Category: General

The first witness at the center of the IGP leaked tape Chief Bugri Naabu maintains that he never lied before the Ad Hoc Committee, and he has been vindicated by the evidence made available to the Committee.

According to him he does not regret recording his interaction with some senior police officers in the country who were purported to be planning the sacking of the Inspector General of Police Dr. George Akufo Dampare.

The former Northern Regional chairman of the NPP and first witness in the IGP leaked tape saga noted that, contrary to the testimonies given by the other accused witnesses before the committee, the contents in the leaked audio are genuine and completely implicates the officers mentioned therein.

On Thursday, October 11, 2023, the committee discharged all witnesses in order to analyze the evidence for drafting its final report for onward submission to plenary.

Mr. Bugri Naabu spoke after he was discharged by the committee and added to have that kind of thing going on in the police service under the current administration it was dangerous so he submitted the tape to the President.

He noted that he does not regret doing what he did by recording them.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

President of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Rt. Hon Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin at the opening of the 66th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Accra Ghana has noted that the nation feels a sense of accomplishment hosting the event.

According to him our experimentation of parliamentary democracy is now full-blown feature of our governance architecture.

This year, we celebrate 30 years of stable parliamentary democracy, ours is a stable democracy in a sub-region that has in recent times developed notoriety for reversing and back sliding on its democratic journey, he stated.

According to him, Parliaments in this sub-region and in Africa in general must try to understand the reasons for the loss of trust and confidence in the leadership of democratic processes and institutions that has characterized the recent spate of military incursions into governance.

We should be able to pick the signals should there be any, and steer our democracies away from such incidents.
High level corruption, nepotism, neglect of the hopes and aspirations of the electorates in pursuit of personal and parochial interests, and policies that only deepen poverty and deprivation levels, whilst supporting ostentation among the political elite would only generate mistrust among the electorates.

That explains why in some of our countries, election into public offices has become highly transactional between candidates and voters, with instant personal gratification as the currency.

This only serves to accentuate the cycle of mistrust that is fueling the dissatisfaction with political leadership and institutions in the sub-region.

“Distinguished delegates let’s encourage ourselves to endeavor to restore dignity to elected offices and to rebuild trust and confidence in democratic processes and institutions. Above all, let us enjoy not just the content of this conference, but also the burgeoning democracy that Ghana represents, the warmth and hospitality, and the sights and sounds of this country, he added.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

The Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee James Klutse-Avedzi has cautioned that the Committee may no longer accept relevant documents to authenticate expenditures at Committee Hearings.

According to the Chairman, any institution that does not provide documents to support their expenditure during the auditing should prepare to pay the money involved when the Auditor-General finally issues its report and the Committee starts to consider it at the various regions.

Mr. Klutse-Avedzi sounded this warning at the on-going public hearing of the Public Accounts Committee in Ho, Volta Region to consider the Auditor-General’s Report on the Management and Utilisation of District Assemblies Common Fund and Other Statutory Funds for the year ended 31st December, 2021 ( Greater – Accra Region – DACF), Accounts of District Assemblies (IGF) ( All MMDAs in the Greater-Accra Region cited in the two Reports and the Pre-Tertiary Education Institutions for the Financial Year ended 31st December, 2021; (Greater Accra Region- SHSs) including all Colleges of Education cited in the tertiary education Institutions for the year ended 31st December, 2021.

Regulation 78 of the Public Financial Management (PFM) Regulations 2019 states that “Principal Spending Officer of a covered entity is personally responsible for ensuring in respect of each payment of the covered entity that evidence of services received, certificate of work done and any other supporting documents exits”.

Contrary to the above stated Regulation, the 2021 Reports of the Auditor-General on the DACF indicates that seven Assemblies made total payments of GHc 473,246.15 on 31 payment vouchers which were not supported with the relevant expenditure documents to authenticate the expenditure.

However, when these Assemblies appeared before the Committee, they were able to produce those relevant documents to support the payment of their expenditures.

