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Kweku Baako wins defamation case against Ken Agyapong

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Kweku Baako wins defamation case against Ken Agyapong

The Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako Jnr has won his defamatory suit against businessman and Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Mr Kennedy Agyapong.

Mr Kennedy Agyapong had used words Mr Baako deemed were defamatory against him in addition to that, Mr Agyapong dared Baako to pursue a lawsuit against him.

On Friday morning, the High Court came out with its verdict and ruled in favour of Mr Baako.

The court has consequently given Mr Kennedy Agyapong 30 days to retract and apologise three times on the platforms he used to defame Kweku Baako.

Damage was set at Ghc100,000 with cost of Gh30,000.

more to follow…

Supreme Court orders EC to accept existing voter IDs during New Registration

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Supreme Court orders EC to accept existing voter IDs during New Registration

The Supreme Court has ordered the Electoral Commission, Ghana (EC) to accept the existing voter identification cards as one of the basic documents for the upcoming registration, counsel for the plaintiff has said.

General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Johnson Asiedu Nketia also told journalists after judgment on Thursday that the existing voter IDs will now be accepted by the EC for the exercise, which starts on Tuesday, June 30.

“We feel vindicated because the court itself in an earlier ruling had clearly stated that the possession of an existing voter’s ID card means the holder is a citizen of Ghana,” Mr Asiedu Nketia said.

Supreme Court rules on EC, NDC case today

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Supreme Court rules on EC, NDC case today

The Supreme Court has fixed today (Thursday) to deliver its judgement on whether or not the Electoral Commission’s (EC’s) decision to exclude the existing voter ID card as one of the source documents for registration during the upcoming voter’s registration exercise is Constitutional.

At the hearing yesterday, the seven-member panel of the apex court, presided over by the Chief Justice, Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah also dismissed an amicus brief application filed by lawyers of four civil society Organisations (CSOs) including, policy think tank, IMANI Africa and the Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA).

The others include the Policy Innovation Alliance for Social Equity and the Conservative Policy Research Centre and Institute for Liberty.

Amicus brief

Per the amicus brief, the CSOs sought to offer knowledge regarding the case that will eventually have a bearing on the case.

Counsel for the CSOs, Mr Joe Aboagye Debrah took his turn at the court to make his submissions regarding the application for the amicus brief.

In the course of making his submission, the Chief Justice questioned the lawyer on whether he had taken a look at the substantive processes regarding the two cases.

In response, Mr Debrah told the court he had not read it but had only seen the affidavit.

The Chief Justice further asked how he (Mr Debrah) could contribute to the case with his application since he had not taken a look at the substantive processes in the suits.

A member of the panel, Justice
Paul Baffoe-Bonney acknowledged the role of the CSOs in the country but argued that as a result of all the issues being raised by the CSOs, it would have been better if the CSO’s had joined one of the parties in the case rather than filing a motion for amicus brief.

Application opposed

A Deputy Attorney General (A-G) Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame and lawyer for the EC opposed the application.

Upon listening to the submissions, the Chief Justice,  Justice Anin Yeboah dismissed the application stating that it was not supported by law.

Cases against EC

In March this year, the NDC filed a suit against the EC and the (A-G) on two grounds that first, the entire registration exercise was unconstitutional because per Article 45 (a) of the 1992 Constitution, the EC could only compile a voters register once and periodically revise it.

The second leg of the suit was that the decision of the EC to exclude an existing voter ID card as a form of identification for the registration would disenfranchise many potential registrants and, therefore, it was unconstitutional as it violated Article 42 of the 1992 Constitution, which gave a citizen of Ghana the right to vote and also the right to register to vote.

On June 11, this year, lawyers for the biggest opposition party abandoned the first leg of its case, the one challenging the constitutionality of the decision by the EC to compile a new voters register for the 2020 general election after the Supreme Court had pointed out to the lawyers of the NDC that the two claims could not stand side by side.
Second suit

On June 12, this year, Mr Mark Takyi-Banson instituted a different suit at the apex court in relation to the EC’s decision to use the Ghana Card and the Ghanaian passport as the only identification documents for the upcoming mass voters registration exercise.

In his writ filed against the EC and the A-G, Mr Takyi-Benson is seeking an order directed at the EC to include a birth certificate and the existing voters ID card as evidence of identification in the upcoming mass voter registration exercise.

The plaintiff is also seeking a declaration that upon a true and proper interpretation of Article 45, the register of voters for the conduct and supervision of all public elections and referenda of the 1992 Constitution, the EC’s constitutional and statutory mandate to compile is spent, saving only the power reserved in the commission to revise and expand the register at such periods as may be determined by law.

