Boko Haram Gunmen Kill Many Yobe Agric College Students as they slept in their dormitory.

 

Unknown gunmen have launched a vicious attack on the College of Agriculture in Yobe state, killing an unspecified number of students.

Details of the attack are still sketchy but the provost of the college, Mulima Mata, confirmed the incident, which the News Agency of Nigeria said occurred early Sunday morning in the Gujba district of the state.

Reports say the students were shot dead as they slept in their dormitory.

Keep to New York, U.S Tells Mugabe.

 

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe was told not to stray beyond a 25-mile radius of New York during United Nations meetings last week, infuriating aides who accused the United States of harassment.

Mugabe took his wife, Grace, and children, Bona and Bellarmine, to New York where he attended the 68th Session of the UN General Assembly meeting and berated Western countries for maintaining sanctions against Zimbabwe.

Mugabe's Speech to 68th Session of UN General Assembly.

 

Statement by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe during the general debate of the 68th session of the United Nations Generally Assembly, New York, on September 26, 2013:

Your Excellency, the President of the 68tb Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Mr. John William Ashe,

Africa Automobile Limited (AAL) is demanding GH¢618 million from the government.

 

Africa Automobile Limited (AAL) is demanding GH¢618 million from the government as interest that had accrued from a GH¢16 million judgment awarded in favour of the company.

The AAL obtained judgment in its favour in 2010 when it entered into a contractual agreement with some ministries for the supply and servicing of certain vehicles. The failure of the ministries to pay the balances of the supplies resulted in the legal action against the state.

An Open Letter To N.P.P. Members And Supporters.

 

NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY. THOUGHTS ON THE WAY FORWARD.
BY J.O.OBETSEBI-LAMPTEY, NATIONAL CHAIRMAN.

INTRODUCTION
We have just come through eight difficult months during which we presented evidence to the Supreme Court of how we were denied the opportunity to govern our country by the omissions, malpractices and irregularities of the Electoral Commission. These were the findings, in one area or another, by a majority of the Judges.

Increment of tariffs to take effect from October 1.

 

Consumers of electricity and water will now have to pay up to 52 % more for water and 78.9% more for electricity.
The Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC) announced the new tariffs at a press conference in Accra on Wednesday.

NPP Appoints Perry Okudzeto As Acting Communications Director.

 

NPP Says Thank You To The 2012 Communications Team, Appoints Perry Okudzeto As Acting Communications Director.
The leadership and rank and file of the New Patriotic Party wish to express their utmost gratitude to Nana Akomea, his deputies and the entire 2012 Campaign Communications Team for their excellent service to party and country during the 2012 elections. It was a mark of their excellence that, for the first time, we saw a sitting President and his ruling party being compelled to reduce their campaign to reacting to the campaign message of the opposition party, with the NPP setting the agenda on issues.

Akufo-Addo Mourns Prof. Kofi Awoonor.

 

Like many Ghanaians, I have heard with shock and dismay the news of the tragic killing of Prof Kofi Awoonor, former Chairperson of the Council of State, in the terrorist outrages committed yesterday at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya.

Danquah Institute Calls For National Dialogue On Ghana's Fast-Racing Public Debt.

 

The Danquah Institute is calling for a critical national dialogue on Ghana’s spiralling public debt stock, which, according to the latest report from Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Ghana, has jumped to nearly 50% of Ghana’s rebased economy.

Over the last four years our policy think tank has been vocal in raising concerns about what we consider to be a “mad rush for loans” by Government, and the disturbing absence of real transparency and value-for-money component in several of these loans.

HOW KENYA WESTGATE ATTACKERS TARGETED VICTIMS FROM AROUND THE WORLD.

 
GHANA

Kofi Awoonor, a Ghanaian poet, professor and former ambassador to Brazil, Cuba and the United Nations, died after being wounded in the attack, Ghana's presidential office confirmed. Ghana's ministry of information said Awoonor's son was injured and is responding to treatment. Awoonor's work drew its inspiration from the traditions of his native Ewe tribe.

Ghanaian Professor Kofi Awoonor killed in Westgate attack.

Professor Kofi Awoonor a Ghanaian citizen and former Professor at the University of Ghana has reportedly been killed in the Westgate mall attack on Saturday September 21, 2013.

The professor also a poet and author was allegedly in the country to attend a conference.The Ghanaian poet and author was among the at least 39 killed in the attack at the Westgate Shopping Mall.

Swaziland votes in no-party election.

 

Voters in Swaziland are choosing a new parliament, even though political parties cannot take part and the king retains absolute power.

Candidates are hand-picked by traditional chiefs who are loyal to King Mswati III.

Banned opposition groups, mainly based in South Africa, have called for a boycott.

King Mswati recently described his country's electoral system as a "monarchical democracy".

Dr Mahamudu Bawumia suggests that Ghana's economy is in troubling state..

The 2012 vice presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party Dr Mahamudu Bawumia is suggesting that Ghana's economy is in troubling and hopeless state.
In what appears to be a shift from legal arguments to 'bread and butter' issues by the NPP after the election petition, Dr. Bawumia told party supporters in Koforidua on a “thank you tour” that the Ghanaian economy is being mismanaged by the Mahama administration.

Glo Mobile Network accused for international SIM box fraud in Ghana.

The National Communications Authority (NCA) has cited Glo Mobile Network for increasingly being used for international SIM box fraud in Ghana.

Statistics from the NCA indicate that there has been a dramatic increase in fraudulent SIMs from around 2,500 in January, 2013, to nearly 30,000 in August, 2013.

Taylor family to pray for 'favourable' appeal outcome.

 
The family of jailed former Liberian President Charles Taylor will hold a prayer service on Saturday ahead of the ruling on his appeal against a 50-year sentence handed down by a UN-backed court.

Taylor was convicted at The Hague last May for "some of the most heinous crimes in human history" for his role in aiding and abetting rebels in the neighbouring Sierra Leone during the 1991-1992 civil war.

According to the family’s spokesman, Mr Sando D. Johnson, the prayer service is meant to “invoke God’s intervention in the wake of [the] appeal judgment” next Monday.

Zimbabwean President wants rapists castrated.

 
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has suggested castration of child rapists to curb the crime, which he described as a rampant problem.

President Mugabe told lawmakers from his Zanu-PF party after officially opening parliament  that his new government must introduce stiffer penalties for rape.

“Fathers be aware. We are going to make it very, very tough for you,” he said.

"No molestation of youngsters, not molestation of women.”

Rt. Hon. Edward Doe Adjaho Sworn-in As Acting President Of the Republic Of Ghana.

 
Rt. Hon. Edward Doe Adjaho on Thursday was sworn-in as the Acting President Of the Republic Of Ghana. This is in accordance with Article 60(12) of the Constitution, that in the absence of the President and the Vice President, the Speaker of Parliament would act as President.

My father’s ideals best for Africa – Samia

Samia Yaba Nkruma, daughter of Ghana’s first President believes there must be a paradigm shift in governments’ policy orientation across Africa if the continent will achieve the dreams of its founders.
She said the dream of her father which can be described as “Nkrumaism’ envisaged a united continent consisting of self-sufficient industrialised African nations that are capable of providing for the basic necessities to all her citizens.

Societe Generale has no record of $19.5m judgment debt.

Officials of Societe Generale have told the Judgment Debt Commission that both their offices in Ghana and France do not have any record on the $19.5 million judgment debt government claimed it paid to the company.
Government in 2001 sold an oil drilling ship belonging to the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation at $24 million to service several debts owed by the institution. $19.5m out of the said amount was paid to Societe Generale as judgment debt.

Russian man shot in quarrel over Immanuel Kant’s philosophy.

A philosophical argument over views on Immanuel Kant descended into violent mayhem in southern Russia, leading to a man being shot several times.

The dispute occurred when two men waiting for a beer became involved in an increasingly fractious argument over the work of Kant – the author of canonical philosophical text Critique of Pure Reason – according to a police spokeswoman in Rostov-on-Don, the town where the argument broke out.

In Ghana we pay people to talk not think.

Majority Leader, Dr. Benjamin Bewa-Nyog Kunbuor says Ghana lacks critical thinkers who can think and proffer practical solutions to the country's problems.
Instead, he said large numbers of people were paid talk and hurl insults and invectives at each in the media.

Akufo-Addo saved lives, he deserves praise.

As with all humans, and regardless of what one considers about him, the present outpouring of compliments on the failed 2012 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, should be seen as well-earned and deservingly too, according to political analyst and Managing Editor of The Al-Hajj.

Tony Lithur heads new airport board.

Private Legal Practitioner, Anthony Lithur, has been appointed Chair of the reconstituted GACL board, with Dr. Ebenezer Ayirebi Acquah, Irene Marfo, Betty Solomon Aryeh Gizealla Agbotui and Vitus Anaab-Bisi as members.

Shooting at Navy Yard in Washington D.C.

At least 12 people were killed in a shooting on Monday at the U.S. Navy Yard in Washington, where one suspected gunman was among the dead and authorities were searching for two other possible assailants wearing military-style clothing, officials said.The exact number of dead and wounded fluctuated in the hours following the shooting, which took place about three miles from the White House, starting about 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT).

SSNIT tells employers Aggudey's imprisonment should be a lesson.

Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has said the imprisonment of presidential candidate of the Convention People's Party (CPP) in the 2004 elections George Aggudey for failing to pay the SSNIT contributions of his workers should serve as a wakeup call to defaulting employers.

NPP wants IPAC views considered in EC appointments.

The main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has written to the Council of State, to take into consideration, the concerns of the various political parties when advising the president on who to appoint as Chairman and Commissioners of the Electoral Commission (EC).

Fifth fatality feared in Colorado floods as towns evacuated.

Four deaths have already been confirmed and, the Larimer County Sheriff's Office said in a Tweet, "a 60-year-old woman from Cedar Grove ... is missing and presumed dead."

About 200 people in eastern Colorado were unaccounted for, although authorities said some of those residents might be stranded or cut off from communication in the region's worst flooding in decades.

U.S., Russia agree on Syria weapons, Obama says force still option.

After three days of talks in Geneva, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov demanded Assad account for his secret stockpile within a week and let international inspectors eliminate all the weapons by the middle of next year - an "ambitious" target, Kerry said.

UN applauds Ghana’s democracy.

The United Nations has commended government and people of Ghana, for upholding and sustaining democracy, particularly in the year 2012.
A release issued by the United Nations System in Ghana on behalf of the Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in commemoration of International Day of Democracy, which falls on Sunday September 15, also commended the people of Ghana for their enthusiasm and active engagement in their electoral process.

Mahama must be given 36 lashes to sit up – Ken Agyapong

Outspoken NPP Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin North in the Central Region, Kennedy Agyapong says President John Mahama has failed to meet all the targets set for him by Ghanaians, his employers.
According to him, the dwindling economy, the never-ending power and water crisis, labour agitations are all attestations that the President is a “failure”.

Attacks On Asantehene, Otumfuor Osei II, Must Cease Immediately.

The New Patriotic Party is disgusted by attempts being made by some persons and media outlets to drag the name of the Asantehene, Otumfuor Osei Tutu II, into disrepute.

The NPP associates itself with the statement issued by the Manhyia Palace in describing as “reprehensible and insulting” a publication by the New Free Press that made wild claims to effect that the Otumfuor Osei Tutu II bribed some Supreme Court Justices to influence the outcome of the election petition in favour of President Mahama.

Remarks by the President in Address to the Nation on Syria.

My fellow Americans, tonight I want to talk to you about Syria -- why it matters, and where we go from here.

Over the past two years, what began as a series of peaceful protests against the repressive regime of Bashar al-Assad has turned into a brutal civil war.  Over 100,000 people have been killed.  Millions have fled the country.  In that time, America has worked with allies to provide humanitarian support, to help the moderate opposition, and to shape a political settlement.
 WATCH FULL ADDRESS BELOW

NPP’s attack on EC politically unwise – Kofi Adams

 

Deputy General Secretary of the ruling National Democratic Congress, Kofi Adams has implored the opposition New Patriotic Party to accede to the Electoral Commission (EC’s) request, by proposing the necessary reforms that can help improve the country’s electoral system.

Kofi Adams, in an interview with Radio Gold, warned the party not to continue their agenda of painting the Commission black in the sight of Ghanaians in order to ruin its integrity.

Supreme Court verdict exposed “polarised” Bench.

A Ghanaian Professor of Economics at the American University and an associate scholar at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, George Ayittey says the recent Supreme Court verdict on the election petition case, exposed the polarity of the Justices at the apex Court.

Mahama receives National Order of Benin.

President Thomas Yayi Boni of Benin on behalf of the people and government of his country on Monday awarded President John Dramani Mahama "The Great Cross of the National Order of Benin.

The award is the highest in the national awards and credentials of the Republic of Benin.

The ceremony also formed part of President Mahama's two-day state visit to the Republic of Benin.

Position Vacant: Flagbearer for NPP 2016.

The National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey says the position of presidential candidate in the party is vacant and is open to anyone in 2016.
According to him, “as soon as the election of 2012 finished with the concession speech by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo we no longer had a flagbearer…’’
Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey said that situation created an immediate vacuum for the flagbearer position.

Sanction Sir John et al or lose 2016.

A political scientist with the University of Ghana, Dr. Alidu Seidu, is asking the New Patriotic Party to sanction executives who are lobbying for Nana Akufo-Addo and other candidates for the party's 2016 flagbearership slot.
He told Joy News the party risk staying in opposition even after the 2016 elections if it failed to take immediate action.

Government provides GH¢400m for projects.

The government has made available the cedi equivalent of $200 million for the payment of ongoing capital projects in various sectors of the economy to ensure their completion.
The amount is part of the $740 million Eurobond proceeds that have been deposited in the country’s foreign reserve account.
This means that the GH¢400 million has been moved from the reserve account into the Consolidated Fund, ready for effecting payments for work done.

Dr Wereko-Brobby writes: What the NPP should be focusing on.

From August 2010 to October 2012, I wrote a series of memoranda to the Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) [Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo] under the theme The Forest Thinker Series.
These memos offered advice and suggestions on how to go about our campaign but more importantly on how to secure victory when it is achieved.

EC should tell us pitfalls in 2012 elections before reforms – O. B. Amoah

Chairman of Parliament’s Subsidiary Legislation Committee, Osei Bonsu Amoah, yesterday challenged the Electoral Commission and its Chairman, Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, to gather the courage and tell the nation the pitfalls it had identified with the conduct of the 2012 general elections, and first come out with its own proposals for electoral reforms instead of first requesting proposals from other stakeholders.

Syria the Main Course on G20 Menu, Obama and Putin Photo Speaks Volumes.

A brief photo-op between Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin spoke volumes.
Limited mostly to tight smiles and a businesslike handshake between U.S. and Russian leaders bitterly divided by the crisis in Syria.
As Putin escorted leaders to dinner where Syria was on the menu...there was no sign of Obama.

Tokyo Awarded 2020 Summer Games.

 

Tokyo was awarded the 2020 summer Games on Saturday (September 7), beating Istanbul in a head-to-head vote after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had addressed the International Olympic Committee in person to allay fears over the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.

Afari-Gyan has cut a very poor figure of himself - Justice Dotse

So far as I am concerned, Dr. Afari-Gyan has cut a very poor figure of himself, and the much acclaimed competent election administrator both nationally and internationally has evaporated into thin air once his portfolio has come under the close scrutiny of the Courts," Justice Jones Dotse has stated in his submission after the Supreme Court Verdict.

Gabby reamarks that SC in fact ruled 5:4 in favour of Akufo-Addo.

The Executive Director of Danquah Institute, a pro opposition think tank, remarked that after a careful study of the 588 page-long ruling dated 29th August 2013 on the 2012 presidential election petition, five of the judges agreed with the petitioners' case as against four for the first respondent, John Dramani Mahama.

UN Proud Of Akufo-Addo.

Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), Ambassador Said Djinnit, has commended Nana Akufo-Addo for his contribution to the peace that Ghana continues to enjoy.
“I admire the way you have conducted yourself and your matured attitude has helped to further deepen Ghana’s growing democracy” were his words when he called on the 2012 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), at his residence, on Tuesday.

Full SC judgement on election petition out! Read it here!

The full judgment of the supreme Court panel that dismissed the petition challenging the validity of John Mahama's election is now available.
The 588-page document details the legal arguments of the nine judges who sat on the matter and came to a split decision.
Five justices dismissed the claims of the petitioners - Nana Akufo-Addo, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey - whilst the remaining four agreed with them.

Read full Judgement Below...

CLICK HERE TO READ FULL FINAL JUDGEMENT

Former Deputy EC Chairman calls for IPAC, other electoral reforms

A former Deputy Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), has called for restructuring of the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC), to make it more useful in the conduct of better elections in the future.
He said IPAC meetings, where all the political parties meet to discuss matters relating to elections in the country had lost its verve and become "normal formal meetings".
IPAC is made up of representatives of all registered political parties and the EC. It includes Regional Inter-Party Advisory Committees and District Inter-Party Advisory Committees.

A review will be disrespecting Akufo-Addo -Tarzan

Suspended founder member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobby, says the party leadership would be disrespecting their flagbearer, Nana Akufo-Addo, if they seek review of the Supreme Court judgement on the election petition.

According to him, Akufo-Addo’s decision not to seek review on the dismissed petition which challenged the legitimacy of President John Mahama should be respected by all members including the party's National Leadership.

Attacks on SC judges unnecessary - President Mahama

President Mahama has described as unnecessary the various commentaries and open attacks on the justices who sat on the just ended election petition case.

He said the attention of the nation must be directed at building a united and developed state instead of attacking the panel who adjudicated over the matter.
The President’s comment comes in the wake of open media attack on the judges who sat on the election petition trial by the two main parties involved in the case.

Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro found hanged in jail cell.

Ariel Castro, sentenced to life in prison for the kidnapping, rape and beatings of three Cleveland women he held captive for years in his house, was found hanged in his Ohio prison cell late on Tuesday, a state corrections official said.

The former school bus driver, who was under protective custody and isolated from other inmates at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient, was found dead at about 9:20 p.m. when prison staff were making their rounds, Rehabilitation and Correction Department spokeswoman JoEllen Smith said.