The former President on his Facebook page indicated that though many social media pages are using his name or a combination of his official names, his official Facebook Account and Twitter Handle remain @JDMahama.

The President clarified that any other account is “unauthorized and unknown” to him or his office.

Don’t use my name for personal interests – Mahama warns

In 2017, the former President issued a similar caution to party members when he warned that persons seeking to solicit information from other party executives and members under the pretext that they are being sponsored by him to desist from such acts.

A statement from the office of the former President indicated that “some members of the party are seeking to solicit information from executives and members of the NDC, claiming that they are being sponsored by the Office of HE John Dramani Mahama.”

The statement , which was signed by special aide to the President , Joyce Mogtari, advised the culprits to desist from such acts, saying “we wish to strongly advise them to desist from such acts of impersonation and misinformation, particularly as we all continue to work towards reorganizing the party across the country.”

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The debate on this subject was reignited after some key personalities including former President John Dramani Mahama and former Chief of Staff, Kwadwo Mpiani, suggested that the country may be missing out on some competent persons by limiting the pool of potential leaders.

[contextly_sidebar id=”oRCISGaVqfocAHv0YJyz7JK7HJ8oXxeM”]Mr. Mahama, who was speaking at the Commonwealth Africa Summit in London on Wednesday, 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,” the President had stated in a tweet.

Mr. Kwesi Prempeh however believes that, generally, there are more pressing areas where age restrictions are a problem, and such must be tackled first.

In his view, the restriction on the age for presidential aspirants is not a pressing need, and that the government must focus on creating jobs for the youth and not giving them more opportunities to contest for political office.

“There are a lot of age-related discrimination and exclusion in our systems that should be handled first. I do not rank not allowing 18 year olds , 20 year-olds to run for President as one of them. I don’t see what existing problem there is that this proposal seeks to solve”.

The lawyer further argued that the real challenge former President and Mr. Mpiani sought to highlight with their proposal was the high rate of youth unemployment which had not been tackled by successive governments.

He indicated that it will be arbitrary to scrap age limits to pave way for younger ones,while the major challenge of youth unemployment remains.

“I think it is really about finding jobs for the youth, create youth employment. It is not about making politics attractive to the youth. That is not where we should be headed. We should be really looking for jobs in the economy. Building on an economy that creates jobs for the youth where they can get to experience life and then after some season we should be looking for jobs in the economy and then after a certain season enter politics . One cannot judge one’s qualification to be President at 18. It is arbitrary.”

Ghana’s president’s under the 4th 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: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The meeting was prior to their deployment to the various polling centres in the country.

Mr. Mahama, who is leading the Commonwealth Observer Group, urged his team members to observe the voting guidelines set by the National Electoral Commission, emphasising that the Group’s focus just like all others, is for a successful, free and fair election.

Mr. Mahama and the Group also continued with their consultative meetings with stakeholders, which they believe to be crucial ahead of Wednesday’s elections.

Sixteen (16) Presidential Candidates are taking part in the elections in Sierra Leone, with 789 candidates vying for the 144 parliamentary seats.

Some 3.17 million registered voters are expected in the polls, out of the country’s estimated population of 7 million.

Voting will be taking place at 11,122 polling stations across Sierra Leone in the March 7, 2018 polls.

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Addressing a gathering of NDC members at Somanya after the party’s 6th unity walk aimed at reorganizing the party ahead of the 2020 elections, the former President said the government had failed in fulfilling its promises on many levels, including paying road contractors working on various projects across the country.

“NPP promised the moon but has not even delivered clouds and so it makes your goodwill dwindle so fast …I know that when we were here, we were working on asphalt upgrading roads in Somanya and Odumase. I saw the contractor’s asphalt plants parked by the roadside and you will be surprised that for nearly two years the contractors have not been paid their money and so the work has come to a standstill, ” the former President complained.

Mr. Mahama further stated that the NDC lost the 2016 elections due to apathy within its ranks.

“NPP did not win that election; we[NDC] lost it because apathy was created in our ranks. Many of our people said they will not come out and vote.”

He therefore called on teeming party supporters to eschew acrimony which contributed to the party’s defeat, and forge ahead for victory in the 2020 elections.

