Okudzeto Ablakwa, has vehemently denied claims by Professor Kwamena Ahwoi that he and other young politicians in the NDC were purposely groomed to speak up to party founder Jerry John Rawlings.
The NDC kingpin in his book ‘Working with Rawlings’ has suggested that some young ministers under the erstwhile Mills administration were created to counter attacks on the late President by NDC founder Rawlings.
But in a response, the North Tongu MP described such claims as false, malicious, offensive and most unfair.
Mr Ablakwa added that “for the record, I have at no time been drafted to “talk back” at the Founder of the NDC, Former President Jerry John Rawlings neither have I needed prodding to defend the unblemished record and exemplary virtues of the iconic Asomdweehene – Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, particularly, having been spurred on at all times by unwavering personal conviction added to the fact that I had responsibility to serve as Deputy Minister for Information at the time and for which I had amongst others, the core duty to defend and protect the image of the government.”
Below is the full statement
It has become necessary to react to vilifications targeted at my person and other young members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as a consequence of portions and misleading interpretations by sections of the media and the public of the book titled: Working with Rawlings as authored by NDC stalwart, Professor Kwamena Ahwoi.
The claim by several media reportage that some of my colleagues and I were “recruited and groomed to attack the founder of the NDC during the Atta Mills’ administration” are false, malicious, offensive and most unfair. It is worth pointing out that the media renditions are not contained in the aforementioned book.
Respectfully, I am an avowed devotee of the politics of principle and conviction. I have a mind of my own and I am not one to be “recruited” to say or do what I do not believe in or consider dishonourable.
For the record, I have at no time been drafted to “talk back” at the Founder of the NDC, Former President Jerry John Rawlings neither have I needed prodding to defend the unblemished record and exemplary virtues of the iconic Asomdweehene – Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, particularly, having been spurred on at all times by unwavering personal conviction added to the fact that I had responsibility to serve as Deputy Minister for Information at the time and for which I had amongst others, the core duty to defend and protect the image of the government.
In more than a decade of public life, the reverence and respect I have for our elders and forebears within and without the NDC cannot be questioned. I have always been greatly indebted to our venerable elders for their generous wise counsel and mentorship in shaping my career.
Everything within me abhors the politics of insults and denigrating our elders knowing that affronts our much cherished traditions. Indeed, the distinguished author himself acknowledges at page 211 that in speaking for Prof. Mills, we did not resort to insults but logic.
I am in politics for the pursuit of nobler and higher objectives; that in our collective struggles we can build for ourselves a fair, just and egalitarian society. We cannot waste precious time on anything to the contrary.
It is instructive to note that the malicious interpretation of page 211 cannot be reconciled with page 179 where the author concedes that long before Prof. Mills won the 2008 election and therefore much earlier than the erroneous claim of a 2010 “recruitment” – “a pro-Mills group of talented youthful intellectuals and activists emerged. They were dedicated to upholding the attributes and promoting the values of Professor Mills and defending him against vicious and unprovoked attacks.”
Let the younger ones coming after us not be misled by the rather unfounded aspersions and innuendos in media circles and elsewhere to assume that there’s any glory in lending themselves to conspiracies targeted at disrespecting or disparaging the elders of this Republic.
The Youth wing of the National Democratic Congress has strongly hit out at former Local Government Minister, Professor Kwamena Ahwoi, for attempting to derail the party’s efforts at winning the upcoming December elections with the release of his book ‘Working with Rawlings’
The NDC kingpin in his book ‘Working with Rawlings’ has suggested among other claims that some young ministers under the erstwhile Mills administration were created to counter attacks on the late President by NDC founder Rawlings.
A statement signed by 16 regional youth organisers of the NDC described the timing of the release of the book as callous and inconsiderate.
The statement added that the book contains many controversial issues that subtly undermine the great and selfless service, the Founder of the NDC has rendered both to the Party and to the Country.
“It further seems to betray the trust and confidence of leading members of our party. The timing for the release of this book is very callous and inconsiderate on the part of the writer. What could be more important than our preparation to rescue this nation from the hands of unrepentant divisive despots? Certainly not a literary piece filled with self-gratifying accounts of events many eons ago.
