According to Mr. Ayariga, the Memorandum of Understanding for defence cooperation, which was approved by Parliament on Friday, amounted to the sale of the country’s sovereignty.

[contextly_sidebar id=”16IULckSmYs95qwW5Qzvcu7AmwNAl8BA”]Speaking to Accra-based Asempa FM, Mr Ayariga said he had written a cheque for $20 million dollars, which he had taken with him to Parliament yesterday in order to prevent the deal from being approved.

“I went there to give them the cheque if they are ready. They should take the $20 million they want and leave Ghana for us. We want to buy off our sovereignty and we think that if it is the money that the military wants to take, they should come for this, we’ll give it to them for free. After all, everybody is supposed to be a stakeholder and help build Ghana,” he said.

“Nkrumah bought the sovereignty of Ghana with his life, others died to protect Ghana, military men went to war to get out freedom and a whole lot of people sacrificed their lives to make us have comfortable lives today. So we will not allow the Danquah-Busia tradition to sell our sovereignty for a mere $20 million. We will not do that. If that is what their interests are, we will allow them to have the $20 million and leave us to live in peace.”

‘Protests today, expect more Wednesday’

On Friday a number of protesters who tried to gain access to Parliament to protest the anticipated approval of the deal were prevented from entering the House.

The main entrance of the House was shut with strict access checks being conducted for members of the public and workers seeking to enter.

The protesters however chanted slogans and songs outside the House.

The leader of the protesters suspended CPP youth leader Ernesto Yeboah, who was dissatisfied with Parliament’s decision, said they posed no threat to the security of the House.

“Are we holding guns? So on what basis are we disallowed from entering Parliament to have a sight of the proceedings in Parliament? They have absolutely no basis to restrain us from entering to have a sight of the proceedings. We are going to enter, we are going to sit down, we are going to observe the rules of Parliament.

And according to Mr. Ayariga, another protest had been scheduled for Wednesday if Parliament fails to throw out the deal.

He suggested that the US might have ulterior motives for setting camp in Ghana, stating that they might have designs on the country’s oil reserves.

“They are going to have free access to our water bodies, our oil is there. What do we think they are going to do? Take our crude out of this country. Let us not make this a political thing. What we are doing today is not about politics. What we are doing is to defend our nation that is why our Constitution made it clear that Parliament cannot pass something if the Ghanaian people don’t want it. If the Ghanaian people oppose it, Parliament has to go back, reconvene and take another decision. On Wednesday, there’s going to be a serious demonstration, the one we have done today at the Parliament House is small,” he added.

Background

The Minister of DefenCe, Dominic Nitiwul, on Tuesday laid before Parliament the document seeking to ratify an agreement for space around the Kotoka International Airport, which will serve as a camp for some US military forces in Ghana.

The approved agreement will among other things, exempt the US government from paying taxes on equipment that is brought to Ghana.

They will also be given the chance to set up their own telecommunication system, although they will be allowed to use Ghana’s radio spectrum free of charge.

Although many Ghanaians have expressed resentment over the clauses of the agreement, government has defended it and said the agreement is in the best interest of Ghana.

But the Minority had earlier called on government to withdraw the agreement in its current form, saying it is not in the best interest of Ghana.

The deal was eventually passed late on Friday, by only Majority Members of Parliament because the Minority had staged a walkout during the debate on the Floor of the House.

–

By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Ayariga offered to pay $20m to stop US ‘military base’ deal appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Speaking to journalists, Mr. Ayariga said the governing NPP is desperate for credibility, and is therefore implementing policies such as the free SHS in a haphazard manner.

[contextly_sidebar id=”SE4PZPQWe776zp0Y1MuqW8NNjlgH7pfM”]“Who says implementing the free SHS means all is well? Has the Finance Minister heard what people say about the ill-implemented policy? The free SHS is an embarrassment and a disappointment to students and parents.”

“Do you see the disappointment in the eyes of parents whose wards met the entry requirement but could not be placed because government is trying to control the number of admission because of the cost.? Do you see the disappointment in the eyes of students who sit on the floor to learn in class? Do you see the disappointment in the eyes of students who sleep under trees because there isn’t enough space to contain them in the dormitory.”

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) government’s flagship free Senior High School programme was launched in September 2017, as part of measures to ensure all Ghanaian children are educated, at least, up to the SHS level.

However, since its introduction, the programme that admitted a huge number of about 400,000 students, has encountered a number of challenges, mostly in relation to the capacity of the schools, and the availability of desks and other infrastructure for students.

The President and his Education Minister have assured Ghanaians that the challenges would be addressed to ensure that the students receive the full benefits of the programme.

