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Otumfuo’s Leadership Stands As A Beacon Of Inspiration

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Editorial

Last Friday, April 26, 2024 marked 25 years of the enthronement of Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II. However, the Silver Jubilee anniversary will be marked on Akwasidaekese on June 12 at Dwabrem, Manhyia Palace.

On April 26, 1999, Barima Kwaku Duah, as he was then known, took the Busumuru sword and with his Kuntunkuni cloth, dropped to his waist, swore the customary oath to the chiefs of Asanteman. The event was witnessed by thousands of Asantes and other well-wishers. It was at the occasion that he adopted the name Otumfuo Osei Tutu II. He is a direct descendant of the 17th-century founder of the Asante Kingdom, Osei Tutu I.

This remarkable journey of leadership, stewardship and legacy deserve not just celebration, but profound reflection on the impact and lessons it holds for leaders across the nation.

What sets Otumfuo Osei Tutu II apart is not just his royal lineage, but the unique brand of leadership he has exemplified over the past 25 years. From the onset, he prioritised peace, stability and reconciliation, recognising that without these foundations, progress and development would remain elusive.

One of his earliest tasks was to address longstanding land and succession disputes within Asanteman. Instead of resorting to litigation, he championed arbitration, emphasising the importance of dialogue and cooperation in resolving conflicts. This approach not only brought peace to his Kingdom, but also set a precedent for conflict resolution across Ghana.

His leadership extends beyond traditional boundaries, as evidenced by his pivotal role in resolving the Yendi Skin Affairs, a delicate situation that could have destabilised the entire nation. Through wisdom, tenacity and a commitment to dialogue, OtumfuoOsei Tutu II averted a crisis and restored peace to a troubled region.

Education, health and economic development have been central to his vision. The establishment of the Otumfuo Education Fund, which has benefited thousands of students, reflects his dedication to providing quality education and opportunities for Ghanaian youth. His advocacy for HIV/AIDS awareness through the Serwaa Ampem Aids Foundation further demonstrates his holistic approach to social challenges.

The Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Foundation, encompassing these initiatives and more, stands as a testament to his unwavering commitment to the well-being of his people. His recognition by the Association of Commonwealth Universities with the Symons Award underscores the global impact of his efforts in advancing education.

As we celebrate this Silver Jubilee, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II’s leadership stands as a beacon of inspiration for not just traditional leaders but all leaders in Ghana. His emphasis on peace, reconciliation, education and community development serves as a blueprint for effective and transformative leadership.

The Chronicle commends Otumfuo Osei Tutu II for his outstanding leadership and legacy. May his reign continue to inspire generations and may his vision for a prosperous, peaceful and united Ghana endure for years to come.

Leaders across various sectors can learn from Otumfuo Osei Tutu II’s approach to leadership. His ability to bridge tradition and modernisation, prioritise peace-building and drive sustainable development serves as a scheme for effective governance.

The Politics of ECG

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OPINION

History must be repeating itself, for in 2008, the final year of NPP’s H.E. J.A. Kufuor’s administration, some state institutions started doing negative things that brought the NPP, down.

For example, commercial drivers were arrested and taken to court, with most of them doing absolutely nothing wrong. And in such traffic courts, the defendant was not allowed to talk. What the police said, will be the judge’s verdict. So, in 2008, commercial drivers had strong anger against the NPP.

In this final year of H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Ghana has stormed into dumsor, again. Today, nobody remembers the four years of dumsor pandemic under Mills/Mahama, but remembers the three months of dumsor epidemic under Nana Addo, as if dumsor had never happened in Ghana before.

Having stated this, those in authority should not say what is happening today, is not dumsor. Dumsor is a word which found its way into Oxford Advanced Leaner’s Dictionary in 2015 and is defined as a popular Ghanaian term used to describe persistent, irregular and unpredictable electrical power outages. That settles it, we are experiencing dumsor.

But, is ECG embarking on some political agenda to make government, unpopular? One may ask, how possible, since government appointees head the ECG. Well, we should remember that, no matter who the Electoral Commissioner is, it is+ the electoral officers at the polling stations who can allow rigging to go on.