It was based on these reoccurring situations at the Assemblies in almost all the Regions that made the Chairman of the Committee to caution the Assemblies that the Committee would no longer tolerate the breaching of Regulations in the near future.

The Seven Assemblies were Ada West District, Ablekuma Central Municipal, Ledzokuku Municipal, Ayawaso North Municipal, Accra Metropolitan, Shai -Osudoku District and Ablekuma North Municipal.

Other irregularities that were cited against invited Assemblies were Payments without the use of GIFMIS, Over Utilisation of DACF on recurrent expenditure, Misapplication of DACF, Payment for unexecuted portions of contracts, Purchase of residential bungalow without valid contracts among others.

Ga Central, Kpone, Korle-Klottey, Krowor, La Dadekotopon, Ledzokuku, Ayawaso West and Ningo Prampram also appeared before the Committee.

In relation to the Report on Pre-Tertiary Education Institutions for the Financial year ended 31st December 2021, the schools in the Greater Accra Region that appeared before the Committee were Accra Academy SHS, Accra High SHS, Achimota Basic School (Boarding), Ashaiman Tech. Institute, Kpone Community SHS, Kwabenya Community SHS, Methodist Day SHS, PRESEC Legon, Tema SHS, Tema Technical Inst., Wesley Grammer and West Africa SHS.

Ghanamps.com

The Minority in Parliament has rescheduled its Tuesday, September 5, 2023 protest to the head office of Bank of Ghana with civil society organisations as a result of a court proceeding held on Tuesday, September 4, 2023.

The court was unable to give an instant ruling due to the weight of a preliminary legal objections raised by the lawyers of the Minority in Parliament and requested the indulgence of the Minority to give its ruling on Friday, September 8, 2023.

In a statement issued by the Minority Leader, Dr Atto Forson indicated that the route the Minority wants to take remain unchanged, as the objections by the Minority was as a result of the incompetent filed in court by the Ghana Police Service seeking to restrain the protest along the routes proposed by the Minority and its broad coalition of civil society group.

“As law-abiding citizens respectful of the judiciary, we have decided to reschedule our protest taking into consideration these developments”.

Again, the protest march is to call for the resignation of Governor Ernest Addison and his two deputies as a result of their gross mismanagement of the Central Bank which has occasioned an unprecedented loss of GHc 60.8 billion and a negative equity of GHc 55.1billon. Illegal printing of over GHc 80 billion and the mindset of this crisis, this reckless team is building a head office at the cost of over two hundred-fifty million when the public procurement authority initially recommended eighty-one million dollars.

The statement called on Ghanaians to remain resolute in the fight to protect the constitutional right to demonstrate and hereby assure them that the march to the Bank of Ghana Head office will certainly take place next week Tuesday.

Ghanamps.com

The former director general (technical) of the Ghana Police Service, COP George Alex Mensah, has said morale is low within the police service now because most of the personnel are unhappy with the management style of the Inspector General of Police George Akuffo Dampare.

Appearing before a parliamentary committee of enquiry on Thursday (31 August), COP Mensah said although IGP Dampare is a poor manager, he is not plotting to get him out of office.

The committee is investigating a leaked tape concerning discussions about the possible removal of the IGP by three police officers and the former northern regional chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) Daniel Bugri Naabu.

“Dampare is not managing the police service well and the majority of police officers are not happy,” COP Mensah told the committee members. “You can call the police officers underground and they will tell you.”

“The tape that I heard today, there are so many things in that tape that I don’t remember and there are so many things that we discussed that are not on the tape. I’ve met Bugri Naabu   four times and we have discussed many things some of them private things that I am not ready to discuss in public

“The tape that I heard today, there are so many things in that tape that I don’t remember and there are so many things that we discussed that are not on the tape. I’ve met Bugri Naabu   four times and we have discussed many things some of them private things that I am not ready to discuss in public.

