A communication team member of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) at the offinso south constituency in the Ashanti region. Mr Amoah Owusu a.k.a (Abode3 ) is calling for the resignation of President Akufo Addo even before his required four- years term ends in January 2024.
Blame Nana Akuffo Addo
According to him, President Akufo Addo has failed drastically in handling security issues in the country despite being Commander in chief of the Ghana Arm Forces.
Speaking to Dikoder multimedia, Mr Amoah Owusu said President Akufo Addo must do the needful by quitting his post as President of Ghana.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is set to honour his promise of being the first recipient of the Coronavirus vaccine acquired by government as part of the fight against the global pandemic.
As part of his address on Sunday, February 28, 2021, the president noted that he would lead by example to take the shot to allay the fears and scepticism by Ghanaians toward the vaccine.
In the company of the first lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo, Ghana’s first couple is taking the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine, the AstraZaneca at the 37 Hospital in Accra.
Finally, Maverick Lawmaker, Kennedy Agyapong has said the truth that President Akufo Addo will go through in his next government.
Moving forward he admitted that it will be a hard time in his second term because his party has a slim majority in Parliament.
The Electoral Commission has given the New Patriotic Party (NPP) 137 seats with the NDC having 136 seats with one seat belonging to an Independent candidate.
The President during his victory speech said the people of Ghana have come to the realization that there is the need for two leading political parties to work together hence the slim margin between the NPP and NDC in the number of seats.
But Kennedy Agyapong who nearly lost his seat to the National Democratic Congress(NDC) parliamentary candidate thinks otherwise.
MyNewsGH reported that according to Hon. Kennedy Agyapong, “the President will suffer in his second term as President because previously, the NPP had majority of the seats and we could vote for all bills to go through. Look at the number of bills we passed in Parliament? It was because we had majority”.
He noted that most of the party’s Municipal Chief Executives played contributory roles in ensuring that the NPP loses its seats because they openly paid monies and supported NDC candidates against candidates presented by the NPP.
Kennedy Agyapong indicated that a list of such people will be sent to the President so that they are taken out of his government.
President Akufo-Addo has slammed former President John Dramani Mahama , describing him as a man who is empty of vision, bankrupt of ideas, and a liar.
He noted that the former president has resorted to fabrications, distortions because his campaign has collapsed in confusion.
The President said the NDC candidate has realized he will not win the elections hence has adopted an approach to throw mud at him.
Addressing a rally at Jamestown in the Odododiodoo constituency today, Saturday, December 5, 2020, he said Mr. Mahama is going on his campaign peddling lies and deceiving Ghanaians with unrealistic promises when his previous record is nothing to write home about.
“The NDC presidential candidate, John Dramani Mahama , bereft of record, empty of vision, bankrupt of ideas whose campaign has collapsed in confusion, in deceit, in lies and outright fabrication who today, hanging his political career which is in tatters on fabricated and doctored tape…it will not happen. The Ghanaian people are not ready to go on that line.” His reaction comes after the NDC at an emergency press conference dubbed “The Mother of All Corruption” released a video alleging that President Akufo-Addo had received a $40,000 bribe from the Director of Urban Road in order not to fire him.
Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah some few days ago slammed the NDC for doctoring a video of a 2016 campaign donation to then-candidate Akufo-Addo to falsely accuse him of bribery.
He noted that the NDC Presidential Candidate, John Mahama was clutching at straws to resuscitate his collapsed campaign such as disseminating fake news by superimposing the original video with new voices to create a false impression that President Akufo-Addo is receiving a bribe.
“Whilst we are not surprised by the new low by the opposition candidate and his party, we remind Ghanaians that they should expect more of such falsehoods and fabrications in the days leading up to the election.
“It has become clear that candidate Mahama’s failed campaign now sees fake news and fabrications, as well as an amendment of their earlier promises as the only hope to salvage what is going to be another decisive victory for President Akufo-Addo and the New Patriotic Party,” he stated.
“The people of Ghana are discerning and will not be swayed by obvious fabrications designed by persons who always seek to bring the name of the Republic into disrepute and sully its image amongst the comity of nations.”
If the statement ‘out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh’ applies in every case, then there is a special place in Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo ‘s heart for Nii Lante Vanderpuye, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary Candidate for Odododiodio.
So much does he (Nana Akufo-Addo) think about him that at a rally to climax a campaign period that has seen him comb every nook and cranny of the country for votes, he could not resist the urge not to mention his name.
A pretty awkward and perhaps funny moment was witnessed at the NPP’s last rally at Mantse Agbonaa in Accra as President Akufo-Addo introduced the NPP’s parliamentary candidate of the area as Nii Lante Vandepuye instead of Nii Lante Bannerman.