“We are in a middle of a Voters Registration Exercise; at a time we are battling an existential threat of tribal and ethnic marginalization by this administration and the party now has to turn to dealing with issues from the past. Some of which we have found to be false and vain claims by the author.”
Below is the full statement by the NDC
WE WILL NOT TOLERATE ANY OLD TIMER WHO HAS NOTHING TO LOSE, 2024 NOT AN OPTION;RESPONSE TO ‘WORKING WITH RAWLINGS’
We have read with deep concern, the litany of issues coming from the release of the book, ‘Working With Rawlings’ by Prof. Kwamena Ahwoi and what it means for our party in these crucial times.
While we find it refreshing that one of the elders of our great party will offer us a glimpse of his time in public service, especially working with H.E Jerry John Rawlings, we have cause to question his motive for writing this book and releasing it at such a time. We are also concerned about how the book can derail our focus and what seems to be a direct attack on the founder of our party.
The NDC is preparing to cause the biggest political upset in the history of this nation and the last thing we need is a piece of inaccurate historical accounts that will distract us.
The book contains many controversial issues that subtly undermine the great and selfless service, the Founder of the NDC has rendered both to the Party and to the Country.
It further seems to betray the trust and confidence of leading members of our party.The timing for the release of this book is very callous and inconsiderate on the part of the writer. What could be more important than our preparation to rescue this nation from the hands of unrepentant divisive despots? Certainly not a literary piece filled with self-gratifying accounts of events many eons ago.
We are in a middle of a Voters Registration Exercise; at a time we are battling an existential threat of tribal and ethnic marginalization by this administration and the party now has to turn to dealing with issues from the past. Some of which we have found to be false and vain claims by the author.
Let me state on account of young people of our party that, we will not tolerate such subtle overtures to undermine our efforts in this election year because 2024 is never the option to us. We will not tolerate any ‘old timer’ who has nothing to lose and will rather implode the party with needless bickering and fictitious stories.
In less than two weeks since the book was launched, the book has been served with many rejoinders and ‘disassociations’ from cited individuals who have disproved some claims made by the writer. This is damning and points to the inaccuracies of accounts stated in the book.
We must add that we have nothing but respect for the old Professor. Indeed, it no secret that no other family has been involved in governance and benefitted more from politics under the Fourth Republic than the Ahwoi family.
We also do not downplay their contribution to the cause of our nation and party, but he got it wrong this time. Whatever is to be achieved with this book is not greater than the salvation of this nation and the future of it’s youth come 7th December 2020.
We want to assure Papa J that,we will defend his legacy in the party and in this nation. No book or folklore will water down his legacy.
This year, as we have discussed, the Youth of the party are campaigning with him. We reassure him that we will remain the vanguards of his legacy.This election is for the youth of the Party and we are poised for Victory and nothing, absolutely Nothing shall come between us and the Victory of the Party.
We will no longer tolerate divisive figures or commentaries and all must be assure that we will crash any individual or group of persons who act as such.
Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, the Running Mate to NDC Flagbearer John Mahama in the 2020 elections, has been entangled in an embarrassing web of mistrust after editing and endorsing “Working with Rawlings,” a book which has sparked confusion within the ranks of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Authored by party elder and former Minister, Professor Kwamena Ahwoi, the book has made startling claims about former President Rawlings, as well as revealed a well-orchestrated scheme which involved some young, but key NDC activists to launch vernal attacks on Rawlings.
While the former President himself and NDC Volta Regional Council of Elders Chairman, Daniel Abodakpi have launched scathing attacks on the author, Kwamena Ahwoi, for his claims in the book, three other former Ministers and young NDC activists mentioned in the book as having been trained to “talk back at Rawlings” during his public feud with late President Mills, have all publicly discredited the book’s account.
Prof. Jane Naana’s role in the making of the book
With the raging public war of words on-going over the authenticity of the book’s account, one big area of interest is the striking endorsement of the book by NDC Running Mate Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang, as well as her key role in the making of the book, which has irked many Rawlings loyalists and other NDC stalwarts.
Apart from being credited with editing the book, Prof. Naana Opoku Agyemang actually describes the books general narrative in glowing terms in the foreword which she wrote.
