May 27, 2022

Volta NPP Regional Executive Elections to be held in Ho

Ho, May 27, GNA – The Volta Regional capital, Ho, is gearing up to host the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Regional Executive Elections on Saturday, May 28.

The elections, initially scheduled to take place in the Keta Municipality, was shifted to Ho at the last minute by a memorandum issued by Mr Evans Nimako, the Director of Election Research of the Party.

“The National Appeals Committee, after considering the controversies regarding the choice of venue for the regional elections, and following further consultations, particularly on the security considerations, has resolved and directed that the Volta Regional Executives Elections be held in the Regional Capital, Ho,” it said.

The directive has set the organisation of the event on a speed lane, as hasty efforts are being made at branding the GM Afeti Auditorium of the Ho Technical University, where it would be held, the Ghana News Agency observed.

The elections are high stakes, as the incumbents face stiff competition.

Mr Makafui Woanya, current Regional Chairman, is being contested by Mr Joseph Homenya, the Regional Secretary, and Rev. Johnson Avulete, a former Deputy Regional Minister.

Mr Woanya is touting his achievements, which include an exponential rise in votes for the Party, and the undertaking of a regional office complex project, which is near completion.

Joseph Homenya, seeking elevation to the Chairmanship position, touts his role in securing the lone seat of Hohoe for the Party, and said the same strategises would be employed in winning more seats in the region, when elected.

Rev Avulete carries himself as a man of the grassroots, and claims that electing him would inure to the Party’s reorganisation and unity.

The position of Regional Secretary is also expected to be a tough one as four people are contesting – Enoch Amegletor, a consistent aspirant for the position, Dr Prince Amuzu, a former DCE for Akatsi North, Pope Yevoo, current Regionala Communications Officer, and Apea Fenteng, a National Security Coordinator.

Enoch Amegbetor says he is bringing his communications skills to rebrand the Party, and would base the foundations on data, key to its growth in the region.

Pope Yevoo is also promising a rebranded outlook based on research, while the National Security Coordinator is putting his best foot forward; his organisational skills and grassroots affiliation.

The Women’s Organiser position has incumbent Afi Agyagbo, and Hannah Ashade, the most threatening of the two contenders.

Mr Edmund Kudjoh Attah, the Chairman of the Regional Elections Committee, said the calibre of aspirants was refreshing to the party’s efforts to make strides in the region.

A total of 36 were vying for the various positions but 29 have been approved by the vetting committee.

Source: Ghana News Agency

May 27, 2022

Speaker calls for support towards women’s empowerment

Accra, May 27, GNA- The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban S.K. Bagbin, has emphasised the need to support and strengthen women’s empowerment initiatives in the country to ensure equality and inclusiveness.

“Given Ghana’s enviable democratic credentials in Africa, there is still a need to promote women’s sense of worth and their right to influence and lead developmental change,” he said.

Mr Bagbin made this statement during a courtesy call on him in Accra by a delegation of the Canadian Senate, led by Madam Amina Gerba, the Senator and Co-Chair of the Canada-Africa Parliamentary Association.

The visit formed part of efforts to be abreast of the conditions under which Ghana’s Parliament works.

Mr Bagbin said the Affirmative Action Bill required immediate attention and that the Legislature was committed to working cohesively with the Executive Arm to ensure the draft bill was presented to the House to create a window of opportunity for women, the elderly, the disabled, and minority groups.

Madam Kati Csaba, the Canadian High Commissioner to Ghana, told the delegation that Canada had approved a programme to assist Ghana’s Parliament in gender equality, equity, and inclusiveness.

The action would foster and develop relations between Ghana and Canada that was mutually beneficial, she said.

Madam Gerba, on her part, commended the Speaker for his diligence, commitment to duty, and service to Ghana and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.

Source: Ghana News Agency

May 27, 2022

Speaker cautions Majority Leader against undermining his authority

Accra, May 27, GNA – The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, is unhappy with the contradictory messages in the public by the Majority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mesah-Bonsu, regarding the release of funds to Parliament to run its business.

The Speaker said he would not take kindly to the Majority Leader always going on air to counter what he said, which he (Speaker) saw as undermining of his authority.

“I will not take that; I am in control here and I will continue to be in control until my term of office ends or the House decides otherwise to remove me as the Speaker.”

Speaker Bagbin raised the concern on the floor of Parliament on Friday when the Legislature resumed sitting to conduct business.

It would be recalled that the Speaker announced that Parliament did not have money, with no funds to run its business, attributing the development to the delays by the Finance Ministry to release funds to the House.

