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Volta NPP Chair yells at NDC: Stop Your Tribal Bigotry In V/R

By
SAMUEL AGBEWODE
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The Volta Regional Chairman of NPP, Mr Makafui Kofi Woanya addressing the media in Ho

The Volta Regional Secretariat of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has warned the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to stop championing tribal agenda in the region, as election 2024 approaches because the people are now awake and will no more be hoodwinked, as it used to be in the past.

According to them, the era NDC depended on propaganda to mobilise votes in the Volta Region was over and that the people are now looking at a political party that will bring them development.

Addressing a news conference at Ho recently, the Regional Chairman of the party, Mr Makafui Kofi Woanya, alleged that an NDC executive came to the region recently to make an unsubstantiated claim that Volta Region was the birth place of the NDC, a claim he knew to be false.

Mr Woanya regretted that NDC as a political is still relying on tribal sentiments and dangerous politics to win election, saying modern politics had moved away from appealing to the people, based on tribalism and emotions. He asked the NDC to prepare for the 2024 elections in the region, insisting that they are going to campaign on issues and not tribalism.

Mr Woanya further told the journalists that despite always using tribal sentiments in the region, NDC as party does not see Volta Region as its stronghold and this is manifested in the election of the national executives, where it is only this year that Fifi Kwetey has been elected the General Secretary.

According to him, it even took a demonstration by Mr Fifi Kwetey’s Ketu South constituents and chiefs to force the hand of former President John Dramani Mahama to appoint the former as the Minister for Food Agriculture.

This happened because all the strategic leadership positions had been coveted by others, including presidential and vice presidential slots.

The Volta NPP chair regretted that despite this obvious rejection of party stalwarts coming from the region from becoming either party executives or ministers of state, these same people are going round preaching tribalism against their opponents – NPP.

He noted that the elderly in the Volta region might have been caught up in some baseless and unavoidable tribal sentiments fuelled by propaganda in the past, but the youth today are wide awake and very discerning because they could differentiate between black and white.

The NPP Regional Chairman reminded the NDC that politics was about development and improvement in the lives of the people and that politics was not a religion where a person was expected to be rewarded only in heaven.

Living conditions have worsened -John Mahama

By
BERNICE BESSEY
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Former President John Dramani Mahama is in the North

Former President John Dramani Mahama says the poor economic policies of the government have worsened the living conditions of the poor in the country.

In a facebook post, Mr Mahama said his recent trip to the Upper West, Northern and Savannah regions clearly shows that the standard of living has exacerbated and that the development is attributable to poor management of the national economy.

According to him, high rate of inflation, which is now 54.1%, up from 50.3% in November, coupled with price volatilities have brought the national economy to a near state of collapse.  This development, in his view, has proven that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government that he led from 2012 to 2016 were the better managers of the economy.

The former President did not state why he went to the northern regions in his post, but it is obvious that he has started his campaign to lead the NDC again.

The General Secretary of the party, Fifi Kwetey, announced at a news conference recently that the party will be holding its national delegates congress in May, this year, to elect a presidential candidate that will lead them to contest the 2024 elections.

So far, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, former Governor of the Bank of Ghana and Finance Minister and Kojo Bonsu, former Mayor of Kumasi, have declared their intentions to contest the flagbearer slot.

Mr Mahama is, however, seen as the frontrunner, though Dr Duffuor can cause a surprise.

Meanwhile, former President Mahama said he was happy to interact and address participants at a one-day National Communications Workshop for the party’s team of communicators, including Regional Communications Officers, their deputies and a number of senior party officials on Thursday.

“It is surely a good start to the year on that front, and I used the opportunity to express my appreciation to the team and share with them some insights and nuggets of persuasive political communications,” he said in another post.

Maltese Minister of Foreign Affairs & Trade visits NLA

By
admin
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Mr Sammy Awuku with the Maltese Minister
The Maltese officials who attended the meeting

The Maltese Minister of Foreign, European Affairs and Trade, Dr Ian Borg, has assured that his country remains committed to enhancing the partnership it enjoyed with Ghana and the National Lottery Authority (NLA) for the last 60 years.

