Category: General

Accra, April 29, GNA—The Police have arrested two persons who showed up at the ongoing New Patriotic Party Constituency Executive Elections ‘appearing’ as police personnel.

A statement signed by Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Kwesi Ofori, Director-General, Public Affairs, and copied to the Ghana News Agency, said the two suspects, John Essel Baah and Enock Kwame Bosompem were spotted on Thursday, April 28, 2022, at the Okaikoi South Constituency where voting was taking place.

It noted that the two suspects were not police officers but dressed as such.

The statement said they were in custody as the investigation continued.

It assured the public that the suspects would be taken through the due process of the law.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra, April 29, GNA – Players in the building and construction sector have called on the Government to facilitate the establishment of assembling plants for the production of materials needed in the housing industry.

They said such a move, as being done in the automobile sector, would help reduce the cost of materials and consequently, the cost of housing in the country.

Mr Ebenezer Kwadwo Saka Addo-Mensah, Managing Director of Saka Homes, a Real Estate and Land Development firm made this recommendation to the government.

He was speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview on the sidelines of a breakfast meeting with industry playrs in Accra on Thursday.

The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) investor map meeting was on the theme: “Identifying opportunities and enhancing local participation in housing and infrastructure sectors.”

It was organised by Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Mr Addo-Mensah said that creating an enabling environment for companies with the capacity to establish plants in the country would: “Go a long way to help with the cost.”

He explained that: “For instance, the cost of tiles being produced at Takoradi at the moment is way lower than the tiles that we import, and that’s where my company buys from.”

The Real Estate Developer added that: “We can replicate same with other building materials like ceramics, louvers and ceilings.”

” When we produce these locally, it also create jobs for us. So it is something that we should consciously look at.”

He noted that there were opportunities for the Government to reduce the housing gap of about 85,000 housing units yearly, and the overall two million housing unit needs before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr Addo-Mensah said: “GIPC is in the position to attract such investments into Ghana. The government just has to provide incentives that will make these companies come here, including tax waivers, maybe free lands.”

Ghana requires a total of USD 9.3 billion, annually, to bridge its infrastructure gap, 20 per cent of such amount (USD1.86 billion) is required in the housing sector.

Mr Yofi Grant, Chief Executive Officer of GIPC, said that such financing gap required significant investment in the housing and infrastructure sector.

He indicated that the Centre was facilitating investment into the housing sector by speaking with private sector players and partnering with UNDP through the investor map, to outline critical areas that they could contribute for economic growth.

He said that the government was using the One District-One Factory (1D1F) initiative to entice private companies, including indigenous ones, to produce some of the materials needed in the housing sector.

Mr Grant noted that: “The government was providing locational incentives, duty free on plant, equipment and machinery to manufacture for local consumption and export.”

About 60 per cent of the working population in Ghana needs help to access housing and about 35 per cent not able to access housing even with government support through subsidies.

That, Mr Sukhrob Khoshmukhamedov, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative, said presented opportunities for the private sector to partner with the government in its quest to close the infrastructure gap.

He noted that numerous studies, including ones conducted by UNDP had proven that infrastructure growth and services could play a critical role in economic growth and poverty reduction.

He added that: “It also enhances human security, particularly of poor people, by contributing to their security in food, employment, health, communities, personal and environmental security.” 

Source: Ghana News Agency

Kaffeiyilli, April. 29, GNA – The Agbogbomefia of the Asogli State, Togbe Afede XIV has advised Muslims in the Northern Region to double their efforts at fighting illiteracy in their homes and communities to enhance their children’s future and promote the national drive for poverty reduction in the country.

He said the lack of education was one of the factors that exacerbated vulnerability and undermined improvement in living standards. Therefore, family heads and community leaders must make efforts that retain their children in school, especially the girls.

Togbe Afede XIV made the remarks in a Ramadan-2022 Message to the people of Kaffeiyilli, a village about 8km North-West of the Kumbungu District of the Northern Region during a donation of some assorted food items to 154 family heads in the village.

The donation which is meant to mitigate hardships during this years Ramadan fasting will benefit a total of about 580 people.

The food items include 20 bags of rice, 20 bags of sugar, 20 packs of tea and 10 cartons of vegetable cooking oil.

This annual donation which is the fourth one, aims to support households with many children and the elderly, and cushion Muslim families to undertake their Ramadan obligations without much difficulty in terms of their food needs during this difficult period.

Togbe Afede XIV, said the Muslim faith enjoined its followers to consider the last 10 days of Ramandan as the most sacred period of the Month.

It is also the most difficult in terms of their food needs since many families’ food items would have been exhausted, therefore such donations are crucial to alleviate their suffering.

He urged all Muslim worshipers to use this Ramadan as an opportunity to pray for peace, unity and prosperity for the country.

He said Ghana could progress by engendering unity and love among each other and urged all Ghanaians to promote inter-ethnic peace and co-existence.

Togbe Afede XIV congratulated all Muslims in Ghana for their sacrifices in enduring a month-long fasting, despite many economic challenges.

