The former first lady was speaking after she was re-elected unopposed at the NDP Congress which took place at the Trade Fair Center in Accra on Saturday April 30.
The Congress saw the former first lady’s two daughters Amina and Yaa Asantewaa as well as former President Jerry Rawlings making an appearance to support Mrs. Rawlings.
During her acceptance speech, Mrs. Rawlings urged Ghanaians and party members to return Ghana to the principles it was built on by voting for the NDP in the upcoming elections.
“Our priority is choosing people over politics and that is what our party stands for and that is what I stand for.
“People over politics mean restoring our common sense, peaceful progress and improvement in our lives.
“Our greatest resource is the people of Ghana because they are the future of the nation.
“The diverse nature of our party welcomes all ethnic groups because we believe that we should all be together to be able to fight this battle.
“The NDP is an all inclusive party and understands that everyone has the right to help in the development of Ghana
“Ghana is a great and progressively wealthy country and yet the people are not seeing it as it should have been.
“I would urge you to please return Ghana to the principles upon which it was built.”
Story by Nana Afrane Asante | tv3network.com
Ebenezer Arkutu
The ongoing 10-day exercise which started on Thursday nationwide has registered pockets of violence and confusion.
Mr. Arkutu therefore warned, “We urge the NPP not to take our warning lightly.
“The NPP have every right to boycott the exercise and proceed to court, that is a decision we urge them to consider ahead of the exercise.
“But to seek the backdoor to stop or disrupt the exercise by their agents through violence means will be crushed.”
The constituency chairman also appealed to the security agencies to be vigilant and work hard to ensure adequate protection of all during the exercise.
“Ghana’s future and prosperity is a collective responsibility,” he charged all.
Story by Isaac Essel | 3news.com | Ghana
President John Dramani Mahama said on Thursday that he has given executive approval for the passage of the Technical University Bill.
The Bill would be laid before Parliament for passage as soon as the House re-convenes in May, President Mahama said when he inaugurated a multi-faceted lecture block constructed at the cost of ₵7.3 million at the Sunyani Polytechnic.
The facility was funded by the Ghana Education Trust Fund, and would serve as integral provision towards the conversion of the Polytechnic into a Technical University.
President Mahama explained his government had undertaken massive retooling and upgrading of infrastructure to enhance teaching, research and learning in the six Polytechnics expected to be converted into technical universities by September this year.
He said re-assessment was being done at the Cape Coast and Tamale Polytechnics, and that based on the Assessment Committee’s report, a final decision would be taken on the two institutions for their conversion or otherwise.
President Mahama said because the Bolgatanga and Wa Polytechnics could not meet the eligibility criteria set up by the technical committee and the panel of experts, the government would undertake a fast track upgrading of infrastructure for their conversion when they meet the criteria.
He added that faculty upgrade would also be done at the two Polytechnics through the offering of scholarships so that lecturers could improve on their qualifications as part of the eligibility criteria for the conversion into technical universities.
President Mahama expressed appreciation to policymakers, academia, students and relevant stakeholders for the immense work done on the transformation process to convert the nation’s Polytechnics to technical universities.
The Vice Rector of the Sunyani Polytechnic, Dr Kwadwo Adinkra Appiah said the Polytechnic was in urgent need of a large capacity-seater bus for industrial and field work and appealed to the President to assist in that regard.
He appealed for the construction of a pedestrian footbridge across the Sunyani-Kumasi highway at the frontage of the Polytechnic to curb the incidence of pedestrian knockdowns.
Dr Appiah commended President Mahama for the early completion of the block, saying it would reduce pressure on the existing few lecture halls and create an opportunity for more students to gain admission into the Polytechnic.
Source: GNA | Ghana 
Former President Jerry John Rawlings arrived to a rousing welcome halfway through the ongoing National Democratic Party congress at the Trade Fair Centre in Accra.
Meanwhile, hundreds of party supporters and delegates are at the Trade Fair Centre to elect national executives and the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Party.
The wife of the former President Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings is going unopposed for the second time as the NDP’s flagbearer.
November 7 has been proposed for the 2016 general elections.
