    Source: The Independent Ghana

  • NDC demands immediate release of arrested party fan

    The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has demanded the immediate release of its supporter, Seth Osei-Asiedu, popularly known as Kwaku Rafiki.

    Rafiki was reportedly picked up by the security agencies in the early hours of Thursday following a purported Twitter post on November 6.

    In the tweet, it was stated that that customers of commercial banks may not be able to access funds owing to a recent downgrade by a rating agency, Fitch.

    NDC demands immediate release of arrested party fan

    The NDC claims that its supporter is being held in unlawful detention and that no one knows where he is.

    In a recent press conference, North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa indicated that the NDC would aggressively pressure President Akufo-Addo if Kwaku Rafiki is not released within the next 24 hours.

    The family of the NDC activist’s client still do not know where Seth Asiedu is being held, according to Sammy Gyamfi, the activist’s attorney.

    He continued by saying that no warrant had been obtained to search his room.

    NDC demands immediate release of arrested party fan
    Some NDC officials on their way to the Police headquarters to enquire about the arrest of Kwaku Rafiki.

    The father of Kwaku Rafiki, Kofi Asiedu in a distress call to JoyNews narrated circumstances leading to the arrest of his son.

    “We heard people banging on our door. Open, Open! and then we were like who are those people? May be it was armed robbers, so we decided to go and look but they were banging. They even wanted to break in and then I just enquired and I saw that they were some three macho policemen.

    “I asked them what has happened and they said no, they are not going to say anything until we open the door. We insisted but later on, we opened but when we opened, they were just asking where is the Itel phone? So we were like which Itel phone and they started searching. Later on, they saw the Itel phone with my boy in his room and they picked it and said you are the guy, let us go.

    “I joined them and asked for the warrant. They said that they are from the National Security, and for them, they are not showing any warrant.

    “When they brought him to the National security office and we enquired, they said they had taken him to the CID headquarters… we were trying to know the reason but we just got the information that he made a social media post regarding the banking sector issues. We are now looking for his whereabouts,” he stated.

    Meanwhile, #FreeKwaku has been trending on Twitter since the arrest of Seth Asiedu. Many Ghanaians have called for the release of the NDC supporter and condemned the manner in which the young man was picked up.

  • Ad-hoc Committee report on Censure motion against Ofori-Atta laid without recommendations

    The ad hoc committee’s report regarding the censure motion against Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta was presented to the legislature.

    This is in response to inquiries from committee member Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa regarding the reason behind the report’s presentation to the plenary several days after work was completed.

    Osei Kyei-Mensha-Bonsu, the majority leader, argued back and forth about the development, bringing up difficulties with the report’s title.

    The report was however subsequently laid. A copy of the report in possession of Starr News reveals the committee in its 44-page report, reproduces transcript of what transpired at the public hearings with any recommendations.

    The house will consequently debate the report and vote on the fate of the Finance Minister.

    With the majority having already withheld its support for the motion, the NDC MPs will fail to make the two-thirds majority constitutional requirements which means the move will be dead.

  • Nat’l Cathedral: Govt forced to do right thing by capturing GHS80m in 2023 budget for approval – Ablakwa

    North Tongu Member of Parliament Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has said that the government has finally done what is right regarding the National Cathedral project by capturing a specific allocation of GHS80million in the 2023 Budget for approval.

    Prior to the budget presentation, the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta had denied allegation that he withdrew funds from the Contingency Fund for the National Cathedral project.

    He told the 8-member ad hoc committee that was investigating the allegations made against him by the Minority, that it was rather funds from the Contingency Vote that were used for the project.

    The Contingency Fund and the Contingency Vote, he said, were two different things altogether which should not be confused.

    “I did not withdraw funds from the Contingency Fund for National Cathedral,” he told the committee on Friday November 18.

    He added “The withdrawals were lawfully done from the Contingency Vote and not from the Contingency Fund as alleged by the proponents.”

    In a tweet, after the 2023 budget presentation on Thursday November 24, Mr Ablakwa said “After all the lawlessness, deception and dishonesty about the National Cathedral being a Contingency Project; the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/Ofori-Atta govt has finally been forced to do what is right by capturing a specific allocation of GHS80million in the 2023 Budget for approval.”

     

  • Who could have predicted Akufo-Addo will increase VAT after leading a protest that led to 5 deaths – Ablakwa

    Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a representative for North Tongu, has questioned the government’s intention to raise the Value-Added Tax (VAT).

    On Thursday, November 24, 2022, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, announced an increase in the VAT rate for the next year presenting the 2023 Budget Statement and Economic Policy in parliament.

    But reacting to the announcement in a Facebook post, the opposition MP wondered how the current event is occurring under the presidency of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who led a protest against VAT when it was introduced in 1995.

    “Who could ever have imagined or predicted that Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo who led the fatal 1995 Kumepreko demonstration against the introduction of VAT under President Rawlings which tragically claimed the lives of Ahunu Ahonga & 5 others would today be increasing VAT by 2.5%,” he wondered.

    The increase in VAT will enable the government to raise money to finance initiatives like road development, according to the minister of finance.

    “Mr. Speaker, the demand for roads has become the cry of many communities in the country. Unfortunately, with the current economic difficulties and the absence of dedicated source of funding for road construction, it is difficult to meet these demands. In that regard we are proposing the implementation of new revenue measures. The major one is an increase in the VAT rate by 2.5 percentage points,” the minister said.

    In 1995, Nana Akufo-Addo and other members of the New Patriotic Party led what is described as Ghana’s largest demonstration in history.

    Five protesters were killed during a protest against the then-government of Jerry John Rawlings’ decision to introduce VAT. Unidentified assailants fired into the crowd of protestors.

  • How NDC big wigs thronged Sekondi court for ruling on Jomoro MP’s case

    Top guns of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), were in attendance at the Sekondi High Court when the verdict of the election petition case involving Member of Parliament, Dorcas Affo-Toffey was delivered.

    The case which had been ongoing for close to two years was decided when the court presided over by Justice Dr. Richmond Osei Hwere dismissed the case on grounds that the MP was eligible to contest.

