Henry Nana Boakye, Youth Organizer of the ruling New Patriotic Party, NPP, has averred that persons behind the #FixTheCountry protests have been badly exposed with respect to their motives.
“The #FixTheCountry people have been badly exposed… We had just come out of the elections and there were COVID-19 issues, it did not take long before we heard about fix the country.
“Let us remember that John Dramani Mahama’s election petition also took about two months. It was barely two months after President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had taken his oath and in March 2021, I heard #FixTheCountry,” he said on Okay FM’s Morning Show late last week.
He, however, admits that there is difficulty in the system but that it is also very exciting to know that the government has plans to employ some 11,000 plus people.
He cautioned politicians to be careful about their pronouncements and added that he was in favour of any counter group that will project the good works of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the NPP government.
Political activist, Kwame Asare Obeng (A-Plus) has pooh-poohed Captain Smart’s libation pouring exercise during the #FixTheCountry demonstration.
The protest, organized on August 4 by some Ghanaians in their quest to register their displeasure over hardship that has engulfed them, saw the celebrated broadcaster invoke the spirit of Ghana’s first president Dr. Kwame Nkrumah with bottles of schnapps.
Captain Smart, clad in a white t-shirt with inscriptions, a red cap, and a Ghana flag around his neck, pleaded with Nkrumah to unleash wisdom on national leaders. He also asked spirits gathered to deal mercilessly with persons who intend to steal from the state.
Making a submission on UTV’s United Showbiz, Saturday, A-Plus who was conspicuously missing from the demonstration indicated that Captain Smart’s action was pointless.
“Someone is pouring libation and invoking the spirit of Kwame Nkrumah. For what?” A-Plus questioned.
The convenor of The People’s Project (TPP), without mincing words, labeled the demonstration exercise as “jogging” insisting that it had no focus.
“The era of shouting has ended. I don’t go jogging or keep fit; my understanding of exercising and demonstration are two different things… Let’s get serious in this country. What was the plan, what is the end game?” A-Plus argued.
“You cannot change a constitution by holding a placard and standing by the roadside. I agree there should be demonstrations in the country but I’m telling you that the demonstration must have an end goal. That is why we go to school to learn decentralization and local governance. It is important to create awareness but that has been created over and over again.
“Next year, there’s going to be district-level elections. What is the plan of the youth knowing the assemblymen and district committee are the parliamentarians for the district assembly? What is the plan of people to go and take assemblyman position so that they control the assembly?” A-Plus added.
The much-talked-about #FixTheCountry demonstration finally came off on August 4 in Accra with hundreds taking to the streets to demand good governance, accountability, as well as better living conditions from the Akufo-Addo administration.
Before the demonstration saw the light of day, it was hit with hiccups. On May 6, for instance, the Ghana Police Service secured an injunction from the High Court using COVID-19 induced restrictions as the excuse to stop a planned demonstration.
Watch A-Plus’s submission from the 26th minute of the video below
The problem with politicians and political parties owning media outfits (radio, TV, etc.) is that they are able to do propaganda as much as they want, project their parties and political ideologies, whether good or bad, and inevitably misinform and miseducate the public. Even when they don’t have their own radio or TV stations, they end up contracting some media personalities who then cultivate the corrupt habit of turning a blind eye to or sidestepping major issues and asking frivolous questions when they get the opportunity.
How many media houses and media personalities are talking about Government’s corrupt dealings in the Ghanaian oil and gas sector?
Take a good look at the Volta Region for instance. There are no less than 4 radio stations owned by NPP party people and despite the attempt to be unbiased in their reportage and during their morning shows, you can still see where they are headed and what the long term-term strategy is.
Even radio stations that claim to be unaffiliated to political parties, end up inviting only NDC and NPP reps on their morning shows. I don’t even know who told them that you can’t have a morning show and discussions without NPP-NDC reps in the studio.
It’s mediocre really and a tacit promotion and endorsement of the duopoly.
We need experts discussing national and topical issues, not NDC and NPP representatives.
You owe us, the public, that duty. We don’t want politically biased takes on issues, we need expert opinions.
