CPP opens nominations today
he Convention People’s Party (CPP) is opening nominations today, Monday, December 28, for interested members to contest its presidential and parliamentary primaries slated for next year.
The political party to gain independence for Ghana will elect its 2016 candidates – for the general and parliamentary elections – at a congress, scheduled tentatively for January.
Aspirants have 14 days within which to pick forms to contest the primaries.
Former Presidential Candidate Dr Abu Sakara Forster is expected to pick forms within the period to lead the party for a second time in elections.
Other members who have expressed interest to contest the presidential primary are former chair and Member of Parliament, Samia Yaba Nkrumah, who is also daughter of the Founder of the party, and legal practitioner Bright Akwetey.
The party currently has only one Member of Parliament – Moses Amadu Yahaya, who won a by-election in Kumbungu Constituency.
Source: tv3network.com|Ghana
Ayariga’s move to form new party a failed mission – PNC
The People’s National Convention (PNC) has described as an “already failed mission” attempts by some members – particularly defeated flagbearer aspirant Hassan Ayariga – to form a new party.
Reports were rife on Monday morning that Mr Ayariga, who had led a failed contest of the party in the 2012 elections, is luring party executives with cars and motorbikes in a resolve to form a new party following his defeat to Dr Edward Mahama at the party’s congress in Wa, Upper East Region.
But a statement issued by the party on Monday said those “renegade” members should be resisted.
“We also want to use this medium to commend the exceptionally high commitment and love demonstrated by members of our beloved party in rejecting in the clearest terms possible, the shameless invitations that have been extended to them by those embarking on this already failed mission of forming a new party.”
Find below the statement:
PRESS RELEASE
It has come to the notice of the leadership of the party that, some individuals including certain renegade members of the party are going round the constituencies asking our executives to endorse forms meant for the formation of a new political party. Leadership therefore by this release, wishes to inform all members of the party that such visits should not be countenanced nor tolerated. Indeed, those individuals making these moves must be resisted.
We further like to state that, any member who signs any such documents is by that act, forfeiting his membership of our great party. And those who were hoodwinked or lied to, that such an exercise was with the party’s sanction must as a matter of urgency, write or cause to be written a disclaimer to the Electoral Commission in the person’s District.
We also like to inform all members that, such unscrupulous characters should not be afforded support of any kind. No member is to be seen accommodating or assisting them in any shape or form. Any member who fails to heed this instruction will be duly sanctioned by the party.
As for those undertaking this fraudulent exercise, we are warning them to stop harassing our members and look for their own people to found whatever entity they have set out to form. Ghana is a free country and everybody is entitled to form any association or group of his choosing, but that does not entitle anyone to predate on members of our party. We will not accept it and we will not allow it.
Meanwhile, we will like to use this opportunity to reassure our committed and hard working members that, the new leadership is poised now more than ever, to make the People’s National Convention a more formidable and electable alternative that Ghanaians have hankered for so long. We want to urge the rank and file of our great party not to be distracted in any way by this ignominious move, but apply themselves fully to the task ahead. This task seeks to offer Ghanaians as the Presidential Candidate has mentioned; New Beginnings, New Deal , New Force.
We also want to use this medium to commend the exceptionally high commitment and love demonstrated by members of our beloved party in rejecting in the clearest terms possible, the shameless invitations that have been extended to them by those embarking on this already failed mission of forming a new party.
Finally, we want to inform members of our party and all Ghanaians that, the flag bearer together with the national executive, will soon embark on a nation-wide thank-you tour to set the stage for next year’s campaign.
We have a great party, together we shall make it better!
God Bless Us All
SIGNED
Atik Mohammed
(General Secretary)
Source: tv3network.com|Ghana
Amanfo-Nungua queenmother puts smiles on faces widows and aged
The queen mother of Amanfo-Nungua, Naa Adjokor Mobonalor III, has appealed to all well-meaning Ghanaians to demonstrate love, care and affection towards widows and the aged in the society by helping donate copiously in cash and in kind to support them during this yuletide season.
According to her, this will help reduce their plight, put a big smile on their faces as well as make them feel a part of the society.
She made the call at a brief ceremony whilst presenting assorted items to 132 widows and the aged at the Nungua Traditional Authority Hall in Accra.
The items donated included 20 mini bags of rice, 10 crates of soft drinks, 10 boxes filled with 2 litres of bottled cooking oil.
According to Naa Adjokor Mobonalor III, the donation was aimed at putting smiles on the faces of the aged and the widows during this yuletide season.
“It’s just a token from us meant to brighten the faces of these unfortunate ones during this Christmas season,” she said.
“I felt they have been neglected for far too long by the society and thought it’s about time we put a little smile on their faces again before the New Year comes,” she added.
