Confirmed! Konadu For NDP

Published in Daily Guide on September 27, 2012

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

 

IT’S FINAL! Mr and Mrs Rawlings

It is now confirmed that former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings is behind the formation of the National Democratic Party (NDP), a breakaway party from the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The core supporters of the NDP are disgruntled members of the NDC.
The NDP has also rubbished media reports that NDC founder, former President Jerry John Rawlings, would be campaigning for the ruling party, saying that he was in the boat of the breakaway party.
Even though Nana Konadu continues to remain tight-lipped over whether or not she was behind the new party, initial speculations had linked her as the brain behind the NDP without any concrete proof.
However, Mrs Rawlings has been captured on an audio recording conscientising NDP faithful, telling them why they needed to join the new party to chart a new course.
The former First Lady is believed to have made these and other comments during a meeting with NDP sympathisers at the SSNIT Hall in Kumasi when she visited the Ashanti Region somewhere last week.
The NDP presidential hopeful is expected to begin her Brong Ahafo regional tour soon as part of the party’s attempt at winning more souls.
Mrs. Rawlings, who spoke Twi, expressed disappointment in the current leadership of the NDC which she accused of destroying the party they all toiled so much to form.
“You all know that we used our strength and hard work to build the NDC but they have used their strength to collapse it; that is what hurts me sometimes,” she noted.
In that regard, she noted, “If we have come today; we want you to know that we are not following a negative course…that is why we have the dove as our symbol.”  She extolled the virtues of the bird—a sign of peace, unity, togetherness, honesty and closeness.
She asked supporters of the newly formed party to help wrest power from the NDC in the upcoming general elections.
Nana Konadu said, “They say they are a Congress and that everybody is welcome to join; so you can’t discriminate against any person and say that this woman can’t join…”
She therefore implored that “before you retire to bed everyday, I beg all of you to remember to go on your knees and pray for the NDP; so that we become victorious to enable us to come and change the country with good policies for things to be better for you, your children and grandchildren and every Ghanaian.”
She claimed a dove does not begin looking elsewhere upon the death of its male partner.
That, according to Mrs. Rawlings, “signifies something–that we are determined to be faithful to people and an aspect of faithfulness is the reason why I have brought my baby today”. She explained why the party came up with the red, green, white and black umbrella with the eagle on top as the symbol of the NDC, making nonsense the assertions of some individuals who claimed to have brought the idea.
The Rawlings Factor
Meanwhile, a statement issued by the Communications team of the NDP and jointly signed by Dr Hilarius Asiwome Abiwu, Dr David Sunu and Ursula Tagoe, has denied claims by leading members of the NDC that Mr Rawlings had endorsed President John Mahama and would therefore campaign for him in the upcoming elections.
“This is practically impossible, and is only a cheap propaganda by the ruling NDC to use the name of the founder whom they have literally ostracized from the party to energise their inactive campaign machinery,” the statement said.
They talked of loss of integrity and deep-seated corruption in the NDC, wondering whether those were the qualities the NDC wanted Mr Rawlings to be campaigning for.
“It is the candid view of the NDP that the question of which party former President Rawlings will campaign for in the December elections is a foregone conclusion as the core values of the NDP and those of President Rawlings are deeply interlinked,” the statement noted.
Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, deputy Minister of Local Government and Campaign Coordinator of John Mahama 2012, had told the media that Mr Rawlings would lead the NDC campaign, a move the NDP has described as a big joke.
The leadership of the NDP has entreated their numerous supporters and the Ghanaian public to ignore the propaganda schemes of the NDC and be rest assured that President Rawlings would campaign for the NDP for the December elections since “our formation is geared towards restoring those values he loved and remains steadfast to defend and protect”.

NPP Jabs Mahama Over Corruption

Published in Daily Guide on September 26, 2012

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

 

 

