NPP JOINS EC FORUM ON REGISTER

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Thursday, 29 October 2015

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has reportedly resolved to attend the public hearing that is going to be organized by the Electoral Commission (EC) on whether or not there should be a new biometric voter register before the 2016 general elections.

The opposition party beat the retreat yesterday when its Director of Elections, Martin Adjei Mensah Korsah, confirmed the party’s participation in the forum slated for today.

This follows a crunch Steering Committee meeting held at the party’s headquarters at Asylum Down, Accra, on Tuesday. The party’s team will be led by Peter Mac Manu, former National Chairman; and about 15 political parties are taking part as well as a number of civil society groups.

The NPP had raised ‘serious’ concerns about the refusal of the EC to answer allegations of flaws in the register that the party raised and had insisted that it needed clarification before it could further participate in the forum under the aegis of the Commission.

There were also issues raised unofficially by the party over the composition of the five-member panel that is going to preside over the forum, but no party official has said the NPP would boycott the discussion.

The NPP’s Director of Elections said, “What we did was to raise concerns that we had about the composition of the panel and at no point in time did the NPP say we won’t attend the forum.”

He said although “the Commission has officially been notified, we have not received any response from them. Whether the response comes before or not, we will go. And I think nothing stops us from registering concerns that we have at the forum. But the case that we’ve put forward still stands.”

EC Denial

Director of Public Affairs at the EC, Christian Owusu-Parry, told Citi FM yesterday that the Commission had not received any official complaint about the hearing or the panel, and therefore expected all parties to participate.

“So far we don’t have any indication that any party is withdrawing from the forum. As we speak now, I am unaware of any official petition against any member of the panel. It hasn’t come to us officially.

Clarion Call

Apart from the NPP and its ally Let My Vote Count Alliance (LMVCA) and other pressure groups, there is a league of pastors, including Catholic Bishops, Christian Council, statesmen and opinion leaders such as former Presidents JJ Rawlings, JA Kufuor, Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Dr Joyce Aryee, chairman of the Christ Apostolic Church International, Apostle Dr. Stephen Ntow Amoani, Imans, former first lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, among others, who are in favour of a new register, if allegations of a bloated electoral roll are found to be true.

EC’s Justification

However, the EC in a statement signed by the Public Affairs Director, justified the composition of the panel to collate concerns of the public and said it was meant to broaden the process so that nobody or group will be shortchanged.

The statement said, “The findings and recommendations of the panel will be presented to the EC for final decision and communication to the public.”

Eyebrows

The composition of the panel raised eyebrows particularly among the NPP fraternity, on the neutrality of some of the members.

For instance, eminent jurist Justice V.C.R.A.C. Crabbe, co-Chair of the Coalition for Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) and former EC Chairman, is on record to be in favour of cleaning the register rather than compiling a new one altogether.

In an interview with Citi FM on August 21, the eminent jurist disagreed with the NPP on its call for a new register and rather asked it to take advantage of the EC’s voter register exhibition to help clean it, rather than calling for a new one.

“When you register the people you have what we call the provisional register; that’s where the work should be done; that’s where you exhibit the register because the Electoral Commission does not know everything, and it says ‘I have registered people come and tell me who should be or not be on the register,’” he said.

Another member of the panel, Prof Nii Narku Quaynor, a distinguished scientist reportedly supervised the training of NDC bigwigs, including then vice chairman and now chairman Kofi Portuphy, on the biometric registration when it was being introduced for the first time.

The said training programme, held at the Shai Hills sometime in early 2012, was also attended by Amadu Sulley, a deputy chairman at the EC, and it raised heated argument on why the EC should train ruling NDC officials at the expense of other parties.

Bizarre Claim

After the NPP’s concern, the ruling NDC is also making bizarre claim that Dr. Grace Bediako, a former Government Statistician and former member of the National Development Planning Commission who is another panel member, is related to NPP flagbearer Nana Akufo-Addo.

Other members on the panel include Most Reverend Professor Emmanuel Asante, immediate-past Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Ghana and Chairman of the National Peace Council and Maulvi Bin Salih, Ameer of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission of Ghana.

KASOA ASSEMBLYMEN AT WAR WITH MCE

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Thursday, 29 October 2015

Some members of the Awutu Senya East Municipal Assembly (ASEMA) have vowed to resist what they claimed to be an attempt by the MCE to force them to approve the assembly’s budget.

According to the members, Nuhu Adams, who is the MCE, is employing every available tactics to get the assembly to approve the budget in spite of the alleged flagrant disregard for due process.

