Osei-Ameyaw invests GH¢1M in NPP

Member of Parliament (MP) for Asuogyaman in the Eastern region, Kofi Osei-Ameyaw, has invested a whopping one million Ghana cedis into the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

The money, the MP says, is to help build the capacity of the over 130,000 polling station executives and members of the party towards the 2016 General Elections.

“This investment is a demonstration of what we believe should be done to win election 2016. We need to build on the capacity level of the polling station executives and that is exactly what I am doing,” he noted.

According to the business tycoon, he is not embarking on such venture as means of winning the heart of the grassroots but doing it “because it is his priority.”

He, however, did not rule out contesting the flag-bearership position of the party if the opportunity arises.

“I have never said anywhere that I have any intention to stand for presidency. The decision will be made by those who are empowered to make the decision. And if those decision makers at any stage see me as fit and proper for that position and they want to endorse me and declare me and present me for an election, I would oblige,” the former deputy minister for trade & industry averred.

In an interview with Today, the MP used the opportunity to condemn the upsurge of various youth groups in the party purporting to support candidates aspiring to be the party’s flag-bearer slot for the 2016 presidential election.

On Tuesday, May 27, 2014 a group claiming to represent the Greater Accra Youth Wing of the NPP demanded that the party allows 2012 presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to go unopposed for election 2016.

The group, consequentially, called for the withdrawal of all competitors for the party’s presidential primary scheduled for December, 2014.

But such call was immediately rebutted by Nana Addo the following day, May 28, 2014 when he issued a statement to distance himself from the youth group.

Also on Wednesday, another group from the NPP, calling itself Crusaders of Nana Akufo-Addo (CONNA,) pledged to ensure that the former Attorney-General & Minister of Justice gets 90% of the total votes when the party goes to the polls in December this year.

Mr. Alan Kwadwo Kyeremanten has also had the backing of another group affiliated to the NPP called Get Alan Kyeremanten Elected (GAKE).

But the actions of these groupings, according to the Asuogyaman MP, are not in the best interest of the party since “it can only worsen the already enmity between Nana Addo and Alan Kyeremanten and their followers.

…And even though Nana Addo will come and disclaim – the question is who orchestrated it? So where is this taking us and why have we resorted to the media if there is a problem? Why don’t we write to the leadership of the party for redress?”

He added “If you look into our party, the object is to be able to sponsor a candidate for elections into any public office as required under the constitution of the Republic of Ghana, sponsor candidates for election, to win political power through democratic means in order to pursue the party’s agenda provided in the party’s manifesto for general elections. So, for anyone to come and say some people should not participate in an election when the nominations, guidelines as to who qualifies, has not even come out amounts to vile threats. And for that matter some intimidatory tendencies are raising its ugly head.”

“If these people are NPP members, we should investigate and deal with the situation which seeks to divide our front towards elections 2016,” he added.

He said what the NPP needed most at this time was unity.

Against this backdrop, the legislator also urged Nana Addo and Alan Kyeremanten to end attacks on each other as according to him, it is undermining party unity.

This, he noted, is the foremost component in winning power from the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) rather than the self-centered interest that has crept into the party over the years.

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Source:ghanaweb

Another Unthinkable Rape Is Rocking India

LUCKNOW India (Reuters) - India's new home minister weighed in on Friday in a grisly case in which two teenage girls were raped and hanged from a tree this week, as public anger and political controversy over the attack gain momentum.

The case is one of the first challenges for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his four-day-old government. It highlights the ongoing struggle to stem sexual violence in India, where a string of high-profile rapes has sparked nationwide protests and international criticism.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh asked the state government of Uttar Pradesh to submit a report on the attack, a ministry spokesman said.

Modi, a prolific Twitter user, has not yet commented on the killings in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state and a key political battleground. Modi's Hindu nationalist party swept 73 of the state's 80 parliamentary seats in its landslide general election victory.

The two cousins, from a low-caste community and aged 14 and 15, went missing from their home in a village in Uttar Pradesh's Budaun district on Tuesday evening when they went out to go to the toilet. The next morning, villagers found their bodies hanging from a mango tree in a nearby orchard.

