Day: June 28, 2024

The Central Regional Functional Executive Committee (CR-FEC) of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), in consultation with the National Executives of the party, has suspended Mr Nurein Shaibu Migyimah, the Assin Central aspiring Parliamentary Candidate, for six months.

A statement signed by Mr Gabriel Nii Kommey Adams, the Regional Secretary, said the suspension was due to reports of immoral behaviour and actions against the party’s interest.

During the CR-FEC meeting on Tuesday, June 25, in Cape Coast, it came out that the decision to remove Mr Migyimah as the 2024 Assin Central aspiring parliamentary candidate was made after meticulous preliminary inquiry and thorough deliberation.

The statement said Mr Migyimah’s party membership had also been suspended until a final verdict is reached by the Regional Disciplinary Committee.

However, upon receiving the notification of his suspension at 0200 hours on Friday, Mr Migyimah expressed his intention to challenge the decision.

A source close to the candidat
e vehemently refuted any allegation of misconduct or infidelity, dismissing them as baseless rumours spread by unidentified individuals with personal motives.

The source asserted that the deliberate political manoeuvres against Mr Migyimah were set in motion long ago with the aim of undermining his candidacy and advancing the interests of their own preferred candidates.

Despite his unwavering dedication, supporting constituents in crucial areas like healthcare, education and employment, specific party officials were relentlessly working to undermine him, it said.

On the streets of Assin Central, party loyalists expressed divergent views.

Some told the Ghana News Agency that they regarded him as a unifying symbol embodying the aspirations of the youth, fostering unity and tranquillity within the party while creating numerous job opportunities for them.

Others who supported his suspension cited an audio recording circulating about his alleged extramarital relationships that had tarnished the party’s reputa
tion.

Overall, they urged party members to remain calm and adhere to established protocols in the face of any internal disturbance.

In the 2020 elections, Mr Migyimah secured 42.7 per cent of the votes in a close race against the incumbent Member of Parliament, Mr Kennedy Ohene Agyepong.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The beautifully decorated Democracy Cup trophy has been inspected by the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, ahead of the crucial match next week.

The highly anticipated Democracy Cup match between Accra Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko, slated for Friday, July 5, 2024, forms part of celebrations to mark 30 years of parliamentary democracy in Ghana.

The Democracy Cup match, under the theme ’30 Years of Parliamentary Democracy Under the 4th Republic: The Journey Thus Far,’ seeks to use football as a vehicle for engaging citizens and encouraging wider participation in the legislative process.

The organisers of the one-off cup match on Thursday, June 27, 2024, presented the trophy to the Speaker of Parliament as part of the trophy tour.

The trophy is expected to be presented to key personalities, including the former presidents and some traditional leaders around the country.

Meanwhile, both Hearts and Kotoko, after a very difficult 2023-24 football season, have commenced training for the D
emocracy Cup match, which will witness a curtain-raiser between Parliament and former Black Star players.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Right to Information (RTI) Commission, in 2023 received the annual reports of 322 out of an expected 683 institutions, Madam Fatimatu Abubakar, Information Minister, told Parliament on Friday.

That, she said, was totally unacceptable.

Presenting the 2023 RTI Report to the House, the Information Minister said the Ministry strongly urged the RTI Commission to impose administrative penalties against public institutions that failed, according to Section 71(2)(6) of the RTI Act, 2019.

She said of the complying 322 institutions, 173 received applications for information; adding that those institutions in total received 1,749 requests.

‘Mr Speaker, the successful implementation of the RTI Law in Ghana partly depends on the demand for access to information by individuals, institutions, or groups. In accordance with Section 1 of Act 989, a person has the right to information and may apply for access to that information,’ she stated.

‘It is important for citizens to understand, Mr Speaker, that in some limited
circumstances as outlined between section 5 to 17 of Act 989, public institutions have a right to exempt some classes of information from access under this Act.’

Madam Abubakar said the RTI Act, 2019 had clearly identified and classified some information as exempt, which called for safeguards, including those related to national security, public safety and/or individual privacy.

She said the RTI Commission, however, as an independent and impartial body, had also been resourced to deal with any unwarranted denials by public institutions.

The Minister indicated that the Ghana Revenue Authority processed the highest number of requests, amounting to 115.

Out of the 1,749 requests received by the various public institutions, 1,225 were approved by the information officers of the public institutions representing 70 per cent of the total number of applications received.

The Minister said the total number of applications rejected for varied reasons was 281 by the various public institutions, representing 16 per
cent of the total requests.