    The court held that she lost her Ivorian citizenship at the very time she acquired her Ghanaian citizenship, thus, there was no merit in the petition seeking to annul her election on the basis of her having dual citizenship.

    GhanaWeb checks indicated that about half a dozen Members of Parliament were around to lend their support to their colleague. Among them were Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, James Agalga, Teddy Nana Yaw, Comfort Doyoe Cudjoe and Emmanuel Armah Buah.

    The embattled Assin North MP, James Gyakye Quayson – who is also battling a citizenship case – was also in attendance.

    Other party bigwigs present included Kofi Totobi Quakyi and former Attorney General Marietta Brew-Oppong.

    The petition which the victorious MP described later as ‘frivolous’ and a ‘distraction’ was filed by one Joshua Emuah Kofie, who was challenging the eligibility of the MP to contest as a representative of the people in the constituency on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

    He submitted that she had multiple nationalities, including American and Ivorian citizenships, which is against the 1992 Constitution.

    While the court determined that she did not have Ivorian citizenship at the time of filing and contesting in 2020, the MP denied having American citizenship.

    The case has been in court for over 20 months since she was elected to represent the people of the Jomoro constituency.

  • There is no language stronger than your call for a coup in 2013 – Ablakwa to Ofori-Atta

    Member of the 8-member ad hoc committee hearing the motion of censure against Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, took exception when the minister sought to raise an objection to some words used in the grounds for the motion.

    According to Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the minister for finance had no moral authority to raise issues about the language used in the grounds supporting the motion against him.

    “The minister himself on the 12th of March 2013, is on record at the William Ofori Atta Institute for Integrity Lectures to have actually called for a coup, nothing can be stronger than that. So I don’t think we will be taking lectures on language from the minister,” the MP stated during the committee’s sitting on Friday, November 18, 2022.

    The censure motion against the minister brought by the minority group is on seven grounds which among other things levels allegations of conflict of interest, mismanagement of the Ghanaian economy, and breaching of the country’s fiscal management laws.

    However, appearing before the committee to answer to the grounds of the motion, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta raised concerns about the language used by the proponents of the censure motion.

    But according to Mr Ablakwa the finance minister by his concern “appears to want to lecture us on language”.

    Referencing a statement by the finance minister in 2013, Mr Ablakwa said Ken Ofori-Atta by saying “the country’s silence on the election petition could trigger a coup” could not raise such an objection.

    Akyem Abuakwa chiefs storm Parliament to support Ofori-Atta as he faces censure committee.

  • How could “absent” Akufo-Addo fire Adu Boahen – Ablakwa quizzes

    Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has questioned the constitutionality behind the sacking of Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen.

    Mr Adu Boahen was relieved of his duties on Monday by President Akufo-Addo following his alleged involvement in some corruption-related activities revealed in an exposé by investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas.

    “The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa  Akufo-Addo, has terminated the appointment of the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Mr Charles Adu Boahen, with immediate effect.

    “After being made aware of the allegations levelled against the Minister in the exposé, “Galamsey Economy,” the President spoke to Mr Adu Boahen, after which he took the decision to terminate his appointment, and also to refer the matter to the Special Prosecutor for further investigations,” a press release from the Presidency on November 14 read.

    However, according to the North Tongu legislator, the President was not in the country when the statement was released, therefore he could not have assented to the Minister’s dismissal or had the authority to direct the termination of Mr Adu Boahen’s appointment.

    He argued that on Monday, the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, was acting as the President in the stead of Nana Akufo-Addo, thus should have been referenced as the authority directing the dismissal of Mr Adu Boahen.

    “From my unimpeachable tracking of President Akufo-Addo; he left Ghana yesterday (Sunday, 13/11/2022) on a private visit to London aboard British Airways.”

    “Considering the constitutional provision under Article 60, which has been further anchored by a Supreme Court pronouncement to the effect that whenever the President is absent from Ghana, the Vice President performs the functions of the President until the President returns, shouldn’t Acting President Bawumia be the one to fire the disgraced Charles Adu Boahen?”

    “Can we be certain that President Akufo-Addo’s purported dismissal of Mr. Adu Boahen today, which is expected to take “immediate effect” per a presidential statement dated November 14, 2022, meets Ghana’s constitutional requirement?” he quizzed.

    Article 60(8) of the 1992 Constitution states that “whenever the President is absent from Ghana or is for any other reason unable to perform the functions of his office, the Vice-President shall perform the functions of the President until the President returns or is able to perform his functions.”

    Reacting to Mr Ablakwa’s concerns, private legal practitioner Samson Lardy Anyenini has explained that the president’s absence from the country does not automatically bar him from performing his presidential functions.

    “The President is not in Ghana, but that does not mean he is incapable of performing his functions while he is away. Obviously, he would have given instructions that this is what ought to be done, and when you are acting, you cannot take such a decision without reference to the president,” he is quoted by MyJoyOnline.com to have said.

    President Akufo-Addo, who left Ghana last Sunday for a two-day private visit to the United Kingdom, will touch down today, Wednesday, November 16, 2022.

    On the other hand, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has distanced himself from the allegations levelled against the former Minister for State at the Finance Ministry.

    Per a post by Anas Aremeyaw Anas, “Charles Adu Boahen, Minister of State in charge of Finance at the Office of the President, has revealed to Tiger Eye that the Vice President, Dr Mahamadu Bawumia, needs just USD200,000 token as an appearance fee and some positions by an investor for the Vice President’s siblings to get his backing and influence in establishing a business in Ghana.”

    Refuting his alleged involvement, the Vice President said, “I am not aware of any such meeting held by Minister Adu Boahen or a supposed “appearance fee.” My most cherished asset in life is my integrity, and I will not allow anyone to use my name to engage in corrupt activities.”

     

    Source: The Independent Ghana|

  • ‘You can’t come and throw your weight about’ – Rundown of the Ablakwa vs. Gabby exchanges

    On the first day of the hearing of Parliament’s ad hoc committee set to investigate a vote of censure motion against Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, there were heated exchanges at different points of the hearing.