“In the first place, we require at least 14 days’ notice for a meeting to introduce the budget to the house to be arranged. But we only received the letter yesterday requesting us to meet on the budget tomorrow,” one of the aggrieved members told DAILY GUIDE.

He said the letter was deliberately backdated to reflect the assembly’s commitment to the standing orders, adding, “they want us to approve a budget that we may not have any knowledge about.”

The assemblyman also said that the assembly was yet to elect a Presiding Member after failing to elect one recently, adding that the alacrity with which the MCE wanted the budget approved was alarming.

“These are issues going on nationwide. The government is bent on getting all the assemblies to approve their budgets and would not consider how they are passed. They will eventually be used by the NDC for their 2016 campaign,” he disclosed.

The assemblyman further alleged that Nuhu Adams was staying in office illegally since he was never approved by the assembly after the president’s nomination.

“For four clear years, he has been in office illegally. He was first appointed by President Mills and after the president’s unfortunate passing, he was asked to act by President Mahama,” he claimed, adding, “all that we know is that he has never been confirmed by the assembly as required by law.”

AFOKO TREATED US LIKE PRISONERS - CK TEDAM

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Wendesday, October 28, 2015

Chairman of Council of Elders of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), C.K. Tedam, says the suspended National Chairman, Paul A. Afoko, treated executive members of the party like prisoners.

The 90-year-old NPP stalwart, who was throwing more light on the reason behind the suspension of the beleaguered NPP national chairman, said on Monday that “every time he (Paul Afoko) called a meeting, he called it at hotels and he chose the hotel and he would bring all sorts of people, some semi-military to surround the place.”

 He averred, “We didn’t feel we were a party. We were like prisoners being escorted together to be talked to by the chairman. So we all said no, we will not want it that way.”

He said that at one point, “we called a meeting of national executives and regional chairmen at the party headquarters and he told us we should rather come to his private office at Osu and all the members refused.”

The NPP last Friday announced that the National Executive Committee (NEC) had suspended Mr Paul Afoko indefinitely.

Negative Posture

C.K. Tedam said that Mr. Afoko’s posture clearly showed that he was never prepared to reason with the elders of the party.

“He could send a lawyer to say he was sick and could not attend our meeting, yet when I closed and went to another of the party’s meeting, he was right there chairing it,” he lamented.

“Sometimes with Nana (Akufo-Addo) sitting there and myself as an elder sitting there, if he didn’t like anything that we are saying, he will get up and take the gavel and bang it. Finished! No meeting again, and then meeting closes,” he added.

The veteran politician said that there was nothing that could be done to convince Mr Afoko to resume talks with the party, adding, “Once he won’t come, he won’t come. The party was simply in his pocket. So anything he wanted done will be done.

“Paul Afoko was not coming to meetings and he was not calling meetings. We did everything possible to get him in but he would not come to reason with us. Our idea of calling him was to address him as a son so that the party would move together. And unity would be for all of us.”

Working Against NPP

He said Mr. Afoko was working against the interest of the party saying, “Clearly he is not supporting Nana’s move and we felt that is not going to help us.

“We now know very well that with Paul Afoko being there we cannot win the election. We heard the rumours about Afoko being a mole in the party but we didn’t take that into consideration. The way he was running the party was our concern. We felt that even though he relates to some of us, the party’s larger interest was paramount as well as the larger interest of the nation.

“We (Council of Elders) sent Afoko’s issue to the right place which is the Disciplinary Committee, and they in turn submitted their views. They invited Paul Afoko, just as we (Council of Elders) invited him first but he refused. I went to talk to him myself, he refused to listen.

“Our idea was to bring peace and harmony as fathers and mothers of the party. It was not our intention to impeach him. We simply asked him to explain his actions and he didn’t corporate. Since he took over he has not been going to the party office. He says he is afraid of his own shadow. We have done everything possible to speak to him but he does not give us the opportunity.”

Petitioner’s Concern

One of the NPP elders whose petition led to the suspension of Mr. Afoko, said on Joy FM on Monday that every effort to get the beleaguered chairman to listen to ‘wise counsel’ failed.

 Alhaji Sulemana Yirimea, a co-petitioner, said a delegation of NPP Council Members tried to prevail on Paul Afoko at the residence of another Council Elder, Madam Ama Busia, but nothing came out of it.

“They met 18 times, 18 times to try to bring sanity into the thinking of Afoko but to no avail,” he revealed.