NPP gov’t is “lazy”

Mr. Ayariga believes the NPP is being lazy, saying any lazy government which refuses to spend can achieve fiscal discipline, and that the NPP cannot not boast about that.

“On the issue of fiscal discipline, the government boasted they resorted to fiscal discipline and respect the limits Parliament set for them within its appropriation, claiming they are well on course to end the year with a fiscal deficit of 6.3%, lower than 6.5% contained in the budget.

“They [NPP], went on to praise themselves that this is the only second time in a decade that the government has managed to stay within its budget deficit target. Hon Ken, are we serious? This is ridiculous! When you are not spending, you will definitely stay within appropriation. In fact, any government can achieve that by deciding to be lazy and not spending.”

On economic policies, Mr. Ayariga also charged the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, to clarify some issues he finds unsettling, asserting that Mr. Ofori Atta is only engaging in creative accounting and window dressing.

Budgetary allocation for Free SHS ‘woefully inadequate’ – Ablakwa

National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for the North Tongu Constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has described the government’s budgetary allocation for Free SHS as woefully inadequate to support the programme.

According to him, government would need at least two billion cedis to support Free SHS in 2018, 800 million cedis more than the amount that was allocated to it in the budget.

‘You can’t run education with voluntary funds’

The government announced that it would set up a fund to receive voluntary contributions from individuals to support the implementation of the free SHS programme and the educational sector as a whole.

However, this plan has come under fire from the Minority who believe this is an indication that government does not have the funds to properly implement its much-touted programme.

And according to Okudzeto Ablakwa, the government cannot afford to rely on the voluntary funds as a source of funding for free SHS, as projections for those funds may not materialize.

“No country runs public education on just voluntary funds. What if the Fund is not considered attractive and you don’t really get as much as you are expecting. We can’t leave the destiny of our children’s quality education to just a voluntary fund where we don’t really know the projections. Meanwhile there’s an 800 million-cedi gap as we speak. You’ve only allocated 1.2 billion but you need two billion cedis, at least to sustain free SHS for the 2018 fiscal year,” he argued.

“You cannot just depend on voluntary funds, you can’t run education that way. You need a concrete plan and you need a well-defined funding source. It’s clear that government is struggling to fund it and struggling to identify a clear funding source.”

–

By: Marian Ansah & Marie -Franz Fordjoe/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Free SHS an embarrassment to parents, students – Ayariga appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

“All executive members are now acting leaders with the exception of the General Secretary and the Leader/Founder of the party.

[contextly_sidebar id=”b9yh31yw4LakdD0Be9oMlj3tfXGtJ29K”]At a Press Conference in Accra, Mr. Hassan Ayariga, Leader/Founder of the party, said the APC has notified the Electoral Commission to that effect, and that members of the party who are interested in managing the affairs of the party are welcome to begin campaigning for available positions.

He said the APC was formed in an election year, and that many of the positions were not keenly contested by the party members.

Mr. Ayariga said the APC believes in liberal principles, adding that “the APC is the only party that anyone from any party will find principles he supports and I call on people from the various political parties to join us reorganize the APC.”

He said a committee has been established to embark on a nationwide tour from November 15, 2017, to all constituencies, to organize polling station executives and activate party activities across the country.

It shall also issue party membership cards to new and old members as well as capture detailed information of every member in the party’s database.

“Other committees such as the new Council of Elders, Youth Wing, Women Executive Wing and Zongo Wing would be formed during the tour.”

Mr. Ayariga said the committees would prepare the grounds for the election of constituency and regional executives.

“The leadership has declared 2018 as the year for the national delegates’ congress where national executives as well as a Presidential Candidate would be elected. The polling station, constituency, regional and national executives at all levels are encouraged to support in the effort to ensure the success of this important mission,” he said.

–

Source: GNA

The post Ayariga’s APC dissolves all its elected positions appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Mr Ayariga at a media address in Accra on Monday said the decision to endorse President John Mahama followed careful consideration of the attributes and competence of two presidential candidates who approached his APC for endorsement.

[contextly_sidebar id=”ZJOn2Y0EDCd5OYVruOmb0qdP0QHFVTF2″]“two political parties and an independent candidate approached the leadership of the APC for endorsement. We based our declaration on the political leaders that actually want our support; nothing more, nothing less.”

“…even in the midst of crisis, he listens to people, he remains calm, no matter how much people try to knock him down, he never ever quits. That is the man I know so well. I am proud to offer my help, my  voice, my energy, and my commitment and the National Executive Committee of APC and the entire membership of the party across Ghana to declare our support for President John Mahama,” he said.

Ayariga had over the weekend challenged the endorsement of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate, Nana Akufo Addo, by the APC’ General Secretary,  Razak Opoku and his running mate, Carl Bartels.

He said the two had been sacked by the party on Friday [November 25] after he discovered they had had a secret meeting with the NPP, against party rules.

But the two insisted at a press conference on Sunday that their decision was backed by the National Executive Committee of the party.

In their statement, they said, “This endorsement of Nana Akufo-Addo has become very necessary considering the high level of incompetence, corruption, mismanagement of the economy, high rate of unemployment, killer taxes, collapsing of the private sector businesses, high utility bills, nepotism, tribal politicking etc. under the 8 years rule of John Mahama NDC. Enough is enough and the trending song now is a change of incompetent John Mahama Presidency.”

They also, “wished Hassan Ayariga (APC Founder & Leader) well for his personal decision to endorse John Mahama for the Presidency on the 28th November 2016 at the Aviation Social Centre.”

Ayariga, who disassociated himself from the two individuals clarified, that his endorsement for President Mahama did not extend to the various parliamentary candidates of the NDC.

“Our endorsement is merely for the Presidential candidate and not the party because we have a party.”

–

By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @jnyabor

The post Hassan Ayariga’s APC endorses John Mahama for reelection appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Speaking to Citi News, Mr. Ayariga explained that the two ceased to be members his party since last Friday and urged Ghanaians to disregard any statement coming from them.

“I don’t have a vice presidential candidate. What we have now is the leader and founder of the APC and that is me. Mr. Bartels and the General Secretary were relieved of their duties last Friday and they are aware of that so they are not members of the APC,” he added.

“The APC disregards such a statement. Such a statement cannot be coming from the All People’s Congress led by Hassan Ayariga. We in the APC we’ve made our mission clear that we are going to endorse a candidate on Monday, 28^th November, 2016. As at now any statement or message out there is not coming from the APC nor the leaders of the APC hence should be disregarded and treated with the contempt it deserves,” he added.

A statement endorsing Akufo-Addo and signed by Razak Kojo Opoku, Emmanual Carl Barterls also hinted that Mr. Ayariga would endorse President John Mahama on Monday.

“…We wish Hassan Ayariga (APC Founder & Leader) well for his personal decision to endorse John Mahama for the Presidency on the 28th November 2016 at the Aviation Social Centre.”

The statement also said Akufo-Addo’s endorsement was accepted by “the National Executive Committee (NEC), the 10 Regional Executive Committee (REC) and majority of the parliamentary candidates of the All People’s Congress (APC).”

According to them, they believe strongly that “only Nana Akufo-Addo can offer Ghanaians a more credible, incorruptible and transformational leadership than all other Presidential Candidates contesting the 2016 general election.”

Ayariga was disqualified from the 2016 presidential race by the Electoral Commission because some persons who endorsed his nomination forms also subscribed to other presidential candidates in the race.

He challenged the decision in court, however, a Supreme Court ordered the Electoral Commission to extend the nomination period to enable all the 12 disqualified candidates to amend their nomination forms but Ayariga failed to sail through.

–

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

The post Hassan Ayariga sacks executives who endorsed Nana Addo appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Although some of the executives have thrown their weight behind the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo there are indications that Hassan Ayariga disagrees and would endorse President John Mahama instead.

A statement signed by Razak Kojo Opoku, General Secretary of the APC and Ayariga’s running mate, Emmanual Carl Barterls while endorsing Akufo-Addo also wished Mr. Ayariga well for supporting President John Mahama.

“…We wish Hassan Ayariga (APC Founder & Leader) well for his personal decision to endorse John Mahama for the Presidency on the 28th November 2016 at the Aviation Social Centre.”

According to them, they believe strongly that “only Nana Akufo-Addo can offer Ghanaians a more credible, incorruptible and transformational leadership than all other Presidential Candidates contesting the 2016 general election.”

Ayariga was disqualified from the 2016 presidential race by the Electoral Commission because some persons who endorsed his nomination forms also subscribed to other presidential candidates in the race.

He challenged the decision in court, however, a Supreme Court ordered the Electoral Commission to extend the nomination period to enable all the 12 disqualified candidates to amend their nomination forms but Ayariga failed to sail through.

Below is the full statement from the executives of the APC:

APC DECLARES SUPPORT FOR NANA AKUFO-ADDO FOR THE 7TH DECEMBER 2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

The National Executive Committee (NEC), the 10 Regional Executive Committee (REC) and majority of the parliamentary candidates of the All People’s Congress (APC) declares support for Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the 7^th December 2016 general election.

This endorsement of Nana Akufo-Addo has become very necessary considering the high level of incompetence, corruption, mismanagement of the economy, high rate of unemployment, killer taxes, collapsing of the private sector businesses, high utility bills, nepotism, tribal politicking etc. under the 8 years rule of John Mahama NDC.

Enough is enough and the trending song now is change of incompetent John Mahama Presidency.

We strongly believe that Only Nana Akufo-Addo can offer Ghanaians a more credible, incorruptible and transformational leadership than all other Presidential Candidates contesting the 2016 general election.

We shall seriously campaign for the Victory of Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP for the remaining days to the general election.

We shall provide Ghanaians with interesting revelations within FIVE (5) Days to the 7th December 2016 general election that shall cause the massive defeat of John Mahama and the NDC.

We are equally entreating all APC members across Ghana to campaign vigorously and vote massively for Nana Akufo-Addo, the only credible Presidential Candidate for the 2016 Presidential Election.

Nana Akufo-Addo agenda for jobs creation is the only solution to the socio-economic transformation of Ghana.

Upon sober reflection, we strongly believe in the 1 District 1 Factory, 1 Village 1 Dam, 1 Constituency $1million  as doable and feasible Policies.

However, we wish Hassan Ayariga (APC Founder & Leader) well for his personal decision to endorse John Mahama for the Presidency on the 28th November 2016 at the Aviation Social Centre.

We are urging all Ghanaian Voters to vote against the NDC and reject John Mahama in accordance with Revelation 3:16.

Finally, we are passionately appealing to Ghanaian voters to honour Nana Akufo-Addo with their votes in accordance with Deutronomy 5:16 so that all of us can be guaranteed of financial and economic healing in accordance with Acts 5:16.

#VoteforChange

#Vote Nana Akufo-Addo as President

For and on behalf of the Leadership of All People’s Congress(APC).

…Jointly Signed…

Razak Kojo Opoku

(APC General Secretary)

Emmanuel Carl Bartels

(2016 Vice-Presidential Candidate)

–

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

The post APC divided; Executives endorse Nana Addo, Ayariga chooses Mahama appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Mr. Ayariga was disqualified from the 2016 presidential contest because some of his subscribers also endorsed other candidates in the race; but an Accra High Court on Friday directed the EC to give him the chance to amend his forms.

[contextly_sidebar id=”7sXBt8uVDuBsWSANdAr4eKpoMiKm2f86″]Speaking to the media after the judgment, Mr. Ayariga was grateful for the victory.

“Ghanaians today have witnessed a very successful event which demonstrates to the whole world that our laws are working. No matter who you are, when you have any issue, you can always go to court for redress. I am very proud that democracy is really working in this country. I am very proud that rule of law in Ghana is working.”

Mr. Ayariga said he and his team really prayed to God for a favourable judgment.

“We thank the Almighty God. Today we must all believe in God. We have prayed and prayed that the court will give us justice.”

“When asked when he would visit the EC to have his form amended, Mr. Ayariga said “we have given the EC the corrected form but they rejected it.  We did the correction immediately they told us that we were disqualified; we gave them two subscribers to substitute the two so we don’t have to go to the Electoral Commission.”

Background

Lawyers for the APC had earlier in court accused the EC of deliberately disqualifying Hassan Ayariga.

Hassan Ayariga had earlier blamed the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) for his disqualification from the 2016 presidential.

Ayariga said the NCCE failed in its duties to educate electorates well enough hence the mistakes on the nomination form.

“Given the doubt that whatever the EC said was true, I am coming from the PNC and there are members of the PNC that have moved from the PNC to ignorantly do those common mistakes. It is the duty of the NCCE to have educated the people on how to subscribe so for us; that fault does not lie on political parties but the NCCE, which Charlotte Osei was the former boss.”

–

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

The post My victory shows Ghana’s democracy is working – Hassan Ayariga appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to the lawyers, the EC on the day of filing their nomination form allowed them to correct some errors on it but failed to give them an opportunity to correct the errors the EC used as basis for invalidating Ayariga’s nomination.

[contextly_sidebar id=”TTJmw0VD0nVbbRq1gKjiKN16jn6ccLtz”]As part of their arguments in court, lead lawyer for the APC also told the judge , Maxwel Logan that the Electoral Commissioner failed to adhere to the seven day period to announce the names of qualified candidates.

He said the original deadline for submission of nominations was extended due to its own decision not to accept the filing fees.

The APC headed to the court after the EC disqualified their flagbearer Hassan Ayariga for failing to meet all the criteria set to contest the presidential elections in December 2016.

