Lover Esegragbo took control in Sierra Leone on April 29 through a military coup and Melvin Strasser became the youngest president of Africa in 1992. His 25th birthday had just passed three days prior to this.
Capt. Valentine Strasser became a leading member of a group of six equally young fellow officers who overthrew President Joseph Saidu Momoh and established a military junta called the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC).
How Valentine Strasser became president at 25
The young military officer, who was born on April 26, 1967, in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and had enlisted in the Republic of Sierra Leone Military Forces (RSLMF), probably never imagined being the world’s youngest leader and founding leader of the NPRC at the age of 25.
Events that unfolded landed him these huge opportunities.
The young and ambitious Strasser had then been dispatched to the eastern district of Kailahun to deal with a rebellion and insurgency that was led by a former army corporal who was fighting against the legitimate government of Momoh.
As things heated up at the war front, Strasser and his colleague soldiers ran out of supplies such as boots and other necessary military equipment.
Their numerous appeals to the Sierra Leonean government to get them these items fell on deaf ears, coupled with the frequent delays in their salaries.
According to a face2faceafrica.com report, on April 29, 1992, Strasser led a team of young soldiers to march in their combat gear from Kailahun to the State House in protest of their conditions.
Reports say that the appearance of the soldiers in the capital shocked many, with President Momoh even being forced to flee the country into exile in Conakry, Guinea.
This created a power vacuum, and Strasser and his men took advantage of that; they seized power, formed the NPRC and made Strasser its leader and Head of State.
Young people were so elated to have Strasser in power, with the belief that he had come to fight for their cause.
Strasser’s youthfulness, however, became his doom, according to records. Right after coming to power, he pursued the rebel war against rebel leader Foday Sankoh and made it one of his top priorities. But he was not successful.
He was further accused of killing 29 unarmed Sierra Leoneans six months after coming into power, as well as the torturing of several other unarmed civilians.
His reign did not last as long as he would have expected.
In January 1996, after nearly four years in power, Strasser was ousted in another military coup, this time coming from his own NPRC members who were not satisfied with the way he handled affairs.
It became a sad event for his rule.
Valentine Strasser’s Leg Sadly Amputated in Ghana
In a July 4, 2019 report, it said that family sources of the former president in Sierra Leone confirmed that Valentine Strasser’s left leg, which had been tormenting him for many years, was, unfortunately, cut-off for medical reasons.
This took place at a hospital in Ghana’s capital, Accra.
Reports say the surgery was only done in Ghana as a last resort because Valentine Strasser could not be taken to the United States or Europe for advanced medical treatment, as advised by doctors, where his leg could have survived the sad amputation.
“Unfortunate that a former African leader who needed further medical assistance to prevent amputation could not receive it due to the lack of financial help,” a surgeon in Ghana is reported to have said.
Where is Valentine Strasser?
After his overthrow in January 1196, Strasser left for the United Kingdom, where he studied law at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England.
For reasons unknown, he stopped his studies after a year and left for the Gambia in 2000, only to have his entry to that country denied.
He then moved back to Sierra Leone where he reportedly lived a rather poor life, unlike that of a a retired leader.
It is, however, unclear where his current whereabout is, although there are reports that he is under house arrest in Sierra Leone.
Achraf Hakimi of PSG’s right back has been informally elected as the president of the Stingy Men Association, and a message of congratulations has been sent.
Achraf Hakimi had previously outsmarted his wife, who had filed for divorce and was attempting to obtain half of his hard-earned wealth.
But unfortunately for Hakimi’s wife, HIba when they arrived in court, they realized that Achraf Hakimi had nothing.
Mummy’s Boy Achraf Hakimi had put his entire fortune under his mother’s name a long time ago.
According to sources, Hiba was informed by the court that her ‘millionaire’ husband owns nothing as all his property is registered under his mother’s name.
Hakimi receives €1 Million from PSG monthly but 80% of this is deposited in his mother Mrs Fatima’s account.
He has no property, cars, houses, Jewelry or even clothes in his name. Anytime, he wants anything, he asks his mother who buys it for him.
This, according to the leadership of the Stingy Men Association is one of the best moves any man could take in order to protect his properties.
There have been several stories of how some men lose their wealth to divorce suits of their wives and for Hakimi to have thought fast, they owe him big time hence appointing him as their president.
Another reason that influenced their decision is that the Leadership of The Stingy Men Association wants Hakimi to teach and show other men the way to secure their future as he has done.
The President of the Arab Republic of Egypt Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has praised the African Development Bank Group’s efforts to assist the continent in coping with the effects of global economic issues.
The Egyptian leader on Tuesday received the President of the African Development Bank Group Dr Akinwumi Adesina in the capital Cairo.
Dr Adesina was accompanied by the bank’s Chief Economist and Vice President Professor Kevin Urama and the Secretary General Professor Vincent Nmehielle. Others at the meeting included the Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt Hassan
Abdallah, Deputy Governor for Monetary Stability Rami Aboul Naja and Deputy Governor for External Affairs Mannullah Farid.
Dr Adesina was in Egypt to familiarise himself with preparations ahead of the Bank Group’s 2023 Annual Meetings scheduled for 22-26 May in the resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh.
Up to 13 heads of state and government are expected to join the bank’s Governors, executive directors, development partners and management at the meetings to discuss Mobilizing Private Sector Financing for Climate and Green Growth in Africa.
President El-Sisi said Egypt looked forward to continuing and increasing cooperation with the bank in various development sectors.
The bank is closely working with Egypt to mobilise international climate financing to address the country’s climate challenges, building resilience of vulnerable systems and promoting sustainable development.
The Just Green Transition (JGT) initiative has a pipeline of investment-ready projects worth $14.8 billion to tackle the Nexus on Water, Food and Energy.
The African Development Bank was asked to lead mobilisation of financing for the water pillar projects.
Dr Adesina said, “The bank has mobilised $2.3 billion exceeding the initial target of $1.4 billion.”
In addition, the bank is supporting water desalination projects in the country.
The African Development Bank Group head praised Egypt’s bold efforts to tap into private sector finance for green growth initiatives.
The government of Egypt plans to issue a green bond in the Chinese capital markets by end of June this year. The Green Panda Bond with a face value of $500 million will be issued in Chinese Renminbi.
Dr Adesina said, “This will be the first time for an African country to issue a bond in the Chinese capital markets.”
The bank’s Board of Directors will in the next couple of months discuss Egypt’s request to provide a partial credit guarantee of $345 million to support the issuance of the bond.
The Green Panda Bond will be the latest among several other bonds that Egypt has issued since 2020 when it launched its Green Financing Framework.
Adesina also commended Egypt for its commitment to increasing the role of the private sector in the economy.
Egypt launched early this year the privatisation of 32 state-owned entities worth $40 billion over the next four years to reduce the footprint of the public sector in the economy and give more room to private sector to grow.
In terms of additional financial support to Egypt in 2023, the bank plans to provide the country $133 million to deal with macroeconomic instability caused by the continuing global compounded crisis.
Last year, the bank provided $272 million policy-based operation in supporting Egypt’s efforts to tackle the impact of the crisis.
On Wednesday, Dr Adesina met with the Governor of South Sinai Governorate, Major General (Rt) Khaled Fouda who said the city of Sharm El Sheikh was ready to host more than 2,000 delegates who will be attending the bank’s Annual Meetings in May.
Adesina said the bank was impressed by the infrastructure and facilities the Egyptian government had established in Sharm El-Sheikh, which successfully hosted last year’s COP 27.
“The infrastructure you have developed in Sharm El-Sheikh is amazing. It’s world class. The city is constantly changing, putting green growth at the heart of its development. It’s an example of how
successful financing of municipalities and other sub-national entities can deliver impactful social economic development,” the bank chief said. “Other African countries can learn from Sharm El-Sheikh.”
Adesina also met with diplomats representing the bank’s shareholders and development partners in Egypt. He said the bank was committed to supporting countries across Africa achieve accelerated development despite the recent economic shocks and geopolitical tensions affecting them.
“It is a very difficult world to be dealing with, and so as African Development Bank, our role is to support the accelerated development of African countries in financing their economic and social development agenda, and also building the resilience of their economies. We help African countries to be able to deal with the series of shocks—whether it is climate, whether it is debt, whether it is recovering from the Covid-19 situation, or whether it is investing in the things they need for structural transformation of their economies,” Adesina reaffirmed.
Present at the event were Egypt’s Minister for International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat; Deputy Assistant Minister for Regional Economic Organizations Ebtisam Rakha; the Acting Central Bank Governor of Egypt, Mr Hassan Abdallah, who is also the Governor for Egypt of the African Development Bank; Dr Mohamadou Labarang, Cameroon Ambassador and dean of African Ambassadors in Egypt; and the bank’s Executive Director Nomoto Takaaki.
In this episode of Inspire Africa, host Jerry Fisayo-Bambi makes a triumphant comeback with fresh tales of individuals bringing about innovation, social influence, and transformation across the continent.
The first instance of this was in Uganda, where a group of medical professionals responded to the need for early patient diagnosis and treatment by beginning telephone consultations.
The initiative has now grown from providing phone consultations to offering personalised, affordable and quality health care through 24/7 doctor teleconsultations, pharmacy deliveries, lab sample pick-ups and tests. And, their AI-powered application has been reported to pin 90 per cent of conditions patients suffer from.
We spoke with Dr. Davis Musinguzi, the brain behind the innovation that is changing the face of medicine in Uganda
Then, we hear the story of Green Scooter, a South African ride hailing service started by Fezile Dhlamini who for many years had his application for a job with ride hailing giants rejected. Today, Dhlamini wants to see South Africans embrace the use of electric vehicles.
And later host Fisayo-Bambi speaks with Somi Nwandu, the Nigerian art curator and founder of “afrofoutourism” an exhibition promoting the works of digital artists on the continent.
South African officials on Wednesday April 5 2023, revoked the country’s state of disaster due to the persistent energy crisis.
The national state of disaster Wednesday, which was proclaimed by the South African government in February to address the dire power shortage, has been lifted.
Government officials announced they will be working to reduce the impact of power cuts using existing legislation.
The country’s ongoingenergy crisis has crippled multiple sectors including telecommunications services which are struggling to keep phone networks up and running.
“Our costs have gone through the rood,” lamented Sitho Mdalose, Vodacom’s South Africa managing director.
Operators such as MTN, Telkom and Vodacom are spending millions to install solar panels, batteries, and trialing wind turbines in an effort to sustain network stability as Africa’s most advanced economy is forced to live in the dark for up to ten hours a day.
The countless power outages have cost number two operator MTN nearly 640 million rand (36 million dollars) in service revenue in the past year, forcing it to downgrade its medium-term margin target.
Telkom has incured over 150 million rand in additional costs in the last quarter of 2022 alone.
While most network towers in South Africa are equipped with a backup battery, more advanced systems are less common. MTN has 12,900 towers in Sotuh Africa but approximately 3000 diesel generators and solar panels at a few pilot sites.
As they battle to mitigate the worsening power crisis, telecommunications companies have had to divert capital away from much needed network upgrades and 5G rollouts. Government regulations are also blocking potential solutions such as sharing backup power infrastructure with their competitors.
The power crisis and logistical constraints are expected to erase 2 percentage points from economic growth this year according to African Reserve Bank governor.
After 23 years in service, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame has stated that he is looking forward to his retirement and the transfer of power.
Speaking at a joint press briefing with his Kenyan counterpart, William Ruto in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, Mr Kagame said a succession plan was being actively discussed by the ruling party, terming his retirement an “inevitability”.
Mr Kagame said he was not necessarily interested in choosing his successor but rather creating an environment that would give rise to people who can lead.
“We have been having this discussion within our [ruling] party since 2010 but circumstances, challenges and history of Rwanda tend to dictate certain things,” he said.
He said his retirement was an issue that has to be discussed “sooner or later”.
“I’m sure one day I may join journalism in my old age. I’m looking forward to that,” Mr Kagame said.
