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Ablakwa, Buah take IGP, CDS to CHRAJ over election killings
Opinion

Ablakwa, Buah take IGP, CDS to CHRAJ over election killings

Two opposition MPs have petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to investigate deaths and injuries that occurred during the 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections. The two MPs – Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa (North Tongu) and Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah (Ellembelle) – have lodged a complaint at CHRAJ against the ministers of interior, defence as well as the Inspector General of Police and the Chief of Defence Staff of Ghana Armed Forces. “Sixty-one electoral and post-electoral incidents nationwide” were reported, the police said in a statement back in December 2020. Of these, 21 “are true cases of electoral violence, six of which involve gunshots resulting in the death of five.” In their petition, they stated that the culprits must be prosecuted while demanding compensation for the victims or their representatives. “It would be a scar on our collective conscience, a threat to future elections and a disservice to the stability of our democracy if we do not take concrete steps to thoroughly investigate, punish the perpetrators and adequately compensate victims,” Ablakwa said after filing the petition. The complaint Their complaint is restricted to the Techiman South, Odododiodio, Ablekuma Central, and Savelugu constituencies in the Bono East, Greater Accra and Northern Regions of the Republic of Ghana respectively, reports the website of state-owned Daily Graphic. It relates to the manner in which the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Armed Forces discharged their constitutional and statutory mandates in the constituencies. “In the case of the Ghana Armed Forces, their conduct in furtherance of the purpose of the National Election Security Taskforce (NESTF) did not promote the development of Ghana as prescribed by article 210(3) of the 1992 Constitution, as their conduct caused damage to life, limb and property,” the petition reads. “Regarding the Ghana Police service, the manner in which they carried out their functions to further the purpose of the NESTF undermined their constitutional obligation under article 200(3) of performing their “traditional role of maintaining law and order”. Below is the full petition: Petition to CHRAJ on election killings by KM on Scribd — Daily Mail GH Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: +2335555568093

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No retreat, no surrender — Ablakwa chases gov’t for cost of Akufo-Addo’s private jet trips Ablakwa and President Akufo-Addo
Politics

No retreat, no surrender — Ablakwa chases gov’t for cost of Akufo-Addo’s private jet trips

The Member of Parliament for North Tongu Constituency, Hon. Okudzeto Ablakwa has given strong indication that he will be relentless in his efforts at getting the necessary authorities to explain the travelling expenditure of the present, Nana Akufo-Addo. This follows a previous call for explanation into some GHS 2.8 million on his recent travels to only South Africa, Belgium and France using the services of a private jet. The Minister of Finance Ken Ofori Atta was requested to explain the costs related to the travels, and why the president had to engage in such travels at the expense of the struggling economic battles amidst covid 19. But in a surprising move, the Finance Minister told Parliament last week that he was not in the position to give details of the travels after he begged for more days to prepare the expenditure. According to him, the best person to be able to furnish the house with the travelling details of the president and its associated costs is the Minister for National Security, Albert Kan-Dapaah. It is unclear whether the matter in contention is that of a security protocol or having to do with costs and financing, but the finance minister says the National Security Minister is the best man to answer questions related to the travels. According to him, since the travel of the president has national security implications, the air travel for the President, including the cost for the advance team, flight arrangements, security, accommodation, and air tickets, were coordinated between the Presidency and the National Security Secretariat. “Mr Speaker, the President’s domestic and international travels are matters to do with National Security. The National Security Minister is best placed to furnish this Honourable House with the details needed.” The Minister was responding to an urgent question filed by the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa. In a Facebook post, the honourable Member of Parliament for North Tongu Okudzeto Ablakwa has indicated that no matter the machinations to dodge questions related to the travels of the president, he will not give up. “No Surrender; No Retreat; This question will be answered no matter how elaborate the machinations and no matter how thick the conspiracy,” he posted on his Facebook page.     Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has also filed an urgent question under Order 64 of Parliament’s Standing Orders for the National Security Minister to appear before the House to give details on the May travel expenditure of President Akufo-Addo. Source: Redeemer Buatsi Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093

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Akufo-Addo trips: I can’t tell you cost; go to Nat’l Security for it – Ofori-Atta swerves Ablakwa again Mr Ablakwa claims the 9-day trip cost the state £345,000
Politics

Akufo-Addo trips: I can’t tell you cost; go to Nat’l Security for it – Ofori-Atta swerves Ablakwa again

