The flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Prof John Evans Atta Mills, has given the asurance that a government under his watch would set up a fund for industrial expansion, especially in the export sector.
Although he did not mention the amount involved, he said it would provide the youth with sustainable employment as well as enough foreign exchange for the country.
Addressing a mini rally at Ashaley Botwe in the Adentan-Kpeshie-Gonno Constituency as part of his campaign in some parts of the Greater Accra Region in Accra, Prof Mills said the youth of Ghana would also be encouraged to enter mainstream agriculture.
He said encouragement would also include technical, financial and service support as well as ensuring that they had ready markets for the produce.
Prof Mills also visited the Ashaley Botwe New Mosque and Adenta Trotro Station. Members of his entourage included, Dr Kwabena Adjei; NDC National Chairman, Madam Ama Benyiwa Doe; NDC Women Organiser and Mr Yaw Boateng Gyan, Deputy National Organiser.
He said another area that would receive attention from the next NDC government, and made attractive to the youth was bamboo and cane planting, for craft making, adding that this would serve two purposes, to provide employment for the youth and to replenish the depleted vegetation.
Prof Mills also pledged that his administration would provide financial support to tertiary students to further their studies in the area of medicine, accountancy, among others, to be able to sharpen their skillsin order to provide their best for the service of the nation.
He again added that his government would build 300 senior high schools.
This is to provide opportunity for about 60 per cent of junior high school (JHS) students who do not gain access to senior high school (SHS) as a result of the inability of the New Patriotic Party’ (NPP) to build more SHSs.
According to him, only 40 per cent of students from JHS gained admission to SHS, and added that during the eight-year administration of the NDC it was able to build 264 senior high schools, however the NPP had been able to build only 19 senior high schools.
Prof Mills added that his administration would build more technical and vocational school with adequate facilities and enhanced curriculum to provide quality skills for the youth.
Prof Mills also added that Ghanaian contractors would be given support to be internationally competitive in order to win contracts in the West African sub region.
He added that companies that would employ more youth would be given tax incentives as a way to encourage them to provide employment for the youth.
The NDC parliamentary aspirant for Adentan-Kpeshie-Gonno Constituency, Mr Kwadwo Adu-Asare, urged the electorate to vote for him and Prof Mills for the development of the area and Ghana in general.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Baah Wiredu was role model — John Mahama
MR John Dramani Mahama, the running mate to Prof John Evans Atta Mills, the Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has described the late Hon. Kwadwo Baah Wiredu, as one of the exemplar politicians the country has had in recent times.
"If Ghana can have ten politicians like Baah Wiredu, the country would not have any problem. He was not arrogant, he was humble, affable, very cheerful and always beaming with smiles", he added.
Mr Mahama was speaking to the widow and family members of the late Mr Baah Wiredu ,after he had signed a book of condolence in honour of the late Minister in Accra yesterday.
Mr Baah Wiredu died in South Africa after a short illness.
Mr Mahama said the late Baah Wiredu related well with everyone ranging from "the highest person to the most simple person he came into contact with".
He also described the death as a big blow to the entire nation and added that "we can simply say that death has wilfully caused financial loss to the state of Ghana".
Mr Mahama who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bole Bamboi and had been in parliament with the late minister since 1997 said the NDC was mourning with the family and the entire nation on the death of his colleague.
"If Ghana can have ten politicians like Baah Wiredu, the country would not have any problem. He was not arrogant, he was humble, affable, very cheerful and always beaming with smiles", he added.
Mr Mahama was speaking to the widow and family members of the late Mr Baah Wiredu ,after he had signed a book of condolence in honour of the late Minister in Accra yesterday.
Mr Baah Wiredu died in South Africa after a short illness.
Mr Mahama said the late Baah Wiredu related well with everyone ranging from "the highest person to the most simple person he came into contact with".
He also described the death as a big blow to the entire nation and added that "we can simply say that death has wilfully caused financial loss to the state of Ghana".
Mr Mahama who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bole Bamboi and had been in parliament with the late minister since 1997 said the NDC was mourning with the family and the entire nation on the death of his colleague.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Aspirants must not condone acts of lawlessness — Mills
Professor John Evans Atta Mills, the flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has called on all presidential aspirants to publicly pledge not to condone any acts of lawlessness before, during and after the elections.
"We must also not hesitate to condemn wrongdoing on the part of either our supporters or opponents, to send a clear signal that we abhor such bad behaviours, " he said.
Prof. Mills was addressing party supporters, market women and commercial drivers in various communities within the Dome-Kwabenya Constituency in Accra on Thursday. The communities include Dome, Kwabenya, Taifa, Haatso and Atomic.
In the company of Mr Eddie Annan, a former NDC presidential hopeful, Madam Ama Benyiwa Doe, NDC Women Organiser, and Mr Yaw Boateng Gyan, Deputy National Organiser of the NDC, Prof. Mills also introduced the NDC aspiring MP for the constituency, Mrs Zita Okaikoi.
At the Haatso Yam Market, the traders donated a white dove to Prof., Mills as a sign of their support for him.
Prof. Mills described the New Patriotic Party (NPP) as a party made up of arrogant people who look down on Ghanaians who were not rich or of high social standing.
He said it was for this reason that President Kufuor could describe Ghanaians who had no money in their pockets as lazy and added " but my brothers and sisters, I know that you are not lazy, but just that the opportunities are not there".
"Currently, it is only those who deal in corrupt practices and cocaine that have money in their pockets. I know that those of you who have gathered here cannot deal in such things that is why there is no money in your pockets", he said.
He said all the talk about free education would come to naught because until the bad working conditions of teachers had been improved for them, they would not offer their best and quality education would not be a reality.
He said the NDC built 258 secondary schools, compared to the 19 by the NPP and promised that when the NDC came to power in 2009 it would build 300 more secondary schools to make up for the shortfall.
Prof. Mills expressed worry that only 40 per cent of students from junior high schools could gain access to senior high schools and described the situation as worrying.
He also promised that his administration would build two technical and two vocational institutions in each district.
Prof. Mills asked Ghanaians to reject the NPP during the election and vote for a listening NDC government headed by him, adding that " if after eight years the NPP government could not do any good thing for the people, why should they be given another opportunity to worsen the plight of Ghanaians?"
He rhetorically asked "where are the jobs the NPP promised you? Where are the good living conditions and the money they promised ?"
He said all the road construction that the NPP was laying claim to were initiated and the drawing done by the NDC but the NPP had constructed some of these roads at a greater cost.
Prof. Mills said the NPP was claiming to be a better administration than the NDC but during the NDC administration, a dollar was exchanged for 68 Ghp, but currently a dollar is exchanged for GH¢1.10.
Mrs Okaikoi said Ghanaians had tried the NDC and NPP and were in better position to make the best choice during the election but advised that they must consider their standard of living when casting their votes.
"We must also not hesitate to condemn wrongdoing on the part of either our supporters or opponents, to send a clear signal that we abhor such bad behaviours, " he said.
Prof. Mills was addressing party supporters, market women and commercial drivers in various communities within the Dome-Kwabenya Constituency in Accra on Thursday. The communities include Dome, Kwabenya, Taifa, Haatso and Atomic.
In the company of Mr Eddie Annan, a former NDC presidential hopeful, Madam Ama Benyiwa Doe, NDC Women Organiser, and Mr Yaw Boateng Gyan, Deputy National Organiser of the NDC, Prof. Mills also introduced the NDC aspiring MP for the constituency, Mrs Zita Okaikoi.
At the Haatso Yam Market, the traders donated a white dove to Prof., Mills as a sign of their support for him.
Prof. Mills described the New Patriotic Party (NPP) as a party made up of arrogant people who look down on Ghanaians who were not rich or of high social standing.
He said it was for this reason that President Kufuor could describe Ghanaians who had no money in their pockets as lazy and added " but my brothers and sisters, I know that you are not lazy, but just that the opportunities are not there".
"Currently, it is only those who deal in corrupt practices and cocaine that have money in their pockets. I know that those of you who have gathered here cannot deal in such things that is why there is no money in your pockets", he said.
He said all the talk about free education would come to naught because until the bad working conditions of teachers had been improved for them, they would not offer their best and quality education would not be a reality.
He said the NDC built 258 secondary schools, compared to the 19 by the NPP and promised that when the NDC came to power in 2009 it would build 300 more secondary schools to make up for the shortfall.
Prof. Mills expressed worry that only 40 per cent of students from junior high schools could gain access to senior high schools and described the situation as worrying.
He also promised that his administration would build two technical and two vocational institutions in each district.
Prof. Mills asked Ghanaians to reject the NPP during the election and vote for a listening NDC government headed by him, adding that " if after eight years the NPP government could not do any good thing for the people, why should they be given another opportunity to worsen the plight of Ghanaians?"
He rhetorically asked "where are the jobs the NPP promised you? Where are the good living conditions and the money they promised ?"
He said all the road construction that the NPP was laying claim to were initiated and the drawing done by the NDC but the NPP had constructed some of these roads at a greater cost.
Prof. Mills said the NPP was claiming to be a better administration than the NDC but during the NDC administration, a dollar was exchanged for 68 Ghp, but currently a dollar is exchanged for GH¢1.10.
Mrs Okaikoi said Ghanaians had tried the NDC and NPP and were in better position to make the best choice during the election but advised that they must consider their standard of living when casting their votes.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Blay welcomes CPP moves to settle case out of court
The Member of Parliament in the Ellembele Constituency, Mr Frederick Worsemao Armah Blay, has welcomed moves by some elders of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) to settle the impasse between him and the elders of the party out of court.
“I am not a litigant but a lawyer and also amenable to dialogue, ready to iron out our differences out of court but definitely without prejudice to what has happened in Ellembele,” he told the Daily Graphic in an interview yesterday.
Mr Blay, who is also the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, was speaking on the recent moves by the party executive for an out-of-court settlement of an issue in court between him and the party.
An internal squabble broke out within the CPP over the re-election of Mr Freddie Blay, at a meeting of constituency delegates on August 23, 2008, to represent the party at Ellembele, one of the party’s few strongholds.
Mr Blay has represented the constituency in Parliament since 1996.
Just after the election the Central Committee of the party at its meeting in Accra objected to the election of Mr Blay as the CPP aspirant.
This made Mr Blay to file a suit in an Accra High Court against the CPP and some of its leading members seeking a declaration that the primary held to elect him as the CPP’s parliamentary aspirant was proper, valid and in compliance with the party’s constitution.
The CPP in a counter motion said it had not nullified the primary but objected to Mr Blay’s election.
But during the first hearing of the case, Mr Bright Akwetey, a leading member of the party, pleaded with the court to give the party seven days to resolve its differences with Mr Blay out of court.
Explaining further his reasons to dialogue with the party for amicable settlement, Mr Blay said all the parties involved must also be mindful that while all these problems were going on other opponents of the CPP in the constituency were frantically campaigning.
He was also not happy about the rush to take issues to the press before the individual involved was made aware.
“I am not a litigant but a lawyer and also amenable to dialogue, ready to iron out our differences out of court but definitely without prejudice to what has happened in Ellembele,” he told the Daily Graphic in an interview yesterday.
Mr Blay, who is also the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, was speaking on the recent moves by the party executive for an out-of-court settlement of an issue in court between him and the party.
An internal squabble broke out within the CPP over the re-election of Mr Freddie Blay, at a meeting of constituency delegates on August 23, 2008, to represent the party at Ellembele, one of the party’s few strongholds.
Mr Blay has represented the constituency in Parliament since 1996.
Just after the election the Central Committee of the party at its meeting in Accra objected to the election of Mr Blay as the CPP aspirant.
This made Mr Blay to file a suit in an Accra High Court against the CPP and some of its leading members seeking a declaration that the primary held to elect him as the CPP’s parliamentary aspirant was proper, valid and in compliance with the party’s constitution.
The CPP in a counter motion said it had not nullified the primary but objected to Mr Blay’s election.
But during the first hearing of the case, Mr Bright Akwetey, a leading member of the party, pleaded with the court to give the party seven days to resolve its differences with Mr Blay out of court.
Explaining further his reasons to dialogue with the party for amicable settlement, Mr Blay said all the parties involved must also be mindful that while all these problems were going on other opponents of the CPP in the constituency were frantically campaigning.
He was also not happy about the rush to take issues to the press before the individual involved was made aware.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
It would be disastrous to vote NDC — Bawumia
The running mate of the flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamadu Bawumia, has cautioned it would be disastrous for Ghanaians to vote back the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to power again.
He said comparing the economic and human rights record of both the NPP and the NDC, the former stood out as the better manager of the economy in the face of most turbulent local and world economic hardships and respector of human rights.
Dr Bawumia who was interacting with the youth from Ablekuma South and TESCON members from the Methodist University, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and Regent University in Accra on Saturday said “today people can insult President J.A. Kufuor and nothing would happen to them, after that their pregnant wives would go to hospital and deliver free of charge”.
“With the current record of sound economic management, the NPP has demonstrated that it has the better ability and capacity to manage the oil revenue that would accrue to the nation, hence Ghanaians must vote for the NPP again”, he added.
He said prior to the assumption of office of the Kufuor Administration, the nation was using nearly 22 per cent of its total export revenue to service its debt and also had a Gross Domestic Product of $ 2.7 billion, while spending only 4.4 per cent of GDP on education.
He said following the prudent management of the economy and the wise decision by the NPP to opt for the HIPC initiative which resulted in the cancellation of its debt, the NPP was able to increase GDP from the $2.7 billion to a whopping $ 16 billion and was also able to multiply the total expenditure on education to 9.1 per cent of GDP.
Dr Bawumia said all these had been going on alongside unprecedented infrastructural development in education, health, roads and water facilities as well as other social services such as the School Feeding Programme, Free Bussing of Students, Capitation Grant, National Health Insurance Scheme and the National Youth Employment.
He said aside that the NPP government through its skilful economic management had been able to put the country in a position where it did not take instruction from the Bretton Woods institutions when drawing up its economic policies.
Dr Bawumia said for the first time in the 50-year history of this country, it had been able issue a sovereign bond in the international market which had been over subscribed, an indication of the confidence that the world of business had in the current Ghanaian economy.
He said the economy had been able to withstand an unprecedented oil price of $ 147 per barrel, yet the economy was still resilient, unlike the day of the NDC when the economy nearly collapsed when the prices did not even reach $ 50 per barrel.
He said President Kufuor had laid all these foundation for the Nana Addo Administration to execute its promise of building universities in all regions that had no public university, eliminate illiteracy and afford Ghanaians the opportunity to realise their individual dreams.
“Although the elimination of illiteracy is a big idea, it is possible under a Nana Akufo-Addo Administration, because we have the foundation. After all if we think it’s expensive to eliminate illiteracy, the alternative will be more expensive for the nation”, said Dr Bawumia.
He said comparing the economic and human rights record of both the NPP and the NDC, the former stood out as the better manager of the economy in the face of most turbulent local and world economic hardships and respector of human rights.
Dr Bawumia who was interacting with the youth from Ablekuma South and TESCON members from the Methodist University, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and Regent University in Accra on Saturday said “today people can insult President J.A. Kufuor and nothing would happen to them, after that their pregnant wives would go to hospital and deliver free of charge”.
“With the current record of sound economic management, the NPP has demonstrated that it has the better ability and capacity to manage the oil revenue that would accrue to the nation, hence Ghanaians must vote for the NPP again”, he added.
He said prior to the assumption of office of the Kufuor Administration, the nation was using nearly 22 per cent of its total export revenue to service its debt and also had a Gross Domestic Product of $ 2.7 billion, while spending only 4.4 per cent of GDP on education.
He said following the prudent management of the economy and the wise decision by the NPP to opt for the HIPC initiative which resulted in the cancellation of its debt, the NPP was able to increase GDP from the $2.7 billion to a whopping $ 16 billion and was also able to multiply the total expenditure on education to 9.1 per cent of GDP.
Dr Bawumia said all these had been going on alongside unprecedented infrastructural development in education, health, roads and water facilities as well as other social services such as the School Feeding Programme, Free Bussing of Students, Capitation Grant, National Health Insurance Scheme and the National Youth Employment.
He said aside that the NPP government through its skilful economic management had been able to put the country in a position where it did not take instruction from the Bretton Woods institutions when drawing up its economic policies.
Dr Bawumia said for the first time in the 50-year history of this country, it had been able issue a sovereign bond in the international market which had been over subscribed, an indication of the confidence that the world of business had in the current Ghanaian economy.
He said the economy had been able to withstand an unprecedented oil price of $ 147 per barrel, yet the economy was still resilient, unlike the day of the NDC when the economy nearly collapsed when the prices did not even reach $ 50 per barrel.
He said President Kufuor had laid all these foundation for the Nana Addo Administration to execute its promise of building universities in all regions that had no public university, eliminate illiteracy and afford Ghanaians the opportunity to realise their individual dreams.
“Although the elimination of illiteracy is a big idea, it is possible under a Nana Akufo-Addo Administration, because we have the foundation. After all if we think it’s expensive to eliminate illiteracy, the alternative will be more expensive for the nation”, said Dr Bawumia.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Special picture taking exercise was successful
THE Electoral Commission (EC) has described as successful the just ended special photo-taking exercise.
It said information gathered from the regions indicated that all went well and without complaints.
The EC had to undertake the exercise because the commission ran out of materials for taking photographs during the limited registration exercise.
The Public Affairs Director, Mr E. Opoku-Parry, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, attributed the success of the exercise to the fact that the EC knew the exact number of people to be catered for.
He said unlike the limited voter registration in which people who had already registered and had their cards missing or displaced, minors and foreigners bloated the estimated number the EC had planned for.
During the recent limited registration, the EC estimated that at most one million people would be registered but the number soared to a staggering 1,835,417. This increased the voter population from 10,354,970 to 12,822,474.
Mr Opoku-Parry appealed to Ghanaians to turn up in their numbers to check their particulars on the voters register during the exhibition exercise beginning from October 5 to 11.
