Author: Akumaa GhanaMPs

Member of Parliament for the Efutu constituency, Alex Markin, has criticized statements by Rlg Communications Limited instructing social commentators to desist from making comments considered as vilifying against them or face legal action.

According to him, “Rlg as a company, cannot force the general public to desist from commenting on the issue at hand.”

Rlg Communications (Ghana) Limited and its sister companies within AGAMS Holdings, in a statement on Wednesday cautioned media houses and social commentators to desist from vilifying them.

Several media reports, according to the statement had implicated the company in the infamous Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA) report.

Though government is yet to make public the content of the report, section of the report are believed to have been leaked into the public domain and have so far been perceived as ‘leaked reports’.

Hon Markin in an interview with Citi News stated that it was imperative for Rlg Company Limited to write to the presidency and request for a copy of the report.

“Since the report was an audit report, it would be difficult for the final draft to be presented to the company now… The problem is not with the report but a leakage of the report,” he reiterated.

He stressed the need for government to release the report in order to facilitate necessary reviews in the future.

Citifmonline.com

New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Ayawaso West Wuogon has hailed the flagbearer of the party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as a personification of democracy.

Emmanuel Kwabena Agyarko intimated that Nana Addo’s decision not to resort to violence but to challenge the 2012 presidential elections in court has set the precedence and has opened up the frontiers of democracy in Africa.

He was reacting to claims that Nana Akufo-Addo leader of the petitioners challenging the legitimacy of President John Mahama will not accept the final verdict of the Supreme Court.

The NPP presidential candidate in the 2012 elections, his running mate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, and party Chairman, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey claim the elections were marred with massive irregularities.

They are therefore praying the court to annul some three million votes and declare Nana Akufo-Addo winner of the elections.

Some critics fear the NPP will not accept the verdict of the judges.

But on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme Wednesday, Kwabena Agyarko described such allegations as frivolous which must be treated with the contempt it deserves.

According to him, Nana Akufo-Addo “eats and breaths democracy” and is ever ready to accept any verdict of the Supreme Court.

The Ayawaso West Wuogon MP stated that the NPP leader in the 1980’s and early 90’s was among the leaders who fought for Ghana’s democracy.

He cited how Akufo-Addo played a leading role in fighting for human rights during the PNDC era, embarked on street protests that led to the dissolution of military rule and eventually the establishment of the 4th Republic as a testament of Nana Addo’s democratic credentials.

Kwabena Agyarko said Akufo-Addo’s peaceful approach to resolving Ghana’s political deadlock and his considerable past track record cannot be underestimated therefore he [Nana] will not compromise the country’s peace for anything in the world.

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Bosomtwe constituency Mr Simon Osei-Mensah has accused the government of putting the economy on the path of ruin.

He cited, what he termed, unmatched corruption and mismanagement, and said the economy was in real danger of being completely run down.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Kumasi, the MP, a professional banker, called for decisive measures to tackle official corruption, clean up the mess and restore sanity.

He said things were not looking pretty good and the handlers of the economy would have to act quickly to fix it.

He said it was curious that the national debt, which stood at GH¢9.00 billion in year 2008 had bloated to GH¢39 billion, just within a space of five years.

It becomes even more curious when the government has nothing to show for this – cannot pinpoint what the money was used for.”

Mr Osei-Mensah asked that the Economic Management Team should “sit up and have a good look at the way things are being done”, saying “the reckless spending pattern – the haemorrhage, must stop.”

He also underlined the need to set up a technical committee to do a thorough assessment of the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) to ensure its smooth implementation.

He said everything must be done to prevent a situation where the country might not be able to raise enough revenue to pay workers.

GNA

Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a Deputy Minister of Education, has urged leaders of students’ unions to ensure peace on their campuses during and after the Supreme Court verdict on the Election 2012 petition.

He appealed to active political groupings on campuses not to allow themselves to be swayed by any politician or political party after the Supreme Court verdict to cause mayhem and destruction.

“Whichever way the verdict goes, we are using this opportunity to appeal to you to ensure that the campuses are not destabilize and that the conduct of students is most descent and peaceful,” he added.

Mr Okudzeto Ablakwa said this at a meeting the Ministry had with leaders of students’ unions from both public and private tertiary institutions in Accra.

He appealed to the student leaders not to lend themselves to any political party to mobilize students for any public manifestation.

The meeting, the first, was to create a platform for engagement with students’ leaders to find out their needs and how they could come together as partners to solve the various problems in the education sector.

The Deputy Minister urged the leaders to be of best behavior and to serve as role models for others to follow as the student body would look upon them after the judgment.

“Put up your best attitude on campuses to ensure that there is peace for you to complete your education,” he added.

Mr Okudzeto Ablakwa said as a Ministry they thought that the era where few students’ unions got the opportunity to interact with government officials were a thing of the past.

He expressed the hope that the meeting would be an annual affair to create the platform for productive interactions with unions of tertiary institutions.

“We hope to institutionalize the engagement to enable you to interact with officials from the Ministry and other educational stakeholders at the beginning of every semester as a means of finding lasting solutions to major problems facing students on their various campuses,” he said.

He said “As a government we see students’ leaders as partners to move Ghana’s education forward and we want to collaborate with you for your corporation in addressing your concerns on your various campuses.

“As a former students’ leader, I’m privy to the frustrations and challenges of students and I pledge my commitment to be a willing students’ Ambassador to ensure that your concerns are addressed,” he said.

On the current UTAG strike, Mr Okudzeto Ablakwa said the first cheques for the premium had already been disbursed and negotiations on books and research allowances were on-going with Fair Wages Commission and until the negotiation had been concluded, government would not know how much to pay them.

“Negotiations have to be concluded and agreements reached on what to pay before government can come in,” he said and appealed to the striking lecturers to call-off the strike in order not to destabilize the 2014 academic year.

The students’ leaders appealed to government to provide the various campuses with infrastructure to make learning and teaching less stressful.

They also appealed to the government to intervene with Universities’ Authorities to review their school fees downwards to lift the burden on both students and parents.

GNA