Story by Nana Afrane Asante | 3news.com
Two daughters of former President Rawlings Amina and Yaa Asantewaa Rawlings have pledged their support to former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings’s presidential ambition.
Speaking exclusively to TV3’s Jonathan Adams at the congress venue, Amina and Yaa Asantewaa confirmed their full support for their mother.
“You would do the same for your mother if you found yourself in the same situation.
“We are here to give her our full support as everybody else would have done,” she said.
Interestingly, their other sister Dr. Zanetor Rawlings is still keeping faith with the National Democratic Congress, a party founded by her father. She is however embroiled in a legal tussle over her election as NDC parliamentary nominee for Klottey Korle constituency in the Greater Accra Region.
The political affiliation of their only brother Kimathi Rawlings is unknown.
Story by Nana Afrane Asante | 3news.com | Ghana
Rescuers in the Kenyan capital Nairobi are searching for people feared trapped after the collapse of a residential building in heavy rain.
At least seven people are known to have died, and 121 people rescued, including a baby on Saturday morning.
The Red Cross criticised “chaotic scenes” as rescuers arrived. It is unclear how many people are trapped.
There are conflicting reports as to whether the building had six or seven storeys.
The rainfall has caused landslides, washed away houses and flooded roads. Police said 14 people died in the Nairobi rains, including those in the collapse. Another four died when a wall toppled over.
Steven Oundo, the chair of Kenya’s National Construction Authority, told KTN there would be an investigation into whether the building had a certificate allowing people to live inside.
“The building went down during the heavy rains, but we still want to establish if all the procedures were followed when it was constructed,” Nairobi’s deputy governor Jonathan Mueke told reporters at the scene.
He said the building, which reports in Nairobi said was built two years ago, did not have planning permission.
Kenya’s KTN network said on Saturday morning that a nearby building was being evacuated in case it too collapsed. Across the city, more than 800 homes were affected by the flooding, 
Workers of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) are moving forward with plans to break away from two labor unions due to what they describe as the lack of support from the unions to their welfare and development at COCOBOD.
The unions are the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) and the Ghana Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU).
“We are registering our own labour union to ensure that we provide the needed welfare support to the staff of COCOBOD and other workers in the cocoa industry,” the Chairman of the Supreme Consultative Council (SCC) of the COCOBOD, Idris Hassan said at a press conference.
The press conference was held to rebut allegations made by the ICU and GAWU that staffs of the COCOBOD were being victimized by the Chief Executive Officer of the board, Dr Stephen Opuni Kwame to join the new union.
The ICU and GAWU were reported to have said that COCOBOD staff that refused to withdraw their membership with them were placed on transfers as a punishment.
“Those who have questioned the credibility and the rationale behind this in-house union have been victimized through transfers from unit to unit and from one region to another, some within one month, having been transferred twice for no apparent reason, and this affected union leaders and other clerical staff who resisted the union busting tactics of the Chief Executive,” ICU and GAWU said in their joint press conference.
However, Hassan said the SCC has received more than 4,000 applications from staff of COCOBOD who have independently and willingly decided to withdraw their membership.
“ICU and GAWU are reacting because they know they will lose membership and substantial amount of revenue from our members,” he said.
“We are going to the Chief Labour Officer to ensure that the union is certified as a union of the cocoa industry to bring equity in the welfare of our members.
“We are going to bring a difference in trade unions in the country, where dynamism is celebrated.
“The labour act allows two or more people to form or join a union of their choice and so workers of the cocoa industry have the right to join a union of their choice.”
The ICU had filed a suit at the human rights court to challenge the decision of members of the COCOBOD Union Workers to leave ICU and form a union.
But the ruling by the court stated that the COCOBOD workers could not be prevented from forming their own union.
“The irony in this situation is that the ICU itself broke away from the Trade Union Congress (TUC), so why are they resisting a similar event now?” Hassan asked.
Nii Okai Tetteh | Onua FM | 3news.com 
The Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) and the General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) have called on the government to investigate management of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) over alleged corrupt practices.
The founder and leader of the National Democratic Party – NDP, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings would be running unopposed for the flagbearer slot of the party at its congress which kicks off today.