He said they should check if the following were correct: Name, sex, photograph, age, date of birth as well as other particulars and their correct spellings.
He said they should also use the exhibition to delete names of people who were dead, minors, foreigners and double registration.
Mr Opoku-Parry said in this way, Ghanaians would be exercising their civic duty of helping to secure the integrity of the voters register.
It said information gathered from the regions indicated that all went well and without complaints.
The EC had to undertake the exercise because the commission ran out of materials for taking photographs during the limited registration exercise.
The Public Affairs Director, Mr E. Opoku-Parry, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, attributed the success of the exercise to the fact that the EC knew the exact number of people to be catered for.
He said unlike the limited voter registration in which people who had already registered and had their cards missing or displaced, minors and foreigners bloated the estimated number the EC had planned for.
During the recent limited registration, the EC estimated that at most one million people would be registered but the number soared to a staggering 1,835,417. This increased the voter population from 10,354,970 to 12,822,474.
Mr Opoku-Parry appealed to Ghanaians to turn up in their numbers to check their particulars on the voters register during the exhibition exercise beginning from October 5 to 11.
He said they should check if the following were correct: Name, sex, photograph, age, date of birth as well as other particulars and their correct spellings.
He said they should also use the exhibition to delete names of people who were dead, minors, foreigners and double registration.
Mr Opoku-Parry said in this way, Ghanaians would be exercising their civic duty of helping to secure the integrity of the voters register.
"We'll introduce Nkrumah's good policies"
THE flag bearer of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, has said Ghanaians must vote for the CPP for it to re-introduce the good policies that Dr Kwame Nkrumah introduced just after independence.
He said during the tenure of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) governments, they sold what Dr Nkrumah put together, particularly industries, and that “it is time for the builders, CPP, to be given back the mandate to re-build industries for Ghanaians”.
Dr Nduom was speaking at a grand rally to launch the party’s campaign and introduce his running mate, Dr Abu Foster Sakara. The occasion also coincided with the 99th birthday of Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
Flanked by three of the people who contested him for the flagbearership — Mr Bright Akwetey, Dr Frederick W. A. Akuffo and Dr Kwaku Osafo — Dr Nduom said, “A CPP government will take back what belongs to Ghanaians and give it back to the people.”
He asked Ghanaians to be wary of the NDC and the NPP for they had specialised in selling national assets built by Dr Nkrumah, explaining that a CPP government would rebuild and reclaim them to provide honour, jobs and security for the people.
Dr Nduom said as a sign of its willingness to rebuild industries, a CPP government would, within the first 100 days of assumption of office, resuscitate the Pwalugu Meat Factory and then follow it up with other factories across the country to provide jobs for the people.
He said as was being done in all developed nations, all products made in Ghana would be given special attention and that “only foods produced in Ghana will be served at all state functions”.
He described the current CPP as a rejuvenated party that was in a good stead to wrest power from the NPP to form the next government “because almost all those gathered here are card bearing members of the CPP”.
At that juncture, he asked the people at the rally to show their party identity cards and, true to his word, most of the people held up their green CPP membership identity cards, amidst shouts of “Yeresesamu”, ( to wit, ”We want change”.
Dr Nduom reiterated his statement that “if the crude oil found in the Western Region will not benefit Ghanaians the most, then it should better stay in the ground”.
He said an Nduom-led government would institute good policies to ensure that the plight that had befallen communities around gold mining areas in the country never happened to those living close to where the oil had been found.
The CPP, which is the only political party to have translated its manifesto into Braille form for the visually-impaired, also had a sign language translator on the platform to translate everything said at the rally into sign language for the hearing impaired.
Dr Nduom urged all those who attended the rally to move to their various destinations peacefully and never attack or insult their opponents.
He described his running mate as a “a family man who has been able to take good care of his family”.
He said Dr Sakara was a man who had the capacity, technical know-how and record to be able to transform agriculture in the country to benefit poor farmers who had toiled for the development of the country and yet remained poor.
In his acceptance speech, Dr Sakara said he had been humbled by the great honour done him to assist Dr Nduom to win the elections and serve the people of Ghana.
He said the sweetest part of every victory by any political party was when all the odds were against it and stated that some political parties were of the view that the CPP was mince meat, saying Ghanaians were the best jury that would pass judgement on December 7, 2008.
He said the present-day CPP had the strategy and the will to win the elections and that he, together with other party members, would support Dr Nduom to bring victory to the CPP.
As a sign of the peaceful nature of the CPP, Dr Sakara presented 12 white doves to Dr Nduom which were released into the air.
Earlier in the morning, the Central Committee of the party had accepted Dr Nduom’s nomination of Dr Sakara as his running mate.
Dr Sakara was also introduced to the National Executive Council of the party at the Teacher’s Hall in Accra.
He said during the tenure of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) governments, they sold what Dr Nkrumah put together, particularly industries, and that “it is time for the builders, CPP, to be given back the mandate to re-build industries for Ghanaians”.
Dr Nduom was speaking at a grand rally to launch the party’s campaign and introduce his running mate, Dr Abu Foster Sakara. The occasion also coincided with the 99th birthday of Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
Flanked by three of the people who contested him for the flagbearership — Mr Bright Akwetey, Dr Frederick W. A. Akuffo and Dr Kwaku Osafo — Dr Nduom said, “A CPP government will take back what belongs to Ghanaians and give it back to the people.”
He asked Ghanaians to be wary of the NDC and the NPP for they had specialised in selling national assets built by Dr Nkrumah, explaining that a CPP government would rebuild and reclaim them to provide honour, jobs and security for the people.
Dr Nduom said as a sign of its willingness to rebuild industries, a CPP government would, within the first 100 days of assumption of office, resuscitate the Pwalugu Meat Factory and then follow it up with other factories across the country to provide jobs for the people.
He said as was being done in all developed nations, all products made in Ghana would be given special attention and that “only foods produced in Ghana will be served at all state functions”.
He described the current CPP as a rejuvenated party that was in a good stead to wrest power from the NPP to form the next government “because almost all those gathered here are card bearing members of the CPP”.
At that juncture, he asked the people at the rally to show their party identity cards and, true to his word, most of the people held up their green CPP membership identity cards, amidst shouts of “Yeresesamu”, ( to wit, ”We want change”.
Dr Nduom reiterated his statement that “if the crude oil found in the Western Region will not benefit Ghanaians the most, then it should better stay in the ground”.
He said an Nduom-led government would institute good policies to ensure that the plight that had befallen communities around gold mining areas in the country never happened to those living close to where the oil had been found.
The CPP, which is the only political party to have translated its manifesto into Braille form for the visually-impaired, also had a sign language translator on the platform to translate everything said at the rally into sign language for the hearing impaired.
Dr Nduom urged all those who attended the rally to move to their various destinations peacefully and never attack or insult their opponents.
He described his running mate as a “a family man who has been able to take good care of his family”.
He said Dr Sakara was a man who had the capacity, technical know-how and record to be able to transform agriculture in the country to benefit poor farmers who had toiled for the development of the country and yet remained poor.
In his acceptance speech, Dr Sakara said he had been humbled by the great honour done him to assist Dr Nduom to win the elections and serve the people of Ghana.
He said the sweetest part of every victory by any political party was when all the odds were against it and stated that some political parties were of the view that the CPP was mince meat, saying Ghanaians were the best jury that would pass judgement on December 7, 2008.
He said the present-day CPP had the strategy and the will to win the elections and that he, together with other party members, would support Dr Nduom to bring victory to the CPP.
As a sign of the peaceful nature of the CPP, Dr Sakara presented 12 white doves to Dr Nduom which were released into the air.
Earlier in the morning, the Central Committee of the party had accepted Dr Nduom’s nomination of Dr Sakara as his running mate.
Dr Sakara was also introduced to the National Executive Council of the party at the Teacher’s Hall in Accra.
Friday, September 19, 2008
DFP to set $ 1 billion technology innovation fund
THE flag bearer of the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), Mr Emmanuel Ansah-Antwi, has said his administration will establish a $1 billion Innovation Fund to assist universities and research institutions to become the driving force in the nation’s development agenda.
He said the amount would be realised from the sale of bonds, widening of the tax net, oil revenue and two per cent of the GETFund among others.
Mr Ansah-Antwi said this when he took his turn at the presidential aspirant interaction with scientists of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Accra on Wednesday.
He was speaking on theme “Science and Technology and Innovation for the Development of Ghana; The Role of CSIR”.
He said considering education as the most important tool for sustainable development, science and technology teaching and learning would be intensified from basic schools to the tertiary level.
Mr Ansah-Antwi said this would be complemented with provision of science equipment and laboratories, libraries, computer accessories as well as science centres to provide access to entrepreneurial skills to science and engineering undergraduates and graduates would be established.
He said the DFP would also introduce Research and Development tax credits for small and large companies to activate them to support the undertaking of more research.
“A DFP government will consider carefully the advantage of creating a ministry for the science and technology or placing oversight responsibility for such a sector under the presidency to give it the necessary clout”, he said.
On agriculture, he said the DFP would use science and technology in developing the party’s policy of “Green Revolution” by modernising the agriculture to be self-sufficient for the nation and use the excess produce to feed local industries all through the use of science and technology findings.
He said since most of the worker population in the country were into agriculture, helping the industry to grow would provide satisfactory remuneration for the people.
The DFP flag bearer said in the party’s bid to provide adequate and safe housing for Ghanaians, it would support the Building and Research Unit of CSIR to come out with quality, standardised local building materials at cheaper prices.
He said for instance as a government, it would use the Pozzolana made from local clay to substitute clinker which would save the country at least $30 million per year on clinker imports.
Mr Ansah-Antwi said the DFP would vigorously support the primary health delivery system with the provision and rehabilitation of health infrastructure and deepening of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
He said the DFP would encourage sustained research into the use of plant medicine as an effective complementary health delivery system as well as offer unconditional support to researchers to find and apply the necessary curative product for HIV/AIDS, malaria, Guinea Worm, buruli ulcer among others.
He said a DFP administration would take concrete steps to encourage and support physically challenged Ghanaians to learn science.
“There is the perception that blind students cannot study science, however, with the advent of computers that have software that use mathematical simulations; our quest to give equal educational opportunities to all our citizens would be on course”, Mr Ansah-Antwi added.
He said the party would make strenuous efforts to apply science and technology in the development agenda for the three northern regions to make them the real bred basket of the nation.
“We will concentrate on crops such as rice, millet, yam, maize, shea butter, cotton, mangoes and other citrus fruits and give support in terms of subsidies and markets. This will help empower the people economically thereby, increasing their purchasing power as well as creating jobs through private participation.
The General Secretary of the DFP, Mr Bede Zieden, said the party would remove the Shea Butter from the ambit of the Cocoa Board and establish a separate board for it.
This, he said, would offer the crop the best attention for proper development to yield the required benefit for the country and the farmers as well.
In his welcome address, the Director General of the CSIR, Dr A. B. Salifu, said the council’s objectives continued to be demand-driven in focus, leading to products like fact-track cost-saving construction technologies that have been used to achieve at least 20 per cent cost and time reduction in comparison with traditional construction.
Others, he said were the all time bridge timber design and construction, roof protection development and rip-off prevention, clay products for road pavements and house buildings.
He said the amount would be realised from the sale of bonds, widening of the tax net, oil revenue and two per cent of the GETFund among others.
Mr Ansah-Antwi said this when he took his turn at the presidential aspirant interaction with scientists of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Accra on Wednesday.
He was speaking on theme “Science and Technology and Innovation for the Development of Ghana; The Role of CSIR”.
He said considering education as the most important tool for sustainable development, science and technology teaching and learning would be intensified from basic schools to the tertiary level.
Mr Ansah-Antwi said this would be complemented with provision of science equipment and laboratories, libraries, computer accessories as well as science centres to provide access to entrepreneurial skills to science and engineering undergraduates and graduates would be established.
He said the DFP would also introduce Research and Development tax credits for small and large companies to activate them to support the undertaking of more research.
“A DFP government will consider carefully the advantage of creating a ministry for the science and technology or placing oversight responsibility for such a sector under the presidency to give it the necessary clout”, he said.
On agriculture, he said the DFP would use science and technology in developing the party’s policy of “Green Revolution” by modernising the agriculture to be self-sufficient for the nation and use the excess produce to feed local industries all through the use of science and technology findings.
He said since most of the worker population in the country were into agriculture, helping the industry to grow would provide satisfactory remuneration for the people.
The DFP flag bearer said in the party’s bid to provide adequate and safe housing for Ghanaians, it would support the Building and Research Unit of CSIR to come out with quality, standardised local building materials at cheaper prices.
He said for instance as a government, it would use the Pozzolana made from local clay to substitute clinker which would save the country at least $30 million per year on clinker imports.
Mr Ansah-Antwi said the DFP would vigorously support the primary health delivery system with the provision and rehabilitation of health infrastructure and deepening of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
He said the DFP would encourage sustained research into the use of plant medicine as an effective complementary health delivery system as well as offer unconditional support to researchers to find and apply the necessary curative product for HIV/AIDS, malaria, Guinea Worm, buruli ulcer among others.
He said a DFP administration would take concrete steps to encourage and support physically challenged Ghanaians to learn science.
“There is the perception that blind students cannot study science, however, with the advent of computers that have software that use mathematical simulations; our quest to give equal educational opportunities to all our citizens would be on course”, Mr Ansah-Antwi added.
He said the party would make strenuous efforts to apply science and technology in the development agenda for the three northern regions to make them the real bred basket of the nation.
“We will concentrate on crops such as rice, millet, yam, maize, shea butter, cotton, mangoes and other citrus fruits and give support in terms of subsidies and markets. This will help empower the people economically thereby, increasing their purchasing power as well as creating jobs through private participation.
The General Secretary of the DFP, Mr Bede Zieden, said the party would remove the Shea Butter from the ambit of the Cocoa Board and establish a separate board for it.
This, he said, would offer the crop the best attention for proper development to yield the required benefit for the country and the farmers as well.
In his welcome address, the Director General of the CSIR, Dr A. B. Salifu, said the council’s objectives continued to be demand-driven in focus, leading to products like fact-track cost-saving construction technologies that have been used to achieve at least 20 per cent cost and time reduction in comparison with traditional construction.
Others, he said were the all time bridge timber design and construction, roof protection development and rip-off prevention, clay products for road pavements and house buildings.
Upper East records least challenges cases
THE Upper East Region recorded nine out of 7,374 cases recorded nationwide during the recent voter registration exercise thus becoming the region with the least number of challenges cases.
In all, a total of 69,988 first-time voters were registered in the region, out of the nationwide number of 1,835,417.
This brings the total number of registered voters in the region to 513,404, while the nationwide new figure is 12,822,474.
The Electoral Commission (EC) reopened the voters register for the supplementary registration of eligible voters from Thursday, July 31, to Sunday, August 10, this year.
The supplementary registration allowed those who had turned 18 years and had not registered, as well as anybody who was over 18, but had never registered, to register.
The district break down for the Upper East Region during the limited registration are Builsa, 6,113; Kasena/Nankana, 12,126; Bolgatanga, 10,755; Bongo, 7,554; Bawku West, 6,684; Bawku Municipality, 12,959; Garu/Tempane, 7,419; Talensi/Nabdam, 6,378.
In all, a total of 69,988 first-time voters were registered in the region, out of the nationwide number of 1,835,417.
This brings the total number of registered voters in the region to 513,404, while the nationwide new figure is 12,822,474.
The Electoral Commission (EC) reopened the voters register for the supplementary registration of eligible voters from Thursday, July 31, to Sunday, August 10, this year.
The supplementary registration allowed those who had turned 18 years and had not registered, as well as anybody who was over 18, but had never registered, to register.
The district break down for the Upper East Region during the limited registration are Builsa, 6,113; Kasena/Nankana, 12,126; Bolgatanga, 10,755; Bongo, 7,554; Bawku West, 6,684; Bawku Municipality, 12,959; Garu/Tempane, 7,419; Talensi/Nabdam, 6,378.
'No room for power sharing concept'
FOUR major organisations in the country have called on Ghanaians to totally reject the phenomenon of power sharing that is gradually creeping into African democracy.
They argued that Ghana, as the beacon of hope and pacesetter in free, transparent and peaceful elections, as well as democracy, must use the 2008 elections to prove to the world that it would not depart from party democracy which was so far the best form of governance.
They gave the advice during the launch of the “Clean Election Campaign in Ghana 2008 Election Year” organised by the Methodist Church and Initiatives of Change/Moral Re-Armament (MRA)-Ghana, in collaboration with the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), in Accra yesterday.
It was on the theme, “Win honourably, lose graciously”.
The Most Rev Dr Robert Aboagye-Mensah, the Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Ghana, represented the Methodist Church; Major Mohammed Easah (retd), the Chairman of the Coalition of Muslim Organisations of Ghana (COMOG), represented COMOG; Mr Ransford Tetteh, the President of the GJA, represented the association, while Prof Mike Oquaye represented the flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Launching the programme, The Most Rev Dr Aboagye-Mensah said Ghana had advanced in multi-party democracy and gone beyond the situation that called for power sharing after elections and “cannot afford to use this backward system of power sharing”.
He described the phenomenon as an unpopular system for nations in crisis and that Ghana, in its present democratic state, was nowhere near such a system.
He said the practice of Christians and Muslim actively collaborating on many fronts for the good of the nation was “a sign of blessings we in Ghana are taking for granted” because most countries never experience such a beautiful combination of the children of God.
The Most Rev Dr Aboagye-Mensah said the launching of the programme, which included the filling of a pledge form by all Ghanaians to promise to contribute their quota to free, fair and peaceful elections, was not aimed at helping any political party.
For his part, Major Easah said the main reason Ghanaians must avoid power sharing was that anywhere it had been used it had been after innocent lives had been lost through nasty clashes of political opponents after general election.
“Ghanaians should say a big no and develop the capacity to call a spade a spade and not please all sides. We should not encourage losers to have their way but let people know that there is only one winner,” he said, adding that “the Electoral Commission must play the game in such way that all those who want to cause trouble will be exposed”.
