Akufo-Addo’s appointees are thieves – Abronye DC
Bono Regional Chairman for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwame Baffoe, known affectionately as Abronye DC, has asked corrupt government officials in the Akufo-Addo led administration to flaunt the largess they steal from office like they do when they donate one motorbike to a Constituency. According to him, while the party grassroots and others were working, government appointees were sitting in their air-conditioned offices stealing from the coffers of the state. And later when they joined the campaign by donating one motorbike, they publicized it just so the President will think highly of them in his appointment in his next government. To Abronye, the President of Ghana will suffer in the second term and this is because his appointees who have had the opportunity to steal monies from the state failed him and failed to provide adequate support for the party going into 2020 election. “If you’re a cabinet Minister and you buy a motor bicycle and when it’s time for appointments you start circulating it on Facebook and WhatsApp then it’s worrying because me who did not benefit from the NPP’s first term has even bought cars for people and I didn’t publicize it.” “You buy one motorbike and expect the President to give you a post because of that? Why don’t you circulate the money that you stole also on Facebook and WhatsApp? The money you stole in the course of the four years should also be circulated on Facebook and WhatsApp. Thieves, Atta Ayi,” the Chairman angrily said. MyNewsGH Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093.
Kidnappings and tragedy of a rent-seeking economy
gregodogwu@yahoo.com 08063601665 Alarmingly, there are increasing cases of kidnappings around the country. I am not talking about the Kankara-type. That one enjoyed a photo-op because of its peculiar circumstances. There are countless others, which are cumulatively higher in casualty count than the Katsina incident. In fact, I am worried about how abductions have become a new occupation for faceless individuals all over the nation. There is news that, on Tuesday, gunmen abducted Abuja-bound passengers on the Benin-Auchi road. This is now a new kidnap route? It used to be Abuja-Kaduna, Lokoja-Okene, and others. In another news, gunmen killed policemen and kidnapped two people in Jigawa State. The other day, a friend told me how it suddenly began to happen in his village, a very interior, poverty-stricken zone in the backwoods. Peopled by the poorest of the poor, no one would fathom why on Earth someone could dream of kidnapping anybody there. There are obviously no bounties to cash, and no monies to haul. Yet, the evil enterprise sprang up. The local chief’s son was kidnapped; while the cousin of a supposed rich man was taken in a separate incident. Ransoms were named, negotiated, and paid. Sadly, we have yet to see the connection between the spiraling cases of kidnapping and the kind of economy we have found ourselves in as a country. I have heard intellectuals and economists refer to our economy as a rent-seeking one, but I have yet to see them connect the dots between emerging social ills and our dysfunctional economy. First of all, let us understand what it means to have a rent-seeking economy. Rent seeking is an economy concept occurring when an entity seeks to gain wealth without reciprocal contribution of productivity. The term rent in rent seeking is based on an economic rent which was defined by economist Adam Smith to mean payments made in excess of resource costs. In public-choice theory, as well as in economics, rent-seeking means seeking to increase one’s share of existing wealth without creating new wealth. It implies extraction of uncompensated value from others without making any contribution to productivity. This results in reduced economic efficiency through misallocation of resources, reduced wealth-creation, lost government revenue, heightened income inequality, and potential national decline. The classic example of rent-seeking, according to Robert Shiller, is that of a property owner who installs a chain across a river that flows through his land and then hires a collector to charge passing boats a fee to lower the chain. There is nothing productive about the chain or the collector. The owner has made no improvements to the river and is not adding value in any way, directly or indirectly, except for himself. All he is doing is finding a way to make money from something that used to be free. How does this relate to kidnapping? The whole thing originates from the way our present ecosystem runs. Jobs are rarely given on merit. Promotions are hardly ever earned. Certificates seldom emanate from mental exertion. They are now purchased. Everything in Nigeria has a price. If you are rich, you can buy a job; you can procure promotion; you can purchase a certificate. It is no longer a secret. People do it in the open. Our bureaucracy is rotten. All these services are supposed to be free; so this is classic rent-seeking. But, the Nigerian experts who discuss rent-seeking in public fora usually give the impression that we are a rent-seeking economy only because of the fact that we depend on minerals and crude oil (renting) for economic survival. Indeed, we create rent everywhere, every day. Before a contractor’s file is moved up to the accountant’s desk, he pays rent to a Special Assistant to the Clerk. Before a petty trader gets a space to display her wares, she pays rent to the Personal Assistant to a Ward Chairman, who has created a “supervisory portfolio” for his cousin to “register” every trader in the ward. This “job” was created for him because he “contributed” to the election campaign of the Ward Chairman. Rent-seeking is the order of the day because there is little production and manufacturing going on in our country. There are many mouths to feed, yet we only have politics and trading. Rent-seeking is distinguished in