The Minority in Parliament had alleged that, the ministry charged expatriates between 25,000 and 100,000 dollars, to offer them seats close to the President at the ceremony held on December 8.

Speaking to Citi News on the sidelines of the party’s press conference today, Thursday, a Deputy National Communications Director for the NDC, Fred Agbenyo, insisted that the Akufo-Addo administration cannot be trusted to conduct a credible probe and punish culprits.

[contextly_sidebar id=”wkIlA1e25HyOcCZXIEqCOLY04vhf11n4″]“The presidency over the period, has not demonstrated any commitment to investigate issues and get to the bottom of it. We cannot trust the presidency at this point that they can do any independent and objective work; they will definitely try and do a cover up.”

He noted that Parliament could be a viable resort in investigating the matter satisfactorily.

“The only group that can bring the facts out and bring everything to bear will be a by-partisan investigative body. So I am equally on Parliament that they should set up a by-partisan committee on the issue, because the Minority have already noted that they even have evidence as pert receipts that were issued to some of these companies, and can even submit it to that particular committee. Maybe for the integrity of the company, they may not want to put it in the public domain for now, but at the committee level, they will be able to adduce that evidence as monies that have been collected,” he added.

Background

The Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak, first made the allegation in Parliament.

Mr. Mubarak said the fees charged at the Ghana Expatriate Business Awards (GEBA) were not approved by Parliament, adding that the monies were also not accounted for in the Internally Generated Funds [IGF] of the Ministry’s accounts.

There issue has further been reinforced by Minority Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who had suffered verbal assaults from Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Carlos Ahenkorah over the matter.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry has already dissociated itself from these allegations.

The Trade Ministry, in a statement, said it played no role in determining prices for seats at the event, and clarified that it only facilitated the implementation of a new initiative by the Millennium Excellence Foundation.

We can prove Trade Ministry extortion claims 

The Minority in Parliament has also said they are ready to appear before any investigative body to provide evidence of extortion in the allegations.

Ablakwa in a Citi News interview said they ready to appear before “any investigative body that wants to take this matter up seriously and over there, we will send the receipts and all the other information that we have.”

Carlos apologizes

Meanwhile, the Deputy Trade and Industry Minister, Carlos Ahenkorah, has subsequently apologized for his outburst.

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

The post Bi-partisan c’ttee must probe Trade Ministry’s alleged extortion – NDC appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

His suggestion is in connection with the phone recording implicating ACP Addo-Danquah in an alleged cover-up of the probe of President Akufo-Addo’s two Deputy Chiefs of Staff.

[contextly_sidebar id=”meVE1AJORCehm6iHj1CAVmo2YJuPdeuH”]A-Plus had made corruption allegations against two presidential staffers, Francis Asenso-Boakye and Abu Jinapor, but they were found to be baseless after the CID’s investigations into the matter.

But in the latest audio recording said to be a leaked recording of a conversation between the two, the police officer was heard advising the A-Plus to go soft on the allegations because is a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

The CID officer subsequently accused A-Plus of doctoring the conversation she had with him for malicious intents.

CID’s image must be redeemed

Mr. Agbenyo recounted that, initially he was satisfied with the CID’s handling of the investigation, but the leaked recording had given him cause for doubt.

Despite the claim that the recording was doctored, he observed that “the chronology of the discussion [on the telephone recording] is so smooth that you struggle to tell at what point somebody interfered with the discussion.”

The transcript of the conversation from the telco could settle all doubts as the leaked tape “nullifies it [the initial investigation] completely.”

“Maybe what we should do now is to get a body to appeal to whatever telco they spoke on to produce the transcript of the discussion between the madam [ACP Addo-Danquah] and A-Plus, so that we can put the two documents side-by-side, because if you hear the issues that were said on that tape, you struggle to believe in the credibility of the CID,” Mr. Agbenyo said.

As it stands now, the image of the CID needs redeeming, according to the NDC executive

“This issue is a very serious issue and we need to redeem the image of the CID. Their image has been so badly bastardized by this particular issue… Maybe we can constitute another bipartisan body from Parliament; pick some parliamentarians, pick a few media guys and just get to the bottom [of things].”

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Contact telco for transcript to settle A-Plus saga – Agbenyo appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

He echoed the NDC Minority in Parliament’s fears that the NCA’s decision to clamp down on 131 radio stations operating illegally or with expired licenses is an attack on press freedom.

[contextly_sidebar id=”svyfFImicdzYA1cpPTOht3uCHF1nsm6L”]Mr. Agbenyo said the NDC was not against the efforts to maintain law and order, but the NCA may have gone too far in this regard.

“What we are talking about is so serious and anybody who believes in free speech and anybody who believes it is entrenched in our democracy, anybody who believes in creating an environment for Ghanaians to express themselves will be concerned that what the NCA is doing now is a dangerous attempt that could curtail that particular free speech.”

As a suggestion, Mr. Agbenyo said the NCA could negotiate with the sanctioned companies and agree on flexible payment terms.

“…It must not come across as though the NCA wants to collapse the institutions that are helping all of us and helping to broaden the frontiers of our democracy.”

He said the fines were “a subtle way of [the NCA] telling them; we don’t want you to operate again” and noted further that the list of the media houses in question contained stations that were “somehow anti-NPP.”

“… it is obvious and clear, and you can see that they are targeting particular media houses. Otherwise, how can the NCA sit down for all these years? If you claim that somebody has not renewed their license for the past four or five years, what were you doing all these years?”

NCA could have taken softer stance

34 of the sanctioned stations had their licenses revoked because their authorizations had expired and were operating illegally, and other affected stations have been given 30 days to settle their indebtedness or submit the relevant documentation as indicated in the letters sent them by the NCA.

Among the stations sanctioned were Montie FM and Radio Gold, known to be pro-NDC stations.

Mr. Agbenyo maintained that the NCA’s approach to the sanctions was wrong, and warned that NDC was not going to sit back and let the matter slide because “if genuinely, it is not a case they want to victimize because they disagree with their content and editorial policies, there is a much better way the NCA could have gone about this issue than the approach they are using.”

“If we get the conviction that it is an attempt to gag radio stations or media houses that somehow are aligned to us [the NDC], of course, we will not sit back and look at them do whatever they want to do.”

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post NCA’s ‘draconian’ sanctions targeted anti-NPP stations – Agbenyo appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

He said this is due to the promises made by President Nana Akufo-Addo during the 2016 electioneering campaign.

Mr Agbenyo, in an interview with the GNA said, “We were promised that income taxes will be reduced to about three per cent, VAT will be reduced, import duties will be reduced, a conducive environment will be created for businesses to thrive and other great ideas.

“We are also expecting that all our brothers and sisters from the nursing and teacher training colleges will have their allowances reinstated soon, electricity and water bills will be reduced, and everybody in the country will get a good job to do.”

“Ghanaians are also looking forward to seeing that students in senior high schools attend school free of charge, and buildings in our Zongo communities pulled down and replaced with high-rise buildings. I think we should, therefore, rally behind the government for the entire nation to be a beneficiary,” he said.

Mr Agbenyo said a committee had been set up by the NDC to go around the country to find out what went wrong to make the party lose the election.

He said it was expected to submit its report in 90 days to enable the NDC use it to re-organise the party ahead of the next general elections.

Mr Agbenyo expressed appreciation to Ghanaians for their support throughout the election period, adding that the NDC would surely come back to power in 2020.

He said parties in opposition played key roles in ensuring the development of the country and, therefore, the NDC would continue to contribute its quota to ensure that the nation progressed.

Touching on a request by the Executive Secretary to the President, Nana Asante Bediatuo, to the Supreme Court to re-arrest the Muntie Trio to complete their jail term, Mr Agbenyo said he was surprised because the Supreme Court had exercised its power and Ex-President Mahama also exercised his power under the Constitution in consultation with the Council of State, hence there was no need to reverse it.

On the alleged attacks by the NPP Invisible Forces on members of the NDC, Mr Agbenyo said Ghanaians voted for a change of government and power was handed over peacefully, making the country an envy to other nations.

“I’m, therefore, surprised when people still indulge in such barbaric activity of attacking state institutions and stopping people in traffic to take their cars from them.

“We as NDC members will not permit anybody, and I mean anybody, to trample upon our rights under the Constitution. We want to coexist as Ghanaians and see how best we can help develop this country. That is why we are calling on President Akufo-Addo to call his people to order,” he said.

–
Source: GNA

The post We expect massive national dev’t under NPP – NDC appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Audio: 49min 59sec
First aired: 7 Mar 2014

First edition of the FC Africa podcast features Stephen Keshi on Nigeria’s stateside draw with Mexico and analysis with BeIN Sport USA’s Sulaiman Folarin.

We get perspective of Cameroon’s horror show vs Portugal and also five things Ghana can learn for the World Cup (with European football expert Andy Brassell)

Plus we get answers on why Sudan v Kenya was cancelled (with Sudanese football writer Abdul Musa), the club vs country row is back as Zambia beat Uganda again (with Muka Bola from Zambia).

And public reaction to sacking of Ethiopian coach Sewnet Bishaw plus preview of Africans in key European leagues.

—

Presented by Gary Al-Smith and produced by Nathan Quao for Citi FM & supersport.com.

Soundtrack details
Song Title: Someway Bi
Artist Name: M.anifest
Produced by: Yung Fly
Singitdamnit Music/Cumbancha Music Publishing (BMI) 2013

More detail: Twitter.com/FCAfrica or Facebook.com/FCAfricaRadio

Follow @FcAfrica

The post FC Africa ep 1: Pre-WC2014 friendlies and East & Southern Africa wrap appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.