Day: June 11, 2024

The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who is also the flag-bearer of the NPP in the December elections, has called on Muslim Imams to intensify their prayers for him to be elected as the president of Ghana.

He said Ghana needed a president who would continue to implement policies and social interventions that would help promote the dignity and well-being of Ghanaian Muslims and the Zongo communities in the country.

Dr Bawumia made the call when he addressed Muslims Imams from the various districts in the Ashanti region at the Kumasi central Mosque, as part of his three-day campaign tour of the Ashanti region.

He asked the Imams to refer to the NPP government track records in the Zongo communities and preach to their congregations on the need to retain the party to continue with the good works.

‘We as Muslims and other religious denominations are all living in peace and harmony in this country and therefore, there is the need to continue to press on peaceful coexistence,’ he told the Imams.

He also ask
ed them to pray unto Allah to deepen the peace the country was enjoying.

Dr Bawumia said it was Allah who granted dominion, power and authority, and that he believed that Allah had already granted him the dominion.

He called on the people in Zongo communities to continue leave in peace and harmony with all other people.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Vice -President and Flag-bearer of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the December 2024 elections, says his government will establish research fund to support herbal medicine practice in the country.

He said if elected to office, one of his major priorities would be the establishment of research and modern facilities for hygienic and proper production of herbal medicines, which were known to cure about 60 percent of ailments in the country.

Addressing a cross section of herbal medicine practitioners and farmers from the Ashanti Region in Kumasi, as part of his three-day campaign tour, the NPP Presidential Candidate said the measure was to help reduce the importation of drugs into the country.

Dr. Bawumia pointed out that the role of herbal medicine in the treatment of ailments could not be overemphasised and there was the need to support the conduct of appropriate research to help strengthen efficacy, improve production, documentation and certification of such medicines.

Addi
tionally, he said under his presidency herbal medicine would be captured under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

Dr. Bawumia said agriculture and food production would be one of his major priorities if voted to lead the country in 2025.

He said the use of solar energy and mechanization of agricultural production to ensure all-year food production and increased income for farmers, would be the way to go, adding that, increasing farm yields and reducing the work of farmers was a necessity.

He said his government would embark on a project to establish a database for farmers to ensure that every farmer was recognized and provided the necessary assistance and support.

Dr. Bawumia said under his presidency, the Geological Survey Division of the Lands Commission would be empowered to carry out comprehensive survey on land areas which contained minerals across the country.

This would help in the proper demarcation of lands for mining and crop production.

When this was done, mining licenses would be i
ssued under strict regulatory conditions to help prevent the conflict of crop production and mining in the country.

This would also help bring sanity in small scale mining and protect cocoa and other farmlands, which were being destroyed by illegal mining (galamsey) activities.

Dr. Bawumia pledged to work to improve the lives of cocoa farmers and introduce various interventions that would help increase cocoa production in the country.

He said the process to establish a pension scheme for the farmers would continue under his administration.

Some of the cocoa farmers present stressed the need for the government to properly test and access chemicals used for spraying of cocoa farms to ensure that they did not contain toxic substances that could affect cocoa beans.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Minister of Education will soon present the Free Senior High School (SHS) Bill to Parliament for consideration and passage by the House.

The Bill, when passed into law would regulate the operations of the Free SHS and make its implementation binding on all successive Governments.

Mr Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, the Majority Leader and Leader of Government Business in Parliament, made this known on Tuesday during the ‘Leaders’ Media Briefing’ at Parliament House in Accra.

The Free SHS is a flagship programme of the Government, which was introduced since September 2017, is aimed at making senior secondary education and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) fight Ghanaians.

The Majority Leader noted that Chapter Five of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana provides some aspirational indicatives, which were not justiciable but once by policy of Government, an aspiration as envisaged by the Constitution was put into action, then to make it justiciable, hence a law could
be enacted to regulate it.

He noted that in other words there were provisions in the Constitution that one could not enforce; that is ‘you cannot claim the right to those provisions’.

‘The fact that they are there does not mean that you can apply to the court to enforce those rights, because they are aspirational.’

