BREAKING News: NPP Founding Member Dr. Amoako Tuffuor killed by Coronavirus
Presidential advisor and leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Amoako Tuffuor has died. He died on Thursday, 21 January, 2021. He is reported to have died in Kumasi, after battling with COVID-19. Dr Tuffuor was behind the school feeding programme which was started in October, 2004, under former President John Agyekum Kufuor. He held a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Alberta. M.A. and B.A. (Hons) from Simon Fraser University in Canada. He was also a Professor at St. Francis Xavier University, Canada. Dr Tuffuor servedin different capacities as a researcher and policy advisor at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning on taxation. My News Gh Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.
Election petition before the Supreme Court had political dimensions aside the legal—Martin Kpebu
Martin Kpebu a private legal practitioner, has revealed that the ongoing election petition before the Supreme Court is wearing a political lance aside the legal. Mr. Kpebu who spoke on Joy News PM Express programme monitored by Apexnewsgh.com, stressed that the opposition NDC, whose flagbearer John Dramani Mahama is the petitioner in the case, is selling what he described as ‘the case of a stolen verdict’. “This case is not purely a legal case; it is also very political. What I see at play here apart from the legal aspect is that NDC is seriously selling the case of a stolen verdict. Seriously selling”. He stated According to Mr. Kpebu, what is at the bottom of the election, is that EC made errors and somebody benefitted “So, what is happening is that each day as we get up and talk about this case, what is at the bottom of it (is), that the EC made some errors, and then to the layman, that somebody benefitted,” he submitted. However, the petitioners have registered some level of displeasure over a number of rulings and directions on case management issued by the court. Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.
Apex court ruled against NDC 2020 presidential candidate motion for EC to….
The Supreme Court has dismissed John Dramani Mahama’s motion for Jean Mensa the EC Chairperson to accept errors in the election declaration of the December 7, 2020 general elections. Motion for leave filed by the lawyers representing NDC John Dramani Mahama in the election petition case to serve interrogatories on the Electoral Commission (EC). Mahama was seeking to compel the EC to provide answers to some questions known in legal parlance as interrogatories. In law, interrogatories are a formal set of written questions propounded by one litigant and required to be answered by an adversary in order to clarify matters of fact and help to determine in advance what facts will be presented at any trial in the case. Some of the information Mahama’s legal team led by Tsatsu Tsikata was seeking answers to included the manner in which the results of the 2020 presidential polls were transmitted and the level of involvement of the National Communications Authority (NCA) in the process. But both the lawyers for the Electoral Commission and President Nana Akufo-Addo opposed the application. They argued that John Mahama and his legal team were using the “back door” to seek further information from the EC that were not captured in their petition. Mr. Akoto Ampaw, the lawyer for the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, described the application as a “fishing expedition”. The Supreme Court in a unanimous decision dismissed the application. According to the apex court, the interrogatories were irrelevant to the case. However, it set tomorrow, Wednesday, January 20, 2021, for case management. Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.
