Category: Government

Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Saturday commiserated with the family of the late Alhaji Rashid Bawa, Ghana’s former High Commissioner to Abuja.

He later visited the tomb of the diplomat and signed the book of condolence.

Engaging with the mother and family of the late Bawa, Dr Bawumia said his heart was saddened by the untimely death of the diplomat, but the family should remain strong because Allah knows why it happened.

‘It is with so much sadness that I write this tribute to you, my brother,’ Dr Bawumia wrote in the Book of condolence.

‘Your death was a shock. I thank God that we were brothers as well as friends. Your honesty, hardwork, dependability and reliability stand tall. I will miss you. I pray that Allah grants you Jannatul Firdaus.’

‘I am sure that your good deeds on earth will grant you that. Rest in perfect peace, my brother.’

The Vice President was accompanied by the Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei Opare, Mr Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, Mr Fr
ederick Blay, former NPP National Chairman, and Mr Asamoah Boateng, Minister of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, among other stalwarts of the NPP.

Alhaji Rashid Bawa, 64, Legal Practitioner, died on Thursday, March 14, in Abuja, Nigeria.

His body was flown to Ghana and buried at Kadjebi on Friday, March 15, 2024, in line with Islamic customs and traditions.

However, the Government decided to bid him a national farewell on Saturday, April 20, to appreciate his immense contribution to Mother Ghana.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Minister of Education at the weekend urged students and graduates to be critical ‘consumers’ of political communication, as the Election 2024 gathers momentum.

That implies students and graduates ought to do more research, track, gather empirical evidence, and thus challenge politicians and their respective political parties with evidence-based communication.

By doing so, the sector minister, also the Member of Parliament for Bosomtwe in the Ashanti Region said the nation’s political discourse would be well shaped in a way that politicians and political parties could not take the electorate for granted.

Mr Adutwum, gave the advice when speaking at the 16th congregation of the Sunyani Technical University (STU) on the theme ‘Technical and Professional Skills Training-Solution to the High Rate of Youth Unemployment in Ghana’ in Sunyani on Saturday.

In all a total of 1,863 graduands were awarded Bachelor of Technology (B-Tech), Higher National Diploma (HND) and Diploma Certificates i
n Engineering, TVET, Applied Science and Technology, Built Environment and Applied Arts, as well as Business and Management Studies disciplines.

Of the graduating class, 1,090, representing 58.5 percent were males and 773 representing 41.5 percent females.Dr Adutwum condemned what he described as the ‘slash and burn’ politics going on in the country, saying such unprofitable politics remained the bane of accelerated national development.

‘I don’t believe in the on-going slash and burn politics where politicians and political parties try to make their opponents unpopular and unattractive in the eyes of the people, despite the level of achievement,’ he stated.

As well-enlightened and discerning minds, Dr Adutwum thus underlined the need for graduates and students to remain critical and shape the nation’s political discourses with evidence-based communication.

That would also make them well enlightened and thereby empower them to make informed decisions when they go to polls in the next General Election.

‘W
e now have a President who allows his Ministers to innovate,’ he said, stating that through innovations the government had performed creditably, and made a lot of achievements, spread across the length and breadth of the country.

‘These is clear evidence we expect graduates and students to gather, and also pull ideas together to push the development of the country forward, but not the not the slash and burn politics,’ Dr Adutwum said.

?Madam Justina Owusu-Banahene, the Bono Regional Minister, noted that as the chunk of the nation’s population, the youth represented the future, saying the government remained committed to provide quality TVET education that would serve as a catalyst to tackle unemployment.

She therefore advised the graduates to embrace the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship so as to create jobs for themselves and others and lauded the STU for its commitment to churning out quality graduates embedded with employable skills.

‘We therefore expect the graduates to apply your skills and h
elp build a prosperous nation and better society for all as you enter the job market,’ Mad Owusu-Banahene stated.

