Ofori-Atta is overborrowing and we are not getting value for money–Kwame Pianim
Mr. Kwame Pianim said Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta “hasn’t done a good job” managing the economy, According to Mr. Pianim, “He is over-borrowing and we are not getting value for money”. “This government is borrowing as if there is no end”, Mr. Pianim said on Wednesday, 22 December 2021. “Somebody has to pay for it [borrowing]”, he said, explaining: “If you take a bond, I am not going to pay for it; my grandchildren are going to pay for it.” In his view, he believes the finance minister and the Akufo-Addo government have succeeded in dividing the country with the proposed 1.75 percent e-levy, which threw parliament into chaos on Monday night during a vote on it. “You managed to divide the country in a way that has never been so divided. Fisticuffs in Parliament; who is going to listen to you?” he asked. Mr. Pianim told TV3‘s New Day monitored by apexnewsgh.com on Wednesday, 22 December 2021 that Mr. Ofori-Atta “needs to realize that he is not just a budget and expenditure minister” but a Minister for Finance, which means “growing the economy.” Mr. Pianim also revealed that I tried sharing his thought but unfortunately Mr. Ofori-Atta does not pick his calls so he could share his thoughts with him on the economy. “The Finance Minister doesn’t take my phone calls,” he said. “Finance Minister doesn’t take my phone calls”, he stressed. “Even when I reached out to his personal assistants to book an appointment, he doesn’t give me an appointment”, he complained. “They know what they are doing”, he stated. Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093
‘We’ll pass e-levy whether you want it or not’ – Majority Caucus
The Majority caucus in Parliament has said it will pass the 1.75 per cent e-levy whether the Minority Caucus likes it not. “The budget has been approved and the Appropriation Act has also been approved and the Finance Minister can go ahead with his plans, but it is the revenue component of the budget that has to do with the e-levy which hasn’t been approved”, Deputy Majority Chief Whip Habib Iddrisu said. “So, when we return, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, will come and preside and we will have our 138 members and they will also have their 137 and we will pass it”. “The e-levy is something that we will pass whether they want it or not. They should just tell the Speaker to come and preside, and if he cannot, he should tell us then we will find another Speaker”, he noted in an interview with Accra-based Citi FM. His comments come after Monday night’s brawl on the floor of the house in connection with the passage of the e-levy bill following attempts by First Deputy Speaker Joe Osei-Owusu to cast his ballot on the bill despite presiding over the business of the house on the day. Following that, Deputy Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, told journalists on Monday that: “We will not proceed to take decisions without Mr Speaker. We need him in the House because, by the technicalities of our own procedures, one of our people would have to sit in, and, therefore, he will not have the opportunity to have his right of voting as a member. Mr Speaker must show leadership in parliament”. However, Deputy Minority Leader, James Klutse Avedzi, told journalists on Tuesday, 21 December 2021, that: “He [Afenyo Markin] said Bagbin’s absence was a deliberate act to frustrate government business. That is a complete lie. It is not true. We all know Bagbin just returned from Dubai where he went for medical treatment, and he must obey the instructions of his doctors”. “If Bagbin was not showing leadership, he would have reversed the wrongs by the first Deputy Speaker, but for the fact that he wanted the country to move on, he said he will not do anything to overturn the decisions, so, for Afenyo-Markin to say that Bagbin is not showing leadership. is very surprising.” “He is the only person who has served Parliament for 28 good years. Everybody should disregard the comments from Afenyo-Markin in relation to the leadership style of Bagbin.” “Is it the case that a speaker can’t even excuse himself to visit the loo? Is it the case?” Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu asked in an interview with the parliamentary press. “The man was indisposed”, he noted, adding: “He was shivering”. “And he went to the clinic; the record is there. So, we had to persuade him to come and sit. He was in the chamber and he was shaking like a leaf.” “We had to go and prevail on him to come and preside”, the Suame MP stressed. “Of course”, he pointed out, “if he’s presiding, given his own long tenure in Parliament, his own understanding of the rules and procedures in Parliament, we thought that he’d be able to navigate crises periods, with respect, much more than the second deputy speaker but it was getting too much for him”. “So, he said he wanted to excuse himself to take his medication and then, perhaps, to come back if he felt okay, or, perhaps, maybe to sit somewhere,” Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said. “What if he did? What if he did to take his medication and he came, voting was not over and he thought that because somebody else what presiding he could participate in that? What of that? Is there any illegality in that? There’s no illegality”. Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093
Our murdered son was at work the day the 2 policemen were killed–Sheaga Community