Edmund Burke said the Fourth Estate is the most powerful, most important and most influential among the four arms of government, and he is right.
politicians
The media can affect and influence public participation in politics, serve as a platform to educate or miseducate the masses, and when political persons and parties start owning media houses, that’s when the public is deceived, becomes less politically conscious, and not able to think and see the duopoly for what it is.
A political pact that desires to keep the general populace ignorant in order to perpetuate their stranglehold on Ghanaian politics.
If we are ever going to reverse the damage politically biased journalism is causing in Ghana, we need to own media outfits and also make judicious use of the internet and word-of-mouth.
If you can’t fight the information wars, forget it. You are not making inroads and you can’t get enough people informed and moving in opposition to the duopoly.
Get people and groups signed up, develop a clear strategy, put an organizational structure in place, democratize every decision making process, and then move.
This fight is bigger than any of us, but you can’t discount the role of individuals, you can’t alienate anyone. You shouldn’t.
Host of Kokrokro morning show on Peace FM, Kwame Sefa Kayi, has been appointed a board member of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA).
Kwame Sefa Kayi
In a photo spotted by Dikoder.com, media personality was seen signing a document placed before him at the NPA head office in Accra on Friday, August 6, 2021, at the swearing-in ceremony.
The board is chaired by Joe Addo-Yobo. Manuel Sawyyerr Esq., Clement Osei Amoako, Bernard Owusu, and Dr Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah as members.
NPA CEO, Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, and Diana Mogre are part of the board members.
See Photos:
Media Personality, Kwame Sefa Kayi signed in as board member of NPA
The constitution of the Eighth Parliament in January this year, Prof Henry Kwesi Prempeh, Executive Director of the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) who had flagged the appointment of Members of Parliament (MPs) to management boards of state-owned enterprises as a bad governance practice and urged the President and the Speaker to ensure that such appointments are not done has been left disappointed as the practice has persisted.
Nana Akuffo Addo and Hon.Albin Bagbin
According to Prof Henry Kwesi Prempeh, he said that appointing MPs to state corporate bodies undermined the oversight responsibility of Parliament and was not a sound corporate governance practice. He called on the President to end the bad practice, stressing that if the President failed to end it, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin could end it by refusing MPs the opportunity to be both MPs and members of boards of state enterprises.
“The appointment of MPs to state corporate boards is antithetical to good governance. It undermines both Parliament’s oversight role and sound corporate governance in the SOE sector. It must stop. Having MPs double as Ministers in our system is bad enough, but that, for now, is what our Constitution mandates. MPs as board members is not compelled by the Constitution or by best practice, and it has zero, indeed negative, governance value.
The President must end this bad practice in the interest of good governance, or, failing that, the Speaker must exercise his prerogative under Article 98(2) of the Constitution to disallow it. This is low-hanging fruit when it comes to reforming the way we do business in this town,” Prof Prempeh had written.
Henry Kwesi Prempeh
With the recent appointment of the Members of Parliament(MPs) to boards, notably the MP for Effutu as the board chair of the Ghana Road Fund, the issue of the inappropriateness of such appointments has resurfaced.
“And here was I thinking Speaker Bagbin could put the brakes on this practice,” Prof Prempeh said while referencing his earlier appeal to him to stop the practice.
Meanwhile, several boards of state corporate bodies remain unconstituted and it is expected that some more MPs will be appointed to serve on those boards.
Jacob Zuma moved to an outside hospital for ‘routine observation’, says prison authority
Former president Jacob Zuma. File photo. Image: Rogan Ward
The department of correctional services said on Friday that former president Jacob Zuma has been admitted to an outside hospital for medical observation.
Zuma, who was sentenced last month to a 15-month jail term for contempt of court, has been medically supervised by staff from the SA Military Health Services since his admission at the Estcourt Correctional Centre.
“A routine observation prompted that Mr Zuma be taken for in-hospitalisation,” said spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo.
The JGZ Foundation, which speaks on behalf of the former president and his family, downplayed Zuma’s move from the prison to hospital.
In a short statement posted on its social media page, the foundation said the 79–year-old Zuma “is attending to his annual medical routine check-up. No need to be alarmed … yet.”
