This was a day after Mr. Anyidoho was detained for making treasonable comments.

Mr. Mahama was pictured with Anyidoho, along with Julius Debrah, who served as his Chief of Staff; the NDC General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia and former Attorney General, Betty Mould Iddrisu, at the BNI headquarters

It is unclear how Mr. Mahama was able to gain access to Mr. Anyidoho and got the opportunity to take pictures with him.

Mr. Mahama’s recent comments on social media suggest that former President did not approve of the way Mr. Anyidoho was taken into custody by the police.

Earlier on Wednesday, Mr. Mahama criticised the Police for what he described as their ‘high-handed’ responses to “innocent” Ghanaians who massed up at the Police Headquarters on Tuesday night in solidarity with Koku Anyidoho.

In a Facebook post, the former President chided the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and President Akufo-Addo for the manner in which Mr. Anyidoho was arrested and later charged with treason.

He, however, did not make mention of the comments made by Mr. Anyidoho which have been widely condemned and considered treasonable.

As a party that prides itself in the non-criminalization of speech, with a self-acclaimed human rights activist as President, the arrest of K. Anyidoho with armed men in the middle of a press event is obviously disproportionate. Moreso, the high-handed police response to innocent citizens waiting at the CID HQ is condemnable.

Building the treason case

Police have since been given permission to seize all electronic devices belonging to Mr. Anyidoho

A warrant from the High Court, sighted by Citi News, ordered that electronic gadgets including laptops, iPhone and iPads, believed to store information related to treason in the premises of Koku Anyidoho and his supposed agents, are to be seized to aid the police investigation.

This development follows the CID’s request to Accra-based Happy FM to produce the official copy of tape on which the Koku Anyidoho is believed to have made the treasonable comments.

Mr. Anyidoho was picked up at the International Press centre on Tuesday to assist the police with investigations and spent Tuesday night in the custody of the police after being charged with treason.

His Oyarifa residence in Accra was also searched before he was moved from the police headquarters and sent to an unknown location after he was refused bail.

What Koku said

Koku Anyidoho, in the interview, suggested that President Nana Akufo-Addo will be overthrown because of the ratification of the controversial defence cooperation agreement between Ghana and the US.

He said the overthrow will be in the form of a “civilian coup d’etat”.

“There will be a civilian coup d’état. There will be a social revolution. We [NDC] are starting it on Wednesday. The movement is starting on Wednesday. Nana Addo will have sleepless nights. He will suffer diarrhoea. He said he wanted to be President, but we will make sure he will be fed up on the seat.”

The host of the show on which the comments were made, Kwame Affrifa, has also been invited by the police to aid in their investigations.

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

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In a Facebook post, the former President chided the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and President Akufo-Addo for the manner in which Mr. Anyidoho was arrested and later charged with treason.

He however did not make mention of the comments by Mr. Anyidoho which has been widely condemned and considered treasonable.

[contextly_sidebar id=”0d4WhRitfpicw8Gj0sEhCgpHr740H4hj”]“As a party that prides itself in the non-criminalization of speech, with a self-acclaimed human rights activist as President, the arrest of K. Anyidoho with armed men in the middle of a press event is obviously disproportionate. Moreso, the high-handed police response to innocent citizens waiting at the CID HQ is condemnable,” he said.

The Criminal Investigations Department (CID), on Tuesday afternoon picked up Koku Anyidoho at the International Press Center for making what has been described as treasonable comments.

He was picked up during a press conference by a group of opposition political parties known as the Inter-Party Coalition for National Sovereignty, who are kicking against the Ghana-US Defence Cooperation agreement ratified by Parliament last Friday.

Following his arrest, hundreds of sympathizers and supporters of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) including its leaders, massed up at the Police Headquarters in Accra, where Anyidoho was being interrogated.

The gathering, who appeared agitated, were challenged by some tens of armed police men who fired gunshots and used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd.

The development left some of the protesters sustaining various degrees of injuring including reports of rubber bullet wounds.

