Saturday, 29 October 2016

Mahama Not Scared Of Nduom - Rashid Pelpuo.


The National Democratic Congress legislator for the Wa Central constituency, Rashid Pelpuo has said President John Maham is not scared of any presidential candidate in the December 7 general elections, not even the flagbearer of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom.

According to him, President Mahama has won the hearts of many Ghanaians with his ‘changing lives, transforming Ghana’ agenda hence would be retained in December 7 to continue his good works.

“Actually President Mahama doesn’t have a problem and the NDC doesn’t have a problem with anybody coming on the fray.”

“We have done enough for Ghanaians to see and Ghanaians have shown commitment with us. if you see all the people following us and all the comments being made by supporters of NDC and well-wishers, you would see that Ghanaians have grown beyond the fact that people go into the presidential race with ideas which sometimes are not practicable, we are have demonstrated practicability and we have shown that we can do it and is evident for everybody to see. We are not threatened by Dr. Nduom, not NPP, not PNC; we not threatened by anybody at all,” he added.

Mr. Pelpuo made the comment on Citi FM’s news analysis programme, The Big Issue when the Progressive People’s Party’s (PPP) victory against the Electoral Commission in court was being discussed.

The EC disqualified about 13 presidential nominees from this year’s election citing issues with their nomination forms; a decision some of the political parties are protesting in court.

Meanwhile, an Accra High Court which heard the PPP’s case ordered the EC to allow the party to correct errors in their nomination forms.

Pelpuo also noted that the PPP’s victory shows that Ghana’s democracy has matured.

“Yesterday’s ruling was a landmark ruling that tells about the fact that our courts are working, rule of law is part of our lives and that our democracy is alive and kicking and that at any point in time we can be confident that we have a court to rely on and that when people feel aggrieved by decisions by an arm of government or a constitutional body, they can always appeal and have hearing and sometimes can have their grievances addressed in their favour. So it was a good time for us to celebrate our democracy and to also celebrate our courts,” he added.

Tuesday, 25 October 2016

“Mahama Has Already Lost” – Biakoye Chief

           


 The Gyaasehene of Abotoase, Nana Ansah Asiedu, has appealed to the 2016 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to resume the payment of compensations due them as a result of the construction of the Volta Lake, which continues to claim their lands. 

His request to Nana Akufo-Addo is borne out of the fact that, “President Mahama is already gone. He has lost the elections.”

Nana Ansah Asiedu made this known when the NPP flagbearer paid a courtesy call on him at his palace in Abotoase, in the Biakoye constituency, on Monday, October 24, 2016.

The Abotoase Chief explained that under the resettlement package, which was instituted by a Legal Instrument passed by Parliament, “compensation payments commenced under President Kufuor.

The late President Mills continued with these payments. However, upon assuming office, President Mahama has decided to stop paying compensation to us.”

Funds from the resettlement package, according to Nana Ansah Asiedu, were used in the construction of the only institution of higher learning in the town, the Aboatse Senior High and Technical school.

The cessation of payment of compensation to them, he added, has led to the Chiefs and people seeking redress at the courts. 

“Maybe, before he exits power, he will still decide not to pay us compensation. Nonetheless, he will go (in December). He has no choice but to go. So we are appealing to you (Nana Akufo-Addo) to resume the payments of compensation when you come into office in Jamuary 2017 because it is the means by which some of my people survive,” the Abotoase Chief added.
   



Source: peacefmonline.com            

Monday, 24 October 2016

We Are All Not NDC - Volta Chief.


Claims that “all Voltarians” belong to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is factually inaccurate, a senior divisional chief of the Peki Traditional area, Togbe Agamela VI has said.

According to the chief, some members of the traditional council belong to other parties including the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Addressing the presidential candidate of the NPP, Nana Akufo-Addo, during his tour of the Volta Region, Togbe Agamela VI, said some of them are sympathizers of the NPP and declared his support for Nana Addo.

Expressing his gratitude to the chief, Akufo-Addo said the NPP’s call for change was based on the fact that the performance of the NDC government in the last eight years has been nothing but a monumental failure.

He accused President John Mahama of supervising unbridled corruption and collapsing all the social intervention programmes initiated by the erstwhile John Agyekum Kufuor administration.

“He [Mahama] has been in power for eight years, and in the era of the eight years apart from the Green Book, we don’t really know what else he is really able to do,” Akufo-Addo told the chief and his subjects.

“The time, has come for us to put people in office who are cable of ruling this country and leading effective and efficient government so that we can make progress in our country,” he added.

He reiterated his pledge to ensure rapid development of the country when voted for come December 7, urging the people to ditch the governing NDC government.

Sunday, 23 October 2016

RTP Awards 2016 Winners.

Saturday, 22 October 2016
RTP Awards 2016: Countryman Songo emerges Tops!!!..Full List of Winners


Host of popular afternoon sports programme, Fire for Fire on Adom TV and
Asempa FM,  Patrick Osei Agyemang popularly known as Countryman Songo, was Saturday night crowned the radio and television personality of the year 2016 at the 6th edition of the RTP Awards held at the Accra International Conference Centre.

The show was hosted by Comedian DKB and saw performances from Selektor AF, SP Kofi Sarpong, Okomfo Kwadee and Shatta Wale.

Below is the list of winners.

