Month: October 2011

Mr John Kwesi Agyabeng, Member of Parliament for Agona East, has called on Ghanaians to vote massively for Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential candidate for the 2012 elections.

He said Nana Akufo-Addo had vision and leadership quality to lead the country into economic boom when given the nod by Ghanaians.

Mr Agyabeng made the call when interacting with some electorates at Asamoakrom as part of his visit to the Agona East Constituency.

According to the MP, Nana Akufo-Addo has the capacity and strength to continue the solid development and economics foundation laid by former President John Agyekum Kufuor.

He said the NPP government initiated many social interventions to alleviate the suffering of Ghanaians from economic woes.

He therefore urged Ghanaians to vote for the NPP to bring the country out of the economic hardship they were facing.

The MP said the promise made by Nana Akufo-Addo that Senior High School education would be free when voted into power still stands and urged the people to vote for him to reduce their burden especially the payment of huge school fees.

He said the introduction of the free maternal care, school feeding programme, capitation grant, National Health Insurance Scheme, cocoa mass spraying exercise and others were an attempt made by the NPP government to free Ghanaians from economic woes.

Mr Agyabeng said these social interventions were are on the verge of collapse currently due to lack of proper implementation of the programmes.

GNA

The Communication Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and Member of Parliament for Okaikoi South, Nana Akomea has rubbished assertions by the NDC government that the NPP is preparing grounds to reject the 2012 election should the party lose the election.

The NDC has accused the opposition NPP of “crying wolf” when there was none, with the kind of unnecessary complaints they have made about the 2012 electoral process.

Among several complaints, the NPP has expressed its displeasure about the apathetic attitude of the E.C concerning the education of the various political parties on the use of the biometric register for the 2012, and also the “secret meeting” between NDC officers and the Director of Research of the E.C. at Shai Hills.

The largest opposition party believes these are developments that if not discouraged may mar the success of the crucial elections, but the government thinks otherwise.

However speaking on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana show on Friday 7th Oct, the Member of Parliament for Okaikoi South, Nana Akomea, rejected suggestions that the NPP were just “blowing hot air” with their complaints, adding that the E.C and government are yet demonstrated enough commitment to ensure a free and fair elections.

He noted that the President’s assurance to Ghanaians and the international community of his commitment to ensuring a peaceful, free and fair election is not enough, and that he should back his words with actions.

Meanwhile the Elector Commission is convening an Inter Parties Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting today Friday 7th October 2011, to discuss issues about the impending 2012 elections, especially the use of biometric register for the elections which appears to have been shrouded in controversy.

Kwadwo Anim/ghanamps.gov.gh

The Director of Communications for the opposition New Patriotic Party’s [NPP] 2012 campaign, Nana Akomea has conceded that tensions between his party, the New Patriotic Party [NPP] and the ruling National Democratic Congress [NDC] have led to mushrooming of politically affiliated media houses in the country.

The development which he referred to as “propaganda journalism”, according to him, is threatening the atmosphere of freedom of speech prevailing in the country as well as undermining the repeal of the criminal libel law.

Speaking on Multi TV’s political talk show, Minority Caucus, Nana Akomea said “this new phenomenon is actually what I would call propaganda journalism and it seems to be the dominant kind of media work these days where newspapers and radio stations have been formed not to live up to the profession of exposing corruption and ensuring accountability but just to follow party propaganda” – a move he described as unfortunate.

According to him, the objective of most of these media platforms, particularly those in the print media, is to come up with controversial headlines for the purposes of review on radio and not to compete for readership arguing that “propaganda journalism” has so far taken centre stage in the media and is overshadowing media houses which are focused on practicing professional journalism.

Nana Akomea was however optimistic that the practice of propaganda journalism will soon fade away once the NDC and NPP have been able to settle their differences.

The Okaikwei South MP also criticised the NDC government of weakening freedom of speech in the country through its misapplication of the law on fear and panic.

Commenting on the communication strategy to be used by the NPP for the upcoming elections, Nana Akomea said unlike the NDC which has taken delight in a smear campaign against the NPP’s flag-bearer, “for us [NPP], our focus is to present the message, our alternatives to the man on the street. We want to talk directly to the things that will affect his needs, his welfare… We aim to provide nothing short of transformational leadership, a courageous leadership and a decisive leadership that will cut through the morals and get to the bottom of the problem and solve it.”

Multi TV

The Member of Parliament for Amenfi Central, George Kofi Arthur has called for a review of the selection criteria for the National Best Teacher Award.

According to him, the situation where Headmasters and other officials of the Education Service select and endorse teachers for award based on how regular he/she attends school, how regular he/she write s lesson notes exetera, is not enough to win any teacher the national best teacher award.

The MP noted that all though the above mentioned requirements are necessary and must be encouraged, he contended that for a teacher to be adjudged the national best teacher, he/she should have impacted positively on the lives of the students or pupils he teaches.

“That person must have been able to change a student’s state from bad to good, be it academically or behaviorally, some teachers go the extra mile of actually ensuring truant kids stay in school and performs well academically, and these are the people who should be rewarded for their good deeds’’ he said.

Hon. George Kofi Arthur made the suggestion when he was contributing to a panel discussion of this year’s National Best Teacher Award event on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem programme, on Thursday.

The event which was held on Wednesday at Secondi, was won by Joshua Amankwah Otu, of the Garden City Special School in Kumasi.

He said, students must also have a stake in deciding who becomes the National Best Teacher since they have direct contact with their teachers and may be in a better position to make nominations.

Hon Kofi Arthur was however excited that a teacher from the Special Education sector had won the prestigious award, adding that it’s been long overdue and urged government to address the concerns and problems in the special education unit.

Kwadwo Anim/ghanamps.gov.gh

Dr Mustapha Ahmed, Deputy Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, and Member of Parliament for Ayawaso east, has said the increase in the world’s population to 7 billion has necessitated the need to develop policies to fight climate change.

He said the population increase would be associated with some environmental challenges such as delivering quality health care services, housing, safe drinking water and reliable transportation services.

He said the future poses a huge challenge to the survival of humanity adding that success would depend on how we manage the competing pressures of population growth, rapid urbanization and climate change.

Dr Ahmed said this at a durbar in Takoradi organized by UN-Habitat to commemorate World Habitat Day and it was on the theme “Cities and Climate Change- Impact of Oil and Gas on Human Settlement”.

The World Habitat Day is celebrated annually on the first Monday of October to reflect on the state of human settlements and people’s right to sufficient shelter and this year’s celebration was hosted by Mexico.

Dr Ahmed said this year’s celebration would clarify the relationship and linkages between urban settlements and climate change which are real and potentially deadly.

He said in Ghana, cities and towns contribute significantly to the effects of climate change essentially because of bad planning, unplanned settlements without layouts, absence of proper zoning and poor structural designs.

He said the increased population would also bring some opportunities including the concentration of people, industries and infrastructures in the urban areas, for appropriate strategies to be effected to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

GNA

Minister of Transport, and Member of Parliament for Asutifi South Alhaji Collins Dauda, has called on stakeholders in the road sector to strengthen their joint efforts to address the widespread road accidents in the country.

He said comprehensive and practical measures are required to ensure that the high rate of road crashes in recent times coupled with its many deaths is curbed.

Alhaji Dauda made the appeal when inaugurating a Mobile Brake Testing Equipment in Accra on Tuesday.

The equipment is a device introduced by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) to check vehicle brakes during pre-departure and post-departure to avoid brake failure.

According to Alhaji Dauda inspite of the fact that the year had not ended, information gathered indicates that road crashes and its attendant deaths has exceeded that of last year and called for a concerted effort among stakeholders to solve the menace.

He said vehicle safety standards were necessary since it ensured that unsafe vehicles were not imported into the county and also to develop a safety culture among vehicle operators, owners and users.

Alhaji Dauda lauded the bold efforts of the DVLA to ensure effective road checks by procuring the equipment and advised them to make good use of it to ensure that lives were saved, adding that the Ministry would not relent in support efforts geared towards addressing carnage on the roads.

Kwadwo Anim/ghanamps.gov.gh

The Minority Leader in Parliament and MP for Suame, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu has stated that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) must work towards achieving a one touch victory in 2012 and avoid the trouble of going into a run-off.

Mr Kyei Mensah Bonsu observed that nothing less than an emphatic first time victory for the NPP would be required to save Ghana and the party from any electoral anxieties.

He said there was the need for the opposition party to work hard and ensure that a straight victory is achieved, in order to save the country from another tumultuous electoral journey, which was witnessed in 2008.

The Suame MP asserted that it was very important for the NPP to take its destiny into its own hands in 2012, now that it has become abundantly clear that the NDC has failed the good people of Ghana.

“We need to win convincingly in 2012. We must not allow the elections to travel to the second round because we can’t trust these people”, he warned.

The minority leader, however, pointed out that such feat can only be achieved if the party avoid complacency and adopt strong decisive and proactive campaign strategy.

Mr. Kyei Mensah Bonsu, who made the call when addressing KNUST branch of TESCON over the weekend said since the NDC realised that next year’s general elections would not favour them, the NDC would resort to various means in order to maintain power.

According to him, the painful experiences in the two recently held by-elections at Atiwa and Chereponi show how desperate the NDC can be in their approach to the elections, especially when defeat is staring them in the face.

The Minority Leader, therefore, advised the party particularly his colleague MPs to commence serious grass root campaign in order to consolidate the support base of the party.

He bemoaned the phenomenon whereby MP’s refuse to engage in consultation with their constituency executives during campaign, stressing that such situations could have dire consequences on the party’s quest to build a strong force at the grass root levels.

He also lashed at the ruling party for refusing to engage in intellectual political discourse, but rather prefer to thread the path of insults, mudslinging and character assassination.

He said instead of engaging their political opponents in discussing issues to enable Ghanaians to make informed decisions, the NDC prefers to use invectives and unnecessary tactics that would distract the focus of Ghanaians from their weaknesses and failures.

The Suame MP, therefore, charged supporters of the NPP not to thread the path of their political opponents by descending into the drain with them.

He indicated that it was the duty of members of the intellectual student wing to show Ghanaians the differences between the two political parties, by concentrating on issues rather than resorting to insults.

Chronicle

The Member of Parliament for Ayensuano, Samuel Aye Paye has condemned the high handed manner in which the Police Administration dealt with some policemen who were alleged to have had a fracas with the Deputy Minister of Interior, Kobby Acheampong.

According to him, there was no need for the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to dispatch a team of police personnel from Accra allegedly travelling on two vehicles including an armored car all the way to the Central Region to arrest the “erring’ police men to the Police Headquarters in Accra

The ‘offending’ police officers were on duty at Ekumfi Esaafa in the Mfantseman District on Sunday and had ordered the deputy minister to pack his car for flouting road traffic regulations.

The Deputy Minister claimed that he was insulted by the eight policemen on duty, complaining that one of them called him ‘stupid’ when he tried to offer them an advice.

Three of them were arrested in their various houses on Sunday evening while the remaining five were arrested on Monday.

Speaking on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem programme on Tuesday, the Member of Parliament for Ayensua Ayensuano, Samuel Aye Paye urged the Police Administration not to victimize the dutiful policemen who were out there working simply because a sector minister was involved in the issue.

“The policemen side of the story must be fully heard and also factored into the service inquiry, they must not be interdicted just because a big man is involved’’ he said.

Hon. Aye Paye noted that in order not to demoralize other hardworking police men on the various roads they police hierarchy should cause a thorough investigation into the matter for the appropriate sanctions to be applied.

Kwadwo Anim/ghanamps.gov.gh

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Ellembelle and Deputy Minister for Energy, Mr Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah has indicated that access to Information Communication Technology (ICT) by schools in remote communities must be treated as a matter of right and not a privilege.

He said ICT was crucial in the academic growth of students as it enabled them to rub shoulders with their counterparts in the cities who had access to the facility and created a level playing field for all in the final examination.

To this end, the MP has donated 30 brand new Dell computers with accessories to the Ellembelle District education directorate at Nkroful to enable students in the area to the study ICT.

Making the presentation, he pledged his sustained support to the educational growth of the District and appealed to the Directorate to assist in this direction by bringing their expertise on board to improve the standard of education in the area.

Mr Buah prevailed upon the Education Directorate to ensure that the computers got to students in the classroom to improve their ICT score in examinations.

The District Director of Education in the Ellembelle District, Mrs. Caroline Gyimah thanked the MP for the gesture and promised to utilize the computers judiciously to the benefit of the students.

She reiterated the need for the education directorate to get a brand new pick-up vehicle for the purpose of effective monitoring to ease the stress officers went through during monitoring, adding that effective monitoring would keep teachers at their post to enhance good quality education delivery.

In a related development, two volunteers from Israel, in partnership with the MP, are in the District to train teachers in ICT to enable them to work effectively and also to transfer their knowledge to students.

The volunteers, who will stay for a period of two (2) months, would take the teachers as well as other interested groups and students through Word, Excel, the Internet, and general knowledge in computer usage.

GNA