Nana Addo Hits Back

Posted: Daily Guide |Thursday, 29 April 2010

A KNEE-JERK reaction put out by the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) propaganda machinery to smother some facts and figures stated by the 2008 Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, about the economy of Ghana, has caught fire.

Days after Nana Addo launched his 2010 Presidential bid, at which he indicated that 39.5percent Ghanaians lived below the poverty line in 1999, a year before the NDC (1) lost power to the NPP, the NDC, through its propaganda machinery led by party Propaganda Secretary, Richard Quashigah, came out to deny Nana Addo’s claim, saying he was being insincere with the facts about the NDCs performance in office.

This, according to the NDC, was because the figures put out by the then Government Statistician, Dr. Kweku A. Twum-Baah, in the year 2000, gave the percentage of Ghanaians living below the poverty line as 28% based on the Ghana Living Standard Survey Three (GLSS 3).

When the party’s Propaganda Secretary was challenged with confirmation of the facts as presented by Nana Akufo-Addo on Citi FM’s Eye Witness News ,Tuesday evening, he could not defend the party’s position, except to beat a hasty retreat that he was going to ‘cross-check’ the very facts he used to accuse Nana Akufo-Addo of being insincere.

In a quick and swift rebuttal, Nana Addo has noted with emphasis that it would be extremely disingenuous on the part of the NDC as a party and a government, to misrepresent the statistics as reported by the then Acting Government Statistician.

A statement issued by Mustapha Hamid, head of Nana Addo’s communications team, indicated that “Dr Twum-Baah on Monday, October 30, 2000, launched ‘The Poverty Report’, which was published together with the fourth in the series of Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS4). What he stated correctly, without using the previous GLSS3 of 1992 as baseline, was that ‘the incidence of poverty at the upper line declined from 51.7 percent in 1991-1992, to 39.5 percent in 1998-1999’.”

In some apparent state of statistical discomfiture and confusion, the statement said Richard Quashigah explained that the GLSS3 report put the number of people in Ghana living under the poverty line at 28 percent.

Nana Addo therefore noted that “the NDC, which was in office at the time, could not have been ignorant of the fact that the third Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS3) referred to the period September 1991 – September 1992, and the report was published in March 1995, when Daasebre Dr Oti Boateng was Government Statistician and GLSS Project Co-ordinator.”

That report, as pointed by Nana Addo, the statement said, put the percentage number of Ghanaians living below the poverty line of $1 per day at 51.7 percent; stating that “the NDC should be content with taking credit for reducing the percentage from 51.7 percent to 39.5 percent in 1999 and stop making false claims of 28percent.”

“That 28 percent incidence of poverty claim for 1999, is typical of a party that is not ashamed of making propaganda claims out of important statistics, such as the previous claim of creating 1.6 million new phantom jobs since January 2009,” stated Nana Addo.

In this regard, Mustapha Hamid said the NDC statement should have rather accused Nana Addo of being too modest in trumpeting the unprecedented real increases that Ghanaian workers experienced in their purchasing power, under President J A Kufuor.

Instead, he noted that typical of their propaganda status, the NDC has issued a statement saying, “Besides it is mischievous and misleading on the part of Nana Addo to state that the number of Ghanaians currently living below the poverty line has increased by 500,000 persons, a figure he attributed to the World Bank.

This is untrue because the World Bank, which he sourced his information from, is yet to release any figures for 2009, more so for the year 2010.”

This, he said, was because, Nana Addo stated that “but, as a result of the economic policies adopted by President Mills and his government, the World Bank is now estimating that half a million more Ghanaians will fall below the poverty line by this year alone.”
He therefore noted that the statement by the NDC Propaganda Secretary, “Only goes to expose the weight of panic Nana Akufo-Addo is capable of sending across the nerve centre of the NDC.”

Mills Driver Dodges

Posted:Daily Guide |Thursday, 29 April 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
There seems to be a deliberate attempt to cover up the shooting of a 44-year-old innocent civil servant, Daniel Nii Okai Adams, by one of the drivers of President John Evans Atta Mills.

On Friday April 23, 2010, William Nii Adu Doku, who works at the seat of government, the Osu Castle, and lives in an area called ‘Nii We’ near Castle, shot Daniel when the latter went to fetch water in his (Nii Adu’s) house.

Daniel, who is currently on admission at the Trust Hospital in Osu, narrated to DAILY GUIDE that just when he was fetching the water around 7:30am, he felt something pierce his back, only to realize that he had been hit by a bullet. There and then, he fell to the ground and was rushed to the hospital.

Asked what exactly led to the incident, Daniel, who was finding it difficult to sit up due to the agony he was in, said Nii Adu, his assailant, told him it was an accidental discharge, and that he was cleaning the pistol when he unfortunately pulled the trigger.

Daniel had since been operated on, but unable to walk.

According to family sources, doctors said two of the nerves in Daniel’s spinal cord were hit by the bullet, thereby making it extremely difficult for him to walk.

It was however not clear whether Nii Adu, who used to drive the then Candidate Mills and his wife Ernestina Naadu throughout the 2008 electioneering campaign, had been given any form of training in handling arms and ammunitions since he was only known to be a driver.

On Tuesday, some Castle officials were said to have visited the victim at the hospital.

Meanwhile, the assailant has not reported the incident to the police and is walking a free man and still wielding the deadly weapon.

It took the authorities of the Trust Hospital to lodge a formal complaint at the Osu Police Station three clear days after the incident, since according to Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mabel Aterh, the Osu District Police Commander and Chief Inspector Emmanuel Klutse, the investigator handling the case, Nii Adu had not shown up.

The Osu District Commander was not forthcoming with information when she was reached on phone because “it was too early and the issue is still being investigated”.

When DAILY GUIDE told her that information suggested that the suspect works at the Castle, ASP Aterh denied knowledge.

Though this paper managed after strenuous efforts to reach Nii Adu on his cell phone, he immediately hanged up when he heard the phone call was from DAILY GUIDE.

He has since refused to answer his phone calls to react to the incident.

Prosecute Muntaka - NPP Yells

Posted: Daily Guide | Wednesday, April 28, 2010

The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) is seething with anger over government’s decision to interdict the two prime witnesses and civil servants who blew the cover of former Youth and Sports Minister Alhaji Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak.

The NPP therefore called for the prosecution of Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak who is currently walking a free man, since the provisions of the country’s Constitution does not encourage justice for a select few, but for all persons.

The two civil servants, Albert Anthony Ampong and Adim Odoom, Chief Director of the Ministry of Youth and Sports and Principal Accountant of the same ministry respectively, were interdicted on the instructions of President John Evans Atta Mills, when they made startling revelations about financial malpractices at the Ministry, which led to the eventual removal of Muntaka.

Reminiscent of the dark days of the Rawlings-led Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) era, government proceeded to seize the official vehicles of the two senior civil servants through the use of 14 National Security operatives, smacking of executive influence.

A statement issued and signed by the Communications Director of the NPP, Kwaku Kwarteng yesterday, said “the attitude of the NDC government in this matter makes complete nonsense of their professed fight against corruption, considering the biased nature they have treated the two civil servants and rather let the Minister off the hook”.

The party contended that the two court rulings in favour of the two victims are “a loud statement about the NDC government’s penchant for acting unlawfully and recklessly”.

The NPP therefore called for the immediate re-instatement of the two senior civil servants, since the party believed the interdiction of the two is without any reason and rather a knee-jerk reaction to their success in the court action they instituted against government and for that matter, the Attorney-General.

For the NPP as a party, what is most worrying is the effect of the interdiction of the two poor civil servants on the professional integrity of the Civil Service, since it believes that the Civil Service as an institution is an indispensable tool for the nation's development, and nothing should be done to undermine its professional integrity.