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has said President Nana Akufo-Addo’s trips are a matter of national security and, thus, any questions regarding the cost of such trips should be directed at the Ministry of National Security. “Mr Speaker, the president’s domestic and international travels are matters of National Security”, Mr Ofori-Atta told parliament on Wednesday, 21 July 2021, adding: “The National Security Minister is best placed to furnish this Honourable House with the details needed.” He said in line with the 2021 budget implementation instructions, “the Ministry of Finance did not release any funds to the Chief of Staff, especially for His Excellency, the President’s trip to France, Belgium, and South Africa”. Mr Ofori-Atta was expected to give an account of how much was expended by the state on President Nana Akufo-Addo’s nine-day international trip a few weeks ago. When he appeared in parliament in mid-June for that purpose, Mr Ofori-Atta asked the house to give him more time to gather his figures so he could account to the people of Ghana about the trip to France, Belgium and South Africa. The question was filed by North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa. Defence Minister Dominic Nitiwul answered his part of the question on Wednesday, 16 June 2021 on the floor. While answering the question, Mr Nitiwul said Ghana’s presidential jet is not fit for purpose for President Nana Akufo-Addo’s international trips, thus, the president’s resort to chartering a private jet. The Bimbilla MP said: “This aircraft will carry a load of 11 persons minus the crew. When this aircraft is travelling to the eastern part of the USA or Asia, it will not load a crew of more than eight plus the luggage”. “So, it depends on where it is going”, he noted. Secondly, he added, “I have also said the aircraft has to do refuelling stops and, also, in this COVID-19 [era], when you are travelling to multiple destinations like the president’s recent travels, the Falcon couldn’t have been taken because he would have had to do technical stops, which are not desirable”. “And when he is travelling with more than 20 people like he has been doing for business trips that brought huge sums of money to this country, he will need more than just a Falcon, otherwise, the others would have to go a day ahead before the president to prepare themselves.” “In fact, the president would also have to go a day ahead because no president can shower in this aircraft. He cannot move from this aircraft straight into a meeting”, Mr Nitiwul said. A few weeks ago, Mr Ablakwa accused the president of spending GHS 2.8 million on the trip. In the heat of the controversy, the Minority in Parliament said President Akufo-Addo could have used Ghana’s “airworthy” presidential jet, Falcon 9Gexe, instead of chartering the £15,000-per-hour “lavish, ostentatious and extravagant” AJC320neo flight he recently used for his 9-day trip abroad that cumulatively cost the Ghanaian taxpayer £345,000 (GHS2,828,432.80). “Today, we want to present to you further evidence that we are definitely certain that the presidential jet is available, in good shape”, Mr Ablakwa told journalists on Friday, 28 May 2021. According to him, on 11 May 2021 – five days ahead of his 9-day trip – the president used the presidential jet to Uganda to attend the ceremony swearing-in of President-elect Yoweri Museveni. Denying claims that the Falcon cannot travel long hours without refueling, Mr Ablakwa said the president’s Uganda trip on the presidential jet was 5h:4m while his Paris trip took six-and-a-half hours. “The Minority insists that the Falcon could have been used”, Mr Ablakwa stressed. “One, the Falcon is airworthy and it took this same president to Uganda only a few days prior to the 16th of May when the president departed to Paris with this rather luxurious monster; the most outstanding, extravagant, luxurious airbus aircraft to be manufactured – the Airbus AJC320neo, which originally was manufactured to take 150 people at the minimum but it has been reconfigured to take only 17 people so a luxurious empire can be created”, he said. In the Minority’s view, instead of the president using the chartered flight, which has a master bedroom, an en-suite bathroom with showers, dining facilities for all 17 passengers and sophisticated IT connectivity installations, he could have opted for other chartered flights from the same company, Acropolis Aviation. “First of all, our contention is that the Falcon is available”, he stressed, emphasising: “It’s airworthy”. “If it can take you to Uganda safely, it can take you to Paris safely and Brussels, Belgium safely”, he argued. “So, the point we are trying to emphasise is that in this time of austerity, where the president himself has said: Times are rough; let’s bear with him’, … the president himself embarked on this trip to go and beg for debt forgiveness and this is how you go and beg for debt forgiveness when the person you are going to beg for debt forgiveness from doesn’t travel in such luxury, in such ostentation”, noting: “The level of extravagance, the extreme opulence that the president displayed is condemnable, unconscionable”. “How do you think these western leaders will perceive African leaders? No wonder they have very little respect for a lot of our leaders but we cannot continue this way”, Mr Ablakwa said. —Classfm Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093