Jake Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) yesterday dissected President John Dramani Mahama, virtually declaring him unfit to hold the high office of president of the land.
The party mentioned a number of stinky deals it said President Mahama had superintended since 2009, saying he lacked the credibility to lead the country, and warning that “a vote for JDM is a vote for hopelessness for the youth and a vote for corruption.”
The brother of President Mahama was particularly singled out by the NPP who cited him in a transaction that smacked of fraud on the contributors of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) pension fund.
A company owned by Ibrahim Mahama, junior brother of the president, Engineers and Planners, was said to have virtually collapsed the Merchant Bank, owned by SSNIT contributors, through over exposure to non-secured loans.
At a press conference in Accra yesterday, Deputy Communications Director of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Yaw Buaben Asamoa raised issues about the circumstances under which Engineers and Planners Limited, owned by Ibrahim Mahama, benefitted from the sale of Merchant Bank Ghana (MBG), a company in which SSNIT contributors owned 98 percent stake, to a South African Bank, FirstRand.
Under the terms of the sale, the FirstRand was required to pay an amount of 746.2 million South African Rand, the equivalent of $91million for a 75 percent stake in Merchant Bank Ghana to expand its presence on the continent in a deal that was approved by the Government of Ghana (GoG).
At the time, Merchant Bank, which was one of the few remaining Ghanaian banks in the country, was said to be reeling under a heavy burden of a GH¢330million debt which was choking the bank to an eventual collapse.
Among the list of companies and individuals that were indebted to the bank was Ibrahim’s Engineers and Planners, owing not less than GH¢57.2m, representing 19.1% of the total debt owed the bank before it was sold out.
Interestingly, much of these loans had been turned into bad debts while the Managing Director of Merchant Bank, who signed off the loans and was sacked for error of judgment, was said to be in the office of President Mahama now as an Advisor, raising eyebrows.
What seemed to baffle the leadership of the NPP was the fact that the transaction excluded some of the loans on the Bank’s balance sheet.
The Issue
Meanwhile, existing shareholders are expected to continue to collect outstanding balances.
For the NPP, what this meant was that “suffering workers of Ghana have been forced to swallow the bad debts incurred by some business people so that those business people can go on enjoying their lives of luxury, including flying around in their private jets.”
This, according to Mr Buaben Asamoa, was because “the pension of Ghanaian workers have been sacrificed to pay off debts that they knew nothing of so that some few people could continue having access to their privileged lives of comfort and opulence.”
Nevertheless, the NPP said they did not wish Ibrahim, the President’s brother, who they described as “the young, very enterprising man” ill, adding, “In fact we celebrate success.”
“When your company falls into bad debt and cannot service its loans and the pension funds of the workers of Ghana are forced by the President, who happens to be your brother, for that pension fund to ring fence and take on your debt, then we have to ask some serious questions.”
In view of this and a host of crucial issues involving the President including his role in the infamous STX Korean housing deal, which ended in a fiasco among others, the NPP as a party believed that President Mahama lacked the integrity to lead the country.
They equally believed a vote for him would be a vote for the sellout of Ghana’s future since “he has nothing to offer to the youth”.

AFAG Calls Off Red Revo Demo

Published in Daily Guide on September 25, 2012

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

 

Henry Asante with Ohene Djan addressing the press conference yesterday

Government stands accused of influencing the police to frustrate the Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG) from carrying out an intended demonstration originally scheduled for today.
The pressure group indicated its readiness to hold a three-day protest march dubbed ‘Red Revolution,’ which was scheduled to start today, to back home their demands for the Electoral Commission (EC) to back down on its intention to create 45 new constituencies for the December 7 general elections.
They intended to demonstrate on some streets of Accra and later converge at the headquarters of the EC, located at Ridge, where they were scheduled to stay for the three-day period of the demonstration.
However, at a press conference in Accra yesterday, Deputy Chairman of AFAG Henry Asante expressed disappointment in the sudden decision of the police to call off the demonstration. He cited the inability of the police to provide adequate security for demonstrators, as one of the reasons given by the police regarding why the demonstration could not come off.
“The Police which had earlier agreed to and approved our routes invited the leadership of AFAG to a meeting only to renege the agreement reached earlier,” he noted with surprise.
Apart from that, he indicated that, “To demonstrate their seriousness and unpreparedness to guard and protect demonstrators, the police promised to secure an interim injunction to halt the demonstration if we insisted on using the same routes the police had approved only few days back.” This, he said was “indeed mind boggling.”
The pressure group have thus been compelled by circumstances to postpone the demonstration to a yet to be announced date, whilst still holding discussions with the police.
AFAG said, “We do not at this stage want to postulate that there are some orders from above dictating the turn of events as far as our demonstration is concerned.”
Though they believe the powers that be could have had their way today, Mr. Asante insisted that “someday, the majority of Ghanaians will also have their say.”
In view of the development, coupled with what leadership of AFAG claimed to be their commitment to the tenets of peaceful protests, deputy chairman of the group said, “AFAG, in the interest of public good, is forced to announce the postponement for the second time, an intended demonstration, due to orchestration by the powers that be and ably supported by institutions of state to make room for further engagements.”
He however assured Ghanaians that “AFAG is still resolute and would never be perturbed by the orchestrations, frustrations and threats of our detractors.”

Konadu Quits NDC?

Published in Daily Guide on September 25, 2012

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

 

Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings is expected to renounce her membership of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) any moment from today.
This would enable her to respond to calls for her to contest for the flagbearership position of the newly formed National Democratic Party (NDP), most of whose supporters are disgruntled members of the NDC.
Dr Nii Armah Josiah Aryeh, interim National Chairman of the NDP, dropped the hint when he announced the extension of the filing of nominations for the party’s presidential candidature.
Dr Aryeh told Joy FM yesterday that even though NDP members were calling on the former First Lady to contest for the party’s flagbearership, she could not do so because she was still a member of the NDC, expressing the hope that she might quit the ruling party by the close of the week.
Sources close to Mrs. Rawlings, whose husband, former President Jerry John Rawlings, is the founder of the ruling party, told DAILY GUIDE that the only thing left was for her was to communicate her decision to the leadership of the NDC.
That, according to sources, was part of reasons the interim national executive of the NDP had to postpone its congress and launch to enable Nana Konadu and other potential aspirants to file their nominations.
She is said to have already received the blessings of her husband who is equally not happy with developments in the party he founded and also fought tooth and nail to return it to power after eight years in opposition.
The Interim National Chairman of NDP, a former General Secretary of the ruling NDC, Dr. Aryeh, who spoke on the issue, said, “The former First Lady now remains a member of the NDC. She has not and I stand to be corrected; she has not publicly resigned her position but if she resigns, then of course like anybody else, she could join us.”
According to Dr Aryeh, who spoke on Accra-based Citi FM, the party initially planned to close nominations tomorrow and hold congress on Saturday, September 29.
“We have taken a second look and decided that congress should be on the 6th of October,” he stated, indicating that the rescheduling of the congress was due to the flagbearership contest.
For this reason, he said the closure of nominations had been extended.
$5m Handshake
Nana Konadu dismissed media reports claiming she had demanded $5million from the NDC to abandon plans to lead the NDP into the 2012 general elections.
Mrs Rawlings insisted she had not had any discussion with anybody from the NDC about rumours circulating that she was set to lead the NDP against the party her husband founded, let alone haggling over how much would be enough to change her mind.
The pro NDC Al-Hajj newspaper edited by Alhaji Bature Iddrisu reported last Thursday that the former First Lady had demanded $5million from the NDC if she was to be persuaded to step down as a possible flagbearer for the NDP.
The newspaper claimed Nana Konadu made those demands when mediators from the NDC impressed upon her to drop her ambition of contesting the crucial elections, a scenario which could split NDC votes.
Nana Konadu, who was the special guest of honour at the 6th anniversary celebration of the Women Encounter Fellowship International in Tema, said the speculations would not deter her from achieving the purpose for which God created her.
“Before coming here, I had to go and meet a certain gentleman who is writing some articles for me. And then he asked me ‘Oh, there’s this about you going to collect $5m so that you keep your mouth shut. I said what are you talking about? Then he said ‘let me get the paper from my car.’ He went and picked the paper from his car.
“It was sad for me. They write things that I do not even recognise myself in the papers.
Nobody has spoken to me about anything like that. I haven’t told anybody about anything like that. But the man (author of the story) was emphatic. He wants to destroy the purpose for which God has brought me onto this earth, and I will not agree to it,” she declared to a loud applause. Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on Nana Konadu to respond to the overtures of her Friends of Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings (FONKAR) and become the flag bearer of the NDP.
In an interview yesterday, FONKAR Operations Director Owusu Bempah was optimistic the lady would be so overwhelmed by both the internal and external overtures that she would have no option than to succumb to the popular wish of her admirers.
The silence of the former First Lady has been a source of concern to political pundits who are unable to decrypt the conundrum surrounding her future, a situation worsened by her husband’s presence at the NDC conference in Kumasi.
The NDC last week dared the former First Lady to declare her position without further ado, as to whether she was going to maintain her membership of the party or change her status and join the party she is rumoured as being behind.
Owusu Bempah told DAILY GUIDE, “We shall be there and the country, we are optimistic, would be treated to a major political development when the former First Lady would break ranks with the NDC and take up the leadership of the NDP. We are still entreating her to consider our demand.”
She has of late been active in Kumasi in what political observers think has to do with her political future and the country’s.

RAWLINGSES HIT ROAD By Charles Takyi-Boadu Posted in Daily Guide on Friday, September 21, 2012 Related Stories At the time leading members of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) were jubilating over a supposed endorsement of President John Mahama by former President Jerry John Rawlings, the wife of the NDC founder,... ...Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, was busy meeting members of the newly formed National Democratic Party (NDP) in Kumasi. Mrs. Rawlings arrived in the Ashanti regional capital on Sunday, hours after leaving the Legends and Legacy Ball held at the International Conference Centre on Saturday evening where she dropped hints of her intentions to run for the flagbearership position of the NDP. Her husband, reports said, was also on his way to the Ashanti Region to throw his weight behind his wife who has been tipped by the leadership of the new party to lead them for the December 2012 polls. Mr Rawlings is worried about the growing corruption in the ruling government. According to him, the practice was so deep that it had literally held the resources of the country to ransom by a handful of people while the majority of the people suffered. “The corruption that is going on is so deep. Some aspects of these corruptions are literally holding your national resources to ransom by just a handful of people. I’m not here to poison your minds at all,” he told Volta chiefs at a meeting in Ho on Wednesday. Information gathered by DAILY GUIDE and corroborated by the NDP youth leader in the Ashanti Region, Thomas Andy Owusu, indicated that upon arrival in Kumasi, Mrs. Rawlings first met interim executives of the NDP in the region at an undisclosed location. That, according to the source, was to enable her to know at firsthand the level of progress that had been made on the grounds and to strategise for the way forward. Among the several places she visited were Mampong, Ejisu Juaben, Effiduase and Kumawu where she met members of the party. The NDC breakaway party is said to have opened offices across the region considered the heartbeat of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP). Everywhere she went, she was said to have gone to greet the chiefs and people of the area and was given a rousing welcome. According to Andy Owusu, initial attempts to get the Prempeh Assembly Hall proved futile since they were frustrated by the authorities in charge. They were compelled by circumstance to rent the SSNIT Hall where Mrs. Rawlings addressed party faithful in the region. Owusu indicated that what was scheduled to be a meeting between Mrs. Rawlings, who is also the president of the 31st December Women’s Movement (DWM), and party executives virtually turned into a rally of a sort since supporters of the NDP besieged the SSNIT Hall where the event was taking place. The hall, which is estimated to have a seating capacity of about 300, was said to have been filled to capacity to the extent that Mrs. Rawlings had to struggle for passage to the rostrum in order to address the gathering. Coming Events Nana Konadu was said to have told the gathering that at the time she was talking, her husband, the founder of the ruling NDC, was also in the Volta Region organising people to join the NDP and that when she left Kumasi, Mr. Rawlings would also visit the region in the coming days to assess things for himself. An obviously elated Nana Konadu was said to have promised them that the NDP would be launched in Kumasi since she was stunned by the structures the party executives had put in place. Meanwhile, Operations Director of the Friends of Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings (FONKAR) Ernest Owusu Bempah has dismissed claims that Mr. Rawlings had endorsed President John Mahama. The loud-mouth FONKAR chief, who spoke to myjoyonline, said the ‘old man’ had not changed his perception about the ruling administration hence he could not have endorsed the NDC flagbearer. The spokesman for Mr Rawlings, Kofi Adams, who also spoke on the subject, indicated that though President Mahama had brought a new lease of life into the ruling NDC, Mr. Rawlings was yet to decide whether or not to join its campaign. Mr Adams told Joy FM that it was only the campaign team of the president that could persuade his boss to join the campaign trail.