His comments come days after the country’s ruling party, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF-Inkotanyi), elected its first woman vice-chairperson.
President Kagame retained the chairmanship position. He has led the party since 1998.
This was not the first time Mr Kagame has talked about retirement. In December 2022, he said he had no problem becoming an ordinary senior citizen.
Mr Kagame has been president of the East African nation since 2000. A controversial referendum in 2015 removed a two-term constitutional limit for presidents.
The president last year told a French TV channel he would stand for president again at the next election in 2024.
A half-brother of Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé who has been in detention since 2009 on suspicion of conspiring to overthrow the government has been evacuated to Gabon, according to one of his advisers, for “sanitary reasons.”
Kpatcha Gnassingbé, 52, a former minister of defense from 2005 to 2007, was deemed the brains behind a botched putsch and was condemned in September 2011 to 20 years in prison for “conspiring against state security.” On April 15, 2009, he was detained in front of the American embassy where he was seeking safety.
“I can confirm that Kpatcha Gnassingbé has been evacuated to Gabon for health reasons since March 23. I am in contact with his relatives. He is currently in a hospital where he is being treated,” said Me Zeus Ajavon .
“We have asked for his evacuation several times, because of his state of health which has deteriorated. In any case, we appreciate this gesture, which can be a sign of relaxation within the Gnassingbé family”, he said . he adds.
No official Togolese or Gabonese source has yet confirmed the information.
Kpatcha Gnassingbé had been hospitalized in the military pavilion of the Sylvanus-Olympio University Hospital Center (CHU) in Lomé since June 17, 2021.
According to Me Ajavon, his client, who suffers in particular from diabetes , “is still considered a prisoner, because he has not benefited from parole or a presidential pardon” .
A total of 33 soldiers and civilians involved in this foiled putsch of 2009 were tried by the judicial chamber of the Supreme Court and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 12 months to 20 years. All had pleaded their innocence.
Kpatcha Gnassingbé and two officers are still being held in this case, the others having been released.
“We would like the two officers who are still in detention in this case to also benefit from a medical evacuation, because they are also sick” , pleaded Me Ajavon.
Togo has been ruled since 2005 by Faure Gnassingbé , who came to power after the death of his father, General Gnassingbé Eyadéma , who himself had ruled Togo for 38 years. He was re-elected in polls that were all contested by the opposition.
President Kais Saied has been “absent” from the political scene recently, according to the biggest opposition alliance in Tunisia, which demanded that the government explain why on Monday.
The National Salvation Front (FSN) added that “health problems” had been brought to its attention.
The president hasn’t engaged in any public engagements since March 22nd.
“The National Salvation Front was informed from day one (22 March, Ed.) that President Saied was suffering from health problems but we did not react, believing that anyone could have a temporary health problem. Our relationship with him (Kais Saied, Ed.) is not personal but political”, said Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, head of the National Salvation Front opposition coalition.
In the event of a temporary power vacuum, it is up to the head of government NajlaBouden to run the country’s affairs as stipulated in the Constitution, said the head of the FSN, who alerted for the possibility of a legislative vacuum.
“We believe that this matter concerns all Tunisians and that, in the event of a permanent vacancy, serious and open consultations must be launched so that the Tunisian people and the civil and political forces can agree on a mechanism for transferring power”, concluded Chebbi.
Sixty-five year old Kais Saied was democratically elected president in 2019, and has concentrated all power since July 25, 2021, when he dismissed his prime minister and froze parliament.
Despite the inauguration of a new parliament in March – largely stripped of its previous prerogatives – the president continues to rule the country by decree.
KenyanPresident William Ruto and opposition leader Raila Odinga have been commended by the East African bloc Igad for agreeing to hold negotiations in an effort to put a stop to two weeks of demonstrations against rising living expenses and electoral reforms.
As a result of what he called President Ruto’s “olive branch,” Odinga claimed on Sunday that his Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya coalition had decided to postpone the rallies it had scheduled for Monday.
In a Twitter post, Igad executive secretary Workneh Gebeyehu said the two leaders’ move would help “resolve differences on national issues through peaceful means and preserve Kenya’s unity and constitutional order”.
The cancelled opposition demonstrations would have been the latest in a series of protests held on Mondays and Thursdays.
Article 71 of the Constitution of Ghana, spells out that the salaries and allowances of Article 71 office holders, be determined by the President, on the recommendations of a committee of not more than five persons appointed by him and acting upon the advice of the Council of State.
The Article 71 officeholders include the President, the Vice-President, the Speaker of Parliament, the Chief Justice, and the Justices of the Supreme Court.
But Mr Fuseini told Samson Lardy Anyenini on Newsfile on Saturday that the conditions stated in Article 71 created room for discrimination against some public officers.
According to him, Article 71 officeholders are also public officers, and the provisions of Article 71 enabled the Article 71 officeholders to receive preferential treatment.
This, he pointed out, contradicted Article 17 of the Constitution, which spells out that there must be equality before the law, thus his advocating for the removal of Article 71.
The lawyer, while contributing to a discussion on Newsfile, Saturday, April 1, told the host, Samson Lardy Anyenini, “Article 71 should be deleted in its entirety because it appears to me to be it is inconsistent with article 17 of the constitution, which deals with non-discrimination.
“All officers under article 71 are public officers, and so there should not be discrimination between the Article 71 office holders and all other office holders,” he added.
Additionally, Mr Fuseini stated that he believed that the Independent Emolument Committee has been recommended by the constitution review committee for Article 71 to be examined and substituted with a different arrangement.
The BBC was informed by the president of the World Bank that he is worried about some of the loans China has been providing to developing nations in Africa.
The terms and conditions, according to David Malpass, need to be “more transparent.”
Concerns have been raised about how difficult it may be for nations like Ghana and Zambia to pay back their loans to China.
According to China, all such loans follows international regulations.
Developing countries often borrow money from other nations or multilateral bodies to finance sectors that will grow their economies such as infrastructure, education and agriculture.
However steep increases in interest rates in the US and other major economies over the last year are making loan repayments more expensive because lots of that borrowing is done in foreign currencies such as US dollars or euros.
It is a particularly acute problem for developing economies who can struggle to find the extra money that is required as the relative value of their own currency falls.
It is a “double whammy and it means that [economic] growth is going to be slower”, says Mr Malpass.
US-China rivalry
Tackling that challenge and its consequences was one of the main reasons for this week’s visit by US Vice-President Kamala Harris to three African countries. It is a visit that comes with big commitments of financial support to Tanzania and Ghana.
There is a growing rivalry with China for influence in the continent, whose abundance of natural resources include the metals, such as nickel, crucial for the batteries needed for technology such as electric cars.
Speaking in Ghana’s capital, Accra, she said “America will be guided not by what we can do for our African partners, but what we can do with our African partners”.
While highlighting a new nickel processing facility in Tanzania Ms Harris said the project would be supplying the US and other markets by 2026 and that it would “help address the climate crisis, build resilient global supply chains, and create new industries and jobs”.
Image caption,US Vice-President Kamala Harris was warmly welcomed in Ghana’s capital, Accra, by Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia as she sought to strengthen economic ties
That collaborative approach was praised by Mr Malpass who said the competition between the world’s two biggest economies was “maybe healthy for developing countries” as it provided different options.
“What I encourage strongly is that they be transparent in their contracts. That’s been one of the problems; if you write a contract and say ‘but don’t show it to anybody else’, that’s a minus. So get away from that.”
There was also a warning that “for governments in Africa, they shouldn’t be offering collateral as an inducement to make a loan, because it locks it up for generations. That’s been happening with China.”
Beijing has become one of the biggest sources for loans to developing economies in recent years. A new study led by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy shows that globally China lent $185bn (£150bn) in bailouts to 22 countries between 2016 and 2021.
China writes off 23 debts owed by 17 African countries
IMF reaches $3bn bailout agreement with IMF
Profile: IMF and World Bank
China refutes suggestions that it is exploiting other countries with its financial support.
At a press conference this week Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said China “respects the will of relevant countries, has never forced any party to borrow money, has never forced any country to pay, will not attach any political conditions to loan agreements, and does not seek any political self-interest”.
Image caption,Ghana’s Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta travelled to Beijing this month for talks on restructuring its debt repayments. The country also got $3bn from the IMF in December.
Mr Malpass said the problems were not unique to Chinese financing but things were improving.
“If you think of the history of Western lending, sometimes it’s not for the full benefit of the people in the countries [being lent to]. Even World Bank loans haven’t always been for the best that could have been done in a country.”
“So what we’re trying to do, and I think everyone should be trying to do, is improve the quality of the lending.
“One of the techniques is to unbundle the loan, meaning if there’s an investment project, let’s say you’re building a train, describe the project and what the cost will be. And then separately, arrange the financing.
“If you bundle them together, it makes it very hard to know, am I getting a good deal on the train or on the financing.”
Food and energy concerns
The outgoing World Bank president is also concerned that higher food, fertiliser and energy prices, as a result of the war in Ukraine, are sapping government budgets in poorer countries. While that could deepen the economic challenges they face there is relief that price rises are now starting to ease.
“The immediate crisis is over but one thing that’s been left is that countries didn’t use enough fertiliser, so their soil is depleted. So the yields are expected to be lower next year than normal.”
“So a farmer that was just making ends meet, she didn’t get fertiliser, and now her land is not as productive. And so where’s the food going to come from for the family and for the community? That’s the big immediate problem. What we’re trying to do is help countries directly with fertiliser [and] with food.”
Image caption,Many of the world’s poorest economies have been hit hard by higher food prices as a result of the war in Ukraine
The World Bank is concerned that these challenges will worsen a first-ever increase in the global extreme poverty rate – people getting by on less than $1.90 per day. As a result of the coronavirus pandemic it rose from 8.4% to 9.3%.
The planet’s leading development body hopes that its upcoming showpiece joint Spring Meetings with the IMF in Washington will help it raise more money to tackle its key mission.
“The ambition is there,” says Mr Malpass, “but the needs are much bigger than the amount of flows” of money coming in.
The New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) deputy communications director George Krobea Asante, has indicated that President Nana Akufo-Addo, fiercely defends Ghanaian cultural values and will not do anything within his power to destroy such rich values as the nation proceeds to approve the anti-LGBTQ Bill.
According to him, Ghanaians must rally support behind the President and parliamentarians as they lead the passage of this bill.
President Akufo-Addo has come under some public flak after what people say was his attempt to distance his government from the anti-LGBTQ Bill during a media engagement after hosting the United States of America Vice President, Kamala Harris at the Jubilee House in Accra on Monday.
But speaking on Original TV, the outspoken NPP Communicator, George Krobea Asante reiterated the earlier position of the President that under his watch as President, Ghana is never going to approve or allow such devilish act of LBTQI+.
“This has been the clear and emphatic position of the President and same has been expressed by him on many occasions and on different platforms. So what again do the NDC communicators seek to hear from the President before they will be convinced that Nana Addo detests such acts of LGBTQI+? This is a clear case of mischief and dishonesty on the part of the NDC.
“Again, let me ask this simple question, which of the things the President said in his reaction to a question by the New York Times journalist regarding the pending bill in parliament can be said to be untrue? Or the NDC expected the President to subvert or subdue the legislative powers of parliament? Fellow Ghanaians, let’s not fall for the mischief and the propaganda of the NDC.”
George Krobea Asante noted that the President mentioned the sensitivity of the human rights issues as well as the mood and the sentiments of the Ghanaian people as key considerations of parliament before the passage of the bill.
“And I vehemently believe that parliament after analyzing the bill will pass it and the President will also assent to its execution. LGBTQI+ is a threat to our existence and cultural values as people and cannot have any space in our society,” he added.
Mr Krobea Asante called on Ghanaians to continue to have confidence in the President and also rally support behind him to turn around Ghana’s economic fortunes by overcoming the devastating impact of the Covid 19 and the Russia – Ukraine war.
Former President John Dramani Mahama has been urged to apologize to Ghanaian students for comparing the food they eat in classrooms to that of dogs, according to the ministry of education’s spokeswoman, Kwasi Kwarteng.
