Nana Addo in a tweet said : “I’ve received words of congratulation from Mr. Greenstreet, Mrs. Rawlings, Dr. Nduom, Dr. Mahama and Mr. Yeboah.”

Nduom congratulates Mahama

The presidential candidate of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom had congratulated flagbearer of the NPP, Nana Akufo-Addo for emerging winner of the 2016 presidential election.

Although the Electoral Commission is yet to release certified result, Dr. Nduom said results available to him projects Akufo-Addo as winner of the polls held on Wednesday.

“I wish to congratulate Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the NPP for winning the 2016 presidential election based on results available to me. The wind of change has blown in his favour.

The NPP worked hard for this victory.”

He also said “I accept the decision of the people on behalf of the PPP.” “We must all now work hard to make our country great and strong and the people prosperous,” he added in a statement.

Concede defeat

This comes on the back of a call made to the president John Mahama by the NPP at dawn on Thursday that he should concede defeat because figures they have suggest that he has lost.

According to the NPP, figures of about 80 percent of the over 28,000 polling stations they have collated show that Akufo-Addo polled 54.91%.

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

The post ‘Thank you for congratulating me’ – Nana Addo to presidential candidates appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Alarmed by the myriad of chieftaincy, land, political and other related conflicts that have plagued Northern Ghana over the years, Chairman of the Northern Development Fund, Dr. Hakeem Wemah warned of dire consequences of electoral violence in the area after the December 7 polls.

The former Board Chairman of the University for Development Studies (UDS), made the call at a news conference in Tamale, where he officially launched the 2015 Northern Ghana Development Status Report codenamed, “Sustaining the Northern Ghana development agenda in Ghana’s public domain.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”n3MG5tBbgsnE3bXrdpIrOtckSAGYG7kV”]Dr. Hakeem Weimah pinpointed partisan politics as the root cause of conflicts in Northern Ghana though ethnicity, religion, language, land and chieftaincy cannot be overruled.

He said much was desired of government and development partners to address the nagging issues of poverty, unemployment, human right abuses, weak governance and inequality which make locals feel neglected at the decision making processes.

The Northern Development Forum Chairman reechoed the need for the youth of the three regions of the north to shun self seeking politicians who might clandestinely bribe them to foment trouble on elections day.

“The question of peace and stability can never be over-emphasized: it is the sine qua none of the major goals of the NDF and so we would like to call on the youth of the three regions of the north in particular to refuse to be goaded and bribed by unscrupulous, greedy and selfish politicians to cause mayhem.”

“It is most insulting and disrespectful and too callous for them to expect you to lay down your lives for their parochial interest. Yes, indeed you are brave and strong but for once let politicians and war mongers also be brave and strong and go out and fight their own fight,” he stressed.

Dr. Hakeem Weimah cautioned the media against announcing or calling election results ahead of the constitutionally mandated Electoral Commission’s responsibility.

He also challenged traditional rulers, religious and political leaders to guard against problems that could culminate into electoral disputes in their communities.

“To traditional, political, religious leaders and others who hold sway over large populations of this country, consider it is your failure and shame if any problem emanates from your constituency. You must therefore condemn violence and that you will not produce or defend anyone who falls foul of the law.”

“Let me be very candid with you that the general impression in the country about us is that we are a thoughtless, violent people. Aye the cradle of political, ethnic and occasioned religious upheavals. Any trouble in the country post-elections is predicted by all the pundits to likely come from the north,” he bemoaned.

The 2016 Development and Policy status report

According to Dr. Hakeem Weimah, the report was put together by the Northern Development Forum to satisfy concerned citizens growing demand that empirical evidence be provided them regarding the efforts being made to address Northern Ghana’s development agenda.

“Some of these demands are reaching an agitation proportion which has the potential to threaten the peace if a way is not found to give objective feedback and progress being made and suggestions for improving the development activities in the three Northern Regions of Ghana.”

“We also feel that government and development partners and political parties need objective analyses and avenues to dialogue on what needs improving the three regions in particular and the country in general,” he added.
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Dr. Hakeem Weimah said the Northern Development Forum was satisfied with the National Development Planning Commission (NDPCs) 40 year .long term development plan.

He said the report recommended that the NDPC’s long term development plan should ensure equitable distribution of available resources to bridge the developmental disparities between southern and northern Ghana.

“The NDF’s expectation of this process is that of a transformational agenda that will eliminate the historical injustices and imbalances from our colonial experience. We want to see a future in which the prosperity and economic growth of our beloved country is mutually shared across all regions. It is a serious aberration that some parts of this country especially the north continues to be regarded and accepted as poor.”