Zuma began serving the prison sentence on July 8 on the order of the Constitutional Court after repeatedly snubbing a call to appear at the commission of inquiry into state capture. He is classified as a “short-term low-risk inmate”.
Two weeks ago, he joined his family for the funeral of his brother Michael, in Nkandla, after he was granted compassionate leave.
When asked how Zuma was doing in jail, his son Edward said at the time that while there were a few things his father was not happy with, he was doing well. “He is in top spirits.”
President Nana Akufo-Addo says despite the unfortunate events that led to the exit of Martin Amidu as Special Prosecutor, he does not regret appointing him.
The former Attorney General, Mr Amidu was appointed to lead the fight against corruption for seven years, but nearly three years after he had been sworn into office, the Special Prosecutor (SP), resigned.
Mr Amidu cited what he described as “political interference in the independence of his office” as the main reason for his decision to leave office.
Additionally, he said, his office was given inadequate staff who were mostly on secondment, a situation that made it nearly impossible for his outfit to effectively carry out its functions.
On the 4th floor of the Jubilee House, President Akufo-Addo sworn into office 43-year-old legal practitioner, Kissi Agyabeng, for a seven-year mandate as Special Prosecutor.
Describing him as highly qualified, the President charged him to fight corruption independently.
“Kissi Agyabeng comes into office with the needed capacity, experience and values and I am very confident he will do a good job and we in the executive will respect the independence of his office and will provide the office with the needed support to enable him work efficiently,” he said.
The President also assured government will increase budgetary support to other anti-corruption institution to help with the fight against the canker.
Kissi Agyabeng
Mr Agyabeng takes office as the second special prosecutor.
According to his profile on the University of Ghana School Of Law website, Mr Agyabeng has been a lecturer since October 2006, teaching and researching Criminal Law, International Humanitarian Law, International Law, Corporate Law and Legal Research and Writing.
He was awarded the Bentsi-Enchill Prize for Best Graduating Student of the University Of Ghana School Of Law in 2001.
He proceeded to the Ghana School of Law and was called to the Ghana Bar in October 2003, earning the E.N. Sowah Memorial Prize for Best Student in Family Law.
Since then, he has successfully argued numerous cases before the superior courts of Ghana and participated in several international arbitration hearings.
Mr Agyebeng has a wide range of expertise in consulting for public sector institutions, including the A-G’s Department, EXIM Bank Ghana Ltd, the Youth Employment Authority, the National Lottery Authority, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, the Ghana Trade Fair Company Limited, and the Ghana Olympic Committee.
He is also an associate at the African Centre for Cyber Law and Cyber Crime Prevention and the National Moot Court Coordinator for the Commonwealth Moot Court Competition on International Criminal Justice.
He has also served as the Vice-Chairman of the Appeals Committee of the Ghana Football Association.
About the Office of the Special Prosecutor
Martin-Amidu
The Office of the Special Prosecutor of Ghana was established after an act of the Parliament of Ghana passed the Office of Special Prosecutor Bill in 2017.
The office serves as an independent investigating and prosecution body to make inquiries into corruption, bribery, or other criminal cases at the national level whether they be in public or private sector.
Former President John Dramani Mahama with the support of the Volta Caucus in Parliament, yesterday donated relief items to communities affected by tidal waves in the Ketu South Municipality of the Volta Region.
The presentation was done when the former President and members of the Volta caucus of Parliament, visited the affected communities to abreast themselves with the level of devastation and to solidarize with the people.
The items donated include 1,000 bags of cement, 20 bundles of roofing sheets, 50 bags of rice, 200 bags of sachet water and additional 50 bags of rice to be distributed to head porters (Agbatekorlawo) at the Aflao boarder.
Former President Mahama demanded of the Akufo-Addo government to eschew petty politics and continue with the second phase of the sea defence project as started under the NDC, in order to ameliorate the plights of the people. He also used the opportunity to thank the electorates of Ketu South, for the impressive turnout and massive support during the 2020 general elections, and assured them that by the grace of God, the NDC would win the 2024 elections.
President Mahama concluded his speech with the quote “he who fights and loses, lives to fight another day.”
