About a fortnight ago, a contingent of armed military personnel set fire to the equipment used for sand winning in the Dalun River, a tributary of the White Volta.

The action was allegedly taken by the military after several warnings to sand winners to stop their illegal activity close to the river yielded no results.

Mr. Nitiwul had indicated on the floor of Parliament that action was undertaken to bring an end to the menace of sand winning.

He said the soldiers had to resort to such an action to deal with the recalcitrant illegal miners.

“Their aim was to arrest the illegal miners, illegal sand winners and prosecute them like they have been doing elsewhere, but each time the people run away and they even dug more. Even those who were legally given the license were asked to stop and they have, but in this case it was worse off because they did not even have any permit to go there.”

“They were operating illegally. They did not have the permit. The Military went there for the fifth time and decided that they were sending a very strong signal to anyone who decides that they will take the law into their own hands,” he explained on the floor of Parliament.

Mr. Muburak, in a rebuttal on Eyewitness News condemned the move, saying the Minister failed to resort to due processes in bringing sand winning activities in the area to an end.

The MP believes the move was disrespectful to the affected persons and constitutes a violation of their human rights.

“What has happened is an egregious violation of human rights of people who are working hard to fend for their families. It was a complete disrespect for the people in the area because one would think that the chiefs, who are custodians of the land will be consulted in any matter that had to do with a military operation in the area. Nothing like that happened!”

“Also, the Minister of Defence had challenged persons who were unhappy about the move to go to court, but I am wondering whether he knew that we had laws in the country before sending the military to go and destroy the 14 tipper trucks. Why did he not resort to the laws that he asked others to resort to?”

Mr. Mubarak said the affected persons will soon file a suit challenging the decision, saying “We are engaging lawyers and you know that in such a case one has to gather a water tight case.”

“We believe that this is not the way to run a country especially in the 21st century. They are taking us into the dark age where things were done arbitrarily,” the MP added.

–

By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Ras Mubarak slams Nitiwul for justifying burning of tipper trucks appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The earth moving equipment, which were being used for illegal sand winning activities in the Dalun River, were set ablaze by some soldiers who are members of the government’s Operation Vanguard task-force in the Kumbungu District of the Northern Region.

[contextly_sidebar id=”yhmHOfbVHPuITeZWHeAwM789yMqUYULC”]In a statement on Tuesday, the Regent of Dagbon, Kampakuya-Naa Andani Yakubu Abdulai, called on President Akufo-Addo to set up a committee to investigate the actions of the task -force.

Reacting to the statement, Mr. Mubarak was of the view that although the task-force had the backing of the state, it ought to act within the confines of the law.

He also said Operation Vanguard should have taken into account the poverty levels in the area.

“The area is one that has been through acute levels of poverty and one would expect that the state would be measured in dealing with some of these things. Nobody is asking the state not to deal with people who are violating our laws, but as [the Regent of Dagbon] indicated in the statement, it has to be done within the confines of the law. You cannot the cite the law and go and do things as if you are in the stone age era,” the MP said.

Mr. Mubarak is among Minority MPs from the Northern Region who have said they want the Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul, summoned before Parliament to explain why the military personnel set ablaze the heavy duty equipment.

Security threat

The Northern Regional Minister, Salifu Saeed, explained that the soldiers had classified the sand winners as a security threat hence their action, after several warnings fell on deaf ears.

The water pumping station at Dalun, risks being shut down because of the sand winners, and the Northern Region REGSEC had given the sand winners several warnings to leave the area as far back as December 2017 but to no avail.

“I warned them, I gave them an ultimatum in December [2017] that they should move out of the site. We used a diplomatic approach because we wanted them to abide by the law and also consider the situation,” the Minister told Citi News.

–

By: Naa Kwarma Siaw Marfo/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Burning of tipper trucks: Ras Mubarak backs calls for probe appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, Mr. Ussif further clarified that the training programme engaged 17 individuals from “all youth agencies” as well as persons from academia and corporate Ghana.

The programme involves a series of workshop sessions geared towards exploring solutions towards reducing youth unemployment.

In Parliament on Thursday, Ras Mubarak raised issues with the amount spent on the programme which translates to about GHc 1.3 million.

Speaking on Eyewitness News later on, he said, “as far as I am concerned, it is completely an outrage to have spent over GHc 1.6 million for 13 officials to travel to the USA for a training programme at a time where the National service Secretariat cant even meet its obligations as far as paying the allowance of service personnel are concerned.”