NDC Blows $1m On Enemies

Published in Daily Guide on September 24, 2012

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

 

President John Mahama

The ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) appears to have spent over $1million of the taxpayers’ money on hounding political opponents.
The money included an amount of $686,000 given to a supposed ‘Professional Group’ aligned to the NDC, contracted by the Mills/Mahama administration, to hound perceived ‘enemies’ of the government for their roles in the Ghana@50 celebrations.
This was after a High Court discharged the two members of the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration, Kwadwo Okyere Mpiani and Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby, on charges of willfully causing financial loss to the state, an action brought against them by the state.
A letter from the desk of deputy Attorney General and Minister of Justice Ebo Barton-Odro to the Finance Ministry, is calling for the payment of the money to the shadowy NDC group.
Apart from the actual contract sum which was $70,000, the group was also paid a daily allowance of $2,000, bringing payment to $686,000.
The group’s membership is not known but it is believed to be made up of NDC members of which one was recently elected to stand as a parliamentary candidate for the ruling party in the Volta Region, after defeating a minister of state and incumbent MP.
Comprising NDC lawyers assembled by the Attorney General, they were paid the sum to enable them to look for enough grounds to specifically prosecute former Chief of Staff, Kwadwo Okyere Mpiani who was Chairman of the Ghana@50 celebrations and Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby, Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
A letter dated April 26, 2012 and authored by a Deputy Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Ebo Barton-Odro, who has been at the center of payments of a number of controversial judgment debts, is authorizing payment from the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning. The letter stated that the payment was in “respect to services rendered in the provision and procurement of Jubilee toilets and sampled souvenirs for the Ghana@50 celebrations.”
It is this same ‘Professional Group’ whose dealings with the state are shrouded in secrecy that was paid a whopping $300,000 for a similar investigation into the infamous Isofoton case which also ended up in a mirage. Its advice to the state on the matter was ignored and payments effected courtesy of Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a deputy Minister of Information, who lobbied for the Spanish company to get payments for alleged wrong abrogation of contracts.
Before they could even submit their final report on the Isofoton case, the office of the Attorney General had issued instructions for payments to be made to the company as judgment debt.
The contract agreement dated October 7, 2010 and entered between the state, represented by Barton-Odro, and one E. D. Manful, described as Managing Consultant, and witnessed by one Elikplim Agbemava, a lawyer at the Ministry of Justice and Mercy Akyeampon, a Secretary to the ‘Professional Group’, stated among others, things that  “the client (state) shall provide to the consultant (Profession Group) such as a list of cases to be periodically investigated by the consultant, with timelines for completion as agreed between both parties.”
Apart from that, the Professional Group was also required to provide the state all “reasonable support as may be deemed necessary for reasons of confidentiality, security, expeditious dispatch of assignments, legal requirement, and propriety.”
For the sake of secrecy, it was also required to, as it were, “handover to the client (state) all reports prepared in the course of each assignment and shall not keep any working papers and reports relating to the assignments on account of confidentiality and sensitivity but shall turn such materials over to the client.”

Come Out!

– NDC Dares Nana Konadu

Published in Daily Guide on September 19, 2012

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

 

Angry party members are spoiling for a fight with Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings

“We dare you!” The ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) appears to be telling former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings to declare her presidential ambition for the December 7 polls or hold her peace.
The NDC is asking Mrs Rawlings to come out and declare her stance boldly instead of hiding behind a group.
Speculations are rife that the former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, is running for the flagbearership position of the newly formed National Democratic Party (NDP).
The former First Family has not been able to talk to the issue apart from comments linking them to the new party by NDP leaders.
The former NDC vice chairperson was in the Ashanti Region over the weekend meeting NDP officials ahead of the formal launch of the new party by the close of the month.
The NDP has opened nominations for its presidential candidate position and Nana Konadu is expected to contest.
Mrs. Rawlings has been linked to the NDP and the party has flaunted her as likely to lead it to the upcoming elections slated for December 7.
She is said to be the main sponsor of the NDC breakaway party.
The closest Nana Konadu has come to be linked with the new party was her response to a question as to whether or not she would run for the position when she said it would happen.
This appears to have stirred up a hornet’s nest, with some leading members of the NDC daring her to brave the odds and declare her stance.
The Ashanti regional secretary of the ruling party, who has fallen out with the Rawlingses, Joseph Yammin, has been compelled to come out of his shell, insisting that “if Mrs. Rawlings is really as bold as we are made to believe, then I think that Mrs. Rawlings should own up and tell everybody that she is the founder of NDP rather than pretending certain people are pleading with her to lead that party.”
Though the national organiser of the NDC, Yaw Boateng Gyan, has personally expressed concern that leading members of the party have left to form the NDP, Yammin, who spoke on Accra-based Radio XYZ, said, “We are least bothered about the development, especially when we don’t know who Mrs. Rawlings and the executives are deceiving.”
At Saturday’s Legend and Legacy Ball that honoured highlife king Abrantie Amakye Dede, host of Peace FM’s ‘Kokrokoo’ morning show, Kwami Sefa  Kayi, who emceed the event, asked Mrs. Rawlings in Twi before a packed crowd “Ebeba so?” (whether she was prepared to accept the call from the NDP to become its flagbearer).
The former First Lady and president of the 31^st December Women’s Movement (DWM) responded in the affirmative that “Ebeba  so”, meaning “It will happen!”
There and then, the crowd went ecstatic with shouts of “yeah yeah”.
The entry of the NDP into the political fray has sent shivers down the spine of the leadership of the NDC as confirmed by Yaw Boateng Gyan, since it would scuttle the votes of the ruling party in the upcoming elections, especially at the grassroots where the Rawlingses enjoy a considerable support base.
The party received its final certificate from the Electoral Commission last Friday, enabling it to operate as a political party.
Former President Jerry John Rawlings and founder of the NDC and his wife are believed to be behind the formation of the NDP.

Gbevlo Exposed

Published in Daily Guide on September 19, 2012

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

 

Stephen Amoah (middle) flanked by Francis Assenso-Boakye (right) and Charles Owusu

A group of young Ghanaians who identify themselves as Concerned Citizens has called for the head of National Security Coordinator Lt Col. Larry Gbevlo Lartey (Rtd) for his complicity in the infamous ‘Yaw Boateng Gyan’ tape.
In the said conversation which is captured on tape, Yaw Boateng Gyan, national organiser of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), was heard hatching a dangerous plot for the impending elections with a group of party goons.
The plan included the issuance of National Security identification cards to a group of NDC youth to run riot on election day.
Leadership of the group had already lodged a formal complaint with the police, asking them to investigate the content of the tape which it believed was a recipe for disaster.
At a press conference in Accra yesterday, spokesman for the Concerned Citizens and leading member of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Stephen Amoah said he was not surprised about the outcome of the supposed investigations conducted into the saga by the National Security.
This, he said, was because the security outfit itself was neck-deep into the affair, hence could not have conducted any credible investigations into the affair, thereby citing the institution and its head for conflict of interest.
“We believe that the National Security and its Coordinator has no credibility because his outfit was cited in the tape,” he told DAILY GUIDE.
In the light of this, Amoah said, “I am of the view that even Gbevlo Lartey himself has to be invited to help the CID to investigate the case further; so how can he come out and say that the man is exonerated… there is nothing that borders on bla bla bla.”

Lt Col Larry Gbevlo-­Lartey

“I’m even shocked because he wants to tell me that the statement that Finance Minister, the Finance Director were all involved…giving monies all the time to other people by his request and not he requesting some for himself; all these issues according to the National Security Coordinator are not issues of concern or of importance to our socio-economic development,” he noted.
An obviously bemused Sticker, as Amoah is affectionately called, stated, “It is very serious”, insisting that “we need as a people to understand that the National Security Coordinator has to stay out of it”.
Leadership of the Concerned Citizens thus asked incumbent President John Dramani Mahama to walk the talk and use his authority to order “a proper and professional” investigation into the matter.
This, according to Mr. Amoah, was necessary “to calm nerves and ease tensions that have risen up in the country as a result of the shockingly dangerous revelations on the tape which threaten the peace and stability of this nation”, insisting that it was an affront to the country’s democracy.
“The President should not underestimate the grievousness of the decision by the National Security Coordinator that there is nothing to investigate from the tape despite the glaring evidence of a deliberate conspiracy on the part of the ruling party to steal money from state coffers, disrupt election, cause violence and threaten our peace stability,” he emphasized.
This, he said, was because the issue undermined the public confidence in the National Security Services.