Imam Alhassan Yousif, Chief Imam of Kaffeiyilli prayed for Ghana’s peace and unity and implored all Muslims in Ghana to emulate the virtues of Prophet Muhammad.

He said Ghana was a blessed country and the donation they received was a testament of the love and unity among the people of Ghana.

He said Togbe Afede XIV could have decided to share his resources for the benefit of his people in Accra or members of his Christian faith, but he showed love to people far in the North who were predominently Muslims.

Chief Silim-Boma Naa Imoro Sheini thanked the philanthropist on behalf of the chief and people of Kaffeiyyili for the wonderful support and love shown to them.

He said the village was grateful for the many years Togbe Afede XIV had supported the village during Ramadan.

Source: Ghana News Agency

An Accra High Court hearing the case involving Mr James Gyakye Quayson, the Assin North Member of Parliament, has dismissed a motion to stay proceedings.

The Court presided over by Justice Elfreda Dankyi said the applicant through his lawyer had not addressed the issues, stating that there must also be some exceptional circumstances for which the proceedings should be stayed, which were unavailable in Counsel’s submission.

She said the applicant had not demonstrated any exceptional circumstances to warrant the grant of stay of proceedings in his favour.

Earlier, Lawyers for the MP said some of the charges were hitched on Constitutionality, hence the call for interpretation

The lawyers for the accused person told the Court that the motion was against an earlier ruling of the Court.

The charges being challenged by the accused person are Knowingly making a false statutory declaration, contrary to Section 5 of the Statutory Declarations Act 1971 (Act 389), “perjury”, contrary to Section 210(1) of the Criminal Offences Act 1960 (Act 29), and “false declaration for office, also contrary to Section 248 of the Criminal Offences Act 1960 (Act 29).”

But, Mrs Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa, the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), said the lawyers in moving the motion did not demonstrate any exceptional circumstance for the grant of stay of proceedings.

She said a stay of proceedings could only be granted when exceptional circumstance was demonstrated coupled with the discretion of the Court.

The DPP said the fact that the accused person had referred an issue for constitutional interpretation did not mean that the Court should grant the stay.

She said the referral for Constitutional interpretation was unnecessary.

Mrs Obuobisa said the MP had not been charged on any article, which was contrary to the Acts in the Constitution.

She said the State was ready to provide evidence to prove their case against the accused person.

The DPP said the accused person had woefully failed to demonstrate any exceptional circumstance for the grant of stay, adding that the mere fact that they had file an appeal at the Court of Appeal did not mean the Court should grant the motion.

The Court has granted bail to Mr Quayson in the sum of GHS100,000 with a surety to be justified.

The accused person pleaded not guilty to all five counts of deceit of public officer and forgery of passport or travel certificate, charge for knowingly making false statutory declaration, perjury and false declaration for Office.

He is to deposit his passport with the Registry of the Court.

The Court adjourned to case to May 18, 2022 for continuation.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Richard Mensah Agyei Ofori Atta who was endorsed as the chairman during the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Manhyia South Constituency executives’ elections has called for unity in the quest to maintain power in 2024.

He said, as a chairman, there should be discipline among the party supporters in the constituency where recalcitrant members would not be tolerated an inch.

He made the call in his victory speech during the constituency executives’ elections held at Dichemso in Kumasi on Thursday, April 28, 2022.

Richard Mensah Agyei Ofori Atta, known in political circles as Tom Tom, went unopposed as his main contender, Owusu Sekyere, was disqualified during vetting.

“As chairman, I will provide all the necessary logistics to improve the electoral fortunes in the constituency in 2024, and that can be achieved through unity and disciple,” he said.

He warned that “anybody who might try to disrupt the campaign activities in the constituency, irrespective of the one’s political affiliation will be severely dealt with.”

He also promised to work peacefully with all the losing contestants.

In an election supervised by the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC), nine other executives were also elected by 561 delegates from nine electoral areas in the constituency.

At the end of the peaceful exercise, the 1st Vice Chairman position was won by Seth Twumasi and the 2nd Vice Chairman by Kingsley Bonsu Kyeretwie.

Other executives elected were Secretary, Haruna Alhanssan; Deputy Secretary, Oscar Boah; Treasurer, Kofi Amoah Asamoah; Youth Organiser, Henry Adu Kobi and Women Organiser, Mary Coka.

Alhaji Abubakar Alhanssan maintained the Organizer position.

After the swearing-in, the elected executives promised to work together and bring all their losing contestants to board to help the NPP achieve the ‘Break the 8’ agenda.

Source: Modern Ghana

The Managing Director of GCB Bank PLC, Mr Kofi Adomakoh, has explained that the Bank’s stellar performance in the year 2021 is testament that the Bank’s ambitious strategy aimed at dominating the market is on course.

GCB Bank posted impressive financial results with profit before income tax increasing by 34 per cent in 2021. Growing from GH¢ 602 million in 2020 to GH¢810 million last year. GCB Bank also increased its total asset from GH¢15.5 billion in 2020 to GH¢18.3 billion in 2021, representing a growth of 18 per cent.

