Speaking to Citi News’ Fred Djabanor, Mr. Vandepuijie categorically stated that, both the content and structure of the said report are entirely different from the original one in the NDC’s possession.

[contextly_sidebar id=”fuh2rprLYygDiqHd7fTxOW64jEiQuRg2″]“No, this can never be the report of the committee that I worked on. It has some resemblance of the executive summary, but then it is not. What the person has done is picking from here and there and putting it together to let you have the resemblance of the report.”

“I am seeing some pages which are not the exact pages of the executive summary. You can even see from the pages that people made photocopies of what they had, and decided to put it together without having the exact document. They ended up messing up the whole thing. This is not our report. I know the pages from where we did the analysis.”

His comments come hours after the General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, also pooh-poohed the report, saying the documents are fake, because the party has not published the committee’s report.

“We’ve taken a position that Kwesi Botchwey’s report is meant for internal consumption so it has not been published anywhere. So any commentary that is being run or any alleged capturing of Botchwey’s report and serialization cannot represent any genuine document coming from NDC,” Mr. Asiedu Nketia said.

Mahama laughs off supposed Kwesi Botchwey report

Former President John Mahama, who was amused by the recent publications, also took to social media platform Twitter, to make a mockery of it.

“It appears ‘KB report has been adopted by some media as the new handbook for any challenge facing Gh…. In the event of crisis, open any page and quote. Lol,” he tweeted.

NDC quiet on Kwesi Botchwey

The leadership of the NDC has been tight-lipped over findings of the report which was submitted in June 2017, after months of touring and holding consultative meetings with interest groups and individuals across the country.

However, some media outlets including the Daily Guide newspaper and Accra-based Joy FM in series of news stories, have made public what they claim to be some findings of the committee.

The publications, among others, have pointed to Stan Dogbe and Elvis Afyiie Ankrah as John Mahama’s undoing.

It also indicated that, the report had cited some officials at the Flagstaff House during Mahama’s tenure of shortchanging journalists by cutting down budgeted stipends for the presidential press corps and pocketing the rest.

We won’t publish Kwesi Botchwey’s report – Asiedu Nketia

Mr. Asiedu Nketia has said that the NDC is not ready to make the true report of the committee public.

He says the report is only meant to be used internally by the party.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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City had taken a first-half lead through Sergio Aguero, only for Arsenal to respond with fine goals from Jack Wilshere and Alexis Sanchez before veteran defender Demichelis earned the Premier League champions a point.

Danny Welbeck was presented with an early chance to vindicate his selection as Arsenal’s main striker when he seized on David Silva’s poor pass, but the deadline day signing’s dink over Joe Hart came back off the post.

Arsenal were in the ascendancy in the first half, but were rocked on their heels on 28 minutes when City broke with pace and Jesus Navas’ excellent low ball into the box was cleverly finished by Aguero.

The home side levelled on 63 minutes when Aaron Ramsey played in Wilshere, who skipped past former team-mate Gael Clichy before lifting a delightful shot over Joe Hart into the net.

Wilshere turned provider for Arsenal to take the lead on 74 minutes when he headed the ball back into the box after City could only partially clear and Alexis steered a firm volley beyond Hart.

England midfielder Wilshere appeared fortunate not to concede a penalty for handball and, after Mathieu Debuchy was stretchered off, City struck back with seven minutes to go.

Substitute Aleksandar Kolarov curled out a corner and Demichelis rose unmarked to head beyond Wojciech Szczesny, who appeared to touch the ball away from the covering Mathieu Flamini.

Welbeck whipped an effort narrowly wide in his last act before being substituted due to injury, Kolarov thundered a shot against the post, Laurent Koscielny’s clearance hit Edin Dzeko before bouncing back off the upright and former Arsenal midfielder Samir Nasri saw a goal disallowed for offside as six minutes of added time failed to yield a winner.

Frank Lampard made his City debut after Yaya Toure played for the Ivory Coast in midweek but he lasted only until half-time, with a foul on Ramsey that earned a yellow card his headline moment.

Ramsey started in Arsenal’s midfield after recovering from an ankle injury, but all eyes were on Welbeck’s first appearance for the Gunners.

His first touch was greeted with a roar of approval from home fans and expectation continued to grip the Emirates Stadium as Alexis tested Hart from long range.

Somehow Aguero threaded a path between three defenders, but the angle was too tight to produce a meaningful shot and Arsenal immediately renewed their offensive.

Welbeck failed to connect with Mesut Ozil’s delicate pass and moments later the England forward had a glorious chance to put Arsenal ahead after intercepting Silva’s ill-judged back pass. Only Hart stood between Welbeck and a debut goal but his attempted chip drifted on to the left post.

Arsenal had bristled with intent in a superb start, but City’s ability to threaten on the counter was highlighted when Navas broke clear and forced a key clearance from Per Mertesacker.

Moments after Alexis had almost ghosted through City’s defence, the champions struck a clinical opening goal after a 50-50 clearance in midfield looped over to an unmarked Navas on the right wing.

The Spaniard set off and delayed his pass perfectly for the arriving Aguero to slide his shot past Szczesny.

Szczesny then had to prod clear a shot by Silva after Pablo Zabaleta exploited Arsenal’s left flank – and particularly outclassed full-back Nacho Monreal – once again.

Aguero’s goal had clearly deflated the Gunners and it was not until the opening exchanges of the second half that they threatened again – only for Zabaleta to prevent Welbeck from reaching Alexis’ cross.

Just as Arsenal appeared to be fading once more, they struck a 63rd-minute equaliser through Wilshere.

Aguero lost the ball in midfield and Alexis pounced, threading a pass to Ramsey who found Wilshere. The England international still had work to do, but he expertly rounded Clichy with a wonderful touch before lofting the ball over Hart.

And 11 minutes later Wilshere was involved as Arsenal surged ahead through Alexis, who volleyed his team-mate’s header into the net after a failed clearance from Vincent Kompany.

Demichelis capitalised on poor defending to plunder City’s equaliser and Arsenal were relieved to see the flag go up after their former player Nasri stabbed the ball into the net in stoppage time.

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Source: Sky Sports

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The summer started with the reigning African player of the year accusing City of disrespecting him on his birthday. He later slammed the club for allegedly denying him time to be with his sick brother Ibrahim who eventually died of cancer.

His agent Dimitry Seluk had threatened that the influential midfielder would leave the club after claiming the English champions treated him like ‘a nobody’ during his birthday at a title celebration attended by Arab owner Sheikh Mansour.

Things did not get any better for the 31-year-old at international level as the Elephants were knocked out in the group stage of the World Cup.

But speaking on the club’s pre-season tour of America, Toure said all that was now behind him and he wants to stay at City and aim for more glory in the new campaign.

“It was not a case of me wanting to leave the club. I stayed quiet and at the end of the day it’s my decision. I will stay at Manchester City for as long as possible,” Yaya said.

“The matter is closed now. The most important thing was to try to focus again. Now I’m very happy to join the team and the manager. Everyone is very positive.

Yaya and brother Kolo play through pain at the World Cup after the death of Ibrahim.

“This year is going to be fantastic. We’ve got some fantastic players coming in and important players are staying. If you want to be the best you need to win every trophy possible, and the Champions League is a target this year.”

He added: “We know we are the team to beat. This year will be amazing because I’m expecting something – I’m expecting trophies this year.”

Most difficult for Yaya has been the pain of losing a loved brother, but he insists he and his family must now try and move on.

“He has been sick for two years,” he said. “But he knew I loved football and he was telling me, ‘go to the World Cup and enjoy it. If you stay with me and don’t participate in the World Cup I would not be happy. I would love to see you doing your best and trying to help the country’.

“He loved football. When he was sick in Manchester he was watching every game I was playing in. After them I was coming to see him in hospital.

“With the loss of my brother it was quite hard. I’m a Muslim, I believe in God. Sometimes you can have everything, but this was a difficult situation.

“Unfortunately it was a difficult summer for my family. When you lose a brother it is always difficult and he was young too. We were very sad, all the family. We need to move on and pray for him.”