AFAG On Red Revo

Published in Daily Guide on September 18, 2012

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

 

 

Bright Acheampong

The Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG) is set to stage a massive demonstration to drive home its demands for the Electoral Commission (EC) to back down on its intentions to create 45 new constituencies for the December 7 general elections.
The protest march, which is scheduled for Tuesday, September 25, 2012, according to spokesman for the group, Bright Acheampong, was intended “to restore trust, faith and the lost of public confidence in Ghana’s electoral system”.
It will begin at the Obra Spot and end at the premises of the Electoral Commission where the group intends to stay for three days- the period the demonstration would last.
At an earlier press conference on August 28, 2012, AFAG gave Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan a two-week ultimate to “unconditionally rescind his decision or honourably resign as Commissioner, if he could not stand up to the challenge”.
But their call seemed to have fallen on deaf ears.
Individuals and groups who would participate in the protest march are therefore expected to wear red attire to signify their seriousness.
According to Acheampong, this had become necessary because of the defiant position taken by Chairman of the Commission Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan.
Key and influential members of society including former President Kufour, Professor Kludze (former Supreme Court judge) and Nana Professor S.K.B Asante have all spoken against the EC’s intentions to go ahead with the creation of the constituencies for the purposes of the upcoming elections and beyond.
Groups like the Trade Union Congress of Ghana (TUC), the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG), the Northern Sector Action On Awareness Centre (NORSACC), the Centre for Democratic Governance (CDD), the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG), and majority of the major political parties in Ghana have all added their voice to the call.
Motive
At a press conference in Accra yesterday, Bright Acheampong indicated that “aside the fact that the Electoral Commission per its stance is acting in contravention to Article 55(5) of the Constitution of Ghana, which calls for parties to be democratic in their operations, common-sense should always prevail in the execution of a constitutional provision, particularly when there is a pending case at the High court in relation to its constitutional viability of the CI 78.”
This, he said, was because “it has become more than clear that the Electoral Commission is insistent on its perilous route in the organization of this year’s elections and that nothing can stop him except a ‘red revolution’”.
Among the host of reasons he cited for their decision to embark on the demonstration included pronouncements of Dr Afari-Gyan on the issue which had generated a heated debate among Ghanaians.
Speaking on a programme dubbed ‘Campaign Platform’ on national television GTV, the EC boss described those against the EC’s intention to create the 45 new constituencies as ‘rabble-rousers’.
He was resolute in his quest to go ahead with his intentions, regardless of the criticisms that might come his way, and would not be pressured into reneging on fulfilling his constitutional obligation.
But AFAG believed otherwise, since according to its spokesman “per international best practice and common sense, the creation of new constituencies in less than two months to the general elections is unthinkable”.
“If the committee’s report on the electoral dispute in Kenya and the civil unrest is something to learn from, then the carved path of the EC should not be entertained but condemned by all and sundry,” he emphasised.
This civil action is expected to attract 180,000 protestors to hit the streets of Accra.

Free SHS Now – Akufo-Addo

Published in Daily Guide on September 17, 2012

By Charles Takyi-Boadu 

HOW ARE YOU? The two leading contenders for the Presidency, President john Mahama and Nana Akufo-Addo at the Owdira festival last Friday at Akropong

Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has rubbished the argument being advanced by members of the National Democratic Congress that it will take the country another 20 years to be able to provide free secondary education.
Speaking at a well-attended rally at the Karikari Brobbey Park at Dansoman in the Ablekuma South constituency over the weekend, Nana Addo indicated that it was possible for Ghana to implement a free education policy now and for that matter, he would not join in the thinking of his detractors in the NDC who argue that it was a mission impossible.
The event was to round up his ‘Hope Restoration’ tour of the Greater Accra Region and to also launch the constituency’s campaign.
Places Nana Addo visited with the NPP parliamentary candidate, Ursula Owusu, included Mamprobi, Korle Bu, Chorkor, Agege and Dansoman before the rally started.
With the free education fire catching up with Ghanaians and admission by NDC operatives that it could derail the party’s chances of retaining power, the ruling party’s propagandists had launched vicious attacks on the NPP’s free SHS policy.
But Nana Akufo-Addo said the free SHS would be coming on live.
Nana Addo, who spoke extensively in the local Ga language often interlaced with Twi and English, wondered why members of the NDC government, especially President John Dramani Mahama and his Education Minister Lee Ocran, were claiming that it was not achievable, stressing that had it not been for a free education policy, President Mahama would not have risen to his current position.
Lee Ocran particularly said because Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah could not do it, nobody could.
Nana Addo wondered: “Why would he now turn around and say it is not possible when it got to the turn of others?”
However, the NPP flagbearer said, “I am not the least surprised because they are blowing huge sums of the taxpayers’ monies and doling out some of those monies to people, for virtually no work done, yet when we need money for an important programme such as the free SHS they say there is no money, but they are giving freebies to their cronies.”
According to him, the NPP had taken time to do extensive consultations and calculations and come to the conclusion that “we can do it”.
“There is money for us to do it and we will do it too”, he said, to a spontaneous applause from the crowd.
Promises
“As I have said time and again, when you vote for me to become President I will deliver the promise of free secondary education,” he noted, insisting that “the days when education was the preserve of those who could afford it, should be made a thing of the past, for every Ghanaian child to be able to go to school”.
He decried the poor conditions in which Ghanaians were living, indicating that “things have become very tough. There is no money, there are no jobs, industries are collapsing; it is because of these things that I have come to help change this government and replace it with one that can do the work.”
The NPP flagbearer asked Ghanaians to bank their hopes on him to put the economy back on a sound footing with a promise to re-introduce the Fisheries Ministry when given the mandate.
Everywhere he went in the constituency, a minute’s silence was observed in memory of the late Ben Brown, an NPP stalwart in the constituency who recently passed away.
Present were party bigwigs including former Mayor of Accra Stanley Nii Adjiri Blankson who is neck-deep in the campaign to unseat Information Minister Fritz Baffour as MP for the area and others including former Finance Minister Yaw Osafo Maafo and Dr Nyaho Nyaho Tamakloe, former Ambassador to Serbia.
The rest were Sheik Ibrahim Cudjoe Quaye, the ‘Agbenaa’ man who stormed the platform with a bell in hand, and claimed he was tolling the bell to usher the NDC into opposition.
This time around, he had a new slogan- ‘Lootu Lootu’, taunting the NDC as a bunch of looters of state coffers.
NPP Parliamentary Candidate for Ablekuma South, Ursula Owusu, among others, promised to help provide access to quality education by lobbying for the improvement in educational infrastructure in the constituency when voted into power.