“It is expected that when poor civil servants are compelled to institute a legal action in defence of their rights, they will not be victimized as a result,” Mr Kwarteng said, reminding Ghanaians of the provisions of Article 191 of the Constitution which protects civil servants from victimization and unjust punishment.

In all of this, the NPP said the role of the Attorney-General's Department cannot go without reprobation, and observed the department is gradually turning out to be “the worst nightmare of the Mills Presidency”.

In an issue like this, when the Attorney-General has been notified of the attempt to interdict the two civil servants and the letter interdicting them has been copied to her, it is expected that the Attorney-General would advise the Civil Service Council on the illegality of its actions.

On the contrary, the NPP noted that the Attorney-General has remained silent on this brute violation of the rights of two innocent and ‘poor’ Ghanaian workers, noting with emphasis that “all this is a wicked and embarrassing display of selective justice”.

Meanwhile, the former Minister, Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak has only been asked to ‘go and sin no more’ whilst the two civil servants who dared to draw attention to the looting of the taxpayer’s money have been interdicted.

In the light of this, the NPP asked rhetorically: “What kind of ‘father-for-all’ is President Mills?”

The party said this action will deter public servants and the public in general from volunteering information towards the fight against corruption.

The National Security Committee, which investigated the infamous ‘Muntaka Saga’, made express findings of financial impropriety and misconduct against him, which among others included collecting per diems from the Ministry when he was not entitled to; falsely representing a lady as an official of the Ministry of Youth and Sports for the purposes of securing visa when the lady was in fact NOT an official of the Ministry; and wasting the taxpayer's money on the same lady’s visit to Germany, as part of a government entourage.

Aside that, he was also found to have wasted the taxpayer's money on the lady again on a trip to Ivory Coast to watch a football tournament as part of a government delegation and wasting the taxpayer's money on baby oil, baby diapers, baby food, meat for his household and so on, when those personal items are not supposed to be part of the budget for the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

In the face of these gloomy findings against the Minister, President Mills asked media men who were seeking answers as to what sanctions were being taken against Muntaka whether that was the first time a Minister had travelled abroad with a girlfriend, saying that it was an act of indiscretion. “One would have expected the President and his Attorney-General to recommend the prosecution of Alhaji Muntaka.

On the contrary, the President, in a twist of contradictions, heaped praises on Muntaka and merely asked for a refund of the expenses he falsely charged on the budget of the Ministry of Youth and Sports,” the NPP

Minority Nails Mills

Posted: Daily Guide |Tuesday, 27 April 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu & Shiella Sackey
The Minority group in Parliament has accused President John Evans Atta Mills and his ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration of multiple complicity in the recent developments in the Yendi municipality.

They believe the pronouncements, actions and inactions of the President and some members of the NDC have led to the simmering tension in the area.

At a press conference in Accra yesterday, Deputy Minority Leader and New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Lawra-Nandom, Ambrose Dery, said President Mills has demonstrated his bias in the ensuing Yendi crisis which he described as ‘a politically and socially sensitive matter’, by deliberately choosing to call on the Andani Gate and shunning the Abudu Gate during his recent visit to the Northern region.

He wondered why the NDC government has without any justification whatsoever ‘willfully’ failed to implement the findings and recommendations of the Wuaku Commission, which was paid with the taxpayer’s money to conduct extensive investigations into events that led to the murder of the late Ya-Na Yakubu Andani and 40 others.

Though the Commission’s report named 42 persons from both sides of the two Gates for their involvement in the March 2002 events which led to the death of the Ya-Na and some of his subjects, Mr. Dery could not fathom why only members of the Abudu Gate and especially those known to be NPP members, were arrested and are being prosecuted.

Meanwhile, the Commission’s report has neither been reversed, reviewed nor set aside by any competent authority.

This is what seems to be making the Minority MPs jittery about the NDC and the Mills administration’s decision to not only renege on its promise, but also show a sense of bias in the entire process.

Aside that, the Deputy Minority Leader noted with emphasis that the NDC government has equally failed to keep faith with its pre-election promise, as contained in its manifesto in which the party promised to set up a “non-partisan, professionally competent and independent Presidential Commission to re-open investigations into the murder of the Ya-Na and the others who perished together with him”.

“Instead, the NDC government has ostensibly elected the path of politically discriminatory arrests and prosecution of the Yendi Abudu Gate,” Derry said, insisting that “the NDC government has once again deceived the people of Ghana”.

The Minority strongly believes that the effect of this action can only deepen the crisis in the area and not resolve it.

The Deputy Minority Leader thus believes that “the action of the NDC government is a clear illustration of its haste to satisfy the outbursts, whims and caprices of former President Jerry Rawlings and a demonstration of its desperation to purportedly consolidate its electoral support in Dagbon irrespective of the social, political and security implications and consequences”.

The Minority group in Parliament says this “therefore demonstrates beyond every shred of doubt that the NDC government is not interested in peace and stability in the Dagbon area as well as the survival and growth of our democracy”.

Rather, it believes the NDC as a party and a government is only interested in its survival and clinging to power, in spite of the economic consequences, describing it as a selfish political agenda.

Whilst appreciating the fact that the recent clash in Gushiegu involved members of both sides of the political divide, NPP and NDC, Mr. Derry said it is however “incredible and unfairly discriminatory for the NDC government to arrest only NPP supporters”, emphasizing that there are clear indications that the NDC government is only determined to promote discriminatory practice in the country’s criminal justice system by its conduct and also to institutionalize the culture of impunity.

NPP Girl Fights Mills Boy

Posted: Daily Guide |Tuesday, 27 April 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
A leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Ursula Owusu, and Presidential Aide, Nii Lante Vanderpuije, are at each other’s throats over allegations that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was determined to rig the 2010 polls.

Ursula, a regular TV and radio panelist, exposed what she described as the rigging machinery being put in place by the NDC ahead of the 2012 general elections.

This was after a face-off encounter with Nii Lante Vanderpuye on Metro TV’s ‘Good Morning Ghana’ programme yesterday.

On their way out of the studio after the programme, Ursula narrated that she was taunting Nii Lante that the NDC and for that matter President Mills (if he will be maintained as their candidate) would lose not less than 5 percent of the votes they bagged in the 2008 general elections in 2012, when Ghana goes back to the polls to elect a President.

This, she said, was because the trend has been the same, indicating that incumbent candidates had always lost 5 percent votes, citing Rawlings’ votes in 1996 as well as Kufuor’s in the 2004 elections.

Following this trend, Ursula stressed the belief that history is set to repeat itself in 2012 and that Mills will lose 5 percent of the little over 50 percent votes he secured in the last elections, thereby making the NPP emerge victorious.

She therefore asked the NDC to start preparing since Ghanaians would show them the exit in 2012.

This analysis brought a heated argument between the two individuals right from the studios of Metro TV, spilling over to radio station programmes, and compelling the obviously jittery Nii Lante to say in the presence of the show host, Shamimah Muslim and the production team that the NDC will not sit in laxity for the NPP to win the 2012 election and that they will use whatever means possible through ‘fair or foul’ means to win the election and retain power.

This comment compelled Ursula to raise an alarm about the NDC’s alleged plan to rig the 2012 polls.

She noted: “We will be kidding ourselves if we think they are merely going to hand over without a fight if the NPP wins, as is likely to happen, judging by the abysmal performance of the NDC administration.

“Mind you, Nii Lante is the Special Aide to President Mills, operating from the office of the President.”

Later in an interview on Citi FM’s Eye Witness News last night, Nii Lante could not deny Ursula’s claims, but only offered an explanation that the NDC would do exactly what former President Kufuor and the NPP did to retain power in 2004.

Asked what he claims the NPP did in 2004, Nii Lantey was not forthcoming.

However, Ursula Owusu denied knowing anything unusual apart from the normal voting that enabled the NPP to retain power in 2004.

