Category: Politics

The People’s National Party (PNP), a political party created by executives who broke away from the People’s National Convention (PNC), says it intends to run in the 2024 presidential election.

Barely a month after the official announcement of the split, the Party said it secured offices in nine regions and that efforts were ongoing to cover the entire country in the coming months.

Ms Janet Nabla, the PNP’s Interim Chairperson, stated that the Party would choose its national executive officers and flag bearer in June of this year to finalize preparations for the approaching elections.

She disclosed that Dr Edmund Ayensu, a lecturer at Kumasi Technical University, had officially approached the Party and announced his intention to run for president on the PNP’s ticket.

‘We had already conducted our constituency elections before we announced the breakaway. So, we have our structures intact.

‘We will open nominations for both the flagbearer and national executive elections by the end of May and by June 15, we
expect nominations to come to a close,’ Ms Nabla said.

The PNP, which operates under the motto ‘Integrity, Inclusiveness on Promise,’ said it had received Electoral Commission approval for its name and was seeking to obtain certification to contest the December 7 polls.

In April of this year, some PNC executives announced their separation from the Party, citing disagreement with the High Court’s decision to reinstate individuals dismissed for financial malfeasance and misconduct.

The disgruntled executives subsequently announced the formation of the PNP, with its Interim executives already constituted.

Ms Nabla described the High Court’s ruling as a ‘blessing in disguise,’ saying that measures were underway to rebrand the PNC to make it more appealing to voters and restore the Party’s ideals.

‘The PNP will depart from the Western ways of doing things. We want to build a democracy that will be community-led and base our policies on families,’ she said.

Ms Nabla said the PNP had mobilised about 118,000 me
mbers across the country and encouraged others to join the Party to establish a formidable third force.

‘It is sad that people no longer see political parties as avenues for change and development. The PNP wants to change the narrative and make sure that the plight of the vulnerable in society was alleviated and give hope to the people of Ghana,’ she said.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyeman, 2024 NDC Running Mate for former President John Dramani Mahama has called on the Electoral Commission to work on technical hitches to encourage more people to register.

She has also urged the Commission to commit themselves to the job to ensure that all the time lost during the glitches was recovered fruitfully.

In a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Wednesday, Professor Opoku-Agyeman added ‘I visited some designated voter registration centres this morning after a chaotic start to the exercise yesterday. While I understand that machines do break down, I did not expect the breakdown to occur on such a large scale with consistent problems. I am also informed that some centres could not start yesterday as planned, while other locations registered just a handful due to challenges with the EC’s devices. I sincerely hope that the EC makes up for the lost time and pray that the glitches will be reduced, and we’ll have a smooth registration exercise’.

The Ele
ctoral Commission on Monday May 7, re-opened the electoral register to capture those who turned 18 years between the last registration and May this year.

It was also to give those who could not participate in the previous registration exercises the opportunity to do so.

However, there were initial nationwide reports of technical glitches with their machines.

Thankfully, the challenges were resolved and most of the centres were able to register applicants before the close of the first day.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The second day of the limited voter registration has been disrupted by network failure, despite the Electoral Commission’s (EC) assertion that the issue has been resolved.

The EC reassured the people of a smooth registration process from Wednesday, May 8, 2024, given the difficulties most registration centres encountered on the first day of the limited voter registration exercise due to network failure.

Dr Serebour Quaicoe, Director of Electoral Services, addressed those concerns on JoyNews’ PM Express, which was monitored by the Ghana News Agency (GNA), citing internet connectivity issues as the primary cause of the challenges encountered on the first day.

He did, however, indicate that most of the connectivity issues had been resolved and that the exercise would proceed smoothly with minimal interruptions.

However, that was not the case when the GNA visited the Ablekuma West EC district office on Wednesday.

As of 1200 hours, when the GNA filed the report, just 36 persons had successfully registered.

I
n total, 95 people had been registered since the exercise began on Tuesday, May 7, 2024.

Alhaji Mohammed, Returning Officer, Ablekuma West EC district office, informed the GNA that progress was delayed because the network failure that hampered the beginning of the exercise had not been resolved.

He expressed the hope that the issue would soon be resolved to enable registrants to do so.

Some party agents who spoke with the GNA felt Wednesday’s exercise was an improvement over Tuesday.

Ransford Adjei, a party agent for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), stated that the process was more fluid on Wednesday.

‘Today’s exercise is far better than yesterday. When we started, the machines were working perfectly well; It was just around 1100 hours that the things began to slow down, but I am hopeful that things will progress smoothly,’ he said.

Collins Amponsah, an agent for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), also expressed satisfaction with the work accomplished so far.

The ongoing limited voter registration d
rive is an important move ahead of the 2024 General Election. This conforms with Article 45 of the 1992 Constitution.