The Member of Parliament for Ketu South, Hon Abla Dzifa Gomashie bemoaned her tireless efforts in getting the attention of the current government to address the issue of tidal waves devastation in her constituency.
She also thanked the former President and the Volta caucus MPs for heeding to her call for support for the affected communities.
It would be recalled that, hundreds of residents of Adina, Agavedzi, Amutinu, Blekusu, and Salakorpe in the Ketu South Municipality took to the streets to protest and express their frustrations over what they describe as the Akufo -Addo’s neglect of their plight.
Present to witness the presentation were members of the Volta caucus of Parliament, led by Hon Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzra, some Volta Regional executives of the NDC led by the Regional Chairman, Hon Henry Ametefe, as well as some Constituency Executives led by the Constituency Chairman, Hon.. Bright Korku Kumordzi and the former MPs for Ketu South, Hon Fifi Kwetey, Hon Albert Kwasi Zigah and scores of party members.
Issued By
Bright Dzila (Ketu South NDC Constituency Communications Officer.) 0246497595
Acting Inspector General of Police, George Akuffo Dampare was up in action with his men ahead of the much anticipated #FixTheCountry demonstration which happened yesterday.
Having given the green light for the peaceful march to be held, COP Akuffo Dampare before the dispersion of his men, met officers at the Accra Regional Command together with members of the Police Management Board.
He sought to, through the meeting, brief the men who were going to be on the field himself. Though this is usually done by heads at the Regional Command, the IGP spearheaded this meeting to motivate and encourage the men to be professional before they set off to shepherd the demonstrators.
Photos available to GhanaWeb from his office show COP Dampare speaking to his men who had gathered to get some ‘morale’ from their chief.
George Akuffo Dampare
The #FixTheCountry demonstration which is the first demonstration exercise held under his leadership was an incident-free one.
Meanwhile, scores of citizens from various spheres joined the #FixTheCountry protest Wednesday morning, to register their displeasure about happenings in leadership and governance.
4% salary increment: Aggrieved Workers to petition Speaker, set to close down offices
The Aggrieved Public Sector Workers of Ghana have given an ultimatum to leaders of the various labour unions to come out clear on actions being taken against the 4% salary increment agreed on their behalf.
The workers, who are fumed over the unreasonable compromises reached by its representatives at the salary increment negotiations says its leadership have been adamant despite calls by the public sector workers to reject the chicken change given them.
In a statement released by the group and signed by its Lead Convenor, Norbert Gborgbortsi, it says all Union offices would be closed down by close of day Wednesday, August 11, 2021, if nothing comes from the leadership.
The group has also informed the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Bagbin, of their intention to petition his office Wednesday, August 18, 2021, which is slated for their demonstration.
Read the full statement below:
PRESS RELEASE
AGGRIEVED PUBLIC SECTOR WORKERS GHANA – ACTION NOW OR NEVER
A timeline was given to the organised labour to reconvene a meeting with government and renegotiate the 4% salary increment but the leadership is adamant and is bent on perpetuating illegality by forcing members to accept the percentage increment.
The leadership which is supposed to be law abiding is doing otherwise whilst the members rather turn to be law abiding.
If by 11th of August 2021, nothing is heard about the leaderships’ position on the issue of renegotiations, members accross the country will have no option than to close down all Union offices until further notice.
We are reliably informed that the various leadership have recently increased their allowances to a minimum of 100% , some with effective date backdated to 2020 and arrears paid in full.
If you can spend and pay yourselves handsomely but will refuse to let us have what is due us from the government, we will be left with no option than to close all Union office accross the nation before our pending national demonstration scheduled to take place on the 18th of August 2021.
This pernicious and persistent effort by some vindictive and self-ego-massaging politicians to downplay Nkrumah’s legacy and role in the struggle for independence is not only short-sighted but suicidal long-term. If Nkrumah wasn’t that special or the standout performer among the Big Sixers, then the Big Six itself is nothing special among the many men and women who fought for Ghanaian Independence.
I can choose to perceive the Big Six as a political contrivance that sidelines the many men and women, unsung heroes, who played not insignificant roles in the fight for freedom.