Local police said a post-mortem confirmed that the girls, from the Dalit community, had been raped and died from the hanging. Three men - one a policeman - have been arrested over the attack and a search is under way for two other suspects.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has ordered that the case be handled by a fast-track court "to ensure that the guilty are brought to book without the usual procedural delay", his spokesman Navneet Sehgal said.

Another Dalit teenage girl was gang-raped and strangled in the constituency of Yadav's father, Mulayam Singh Yadav, the leader of the regional Samajwadi party, on Thursday night, police said.

Mulayam Singh Yadav provoked outrage during the election campaign by saying about the death penalty for some rape cases: "Boys commit mistakes. Will they be hanged for rape?"

Mayawati, an opposition leader in Uttar Pradesh whose party enjoys widespread Dalit support, slammed the rape and hangings as evidence of the "jungle raj" that ran the state and failed to impose law and order.

Thomson Reuters

Students hold placards and shout slogans during a protest against the recent killings of two girls, in New Delhi

A small crowd staged a protest against the killings outside the Uttar Pradesh state government's office in Delhi on Friday afternoon.

The poor state of women's safety in India has been under the spotlight since the gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old student on a moving bus in the capital Delhi in 2012, which led to the introduction of tougher rape laws.

This week's case underlined how women from lower castes were particularly vulnerable, human rights activists said.

"Members of dominant castes are known to use sexual violence against Dalit women and girls as a political tool for punishment, humiliation and assertion of power," Divya Iyer, at Amnesty International India, said in a statement. 

(Writing by Shyamantha Asokan; Editing by Douglas Busvine and Nick Macfie)

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Source:Business Insider

PPP wants report on Subah rejected

The Progressive People’s Party (PPP) has called on Ghanaians to reject the Ministerial Committee’s report on the Ghana Revenue Authority - Subah Infosolutions deal.

According to the party, the report is tainted with corruption. Therefore it has asked that another committee be reconstituted to thoroughly investigate the deal.

For instance, it said, the executive summary of the report captured three employees of Subah Infosolutions as members of the committee whereas no representative of the mobile network operators, the offending party, was on the committee.

“It was only after several days that correspondences from the Ministry of Finance suggested that the reports be discarded since the three Subah representatives were not members of the committee but were only invited to sit in for renegotiation of the contract,” the party said.

At a press conference in Accra, Mr Frederick Anyan, a communication team member of the PPP, said: “We believe that the report has come to wash down the rot in this contract between the government and Subah and to exonerate Subah”.

The Ministerial Committee was set up to review and renegotiate the contract and also considers the legal implications of setting aside the contract.

Subah contract

Mr Anyan said the Revenue Agencies Governing Board contracted Subah Infosolutions in 2010 to ascertain the number of calls and duration as well as the application of tariffs in relation to domestic calls.

The contract, he said, was to enable the GRA to charge the correct taxes on call traffic volume to be paid by the mobile network operators to the GRA.

He said Subah was specifically contracted to examine and ascertain the total volume of call traffic declared by the mobile network operators as a basis for calculating the amount of Communication Service Tax to be paid by the operators to the government.

“Subah was also to verify the accuracy in the application of tariffs to individual calls.

Legal backing

To be able to fully execute the contract terms, he said Subah needed to attach monitoring equipment to the physical network nodes of the mobile network operators.

“However, it was in October 2013 that the Communication Service Tax (CST) Act, 2008 (Act 754) was amended to Communication Service Tax Act 2013 (Act 864) to give the deal a legal mandate for electronic monitoring of the operations of the operators by the government or its agent”, he said.

He said the CST Act 2008 (Act 754), in whose spirit the contract was conceived, made no provision for the operators to allow access to electronic monitoring of their operations by the government or its agent.

“Why did the government sign a contract when there was no legal mandate upon which the contracted party could execute the contract terms and yet waited for 40 clear months before amending the CST Act 2008 (Act 754)?” Mr Anyan asked.

Subah never approached telcos

He cited a letter authored and signed by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, Mr Kwaku Sakyi Addo, which claimed that Subah was never introduced to the chamber until October 28, 2013, by a letter from the GRA.

He said that though Subah had been contracted since June 2010, the firm had never approached any member of telcos to install monitoring equipment until November 2013”.