Coming on the heels of supposed Commando training at various locations in the country, and the violence that characterized the Chereponi and Akwatia bye- election and run-off respectively, the NPP strong woman believes “this is a sign of things to come and we should not sit down for them to subvert the will of the people of Ghana by foul means”, asking rhetorically: “Is this also not further justification for the use of a biometric voters register and E-voting for the 2012 election?”

Nana Fires Mills

Posted: Daily Guide | Thursday, April 22, 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The Nima residence of 2008 Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, shook to its very foundation yesterday when hordes of people including journalists, party faithful and bigwigs in the party as well as Members of Parliament (MPs) thronged the place to see and listen to him, as he launched his bid to run for the party's flagbearership position.

Packaged to be a media-only affair, the organisers eventually had to deal with not only members of the inky fraternity, but hordes of party faithful from all walks of life.

In what could be described as his state of the nation address, Nana Akufo-Addo lambasted the Mills Administration's penchant for persecution and witch-hunting of political opponents, elevating it to a national policy status.

“The control of public toilets these days has become the ultimate symbol of power and authority under the reign of the Asomdwehene-the King of Peace. Law and order has broken down,” he charged at the Mills Administration.

The 2008 presidential candidate of the NPP said the twin canker has been the dominant menu on NDC's agenda at every function including cabinet meetings.

In a concise and robust delivery, Nana Akufo-Addo fired salvos at President Mills, jabbed at the NDC and poked fun at his physique as sarcasm to his opponents' description of him as a short old man.

The crowd became charged when he asked them the multi-million dollar rhetorical question: “Ghanaians are broke. Ghana is breaking. Who must fix it?”

Then the crowd responded 'you'. He asked again: “Who can fix it?” and the response was an expected, 'you' and “Who will fix it?” attracting a chorus “it's only you”.

When he mounted the podium to speak, Nana Addo said the numbers that had gathered there gave him more than enough reason to believe that the good people of the NPP would elect him the flagbearer to lead the party to liberate Ghanaians from the incompetence of President Atta Mills and his National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration.

He took a swipe at what for him is the hypocrisy of the Mills Administration.

Nana did not forget to touch on the activities of the NDC foot-soldiers whose acts of indiscipline all over the place he described as lawlessness.

Nana Addo said having reflected over the party's defeat in 2008 and a critical examination of himself and the strategies that he used in that election, he noted with emphasis that “I assure you that I have come out stronger for future leadership.”

Nana Addo made a joke of the campaign about his age and personality in sections of the media including flying text messages, saying “after nearly 35 years of being in the frontline of Ghanaian politics, this 66-year-old, short and not-so-handsome young man still has the energy and passion to lead Ghana to a new and exciting future.”

According to the flagbearer aspirant, the very challenges, hardships and oppressive environment that motivated him at the age of 33 years to help organise and lead the PMFJ's mobilisation of the people against the obnoxious Union Government concept of the Acheampong regime in 1977/8 were the same ills that motivated him when he was 51 years old to help lead the 'Kume Preko' demonstrations of 1995.

For him, it is this same motivation that is driving him to lead the battle to recapture power for the NPP and Ghana in 2012.

“My soundings in the party tell me that there is broad support for my candidature from all sections within the party, young and old, men and women, from the established figures of the party, emerging figures, through the polling stations and constituencies across the country,” he stressed.

Despite the systematic attempt to denigrate President John Agyekum Kufuor's eight-year record, Nana Addo said, he and his colleague NPP members are satisfied that Kufuor laid a solid record of achievement in virtually all aspects of national life.

Under the current situation and the government that Ghanaians find themselves, he said, “we are hamstrung with a government that appears to be incompetent even at managing and maintaining the economy the NPP bequeathed to them.

“Instead of focusing on the economy which is shrinking,” Nana Addo stated, “when they (NDC) meet at the top level, they only plan persecution.”

He described the NDC government as one of witch-hunting, since according to him, “there are clear signs that the Mills government is embarking on a series of politically motivated prosecutions. Their intention is to dismember the NPP.”
No matter the length they will go with the persecutions, he said, “they will not succeed!”

Ghanaians, he maintained, are living in fear and therefore looking up to the NPP to rescue them.

For Nana Addo, this is why he is still in the race to lead the NPP and subsequently lead Ghana, saying “Insha Allah, it shall come to pass.”

As he hits the road today to begin his national tour of all the 230 constituencies, beginning with the Central Region, the flagbearer aspirant said apart from appealing to the 115,000 delegates of the National Congress for their votes on August 7, he also intends to use this national tour to listen to the party people, especially the five polling station executives in each of the more than 21,000 polling station areas nationwide.

“We are one party, one family with one goal: Victory 2012! NPP, Ghana ani da mo so!”

At this stage, Nana Addo could not but give his word to his anxious audience: “If by the grace of God I have the chance, I will bring back hope and restore the kind of confidence that we need to move our nation forward.”

The resonating response following said it all about how far his speech had sunk in. What followed was a session of merrymaking and exchange of pleasantries.

Another DCE In Hot Waters

Posted: Daily Guide |Tuesday, 20 April 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
ONE OF President John Atta Mills’ darling boys, who was voted the best District Chief Executive (DCE) in the Eastern Region for the year 2009, Charles Evans Apreku of the Kwahu North District Assembly, was yesterday summoned to the Castle, seat of government, to answer questions on the award of a contract which has sparked a raging controversy in the area.

Credible sources at the Castle hinted DAILY GUIDE that the DCE was summoned to the Castle on the instructions of the President, John Evans Atta Mills, since he could not fathom why and how a contract which was quoted by the contractor to cost the Assembly an amount of GH¢91,047.81, was suddenly inflated to the tune of GH¢101,337.81.

Upon hearing the news, President Mills, who rose to power on the campaign of a ‘Better Ghana’ and a promise to fight against what he described as ‘profligate expenditure’, was said to have been alarmed and therefore asked the DCE to immediately report at the Castle to answer questions.

The contract was awarded to Messrs. St. Wilson Company Limited for the supply of curtains, furniture, bedstead and bedspread to the Kwahu North District Assembly through a competitive tender and bidding process.

The company was tasked to complete supplies within 90 days as stipulated in the contract agreement.

Later, the DCE asked the Managing Director of the company, Wilson Atiemo, to change the quotation since he claimed he was not the only one who bid for the contract and that there was a problem with the calculation of price quotation.

Though he declined, Mr. Wilson indicated that Mr. Apreku followed up with a series of calls, pressing him to change the amount involved.

As a patriotic citizen, Mr. Wilson said, he turned down the offer since it would lead him to compromise his conscience and reputation as a businessman.

But halfway through the project, the contractor claimed that only GH¢12,000 of the contract sum has been advanced to him, stressing the belief that the DCE is deliberately frustrating him for not compromising.

He has since reported the issue to the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI).

Frantic efforts to reach the DCE for his side of the story proved futile since on all occasions, his cell phone was said to have been switched off.

Other officials, including the former District Coordinating Director (DCD), Francis Owusu Ansah, during whose term the contract was awarded and the District Engineer, Francis Onai, have both refused to comment on the issue.

Whilst Mr. Owusu Ansah claims he does not have the full details of the contract, Mr. Onai said he could also not comment on it without the consent of the DCE, considering the delicate nature of the issue.

Efforts to reach the incumbent DCD for his comments proved unsuccessful as his cell phone was also said to be switched off.

Nana Addo Courts Media

Posted: Daily Guide |Tuesday, 20 April 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
LEADING contender of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flag-bearership race and 2008 Presidential Candidate of the party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is set to hold a meeting with selected journalists tomorrow.

The meeting, which is scheduled to take place at his Nima residence in Accra, is to enable him interact with the media.

A statement issued in Accra yesterday and signed by his Head of Communications, Mustapha Hamid said, “He will use this meeting with journalists to announce officially to the nation his decision to contest for the presidential nomination of the New Patriotic Party on August 7, 2010 and ultimately for the Presidency of the Republic in Election 2012” .

