The National Identification Authority (NIA) has rescheduled its issuance of the printed Ghana Cards from today [Monday] to Wednesday, June 10.
According to a statement from the authority, the rescheduling has been necessitated by the Authority’s need to complete the distribution of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) to registration centres.
The NIA will be issuing 3,875,441 printed cards to Ghana Card applicants at 5,635 registration centres.
The authority has described the exercise as a nationwide card issuance blitz which will run till Tuesday, June 16, 2020.
It expects 11,062,850 Ghanaians to have the Ghana Card in time for the Electoral Commission’s (EC) compilation of a new voter register as the EC plans to make the Ghana Card and the passports the only valid identification for registering to vote.
There will also be a nationwide mop-up registration exercise commencing on June 18, 2020, which will run through to mid-September 2020.
“The issuance will also enable persons in possession of the Ghana Card to use it for other mandatory purposes stated in the National Identity Register Regulation, 2012 (LI 2111), including registering as a voter and vouching for others as Ghanaians,” the authority noted in a press release issued last Friday, June 5, 2020.
The authority assured that adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) will be provided for use by the NIA’s field officers during the exercise.
“Additionally, security personnel will be deployed at each Registration Centre to ensure that crowd control measures such as physical distancing and appointment system are strictly observed,” it added.
Applicants attending the NIA card collection centres will be required to be in their face masks and wash their hands before beginning the card collection process.
Ghana’s Electoral Commission has in a 31-page written legal argument, urged Ghana’s apex court to back its decision to exclude the current voters ID card as proof of identification for prospective voters.
The Commission has argued in its response to the Supreme Court’s directive that the existing voters ID card was acquired by some Ghanaians in a manner that breached various laws.
The EC in its legal arguments described the card as fruit of a “poisoned tree”.
The Commission argued further that excluding it will afford it an opportunity to “break from the past and remedy all the carried on ineligibilities”.
The Supreme Court on June 4 gave the EC up until June 8 to justify its decision to compile a new register without the use of existing voter IDs as breeder document.
The Commission has complied to the directive, raising six legal issues in 31 pages to attempt to get the court to agree with it.
The EC’s arguments
The commission says the existing voter register which was compiled in 2012 and revised since by limited exercises has been held by the apex court as not being reasonably credible.
The EC made references to the cases of Abu Ramadan and Another v. the Electoral Commission and Another and Kwasi Danso Acheampong v the Electoral Commission and other.
It argued further that the two cases raised questions about the existing voters register with one holding that using the National Health Insurance card to get on the register was contrary to law.
The Commission said the above meant “the credibility of the register compiled remains in doubt save the registrations done with the voter identification cards before the coming into effect of C.I. 72”.
The Commission said the decision raised the presumption of credibility in favour of the voter cards issued before C.I.72.
It however says the registration law used prior to C.I 72 had no identification requirement, saying the law required no proof of citizenship and no proof of age.
“…the grand parenting” of voters identification procured under C.I 12 can never be remedied”, the Commission added.
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) is in court challenging the EC’s decision to compile a new register.
The party also wants the court to rule that the existing voters ID card can be used as proof of citizenship to get registered.
Scancom Plc, operators of MTN Ghana, has acknowledged media reports on moves by the regulator National Communications Authority (NCA) to review its operations to ensure fair competition in the telecoms industry.
MTN, however, said it is yet to receive a “formal notification from the regulator and awaits this to assess the details”.
On Monday, the Minister of Communications, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, issued a statement, announcing “corrective measures” under the National Telecommunications Policy (NTP) to facilitate more market competition, ensure proper pricing for consumers and facilitate the overall growth of the industry.
This will see the review and approval of MTN’s pricing, according to law, since it has been declared a significant market power (SMP).
But a statement issued by Scancom Plc said: “MTN Ghana respects the NCA’s purview to regulate the telecommunications sector in Ghana based on legislation and best practices.”
They said they will come out publicly after assessing the details when they are formally notified.
“We would like to assure our cherished shareholders and customers that our commitment to the delivery of a bold new digital world in Ghana remains intact and they can count on our continued investment in infrastructure and innovative products and services,” the statement said.
It added: “MTN Ghana is focused on providing the enabling technology to support Ghana’s digital economy and drive productivity, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
It assured all that the leading telecommunications company will remain “ethical” and committed to all its regulatory obligations.
Electoral Commission (EC) has stated that the underlying legal reasons for its decision not to include the existing voters’ Identification Card (ID) in its upcoming registration exercise is because the Supreme Court itself has held that the register is reasonably not credible and that by implication, the cards issued pursuant to it are also reasonably not credible.
The EC made this accession in its thirty-one (31) page response to the order of a seven-member Supreme Court panel on the 4th of June 2020, to provide legal basis for its decision to exclude the existing voter’s identity card from the list of IDs that are admissible for the upcoming voters’ registration exercise due to commence at the end of the month of June. The EC’s Supplementary Statement of Case was filed today Monday, the 8th of June 2020 in fulfilment of the timelines given by the Supreme Court.
Summary of EC Argument
“In summary, the following are the legal reasons why the 2nd Defendant (EC) is not allowing the existing voter identification cards to be used in the upcoming voter registration exercise” . 1. “The existing voter register which was compiled in 2012 pursuant to CI 72 and revised since by limited registration exercises has been held by this Honourable Court as not being reasonably credible. By implication, the cards issued pursuant to it are also not reasonably credible” the document entitled “Supplementary Statement of case of the 2nd Defendant pursuant to the orders of the Court dated 4th June 2020” said.
