Month: February 2016

Turkish President, HE Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, arrives in Accra today [Monday], for a two-day official visit.

Accompanied by his wife and over 150 business and government officials, President Erdoğan will hold talks with President John Dramani Mahama at the Flagstaff House.

The two leaders will hold a joint press conference, and also address a Business Forum.

President Erdoğan will also join President Mahama to cut sod for the official commencement of work on a new terminal building at the Kotoka International Airport.

President Mahama and his wife, Lordina, will host an Official State Luncheon in honour of President Erdoğan and his wife at the State Banquet Hall.

The Turkish leader will also hold discussions with the Speaker of Parliament and address the House, before visiting the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park with his wife.

His visit follows a 2013 visit to Ankara and Istanbul by President John Dramani Mahama and an earlier 2011 visit by former Turkish President, HE Abdullah Gül.

The Turkish First lady, HE Emine Erdoğan will also hold discussions with HE Nana Dr. Lordina Dramani Mahama and also visit the Osu Children’s Home. – Flagstaff House

Ghanamps.gov.gh

The Public Affairs Directorate of Parliament has denied an assertion by the office of the New Patriotic Party’s Flagbearer Nana Akufo Addo that he was not officially invited to Thursday’s State of the Nation event.

According to the Acting Director of the Directorate, Kate Addo, an official invitation was extended to Nana Akufo Addo which was received by a lady named Mavis who works at the Flagbearer’s office.

President John Mahama on Thursday delivered his last state of the nation address in parliament.

It has been the practice over the years for all diplomats and dignitaries in the country to be invited for the ceremony which is held in parliament. All presidential candidates of political parties in the country have, since time immemorial, received invitation to the address.

But Nana Akufo Addo was conspicuously absent from this year’s event much to the surprise of many political watchers.

Nana Akufo Addo’s office in response to enquiries earlier revealed to Kasapa News that neither did the State Protocol Directorate nor Parliament House invite the former attorney general for this year’s State of the Nation address.

But in a swift reaction, Madam Kate Addo expressed surprise at the claims by the office of the veteran politician.

“We sent an invitation to him and was received by a lady staff of Nana Akufo Addo’s office by name Mavis. It was surprising to note that Nana Akufo Addo could not show up at the all important event as this was not the first time he had been invited” she noted.

Kate Addo indicated that the Acting National Chairman of the NPP, Freddie Blay was equally invited to the event and acknowledged receipt.

Ghanamps.gov.gh

Parliament has by consensus approved the 7 nomination of president John Dramani Mahama for ministerial appointments.

This follows a recommendation by the appointment Committee to the House to approve the nominees.

The seven nominees are Prosper Douglas Bani- Minister Designate for the Interior, Hon. Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpuye (MP)- Minister Designate for Youth & Sports, John Alexander Ackon- Minister Designate for the Ashanti Region, Hon. Kweku Ricketts Hagan (MP)- Minister Designate for the Central Region, Mavis Ama Frimpong- Minister Designate for the Eastern Region, Abdallah Abubakari- Minister Designate for the Northern Region, Hon. Albert Abongo (MP)- Minister Designate for the Upper East Region.

However, the committee noted that the nominees were not diligent enough in the preparation of their CV’s.

Chairman of the Committee, Ebo Barto-Oduro presenting his report to Members at a plenary sittinng said there were too many gaps, overlaps and seeming conflict in the CVs submitted by the nominees.

He urged the nominees to exercise greater diligence in their respective endeavours.

President John Mahama has reiterated his government’s commitment not to overspend its budget this year.

According to him, he is dedicated to ensuring that his administration exercises strict fiscal discipline even as Ghana goes to the polls in November.

Over the years governments have overspent their budget leaving huge deficits after election years, as they go out of the budget to undertake projects mainly to sway the electorates into voting for them.

But President Mahama says this election year (2016) will be a clear departure from what has unfortunately became the norm for various governments until now.

“The bane of our economic management has been the cyclical huge election year budget deficit. It is an unfavorable narrative for which Ghana has unfortunately become famous. I have assured the nation and our partners that my administration will exercise strict fiscal discipline in this election year, in order that we can also transform this negative narrative of our country”.

He added: “This year Ghana is expected to achieve a budget deficit as low as 5.3 % of GDP under the IMF extended credit facility which provides a tighter fiscal space than originally anticipated. It is within this context that we must practice an even greater degree of fiscal prudence in 2016”.

Finance Minister Seth Terkper has revealed that DKM Microfinance Company Limited invested GH₵77 million of investors’ deposits into personal businesses and subsidiaries belonging to managers of the firm.

Terkper made this known when he appeared before Parliament on Tuesday to answer questions on the operations of some rogue microfinance companies.

The money is suspected to have been diverted into companies such as DKM Mining Ltd, DKM Transport Ltd and DKM Cement Depot Ltd.

According to Terkper, DKM microfinance was registered as a savings and loans company in 2013 but violated regulations of the Bank of Ghana which eventually led to the closure of the popular firm in the Brong Ahafo region.

A report by the Financial Intelligence Centre revealed that the company collected ₵115.2 million from customers but had only ₵10.8 million in its accounts at the time of investigations.

After customers complained of the firm’s inability to pay their claims, the Bank of Ghana gave DKM a month to raise GHc50 million in addition to the GHS10.7 million the firm had in its vault, so it could be cleared to resume operations and pay its investors their due principals and accrued interests.

But DKM was unable to do so, despite an extension of the grace period accorded it by the Central Bank.

The CEO of DKM was arrested by the BNI last year after he was sued by a client but he was later granted bail.

Hundreds of clients affected by the saga recently ransacked the company’s premises to seize properties in order to offset their debts.

