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Akwamuhene commends Dormaahene
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- Category: Culture & Tourism
- Created on Monday, 24 September 2012 00:00
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Akwamuhene commends Dormaahene
The Akwamuhene, Odeneho Kwafo Akoto III has commended the Dormaahene Osagyefo Oseeadeeyo Nana Agyeman Badu II for the role he played in 2011, to ensure the installation of a Paramount Chief in the area, after the elders had spent 19 long years in search of a ruler, subsequent to the demise of his predecessor.
{sidebar id=11 align=right}Tradition has it that Akwamu and Dormaa have a historical Aduanalineage connection with: Esumegya, Kumawu, Agogo, Twifo Heman, Obo Kwawu, Akwatia, Asamankese and Aburi. Aduana/Abrade tradition provides spiritual, and the historical context of the special bond between Akwamuman and Dormaaman.
Dormaaman and Akwamuman have enjoyed historic, cultural, political and spiritual bondage spanning over 300 years.
However this was not without a mishap, leading to strained relationship between the two traditional areas.
“By a Divine intervention and through ancestral spiritual guidance the circle of the oneness of Akwamu and Dormaa has never been broken,” Odeneho Kwafo Akoto III noted.
{sidebar id=10 align=right}Addressing the Dormahene and his elders during a visit to the Dormaa Tradional Area, the Akwamuhene commended the joint decision by his predecessor, Odeneho Kwafo Akoto and the late Nana Agyeman-Badu I, the then Paramount Chief of Dormaa State on March 13, 1960 that, inter marriages should be encouraged between the citizens of their two states, as means of correcting the wrongs that injured their historical relations for centuries.
“In recent times, the Dormaa and Akwamu peoples continue to see themselves as belonging to one family tree and therefore are encouraging social and spiritual contacts to reinforce that sense of oneness.
The significance of that tireless and unflinching role Osagyefo and Oseadeyo played in ensuring the continuity of the honor and dignity that historically and in modern times, have characterized the Akwamu royal leadership”.
He pledged “to work to harvest the fruits of our hard work and commitment to peace and prosperity, not only for Akwamumma but also for their kith and kin in Dormma and for the people of our Mother Ghana”. Odeneho Kwafo Akoto used the occasion to call on Akwamu citizens home and abroad, to actively participate in the grand homecoming event slated between 2nd and 11th November, 2012, geared to towards uniting Akwamuman for development.
Meanwhile, Odeneho Kwafo Akoto also called on traditional leaders to ensure the peace currently being enjoyed is safe guarded during and after the elections.
The Akwamuhene urged chiefs in the country to support whichever political that will be declared victorious after the December elections, in the supreme interest of the nation.
From: Myjoyonline.com
No commentsNPP accused of playing ethnic card against Mahama in Northern region
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- Category: Politics
- Created on Monday, 24 September 2012 00:00
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24 September 2012
NPP accused of playing ethnic card against Mahama in Northern region
The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has come under fire for allegedly inciting ethnic sentiments against President John Dramani Mahama in the Northern region.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba constituency, Donald Dari Soditey, claims members of the NPP are circulating information suggesting the Brifos in the region will not be spared by Gonjas, with whom they have a long standing quarrel, if John Mahama is elected President.
The Sawla Tuna district is dominated by the two ethnic groups which have been involved in communal clashes in the past.
The MP, who was launching his re-election bid, also chided the NPP running mate, Dr. Mahmud Bawumia for statements he made suggesting the NDC uses Northerners like hoes on a farm and throws them away after the farming season.
The NPP parliamentary candidate for the constituency, Naa Nongiri Vugu, told Joy News the claims of the NDC MP for the area were baseless, and mischievously designed to cause disaffection for the NPP’s campaign.
He said the NPP had never sought to rely on ethnic divisions and tensions in the area to win votes.
From: Myjoyonline.com
John Mahama Bribes Rawlings?
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- Category: Elections & Governance
- Created on Monday, 24 September 2012 00:00
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24 September 2012
John Mahama Bribes Rawlings?
