Category: Politics

Akpinifia Okpekpewuokpe Dagadu IX, Paramount Chief of Akpini Traditional Area, Kpando, has called on Ghanaians to change from the ways of the past ahead of the 2024 general elections.

Akpinifia Dagadu speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) disclosed that some people resorted to violence because they had grievances.

He said others also snatched ballot boxes because things did not favour them, adding that these ways were ‘archaic and not progressive’.

Akpinifia Dagadu urged citizens to assess their lives and assess the contributions of various governments and vote peacefully.

He called on the youth to put themselves out for political leadership, to prepare them for leadership roles.

Akpinifia Dagadu asked the youth to be innovative in their thinking and take up the helm of management of the country.

The Paramount Chief also revealed plans for development projects in the area, especially health, and said the Easter festivity was marked in aid of a dilapidated health centre, which was providing care for re
sidents and served as a place of delivery.

‘We do not want our mothers to continue dying at the point of childbirth. We do not want our citizens to go to crowded, busy, and big Hospitals when they can be treated in smaller facilities for certain minor ailments.’

Akpinifia Dagadu said they had decided to renovate, equip, staff, and upgrade the Kpando Hospital to a Polyclinic to augment the health needs of the people.

He called on the people to explore tourist destinations in the Area including, Marian Grotto, lakes, islands, and other destinations in the Volta region and called on investors, who were interested in tourism development to come and partner with the Area to help develop its tourism potential.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) says the country’s democratic progress and long-term stability could be undermined if the increasing phenomenon of organised crime is not checked.

It said although the country had taken commendable legal steps to stamp-out crimes, such as money laundering, drug peddling and illegal mining, more needed to be done to achieve the desired impact.

Consequently, it is pushing for changes in the Political Parties’ Act, 2000 (Act 574) to make actors more accountable to maintain the democratic credentials.

Mrs Beauty Emefa Narteh, the Executive Secretary of GACC, disclosed this at a sensitisation workshop on organised crimes at Assin Fosu.

The workshop was to educate the public to appreciate the need to join in the fight against organised crimes, most importantly in the lead-up to the 2024 elections.

It was arranged by the GACC in collaboration with the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) and supported by the Foreign commonwealth and
Development Office (FCDO).

Mrs Narteh said safeguarding Ghana’s stability in the face of serious and organised crime ahead of the election was non-negotiable.

That was in tandem with GACC’s vision of fighting corruption and promoting good governance by forging strong, trustworthy and effective partnership with government, businesses and civil society.

She said often, the massive sums of monies politicians disbursed to contest political offices did not match with the audited accounts of political parties lodged at the Electoral Commission’s offices.

If the law could not be changed to reflect the times, politicians must be made accountable by stating publicly how much they received for their political bid and how it was spent, she noted.

‘This way, the public will be convinced when politicians pledge to champion the fight against corruption when elected into office.’

Mrs Narteh condemned the apparent unethical practice of vote buying that had taken centre stage in recent times, which refers to the act of
offering gifts, money, or other incentives in return for votes during elections.

‘The promises made are attractive, but they come at a high cost to the integrity of Ghana’s democracy. Vote buying is inimical to Ghana’s democracy, as it undermines the sanctity of the election and electoral process.’

‘It discourages a free, fair and transparent election process as voters become influenced by the gift or benefits received instead of voting based on policy, ideology and competence of those seeking elected positions.’

‘The practice leads to an unequal distribution of public resources to benefit the areas where politicians have bought votes,’ she said, and called for a collective responsibility to stop it.

Mr Samuel Harrison-Cudjoe, Programmes Officer, GACC, commended the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) for declaring individuals seen on video flaunting money allegedly acquired from parliamentary candidates, wanted.

‘We hope this isn’t a wild goose chase or much ado about nothing. However, we applaud the
OSP for taking this action to create the ‘fear of God’ in people who will join in future to exhibit this terrible behaviour,’ he said.