What did Koku Anyidoho say?

Mr. Anyidoho in an interview on Accra-based Happy FM, indicated that President Akufo-Addo will be overthrown just like his father and the late Dr. K. A Busia due to the ratification of the controversial defence cooperation agreement between the US and the government of Ghana.

“Somebody should tell Nana Addo that history has a very interesting way of repeating itself. On the 13th of January 1972, a certain Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong led an insurrection that removed the progress party from power. Busia was the Prime Minister and Akufo Addo’s father was the ceremonial President. Someone should tell Akufo-Addo that history has an interesting way of repeating itself,” Anyidoho warned.

When he was asked by the Host to clarify his statement, Koku Anyidoho maintained that “history has an interesting way of repeating itself.”

“There will be a civilian coup d’état. There will be a social revolution. We [NDC] are starting it on Wednesday. The movement is starting on Wednesday. Nana Addo will have sleepless nights. He will suffer diarrhea. He said he wanted to be president, but we will make sure he will be fed up on the seat,’’ he noted further.

Meanwhile, John Mahama has declared his support for a demonstration dubbed #GhanaFirst, which is in protest of the government’s decision to ratify the Ghana-US defence cooperation.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The Founder of the International Central Gospel Church has come under severe attack since he made the comments that some have considered offensive.

[contextly_sidebar id=”eRey9V2T1RBxvKVEmR4P0pHyRQ92txsp”]”Suddenly, everything is fine. Some say they don’t watch TV again, they watch animals. In our time, they were not watching animals. They were listening to the political discussion. Now in their time, there is too much politics. You will be tired because your darling [government] is super incompetent so they are tired of hearing the analysis. That is the hypocrisy we face.”

In Mr. John Mahama’s view, there appears to be silence from both civil society groups and religious leaders on matters of national importance.

He feels that these entities, who were hitherto ardent critics of his National Democratic Congress (NDC), are treating the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) with kid gloves.

Speaking to some supporters of the NDC in the UK, the former President said those who accused him of running a “family and friends” government have been silent on the perceived nepotism under President Nana Akufo-Addo.

“I never ever thought that Ghanaians would tolerate the levels of nepotism in government that we see today… now today look at it. That is the new standard and civil society is quiet. Religious leaders are quiet. When NDC comes the next time, must the standards of national government differ because of who is in the presidency? That is the hypocrisy of our politics.”

Mr. John Mahama extended his criticism to the media and even traditional leaders.

“Something is pardonable when one government is in power but when another is in power it’s unpardonable. Things that the media would have been so loud about under my administration, it happens every day and it’s like it’s business as usual. That is the hypocrisy of our civil society and religious and traditional leaders, everybody is quiet, suddenly some say they don’t watch TV anymore and that they watch animals,” Mr. Mahama said.

‘Hypocrites and parasites’

The NDC’s Deputy General Secretary, Koku Anyidoho, also had his say on the perceived hypocrisy with a much harsher assessment on Ghanaweb’s online show, 21 minutes.

He described such persons as hypocrites and parasites.

“Suddenly, some pastors say they watch animals. It is animals that they watch… Yes, you will watch animals. You will watch more animals. If NDC is in power, that one, you will listen to human beings to prepare your sermon. But when NPP is in power and they are doing horrible things, because you cannot preach these sermons, you are watching animals. He should actually go and preach his sermon in the zoo to animals. Hypocrites and parasites.”

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By: Sammi Wiafe & Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Speaking to Citi News, Mr. Mpiani said the country could miss out on some competent persons by limiting the pool of potential presidents to persons over 40.

[contextly_sidebar id=”OysZcYXH6Ql6OmEeQr2DkZ85wJvmIbPa”]“Let’s find out why they decided on 40. Are the reasons valid? If in other places, people below 40 are able to offer themselves to be elected as Prime Ministers, Presidents and they do well, why can’t we do this in Ghana? Are we depriving ourselves? Maybe there are exceptional youth in the country who can become Presidents and maybe perform well. I really don’t fancy the idea of putting in this limit.”

