Number of NPP gurus who tried to intervene for Owusu Bempah after bail rejection
The embattled preacher, Rev. Isaac Owusu Bempah, of the Glorious Word Power Ministries International, has been granted bail but there remains so much about the things that led to his court case, and all the characters who have played roles in it. The ‘president’s pastor’ as he calls himself was arrested in his church on Sunday and put before court the following day. He was remanded for a week, after the Accra Circuit Court 4 refused him bail. He later got that bail but that was not before he was sent to the Police Hospital in Accra for medical attention. It was at the hospital, as mynewsgh.com reports, that several influential names within the New Patriotic Party (NPP), made some attempts to get him released. The report by mynewsGh.com said their sources indicated that, “ Rev. Isaac Owusu Bempah was admitted to the Police Hospital Outpatient Unit and was examined by a doctor all without handcuff.” In total, a number of prominent names from the NPP had their own influences in pushing for the clergyman to be released on bail, according to mynewsgh.com. They include Hopeson Adorye, a failed parliamentary aspirant for the Kpone Katamanso constituency, and Ernest Owusu Bempah of the Ghana Gas Company, who are reported to have created a scene at the police hospital when they stormed the police hospital to check on Rev. Owusu Bempah. The others are John Boadu, the General Secretary of the NPP; Ama Busia, a founding member of the NPP and a sister of the late Kofi Abrefa Busia, former Ghana’s prime minister; Gary Nimako, a lawyer who was called on to help save the pastor; and a member of the NPP, Charles Owusu. —mynewsgh Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093
“Asking somebody to Pay Ghc 100.00 to access a code to apply for job is ‘robbery’ -Navrongo MP
The National Democratic Congress Member of Parliament (MP) for Navrongo Central of the Upper East Region Sampson Tangombu Chiragia has revealed that the security forms sold across the country, was an avenue by the government to raise funds for the construction of the controversial National Cathedral. Stressing that the NDC will demand accountability to what he described as ‘robbery’ going on within the security recruitments. The first time Navrongo MP in an interview with Apexnews Gh questioned why job application forms should be sold to Ghanaian youth interested in applying to become security men and women especially in the country he said, the cost of living is becoming very difficult. “We are all hot in Ghana, We need a solution, and the youth need jobs. We are pleading with the government that they should allow the old system to work, let the people apply and whoever qualifies you picked him or her. Why should somebody pay Ghc 100.00 to access a code and apply for a job? That alone is robbery. It is very bad for people to use the money to go and apply for a job that they are not even sure of getting. How many are the jobs and how many people have applied? We even have to hold the government to account for all the money they are taking from these poor boys. So, telling me I should give money from where? For the people to go and give the government to build a cathedral, then you are unfair to the MP” He said Mr, Chiragia also added, that the ongoing delay in the appointment of MMDCs is as a result of the broke economy which he thinks isn’t a hidden thing because the President himself is aware. “He should understand that it is business as usual. They are just going to mobilize money from the poor Ghanaians and go build a cathedral because they know the economy is broke. Nana Addo himself knows the economy is broke and that is why he cannot even appoint his DCEs because when they appoint DCEs, there will be pressure on them. Why should the people of Navrongo be looking for an NPP chairman to give them money? Because there is no DCE. They should fix the country and stop the nonsense”. He stated His response came after the Navrongo Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) Anthony Spinoza Mensah demanded the MP should make available to address the need of Navrongo youth by supporting at least 500 -1000 with Ghc 100.00 each to enable them to purchase security recruitment forms. pexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093
‘No president has fought corruption as much as Akufo-Addo has’ – Eugene Arhin