Gun Threat

NPP National Nasara Coordinator, Kamal-deen Abdulai, revealed his frosty relationship with Mr. Afoko when he granted interview to Peace FM yesterday.

"Ever since the Tamale Congress, I have not known good peace under the leadership of Paul Afoko," he said whilst endorsing the party’s decision to suspend him (chairman).

He said the relationship between them deteriorated to the extent that Mr. Afoko once brandished a gun in his presence.

“I say hello. I go to him. But when it comes to our party, if I'm asked (Chairman General – referring to Kwame Sefa Kayi, host of the radio programme) generally speaking; is the party going on well? I will say no...Truly speaking, there was an occasion when a gun was brandished but not pointed at me…Showing me a gun does not mean that he pointed it at me. Truth is that, there is a lot happening in this party,” he added.

Afoko At Post

In the ensuing confusion, Mr. Afoko insists that he is still the chairman and that the action of the NEC was unconstitutional.

A lawyer who represents the suspended NPP chairman told Joy FM on Monday, “I have 100 Supreme Court decisions to nullify Paul Afoko’s suspension,” since he said the process was flawed.

Martin Kpebu argued it was a fundamental rule that the one who alleges wrongdoing cannot be a judge in the matter and maintained that it was not right for the National Council to move to suspend Mr. Afoko and also have two of its members on the party’s Disciplinary Committee to hear the case against him.

Awuni Goes Berserk

Some staunch supporters of Mr. Afoko have been tearing apart people they suspect were behind the removal of the chairman.

One of such persons is Andrew Awuni, a former spokesperson for President Kufuor, who called 90-year-old C.K. Tedam a liar on Viasat 1 TV.

“I feel sorry for him [Tedam],” Awuni stressed. “He is lying. I’m not sure C.K Tedam knows Afoko’s house. Let the old men stop lying.

“The Disciplinary Committee should have referred their decision to the National Council [and not the National Executive Committee]… the party has been hijacked,” Mr. Awuni said.

RESPECT PARTY DECISION – NANA

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Tuesday, 27 October 2015

New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has asked party members to respect the decision of the party’s leaders in the wake of the suspension of its National Chairman, Paul Afoko.

Two NPP chieftains from the northern part of Ghana and the Council of Elders petitioned the Disciplinary Committee to investigate and sanction Mr. Afoko, who they accused of working against the party’s interest as chairman.

The Committee therefore made its findings available to the National Executive Committee (NEC) and in the process, suspended Mr. Afoko indefinitely on stated grounds, including misconduct, last Friday.

Nana Akufo-Addo said in a statement he personally signed from the United States where he is visiting, “I profoundly regret that matters have come to this.

“Last Friday in Accra, the National Executive Committee of the New Patriotic Party unanimously adopted the recommendation of the National Disciplinary Committee for the indefinite suspension of the National Chairman of the Party. According to a release by the Party, by the decision of the NEC, Mr. Paul Afoko is suspended indefinitely from the position of National Chairman of the NPP.”

Nana Akufo-Addo noted,“Such a development has been rather rare in the history of our party.  I had hoped that internal discussions and a spirit of cooperation would have enabled the party to avoid such an eventuality.”

He added, “However, the appropriate organs of the party have acted. I am therefore, calling on all loyal members of the party to respect the decision of NEC and the Constitution of the party, which provides channels for redressing grievances.

“We need to conduct ourselves in a disciplined manner that will protect and promote the integrity and unity of the party.”

According to Nana Akufo-Addo,“The NPP requires a united and committed front for the task ahead. We need to stay focused and organise ourselves to prosecute a successful campaign in 2016 to relieve the Ghanaian people from their sufferings and hardships. Ghanaians are looking up to us.”

NPP WAS IN AFOKO’S POCKET

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Tuesday, 27 October 2015

Chairman of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP’s) Council of Elders, C.K. Tedam, has broken his silence on the decision to suspend the party’s National Chairman, Paul A. Afoko.

He said the National Executive Committee (NEC) decided to ask Mr Afoko to step aside because he (Afoko) was acting against the interests of the party and running the party unilaterally.

 Mr Tedam said the embattled NPP chairman on several occasions showed gross disrespect to leaders in the party, walking out of meetings in most instances.

“Sometimes with Nana sitting there and myself as an elder sitting there…if he didn’t like anything that we were saying, he will get up and take the gavel and bang it. Finished! No meeting again, and then meeting closed,” Elder C.K. Tedam told journalists in his Mamprobi, Accra, home.