So, the ECG bosses can do all they can to make government look good, but if those on the ground want to put sand in the government’s ‘gari’, they know where to get the sand.

The facts: In the run up to the outbreak of this dumsor, the ECG took a managerial decision to embark on recoveries of all bills in arrears. With that it started disconnecting power supplies to very essential and important facilities, like the hospitals, among others, for non-payment of bills.

The question is, did those huge bills represent a month’s consumption? Of course, not. Because if bills come up every month, what is the culture of ECG in demanding payments?

With post-paid arrangements, the culture of this utility service provider is not to go, after defaulters, monthly, as required, but rather wait for months or years before sending demand notices and embarking on disconnection for non-payment. Meanwhile the bills continue to pile up.

In some cases, the staff on the ground go to defaulting costumers and instead of collecting payments for bills, they accept personal envelopes and walk away.

The then, USSR embassy in Ghana, rented my father’s house in Labone, Accra for one its diplomats. After the Union dissolved in 1991 and the embassy came under Russia, the diplomat left the country because he was not Russian. My father took over his house to meet huge utilities bill, that may make one think the house was a factory. He had to pay all the arrears because suddenly the service providers, knew how to disconnect services.

The mandated responsibility of utility providers is to make sure customers pay their bills every month. Failure to pay, should result in disconnection of services, so, what did that diplomat give to the staff of ECG and Ghana Water that made them forget how to disconnect services over non-payment of bills.

It makes good sense to say that the huge debt ECG owes its suppliers, has also contributed to the reduction in power supplies to meet demand, and this may result in power outages. If ECG fails to pay the power generating sectors, a day may come they may decide to shut down, then Ghana will encounter a perpetual dum. This will be the result of ECG’s unprofessional conduct in collecting money owed it, by its costumers.

Today, ECG is crying out that ninety-one hospitals owe it, GH¢261 million, with KATH alone owing GH¢27 million as at March this year. That amount cannot be a month’s electricity bill. Where does ECG think any institution, in this case, KATH, can quickly lay hands on millions, to pay up? Why should ECG wait for the bills to pile up?

One could rightly say that such institutions should have been responsible enough to pay their utility bills, monthly. Unfortunately, things do not simply work like that, in the corporate world. Bills that are not on high demand, are set aside for money to be used on more urgent things. So, if ECG seriously, wants its money, it should always be at the doorsteps of such institutions, every month, demanding payment.

What will most likely happen now, is ECG will go into negotiations with these heavily indebted customers, reach some agreements, part payments will be made and a repayment schedule drawn. That will be the end of the story.

ECG will not go and make demands and come again another election year, with bills higher than earlier, there will be major disconnection exercises to make the sitting government unpopular. This is the politics going on in ECG.

There are also pictures on social media suggesting that some miscreants are out there destroying transmission gadgets and other power supply equipment, in order to cut off electric supplies to some areas. Some eyewitnesses confirm this. What is ECG doing about this? Has it not found it responsible enough to notify the security agents for protection of its facilities, or it wants to enhance dumsor?

Nana Konadu Yiadom III Maternity Ward commissioned at Manhyia Hospital

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Lady Julia Osei Tutu assisting Nana Prof Oheneba Boachie-Adjei Woahene II Otumfuo Hiahene to commission the maternity block

The Otumfuo Foundation, in partnership with Joberg Foundation has commissioned a 30-bed new Maternity block extension for the Manhyia District Hospital. It is named after the Asantehemaa (Ashanti Queen), Nana Konadu Yiadom III Maternity Block.

The Nana Konadu Yiadom Maternity Ward

Nana Oheneba Boachie-Adjei Woahene II, Otumfuo Hiahene and Board Chairman of Otumfuo Foundation at the commissioning explained that the Asantehemaa was the brain behind the facility, upon observing what maternal mothers and their babies go through at the hospital.

He said Nana Konadu Yiadom showed concern upon learning that maternal mothers and their babies slept on the floor and benches for lack of space and beds.

Magnus Marteye – CEO of Joberg Foundation

As a result, the Asante Queen contacted the Otumfuo Foundation, through Lady Julia, the wife of Otumfuo, to assist the hospital to expand the maternity block.