The supplementary statement filed by lawyer for the EC, Justin Amenuvor, further stated that, 2. “In respect of the cards issued pursuant to ci 12, the 2nd Defendant (EC) has found that those voter identification cards were issued without any form of identification at all and its ineligibilities, breaches and excesses were imported into the 2012 register pursuant to CI 72 in breach of Article 42 and displacing the credibility of the CI 12 cards”.
The third point of the EC is that “it found a fundamental omission in its training manual and the manner in which the voter registration exercise was carried out in 2012 partly in breach of its own binding CI 72 and also in breach of Article 42 of the constitution” . the fourth point is that “the 2nd Defendant wants a break from the past to remedy all the carried on ineligibilities, excesses and breaches of Article 42 as the existing cards have become fruits of a “poisoned tree”.
“It will be in continuous breach of article 42 of the constitution, to totally disregard this Honourable court’s own judgment to continue using the existing cards and It is in contravention of Section 8(1) of Act 750 (as amended) for the 2nd Defendant to accept the existing voter identification cards as a means of proving citizenship for the compilation of the new register” the Supplementary Statement said.
“Your Lordships, we (EC) submit that what Section 8(1) of Act 750 (as amended) has done is to effectively exclude the existing voter identification card as a form of identification for the purposes of proving citizenship which is the first and foremost qualification required of an individual applying to be registered as a voter. It is the considered opinion of the 2nd defendant (EC) that to accept any form of identification, including the existing voter identification cards, which is not provided for under Section 8(1) Act 750 (as amended) as a means of proving identification for the compilation of the new register will be in contravention of statute” the EC’s Supplementary Statement of Case noted in conclusion.
Argument of the NDC
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) through their lawyers have also filed a supplementary statement of case. In it, they submitted that “the 2 Defendant (EC) has no legal basis to exclude the use of existing voter ID cards for the purposes of registration and that should this Court allow the 2nd Defendant to deny Ghanaian citizens the use of their existing voter ID cards for registration, it would impair the right of citizens to register and vote. That would be a dent on the gains made by this Court in giving life and meaning to Article 42 of the Constitution” the Statement of the NDC signed by lawyer Godwin Tamakloe said.
“We end by relying on the poignant statement by Kpegah JSC in Apaloo versus Electoral Commission supra at page 410 where His Lordship stated:”
Thus, consistent with our belief in and adherence to the principle of universal adult suffrage, the right to register and vote is guaranteed every citizen of Ghana who is eighteen years or above and not of unsound mind.
In the case of Tehn-Addy v Electoral Commissioner [1996-97] SCGLR 589, the plaintiff was denied the chance to register as a voter, and he brought an action claiming that the Electoral Commission had violated the Constitution, 1992. This court unanimously held that every sane Ghanaian citizen of eighteen years and above had the right under article 42 of the Constitution, 1992 to be registered as a voter. And that the constitutional right of voting was indispensable in the enhancement of the democratic process and it could not be denied in the absence of a constitutional provision to that effect”.
“The function of the 2? Defendant under article 45(e) is to undertake programmes for the expansion of the registration of voters and not to undermine or place unnecessary impediments on registration. The 2 Defendant’s constitutional function includes making it easier to register to vote and not to place impediments on the enjoyment of that fundamental right to be registered and o vote” the Statement further said.
“In the circumstances, we invite this Honourable Court not to be frightened by the spectre of ghosts, minors and foreigners on the register. For ghosts may be able to receive salaries when on the payroll but cannot appear to vote when on the voter roll and foreigners and minors can be removed from the roll of voters if the 2nd Defendant is diligent and does its work well” the NDC Statement said in conclusion.
The Next Hearing
The seven-member Supreme Court panel with is presided over by the Chief Justice, Justice Anin Yeboah, is expected to duly reconstitute on Thursday, 11th of June 2020, to adjudicate the matter.
A former Deputy Minister of Communications under the erstwhile John Mahama administration, Felix Kwakye Ofosu thinks that President Akufo-Addo has deliberately decided to tag the Green Book that chronicled all John Mahama’s achievements as an “artist impression.”
This, he said was deliberately being done to enable President Akufo-Addo to mislead fanatical supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) or unsuspecting members of the public, so that he (Akufo-Addo) will not be seen as the least performing President of all Ghanaian leaders in the area of infrastructure or capital investments.
According to Mr Kwakye Ofosu, “It is also entirely possible that he is fully apprised of the contents of the Green Book but has chosen the path of falsehood in so far as it enables him to mislead fanatical supporters of the NPP or unsuspecting members of the public and in the process hide his dubious reputation as the least performing of all Ghanaian leaders at least in the area of infrastructure or capital investments.”
He said President Akufo-Addo on many occasions had described as false the content of the Green Book, pointing out that the President’s continuous description of the Green Book as falsehood was intended to achieve three goals – that the contents of the Green Book are not real and cannot be found on the ground, that the book is filled with artist impressions, and finally, that his predecessor, John Dramani Mahama has said that he did all the roads in Ghana, but no evidence exists of that.
Speaking at the NDC’s weekly media briefing, Mr Kwakye Ofosu, said “For the avoidance of doubt, there is not a single project in the Green Book which does not exist on the ground today or for which clear context has not been provided regarding its status.”
