According to him, such monies should be accounted for before government looks at possible ways of helping GBC settle its indebtedness of about 44 million Ghana cedis.

[contextly_sidebar id=”ZPSk2ifO0job7s7sWz0UWkYcLCcw0ePb”]Contributing to the debate on the budget of the Information Ministry, which has oversight over GBC, Kyei Mensah-Bonsu called for a forensic audit into the activities of the state broadcaster.

“Mr. Speaker, the Ministry stands for transparency, accountability in government and GBC should radiate same principles. In the lead up to the elections, we know of private media houses that took advertisement from the various political parties. GBC and GTV in particular were inundated with several advertisements from various political parties. It will be interesting to know how much they earned and how much indeed was paid to them. It will help greatly in reducing the indebtedness to GBC.

“I will serve notice to the committee, as part of their oversight, let them indicate to us how many of such adverts GBC, both on radio and television took, and what were their earnings on radio and television. Mr. Speaker, let it be the assignment of the committee, before they talk to us about any indebtedness,” said the Majority Leader.

The GBC has been struggling to operate smoothly due to the huge debt owed various service providers including the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

The ECG has on several occasions disconnected some branches of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) over outstanding debts.

In November 2017, the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation’s Garden City Radio in the Ashanti Region, was taken off air after the Electricity Company of Ghana disconnected the facility from the national grid, leaving management with no option than run on a standby plant.

The GBC is said to owe the power company about GHc 1.75 million.

GBC is not the only media institution that is struggling to settle huge debts. Metro TV, a private broadcaster, is battling with similar challenges.

On Tuesday, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) shut down the Accra-based television station reportedly over their failure to pay their taxes.

A visit by Citi Business News to the Cantonment premises of the television station revealed that, the GRA had restricted entry into the company with a seal of the Commissioner General.

The station was later reopened after it “made the necessary arrangements”.

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By: Marian Ansah & Duke Mensah Opoku/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post GBC must disclose proceeds from 2016 election – Kyei Mensah appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to the General Secretary of the NPP, John Boadu, the resignation should be at least three years before the ensuing national election in 2020 to avoid challenges.

[contextly_sidebar id=”118aKjDG1wSYhH02DPQqTHilxBjqT6Bl”]”The National Council, which is the second-highest decision-making body pursuant to Article 9 B of the party’s constitution, has unanimously resolved that all persons serving as Metropolitan, Municipal, District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) who wish to contest as parliamentary candidates in constituencies where the party has sitting members of Parliament are not illegible to contest unless they resign from their current positions at least three years before the ensuing general elections,” he said.

“We are not going to give you a chance to hold a position to use it for your own advantage and cause a lot of disaffection in the constituency, and wait till a month to primaries and say I am resigning to contest. We have seen such things for far too long,” Mr. Boadu added.

Mr. Boadu indicated that the directive also applies to executives who have ambitions of becoming Members of Parliament.

“The Council also resolved that regional chairpersons, regional secretaries, regional treasurers, constituency chairpersons, constituency secretaries and constituency treasurers, are also not eligible to contest as parliamentary candidates in constituencies where the party has sitting Members of Parliament, unless they resign three years before the national general elections.” he said.

He further clarified that “these decisions only apply to constituencies where the party has sitting Members of Parliament, and does not apply to orphan constituencies- that is constituencies where the party does not have sitting Members of Parliament.”

For many years now, there have often been concerns about the misuse of state funds by MMDCEs to fund their political campaign to become MPs, whiles still serving as MMDCEs.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Resign if you want to contest as MP – NPP to MMDCEs appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Commission says security at the polling stations on December 7, will be maximized, with provisions made for persons with disabilities to vote without impediments.

[contextly_sidebar id=”D1y9gLHqwS58pVMNHiHFgEiopsTRoZDZ”]The EC has also reiterated that, biometric verification will be used concurrently with a manual verification system for voters, who will not be able to biometrically verify their names.

Speaking at a meeting with various election observer groups for the December polls, the EC Chairperson, Charlotte Osei, indicated that, the Commission has also made special arrangements to ensure a free and fair election.

“We’ve worked closely with the security agencies to get them to understand the process so that they can support the process better. For persons with disabilities, we have special arrangements for them. They will have priority voting at the polling stations along with aged voters and vulnerable women. All these people have priority voting at the polling station. We also this year produced educational materials so that voters who are handicapped know how to vote and we have given them a lot of materials.”

“We have had a lot of concerns about security and the possibility of violence in our elections this year.I think a lot of Ghanaians are concerned about this, and main reasons are that, we have seen unprecedented levels of violence this year.We have done a lot of work this year. We believe in the Commission that we are ready for the elections. We believe that everything is in place for an election that is going to be very transparent and very credible and very inclusive, and that the outcome that we will announce would be the voice of majority of Ghanaians as expressed through the ballot box,” she added.

The EC’s assurance comes barely a day after some persons could not cast their ballot in the special voting exercise, which came off on Thursday across various constituencies.

The Commission has however provided another opportunity for such persons to be able to vote on Sunday, December 4, 2016.

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By: Marian Ansah/ citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

The post We’re ready for Dec. 7 election – EC appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Lawyers of the party in a letter dated 19^th October, 2016 and addressed to the Electoral Commission provided explanations to the issues the EC raised about their candidate’s nomination form which formed the basis for his disqualification.

[contextly_sidebar id=”O3d2jbRZFEPxZ6PzwfpB8D5BNLLbK56O”]The PNC’s Edward Mahama, was disqualified from contesting in the upcoming presidential elections together with 12 other aspirants due to some anomalies in their submitted nomination forms.

According to the EC, the PNC’s candidate was disqualified for reasons that include, many subscribers not properly signing the forms. It also said two subscribers to Dr Mahama forms had also subscribed for another presidential candidate, an act which was not acceptable according to the electoral laws. It also said Dr. Mahama did not have the requisite number of subscribers required under Regulation 7(2) (b) of CI 94.

But according to lawyer for the PNC, Dr Raymond Akongburo Atuguba, the EC went outside its convention and practices leading to Mahama’s disqualification.

The 30-point letter noted that “aside breaching the clear provisions of the law in this matter, the EC went outside its convention and practices. It has always been the practice since 1992, for the EC Chair as returning officer for presidential elections, to go through the completed forms with the presidential candidates and afford them the opportunity to have same rectified prior to any possible disqualification.”

On the issue of the Dr Mahama’s subscribers subscribing another candidate, lawyers for the party said it was untrue.

It said, “Although they may have subscribed to the nomination forms of another presidential candidate of their party, the PNC, for previous elections, they subscribed to the nomination forms of ONLY Dr. Edward Nasigre Mahama, as PNC Presidential Candidate for the 2016 general elections.”

Click here for the full letter

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post PNC petitions EC over Mahama’s disqualification appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.