“The seasonal outflow of able-bodied youth from rural areas and regions of the north to other areas in search of livelihoods and in very precarious conditions is an indictment to our nationhood.”

“We need a vision of national development that prioritizes and harnesses the full potentials of Northern Ghana and every other part of the country and such initiatives should not be tokenistic but all embracing and embedded in national development strategy,” the report highlighted.

Dr. Hakeem Weimah posited that the Northern Development Forum’s policy status report could guide policy makers in their attempt to implement the long term development plan.

“The report reflects on and proposes pragmatic considerations for policy making, national governance, resources allocation and a frame work to measure Ghana’s implementation of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Africa Union Agenda 2063 and the proposed forty year National Development Plan.”

He recalled the first NGOs report focused on agriculture, education, energy and reconciliation and peace building.

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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Election 2016: Northern Development Forum advocates peaceful elections appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Authenticity: Politicians are willing to ignore or bend the truth for votes but we have to be more diligent in learning the good , the bad, and the vision a candidate has to offer. Let’s go for authenticity. Let’s choose a candidate who upholds integrity, credibility and truth, a candidate who is unwilling to compromise and one who is true to his words. As John C. Maxwell says in his book on leadership: “as leaders, we can only lift others up when we’re standing on a firm foundation. Purpose, authenticity, and humility give us a secure, stable base from which to lead.”

Competence: In choosing our President, let us be reminded that he will not only represent us locally but globally. We need to appreciate the essence of experience, strength, courage and competence when making our choice. We cannot have a leader who will make catastrophic mistakes. We do not need an inexperienced President with just spit and fire. Our next President should be able to lead, train and create opportunities and victories for the masses.

Commitment: Commitment always separates doers from dreamers. In John C Maxwell’s view, commitment for a boxer is getting off the mat one more time than you’ve been knocked down. To a marathoner, it’s running another ten miles when your strength is gone. To the soldier, it’s going over the hill, not knowing what’s waiting on the other side. And for a country like Ghana, where there are a host of issues including unemployment, ballooning debt stock, corruption, poverty among others to be addressed, we need to look at the bigger picture; the present state of the economy and settle on a candidate who will be committed to taking us out of the quagmire we find ourselves in.

Passion : Passionate leaders work hard to make things happen. Passionate leaders are willing to sacrifice. Passionate leaders care about the governed and have them at heart. A passionate President will have the equanimity to handle the erratic pressures of the office. Passion makes the difference.

Unity: We cannot make the best choice while ignoring the essence of unity. We are sick and tired of the partisan fist fights, the bickering on tribal lines and deep divisions. We need someone who will bring us [Ghanians] together despite our differences-someone who will not pitch the various ethnic groups against each other. One who will not ignore the importance and diversity persons from various cultures play and offer respectively. We need a unifier.

We need to vote bearing in mind that our choices would definitely have long -term consequences. Let’s make the right choice.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline,com/Ghana , [email protected]
Follow @EfeAnsah

The post Marian Ansah writes: 5 Factors to consider before voting appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Speaking at a campaign rally at Wassa Akropong in the Western Region, President Mahama said the exercise is to ensure the party gains a wider margin of valid votes cast.

[contextly_sidebar id=”LUUk95eVtrYk7K5prDPaRs1Pa92l97OE”]He explained that, after the training, sample of ballot papers would be given to their members to enable them train others.

“This year, I want us to widen the gap. The law states that you can only win with 50% plus, in 2012 we crossed that figure we had 50.7%. But they said the gap was not too much hence the court case which lingered for a while. But if we are able to widen the gap and get 56% or 60% they won’t be able to dispute it,” he added.

Trend of rejected ballots

In the 2012 general elections about 251,720 votes were rejected by the Electoral Commission which made up 2.3 percent of the total votes cast.

Figures from the commission states that as many as 205,438 ballots were also rejected in the 2008 elections. The figure was however more than the votes gained by some of the presidential candidates.

The trend has been a source of worry to stakeholders in the country.

Meanwhile, critics believe that the situation could be reversed through massive voter education exercise nationwide.

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

The post NDC to hire experts to train members on voting appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

I have spoken with different groups of people especially the youth who feel disgruntled with issues of interest in this country.

There are a majority of people who are not involved in political issues but who take delight in discussing political matters and how such discussions can cause a change in government policy for the best in this country.
Its very inspiring to see passionate youth pay much attention to governance issues.

It gives us much hope that we have young folks who have the desire to make things right in this country even though our country seems to be moving towards the wrong direction under our current government led by President John Dramani Mahama.

According to Herbert Hoover, “Blessed are the youth for they shall inherit the national debt.”

In simple terms, let us be ready to pay the cost and debt of bad policies under our current President.

Many have the urge to change the face of governance in this country.

There are people who are of the belief that things will be better in the future to come and a time will come that they can have full trust in the government of this country.

Getting yourself involved in the governance of your country is an individual right that must be well expressed and voting during an election must be well exercised with moral and civic responsibility as a citizen of a State.

There is a huge fraction of our youth who have lost interest in deciding who leads them and how their policy of governance should be directed.

There are others who have no interest in getting themselves involved in the political decisions of their country which directly and indirectly involves voting during elections and most importantly making the world know their point of view during any key decision of government for the larger populace.

There are several people who are of the conviction that their vote makes no difference in deciding who leads them.

They feel their single vote makes no impact and a single vote from them will have no bearing to decide who leads in any elections but the question l ask is simple;

If each person believes that his/ her single vote will have no impact in the general outcome and decides not to vote during election days, will there be a single vote in the ballot box to declare someone a winner of any elections?
Your guess is as good as mine.

A key reason why people fail to Vote during an elections is not just because they feel their vote will have no impact but simply because of the lack of confidence in the people they have reposed confidence in, largely because of previous bad governance and policies from people who should have acted positively and in utmost good faith but did otherwise.

But in deciding to vote outrightly, what should be your focus and what should be the measure to make your Vote count?

I guess this is a general question that many would ask especially new voters who are desperate to be part of decision making processes in this country.

Voting alone is not a measure of influencing a decision but essentially voting rightly.

Being influenced to Vote as a result of things that are given out during the electioneering period cannot be equalled to any proper sense of voting.

Proper voting in my view is taking these items from the particular person or politician who wants to buy your Vote and yet still voting on a clear conscience because you are of the conviction that such act is virtuous.

There are several people who fear to vote against people who give out money to buy their votes since they are of the view that they have already given their words.

I must say it would be politically and morally wrong to think that taking money from a politician and voting with your conscience but not at the dictate of the politician’s whims and caprices is a sin and morally wrong.

Regrettably, I must say people are victims of such thinking but my advice to the youth is that take the money and still vote with your conscience and nothing will happen to you because its your own money that is being given out.

Lastly don’t think of not voting because having the desire not to Vote will lead to continuous suffering in our part of the world .

People will wrongly go and elect leaders for us and we will all generally pay the worse consequences for it.

Join a queue and vote well and make sure your vote counts!

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By: Tinkaro Asare,

Writer is former NUGS President for University of Ghana

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The post Let your vote count on December 7 [Article] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

He said the Commission was aware of the challenges faced by people living with disability at polling stations, and it had therefore put measures in place to avoid inconveniences to them.

Mr Nuhu gave the assurance at a Training of Trainers’ workshop on Tactile Ballot by the Ghana Blind Union (GBU) for its members in the Volta Regional capital in Ho.

The workshop was funded by the Canada Fund for Local Initiative, and it was aimed at preparing members of the Union for the general election and also to reduce the number of spoiled ballots.

Mr. Nuhu said the tactile ballot since its introduction in 1999, had enabled the visually impaired to vote without assistance and in secrecy.

The Executive Director of the GBU, Dr. Peter Obeng Asamoah, however called for the regular practice by its members to perfect the tactile ballot system ahead of the polls.

The participants were taken through a mock election exercise using the tactile ballot, which comprised of a tactile jacket.

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Source: GNA

The post Volta: Visually impaired to access polling stations – EC appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This is according to the findings of a pre-election environment observation survey released by the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO).

“CODEO’s LTOs [Long Term Observation] reported that the parties discussed various policy issues on their campaign platforms in the various constituencies observed. Four key policy priority issues CODEO LTOs observed were: Education (22%); Unemployment (18%); Health (16%); and corruption (15%).”

The survey, conducted between July and August, in 134 constituencies randomly selected from across all ten regions of the country, revealed that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) as dominating the campaign platforms.

“The NDC was observed to be having more meetings than the other political parties, whereas the NPP was also observed to be having more party marches and rallies than all the other political parties in the constituencies under observation.

Other parties like the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), and the Convention People’s Party (CPP) were less visible.”

Also, according to the report, vote buying is still a problem as observed in all constituencies across the country, except in the Volta and Upper West Regions.

“In a few constituencies, (3%) LTOs reported they witnessed some people being given money and other valuables, ostensibly to influence their vote while close to 6% only heard of such incidents; this was observed in some constituencies in all except the Volta and Upper West Regions.”

Click here for the full report:

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By: Sixtus Dong Ullo /citifmonline.com /Ghana
Follow @ sixtus_gh

The post CODEO releases report on pre-election monitoring appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.