Best Radio Personality(Volta Region) – Nene Micheal Lamptey ( Volta Premier)

Best Radio Personality (Northern Region) – Kweku Oduro (Kessmin FM)

Best Radio Personality (Central Region) – Ama Bawuah (ATL FM)

Best Radio Personality (Western Region) – Osei Kwaku Cassidy (Energy FM)

Best Radio Personality (Brong Ahafo Region) – Tony Kombla Abochi (Classic FM)

Best Radio Personality (Ashanti Region) – Sampson Nyamekye (Hello FM)

Best Radio Personality (Greater Accra Region) – Abeiku Santana (Okay FM)

Best Radio Personality( Eastern Region) – Dr Prekese (Bryte FM)

Radio DJ of the Year – DJ Vyrusky (Starr FM)

Media Online Blog of the Year – Citifmonline

Radio Newscaster of the Year (Local Language) – Akosua Ago Aboagye (Peace FM)

Radio Newscaster of the Year (English Language) – Bernard Nsara Shaibu (Starr FM)

TV Male Newscaster of the Year – Israel Laryea (Joy News)

TV Female Newscaster of the Year – Akua Asanteba Mensah – Viasat 1 TV

Radio Development Show host Of the Year – Adwoa Yeboah Agyei – (Peace FM)

TV Development Show Host of the Year – Nana Yaa Konadu (Peace FM)

Radio Reggae Show Host Of The Year – Fiifi Selah (Pluzz FM)

TV Reality Show of the Year – Live Inside and Win the Ride (ETV Ghana

TV Local Series Of The Year – Cow And Chicken

Digital TV Channel of the Year – Adom TV
Radio Gospel Show host of the Year – Kwabena Boafo (Happy FM)

Radio Sports Programme of the Year – Angel Sports (Angel FM)

Radio Sports Show Host of the Year – Moses Antwi Benefo (Happy FM)

TV Sports Show Host Of the Year – Patrick Osei Agyemang (Fire For Fire)

Radio Late Afternoon Show Host of the Year – Abeiku Santana (OK FM)

Radio Mid morning Show Host of the Year –Alex Ayensu Baah (Radio Gold)

Radio Morning Show Host Of The Year –Kwami Sefa Kayi – Kokrooko (Peace FM)

TV Morning Show Host Of the Year – Kokui Selormey Hanson (Viasat 1)

TV Sports Program Of The Year – Fire For Fire (Adom TV)

TV Current Affair Show Host Of The Year – Nana Aba Anamoah (State of the Nation Affairs) (GHOne)

Radio News Programme of the Year – Peace News at 6PM (Peace FM)

TV News Programme of the Year – Viasat 1 News (Viasat 1)

TV Entertainment Show Of the Year – Celebrity Fan Zone (Viasat 1)

Radio Entertainment Talk show Host of the Year – Agyemang Prempeh (Rainbow Radio)

Radio Talk Show Host of the Year – Nana Ansah Kwaw 1V (Joy FM)

TV Male Entertainment Show Host Of the Year – George Quaye (GhOne TV)

TV Female Entertainment Show Host of the Year – Stacy Amoateng (Platinum Network)

Radio Female Presenter of the Year – Naa Klordey Odonkor (Ultimate FM)

TV Female Presenter Of the Year – Korkui Selormey Hanson (Viasat 1)

Radio Morning Show Host of the Year – Bernard Avle (Citi FM)

Television Morning Show Host of the Year – Gh Today (GH One) and Adekye Nsroma (UTV)

TV Programme of the Year – Good Evening Ghana (Metro TV)

Media Group of the Year – Despite Media Group

Radio Programme of the Year – Starr Chat (Starr FM)

RTP Personality of the Year – Patrick Osei Agyemang (Countryman Songo)

Honorary Awards

Excellence Award in Radio Management – Samuel Atta Mensah (Citi FM)

Excellence Award in Radio Management – Ekyie Quarm (Multimedia Group Limited)

Excellence Award in Radio Management – Fada Dickson (Despite Media group)

Friday, 21 October 2016

EC Drags Ayariga To CID.


The woes of Hassan Ayariga, presidential aspirant of the All People’s Congress (APC), are not yet over, as the Electoral Commission (EC) has reported him to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) over a number of alleged criminalities he is said to have committed.

EC says the APC leader obtained his doctorate degree from a non-existent or unrecognized institution, among others.

Ayariga had insulted the EC chairperson, Charlotte Osei, calling her names after his disqualification from the presidential race was announced last week.

According to the EC, it detected about 30 anomalies, some bordering on criminality, which necessitated referring the APC leader’s case to the CID for investigations.

Ayariga had requested that the EC should return his forms to him to expunge the errors and replace them with new pages.

The commission indicated that the university in Spain cited by Hassan Ayariga in his nomination forms as his alma mater is non-existent, according to its search records.

A letter to the APC leader dated 18th October, 2016, titled: “Ref: Rejection Of Nomination As Presidential CANDIDATE Dr. Hassan Ayariga,” signed by Charlotte Osei, and copied to the Head of CID, a copy of which has been obtained from sources, stated in part, “Your personal records indicate that you attended Great Achievers University of Spain and you qualified with a PhD in Political Science in December 2014.

“However, we cannot find the said university and we would presume does not exist. However, there is a Great Achievers International Theological Seminary in Spain, which from our checks, does not award PhDs in Political Science. Please be advised further that an Honorary Doctorate Degree is not an educational qualification as required and stated on your nomination forms.”

The EC also pointed out that the inaccurate and false statements/submissions on Mr Ayariga’s personal records could be grounds for criminal prosecution.

“In addition, the signatures of some of your subscribers are questionable in our view (please see pages, 31, 104, 111, 108, 110) and require further investigation. Consequently, these and the other issues raised in this letter would be referred to the Ghana Police Service for further investigations,” EC averred.

Request 

Mr Ayariga, in a letter dated 17th October, 2016, had requested that the commission allow him to replace pages in his nomination forms, which the EC found unacceptable.

But the EC replied that it was unable to allow him to illegally and surreptitiously change pages in his already submitted nomination forms.

“Please be further advised that changes to nomination forms can only be legally made within the stipulated nomination period (See C.l. 94 Regulation 9 (2) and ‘Guide to Candidates and their Agents’ issued this year by the Commission).