    These were either between the chairmen and members or between ordinary members and in some instances between the chairmen and the lawyer for the embattled minister as well as between members and the minister’s lawyer, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko.

    One of the stand-out episodes was between Gabby and a committee member in the person of Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the North Tongu Member of Parliament.

    The trigger was when the MP started asking questions about supposed government expenditure that could be said to have led to fiscal recklessness, one of the grounds against which the Minority is seeking to remove the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.

    While Ablakwa attempted to use the National Cathedral project to buttress his point, Gabby interjected stating that the MP would be better off using a press conference for what looked like a political issue which was not stated in the seven-point censure motion.

    This triggered an over two-minute back and forth between the two men as other members of the committee and the chairmen moved in to mediate.

    Read the full transcript of the exchange below:

    Gabby: he can hold a press conference to deal with those matters, I think that we are here for specific reasons, grounds have been stated, let’s stick to that. You know, we are not here for… it is not a political platform to make some political pronouncements. These are serious allegations, they are serious allegations, please, please

    Ablakwa: Chairman, I think he would not teach me how to do my work in Parliament, this is Parliament. You can’t teach me how to do my work in Parliament.

    Gabby: No, there are rules here

    Ablakwa: No, no, no. You won’t teach me how to do my work. No, no, no, he can’t come here and throw his weight around. He can’t teach me how to do my work. I take strong exception that I should go and hold a press conference. I won’t accept that.

    Gabby: I am only 78 kilos, I am not going to throw it about.

    Ablakwa: And you are not the chair, you don’t tell members what to do.

    KT Hammond: Sammy, we appreciate the point you want to make.

    Ablakwa: I will do my work, I am not going to hold a press conference, you will not teach me how to do my work.

    Mr. Chairman, I think that those who appear before this committee must be guided. We work with Standing Orders and if you go through our Standing Orders, this committee can decide not to hear strangers.

    KT Hammond: Who is the stranger now?

    Ablakwa: Once you are not a member of Parliament, this is how the Standing Order describes him. That is how the Standing Orders describe them. You can’t come and say we should go and hold a press conference, we are working and we are here to do a job, so, please. Let that be clear.

    KT Hammond: Yeah, that’s fine, it’s clear.

    Source: Ghanaweb.com 

  • Censure committee sittings to probe Ofori-Atta to be televised live

    Ad hoc committee made up of eight people and appointed by Speaker of the House Alban Bagbin to look into the troubled Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta will begin meeting today, according to a committee member.

    The North Tongu member of parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, announced on social media that sessions will be open to the public and live streamed.

    He claims that doing so will eventually uphold accountability and openness.

    “The Ken Ofori-Atta Vote of Censure Parliamentary Committee will commence sittings tomorrow 15/11/22 at 11 am.

    “It’s an absolute delight to announce that the committee shall sit in public & all proceedings will be broadcast live in the true spirit of transparency & accountability,” his post read.

    Speaker sets up ad hoc Committee over Ofori-Atta censure motion

    Alban Bagbin, on Thursday, November 10 announced an ad hoc committee to probe allegations in a vote of censure motion against the embattled Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.

    The 8-member ad hoc committee was constituted with Members of Parliament elected by the leadership of both sides of the House.

    Their main task is to probe the seven allegations contained in the censure motion filed late last month by Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu, which motion is seeking the removal of Ofori-Atta from office.

    The committee is expected to submit a report within 7 days.

    The composition of the committee is as follows:

    It will be chaired by Member of Parliament (MP) for Adansi Asokwa, Kobina Tahir (K.T.) Hammond and the MP for Bolgatanga Dominic Akuritinga Ayine.

    The three members from the Minority side are:

    MP for North Tongu; Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa;

    MP for Korle Klottey, Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings; and

    MP for Akatsi South, Bernard Ahiafor.

    From the Majority caucus, the members include:

    MP for Okaikwei Central, Patrick Yaw Boamah;

    MP for Asante-Akim Central, Michael Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi; and

    MP for Sekondi, Andrew Kofi Agyapa Mercer.

    How motion of censure against Ofori-Atta was argued

    The Minority Leader filed a motion of censure late last month against Minister for Finance Ken Ofori-Atta.

    The motion was duly admitted by Speaker Alban Bagbin and on November 10, the motion was moved by Haruna Iddrisu to trigger debate and a vote on same.

    Speaker Bagbin, however, in his interpretation of the rules the Minority relied on referred the issue to an 8-member ad hoc committee formed to probe the Minority’s claims against the Finance Minister.

    The committee co-chaired by Dominic Ayine (NDC) and KT Hammond (NPP) is expected to present their report in seven-days, following which the House will proceed with the censure process or otherwise.

    Below are the seven-points for which the Minority want Ofori-Atta censured:

    a. Despicable conflict of interest ensuring that he directly benefits from Ghana’s economic woes as his companies receive commissions and other unethical contractual advantages particularly from Ghana’s debt overhang

    b. Unconstitutional withdrawals from the Consolidated Fund in blatant contravention of Article 178 of the 1992 Constitution, supposedly for the construction of the President’s Cathedral.

    c. Illegal payment of oil revenues into offshore accounts, in flagrant violation of Article 176 of the 1992 Constitution.

    d. Deliberate and dishonest misreporting of economic data to Parliament

    e. Fiscal recklessness leading to the crash of the Ghana Cedi which is currently the worst-performing currency in the world

    f. Alarming incompetence and frightening ineptitude, resulting in the collapse of the Ghanaian economy and an excruciating cost of living crisis

    g. Gross mismanagement of the Ghanaian economy which has occasioned untold and unprecedented hardship

  • Ofori-Atta censure committee sittings will be public, broadcast live

    The eight-member ad hoc committee set up by Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, to probe embattled Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta will start sitting today, a member of the committee has announced.

    Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Member of Parliament for North Tongu, in a social media post revealed that sittings will be public and also broadcast live.

    According to him, doing so will ultimately be in the spirit of transparency and accountability.

    “The Ken Ofori-Atta Vote of Censure Parliamentary Committee will commence sittings tomorrow 15/11/22 at 11 am.