The former Chief of Staff was speaking after former President John Dramani Mahama said he is in support of such calls.

Speaking at the Commonwealth Africa Summit in London on Wednesday, Mr. Mahama said young people were still capable of acting as legislators in Parliament but were restricted from contesting for the Presidency.

Mr. Mpiani added that the electorate ought to have the ultimate say as to who should become President regardless of the person’s age.

“…It will be left to Ghanaians to decide whether such a person is qualified to be a President or not… Why don’t we leave this to the electorate or we think the electorate is not fit enough to determine who is capable of being a President? I think we should leave it to the electorate,” he said.

Give voters the power

The IMANI Africa President, Franklin Cudjoe, also believes the electorate will ultimately determine whether a person is qualified to be President regardless of age.

“It is a welcome idea. Globally, we are seeing younger people who are beginning to take the mantle of leadership… Presumably, however young someone is on the campaign trail, if a person is making a lot of sense and giving practical solutions to the problems, I am sure the older voters will make the decision.”

Mr. Cudjoe also noted that, a leader will also be as successful as the people he or she is surrounded by.

“A smart leader is the one who surrounds himself with smarter people to advise him or her so once you make that determination, that someone is eligible to stand and the voters allow that to happen, I’m sure the other aspects of maturity to rule will be secondary.”

Ghana’s president’s under the Fourth Republic

Under the Fourth Republic, the average age of the presidents when they began their terms has been 59.

Jerry John Rawlings was 45 when he was elected President in 1992.

His successor, John Kufuor, was 61 when he became President in 2001 after the first civilian change of power.

He was followed by John Atta Mills, who was 64, John Mahama who was 54, and the current President, Nana Akufo-Addo, who was 72 years of age, the oldest of the lot.

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

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Speaking at the Commonwealth Africa Summit in London on Wednesday, Mr. Mahama said young people were capable of acting as legislators in Parliament but were restricted from contesting for the Presidency.

In my country, young people are in Parliament and contesting other positions, but not the presidency. Our constitution says you must be 40 to contest to be president. Some advocacy has started for age restriction to be removed or reduced and I support it. #CAS2018.

— John Dramani Mahama (@JDMahama) March 14, 2018

Mr. Mahama’s comments on the matter have received backing from a former Chief of Staff who served in the Kufuor administration, Kwadwo Mpiani.

Speaking to Citi News, Mr. Mpiani said the country may be missing out on some competent persons by limiting the pool of potential leaders.

“Let’s find out why they decided on 40. Are the reasons valid? If in other places, people below 40 are able to offer themselves to be elected as Prime Ministers, Presidents and they do well, why can’t we do this in Ghana? Are we depriving ourselves? Maybe there are exceptional youth in the country who can become Presidents and maybe perform well. I really don’t fancy the idea of putting in this limit.”

Questions remain as to how low the limit could be, but Mr. Mpiani said the electorate ought to have the ultimate say as to who should become President.

“Is it anybody who is capable of voting? Is it 18 years? Are we saying that if you are a voter, you can offer yourself to become a President? Well, maybe you can say that, then it will be left to Ghanaians to decide whether such a person is qualified to be a President or not… Why don’t we leave this to the electorate or we think the electorate is not fit enough to determine who is capable of being a President? I think we should leave it to the electorate,” he said.

Give voters the power

The IMANI Africa President, Franklin Cudjoe, also believes the electorate will ultimately determine whether a person is qualified to be President regardless of age.

“It is a welcome idea. Globally, we are seeing younger people who are beginning to take the mantle of leadership… Presumably, however young someone is on the campaign trail, if a person is making a lot of sense and giving practical solutions to the problems, I am sure the older voters will make the decision.”

Mr. Cudjoe also noted that, a leader will also be as successful as the people he or she is surrounded by.

“A smart leader is the one who surrounds himself with smarter people to advise him or her so once you make that determination, that someone is eligible to stand and the voters allow that to happen, I’m sure the other aspects of maturity to rule will be secondary.”

Ghana’s president’s under the Fourth Republic

Under the Fourth Republic, the average age of the presidents when they began their terms has been 59.

Jerry John Rawlings was 45 when he was elected President in 1992.

His successor, John Kufuor, was 61 when he became President in 2001 after the first civilian change of power.

He was followed by John Atta Mills, who was 64, John Mahama who was 54 and the current President, Nana Akufo-Addo, who was 72 years of age, the oldest of the lot.

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

The post Mahama backs ‘scrapping’ of age restriction for presidential candidates appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

In the Ambassador’s view, President Akufo-Addo is “more visionary than some recent Ghanaian leaders.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”yua8RAVKO876k5VNshJALLDMHzlzlTQO”]Commenting on the Akufo-Addo administration’s ‘Ghana Without Aid’ agenda on online news portal, Ghanaweb’s 21 Minutes show, Mr. Jackson was optimistic that “Ghana will get beyond aid and I think it will happen sooner rather than later.”

In the interview, he noted that despite being a long-term plan, the one-district-one-factory policy is key to this vision.

“President Akufo-Addo’s vision of one-district-one-factory may not be realized within his first term or even his first term, if he get’s one. But the idea is exactly what is needed to get beyond aid; that you have to industrialize, that you build your industrial base, that you create jobs so that people do not want to trek across the desert and be potentially enslaved in Libya or even if they make it to Libya, drown in the Mediterranean.”

The one-district-one-factory initiative is intended to leverage the private sector to set up at least one medium to large scale industrial enterprise in each district of Ghana.

The government’s hope is that this will equip and empower communities to utilize their local resources in manufacturing products in a bid to increase agricultural and manufacturing output, reduce reliance on imports and increase the production of consumer goods and food availability.

For Mr. Jackson, the current administration’s willingness to rely on private sector for development is more critical to an economic turnaround.

“I think ex-president Mahama had a vision too, so I want to give him credit where credit is due, his emphasis was on infrastructure, which is very important – schools, clinics, hospitals, roads; President Mahama did a lot for this country,” he said.

But in the Ambassador’s view, President Akufo-Addo’s decision to “make the private sector the engine of growth rather than government being the driving force is how I see the difference between the two of them. Both of them had visions for the country, I think President Akufo-Addo’s vision of private sector-led growth is likely to create more jobs and propel the economy forward faster than the infrastructure investments, but the infrastructure investments were important.”

Ghana’s growth prospects

As evidence of the progress of the economy, President Akufo-Addo, during his 2018 State of the Nation address, cited the strong trajectory of the Ghana Stock Exchange Composite Index in January 2018, which gained 19 percent in dollar terms, according to benchmarks tracked by Bloomberg.

The World Bank has also projected that Ghana’s economy will probably grow by 8.3 percent this year, which will be the fastest in the world in 2018.

The President said he expects these improving macroeconomic indicators to usher Ghana out of the International Monetary Fund programme later this year, after his administration extended the 2015 programme.

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

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Mr. Mahama described the move as a “great show of statesmanship” in his comments on Twitter.

Great show of statesmanship.
Healing and reconciliation. Good for Kenya. pic.twitter.com/Ilq5oEcoaE

— John Dramani Mahama (@JDMahama) March 10, 2018

Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga spoke on national TV on Friday after holding their first public meeting since the poll.

President Kenyatta was sworn in for a second term last November after he won an election re-run in October, which Mr Odinga had boycotted.

In the election aftermath, about 150 people were killed and Mr Odinga subsequently swore himself in as the “people’s president” and refused to recognise election winner, Mr Kenyatta, as head of state.

They had both dismissed all calls for talks, from Kenyans and foreign diplomats but in their joint address, President Kenyatta referred to Mr Odinga as his “brother”.

Thier meeting notably occurred ahead of a visit by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who is expected to land in Nairobi for a three-day diplomatic tour.

Mr Mahama, has some stake in the matter as he led the Commonwealth observer mission to monitor the country’s polls.