Mr Tedam said nothing could be done to convince Mr Afoko to resume talks with the party, adding, “Once he won’t come, he won’t come. The party was simply in his pocket. So anything he wanted done will be done.”

The NPP last Friday announced that it had suspended the party’s national chairman indefinitely.

Mr C.K. Tedam, the veteran politician, told journalists that “having observed the way things were going, we were going into disaster so we petitioned the Disciplinary Committee.”

He insisted that Mr Afoko showed ‘arrogance’ and failed to honour several invitations to resolve issues amicably when things were getting out of hand.

He also accused the suspended chairman of failing on a couple of occasions to call for National Executive Committee (NEC) meetings among others, and pointed out that it made his continuous stay in office untenable.

 “We’ve been asking him [Paul Afoko] to be in his own judgment. Because of that we sent it to the right place—the Disciplinary Committee. They invited Paul Afoko just like the Council of Elders invited him; and he refused. I went to talk to him myself; he refused to come. We wrote to him officially so that he will reply officially because our idea is to bring peace and harmony to the party.

 “As fathers and mothers of the party, it was not our intention to impeach him because we thought that will take time and it will disorganise the party a little so we asked him to come and explain why he is not cooperating,” Mr Tedam explained.

He added that since Paul Afoko “took power, he’s not been going to the party office. He said he’s afraid of his own shadow. We  have done everything possible and the Disciplinary Committee also did all that they could with our support to bring him for discussions and he himself did not cooperate at all.”

He said he again organised some influential personalities in the northern part of the country in an attempt to proffer advice to him, but Mr Afoko did not listen to them.

“And we believe that the only way we can handle this matter is to let the Disciplinary Committee take it upon itself because he can’t be judged in his own case and we only asked that he should be disciplined and should be asked to wait until things are put in shape. We planned to bring peace, but Chairman Afoko would not just cooperate,” he bemoaned.

Background

The decision to suspend Mr Afoko indefinitely on stated grounds including misconduct was taken at an emergency meeting of the NEC at the party’s national headquarters at Asylum Down, Accra.

A statement issued by the party and signed by its Communications Director, Nana Akomea, said that “At its meeting today, Friday, 23rd October, 2015, the National Executive Committee unanimously endorsed the recommendation of the National Disciplinary Committee.”

The decision followed a petition by the Council of Elders of the NPP to the Committee amidst allegations of misconduct and other charges including breaches of the party’s constitution.

Mr Afoko was also accused of trading internal party affairs in the media as alleged by the Council of Elders, contrary to laid down procedures of the NPP.

Afoko Hits Back

But Afoko insists that he is still the chairman and that the action of the NEC was unconstitutional.

A lawyer who purportedly represents the suspended NPP chairman told Joy FM yesterday that “I have 100 Supreme Court decisions to nullify Paul Afoko’s suspension,” since he said the process was flawed.

Martin Kpebu argued it was a fundamental rule that the one who alleges wrongdoing cannot be a judge in the matter and maintained that it was not right for the National Council to move to suspend Mr Afoko and also have two of its members on the party’s Disciplinary Committee to hear the case against him.

“The decision doesn’t come into effect unless he fails to appeal. We must wait for the 21 days,” the lawyer underscored.

NPP TO BOYCOTT EC FORUM

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Monday, October 26, 2015

Reports reaching DAILY GUIDE indicate that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) might boycott the public hearing that is going to be organized by the Electoral Commission (EC) on whether there should be a new biometric voter register (BVR) before the 2016 general elections.

The party is reportedly demanding answers from the EC on the allegation of flaws in the register that it raised before it can further engage the Commission on the topic; and may issue a statement stating its position before Thursday.

NPP Statement

On October 18, the NPP issued a statement signed by its Communications Director, Nana Akomea, asking the EC to “investigate evidence of the register’s flaws.”

The party asked the EC “to conduct a thorough, open and transparent investigation into the specific evidence of flaws in the voters' register as contained in the party's petition to the EC dated 18 August, 2015 and 22 September, 2015.”

It pointed out, “The evidence presented to the EC include multiple registrations, massive cross-border registrations, presence of scanned photographs in the register, unexplained bloating and discrepancies in the EC's own numbers on the ‘presidential’ register, and the unusual, curious,  strange and improbable increases in constituency  numbers between electoral cycles.

“The NPP believes such an investigation will throw independent light on the veracity of the evidence detailed in the party's petition. The findings of this investigation, placed before stakeholders, will serve as basis of fruitful discussion on the urgency for a new voters' register.

“The NPP further urges the EC to act with utmost dispatch in this urgent national matter.” 

