FEBRUARY 8

NO. 100784 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2019 

PRICE: GH¢2.00 

DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH 

• Late Major 

Maxwell Mahama 

•Ishahu Yaro 

must lose his leg 

or face death 

• The main gate to the plot 

•Augustine Saakuur 

Karbo, the General 

Secretary of TEWU 

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02 

DAILY QUOTE 

Don’t Let Yesterday 

Take Up Too Much Of 

Today. – Will Rogers 

CONTENT 

ANNIVERSARIES 

Independence Day — 

Wednesday, 6th March. 

Good Friday — Friday, 19th April. 

Easter Monday — Monday, 22nd 

April. 

DAILY HERITAGE FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2019 

Published by: EIB 

Network / Heritage 

Communications Ltd. 

Managing Editor: 

William Asiedu: 

0208156974 

Editor: 

Kofi Enchill: 

0265653335 

ISSN: 0855-52307 

VOL 7 

Location: Meridian 

House (Starr FM) Ring 

Road. Box AD 676, 

Adabraka, Accra,Ghana. 

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www.dailyheritage.com.gh 

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Email: 

news@dailyheritagegh.com.gh 

heritagenewspaper@yahoo.co.uk 

Fast-track negotiations 

on our conditions of 

service • TEWU to govt 

BY MUNTALLA INUSAH 

muntalla.inusah@dailyheritage.c 

om.gh 

THE NATIONAL leadership 

of the Teachers and 

Educational Workers’ 

Union (TEWU) is calling 

on the government to 

make good its promise to conclude 

negotiations on conditions of service 

for its members. 

According to TEWU, the payment 

of critical support for some staff 

members of the Ghana Education 

Service and issues relating to the 

proper placement of the teaching and 

non-teaching staffs of the Colleges of 

Education, to reflect the new degreeawarding 

status of such institutions, 

and the re-composition of the Governing 

Councils for the Colleges of 

Education deserve prompt attention. 

Mr Augustine Saakuur Karbo, the 

General Secretary of TEWU, in a statement 

copied to the DAILY HER- 

ITAGE, saluted workers, especially 

those in the education sector, for their 

dedication, sacrifice and “commitment 

to ensuring conducive atmosphere for 

quality teaching and learning over the 

years. 

“We really want to serve notice to 

the government, Ghana Education 

Service (GES), Ministry of Education 

and other stakeholders that we have dialogued, 

consulted and engaged enough 

and also petitioned the President of the 

Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- 

Addo, on the critical support for some 

staff of the Ghana Education, yet we 

are not hearing anything positive. 

“We hope these issues will be resolved 

soonest, because we will not take 

any explanation or excuses for inaction 

regarding these outstanding concerns. 

“We call for the process to be fasttracked 

for employment of non-teaching 

staff into the public universities, 

Technical Universities/Polytechnics, 

Colleges of Education because of high 

numbers of vacancies, due to retirement, 

resignation and death. 

“Filling such vacancies is very urgent 

so that the institutions can have 

their full staff strength for both academic 

and non-academic work” and 

that “the idea of getting clearance from 

the Ministry of Finance is good, but, 

•Augustine Saakuur Karbo, the 

General Secretary of TEWU 

there should be an innovative way of 

overcoming the delays around the clearance 

for employment,” TEWU said. 

Expectations 

According to TEWU, it hopes this 

year “government and other stakeholders 

will exhibit a greater responsibility 

where Ghanaian workers will get what 

they really deserve for their hard work 

in keeping the economy going.” 

Mr Karbo said both the teaching 

and non-teaching staffs, in the national 

interest, went the extra mile in ensuring 

the successful implementation of the 

government’s Double Track policy 

under the free Senior High School system 

last year. 

“Looking at the Double Track and 

its associated workload, TEWU will not 

be asking too much by urging the government 

to pay our members for the 

extra work they are doing for the double 

track and by extension the free SHS 

system to work efficiently for the training 

of quality human resource for the 

country,” the General Secretary explained. 

State of Tier-Two Pension 

Fund 

TEWU is not leaving anything to 

chance in ensuring that there is prudent 

investments of the Tier-Two pension 

funds, so that from January 2020 onwards, 

when some of our members retire, 

they can benefit from the Tier-Two 

Pension monies without any hitch. 

It said there are concerns over the 

decision by the government to 

change the service providers and it is 

becoming a tussle between the new 

service providers and those who are 

exiting, this we think it is not a good 

sign for the pension industry in 

Ghana. 

“We trust that the governance issues 

surrounding pensions and related 

transitions from one service 

provider to the other will be handled 

smoothly, so that it will not unnecessarily 

interrupt the funds operations 

and the investments, and can lead to a 

drop or cut-down in the profit of 

members. 

“We will work diligently under the 

laws of the Pensions Regulatory Authority 

Act, to ensure pension funds 

are safe. 

“This we will do by getting all 

these lingering issues addressed so 

that the funds administrator, which is 

the main custodian of the funds, will 

work towards accurate and credible data 

base of contributors. 

“That will help in calculating the 

benefits for each member and the associated 

profit or dividend that will yield 

out of the investments. 

“The politics and the struggle that 

characterised the delay in releasing the 

tier-two pension fund to fund managers 

of the labour unions are still fresh in 

our minds. 

“TEWU has, therefore, resolved not 

to allow politics to ruin the investment 

or the smooth governance of the tiertwo 

pension funds under the Ghana 

Education Service Occupational pension 

scheme for our members within 

the GES. 

TEWU members 

TEWU member institutions include 

the universities and polytechnics, the 

GES, the Colleges of Education, the 

West African Examinations Council, 

WAEC, the Ghana Library Authority, 

and Ghana Museums and Monuments 

Board. 

The rest are Ghana Institute of Languages, 

GIL, Ghana Institute of Journalism, 

Ghana Institute of 

Management and Public Administration, 

and private schools like Lincoln 

Community International School, German-Swiss, 

and Ghana International 

School. 

Abbeyman family 

accuses police of 

violating law on 

land acquisition 

BY PHILIP ANTOH 

philip.antoh@dailyheritage.com.gh 

•The main gate to the plot 

THE COUNCIL of Elders at 

Abbeyman in the Ga West Municipality 

in the Greater Region 

has accused the Ghana Police 

Service of forcibly assuming 

ownership of plots of land at 

Abbeyman. 

According to the Council, 

documents at the Lands Commission 

and the Public and Vested 

Land Management Department 

confirm that the plots of land already 

belong to one Kwabena 

Boahene. 

The elders referred to a petition 

the Council wrote to the Director 

of Police Estates, Police 

Headquarters, Accra, on December 

2018, complaining that a 

team of police personnel numbering 

about 50 had stormed the 

site in question and locked the 

gate to prevent the real owner 

from getting access to it. 

They said the police claimed 

the land in question was given to 

the service by Landline Properties 

Limited. 

The petition, signed by Jacob 

Nii Ahele Buabeng, the head of 

family, said the walled four plots 

of land in question was sold to 

one Kwabena Boahene by the 

chiefs and elders, who could attest 

to the fact that there were 

documents covering the land. 

He said following their petition, 

the Police Estate Department 

ordered an official search at 

the Lands Commission of Ghana 

with reference number 

LCGAROS215062O18, which 

proved that the land belonged to 

the said Boahene. 

Nii Buabeng said another official 

search conducted at the Public 

and Vested Land Management 

Department with reference number 

PVLMDGAOS197282018 

also attested to the same fact. 

He said the High Court in 

2015 in suit number 

BMISC/852/20 ordered the Executive 

Secretary of the Lands 

Commission, his agents and assigns 

not to issue certificates to 

Landline Properties concerning 

the Abbeyman family lands and 

that it should also suspend land 

title certificate number GA 16211 

issued to Landline Properties 

Limited and its third party. 

The petition, addressed to the 

Inspector General of Police 

• CONTINUE ON PAGE 5

WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH 


03 

Ayawaso by-election violence: 

Victim to lose 

leg or die 

BY KWADWO ANIM 

ONE OF the victims of 

the recently held 

Ayawaso West Wuogon 

by-election violence 

could have his right leg 

amputated by doctors at the 37 Military 

Hospital where he is receiving 

treatment. 

According to the doctors, amputation 

of the badly damaged leg could 

be the only way to keep him alive after 

the serious injury he sustained. 

The 37-year-old Ishahu Yaro and 

five others were shot at close range 

when masked and hooded armed men 

said to be operatives of the National 

Security stormed the La-Bawaleshie 

residence of the opposition National 

Democratic Congress candidate in 

that by-election. 

Yaro’s injured right leg 

has been wrapped in a huge 

white bandage with a shiny 

metal fixed along the leg to 

keep it straight and supported 

with pillows because 

the close-range shot scattered 

the bones in his legs. 

Doctors have warned 

him that one of the options 

to keep him alive is to have 

his damaged leg severed. 

Yaro, who is a footballer, 

has already undergone two 

separate surgeries to help 

recover the leg and was expected 

to go through a 

third surgery yesterday. 

His football career appears 

to have come to a 

sudden end due to the 

damage to his leg. 

The Minister in charge 

of National Security, Mr 

Bryan Acheampong, has 

admitted he deployed the 

masked and hooded armed 

men, explaining that they 

acted on intelligence to deal 

with some “undesirable circumstances.” 

The action by the security 

officers has been 

roundly condemned by a 

large section of the public, 

including civil society organisations, 

with a call that 

the perpetrators should be 

identified and brought to 

book. 

President Nana Addo 

Dankwa Akufo-Addo on 

Wednesday, February 6, 

2019, set up a Commission 

of Inquiry chaired by former 

CHRAJ boss, Justice 

Emile Short, to investigate 

the violence suffered by innocent 

and helpless civilians. 

• Ishahu Yaro must lose his leg or face death 

Ban political parties with vigilante groups 

BY PHILIP ANTOH 

philip.antoh@dailyheritage.com.gh 

THE INSTITUTE for Liberty and 

Policy Innovation (ILAPI) is calling 

on the Electoral Commission (EC) to 

immediately ban all political parties 

which patronise political vigilante 

groups in the country. 

According to ILAPI Ghana, “we 

cannot sit down and allow politicians 

and other beneficiaries of these political 

vigilante groups to violate the 

rights of ordinary Ghanaians all in 

the name of voting.” 

Speaking to the DAILY HER- 

ITAGE yesterday in an interview, 

the Executive Director of ILAPI, Mr 

Peter Bismark Kwofie, said in other 

jurisdictions, vigilante groups are mobilised 

to protect their own communities. 

• ILAPI Ghana to EC 

“This becomes an everyday security. 

However, in other parts of 

Africa, political vigilante groups play 

a key role in securing electoral victory 

to enhance the party's electoral fortunes.” 

Mr Kwofie said politicians came to 

this level because of lack of trust in 

the security services. 

He said in recent times, vigilantism 

appeared as a competitor to the 

State’s security agencies in the pursuit 

of public legitimacy. 

He said the effect would lead to 

coups d’état, insurrections, secessionist 

movements, assassinations and 

death squads, ultimately dislocating 

the State’s sovereignty over a certain 

population or territory. 

• Mr Peter Bismark Kwofie, Executive 

Director of ILAPI 

“If this is not stopped immediately, 

it would be the beginning of 

our chaos and destabilisation in 

Ghana. We can all see and feel the 

danger it poses to our democracy, 

looking at what happened in the justended 

Ayawaso Wuogon by-election.” 