Engineer Professor Kwadwo Adinkrah-Appiah, the Vice Chancellor of the STU, said the University had chalked some successes, saying total staff population of the institution, which stood at 746 (629 Full-Time and 117 Part-Time) in 2023, currently stands at 890 (719 Fulltime and 171 Part-Time), with student population soaring from 7,100 to 7,775, an increase of over 9.0 percent.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Former President, John Dramani Mahama, and Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has pledged to place premium on basic level education to make it more viable if re-elected president in December.

He explained that basic level education was the foundation of any good educational system, assuring that his next government would resource the sector to improve teaching, learning and performance at that level.

This include improving infrastructure, ensuring timely release of teaching and learning materials, as well as timely disbursement of the capitation grants, to ensure effective management of the schools.

Mr Mahama gave the assurance when he met with the leadership of three pre-tertiary teacher unions, in Accra, on Friday.

The unions include the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT).

The meeting was to solicit information and views from the unions to influence the Party’s 2024 manifesto.

The former President was accompanied by key party members, including Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, Running Mate for the 2024 election.

Mr Mahama said Ghana’s education sector was at a ‘cross road’ and required broader stakeholder involvement to address it.

He said he would, therefore, facilitate a stakeholder dialogue within the first 100 days of assuming office to deliberate on the challenges in the sector and find solution to them.

He also pledged to embark on massive infrastructure development in the education sector to address congestion in schools and improve the teaching and learning environment.

‘The NDC policy of infrastructure development will again be pursued vigorously to decongest the large class sizes. Abandoned infrastructure in the basic and senior high and TVET schools, including the E-blocks, will receive priority attention under my administration,’ he stressed.

On the Free Senior High School and TVET programme, Mr Mahama said review of the policy was non-negotiable, stressing tha
t ‘it is a must,’ to address the numerous challenges and strengthen its positives.

On Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and TVET education, the former President said the next NDC government would mainstream them into the country’s education system to ensure it achieved a holistic goal.

On teacher motivation, Mr Mahama promised to work with the teacher unions and the Ghana Education Service to roll-out incentive packages for teachers, particularly those in deprived areas.

That, he said, was to encourage more teachers to accept postings to underserved communities to improve teaching and learning.

‘A comprehensive data on teachers in such areas would be gathered so that teachers can be compensated for the deprivation they suffer in such areas,’ he added.

Additionally, the former President said, the next NDC government would develop an Auto Loan and Housing Schemes to support teachers to acquire cars and houses.

With housing, he said, teachers who had a 15 to 20 years working life ahea
d of them would be able to take low interest mortgages indexed in cedis to acquire affordable houses.

That would be done in collaboration with the teacher unions, he added.

He also promised to decentralise the posting of teachers to ensure equitable deployment of teachers.

‘In view of this, the NDC will halt the current centralised posting of teachers from the GES Headquarters and revert to the deployment by the Regional/District Directorates of education,’ he added.

Mr Eric Angel Carbonu, President of NAGRAT, speaking on behalf of the unions, said as unions they were not going to accept any promise from presidential candidates if those promises were not embedded in their manifestos.

‘The time has come where we stop making flowery promises on the spur of the moment moved by the excitement and jubilation of the crowd, and we feel that those type of platform promises were what have brought us to where we find ourselves today.

‘We believe that whatever promise any politician will make going forward, for th
e promise to be taken serious by the people of this country, should find expression in the manifesto of the various political parties,’ he stressed.

As a result, he said, the unions had developed a document which contained policies and programmes, as well as their demands of the next government and urged the political parties to consult the document and embed the demands in their manifestos.

Mr Carbonu also urged the former president to restore the image of the teaching profession to attract only committed persons into the field.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Efforts are underway to ensure that Ghanaians have an uninterrupted power supply, Mr Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, the Majority Leader and Leader of Government Business, said on Friday.

Admitting that the current interrupted outages were a major challenge for industries and the citizenry, he said the energy sector was working to ensure that the outages were minimised.

Mr Afenyo-Markin stated this during a ‘Setting the Facts Rights Press Conference’ held at the Parliament House.

