MEMO AGAINST ANTI-LGBTQI BILL WILL WOEFULLY FAIL – NII MENSAH DZANYƆMO.
The Kwabenya Musuku manhene, Nii Mensah Dza Nyomo I who is also the PRO of Kwabenya Traditional council says he is not perturbed by the memorandum from 15 renowned legal, academicians, and activists challenging the legislation that seeks to fully criminalise LGBTQI activities in Ghana.
Speaking in a press conference today at Kwabenya, Nii Mensah argued that the memo, which said the bill was a slap in the face of Ghana’s constitution and democracy, lacked merit.
Coming on the back of an Afrobarometer survey released by the Centre for Democratic Development showing that only 7 percent of Ghanaians are tolerant of persons of same-sex relationships, Nii Mensah Dza Nyomo also said arguments in the memo from the 15 persons would not be accepted by the public.
He added that the constitution is clear that your rights are not absolute, there are limits what they fail to understand. The memo which was signed by the likes of Professor Kofi Gyimah-Boadi, Dr. Rose Kutin-Mensah, Professor H. Kwasi Prempeh, Professor Audrey Gadzekpo, Professor Kwame KariKari, Akoto Ampaw, and Professor Raymond Atuguba, was in response to Parliament’s call for written memos on the anti-LGBTQI Bill
Ayawaso by-election incident: Stop the ‘hypocritical attitude’ – John Boadu to Mahama
General Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party, John Boadu
General Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) John Boadu, has described former President John Dramani Mahama as a “hypocrite” in his quest to lead the NDC in the next election.
This follows John Mahama’s promise that the NDC when voted back into power will ensure that compensations due the victims of the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election will be given to them.
John Mahama said this when he met with the victims and families of the Ayawaso West Wuogon incident.
The victims claim they have not received a dime from the Akufo-Addo led government despite the recommendations of the Emile Short Commission.
Speaking to NEAT FM’s morning show ‘Ghana Montie’, John Boadu said Mr. Mahama turned deaf ears to a similar incident when in power – after urging the Nana Addo-led government to quickly attend to the victims as recommended.
“When will they [NDC] come to power to help these people?” he questioned.
He, however, wondered about the sudden interest by Ex-President Mahama to help victims when his government did nothing to help others in the past.
“Sometimes he thinks we have short memories,” he said.
“Former President Mahama is being a hypocrite. He must put a stop to it. There are equally victims of violence from his government, what has he done to those people and their families?” he asked.
Early today, Assembly members in New Edubiase Constituency in the Adansi South District of the Ashanti Region has confirmed the District Chief Executive Nominee Hon Francis Ankomah.
The Hon District Chief Executive were confirmed with 100% vote by over 40 Assembly members.
Speaking with the District Chief Executive Hon Francis Ankomah after the election, he thanked the president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo for appointing him in his second term of office.
He moreover, thanked Nananom, the Ashanti Regional Minister, party members, and the Assemblymen for their support and confirming him again as the District Chief Executive for New Edubiase Constituency.
Hon. Francis Ankomah added that the outcome of the election clearly shows that, the Assembly members were impressed by his work during the first term of office which he explains in detail.
Moreover, the member of parliament for New Edubiase Constituency Hon Abdul Salam Adams added that, though the appointment of Metropolitan Municipal and District Chief Executives delayed but he knew the president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo was investigating to know who to be Appointed as DCE in our various Districts which he explains details.
Prahgia Riders in Techiman cautioned to stay away from girls
It is public knowledge that Tricycles popularly known as Prahgia have become a major way of transportation in our towns despite their operations being illegal and most of the riders are Youths who are sexually active.
In view of this, a Non-Governmental Organization that targets adolescent sexual reproductive health “Purim African Youth Development Platform” (PAYDP) together with the Ghana Police Service, Department of Social Welfare, and other Stakeholders have trained Prahgia Riders on Sexual & Gender-based violence and teenage pregnancies as well as force or early marriages.