He explained that the collaboration must be expanded to cover other areas of national development for the benefit of the peoples of both countries.

Dr Borg stated this when he unveiled the bust of the first Director General of the NLA, Mr Francis William Brennan, a Maltese who helped in establishing the authority and organised its first draw in 1962.

Dr. Borg noted that the relationship between the two nations, especially with the National Lottery Authority (NLA) exemplified the strong bond which should be nurtured to benefit other areas of national development

He commended the staff and management of NLA for guiding the smooth evolution and growth of the NLA since its inception 60 years ago.

He said listening to the story of the role Malta played in the establishment of the NLA, he was filled with pride because “a simple act of solidarity between two governments not only led to the establishment of this important national institution but also paved the way for closer ties between our two countries”.

Dr. Borg said 60 years of friendly relationship was thriving and it was for that reason that he had visited the NLA to memorialise the contribution of Malta and Mr Brennan Hall to the NLA in Ghana and cement their relationship.

He said the recent visit of NLA officials to Mlata also served to rekindle and revive the collaboration between the two nations and their peoples.

A Board Member of the NLA, Mr Philip Kofi Aning, assured that the NLA would continue to tap from the experience, expertise, and knowledge of their counterparts in Malta to grow and expand its base.

He commended the Maltese government for the reception offered the staff and management that visited Malta.

The Director General of the NLA, Samuel Awuku, indicated that as part of its strategic objective, the authority planned to acquire new draw machines and renovate the Brennan Hall into a world class draw centre in line with international standards, and this was also to preserve the hall for generations yet unborn.

He said it would also help in attaining its mandate of generating extra revenue to be able to offer more assistance to the vulnerable, aged, orphans and destitute in the society whiles supporting government’s developmental agenda.

He described the visit by Dr. Borg to Ghana and the NLA premises as concrete indications of how Malta intended to deepen the bilateral ties between the government of Ghana and Malta.

Mr. Awuku said the NLA held in high esteem the Maltese government for playing a great role in the establishment of the NLA and indicated that to express its gratitude, the NLA memorialize Mr. Brennan the first Director General with a bust and named the hall after him.

“The two memorials, the bust and the Brennan Hall, he explained were permanent reminders of the brotherly relationship between the two nations, particularly with the NLA.

He announced that the NLA was seeking collaboration to facilitate the visit of some of its staff to undertake training in Malta to sharpen their skills to expedite the growth of the NLA.

‘Economic difficulties not trump card for NDC’

By
ERNEST BEST ANANE
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NDC

Dr. Kobi Mensah, a Political Marketing Strategist at the University of Ghana Business School,  has stated that the current economic difficulties or challenges the country is going through do not make the 2024 election a straight fight for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) as the surest bet unless they work for it.

According to him, it would not augur well for the NDC to think that the 2024 election was a done deal for victory, because of the economic hardship, unless they come out with their policies to convince the electorate.

Speaking on Joynews PM Express programme, hosted by Evans Mensah, on The Cost of Domestic Debt Exchange, Dr. Mensah suggested that the governing New Patriotic Path (NPP) still had the opportunity to strategies to enable them retain political power, hence, the 2024 election was not a straight fight for neither NDC or NPP.

According to him, though the NPP and the government had not shown any remorse that they were in difficulties, the cost of the domestic debt exchange goes beyond elections.

He stated that currently the legacy of Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo was affected, touting the NPP as the best managers of the economy was also affected, hence, the intensity was gone, for which the government must show remorse and be transparent with Ghanaians.

Dr. Theophilus Acheampong, political risk analyst, was also of the view that some Ghanaians may not see the NDC as an alternative and would decide not to vote, and for that matter, the NDC must bring on board policies that would facilitate governance.

With the debt exchange programme, Dr. Acheampong stated that the government clearly miscalculated the ability of individual bond holders to mobilise funds, and that the NPP stood to lose from what he terms a huge political miscalculation at the expense of the NPP.