Here is President Akufo-Addo coronavirus pandemic 22nd address full speech
Fellow Ghanaians, good evening. Before I start, let me use this opportunity to thank you all and Almighty God for enabling me to swear, for the second time, the oath of office as President of the Republic. The ceremony took place after I last spoke to you. I promise I will do my very best to live up to your expectations. I am coming into your homes tonight with some rather unpleasant news. When I delivered Update No. 21, some two weeks ago, I urged all of us to continue adhering to the enhanced hygiene and mask-wearing protocols that have served us well, and which led us to the situation where we were witnessing a gradual decline in the number of active cases. However, since that time, we have seen an upsurge in the number of active cases, from a little over nine hundred (900) to one thousand, nine hundred and twenty-four (1,924). Our COVID-19 treatment centres have gone from having zero patients to now being full because of the upsurge in infections. Particularly worrying is the fact that the Ghana Health Service is recording, on the average, two hundred (200) new cases of COVID infections daily. The number of patients requiring hospitalisation and intensive care is rising. The number of severe cases, which stood at eighteen (18) a week ago, has increased sharply to one hundred and twenty (120). Two weeks ago, there was no critical case, we now have thirty-three (33) in our treatment facilities. Again, according to statistics from the Ghana Health Service, the considerable number of persons who are severely ill are, surprisingly, relatively youthful persons, with no previous underlying health conditions. The number of confirmed deaths has increased, sadly, from three hundred and thirty-eight (338) persons to three hundred and fifty-two (352) within the period. Recent genomic sequencing undertaken by our scientists have established that some arriving passengers tested positive for new variants of COVID-19. These passengers have all been isolated. Furthermore, work is ongoing to determine the presence and extent of spread of the new variants in the general population. Detailed investigations of the cases indicate that, apart from arriving passengers at our airport who tested positive, infected persons have recent histories of attending parties, weddings, end of year office programmes, family get-togethers, and funerals. At these gatherings, most of them abandoned the use of the masks, and were engaged in actions that led to them contracting the virus. Fellow Ghanaians, at this current rate, whereby thirteen (13) out of the sixteen (16) regions have recorded active cases, our healthcare infrastructure will be overwhelmed. If this situation continues, it will severely undermine the efforts Government is making to revitalize the economy, and put our nation back onto the path of progress and prosperity, following the ravages of the pandemic. On 7th January, as I said, I swore to “dedicate myself to the service and well-being of the people of the Republic of Ghana, and to do right to all manner of persons.” It is my duty to protect lives and livelihoods. In furtherance of this, I have instructed the Inspector General of Police to direct officers, men and women of the Police Service to ensure the rigorous enforcement of the law on mask wearing at all public places and in public transport. They are also to ensure the closure of all night clubs, pubs, cinemas and beaches that may be operating in defiance of the law. They will be assisted by the other security agencies, if need be. Persons in market places, work places, and operators of public transport must conduct their activities in accordance with the hygiene and safety protocols. The wearing of masks in these places is mandatory. Regulatory agencies will undertake random checks to ensure conformity with COVID-19 rules. Should any facility or institution fail to comply with these directives, its activities will be immediately prohibited, and appropriate sanctions applied. It is important that I remind all Ghanaians that severe punishments exist on our statute books for persons breaking the law on the mandatory wearing of masks. Should anyone be arrested by the security agencies disregarding this directive, that person will be dealt with strictly in accordance with law. We do not want to go back to the days of partial lockdowns, which had a negative impact on our economy and on our way of life. But should that become necessary, i.e., should the number of active cases continue to increase at the current rate, I will have no option but to re-impose these restrictions because it is better to be safe than to be sorry. So, together, let us all ensure that we respect the protocols. Government is intensifying its strategy of enhanced 3Ts, i.e. tracing, testing and treating, to allow us identify infected persons, isolate them, and treat them. A considerable number of contact tracers are being mobilised to follow up on contacts of all who test positive. All laboratories, public and private, must supply, in real time, data on all persons tested on the common platform established by the Ghana Health Service. There will be sanctions against laboratories who fail to comply. We have also provided additional logistics, including vehicles, to the Ghana Health Service for the supervision and monitoring of asymptomatic cases being managed from home. Additionally, Government is reactivating available treatment and isolation facilities across the country in anticipation of any further increase in infections. The provision of adequate medicines, equipment, and personal protective equipment to enable health workers attend to homebased patients is being effected. Fellow Ghanaians, as our children in kindergarten, primary, junior high school, SHS 2 and SHS 3 resume school from tomorrow, I wish to reiterate that Government has taken the required steps to ensure their safety in school. Heads of institutions, as well as their teachers, have undergone the requisite orientation on “Guidelines for school re-opening during COVID-19”, to enable them assist with compliance of students to the protocols. I have been encouraged by the preparations being made by many schools, in some cases, with the