The party as part of their 17 reliefs to the court is seeking an order to compel the EC to include their candidate as part of presidential candidates on the ballot sheet come December 7th.

The court is expected to give it judgment on the 4th of November.

Ayariga blames NCCE for his disqualification
Hassan Ayariga a few days ago blamed the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) for his disqualification.

The EC disqualified Ayariga because some persons who subscribed to his candidature endorsed other candidates in the race.

But Ayariga said the NCCE failed in its duties to educate electorates well enough hence the mistakes on the nomination forms.

“Given the doubt that whatever the EC said was true, I am coming from the PNC and there are members of the PNC that have moved from the PNC to ignorantly do those common mistakes. It is the duty of the NCCE to have educated the people on how to subscribe so for us that fault does not lie on political parties but the NCCE, which Charlotte Osei was the former boss.”

“So if those common mistakes are happening then it means that the NCCE didn’t do a good job because if they had done a good job, I don’t think we would have these common errors coming from the voter,” Mr. Ayariga added when he addressed the media after the adjournment of the party’s suit against the EC on Wednesday.

I’ll accept court’s verdict – Ayariga
Mr. Ayariga has also indicated that he would accept the verdict of the court.

“In the rule of law, we believe that the only thing we need is to follow the rules and regulations governing our nation. So we respect the court [and we are] asking the court to do the right thing and whatever decision that comes out we would accept,” he added.

–

By: Fred Djabanor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post EC deliberately disqualified Ayariga – APC’s lawyers appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Flagbearer of the APC, Hassan Ayariga, was disqualified along with 12 other presidential aspirants after the EC identified some errors on their nomination forms.

[contextly_sidebar id=”GmufEdKWr5Tztyo5u0q4civRJsSKRjz2″]The EC was however ordered by an Accra High Court on Friday, to allow the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), to correct mistakes on its nomination forms, following a suit filed by the party over its disqualification.

Speaking to the media after court proceedings today [Monday], the Flagbearer of the APC, Hassan Ayariga, argued that the APC has a ‘better case than the PPP’ hence their firm belief that the party will be vindicated.

“We even have a better case than the PPP. In our case, we have properly filled the documents and all subscribers have actually subscribed to our documents, but according to the EC, two of our subscribers actually subscribed for another candidate. In Ghana, we do not have data system whereby one can check who has subscribed for you or subscribed for another candidate.We actually have to go through the other candidate asking or requesting for their documents to compare and contrast, so our case is much much better than the PPP . I think that the court will give us justice. “

He further indicated that, the APC is just seeking “an opportunity to be part of the elections and have a presidential candidate.”

Court adjourns APC’s case against EC

Meanwhile, the court has adjourned hearing of the suit filed by Hassan Ayariga challenging his disqualification.

The adjournment followed the failure of lawyers for both sides, to submit their statements of case and written submissions, as ordered by the Judge, Justice Barbara Tetteh Charway, during the last sitting.

–

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

The post ‘We have a better case than PPP’ – APC appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to the Daily Graphic, EOCO in its letter to Hassan Ayariga said it is interested in how he claimed to have expended over $6 million dollars to procure vehicles, among others.

[contextly_sidebar id=”sALl3zzeAwIDsufxFaJHKYHr5gPK3Dzx”]The letter to Mr. Ayariga said, “the office has analysed you statements and comments made to the media and circulated on social media.”

“In one such statement, you are hear to have said you expended over $6 million to procure vehicles, among others. The statement is of great interest to the office,” EOCO added, thus it has requested in writing the sources of the total amounts expended from Mr. Ayariga.

Letter to Dr. Nduom

EOCO is also asking Papa Kwesi Nduom to explain the source of the over GHc1.7 million Cedis he used to pay for his filing fees at the Electoral Commission (EC) and that of his parliamentary candidates.

In Dr. Nduom’s case, EOCO said, “Information available to this office is tho the effect that you financed the recent filing of nominations for both the presidential and parliamentary candidates with the total amount of GHc 1,750,000 from GN Bank.

The letters inviting the two disqualified flagbearers were dated October 21, 2016 and signed by the Executive Director of EOCO, Justice Tsar.

The participation of the two presidential aspirants in the 2016 polls is in doubt as they were disqualified from the December Presidential race after the Electoral Commission (EC) found anomalies in the endorsement of their nomination forms.

The PPP has since filed a lawsuit seeking an order of prohibition to restrain the EC from proceeding with balloting for position of presidential candidates for the 7th December elections.

–

By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Campaign funds: EOCO demands answers from Nduom, Ayariga appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.