The foreword, an important element of a book, is normally reserved for close associates of the author who have had an
Despite the book irking Rawlings and many accounts being maligned and discredited by party gurus, Prof. Jane Opoku-Agyemang describes the book as “an account honestly delivered,” in her foreword, which is normally written when the book is all set for production.
“Written in clear, engaging prose, the writer invites the reader to receive the content of the narrative as an account honestly delivered,” Prof. Jane wrote so fondly in the foreword.
While some persons mentioned in the book such as Dr. Omane Boamah, Felix Kwakye Ofosu and Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa have vehemently rejected the book’s account as false, the NDC Running Mate curiously wrote that the author narrated events “with open honesty and transparency.”
“The vivid, engaging and deeply reflective eye witness account couched in unencumbered prose, brings to the fore events narrated with open honesty and transparency,” Prof. Naana Jane wrote.
She added: “the first person narrative perspective releases the reader from the potentially uncomfortable position of an intruder to that of a trusted addressee. This is especially so as the text grounds its content in verifiable fact, at times seeking and receiving the approval of non-fictive persons.”
Contradictions and raging war of words
Prof. Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang’s emphatic endorsement of “Working with Rawlings” is in sharp contrast to the views of her party’s founder, Jerry Rawlings, party elder Dan Abodakpi as well as three key members of the NDC who have bared their teeth to the author.
The Chairman of the Volta Regional Council of Elders of the NDC, Dan Abodakpi was the first to dispute claims in the book, describing the publication as “wholly inaccurate or patently false,” as well as “slanderous and treacherous.”
The NDC Elder suggested the book was an attempt to discredit the political legacy of former President Rawlings, adding that Rawlings “does not deserve this from people like Prof. Kwamena Ahwoi.”
Indeed, Dan Abodakpi warned that Professor Ahwoi and those supporting the publication of the book will be resisted.
“Prof. Ahwoi and thise supporting the slanderous and treacherous book are served notice that any attempt to misrepresent the facts behind the tru story of the Revolution and the NDC party to our people will be fiercely resisted,” Aboadakpi said in a press statement.
Rawlings himself has reacted furiously to claims in the book and he has threatened to deal with the “callous agenda of bile from the likes of Kwamena Ahwoi.”
Dr. Omane Boamah, Felix Kwakye Ofusu and Okudzeto Ablakwa have also issued public statements, which contradict Prof. Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang’s assertion in the book’s foreword that accounts in the book were delivered with honesty and transparency.
Indeed, many have wondered why Prof. Naana Jane would edit and endorse a book which appears to cast her party’s founder, Jerry Rawlings in bad light, as well as exposes deep secrets within her party.
She may have been involved in the work of the book before her nomination as running mate of John Mahama, but many have interpreted her starring role in the makibg of the book as a sign of her closeness with the Ahwoi’s, and thus part of the grand anti-Rawlings, and perhaps anti volta scheme in the NDC.
Abdul Malik Kweku Baako says he feels vindicated following Prof. Kwamena Ahwoi’s confirmation of Jerry Rawlings squeezing the balls of Bede Ziedeng.
According to the Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, when the incident occurred and he reported it, some persons in the then administration denied the incident ever happened.
Baako, who was discussing Prof Ahwoi’s ‘Working with Rawlings’ book on Peace FM Wednesday said, “As for the Bede Ziedeng […..] incident, it’s an old story and we even joked with it but some people said it was a lie, now I’m happy it has been confirmed.”
“Bede was always quiet so people said it was not true but this book has confirmed it,” an ‘excited’ Kweku Baako noted.
The incident was described by Prof. Kwamena Ahwoi as the “Abobo Ntohwe affair” to wit “the Crusher of Testicles Affair”.
“As Bede tells it when Rawlings and his entourage got to the entrance [of a rally grounds in Koforidua] and the crowd surged forward to acknowledge their hero, Rawlings got hold of his [Zeideng’s] testicles and squeezed them hard, so hard that he [Zeideng] believes he fainted,” the book claimed.
The General Secretary of the opposition NDC party, Johnson Asiedu Nketia has clashed with military personnel stationed at Banda in the Bono Region over the soldiers’ refusal to allow some residents to register in the ongoing voters’ registration exercise.
