Former President J.A Kufuor is livid over comments by his counterpart JJ Rawlings that he softened his stance on prosecuting a son of former Speaker of Parliament Peter Ala Adjetey.
“The 31st December Movement suffered bankruptcy in supporting Atta Mills. How many of us bothered to show up in court to offer her moral support in recognition of the foundation she laid in leading the women from the PNDC to the NDC?
“During that trial, Peter Ala Adjetey, the then Speaker of Parliament, whose son, NDC’s well-fed Larry Adjetey, was charged together with my wife, threatened Kufuor that if he did not drop the ‘false’ charge against his son, he would personally go to court to defend his son.
Kufuor dropped his charges.
“How many of these qualities of principled solidarity did we demonstrate towards our own? Instead, people got rewarded with appointments by denigrating and trying to destroy some of us. What money did I not borrow to assist some of our colleagues and comrades who were suffering financially under Kufuor’s regime? Those debts are still on my head today,” Rawlings said in an interview with the state-owned Daily Graphic.
Kufuor has denied Rawlings’ assertion, saying “there is no truth whatsoever in this allegation. I wonder what ails Rawlings to make him always try to impugn my integrity in his interviews.
“It is not true that I tried to prosecute Larry Adjetey but relented because his father, Peter, threatened me.”
He added: “The circumstances of his (Rawlings) wife’s (Nana Konadu’s) trial is a matter of public record, available for anybody who cares to verify. Rawlings should stop posturing as the only person of integrity and truth.”
“If he wants to continue to blow trumpets from rooftops about his integrity and incorruptibility, let him do so, but he should leave Kufuor alone,” the former president said in a statement.
President Akufo-Addo won the 2016 general election on the back of several promises he made to Ghanaians including the restoration of teacher and nursing trainee allowances, rebuilding of a stable and robust economy, repayment of DKM victims money, free education and restructuring of the NHIS, raising the hopes of Ghanaians for massive progress and development of the country.
But after only six weeks in power, former Communications Minister in the Mahama administration that lost the 2016 election to NPP explains that the good will from Ghanaians that Akufo-Addo enjoyed and rode on to victory has vanished.
According to Omane Boamah, Akufo-Addo has failed so far to align his words with the necessary actions.
Making reference to a section of Ghanaians who were to benefit from particular promises, Omane Boamah indicated that they had lost hope in the government’s ability to live up to their promises.
“They talk about good will of the Ghanaian people. It worked for them during the election because they went about on the lofty promises knowing very well what they knew about the economy they were going to give excuses. There’s no point arguing with the electorate agreed with them and gave them the mandate”
“…that person in the Brong Ahafo Region, that person in the Upper West Region, that person who is a victim of the DKM scandal, that person who is a victim of the ‘God is love’ scandal whose promise has not being paid, who voted for the NPP because of the lofty promise that the money was going to be paid has lost hope because that person does not see practice been aligned with the promise 6 weeks after the Akufo-Addo administration started working”.
President Akufo-Addo reiterated his government’s commitment to delivering on the promises they made to Ghanaians ahead of the 2016 elections when he appeared before parliament on 21st February 2017 to present his maiden SONA.
Omane Boamah expressed these sentiments in his reaction to the content of the President's maiden SONA on Alhaji and Alhaji show on Radio Gold.
As is commonly known, bilateral relations involve the conduct of political, economic and cultural relations between two sovereign states. Such relations are carried out to promote friendship and socio-economic development for the mutual benefits of the two countries.
Generally speaking, Ghana’s foreign policy is usually based on certain broad objectives. The objectives include maintaining friendly relations and co-operation with all countries that yearn for such co-operation, irrespective of ideological considerations, on the basis of mutual respect and non-interference in each other's internal affairs.
Issues discussed at the meeting, which aimed at boosting the already strong bilateral relations, involved matters of mutual interest to both Ghana and the United Kingdom (UK). The discussions focused on improving Ghana-UK trade, matters of common interest in foreign policy and security, as well as ensuring stability of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region. Other areas discussed were business co-operation, especially ensuring that UK encourages it firms to invest in Ghana’s economy.
The UK government is particularly happy about events in Ghana because of issues relating to democracy, good governance, rule of law, as well as the determination of the new government to make life better for Ghanaians just as the British government would also want to improve welfare conditions for its people. Also, matters of security are of great interest because without security, bilateral relations would not have any meaningful impact on the two countries.
It is generally recognised by British business entities that Ghana is a stable place to do business. What Ghana needs to do is to streamline and smoothen out the business regulatory framework in the country to entice investors. Generally, however, many companies from the UK share the view that Ghana’s environment is beautiful and investor-friendly.
This is why the government of Ghana has no choice but to focus on further improvement to make it far easy for companies to do business here. At the same time, it must continue to take strong measures to address or tackle corruption.
Apart from the UK, other countries have demonstrated that they have great confidence in the determination of Ghanaians to deal with their own problems and improve upon the welfare of the people. The world has become a global village and this explains why internationalisation of issues relating to common interests in the form of bilateral and other forms of relations have become a common feature among countries that stand for peace.
Currently, it is estimated that there are 900,000 Africans living in the UK, of which 9,400 people are of Ghanaian origin, including British-Ghanaians. In the same way, British companies have been playing key roles in the Ghanaian economy, notably the oil sector, extractive industries, telecommunications network across the country, the financial sector, the cocoa industry and other areas of agri-business.
In fact, the two countries are cemented by a common bond of employer-employee socio-cultural traits that are mutually beneficial. For example, in 2005, a study carried out by the Sheffield University Social and Spatial Inequalities Research Group revealed that 64 per cent of new immigrants from Ghana were employed in the UK, of which 17 per cent and three per cent were low and high earners respectively.
Ghana-UK bilateral relations have come to stay since the two countries share a common interest of ensuring economic growth for their respective countries. Indeed, the meeting between the two leaders was very significant, seeing that the people of the two countries have been involved in economic relations over the years.
Relations between the two countries are rooted in long-standing economic, political and cultural connections, as well as shared values. Furthermore, the democratic credentials of the two countries have helped in strengthening the links between the two countries, which are committed to fighting for the eradication of disease, poverty, squalor, promotion of bilateral trade and improvement in the welfare of people.
It is important for the two countries to pursue a common agenda towards the promotion of good governance, rule of law, democracy, the eradication of corruption, as well as committing themselves to the enhancement of continuous growth, prosperity and equitable or mutually beneficial trade relations.
No country in the world is an island, so both Ghana and the UK should do all they can to consolidate their bilateral relations for their mutual benefit.
Ghana will celebrate her 60th independence anniversary starting in March 2017. We bring you photos and artworks including events around the Ghana@60 celebration.
EIB Network donates GH¢200k towards Ghana@60 celebration
Ghana@60 artwork
Ghana@60 Event
Ghana@60 onaapo T-shirts for sale
Ghana@60 logo
Printex, a leading textile manufacturer in Ghana, produced the anniversary cloth for Ghana’s 60th independence celebrations.
The textile company is the first to come out with the Ghana@60 cloth to prepare Ghanaians for the celebrations on March 6, 2017.
The cloth has been designed with Sankofa and Gye Nyame symbols as well as the rainbow colors of Ghana with the Black Star.
The beautiful designs are ideal for men, women and children.
Printex manufactures an amazing assortment of colorful fabrics that are sold in the country and the Sub-Saharan region. According to the committee, the wholesale price for the cloth is GH¢220 with the retail price pegged at GH¢240.
The cloth comes in four different colours: white, cream, blue, and green with the 60th anniversary logo embossed on each.
The Planning Committee for Ghana at 60 Anniversary on Wednesday launched a competition christened: “Jubilee Innovation Challenge, (JIC)” aimed at challenging the youth from 18 to 35 years, to innovate creative ideas that would solve societal problems.
The Committee expects applicants to originate ideas that would provide solutions to social issues pertaining to healthcare, science and technology, education, as well as local governance, industrial and manufacturing management.
Mr Laud Commey, the Chairperson of Events and Media Sub-committee, addressing the media at the launch of the competition, in Accra, said it was a platform to mobilise young people to contribute their quota towards national development
The competition opens from February 22 to May 19, and shortlisted applicants would be announced on July 2.
The awards ceremony would come off on July 19, and the winner would receive GH¢100,000.00 prize package while the First Runner-up would get GH¢75,000.00 and the Second Runner-up would go home with GH¢50,000.00, which would be financed by the Universal Merchant Bank.
Mr Commey noted that countries such as South Korea, Thailand and Malaysia which Ghana started the development journey with had thrived and advanced technologically because they adopted innovation and technology.
Launching the competition at the Black Stars Square, Mr Mustapha Abdul Hamid, the Minister of information, said there was no way Ghana would develop if the citizenry continued to engage in mediocrity and shun excellence and innovation.
He said excellence and innovation were the key principles that the youth should imbibe, to make the country the African lion that Ghanaians had been craving for.
“If Ghana were a human being, she will have reached her retirement. Ghanaians should ask themselves, what have you achieved of the 60 years of your life?”.
“More often than not, Ghanaians lamented that they started life journey with South Korea, Thailand and Malaysia, and proudly use their innovative products. We drive Hyundai vehicles and hold our Samsung phones with pride.
“But in my humble opinion instead of being proud, we should be ashamed that we started the same pedestal with them, and today, it’s their products that give us essence of belonging,” he said.
The Minister said such products could have been Ghanaian products if the people were innovative and adopted excellence as the watchword at the beginning.
Mr Hamid said, nothing was late in life and thus, challenged young Ghanaians to be inventive and think outside the box in order to come out with creative ideas that would change the lives of people for the better.
“We were told the one who invented Facebook conceptualise the idea in a university hostel and now he is one of the richest guys on the face of the earth,” he said.
He indicated that the competition would open avenue for the youth to become economically prosperous in the near future.
The Minister, therefore, implored young people to take up the challenge to get ideas, create them and put them out.
“You may never know, your idea may turn out to be the winning idea until you have entered the challenge."
Mr John Awuah, the Chief Executive Officer of Universal Merchant Bank, expressed optimism that the new ideas would transform the country because the problems for the future needed innovative thinking.
He said the Bank chose to finance the price package for the would-be winners because it believed in youth development and thus, asked the Anniversary Secretariat to sustain the competition in order to provide solution to societal problems.
The theme for the anniversary celebration is: “Ghana, 60 years on, mobilising towards the future,” and urged Ghanaians to be part of the celebration.
Ghana tops the rest of Africa as the most expensive country to live in.
The survey report published by MoveHub, an Independent website, Ghana ranks among 20 other nations the world over considered as the most expensive to reside in.
The report said MoveHub based its assessment on a range of costs such as the price of groceries, transport, bills, restaurants and rents.
“Ghana is one of Africa’s more prosperous nations, and this is reflected in the cost of living, which is higher than any other African nation,” the report stated. “New York was given an index score of 100, and countries were then ranked based on this. So a country with a score higher than 100 is more expensive than New York, while below signals that it is cheaper.”
Ghana, with a score of 53.89, is one of Africa’s more prosperous nations, which has a bearing on the cost of living, according to MoveHub.
Below is the list of the 21 most expensive countries in the world
21. Ghana — 53.89: Ghana is one of Africa’s more prosperous nations, and this is reflected in the cost of living, which is higher than any other African nation, according to MoveHub.
20. Italy — 53.89: The cost of living in Italy is higher than in the eurozone’s two largest economies, Germany and France.
19. Israel — 54.11: Israel is, comparatively speaking, pretty inexpensive compared to other states in the region like Kuwait and the UAE.
18. Kuwait — 57.31: Kuwait’s currency, the Kuwaiti dinar, is one of the strongest currency units in the world, with a single dinar worth £2.63.
17. Japan — 57.62: Japan’s economy may have stagnated somewhat in recent years, but it still remains one of the world’s powerhouses, and that is reflected in the cost of living.
7. Bahamas — 73.63: The Caribbean state of the Bahamas faces the same problem as many island nations, that imports far outstrip exports, pushing up the price of goods.
6. Norway — 74.47: Scandinavian countries are notoriously expensive, and Norway is no exception. According to Numbeo, the average 1 bedroom apartment in the country costs around £925 per month to rent.
5. Singapore — 76.57: According to the blog Singapore Life News, the average cost of a pint of beer in the city-state is around £8.50.
4. Iceland — 80.47: Cut off from the rest of Europe and with very little fertile ground, Iceland is forced to import much of its food, pushing up costs.
3. Hong Kong — 81.93: Hong Kong is notoriously expensive, and with space at a premium in the incredibly crowded city, apartments are usually both tiny and pricey.
2. Switzerland — 90.68: Switzerland frequently tops lists of the best places on earth to live thanks to great infrastructure, healthcare and a clean environment. However, all this comes at a price and it is the most expensive place in Europe to live.
1. Bermuda — 126.34: The Atlantic Ocean tax haven of Bermuda is officially the most expensive nation on earth, with the country’s capital Hamilton also the most expensive individual city on the planet.
