CID writes to Pan African TV to demand footage of ‘parallel gov’t’ comment
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service has requested management of Accra-based Pan African TV to provide video recordings about comments made by outgoing Tamale Central MP Inusah Fuseini. In a letter signed by its Director of Operations, DCOP Joseph Gyamera Oklu, the CID asked the General Manager of the TV station to provide the recordings to aid in an ongoing investigation. Alhaji Inusah Fuseini is being investigated after he made comments on ‘Alhaji and Alhaji’ a political and current affairs programme on the named TV station. “I have said and I have advocated that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer John Dramani Mahama and former President of the Republic of Ghana declare himself president and form a parallel government”, the CID quoted the lawmaker in the letter sighted by dailymailgh.com, as saying. “It would be highly appreciated if you could release the video recording of the programme aired on your network to assist in our investigation”, the letter widely circulated online, added. It is not immediately clear whether the lawmaker had honoured the CID’s invitation. On Thursday, December 24, 2020, Head of Public Affairs at the CID, ASP Juliana Obeng had said the Department is exploring other options to summon the lawmaker to assist in their investigations. DailyMail Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.
SONA 2021: We’ve No Choice But To Work With The Consequences… – Akufo-Addo On ‘Hung’ Parliament
President Akufo-Addo has reacted to the structure of the eighth parliament of the Fourth Republic. Unlike the seventh parliament where there was a clear majority and minority sides of Parliament, the eighth has a slim majority since a lot of the sitting NPP Members lost their seats after the December 7 election. Currently, the NDC side has 137 seats, the NPP also has 137 and an Independent candidate. Some consider this to be a “hung” Parliament. A hung parliament occurs when no party holds a majority of seats in the House of Commons. This means that any government formed is either a coalition or a minority government. A hung parliament most commonly follows a general election in which no party wins a majority. Reacting to this while delivering his State of the Nation Address (SONA) in Parliament, President Akufo-Addo said it’s the decision of Ghanaians and they “have no choice but to work with the consequences”. “The next parliament is not going to be like this one that ends today. I do not suggest that the House might not be as busy but the sitting arrangement…would certainly be different. The good people have spoken and given parliament almost an equal strength on both sides of the house. We have no choice but to work with the consequences of the desires of the people the house would have to be more accommodating of each other’s views and probably device new ways of conducting its affairs in the interest of the good governance of our people,” he stated. Peacefmonline Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.
Discussions on galamsey must not be politicised – Akufo-Addo
President Akufo-Addo has made a passionate plea to leaders of the country to take discussions on galamsey (illegal mining) out of the party-political arena. This, according to him, will allow for a productive dialogue that will address the menace. “We, who are leaders, owe it to the country to take the subject out of the party-political arena and have an honest conversation about this menace to our future. While delivering his final State of the Nation Address for his first term in office, Mr. Akufo-Addo stressed the need for an immediate solution to galamsey as its continued practice “leads to the pollution of our water bodies and the devastation of our landscape”. Galamsey has posed a major environmental challenge to the nation for decades due to its attendant effect on our lands, water bodies, and forests. Although small-scale mining is a preserve of Ghanaians, some foreigners, particularly the Chinese have circumvented the system by providing mining support services to local miners and have over time become owners of the mining concessions by either buying concessions from Ghanaians or from the chiefs. In his address to the nation, the President referred to the use of some of these types of illegal mining equipment that degrades our environment as “dangers” to our environment. “The problem we have is the use of modern technology that leads to the illegal mining methods posing serious dangers to our water bodies and the health of our environment,” he stated. “The pollution of our rivers and water resources has been so acute on occasion that the Ghana Water Company is unable to afford the distilling of water to make for safe drinking. With a promise to put his presidency on the line to fight against galamsey when he assumed office as president in 2017, Akufo-Addo instituted many measures including the setting up of Operation Vanguard, a Military Police Joint Task Force (JTF) to combat the menace. However, in recent times, it appears that the fight has been has lost. By calling for the depoliticisation of the discussion on galamsey, it is hoped that collectively, Ghana will find a lasting solution to this menace and preserve our environment for posterity. Myjoyonline Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.