In a video available to Kasapafmonline.com, the NDC Scribe is seen angrily exchanging words with the soldiers who had blocked the road to stop busloads of people from accessing registration centres.
It is unclear where the people were being bused from.
The NDC has had cause to complain over what they say is the use of military personnel to intimidate some legitimate Ghanaians from registering on the basis that they’re foreigners being bused from border towns into Ghana.
Former President John Dramani Mahama in a Facebook post on Saturday berated President Akufo-Addo for using Executive Power to foment ethnic discrimination and abuse.
“The road President Akufo-Addo is taking our beautiful country through, using the military and party thugs to stop people from exercising their right to register and vote in the upcoming December elections, is dangerous and unacceptable,” the NDC Flagbearer said.
The Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC) has called on the leadership of the two main political parties, to call their members to order and stop hurling threats, insults and attacks at Perez Chapel International founder, Bishop Charles Agyinasare over his recent sermons aimed at national transformation.
In a statement condemning the attacks on the Presiding Bishop, the Council, which makes up 25% of the Ghanaian population, called on the leaders of the governing New Patriotic Party and the biggest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress, “to call their executives and members to order”, adding: “As the nation enters the political campaign season, we wish to admonish the entire citizenry to do all we can to keep the political temperature at its lowest minimum and conduct all political activities with civility and decorum”.
“Let’s make the campaign one of ideas, programmes for national development and peace and not one of insults, casting of aspersions, character assassination, violence and any actions that will threaten the peace and stability of our dear motherland. We wish all Ghanaians peaceful campaigns and a free, fair and transparent elections which will produce a God-given leader and government for this nation”, the statement added.
In the statement signed by its President Rev Prof Paul Frimpong-Manso, the GPCC condemned as “very unfortunate”, the threats of harm and media attacks thrown at Bishop Charles Agyinasare in recent times.
The GPCC said its leadership is concerned about some of the responses to Bishop Agyinasare’s recent pronouncements.
“Some of these reactions, in the form of insults, threats of harm, casting of innuendos, political branding etc., are to say the least, very unfortunate”, the statement condemned.
“We wish to recall that since the beginning of the month of July, the Presiding Bishop has been teaching on the theme: ‘Building A Future After COVID-19’, explaining: ‘The purpose is to help build a foundation for youth development as the next generation to take over this nation”.
“In doing this, the Presiding Bishop has been highlighting issues on the political landscape, the attitude of civil servants and the clergy front, which should not have been so and which could be done differently.
“He has also sought to draw examples from his personal life, including his marriage and his financial dealings to encourage the youth that in the midst of present day promiscuity, it is possible to live a life of chastity and integrity.
“The purpose of this statement is to declare our strong support for the Presiding Bishop, who is a long-standing member of the Council and who rose to occupy the very high position of First Vice-President of the Council”, the statement noted.
The GPCC further urged the press and the general public “not to twist, distort, misrepresent, misreport or take out of context, statements made by the Presiding Bishop and give them sensational headlines with the objective of giving the Presiding Bishop a ‘political bad name’ in order to hang him”.
A week ago, Bishop Charles Agyinasare said he has been receiving threats and insults over the past few weeks that he has been calling out societal evils but said those things will not stop him from speaking his mind.
In his virtual sermon on Sunday, 26 July 2020, titled: ‘There is a cause for integrity and honesty’, which was part of his ‘Building after COVID-19’ series, the Perez Chapel International founder said a lot of his friends and loved ones have called and “pleaded with me to stop preaching what I am preaching on national transformation”, adding: “Most of them say Ghana is set in her ways and would not change”.
The Nation’s Prophet and Pastor, as Bishop Agyinasare is popularly called, said: “Well, Jonah did not believe wicked Nineveh would change but when he declared God’s word, they repented and fasted in sackcloth and ashes”.
The word of God, he said, “has the power to change people: it is a hammer that can break hardened hearts, it is a fire that can consume, it is like water that can wash the most sin covered soul, it like a light that can shine on the power of the worst of sinners”.
Bishop Agyinasare said his recent remarks on national issues and the attacks those comments have brought to him, have got some of his family and friends concerned to the extent that they are begging him to stop.