He also appealed to the leaders and followers of political parties to be civil and considerate in their utterances.
Mr Tetteh pledged the GJA’s resolve to partner all those who cherished freedom and democracy to assist the EC to conduct free, fair and transparent elections and declare “a clear winner for the December polls, in contrast to power- sharing deals which are gradually gaining ground as a euphemism for African democracy”.
He urged the media to play their roles according to the regulations of journalism to avoid the situation where journalists would be accused for disputed polls in December.
He appealed to media practitioners to, in the exercise of their gate-keeping role, emulate the proverbial linguists and refine the inflammatory language of politicians to avoid inflaming passions.
He commended the Methodist Church for the initiative and pledged the GJA’s resolve to support the move.
Prof Oquaye said Ghana’s democracy was nowhere near instances where people would call for power sharing, adding that “we must not allow the power-sharing phenomenon because it is dangerous. We must stand by the principle of democracy”.
He also appealed to Ghanaians not to hesitate to condemn any form of wrongdoing, irrespective of the culprits, and urged the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to intensify its education of the electorate on the need to play by the rules of the game.
Other speakers who called for decent language and free, fair and transparent elections were Mr Justice V. C. R. A. C. Crabbe, Rev Dr Fred Deegbe, the General Secretary of the Christian Council, and Nii Okaika III, who represented the Ga Mantse.
They argued that Ghana, as the beacon of hope and pacesetter in free, transparent and peaceful elections, as well as democracy, must use the 2008 elections to prove to the world that it would not depart from party democracy which was so far the best form of governance.
They gave the advice during the launch of the “Clean Election Campaign in Ghana 2008 Election Year” organised by the Methodist Church and Initiatives of Change/Moral Re-Armament (MRA)-Ghana, in collaboration with the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), in Accra yesterday.
It was on the theme, “Win honourably, lose graciously”.
The Most Rev Dr Robert Aboagye-Mensah, the Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Ghana, represented the Methodist Church; Major Mohammed Easah (retd), the Chairman of the Coalition of Muslim Organisations of Ghana (COMOG), represented COMOG; Mr Ransford Tetteh, the President of the GJA, represented the association, while Prof Mike Oquaye represented the flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Launching the programme, The Most Rev Dr Aboagye-Mensah said Ghana had advanced in multi-party democracy and gone beyond the situation that called for power sharing after elections and “cannot afford to use this backward system of power sharing”.
He described the phenomenon as an unpopular system for nations in crisis and that Ghana, in its present democratic state, was nowhere near such a system.
He said the practice of Christians and Muslim actively collaborating on many fronts for the good of the nation was “a sign of blessings we in Ghana are taking for granted” because most countries never experience such a beautiful combination of the children of God.
The Most Rev Dr Aboagye-Mensah said the launching of the programme, which included the filling of a pledge form by all Ghanaians to promise to contribute their quota to free, fair and peaceful elections, was not aimed at helping any political party.
For his part, Major Easah said the main reason Ghanaians must avoid power sharing was that anywhere it had been used it had been after innocent lives had been lost through nasty clashes of political opponents after general election.
“Ghanaians should say a big no and develop the capacity to call a spade a spade and not please all sides. We should not encourage losers to have their way but let people know that there is only one winner,” he said, adding that “the Electoral Commission must play the game in such way that all those who want to cause trouble will be exposed”.
He also appealed to the leaders and followers of political parties to be civil and considerate in their utterances.
Mr Tetteh pledged the GJA’s resolve to partner all those who cherished freedom and democracy to assist the EC to conduct free, fair and transparent elections and declare “a clear winner for the December polls, in contrast to power- sharing deals which are gradually gaining ground as a euphemism for African democracy”.
He urged the media to play their roles according to the regulations of journalism to avoid the situation where journalists would be accused for disputed polls in December.
He appealed to media practitioners to, in the exercise of their gate-keeping role, emulate the proverbial linguists and refine the inflammatory language of politicians to avoid inflaming passions.
He commended the Methodist Church for the initiative and pledged the GJA’s resolve to support the move.
Prof Oquaye said Ghana’s democracy was nowhere near instances where people would call for power sharing, adding that “we must not allow the power-sharing phenomenon because it is dangerous. We must stand by the principle of democracy”.
He also appealed to Ghanaians not to hesitate to condemn any form of wrongdoing, irrespective of the culprits, and urged the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to intensify its education of the electorate on the need to play by the rules of the game.
Other speakers who called for decent language and free, fair and transparent elections were Mr Justice V. C. R. A. C. Crabbe, Rev Dr Fred Deegbe, the General Secretary of the Christian Council, and Nii Okaika III, who represented the Ga Mantse.
Special picture taking exercise was successful
THE Electoral Commission (EC) has described as successful the just ended special photo-taking exercise.
It said information gathered from the regions indicated that all went well and without complaints.
The EC had to undertake the exercise because the commission ran out of materials for taking photographs during the limited registration exercise.
The Public Affairs Director, Mr E. Opoku-Parry, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, attributed the success of the exercise to the fact that the EC knew the exact number of people to be catered for.
He said unlike the limited voter registration in which people who had already registered and had their cards missing or displaced, minors and foreigners bloated the estimated number the EC had planned for.
During the recent limited registration, the EC estimated that at most one million people would be registered but the number soared to a staggering 1,835,417. This increased the voter population from 10,354,970 to 12,822,474.
Mr Opoku-Parry appealed to Ghanaians to turn up in their numbers to check their particulars on the voters register during the exhibition exercise beginning from October 5 to 11.
He said they should check if the following were correct: Name, sex, photograph, age, date of birth as well as other particulars and their correct spellings.
He said they should also use the exhibition to delete names of people who were dead, minors, foreigners and double registration.
Mr Opoku-Parry said in this way, Ghanaians would be exercising their civic duty of helping to secure the integrity of the voters register.
It said information gathered from the regions indicated that all went well and without complaints.
The EC had to undertake the exercise because the commission ran out of materials for taking photographs during the limited registration exercise.
The Public Affairs Director, Mr E. Opoku-Parry, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, attributed the success of the exercise to the fact that the EC knew the exact number of people to be catered for.
He said unlike the limited voter registration in which people who had already registered and had their cards missing or displaced, minors and foreigners bloated the estimated number the EC had planned for.
During the recent limited registration, the EC estimated that at most one million people would be registered but the number soared to a staggering 1,835,417. This increased the voter population from 10,354,970 to 12,822,474.
Mr Opoku-Parry appealed to Ghanaians to turn up in their numbers to check their particulars on the voters register during the exhibition exercise beginning from October 5 to 11.
He said they should check if the following were correct: Name, sex, photograph, age, date of birth as well as other particulars and their correct spellings.
He said they should also use the exhibition to delete names of people who were dead, minors, foreigners and double registration.
Mr Opoku-Parry said in this way, Ghanaians would be exercising their civic duty of helping to secure the integrity of the voters register.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
NPP best choice for December elections — O. B. Amoah
THE New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary aspirant for Aburi-Nsawam, Mr O. B. Amoah, has endorsed the NPP as the best choice for the country in the December elections.
He said the best way Ghanaians could distinguish between a bad government and a good one was to make a comparison of their policies, especially those that had had a direct bearing on their lives.
Mr Amoah, who is also a Deputy Minister for Education, Science and Sports, was addressing party supporters at Adoagyiri in the Eastern Region as part of the regional tour of Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo, the wife of the NPP flag bearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
He said although the economy was in a bad shape when the NPP took over in 2001, the Kufuor Administration had been able to turn it around and come up with policies that had had a positive impact on the ordinary Ghanaian.
He explained that but for the good policies and the farsightedness of the NPP administration, the recent unprecedented oil price hikes and food crises that hit the world would have had dire consequences for the Ghanaian economy.
He said although a barrel of crude oil went up as high as $143, the highest in history, there had been no shortage of petroleum products in Ghana, adding that even when the citizens of other nations were demonstrating as a result of shortages and high prices of food, Ghana was stable.
Mr Amoah indicated that through prudent management of the economy, the government had been able to institute programmes such as the Capitation Grant, the School Feeding Programme and free transport for school pupils, the National Health Insurance Scheme, among others.
He said those policies were targeted at ensuring that the burden on Ghanaians was reduced and that they were offered the opportunity to use their resources on other equally important things.
He urged Ghanaians not to forget about the bad human rights situation in Ghana during the NDC era but juxtapose it against the respect for human rights, the rule of law and freedom of the individual and the media being enjoyed in the country during the two-term Presidency of President Kufuor.
He threw a challenge to the parliamentary aspirants of the other political parties in the constituency, especially the NDC, to meet him on a debate on the records of the NPP and the NDC.
Mr Amoah urged the people to vote massively for him as MP and Nana Akufo-Addo as President to allow the NPP to continue with its good works.
He advised the people not to allow themselves to be coaxed by the NDC to vote for it, adding that voting for the NDC would mean reversing all those good policies.
Mrs Akufo-Addo, for her part, urged the people to go about their politicking in a peaceful and non-violent manner to ensure that the security of the state was not breached, while keeping lives and limbs intact.
She urged the women to be ambassadors of the NPP anywhere they found themselves and explain to their families, friends and colleagues the need to come out in their numbers to vote massively for the NPP flag bearer.
He said the best way Ghanaians could distinguish between a bad government and a good one was to make a comparison of their policies, especially those that had had a direct bearing on their lives.
Mr Amoah, who is also a Deputy Minister for Education, Science and Sports, was addressing party supporters at Adoagyiri in the Eastern Region as part of the regional tour of Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo, the wife of the NPP flag bearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
He said although the economy was in a bad shape when the NPP took over in 2001, the Kufuor Administration had been able to turn it around and come up with policies that had had a positive impact on the ordinary Ghanaian.
He explained that but for the good policies and the farsightedness of the NPP administration, the recent unprecedented oil price hikes and food crises that hit the world would have had dire consequences for the Ghanaian economy.
He said although a barrel of crude oil went up as high as $143, the highest in history, there had been no shortage of petroleum products in Ghana, adding that even when the citizens of other nations were demonstrating as a result of shortages and high prices of food, Ghana was stable.
Mr Amoah indicated that through prudent management of the economy, the government had been able to institute programmes such as the Capitation Grant, the School Feeding Programme and free transport for school pupils, the National Health Insurance Scheme, among others.
He said those policies were targeted at ensuring that the burden on Ghanaians was reduced and that they were offered the opportunity to use their resources on other equally important things.
He urged Ghanaians not to forget about the bad human rights situation in Ghana during the NDC era but juxtapose it against the respect for human rights, the rule of law and freedom of the individual and the media being enjoyed in the country during the two-term Presidency of President Kufuor.
He threw a challenge to the parliamentary aspirants of the other political parties in the constituency, especially the NDC, to meet him on a debate on the records of the NPP and the NDC.
Mr Amoah urged the people to vote massively for him as MP and Nana Akufo-Addo as President to allow the NPP to continue with its good works.
He advised the people not to allow themselves to be coaxed by the NDC to vote for it, adding that voting for the NDC would mean reversing all those good policies.
Mrs Akufo-Addo, for her part, urged the people to go about their politicking in a peaceful and non-violent manner to ensure that the security of the state was not breached, while keeping lives and limbs intact.
She urged the women to be ambassadors of the NPP anywhere they found themselves and explain to their families, friends and colleagues the need to come out in their numbers to vote massively for the NPP flag bearer.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
We objected to election of Mr Blay — CPP
The Convention People’s Party (CPP) has said it has not nullified the Ellembele Constituency primary of the party held on August 23, 2008 which elected Mr Freddie Blay, the incumbent MP to contest this year’s election.
According to the party, what it did was to object to the election of Mr Blay as the party’s parliamentary aspirant for the constituency and referred the matter to the constituency executive committee through the regional steering committee for a review as per the CPP constitution.
Mr Freddie Blay sued the CPP and some of its leading members at the Accra Fast Track High Court, seeking a declaration that the primary held to elect him as the CPP’s parliamentary aspirant was proper, valid and in compliance with the party’s constitution.
In an affidavit in opposition to Mr Blay’s suit, the defendants said the correct position of the party was contained in a press release signed by the CPP General Secretary, Mr Ivor Kobina Greenstreet.
According to the affidavit, the press release expressed the consequence of the Central Committee’s decision to object to the election of Mr Blay as the party’s parliamentary aspirant for the 2008 election.
According to the affidavit, what that meant was that if Mr Blay failed to regularise his position with the Central Committee, then there would be the need for the Ellembele Constituency to hold a fresh election in order to elect another candidate, thereby rendering the initial primary null and void.
It said that all the written invitations sent to Mr Blay only invited him to attend a meeting concerning his presence at a New Patriotic Party (NPP) rally at Ainyinase on April 30, 2008.
“The invitation never stated that any charge had been preferred against Mr Blay; neither did the CPP say that Mr Blay had breached any provisions of the party’s constitution”, the affidavit stated.
It said in a letter purporting to request for a statement of his charge, Mr Blay was out of place as he showed gross disrespect to and contempt for the CPP, a political party on whose ticket he was asking for endorsement to stand as a parliamentary candidate for the 2008 election.
The affidavit was deposed by Mr Greenstreet on behalf of the CPP, Mr Ladi Nylander, Dr Abu Sakara, Mr Mike Eghan, Mr Kosi Dedey and Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, the other respondents to the suit.
According to the party, what it did was to object to the election of Mr Blay as the party’s parliamentary aspirant for the constituency and referred the matter to the constituency executive committee through the regional steering committee for a review as per the CPP constitution.
Mr Freddie Blay sued the CPP and some of its leading members at the Accra Fast Track High Court, seeking a declaration that the primary held to elect him as the CPP’s parliamentary aspirant was proper, valid and in compliance with the party’s constitution.
In an affidavit in opposition to Mr Blay’s suit, the defendants said the correct position of the party was contained in a press release signed by the CPP General Secretary, Mr Ivor Kobina Greenstreet.
According to the affidavit, the press release expressed the consequence of the Central Committee’s decision to object to the election of Mr Blay as the party’s parliamentary aspirant for the 2008 election.
According to the affidavit, what that meant was that if Mr Blay failed to regularise his position with the Central Committee, then there would be the need for the Ellembele Constituency to hold a fresh election in order to elect another candidate, thereby rendering the initial primary null and void.
It said that all the written invitations sent to Mr Blay only invited him to attend a meeting concerning his presence at a New Patriotic Party (NPP) rally at Ainyinase on April 30, 2008.
“The invitation never stated that any charge had been preferred against Mr Blay; neither did the CPP say that Mr Blay had breached any provisions of the party’s constitution”, the affidavit stated.
It said in a letter purporting to request for a statement of his charge, Mr Blay was out of place as he showed gross disrespect to and contempt for the CPP, a political party on whose ticket he was asking for endorsement to stand as a parliamentary candidate for the 2008 election.
The affidavit was deposed by Mr Greenstreet on behalf of the CPP, Mr Ladi Nylander, Dr Abu Sakara, Mr Mike Eghan, Mr Kosi Dedey and Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, the other respondents to the suit.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
NPP: Lets collaborate to find solutions to Northern conflicts
THE New Patriotic Party (NPP), has called on other political parties, especially the National Democratic Congress (NDC), to collaborate with the party to help the Northern Regional security committee to find lasting solutions to a peaceful coexistence between the people in the area before, during and after the 2008 elections.
It said violence in any part of the country would not promote the current democratic dispensation and benefit the nation as whole.
The National Chairman of the party, Mr Peter Mac Manu, who made the call at a press conference on the recent disturbances in the Northern Region in Accra yesterday said the NPP was not making the call out of fear.
He suggested that the two main political parties must support the security agencies for their efforts to be fruitful.
He said the NPP did not believed in politics of violence and recrimination and added that it was time for the accommodation of differences rather than accusations and counter accusations and urged all members and sympathisers of the NPP to refrain from acts that could spark fire.
The NPP Chairman said the 2008 election must be won based on which political party could do better based on the party’y past record and manifesto and not of violence.
He said the NPP had also included in its education campaign to its members, peaceful and non-provocative conduct and had urged all constituency and regional executives to follow especially Public Order Act, 491 in the planning and organisation of all electioneering activities.
He also called on the law-enforcement agencies to maintain peace and security and deal ruthlessly with any one caught acting lawlessly.
It said violence in any part of the country would not promote the current democratic dispensation and benefit the nation as whole.
The National Chairman of the party, Mr Peter Mac Manu, who made the call at a press conference on the recent disturbances in the Northern Region in Accra yesterday said the NPP was not making the call out of fear.
He suggested that the two main political parties must support the security agencies for their efforts to be fruitful.
He said the NPP did not believed in politics of violence and recrimination and added that it was time for the accommodation of differences rather than accusations and counter accusations and urged all members and sympathisers of the NPP to refrain from acts that could spark fire.
The NPP Chairman said the 2008 election must be won based on which political party could do better based on the party’y past record and manifesto and not of violence.
He said the NPP had also included in its education campaign to its members, peaceful and non-provocative conduct and had urged all constituency and regional executives to follow especially Public Order Act, 491 in the planning and organisation of all electioneering activities.
He also called on the law-enforcement agencies to maintain peace and security and deal ruthlessly with any one caught acting lawlessly.
Ndoum urges Akufo-Addo, Mills to help end violence in North
The presidential aspirant of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, has called on the presidential aspirants of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Professor J.E.A. Mills and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo respectively, to personally go to the troubled areas in northern Ghana and talk to their supporters to let them know that elections are not about violence and loss of lives.
Dr Nduom was speaking to the Daily Graphic on his return from the Northern Region and expressed fear that the rate at which arms were being stockpiled by civilians in the troubled spots could mar the December elections.
He said “if somebody thinks that Ghana cannot be like Cote d’Ivoire or Kenya we should think again. The young men in the north are being armed in their hundreds and are looking for the opportunity to misbehave like they did in Tamale and Gushiegu”.