“If you take the 2016 elections, we lost more than 1 million votes. It means that many of our supporters refused to come out and vote.  I want to apologize to everybody to forget about what anybody did to you. It might have been your party Chairman, your party secretary. It might have been me. I want to apologize.”

Mahama slams gov’t over ‘high cost’ of fuel

The former President also criticized the Akufo-Addo government for its inability to stabilize the price of petroleum products to the satisfaction of Ghanaian consumers.

Mr. Mahama warned that the high price of fuel, particularly Liquefied Petroleum Gas, had long-term degrading effects on the environment because of the cheaper, but more destructive alternative of charcoal.

“We were told that it [petrol] was too expensive and that 50 percent of the petrol was made up of taxes alone and that when they win and come into office, they would remove the taxes so that petrol will [be cheaper]. Today petrol is selling at GHc 22 per gallon.”

“I am even more concerned about LPG because LPG was about GHc40 before December 7. Today LPG is more than GHc80. What it means is that for those who cannot afford LPG, they will go back to using charcoal and we all know the implications of using charcoal. When you use charcoal, it degrades the environment and so government should do something about the price of LPG particularly,” the former President stated.

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Mr. Mahama also warned that the high price of fuel, particularly Liquefied Petroleum Gas, had long-term degrading effects on the environment because of the cheaper, but more destructive alternative of charcoal.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Lw42bZ6V4XmqGv71Excq4qdLKlcIBjWD”]Speaking at the latest in the series of National Democratic Congress unity walks in the Eastern Region, he reminded the New Patriotic Party of its promise to relieve Ghanaians of such burdens.

“We were told that it [petrol] was too expensive and that 50 percent of the petrol was made up of taxes alone and that when they win and come into office, they would remove the taxes so that petrol will [be cheaper]. Today petrol is selling at GHc 22 per gallon.”

“I am even more concerned about LPG because LPG was about GHc40 before December 7. Today LPG is more than GHc80. What it means is that for those who cannot afford LPG, they will go back to using charcoal and we all know the implications of using charcoal. When you use charcoal, it degrades the environment and so government should do something about the price of LPG particularly,” the former President stated.

Mr. Mahama further called on the government to do more to relieve consumers of the pressure.

“We [the NDC government] managed to stabilize the price of fuel in 2016 before we left. Even though we had deregulated, we found a way of making sure that prices remained stable. Now the extent to which [the price of fuel] keep going up is a worry, and so I think it  is something that government should look at.”

Situation on the ground

Checks by Citi Business News at some major Oil Marketing Companies showed that petroleum prices dropped by less than GHc1 at the pumps after Parliament passed the Special Petroleum Tax Amendment Bill to reduce that much-criticized tax from 15 percent to 13 percent.

The likes of Total, Shell and Goil were selling at a litre of Petrol at GHc 4.51. This represented a 3.5 percent reduction from the earlier GHc4. 67 pesewas.

Similarly, the price of a litre of diesel dropped from GHc4.67 to GHc4.49.

This meant the average price of a gallon of petrol and diesel at the pumps was about GHc 17, despite Former President Mahama’s assertion that the a gallon of fuel was around GHc 22.

‘Insignificant reduction’

The amendment to the tax followed recent protests on the rising cost of fuel, as well as calls from the minority for the Special Petroleum Tax to be scrapped.

The reduction did little to assuage the fears of some observers like the Institute of Energy Security (IES) and Dr. Charles Wereko Brobby, who slammed the reduction as insignificant.

The observers insisted that the Special Petroleum Tax should be scrapped completely.

About the Special Petroleum Tax

The Special Petroleum Tax Law was passed in 2014 as part of tax measures adopted by the government at the time to increase revenue generation and improve efficiency on revenue collection from petroleum products.

The Tax was initially set at 17.5%, but was reviewed downwards by 2.5 percent in the 2017 budget.

The law authorizes the Ghana Revenue Authority to collect the tax, which would be paid into the Consolidated Fund.

The petroleum products to be affected, according to the Finance Ministry include petrol, diesel, liquefied petroleum gas, natural gas and kerosene.

