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Ghana surpasses US in management of democratic transition – Haruna Iddrisu

Minister for Communications, Haruna Iddrisu has touted Ghana’s democratic credentials, saying the country is far ahead of the US in the management of democratic transition.

According to him, the nation can pride itself of taking its democratic credentials to a higher height following the smooth transition of power in the wake of the demise of late President John Evans Atta Mills a fortnight ago.

“Ghana’s ability to fill presidential and vice presidential vacancies within two weeks sets us above our US compatriot whose records in similar situations do not match up.”

The Minister was speaking to Joy News shortly after the swearing in of Vice-President Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur in Parliament on Monday, August 6.

Mr. Iddrisu said it took the US not less than two years to fill a vice presidential position on several occasions, citing instances in 1923, 1945 and 1965.

It took US almost two years from 1963 to 1965 to swear in Hubert Horatio Humphrey following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, he noted. Similar events happened between 1945 and 1965 with Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Mr. Iddrisu praised both Majority and Minority side in Parliament for ensuring a smooth transition devoid of rancour.

Joy News

National unity must exist beyond Mills’s death and funeral- Atta AKyea

The Member of Parliament for Akim Abuakwa South, Hon. Samuel Atta- Akyea has urged Ghanaians to maintain the sense of unity that has been achieved following the death of the late President John Evans Attah Mills.

According to him, the nation has been divided over the years along political lines even when there is the need for unity to confront a problem or challenge facing the country.

He was speaking at the funeral rites organized for the ex-President Mills at the Banquet Hall at the State House on Wednesday.

Lawyer Atta-Akyea noted that Ghanaians should not only converge as one people only at the death of the former President but also during various matters of life which affects the nation.

“ I hope one of this days all the political parties will converge and say that we will fill the soul of Ghana whether NDC, NPP,PPP, that is when the nation will begin to think and improve” he said.

Hon Atta-Kyea wondered why the nation cannot translate the same historical experience of national unity into the country’s development effort.

“When it touches our very lives, let us have the same convergence as has been done since the ex- President died, that is what I think will help the nation” he added.

Kwadwo Anim/ Ghanamps.gov.gh

NPP wants EC to withdraw CI on new constituencies

The opposition New Patriotic Party is calling on the Electoral Commission to consider withdrawing the Constitutional Instrument that will legalise the creation of the 45 new constituencies.
The party made the call at an IPAC meeting to discuss the exhibition of the voters register, the upcoming election and the new constituencies.

NPP MP for Aburi Nsawam O.B Amoah who was part of the meeting feared Ghana’s democratic credentials will be undermined if the creation of the new constituencies is allowed to stand in its current form.

He told Joy News the EC must withdraw the entire instrument, failure which Parliament can exercise its discretion to annul the entire process.

“I don’t think any party should be happy with what is going on now. You have to go through primaries; you have to make sure to get the candidates in place all before three months.

“It undermines our democracy,” he lamented.

He said If EC doesn’t withdraw, Parliament has the option to annul the whole thing.

Myjoyonline.com

Government is not using public funds for Mills’ funeral – NDC MP

The Member of Parliament for Ablekuma Central, Theophilus Tetteh Chaie has described as outrageous the supposed GH¢30 million to be spent on the late President John Evans Atta Mills’ funeral.
He stated unequivocally that such mischievous publication in the media could only emanate from egocentric individuals who want to derail the peace and tranquility the country has witnessed since the sudden demise of the late President Mills.

The Ablekuma Central MP was reacting to speculations that the Funeral Planning Committee has spent GH¢30 million on Mills’ funeral and has also purchased a US$75,000 casket to give the late president a befitting burial.

Chairman of the Committee, Kofi Totobi-Quakyi at a press briefing in Accra rubbished the claims and said they should be treated with the contempt it deserves.

However, Theophilus Tetteh Chaie who expressed his sentiment on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme Monday said the claims are uncalled-for and ill-timed.

According to him, those playing the ‘dirty politics’ should not insult the sensibilities of Ghanaians at a time he says the country has lost a modest and an illustrious son of the land.

Tetteh Chaie indicated that all the funds being utilized for the arrangement of the funeral by the Committee comes from donors and philanthropists and not from the state coffers as it is being suggested.

“Government is not using the resources from the state coffers in this funeral and I thank the Funeral Planning Committee for taking that decision” he added.

But, the Managing Editor of the Gye Nyame Concord, Alfred Ogbamey disagreed vehemently with the Ablekuma Central MP.

