Pratt Slams Wanton Grabbing Of State Lands

Managing Editor of the "Insight" newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr. has registered his displeasure at what he describes as the wanton grabbing of State lands by politicians and public officials.

The seasoned journalist took a swipe at all public officials who take advantage of properties belonging to the State and use to benefit themselves at the detriment of the economy.

He was commenting on the recent feud between the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) and Ministry of Transport over a parcel of land at the Kantamanto Railway area.

The Kantamanto market was gutted by fire recently, leading to the destruction of goods and properties worth millions of Ghana cedis.

Following the debacle, the Mayor of Accra, Alfred Oko Vanderpuiye indicated that the AMA would utilize the opportunity to rebuild the area into a modern market; but reports also say the Ministry of Transport is also interested in the same parcel of land and revealed their preparedness to construct a railway terminal on that portion of land.

Commenting on the issue on Radio Gold's "Alhaji and Alhaji" programme, the Insight newspaper editor wondered why the two government entities would clash over the same of land.

Whiles lambasting the officials, he stressed on the need to do away with such practices and urged all government functionaries to ensure that State properties are put to good use.

 

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana

Tsatsu Backed Rawlings’ Subversive Acts… I Don’t Hate Him; I Respect Him

The Editor-In-Chief of the “New Crusading Guide” newspaper, Kweku Baako Jnr., has dismissed media reports that he "thrives on hatred" to make a name for himself.

Speaking on “Kokrokoo” on Peace FM, he expressed worry over the publication which to him, thrives on falsehood.

Kweku Baako noted that Counsel for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the ongoing election petition at the Supreme Court, Tsatsu Tsikata is not his enemy but his feud with him is borne out of their political differences.

According to him, he has in his possession documents and tapes revealing statements by lawyer Tsatsu Tsikata which give credence to his assertions that Mr. Tsatsu backed former President Rawlings in some revolutionary attempts that led to “the subversion of 31st December, 1981.”

Daily Post in its Monday edition, May 13, 2013 published that the New Crusading Guide editor thrives on hatred to gain fame.

The newspaper stated that “Some people thrive on hatred. Hatred is the fuel they need to perform and get recognition. One of such persons who has thrived on hatred to make a name for himself is Mr. Document, a.k.a Kweku Baako Jnr.

“Over the years, the Editor of the ‘New Crusading Guide’ made the hatred for Jerry John Rawlings the platform on which to stand to gain national recognition, and he got it. Mention Rawlings’ name on any talk-show where Kweku is and he will be in his elements running Rawlings down. Even if the topic being discussed is the economic importance of fishes, he will manage to bring Rawlings’ name into it. Now that it seems Rawlings, the legend, has decided to take a low profile, Mr. Document must find a new person to hate to enable him continue to perform on the national stage. And looking around, what better person is there for him to land on than the NPP's nemesis, Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata."

But Mr. Baako Jnr stridently debunked the report saying he (Tsatsu) “is my friend unless he says I’m no longer his friend. I did not insult him and I’ve never insulted him before. So, to say this about me relative to Tsatsu is unfair.”

Speaking on Peace FM, he wondered why the newspaper would pitch him against his “friend” (Tsatsu).

He however revealed that he parted ways with Lawyer Tsatsu Tsikata following his support for the revolution that took place on June 4th June 1979 and 31st December, 1981.

Tagging Mr. Tsatsu as a brilliant lawyer, he stated that he does not hate but respects him and for that matter will not vilify him.

“I do not hate Mr. Tsatsu. Indeed, I respect him. He’s a brilliant lawyer. He’s good person if you like.” he stated.

Kweku Baako also stated that he has nothing against Counsel Tsatsu Tsikata and even warned his editors not to publish a certain disparaging report about him.

Though he issued caution to his staff, according to him, they defied his order and published the report.

He recounted that Mr. Tsatsu, could have sued his firm but opted to close the case after he (Kweku Baako) rendered an apology to him.

This, the New Crusading Guide Chief editor said, proves that Mr. Tsatsu is a good man because “he could have sued. He could have pursued that case and he could have nailed us but he gave up. That is not a person I will go out and pay back with insults; outright insults. But, doing that favour does not mean that I am gagged from criticizing him or examining his practice.”

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana

GES PRO: GES To Commence Investigations Into Akuse Student's Assault

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has assured the family of the 17 year old final year student of the Akuse Methodist Senior High School in the Eastern Region (name withheld) that the Education Service will soon commence investigations into the assault.

The final year student was severely beaten by her teachers and sustained serious degrees of injuries on her body for leaving campus without permission.

Pictures corroborating the assault showed the girl’s body in bruises, swellings and her back, buttocks and legs turned red.

Narrating her ordeal, the student indicated that two teachers whose names were given as Mr. Tengue and Mr. Adolf lashed her with a big stick in the full glare of the head teacher for breaking school rules.

The punishment has since called for attention from the Ghana Education Service.

Public Relations Officer of the GES, Paul Krampah in an interview with Joy FM Thursday indicated that his outfit will begin investigations into the incident and ensure that culprits are sanctioned.

Though he would not support a criminal investigation into the issue, he however charged the GES “who has oversight responsibility overly of all institutions in the country [I’m talking about all pre-tertiary institutions to investigate the issue and then whoever is found culpable should be sanctioned.”

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana

Child Rights International Calls For Investigations Into Akuse Student's Assault

The Executive Secretary of the Child Rights International, Bright Appiah has called for criminal investigations to be conducted into the recent assault on the final year student of the Akuse Methodist Senior High School in the Eastern Region.

He spoke to Joy FM.

According to him, looking at the severity of the punishment meted out to the student, the authorities in the education sector should not condone the act but rather call for criminal investigations into the assault irrespective of what wrong the student did.

A 17 year old final year student of the Akuse Methodist Senior High School in the Eastern Region (name withheld) was brutally beaten by her teachers; Mr. Tengue and Mr. Adolf, leaving her in bruises and acute pains.

The girl was said to have flouted some school rules and then subjected to severe beatings in front of the head teacher of the school.

Mr. Bright Appiah, addressing the issue, sought to find out the meaning of corporal punishment and within which confines can a person be subjected to this kind of punishment.

He strongly held that “criminal investigations must go on to be able to establish because offence has been committed against the child irrespective of what the child has done. And we need to also do that and make sure that we put certain things in proper perspective.”

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana

Tsatsu Tsikata Is Frustrated - Karbo

Former National Youth Organizer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Anthony Abayifaa Karbo says Counsel for the third respondent in the ongoing election case at the Supreme Court, Tsatsu Tsikata is “frustrated”; a reason why he has been asking repetitive questions since the beginning of his cross examination.

Anthony Karbo explained that the seemingly invectives adopted by Mr. Tsatsu in the law court reveals his frustration.

He expressed doubts about the prowess of Lawyer Tsatsu Tsikata, claiming he’s lost all the hype given to him by the members of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).

He wondered why the entry of Mr. Tsatsu to cross examine the key witness, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, was highly lionized by the NDC gurus when indeed his cross examination has been nothing new than the obvious.

He said Mr. Tsatsu aims at discrediting “the witness and to attack the credibility of the witness”, but held a strong view that he cannot run down the credibility of Dr. Bawumia.

Inferring from some attributes, he claims, members of the ruling party gave him (Tsatsu) prior to his cross examination, Anthony Karbo expressed no surprise that the hype about the “legal Maradona” of the NDC would fade away.

He said on Peace FM’s “Kokrokoo” that “the mystic and hype and that over exaggerated potentials of Tsatsu Tsikata, by the time he does his cross examination, it will be demystified.”

“Clearly, I can see a frustrated Tsatsu Tsikata. I can see a frustrated Tsatsu Tsikata who has come for the last eight or so days or more, gone through a cross examination of repetitive questions…”

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana

NDC Communicator: "The NPP Did Not Prepare Well Before Going To Court"

An NDC Communicator, Brogya Gyamfi says the petitioners in the election dispute at the Supreme Court did not prepare well before pursuing their case in the law court.

According to him, the revelations emerging out of the pink sheets presented by the petitioners to the Supreme Court seemed that “the NPP did not prepare well before going to court.”