• President Akufo-Addo’s will to fight corruption is unmatched in Ghana’s history • This is the view of his spokesman Eugene Arhin • Government has come under a barrage of corruption allegations from the NDC and John Dramani Mahama Director of Communications at the presidency, Eugene Arhin, has said no president in the history of Ghana has fought corruption as much as his boss, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. Arhin made the comment whilst addressing journalists at the Jubilee House on Tuesday, September 7, 2021. His views were in response to a Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) survey that concluded that respondents did not believe in the president’s ability to fight corruption. “The report is not one we can easily dismiss. Yes, they have conducted their survey but we, on the other hand, believe that in the fight against corruption, no President has done more than Nana Akufo-Addo and there are facts to back it. “If we are to consider the funds that were sent to the five accountability institutions of states, there was a 25% increase in their funding in 2017. In 2018, there was a 34% increase across the board,” he added. He further mentioned the Office of a Special Prosecutor, OSP, as a key plank in the president’s commitment to fighting corruption before stating that the presidency disagreed with the findings of the survey. “The establishment of an independent institution to fight corruption, that is the office of the Special Prosecutor, was in fulfilment of a campaign result by the President. “We thus disagree with the survey results. No President in the history of the country has fought corruption as much as Akufo-Addo has,” he stressed. Back in 2017, Arhin told TV3 that the Akufo-Addo-led government will call for investigations into any allegation of corruption made against any official on an as and when basis. “We are not going to allow any single case of corruption [allegation] to be swept under the carpet,” Eugene Arhin said at the time. His views were in response to corruption allegations levelled against then deputy chiefs of staff Francis Asenso-Boakye and Samuel Abu Jinapor by musician and New Patriotic Party (NPP) sympathizer A-Plus. The two of them were subsequently cleared after an investigation and have since won seats in Parliament. Recently, the government and the New Patriotic Party, NPP, have been on the defensive repelling corruption allegations levelled against the government by former President John Dramani Mahama on his ‘Thank You Tour.’ Ghanaweb Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: +2335555568093
NPP dares John Mahama to provide alternative solutions
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has called on former president and 2020 National Democratic Congress (NDC) flag bearer, Mr John Dramani Mahama to provide an alternative plan for the management of an economy hit by COVID-19. The General Secretary of the NPP, Mr. John Boadu says that the former president must have some gratitude for the NPP government for rescuing a perishing economy he bequeathed Ghanaians instead of merely criticizing the government. According to John Boadu who addressed a press conference at the party headquarters in Accra on Tuesday, to react to criticisms of the government by Mr Mahama, the government has successfully managed the COVID-19 situation and recorded a fast growing economy. Mr Mahama on Monday, September 6, addressed a platform of the NDC on the state of the country’s economy and accused the government of hiding behind Covid-19 when they have mismanaged the economy. However, Mr Boadu would do a better job by putting out an alternative plan to help address the country’s economic challenges and the COVID-19 situation instead of an open dialogue he has asked for. “Indeed, what is John Mahama’s alternative to anything, apart from the IMF? If you are the alternative, then spell out your alternatives to the Ghanaian people now. He is asking for a dialogue on the economy. There are many forums available for such a dialogue but he needs to put forward his plan”, he said. Review According to Mr Boadu, the assertions by Mr Mahama were false and that he is out of touch with post-COVID-19 governance. Addressing the accusation of economic mismanagement, he said the country saw the worst economy under the NDC government led by President Mahama. He said that NDC administration was marked by corruption, economic crisis and mismanagement, explaining also that the period of economic mismanagement was marked by rising inflation and declining growth from 14% in 2011 to 3.9% in 2016. John Boadu said the intervention of the NPP government has led to a fast recovery of the country’s economy and financial sector. “Former President Mahama actively oversaw the worst crisis ever to hit our financial sector and presided over the rot that, if not for the Akufo-Addo administration’s intervention, would have brought the whole financial sector on its knees. His negligence has cost over GHS21 billion of public resources to correct. Meanwhile, he turned judgement debt payments into a cottage industry”, he said. Mr Boadu said that Ghana has been globally commended for successfully managing the Covid-19 pandemic and that the country is one of the fastest-growing economies during the pandemic. “John Mahama’s lack of understanding of the Covid-19 economy is positively dangerous for Ghana because it badly skews his feeble attempts at analysis of our current economic situation. The IMF, to which he trumpets we should go to, has certified our economy as one of the fastest-growing in terms of Covid-19 economic rebound,” he said. —Peacefmonline Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093
US$1.65 billion price tag on Aker Energy/AGM oil blocks hyper-inflated – NDC Minority
The Minority side of Parliament has described the US$1.65 billion price tag on the two oil blocks the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) wants to buy from Aker Energy and AGM as hyper-inflated and has demanded a thorough due diligence on the transaction being pushed by the Akufo-Addo government through the Energy Ministry. “The minority finds GNPC’s proposed benchmark price of $65 per barrel unrealistic and insists that the same should be reviewed downwards to a more realistic price thereby reducing the hyper-inflated proposed purchase price significantly”. The side made of members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in statement jointly signed by John Abdulai Jinapor, Ranking Member for Mines and Energy and Cassiel Ato Forson, Ranking Member for Finance, is asking for that “independent audits, valuation and appraisals must be conducted by GNPC to ensure value for money for the country before the deal is approved by Parliament”. The statement issued Sunday, 5th September 2021, stated that “with regards to the current proposed share acquisition transaction by GNPC in the Aker and AGM blocks, the NDC Minority is not against the policy or decision for GNPC to acquire higher stakes in the said oil blocks per se. However, it must be made clear that we have serious concerns about the proposed hyper-inflated purchase price of the blocks and demand that all the necessary due diligence”. This, the NDC MPs said, “must be done with a high sense of transparency, while taking on board the views of stakeholders, particularly Civil Society Organizations in the Extractive Industry”. It disclosed that “…the minority at the joint committee meeting held on Tuesday, 3rd August, 2021 to consider the requests by the Minister for Energy made the following observations and demands: “That, the request by the Minister for Energy for Parliament to grant a blanket approval for GNPC to proceed with the acquisition of 37% and 70% shares in the Aker and AGM blocks respectively, is improper”. “We demanded that GNPC goes back and negotiate the deal into one that addresses the value for money concerns raised by the Minority and some CSOs in the Extractive Industry and that same be presented to parliament for consideration and approval”, adding “that, in the event that the negotiated deal is approved, the minority demands that the loan agreement to purchase the shares therein should also be presented to parliament for consideration and approval”. “Additionally, the Minority demanded that GNPC as the buyer, engage the services of an independent and reputable international financial institution to conduct a full appraisal and risk assessment of the Aker and AGM blocks. The presentation from GNPC indicated that Aker and AGM have added 267 million barrels to the blocks since they took over. The Minority equally demanded for a full audit of this claim and the expenditure incurred by Aker and AGM following the acquisition of the oil blocks by a reputable and independent audit firm”. According to the statement, “the minority both at the committee level and plenary, raised serious concerns about the decision by Aker Energy to use a projected benchmark price of $65 per barrel for the valuation, as adopted by the independent technical consulting firms, namely, Pareto Securities, Arctic Securities and Lambert Energy Advisory”, adding “the minority finds GNPC’s proposed benchmark price of $65 per barrel unrealistic and insists that same should he reviewed downwards to a more realistic price thereby reducing the hyper-inflated proposed purchase price significantly”. The statement said that “the minority demanded that all the relevant technical and financial documents relevant to the Agreement, particularly the necessary appraisal, valuation and/or audit reports must be submitted to Parliament by the Minister prior to the presentation and consideration of the final negotiated Agreement”. “For emphasis, the Minority maintained both at the Committee level and plenary, that the average international market price of crude oil over the next 30 years cannot be more than US$65 as suggested by government and indicated very forcefully, that we will not accept that benchmark price which appears to have been adopted by the independent valuation agencies”. “For the avoidance of doubt, both the negotiated Acquisition Agreement and the Loan Agreement consequent upon same, will have to be laid before Parliament by the Minister for Energy for consideration and approval” adding, “the Minority group in Parliament wishes to assure the Ghanaian public of our unflinching commitment to secure a fair deal for the State in this transaction. We will diligently scrutinize all the necessary documentations with eagle eyes and ensure value for money in this transaction for the Country”. Below is the full statement issued by the Minority… MINORITY’S POSITION ON THE ACQUISITION OF SHARES IN DEEPWATER TANO CAPE THREE POINTS AND SOUTH DEEPWATER TANO BLOCKS BY THE GHANA NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION (GNPC). INTRODUCTION On Monday, 2nd August, 2021 the Hon. Minister responsible for Energy, Hon. Matthew Opoku Prempeh laid before Parliament, a request for approval of the following transactions: (i) Acquisition of additional shares by GNPC Explorco of; ➢ 37% interest in Deep Water Tano/Cape Three Points (DWT/CTP) operated by Aker Energy Ghana Limited and ➢ 70% stake in the South Deep Water Tano (SDWT) operated by AGM Petroleum Ghana Limited (ii) Establishment of a Joint Operating Company between Aker Energy and AGM, and GNPC Explorco. (iii) Approval to mandate the Minister for Energy and the Minister for Finance to agree on a purchase price with Aker Energy/AGM. (iv) Provision of a loan not exceeding US$1.65 billion to finance the acquisition, comprising of a purchase amount not exceeding US$1.3 billion for the two blocks and a Capital Expenditure share of GNPC Explorco of US$350 million for Peacan 1. The request was subsequently referred by the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament to the Joint Committee on Mines and Energy and Finance for consideration pursuant to Order 188 and 169 of the Standing Orders of Parliament. BRIEF BACKGROUND It will be recalled that in the year 2018, Aker Energy bought the Deepwater Tano Cape Three Points block from Hess Energy and announced
Corruption under Akufo-Addo’s gov’t is a ‘normal thing’ – NDC Youth Organizer Onasis
Deputy Ashanti Regional Youth Organizer for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Onasis Kobby says the posture of the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is that corruption is normal under his watch. According to him, the President has been in power for five years and although his government has been soiled with several corruption scandals, what he has been able to do is to elevate and clear people who are smeared with corruption. “The posture of this government points to the fact that corruption is normal under their watch,” he said on Accra-based TV XYZ. Onasis Kobby buttressed his stance quoted the description of the president of Ghana by the first-ever Special Prosecutor who was meant to help in the fight against corruption in Ghana saying “even the Special Prosecutor who was brought in to fight corruption was fought by corruption. He described Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as the mother serpent of corruption; an indication that Akufo-Addo is unwilling to fight the canker”. “We are all seeing the corruption under Akufo-Addo and his government but the NPP and its members are not seeing anything wrong with the glaring corrupt deals because for them, corruption is normal under them,” Onasis Kobby added. —MyNewsGh Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: +2335555568093
BREAKING: 3 NPP Executive Members Suspended -See their offence
Information in possession of Apexnewsgh.com indicates that some executive members of the governing New Patriotic Party in the Northern Region have been relieved from their positions. In more details, it is established that at least three polling station executives of the ruling New Patriotic Party in the Savelugu Constituency of the Northern Region have been suspended for gross misconduct following a media engagement this week where they accused and condemned regional leadership of the party for what they said was attempts to impose the presidential bid of Vice President Mahamud Bawumia on them. The three executives are Issahaku Fuseini of Duko D/A polling station, Abdul Karim Zakaria of Kuga Fong No.1 and Deishini Abdallah Mustapha of Newton Mosque A. polling station. In separate letters addressed to the affected leaders, Alhaji Mahamadu Abdulai Kpong, constituency chairman of the party said their suspensions were indefinite and take immediate effect until an inquiry is conducted into their behaviours by the Disciplinary Committee. Meanwhile, after the constituency annual delegate conference held in Savelugu on Tuesday [August 24], the affected executives engaged the media who covered the program and made some allegations against the constituency and regional party executives. They accused the leadership of neglecting the grassroots base of the party but at the height of their accusations was their revelation that there had been attempts during the conference to coerce participants into declaring support for the 2024 presidential ambitions of the Vice President. However, the governing party has since denied the allegations, describing the submissions of the disgruntled executives as outright falsehood and that at no point during the conference were attempts made to force people to endorse the presidential bid of any candidate. Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: +2335555568093
Breaking News: Date For MMDCEs List Revealed
The General Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), John Boadu, has revealed that the list of MMDCEs will soon be released after the President returns from Germany. appealed to members of the party and the general public to exercise patience as the list of MMDCEs will soon be released. During a one-on-one interview with Omanhene Kwabena Asante on Adom TV’s Badwam Show monitored by Apexnewsgh.com Mr. Boadu appealed to members of the party and the general public to exercise patience as he assured Ghanaians waiting for the list of MMDCEs to expect it after the return of the President from his Germany trip. “The list of MMDCEs will be released within a week after President Akufo-Addo’s return from his Germany trip. I can tell you that it will not take more than a week for the list to be released after his return on August 28, 2021” he stated. Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: +2335555568093
Blows at NPP meeting ahead of constituency delegates’ conference
The Abodom Police Command in the Ashanti Region is investigating an alleged assault case reported by one Okatakyie Kwame Opoku Agyemang, an NPP executive of the Bekwai Constituency Reports suggest there was a brawl during an electoral area meeting by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) held at Bekwai Dadease and Adwumam electoral areas in the Bekwai municipality. The meeting, which was expected to be peaceful and smooth, was abruptly truncated after one of the constituency executives landed slaps on the face of his colleague Tuesday evening. The Deputy Constituency Youth Organizer for Bekwai, Francis Siaw, was picked up by police after the victim, Okatakyie Kwame Opoku Agyemang, lodged a formal complain of assault at the Abodom Police Station. The Bekwai Constituency Deputy Organiser was kept at the Abodom Police Station for his statement Speaking on Akoma FM‘s current affairs and political show GhanAkoma Wednesday, August 25, Opoku Agyemang explained that “during an electoral area meeting that was supposed to precede the constituency delegates’ conference, the Deputy [Youth] Organizer Francis Siaw from nowhere landed two slaps on my face. I didn’t retaliate because [I] know the law so I didn’t want to implicate myself. I reported to the police and immediately he was picked up”. Explaining his side of the story, suspect Francis Siaw told host of the show Aduanaba Kofi Asante Ennin that “Katakyie Kwame Opoku Agyemang had been disqualified and expunged from his post as electoral area coordinator because he campaigned for an individual candidate during the 2020 elections and as our party constitution demands, we did exactly that only for him to surface at Tuesday’s meeting in a capacity as Electoral Area Coordinator. So he insulted me and [I] lost my cool and slapped him”. Kwame Opoku Agyemang, who has been accused of turning his back on the party for an independent candidate in 2020, denied the allegations and quizzed why he has not been served an official letter of dismissal or demotion. But later joining the discussion via phone, NPP Ashanti Regional First Vice Chairman Kwabena Nsenkyire, who backed the Constituency Deputy Organizer’s deeds, further threatened the victim that “your ordeal would have been very brutal if I was there because per our party laws, you are not a member, so why do you have to invade our meetings?” Kwabena Nsenkyire further urged the Bekwai Constituency executives to deal with such “traitors” anytime they show up at party meetings. The Abodom Police Command later bailed the Constituency Deputy Organizer after his statement was taken. The issue is still under investigations to settle the rising tension within the Constituency. The Bekwai Municipality even before the 2020 elections was earmarked as one of the hotspots. —3news Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: +2335555568093
“John Manama is pretty good at awarding contracts but had no clue how to pay for them–Gabby
A member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko has touted former President John Manama as pretty good at awarding contracts but had no clue how to pay for them! This Government has been good at settling the billions in arrears it inherited and still manages to go about the business of implementing its own flagship programmes. Mr. Otchere-Darko, Said Akufo Addo’s government has been good at settling the billions in arrears it inherited and still manages to go about the business of implementing its own flagship programmes. “The record shows that NPP builds for NDC to destroy. You don’t need to look further than to compare 2008 to 2016, and 2016 to now. “I will say this with all the evidence available and will dare any analyst to challenge and, please, do so with facts and not propaganda. Since the First Republic, no government has done more to put or keep money in people’s pockets than the NPP. “If in doubt over how and where your money is being spent look no further beyond the evidence around you. Things are clearly not where we all want them to be, but, I dare say in all modesty that even with all the social and economic struggles that the country and the people are battling under this pandemic, this Government has performed at least creditably better than John Mahama’s record shows he would have been able to manage. And, I say this with all humility, Mr. Asare Otchere-Darko said this in a write-up.” He insisted that, former President Mahama destroyed what he inherited from Mills in July 2012 and handed over the running of Ghana’s oil-rich economy to the IMF when there was no crisis. “Simply put, he himself was the crisis! He home-grew a crisis and outsourced the solution. That is the record of “Mahama the Disaster”. However, Mr. Gabby in a response to Mr. Mahama regarding a news article that quoted the former President as saying “NPP wants to break the 8 to protect itself from corruption”. “The simple response to that must be that the NPP wants to break the 8 in order to protect Ghana and the gains being made for Ghanaians from the likes of “Mahama the Disaster”, he noted. The two main Ghanaian political parties NDC/NPP have always tagged each other in recent times as the most corrupt in terms of governance. But in the meantime, read the full statement by Gabby below: MAHAMA AND AKUFO-ADDO, WHO DOES MORE WITH TAXPAYERS’ MONEY? I read John Mahama saying on his belated “thank you tour” that NPP wants to break the 8 in order to protect itself from corruption. The simple response to that must be that the NPP wants to break the 8 in order to protect Ghana and the gains being made for Ghanaians from the likes of “Mahama the Disaster”. The evidence is still fresh in our minds why John Mahama was a disaster and I shudder to think how he would have handled the COVID-19 crisis and its disastrous impact on the economy today. Our problems are, of course, many and varied. Our struggle is historic, deep, real and naked. So, it is easy to be convinced by an acerbic and sweet tongue that can hit hard and promise paradise. But, we must be guided by what such a tongue does with its mind, heart and hands when given the opportunity. My simple response to John Mahama on why NPP must break the 8 is because it is clear to Ghanaians that the NDC doesn’t seem to see any alternative to present to Ghanaians in 2024 but him, John Mahama, and it is obvious from what he did to what he inherited from his own boss, President John Atta Mills, that he would destroy what NPP was fixing if returned in future. Mahama destroyed what he inherited from Mills in July 2012 and handed over the running of Ghana’s oil-rich economy to the IMF when there was no crisis. Simply put, he himself was the crisis! He home-grew a crisis and outsourced the solution. That is the record of “Mahama the Disaster”. It should be more than clear to Ghanaian voters that in 2024, the National Democratic Congress intends to bring back John Dramani Mahama. Yes. It is what it is. Why else is he embarking on a “thank you tour” nearly a year after being rejected for the second comprehensive time by Ghanaians? Unless, of course, his mission is to thank Ghanaians for rejecting him. So it appears that the choice for 2024 is between the NPP and John Mahama’s NDC. We are less than a year in Akufo-Addo’s second and final term. I am confident that once the next leadership dye is cast, the NPP will go knocking on doors to break the 8 with confidence that they have delivered largely on the mandate given and there is the need to protect and build on what has been delivered they deserve to be maintained (under a new leader) who can be trusted to protect the gains made and add onto that his or her own new ideas, style, competence, vision and leadership to take Ghana up to the next level. The record shows that NPP builds for NDC to destroy. You don’t need to look further than to compare 2008 to 2016, and 2016 to now. I will say this with all the evidence available and will dare any analyst to challenge and, please, do do so with facts and not propaganda. Since the First Republic, no government has done more to put or keep money in people’s pockets than the NPP. If in doubt over how and where your money is being spent look no further beyond the evidence around you. Things are clearly not where we all want them to be, but, I dare say in all modesty that even with all the social and economic struggles that the country and the people are battling