My children will not forgive me if … – Koku Anyidoho
Founder of the Atta Mills Institute, Koku Anyidoho, has said his decision to sue an activist of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dzifa Gunu, is not for the money. According to Mr Anyidoho, his children will not forgive him if he did not take legal action against those defaming him all over the place. Speaking in an interview on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen, he noted that he has a big heart and has tolerated people for a long time but the time has come for him to act. “I served NDC very well but people are all over the place attacking my integrity. If I don’t take legal actions, my children and their children will not forgive me and posterity will also judge me so I’m in court because I want to sanitise our airwaves and democracy,” he said. The former Deputy General Secretary of the NDC is demanding damages to the tune of GH¢ 10,000,000.00 over defamatory statements made against him by Mr Gunu. Mr Gunu is alleged to have said that Mr Anyidoho made several attempts on the life of former President John Mahama by visiting shrines in Benin and Togo. The allegations also accused the plaintiff of being guilty of narcotic abuse because substances were discovered in his house. The accuser is also said to have made a categorical statement that Mr Anyidoho caused the death of his eight-year-old daughter who was involved in a car accident. Reacting to the claims, Mr Anyidoho said: “I don’t know Benin and never been there. Why did Dzifa Gunu say I sent Mahama there for rituals? I sued him [for] GHC10m because he said I killed my daughter for ritual.”
I was asked to supply water used to bathe dead bodies for rituals – Mortuary man
The General Secretary of the Mortuary Workers Association of Ghana, Richard Kofi Jordan has confirmed rumours that some persons go in for water used to bathe corpses to enable them to perform certain spiritual rituals. There have been rumours over the years that some mortuary attendants actually sell out water they use to bathe dead bodies which is said to be ‘spiritually potent’ to buyers for all manner of rituals. Mr Richard Kofi Jordan in confirming that the practice could be going on in some mortuaries possibly in the privately-owned ones disclosed that he was contacted recently by someone to provide the person with such water to enable the person to fortify himself ahead of his enstoolment as a Chief. According to him, he declined the offer. “Last month someone I know met me and told me he wants to be installed as a Chief in his hometown and so he wants me to help him to get water that has been used to bathe a corpse. And I told him if it’s Lucifer that sent him, then he has failed. I further told him that if he makes a mistake and goes to another place in search of the said water, he will die before getting to the gate of the mortuary. According to him, in the town that he intends to be enstooled as a chief, whoever sits on that throne dies. Hence he was advised by a ‘man’ of God to look for water that has been used to bathe a dead body for it to be used to perform some rituals to fortify him. For me, I will reject it, but you know what money can do, another mortuary man could be influenced to give away such water. I will not deny that people make such requests,” Mr Kofi Jordan told Okay FM in an interview monitored by Kasapafmonline.com. He added: “I remember about four years ago, a mortuary attendant in one of the mortuaries in Accra here informed me that someone had come to him with GHC20,000 to bribe him to cut a body part of a corpse for him. The mortuary man said he immediately rushed to the administration to report the person, but by the time he returned the man had fled. So it’s true that people are walking about looking for such things based on their spiritual beliefs and needs. But we the mortuary attendants are very much aware that we can easily die when we engage in such practices because someone might belong to a spiritual group and might have fortified himself before dying.” Kasapa Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093
Parliament to sit twice a week as 15 MPs, 56 staff get COVID
A total of 227 MPs submitted themselves for COVID-19 tests in Parliament while the remainder of the 275 lawmakers did their own private tests at medical facilities outside the precincts of the lawmaking chamber, Speaker Alban Bagbin has revealed. Out of the 227 MPs, 15 tested positive. Those who did their private tests are yet to submit their results to the leadership of the house. Additionally, 56 staff of Parliament have tested positive. All the affected MPs and staff have been contacted and advised to self-isolate. They have also been given prescription drugs to facilitate their recovery. Parliament has made arrangements to test all the households of the 15 MPs and 56 staff to curb reinfection. Also, to forestall further spread of the virus in the house, Mr Bagbin announced on Thursday, 4 February 2021 that Parliament will sit twice a week (Tuesday and Thursdays) from next week instead of the normal four days. “Only MPs and staff who are needed for the business of the house on those days will be allowed in the precincts of Parliament”, he announced. On Wednesday, the Speaker threatened to expose MPs who tested positive but were still coming to the house if they did not stay away. Meanwhile, nine more COVID-19 patients have died in Ghana, taking the fatality toll to 433. According to the latest figures from the Ghana Health Service, 777 new cases have been confirmed. The active caseload is now 5,786. So far, a total of 68,559 cases have been confirmed in Ghana since March last year. Out of that number, 62,340 patients have recovered and been discharged. Regional breakdown Greater Accra Region – 40,320 Ashanti Region – 12,453 Western Region – 3,622 Eastern Region – 2,905 Central Region – 2,340 Volta Region – 991 Bono East Region – 837 Northern Region – 753 Upper East Region – 713 Western North Region – 712 Bono Region – 680 Ahafo Region – 551 Oti Region – 246 Upper West Region – 213 Savannah Region – 63 North East Region – 25 Class FM Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093
