Category: Key Issues

The General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, has disputed claims that some party bigwigs made an attempt to stop him from contesting the chairmanship position.

According to him, such allegations are baseless and have no factual stance, so people should disregard them.

“It’s a lie. Nobody asked me not to contest for the chairmanship position.

“It’s not true. Everyone who says or is saying that is telling a lie,” he said in an interview on UTV on Friday, December 16, 2022.

The General Secretary further denied that the former president of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, tried to persuade him from the chairmanship race, stating that this strategy campaign is mostly facilitated by opponents.

In addition to that, Asiedu Nketiah asserted that he has the full support of the party for the chairmanship race.

His response follows allegations by the party’s National Chairman, Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, that there have been attempts by NDC bigwigs to stop Asiedu Nketiah from competing with him, but to no avail.

Meanwhile, the NDC goes to the polls on Saturday, December 17, 2022, to elect national executives.

The keenly contested national chairmanship position will be between the incumbent chair, Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo; the incumbent General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah; a former Member of Parliament for Korle Klottey, Nii Armah Ashiety; and Samuel Yaw Adusei.

Source: Ghana Web

The National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, has said that the Ghana Police Service owes him an apology for wrongly arresting him some time ago.

According to him, the police arrested him after allegations of him organising people to burn down the Kejetia Market in Kumasi.

Speaking in an XYZ TV interview monitored by GhanaWeb, Ofosu-Ampofo added that till date, no one has told him about the people who accused him of the crime.

“Do you know that I was reported for organising people to go and burn the Kejetia Market? The police arrested me and I struggled before I was even given bill. I asked who my accusers were and up to now nobody has showed up.

“Even the Ghana Police owes me an apology because they circulated in the media that I was threatening to burn Kejetia Market,” he said in Twi.

He also said that the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako (Wontumi), also accused him of a crime he did not commit.

“Wontumi went to report that I was behind the kidnapping of the Canadian girls in Kumasi. I have been to court, I have sent Wontumi to court, the case has not been called for almost 2 years now because our justice system does not work well,” he said.

The NDC Chairman, who made these remarks while reacting to allegations of him being in bed with the NPP, urged members of his party not to believe the allegations because like the crimes he was accused of, they are mere fabrications.

Meanwhile, the NDC’s national elections are slated for Saturday, December 17, 2022.

Candidates will be contesting for various positions, including the National Chairman, National Vice-Chairmen, General Secretary, Deputy General Secretary, National Organiser, Deputy National Organiser, and the National Treasurer and Deputy National Treasurer.

Others are the National Communications Officer and Deputy, as well as the National Zongo Caucus Coordinator.

The current National Chairman of the party, Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, is expected to face stiff competition from the outgoing General Secretary of the party, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, for the chairmanship position.

Source: Ghana Web

Director of Legal Affairs for the New Patriotic Party, Gary Nimako, has called on former president John Dramani Mahama to, as a matter of urgency, render an apology to Ghanaians on the 2020 election petition.

The outspoken lawyer asserts that the former presidential candidate for the NDC’s 2020 general election wasted state resources on an election petition without facts.

Gary Nimako added that Mahama and the NDC caucus knew they had no evidence but accused the court of being biased against them during the election petition.

“Post-election case, there have been comments here and there that the judges have been biased against them. When, indeed, you know from day one that you have no evidence at all.

“With this revelation having come out to the public domain, I think Ghanaians deserve an apology from the NDC. Especially from former President Mahama to apologise to Ghanaians and the court because if they knew from day one that in fact, they had no evidence at all…Yet they managed to go to court with the hope that they could get Jean Mensa to mount the witness box and cross-examine her.

“They really misled Ghanaians and their supporters, and the way they treated the court. They have to eat the humble pie and apologise,” he told Ernest Kojo Manu on Joy FM’s Top Story on Wednesday.

Lawyer Nimako’s demand follows a leaked tape in which the general secretary of the party, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, revealed that the party did not have enough evidence to contest the 2020 general election results.