He added “Anybody interested in the truth would simply match what is stated in the book to what exists. Such an exercise would yield only one outcome, which is that the work shown in the book are as real as they come and evidence of them are abundant.”
Below is a company of the statement
SPEECH READ BY FELIX KWAKYE OFOSU AT NDC WEEKLY BRIEFING ON FALSE INFRASTRUCTURE CLAIMS BY PRESIDENT AKUFO-ADDO AT COMMISSIONING OF THE TEMA MOTORWAY INTERCHANGE.
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Good morning ladies and gentlemen of the media,
Thank you once again for your kind coverage of this important platform.
Last Friday, President Akufo-Addo, at the commissioning ceremony of the Tema Motorway Interchange stated as follows “we made a pledge to the Ghanaian people to expand and improve the road network while closing the missing link in the network”.
“We had to make this pledge because we know that the so-called unprecedented infrastructure development of the Mahama administration was fantasy, existing in the Green Book and not on the ground”.
It bears mentioning, that it would not be the first time that President Akufo-Addo has made such comments about the contents of the Green Book or the stellar record of his immediate predecessor, President John Dramani Mahama.
On 7th May, 2019, he had this to say to members of the Upper West Regional House of Chiefs who had paid him a visit at the Flagstaff House;
“Before I came here, I was told by my biggest competitor that they have done all roads in Ghana and that they are responsible for an unprecedented infrastructure development. Everywhere I go, I do not think there is any institution that had talked to me and has not raised the issue about the roads in their area as their principal concern”.
President Akufo-Addo took this narrative a notch higher when he stated in his fourth and hopefully final State of the Nation Address on 20th February 2020, that “artists impressions had been passed off as constructed roads”.
Ladies and Gentlemen of the media,
The President’s misrepresentation of the Green Book predates his ascension to the highest office of the land. He had claimed during the launch of the NPP manifesto, which has in the fullness of time proven to be the most deceptive and dishonoured in Ghanaian political history, that the Green Book was full of artist impressions.
In summary, the President through his various statements has sought to portray three things.
1.That the contents of the Green Book are not real and cannot be found on the ground or anywhere in the country.
2.That the book is filled with artist impressions.
3.That his predecessor, President John Dramani Mahama has said that he did all the roads in Ghana, but no evidence exists of this.
Ladies and Gentlemen of the media,
The facts as they relate to each of the President claims are as follows.
The Green Book, officially titled “Accounting to the people”, is arguably the most famous book that chronicles the achievements of a Ghanaian government. Its contents have been widely publicized and are well known to the generality of the Ghanaian people. Many would therefore be surprised at the effort put in by President Akufo-Addo to convince himself otherwise.
Having actively participated in the compilation of this book which highlights the boldest and biggest capital investment in the history of the fourth republic, I can state with absolute certainty, that the President’s claim that it contains “fantasy” projects that cannot be found on the ground, is an outright untruth.
I must at this stage point out that the team that put the book together had such membership as Former Presidential Advisor, Dr Valerie Sawyer, Former Deputy Chief of Staff, Johny Osei Kofi, and Former Presidential Staffers, James Agyenim Boateng and Dr Kpessah White.
In view of the abundance of evidence over the accuracy of the contents of the Green Book, there are only two possible explanations for the consistent falsehood of the President on the matter.
It is possible that despite having heard about it, President Akufo-Addo has never sighted a copy of the book and has thus not had the opportunity to peruse it, in which case he would have been compelled to rely on the same pedestrian propaganda of low-level NPP communicators.
This would not be a far-fetched theory in view of the several times he has displayed a lack of attention to detail and faced embarrassment when multiple plagiarized speeches have been thrust before him to read.
We all can recollect how the same cavalier approach to governance and his lack of attention to detail led to his approval of the most inflated contract in the history of Ghana, the Ameri Novation deal, only for it to be withdrawn and for us to be told by sources with knowledge of the matter, that he had been misled into granting executive approval for same.
It is also entirely possible that he is fully apprised of the contents of the Green Book but has chosen the path of falsehood in so far as it enables him to mislead fanatical supporters of the NPP or unsuspecting members of the public and in the process hide his dubious reputation as the least performing of all Ghanaian leaders at least in the area of infrastructure or capital investments.
Either way, this would be most unbecoming of an occupant of the high office of President. That office is associated with certain basic requirements which include candor, thoroughness, and truthfulness. The president of a country must speak in ways that leave no room for doubt or the potential for him to be ridiculed or derided.
For the avoidance of doubt, there is not a single project in the Green Book which does not exist on the ground today or for which clear context has not been provided regarding its status. Anybody interested in the truth would simply match what is stated in the book to what exists. Such an exercise would yield only one outcome, which is that the work shown in the book are as real as they come and evidence of them are abundant.
How can President Akufo-Addo for instance look the people of Ghana in the eye and say that the Ridge Hospital doesn’t exist when everybody knows it does and that on the 4th of March,2020 he toured it to ostensibly to ascertain the state of preparedness of that magnificent edifice towards the fight against COVID-19?
Surely, the President would not have Ghanaians believe that what he saw on his visit to the hospital was a fantasy or that he was walking on the pages of the Green Book when undertaking the tour.