EC Panel

That notwithstanding, the EC has set up a five-member panel to hold two-day public hearings on the register, even though it has already received proposals from the political parties on the topic.

The NPP claims it still has not heard from the EC on the petition it sent to the commission, asking for explanation on why the register is bloated.

Furthermore, the timetable released by the EC recently detailing its programme of activities leading to the 2016 general election does not appear to make room for the compilation of a new register.

Clarion Call

Apart from the NPP and its ally Let My Vote Count Alliance (LMVCA), there is a league of pastors, including Catholic Bishops, Christian Council, statesmen and women as well as opinion leaders like former Presidents JJ Rawlings, JA Kufuor, Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Dr Joyce Aryee, chairman of the Christ Apostolic Church International, Apostle Dr. Stephen Ntow Amoani, Imams, among others, who are in favour of a new register, if that would ensure peace after next year’s election.

They have asked the EC not to hesitate to prepare a new register before the 2016 election, if the allegations are correct.

EC Justification

However, the EC in a statement signed by its Ag. Director, Public Affairs, Christian Owusu-Parry, has justified the composition of the panel to collate concerns of the public and said it was meant to broaden the process so that nobody or group would be shortchanged.

 “The panel of five will conduct the hearings in a free, transparent, fair and objective manner. The hearings will also be broadcast live on radio, television and on the internet for the benefit of Ghanaians who cannot attend but wish to follow the proceedings,” the statement posited.

It said, “The findings and recommendations of the panel will be presented to the EC for final decision and communication to the public.”

The statement said the hearings would take place on Thursday and Friday, 29 and 30 October, 2015 at Alisa Hotel, North Ridge, Accra, from 10:00hrs to 13:00hrs and 14:00hrs to 17:00hrs daily.

Eyebrows

Some observers are already raising eyebrows on the neutrality of some of the members of the panel composed by the EC for the public hearing.

For instance, eminent jurist Justice V.C.R.A.C. Crabbe, co-Chair of the Coalition for Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) and former EC Chairman who is expected to chair the panel, is on record to be in favour of cleaning the register rather than compiling a new one altogether.

In an interview with Citi FM on August 21, the eminent jurist disagreed with the NPP on its call for a new register and rather asked the party’s leadership to take advantage of the EC’s voter register exhibition to help clean it, rather than call for a new one.

“When you register the people you have what we call the provisional register, that’s where the work should be done, that’s where you exhibit the register because the Electoral Commission does not know everything, and it says I have registered people come and tell me who should be or not be on the register,” he said.

He also said “Is it possible for somebody to be in Ivory Coast and also a citizen of Ghana? The answer is yes. Then there is a possibility that his name will be in the register in Ivory Coast and the register in Ghana.”

Another member of the panel, Prof Nii Narku Quaynor, a distinguished scientist, reportedly supervised the training of National Democratic Congress (NDC) bigwigs, including then vice chairman and now chairman, Kofi Portuphy, on the biometric registration when it was being introduced for the first time.

The said training programme, held at Shai Hills in early 2012, was also attended by Amadu Sulley, a deputy chairman at the EC, and it raised heated argument on why the EC should train ruling NDC officials at the expense of other parties.

Other members on the panel include Most Reverend Professor Emmanuel Asante, immediate-past Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Ghana and Chairman of the National Peace Council; Dr. Grace Bediako, a former Government Statistician and former member of the National Development Planning Commission and Maulvi Bin Salih, Ameer of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission of Ghana.

PRESIDENTIAL DIARIES NAKED ROBBERY – BAAKO

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Monday, October 26, 2015

Abdul Malik Kweku Baako Jnr, Managing Editor of The New Crusading Guide newspaper, has described the process of funding and printing of presidential diaries as ‘naked robbery.’

He has therefore called for an audit into the process to determine how much was raised and spent after it was revealed that a private firm was given presidential letterheads for the fund-raising exercise.

It has been revealed that JIT Magazines and Diary Services was the company permitted to use the presidency to solicit funds to print free diaries.

Presidential staffer, Dr. Clement Apaak, who made the revelation on Joy FM’s ‘Newsfile’ at the weekend, said the process for printing the diaries was in place before the NDC government came to power in 2009.

“The presidency usually prints about 1,500 to 2,000 diaries,” Dr. Apaak revealed.

However, it is still not known how much was raised to print the diaries or the actual cost of printing them.

Dr. Clement Apaak, who said he played a role in the process of determining the choice of the company, maintained that any company is free to present a proposal to print the diaries.