98 state entities fail to submit audit reports, plans; IAA sets 28 Feb deadline
The Internal Audit Agency (IAA) has published a long list of covered entities who have defaulted in submitting their reports and plans. According to the agency, the entities defaulted from Thursday, 31 December 2020. Section 16 (3) of the Internal Audit Agency Act and Section 83 of the Public Financial Management Act 2016 (Act 921) requires covered entities to periodically submit various reports and plans to the agency as an assurance that control systems in Covered Entities are working. Fifty-one entities did not submit their Quarterly Internal Audit Reports while 47 entities did not submit their Annual Internal Audit Plans. The IAA has, therefore, advised affected Covered Entities to “submit the required reports to the Agency not later than 28th February 2021. “Failure which appropriate actions required by the Public Financial Management (PFM) laws of Ghana shall be taken against them.” Find below the full list: Non-Submission of Quarterly Internal Audit Reports Ahafo Regional Coordinating Council Biakoye District Assembly Central Regional Coordinating Council Central Tongu District Assembly Department of Parks and Gardens Department of Social Welfare District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) Electricity Company of Ghana Ghana Trade Fair Company Limited Ghana Tourism Development Company Limited Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF) Ghana Education Service Ghana Institute of Clinical Genetics Scholarships Secretariat Ghana College of Pharmacists Graphic Communication Group Limited Kintampo Health Research Centre Krachi West District Assembly Kwahu Afram Plains South District Assembly Labour Department Law Reform Commission Ghana Meteorological Agency Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) Ministry of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs Narcotic Control Commission National Theatre of Ghana National Council for Tertiary Education National Blood Service National Commission on Culture National Media Commission (NMC) National Sports Authority New Times Corporation Non-formal Education Division Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands (OASL) Parliamentary Service Postal and Courier Services Regulatory Commission Produce Buying Company Limited Public Procurement Authority (PPA) Public Records and Archives Administration Department (PRAAD) Regional Maritime University St. Francis College of Education Ghana Standards Authority State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) Students’ Loan Trust Fund University of Development Studies (UDS) Upper East Regional Coordinating Council Upper Manya Krobo District Assembly University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) Volta Aluminum Company Limited Water Resources Commission (WRC) Zabzugu District Assembly Non-Submission of 2020 Annual Internal Audit Plans Accra College of Education Births and Deaths Registry Builsa North District Assembly Central Tongu District Assembly Cocoa Processing Company Limited Council for Tertiary and Vocational Education Training (CoTVET) Department of Parks and Gardens Electricity Company of Ghana Limited Geological Survey Authority Ghana Tourism Development Company Limited Ghana Trade Fair Company Limited Ghana Education Service (GES) Ghana College of Pharmacists Ghana Institute of Clinical Genetics Ghana Prisons Service Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority Scholarships Secretariat Graphic Communication Group Limited Kintampo Health Research Centre Krachi West District Assembly Kwahu Afram Plains South District Assembly Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Law Reform Commission National Theatre of Ghana National Blood Service National Media Commission New Times Corporation Non-formal Education Division North East Regional Co-ordinating Council (NERCC) Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands Postal and Courier Services Regulatory Authority (PCSRA) Produce Buying Company Limited Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC) Public Procurement Authority (PPA) Public and Archives Administration Department (PRAAD) Regional Maritime University South Tongu District Assembly St. Vincent College of Education State Transport Corporation (STC) State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA) Takoradi Technical University (TTU) University of Development Studies (UDS) Upper Manya Krobo District Assembly 45.Wa Polytechnic Water Resources Commission (WRC) Zabzugu District Assembly ClassFMonline Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093
Sam George Demands Payment Of Compensation For By-election Victims
