Ignore calls to probe invasion of Parliament by armed military men – Koku Anyidoho to Akufo-Addo
Former General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress, Samuel Koku Anyidoho is asking President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to ignore calls to cause investigation into the military invasion of Parliament on the dawn of January 7, 2021. According to the suspended NDC Member, the justification of the act by the armed military officers was that their presence on the floor helped restore sanity and averred a situation that would have eventually plunged the country into a constitutional crisis. “His Excellency President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo; please stay focused as the Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, and ignore any call for a probe into the acceptable move by the Military on, January 7, 2021. We are not in a Banana Republic. “Is it not a matter of fact that, if sanity had not been restored in Parliament for the nation to have a Speaker, we would have hit a constitutional iceberg by not being able to swear-in the President? Let us stop being pedantic & fastidious just because of politics,” he shared in a series of post on his Twitter page. Mr Anyidoho again states that the military officers cannot be blamed as their action helped restore order in the election of a Speaker of Ghana’s 8th Parliament which was characterized by violence and chaos between members of the ruling New Patriotic Party and the opposition National Democratic Congress. “When some MPs decided to chew ballot papers and act in un-parliamentary ways in the chamber of Parliament on the day we were expected to swear-in the President & Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, why should the military be blamed for stepping-in to restore sanity?” he stated. The armed military who stormed the chamber of parliament have been described by some critics as an attack on the independence of the legislative arm of government and have called for full investigations to establish the brains behind the action. Some people reacting to Mr Anyidoho’s call on the president pointed out that despite the military coming in to restore order as he would like to claim, the chaos included the alleged chewing of ballot papers by an MP continued after the military had left the floor. “Wrong! Chewing of ballots occurred after the soldiers had exited. All MPs were seated when they entered, proceeded towards us (NDC). We rose to meet them in the middle of the chamber. The soldiers were invited to cow NDC MPs because we insisted on a secret ballot, nothing else!” NDC Member of Parliament for Builsa South, Clement Abas Apaak replied to Koku Anyidoho’s tweet. Ghanaweb Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: +233555568093
NIB arrests mathematical sets supplier after Opoku Prempeh’s vetting
The National Investigative Bureau (NIB) has arrested the CEO of the Bluegrass Group Ltd, Kwadwo Darko-Mensah, also known as Onasis. According to reports, the suspect is to assist in an ongoing investigation in regards to the procurement of some 853,000 pieces of mathematical sets. Mr Darko-Mensah is said to be a local agent of an international company, Cornfield Group Ltd which was mandated to deliver a total of 853,000 pieces of math sets at a cost of ¢75 per unit. The contract which was awarded by the Education Ministry in September 2019 failed to pull through when the products were neither delivered on schedule or in full. Local online portal, Mynewsgh, reported that 853,000 mathematical sets were supposed to be given to students siting for the 2020 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). However, due to the WASSCE timeline, the contract was treated as “urgent” and sole-sourced in September 2019 to Mr Darko-Mensah’s company without any form of bidding. The Bluegrass Limited was also granted a free tax waiver of $3.6 million by the government on the recommendation of the then Education Minister, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh and was subsequently approved by Parliament. But further investigations revealed that, no 2020 WASSCE student received any mathematical set from government. An independent policy and research institute, the Institute for Education Studies (IFEST) then questioned government why the mathematical sets which were sole-sourced at a “high price” were never delivered on time for the very purpose it was tagged as “urgent”. The Institute also criticised the validity of the sole sourcing procedure adopted. At ¢75 per mathematical set, the total contract came to ¢63,975,675. Yet, Blueglass Limited failed to deliver within the agreed time. Blueglass Limited was said to have later issued PR-statements, announcing it had delivered “first consignment” without stating any figure, even long after the WASSCE was over. Vetting Opoku Prempeh on Bluegrass Ltd Being nominated by President Akufo-Addo for the Energy Ministry, Dr Opoku-Prempeh appeared before, Parliament’s Appointments Committee for vetting on Friday. When queried on the issue of the Mathematical sets contract and the arrest and detention of CEO of Bluegrass Ltd Kwadwo Darko-Mensah, the then Education Minister said, “I didn’t know him from anywhere.” Myjoyonline Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: +233555568093
Fighting phone theft: Sim cards to be registered with their devices – Ursula Owusu