The sudden u-turn performed by the founder of the ruling National Democratic Congress, Jerry John Rawlings, only a few months after describing his party as one in a ditch, and now describing it as one that can win the December polls, has baffled many Ghanaians, with some wondering if the former President has been “bought.”
{sidebar id=11 align=right}Former President Rawlings’ newly found conviction stems from the fact that President John Dramani Mahama, who was once described as inefficient by Mrs Rawlings, and whose leadership skills were called into question in the aftermath of the death of President Mills by the NDC founder himself, has “added a spark to the governing party.”
Political commentators are struggling to come to terms with the sudden posture of Rawlings, wondering if President Mahama has, in a short space of just three weeks, been able to restore integrity to the NDC, as well as ridding the party of corruption, as demanded by the founder at the party’s special delegates congress held in Kumasi on August 30.
{sidebar id=10 align=right}Recent developments, coupled with publications in some pro-NDC newspapers, appear to suggest that the former President may have been ‘bribed’ by President Mahama, to ensure hostilities between the founder and his party ceases in the run-up to the December Elections.
The Al-Hajj Newspaper, a pro-NDC paper, has alleged that former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, was demanding US$5 million from the NDC so as not to contest as the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Party.
Prior to this allegation, there were confirmed reports of the flying into Ghana of former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, by President Mahama to, as it were, convince the NDC founder to campaign for him and the NDC.
Sources at the meeting informed the New Statesman that a “six figure” sum was offered to the former President so as to ensure he campaigned for President Mahama. The source, however, declined to disclose whether or not the former President accepted the offer.
Speaking on Joy FM’s current affairs programme, Newsfile, Saturday, Yaw Buaben Asamoah, a deputy NPP communications director, stated that if Mr Rawlings went ahead to campaign for President Mahama and the NDC, knowing fully well that his demands for the restoration of integrity and the ridding of corruption from the NDC had not been met, then it would give credence to stories making the rounds that he may have been compromised.
According to the NPP man, if Rawlings indeed goes ahead to campaign for President Mahama, considering the fact that the NDC had done nothing to improve on its credibility, with President Mahama still maintaining the “greedy bastards”, then Ghanaians can conclude the NDC founder has been induced and is indeed “bribable”, adding: “Rawlings would have compromised his integrity.”
Mr Buaben Asamoah further added that the so-called endorsement being trumpeted by the NDC only resonates within the core base of the NDC and does not extend nationwide.
He added that Ghanaians are discerning and would know that Rawlings cannot be taken serious on his anti-corruption stance should he proceed to campaign for President Mahama.
Source: Fiifi Arhin/thestatesmanonline
Gov’t Blows US$700,000.00 On ‘Witch-hunt’
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- Category: Elections & Governance
- Created on Monday, 24 September 2012 00:00
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24 September 2012
Gov’t Blows US$700,000.00 On ‘Witch-hunt’
It has now become evidently clear that the National Democratic Congress-led administration was hell bent on finding pieces of incriminating evidence for the prosecution and possible incarceration of former Chief of Staff, Kwadwo Okyere Mpiani and Dr. Charles Yves Wereko-Brobbey, for their involvement in organizing the Ghana@50 celebrations.
{sidebar id=11 align=right}To embark on an enterprise akin to a wild goose chase, the NDC government doled out a whooping, US$686.000(Six Hundred and Eighty Six Thousand United States Dollars) to a team of experts known as Professional Group (GHANA) to “provide professional support to the Government in investigating cases bordering on financial loss and economic crimes” by Mr. Mpiani, Dr. Wereko-Brobbey and others.
The NDC government then led by the late President John Ata Mills in their determination to see the two NPP high profile officials caged, embarked on Sole Sourcing to contract the Professional Group to aid them achieve their objective.
{sidebar id=10 align=right}The New Crusading GUIDE has intercepted a correspondence between the Deputy Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Ebo Barton-Odro and the Finance Minister where the former forwarded the invoice submitted by the Professional Group(GHANA) for onward payment for their services.