Mr Afenyo-Markin said when it gets to a point that a Government lifts it up to give light to it, there was the need to enact a law to regulate the same; adding that ‘and in doing so, it should have been given light, then the lawyers will say it has become justiciable, in the sense that a court of law can rely on it to make certain orders, enforce certain rights and give rights and take certain actions,’ he said.

‘So, I think that this free SHS Bill if we consider it as a House, what that means is that it becomes mandatory for Government to implement it, unless it is repealed, no Government will have the right to say I am not going to enforce Free SHS because now there is a law; so if you fail (
to implement it), a citizen can apply to the Court as his bonafide and the Court exact justice in that citizen’s favour, so that is the good news about this Bill.’

Mr Afenyo-Markin reiterated that the Free SHS Bill would ensure sustainability of the Free SHS policy.

On other Bills to consider during the Third Meeting of the Fourth Session of the Eighth Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana, the Majority Leader cited the Parliament Bill, the Presidential Transition Bill, the Consumer Protection Bill, the Housing Authority Bill, the Architect Registration Bill and the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) Amendment Bill.

He said the Environmental Protection Agency Bill was also high on the table, in addition to the Vaccine Development and Manufacturing Bill and the Affirmative Action Bill.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, the Majority Leader and Leader of Government Business in Parliament, has urged his colleague Members of Parliament (MPs) to avail themselves to Business on the Floor of the House.

He also appealed to them to support their respective Committee Leadership and the Leadership of the House to fast-track Government Business to enable the

Government work towards improving the living standards of the good people of Ghana.

‘Mr Speaker, having said so, let me proceed to state that there a number of priority business to be transacted by the House including Bills to be laid, loan

agreements, mining leases and commercial agreements, Instruments, and request for waiver of tax, import duties,’ Mr Afenyo-Markin stated in his welcome remarks upon the resumption of the House from the Easter Break, for the Third Meeting of the Fourth Session of the Eighth Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana.

The Majority Leader mentioned that Bills to be taken by the House within the period includ
e the Energy Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2023; the Community Service Sentencing Bill, 2024; the Ghana National Service Authority Bill, 2024, and the Ghana Book Development Agency Bill, 2024.

Others are the University for Engineering and Applied Sciences (Ankrodie) Bill, 2024; the University for Health, Agriculture and Life Sciences (Kintampo) Bill, the University of Mampong Bill, 2024; the University of Sports and Development Bill, 2024; the Colleges of Applied Arts, Science and Technology Bill, 2024; the Business Regulatory Reform Commission Bill, 2024; and the Conduct of Public Officers Bill, 2024.

The rest are the Economic and Organised Crime Office (Amendment) Bill, 2024; the Legal Profession Bill, 2024; the Presidential Transition (Amendment) Bill, 2024; the Environmental Protection Agency Bill, 2024; the Fisheries and Aquaculture Development Bill, 2024; the Ghana Housing Authority Bill, 2024;

the Rent Bill, 2023; the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) (No.2) Bill, 2024;

the Broadcasting Bill, 2024; th
e Internal Audit Agency Bill, 2024; the Ghana Deposit Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2024; the Fees and Charges (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Bill, 2024; and Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (Amendment) Bill, 2023.

Mr Afenyo-Markin noted that there were also a few statutory Reports that ought to be laid and considered by the House.

These include the Annual Report on the Management of the Energy Sector Levies and Accounts for the Year 2023; the Annual Public Debt Management Report for the 2023 Financial Year; the Reconciliation Report on the Petroleum Holding Fund for the Year 2023; Annual Report on Public Private Partnership Projects for the Year 2023; and the Annual Report on the Petroleum Funds for the 2023 Fiscal Year.

Others are the Annual Report on the Management of the Energy Sector Levies and Accounts for the Year 2022; the Annual Public Debt Management Report for the 2022 Financial Year; the Reconciliation Report on the Petroleum Holding Fund for the Year 2022; and Annual Report on Public P
rivate Partnership Projects for the Year 2022.