Communications and Digitalisation Minister-designate Madam Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has outlined measures which when confirmed, her ministry will enforce to curb the incidence of theft of communication devices in the country. Taking her turn at the vetting by members of the Appointments Committee of Parliament, Madam Owusu-Ekuful intimated that the issue of SIM card registration will be visited, this time, however, to capture the devices in which they operate as well. She noted with concern that one of the highest criminal activity Ghanaians are grappling with, is the incidence of mobile phone theft. The former Communications Minister asserted that they will soon embark on SIM re-registration as part of efforts to properly secure citizenry and to combat criminal use of technology. “We have taken a decision to revisit the SIM registration regime, to do it and do it properly. One of the major concerns that have plagued SIM registration in the past has been the lack of an effective ID to verify the identity of whoever was registering the SIM. “Nowhere in the world can you just acquire a SIM card without registration? And looking at the uses to which we are putting our mobile devices, it is not just a mobile phone for talking now, it is your bank, it is your office, it is your entertainment device and it is storing very confidential information of yours. “…Not only the SIM will be registered but the device on which the SIM is used as well. And we hope that by that we will cut down the theft and resale of devices. That’s one of the commonest petty crimes occurring in our country currently… “if the device is also registered, once it is reported stolen it can be blocked and it cannot be unlocked,” Madam Ursula Owusu Ekuful told the Committee. In October 2019, owners of SIM cards were asked to undergo a re-registration exercise between January 2020 to June 2020. At the time, the directive from government formed part of moves to fight sim card misuse and mobile money fraud. She explained that Ghanaians would be required to register with a national ID card. Ghanaweb Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: +233555568093
Change your wig; it has lost its identity – Chief Justice to Akoto Ampaw
The Supreme Court was Monday thrown into laughter when the Chief Justice, Justice Anin-Yeboah, advised counsel for the 2nd Respondent, Akoto Ampaw, to dispose of his wig for having lost its identity. In a seeming jovial advice to the lawyer for the 2nd Respondent, who had just finished his submission in opposition to a motion by the petitioner to reopen his page, the Chief Justice addressed him. “Mr. Akoto Ampaw, I think you have to change your wig, it has lost its identity as a wig,” he said in a fit of mild humour. Mr. Ampaw took off the wig from his head, looked at it and put it back on his head while responding to the Chief Justice. “My Lord, it gives it a unique identity”, he said. The court was thrown into a burst of momentary laughter. 3news Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: +233555568093
Tsatsu apologizes to Jean Mensa in court
Lead Counsel for the petitioner in the ongoing election petition hearing Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata on Monday, February 15, apologized to the Chairperson of the 1st Respondent in the case, Jean Adukwei Mensa for saying in court that she sunk low. Making a case for their move to subpoena her to testify, Mr. Tsikata said in court that “To talk about grievances of being served tea respectfully that is such a lack of truthfulness in terms of how the evidence came in. [Rojo Metle-Nunoo] did not express a grievance here that they served tea and not biscuits. It was out of the question and he answered truthfully. “For the chairperson to descend into such triviality which was brought on by cross-examination of her own counsel that shows the depth to which she has sunk.” It was at this point that Chief Justice Anin Yeboah came to say “Mr. Tsikata the practice is that you lawyers draft affidavit in applications so please don’t let us go that far”. Another Justice of the Court also said “Beyond that I would advise that you withdraw”. Following this, Mr. Tsikata said “I withdraw the statement about the depth to which she has sunk. I apologize that I used unduly strong language and I apologize to the chairperson of the 1st respondent” Mr. Tsikata told the Supreme Court that he closed the petitioner’s case because he thought the Chairperson of the 1st Respondent, Mrs. Jean Adukwei Mensa will make herself available for cross-examination. He said that the affidavit of the 1st Respondent indicated that she will testify in the case hence, their earlier decision to close their case for that to happen. “We had the expectation that the chairperson of the 1st Respondent will testify” hence the closure of the case. “The Chairperson of the 1st Respondent has in an affidavit made clear that the petitioner will in no way be prejudiced because the questions that the petitioner sought to have in interrogatories those will be subject matter in cross-examination,” Mr. Tsikata told the court. Meanwhile, Mrs. Adukwei Mensa has sworn an affidavit, praying the Supreme Court to dismiss a fresh application filed by the petitioner in the election petition case John Dramani Mahama to reopen the case. According to Mrs. Mensa, the application is not warranted by any rule of law or procedure “and the same should be dismissed by this Honourable Court”. She indicated that Mr. Mahama’s application is “creating the erroneous impression that this application is made at my behest”. The Chair of the Commission explained that at no time had she informed the petitioner nor his lawyers of her desire to testify in the case. Lawyers of Mr. Mahama on Thursday, February 11 declared their intention to re-open the case in order to subpoena Mrs. Mensa as the Returning Officer of last year’s presidential elections to testify. It followed the unanimous dismissal