Member of Parliament for Bimbilla and leading member of the Victory-2012 campaign team, Dominic Aduna Bingab Nitiwul, said during his interaction with the media this Wednesday, Nana will give a brief speech on his political future and the future direction of Ghana.

On that same day, the presidential hopeful will deliver a speech at the Mensah Sarbah Hall at the University of Ghana, Legon, at 6pm.

The speech is expected to focus on education, job creation and the future of the Ghanaian youth.

Nana Addo will then hit the road running with his national campaign tour on Thursday, with Kwanyako in the Central Region as his first stop.

Mr. Nitiwul explained that on Thursday, “Nana will officially kick-start his campaign tour to meet every single one of the about 115,000 delegates across the country in their various constituencies”.

He is thus scheduled to tour three constituencies the same day; Agona East, Agona West and Gomoa West.

On why Nana Addo is running again, the MP for Bimbilla said that “Nana Addo since January, 2009 has maintained an office where he interacts with an average of 300 Ghanaians a day and has taken notice of their sentiments”.

Aside that, he said, Nana Addo has also consulted widely with people within and outside the party, and it is the sentiments gathered from these interactions, coupled with the mismanagement of the country by the Mills-Mahama led administration that has influenced his decision to run again.

“It is clear that Ghanaians are looking for a man of vision, courage, wisdom, uprightness and integrity, and someone who can fix the economy with a sense of urgency as well as create jobs for the youth,” he stated.

The Bimbilla MP said that “Nana Addo will bring a message of hope and unity and would remind the delegates that NPP run an election and got 49.77% of the votes, but the party was seeking a third term mandate and we all know how difficult this is all over the world and so the change happened”.

“But today we have all realized that the change was a bad one, it has not brought hope to Ghanaians, it has not brought development to Ghanaians and the change has not changed anybody’s life for the better,” he stressed.

For this reason, he noted, Nana will be telling delegates of the party to respond to the cries of Ghanaians by making him the flag-bearer of the NPP, as he is sure to win the presidency in 2012 and will restore confidence in Ghanaians by expanding the economy, creating jobs, improving and expanding the NHIS and providing potable water and constant supply of electricity to their homes and factories.

“Nana Addo will be reminding the delegates that he personally fought for the expansion of the electoral college of the NPP with his resources and time and this has empowered them to be the people who would eventually elect the presidential candidate of the party.

He would therefore empower the grassroots when he eventually becomes president,” he concluded.

Don’t Pick Forms

Posted: Daily Guide |Monday, 19 April 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
ONE OF the outspoken women in the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Daavi Ama, has cautioned former Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama against contesting in the party’s flag-bearership race.

She believes this is not an opportune time for the former Vice President to run for the position which is being keenly contested and has therefore made a passionate appeal to him not to either pick or file his nomination since it would not be in his own interest.

In an open letter to the former Vice President, Daavi Ama, who describes herself as the ‘self appointed spokesperson’ for the former Vice President and also happens to be the immediate past national treasurer of the NPP noted, “Sir, don’t send anyone to pick a nomination for you. It is not an order, but a humble plea”.

For this reason, she has asked him to turn down any proposals and suggestions from any individual or group of persons telling him to run for the position and allow the so-called big names in the party to contest.

She advised the former Vice President to take a closer look at those close to him and those who sing his praise, since some of them are nothing put pure opportunists and praise singers.

Madam Daavi also pointed out that some of these people are now campaigning for other flag-bearer aspirants.

In spite of that, she is optimistic that even if it will take years, Alhaji Mahama will one day become President of this nation.

She advised him to safeguard the reputation that he built for himself during his eight-year tenure as Vice President under the ‘gentle giant’, ex-President Kufuor, to enable him work his way up in the coming years.

Accra Mayor Detained In Columbia

Posted|Daily Guide |Friday, 16 April 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The Mayor of Accra, Alfred Okoe Vanderpuye, was a subject of a diplomatic row recently when he and other members of a government delegation, led by Vice President John Dramani Mahama, were traveling to the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo.

Mr. Vanderpuye was held in the Columbian capital, Bogota, for several hours by immigration officials in that country over his traveling documents.

This was due to the fact that he did not have a visa which could enable him to travel to Sao Paulo aside the claim that he was using his United States passport to travel on the ticket of the Ghanaian government.

Another minister in the delegation had to work extra hard, making frantic efforts to save the Mayor from further embarrassment after his virtual detention at Bogota.

The said minister was communicating between Sao Paulo and Accra to get the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to obtain freedom for the Mayor who was held within the confines of the airport by the immigration officials.

Other members of the delegation were compelled by the prevailing circumstance to leave Dr Vanderpuye in the hands of the Colombian authorities, and headed for Sao Paulo without him.

The Mayor himself has admitted running into problems with the Columbian authorities when he got there.

He told DAILY GUIDE in an interview yesterday that he used his US passport because if he had used his Ghanaian passport, he would have needed a visa to Brazil. He only had a visa to travel to Columbia.

It is therefore not clear whether the Mayor was denied a visa by the Brazilian embassy in Accra or he just thought he could travel with his US passport into that country without a visa.

Also mind-boggling is the Mayor’s decision to travel with a US passport on the ticket of a Ghana government-sponsored trip.

He noted that the Ghanaian authorities in Columbia eventually managed to secure him a visa and he later boarded a flight to join his colleagues in Sao Paulo after about 11 hours of a nightmarish wait in Bogota.

Although the delegation has since returned home to Ghana, the bitter memories of the diplomatic embarrassment would haunt the Mayor for some time to come.

This is not the first time the Accra Mayor is encountering nationality challenges.

He encountered similar difficulties when he was proposed for appointment by President Mills, since he was said to be an American citizen and therefore unfit to hold public office as Mayor of Accra. He is still holding on to his American citizenship.

The issue dragged on for some time till his employers, the President and even the National Security, ignored all agitations and made sure he sailed through.

The latest issue thus revives the question of whether or not Dr Vanderpuye, who from all indications wields the passports of two countries, Ghana and the United States, can serve in a public office, since the Ghanaian Constitution bars people with dual citizenship from holding public office unless otherwise renounced.

Veep Blasts Foot Soldiers

Posted: Daily Guide |Thursday, 15 April 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

VICE PRESIDENT John Dramani Mahama is obviously not happy with how party foot soldiers want to determine the direction of the country with their continuous agitations.

He even struggled to find appropriate words to describe the kind of foot soldiers that exist in the country.

According to him “the kinds of foot soldiers we have in Ghana are different. They will want to join the party to help to you get into power but once the party gets into power, they must be served first”.

He believes that the kind of foot soldiers in Ghana “have no sense of sacrifice”.

This was when he had the opportunity to speak at the launch of the Centre for Freedom and Accuracy (CFA).

Whilst appreciating the fact that the issue of foot soldiers is a problem that faces all political parties, he wondered the extent to which they have taken their activities and operations, demanding the removal of government appointees without cause.

“In my mind, a foot soldier or cadre is one that is prepared to sacrifice for the organisation in order to keep the fortunes of the organization, either by continuing to win political power alike”, he said.

The Vice President therefore wondered why some of these so-called foot soldiers, particularly in the NDC ,have become an albatross on the necks of successive governments to the extent that they even want to determine who is to be appointed to a particular office and who should be sacked or not.

“If you wake up and foot soldiers demand that everybody in an appointed office under a previous regime must forcibly be removed by locking up NHIS office, locking NYEP office, locking up all kinds of offices and ejecting people; then you the foot soldiers get appointed, then you must know that you have a 4year mandate”, he noted.

Vice President John Dramani Mahama also expressed worry about the growing trend of businesses collapsing whenever there is a change in government because of the often quoted phrase “he is not one of us”.

