The four include the Constituency Secretary, Philip Bagyo, Deputy Youth Organizer, Sampson Botee, Women’s Organizer, Hajia Bintu Alhassan, and the party’s Communication Director in the constituency.

According to the party, they were sacked because they supported the dismissed former Member of Parliament of the area, Sampson Abu, who contested as an independent candidate in the last parliamentary elections held on December 7, 2016.

The Lawra Constituency Chairman of the NDC, Joshua Lotaa, told Citi News the actions of the dismissed executives contributed to the defeat of the party’s parliamentary candidate Bede Ziedeng.

[contextly_sidebar id=”KmTqM8fKlMFju4LGNpPtdlqwG6yLn7UK”]He noted that, the constituency secretary as well as his other executives, received money and logistics from the party to boost their campaign, yet failed to utilize the resources for the purpose to which they were given.

“The Secretary received resources as well as a brand new motorbike to do party work for the constituency, but he never campaigned for the party. All that he did was to campaign for the independent candidate and at the end of the day we lost the seat. So after the election during the review, everybody accused the secretary of breaching the party constituency for his action, same with his other colleagues – All of them received money for campaign,” he added.

In a separate statement from the Lawra NDC, the party has replaced the dismissed executives with the following people:

“Madam Mary Zimaal has been appointed as the Constituency Women Organizer to replace Hajia Bintu Alhassan whilst Madam Seraphina Banongwie has also been appointed Deputy Constituency Women Organiser to replace the late Agnes Sorinye.  Mr Yussif Zakaria has been appointed Deputy Constituency Youth Organizer in place of Mr. Sampson Botee. Mr Michael Tangkur has been elevated from Deputy Communications Officer to Constituency Communications Officer whilst Mr Muazu Adams has been appointed Deputy Constituency Communications Officer.”

“Mr Frederick Yirlabuor, Alhaji Baba Wawaa, Aloysious Daanoma, Clovis Saame, Nicholas Nangzie, and Faatol Dominic, have all been appointed as members of the Executive Committee of the party in accordance with article 49 of the NDC constitution,” the statement added.

Following the NDC’s poor performance in the 2016 election, the party formed a 13-member committee to investigate the cause of the party’s historic defeat.

The committee was tasked to submit its report within 90 days after its inauguration.

Below is the full statement from the NDC in Lawra constituency:

NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS
LAWRA CONSTITUENCY
LAWRA
The Lawra Constituency Executive Committee of the NDC held a meeting on the 14th December 2016 at Eremon D/A J.H.S. to review the performance of the party in the 2016 Presidential and Parliamentary elections.

At the end of the deliberations, the following decisions were taken at the meeting:
The Constituency Secretary Mr. Philip Bagyo has been removed from office and suspended from the party for refusing to participate in campaigning for the party in the 2016 elections but rather chose to campaign for the independent candidate Samson Abu which led to the defeat of the party’s parliamentary candidate Bede A. Ziedeng in the parliamentary election.

His conduct is anti-party and in breach of articles 45 and 46 of the NDC constitution.

In place of Mr Philip Bagyo, Mr Ignatious Ziem Meyir who is the Deputy Constituency Secretary has been elevated to the position of substantive constituency secretary of the Lawra constituency in accordance with article 49 of the NDC constitution.

The Deputy Constituency Youth Organiser; Mr. Sampson Botee has also been removed from office and suspended from the party for campaigning on the platform of the independent candidate and also acting as his polling agent at the Kalsagri polling station on election day. His conduct is also anti-party and in complete breach of articles 45 and 46 of the NDC constitution.
The party re-iterates that on the 1st November 2016, the General Secretary of the NDC Mr, Johnson Asiedu Nketia dismissed from the party Hon. Samson Abu, Hajia Bintu Alhassan (the then Constituency Women Organiser), Mr. Peter Asibi Kayir( the then Constituency Communication Officer) in a press statement also for breaching articles 45 and 46 of the NDC constitution and we hereby confirm those sanctions.

The following decisions were also taken at the meeting:-
Madam Mary Zimaal has been appointed as the Constituency Women Organizer to replace Hajia Bintu Alhassan whilst Madam Seraphina Banongwie has also been appointed Deputy Constituency Women Organiser to replace the late Agnes Sorinye Mr Yussif Zakaria has been appointed Deputy Constituency Youth Organizer in place of Mr. Sampson Botee
Mr Michael Tangkur has been elevated from Deputy Communications Officer to Constituency Communications Officer whilst Mr Muazu Adams has been appointed Deputy Constituency Communications Officer
Mr Frederick Yirlabuor, Alhaji Baba Wawaa, Aloysious Daanoma, Clovis Saame, Nicholas Nangzie, and Faatol Dominic, have all been appointed as members of the Executive Committee of the party in accordance with article 49 of the NDC constitution.
We wish to use this opportunity to thank all NDC party members in the constituency for their support during the 2016 elections and to urge them to continue to have faith in the party.