In the said tape, Asiedu Nketiah is heard telling party supporters why the director of IT failed to electronically compile the documentation the party required to challenge the results of the presidential election.

The NDC filed an election petition after the 2020 general election accusing the Electoral Commission of stealing the election results for the NPP.

They alleged that NPP won the polls through vote padding, arithmetic and computational errors.

However, the Supreme Court gave the final verdict in favour of President Akufo-Addo and ruled that the NDC had no basis for the petition.

Source: Ghana Web

Newly elected Deputy National Youth Organizer of the largest opposition political party in Ghana Osman Ayariga has stated that together with his boss and other deputies, they will bring positive advancements to the NDC.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC), held its women and youth leadership elections at the party’s 10th Women and Youth Conference at the University of Cape Coast on last Saturday, December 10.

Ten people contested the race for the position of Deputy National Youth Organiser, including Osman Abdulai Ayariga, Ruth Dela Seddoh, Bright Nudokpo Honu, Sulemana Abdul Karim, Mohammed Abubakari Sadiq Gombilla, Kabiru Ahmed, Eric Dadson, Pendilock Owusu Asare, Obed Opintan, and Jude Sekley, but Osman Ayariga and Ruth Dela Seddoh both emerged winners.

Osman Ayariga is a former President of the National Union of Ghana Students and a Youth Activist with the National Democratic Congress.

In a thank you post on social media, captured by attractivemustapha.com, Osman Ayariga wrote “We Thank God first! The Soldiers of the party have spoken. I want to thank all our youth organizers and Tein Executives for making it possible.

Failure is not an option. We shall work to the best of our abilities.”

“I am honoured to know you have confidence in me, and I deeply appreciate your support.

Poised to serve, I can confidently say we are set to bring positive advancement to our party.”

Source: Ghana Web

Pollster, Ben Ephson has said that he will be surprised if the outgoing General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah outs the party’s chairman, Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, in the upcoming national elections.

According to Ephson, the results of the NDC’s Women and Youth elections indicates that the party’s delegates are happy with the current national leadership of the party, asaaseradio.com reports.

He added that the delegates are happy with the performance of the current national executives in the 2020 election and do not see the need for them to be changed.

“…The mood and the level of voting in the women and youth elections send a signal; how do you change a team that has done so well between 2016 and 2020? In 2016, Mahama lost the election by about one million votes. In 2020, he lost by about five hundred and fourteen thousand…and if the trend of voting in the women and youth election is an indicator, I will be very surprised if Asiedu Nketiah wins,” he said.

The pollster, however, indicated that the recently leaked audio of Asiedu Nketiah has won him some points with some of the party’s delegates.

“And the audio of Asiedu Nketiah has done him no good. It has only put him out as somebody you will sacrifice the party’s overall benefit for his own personal and selfish gain,” he said.

On the tape recording that went viral, Asiedu Nketiah alleged that the party didn’t have concrete evidence during the 2020 election petition to the Supreme Court because of the failure of the Samuel Ofosu Ampofo.

Asiedu Nketiah, affectionately called ‘General Mosquito’ who appeared to be talking to some NDC members in a closed-door meeting, could be heard accusing and blaming the chairman of the party, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, for the party’s shoddy work in relation to the election petition.

He stated categorically that he denied having the results when he stood in the dock during cross-examination at the Supreme Court because the NDC had no evidence to back their claim, and if he hadn’t denied it, he would have been disgraced.

Asiedu Nketiah further revealed that lawyer Tsatsu Tsikata, who defended the party, had earlier refused to stand for the NDC because of the lack of concrete evidence but decided to defend the party after the petition was reviewed.

The party’s national elections are slated for Saturday, December 17, 2022.

Candidates will be contesting for various positions, including the National Chairman, National Vice-Chairmen, General Secretary, Deputy General Secretary, National Organiser, and Deputy National Organiser, as well as the National Treasurer and Deputy National Treasurer.

Others are the National Communications Officer and Deputy, and the National Zongo Caucus Coordinator.