He explained that JIT Magazines and Diary Services were selected because they presented an attractive improvement on previous copies of the diary.

In spite of Dr. Apaak’s explanation, Kweku Baako Jnr, who is a longstanding panelist on the programme, insisted that government’s clarification that the diaries are printed by private companies at no cost to the state, had left more questions than answers.

He said it is “mind-boggling” for the presidency to sanction the practice, even if it was also done by previous governments.

According to him, the monies raised by private companies through the use of the presidency are “technically public funds.”

“How much was raised? You don’t know? You don’t care?....so if they raised $20 million and applied 10 million and used the other 10 million for their own activities that’s agreed by government?” he queried.

Kweku Baako Jnr also questioned the process used to select the eventual printing company. “how did those companies get to know that they needed to make proposals? Was there a notice requiring this? If the notice was given, when? Where? How?”

According to Mr Kweku Baako, the presidentially sanctioned process of printing diaries revealed that the presidency is “so mediocre and inept.”

Mr Apaak backed calls for Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential candidate, to apologise if he has no evidence to support his claim that the diaries were printed for $10 million.

“He has to be asked. If he has the answer he must provide it. If he doesn’t have he has to explain himself. If it means a retraction and an apology, he renders it,” he charged.

Trying to explain the expenditure following the allegation, another presidential staffer, Stan Dogbe, even called the NPP stalwart a lair, even though he (Dogbe) could not deny the fact that huge sums of money were sunk into the venture.

He wrote on social media, “No government under the NDC has spent a pesewa of the public purse to produce diaries.

"Such dairies have always been paid for from corporate advertising proceeds, and the canvassing for such adverts is the responsibility of the company selected to produce the diaries"

Apart from Stan Dogbe, other government officials, including Deputy Communications Minister, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, have unconvincingly tried to explain that the state did not spend anything on the diaries.

I NEVER SLEPT WITH PROSTITUTE – BEDE

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Saturday, October 24, 2015

A former Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has claimed that he is not the former minister who allegedly solicited the services of a lady believed to be a prostitute and ended up losing his Ford 4×4 vehicle in Accra.

Even though DAILY GUIDE’s publication of Thursday, October 15, 2015 did not disclose the name of the said minister, Bede Ziedeng, who is currently a deputy director of elections for the NDC and former Northern Regional Minister, has written a rejoinder seeking to set the records straight.

Mr. Ziedeng, who is reportedly lacing his boots to contest the Lawra seat on the ticket of the NDC, wrote and signed the rejoinder dated October 17.

“I wish to state that I am not the said former Northern Regional Minister,” he insisted, adding, “Indeed, I have never owned or even used a Ford 4x4 vehicle, neither have I ever slept in a hotel at Pig Farm, Accra, in which the incident took place.

“My attention has been drawn to a publication in your esteemed newspaper of October 15, 2015 edition with the caption: ‘Prostitute robs minister in hotel.”In the said publication, it was alleged that a former Northern Regional Minister solicited the services of a lady believed to be a prostitute, and ended up losing his Ford 4×4 vehicle in Accra. I hope you will give this rejoinder the same prominence you gave your earlier publication.”

Initial Publication

In the initial publication, DAILY GUIDE had stated that the former minister (name withheld) allegedly took the lady to a hotel at Pig Farm, an Accra suburb, where she identified herself as Abigail Asiedu and stole the vehicle with the help of her boyfriend, identified as Bashiru Ishmael, who is currently at large.

Police reports indicated that Abigail, who targets high-profile personalities, had used this modus operandi to steal more than eight vehicles from her clients.

Purportedly operating together with Bashiru Ishmael and Nuhu Adams – also at large – Abigail reportedly changes the vehicles’ number plates before selling them.

All the stolen vehicles had since been retrieved by the police, with the exception of one.

Information gathered at the hotel indicated that the former minister checked in with Abigail that fateful day and after some rounds of sexual affairs, the two decided to relax for some time before leaving the place.

Upon realising that her client was tired and deeply asleep, Abigail allegedly sneaked out of the room with the keys of the vehicle and together with Bashiru Ishmael, she allegedly drove the vehicle from the compound.

The former minister, who later discovered that the lady was not in the room, became suspicious and immediately went out to look for her only to realise that his vehicle was not parked at where it was.

A report was lodged with the police immediately.

DCOP Christian Tetteh Yohunu, the Accra Regional Police Commander, who briefed the media, said Abigail met the client on social media and on August 30, 2015 they met at Pig Farm, where they decided to go to a nearby hotel to relax.