The rest are the Annual Report on the Petroleum Funds for the 2022 Fiscal Year; and the Annual Report on the Collection and Utilisation of the African Union Import Levy for the 2022 Fiscal Year.

‘Mr Speaker, looking at the above business and others waiting to be programmed, my Honourable Colleagues will agree with me the herculean task ahead of us in this Third Meeting and I humbly encourage our hardworking Committee Chairpersons and their Ranking Members to expedite action on the various items already before them and prepare to receive new referrals as the Speaker may so direct,’ Mr Afenyo-Markin stated.

Source: Ghana News Agency

With barely six months to the 2024 general election, the Ledzokuku Constituency is abuzz with intense political activities.

The Constituency’s voting patterns and dynamics remain a mystery for which reason supporters of both the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) are passionately campaigning for their candidates to be the preferred choice in the parliamentary election.

Political posters and billboards of both candidates are fast springing up in the Constituency in a bid to communicate their achievements to the constituents.

Historically, the Ledzokuku Constituency has not reelected a Member of Parliament (MP) after their first term, with the exception of the NDC’s Nii Adjei Boye Sekan, who won in 1992 and 1996. In the 2000 general election, incumbent Nii Adjei Boye Sekan was replaced by the NPP’s Eddie Akita, who lost the 2004 election to former Deputy Minister of Health, Dr. Gladys Norley Ashitey, also from the NPP.

The 2008 general election saw the seat returning to the
NDC as Veteran Broadcaster and former Deputy Minister of Sports, Nii Nortey Dua beat Dr Ashitey to reclaim the seat for the NDC. He, however, lost the Party’s primaries to Belinda Sena Okity Duah, who went on to become the MP, and was subsequently appointed a Deputy Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection.

Like her predecessors, she also fell to the axe, and lost the 2016 election to the NPP’s Dr Bernard Okoe Boye, who was appointed Deputy Minister of Health.

In a shocking turn of events, and what was considered as a surprise by most Ghanaians, the NDC’s Benjamin Ayiku Narteh, a Business Man, in the 2020 election, dethroned incumbent Dr Okoe Boye, who had been tipped to break the one term jinx, by a margin of 1,866 votes to maintain the Constituency’s trend of unseating its MPs after one term.

The Constituency, which is home to Ga ethnic groups, has a significant youthful population that brings vibrancy to the political mood in the area.

Key issues such as roads, unemployment, education, infras
tructure, health, and the urgent need for sustainable development have been the dominant factors for the constituents’ choice of an MP.

With elections fast approaching, the Ledzokuku constituency is set to be an area of interest as the outcome of the 2024 election will be a significant indicator of the political mood in the critical swing constituency.

Re-election vrs comeback

While the incumbent, Benjamin Ayiku Narteh is seeking re-election, his contender, the NPP’s Dr Bernard Okoe Boye, is campaigning for a comeback.

Highlighting his achievements, particularly in health and education, the incumbent MP, Mr Ayiku Narteh is confident and believes he is the candidate to break the constituency’s one-term jinx. His campaign is focused on continuity and building on his accomplishments over the past term.

On the other hand, his contender, Dr Okoe Boye, who has been considered as one of the fastest-rising politicians, emphasising his previous contributions to the community, aims to reclaim the Ledzokuku seat af
ter beating competition from four other contenders in the NPP primaries.

Assessment

While in previous elections, where the contenders were not subjected to an assessment of their performance like the incumbent, constituents will this time round evaluate the performances of the incumbent and his contender, who have both had a shot in representing the people in Parliament.

The only difference, however, is that, unlike his contender, and all other past MPs, Mr Ayiku Narteh is the only candidate to become MP with his Party in opposition.

As the December 7th election fast approaches, the Ledzokuku Constituency is certainly one to watch in the upcoming elections.

Will the trend of one-term MPs continue? Will it be a second term for the NDC’s Benjamin Ayiku Narteh or a return for the NPP’s Dr Bernard Okoe Boye?