The current National Chairman of the party, Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, is expected to face stiff competition from the outgoing General Secretary of the party, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, for the chairmanship position.

Source: Ghana Web

The highest decision-making body of the Progress People’s Party (PPP) has given its approval for the party to form alliances to wrestle power from the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2024 general elections.

The National Chairman of the PPP, Nana Ofori Owusu announced the party’s decision for the 2024 elections while speaking as a panellist on the discussion segment of the Ghana Yensom morning show hosted by Odehyieba Kofi Essuman on Accra 100.5 FM on Wednesday, December 14, 2022.

According to him, the party is open to holding talks with any political party per the directives of the highest decision-making body of the party.

He said the party is open to alliances to oust the NPP in the 2024 general elections.

“We hope to form one strong alliance for the good of the country in the wake of the gross mismanagement and nepotistic tendencies exhibited by the NPP in government,” he charged.

Source: Ghana Web

The immediate past Deputy Ashanti Regional Secretary of the NDC, Hon. Mathew Kojo Njourkone has said that, the demand for an apology by the ruling NPP government from Hon. Johnson Asiedu Nketiah over the 2020 election petition is unwarranted and should be ridiculed.

He noted that if there was such a need at all, it is rather the NPP that must render such an unqualified apology to Ghanaians for shielding Madam Jean Mensah, the Electoral Commissioner from giving evidence as to what happened during the 2020 elections.

“The NPP must also apologise to Ghanaians for taking over from the NDC a healthy economy and sending it to a comatose state” where subsequently not a single Ghanaian will be permitted for employment under the public sector in 2023 under an IMF conditionality. Matters of this nature are the serious bread-and-butter issues that ought to engage our attention.

Hon Njourkone continued that, whatever the fearless General Asiedu Nketiah has said about the collation of 2020 results during his campaign tour is nothing new to the Ghanaian public because he has repeated those facts on several platforms including even the court when he was asked about the election results of the NDC.

“I wish to use this opportunity to give a reminder to our cherished delegates that as the election is getting closer the distractors of the NDC party will deliberately create baseless stories against our impeccable general and hype such falsehoods just to cause disaffection. Hon. Johnson Asiedu Nketiah remains focused on victory and I humbly appeal to delegates to be resolute in support of him,” he said.

Source: Ghana Web

A member of the planning committee tasked to ensure the peaceful conduct of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) national delegates congress, Ludwig Hlodze, has said that talks are underway to get Brogya Genfi to abandon his quest to challenge the outcome of the recent youth elections.

The defeated candidate, who garnered 503 votes, has alleged that the delegate list was deliberately manipulated to favour the incumbent, George Opare Addo, who eventually won his re-election bid.

According to Brogya Genfi, he was robbed of victory.

The two have since the end of the contest, been engaged in the public hurling of insults at each other, a situation people both within and outside the party say may affect the party’s chances going into the 2024 general elections.

Speaking in an interview with Kumasi-based Oyerepa TV, Ludwig Hlodze said that he is engaging the personalities involved, urging them to remain calm.

“I am surprised the disagreement is between Sammy Gyamfi and Pablo. I have spoken to the two of them to calm tempers because they are all my younger brothers.

“For Brogya Genfi, it’s his constitutional right to seek legal redress over the outcome of the elections but we are talking to him not to do so because of the interest of the party. But let me say that youth have elected an executive now and that is what we will work with until otherwise,” he told the host of Oyerepa TV’s breakfast show, Kwesi Parker-Wilson.

He further explained that the youth elections held at the University of Cape Coast on Saturday, December 10, 2022, was smooth, and that he was happy with the outcome.

“I was at Cape Coast but I can’t tell if the delegate list was manipulated. But as a member of the committee, elections have been held, results have been declared we are satisfied with the outcome of the results. If anyone has issues, should come and let’s discuss,” he said.

Meanwhile Brogya Genfi has served notice that he will head to the court to nullify the results declaring George Opare Addo winner of the elections.

Source: Ghana Web