The MP also said there was some policy incoherence because Ghana has “other agencies of government whose business it is to build the capacity of youth and provide them with training.”

Workshops are to tackle unemployment

Mr. Ussif, however, defended the move to resort to MIT saying the government was responding to Ghana’s unemployment problem and it believed the series of workshop’s at MIT presented a solution.

“All this was put together for us to have a two-year intensive workshop to come out with a module that will be feasible for sponsorship from any donor funding… all these efforts are to reduce the youth unemployment in this country,” he explained.

Mr. Ussif maintained further that MIT has “the potential of helping us with the research and analysis to be able to come out with a feasible module.”

He added that these five-day workshops, which sees the 17 persons fly to the US sporadically, are to continue until 2019.

–

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

The post NSS boss justifies $300,000 expenditure for MIT programme appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The former radio presenter over the weekend married Huseina Mubarak, the daughter of his colleague National Democratic Congress [NDC] MP, and Minority Chief Whip, Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak.

Some media reports had suggested that Mubarak had married a second wife. But in a Facebook post today [Monday], Ras Mubarak discounted such reports, noting that he had parted with his first wife before the ceremony over the weekend.

He said although he was a firm believer in polygamy as a Muslim, he can only be said to have one wife and not two.

“I’ve just woken up to news that I married an additional wife yesterday. Let me put it on record that – though I am unapologetically a believer in polygamy and my religion, and my proud Dagbon tradition and culture permit polygamy, – I just remarried yesterday after my wife then, packed out and sued for divorce a few weeks before the 2016 election. – While we appreciate the media interest in reporting what is news, we wish to encourage the media to report what is factual. Mrs. Huseina Mubarak, – my new and only wife – and I, are very grateful to colleagues from the NDC and NPP, friends, family and everyone who supported us in diverse ways. May God bless us all and strengthen every marriage,” he said in the Facebook post. 

The colorful ceremony, held in the Ashanti Regional capital, Kumasi, was witnessed by close family and friends of the couple.

–

By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post I’ve no 2nd wife; I remarried after divorce – Ras Mubarak appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to him, the framers of the constitution should have made provisions for the oath to be recited by the acting President when the need arises.

[contextly_sidebar id=”ihXhF25OcKqn9bXaWi4DCC9uW0CkocQa”]“They should have made provision in the case of someone who is acting, because what the Chief Justice sort to do was to alter the oath to fit the exigencies of the situations, I mean he has not been elected,  the oath says that whoever is being sworn in will say, ‘having be elected to the high office of President’, we have a situation where the Speaker, who is going be acting was not elected to the high office of president, so in this case that has that has to be altered,” he said.

He also questioned the constitutionality of the swearing at Parliament, and wondered if the Chief Justice has the power to alter the constitution in the sense to meet the demand of the situation at hand.

“Now, here is the case she has read something that cannot be found in the constitution, in such a situation what is the interpretation, does she have the legal backing, does she have the constitutional mandate, to alter elements of the constitution?” he asked.

He also said the absence of the President does not incapacitate him from going about his function as the President of the country.

“We live the 21^st century and I think the President can issue an instruction to any of his ministers to the Chief of Staff, from wherever he is, and the fact that he is not physically present in the country will not invalidate the things that he may have given instructions for,” he said.

He concluded that the alteration of oath is something they, the Minority, wants the general public to think about and in due time, their line of action with regards to that, will be made known.

Speaker needs only Oath of Secrecy to act as President – Majority Leader

Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, has suggested that future Speakers of Parliament who may have to act as President be allowed to take only the Oath of Secrecy.

At the moment, Speakers of Parliament who serve as acting President in the absence of both the President and the Vice, are to take only the Oath of Office.

But speaking on the floor of Parliament on Sunday after Professor Michael Oquaye was sworn in as acting President, Mr. Mensah-Bonsu said the country could take a second look at the arrangement.

He argued further that the Speaker of Parliament is already administered the Oath of Allegiance when sworn in as Speaker of Parliament.

“The Speaker did not take Oath of Secrecy. For the Oath of Allegiance, the Speaker has already taken it, so I would want to plead that going forward, whenever he has to be sworn in, he does not need to take the Oath of Allegiance because he has already done so as a Speaker. What he didn’t do was the Oath of Secrecy that is done by the President.”