Konadu For President: JJ Joins NDP

Published in Daily Guide on September 13, 2012
 By Charles Takyi-Boadu & Fred Tettey Alarti-Amoako

THE DIE IS CAST! Rawlings joins forces as NDP building is outdoored at Kokomlemle, in Accra.

It is now confirmed that former President Jerry John Rawlings, founder of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), has deserted his party to join forces with the newly formed National Democratic Party (NDP).
Interim General Secretary of the NDP, Dr Joseph Mamboa-Rockson, dropped the hint during an encounter with journalists in Sunyani that Mrs. Rawlings was gearing up to contest the flagbearership position of the party for the December elections.
Credible sources have told DAILY GUIDE that former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo was flown into the country on Tuesday night in the private jet of Ibrahim Mahama, the younger brother of President John Dramani Mahama, to plead with Mr. Rawlings to campaign for the NDC.
But Mr. Rawlings was said to have maintained his position not to campaign for his once-cherished NDC, leaving General Obasanjo and his sponsors in a state of disappointment.
According to sources, President Mahama had pleaded with former President Obasanjo, former President John Kufuor’s good friend, to broker peace for Rawlings to join the NDC campaign.
On arrival in Accra on Monday, DAILY GUIDE learnt that President Obasanjo requested to hold a meeting with President Kufuor before meeting President Mahama and later President Rawlings, after which the Nigerian strongman was driven to Ada for another round of meeting.
According to sources, Mr Rawlings was to embark on a nationwide tour to explain to opinion leaders why he could not be part of the NDC campaign.
He started off with a meeting with the Awomefia of Anlo, Togbui Sri III, on Tuesday.
According to Dr Mamboa-Rockson, the NDC founder’s decision to attend the recent special national delegates’ congress of the NDC with some NDP chieftains was because “we were there for him to show them that these are my other children apart from the NDC”.

Joseph Bediako

The NDP chief scribe stated that Mr. Rawlings’ presence at the congress was not to show support for the NDC, insisting that the issue of whether or not the former President would campaign for the NDP or the NDC would be clearer when the NDP was officially launched.
Konadu’s Decision
Mrs. Rawlings, who is also the President of the 31^st December Women’s Movement (DWM), is among three persons who have expressed interest in contesting the flagbearership race of the NDP.
Dr Mamboa-Rockson’s visit to the Brong Ahafo Region was to commiserate with the Interim Regional Chairman of the NDP, Kofi Vinyo, who was recently attacked by some persons suspected to be members of the NDC.
Out of the three persons who have expressed interest in the position, Dr Mamboa-Rockson said, two, including Nana Konadu, were women. He claimed that the former First Lady stood tall among the presidential candidates presented by the various political parties.
Apart from that, he said “she is the most celebrated politician in Ghana today”, insisting Nana Konadu had done a lot in terms of organising, sensitising and giving women the mouthpiece socially, politically and economically.
He was of the belief that having her on the party’s ticket would boost its chances of winning the elections with about 85% margin.
Yesterday, workers were seen busily putting finishing touches to a newly acquired headquarters of NDP at Kokomlemle in Accra.
The one-storey office facility, which is located on the Faanofa Street, close to the traffic intersection near Joy FM, was being painted in NDP colours.
The NDP is expected to go to congress at the end of this month to elect a presidential candidate for the upcoming elections slated for December 7, 2012.
But General-Secretary of the party said grassroots supporters of the NDP were calling for Nana Konadu to join the race and therefore, he said, the party would be honoured to have her as their presidential candidate.
NDP Final Certificate
Barring any last minute hitches, the Electoral Commission (EC) is set to issue a final certificate to the NDP tomorrow, Friday.
Dr Mamboa-Rockson said officials of the Commission called its (NDP) offices to inform them they were satisfied with the documents and information provided so far.
The party was said to have dispatched seven groups going round the country to mobilise its supporters for what promises to be a vigorous campaign ahead of the upcoming elections.
He has since confirmed the involvement of the Rawlingses (Mr and Mrs Rawlings) in the party, saying, “We have the support of both Rawlingses.”
A leading member of NDP, Joseph Bediako, insisted Mr. Rawlings would not campaign for the NDC and that the NDC should stop tickling itself.
“I can say it on authority from my sources within that he is not going to campaign for them,” he said, adding that “anybody who tells you we are going back to join the NDC is a liar.”
He swore heaven and earth to quit politics should the NDP go into any alliance with the ruling NDC before or after the elections.
That was because “NDC as a party stinks, nobody will buy it if you put it up for sale and you will be embarrassed if you attempt to market it.”
For him, what they were only waiting for was for the EC to supervise the process to elect substantive national, regional and constituency executives.
“We have put all structures in place for a smooth take off,” he stated.