“If the government believed that the contract signed in 2010 passed value for money test and was not scandalous, why did it not introduce Subah to the mobile network operators until November 2013?

Paid for no work done

Based on these, he asked why the government advanced payment of GH¢74.3 million to Subah when it had not installed any electronic monitoring equipment to be able to monitor the call traffic volume and also verify the accuracy of the application of tariffs as stated in the contract.

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Source:ghanaweb

It took 8 months but eventually Muntari hit my soft spot - Menaye

Menaye Muntari says it took eight months to get a relationship going with Black Stars midfielder Sulley Ali Muntari.

The model, cum entrepreneur who took her turn on Bola Ray's Personality Profile show, Thursday said she had no clue who Sulley was when they met.

With no interest in football it was always going to be difficult to get a relationship going, Menaye hinted.

Through the intermediary or 'betweener' role by Ama K Abebrese, Sulley Muntari gradually warmed his way into the delicate heart of the woman who had won the Miss Universe (Ghana) model in 2004.

"He didn't say a word when he first met me. I didn't know who he was. He was talking to my cousin-Ama.

When Ama tossed the idea of getting her hooked to Sulley, Menaye Donkor said: "No No I am not interested. A soccer player for what? No, no way! It took eight months" and after persistent calls to Ama for a relationship to begin, she confessed with a blush while adoring the personality of the ace Ghana star.

"Sulley love for kids. He is such a kind hearted person and how he won me over was his love for my family. He is just kindhearted, and he hit me where my soft spot was." she indicated but "on the pitch he is bull dog."

Asked about some of the rumours she had heard about herself, the sweet looking Menaye lamented rumours about she using black magic to win the heart of Sulley Ali Muntari.

Even though it was laughable in the beginning, Menaye admitted such atrocious rumours hurt because she is as human as everybody.

The philanthropist said she used to manage Sulley Ali Muntari at the initial stages of their relationship, but it was always going to be difficult shuffling business and personal matters. As a result, a company had been hired to do that job.

Demystifying assertions that it was costly to hang around with her, Menaye said on the contrary she was actually a "cheap date."

With a little rice with shito and some small 'creamless' salad, she was good to go, she stated.

The consummate businesswoman said she would love to have two kids with her husband Sulley, a dream they both share.

With her husband preparing for the World Cup in Brazil, Menaye said she is boarding the next flight to Brazil to support Sulley Ali Muntari.

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Akufo-Addo will win NPP flagbearer race by a landslide - Baako

Editor-In-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako Jnr, has asked the leadership of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) to crack the whip as internal wranglings within the party intensifies.

It surprises him that some members of the NPP who are supposed to be neutral and thus bring unity are rather spearheading some of the ongoing controversies concerning the flagbearership position of the party.

Even though the date set for filing of nomination is about two months away, some supporters of flagbearer hopefuls, especially Mr. Alan Kyerematen and two time flagbearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo are already at each other’s throat.

Supporters of Nana Addo have asked Alan Kyerematen to step aside and allow the two time flagbearer to go 'unopposed'.

A youth wing in the Greater Accra branch of the NPP on Monday called on all other aspirants to back off because, according to them, a third chance for Nana Addo is "commonsense...The only means of getting power now is to get Nana Addo to lead the party".

However, another group calling themselves ‘Get Alan Kyerematen Elected’ (GAKE) threw caution to the wind and verbally attacked Nana Addo.

“How can a 72-year-old Nana Addo overturn 323,663 votes of 57-year-old John Mahama, who doubles as an incumbent president? If Nana Addo had something positive for the NPP, he could have done so in both the 2008 and 2012 general elections. It is thus imperative for the NPP delegates to replace Nana Addo with Alan Kyerematen in the upcoming NPP Congress. It is the belief of GAKE that Alan, who is the last John to complete the ‘John hierarchy’ in the 4th Republic; after John Rawlings, John Kufuor, John Mills (late) and John Mahama, has all the qualities that Ghanaian voters are looking for…” GAKE said curtly on Adom FM, Wednesday.

But contributing to a panel discussion on ‘Kokrokoo’, Kweku Baako described the 'verbal diarrhoea' and the back and forth exchanges as unnecessary and needless.