Dr. Kwame Asa-Asante, a political science lecturer at the University of Ghana, Legon, entreated the NPP as a political party to call the Finance Minister and the government to order for the sake of their future political fortunes.

According to him, since President Akufo-Addo leaves office in 2024, it would be difficult for the NPP in the elections if the party does not put its acts together.

He noted the NPP was losing credibility, and stressed the importance and need for the party to work and correct the situation.

Editorial: Prosecute persons placing prank calls to emergency services

By
THE CHRONICLE
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Editorial

On January 28, 2020, the government announced the consolidation the hotlines of all the emergency services – Ghana Police Service (GPS), Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) and National Ambulance Service (NAS).

The then hotlines – 191, 192 and 193 – respectively for the service agencies aforementioned were replaced with 112 to provide more efficient, safe and improved service delivery to the citizens.

President Akufo-Addo, at the launch of the new hotline, warned Ghanaians against abusing the system, which is meant to improve their own safety in times of need. Unfortunately, the advice fell on deaf ears.

For instance, the National Ambulance Service reported that about 98 percent of over 500 calls it receives daily are pranks. Thus, only two percent of the calls were genuine.

It was also reported that just 30 hours after the launch of “See Something, Say Something” campaign by the Ministry of National Security to help fight the emerging threat of terrorism, its call centre recorded 10,000 prank calls.

This challenge has also been woefully expressed by the GNFS, particularly its Bono regional office, which says prank calls are hindering smooth delivery of their service to the public.

While those placing the prank calls consider it as fun, it has become problematic for the emergency services to identify which call is genuine from the lot.

Regrettably, we are the very people who complain about the inefficiencies of the service agencies.

For instance, when there is a fire outbreak, the most common complaint that emanates from members of the public is that the GNFS did not respond promptly to their distress calls. Complaints of this nature often come up during emergencies, albeit the challenge that the emergency services cannot identify prank calls from genuine ones.

The Chronicle is amazed about how prank calls are getting out of control. We want to draw the public’s attention to why the GPS, GNFS and NAS are referred to as emergency services and the reason for the hotline. Emergencies such as crimes, robberies, accidents, natural disasters, fires and many others require swift responses to save lives and properties.

Therefore, having the emergency number at one’s fingertips is mandatory at all material times to be able to call for help when the need arises.

You should know what to say when you call by meeting these requirements (4WCT): who you are, what you need, what happened or happening, where the incident happened, confirmation of the information and time the incident took place.

Anything other than these is our clarion call to the emergency services to start tracking, apprehension and prosecution of individuals who are abusing the system.

In this era where technology abounds, we know it is very easy for the emergency services to trace such callers.

Even where children are found culpable for this offence, their parents should suffer for it. This will go a long way to serve as a deterrent to other parents to warn their children against making the prank calls.

Asawase MP donates furniture, start-up kits to schools, apprentices

By
ERNEST BEST ANANE
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MP Muntaka donating the furniture to a local school
An Apprentice receives a start-up

Alhaji Muhammed Muntaka, Member of Parliament (MP) for Asawasi and Minority Chief Whip, has donated about 1,000 dual desks, about 20,000 exercise books and 4,000 school uniforms to schools from primary to Senior High Schools in the constituency to address furniture challenges in the education sector.

The MP also donated startup equipments including industrial, Netting machines, hair driers and hand sewing machines at the cost of GH¢110,000 to apprentices.

It was funded by the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GetFund) and MPs Social Intervention Fund.

According to the Minority Chief Whip educational infrastructures, teaching and learning materials are important to child motivation for excellence hence the intervention to improve educational infrastructures with teaching and learning materials to every school in the constituency as part of his five-year development agenda to improve the standard of education.

The assistance to apprentices was to ensure the total development of the constituency.

He pleaded with the teachers to also make efforts to better the performance of the students.