Member of Parliament for Manhyia South, Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh a.k.a Napo has said the Foreign Affairs Minister, Hannah Tetteh only spoke English to Parliament and was not prepared to open up when she appeared before the House to answer questions over the housing of two ex Guatanamo Bay detainees in Ghana.

According to him, the Minister failed to answer several probing questions and give details of the agreement on the two terrorist much to the disappointment of Members of Parliament.

Hon. Hannah Tetteh who was in Parliament to brief the House in a closed door meeting sitting on Friday stated that Ghana had an ‘agreement’ with the United States to allow the former to accommodate two former detainees of the Guantanamo Bay Maximum Security establishment.

Her invitation to the August House was spurred by concerns from Members from both sides of the legislature over the Gitmo detainees’ acceptance into the country without their knowledge.

The Minister came to the House with a prepared document and restricted herself as she was not prepared to open up.

According to her, she was and is still not privy to the discussions that have gone on between President Mahama and the US Government.

On Wednesday, January 6, 2016, the Foreign Affairs Minister announced that Ghana has accepted a plea from the International Criminal Tribunal to provide shelter for two cleared terrorist suspects of Yemeni origin who were detained in Guantanamo Bay prison by US authorities.

The two were Khalid Mohammed Salih al-Dhuby and Mahmmoud Omar Mohammed Bin Atef.

The announcement sparked uproar among the citizenry as the two ex detainees were feared to be a security threat to the country. The brouhaha caused the Minister to be hauled before the House to give the Legislators a briefing.

However speaking to Joy News, Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh stated that he was scandalized by the non disclosure strategy adopted by Hon. Tetteh.

“She never spoke about the Rwandese, never spoke Syrians who are also in town, neither did she speak about the Yemenese who are in Ghana with fake passports and Visas neither did she speak about the missing person who was bound for Abidjan who got lost at Kotoka International Airport. These are all security threats to our nation. Obviously there was never a National Security Council meeting concerning these Rwandese”.

He added: “I’m scandalized about what she didn’t say. She said nothing to Parliament except English. She said nothing, nothing, never in her statement did she answer the question of the number of refugees who are here as deportees, she never told us that Ghana had been turned into a refugee transit cell.

She never told us how the President alone could have negotiated such an agreement, she never told us who is going to look after these people and how much it was going to cost the nation, she dint tell us by what travel document they entered the country and what type of visas they are on. It was only English she spoke to Parliament.

By: Ghanamps.gov.gh

Ghana had an ‘agreement’ with the United States to allow the former to accommodate two former detainees of the Guantanamo Bay Maximum Security establishment.

A member of Parliament who witnessed a session in Ghana’s Parliament Friday, which saw Foreign Affairs Minister Hanna Tetteh briefing the House on the matter, told Ghanamps.gov.gh.

Tetteh was on the floor of Parliament to brief Members in a closed door meeting over the circumstances that led to Ghana accepting the two ex detainees into its fold.

Her invitation to the August House was spurred by concerns from Members from both sides of the legislature over the Gitmo detainees’ acceptance into the country without their knowledge.

Snippets of information picked from the meeting indicates that Madam Tetteh was not prepared to open up.

Madam Tetteh came to the House with a prepared document and restricted herself to that the entire period.

Hannah Tetteh, has admitted that there is an agreement between Ghana and the US Government over the ex GTMO detainees but declined to give details of the said agreement.

According to her, she was and is still not privy to the discussions that have gone on between President Mahama and the US Government.

She said the matter was even not discussed at the national security level and therefore information regarding the circumstances that led to the two ex GTMO detainees are scanty.

On Wednesday, January 6, 2016, the Foreign Affairs Minister announced that Ghana has accepted a plea from the International Criminal Tribunal to provide shelter for two cleared terrorist suspects of Yemeni origin who were detained in Guantanamo Bay prison by US authorities.

The two were Khalid Mohammed Salih al-Dhuby and Mahmmoud Omar Mohammed Bin Atef.

According to Madam Hannah Tetteh, the two Gitmo detainees were unable to “return to Yemen at the moment and we have indicated our readiness to accept them for a period of two years after which they may leave the country”.

That aside, the Ministry said it had also agreed to provide humanitarian assistance and refuge to some persons from Rwanda, Yemen and Syria.

Ever since the announcement, a cross section of the Ghanaian public has criticized the government for putting the country’s security at risk.

Concerns have also been raised as to the actual number of detainees the country has admitted into its fold.

“I have received a paper indicating that fifteen (15) more of the detainees will be following. That means Ghana is going to host 17 of these detainees. So, it is important that we get to know whether their arrival will benefit Ghana. In the context of good governance, information is very vital. We call it answerability – people need to be accountable”, argued Dr. Nana Ato Arthur, MP for Komenda-Edina-Eguafo.

Late Joseph Boakye Danquah’s alleged killer has been charged with murder at a court hearing in Accra.

The suspect, Daniel Asiedu, 19 single-handedly broke through the bedroom of the MP using a ladder and committed the horrendous crime, according to the Police charge sheet.

“…The suspect picked a ladder in the house and climbed to the porch of the top floor and entered the bedroom through the window while the deceased was sleeping. The suspect began to search the room but the deceased woke up and held him.

“He stabbed the deceased on the right above the breast. Deceased held the knife and shouted for help but no one came. The suspect pulled the knife through the deceased hand creating a deep cut in his palm. The deceased who was bleeding profusely fell on the floor by his bed helpless and the suspect stabbed him again in his right chest below the breast,” portions of the charge sheet read.

An Accra Magistrate court presided over by his Lordship Steven Owusu remanded him into police custody and he’s billed to reappear in court March 1.

The deceased MP was stabbed to death at his Shiashie residence Tuesday dawn, February 9, 2016.