The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has cautioned the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) led government to desist from continuing to compare itself with the NPP in respect to energy-generation records as the NPP has a superior record.

The NPP claimed it performed creditably while in office by adding 1,451 megawatts in 8 years as against only 2.5megawatts of solar power added by the ruling NDC since it assumed power 6 years ago. The solar plant is located in Navrongo in the Upper East Region.

Addressing a press conference in Accra, the Minority spokesperson on Energy, Kobina Tahir Hammond noted that the NPP “conceived the idea for, initiated, installed and assisted in the installation of 1,451.5megawatts of generation capacity”.

According to the former deputy minister of Energy, the party has been forced to mount a defence of its impressive record due to assertions by some government and party functionaries that the NPP did nothing to increase Ghana’s power supply.

He stressed that Ghanaians are fed up with the blame-game and are expecting Government to concentrate on resolving the three-year-old power crisis which has adversely affected businesses and the social lives of the citizenry.

Hon. K.T Hammond who is also a former deputy Minister of Energy outlined some of the initiatives by the NPP which led to the generation of 885.85MW including the importation of power generators which contributed 126 MW, upgrading works at Akosombo which led to an increase in power generation to about 108 MW and the facilitation of the construction of the Sunon Asogli Power Plant.

“So the question now is which of these plants the NDC is bragging from the rooftop that they initiated?” he asked.

He said the NPP adequately employed practical measures to solve the power crisis that engulfed the nation in 2006-2007.

He cited the importation of 150MW of power from La Cote D’voire and the installation of a 126MW Emergency Power Plant as some of the measures the NPP administration implemented when the country was hit by the power crisis.

“We did not seek to advance scandalous explanations. We went to work and took immediate and drastic measures to ensure that in one year the crisis was over,” he noted.

Hon. K.T Hammond who is also a former deputy Minister of Energy further challenged Government to tell Ghanaians the whereabouts of some 126megawatts of emergency power plants which the NPP procured in 2007.

Ghanamps.gov.gh/Kwadwo Anim

Mr Dan Botwe, Member of Parliament (MP) for Okere, has promised to fund the construction of an Information Communication Technology (ICT) centre at Adukrom.

He said this when the Adukrom community at the weekend handed over a site to a contractor for the construction of the ultra modern ICT centre which is estimated to cost GH¢ 120, 000.

Mr Botwe said since he became MP for Okere, he had assisted a number of communities with development projects and promised to continue in that regard to help raise the standard of living in the area.

He said some of the projects include the construction of a three unit classroom block and a computer room for the Bethel Presbyterian Junior High School (JHS) at Adukrom, the renovation of the Adukrom Health Centre which had not seen any major renovation over the past 20 years, and the construction of a clinic at Apirede.

Others were construction of Asuokaw Primary School, assisting the construction of a six unit classroom block for the Awukugua Methodist Primary School with GH¢5,000 and 100 bags of cement.

Awukugua Seventh Day Adventist Primary School also benefited with 100 bags of cement and GH¢ 5,000 to support the completion of a three unit classroom block for the Junior High School.

Mr Botwe said he had also donated GH¢ 10, 000 to Aseseeso community to complete the construction of a school block which was started by the community and presented a cheque of GH¢ 6,000 to Nanabanyin community for the renovation of a clinic.

The MP said he had so far spent more than GH¢ 75, 000 on scholarships to assist brilliant but needy children in the area at both the Senior High School (SHS) and other tertiary institutions.

Mr Botwe reiterated his commitment to help maintain peace in Okere before, during and after the general election saying everything would be done to ensure that the people in the area continued to enjoy peace and security.

He urged traditional authorities and all other stakeholders to continue to champion the crusade of peace to ensure the development of the society.

The MP said one of his major concerns was to see academic performance of school children in the area going up hence the decision to organize extra classes for pupils and urged parents to see the education of their wards as an investment and support them.

Mr Botwe said it was against this background that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, had promised free SHS education to ensure that every Ghanaian child could at least possess a secondary level education.

He appealed to traditional authorities, parents and all stakeholders in the education sector to support the NPP campaign for free SHS to achieve the intended objective of providing quality education.

Mr Botwe said another ICT centre would also be built at the cost of GH¢ 38, 000 for the people of Awukugua to enhance teaching and learning in the area saying materials for the project were ready and was only waiting for the chiefs to release land for the project to begin.

He appealed to the residents to support the contractor to enable him complete the project on time.

GNA

Osei Kyei Mensah- Bonsu, the Minority New Patriotic Party (NPP) Leader in Parliament, has shed tears over how fast the country is sinking into an abyss due to bad governance by the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

He observed with pain that the country is retrogressing at a faster rate under the watch of President John Dramani Mahama, who doesn’t seem to have answers to Ghana’s problems.

According to the minority leader, the rate at which Ghana is retrogressing should be a major concern to every patriotic citizen of the land who has the interest of Ghana and its people at heart.

Mr Kyei-Mensah- Bonsu, MP for Suame in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital, was addressing residents of Suame during the ‘People’s Forum’ organized by Ashh FM on Friday.

The minority leader told the NDC government to be bold and openly accept that things are getting out of hands so that Ghanaians would appreciate the problems at hand and contribute their quota to solving them.

He stated that the NDC’s decision to use propaganda to solve the mountainous problems currently facing the country would not gel, telling the party to stop relying on propaganda and rather tell the truth.

According to him, Ghana without oil in commercial quantities under eight years of ex-President Kufuor’s NPP government, recorded massive transformation in all areas which contributed to better the lives of the populace.