theory from profit-seeking, in which entities seek to extract value by engaging in mutually beneficial transactions. Profit-seeking in this sense is the creation of wealth, while rent-seeking is ‘profiteering’ by using social institutions, such as the power of the state, to redistribute wealth among different groups without creating new wealth. Kidnapping is part of rent-seeking because people who are close to government have discovered that this is the fasted way to collect their own rent from the rent-seeking system! In an economy that has no form of innovation, they are now forcing people to pay a percentage on their wealth. It is the same philosophy that drove the Yahoo-boys: “we are recollecting the money the Whiteman took from us”. Indubitably, rent-seeking can prove costly to economic growth; high rent-seeking activity makes more rent-seeking attractive because of the natural and growing returns that one sees as a result of rent-seeking. Thus organizations and individuals value rent-seeking over productivity. In this case there are very high levels of rent-seeking with very low levels of output. Rent-seeking may grow at the cost of economic growth because rent-seeking by the state can easily hurt innovation. Ultimately, public rent-seeking hurts the economy the most because innovation drives economic growth. It has also been shown that rent-seeking by bureaucracy can push up the cost of production of public goods. It has also been shown that rent-seeking by tax officials may cause loss in revenue to the public revenue authorities. Mancur Olson traced the historic consequences of rent seeking in the book, The Rise and Decline of Nations. As a country becomes increasingly dominated by organized interest groups, it loses economic vitality and falls into decline. Olson then argued that countries that have
The Demonstration Is Not All About John Dramani Mahama—Asiedu Nketiah
The General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Johnson Aseidu Nketiah has said, that the ongoing demonstration witnessed across the country by members and supporters of the National Democratic Congress, is not all about the Presidency of former President John Dramani Mahama. Speaking on GhOne TV monitored by Apexnewsgh.com on Thursday, November 23, 2020, the general stressed that the demonstration was activated by the aggrieved members of the NDC across the country is about sovereignty that has come under attack which affects every Ghanaian. He cited the big 6 as an example of the good effect of the demonstration. “The demonstration is not all about the presidency of John Dramani Mahama, is about the sovereignty, is about our sovereignty that has come under attack, and it affects every Ghanaian. So, if you sit there and be thinking that the demonstration is an NDC matter, it doesn’t affect me, before you are aware, you will be under bondage. The 1948 riot which led to the arrest of the big 6, eventually, people were saying why is our life been disturbed, what is this demonstration all about and so on, and in fact, 5 of the big 6 eventually denied responsibility and put the blame on Kwame Nkrumah and Nkrumah stood his ground that is why you are briefing as an independent citizen of an independent country now. So, if you think demonstration don’t generate results, you don’t know what democracy is all about. Demonstrations are not the only means of seeking redress, we exploring the possibility of dialogue and that is why even we are demonstrating, we are knocking on the doors of the commission to do the right thing, we have met with the peace council as the demonstration are ongoing. So, nobody should put a straight jacket on us that in a democracy when you disagree with something, the only redress available to you is to go to court, that is not true” He stressed Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093.
‘We’ll burn all your houses’ – Kennedy Agyapong warns Mahama, others
Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, the MP for Assin Central has threatened to burn the houses of former President John Dramani Mahama and some NDC bigwigs, claiming without evidence that the NDC is burning the markets. On Wednesday, the National Investigations Bureau released Eric Adogla, the driver of Peter Otokunor, an NDC Deputy General Secretary, without charge after arresting and detaining him on Monday. “Mahama, let me tell you, you stay at Chain Homes, which belongs to Alhaji Seidu Agongo. You cannot go and burn somebody’s fourteen stalls and go scot-free. Mahama, Asiedu Nketia, Akamba, Baba Jamal, you should be careful, else we’ll burn your houses too,” Kennedy Agyapong said on ‘The Dialogue’ show on Net 2 TV, Wednesday, December 23. He added, “If it continues like that, Mahama we’ll burn your house and if you don’t take care, we’ll burn you the human being. We cannot allow these things to go on in this country.” Agyapong alleged that the NDC has indicated that, “between now [Wednesday] and Saturday, they said they will be burning the Kumasi market, and burn Cape Coast market. What is going on in this country?” He warned the former president to simply relocate from his Chain Homes residence else he will gather people to the place and burn his property. He further warned Lt. Col. Larry Gbevlo-Lartey (Rtd.), a former NDC appointee, to also be on guard else his East Legon property which is just closer to his will be razed down by fire. Not even the caution from the host of the show could restrain the MP from making more scandalous statements about the leaders of the opposition party. “If they burn any market again, Mahama Chain Homes is there; do you think you are the [only] ones that can organise? I now dare you [Mahama], Asiedu Nketia, Gbevlo-Lartey, Akamba and Baba Jamal…if we hear any burning in any part of the country, Mahama we’ll burn your house,” he stressed. Kennedy Agyapong‘s conversation starts from the 28th-minute: Ghanaweb Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093.