It’s My Voice

: NDC Guru Admits Dirty Plot

Published in Daily Guide on September 6, 2012

By Charles Takyi-Boadu 

Yaw Boateng Gyan

National Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Yaw Boateng Gyan had one hell of a time yesterday in his attempt to defend an audio recording in which he was heard hatching a diabolical plan with some party faithful to fix the election for the NDC, come December 7, 2012 when Ghanaians head to the polls.
He admitted being the one whose voice was captured on the secret tape but tried to justify the vicious scheme, which could plunge the country into chaos, exposing the NDC agenda of visiting mayhem on Ghanaians during the election.
With the revelation of the ruling party’s dirty plot, the late President John Atta Mills and lately his successor, President John Mahama’s call for peaceful polls could not be anything but a mockery.
An obviously distraught Yaw Boateng Gyan who could not bear the heat of the criticism that followed the revelation of the dangerous plot in the wake of the release of the tape, hopped from one radio station to the other trying strenuously without success to justify his outrageous intentions.
“Well, I am not like some other people, I will just say that yes, that is my voice but mind you, it wasn’t for any bad intentions,” he said.
On the said tape recording which is currently being circulated in sections of the media, Mr. Boateng Gyan, who had often exhibited a holier-than-thou attitude, was among others heard planning a dangerous scheme with some members of the NDC on how to get them enlisted into the supposed ‘Special Forces’ to intimidate and cow their political opponents into fear during the elections, including stealing of ballot boxes on election day.
He spoke of a plan to get these NDC footsoldiers identification cards that would make them look like operatives of the National Security to enable them to move freely to carry out their obviously vicious intentions during the election period.
He said if the plot backfires on Election Day, the ruling party will blame the violence on the opposition NPP, particularly its presidential candidate Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, citing his ‘all-die-be-die’ mantra.
Speaking on Adom FM’s ‘Adwaso Nsem’ morning show, Mr. Boateng Gyan, who is now battling to salvage his dented reputation said, “This was a conversation with such persons to find out those behind the formation of NDP and NDC persons who want to leave to the new party so we can approach them and talk to them to rescind their decisions.
Everybody knows the people who make up the NDP are all members of the NDC, and as a party we have to be concerned about people leaving our party” whilst insisting that “the conversation was about NDP, which had just received provisional certificate, not NPP at all.”
“I am the National Organiser of a national party with two deputies, and we cannot be everywhere, so it is only natural that we have people who go out to gather information for us. Any party that does not have such a mechanism is not serious.”

Vicious Plot
In the said conversation, the NDC National Organiser is heard speaking in Twi language, saying, “The other time we were talking about this Special Forces, we haven’t abandoned it. If you are there it does not mean you cannot still work for us.
We will send you there, you will be trained and come back and will be working.
When the need arises, we will call you, whatever duties will be assigned you then you’d come back and be working for the party.”
He went on to state that “during the time that we were in power, those who are following the President now, they were at the party headquarters, they were soldiers but they were at the party headquarters.
You ask Kofi Yeboah, he was serving as a guard at the party headquarters so you could be there and later come and serve.”
In that regard, Mr Boateng Gyan told the young men, “Those of you who don’t have the strength to serve in that capacity, you should make up your mind. But this is the immediate thing that we want you to follow.”
He mentioned the name of Finance and Economic Planning Minister, Dr Kwabena Duffuor as the one to provide funding, obviously from the national kitty, for the execution of the project.
“When they gave me the money and I was leaving, it was the Finance Minister himself who called me and called the Finance Director, and told him that as for you, you always come here talking about somebody, you have never spoken about yourself.
So I said I have some boys I am working with but now it is hard getting them planted.
So he said okay, bring this, bring that and let me get some money for you so that you can give it to them,” he stated.
He said, “As and when we pay and everybody knows that these people have been paid, I am sure they will increase it.
So for all you know, in about two, three or four months, God willing if we win these elections and I know we will win, you will see that all of you will be married or something then you will see what jobs will be assigned you.”
He explained that his job as National Organizer of the ruling party was to ensure that the NDC wins the elections “and some grassroots members have expressed interest to get themselves employed in some of these government institutions and by way of motivation assuring them that we will work it out on merit for those who will be enlisted.”
Justification 
“I don’t think it is anything out of the role of somebody like me to assure people because we are in this country and when Asamoah Boateng declared that he alone initiated the enlistment of about 300 people for his constituency and that is not a crime to me,” said Mr. Boateng Gyan.
But Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin North, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, who is leading the crusade to expose the diabolical plan, insisted Yaw Boateng Gyan and the NDC have a dangerous plan and stressed the need for all well-meaning Ghanaians to be vigilant during the election since they intend to rig.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu