The PPP wants the President to disclose how much he paid to the evicted persons as compensation as well as declare his assets to the public.

[contextly_sidebar id=”8AXLXZfptL4cAzJaISuuozIJUjlsBI3k”]Speaking a day after the eviction deadline had elapsed, the Director of Operations for the party, Nana Ofori Owusu, said the party was “consulting with lawyers to be able to take this case up.”

“We think that this is a clear case that we can test our constitution and the laws of the land. We are saying that public servants must declare their assets,” he stated on Eyewitness News.

Mr. Owusu argued that the President should have just allowed the state to cater for the compensation.

“When the state declares a place a security zone, it is the responsibility of the state to engage the people and relocate them. President Nana Akufo-Addo paying money out of his pocket is a sheer show of opulence.”

“If the state has declared the place a red zone, why is it that the President must pay out of his pocket? It is irrational. We cant understand this. How is it possible,” Mr. Owusu remarked.

Why Nana Addo paid the compensation

A statement from the president last week explained that the compensation packages were provided from the President’s own pocket because he had taken the view that the national purse should not be burdened.

The statement also said extensive consultations were undertaken between the Office of the President, National Security, and the traders and artisans, before the eviction.

This was in response to concerns that not enough notice was given before the eviction. The compensations were between Ghc3,000 to Ghc10,000, but the total amount paid is unknown.

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

The post Nana Addo paying evictees from his own pocket wrong – PPP appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The anniversary will be held under the theme: “Creating a Viable Alternative Government; The Role of the Progressive Youth.”

This was made known in a statement signed by National Youth Coordinator of PYM, Divine Nkrumah.

The statement said the anniversary will be attended by over 500 Progressive Youth and Youth Leaders.

According to the statement, the programme will serve as the launch pad for acknowledging and strengthening the role of the Progressive Youth towards the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections.

The event is opened to the general public.

“We look forward to meeting you at the 6th Anniversary of the PYM on 25th February, 2018,” the statement concluded.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post PPP’s youth wing to hold 6th anniversary appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Already, the notice of polls for some of the constituency elections are out and indications are that, the elections are going to be keenly contested.

Throwing some light on the elections, the National Secretary of the party, Murtala Mohammed, said there are some hot spots, such as the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) constituency.

According to Mohammed, the KEEA constituency election will be held on Saturday, September 9, 2017 from 8a.m to 4p.m and already the notices of polls are out.

According to the National Secretary, there are about 1,500 paid-up delegates in this year’s KEEA Constituency election in eight zones, including; Eguafo zone, Komenda zone, Kissi zone, Elmina zone, Ntaamoa zone, Abrim zone and Ataabaadzi zone.

He said 22 party members will be contesting various positions in this year’s constituency election and that almost all the positions are being keenly contested.

“All positions, with the exception of secretary and his assistant, are being keenly contested,” he said.

The various positions to be vied for are constituency Chairman, Vice chairman, Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Organiser, Treasurer, Education Secretary, Women’s Coordinator, and Assistant Women’s Coordinator.

Mr. Mohammed said many Ghanaians are showing greater interest in the affairs of the PPP.
He attributed this significant change in the fortunes of the party to the non-impressive performance of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) since it won the 2016 election.
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Source: Daily Graphic

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‘Ghanaians must object to this lackadaisical attitude towards solving problems in this country.  The penchant of successive governments to opt for easier methods of solving problem in this country must not be countenanced.  These shortcuts decisions in a long- run go to affect the country adversely,” the PPP, in a statement signed by its National Secretary, Murtala Mohammed, and issued to the media in Accra yesterday said.

District Assemblies all over the country, the statement noted, are enjoined by law to tow all broken down vehicles on “our roads at a fee” while Section 21 of the Road Traffic Act-2004(ACT 683), indicates the penalty for leaving vehicles or trailers on “our roads,” it said.

And instead of enforcing the law, the PPP said, the government was rather charging Ghanaians to pay an extra levy to solve a problem whose solution already exists.

“We cannot continue to sit aloof and watch while successive governments continue to milk the state with impunity under the guise of parliamentary approval. What happened to consultation of the people?” the statement asked.