Or is the President telling the people of Ghana that when on the same 4th of March, 2020, he toured the ultra-modern Terminal 3 at the Kotoka International Airport to learn about their COVID-19 preparedness, he was inspecting a phantom facility?
If he were in any doubt about the existence of that terminal, he would certainly be aware that one of his daughters operates a prime duty-free shop at the facility.
Again, can President Akufo-Addo describe the University of Ghana Medical Centre, built at a cost $ 217 million by his predecessor, and which his own government has earmarked as the treatment center for foreign diplomats who contract COVID-19, as fantasy or unreal?
It does the image of the President and the office he holds no good that he continues to live in denial of what his own eyes have seen and what every Ghanaian can testify to.
Ladies and gentlemen of the media,
On the second claim that the Green Book is filled with artiste impressions, it represents yet another exercise in denial by the President.
The Green book is a 210-page publication containing a total of 584 different pictures. These pictures represent actual projects which had either been completed at the time of compiling the book or for those that had not been completed, progress made on them. There are exactly 5 artist impressions which depicted what those projects on which work was being done at the time of the publication but had not reached a stage of completion that could be shown, would look like when completed.
These are clearly captioned as such in the book and include the $ 298 million Kejetia Market in Kumasi, Terminal 3 at the Kotoka International Airport and the Ho Airport among others.
To be clear, these projects have been completed as I speak, and their existence cannot be denied. It is therefore a gratuitous falsehood for President Akufo-Addo and his NPP to say that the Green Book is filled with artist impressions. All of these are imposing physical structures that no one can miss.
The President’s assertion that President Mahama had stated that he constructed all roads in Ghana during his tenure and that those roads cannot be found, is yet another falsehood that must not come from the occupant of the highest office of the land
I wish to put it beyond doubt that President Mahama has NEVER made such a claim anywhere or at any time. We would like to throw a challenge to the President to show where and when his predecessor said this or forever hold his peace.
It is obvious that President Akufo-Addo invented this falsehood in a bid to mask his abysmal performance in road construction as is the case in every other sector of national life. Between pages 100 and 113, the Green Book lists over 200 roads that had either been completed, were ongoing at the time or which had been awarded on contract.
Here too, I wish to state for emphasis that there is not a single road which was said to have been done in the Green Book that does not exist. No amount of consistent untruth about this from the President can change this fact.
Perhaps, the clearest indication yet, of the total falsehood inherent in the claims, has often come from President Akufo-Addo himself. He has never ceased telling the people of Ghana that his wobbly government has paid road contractors as much as GHS 2 billion in arrears owed them by the previous NDC government. Unless the President is publicly admitting to paying contractors for no work done, it is extremely illogical and disrespectful to the people of Ghana for the same person to say that no road projects had been done by President Mahama or that the roads exist only in the Green Book.
It is perfectly legitimate for Ghanaians to demand that their roads be fixed especially in areas where work on roads started by his predecessor have stalled because of vindictive but totally unjustified investigations carried out by his government which yielded no results.
If the President truly respects the people of Ghana whom he governs, he will do one of two things. He would either provide a list of the roads he claims do not exist but are in the Green Book, or he would refrain from repeating what he knows to be untrue.
As far as roads are concerned, and seeing as the President’s latest false claims about the Green Book were made at the commissioning of the Tema Motorway Interchange Project, which he has sought to appropriate in terms of conception, it is necessary at this stage to put to rest the needless debate about whose brainchild it was and who did the heavy lifting required to ensure its execution.
The Minority in Parliament last week, set the records straight, but just so that anyone out there who is not yet aware of the facts surrounding the project is left in no doubt, I wish to reiterate this, also in the hope it the jolts President Akufo-Addo and his government into reality about the true state of affairs.
The Tema Motorway Interchange Project was funded by a Japanese Grant of $ 57 million applied for in 2013 by the Mahama administration.
The survey for the development of the project and the tender process began at the behest of the Japanese government through JICA in March 2015
The survey and design were completed in December, 2016 and a detailed report presented in February,2017 when the Akufo-Addo government was barely a month old.
The only contribution of the Akufo-Addo government was to go through the mere formality of signing the grant agreement with JICA after work had already been done prior to their assumption of power.
The rest was to go through the motions and respect the agreements so signed.
It is beyond debate therefore, that for all intents and purposes, the Tema Motorway Interchange is the brainchild and handiwork of President John Dramani Mahama.
It is regrettable that when commissioning the Tema Motorway Interchange, the zero-sum-game brand of politics practiced by President Akufo-Addo, which emphasizes polarization instead of cohesion, caused him to depart from the noble tradition set by the venerable President John Evans Attah Mills and followed through by President John Dramani Mahama which saw them invite President John Agyekum Kufour to the commissioning of the N1 project and the Bui Dam which he found money for.
While in office, President Mahama demonstrated his capacity to execute such major road projects by starting and completing both the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange and the Kasoa Interchange projects, respectively.He gave life to his vision to further modernize the road network across the country by securing funding for a number of other major interchange projects. In November, 2016, President Mahama secured $ 39.2 million and $ 84 million for the Obetsebi Lamptey and Pokuase Interchanges, respectively.
If you happen to pass by the former Obetsebi Lamptey Circle or the Pokuase road and find interchanges coming up, please note that those projects have been made possible because President John Dramani Mahama found money for them and they are his initiative.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We also know that all the effort President Akufo-Addo has put into disparaging the achievements of President Mahama are but a defense mechanism against the exposure of his abject failure to match up to his predecessor, sector by sector.