What EC must do 

The Executive Director said the 

EC must sanction political parties 

with vigilante groups because elections 

are not organised by the political 

parties but by the EC under 

articles 43, 44, 45, 46 and 51 of the 

1992 Constitution and Electoral 

Commission Act 1993, Act 451. 

“The EC must put up norms refraining 

political parties from mobilising, 

funding and arming these 

electoral militants who pose as ballot 

box protectors,” he stated. 

Mr Kowfie said the violence 

which erupted during the Ayawaso 

West Wuogon by-election dented the 

operations of the EC in organising a 

free and fair election, though the 

Commission had mentioned that the 

incident occurred far from the 137 

polling stations. 

“Therefore, the EC has a reserved 

right to exercise sanctions especially 

when political party vigilante 

groups’ mar the operations with violence.” 

“A harsher sanction should be 

meted out against political parties that 

have created these vigilante groups. 

Sanctions may include, reducing their 

counted votes by a fixed percentage, 

pay a fixed penalty unit and at the extreme, 

ban them for a number of 

years by revoking their license,” 

ILAPI suggested.

Inside FEBRUARY 8, 2019.qxp_Layout 1 2/7/19 8:48 PM Page 3 

•Donald Trump- "Their land is gone" 

Trump sees total rout of Islamic State group as imminent 

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump 

has said territory held by the Islamic 

State group in Syria and 

Iraq could be "100%" liberated as 

early as next week. 

"It should be announced, 

probably some time next week, 

that we will have 100% of the 

caliphate," he told a gathering of 

coalition partners. 

US military and intelligence 

officials say IS could stage a 

comeback without sustained 

counter-terrorism pressure. 

Mr Trump shocked coalition 

allies in December when he declared 

that the group had been 

defeated, amid reports he wanted 

to pull out US soldiers within 30 

days. 

But he later slowed the withdrawal 

after several resignations 

from key defence officials and 

strong criticism from Republicans 

and allies abroad. 

The global coalition against IS, 

now numbering nearly 80 nations, 

was formed in 2014 after the 

group overran swathes of territory 

and went on to launch terror 

attacks outside the region. BBC 



Zimbabwe's army 'ready 

to retreat from streets’ 

ZIMBABWE’S 

ARMY says that it 

has concluded an 

operation to restore 

peace and order in 

the country. 

This follows last month's violent 

protests against an increase in fuel 

prices. 

Up to 17 people are believed to 

have died, and over 1,000 others, including 

minors, were arrested. 

Soldiers have patrolled major 

cities since the protests broke out. 

Zimbabwe defence forces inspector 

general, Douglas Nyikayaramba, 

says the army is ready to 

return to the barracks, but only if 

the police ask them to. 

He also promised to investigate 

rights abuses allegations levelled 

against the army. 

The Zimbabwean NGO Human 

Rights Forum says it has verified 17 

• Manuel Chang is wanted in the US for fraud allegations 

killings, and more than a dozen 

rapes. 

Members of the international 

community have called on Zimbabwe 

to remove soldiers from the 

streets. 

The main opposition Movement 

for Democratic Change alliance had 

made this one of the pre-conditions 

to any talks to resolve the worsening 

social and economic crisis. BBC 

•President Joseph Kabila was supposed to 

•Michael Flynn has admitted one count of lying to the FBI have stepped down nearly two years ago 

• Protests broke out over fuel prices. 

World news in 4 stories 

• Michael Sata died in office aged 77 

Zambia inquiry over 

ex-leader's death certificate 

ZAMBIA'S GOVERN- 

MENT is investigating former 

Vice-President Guy Scott 

for publishing the death certificate 

of late President 

Michael Sata in his new book. 

Mr Sata, who was elected 

president in 2011, died in a 

London hospital after just 

three years in office. 

The official cause of his 

death has never been publicly 

disclosed, except that he died 

of "illness". 

While some people have 

been demanding more details, 

Mr Scott said in the book, entitled 

Adventure in Zambian 

Politics, A Story in Black & 

White, that his former boss 

died of carcinoma cancer. 

His decision to publish 

such details has divided the 

nation, with some praising 

him while others expressing 

outrage, arguing that the matter 

was private and Mr Scott 

had acted insensitively and 

immorally. 

Chief government spokeswoman 

Dora Siliya told a 

media briefing in the capital, 

Lusaka, on Wednesday that 

the issue had been tabled before 

cabinet and was being investigated. 

Mr Sata’s son, Mulenga, 

said it would be difficult for 

him to comment because he 

has neither read the book nor 

has been made aware of its 

content. BBC 

Brexit: May and Juncker talks 'robust but constructive’ 

THERESA MAY and Jean- 

Claude Juncker have described 

their talks on changing the Brexit 

deal as "robust but constructive", 

in a joint statement. 

The European Commission 

President stressed the withdrawal 

agreement could not be changed, 

as the UK PM wants. 

But he said the EU was open 

to adding words to the non-binding 

future relations document 

that goes with it. 

The two leaders agreed to 

meet for further talks before the 

end of February. 

• Theresa May was met by an anti-Brexit protest as she arrived at the commission's HQ 

The EU and 

UK Brexit negotiating 

teams are, 

meanwhile, set 

to resume their 

talks to find out 

"whether a way 

through can be 

found that 

would gain the 

broadest possible 

support in 

the UK Parliament 

and respect 

the guidelines 

agreed by the 

European Council". 

And Brexit Secretary Steve 

Barclay and EU negotiator 

Michel Barnier will hold talks in 

Strasbourg on Monday. 

Mrs May is insisting the UK 

will not be "trapped" in the backstop 

- the plan to avoid the return 

of Irish border checks 

whatever UK-EU trade deal is 

agreed. 

She says the plan must change 

if it is to win the support of MPs 

who urged her to seek "alternative 

arrangements" when rejecting 

the deal last month. BBC



05 

Editorial 

We must conduct malaria test before taking medication 

A COMMERCIAL currently running 

on national television is urging 

Ghanaians to stop the self-diagnoses 

whenever they are under the weather 

because it could be fatal. 

The message of the ad is that we 

all need to avail ourselves for 

thorough test before taking 

prescribed malaria drugs. 

Many a time, we are quick to 

assume that we have malaria 

whenever we feel feverish and go in 

for self-medication. The danger is 

that considering the potency of some 

malaria drugs we could be hurting our 

organs instead of healing. 

In Uganda, a study that sought to 

ensure diagnostic tests for malaria 

before prescription helped to reduce 

over prescription by as high as 73%. 

The Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDT) 

in registered drug shops in a highly 

endemic region in Uganda 

substantially reduced over diagnosis 

of malaria, improving the use of 

valuable malaria drugs. 

Most of the 15,000 patients who 

visited drug shops with a fever chose 

to buy an RDT when offered one by 

the trained vendors taking part in the 

study. Once they performed the test, 

results showed that less than 60% of 

the patients had, in fact, malaria. The 

vendors usually complied with the 

test results, reducing over prescription 

of malaria drugs by 73%. 

The researchers from the 

Artemisinin-based Combination 

Therapy Consortium at the Ministry 

of Health in Uganda and the London 

School of Hygiene & Tropical 

Medicine in the UK carried out the 

study because up to 80% of malaria 

cases in Uganda were treated in the 

private sector. 

The private sector is a common 

source of treatment in many other 

malaria-endemic areas, especially 

where there is poor access to public 

health facilities. Patients buy antimalarial 

drugs in shops to medicate 

themselves, although malaria is not 

always the cause of their fever, and 

thus inappropriate treatment is very 

common. 

Prof. Anthony Mbonye from the 

Ugandan Ministry of Health and lead 

author of the study, said: “Our 

findings show that it is feasible to 

collaborate with the private health 

sector and introduce malaria RDTs in 

drug shops. The next step is to refine 

the strategy and understand the cost 

implications of scaling it up in 

Uganda. Our long term aim is to 

provide evidence to help the World 

Health Organization develop 

guidance to improve malaria 

treatment in the private sector.” 

The DAILY HERITAGE is 

aware that some pharmacies in 

Ghana have begun insisting that tests 

are run before prescriptions are given 

for the treatment of malaria. 

We wish to call on all to support 

the campaign so as to reduce 

significantly complicated cases that 

arise due to taking drugs for the 

wrong ailments. 

14yr-old pupil testifies 

in Major Mahama trial 


muntalla.inusah@dailyheritage.com.gh 

AFOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD 

pupil of the Roman Catholic 

Basic School at New Obuasi 

(formerly Denkyira Obuasi) in 

the Central Region has appeared 

in court to testify about how her father’s 

gun landed in the hands of one of the 

14 accused persons, Akwasi Asante. 

The form two pupil (name withheld), 

while being led by Mrs Evelyn Keelson, 

Chief State Attorney to give evidence as the 

sixth prosecutions witness, said Asante took 

her father’s gun without his (father’s) permission. 

According to her, on May 29, 2017, she 

returned home from school to pick her 

pocket money and upon reaching the house, 

she realised there was nobody home. She 

said moments after opening the door to 

their room, Asante popped up and entered 

the room to pick the gun from it. 

She also said when she asked him twice 

where he (Asante) was taking the gun to, 

Asante never answered her, so she locked 

the door and left for school. 

The witness told the court that, upon 

• Late Major Maxwell Mahama 

her return from school, he informed the father 

and the father reported the matter to 

the police. He subsequently identified Asante 

as he stood in the dock at the court. 

Cross-examination 

When asked under cross-examination 

from the defence if she had read the statement 

made to the police in 2017, she 

replied in the negative but said she had 

memory of all those incidents. 

When asked if she had told the police 

the gun was not functioning, he responded 

in the affirmative. 

Counsel again asked how she was able to 

know the gun was not functioning and she 

replied that her father had stopped using it 

for a while. She also told the court that the 

accused person sometimes came for the gun 

from his father to kill pigs and had always 

done so with the prior notice of her father 

or mother. 

When asked of her relation with Asante, 

she said they are not related but he is someone 

who comes to the area to play draught. 

She also said she did not recall the last time 

the accused person came for the gun prior 

to the May 29 incident. 

The court, presided over by Justice 

Mariama Owusu, a Court of Appeal judge 

sitting with additional responsibility as a 

High Court judge, adjourned the case to 

Feb 12, 2019 for further cross-examination. 

Fourteen persons are standing trial at the 

Accra High Court over the killing of Major 

Mahama, who was an Officer of the 5th Infantry 

Battalion, at Burma Camp. 

So far, Warrant Officer Sabi Kwasi, who 

was a member of the late soldier’s team, 

Madam Esther Tawiah and Kojo Nfum 

have all given their evidence. 

Abbeyman family 

accuses police of 

violating law on 

land acquisition 

• READ FROM PAGE 2 

(IGP), noted that “surprisingly, all efforts to 

get the police to open the padlock that they 

have put on our gate have proved futile as the 

police remain adamant. 

“Sir, we see the attitude of the police to 

be in violation of the laws governing land acquisition.” 

They have, therefore, appealed to the IGP 

to use his good offices to ensure quick resolution 

of the impasse “as bags of Portland 

Cement that we have stored on the property 

have started hardening up.” 

Mr Boahene, in an interview, complained 

that because the place had been locked he 

was unable to access the land and a container 

full of cement had been left to rot there. 

When contacted on phone to react to the 

issue, the Director of Police Estates Department, 

Chief Joshua Coppson, said the issue 

had come to their attention and that they had 

worked on it and referred it to the appropriate 

quarters to deal with it. 

But, when Nii Buabeng and his elders visited 

the Property Fraud Unit of the Ghana 

Police last Monday, they were told they did 

not have his petition on file.


