Category: Politics

Two Members of Parliament (MPs) have called for concerted efforts to fight political corruption.

Murtala Mohammed, MP for Tamale Central and Yves Hanson-Nortey, MP for Tema Central, made the call in reaction to the 2023 half year report of the Office of the Special Prosecutor.

Contributing to discussions monitored by the Ghana News Agency on a local television station in Accra on Saturday, the MPs stated that corruption was manifested in every facet of the Ghanaian society.

However, they said the situation was more profound among political elites, which when not addressed head-on, would continue to draw back efforts at improvement the lives of citizens.

‘For a journalist, clergy, civil servant or public servant to be corrupt, taking from the State, the only means is through a channel, which is created by a political appointee,’ Mr Mohammed said.

‘As politicians, we must admit that corruption is a worry, but the biggest of all is the corruption within the political elite, and if we do not fight it we’ll sit here and cry every day,’ he added.

Referring to the accumulation of wealth, he said: ‘You have politicians in this country who within four years, whether under whichever government, build the most expensive houses and hotels and nobody says anything.’

He urged religious leaders to do more in the fight against corruption to augment the efforts of civil society and governments, saying: ‘It should be part of their sermons. Civic responsibilities must also be encapsulated in our educational curriculum.’

For his part, Mr Hanson-Nortey said that all the corruption schemes seen in the country in the last 20 or 30 years were directly linked to the cost of doing politics in Ghana.

He said it cost so much to be a parliamentary candidate during primaries, and was more during the general election.

‘So, in a period of about four years, you’re spending about US$500 million and you’d have to recoup that money. Often times, there are business people who back politicians with the hope that when you come to power, you’ll give them contracts to recoup that money.

‘Let’s put in measures that would ensure political funding and hold politicians to account for where their monies come from,’ the Tema Central MP said.

Professor Enoch Opoku Antwi, a Public Policy Analyst, said there was a lot of ‘waste in our system’ crippling the economy.

‘All the waste we’re seeing is going into individual pockets, and unless we address corruption, we’ll never solve our problems,’ he said, and added that ‘we must make our laws work’.

The 2023 half year report of the OSP said four cases had been completed and were in Court, with conclusion into investigations of four other cases done.

The OSP also reported that it was conducting investigations into nine suspected corruption and corruption-related offences, with 150 other cases at various levels of consideration.

Meanwhile, the Special Prosecutor, Mr Kissi Agyebeng, called for adequate budget line for the Office, saying: ‘We continue to emphasise the need for the State to pay particular attention to the funding needs of the Office.’

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Northern Regional Peace Council (NRPC) has called on the people of the region to exercise restraint and circumspection in their comments and pronouncements.

The NRPC has also entreated social media users to avoid misinformation, disinformation, falsehoods, and use of abusive and insightful language.

This was contained in a statement issued by the NRPC signed on behalf of its Chairman by Alhaji Mohammed Awal Alhassan, Member of the Council, and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Tamale.

The statement said, ‘The attention of the NRPC has been drawn to video commentaries on social media and press releases by certain individuals and youth associations, which have heightened tension in the area.’

It said, ‘The Council is deeply concerned about the development and appeals to traditional authorities, religious leaders, organised groups and the general public to remain calm in the face of all forms of provocations as mandated institutions take steps to address the situation.’

It said ‘The Council strongly condemns any act that undermines our collective progress and jeopardises the peaceful environment we have strived to

build.

It entreated citizens to act in ways that would contribute to sustainable peace and make way for development of the region.

The statement said, ‘We have the responsibility to ensure peaceful co-existence and to refrain from making sweeping generalisations.’

It said, ‘This is the right time for reflections and to remind ourselves of the common values we hold as people of the region, and we must be engaged in activities that will promote social cohesion.’

It urged regional and national security institutions to swiftly arrest and prosecute any individual or group of persons seeking to undermine peaceful coexistence in the region.

It entreated all groups to endeavour to undertake complimentary roles to address and improve growth rate in the region.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the Vice President, has rejected claims that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has no message to convince the electorate ahead of the 2024 general elections.

He said the NPP had done enough to merit an unprecedented third consecutive term under the Fourth Republic.

‘Do not let anyone deceive you that we have no message for the 2024 election, he told delegates of the party at Asankare in the Asante-Akim South Constituency as part of his campaign tour of the Ashanti Region.

The Vice President who is among 10 candidates aspiring to become the flag bearer of the ruling NPP has been touring various constituencies in the region to woo delegates ahead of their impending super delegates conference.

He said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) could not point to any impactful policy to their credit despite their flag bear rising through the ranks of politics from Assembly Member to President.

He said the NDC under the leadership of Former President John Mahama only succeeded in unleashing economic hardship and erratic power supply which collapsed many businesses for lack of electricity.

‘I will continue to ask President Mahama to show us one policy intervention that he was able to introduce that he can be remembered for,’ Dr. Bawumia jabbed the former President.

According to him, he had achieved more that Former President Mahama having been the Vice President for six years.

‘At least, I can be remembered for the implementation of the national identification system, mobile interoperability, digital address system, Zongo Development Fund, gold for oil policy, among others,’ he stated.

He added that, ‘If I have been able to achieve all these as Vice President imagine, what I can do when I become President with your support.’