However, the Majority Leader was said to have gone on air to contradict what the Speaker said.

“In response to what I said yesterday that Parliament is broke, the Ministry of Finance proceeded to release funds quickly for the House to function, and that is on record. So, when I heard that the leader of the House has gone on air to say that what I said is not true it saddened my heart,” he said.

Speaker Bagbin cautioned the Majority Leader to desist from the act saying: “It is important that when the Speaker speaks from the Chair the Leader of the House should not be the one countering it. If you want us to give documentary evidence about the non-funding of the House for this year we will provide them.”

Source: Ghana News Agency

May 27, 2022

Savannah Regional NPP Chairman re-elected

Damongo, May 27, GNA – Alhaji Iddrisu Sulemana, the incumbent Savannah Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has been re-elected to serve another four-year term.

He polled 112 votes out of total of 172 votes to beat his challenger, Azumah Abass, who polled 60 votes during the NPP’s Regional Executives elections held at Damongo on Friday.

The incumbent Savannah Regional Director of Communications of the NPP, Mohammed Issah, who contested the Regional Secretary position, polled 102 votes to defeat the incumbent Regional Secretary, Haruna Iddrisu, with 68 votes.

Kwame Aboagye defeated the incumbent Regional Organiser with four votes by polling 88 votes as against Mohammed Tohir’s 84 votes, while Hajia Safia Mohammed retained the Women Organiser position with 82 votes as against Fatahia Mohammed’s 80 votes.

Source: Ghana News Agency

May 27, 2022

Prioritise interest of NPP – Bono East Minister urges candidates, delegates

Kintampo (BE/R), May 27, GNA- Mr Kwasi Adu-Gyan, the Bono East Regional Minister, has urged the New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidates vying for positions in the region and the delegates to prioritise the interest of the Party.

He said the Party’s well-being ought to supersede every individual or sectional interests during and after the elections to ensure peace and unity for victory in 2024.

Mr Adu-Gyan gave the advice at the opening of the Bono East Regional executives’ elections on Friday at Kintampo.

“Our party would become stronger if we considered ourselves as one people to encourage sympathisers and floating voters to permanently join the Party”, he said.

Mr Peace Bawa Sadik, the Kintampo South Constituency Chairman, advised losing candidates to accept defeat and support the winners to focus on working towards victory in the 2024 general election.

He said no attempt should be made to jeopardise the peace being enjoyed in the party as that would weaken its growth.

Voting was on-going in a peaceful mood at the time of filing this report, with about 238 delegates expected to cast their ballots for 21 contestants who filed for different positions.

Source: Ghana News Agency

May 27, 2022

PIAC proposes strategies for sustainable investment of petroleum revenues

Accra, May 27, GNA – The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), a body responsible for ensuring transparency and accountability of Ghana’s petroleum revenues, has raised red flags over the application of the revenue by successive governments.

The Committee said, for instance, that successive governments used the petroleum revenues to tackle too many national problems at the same time, thereby weakening the potential impacts of the oil revenue on the socio-economic development of Ghana.

Ghana had raked in US$ 7.36 billion from petroleum receipts as at the end of December 2021. The amount comprised petroleum receipts from 2011 to 2021.

Mr Isaac Dwamena, a Member of PIAC, said this in his presentation on the Management and Investment Strategies for the Utilisation of the Annual Budget Funding Amount of Petroleum Revenue, at a workshop in Accra.

However, he said, because governments used the funds to tackle so many projects at the same time some of those projects were left uncompleted, hence Ghanaians were not getting maximum benefits from the oil revenues.

“I can tell you, sometimes, the petroleum revenue is used to tackle 4,000 infrastructure projects within a year and so when such things happen, it’s very difficult to complete them and we don’t get the expected benefit,” Mr Dwamena said.

The absence of a national development plan made each government select projects based on its party manifesto and that did not help in ensuring coordinated development of the country, he said.

“There is also a weak mechanism for monitoring projects and that leads to many stalled projects and even change of location for earmarked projects due to bad communication from the implementing agency.”

Mr Dwamena bemoaned the lack of consultation and involvement of stakeholders and beneficiaries in selecting and awarding projects, thereby creating ownership challenges upon completion.

“When PIAC was doing its normal monitoring of projects being funded with petroleum revenues, we got to some Assemblies and we inquired about the contractors implementing certain projects, and some of the Assemblies were completely unaware of that contractor because the contract was awarded in Accra without their involvement,” he said.

Mr Dwamena said PIAC believed that the Government must ensure a robust monitoring and evaluation plan that includes disaggregated responsibility between national and sub-national structures to enhance supervision and monitoring of projects funded with petroleum revenues.