He faced some ridicule and criticism after the Supreme Court overturned the results of the election following alleged malpractices, as free and fair.

Mr. Mahama, alongside other observer groups, had declared the August 8, 2017 elections which the incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta won, as free and fair, despite the irregularities alleged by Kenya’s opposition leader, Raila Odinga.

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

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Ahead of the elections, Mr. Mahama is heading to Sierra Leone, where he will be leading a number of meetings aimed at ensuring a peaceful electoral process, according to a statement from the former President’s office.

He will also hold talks with Sierra Leone President, Ernest Koroma, on Wednesday, February 28.

“President Mahama, at the invitation of the Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC) of Sierra Leone, will lead the discussions in a closed-door high-level breakfast meeting between the Presidential Candidates and their Running Mates, Commissioners of the PPRC, Electoral Officials, Police Chief, Paramount Chiefs and Eminent Persons,” the statement said.

Whilst in the country, Mr. Mahama will also preside over the signing of a Peace Pledge by the Presidential Candidates and hold separate meetings with the Candidates, the Electoral Commission, Police Chief and Sierra Leone’s Donor Partners.

The Sierra Leonian election has 16 political parties contesting the presidency.

Past observer missions

Mr. Mahama’s work in Sierra Leone  comes after his lead role during the ECOWAS Observer Mission’s monitoring of the largely peaceful Liberia election, in which football legend, George Weah, replaced Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as Head of State.

But the former President faced some ridicule and criticism after he led a Commonwealth Observer mission to monitor the elections in Kenya, which were later overturned by the Supreme Court following alleged malpractices.

Mr. Mahama, alongside other observer groups, declared the August 8, 2017 elections which the incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta won, as free and fair, despite the irregularities as alleged by Kenya’s opposition leader, Raila Odinga.

Odinga has since gone on to declare himself the people’s president at a controversial ceremony in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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This took place moments after Mr. Mahama together with other former Presidents including Jerry John Rawlings and John Agyekum Kufuor, as well as former Vice President Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, observed the State of the Nation Address delivered by President Nana Akufo-Addo in Parliament.

Following the two-hour address, the former President was pictured with a spoon in a plate of rice with a number of the Minority MPs.

He was flanked by his former Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah.  It is unclear what message the former President seeks to send across by this act.

Click below to watch the video:

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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K.B. Asante, who died at age 93, was described by John Mahama as “a foundation of wisdom from which we all drunk freely.”

The former President in a post on his Facebook wall consoled Asante’s family.

He wrote:

Received the sad news of the passing of ‘uncle’ K.B. Asante. Statesman, Diplomat and Civil Servant extraordinaire. His experience straddled our early pre and post-independence era. A fountain of wisdom from which we all drunk freely is shut. Condolences to his family, the Nkrumahist group, and indeed all Ghanaians.

About K.B. Asante

[contextly_sidebar id=”N5kKoWvapsLnOUmsW3kX3r2JtLwk2eqL”]Born on March 1, 1924, K.B. Asante was the Secretary to Ghana’s First President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, and served under a number of Heads of States in Ghana.

He also served as the Principal Secretary at African Affairs Secretariat from 1960 to 1966.

He became Ghana’s Ambassador to Switzerland and the United Nations Offices in Geneva, and the UN establishment in Vienna, and also the Ambassador to Australia from 1967-72.

He also served as the Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Economic Community from 1976-1978.

Life in politics

K.B. Asante retired from the Civil Service in 1978, to form the Social Democratic Front to contest the 1979 election where his party won three parliamentary seats in that election.

He was the Secretary for Trade and Tourism in the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) administration in 1982, and later Secretary for Education and Culture from 1986 to 1990.

Education

K.B. Asante attended Achimota School where he later taught mathematics from 1945 to 1948, before proceeding to Durham University in Britain, where he obtained a BSc Mathematics in 1952.

He also became a member of the Institute of Statisticians in 1953, before again returning to Achimota College, where he continued teaching mathematics from 1953 to 1955.

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