UDA Congratulates the inauguration of President Akufo-Addo
The Functional Executive Board (FEB) of the Upper East Development Association (UDA) has conveyed their deep-seated congratulations to His Excellency, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on his Inauguration as President elect to serve his second term of office as President of the Republic of Ghana. According to UDA, the Ghanaian people have once again reposed their trust, confidence and sovereignty of the state into President Akufo Addo’s care not only as an appreciation for the achievement the President have chalked in his first term of the office but also as reminder of the many greater things left to be done for the dreams of their forebears to be realized. However, the group use the medium to convey in cold print and to condemned in no uncertain terms the actions of Parliamentarians on the floor of Parliament in the early hours of Thursday 7th January, 2021 in an attempt to elect a speaker to steer the affairs of the 8th Parliament of the 4th Republic. They further expressed that, Parliamentarians carry the sovereign will of their constituents in trust to act in their interest and must be guided by those ideas. It was shameful to say the least as the state military was called to restore calm among elected law makers due to hours of unresolved chaos and rancor exhibited by unapologetic elected members of Parliament. UDA is calling on the security agencies to fully investigate the uncouth behavior exhibited by these elected members of Parliament and bring to book the dishonorable members who brought the name of an institution like the Parliament of Ghana into disrepute they are confident in their conviction that both sides of this hung Parliament will be guided by weaving their political differences of NDC and NPP into a strong fabric of oneness for the supreme interest of the Ghanaian people in ensuring good governance in directing the business of the state on the path of continued progress and development. However, UDA extended their congratulatory message to the Rt. Honorable Speaker and all elected members of Parliament. As they pray, that the President will continue with his developmental agenda for the Upper East Region in the areas of education, health, agriculture, road, and extend the national electricity grid to all communities in the Region. Below is the full message Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.
This attitude of someone sitting in Accra to determine who is a winnable candidate or not must stop—Agnes Chigabatia
Former Deputy Upper East Regional Minister Agnes Asangalisa Chigabatia has said that the leadership method of imposing candidates to their constituents is gradually killing the party spirit and love for the party. Speaking in an exclusive interview with Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen of Apexnewsgh.com on Sunday, January 10, 2021, madam Chigabatia lamented, that the implications of imposing candidates to their constituents is dangerous and needs massive attention as a party. “I don’t know how someone from Accra can know my house more than myself. You sit in Accra and say this person is not a winnable candidate, is not a winnable material, which material is winnable? If you are impacting in the life of the people, if you are socializing with the people, not only executives there will be no much to be afraid of”. “Another thing that caused us plenty is our primaries. Our Primaries was too much, only primaries of about 400 to 500 people, you will go and be giving flat screen, motorbike forgetting that you are coming to the main campaign. What are you going to give them, especially when they have seen what you have done to your delegates already? Some of them spend all those material things and yet lost, not because the people didn’t love them but because there was power elsewhere and you after spending, you will go and lose painfully, so where is the spirit for you to get up and follow that person who caused your defeat? Let’s just be frank. But, if we sit down and made the constituency know who is winnable candidate, without imposing anyone on them, that will be fantastic”. “Look at the history the Independent Candidate chocked, I like that man because he was bold and he loved his people and he loved his party though the party didn’t give him chance when someone is doing something allow the person. If you have 2- 3 children and they are fighting don’t try saving one, let them fight the winner is your child and they are all your children. But immediately you side for one then, the rest will say you don’t love them. When you want to tell some people the truth they don’t accept, the truth is painful and that is my husband’s name Chigabatia meaning the truth is painful”. She stated Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.