“You would recall that after your submission on September 29, 2016, approximately 30 anomalies were detected on your nomination forms, and you were given the opportunity to correct same. With regards to the names of subscribers which you seek to substitute, those subscribers are clearly in breach of Regulation 7 (a) of C.1.94.

The law clearly states that ‘a person shall not nominate more than one candidate in a presidential election,” EC submitted.

According to the commission, such breach of the law was clearly not an anomaly that could be detected within the nomination period.

“By itself, such an irregularity can only be discovered when nominations have closed. Accordingly, the burden to do due diligence is therefore on the nominee to ensure that his nomination forms are subscribed to by persons with the requisite integrity who do not endorse more than one candidate.

“In addition, we wish to point out that our letter of October 7, 2016 specifying the grounds for your disqualification was not exhaustive of the infractions of the law contained in your forms,” the EC stated.

Thursday, 20 October 2016

Is Mr President Living in Ghana With Us? Nana Addo


“The President claims all is moving on smoothly in Ghana, the reason why he is seeking a renewal of his mandate in office. President Mahama, clearly, does not feel your pain and suffering. He is impervious to the hardships Ghanaians are going through on a daily basis, in their efforts to make ends meet. I doubt he is living in Ghana with us, because if he was, he wouldn’t be making such comments.”
These were the words of the 2016 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Wednesday, October 19, 2016, in Kramoase, in the Atwima Kwanwoma constituency, at the beginning of his 4-day tour of the Ashanti Region.
According to Nana Akufo-Addo, he is at a loss as to why the President will make comments to the effect that all is well with Ghana, in the midst of record levels of unemployment, rising cost of living, high utility tariffs, widespread despondency, and untold levels of hardship and suffering amongst the populace.
Nonetheless, the NPP presidential candidate is urging Ghanaians not to lose hope in the ability of the country to offer citizens a decent standard of living, stressing that an Akufo-Addo-led NPP government is coming into office to improve the conditions of living of Ghanaians.
“We have an opportunity this year to rid our nation of the suffering and hardship the Ghanaian is going through under the leadership of President Mahama. When we vote in a competent government in December, I assure you that Ghana will be put on the path of progress and prosperity once again. That is the task before us in Ghana in this year’s election”, Nana Akufo-Addo said.
Thus, the ‘1-District-1-Factory’ policy, ‘1-Village-1-Dam’ policy, the diversification of the country’s agriculture, the effective implementation of the Free SHS policy, the setting up of an Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP) the restoration of the teacher training and nursing training allowances, the effective implementation of the Free SHS policy, amongst others, he said, are policies that will bring progress and prosperity to Ghanaians.
With the cultivation of ginger being one of the major produce in Atwima Kwanwoma, the NPP flagbearer stated that, in line with his 1-District-1-Factory policy, “it will not be difficult to establish a ginger processing factory in this constituency. We are going to do that, I assure you.”
To this end, Nana Akufo-Addo told the hundreds and hundreds gathered at Kramoase “to repose your confidence in me, believing that all I have just said to you, I am coming to implement them. What I am telling you is nothing but the truth. I have too much respect for Ghanaians to lie to them and say things I know I cannot do.”
NPP is the only party that can unseat Mahama
With some 49 days to the conduct of the December 7 election, Nana Akufo-Addo stressed that “there is no other political party in Ghana that has the support and organization to remove the NDC from office, other than the NPP.”
Thus, “if you are a Ghanaian who is fed up with the hardship under Mahama, please come and ride on the back of the elephant and let us go together to Jubilee House, so we can go and do a good job for Ghanaians.”
The NPP flagbearer urged residents of Kramoase to vote massively for the NPP in this year’s elections, and increase the 80.83% margin of victory chalked by the party in the 2012 presidential election.
Nana Akufo-Addo also admonished party faithful to vote for the NPP’s parliamentary candidate for the constituency, Dr. Kwadwo Appiah Kubi, and ignore any calls by independent parliamentary candidates in the upcoming election to vote ‘skirt and blouse’ in the parliamentary election.

Wednesday, 19 October 2016

Mahama's Government; A Nightmare - Bawumia.


National Patriotic Party [NPP] 2016 running mate Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia has described President Mahama’s led administration as a bad choice for the state.

Speaking to residents of Savulugu in the Northern Region as part of his campaign tour, Dr. Bawumia accused the ruling government of causing untoward hardship in the country;

“The problems we are having today are from three particular related issues, that is mismanagement, incompetence and corruption …..Those are the three problems in Ghana today that is why we need a change from the mismanagement, incompetence and corruption…. all these three things lead to unemployment which we are suffering from now… The Mahama government has been a very bad experiment for Ghana …. This government has become a nightmare for Ghanaians and this is why we need to vote for Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo to change the tried and tested person who has no integrity and vision… 

…We are going to build a new economy and that is going to create jobs , we have the plan to solve unemployment … you will see a major change in the agricultural sector, industrialization  and the one district, one factory policy we are going to reduce taxes for companies to survive”.

Meanwhile, Vice President Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur in addressing students of the Cape Coast polytechnic had this to say: “In the NPP’s published manifesto, they have put in about 63 proposals of which eight of them are revenue proposals to reduce revenues and when I calculated the revenue loss that their manifesto proposes I get something like 6.2 billion Ghana cedis, if they were running the government this year from the reductions in tax rate and so on.  In addition, they have also introduced 21 billion of new expenditures, so together with the 6.2 billion Ghana cedis in revenue loss and an increase in expenditure projects; we are talking of an additional 27 billion cedis loss to the state”.



Tuesday, 18 October 2016

Autopsy ‘Report’ On Cause Of Death Of Kumasi Journalist Out




Pathologists, who conducted postmortem on Confidence Eric Kwadwo Baah 32 on Monday, have hinted that the broadcast journalist could have died as a result of asphyxiation by food particles.