    “It’s an absolute delight to announce that the committee shall sit in public & all proceedings will be broadcast live in the true spirit of transparency & accountability,” his post read.

    Speaker sets up ad hoc Committee over Ofori-Atta censure motion

    Alban Bagbin, on Thursday, November 10 announced an ad hoc committee to probe allegations in a vote of censure motion against the embattled Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.

    The 8-member ad hoc committee was constituted with Members of Parliament elected by the leadership of both sides of the House.

    Their main task is to probe the seven allegations contained in the censure motion filed late last month by Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu, which motion is seeking the removal of Ofori-Atta from office.

    The committee is expected to submit a report within 7 days.

    The composition of the committee is as follows:

    It will be chaired by Member of Parliament (MP) for Adansi Asokwa, Kobina Tahir (K.T.) Hammond and the MP for Bolgatanga Dominic Akuritinga Ayine.

    The three members from the Minority side are:

    MP for North Tongu; Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa;

    MP for Korle Klottey, Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings; and

    MP for Akatsi South, Bernard Ahiafor.

    From the Majority caucus, the members include:

    MP for Okaikwei Central, Patrick Yaw Boamah;

    MP for Asante-Akim Central, Michael Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi; and

    MP for Sekondi, Andrew Kofi Agyapa Mercer.

    How motion of censure against Ofori-Atta was argued

    The Minority Leader filed a motion of censure late last month against Minister for Finance Ken Ofori-Atta.

    The motion was duly admitted by Speaker Alban Bagbin and on November 10, the motion was moved by Haruna Iddrisu to trigger debate and a vote on same.

    Speaker Bagbin, however, in his interpretation of the rules the Minority relied on referred the issue to an 8-member ad hoc committee formed to probe the Minority’s claims against the Finance Minister.

    The committee co-chaired by Dominic Ayine (NDC) and KT Hammond (NPP) is expected to present their report in seven-days, following which the House will proceed with the censure process or otherwise.

    Below are the seven-points for which the Minority want Ofori-Atta censured:

    a. Despicable conflict of interest ensuring that he directly benefits from Ghana’s economic woes as his companies receive commissions and other unethical contractual advantages particularly from Ghana’s debt overhang

    b. Unconstitutional withdrawals from the Consolidated Fund in blatant contravention of Article 178 of the 1992 Constitution, supposedly for the construction of the President’s Cathedral.

    c. Illegal payment of oil revenues into offshore accounts, in flagrant violation of Article 176 of the 1992 Constitution.

    d. Deliberate and dishonest misreporting of economic data to Parliament

    e. Fiscal recklessness leading to the crash of the Ghana Cedi which is currently the worst-performing currency in the world

    f. Alarming incompetence and frightening ineptitude, resulting in the collapse of the Ghanaian economy and an excruciating cost of living crisis

    g. Gross mismanagement of the Ghanaian economy which has occasioned untold and unprecedented hardship

     

    The Ken Ofori-Atta Vote of Censure Parliamentary Committee will commence sittings tomorrow 15/11/22 at 11am.

    It’s an absolute delight to announce that the committee shall sit in public & all proceedings will be broadcast live in the true spirit of transparency & accountability.

     

    — Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa (@S_OkudzetoAblak) November 14, 2022

  • Akufo-Addo avoided €20,000-an-hour luxury jets – Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa

    President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has been commended for avoiding his usual expensive luxury jets to fly commercially during his recent Ghana-Egypt-USA trip.

    According to Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who has serially tracked presidential travels for the past two years, the president for the longest period avoided flying a €20,000-an-hour luxury jet.

    The North Tongu lawmaker indicated further that Akufo-Addo in his entire itinerary flew commercially until he arrived home on Friday, November 11, 2022, aboard British Airways.

    He is hopeful that since the country is seeking an IMF bailout, the president will continue flying commercially to save the Ghanaian taxpayer millions of cedis.

    “Since we started our unimpeachable tracking of President Akufo-Addo’s condemnable oligarchic travels some 2 years ago, this has been the longest period he’s avoided €20,000-an-hour luxury jets.

    “I can confirm that on his latest Ghana-Egypt-USA trip, the President flew commercial during his entire itinerary and returned Friday night (11/11/2022) aboard British Airways flight BA81 at 8:57 PM,” Samuel Okudzeto Ablakaw’s post on Sunday, November 13 read.

    “We all sincerely hope President Akufo-Addo will continue on this responsible path of saving the Ghanaian taxpayer millions of Cedis, especially when the IMF bailout arrives, he said.

    “We shall keep tracking, for God and Country. Ghana must be really broke,” Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa stressed.

  • Akufo-Addo avoided €20,000-an-hour luxury jets – Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa

    President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has been commended for avoiding his usual expensive luxury jets to fly commercially during his recent Ghana-Egypt-USA trip.

    According to Samuel Okudz Ablakwa, who has serially tracked presidential travels for the past two years, the president for the longest period avoided flying a €20,000-an-hour luxury jet.

    The North Tongu lawmaker indicated further that Akufo-Addo in his entire itinerary flew commercially until he arrived home on Friday, November 11, 2022, aboard British Airways.

    He is hopeful that since the country is seeking an IMF bailout, the president will continue flying commercially to save the Ghanaian taxpayer millions of cedis.

    “Since we started our unimpeachable tracking of President Akufo-Addo’s condemnable oligarchic travels some 2 years ago, this has been the longest period he’s avoided €20,000-an-hour luxury jets.

    “I can confirm that on his latest Ghana-Egypt-USA trip, the President flew commercial during his entire itinerary and returned Friday night (11/11/2022) aboard British Airways flight BA81 at 8:57 PM,” Samuel Okudzeto Ablakaw’s post on Sunday, November 13 read.

    “We all sincerely hope President Akufo-Addo will continue on this responsible path of saving the Ghanaian taxpayer millions of Cedis, especially when the IMF bailout arrives, he said.

    “We shall keep tracking, for God and Country. Ghana must be really broke,” Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa stressed.