The Minerals Commission has disclosed to Citi Business News that its projection for gold production this year will be one of the best the industry has witnessed in recent times.
According to the commission, mining companies in the country have lined up a series of activities aimed at ramping up operations this year, hence will invest more funds into the industry.
Already, President Nana Akufo-Addo has announced that Randgold’s partnership with Anglogold Obuasi mine will commence this year after the agreement to invest in the mine was canceled last year.
Speaking to Citi Business News on the expected activities in the industry, the Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission, Dr. Toni Aubynn was hopeful thousands of jobs will be created for Ghanaians this year.
He stated that the companies have developed modalities to cushion them from shocks on the world market that negatively impact the price of the commodity.
“Most of the mining companies have learnt to withstand the cost and price dynamics much better than before. So most now understand the cost of production,” he said.
He pointed out that the development has led to companies making huge investment ahead of the 2017 production year, which is good for Ghana’s economy.
“We expect 2017 to be a positive year. We expect that production will go up. I will not be able to tell you exactly how much but we expect production to go up slightly above 2016 figures,” he said.
Sounding more hopeful, Dr. Aubynn stated that companies such as Asanko Gold Mines, Goldfields and Gold Star Resources have all shown signs of increasing production through injection of new investment.
“…You would have Asanko Gold now ramping up, fortunately Goldfields after its [preliminary] agreement with government has now secured 1.4 billion [dollars] resources to invest in the Damang project. If they are able to go into actual production within the year then it means that production is likely to go up,” he said.
The African Centre for Energy Policy is raising an alarm over a community kindergarten school in the Brong Ahafo Region, paid for with proceeds from Ghana's oil but does not exist.
The 245,082 cedis project is said to have been completed in June 2014 at Dabaabi, a little farming community in the Brong Ahafo Region but checks by ACEP indicate that no such project was ever executed.
Policy Advisor for ACEP Dr Ishmael Ackah told Joy FM's morning show host Kojo Yankson instead of a brand new kindergarten building funded with the oil money, residents in the community are struggling to put up a kindergarten school to house their future generation.
The residents pay Ȼ8:00 every month to have the building completed, Dr Ackah stated with ACEP providing additional funding to roof the building.
Background
According to the Policy Advisor, in 2014 an amount of Ȼ110,546.00 of Ghana's oil money was allocated to build a kindergarten school in Dabaabi to replace a mid-shift building that served as a classroom block for the kids.
The cost of the project was 245,082 cedis but Ȼ110,546.00 of the oil money was said to have been paid to a company to execute the project. The project is captured in page 30 of Petroleum Reconciliation Report 2014, as finished project, paid for and of immense benefit to the people in the community.
However, under a partnership program between DFID, and ACEP to investigate projects funded with Ghana's oil money, it has emerged the kindergarten school said to have been built is only a mirage.
Dr Ackah said several letters written to the Finance Ministry to show evidence of the building they paid for have come with no response.
However, officers at the Ministry, on condition of anonymity, confirmed to ACEP that monies have been paid for the construction of the project.
More than two years after the Ministry claimed to have completed the project, nothing is on the site, except the structure the community members are contributing to put up by themselves.
The former Municipal Chief Executive of Dormaa, Godwin Asubonteng later confirmed on the SMS no such project has been built in the area.
He said that under normal circumstances the Municipality is contacted to award such contracts but nothing like that happened.
He was even under the illusion that projects to be funded with oil money are only executed in Accra or in the Western Region.
ACEP is preparing a detailed report on the matter.
First time?
Dr Ackah said this is not the first time Ghana's oil money has been misappropriated. In 2015 several thousands of dollars was supposed to have been invested in the construction of 14 km asphalt road at Tafo in the Eastern Region.
The road was expected to facilitate the transport of farmers and their produce from Tafo to adjoining communities and markets.
However Dr Ackah said only 1.3 kilometers of the road was constructed at the same cost it would require to complete the 14 kilometers stretch.
The explannation by the contractor was that at the middle point of the road project was hilly and required concrete instead of asphalt. So a decision was taken to invest all the money into the concrete to build the 1.3 kilometer stretch.
"There is a hilly part, about 1.3 kilometers. So he used concrete instead of Asphalt to build the hilly part. So 1.3 kilometers concrete the money got finished. From Wiabeng to the concrete, the road is bad. From Tafo to the concrete, the road is bad. We just have some tourist attraction sitting in the middle and that is all," Ackah stated.
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