of an earlier application to force witnesses of both respondents – EC and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo – to appear in the witness box. The respondents had closed their case by voting not to present their witnesses in court. But the petitioner filed the application to get the Chair of the EC, in particular, to make an appearance in the interest of the public. In her affidavit, calling for the dismissal of the petitioner’s application, Mrs. Mensa stated: “I believe that there are more convenient fora (forums) for ventilating the so-called public interest issues and further that this should not form the basis of the Petitioner re-opening his case in a Presidential Elections Petition in Court.” She expressed surprise how the petitioner, after closing his case on his own volition, will come back again to request that the case be re-open. “I am advised that even if this Court grants leave for the Petitioner to reopen its case; it ought not to cause a subpoena to be issued against me because a subpoena is issued with coercive effect. “The Honourable Court, having held that I rightly exercised the option of my right not to testify would be overriding its earlier decision to order that I be compelled to testify.” 3news Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: +233555568093
I didn’t target Radio Gold, XYZ for closure – Ursula
Communication and Digitisation Minister-designate, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has said she never targeted opposition FM stations Radio Gold and Radio XYZ for closure through the National Communication Authority (NCA). The NCA took the action in May 2019 with the explanation that: “Radio stations operating without valid authorisations as determined by the 2017 FM Broadcasting Audit, are being shut down with immediate effect as enforcement action in view of the decision of the Electronic Communications Tribunal”. It said: “Following the FM Spectrum Audit in 2017, some stations were found to be in default and were fined by the Authority. However, some of the stations in default were not satisfied and proceeded to the various courts; Electronic Communications Tribunal (ECT) and the High Court to appeal against the NCA’s decision. “This resulted in a decision by the ECT in 2018 which reviewed the status of expired FM Radio Broadcasting Authorisations and which ruled among others that Companies whose authorisations had expired reverted to the same position as a fresh applicant. While some stations shut down following this decision, others did not. “To this end, and in line with Regulations 65 (1) of the Electronic Communications Regulations, 2011, L. I. 1991, which states that: ‘A person shall not use a radio frequency without authorisation from the Authority’, the National Communications Authority (NCA) is enforcing the shutdown of FM radio stations who are operating without authorisation”, the NCA added. The regulator continued: “It should be noted that as ruled by the ECT, submission of renewal application after the expiry of authorisation is not a valid application and, therefore, shall not be considered by the Authority”. It said: “While companies affected by this shut down may submit fresh applications to the Authority if they so wish, these applications shall go through the required procedure for new FM Broadcasting Authorisation and the outcome will be communicated to the applicants”. Answering questions regarding the closures of the FM stations when she appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Monday, 15 February 2021, Mrs Owusu-Ekuful explained that: “In 2017, following my charge to them [NCA] to enforce the law across sectors, not just in broadcasting, the NCA conducted an audit exercise which indicated that 144 stations had committed several infractions which necessitated that they be sanctioned. At the end of the exercise, 56 FM stations were closed down. Forty-three of those stations have submitted fresh applications for authorisation out of which 30 have been processed and granted new authorisation to operate. The remaining 13 applications, I’m informed, will be processed within the first quarter of 2021. So, by the end of March, the remaining 13 applications would be processed”. She said the FM stations were first fined for their infractions for which some paid but others dragged the NCA to the court of arbitration. It was ruled in that arena that the NCA had no right to fine stations whose authorisation had expired, so, there was a refund of the fines paid, she told the Committee. She said the NCA, thus, elected to enforce the law by closing the FM stations whose authorisation had expired and “if the law doesn’t allow you to operate without a licence, then you do not have the right to operate without a licence and that’s what led to the shutdown of the radio stations. So, it was by operation of law”. Asked if she targeted some stations, she responded: “Absolutely not”, adding: “To enjoy any right, you come to equity with clean hands”. “But if the same law, which grants you the right to operate as a radio station in furtherance of the freedom of expression, you flout that law as a citizen of this country, you are subject to the laws of this land and the sanctions are applicable and we cannot by any stretch of imagination say when the law is being applied, it means it is an infringement on the freedom of speech”. She stressed: “Mr Chairman, it is not possible for me to target any particular radio station for special treatment”, insisting: “Many of the names, I mean I had no idea of what the political leanings or ownership of many of these stations apart from the known ones and I think even the Chairman’s own station or