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Mills is distracting Ghanaians with his illness - Sekou Nkrumah
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- Category: Politics
- Created on Tuesday, 26 June 2012 00:00
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Mills is distracting Ghanaians with his illness - Sekou Nkrumah
27 June 2012
{sidebar id=11 align=right}Dr. sekou Nkrumah, son of Ghana’s first president, has stated unequivocally that president Mills must resign as leader of the nation, accusing him of persistently distracting the progress of Ghana with his illness.
According to Sekou, the focus of the nation should be how to better the lives of the people and not the ill-health of the president as being experienced now.
{sidebar id=10 align=right}According to him, the NDC should have allowed the vice president to contest the upcoming general elections since the president’s health is in doubt.
The health of president Mills recently resurfaced after rumours that he was dead.
President Mills was given a rousing welcome by hundreds of supporters at the airport when he returned from a routine medical check-up in the US on Monday.
However, speaking on Asempa Fm’s Ekosii-Sen on Tuesday, Sekou Nkrumah noted that the welcome party organized for the president was needless because the health of the president is not important to the ordinary Ghanaian.
“I think Ghanaians are focusing on things which are needless. We should be focusing on the welfare of people not the health of the president. We as a people must be fixing the economy of Ghana instead of fixing the health of the president. We should think about the health of Ghana and not the health of president Mills”.
He further cautioned: "I would like to tell my friends in the NDC that the health of president Mills is no joke and must be taken serious.”
“I think in all fairness and honesty, it is not for funny reasons why Mills must resign. The president after returning from his check up said he is healthy but listening to the voice, you will notice that he is not only sick but very very sick”.
He was quick to point out that nobody wishes president Mills ill, but advised that something is done about his situation, which he thinks is getting worse. ”Sekou Nkrumah will be the last person to wish president Mills ill. It is Unghanaian to wish ill on someone and I will not do it ever but I think with his current situation he must be forced to resign”.
He blamed the leadership of the NDC for making the health of president Mills worse by allowing him to lead the party into this year’s election because it would have been avoided by allowing the vice president to step in. “Those in the NDC must wake up and tell Mills to step aside for the vice president. Mills should have been allowed for one term due to his health conditions. I think it is not too late, the vice president is there so they can marshal forces for the vice president to lead the party into the elections rather than presenting sick Mills”.
“I don’t know why the party is delaying in getting Mills to step aside for Mahama who is healthier and a good material because the more they delay, the worse it gets. We all hear Mills and Nana Addo speak so if the two of them stand for president in the country, why does the NDC think people will vote for president Mills?"
The former coordinator of the National Youth Authority admonished political parties in Ghana to elect younger candidates in order not to witness what is currently being experienced by the NDC.
Dr. Sekou Nkrumah asserted that the health of president Mills is not only embarrassing to Ghanaians but to NDC themselves because it giving them headache.
He asked Ghanaians not to be distracted by the ill-health of the president but focus on electing leaders who can solve their problems. ”I think Ghanaians should not be bothered with useless things like the ill-health of president Mills but their future”.
From: Twum-Barima/Asempa News/Ghana
No commentsMills’ rousing return smacks of bad old days of authoritarianism- Kwasi Jonah
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- Category: Politics
- Created on Monday, 25 June 2012 00:00
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Mills’ rousing return smacks of bad old days of authoritarianism- Kwasi Jonah
{sidebar id=7 align=right} A governance expert has criticized the busing of party supporters to the Kotoka International Airport to welcome President John Mills on his return from the US.
Kwasi Jonah who is also a Senior Research Fellow at Institute for Democratic Governance, IDEG, told Joy News the phenomenon evoked memories of the bad old days of authoritarian leadership in Africa.
Hundreds of party supporters as well as party bigwigs and government officials thronged the Kotoka International Airport to welcome the president who has been out on a routine medical check-up.
The supporters mobbed the president when he touched down, singing and dancing with brass band music loud in praise of the president.
President Mills jogged to prove how strong he is, assuring, he is back, fitter and stronger to carry on with his duties as president.
"The energy I have is strong enough for the past, the present and the future," the president declared.
Information Minister Fritz Baffoe was ecstatic, telling Joy News’ Anny Osabutey he had no choice but to bus a number of NDC supporters who in a "spontaneous goodwill" were eager to welcome the president at the airport.