According to the statement, Parliament must represent the interest of the people but it said in this particular instance, the decision of Parliament did not represent the interest of Ghanaians and therefore, “we must reject this so-called “advisory report” from the Parliamentary Select Committee on Roads and Transport.”

“The party finds it absolutely preposterous that the law enjoins us to engage the services of only one company – “Road Safety Management Company Limited,” the statement said.

This particular clause inserted into the law, the PPP asserted, was a recipe for corruption which every Ghanaian must be worried about.

“Its public knowledge that the owners of this company are behind the companies in the SUBAH and SADA scandals that caused the country to lose close to 1 billion Ghana cedes during the NDC administration.

“On what basis did the government and Parliament of Ghana come to the conclusion that, that particular company is the only company in the world that can deliver towing services to Ghana?  The district assemblies must contract their own towing companies and collect the approved fees to pay those contractors from fines imposed on offenders. This is not difficult to do and if the government cannot enforce this simple solution, then we will not pay – YENTUA,” the statement stressed.

According to the PPP, the enforcement of the law will rather promote discipline on “our roads since the fees to be imposed on the offenders by the assembly can be designed to ensure compliance with road safety rules.”

The statement also called on government to empower the district assemblies to vote for their DCEs so that they will stand a better chance of enforcing the law and generating revenue for local development.

“We, therefore, call upon Ghanaians to oppose this tow levy by openly speaking against the levy and demonstrate for the revision of the law with immediate alacrity,” the statement concluded.

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Source: Today Newspaper

The post We’ll not pay tow levy—PPP appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

For one, Mr. Ofori Owusu said the fact Mrs. Osei only got acquainted with information pertaining to money accrued and expended during the 2016 election process when she was summoned to Parliament on the matter, did not speak well of her.

[contextly_sidebar id=”KQUSYqgxrkW1YkpJ0ctKG21OxUJavxuo”]”So you are telling me that as a Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, you do not know your balances? You do not know income and outflow? You do not know your expenditure? You do not know your balance book? You do not know you balance book? You do not know who is doing what?”

He insisted on The Big Issue that “when you are a CEO, an MD or a leader, you must be on top of your issues constantly.”

Mr. Ofori Owusu also intimated that Mrs. Osei was ultimately responsible for the recent fracas between commissioners of the EC,  because “the buck stops with you [Charlotte Osei]. All that is good is you. All that is bad is you.”

“At the end of the day, you must take full responsibility. If it is not good, you cannot go saying it was my Finance Director who did this – no.”

The tensions began after aggrieved employees of the EC petitioned President Nana Akufo-Addo to dismiss Mrs. Osei as the EC Chairperson.

Following the loss of some GHc480, 000 from the EC’s Endowment Fund, Mrs. Osei was prompted to ask the Commission’s Deputy Chairperson in-charge of Finance and Administration, Georgina Opoku Amankwah and the Finance Director, Dr. Joseph Kweku Asamoah, to proceed on leave.

This sparked accusations between the commissioners of the EC, including a claim the Deputy Commissioner in-charge of Operations at the EC, Amadu Sulley bagged some GHc 6 million from political parties without informing the Commission’s Finance Department.

‘We should find new managers for the EC’

But in Mr. Ofori Owusu’s view, her responses during the tensions within the EC paint a picture of someone without control.

“You come out to say that you are not in charge. That is what she has come to tell the whole of Ghana. Charlotte Osei has come to tell us she is not in Charge. Otherwise, how could GHc 6 million from political parties go to an individual’s account.”

Thus he said to the EC Chairperson: “If you are not and top and are not on top of issues and you are not capable of managing then we should find new managers.”

There are currently petitions for the removal of the EC Chairperson and Deputy Chairpersons before the Chief Justice.

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

The post Charlotte Osei not on top of EC’s affairs – Ofori Owusu appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to him, Charlotte Osei’s decision to disqualify PPP’s presidential candidate, Papa Kwesi Nduom ahead of the 2016 polls negatively affected the party .

[contextly_sidebar id=”vsF9eArjZISZs6xZ2APHozBDxf51NqXC”]Papa Kwesi Nduom and eleven other candidates were disqualified over some mistakes on their nomination forms ahead of the 2016 general elections.