According to the people of the Sheaga community in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region, their son Simon Yindoog Nawak who was murdered by police on Saturday has no criminal record of any form to the best of their knowledge as they challenge anyone including the police to provide contrary evidence to this fact. However, according to the community, Simon Yindoog Nawak was on duty at work based on the records of the mining company, Earl Mining Group where he seeks for survival. When the murder of the two policemen took place in Zuarungu Below is the full statement: PRESS CONFERENCE THE UNLAWFUL KILLING OF ‘SIMON YINDOOG NAWAK’ A YOUTH OF SHEAGA IN THE TALENSI DISTRICT OF THE UPPER EAST REGION. Chiefs and people of Talensi, the media, our gallant youth and women, ladies and gentlemen, the toad is said to like water but not when the water is boiling beyond its adjustable temperature, is the reason why we are all hot and boiling. The cause of our grief is the police who are paid with our taxes to protect us, rather deem it prudent in killing us with such impunity. We are today mourning our dear brother Simon Nawak Yindoog who was murdered by the police on Saturday the 18th December 2021 at neighboring community Kpatia. This is very disheartening, inhumane and a vivid disregard of law and order which they are supposed to enforce. No wander the adage that” Whatever that is eating the vegetable leaf is right behind it”. The police must be reminded that, ‘’you’re in accordance to the constitution mandated to protect live and property not the vice versa’’. The Innocent man killed is known to everyone in the community and beyond as a very humble soul, peace maker and the bread winner of his extended family. He has no criminal record of any form to the best of our knowledge and we challenge anyone including the killers to provide contrary evidence to this fact. If the Intel we have gathered is true that the police want to link his murder to the recent killing of the two police officers at the market square in Zuarungu on the 15th December last week is anything to go by, we want to state emphatically without any equivocation that the gentleman was on duty at work based on the records of the mining company, Earl Mining Group. Assuming without admitting that in any case there’s a lead intelligence linking him to the culprits of such an ungodly act, why will you not rather apprehend him alive to aide you arrest the remaining perpetrators? You the police should have wanted him alive more than any other person if that weird logic which has no evidentiary backing but just a rumor is assumed. We read malice (intentional killing) in the shooting as nothing at all proofs that the act was professional or legal. We conclude on your (police) actions been intentional because, The Innocent man was unarmed. He didn’t resist arrest. He was not at the time involved in committing any crime making reference to the criminal art 1960 act (29), be it in the form of violence stipulated in section 197, Riot in section 198, Rioting with weapons also enshrined in section 199 or provocation of Riot in section 200. We have finally come to terms with the philosophy of Thomas Jefferson that “If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so” Enough is enough! Having said so, let it be on record that this is not the first time the police have been treating youth and people from this part of the district with such impunity and we will have to resist their brutalities, oppression/suppression if leadership of the police command fails to address our grievances sooner. Our country Ghana has an adversarial criminal justice system in which the offender is presumed innocent until proven guilty. However, most offenders brought to the attention of the police are accompanied by persons who caught them in the act, which tends to eliminate the element of suspicion. Making allusion to this legal system pursuant to the 1992 constitution, can the police officer who shot and killed Mr Simon Nawak Yindoog pontificate why we should not regard this as a target killing? Of course it is. Let us remind the police of the rights of every citizen who finds themselves in their grips including the Innocent brother you brutally murdered; You are presumed innocent upon arrest until you are proven to be guilty. You must be told of your offence in the language you speak on arrest. You have a right to be treated courteously by the Police even when you have been arrested. You have the right to refuse a search of your premises without a warrant calmly and politely. Unless you resist arrest unnecessarily, the Police don’t have the right to use any violence at all in effecting your arrest. You have a right to ask for a lawyer of your choice. 7 You have a right to be brought before court within 48 hours of your arrest unless you are sooner released. You have a right to institute legal proceedings against the police when you are kept longer. You have a right (if you decide to speak) to make your statement in the presence of an independent witness. You have a right to write a statement yourself if you can write. You have the right to speak in any language of your choice if you can’t write, and the Police must have an interpreter. 12 Whatever you say and whatever is recorded must be read over and explained to you in a language you speak and understand. You must agree to the wording of the final document of your statement before you sign it. Remember you are not a prisoner while in custody and therefore you cannot be made to do any form of forced labour. You
E-Levy: Let’s cool down on the anger – Otchere-Darko to NPP, NDC
The founder of the Danquah Institute Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko has called on members of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to cool down on their anger and work together with mutual respect. The NPP Majority in Parliament and the NDC Minority have both taken entrenched positions with regards to the introduction of a 1.75% e-levy which will affect electronic transactions, as contained in the government’s 2022 budget statement. While the NDC are against the levy and wants it scrap, the NPP is for it with the explanation that the upsurge in the use of e-payment platforms, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, has been an impetus for the introduction of the levy. They say Ghana recorded a total of GHS500 billion from e-transactions in 2020 compared with GHS78 billion in 2016 and, thus, the e-levy proceeds will be used to support entrepreneurship, youth employment, cyber security, and digital and road infrastructure, among others. On Monday night, the MPs from both sides exchanged blows while deliberating on the e-levy. Parliament has adjourned to January 18 2022 to allow cool heads to prevail before taking a final decision on the levy. Mr Otchere-Darko who is also President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s cousin in a tweet is, thus, calling for a consensus building between both sides and urging them to put Ghana first in their dealings. Mr Otchere-Darko’s tweet read: “Whatever we feel as NPP or NDC, or Ghanaians about the state of play, let us cool down on the anger. We know how to live together (to the pride of the world); let’s do more to work together with mutual respect and Ghana first in these uncharted waters of the 8th Gov’t/Parliament.
E-levy fight: Akufo-Addo didn’t asked for my help—John Mahama
Former President John Mahama has said “President Akufo-Addo did not seek his intervention on the E-Levy impasse. He said: “I received Mr Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, at his request, at my residence on Tuesday, 21 December 2021”. Below is his Facebook post: President Akufo-Addo did not seek my intervention on the E-Levy impasse. I received Mr. Gabby Otchere Darko, at his request, at my residence on Tuesday 21st December, 2021 Among issues we discussed was the desire of Ghanaians to see the two major political parties working together for the interest of the nation We discussed, also, how dialogue can be deployed to ensure Parliamentary issues are agreed consensually before coming on the floor to avoid what happened recently in the House. We further discussed opening channels of communication between the leaders of the two parties including a possible meeting with the President at a future date. At no time was there any discussion specifically about the President requiring my intervention in the impasse on the E-levy. Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093
NPP founding member tackles Ursula Owusu over E-levy
Renowned economist and founding member of the governing New Patriotic Party, Kwame Pianim, has dismissed assertions by Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful that anyone who makes a mobile money transaction that exceeds GH¢100 is not poor. Kwame Pianim says the statement by the minister is blank as it does stipulate whether the amount is the person’s income. “You sit down and say that someone sending GH¢100 is rich and must pay e-levy, what if the person’s turnover is the GH¢100. What is the profit on that amount? For instance, if someone earns GH¢5 per day. Multiply that by 30 and you will get GH¢1500, divide that by six and you will get $20. That is the person’s earning for a month and she claims you are not poor?” he quizzed. Kwame Pianim criticized Parliament not showing concern about the plight of Ghanaians. He said that the 2021 Appropriations Bill for the 2022 fiscal year was approved by the house because they will benefit from it. “When they get to Parliament, do they know what poverty is? We pay them well. Parliamentarians benefit from expenditures so is that why they approved the appropriation.” Ursula Owusu-Ekuful on November 18 said government was right to impose charges on mobile money transaction as the sector has become a ripe one for movement of money. “So if you really are poor and you are in a position to send a GH¢100 a day, then we need to re-classify our definition of who really the beneficiaries of these are. And it is only the sender who pays, not the recipient. Unlike the telcos where both the sender and receiver pay. “So if you are looking at bulk payments, cashouts, person to person transfers, wallet to bank transfers, as of October we are looking at about GH¢11 million, if you are looking at the merchants, debit payments, sending, transfers, transfers to vouchers and the cashouts we are looking at GH¢440 million. “If you are looking at GHIPSS, and merchant payments and direct debit payments and organisations paying to customers and paying bills and sending money we are looking at GH¢45 million so in total it is possible for the government to get about GH¢500 million from this in a month,” she explained on GhOne. Meanwhile Parliament has suspended deliberations on the levy that will see Ghanaians pay a 1.75% charge on any electronic transaction that exceeds GH¢100. The house has deferred voting on the matter to January 18, 2022 when it resumes sitting. Ghanaweb Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093
Dr. Bawumia launches E-Pharmacy, says is expected to transform access to pharmaceutical care in the country
The Vice President of the Republic of Ghana Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has said the E-Pharmacy programme is expected to transform access to pharmaceutical care in the country. Speaking during the launch of E-Pharmacy on Wednesday, December 22, 2021, he said: The policy and guidelines for the National E-Pharmacy programme as part of the Government’s ongoing efforts to improve access to and delivery of health care to Ghanaians was launched by me this morning. “When fully operational in 2022, the E-Pharmacy programme is expected to transform access to pharmaceutical care in the country and make Ghana one of a handful of countries with a national scale e-pharmacy in the world. “The introduction of this cutting-edge health technology should help tackle at least 4 critical concerns in the healthcare system including reducing the unacceptably high Pharmacist to Patient ratio, improving confidentiality and privacy of patient medical records; minimizing wrong self-diagnosis and self-medication, and reducing counterfeit and substandard medication”. “This innovation in improving pharmacy access to our people through E-Pharmacy can be a game-changer in safeguarding the future of our youth and ensuring rational and responsible access to medicines on a scale we have not yet been able to achieve”. He pointed Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093