Akufo-Addo’s fight against ‘galamsey’ cost him votes in 2020 polls – Kojo Oppong Nkrumah
Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has said the government’s interest in fighting against illegal small scale mining made the President a subject of victimisation at some point. According to him, President Akufo-Addo has had his share of denial in his bid to curb the menace. “President Akufo-Addo has himself been a victim of this fight against galamsey. The reality is that there are so many people internally and externally involved in this galamsey who end up fighting any president who desires to do a good job at it. He was reacting to concerns raised after the President charged all to keep the conversation about ending the operation, also known as ‘galamsey’, open even as he delivered his last state of the nation address on Tuesday. “There is one subject… I believe we the people need to have an open conversation, and that is the phenomenon of galamsey. Should we allow or not allow galamsey?” President Akufo-Addo quizzed in Parliament. But speaking on PM: Express on JoyNews Tuesday, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah explained the question was a rhetorical one. “The point the president was making is that we have to come around the table as leaders and have a conversation that this is not because it feeds my party or it could give my party a political gain, therefore, let me seek to make partisan political capital out of it.” Mr Akufo-Addo will not support such a move as he is keen on putting an end to galamsey, the Information Minister said on JoyNews. “Because if we do that, then we collectively lose, that’s the conversation the president is asking us to have because he takes his presidency on the line, he has taken bullets for it, he’s lost parliamentary seats.” According to him, the NPP lost some votes in the just-ended polls because of the campaign against the illegal actions. “I hear people ask how come your margin dropped from 900 thousand to 500 thousand?. “We (NPP) are clear in our minds that the fight against galamsey is one of the reasons, if you look at the returns for many of the galamsey areas, they voted heavily against the president and his candidates because at the same time, while even internal party persons were sabotaging the fight, you also have people on the other side of the political device.” Mr Oppong Nkrumah called on the media and the civil society to join the conversation and not just treat it as a challenge meant for the government to tackle. “Be quick to call it out and say guys, you may be on the other of the political device looking for power but you cannot say this to galamsey operators just because you want them to vote for you, you are undermining the national fight. “And Mr President, these people in your party who are involved in this enterprise is not good enough for us to a think-tank.” President Akufo-Addo on Tuesday indicated that “the pollution of our rivers and water bodies has been so acute on occasions that the Ghana Water Company Limited is unable to afford the distilling of water to make for safe drinking.” To buttress that point, the Information Minister observed that if Ghanaians allow politicians to engage in butter trade with ‘galamsey’ operators, the outcome may affect the future generations as “everybody is afraid to lose parliamentary seats and losing presidential margins if he touches that risk called galamsey.” “If everybody wants to politically posture and gain from it, your children and my children may not have water to drink. President Akufo-Addo is clear that we have to deal with it.” Myjoyonline Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.
We’re looking for Kofi Adams to serve him our injunction suit – Mac Manu
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) is seeking to serve Member of Parliament-elect for the Buem constituency, Kofi Adams a writ following an injunction suit filed at the Hohoe High Court over the inability of some residents to vote in the parliamentary elections of December 7, 2020. The plaintiff is challenging the validity of the parliamentary results, and have filed a motion citing the inability of some inhabitants to exercise their franchise in the 2020 election. The petitioners argue that they were disenfranchised given that the parliamentary election was not held in 13 electoral areas of Santrokofi, Akpafu, Lolobi, and Likpe, where they were expected to cast their ballot. The National Campaign Manager of the NPP for the 2020 polls, Peter Mac Manu said, “we are looking for Kofi Adams to serve him because it [the case] is coming on at the Hohoe High Court. We are not doing ex-parte, it is on notice so on Wednesday we will meet him at the Hohoe court,” he said. Kofi Adams was declared Member of Parliament-Elect for the Buem Constituency having polled 18,560 votes of the valid votes cast while Lawrence Kwame Aziale of the New Patriotic Party polled 6,854 votes, a difference of 11,706 votes. But the petitioners contend that the total registered voters for the 13 electoral areas in the traditional areas of SALL are 17,764 voters and allowing them to vote could have changed the outcome of the polls. “In the circumstance, the Petitioners will contend that if the said 17,764 voters inclusive of their good selves had not been denied their inalienable and constitutionally guaranteed right to select a Member of Parliament of their choice the outcome of the elections in the Buem Constituency could have been substantially different.” “The petitioners will also contend that unless this Court if the demands are not met, they will be saddled with a Member of Parliament they had no say in electing.” Citinewsroom Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.
