Ghana politics and election news

Former National Security Adviser, Brigadier General (rtd), Joseph Nunoo-Mensah, has called for a new direction in leadership to redeem Ghana "from sinking."

Former Chief of Staff, Nana Ato Dadzie says it is a miracle that former President Jerry John Rawlings has lived up to this time.

Today, June 22 marks the 70th birthday of former President Jerry John Rawlings.

Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament and Member of Parliament for Nadowli Kaleo in the Upper West Region, Alban Bagbin, says he knew about the defeat of the National Democratic Congress long before the elections took place.

Upon all his achievements as leader of Ghana's independence struggle and subsequently, its first president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah had one weakness which might have led to his overthrow, Second Deputy Speaker and Member of Parliament (MP) for Nadowli-Kaleo, Alban Bagbin has stated.

The President has reiterated government's commitment to delivering on the promises  for which Ghanaians voted the NPP into power. Nana Akufo-Addo says his government is working extremely hard to raise the living standards of the people, by improving on the economy and implementing other social intervention programs.

Addressing the 2017 International Democrat Union (IDU) Executive meeting in Accra on Wednesday, June 21, the President  expressed the hope that citizens would soon see positive changes in the country and their lives as ambitious programs to achieve socio-economic transformation are rolled out.

The programs include the one district one factory project, restructuring institutions of the governance system, modernising agriculture to enhance productivity and rationalisation of the financial sector to support economic growth.

He added, it is the aim of the NPP administration to enhance further the business atmosphere and make Ghana an easier place to conduct business through paperless transactions at the ports, and the removal of all internal customs barriers by the beginning of September.

The bid by New Patriotic Party (NPP) youth organiser, Sammy Awuku to become the party's national organiser has received a major boost following the withdrawal of his most powerful contender from the race.

President Nana Akufo-Addo on Tuesday said his government was keenly monitoring the outcome of the ongoing Brexit negotiations between Great Britain and the European Union because of its implications for Ghana’s trade policies.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, will pay a three-day state visit to the Republic of Zambia at the invitation of the Zambian President, His Excellency Edgar Lungu.

A former Minister of state at the Presidency has confirmed claims that the NDCs election results collation system broke down completely at the most critical moments of the 2016 election.

Rashid Pelpuo, says the development prevented the leadership from knowing the exact trend of exit polls at the height of the vote counting exercise.

His comments follow the release of the Kwesi Botchwey Committee report that recommended among other things, that measures should be put in place to improve the collation of election results by the party.

The leadership of the NDC became a laughing stock during the collation of results in the 2016 elections, when Deputy General Secretary, Koku Anyidoho declared at a press conference that the party was in a “comfortable lead and cruising to victory” when in fact results from almost every quarters indicated they were losing.

Information later surfaced that the party’s collation system disintegrated, but this has neither been confirmed nor denied by any leading member.

Speaking on Citi FM, the Member of Parliament for Wa Central said “As at the time NPP was churning out results and claiming victory, the NDC had not gotten a grasp of what was happening. Our system even broke down and we could not assess the results the NPP was getting, neither could we see what we were even getting so there was a problem there.

He urged the party to update their technology to enable the real-time transfer of results during the 2020 elections.

The British High Commissioner has described his three-year duty tour of Ghana as “extremely special and one that has brought the country and the UK exceptionally close.

It appears some irate youth of the New Patriotic Party in Savelugu-Nanton are determined to blackmail the party ahead of the 2020 elections, which is more than thirty months away, if the president is not prepared to quash the appointment of Hajia Ayishietu Seidu as the Municipal Chief Executive.

The unhappy party supporters have been remonstrating against the appointment of the head MCE because she, in their view, did not contribute to the party’s victory in the elections and does not deserve the appointment. Following failed protests which involved the burning of party’s billboards and related materials in the municipality, some of the youth besieged the municipal assembly, forcing security officers deployed to calm tempers before whisking Madam Seidu through a different door out of the premises.

Similar protests took place in certain parts of the country following the release of more than 200 names appointed by the president as district and municipal chief executives across the country.

But speaking at the swearing ceremony of the Chief Justice Sophia Akufo at the State House, President Akufo-Addo warned the angry youth to refrain from violent protests as a way of expressing disagreement over appointments. He said nobody in the party will be “shielded” from any wrongdoing, and reiterated earlier calls for the police to deal deceisvely with anyone who misconduct himself, be it a party member or not.

But in an act of defiance to the president’s call for them to be punished, one of the rampaging youth Abdul Karim Zakari, who styles himself as leader of the youth group, said they are determined to resist the appointment of the MCE until she is removed from office.

“ We will continue resisting her stay in office until her appointment is revoked. She has never contributed in kind or in cash to the development of the party. She cannot reap what she has not sown and we will not allow that to happen. Anytime we hear she is in the office we will storm there and force her out. There are others who are known in the constituency who contested with her and were interviewed they should have picked one of them for peace to prevail,” he told Accra based Okay Fm.

But a government delegation led by Minister for State at the Presidency in charge of National Security, Bryan Acheampong, said the appointment of the MCE cannot be revoked because doing so will set a bad precedence for other places in the region.

“The president says he is pleading with you, that he has heard all your complaints and cries. He appreciates your concerns but he is appealing to you to allow her to work and be observed. Her appointment can be revoked if she faults so give her the chance.”

 

But another another member from the party in the constituency Alhaji  Mohammed Muftawu  maintained they will do everything possible to unseat the party.

 “We are giving you the party symbol, flag, and our Member of Parliament Somed Gunu to go and give them to Nana Addo that we don’t want NPP party. The woman can be the MCE and work with the President but as for us, we can’t work with her and will not accept her today or tomorrow.”

 

He said the seat belongs to the NDC and after having worked hard to get it from them, it is only fair they are encouraged to work hard and keep the seat.

 

The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has sworn in former Chief Justice (CJ), Georgina Theodora Wood as a member of the Council of State to complete the composition of the council.

Head of the District Assemblies Common Fund, Naa Torshie Addo, has given assurance to persons with disability they will no longer have to struggle in accessing funds meant for them from the various districts and municipal assemblies, once she assumes her position.

The former Tema West Member of Parliament told the Appointment Committee of Parliament on Tuesday during her vetting for the position that, she has a fairer understanding of the challenges confronting persons with disability at the various districts regarding their inability to access monies allocated to them and, she is determined to  work with the MPs to ensure the various assemblies release the money to them in a timeous manner.

“We are going to adopt the LEAP (Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty) model where beneficiaries will be adequately registered,” she said.

Ms. Torshie Addo says she does not want a situation where six people will be given the money and their photographs splashed in the dailies as if the entire group within a specific district benefited.

The  District Assemblies’ Common Fund (DACF) is a pool of resources created under Article 252 of the 1992 constitution of Ghana.

It is a minimum of 5.0% of the national revenue set aside to be shared among all District Assemblies in Ghana with a formula approved by Parliament.

The fund is a Development Fund which enables the use of the nation’s wealth throughout Ghana to the benefit of all citizens.

The Common Fund is a development Fund that is intended to ensure equitable development of the various Assemblies in the country.The DACF Administrator is the Manager of the Fund. However, ensuring the success of the Fund is not the sole responsibility of the Administrator but a collective responsibility of all stakeholders including the government, the Administrator, officials of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) that receive the fund, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), Civil Society who benefited from the fund.

Ms. Torshie Addo also assured the MPs she will work with them to ensure their allocations are not only given to them but greater  transparency is brought to bear on the operations of the fund.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Monday urged the Judiciary to uphold its reputation in order to command the respect of the people.