Changing Founder’s day to Founders’ Day is good, but history revisionism for political capital is a race after the wind. Writing Nkrumah out of the history books and sneaking in your favourite Big Sixer makes your intention obvious.
Majority of Ghanaians will never revere the man who wrote letters to the Queen pleading with her to not grant us independence the same way they revere Nkrumah.
The-Big-Six
Nkrumah was the standout performer, and no amount of history revisionism will change that.
Neymer didn’t need Messi performing less to shine, and an in-form Christiano Ronaldo took nothing away from Gareth Bale.
Fix the country instead of attempting to re-fix history to favour your political tradition.
FixtheCountry demonstrations have already happened in Spain and England, and Ghana is next.
It’s coming off on Wednesday, the 4th of August, 2021, and the meeting point is Obra Spot, Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra at 7:00am. Put on your mask. Add a face shield if you want to and hit the streets.
Do it for the patients who have to sleep on the bare floor at our hospitals while our leaders have oxygen tanks ready and available in their bedrooms and go for treatment abroad. #FixGhanaHealthService.
fix. the countryfix. the country
Do it for the poor children still studying under trees while your favourite politician’s children get driven in V8’s to Cambridge curriculum teaching schools. #FixGES.
Do it for the lack of good roads, good hospitals, national indebtedness and the endemic corruption in governance that sees a few people amassing wealth while Ghana remains poor.
FixtheCountry does not want NPP or NDC in power; it wants a government that works to get Ghana fixed. It wants a government that greatly amends or changes the constitution.
If the NPP can do it, great. If the NDC can do it, great. If we need to bring in another group of politicians to do it, great. I personally think neither of them can do it. They’ve had almost 30 years to do it and couldn’t. t’s time for change now.
We need a third force more than ever. We need the Third Force. We need an alliance. We need an independence coalition. We need all parties that are not appendages of the NPP-NDC duopoly, and influencers and individuals with huge followings, groups and movements coming together to wrestle power from the NDC-NPP axis in 2024.
It is possible.
A few days after sending that petition to the Police, FixtheCountry activists were tricked into a meeting with National Security and a couple of ministers partaking instead of meeting the IGP as was communicated. It was during this meeting that the Government using the Police worked to secure an injunction against the intended demonstration and readied itself to use the courts and intimidation to stop any protests seen as making the government unpopular.
FixtheCountry activists have been in and out of court and now have the go ahead to protest, after the government has itself attended super spreader events (Covid was being used as the reason to stop fixthecountry protests) and allowed the very gullible NDC to demonstrate.
I was interviewed by Asaase Radio few days after the Police secured an injunction against the intended demonstration, and it appeared as if the interviewer wanted me to say that we were going to disregard the law and demonstrate anyway.
I didn’t. I only answered that there were many ways to demonstrate and hitting the street wasn’t the only option. We went ahead and demonstrated online on May 9th, 2021.
On the 3rd of May, 2021, something big happened in Ghana. Something unprecedented. Only the new media could make it possible.
If Joshua Boye-Doe (aka KalyJay) had written a 2000 word long feature in the Daily Graphic about the problems bedeviling the country due to the incompetence of the NPP-NDC duopoly, a few hundred people might have read it and maybe two would have reached out.
But majority of Ghanaians, the young and adult populace on social media wouldn’t have heard about it, and maybe the Daily Graphic wouldn’t have published the article anyway.
The paper that did not see Ejura as worthy enough to feature on its front would have probably hidden a #FixTheCountry article somewhere else–between three electronic goods adverts. I doubt if they would have published it even.
Enter the internet and social media. A reading platform available to every smartphone user, and Twitter, the social media platform that inspires the most hashtags.
It was easier to sound the clarion call with three little words than a feature long article or speech delivered on TV or radio.
KalyJay named a couple of things wrong with Ghana and tweeted #FixtheCountry.
That set the ball rolling. It was as good as Mohamed Bouazizi setting himself on fire in the streets of Tunis. It was as good as Rosa Parks saying ‘my feet hurt.’ It was as good as Martin Luther King Jnr. saying ‘I have a dream.’