‘In any event, we know that for seven years even during COVID-19, a critical moment when businesses came to a standstill when government revenue came almost to zero, the government kept the lights on. So, it’s a real challenge we are going through,’ he said.

‘Seven years of no power outage in the most difficult time in our economy, 2020, 2021, 2022 most difficult time, where the cedi was suffering, we came to a standstill, we kept the light on.’

‘So, it should tell you about power efficiency and our competence in ensuring that
we address critical challenges of the economy. So, yes, these power outages we are experiencing we are not laid back, we will get head on and solve like we when we assumed office.’

Mr Afenyo-Markin, also the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Effutu, urged the NPP Party Communicators to be firm and resolute in defending the track records of their government.

‘Speak to the records and explain in the taxis, trotros, drinking spots, churches, mosque, event centres, funerals, naming ceremonies to the people of Ghana the state of the country when NDC was in office and defend in ensuring that your party gets the opportunity to sustain the implementation of the major policies introduced, especially in the education sector,’ he said.

‘So, our dear party communicators, the ball is in your court, this government will depend on you largely to disseminate the right information to the doorstep of the ordinary Ghanaians,’ he said.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Chris Jojo Arhin Arthur, Parliamentary Candidate-elect for the Agona West New Patriotic Party (NPP) has embarked on a ”thank you tour” to express appreciation to the electorate after his victory in the parliamentary primary last Saturday.

The first port of call was at the Swedru Central Market, where Mr Arthur and some party supporters thanked the traders for their prayers and unflinching support for him.

Mr Arthur and his supporters proceeded to Mandela Market, the second largest in the Agona West Municipality to thank them for their consistent time, loyalty and commitment.

The Parliamentary Candidate defeated Mrs Cynthia Mamle Morrison, the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) when he bagged 240 votes with the MP polling 152 votes.

The other contestants were Mr Ben Yamoah obtained 221 votes; Mr Yawson Otoo had 168 votes while Mr Joseph Afankwa secured 155 votes.

The primary delayed due to court injunction filed by Mr Afankwa at the Cape Coast High Court for being disqualified by the Vetting Committ
ee on December 4, 2023, for alleged misconduct.

The primary described by analysts as ‘fierce and titanic’ was won by Mr Arthur, the technical Director of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA).

At the Swedru Central and Mandela markets the women cheered him up and assured him of their support to enable him to retain the seat on December 7, 2024.

”The market women openly declared that the incumbent MP’s defeat in the primary was a good omen for the party as far as December 7, elections were concerned.”

Addressing supporters after the tour, Mr Arthur said the unprecedented and spontaneous response given him signified the beginning of an aggressive campaign drive to maximize votes for the party.

He called for a united front which he said, was the only panacea for Agona West to win more supporters including floating voters to help win convincingly.

Mr Arthur disclosed that the campaign team will tour churches, mosques and other organisations in the Agona Swedru township and other towns in the constituency.

S
ource: Ghana News Agency

The West Africa Democracy Solidarity Network (WADEMOS) has condemned the timing of the recent ‘constitutional reforms’ by the Parliament of Togo, which adopted an amendment to Togo’s 1992 Constitution.

The amendment essentially provides for a Parliamentary Regime in place of the semi presidential regime, and hands over the power to elect the country’s president by universal, direct and secret suffrage from the citizens of Togo to the Parliament.

The Network, in a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency on Saturday, expressed concern over the vehement threat that the amendment posed to the stability of Togo, with the very likely prospect that it would further exclude ordinary citizens’ right to express their political choices through a vote.

This is a fundamental right enshrined in Article 4 of the African Union Charter on Democracy, Elections, and Governance.

It said the situation was exacerbated by the process of adoption of such a critical amendment.

‘The fact that a referendum was not the prioritize
d option to adopt the amendment and a decision taken by a Parliament controlled by one party and its affiliates, certainly affects the rights of the citizens to contribute to profound reforms, current affairs, and the governance of the country, also in violation of the African Union Charter,’ the statement said.