“Some of my loved ones said: ‘These politicians and their supporters, hmmm; they are dangerous ohhh! they can do something against you’”.
In his view, if that’s “how we see politicians now, is there not a cause for me to preach to change it?”
“My amazement is whether it has come to the place in democratic Ghana, where I speak and people who are not happy (basically they disagree with me) and instead of they saying they disagree with me and stating their side, some of them issue threats, some insult me and people are saying: ‘Charles, you must be afraid, beef up your security and don’t sleep at home’”.
“Well, our senior politicians, H.E Nana Akufo-Addo and H.E John Dramani Mahama, that is how much your noble profession has been reduced to. It is being said and perceived that you and your fellows hire thugs to beat and even get people killed because they disagree with you. Meanwhile, the Akan name for democracy is ‘Ka bi na me ka bi aman buo’ – ‘speak your mind and let me speak my mind’ kind of government, Bishop Agyinasare noted.
He said if journalists like Ambassador Kabral Blay Amihere, Kweku Baako Jr., Kwesi Pratt, Ben Ephson, among others, “went to jail, had to report regularly to the Bureau of National Investigations, had people follow them because they wrote and demanded free speech in the mid-1980s under a revolution”, then “is it not unfortunate that we could get it and in a democracy, we are being made to know that we are not free to talk anymore?”.
Bishop Agyinasare said leaders must be honoured, and, so, “is there not a cause to tell our populace to intercede for our rulers instead of insulting them”, as written in 1 Timothy 2:1 and 2: ‘Therefore, I exhort, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men; 2, For kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence’
Also, he said Acts 23:5 quotes the Apostle Paul as saying: ‘… You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”
“Is there not a cause to tell our politicians to stop teaching our populace that it is OK to insult our opponents, including elders instead of addressing issues?” Bishop Agyinasare asked, especially as 1 Peter 2:17 says: ‘Honour all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king”.
Clarifying why he used certain adjectives recently in reference to journalists and the clergy regarding their silence on societal ills, Bishop Agyinasare said: “Some said: ‘Bishop, you used insulting language when you used [the phrase] ‘dumb dogs’”.
“No sir, no madam. The scripture said: ‘His watchmen have become dumb dogs’”. “I used it in reference to our journalists and pastors who must warn us as dogs do”. Isaiah 56:10, he quoted, says: ‘His watchmen are blind, they are all ignorant; they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber’. I was also accused of insulting by using attack dogs. Well, because our common language is English, I took a word from the Merriam Webster’s dictionary, which explains ‘attack dogs’ as persons noted for harsh, personal and usually public verbal attacks against others. E.g. a political attack dog”.
“I am the last person who would want to insult or disrespect anyone”, Bishop Agyinasare said.
According to him, he is not the spokesperson for any political party but rather serves as “God’s linguist”.
“If I were an NPP spokesman, then NDC people would say they may do something against me. If I were an NDC spokesperson, then NPP people would want to do something against me. However, I am an ambassador of heaven with the authority of heaven behind me. That is the only reason why I could go to Pakistan, a 94% Muslim country to hold gospel campaigns at a time they were burning churches. That is why I sponsored my first gospel campaign in a Hindu stronghold, Chengham in Tamil Nadu state in 1993”, he said.
In October 2000, Bishop Agyinasare recalled, “when I was invited to then-president Laurent Gbagbo’s inauguration, I did not give a congratulatory message but a message from the Lord to warn the incoming government to watch out against corruption, immorality and how their judges should be fair otherwise, they won’t last. When they did not heed, everything I warned them of came to pass and the rest is history”.
Also, he said, “God sent me to Togo when Faure Gnassingbe was voted in the first time and people were unhappy that after his father had ruled for 38 years, he had also come to power. Some were willing the country burnt down and people were fleeing the country. God told me to take a message to Togo. People advised me that: ‘Bishop, it is not safe’, but I went as God’s servant and that nation was stabilised”.
“I am glad to announce that I would not die until I have finished or completed my assignment on earth here or till the rapture takes me home”, he declared.
Bishop Agyinasare said his utterances are of “a prophet of God to this nation” and not as the Presiding Bishop of Perez Chapel International.