“In Odododiodio, if you are voting for me, then you are also voting for Nii Lante Vanderpuye”, the president said as he held the hand of Nii Lante Bannerman.
Having been notified that he had caused a blunder, President Akufo-Addo quickly mentioned Nii Lante Bannerman. Amid laughter, he apologized and urged the people to pick Bannerman over Vanderpuye.
“I didn’t speak well at all. I have a made mistake. What am I going to do with Nii Lante Vanderpuye. I meant Nii Lante Bannerman and I want you all to vote him”, Nana Akufo-Addo said as the crowd cheered and applauded.
President’s gaffe could be due to the similarity in the names of both candidates.
The only point of departure as far as their names is concerned is the surname (Bannerman and Vanderpuye).
Aside that, the name of Vanderpuye is easily recognized as he is more popular and is one of those NDC’s MPs who have been a thorn in the flesh of the government with their constant criticism.
Some have also attributed the gaffe to fatigue.
The two candidates have dominated the media space as they seek to represent a constituency that has a history of being closely contested and a flashpoint in every election year.
Recently, supporters of the two parties clashed with dozens getting injured and properties being destroyed.
Campaign Coordinator of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, has noted that the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo-led administration has dealt with corruption to the barest minimum.
This, he believes, makes corruption no longer a big issue ahead of the upcoming election.
Addressing a press conference in Accra, Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid pointed out recent surveys carried out by interest groups which indicated that most Ghanaians are less interested in corruption.
Joy News reported that the NPP campaign coordinator has expressed that President Akufo-Addo is fighting the menace.
“In all the surveys that have been done by all the reputable research institutions and democratic organisations in our country, including the CDD, the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana none of those surveys show that corruption is upper-most in the minds of the Ghanaian people.
“Now, we want to remind the Ghanaian people and Candidate John Dramani Mahama that the reason corruption was a central issue in 2016 and it is not in 2020 is because it is not a palpable path of the governance structure and system today,” he explained.
Dr Hamid who is also the Zongo and Inner City Development Minister also confirmed that government has commenced efforts to get the country’s share of the Airbus compensation repatriated to Ghana.
A survey conducted by Intellectual Patriots, a governance advocacy group, has predicted a landslide electoral victory for the New Patriotic Party’s Presidential Candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
The survey, which covered 150 constituencies in all 16 regions, with over 28, 438 respondents selected, used a simple random and purposive sampling technique as well as a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods.
According to the opinion poll, 52.9 percent of the respondents said they will vote for the incumbent President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo while 4.3 percent will vote for John Dramani Mahama, flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress.
However, the other political parties obtained 4 percent.
The research conducted in November 2020, was presented at a press conference on Friday by Mr. Joseph Gyamfi Yeboah, President of Intellectual Patriots.
He said some of the factors that informed the sampling include the credibility of candidates, efficiency in the management of the economy, social intervention initiatives, infrastructural developments, trust to deliver on promises, second term opportunity, and the management of Dumsor and Covid-19.
He indicated that a margin of 2 percent error was projected since it was believed that a fraction of undecided voters could make a last-minute decision.
“the subject of Covid-19 had a mixed reaction whilst respondents believed the NPP managed the pandemic sufficiently, the general socio-economic effects of the pandemic had made a fraction of the populace lose interest in issues regarding party politics since most of them had been rendered jobless,” he stated.
“We believe that vigilance at the polling station before, during and after voting and the final collation of results should not be underrated by various political parties, ” he added.
Deputy Minister for Information, Pius Enam Hadzide has stated that the supposed bribe video purporting to suggest that the then-candidate Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo took a bribe is baseless.
To him, the largest opposition party is only interested in propagating false news rather than outlining their policies to Ghanaians ahead of the December 7 polls.
“They don’t have any message now; their messenger and message are not credible and they know. The agenda now is to tarnish the image of the President with false allegations,” he said in an interview with NEAT FM’s morning show ‘Ghana Montie’.
“President Nana Addo will never take bribe and he has track records to back that. That is the difference between the President and John Mahama who is known for corruption,” he added.
A civil society advocate I respect very much sent me a video of the alleged Akufo-Addo bribe this morning, and said it wasn’t possible the encounter happened in 2016. After some back and forth, I was compelled to watch the video.
It was the one with a voice narration, but I raelised there was something else strange about this video. In this video, the one who led the Hajia to meet Nana Akufo-Addo is heard begging on behalf of one Alhaji Abass. I felt this was strange because in the first unedited video that I watched, that was not part of the conversation. The discussion about party people wanting Alhaji out did not feature at all. So I went to the Facebook pages of those who first shared the 15 minute unedited video without the voice over or narration.