‘Even if only one person is convicted for these reasons, it will serve as a deterrent. People may be encouraged to engage in it in public if there are no convictions and will not face the consequences.’

As Ghana prepares for the upcoming 2024 General Election, it must be a collective responsibility to prevent vote buying from marring the country’s election process and maintaining Ghana’s enviable democratic credentials in the comity of nations, he added.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The governments of Ghana and Malawi have reached a visa waiver agreement to allow their citizens to travel visa-free.

The two countries, desirous of strengthening their bilateral relations and existing cooperation, had entered into an agreement on a visa waiver regime for holders of ordinary, diplomatic and service passports, which took effect from February 7, 2024.

‘Accordingly, travellers may transit through, depart from and stay in the territory of both countries for a cumulative period of up to 90 days, without recourse to work within a calendar year,’ a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration said on Wednesday.

It urged the travelling public to take note of the new visa waiver agreement and enjoy seamless travel.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Duke Aaron Sasu, Youth Leader of the Movement for Change, a new political movement in Ghana, has urged Ghanaian youth, especially those in the tertiary institutions, to have confidence and believe in the ideals and vision of the movement.

He said it was time Ghanaian youth gave serious consideration to the ‘Great Transformational Plan,’ a development agenda of the Movement, which aimed at changing the socio-economic fortunes of the nation for the better.

Mr Sasu, who is also the Spokesperson of the Movement, was speaking at the inauguration of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) chapter of the Movement in Kumasi.

He said at the core of the Movement’s national transformation action was the youth, and there was the need for them to accept and join forces with the leader, Mr Allan Kwadwo Kyerematen, to lead and position the country well for the benefit of the youth.

The Movement for Change, which was formed by Mr Allan Kyerematen, former Minister for Trade and Industry in the Pr
esident Akuffo-Addo’s government, seeks to put Ghana on the pedestal for accelerated growth by pursuing efficient management of the available human and natural resources to transform the country.

It holds the view that the country is endowed with all the needed resources necessary to create jobs and wealth to alleviate poverty given effective leadership.

According to Mr Sasu, it was imperative that the citizenry adhered to the ideologies of the new political fraternity, since it had the panacea to resolving the many years of mismanagement of the economy, which had compelled the country to seek financial aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 17 occasions since independence in 1957.

The people ought to be hopeful about the country’s future under a credible leader who had years of public and private sector experience, backed by solid integrity, he said, drawing an inference to the proven leadership qualities of the founder of the Movement, Mr Kyerematen.

Mr Kyerematen is leading the Movement to c
ontest in the presidential race in the December General elections.

He argues that the two main political parties in the country – the NPP and the NDC, which had ruled the country for the last 30 years, under the fourth republic, have failed the nation.

It is, therefore, the time for Ghanaians to break the duopoly of the country’s political system and give the nation a new leadership for transformation and sustainable growth.

Mr Sasu indicated that the Movement intended to establish a strong presence at the universities and entreated the KNUST wing to propagate the vision of the founder, since the future of the nation belonged to the youth.

He charged the ‘Yellow Army’ to master the philosophy of the founder’s Great Transformational Plan (GTP) as worthy ambassadors.

Meanwhile, a notice shared on the Movement’s social media platforms shows that the University of Cape Coast and University of Education, Winneba, chapters will be inaugurated in the coming days.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Manish Gupta, the Indian High Commissioner, has lauded Ghana’s technological and digitalisation drive towards development and urged the government to double up on that path.

He said technology played a big role in economic development and provided a solid foundation for transparency and integrity in the delivery of public services in the most efficient manner.

Alluding to India’s success story, he recommended that every household in Ghana should have a bank account, a biometric identification card (Ghana card) and a mobile phone to help formalise the economy expeditiously and carry everybody along.