Dr. Bawumia, therefore, asked the teeming supporters not to allow anyone to mislead them that the NPP had no message because the party was far ahead of the NDC in terms of achievements.

He acknowledged the selfless roles of members of the party from the polling station to the national executives and assured them of his commitment to recognise efforts of members at the grassroots when he becomes leader of the party.

He disclosed that he supported all the 275 parliamentary candidates of the NPP in the 2020 election as well as polling station executives, electoral area coordinators and constituency executives during the last elections.

The Vice President reminded them that it was their turn to return the favour by making him the flag bearer, and assured them of effective leadership capable of winning the 2024 election for the NPP

Source: Ghana News Agency

Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema has urged the Church to work with the State to better the lives of the citizenry.

‘We are partners and not competitors in many areas of human endeavour,’ the President noted.

The churches served the very purpose that the government also served – promoting the wellbeing of the people, he explained.

‘This is the intersection, the convergence point,’ he emphasised.

President Hichilema was speaking on the theme: ‘Maintaining Excellence, Integrity and Service in an Era of Global Instability and Permissiveness’, at a special honorary awards’ ceremony at the Valley View University (VVU), in the Greater Accra Region.

The programme saw the University, Ghana’s first private and chartered university, conferring four honorary doctorate degrees on some distinguished African personalities at the ceremony.

It also presented a citation to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

Those who received the honorary doctorate degrees were President Hichilema, former President John Agyekum Kufuor, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, former First Lady, and Mrs. Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, Ghana’s Chief of Staff.

The awardees were selected for their selfless dedication to the cause of humanity and society, having provided the needed leadership and also distinguishing themselves in their respective fields of endeavour.

President Hichilema lauded the VVU Council for the honour done him and the other award recipients.

Highlighting the importance of university education, he said it played a critical role in transforming the society positively – finding an antidote to the challenges confronting mankind.

Consequently, African leaders should inject the requisite resources to develop education in general to an appreciable standard.

‘Education is the best investment, the best equaliser and the best inheritance,’ he stated.

‘There is no single country that is doing well economically and socially today that did not invest in education,’ the Zambian President stated.

Education, he explained, was the only platform presenting underprivileged children with the opportunity to harness their knowledge, potentials and skills for productive and meaningful lives in the future.

President Hichilema assured of his country’s resolve to continue sharing development experiences and working with Ghana to improve the living conditions of their people.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Angola defended the intensification of information exchange among the Defence and Security Forces of the member countries of the International Conference on Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), with the aim to create conditions for lasting peace and stability in the region.

Angola’s position was expressed by the National Defence and Homeland Veterans minister, João Ernesto dos Santos, at the closing of the Ordinary Meeting of the Committee of Defence Ministers of the ICGLR held in Luanda.

The Angolan minister said the creation of a lasting peace and stability in the region would be a facilitating factor for the populations to carry out their social activities.

He appealed to the culture of dialogue and negotiation as models of conflict resolution.

Based on this model, the minister said, it is the obligation of the Defence and Security Forces of the member countries of the ICGLR to carry out actions that could be a demonstration of what the region defends in bilateral and multilateral forums.

Aspects linked to the pacification and stabilisation of the Great Lakes Region dominated the Ordinary Meeting of the Committee of Defence Ministers of the ICGLR that closed Friday.

The meeting discussed, among other documents, the report of the Chiefs of Defence Staff, the technical arrangement between the Joint Ad-Hoc Verification Mechanism and the report of the Regional Coordination Committee.

The meeting reviewed the security situation in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the situation in Burundi, Sudan, Central African Republic and South Sudan.

The ministers’ meeting took place at a time when some countries of the ICGLR are plagued by conflicts, the negative impact of which affects thousands of people causing countless displacements, refugees and deaths.

Angola holds the rotating presidency of the ICGLR, an organisation that includes Burundi, DRC, Central African Republic, Rwanda, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Republic of Congo

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)

Mr Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, a New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer hopeful says he has the best chance to win the 2024 presidential election.

He, therefore, urged delegates of the NPP to vote massively for him to lead the Party to a resounding victory in 2024.

Mr Kyerematen said this while speaking to party delegates from Weija-Gbawe and Anyaa-Sowutuom constituencies who had gathered at the Odorgonno Senior High School in Accra for an engagement with him (Kyerematen).

The interactions form party of his campaign tour of the Greater Accra region where he has been engaging with party delegates in cluster meetings.

The objective of the strategy is to strengthen party and to promote unity among members and executives, with the aim of garnering votes for his presidential bid.

Earlier, Mr Kyerematen met delegates from the Amasaman and Trobu constituencies at St John’s Grammar School Park and later some executives from Bortianor Ngleshie-Amanfro and Obom Demeabra constituencies at the Tuba Astro Turf Park.

Mr Kyerematen cited the pioneering role he played under the Presidential Special Initiatives (PSI), One District One Factory (1D1F) programme and the new Automotive Industry as evidence of the change that he could bring when given the nod to lead the Party and eventually the country as President.

Mr Ayikoi Otoo, a former Attorney General and Minister for Justice, urged the delegates to rally behind Mr Kyerematen who he said had served the nation so well in many capacities.

He described the former Minister for Trade and Industry as a founding member of the Party, who had supported the Party in several ways and had all the credentials to be the next President of Ghana.

Source: Ghana News Agency