Earth Tremor hits parts of Accra Wednesday night

Ellis Ferdinand
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Earth Tremor hits parts of Accra Wednesday night

Some parts of Accra on Wednesday night experienced earth tremor about four times. The first shacking of earth was heard about 10:48pm, it followed five to six minutes time for about four times.

The Ghana Metrological Agency will bring the actual measurements of the tremor and if any damages to human life and properties.

More soon…

I have no apology for Dormaahene – John Boadu tells Dormaa youth

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I have no apology for Dormaahene – John Boadu tells Dormaa youth

The General secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party, John Boadu has said that he was reacting to a question that the Dormaahene has threatened not to allow the EC to hold its registration exercise in Dormaa.

The Dynamic Dormaa Youth Movement of Dormaa are demanding an unqualified apology from John Boadu over comments he made concerning the National House of Chiefs who raised concerns over the registration process of the EC warning that it should not disenfranchise any Ghanaian in the upcoming registration exercise.

According to John Boadu, he has no apology for the overlord of Dormaa and Aduana clan so long as the Youth claims Nana Agyemang Badu didn’t make those comments.

Mr Boadu reiterated that there’s no way they (NPP) will allow anyone from preventing the EC to conduct its constitutional mandate. He implored the Dormaaa Youth to get the tape of his comments and listen for themselves if he said anything unconstitutional.

He added that the country cannot sit unconcerned for chiefs who have problems with state institutions to prevent them from conducting its constitutional mandate.

Source: opera.com

Land disputes: We’re coming after you – Osu Wor-Lumor tells Presbyterian Church

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Land disputes: We’re coming after you – Osu Wor-Lumor tells Presbyterian Church

The Chief Priest of Osu, Wor-Lumor Nuumo Noi Sekanku Kpenuku II, has sent caution to the leaders of Presbyterian Church of Ghana that the people of Osu will soon come after them over what he describes as ‘exploitation’ from the church.

He accused the church of cunningly taking portions of Osu lands that do not belong to them.

According to the Wor-Lumor, the church was given five acres of land during the colonial era, at no fee, with an agreement to admit children of Osu for free in their schools.

But the church, he stressed, has claimed more plots of lands without approval from custodians of the Osu lands.

In a bare it all interview with the People & Places team on GhanaWeb TV, the chief priest claims the Osu Presby Church, located at the heart of Osu, has not only ‘stolen’ more plots of their land but they now take fees from children who attend their schools.

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“The missionaries also came and begged us for our lands to establish churches and schools. They have now turned round to take school fees from us. And we gave them our lands, especially the Presbyterian Church. I’m saying it for them to know. They gave us curbs of wine, two curbs of gun powder, and took just about five acres of land.

But now the five acres have been extended into almost a quarter of a mile. And our children have to pay school fees when they go to their schools, no scholarship, and when even we have a ceremony and we need their conference halls, we need to pay. We have to pay, which we are not happy about.”

Wor-Lumor Nuumo Noi Sekanku Kpenuku II in the exclusive interview with GhanaWeb expressed disappointment in the Church adding that the Osu people will soon go after them.

“We want them to know, tell them, we want them to know that we will come at them very soon. Yes because if we give something to you free, you also have to give us something free. But if you take our property and you have to sip money from us, then it looks like you are the people who started the poll tax,” he told GhanaWeb.

Speaking about the challenges bedevilling the Osu people, the Chief priest stated that government has forcefully claimed properties belonging to the Osu people.

He emphasized that the elders and chiefs of Osu only signed an agreement with the colonial masters not the government of Ghana, hence they are astonished to see the government claiming ownership of their lands and properties, an act he says has made the people of Osu poor.

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“I would want the whole world to know that Osu is being beseeched by politicians. I don’t know if it is for the primeness of our lands because most of the government establishments from the colonial era is in Osu. And I don’t remember when the colonial masters handed over our properties to the Ghana government. Because all our properties that were given to the colonial masters were signed in an agreement between the chiefs, elders, and the colonial masters.

Therefore by simple logic, if the colonial masters do not want that property again and they are going, then the ownership automatically reverses to the allodial owners. But now, the government is saying they own all the Osu lands. That has made us poor.”

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Akufo-Addo was misled about COVID-19 deaths before “further easing restrictions” – Occupy Ghana

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Akufo-Addo was misled about COVID-19 deaths before “further easing restrictions” – Occupy Ghana

Pressure group OccupyGhana has said before President Nana Akufo-Addo, a few weeks ago, further eased the COVID-19 restrictions imposed on the country to curb the spread of the virus, there had been several deaths which were kept from him, thus, denying him the full picture and complementary data to inform his decision.