He argued that government must use public funds and ensure it gives full disclosure on how and what the money was used for.

Alfred Ogbamey also blamed the Funeral Planning Committee for not drafting a budget stating clearly the funds committed for the organization of late President Mills’ funeral.

Myjoyonline.com

GHS30 million budget for Mills funeral is false – Committee

Mr. Kofi Totobi Quakyi, the Chairman of the Funeral Committee responsible for the burial of the late President Evans Atta Mills has denied rumors making rounds that a whopping GHs 30 million has been budgeted for the burial of the ex- President.

He described the report as figment of someone’s imagination which is intended to create controversy where there is none.

There have been media reports that government has so far collected GHs10 million out of the said amount from the Accountant Generals Department to fund the funeral.

Addressing the press in Accra on Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Totobi Quakyi stated that the committee may not need much money from the state as the donation coming in from companies and other public spirited individuals may be sufficient to pay for the funeral expenses, adding that the committee will be transparent and accountable to Ghanaians and state how much has gone into the funeral.

He also took the opportunity to refute another media report that the casket to contain the mortal remains of the late president Mills cost a whopping $75,000.00.

He said after a careful search on the internet he is yet to come across any casket that cost so much.

“In any case President Mills we know will turn in the grave if you make mortal mistake of spending that amount of money to bury him, he will resurrect the next day and tell us his piece of mind” he said.

Mr. Totobi Quakyi also noted that no cameras and mobile phones will be allowed to take pictures in the banquet hall where ex-President Mills will be laid for public viewing on Wednesday.

Kwadwo Anim/GhanaMps.gov.gh

Akomea ‘fight’ NDC on Mills’ tribute

The Communications Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akomea is cautioning members of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) to desist from casting innuendos on the NPP in the name of paying tribute to the late President John Evans Atta Mills.
“We don’t speak ill of the dead but if they [NDC] keep on casting insinuations, they would spoil the atmosphere,” Nana said.

The NPP Communications Director was reacting to a tribute read by a member of the NDC communications team, Kakra Essumuah on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme Monday in memory of the late President Mills.

The tribute which according to Kakra was written by Captain Kojo Tsikata, Ato Awhoi, Kwame Peprah, Kwamena Awhoi, P.V Obeng, Kofi Totobi-Quakyi and other bigwigs in the NDC read:

Because of politics, President Mills endured undignified insults and vituperation by all sort of characters in his time. It was not as if these persons who indulged in this pastel of infamy misunderstood the good Professor; on the contrary, they perfectly understood him, excerpt that they knew he was too good and too descent a person to be involved in the nasty and adversary game of politics.

They wanted him out so that they can play the game on their own terms; a game they taught they only understood and are entitled to play. Many of the insults were intended and aim at provoking the Professor to quit but as he constantly told his friends closer to him; “I am not a quitter; I have to prove that there is a role for good and decent people in politics”.

Kakra Essumuah maintained that the NPP never saw anything good in the late Mills while alive hence cannot profess to be mourning.

He said the NPP only sought to vilify the late President for political expediency even when he [Mills] did not prosecute perceived corrupt government officials in the erstwhile Kufuor administration.

Kakra Essumuah noted that he is baffled at a phrase in the NPP’s tribute to the late John Mills which he read as Death is the cure of all diseases, and wondered whether the opposition party’s public show of sympathy is really genuine.

But in a rebuttal, Nana Akomea questioned the motive for such a tribute by the NDC at a time he said the entire nation is aggrieved and have shown cohesion for the burial of the late President.

According to him, the NPP never attacked the person of the late President but only criticized his leadership style.

Nana Akomea added that claims by NDC that the Mills-led administration never hounded members of the NPP is far from right.

He mentioned the Ghana@50 case involving Kwadwo Mpiani and Dr Charles Wereko Brobbey, Stephen Asamoah Boateng’s case, former Foreign Minister Akwasi Osei-Adjei, and many others to corroborate his claims.

He said the Mills-led government only failed in its attempts to imprison members of the NPP due to lack of evidence to prosecute them.

Nana Akomea hinted that the NPP would be forced to hit back if the insinuations from members of the ruling party persist.

Myjoyonline.com

Minority questions cost of office complex for MPs

The Minority in Parliament has raised questions about the cost of an office complex being constructed for MPs.

Government today requested for approval of a 50 million-cedi loan from Fidelity bank for Sino Africa Development Company to construct offices for MPs in their constituencies.