“PIAC believes that few legacy projects should be identified and supported with petroleum revenues to complete them.”

“Ghana needs a long-term national development plan to guide the spending of petroleum revenues.”

Mr Joseph Sarpong, the Head of Energy and Petroleum Unit, Ministry of Finance, responding to the concerns raised by the PIAC, said the country’s development challenges were many, hence government applied the petroleum funds to aid in resolving them.

Also, the projects were selected based on government’s policy and on technical grounds, he noted.

He said the Petroleum Revenue Management Act mandated the Government to select four priority areas and apply the oil revenues judiciously and review its performance after every three years.

He mentioned roads and railways, health facilities, potable water and sanitation, public safety and security, education (Free SHS), agriculture modernisation, science and technology as well as alternative energy sources as some of the priority areas government used the petroleum funds to tackle.

However, mr Sarpong pledged to alert his superiors about the concerns raised by the PIAC for redress.

Mr Tijani Ahmed Hamza, the Country Director of OXFAM, expressed the belief that one of the indicators of a “Just Economy” was when the wealth and incomes generated by the State were equitably distributed.

Also, the revenues from the extractives must be used transparently and in an accountable manner to benefit the people, he said.

“We think this is important because oil revenues stand a better chance to help people, but only if we’re circumspect and apply these within an investment plan that spans different governments and is devoid of frequent partisan political control for personal gain.”

Source: Ghana News Agency

May 27, 2022

Santrofi to share stage with Erykah Badu on Europe tour

The band in July 2020 topped World Music Charts Europe with their hit Alewa album.

Undisputedly declared as the game changer in the Ghanaian Highlife music genre, Santrofi is set to perform in over 40 shows at major festivals and concerts in Europe.

In one of the epic concerts, “Down the Rabbit Hole”, a 3-day multi-genre classic outdoor music festival in the Netherlands, Santrofi will share the stage with top-ranking musicians such as Erykah Badu, one of the world’s most gifted rhythms and blues singer from the United States.

The Ghana-based international vintage-inspired Highlife, Afrobeat and Funk band are sending their unique sound to Europe after revealing they will be playing at major concerts and festivals between May and July 2022.

The tour promises to be a spectacular experience. Santrofi will play their best-loved mega-hits such as Alewa, Africa, Adwuma, Cocoase, Kwabena Amoah and Kwaa Kwaa. They will showcase their amazing musicianship, showmanship and humour and a surprise or two along the way.

The organisers have described some concerts as the “ultimate celebration of freedom” after COVID-19 lockdown.

The band leader, Emmanuel Ofori, has said “Nothing is as exciting as playing live and we can’t wait to perform in front of our fans, we’ve missed you all so much! We’re going to bring festival vibes and hands-in-the-air positivity, bring on the summer of fun!”

He added, “We are more ready than ever to unleash the ultimate summer party! With live music officially back on what could be better than sizzling performances from the feel-good masters of Highlife and Afrobeat. Attendees can expect a full-on festival atmosphere with one of the best live bands around!”

The band is fronted by vocalist, bassist and founding leader Emmanuel Ofori and backed by a seven-piece band consisting of Robert Koomson (a.k.a Nsoroma) – lead vocals, talking drum, guitar; Bernard Gyamfi on trombone and shekere; Norbert Wonkyi on trumpet, flugelhorn and bell; Prince Larbi on drums and vocals; Emmanuel Boakye Agyeman on keyboards and vocals; and Emmanuel Blankson on percussion.

The fans and good music lovers won’t want to be anywhere else!

Follow Santrofi on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for exciting news and updates on the tour.

Source: Modern Ghana

May 27, 2022

Tamale: Six persons arrested over suspicious activities ahead of NPP delegates’ conference

Six persons have been arrested by the police at the Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium in Tamale where NPP’s Regional delegates’ conference to elect new executives is taking place.

The six, according to the police, were found engaging in suspicious activities at the conference venue.

The Northern Regional Crime Officer, Superintendent Bernard Baba Ananga, said investigation has commenced to ascertain the motive of the suspects.

“About 6 persons have been arrested by the police. it appears that most of them were here for a different purpose. We were here as early as possible to ensure that the gates were open to the public. We went through all the stadium apartments and rooms and we detected that some people were hiding somewhere.”

“There were about 5 of them. We found another in a secret room somewhere making calls and one of our officers during a through inspection caught him.”

Meanwhile, security has been beefed up at the venue where some 382 delegates are expected to vote for some 31 aspirants.

Source: Modern Ghana