Dr Nduom said it was unacceptable for presidential aspirants to campaign and preach peace in areas where there was peace while their supporters engaged in fierce gun battles culminating in loss of lives and property in other parts of the country.
He said they must go to such hot spots with their peace messages rather than to campaign as if nothing had happened, because they could not be president over a chaotic country.
Dr Nduom, who also donated relief items and interacted with the people while in the Northern Region, said he was terrified by the extent of damage to lives and property.
He said the devastating loss of lives and property because of the clash between supporters of the two political parties should send a strong signal to the authorities to redouble their efforts at maintaining peace.
He suggested that more well-equipped military and police personnel must be and deployed throughout the country, especially in troubled spots to prevent chaotic situations before the election day.
“I have told the CPP members that our party would not tolerate any member who indulges in violent acts and I also call on the two aspirants to also caution their supporters not to indulge in violent acts”, he added.
Dr Nduom said CPP members have been told that Ghana was more important than any other person or political party before during and after the December polls and that anyone who misbehaved would face the consequences.
He also appealed to the media to be circumspect about their reportage, especially pronouncements by political leaders concerning troubled spots in the county.
Dr Nduom said if political leaders who must calm tempers of their supporters resort to blame game that inflame passions and tend to escalate the situation, the media must be professional enough not to echo such pronouncements for the sake of peace.
Dr Nduom was speaking to the Daily Graphic on his return from the Northern Region and expressed fear that the rate at which arms were being stockpiled by civilians in the troubled spots could mar the December elections.
He said “if somebody thinks that Ghana cannot be like Cote d’Ivoire or Kenya we should think again. The young men in the north are being armed in their hundreds and are looking for the opportunity to misbehave like they did in Tamale and Gushiegu”.
Dr Nduom said it was unacceptable for presidential aspirants to campaign and preach peace in areas where there was peace while their supporters engaged in fierce gun battles culminating in loss of lives and property in other parts of the country.
He said they must go to such hot spots with their peace messages rather than to campaign as if nothing had happened, because they could not be president over a chaotic country.
Dr Nduom, who also donated relief items and interacted with the people while in the Northern Region, said he was terrified by the extent of damage to lives and property.
He said the devastating loss of lives and property because of the clash between supporters of the two political parties should send a strong signal to the authorities to redouble their efforts at maintaining peace.
He suggested that more well-equipped military and police personnel must be and deployed throughout the country, especially in troubled spots to prevent chaotic situations before the election day.
“I have told the CPP members that our party would not tolerate any member who indulges in violent acts and I also call on the two aspirants to also caution their supporters not to indulge in violent acts”, he added.
Dr Nduom said CPP members have been told that Ghana was more important than any other person or political party before during and after the December polls and that anyone who misbehaved would face the consequences.
He also appealed to the media to be circumspect about their reportage, especially pronouncements by political leaders concerning troubled spots in the county.
Dr Nduom said if political leaders who must calm tempers of their supporters resort to blame game that inflame passions and tend to escalate the situation, the media must be professional enough not to echo such pronouncements for the sake of peace.
Use photo exercise to purge yourselves -EC urges those involved in malpractices
THE Electoral Commission (EC) has urged all those who engaged in one electoral malpractice or another during the recent limited registration exercise to use the photo-taking activity which ends today to purge themselves.
It said the photo-taking exercise should provide an opportunity for those who had engaged in multiple registration, foreigners and minors who were registered but could not have their photographs taken for identity cards to be issued to them to avoid having their photographs taken so that their names would not be captured in the national register.
That, the EC believed, would help reduce the number of people who bloated the register during the limited registration exercise, as well as save the culprits the embarrassment of being pointed out, especially the minors.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, a Principal Public Relations Officer at the EC, Mrs Sylvia Annor, said the responsibility of cleaning the register lay on the shoulders of all Ghanaians, especially the political parties who were the primary users of the register.
She also gave the assurance that the EC would not take any action against those who voluntarily came forward to cancel their names from the register as minors, foreigners or double registrants.
She said that could be done from now till the exhibition period which would start from October 5 to 11 at all polling stations.
With the photo-taking exercise, she said the commission had secured enough logistics to cover all those who could not have their photographs taken during the limited registration.
When the Daily Graphic visited the IBU Polling Station at New Mamprobi in Accra, about 50 young people were waiting patiently in the queue to have their photographs taken.
The exercise was generally peaceful and the officials in charge of the photo-taking and identity card issuance expressed the hope that all those who registered would receive their identity cards.
One of the people in the queue, Michael Tetteh, said although the queue was a bit long, he would have his identify card issued to him because of the smooth manner in which the EC officials were undertaking the exercise.
At the Accra Technical Training Centre, about 50 people had had their photographs taken as of 11.15 a.m., with about 15 people waiting for their turn.
In a related development, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has challenged the EC to come out with the details of those whose illegal methods have led to the bloating of the voters register, reports Timothy Gobah.
It said the “EC must come out clear with the problem, particularly the areas where the register has been bloated, as well as where the suspected minors registered, for the public to offer the help the EC was calling for”.
The Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, Mr Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, told the Daily Graphic after the Propaganda Secretary of the party, Mr Fiifi Kwetey, had addressed a press conference in Accra yesterday that the party would avail itself of the opportunity if the EC gave the details of where these problems had occurred.
He said the NDC foresaw those problems but noted that “anytime we want to contribute to ensuring clean elections without rancour, we are tagged doom mongers”.
He said the December elections could be successful and without chaos or rancour only if there was maximum co-operation from all the political parties.
Mr Afriyie-Ankrah, however, pledged the NDC’s preparedness to co-operate with the EC to ensure violence-free elections.
For his part, Mr Kwetey challenged the democratic credentials of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), saying that the NPP, under a democratic dispensation, had unleashed more violence on the people than any other government since independence.
The propaganda secretary took a swipe at the NPP’s claim of being the prophets of press freedom, citing a lot of infraction that had taken place under the NPP regime.
It said the photo-taking exercise should provide an opportunity for those who had engaged in multiple registration, foreigners and minors who were registered but could not have their photographs taken for identity cards to be issued to them to avoid having their photographs taken so that their names would not be captured in the national register.
That, the EC believed, would help reduce the number of people who bloated the register during the limited registration exercise, as well as save the culprits the embarrassment of being pointed out, especially the minors.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, a Principal Public Relations Officer at the EC, Mrs Sylvia Annor, said the responsibility of cleaning the register lay on the shoulders of all Ghanaians, especially the political parties who were the primary users of the register.
She also gave the assurance that the EC would not take any action against those who voluntarily came forward to cancel their names from the register as minors, foreigners or double registrants.
She said that could be done from now till the exhibition period which would start from October 5 to 11 at all polling stations.
With the photo-taking exercise, she said the commission had secured enough logistics to cover all those who could not have their photographs taken during the limited registration.
When the Daily Graphic visited the IBU Polling Station at New Mamprobi in Accra, about 50 young people were waiting patiently in the queue to have their photographs taken.
The exercise was generally peaceful and the officials in charge of the photo-taking and identity card issuance expressed the hope that all those who registered would receive their identity cards.
One of the people in the queue, Michael Tetteh, said although the queue was a bit long, he would have his identify card issued to him because of the smooth manner in which the EC officials were undertaking the exercise.
At the Accra Technical Training Centre, about 50 people had had their photographs taken as of 11.15 a.m., with about 15 people waiting for their turn.
In a related development, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has challenged the EC to come out with the details of those whose illegal methods have led to the bloating of the voters register, reports Timothy Gobah.
It said the “EC must come out clear with the problem, particularly the areas where the register has been bloated, as well as where the suspected minors registered, for the public to offer the help the EC was calling for”.
The Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, Mr Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, told the Daily Graphic after the Propaganda Secretary of the party, Mr Fiifi Kwetey, had addressed a press conference in Accra yesterday that the party would avail itself of the opportunity if the EC gave the details of where these problems had occurred.
He said the NDC foresaw those problems but noted that “anytime we want to contribute to ensuring clean elections without rancour, we are tagged doom mongers”.
He said the December elections could be successful and without chaos or rancour only if there was maximum co-operation from all the political parties.
Mr Afriyie-Ankrah, however, pledged the NDC’s preparedness to co-operate with the EC to ensure violence-free elections.
For his part, Mr Kwetey challenged the democratic credentials of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), saying that the NPP, under a democratic dispensation, had unleashed more violence on the people than any other government since independence.
The propaganda secretary took a swipe at the NPP’s claim of being the prophets of press freedom, citing a lot of infraction that had taken place under the NPP regime.
Monday, September 15, 2008
HELP • EC wants electoral register cleaned
THE Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr Kwadwo Afari Gyan, has described the figures on the current voters register as statiscally incorrect and made a passionate appeal to Ghanaians to help him and the EC to clean it up.
He said in its current form, the register could be a recipe for chaos on election day, warning that if Ghanaians did not assist the EC to clean it during the voters register exhibition exercise, Ghanaians will see children, foreigners and people with double identity voting on election day “and nothing could be done about it.”
“If we don’t correct it now and wait till the voting day, you will see a minor voting and because you cannot challenge his eligibility, people might resort to force to take them away from the queue, which could result in chaotic situations”, he noted.
He said with the current national population of 22 million, having almost 13 million people on the voters register was unheard of.
During the recent limited registration, the EC estimated that at most one million people would be registered but the number soared to a staggering 1,835,417. This increased the voter number from 10,354,970 to 12,822,474.
Dr Gyan was speaking at an open forum after the EC had organised a familiarisation tour of its facilities at its national headquarters for regional executive members of political parties from the Eastern and Central regions in Accra over the weekend.
The tour was organised by the EC in collaboration with KAB Governance Consult and Freiderich Ebert Foundation. The party executive members were taken through the operations room, where results from the regions are compiled, the IT room, where results, as well as the voters register, are processed.
To the amazement of the media and the party executives, the EC Chairman sent round some of the registration forms bearing pictures of minors who registered. Both both the media and the party executive members were in one accord that some of the minors who were registered were as young as four years old.
But Dr Afari Gyan said although there was every indication that to all intents and purposes those people were minors, the EC, on its own volition, could not remove their names from the register until the culprits or their parents called for the deletion of their names from the register or some Ghanaians challenged their eligibility.
Dr Afari Gyan appealed to the conscience of Ghanaians, especially those who have engaged in double registration and parents whose children are below the age of 18 but have registered, to voluntarily get to the commission’s offices anywhere in the country to delete such names from the register.
He commended some Ghanaians who, on their own accord, had approached the EC to delete their names from the register for various reasons.
He said, for instance, that a lady from Sekondi who could not readily locate her voter identity card and registered during the recent limited registration had submitted the new card to the EC.
The EC boss also appealed to the political parties to use as polling agents well educated and serious people who are abreast of electoral rules and also have the capacity and capability to use the correct processes to protect their interests at the polling stations.
He said the voting and votes compilation process were such that the commission members at the headquarters could not alter any of the figures that had gone through the polling stations, constituency and regional offices.
He said in all these processes, the political party agents signed the figures before they were sent to Accra “and as the returning officer, I only receive what comes through and we cannot alter such figures that had gone through such processes”.
Dr Afari Gyan said when an illiterate polling agent thumbprints any figure written for his candidate, whether it is correct or not, there was nothing the EC officials at the national headquarters could do about it.
“Get a competent agent who understands the electoral rules and can make a good point and be vigilant but not a macho man who cannot read, cannot write and does not understand the processes. Elections are about laws and not about brawn,” he added.
He expressed worry that some leading political figures who should know better rather speak as if the EC commission members were magicians who could use magic to change results, with others also spreading the falsehood that the EC members used their powers as commissioners to manipulate figures.
He said in its current form, the register could be a recipe for chaos on election day, warning that if Ghanaians did not assist the EC to clean it during the voters register exhibition exercise, Ghanaians will see children, foreigners and people with double identity voting on election day “and nothing could be done about it.”
“If we don’t correct it now and wait till the voting day, you will see a minor voting and because you cannot challenge his eligibility, people might resort to force to take them away from the queue, which could result in chaotic situations”, he noted.
He said with the current national population of 22 million, having almost 13 million people on the voters register was unheard of.
During the recent limited registration, the EC estimated that at most one million people would be registered but the number soared to a staggering 1,835,417. This increased the voter number from 10,354,970 to 12,822,474.
Dr Gyan was speaking at an open forum after the EC had organised a familiarisation tour of its facilities at its national headquarters for regional executive members of political parties from the Eastern and Central regions in Accra over the weekend.
The tour was organised by the EC in collaboration with KAB Governance Consult and Freiderich Ebert Foundation. The party executive members were taken through the operations room, where results from the regions are compiled, the IT room, where results, as well as the voters register, are processed.
To the amazement of the media and the party executives, the EC Chairman sent round some of the registration forms bearing pictures of minors who registered. Both both the media and the party executive members were in one accord that some of the minors who were registered were as young as four years old.
But Dr Afari Gyan said although there was every indication that to all intents and purposes those people were minors, the EC, on its own volition, could not remove their names from the register until the culprits or their parents called for the deletion of their names from the register or some Ghanaians challenged their eligibility.
Dr Afari Gyan appealed to the conscience of Ghanaians, especially those who have engaged in double registration and parents whose children are below the age of 18 but have registered, to voluntarily get to the commission’s offices anywhere in the country to delete such names from the register.
He commended some Ghanaians who, on their own accord, had approached the EC to delete their names from the register for various reasons.
He said, for instance, that a lady from Sekondi who could not readily locate her voter identity card and registered during the recent limited registration had submitted the new card to the EC.
The EC boss also appealed to the political parties to use as polling agents well educated and serious people who are abreast of electoral rules and also have the capacity and capability to use the correct processes to protect their interests at the polling stations.
He said the voting and votes compilation process were such that the commission members at the headquarters could not alter any of the figures that had gone through the polling stations, constituency and regional offices.
He said in all these processes, the political party agents signed the figures before they were sent to Accra “and as the returning officer, I only receive what comes through and we cannot alter such figures that had gone through such processes”.
Dr Afari Gyan said when an illiterate polling agent thumbprints any figure written for his candidate, whether it is correct or not, there was nothing the EC officials at the national headquarters could do about it.
“Get a competent agent who understands the electoral rules and can make a good point and be vigilant but not a macho man who cannot read, cannot write and does not understand the processes. Elections are about laws and not about brawn,” he added.
He expressed worry that some leading political figures who should know better rather speak as if the EC commission members were magicians who could use magic to change results, with others also spreading the falsehood that the EC members used their powers as commissioners to manipulate figures.
New Vision elects Prophet Nkansah
The New Vision Party (NVP) elected its flag bearer and party executive at its first national delegates congress at Odorkor in Accra last Saturday.
Prophet Daniel Nkansah, the founder of the NVP, and the other 34 national executive members were elected unopposed in an election supervised by Mr Amadu Suley, Director of Research and Administration of the Electoral Commission (EC).
The congress, which was advertised to start at 9 a.m., started around 2p.m. and lasted for about 30 minutes.
After his election, Prophet Nkansah, who was staggering intermittently as if possessed by the spirit of God, said God had chosen him to be the flag bearer of the party and that through him God would visit and save Ghana from its economic hardship and social problems and make it prosperous.
"Something strange will happen in 2008; it will be extraordinary, God has something good for Ghana but the leaders have no vision. God will bless Ghana through me," he prophesied.
The National Chairman of the party, Apostle Joel Aaron-King, said the party was peculiar to the other political parties because it was sanctioned by God Almighty to win this year’s election.
He said between December 6 and 7, 2008, an angel of God would visit Ghanaians and whisper into their ears to vote for the NVP.
Some of the elected executive members are first vice chairman, Rev Daniel Kwakye; Second Vice Chairman, Rev Evans Anim Anokye; general secretary, Yakubu Andani, and women’s organiser, Hajia Hajara.
Prophet Daniel Nkansah, the founder of the NVP, and the other 34 national executive members were elected unopposed in an election supervised by Mr Amadu Suley, Director of Research and Administration of the Electoral Commission (EC).
The congress, which was advertised to start at 9 a.m., started around 2p.m. and lasted for about 30 minutes.
After his election, Prophet Nkansah, who was staggering intermittently as if possessed by the spirit of God, said God had chosen him to be the flag bearer of the party and that through him God would visit and save Ghana from its economic hardship and social problems and make it prosperous.
"Something strange will happen in 2008; it will be extraordinary, God has something good for Ghana but the leaders have no vision. God will bless Ghana through me," he prophesied.
The National Chairman of the party, Apostle Joel Aaron-King, said the party was peculiar to the other political parties because it was sanctioned by God Almighty to win this year’s election.
He said between December 6 and 7, 2008, an angel of God would visit Ghanaians and whisper into their ears to vote for the NVP.
Some of the elected executive members are first vice chairman, Rev Daniel Kwakye; Second Vice Chairman, Rev Evans Anim Anokye; general secretary, Yakubu Andani, and women’s organiser, Hajia Hajara.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Beware of NDC lies, divisive tricks — NPP group
Pillars for Ghana’s Forward Movement, a group of New Patriotic Party (NPP) activists, have called on Ghanaians to be wary of what it termed the lies, threats and divisive tricks of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) during this electioneering.
It said because the NDC had realised that it would lose the election due to the good track record and leadership of the NPP, it had resorted to such unorthodox tactics.
Addressing the press in Accra, the leading member of the group, Nii Titus Glover, said the NDC flag bearer, Professor John Evans Atta Mills; his running mate, Mr John Dramani Mahama, and the NDC founder, former President J. J. Rawlings, were those leading the use of lies and divisive tricks.
“Prof. Mills in a desperate bid for votes, exhibited a shocking absence of political memory when he sought to use tribalism and enthnocentrism in the Central Region”, he said.
Mr Glover said at Mumford in the Central Region, Prof. Mills falsely stated that because President J. A. Kufuor was an Ashanti that was why “he does not care for the coastal fisher-folk and has built the best cold store in Kumasi”.