Describing them as vulnerable who had no hope in the society, she added, “it behoves on all of us to put smiles on their faces at all times especially during this yuletide season”.
This is the third time Naa Adjokor Mobonalor III has demonstrated goodwill, care and support towards relieving the plight of the aged and the widows in the society during the yuletide season. The first time was in the year 2013.
The queenmother said she will be grateful to sustain the gesture henceforth every year during the yuletide season but asked for support from well-wishers to make her dream a reality.
Naa Adjokor Mobonalor III congratulated Nana Oye Lithur, Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, King Odai Fio Welentsey III, Paramount Chief of Nungua, Nii Ashai Odamtey Nobatse II, Mayor of Tema Metropolitan Assembly, the Nungua Pentecost Church, Mr. Eric Afotey Odai, Alhaji Aliu Adams and all others for their support in helping her fulfill her desire by reaching out to the widows and the aged this season.
She also called on benevolent organizations, public-spirited individuals and churches to emulate the gesture by donating to support the widows and the aged in society.
By Joseph Kobla Wemakor|Nungua, Accra|Ghana
7,000 nurses, midwives threaten to strike over unpaid salaries
About 7,000 nurses and midwives who have not been paid their full salaries and other benefits in the last three years have threatened to embark on an indefinite strike if government fails to settle all arrears by January 31, 2016.
The nurses and midwives who form the Coalition of Unpaid Nurses and Midwives, say efforts to get the government to pay them all their outstanding salaries and benefits have not yielded any results
A statement issued Wednesday by the group said they have remained calm and rendered their services all these years due to discussions, promises and reassurances from the government, but was surprised to hear a claim from the government that all their arrears have been paid.
The group described the said claim as “a hoax which makes us doubt if the current system is not endorsing double standards with respect to justice administration”.
The Coalition said its members who have been paid are “not more than thirty percent” and that “most of them were not paid fully”.
“We are convinced enough that the government has not addressed our salaries and arrears issues with the necessary attention,” they stated.
The coalition said it has been left with no better alternative than to strike “if every single dime is not paid to our bank accounts by January 31st 2016”.
By tv3network.com
Anas hints of shocking revelations in 2016, says “It’s not going to be nice!”
Ace Ghanaian investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas has hinted of more “shocking” revelation in 2016, which he says, is going to be tighter.
“I can tell you that what is in the pipeline is shocking,” he said in a yet to be broadcast interview on BBC, adding that he and his Africa Investigates team have pen down some strong African stories that they are going to look at in 2016.
“You know I work with Africa investigate as part of the World Investigate thing and we have put together a few issues on Africa that we’re gonna look at….and they are very strong African stories and I can tell you that we are in for a tighter 2016. I’ve seen it and I can tell you, it is not going to be nice!,” Anas stated.
Anas who use unorthodox means, sometimes risk his life to procure what he term as hardcore evidence told the host of the show, Akwasi Sarpong, that his protection is in the hands of God.
“When we talk protection, it is the Almighty that has a lot of protection for all of us. I try to hide away. I want to live to be able to tell the next story,” he said.
Ho Polytechnic opens School of Graduate Studies
The Ho Polytechnic Tuesday added a School of Graduate Studies and a Faculty of Applied Social Sciences to its repertoire of academic disciplines.
The Polytechnic now has five Faculties; Engineering, Applied Science and Technology, Business and Management Studies, Art and Design and Liberal Arts giving effect to Schedule C of its current Statutes which spelt out the structure of Faculties it must establish.
“This decision is not new it has been on the drawing Board for five years as part of our five year strategic plan,” Professor Emmanuel Kodzo Sakyi, Rector, said at the inaugural event and swearing in of an interim boards of the two entities.
The action gave effect to Section 18 of the Polytechnic’s establishment Act and Statute 41 (a) which among others provides that “There shall be established a School of Research and Graduate Studies which shall be headed by a Dean, to be assisted by a Vice Dean”, Dr Christopher K. Amehoe, Registrar of the Polytechnic explained.
The acting Dean of the School of Graduate studies is Dr Peter Agbodza, with Mr Simon Amegashie-Viglo as the Dean of the Faculty of Applied Social Sciences.
In a statement, Dr Ben Hoenyenugah, Vice-Rector, Academic Issues, said the Graduate School is expected to host all Post Bachelor programmes and the African Journal of Technical Education Management.
“This places enormous responsibility on Deans and Heads of Departments to develop innovative and national development oriented Master degree programmes in the shortest possible time.”
On the Faculty of Applied Social Sciences, Dr Hoenyenuga said, “This Faculty which has the mandate to humanise the Polytechnic also falls in line with existing faculties in Universities of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands and Germany where the arts and social sciences find a place among engineering and science faculties.”
In line with the norms of the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) the Faculty of Applied Social Sciences will begin with the Departments of Multidisciplinary Studies and the Department of Applied Modern Languages and Communication.
The Polytechnic’s Chinese Intercultural Centre, Centre for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology Transfer, HIV and Reproductive Health Centre, Centre for African Traditional Leadership and Governance and Centre, Conflict Transformation and Management all come under the this Faculty, Dr Hoenyenugah said.
“This makes Ho Polytechnic Internationally compliant,” he said.
Source GNA
BNI, EOCO called upon to arrest Transport Minister, Smartty’s boss over MMT rebranding deal
A group calling itself Taxpayers League Ghana is pressing upon the country’s security agencies to pick up persons complicit in the GH¢3.6 million rebranding of 116 metro mass transit buses.
The public outcry over the deal has resulted in the resignation of the Minister of Transport, Dzifa Aku Attivor.
Chief of Staff Julius Debrah, who directed a review into the deal, has also charged the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong, to recover GH¢1.9 million from Messrs Smartty’s Management Limited as “excess payment made for the services rendered”.
But Taxpayers League Ghana in a statement issued on Thursday, December 24 said: “Since government has accepted that there was a wrong doing, the Minister must face the music and cough the taxpayers’ money back.”
It is, therefore, demanding an immediate arrest of not only Mrs Attivor but also the Chief Executive Officer of Smartty’s Management Limited, Selassie Ibrahim.
“We need the full amount back into the consolidated fund,” the statement said, mentioning the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, the Bureau of National Investigations and the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) as the agencies to lead the arrest operation.
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|tv3network.com|Ghana
Twitter: @kwame_amoh
25 doctors snub posting to U/E Region
The Upper East Regional Health Directorate has issued a 31st December deadline to 25 doctors, who are said to have ignored postings to the region.
Though there have been assurances of incentives, these doctors – made up of 24 medical officers and a dentist – have refused to report to duty.
It is unclear what the reason may be but our correspondent said an appeal by Dr Kofi Issah to get them to post has gone unheeded.
TV3’s Tanko Rabiu Mohammed said among these medical officers are some who even hail from the region.
The doctors are likely to forfeit their salaries if they report after the deadline as the Directorate has made it clear financial clearance expires then.
Source: tv3network.com|Ghana
MMT bus saga: Gov’t to retrieve Ȼ1.9 million from Smartty’s
Chief of Staff Mr. Julius Debrah has ordered the Attorney General to retrieve a total of GHC1.9 million from the private company which handled the controversial rebranding of some 116 Metro Mass Transit buses.
It emerged two weeks ago that the government spent an outrageous GHC3, 649, 004 [That is GHC3.6 million per bus] from the Ghana oil funds to re-brand the 116 buses; something that has attracted hue and cry.
The Chief of Staff consequently ordered the AG to investigate the saga and submit its report within two days. The report was presented to the Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah on Tuesday.
In her report the AG, Mrs. Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong found that there were no cost comparisons to what was submitted by the private company, Smartty’s Management, because of the method of procurement and the procedures used.
A statement issued by Mr Debrah said “the procurement method did not also ensure value for money,” and consequnetly directed the AG to retrieve the GHC1.9 million being what the statement described as “excess payment made for the service rendered”.
“Independent consultations made by the Attorney General with some leading motor firms in the country confirmed that the contract would have been executed at a cheaper cost if other bids were considered and price comparisons made,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, the backlash from the public Wednesday forced Transport Minister, Dzifa Attivor to resign her ministerial portfolio, and thanked the NDC government for “for the opportunity offered her to serve, first as Deputy Minister of Transport under the late President JEA Mils, and later as the substantive Minister”.
By tv3network.com
Former CHRAJ boss commends Transport Minister but demands AG’s report
Former Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) Justice Francis Emile Short has commended the Minister of Transport, Dzifa Aku Attivor, for resigning in the wake of the public furore over the GH¢3.6 million metro mass transit bus rebranding deal.
“Her decision to resign is commendable,” Mr Short said on TV3’s News 360 on Wednesday, December 23, adding that the gesture should be followed by other public officials who have been cited in graft cases.
Mrs Attivor announced her resignation in a statement dated December 22 and issued by her personal assistant, Egypt Kobla Kudoto.
The statement said “as the Minister with oversight responsibility for the activities of the metro mass transit (MMT), she has tendered in her resignation as Minister due to the current issues surrounding the branding of the 116 buses”.
But the former retired Supreme Court justice in commending the Transport Minister demanded a publication of the report of the Attorney General over the deal.
The AG was ordered to review the deal by the Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah.
“Provisionally this decision is welcomed but we haven’t seen the report of the AG to the Chief of Staff.”
Already, the Attorney General and the Transport Minister are facing a legal suit at an Accra High Court filed by some private citizens over the deal.
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|tv3network.com|Ghana
Twitter: @kwame_amoh