“As long as the political pendulum continues to swing and they exact their pound of flesh on indigenous businesses or even foreign businesses that we perceive not to be our political allies, we would have nothing to show for it”, he explained.

Whilst he admitted that the party’s manifestos are produced for electioneering, he noted that “once you win an election and come into government, your party manifesto does not become the national vision of the party, but once the party gets elected, they must translate that party manifesto into a strategic policy direction or into a vision that the whole nation can buy into”.

Based on that, he stated that everybody can help push the vision forward, “so as quickly as possible, manifestoes should be translated into strategic visions that the whole country can buy into so that we can as one move forward”.

For this reason, the Vice President stressed the need for all political parties, businesses and institutions like the Chambers of Commerce and the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) to diagnose the problem and come out with a prescription to insulate businesses from collapsing every time there is a change in government.

On his part, former Presidential Spokesperson, Andrews Awuni, who happens to be the Executive Director of the Centre for Freedom and Accuracy (CFA), said the organisation is dedicated to the promotion and defense of free enterprise everywhere and especially in Ghana.

The CFA looks forward to working with government and the corporate community to deepen the culture of free enterprise in the country and remove residual doubts and suspicions about the private sector.

Nana Goes Mad

Posted: Daily Guide |Thursday, 15 April 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The 2008 Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has denied spurious allegations in a section of the media that seek to link him to a supposed attempt to prosecute Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, his main contender in the party’s flagbearership race.

Nana Addo described as baseless, allegations in yesterday’s editions of both the Insight and Enquirer newspapers which suggested that “some people from the Akufo-Addo campaign team have handed over some highly-damaging documents to the current Attorney General which may lead to the prosecution of Mr. Alan Kyerematen”.

According to him, he has no control over an NDC Attorney General who had made it a point to criminalise the administration in which he was part and parcel.

A statement issued in Accra yesterday and signed by Mustapha Hamid, Head of Communications at Nana Akufo-Addo’s office, expressed dismay at what he described as a crude attempt by some media houses and political forces to use his (Akufo-Addo’s) name in their scheme to cause division and confusion within the ranks of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

This follows a similar allegation by an Ashanti regional officer of the NPP that a potential ‘flagbearer’ had conspired with the current Attorney General to ‘engineer’ the prosecution of certain named former officials of the NPP administration.

Nana Akufo-Addo therefore noted with emphasis that nobody in his office or campaign team has any document or any other evidence to facilitate any prosecution by the Attorney General or anybody else, stressing that “this is just another baseless allegation by those who have always seen his leadership as a threat to their own selfish or sectional interest”.

The 2008 presidential candidate of the NPP insisted that he has no such influence over an NDC Attorney General, who even recently, alleged falsely that he haunted her out of office; and neither would he wish to exercise any such devilish influence.

“As a man who has spent the last 35 years fighting against all forms of injustice in Ghana and as a founding member of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Akufo-Addo would be the first to fight against any form of political persecution,” the statement said, stressing that many of the lawyers defending the former NPP government officials are products of his law firm, Akufo-Addo, Prempeh and Co.

As a cabinet member of the erstwhile Kufuor-led administration, Nana Akufo-Addo is convinced that he and his colleagues served this nation to the best of their abilities, with the best of intentions and with the greatest sense of integrity and honesty.

For this reason, he noted that “if the NDC has evidence to the contrary, let them prove it but through due process” and not to engage in vile propaganda and persecution.

It noted that “as a founding member of the NPP and its first National Organiser, Nana Akufo-Addo spent time, effort and resources to help build this party from scratch and would be the last person to contribute to its dismemberment”.

Moreover, Akufo-Addo seeks to lead the NPP, as its presidential candidate to victory in 2012, the statement said, asking rhetorically, “So how could he seek the dismemberment of a party he seeks to lead to victory?”

In this regard, Nana Akufo-Addo called the attention of the rank and file of the NPP to the fact that it has always been in the interest of the NDC to sow seeds of division within the NPP since “the NDC knows that with its current rate of incompetence in managing the affairs of the state, it faces rejection in the 2012 polls and would wish to compete against a disunited NPP”.

As the NPP prepares to elect its presidential candidate on August 7, 2010, he urged each and every supporter of the party to stand firm and be guided by the paramount need to maintain the cohesion and unity of the party for the greater competition ahead in 2012.

“The good people of Ghana and the rank and file of the NPP should treat this false allegation with the contempt it deserves,” the statement emphasised.

JJ’s Boy Jabs Minister

Posted:Daily Guide |Wednesday, 14 April 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Ras Mubarak
Deputy Information Minister Samuel Okudzeto-Ablakwa has incurred the displeasure of a leading youth activist of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mohammed Abdulai Mubarak aka Ras Mubarak.

Mubarak, a known Rawlings apologist, has now channeled his energies from complaining about President Mills’ apparent non-performance to Ablakwa for supposedly threatening to expose him (Mubarak).

The NDC youth activist told DAILY GUIDE that “after accusing me of being bitter about the Youth Congress, which of course didn’t hold, they have shifted gears to something completely nonsensical.”

Over the weekend, Okudzeto-Ablakwa was reported to have made certain comments on an Accra-based radio station, Radio Gold in which he allegedly described Mubarak as selfish, thereby attributing his incessant criticism of the Mills Administration to his inability to secure a scholarship to do his LLM at the Strathclyde University in the United Kingdom.

The comments by the deputy Minister have angered Ras Mubarak, who described Okudzeto-Ablatwa’s comments as “hopelessly naive”.

“What the junior minister doesn't understand is that, if someone were a teacher, a nurse or a driver, and the cost of living went up, that teacher or nurse wants something to change. If someone worked hard, and got their hands dirty and government reached deeper into their pay pocket, that person would want change.

If people can't get commodities like gas, stable electricity, they want something to change.”

He indicated that “if government cuts spending on higher education, and freezes scholarship indefinitely, I want something to change”, asking rhetorically, “Is that what he calls selfish interest?"

Ras Mubarak rather put the cap of selfishness on the deputy Minister, indicating that Okudzeto joined NDC from New Patriotic Party (NPP) because of what he wanted to gain.

“This is a lad who quit the NPP because he claims the party denied him opportunities,” he noted, emphasizing that “Ablakwa didn't stay to fight against the system that blunted opportunities for people like him.”

Instead, he noted, Ablakwa did not only jump ship but abandoned the NPP and came to join the NDC and therefore wondered who between the two of them could be more guided by selfish interest.

For this reason, Ras Mubarak said “Ablakwa needs some education on logic” since “you join a cause because you believe it can best advance a particular interest or ideology you subscribe to. People go on strike because the issues affect them or their friends and family.”

“This is common sense. This is someone who is so bereft of ideas he can't answer a straight question. My question is; how much has government spent on higher education? How many graduate jobs has government created since it assumed office?” he asked rhetorically.

He also denied claims by Presidential Aide Nii Lantey Vanderpuiye on Citi FM that he saw him (Mubarak) in Kumasi trying to mobilize some youth to protest against the government, describing it as “big fat lie”.

Mubarak said he only got back into the country from Amsterdam on Monday, April 5, 2010 and could not have been in Kumasi at the time Nii Lantey claimed he was mobilizing the so-called youth, stressing that he has not been to Kumasi since January this year and has not attended any gathering involving NDC members in months.

Instead of addressing the several concerns he has raised, including the issue of “government being slow in spite of the fact that even the Finance Minister thinks there's got to be a sense of urgency; government has abdicated spending on higher education and as a matter of fact has mothballed spending in critical areas.

Government hasn't taken the issue of public sector salaries seriously - and this is one of the major reasons for corruption in the public sector”.

Mubarak noted that Ablakwa and some syndicated journalists he described as “attack dogs” have resorted to politics of personal attacks.

Over the last couple of months, Mubarak has had cause to raise issues about cuts in public sector budget at a time the economy needs an injection of capital, and the NDC’s alienation of public support because the likes of Ablakwa cannot even articulate government's successes and policies but turn to International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to exacerbate the country’s problems.

He believes that Ghana’s dependency on IMF and the World Bank support is a major strategic vulnerability since these institutions create the agenda in which the world's poor must live.

He wondered why and how a nation like Ghana would circumscribe its future to these institutions, stressing that “I voted for a break from the past. I voted for opportunities.

A nation like Ghana should not leave its future in the hands of the IMF and the World Bank as we have done over and over again.”

The NDC youth activist noted that “the challenges we face give us a great moment of opportunity to help Ghanaians, and if Professor Mills is unable to rise up to the challenge, someone might have to step in and save the party.”

Pregnant Woman Shot

Posted: Daily Guide |Saturday, April 10,2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu & Valentina Jovanoski
The raging chieftaincy dispute in the Bawku municipality seems to be far from over, as various interests groups and stakeholders take entrenched positions, coupled with alleged government interference and unwillingness to arrest and prosecute perpetrators of various acts of violence.

In the early hours of yesterday, yet another victim, this time a 30-year-old Moshie woman, Safia Jibril, was shot in an area called Bagabo in Bawku.

The Bawku divisional police Crime Officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Adamu Salifu, who confirmed the incident to DAILY GUIDE said the victim was shot in the left arm and forefinger of the right hand.

DSP Salifu narrated that Safia, who is pregnant, was sleeping in her family house when a yet-to-be-identified gunman entered the house and opened fire on her in the early hours of yesterday around 4.00am when many were still in bed. She was thus rushed to the Presbyterian Hospital in Bawku for treatment.

Due to the seriousness of her injuries and the pain she was going through, the divisional Crime Officer told DAILY GUIDE that the Medical Officer in charge of the hospital has decided to transfer the victim to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi for further treatment since her life is at risk.

Indications are that Safia was shot with an AK 47 assault rifle since, according to the DSP Adamu Seidu, empty shells of the gun were discovered at the crime scene.

The shooting of Safia comes in the wake of the killing of another Moshie man, Adam Kayaba Osman alias Willa on Thursday. Osman was on a truck loaded with kola nuts and onions when he was pulled out and killed. Two others sustained gunshot wounds

With the fragile situation in the area, a group calling itself the Bawku Youth Development Association (BYDA) has accused the government of having a hand in the continuous violence between the ethnic groups in Bawku.

Members of the association claimed the NDC government has not only been unwilling to take action to stop the violence but also favoured the Kusasis over the Mamprusis.

An executive member of the association, Mamboda Osman Kariama, said state officials, including those at the National Security, have been intimidating and harassing members of one of the factions involved in the conflict.

Mr. Kariama therefore called on the Upper East Regional Minister, Mark Woyongo, to objectively assess the situation since things are getting out of hand.

The leader of the group lashed out at the Minister of Information, John Akologo Tia, for his criticism of a T-shirt worn by some Mamprusis at the just-ended Damba festival, a local Mamprusis celebration, on March 22. “The criticism shows the minister's biases,” he said.

The Minister, as well as the current 'Paramount Chief' of Bawku, Asigiri Abugurago Azoka II, took issue with the T-shirt since they consider it offensive due to the listing of former Mamprusi chiefs between 1721 and 1981 as the 'original' chiefs of Bawku.

Mr. Kariama however challenged Asirigi Abugurago Azoka to justify his lineage as a chief of Bawku before he can criticize the wearing of the T-shirt, asking rhetorically, “In any case, what justification is there for some Kusasi youth to fire sophisticated weapons at the outskirts simply because another tribe is celebrating their festival?”

He believes these criticisms are unfounded and noted that the Mamprusis who had been killed during the conflict were not wearing these T-shirts, suggesting that the shirts themselves were not the cause of the violence.

That notwithstanding, members of the Bawku Youth Development Association alleged that some Kusasis have also been seen wearing T-shirts with derogatory depictions of Mamprusis in which they (the Mamprusis) have been portrayed as monkeys with someone flogging the monkey with a cane.

He wondered why this disparaging depiction has not received any form of condemnation from government and the Information Minister.

Mr. Kariama also claimed that over 30 Mamprusi members and their sympathizers have been killed on the outskirts of Bawku and the Kusasi enclaves since the current government came to power, without a single arrest in connection with the murders.

He suggested that a possible solution to this conflict would be for the government to bring the two factions together in a televised roundtable discussion to work out their differences.

Bawku has for many years experienced ongoing ethic conflict between the Mamprusis and Kusasis, which has often resulted in outbreaks of violence and gruesome tit-for-tat murders. By Charles Takyi-Boadu & Valentina Jovanovski

Fight Over Dead Baby

Posted: Daily GUide |Saturday, 10 April 201o

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Mr & Mrs VaahThe death of a baby boy, minutes after his birth, at the Lister Hospital has sparked a raging controversy between his parents and management of the health facility, located along the Spintex road in Accra.

The boy’s parents, Thomas and Elizabeth Vaah, accused the staff of the hospital of ‘professional incompetence and negligence’, which they claimed contributed to the death of their baby on March 9, 2010.

Though management of the hospital had come out with a statement to deny any complicity in the death of the boy, since according to them “our doctors continually work hard to excel and deal with medically challenging cases to the best of their human ability and thus cannot be termed as professionally incompetent”, his parents insisted he would not have died if the medical personnel on duty, on the day, had taken good care of his mother during delivery.

Whilst extending their deepest condolences to the parents, family and friends of baby Nyilale Vaah, the management of Lister Hospital insisted that its personnel were in no way negligent and or acted negligently and did not agree with any claim for compensation whatsoever.

For this reason, they declined to pay the amount of GH¢2million being demanded by Mr. and Mrs. Vaah as compensation for their loss.

However, the parents said they were in talks with their lawyers to determine the next line of action on the issue.

In a statement issued in Accra yesterday, management of the hospital expressed regret at the devastating pain currently being endured by the family as a result of the loss of their baby, a situation that rarely arose at the Lister Hospital.

Management of the hospital narrated how they promised to conduct a formal internal enquiry into the issue when it came up and therefore asked Mrs. Vaah to put in an official request for a post mortem on the baby to ascertain the cause of death, to which they consented.

Aside that, they also claimed to have offered support from the hospital’s Clinical Psychologist for the parents, which they declined.

Furthermore, the Medical Director of Lister Hospital was said to have been in constant touch with the Vaahs after the woman had been discharged from the hospital, to enquire about their welfare.

In line with an agreement by both parties, the hospital’s management noted that the day after his death, the body of the baby was sent to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital for a postmortem examination and same was communicated to the parents.

“Though Mr. Vaah was very persistent in his demand for the body, the procedure of an examination postmortem was explained to him and details of the Pathologist were readily given to him to make contact if he had any further questions or misgivings,” the statement noted.

Mr. Vaah was indeed said to have contacted the Pathologist with various details and gave the impression that he was satisfied with proceedings until the final report was released.

“As soon as the Pathologist called that he had an initial diagnosis but needed time to do further investigations to establish the cause of the initial diagnosis, the body of baby Vaah was released to his parents, a death certificate was prepared and they came to pick it up and explained to the Medical Director that they were keen to travel to Axim and bury their son next to his grandfather,” the hospital’s management said.

The management of the hospital emphasised that it was therefore surprised when it received a letter from the Legal Resources Centre (LRC), acting on behalf of the Vaahs, leveling various allegations of professional incompetence and negligence against the hospital and demanding a sum of Two Million Ghana Cedis (GH¢ 2,000,000) as compensation.

Solicitors of the hospital were said to have responded to the letter and indicated its inability to give any response till the Pathologist submits a full report on the boy’s death, only for them to realize a foundation with the website www.vaahjuniorfoundation.org had been set up in honour of the deceased and all the allegations and more, which were contained in the letter from their Lawyers, repeated there.

According to the hospital, the final postmortem report indicated that the child may have died as a result of “multiple organ haemorrhages most probably due to a bleeding Diasthesis or Coagulation defect with bleeding precipitated by ‘trauma’ of labour (childbirth).”

A copy of the full “Postmortem” report is said to have since been made available to the Vaahs through their lawyers.

Motor Bikes Banned In Bawku

Posted: Daily Guide |Friday, 09 April 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu & Ebo Bruce-Quansah, Bolgatanga
Another death was recorded in Bawku yesterday, as a Moshie man was shot dead around 3:30 pm, in the volatile conflict zone.

No reason has been assigned for the shooting of the deceased, Adam Kayaba Osman alias Willa, but it is suspected to be linked to the recent target killings in the area.

The death of the man, who was gunned down between Misiga and Kulungugu in the Bawku municipality, came on the heels of a riot act read by the government to deal ruthlessly with trouble makers and their collaborators in the area.

Willa, a Moshie from Burkina Faso, was in a truck loaded with cola nuts and onions when he was pulled out and killed. Two others sustained gunshot wounds.

For a start, a ban has been placed on the use of motorbikes in the municipality, after security operatives detected that most of the killers use motorbikes to commit the heinous offence.

The National Security, through the District Information Service, announced a 24-hour ban on the riding of motorbikes, starting from April 9, 2010, until further notice.

This is likely to affect movement as most residents commute on motorbikes.

According to a DAILY GUIDE source, the message, which was passed through the Municipal Security Council (MUSEC), was initially hard for members including the Chairman, Abdulai Musah, to pass to the residents of the area.

This was probably due to the importance of motorbikes to the economy of the area, as well as the movement of the people of the area.

There had been a ban on riding motorbikes in the area, from 6:00pm.

DAILY GUIDE sources said people were seen hooting at the information van while it made the announcement through the township yesterday.

Efforts to talk to the MCE for the area, Abdulai Musah, who is also Chairman of MUSEC, proved futile, since his phone was either switched off or out of coverage area.

However, the Bawku Divisional Police Commander, Chief Supt Christopher Kwaku Boadu-Preprah, confirmed the ban, but could not give reasons for it.

DAILY GUIDE sources in Bawku said the information van had announced that the ban was necessary because motorbikes, being the main means of transport, have mostly been used in the target killings in the area.

From the reaction of the residents during the announcement, there is likely to be an uprising, which the National Security either failed to consider or has the intention of using severe force to implement.

Motorbike is the means of transport for most workers, including teachers, nurses, assembly staff, as well as traders and many others in the area, hence the ban is anticipated to bring the municipality to a standstill.

The ban covers all persons in the area, including the police, military, Assembly staff and other security personnel.

At a press conference in Accra yesterday, government vowed to deal ruthlessly with any individuals or group of persons who are found culpable in fueling the Bawku conflict.

It has indicated its preparedness to arrest and subsequently prosecute leaders and sponsors who incite violence in the area, saying with emphasis that “there will be no mercy.”

Information Minister, John Akologu Tia, told journalists that “there are sponsors of this conflict who sit in Accra and engage in shameless acts that exacerbate the situation”.

He therefore tendered in evidence a T-shirt with the inscription ‘original chiefs of Bawku’ which according to him, was printed in Accra and sent to Bawku to ostensibly provoke the anger of one of the feuding factions.

The Minister noted that these sponsors, who, instead of offering leadership in peace and mediation, have rather chosen the path of perdition and incitement, emphasizing that “we want them to know their hands are dripping with blood”.

Mr Tia gave his word that the security agencies are in the process of not only rounding up all these elements but “we want to make it clear that there will be no mercy for such persons” since according to him, “the inherent situation in Bawku is of much concern to government”.

‘National Service Is Part Of Job Creation’

Posted: Daily Guide |Friday, 09 April 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
THE RULING National Democratic Congress (NDC) seems to be having a hard time defending its claims of having created some 1.6million jobs across the various sectors of the economy.

This became obvious yesterday when government attempted to ridicule the opposing New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) argument that, it is only the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) which can tell whether specific government agencies employed people in a particular year or not.

In a bid to defend the government’s claim, the Minister of Information, John Akologu Tia, created the impression that the National Service Scheme, which was established in 1969, is employment in itself, since according to him “Hundreds of personnel are doing their national service within the civil service, contrary to the claim that there is a permanent freeze in employment to the service and also that there will not be any national service posting there”.

“While it is important that they were just engaging in politics as usual, it is important to point out that government, through the office of the head of Civil Service, employed in 2009”, he emphasized.

By this, the government and its Information Minister wanted Ghanaians and for that matter, journalists, to consider national service as part of the 1.6million jobs it has created.

It is however not clear whether national service is a job in itself.

The minister is however optimistic that after their surveys, the GSS would later this year, confirm what the various professionals have indicated to government in the matter of jobs.

The minister that noted in 2009 alone, despite the that fact the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank had asked government to put a freeze on employment in the civil service, approximately 982 persons were employed.

According to Mr. Tia, those figures strongly confirm government’s view that despite the constraints, they are working hard and creating opportunities throughout the country.

This, according to him, is the reason why their opponents in the NPP decided to go overdrive with all kinds of rebuttals.

In addition to all the other measures that government reckons are creating jobs throughout the country, the Information Minister noted with emphasis that, 1,563, 982 people were engaged in various sectors thought-out the country.

Under the Youth in Agriculture Programme, he indicated that a minimum of 47,000 people have been engaged whilst the Eco-Brigade Programme which is a multi-sectoral initiative for training the youth in fiber glass making, boat building and beach protection has engaged some 10,000 people.

For this reason, government is said to be considering a review of the whole concept of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) as an employment rather than a skills training programme for the youth.

Apart from that, the Minister claims the oil and gas industry has already engaged some 1,000 people, a figure he anticipated would quadruple in the next two years.

According to the Minister, “This breakdown, does not even take into account persons engaged by the private sector and also many state-owned companies that have been restructured and positioned for growth and have employed many young graduates”.

Stop Chasing Us

Posted| Daily Guide |Thursday, 08 April 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has registered its displeasure about the manner in which the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is proceeding with the supposed ‘prosecution’ of its members, including former ministers of the erstwhile Kufuor administration.

It cautioned the ruling party and Attorney General Betty-Mould Iddrisu to desist from what it termed the political persecution of its members.

At a press conference in Accra yesterday, party Chairman Jake Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey noted that much as the NPP as a party would not shield any of its members who might have been involved in any form of impropriety, it would not sit in laxity for the NDC to carry out political persecutions against its members without cause.

According to the Chairman, the process the Attorney General and the government had begun against NPP members was nothing but the result of the unnecessary pressure being brought to bear on them by the party’s founder and former President, Jerry John Rawlings, and foot-soldiers, who were baying for the blood of NPP members.

“The President and his Attorney General have kowtowed and succumbed to the unjustifiable political pressures from the founder of the party, Jerry Rawlings and some adherents, to accelerate with disturbing alacrity, the prosecution of NPP former ministers and officials, whilst the murderers, arsonists, rapists, dangerous assailants and unauthorized gun-wielders at Tamale, Chereponi, Bawku, Nalerigu, Garizhegu, Agbogbloshie, Akwatia and other places, roam the roads, streets, lanes and allays of these respective communities untouched.”

This, according to him, was evident in the fact that the 2008 manifesto of the NDC itself asserted that the NPP government was ‘corrupt’.

He noted that the Attorney General, who claimed not to have any substantial evidence against members of the previous administration, suddenly managed to manufacture trumped up charges against members of the NPP and process them for court, barely a week after she made such pronouncements.

Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey described Mrs. Betty Mould-Iddrisu as an “embodiment of contradiction”, emphasizing that “barely a week before the commencement of these prosecutions, she was on record as having lamented the situation that whereas there is a cacophonous instigation for the prosecution of officers of the former administration, the current sector ministers, 15 clear months into Prof. Mills regime, have not produced any incriminating evidence based on which prosecutions should commence.”

Jake could not help but ask rhetorically: “What credible evidences have been assembled within five days which have engendered the initiation of prosecution now? Or are we laying the ground rules for persecutions instead of prosecutions?”

He found lamentable, the strange circumstance under which former Finance and Economic Planning Minister, Professor George Gyan-Baffour was framed up to have been ‘at large’ when no police caution statement had been taken from him.

The party Chairman recalled how President Mills paused and looked at the public gallery of Parliament when he was delivering his State of the Nation address on February 25, 2010 and boldly declared:

“And let me say, we are in the process (to vigorously prosecute all past and present officials of the state) and very soon you will begin to see results.”

This pronouncement of the President was said not to be part of the original text submitted to Parliament.

He therefore wondered why the President and his Attorney General failed to prosecute recent cases of financial impropriety at the Ministry of Youth and Sports in which the President came out to say that the case was an “exercise of ministerial indiscretion rather than official thievery and corruption”.

Though the acts were prosecutable, Jake noted, “The self-proclaimed father of all citizens, irrespective of one’s political affiliation, race, religion or parenthood, discriminatorily failed to prosecute his officials.

“Apparently, under President Atta Mills, criminality is assuming political colours, which is a dangerous threat to our security and democracy.”

Remove Mills: JJ's Boy Warns NDC

Posted:Daily Guide |Tuesday, 06 April 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Ras MubarakMohammed Abdulai Mubarak aka Ras Mubarak, a youth activist of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and a close associate of Former President Jerry John Rawlings, says President Atta Mills and his government have failed Ghanaians.

According to him, current events in government were nothing but huge disappointments for many who had hoped for a better Ghana under President Atta Mills.

He was therefore more than convinced that the Mills Administration had failed to exploit its opportunities and carry the nation along the path of development.

In a statement, Mubarak noted that “the government has alienated public support and there is a sense of unease even among Prof. Mills' uncritical supporters”, laying emphasis on the fact that “government has been shooting from the hip on a number of issues”.

He expressed the belief that the increasing spate of peaceful and violent protests against the government by the party youth was a verdict on Prof. Mills' failures, noting that the noble professor’s “reputation as an honest man is not in doubt. Even his most virulent critics know that he is a man of integrity, but he is a disastrous leader”.

Mubarak seemed to have summed up the concerns of many Ghanaians including his mentor, Jerry John Rawlings, who equally shared similar views about the Mills Administration.

This, according to Mubarak, was evident in the fact that “in spite of getting interest rates down, President Mills has not been able to turn round the Ghanaian economy”, saying “Health Insurance is in trouble and he has been weak on national security”.

That notwithstanding, the vociferous NDC activist said “we are still far from being able to finance our development and have turned to the IMF/World Bank for the same bailouts and wrong-headed guidelines that haven't brought us much since independence”, stressing that Ghanaians were still paying high taxes in return for inefficient social services.

For this reason, he noted that “there is danger in doing little or moving slowly to solve the nation's problems”, asking the NDC as a party “to begin to look for a successor who can save the nation”.
This, he said, was because “if the NDC allows the growing deluge to continue, it would get a sound beating from the opposition in the next election”.

According to him, the only way to avert this impending calamity on the nation was to have a candidate in 2012 who could answer the problems of all Ghanaians, thereby ruling Mills out of the 2012 ticket of the NDC.

“The NDC has an obligation to give the nation a bold leader,” he noted, emphasizing that the NDC “would be a dead duck if President Mills led it into the 2012 contest” since “he no longer has the grassroots support and is certainly unpopular with young voters”.

In the eyes of the youth of NDC, Mubarak said, President Mills had failed to rise to the occasion, hence would not have the support of many members of the party across the country.

He intimated that there were irrefutable reasons why Mills could not lead the NDC into victory in 2012, insisting on keeping some of the reasons to himself for the sake of his reverence for the President.

“The NDC needs a candidate who when elected President in 2012 can give hope to all Ghanaians; someone who can reconnect with lost constituencies in the NDC; someone who is the best candidate of either main political parties and a unifier since our country deserves a President who can think anew the theory for a 21st century social democracy" and get things done whilst the sun was still up.

Ras Mubarak argued that the electoral victory of 2008/9 was an opportunity for the NDC as a party to fight for those who could not fight for themselves; to give hope to the youth who, he claimed, were let down by the NPP, indicating that President Mills made huge mistakes by ignoring some persons who could have helped him bring succour to his government and the country.

“He has recently alienated his constituency and that is quite a shoot from the hip,” he noted.

Under the current circumstances, the party activist said, the youth in the NDC felt the ladder of opportunity had been kicked away by their own government, since in his own words, “many feel it has become hard to make a way up under the Mills government”.

Mubarak had a word of caution for President Mills and his administration: “If government does not listen to what the youth of the National Democratic Congress think is wrong with them, they (the young men and women of the party) won’t listen to government when government tells them what is wrong with them.

Moving slowly is incompatible with our reputation as a party that gets things done; it is unworthy of the NDC.”

Sex Scandal Hits MP

Posted: Daily Guide |Thursday, 01 April 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for Ho Central, Captain George Nfojoh (Rtd), is in hot waters, as a 23-year-old woman who prefers to give her name only as Sylvia, has accused him of forcibly having sex with her at gun-point.

Though the MP admitted knowing the woman and her father, who from all indications is a close pal, he has simply sought to deny her claims.

The Ho Central MP’s only defence has been that the lady is out to cause mischief and blackmail him, since he could not meet her demand for a certain amount of cash to buy cosmetics to fill her shop- a suggestion Sylvia has flatly rejected.

She told Joy News yesterday that she has no intension whatsoever of maligning him except that she feels insulted by Captain Nfojoh whom she claimed has objectified her to satisfy his sexual desires without recourse to her emotions and feelings.

Meanwhile, the lady has denied having a relationship with the two-term legislator, insisting, “If it was a love relationship, the man will not be doing it like that”; asking rhetorically, “How can you be treating your girlfriend like this?”

Though she claims to have a video footage of the good old Captain naked in his ‘birthday suit’, which is circulating in the media, Sylvia is yet to report her ordeal to the police.

When DAILY GUIDE contacted him yesterday, Captain Nfojoh, who sounded remorseful, said he could not tell whether Sylvia has a hidden agenda against him, since according to him, he cannot fathom why she has not thought it wise to inform the police or her parents about the issue; but rather found solace in the media.

For that matter, he declined to make any further comments since according to him, he wants the issue to die.

He claims to have reported the lady’s conduct to her father.

But Sylvia, who seems troubled by the tortuous ordeal she allegedly suffered at the hands of the beleaguered MP, insists that he forced her to bed, raising issues of abuse of her fundamental human rights.

What seems to annoy her the most is the fact that the ‘honourable’ MP has not given her a single pesewa for the ‘forced sexual service’ and yet uses her as and when he wants.

She talked about how on two separate occasions, Captain Nfojoh held a pistol to her head in order to satisfy his fleeting sexual desire.

She narrated that Captain Nfojoh, who lives in the same neighbourhood with her in Tema, has made her his sex machine and occasionally sneaks into her rented apartment, under the cover of darkness, to satisfy his unquenchable sexual desire.

In all instances that the MP had an affair with her, Sylvia noted that he failed to use a condom and whenever she insisted, he declined after which he would give her prescription for a certain contraceptive without giving her a dime.

“Because I didn’t want him to harm me, I agreed and said ok protect yourself, he said ‘no, no’, he is not going to use any condom so he did it like that, raw”, she recounted in the first instance.

Interestingly, Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and human right institutions that have been making a lot of noise about women’s rights, as well as the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, have remained silent on the issue.