Aspiring New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Francis Addai-Nimoh has questioned the ability of any member of the Akufo-Addo government to lead the NPP to victory in the 2024 general election.
He claims that the party requires a “new face” in order to win the general election.
He made this statement after visiting the Manhyia Palace to declare his intention to run in the NPP presidential primaries.
There, the Asantehene advised the party to carefully select a candidate who is likely to win power.
“The mantra of the party now is, we need to break the eight. For the first time, we are ready to set this record in the political discourse of our country. I believe it is possible, it can be achieved. One of the conditions I have outlined about the possibility of this is that the party needs a new face.
A new face that is unblemished, a new face that will come with a fresh appeal,” Addai-Nimoh said.
“A new face that has a natural appeal to unify people, not any anyone with an artificial ability but one that the people resonate with, and a new face that is not part of the current administration. That is what the records show, that if you have a candidate who is part of the outgoing government, you are not likely to win,” the flagbearer hopeful added.
Addai-Nimoh is on his second attempt, seeking to become the NPP’s presidential candidate for the 2024 general elections.
“So, I think we need a new face so that is what I have been championing to the grassroots and rank and file of the party that if we are determined, we can set this record by getting a new face and that new face is no other person than Addai-Nimoh.
We the Association of Electoral Area Coordinators in the Ashanti Region appeal to the Members of Parliament and Constituency Chairmen of the Ashanti Region to vote for the Vice President, HE Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, in the upcoming Super Delegates Conference.
We work directly and closely with the Polling Station executives and grassroots members of the party and are therefore in the best position to articulate their concerns and interests. It is based on this that we make this humble and passionate appeal to the MPs and Constituency Chairmen.
As the mouthpiece of the grassroots and polling station executives in the party, they have tasked us to communicate their wish to the leadership of the party, and they say, it is either Bawumia or nobody else.
When the Vice President visited the region recently, the MPs and Constituency Chairmen publicly declared their support for him, and we find it right that they are reminded of their own declarations. So this statement is effectively a gentle reminder of their own declarations of support for the Vice President, as well as the consistent appeal and call on them by the grassroots to vote for Bawumia. We believe as honourable men, they will honourably keep to their word.
Last but not least, the grassroots have indicated that, once the super delegates vote for Dr. Bawumia, the polling station executives will also return the favour by voting for these MPs and Constituency Chairmen in the next parliamentary primaries and constituency elections. That is why we are re-echoing their mantra, “you do us, we do you”
The Presidential Elections Committee of the NPP has cautioned its flag bearer aspirants that it is a criminal offense to engage in vote-buying.
The party will on Saturday hold a special delegates conference to trim the number of presidential aspirants from ten to five.
At a news conference to assure aspirants of the committee’s commitment to conduct credible and transparent elections, Chairman of the party’s Presidential elections committee warned delegates about taking phones and electronic devices to voting booths.
Ahead of the NPP’s special elections some aspirants had expressed dissatisfaction with the process and called for a level playing field for all candidates.
Prof Aaron Mike Ocquaye
Some aspirants had suggested that the vice president may be receiving some preferential treatment.
But with barely five days to poll, the election committee says the process has and will continue to be fair, transparent and credible until the last ballot is counted.
Secretary to the election committee Kwabena Abankwah Yeboah who addressed the news conference said to ensure this, persons who try to undermine the process will be denied access to voting centers.
Chairman of the Presidential Election Committee, Prof Aaron Mike Ocquaye, said persons who engage in vote buying during the elections will face criminal consequences.
The Committee said all aspirants have received updates on election guidelines, adding that the Electoral Commission has been entrusted with enforcing full compliance with the election guidelines.Source: ghanaweb.com
Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has disclosed why he is comfortable in the church.
Bawumia cited the centrality of Jesus Christ to the Christian faith and the commonalities of the Jesus presented in the Bible and that presented in the Quran.
He stressed a number of similarities that both Islam and Christianity hold about Jesus and his mother Mary to drive home the fact that Jesus unifies both faiths by and large.
“Many people wonder why I am so comfortable in the church. The answer is quite simple. I am comfortable in the church because Jesus Christ is the center of the church. As a Muslim, I am very comfortable with Jesus Christ.
“I find many similarities in the Jesus Christ presented in the Bible and in the Quran. We (Muslims) believe in the virgin birth of Jesus, we believe in the holy book,” he said during an address at the 23rd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (August 20, 2023).
Bawumia explained that Jesus is referred to in the Quran as the spirit of God and Muslims believe in his miracles, among others, raising the dead, healing the blind and the sick.
Dr.Bawumia
“We all believe that Jesus Christ will come back and defeat the anti-Christ and save the world,” he said tasking the faithful to like him, “focus on commonalities and not the differences, our battle is with Satan and not with each other. And so, I am very comfortable in the church,” he stressed.
The outgoing Moderator of the church has touted Bawumia as a symbol of unity between Islam and Christianity.Source: GNA
Ahead of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) Super delegates conference slated for Saturday,26th August,2023 across all the 16 regional capitals, a group calling themselves “THE GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT OF GHANA” has endorsed Hon.Kennedy Ohene Agyapong,the incumbent MP for Assin Central and one of the leading contenders for the NPP flagbearship race.
According to them,the youth of the country must be angry enough to tell the politicians ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. “We have had enough of politics. We already have the best, why should we settle for less? Let us not sacrifice our future and that of generations yet unborn.If patriotism, pragmatism, honesty, empathy, discipline, and hard work is for leadership, then Hon.Agyapong has them in abundance.Perhaps what distinguishes him from all the other politicians is also what is said to be his weaknesses .However, these weaknesses, when harnessed well, will become the strength that will invariably kick-start the transformation agenda of our country”, they added.
The above was contained in a statement jointly signed by Nana Opoku-Agyemang,Kwasi Sarpong,Maxwell and read by Kinsman Karikari Mensa(KKM),the leader of the Youth Movement after a peaceful float through some selected principal streets of Kumasi to demonstrate their support for Hon.Ken Agyepong.
The group said Ghana first agenda is their utmost ambition and they owed it to motherland to do everything to get Kennedy Akompreko Agyapong voted as the President of Ghana.
“We are therefore sounding a word of caution to the delegates to ensure Hon.Ken Kennedy Agyapong is counted among the five on the August 26 Super delegates voting and eventually voted as the Flagbearer come November,4,2023”,they demanded.
They said “on this day, the 22nd of August,2023,we have launched the NO KEN,NO VOTE IN 2024 mantra to punish the NPP should they fail to present Hon.Kennedy Agyapong as Flagbearer come 2024 elections”.
The group asserted that Assin Central MP has over the years demonstrated and has continuously cautioned them to shun indiscipline behaviors to pave way for patriotism and honesty.That no one in this world could claim to love their country without being honest and disciplined that will eventually shape into being patriotic. Hon.Kennedy Agyapong according to the Grassroots Movement of Ghana,is seen by most Ghanaians as an honest person, to the extent that even members from his own political party generally accept the fact that he is a double-edged sword, lashing against the then Ex-President John Dramani Mahama’s government and that of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s government over some bad decisions and policies that are not in the best interest of the country.
The group said they cannot change the direction of the wind, but they can adjust their sails to always reach their destination.
The said with the recent progressive revolutionary breeze blowing over the Sub-Saharan region,the masses in Ghana hold a strong belief that Hon.Keneedy Agyapong is the only proven politician amongst the others vying for the Flagbearership in the NPP who can lead them into the promised land which many have failed to accomplish.
”We call on every youth in the country to rally support behind him (Ken Agyapong) and tell the NPP in the face that, truly, if breaking the eight could be accomplished, then they should give listening ears to the majority caucus of the electoral college come 2024 elections”.Source:tntnewspapergh.com
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has destooled the Abuontemhene of Kumasi Traditional Council, Nana Kwaku Duah III, for illegally selling lands under his jurisdiction.
The announcement came during a meeting convened at the Menhyia Palace on Monday, August 21, where the Kumasi Traditional Council gathered to address the matter.
His palace looks like a kiosk – Otumfuo’s subchiefs berate Abountemhene before destoolment
The decision to strip Nana Kwaku Duah III of his position as divisional chief was triggered by accusations brought forward by fellow subchiefs.
The subchiefs accused him of not only disregarding the directives of Otumfuo Osei Tutu II but also of engaging in the sale of lands, including one that was under investigation and subject to a trespassing warning by Otumfuo.
Nana Kwaku Duah III
The subchiefs presented a series of allegations including claims that he used Otumfuo’s name to gain approval for his activities on the land in question, despite the ongoing investigation.
They further accused him of venturing into territory belonging to others and facilitating land sales without proper authorization.
In response to the allegations, Nana Kwaku Duah III denied the specific accusation of using Otumfuo’s name as leverage for his actions.
However, he acknowledged his presence on the land but asserted that he allowed others to work on it with his permission.
“With all due respect, Nana, I am not feeling well, I’m feeling dizzy now…but I am pleading because, to be honest, and to speak the truth, I have never stood anywhere before to claim that his Lordship has ruled over a matter in my favor, that is the exact truth I have never claimed that before, what I said to Nana Acheamfour is that, I permitted them to work on the land.”
During the proceedings, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II gave the subchiefs the opportunity to share their opinions on the matter. Unanimously, the subchiefs called for Nana Kwaku Duah III’s removal from his position due to his alleged disobedience and misconduct.
In response, Otumfuo announced the decision to destool Nana Kwaku Duah III, emphasizing that his actions had violated his authority and orders.
“For me saying that nobody should go to the said land and for you to go there, you have disrespected his lordship of which you can no longer remain a chief. Tell them for them to know that even sitting on that throne, you are not from the royal family,” Otumfuo said.
Source:ghanaweb.com
Nana Nkansah Boadu Ayeboafo – Agric-Nzema chief and Otumfuo Osei Tutu II – Asantehene
A member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Ampem Antwi Bawua, has petitioned the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, to use his good offices to restrain the Chief of Agric Nzema, Nana Nkansah Boadu Ayeboafo, from holding himself as a delegate to vote in the party’s Super Delegates elections scheduled for August 26, this year.
Nana Nkansah Boadu Ayeboafo is a member of the NPP and serves as the Ashanti Regional representative on the National Council for which he has been appointed as a delegate for the impending Super Delegates Congress.
But the petitioner says Nana Nkansah Boadu Ayeboafo, as a Chief, could not be part of the Electoral College for the Super Delegates elections.
Nana Nkansah Boadu Ayeboafo and Otunfuo
Nana Antwi Bawua explained his position on the basis of the provisions of Article 276 of the 1992 Constitution and Section 26 of the Political Parties Act 574 of 2000.
According to Nana Antwi Bawua, Article 276 of the Constitution provides that “a chief shall not take part in active party politics,” while Section 26 of Act 574 prevents a chief from taking any form of leadership role in a political party.
Nana Antwi Bawua also referred to a recent Supreme Court declaration that a chief’s endorsement of a candidate for elective national or local political office to the exclusion of a rival candidate cuts to participating in “active party politics” as provided by Article 276 (1).
Against these backgrounds, Nana Ampem Antwi Bawua has emphasised that Nana Nkansah Boadu Ayeboafo’s planned participation in Saturday’s elections was a clear violation of the laws of the land.
The concerned petitioner said to vote in the elections as a delegate, to the extent of exercising a proxy vote in addition, was tantamount to violation of the 1992 Constitution.
He explained that, though internal, it was a public election being conducted and supervised by the Electoral Commission of Ghana, and, therefore, participation in active partisan politics by a chief of no mean a personality than the Agric Nzemahene was a contravention of the laws of the land and goes to undermine the sanctity of the chieftaincy institution.
It is in the light of these concerns raised that, Nana Ampem Antwi Bawua of Onwe near Ejisu, was seeking the intervention of Otumfuo Osei Tutu II to restrain the Agric-Nzemahene from participating in the Super Delegates Congress of the party.
He hoped Otumfuo would swiftly act to restrain his sub-chief from voting as a delegate, because he (Nana Nkansah Boadu Ayeboafo) was a duly nominated, selected, and enstooled Chief who had sworn the oath of allegiance to the Golden Stool of the great Ashanti Kingdom.
The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Aggrieved Menzgold customers, Fred Forson, has cautioned fellow customers regarding what he perceives as deceptive tactics employed by Nana Appiah Mensah, famously known as NAM1, the founder of Menzgold.
According to him, the motive behind NAM1’s latest action is to deplete the remaining funds of the customers, leaving them in dire straits.
Speaking on Accra-based Metro TV, the PRO urged Menzgold clients worldwide to remain vigilant and not to fall for what he labelled as NAM1’s latest trick.
“I would like to urge all Menzgold customers across the globe not to fall latest trick from Menzgold and Mr Nana Appiah Mensah. All that he is seeking to do is to finish the customers ‘kwatakwata’ to wit [finish the customers completely], he just wants to collect the last penny left with the customers,” he said.
Forson went on to elaborate on NAM1’s past actions, highlighting a pattern of attempting to extract money from customers through various dubious means after the collapse of Menzgold, the parent gold trading company.
Mr Nana Appiah Mensah
“You remember after the collapse of Menzgold, the modus operandi has been that he always comes with a scheme to extort monies fraudulently from customers. He did this in 2018 after the collapse of Menzgold when he asked customers to pay 5% of their existing locked-up investment. Those who failed to heed were advised when they made that payment. Those monies were not refunded to them nor were their locked-up investment.
“In 2020, he brought up another thing called payboy, the very company that is now mentioned in the current press statement. He made customers pay 9% of their existing investment and that payboy is a debt collector company,” he explained.
He continued to say that “I want to find out, if you owe me, I am not the person who is supposed to look for a debt collector company. But you the person who is indebted to me have established a debt collecting company and you want me to go to that company, which is also another fraudulent company and now he is asking the customers to Ghc650 for an account validation exercise”.
Forson went on to dispute NAM1’s recent claims of conducting validation activities to help pay the debts of customers. However, the PRO suggested that the evidence shows otherwise.
“From our checks, NAM1 hasn’t done any validation. He only uploaded 5 referrals that he recently asked workers to refer to him and is currently uploading this on the payboy website and so those whose data were collected recently, you will find your name there.
“But please he is not going to make payment to anybody. From all we know, Menzgold is defunct,” he added.
Ghana’s leading digital news platform, GhanaWeb, in conjunction with the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, is embarking on an aggressive campaign which is geared towards ensuring that parliament passes comprehensive legislation to guide organ harvesting, organ donation, and organ transplantation in the country.Source: ghanaweb.com
The Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Ernest Addison has assured that the bank’s operations will not be negatively affected as a result of its losses in 2022.
The Bank of Ghana in its Annual Report and Financial Statements revealed that it recorded a loss of GH¢60.8 billion in 2022.
On the back of this, the minority in parliament has called for the resignation of the BoG Governor alongside his two deputies, over the bank’s ‘insolvency’ and ‘mismanagement’.
But addressing the press on Monday, August 21, 2023, he explained that his assertion that the loss will not affect the bank’s operation was validated by the International Monetary Fund’s Technical Assistance mission before granting the bailout.
“It is worth noting that Central Banks are not commercial banks. Bank of Ghana’s current financial condition will not impact negatively on the operations of the Bank,” he stated.
According to him, the IMF declared the bank “was policy solvent and would remain so, as it had enough income to cover monetary policy operational costs.”
Dr Ernest Addison
He added that at that time, the bank had sufficient capital amounting to about 15 per cent of its total liabilities, therefore the IMF recommendation was for the Bank to retain all profits and a reassessment should be made in the year 2027.
According to Dr Addison, BoG will also manage to reduce its operational costs during this period – 2023.
He further explained that the loss the bank recorded last year were technical losses arising from the “haircut and the application of accounting standard (in particular IFRS 9) to estimate credit losses over the tenure of the government dealt by Bank of Ghana.”
According to him, the financial loss was not money lost by the bank through its operations in 2022.
“Rather, one should look at this as the reflection of the total cost of the economic and social crises that the country has faced over the years and an attempt to resolve a major structural problem of the Ghanaian economy,” he added.
He added that the loss recorded by the bank is not the first time since the bank has gone into negative equity, according to historical financial statements.
According to Dr Addison, in the period of 2017, and 2018, BoG incurred similar negative equity from the impairment of legacy liquidity support loans granted in 2015 and 2016 to insolvent banks.
He stated that the external auditors were impaired due to the uncertain prospects of recovering from those insolvent banks. However, the bank recovered and generated profits from 2019 to 2021.
“During the early years of structural adjustment, very large exchange rate depreciations led to revaluation losses that drove the Bank into negative Equity. Indeed, anytime the economy faces major challenges, the Bank of Ghana’s balance sheet suffers, and the equity position moves into negative territories,” he said.
The BoG Governor noted that in all its dealings, the Bank acted within the applicable laws, adding that it is not true that the Bank of Ghana has been providing financing for the government every year.
“There has been zero financing in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021. The Bank of Ghana has only had to support in the pandemic year of 2020 and the crisis year of 2022.”
“The Bank of Ghana Act (612), as amended, limits financing of Government to 5 percent of previous year’s tax revenue. This provision in the law has been adhered to since I took office in April 2017. Between 2017 and 2019, in addition to the requirements of the Bank of Ghana Act (612), as amended, the Bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Ministry of Finance to even impose a tighter restriction of zero central bank financing, and this was observed strictly, even though MOUs are not legally binding. Between 2012 and 2015, the Bank of Ghana provided overdraft to finance government and Cocobod every year. And there was neither a pandemic nor a global economic crisis,” he explained.
“When Ghana was hit with Covid-19 in 2020, Section 30(6) of the Bank of Ghana Act (612), as amended, was triggered, and as indicated earlier, the Bank purchased GHC10 billion worth of Covid19 bonds to support the economy through the pandemic. This was done within the applicable laws governing the Bank of Ghana. When section 30 (6) of the Bank of Ghana Act (612), as amended, is triggered, it, allows the Governor, the Minister for Finance and the Controller and Accountant General to agree on a new limit of central bank financing.
The law further says that the Minister of Finance would then have to inform parliament, and the Minister has since informed parliament as part of his briefing to update Parliament on the IMF programme and status of the Domestic Debt Exchange,” he stressed.
The Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources has deployed sanitation guards, nationwide, to check and control the indiscriminate dumping of plastic waste and refuse.
In the interim, the “ununiformed” sanitation guards are spread across some major cities and urban centres including Kumasi, Sekondi-Takoradi, and Tamale.
Those who would be found littering around or throwing plastic waste and polythene bags would be made to pick them up, pay a spot fine, or face prosecution, Dr Freda Prempeh, the Sector Minister, has stated.
The Minister was interacting with the media after she inspected work on the evacuation of 10 refuse dumps in some communities in the Tano North Municipality of the Ahafo Region.
The Ministry, in collaboration with Zoomlion Ghana Limited, a private waste management and sanitation company, is evacuating the refuse dumps, which had been in the communities over the years.
Already, it had evacuated some refuse dumps at Terchire, Nsesreso, Jerusalem and Bourkrurkiwa near Duayaw- Nkwanta, the municipal capital, and constructed some toilet facilities in some of the deprived communities to serve the people.
Dr Prempeh, also the Member of Parliament for Tano North, said the Ministry was engaging relevant institutions and key stakeholders to draft a bill that would support and sustain the nationwide exercise, which sought to promote environmental cleanliness and control the outbreaks of communicable diseases.
Dr.Freda Prempeh in an interaction with some Officials
She expressed disgust about the bad attitude of some Ghanaians towards environmental protection and hoped the exercise would not only keep the environment clean but change the poor attitude of some people towards sanitation practices.
The Ministry was working hard towards the segregation and recycling of waste for other purposes, she said, and thus called on households to desist from keeping plastic and other waste materials together.
She urged the public to cooperate with the Ministry and support the exercise to achieve desirable outcomes in order to channel the huge sums of money the government spent on waste management into other development ventures.
Mr Sampson Akwettey, the Acting Director, Environmental Health and Sanitation at the Ministry, said bad sanitation practices remained a huge problem in the country, which ought to be tackled decisively and proactively.
He said the outbreak of communicable diseases such as cholera and typhoid was due to poor sanitary environment and cautioned the people against indiscriminate waste disposal.
Mr. Edward Ziddah, the Ahafo Regional Coordinator of Zoomlion, told the Ghana News Agency the firm was evacuating 33 refuse dumps in the entire region.
At Nsesreso, Mrs Clara Adu Sarpong, a resident and an opinion leader, expressed appreciation to the Ministry for evacuating the refuse dumps.
Hitherto, she said the refuse dump served as breeding grounds for rodents and snakes while malaria was common because of the mosquitoes.