Ghanamps.com

At the end of the crunch meeting of ECOWAS Chiefs of defense staff in Accra – Ghana, the Commissioner of Political Affairs, Peace and Security of ECOWAS, Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah has declared that the standby force is ready for deployment anytime the need be.

The Commissioner in his declaration affirmed that the planning mission which started on a second of August has ended, and the various states have agreed and fine-tune what would be required of the intervention which includes:

• The strategic based capacity;

• What the strategic objectives are;

• Equipment needed; and

• Commitment of member states which was very encouraging.

He added that all member states gathered at the meeting committed elements, their own equipment, and their own resources to undertake the mission.

“So I tell you, we’re ready to go anytime the order is given. The d-day is also decided which we’re not going to disclose”.

ECOWAS, he noted, is a rule based organization and that member states have signed on to certain obligations; thus they cede part of their sovereignty to the collective good of the people, including their national constitutions which they must not flout, but the junta in Niger has flouted that.

He asserts that ECOWAS is not against the republic of Niger; adding that all there is to their efforts is to ensure that Niger goes back to rule-based governance as a sister country.

The Commissioner stressed that there would be no more meetings of the chiefs of defense staff; and if it would be then it would probably be in the course of the cooperation if there is the need to adjust the cooperation.

Meanwhile, he reaffirmed that all the options are still on the table including mediation which they are still pursuing. And if the Junta responds positively to the requests of the Authority of heads of states and government there would be no need to deploy the military.

Military intervention, he said, is not their preferred option; but because of the impediments the junta keeps putting in the way for peaceful settlements for restoration of constitutional order, it remains an option to explore.

“All we’re saying is that, we’re not going to engage in endless dialogue; it must be fruitful and its objective must be the restoration of constitutional era in the shortest possible time.”

Their demands he stressed include the immediate release of the legitimate president of the Republic of Niger H.E Mohammed Bazour and his family, and members of his government who are being held hostage; and restoration of constitutional order in Niger.

Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah debunked any assertion that ECOWAS is being pushed by external forces to take this action indicating that this is their own decision.

Dominic Shirimori/Ghanamps.com

The Commissioner of Political Affairs, Peace and Security of the ECOWAS Commission, Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah has assured the sub-region that ECOWAS is still open to dialogue and diplomatic resolution of political crisis in Niger with the aim to restoring the country to constitutional rule.

That notwithstanding military intervention remains on the table when push comes to shove.

“Let no one be in doubt that if everything else fails, the valiant forces of West Africa, both the military and the civilian component are ready to answer to the call on duty”.

The Commissioner who was addressing the ECOWAS Chiefs of Defence Staff at the opening of their two days crunch meeting in Accra, Ghana in furtherance to the directives of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government in relation to the Political Situation in the Republic of Niger said the Junta is playing ‘cat and mouse’ with the community; adding that they have flouted their own constitution that forbids military intentions into politics, and have flouted ECOWAS instruments among others.

For him, it is untenable when these juntas cite insecurity as one of the reasons for their actions; and wondered if their action is any peaceful?

He is unhappy that the military authorities in Niger failed to respond positively to ECOWAS diplomatic efforts; stating that the delegation sent on 3rd August 2023 by the Chair of the ECOWAS Authority, H.E Bota Ahmed Tinubu, and led by General Abdulsalami A. Abubakar (Rtd ), former Head of State of Nigeria, was confined to the Diori Hamani airport in Niamey under the pretext of an explosive security situation hostile to ECOWAS, where they met a CNSP delegation led by General Salaou BARMOU.

“A joint ECOWAS, AU and UN diplomatic mission deployed on 8″ August 2023 to find a peaceful resolution to the crisis was aborted following a communication from the CNSP indicating their unavailability to receive the mission. On the other hand, the CNSP received a joint Malt-Burkina Faso delegation on 7” August 2023”, he added.