Speaking in an interview with our correspondent Nana Kwadwo Adu in Techiman during the training workshop, Madam Millicent Ocloo Bono East regional programs Officer for PAYDP cautioned Prahgia Riders to stay away from girls in order not to face the rigors of the laws.
Millicent Ocloo, Bono East regional programs Officer for PAYDP.
For his part, Mr. Ameyaw Nicholas Regional Director of Non-Formal Education Division in charge of Bono, Bono East, and Ahafo urged Prahgia Riders who might have dropped out of school to take advantage of the government’s functional literacy program to update their knowledge.
At the training, the Prahgia Riders also enjoyed free medical or health screening from PAYDP in which Mrs. Eunice Acheampomaa Siaw a Senior Nurse at Abrafi Women and Children’s Hospital in Techiman also gave this piece of advice….
Mrs. Eunice Acheampomaa Siaw, a Senior Nurse at Abrafi Women and Children’s Hospital in Techiman
Finally, Gyan Abdul Rauf General Secretary of Techiman Prahgia Association, and some Riders who benefited from the program also shared their views….
Gyan Abdul Rauf General Secretary of Techiman Prahgia Association and some Riders
The alleged Killer in Police Grips whilst One of the youth is also reported dead after The police Vehicle ALLEGEDLY Rammed into the Crowd who were trying to See the Alleged Kidnappers.
TWO PERSONS BUSTED OVER ALLEGED KIDNAPPING AT ASIWA IN THE BOSOME FREHO DISTRICT.
Two people believe to be Scrap dealers have been busted by the Youth of Anyinase and Asiwa in the BOSOME FREHO DISTRICT of the Ashanti region over Alleged Kidnapping of Eight (8) year old Child.
The Suspects whose identity is yet to be known According to the youth Were seen in Aboboyaa this Morning at Bobiam, a suburb of Asiwa.
Currently, the Child had been taking away by one of the Suspects but the Two arrested by the Citizens are Accomplices who are assisting the police with Investigations.
The Suspects,after they were grabbed by the Youth have been handed over to the Police At Asiwa.
Techiman has recorded no positive case of COVID-19 in the past 3 weeks; Municipal Health Director declares & urges all to go for jabs
Dr. Fosuhen Kusi Techiman Municipal Director of Ghana Health Services in the Bono East region has revealed that his area which was a few months back declared as hot spot for the deadly novel Coronavirus has in the past three (3) not recorded any new positive cases.
He disclosed that the total number of COVID-19 deaths remains at 39 in Techiman municipality while active cases had drastically reduced to 10 out of the total cumulative 863 confirmed cases, therefore advising the citizenry to keep religiously adhering to the safety protocols.
Dr. Fosuhen Kusi was speaking in an interview with our correspondent Nana Kwadwo Adu in Techiman about the mass Coronavirus vaccination exercise which began on Monday 27th September at eight (8) centers in Techiman and would be moving around all communities until Friday 1st October 2021 therefore urged everyone to come out and take their jabs while stock lasts.
Dr. Fosuhen Kusi, Techiman municipal health director.
Dr. Fosuhen Kusi, Techiman municipal health director.
Meanwhile, our correspondent Nana Kwadwo Adu visited some vaccination centers in Techiman where many people were seen in cues and ready to take their jobs.
Some residents of Techiman took their COVID-19 vaccines today.
Ghanaian musician Nana Kwame Ampadu has kicked the bucket
He was 76 years. Nana Kwame Ampadu is credited with numerous highlife songs and regarded as one of Ghana’s legends in the music industry with over 800 songs to his credit. He came to prominence in 1967 when he released his song Ebi Te Yie (or “Some Are Well Seated”), a song that was seen as potentially critical of the then-governing National Liberation Council and disappeared from the airwaves, only returning after the end of military rule.