The 21-day exercise is being held in the Commission’s 268 District Offices across the country. It ends on May 27, 2024.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Dr Nii Amu Darko, the Presidential Aspirant of the First Alliance of Independent Reformers (FAIR) has appealed to Ghanaians to vote for him to solve the challenges of the country’s developmental drive.

He said he would ensure that every Ghanaian has opportunity and fair share in his governance, ranging from education, skills training, investment and job creation, quality healthcare, better remuneration for workers, among others to improve the economy.

He said: ‘For Ghana’s challenges; I’m the solution. There’s no question about that. Every single opponent of mine knows that. Hundred days into my presidency, Ghanaians will know there’s a new king in-charge, the kind they’ve never seen before.

‘Two years into my presidency, the whole world will know Africa’s time has arrived. Obama’s prophecy in Accra in July 2009 will be fulfilled that in this century what is said in Accra will matter as much as what’s said in Moscow, Washington, London and Rome.’

Dr Darko who is also the President of the African Reform Mo
vement made the appeal in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the sidelines of a get-together at the paternal family house at Osu Blorgodo near the Osu Castle in the Greater Accra Region.

The Presidential aspirant who practices his profession in Australia gave Ghanaians assurance that there is hope for the future, saying that; ‘God himself bet his hope on the return of the people from the diaspora.’

He quoted the Bible Jeremiah 31:16-17, ‘This is what the Lord says: ‘Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded,” declared the Lord.

‘They will return from the land of the enemy. So, there is hope for your future.’ ‘Your children will return to their own land to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.’

He said the power for the transformation of the country would come from outside because the past governments had tried all means but could not succeed so they have thrown their hands in disperse and what was left for them was to loot the coffers of the State as they
leave the political scene.

‘They have not got the figs of idea of what they are dealing with; seen how the advance country work, the complexities; what is the health system, the educational system.

‘I will make the diasporas the central pin in my government. We (the diasporas) work so hard to bring about $6billion a year into the country but the country goes for $3 billion loan from the IMF. Are we serious.’

Source: Ghana News Agency

Some eligible registrants at Ketu South in the Volta Region have appealed to the Municipal Office of the Electoral Commission (EC) to extend the registration days at the Lotakor registration centre to make up for the lost time due to the technical glitches encountered on the first day.

The area is one of the five hard-to-reach areas in the municipality the EC had identified to benefit from its mobile registration exercise for the nationwide limited voter registration exercise.

The EC, apart from the three registration centres set up at its office at Tokor for the duration of the exercise (May 7 – 27), earmarked Lotakor, Kpedzakope, Akporkploe, Taskcorner and Tagbato for its mobile registration.

The team is to spend two days each at these hard-to-reach areas to register eligible applicants.

Some applicants at Lotakor and surrounding communities told the Ghana News Agency that, the day one was almost wasted due to technical hitches, thus, the need for an extension in order not to disenfranchise voters.

Aro
und 1550 hours, about three hours after the technical hitches were resolved, some 16 persons were issued with their Voter ID cards at the centre.

‘I’ve been here since midday but it’s almost 4 pm and I’m yet to even go and take the picture …. Meanwhile, this centre is for today and tomorrow only. We need an extension,’ Ms Yawa Nuwordu said.

Mr Francis Adadey, the National Democratic Congress’ agent, described Tuesday’s exercise as ‘not encouraging’ as it was characterised by challenges and delays, saying; ‘Some eligible registrants got frustrated and left.’

Mr Kwame Ashiabi, the New Patriotic Party’s agent, however, said the exercise was very smooth except for the technical challenges and that turnout on the day was fine.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Sixty-two registrants received their identity cards after the initial jerky start of the limited registration exercise on the first day at the Nkwanta South Municipality of the Oti Region, which saw a massive students’ turnout.

The number comprised 27 people recorded at the Electoral Commission Office centre and 15 from Old Agou in the municipality.

Mr Eworho Kowau, the first applicant, was able to acquire his card at about 1400 hours after spending seven hours at the Electoral Commission office in the municipality due to verification challenges.

Mr Alfred Amedeka, the Electoral Commission Officer, Nkwanta South, in an interview with Ghana News Agency, confirmed that challenges with the online and biometric data capturing of applicants affected the process on the first day of the process.

He said the second day began smoothly and he believed many applicants would be registered going forward.

Most of the people present were students from the municipal senior high schools, who just turned 18 years, conveye
d to the centre by the two major political parties (New Patriotic Party and National Democratic Congress) in Nkwanta South.

Some of the applicants were unhappy with the process after spending the entire day at the centre, with the few who had the opportunity to register sharing their excitement to participate in the December polls.

Source: Ghana News Agency