Following a legal tussle that resulted in the Supreme Court ordering the EC to allow the affected candidates correct the errors and resubmit their forms, Nduom and two other candidates were subsequently allowed to amend errors on their forms hence given the nod to represent their parties in the 2016 polls.

Speaking on Citi FM’s News Analysis Programme, The Big Issue Nana Owusu indicated that the PPP would have performed better if the party’s candidate was not disqualified.

“One of the key things had to do with Charlotte Osei’s issue and how she hurt the PPP’s campaign. All the resources and energy we put in. Going to the ground, making our case to the people, fighting our fight, then the referee becomes the player and the referee is the one who did us in. The CPP is still suffering from the scars of Charlotte Osei’s illegal activity towards us. She is one of the reasons the PPP did not fare well because we had so much momentum.

“Barely a month to election, here goes Charlotte Osei saying that our presidential candidate has been kicked off the ballot and she adduced fraud to our documents that we submitted. Fraud can only be adjudged by a competent court….We were not given opportunity to state our case.”

Nana Owusu, who lost in the parliamentary elections in the Effutu constituency to Afenyo Markin said Charlotte Osei was also responsible for his loss.

“…Charlotte Osei has done a lot of damage to me personally and my career as a politician and the resources I expended at the time. She came and blindsided me in the process.”

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

The post Charlotte Osei caused our defeat – PPP appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The late Major Maxwell Adam Mahama was gruesomely killed on Monday May 29, 2017, after some residents of Denkyira Obuasi in the Central Region claimed they mistook him for an armed robber

He had a weapon on him, which made the residents suspicious of him.

Speaking on ATV’s Anopa Bosuo show with host Nana Yaw Fianko, Richard Nii Armah bemoaned the fact that lynching of suspects has become a culture in Ghana and urged the government to take drastic steps to save innocent souls

“The government should employ more youth in the police service to make the patrol of the various communities a priority. The police service should also be provided with more patrol cars for urgent response.”

“This is getting out of hand,” he lamented.

Richard Nii Armah also believes government can seize this opportunity to make new legislation to curtail instant mob justice.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Police visibility can end lynching of suspects – PPP Executive appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in Bolgatanga of the Upper East Region after meeting with some of the Regional and Constituency Executive which formed the regional council of the party, he explained that the purpose of the re-organization tour was to revitalize the party’s rank and file in order to prepare them adequately for the 2020 elections.

He said as part of the party’s strategies, plans were underway to strengthen their structures from the polling station, the constituency and the regional levels to make them more vibrant.

[contextly_sidebar id=”h6wGdRtvIikKLxjPq9WwbDYBKJYb7hzr”]He explained that the exercise had become necessary because a research conducted by the party revealed that majority of Ghanaians had become disillusioned by both the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Party and New Patriotic party(NPP), saying only the PPP which was a genuine party could salvage Ghanaians from their economic predicaments.

“It has come to the realization of many Ghanaians that it is only the PPP that can effect a positive change by fighting poverty, corruption, provide Jobs and good leadership”.

He said, ‘’Ghana is now becoming a feared state and the PPP condemns in the strongest terms the current lawlessness going on in our country. The Progressive People’s Party will not condone any act of lawlessness from any vigilante group in Ghana. Enough is enough, many people have suffered at the hands of vigilante groups, and it is time to dissolve them. Ghana will not be a breeding ground for terrorist groups. We therefore, demand that, the IGP immediately disband all political party affiliated vigilante groups, and arrest and prosecute members of the groups culpable for causing harm to innocent people and damaging state assets”.

The National Chairman called on Ghanaians to change their voting patterns in 2020 by endorsing the PPP to help restore peace and stability in the country adding that it was regrettable many Ghanaian youth were recently repatriated from Europe and indicated that PPP would create more jobs to cater for them.

On illegal mining in the country, Nii Hammond said PPP was against the illegal activities and indicated that the mining activities had not only polluted the country’s water bodies, but destroyed the environment and farmlands.

He indicated that the party was happy with the media coalition against illegal mining and encouraged them to continue with the concerted effort to help put a stop to “galamsey” in Ghana.

“We want to assure the coalition that they have a reliable partner in the PPP as a party in opposition and PPP as a party soon to be in government. We want to send warning signals to both the private and public sector actors that the environment in Ghana is no longer their playground. We expect the NPP government to gather the political will to prosecute and extradite all foreign “galamseyers” from Ghana so that our farmers can cultivate more crops to improve their individual livelihoods and that of the nation collectively”.