See what Professor Gyampo said about President Akufo-Addo’s last SONA…
A senior political science lecturer at the University of Ghana Professor Ransford Gyampo, has applauded President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for his last State of the Nation Address (SONA). According to Prof. Gyampo, the State Of the Nation Address (SONA), which gave a complete account of the President’s first four years in Office, was erudite, straightforward and simple. However, he thinks some of the things said by the President is debatable. Below are his full verdict: The President’s State of the Nation’s Address (SONA) was concise, erudite, straightforward and simple. He touched virtually on everything from where Ghana was, at the time he was sworn in as President, and what the situation in his view is, now. I think generally, there’s been some honesty in telling us what has been done and in presenting to us the State of the Nation. I however have a few comments and critiques. 1. It cannot be entirely accurate that there is abundance of food supply in Ghana. There are serious poultry issues and the price of basic food staples haven’t gone down. A simple survey of food prices among ordinary Ghanaian respondents will point to this. 2. Also, we cannot talk about our economy doing well without at least admitting the huge debt burden of about 297 billion heaped on the ordinary innocent people of Ghana now and the future. 3. Moreover, a speech coming just after our election that witnessed some deaths, should have contained some comment about the needless loss of lives, commiseration with the family of the departed, as well as some vow and commitment to resolving infractions of the law, with the view to forestalling the recurrence of such unwarranted deaths in any future elections. 4. We do not need a national conversation about illegal mining. It appears the President sounded wavering in his commitment to fighting galamsey. His comments on this, doesn’t support his earlier decisive posturing of wanting to put his Presidency on the line in the fight against illegal mining. The disastrous effects of illegal mining on our water bodies, and on the very sources of human livelihood in Ghana, are unquantifiable, and the quest to maintain political power, should not be enough to make any regime relent in fighting it. 5. With respect, I think Osei Kyei Mensah may rather be living in a dream land if he doesn’t learn the rubrics of sounding conciliatory in his utterances and comments in response to “provocations” from Iddrisu Haruna. He must know that per our constitutional arrangement, the Fomena Constituency MP isn’t a member of the NPP, albeit he may choose to vote with them. This, coupled with the unprecedented voter attitude of Ghanaians in ensuring that parliament remain what it is likely to be, in the next few days, should make him approach his overly partisan commentary with some trepidation, going forward. He may want to take a second look at the definition of what a Hung Parliament is. The definition is centered around POLITICAL PARTIES and not Independent candidates. 6. If coming events truly cast their shadows, then, respectfully, Haruna Iddrisu may also want to tone down and manage his emotions in a manner that may help to reduce needless intransigence and stalemates in the next parliament. 7. Finally, if the last SONA cannot be formally debated by Parliament, then it is about time we interrogated its relevance after doing it over and over again. If it is merely to provide parliamentarians with information about what has been done, then we can simply send the speech to the MPs electronically, rather than wasting resources to convene a sitting. We must work to operationalize constitutional imperatives, else the rigid application of rules without contextualizing them, will keep ushering thinking human beings, into a regime of robots. Yaw Gyampo A31, Prabiw PAV Ansah Street Saltpond & Suro Nipa House Kubease Larteh-Akuapim Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.
I’ve lost all the respect I had for ‘lawless’ Akufo-Addo – Haruna Iddrisu
Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu says he’s lost respect for Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. According to him, the conduct of the man who was believed to be an advocate for the Rule of Law in a democracy has been disappointing and worrying. The Tamale South MP made this known when he spoke to the media after the President delivered the final State of the Nation Address. He said “I used to have enormous respect for Nana Akufo-Addo as somebody who have held the Rule of Law, believe and faith in Democracy but his conduct in the 2020 election is disappointing”. Haruna Iddrisu said in 2016 when John Dramani Mahama lost the election, he conceded defeat but Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is forcing himself to stay in power “that is why people are dying because you’re imposing yourself”. He noted that every President Ghana has had gets it easy on their second term but that is not the case of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo whose second term he believes will be a struggle. My News GH Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.
We don’t commiserate with armed robbers – Joe Wise justifies Akufo-Addo’s silence on Techiman South deaths
In his immediate critique of President Akufo-Addo’s State of the Nation Address, Haruna Iddrisu, the Minority Leader of Parliament identified the president’s silence on the persons killed during the 2020 election as a major flaw of the address. Describing it as ‘conspicuous’, Haruna Iddrisu bemoaned President Akufo-Addo’s failure to capture the death of five people in the elections in the final address of his first term. “This honourable house thanks the President for the message on the state of the nation…. Mr President, we leave our fractured democracy in your hands. Conspicuously lost in your speech is the loss of lives in Techiman and other parts of Ghana,” the Minority Leader stated. The same sentiment was expressed by political science lecturer Professor Ransford Gyampo who criticized President Akufo-Addo for ignoring the election-related deaths in his address. “A speech coming just after our election that witnessed some deaths should have contained some comment about the needless loss of lives, commiseration with the family of the departed, as well as some vow and commitment to resolving infractions of the law, with the view to forestalling the recurrence of such unwarranted deaths in any future elections,” a part of Gyampo’s statement reads. While the aforementioned political figures shudder to comprehend why President Akufo-Addo will turn a blind eye to an issue of such nature, Joseph Osei Owusu, the First Deputy Speaker has offered a probable cause for the president’s action. The Bekwai Member of Parliament in an interview with TV3 on the sidelines of the event likened the victims of the Techiman South shooting incident to armed robbers gunned down by the police. Joe Wise as he is known in the political circles in his justification said the president exercised sound discretion by being silent on the matter. “The president should stay out, let the investigative people determine what happened but I think it is not fair to insist that because somebody died, even if he was in the process of committing a crime, it becomes an issue, no, I beg to differ.” “I think it is not fair for people to refer to an event without going back, what happened? Should the president just be talking about if a criminal is shot, the crime does not matter?”, he quizzed. When asked if it was okay for the President not to send a message of condolence to family of the victim, Joe Wise quizzed “do we commiserate with the families of armed robbers we shoot?”. Listen to the MP in the video below: Ghanaweb Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.