Barton-Odro in his letter dated April 26, 2012 to the Finance Minister stated, “I am forwarding to you an invoice submitted by Professional Group (GHANA), with respect to services rendered in the provision and procurement of Jubilee Toilets and sampled Souvenir for the Ghana@50 celebrations”.
“Their invoice in the sum of US$686.000.00(Six Hundred and Eighty Six Thousand US Dollars) payable in cedis at the prevailing rate is being forwarded to you to effect the necessary payments”, he wrote further.
The receipt of the US$686.000.00 by the Professional Group who are mainly Accountants and Financial Consultants with specialty in investigative audits, would balloon government expenditure on them in two transactions to over US $I million.
What is however not clear is what became of their report and when it was presented. Again, the date of payment of the fees by government is unknown.
Their latest receipt of money was the over US$300,000.00 paid by government in the infamous Isofoton case.
In that transaction, it would be recalled, the Professional Group (GHANA), was charged to investigate the judgment debt claim against the government by the Spanish company Isofoton SA.
Ironically, even before the Group could present their final report on 1st November, 2010, the then Attorney-General, Mrs. Betty Mould-Iddrissu had already entered into a consent judgment with Isofoton on 29th September, 2010.
According to the CONTRACT FOR SERVICES document which this paper has sighted, Mr. Barton-Odro on 7th October, 2010, wrote to Professional Group and stated that, “As you are aware, Messrs Kojo Mpiani and Charles Wereko Brobbey were arraigned before the High Court for prosecution. However, they were discharged by the High Court and this office has initiated processes to appeal against the decision of the High Court. In the circumstances, I request that you conduct further research and investigations into the matter to enable us update our docket.”
The contract which was signed on behalf of the Group by one E.D Manful, among other things stated that US$2,000.00(Two Thousand United States Dollars) would be paid “for each day spent by the Consultant on work assigned to it by the client (Government)”.
Source: Gordon Asare-Bediako/New Crusading Guide/Ghana
3 Independent MPs must vacate their seats - Osudoku MP demands
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- Created on Monday, 24 September 2012 00:00
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3 Independent MPs must vacate their seats - Osudoku MP demands
{sidebar id=11 align=right}A Member of Parliament for Shai Osudoku is asking three independent MPs to vacate their seats for crossing carpets to the opposition New Patriotic Party.
David Tetteh Assumeng argues the three MPs have violated the constitution and must bear the consequences.
The three Independent Members of Parliament who contested in Saturday's primaries of the opposition New Patriotic Party had mixed fortunes.
Whilst Joe Osei Owusu won the Bekwai primaries, Nana Yaw Ofori-Kuragu, MP for Bosome Freho constituency, and Seth Adjei-Baah MP for Nkawkaw both lost the primaries.
{sidebar id=10 align=right}Citing Article 97(1)(h) of the constitution which states; “A Member of Parliament shall vacate his seat in Parliament if he was elected a member of Parliament as an independent candidate and joins a political party” Tetteh Asumeng said the three MPs must bow out of Parliament for violating the law.
He told Joy News’ Dzifa Bampoh, the Speaker Joyce Bamford Addo must enforce the law under order 18 of Parliament to ensure the three vacate their seats.
“All of us as Ghanaians must be seen to be upholding the constitution of the land.
“…The provision is just clear to all of us. You don’t need to have any legal brain to give you the interpretation of this provision,” he said.
He said it does not matter whether the Independent candidates won or lost the primaries. The very fact that they have contested the primaries of a political party means they have violated the law and must vacate their seats.
According to electoral laws, the Electoral Commission cannot organize elections in constituencies, three months to general elections.
This means even if the independent MPs were to vacate their seats, there will not be any election until the December general elections.
But Tetteh Asumeng insists his demands are just and practical.
The concerned MPs must first vacate their seats and the nation can think about the next line of action to take, Asumeng noted.
"I am trying to draw the attention of the House to our own provision. Lets enforce the first law which is to declare the seats vacant," he stated.
From: Myjoyonline.com