I realised that they had pulled down the original videos and uploaded this new one which had the voice over and what appears like an insertion of the speaker’s voice to match the narration that the money was sent as a bribe in 2017 to ensure that Alhaji Abass was kept in office.
The issue about campaign T-shirts have also been edited out of this new one. You will also realise that in the first one, an amount of 40,000 was mentioned, but there was no denomination. But in the second video being circulated, there it is stated.
I searched YouTube and realised that someone still had the earlier one, and it confirms the information I heard on the original video shared before being pulled down. (Watch this video and compare it to the other one being shared now and you’ll spot the differences.)
The conversation in the new one flows more naturally. For instance, when Barffour Awuah heard about the T-Shirts, he interjected and said he was going to Kumasi the following day and that he had to send the T-Shirts to support the (NPP) candidate in Asawase who badly needed support in his campaign. Nana Akufo-Addo readily agreed that he should send them to him. We should be asking the originators of the video why they pulled down the original ones they shared on November 30.
And we should be concerned because someone can record you in a discussion on one topic and go and edit out the original words they spoke to you and add new ones to create a different scenario. I do investigative journalism and I sometimes employ undercover techniques. My opinion on this is purely professional. I don’t know of any journalist who has been more outspoken about the president’s handling of corruption than I have.
But if he’s treated unfairly, I am obliged to point it out.
In 2016, I was one of the few who openly defended President Mahama when his voice was doctored in Kumasi in the “hen and hawk dance analogy” by a journalist to create the impression he was insulting the Asante people. It is a matter of principle and from a professional standpoint. In any form of undercover, the offence you intend to link the target of your investigation with should be the subject of discussion in the undercover recording. If you record your pregnant girlfriend as having taken money from you to abort a pregnancy and the conversation in the video is about taking the money for shopping, we have to point it out to you. There can be problems with the shopping and we should discuss that separately, but you don’t accuse her of taking money to terminate the pregnancy when that never came up when you met to do the secret recording.
In this case, I agree with those who question the mode of funding political party campaigns. I agree that there should have been proper structures where the presidential candidate does not have to be directly involved. I agree with those who question the motive of the giver. I don’t have any problem when Akufo-Addo is scrutinised for how he handled this and other donations. But it’s wrong to doctor the conversation of a meeting in order to destroy another person. It can happen to anyone. And you don’t have to belong to Akufo-Addo’s party or be his supporter to point this out. Just note that there are two separate tapes on this matter.
President Akufo Addo says he will not relax the enforcement of the ban on illegal mining despite promises and criticisms by the largest opposition National Democratic Congress(NDC).
The opposition party led by its flagbearer ex-President John Mahama has promised among other things to grant pardon to jailed illegal miners and release their seized excavators to them.
Addressing a rally at Manso Nkwanta, a mining community in the Ashanti Region, President Akufo Addo said he’ll not bow to pressure to soften his stance on illegal miners.
“I can turn a blind eye to activities that are destroying our natural resources and water bodies. I don’t have the power to say mining cannot be done in Ghana and I’ve not even said so. Our forefathers were into mining but they did not destroy the land as is being done now. That is what I’ve said and we are bringing in measures to streamline mining in the mining sector. Community mining is the way to go and my government is working to ensuring that we get it done. Nobody in the mining sector will lose their job, don’t listen to anybody who says when he comes galamsey will be done anyhow and uncontrolled.”
President Akufo Addo announced the ban on illegal mining two years ago and further rolled out many measures to enforce the ban in a bid to reclaim degraded lands.
Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako, has exposed the individual behind the tape recording of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo receiving a sum of money from Ghana’s Ambassador to USA, Baffour Adjei Bawuah.
The incident happened at the private residence of President Nana Akufo-Addo.
The Salis Newspaper published a story under the headline “Caught Pants Down! President Akufo-Addo Taking Bribe” reporting that the President was bribed by Mr. Adjei Bawuah who was acting on behalf of the Director of Urban Roads, Alhaji Abass.
”It has been revealed that NANA AKUFO-ADDO is not the ANGEL Ghanaians perceived him to be but one, who is fully entangled in CORRUPTION and only fights corruption with words. Undercover investigations conducted by The Salis Newspaper has exposed sitting President Nana Akufo-Addo of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) taking a bribe in a BROWN ENVELOPE in an undercover video. The money was handed over to Ambassador Baffour Adjei Bawuah…The US $40000 Dollar Bribe was paid to the President in 2017 after the NPP won the 2016 Elections at Nana Akufo-Addo’s private residence in Nima, Accra. The giver of the BRIBE is the current Director of URBAN ROADS, Alhaji Dr. Abass”, the newspaper read.
