Day: December 20, 2023

Kasoa?will?come to a standstill when the second edition of the OOFROAD Festival comes off on the?Kasoa?Nyanyano-Adade?High Street.?

The event scheduled for?Saturday,?December?23,?and?Sunday,?24 is?expected to draw thousands of fans in and around?Kasoa?and the Central Region.?

The?two-day action-packed?event will welcome a host of top musical artists and DJs who are expected to grace the occasion with their electrifying performances.?

Some of the artists billed for the event include the organiser,?Frankie?Rhymz?as the headline?artiste,?Tinny, DJ?Azonto,?Patapaa,?Ayittey?Powers,?Nii?Funny,?Bukom?Banku?with?comedian?DKB and actor Don Little as MCs.?

Also,?some?top-notch?DJs such as DJ Lord Dash, DJ Pascal, DJ Lomo, DJ?Shati,?and a host of others will?exhibit?their talents and entertain fans at the event.?

The festival would?have?also?had?a luxurious car exhibition, a bikini car wash?and?a motorbike show as a side attraction?

Opportunity would be given to vendors to sell when they officially contact organi
zers at the?Oofroad?office at?Adade?Junction and Millennium City.?
Source:Ghana News Agency

The Police have arrested one person in connection with the death of a 22-year-old man at Yorogo, a suburb of Bolga Central in the Upper East Region.

A news brief from the Police said preliminary Police report indicated that the suspect, Abotiyariba Aduko, stabbed the deceased, identified as Asobire Akuta, during a fight on Tuesday, December 19, 2023 at about 1830 hours.

It said the deceased victim was rushed to a hospital for medical attention, but was pronounced dead on arrival by the medical authorities.

The brief said the suspect was currently in Police custody assisting the investigation.
Source:Ghana News Agency

A farmer who defrauded a tailor of $9,000 under the pretext of securing him a United States of America visa but failed has been sentenced to a day’s imprisonment by an Accra Circuit Court.

Dominic Ampea is to pay a fine of GHC3,600 in default and serve 18 months imprisonment.

The court ordered Ampea to refund the sum of $9,000 to the complainant, Baba Imam Ishaq.

Charged with defrauding by false pretences, Apea, pleaded not guilty.

However, the court presided over by Mr Isaac Addo at the end of the trial found Ampea guilty and sentenced him accordingly.

During sentencing, the court said it considered the fact that Ampea was a first-time offender, an old man who had just lost his wife a couple of days ago.

Prosecution led by Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Seth Frimpong said the complainant, one Baba Iman Ishaq, was a tailor and the accused was a 60-year-old farmer.

ASP Frimpong said sometime in 2019, the accused person with the intent to defraud prospective visa applicants, informed one Shams
udeen Ishaq, a witness in the case that he was capable of securing visas for people to go to the USA or Canada.

The prosecution said that based on that false representation, the witness also informed the complainant who expressed interest and paid $4,500 on behalf of his brother, Basit Abubakari, to enable the said brother to travel to Canada.

The prosecutor told the court that Ampea was unable to secure the visa for the complainant’s brother

It said the accused also requested for extra $4,500 to secure another visa for the complainant himself so he could travel to the USA.

The prosecutor said Ampea was unable to secure the USA visa for the complainant too.

The prosecution said the matter was reported to the Police and Ampea was arrested.

It said Ampea, however, refunded GHC6,000 to the complainant. The complainant denied receiving the money.
Source:Ghana News Agency

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has urged the Ghana Employers Association (GEA) to keep working with the government to identify and address all challenges that might impede the country’s socioeconomic progress.

This was due to the increased importance of developing an inclusively prosperous nation, and all parties, including the government and the private sector, must work together to achieve that goal.

‘I appeal to the GEA to continue to collaborate with government and organised labour as the key social partners in Ghana to identify and address all national business and labour issues that may emerge as roadblocks to the realisation of our individual and common goals,’ he said.

President Akufo-Addo made the call on Tuesday during the commissioning of the GEA’s new ultra-modern office building in Accra.

Christened ‘The Employers House,’ the four-Storey edifice, includes among others, offices that will serve as operational hub for the GEA’s staff, conference rooms and training rooms.

President Akufo
-Addo stated that the new office complex reflected progress, innovation, and inclusive prosperity, and stood as a symbol of shared commitment to building a stronger and more prosperous business community in the country.

He said the new edifice also underscored the fact that employers remained the economic backbone, driving development, innovation, employment, and wealth creation, and serving as the engine of growth.

‘The GEA has been a true partner in this endeavour, advocating for sound economic and social policies, promoting best labour practices, and providing some invaluable support to businesses of all sizes,’ he said.

The President praised the GEA for championing interventions aimed at deepening social dialogue and maintaining a peaceful industrial relations environment in the country, which were required for enterprise sustainability, investment attraction, a stable labour market, and overall national development.

He reiterated the government’s commitment to create an environment in which businesse
s could develop and achieve their social responsibilities.

The President urged employers in the country to fully utilise the new office complex, use it to network, share information, and the development of game-changing ideas.

‘It must be a springboard for Ghanaian businesses to expand their reach and conquer new markets through the framework of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) whose Secretariat we are privileged to host in Ghana and other existing bilateral and multilateral trade agreements, ‘he said.

Mr Daniel Acheampong, Chief Executive Officer of the GEA, stated that the office complex was a declaration of the organisation’s identity and purpose.

He said the edifice would serve as the central nerve of GEA’s operations.

It would providing a conducive environment for employers to convene, strategise and make decisions that would boost the competitiveness of business and shape the future of industry in Ghana
Source:Ghana News Agency

Development partners and stakeholders from diverse institutions are discussing a long-term vision document that will highlight specific development targets for Ghana by 2057.

The National Development Summit, convened by the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), opened in Accra on Wednesday as a part of broader engagements towards developing a clear development framework to guide long-term planning.

The two-day summit is expected to produce the Long-Term National Development Perspective Framework, which would also be known as the ‘The Ghana Vision 2057.’

The document will articulate the vision of Ghana from the perspective of the people by 2057 and set goals, objectives, strategic direction to pursue, and targets to be realised.

Professor George Gyan-Baffour, Chairman of NDPC, said the country’s inability to effectively develop and implement a long-term development framework was because of a lack of interaction between the governance system, the technological environment, and some technical con
siderations.

‘It is a governance problem because some of the previous long-term development perspective documents provide specific actions, programmes, and projects required to achieve the long-term targets.

‘…governments formed by political parties that come in with their own manifestoes prepared based on their own ideological persuasion upon which they were elected,’ he said.

Prof. Gyan-Baffour said the framework would serve as a reference point to the drafting of manifestoes and provide governments with a clear framework that would specify what the country intended to achieve in the long term.

‘The framework will tell us what we want to do by 2057 and the government will decide how we want to get there,’ he said.

Nana Susubribi Krobea Boaten Asante, the Paramount Chief of Asante Asokore, said the country must collectively define its development on a non-partisan basis and fashion out a plan to achieve those targets.

He said development required a holistic and inclusive approach, adding that ‘a partis
an myopic approach governed by short-term interests is patently untenable.’

‘The numerical implications of effective long-term planning are not congruent with the dictates and exigencies of partisan politics,’ Nana Asante said.

Professor Ernest Aryeetey, a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, said development plans must be underpinned by innovation, adding that the country must be consistent with its development plans.

‘Unemployment is the biggest problem facing young people today. Such problems require long-term intentional approaches,’ he said.

In 2018, Ghana, adopted a 40-year development plan (2018-2057), with the vision of achieving ‘a just, free and prosperous society’ by 2057.

The plan provides a framework for national development in line with the NDPC’s mandate enshrined in articles 85, 86 and 87 of the 1992 Constitution.

Dr Kodjo Esseim Mensah-Abrampa, Director-General, NDPC, said the constraints to the country’s development were structural and required a set of determined goals a
nd targets to change the situation in the long term.

‘We need a vision, how to measure the vision, set clear goals and hold governments accountable,’ he said.
Source:Ghana News Agency

Mr Henry Anthony Kwofie, a Justice of the Court of Appeal and a Supreme Court Nominee has told the Appointment Committee of Parliament that there are no political judges.

He reiterated that it was dangerous for a judge to be described as a political judge.

Mr Justice Kwofie made the revelation when he appeared before the Appointment Committee of Parliament for his vetting as a Nominee to Ghana’s Apex Court.

Responding to a question by Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, the Minority Leader, and National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam, asked Mr Justice Kwofie whether there were political judges?

In his response, Mr Kwofie said: ‘Honourable Member, there are no political judges. And it is dangerous to describe a judge as political this, political that. It is a very dangerous thing for a judge to even allow himself to be described that way.’

‘So, I will say that there are no political judges. If a judge must act according to his conscience and the oath he takes, there are
no political judges.

Dr Forson: ‘But we sometimes get political judgement?’

Mr Justice Kwofie: ‘Honourable Member, if there are no political judges, there cannot be political judgements’.

Dr Forson again asked Mr Justice Kwofie why his tax clearance certificate was zero rated by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) from 2021 to date?

The Nominee explained to the Committee that his only source of income was that of the salaries paid him by the state as a judge and that his taxes were deducted from source by the state.

He noted that he only applied for the tax clearance certificate from the GRA, who issued it to him.

The Minority Leader told the Nominee that the Committee was yet to receive the report of the National Security on him.

At this point, Mr Justice Kwofie in his response said: ‘I am grateful. But I would like to say that I have no criminal record. I would like to put it on record.’

Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu, the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament and Chairman of the Appointment Committee of Parliamen
t, stated that the Committee was expecting two reports on the Nominee from the National Security and that if the reports come and there was the need for

them to recall him they would but if they did not recall him it means there was nothing further to be investigated.

He said the Committee would ask the GRA to explain to them how a person who was paid every month and whose taxes were deducted every month was declared zero tax rated.

In attendance at the vetting was Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Torkornoo and other Justices of the superior courts of Ghana.

– The curriculum vitae of the nominee is published below:
Source:Ghana News Agency