Month: April 2015

The incumbent Member of Parliament for Nkawkaw in the Kwahu West Municipality, Eric Kwakye Darfour is confident of winning the primaries to again stand as the parliamentary candidate on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party for the area.

Nominations are opened until the 30th of this month, and Hon. Darfour who has already picked his form is expecting challenges from some other interested members of the party in the constituency.

According to him, though he cannot point to anyone yet, there is speculation of a woman who has also declared her intention to contest the primaries.

Mr. Darfour emerged victorious to become the legislature of the Nkawkaw Constituency in 2012 and is hoping to be retained by delegates for the second time.

He told Ghanamps.gov.gh that as a legislature he has discharged his responsibilities to his constituents to the best of his ability including creating a cordial relationship with his people. He said he visits his constituency almost every weekend to take part in very important activities.

The MP also added that he helped build strong structures in the party in the constituency that will work to consolidate the dominance of the party in the constituency.

Hon. Darfour also noted that his interventions in improving social amenities including schools, clinics at Accra Town known as Town Council Clinic, completion of Daateng Clinic started way back in 1997, and a host of other interventions to farmers including the donation of 60 spraying machines for distribution to all cocoa growing communities in support of their cocoa spraying exercise were good enough to favour him a second chance.

He is currently touring polling stations to gunner support for his second term bid.

Dominic Shirimori/Ghanamps.gov.gh

The Member of Parliament for Tema East Constituency, Daniel Nii Kwatei Titus-Glover says the vibrant Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) he once knew has now turned into a ‘cemetery’.

According to him, TOR which had served as a very profitable institution from time immemorial has now been redundant because people were not competent enough and as a result weakening the Ghana cedi and losing experienced hands.

The refinery without adequate and necessary capital is not able to function properly as a national asset because of debt owed some companies.

The situation has compelled TOR to lose its rich human resource.

The only solution, Mr. Titus-Glover noted is for the President to get rid of people who are working hard to collapse the refinery.

“The TOR I knew is not the TOR we have now because they are not doing their work well. Those who have become like cartels and want TOR to collapse are just joking because it won’t collapse.

“I am very disappointed and worried as to how TOR is deteriorating. It has now become a cemetery” he insisted on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem Thursday.

Mr. Titus-Glover called on President Mahama to immediately visit TOR and seek the advice of the people who work there because they are the best people who know the real problem crippling the refinery.

Adomonline.com

Deputy Minister of Education in-charge of Tertiary, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has said he was stunned by the unruly conduct of selected students of Colleges of Education in the Ashante Region yesterday.

Hon. Ablakwa in the company of Deputy Communications Minister, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, Deputy Chief of Staff, Johnny Osei Kofi and the Acting Director of the National Service Scheme, Dr Kpesah Whyte were hooted at when they congregated at the Wesley College, on a programme dubbed “Campus Connect” to address students on government policies on education and the opportunities existing for them after school.

The students who had assembled at the venue kept their cool until when Hon. Ablakwa mounted the podium to deliver his address, when suddenly they erupted into shouts compelling the minister and the delegation to abandon the sage ending the program abruptly.

The students explained that their attitude toward the delegation was born out of anger at the ministry of Education which has consistently refused to respond to their petition over their grievances.

Speaking on Peace FM’s Kokrokoo show on Thursday, Hon. Okudzeto Ablakwa  who is also the Member of Parliament for North Tongu wondered why the students were not patient enough to hear him out,  as that platform was a perfect one do have engaged the students.

“The students behaviour was quite bad but we didn’t want to invite the police and create a scene. We just entered our various cars and drove off quietly. We were not heckled. I have heard reports that I became like Usain Bolt and was running away with my colleagues,no one took to his heels, no one was pelted with stones…none of that happened”

In 2013, government took a decision to scrap allowances for trainees in the colleges of education which was a move to ensure fairness in the educational system and also resource existing colleges to enroll more students.

But the decision has been criticized by the teacher trainees arguing that the withdrawal of the allowance was adversely affecting them, and hence have insisted that government rescind its decision.

Ghanamps.gov.gh

The Member of Parliament for the Keta Constituency, Hon. Richard Quashigah has built new classroom block for Atsime community.

The four unit block with an ICT centre comes as additional block to reduce the infrastructural deficit faced by the school.

It was in fulfillment of his promise to the community to help provide comfortable place for the students to study.

At the commissioning ceremony, Mr. Richard Quashigah commended the contractor who doubles as the Chairman of the Atiavi Development Association, Mr. Gershon Pele Yakawonya for his contribution towards successful completion of the project.

According to him, though the initial project was for three unit block, it was through the benevolence of Mr. Yakawonya that he added additional classroom to be used as the ICT centre.

Mr. Quashigah said he was aware there was need for more classroom blocks but added that what has been accomplished was a good beginning.

The MP who also commissioned 10-seater toilet facility built by the people through the Atiavi Development Association lauded the self-help spirit of the people.

He said the facility which is aimed at ending open defecation in the area is in the right direction and will help keep the community away from preventable diseases like cholera.

He noted that accelerated development cannot be realized if communities do not take pragmatic steps to address some of the challenges facing them.

The MP also stated that problems confronting the area are not new but will take some time to address but he will not give up on them but keep pushing and lobbying for them to be addressed.

Dominic Shirimori/Ghanamps.gov.gh

Deputy Lands and Natural Resources Minister designate, Kwabena Mintah-Akandoh has disclosed that his effectiveness as a Dining Hall Prefect at the secondary school level buoy him into politics.

According to him, his capacity to organize the meals for the huge number of students in his school brought to the fore his organizational skills and that bolstered him to put this expertise to work in the area of politics.

“You know several demonstrations at the Secondary School level start at the Dining Hall and myknack to organize students to avert demonstrations during my time is a good thing and thought it wise to state it  on my CV ” he said.

Hon. Mintah Akandoh who is also the Member of Parliament for Juaboso in the Western Region found it very difficult to convince the Appointment Committee which he appeared before on Tuesday, why he believed serving as a dining hall should be part of his working experience.

Fallouts of his vetting has been the subject of discussion on social media platforms with lots of people wondering how he being a Dining Hall Prefect will relate to his work as deputy minister should he be approved by parliament.

However speaking on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem show on Wednesday, Hon. Mintah Akandoh stated that he remained untroubled by the fun being made of him.

“I have taken note, next time when I get the opportunity; I won’t state Dining Hall Prefect under work experience” he said.

Hon. Akandoh added that he has onced worked as a staff at the headquarters of the National Service Scheme where he acted as Assistant Director in-charge of National Voluntary Programme, National Service Scheme, Head Office, Accra.

Ghanamps.gov.gh

Mrs Freda Prempeh, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tano North, has appealed to delegates of the New Patriotic Party in the area, to retain her to enable her complete projects she has initiated in the constituency.

She said it was clear she would win election 2016, but the mandate for her to represent the constituency in parliament for the second time, depended on the delegates in the forthcoming primaries of the NPP.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency after she picked her nomination forms at Duayaw-Nkwanta last Friday, Mrs Prempeh explained that though she had initiated several projects in the constituency, a lot more are in the offing.

The MP said she was constructing several projects, including the reshaping of various roads, the extension of electricity to deprived communities, as well as the provision of potable water.

Mrs Prempeh expressed the fear that if she was not able to complete all these projects, they may be abandoned, and advised the delegates to renew her mandate.

She mentioned the extension of street lights to the Duayaw-Nkwanta market area, and a 20-seater water closet, the construction of borehole at Subonpan, and the renovation of some CHPS compounds, as some of the projects the communities had benefited.

Mrs Prempeh said she had also presented items to some institutions in the Tano North District, and evacuated a 10-year old refuse dump at Duayaw-Nkwanta.

She said she had donated two motor bikes to the District Fire Command, a water pump to the Duayaw-Nkwanta Prisons Service, two computers to the Duayaw Nkwanta Traditional Council, and GH¢ 4,000.00 and a printer to the District Directorate of Education.

Mrs Prempeh stated that she needed additional four years so that at least all the 103 polling stations would benefit from basic facilities.

She said she had also provided scholarships to 20 brilliant students in senior high schools, 100 bags of cement to Boakye Tromo Senior High School, as well as 20 desks and two laptops to the local Methodist Primary school.