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The twenty-year-old starlet, whose real name is Priscilla Opoku-Kwarteng, was returning from Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region when the Jeep she was travelling in collided with a VIP bus, according to police.

A number of Ghanaians took to social media to express their condolences to Ebony’s family and eulogize the artiste, including the President of the Republic, Nana Akufo-Addo who tweeted on Friday: “Saddened by the news of the death of the young, but extremely talented female artiste, Priscilla Opoku-Kwarteng, aka Ebony Reigns”

Saddened by the news of the death of the young, but extremely talented female artiste, Priscilla Opoku-Kwarteng, aka Ebony Reigns.

— Nana Akufo-Addo (@NAkufoAddo) February 9, 2018

Former President John Dramani Mahama also tweeted, expressing his sorrow at the death of the artiste and his love for one of her most popular songs ‘Maame hw3’

RIP #Ebony.
A talented life cut short.
My favourite track on domestic violence and relationships, “maame hwe”.

— John Dramani Mahama (@JDMahama) February 9, 2018

This was followed from by tributes from Vice President, Mahamadu Bawumia.

My deepest condolences to the family of the songstress Priscilla Opoku-kwarteng known in the entertainment industry as @ebony_reigns and the families of the other two who lost their lives in the gory accident at Mankraso, last night.

May their souls rest in peace .

— Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia (@MBawumia) February 9, 2018

Fatal accident

Ebony was travelling with three other people, two of whom have also been confirmed dead. The two include a young lady, Ebony’s assistant, and a man in military uniform believed to be a soldier.

The driver of the Jeep survived the crash, but is currently unconscious and receiving treatment, according to police.

Known for her risqué onstage acts and vivacious performances, Ebony captivated Ghanaians with her hit singles which included Maame Hwԑ, Kupe, Poison and Sponsor.

Celebrities mourn

Other celebrities have also tweeted about their shock at her death and sympathized with her family and loved ones.

Rest well ebony , I hope they are happy now !!

— Dr.Sonnie Badu D.D (@SonnieBaduuk) February 9, 2018

We’re going to be sad for a very long time…. R.I.P Ebony..

— Badman Magnom (@MagnomBeats) February 9, 2018

I want to express my heartfelt condolences to the family of Ebony. I pray that the Lord comforts them in this hard time. Let’s kindly desist from circulating photos and videos of the incident. #RIPEBONY pic.twitter.com/onU3EYk5c1

— Joe mettle (@jmettle) February 9, 2018

R.I.P @Ebony_Reigns My heart goes out to her family. #LastShow pic.twitter.com/QxvRmWMhQy

— Kofi Kinaata (@KinaataGh) February 9, 2018

Suzzy Williams, Terry Bonchaka, Ghetto KB ,Vybrant faya……Ebony

The good dies young? This must stop!

Jesus protect us please

— DKB EBONY (@dkbghana) February 9, 2018

Sorry Ebony

— Pappy Kojo (@PAPPYKOJO) February 9, 2018

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Our sources say the luxury cars arrived on a Global African Airlines cargo plane. The presidential fleet contract was awarded by the John Mahama administration barely a week before they left office.

[contextly_sidebar id=”vv0ok4poaBfOEmy9prN5py0QOSoKJmtz”]The original number of cars ordered was Forty Three [43]. The New Patriotic Party administration, which had attempted to cancel the entire contract but failed due to certain clauses in the contract, managed to reduce the number to 34.

According to government sources, the reduction in the number of vehicles to 34, consequently reduced the initial cost of 9 million dollars by about 3 million dollars, as they have also avoided incurring a judgement debt, by deciding not to cancel the contract.

Background

Back in June 2017, some NDC officials accused the NPP administration of playing double-standards, after news about the presidential fleet emerged, despite an order by President Nana Akufo-Addo, halting the purchase of new vehicles.

The government then explained that it could not be blamed for the presidential fleet because the order had already been placed by John Dramani Mahama administration before they exited office after the elections in 2016.

43 new cars were purchased on NPP’s request – Apaak

Former NDC appointees including Dr. Clement Apaak, who worked at the presidency, suggested that the cars were ordered upon the request of the NPP government during the transition period, a claim the government vehemently denied.