He said unfortunately, records show that it was the NDC administration that sold all the state-owned cold stores in the country to private individuals, including the ones in Central Region.
He said the NDC flag bearer also started beating war drums earlier in the year and prophesying that there would be mayhem in Ghana like what happened in Kenya.
Nii Glover alleged that just this week while on his campaign trail in the Volta Region, the former President justified coups by claiming that because the laws stated that when an individual commits a crime he or she should be arrested, he was also calling on the police and the military to remove a government that was bad.
He said again at a rally in the Volta Region, the former President accused the Kufuor administration of dismissing people from the Ghana Armed Forces, without providing any specific names or cases to back up his baseless allegations.
He said the former President was also alleged to have called former security bosses to his residence to discuss security situation in the country.
He described that as ironical because it was the same former President who complained bitterly about the move to deploy military and police personnel to prevent violence and disturbances on election day.
Nii Glover said if the NDC was concerned about election violence why would they complain bitterly about legitimate attempts to empower security personnel to man the polling day?
Mr Abu Gyinakpo, a member of the group, said it was worrying that Mr Mahama had suggested that if Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the NPP flag bearer, knew how to raise funds, he should do that to raise funds to defray the debt of the Volta River Authority (VRA) instead of investing $ 1 billion in the Northern Development Fund.
He said such utterances were a clear indication that the NDC after eight years in power failed to develop the area and was afraid of the concrete moves by the current NPP administration and what the next one would do for the three northern regions.
He added that the NPP would continue to fulfil its promise of good governance, rule of law, economic and infrastructure development and support for the vulnerable and expressed the hope that Ghanaians would vote for Nana Akufo- Addo.
It said because the NDC had realised that it would lose the election due to the good track record and leadership of the NPP, it had resorted to such unorthodox tactics.
Addressing the press in Accra, the leading member of the group, Nii Titus Glover, said the NDC flag bearer, Professor John Evans Atta Mills; his running mate, Mr John Dramani Mahama, and the NDC founder, former President J. J. Rawlings, were those leading the use of lies and divisive tricks.
“Prof. Mills in a desperate bid for votes, exhibited a shocking absence of political memory when he sought to use tribalism and enthnocentrism in the Central Region”, he said.
Mr Glover said at Mumford in the Central Region, Prof. Mills falsely stated that because President J. A. Kufuor was an Ashanti that was why “he does not care for the coastal fisher-folk and has built the best cold store in Kumasi”.
He said unfortunately, records show that it was the NDC administration that sold all the state-owned cold stores in the country to private individuals, including the ones in Central Region.
He said the NDC flag bearer also started beating war drums earlier in the year and prophesying that there would be mayhem in Ghana like what happened in Kenya.
Nii Glover alleged that just this week while on his campaign trail in the Volta Region, the former President justified coups by claiming that because the laws stated that when an individual commits a crime he or she should be arrested, he was also calling on the police and the military to remove a government that was bad.
He said again at a rally in the Volta Region, the former President accused the Kufuor administration of dismissing people from the Ghana Armed Forces, without providing any specific names or cases to back up his baseless allegations.
He said the former President was also alleged to have called former security bosses to his residence to discuss security situation in the country.
He described that as ironical because it was the same former President who complained bitterly about the move to deploy military and police personnel to prevent violence and disturbances on election day.
Nii Glover said if the NDC was concerned about election violence why would they complain bitterly about legitimate attempts to empower security personnel to man the polling day?
Mr Abu Gyinakpo, a member of the group, said it was worrying that Mr Mahama had suggested that if Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the NPP flag bearer, knew how to raise funds, he should do that to raise funds to defray the debt of the Volta River Authority (VRA) instead of investing $ 1 billion in the Northern Development Fund.
He said such utterances were a clear indication that the NDC after eight years in power failed to develop the area and was afraid of the concrete moves by the current NPP administration and what the next one would do for the three northern regions.
He added that the NPP would continue to fulfil its promise of good governance, rule of law, economic and infrastructure development and support for the vulnerable and expressed the hope that Ghanaians would vote for Nana Akufo- Addo.
Friday, September 12, 2008
NDC parliamentary aspirants presents to keep fit club
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary aspirant for Dome-Kwabenya, Mrs Zita Okaikoi has donated footballs and T-shirts to some keep fit groups in the constituency.
According to her, the move was to enable the youth in the area exercise for better health and also spend their time on sporting activity instead of engaging in anti social activities.
She promised that if voted for, she would make sporting activities in the area one of her priority.
According to her, the move was to enable the youth in the area exercise for better health and also spend their time on sporting activity instead of engaging in anti social activities.
She promised that if voted for, she would make sporting activities in the area one of her priority.
Oquaye: Aspirants must not carry themselves as parallel presidents
PROF. Mike Oquaye, a political scientist, has asked presidential aspirants of all political parties not to carry themselves as parallel presidents.
“Without being partisan, there would always be one President at a time and, therefore, people should abstain from going about parading themselves as if there was a parallel leader somewhere. We must know this, especially, in the last few months preceding the December elections in every election year,” he said.
Prof. Oquaye, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dome Kwabenya, was sharing his views on recent clashes between the supporters of both New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in some parts of the country.
“Presidential candidates are not presidents and should not carry themselves as such. They and their followers must give the usual and ordinary respect to the President of the Republic at all times. Also, they should bear in mind that wherever the President is, that area becomes a state security area,” he explained.
Prof. Oquaye said what happened in Cape Coast, involving the security of the state and that of the former Vice-President, John Evans Atta Mills, during the Fetu Afahye could have been averted if people had paid heed to the long-standing tradition, and also respected state security arrangements and personnel.
He said most of the clashes between political opponents in the country could have been averted, had all followed basic principles in the organisation of state functions, political and traditional activities.
“Without resort to any blame game, I am of the strong opinion that the fear of violence and conflict in nation building and democratic consolidation should teach us lessons that will make us avoid certain things that draw us back,” he added.
Explaining the issue, Prof Oquaye noted that one way of avoiding conflict was for political parties to talk about their performances or track record and other developments that had impacted positively on the lives of the electorate.
On the presidential debates, he suggested that it should not be organised in a way that would make it lose its importance and benefits to degenerate into a dirty blame game and catcalls.
He said as a result of the tension that was building between followers of the two main parties — NDC and NPP, debates must be organised without the presence of the party supporters.
The MP suggested that if the debate was a joint one, the organisers could hold it in an enclosed area, away from supporters, but with very few seasoned journalists and experts on various fields around to ask questions.
However, he added that the seasoned journalists and experts must be able to ask very provocative questions for Ghanaians to know how the aspirants could maintain their equilibrium in the face of difficulty and stressful situations.
He said the organisers could broadcast the debate on television and radio for the benefit of all Ghanaians, so that “those who would have made unnecessary cheers, catcalls and ‘chobwue’ to mar the beauty and essence of the debate could be avoided”.
“Without being partisan, there would always be one President at a time and, therefore, people should abstain from going about parading themselves as if there was a parallel leader somewhere. We must know this, especially, in the last few months preceding the December elections in every election year,” he said.
Prof. Oquaye, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dome Kwabenya, was sharing his views on recent clashes between the supporters of both New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in some parts of the country.
“Presidential candidates are not presidents and should not carry themselves as such. They and their followers must give the usual and ordinary respect to the President of the Republic at all times. Also, they should bear in mind that wherever the President is, that area becomes a state security area,” he explained.
Prof. Oquaye said what happened in Cape Coast, involving the security of the state and that of the former Vice-President, John Evans Atta Mills, during the Fetu Afahye could have been averted if people had paid heed to the long-standing tradition, and also respected state security arrangements and personnel.
He said most of the clashes between political opponents in the country could have been averted, had all followed basic principles in the organisation of state functions, political and traditional activities.
“Without resort to any blame game, I am of the strong opinion that the fear of violence and conflict in nation building and democratic consolidation should teach us lessons that will make us avoid certain things that draw us back,” he added.
Explaining the issue, Prof Oquaye noted that one way of avoiding conflict was for political parties to talk about their performances or track record and other developments that had impacted positively on the lives of the electorate.
On the presidential debates, he suggested that it should not be organised in a way that would make it lose its importance and benefits to degenerate into a dirty blame game and catcalls.
He said as a result of the tension that was building between followers of the two main parties — NDC and NPP, debates must be organised without the presence of the party supporters.
The MP suggested that if the debate was a joint one, the organisers could hold it in an enclosed area, away from supporters, but with very few seasoned journalists and experts on various fields around to ask questions.
However, he added that the seasoned journalists and experts must be able to ask very provocative questions for Ghanaians to know how the aspirants could maintain their equilibrium in the face of difficulty and stressful situations.
He said the organisers could broadcast the debate on television and radio for the benefit of all Ghanaians, so that “those who would have made unnecessary cheers, catcalls and ‘chobwue’ to mar the beauty and essence of the debate could be avoided”.
Upper West Region records lowest number
The Upper West Region recorded the lowest number of registered voters during the recently held limited voter registration exercise by the Electoral Commission (EC).
Out of a total of 1,835,417 first time voters, the region recorded 44,710.
It again recorded 93 cases of challenges as against the national figure of 7,374.
The region also had the lowest number of voters, because with the current national voter population of 12,822,474 the region had 336,465.
The region’s district breakdown for the limited registration are Wa Municipality 11,239; Wa West, 4,850; Wa East, 3,534; Nadawli, 6,333; Jirapa/Lamuesie, 5,897; Lawra, 6389; Sissala West, 3,618; and Sissala East, 2,858.
Out of a total of 1,835,417 first time voters, the region recorded 44,710.
It again recorded 93 cases of challenges as against the national figure of 7,374.
The region also had the lowest number of voters, because with the current national voter population of 12,822,474 the region had 336,465.
The region’s district breakdown for the limited registration are Wa Municipality 11,239; Wa West, 4,850; Wa East, 3,534; Nadawli, 6,333; Jirapa/Lamuesie, 5,897; Lawra, 6389; Sissala West, 3,618; and Sissala East, 2,858.
Gokals supports Korle-Bu Urology Dept
GOKALS Pharmaceutical Limited has donated assorted items all valued at GH¢3,000 to the Urology Department of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
The items are two split air conditioners, a flat screen television set and a refrigerator.
A pharmacist, Mr Ishmael Okpoti-Paulo, who presented the items on behalf of the company, said they were touched by the lack of facilities at the Genitourinary Unit of the Urology Department.
He expressed the company’s belief that Ghanaians in general and corporate entities in particular must assist the government in making quality health delivery available to all Ghanaians.
He said the Urology Department was one of the deprived sections that should be assisted to provide adequate care for men.
The Head of the Urology Department, Dr Samuel Gepi-Attee, commended the company for its kind gesture and expressed the hope that other organisations would emulate the company’s example.
The items are two split air conditioners, a flat screen television set and a refrigerator.
A pharmacist, Mr Ishmael Okpoti-Paulo, who presented the items on behalf of the company, said they were touched by the lack of facilities at the Genitourinary Unit of the Urology Department.
He expressed the company’s belief that Ghanaians in general and corporate entities in particular must assist the government in making quality health delivery available to all Ghanaians.
He said the Urology Department was one of the deprived sections that should be assisted to provide adequate care for men.
The Head of the Urology Department, Dr Samuel Gepi-Attee, commended the company for its kind gesture and expressed the hope that other organisations would emulate the company’s example.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Ashanti Region recorded highest number of first time voters
THE Ashanti Region recorded the highest number of first time voters during the recent limited registration exercise.
Out of the 1,835,417 registered nationwide, the Ashanti Region had 374,451. This brings to 2,381,255 the total number of people who have registered for the 2008 election in the region as against the nationwide total figure of 12,822,474.
The Electoral Commission (EC) reopened the voters register for the supplementary registration of eligible voters from Thursday, July 31, to Sunday, August 10, this year,
The supplementary registration allowed those who have turned 18 and have not registered, as well as anybody who is over 18 but has never registered , to register.
The EC gave the break down of figures of the 30 district for the limited registration in the region as as Adansi South, 8,924; Adansi North, 9957; Obuasi Mim, 17,442; Amansie East, 11,317; Amansie Central, 4,427; Amansie West, 9,454; Atwimwa Nwabiagye,15,922; Atwimwa Mponua, 9,802; Bosomtwe Akwanwoman, 20,844, Bantama, 10,618, Kwadaso, 11,390, Manyhia, 16,663; Old Tafo, 11,663 and Suame, 12,230.
The rest are Subin, 14439; Asokwa, 13,407; Oforikrom, 12,757; Asawasi, 11,059; Kwabre, 21491; Ejisu Juaben, 15,730; Asante Akim South, 7,731; Asante Akum North, 12,257; Sekyere East, 10,189; Sekyere West, 12,783; Ejura Sekyedumasi, 14,405; Afigya Sekyere, 14,016; Offinso, 15,751; Ahafo Ano South, 8,078 and Ahafo Ano North, 8,623.
With a total of 7,374 challenges recorded during the limited registration, Ashanti Region alone received 3,591 challenges, which is almost a half of the entire national challenges.
Out of the 1,835,417 registered nationwide, the Ashanti Region had 374,451. This brings to 2,381,255 the total number of people who have registered for the 2008 election in the region as against the nationwide total figure of 12,822,474.
The Electoral Commission (EC) reopened the voters register for the supplementary registration of eligible voters from Thursday, July 31, to Sunday, August 10, this year,
The supplementary registration allowed those who have turned 18 and have not registered, as well as anybody who is over 18 but has never registered , to register.
The EC gave the break down of figures of the 30 district for the limited registration in the region as as Adansi South, 8,924; Adansi North, 9957; Obuasi Mim, 17,442; Amansie East, 11,317; Amansie Central, 4,427; Amansie West, 9,454; Atwimwa Nwabiagye,15,922; Atwimwa Mponua, 9,802; Bosomtwe Akwanwoman, 20,844, Bantama, 10,618, Kwadaso, 11,390, Manyhia, 16,663; Old Tafo, 11,663 and Suame, 12,230.
The rest are Subin, 14439; Asokwa, 13,407; Oforikrom, 12,757; Asawasi, 11,059; Kwabre, 21491; Ejisu Juaben, 15,730; Asante Akim South, 7,731; Asante Akum North, 12,257; Sekyere East, 10,189; Sekyere West, 12,783; Ejura Sekyedumasi, 14,405; Afigya Sekyere, 14,016; Offinso, 15,751; Ahafo Ano South, 8,078 and Ahafo Ano North, 8,623.
With a total of 7,374 challenges recorded during the limited registration, Ashanti Region alone received 3,591 challenges, which is almost a half of the entire national challenges.
NDC MP aspirant for Dome-Kwabenya solicits support
THE National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary aspirant for Dome-Kwabenya, Mrs Zita Okaikoi, has embarked on a house-to-house campaign to solicit support to become the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area.
Accompanied by some constituency executive members and supporters, the aspirant, popularly referred to as Mama Zita, went from house-to-house, to lorry stations, markets and shops to interact with the people.
Her message was that the people should not vote for an aspirant who would come around only when it was time for elections.
“I will constantly be in touch with the people who send me to Parliament and solicit their views, concerns and articulate them in the House and work hard for the realisation of those aspirations. I will never absent myself from you,” she added.
Some of the people she spoke to also took turns to ask questions.
A young man, Kofi Richardson, wanted to find out how Mrs Okaikoi would be able to beat the incumbent MP, Prof. Mike Oquaye.
Mrs Okaikoi said the battle was neither for well-known people nor old politicians, but for those who were looking for results, and added that, “If after several years in Parliament the MP had not served the people to their satisfaction, they would surely advise themselves. And I tell you they would look for a better alternative, who is Mama Zita.”
She said when voted for, her priority would be to solicit the assistance of the local and central governments as well as the support of other corporate entities to develop the road network in the area.
“I will negotiate, lobby and impress upon the authorities where necessary, to ensure that our constituency gets its fair share of the national cake, especially in the area of water, roads, schools, hospitals to better their lives,” Mrs Okaikoi added.
Mrs Okaikoi said she would create a youth centre that would provide educational advisory and training services centre for the youth.
This, she said, would be supported by the establishment of a scholarship scheme for brilliant, needy children, from primary to tertiary level.
“I will institute measures such as clean-up exercises and health campaigns to help reduce environmental hazards in the constituency, particularly cholera and malaria, because prevention is better than cure,” she added.
Accompanied by some constituency executive members and supporters, the aspirant, popularly referred to as Mama Zita, went from house-to-house, to lorry stations, markets and shops to interact with the people.
Her message was that the people should not vote for an aspirant who would come around only when it was time for elections.
“I will constantly be in touch with the people who send me to Parliament and solicit their views, concerns and articulate them in the House and work hard for the realisation of those aspirations. I will never absent myself from you,” she added.
Some of the people she spoke to also took turns to ask questions.
A young man, Kofi Richardson, wanted to find out how Mrs Okaikoi would be able to beat the incumbent MP, Prof. Mike Oquaye.
Mrs Okaikoi said the battle was neither for well-known people nor old politicians, but for those who were looking for results, and added that, “If after several years in Parliament the MP had not served the people to their satisfaction, they would surely advise themselves. And I tell you they would look for a better alternative, who is Mama Zita.”
She said when voted for, her priority would be to solicit the assistance of the local and central governments as well as the support of other corporate entities to develop the road network in the area.
“I will negotiate, lobby and impress upon the authorities where necessary, to ensure that our constituency gets its fair share of the national cake, especially in the area of water, roads, schools, hospitals to better their lives,” Mrs Okaikoi added.
Mrs Okaikoi said she would create a youth centre that would provide educational advisory and training services centre for the youth.
This, she said, would be supported by the establishment of a scholarship scheme for brilliant, needy children, from primary to tertiary level.
“I will institute measures such as clean-up exercises and health campaigns to help reduce environmental hazards in the constituency, particularly cholera and malaria, because prevention is better than cure,” she added.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
340,694 registered in Greater Accra Region
THE Greater Accra Region, after the Ashanti Region, has recorded the second highest number of first-time voters during the recent limited voter registration.