In 1973 he won a nationwide competition in Ghana to be crowned the Odwontofoohene, or “Singer-in-Chief”. The doyen was born on 31 March 1945 at Adiemmra on the Obo Kwahu in the Eastern Region of Ghana. He was named Kwame Ampadu after his father, Opanin Kwame Ampadu, the then head of the Asona Clan of Obo Kwahu in the Eastern Region of Ghana, and madam Mercy Afua Ntiriwaa, a devouted presbyter also of Obo Kwahu.
GFA waiting on Sports Ministry to pay Akonnor’s 7-month salary arrears
Henry Asante Twum, the Communications Director of the Ghana Football Association, has disclosed that former Black Stars coach Charles Akonnor was owed seven months’ salary at the time of his dismissal.
Asante Twum is quoted to have said that the FA is collaborating with the Ministry of Youth and Sports and Akonnor to ensure that the debt is settled.
In a JoyNews interview, Asante Twum said that the FA has held talks with Akonnor and is waiting on the Ministry to provide a roadmap for the payment of the salary arrears.
“We’ve met him and discussed with him. The Ministry will come back to us with the payment plan. Once that is made available to the FA, we will give it to him,” he said on Sunday.
Akonnor was sacked earlier this month by the Ghana Football Association after the Black Stars lost 1-0 to South Africa in the World Cup qualifiers.
Akonnor’s Black Stars played 10 games, won four, lost four, and drew two with the performance against Ethiopia and South Africa, earning the team criticism from some Ghanaians.
Akonnor has meanwhile been replaced with Serbian coach Milovan Rajevac who was unveiled on Friday, September 26, 2021, by the FA.
Milovan who is on a one-year deal will receive a monthly salary of $30,000 and a signing-on fee of $100,000.
He has been tasked with qualifying for the 2022 World Cup and winning the 2021 AFCON which will be held in Cameroon.
Milo will pocket a sum total of $600,000 if he achieves the two objectives as well as a contract renewal.
He will be assisted by Maxwell Konadu and former Ghana winger Otto Addo.
Ghana receives 1.5m doses of AstraZeneca from Germany – COVID-19
Ghana has taken delivery of the 1.5 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses promised by the German government.
The Deputy Minister of Health, Mr. Mahama Asei Seini, “today received 1.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines on behalf of the government of Ghana from the German government in support of the fight against COVID-19 in Ghana”, the Ministry of Information announced on Facebook.
The consignment is one of the outcomes of President Nana Akufo-Addo’s recent visit to Germany and negotiations with Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The Director of Communications at the presidency, Mr. Eugene Arhin, on Monday, 30 August 2021, at the Jubilee House, told the presidential press corps: “The German Chancellor has made it known that, at least, Germany will be helping Africa with 70 million vaccines”.
“The President had a bilateral meeting with the German Chancellor – one of the things that came out was the vaccine”, he said.
“I am happy to inform Ghanaians that the German Chancellor made it known to the President that a total of 1.2 million AstraZeneca vaccines were to be given to Ghana”, Mr. Arhin announced.
GAF clears 230 platforms, 365 Changfans near Pra, Offin rivers
The Ghana army, supported by the navy and air force, has, so far, cleared a total of 230 platforms and 365 change fans in illegal mining sites covering a total of 267 kilometers along and on the Pra and Offin rivers and their tributaries, as part of their activities to flush out illegal small-scale miners from some major river bodies and forest reserves in the Ashanti, Eastern, Western and Western North regions.
Operation Halt II was re-activated in April this year and the army has continued to conduct follow-up surgical operations in targeted areas to sustain the campaign to rid river bodies of all illegal mining activities in the country.
Areas along river Offin that have been cleared include Asma Camp, Denkira Foso, Badoa No.1 and 2, Kyekyewere, Buabenso, Akyempim, and Dunkwa.
GAF, in a statement, noted that a total of 110 platforms and 185 Chang fan machines have been destroyed on river Offin, covering a distance of approximately 114 kilometers.