Dr. Apaak noted that, the Mahama administration agreed to the request by Nana Akufo-Addo’s side of the transition team because they had raised concerns about the incoming President’s security.

Contract was signed before transition team was formed

As the back and forth went on between the two parties, Citi News sighted a letter signed by the then Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, authorizing the purchase.

This letter was signed two days before then President; John Mahama, inaugurated the Presidential transition team, which he co-chaired with then President-elect, Nana Akufo Addo.

This revelation appears to have defeated the NDC’s claims that the NPP made the request during the transition period.

Earlier documents sighted by Citi News revealed that, the contract for the new cars for the Presidency was specifically awarded by the Mahama government on the 3rd of January, 2017, to Amalgamated Security Services LTD.

The two-paragraph letter authorizing the purchase was dated December 9, 2016, whereas the transition team was officially inaugurated on December 11, 2016.

Deal authorized by Terkper

The letter noted that, the deal was authorized by the outgoing Finance Minister, Seth Terkper, to take note of the decision to purchase the 43 vehicles “for necessary action accordingly.”

The letter also clearly stated that, the outgoing government had “decided to acquire some vehicles for the incoming administration”.
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By: Ebenezer Afanyi Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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A statement signed by the Information Minister, Mustapha Hamid, said the government was rather “busy fixing the mess and rot that was bequeathed to them by the Mahama government, and does not have the luxury of time to indulge in orchestrations of lies and propaganda.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”kE7eKli8aKQbJf5eDajgeF0V2o2LJhMv”]The office of former President Mahama had issued a statement accusing the government of using the Daily Guide and the Statesman newspapers to attack him over allegations that he is using the African Watch Magazine to discredit the Free SHS policy.

Mr. Mahama’s office said there was a pattern of “spreading ridiculous untruths and a general smear campaign by assigns of government intended to malign the former President to satisfy an obvious political motive.”

But the government in a response denied any association with the said publications.

The statement further affirmed that, “President Akufo-Addo holds all former Presidents of the Republic in high regard, and will continue to treat all of them with dignity and respect, as he has consistently demonstrated since assuming the high office of President of the Republic.”

Find the full statement below

RE: STATEMENT IN REACTION TO MALICIOUS PUBLICATIONS AGAINST H.E. THE FORMER PRESIDENT

Government has taken note of a press statement signed by Joyce Bawah Mogtari, Special Aide to former President John Mahama, and dated January 25, 2018. The statement purports to react to “malicious publications against H.E. the former President”.

Rather, the statement makes a number of baseless allegations against the government and person of the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. Government responds as follows:

1. That, Daily Guide and Daily Statesman are NOT “government sponsored” newspapers. These newspapers have existed for many years, and the ownership of these papers is a matter of public record. Their general stance on political issues is also well known, predating the Akufo-Addo government.
2. That, to proceed on that false premise to attack the President is disingenuous.
3. To specifically allege that President Akufo-Addo is “orchestrating attacks” on the person of the former President “based on lies and pedestrian propaganda” without proof or evidence is unbefitting of a spokesperson of a former President.
4. President Akufo-Addo is busy fixing the mess and rot that was bequeathed to him by the Mahama government, and, therefore, does not have the luxury of time to indulge in orchestrations of lies and propaganda
5. That it is curious for the spokesperson of the former President to be issuing a statement denying that he is attacking the Free SHS programme, whilst that very same statement seeks to disparage the programme.

It is interesting that it is the spokesperson of former President Mahama who is urging Ghanaians to demand from the Akufo-Addo government “an improvement from the poor-governance it is serving this country.” We wish, in answer, to recall the words of the Vice President of the Republic, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, in his address at the New Year School, at Legon, when he stated:

“The question that we should ask is how can you inherit a budget deficit of 9.3% of GDP, proceed to reduce taxes, bring down inflation, bring down interest rates, increase economic growth (from 3.6% to 7.9%), increase your international reserves, maintain relative exchange rate stability, reduce the debt to GDP ratio and the rate of debt accumulation, pay almost half of arrears inherited, stay current on obligations to statutory funds, restore teacher and nursing training allowances, double the capitation grant, implement free senior high school education and yet still be able to reduce the fiscal deficit from 9.3% to an estimated 5.6% of GDP? Quite simple, this is a remarkable achievement and this is what we mean by competent economic management.”

