Young politicians have a lot to learn from Kwabena Agyapong – Edudzi Tamakloe opines
Legal Practitioner, Godwin Eduzdi Tamakloe has advised young politicians to take a cue from the political life of the New Patriotic Party’s stalwart, Kwabena Agyei Agyapong. This comes after media reports emerged that the former General Secretary of the NPP is tipped to get a political appointment in the second term of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. In a reaction on Facebook, lawyer Tamakloe noted that despite the treatment Agyapong was subjected to by his own party, he never took to traditional or social media to ridicule President Akufo-Addo or members of the party. “In 1998, Kwabena Agyapong becomes the General Secretary for the NPP and some people around Akufo-Addo fabricated a conspiracy theory that he was against Akufo-Addo. Immediately he sponsored someone to petition for his suspension and he was eventually suspended as the General Secretary in the most capricious manner.” “He didn’t take to Twitter or Facebook to be writing silly things about Akufo-Addo. He avoided media engagements that will discuss his suspension,” portions of his Facebook post read. Edudzi Tamakloe advised young politicians to embrace a mindset that inspires them to journey on in the spirit of calmness and steady growth of their careers. Read Edudzi Tamakloe’s full post below: Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.
An African woman will be the world’s top trade official for the first time
The path has been cleared for Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to become the first woman and the first African to lead the World Trade Organization after South Korea’s candidate pulled out of the race for the job. Yoo Myung-hee, the South Korean trade minister, announced her decision to withdraw in a televised briefing on Friday. Okonjo-Iweala, an economist and former finance minister of Nigeria, already enjoyed broad support from WTO members, including the European Union, China, Japan and Australia. However, the United States, under the Trump administration, had favored Yoo, complicating the decision-making process since the selection of a new leader requires all WTO members to agree. Okonjo-Iweala’s formal selection may have to wait until after the United States appoints a new trade representative. Yoo said that her decision had been reached after “close consultation” with the United States. The WTO had been without a leader for too long, she added. The Geneva-based body, tasked with promoting free trade, has been without a permanent director general since Roberto Azevêdo stepped down a year earlier than planned at the end of August after the WTO was caught in the middle of an escalating trade fight between the United States and China. The Trump administration was highly critical of the WTO and undermined its standing by imposing tariffs on Canada, Mexico, China and the European Union. Okonjo-Iweala will thus assume control of an organization that has struggled to prevent trade spats between its members. While US President Joe Biden has already taken steps to restore support for multilateral institutions, he is expected to proceed with caution when it comes to signing any new trade deals. In a speech to the State Department Thursday, Biden pledged to put diplomacy back at the center of US foreign policy, but was also careful to emphasize that foreign policy should benefit middle-class Americans. Okonjo-Iweala, who hails from one of the few parts of the world where free trade is ascendent, told CNN in August that trade would play an important role in the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. “The WTO needs a leader at this time. It needs a fresh look, a fresh face, an outsider, someone with the capability to implement reforms and to work with members to make sure the WTO comes out of the partial paralysis that it’s in,” she said in an interview. Okonjo-Iweala spent 25 years at the World Bank as a development economist, rising to the position of managing director. She also chaired the board of Gavi, which is helping to distribute coronavirus vaccines globally, stepping down at the end of her term in December. edition. cnn Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.
Archbishop Palmer-Buckle shares coronavirus experience after testing positive
Metropolitan Archbishop of Cape Coast, Most Reverend Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle has disclosed that he is recovering from coronavirus after testing positive. This was made known in a Facebook post shared by a user named, Teresa Cross Codjoe on Saturday, February 6, 2021. The Archbishop who is captured sharing his health status in a video message said he is currently recovering at the Ga East Municipal Hospital in Kwabenya. “Archbishop Charles Palmer-Buckle, who is recovering from COVID-19 speaks to us from the Hospital. Let us be vigilant. We shall surely overcome this too! This too shall pass! Jesus is Lord! #JILaM,” the Facebook post captioned. The Archbishop in a video message said, “I just thought of sending this video message out to those of you who are my loved ones to at least let you know… I’ve survived it for five days and therefore I encourage anybody who is afflicted not to be afraid because, yes; COVID is real, but healing is equally real if we do our best.” He advised all to adopt what he calls the three P’s which are “Prayer, Protocols and Prayer.” to curb the spread of the virus. The Archbishop however urged citizens to keep supporting health personnel and doctors at the forefront of Ghana’s coronavirus response with prayer. “Let us continue praying, thanking God for the doctors, the nurses, the front line workers and the great good job they are doing. They are really stretched out and stressed out, they need our prayerful support, love and concern for themselves and anything God can help them to do,” Archbishop Palmer-Buckle pointed. Ghanaweb Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.
