Category: Politics

Accra, Sept 1, GNA – Madam Patricia Appiagyei, the Chairman of the Government Assurance Committee of Parliament, has urged ministers of state to appear personally before the parliamentary committees to answer questions.

She said, per the mandate of the committee, no minister who appeared before Parliament to make “promises, undertakings and assurances” should assign deputies to speak to those issues at the committees hearings.

This was in reaction to an attempt by the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development to send Mr O.B. Amoah, a Deputy Minister, to appear before the Assurances Committee following a letter it sent to the Ministry asking Mr Dan Botwe to appear before it.

“Once a minister is still at post, the minister is required to appear personally to answer questions about the fulfilment of the assurances they make to Parliament,” she said.

Madam Appiagyei said this when Mr Dan Botwe, the sector minister, appeared before the Committee to answer questions on whether he had fulfilled the assurances and promises he made when he appeared before the Eighth Parliament.

She explained that the Committee’s objection to the appearance of the deputy minister was without any malice but on principles of the Committee’s mandate.

Madam Appiagyei, the Member of Parliament for Asokwa, clarified that the Committee had no mandate to witch-hunt but to ensure that promises, undertakings, and assurances that had been made by ministers in Parliament were fulfilled.

Mr John Bless Oti, Ranking Member of the Assurances Committee, said per the workings and principles of the Committee, they only dealt with ministers who were the heads of the various ministries.

Mr Botwe, on his part, said: “Sitting here, I do not believe the answers are in person because they are officially given; these answers are sought from official sources and they are officially given by the ministers of state.”

“So, I thought that an official, for that matter, a deputy minister, could stand in to give those responses.”

Mr Botwe appeared to answer questions on election or approval of presiding members, the elevation of Jasikan and Guan districts to municipalities and their budgetary allocations, construction of jubilee markets, especially the Jasikan market, and the purchase of 10,000 motorbikes for assembly members in 261 assemblies.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Cape Coast, Aug.31, GNA- Mr Samuel Atta Mills, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) Constituency, has handed over a pavilion to drivers of the Elmina community.

The pavilion, on the Elmina Station on the Cape Coast-Takoradi highway, is valued at GHC45,000 in response to the need for drivers and will provide shade for them as they went about their daily work.

Speaking at a brief ceremony to hand over the pavilion, the MP said it was put up to benefit sellers, passengers and drivers at the Elmina station, particularly during rainy days.

He urged all to put the building into its intended use and maintain it to prolong its lifespan.

Mr Atta Mills noted that plans were underway to put up another structure as a urinal for drivers at the station and those in Kissi, a community in the KEEA Municipality.

Mr George Ocran, the Elmina Taxi Station Master, expressed gratitude to the MP for his timely intervention and said, “if not for anything, this will provide us the shade we have been craving for over the past years.”

Mr Felix Appiah, a taxi driver, said four years ago, the MP provided a canopy to help provide shade for drivers who were at the mercy of the weather.

“We are happy that the story has changed after we came knocking at your door for help, indeed you are a listening leader.”

He called for more efforts to enhance the lives and standards of living for residents in the district.

Source: Ghana News Agency

President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Kurt Okraku, says corruption perception under his administration has been reduced due to how his administration has been transparent.

The country’s football governing body was tagged as corrupt in the past years.

According to Mr. Okraku, the association under his administration since he assumed office has been run with transparency and accountability which he described as “pillars of good corporate governance.”

“It is a year that has seen our football association go through varied steps in our attempts to ignite passion and to create wealth for all and most importantly to bring back the love our people have for the game,” he said in a Congress document to members on August 18, 2022.

“Transparency can play a key role in ensuring financial discipline, managing risk, reducing and eliminating opportunities for malfeasance and the perception of corruption at the association,” he noted.

The FA in the last couple of years has been proactive with information on its digital platforms, and even to members.

Okraku believes making information available to members “reduces rumors and misrepresentations” of facts related to the FA.

Meanwhile, the secretariat has presented a budget of GHC 109m for the 2022/2023 football season.

Source: Modern Ghana

Dambai (O/R), Aug 29, GNA – Mr Peter Yaw Awuranyi, former Krachi East District Chief Executive (DCE) during the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Administration, has declared his intention to contest the treasurer position for the Oti Region.

He told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the NDC needed selfless and vibrant executives who could marshall resources to improve the fortunes of the party ahead of the 2024 elections.

Mr Awuranyi, who was the DCE from 2012 to 2016, urged party supporters to eschew negative acts inimical to the development of the party.

He promised to bring on board his local governance experience to ensure the NDC wins the nine seats in the Oti Region in the next elections.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The personalities and qualities of political pioneers are known to completely influence political sentiment and leadership.

Nyesom Wike, Rivers Governor and one of the political leaders of recent times, exemplifies three qualities voters should expect in leaders: competence, fairness, and legitimacy.

A political leader must be seen as someone who has a connection with the lives and thoughts of ordinary citizens in order to be considered genuine.

Since Wike is undoubtedly dogged in political matters, some politicians strongly dislike him, while others consider him the ideal political accomplice for any adult public servant if they are looking for a posh political personality to take care of their family’s political presence.

Affirming its meeting with Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, the official competitor of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as part of the conference cycle for a superior Nigeria, Wike said the meeting also met new officials of the People’s Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar and Labor Party (LP) Peter Obi, along with former President Olusegun Obasanjo in London.