Our Agent In The Strong Room Was Sent Out By EC Chair To Deliver A Message To Former President Mahama—Asiedu Nketia
The NDC general secretary Mr. Asiedu Nketiah has revealed that, their party agent at the Electoral Commission Strongroom was sent to deliver a message to the former President John Dramani Mahama before the declaration of the results by the EC Chairperson. Mr. Nketiah made the revelation in a One-on-One interview on GHOne monitored by Apexnewsgh.com According to the NDC General Secretary, “NDC Executives were not present when Jean Mensa declared the final results” However, he believes the Techiman South results which are currently in the contest could be resolved within 6 hours without any conflict. Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications or contact us on 0555568093
UER: The NDC Came So Strong Two Days To The Election With Enough Propaganda—Thomas Duanab Wuni
The 2020 Parliamentary Candidate for the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region Thomas Duanab Wuni has revealed, that issues of small-scale mining, FSHS double-track system, Chieftaincy and traditional differences between Tongraan and Namoalugo Chief, were few of the many reasons they lost the Talensi seat again to National Democratic Congress (NDC) Benson Tongo Baba the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP). According to Mr. Duanab Wuni who spoke to Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen of Apexnewsgh.com in an exclusive interview after December 7, 2020, general elections said it was their wish as a party to at least win 8 seats in the Upper East Region and Talensi was among the 8 targeted constituencies but unfortunately, the party lost massively. “It is true that anytime one loses, he would want to do a post-mortem to find the causes. We thought in this region we are going to win at least 8 seats and little did we know that there are other hidden issues which our opponents exploited. In Talensi for instance, they were a whole litany of issues internal and external.” However, the defeated Parliamentary Candidate explained, that people from the Eastern part of Talensi voted massively against the NPP because according to them, a vote for NPP will be a vote for Tongraan who happened to be the paramount chief for the Talensi Traditional Area and aside from that, the differences between the Paramount Chief and Namoalugo Chief contributed immensely because all the affiliated Namoalugo community voted against the NPP. He further cited the ‘Double Track system’, what he believed should have been a blessing to his people as another contributing factor because parents were complaining bitterly about the continuous increase of teenage pregnancy in various communities where they visited, coupled with the blockage of mining pits which have caused some level of unemployment to the youth. “With regards to the small-scale miners, the issue has been that, the area was blocked since 2016 to large scale mining and obviously the companies will come and take over their places and they will do the checking of intruders and anybody standing by thinks is the government that is doing it. So, that is the basic problem with the small-scale miners.” “With regards to the double track, a lot of our people are not educated and kept dwelling on this fact that their girl child has come back because of double track and most of them were getting pregnant, but they forgot that teenage pregnancy is common in mining areas especially once gold is booming small girls are bound to be pregnant because their peers with get money and sleep with them. So, it was difficult convincing them that it wasn’t the double-track”. “But unfortunately, the NDC came so strong two days to the election with enough Propaganda running round the whole East, issues like President visited and couldn’t address the people was an issue, the people from the East were claiming that it was a mark of disrespect to them. Aside from that, the Namoalugo Chief is having some differences with the Tongraan, and that one too worked against us because where ever you have affiliate Namoalugo communities, all of them went against us and we have recordings of some of the young men from Namoalugo who went around telling the people that a vote for the NPP is a vote for Tongraan and the people bought into those things and there was no much we could do.” He stressed “As for the party internal wrangling, I think it existed everywhere because people though once they didn’t win the primaries, they were waiting for you to lose and then, they can come in but I don’t want to dwell so much on that because we worked because coming from 8,000 votes down to 13,000 it shows we worked. As for me, I am not happy I didn’t win but am happy we made a good show.” He told Apexnewsgh.com However, in the 2020 parliamentary elections, Benson Tongo Baba of the NDC retained the Talensi seat with a total votes of 16,057 votes whiles Thomas Pearson Duanab Awuni of the NPP secured 12,946 and the PNC candidate got 6,725. Total valid ballots 35,728 whiles Total rejected ballot was 1,019 Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.