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Inside Jan <strong>12</strong>, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 1/11/18 8:35 PM Page 8<br />

WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />

DAILY HERITAGE FRIDAY, JANUARY <strong>12</strong>, 2018 11<br />

Politics<br />

“There are greater things to be achieved in<br />

every new year, and each and everyone must<br />

prepare themselves to be great, not by words of<br />

the mouth, but by a lot of sacrifices.”<br />

— Michael Bassey Johnson<br />

Prez Akufo-Addo swears in High<br />

Commissioner to Malaysia<br />

THE PRESIDENT of<br />

the Republic, Nana<br />

Addo Dankwa<br />

Akufo-Addo, has<br />

presented letters of<br />

credence to Ghana’s<br />

High Commissioner to Malaysia,<br />

Akua Sakyiwa Ahenkorah, at a<br />

brief ceremony at the Flagstaff<br />

House, on Wednesday, <strong>January</strong> 10,<br />

2018.<br />

In his remarks, after the swearing-in<br />

ceremony, President Akufo-<br />

Addo noted that Miss Ahenkorah,<br />

a career diplomat, who becomes<br />

Ghana’s first female High Commissioner<br />

to Malaysia, is deserving<br />

of the appointment and eminently<br />

qualified to represent Ghana.<br />

The President, thus, reminded<br />

the High Commissioner of the<br />

fact that “the image of our country<br />

is high in the comity of nations,<br />

and Ghana is a considered a<br />

beacon of stability and democracy<br />

on the continent of Africa and beyond.<br />

It is an image that you have<br />

to do everything possible to guard<br />

and uphold.”<br />

It would be recalled that Ghana<br />

attained independence at the same<br />

time as Malaysia, however,<br />

Malaysia has chalked remarkable<br />

economic successes over the period.<br />

The President recalled the historical<br />

account of Malaysia<br />

•President Nana Akufo-Addo presenting the letter of credence to the High Commissioner<br />

“procuring her first palm kennel<br />

seedlings from Ghana. But, today,<br />

this crop has become the main-stay<br />

of that country’s economy, producing<br />

millions of tons of palm oil<br />

annually”, whereas Ghana has not<br />

gained much from the cash crop.<br />

It is in line with the President’s<br />

vision of a ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’<br />

that he urged Miss Ahenkorah to<br />

be focused on her mandate, maintain<br />

a cordial working relationship<br />

with her staff and the Ghanaian<br />

community, as well as secure investment<br />

into Ghana.<br />

In her acceptance remarks,<br />

Madam Ahenkora thanked the<br />

President for the great honour<br />

done her, and assured him of her<br />

“determination to justify the decision<br />

by Government to enhance<br />

the involvement of women in the<br />

development of this country”.<br />

She promised to deliver on her<br />

“mandate in achieving the overall<br />

government objective of improving<br />

the well-being of the good<br />

people of Ghana”.<br />

The High Commissioner assured<br />

the President of her “responsibility<br />

to drive private sector<br />

investments into Ghana to help in<br />

achieving the government’s flagship<br />

programmes of One-District-<br />

One-Factory,<br />

One-Village-One-Dam, Planting<br />

for Food and Jobs; and the overall<br />

objective of developing Ghana Beyond<br />

Aid.”<br />

She further promised to “safeguard,<br />

protect and promote the<br />

image and interest of Ghana at all<br />

times”, adding that she will<br />

strengthen the already cordial relations<br />

not only between Ghana and<br />

Malaysia, but also with the countries<br />

of concurrent accreditations<br />

such as Brunei Darussalam, Thailand,<br />

Indonesia and the Philippines;<br />

and also explore areas of<br />

effective cooperation.”<br />

Miss Ahenkorah thanked the<br />

President for “the great honour”<br />

done her by “this appointment as<br />

High Commissioner of Ghana to<br />

Malaysia”, and expressed her gratitude<br />

for the confidence reposed in<br />

her, and assured the President of<br />

her “loyalty to the government and<br />

people of Ghana,” in the discharge<br />

of her duties.<br />

Present at the ceremony were<br />

the Chief of Staff, Hon. Akosua<br />

Frema Osei Opare; Minister for<br />

Foreign Minister, Shirley Ayorkor<br />

Botchwey; Deputy Minister for<br />

Foreign Affairs, Charles Owiredu;<br />

officials of the Presidency and<br />

Foreign Ministry, and family of the<br />

High Commissioner.<br />

Akufo-Addo surrounded by sycophants – Sammy Crabbe<br />

THE SUSPENDED Second National<br />

Vice-Chairman of the governing New<br />

Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Sammy<br />

Crabbe, has launched a scathing attack<br />

on members of the Akufo-Addo government.<br />

According to him, about eighty<br />

percent of them are sycophants.<br />

“There are lots of sycophants<br />

around the President and the danger<br />

about it is that, it moves resources in<br />

the wrong direction. There are about<br />

80% of sycophants around the President<br />

and with time, they will burnout<br />

like charcoal… Because it will come to<br />

a time when they will need people who<br />

can deliver,” he told Bola Ray Wednesday,<br />

<strong>January</strong> 10, 2018 on Starr Chat.<br />

Mr Crabbe who declared he is not<br />

scared of courting controversies also<br />

dismissed John Boadu as the acting<br />

General Secretary of the NPP.<br />

According to him, that description<br />

is alien to the party’s Constitution.<br />

“There’s nothing like that…in our<br />

Constitution,” he said. “It is better for<br />

people to shine their eyes, open them<br />

up and look at things…”<br />

The National Executive Committee<br />

(NEC) of the NPP in December 2015<br />

affirmed the decision of the party’s<br />

Disciplinary Committee to suspend its<br />

Second National Vice-Chairman, Mr<br />

Crabbe and the General Secretary<br />

Kwabena Agyei Agyepong.<br />

The decision to suspend the two<br />

was taken after members of the NEC<br />

held a crucial meeting on the matter at<br />

the party’s headquarters in Accra.<br />

Long before the NEC meeting<br />

came to a close, some supporters of<br />

the party converged outside the party’s<br />

headquarters popping champagne in a<br />

jubilant mood, apparently in anticipation<br />

of the announcement.<br />

Mr Crabbe, who dismissed his suspension<br />

as illegal, headed for court to<br />

get him reinstated but an Accra High<br />

Court dismissed his suit in 2016.<br />

According to the judge, Justice Sir<br />

Dennis Adjei, the national disciplinary<br />

committee of the NPP had jurisdiction<br />

to hear and punish anyone who had<br />

•President Nana Akufo-Addo<br />

been found to have breached some<br />

rules of the party.<br />

Mr Crabbe said despite respecting<br />

the court’s decision, he still held the<br />

view that his suspension is ridiculously<br />

illegal.<br />

“I really do not believe that it<br />

should be allowed [their suspension],”<br />

he declared, saying, “First all, it is a<br />

very difficult thing to get elected as a<br />

national officer…going into the constituencies<br />

you meet people you look<br />

them in the eye, sometimes you ride<br />

rough, you go into people’s bedrooms,<br />

sleep rough, they look into your eyes,<br />

make promises to them and then you<br />

get elected. The delegates are not stupid.<br />

They look at you and elect and<br />

then you sit there. So, I just do not<br />

want to accept that people who have<br />

never been elected can just sit down<br />

and decide they would just negate the<br />

will of the people on the ground.”<br />

When Bola Ray pointed out to him<br />

that he contested the decision in court<br />

and lost, Mr Crabbe snapped, “It doesn’t<br />

really mean that it was right. It was<br />

wrong and we needed to put it out<br />

there.”

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