06 

Views 


Faith power: key to achievement 

ith 

BY ABUNDANT ROBERT 

KWODAM AWOLUGUTU 

Faith is a manifestation 

tool. If you don’t 

have faith, it will be 

difficult for you to 

turn your aspirations, 

dreams and hopes 

into reality. 

We may consider faith to be 

the complete trust or confidence 

we have in somebody or something. 

It is all about believing. 

You have faith when you believe 

that something you 

strongly desire is possible of 

achievement. Faith is believing 

in the power of God to turn 

things around in your life. 

Importance of faith 

Jesus knew about the power 

of faith and what it can do to 

transform life. He taught his disciples 

about the importance of 

faith about 2000 years ago. 

What he taught then is still 

relevant to us today. Jesus said: 

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let 

him ask of God, who gives to all 

liberally and without reproach, 

and it will be given to him. But 

let him ask in faith, with no 

doubting, for he who doubts is 

like a wave of the sea driven and 

tossed by the wind. For let not 

that man suppose that he will receive 

anything from the Lord, he 

is a double-minded man, unstable 

in all his ways.” Does this 

scripture speak to you? 

What Jesus meant was 

this: If we ask anything 

from God, we must not 

doubt but believe before 

it will happen. In other 

words we must trust in 

the power of God to give 

us what we desire and are 

passionate about. 

The reason many people 

are stuck in life is because 

they lack faith in 

God and in their dreams. 

Doubt is a stumbling 

block to the manifestation 

of our dreams, visions 

and aspirations. 

A double-minded person 

is unstable in his 

ways, he lacks focus and 

that is why it will be difficult 

to turn his desires 

into reality. We should remember 

that broken 

focus is the number one 

reason success eludes 

many people. 

We should model our 

life after Jesus. We should 

be good imitators of his 

lifestyle. 

We should have absolute 

trust and confidence in 

his power to give us what we 

want. He said: “Most assuredly, I 

say to you, he who believes in 

Me, the works that I do he will 

do also, and greater works than 

these he will do, because I go to 

My Father. And whatever you 

ask in My name, that I will do, 

that the Father may be gloried in 

the Son. If you ask anything in 

My name, I will do it.” 

Jesus impacted the world in 

his time. His life touched the 

lives of those around him. 

He healed the sick, exorcised 

demons, brought the dead back 

to life, fed multitudes, turned 

water into wine, walked on 

water, calmed storms, made the 

deaf to hear and the blind to see 

among numerous other miracles. 

He said we have the ability to do 

the things he did and even 

greater works. 

He, however, said things will 

not happen unless we believe in 

him and make our requests in 

his name. If we apply his teachings 

to our life, we can indeed 

do what he did and even greater 

things provided we exercise faith 

in him. 

Faith is what enables us to 

He healed the sick, exorcised 

demons, 

brought the dead back 

to life, fed multitudes, 

turned water into wine, 

walked on water, 

calmed storms, made 

the deaf to hear and 

the blind to see among 

numerous other miracles. 

He said we have 

the ability to do the 

things he did and even 

greater works. 

Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t 

see the whole staircase. 

-Martin Luther King JR. 

create things. This reminds me 

of the profound statement made 

by Dr. Stephen Covey to the effect 

that “Everything is created 

twice, first in the mind, then in 

reality.” Every tangible thing you 

see first existed as an idea or 

image in somebody’s mind. 

The scriptures state: “By faith 

we understand that the worlds 

were framed by the word of 

God, sothat the things which are 

seen were not made of things 

which are visible.” (Heb. 11:3).In 

other words the things we see 

come from the things which are 

not visible. 

The universe is a unified 

field. Each and every one of us 

is connected to this field. 

The universe is made up of 

energy and we are part of it. 

Our thoughts are energy. 

Physical equivalent 

Your thoughts are sent out to 

this unified field and is created 

in this world and brought back 

to you as reality. Our thoughts 

are thus transmuted into their 

physical equivalent. 

Be wary of your thoughts as 

they will become your reality. 

When your mind broadcasts 

positive thoughts to 

the universe, it will 

respond by allowing 

positive things to 

manifest in your life. 

Negative thoughts 

will produce negative 

results. 

Faith is what inspires 

action. And action 

produces results. 

For instance if you 

have to board a plane 

from country A to 

country B, your desired 

destination, 

there is no guarantee 

you will arrive safely 

in the latter. However, 

having faith that 

you will arrive safely 

is what will cause you 

to buy the ticket and 

board the flight. 

Faith is what enables 

people to take 

risks. They take risk 

because they have a 

strong belief in a 

positive outcome. 

If you believe you 

can succeed, you will 

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he 

who believes in Me, the works 

that I do he will do also, and 

greater works than these he will 

do, because I go to My Father. 

And whatever you ask in My 

name, that I will do, that the Father 

may be gloried in the Son. If 

you ask anything in My name, I 

will do it.” 

take action towards its attainment. 

The lack of faith has a 

disenabling effect on the individual. 

Bible makes it clear: “What 

does it profit, my brethren, if 

someone says he has faith but 

does not have works? Can faith 

save him? If a brother or sister 

is naked and destitute of daily 

food, and one of you says to 

them, “Depart in peace, be 

warmed and filled, but you do 

not give them the things which 

are needed for the body, what 

does it profit? Thus also faith by 

itself, if it does not have works, 

is dead.” 

In simple terms, works and 

faith go together. Faith finds expression 

in the activities we 

carry out to actualize our 

dreams. 

We have seen what faith 

power can do. But how do we 

acquire faith? 

We must believe in the power 

of Jesus and of God to help us 

achieve our goals in life. Luke 

1:37 says, “For with God nothing 

will be impossible.” 

Priceless gift from God 

Faith can come to you as a 

priceless gift from God. In this 

case you don’t struggle to get it. 

You can also develop faith by 

reading the scriptures and meditating 

on them. By reading the 

Bible you will eventually come 

to trust God and his promises. 

We can listen to powerful and 

inspirational sermons delivered 

by men of God. This can rekindle 

our confidence in God. 

We can take inspiration from 

Biblical characters who lived 

successful lives as a result 

of their faith in 

God. Abraham and 

Sarah, Moses and Joseph 

readily come to mind. 

God decorated their lives 

with success because of 

their faith. 

We should humble 

ourselves and ask God 

for faith and it will be 

done if there is no doubt 

in our heart. 

Faith is beneficial to 

the man who has it. It 

can help accelerate his 

success in life. 

It can contribute to 

his general well-being. 

Prayer and meditation is 

faith being expressed in 

God. 

Both can calm and 

relax the body and mind. 

It drives us to take 

risk without which success 

will be difficult to 

achieve. It enables us to 

overcome obstacles or 

turn them into stepping stones 

to success. 

In conclusion, faith is what 

enables us to anticipate that 

there will be a positive outcome. 

It stimulates and sustains our 

enthusiasm in our quest for successful 

achievement. It helps us 

to create the life we desire and 

deserve. It is the key to living an 

amazing life. 

Yours in inspiration, 

ARK AWOLUGUTU 

Email: 

awolugutu@yahoo.com 

Cell: 0559 466 048, 0208 

455 296 

“By faith we understand 

that the 

worlds were 

framed by the 

word of God, 

sothat the things 

which are seen 

were not made of 

things which are 

visible.” (Heb. 

11:3).In other 

words the things 

we see come 

from the things 

which are not visible.


Tips for preventing acne 

Keep your face clean 

Whether or not you have acne, 

it's important to wash your face 

twice daily to remove impurities, 

dead skin cells, and extra oil from 

your skin's surface. Use warm, not 

hot, water and a mild facial cleanser. 

Moisturize 

Many acne products contain ingredients 

that dry the skin, so always 

use a moisturizer that minimizes dryness 

and skin peeling. There are 

moisturizers made for oily, dry, or 

combination skin. 

Try an over-the-counter 

acne product 

These acne products don't need a 

prescription. They may have ingredients 

such as benzoyl peroxide, salicylic 

acid, glycolic acid, or lactic acid, 

which curb bacteria and dry the skin. 

Start with a small amount at first. 

Use these products with caution if 

you have sensitive skin. 

Use makeup sparingly 

During a breakout, avoid wearing 

foundation, powder, or blush. If 

you do wear makeup, wash it off at 

the end of the day. If possible, 

choose oil-free cosmetics without 

added dyes and chemicals. Read the 

ingredients list on the product label 

before buying. 



&Env. 

Increase campaigns against 

FGM - Otiko Djaba 

THE EXECUTIVE Director 

of Henry Djaba Memorial 

Foundation and 

former Gender Minister, 

Ms Otiko Afisa Djaba has 

called on the government, 

traditional authorities and civil society organisations 

in the country to implement 

concrete actions and increase awareness 

campaigns against Female Genital Mutilation 

(FGM). 

Condemning the practice of FGM in 

Ghana, Ms Djaba said women have the 

right to their sexuality and shouldn’t be 

allowed to be subjected to risky, lifethreatening 

and inhuman act which can 

ruin them completely. 

Celebrating this year’s International 

Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM, Henry 

Djaba Memorial Foundation, in a press 

release, urged security agencies and the 

judiciary to enforce the law and make 

sure people who flout the law against 

FGM face the full rigours of the law to 

serve as a deterrent to others. 

Read below the full statement: 

PRESS STATEMENT BY HENRY 

DJABA MEMORIAL FOUNDATION 

ON THE OCCASION OF THE IN- 

TERNATIONAL DAY OF ZERO 

TOLERANCE FOR FEMALE GENI- 

TAL MUTILATION (FGM) ON 6TH 

FEBRUARY, 2019 

Today, 6th of February, marks the International 

Day of Zero Tolerance for 

Female Genital Mutilation. This day was 

set aside by the United Nations as part we realize that it impacts negatively on 

of its efforts to eradicate Female Genital the people, it can change with time. 

Mutilation. 

Therefore, •Okoene a healthy and positive culture 

Female Genital Mutilation is one of Chinenye should be Cynthia a catalyst for development. 

the ancient cultures which have been We do not intend to condemn or undermine 

practised in Africa and other parts of the 

the culture of other people. 

world for decades. History has it that the However, culture that violates the rights 

practice of FGM came from neighboring of the people is not worth practising. 

countries such as Burkina Faso, Mali, The practice of FGM has serious implications 

Niger and Togo into Ghana. 

for the health of women and 

In Ghana, some parts of the Northern, 

girls. 

Upper East, Upper West, Brong Friends of the Media, its implications 

Ahafo, the Volta Regions and the Zongo for maternal health are huge on the individual 

communities in certain urban centres of 

and the nation as a whole. The 

the country are notable places where the practice of FGM has no health benefits 

practice still goes on. It is clear that the for girls and women but rather exposes 

adoption of that culture has not served them to health hazards and psychological 

any good purpose in our country. Culture 

trauma. It causes severe bleeding, prob- 

is what makes us a unique people lems in urinating which can develop into 

and makes others identify who we are. cysts, infections, as well as complications 

Culture is dynamic and where and when in children and increased risk of newborn 

deaths, fistula in women during 

childbirth and maternal death. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, FGM is recognized 

internationally as a human rights 

violation of girls and women and further 

reflects a deep-rooted inequality between 

the sexes, which constitute an extreme 

form of discrimination against women. 

It violates the right to health, physical integrity, 

the right to be free from torture 

and cruelty, inhumane treatment and 

right to live where it results to death. 

Studies show that an estimated 100 

to 140 million girls and women in the 

world today have undergone some form 

of FGM and two million girls are at risk 

from the practice each year. 