U/E: Rice farmers attribute losses to lack of combine harvesters
Rice farmers at Fumbisi and Tono in the Builsa South District and the Kassena-Nankana Municipality of the Upper East Region have attributed heavy losses they have incurred on the delay in harvesting due to the lack of combine harvesters. The farmers said they could not harvest their produce on time, leading to the drying up of the rice in the valleys while some were destroyed by a bush fire. Most of the farmers have packed the dried harvest in their houses as buyers prefer rice that still has some moisture in them and so want to take advantage of the situation to buy the rice at cheaper prices. Mr James Adawina, a commercial farmer at Uwasi in the Builsa South District, who showed the Ghana News Agency (GNA) around his house where he packed several bags of dried rice, said he could not get buyers for the produce. “I have to pack this rice at my house because I had no place to keep them. I have to even evict some tenants to keep the rice. This is a challenge to us the farmers,” he said. Mr Adawina indicated that the 170-kilogram bag of rice was sold at Gh¢300.00 at Tono while the same bag went for Gh¢250.00 at Fumbisi. He emphasized that the lack of combine harvesters was a major challenge they faced as farmers and the longer the ripe rice stayed on the fields the more it was exposed to the annual harmattan bush fires. “Fire razed some people’s farms at Uwasi and the other challenge is that there is no warehouse here to store our produce. For now, the women are not willing to buy unless I keep the rice until the rainy season when I can get a good price. The lack of combine harvesters is a big challenge to us farmers.” Mr Adawina, who is also the Chairman of the Tono Irrigation Cooperative Farmers Union, appealed to the government to support them with combine harvesters, saying “If my rice was harvested in time, I would have easily sold it at the Gh¢250.00 price for the 170kg per bag.” Mr Richard Akoka, a Rice Farmer at the Fumbisi rice valleys, who shared the same experience, said “Farmers could not get combine harvesters to harvest their produce, so the rice over dried on the fields. Fire even burnt some.” He said there was market for their produce this year unlike previous years, provided the ripe rice was harvested early when it still had some moisture in it. When the GNA contacted Mr Sylvan Dauda Danaa, the Builsa South District Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), he confirmed that some farms were burnt, but some of the farmers were able to harvest their rice early and got good market. He said some farmers were not willing to sell their rice but stored them in anticipation of future high prices. “We gave them inputs and what I am foreseeing is that they don’t want to pay back, but we have to recover those monies from them. Those whose farms were affected by the fire, we are yet to meet them to see how we can help them. We may still give them some time to pay back.” At Tono, Mr Robert Kwame Abokah, a farmer, told the GNA that land preparation, harvesting equipment, and market for their rice were major challenges to farmers in the area. “For now, we can’t negotiate for our own price, what the market gives us is what we take. Some years ago, we met some buyers, negotiated prices with them, and they came and bought, but after that, they didn’t come again. “We even met Avnash Industries Ghana Limited, and they also came in, but their problem is that they offer low prices which are not good for our quality rice,” he said. GNA Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.