He was of the view that the petitioners did a selective job by presenting pink sheets which did not cover some parts of their party’s stronghold.

He explained that the New Patriotic Party (NPP), in respect of the biometric verification process during the 2012 elections, is equally fallible of the allegations the petitioners have levelled against the respondents.

Speaking to Kwami Sefa-Kayi, host of Peace FM’s morning show “Kokrokoo”, Brogya Gyamfi disclosed that “on the face of that pink sheet, the column that the NPP claims that if you don’t vote through the biometric verification; 977 persons have been written there that they did not vote with biometric verification process” and this number, he claims, were voters whose allegiance is to Nana Akufo-Addo, one of the petitioners.

He also added that though Ashanti Region appears to be the stronghold of the NPP, President Mahama won in about 318 polling stations.

“Out of the 318 pink sheets, even from their stronghold; all of them President Mahama won.”

Touching on the issue with the duplication of pink sheets, he made his analysis saying “if there’s a duplicate of every pink sheet, it means that the pink sheet should outnumber the number of total polling stations. But if you count and get the exact number of total polling stations or pink sheets, you shouldn’t waste your time on this claim.”

He was hopeful that even if the petitioners succeed in deducting 2.6 million votes from the total votes cast for President John Mahama during last year’s general elections, he will still win the elections.

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana

Tsatsu's Cross Examination Would Have Been Ineffectual If Pink Sheet Auditing Was Done Early - Nana Akomea

The Communications Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akomea says the cross examination by Counsel for the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Tsatsu Tsikata, would have been rendered ineffectual if the auditing of the pink sheets had been done early by the petitioners.

Making his submissions on Peace FM’s morning show “Kokrokoo” on Wednesday, Nana Akomea indicated that due to the order by the Supreme Court judges for the petitioners to file an affidavit within five days prior to the hearing of the case, they hurriedly audited the pink sheets; a reason why some inconsistencies were identified in the pink sheets.

The Supreme Court order for a head count of the number of exhibits of pink sheets, delivered by the petitioners to the registrar of the Supreme Court and served on the respondents in the case.

Responding to the court order, Nana Akomea expressed that if the auditing “had gone on early, Tsatsu Tsikata’s cross examination would be unimportant…But better late than never.”

He however stated that even if the ruling party presents over 7000 pink sheets to counter the claims by the petitioners, it won’t be enough to validate the votes cast for President Mahama in the 2012 elections since all that the NPP needs to overturn the results is additional 200,000 votes.

He explained that “the numbers involved, a lot can change the elections…As far as we are concerned, John Mahama’s is 2.9 million that should be annulled; Nana Addo’s is 1.4 million that should be removed as a result of the irregularities and malpractices and illegalities. If you subtract the 1.4 from the 2.9, you have an excess of 1.5 million votes from John Mahama.”

He therefore stated that it would have been “gross dereliction of leadership” if the NPP had sat idle “with the kind of evidence on the malpractices and illegalities” and that the party’s supporters would not have forgiven them.

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana

Govt. To Create Lucrative Environment For Small and Medium-Scale Entreprises - Rashid Pelpuo

Hon. Abdul Rashid Hassan Pelpuo, Minister of State at the Presidency in charge of Public-Private Partnerships, has assured Small and Medium-scale entreprises (SMEs) of government’s support to create a lucrative environment for them.

The Minister indicated that his outfit will ensure the creation of a business enabling environment for private entities in the nation in order to enhance the progress of the private sector.

According to him, several interventions are being made to ease the private sector of the challenges it faces and provide support for the businesses in the sector to get a lead in the economic development of the country.

Speaking on Radio Gold, Hon. Rashid Pelpuo underscored his objectives as Minister of State at the Presidency in charge of Public Private Partnerships, saying his aim is to improve the ““ease of doing business in Ghana. It’s so critical that when business, people find it easy to operate in Ghana, then investments increase and if investments increase, employment will be increased. If employment increases, people are going to be better off and it will improve the overall livelihood of the people.”

He also hoped to “get the private sector lead in the economic development of this country. And so, in the next round of Ghana’s development effort, we want to make sure we get the private sector [take the private sector along], get them, strengthen them and ensure that in the provision of the services to the people; they play a bigger role in Ghana’s economy.”