Following its zoom meeting with the leadership of the medical team on the one hand; and the entire leadership of the government’s COVID-19 team on the other hand in the evening of 19 June 2020 after its press statement on 15 June 2020 in which it said it suspected the number of COVID-19 deaths was being massaged, OccupyGhana, again, issued another statement on Sunday, 21 June 2020 both the Ghana Health Service news release and the government’s COVID-19 team denied that the data was being massaged, claiming that rather, there had been a delay due to a verification process.

“We vehemently disagreed, and we still question the science behind the GHS’ claim that it is verifying the ‘epidemiological condition’ of dead COVID-19 cases”, OG said, adding: “We pointed out that this terminology served nothing but confusion since the verification team in Accra was not doing any retesting or post mortem”.

“Simply, there is nothing to verify outside a simple phone call to the people on the ground”, OG insisted.

“As we also pointed out, and as the government’s COVID-19 team admitted, several of the deaths then not included in the national total, had occurred some two to three weeks before the President recently, further eased restrictions. To us, that meant that as of the time the President was taking that decision and announcing it, both he and Ghanaians had been denied the full complement of the data and the true picture”, the group noted.

 

“It is entirely possible that had the full information been made available, the President’s decision and public reaction would have been different. We still consider the excuse of a delay due to a so-called verification, unacceptable and untenable, giving grounds to our expressed suspicion. These delays erode public confidence in the GHS’ data”, OG stressed.

Read OG’s full statement below:

21ST JUNE 2020

OCCUPYGHANA® PRESS STATEMENT

Re: DEAR GHANA, HAVE WE DECIDED TO LIVE WITH THE VIRUS?

OccupyGhana® has seen the Ghana Health Service (GHS) News Release dated 17 June 2020 in response to our PR dated 15 June 2020 on the above matter. As a sign of good faith, we held back from an immediate robust response, to abide a requested zoom meeting between our leadership and Medical Team on the one hand, and the entire leadership of the Government’s COVID-19 team on the other hand, in the evening of 19 June 2020. It was a very engaging meeting.

This PR is to state our position after the GHS News Release and the meeting.

Just to recap, these are the health-related issues we raised in our PR:

1. Is it Government policy to head for ‘herd immunity’?
2. Why are ambulances not responding to the several callers?
3. Why is there so much delay in releasing test results?
4. Why has contact tracing reduced?
5. Sanctity of the data.
6. Why is there a shortage of PPE?
7. The holding and treatment centres in the Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions (the two epicentres) are full.

1. ‘HERD IMMUNITY’?

The GHS’ News Release did not address this question. But at the meeting, we were assured that this was not the Government’s intention. Noted.

2. AMBULANCE RESPONSE

The GHS’ News Release did not address this because, as they confirmed at the meeting, they did not consider this to be within their remit.

But we were concerned that the delays could be due to not enough ambulances having been assigned for COVID-19 related use. However, at the meeting, we were assured that our concerns would be addressed. Noted. We will continue to monitor the situation.

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3. TEST RESULT DELAYS

In the GHS response, it was claimed that it took 48 hours for most results to be released. That is inaccurate. As was shown at the meeting, currently, some results take as much as seven days. Sometimes it takes much longer to receive results.

We, therefore, raised further questions on whether the testing centres are optimised to perform? Are all the testing centres running, and if not, why? Do the testing centres have data entry issues?  Do the sample collection facilities adequately fill the case forms that accompany all the samples? Is there a high number of mislabelling?

Ultimately, the meeting conceded that there are indeed delays and assured us that a lot was being done to address that. For instance, a barcode labelling system with electronic transmission of test results through the SORMAS app has been introduced.

We will continue to watch this space since reducing the delay in getting test results will reduce anxiety among those who have tested and then dovetail into the discharge strategy so that patients are discharged in good time to make room for others.

4. REDUCED CONTACT TRACING

We were informed that Ghana is no longer doing the enhanced contact tracing that characterised the lockdown, and that the mass contact tracing team has been disbanded.

We disagree, strongly. At the end of the lockdown on 19 April 2020, Ghana had 1,042 positive cases. Currently, we have a total of 13,717 positive cases of which 3,558 are active.

We find this new policy bizarre and counterintuitive. We know enhanced tracing has financial implications, but it beggars belief that that would be discontinued when the daily number of new positive cases is increasing. Early detection and treatment are critical to preventing severe and critical cases. We forcefully expressed these concerns and have been assured that they will be addressed. We will continue to advocate for and demand a return to enhanced tracing.