Girl, 19, kills new born baby, dumps body in cocoa farm
A 19-year-old girl has been arrested by Police at Akyem Edubiase in the Akyemansa District of the Eastern Region for allegedly slashing the throat of her newly born baby boy and dumping the body in a bush. The suspect, identified as Patience alias Mummy said to be a teenage single mother with a five-year-old child claimed the baby was deformed -with some of his body parts looking like an animal. The incident occurred at Akyem Atenrom near Akyem Adubiase in Akyemansa District. “She is a single mother with a five-year-old child. She left the village to stay in Accra where she got pregnant again and recently came to her village Akyem Atenrom near Akyem Etwereso in Akyemansa District. When she came the family noticed she was pregnant but she denied it so on Friday dawn she entered into labour and delivered herself in a room” Frank Owusu, a witness narrated to Starr News “She took the newborn baby into a nearby cocoa farm, slashed the throat with a kitchen knife and dumped him in the bush. The family became suspicious that the girl has delivered but the baby was missing. Elders in the community were informed and she was impressed upon to show the whereabouts of the baby but she refused compelling the youth of the community to mount a search which the lifeless body of the baby was discovered” The body of the baby has been deposited at the hospital morgue while the suspect alleged to have mild mental illness assisting Police in an investigation. Starrfm
s Election Petition: Ayine reacts to paragraphs struck out from witness statement
A member of John Mahama’s legal team, Dr Dominic Ayine, says the election petition at the Supreme Court remains unharmed despite the apex court’s ruling to strike out some five paragraphs in the third witness statement filed. Dr Ayine, who spoke to the media after Friday’s hearing, said: “For us, those five (paragraphs) do not materially damage the case we are seeking to make by bringing Rojo Mettle-Nunoo as a witness in this matter.” The third witness for the petitioner, Mr Mettle-Nunoo, was unable to be cross-examined virtually due to several objections raised by lead counsel for the second respondent, Akoto Ampaw on the witness statement filed by the petitioner. According to Akoto Ampaw, some 23 paragraphs in the witness statement sought to introduce matters of authenticity through the backdoor and issues not contained in the petition filed by Mr Mahama. As a result, he requested that the judicial panel deletes these paragraphs. Lead counsel for the petitioner, Tsatsu Tsikata, however, said the witness statement makes reference to pleadings by the second respondent and presents issues of transparency. The court at the end of proceedings ruled that paragraphs 4, 5, 6, 7 and 18 of the witness statement be struck out because they were not contained in the petition and did not come up during cross-examination. But in response to the matter, Dr Ayine described the ruling as a victory for the petitioner. “Here is the case we have only five out of the 23 [paragraphs] being struck out,” he stated. He noted that if the objections raised by Mr Ampaw were considered, “it would have meant that we would have basically an empty witness statement that would not be supportive of our case.” “If you watch Akoto Ampaw on his feet, he listed 23 out of 32 paragraphs to be struck out. If you take those, that leaves only paragraphs 1 to 3, those are just introductory paragraphs of who the witness is,” he added. Although Dr Ayine was satisfied with the court’s ruling, he was insistent that the omitted paragraphs give details of whatever took place in the strongroom that sought to prove that the 2020 election was not “seamless and transparent” as touted by the EC. “Paragraph six of the witness statement was meant to say that the system that you call seamless was in fact not seamless. “And we think that ultimately if those were taken into account, the probative value of our witness will rise up,” he said. Myjoyonline Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.
t Muntaka apologises to Supreme Court over bribery allegation
Member of Parliament (MP) for Asawase, Mohammad Mubarak Muntaka, has unreservedly apologised to the Supreme Court of Ghana over allegations of bribery he made about an unnamed member of the bench. In a formally written retraction and apology to the Supreme Court he expressed regret about the unintended damage his comments had on the image of the judiciary and the Supreme Court in particular. Mr Mubarak, who was speaking on JoyNews’ The Probe, alleged that a very prominent judge contacted a National Democratic Congress MP and offered an inducement should the person vote in favour of the New Patriotic Party’s Speaker nominee, Prof Aaron Mike Oquaye. The Judicial Service earlier said it was investigating the matter. But the MP, in the statement, said though his disclosure was based on a report from a trusted colleague, he deeply regrets what his actions have caused the Supreme Court and the judiciary as a whole. Again, the MP urged the general public and the media to respect his retraction and apology. “It is my fervent prayer that the existing historic cordial relations between the legislature and the judiciary will not be affected by this incident but will continue to grow in the interest of the country,” the statement concluded. Read his full statement below: Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.