He added that the SMEs will be assisted in order to mitigate their “cost of finding innovative ways of getting them to secure funding and be able to operate well.”

He also said he will ensure that the public sector is restructured to respond to the needs of the private sector of the economy.

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana

NPP Are "Bad Losers" – Ade Coker

The Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Ade Coker has described the opposition New Patriotic Party as “bad losers”, claiming that there is a certain tradition in the party that has called for the recent election petition.

Speaking on Peace FM, Mr. Ade Coker stated that the idea of the NPP to pursue their election grievances in court is because the party cuts across two sides.

He explained that the NPP is divided among itself in two factions, which is the “Ashanti mafia and the Akyem mafia.”

He said the historic background of the party has shown that the “Akyem mafia” group does not accept electoral results unlike the other faction which has always lived above the possibilities of challenging election results in the court.

He alluded to the well-known book “Stolen verdict” authored by the late Professor Adu Boahene which sought to specify some electoral flaws when the NPP lost the 1992 Presidential bid and former President Kufour’s three time acceptance of electoral results from 1996 to 2004.

He was therefore of the view that the Akyem faction does not accept electoral results.

“For the Akyem mafia, when they don’t win elections, they will go to court” he stated.

He also questioned the NPP over its election petition at the Supreme Court, asking if they “had won the elections, would you be in court today? Would you come and tell us, ‘pink sheets, I was not there and you were not there’? Bad faith, bad faith; you are bad losers.”

He defined their petition as an “academic exercise because of the bad faith these people (NPP) have and the fact that they are not good losers.”

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana

NPP Should Render An Apology To Prez Mahama For Disparaging Remarks - Fred Agbenyo

Fred Agbenyo, a member of the NDC Communication team says the NPP under the leadership of its 2012 Presidential candidate Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and Jake Obetsebi Lamptey as petitioners in the ongoing election case at the Supreme Court, took such action as a way to please their supporters after failing to clinch victory for the party in last year’s elections.

He was convinced that the NPP since inception from the December 7 polls had made it clear that if they don’t go to court, their supporters would be on the neck of the leaders and so, are in court because of the possible threat from the supporters.

“Right from the beginning, Nana Akomea even said if they don’t go to the court, what their supporters will do to them won’t be easy. So, they have to please them. They have to go to court so they can please their loyals,” he explained.

Speaking on Peace FM’s “Kokrokoo” in relation to the court case involving the Electoral Commission and President John Mahama whose legitmacy has been challenged by the petitioners, Fred Agbenyo called for the opposition party to render an apology to the President and the NDC for some disparaging remarks they made against them after the general elections.

He expressed disappointment in the NPP for labelling the President as a thief when their evidence, particularly the pink sheets they have presented to the court, are rife with irregularties.

To him, the NPP gurus have gradually “seen their disgrace” and “realized that they have misled the court by the quantity of pink sheets. Because by the time, they finish the auditing, we will all know that it’s not the truth.”

He was optimistic Ghanaians will know the truth after the re-count of the pink sheets.

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana

Minority Leader: Live Telecast of Petition Will Calm Down Tension

The Minority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu says though he agrees with critics who say the live telecast of the election petition between the NPP leaders and the Electoral Commission (EC) affects productivity, he however believes the live telecast will calm down tensions, particularly arising from the commentaries on the case.

He said in an interview with Radio Gold that the election case is worth the attention given it by the State Broadcaster.

Due to the weight the case carries, Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu stated that “it will be most unfair to allow individuals to saturate the air with their own judgements about the event of the court room whereas you shield the people from viewing it...if you are not careful, it may even fuel tension.”

According to him, it is better for the case to be shown live on national screens than see the country degenerate into misadventures; a reason why the live broadcast plays a significant role in the merit of the case.

“This is a very serious matter which is dear to the hearts of the entire nation and to the extent, people even leave the court room and make serious misrepresentations of proceedings in the court room, it’s important for us as a nation to be living witnesses to the events as they unfold in the court.”

