| News Home (Main Page) | | African Newspaper | | LATEST WORLD NEWS | | | Ghanaian Media: | | Public Agenda | | GNA-Ghana News Agen. | The Statesman | | | | NEWS ARCHIVE 2009 | | NEWS ARCHIVE 2008 | | NEWS ARCHIVE 2007 | | PHOTO REPORTS | | VIDEO REPORTS | | ARTS in GHANA | | Food & Drinks in Ghana | | Africa Cup 2008 | | Ghana Hotels | | Links / Websites | | Ghana Districts | | Ghana Tourism | | Ghana Classifieds | Names in Ghana | | | | * 11.01.2010 | | Castle Whips Rawlings | Days after perceived supporters of President Evans Atta Mills were painfully defeated by loyalists of the founder of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Flt, Lt. Jerry John Rawlings, at the Greater Accra Regional Conference of the party, the scale has turned in favour of the former, as his loyalists have swept all executive positions at the youth and women congresses held at Sunyani and Winneba respectively.
At the National Youth Conference at Sunyani, where Mr. Kofi Adams, an aide to Mr. Rawlings, assumed the position of campaign manager for Abubakar Sidii.
Mr. Ludwig Akpene Hlodze, also an aide to President Mills, polled 385 votes as against Sidii’s 298, to wear the shoes of Mr Haruna Iddrisu, as National Youth Organizer. Whilst perceived supporters of the nation’s Chief Executive were sweeping all the positions at the National Youth Congress, the same story was being told at the Women’s Conference.
Ms. Anita De-Souza, a known ‘enemy’ of the former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, polled 175 votes to become the party’s National Women’s Organizer replacing, Mad Ama Benyiwa-Doe, now the Central Regional Minister.
Though the machinery of 31st December Women’s Movement was allegedly used to support Mad. Doris Adoo, she still lost miserably to Anita De-Souza, a former deputy propaganda secretary
Others who contested for the position were Alice Boom, a former legislator, and Ms. Mariam Sinare Anita De-Souza indicated her preparedness to transform the women’s wing of the NDC. She commended the delegates for reposing confidence in her. On his part, the National Youth Organiser, Mr. Ludwig Hlodze, whose deputy, Babara Serwah Asamoah, also beat Mr. Courage Kobby Barlon with a slim margin to win the position, noted that he was ready to work with all his competitors in the supreme interest of the NDC.
According to him, the youth wing needed to adopt and plan a strategy to identify the potentials of the youth, and maximize it.
“We are going to champion the youth in agriculture projects and other areas that we shall deem fit for the growth of the youth.” He said. At the conference, the former national organizer, Mr. Haruna Iddrisu, now the Minister of Communications, commended the youth for support his tenure, and urged the party members to rally behind the new leaders.
A lot of ministers and deputy ministers were in attendance to witness the election. They include Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a deputy Minister of Information, Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, deputy Minister of Local government, Dr. Hannah Bissiw, deputy Minister of Water and Housing, Dr. Omani Boamah, Deputy Minister of Science, Environment and Technology, and Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, a vice chairmanship contender. Loyalists of President Mills have declared that they would not sit down unconcerned, for people to pluck individuals that could help transform the fortunes of the party.
Members of the party were awakened when Danny Anang, and aspiring national vice chairman of the NDC, suffered defeat as the Greater Accra Regional Chairman, when agents of the former first family openly campaigned against Danny Anang in the full glare of prominent members of the party. Source: The Chronicle/Ghana | | > BACK to TOP < | Court fines fisherman for stealing * Source: GNA | A Sekondi District Magistrate’s Court, has imposed a fine of GH¢600 on Joseph Anoma, a 17-year old fisherman at Asemando, Sekondi for stealing.
The accused, who pleaded guilty with explanation, would serve three months imprisonment in hard labour if he fails to pay the fine.
He was also bonded to be of good behaviour for 24 months or in default go to jail for three months in hard labour.
The prosecution told the court that at about 0200 hours on January 3 this year, the complainant, Ama Mansa, who is a fishmonger resident at European Town in Sekondi was lying on a mat asleep in front of her house when she felt a hand touching her abdomen.
He said the complainant woke up instantly and saw the accused standing by her and held him.
The prosecution said the complainant asked why he was standing by her at that
time of the night but he could not give any reasonable explanation and attempted to run away.
He said the complainant shouted for help and this attracted people to the scene and the accused was arrested and taken to Police Station.
He said after investigation the accused was charged.
The accused told the court that he was drunk at the time of the incident and had wanted to sleep by the complainant because he was tired and needed some rest. | | > BACK to TOP < | | | | ______________________ |
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| LATEST GHANA NEWS Monday, 11.01.2010 WEEK 02 - 2010 |
| | Africa Cup of Nations - ANGOLA 2010 / news click here | * Monday, 11 January 2010 | | Video: 'Ghana's Madhouse Story' | | The Accra Psychiatric Hospital was the hospital used by Anas Aremeyaw Anas for his undercover investigation into the activities and plights of mentally challenged patients. | | | 'Ghana's Madhouse Story' (2) | | Video by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas of The New Crusading Guide on conditions at the Accra Psychiatric Hospital. | | | Source: The New Crusading Guide | Mills Sure To Rule 8 Years! * Source: The Heritage | Read here an other statement made once.. FLASHBACK; Nana Akufo-Addo begs Northerners .... Addressing a mini rally at Mandari and Bole in the Bole-Bamboi constituency, Nana Akuffo-Addo claimed that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) would never come back to power again and stressed the need for all Ghanaians including those in the North to rally behind the NPP for a well deserved victory in December.... (13.07.2008) | The President, John Evans Atta Mills, is certain to win the 2012 presidential election, contrary to concerns raised by a section of the National Democratic Congress top brass and the opposition New Patriotic Party that the party is heading for defeat in the next election, which comes off in a matter of three years.
According to President Mills, by the end of his four-year mandate, Ghanaians would appreciate the ‘Better Agenda Cause’ promised by his party in its 2008 manifesto so much they would definitely re-elect the umbrella grouping for another four years.
“Twenty-ten will be better than 2009 because God is on our side. At the end of our four-year term which I am certain will be extended for another four years, we would have produced quality young men and women who can take their place in the world with pride and do credit to Mother Ghana,” he asserted, brimming with confidence.
Speaking at a durbar of chiefs and people of Mamfe-Akuapem in the Eastern region to mark the 2009 Ohum festival on Saturday, the president noted that human resource development is the pillar on which the development of the nation rests.
He said the provision of free school uniforms and text books; the extension of the Ghana School Feeding Programme, the increase in the Capitation Grant, as well as Government’s commitment to subsidize the cost of distance learning by teachers in rural areas are all signs of the ‘Better Ghana Agenda.’
The president admonished the teeming youth of Mamfe to uphold such core moral values as honesty, humility, hard work, respect for elders and dedication to the cause of the country for a better future.
Speaking on the theme “Educating our Youth: the Surest Way of Reducing Poverty in our communities,” Osabarima Ansah Sasraku III, Mamfehene and Kyidomhene of the Akuapem traditional area, said examination results from the various schools in the community are showing measurable improvements.
“My vision is that, within the next five years, we would have no less than 80% Mamfe junior high school graduates go on to the senior high school, and, out of this number, not less than 75% should have gone on to the tertiary level.
“In 2009, the Mamfe Presbyterian Junior High School presented a total of 44 candidates and, out of this number, 35 students gained admission into senior high schools. These children are the future of Mamfe and our beloved country and they deserve all that we can give them to prepare them to play their role in our country’s development,” he said.
The Mamfehene commended Government on the free uniform initiative and the expansion of the school feeding programme and appealed for the establishment of proposed ICT Education Centre at Mamfe.
He pledged that the people of Mamfe will be in partnership with the government “to do our part alongside Government in the effort to provide a meaningful education for all Ghanaian children.” | | > BACK to TOP < | Mills Antics Disgraceful – Obeng Busia * Source: The Daily Searchlight | Mr Obeng Gyan Busia, an aspirant for the position of General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has described as unacceptable and unforgivable certain slips made by President John Evans Atta Mills during his maiden press conference for year 2010.
According to Obeng Busia, certain mistakes may be forgiven when they are made by a layperson, but are especially painful and unforgivable when they are made by experts in particular fields of competence.
Speaking to The Searchlight Newspaper over the weekend in an extensive interview on his political aspirations, Mr Obeng Busia said that even though Ghana currently has the privilege of having a lawyer and lecturer as a President, its governance was fraught with numerous constitutional and legal breaches.
“When you come to think of it, the fact that now we have a whole lawyer who taught a generation of students as a president and these things are going on, it is a very sad commentary on politics in this country! I listened to him two days ago and unfortunately when he made the press conference one would have loved to see a lot of lawyer-like statements. You know there are certain slips that a medical officer or any professional can be excused for, for giving wrong advice in an area in which he is not an expert. But if a lawyer gives clearly wrong legal advice, it becomes worrying. There are certain basic standards expected of us as professionals, and it is unfortunate that this sort of thing is happening,” Mr Obeng Busia said.
President Atta Mills had said on Thursday that as a lawyer he does not see anything wrong with the false representation made by former Youth and Sports Minister Muntaka Mubarak to secure a visa for his girlfriend, an act that all lawyers except President Atta Mills see as fraudulent misrepresentation of facts, which is actionable under the criminal code of Ghana. Mr Obeng Busia had been asked about his views on political credibility in Ghana in the light of the fact that many knowledgeable people were refusing to come into politics.
“Politics per se is not a dirty game, if it were so there would not have been this saying that the penalty that the wise pay for refusing to govern is to allow themselves to be governed by fools. This essentially means that politics per se is good thing, except that we have made it dirty given the way we conduct ourselves,” Mr Obeng Busia said,, citing the lamentable pronouncements from President Atta Mills in his latest press conference as an example.
“Chapter 6 of our constitutional talks about the directive principles of state, that certain developmental principles and basic standards should be initiated and respected no matter which party is in power, but you realize that, it is with impunity that some people have even ignored that, you know, there has been a lot of constitutional abuses in this country and more so around this time, when we have a whole lawyer who taught generations of lawyers in charge,” he said. | | > BACK to TOP < | Castle Gunman To Be Deported * Source: Daily Guide | Information reaching Daily Guide suggests that the notorious car dealer who was elevated to the position of deputy boss of the confiscated vehicles Committee, Nana Ekuban Olivier, also called Frenchman, I being deported to his native Cote D’Ivoire.
His deportation follows a brief investigation on him after he caused a scare on Christmas eve by drawing a fully-loaded gun at the confiscated car depot at Tema.
Daily Guide reported at the weekend that Nana Ekuban Olivier had been arrested by the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) and according to additional information, was being held over the past three days.
Olivier’s arrest, Daily Guide learnt, was in connection with some stolen cars at the Tema Port. The arrest of Frenchman was confirmed by Alex Segbefia on Joy on Saturday. His action was said to have caused government grave embarrassment against the backdrop of an already negative press on the activities of the committee. Sources said some car dealers had also petitioned security agencies about monies allegedly paid to some persons involved in the allocation of confiscated cars.
Olivier was stopped from breaching procedures in the disposal of stolen vehicles in a container at the depot when he stormed the place in the company of some National Security operatives. Not happy about the action, he reached for his gun but was unable to pull the trigger as he was disarmed by a CEPS officer on the spot.
It is now established that the man is a national of neighbouring Cote D’Ivoire and was engaged by Carl Wilson to serve as his deputy while they both reported to Deputy Chief of Staff Alex Segbefia. | | > BACK to TOP < | Mills' boys floor JJ's *Source: Daily Guide/Ghana | An Aide to President Atta Mills, Ludwig Akpene Hlordze, has been elected the National Youth Organiser of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), beating his main contender, Abubakar Musa Sidii, a loyalist of former President Jerry John Rawlings.
The election, held on Saturday at the Sunyani Polytechnic Campus, was supervised by the Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Director of the Electoral Commission, Arthur Yeboah. Early signs before the keenly contested elections indicated a straight fight between the Mills boy and Sidii of the Rawlings camp. At the end of the polls, Ludwig Hlordze obtained 387 votes, beating Sidii, who polled 213 votes.
Other candidates who fought for the same position were Ras Mohammed Mubarak Abdulai, who surprisingly secured only 6 votes after a rigorous campaign, Lord Hammah, a former student leader, who got 3 votes and Paa Kwesi Bruyare, 10 votes.