Dr. Amankrah Appiah, Ashanti Regional Director of Education, commended the Member of Parliament for his determination to improve the standard of education in the constituency.

He urged parents to prioritise the education of their wards, adding that Muslims must give their children both circular and Arabic education to mould them to become responsible elders to take up leadership roles in the near future.

350-capacity hostel commissioned for Tepa Nurses, Midwifery College

By
SEBASTIAN R. FREIKU
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The 350-capacity hostel

A 350 capacity hostel for students at the Tepa Nurses and Midwifery College has been commissioned.

It became operational within five months following the assumption of office of the new Principal in August 2022.

The Principal, Mr. Albert Opoku, explained that the facility would go to help in solving persistence accommodation challenges and reduce the movement of students from one campus to another on a daily basis.

He disclosed that the management of the college had established a five-year development plan towards massive infrastructure development between 2023 and 2027.

Projects under the plan, he said, would include a 500-capacity students’ hostel, three-storey classroom block, a 1,000-capacity Assembly Hall, 15 flats staff accommodation, and sports and entertainment facilities.

He also mentioned that work was far advanced for the completion of a 200- capacity classroom block to improve teaching and learning in the College.

The Principal called for the support of all stakeholders to make the vision a reality.

He commended some personalities, including Nana Adusei Atwenewa Ampem II, Tepahene, whose singular efforts had contributed to the growth of the College over the years.

KATH honours dedicated workers

By
SEBASTIAN R. FREIKU
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Dr. Augustine Tawiah - 2022 KATH Best Worker

Twenty-one workers of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi who had served in various capacities between 30 and 40 years have been honoured.

Nineteen others, including Ernest Appau Abban, Best Administrative Staff (Senior Category), who excelled in various categories, also received awards.

Dr. Augustine Tawiah of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Directorate of KATH emerged the Overall Best Worker for the health facility in 2022, took home GH¢15,000 as his prize.

The first and second runners up, Patrick Anim and Madam Angela Boahen respectively, received GH¢10,000 and GH¢5,000.

The Innovation Award went to the Surgery Directorate of the hospital. It had contributed to the realisation of $600,000 for KATH, for which the Directorate was compensated with GH¢30,000 as its prize.

Addressing the KATH Annual Thanksgiving and Best Staff Awards on Friday, Prof. Otchere Addae Mensah expressed appreciation to the award winners and gave an assurance that workers would be motivated to give off their best and make the facility the most responsive.

He said 1% of the Internally Generated Fund would be allocated for staff motivation in a bid to reposition KATH as a leading light in search of quality healthcare.

Prof. Addae Mensah urged the staff to treat patients with dignity and respect.

The new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), however, cautioned that the management would not tolerate actions and inaction that lead to a reduction in the quality of service.

He also called for public support through the adoption of the various wards at the facility for rehabilitation.

Godfred Anewu renovates Afutukwaa School

By
NAABENYIN JOOJO AMISSAH
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The old block
The renovated block

A native of Assin Dwaaso in the Assin Central Municipality in the Central Region, Mr Godfred Nti Anewu, has singularly given a complete facelift to the Afutukwaa Primary School located at Afutukwaa in the same municipality.

Mr Anewu paid for the re-roofing of portions of the building, which leaked badly, replaced damaged windows and door frames, fixed new doors and windows and mended visible cracks in the building as well as repainting of the old building.

It was gathered that the massive renovation by Mr Anewu represented the first time the school has received a form of major maintenance or renovation since the construction of the school block in 1999.

Rationale behind the renovation

Explaining the rationale behind the massive renovation, Mr Anewu said he felt highly uncomfortable and got touched by the plight of the pupils whenever he saw them attend school in the dilapidated building.

This, he explained, informed his decision to commit himself to renovating the school block in order to create a serene atmosphere, which is conducive for teaching and learning for the pupil are the future leaders.