{sidebar id=10 align=right}According to him, a number of government officials and MPs also had enthusiastic supporters massing up and asking to be conveyed to the airport, an offer the officials gladly accepted.
But Kwasi Jonah is not the least enthused with the action.
He said it was needless for government officials and party supporters to besiege the airport in such camaraderie to welcome the president who was returning from a medical check-up in US.
Whilst conceding the rumour of the President's death may have contributed to the supporters massing up at the Airport, he was unequivocal in his condemnation of the action.
He described it as a hangover of the "bad old days of authoritarian leadership in Africa" in which leaders like Mobutu, Kwame Nkrumah, Eyadema all had supporters troop to the airport anytime they were leaving their respective countries or returning to them.
He said those past leaders wanted to be assured they enjoyed the support and loyalty of their people, a phenomenon which is not needed in the current democratic dispensation, Jonah quickly added.
Kwasi Jonah said government officials and supporters must begin to show loyalty to the state and not to the president.
Traditional welcome
But the deputy Local Government Minister Elvis Afriyie Ankra vehemently disagreed.
He told Joy News Jonah's criticisms were without basis and out of context.
He said not once has such a number of people thronged the airport to welcome the president from his trip, but given the circumstance under which he left, it was only natural that people will celebrate and mob him on his return.
Rather than describing it as "clientelism" as Kwasi Jonah would have the world believe, Afriyie Ankra said what happened was purely a traditional way of welcoming a leader who was rumored unjustifiably to have died.
He argued there is nothing wrong with ministers of state spending two hours to welcome a president who has been rumoured to have died, adding, welcoming the president does not mean they are not carrying out their duties as ministers of state.
Afriyie Ankra said Kwasi Jonah has been unfair in his criticisms and his theory about political clientelism cannot be said to the reflection of what happened.
From: Myjoyonline.com| Nathan Gadugah
EasyJet founder Sir Stelios moves closer to low-cost African airline
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- Category: Business & Finance
- Created on Saturday, 16 June 2012 00:00
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Business
Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou takes stake in new venture which owns Lonrho Aviation and will operate under his Fastjet brand
Dan Milmo, industrial editor
Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the founder of EasyJet, is set to launch a low-cost airline in Africa this year after taking a 5% stake in a new venture.
{sidebar id=11 align=right}The easyGroup tycoon, who is embroiled in a long-running boardroom battle with easyJet, is backing a carrier that will operate under his Fastjet airline and be run by former easyJet executives.
Fastjet will operate from Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana and Angola. The ambition is to carry more than 12 million passengers a year, from the 500,000 at present, by cashing in on demand for regional travel from a burgeoning African middle-class.
EasyJet remained tight-lipped about the move, referring queries to a statement made last year that said the Luton-based airline would take "necessary action" if Fastjet infringed its rights.
However, Ed Winter, Fastjet's chief executive-in-waiting and formerly easyJet's chief operating officer, said the airline would avoid antagonising its European peer. "We have been 100% careful. We are absolutely aware of the agreement, and so is Stelios, and we are not infringing it in any way," he said.
{sidebar id=10 align=right}Under the terms of Wednesday's announcement, an Aim-listed cash shell company called Rubicon has bought the aviation arm of Lonrho, an ancestor of the pan-African conglomerate formerly run by Tiny Rowland, in a deal worth $85.7m (£55m). As part of the deal, easyGroup will own 5% of Rubicon, and the airline will use Lonrho Aviation's network. It will operate from the Lonrho hubs in the four African countries. Operating as Fly540, Winter said a 12-million passenger target was feasible.
"If you take the four countries, they have a total population of 100 million people. If you estimate that all our customers come from just those countries alone, you could see three million of them becoming customers with us, flying a couple of times a year. That would generate something like 12.8 million passengers [annually]."
Winter said Fastjet would launch towards the end of the summer but not use its fleet of 10 turboprops and small jets. Instead it would seek to lease larger modern jets like the Boeing 737 or Airbus A319.
Another former easyJet director set to join Fastjet is Richard Boden. He said the business would aim at the west African market. "There is a significant shortage of direct point-to-point flying within the continent, particularly with west Africa. It is very difficult to get from capital city to capital city."
However, the financial health of African airlines remains fragile. According to the International Air Transport Association, airline traffic in the continent will grow by 4% this year, but African carriers will make a collective loss of $100m in 2012, having made no profit in 2011 and a profit of $100m in 2010.