‘While welcoming the intervention of the President for the National Assembly to review the amendment, engage in larger consultations, and hold parliamentary and regional elections on April 29, the Network condemns the timing of the proposed changes ahead of the scheduled election.’

‘This in clear violation of Article 2 of the ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy, Good Governance and Elections, as well as the use of force to suppress the rights of citizens to voice their disapproval of the amendment.’

The WADEMOS Network urges the Government of Togo to take into consideration the calls of the people disapproving of the ongoing process.

This includes the voice of prodemocratic actors in Togo,
namely the Togolese Conference of Bishops, academics, the CSOs, and the Diaspora, calling on the President to postpone the promulgation of the new Constitution and to initiate an inclusive political dialogue after the results of the next legislative and regional elections.

‘We take serious note of the decision of the ECOWAS Commission to deploy a mission ahead of the legislative and regional elections,’ the statement said.

‘We expect that the mission will host dialogue with the Government of Togo, civil society, political parties, and stakeholders and come out with good practice recommendations on the different issues at stake, their regional implications, and their impact on the ECOWAS of the people, the preservation of peace, and the consolidation of Democracy in West-Africa.’

WADEMOS declared its commitment to working with national institutions as well as regional and international bodies towards resolving the current challenge.

‘WADEMOS believes that constitutional reforms will continue to be an impor
tant feature of a democracy and as such remain a significant part of governance in Togo through an inclusive, deliberative and legitimate process’.

WADEMOS is an independent and non-partisan network of diverse national and transnational civil society organizations and civic groups working to promote and defend democracy, good governance, and inclusive development in the West Africa region.

It mobilizes, coordinates, and leverages the collective voice and power of civil society and other prodemocracy actors, resources, and opportunities within the West Africa region to advance its mission.

The current membership stands at 47.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Madam Felicia M. Bortey, the Greater Regional Women’s Organiser, National Democratic Congress (NDC), has urged market women in the Ashaiman Municipality to vote massively for the party’s presidential candidate, Mr John Mahama in the December 7 general election.

Interacting with the market women, she said they needed to vote the NDC back into office to implement the 24-hour economy policy.

Madam Bortey told the Ghana News Agency?in an interview after the programme that the engagement was to ensure the market women understood the 24-hour economy policy and how beneficial it would be for the country.

‘The policy will breathe fresh life into the ailing Ghanaian economy. And this is where the market women stand the chance of benefiting as they will have more time to trade at their own convenience,’she said.

Madam Borley said the party would visit and interact with all traders in the 80 markets in the Greater Accra Region to explain and sell the policy to them.

She urged party members to take up the challenge
to sensitise the public on the policy, as it was their duty to ensure that Ghanaians understood and voted massively for the party.

She encouraged the youth who just turned 18 years to fully participate in the limited registration exercise when it opens on June 3, and urged them to comport themselves during the elections.

Meanwhile, the GNA observed the keen interest showed by the market women in the discussions, who asked questions to enhance their understanding, while some sang the ‘Sankofa’ song.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Youth Organizers of the People’s National Convention (PNC) and the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), and Conveners of ELECTION WATCH GHANA have called for Serial numbers of all biometric voter registration kits that will be used for the upcoming limited voter registration exercise.

‘ Following credible media reports regarding the theft or disappearance of Biometric Verification registration kit (BVRs) at the Headquarters of the Commission and the destruction of BVD’s during the just ended District and Municipal Assembly election,2023, we write to request your office to furnish all political parties with the following’.

A statement jointly signed by Jude Balma and Mark Ewusi Arkoh, Conveners also requested that Number of the corresponding registration centres and all Registration printout during the limited voter registration should have the Biometric Voter Registration kits serial number on it, for authentication purposes.

‘This request is necessitated by our commitment to ensuring that Ghana’s elec
toral processes conform to best and widely accepted practices.’

Source: Ghana News Agency