Two candidates, Michael Kombor and Abudul Rahaman, pulled out of the race just before voting started. James Kofi Fonu was elected the First Deputy National Youth Organiser after securing 430 votes, while Barbara Serwaa Asamoah, a failed parliamentary candidate in the Offinso South Constituency, gained the mandate of the delegates to become the Second Deputy National Youth Organiser by obtained 378 votes.
The nine candidates who contested the Deputy Youth Organiser position were Courage Kobina Barlon, Fred Kwasi Agbenyo, Edem Anthonio Asinyo, Emmanuel Osei, Abraham Azumah, Adongo Azule Jacob, a physically- challenged man and Hattie Laura Ken.
Party gurus such as Ekwow Spio-Garbrah; Johnson Asiedu-Nketia, General Secretary; Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, Deputy General Secretary; Inusah Fuseini, MP for Tamale Central; Dr Hanna Bissiw, deputy Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing among others, stormed the congress grounds to add more colour to the event.
The out-gone National youth Organiser and MP for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu, did not mince words when he mounted the podium and lambasted some party bigwigs whose unguarded utterances had thrown the NDC in chaos in recent times.
“People who go out criticizing the party should find a better way for doing that,” Mr Iddrisu pointed out to the party stalwarts who are said to be ‘pissing in,’ adding, “None of us here must work in a manner which will eventually lead the NDC into opposition.”
According to him, he would not be one of those who pretend that there were no challenges and problems within and outside the NDC, indicating that the success of the NDC government would depend on the ability of party leadership to address those challenges. | | > BACK to TOP < | NDC Has Disappointed Voters – Nuworsu * Source: The Chronicle | The Volta Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Ken-Wuud Nuworsu has told The Chronicle that the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) has failed to leave up to expectation, and therefore called on voters in the region not to vote en bloc for the party again, but try other parties like the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
He said the NDC has brought no new ideas that would help in addressing the developmental challenges confronting the country, such as job creation as promised in their manifesto.
The Volta NPP Chairman noted that the only mark that the NDC had made in the Volta region within its first year of governance is the dismissal of people who were employed under the various jobs created by the Kufuor led NPP administration.
Mr. Nuworsu mentioned specially that the NDC on assumption of office started dismissing people in gainful employment, such as the School Feeding Programme, noting that the government had so far demonstrated incompetence in job creation, because instead of expanding on the jobs already created by the NPP, it decided to rather deepen the unemployment situation by dismissing those employed. “After all, why dismiss people who have been provided gainful employment when the government cannot bring new ideas that will create more jobs to absorb some of the unemployed people in the country”.
Mr. Nuworsu said the Capitation Grant, National Health Insurance Scheme and Youth Employment Programme among others, were concrete legacy left behind by the NPP within eight years, which must be continued by the NDC government. He said the incompetence demonstrated by the NDC was so clear to the people and motivating enough for the NPP to prepare adequately to wrestle power from the NDC to enable it continue with their social intervention programmes that would help improve on the living standard of the people, as demonstrated in Kufuor’s administration.
Mr Nuworsu said as part of efforts in the region towards election 2012, the regional executives were making conscious efforts to withdraw court cases in the Biakoye and the Krachi-East constituencies to ensure a stable region to embark on serious party activities.
He said so far, the parties involved had shown commitment in that direction noting that when the cases are successful withdrawn from the court and settled amicably, would set the tone for party activities.
The Regional Chairman of the NPP explained that at the moment, the two constituencies did not participate in the constituency and the regional elections, a development that made it impossible for the two areas not to elect their executives to administer the affairs of the party at that level.
Mr. Nuworsu who described the region as an orphaned one in terms of parliamentarians, disclosed that the party would elect its parliamentary candidates early enough to prepare them adequately for the next general elections to enable the party to add some seats to the Nkwanta-North seat and win the 2012 election. | | > BACK to TOP < | 26 Companies In Cayman Islands Fronting for Kufuor’s NPP * Source: Ghana Palaver/Ghana | “The Ghana Palaver” investigations have uncovered 26 companies in the Cayman Island all connected to the Kufuor led New Patriotic Party (NPP). Most of the companies were formed in 2003 and 2009 during the NPP regime.
The Ghana Palaver’s revelation is coming in the wake of United States and Ghanaian officials investigations into the activities of EO, a Ghanaian company connected to the Jubilee oilfields in Ghana. Now it is believed that EO is not the only company fronting for the NPP but also the 26 companies spotted in the Cayman Islands. The names of the companies are being withheld by this newspaper but would be published as soon as Ghana Palaver’s investigations are completed.