“The man has already said he will not want to go unopposed, and so I was surprised this came out. Had it not been the respect I have for the constituency youth organizers, I would have said that it was a piece of infantile nonsense. Nana Addo doesn’t need that. It was needless and unwarranted. It will not even help the party. It is so clear that he is the leading aspirant and if you believe he is the best candidate to market, why do you want him to go unopposed? It is good that that idea has been shot down. The same goes to those supporting Alan…”

He said “the new leaders of the party must realize that these things have serious consequences. The new leaders must be able to take actions, not necessarily dismissing or suspending, but issuing public queries. They must show that they are ready for action” as far as disciplinary measures are concerned.

Kweku Baako also added that: “if I look within the crystal ball, it is so obvious to me that Akufo-Addo will emerge winner. It will almost be a landslide. Now, those attacking his personality; how are they going to market him to win the 2016 presidential elections if he emerges the winner of the flagbearership race? What that brings on board is a certain level of inconsistency and lack of principle”.

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Source:ghanaweb

My Gh¢4,000 salary not enough - MP cries out

Member of Parliamnet (MP) for North Dayi, George Loh, has lamented his Gh¢4,000 take home pay is not enough for him in view of the many responsibilities he has to bear as a legislator.

Despite a gross salary of Gh¢7,000, he said MPs pay huge chunk of this money as taxes. They are up in arms with the Finance Minister, Seth Terkper, to address the "huge" tax burden, he revealed.

"You can begin to think that an MP’s salary is a lot but when you go into an MP’s salary, it is next to nothing," the lawyer pointed out on the Joy FM Super Morning Show, Friday.

The comments were made on the sidelines of revelations, each MP has been allocated Gh¢34,000 to monitor projects within their constituencies. Monitoring projects would be seen as an MP's job. The North Dayi MP denied receiving any such monies.

Staying on the issue of his salary, he said "this is something I shouldn't have put out".

He, however, went further to call for national debate to "do a salary analysis of all other workers.. judiciary, education [and] health".

"I have seen other people's salary and the MPs salary is nowhere near them", he challenged adding, to have an informed discussion, "let's put the figures out". He explained being in parliament is not as rosy as it looks despite fierce competition to get elected.

"There are several other deductions that come out of your salary....and this is the same money you use to do funerals and others; it is not as good as it looks".

George Loh is a legal practitioner and a new entrant to parliament after he defeated former Youth and Sports Minister Akua Sena Dansua by 12 votes in the National Democratic Congress' primaries ensuring a straight forward victory in the NDC stronghold constituency of North Dayi in the Volta Region.

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Source:ghanaweb

Use of Landfills to solve energy crisis- Mr.Richard Dablah

Chief Executive Officer of Renewable Green Energy Ghana, Richard Dablah believes, the solution to Ghana’s current energy crisis sits in the numerous landfill sites dotted around the country.

Biomethane gas from decomposition in landfill sites has the characteristics of natural gas with only a few impurities.

This can be used to generate electricity for individual communities and reduce the burden and dependence on the national grid.

“With one thousand five hundred tons of waste you could generate about 10megawatt hours of electricity, so why then bury it?”

Mr Dablah adds it makes no sense to bury and burn resources which can be used to solve real developmental challenges.
He explains that the process to extracting methane gas from landfills to power generators is quite straight forward.

Landfill gasification involves digging wells in the site before decommissioning with pipes connected to gas collection points. Bacteria will breakdown the organic waste and methane gas will be produced to power generators.

The more expensive science of plasma gasification can convert all the waste in the landfill to synthetic gas for energy production.

However, for Richard Dablah, harnessing the fuel potential of landfill sites is just damage control, the solution to the country’s waste management crisis is to work towards getting rid of landfills altogether.

“It is rather unfortunate that Ghana chose the cheapest waste management solution”.

He says the first step is to start segregating waste at source so that it can be managed accordingly, whether to recycle or reuse.

Communities and household can also use their food and other organic waste to produce fuel and compost.
“Currently our composition of waste is 60% organic. That is a lot of fuel”


He contends that ‘if we had practiced segregation earlier we would have minimized the waste we generate and would not be facing a sanitation disaster’

He concludes that ‘the land can be used for other things, like schools instead of just burying resources’.