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Source: GNA

The post PPP re-strategises for election in 2020 appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to the PPP, the actions of such persons  undermined the rule of law in Ghana hence must not go unpunished.

“We demand that the Minister of Interior, IGP and the Attorney General bring their staff that did this substandard job to face the full rigours of the law. We recommend a firm action be taken to be taken on people involved in undermining the rule of law in Ghana,” the National Chairman of the PPP, Nii Allotey Brew Hammond said.

[contextly_sidebar id=”cdNI9nXRHpVu2Afg0JDfqrPIwYU1Ttiq”]Addressing the press at the party’s Eastern Regional head office at Koforidua on Thursday Brew Hammond further called on the president and the Attorney General to revisit the case to restore the public’s confidence and trust in the judiciary.

“We are struggling to believe how a State Attorney could arrive at such a conclusion when the jail break did not take place in a secluded area. Where in the world can a vigilante group besiege a court premise and take custody of accused persons in day light for investigators not to have evidence and the Attorney General to filed nolle prosequi in the court. The world is not going to wait for us so we need to get serious in this country.”

The PPP chairman also called on the Supreme Court to act on the issue.

“We call on the Supreme Court to act forcefully for scandalising the court, defying and lowering the authority of the court and bringing the court into disrepute. This should not be tolerated,” he added.

Background

The eight Delta Force members were standing trial for vanderlising a Kumasi court and in the process setting free some of their members who were charged for assaulting the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator.

The Principal State Attorney in the case, Marie Louise-Simmons, who is the representation of the Attorney General, Gloria Akuffo, in her reply to a letter from the prosecutor for her legal opinion on the case, said the charges against the suspects must be dropped because there was insufficient evidence against them.

The court, presided over by Her Honour, Patricia Amponsah, subsequently discharged the accused and dismissed the case.

Condemnation

Meanwhile, government has been criticized over the release of members of the Delta Force.

The Minority in Parliament has earlier called on government to re-arrest the eight persons who were freed describing the release as a travesty of justice.

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By: Godwin A. Allotey & Neil Nii Amatey Kanarku/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Punish persons behind release of Delta Force 8 – PPP appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The party said the contents of the letter was an affront to Ghana’s sovereignty and must be disregarded.

[contextly_sidebar id=”x76EhzNNWHUdLoHB6EEP7wWVzPseIefi”]The Chinese mission in Ghana over the weekend issued a strongly-worded letter to Ghana’s Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, John Peter Amewu, over Ghana’s fight against illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.

The mission in its letter expressed anger at the manner in which Ghana is dealing with the issue of illegal mining and has criticized the media for targeting China in their reportage on the matter.

It said if nothing changes about the nature of campaigns against illegal mining in the country, bilateral relations between Ghana and China would be affected.

It also served a strong caution to the Government that “it will be extremely harmful to the bilateral relations” between the two countries if there are reports of a casualty during the arrest of Chinese involved in illegal mining in Ghana.”

The Mission said the government must minimize the mass arrest of illegal miners and deal with culprits on individual basis.

Campaigns against illegal mining in the country have in the last few months intensified with Citi FM championing a #StopGalamseyNow campaign, that is gaining momentum, rallying various stakeholders to address the menace which has left devastating effects on the country’s environment.

Evidence from media reports and CSOs, including police arrests, suggest the high involvement of Chinese in the activities, but according to the Chinese mission in the country, its [Chinese] government attaches great importance to the illegal mining issue, and is firmly against the involvement of Chinese in illegal mining in Ghana.

The Chairman of the PPP, Nii Allotey Brew-Hammond, said the government must indicate to the Mission that it cannot dictate to the country how it must approach the fight against galamsey.

“It was not very diplomatic. They have channels to our government. And for them to write a letter and have it out in the public, I believe it is a sign of disrespect to our government and our government should take it as such that a letter is coming from an Embassy telling them what to do and what not to do. I believe that we should not take that letter seriously, but we should let them know that they have erred.”

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

The post Chinese mission’s ‘galamsey letter’ disrespectful to Ghana – PPP appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.