Mr Gupta made the remarks during a meeting with the media in the Central Region, together with the leadership of the Department of Geography and Regional Planning, University of Cape Coast (UCC), as part of his three-day working visit to the Central Region.

The Ambassador, who is barely three months in Ghana, later paid courtesy calls on Prof. Johnson Nyarko Boampong, the Vice Chancellor of UCC, and Osabarim
ba Kwesi Atta II, the Oguaamanhen at the Emintsimadze Palace.

He also visited the Central Regional Coordinating Council and the Regional Office of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Cape Coast.

He had paid a visit to the Elmina Castle on Monday and rounded up his tour at the Komenda Sugar Factory, which was funded by the Indian Exim Bank.

The Ambassador stressed that it was crucial to absorb technology for proper planning and integrate the various systems, adding that digitalising all public infrastructure, for instance, would enhance services such as passports and taxation.

‘When you do away with human interface in dealing with the public, life is much simpler,’ he said, commending Ghana’s efforts so far.

Mr Gupta expressed the Indian Government’s commitment to strengthening the bilateral partnership with Ghana for mutual development, particularly in the areas of education, health, energy, technology and manufacturing.

Highlighting India’s longstanding relationship with Ghana, he sa
id his country would go beyond the Government-to-government engagement, to the level of people-to-people.

Touching on food security, he said Ghana had the potential to become a net food exporter and food basket for the West African sub-region without depending on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) foods.

Ghana had the ideal climatic and soil conditions for agriculture and needed the right kind of investments to be food-sufficient, he said.

He, therefore, urged the Government to focus on investing more in the grassroots, especially by training and supporting farmers and adopting the best farming practices.

‘While the Planting for Food and Jobs policy was a good start, Ghana could do better. We should not be depending on anybody for food’.

On health, the Ambassador said India was doing exceptionally well in the sector, particularly with the production of pharmaceuticals and called for deeper cooperation in that area.

As Ghana joins the rest of the world to transition to renewable energies, he was lookin
g forward to a closer collaboration between the two countries on the production of solar energy given Ghana’s excellent weather conditions.

He expressed satisfaction with the performance of the media so far.

Professor Kofi Nyarko, the Head of the Department of Geography and Regional Planning, at UCC, expressed gratitude to the Ambassador for his visit and commitment to work with the University.

He said UCC had had a high level of collaboration with the Indian High Commission for a while and was determined to continue that path because India had a lot to offer.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The National Peace Council (NPC) says it is greatly concerned about the ongoing impasse between the Executive and the Legislature.

The Council said such tension did not auger well for the peace and stability of the country, especially when the nation was heading into a general election.

The two organs of government – the Executive and the Legislature, have been in a stand-off over the President’s refusal to assent to the recently passed anti-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (anti-LGBTQI+) bill, citing court issues.

The decision angered the legislature, particularly the Minority and the Speaker of Parliament, who also halted the approval of ministerial nominees by the President, citing a court injunction.

Speaking at a dialogue with the Council of Elders and flagbearers of some political parties, in Accra, on Tuesday, Reverend Dr Ernest Adu-Gyamfi, Chairman of the NPC, described the seeming tension between the two arms as concerning.

Reverend Dr Ernest Adu-Gyamfi, Chairman, National
Peace Council

He said, over the past few years, the Council had undertaken a number of actions, including engaging the political parties, the security agencies, the Electoral Commission and the Chief Justice, all geared towards reducing the tension and maintaining the peace of the country.

Despite that, he said the current impasse between the two organs had become a concern for the Council.

‘The perceived tension between the legislature and the executive, the entrenched positions of parties in Parliament and the banter on radio and television are matters of great concern to the NPC,’ he said.

He added that: ‘We are not oblivious of the threats from violent extremists along our boarders and the need to maintain the peace and security of the country is of uttermost concern to us.’

The dialogue, on the topic: ‘Political Party Trust Building and Intra and Inter-Party Mechanism for Addressing Conflicts,’ was to make the parties aware of the the activities of the NPC in the political space to guide them.