Asphyxia experts revealed is the condition where the body either does not get enough oxygen to continue normal function or has too much carbon dioxide to function properly. Without adequate oxygen, nerve cells in the brain.

Samples of the internal organs and fluids ultimatefmonline.com can confirm, have been taken and to Accra for further examination with the actual cause of death still under further investigation.

The journalist died on Sunday morning at the Effiduase Government Hospital after he was rushed there by his aunt who spotted him earlier that morning in his room motionless.

His girlfriend Florence Osei also known as Afua Birago 37, who was reported to have spent the night with him before his demise has been picked up for questioning by the Effididuase police.

It is not immediately known how the suspect is linked to the incident but police investigators confirmed to ultimatefmonline.com that she is a key suspect and will assist them in their investigations

Meanwhile, management of Kessben Fm/TV has opened a book of condolence at Dufie Conference Hall, Aseda House for its former staff Confidence Eric Kwadwo Baah 32.

Several journalists in and out of the Ashanti region, relations, listeners and viewers of the station trooped to the premises of the station to commiserate with them over the loss.
 
 
 

President Mahama Should Be Given A Second Chance - Zenator Railings.




Almost thirteen years ago, I had the privilege of interviewing her father, the great African son and Ghana’s gift to the World, the charismatic President  Jerry John Rawlings. Therefore, I was really excited when one of our friends, whom we fondly call Lady Patience dropped the hint that she could help facilitate an interview with Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings.

Dr. Zanetor, the eldest child of JJ Rawlings had just beaten a sitting Member of Parliament to grab the National Democratic Congress (NDC) ticket for Klottey Korley Constituency. There was no shadow of doubt that she would be an interesting subject.

So when my team and I flew from Lagos to Accra, we were full of expectations because we had no prior interaction with Dr. Zanetor, but we knew if she was a true daughter of JJ who is affectionately called “the old man”, two things were certain: she would be a stickler for time and a no nonsense disciplinarian.

We checked into the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel located in the heart of the city that evening but we slept very little because the appointment had been fixed for early the next morning and our Publisher, Bashorun Dele Momodu, in his usual manner, was calling almost every minute to ensure that all was well.

On first contact, it was obvious that Dr. Zanetor is certainly a chip of the old block, she combines the doggedness of her mother, the irrepressible Nana Konado Agyeman-Rawlings and the philanthropic or should I say, people-loving spirit of her dad.

Her handshake was firm, a result of her strict exercise regime, we later learnt, but her smile was welcoming.

We also noticed that though a politician, she was not too keen to hug the spotlight. To our surprise, she said she was not used to photo shoots, that she is at her best when she was working with the people on the streets. Impressive!

After our explanation that it was part of the package, and that doing the job of touching lives and selling your ideas to the people go parri passu. She was very cooperative, it shows she is a lady who keeps her word.

When the shoot was over, she said she had some engagements around her constituency, that bright, sunny Saturday afternoon, and she graciously allowed our cameras join her entourage.

On the streets, she came to life, it was apparent that this was her forte, speaking confidently and with candor, she addressed players of Hope For The Future Club, a football team that had been promoted to Division 2, insisting that she would not defend anyone who goes into drugs or misbehaves in public. She charged them to be worthy Ambassadors of Klottey Korle.

At another meeting of Ghanaian youths, who have just been offered various employment opportunities (which she facilitated), Dr. Zanetor also charged them to be role models.

She urged them to work harder than any other set of workers so as to pave the way for more opportunities for others. Discipline, decorum and hard work were consistent themes throughout her speeches. Indeed my admiration for her shot up a few notches after seeing her, in what she jokingly referred to as her natural habitat.

Dr. Zanetor came across as a lady packed full of ideas, a lady who is passionate about touching lives and elevating society. A lady who is a go-getter.

Later, when we sat down for an interview in her parent’s Ridge Home, she told us more about her intention to become the next Member of Parliament for Klottey Korle. Enjoy!

How do you feel when you do good and touch peoples’ lives

For me, it is no achievement to be the only person in your family to move ahead. It is in many ways a let down if you are moving ahead and you can’t carry others along.

The question for me is always this; why are you alive? What is your purpose in life. If you find yourself in a position where you are supposed to make a difference in peoples’ lives, to help, to empower people, then you have a duty to actually do so. I am passionate about what I do, so for me, what drives me is just knowing that that one can do something that can uplift communities or the society.

Was it that passion to uplift society that propelled you into politics

In many ways that was what actually pushed me in that direction because I was already doing a few things along those lines not mainstream politics though. Following a lot of consultations and investigations.

(Cuts in)  Consultations? All Politicians always say that

It is important that we recognize that one doesn’t have all the answers, that is why consultation is important because you seek advice, seek counseling to add to what you know and sometimes you might have a blind spot that you don’t even know about. Having a different person offer their opinion or offer their advice can help you actually recognize that there is something you don’t even know about a particular situation and their perspective could help you build a better platform and a better strategy.

It was through asking and consulting and of course praying about it that made me finally make the decision to go ahead. Sometimes it is easier to bring all the resources responsible for community change or empowerment together when you find yourself in mainstream politics because you have access to more resources than you might ordinarily do in an individual capacity.

I am actually confused with your constituency, can you clarify tha name

The reason you are seeing the different versions is because the name has changed many times. It is actually Klottey Korle on the official book presently.

What part of Accra does this constituency cover

If you can use the Odo River as one boundary. That is the boundary on the Western side, it goes all the way down, it cuts across Graphic Road to Nkrumah Circle Area and then the Southern border of that will be the Atlantic Ocean. So all that extending right through Official Town, Adabraka, through Art Centre to Osu and the boundary of La, then you make your way up. And then, the Ring Road is the Northern boundary more or less.