“The true prophets of old did not speak what the people wanted to hear but what God wanted the people to hear”, noting: “This nation is not just about NPP or NDC”.
“Are we satisfied with the direction of this nation? If we are not, is there not a cause to do something about it? How can we allow politicians who are not even 10% of our population to determine everything in this country? Is there not a cause to talk? Even in our sports, the politicians tell the sportspeople what to do and they interfere so much so that when NPP is in power and the Black Stars are playing, NDC would be praying that they would lose because when they win, the NPP would take the glory and vice-versa. Is there not a cause to talk? Even the CEOs of our major hospitals are determined by politicians and not doctors, so, we keep going round and round. Is there not a cause? We build things with the taxpayers’ money and it is not used because it is not my government who built it and we go to borrow extra money to come and build another one and we end up with the IMF/World Bank with our cup in our hands to beg and take more loans to finance our budgets, and is there not a cause for someone to say we should change?”, he asked.
He continued: “The oil money for the next 30 years has been used to take loans by both NDC and NPP. The politicians we elected to manage our resources are selling the birthright of this nation and we must all keep quiet? Is there not a cause to tell our politicians to stop the reckless spending? Every four years when we are getting to elections, it is like this country is going to burn. Just [a] registration of voters, people are being stabbed and guns are being shot in public. Yet, nobody is expected to say the fact that election must not be between life and death”.
In the last five years, he noted, England has held three general elections: 7th May 2015, 8th June 2017 and 12th December 2019. “No one felt England was going to burn and it was not a do-or-die [affair]. General elections must not be a life-and-death affair”, he noted.
Touching on the involvement of civil servants in politics, Bishop Agyinasare said the Civil Service Act, as enforced in the Civil and Local Government vs Attorney General and others 2016, says: ‘When someone is in the civil service and wants to contest a party’s primaries, they are supposed to resign and go and contest’. “However, our politicians don’t respect that anymore. Instead, they use their government staff as their campaign team and they and their staff are paid by the government of Ghana, which makes such a person very compromised. Is there not a cause to change it so our civil service is not politicised?”
Turning his attention to his fellow clergy, Bishop Agyinasare said: “Mr pastor, where is your integrity if the ladies who come to seek prayer from you, you take advantage of them by having sex with them like Eli’s children [did]. Your sin would find you out”.
“Is there not a cause to tell pastors who go to juju men, fetish or mallams for ‘mojoss’ to do church, to go and join them as a fetish priest or mallam and stop pretending they are Christian clergy. Like Kofi Kinaata sings: ‘Papa sofo gye wa hom’”.
On the issue of land disputes, Bishop Agyinasare asked: “Is there not a cause to tell those businessmen who follow land guards to take by force the lands of the poor [to stop it?]. Can you imagine your end and what you are bringing upon your children?”
“Is there not a cause to tell some of our chiefs who sell a land to you, and sell it to two other people so we keep having land problems, to stop that? Our governments are not making it any easier. They encourage corruption at the registry by not passing a simple law. To register a land in Accra, it can take you five year- plus. Heads of families in Accra sell land to you and when they finish spending the money frivolously, they make other relatives in the same family to get another judgement and come to you to buy the land again”, he condemned.
As far as his public pronouncements on national issues are concerned, Bishop Agyinasare said he is not about to stop at all.
“Some have said: ‘Bishop, don’t talk, let the ecumenical bodies like Christian Council or Ghana, Pentecostal & Charismatic Council or National Association of Christian and Charismatic Churches to talk so that it is not only you’. Well, they may not have been inspired by God to speak on these things. Is there not a cause for me to talk about the ills of our society?”
“Precious one, it is like fire shut in my bones”, he said, quoting Jeremiah 20:9: ‘Then I said, “I will not make mention of him, nor speak anymore in his name”. But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not’”.
Bishop Agyinasare said his intentions are non-political. “I am not a politician and not aspiring to be one. The world is my parish and I am called to reach the world for Christ”, adding: “England was changed by the preaching of John Wesley when it was in filth; he preached till people thought ‘cleanliness is next to godliness’ was in the Bible”.