In a story carried in the Financial Times, of London, said US and Ghana authorities were investigating the Ghanaian authorities were investigating the Ghanaian company EO with a share in the largest of all recent offshore discoveries in Africa – the Jubilee oilfield.
EO, the paper said, is suspected of using ties to the Kufuor administration to gain preferential terms.
Who is behind EO?
EO was created by two US-based Ghanaians. Kwame Bawuah Edusei, is the ‘E’ who is a medical doctor and stalwart of the former ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), and according to his political allies a friend of former President Kufuor the Financial Times said, adding that Bawuah Edusei was appointed Ghana’s Ambassador first to Geneva and then Washington, where he served until last January.
George Owusu, is the O in the group, was a Houston-based businessman who worked for oil companies including as a commodities manager for Royal Dutch Shell. Until recently, he was also the representative for Kosmos in Ghana.
The two, played a central role in bringing the Texan company to Ghana in 2004 when interest in the country’s potential had ebbed after more than a decade of promising but inconclusive exploration along the coast. They moved the company from Ghana to the Cayman Islands where it is registered as KG (after Kwame and George) shortly before elections ended in opposition victory a year ago.
Ghanaian officials suspected that EO used its political connections to top officials in the former government to gain a hold on the offshore oil block and win more favourable terms both for themselves and for Kosmos.
John Craven, an Irish oilman with much experience in Ghana said his company, Ennex, withdrew from a possible deal on the same oil block in 2003. “Geologically we wanted to do the deal. We could have raised the money to do it but we were uncomfortable with EO’s demands” which included financing a share in the block and fees, he said.
EO gained a stake in what turned out to be the billion-barrel plus Jubilee oilfield when it brought in Kosmos in June 2004. According to a contract seen by the Financial Times, Kosmos agreed to finance EO’s share of exploration and development costs up to the production of first oil. Payments made by Kosmos to EO, whose stake could now be worth more than $200m, are also under investigation, according to officials. Kosmos told the Financial Times that “all payments to EO were for operational services rendered and all those fees have been exhaustively audited and documented by Ernst & Young.”
Ghana Palaver will be publishing the names of the 26 companies next week as soon as its investigations are completed. Stay tuned. | | > BACK to TOP < | Angola 2010: Ghana-Togo Match Cancelled? *Source: The Independent | Togo seemed set to withdraw from the African Cup of Nations last night, despite last-ditch negotiations to keep them in the tournament.
In the Angolan enclave of Cabinda – the scene of Friday's ambush which killed three people and left seven injured – a plane sent by the Togolese government sat on the tarmac ready to take the team home.
Gilbert Houngbo, the Prime Minister, had earlier held a news conference in the Togolese capital, Lome, at which he ordered the team home, despite their wishes to continue in the competition as a way of honouring their slain colleagues."If a team or some people present themselves under the Togolese flag, it will be a false representation," he said.
The team's captain and Manchester City player, Emmanuel Adebayor, confirmed that the players had listened to their Prime Minister.
"We had a meeting between players yesterday and we told ourselves we were football players and decided to do something nice for our country by playing to pay tribute to those who died," he told the French radio station RMC yesterday. "Unfortunately, the head of state and the country's authorities have made a different decision, so we will pack and go home."
But as the tournament's opening ceremony began in the capital, Luanda, it emerged that Angolan officials were meeting government representatives from three other nations in an emergency meeting so as to avoid the 2010 tournament being a team down. There was the possibility that Togo might stay after all, and Namibia and Botswana had apparently been invited to see if they could fulfil the unlikely task of sending a team to substitute should the West Africans head home.
Togo's media officer, Stanislas Ocloo, assistant coach, Amalete Abalo, and the Angolan driving the squad bus were killed when gunmen from the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) opened fire. Togo's reserve goalkeeper, Kodjovi Obilale, was in a stable condition in a South African hospital yesterday after having surgery.