 

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Source: Ghana | News | JoyNews TV | Jahou Nyan

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USAID partners Ghana Education Service to fight Malaria

USAID NetWorks Ghana project  has presented school jerseys to the Ghana Education Service, to acknowledge the efforts of Ghanaian teachers and schoolchildren engaged in tackling malaria at Sege in the Damgbe District.

Two schools in each circuit will be awarded a full set of football jerseys as reward for active participation in a Drive Malaria Away for GoodLife  by USAID working with the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) and the Ghana Education Service’s (GES) School Health Education Programme (SHEP)

Speaking on the project Mr. J. K. Ofori the Chief of Party- Networks said Primary 2 and Primary 6 children are given training on Malaria prevention issues using the School-Based Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINs).

The Drama Guide and Community Drama Competition are two of such teaching aids in which teachers across the nation are given guidelines as to how to educate their pupils on Malaria and creatively share this knowledge with their communities
The programme included exciting theatre and musical performances from two of the winning schools and a 5-aside football game at the Sege Cluster Schools in Sege, Ada West District. 

The USAID NetWorks Ghana Project is a two year USAID funded project with technical assistance provided by Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs (JHUCCP). The NetWorks Project has a focus of supporting the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) to provide , while implementing strategies that further increase the use of LLINs across the nation.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Malaria still kills an estimated 660,000 people worldwide, mainly children under five years of age in sub-Saharan Africa.

In 2012 over 30, 000 hospital admissions in Ghana were due to Malaria; while 10 out of every 100,000 deaths were caused by Malaria

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Source:Myjoyonline

MFWA writes to Mahama on Boko Haram

he Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has called on the Chairman of ECOWAS, President John Dramani Mahama, to give prominence to justice and the fight against impunity in his ongoing efforts to deal with the security challenges facing the region.

According to the MFWA, the ongoing efforts to deal with security challenges of the region must be pursued alongside a clear and purposeful commitment to punish perpetrators of crime and human right violations and providing justice to victims of such crimes and violations.

“We are of the view that justice has always been a fundamental element and pre-requisite in the promotion of peace and stability. It is important to have in place, a strong justice mechanism that deters perpetrators of crimes and assures potential victims of justice,” said the Executive Director of the MFWA, Sulemana Braimah.

The organisation has, therefore, expressed grave concern about the dwindling authority and capacity of the ECOWAS community Court of Justice mainly as a result of non-compliance with judgements of Court by member states.

According to the MFWA’s Executive director, the ECOWAS Court has so far delivered many seminal judgments and proven to be a bold adjudicator of last resort within the region. However, over 60% of the Court’s judgments involving member states have not been complied with.

“We cannot be talking about peace and security without a commitment to ensure justice. We are, therefore, calling on the ECOWAS Chairman to include the issue of Justice and the empowerment of the ECOWAS Court in all his agenda for peace and in his deliberations with colleague Heads of State,” Sulemana recommended.

The MFWA’s letter comes ahead of President Mahama’s invitation of ECOWAS leaders to a meeting in Accra on Friday May 30, to discuss the security situation in the region especially the recent attacks of the Boko Haram group in Nigeria.

Below is the full letter from the MFWA to the ECOWAS Chairman:

Need for Strong Justice Mechanism in Dealing with Security Challenges of the Region

On behalf of our partner organisations in ECOWAS member states, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) wishes to once again congratulate you on your election to the high office of Chairman of the ECOWAS. We also wish to further commend you on your ongoing efforts in tackling the security problems in the region, particularly the threats posed by the Boko Haram group.

Your Excellency, we are writing to you to highlight the need to have a strong justice mechanism as part of the ongoing efforts to improve the security situation in the region.

As a civil society group, we are happy that you have chosen to focus on dealing with the most important challenge facing the region at the moment – the alarming threats to regional Peace and Security. This is because, peace and stability is central to the fulfilment of having an ECOWAS of citizens rather than of states, as envisioned in the agenda of the regional body.

However, as you are aware, Your Execllency, the fight for peace and stability requires very strong justice mechanisms that make it possible for perpetrators of crime (especially international crimes) to be duly punished and for victims to have access to justice.

We are of the view that, justice has always been a fundamental element and pre-requisite in the promotion of peace and stability. This is why we are deeply concerned about the weakening authority and capacity of the ECOWAS Court of Justice.