You seem to know this area like the back of your hand

(smiles) You have to, having been around quite a bit

Having lived around here for years, what do you think are the major challenges of the residents

Under major headings; we can say-sanitation, employment or unemployment whichever way you want to look at it are two of the big ones, skills development and education. But if you go down to the community level as opposed to the big titles, we can break it down further.

What I like to do is allow the communities say what their specific problems are because you can’t know better than someone who lives in the community or know what their situation is like.

What we have done as a team is to map out the constituencies based on their problems. The problems are either related to the environment or employment. If it is the people you are talking about, are we talking of the aged who need support or are we talking about a large number of youths who need to be employed or who have not done well enough in their exams or need to be either trained in some kind of skills or repeating certain exams or is it a case of certain areas where they need facilities like street lights or they need their roads to be repaired?

In some areas, the market always gets flooded when it rains, it’s a low-lying area. How do we manage that so that peoples’ goods or whatever commodities they have aren’t destroyed anytime it rains? Flooding is a huge problem and a huge part of us in this Constituency, it is a major affliction of this Constituency if I can put it that way and we have to develop a strategy to deal with it.

It is very obvious that the work to be done are enormous, is it not possible that people will be expecting too much from you as a Member of Parliament

It is possible, but I think once there is a recognition of the fact that it is a collaboration, it becomes easier.

I cannot do it alone and I have never claimed that I can do it alone, it is about getting the right people involved and also about getting people in the community to realize that they have an active role to play in their empowerment as well.

There won’t always be formal jobs that people can be employed in. Sometimes it is about creating a niche or sometimes it is about making people realize that for example along the beach where you have a lot of plastic waste, that is actually money waiting to be made. Having the people in that community recognize that by collecting plastics and selling them to the recycle companies, it is a source of income.

That action does two things: keeps the beach clean and puts a bit of money in their pockets. Those kinds of things kind of shifts the paradigm from that expectations of constantly being a receiver instead, becoming somebody who is an active participant in changing things and giving. That is the kind of thing that I generally like to focus on.

Otherwise, you create a sphere of overdependency and that does not help either parties. If you can help empower people so that they can be independent and also empower others, you have that kind of chain effect, where you start something with a group and each person takes on other people. For example, if you have a situation where you are able to create job opportunity as a result of training people in something, they have a responsibility of also training other people and so on and so forth. That is the kind of community spirit that we want to build. Yes the expectation is there

But are you sure you will be able to cope with the expectations

Of course, it is a team effort. I will be as strong as the weakest member of my team. When I talk about my team, I don’t mean officially specific members, I am actually talking about the community because it is a team building exercise, it is a movement and we are all part of it.

Let us step down a bit to your background, you are the first daughter of a man that is respected by many Africans especially Nigerians and I personally respect and admire him a lot, tell us a bit about growing up with the great Jerry John Rawlings.

In the early days, I tended to see him a lot more on television than I actually saw him in real life (laughs heartily). It was interesting because though we didn’t see him as often, because he lived in the Castle for most of the time and we lived separately with my mum and sometimes my grandma, but we felt his presence.

It was a case of each time he was around, it was more of an impactful interaction.

There was something new he shared, some new skills he would teach you. It is interesting because you saw him from a distance through the eyes of everybody else. It was not until we were much older that we really spent more time with him which was during National Democratic Congress (NDC) Period. The pressure was there because you were a sort of an ambassador of the family.

Whatever you did, people were watching, that was not easy at all. You get conscious with what you do because people would say look at them, his children are OK or they are not well behaved.

My mum had a huge role because she was the one constant in our lives and the disciplinarian in the family. It was an interesting experience, you went to school, you are aware of your background but you don’t get any preferential treatment.

So you were normal

Pretty much except the awareness of what you are doing and how it reflects.

How did that lead to you becoming a Medical Doctor. Was that your personal choice

It was my choice actually; I always had this interest in healing. When I was younger, if there was an incident, I used to be the first to go and pick up the Fist Aid Box, it was just something that I was interested in and it just grew.

Basically, It was as a result of my interest in it that I went down that path. Initially, I remember I wanted to join the Airforce

(Cuts in) Because of your daddy

I actually enjoyed flying, I would have done that but then again through consultation, that word again (Laughs heartily). I chose to do Medicine.

Have you been practicing

I have not formerly practiced since I moved back from Ireland because the politics kind of took over and it has not been very possible to practice the same way I used to in terms of general practice

However, I apply my knowledge in my every day life, in many ways, it guides my approach to life because I have a philosophy in terms of Medicine which says that you treat someone holistically.

When the person walks through the door, you don’t see a ear, a heart or kidney, there is a whole process, so you need to just take into consideration the fact that whatever it is that you are seeing, there could be an underlining factor related to other unrelated things that you might want to consider.

In the same way, that is how I approach politics or our community in building exercises of empowerment. It is really just about looking at the different factors together to form a whole as opposed to just picking one thing which might be an effect rather than a cause. It is just about digging a bit deeper. There is another philosophy that when a patient walks through the door the diagnosis is based on what they tell you, so the ability to listen and also ask the right questions would actually bring out a response and it is very important. You might go into a community and say this community needs street light but the priority may just be a gutter or it might be water. So when you listen, you will be able to find a balance of what it is important and what the person really needs. So whatever you do, you have to have the buy in of the people and the community who are in actual fact the primary beneficiary of what you are doing.

Before you formerly joined politics which is now taking so much of your time, what were you doing

I was mostly working towards setting up a holistic Wellness Centre in addition to actually attending various conferences where I speak about various developmental issues as well as encouragement and empowering of the youths.

How did your political journey begin, at what stage did you say that you were ready to go into the murky waters of politics

That is a very difficult question to answer because I don’t think there was a particular day. There was a day when I said ok, I am in, which is basically when you have to take that decision to take that position of filing your nomination. If you haven’t committed to the codes at that point, you are not going to be filling a nomination.

The thing that pushed me along those lines was after that disaster last year, apart from working with TV3 and various partners at that time to actually provide relief for the various communities that were affected by the floods, we raised funds which was basically to help support all of that. For me, the relief items, going to meet the families, that was the effect side of it.  But it was not deep enough. For me it was a case of; why was this always happening and what can we do to change the cause of event so that we don’t have a repeat of this? Is it a case of clearing the drainages to ease free flow, is it a case of maintenance? How can you prioritize so that you can mitigate the effect of this annual rainfall. We needed to change in terms of how we prepare for this rain so as to reduce the effects. This rain causes so much damage and it is devastating for them. It was all of that, and the fact that it seemed to be the way to go and that propelled me to politics.

What did your parents say when you decided to join politics

I don’t think I can quote either of my parents in this one but it was a very big decision and it was really a case of: can you maintain your integrity as you take this path? Can you get past the noise to deal with issues, can you stay true to your purpose? So those were fundamental questions, it was really a case of don’t sell your soul in the process of trying to achieve something because then it is not worth it.  It is really a case of how do you find that balance between politics and actually getting things done.

Talking about balance, your dad is Founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC)  and your mum is the Founder of another party, National Democratic Party (NDP), do you have any conflict, how have you coped with this situation

To be fair, I am a registered member of the NDC, and I have been for many years.

(Cuts in) I thought I heard that you were never a registered member of NDC

You hear a lot of things. The fact is that my mum was instrumental to the creation of the NDC; she, in very many ways is a part of how the party came to be. As to how things went the way they went, I will leave that to historians to write about it, perhaps I leave it to her to give her version of events. I will not consider it fair to speak on that.

Is it a conflict in some ways? No. I think the point is one should be able to exist without not being in total agreement with everybody but understanding the picture. For me it is not an issue because underneath all of that there is the major issue which is the people, our environment. How are we working together as a nation? If we allow partisanship to split us in such a way that we cannot work together to make things better, it makes me wonder what it is we are really working towards as a developing country.  I wouldn’t consider that as any conflict of interest

Talking about conflicts, your candidacy has also brought up a lot of conflicts, how emotionally challenging have these been especially since you are doing this for the things you genuinely believe in and you are having all these road blocks

Some mornings I wake up and I just wonder, if as a developing country we are going to allow purpose for development be sidetrack by issues that are inconsequential. We should be careful not to usurp the power of the people in a bid to reach certain objectives. If we are in a democracy and people have made their choice then we should abide by it. I didn’t impose myself on this constituency, it was a democratic process. There are also some technical things here and there, Has it been exhausting? In many ways I will say so because sometimes with some of these issues you are not quite sure what the end point is, it has been more tiring that even going out there and doing the actual work.

How did you feel the day you actually won the primaries because in African politics, it is not quite easy to remove a sitting MP especially from  same party

It was an amazing feeling because a lot of people had come together to work as a team to make it happen so I cannot even take credit and say that I was solely responsible for it.

We moved as a team and it yielded amazing result. We thank God that it went well because it was a good day.

We have few women in politics

(laughs heartily) Are you surprised? Considering what I am going through at the moment?

Anyway what will be your advice to aspiring female politicians

I think we need more women on board, we certainly do. Women have a different approach in general towards dealing with issues whether economic issues, or whether it is issue of conflict.

Women have an outward looking approach towards how things are going to affect the family, especially the children. How will it affect the community?, how can we manage our resources so that many people can benefit as possible?

We need people who can look at our communities in terms of whether it is a company, business or even an household, managing resources in such a way you have an happy household. And a happy household happens when you have healthy people who are well balanced in their lives and are employed.

Definitely, we need more women; the more women we have in mainstream politics the more we will see a shift of events or a shift of attitude towards women in politics because there are a lot of issues I face along the way which would not have been raised if I was a man.

We need more work to be done in terms of gender sensitization, giving women that equal opportunity, I am not saying we should have perfect equality because you can’t compare apples and oranges.

I am just saying we should complement each other. It is a puzzle, we fit together. If we are the same it doesn’t fit well, but if we complement each other, we will have a strong union, complementing one another’s strength. Women being who we are and men being men. By virtue of our physiology and anatomy, men and women are not the same. That balance it is what can create a better society.

In our traditional setting we have the Chief and the Queen Mother, the Queen mothers are responsible for who is made the King or Chief, so the roles are defined and each has unique roles to play.

So, we need more women to restore that balance, to make decisions because when a society suffers, it is the women and children that suffer most. If we have more women in positions of authority, in decision making, there is a long term thinking that comes into play such as how can we make our children happy?

How have you been able to balance motherhood and politics

It is a tough one. It has been another big challenge in many ways but with the family support, traditionally as Africans we don’t just have the nuclear family, as communities we have the extended families, where we have the aunts, uncles and the cousins and that has made it easier. The extended family has been part of the support base in terms of the family aspect of things with the children in my case and we thank God for that.

Many acknowledge the fact that you are a beautiful and intelligent woman, despite the stress we went through today, you are still glowing, what is your beauty secret

Should I say I thrive in adversity or what (smiles) I just try to manage things in terms of moderation and it helps me to keep my balance and focus. Minding what you eat, exercising when you can.

Try to keep a certain level of discipline in your life in terms of your intake, in terms of your activity. Managing stress, that is one of our greatest problems as a people. If you actually trace the backgrounds of many peoples’ problems, you will discover that there is stress somewhere there. It is about recognizing that the external environment could be at odds with your internal environment and try to create a balance.

How do you relax

Exercising is one of the ways and I listen to music or read too.

Who are your favourite musicians

So many of them. I always feel that it will be unfair to mention some and not mention the others. Depends on the mood, some are local and others are international

Your party has been in power for some years, how will you rate the NDC.