Out of the 1,835,417 recorded nationwide, Greater Accra registered 340,694. However, 646 people had their registration challenged.
According to a Voter Registration Statistics from the Electoral Commission (EC), the number of newly registered Ghanaians bring the total number of voters in the region to 2,553,645.
The total voter population for the region for the 2006 election was 2,212,951 and that of 2004 elections was 2,098,780.
With the 11 districts in the region, Tema recorded 82,658 to bring the current entire voter population in the Tema District to 480,955. This is even more than the entire voter population of the Upper West Region, which is 336.465.
The rest of the districts in the Greater Accra Region are Ga West, 59,932; Ga East, 22,134; Okaikwei, 26,093; Ablekuma, 46,236; Ashiedu Keteke, 8,859; Osu Clottey, 8,191; Ayawaso, 28,715; Kpeshie, 31,740; Dangbe West, 15,367; Dangbe East, 10,769.
Out of the 1,835,417 recorded nationwide, Greater Accra registered 340,694. However, 646 people had their registration challenged.
According to a Voter Registration Statistics from the Electoral Commission (EC), the number of newly registered Ghanaians bring the total number of voters in the region to 2,553,645.
The total voter population for the region for the 2006 election was 2,212,951 and that of 2004 elections was 2,098,780.
With the 11 districts in the region, Tema recorded 82,658 to bring the current entire voter population in the Tema District to 480,955. This is even more than the entire voter population of the Upper West Region, which is 336.465.
The rest of the districts in the Greater Accra Region are Ga West, 59,932; Ga East, 22,134; Okaikwei, 26,093; Ablekuma, 46,236; Ashiedu Keteke, 8,859; Osu Clottey, 8,191; Ayawaso, 28,715; Kpeshie, 31,740; Dangbe West, 15,367; Dangbe East, 10,769.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
CPP will use technology to transform Ghana
The Presidential aspirant of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, has said a CPP administration will pursue knowledge-based technology that is driven by indigenous research scientists to transform the Ghanaian society into a modern state.
He said the poverty gap in Ghana was as a result of the technological disparity, and that a CPP government would reverse this trend.
Dr Nduom said this when he took his turn as the first presidential aspirant at an interaction between presidential aspirants and scientists from the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Accra yesterday.
The programme, which was telecast live on GTV, was on the theme “Vision for science, technology and innovations for the development of Ghana: The role of CAR”.
Dr Nduom said a CPP government would for a start ensure that at least one per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was dedicated to science and technology research and education.
He said just as Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, he would also become the Patron of CSIR to raise its profile, boost morale and give it priority attention, as was done by India and South Korea.
He added that all science and technology facilities and educational institutions in the country would be upgraded, by raising science and technology to Cabinet level, provide tax incentives to businesses to apply scientific and technological knowledge to industry and the larger society.
Dr Nduom said just as other developed countries had used other measures to prevent Ghanaians goods and services into their market in a move to protect their markets, his administration would also do same within the confines of World Trade Organisations (WTO) tenets to protect local industries.
He also explained that his administration would use the purchasing power of the government to provide ready markets for Ghanaians industries that had used scientific and technological expertise provided through Ghanaian scientific ingenuity.
Dr Nduom said the provision of ready markets for such industries would in turn generate employment for Ghanaians, foreign exchange for the government and a revolving fund for more scientific research and advancement.
He said his administration would support CSIR to undertake more research development, production and training of trainers in predetermined areas of agricultural industrial raw materials base to ensure the empowerment of targeted human resources from the polytechnics and universities to drive the nation.
He said all these laudable programmes would come to naught if the performance of students and pupils in their final examination continued to deteriorate due to demoralised teachers, lack of adequate teaching and learning materials, especially science and computer laboratories, houses for teachers, among other.
Dr Nduom said South Korea put up 22 additional scientific and engineering institutions to bring to 83 what they had, and their GDP grew by $96 billion, but at the same time Ghana maintained its 13 which were under-resourced, and explained that “what this means is that our salvation lies in science and technology.
He said other studies in the USA and Singapore, on their state support for science and technology, revealed that no country had progressed in any significant way without investment by the state in science and technology.
He said because many of the resource going into research in Ghana were from foreign donors they were always targeted at specific research, which in most instances did not build permanent local capacity for continuous innovations.
Dr Nduom said the CPP planned to raise productivity in agriculture to a point where only five per cent of labour in the sector could feed all Ghanaians and export part of the surplus, and that “through this the informal sector will give way to the formal sector of high social and legal protection, such as pension, annual leave and fair treatment of all workers”.
On the massive exodus of scientists from the CSIR to the universities because of better condition, he promised to upgrade conditions of research institutions to attract more scientists to both research institutions and universities.
In his welcome address, the Chairman of the CSIR, Dr A.B. Salifu, said the Food Research Institute of the centre had been accredited with ISO17025 which was a formal recognition of its demonstration of competence and ability to produce valid test results that were acceptable internally.
“With this accreditation the CSIR provides services in food quality testing that meet with international standards and requirement of export trade”, he said.
He said the poverty gap in Ghana was as a result of the technological disparity, and that a CPP government would reverse this trend.
Dr Nduom said this when he took his turn as the first presidential aspirant at an interaction between presidential aspirants and scientists from the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Accra yesterday.
The programme, which was telecast live on GTV, was on the theme “Vision for science, technology and innovations for the development of Ghana: The role of CAR”.
Dr Nduom said a CPP government would for a start ensure that at least one per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was dedicated to science and technology research and education.
He said just as Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, he would also become the Patron of CSIR to raise its profile, boost morale and give it priority attention, as was done by India and South Korea.
He added that all science and technology facilities and educational institutions in the country would be upgraded, by raising science and technology to Cabinet level, provide tax incentives to businesses to apply scientific and technological knowledge to industry and the larger society.
Dr Nduom said just as other developed countries had used other measures to prevent Ghanaians goods and services into their market in a move to protect their markets, his administration would also do same within the confines of World Trade Organisations (WTO) tenets to protect local industries.
He also explained that his administration would use the purchasing power of the government to provide ready markets for Ghanaians industries that had used scientific and technological expertise provided through Ghanaian scientific ingenuity.
Dr Nduom said the provision of ready markets for such industries would in turn generate employment for Ghanaians, foreign exchange for the government and a revolving fund for more scientific research and advancement.
He said his administration would support CSIR to undertake more research development, production and training of trainers in predetermined areas of agricultural industrial raw materials base to ensure the empowerment of targeted human resources from the polytechnics and universities to drive the nation.
He said all these laudable programmes would come to naught if the performance of students and pupils in their final examination continued to deteriorate due to demoralised teachers, lack of adequate teaching and learning materials, especially science and computer laboratories, houses for teachers, among other.
Dr Nduom said South Korea put up 22 additional scientific and engineering institutions to bring to 83 what they had, and their GDP grew by $96 billion, but at the same time Ghana maintained its 13 which were under-resourced, and explained that “what this means is that our salvation lies in science and technology.
He said other studies in the USA and Singapore, on their state support for science and technology, revealed that no country had progressed in any significant way without investment by the state in science and technology.
He said because many of the resource going into research in Ghana were from foreign donors they were always targeted at specific research, which in most instances did not build permanent local capacity for continuous innovations.
Dr Nduom said the CPP planned to raise productivity in agriculture to a point where only five per cent of labour in the sector could feed all Ghanaians and export part of the surplus, and that “through this the informal sector will give way to the formal sector of high social and legal protection, such as pension, annual leave and fair treatment of all workers”.
On the massive exodus of scientists from the CSIR to the universities because of better condition, he promised to upgrade conditions of research institutions to attract more scientists to both research institutions and universities.
In his welcome address, the Chairman of the CSIR, Dr A.B. Salifu, said the Food Research Institute of the centre had been accredited with ISO17025 which was a formal recognition of its demonstration of competence and ability to produce valid test results that were acceptable internally.
“With this accreditation the CSIR provides services in food quality testing that meet with international standards and requirement of export trade”, he said.
CPP appoints Ekow Duncan as Director of Operations
The Convention People's Party (CPP) has appointed Mr Ekow Duncan, a businessman, as the Director of Operations.
He will co-ordinate schedules for all activities related to the party's 2008 electoral campaigns and work towards the establishment of a clear single chain of command for collation, synthesis and implementation of all CPP campaign activities.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, Mr Duncan said he would strive to activate the regional and constituency branches of the party as instruments of engagement with the electorate as well as the propagation of the relevant and effective policies of the CPP.
It is geared towards making the party the star performer in the economic development history of this country.
He pointed out that the surge in inflation, the depreciation of the local currency and rising unemployment had exposed the failures of the stabilisation policies that have been pursued by the P/NDC and the NPP for the past 28 years that they had been in charge of economic development and management of this country.
“Incidentally both point to "external shocks" as their nemesis which is a clear and patent admission of lack of appreciation of the peculiarities of economic development challenges in post colonial economics”
“The difficulties of the Ghanaian economy, he said, were the harmonisation of stabilisation and growth policies to reform the export, import substitution and food production and distribution sectors to strengthen the pillars of the economy”, he said.
According to Mr Ekow Duncan the unbridled pursuit of political power by the NDC and NPP and their mutual animosity posed a grave and serious threat to the peace and security of the country.
The acts of violence and interference in the registration process by the two parties are the first steps to a disputed election results in 2009. He urged the people to vote for the CPP as the "Arbiter of Peace." The CPP, he said, would respect the independence of public institutions and promote institutional governance as the true and firm foundation of democratic governance.
On the issue of whether the CPP has the requisite manpower to govern the country, Mr Duncan pointed out that the CPP tradition was the traditional majority party of the nation, which meant that there were more CPP households in this country than any other party, and that if Ghana boast a good human resource capability, then we must understand that the majority of the numbers belonged to the Nkrumahist tradition.
He will co-ordinate schedules for all activities related to the party's 2008 electoral campaigns and work towards the establishment of a clear single chain of command for collation, synthesis and implementation of all CPP campaign activities.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, Mr Duncan said he would strive to activate the regional and constituency branches of the party as instruments of engagement with the electorate as well as the propagation of the relevant and effective policies of the CPP.
It is geared towards making the party the star performer in the economic development history of this country.
He pointed out that the surge in inflation, the depreciation of the local currency and rising unemployment had exposed the failures of the stabilisation policies that have been pursued by the P/NDC and the NPP for the past 28 years that they had been in charge of economic development and management of this country.
“Incidentally both point to "external shocks" as their nemesis which is a clear and patent admission of lack of appreciation of the peculiarities of economic development challenges in post colonial economics”
“The difficulties of the Ghanaian economy, he said, were the harmonisation of stabilisation and growth policies to reform the export, import substitution and food production and distribution sectors to strengthen the pillars of the economy”, he said.
According to Mr Ekow Duncan the unbridled pursuit of political power by the NDC and NPP and their mutual animosity posed a grave and serious threat to the peace and security of the country.
The acts of violence and interference in the registration process by the two parties are the first steps to a disputed election results in 2009. He urged the people to vote for the CPP as the "Arbiter of Peace." The CPP, he said, would respect the independence of public institutions and promote institutional governance as the true and firm foundation of democratic governance.
On the issue of whether the CPP has the requisite manpower to govern the country, Mr Duncan pointed out that the CPP tradition was the traditional majority party of the nation, which meant that there were more CPP households in this country than any other party, and that if Ghana boast a good human resource capability, then we must understand that the majority of the numbers belonged to the Nkrumahist tradition.
Monday, September 8, 2008
1,835,417 Registered • 7,374 Challenged
A TOTAL of 1,835,417 people registered for the recent limited voter registration exercise.
This exceeded the EC’s target of one million by over 835,417.
Out of this number 7,374 newly registered people had their registration challenged.
Consequently, the EC has called on the political parties, as well as Ghanaians, to ensure that the register is cleaned during the exhibition exercise scheduled for October 5 to 11.
These statistics were contained in the document distributed to the political parties by the EC at the national Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting held in Accra last Friday.
According to the document, 12,822,474 people have currently registered for the 2008 election.
With the recent limited registration, the Ashanti Region recorded the highest number of new voters, 374,451, followed by Greater Accra 340,694, Eastern, 186,708, Brong Ahafo, 186,604, Western, 185,400.
The rest are Northern Region 153,793, Volta 151,718, Central 141,351, Upper East 69,988 and Upper West 44,710.
For the districts, Tema recorded the highest number of 82,658 voters while Sissala West recorded 2,850, being the lowest number.
The document noted that in 2005 the total number of registered voters was 9,238,009, with 11,354 as challenges, while in 2004, there was a total of 10,354,970 registered voters with 4,427 challenges.
Commenting on the figures, the General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Ohene Ntow, described the 1,835,417 figure as problematic, explaining that the estimates for the registration were based on population census figures that was generated 10 years ago.
He said using 10-year-old figures as the base was “fundamentally difficult” and that he believed that the number could be correct although it may include double registration, registration of minors and non Ghanaians.
The National Organiser of the NDC, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, expressed surprise that a total of 1,835,417 people registered for the limited exercise.
He also added that the NDC totally rejects the idea that the EC would provide the political parties with only compact disc copies of the voters register, which is without pictures.
He wondered how the parties would work with a soft copy register without pictures and urged the EC to reconsider its decision.
The Director of Operations of the CPP, Mr Ekow Duncan, said the EC was not to blame for the huge number of people who registered, because the double registration and registration of minors were done by some political parties.
He also called on the EC to provide the political parties with copies of the register that contained photographs of voters.
This exceeded the EC’s target of one million by over 835,417.
Out of this number 7,374 newly registered people had their registration challenged.
Consequently, the EC has called on the political parties, as well as Ghanaians, to ensure that the register is cleaned during the exhibition exercise scheduled for October 5 to 11.
These statistics were contained in the document distributed to the political parties by the EC at the national Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting held in Accra last Friday.
According to the document, 12,822,474 people have currently registered for the 2008 election.
With the recent limited registration, the Ashanti Region recorded the highest number of new voters, 374,451, followed by Greater Accra 340,694, Eastern, 186,708, Brong Ahafo, 186,604, Western, 185,400.
The rest are Northern Region 153,793, Volta 151,718, Central 141,351, Upper East 69,988 and Upper West 44,710.
For the districts, Tema recorded the highest number of 82,658 voters while Sissala West recorded 2,850, being the lowest number.
The document noted that in 2005 the total number of registered voters was 9,238,009, with 11,354 as challenges, while in 2004, there was a total of 10,354,970 registered voters with 4,427 challenges.
Commenting on the figures, the General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Ohene Ntow, described the 1,835,417 figure as problematic, explaining that the estimates for the registration were based on population census figures that was generated 10 years ago.
He said using 10-year-old figures as the base was “fundamentally difficult” and that he believed that the number could be correct although it may include double registration, registration of minors and non Ghanaians.
The National Organiser of the NDC, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, expressed surprise that a total of 1,835,417 people registered for the limited exercise.
He also added that the NDC totally rejects the idea that the EC would provide the political parties with only compact disc copies of the voters register, which is without pictures.
He wondered how the parties would work with a soft copy register without pictures and urged the EC to reconsider its decision.
The Director of Operations of the CPP, Mr Ekow Duncan, said the EC was not to blame for the huge number of people who registered, because the double registration and registration of minors were done by some political parties.
He also called on the EC to provide the political parties with copies of the register that contained photographs of voters.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
EC fixes Oct 16,17 • For filing of nomination
The Electoral Commission (EC) has fixed October 16 and 17, 2008 for the filing of nominations for presidential candidates for the 2008 elections.
Aspiring presidential candidates have three weeks to pick their forms before the filing date while that of parliamentary will open two weeks before time.
The Chairman of the EC, Dr Kwadwo Afari Gyan, disclosed this to the political parties at a national Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting in Accra yesterday.
According to sources at the meeting the EC also fixed September 12 to 16 for people who could not have their photographs taken during the recent limited registration exercise to do so for their identity cards.
This has been confirmed by representatives of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), National Democratic Congress (NDC) and People’s National Convention (PNC) who were at the meeting.
When contacted, the Director of Public Affairs, Mr Owusu-Parry, said “IPAC meetings are not for public consumption, so I cannot comment on it”.
Many prospective voters could not have their photographs taken during the last registration exercise because the materials for the photographs ran out and the commission had to import more to make for the shortfall.
The source said after the photo-taking exercise, the register would be exhibited from October 5 to 11 at all centres where registration took place and that applicants must call at the centre where they registered with their registration slips for their photographs to be taken and the identity cards laminated.
Issues discussed at the meeting include the exhibition and cleaning of the register and the filing of nominations.
Later in an interview Mr Peter Mac Manu, National Chairman of the NPP, said although the dates were close to the election, December 7, 2008, it was within the stipulated lawful time.
He said once the date was within the Public Elections Regulation, “we have no qualms about it”.
The National Organiser of the NDC, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, said the party reiterated its concern that the EC was late as far as its calendar was concerned “but with the kind of situation we find ourselves in, we will take it like that”.
He expressed the hope that the EC would not come again to postpone the date as it did with the limited registration exercise.
He also said the party was not comfortable with the five days for the exhibition of the register, which involved huge numbers of people whose registration were challenged.
Mr Ampofo described as unacceptable, the reason that printing copies of the register with photographs of electorates would be expensive for the EC, hence the EC’s resolve to provide political parties with compact disc copies that did not include photographs.
The Director of Operations of the CPP, Mr Ekow Duncan, said the party accepted the date and would work within it once it was within the law.
Aspiring presidential candidates have three weeks to pick their forms before the filing date while that of parliamentary will open two weeks before time.
The Chairman of the EC, Dr Kwadwo Afari Gyan, disclosed this to the political parties at a national Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting in Accra yesterday.
According to sources at the meeting the EC also fixed September 12 to 16 for people who could not have their photographs taken during the recent limited registration exercise to do so for their identity cards.
This has been confirmed by representatives of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), National Democratic Congress (NDC) and People’s National Convention (PNC) who were at the meeting.