Although the current national prevalence 

stands at about 3.8%, prevalence in 

the Upper East stands at 27.8%, which is 

far higher than the national prevalence. 

This increase could be attributed to the 

cross-border practice where people in 

the Upper East move into neighbouring 

countries to perpetuate this crime. 

Henry Djaba Memorial Foundation, 

with its vision of contributing towards 

the creation of an equal and equitable 

society, which respects the rights and interests 

of all persons irrespective of gender, 

social class, religious persuasion or 

ethnic origins, wishes to mark this day 

with a clarion call on the Government, 

traditional authorities, civil society organizations 

and all involved parties to implement 

concrete actions and increase 

awareness campaigns against FGM. 

First Lady calls for proper cancer-financing mechanism 

•Female Genital Mutilation is violation of human rights 

FIRST LADY,Mrs Rebecca Akufo- 

Addo says Ghana needs to boldly confront 

the financing of cancer treatment 

in the country to help provide quality 

care for patients who suffer from the 

disease. 

She emphasised the importance of 

creating awareness of cancers to aid 

screening and promote early detection 

in Ghana and in Africa as a whole. 

"We must begin to think of, and 

treat cancers as we treat diseases like 

malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.’’ 

“Both the public and private sectors 

must support our people to have 

unhindered access to cancer care,” Mrs 

Akufo-Addo said on Wednesday. 

Speaking at a cancer conference in 

Accra, Mrs Akufo-Addo called on 

both the private and public health insurance 

players to cover as many cancers 

as possible in their benefit packages, 

since the cost of treatment was a 

big burden to most sufferers. 

She said the country also needed to 

invest in financing and the training of 

more healthcare professionals to acquire 

the needed skills to manage cancer 

patients. 

The conference was organised by 

the Association of Representatives of 

Ethical Pharmaceutical Industries 

(AREPI), a body of multinational 

pharmaceutical companies operating in 

Ghana, in collaboration with the 

Union for International Cancer Control 

(UICC), the biggest global cancer 

fighting organisation. 

The Access Accelerated, made up 

of biopharmaceutical companies committed 

to tackling the growing burden 

of non-communicable diseases in low 

and middle-income countries, also supported 

in organising the conference. 

The conference forms part of activities 

marking this year’s World Cancer 

Day, observed on February 4 

annually, and was attended by Princess 

Dina Mired, Princess of Jordan and 

President of UICC. 

A 2018 publication by the International 

Agency for Research on Cancer 

states that almost 23,000 cases of new 

cancers are recorded annually in 

Ghana.Out of the number, more than 

15,000 people die every year. 

The First Lady described the numbers 

as alarming, since she said those 

were just the officially recorded numbers. 

“Imagine the numbers that go unreported 

and undocumented,” she 

asked. 

Another major hindrance to cancer 

care is the limited awareness amongst 

the general public about the disease. 

She said although cancer, when detected 

early and access to appropriate 

treatment provided, has a better recovery 

success rate and outcome, people 

still waited and sought hospital care 

when the disease was in its advanced 

stages, compromising their chances of 

securing a positive outcome. 

She, therefore, urged people to seek 

early medical care to improve their 

chances of the desired outcomes. 

Princess Dina Mired, on her part, 

expressed regret that for some countries 

including Ghana, cancers meant 

The Foundation condemns and 

frowns against the practice of FGM in 

Ghana. We cannot afford to allow our 

women and girls to be subjected to this 

risky, life threatening, inhuman, degrading 

and shameful practice in this country. 

Women and girls have a right to their 

sexuality and must be allowed to be who 

they want to be. 

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press, 

the law against FGM Act 741 of the Parliament 

of the Republic of Ghana entitled 

Criminal Code (Amendment) Act 

2007 provides for imprisonment 

and/or fines for both the circumciser 

and those who request, incite or promote 

excision by providing money, goods or 

moral support. The person commits an 

offence and is liable on summary conviction 

to imprisonment for a term of not 

less than five years and not more than 10 

years. The Foundation, on this occasion, 

urges the security agencies and the Judiciary 

to enforce the law and ensure that 

people who flout the law against FGM 

face the full rigours of the law to serve 

as deterrent to others. 

We want to encourage the media to 

use their tools for communication to create 

more awareness, increased reporting 

and to let the public know that the practice 

of FGM is a crime in Ghana 

Thank you. 

Otiko Afisah Djaba 

Execuitve Director 

Henry Djaba Memorial Foundation 

deaths while in other countries there 

were no deaths with cancers. 

She emphasised that access to quality 

care as well as prevention and 

awareness creation were critical measures 

needed to stop cancer deaths. 

Dr Joel Yarney, a Radiation Oncologists 

of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, 

Accra, said five per cent of 

Ghana’s population was now suffering 

from all forms of cancers, which were 

part of non-communicable diseases 

that had been increasing among 

Ghanaians lately. 

He, therefore, advised Ghanaians 

to live healthy lives, eat well and go for 

regular medical check-ups to help them 

live long and healthy. GNA

spread_ FEBRUARY 8, 2019.qxp_SHOWBIZ TEMP 2/7/19 8:49 PM Page 1 

News 

DAILY 

HERITAGE, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2019 WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH 

AWW violence was NPP’s grand 

plan for 2020 – Asiedu Nketia 

THE GENERAL Secretary of the opposition 

National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr 

Johnson Asiedu Nketia says the violence that 

characterised the by-election in Ayawaso West 

Wuogon was the governing New Patriotic 

Party’s (NPP) grand strategy for the 2020 

elections. 

Speaking at the ‘Aagbe wor’ demonstration 

yesterday, the NDC chief scribe said: “They 

are implementing their campaign promise and 

that campaign promise is to unleash violence 

and through violence cow everybody down… 

for them to impose themselves on Ghanaians 

and do whatever they want to do.” 

“The leopard will not lose his spot because 

it has been immersed in water. The spots are 

still there. The all-die-be-die spots are still 

there,” Mr Nketia said. 

Voters in the Ayawaso West Wuogon 

constituency in Accra on January 31 went to 

the poll to elect a Member of Parliament (MP) 

for the area in a by-election necessitated by the 

demise of the incumbent MP Emmanuel 

Agyarko. 

Agyarko’s widow Lydia Seyram Alhassan 

won the election which was marred by 

violence leading to the shooting of six persons 

believed to be supporters of the NDC. 

The NDC withdrew from the election 

citing security concerns. 

Akufo-Addo responsible for violence 

The Minority in Parliament blamed 

President Nana Akufo-Addo for the chaos 

that characterized the by-election. 

Minority MP for Ningo Prampram Sam 

George who was monitoring the election for 

the NDC was brutally battered by an 

individual believed to be a member of one of 

the terror groups affiliated to the governing 

NPP. 

The Minority Chief Whip Muntaka 

Mubarak told reporters in Accra on Tuesday 

President Akufo-Addo cannot absolve himself 

from the violence-laden by-election. 

He said it was the minority’s strongest 

conviction the violence was state-orchestrated 

saying, “The Minority holds president Nana 

Akufo-Addo as commander in chief and 

chairman of the National security council fully 

responsible for the 31st January 2019 

bloodbath.” 

Three-member committee to probe 

violence 

The National Commission for Civic 

Education warned the violent nature of the 

by-election was dangerous signs ahead of the 

2020 general election. 

“It will be extremely difficult for us as a 

nation to quench a fire of national violent 

unrest once it gets started.” 

Meanwhile, the government has set up a 

three-member commission chaired by a 

former boss of the Commission on Human 

Rights and Administrative Justice, Mr Emile 

Short to within a month unravel circumstances 

leading to the violence. 

Other members of the presidential 

commission are Mrs Henrietta Mensah Bonsu 

and Mr Patrick K. Acheampong. 

They have been mandated to: “(a) to make 

a full, faithful and impartial inquiry into the 

•Johnson Asiedu Nketia, 

General Secretary, NDC 

circumstances of, and establish the facts 

leading to, the events and associated violence 

during the Ayawaso West Wuogon By- 

Election on the 31st day of January 2019; (b) 

to identify any person responsible for or who 

has been involved in the events, associated 

violence and injuries; (c) to inquire into any 

matter which the Commission considers 

incidental or reasonably related to the causes 

of the events and the associated violence and 

injuries; and (d) to submit within one month 

its report to the President giving reasons for 

its findings and recommendations, including 

appropriate sanctions, if any.” 

Meanwhile, a criminologist has called for 

the review of the terms of reference of the 

commission. 

Dr Justice Tankebe said the scope of 

investigation of the commission must be 

expanded to cover other areas of operation of 

the police. 

“I hope that the mandate given the 

Commission is changed a little bit. The first 

one should be an investigation into what 

happened at Ayawaso. The kind of security 

architecture we have can be the second 

mandate of the Commission,” Dr Tankebe 

told sit-in host Eric Mawuenya Egbeta. 

“The Minority holds 

president Nana 

Akufo-Addo as 

commander in chief 

and chairman of the 

National security 

council fully 

responsible for the 

31st January 2019 

bloodbath.” 

Gborbu Wulomo lauds Akufo-Addo, 

others over peaceful Yaa Naa installation 


muntalla.inusah@dailyheritage.com 

THE GBORBU 

Wulomo Shitse, Wor- 

Lumor Konor 

Borketey Larweh 

Tsuru has lauded 

President Nana Addo 

Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the 

committee of eminent chiefs and 

the people of Dagbon for their 

respective roles in ensuring the 

peaceful installation of the new Yaa- 

Naa of Dagbon. 

According to him, the manner 

the “about 17 years of conflict in 

Dagbon” was put to rest is one that 

deserve commendation of all who 

played a part. 

In a statement issued through his 

communications directorates, he 

said the conflict “has indeed been 

brought to an end by your 

exemplary leadership and 

intervention.” 

It added that, “Your focus and 

resolve to attain this has really paid 

off. The Gborbu Wulomo Shitse, on 

behalf of the entire Gadangme 

State says Ayekoo!” 

Below is the full statement: 

The Gborbu Wulomo Shitse, 

Wor-Lumor Konor Borketey 

Larweh Tsuru wishes to 

congratulate you, Nana Addo 

Dankwa Akufo-Addo for the 

yeoman’s job done to bring peace 

to Dagbon. 

The about seventeen years of 

conflict in Dagbon has indeed 

been brought to an end by your 

exemplary leadership and 

intervention. Your focus and 

resolve to attain this has really 

paid off. 

The Gborbu Wulomo Shitse, 

on behalf of the entire 

Gadangme State says Ayekoo! The 

excellent work done by the 

Committee of Eminent Chiefs led 

by the Asantehene Otumfour 

Osei Tutu II mustalso be 

celebrated by all. 

Indeed; ‘It is only Royals who 

can speak for Royals, because it is 

only Royals who understand the 

language of the Royals’ – this is 

what the Committee of Eminent 

Chiefs has proven. 

The Gborbu Wulomo Shitse 

will therefore seek this 

opportunity to also congratulate 

the members of the committee, 

including,the Asantehene, Otumfuo 

Osei Tutu II, Yagbonwura, 

Tuntumba Boresa Sulemana Jakpa I 

and Nayiri, Naa Bohogu 

Abdulai Mahami Sherigafor 

for this wonderful work 

done. 

The joy and numerous 

compliments being expressed 

by the people of Dagbon are 

enough to exhibit the depth 

of peace and tranquility that 

the conflict resolution in the 

area has brought to the 

people. 

Dagbon has been in crisis 

since 2002 and this retarded 

development in the area for 

a very long time as no 

proper development can go 

on in areas fraught with 

violence. 

As a leader and father of 

the nation, your vision and 

plans for the people will not 

be achieved in the midst of 

conflict and clashes, so your 

move, backed by passion and 

purpose to attain peace can 

only be commended and 

commemorated for many 

years to come. 

It is worth noticing that 

this fate could not have been 

chalked up without the cooperation 

of the sons and daughters of 

Speaker walks out Suhuyini from Parliament over rude behavior 

THE MEMBER of 

Parliament (MP) for 

Tamale North, 

Alhassan Suhuyini, on 

Wednesday, had a 

taste of the powers of 

the Speaker of Parliament when he 

was ordered out of the Chamber 

while proceedings were ongoing. 

His crime was disrupting 

proceedings by intermittently 

making noise even when the 

Speaker was addressing the House. 

The Marshall, who is always 

positioned in the Chamber to 

ensure that the Speaker’s directives 

of such manner are enforced, 

quickly walked to where Mr 

Suhuyini was seated and ensured 

that he moved out of the Chamber. 

Mr Suhuyini, who did not 

protest, walked out amidst shouting 

on top of his voice to display his 

unhappiness about the sanctions. 

The First Deputy Speaker, Hon. 

Joseph Osei Owusu, who presided 

over yesterday’s sitting had on a 

number of occasions cautioned 

Members to minimise their voice 

•Alhassan Suhuyini 

was ushered out by 

the Marshall 

and also comport themselves while 

a Member is on his or her feet 

contributing to the subject before 

the House or while he himself is 

commenting on an issue or making 

his ruling on a matter before him. 

To drum home his message of 

not tolerating indiscipline in the 

House, Hon. Osei Owusu at a 

•Wor-Lumor Konor 

Borketey Larweh 

Tsuru, Gborbu 

Wulomo Shitse 

point, shouted on the MP for Assin 

Central, Kennedy Agyepong, who 

was heartily chatting with one of his 

colleagues to be attentive while 

proceedings was ongoing. 

The House was considering an 

application brought before it by the 

Second Deputy Majority Whip, 

Matthew Nyindam, appealing to the 

Speaker to compel the Minority 

Caucus to apologise for displaying 

placards that had the inscription 

‘Bloody Widow’ in protest over the 

swearing-in of the newly elected 

MP for Ayawaso West Wuogon, 

Lydia Seyram Alhassan. 

While the Speaker had ruled that 

the Minority apologise over their 

action yesterday, a ruling which was 

challenged by the leadership of the 

National Democratic Congress 

MPs, Mr Suhuyini was heard 

shouting on top of his voice and in 

the process, interrupting 

proceedings. 

It was not the first time he was 

doing that as his earlier interjections 

were ignored by the Speaker just 

like any other Member who was 

spotted to be doing same. 

Suhuyini’s reaction 

Mr Suhuyini, reacting to his 

ordeal said “Liberty is always taken 

and sometimes blood would have to 

be shared if you stand for what is 

liberating and all my life I have 

stood for what is in my view bias, 

what is unfair and I don’t mind 

Dagbon. The Gborbu Wulomo 

Shitse, on this note also commends 

the people of Dagbon, especially, 

the chiefs, queenmothers and 

opinion leaders who sacrificed their 

pride, ego and priesthood to 

embrace peace and to ensure truce 

in Dagbon. 

The reward will be enjoyed from 

this generation to many generations 

yet unborn for a developed Dagbon 

State. To the New Overlord of 

Dagbon, Yaa Naa Abubakari 

Mahama, the Gborbu Wulomo says 

he welcomeshim as the former joins 

the league of Overlords in the 

Republic of Ghana. 

It is his prayer that God grants 

the new Yaa Naa the wisdom to 

lead and energy to bring his vision 

for the people of Dagbon to 

fruition. The Shitse will also like to 

seize this opportunity to implore 

fellow Ghanaians living in areas 

bedeviled by such protracted 

chieftaincy disputes to take clues 

from the Dagbon example and give 

peace a space. 

‘Royalty will always belong to 

Royals and Royals are of noble 

character devoid of strife, conflict 

and discord’. 

dying for that and asking me to 

walk is less than being killed for 

what I believe in.” 

To him, he was given a raw deal 

by the Speaker since he was singled 

out for sanctions despite many 

others doing same. 

He said “it is high time as a 

people we all recognise what is 

wrong and encourage all not to 

engage in it. But when we begin to 

pick and choose – when our side is 

wrong, then we find all kinds of 

platitudes to defend it and enlighten 

the effect of it only to right what 

we consider is wrong of others and 

make them appear more devilish 

than they really see. 

“I don’t have a problem with 

that. I don’t have a problem with 

our members being referred to the 

Privileges Committee. But like I said 

we all know what the Members who 

are calling for justice now are doing 

on the Privileges Committee as far 

as Kennedy Agyepong case is 

concerned, which is worse. Well, 

why not asking why the report has 

still not come?” 

Ministers must pay 

tolls – Roads Minister 

ROADS MINISTER Kwasi 

Amoako-Atta has charged 

road toll collectors across 

the country to ensure they 

take tolls from every 

Minister of State and other 

ranking individuals. 

According to him, there 

are only a few categories of 

organisations which are by 

law exempted from paying 

tolls, such as Fire Service, 

Ambulance Service, Police, 

Security Agencies and the 

diplomatic corps. 

He added that apart from 

these all other categories of 

organisations and individuals 

are supposed to pay the 

appropriate toll when they 

get to the tollbooth. 

According to him, he’s 

received several reports that 

some government officials 

and other high ranking 

individuals because of the 

positions they occupy refuse 

to pay road toll whenever it 

is demanded of them, a 

situation he said would no 

longer be countenanced. 

“We have also 

experienced that some 

people pass through the 

tollbooth without paying the 

appropriate tolls, they tell 

the collectors in the booth 

that I’m so so and so and 

they allow them to pass 

through. All the tollbooth 

collectors have been 

instructed by my ministry 

that apart from the 

aforementioned 

organisations, every single 

individual no matter who 

you are in Ghana, you are 

supposed to pay the 

appropriate toll when you 

get to any tollbooth across 

the country. If you’re a 

managing director you are 

supposed to pay, if you are a 

minister you are supposed to 

•Tollbooth 

pay,” he stated. 

He added: “By the grace 

of God and by the grace of 

His Excellency the 

President, I am privileged to 

be the Minister of Roads for 

now, you can verify from my 

driver anywhere across the 

country I pay the toll, it will 

not make sense for me and 

leadership is by example to 

get to a tollbooth and tell 

them I am the Roads 

Minister. 

Pay the tolls, leadership is 

by example and the law does 

not exempt the road 

minister from paying 

appropriate toll anywhere in 

the country. The most 

important thing is the law 

and not me. All my deputy 

Ministers and Directors pay 

the appropriate tolls 

everywhere.” The toughtalking 

minister told the 

media. 

“We have also 

experienced that 

some people 

pass through 

the tollbooth 

without paying 

the appropriate 

tolls, they tell 

the collectors in 

the booth that 

I’m so so and so 

and they allow 

them to pass 

through.


30TH 

JANUARY, 

2019 

WEDNESDAY 

CURRENCY PARIS CODE BUYING SELLING 

US Dollar USDGHS 4.7871 4.7919 

RATES Pound Sterling GBPGHS 

6.1380 

6.1461 

Euro 

GBPGHS 

5.4483 

5.4530 

10 



3rd Ghana Beverage Awards 

launched to focus on ‘Drink Ghana’ 

AS PART of the 

“See Ghana, Eat 

Ghana, Wear 

Ghana, Feel 

Ghana” campaign, 

Global Media Alliance 

(GMA) has introduced 

‘Drink Ghana’ at the launch of the 

third edition of the Ghana Beverage 

Awards (GBA). 

The event, which is on the 

theme ‘Drink Ghana, Inspiring 

Excellence in Ghana’s Beverage 

Industry,’ this year will promote 

particularly local beverages with 

‘Drink Ghana. 

Drink Ghana is part of efforts 

to complement the work of the 

Ghana Tourism Authority and the 

Ministry of Tourism, Arts and 

Culture in igniting the ‘I am 

Ghanaian’ spirit. 

The launch saw the introduction 

of four (4) additional categories 

into the awards scheme to 

honour more players in the beverage 

industry. The new categories 

include International Wine of the 

Year, International Beer of the 

•Mr Ernest Boateng, CEO of Global Media Alliance 

Year, International Spirit of the 

Year and New Beverage of the 

Year. 

The addition is to acknowledge 

the contribution of the foreign 

beverage market in refreshing 

Ghanaians as well as encourage 

strong and healthy multicultural relationships 

with our foreign counterparts. 

The New Beverage of the 

Year Award goes to the latest 

brand in the year under review, 

which is enjoying massive public 

appeal while adhering to high quality 

standards. 

Speaking at the launch of the 

2018 Awards in Accra, the Chief 

Executive Officer (CEO) of 

GMA, Mr Ernest Boateng, said 

this year, Ghana Beverage Awards 

is keen to promote the efforts of 

the small and medium beverage 

enterprises. 

“We are looking at a future 

where indigenous beverages get 

the needed visibility or exposure 

they need to appeal to both the 

local and foreign market. The 

Ghana Beverage Awards is that 

one platform that is taking on the 

responsibility of advocating our 

local producer,” Mr Boateng said. 

The Tourism, Arts and Culture 

Minister, Mrs Catherine Abelema 

Afeku, who was the special guest 

of honour for the event, called for 

beverage companies to come up 

with innovative ways by which 

more traditional Ghanaian drinks 

like asana, sobolo and palm wine 

can be well packaged, branded and 

sold internationally. 

“We need to take our very best 

out of Ghana and share with the 

world what we enjoy most.” 

She went ahead to add that the 

initiative to promote Drink Ghana 

could not have come at a better 

time. 

The Ghana Beverage Awards is 

organized by Global Media Alliance. 

Supporting partners are the 

Food Research Institute (FRI) 

under CSIR, Ghana Tourism Authority 

and the Food and Beverage 

Association of Ghana. Media partners 

are Daily Guide, Citi FM, 

Happy FM, YFM and e.TV 

Ghana. 

Last year Guinness Ghana 

Breweries Limited bagged the ultimate 

award with Guinness Foreign 

Extra Stout adjudged Product of 

the Year and Beer of the Year. 

Other brands were rewarded on 

the night for their various specialties. 

Touchpoint Magna Carta wins ‘PR Consultancy of the Year’ award 

LEADING PUBLIC Relations 

consultancy, Touchpoint Magna 

Carta, has been awarded the ‘PR 

Consultancy of the Year’ at the 

7thNational PR and Communications 

Excellence Awards held at 

the La Palm Beach Resort in 

Accra. 

The event, which was organized 

by the Institute of Public Relations 

(IPR), Ghana, saw 

Touchpoint Magna Carta beat 

four other agencies in the country 

to annex the coveted award. 

Touchpoint Magna Carta, a 

member of the NINANI Group, 

is a wholly-owned Ghanaian consultancy 

firm offering services in 

reputation management, event 

management and media strategy 

and buying. 

Speaking about the award, Mr 

Joel E. Nettey, Chief Executive of 

the NINANI Group, said the 

award was in recognition of the 

quality of work Touchpoint 

Magna Carta had been doing over 

the six years that the company had 

been in existence. 