Also
, it was to remind the stakeholders, particularly the political parties of the potential dangers on reneging on their duties to manage differences well ahead of the General Election.

It was funded by the British High Commission through the STAR Ghana foundation.

In attendance were the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the People’s National Convention (PNC), Convention People’s Party (CPP) and the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP).

Others were Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG), National Democratic Party (NDP), Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), Progressive People’s Party (PPP) and All People’s Congress (APC), and Ghana Union Movement (GUM).

Also present at the event was Mr Mike Aaron Oquaye, former Speaker of Parliament.

Some members of leadership of the political parties present at the meeting

Rev Adu-Gyamfi urged the political parties to, therefore, be mindful of their utterances, adding that they should resort to consensus building to address any misunderstanding.

Ahead of t
he elections, he indicated that the NPC was putting a number of measures in place to ensure an incident-free elections, particularly ensuring that all parties signed the Peace Pact and urged them to support it to ensure that it was attained.

‘We want to finish the election and still have Ghana intact, that is our goal. That, we can compete, we can do all kinds of things, but there should not be a single blood that is dropped ad nobody is maimed,’ he stressed.

Rev Adu-Gyamfi also advised the media to be circumspect and guard against sensationalism to help maintain the peace of the country before, during and after the polls.

Mr George Amoh, Executive Secretary of the NPC, disclosed that the Council was putting together an election monitoring group to help monitor the political landscape to ensure peaceful polls in December.

Source: Ghana News Agency

By Eratus Ndueh

The fever ahead of the 2025 presidential elections is already around the corner. Opposition parties are reportedly facing difficulties in freely mobilizing their comrades due to strict administrative interference. The mobilization to create coalitions against the ruling CPDM is already promising to be a tight attempt for the powerless Cameroonian opposition blocs.

Cameroon is yet to learn from the political matureness of other African countries like Senegal. The country’s constitutional council showed independence by reversing a presidential decision to hang onto power until December. The election on Sunday, March 24, 2024, of Faye, an opposition figure, far from being a frontline, is an indication that when the people decide, the institutions allow such decisions to cross the political lines.

The situation in Cameroon is different, President Paul Biya has been in power for more than four decades, and is not showing signs of leaving the precious piston even at 91. Recently, Territorial and
Administrative Minister, Paul Atanga Nji, described the political Alliance for Change (APC), led by Jean-Michel Nintcheu, and the Political Alliance for Transition (APT), led by Olivier Bile, as ‘illegal’, calling them ‘clandestine movements.’

The Minister also mentioned that a recent meeting held in a prison in Yaoundé between Jean-Michel Nintcheu and Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe, a leader of the English-speaking separatist group Interim Government of Ambazonia, accounted for the decision to ban the coalition.

These threats against the opposition political parties have caused international bodies like the NGO Human Rights Watch to accuse the Cameroonian government of attempting to muzzle the opposition before the legislative, municipal, and presidential elections of 2025.

‘The action taken by the government against these coalitions shows how Cameroonian authorities are acting to close space for opposition and public debate in the run-up to the 2025 presidential elections,’ stated Carine Kaneza Nantulya, Deputy
Director of the Africa division at Human Rights Watch.

Highlighting the importance of allowing opposition parties to operate freely in a country that promotes democracy like Cameroon, the Deputy Director of the HRW called on the Cameroonian authority ‘to immediately lift the ban and allow opposition parties to continue working without harassment.’

On September 22, 2020, Cameroonian security forces reportedly fired tear gas used water cannons, and arrested more than 550 people, mainly members and supporters of opposition parties, to disperse peaceful protests across the country. Many peaceful protesters were beaten and maltreated during their arrest and detention.

President Paul Biya has been in power since 1982 and was recently re-elected in 2018 after a disputed vote-counting process. Maurice Kamto questioned the official results and declared himself the winner of the election.