When contacted, the Director of Public Affairs, Mr Owusu-Parry, said “IPAC meetings are not for public consumption, so I cannot comment on it”.
Many prospective voters could not have their photographs taken during the last registration exercise because the materials for the photographs ran out and the commission had to import more to make for the shortfall.
The source said after the photo-taking exercise, the register would be exhibited from October 5 to 11 at all centres where registration took place and that applicants must call at the centre where they registered with their registration slips for their photographs to be taken and the identity cards laminated.
Issues discussed at the meeting include the exhibition and cleaning of the register and the filing of nominations.
Later in an interview Mr Peter Mac Manu, National Chairman of the NPP, said although the dates were close to the election, December 7, 2008, it was within the stipulated lawful time.
He said once the date was within the Public Elections Regulation, “we have no qualms about it”.
The National Organiser of the NDC, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, said the party reiterated its concern that the EC was late as far as its calendar was concerned “but with the kind of situation we find ourselves in, we will take it like that”.
He expressed the hope that the EC would not come again to postpone the date as it did with the limited registration exercise.
He also said the party was not comfortable with the five days for the exhibition of the register, which involved huge numbers of people whose registration were challenged.
Mr Ampofo described as unacceptable, the reason that printing copies of the register with photographs of electorates would be expensive for the EC, hence the EC’s resolve to provide political parties with compact disc copies that did not include photographs.
The Director of Operations of the CPP, Mr Ekow Duncan, said the party accepted the date and would work within it once it was within the law.
EC fixes Oct 16,17 • For filing of nomination
The Electoral Commission (EC) has fixed October 16 and 17, 2008 for the filing of nominations for presidential candidates for the 2008 elections.
Aspiring presidential candidates have three weeks to pick their forms before the filing date while that of parliamentary will open two weeks before time.
The Chairman of the EC, Dr Kwadwo Afari Gyan, disclosed this to the political parties at a national Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting in Accra yesterday.
According to sources at the meeting the EC also fixed September 12 to 16 for people who could not have their photographs taken during the recent limited registration exercise to do so for their identity cards.
This has been confirmed by representatives of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), National Democratic Congress (NDC) and People’s National Convention (PNC) who were at the meeting.
When contacted, the Director of Public Affairs, Mr Owusu-Parry, said “IPAC meetings are not for public consumption, so I cannot comment on it”.
Many prospective voters could not have their photographs taken during the last registration exercise because the materials for the photographs ran out and the commission had to import more to make for the shortfall.
The source said after the photo-taking exercise, the register would be exhibited from October 5 to 11 at all centres where registration took place and that applicants must call at the centre where they registered with their registration slips for their photographs to be taken and the identity cards laminated.
Issues discussed at the meeting include the exhibition and cleaning of the register and the filing of nominations.
Later in an interview Mr Peter Mac Manu, National Chairman of the NPP, said although the dates were close to the election, December 7, 2008, it was within the stipulated lawful time.
He said once the date was within the Public Elections Regulation, “we have no qualms about it”.
The National Organiser of the NDC, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, said the party reiterated its concern that the EC was late as far as its calendar was concerned “but with the kind of situation we find ourselves in, we will take it like that”.
He expressed the hope that the EC would not come again to postpone the date as it did with the limited registration exercise.
He also said the party was not comfortable with the five days for the exhibition of the register, which involved huge numbers of people whose registration were challenged.
Mr Ampofo described as unacceptable, the reason that printing copies of the register with photographs of electorates would be expensive for the EC, hence the EC’s resolve to provide political parties with compact disc copies that did not include photographs.
The Director of Operations of the CPP, Mr Ekow Duncan, said the party accepted the date and would work within it once it was within the law.
Aspiring presidential candidates have three weeks to pick their forms before the filing date while that of parliamentary will open two weeks before time.
The Chairman of the EC, Dr Kwadwo Afari Gyan, disclosed this to the political parties at a national Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting in Accra yesterday.
According to sources at the meeting the EC also fixed September 12 to 16 for people who could not have their photographs taken during the recent limited registration exercise to do so for their identity cards.
This has been confirmed by representatives of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), National Democratic Congress (NDC) and People’s National Convention (PNC) who were at the meeting.
When contacted, the Director of Public Affairs, Mr Owusu-Parry, said “IPAC meetings are not for public consumption, so I cannot comment on it”.
Many prospective voters could not have their photographs taken during the last registration exercise because the materials for the photographs ran out and the commission had to import more to make for the shortfall.
The source said after the photo-taking exercise, the register would be exhibited from October 5 to 11 at all centres where registration took place and that applicants must call at the centre where they registered with their registration slips for their photographs to be taken and the identity cards laminated.
Issues discussed at the meeting include the exhibition and cleaning of the register and the filing of nominations.
Later in an interview Mr Peter Mac Manu, National Chairman of the NPP, said although the dates were close to the election, December 7, 2008, it was within the stipulated lawful time.
He said once the date was within the Public Elections Regulation, “we have no qualms about it”.
The National Organiser of the NDC, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, said the party reiterated its concern that the EC was late as far as its calendar was concerned “but with the kind of situation we find ourselves in, we will take it like that”.
He expressed the hope that the EC would not come again to postpone the date as it did with the limited registration exercise.
He also said the party was not comfortable with the five days for the exhibition of the register, which involved huge numbers of people whose registration were challenged.
Mr Ampofo described as unacceptable, the reason that printing copies of the register with photographs of electorates would be expensive for the EC, hence the EC’s resolve to provide political parties with compact disc copies that did not include photographs.
The Director of Operations of the CPP, Mr Ekow Duncan, said the party accepted the date and would work within it once it was within the law.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Freddie Blay drags CPP to court
THE Convention People’s Party (CPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Ellembele, Mr Freddie Blay and some members of the party have filed a writ at the Accra Fast Track High Court against the CPP and some leading members of the party.
They are seeking a declaration that the primaries held on August 23, 2008 to elect Mr Blay as the CPP’s parliamentary candidate was proper, valid and in compliance with the party’s Constitution.
The applicants are also seeking a declaration that Mr Blay was the properly elected CPP parliamentary candidate for the Ellembele Constituency.
The respondents are Mr Ladi Nylander, Chairman; Dr Abu Sakara, Vice Chairman; Mr Ivor Greenstreet, General Secretary; Mr Mike Eghan, Treasurer; Mr Kosi Dede, Spokesperson; Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, flag bearer and the CPP.
Mr Blay filed the suit after the General Secretary of the CPP, Mr Ivor Kobina Greenstreet, issued a statement on August 28, 2008 to the effect that the party’s central committee had declared the election of Mr Blay null and void.
The statement argued that the incumbent MP was the subject of an investigation, whose outcome was yet to be determined, adding that the decision to nullify Mr Blay’s election was based on Article 48(f) of the CPP constitution.
In an affidavit accompanying the writ, the applicants are also seeking an order of certiorari to quash the decision of the Central Committee which nullified Mr Blay’s election on the grounds that the decision was without jurisdiction, against the CPP constitution and unlawful.
They are also seeking an order of mandamus compelling Mr Dede and the Central Committee of the party to hold Mr Blay as the duly elected CPP parliamentary candidate for Ellembele and also an order prohibiting the respondents or any agent, organ or officer of the respondents from organising any primaries for the election of a CPP parliamentary candidate for Ellembele.
The applicants are also seeking an interim order directed at the respondents and their agents, officers or functionaries from engaging in media attacks on Mr Blay or make any disparaging statement in the public against the applicants pending the final determination of this application.
The application would be moved on September 18, 2008.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, Mr Blay expressed surprise that the Central Committee of the party had passed a judgement on him based on a publication in the Ghanaian Chronicle.
“They have never listened to me, never sought clarification from me and yet by a newspaper publication, I am being accused of flouting party regulations,” he said.
In his view, everything he had done was in consonance with the CPP’s constitution and indicated that when he received from Mr Greenstreet a letter on his alleged endorsement of the NPP flag bearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, he wrote back to the CPP seeking further clarification.
“Up till date, I have not received any response, only to hear or read from the newspapers that the Central Committee had taken a decision to nullify my election,” he said.
By this action, he said, the party was undermining his efforts to win the seat; they were making him not look good in the eyes of the public.
Mr Greenstreet, for his part, described the action as strange but indicated that the CPP was ready to meet him in the law court if that was his preference.
He wondered why Mr Blay could consistently fail to appear before the Disciplinary Committee of the party to just clear his name with regard to allegations that he openly declared his support for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flag bearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo.
He said the party had not charged him with any crime but only invited him to explain if the allegation was true.
Mr Greenstreet said on July 17, 2008 the Disciplinary Committee invited the Ellembele MP to appear before it on July 24, and subsequently on August 1, 2008 to appear on August 13, 2008, but on both occasions he failed to appear.
Concerning the decision of the Central Committee to nullify the primary that elected Mr Blay to contest on the party’s ticket as parliamentary candidate, he said the Central Committee believed that the allegations were breach of the party’s constitution and must first be dealt with before the primary.
He said the Central Committee used its powers vested in it by the party’s constitution to nullify the primary and refer the matter to the constituency executive through the regional executive.
On why the CPP did not haul before its Disciplinary Committee members of the party who openly declared their support for other party’s candidates during the 2004 election, Mr Greenstreet said “we are in a dynamic world where things are changing. That is past, this is a different time and the CPP will not tolerate such acts again”.
They are seeking a declaration that the primaries held on August 23, 2008 to elect Mr Blay as the CPP’s parliamentary candidate was proper, valid and in compliance with the party’s Constitution.
The applicants are also seeking a declaration that Mr Blay was the properly elected CPP parliamentary candidate for the Ellembele Constituency.
The respondents are Mr Ladi Nylander, Chairman; Dr Abu Sakara, Vice Chairman; Mr Ivor Greenstreet, General Secretary; Mr Mike Eghan, Treasurer; Mr Kosi Dede, Spokesperson; Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, flag bearer and the CPP.
Mr Blay filed the suit after the General Secretary of the CPP, Mr Ivor Kobina Greenstreet, issued a statement on August 28, 2008 to the effect that the party’s central committee had declared the election of Mr Blay null and void.
The statement argued that the incumbent MP was the subject of an investigation, whose outcome was yet to be determined, adding that the decision to nullify Mr Blay’s election was based on Article 48(f) of the CPP constitution.
In an affidavit accompanying the writ, the applicants are also seeking an order of certiorari to quash the decision of the Central Committee which nullified Mr Blay’s election on the grounds that the decision was without jurisdiction, against the CPP constitution and unlawful.
They are also seeking an order of mandamus compelling Mr Dede and the Central Committee of the party to hold Mr Blay as the duly elected CPP parliamentary candidate for Ellembele and also an order prohibiting the respondents or any agent, organ or officer of the respondents from organising any primaries for the election of a CPP parliamentary candidate for Ellembele.
The applicants are also seeking an interim order directed at the respondents and their agents, officers or functionaries from engaging in media attacks on Mr Blay or make any disparaging statement in the public against the applicants pending the final determination of this application.
The application would be moved on September 18, 2008.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, Mr Blay expressed surprise that the Central Committee of the party had passed a judgement on him based on a publication in the Ghanaian Chronicle.
“They have never listened to me, never sought clarification from me and yet by a newspaper publication, I am being accused of flouting party regulations,” he said.
In his view, everything he had done was in consonance with the CPP’s constitution and indicated that when he received from Mr Greenstreet a letter on his alleged endorsement of the NPP flag bearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, he wrote back to the CPP seeking further clarification.
“Up till date, I have not received any response, only to hear or read from the newspapers that the Central Committee had taken a decision to nullify my election,” he said.
By this action, he said, the party was undermining his efforts to win the seat; they were making him not look good in the eyes of the public.
Mr Greenstreet, for his part, described the action as strange but indicated that the CPP was ready to meet him in the law court if that was his preference.
He wondered why Mr Blay could consistently fail to appear before the Disciplinary Committee of the party to just clear his name with regard to allegations that he openly declared his support for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flag bearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo.
He said the party had not charged him with any crime but only invited him to explain if the allegation was true.
Mr Greenstreet said on July 17, 2008 the Disciplinary Committee invited the Ellembele MP to appear before it on July 24, and subsequently on August 1, 2008 to appear on August 13, 2008, but on both occasions he failed to appear.
Concerning the decision of the Central Committee to nullify the primary that elected Mr Blay to contest on the party’s ticket as parliamentary candidate, he said the Central Committee believed that the allegations were breach of the party’s constitution and must first be dealt with before the primary.
He said the Central Committee used its powers vested in it by the party’s constitution to nullify the primary and refer the matter to the constituency executive through the regional executive.
On why the CPP did not haul before its Disciplinary Committee members of the party who openly declared their support for other party’s candidates during the 2004 election, Mr Greenstreet said “we are in a dynamic world where things are changing. That is past, this is a different time and the CPP will not tolerate such acts again”.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Ghanaian women must vote for Akufo-Addo — NPP women’s organiser
THE Greater Accra Regional Women’s Organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Ms Vida Dugbartey, has urged Ghanaian women to show gratitude to the NPP government by voting massively for Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
She said since 2001, the NPP administration’s policies had been geared towards lessening the economic and social burden on Ghanaian women.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Accra, Ms Dugbartey named some of the policies as macroeconomic policies, which had brought down interest rates. Some other policies she mentioned were the Capitation Grant, School Feeding Programme, Free Antenatal Care, National Health Insurance Scheme, among others.
She said all these policies had ameliorated the otherwise hardship that women might have undergone from the point of delivery to educating their children.
“Those days that mothers were held captives at hospitals for their inability to pay for their antenatal bills are now over. This situation has also prevented instances where expecting mothers, who could not raise funds to pay for their antenatal care, caused illegal abortions. Thanks to the NPP administration,” she said.
Ms Dugbartey said another reason why Ghanaian women should vote for Nana Akufo-Addo was that he had promised to build on the achievements on President Kufuor and also make senior high school free.
She said the benefits of such policies were that the money that parents, especially women might have used in paying for such services could now be channelled towards other useful purposes.
She also urged Ghanaian women to challenge the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flag bearer, Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, to also come clear on what he would do for women of this country when given the opportunity.
She said since 2001, the NPP administration’s policies had been geared towards lessening the economic and social burden on Ghanaian women.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Accra, Ms Dugbartey named some of the policies as macroeconomic policies, which had brought down interest rates. Some other policies she mentioned were the Capitation Grant, School Feeding Programme, Free Antenatal Care, National Health Insurance Scheme, among others.
She said all these policies had ameliorated the otherwise hardship that women might have undergone from the point of delivery to educating their children.
“Those days that mothers were held captives at hospitals for their inability to pay for their antenatal bills are now over. This situation has also prevented instances where expecting mothers, who could not raise funds to pay for their antenatal care, caused illegal abortions. Thanks to the NPP administration,” she said.
Ms Dugbartey said another reason why Ghanaian women should vote for Nana Akufo-Addo was that he had promised to build on the achievements on President Kufuor and also make senior high school free.
She said the benefits of such policies were that the money that parents, especially women might have used in paying for such services could now be channelled towards other useful purposes.
She also urged Ghanaian women to challenge the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flag bearer, Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, to also come clear on what he would do for women of this country when given the opportunity.
High Courts to deal with electoral disputes
THE Chief Justice, Mrs Georgina Theodora Wood, has announced that automated high courts have been designated across the country to deal exclusively with electoral disputes.
She, however, pointed out that these courts would not be permanent because elections were not daily affairs but were held periodically.
She also said that judges assigned to these courts would be idle for most part of their time if the courts were made permanent.
Mrs Wood made the announcement at a Peace and Anti-Violence Forum for Election 2008.
She said for a start Supervising High Court judges and one other high court would be on standby in all the regional capitals to deal with electoral disputes but added that in Accra three more courts would also be designated for the purpose.
Mrs Wood was speaking in Accra yesterday on the theme “The courts and Election 2008: Towards Peace and Stability”. The forum was organised by the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG).
She said to ensure speedy resolution of disputes, all electoral cases would be heard on a day-to-day basis and when necessary, she would “use the necessary legal authority for judges to sit on Saturdays” as well as extend the working hours from 3 p.m., with three additional hours.
She said she took the decision because unlike other matters, electoral disputes were matters of extreme public importance which could affect not only the disputants but the entire nation.
Mrs Wood said since disputes were the inevitable by-product of any keen contest over limited resources as well as contest over political power, an impartial, trustworthy and credible judiciary was needed to offer room for persons who might perceive that the electoral process had been abused.
The Chief Justice said judicial independence was not only restricted to freedom from executive interference, but freedom from legislative or opposition interference, adding that “It is both sides of the political divide; the opposition, not only the government of the day that must leave the judiciary free to do its work.
She appealed to Ghanaians to spare the judiciary the pressures, threats, mistrust, insults and other derogatory remarks, and pledged that “On my part I will do all that is humanly possible to take such genuine steps that would ensure fairness and transparency in the resolution of electoral disputes”.
She announced that a small group of judges had been tasked to prepare a crisp and easy-to-read handbook on election disputes adjudication to assist lawyers, judges and other stakeholders to facilitate their effective participation in the adjudication process.
Mrs Wood added that judges for such designated courts would be offered training to build their capacity to deal with such electoral matters.
She advised that for the courts to be effective to achieve their objectives, disputants and their attorneys must co-operate fully with judges and be present at courts, fully prepared on all hearing days, to keep the process going.
She urged disputants to also demand answers to issues and hold their attorneys accountable for all lapses in the professional services offered to them by their lawyers.
The President of the Ghana Bar Association, Nii Osa Mills, said the association had also initiated moves to educate its members on electoral laws as part of their contribution towards achieving a peaceful and credible elections.
A Deputy Chairman of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Mrs Augustina Akumanyi, said the commission would educate the electorate on the avenues established by the Chief Justice to ventilate their concerns rather than resorting to violence when they felt abused or cheated.
She, however, pointed out that these courts would not be permanent because elections were not daily affairs but were held periodically.