  • Auditor-General recovers GH¢2.2 billion – Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa alleges

    Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa (MP) North Tongu, has indicated that a total of GH¢2.2 billion, have been retrieved by the Auditor-General, A-G, Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu.

    The said amount, according to him, was looted from the public funds by some state officials between 2017 and 2020.

    He, therefore, assured the A-G of the support from Parliament in the pursuit of the outstanding GH¢2.5 billion which is currently in the wrong pockets.

    “I must re-echo my high praise for the current Auditor-General, Mr. Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu for retrieving a colossal GH¢2.2billion of public funds from indicted officials who looted between 2017 & 2020,” Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa’s Friday, November 11, 2022 post read.

    “As he acknowledges @ [at] page 3 of his special report to Parliament this week, he can continue to count on Parliament in the pursuit of the outstanding GHS2.5billion in wrong pockets, and in the general discharge of his mandate.

    “My only reservation from his report though is the seeming hesitation to name and shame individual culprits beyond listing Ministries and Departments.

    “Quite obviously, with more retrievals and genuine protection of the battered public purse, Ghana wouldn’t have to return to the IMF.
    We need a new paradigm,” he concluded.

    Source: Ghanaweb

  • Why Okudzeto Ablakwa thinks Akufo-Addo’s economy address was ‘wasteful’

    Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the NDC’s MP for the North Tongu Constituency, has emphasized that it is dishonorable for President Nana Akufo-Addo to avoid taking responsibility for the nation’s current economic problems in his address to the nation.

    The outspoken politician claimed that the President’s economic speech was “wasteful” since he failed to fire some inept administrators from his administration in an interview with NEAT FM’s morning show “Ghana Montie”.

    He said to host Akwesi Aboagye, “Prior to the speech, the President should have removed his Finance Minister.”

    The North Tongu member added that a lean government is now more important than ever given Ghana’s chaotic economy.

    “I am disappointed President Akufo-Addo didn’t take responsibility and apologised to the people for taking them through excruciating pain.

    “Countries with good leadership and sound policies are having a resilient economy in these times.

    “We need a lean government in these times. 40% of appointees in this government can go,” Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa added.

  • GH¢1.3 billion of Ghana’s oil revenues missing – Ablakwa cites A-G’s report

    Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a member of parliament for North Tongu, has drawn attention to unreported oil money from the 2021 Auditor-report. General’s

    Ablakwa used Page 10 of the report when he said that GH1.3 billion in revenue could not be accounted for.

    In a post on social media dated October 29, 2022, he stated, “The Auditor-General claims he cannot vouch for the “accuracy and completeness of income numbers” under Ken Ofori-Atta’s.

    His post continued: “Page 10 of the AG’s 2021 audit report on General Government reveals that whereas Ken’s ministry insists that our 2021 oil revenue (ABFA) was GH¢2,061,122,607.00, the Controller and Accountant-General reports GH¢3,368,095,788 in its statement of financial performance. That represents a staggering discrepancy of some GHS1.3billion.

    “Ken Ofori-Atta should definitely go and quickly he must; however, when he’s gone, we will need a major forensic probe into his entire tenure,” the Ranking Member on Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee stressed.

    The Finance Minister has come under sustained pressure to be relieved of his post with two significant issues raised against him internally and from without.

    A group of 80 MPs held a press conference demanding Ofori-Atta’s removal as Minister citing the economic downturn the country is grappling with.

    The president has since exacted a deal with the Majority Caucus in Parliament to stand down the request and allow Ofori-Atta time to undertake two crucial tasks before a decision on him leaving is taken.

    On the same day, October 25, the Minority Caucus filed a vote of censure motion against the embattled Finance Minister seeking to remove him through relevant Parliamentary processes.

  • Economic hardships: Suspend your regional tours immediately – Ablakwa to Akufo-Addo

    The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has called on President Akufo-Addo to suspend his regional tours immediately.

    The MP, in a tweet on Thursday, October 20, 2022, stated that the president cannot travel around the country as the citizens’ hardships continue to worsen.

    The MP, who was particularly worried about the current rapid rate of depreciation of the Ghana Cedi, said the cedi’s performance should be treated as a national security threat.

    He added that Akufo-Addo should, as a matter of urgency, fire his finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, and start consultative engagement with all stakeholders across the political divide to help find solutions to the difficulties Ghanaians are going through.

    “The total crash of the Cedi must be seen as a major national security threat.

    “Prez Akufo-Addo should immediately suspend his regional booing tours, sack his Finance Minister, dissolve his failed EMT & convene a non-partisan emergency economic rescue forum to harvest fresh ideas,” the tweet the MP shared read.

    On Friday, October 21, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo began a three-day tour to the Eastern Region to commission completed projects, inspect ongoing ones and interact with traditional authorities of the area.

    The Eastern Region tour comes days after the president’s tour of the Ashanti Region, which made news headlines after Akufo-Addo was hooted at by some factions in the party’s stronghold over the economic hardship in the country.

    President Akufo-Addo and his government have come under heavy scrutiny for failing to address the current economic challenges in the country.

    The prices of goods and services have been continuously rising all year round, with inflation currently hovering over 37 per cent.

    The Ghana cedi has been ranked the worst currency in the world among 148 currencies tracked by Bloomberg, overtaking Sri Lanka’s rupee, having depreciated by nearly 50 per cent so far in 2022.

  • Akufo-Addo has packed public sector with retirees – Ablakwa

    Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has criticised the Akufo-Addo administration for engaging retirees in the public sector while qualified young persons are being overlooked.

    For Mr Ablakwa, Ghana should not have such a high number of retirees in the public sector in the face of high youth unemployment made worse by the current economic crisis.

    “A country facing record high unemployment as captured by the 2021 Population and Housing Census of 13.4% and 32.8% for those aged 15-24 which is further aggravated by the current debilitating economic crisis should not be keeping so many retirees on contract in the public service.

    So far, I have counted hundreds of these retirees who have been engaged on multiple post-retirement contracts by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government when they should be home enjoying their pensions instead of denying many qualified young Ghanaians employment opportunities,” he stated.