This is in fulfillment of the late President Mills’ promise to provide every MP with office accommodation in their constituencies.

The unit cost of a fully-furnished office presented by the government is 260 thousand Ghana cedis.

But Minority MPs say it is outrageous.

Its leader, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu said the amount can construct even three bedroom houses with an extra land and called for the cost to be reviewed.

He said if the country can make savings on the buildings it will good.

“We have also been informed on authority that ahead of this approval by Parliament, some of the projects have already been constructed so on what basis were they constructed.

The Speaker Joyce Banford Addo however stated the deal must be approved first and the details discussed later.

Myjoyonline.com

Parliamentary Rules Frustrating Us – MP

The Member of Parliament for Bekwai in the Ashanti Region, Joe Osei Owusu, has expressed frustration at the rules limiting the number of questions MPs are allowed to ask during such important occasions as the vetting of ministerial and other high profile nominees.
According to the Independent MP, parliamentary rules prevent the nation’s legislators from fully exploring any line of questioning to its logical conclusion with follow up questions because there is a limit to the number of questions they can ask.

Speaking on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem Morning Show on Tuesday August 7, 2012, Hon Osei Wusu complained: “At such fora MPs are limited to just two questions. I’m a lawyer with over 20 years practice, and if I have to vet a man who is in his sixties and I’m limited to just two questions, how can I ask all the questions?”

He was commenting a day after the historic vetting of Vice President Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah Arthur in Parliament, during which a wide range of questions bordering on his professional and personal life to determine his suitability for the second highest office in the land.

Hon Osei Wusu, who asked the ‘taboo’ question of Mr Amissah Arthur’s alleged homosexuality, said it was crucial that the question be asked because the Vice President is a heartbeat away from the Presidency and it would be wrong to have such a cloud hanging over his head.

“I think it was important that we give him an opportunity to answer the insinuations over his alleged homosexuality,” he stated adding, the fact that everyone shied away from asking directly for an answer was a sign of the “hypocrisy” in the Ghanaian society.

“If I had been given the opportunity, I would have explored it to the fullest. Whether I am satisfied with his answer is immaterial. The most important thing is that the matter is in the public domain and it is being discussed.”

He also dismissed assertions, particularly on social media platform facebook, that Ghana’s MPs are not educated enough to ask the appropriate questions of nominees who appear before the Parliamentary Vetting Committee.

“Every MP is a specialist in something before he comes to Parliament. If the question elicits a deep and detailed answer, it is a reflection of the gravity of the question. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a long winding question,” he insisted.

Source: Adomonline.com

Dan Botwe inaugurates new classroom block

Mr. Dan Botwe, Member of Parliament (MP) for Okere, has inaugurated a three- unit classroom block with computer laboratory he constructed for the Bethel Presbyterian Junior High School at Adukrom at the cost of GHC 38, 000.

The provision of the facility was in response to a request made by authorities of the school and the church to the MP last year when he paid a working visit to the educational institution.

Mr. Botwe said he was determined to help create the right environment in all schools within the constituency for effective academic work.

He said education played a pivotal in socio-economic development, adding that the fight against poverty, ignorance and disease could only be won through effective education.

Mr. Botwe pledged to supply the school with 10 computers and accessories to equip the laboratory and to help the school to acquire furniture and exercise books.

The MP said he would initiate scholarship to brilliant but needy children to help them complete their education.

Mr. Botwe also launched a programme dubbed “Get Okere Reading,” which aimed at encouraging school children in the area to cultivate the habit of reading. He appealed to parents to supply their children with their basic needs.

Mr. Joseph Appiah Koranteng, Headteacher of the school, commended the MP for his development to education in the area.

GNA

Amisah Arthur sworn in as Vice President of Ghana

His Excellency Kwesi Amissah Arthur has been sworn in as the Vice President of Ghana.

This follows his unanimous approval by Parliament on Monday evening.
The day has been a long one for the former Governor of the Bank of Ghana as he was vetted in an exercise that spanned nearly three hours earlier Monday and later sworn-in in the evening by the Chief Justice, Georgina Woode.

His Excellency in making a brief statement after his swearing in thanked the President John Dramani Mahama for the honour done him by nominating him to that high office.

He also thanked Parliament for the unanimity with which they have worked to ensure the transfer of power.

He again thanked the clergy for the encouraging words and hoped they would continue to support him in his work.

Kwadwo Anim/GhanaMps.gov.gh