Court orders annulment of Hemang Lower Denkyira NPP polling station election

A Cape Coast Circuit Court has ordered the annulment of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) polling station elections conducted in the Hemang Lower Denkyira Constituency.

NPP supporters in the constituency staged series of protests and accused their Member of Parliament, Bright Wereko Brobbey and executives of a fraudulent election.

The supporters claimed they picked forms to contest the elections only for acclamations to be done at dawn without their knowledge.

The aggrieved supporters challenged the elections in court and on Thursday, the court ordered for fresh elections to be conducted supervised by the Central Regional party executives.

The supporters have trooped to the streets of Cape Coast to celebrate the decision of the court.

According to them, they are happy that the rule of law has worked.

The agitation in the Hemang Lower Denkyira Constituency is the latest in the string of internal wrangling within the governing party.

Conflicts have rocked some electoral areas as NPP begins processes ahead of the 2024 general election.

….HEMANG NPP…..

 

 

 

Ghana: GNAT inaugurates Provident Fund Board

The Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius BaffourAwuah, has advised managers of Tier 3 pension schemes to convert investments of retired contributors into shares.

According to him, this would ensure that retired contributors were paid dividends in the case investments portfolios of pension schemes make profits.

Speaking at the inauguration of the Board of Trustees of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) Provident Fund in Accra, he said such a move would also help in avoiding the financial challenges that occasions retirement.

Chaired by Ransford Lolih, other members of the board include Thomas TankoMusah, Helen AkuaAsantewaaOsei, Peter ObengNyamekye, Victor de-Graft Etsison, Daniel TomeyAnning, Phillip Dela Dzamanu and Isaac Baah.

The Minister explained that pension was an effective social protection programme that required effective management for contributors to benefit.

He advised the board to focus on professionally managing the fund, devoid of any conflict of interests.

….HON. IGNATIUS…..

Treasurer at GNAT, Mr. Ransford Kofi Nsiah also assured contributors that the members of the committee are ready to work hard to ensure achievement of the Provident Fund.

…..MR. RANSFORD…..

 

 

Special Prosecutor begins probe into ‘illegal’ recruitment of police officers

The Office of the Special Prosecutor has commenced investigations into the recruitment of some 51 cadet officers at the Ghana Police Academy.

A statement signed by the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, said the investigations will border on “the use of office for profit, abuse of office, abuse of power, favoritism, nepotism, victimization and the selection of unqualified persons” in the recruitment processes.

This comes after the arrest of some police officers believed to be involved in recent bullion van attacks in the country.

On Tuesday, March 8, 2022, the Police Service announced that four police personnel were arrested at Borteyman near Ashaiman in connection with an ongoing intelligence-led police investigation into some bullion van robberies.

The arrest has triggered calls for a drastic reformation of the Ghana Police Service as some have argued that the seeming fallen standards in the service are to blame for police officers’ involvement in these crimes.

A security analyst, Emmanuel Kotin, recently also called on politicians to desist from interfering in the recruitment process of the service.

He said politicizing the service retards its professionalism.

“I’m calling on the political parties to as a matter of urgency look at their recruitment regime and the influences they play in the selection. Some people don’t even go for the screening and medicals and because it’s coming from a big man, it is assumed that the person is of good moral character. That’s why more often than not, we have these challenges.”

 

 

 

Treat road crashes as pandemic and reduce it – Akufo-Addo charges police

President Nana Akufo-Addo has directed the Police Service to, as a matter of urgency, come up with innovative and intelligent measures to address road accidents in the country.

Provisional data from the Motor Traffic Transport Department (MTTD) indicates that 469 people died in road crashes between January and February alone.

Describing the situation as worrying, the President at the Kofi Annan Road Safety Awards on Wednesday asked for road crashes to be nipped in the bud as soon as possible.

According to him, “We must treat road traffic accident as a global pandemic and assume equally, a more proactive responsible attitude to deal with it.

He added that, “Increasingly, the exposure of pedestrians and motorcyclists to the risk of road traffic casualties, particularly in the urban environment, can no longer be overlooked”.

He noted that, road safety was the bedrock to the development of the continent and called for all stakeholders to work together to make the roads safe.

.…PREZ ADDO…..

 

 

 

 

 

1st Deputy Speaker summons National Security, Defence, Interior Ministers over Bawku tensions

The First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu, has summoned the Minister for National Security, Hon. Albert Kan- Dapaah and  Defence, and Interior Minister, Hon. Ambrose Dery to appear before Parliament to brief members on renewed clashes in Bawku.

This was after the Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak, demanded the urgent summoning of the Ministers.

Raising the matter as one requiring urgent attention of the house, Muntaka Mubarak expressed worry about the happenings in that part of the country.

….HON. MUNTAKA….

Member of Parliament for Okaikwe Central, Hon. Patrick Boamah who second the motion said, the recent development from Bawku is very unfortunate hence he agrees with the Minority Chief Whip to summon the two Ministers.

.…HON. BOAMAH…..

In response, the First Deputy Speaker directed the Ministers involved to attend to the house urgently.

“I call on the Minister for Defence, National Security, and Interior to brief the house urgently on the security situation in Bawku.“

 

 

 

 

‘Demolition of Embassy facility a breach of Vienna Convention’ – Bulgaria Ambassador to Ghana

The Bulgarian Ambassador to Ghana and Nigeria, Yanko Yordanov, has accused the Ghanaian government of breaching the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

He warned of far-reaching implications on diplomatic relationships with Ghana due to the demolition of a facility on the premises of its Embassy in Accra.

The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 is an international treaty that defines a framework for diplomatic relations between independent countries.

The Bulgarian Embassy, located at Kakramadu Road, Plot No. 10, East Cantonments in Accra, was demolished by a private developer in 2017.

The Lands Commission has since ordered the developer to stop work on a redevelopment project on the site. But work has since been progressing.

Yanko Yordanov, who is worried about the turn of events, called on the government of Ghana to as a matter of urgency ensure that the protocols of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations are respected.

He said he had held discussions with President Akufo-Addo on the matter.

“He [President Akufo-Addo] assured me that this will be resolved very soon, but our expectations didn’t match the reality at all and for this reason, we are still insisting on the implementation of the Vienna Convention which must be done in a very proper way.”

….YANKO…..

 

 

Oliver Barker-Vormawor finally out of police custody

FixTheCountry Movement convener, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, has finally been released from police custody after meeting his bail requirements.

A member of the movement, Felicity Nelson, who made this known to the media said he was released around 2:40pm.

According to her, Oliver Baker-Vormawor is doing very well and he is in high spirit after his release.

She added that, they don’t know why the police kept holding Oliver Baker Vormawor after meeting all the bail conditions.

The Tema High Court, presided over by Justice Daniel Mensah on Wednesday, March 16, 2022, granted Mr Barker-Vormawor bail in the sum of Two Million Ghana Cedis (GH¢ 2,000,000.00) with two sureties.

As part of the bail conditions, the Court ordered that one of the sureties should deposit his document covering the landed property within the jurisdiction of the Court.

Pursuant to the orders of the Court, the Police took the accused person to the Court to execute the bail.

At the court, the Registrar informed the Police that he had submitted the document presented by the sureties to the Lands Commission for verification and he was therefore unable to proceed with the execution of the bail until a response was received from the Lands Commission.

As a result, the Police could not release the embattled FixTheCountry convener on bail as granted by the Tema High Court.

But Madam Nelson believes the police acted in bad faith in dealing with Mr Barker-Vormawor’s case.

….FELICITY….