Otumfuo Hiahene disclosed that Joberg Foundation had decided to build a fashion center to train young women in support of the Otumfuo Foundation, so it was prevailed upon by Joberg Foundation to use their Fund to build the maternity ward for the Manhyia District Hospital, instead of the planned Fashion centre.

Mr. Magnus Marteye, Chief Executive Officer of Joberg Foundation, on behalf of the Foundation, expressed their heartfelt gratitude to the incredible team at Manhyia District Hospital and everyone involved in making the project a reality.
According to him, the partnership between Joberg Foundation and Otumfuo Foundation is a testament to the power of collaboration to improve healthcare in our community.

Nana Konadu Yiadom III, Asantehemaa at the commissioning ceremony

He said it is not just a building, but a symbol of hope and a commitment to the well-being of mothers and their babies, a place where new life will be welcomed in the world, where families will experience the joy of childbirth and where health professionals would work tirelessly to ensure the safety and good health of both mother and child.

Nana Agyakumah Dufie, the Queen of Asante Mampong on behalf of the Asantehemaa, expressed gratitude to the Otumfuo Foundation and Joberg Foundation for naming the facility after her and appealed to stakeholders and individuals to contribute their quota to help resource the maternity block and the hospital as a whole.

Opemsuo Osei Tutu II is 25 years on the Golden Stool

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Most Rev. Dr .Paul Kwabena Boafo - Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church Ghana

Hundreds of well-wishers and people from all walks of life, last Friday, joined the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, in a non-denominational Thanksgiving Service held at the Manhyia Palace, to mark his 25th anniversary as the King of Ashanti Kingdom.

Otumfuo Osei Tutu II – Asantehene

Nana Kwaku Duah ascended the Golden Stool under the stool name of Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, as the 16th Asantehene on April 26, 1999 after he had been nominated out of seven contestants and unanimously accepted by the Gyase Division comprising Mmawere, Nkosuo, Ankobea and Gyase clans.

He succeeded Otumfuo Opoku Ware II upon his demise on February 26, 1999.  Traditional rulers and clergy from various parts of the Ashanti region were also present at the Thanksgiving service.

Clergymen who participated in the Thanksgiving Service included Most Rev Dr Paul Kwabena Boafo, Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church Ghana; Most Rev. Peter Kwesi Sarpong, Catholic Archbishop Emeritus; Most Rev. Gabriel Justice Anokye, Catholic Archbishop of Kumasi and Most Rev Cyril Kobina Ben-Smith, Anglican Bishop of Asante Mampong and Archbishop of Ghana and the Church of the Province of West Africa, among others.

The 7000-capacity Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Jubilee Hall

As part of activities to mark the 25th anniversary celebrations, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has commissioned a 2,500 capacity multipurpose hall to host traditional and other functions in the Ashanti region.

The State-Of-The-Art hall, christened Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Jubilee Hall, is located inside Manhyia Palace in Kumasi.

The King celebrates his 74th birthday on May 6, 2024 after which the jubilee anniversary would be climaxed with a grand durbar at the Manhyia Palace on May 12, 2024.

APC sweeps Gombe LG election

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APC

The All Progressives Congress, APC, emerged victorious in the elections held across the 11 local government areas of Gombe State on Saturday.

The Chairman of the Gombe State Independent Electoral Commission, Saidu Shehu, announced the results, revealing that the APC won all 11 local government areas, including Kaltungo and Shongom, where it won unopposed.

According to Shehu, while collating and announcing the election result, only five out of 19 registered political parties participated in the election, including the APC, Peoples Democratic Party, Accord Party, Zenith Labour Party, and Young Progressives Party.

He stated, “Out of 19 registered political parties, five parties had candidates. The parties that participated are All Progressives Congress, Peoples Democratic Party, Accord, Zenith Labour Party, and Young Progressives Party.

“APC cleared the 11 local government areas including Kaltungo and Shongom where the party won unopposed.

“Other parties didn’t have candidates for the councillorship seats, candidates of the APC were returned elected.”

The winners included Sani Haruna, Gombe LGA; Dr Ahmed Doho, Kwami LGA; Ibrahim Jatau, Balanga LGA; Egla Idris, Billiri LGA, Mohammed Danladi, Akko LGA, Shuaibu Adamu, Funakaye LGAs. Others include Iliya Suleiman, Kaltungo LGA, Abubakar Hassan, Yalmatu Deba LGA; Binta Bello, Shongom; Adamu Mohammed, Dukku, Babangida Adamu, Nafada.

Governor Muhammadu Yahaya, who voted at the Yahaya Umar polling unit 010, urged defeated candidates to support the winners and form a united front.

Credit: dailypost.ng

Fuel subsidy removal necessary for Nigeria not to go bankrupt  –Tinubu

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President Bola Tinubu has insisted that his administration’s decision to remove the petrol subsidy was very necessary to prevent the country from going bankrupt. Tinubu announced the removal of subsidy on petrol the day he was inaugurated into office with the popular “subsidy is gone” speech.

The action, however, made prices of commodities to rise through the roof, increasing hardship in the country which has made some of his critics condemn the subsidy removal as a policy not well thought out.

But speaking as one of the panelists at the ongoing World Economic Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this morning, Tinubu justified the petrol subsidy removal, maintaining that it was needed to reset the economy.

“For Nigeria, we are immensely consistent with belief that the economic collaboration and inclusiveness is necessary to engender stability in the rest of the world.

“Concerning the question of the subsidy removal, there is no doubt that it was a necessary action for my country not to go bankrupt, to reset the economy and pathway to growth,” Tinubu said.

The Nigerian leader admitted the difficulty associated with his decision to jettison the policy which has allowed Nigerians to purchase petrol at cheaper rates for years but said that he was convinced it was in the best interest of the people.

“It is going to be difficult, but the hallmark of leadership is taking difficult decision at the time it ought to be taken decisively. That was necessary for the country. Yes, there will be blowback, there is expectation that the difficulty in it will be felt by greater number of the people, but once I believe it is their interest that is the focus of the government, it is easier to manage and explain the difficulties.

Tinubu said that the petrol subsidy removal equally engendered accountability, transparency and physical discipline for the country. According to him, that is more important to focus on what direction the country should go.

Credit: channelstv.com

PDP lacks moral rights to advise Tinubu on governance -Group

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PDP

A group, The Democratic Front, TDF, has said that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has no moral right to advise President Bola Tinubu on governance or arrogate to itself the magic wand to rescue the nation’s economy having plunged it into ruins for 16 years.

The group, in a statement jointly signed by its Chairman, Danjuma Mohammed and Secretary Wale Adedayo, was reacting to the communique issued by PDP at the end of it National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting.

It argued that the country has still not recovered from the mindless plundering of the economy in the PDP years. “Imagine a political party that failed woefully and landed the country in its present parlous economic state now pontificating on efforts to revitalize the national economy as if they ever had any clue.

“Rather than bury their heads in shame because of the roles the former ruling party played in bringing the country to its knees, they are busy pontificating on the bold initiatives and reforms being initiated by President Bola Tinubu,” the group said.

The group noted that if the party’s NEC had limited itself to its desperate but unrealistic bid to unify the dilapidating structures of a deeply divided political party, which the PDP has become, that communique would have attracted better attention.

It pointed out that the absurdity and the manner the NEC members exhibited pretentious insensitivity to the tragic consequences of their party’s 16 years of misrule resonated the role PDP played to hinder the growth and development of the Nigerian state.

The group was of the opinion that a political party which plundered Nigeria’s hard earned resources and brutally squandered its national patrimony for those lengthy years was expected to display remorse and responsibility on matters of economic revitalisation and statecraft.

Credit: dailypost.ng

SML contract: MFWA reacts to KPMG & Akufo-Addo reports

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Sulemana Braimah, Executive Director MFWA

 Introduction

  1. We have seen and read the press statement by SML rejecting almost all the findings in the KPMG audit as revealed in the statement from the Presidency, except the few points that appeared to be in its favour. We react as follows:

 

  1. On April 24, 2024, the Director of Communications at the Presidency issued a statement announcing the position of the President on the findings made by KPMG in its audit of the contract between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML) as directed by the President on January 2, 2024.

 

  1. The appointment of KPMG to audit the contract followed investigations and revelations by The Fourth Estate, the non-profit investigative journalism project of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA). The Fourth Estate’s publications revealed several public-interest questions and anomalies surrounding the multi-million contracts, questions about value-for-money, and the propriety of public claims made by SML about the benefits of the contract to the nation.
  2. SML did not limit itself to the statement from the Presidency and its disagreements with the findings in its statement. It also went on to deride the report by The Fourth Estate and pronounced verdict on the work of The Fourth Estate by describing its publication as false and misleading.
  3. We are compelled to react and state that what is contained in the President’s statement accentuates the fact of the questionable nature of the GRA-SML contract revealed by The Fourth Estate. How audit findings as revealed by the President’s statement vindicate us.
  4. We feel happy and vindicated that the President’s statement on the KPMG audit findings confirmed the following, which indeed, makes the GRA-SML contract questionable, our publications justifiable and of significant public interest:
  5. No technical needs assessment was done as would have been prudent before the contracts were awarded to SML.
  6. SML’s experience in the services they were contracted to perform is only limited to the period of the contract. There is no confirmation of any prior experience on the part of SML before they secured the multi-million contracts.

III. On three occasions in 2017, GRA sought approval of PPA to use single source procurement to award the contract to SML. But PPA did not grant approval.

  1. Despite the PPA’s disapproval, SML was engaged as a subcontractor to another company called West Blue, which was already providing services to GRA.
  2. SML was then contracted by GRA when the contract for West Blue ended in December 2018. VI. All contracts above were done without PPA approval contrary to the laws of Ghana.

VII. The procurement processes (not specified) that were used to engage SML were subsequently ratified by PPA in August 2020. Question is, which procurement processes were those?

VIII. Then in 2023, the Ministry of Finance (MoF), GRA and SML signed another contract. This expanded the scope of the contract to include upstream petroleum and mineral audit services.

  1. PPA is said to have approved the 2023 contract but we are not told the type of procurement method or process that was used.
  2. By law, all the contracts awarded to SML required Parliamentary approval. But there were no parliamentary approvals.
  3. By law, policy and sound corporate practices, the SML contracts required the approval of the GRA Board, but this was not done in the case of the 2018 and 2019 contracts.

XII. Even though the GRA Board did not approve the 2018 and 2019 contracts, it approved the expansion of the contract for SML in 2023 to include upstream petroleum and mineral audit services. XIII. On Transaction audit services, SML partially delivered on the service requirement and GRA may not have obtained all the benefits of the service.

XIV. On external price verification service, SML delivered partially on the service requirements and GRA may not have obtained all the benefits of the service.

  1. GRA had introduced external price verification tools as part of its ICUMS. This made SML’s service redundant XVI. By the time of the suspension of the SML contract after The Fourth Estate’s exposé, SML had been paid over GHC1 billion (over $83million using a conservative average exchange rate of GH12 to US$1).

XVII. But for the work of The Fourth Estate, the amount that would have been paid to SML for the next five years under the 2023 contract would have been over GHC5.1 billion or more than GHC1 billion each year.

XVIII. SML said it had invested US$44 million to provide the price verification and petroleum downstream services, but did not provide any evidence to back the investments they claim to have made.

XIX. SML’s services have not yielded over GHC3billion to the public coffers as it had publicly claimed.

 

Conclusion and Recommendations

 

  1. We feel proud about how we have used our constitutional mandate in credible investigative journalism to serve the interest of the public by shining light on a questionable multi-million state contract.

 

  1. We are proud that the President of Ghana and the Parliament of Ghana, found our work credible and took separate actions to ensure the propriety of the contract.
  2. We object to the President’s attempt to turn a blind eye to the serious breaches of our procurement laws in the award of the contracts and rather asking for the downstream petroleum contract to be renegotiated. This falls short of the principles of rule of law and accountability. It is also in contrast to the President’s campaign promise in August 2016 that “the era of sole sourcing will come to an end.”
  3. We call on the President to ask for the outright cancellation of the GRA-SML contract.
  4. We call on the President to set up a Presidential Committee to investigative the circumstances under which procurement laws were breached in the award of the contracts.
  5. We expect the President to encourage the OSP to expedite its investigations for immediate prosecution of all those behind the contracts that were illegally awarded in 2018 and 2019 and recover all payments made during the period.
  6. We call on the President to make public the full report of the KPMG audit into the GRA-SML contract.

 

Signed Sulemana Braimah Executive Director

Cocoa smuggler jailed 7yrs

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The Odumase Krobo Circuit, presided over by His Honour, Judge Kwesi Apiatse Abaiddu, has handed a seven year prison sentence to one Issifu Nyandi, who was found guilty for attempting to smuggle bags of cocoa beans from Ghana to neighbouring Togo.

The accused, who was convicted on his own plea, was arrested with the cocoa beans on Wednesday, April 24, by the Anti-Cocoa Smuggling Taskforce, while on board a Ho bound Ford Transit Bus with registration number GG-2749-21, with the intention of transporting them to the Republic of Togo.

According to the facts of the case, as told in court on Friday April 26, 2024 the Anti-Cocoa Smuggling Taskforce, upon a tip-off, intercepted the said bus around 5pm and upon thorough search, six bags of cocoa beans, concealed in poly sacks were subsequently retrieved. Upon interrogation, the accused, Issifu, claimed ownership of the contraband goods.

According to the prosecution, the accused bought the cocoa beans from Koforidua, in the Eastern Region, and transported them to Tudu, in Accra, with the purpose of carting them to the Republic of Togo to sell.

However, upon tip-off, the Taskforce swiftly arrested him whilst on board the bus and subsequently handed him over to the Akosombo Police on the same day.

Upon further investigations, Issifu was arraigned before the Odumase Krobo Circuit and charged with offences of Purchase of Cocoa without authority contrary to Section 4 of Ghana Cocoa Board Act, 1984(PNDCL81), attempting to smuggle cocoa beans contrary to Sec 317 (i) of the Criminal and Other Offences Act 1960(Act 29) and attempting to export cocoa beans which have not been inspected, graded and sealed by an Inspector of Cocoa, contrary to Sec 3 of Cocoa Industry Regulations Act, 1968(NLCD278).

According to the Laws of Ghana, the penalty under Section 4 of PNDCL 81 is a custodial sentence of between five and ten years, without an option of a fine.

The accused, therefore, pleaded guilty to the offences and was subsequently convicted on his own plea by the Presiding Judge, to seven years in prison.

According to information, two earlier convictions were recorded by the same court last week, highlighting the increasing spate of the incidents of cocoa smuggling in the country in recent times.

The swift and decisive actions taken by the Anti-Cocoa Smuggling Task Force not only thwarted the nefarious attempts by the convict at circumventing the laws of the country, but also underscored the vigilance and determination of Ghana Cocoa Board and other security agencies to combat the illegal activities that continue to threaten the integrity and survival of Ghana’s cocoa industry.

Source: COCOBOD

“I don’t worry about death prophecies, I leave it to God” –Kofi Kinaata

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Kofi Kinaata

Ghanaian highlife star, Kofi Kinaata, says he doesn’t worry about prophecies concerning his life; he rather prays to God.

His statement comes on the back of a recent death prophecy about him which has surfaced online. In the viral video, the pastor is heard asking people to pray for Kofi so he is rescued from the wiles of the devil.

“…and that you man that sings that they call him Kofi Kinaata, that represents Takoradi, the should pray for him. I kid you not. I don’t give prophecies about these musicians. I don’t do that. But in the hour when the angel was speaking me, I saw him and the angel told me he is the next they are going for. They will cut off his life prematurely if care is not taken,” he said.

Speaking in an interview on Joy Prime’s morning show, Kofi confirmed he had indeed seen the recent prophecy circulating on the internet but couldn’t be bothered about it.

“I don’t even want to talk about it. That’s what he has seen and he’s saying it. Maybe me too I have seen it and I haven’t come out to say it,” he said.

He added that since he started music, he had received a lot of such prophecies.

“I hear this every month, sometimes in a month it would come from different places”

He further noted that he prays about five (5) times a day not because of said prophecies, but because of his own Christian believes as he was tired of hearing them.

Credit: myjoyonline.com

The Ghanaian Chronicle