Togo had been due to play Ghana today, but Group B is likely to begin as a three-team group with a game between Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. While FLEC has warned of a continuing campaign of violence, Issa Hayatou, president of CAF (the Confederation of African Football), insisted yesterday that he had had assurances from the Angolan Prime Minister that security would be tightened at all venues. | | > BACK to TOP < | | HO: SSNIT stops undertaking for pensioners’ loan * Source: GNA | | The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has stopped providing undertakings to enable pensioners to obtain loans from their Bankers. This is because some pensioners have been abusing the system over the years, Mr Bliss Dusu, Acting Branch Manager told the Ghana News Agency in an interview. Some pensioners called at the GNA Office in Ho to express their
frustration at the alleged refusal of SSNIT Management in Ho to guarantee their loan applications. The pensioners also complained of not being given pay advice by SSNIT to enable them to know how much was due them as monthly pension pay. Mr Dusu said the decision notwithstanding, the banks could still do business with pensioners without necessarily involving SSNIT. "Pensioners are their clients and they should be able to do business with them without necessarily involving SSNIT," he said, and advised banks to re-design their loan formats for pensioners and relate to them as customers. | | > BACK to TOP < | Election 2012: It Will Not Be A Joke - Ms. Churcher * Source: GNA | Ms Christine Churcher, an aspiring National Women Organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has said the 2012 polls would not be a joke and the NPP would need strong, committed, patriotic land loyal people to form a formidable team to win back power.
She, however, cautioned that in "our search for dedicated and committed persons to form a winning team, we should not lose sight of the involvement of women".
"There is no constituency anywhere that is bigger than women's constituency", Ms Churcher said.
"When a woman understands a message and wants to preach it, her husband will listen and everybody will also listen".
Ms Churcher said this at the Upper West Regional Delegates Conference of the NPP held in Wa.
The delegates elected a 10 member executive for the party to manage its affairs for the next four years.
Madam Churcher said the election of executives should not be done on trial basis but by voting for those who had been tested and found worthy to reach out to the people to win back power for the NPP.
Mr Lord Commey, the National Organiser of the NPP, commended party supporters in the region for working hard to win three seats for the party in the 2008 election.
"To move from one seat in 2000 election to three seats in 2008 is a remarkable achievement", he said, and told them to work harder to improve on the number of seats in the 2012 election.
Twenty-four people contested for 10 executive positions and Alhaji Abubakar Abdul-Rahman retained his position as the Regional Chairman.
He polled 122 votes to defeat Mr Eddy Kaleonaa Tizzala and Mr Mogtari Sahanoon, a former Upper West Regional Minister, who polled 70 and six votes respectively.
The first, Vice-chairmanship post went to Mr Ismail Mada, an educationist, who won with 93 ballots, followed by Mr Bawah Bismark with 61 votes and Mr Abubakari Bawa, who had 45 votes. | > BACK to TOP < |
_____________________________________________________ ----- | Archived News for 2010 | | | * Monday, 11 January 2010 | - Video: 'Ghana's Madhouse Story' - Mills Sure To Rule 8 Years! - Mills Antics Disgraceful – Obeng Busia - Castle Gunman to be deported - Mills' boys floor JJ's - NDC Has Disappointed Voters – Nuworsu - 26 Companies In Cayman Islands Fronting for Kufuor’s NPP - HO:SSNIT stops undertaking for pensioners’ loan - Election 2012: It will not be a joke * Ms. Churcher - ACCRA : Mass registration to resume in Greater Accra today - Chaos Over Kufuor’s Ex-Gratia - AFAG is full of half–baked lawyers – Alhaji Mumuni - Castle Whips Rawlings - Court fines fisherman for stealing - Angola 2010: Ghana-Togo Match Cancelled? | | | Go to 10.01.2010 Go to 09.01.2010 Go to 08.01.2010 Go to 07.01.2010 Go to 06.01.2010 Go to 05.01.2010 Go to 04.01.2010 | | Your REPORT Your STORIES * Your PHOTOS PUBLISH NOW! | 
| | All about the Ghana Election 2008 | | | 
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| | | | * 11.01.2010 | ACCRA : Mass registration to resume in Greater Accra today * Source: GNA | The National Identification Authority (NIA) has announced that the mass registration exercise in the in the Greater Accra region would resume today, Monday, January 11 to Thursday, January 21.
A statement issued by the Public Affairs Department of the NIA said areas to be covered were Kaneshie, Bubuashie, Apenkwa, Abeka, Tesano, Fadama, Nii Boiman, Akweteman, Achimota, Kisseman, Anumle and Darkuman.
The rest are Kwashieman, Oforkor, Abossey Okai, Mataheko, Russia, Lartebiokorshie, James Town Korle Gonno, Korle Bu, Mamprobi, Chorkor and Dansoman.
NIA stressed that the exercise was free and it was an offence to solicit or offer incentives in any form in order to register or be registered. Any case of fraud should be reported to NIA on (021)-933674 or the nearest police station.
It said regional offices would be opened this year to register persons who were unable to register during the mass registration phase.
All persons should take along any or all of the following ID documents: Baptismal certificate, birth certificate, birth weighing card, Voter’s ID card, passport, driver’s licence, SSNIT card, NHIS ID card, sworn affidavit, immigration permit, dual citizenship certificate or naturalization certificate.
NIA said persons without any ID document may be registered on oath. | Chaos Over Kufuor’s Ex-Gratia * Source: Daily Guide | The sore issue of former President John Agyekum Kufuor’s ex-gratia has resurfaced after a lull, raking a lot of dust on the political plane, as a flimsy cheque is thrown back on the face of the Presidency for want of details among others.
The subject popped up once more when President John Evans Atta Mills announced during a media engagement last week that his predecessor has received the end-of-service package.
Rather than douse the abrasive political subject, which raged for a long time until it went into hibernation, it has put on the public domain the issue of integrity and sincerity.
Whereas the Presidency claims the benefits have been paid, former President Kufuor’s office states the contrary.
As to who is being economical with the truth is a subject which has attracted the interest of fastidious Ghanaians as they follow the unfolding development.
Spokesperson for the former president, Frank Agyekum, having earlier stated that his boss has remunerated his office staff including his security details from his own kitty, is busy once more parrying the assertion of President Mills.
In a statement on the issue, he denied outright that his boss has received any such benefit, belying therefore President Mills’ word.
He traced the genesis of the alleged payment to last December when an officer presented a cheque with a face value of GH¢90,000 to former President Kufuor, a document which was rejected.
The cheque, he said, was rejected for want of details, lacking, as it did, information about the basis of the payment, leaving the former president with no option than to return it for the appropriate thing to be done. “For the avoidance of doubt, the office of the former President wishes to state that no ex gratia has been paid to him,” he said.
The Chinery-Hesse report commissioned before the assumption of power by President Mills recommended that ex-officials be paid benefits equivalent to seven months for each year they served, multiplied by the number of years.
The details of the foregone were the subject of controversy in the early days of the Mills’ presidency, especially when the new administration questioned the integrity of the approval by Parliament of the recommendations.
Even as the arguments raged on, some MPs, it was discovered, had already withdrawn their benefits from their accounts, a point which according to proponents of the Chinery-Hesse option, was testimony to the fact that due process had been followed. Be that as it may, President Mills ordered a freeze on further payments, creating a lot of controversy on the political scene.
An Ishmael Yamson committee was empanelled and tasked with taking another look at the earlier recommendations, coming out eventually with revised details; the bottom-line of which was that, instead of basing payments on seven months of each year served, four months rather be applied in the calculations.
The recent receipt of their benefits by MPs has aggravated the already worrying situation as it appears they received six months of each year served. The question being asked is, which of the recommendations is being applied under the circumstances? As at the time of filing this report, Mr Agyekum noted, no response had been received from the Presidency regarding the raised queries.
The Minority in Parliament has jumped into the fray, with their leader, Hon Osei Kyei-Bonsu, demanding details about which of the options was applied for the payment of the benefits.
He pointed out that some MPs have received six months of each year served as opposed to the Ishmael Yamson’s four. The Minority Leader described as misleading, President Mills statement during his interaction with the media last week.
During the session, he described the Chinery-Hesse report as non-existent when he noted that “I set up a committee to look at this whole issue headed by Mr. Yamson: they brought a report and the report recommended the way out of the situation.
We accepted the report and we’ve acted in accordance with the recommendation of the Yamson committee report.”
Continuing he added, “Where you have a situation where there is in essence no report at all, there is nothing that you can call a report on ex-gratia what do you do when there is a vacuum?”
The Minority Leader who spoke to Joy FM on the resuscitated subject denied Mills’ position, explaining that the last Parliament approved the Chinery-Hesse report. | > BACK to TOP < | AFAG Is Full Of Half–Baked Lawyers – Alhaji Mumuni * Source: Daily Post/Ghana | The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni has taken a swipe at one of his sworn critics, the Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG, calling it “a single purpose NGO formed specifically on Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni.