We wish to reiterate that President Akufo-Addo holds all former Presidents of the Republic in high regard, and will continue to treat all of them with dignity and respect, as he has consistently demonstrated since assuming the high office of President of the Republic.

……signed……

Mustapha Abdul-Hamid

Minister for Information

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“We wish to place on record that: Neither President John Mahama nor his office, has any interest in or working relationship with the AfricaWatch Magazine,” a statement from Mr. Mahama’s office said.

[contextly_sidebar id=”yE4FS22VEo39cPjTL6kgQqfTGka5bDCK”]The claims were made by pro-New Patriotic Party [NPP], newspapers, Daily Guide and Statesman.

The statement said the publication was an attempt by the  government “to use false and malicious publications to bring the name of the former President into disrepute.”

It said there was a pattern of “spreading ridiculous untruths and a general smear campaign by assigns of government intended to malign the former President [Mahama] to satisfy an obvious political motive.”

Mr. Mahama has previously spoken of a media cabal against him, and his office has now indicated that such “falsehood” only fuels the perception that the media is “unprofessional and partisan.”

The statement further described Mr. Mahama as a man “deeply concerned about the horrible conditions under which SHS students are living and studying, out of which deaths have been recorded.”

“The Former President’s suggestion and advice to Government has been a call for a National Stakeholders Dialogue to chart a better and befitting way forward. President Akufo-Addo should heed that call, instead of orchestrating attacks based on lies and pedestrian propaganda,” the statement added.

Find the full statement below

STATEMENT IN REACTION TO MALICIOUS PUBLICATIONS AGAINST H.E. THE FORMER PRESIDENT

The Office of HE John Dramani Mahama has taken note of a false publication by two Government sponsored tabloids, Daily Guide and Statesman that the former President of the Republic of Ghana has contracted a magazine, the AfricaWatch to publish what it says are damaging reports about the Free SHS policy.

The said false claim, which has been attributed to the Ministry of Education, has been reproduced by some online news portals, in yet another sponsored attempt by Government to use false and malicious publications to bring the name of the former President into disrepute.

We wish to place on record that:

1. Neither President John Mahama nor his office has, any, interest in or working relationship with the AfricaWatch Magazine.
2. We have not seen or been offered an advance copy of the said publication to know what they have even written about the government’s Free SHS Policy.
3. The claims by the two government-sponsored tabloids and the alleged Ministry of Education statement are nothing but part of the usual set of lies conveniently being told to sway the attention and interest of the Ghanaian people from the dangerous developments of corruption, insecurity, hardships and poor governance by President Nana Akufo-Addo.
4. President Mahama holds the enviable record as a Ghanaian leader who has done more to broaden the frontiers of SHS education than many before him. He began with the implementation of the Progressively Free SHS, implemented the Secondary Education Improvement Programme (SEIP), built Community Day Senior High Schools- the largest addition to our school stock since independence, expanded infrastructure in hundreds of existing Senior High Schools among other interventions.
5. Like most Ghanaians, Mr. Mahama is deeply concerned about the horrible conditions under which SHS students are living and studying, out of which deaths have been recorded.
6. The Former President’s suggestion and advice to Government has been a call for  a National Stakeholders Dialogue to chart a better and befitting way forward.
7.  President Akufo-Addo should heed that call, instead of orchestrating attacks based on lies and pedestrian propaganda.

This Office would also like to point out that it has noted a pattern of spreading ridiculous untruths and a general smear campaign by assigns of government intended to malign the former President to satisfy an obvious political motive.

We condemn this approach and demand an immediate end to it. The media must also know that deliberately spreading such concocted falsehood and helping promote smear campaigns against the former President is worsening the dent and the characterisation of the Ghanaian media as unprofessional and partisan.

We encourage the Ghanaian public to continue to demand from the Akufo-Addo government, an improvement from the poor governance it is serving this country.

SIGNED

Joyce Bawah Mogtari
Special Aide
Thursday, January 25, 2018

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