This was expressed by Wike shortly after demonstrating this spirit from London on Friday August 26, 2022, at Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, Ikwerre Local Government Area, with the participation of the main representatives. Principal representatives: Samuel Ortom (Benue) and Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia). Wike said the meeting they had goes beyond tough government issues, adding that it’s only intended for a better country.

Wike said: “I can say that this is the first time we have met new people officially. We have met the official rival of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and we met with our leader, former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo. We met the official competitor of the Labor Party. We also caught up with our official newcomer, Atiku Abubakar.

“All other things being equal, the discussion is ongoing. Everything we discussed benefits Nigerians. It is not relative and tied to an individual or a group. We accept that what is happening will ultimately help the people of Nigeria.”

However, it has been found that the overt enemies of opinion are constantly increasing in Nigeria, and this is accompanied by an adjustment of assumptions for politicians.

While the people always accept “a decent politician” with characteristics related to integrity and competence, politicians are expected to gradually become “human”, “ordinary” or “in touch” for easier, more authentic individual wellbeing. Political bigweight, de Wike, is a term that is saved when unmistakable traits of vision, authenticity, and credibility are found.

Existentialist writings by rationalists like Jean-Paul Sartre and Michel Foucault, concerned with the pain of self-disclosure and invention, show how extraordinary A-level politicians and government issues are and what government affairs mean to us, breaking the deception that we are separate from them.

Wike’s new political elevation has allowed us to look beyond our basic belief that we have no real say in running our country. It really shows us an essential component of society and helps us understand that, if we participate in political cycles, using pressure axes built into the framework, each individual really has a chance to impact the world.

Wike has shown us that in government affairs, reading political materials are forever out of date when they are distributed. Why? Politics is changing day by day, with new models constantly appearing in the society. Choosing which guidelines to use in your responses to the exposure questions is really intriguing because something happened the day you considered the new political tie.

It is a remarkable improvement that thoughts that were once reserved for peripheral groups now appear in the age-old press. In its latest report, Wike has more than once voiced the importance of majority government, pointing out that some basic needs need to be addressed.

It is a pity that in Nigeria, a system of majority rule is not, in fact, synonymous with opportunity. It’s, however, a skewed majority rule system here, where voting continues, but liberal elements, such as an autonomous legal operator and a free press, have been ignored.

Source: Modern Ghana

Takoradi(W/R), Aug. 26, GNA – A Presidential Aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Joe Ghartey, said the structures and traditions of the party should be strictly adhered to, to avoid any disturbances before, during and after the primaries.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, he appealed to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to lend support to any candidate that got voted as the flagbearer of the party for the 2024 elections.

Mr Ghartey, who is a former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice and Railway Development, and the Member of Parliament for Essikado-Ketan in the Western Region, dismissed the notion that “the NPP should just move ahead with the Bawumia-Alan ticket instead of having an internal election.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Kaleo(UWR), Aug. 24, GNA – The Volta River Authority (VRA) has received an amount of 15 million Euros from the German Development Bank (KfW) for the construction of the second phase of the Kaleo Solar Power Project.

The project would produce an additional 15 MWp to the existing 13 MWp Solar power plant and expected to be completed by mid-2023, Mr Kofi Tutu Agyare, the Board Chairman of the VRA, has announced.

?He???was speaking at the commissioning of the phase one of the Kaleo Solar Power project at Kaleo in the Nadowli-Kaleo District of the Upper West Region on Tuesday.

He said the rollout of the project in the northern part of Ghana was in line with the VRA’s renewable energy development programme, and consistent with its quest to lead in the nation’s energy transition agenda.

?Mr Agyare said the project was a confirmation of VRA’s commitment to ensuring that efficient, reliable and sustainable power was provided for Ghanaians, especially those in the north.

He assured the chiefs and people of the Kaleo Traditional Area of the continued support and determination to develop projects that would add value to their lives and standard of living.

Under the VRA’s Corporate Social Responsibility, it would rehabilitate the Kaleo D/A Primary School and provide sanitation facilities for the school, he said.

It would also grant access to students of the technical universities in the regions of the north to undertake practical studies on solar power generation at all the solar facilities.

The Daffiama? Naa, Naa Dikomwine Domalae, who chaired the programme, commended the land owners for releasing land for the project.

The project, he said, would add to the energy requirement of the country and facilitate rural electrification, which would serve as a catalyst for rural industrialisation.

“It is a game changer and the people of the region must applaud President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his administration for the feat,” he said.

“We are looking forward to more of such interventions in other parts of the region to limit the north-south drift of the population.”

Dr Hafiz Bin Salih, the Upper West Regional Minister, said the decision to diversify the electricity generation portfolio to renewable energy was in the right direction to harness the potential of the sector to benefit the people.

He said employment generation was a challenge for the country and that any activity that would provide employment opportunities for the people must be embraced.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Ameyaw Kissi Debrah, an astute Ghanaian entertainment and lifestyle blogger, has revealed what any government that needs his vote must do to earn it.

Ameyaw Debrah says he will vote for any government that can secure high-speed trains or trams within the next five years.

In a tweet spotted on the blogger’s handle by Modernghana News, he revealed how his recent trip, particularly the nature of the road, made him realize Ghana is still underdeveloped.

He urges the country’s leaders to rise up and implement effective measures and ensure things are fixed.

“Travelling to Elmina by road this weekend made me realize how underdeveloped Ghana is! Chale we need to sit up! Any government who can at least prioritize high speed trains /trams in the next 5 years has my vote,” his tweet reads.

Source: Modern Ghana