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5. DATA SANCTITY

This was the elephant in the room. Our exact words in our 15 June 2020 PR were:

“There is cause to suspect that the death numbers are being massaged.” We then gave one cause of the suspicion.

Both the GHS News Release and the Government COVID-19 team denied that the data was being massaged, claiming that rather, there had been a delay due to a verification process.

We vehemently disagreed, and we still question the science behind the GHS’ claim that it is verifying the ‘epidemiological condition’ of dead COVID-19 cases. We pointed out that this terminology served nothing but confusion, since the verification team in Accra was not doing any retesting or post mortem. Simply there is nothing to verify, outside a simple phone call to the people on the ground.

As we also pointed out, and as the Government COVID-19 team admitted, several of the deaths than not included in the national total, had occurred some two to three weeks before the President recently further eased restrictions. To us, that meant that as at the time the President was taking that decision and announcing it, both he and Ghanaians had been denied the full complement of the data and the true picture. It is entirely possible that had the full information been made available, the President’s decision and public reaction would have been different. We still consider the excuse of a delay due to a so-called verification, unacceptable and untenable, giving grounds to our expressed suspicion. These delays erode public confidence in the GHS’ data.

The meeting agreed that it should not take two weeks to verify the data. We were assured that the problem had been resolved and there would be more real-time updates. We will continue to monitor this.

6. PPE AND SAFETY OF HEALTH WORKERS

We informed the meeting that Facilities that we contacted since our PR have indeed been supplied with some items this week. Although there are inadequate stocks of PPE in almost all facilities, we acknowledge efforts being made to improve the situation. We raised further questions on whether the front-liners are receiving their allowances and on time. We were assured that these would be looked into. Noted.

7. HOLDING AND TREATMENT CENTRES AND BED SPACES

There was a general acknowledgement, and it was indisputable that the Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions’ holding and treatment centres had run out of spaces, and we expressed our surprise there was an effort to deny that. While it may be true that some 21 centres are lying idle in other areas, we asked if there was a plan to move patients from the epicentres to the idle centres. We were assured that that would be looked into. Noted.

IN CONCLUSION:

We appreciate that the situation with COVID-19 is fluid and changing all the time. We appreciate the hard work that those in charge and in the frontline are doing. We are all concerned about the welfare of our fellow citizens. We appreciate the challenges. But those challenges and the full, unvarnished story must be told plainly and bluntly to the authorities. Those in authority will not and should not be offended by being shown the true picture. We believe that those in authority seek the best for the rest of us, and that showing them exactly what is on the ground, will only make them better.

Once again, although we could not agree on the answers provided and explanations made to all the issues raised, we acknowledge the good faith shown by the GHS and the government team, especially for opening the door for future engagement between them and us.

There surely will be further engagement.

For God and Country

OccupyGhana®

Source: Classsfmonline.com

It’s “sad”, “cruel” to jail pastors, Ghanaians for flouting COVID-19 protocols while NPP violates same with impunity – NDC

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It’s “sad”, “cruel” to jail pastors, Ghanaians for flouting COVID-19 protocols while NPP violates same with impunity – NDC

The main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has said it is “sad, cruel and reprehensible for President Akufo-Addo, who promulgated (E.I 64), which has led to the arrest, prosecution and imprisonment of pastors and other Ghanaians, to turn around and supervise the flagrant violation of the same law by his party officials and members with impunity” during the governing New Patriotic Party’s parliamentary primaries over the weekend.

Per E.I.164 (No. 10), not wearing face masks in public is an offence punishable by law but NPP delegates, supporters and some parliamentary aspirants were seen, over the weekend, without nose masks in public while electing their candidates.

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Social distancing was also absent as large crowds gathered to celebrate their winning candidates after the polls.

This has raised concerns about the government’s commitment to the fight against COVID-19 and observance of social protocols to keep the citizenry safe.

Speaking about it at a press conference held in Accra on Monday, 22 June 2020, Mr Sammy Gyamfi, National Communication Officer of the NDC noted that the actions of the governing NPP is “unacceptable and abominable, particularly at a time church and mosque gatherings have been restricted to a maximum of 100 attendees and a duration of one hour, and at a time, Ghanaians who are found not to be wearing face masks are being subjected to all manner of degrading and inhumane treatment.”

According to him, “the recklessness and lawlessness displayed by the NPP during their just-ended parliamentary primaries, coupled with the selective application of the law on COVID-19 preventive protocols by our law enforcement agencies, make the imprisonment of pastors and Ghanaians who were convicted for breaching public gathering restrictions under E.I 64, totally unjustifiable and unfair.”