She noted that reasons cited for rejecting requests include exempt information and information not in the custody of the public institution.

She said 42 of the requests were transferred to other institutions for processing, 20 were deferred, 19 were partially granted and 162 were referred.

She informed the House that work would soon be completed on the Legislative Instrument (LI) for the RTI Act.

Mr Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, the Majority Leader and Leader of Government Business in Parliament, who commended the Information Minister for the timely presentation of the 2023 RTI Report, reiterated the government’s commitment to accountability and transparency.

Mr Kwame Governs Agbodza, the Minority Chief Whip and National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Adaklu, commended the Minister for complying with the time frame for the submission of the RTI Report to the House.

Mr Samuel Okudjeto Ablakwa, NDC MP for North Tongu, who said it took the nation more
than 20 years to pass the RTI Bill into law, also commended President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for assenting to the RTI Bill.

Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh, the Majority Chief Whip and New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Nsawam-Adoagyiri, lauded the Yagbonwura and the Wa Naa for donating parcels of lands to the Information Ministry towards the construction of regional offices of the RTI Commission in the Savannah and Upper West regions.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, has paid a working visit to the Republic of Cyprus to deepen cooperation through trade and investment.

The Foreign Ministry, in a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency, said Ghana and Cyprus had enjoyed cordial relations since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1989, thus the visit presented an opportunity to further deepen cooperation between the two countries.

Madam Ayorkor Botchwey held separate meetings with Mr Nikos Christodoulides, the President of Cyprus and Dr Constantinos Kombos, the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

She highlighted the opportunities that existed for both countries to deepen cooperation through trade and investment.

Recognising the potential for cooperation at both the bilateral and multilateral levels, Madam Ayorkor Botchwey and her hosts also discussed ways to engage at the multilateral level, especially the Commonwealth, to strengthen the organisation to deal with global challeng
es.

The Minister used the opportunity to inform them of her candidature for the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth position.

She highlighted her agenda for transforming the Commonwealth Secretariat to ensure that it would provide the requisite support for a development cooperation model for resilience-building for vulnerable members of the Commonwealth.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Professor Kobby Mensah, a political marketing strategist, says the prevailing challenges of the monetisation of politics in Ghana is due to failed leadership.

He said the failure of the political leadership in the country to fulfil their democratic mandate compelled them to offset such duties by ‘inducing’ the electorate with money.

‘The job that we give the political leaders in the country has clear mandates that they are supposed to perform. When you still want to cling to political power, you have to present yourself to the citizens to renew your mandate. I do not agree that the people are actually demanding the money, but it is the leaders that have failed to exercise their mandate since they want to cling to power and mobilise resources to induce the voters.

He said this during an X-Space discussion, which was organised and moderated by Citizens for Fair Politics, a social movement campaigning against vote-buying ahead of the 2024 General Election.

The advocacy group operates under the motto ‘Sell yo
ur vote; mortgage your future’.

It aims to engage in a series of policy discussions online and in person to minimise the monetisation of Ghana’s politics.

The online discussion was monitored by a considerable number of Ghanian youth who asked questions and shared insights on how to minimise the monetisation of Ghanaian politics.

Ghana has been practicing multiparty democracy since the creation of a new constitution in 1992.

The country has successfully held eight elections.

In the run-up to the 2024 elections, the two major political parties have organised internal elections to present suitable candidates for parliamentary and presidential elections.

The process was marred by incessant accusations levelled against candidates that they had induced party delegates with money to vote in their favour.

Civil society organisations (CSOs) have bemoaned the emerging trend of the monetization of Ghana’s politics.

According to the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), it will not cost less than $100 million
to win a presidential election in Ghana, whereas parliamentarians also need at least $4 million to win elections.

It said those challenges could be attributed to the high cost of elections, which was occasioned by the monetisation of politics.

Prof. Mensah said the habit of inducing voters during elections was occasioned by the absence of political consciousness and ideology among the voting population.

He called for deliberate efforts among the electorate to appeal to their conscience in the course of electing leaders by emphasising competence over financial influence.

‘For me, to end this challenge, it is about the citizens responding to their conscience. Voting is a conscience activity, and if you do not want to go against your conscience, you do not necessarily take the money from these politicians because if you take the money, you have agreed not to vote in a particular way. If you appeal to your ideology, you will not take money to vote,’ he said.

He also urged the media to probe and unravel how p
olitical parties finance their campaigns.

Source: Ghana News Agency