So far, the ECOWAS Court has delivered many seminal judgements and proven to be a bold adjudicator of last resort within the region. However, over 60% of the Court’s judgements involving member states have not been complied with. This spate of non-compliance is extremely worrying as it reduces the authority and usefulness of the Court. The situation is also worrying because it fosters impunity and reduces citizens’ confidence in the Court as a regional judicial mechanism.

Officials of the Court have on several occasions complained about the issue of non-compliance as a breach of the Statutes of the ECOWAS and the Treaty that establishes the Court. Several studies and statements have also pointed to the issue of non-compliance as a major challenge to the Court’s authority, credibility and continued relevance.

Your Excellency, given the centrality of the rule of law and justice to your pursuit of peace and stability in the region, we are calling on you to prioritise the strengthening of the Court by urging member states to respect the judgments of the Court.

We also urge you to lead the invocation of the sanctions provisions in the ECOWAS treaty against member states that refuse to comply with decisions of the Community Court

We appreciate your consideration of this letter, and would welcome the chance to discuss these issues with you or your representatives in greater depth.

Sincerely

SIGNED

Sulemana Braimah

(Executive Director)




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Source:ghanaweb

‘Beneficiaries of GH¢340,000 compensation can’t be identified’

The Lands Commission on Wednesday told the Commission on Judgement Debt that it could not establish the identities of the beneficiaries of a GH¢340,000 compensation paid by the state in 2009.

The payment of the compensation was captured in an exhibit tendered to the commission by the Bank of Ghana.

It contained the number of beneficiaries but their names were not indicated. The Chief Valuer at the Lands Valuation Division of the Lands Commission, Mr Justice Mawulawoe Morgan, told the Sole Commissioner at the sitting that the Lands Commission did not have any record of the names of the beneficiaries of the GH¢340,000 compensation.

He was also unable to tell the commission the reason for the payment of the compensation.

Mr Morgan, therefore, requested for time to enable the division to provide documents that related to the payment of the compensation.

Consequently, the commission adjourned the case to June 18, 2014.

Finance Ministry

The Director in charge of External Resource Mobilisation at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Awua-Peasah, also appeared in respect of compensation payment in the sum of GH¢15,100 to one Madam Florence Tamakloe. He was not able to furnish the commission with enough documents that supported that payment.

Mr Awua-Peasah could not also tell the commission the reason for the payment of the compensation to Madam Tamakloe.

Wusuta resettlement

The Volta Regional Lands Officer, Mr Gershon Quamie Tsra, also appeared before the commission to answer questions regarding the Wusuta resettlement. The issues related to persons whose lands were inundated as a result of the construction of the Volta Lake.

Mr Tsra was, however, asked a question in respect of the compensation payment of GH¢62,547 to one Stephen Amponsah through his lawyer.

He told the commission that he was not aware of that payment.

Bank of Ghana

A Deputy Chief Manager of the Bank of Ghana, Mr Seth Akuako Nyanor, appeared before the commission to answer questions relating to whether some institutions were demanding payment for services rendered to the bank and the steps the bank was taking to resolve the issues.

Mr Nyanor told the commission that the BoG was contending with only one issue that related to a worker who had sued the bank for wrongful termination of appointment.

The case, he said, was pending in court.


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Formation of groups around individuals is wrong - Kwabena Agyepong

The General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Kwabena Agyepong, has said emerging splinter groups in the party are alien to it and the party does not recognise any group except those recognised by the party’s constitution.

“We want to make it clear that all the so-called emerging groups are alien to the dictates of the party, and for that matter, the party abhors such recent development,” he declared.

In a telephone interview with the Daily Graphic, the NPP scribe pointed out that “these groups are not known to the party and its constitution,” saying the constitution of the party proscribes the formation of splinter groups around individuals.

Emerging groups

In the run-up to the heated presidential primaries of the NPP slated for December this year, a number of groups associated with the party and individual flag bearer aspirants have emerged on the political scene, marketing their preferred candidates and, in the process, uttering comments that are vitriolic against other aspirants.

Yesterday, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the 2012 and 2008 presidential candidate of the NPP, distanced himself from an NPP youth group calling for him to run unopposed as the party’s 2016 presidential candidate.

A youth wing in the Greater Accra branch of the NPP called for all other aspirants to back off and hail their two-time presidential candidate in a popular acclamation.

But Nana Akufo Addo's spokesperson, Mr Mustapha Hamid, said it would be an "anticlimax" if the 2012 flag bearer of the party, whose democratic activism spans 40 years, endorsed calls for him to run unopposed.

There are also other groups — Concerned Crusaders of Nana Akufo Addo (CONAA) and Get Alan Kyeremanten Elected (GAKE) — both out to undo one candidate against another.

Advice

According to Mr Agyepong, “we at the national secretariat take a strong exception to these developments,” and quoted Article 3 of the NPP’s constitution as stipulating that “members of the party shall protect and promote the good name of the party, protect the unity of party, abide by and publicly uphold decisions of the party.”

“So it is very clear that no member shall take any action that would bring the party’s good image into disrepute,” he stated.

Code of conduct

He disclosed that the party was in its concluding stages of preparing a code of conduct and guidelines to govern its presidential primaries.

He, therefore, urged every presidential aspirant and their supporters to publicly conduct themselves in the supreme interest of the party and strictly abide by the code of conduct when it was launched.

He reminded members and supporters of the supremacy of the party at all times, saying “the unity of the party is paramount.”

He said individuals of the party would have the opportunity to exercise their right of choice during the presidential primaries, and cautioned them not to do anything untoward, concluding that the party would not hesitate to sanction deviant members.

 

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An acute water shortage has hit three wards of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital for the past two weeks, forcing patients and nurses to shuttle between the affected wards and the Maternity Ward to meet their water needs.

Although hospital authorities maintain that private water suppliers are providing water for the facility, evidence at the Surgical Ward, as well as the Orthopaedic and Accident wards, suggests the contrary.

When the Daily Graphic visited the Surgical Ward last Tuesday, the washrooms had been closed down and a member of staff (who refused to give her name) indicated that water had not been flowing at the ward for the past two weeks.

“For the past two weeks, we have not had water supply and so we have even locked up all the washrooms,” she said.

Indeed, when this reporter asked to use the washroom, she was denied access and instead directed to the Maternity Ward to use the public washroom there.

The visit by the Daily Graphic followed a complaint by a patient (named withheld) on admission at the ward who had sent a message on his social media platform that the ward had no water.

He wrote, “Please help me get this message to the Ministry of Health, as well as the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing, that I have been on admission at the Korle-Bu Hospital for some time now and water to bath or even use in the washroom is not there and the whole place smells. We use toilet roll to clean our bowls after meals and use the same bowl for meals again. Please help with the information, thank you.”

Further checks at the Surgical, Orthopaedic and Accident wards revealed that there were no tanks to store water for patients to use.

The situation had compelled orderlies to go round the hospital to fetch water with barrels to be supplied to the wards.

When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the hospital, Mr Mustapha Salifu, debunked rumours that the hospital was facing challenges with water supply.

He said although the hospital had experienced some challenges with the flow of water since last Monday, it had resorted to the services of private water tankers to provide water for the hospital.

He said it would be irresponsible on the part of the hospital to turn down patients because of the lack of water.

Temporary challenges

Mr Salifu said it was unfortunate that some of the departments of the hospital were affected by recent developments at the health facility and said the management had not received any report on the water shortage from any department.

“Yes, there may be temporary challenges, but we have not received any report. It’s possible that water may run out in some departments but our engineers are always monitoring the situation, so that when the water level goes down, they call the tanker services to come and supply,” he explained.

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Kojo Antwi plays in the Holy Land

Kojo Antwi, ‘The Maestro’ as he’s affectionately called has once again indeed proven to be a world music icon of Ghanaian heritage when he dazzled thousands of fans in the ‘Holy Land’ of Israel over the weekend.

‘The Maestro’ joined the Hebrew Israelite community of Dimona as they celebrated their annual ‘New World Passover’. A season celebrated to commemorate their arrival at the shores of Israel after the group left America in the 1960’s, where they felt captive.

Kojo Antwi’s visit to the ‘Holy Land’ was upon a distinct invitation from the leader of the Hebrew Israelite community, His Excellency Ben Ammi Ben.

Despite the short notice and the absence of his own band, Mr. Music Man as he’s also known, still displayed his craft and thrilled the community with his unique blend of Ghana’s highlife, Africa’s Soukous, Caribbean lover’s rock, a splash of Afro-American soul and R&B.

He was the only Ghanaian artiste among the few artistes from all over the world to perform at the two-day celebration. Aside his performance, Kojo Antwi also took time to interact with indigenes and visited the various Biblical sites in Jerusalem and round the community. “I was fascinated by the culture of the people and the various biblical tourist sites. It was a life changing experience especially my time with the leader. It was very deep. My relationship with them has become more intimate. Dimona has become a second home now”.

He also added that there are plans underway to host his own concert in ‘The Holy Land’ of Israel very soon.

In a related development ‘The Maestro’ is reported to be putting finishing touches to a joint with Daddy Lumba to serve Ghanaian music lovers with their first ever collaboration.

He also disclosed that Nigerian artiste; J Martins is featured in his upcoming album which is slated for release sooner than later.

When asked if he has any plans of retiring, the Maestro had this response; “When it comes to creativity, you can’t retire. You will do different things at different times, different stages but I believe they will come a time when I’ll be doing a lot of free shows. Because I’m getting to a point where I’ll just mount the stage and perform for free. It’s not all is about money….” He also urged all Ghanaians to tune in and keep listening to BREEZE 90.9 FM his new radio station.

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Local concoctions can't cure TB -Coordinator

Mr. Joseph Newton, Western Regional Director of the National Tuberculosis Control programme has said that Tuberculosis cannot be cured by local concoctions and herbal preparations.

He said the disease is a micro-bacterial infection and so cannot be cured with herbs and debunked the idea that TB was a spiritual disease.

He entreated individuals suspected of having the disease and community members not to rely on faith-based organizations and herbal drug peddlers, who pretend to have a cure for the disease.

Mr. Newton said this at a media briefing to discuss the state of the disease in the Region.

He said TB treatment was still free and that community health workers and volunteers were readily available to assist patients to undergo the treatment.

He said globally, TB placed second to HIV/AIDs and the greatest killer worldwide, accounting for about 95 per cent of death cases in developing countries, even though it is curable.

He said tobacco use greatly increases the risk of acquiring the disease, adding that, more than 20 per cent of TB cases worldwide are attributed to smoking.

Dilating on the Regional Figures, Mr. Newton said 2013 recorded 1742 cases as against 1067 cases in 2012 and lauded “TB Reach” an NGO for working to create awareness in deprived areas of the region.

The Regional TB Coordinator added that people with the TB disease must report early to health facilities and co-operate, in order to reduce transmission of infection, reduce mortality and morbidity and prevent the development of drug resistance.

Mr. Newton said the stakeholders must be involved in prevention and management of the disease to improve TB cure rate and reduce multi-drug resistance, due to non-compliance, treatment failure and relapse.

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Rawlings to sponsor Bukom Banku, Powers trip to Brazil

Famous Ghanaian boxers Braimah ‘Bukom Banku’ Kamoko and Ayittey Powers will be travelling to Brazil to support the Black Stars courtesy ex-Ghana President Jerry John Rawlings.

The former President has decided to sponsor the two boxers to Brazil for the World Cup as a reward for bringing back some excitement in boxing with their Judgement Night bout a few weeks ago.

The whole of Ghana was engulfed in suspense in the lead up to the biggest fight so far this year at the Accra Sports Stadium.

The comic relief and ‘trash talk’ offered by both camps ahead of the fight gripped the nation and won over Ghanaians who even had no interest in boxing.

The ex-President who was at ring side for the fight won by Bukom Banku by a unanimous decision has promised to take both boxers to Brazil to offer unique support to the Black Stars.

“JJ [the former President] bought our tickets for us to Brazil,” Kamoko told Happy FM.

“I will be at the Black Stars camp to give them morale and support.

“We pray and hope that they will bring back the cup.”

Both boxers have been in high demand for several social activities in Ghana since their fight.

They presented an award at the recent Ghana Music Awards and were also special guests at the inaugural Presidential Ball in honour of the Black Stars last week at the State Banquet Hall.

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