the station he is affiliated with, suffered from this exercise”. “It couldn’t have been selective or discriminatory or unfair. Unfortunately, in enforcing the law, you have no way of knowing where the chips will fall and, so, you work to ensure that you do it with a human face and I believe that’s what the NCA was trying to do when it imposed the fines instead of closing down the stations outrightly. I’m not sure they opted for one or the other …”, she added. She said if Radio Gold and the other opposition station “hadn’t acted in contravention of the law, nobody would have touched them or targeted them no matter how much you disliked or hated them, you couldn’t touch them because they would have been compliant with the law, so, I’m grateful for this opportunity to clarify the air on that”. “Currently, there are 625 authorised FM stations in Ghana as of the end of 2020. A total of 452 representing 72 per cent is in operation and 173 representing 28 per cent are not yet in operation. ClassFMonline Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: +233555568093
Court commits comedian Funny Face to psychiatric hospital
Popular Ghanaian comedian, Benson Nana Yaw Oduro Boateng, popularly known as Funny Face has been committed to the Accra psychiatric hospital for two weeks by an Accra Circuit Court. The Ofaakor Circuit Court presided by Ebenezer Osei Darko ordered Ghana Police to send Funny Face to Accra Psychiatric Hospital explaining that he does not sound normal. According to the judge, Funny Face is likely to be having a mental crisis and possibly going through depression. This comes after the comedian on February 15, 2021, shared a video of himself in handcuffs being transported to court. The video was captioned: “Jailed again yesterday afternoon. Till dis morning. Been taking to Ofankor circuit court. GOD is in control. Funny fans spread this video. Justice for funny face,” Prior to this development, Funny Face’s first arrest was for the unlawful discharge of firearms during banter with a pub owner in Kasoa. Starrfm Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: +233555568093
Akufo-Addo attends G5 Sahel Summit in Chad
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Monday (15 February) left Ghana to attend the 7th Session of the Ordinary Summit of the Heads of State of G5 Sahel, a statement from the Office of the President announced. Akufo-Addo is attending the summit in his capacity as chairperson of ECOWAS. The summit, which is being held in N’Djamena, capital of Chad, will deliberate on the progress being made against the ongoing Islamist insurgency in the region. President Akufo-Addo was accompanied by Minister-designate for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Minister-designate for National Security, Albert Kan Dapaah, and officials from the Presidency and the Foreign Ministry. The President will return to Ghana later on Monday, the statement added. Asaase Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: +233555568093
Ken Ofori-Atta in good spirit, not dead, says aide
Minister for Finance-designate, Ken Ofori-Atta, is in “good spirit” and responding to treatment in the United States, his personal assistant announced Monday to dispel wild-flying rumours of his death. Ofori-Atta left Accra Sunday (14 February) to seek medical attention following post-COVID-19 medical complications, a statement from the Finance Ministry announced. On Monday, speculations were rife on social media that he has passed on, but his personal assistant Michael Bediako said they are false. “Good morning, Honourable Minister-designate’s Delta 157 flight has landed,” a text message from Bediako confirming their safe arrival in the U.S. said. “He’s in good spirits. He sends his regards,” the terse message concluded, accompanied by a fresh picture of the minister-designate and his wife at the airport. Out for two weeks Ofori-Atta will be out for a “medical review” and is expected to return after two weeks, the statement added. “The Ministry of Finance wishes to inform the general public and stakeholders that Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, the representative of the president at the Ministry of Finance and Minister-designate for Finance, will travel to the United States of America today for a special medical review,” the statement from the public relations unit of the ministry said. It added: “After recovering from COVID-19 last December, Ofori-Atta has had medical complications which doctors advise require further interventions not currently available in Ghana.” Vetting postponed According to the statement, the leadership of Parliament has been notified of his absence since he was due for vetting on Tuesday 16 February 2021. “He is expected to be away for two weeks. “Mr Ofori-Atta was scheduled to appear before the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Tuesday, 16 February 2021. “The leadership of Parliament has been duly notified for a new date to be fixed upon his return,” the statement said. Asaase Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: +233555568093
Agyapa deal is clean, Attorney General-designate assures Ghanaians