President Akufo-Addo has benefitted from more resources than any other leader before him. At the last reckoning, he had access to close to GHS 250 billion in three and half years compared to roughly the same amount available to the NDC between 2009 and 2017, a period of 8 years.
President Mahama, within the four years of his stewardship had access to barely half of this amount yet produced the most outstanding outcomes of any leader in the fourth republic.
The danger that the Green Book poses to President Akufo-Addo is a grave one as it provides the most compelling and visceral proof of his mediocre performance compared to his predecessor, hence the extraordinary lengths he has gone in a fruitless bid to discredit its contents.
Time would not permit a full analysis of everything contained in the Green Book but I would be remiss if failed to highlight the performance of President John Dramani Mahama in two or three sectors in order to offer perspective on just how abysmal his successor has been.
As the foreword of the Green Book, penned by then Communications Minister, Dr Edward Omane Boamah, makes clear, the projects and programmes captured in there were by no means exhaustive as there would not have been enough space to do so given the sheer scale of the work carried out by President Mahama while in office.
There are many projects that came on stream after the book was published like the Bank Hospital and over 22 polyclinics.
A lot has been said about the unprecedented investments President Mahama made in the health sector which have become the mainstay of the current fight against COVID-19.I would like to focus therefore on other sectors such as education, water, transport and energy to demonstrate the gulf in performance between John Dramani Mahama and Nana Akufo-Addo.
After coming under heavy criticism for having little to show in the education sector by way of infrastructure which has led to the unacceptable double track system at SHS level, the Akufo-Addo government has begun passing off some classroom blocks as notable achievements. The Minister of Education only last week claimed that this government has constructed 3,321 classrooms.
Ladies and Gentlemen of the press,
This claim is most misleading. The truth is that President Akufo-Addo has only 196 classroom block projects to his name since 2017 after having access to over GHS250 billion. Many projects currently ongoing at the SHS level were inherited from the NDC government.
To be exact, a total of 766 classroom block projects were bequeathed to this government by the Mahama administration and this fact is contained in the documents presented to Parliament for the collateralization of GETFund for a loan of $ 1.5 Billion to complete them.
In fact, both the Minister of Education, Mathew Opoku Prempeh and his Deputy, Dr Yaw Adu Twum, are on record and are widely quoted in the media as having said this openly.
The NDC’s record in terms of educational infrastructure far outweighs anything the NPP can lay claim to and I present a summary of them below. The NDC government
Constructed 1,347 classroom blocks at KG level
Between 2010 and 2016, undertook a total of 5,128 different projects at the basic school level comprising of
-3,322 classroom blocks at Primary and JHS level
-73 Teacher accommodation facilities
-1,161 washrooms and 82 water systems
At SHS level, we started over 1,000 classroom block and other projects
123 Community Day SHS projects were started out of which 80 had gotten off the ground and reached appreciable stages of completion.42 of them had been commissioned and had admitted students as of the end of 2016.
At the Tertiary level, the NDC established three new public universities namely the University of Health and Allied Sciences, the University of Energy and Natural Resources and the University of Environment and Sustainable Development. A new campus was built for UHAS while President Mahama found an amount of $50 million for the construction of the Somanya Campus of the University of Environment and Sustainable Development and cut sod for it on 29th December,2016.
He also began the process to secure funding for the Donkorkrom Campus for the same University.
The only notable contribution of President Akufo-Addo to Tertiary education is the unnecessary re- naming of existing institutions after NPP figures and the introduction of the draconian Public Universities Bill which seeks to undermine academic freedoms and make the various universities appendages of the NPP.
In the area of water provision for instance, President Mills took over coverage in 2009 at 58.5% and increased it to 63% by 2012.President Mahama with much less resources than President Akufo-Addo increased it by 13% to 76% in 2016.In absolute terms, the NDC increased water supply capacity by 109.7 million gallons per day to serve an additional 7 million Ghanaians in over 2,000 communities across the county.
President Akufo-Addo despite all the GHS 250 billion he has had, has shrunk this to 69% as we speak with virtually no significant water project to boast about.
In the electricity sector, President Mahama ramped up generation capacity by an additional 2,000 MW and increased electricity coverage from 54% in 2009 to 84% in 2016 by extending electricity to 2,900 communities. Despite having GHS 250 billion since taking office, President Akufo-Addo has added approximately zero MW generation capacity and has only increased electricity coverage by a paltry 2%.
In the transport sector, where we now have three Ministries instead of one, President Mahama made telling contributions which as yet remain unparalleled.
In the aviation sub-sector, President Mahama did the following.
The 5 million passenger a year Terminal 3 at the Kotoka International Airport
Modernization of Terminal 2 at the Kotoka International Airport
The Ho Airport
Phase 1 of the Kumasi International Airport and found $ 72 million for phase 2.If you see a modern terminal building coming up at the Kumasi Airport, please note that it stems directly from the handiwork of President Mahama
Phase 1 of the Tamale International Airport
Modernization of the Wa Airstrip
Despite all the resources he has received, President Akufo-Addo has nothing to show in the aviation sector beyond the creation of a new Ministry.
In the maritime sub-sector, President Mahama counts among his achievements,
The MPS Terminal which has doubled the capacity of the port and transformed it into a world-class facility second only in size the Lagos Port in West Africa.
The completion of the first phase of the Takoradi port expansion project and the securing of funding for the second phase
The expansion of the Albert Bosomtwi-Sam Fishing Harbour
Beyond baseless fault-finding and needlessly delaying the second phase of the Takoradi Port Expansion Project, President Akufo-Addo has virtually nothing to show in the Maritime sub-sector.
In the Railway sub-sub-sector, President Mahama left indelible footprints. He counts among his successes,
The 20km Takoradi-Sekondi-Kojokrom Rail project with three modern terminals
Secured $ 398 million in November, 2016 for the 84 km Tema to Akosombo rail project. I need to stress that if you happen to find rail tracks popping up between Tema and Akosombo, it is down to the work of President Mahama.
Here too, beyond the creation of a completely needless Ministry for Railways, there is little in terms of achievement that President Akufo-Addo has, which would compare with what President Mahama did.
Lip service has continued to be paid to his promise to build a rail line between Ghana and Burkina Faso and with six months to the expiration of his tenure, no tangible work has been done in that direction.
In the Communications sector ,President Mahama achieved such remarkable feats as the largest Data Centre in West Africa, a 510km long fibre optic cable which has opened up the Eastern Corridor of the country to data services, the multi-purpose Accra Digital Centre established as a hub for tech companies and BPOs, the imposing Headquarters of the National Communications Authority and over 70 enhanced Community Information Centres bridging the digital divide between urban and rural communities in Ghana.
I might add for emphasis that the national emergency number 112, announced earlier this year by President Akufo-Addo with pump and circumstance was in fact launched in 2015 by the Mahama administration.
The paucity of investment in infrastructure by President Akufo-Addo across board, is amply reflected in key economic indicators presented in his government’s own budget statements. A good way of assessing a government’s commitment and actual investment in infrastructure is the Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) to GDP ratio which measures how much money is put into infrastructure against the GDP of a country.
The higher it is, the more investment has been made.
A comparison of the CAPEX to GDP ratios under President Mahama and President Akufo-Addo is presented in the table below.
YEAR CAPEX/GDP RATIO (%)
2013 3.9
2014 3.9
2015 4.0
2016 4.6
2017 3.1
2018 1.6
2019 1.5
Source; budget statements-2013 to 2019
This table shows clearly that the best President Akufo-Addo has to offer is still less than President Mahama’s worst performance and should clear any doubt as to who operates within the realms of fantasy and who gets the job done.
The 2020 elections will be first and foremost a referendum on the stewardship of President Akufo-Addo and we in the NDC stand prepared to lead the scrutiny of his performance, or rather the lack of it, on the basis of facts and figures.
There will be no room for untruth of the sort peddled by the President about the Green Book and the record of President Mahama. We stand ready, willing, and able to quickly dispel such falsehoods with superior facts and incontrovertible evidence.
As elections are also about the future, President Mahama has already given indication of some policy proposals that he will put on the table for the consideration of the Ghanaian people. He will in the coming days make public, major policies to be rolled out when God willing he returns to the leadership of this country to salvage it from the path of certain ruin that the maladministration of President Akufo-Addo has set it on.
Based on the facts put out in this briefing, I would urge the Ghanaian public to disregard the false claims about the Green Book and the achievements of President Mahama. I also invite the media to increase their scrutiny and fact-checking of claims made by politicians especially in the run up to the December elections so that unsuspecting members of the public are not deliberately misled like the President did last Friday and also to ensure that the confidence and trust the Ghanaian people place in the public figures is not abused for narrow partisan gain.
Whereas a President’s words should be authoritative and carry such weight as to settle controversies, President Akufo-Addo has for some time now favored falsehoods and misrepresentations as a political tool.
So instead of trusting his word as President and verifying later,it has become imperative now to distrust what he says until it has been verified.
I thank you.
Outspoken founding member of the governing NPP, Dr Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, has expressed what he says are his “deep worries” about events in Ghana since President Nana Akufo-Addo took the reins of power.
In a press statement issued on Monday, June 8, 2020, the senior citizen said these events risk plunging the country into anarchy if care is not taken.
“There is no doubt that there is political tension in the country; autocracy and dictatorship appear to be rearing its head in our body polity. As a founding member of the New Patriotic Party, a party whose philosophy is underpinned by democratic principles, I am deeply worried for what is happening in our dear country,” he said in the release.
He cites the following as some “worrying incidents, before and since the assumption of office by President Akufo-Addo in 2017” that are worthy of special note:
The removal from office of the NPP Chairman – Paul Afoko, Vice Chairman – Sammy Crabbe and General Secretary – Kwabena Agyepong and suspension of other leading members including my good self through unconstitutional means under trumped-up charges.
It would be recalled that ASP Nanka Bruce was assaulted at the Jubilee House in January 2017 soon after President Akufo Addo took office. Although those responsible were seen on tape, no action has been taken to punish them.
Removal of Charlotte Osei and her two deputies from the Electoral Commission.
Suspension of the CEO of the Public Procurement Authority in August 2019 following allegations of sale of contracts and subsequent referral of the case to CHRAJ. Nothing has happened since then.
The killing of Ahmed Hussein-Suale by an unknown assailant on 16th January, 2019. To date, no one has been apprehended.
Ayawaso Wuogon by-election held on 31st January 2019 was characterized by violence, no action has been taken on the recommendations of the Commission of Enquiry.
The unsolved mystery of the three kidnapped Takoradi girls.
Threats to press freedom: Closing down of radio stations, invitation of journalist who did a video recording predicting what the President would say in 31st May broadcast.
The Minister of Communications, Ursula Owusu Ekuful, was reported to have stated on radio that “Ya gye yen man” yet there is shocking silence of officialdom on this potentially divisive and ethnically provocative statement.
The hurling of insults by leading party functionaries at political opponents and beating of war drums indicating clearly lack of tolerance and leadership in our democracy.
The numerous reported cases of corruption with no action by the government. A January 2020 U.S. News & World Report on “The 10 Most Corrupt Countries, Ranked By Perception” ranked Ghana as the No. 1 most corrupt country in Africa and No. 3 in the whole world. The government has not demonstrated commitment to prosecute its officials.
The ongoing saga on the compilation of a new voters’ register and the political tension it has created cannot be ignored. The insistence of the Electoral Commission (EC) to use passport and NIA card as the only documented proof of citizenship has been met with protests and concerns leading to the present case before the Supreme Court. Dialogue and consensus building among all the major political actors have taken backstage contrary to the ECOWAS Protocol, which is binding on member countries. Advice from many identifiable bodies such as the National House of Chiefs, CSOs and lately the Chief Priest of Nungua, Nii Borketey Larweh Tsuru, to the EC for dialogue has been ignored. The apparent aloofness of government in this matter, that can derail the gains of our democracy, is worrying.
Action by the Police: Invitation by the Police of persons who make public statements that can be described as useful wakeup calls on pertinent matters of national interest. Note recent invitation of Boakye Gyan, Bernard Mornah by the CID.
According to him, he remains convinced – as he has stated in previous interviews – that these events pose danger to Ghana’s peace and freedom.
“It appears these admonitions have fallen on deaf ears. These are matters of grave concern. I, therefore, wish to bring to the attention of the President what Abraham Lincoln said, that is ‘Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power’,” he said.
He urged the President to bring to the fore his true character as a human rights lawyer to address these negative issues, warning that “if care is not taken a chaotic situation with attendant anarchy can occur.”
Executive Secretary of Care Ghana, David Kumi has disclosed that the policies of the African Union are highly against reforms being instituted by the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC).
According to him, per the African Union’s policies, no country is expected to make major reforms to their electoral processes a year prior to elections.
He made this disclosure in an interview with Happy 98.9 FM’s Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show. “AU policies insist that a year prior to elections, member states should not make any new reforms to their voters’ register. But we are trying to do that in Ghana.”
He noted that the three major reforms being undertaken by the EC goes against the AU’s policies, a main reason the EC should not proceed with the compilation of the new voter register. “The EC is not undertaking one but three major reforms. They’re replacing machinery and equipment, introducing facial recognition software and changing the voter register all in a period of about 8 months.”
Care Ghana insists it is inappropriate for the EC to make these reforms and believe with such processes being conducted within a short period of time, the EC is likely to face challenges and also disenfranchise many Ghanaians.
Some political parties and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have been against the compilation of the new voters register right from the onset.
These groups felt justified when the EC’s piloting project for compiling the new voter’s register failed in certain parts of the country last week due to some technical challenges.
Answering a question on radio on 28th May 2020, the General-Secretary of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association stated thus.
“We are not soldiers who take an oath to die for Ghana. We nurses do not swear to die for Ghana. We must therefore be given PPEs to protect ourselves as we work to save lives, and not die in the process!”
I sighed and said to myself, “point well made!” I cannot fault the General Secretary for making the point so strongly for his profession Nursing, and by implication all Health Practitioners to be adequately protected to do what they are trained for without endangering their lives.
Expendable
However, his statement hit a raw nerve as it appears to have restated implicitly the notion, and sometimes directly stated point that, soldiers are expendable because of the oath we swear to defend our country, even at the peril of our lives. This expectation remains unchanged even if like the nurses, we do not have our equivalent of PPEs of weapons and equipment.
Indeed, some soldiers deployed to provide security during the COVID-19 lock down tested positive after the operation.
Roles
The basic role of the Ghana Armed Forces is to protect and defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ghana by land, air and sea from external aggression. So, should the need arise, while the Army fights on land, the Navy will fight from sea and the Air Force from the air in a coordinated manner. To achieve that end, the State is constitutionally enjoined to equip and train the Ghana Armed Forces.
Support
War aside, a role which could be assigned the Armed Forces is to support the Ghana Police in the restoration and maintenance of law and order in Internal Security. This is done when the Police assesses a situation to be untenable and therefore formally invites the Military in.
So basically, while the Armed Forces’ mandate is for the external defence of Ghana’s sovereignty, the Ghana Police’s raison d’etre is for the Internal Security of Ghana.
Non-traditional Roles
Unfortunately, the Ghana Armed Forces has found itself playing some roles in Internal Security which should be the responsibility of the Police. I daresay that probably, there is a historical antecedent to this anomaly. The 1966 coup which overthrew Dr Nkrumah was conducted jointly by the Police and the Army with external support.
“Joint-ness”
Somehow, this “joint-ness” of 1966 has continued till today. Indeed, it has almost become routine for the State to launch the two services into “joint military-police” operations ab initio, without regard for the basic teaching of the Police moving in first.