“So I would think that, going forward, when the Speaker has to be sworn in as a President, the Oath of Secrecy would have to be admitted. It has never been done, but I guess we can improve our own procedures,” the Majority Leader stated.

Controversy over swearing-in

The law concerning the swearing-in was breached by a former Speaker of Parliament, Doe Adjaho in 2014, when he refused to take the oath of office as acting President at a point.

Both President Mahama and his Vice Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, had traveled outside the country at the time.

This compelled the Managing Director of Citi FM, Samuel Atta-Mensah, and a United States-based Ghanaian lawyer, Prof. Kwaku Asare, to file a suit at the Supreme Court, to among other things, seek an interpretation of Article 60 (12) of the 1992 Constitution, which requires that the Speaker takes the oath of office each time he is to act as President.

The Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, declared that the Speaker of Parliament, Mr. Edward Doe Adjaho, violated Article 60 (11)-(12) of the 1992 Constitution when he declined to be sworn in to act as President.

The nine-member panel, presided over by Justice Sophia Akuffo, also averred that the “Speaker of Parliament shall always, before assuming the functions of the Office of President when the President and the Vice-President are unable to perform their functions, take and subscribe to the oath set out in relation to the Office of President”.

Some have however insisted that the law is obsolete, considering that a President on an international assignment remains a President, and so he or she doesn’t need anyone to act in his absence.

–

By: Farida Yusif/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post CJ’s ‘altering’ of Oquaye’s swearing in oath ‘illegal’ – Ras Mubarak [Video] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The MP said at the moment, the authorities are not allowing independent observers as “the country is putting a lot of restrictions.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”FCaEk84W3dDKHBlP7B87YOWwghuZO6dm”]But if the opportunity arises, Mr. Mubarak said he would seize it.

“It wouldn’t be an option off the table. It is something I would look at again, and if the need arises to go to Myanmar and see for myself, and up the activism against this grotesque killing of people, why not? I will be happy to do that,” he said on Eyewitness News.

“As a Muslim, I care about human beings. It is a human rights issue. It has absolutely nothing to do with religion or politics, and we have got to be each others keeper.”

Mr. Mubarak has been passionate about the escalating humanitarian crisis in Myanmar, and he led his pressure group on a demonstration on Monday in Ghana’s capital, Accra.

They have accused world leaders of turning a blind eye to the happenings in Myanmar, and they presented a petition to the Israeli Embassy in Ghana, who they accused of supporting the Asian state with weapons.

Rohingyas have been fleeing attacks in Western Myanmar, specifically Rakhine state, which began on August 25, 2017.

The military has been accused of burning Rohingya villages, but the army has explained that it is only responding to attacks by militants and not targeting civilians.

–

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

The post I won’t mind visiting Myanmar over Rohingya crisis – Ras Mubarak appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

He said this in response to claims by the current acting NYA Chief Executive, Emmanuel Asigiri, who said he discovered a bugging device in his official vehicle which Mr. Mubarak previously used.

Mr. Asigiri, who said he intercepted the device when he sent the vehicle for servicing, questioned why Mr. Mubarak failed to inform officials at the Authority of the bugging device.

[contextly_sidebar id=”I6aHW9ys4k2vHKa6OMqUc5FAL0WLwxni”]But Ras Mabarak in a statement said he also installed a similar device in the NYA office but removed it after the NDC lost power.

He added that he also asked his driver to get a mechanic to remove the one fixed in the vehicle.

“I installed security devices in my office and my official car in 2013 when I took over. The device in my office was secretly planted while the tracker on the vehicle was done in the full glare of staff of NYA including official drivers. I was not the only person who had access to my office. Cleaners at NYA came to clean offices in the evening after close of work.”

“I personally uninstalled the devices in my office when I was leaving, and directed my official driver to take the car to the workshop (I’m not a mechanic) and have them uninstall the tracking device in the official vehicle. It’s ridiculous for anyone to suggest that I had installed a device to bug or track an NPP appointee, albeit a very obscure member of government,” he added in the statement.

This comes on the back of a similar audio visual device found in the office of the current Minister of Lands and Natural Resource, Peter Amewu.

The former sector Minister, Inusah Fuseini, subsequently claimed that he fixed the device for his own security but said it was not functional.

Below is the full statement from Ras Mubarak:

Let’s separate facts from fiction:
1. I installed security devices in my office and my official car in 2013 when I took over. The device in my office was secretly planted while the tracker on the vehicle was done in the full glare of staff of NYA including official drivers.

2. I was not the only person who had access to my office. Cleaners at NYA came to clean offices in the evening after close of work.

3. My office keys were left with the security every evening after close of work. Wouldn’t I be naive not to have had recording devices in my office? How could I tell what went on when I wasn’t in the office and cleaners I don’t know from anywhere had unfettered access to my office?

4. I personally uninstalled the devices in my office when I was leaving, and directed my official driver to take the car to the workshop (I’m not a mechanic) and have them uninstall the tracking device in the official vehicle.

5. It’s ridiculous for anyone to suggest that I had installed a device to bug or track an NPP appointee, albeit a very obscure member of government.

6. I handed over to JK Manu, a public servant who at the time of my departure was the senior-most staff at the NYA and not to the current acting CEO.

7. Has the current Acting Head of NYA found out from his predecessor if he knew there was a device? Has he found out from the drivers if they knew of the device in the car and how long it had been there?

8. In all humility if I wanted “dirt” on a member of the new government, he’s the least person of interest to me.

The fuss about me bugging or tracking his movements is just empty noise to take away attention from the embarrassing flop of the homecoming summit his government organized; they want to divert attention from the insults the Deputy Minister rained on Ghanaians in the diaspora and the utter disrespect and arrogance already demonstrated by a section of the Akufo Addo government; the corruption that’s engulfed the government, the U-Turn upon U-Turn and broken and failed promises of his government.

–

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

The post Ras Mubarak admits fixing spying device at NYA but… appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Casely-Hayford has been cited for a possible contempt of Parliament after he said at a programme that Ghana’s Parliamentarians make “stupid decisions” and that he would have demolished it and turned it into a tourist site if given the chance.

He has subsequently apologized explaining that he didn’t mean to attack Parliament and that he went “over the top.”

“I indeed went over the top, I do apologize for that. I used some language which I supposed I should not have used. I unreservedly apologize because in matured conversation, when you say something that you offend somebody and you are prompted, the least you can do is to say I’m sorry, it wasn’t meant to be offensive, this is where I was going and if it came out the wrong way then I do apologize sincerely, I have no reservation doing that,” he said on Eyewitness News.

[contextly_sidebar id=”d2DxYWISGvvSCRGPulh69II7SjQYTpFL”]But the Member of Parliament for the Kumbungu constituency, Ras Mubarak, who drew the Speaker of Parliament’s attention to Casely-Hayford’s comments described the apology as “weak.”

“It’s a very weak attempt to water down the impact of the sort of very outrageous things he said. A person with his pedigree and stature shouldn’t be making sweeping comments, very derogatory comments, comments that impugn the reputation of parliament. And I think he knew what he was doing. Again the suggestion that we should break down Parliament; that is like encouraging vandalism, he fumed.

Ras Mubarak insisted that, Casely-Hayford’s comments were meant to “impugn the integrity of Parliament and I’m sure he was excited when he was getting all the applause.”

“I see what he is doing now is an attempt to water down what he said. The most important thing is that it’s been raised on the floor of Parliament. We are hoping that leadership will deal with it with a lot of alacrity so that tomorrow people will respect the integrity and authority of Parliament,” he added.

–

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

The post Sydney’s apology to Parliament ‘weak’ – Ras Mubarak appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Although the US Embassy in Ghana has clarified that the rules already existed and were not new as has been suggested, Ras Mubarak wants the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, hauled before the House to answer some questions.

[contextly_sidebar id=”ae8SCpWuBDlmQL3qwpEMsLVLgZUZgryW”]The MP also wants the US to review such a policy.

“It’s not surprising because we have over glorified them and given them a sense of self-importance about their country. So they feel they can disrespect us anyhow,” he said.

Ras Mubarak further described the US visa arrangement as disrespectful“to Ghana.

Former presidents won’t queue for visas – US Embassy

This comes shortly after a clarification issued by the Press Attaché of the U.S. Embassy in Ghana, corrected indications that protocol arrangements for Ghanaian high-level state officials on personal visits had changed.

Though the U.S. law states that anyone traveling to the U.S. must appear for an in-person interview, it also stated that there are few exceptions in which courtesies may be extended, including that of former presidents and diplomats some courtesies.

The law makes a distinction between travelling on official business and applying for a new visa for personal travel.

–

By: Joy Notoma/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Mubarak wants Ayorkor Botchwey summoned over US visa rules appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.