As part of the rollout of the government’s flagship program, Free Senior High School, Mr. Mahama raised concern over the subpar quality of the food being served in the various Senior High Schools (SHSs) during his campaign tour in the Central Region (Free SHS).
John Dramani Mahama claims that the pupils are sickened and uncomfortable by the subpar food that is supplied to them.
“Today, if you go to see the kind of food the children are eating in the schools…you shudder to serve such food to your dogs at home,” he told delegates and party members in the Asikuma Odoben Brakwa Constituency.
Reacting to Mr Mahama’s comment, Mr Kwarteng said it is unpresidential for the former President to speak that way.
In a Facebook post, Mr Kwarteng noted “Former President John Dramani Mahama is known for his unpresidential remarks but little did we know he could be such loose, vulgar and low. How do you equate food for human beings to that of dogs? Jesus Christ!
“Mr Mahama is not only wrong in demeaning our collective efforts in providing quality education for Ghanaian students but he’s also wrong for reducing the school children to dogs. That’s insulting.
“Comments like this is not acceptable. Is backward, retrogressive, negative and unpresidential.
“Somebody whose leadership witnessed the worst educational outcomes ever shouldn’t be making such comments. He should apologize to Ghanaian Children!”
A member of parliament for the Buem Constituency, Kofi Adams, has accused President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo of selecting an electoral commissioner who is a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
According to a 3newsonline story, he asserts that Dr. Peter Appiahene, one of the recently selected members of the EC, is a well-known NPP activist and a part of the party’s Bono Region media team.
“Dr Peter Appiahene is known NPP activist in the Bono Region, he is a member of the NPP communications team in the Bono region…clearly, there is everything wrong with the persons the president has appointed. The President has appointed known activists of the NPP.
“President Akufo-Addo has been appointing persons known to be NPP activists, we saw the Bossman Asares and the Jean Mensas,” he said.
Speaking in an interview with TV3 on March 22, 2023, he further criticized the Council of State members for also giving the president the go-ahead for the said appointment.
“The Council of State who are supposed to be advising the president gave the go-ahead to make such an appointment. I am not just disappointed in the president but also the Council of State, they gave the go-ahead.”
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo recently swore in three new members of the Electoral Commission (EC).
The three are Dr. Peter Appiahene, Madam Salima Ahmed Tijani, and Reverend Akua Ofori Boateng.
They took office at a short Jubilee House ceremony on Monday, March 20, 2023.
The appointments have, however, seen some criticisms by some factions in the public with members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) accusing President Akufo-Addo of packing the commission with members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Akufo-Addo appoints NPP man, two others as EC commissioners
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Monday (March 20) swore in three new Electoral Commissioners at the Jubilee House in a brief ceremony.
The three were: Dr. Peter Appiahene, Salima Ahmed Tijani and Rev Akua Ofori Boateng.
Out of the three, the appointment of Dr. Appiahene in particular has drawn a lot of political controversy.
This is because of his known role as a patron of the New Patriotic Party’s tertiary institutions wing, TESCON, specifically the University of Energy and Natural Resources branch.
Some Civil Society Organizations including the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) Ghana, have expressed misgivings over the appointment of Dr. Appiahene calling on the president to withdraw his appointment.
In his comments on the appointment, Bright Simons of Imani Ghana tweeted: “Seeing how Ghana’s Electoral Commission is always on the defensive about being totally independent & professional, I expect the top bosses to inform the Prez that they’d rather resign than work with partisan activists as that’ll sully the EC’s reputation!”
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that he places “priority” on his connections with African nations during his search for worldwide allies in the face of Western sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine
“I want to emphasise that our country has always given and will continue to give priority to co-operation with African states,” Mr Putin said on Monday at a conference on Russian-African relations in Moscow.
He said Russia will supply food to needy countries in Africa free of charge if an agreement on Ukrainian grain exports is not renewed.
“We are ready to supply the whole volume sent during the past time to African countries particularly requiring it from Russia free of charge to these countries,” he said, according to the Russian news agency Tass.
He said Russia will share its technologies with African nations and continue helping them produce electricity.
Russia has been expanding its influence in Africa in recent years and Mr Putin said he believes the continent will continue increasing its authority and role in the “emerging multipolar world order”.
The conference is being attended by more than 40 delegations from African countries, according to Kremlin’s press service.
Mr Putin is scheduled to host African leaders in June for the Russia-Africa summit – the second of its kind.
Former President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama has asserted that the country’s economic challenges will recover after it has gone through “default settings”.
The flagbearer aspirant of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) noted that Ghanaians are not only suffering but also businesses are collapsing under Akufo-Addo’s administration.
He said irrespective of the hard times businesses are going through, the government is also harassing owners with taxes and threatening to shut them down if they do not pay the taxes.
Mr Mahama said he would have opted not to contest the Presidency again because he has done his part but due to the bad economic situation, he will not be able to sleep if he does not come back and deliver the economy.
He said his next government will reset the nation to a default setting to build a stronger foundation to enable the younger generation to build on it.
Mr Mahama was addressing delegates of the NDC in the Nhyiaeso Constituency of the Ashanti region as part of his three-campaign tour of the region.
Mr Mahama’s visit to all constituencies across the country is on.
He has so far covered 47 constituencies in four regions, traveling a minimum of 2,708 kilometres to meet and interact with branch and constituency executives.
Cyclone Freddy struck southern Malawi on Monday, leaving at least 99 people dead, according to Charles Kalemba, the country’s commissioner for disaster management affairs, who spoke to CNN.
According to Kalemba, the majority of the fatalities occurred in Blantyre, Malawi’s commercial center.
According to Kalemba, “We have recorded 99 persons dead in roughly seven councils, with Blantyre city as the highest with 85 dead and about 134 people in Blantyre alone hospitalized.” Kalemba made the statement to CNN on Monday night. He said there could be more casualties and injuries.
The southern part of Malawi has been proclaimed to be in a “state of catastrophe” by the government.
The country’s President, Lazarus Chakwera, “has noted with grave concern the devastation that Cyclone Freddy is currently bringing to most districts in Malawi’s Southern region,” a government press release said.
“Accordingly, government is already responding to the emergencies, rendering urgent assistance to all affected districts, and appealing for local and international support for all the families affected by this disaster,” the statement continued.
Schools will remain shut in 10 of the worst affected districts until Wednesday, Malawi’s education ministry said in a statement Sunday.
Earlier on Monday, Malawi police spokesman Peter Kalaya told CNN the destruction caused by the storm had inundated roadways and triggered blackouts in the worst affected areas.
Kalemba said rescue efforts have been “tough”.
“We are still having a lot of rains coming down. We are now experiencing landslides, flash floods and stones rolling down some hills. Because of the weather, rescue efforts are not easy. Some of the places we have to go and rescue people, it’s not easy to get there. It’s tough but we are making sure we do the job that we need to do,” he said.
The deadly Cyclone Freddy has broken records for the longest-lasting storm of its kind and has struck neighboring Mozambique and also Madagascar, killing more than 20 people and displacing thousands of others across both countries.
It has been described as a “very rare” storm by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which called its journey so far “incredible and dangerous.”
Flagbearer candidate for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and member of parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong, has made claims that the Akufo-Addo administration is intimidating and harassing him.
The billionaire claims that since entering the race to represent the NPP in the election of 2024, his companies have been subjected to unprecedented sabotage.
“Let me state it clearly, they cannot use the system to intimidate me. It won’t work. It is so sad for me to make this statement. I operated businesses during all the regimes in the Fourth Republic, but I never went through any of this harassment and intimidation unlike under this Akufo-Addo government that I have been MP for six consecutive terms,” Kenndey Agyapong said while speaking on Kumasi-based Sompa FM.
The lawmaker declared his intention to contest for the NPP presidential candidacy last year and has since been touring the country to convince party delegates to elect him.
He has spoken against the NPP choosing either Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia or former Trade and Industry Minister, Alan Kyerematen as its candidate will lead to defeat in the 2024 election.
According to him, the party needs a clean and honest person like himself as a candidate to win the next election.
In his view, anyone who has been part of the incumbent government is not fit to represent the party in the presidential election because of the bad record of the government in managing the country’s economy.
Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has been announced as the sole candidate for the Swapo party in next year’s elections by Namibian President Hage Geingob on Saturday.
The president urged party members to back Ms. Nandi-Ndaitwah when official campaigns get off the next year in remarks to the party’s highest organ.
While serving as the nation’s deputy prime minister, Ms. Nandi-Ndaitwah is the party’s vice president.
“Elections took place, we have the results that we are going to have one candidate only, that will be comrade Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah and we will campaign and we have a person who will lead us,” President Geingob said.
He also called on Swapo members not to create factions from the outcome of the party nominations.
President Geingob is due to step down next year after serving two terms. He was first elected in November 2014.
Swapo has led Namibia since independence and remains the country’s biggest political party.
But its popularity has recently waned because of discontent over rampant unemployment and corruption linked to senior party officials.
The party lost its two-thirds majority in parliament in the last general election in 2019. It also lost control of key municipalities, including the capital Windhoek, the port towns of Walvis Bay and Swakopmund, and several regional councils.
President Umar Sissoco Embalo of Guinea-Bissau recently met with Tunisian President Kais Saeid in Tunis on his diplomatic stopover to address recent racist remarks made by his host.
Embalo said on Twitter that his trip was official business as the leader of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
According to him, the Tunisian leader who had been under fire following reports that he made anti-Black Africa comments pleaded innocent to the viral accusations.
The Tunisian leader said in a video posted on Twitter that he is not racist because he has “African friends”, adding that members of his family “are married to Africans.”
On his part, the visiting president wrote on Twitter: “As President of ECOWAS, I visited President Kais Saied to inquire about the situation of sub-Saharan Africans in Tunisia.
“Referring to the distortion of his remarks, he assured of his belief in the African values of union, welcome and respect and to preserve them,” Embalo wrote in a tweet accompanied by videos and photos of his visit.
Saied alleged that undocumented immigration from sub-Saharan African countries was aimed at changing Tunisia’s demographic composition, drawing criticism from human rights activists.
His comments during a meeting of the National Security Council followed the arrests of dozens of migrants this month in a crackdown.
“The undeclared goal of the successive waves of illegal immigration is to consider Tunisia a purely African country that has no affiliation to the Arab and Islamic nations,” Saied said, adding that the influx of irregular migrants must quickly be ended.
A number of West African countries subsequently flew their stranded national back whiles the African Union issued a strongly worded condemnation of his reported remarks.
Amnesty International Ghana has condemned the military’s actions inAshaiman in Accra on Tuesday.
The group is calling for an independent investigation, as matter of urgency, to ensure that the military personnel involved in carrying out human rights abuses against the people of Ashaiman are held accountable and that adequate compensation be given to these victims.
The human rights advocacy group claims that during his state of the nation address, the President had a chance to address the issue but failed to do so.
“We would like to respectfully remind the President of Ghana who is the Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, the Minister of Interior, the leadership of the Ghana Armed Forces and other authorities involved in law enforcement in Ghana, that under their international human rights obligations, they must promptly, independently, thoroughly, and effectively investigate this unfortunate incident,” it further added.
This comes on the back of the invasion of Ashaiman by some soldiers after the killing of a young military officer.
The soldiers brutalized several residents in the hope of finding the killers of their colleague.
Below is the full statement
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL GHANA CONDEMNS MILITARY BRUTALITY IN ASHAIMAN
Amnesty International Ghana has taken notice of a video recording making rounds on social media and other news outlets of alleged military brutality in Ashaiman following the alleged stabbing and killing of a young soldier Imoro Sherrif, on Saturday, March 4, 2023.
According to media reports, a mandate was issued by the Military High Command to deploy military personnel into Ashaiman to search for the culprits of the crime, this unfortunately led to innocent civilians facing brutality from the military personnel. A series of human rights abuses involving but not limited to flogging, restricting free movement of residents and breaking into people’s homes were meted out on persons of Ashaiman Constituency. To this effect, innocent people have been hurt both physically and psychologically due to this inhumane incident.