He said within a little of over six years, the NDC government – with oil – had destroyed all the good things that the NPP government toiled hard to chalk for the country, “and this is a great worry to me and the NPP as a political party.”

“All indications show that Ghana is retrogressing under the watch of President Mahama and the NDC government. In fact, my heart is bleeding for the country,” the minority leader lamented.

The Suame law maker said during the NPP’s era, the country’s GDP, inflation and interest rate were managed through proper planning and effective policies and programmes.

He bemoaned the fact that the trend is totally different under President Mahama’s NDC government, saying that now the country’s GDP, interest rate and inflation are nothing to write home about.

Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah- Bonsu openly ‘cried’ that poverty and extreme hardship are the order of the day in the country, lambasting the NDC administration for stifling the citizenry with their bad policies.

The NPP, he stated, is the only political party that has antidote to the myriad challenges currently facing the country and charged the people to vote massively for the NPP in the upcoming general elections.

Daily Guide

The MP for Akatsi North Constituency Kwasi Nortsu-Kotoe has revealed that the District Assembly will enact a bye-law to prevent citizens from organizing funerals and other social functions on days earmarked for the National Sanitation Day (NSD).

The MP observed that such social gatherings contribute to the low patronage during the NSD, as most people prefer to attend such gathering instead of taking part in the clean-up exercises.

The situation he said requires an urgent enactment of the bye-law to ensure an effective participation in the activities of the day.

He said the bye-law, when enacted, will help ensure that residents participate in the exercise, adding that persons who fail to participate i the exercise will be prosecuted.

‘’Soon a byelaw would be enacted to prevent funerals and other gatherings from being in the district during the national sanitation day; this will all us participate fully in the clean-up exercise’’ he explained.

Kwasi Nortsu-Kotoe revealed this at a program to inaugurate a nine-member sanitation committee to implement the National Sanitation Day policy in the Akatsi North District of the Volta Region.

Speaking at the ceremony the District Chief Executive Mr James Gunu said the district is ready to join her compatriots in observing the day on Saturday.

He encouraged residents in the district to come out in the numbers to support the good course.

Ghana’s Youth and Sports Minister Mahama Ayariga says the senior national team, the Black Stars performed beyond expectations in the just-ended AFCON tournament.

He says despite losing in a pulsating penalty shoot-out to the Elephants of Ivory Coast in Sunday’s final, the team out-classed many of their opponents in the tournament and deserve commendation.

Admitting the Elephants were by all standards superior given the caliber of players in that team, Mr Ayariga said the Stars nonetheless “did everything to contain the Ivorians.”

“They had excellent stamina, were physically fit, run throughout the 120 minutes,” before losing 8 – 9 in the penalty shootout.

The Stars, according to Mr. Ayariga, were not tournament favourites but “they did exceptionally well.”

“They have demonstrated once again that with great talent, great determination we can go very far,” he stated.

The Sports Minister also lauded coach of the Black Stars, Avram Grant, for exhibiting sterling qualities as a coach and guiding the team to put up a spirited performance.

“With what he has done in Equatorial Guinea, it is obvious this is a coach that can take us far,” he stressed.

Mr Ayariga said Mr. Grant will be given every support he needs to develop football at all levels in the country.

According to him, discussion are underway to see how the former Chelsea Manager’s vast experience as a great coach can be brought to bear on local football in Ghana.

He repeated the over flagged mantra that football and sports infrastructure generally need urgent improvement.

He will not comment on the budget of the 2015 AFCON campaign, insisting that now was not the time talk about budgets.

The most pressing matter at hand, he stressed, is to leave Equatorial Guinea and the get the Ghanaian contingent and the playing body home safely.

The team hopes to leave for Ghana by midday, he revealed.

Outspoken New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong, says President John Mahama must be given 24 lashes for his uninspiring leadership.

He said the president needs this punishment also for saddling the country with corruption and his administration’s abysmal economic management.

The NPP MP strongly argues that the current hardships being experienced by Ghanaians are as a result of bad leadership and the lack of technical knowledge and managerial skills on the part of the President.

According to him, the erratic power supply coupled with the incessant labour unrest in support of demands for better conditions of service; the failure of the President to crack the whip on non-performing ministers, his indecisiveness in ministerial appointments, as well as his inability to retrieve monies owed the State by some individuals and companies who have defrauded the nation, all weighed heavily against his performance.

“It is so sad. I think as a Ghanaian and a politician, the only person who can discipline us [Ghanaians] is God. Probably [God] has to line-up all the politicians in the country…give President Mahama 24 lashes, give the ministers 18 lashes each and give all the parliamentarians including myself [Kennedy] 12 lashes each; then after, pinch our ears and let them go back and do the right thing,” he said.

“The situation is so appalling and disgusting now”, the NPP fire brand bemoaned during a discussion on Ghana’s economic challenges in an interview on Sahara TV.

Kennedy Agyapong was doubtful if the current leaders in Ghana are capable of managing the state.

“Sometimes you ask yourself if really we have leaders in the country. President Mahama and his government, their understanding of governance is stealing. Everybody is grabbing left, right and center,” he said.

According to him, “One of the NDC top guys who has sworn not to support President Mahama again confided to a lady that, he can’t see himself mingling with this people [NDC]. They are looting state funds as if there is no tomorrow…this is serious.”

“They [NDC] are short of ideas, they think within the box…they don’t think outside the box. Everything they do is about money…stealing has become their hallmark. How can you rule with such a mindset?” he quizzed.