This rating question again.

Well, it is your party, you should be able to say what has been done right and what needs improvement

I think there have been a lot of structural improvement in various sectors under the NDC which I myself have seen. Any nation that is developing is an evolving one which means that your glories of yesterday will not hold until you can improve or maintain or bring more on board. We can actually do better. The day you say you cannot do better is the day you actually lose out because it is an evolving process.

We are aware that the president is seeking a second term, do you think Ghanaians should give him a second chance

Seriously (laughs heartily) Yes I do think so

What has he achieved in your view

In terms of his achievement, I think I would have to bring you the Green book. (It contains President Mahama’s strides in many sectors in all the regions of Ghana).

What are the things you believe he has done in the past four years that you believe should be consolidated upon in the next four years

I can’t tell you all the projects and not mentioning all of what he has achieved might be unfair. The evidence is there for everyone to see. Can we do better? Of course, we can. I think it has to do with the large percentage of youths, we have been concentrating a lot on infrastructure but from what I have observed, it is time to move from infrastructure to investing in the youths. That shift would not be easy, it is going to be a challenge because we have a huge population that fall into the category of youth; there is also high unemployment which actually is global. I lived in Ireland, a lot of Irish Doctors were moving to Australia, Canada and South Africa. The issue of the job market changing is not just here, it is a global phenomenon. The challenge is how to generate innovative ways of job creation. How do we move from that thought process of government should give us jobs to galvanizing the youths to see potentials around them. That is where I would like us to explore going forward.

Your voice is certainly not a small voice in your party, do you speak to the president

(smiles) O dear, yes I do. On occasions.

So what do you discuss

I certainly cannot be telling you that

Ok what kind of person is he

President Mahama is actually a very pleasant person to interact with and very knowledgeable too. He is actually very widely read. Perhaps a lot of people don’t realize this, but he reads a lot. In discussions with him, you will rarely find a situation where his actually ignorant about something, he likes to stay informed.

What are the principles that drive you

No matter were you find yourself, you should be able to carry people along and empower them so they can also lift other people along.

I don’t believe in creating a situation of dependency where people always need you. You have to be able to make yourself expendable to people in terms of empowerment. Otherwise, it is all resting on your shoulders and that is not how to build a society.

For me, empowering people is fundamental to it all. And the interrelation between human beings and your environment, for me is direct. Your environment should be an extension of who you are.

If you are looking at people, you have to examine them in relation to their environment. Their behavior is directly linked to the environment, if you do not understand that, then you may not be achieving much.

I am big on health in terms of wellness. When I talk about wellness, it is not about the person, it is about wellness of you and your environment. Body, spirit, mind and environment. So it not only the external but the internal as well.

How do we move from reacting to actually initiating change, how do we move from constantly expecting things to actually being the one generating change, giving as against receiving because our continent has become generally continent of consumerism. Instead of manufacturing, creating, producing, we are only importing and using.

We are generating so much waste in the process and we don’t have the capacity to deal with such waste. How do we ensure we do not end up with huge landfills? So that we have food material put separately from plastic waste or green waste? So that you can use it to make composite and it can serve as fertilizer, instead of the artificial forms of fertilizer. How do we recycle our plastics? How do we encourage people to stop shopping with plastic bags? Get people to make bags with renewable materials which can be easily recycled?

These are the kinds of things that drive me, being able to understand how to draw a balance between ourselves and the environment, then ourselves and one another, it is all connected. One’s perspective of life has to be holistic to make sense to me.

Lastly, I have always wanted to know this, what is the meaning of your name

It is an Ewe name which means ‘Let the darkness stop’.

That means you are the light, and in the present circumstances, the light of Klottey Korle

Yes, if you say so (laughs heartily)

Monday, 17 October 2016

NPP Decries 'Secret' EC Plans To E Transmit December Results.


The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has expressed grave concern about the Electoral Commission (EC)’s handling of processes for the electronic transmission of the December 7 election results.

Acting National Chairman of the NPP, Freddie Blay says the Commission has not been transparent with the arrangements despite the major role political parties play in the election process.

“Indeed we are not happy [because] it is one of the issues that we addressed that all [things] being equal in this modern age e-transmission of the results should be the order of the day but it should not be done as if it’s administrative,” he said.

The NPP had urged transparency in the arrangements put in place by the Commission to sublet the e-transmission of the December 7 election results to a private company.

NPP Campaign Manager, Peter Mac Manu had told Joy News on August 2 that the Commission failed to invite political parties to attend a meeting scheduled for the five shortlisted companies to demonstrate their systems.

“First, there is no law which gives the EC the mandate to electronically transmit results. Nothing in the law before Parliament now, C.I.94 makes mention of it,” he said then.

The Commission later discontinued the procurement process for the Election Results Management System (ERMS) citing the failure of the companies to “meet the technical criteria and major deviations from the administrative criteria.”

Mr Blay said the Commission should have involved the parties if it is interested in protecting the sanctity of the process. “What is the integrity of it all?” he asked, saying the NPP “won’t leave anything to EC alone.”

Notwithstanding, he said the NPP will “make sure that there will be a fair election and the result will be what Ghanaians want it to be and not what some of the people, officials and non-officials want.”

Reacting to the issue on the Joy FM’s Midday news programme Monday, EC’s Communications Director, Eric Dzakpasu explained despite the discontinuation of the procurement process, the Commission will still go ahead with the electronic transmitting of the results.

He said the system the Commission would use was piloted in four by-elections held this year and would be demonstrated to the political parties at the appropriate time in order to allay their fears.

Despite the NPP’s claim of non-involvement, Mr Dzakpasu said the Commission has been open with all the political parties from the beginning when the decision was taken at the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting, stressing nothing is shrouded in secrecy.

One Arrested Over 'Who Kill Atta Mills' Poster.