The story has so far dominated political discussions with political opponents of the President using it against his campaign to be re-elected into office.
But Kweku Baako has shot down the story while discussing it on Peace FM’s “Kokrokoo” on Wednesday, December 2, 2020.
Speaking to host Kwami Sefa Kayi, Kweku Baako asserted that the story is untrue.
He disclosed the person who recorded the President is called Salis Yakubu and is the owner of the Salis newspaper.
He noted that the story has been skewed to look like the money presentation was made recently, but actually it was done in 2016 prior to the general elections when President Nana Akufo-Addo was then a candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
He stressed that the money which was given to the President was Ghc 40000 but not 40000 dollars as published in the Salis newspaper and added the cash was to assist the Akufo-Addo victory campaign in 2016.
Mr. Baako exposed the true character of Salis Yakubu
He noted that Salis secretly recorded the incident and gave a wrong account in the voice-over he made on the video so as to tarnish the image of President Akufo-Addo.
Kweku Baako further disclosed he knows Salis Yakubu very well and that he once introduced him to investigative Journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, but Anas sacked him after few months of working with him.
Mr. Baako also revealed that he is the same guy who lied about him during an undercover report by Anas Aremeyaw Anas titled ”Who watches the watchman” by saying he (Baako) had secretly recorded the President.
“Look, this is a guy that I influenced his entry into Tiger Eye,” he said but he regrets introducing him to Anas because any person who knows Salis’ true colors would never believe what he says or does, and particularly not believe the bribery allegation against the President because he lacks credibility.
“He is a political prostitute and a mercenary of the highest order. I regret myself. I led him to see Anas and became part of Tiger Eye, and in four/five months, Anas dismissed him. This is 2016 and then he set up his own group,” he stated.
Mr. Baako also revealed that Salis has been collecting videos to blackmail his victims, so advised the NPP not to pay attention to him.
“As I speak to you, I know he’s exited to Benin. I’m telling you. You know our borders are closed but they’re porous. You understand me. The borders are closed but they’re porous and so there are entry points that you can’t find an immigration person there and if you’re determined to exit, you’ll exit . . . He does these things and he sells them. He got into the NPP party; he got into it.
“This boy did the recording. Unfortunately for him, we have the original . . . So, when he decided to do the fake one in order to blackmail and collect money, and he collected monies from some people who didn’t know that the thing is fake . . . He lied and he’s still lying. He is in Benin. By now, he’s anticipating that I will come here and say something. He should stay there forever . . . Let me tell you that that tape by the boy is fake.”
”The sad part is that a fine public servant like Alhaji Abass, you bring him to the front burner relative to propaganda of nuisance value. It’s unfair to him. He doesn’t deserve that . . . ”
He called on Alhaji Abass to file a law suit against Salis Yakubu and his team.
“I would pray to God that this case should go to court. Look, the court doesn’t interrogate rumors, gossips and so forth. They have no room there and you’ll be so embarrased . . . I hope what I’ve heard is true that he’s getting his lawyers to take steps to deal with this matter.”
Seasoned journalist, Kwesi Pratt has backed claims that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his government did not originate and roll-out the free Senior High School (SHS) programme.
Former President and NDC Presidential candidate, John Dramani Mahama claims his government started the free SHS policy but they couldn’t implement itfully because Ghanaians voted them out of power in 2016.
“We started the programme and the NPP came and continued it. Unfortunately the implementation has been very poor, and so it ended us in double track. I assure you my country men, that within one year, I will cancel the double track.
“All the Community Day Schools we were building, 200 of them, we are going to finish them so that all the children can get schools to attend.
“With the Community Day Schools we are building, we are going to add dormitory blocks for girls and boys so that those who don’t come from the community where the school is sited, if they choose that school and they are posted there, they will be able to get a decent place to live and learn,” Mr Mahama said during his tour of the Upper East Region.
But to some political critics, particularly NPP faithfuls, Mr. Mahama is peddling falsehood in his desperate attempts to win the 2020 elections. Some even took to mocking the former president for what they considered to be absurd claims since they believed President Nana Akufo-Addo is the sole initiator of the free SHS programme.
However, Kwesi Pratt thinks otherwise. Referencing the manifestoes of some political parties in the country to back his assertions, the Senior Journalist was emphatic that the free SHS was the most important item on the list of promises by the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) prior to the 2012 and 2016 elections; thus the Akufo-Addo government cannot claim sole ownership either.
”Their most important policy was free SHS. In fact, PPP is the first political party that showed us how to fund the policy and also had a budget for it.”