The army has advised all persons engaged in illegal mining, especially along with the country’s river bodies and forest reserves, to desist from these criminal activities or risk being severely dealt with according to the laws of the nation.
Josephine Panyin Mensah, the woman who allegedly faked her pregnancy and kidnapping in Takoradi in the Western Region, has pleaded not guilty in her first court appearance on Monday, 27 September 2021.
Her plea comes despite claims by the police that she confessed to faking her pregnancy and kidnapping to save her marriage.
She is facing two charges of deceiving a public officer and publication of false news with intent to cause fear and panic.
She was admitted to a bail bond of GHS 50,000 with two sureties.
The Police allege Ms. Mensah told the medical team at the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital and police investigators that she conspired with her mother to fake her pregnancy since she was afraid of losing her husband after she had a miscarriage while four months pregnant.
The 28-year-old woman, who is now being held for falsely claiming she was kidnapped, had earlier confessed to the police that she was neither pregnant nor abducted.
She confessed that the husband treated her with a lot of love and care within the four months that she was actually pregnant before the miscarriage and, so, found it difficult to break the bad news to him.
Out of the fear of losing her marriage and the love of her husband, she conspired with her mother to fake her pregnancy to full-term by using silicone belly pads.
They also faked her kidnapping to cover up the alleged loss of the baby.
She told the investigators that she always covered up her fake belly anytime she was with her husband.
Ms. Mensah allegedly went into hiding in Agona Nkwanta as part of the fake kidnapping plot but said she never thought the issue could gain this prominence.
On Thursday, 23 September 2021, some neighbors and co-tenants of hers rained curses on the Ghana Police Service and the Western Regional Minister for doubting her pregnancy claim and accusing her of faking her alleged kidnapping.
They thronged the streets of Takoradi Columbia in the victim-now-turned-suspect’s neighborhood to pour libation and break eggs to hex all sceptics.
Some of her neighbors and co-tenants said they saw her heavily pregnant.
She went missing on 16 September and was found at Axim a few days later without her apparent full-term pregnancy.
She claims she was kidnapped and delivered while in the custody of her kidnappers.
Both the Western Regional Minister and the police doubted the story.
The police, in a statement, announced the arrest of three persons suspected to have conspired with the lost-but-found woman over her disappearance and alleged pregnancy.
The police noted that for a number of years, the regional command has recorded several false kidnapping cases in which people conspired to create “self-kidnapping” incidents to make money out of ransoms.
The police further noted that medical experts have concluded that Mrs. Mensah was never pregnant.
According to the law enforcement agency, Mrs. Mensah, during her interrogation, mentioned the European Hospital in Takoradi as the hospital for her antenatal reviews and assessment but medical records at the facility suggest that she visited the hospital without pregnancy somewhere in October last year.
Committee makes 10 recommendations for government’s consideration
The three-member committee set up to probe circumstances leading to the clash between Police cum Military personnel and the irate youth of Ejura that led to the death of two persons on June 29, has made ten recommendations for the government’s consideration.
Ghanatodayonline.com has received a copy of the recommendations made by the Committee, which comprised George Kingsley Koomson, Justice of the Court of Appeal, Security Expert, Dr. Vladimir Antwi Danso, and Juliet Amoah, Executive Director of Penplusbyte, a civil society organization.
Among others, the committee recommended the transfer of the District Police Commander of Ejura, DSP Philip Kojo Hammond for his incompetence in handling the issue.
The Committee also recommended that the families of the two deceased and other affected persons, be compensated.
They also recommended the removal of the Ejura-Sekyedumase Municipal Chief Executive, Mohammed Salisu Bamba.
According to the Committee, his continuous presence as MCE would exacerbate the already tense security situation in Ejura. Meanwhile, Mr. Bamba was reported on July 15, to have withdrawn his application for re-appointment as MCE for the area.
The Committee recommends adequate Compensation for the families of the two deceased persons, namely, Abdul Nasir Yusif and Murtala Suraj Mohammed. Adequate compensation must also be paid to other injured persons, namely; Louis Ayikpa (20 years), Awal Misbau (16 years), and Nasif Nuhu (30 years). These are the names known to the Committee.