In his opening remarks at the Facts Behind the Figures programme organized by the Ghana Stock Exchange, Mr. Adomakoh stated that the Bank’s strategic ambition is to be the dominant player in the market and the best by every measure anchored around three strategic pillars of revenue growth and profitability, operational excellence, people and talents.

Mr Adomakoh explained that the advent of Covid-19 highlighted the need for the Bank to accelerate the execution of its strategies and plans. “Prior to the advent of Covid, the banking businesses had been disrupted by technology, but Covid also shocked the bank into accelerating the execution of its strategies and plans”. He stated.

“GCB Bank is currently the largest retail bank with a strong asset base, but despite the bank’s stronghold in the retail market, a key part of our strategy is to expand our market share within the retail market space. The bank has therefore revamped its technology, improved its human resources, and strengthened organizational rigour.” He added.

Mr Adomakoh also explained that the Bank is also seeking to improve its performance in the wholesale and corporate banking segment by deepening the bank’s share of wallet.

On people and talents, Mr. Adomakoh explained that the bank has restructured, improved its human resources, and also brought in critical human resources to execute key elements of its strategy.

“The banking landscape has evolved and GCB’S grand agenda is to deliver strong value to its shareholders through excellence in every facet of the Bank’s operations.” He stated.

Speaking at the event, Mr Socrates Afram, Deputy Managing Director of Finance, GCB Bank explained that an integral part of the bank’s performance was driven by real growth in the bank’s deposit base.

“The profit performance was achieved on the back of strong balance sheet growth underpinned by customer deposits growth. Deposits growth funded increased investments in earning assets like Investment securities, loans and advances and interbank placements which generated the required interest income to boost revenue.” He stated.

“Aggressive recovery efforts also helped in releasing suspended interest into income from recoveries made on non-performing accounts” he explained.

Mr Afram added that one of the cardinal approaches to GCB Bank’s strategy was to “digifirst” and as such a business optimization unit was set up to identify redundancies and identify all processes that can be digitalized to make the bank nimbler and more responsive.

Explaining other factors that accounted for the bank’s performance, Mr Afram explained that the bank conducted detailed segmentation to re-align products and services to meet customer needs, expansion of the loan book and the development of robust digital platforms to deliver superior value.

“The bank also strengthened internal controls, established a first-class security operations center, upgraded its core banking system from version 12.02 to 14.3, embarked on process automation to drive efficiency, and also attained PCI DSS certification to ensure high level card data security,” he added.

Mr. Afram added that going forward, the bank will strengthen the credit underwriting processes and vigorously monitor and pursue customers for credit facilities granted to ensure they perform under the credit terms to significantly reduce impairment and Non-Performing Loans (NPLs).

The Deputy MD, Operations, Mr Emmanuel Lamptey, announced that GCB has enhanced anti-money laundering and credit risk tools.

The Managing Director of the Exchange, Mr Mr. Ekow Afedzie, described GCB as of the most liquid stock of the GSE.

He said GCB Bank since listing on the Exchange in 1996 has contributed immensely to the development and growth of the Exchange.

Present at the programme included the Executive Director, Wholesale and Investment Banking, Mr Samuel Kwame Aidoo, Executive Head, Retail Banking, Mr John Adamah, Chief Digital and Marketing, Mr Eric Coffie and others.

Source: Ghana Web

Ralf Rangnick will juggle his Manchester United consultancy role with another job after being confirmed as Austria’s new manager.

Rangnick, who will step aside as United boss when Erik ten Hag arrives from Ajax this summer, will help lead a major shake-up at Old Trafford as the club vies for major trophies again.

“I will take over as national team manager of Austria at the end of the season but will continue consultancy with Man United,” he said in a statement.

“I’m looking forward to helping United become a real force again.”

The 63-year-old has penned a deal with Austria until 2024, with a two-year extension in the pipeline if they qualify for Euro 2024.

“After a very well-founded and intensive process, we were able to win Ralf Rangnick, an absolute top man with great international reputation as team boss,” said Austrian FA sporting director Peter Schottel.

“It makes me very proud and I’m really looking forward to working together.”

Rangnick was expected to bring his fabled high-pressing system to United, but results and performances have hardly improved since he took over from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in November.

He has won just 10 of his 26 matches, with Thursday’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea appearing to end United’s slim hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League.

Source: Modern Ghana

Renowned Afrobeats artist, Kelvynboy has disclosed that it took him less than 20 minutes to write his jam, ‘Down flat’.

Speaking about his surprise at the performance of the song, Kelvynboy indicated that it was one of his fastest written songs.

He expressed his appreciation and surprise at how the song has blown up and dominated several charts among other achievements.

“Down Flat was made in less than like 20 minutes, that is my fastest song. I think the song came from above and it’s doing its thing, because the budget for the video, the energy, when we started promoting it was low,” he said.

Kelvynboy added that the ‘Down Flat’ song has taken a life of its own.

“I see this coming whenever I release a song but not like this. I drop a song it takes time to blow but this one, it’s just three months old and the things the song is doing each and every day, I wake up and I see different things,” he added.

The song was released in January this year and quickly raised to become a social media rave featuring extensively on TikTok.

Source: Modern Ghana