    He pointed out that in the Civil and Local Government Services alone, there are over 60 retirees on contract, while the number is high in other sectors. This, he stressed, is a barrier to persons interested in working in the public sector, stifles career progression and lowers morale among serving public sector workers.

    “There are as many as 63 retirees on contract within the Civil and Local Government Services as of today, and even more than this number under other public sector categories.

    Apart from serving as a blockade to prospective young Ghanaians with public sector ambitions, the phenomenon is stifling career progression and lowering morale in Ghana’s public sector,” he noted.

    Ablakwa added that some of the contracts of these retirees are unconstitutional, asking that the president terminate the contracts of all the retirees.

    “…Equally troubling — some of those contracts we are reviewing are palpably unconstitutional.

    President Akufo-Addo must immediately terminate all these contracts, ensure he thanks our retirees for their dedicated service and endeavour to honour them with a befitting send-off and urgently fill the vacancies to be created through a transparent, credible and meritorious recruitment process for our suffering youth — as we demand that this time he eschews his reckless penchant for Family/Friends/Akonta shenanigans,” he concluded.

    Several other persons, notably journalist Johnnie Hughes have complained about the issue of the engagement of retirees when younger qualified persons abound.

  • It’s sad Kwasi Kwarteng has been sacked while Ofori-Atta is still at post – Ablakwa

    Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, has expressed his disappointment that Kwasi Kwarteng, the UK’s finance minister, was removed just six weeks after Kwasi Ofori-Atta, Ghana’s finance minister, was appointed.

    Ablakwa criticized President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for neglecting to dismiss Ofori-Atta, whom he claims is to blame for the current economic difficulties in the nation, in a tweet posted on Friday, October 14, 2022.

    He implied that despite the finance minister’s poor handling of Ghana’s economy, the president never fires him and instead consistently defends and praises him.

    “Kwasi Kwarteng hasn’t done a fraction of the damage Ken Ofori-Atta has caused the Ghanaian economy but he gets to be sacked and Ken is showered with praises from his family member, President Akufo-Addo as Ghanaians languish in more pain,” parts of the MP’s tweet read.

    Ablakwa made these remarks while reacting to news reports that Britain’s Finance Minister, Kwasi Kwarteng had been sacked, following a meeting with Prime Minister Liz Truss at Downing Street on Friday, October 14, 2022.

    Meanwhile, Kwasi Kwarteng has written to the Prime Minister of the UK, Liz Truss, indicating that he has accepted her decision to sack him.

    “You have asked me to stand aside as your Chancellor. I have accepted.

    “When you asked me to serve as your Chancellor, I did so in full knowledge that the situation we faced was incredibly difficult, with rising global interest rates and energy prices. However, your vision of optimism, growth and change was right.

    “As I have said many times in the past weeks, following the status quo was simply not an option,” parts of Kwarteng’s letter read.

  • 931 Ghanaian visas issued to Chinese nationals in Q2 of 2022 – Embassy

    The Ghanaian Embassy in China has issued a total of 931 Ghanaian visas to Chinese nationals from April to June 2022.

    This, is according to information contained in the 2022-Second Quarter Performance Report from Ghana’s Embassy in China, disseminated by Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, via social media.

    “Four travel certificates were also issued (majority of the TC’s were issued on gratis to our passports and required TC’s to facilitate their return home). Nine hundred (99) and thirty-one (31) visas were issued,” portions of the document dated July 21, 2022, read.

    The embassy also noted that during the period under review, it processed and issued sixty-six (66) passports and thirty-two (32) authentications.

    Mr Ablakwa, after sharing this information, expressed concern at the number of visas issued in such a short period.

    He indicated that, “unimpeachable evidence available to” him “confirms that a good number of these visa applications are of dubious and fraudulent validity and should not have been entertained by” Ghana’s missions in Beijing.

    The North Tongu legislator predicted that at this pace, a “staggering” four thousand (4,000) Ghanaian visas would have been issued to Chinese nationals by end of 2022.

    Mr Ablakwa attributed the source of his worry to the number of foreigners, particularly Chinese, found engaging in illegal mining activities in the country.

    In his post, he recalled the words of former Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Shi Ting Wang who famously remarked in April 2019 that “Ghanaians must acknowledge their role in the menace if the fight was to be successful. We don’t know where your gold is. We don’t issue visas too for the Chinese people coming to Ghana. Ghanaians issue the visas.”

    “Ghanaians aid the Chinese to where they can find your gold. Why are Chinese not doing illegal mining in South Africa where there is also a lot of gold…because they cannot do that there and the locals don’t support such illegalities,” Mr Wang is quoted to have added.

    Chinese national, Aisha Huang, known to be a galamsey kingpin, is currently in police custody with her several accomplices, the majority of them being Chinese, for allegedly engaging in illegal mining activities and the sale and purchase of minerals without a licence.

    Aisha Huang was arrested and tried in 2017 for engaging in similar illegl mining activities.

    Per recent reports, she was repatriated in 2018 and not deported as earlier reported by former Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Marfo. Meanwhile, Mr Okudzeto Ablakwa has called on President Akufo-Addo and the Foreign Affairs Minister, Mrs Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey to issue new policy directives streamlining visa approval processes for the strict compliance of consular officials in China.

    “This ought to be a crucial intervention in the face of the current galamsey crisis,” he stressed.

    Source: The Independent Ghana

  • Aisha Huang has employed only NPP lawyers since 2017 – Ablakwa provides evidence

    Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has observed a close relationship between illegal small-scale mining kingpin, Aisha Huang and lawyers belonging to the governing New Patriotic Party, NPP.

    Ablakwa, while commenting on the recent disclosure that four accomplices standing trial with Ms. Huang in a case before the Accra Circuit Court, were represented by immediate past NPP National Chairman, Freddie Blay; said he wasn’t in the least surprised.

    He revealed that as far back as 2017, when Huang got entangled in legal issues, her first two lawyers were affiliated with the NPP but the government pushed for a change in lawyers for Huang.