She also said that judges assigned to these courts would be idle for most part of their time if the courts were made permanent.
Mrs Wood made the announcement at a Peace and Anti-Violence Forum for Election 2008.
She said for a start Supervising High Court judges and one other high court would be on standby in all the regional capitals to deal with electoral disputes but added that in Accra three more courts would also be designated for the purpose.
Mrs Wood was speaking in Accra yesterday on the theme “The courts and Election 2008: Towards Peace and Stability”. The forum was organised by the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG).
She said to ensure speedy resolution of disputes, all electoral cases would be heard on a day-to-day basis and when necessary, she would “use the necessary legal authority for judges to sit on Saturdays” as well as extend the working hours from 3 p.m., with three additional hours.
She said she took the decision because unlike other matters, electoral disputes were matters of extreme public importance which could affect not only the disputants but the entire nation.
Mrs Wood said since disputes were the inevitable by-product of any keen contest over limited resources as well as contest over political power, an impartial, trustworthy and credible judiciary was needed to offer room for persons who might perceive that the electoral process had been abused.
The Chief Justice said judicial independence was not only restricted to freedom from executive interference, but freedom from legislative or opposition interference, adding that “It is both sides of the political divide; the opposition, not only the government of the day that must leave the judiciary free to do its work.
She appealed to Ghanaians to spare the judiciary the pressures, threats, mistrust, insults and other derogatory remarks, and pledged that “On my part I will do all that is humanly possible to take such genuine steps that would ensure fairness and transparency in the resolution of electoral disputes”.
She announced that a small group of judges had been tasked to prepare a crisp and easy-to-read handbook on election disputes adjudication to assist lawyers, judges and other stakeholders to facilitate their effective participation in the adjudication process.
Mrs Wood added that judges for such designated courts would be offered training to build their capacity to deal with such electoral matters.
She advised that for the courts to be effective to achieve their objectives, disputants and their attorneys must co-operate fully with judges and be present at courts, fully prepared on all hearing days, to keep the process going.
She urged disputants to also demand answers to issues and hold their attorneys accountable for all lapses in the professional services offered to them by their lawyers.
The President of the Ghana Bar Association, Nii Osa Mills, said the association had also initiated moves to educate its members on electoral laws as part of their contribution towards achieving a peaceful and credible elections.
A Deputy Chairman of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Mrs Augustina Akumanyi, said the commission would educate the electorate on the avenues established by the Chief Justice to ventilate their concerns rather than resorting to violence when they felt abused or cheated.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
CPP Odododiodoo elects Nii Oko Odoi
THE Odododiodoo Constituency of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) has elected Mr Emmanuel Nii Oko Odoi as its parliamentary aspirant for the 2008 elections.
At the end of nomination, the 29-year-old was the only person who had filed his nomination, so the Electoral Commission (EC) officials billed to supervise the elections declared him unopposed winner.
Introducing Mr Odoi, the CPP flag bearer, Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, said the current CPP had no room for people who wanted to remain members of the party and at the same time lend their support to other political parties.
“The CPP that we have today is strong enough to win. It has many young people, as well as young MP aspirants. Anybody who wants to go and support the NPP and the NDC can go ahead, but they should not come and disturb us,” he said.
He said the CPP was the only political party that had proven beyond all reasonable doubts and with concrete proof that it was capable of providing jobs for the youth.
Comparing the achievements and failures of the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party, Dr Nduom said the CPP stood out as the most successful political party, whose feats were unparalleled in the 51-year history of the country.
He said just as the CPP was able to provide quality education, health, security, employment, as well as excellent governance for the country in the First Republic, the current CPP would do the same.
In his acceptance speech, Mr Odoi commended the party for the honour done him and urged the youth in the party to work hard to wrest the seat from the NDC.
He expressed worry that the industries Dr Kwame Nkrumah established to provide decent employment for the youth had been left to rot, while those in good shape had been sold out.
He urged the youth to vote out the NPP and bring back the CPP to power to continue with its good works.
Mr Bright Akwetey, one of the leading members of the CPP who contested the flagbearership position of the party, urged the youth in the area to be wary of politicians who sought their votes but not their interest.
At the end of nomination, the 29-year-old was the only person who had filed his nomination, so the Electoral Commission (EC) officials billed to supervise the elections declared him unopposed winner.
Introducing Mr Odoi, the CPP flag bearer, Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, said the current CPP had no room for people who wanted to remain members of the party and at the same time lend their support to other political parties.
“The CPP that we have today is strong enough to win. It has many young people, as well as young MP aspirants. Anybody who wants to go and support the NPP and the NDC can go ahead, but they should not come and disturb us,” he said.
He said the CPP was the only political party that had proven beyond all reasonable doubts and with concrete proof that it was capable of providing jobs for the youth.
Comparing the achievements and failures of the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party, Dr Nduom said the CPP stood out as the most successful political party, whose feats were unparalleled in the 51-year history of the country.
He said just as the CPP was able to provide quality education, health, security, employment, as well as excellent governance for the country in the First Republic, the current CPP would do the same.
In his acceptance speech, Mr Odoi commended the party for the honour done him and urged the youth in the party to work hard to wrest the seat from the NDC.
He expressed worry that the industries Dr Kwame Nkrumah established to provide decent employment for the youth had been left to rot, while those in good shape had been sold out.
He urged the youth to vote out the NPP and bring back the CPP to power to continue with its good works.
Mr Bright Akwetey, one of the leading members of the CPP who contested the flagbearership position of the party, urged the youth in the area to be wary of politicians who sought their votes but not their interest.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Disable express gratitude to CPP •As it launches Braille Manifesto
Story: Donald Ato Dapatem
A large number of People with Disability (PWD), most of them wearing Convention People’s Party (CPP) T-shirts and holding flags, yesterday gathered at the Coconut Groove Hotel in Accra for the launch of the first-ever braille version of a political party manifesto, pioneered by the CPP.
Although the PWDs fell short of singing CPP songs, their show of support and appreciation contained in speeches by their various leaders as well as catcalls by the ordinary members were indicative of their admiration for the honour done them by the CPP.
Some of the catcalls were “Edwumawura”, “CPP you are always the first”, “You think about us”, “We are grateful”.
Made up of the blind, the crippled and the deaf, the large gathering danced and sung to tunes provided by the Golden Sparrows Band , made up of blind bandsmen and women.
All the four speakers at the function, each of whom had a disability, expressed their gratitude to the CPP for being the first political party to achieve such a feat.
To set the tone was the General Secretary of the CPP, Mr Ivor Kobina Greenstreet, who is crippled, saying “as a disabled person myself, I appreciate and understand the problems of people with disability”.
He expressed worry that although statistics indicated that 10 per cent of the population was disabled, successive governments had failed undertake any concrete steps to better the lot of people with disability.
He said the PCP would dialogue with the PWDs, assist them with opportunity to attain their potential to contribute their quota to national development rather than abandoning them as if “they were a burden to society”.
The next speaker was the President of the Ghana Association for the Blind (GAB), Mr Yaw Ofori Debrah, who described the launching of the braille as a show of the visionary leadership that the CPP had had since independence.
According to him, apart from the support that Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the first President offered the people with disability during his time, his wife, a former First Lady, Madam Fathia Nkrumah, took up the position of a matron at the Akropong School for the Blind, a position which offered her a first hand view of the problems facing people with disability.
He said although other political parties had been meeting with other identifiable groups, they had not even found it fit to either meet them or take concrete steps to assist them.
“Our message to you, Dr Nduom, is that if Ghanaians vote for you as our president, we don’t want only to be served, but we want the opportunity to serve Ghanaians because we have qualified people among us who can serve as ministers of state, district chief executives, members of boards, among others”.
The President of the Association for the Deaf, Mr K. Asare, said although the Constitution conferred voting rights on all Ghanaians above 18 years, people with hearing impairment had in some cases ben deprived of such rights because the information put out about the electoral process were difficult for them to access.
Mr Joseph Adu Boapong, the President for the Ghana Society for the People with Disability (GSPD), commended the CPP for recognising people with disability even before they came to power by giving people who were hearing impaired the opportunity to participate in the political debate.
Dr Nduom for his part said the launching of the braille version of the CPP manifesto was to offer people with hearing impairment the chance to know and understand what the CPP was offering and also make commitment to take every step possible to ensure that that all national events could reach the deaf through sign language.
He also promised that a CPP government would ensure easy access to all public buildings and places, and as a first step, he stated that as the owner, he had ordered the Management of the Coconut Groove Hotel to ensure that within the next six months the hotel became accessible to people with disability.
Dr Nduom in a significant gesture presented the braille version of the CPP manifesto and the ten point agenda to the association.
A large number of People with Disability (PWD), most of them wearing Convention People’s Party (CPP) T-shirts and holding flags, yesterday gathered at the Coconut Groove Hotel in Accra for the launch of the first-ever braille version of a political party manifesto, pioneered by the CPP.
Although the PWDs fell short of singing CPP songs, their show of support and appreciation contained in speeches by their various leaders as well as catcalls by the ordinary members were indicative of their admiration for the honour done them by the CPP.
Some of the catcalls were “Edwumawura”, “CPP you are always the first”, “You think about us”, “We are grateful”.
Made up of the blind, the crippled and the deaf, the large gathering danced and sung to tunes provided by the Golden Sparrows Band , made up of blind bandsmen and women.
All the four speakers at the function, each of whom had a disability, expressed their gratitude to the CPP for being the first political party to achieve such a feat.
To set the tone was the General Secretary of the CPP, Mr Ivor Kobina Greenstreet, who is crippled, saying “as a disabled person myself, I appreciate and understand the problems of people with disability”.
He expressed worry that although statistics indicated that 10 per cent of the population was disabled, successive governments had failed undertake any concrete steps to better the lot of people with disability.
He said the PCP would dialogue with the PWDs, assist them with opportunity to attain their potential to contribute their quota to national development rather than abandoning them as if “they were a burden to society”.
The next speaker was the President of the Ghana Association for the Blind (GAB), Mr Yaw Ofori Debrah, who described the launching of the braille as a show of the visionary leadership that the CPP had had since independence.
According to him, apart from the support that Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the first President offered the people with disability during his time, his wife, a former First Lady, Madam Fathia Nkrumah, took up the position of a matron at the Akropong School for the Blind, a position which offered her a first hand view of the problems facing people with disability.
He said although other political parties had been meeting with other identifiable groups, they had not even found it fit to either meet them or take concrete steps to assist them.
“Our message to you, Dr Nduom, is that if Ghanaians vote for you as our president, we don’t want only to be served, but we want the opportunity to serve Ghanaians because we have qualified people among us who can serve as ministers of state, district chief executives, members of boards, among others”.
The President of the Association for the Deaf, Mr K. Asare, said although the Constitution conferred voting rights on all Ghanaians above 18 years, people with hearing impairment had in some cases ben deprived of such rights because the information put out about the electoral process were difficult for them to access.
Mr Joseph Adu Boapong, the President for the Ghana Society for the People with Disability (GSPD), commended the CPP for recognising people with disability even before they came to power by giving people who were hearing impaired the opportunity to participate in the political debate.
Dr Nduom for his part said the launching of the braille version of the CPP manifesto was to offer people with hearing impairment the chance to know and understand what the CPP was offering and also make commitment to take every step possible to ensure that that all national events could reach the deaf through sign language.
He also promised that a CPP government would ensure easy access to all public buildings and places, and as a first step, he stated that as the owner, he had ordered the Management of the Coconut Groove Hotel to ensure that within the next six months the hotel became accessible to people with disability.
Dr Nduom in a significant gesture presented the braille version of the CPP manifesto and the ten point agenda to the association.
NPP to win Central, Gt Accra regions — Akufo-Addo
THE flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said the party would continue its good work by ensuring that the Greater Accra and Central regions voted massively again for the NPP, this year.
He said contrary to claims that the Central Region was no longer one of the strongholds of the NPP, his recent visit to the area showed clearly that the people in the region appreciated the work of the NPP and would continue to vote for it .
Nana Akufo Addo who was speaking at a mini-rally in Bukom, a suburb of Accra on Friday said the people in the Central Region and Ghanaians in general would vote for NPP in the 2008 elections ,due to the good work done by the Kufuor Administration coupled with the belief that the NPP party was the best for them.
He, therefore, discounted claims by some media houses and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) that the Central Region was no longer the strong hold of the NPP.
He expressed concern about what he termed tribal politics by some politicians who believed that Ghanaians would vote for them when they played such dangerous political games.
“In all that we do we must bear in mind that we are Ghanaian first before any tribal arrangements” he said and urged Ghanaian to be wary of such political leaders who want to use tribalism to score cheap political point.
Speaking in both Ga and English, the NPP flag bearer said the entire world was looking up to Ghana to repeat its usual peaceful election that it had conducted since the year 2000 and urged all Ghanaians especially leaders of political parties to be careful with their utterances before, during and after the elections.
“We are the number one when it comes to elections and we should again show to the world that we can do that against. Everyone is looking up to us to set the example again for the rest of Africa. We should do that without a drop of anybody’s blood”, he said.
He urged all the political parties to collaborate with the Electoral Commission (EC) for a peaceful, transparent and fair elections to take place and also urged all parties to accept the verdict of the people of Ghana after December 7.
Nana Akufo Addo said he was confident of winning the elections because of the developments the NPP had done in the areas of education, democracy, rule of law, freedom of the individual and institutions and the economy.
He said education, especially quality-free education from the kindergarten to senior high school would be his government’s priority, because through that, coupled with expanded tertiary and technical education Ghana can move forward.
He said just as Japan, Malaysia and South Korea among other nations had been able to achieve high literacy rates, with determination and commitment Ghana could replicate such example.
Explaining how his government would finance these programmes, Nana Akufo Addo said just as President Kufuor through prudent economic management had been able to start the free basic education, his administration would do the same and add the revenue that would be accrued from the oil to supplement it.
“Initially when President Kufuor started with the free basic education and the school feeding programme, the NDC said there was no money to sustain that, but through judicious economic management he was able to achieve that and I will also make senior high school free ”, he added.
He said if the NPP had had the 19 years in government like the PNDC/NDC had, the NPP would have transformed Ghana greatly adding that “we will not have messed up the economy like the NDC left it for us in 2000 after 19 years in power.”
The National Chairman, Mr peter Mac Manu, urged members of the NPP to be vigilant on the polling day and never hesitate to report any criminal or clandestine activity to the security agencies for prompt action to be effected.
The Member of Parliament for Dome Kwabenya, Prof. Mike Oquaye said the country had 33 cold stores before the NDC came in to power but managed to sell all of them including the one at Montford in the Central Region.
He urged the people of the Central Region to demand from the NDC why they sold the cold stores and are claiming that President had not built one for them.
Others speakers were a former National Chairman, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Sheikh I C Quaye, Mr Odoi Sykes and NPP parliamentary aspirant for Krowor, Nii Ayikwei Otoo.
He said contrary to claims that the Central Region was no longer one of the strongholds of the NPP, his recent visit to the area showed clearly that the people in the region appreciated the work of the NPP and would continue to vote for it .
Nana Akufo Addo who was speaking at a mini-rally in Bukom, a suburb of Accra on Friday said the people in the Central Region and Ghanaians in general would vote for NPP in the 2008 elections ,due to the good work done by the Kufuor Administration coupled with the belief that the NPP party was the best for them.
He, therefore, discounted claims by some media houses and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) that the Central Region was no longer the strong hold of the NPP.
He expressed concern about what he termed tribal politics by some politicians who believed that Ghanaians would vote for them when they played such dangerous political games.
“In all that we do we must bear in mind that we are Ghanaian first before any tribal arrangements” he said and urged Ghanaian to be wary of such political leaders who want to use tribalism to score cheap political point.
Speaking in both Ga and English, the NPP flag bearer said the entire world was looking up to Ghana to repeat its usual peaceful election that it had conducted since the year 2000 and urged all Ghanaians especially leaders of political parties to be careful with their utterances before, during and after the elections.
“We are the number one when it comes to elections and we should again show to the world that we can do that against. Everyone is looking up to us to set the example again for the rest of Africa. We should do that without a drop of anybody’s blood”, he said.
He urged all the political parties to collaborate with the Electoral Commission (EC) for a peaceful, transparent and fair elections to take place and also urged all parties to accept the verdict of the people of Ghana after December 7.
Nana Akufo Addo said he was confident of winning the elections because of the developments the NPP had done in the areas of education, democracy, rule of law, freedom of the individual and institutions and the economy.
He said education, especially quality-free education from the kindergarten to senior high school would be his government’s priority, because through that, coupled with expanded tertiary and technical education Ghana can move forward.
He said just as Japan, Malaysia and South Korea among other nations had been able to achieve high literacy rates, with determination and commitment Ghana could replicate such example.
Explaining how his government would finance these programmes, Nana Akufo Addo said just as President Kufuor through prudent economic management had been able to start the free basic education, his administration would do the same and add the revenue that would be accrued from the oil to supplement it.
“Initially when President Kufuor started with the free basic education and the school feeding programme, the NDC said there was no money to sustain that, but through judicious economic management he was able to achieve that and I will also make senior high school free ”, he added.
He said if the NPP had had the 19 years in government like the PNDC/NDC had, the NPP would have transformed Ghana greatly adding that “we will not have messed up the economy like the NDC left it for us in 2000 after 19 years in power.”
The National Chairman, Mr peter Mac Manu, urged members of the NPP to be vigilant on the polling day and never hesitate to report any criminal or clandestine activity to the security agencies for prompt action to be effected.
The Member of Parliament for Dome Kwabenya, Prof. Mike Oquaye said the country had 33 cold stores before the NDC came in to power but managed to sell all of them including the one at Montford in the Central Region.
He urged the people of the Central Region to demand from the NDC why they sold the cold stores and are claiming that President had not built one for them.
Others speakers were a former National Chairman, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Sheikh I C Quaye, Mr Odoi Sykes and NPP parliamentary aspirant for Krowor, Nii Ayikwei Otoo.
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