He said: “Worldwide, it is known that education is the best way to develop every country therefore any hindrance to education must be seen as a collective challenge to us all as a people. This is why I am very much concerned about the education of the younger ones”

He added: “Even the holy Bible supports the fact that we must teach our children the right ways so that they will not depart from it when they grow. This means their education must be of prime concern to everyone because they are our future”.

MCEs remarks

The Municipal Chief Executive of the Assin Central Municipality, Mr Nicholas Fiifi Baako, noted that the assembly and the government were doing their best to positively impact the standard of education in the area through infrastructural development.

“The voluntary donation of mathematical set, exercise books and the renovation of our classroom blocks by individuals are all meant to improve the quality of education in the municipality particularly the performance of our BECE candidates”. He stated.

He stated that since 2017, the BECE Results obtained by candidates from the Assin Central have witnessed significant improvement and added that in terms of the performance by the various districts in the region, Assin Central was placed fifth.

Headmistress expressed appreciation

The headmistress of the Afutukwaa Primary School, Mrs Agnes Appiah indicated that the dilapidated nature of the school building led to massive truancy among the pupil, demoralised and dampened the morale of the teachers.

“Some of the pupils used to come to school once or twice in the whole week while others could also stay at home for weeks because they were not comfortable being in the school and learning due to the poor nature of the building”. She stated.

However, she added that the situation has changed and more children have started coming to the school following the massive transformation of the building whereas same has also bolstered the morale of the teachers.

She, therefore, expressed her gratitude to Mr Anewu for his philanthropic initiative and urged others to kindly come to support the school so as to compliment government’s efforts at improving the level of basic school education in the area.

Some of the opinion leaders in the community who thronged the school to witness the colourful event, showered praises on Mr Anewu for the honour he has done the community and prayed for him to succeed in all his endeavours.

GIS gives retired officers gastronomic  treat at end of year get together

By
admin
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The DCG(F&A) Mr. Isaac Owusu Mensah in a tete a tete with some members of ARIO
Members of ARIO taking some musical steps

The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) organized an end-of-year get-together for the Association of Retired Immigration Officers (ARIO) on Wednesday in an effort to provide members of the Association a platform to dialogue with the Service’s leadership.

Addressing the gathering, Deputy Comptroller General of Immigration in charge of Finance and Administration (DCG/F&A), Mr Isaac Owusu Mensah, who spoke on behalf of the Comptroller-General of Immigration revealed Management’s intention to strengthen ARIO and improve welfare of Retired Officers of the Service considering that they are very important stakeholders of the GIS.

DCG Owusu Mensah said, the CGI’s love for the Association was no secret, “All your concerns are very well noted and will be forwarded”, he assured. He further acknowledged the sacrifices and contributions members had invested into the country and opined that their wealth of experience could not be underestimated or go unnoticed.

The Association used the occasion to swear in its newly elected Vice President in the person of Madam Veronica Addy. Mad. Addy who until her retirement was the Deputy Director, Finance and Administration (DD/F&A) pledged her commitment to working in the interest of the goals and aspirations of the Association.

Mr. Moses Gyamfi, President of ARIO who doubles as the representative of ARIO on the GIS Governing Council said the event was an opportunity to discuss the improvement of retired Officers’ welfare and address any challenges members may be facing.

Members of ARIO in a group photo with management of GIS

He was grateful to the Comptroller-General of Immigration, Mr. Kwame Asuah Takyi for his deep concern for retired Officers and entreated that such collaboration be deepened between ARIO and Management members of the GIS.

He said more collaboration with the GIS is needed in identification of new members across the regions of the country and in addressing certain critical health challenges some members are facing. Mr. Gyamfi also entreated continuous coordination of ARIO’s meeting schedules by the Protocol Unit of the Public Affairs Department of the GIS.

Present at the get-together were serving Officers of the GIS including Management members; Head of the Operations Secretariat, Deputy Commissioner of Immigration (DCOI) Maud Anima Quainoo, Head of Audit, Assistant Commissioner of Immigration (ACI) Constance Debordes and the Chief Staff Officer (CSO), ACI Lawrence Agyapong.

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