Teachers who had their vehicles and other properties vandalized during a protest by students of the Krobea Asante Technical and Vocational Institute in January are demanding compensation.

The students went on a rampage and destroyed public and private property, including the vehicles of some teachers.

The Ashanti Regional Security Council and the TVET Services subsequently closed down the school after police picked up over 40 students in connection with the disturbances. 

A five-member committee was tasked to investigate the matter and each student was levied an amount of GH¢430 to cater for the damage caused as part of the recommendations. 

The majority of the students paid the amount but the properties which were destroyed are yet to be repaired. 

The teachers affected by the incident have therefore petitioned the TVET Services and copied the school’s PTA.

The PTA Chairman of the Krobea Asante Technical and Vocational Institute, Mawunyo Kwansikuma Cudjoe, explained that the affected teachers are unhappy about the development.

“When we come around, we saw that the teachers need their cars. One of them who is a woman is inundated with the damage to her vehicle. She said she contracted a Pragya to be taking her children to school. They had to leave the children on the hill because of how our road is. So we are appealing to TVET and whoever has been named in the report to help speed up things.”

Dr Gideon Boako, aide to Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has dismissed an assertion made by former Northern Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Daniel Bugri Naabu about the upcoming flagbearer race.

Mr Naabu, who is now a paramount chief of Namog Traditional area in the Northern region over the weekend said that a rejection of Dr Bawumia in the race will reinforce the perception that northerners in the party are only suitable for playing second fiddle.

He emphasised that if the NPP doesn’t vote for the Vice President, it will mean they hate northerners.

But speaking on Accra-based Okay FM, Dr Boako indicated all the NPP and Ghana need is the best person to lead and move the economy forward.

The tribe of the candidate, therefore, does not matter as his capabilities.

“Personally, I don’t agree with him on that. It doesn’t matter where the person is coming from. It is a political party and at the end of the day we want the best so if the party agrees that this person should lead us, where the person is coming from is immaterial,” he said.

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The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has assured its unwavering support for James Gyakye Quayson in his ongoing criminal trial and the upcoming Assin North by-election.

The NDC insists that Mr. Quayson is innocent and has broken no law, and that he is a victim of injustice perpetrated against him by the government.

Speaking to Citi News, Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, Mustapha Gbande, said that members of the party will be in court in large numbers to show their solidarity with Mr. Quayson.

Mr. Gbande said that while it is widely believed that the government is trying to influence the court in the criminal case against Mr. Quayson, the NDC and the people of Assin North are solidly behind him.

“People believe that government machinery is trying to influence the court to do injustice to Gyakye Quayson, but we don’t believe that he has done any criminality, or he has committed any crime. His lovers are going to be campaigning in his absence and then also see him through the court case. So you cannot pretend to feel what he is feeling, he is not in it alone, he is in it with the party and the party is solidly behind him and Ghanaians are solidly behind him and the people of Assin North are solidly behind him.”

The NDC’s parliamentary candidate for Assin North is expected in court on June 20 to face charges of deceiving a public official and perjury.

His lawyers had attempted to have the trial postponed until after the by-election, but this was unsuccessful.

His lawyers also requested that the proceedings be stayed as the accused is a candidate in the by-election scheduled for June 27, but this was denied.

The court has instead set June 20 for the state to continue with the testimony of its witnesses.

Meanwhile, Mr. Quayson’s counsel has applied to the High Court to review its order that he must appear in court every day for the hearing of his trial.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said that consistent downgrades of Ghana’s economy by credit rating agencies have contributed to the country’s current economic woes.

Akufo-Addo said that such “reckless downgrades” are not in the best interests of developing countries like Ghana.

Speaking at the 30th-anniversary celebration of the African Export-Import Bank in Accra, Akufo-Addo said that such ratings put undue pressure on African economies.

Stressing the impacts of the ratings, president Akufo-Addo said being “the AU champion for African financial institutions and leader of a country that recently had to deal with one of the most difficult periods in his post-independent history, difficulties that were exacerbated by the reckless behaviour of rating agencies that engaged in pro-cyclical downgrades that shut Ghana out of the capital market and turned a liquidity crisis into a solvency crisis.”

Akufo-Addo also highlighted the risks and costs associated with African nations relying on foreign capital markets.

In his keynote address, the president said that it is important for Africans to build their own indigenous financial institutions in order to achieve economic growth through domestic resource mobilization and private sector development.

He explained the drawbacks of depending on foreign capital, citing financial leakages, high borrowing rates, and interest payments as key issues.

According to him, such reliance undermines the growth of domestic financial institutions and hampers the development of African economies.

He ended his speech by proposing some interventions that African leaders should embrace to overcome the current economic challenges.

He emphasized the importance of capitalization and effective coordination with the African Union.

“Unless we have strong financial institutions, we are not going to develop. We have learnt over the decades that relying on foreign capital is both risky and costly. It has resulted in huge financial leakages to a high cost of default-driven borrowing rates and interest payments and undermines the growth of our financial institution’s domestic resource mobilization and private sector development.”

By James Amoh Junior

Accra, June 20, GNA – Ms Damtien L. Tchintchibidja, the Vice President of Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS), has called for effective collaboration to deal with the security threats in the West African sub-region. 

She said fostering effective collaboration and cooperation were key components which played a crucial role in promoting peace and security in the sub-region.

“It is great to have a partner like KAIPTC who create room for effective and sustained collaboration,” the ECOWAS Vice President said when the Executive Management of KAIPTC led by the Commandant of the Centre, Major General Richard Addo Gyane paid a courtesy call on her in Abuja, Nigeria.

The visit to Nigeria forms part of the strategic efforts of KAIPTC to foster collaborations with critical partners, including the ECOWAS Commission.

It afforded the Centre to officially introduce Maj Gen Gyane as the new Commandant of the Centre to key partners, after his assumption of office in November 2022.

“We are all family and interconnected within the sub-region, so whatever happens in one country affects the other. So, collaboration is key considering the security challenges and realities in the sub-region.” Ms Tchintchibidja stated.

She noted that issues of migration in the sub-region were worrying, and there was an urgent need to find solutions to the phenomenon that was seriously affecting women and the younger population.

The ECOWAS Vice President said women, peace, and security and gender issues were high on the agenda of ECOWAS and that it was important to collaborate effectively in addressing the gaps in terms of inclusion and participation of women in all aspects of preventing and recovering from conflicts and peacebuilding.

Maj Gen Gyane said as a Centre of Excellence in the sub-region, KAIPTC had over the years collaborated with ECOWAS in ensuring peace and security, adding that for a strengthened security architecture in West Africa, there was a strong need for effective collaboration and cooperation at all levels.

He said, among other thematic areas, the KAIPTC’s next five-year Strategic Plan would focus on women and youth empowerment through the Centre’s soon-to-be upgraded Institute for Women, Youth, Peace and Security (WYPS).

The Commandant said women and the youth were mostly affected by the issues of security threats and that such vulnerable groups were at the heart of the Centre’s operations hence the institute.

The Commandant was accompanied by Col Anorph Barnabas Akanbong, Director of Training; Col Robert Adwini (Rtd), Director of Administration; Ms. Horname Noagbesenu- Director, Policy Planning Monitoring and Evaluation (PPMED); Prof. Kwesi Aning, Director, Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research (FAAR); Mr. Lawrence Bediako, Chief Financial Officer; Ms. Amma Addo-Fening, Senior Stakeholder Engagement Officer and Ms. Ayesha Nkrumah from the Corporate Affairs Unit at the Centre.

GNA

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Economic advisor and spokesperson for the Vice President, Dr Gideon Boako, has announced that Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has begun campaigning.

Speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekosiisen show, he said that Dr Bawumia has visited 12 constituencies.

“We have started the campaign in Greater Accra. He is currently at Osu Presby, in all we have gone to 12 constituencies since Friday.”

Dr Boako appreciated New Party Party followers in the Greater Accra Region for coming out in their numbers to support the Vice President to file his nomination.

 “The Vice President invited all party members, by informing all that he will file nomination on Friday and most party supporters in Greater Accra showed up.”

Dr Bawumia is one of 11 aspirants contesting for the flagbearership position.

Delivering a speech after the submission of the form, on Friday, June 26, 2023 at the party headquarters, he said has his own vision for the country.

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Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has told delegates of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) that he remains the party’s best bet to retain the party in office after the 2024 elections. 

Dr. Bawumia said he will beat flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress, John Mahama, in the 2024 elections if the NPP elects him as presidential candidate.

Speaking to NPP delegates in the Tema West constituency in the Greater Accra Region, Dr. Bawumia said the NPP must elect a candidate who can break the 8-year election cycle jinx.

The Vice President intimated that he is the candidate former president John Mahama and the National Democratic (NDC) fear the most in the upcoming 2024 presidential polls.

“They know we will break the 8, and they know that John Mahama cannot take me on in the North, and they know that I will beat him in the North and this is why they don’t want me to be the flagbearer.”

The Vice President on Friday, June 16 submitted his presidential nomination forms paving the way for him to contest in the NPP flagbearership race.

Head of Referees at the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Alex Kotei, has described as “barbaric and inhumane” the assault of a female referee by Napari Suheru, a coach during a Division 1B football match near the Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium in Tamale last Saturday.

He was speaking on the incident in an interview on Eyewitness News on Citi FM in Accra on Monday.

“I describe the act as barbaric and inhumane. We hear of such incidents in the men’s games and not the women, so this comes to us as a surprise. We will look into it,” he stated.

Mr Kotei emphasised that it was important for people not to intervene in the matter and allow the law to take its course.

“It will be good if some jail sentence is brought to pass. People should not intervene. That is the only way we can bring some sanity in our games. If people intervene like chiefs, then we cannot seek justice. If he is jailed for some months or years then there will be sanity in our games,” he stated.

Meanwhile, the police have arrested Mr Suheru, the football coach, who assaulted the referee during the Division 1B football match near the Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium last Saturday.

Following the attack, the injured referee was promptly taken to hospital for medical treatment.

The suspect is currently in police custody and will be brought before the court to face justice for his actions.

In the ongoing investigation by the police, Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare, has held discussions with Mr Kurt Okraku, the President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), and Professor Peter Twumasi, the Director-General of the National Sports Authority.

During the meeting, the IGP urged them to inform the police in advance about all football matches in the lower leagues, just as they do for the Premier League.

This proactive notification will allow the police to implement appropriate measures to ensure security, law, and order during these matches.

Flagbearer hopeful of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Boakye Agyarko, has called on the party leadership to punish candidates in the flagbearership race who disregard election rules.

According to him, upholding the rules and regulations will ensure a fair and transparent electoral process.

Mr Agyarko made the call when he filed his nomination forms for the presidential elections at NPP headquarters in Accra.

“It is important that all [candidates] uphold the rules and regulations, without sounding like a fly in the jar, there have been many provocations, there has been many breaking the rules for which no sanctions have been applied. I have even raised the matter at the national council.

“So long as the rules are clear, so long as there is total fairness, so long as we are all tempered or measured, I believe that we would have a very peaceful contest. But please do not hold yourself aloof from the entire process.”

Responding to Mr Agyarko’s plea, Evans Nimako, the Director of Elections of the NPP, urged him to report any instances of election rule violations by the aspirants to the appropriate committees.

Mr Nimako assured Mr Agyarko that the party would address the concerns once they are brought to their attention.

A flagbearer hopeful of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, has finally returned his completed nomination forms after being asked by the party’s elections committee to update his forms.

Dr Apraku, after visiting the party’s headquarters on Monday, June 19, 2023, to submit his forms, was instructed to complete his documents and re-submit same to the elections committee of the party.

Scrutiny by the elections committee earlier revealed that the forms have not been filled completely.

However, members of the team revealed that certain documents such as his CV, and personal contributions to the party were not included in the nomination document submitted.

The Central Regional NDC Chairman, Professor Richard Kofi Asiedu, has consoled the family of the party member who died in an accident during President Mahama’s campaign at Assin Dansame last weekend.

He said the NDC will join hands with the family to give the deceased a befitting burial.

The woman in question died in a vehicular accident involving a party’s pickup which was conveying party members from Assin Dansame to Assin Bereku.

The pickup, which was overloaded with about 35 party supporters, lost stability and somersaulted, resulting in several injuries and one casualty.

Following the devastating news, flagbearer Mr Mahama and other party executives visited the bereaved family to offer their condolence.

Meanwhile, the Assin North NPP, led by the parliamentary candidate Charles Opoku, Chairman Wontumi and other party executives have paid Ghc3,000 to cover the cost of coffin.

The team also added packets of roofing sheets to finish an uncompleted building started by the deceased who was the breadwinner.

The NDC is also making plans for a befitting funeral for the deceased.

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