He however admitted that the live broadcast affects Ghana’s yield but asked “which is a better way? That we have productivity affected somewhat, maybe the next one month, the next two months; say even three months and what if this whole thing had degenerated into civil strife which has or is going to last for about six months, one year and so on. Which is of a lesser commission?”

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana

Bui Power Authority CEO Assures Ghanaians of Early Project Completion

The Chief Executive Officer of the Bui Power Authority, Jabesh Amissah-Arthur has assured Ghanaians of the progress of the Bui Dam project to augment power supply to the entire nation.

According to him, though the Bui Dam is still in the construction state, it is capable of producing 133 megawatts of electricity which is aimed at improving the energy sector.

Speaking to Radio Gold, Mr. Amissah-Arthur noted that work is underway on the Bui Dam to ensure that it generates a total of 400 megawatts to address the energy challenges confronting the citizenry.

He was optimistic the project will soon take a new phase.

He indicated that “in the coming months, we will finish the work on the other two units. That will bring the total to 400 megawatts.We hope that we will finish all the power facility by the end of this year and commission the plant in total.”

“The energy from the plant is currently being fed through transmission line that goes through Kintampo and at Kintampo, it joins the rest of the national grid. So, the power that is produced is injected into the whole national grid to support all the demands that we have in the country. By the time we finish the power component of the project; the power will be fed through four lines. The Kintampo is only the first. We will be connecting to solar. We will be connecting to Techiman and we will also be connecting to Sunyani so that the power from the Bui plant will enter the national grid at four different point and support the entire country.”

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana

Police Should Revoke Ban on All Demonstrations

The Convenor of the Committee for Joint Action (CJA), Kofi Adu has called on the Police Service to revoke the ban on all public demonstrations in the country.

He stated firmly that the Police have no right to give such order because provisions in the Public Order Act do not give them “any permission to ban demonstrations or allow them. If they are not happy, they can go to court.”

During an interview on Radio Gold, he found it ridiculous the reasons given by the Police Service to ban demonstrations in the nation, asserting that “the Police has no right to do that. And we are fed up with this issue about Police, whenever a government comes, they want to prove that they are the good guys… The constitutional right does not depend on the availability of resources by the Police. In any case, who told them that if there is demonstration, they need to be there.”

He explained that the President is the only authority to ban people from embarking on demonstrations and so, the Police order is in contravention of the constitution.

He advised the security service not to set aside the constitutional right given to the masses, therefore calling on them to “come out and say that they withdraw that ban…It is this their thinking that people need their permission to go on demonstration, that is informing this sort of behaviour that they think they have a right to ban it. They don’t.”

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana

Election Petition Is A "Complete Waste of Time" - Sekou Nkrumah

Sekou Nkrumah, Son of Ghana’s first President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, has registered his displeasure with the election petition before the Supreme Court, labelling it as a “complete waste of time” and advised that the petitioners direct their focus on the general elections in 2016.

According to him, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), which expressed disappointment in the outcome of the Presidential elections last year and challenged the legitimacy of President John Dramani Mahama in the Supreme Court, should have rather expended their energies in working towards the 2016 elections than pursue the case in court.

He said, in an interview with Radio Gold on Monday, that the petitioners after realizing the lapses in the December 7, 2012 polls should have collaborated with the political parties including the Electoral Commission to sort out their differences to find lasting solutions to the challenges so as to avoid similar occurences in the future.

In his view, the NPP “should have rather focussed on the 2016 election. And if they had problems or issues with the elections, I think they should have found a way of working with together with other political parties together with the EC to try to find a way of making our elections better.”

“So, if the NPP is saying that there were so many problems, irregularities or rigging if you like in 2012, then we need to ask what about the other elections that the NPP also won in 2000 and 2004? And what about the other elections that they lost in 1992, 96 and 98?” he questioned.

He found it difficult to fathom the election petition by the three leaders of the NPP, claiming that because of the case; the party seems “to have bullied many people who had a different opinion about this election petition.”

Sekou Nkrumah expressing his thoughts about the progress of the election petition, stated on his facebook wall that “I am already sick and tired of this election petition. How about you? In my opinion, I think it is a complete waste of time but to be honest with you the only good thing about it is that it gave me the perfect excuse to withdraw my support for the NPP.”

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana

Commentators On Supreme Court Case Do Not Show Any Level of Understanding

Hassan Ayariga, 2012 Presidential candidate of the People’s National Convention (PNC), says commentators who troop out of the Supreme Court onto media platforms to analyze the proceedings do not show any level of understanding of the issues that transpire in the court.

He said several analysts of the court case only come out to speak their “feelings” instead of the facts and tend to “corrupt the information” regarding the petition challenging the validity of the total votes cast for President John Mahama during the 2012 general elections.

He said on Radio Gold’s newspaper review that “many of these people do not understand the law and sometimes, actually come out on radio stations and say what their feeling is about it. They just talk based on their own feeling, not based on the law.”

In addition, they feed the masses with the wrong information and for that matter, he advised the commentators to give the Counsel for the parties involved in the election dispute freedom to prove their case.

According to him, the persons who give commentaries after the court proceedings are “corrupting the information. Lawyers interpret their information, differently has we who are not lawyers. So, I will think that we should even exercise some patience about that and restrain people from commenting on it and wait until when it is over because those people who sit down and comment on it are not lawyers and don’t even know the law very well like Tsatsu is saying. They don’t know law very well. So, I think that it is time for us to be very careful about this matter, allow the lawyers to go on with their issues.”

He also added his voice to comments that the election case is a waste, believing that at the end of the day, Ghanaians will see the petition as “being not just as a waste of time but [waste] of resources.”

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana

Supreme Court Verdict May Create Complications For All The Parties And The Nation - Sekou Nkrumah

Dr. Sekou Nkrumah says the Supreme Court verdict may create complications for all the parties and the nation, therefore suggesting that the petitioners should have sat down with the Electoral Commission and other political parties to sort out their differences.

To him, whether the Supreme Court rules in any party’s favour, its decision may create problems for the nation, “for example; if it goes in the favour of the NPP, it means that the Electoral Commisson, many of us will question whether the Electoral Commission then is fit to conduct elections in the future. Because if there were so many irregularities, then you can’t prove that they intentionally rigged the election but you can prove that there were so many irregularities. And if there were so many of such irregularities, then that outfit is not fit to conduct elections and who is going to then conduct the subsequent elections and so on.”

Reacting to the election petition by the NPP 2012 Presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, his running mate Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and the party’s National Chairman, Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, the last son of Ghana’s first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah on Radio Gold’s newspaper review stated that “it’s not very healthy for Ghana and for us, the political atmosphere.”

He also held a view that commentators on the case do not actually analyze the issues but rather give a biased assessment of the proceedings in court.
 
Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana

Hassan Ayarigah: NMC Should "Banish" Media Practitioners Who Allow Politicians To Denigrate Public Figures

The 2012 Presidential Candidate of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Hassan Ayariga has called on the National Media Commission (NMC) to “banish” media practitioners who allow their platforms for politicians to denigrate public figures.

Speaking to Radio Gold on Monday, the PNC flagbearer urged presenters and producers in radio and television stations to desist from the culture where politicians take advantage of their platform to hurl insults on their counterparts.

According to him, such culture does not send a good signal to youngsters in the country as they tend to imitate what the leaders do or say on the various media networks.

He advised media practitioners to “be very conscious the kind of people [who] allow them to sit on the platform and the kind of insults they create against remarkable men of the country and Statesmen. We should agree to disagree. Politics does not mean that one should sit on a platform to score political points by insulting opponents. We can agree to disagree. Freedom of speech is not freedom to insult.”

He also cautioned journalists to ensure that politicians and the general public speak with decency on the airwaves.

“It is our duty as people of this country to make sure that our political airwaves are decent. To make sure that young people coming up and the radio stations do not allow people to sit on the radio stations to insult. And I am even calling on the National Media Commission to punish and banish radio presenters and television stations that allow people to speak on their platform and insult,” he stated.

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana

Former Adentan MP Partly Blames Censorship Board For Recent Crimes

In the wake of the security challenges confronting the country, the former Member of Parliament for Adentan constituency, Kojo Adu Asare has questioned the competence of the various censorship boards in the country in the execution of their duties.