The election of Paul Biya in 2018 however, triggered a wave of political suppression. After the 2018 vote, opposition-led protes
ts took place across the country, and the government responded with harsh repression and the use of excessive force by the police, army, and gendarmerie.

At the launch of the Political Alliance for Change in December 2023, Maurice Kamto indicated that the opposition should rally behind a single candidate for the next presidential elections, scheduled for 2025. Paul Biya has not announced whether he will run for another term but his militants are still soliciting him for his ability and mastery of the country’s affairs to lead them for another 7-year mandate.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Dr Patrick Ekye Kwesie, a Convention People’s Party (CPP) Parliamentary Aspirant for Jomoro Constituency in the Western Region, has resigned from the party to throw his support behind Madam Samia Yaba Nkrumah, an independent Parliamentary Candidate.

Confirming the matter to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview, in Takoradi, he said his decision to withdraw from the CPP parliamentary contest and subsequent resignation was hinged on his belief that Jomoro needed Madam Nkrumah to prosper.

According to him, as the descendants of the Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, it was important that the Nzema people consciously voted for his daughter as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Jomoro to help protect and preserve the memory of the first President of Ghana.

‘This will enable Samia to leverage Kwame Nkrumah’s influence around the world to drive investments to Jomoro, leading to rapid development and sustainable economic opportunities that promote entrepreneurship and support local businesses to grow,’ he said.

Dr
Kwesie said he believes that Madam Nkrumah had the vision and commitment to improve upon access to quality education and skills training programmes to help enhance the living standards of the Jomoro people.

He noted that: ‘The Samia agenda, anchored on her father’s ideas, also seeks to put priority on developing infrastructure and amenities such as roads, water supply, and electricity, which will improve the quality of life for all residents.’

He said the independent Parliamentary Candidate would strive towards better access to healthcare services and social support programmes for the constituents, while implementing policies that would protect the natural resources through sustainable environmental practices.

Dr Kwesie added that Madam Nkrumah had clear plans to leverage the tourism potential of Jomoro to ensure growth and prosperity for the people.

‘I think with all these and many other plans she has, I have no doubt in her ability to bring in the much-needed development we the people of Jomoro have lon
g desired,’ he indicated.

He, therefore, called on the people of Jomoro to support Madam Nkrumah to snatch the seat from the National Democratic Congress in the impending December 7 general elections.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Ms Cynthia Anima Boadu, the Bono Regional Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), has called for well-structured political parties to help strengthen the foundation of Ghana’s democracy.

The NCCE Director said weak political parties posed a threat to the country’s democratic system as they were responsible for electing leaders to govern and needed to establish strong structures to uphold Ghana’s democracy.

She made the call during a courtesy visit to the Bono regional executives of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Sunyani.

Ms Boadu observed that political parties played a critical role in the democratic process because they had a responsibility to ensure the development and progress of the country.

She advised political parties to engage in fair and ethical practices in their pursuit of power, saying because politics was ultimately about numbers, losing members in the quest for power could have detrimental effects on both the party and the country’s democracy.

It was esse
ntial for political parties to prioritise the integrity of their processes to maintain a strong and sustainable democratic system, she added.

Mr Ali Ibrahim Adjei, the Bono Region Vice-Chairman of the NDC, assured the NCCE Director of the party’s commitment for peaceful power since it believed in upholding peace before, during and after the elections to safeguard the country’s long-standing democracy.

He said the NDC would reject any form of violence that could jeopardise the lives of Ghanaians in the pursuit of political power and would be dedicated to promoting a culture of peace among their supporters.

Mr Adjei said the party would educate its followers on the importance of peaceful engagement in political activities with a goal to secure victory in the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections without resorting to violence.

Mr Dennis Yeboah Twumasi, the Bono Regional Secretary of the NDC, urged the NCCE to collaborate with the security agencies to effectively manage tensions during elections.

So
urce: Ghana News Agency