“In a highly competitive PR 

and communications space, recognitions 

such as these are not just 

moments of pride but also a testament 

to the depth, breadth and 

the quality of the work we have 

been doing for our clients for the 

past six years and our clients can 

testify to this fact. We share this 

with our clients for trusting in the 

quality of our work and being 

•Mr Clarence Amoatey (2ndR), CEO of Touchpoint Magna Carta, 

with some management staff members at the awards night 

great partners,” Mr. Nettey said. 

Touchpoint Magna Carta’s exceptional 

talent was also recognized 

at the awards when the 

company’s General Manager, 

Clarence Amoatey, was adjudged 

the PR Discovery of the Year. 

About Touchpoint 

Magna Carta 

Touchpoint Magna Carta is an 

indigenous Ghanaian communications 

agency specializing in event 

organisation, and Media and Reputation 

Management services. It is 

affiliated to Magna Carta, an exclusive 

African affiliate of the 

Global Ketchum Group, which 

has more than 100 offices around 

the globe. 

A key player in the interactive 

marketing, media and entertainment 

industry, Touchpoint Communications 

has helped brands 

and businesses from various sectors 

such as the finance, telecommunications, 

Oil & Gas, and 

confectionery, build positive public 

profiles over the years.



DAILY HERITAGE FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2019 11 

Politics 

Do not mind anything that anyone tells you about 

anyone else. Judge everyone and everything for 

yourself —Henry James 

OccupyGhana writes to Akufo- 

Addo over Ayawaso violence 

DEPLOYMENT OF AN 

ARMED FORCE BY THE NA- 

TIONAL SECURITY COUN- 

CIL.DURING THE 

31st January 

2019 parliamentary 

by-election 

held at the 

Ayawaso West 

Wuogon Constituency in the 

Greater Accra Region, your office 

deployed an armed force (not established 

by law) to ostensibly perform 

policing duties. 

We have seen video footage of 

these men, attired and bearing 

arms, engaging in acts of violence 

that we have condemned in our 

Public Statement of 1st February 

2019. 

We have also seen that some of 

these men were being driven in 

vehicles bearing the name and insignia 

of the Ghana Police Service 

and were, in some instances, 

chauffeured or accompanied by 

persons who appeared to be regular 

police personnel. 

Concerned about the legality or 

otherwise of that force, we have 

checked the Constitution (particularly 

articles 83 to 85, 200 and 

210) and all statutes relevant to 

National Security and have found 

no law that backs the force that 

• President Nana 

Akufo-Addo 

your office deployed. 

Sir, Ghanaians have exercised 

our “natural and inalienable right 

to establish a framework of government” 

for ourselves, which is 

required to secure for us and posterity 

the blessings of liberty 

among others. It is for this reason 

that our Constitution affirms that 

“all powers of Government spring 

from the Sovereign Will of the 

People,” in “whose name and for 

whose welfare the powers of government 

are to be exercised in the 

manner and within the limits laid 

down in [the] Constitution.” Thus 

any act(s) and/or omission(s) that 

threaten these aspirations and legitimate 

expectations of Ghanaians 

ought to arouse the concern 

of all responsible and well-meaning 

Ghanaians. 

Therefore, we write to demand 

that you kindly indicate to us: 

i. The legal bases upon 

which you assembled, maintained 

and deployed that force, of any; 

ii. The circumstances 

under which the Ghana Police 

Service facilitated the acts of that 

force by supplying vehicles or 

other logistics for the operations 

of that day; 

iii. The reason and necessity 

for maintaining the said 

force outside the legally and constitutionally 

recognised services 

established by law; 

iv. The procedure for recruiting 

persons into the said 

force; and 

v. The financial provision 

made for maintaining this 

force. 

We demand answers to these 

questions because the powers of 

government, as required by law, 

must be exercised, first, in the welfare 

of the people who were inexcusably 

violated by this force, and 

second, “in the manner and within 

the limits laid down in [the] Constitution.” 

This letter is a formal request 

for information under Article 21 

of the Constitution. Further, it 

constitutes statutory notice of our 

intention to take appropriate action 

against the Government 

should you fail to respond to and 

address the issues we have raised. 

Thus if we do not hear from 

you we shall go to Court to seek 

reliefs including (but not limited 

to): (a) providing the information 

requested above, (b) declaring the 

said force illegal, (c) ordering that 

the force be disbanded, (d) ordering 

you to account for all of sums 

of money expended on maintaining 

this force, (e) and further ordering 

that all such sums be 

refunded to the State, the expenditure 

on the said force being contrary 

to law. 

We are counting on your cooperation 

OccupyGhana® 

cc. His Excellency the 

President 

His Excellency the Vice-President 

Attorney-General and Minister 

for Justice 

Minister for Foreign Affairs 

Minister for Defence 

Minister for the Interior 

Minister for Finance 

Chief of Defence Staff 

Inspector General of Police 

The Auditor-General 

National Security Coordinator 

John Boadu elected vice chair of the Democrat Union of Africa 

THE GENERAL Secretary of 

the New Patriotic Party (NPP), 

Mr John Boadu, was, on Tuesday, 

February 5, 2019, elected, as the 

Vice Chairman of the Democrat 

Union of African (DUA), at its 

2019 conference which was held 

at the Labadi Beach Hotel in 

Accra, Ghana. 

The Democrat Union of 

Africa (DUA) is the African 

Chapter of the International Democrat 

Union (IDU), which is the 

global alliance of all centre-right 

to right wing political parties as 

well as like-minded organizations 

and think-tanks, dedicated to promoting 

conservative ideology and 

democratic principles in Africa 

and across the globe. 

The Accra conference, which 

was hosted by the NPP and ably 

• Mr John Boadu 

partnered and supported by the 

Westminster Foundation for 

Democracy, the Conservative 

Party of UK as well as the Konrad 

Adenauer Stiftung, was used 

to advance preparations towards 

the re-launch of DUA for the 

purpose of rejuvenating the 

Union to effectively promote 

the goals and aspirations of the 

African people. 

Again, at this conference, 

President Akufo-Addo was honored 

by the IDU, which conferred 

on him, the title of 

Honorary Patron of the Democrat 

Union of Africa, for his unflinching 

commitment to the 

ideals of the IDU including the 

promotion of democracy, rule 

of law and good governance in 

Ghana and across the continent 

of Africa. 

The conference also elected 

Mr Mac Henry Venaam, the current 

Presidential Candidate of the 

Popular Democratic Movement, 

which is the leading opposition 

party in Namibia, as the Chairman 

of the Democrat Union of 

Africa. 

The Democrat Union of Africa 

(DUA) is the African Chapter of 

the International Democrat 

Union (IDU), which is the global 

alliance of all centre-right to 

right wing political parties as 

well as like-minded organizations 

and think-tanks, dedicated 

to promoting 

conservative ideology and democratic 

principles in Africa and 

across the globe.


12 

DAILY 

Politics 


HERITAGE FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2019 

Adongo warns BoG Governor against 

credibility crisis of Central Bank 

THE CONDUCT of the Governor 

of the Bank of Ghana 

is bringing down the revered 

institution into serious credibility 

crisis, the Member of 

Parliament for Bolga Central, 

Isaac Adongo has said in another letter to 

the BoG Chief. 

It would be recalled that the lawmaker 

in May, 2018 wrote to the Governor of the 

Central Bank, Dr Ernest Addison requesting 

some information to assist him in his 

work, which he was flatly denied. 

But Adongo has issued another letter 

addressed to the BoG Governor cautioning 

that the “continuous manipulation of the 

Policy Rate that is not consistent with the 

fundamentals of the economy and concealing 

of critical economic data will further 

worsen the credibility crisis of BoG and derail 

any efforts at attracting badly needed investments 

into the country.” 

A copy of the letter is published below: 

Bank of Ghana (BoG), 

P.O. Box 1989, 

Accra. 

Dear Governor Addison, 

Please accept my warm greetings. 

You would recall my earlier letter to you 

dated 22nd May, 2018, in which I requested 

some information to assist me with my 

work. 

Surprisingly though, you chose to ignore 

that request. I pray this is not a norm 

at the bank under you. 

In that letter, however, I advised you to 

stop fuelling systemic risks in the financial 

sector, and to rather work to address the 

loss of credibility in the sector. I am compelled 

to write to you a second time about 

the erosion of confidence in Bank of 

Ghana (BoG), our central bank, and the 

simmering credibility crisis of the institution 

due to manipulation and apparent concealment 

of economic data, ostensibly to 

deceive investors and players in Ghana’s financial 

markets. 

A review of BoG’s Summary of Macroeconomic 

and Financial Data and the Monetary 

Policy Committee (MPC) press 

statements show a very worrying trend, that 

I want to bring to your attention. This trend 

is creating serious credibility deficit in the 

Central Bank, especially now that the extended 

credit facility (ECF) arrangement 

with the International Monetary Fund 

(IMF) is ending, with international investors 

having uncertainties about policy and institutional 

credibility, going forward. 

The following are among some of the 

worrying issues: 

1. Concealment and manipulation of 

Net International Reserves (NIR) 

It is very interesting to note that your 

July 2018 and May 2018 MPC Press Statements 

were very quiet on Ghana’s Net International 

Reserves position. Why was this 

so? Apparently, this was because Ghana’s 

net international reserves had been worsening 

since May 2018 when it recorded 

USD4.65 billion. By October 2018, BoG 

had drawn down about USD1.3 billion of 

the reserves in response to portfolio reversals 

and mounting pressure on the cedi. Indeed, 

Ghana’s international reserves fell 

dangerously low to USD3.3 billion that 

could only cover 1.8 months of imports. As 

a result of this precarious NIR position, the 

country began to experience high levels of 

vulnerability. Government’s efforts at increasing 

borrowing to provide more forex 

faltered because investors were not interested 

in lending to Government unless interest 

rates were increased. In the process, 

the government’s borrowing, gap referred 

to as uncovered auction, increased to over 

GHC5 billion – USD1.04 billion, using an 

exchange rate of GH4.8 to USD1. 

• Isaac Adongo, MP 

for Bolga Central 

Sadly, BoG unethically and unprofessionally 

decided to falsify Ghana’s 

NIR to mislead investors and the markets 

by suddenly adding Ghana’s Petroleum 

Holding Funds to our net 

reserves. This was a serious misconduct 

that was clearly against the IMF’s 

Balance of Payments Manual 5 

(BPM5) guidelines on the definition of 

NIR. The Petroleum Holding Funds 

•Samia Yaba Nkrumah is the 

daughter of Dr Kwame 

Nkrumah 

are encumbered funds which are not 

available to BoG and cannot be added 

to its reserves. 

Therefore, by adding it to the NIR, 

it was equivalent to stealing someone’s 

money to add to yours to avoid being 

identified for your true level of 

poverty. 

As you are aware, the BPM5 is designed 

by the IMF and provides international 

standards and guidelines for 

compiling balance of payment (BOP) 

statistics. It is actually your Bible and 

that of all Central Banks in compiling 

balance of BOP statistics yet I observed 

that you decided to violate it 

with impunity, even under a Fund program. 

As a result of this manipulation 

and concealment of the true data on 

Ghana’s NIR position, the markets were deceived 

into taking decisions based on such 

falsified economic data. 

Interestingly, you adjusted the NIR in 

your latest Summary of Economic and Financial 

data, which gives completely different 

figures for the various months of the 

year from what was reported in November 

2018. 

Mr Governor, this is chaotic, unethical 

and insincere. It is observed 

that this time, you added another 

USD600 million to our NIR position 

as at December 2018 to increase the 

figure from USD3.2 billion to USD3.8 

billion, apparently to hide the true 

state of our reserves and the unprecedented 

draw down in NIR. 

