Month: November 2011

The NDC Member of Parliament for Sege, Alfred Abayateye has “prophesied” that the NPP’s presidential candidate Nana Akufo-Addo will never become president of Ghana.

Speaking on Adom TV’s morning show BADWAM on Multi TV, Mr. Abayateye said “Nana Addo’s eyes will see Canaan, but his foot will be miles away from the promised land. I am prophesying to him that, he will never see the presidential seat. If a whole flagbearer and a presidential aspirant could stand in public and openly insult a sitting president, referring to him as a visionless and an unthinking person, then he cannot rule as president, never!”.

The NPP’s flag bearer, in an address to climax the 10th anniversary celebrations of the KNUST wing of the NPP students group on Tuesday said, Ghana under the Mills led administration is “hopeless despite huge economic gains left by the Kufuor administration”.

Describing President Mills as “a visionless leader”, Nana Addo noted that the “transformation of the Ghanaian economy to create jobs and decent standard of living will be” his topmost priority if he is elected president in 2012”.

Nana Addo was also quoted as saying that the “NPP must win power at all cost”.

But Mr. Abayateye described Nana Addo’s statement as unfortunate and a “display of arrogance that will crush him in 2012”.

“It is God who makes kings, not human beings. If Nana Addo is so power drunk and anxious to become president ‘at all cost’, then he must have a sober reflection on his utterances and have a rethink” the MP maintained.

According to him, even though ex-president Kufuor was not an NDC member, he admired his composure in public, adding that Nana Addo’s arrogance is only deepening his woes and will forever deny him the chance of ever becoming President.

“Ghanaians are discerning, and will not want to put their lives in the hands of a man who does not respect his mates and does not respect himself”.

The Sege MP said government was on course with its developmental agenda for the country, indicating that “the Mills-led administration is focused on investing in human resources in order to create a future for Ghanaians”.

The Member of Parliament for Bekwai, Joseph Osei Owusu who was also on the show, however disagreed with his colleague MP stating that the NDC government was only interested in clearing schools under trees.

He maintained that Nana Addo’s speech was relevant “and underscored the need for Ghanaians to boot the NDC out in 2012”.

The Member of Parliament for Okere, Dan Kwaku Botwe, says the greatest rebuff to the UK Prime Minister’s threat of cutting aid to countries that do not reform legislation banning homosexuality like Ghana, is to out rightly ban the practice.

According to him, the country must go beyond publicly condemning the practice which most Ghanaians abhor and make sure it is stopped or discouraged.

The UK Prime Minister David Cameron in an interview with BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show, threatened to withhold UK aid from countries including Ghana that do not reform legislation banning homosexuality, adding that nations receiving UK aid should “adhere to proper human rights.”

“Britain is one of the premier aid givers in the world,” Cameron said. “We want to see countries that receive our aid adhering to proper human rights.”

Contributing to a panel discussion on Peace FM’s Kokrokoo show, Hon. Dan Kwaku Botwe urged government to call the bluff of the UK Prime Minister and not pander to the threats, as the Ghanaian culture and values proscribe the practice which is regarded by some as abominable.

He said the threat is unacceptable and that Ghana must not accept an invitation to “play the game of the UK Prime Minister’ adding that no amount of pressure should be able to change Ghana’s laws to allow same sex relationship.

Hon. Dan Botwe said the act of homosexuality has being variously reported by the media to be growing steadily among the youth with the practice ongoing in some of the education institution, and it’s important that adequate measures are taken to deal with the canker.

Kwadwo Anim/ghanamps.gov.gh

Government has no position now on British Prime Minister, David Cameron’s comments on homosexuality, until it receives official correspondence from the British government, Minister of Information, John Tia Akologu, has said.

He said it was not prudent for the government to comment or state a position on an issue for which no correspondence had been received.
“We have no official correspondence on the issue from the British government. We cannot therefore, state a position or make any comment for now,” he added.

Mr. Akologu stated this in a telephone interview with the Times newspaper when contacted on the government’s position on British Prime Minister, David Cameron’s, threat to withdraw United Kingdom’s aid to governments that did not reform legislation banning homosexuality.

When quizzed further, Mr. Akologu said the government was guided by the provisions of the 1992 Constitution and would work towards preserving and protecting the rights of the people as provided for under it.
He said the Constitution had adequate provisions on freedoms and rights of the people and “we would be guided by it”.

Mr. Akologu said that “when the government receives official correspondence on the matter, it shall state its position guided by what is in the best interest of the people.”

Source: Ghanaian Times

The Member of Parliament for Ayensuano, Samuel Aye-Paye says the threat by the British Prime Minister, David Cameron to withhold UK aid from governments (African) that do not reform legislation banning homosexuality, is a smart way of cutting aid to those countries as the UK’s economy is not in the best of shapes.

He said it is clear that the UK’s economy has been dwindling in the past few years, and that the Prime Minister’s threat is a nice way of declining support to African countries since the UK’s economy may not be able to support to most African countries.

David Cameron, in a recent interview with BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show, threatened to cut aid to anti-gay countries, adding that nations receiving UK aid should “adhere to proper human rights.” The UK prime minister said he raised the issue with some of the states involved at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, Australia.

Mr Cameron’s threat though, applies only to one type of bilateral aid known as general budget support, and would not reduce the overall amount of aid to any one country.

However contributing to a discussion on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem programme, Hon. Samuel Aye- Paye stated that the UK should come out clear and say that with the current strength of its economy it cannot continue supporting African countries, and must not use the issue of accepting the practice of homosexuality as a condition to support African countries financially.

“The recent disturbances in London in August was basically due to worsening economic condition, which led to lots of people demonstrating on the streets for several days, if the Prime Minister knows his economy is not strong enough to continue dolling out monies to countries like Ghana he should come out clear and not hide behind human rights issues’’ he said.

Hon. Aye- Paye urged government to use the UK threat as a wakeup call to ensure that the natural resources with which Ghana is endowed is exploited to benefit Ghanaians so that the country can gradually wean itself of aid from developed countries such as the UK.

Kwadwo Anim/ghanamps.gov.gh