He condemned moves taken by the junta to consolidate their grip on power, including the appointment of members of the CNSP and new chiefs in the security sector. “Similarly, the military authorities have dismissed several officials who expressed their support for President Mohamed Bazoum and called for his reinstatement.

More importantly, the military authorities have appointed Mr. Ali Lamine Zeine, previously Africa Development Bank (AfDOB) Representative in Chad and former Finance Minister of Niger, as Transition Prime Minister on 7™ August 2023 to lead a Transition Government.”

According to him, the military authorities in Niger appear to remain defiant, and to be copying from the playbook of their fellow putschist countries in Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali, despite the Authority’s efforts towards a peaceful solution to the crisis as we all wish.

Ghanamps.com

The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta on Monday, July 31, 2023 presented the mid-year budget review to Parliament.

After the confusion that engulfed the date the budget was supposed to be presented from July 25, 2023 to July 27, 2023, it was finally done on Monday, July 31, 2023.

In his presentation the sector Minister noted that Ghana is currently making modest gains in turning the economy around after experiencing severe economic hardship last year.

He described 2022 as the worst year for him as a Finance Minister, and then went ahead to disclose that government is committed to pursuing a robust growth strategy within the country’s limited fiscal space and fiscal consolidation programme to ensure an economic boom.

Ghanamps.com

The Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has chided the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta for rather deepening the economic woes of Ghanaians.

According to him, it cannot be true that he (Finance Minister) has turned the corner relative to the economic challenges the country is plunged into as he sort to tell the country during his Mid-Year Budget Review Presentation.
According to the Minority Leader, the Finance Minister’s poor policies and programmes have been the product of these hardships in the country.

He made this comments at a media engagement with members of the Parliamentary Press corps after the Finance Minister presented the Mid-Year Budget review for 2023.

“It is wrong for our Minister responsible for Finance to say he has successfully turned the corner. That can never be the case. What he has successfully done is that he has deepened the woes of the ordinary Ghanaian”.

This, he said is evident in the revised Economic Growth from 2.8% of GDP to 1.5% of GDP which clearly shows that the economy is contracting and declining which in effect would affect jobs and the welfare of the ordinary Ghanaian.
He asserts that the Economy is going down and down to the extent that GDP growth would be 1.5% by the end of 2023.

“Even this, I have my doubt because looking at all that is happening, if care is not taken, we would struggle to see economic growth above 1 percent.

The Finance Minister, he said promised in the 2023 Budget Statement not to borrow from the Domestic market (Zero Financing from the Domestic Market). “Sadly, today, he has informed us that he has gone ahead without parliamentary approval and has borrowed from the T-Bill Market an amount of 5.5 billion Ghana Cedis”.

More worrying, he said is the fact that the Finance serve notice he would be borrowing 41.3 billion Ghana Cedis before the year ends.

This is why inflation keeps going up and rising, the reason the Central Bank is busily increasing Monitory Policy Rate, and lending rate is still going up.

He also served a bleak future inflation by the close of the year.

Ghanamps.com

Former Member of Parliament for Evalue Ajomoro Gwira constituency Catherine Abelema Afeku has donated assorted emergency relief items to the victims of affected communities in the area.

The items included bags of pure water, bags of rice, boxes of biscuit, crates of assorted drinks, street bulbs and a certain amount for the transportation of items to distant communities.

A two day tour took Madam Catherine to Ahunyame in Nzema East municipality and other affected communities to distribute the items to them, some community leaders from distant areas also received the items on behalf of their communities.

Unusually heavy downpour this year has caused major devastation in parts of the constituency leading to the destruction of properties worth millions of cedis and Residents rendered homeless.

Affected communities include: Gwira Ashiem, Ampanzee, Sentum, Wiaso, Anibile, Ebokro, Gwira Ainyinase, Ahunyame, Adelekezo, Akosonu, kukuavile, Asowa and Bamiakor.

She took the opportunity to appeal to national disaster management Organization (NADMO) to expedite action to assist the affected communities

Irene Kwakye/Ghanamps.com