EasyJet has been locked in a dispute with Haji-Ioannou since 2008 over its capacity plans and the purchase of new Airbus aircraft, although another dispute over further use of the easyJet brand was settled in a deal that could earn the tycoon at least £65m over 10 years. Haji-Ioannou and his family control 37.5% of the airline.
Haji-Ioannou said the move would help bring low-cost air travel to more Africans. "This is another small but significant step in bringing the dream of low-cost air travel to millions of people in Africa – the aviation industry's last frontier. Past experience shows that by halving fares, a successful low-cost carrier can encourage those people, who have never previously travelled by air, to fly."
Source: The Guardian UK, 13 June 2012
I deepened Ghana’s democracy by welcoming Mills - PNC flagbearer
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- Category: Politics
- Created on Wednesday, 20 June 2012 00:00
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I deepened Ghana’s democracy by welcoming Mills - PNC flagbearer
The presidential candidate of the Peoples National Convention is relishing his presence at the Kotoka International Airport to welcome president John Mills despite heavy criticisms from a section of his party.
{sidebar id=10 align=right}Hassan Ayariga was part of an army of National Democratic Congress supporters and government officials who thronged the airport to welcome President John Mills from the US after a routine medical check-up.
The PNC leader in broad smiles cheered President Mills on when he [president] jogged at some point to demonstrate how strong and healthy he is after the nine-day check-up in the US.
But Hassan Ayariga has come under some attack from party members.
The General Secretary of the PNC, Bernard Mornah told Joy News his phone has not stopped ringing as party members, one after another, call and in the most “uncharitable” manner express their disgust with the gesture by their leader.
They accuse him of showing divided loyalty by that singular act.
But Hassan Ayariga has played down such criticisms. He told Joy News he has also received countless calls from party faithful lauding his gesture.
He said the rumours of the president’s death prompted him and many others to go and welcome him [president] at the airport, adding, he went to the airport to receive the president of Ghana and not the president of NDC.
By his act, Hassan Ayariga said he had deepened democracy in Ghana and helped to build bridges between political parties.
He also dismissed assertions he is fronting for the NDC.
From:Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com
New constituencies out; Ashanti increases by 8, Volta, 4
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- Category: Elections & Governance
- Created on Friday, 15 June 2012 00:00
- Hits: 3463
New constituencies out; Ashanti increases by 8, Volta, 4
{sidebar id=11 align=right}Joy News has intercepted the breakdown of new constituencies created by the Electoral Commission.
The EC chair met with Members of Parliament during which he released the new constituencies amidst some contestations from the Minority.
Dr Afari Gyan said the new constituencies, 45 were created using a formula which will not discriminate against any region.
Per the release the number of constituencies in the Ashanti Region has increased from 39 to 47. Volta Region increases from 22 to 26 the same as Western Region.
Central Region increased from 19 to 23, Eastern Region increased by five more constituencies from 28-33 whilst that of the Greater Accra Region increased from 27-34.
In the Upper East two more constituencies have been created, putting the figure at 15, with the figure for Upper West Region increasing by one from 10-11.
{sidebar id=10 align=right}The Northern Region increased from 26-31 with the Brong Ahafo also experiencing an increase of five constituencies from 24-29.
Figures gleaned from EC sources put total number of registered voters to 13,628,817.
Over one million of the total number of registered votes do not have valid codes, Joy News' Sammy Darko has learnt, with the EC promising to validate the figure in the coming days.
The total figure will however increase after the EC conducts the biometric registration exercise in Akuse.
Akuse was exempted from the exercise due to legal tussle over whether the EC had the mandate to bring Akuse under Greater Accra Region. Per a Supreme Court ruling, Akuse should still remain under the Eastern Region.
Joy News' Sammy Darko reported the meeting with Afari Gyan was smooth but not without some contestations by the Minority.
According to him, the Minority demanded to know what permutation went into the creation of the new constituencies.
Explaining the formula used, Dr Afari Gyan said the formula puts the population of Ghana at nine with one land mass. The EC therefore divided each region’s population by nine, a strategy he said proved reliable and equitable.
Dr Afari Gyan also stated that the EC has made adequate provision for enough verification machines to be provided at all polling centres, adding about 50 per cent of funds have been made available by government for the project.
From: Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com