This in no way reflects the mandate of the military which clearly states that “The Armed Forces shall be equipped and maintained to perform their role of defence of Ghana as well as such other functions for the development of Ghana as the President may determine”- 1992 Constitution of Ghana in Article 210 clause (3).
The Ghana Armed Forces regulations, Armed Forces Act, 1962 Act 105 places obligations on military officers as defenders of the nations. It obliges them not to interfere with rights of others more than to the extent unavoidable to pursue the legitimate aim they are following.
Amnesty International Ghana is against all forms of violence and human rights abuses and condemns the violence meted out by the Military on civilians. The Military is to take a step back and allow the Ghana Police Service to conduct thorough investigations into the unfortunate killing of the soldier.
We would like to respectfully remind the President of Ghana who is the Commander in Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, the Minister of Interior, the leadership of the Ghana Armed Forces and other authorities involved in law enforcement in Ghana, that under their international human rights obligations, they must promptly, independently, thoroughly, and effectively investigate this unfortunate incident.
Amnesty International Ghana is calling for an independent investigation, as matter of urgency, to ensure that the military personnel involved in carrying out human rights abuses against the people of Ashaiman are held accountable and that adequate compensation be given to these victims.
We want to reiterate what the MP of Ashaiman said to the people of Ashaiman that all parties should exercise restraint and remain calm, while we seek justice.
Amnesty International is a non-political, not-for-profit human rights organization working for the promotion and protection of fundamental human rights as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other human rights standards. It is a global movement of over 10 million people in more than 160 countries.
For the first time in Tanzania’s history, the president has attended an International Women’s Day event organized by the main opposition party, Chadema.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s presence was welcomed by Chadema chairman Freeman Mbowe, who said it was the fruit of meetings aimed at achieving reconciliation.
Ms Samia, who addressed thousands in the meeting, said that reconciliation was ongoing in Tanzanian politics, and that some steps had already been taken meanwhile others were in progress, including the finding of a new constitution.
In her address, President Samia added it had been difficult to start the reconciliation process as some in her ruling party “were not ready”.
“There was a lot of debates here and there, and the same appeared to the country’s opposition. So both parties have some of its people who are not happy with the step of political reconciliation,” Ms Samia added.
She is Tanzania’s first female president, having taken office following the death of John Magufuli in 2021.
Mr Magufuli was accused by the opposition of being authoritarian, and cracking down on its leaders and members.
Former president, John Dramani Mahama, has sent his condolences to the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) and the family of the military officer, Sherif Imoro Trooper, who was killed in Ashaiman.
“I am deeply saddened by the death of one of our soldiers, at such a young age, in Ashaiman. Lordina and I extend our deepest condolences to his bereaved and grieving family, and the officers and men of the Ghana Armed Forces,” the former President said in a Facebook post said.
Military personnel stormed Ashaiman on Tuesday dawn March 7, 2023, with helicopters and armoured vehicles, to torture civilians following the murder of a military officer, Trooper Sherrif Imoro, who was allegedly stabbed in the town on Saturday, March 4, 2023.
The reasons for his murder are currently not known.
The former President advised the military to refrain from meting out extra-judicial justice to them adding that there are many people who live and work in Ashaiman who are innocent of this heinous crime.
He further advised the military to exercise restraint and allow due process to work.
“As your former Commander in Chief, I do appreciate how such unexpected deaths affect the Force. However, I encourage you to exercise restraint and allow due process to investigate, apprehend, prosecute and punish the perpetrator(s) of the dastardly act. There are obviously many people who live and work in Ashaiman who are innocent of this heinous crime. The military must, therefore, refrain from meting out extra-judicial justice to them,” Mr. Mahama admonished.
He called on the government to step in to address the situation between Ashaiman residents and GAF and thus called for compensation for all persons affected.
“I also sympathise with the victims of the torture in Ashaiman as a result of this unfolding death of a serving soldier.
I pray we find peace and harmony in our dear country, as the government and state institutions immediately step in to address this potentially inflammatory development between Ashaiman and the Ghana Armed Forces; including providing commensurate compensation for all persons affected,” the former President suggested.
The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) in a statement justified the brutalities adding that the raid was not to avenge the death of the soldier but to fish out perpetrators of heinous crimes.
GAF announced that its high command sanctioned the swoop.
The Ghana Armed Forces in the statement announced that following the operation at Ashaiman-Taifa and Tulaku, the military personnel picked up about 184 suspects aged between 21 and 47 years old and have since handed them over to the Military Police.
GAF said the suspects will later be handed over to the police for screening and further action.
The MP for the area said 150 persons have so far been released by the military.
According to Joseph Osei-Owusu, the chairman of the parliamentary appointments committee, some of the president‘s nominees for ministerial positions may be approved by secret ballot.
He said the Minority’s refusal to support the approval process at the Committee level will force a secret ballot when the report is presented to the House this week.
“Our recommendation will be that, the Majority says yes, the Minority says no. If we recommend approval by consensus, then, the decision is taken by voice vote. But when it’s recommended by a majority decision, then the report is adopted by a secret ballot.”
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on February 7, 2023, nominated six members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to replace some outgoing ministers.
They have subsequently been vetted by the Appointments Committee awaiting approval byParliament.
But the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had earlier directed the Minority Caucus in Parliament not to approve the new ministerial nominees.
NDC described the nominations as insensitive and will affect government spending in the midst of an economic mess created by president Akufo-Addo and his Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
The NDC in a statement signed by its General Secretary, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey said: “the NDC has long expressed concern over the very large size of the current government and shares the views of most Ghanaians, including civil society, that it must be reduced bearing in mind the current massive economic mess the country has been plunged into by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government.”
The party said it has appealed to the government and president Akufo-Addo on numerous occasions to cut down on the number of appointees, but the president has remained adamant.
It said the option available to the party to attempt to compel the president to cut down the size of his government is to direct members of the party in Parliament to reject the nominees.
Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for president, could easily win if the results of eight additional states’ presidential voting on Saturday match those already reported by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Results of the 2023 presidential election so far announced across the country put Tinubu ahead of his closest rivals, Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), with Tinubu clinching stunning electoral victories in northern states that many would have readily given to the PDP flag bearer, Atiku, who is from the region.
In the results so far announced, Tinubu opened a significant lead over Atiku, beating the PDP candidate in North West states of Jigawa and Zamfara, while in states of the North East zone – like Atiku’s home state, Adamawa, as well as Gombe and Yobe, where Atiku won, Tinubu is coming a close second and picking up the 25 percent vote spread necessary for emerging winner of the election, including Kano where he was defeated by Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
In the North Central zone, Tinubu won the presidential poll in Kwara, Kogi and Benue States, with a brighter chance in Niger State where unofficial results have already tipped him as winner.
Results from the North indicate that the region as a political bloc may likely make Tinubu from the South West geopolitical zone the next president of Nigeria, as it did in 1999 when ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo enjoyed a similar privilege at the dawn of this democratic dispensation.
LEADERSHIP recalls that in 1999 when the country returned to civil rule, General Obasanjo, who had just been released from prison after being accused of involvement of a coup plot by the Sani Abacha military junta, ran for presidential race on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) where he beat Dr Alex Ekwueme and other party bigwigs to clinch the party’s presidential ticket with majority votes from northern delegates in the party primary.
And having no political base in his South West region, Obasanjo, who even lost his polling unit, depended largely on votes from the North to beat Olu Falae of the All Peoples Party (APP) to win the two-horse presidential race.
The 2023 presidential poll also recorded a major upset, with the Labour Party candidate, Obi, redrawing the political map to reflect a new balance of power and political rebirth across the country with the Obedient Movement.
Obi polled 582,664 votes to defeat Tinubu in Lagos, a state the APC candidate served as governor for eight years, from 1999 to 2007. Tinubu came second with 572,606 votes, while Atiku got 75,750 votes.
Elections for the office of the president, 360 House of Representatives, and 109 Senatorial seats were held in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory on Saturday and Nigerians expect the declaration of results by the electoral umpire.
Though 18 candidates are in the race, pollsters and analysts had described the contest as a four-horse race between Tinubu, Atiku, Obi and Kwankwaso.
While Obi and Tinubu are from the southern region of the country, Kwankwaso and Atiku are from the northern part of Nigeria.
The four heavyweights and strong contenders have large followings with the numerical potential of emerging as the successor of President Muhammadu Buhari whose two-term tenure ends on May 29, 2023.
Elections were held at most of the 176,606 polling units in Nigeria, with 87.2 million voters with Permanent Voter Cards voting for their preferred candidates.
So far, election results for 11 states have been announced by the commission as of yesterday.
For Kwara, Tinubu polled 263,572 votes, followed by who scored 136,909 votes. Obi polled 31,166 votes, while Kwankwaso got 3,141 votes.
In Osun, Atiku of PDP won with 354,366, while the APC candidate came second with 343,945. Obi of LP got 23,283, and Kwankwaso of NNPP came fourth with 713.
For Ondo, Tinubu won with a wide margin, polling 369, 924, to defeat Atiku who came second with 115,463, followed by Obi, 44,405, and Kwankwaso, 930.
Results for Gombe and Yobe states were also announced. Atiku won both states. Likewise, Obi won Enugu and Lagos states, while Tinubu won Ogun and Oyo states.
INEC chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu said the collation of presidential election results will be done at four levels — first at the 8,889 wards, then at the 774 local government areas, the State Collation Officer for Presidential Election (SCOPE) at the 36 states, and the Federal Capital Territory will submit the votes per candidate in Abuja.
The electoral chief said the collation centre will be open all day and all night with short breaks.
He also cautioned political parties to only draw their figures from INEC.
“I appeal to all political parties and media organisations to draw their figures only from the official results released by the commission as the only body constitutionally responsible for releasing official election figures,” Yakubu emphasised.
For results announced at the state level, Tinubu is taking the lead with 94,977 votes from the ten local government areas that INEC had already collated results in Kogi State, while Atiku is following the APC with 57,889 votes.
The ten local government areas so far collated include Idah, Bassa, Omala, Ogori-Magongo, Yagba West, Mopamuro, Ofu, Igalamela-Odolu, Ankpa and Olamaboro.
Other LGAs are expected to be released as they arrive at the collation centre, though elections were delayed in some LGAs in Kogi state as a result of the malfunctioning of the BVAS machine and other reasons that resulted in the postponement of the election.
In Jigawa State, Tinubu polled 421,390 votes to defeat Atiku who scored 386,587, followed by Kwankwaso with 98,234 votes.
In Adamawa, Atiku polled 417,611 votes to defeat Tinubu who scored 182,881 votes.
In Akwa Ibom State, Atiku has been declared winner of the presidential poll, having won in 22, out of the 31 local government areas of the state.
Tinubu won in six LGAs, with Obi winning in three councils.
In Rivers, Tinubu is so far leading in nine, out of the 13 local government areas already declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Rivers State.
Also, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party is trailing behind Tinubu, having won two local government areas in the state.
The local government areas so far won by the APC presidential candidate include Gokana, Tai, Opobo/Nkoro, Emohua, Eleme, Omuma, Abua-Odual, Oyigbo and Asari-Toru.
On his part, the Labour Party presidential candidate won in Ahoada-West and Bunny local government areas of the state.
Obi won the presidential election in Enugu State, defeating candidates of other political parties in the 17 local government areas of the state.
The LP candidate scored 428,640, while the PDP’s Atiku came second with 15,747. Tinubu scored 4,772 while APGA scored 1548 and NNPP scored 1808.
Obi also won the presidential election held in Nasarawa State.
In the result announcement by INEC’s returning officer, Prof Ishaya Tanko, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Jos, Obi scored 191,361 against Tinubu’s 172, 922 and Atiku’S 147,093 to win the poll. Kwankwaso got a total of 12,715 votes.
In Plateau, Obi won 10 local government areas from results of 15 LGAs released by INEC
The LGAs won by Obi are Shendam where Governor Lalong comes from, Bassa, Pankshin, Jos South, Mangu, Jos East, Bokkos and Làngtang North, Riyom, Barkin-Ladi and Mikang.
Tinubu won in Kanam, Wase and Kanke LGAs, while Atiku won in Làngtang South and Mikang.
Meanwhile, results from Jos North and Quan’an Pan LGAS were expected to be announced later yesterday.
In Benue State, the collation officer for the presidential election, Prof. Farouk Kuta, declared the results of the election collated across the local government areas.
According to the results announced, Tinubu won with a total number of 310,468 votes, followed Obi who got 308,372, and Atiku who came third with a total votes of 130,081.
In Edo State, Obi was declared winner, polling a total of 331,163, Tinubu scored 144,471 to finish second. Atiku scored 89,585 votes, while Kwankwanso scored 2,743.
APC Campaign Asks Security Forces To Track Melaye, Momodu, Pastor Enenche For Inciting Violence
The All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council has called on security agencies to restrain spokespersons of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dino Melaye and Dele Momodu as well as Senior Pastor of Dunamis Church, Paul Enenche for allegedly inciting violence with their utterances in the aftermath of Saturday’s presidential poll.
It specifically accused Pastor Enenche of desecrating the sanctity of the pulpit with politics and utterances that are capable of inciting violence.
Speaking at a press conference at the APC presidential campaign head office in Abuja, special adviser on Media and Communication of the campaign council, Dele Alake, results from presidential polls so far have clearly shown the direction Nigerians have chosen to go, indicating that the deceit and propaganda of the opposition did turn out for them at the polls.
This, Alake said, has undoubtedly created unease in the opposition, and because failure was already dogging them in the face, they have resorted to cutting corners with a view to scuttling the electoral process, rather than accepting the results honourably true democrats would do.
The APC campaign team alleged that there had been many doctored results giving false victory to the Labour Party even in places where its presidential candidate performed poorly.
Asking security forces to go after Melaye, Momodu and Pastor Enenche, the APC said, “The results trickling in since the close of voting on Saturday have clearly shown the direction Nigerians have chosen to go.
“Right from the polling unit results received from across the country, the signs were clear that the deceit and propaganda of the opposition did not fetch them the expected votes. This has expectedly generated anxiety in their camps with many of their leaders making irresponsible incendiary comments.
“We note with utmost concern those inciting comments and call to violence by some spokespersons of the opposition, especially those from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“We are particularly concerned and call on the State Security Services and the Nigeria Police Force to immediately restrain persons such as Dino Melaye, Dele Momodu and a certain Pastor Paul Enenche of Dunamis Church from their clear call to violence.
“Melaye’s tweet threatening violence, Momodu going on the TV to announce a purported winner and Enenche’s hate speech from the pulpit violate every law of the land. They should not go scot-free.
“When failure stared them in the face, rather than accept the outcome with dignity like good democrats would, some sore losers began shopping for ways to cut corners or scuttle the process. We have seen many doctored results giving false victory to the Labour Party in places where it performed abysmally poor. The idea was to give its followers hope and prepare them for a planned street insurrection.
“The PDP has employed almost similar tactics despite secretly admitting defeat. They went about with mouthwatering offers looking for willing partners that would help them subvert the will of the people.”
Alake further noted that after failing to get their officials to doctor results, the PDP chose to make “very dangerous statements on the election,” even as he wondered why PDP agents “at the Abuja collation centre are pushing insistently for the uploading of the results on INEC portal, when section 60 of the Electoral Act is clear about who has the power to do so at the polling unit”.
He continued: “The state collation officer has no such power. The INEC chairman, who collates what has been collated from the states also has no such power. Is the PDP calling for the upload to enable it hack the system to give it a false victory?
“Unlike what the PDP spokesmen have done, we will not announce ourselves as winners despite having the figures which affirm our anticipated victory. We will abide by the laws by allowing the electoral umpire to do its job.
“A cursory look at the figures from across the states show that our candidate is well placed for victory. The results have shown that the Labour Party, as we kept saying, is no threat to our victory.
“The PDP, on the other hand, has also failed in its own permutation making its dream of victory go up in smoke. The PDP’s projection of a landslide win in the North has collapsed.”
The APC campaign council mocked PDP over what it described as “its dismal performance in Kano where the APC is emerging with over 600,000 difference ahead of the PDP.”
Noting that the monumental figure in Kano has offset the PDP in the entire North, Alake said the trend “is the same in the South where PDP’s very poor show in Lagos, Oyo, Rivers and other key states spell doom for the party.”
In South South and South East, Alake said the little gains made by the PDP in the two zones are very microscopic to compensate for the party’s huge shortfall in the South West.
APC added: “In the North Central, the APC has decimated all parties to a comfortable majority of votes in Kwara, Kogi and Niger. Our impressive show in Benue, FCT and Plateau is also pushing PDP into third position in these places.
“Taken together, we are very upbeat as the numbers do not lie. We call on the opposition to stop the macabre dance of a dying horse and embrace defeat honourably. There can still be honour in defeat.”
… Alleges Plot To Stop Presidential Poll With Court Order
The APC presidential campaign council also raised the alarm alleged stealthy attempt by the PDP and Labour Party to shop for a court order to prevent the INEC from announcing the result of last Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly polls.
According to the APC campaign team, the PDP and LP are hell-bent on scuttling the country’s democratic process.
It warned the judiciary to guide and guard against being used by the politicians to scuttle democracy and throw the country into turmoil, even as it asked those hatching the plot to remember the June 12 debacle.
Director of Public Affairs and chief spokesman of the campaign team, Festus Keyamo (SAN), stated this in Abuja yesterday while briefing journalists at the press conference.
Keyamo who is also minister of State, Labour and Employment said the APC campaign council has credible information that PDP and LP have asked some lawyers to go to court and stop the 2023 presidential poll just like June 12, 1993 presidential poll was scuttled. – Festus Keyamo.
He said, “We have it on good authority that the Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party have perfected plans to finally scuttle our democracy and throw the country into constitutional crises by surreptitiously obtaining exparte court orders stopping the announcement of the Presidential Election results which they fear have gone against them.
“The walk-out they staged today at the National Collation Center is just a precursor to executing the plan
“Nigerians would recall that the June 12, 1993 debacle that brought Nigeria to its knees and caused our country international isolation was precipitated by a court injunction stopping the announcement of Presidential Election results. The court order was obtained by a certain Association for Better Nigeria headed then by one Chief Authur Nzeribe.
“This is exactly what Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Mr. Peter Obi want to foist on this nation again because of their inordinate ambitions. This is not surprising because both candidates were nowhere to be seen when ASIWAJU was fighting for the democracy we all enjoy today.
“However, we wish to draw the attention of Nigerians, the Judiciary and the world to the provisions of section 84 (15) of the Electoral Act which prohibits the grant of injunctions to stop the holding of elections (which includes the declaration of results).
“The section states: ‘Nothing in this section shall empower the courts to stop the holding of primaries or general elections under this Act pending the determination of a suit.”
Warning against a repeat of the June 12 debacle, Keyamo said, “We therefore wish to advise anyone who wishes to aid and encourage these candidates along this infamous part to remember the June 12 debacle.
“They may also wish to learn a lesson or two from President Muhammadu Buhari who resorted to the court of law in 2003, 2007 and 2011 when the same PDP ‘defeated’ him in those presidential elections in controversial circumstances. President Buhari, as a true statesman and democrat, never resorted to underhand tactics to declare himself President.”
As the 2023 Presidential election draws near, all eyes are on the candidate, Peter Obi, who has emerged as a beacon of hope for many Nigerians, particularly the youths.
The former Anambra State Governor Obi has garnered both admiration and apprehension from the public.
There are those who view him as an outsider to the political class, even though he has a good understanding of the political landscape in Nigeria, in spite of his two successful tenures as governor.
Despite facing negative predictions from some members of the opposition, Obi has remained steadfast in his quest to become the next President of Nigeria. With just one day left until the election, several polls have projected Peter Obi as the likely winner. If these projections come to fruition, it will undoubtedly be a significant moment in Nigerian political history. The country has been plagued by political turmoil and corruption for years, and many are looking to Obi as a potential agent of change.
Obi’s willingness to take bold action, even if it means risking his own social status, is what attracts many people to him. However, this same quality makes some members of the political class uncomfortable with the idea of him becoming president. They fear that his government will put an end to the corrupt practices that have been draining Nigeria’s resources for far too long.
It is essential to note that the road ahead will not be an easy one for whoever emerges victorious in the election. The challenges facing Nigeria are vast and complex, and it will require a leader with both vision and skill to address them effectively.
The 61-year-old candidate has highlighted key issues facing Nigeria and outlined his plans to address them.
One of the most pressing issues facing Nigeria is the rampant police brutality that has been widely reported, even after the EndSARS campaign two years ago.
Police Brutality:
Police brutality has been a persistent problem in Nigeria, and EndSARS campaigns over the years has brought it to the forefront of national consciousness. However, reports of police brutality have continued to emerge, highlighting the need for long-lasting reforms.
Peter Obi has promised to address police brutality by apologising to victims and ensuring that it never happens again. He has also promised to train the police force on proper policing and prevent harassment of citizens. This approach is consistent with the recommendations of the Presidential Panel on Police Reform in Nigeria, which called for increased training and accountability for police officers.
Obi’s promise to create a peaceful country where security agents will no longer be used for harassment is a welcome prospect for Nigerians who have long suffered from police brutality. However, it remains to be seen whether he can implement his reforms if elected.
Unemployment:
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria’s unemployment rate reached its highest value in 2021, with around 33.3% of the population unemployed or underemployed. The high rate of unemployment has been a persistent problem in Nigeria, leading to widespread poverty and social unrest.
Peter Obi has promised to address the issue of unemployment by creating an enabling environment for business and moving Nigeria from consumption to production. He has also promised to develop the gas sector to generate more revenue than oil and support the youth for enterprise.
Obi’s proposed solutions are consistent with the economic diversification plans of the current government, which aims to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on oil revenue. However, critics have raised concerns about the government’s ability to implement these plans effectively, given the persistent challenges facing Nigeria’s economy.
Terrorism:
Terrorism has been a major security crisis in Nigeria, with Boko Haram and other extremist groups launching attacks on civilians and security forces. The Nigerian government has struggled to contain the crisis, leading to widespread insecurity in the country.
Peter Obi has promised to address the root causes of terrorism, including poverty, unemployment, and injustice. He has also promised to engage agitators and insurgents in dialogue to address their grievances through a carrot and stick approach.
Obi’s approach is consistent with the recommendations of experts who have called for a holistic approach to addressing the crisis, including addressing the underlying causes of extremism. However, critics have raised concerns about the government’s ability to negotiate with extremist groups and the potential risks of rewarding them for their actions.
Corruption:
Corruption has been a persistent problem in Nigeria, with reports of corrupt practices in the public and private sectors. The military procurement process has been particularly susceptible to corruption, leading to concerns about the country’s ability to secure itself.
Peter Obi has promised to ensure transparency in all procurements and prevent under-the-table deals. He has also advocated for community state police and involving community leaders in securing their environments in collaboration with regular security agencies.
Obi’s approach is consistent with the recommendations of experts who have called for increased transparency and accountability in the government’s procurement process. However, critics have raised concerns about the feasibility of community state police and the potential risks of involving community leaders in security matters.
Peter Obi’s proposed solutions to Nigeria’s problems may be consistent with the recommendations of experts in various fields. However, the effectiveness of his reforms depends on his ability to implement them effectively if elected. As Nigerians prepare to cast their votes, the question remains: Will Obi’s appeal as a reformer and his commitment to fighting corruption be enough to overcome the concerns of the political elite? Regardless of the outcome, one thing is certain: the 2023 Presidential election will have far-reaching implications for the future of Nigeria, and the eyes of the world will be watching closely as the country goes to the polls tomorrow.
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has said there are no urgent plans to stop using coal-fired power plants as part of a transition to greener energy sources.
The country is one of the world’s most coal-dependent nations and is a significant polluter.
It is currently experiencing lengthy power cuts blamed on ageing infrastructure and corruption.
Since 2021 South Africa has secured several billion dollars in international loans and grants to support a switch to greener power.
Addressing colleagues from the governing African National Congress (ANC) party, Mr Ramaphosa suggested it would be unwise to reduce the country’s capacity as it made what he called a just energy transition.
The ANC has close links with the country’s mining unions.
On the eve of his trial for abuse of authority and accumulating an illegal fortune, police detained former president of Mauritania Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz on Tuesday, according to a lawyer.
The 66-year-old was first told to report to police, but refused, defence lawyers said.
The police “came to look for him at home” in the capital Nouakchott, armed with a warrant. He was arrested without incident, the lawyers said.
The rare prosecution of a former African head of state was due to open on Wednesday morning, with Abdel Aziz spending the night in custody.
Several other figures from his former regime, also facing charges of corruption, money laundering and illicit enrichment, were also arrested, a security source said.
The ex-general came to power in a coup and spent 11 years at the helm. He stepped down in 2019 after two presidential terms in which he defused a jihadist insurgency threatening the conservative West African state.
He was succeeded by his former right-hand man, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani in the first transfer of power between elected leaders in the history of a country marked by military coups and upheaval.
In 2020, a parliamentary investigation was opened into financial dealings under Abdel Aziz’s presidency.
It delved into oil revenues, sales of state assets, the winding up of a public company in charge of food supplies and the activities of a Chinese fishing company.
Charges were then brought against Abdel Aziz and 11 others, including one of his sons-in-law, two former prime ministers and several ex-ministers and businessmen.
The former president is suspected of amassing a fortune equivalent to more than $72 million.
He has refused to answer questions about the source of his wealth and decries a political machination.
Abdel Aziz wrote in a note released by lawyers on Tuesday that he will appear in court “to defend his honour” against “extravagant and fallacious accusations”.
Tunisian police have arrested a prominent critic of the president after a military appeals court sentenced him to 14 months in jail.
Seifeddine Makhlouf – head of the Islamist nationalist party al-Karama – was found guilty of insulting police during a protest at Tunis Airport in 2021.
A court had initially sentenced him to five months in prison.
Mr Makhlouf has been a strident critic of President Kais Saied, who has been widely accused of mounting a coup.
Eighteen months ago he froze parliament before taking control of the judiciary and pushing through a new constitution that gave his office almost unlimited powers.
Educational Communities Worldwide has elected Veronica Safoa Owusu as President of the Board of Directors.
“She brings a wealth of experience and expertise to this role, and we are confident that she will be an invaluable asset to the team and will be instrumental in helping us achieve our mission,” the company said.
Veronica Safoa Owusu has been an active member of the board since 2021, and she has consistently demonstrated a strong commitment to the success of the organization.
She has a track record of hands-on leadership when it comes to managing team operations in Ghana and driving results, and we believe that she will be instrumental in helping us achieve our goals. “We are thrilled to have Veronica Safoa Owusu take on this leadership role,” said Lawrence Fianko, CEO.
“She has a passion for education and a dedication to improving outcomes for underprivileged students, and I am excited to work closely with Veronica in the coming years and am confident that she will guide us continue to make a positive impact in the lives of students globally”.
Educational Communities Worldwide is an educational non-profit that unlocks the potential for under-resourced students to become impactful global leaders through access to holistic educational opportunities, resources, and community development. We are dedicated to providing support to under-resourced students in developing countries and we believe that every student deserves the opportunity to succeed.
Former presidential spokesman, Samuel Koku Anyidoho, has commented on the ragig debate on the controversial filming of footage from the Jubilee House by American rapper Meek Mill late last year.
Anyidoho described the episode as an embarrassment for the president and the nation at large and blamed the faux pas on officials at the presidency who should have enforced necessary protocols for visitors at the Jubilee House.
Meek Mill visited the presidency, after his performance at the Afro Nation concert in Accra, meeting with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at the insistence of his daughter, Gyankroma.
Barely a week after his return to the States, the rapper released a promo to an upcoming video which contained footage from areas filmed outside and within the Jubilee House.
The video attracted massive backlash on the presidency and government at large, with critics on traditional and social media questioning the moral and security implications of same.
“Someone slept on their job and has created an embarrassment for the president and the country as a whole.
“For example, from what I saw, the guy was standing behind the presidential lectern.. and the Coat of Arms, which is usually for the exclusive use of the president, is in front of it. Who gave him that opportunity?” Anyidoho asked.
GhanaWeb checks show that the lectern Mill stood behind was that of “THE PRESIDENCY – REPUBLIC OF GHANA” which is used by all guests to the presidency. The president exclusively used one with the label “PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF GHANA.”
Anyidoho further explained that from his understanding of the viral clip, the rapper must have completed his formal engagement with the president before engaging in the other acts that should not have happened.
“The president must have already met him in his visitors or conference room and this boy descends and someone overlooks and allows him to do what he did,” Anyidoho stated on Accra-based Okay FM (January 10, 2023).
The rapper issued an apology to Ghanaians and the presidency after footage of the Jubilee House was contained in a video he was set to release.
He deleted the promo he had posted on Instagram and absolved the presidency of knowing that he was taking videos during his visit to the place.
Government is under fire to explain how the highest security installation in the country suffered such a breach.
Political Science lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Asah Asante, has warned that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s only legacy will be the Free Senior High School (SHS) programme if he fails to reshuffle his government.
Speaking in a Peace FM interview monitored by GhanaWeb, on Monday, December 26, 2022, Dr Asante said that calls for the president to sack his non-performing minister of state are long overdue.
He added that the insistence of the president on maintaining his appointees will certainly have an impact on the electoral fortunes of his party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
“There is something called political cost. If your mother is dead but you keep saying she is alive, let her resurrect for us to see. The president has been saying that his ministers are performing well but you and I know that, that is far from the truth.
“Because if they were performing well, we will not be in the current situation we find ourselves in… He should close his eyes and sack his ministers who are not performing well and bring in people who can do the job.
“He should put his feet on the ground and sack his ministers who have failed so that he will leave a legacy. So that in the future if the Free SHS is mentioned other achievements will be added to honour his name,” he said in the Twi dialect.
The President, Nana Addo Dankwa-Akufo-Addo, has urged Ghanaians in privileged circumstances to give back to the less fortunate individuals in society during this holiday season.
He further urged Ghanaians to offer some comfort to people who are in distress to avert any untoward circumstances in their lives.
The President believes the gesture will put some smiles on the faces of the poor and the needy.
“I urge all of us, to celebrate the season safely and responsibly, if you are in a more fortunate position, remember to lend a helping hand to those who are in need, let each one of us do our bit to help feed those who are hungry and offer comfort to those who are in distress,” the President said this his Christmas message to Ghanaians.
He expressed hope that Ghana will rise up again as his government works around the clock to prudently manage the economy.
“I am happy that in spite of it all, we are beginning to emerge out of the difficulties which encourages me to say that with hard work, dedication and continued prudence in the management of the affairs of our nation, we will rise up again,” the President added.
Due to the nation’s economic difficulties, this year’s Christmas appears a little different.
However, the political authorities in Ghana are urging the Ghanaians to have confidence and hope for the best in 2023.
The President of the Republic, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in a video message shared on social media, expressed optimism about the ability of Ghana’s economy to bounce back.
“I am happy that in spite of it all we are beginning to emerge out of the difficulties which encourages me to say that with hard work dedication and continued prudence in the management of the affairs of our nation, we will rise up again,” Akufo-Addo said.
The Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, in a tweet he shared, wished Ghanaians well and urged them to work together for a better 2023.
“May unity in serving the Republic be our mantra in 2023,” parts of his tweet read.
The Minister for Health, Kwaku Agyeman Manu, in a video message, said, “It is my prayer that this Christmas will fill you and your families with hope, joy, peace and above all good health”.
Below are some of the Christmas and New Year messages shared by Akufo-Addo, ex-President John Dramani Mahama and other politicians:
At the birth of Jesus, a bright star lit up in the sky and the wise men followed it with, gold, frankincense and myrrh. May this X’mas day, speedily bring, gold, frankincense and myrrh, your way in the mighty name of Jesus. I wish us all well. Ghana ???????? will not die. Shalom????❤️????— Samuel Koku Anyidoho???????? (@KokuAnyidoho) December 25, 2022
Wishing everyone in my constituency and beyond a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year. May this festive season bring lots of Joy and Happiness in everyone’s life. #TogetherWeCanpic.twitter.com/vuEGC3rqeT— Hon. Dorcas Affo-Toffey (@AfoDorcas) December 25, 2022
At the core of this festive season is the message of hope, peace and love. Despite these crushing economic challenges, I respectfully ask Ghanaians to take heart and collectively commit to the spirit of hope in entering the year 2023. Merry Christmas to you and your families. pic.twitter.com/H7rbVolZnW— Dr. Kwabena Duffuor (@DrDuffuor) December 25, 2022
As public opposition to the controversial National Cathedral‘s construction grows, President Nana Addo Danqua Akufo-Addo has reassessed his justification for why Ghanaians should support it.
This time, the president’s reason for building the national cathedral is no longer his personal gratitude to God for helping him win the 2016 elections to become president, as has been widely propagated by promoters of the edifice, but rather to thank God for sparing Ghana from the ravages of civil war, as have been witnessed by most of our neighbors in the subregion.
Speaking at the centenary celebration of the Ga Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana at the Black Star Square in Accra, on December 18, President Akufo-Addo said the cathedral, when built, will help Ghana thank God for “sparing us the ravages of civil war that have bedevilled the histories of virtually all our neighbours and the outbreak of deadly mass epidemics, but also as a rallying point for the entire Christian community of Ghana, which represents seventy-plus percent of the population.”
This is a remarkable departure from what the president said at the launch of the project on December 29, 2018: “…the building of the National Cathedral is to serve as a gesture of thanksgiving to God for his blessings, favour, grace and mercies on our nation, and to give me an opportunity to redeem a pledge I made to Him before I became President.
“It will provide us with an avenue to call the nation to prayer, to worship, to celebrate, and to mourn. It will house a Bible Museum and will be an iconic infrastructure for national, regional and international pilgrimage and tourism. It will create jobs and serve as a catalyst for technology and skills transfer into our country,” President Akufo-Addo stressed.
Meanwhile, Parliament has put on hold its approval for the cathedral project pending explanations on how previous expenditures were disbursed.
According to Tamale Central MP, Murtala Mohammed, who spoke to Joy News on December 13, “What the Committee decided was that we cannot just approve this GH₵80 million; we must know how the other GH₵339 million was spent. What did it constitute?
“The GH₵80 million you want us to approve, how did it find space in the budget line of the Ministry of Tourism when the Minister and the directors could not speak to the questions we were asking? What constitutes the GH₵80 million, they should give us a breakdown.”
President Nana Addo Danqua Akufo-Addo’s government has insisted on building a befitting National Cathedral for the republic at a time when people are dealing with excruciating hardship amid rising costs of living, a weakened economy, and high debt-to-GDP exposure.
Many Ghanaians have spoken against the timing of the project, especially when the Finance Minister is at the IMF begging for 3 billion dollars to put the economy back on the path of recovery while announcing various levels of haircuts on investments and suspending the servicing of parts of the nation’s foreign debt.
In his congratulatory message to the newly-elected national executives of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama had to be prompted after he made the mistake of referring to Asiedu Nketiah as General Secretary instead of his new role of National Chairman.
The moment was funny and perhaps awkward and reminiscent of President Akufo-Addo’s ‘manka no yie kwraa’ intervention after he mistakenly referred to the New Patriotic Party’s parliamentary candidate of Odododiodioo as Nii Lante Vanderpuye instead of Nii Lante Bannerman.
But when someone occupies a role for 17 years, it becomes difficult for anyone to within five minutes of that person taking over a new role, move on and address him with the credentials of his new position.