To him, President Akufo-Addo rather rolled out progressive free education and not free SHS.
”They started with first years before moving to second year and third year. That is progressive…When the NPP came into power, they did a progressive free education”
He added that the oppostion NDC never condemned the free SHS but rather the argument was about how to implement it.
”The argument wasn’t whether it’s good or not but about how to implement it. The NPP said they will implement it instantly and that they don’t want it to be progressive. Our brothers in the NDC also said they will make it progressive”, he said on Peace FM’s ”Kokrokoo”.
Embattled Anti-corruption Crusader, Martin Alamisi Burnes Kaiser Amidu, says but for “divine revelation,” he would still be under the erroneous impression that the President, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo was a man of integrity.
According to him, just like the scales felled off the eyes of the Biblical Saul following a hands-on prayer encounter with Ananias, the “Holy Trinity” gave him a divine vision about the real “mother corruption serpent under the innocent-looking flower of anti-corruption” that the president is.
Mr Amidu who was appointed by the president to help fight corruption and was tasked to probe the controversial Agyapa Royalties Transaction Agreement is now in a sparring contest of words with his former employer.
He resigned from his position as Ghana’s first Special Prosecutor on November 16, 2020.
In his anti-corruption assessment report on the Agyapa deal, he indicted the Transaction Advisor(s) involved in the deal for being susceptible to “nepotism, cronyism, and favoritism”.
Even though the president has strongly denied the allegations, Amidu insisted that God revealed to him the facts about the deal.
President Akufo Addo in a letter accepting Mr. Amidu’s resignation denied ever interfering in his work and rather said he gave him all the assistance and independence to operate.
But Amidu has disputed those claims after describing the president as a “mother serpent of corruption”.
In a 27-page response to the presidency’s comment after accepting his resignation weeks back, Amidu without ‘fear and favor’ has concluded that the first gentleman of the land is living a double life at the blind side of most Ghanaians.
“That God (represented by the Holy Trinity in my Catholic faith) was in his own divine way revealing to me for the first time the President of Ghana only looked like the innocent flower of the fight against corruption but was indeed the mother serpent of corruption under the innocent-looking flower of anti-corruption,” he noted in his latest epistle.
And in a thanksgiving prayer, he added; “May God, encompassed in the blessed Holy trinity be eternally praised for that divine revelation.”
Popular Kumawood Actor Michael Afrane has emphasized that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo deceived Ghanaians with his ‘Try Me’ campaign strategy during December 7, 2016, general elections.
The Kumawood Actor who has endorsed the National Democratic Congress (NDC) explained that President this time around will sell Ghana to send Ghanaians back into slavery if he gets the mandate to lead Ghana for a second term.
“President Akufo-Addo and his NPP tagged former President Mahama and his appointees as corrupt but he has not been able to prosecute none of John Dramani Mahama appointees. It is clear that President Akufo-Addo tagged John Dramani Mahama as corrupt just to win elections. He deceived Ghanaians with sweet words” Afrane said.
Michael Afrane observed the President has failed to deliver on his numerous campaign promises and he doesn’t deserve another term in office. “It is unfortunate that the man (President Akufo-Addo) who pledged to fight corruption is now fighting those who are fighting corruption. The man (President Akufo-Addo) who pledged to fight against nepotism is now practising family and friends’ government”.
Michael Afrane, however, appealed to Ghanaians to punish President Akufo-Addo by voting massively for former President John Dramani Mahama.
We have less than 14 days to save Ghana from going back to slavery. Dr Kwame Nkrumah fought so hard to gain independence for Ghana and we have to protect it by voting against president Akufo-Addo” he added.
Ghanaian Award Winning Reggae/Dancehall Artiste Livingstone Etse Satekla known popularly as Stonebwoy says the achievement of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in his first term is worth commending and endorsing.
The Artiste made this known when he was on OKAY FM’s Drive Time Show with Abeiku Santana. Although Stonebwoy indicated that he has not endorsed any political party, he was emphatic that the President’s achievements in his first year are worth commending.
I’ve not endorsed any political party. When you mention the name Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, I know he has done a lot of things which deserves my endorsement. So I can say I’ve not endorsed any political party but President Nana Akufo-Addo achievement as a Ghanaian President which is endorsable I do endorse.”
Other celebrities like Samini have also endorsed the candidature of the President for a second bid to lead Ghana to the promised land. To him, the President while making his promises in 2016 seemed like a dream but his achievement in his first term has proven that he meant good for the people of Ghana.
Ghana goes to the polls on December 7 to elect a leader who will steer the affairs of the country for another four more years.