Minister for Justice and Attorney General-designate, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has assured Ghanaians that the Agyapa transaction to monetise some of Ghana’s gold royalties was done in the national interest and in accordance with law. Appearing before the Appointments Committee last week, Dame argued the finance minister, his deputy and promoters of Agyapa were unfairly criticized in the controversial report of the special prosecutor. Haruna Iddrisu, the Minority Leader, who is also a lawyer, seemed visibly surprised when the nominee stated that Martin Amidu did not interview Ken Ofori-Atta, his deputy, Charles Adu Boahen and anybody else involved with the transaction before he concluded his damning report on the transaction in October last year. Dame told the Committee that at every step of the way, the Ministry of Finance and, for that matter government, put the interest of the nation first and not the interests of any individual, organisation or group of persons. “Mr. Chairman, with all respect, I don’t see any vitiating factor with regard to the transaction,” he said. Signing authority The special prosecutor, on his own, called for documents covering the transaction and came up with an anti-corruption risk and risk of corruption assessment on the deal done under the mandate of the Minerals Income Investment Fund(MIIF), which was set up by an Act of Parliament passed in 2018. Dame, who was then a deputy attorney general, invited parliamentarians to ignore the indicting aspects of the report because the whole exercise was undertaken not as a criminal investigation but an “assessment” and one that breached the basic natural justice rule of allowing the one under scrutiny to be heard. He described Amidu’s report as a mere “opinion” of no direct legal effect. Addressing one of the observations of the report concerning whether or not the country’s laws were breached because a deputy finance minister then Charles Adu Boahen signed for government, Dame explained the law gives authority to the Finance Minister to allow his deputy or any other person not below the rank of director to sign such documents. “The capacity to execute a financial agreement, has been indicated in the Public Financial Management Act, 2016(Act, 921). In there, you find that Mr. Chairman, the capacity is given to the Minister for Finance or any person that the Minister for Finance may authorise,” Dame stated. “In the light of this, it becomes quite clear that the Deputy Minister for Finance, if he was authorized by the Minister for Finance, has full capacity to enter into the agreement,” the Attorney General-designate added. Parliamentary approval not required A major subject of disagreement pertaining to the corruption risk assessment carried out by Amidu is his findings that the Mandate Agreement between the lead transaction advisor, Imara, and its local partner, Databank Group, was unconstitutional because it should be treated as “an international transaction” and, by that, required the approval of Parliament. Dame disagreed, arguing that the transaction advisory role was not the main transaction but an agreement to build the structure and building blocks towards the ultimate objective of listing the Agyapa Royalties company on both the London and Accra stock markets. “I will submit finally that to the extent that Parliament had considered and approved the substantive agreement itself, the primary agreement being the Minerals Royalties Agreement, other agreements like the approval of a transaction advisor ought not to have come before this honourable House for approval,” he told the 26-member Appointments Committee of Parliament. Dame maintained that a contract to facilitate the main transaction cannot be viewed as a major transaction regardless of the fees. Imara and its local partner, Databank, stood to earn a percentage of the amount raised for the listing as success fee capped at $4m to be shared between the two. Imara is on a $15,000 monthly retainer, which the contract states will be deducted from the success fee at the end of Initial Public Offering (IPO). Databank’s partnership deal with Imara excluded the Ghanaian entity from the monthly retainer, and billed to be paid at the end of the floatation in success fee. He reminded the House that on a regular annual basis, the transaction advisors involved in Eurobond issuance or facilitators of loan agreements ordinarily get paid a percentage of the total amount, which can be easily more than the $4m involved here and yet it is accepted as not at all necessary to present such incidentals deals to Parliament. Dame, who was also a member of the board of the Public Procurement Authority(PPA) took issue with the SP, who resigned last November, for raising issues with the Request for Proposal, which allowed any of the shortlisted companies approved by the PPA to have a local partner. Dame, who sat on the PPA board over the previous term, saw nothing irregular about it. He also defended Databank’s reputation over the last 30 years and their ability to have worked with virtually all governments based on merit. This came in when the issue of potential conflict of interest was raised because Ken Ofori-Atta is a co-founder of the investment bank and Ghana’s leading securities company. Fair hearing Dame faulted the Office of the SP and its former chief prosecutor, Martin Amidu, for breaking the rules of natural justice, when it refused to give all persons implicated in his corruption risk assessment a fair hearing before he reached his conclusions in his report. Background In 2018, Parliament passed the Minerals Income Investment Fund Act, 2018 which establishes the fund to manage the equity interests of Ghana in mining companies and receive royalties on behalf of the government. The purpose of the fund is to manage and invest these royalties and revenue from equities for higher returns for the benefit of the country. The government then, through the Minerals Income Investments Fund(MIIF), set up Agyapa Royalties Limited to monetize Ghana’s gold royalties. This was after Parliament on August 14, 2020, approved the Agyapa Mineral Royalty Limited agreement with the government of Ghana despite the walkout by the minority. In