Such is the formidability and astuteness of General Mosquito as he is called. For seventeen years he served as General Secretary of the NDC and became synonymous with the position in Ghana’s body politics.
It, therefore, came as a shock when he announced that he was going to move up the ladder and test new waters as National Chairman of the NDC.
The shock was premised on two things;
Why would he leave a position he has been so good at and why would he take up the option of challenging Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo who had also had quite an eventful journey in Ghana’s politics?
But if there was anyone in Ghana politics who could pull this off successfully under the prevailing circumstances, it certainly was Asiedu Nketiah.
It, therefore, came as a shock to no one that at the end of voting on Sunday, December 18, Aseidu Nketiah was named winner of the chairman race with total votes of 5,569.
GhanaWeb today looks at the five reasons behind his success
Experience
In Ghana’s body politics, there is not one person with more experience in intra-party elections than Asiedu Nketiah.
Spending seventeen years in a position that returned a high turnover in the camp of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) means Asiedu Nketiah had mastered the rudiments of winning intra-party politics.
Per his own calculations in his interview with UTV, there have been about six General Secretaries in the NPP since he took over the same role in the NDC and spending such time there teaches you experience.
The NDC’s internal processes are still beautiful – Ofosu-Ampofo
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In his now famous supposedly leaked audio, Asiedu Nketiah spoke about how he had mastered the art of winning intra-party elections.
He knew what to say and what to do to swing votes in his favor and fortunately for him, his closest competitor Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, perhaps, came against the wrong man at the wrong time.
’ We can’t do without him’
Possibly a view from his supporters but when leading members of the NDC talked about Asiedu Nketiah versus Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo race, there was the sense that much as they appreciate the work of Ofosu-Ampofo, Asiedu Nketiah was too valuable a person and institution not to be deeply involved in the party’s organization.
From the Deputy Minority leader to the former MP for Tamale Central, Inusah Fuseini who spoke on Joy News, there was some acceptance that Asiedu Nketiah makes the NDC tick and that without him the party will struggle, especially going into a must-win election.
Even Victor Smith who openly campaigned against Asiedu Nketiah appreciated that fact, the reason he recommended that should Ofosu-Ampofo have won, Asiedu Nketiah was going to be appointed campaign manager of the NDC for the 2024 elections.
And that idea is not lost on Asiedu Nketiah either. In his leaked audio, he stated that he would have loved to retire but he knows the party, NDC, at this point cannot stand without him.
Ofosu-Ampofo’s ‘questionable’ loyalty to Mahama
Throughout his spell as national chair, Ofosu-Ampofo lived under the tag of not being a Mahama person and with John Mahama currently being the de-facto leader of the party, anyone in an opposing camp stood a high chance of losing intra-party elections.
As claimed by Insuah Fuseini, there is suspicion within the ranks of the NDC that Ofosu-Ampofo has surrounded himself with persons who are identified to be anti-Mahama.
Unlike Ofosu-Ampofo, Asiedu Nketiah is seen to be a person who will do everything within the law to make sure John Mahama returns to the Jubilee House.
Despite John Mahama’s public denial of same, the suspicion that Asiedu Nketiah’s remains a pro-Mahama candidate continues to fester.
Election 2020
Election 2020 proved decisive in the NDC elections for two things. The first one was the election petition and the second was the election of Alban Bagbin as Speaker of Parliament, which outcome is a product of the hung parliament produced by the 2020 elections.
Despite being the one who mounted the witness box in the 2020 election petition, Asiedu Nketiah, as heard in the notorious audio absolved himself of any blame and placed the whole petition fiasco at the doorsteps of Ofosu-Ampofo.
Dirty politics it may seem but that may have been enough to make people, especially NDC delegates, appreciate the issues and vote for him.
Also, there had been a plethora of witnesses from NDC Parliamentarians that but for Asiedu Nketiah’s presence in Parliament on the eve of January 6, 2021, Alban Bagbin could not have won the elections.
These two things were cited by Asiedu Nketiah and his team to drum home the reason for him to win the role.
Natural progression to the top
Some persons argue that Asiedu Nketiah’s decision to run for the chairmanship slots was a self-actualization move for him as he was suffering fatigue of occupying the General Secretary role. He made mention of this in his interviews with Okay FM and UTV on Friday.
There was also a widespread conspiracy that Asiedu Nketiah’s decision was part of a bigger plan by the party’s leadership to introduce someone from the Volta block who identified more with the Volta Region into the national executive committee.
According to reports, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey was impressed upon to offer himself for the position as the party believed that his presence in the committee would benefit the party and its relationship with the Volta Region.
Inusah Fuseini made allusions to this grand plot in his discussion with Joy News.
Daughter of Haitian immigrants,Claudine Gay has been declared the 30th President of Harvard University.
This makes her the first Black person and the second woman to lead the Ivy League school.
Gay currently serves as a dean at the university and will assume her position in July 2023. She will replace Lawrence Bacow, who is stepping down to spend more time with family. She was elected to the presidency by the HarvardCorporation, the University’s principal governing board, with the consent of the University’s Board of Overseers, The Harvard Gazette reported.
“She is a terrific academic leader with a keen mind, great leadership and communication skills, excellent judgment, and a basic decency and kindness that will serve Harvard well,” Bacow said. “Perhaps most importantly, she commands the respect of all who know her and have worked with her.”
Penny Pritzker, senior fellow of the Harvard Corporation and chair of Harvard’s presidential search committee, praised Gay’s qualities. “For all her professional accomplishments, even more impressive are Claudine’s personal qualities—her quality and clarity of mind, her broad curiosity about fields beyond her own, her integrity and fair-mindedness, and her dedication to creating opportunities for others. She will be a great Harvard president in no small part because she is such a good person,” Pritzker said.
In her acceptance speech, Gay said the appointment reflected her journey from the child of poor Haitian immigrants who believed firmly in the power of education to a career in academia.
“My parents are immigrants from Haiti. They came to the U.S. with very little and put themselves through college while raising our family,” Gay said. “My mom became a registered nurse and my dad a civil engineer. And it was the City College of New York that made those careers possible. College was always the expectation for me. My parents believed that education opens every door.”
Gay was recruited by Harvard in 2006 as a professor of government. She was also appointed a professor of African and African American Studies in 2007. In 2015, she was named the Wilbur A. Cowett Professor of Government when she also became dean of social science at FAS.
She is reorganized as an influential expert on American political participation, according to Harvard Gazette. Her research and teaching explore how various social and economic factors shape political views and voting behavior, the platform added.
She is the founding chair of Harvard’s Inequality in America Initiative which advances scholarship in the effects of child poverty and deprivation on educational opportunities. She is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and was a member of the American Association of Universities advisory board on racial equity in higher education.
Gay received her bachelor’s degree in economics from Stanford University in California in 1992. She got her doctorate degree in government in 1998 from Harvard, where she won the Toppan Prize for the best dissertation in political science. Gay served as an assistant professor and then a tenured associate professor at Stanford before joining Harvard in 2006.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has called on the US government to help deal with the threat of Russian mercenaries on Ghana’s border with Burkina Faso.
According to the president, Ghana’s security apparatus has noticed the activities of these Russian mercenaries along its borders in the north who have been contracted by the Burkinabe government.
Addressing officials of the US government, including Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, at a meeting in Washington, Akufo-Addo said that the Burkinabe government had contracted these mercenaries to help them fight Islamic militants in their country and is paying them by giving them a mining concession.
“I think that beyond everything, there is a matter that I want to urge upon you. Today, Russian mercenaries are on our northern border. Burkina Faso has now entered into an arrangement to go along with Mali in employing the Wagner forces there.
“I believe a mine in southern Burkina has been allocated to them as a form of payment for their services. Prime minister of Burkina Faso in the last 10 days has been in Moscow. And to have them operating on our northern border is particularly distressing for us in Ghana,” he said.
Akufo-Addo also stated that Ghana was against Russia’s occupation of Ukraine and the use of African countries as training grounds for foreign powers, particularly Russia.
“Apart from not accepting the idea of great powers once again making Africa their theater of operation, we have a particular position that you know about over the Ukraine war, where we have been very, very vocal and up front about condemning the invasion of Ukraine by Russia,” he said.
A former president of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, has urged citizens to donate money to help organize the 10th National Delegates Conference of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The conference, slated for Saturday, December 17, in Accra, is to elect national officers to steer the Party’s affairs for the next four years.
In a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency on Monday, Mr Mahama said about 9,000 constituency, regional and national executives, being accredited delegates, would have to be transported to Accra and accommodated for the conference.
“The Party needs your support to fund this congress,” he said.
“I am inviting 500,000 willing Ghanaians, NDC supporters, sympathisers, and friends to donate a minimum of 10 Ghana cedis each to help us fund the congress. You don’t have to be a member of the NDC to donate.”
The donation should be made via MoMo number 059 860 4199 or pay into the NDC Congress Account at the GCB Bank, into Account Number: 13-9113-00-00-837.
“If you want to arrange other forms of support, please send me an email- [email protected],” former President Mahama said.
Former President John Dramani Mahama has opined that, the country needs a developmental plan that will bind successive governments, in its quest to be counted among the best economies in the world.
Mr. Mahama argued that a national policy that will bind governments in the future will go a long way in shaping the country for the better.
He bemoaned the lack of efforts by successive governments to pursue policies and programmes of their predecessors, thus, leading the country to incur unnecessary debts.
John Mahama reiterated that the country doesn’t have any continuity plan, citing that a policy on job creation will curb youth unemployment.
He added that the country must agree on a consensus on a national policy where successive governments will abide by, adding that such a policy could relieve Ghanaians from their economic woes.
“One of the beings of our country is like every new government comes with a new development plan, so we don’t have continuity of plan. We must as a nation agree on what our plan is for the next 10, 15 years, and every government that comes must abide by that plan. This development plan can be twerked by successive governments, but must maintain a priority investments programme that is not altered, over an agreed period of say 10, 15, 20 or even 40 years”.
“This must be accompanied by fiscal discipline that goes with governance reforms and creates an environment for sustainable job creation. Not the NABCOs and the Youth Employment Agencies and things like that. Those are ad hoc measures, and they are temporary and not sustainable,” Mr. Mahama said.
The former President said this when he addressed the 13th Congregation of the Accra Business School (ABS) over the weekend.
According to him, a national policy on businesses could help grow the economy.
“Businesses grow when the economy is booming, and they go bankrupt when the economy declines,” the former President said.
The country has experienced some cases where projects implemented by successive governments have been abandoned, whiles new ones have been pursued.
An aspirant for the National Executive Committee membership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Wonder Victor Kutor, is predicting that the party will be in political office for at least 16 years if it wins the 2024 general elections .
He said there is no doubt the NDC will form the next government, judging from the abysmal performance of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) led by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
According to Kutor, the NDC is not just going to win the 2024 elections on the back of the failure of the NPP but on account that Ghanaians appreciate them as the best managers of the economy, for which reason they would want their comeback.
Speaking to journalists after interacting with delegates in the Eastern Region over the weekend, Wonder Kutor expressed the view that, it is only an NDC government that is able to change the lot of Ghanaians.
He pointed out, for instance, the massive infrastructural developments which dotted the country under former President John Dramani Mahama, as evidence of his assertion.
He added that many of these projects were transformational in the life of the Ghanaian and reflected in the economy.
“The NDC has proven to be the party to transform Ghana and this time when it returns to power, Ghanaians will not like the party to leave power and I am sure we would be in power for 16 years,“ he said.
Wonder Victor Kutor, who is contesting with 18 other aspirants, likened the 16 years of NDC in power to his own sixteenth position on the ballot, saying it is a good sign.
To achieve this however, he said there is work to be done which is why he is putting himself up to be able to get these results.
As former parliamentary candidate aspirant for the Anlo constituency, Victor Kutor, said he is battle-ready to aid the comeback of the NDC, if given the nod as the National Executive Member.