In another example, he said: “Scotland was saved from bloodshed under ‘Bloody Mary’, queen of the Scots, by the preaching and praying of John Knox from 1555 to 1579. The queen said: ‘I am not so much afraid of the soldiers of Scotland like I am of the prayers of John Knox’. One man standing beside his grave said: ‘Here lies a man who neither flattered nor feared any human being’.
Citing yet another example, Bishop Agyinasare noted that “Mary Slessor went to Calabar, Nigeria, a city where heads were being cut off at pleasure and twins were being slaughtered at birth because they were a curse. When people discouraged her that she was a woman and men were even afraid to go to Calabar, she said: ‘One with God is a majority’. She went and transformed Nigeria by helping put a stop to the slaughtering of twins”.
Rather than urging him to stop his pronouncements, Bishop Agyinasare asked his friends, family and the Christian community to “pray for me”. “What I need from you is your prayers that I would have boldness and utterance to speak the truth”, quoting Ephesians 6:18 and 19, which say: ‘Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. 19: ‘And for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel.”
Bishop Agyinasare said his wife has been supportive in that regard. “I thank God for a supportive wife. In the midst of all the noise, Vivian says: ‘I know my husband; if God says he must speak, then I would pray for him than stop him’. Pray for me also that I would be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men”, since, according to him, “Precious one, it means if you thought I was going to stop, then I want you to know that I am just warming up to the glory of God”.
“I am on a divine assignment for national transformation and let me ask you: is there not a cause for national transformation? There is so much not right about this country and we must start somewhere to talk about it, so, we can change it. I am talking and I challenge you to join me in this cause. If anyone asks you why you are talking these days about societal ills, ask them: ‘Is there not a cause?’”
President Nana Akufo-Addo has begged Muslims in the country to vote for him in the December 7, 2020 polls if they are pleased with the work he has done in his first term.
“I have come to beg you again for the elevation you gave me during the 2016 general elections, the time has come for you to repeat what you did for me and NPP to continue my vision for the nation,” he pleaded after Juma Prayers at Asawase in the Ashanti Region on Friday, 31 July 2020 as part of the Eid al-Adha celebration during his tour of the area.
“I leave everything to you to be the judge of the work I have done for you and the nation. If you are pleased with the work that I have done so far… then please vote for me to continue my work on December 7, 2020, to give you more for the development of the nation”, he implored the worshippers.
Meanwhile, the President has said he is happy the ongoing voter registration exercise is going on peacefully without anyone being discriminated against.
“One thing that excites me most is that the registration exercise in the Ashanti region and other areas has been very peaceful. I haven’t heard of any person being denied the opportunity to register on grounds that ‘you are not this or what, so, go, we can’t register you’. Every person has the right to go and register.
“What I have heard is that the exercise is going on smoothly in Asawase and Asokore-Mampong. We thank God for that. That is the most important thing to us all to leave in unity and peace”.
Former President John Mahama on Saturday accused the President of using the military to frustrate people of the Volta region and non-Akans from registering in the ongoing voter registration exercise.
In a statement, Mr Mahama said: “This is not the Ghana our forebears toiled for and built!”
“Each and every successive President”, he noted, “left a peaceful, stable and united country”.
However, he observed, “The road President Akufo-Addo is taking our beautiful country through, using the military and party thugs to stop people from exercising their right to register and vote in the upcoming December elections, is dangerous and unacceptable”.
He alleged: ‘There have been many reports and video evidence, like the one in this post, of the President’s deployment and discriminatory use of soldiers to target our brothers and sisters in the Volta Region and wherever there are settlements of Voltarians and non-Akans”.
The flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) said: “Executive power must not be used to foment ethnic discrimination and abuse as is happening under Nana Akufo-Addo”.
“These calculated acts of ‘dehumanisation, disenfranchising Ghanaians and stripping them of their citizenship’ must end”, he insisted.
He promised: “They will surely never happen under a new NDC administration because we will foster a spirit of peace and unity in our nation”.
As Commander-in-Chief, Mr Mahama pledged, “I will not use our military in such a partisan manner to terrorise our own people, and in matters that are purely civil and dwell in the very heart of our constitutional democracy”.
Meanwhile, the Electoral Commission of Ghana has said the exercise has entered its sixth and final phase starting today, Saturday, 1 August 2020.
The exercise ends on Thursday, 6 August 2020.