We appeal to all party members to continue to remain calm whilst we take steps to put things right so that the party can move forward. The NDC still remains the dominant political force in the constituency and will continue to remain so into the future. What happened in the parliamentary election is simply considered a temporary setback. We shall be back.
JOSHUA LOTAA
(CONSTITUENCY CHAIRMAN)

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By: Godwin A. Allotey & Umaru Sanda Amadu/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Lawra NDC sacks four executives for Bede Ziedeng’s defeat appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

“My boss the President has thought me to always start the day by saying father let thy will be done. When you are a child of God and you believe in him, you don’t fear of who wins or loses an election because God’s own will shall prevail,” he stated.

The Chief of Staff reaffirmed the commitment of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) and President John Mahama to maintain the peace and cohesion of the country before, during and after the December 7 general election.

Mr. Julius Debrah made the call when he interacted with the members of the clergy in the Volta Region as part of his campaign tour of the region.

The Chief of Staff advised the youth to avoid acts of violence.

“No matter what anybody will do or not do, we in the NDC believe that the will of God would be done, and when that is done, nobody will have any course to complain. The President and his government’s main concern is to ensure the country progresses , doing what is right before the Lord and to avoid His wrath,” he said.

Mr. Debrah pointed out that the government and the church are partners in development, emphasizing on the need for the clergy to continuously pray for God’s mercy, peace and progress.

The Moderator of the General Assembly of the EP Church Rev.Dr Seth Senyo Agidi led the congregation to pray for peace and unity ahead of the elections.

He reminded Ghanaians that there was no substitute for peace, therefore and that the church would continue to pray for Ghana.

The entourage of the Chief of Staff included a member of President Mahama’s campaign team madam Faustina Nelson, a vice chairperson of the NDC Anita Desoso, a Presidential Staffer Emelia Arthur, a Deputy General Secretary of the NDC Koku Anyidoho.

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By: Richard Mensah/elections.com/Ghana

The post ‘The will of God shall prevail on December 7’ – Chief of Staff appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) which made the claim, Dr. Bawumia’s borehole he constructed for the Amedzofe College of Education (AMECO) was a “last minute” move “aimed at securing votes.”

Dr. Bawumia in June 2016, cut the sod for the construction of a mechanized borehole for AMECO in the Ho-West District of the Volta Region.

[contextly_sidebar id=”idbYs5gseWo0wQHWJesDjgdMWYbklYCS”]The NPP running mate is said to have initiated the project in fulfillment of a promise he made to the school in a bid to address the perennial water problem confronting the institution.

But GII in a report released on Friday dubbed: “Reducing abuse of incumbency and electoral corruption in Ghana’s election 2016” said the move clearly was to secure votes.

“The Coalition also observed an incident during this monitoring period, where the Vice Presidential Candidate of the NPP, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia commissioned the construction of a mechanized borehole for the Amedzofe College of Education (AMECO) in the Ho-West District of the Volta Region. This incident can be described as an act of “providing last minute infrastructure, construction, etc. and the provision of other services to communities aimed at securing votes,” the report added.

Mahama’s sharing of outboard motors abuse of incumbency

GII in the report also accused President John Mahama of abusing incumbency and indulging in electoral corruption, for distributing outboard motors to Fishermen during his campaign tour of the Western Region in August.

“On August 16, 2016, during President John Mahama’s publicly announced four-day campaign tour of the Western Region, outboard motors and pans were distributed to fishermen in Sekondi.   On 17th August, 2016, the Spokesperson of the NDC Campaign, Mrs. Joyce Bawa Mogtari indicated…that the distribution of outboard motors were part of an on-going government intervention. She stated that the items were purchased with state funds. The Coalition officially considers this particular incident as unfortunate and a demonstration of the incumbent government engaging in acts that constitute abuse of incumbency.”

Outboard motor distribution not abuse of incumbency

But Mahama’s adviser on corruption, Daniel Batidam, rejected GII’s claims.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, Mr. Batidam, who claimed he was not privy to the President’s move, said “the outboard motors that were distributed were actually included in government’s budget for the year.”

Click here for GII’s full report on vote buying

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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post GII accuses Bawumia of vote buying appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This was revealed at an Inter-Party Advisory Commission (IPAC) meeting held today (Thursday) in Accra. The Electoral Commission has also pegged the filing fee for parliamentary candidates at GHc10,000.

Nominations will be opened on Tuesday September 13, 2016, and close on September 28 and 29.

“The Commission will be accepting nominations from Presidential and Parliamentary candidates on 29th and 30th September, 2016. Presidential candidates are required to pay a filing fee of GHS50,000 while Parliamentary candidates are required to pay GHS10,000. Meanwhile the Commission will consider a request made by some of the political parties for the filing fees to be reviewed downward,” a statement from the Electoral Commission added.

The statement also added that as part of efforts towards preparation of the upcoming polls it will give all the political parties “copies of the certified Voters Register by September 23, 2016.”

“Exhibition of the Provisional Voters Register for persons who registered during the CVR, in the prisons, and NHIS registrants will take place on September 9 and 10, 2016 nationwide. Political parties are encouraged to send their agents to observe the exhibition of the voters register at the District Offices of the Commission and the prisons. The Commission would like to urge all registered voters in these categories to visit the District Offices of the EC to confirm their details on the register,” the statement added.

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By: Sixtus Don Ullo/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Presidential aspirants to pay GHc50,000 as filing fee appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.