2. The Committee recommends the immediate transfer of the District Police Commander of Ejura, DSP Philip Kojo Hammond, first for his incompetence in handling the situation and for the fact that his relationship with the community seems to have been damaged beyond repair.
3. We further recommend the structural expansion of the Ejura Police Station and an increase in personnel.
4. We recommend the removal of the Ejura-Sekyedumase Municipal Chief Executive, Honourable Mohammed Salisu Bamba since his continuous presence as MCE would exacerbate the already tense security situation in Ejura.
5. It is further recommended that the Military Establishment review the actions of the Section on the ground, led by Lieutenant Martin Opoku Adusei, for the inappropriate use of force, and apply appropriate sanctions.
6. We further recommend the training of REGSEC, MUSEC, and DISEC officials in the Ashanti Region in Conflict and Crises Management at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College at least once every year.
7. We recommend the development of a joint Standard Operative Procedure (SOP) for Military / Police operations, including roles for indispensable allied agencies like the National Investigations Bureau, NADMO, Ghana National Fire Service, National Ambulance Service, etc.
8. We further recommend that the NCCE should intensify its Public education in relation to the rights, obligations, and civic responsibilities of the people of Ejura.
9. It is further recommended that all crowd /riot/crises control units be made to wear bodycams and all vehicles and mobile gadgets employed must also have cameras.
10. We recommend the establishment of a Sports and other Recreational Facilities in Ejura under the Zongo Development Fund, so as to re-channel the energies of the youth.
Ejura murder probe: Committee recommends transfer of Ejura District Police Commander, DSP Hammond
The Ministerial Committee of Inquiry tasked to probe the Ejura disturbances in June 2021 has recommended the immediate transfer of the District Police Commander for incompetence in handling the security situation in the area.
In a 55-page report submitted to the Interior Minister and sighted by Ghanatodayonline.com, the Justice Koomson Committee said that DSP Philip Kojo Hammond’s relationship with the Ejura residents has turned sour, thus not prudent for him to be at post.
“The Committee recommends the immediate transfer of the District Police Commander of Ejura, DSP Philip Kojo Hammond, first for his incompetence in handling the situation and for the fact that his relationship with the community seems to have been damaged beyond repair,” the report said.
Presenting its findings, the Committee stated that there was no basis for the dispatch of a Police Riot Vehicle (water canon) to the cemetery on the morning of June 29 when the slain social media activist was being buried.
According to the report, the decision to deploy the riot vehicle was tantamount to provocation.
Testifying before the Committee, both Deputy Ashanti Regional and Ejura District Police Commanders told the three-member body that the deployment was on the request of Kaka’s family; a claim the family denied.
The Police commanders could not tell the Committee the name and particulars of the said family member who made this request.
The Committee also revealed that there was no need for the security personnel who were deployed in Ejura to restore calm on the 28th of June, to have left Ejura in the early hours of 29th June. The Committee finds that this created a security vacuum in the town.
The Justice Koomson Committee said it is convinced that having withdrawn the security personnel deployed on June 28 from Ejura, the District Police Commander failed in his duty to adequately brief his superiors in the Divisional and Regional level to beef up the personnel and logistics in anticipation of any eventualities on June 29.
It added that, if it was in fact true that “Kaaka’s” family requested for security during the burial, as alleged by the District Police Commander, there should have been an adequate signal to the District Commander to have immediately requested for the necessary logistics and personnel to deal with any unwarranted situation.
Rather, the District Commander decided to deploy the Riot Vehicle to the cemetery.
The Committee found the District Commander to be incompetent and ill-prepared for the occasion.
It further revealed that the Police did not work on their intelligence sharing. It failed to prepare for the situation on the ground and over-relied on the Military personnel; thereby failed to organise adequately in terms of personnel and equipment.
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