Mr Governor, I want to take the 

opportunity to urge you to desist from 

such behaviour and to stop cooking 

Ghana’s economic data. Let us be true 

and consistent in approach as prescribed 

by international standards and 

tell the true story of Ghana’s economic 

performance. 

Based on the projections of possible 

global economic downturn, Ghana, 

as a commodity exporting nation, has 

to be extremely worried about the low 

levels of NIR, especially in the face of a cumulative 

trade surplus of USD3 billion. 

Strangely, however, we failed to build on 

our NIR and that has now exposed the cedi 

to severe headwinds, going forward, and 

this must be informing monetary policy actions 

and not fictitious economic data to 

lure investors. 

For example, it is worrisome that the 

level of NIR as at end-2018 is less than 

what it was on 31st December 2016. This is 

in spite of the fact that the country made a 

• Dr Ernest Addison, 

BoG Governor 

cumulative USD3 billion trade surplus, 

mainly from oil exports, between 2017 and 

2018. This means that effectively, our external 

vulnerability has worsened as a country, 

resulting from excessive BoG intervention 

to support the depreciating cedi. 

Mr Governor, I want to appeal to you 

to stop endangering Ghana’s international 

reserves through such excessive intervention 

in the forex markets. Please allow the 

cedi to adjust to the shocks and thereby 

save the reserves for a rainy day. Otherwise, 

if we experience a sudden increase in capital 

flow reversals or a slump in world commodity 

prices, going forward, we will be 

forced back to the IMF even after the intended 

exit this year. Henceforth too, BoG 

should ensure that it is reporting Ghana’s 

NIR accurately in its Summary of Macroeconomic 

and Financial Data and MPC 

Press Statements to give transparency and 

clarity to the markets and not seek to hide 

In your MPC press statement of January 

28, 2019, you said the overall 

BOP had deteriorated from a surplus 

of USD1.1 billion in 2017 to a deficit 

of USD671.5 million in 2018, equivalent 

to 1.0% of GDP. Interestingly, 

however, the Summary of Macroeconomic 

and Financial Data for January 

2019 captures the overall BOP 

as of December 2018 at a deficit of 

USD1.28 billion, equivalent to 2.0% 

of GDP. 

things in a manipulated Summary of 

Macroeconomic and Financial data. 

2. Manipulative Policy rate cuts 

and Policy Distortions 

Mr Governor, it is becoming very clear 

that MPC meetings are now focusing on deceiving 

investors when Government is 

about to go cup in hand on a road show to 

borrow money. It is very strange to see any 

serious fundamentals of the economy and 

the thrust of monetary policy that supports 

your recent Policy Rate cut. In particular, 

the data contained in your MPC Press Statement 

and the Summary of Macroeconomic 

and Financial data do not support 28th January, 

2019 Policy Rate cut. For example: 

i. Inconsistency in overall BOP: Mr 

Governor, it is curious to note that despite 

ignoring my letter of 22nd May, 2018 

(which bothered on data inconsistency), you 

appear to have entrenched it and now extending 

same from the banking sector to 

the external sector. 

In your MPC press statement of January 

28, 2019, you said the overall BOP 

had deteriorated from a surplus of 

USD1.1 billion in 2017 to a deficit of 

USD671.5 million in 2018, equivalent 

to 1.0% of GDP. Interestingly, however, 

the Summary of Macroeconomic 

and Financial Data for January 2019 

captures the overall BOP as of December 

2018 at a deficit of USD1.28 

billion, equivalent to 2.0% of GDP. 

Where did you get the deficit of 

US$671 million from? This is grossly 

unethical and connotes an active attempt 

to conceal data in other to deceive 

the public and investor 

community in particular. 

ii. While I am unable to decide 

which of the overall BOP deficit figures 

to use for my analysis, I have, on 

my own prerogative, decided to base it 

on the USD671 million deficit that 

was contained in your press statement. 

The curious question with that deficit 

is: why is the BOP for 2018 in deficit 

despite a trade surplus for 2018? This 

is because of capital flight as investors 

are taking their monies invested in 

Government Bonds in search of better 

yields abroad. That is why you are 

having a precarious NIR position despite 

a cumulative USD3 billion trade 

surplus over the last two years. 

To reverse this vulnerability and 

improve foreign currency liquidity would require 

a monetary policy stance that attracts 

more foreign exchange denominated investments 

into the country. This is not achieved 

with Policy Rate cuts because that will 

rather drive away portfolio investors leading 

to further capital flight and flow reversals. 

So what is the basis for this fictitious Policy 

Rate cut? One wonders if it is 

meant to deceive investors to price 

low for the USD3 billion Eurobond 

foray planned later this 

year. 

iii. The constant regulatory 

tyranny in the last quarter of 2018 

produced foreign exchange rates 

and depreciation figures you 

wanted to see and not what the 

market produced. The cedi crossed 

the GHC5 to USD1 mark way back 

in October 2018. As you and your 

staff continued to warn and 

threaten banks whose exchange 

rate quotations exceeded the 

GHC5 mark in their Intraday reports, 

the banks began not to quote 

their actual rates for foreign exchange 

transactions, Hence, the 

data you have released on exchange 

rates and depreciation of the cedi 

are suppressed and do not reflect 

the market value of the cedi. 

Mr Governor, I want to, again, urge you 

to desist from manipulating the market with 

threats and tyranny to allow market forces 

to dictate the exchange rate. We are now indirectly 

operating a controlled exchange rate 

regime and that distorts market information. 

iv. Interest rate distortions between Policy 

Rate and various instruments: The conduct 

of BoG and the recent interest rates 

movements on Government’s risk-free debt 

instruments suggest that both the Government 

and BoG have no trust in the economic 

data that have influenced Policy Rate 

cuts in recent times. 

While BoG is cutting interest rates to 

signal a downward trajectory of interest 

rates, the same BoG and Government are 

raising interest rates on benchmark risk-free 

instruments to signal rising risk-free costs 

of capital. What that means is that the market 

is being told that you can lend to Government 

at a high interest rate and, 

therefore, before you lend to any other person, 

your starting interest rates is what 

Government will pay you and it is rising so 

charge a premium above what Government 

pays. Does this reflect a BoG that believes 

in its policy rate decisions? 

The above shows that as you have continued 

to artificially cut policy rates to deceive 

the people and score cheap political 

points, the fundamentals of the economy, 

which you recognise in pricing Government 

securities, are showing that interest rates are 

going up and should be going up. 

v. Struggling Economy 

The data released for the MPC meeting 

as reported in the Summary of Macroeconomic 

and financial data, show an economy 

that is struggling to support productive activities 

and require a deliberate policy to inject 

the needed foreign direct investment 

and improved appetite of lenders to Government 

to raise the needed resources to 

fund the economy and revive several ailing 

sectors of the real economy in the last two 

years. The data is showing very worrying 

spectacle. 

ECONOMIC GROWTH- JANUARY 

TO SEPTEMBER 

It is clear from the above that the economy 

needs serious stimulus to return to its 

robust non-oil GDP growth in 2016. BoG’s 

own Composite Index of Economic Activity 

(CIEA) supports the fact that the economy 

is struggling. 

Table 2: BoG Real Sector Indicators 

(CIEA) –November 2017/November 2018 

All the indicators of your own surveys 

show deteriorating economic performance 

on your composite index of economic activity. 

As a matter of fact the high business 

and consumer confidence started disappearing 

towards the end of 2017 and has now 

worsened per your own data. 

To summarise, this requires investment 

by Government to propel the non-oil sector 

of the economy to replace the dominant 

performance of oil since 2017. With Government 

facing significant uncovered auctions 

of about GHC5 billion in 2018 and 

massive portfolio flow reversals, monetary 

policy should rather focus on eliminating 

the unattractiveness of Government Debt 

instruments. 

The continuous manipulation of the 

Policy Rate that is not consistent with the 

fundamentals of the economy and concealing 

of critical economic data will further 

worsen the credibility crisis of BGG and 

derail any efforts at attracting badly needed 

investments into the country. 

Mr Governor, we have been enjoined to 

be citizens and not spectators, and it is in 

this direction and in performing my civic 

duties to my constituents in Bolgatanga that 

I took it upon myself to write you this letter. 

It is my hope that the issues I have 

raised will be addressed for the sake of the 

good people of this country, and out of respect 

for the high office you occupy. 

Complements of the season, Mr Governor 

ISAAC ADONGO (HON) 

Member of Parliament (MP), Bolgatanga 

Central, and Member, Finance 

Committee of Parliament

13 

WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH DAILY HERITAGE FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2019 

Julian Darksta out 

with ‘Talk Talk’ 

•Julian Darksta 

BY ERICA ARTHUR 

JULIAN APPIAH, known in 

showbiz as Julian Darksta, a 

United Kingdom-based 

Ghanaian Afro-beats and 

dancehall artiste who is gradually 

making waves in the international 

Afro-beat and UK Afro 

swing scenes has dropped his third 

track dubbed ‘Talk Talk’. 

According to Darksta, who doubles 

as a businessman, has released 

three songs though he has 

recorded a few more songs which 

are in online music shops. 

‘Talk Talk’ was produced by 

K’Adu, a UK-based producer. 

He explained that “‘Talk Talk’ is 

a song for everyone who believes 

in him- or herself and does not pay 

attention to the negatives from the 

society. It is also to encourage 

everyone to keep focused on their 

goals in order not to get distracted.” 

The artiste, known for his talent 

in word play and the fusion of 

African, American and West Indian 

decent in his songs, started music 

professionally two years ago as a 

graduate from the University of 

the District of Colombia. He was 

raised in South London, Ghana 

(Accra) and USA. 

He is inspired by versatile 

artistes and is overly inspired by 

the great Bob Marley because of 

his messages about love, peace and 

unity, which he believes the modern 

world needs. 

He encouraged the young ones 

to never give up on their dreams 

because no one can determine the 

end result and they should feel free 

to try new things because success 

comes from failure.” 

His songs are available on 

ITunes, Spotify, SoundClound and 

other such platforms, and he is Julian 

Darksta on all social media 

platforms. 

Fimfim sends late Ebony a letter 


YOUNG PROLIFIC Ghanaian songwriter, 

composer, performer, and producer 

known in showbiz as Fimfim is sending a 

long letter to the late Ebony in his new 

track dubbed ‘Dear Bony’ 

According to him, ‘Dear Bony’ is not 

just any other song but a piece he puts together 

to keep Ebony fresh in the memories 

of people. “I imagined 

her in heaven and decided 

to write a letter 

to her. The content 

of the letter 

is what the 

song is all 

about,” he 

said. 

He 

added that, 

“It's very 

normal for 

people to 

forget 

about people 

the very 

moment they 

die. Nana Hemaa 

is one female artist 

that I cherished so 

much and so dedicated a 

•Fimfim 

tribute song to her when she 

passed. I don't think I could've delivered 

this piece of awesomeness if I was ever 

contracted to do this song. This song was 

brewed out of the love I have for her and 

also to keep her name and good works 

alive.” 

Fimfim, who started as a rapper and 

later ventured into production, which is 

solely making beats and recording songs, 

has produced for other musicians and currently 

responsible for the banger by Tulenkey 

titled ‘Proud Fuck Boys’. “Other 

musicians that I've produced for are 

Mzbel, 2twenty, Dobble, King Prinz, 5five, 

Luta, Jupitar, Deon Boakye, 

Gariba, Gemini, and more.” 