Ningo-Prampram Member of Parliament (NDC MP), Samuel Nartey George, is demanding that compensation is paid to victims of the violence that characterised the January 31, 2019, Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election. In a statement on the floor of Parliament, in Accra, on Tuesday, the MP said two years on, the eight victims recommended by the Emil Short Commission to be compensated have still not been attended to. The victims are Theophilus Sedofu, Seidu Zaneh, James Moore, Mohammed Alhassan, Mr Ishawu Yaro, Mrs Justine and two other unnamed persons. The violence, perpetrated by mask-wearing national security operatives led to the formation of the Commission, which recommended among other things, that compensations were paid to the victims of the assault and violence. “It is heartbreaking, Mr Speaker, for me to stand in the people’s chamber two years on and recount how none of these individuals have received any compensation or support from the State. I am heartbroken as I myself was a victim of the recklessness that characterised the action of state operatives on the day,” Mr Nartey George stressed. Expressing his disappointment in government for not implementing the recommendations of the Commission, he said “our constituents deserve better. The citizens of the Republic demand action. Mr Nartey George said “we owe it as the representatives of the people and the true bastion of democracy to hold agents of state security to account for their infractions of law. We cannot fail. We must demand that justice is served the eight citizens whom government has pledged to compensate.” He said the tenets of democracy must be protected, and “the rule of law, accountability and the protection of the human rights of citizens are essential in this democratic dispensation and nothing or no one must be allowed to jeopardise this.” Mr Nartey George said “We represent the last ray of hope for these citizens who have elected us here”. He asked the Speaker of Parliament to use his offices to direct all relevant state institutions responsible for the payment of compensations to the affected citizens to act expeditiously on the matter. The Chief Whip of the Majority Group and NPP MP for Nsawam-Adogyiri, Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh, said limiting the statement to the Ayawaso West Wuogon incident was selective and intended to achieve political means. No government, Mr Annoh-Dompreh said, has mustered the courage to investigate what led to violence in previous by-elections, but the Akufo-Addo led administration was able to so. To him, constituting a Commission of Inquiry to probe circumstances surrounding the violence alone showed a commitment of government to the welfare of the victims. The Ghanaian Times Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093
Jean Mensa Can’t Be Intimidated; She Is Tough – Sam Pyne
The Electoral Commission Chairperson, Jean Mensa is expected to mount the witness box to testify in the ongoing election petition by former President John Dramani Mahama. John Mahama, the petitioner, is challenging the 2020 Presidential election verdict and accuses the EC Chairperson of being biased, as cited in the witness statement of the General Secretary of the opposition NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia. The petitioner is praying for a second election. Mr. Mahama claims he and the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo both didn’t get the required results to qualify one to be President. As Mrs. Jean Mensa prepares to be in the witness box, NPP Ashanti Regional Secretary, Sam Pyne has expressed confidence in the EC Chairperson. According to him, he knows of some character traits of the EC Chair and therefore was hopeful she won’t be overwhelmed by her cross-examination. ”I know what she’s made of; she is very eloquent, very deep-minded. She cannot be intimidated,” he told sit-in host Nana Yaw Kesseh on Peace FM’s “Kokrokoo”. Peacefm Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093
Akufo-Addo retained as ECOWAS chair
ECOWAS has relected Ghana President Akufo-Addo to a second term as chair of the subregional body. The election was done through Videoconference on February 2,2021. Mr Akufo-Addo was retained by consensus. He is to serve for one more year. “To this end, the Authority calls on H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa AkufoAddo, President of the Republic of Ghana, with the support of the Ministerial Ad hoc Committee on Institutional Reform, to lead reflection on the issue. A Report on this point will be submitted to the Ordinary Session of the Authority to be held in June 2021. To that effect, a general consensus emerged from the Heads of State and Government that H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo continue for a second term as Chair of the ECOWAS Authority to oversee the implementation of the Reform,” an ECOWAS statement said. It added: “The Heads of State and Government express sincere appreciation to H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana, Chair of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, for his leadership in steering the affairs of the Community”. Present at the summit were 14 ECOWAS Heads of State namely; Roch Marc Christian Kabore, President of Burkina Faso, Jorge Carlos de Almeida Fonseca, President of the Republic of Cape Verde, Alassane Ouattara, President of the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana, Prof. Alpha Conde, President of the Republic of Guinea, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, President of the Republic of Guinea Bissau, and Georges Manneh Weah, President of the Republic of Liberia. The rest are Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal, Julius Maada Bio, President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe, President of the Togolese Republic, Yemi Osinbajo, Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Brigi Rafini, Prime Minister of the Republic of Niger, Moctar Ouane, Prime Minister of Transition of the Republic of Mali, and Aurélien Agbenonci, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Benin. Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093
Robbers attack ambulance with woman in labour; shoot driver