Some of those who claimed to be darling boys and girls of President caused us a massive mess…
One of the Upper East Region illustrious politician and former Upper East Deputy Regional Minister who equally served as the former member of the parliament for Builsa North Agnes Asangalisa Chigabatia has said, some of people who claimed to be darling boys and girls to the President contributed hugely to the mess and the embarrassment the New Patriotic Party (NPP) had witnessed since the party history, because they only pretend to work together physically but spiritually wicked in their hearts against one another. Madam Chigabatia who was speaking in an exclusive interview with Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen of Apexnewsgh.com said, her earlier projections for the region was 5 seats, but that will materialize, only if the DCEs, PCs, and the Party Executives worked together as one people with one common goal but unfortunately, the party in the region ended up losing the already secured 3 seats to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) “Holistically, we worked together physically but deep in our heart we don’t work together and God listens to the heart, he doesn’t listen to lip services. Our problem is that, we pretend to things when we are not doing them and that one spiritually affects everything. People claim they are close to the President, they are sleeping with the President but they have never worked for the President”. She stressed “Someone called me and said Agnes, how many seats are we getting now? Before God and man, I told the person that look, we have 3 seats, when we work well, we will get 5 seats but when we don’t work well, we might not get the three seats again. That person is calling me a prophetess and I said no, I am not a prophetess. There is no constituency in the region I don’t have boys there. I am plain oo, atimes my plain talks lead me to trouble and I don’t know how to pretend. So, when I say that you won’t win then, immediately you lose you say Chagabatia made me not to win. Am I a magician? I stood for elections 3 times and won only one and the others I lost, if am that magic, why didn’t I make it to win?”. According to Madam Chigabatia, if not for the sake of President Akufo Addo and his wonderful Vice Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia, the party would have been in opposition now, because some of the party members are only good and interested in running like children playing football looking for who to destroy with their concocted and fabricated information. “They will just go and destroy you aaa and you don’t even know where the source of information is coming from. So, some of them are not helping the President. They are just running up and down like children playing football. If not for the good work of the President and his Vice and some of the appointees, we would have been in opposition now. Because the people disappointed him, only about 40 percent of the appointees worked and the rest wasn’t good”. She however, explained how she tried releasing information to some PCs, DCEs, and executives which would have brought some change to most of the constituencies but unfortunately, her calls were not answered “A lot of them I tried to call them personally to link up and tell them that this is what I am hearing. I will call they won’t pick, I will WhatsApp they won’t read. So why should I give myself hypertension? Or you think I have time to buy units put on my phone to call you, and you don’t know why am calling you and you won’t pick? Every information is vital or you think the unit I went and picked it from the trash? I used money to buy it. So, when you are looking up and you don’t look down, it is the down you will fall unto. Even now my boys are calling all over, saying madam you see, that is what we were telling you, yes is what you were telling but I don’t have the power, I was nothing, I only loved the party that is why I was campaigning. So, even if you report to me that this is what is happening and I call your PC, your chairman he doesn’t pick, should I go and beat him and they will say Agnes Chigabatia is beating someone? No”. She told Apexnewsgh.com Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.
Ben Ephson reveals why NPP MPs voted for Alban Bagbin instead of Oquaye
Despite having the advantage of the declared support of an independent Member of Parliament giving them a figure lead, the New Patriotic Party lost its bid to have its candidate elected for the 8th Parliament Speaker Position. According to popular Ghanaian pollster, Ben Ephson, Alban Kingsford Sumani Bagbin beat Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye in the race due to his character of fairness and firmness which he has exhibited over his seven-term period in parliament as an MP and as a Second Deputy Speaker at some point. Speaking in an interview with GhanaWeb’s Daniel on Oduro, Mr. Ephson said Alban Bagbin being a principled person may have won the hearts and votes of his Parties MPs and even members of the NPP who may have voted for him in the closely contested elections based on his history “Yes, NDC proposed him but I must be honest that even John Mahama knows that the man who is the speaker is a very fair person. When John Mahama was president, Bagbin took Mahama on. This is how firm the man is and I am sure because it was Bagbin, maybe one or two of the NPP MPs may have voted for Bagbin,” he said. According to Mr. Ben Ephson, Alban Bagbin based on his personality qualifies as the right person for the job of Speaker of Ghana’s 8th Parliament. The race to find Ghana’s 8th Speaker of Parliament went through a long night beginning from midnight of Wednesday, January 7, 2021 and ended around 9:00 am Thursday, January 7, 2021, in a process which would have ordinarily lasted a few hours before the break of dawn. The process was characterized by several incidences of chaos and disagreements between the New Patriotic Party side and the National Democratic Congress side of the house. Mr Bagbin was eventually declared the winner of the race after votes were eventually counted in yet another chaotic manner that lasted for hours. The New Speaker following his successful election was sworn in by the Chief Justice and subsequently took his position to swear in members of the 8th Parliament of Ghana’s Fourth Republic. Ghanaweb Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.
Atta Kyea concedes Alban Bagbin is Speaker-elect of Ghana’s 8th Parliament
Amidst the confusion and chaos on who becomes the Speaker of Ghana’s 8th Parliament, the New Patriotic Party Member of Parliament-elect for Akim Abuakwa constituency has conceded that the nominee of the opposition National Democratic Congress is the winner of the speaker race. The quest to find Ghana’s next Speaker of Parliament has resulted in a long night of events that started at midnight when processes to inaugurate the new parliament commenced. With a split figure of 137 seats each for both the NPP and the NDC as well as one independent candidate, the process to elect a speaker between Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye nominated by the NPP side and Alban Bagbin who was nominated by the NDC has become a fierce contest. Having aborted and restarted the voting process on more than one occasion due to recurrent clashes between both sides in the house, the elected MPs were finally able to cast their votes at dawn and counting commenced around 5:30 am. The counting process was, however, aborted when the NPP MP-elect for Tema West, Carlos Ahenkorah snatched ballots belonging to the nominee of his party and made way to run out of the house. He was however chased down and brought back into the Chamber. Within the ensuing chaos that resulted in the process, the elected MP’s on the side of the NDC started jubilating claiming victory for their nominee. According to the NDC side, Mr Bagbin obtained 138 votes, Mr Oquaye obtained 135 whiles one ballot was counted as rejected. Some elected NPP-MPs speaking to the media following this development refused to concede to the victory claims of the NDC side. However, Mr Atta Kyea speaking to Joy News said it has become clear that the Second Deputy Speaker of Ghana’s 7th Parliament, Alban Kingsford Sumani Bagbin is the winner of the election. The MP confirmed that based on the counting, Mr Bagbin out of the 275 votes had 138 votes against 135 votes obtained by Mr Oquaye with the remaining vote being a rejected vote as being claimed by the NDC side. The disruption of the process however has had the Clark of Parliament who is supervising the election engaged with the leadership of both sides with the result yet to be officially declared. Ghanaweb Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.
NPP MPs camped at Alisa Hotel for tonight’s nomination of Speaker – Ras Mubarak
Member of Parliament for Kumbungu Constituency, Ras Mubarak, has alleged that all 137 NPP MPs have been camped in Accra at Alisa Hotel to prevent any of them from absenting him or herself from Parliament. The 8th Parliament of the Republic of Ghana will tomorrow January 7 2021 vote for a new Speaker of Parliament in a close election to elect the Speaker of Parliament. In the next Parliament, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) will have 137 and with the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) represented by 137 whiles the Fomena Constituency presented an independent candidate. This will make it very difficult for the ruling NPP to have their way through as they scheme to elect Prof Aaron Mike Oquaye as the speaker. However, speaking on Kumasi-based Hello FM monitored by MyNewsGH.com, Ras Mubarak said “I know the NPP MPs have been camped at Alisa Hotel in Accra so that no one will be left out in Parliament”. According to the MP, the New Patriotic Party is doing that to prevent its Members of Parliament from travelling outside the country. He also disclosed that the party a few days ago prevented an MP from travelling abroad at the Kotoka International Airport. My News Gh Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.