Abigail and Bashiru Ishmael, DCOP Yohunu asserted, had earlier been arrested by the Baatsona, Sakumono and Dahwenya police this year for using the same method to snatch a Honda Civic CRV, Toyota Corolla and a Toyota Camry from some people.

All the vehicles had been retrieved except the Toyota Camry with registration number GT-694-10.

Police report also indicated that Abigail, whose real name is Habiba Abubakar, uses multiple names to swindle her targets.

The regional commander narrated that Abigail sometimes uses Abigail Fatimatu Adamu to operate.

During police interrogation, Abigail reportedly confessed that she conspired with her boyfriend, Ishmael Bashiru, to steal the vehicle but when Ishmael got wind of her arrest, he went into hiding.

Abigail again mentioned Nuhu Adams as the receiver of the stolen vehicles, and led the police to his house at Ashaiman but he was absent.  When contacted on phone, he abandoned the stolen vehicle on the Tema Motorway and fled, according to the police officer.

Efforts are underway to arrest them.

PRESBY MODERATOR QUITS

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Friday, October 23, 2015

The Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) appears to be at crossroads over the purported resignation of the former Moderator of the General Assembly of the church, Most Rev Dr Yaw Frimpong Manso.

It follows a decision by the General Assembly, the highest decision-making body of the church, to cut ties with the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America.

The universal church is cutting ties with the Presbyterian Church, USA because it says it (PC-USA) is allowing gays and lesbians to hold influential positions and also to the extent that some homosexuals could be ordained or have been ordained as ministers of the gospel.

As a result, Most Rev Dr Frimpong Manso, who had been on secondment to the Presbyterian Church, USA was asked by the church to return home by the end of the year as part of the measures taken to sever the ties with the US church.

DAILY GUIDE sources say the General Assembly took the decision to recall Most Rev Dr Frimpong Manso as far back as April and he had duly been notified that he could stay till December, 2015.

Disrespect

However, Most Rev Dr Frimpong Manso has pulled a surprise on the church in Ghana saying he has resigned with immediate effect.

His reason was that the church in Ghana allegedly showed ‘gross disrespect’ to his person and ministry, arguing that he was not granted ‘audience’ before the decision to recall him was taken.

“In view of the current misunderstanding of the PCG concerning the extension of my call to the service of the Emmanuel Presbyterian Church through the Presbytery of New York City and the clear understanding of the PNYC of the PC(USA) polity regarding transfer of my membership to the Presbytery and for that matter under their jurisdiction in their letter of September 24, 2015 to you, I have decided with the support of my family to resign from the Ministry of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana with effect from October 31, 2015. I wish you all the best in the LORD,” he said in a statement on Thursday.

He followed it up with an interview on a local radio station - Adom FM – saying, “I was not given a hearing before they took the decision to recall me. I think it is disrespectful to my person and ministry."

The former Moderator later said that in order not to be a torn in the flesh of the church, he had chosen to stay with the Presby Church in the USA, stressing, “I cannot serve two masters so I will stay here, do the work of God and win more souls for Christ.”

Emerging Issues

There are reports that the underlying issue that has brought the misunderstanding might be beyond the homosexual stuff.

A DAILY GUIDE source said yesterday that the former Moderator told PCG that PC(USA) had extended his four-year stay to six years without the approval of the General Assembly in Ghana.

The source said the church could not approve of the six-year extension because it always recalled its missionaries when their time elapsed and sent new ones to the US.

Still A Member

A lawyer for the PCG, Rev George Obeng Adjei, told Adom FM , “As we speak now, Rev Frimpong Manso is still a minister of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana.”

He explained that prior to the General Assembly meeting, where the decision to call Rev Frimpong Manso back home was taken, the Clerk of the General Assembly wrote to him to come, adding, “That was when Rev Frimpong Manso replied our letter and said the Presby Church in USA wanted to extend his stay.”

A news release issued in Accra yesterday by the Public Relations Directorate of the church said that they still held Most Rev Dr Frimpong Manso “in high esteem” as a former Moderator.

Rt Rev Prof Emmanuel Martey, the current Moderator, is reported to be in the US on a duty tour and could not immediately be reached.

PEACE ACTIVIST SUES VOLTA MINISTER

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Friday, October 23, 2015

A peace activist has sued the Volta Regional Coordinating Council for allegedly stopping efforts aimed at bringing lasting peace to Nkonya and Alavanyo - two communities where there has been a protracted conflict.