“My vision and strategies for the party in going into 2024 elections has a great tendency of recapturing power from the inept NPP government because election 2024 is a must win for NDC, which will see us be in power for the next 16 years,“ he stressed.
The NDC will hold its national delegates congress later in December 2022.
President Nana Akufo-Addo has admitted that there have been challenges associated with the implementation of the Free SHS policy.
Despite the challenges, the President has assured that the government will address many of them and many more over time during the 70th-anniversary anniversary celebration of Opoku Oware School (OWASS) in Kumasi on Saturday, December 3, 2022.
The theme for the anniversary was “Seven Decades of Leadership Through Self-Discipline” and it was chaired by Justice Steven Alan Brobbey, an old student of OWASS and former Supreme Court Judge.
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II was the Guest of Honour along with the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Kumasi, His Grace Most Rev Gabriel Anokye.
The program also attracted old students (Akatakyie) from all over the globe, former headmasters and staff, politicians, government appointees, MPs and the public.
President Nana Akuffo Addo stated that despite the challenges, he was very proud of the policy and the results so far.
“Six years following the Free SHS Policy, it has guaranteed a minimum of 1.3 million Ghanaian children, the highest such enrollment in our history, ” he said.
“Yes, there have been challenges associated with the policy which the government is addressing substantially many of them and there will be more over time, such is the nature of social evolution to the stage the challenges will be met,” he admitted.
In addressing the situation, the President assured that “despite the economic difficulties confronting the nation, the government has devoted more resources to the running of the SHS Policy.
“From the budget of GHC2.3 billion in 2022, a 28.6% increase has been applied to this year’s budget for Free SHS Policy, ie GHC2.96 billion,” Akufo-Addo added.
The chairperson for the program, Justice Steven Alan Brobbey, an old student and former Supreme Court Judge, urged the students to be self-disciplined.
He indicated that it will assist them to achieve academic excellence and play important roles in the development of the nation.
The Headmaster of Opoku Oware School, Rev Fr Stephen Owusu Sekyere, in a remark commended the old students (Akatakyie) for sacrificing their resources to assist the school.
He also expressed his gratitude to President Nana Akuffo Addo for resourcing the school with classroom blocks, however, appealed to the president to then complete a 21-classroom block and build a wall around the wall to ward off encroachment.
A social advocacy group focused on enabling local communities to engage the government and ensure they benefit from national policies and programmes, SEND Ghana, has advised government to slow down on its dependence on development partners to fund its capital expenditure.
In a press statement released on Thursday, December 1, 2022, the group noted that government’s contribution to the country’s capital expenditure continues to dwindle year after year.
The report reveals that in the 2023 budget, government funds amounted to 1.8 percent, while development partners contributed to 92.22 percent of the total allocations.
“Our analysis of the national budgets (2019-2023) shows that the government still relies heavily on Development Partners (DPs) to fund its capital investments for some major ministries. Investments in the provision of Water, Hygiene and Sanitation (WASH) services in the last four years have largely been donor driven. In the 2019 budget for the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, 70.26 percent of projected allocation was sourced from DPs. In 2020, it increased to 82.39 percent,” part of the release read.
“This trend continued in 2021 with projected funds from DPs, for purposes of capital expenditure, constituting 75 percent, while the GoG, Internal Generated Funds (IGF), and the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) collectively make up just about 25 percent. In the 2023 budget, a whopping 92.22 percent of the total allocation is expected to come from DPs while GoG’s contribution reduced from 8.48 percent in 2022 to 1.8 percent in 2023,” it added.
SEND Ghana acknowledged that while a massive contribution by development partners to the capital expenditure was essential for economic growth, over-reliance on external supports may hinder government’s agricultural modernization and industrialization initiative.
“While investment in CAPEX is critical in stimulating growth, over reliance on donor support, which is characteristically unpredictable, puts at risk the government’s drive in pursuing agricultural modernization and industrialization,” it added.
Parliament is expected to debate the 2023 budget in the coming week.
Former President John Dramani Mahama has blamed the freeze in employment for the public sector announced in the 2023 budget on the reckless spending and mismanagement of President Akufo-Addo and his appointees.
Speaking at the 13th Congregation of the Accra Business School on Saturday, the former President painted a gloomy picture for the country in the coming years and urged the graduates to venture into entrepreneurship or look to the private sector for employment.
“Unfortunately, parastatals that were thriving a few years ago have been run into the ground by political appointees who have mismanaged the affairs of the state-owned enterprises. These constraints further the ability of the public sector to employ.
“Let me put our situation in a better context. Compensation cost for 2022 was estimated at 55.3 percent of tax revenue, which means off all the taxes we collect we spend 55.3 percent to pay wages and salaries for the public sector alone, amortisation and interest payments consumed the rest of our taxes,” the former president said.
Mr Mahama added that the “situation has compelled the government this year to announce a freeze or a ban on public-sector employment. This makes the situation rather dire for you…unfortunately due to mismanagement and reckless expenditure by the government over the last five years, the private business environment is also in a very poor state today.”
The former President’s comments follow the government’s announcement of a freeze on hiring into the public and civil service effective January 2023 as part of cabinet directives for expenditure rationalisation in the 2023 Budget as the country readies itself for a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
There have been similar freezes on public sector employment in 2008 and 2014.
In the era of tweets being coughed up under the mantra of ‘The internet doesn’t forget,’ politicians are often the subject of social media posts that literally slap them in the face.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is facing one such social media post in the wake of the Black Stars exit from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The Otto Addo-led team fell 2 – 0 to Uruguay in a must-win fixture on December 2, 2022; which result meant the two teams exited the tournament with Portugal and South Korea advancing.
A 2014 tweet by the president has resurfaced as people mock its content relative to recent happenings in the country.
It reads: “No water, no electricity, no petrol, no jobs, no mercy, no World Cup cictory! #Ghana”
The president had urged the team to take revenge on the Uruguayans after a 2010 incident where Luis Suarez, their captain in yesterday’s game thwarted Ghana’s prospect of making history by becoming the first African side to qualify for the semi-finals of the World Cup.
Akufo-Addo has yet to comment on the outcome of the match.
In 2014 when his tweet was made, the then Asamoah Gyan-led Black Stars made a disastrous outing in Brazil when they failed to win a single match yet ‘cooked’ a global spectacle that saw dollars being flown to pay their appearance fees for fears of a boycott.
Ghana ended bottom of Group H with Portugal topping whiles South Korea finsihed second ahead of Uruguay on goal difference – both teams finished with four points apiece.
The Black Stars recorded three points from three games – losing to Portugal and Uruguay and beating South Korea. They scored five goals and conceded seven.
Coach Otto Addo has resigned his position in the post-match press conference.
Match Report: Uruguay vs. Ghana
The Black Stars of Ghana had one task going into their final Group H fixture at the 2022 World Cup.
Win at all costs, worse case draw against Uruguay and secure passage into the Round-of-16 stage of the competition.
The match was, however, settled with three major incidents in the first half. A penalty miss by Black Stars skipper Andre Dede Ayew, when the score was goalless.
Then Giorgian de Arrascaeta’s two goals for Uruguay which came in quick sucession, consigned the Black Stars to a second World Cup defeat against the South Americans who broke hearts of Africans in 2010.
Their 2 – 0 victory over the Black Stars was, however, not enough to get them through to the next round of the tournament as South Korea beat Portugal 2-1.
With Uruguay in dire need of a third goal to progress to the next round of the World Cup, Suarez was reduced to tears as efforts to score another goal proved futile.
Portugal and South Korea advanced from Group H as Uruguay and Ghana exited the tournament after finished 3rd and 4th respectively.
Ghana should be boasting of 1,500 factories by now if past presidents had done what President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is doing with the One District One Factory (ID1F) project, Former Member of Parliament for Tema West , Carlos Kingsley Ahenkorah, has said.
He said the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) can boat of only one factory, the Komenda Sugar Factory, while the Akufo-Addo has so far built 126 factories that are fully operating with 143 at various stages of completion.
He said this while contributing to a debate on the 2023 budget in Parliament on Wednesday November 30.
The former Deputy Minister of Trade said “Today, as I speak to you we have close to 300 factories under the Akufo-Addo government. Mr Speaker, out of this 296 or so factories, about 126 of them are operational, 143 are at various stages of construction and 43 pipeline projects.
“Let us assume Mr Speaker, if since 1992, all the presidents that have come to stay on for 8 years, now Akufo-Addo is the 5th President, if every president was bringing or churning out 300 factories in Ghana we will be having 1,500 companies as at today.
“Unfortunately, from 2009 to 2026 the Komenda Sugar factory is the only one that we heard off from the other side (NDC) and yet they have the effrontery to speak to us as if we have not done anything in this country.
“But fortunately for them those who have 1D1F in their constituencies or municipality their own siblings, their own children are working in these factories. I want to point out to them that if they provoke us we will mention names.
“When some president had the opportunity in this fourth republic to ensure that they provide workforce for the youth they rather sold the factories or companies that we had in Ghana.”
Former President John Dramani Mahama has said Aflao, as the most vibrant border town in Ghana, deserves more than it currently has and, thus, in line with the party’s promises in the 2020 People’s Manifesto, the next NDC government will give the people of Aflao a modern international standard market, a new hospital, in addition to other socio-economic infrastructure.
Mr Mahama made the promise when he joined Togbui Amenya Fiti V, Paramount Chief of Aflao, on the occasion of his 25th anniversary over the weekend.
Tobgui’s anniversary coincided with the Godigbe Festival of the chiefs and people of Aflao.
Mr Mahama expressed joy that Togbui visited and personally invited him to grace the occasion.
Aflao being a border town, people from I thank the people of Aflao Togo and Benin thronged the durbar ground to witness the ceremony.
Aflao is a town in Ketu South District in the Volta Region on Ghana’s border with Togo.
President of Equatorial Guinea has won re-election for the sixth consecutive time extendig his stay in office to beyond four decades.
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, secured almost 95% of votes, in a vote he was largely expected to win.
Officials results were released over the weekend by the national poll body six days after the vote.
Obiang Nguema is the world’s longest-serving president and is the country’s only second president after overthrowing his uncle to take power in 1979.
“The results prove us right again,” Vice-President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, the president’s son, said. “We continue to be a great party.”
According to Western media channels like the BBC, President Obiang has a strong grip on the oil-rich central African nation, with family members in key government roles.
He seized power in 1979 after a military takeover and has survived several purported coup attempts.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has urged the citizenry to work hard to ensure Ghana keeps the prevailing peace and security to propel economic development.
He said those two ingredients were what investors looked out for in a country before investing their resources and that Ghana already had them, making the country an attractive investment destination, hence the need to protect same.
The President said this in a speech read for him by Mr Ambrose Dery, the Minister of the Interior, who represented him at the 25th Anniversary of the coronation of Torgbui Adzonugaga Amenya Fiti V, the Paramount Chief of Aflao, and the climax of the Godigbe Festival.
The festival was on the theme: “25 Years of Inspirational Leadership and the Restoration of the Rights and Privileges of the Aflawuawo.”
“The existence of peace and security are necessary prerequisites for economic development of the country. Ghana as a country has been blessed over time to remain stable and peaceful,” he said.
“For the last two consecutive years, Ghana has been noted as the second most peaceful country in Africa, behind the Island of Mauritius… I wish to, therefore, call on all of you to join hands in a collective effort to ensure that Ghana continues to be peaceful and safe for us all to achieve the goals of government.”
President Akufo-Addo commended the security agencies for their roles in keeping the peace and security of the country and assured them of providing them with all the necessary logistics to facilitate their work, and expressed the government’s commitment to the well-being of Ghanaians.
The government’s bold but difficult decisions had resulted in some gains, he said, notwithstanding the current challenges, adding that government would work to bring the country back to the road of prosperity.
The Godigbe Festival of the chiefs and people of Aflao and the coronation anniversary had former President John Dramani in attendance, as well as a delegation of chiefs from other parts of Ghana and the republics of Togo and Benin. They were treated to exciting cultural displays and music.
