Speaking to Citi News’ Duke Mensah Opoku, the Akim Swedru Member of Parliament (MP) implored the Local Government Ministry to probe the intent of the Regional Coordinating Council, and if found culpable, sanction those behind the circular.

[contextly_sidebar id=”0jfSWfZfzCelDNhFTumnEm5aVhCjlMbl”]“We have to investigate to ascertain the purpose. We need to know the rationale for taking that money… So we need to establish that fact first. And if we are able to establish that fact, then the culprits could be sanctioned,” he added.

His comments follow the emergence of a circular that directed Northern Regional MMDCEs to contribute GHc5, 000 each towards the visit of the President; a directive that has since been withdrawn.

Osei Nyarko further described the directive as disgusting.

“For me it’s disgusting. The president hasn’t instructed anybody [to do that]. Government machinery has its own budget. This is not the first time the president is touring the country, he went to the Western Region – he never asked anybody to make any contribution.”

He explained that anytime a president embarks on such trips “he comes with his housemen; and everything that he needs, state protocol has taken care of all those things.”

Group slams Northern RCC over directive

A Local Governance Think Tank, Centre for Local Governance Advocacy, on Monday also called for sanctions against the Northern Regional Coordinating Council for demanding the GHc5,000 each from the 26 assemblies in the region, to support the President’s tour of the area this week.

Speaking to Citi News, the Deputy Executive Director of the Centre, Gladys Naadu Tetteh, said the demands from the Coordinating Council were unfortunate, and steps must be taken to discourage such a practice from becoming the norm.

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

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Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia made these comments at Kaleo in the Nadowli-Kaleo Constituency of the Upper West Region, on Saturday, in obvious response to comments the President also made in the Upper West a day earlier.

[contextly_sidebar id=”K8MtZcHIttNpxYrnJwxauzf1nAhn9XNX”]“President John Mahama tells us that he is our Northern brother; that he is our Northern son and so we should vote for him. He told us this in 2012 and he is back in the Upper West Region and he is spreading the same message, that he is our Northern President. But we have a Northern President who presides over the looting of funds meant for the development of the North, we have a Northern President who presides over the lack of feeding grants for senior high schools in the north, we have a Northern President who is cancelling teacher and nursing training allowances and we have a Northern President who is presiding over so much corruption in this country”, he said.

Dr. Bawumia observed that, Northerners will not be reduced to people who should only be happy because they have a fellow Northerner as President even though the leadership of that Northerner continues to pile up suffering after suffering on Northerners, and said that what Northerners want is leadership that solves their problems and leadership that works for all of Ghana including the people of the North.

“So you can just not tell me that simply because you are a Northerner, I should keep you in office to continue to make me suffer. We will not suffer just to keep President John Mahama in office. We want someone to come to office to solve our problems, not somebody who sits in office and says I am a Northern President so I am going to let them steal your SADA money, cancel your Teacher and Nursing Training Allowances, collapse the National Health Insurance Scheme and not provide any services for your socio-economic advancement; that is not the type of Northern President we want.”

“We want a President of vision, integrity and a President who is honest and a President who will get up and do the work for all the people of Ghana including the people from the 3 Northern Regions”, he added.

The NPP Vice-Presidential Candidate remarked that, not only had John Mahama brought untold suffering on Northerners and failed to show the needed commitment to developing the North and all of Ghana, his leadership had also damaged the Northern brand with corruption and a bad record over all.

“I will rather have a President who advances the interest of the people of the North, I will rather have a President who does things that puts us forward, and that is why we are asking for change.”

“Yes John Mahama is our brother but he has failed us completely. In fact northerners never used to be known as corrupt people. We were always poor but we had integrity, we had honesty and we could never be pointed at as being corrupt. Today we are being pointed at, that brand is being tarnished by President John Mahama who by the way is the worst performing President in the history of the 4th Republic, you can look at the economic data”, he noted.
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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post You’re not the kind of Northern President we want – Bawumia to Mahama appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The airline will be run on a public-private partnership basis, and the transaction advisor is expected to advise government on the ownership structure, funding, business model and routes among others.

The Ministry is currently in the final stages of selecting the winning bid from six transaction advisors that were shortlisted, said Mr. Twumasi Ankrah-Selby, Chief Director of the Transport Ministry.

Government has been keen on creating a new national carrier to tap into the growing aviation industry in Ghana.

The interest also stems from the desire to create jobs, as the aviation industry remains largely labour-intensive.

The country’s aviation industry has been growing at an annual rate of 10 percent in the past decade. International passenger throughput for the 28 airlines flying to Accra hit one million last year. KLM, Emirates, British Airways, Arik and Delta are among the leading carriers in terms of traffic.

“Looking at the growth in the sector over the last decade, if we have a national airline it will generate revenue for the state and help keep some of the profits made by airlines in the country,” Mr. Peter Addai, Air Namibia’s Country Manager, told the B&FT. “We often talk about capital flight, but this is also one of the ways of making money that will stay in the country,” he added.

The bid to launch a new national carrier follows two previous state-owned carriers that collapsed under debt and mismanagement.-

Ghana International Airlines (GIA), the last national carrier that was 70-percent owned by government, ceased operations in May 2010 amid financial challenges and a shareholder dispute.

GIA’s predecessor, Ghana Airways, was once a respected regional and international carrier that was set up in 1958. Years of mismanagement influenced by nepotism and cronyism however brought the airline to its knees, and it was finally liquidated in 2005.

Given this history, analysts believe a new national carrier should be left to private management with little government involvement.

Mr. Ankrah-Selby said a private partner will be asked to take a majority stake and manage the proposed carrier. He said the selection process will be opened up for interested partners to bid, and then government will make a choice.

Source: B&FT

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