The former Kumbungu MP, says the pressure group, founded sometime last year by a group, founded sometime last year by a group of young Ghanaians, mainly sympathizers of the opposition is made up “of half-baked lawyers who do not know their responsibility as lawyers.” Alhaji Mumuni was speaking to Citi FM’s Moro Awudu on Friday, January 8.
In the early days of the Mills administration in 2009, AFAG waged a hefty campaign against the appointment of Alhaji Mumuni as the Foreign Affairs Minister. The opposition pressure group contended that the former vice Presidential candidate to Professor Mills in the 2004 elections was unqualified to be a minister because there were serious audit findings that implicated him for mismanaging funds while he served as the Minister for Employment and Social Welfare in the erstwhile Rawlings administration.
According to AFAG, Hon Mumuni was found to have misapplied monies released by the Ministry of Finance for the use of the National Vocational and Training Institute (NVTI), after a forensic audit was conducted into the operations and activities of the institute and the Ministry of Employment and social welfare, where he served as Minister.
The audit, which was conducted by Messrs. Baffuor Awuah and Associates between the periods of January 1997 to December 2002, at the instance of the Auditor-General of the Republic, concluded that “the use of the NVTI as a conduit for siphoning an amount of over ¢19.6 billion (old cedis) of government funds to known and unknown persons, through huge and fraudulent payments to companies and enterprises as well as a number of individuals, is tantamount to ‘money laundering’ in some cases.”
The group thus petitioned parliament to reject the nomination of Alhaji Mumuni but parliament did not heed to the request.
AFAG then filed another petition with the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) but it was also thrown out. This notwithstanding, the group has continued its Advocacy to have Hon. Mumuni removed from office as Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs. The Foreign Affairs Minister has maintained that he is innocent and has challenged the Pressure group and all other stakeholders in the matter to provide evidence to buttress their claims.
“…If anybody can show to me anywhere that I, Mohammed Mumuni have stolen even one Pesewa of the Government’s money, I will not only resign that day as Foreign Minister, but I will be prepared to surrender myself for prosecution in any court of law.” He said the failure of the former government and his detractors to provide evidence to bolster their allegations despite his incessant demands for evidence shows their concession that he (Alhaji Mumuni) is clean.
“Today the same people who were hounding and bashing Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni are embarrassed. They are embarrassed because they know that there is absolutely nothing wrong. I discharged my office with utmost integrity and with honesty. None of them can measure to those standards and yet they had the effrontery to throw stones and to call me names,” he said.
Hon Mumuni believes he has been treated unfairly in the matter. “I have been treated most unfairly, for nothing that I have done. I have done nothing wrong apart from serve my people with honesty and yet I was made to look like a criminal. But for the fact that my President had faith in me, (because he knew that my character is one of real excellence) my President would have been pushed to disown me but he stood by me. Indeed the President has been vindicated and I am happy that the President has been vindicated.” For AFAG, the Foreign Affairs Minister describes it as a group of young men who don’t even understand the ethics of the law profession.
“AFAG, who are they? These are young professionals, half baked lawyers who don’t even understand their responsibility as lawyers; the ethics of the profession, they don’t even understand and now they dare to challenge and call me names. People that I can teach; I can teach law. Apart from my educational qualification which they cannot match anyway, I have practiced law for 18 years.” He said.
Meanwhile, AFAG in a swift response has expressed disappointment in Alhaji Mumuni for describing some of its members as half baked lawyers. Speaking to Citi News, a member of the pressure group, Abeiku Dickson, himself a lawyer said: “I am shocked to hear this come from a senior lawyer and an honourable Minister of this country…It is not AFAG that is calling him a corrupt person; it is the Auditor General that did an investigation that concluded that he had defrauded this country and that report is still alive and before Parliament today. So it is disappointing for him to come talking like this.” The group served notice to Alhaji Mumuni that the battle is not over and that sooner than later, it will meet the honourable Minister in court.
Mr. Dickson explained that it has taken AFAG several months to take the matter to court because the group had to tackle other issues of national interest and also reorganize the internal structure of the organization. | | > BACK to TOP < | | |
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