    “After her first arrest, Aisha Huang’s earlier lawyers of choice were Mr. Bernard Owiredu Donkor and Mr. Ellis Owusu-Fordwouh,” Ablakwa said in a post dated October 12.

    The former he noted went on to become the NPP’s Parliamentary Candidate for Akwatia in the 2020 General Elections.

    Aisha Huang’s current lawyer is a former Berekum MP, Nkrabeah Effah Dartey, who has been her representative since 2018.

    It emerged only yesterday that Freddie Blay was the main lawyer for Huang’s four co-accused in a case related to galamsey.

    Lucy Ekeleba Blay, a private legal practitioner, said she was holding brief for Freddie Blay in the case of the four accomplices in the persons of Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go and Zhang Zhipeng.

    The plea of three of the accused persons has been taken with that of the last deferred due to the unavailability of a Vietnamese translator.

    Meanwhile, Godfred Yeboah Dame, the Attorney-General, indicated to the court the state’s readiness to expeditiously dispose of the case and will be willing to try the case on a day-after-day basis.

    He observed that the judge superintending over the case has “also indicated his inclination to conduct the case in that manner.”

    “In respect of Aisha Huang, we have filed most of the documents to be relied on, we have filed witness statements of four witnesses. We only need to fill about four more,” Dame added.

    Source: Ghanaweb

  • If You Know What I Know, You Won’t Be Surprised That Freddie Blay Is The Lawyer For Aisha Haung

    The MP for North Tongu Constituency Honaroble Samuel Okudzeto has added his voice to Freddie Blay representing Aisha Huang in her galamsey activities against the state.

    In a post shared on his official Facebook page on Wednesday, 12th October 2022, he wrote;

    “Those who know what I know won’t be the least surprised that former NPP National Chairman, Mr. Freddie Blay is the new lawyer for Aisha Huang’s accomplices.

    After her first arrest, Aisha Huang’s earlier lawyers of choice were Mr. Bernard Owiredu Donkor and Mr. Ellis Owusu-Fordwouh.”

    According to Okudzeto, Messrs Donkor and Owusu-Fordwouh appeared for Aisha Huang and her other four accused Chinese nationals on numerous occasions at Criminal High Court 4 from July 21, 2017, before His Lordship Justice Charles Edward Ekow Baiden until that knavish January 2018 Mövenpick Ambassador Hotel Accra meeting where the powers that be strangely issued strict instructions about their preferred lawyer for Aisha Huang. They mentioned Nkrabeah Effah Darteh as the lawyer government was more comfortable with.

    That is how Aisha Huang dropped her earlier lawyers and accepted Effah Darteh. (I shall reserve for another day further details of what fully transpired at that unethical and diabolical meeting which was convened and chaired by a prominent Deputy Minister).

     

    Soon after the devious Mövenpick meeting, Nkrabeah Effah Darteh, who was described as government’s preferred lawyer, took over the case and actively appeared in court on multiple occasions defending Aisha Huang and her accomplices on 26th February, 2018; 14th March, 2018; 22nd March, 2018; 23rd March, 2018; 5th July, 2018; 11th July, 2018; 13th July, 2018 and 1st November, 2018.

    Nkrabeah Effah Darteh was also present in court on December 19, 2018 when the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government filed its infamous and treacherous nolle prosequi making Aisha Huang and her collaborators free as they were discharged immediately.

    Okudzeto added that this government must really have such a special interest in the Aisha Huang affair that it always schemes under bizarre, nefarious, unpatriotic and destructive circumstances to ensure that only a certain calibre of “trusted” and “preferred” lawyers associate closely with the Aisha Huang case.

    “Instructively, it is clear to me government is more concerned about managing sensitive information and containing the spread of dangerous secrets about the Aisha Huang debacle even more than the damage negative public perception about an immediate past NPP Chairman defending Aisha Huang’s accomplices can do to its already sordid image.” He added.

    The trickery, political chicanery and galamsey shenanigans will be exposed and totally defeated soon — real Judgment Day is coming.

    Source: Opera News

  • Government consciously shielding main culprit in Bulgarian Embassy demolition – Ablakwa

    The North Tongu MP says government is deliberately not implementing the recommendation of the Sole Inquirer’s Report on the demolishing of the Bulgarian Embassy.

    According to Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, government is shielding the main culprit in the matter, as established in the report.

    He believes government must as a matter of urgency get the “chief perpetrator” arrested and made to pay for the cost, so the relationship between the two countries is not jeopardised.

    In a social media post on Thursday, he insisted that the accused is one Jojo Hagan.

    The Ranking Member on Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee thus cautioned the government not to use state funds to settle the debt caused.

    “Government has consciously refused to inform the Ghanaian public that the chief perpetrator of the illegal demolition as identified by the Sole Inquirer; one Albert Jojo Hagan has been on the run and could not be located by the Sole Inquirer.”

    Government consciously shielding main culprit in Bulgarian Embassy demolition - Ablakwa
    Demolished Bulgarian Embassy

    “So far, due to government’s seeming complicity in the mysterious Jojo Hagan disappearance narrative and their lack of interest in finding him, government has failed in keeping its pledge to the Bulgarians to secure compensation for the illegal demolition of their embassy, and their patience appears to be running out.”

    The Bulgarian Embassy, located at Kakramadu Road, Plot No. 10, East Cantonments in Accra, was partly demolished by a private developer in 2017.

    Government consciously shielding main culprit in Bulgarian Embassy demolition - Ablakwa
    Demolished Bulgarian Embassy

    The Bulgarian Ambassador to Ghana and Nigeria, Yanko Yordanov, then accused the Ghanaian government of breaching the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and warned of far-reaching implications on diplomatic relationships with Ghana.

    Government consciously shielding main culprit in Bulgarian Embassy demolition - Ablakwa
    Demolished Bulgarian Embassy

    The government commissioned an inquiry into the matter, which recommended sanctions against the supposed private developer who caused the destruction of the Embassy’s building.

    The developer has also been directed to pay compensation to affected persons.

    The private developer, Jojo Hagan, is said to have taken over as the Executor of the Will of one Mr. Leighton and vested the property in the named beneficiaries of the Will while pursuing the cases in court.