He raised concerns over the seemingly dormant role they play in ensuring that movies do not carry a bad signal to the viewers; something he believes is potentially and partially responsible for the spate of crimes in the country.

Addressing the security concerns of Ghanaians, Hon. Adu Asare wondered what work the censorship boards are doing to ensure films are devoid of explicit scenes and the obvious display of shooting.

He asked: “Is it that they are overwhelmed by the influx of the movies imported into the country? Or they can’t just control anything again? Because such gangsterism and so forth is a culture that you build up over a period.”

He also sought to find out if the Police Service, particularly the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), lacks adequate personnel for which reason, they have not been able to solve the security issue in the nation.

He therefore proposed that the Police Service should have a new unit like the Special forces in the Military to curb the situation.

Also, he called on the entire nation to “come together and fight crime to save this nation.”

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana

Elements In NDC And NPP Are Working Against Woyome...We'll Expose Them All

Spokesperson of businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome has given credence to claims that some elements within the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) played an active role in the prosecution of his boss at the Fast Track High Court regarding the payment of GHC 51.2 million to him as judgement debt.

The pending case has since seen the business mogul sliced into pieces by some political figures and Ghanaians over his alleged involvement in defrauding the nation.

The Court of Appeal last week, according to a Daily Graphic publication, upheld the decision of the Commercial Court to allow the state to introduce evidence of fraud against Mr. Woyome.

Mr. Woyome had appealed against the decision by the Commercial Court to allow the State to bring an evidence of fraud “on the grounds that the trial judge erred in law in granting the State the permission almost two years after the State had filed a suit to retrieve the money” paid him.

"The state, on July 20, 2010, filed an application claiming that an agreement it reached with Woyome regarding the payment of GH¢51.2 million was a mistake. But, according to Woyome, the state “went to sleep until January 16, 2012 when it filed a motion on notice for leave to amend by substitution the amended writ of summons and the accompanying amended statement of claim.”

The court unanimously ruled that the agreement reached with Woyome could be set aside.

Speaking in an interview with Joy FM last Friday, Mr. Tawiah added to suspicions about the NDC gurus’ plot, believing that the “misrepresentations” which have crowded the Woyome judgement debt saga might be engineered by some elements in the governing party.

He however assured Ghanaians that his Boss will soon unveil the names of persons, both in the ruling NDC and the main opposition party, working behind the scenes.

“The issue is that when it gets to Mr. Woyome, you get elements from NPP and NDC joining forces together to fight the man. That’s why I’m saying that at the right time, he will speak to and mention names.., emphasizing that “in no time, this case will be over.”

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana

PPP Dept. Communications Director: Security Agencies Must Step Up Their Game

Deputy Communications Director of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Samuel Amoako has called on security agencies to step up their game in combating crimes in the nation.

Speaking on “Kokrokoo” on Peace FM today, the PPP Communicator appealed to the security services to always be on the lookout for criminals in order to safeguard the Ghanaian populace from attacks by robbers and assailants.

He said the Police Service and all security personnel in the nation should not only wait for people to perpetrate crimes before they are apprehended but rather be tough on the ground, fishing out possible threats to the peace of the nation.

He was speaking in connection to the recent killings that took place in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region and therefore admonished the security core to mete out punitive measures to persons who disturb public peace.

He urged the security agencies to stop people from openly brandishing offensive weapons since such scenes possibly intensify the crime rate in the country.

He called on them to address the issue where the citizens use weapons such as gun, whether licensed or unlicensed, inappropriately.

To him, arresting culprits is not enough and as a result, the government and the security agencies should be ready to go a step further in spotting the potential criminals even before they executive their diabolic intentions on innocent Ghanaians.

“We are in a country that people go about brandishing offensive weapons while people are seated there. People use weapons with impunity. If we don’t address this issue” it will escalate the situation, he noted.

He suggested that the security services in the country “should work in such a way that they become observant and gain information that makes sure it prevents those crimes than sit there for it to happen before we place a bounty on the heads of the criminals.”

“It is about time the government stamps its feet. The time has come for them to tell us something concrete.” he stressed.

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana