One-year after SC verdict; even lawyers are still confused – Ursula Owusu.

 

The Member of Parliament for Ablekuma West, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful fears the lack of ‘definitive statement’ by the Supreme Court (SC) in its election petition ruling could scare aggrieved parties from going to court in subsequent elections.

After eight months of sitting, the court’s verdict has rather left many people, including lawyers, confused, she admitted on Joy FM’s flagship programme, Newsfile on Saturday.

In her analysis, the New Patriotic Party MP said the Supreme Court fell short in its declaration on what the laws say about what “constitutes proper election,” as well as the legal framework and legal way for future elections.

In his criticism of the SC ruling, a constitutional lawyer, Prof. Kwasi Prempeh accused the court of failing to give binding recommendations for electoral reforms to the Electoral Commission.

Casely-Hayford: Elvis Afriyie Ankrah's tears mustn’t excuse any wrongdoing.

 

The tears shed by former Sports Minister Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah before the Justice Dzamefe Commission – which is probing the events that conspired to frustrate Ghana’s successful participation in the FIFA 2014 World Cup in Brazil – must not excuse any wrongdoing, Financial Analyst Sydney Casely-Hayford has said.

Afriyie-Ankrah could not hold back his tears during one of the hearings when he appeared as a Witness.

He got emotional when the Chairman of the Commission asked him about how he felt, as Sports Minister, when the senior national team, the Black Stars, threatened not to play their last group match until they had been given their appearance fee of $100,000 apiece.

His tears forced a hiatus during the hearing amidst a good doze of comforting by Justice Dzamefe, who repeatedly told the former Minister not to be “emotional” and “relax”. “We’re helping mother Ghana”, Dzamefe consoled.

President John Mahama cleans gutters in Accra.

 

President John Mahama, Saturday, personally immersed himself in the filth of the capital, Accra, to help clean the city.

Reminiscent of a similar move by Jerry Rawlings when he was head of state some two decades ago, Mahama descended into filthy drains and garbage-choked corners in James Town, a slummy suburb of Accra, to clean up the area.
Accra Mayor Alfred Vanderpuije and other government officials were also part of the cleanup exercise.

The President used the gesture to encourage residents in the area to also clean up their environment so as to avert cholera and other diseases.

Kan Dapaah: Ghana needs Akuffo-Addo now.

 

Former Defense and Energy Minister, Albert Kan Dapaah says Nana Akufo-Addo is the only one capable of taking Ghana out of the challenges confronting the nation.

According to him, Nana Akufo-Addo has prepared himself enough to manage this country better.

“I think he is what Ghana needs now," Mr. Kan Dapaah said Wednesday, in a chat with Mark Okraku Mantey, host of the ‘The Profiler’ Show on Hitz 103.9 FM.

Nana Akufo-Addo is one of seven candidates hoping to lead the New Patriotic Party into the 2016 presidential election despite failing to make good that opportunity twice- 2008 and 2012. Other contestants are Alan Kyerematen, Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku, Stephen Asamoah Boateng, Kofi Osei Ameyaw and Francis Adai Nimoh.

Ghana: Power Play Over Ghana Gas - As Ghanaians Wait for Delivery First Gas.

 

A long simmering turf war for control over associated gas from the jubilee fields could be playing out on the eve of the first processing of the commodity from the oil fields.

The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) has confirmed to The Chronicle, a media report that the Jubilee partners are 'demanding' a full audit of the gas processing plant before it is connected to the floating vessel, FPSO Kwame Nkrumah, offshore.

State newspaper Daily Graphic, quoting sources close to the project, reported that an initial plan to create a by-pass to carry gas onshore from the FPSO to pipelines leading to the Aboadze Thermal Plant was ignored by Ghana Gas Company, despite huge investments made by the partners in purchasing equipment for that purpose.

This has raised fears of further delays in the country's quest to deliver gas from the fields for cheaper power generation. The Communications Manager at the GNPC, who confirmed the report to The Chronicle, said the audit was only "a common sense approach" to testing the integrity of the facility for safety reasons.

But, Dr. George Sipa Yankey, explained that the by-pass idea could have extended the delivery period of the gas from the field for another nine months.

Ghana Armed Forces to help in building Ebola isolation centres.

Field Engineers of the Ghana Armed Forces have been deployed to speed up work on the three designated centers to be set up in the treatment of Ebola in the country in case of an outbreak.

The centers are to be set up in Tema, Kumasi and Tamale as part of measures taken by the Interministerial Team on Ebola to prevent an outbreak of the deadly disease in Ghana.

The disease has so far killed over 1,000 people in West Africa since its outbreak in February.

All suspected cases in Ghana have tested negative, forcing the Interministerial Team headed by the Minister of Health to intensify preventive measures.

Flashback! Ato Ahwoi's letter to Dr Spio-Garbrah.

 Below unedited, is an open letter from Mr. Ato Ahwoi, a leading member of, the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) to another leading member, Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah:

"Hello Spio,

I have read with interest and disbelief, your long article published in the September 18 and 23, 20009 issues of The Daily Graphic. It was deceptively headed, 'HONOURING NKRUMAH'S LEGACY: A CHALLENGE TO THE NDC'. I use the word, deceptively because it was an opportunity for you to launch an unnecessary attack on President John Atta Mills and the NDC government, under the guise of honouring Nkrumah's legacy.

Spio, I get the impression that you are trying to intimidate the President to give you a cabinet appointment. You gave many Ghanaians that impression when you quoted the reason ex-President John Kennedy gave his brother, Robert Kennedy (then Attorney General) for tolerating a difficult man like J. Edgar Hoover as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). You said President Kennedy told his brother, 'Bob, I'd rather have Edgar inside the government pissing out than outside pissing in.'

Rawlings mourns PV Obeng: “I feel so bad”.

Former President of Ghana, Jerry John Rawlings, has said he “feels hurt” by the death of PV Obeng, one of Ghana’s most decorated public servants.

The ex-chairman of the National Development Planning Commission died on May 17 this year after suffering a cardiac arrest. He was laid in state on Thursday at the State House in the nation’s capital, Accra.

Rawlings, who is the longest living past president of the young oil-producing country, worked closely with the ex-senior adviser to the late John Evans Atta Mills and continued in a similar role under current leader, John Mahama.

“It hurts me. I feel so bad about it. We have lost a gem,” Rawlings told state-owned Radio Ghana.