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‘Respect parliamentary rules and stop the noise over Akufo-Addo’s jet trips’ – Afenyo Markin tells Ablakwa
Politics

‘Respect parliamentary rules and stop the noise over Akufo-Addo’s jet trips’ – Afenyo Markin tells Ablakwa

Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo Markin, has asked North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, to desist from making a fuss about the alleged use of a luxurious chartered flight by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. According to him, Mr. Ablakwa should wait until his urgent question is admitted by the Speaker of Parliament. Mr. Afenyo-Markin insists the practice of dealing with such matters in public while seeking audience in Parliament is harmful to the growth of democracy. The North Tongu MP last week indicated that he had filed an urgent question on the said matter, but it has not been programmed yet. The MP alleged that the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has spent an amount of GHS 2.8 million on his recent travels to only South Africa and France using the services of a private jet. “The Airbus ACJ320neo owned by Acropolis Aviation based in Farnborough, UK and registered as G-KELT, is the most luxurious and the most expensive in the Acropolis fleet. The manufacturers describe it as “the most outstanding ambassador for Airbus Corporate Jets.” It costs the Ghanaian taxpayer approximately £15,000 an hour when President Akufo-Addo rents it”, the legislator alleged in a post on Facebook. He also accused the President of blowing the money “to satisfy his insatiable appetite and comfort at the expense of the suffering masses”. But speaking to Citi News, the Effutu MP called on Okudzeto Ablakwa to respect the procedures of Parliament. According to him, Mr. Ablakwa’s actions are not healthy for the progress of the house. “Admission of questions is the sole mandate of the Speaker, and in fact, that is the basis upon which the jurisprudence of Parliament is mounted. You file a question, you are not sure whether it has been admitted or not, then you go out there in the media litigating the matter. So at the end of the day, if the question is not admissible, who do you blame? The Speaker or you will say you are being gagged?” “I am saying that it is important that as MPs we will respect our own rules of engagement and create an atmosphere where the debate will be enriched, but this one-way approach and leaking things to the press and somebody has written a letter of resignation which hasn’t even gotten to the recipient, but it is already in the media, what are you seeking to achieve?” he quizzes. citinewsroom Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093

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Akufo-Addo’s ‘luxurious’ economy-fixing private jet trips to Paris, Jo’burg cost GHS2.8m – Ablakwa
Opinion

Akufo-Addo’s ‘luxurious’ economy-fixing private jet trips to Paris, Jo’burg cost GHS2.8m – Ablakwa

The cost of private jet rental that President Akufo-Addo used for his recent working visit to France and Johannesburg is estimated at £345,000, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has said. According to him, the whopping £345,000 is equivalent to GHS2,828,432.80. He indicated that per information gathered from aviation experts, “it would have cost Ghana less than 15% of this 2.8million Ghana Cedis had President Akufo-Addo opted for Ghana’s available presidential jet which is in pristine condition”. He raised the concern in a lengthy Facebook post on 27 May 2021. The ranking member on the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament noted that the country owns a presidential aircraft in perfect working condition which was ordered by President Kufuor, used by President Mills and President Mahama, “and yet President Akufo-Addo chooses to charter a top-of-the-range luxury aircraft offered by Acropolis Aviation”. Describing the aesthetics of the aircraft, Mr Ablakwa disclosed that “The Airbus ACJ320neo owned by Acropolis Aviation based in Farnborough, UK and registered as G-KELT is the most luxurious and the most expensive in the Acropolis fleet. The manufacturers describe it as “the most outstanding ambassador for Airbus Corporate Jets.” “The aircraft in issue is less than two years old and had only returned from Switzerland where it received the highest luxurious spruce up ever known in the aviation world just before President Akufo-Addo chose that particular luxurious monster”. He continued: “It costs the Ghanaian taxpayer approximately £15,000 an hour when President Akufo-Addo rents it. “Let’s further analyse President Akufo-Addo’s latest trip to Europe: per Flightradar24, the G-KELT aircraft left Accra with the President to Paris on the 16th of May — a 6 and half hour duration. Airlifted the President from Paris to Johannesburg for 11 hours on the 23rd of May. Then Johannesburg to Accra on the 25th of May was a five and half hour flight. This gives us an accumulated flight travel of 23 hours; so at £15,000 an hour, it thus cost us a colossal £345,000. At the current exchange, that is a staggering GHS2,828,432.80”. “I have therefore filed an urgent question in Parliament to compel the Akufo-Addo administration to be accountable to the Ghanaian people on this matter and ultimately to prick their conscience to end this obscene profligacy at this time of considerable economic hardships,” he added. Read the full Facebook post below: President Akufo-Addo has been a leading voice for debt forgiveness in the international arena and back home has been imposing additional regressive taxes with the justification that the economy isn’t in a good place. Sadly, he consistently fails to lead by example in a period of austerity where his government is appealing to struggling public sector workers to lower wage increase expectations. It is an outrage and a blatant betrayal for Ghana to own a presidential aircraft in perfect working condition which was ordered by President Kufuor, used by President Mills and President Mahama; and yet President Akufo-Addo chooses to charter a top-of-the-range luxury aircraft offered by Acropolis Aviation. The Airbus ACJ320neo owned by Acropolis Aviation based in Farnborough, UK and registered as G-KELT is the most luxurious and the most expensive in the Acropolis fleet. The manufacturers describe it as “the most outstanding ambassador for Airbus Corporate Jets.” It costs the Ghanaian taxpayer approximately £15,000 an hour when President Akufo-Addo rents it. The aircraft in issue is less than two years old and had only returned from Switzerland where it received the highest luxurious spruce up ever known in the aviation world just before President Akufo-Addo chose that particular luxurious monster. The jet can take up to 150 people in ordinary circumstances, however, it has been configured to accommodate only 17 royal passengers. The spectacularly opulent aircraft comes equipped with a lavish master bedroom, an imposing en-suite bathroom, monarchial dining facilities and round the clock IT connectivity. President Akufo-Addo undoubtedly has the greatest taste any Ghanaian President has ever had but the question is, should that insatiable appetite for his creature comforts be at the expense of the suffering masses? Let’s further analyse President Akufo-Addo’s latest trip to Europe: per Flightradar24, the G-KELT aircraft left Accra with the President to Paris on the 16th of May — a 6 and half hour duration. Airlifted the President from Paris to Johannesburg for 11 hours on the 23rd of May. Then Johannesburg to Accra on the 25th of May was a five and half hour flight. This gives us an accumulated flight travel of 23 hours; so at £15,000 an hour, it thus cost us a colossal £345,000. At current exchange, that is a staggering GHS2,828,432.80. Aviation experts inform me it would have cost Ghana less than 15% of this 2.8million Ghana Cedis had President Akufo-Addo opted for Ghana’s available presidential jet which is in pristine condition. Alternatively, far more affordable travel arrangements are available which could have aligned with the President’s rhetoric for sympathy from the west for African nations. The irony is that President Akufo-Addo engaged in this fantastic extravagance on his way to France to go beg President Emmanuel Macron for debt cancellation. Needless to add that President Macron does not travel in such splendour. Let us imagine what GHS2.8million could do for our country, particularly considering the mess in multiple sectors which has led to legitimate #FixTheCountryNow agitations by the youth. I have therefore filed an urgent question in Parliament to compel the Akufo-Addo administration to be accountable to the Ghanaian people on this matter and ultimately to prick their conscience to end this obscene profligacy at this time of considerable economic hardships. The African people deserve better from their leaders. Classfm Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093

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Anyidoho: Did Ablakwa consult constituents, Volta, Oti caucuses before resigning? Koku Anyidoho
Politics

Anyidoho: Did Ablakwa consult constituents, Volta, Oti caucuses before resigning?

The CEO of the Atta Mills Institute, Mr Koku Anyidoho, has wondered whether North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa consulted his constituents and the various hierarchies of the party’s parliamentary caucus before directly addressing a letter to the Speaker announcing his resignation from the Appointments Committee. In the former Deputy General Secretary’s view, “It was not a frivolous thing to make the MP of North Tongu a member of the Appointments Committee, so, based on the same principles, the question you’d want to ask from a governance perspective is: did he consult his constituents? Did he consult the Volta and Oti caucuses? Did he also consult the leadership of Parliament before going directly to the Speaker?” Mr Anyidoho, who was suspended from the NDC in February 2021, expressed raised questions about Mr Ablakwa’s direct resort to the Speaker. “What happened to the same principles and the channels? So, constituency, what happened? The caucuses, what happened? Because you are talking about principles. So, what happened to those same principles governing your existence in the august house of parliament?” he asked. According to him, “If you were sent there to represent the caucus and you didn’t inform them for personal reasons, so, henceforth, are you going to be running on the adrenaline of personal reasons? To what extent can the regions or caucuses put you up again to represent them any other day?” In his view, Mr Ablakwa “will do all of us a great deal of good” if he makes the reasons for his resignation public, as far as his appeal to principles is concerned. In his resignation letter dated Tuesday, 30 March 2021, addressed to the Speaker, Mr Alban Kingsford Bagbin, Mr Ablakwa said he took the decision “after days of careful reflection and thoughtful considerations”. “I shall like to state that the reasons for this difficult decision is both personal and on principle,” Mr Ablakwa said in the letter. The former Deputy Education Minister noted that his resignation takes immediate effect. “Respectfully, do take note that my resignation is with immediate effect and, therefore, I shall not be available for the vetting of nominees for deputy ministerial positions,” the letter indicated. The work of the Appointments Committee has come under some scrutiny and attack from the grassroots and members of the main opposition National Democratic (NDC) following the passing of some ministerial nominees who the leadership of the party had expressly told the Minority caucus to reject. The supporters as well as some leaders of the NDC, notably Mr Sammy Gyamti, the National Communication Officer, hurled accusations at the NDC MPs and the leadership of the Minority caucus, alleging they had sold their conscience for parochial and selfish interests. The recent passing of Finance Minister-designate Ken Ofori-Atta generated similar sentiments within the NDC. The party’s leadership had to issue a statement urging calm ahead of Mr Ofori-Atta’s passing. Subsequently, the NDC’s General Secretary, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, told Class91.3FM’s Kofi Oppong Asamoah on Tuesday, 30 March 2021 that it is in the interest of the party for Mr Ken Ofori-Atta to continue being the Finance Minister since his “mess” will enable the party to win the next elections. Mr Ofori-Atta, who served as Finance Minister in President Nana Akufo-Addo’s first term, was, by consensus, approved by Parliament, after his two-day vetting, to continue in the same portfolio in the President’s second term. Explaining why the NDC supported Mr Ofori-Atta’s approval, Mr Asiedu Nketiah, who was recently appointed to the Parliamentary Service Board, told the Class Morning Show that: “The party has taken this position because we think that the interest of the NDC will be better served if the President insists on Ofori-Atta becoming the next Finance Minister because, as far as we are concerned, he has messed up so badly that it will inure to the benefit of the NPP if they had a new face but once they have chosen to maintain him, he should be there, continue the mess, which will then pave the way for the NDC to come to power”. Asked if the NDC then supports the approval of Mr Ofori-Atta to continue serving as Finance Minister, Mr Asiedu Nketiah responded: “Yes” but added: “If we were in power, Ofori-Atta will never get near the Finance Ministry but the situation is that they are in power and the party in power defines the national interest according to their beliefs, so, if the mess he is creating constitutes national interest, in the view of the NPP, let him go and continue because we consider it to be a mess and we now have reason to believe that Ofori-Atta has lost face in the national finance community, he has lost face domestically; the workers of the country have a problem with him and all that”. “So, if a new Finance Minister were to be appointed, at least, he will have a reason to say that: ‘I’m a new person. Give me time to settle and so on before I come to deal with your issues’. He will have that breathing space. Unfortunately, Ofori-Atta will not have that breathing space”, he told Kofi Oppong Asamoah. In his view, Mr Ofori-Atta must be allowed to continue to face the consequences of the “mess” he created. “I’ve heard of policemen whose salaries were topped up during the elections and after the elections, deductions were made”. “So, the person who was responsible will still continue to be there and they will be asking him those difficult questions”. “So, we think that it is in our history that he should continue”, Mr Asiedu Nketiah stressed. Ahead of his approval, the party, per a statement signed by Mr Nketiah, urged calm among its grassroots supporters, since whatever position the Minority Caucus takes with regard to Mr Ofori-Atta’s nomination, has been discussed and agreed with the leadership of the NDC. The purpose of the letter, Mr Asiedu Nketiah explained, “is to indicate to our party’s rank and file that we have held

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Ablakwa resigns from Parliament’s Appointments Committee Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Politics

Ablakwa resigns from Parliament’s Appointments Committee

The Member of Parliament for the North Tongu constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has resigned from Parliament’s Appointments Committee. According to the lawmaker, his resignation, as contained in a letter dated March 30, addressed to the Speaker, Alban Kingsford Bagbin, was “after days of careful reflection and thoughtful considerations. “I shall like to state that the reasons for this difficult decision is both personal and on principle,” the letter stated. The former Deputy Education Minister noted that his resignation takes immediate effect. This implies that he will not partake in the vetting of President Akufo-Addo’s nominees for Deputy ministerial positions. “Respectfully, do take note that my resignation is with immediate effect and, therefore, I shall not be available for the vetting of nominees for Deputy Ministerial positions,” the letter indicated. Read the letter below:   Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093

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Grammatical errors in your apology letter make you unfit to be publishers – Ablakwa to Badu Nkansah Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Education

Grammatical errors in your apology letter make you unfit to be publishers – Ablakwa to Badu Nkansah

North Tongu Lawmaker Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has rejected the apology letter written by publishers of the controversial history textbook Badu Nkansah. Mr Ablakwa who is also a former Deputy Minister of Education said the apology letter is “an apology of apology” because “they are not taking responsibility.” Asking for forgiveness for the controversial textbook, Badu Nkansah explained in a press statement on Monday March 15 that “They, however, told us to work on certain aspects of the book further in order for it to meet the expectations of the new curriculum.” “We have seen certain snapshots on social media which has generated public uproar due to its offensive tone. Though it is not a deliberate attempt to berate such a huge section of our society, we wish to unreservedly apologize for the slip,” the statement added. But speaking in an interview with TV3’s Dela Mishel on the Mid Day news on Monday, Mr Ablakwa said “It is clear that these publications have caused public uproar and outrage and as a Member of Parliament from the region, I thought it wise to file an urgent question requesting the minister responsible for education to come and respond to questions as to how these books found their way into our schools. “There is an agency called National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NACAA) which is the gatekeeper and must ensure that before books are placed in the hands of our innocent children those books meet standards, that those books are authorised so that our children are not miseducated and are not polluted. “All of those things appeared to have been violated. The Children have been left at the mercy of people who are only interested in profiteering. “I have seen the apology from Badu Nkansah publications and honestly, it is an apology of an apology. They are not taking responsibility. They say they do not know how the books found their way onto the market. “Even if you look at the quality of the statement, they got the grammar wrong and with all the typos you will wonder if these people should even be qualified to be publishers.” 3news Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093

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It is most inhumane and totally unconscionable for Ghanaians to be cruelly exploited for personal profit –Okudzeto Ablakwa Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Politics

It is most inhumane and totally unconscionable for Ghanaians to be cruelly exploited for personal profit –Okudzeto Ablakwa

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, has said it is inhumane for Ghanaians to be exploited by some government officials for their personal profit during a pandemic. According to Mr. Ablakwa, none of the ministers-designate who appeared so far before Parliament’s Appointments Committee has been sincere with those fronting the $150.00 fee charged for the COVID-19 test at the airport. He however stated that the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Parliament will accountability is brought to Ghanaians on the issue. “This is not the end of our mission for answers and accountability. He wrote on Facebook Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093

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Maintaining COVID-19 testing for non-ECOWAS members at $150 unconscionable – Ablakwa
Politics

Maintaining COVID-19 testing for non-ECOWAS members at $150 unconscionable – Ablakwa

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa the Member of Parliament (MP) for the North-Tongu constituency in the Volta Region,  has said government’s decision to continue with the $150 COVID-19 testing fee for non-ECOWAS members is “unconscionable”. According to Mr. Ablakwa post on Facebook, the decision by government is not the attitude needed to fight a pandemic which requires that all global actors look out for each other. On Sunday, January 31, 2021, President Nana Akufo-Addo said testing for COVID-19 for all nationals of ECOWAS have been capped at $50 following the 58th Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS held on Saturday, January 23, 2021 but insisting that cost for other nationals outside the sub-region will  remain at $150 Below is the full Facebook post  Finally, some progress on the matter of Ghana’s exploitative, retrogressive and punitive Antigen test cost at the airport. As I reiterated in Parliament last Friday, the President should have listened to Ghanaians long ago and not wait for an ECOWAS resolution. Ghana could have been the gold standard for ECOWAS. Maintaining the cut-throat amount of US$150 for non-ECOWAS nationals is most unconscionable, particularly as Ghanaian nationals are not treated this way in other jurisdictions. What will be our reaction if other Governments reciprocate? This is not the attitude needed to fight a pandemic which requires that all global actors look out for each other and especially when we are appealing to other countries through diplomatic channels to come to our aid with their vaccines. The President’s advisers have let him and all of us down. The profiteering mindset in the midst of a public health emergency of debilitating consequences is an affront. Let me reaffirm the resolve of the NDC caucus in Parliament as contained in my Friday statement on the floor that we demand formal investigations into the entire opaque and illegal US$150 Frontiers Healthcare Services saga. We shall not relent. Please stay safe  Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.

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