This is not to say, the two services cannot be deployed jointly in emergency situations. However, where it has to be done, proper procedures must be followed.
Additionally, the Military is often misused among others, for the protection of state officials, a role which is that of the Police. The Police must be equipped and trained to perform the roles for which they exist, so the Armed Forces can concentrate on their core mandate. The two institutions have different roles and cultures which must not be blended.
Military
For the three week period between 15th March and 5th April 2020 that Greater Accra, Tema, Kasoa and Greater Kumasi were under lock down courtesy COVID-19, soldiers provided security with the Police. In spite of the unfortunate accusation of “military brutality” based sometimes on old video clips, there was a huge agitation for the soldiers to be brought back to handle what is fast becoming “traditional Ghanaian indiscipline” when the lock down was lifted.
Demands
Unfortunately, Ghanaians have grown to believe that, basic things involving discipline get done only when the military gets involved. Consequently, there have been interesting demands for the military to be brought in to help solve our self-inflicted problems of sanitation including curbing of open defecation.
The question is, what are the agencies paid by the State to ensure hygiene and sanitation doing? Why can we not enforce simple bye-laws in our local governance? For a country which prides itself with having excellent laws which others come to learn from, good laws that are not enforced are no laws.
Neighbours
An immediate observation one makes on driving out of Ghana into any of our neighbouring countries is their discipline. Motor-cycle (“okada”) riders dare not ride without helmets or go through red light! Confidently urinating indiscriminately outside is unheard of!
So, over sixty years after independence, why do we need soldiers to enforce discipline in basic sanitation? Why do we assist foreigners ruin our rivers with “galamsey” and expect to be chased by soldiers to do what is right? Where is the authority of our traditional rulers?
Conclusion
I consider the call for PPEs by the General Secretary of the Ghana Registered Nurses Association legitimate. However, soldiers who have taken the oath to defend Ghana at the peril of our lives must also not be sentenced to death prematurely by ‘Traditional Ghanaian indiscipline” before the need to defend Ghana arises.
If Ghanaians obey the preventive protocols, our inevitable contact with our compatriots in law enforcement will result in fewer contamination cases from COVID-19.
Fellow Ghanaians, WAKE UP!
Brig Gen Dan Frimpong (Rtd)
Former CEO, African Peace Support Trainers Association
US-based Ghanaian Investigative Journalist, Kevin Ekow Baidoo Taylor has dropped yet another bombshell saying the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the Government will in November 2020 release som thugs in the Volta Region of Ghana to cause mayhem ahead of the December 2020 polls.
The fearless and go though journalist in his later edition of “With All Deu Respect” on the Loud Silence Radio and TV said the thugs have already been recruited into the National Security and are being trained purposely for the November assignment.
According to him, the thugs recruited include some members of the opposition NDC’s Azorka Boys who he said have been compromised. Their assignment in November 2020 will be to go and cause mayhem including burning down of houses in the Volta Region.
The grand scheme according to Mr. Taylor was for the government to turn around and blame the Western Togoland Separatist groups hence putting fear among the people of the Volta Region who are considered the “World Bank” or stronghold of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) ahead of the December polls.
Mr. Taylor also said the Government of Ghana will then tell the Togolese government that it is not safe anymore to open all Ghana-Togo borders for entry and exit and that those causing the mayhem are mercenaries.
He is, therefore, sending a word of caution to the people in the Volta Region and the Western Togoland area to be on guard.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has launched what it calls the Corruption Tracker Series.
According to the party, the initiative is a platform that seeks to expose misappropriation and embezzlement of state funds by officials of the Akufo-Addo government.
The party also says the tracker will give Ghanaians evidence of failed promises under the Akufo-Addo government.
During the launch in Accra on Monday [June 8, 2020] the National Communication Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi who outlined some alleged scandals in the said the tracker will help Ghanaians appreciate how corruption within the Akufo-Addo government is denying them of basic needs.
“As a responsible opposition with the responsibility of keeping government on its toes, the NDC is today embarking on a corruption tracker series to track the status of the countless cases of corruption we have witnessed under the Akufo-Addo government in the last three and half years. Scandals which have occasioned huge financial losses to the state and robbed Ghanaians of the developments they were promised in the year 2016,” he said.
Sammy Gyamfi further accused President Akufo-Addo of doing little to fight corruption under his administration although he is held as one with positive anti-corruption credentials.
He said the NDC will demonstrate “how President Akufo-Addo at all times, has failed to protect the public purse. While at it, we shall also prove to the Ghanaian people that contrary to his self-acclaimed anti-corruption credentials, President Akufo-Addo is indeed the leader and chief patron of this notoriously corrupt administration.”
While alleging that the Nana Akufo-Addo has run down a once buoyant Bulk Oil and Storage Transport (BOST) leaving it with no strategic stocks of its own and is virtually borrowing to pay its workers, he said the NDC government had bequeathed 200,000 metrics tonnes of refined products valued at about GHS1 billion and 2 million barrels of crude (1 million barrels from the TEN fields and 1 million barrels of Qua-Iboe crude from Nigeria) valued at over US$100 million.
Sammy Gyamfi further warned that the next NDC government will investigate and prosecute all involved in the woes of BOST.
“The next NDC-Mahama government in 2021, shall investigate and prosecute all culprits who are involved in this stinking “BOSTGATE” corruption scandal,” he concluded.