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Source: AP

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The use of vanishing spray was one of the big talking points to emerge from the World Cup in Brazil this summer when it was used by referees to mark out a distance of 10 yards for defensive walls at free-kicks.

UEFA has already decided to adopt it for Champions League games this season and the Premier League has now followed suit.

The bright white foam, which remains in view for around one minute before evaporating, was invented by Brazilian Heine Allegmagne.

Allegmagne worked with a company to concoct the spray from vegetable oil derivatives and it was used for the first time in a competitive match in Belo Horizonte as far back as 2000.

He has now obtained the international patent for the firm, with the spray already widely used for matches in Brazil and Argentina.

The spray costs around £3 per can, with FIFA taking 320 of these for the World Cup in Brazil.

Allegmagne said: “The Eureka moment came when I was listening to the radio and the commentator was talking about the wall not staying back. It came to me I could do something.

“I wanted to solve a technical problem that had been plaguing football for more than a century. The big historic moment came in 2000 when the spray was first used here in Belo Horizonte.”

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Source: Sky Sports

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The Welshman helped Real secure the Champions League last season and will link up with Rodriguez, who completed a £63m move to the Bernabeu this week after some impressive displays for Colombia in the World Cup.

Bale learned his trade in the Premier League, proving his worth during spells at Southampton and Tottenham before joining Real in a record breaking £85.3m switch last September.

He faces Barcelona’s top stars such as Lionel Messi, Xavi, Neymar and Iniesta on a regular basis and feels the best talent has been lured to La Liga.

“For me I think the Spanish league is the most exciting,” he said. “It’s the world’s top players there. Barcelona, Real Madrid are always in the Champions League, either winning it or coming very close.

“The Premier League is a great league. I think it’s very close, but yeah I think we are attracting the best players now to La Liga and it’s making it more exciting and it’s great to be involved in it.”

Bale is also excited about Madrid’s prospects for the upcoming season as they prepare for the International Champions Cup in the USA.

“We enter six competitions and we want to win every one,” he said. “That would be amazing. We are hungrier than ever.

“No team has retained the Champions League so we want to do that.

“And there is a special touch for me because the Super Cup (against Sevilla) is in my home town (Cardiff). Hopefully we can do the job and get the trophy.”

The arrival of James Rodriguez and Toni Kroos will lead to intense competition for places at Real, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Angel Di Maria, Isco, Karim Benzema and Bale already in town.

Bale said: “James is a great signing. He has shown what quality he has in the World Cup and hopefully he can produce for Real Madrid what he did for Colombia.

“It’s for the manager to decide what system we play and who plays. You need to perform well to keep your place, everyone knows that.”

Bale may not be fluent in Spanish but says he feels very settled at Madrid..

“It’s very difficult when you first come over,” he said. “But they are such a great bunch of boys in the changing room here and they made me feel welcome.

“A lot of them speak English, which helped me.

“Getting used to the climate was quite a big change but I have a great team around me, which helps.

“I took a bit of time to settle in but I feel very comfortable now.

“It is exactly what I hoped for at Real Madrid. I still need to learn the language but that will come in time.”

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Source: Sky Sports

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The strip remains in the club’s traditional colours – red, white and black – with a new-look white collar.

There is also a small label inside the back of the neck with the message ‘youth, courage, greatness’, which is said to signify the club’s values.

Southampton, West Ham United and Liverpool appear to have embraced the past with their new designs.

The Saints have returned to red-and-white stripes, while the new home shirt of the Hammers is similar to that worn in 1985-6, when they finished third in the old First Division, their highest top-flight placing.

Liverpool have gone for a yellow-coloured second shirt.

Everton’s new home jersey features a retro collar while promoted Queens Park Rangers have gone for thinner blue and white hoops.

Others to unveil this season’s colours so far include Chelsea, Stoke City, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa.

Manchester United are in the final year of their agreement with Nike, who are thought to be one of three companies competing to win the new rights when the current deal expires.

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Source: BBC Sport

Photographs courtesy Manchester United Official Website

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