Macho Kaaka had a dream as well. He wanted Ejura fixed. He wanted his community developed and its myriad of problems taken care of. His allegiance to community mattered to him more than the party he belonged to. Don’t let his dream die. Keep it alive. #FixEjura.
fix. the country
Few weeks later, government officials with verified accounts reported KalyJay’s account and it got suspended by Twitter.
That’s the kind of Government you have, Ghana. A government that does not tolerate criticism and sees anybody not singing their praises as the enemy. It’s political vindictiveness of the lowest form.
Joshua lost access to his Twitter account for sometime, but the horse had already bolted. Almost every Ghanaian on Twitter was tweeting #FixtheCountry, using the hashtag on Facebook, and it wasn’t long before a leader emerged, calling on others to join him to petition the police about an intended #fixthecountry demonstration.
The signatories to that first letter sent to the Police were Mawuse Oliver Barker-Vormawor, Joshua Boye-Doe, Samuel Alesu-Dordzi, Efia Odo, Dela Russell Ocloo, Felicity Nelson, Bashiratu Kamal Muslim, Agyapong Forster, Adatsi Brownson, Benjamin Darko, Gabriel Ohene Kwasi Addai, Comedian Warris, Prince Kwaku Addo and Stan Dugah.
fix. the country
Other signatories have signed subsequent letters and worked and continue working hard to #fixthecountry.
Now, look over the names again. Are they all Ewes? Are they all Akans? Are they all Christian names? Are they all Islamic names?
The greatest mistake ever made by the NPP in 2021 is assuming that Ghana is so polarized, so divided, so politically binary that anybody who supports or identifies with #fixtheCountry must be an NDC member or sympathizer.
Not true.
When I launched my first book in November, 2020, I predicted that both the NDC and NPP will win less than 20% of total votes cast in 2024. Sounds crazy, I know. But it will happen in our lifetime. The Grand Awakening is almost here.
Oliver Barker-Vormawor was a staunch supporter and member of #OccupyGhana in 2014, so why will you tag him as a surrogate of the NDC?
If you are wondering what #OccupyGhana was, I can only tell you that it was a pressure group that was doing in 2014 exactly what #FixtheCountry is doing in 2021, and most of their members are now Government appointees and lawyers who worked on the Agyapa deal. No wonder they think #FixtheCountry is a vehicle created to bring JDM back. They are too short-sighted to see the truth.
That’s the difference between us and them. We were part of #OccupyGhana; they are not part of #FixtheCountry.
Don’t allow corrupt heads of public institutions to go scot-free – Haruna Iddrisu to SP
Haruna Iddrisu, Minority Leader, has charged Kissi Agyebeng, Special Prosecutor (SP), to deal with heads of public institutions who turn out to be corrupt.
According to him, the SP should not make it a point to target only political officeholders as a means of fighting corruption.
He said heads of public institutions have always gone untouched because politicians are the ones that corruption probes and prosecutions target.
Before Kissi Agyebeng was approved as Special Prosecutor on July 30, Haruna Iddrisu said on the floor of the House that, “Chief Directors and Chief Executives are left as if they don’t [engage in corruption]. Some of them do, and there is evidence. The focus should not only be on petty corruption where you see a policeman stop a trotro driver.”
Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Majority Leader, on the other hand, called for a review of the laws governing the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP). He noted that it will empower the Special Prosecutor in the execution of his mandate.
Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu stated that the review of the laws will also prevent the Special Prosecutor from becoming a “toothless bulldog who can only bark but will not be able to bite.”
Kissi Agyebeng was then approved by Parliament after the recommendation from the Appointment Committee was read to the MPs.
“The committee has duly recommended the nominee of the President for the appointment of the Special Prosecutor in line with the Section 13 (3) and (8) of the Special Prosecutor Act 2017 and the standing orders of Parliament and recommends the nominee Mr. Kissi Agyebeng to the House for approval.”
Kissi Agyebeng will be succeeding Martin Amidu as the Special Prosecutor.
He proceeded to the Ghana School of Law and was called to the Ghana Bar in October 2003, earning the E.N. Sowah Memorial Prize for Best Student in Family Law.