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, the Majority Leader and Leader of Government Business in Parliament, Tuesday appealed to Ghanaians to endear to preserve and protect Ghana’s democracy.

That, he said, would enable Ghanaians to reap the gains and benefits thereof and bequeath to the future generation a prosperous and peaceful Ghana.

Mr Afenyo-Markin made the appeal in his welcome remarks on the floor of the House upon their resumption after the Easter Recess.

‘Mr Speaker, as the House is already aware, a successful bye-election was conducted in the Ejisu Constituency in the Ashanti Region where Honourable Kwabena Boateng was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP),’ he said.

‘The Member was duly sworn in during the recent Emergency Sitting in accordance with the Constitution and the Standing Orders of the House.’

The Majority Leader took the opportunity to welcome Mr Boateng once again to the august House and encouraged him to be resourceful to the mandate of the House.

Mr Afenyo-Markin said the gener
al election would be upon Ghanaians in a few months’ time and citizens would once again have the opportunity of exercising their legitimate right of electing a President and Parliamentarians to serve and steer the affairs of the country.

He noted that as in any democratic dispensation, the mention of elections awakened some anxiety among the populace regardless of one’s political affiliation and the country.

He said to ensure the successful conduct of this constitutional assignment, the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana undertook a number of programmes and processes aimed at ensuring the participation of eligible citizens in the electoral process as well as deliver a free, fair and credible elections come 7th December, 2024.

He said one would expect that after successfully experimenting with

those processes for 30 years and more, Ghanaians would allow constitutionally mandated institutions and organs of State to perform their duties as provided for by the Constitution with no interference or hindrance fr
om any group of persons or individuals.

He said unfortunately, there were some distractions in the path of the EC in the discharge of its duties.

‘However, thanks to our beloved people, and the unity we enjoy, many of these issues and misunderstandings have been resolved’.

Mr Afenyo-Markin commended the EC for the conduct of a successful, smooth and generally event free registration exercises throughout the country and assured it of Parliament’s support in their efforts to, once again, deliver a credible general election.

‘Mr Speaker, we are all beneficiaries of democratic governance and it is incumbent upon us to ensure its sustenance and continuity and this can only be achieved by engendering the trust and confidence of the populace in the process’.

Mr. Afenyo-Markin said democracy had brought so much benefit to the country that he expected every well meaning citizen to protect the peace and harmony they enjoy.

He said it was imperative that Ghanaians avoided any incendiary statements and accusations
that could harm the nation’s democracy, peace and unity.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has cautioned its members against any act of creating a looting brigade in government.

It said being in power was about bringing sustainable development to the citizenry and not making the few in power rich.

Speaking at the 32nd Anniversary of the Party and a flag raising ceremony, Mr Fiifi Fiavi Kwetey, General Secretary, said, an NDC government would have to reset the tone on how to learn to be selfless, patriotic, ensure value for money and accountable to the people. 

He said the key pillars of the NDC were ‘Unity, Stability and Development’ therefore, thus the Party would govern and unite the masses, create a stable and prosperous economy and deliver sector by sector development when given power.

Mr Kwetey, a former two-term Member of Parliament for Ketu South, said, such goals could be achieved through commitments and sacrifices as demonstrated by some past and present cadres. 

He said: ‘Cadres may go, cadres may come, but the revolution of good g
overnance, development, probity, accountability and integrity have come to stay and, therefore, the Party must be sacrosanct.’ 

‘We must ensure this Party becomes stronger and not have people in government whose thinking is how much money can we make. It must always be Ghana ahead of the Party and Party ahead of individuals,’ the former MP said. 

Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia, Chairman, NDC, urged party members to continue with their task of working to win the 2024 general election.

The NDC’s formation came about after a group of nationalists and revolutionists had gone through party formation processes and gotten founders in all 110 districts and 10 regions in 1992 under the leadership of Yusufu Ali. 

They gathered at the Art Centre to accept the interim certificate the Electoral Commission gave them on June 10, 1992, to form a political party.

Meanwhile, the permanent certificate was given to the NDC on July 27, 1992.

Source: Ghana News Agency