Abraham Korbla Klutse of Youth for Peace and Security Africa (YPS-Africa) has petitioned an Accra Human Rights Court to order the Volta Regional Security Council (REGSEC) to allow him to implement a peace plan he initiated to bring lasting peace to the two longstanding feuding communities.

In his motion on notice of an application for the enforcement of his fundamental human rights, the applicant says he is seeking a declaration that “the purported suspension of the applicant’s organization on December 2, 2014 by the respondent from operating in the Volta Region violated the applicant’s fundamental human rights.”

Mr Abraham Korbla Klutse is also seeking damages for violation of his fundamental human rights, especially the rights guaranteed under Article 21(1)(e) and 23 of the 1992 Constitution and any other order the court might deem fit.

The applicant said on December 4, 2014, he embarked on what he called self-funded programme titled: “Persuading a local participatory reconciliation towards facilitating a lasting peace and development to end the Alavanyo-Nkonya conflict” and succeeded in introducing the project to the various district assemblies as well as the traditional authorities, communities and the REGSEG, among others.

“I set up sub-clubs of YPS-Africa in the communities and schools of Alavanyo and Nkonya. Effective communication and control networks were built among the clubs and the people to help prevent clashes; to get everybody actively and well engaged in the peace building process; and to facilitate the healing of victims of the conflict,” the petitioner averred.

According to Mr Abraham Korbla Klutse, he also facilitated the major peace dialogue for the new Alavanyo-Nkonya negotiating teams put in place by the two respective traditional councils and the teams were inaugurated on February 26 and July 3, 2014 with approval from the communities.

The petitioner said that the Volta Regional Coordinating Council even wrote to him on May 7, 2014 acknowledging and thanking him for his commitment towards peace.

According to Korbla Klutse, a letter he wrote to the Regional Minister on July 16, 2014 requesting for a   meeting among all stakeholders was replied to through the Coordinating Council. He said the Council asked him to use the newly-inaugurated peace council to summon the meeting, but it never took place.

He posited that after putting all structures in place - including securing the Kpando Municipal Assembly Hall - for the peace talks, the Regional Coordinating Council bizarrely suspended the project.

The applicant claimed that the Council said it was suspending the project because it was going to “bring embarrassment to the Volta REGSEG.”

“The suspension of the peace project which eventually blocked the peace dialogue, also automatically suspended the roles being played by   the two traditional councils, the chiefs, elders, the youth and all communities involved in the peace-building process.”

Mr Korbla Klutse said that the government claimed to have brought a new team to re-start fresh peace dialogue, but it never worked saying, “From January till date, not a single step has been taken by the new peace team.”

MAHAMA’S MAN RAISES RED FLAG ON CORRUPTIO

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Thursday, October 22, 2015

A Deputy Chief of Staff Johnny Osei says there could be chaos in the country if the rampant corruption that has plagued the country does not subside.

“Let’s look at our country as a tree. Corruption has become a canker that is eating into the core of the tree. One day, there will be a storm and all of us will regret it,” he stated.

The Deputy Chief of Staff was speaking in Accra on Tuesday at the inauguration of two committees spearheaded by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to fight corruption and restore integrity in public service.

The committees include the National Ethics Advisory Committee and the National Anti Corruption Action Plan (NCAP).

He said that there are a lot of developmental problems confronting the country but corruption appears to have surpassed them all and must be brought under control without any further delay.

“I am here because of the President, we have met as concerned Ghanaians ready to raise red flags on our own behavior that does not allow others to survive.

“God has been good to us otherwise a lot of the things we have done or did not do would have landed this country into chaos. We can’t continue to count on our luck!”

Mr. Osei said “there are people stealing huge sums such that they do not even know what to do with the money. If we do not allow people to siphon money through our own negligence, we would remove a lot of people from desperate situations.”

Acting Commissioner of CHRAJ Richard Quayson, giving an overview of the work of the committees, admitted that “corruption has become endemic and pervasive and the impact is grave.

“We are yet to recover from the bribery and corruption scandal in the judiciary that has rocked the country. The story of the judiciary is only a microcosm to the extent to which corruption has eaten into our society.”

He said the approach the country will take in tackling corruption would make us either smarter or poorer,” adding “we should be able to take a measured response of sit and lament.”

Mr. Quayson attributed the high levels of corruption to the low level of integrity in the country, saying “we should collectively work to secure a public service imbued with integrity.”

Charles Ayamdo, Director of Anti Corruption at CHRAJ said “we can have a just society if we all take interest in anti-corruption activities.”