Category: Politics

Members of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) have been urged to be circumspect in their call on the flag-bearer of the party in choosing a running mate.

They should exercise restraint and desist from putting undue pressure on the flag-bearer, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, on the person he should select as his running mate.

Mr James Fiifi Eshun Aggrey, Second Vice-Chairman of the Oforikrom Constituency of the NPP, who made the call in a statement issued in Kumasi, on behalf of a group calling itself ‘Patriotic Movement for Bawumia’ said there was the need for consensus-building instead of advancing one’s own parochial interest.

The statement stressed the need for patience amongst the party faithful and urged all and sundry to bear with Dr Bawumia, who is also the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, as he sought to choose his partner for the 2024 general elections.

It also encouraged him not to lose focus since choosing the right candidate to partner him for the polls was equally important in determining the
NPP.s chances of winning the elections.

The ‘Patriotic Movement for Bawumia’ according to Mr Aggrey, comprised some executives at various levels of the party’s hierarchy, grassroots members, as well as identifiable youth groups who believe in the principles, political ideologies, and vision of the Vice President, who is also the flag-bearer of the party.

The issue of deciding on a running mate for the ruling party has heated up in recent times, with various interest groups rooting for their own favourites to be selected.

Some of the considerations are biased relating to the flagbearer considering a candidate on regional, religious and gender basis as opposed to giving room for competency, which remains the critical factor in choosing the running mate.

The NPP is seeking to break the jinx surrounding any party’s ability to go past two terms since Ghana ushered in the Fourth Republican Constitution some three decades ago.

The Party’s mantra, ‘Breaking the Eight,’ is, therefore, being pursued vigorously as
the party’s leadership vows to work hard to ensure the NPP remains in power after the general elections.

According to the statement, the tradition over the years had been that the NPP flag-bearer was always given the liberty and power to choose the preferred running mate.

The status quo must not be changed during Dr Bawumia’s era as he must be given the space to follow tradition, which is in the best interest of the NPP, the group advised.

In acknowledging the difficult task ahead, the group stressed the need for unity of purpose, stating that the issue of choosing a running mate should not divide the party.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Kadjebi-Asato Senior High School’s (KASEC) Rashid Bawa Assembly Hall has been selected as the venue for the Akan New Patriotic Party (NPP) Parliamentary Candidate (PC) primary poll.

The election is billed for Saturday, April 27 between 0700 hours and 1400 hours.

Some 635 delegates are expected to cast their ballots during the poll.

Mr. Merigah Abdul Sataru, Akan Constituency Secretary, NPP who disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), in an interview at Kadjebi in the Oti Region advised the aspirants to engage in ‘decent campaigns and obey the rules governing the election’.

‘Also, we should remember that we lost a brother that resulted in this primary’, he added.

Two candidates including; Tapha Tassah, an Accra-based private Legal Practitioner and Rabiu Awal, Akan Constituency NPP Chairman are vying for the PC position.

Alhaji Rashid Bawa, Ghana’s former High Commissioner to Nigeria was on December 2, 2023, elected as the Akan NPP PC for 2024 poll, but unfortunately, died on Thursday, March 14 in A
buja, Nigeria.

This has resulted in the current by-election to find a replacement.

The late Diplomat won that election with 492 votes as against 107 votes secured by Abubakar Safiwu Tassah, a younger brother of Lawyer Tapha and 17 votes garnered by Alhaji Tanko Issifu Yakubu.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has left Accra for a working visit to the Vatican State and Italy to strengthen Ghana’s relations with those countries.

The Vice President will hold bilateral talks with the leaders of those countries, including a meeting with His Holiness Pope Francis.

The meeting with Pope Francis is important because the Pope’s message of love, mercy, and inclusion to promote unity and mutual understanding between peoples of all race had been embraced around the world.

The meeting will highlight the common principles of peace, justice, and solidarity to guide them into a better diplomatic relation.

The diplomatic visits are part of the Vice President’s efforts to strengthen connections with the global community.

The Vice President was accompanied by some government officials and expected to return to Ghana on Thursday, April 25, 2024.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) says it will revisit the original concept for the Tema-Mpakadan Railway Line project when it is elected to government.

A statement signed by Mr Sammy Gyamfi, the National Communications Officer of the NDC, and copied to the Ghana News Agency, said the party would put in place a proper lake transport system for cargos to and from the Northern parts of the country, all the way to Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.

It said that was the surest way of making the Tema-Mpakadan Railway Line viable for a quicker repayment of the loan facility for the project.

The statement said the erstwhile NDC administration under former President John Dramani Mahama initiated the Tema-Mpakadan Railway Line project as part of the country’s strategies to build a multi-modal transportation network, to improve connectivity between the Tema Port and the Northern parts of the country, and to other landlocked countries such as Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.

It said the Mahama-led administration in N
ovember 2016, secured funding of $398 million from the EXIM Bank of India for the design and construction of an eight-kilometre (km) railway line from Tema to the Lake Volta and part of Akosombo.

The statement said Cabinet and Parliamentary approvals for the facility were secured before the NDC left office in 2017.

It said sadly, the present government upon assuming office, failed to follow through with the original vision behind the project and aside the years of delay, the government had failed to secure funding for the development of the lake transportation leg of the project.

The statement said the government had only been able to secure an additional funding of $48 million since then, to extend the original 84km railway line by 13km from Akosombo to Mpakadan for some technical consideration.

The statement noted that Mpakadan had no port, while the Volta Lake Port at Akosombo which was supposed to be developed to allow for the lake transportation of cargos to and from the Northern part of the country,
had been neglected by the ruling NPP government in the last eight years.

‘As things stand now, the Tema-Mpakadan Railway Line can only transport passengers from Tema through Afiemya, North Tongu, Lower Manya Krobo to Mpakadan,’ it added.

It noted that relative to the easing of traffic on the Afiemya stretch, the project was not viable without the lake transportation of cargos from the Tema Port to the Northern parts of the country and vice-versa.

It reminded the ruling NPP government that the project was a legacy of the NDC and urged the government to credit the party as it also acknowledged the N1 Highway as the accomplishment of the Kufuor-led NPP government.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Ahead of Ghana’s 2024 general election, the Center for Democratic Development, Ghana (CDD-Ghana), has organised a two-day capacity building workshop for media professionals on electoral reforms in Tema.

The workshop aims to equip journalists with the knowledge and capacity to advocate electoral reforms on election results management; that is the need for the Electoral Commission (EC) to establish clear legal/administrative procedures for handling irregularities by polling and collation officials during public elections.

It was also to educate the media on a need to amend PNDCL 284 for the judiciary to provide a shorter timeline for adjudicating Parliamentary Election Petitions at the High Courts and Court of Appeal and the call for an enacted Affirmative Action Bill, that prescribed at least 30 per cent quota for women in governance and decision-making positions, with a progressive increase to 50 per cent and quotas.

The event, which was organised by CDD-Ghana in collaboration with the CODEO and the Affirm
ative Action Bill Coalition, with backing from the European Union (EU) was to help address electoral challenges in preparation for the 2024 general election.

Mr Albert Arhin, the National Coordinator of the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) in his opening remarks noted that despite Ghana’s stable democracy over the past 30 years, the nation continued to encounter obstacles related to election results management, parliamentary petition adjudication, and the representation of women in governance.

He said establishing and instituting electoral reforms would go a long way in consolidating Ghana democratic institutions, enhancing its electoral systems, and further solidifying Ghana as a benchmark for democracy.

‘The rationale for the formation of the Media Training on Electoral Reforms was a front-line strategy by the partners as a means of providing a platform for open dialogue and constructive discussions on electoral reform in Ghana.’

He said through the collaboration between the Center and t
he media, they hope to use their various platforms to advocate reforms to ensure transparent, credible, and peaceful elections in Ghana.

He said with this collaboration, they anticipate a surge in discourse on the proposed electoral reforms across various media platforms of their partners.

He said it was their belief that when the media was well equipped with the scope of the reforms, they would be able to disseminate them to the average Ghanaian, to also understand and enhance their participation.

‘We firmly believe that through the collaborative efforts of these media partners, we can effectively engage citizens, and educate them on the electoral reforms ahead of the 2024 general elections.’

Dr Kojo Pumpuni Asante, the Director for Programmes and Policy Engagement, CDD-Ghana, said elections in relation to democracy were like lubricants in a car; saying ‘without oil, the car ceases to function, if there are no credible elections, you are not able to choose leaders, to govern and it leads to political cri
sis’.

‘Similarly, with bad elections, a government cannot rule legitimately, and we get a governance crisis. Recent examples in Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe are worth mentioning.’

Mrs Sheila Minkah-Premo, the Convenor of the Affirmative Action Bill Coalition, in her presentation noted that the Affirmative Action Bill, which was before Parliament aims to promote a progressive in the active participation of women in public life from a minimum of 30 per cent to 50 per cent by 2030.

She underscored the need for Ghana to achieve gender equality in leadership and decision-making process.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Sunyani Youth Development Association (SYDA) has lauded the contributions of Mr Ransford Antwi, a popular football administrator towards the development of the Sunyani East constituency.

Describing his passion for development as exceptional, the association, a development-oriented and advocacy organisation, called on Mr Antwi to contest the constituency parliament seat as an independent candidate in the Election 2024.

With his lobbying skills, good human relations, charisma and a native of Sunyani, the association said they believed Mr Antwi could win the seat and that would position him well to lobby for more projects and bring the development of the constituency to the next level.

Addressing a news conference in Sunyani, Mr Atta Akoto, the President of the SYDA, said ‘our call on Mr Antwi to contest in the parliamentary race of the constituency is centred purely on the social-cultural and economic development of the people of the constituency and beyond’.

‘Our call has been necessitated by the inces
sant call of the people of the constituency on him to come out to contest for the seat,’ he explained, saying Mr Antwi had proven beyond all reasonable doubt that ‘he is a true agent of development’.

‘He has a high taste for quality and does not settle for mediocrity except the best. He steps in when there seems to be no hope and immediately restores hope,’ Mr Akoto stated.

He said the Association over the past six months undertook an initiative to sample 2,100 electorate across various electoral areas in the constituency, saying the findings showed that 1,692 representing 80.5 percent of the views sampled were in favour of Mr Antwi contesting the parliamentary seat.

Highlighting some of Mr Antwi’s achievements in the constituency, Mr Akoto said funded the building of a tunnel at the Sunyani Coronation Park and played an instrumental role towards the construction of a standard dressing room and installed CCTV cameras at the park.

On his 50th birthday, he sponsored free eye surgeries for more than 50 patie
nts in the constituency and beyond as well as partnered with the Breast Unit of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) to conduct free breast screening for hundreds of women.

Mr Antwi also funded the rehabilitation and painting of the Barhamiya Islamic Basic School at Sunyani Penkwase and through his instrumentality, the Australian High Commission in Accra funded the SYDA to expand the association’s youth skills training to benefit more youth in the constituency.

He said the SYDA was of the conviction that if given the opportunity as the Member of Parliament, Mr Antwi would ‘have stronger muscles and access to do much more to serve the interest of the people of Sunyani East’.

‘We strongly believe that if he is the MP for the constituency, he can easily generate the required support to impact and transform the socio-economic livelihoods of the constituents too,’ Mr Akoto added.

When contacted, Mr Antwi, also the Chief Executive Officer of the Sunyani-based Suncity Radio confirmed to the GNA he had recei
ved the call from the SYDA, but added he was still thinking about it and would therefore speak to the media later.

Source: Ghana News Agency

A reading policy introduced by the Obuasi East District Assembly in basic schools is yielding significant results, Madam Faustina Amissah,?the District Chief Executive, has announced.

The DCE, who was speaking at a meeting of the Assembly, said the policy dubbed, ‘100 Days of Reading’, had bridged the non-reading and reading gap by 65 per cent.

As part of the District Education Directorate’s vision to ensure that every child at the lower primary and the kindergarten reads, the District Education Oversight Committee (DEOC) approved the reading policy in 2022.

The improvement in reading habits of pupils in the district, according to the DCE, was due to the deliberate policy by the Assembly to invest in education.

She said since the establishment of the Assembly in 2018, it had taken upon itself to develop the education sector of the district by allocating more than 60 per cent of its infrastructure budget to education.

Madam Amissah reaffirmed the Assembly’s commitment to continue to invest in education by
organising workshop for teachers, building more infrastructure and providing reading and learning materials for schools in the district.

On a need to improve sanitation in the district, the DCE said the Assembly had introduced an initiative called ‘operation clean your frontage’, adding that, a taskforce which would be mandated to arrest people throwing rubbish was in the offing.

‘We are doing this to ensure that every resident observes and understands the need to clean their immediate environment.

We are counting on residents to support us to make it work,’ she added.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), has launched the 2024 Constitution Week in Kumasi with a call on Ghanaians to embrace peace ahead of the 2024 general elections.

The event, which was held at the Asafo Palace, was attended by representatives and head of security agencies including the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Immigration Service, Ghana National Fire Service, and the Ghana Prisons Service.

The year’s celebration is on the theme: ‘Together We Can Build Ghana So Get Involved.’

Madam Kathleen Addy, Chairperson of the Commission, said the annual celebration of the Constitution Week sought to engage Ghanaians on peace, civic responsibilities, rights of citizens, accountability on the part of the government, and the importance of being abreast with the contents of the 1992 Constitution.

She said Ghanaians owed it a great duty to contribute to nation building together with the Government that had been entrusted with the people’s mandate to rule.

‘The Constitution Week is a flagship programme
through, which we remind all Ghanaians about how far the 1992 constitution has brought us as far as the Fourth Republic is concerned,’ she stated.

Madam Addy commended Ghanaians for embracing and nurturing democracy since the country returned to constitutional rule 30 years ago, adding that ‘our tolerance and peaceful coexistence had earned Ghana the accolade of being the beacon of hope on the African continent.

The country’s ability to successfully elect and change leaders in the sub-region where coup d’etat is rife is worth applauding,’ she said.

Madam Addy said the NCCE was committed to educating the public on their civic responsibilities to contribute to sustainable development of the country.

She said giving the history of overthrowing democratically elected governments prior to the 1992 Constitution, the framers recommended the establishment of the NCCE to educate Ghanaians to understand and commit to defending the Constitution.

Nana Asafo Boakye Agyemang Bonsu II, the Asafohene, who was the guest
of honour, commended the NCCE for its continuous education of Ghanaians to uphold democracy and peace.

He hailed the Commission for working closely with chiefs in the execution of its mandate since its establishment in 1992, saying that it was the way to go to make the needed impact.

The chief encouraged Ghanaians to use the 2024 elections to demonstrate to the world that Ghana was indeed the beacon of hope in Africa.

He called on the Government and philanthropists to help resource the Commission to deliver on its mandate.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mrs Naana Eyiah Quansah, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gomoa Central, has launched a group christened: ‘Queens of Naana Eyiah’ at Osamkrom in the Gomoa Central Constituency of the Central Region.

The group is to propagate the good works by the MP to the electorates to enable them to make a better judgment and give her a third chance in the December elections as the Member of Parliament for the area.

Mrs Eyiah Quansah urged her political opponents to be truthful in their campaigns and not engage in misinforming the electorates to win votes.

She said: ‘I have no power to give orders to the head of NHIS not to offer services to the people who may need them as is being peddled by some political opponents.’

The MP urged the Gomoa Central constituents to ignore those propaganda as they were just desperate attempts to win votes.

Mrs Eyiah Quansah, also the Deputy Interior Minister, urged the chiefs and leaders to support the party to win the 2024 elections and ‘break the eight.’

She called for a united fro
nt for the party to help win more supporters for her and Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the NPP presidential candidate, to continue the comprehensive construction of roads and educational infrastructure for better living standards.

Ms Charlotte Adjoa Antwi, the Central Regional Women’s Organiser of the New Patriotic Party, said the Government, led by President Akufo-Addo, had done extremely well in all sectors of the economy.

She called on the ‘Queens of Naana Eyiah’ to intensify their campaign to churches, lorry stations, markets, mosques, pubs, chop bars, and house-to- house to preach the good news about the MP and Dr Bawumia.

Source: Ghana News Agency