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“Actions, they say, speak louder than words. The flagrant violation of COVID-19 precautionary protocols provided under E.I 64 by officials and members of the NPP and the President’s tacit approval of same, make nonsense of our collective fight against the dreaded coronavirus pandemic and shows that President Akufo-Addo and the NPP are not committed to Ghana’s COVID fight,” he added.

The Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC) has also raised similar concerns and called on the President to call the NPP activists to order and to ensure that justice and fair play is seen to be administered at all times to all Ghanaians irrespective of their political or social status.

GPCC said in a statement signed by its President Rev. Prof. Paul Frimpong-Manso that: “If what happened over the weekend during the NPP parliamentary primaries is anything to go by, the Council and many right-thinking Ghanaians have no doubt to believe that the floodgates for flouting the law in the name of political activities have just been opened if action is not taken against those political activists who flouted the rules by bringing them to justice.”

 

Source: classfmonline.com

Man United Star Marcus Rashford Writes To UK MPs To Reverse The End Of Free School Meal For Kids

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Man United Star Marcus Rashford Writes To UK MPs To Reverse The End Of Free School Meal For Kids

England and Manchester striker Marcus Rashford has exerted pressure on the UK government to reverse their decision to cancel the country’s free school meals voucher system.

In a two-page open letter, the striker urged the UK MPs to “make protecting the lives of some of our most vulnerable a top priority.”

The 22-year-old has become a powerful advocate in combating child poverty. During the COVID-19 lockdown, Rashford, in collaboration with FareShare, a charity organisation, supplied three million food packages to those most in need.

rashford kids
Rashord with kids

He has vowed to “keep fighting” so that no kid in the United Kingdom “has to worry about where their next meal is coming from.”

Rashford points out that he could have been included in those type of figures while growing up but “due to the selfless actions of my mum, my family, my neighbours, and my coaches, the only stats I’m associated with are goals, appearances and caps. I would be doing myself, my family and my community an injustice if I didn’t stand here today with my voice and my platform and ask you for help.”

The striker has encouraged the public to get in touch with their local MPs by tagging them on Twitter and using #maketheUturn to force the government into a reversal of the policy.

Read his open letter below.

rashord letter 1
rashord letter 2

Defeat of 40 incumbent MPs good omen for parliamentary representation – Prof Gyampo

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Defeat of 40 incumbent MPs good omen for parliamentary representation – Prof Gyampo

Renowned Political Science lecturer at the University of Ghana, Professor Ransford Gyampo, has said the defeat of 40 incumbent Members of Parliament after the just-ended New Patriotic Party (NPP) primaries is a good omen in terms of representation in parliament as it serves as a warning that the foremost function of a parliamentarian, is representation.

According to him, the defeat of incumbent MPs would have been more if some of them had not been protected by the party to go unopposed.

Speaking in an interview with GhanaWeb, Professor Ransford Gyampo in regards to the 40 MPs losing their seat, he said first act of a legislature should be in the interest of the people who voted for them to be their voice in Parliament.

He explained, “The idea of parliamentary representation simply connotes going to parliament to act in a manner responsive to the interest of constituents. Parliamentarians are therefore to act first in the interest of those who sent them there and also consult constituents in their decision-making on matters that directly bother the constituency.”

Prof. Gyampo added that MPs “must lobby to ensure governmental attention is directed to his or her constituency to solve all developmental needs of his or her constituents. Such parliamentarians, operating as trustees, must act on behalf and in the interest of their constituents in deciding on general issues of national development.”

He also urged parliamentarians to by all means ensure they are heard on the floor of parliament by contributing and shaping debates.

These practices, he believes, will boost the confidence of constituents and the general citizenry in a parliamentarian.

Background

The NPP lost about 40 incumbent MPs in last Saturday’s primaries to choose parliamentary candidates for the 2020 December General Election.

Some of the casualties had served only one term in office while others top ranking legislators of the governing party have been kicked out.

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Some of them include the Chairman of Parliament’s Finance Committee, Dr Mark Assibey-Yeboah who lost his seat to a new entrant, Michael Okyere Baafi.

Mr Assibey-Yeboah has been a staunch defender of government’s economic policies in the media and on the floor of Parliament.

Chairman of Parliament’s Finance Committee, and Mr Alex Agyekum, MP for Mpohor and Chairman of Parliament’s Youth and Sports Committee, and Mr Daniel Okyem Aboagye, MP for Bantama and a Government’s Spokesperson on Finance.

Mr Kwabena Owusu Aduomi, MP for Ejisu and Deputy Minister of Roads and Highways, as well as Mr Joseph Kofi Adda, MP for Navrongo Central and Minister of Aviation, all lost the bidding to represent their people in the next Parliament.

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

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