    He also obtained judgment for the eviction of the occupants whom he described as trespassers, and an order to demolish the property which he described as unfit for human habitation, at the Circuit Court, Accra.

    The inquiry found that the eviction and demolition did not follow due process.

    Source: Myjoyonline

     

  • Ablakwa draws contrast between Ofori-Atta and UK’s Kwasi Kwarteng

    Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a member of parliament for North Tongu, has noted a notable difference between Kwasi Kwarteng, a finance minister of Ghanaian heritage serving in the UK government, and Ken Ofori-Atta, the finance minister of Ghana.

    He claimed that the former is “stiff-necked” and unyielding in his decisions, whilst the latter is more humble to acknowledge his mistakes and make adjustments.

    Ablakwa’s comment comes on the back of a U-turn made by the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance Minister), Kwasi Kwarteng, on plans to cut the 45p rate of income tax – a move which saw a revolt by Tory MPs – hours before his speech to the Conservative party conference, BBC reported

    The cut according to UK’s Evening Standard would have seen abolishing the tax rate for people earning more than £150,000 in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.

    In a Facebook post on October 3, Ablakwa said Ofori-Atta has remained headstrong despite the fact that the economy under his stead has seen downgrades from rating agencies.

    He wrote: “it seems to me of the two under fire Ghanaian Finance Ministers, Kwasi Kwarteng has the humility to listen and concede quickly that he got it wrong while his counterpart, Ken Ofori-Atta remains stiff-necked, intransigent and adamant as he attracts more calamitous downgrades”.

    Ghana’s economy has fared badly in the last couple of months with economists pointing to record high inflation rates, fuel price hikes, and the Cedi depreciation as the basis for their claim.

    Government has consistently blamed the situation on the ravages of Covid-19 and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war but has assured that it is implementing measures to mitigate the impact such as seeking an IMF programme in the interim.

    This has been occasioned by downgrades from rating agencies such as Fitch and Standards and Poor. Recently, the International rating firm, Moody’s Investors Service also downgraded Ghana’s long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings to Caa2 from Caa1 and placed the ratings on review for downgrade.

    According to Moodys, the downgrade reflects the recent macroeconomic deterioration of Ghana’s economy which resulted in further heightening of the government’s liquidity, debt sustainability difficulties and posing an increased risk of debt default.

    “Without external support, the government’s policy levers to arrest a worsening macroeconomic backdrop and heavier debt burden are extremely limited; the government’s small revenue base, large and increasingly absorbed by interest payments, further intensifies the policy dilemma between competing objectives, including servicing debt while meeting essential social needs,” Moody’s said on its official website on September 30, 2022.

    It however explained that the initiation of the review for downgrade is prompted by the ongoing negotiations between the government of Ghana and the IMF over a funding programme that may include a condition for debt restructuring to ensure debt sustainability.

  • Okudzeto Ablakwa donates medical equipment to Korle-Bu neurosurgery unit

    Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has made a donation of medical equipment to the neurosurgery unit at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.

    The donation, made on Friday, September 30, 2022, follows similar benevolence the MP has previously shown to the Saint Anne Catholic Polyclinic in Tagadzi of the North Tongu Constituency and the Volta Regional Hospital in Ho to augment healthcare delivery to his constituents.

    Upon realising holistic healthcare goes beyond medical facilities in his district, Mr Ablakwa extended his donation tradition to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in the Greater Accra Region.

    “I believe in integrated solutions. Whatever you do, you must recognise that there will be complicated cases; there will be special cases that will require a referral and if you think that you are an island and you are okay, when those moments arise, you will be found wanting,” he said.

    The lawmaker also mentioned an international partner which aids in these efforts.

    “So, in putting the package together, we said that – why not take advantage of this network we have established with our partners in the United State of America, an institution called Suppliers Overseas, who we spoke to and signed an MOU with and have agreed to partner them. So, we only made a contribution which is just about 20% of the actual cost if we were to pay fully. And, so, we said that instead of being myopic or narrow minded, why not ensure that you have full advantage and full impact across the entire spectrum?” he explained.

    Mr Ablakwa furthered pointed out his team liaised with the leadership of the neurosurgery unit at Korle-Bu to determine the exact needs of the facility in order not to create a white elephant; that is, donate equipment that will not be needed by the facility.

    Expressing appreciation, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr Opoku Ware Ampomah, said the hospital has many logistical challenges hence donations such as Mr Ablakwa’s go a long way to addressing some of the shortfalls in the facility. He also appealed to all who are capable to emulate the gesture of the North Tongu MP.

    “This is somebody who has put his mouth where it matters – in the sense that he has taken a step and he is contributing to making a difference. So, those of you watching us and those corporate entities, what are you doing?” he challenged.

    “We know that this is not the only place he is supporting but so many other interventions he is doing as an individual MP and I believe that it is a very good example that others should emulate,” Dr Ampomah added.

    The head of neurosurgery at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr Hadi Mohammed Abdallah, could not hide his joy as he noted it was probably his first time seeing some of the equipment donated.

    He bemoaned also that the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, arguably, has the best brains in the sub-region but is bedeviled by logistical shortfall.

    “When things like these are donated, it makes a big difference,” Dr Abdallah noted.

    “What you see here is Aneurism Set for those who could easily bleed in the brain from an abnormal cell in the brain and I can tell you that such surgery is not done in any part of West Africa, but, we have experts here who can do this. This is really a surprise to me because he [MP Ablakwa] didn’t mention it to me,” Dr Abdallah continued.

    Korlebu Turns 99 in October

    The Korle-Bu Teachoing Hospital was established on Monday, October 9, 1923, and the hospital has grown from an initial 200 bed capacity to over 2,000.

    It is currently the third largest hospital in Africa and the leading national referral centre in Ghana.

    It has over the years been faced with many logistical challenges and over congestion.

    The congestion, the CEO of the hospital explained, is as a result of the low cost the facility charges the public for its services as many of the services the facility renders are very expensive in other hospitals.

    Source: Classfmonline