The artiste said he 

has quite a number 

of songs to his 

credit but notable 

amongst 

them are ‘She 

wan me’ feating 

Jupitar; 

‘One Boy 

One Girl’ 

featuring 

Luta; 

‘Donkomi’ 

featuring 

Kwaw Kesse; 

‘Make Way’ featuring 

Gemini; 

‘Nana Nie’; ‘Selewa’ 

featuring Haywaya; ‘The 

Rapperman’ ft Kesse and 

‘Ohene’, an African hip hop story. 

“All these songs were produced by me.” 

“‘Dear Bony’ is 4mins 58secs short and 

I said short because you get so much engulfed 

in the story that you don't realize 

when it ends. This project commenced 

mid last year and was completed in January 

this year. 

“The project took that long because I 

had to re-record several times before I 

could settle on what I really wanted. The 

song needed to carry emotions and retaking 

it several times was the only guarantee 

to get it right.” 

‘Dear Bony’, which is a hip pop genre, 

is set to be released today, February 8, 

which happens to be the first anniversary 

of Ebony’s passing. 

“The song is on all digital platforms 

such as iTunes, Spotify, and deezer. It also 

has a splendid video to it on YouTube. Just 

search Fimfim.gh on YouTube and you'll 

be directed to the link to my channel to 

watch the video and other nice videos.” 

The artiste, who expressed his nostalgic 

feelings towards the late Ebony, passed a 

note to Mr Kwarteng, her father, and Bullet, 

her manager, that, “It's quite unfortunate 

she's not here but I would only wish 

she doesn't change.I miss her free spiritedness. 

“I don't think I have any advice for 

both of them but all I would say is, Bony 

lived a sweet life and was a fighter. The 

people really loved her and all that love 

might gradually fade when she's not allowed 

to rest in peace. 

“’Dear Bony is a letter to Ebony in 

heaven and I urge everyone to read this 

letter when it's released.” 

‘Slain’ to 

premiere on 

February 17 

GHANA’S YOUNGEST female movie producer, 

Mary Magdalene Agbavor , is set to premiere her 

debut feature film ‘ Slain’ on February 17, 2019. 

According to the producer, Slain’, as the title suggests, 

talks about how young people end up making 

wrong decisions 

by the influence 

of social media 

and the love for 

The movie features 

super stars such as 

Gloria Sarfo, 

Jessica Williams, 

Kelvin Funkeye and 

the talented young 

star Yaa Jackson 

and a host of other 

celebrities. 

material things. 

The movie 

features super 

stars such as 

Gloria Sarfo, Jessica 

Williams, 

Kelvin Funkeye 

and the talented 

young star Yaa 

Jackson and a 

host of other 

celebrities. 

Her first feature 

film, which 

is already making 

waves, is set to 

have an Executive 

premiere on February 16, 2019 at the Global 

cinemas (Weija-Kasoa road).

14 



Viberz features 

Ras Kuuku on 

‘Bless Me Today ’ 

•Phrame, 

artiste 


VIBERZ, MADE up of budding 

Ghanaian music duo, known in real 

life as Samuel Jeff, otherwise called 

Young, and Prince Abrampa, aka Ice, 

have featured Ras Kuuku on their 

new track, ‘Bless Me Today ’ 

According to the duo, ‘Bless Me 

Today’ was inspired by the famous 

Bible character Jacob, who struggled 

with an angel to bless him. 

The duo said, “Afro pop is our 

genre of choice simply because it defines 

where we come from, the 

dance, the concept that we speak 

about. It is who we are.” 

They have released songs like 

‘Rosalinda’, which is mixed and mastered, 

and their new project with Ras 

Kuuku, ‘Bless Me Today’, is an afrobeat 

tune that is fused with an intriguing 

rhymes. 

Phrame’s 

‘Brenya’ 

album 

released 

“Afro pop is our 

genre of choice 

simply because it 

defines where we 

come from, the 

dance, the concept 

that we speak about. 

It is who we are.” 


PROMISING GHANAIAN 

rapper and lyricist Phrame, 

born Benjamin Arkoful, has 

dropped his much-anticipated 

album dubbed ‘Brenya’. 

‘Brenya’ has 13 songs with an Intro 

and Skit making it 15 on the list. It features 

Fimfim, Nuel Triumph, Sena Huks, 

Tek Deep, Koo Ntakra, Nii Mayweda, 

Achaa, King Prinz, Gariba, Chymny 

Crane, Nana Nie, and Efo Shaker. 

According to the artiste, who is currently 

managed by Trump Music Group, 

he was inspired by the hustle and pains he 

has been through. “There was a time that 

money to pay for studio was a problem 

until I got management team (Trump 

Music Group) to make my works professional. 

So looking at all of these, an Akan 

will say ‘mabré na mé nya’ so that's the 

main reason why I named the album 

"Brenya" 

He said it took him three years to write 

and record the songs on the album, which 

has songs like ‘Brenya’; ‘Jah Guide’; 

‘Obaa’; ‘Mayor’; ‘Sokoo’; ‘Dagrafa Dagrafa’; 

and a skit produced by Fimfim) 

produced by various producers. 

Others are ‘Julie’; ’Next Time’; Revolution; 

‘Rasta Love’; ‘Recognize Remix’; 

‘Amen’; and ‘One Day’. 

The album is on all digital stores like 

ITunes, Spotify, YouTube, Soundcloud, 

Napstar, Amazon, and Deezer, 

Phrame said, though all the songs are 

his favourites, he likes Brenya most because 

of its strong message about life and 

its quality production. 

•VIBERZ

DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH 

Sports 

DAILY HERITAGE 

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2019 

15 

Spurs stadium not ready for London 

derby with Arsenal on March 2 

TOTTENHAM' HOTSPURS Premier 

League match against North London rivals 

Arsenal on March 2 will take place 

at Wembley because Spurs’ new stadium 

is not ready. 

Spurs were originally scheduled to 

move into the new ground in September 

but the project has suffered construction 

and "safety systems" delays. 

The club recently said their new stadium 

would not be ready to host 

matches until at least March. 

"Thank you all for bearing with us. 

These next few weeks are pivotal." 

Tottenham's next scheduled home 

game after the Arsenal fixture is against 

Crystal Palace on Sunday, March 17. 

However, that could be changed as it is 

the weekend of the FA Cup quarter-finals 

and Palace are still in the competition. 

"Remedial works on the safety systems 

in the new stadium are near completion 

and we shall then move forward 

to the final stages of testing the fire detection 

and alarm system and its integration 

with the other safety systems," said 

a Spurs statement. 

"The success of this testing is critical 

to our ability to obtain a safety certificate 

and open the stadium. We shall provide 

a further update in due course." 

The new ground, which will also host 

NFL games, will have a capacity of 

62,062 and is located on the site of their 

old White Hart Lane home. 

Tottenham, third in the Premier 

League, have used Wembley since the 

beginning of last season after White 

Hart Lane was demolished at the end of 

the 2016-17 campaign. 

GFA officials 

paid $400k to 

blackmail me 

AFORMER president 

of the Ghana Football 

Association 

(GFA), Kwesi 

Nyantakyi, has alleged 

that officials of the 

football powerhouse 

connived with investigative 

journalist 

Anas Aremeyaw 

Anas to set him 

up. 

Nyantakyi, 

who is serving a 

life ban from all 

football-related 

activities imposed 

on him by 

Fifa, was emphatic 

FA officials 

against him paid 

Tiger Eye PI $400, 

000 to blackmail him in 

Africa’s biggest football 

scandal. 

“The project is a sponsored 

project,” the former CAF executive 

stressed in his first public interview 

after the case. 

“The people at GFA who 

didn’t like me paid $400,000 to 

blackmail me,” Nyantakyi pointed 

out in a Net2 TV interview. 

Anas behaves like ISIS 

Nyantakyi also described Tiger 

Eye PI, which investigated him in 

the football corruption scandal as 

“a criminal organisation.” 

“Anas behaves like ISIS,” 

Nyantakyi stated. “They set people 

up and I was set up.” 

According to him, Tiger Eye 

• Says Nyantakyi 

• Kwesi 

Nyantakyi 

PI is not a credible organisation, 

describing Anas’s outfit “as a 

criminal organisation infringing 

on people’s rights.” 

He served notice he might be 

suing Anas again for “infringing 

on his right” in Dubai, where the 

laws bar people from recording 

persons “secretly”. 

The former GFA boss insisted 

Anas’s team demanded money 

from him “through a lawyer at 

Legon [the University of Ghana]” 

to drop his video. 

Nyantakyi was captured in an 

investigative documentary engaging 

in corrupt and bribery activities. 

He was initially handed a 

provisional 90-day ban, which 

was later extended for 45 

days. 

“The adjudicatory 

chamber of the independent 

Ethics Committee 

has banned Mr 

Kwesi Nyantakyi, former 

President of the 

Ghana Football Association 

(GFA), for life 

from all football-related 

activities (administrative, 

sports or any other) at 

both national and international 

levels,” a Fifa statement 

of Tuesday reads. 

“The adjudicatory chamber 

found Mr. Nyantakyi guilty of 

having violated Article 19 (Conflicts 

of interest), Article 21 

(Bribery and corruption) and Article 

22 (Commission) of the 

FIFA Code of Ethics, 2012 edition. 

As a consequence, Mr Nyantakyi 

is banned for life from all 

football-related activities (administrative, 

sports or any other) at 

both national and international 

level. Additionally, a fine in the 

amount of CHF 500,000 has 

been imposed on Mr Nyantakyi. 

“The decision was notified to 

Mr Nyantakyi today, and the ban 

comes into force immediately,” 

the Fifa statement read. 

CAF Confed.Cup: 

Kotoko to rally supporters 

ahead of Zesco clash 

THE MANAGEMENT of Kumasi 

Asante Kotoko has put together activities 

to galvanise support for the 

team in next week Wednesday’s CAF 

Confederation Cup Group C clash 

against Zesco United in Kumasi. 

The Porcupines engage the Zambians 

in day-two of the group stage 

in a 1:p.m kick-off game, and Management 

is starting a publicity drive 

that will see it go to workplaces and 

homes of the supporters. 

A press release signed by the Director 

of Communications, Samuel 

Sarfo Duku (Esq), said the idea is 

to remind the supporters of the 

game and the need for them to show 

up in their numbers. 

“As part of measures to ensure 

that we get a fully packed Baba Yara 

Stadium on the match day, Management 

will, on Friday and Saturday, 

embark on an awareness drive at the 

Suame Magazine in Kumasi,” says 

the statement. 

“We will meet with the artisans 

and traders at their shops and locations 

within those environs to drum 

home our need for their presence at 

the Baba Yara Stadium. 

“Management will, within the 

same period, also visit the Kumasi 

Business District, the notable market 

centres and artisan catchment areas 

both in and out of the metropolis to 

sell the game to our supporters in 

those areas. 

“Management has resolved to 

also visit the offices of public and 

private establishments in Kumasi 

and its environs to remind our supporters 

of the game and also impress 

on the directors and 

departmental heads to allow their 

employees to be at the stadium.” 

“It is one of our key responsibilities 

as Management to whip up enthusiasm 

in our supporters to get 

them to troop to the stadium in their 

numbers to cheer on the team, and it 

has become necessary that we embark 

on the aforementioned activities 

because the game is fixed for a 

working day and at 1p.m. when 

workers will normally be active at 

work,” the statement explained. 

Source:asantekotokosc

FEBRUARY 8

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