The election management body has, thus, urged eligible voters who have not yet registered to try and do so.
It said in a statement that it is ensuring strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols at the centres.
“The Commission assures members of the public that it will enforce all the safety protocols at all Registration Centres throughout the country,” it added.
Stakeholders at the end of a two-day dialogue on funding research to facilitate sustainable national development commended the Government for drafting the Ghana National Research Fund Bill, which is before Parliament.
When passed, the Act would ensure that at least one percent of the Gross National Product (GNP) is set aside for Research and Development (R&D) activities.
In a communique’ signed by Mrs Maria Gwira, Director of Public Affairs, University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS), after the two-day virtual event, the stakeholders, therefore, called for engagement with all the relevant actors, including research and academic institutions in all processes leading to the passage of the Bill and the implementation of the Law.
The dialogue was on the theme, “The rhetoric to fund research by Africa’s Governments must stop: Raising a new voice for improving the continent’s health challenges over the next generation”.
It was organised by UHAS, Ho, with support from the Health Systems Global (HSG) and patronised by institutions and individuals.
The stakeholders urged the government to prioritise research in its plans as a key driver of development from 2020-2025 and beyond.
It should also deliver on its commitments and promises to fund R&D by creating a sustainable framework for a national Research and Development agenda and develop a tracking system with timelines for its implementation.
There should also be transparency and equity in the allocation and disbursement of resources and partnerships with the relevant bodies, including the media, to tell the success stories that highlight the impact of research to national development.
The Government, they said, should also learn from the successes of other African countries that had made substantial investments in R&D and adopt and adapt their models that had worked best.
They urged stakeholders in academia and research institutions to also commit to accountability.
“We, the conveners at UHAS, resolve to broaden the scope of this public discourse in order to build synergies with other research and academic institutions that will lead to consensus in support of our position stated above,” the communiqué said.
The participants were from UHAS, WHO-AFRO, Swedish Development Cooperation Agency, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Ghana; Ghana Health Service, Ministry of Health; National Development Planning Commission, Ghana News Agency, CitiTV, JoyNews and Volta Star Radio.
There are no long queues at some centres at the Ablekumah Central Constituency when Ghana News Agency (GNA) visited as part of the last phase of the Voters Registration Exercise.
The three centres at Ablekumah Anglican Primary School, there were no queues as compared to when the exercise commenced on June 30.
Mr Nathaniel Perprah, the Registration Officer for Special Duty at Centre two in an interview said patronage was low because most residents have gone elsewhere to acquire their card.
He said most of them were not patient enough to wait for them and the majority of the people were also not following the Electoral Commission’s (EC) timetable on when they would visit their areas.
He said as at the time the Agency visited the Centre, they have registered only 28 electorates.
Ms Patricia Sackey, the Registration Officer for Special Duty for Centre three said the low turn-out was because most of them had gone to other municipalities to register and currently, they have also observed that people from other municipalities were also coming to the centre to have their cards done.
“As at 2pm, we were able to register about 58 electorates,” she added.
The situation was not different at the Centre one.
The EC on Saturday, August 1, 2020, commenced the sixth and final phase of its ongoing voters’ registration exercise, which started on June 30.
The President of Ghana, Nana Addo-Dankwa has hinted that the Double Track system currently been used at the Senior High School(SHS) level will end before 2024.
Senior High School students under the Free SHS policy are practising the semester-based system where students are grouped into tracks in order to get space to contain all Senior High School students since the infrastructure in the various schools are inadequate to admit them at the same time.
But speaking in an interview on Kumasi-based Wontumi FM, the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said his government is currently working to increase the infrastructural base of all schools across the country.
According to him, this will help bring the track system currently been run by the SHSs across the country to an end.
He said “basically, it’s a question of infrastructure and we are working on it. As you sit here, I’m aware you know that we are working at providing the needed infrastructure to accommodate all students under the Free SHS policy. All the schools across the country are expanding their infrastructure so that they can take more people and when that it done hopefully I believe that by the end of my second term, the gold track, the green track will have come to an end and we will have a unified system again because we will have the infrastructure to support the intake”.
Meanwhile, the first batch of Free SHS beneficiaries are currently sitting for their final year examinations.