One suspect has been arrested in Kumasi in the Ashanti region in connection with the circulation of some posters bearing the inscription ‘Who killed Atta Mills?’

The leader of the suspected group was apprehended on Friday October 14 and handed over to the police, reports say.

He was picked up at a location close to the venue where the National Democratic Congress (NDC) launched its campaign in the region on Saturday, Police in the region confirmed.

A similar poster popped up at the newly-built Cape Coast Stadium, when the NDC launched its national campaign months ago.

IMANI Praises NPP manifesto.


Policy think tank, IMANI Ghana has praised the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the contents of its 2016 manifesto describing some aspects of the document as “noble.”

According to President of IMANI Ghana, Franklin Cudjoe the manifesto’s component which seeks to reduce or scrap some taxes in the country is phenomenal but urged the party to clarify the idea. Speaking on Citi FM‘snews analysis programme, The Big Issue, on Saturday, Mr. Cudjoe, whose outfit had analyzed manifesto promises made by the various political parties, asked some five questions he said if answered would make the NPP’s manifesto better.

The NPP launched its manifesto last week in Accra on the broad theme of “creating prosperity and equal opportunity for all.”

The manifesto is loud on reducing the corporate tax rate from 25% to 20% and social intervention programmes including setting up a Northern development fund as well as giving each constituency an amount of $1 million.

Franklin Cudjoe’s question about NPP’s manifesto:

“We think they need to clarify whether the proposed corporate income tax rate would be a flat tax rate that cuts across all sectors, because this is a very critical question. If you say 20% does it mean all sectors? Because currently there are some sectors that enjoy lower tax rates than 25%. In fact hotels, financial institutions and companies listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange for instance enjoy corporate tax lower than 25%,” Mr. Cudjoe noted.

He also wanted to know whether the NPP would remove the “incentive deferential and tax these companies at a flat tax rate of 20%? What about non-traditional exporters who are taxed at only 8%.”



“In 2010 the government revised the mining tax rate back to 35% after the NPP brought it down to 25%in 2006. But the question we ask is would the mining sector be affected by this new flat tax rate? The other promise which is 75% of tax funded procurement shall be executed by local companies. This is noble, clearly noble, but the NPP needs to explain how this local content policy would do given the history of such trend. Sectorial schemes have not been very effective like we’ve been seeing.”

“We’ve dealt with the NDC, we’ve seen some instances where local content issue within the mining or petroleum sector were a bit shady and quite worrying so anybody who wants to do something like that needs to be exact clear on exactly what they want to do.”

On the NPP’s social intervention programmes on establishing a Northern Development Fund  and one million for each constituency, Franklin Cudjoe said “we need further details on how this one would differ from the other ones.”

“Question also is what administrative machinery would be put in place in these constituencies to oversee the allocated money. We don’t want a situation where SADA created was actually a parallel development authority when you had regional bodies as well otherwise this may look like they are duplicatory especially when we have district assemblies as well,” the IMANI boss added.

Saturday, 15 October 2016

Volta NDC Panics.


Information reaching DAILY GUIDE indicates that the successful launch of the manifesto of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has sent shivers down the spine of the rank and file of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) across the country, particularly in the Volta Region.
 

Some key members of the NDC in the Volta Region told DAILY GUIDE that the enthusiasm that greeted the launch of the NPP’s manifesto had led to a rethink of their strategy.

 

They said they had received several calls from various parts of the region about the inroads being made by the NPP due to apathy among NDC members.

 

In an attempt to boost the morale of members and sympathizers of the NDC in the region, the regional executives, in consultation with the national executives and other key personalities of the NDC, have devised new strategies and boosted the old ones.

 

The sources disclosed this ahead of a press conference by the NDC in Ho on Tuesday.

 

They said the press conference was held to create a positive impression about the NDC to motivate the party’s members.

 

 

 

Empty manifesto

 

 

 

A press statement, read by the regional chairman of the NDC, John Kwadwo Gyapong, emphasized that “we (NDC) are confidently reiterating our unalloyed and unflinching support for His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama to win the 2016 elections.

 

“President Mahama and the NDC must be given another mandate to continue to build a Better Ghana,” it stated.

 

The support, he noted, was emboldened by what he described as the empty ‘Kalyppo’ Manifesto launch last Sunday.

 

 

 

Admission of failure

 

 

 

“We cannot say that the entire Volta Region has been fully developed under the Better Ghana Agenda started by late President Atta Mills.

 

That notwithstanding, the good works that have begun should not be truncated with the change of the current leadership of the country.”

 

The firebrand chairman disclosed that the NPP’s promise of a habour at Keta was overdue because the NDC had started some feasibility studies in the area, which indicated that the project could only be executed after the construction of a sea defence wall at Akplorwu Torkor, Horvi and Blekusu.

 

He added that approval has also been given for a deep-sea oil exploration in the Keta Basin by a Swiss company.

 

In an attempt to counteract the NPP’s Coastal and Middle Belt Development Authorities, Mr. Gyapong revealed that the NDC would establish a development authority, especially for the Volta region.

 

He stated that the NDC government would construct a bridge over the Volta Lake, water processing plant at Sogakofe, as well as offer 10 tractors per district, among others.

 

 

 

Tribal card

 

 

 

He said that “if Volta gives NPP a chance it means the construction of the bridge on the Volta Lake, establishment of satellite campuses of UHAS at Hohoe and Keta, water projects, among others, will come to a standstill.

 

Kofi Attoh, a former Member of Parliament (MP) for Ho Central and senior member of the party, called for unity among the supporters of the party to ensure the re-election of President Mahama.

 

Koku Anyidoho, the Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, noted that the NPP should forget about the region because it would continue to be the ‘World Bank’ of the NDC.

 

Also in attendance were Dzifa Attivor, the former Transport Minister and other party executives in the region.