Member of Parliament for Fanteakwa North, Kwabena Amankwa Asiamah has admonished President John Mahama to select in consultation with the Council of State, someone who has had no political affiliation in the past as a successor to the outgoing Chairman of the Electoral Commission, (EC) Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan.

The issue of a successor for Dr Afari Gyan has become topical as he has two months left to proceed on retirement, after having served in that capacity for over two decades.

Article 70, clause 2 of the Constitution, the President has the power to appoint a successor on the advice of the Council of State.

Speaking on Multi TV’s Badwam show on Monday, Hon. Kwabena Amankwa Asiamah stated that though there is hardly any Ghanaian who has no political interest, a future Chairman of the Electoral Commission must be one who has integrity and is acceptable to all.

He stressed the need for such a person to be appointed to help in the repair of the EC’s battered image after the 2012 general elections which was fraught with huge irregularities will be repaired

“The role of an Electoral Commissioner is like a referee in a football match, and so there’s the need to have someone who is seen to very neutral to conduct an election at any given time, and this will curb the incident of election petitions in the court as we witnessed in 2013” he said.

Meanwhile, four names have been making rounds in media reports as potential successors to Dr Afari Gyan.

They are Mr Justice Senyo Dzamefe, a Courts of Appeal Judge and Chairman of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry that probed the 2014 World Cup in Brazil; Executive Director of the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG), Dr Emmanuel Akwetey; Deputy Chairman in charge of Operations at the EC, Mr Amadu Sulley, and the Executive Director of the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), Professor Gyimah-Boadi.

Kwadwo Anim/Ghanamps.gov.gh

The Member of Parliament (NPP) for Asante-Akim North, Mr Kwadwo Baah Agyemang, has donated a four-wheel vehicle to the constituency office of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

This, he said, was meant to enhance the party’s activities in the area and it comes as preparation towards the 2016 electioneering campaign gathers momentum.

Handing the vehicle over in a ceremony at Agogo, he urged hard work, loyalty and sacrifice by the members and supporters, to help the NPP recapture political power.

They should overcome parochial and self-serving agenda and accept to put the party ahead of all other considerations.

Mr. Sam Payne, the Ashanti Regional Secretary, said there was no doubt it would greatly boost the operation of the party.

He reminded the party’s faithful to eschew complacency and internal wrangling – they should do away with needless and costly distractions.

They should rather focus on the job of helping voters to have better understanding of the party’s philosophy and why they should give their votes to the NPP.

He said it was by winning over more voters and getting the people to go out to vote, that the party would be assured of victory in 2016.

Mr. Sampson Adjei, the Constituency Chairman, receiving the keys to the vehicle, praised the MP for the gesture and said that must fire up all to contribute their quota towards the party’s growth.

New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Tema East, Nii Kwatei Titus Glover, has applauded National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Akwatia, Baba Jamal for donating to the NPP office in his constituency.

Baba Jamal who is also the deputy Minister of Employment and Social Welfare presented a computer and accessories to his opposing political party to facilitate administrative work at the office.

His gesture is seen by some political analysts as a novelty since such kind acts seldom happens in Ghanaian local politics.

Speaking on TV3’S New Day Programme on Thursday, Hon. Nii Kwatei Titus Glover was confident that this kind act will generate a more cordial relationship between the two dominant parties.

He stressed the need for a strong bond of unity among politicians to prove to the electorates that they (politicians) are not at war against themselves.

“There is no bad blood among us the politicians, I have very good friends in the NDC, I sometimes even sit with them and eat from the same bowl, and the electorates must know that when we speak against each other on political platforms it doesn’t mean we are at war, who knows the NPP may take a cue from Baba and also support the NDC in a different way” he said.

He noted that the kind gesture by Hon. Baba Jamal is very timely since it will water down any tension that may still be existing between the NPP and the NDC parties in Akwatia, after previous general elections that recorded skirmishes between he (Baba Jamal’s) supporters and that of the NPP.

“As we approach the election season soon, it is important we sensitize the electorates against electoral violence as has been recorded before in Akwatia, where persons like, then NPP Secretary Nana Ohene Ntow, and Hon. Dan Botwe were physically attacked by certain NDC supporters” he added.

Kwadwo Anim/Ghanamps.gov.gh