Highway robbers have shot a driver of an Ambulance rushing a pregnant woman in labour from the Akuse Government Hospital to the Eastern Regional Hospital in Koforidua. The driver of the ambulance who was shot in the head is in critical condition and has ben referred from the Tetteh Quarshie Memorial Hospital to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. The incident occurred Thursday dawn on the Somanya to Adukrom road. Starr News has gathered that the driver in charge of Yilo Krobo Constituency Ambulance with registration Number GV 644-20 went to pick the woman who was at preterm labour (31 weeks) from Akuse government Hospital to Eastern Regional Hospital since Akuse Hospital has no neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). However, the vehicle bumped into the robbery operation on the road while speeding and failed to stop. The armed robbers opened fire on the Ambulance shooting the driver in the head. Police Patrol team rushed to the scene after the incident and conveyed the injured driver and the woman in labour to the Tetteh Quashie Memorial Hospital. The acting Public Relations Officer of the Eastern Regional Police Command Sergeant Francis Gomado confirmed the incident when contacted. No arrest has been made yet. The robbery attack is happening at the back of similar attack on three police officers – Sergeant Moses Tetteh Nartey, Corporal Christian Totimeh and Detective Ibrahim Apaka by highway robbers on Akyem Pramkese to Akyem Techiman road in Kwaebibirem District of the Eastern Region. Sargeant Moses Tetteh Nartey died from two gunshot wounds on his chest and one on his head while Corporal Christian Totimeh also sustained a gunshot wound on his left rib now responding to treatment. Starrfm Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093
Sanction MPs with COVID-19 still attending Parliament – Center for Parliamentary Affairs
The Center for Parliamentary Affairs has condemned the actions of some lawmakers still attending parliament despite testing positive for Covid-19. The revelation was made in the House Wednesday with threats from leadership in the house to publicize the names of infected MPs if they do not stay off. First deputy Speaker Joseph Osei Owusu also cautioned the over 50 MPs who were yet to subject themselves to the testing exercise to do so before the close of the day Wednesday, February 4 in order not to face sanctions. Speaking to Starr News, executive director of the Africa Center for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Rashid Draman said the recalcitrant MPs must be sanctioned instead of issued warnings. He was of the view that “we should institute sanctions. I have said over and over in many instances it looks like we have a culture of not sanctioning members of parliament and sending a very clear message and setting a very good public example.” “If we are relaxed about it when it comes to other issues, now it is about life and death and we cant relax about it. And I seriously entreat the leadership of Parliament to take it very seriously.” He explained that “because every one person who has covid and is seen out of their homes, you can bet that they could infect only God knows how many people. And you can bet that out of those people who would be infected, some might lose their lives. Is that what we want, I don’t think so.” Dr Draman added that “it doesn’t send a very good message and I think this is a new Parliament and we are hoping to see some changes.” “It’s beyond disappointing. If we are dealing with a public health emergency where somebody might lose their lives, I dot know how how much more seriousness you can add to it. It must be condemned in the most clearest terms.” Starrfm Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093
Election 2024: Ben Ephson reveals why Bawumia, Alan would need each other
The Vice president, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, could lose the primaries to lead the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in 2024, except he is supported by Alan John Kyerematen, Ben Ephson has said. Mr Ephson, who is a senior journalist and a pollster with written materials on analysis of elections, made this known on Tuesday, February 3, 2021, on Accra based Angel FM. According to him, the Ashanti Region – the stronghold of the NPP – would vote against Dr Bawumia and the NPP in the presidential election, if he contests and wins the primaries. Likewise, Trade and Industries Minister-nominee will suffer the same fate from people of northern descent, if he becomes the governing party’s candidate for the 2024 presidential contest. Options available The Managing Editor for the Daily Dispatch newspaper is, thus, advising that the NPP stands a better chance of winning in 2024 if it allows either of the two men to run as presidential candidate and the other his running mate. “There is one possibility: Dr Bawumia should run as president supported by Alan Kyerematen, or Kyerematen supported by Dr Bawumia as his Vice-President,” Mr Ephson suggested. Another possibility that might play in Dr Bawumia’s favour, is for the sitting president, Nana Akufo-Addo to abdicate power to Dr Bawumia in his last year of office as President. “President Nana Akufo-Addo should, in his last year of office, resign with sick leave and allow Bawumia to govern the country as President. Dr Bawumia would then make Alan Kyerematen his Vice and take it from there,” he suggested. Mr Ephson’s comments came at the back of some polls he conducted that suggested that some five persons are likely to contest the flagbearer position in the NPP to replace President Akufo-Addo ahead of the 2024 elections. These persons include current Vice president, Dr Bawumia, Mr Kyerematen, Minister-designate for Trade and Industries, Joe Ghartey, former Minister for Railways, Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, former Member for Parliament for Offinso North Constituency and Boakye Agyako, former Minister for Energy. Adomonline Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093