JANUARY 15, 2020

NO. 100819 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2020
PRICE: GH¢2.00
DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
• Prince Kofi Amoabeng (in suit) smiling
after the court had granted him bail
• Mr Joseph
Kwadwo Afari-
Yeboah, CEO of
Threshold Africa
Logistics
•Dr Joseph Siaw
Agyepong,
Executive
Chairman of JGC
•Mrs Audrey Doryumu, Head of
Association International School.
The construction site
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02
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your tax always because tax
evasion is criminal
CONTENT
ANNIVERSARIES
Independence Day — Fri, 6 Mar 2020
Good Friday — Fri, 10 Apr 2020
Easter Monday — Mon, 13 Apr 2020
Labour Day — Fri, 1 May 2020
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2020
Published by: EIB
Network / Heritage
Communications Ltd.
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William Asiedu:
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22-Storey building saga:
Association Intl School
sets records straight
NEWS DESK REPORT
THE HEAD of Association International
School, Mrs Audrey
Doryumu, has expressed concerns
and described as unfortunate
a recent non-factual media
publication about the case between residents
of the Airport Residential Area and a Turkish
estate developer over the construction of an
alleged illegal high-rise building in the area.
The proprietress, who has been at the
forefront of efforts to halt the project since
last year, expressed her displeasure at the
manner in which truth was being sacrificed at
the expense of the safety of the people in the
area.
Responding to certain media publications
which she described as false, Mrs Doryumu
told the DAILY HERITAGE that a publication
by a certain newspaper was full of factual
inaccuracies.
•Mrs Audrey Doryumu, Head of
Association International School
She said what was more worrying to her
was that the news report dated 21/12/19 and
with the headline ‘Turkish contractor cleared’
claimed that the developer was acting lawfully
and not in contempt of court as was raised by
the residents.
She said the paper also sought to suggest
that the action taken by the Roads Minister
against the Turkish contractor for damaging a
portion of the road around the building
under construction was arbitrary, as the developer
was working with a permit.
“I was basically shocked to see such a misleading
report coming from a newspaper that
is supposed to be informing the general public,”
she said.
“Contrary to an official letter issued by the
developer in which the proposed building was
stated to be a 22 multi-purpose storey building,
the Daily Guide claimed that the project
was actually a 15-storey,” she said.
Mrs Doryumu said prior to the Roads
Minister's intervention, the developer was ordered
by the court to leave the site after constructing
a concrete retaining wall to protect
properties that adjoin the proposed high-rise.
“When my brother contacted the editor of
the newspaper, he admitted to not being fully
apprised of the facts before publishing the article.
"In a phone conversation with my brother,
the editor apologised to my brother for the
blunder, explaining that the publication was
only to get the attention of readers,” she said.
Minister’s action
According to Mrs Doryumu, she had got
wind that a relative of a top government official
is behind the project and at the right time
she would name the person, and commended
the Road minister for his intervention.
The Roads Minister, MrAmoakoAttah,
went to the construction site a few weeks ago
following concerns raised by residents and
took action against the Turkish contractor,
which made the headlines.
The visibly incensed Minister ordered the
demolition of a road barricade, and further
effected the arrest of the contractor, who
later got released on bail.
Church elder fingered
BY PHILIP ANTOH
y.antoh@yahoo.com
A STAUNCH member of the
Seventh Day Adventists (SDA)
Church and an elder of the
Adentan SDA English Assembly,
Mr Joseph Kwadwo Afari-
Yeboah, has been accused by Mr
Richard Yeboah, a car dealer, of
defrauding him to the tune of
GH¢55,000.00 under the guise
of selling auctioned cars to him.
According to Mr Yeboah, the
complianant, the accused person
told him that the President had
put him in charge of auctioning
of cars at the Tema Port and
that he also worked with the National
Security and that there
• In car fraud
were some vehicles he was auctioning.
Mr Yeboah said he and two
of his friends went to Tema
Port to have first sight view of
the vehicles, where he and Afari-
Yeboah both agreed the terms
and “I paid him GH¢55,000.00
with the promise that the vehicles
will be ready within three
days.”
He said Mr Afari-Yeboah, the
Chief Executive of Threshold
Africa Logistics base in Tema
failed to deliver his promise, and
since then he has been postponing
the dates to deliver the vehicles
for close to four months.
“So in the fifth month, MrAfari-Yeboah
confessed to me
that he cannot provide the cars
and that he will pay the money
but documents available indicate
that he has cleared the cars and
sold to a different person and issued
cheques to cover such
amount,” Mr Yeboah the complainant
stated.
“Because he failed initially to
deliver on the promise and delayed
our money, he agreed to
pay an extra GH¢10,000.00
being cost of T&T to Tema for
the past five months, making a
total amount of GH¢65,000.00.
Mr Yeboah said when we
mounted pressure on him to
collect our money he issued
cheques in three tranches, first
GH¢30,000.00, then
GH¢25,000.00 and finally
GH¢10,000.00 but all the three
cheques couldn’t go through because
there was no money in the
account.
He later met one of my
friends and paid GH¢18,000.00
“I have therefore reported
the matter to the police antifraud
unit where investigations
have commenced,” the complainant
said.
Speaking to the DAILY
HERITAGE in an interview,
Mr Afari-Yeboah admitted having
issued dud cheques to the
complainant because the pressure
on him was too much.
He denied the allegations that
he said the President had put
him in charge of auction vehicles
at the Tema Port and being
a National Security Officer.
“I and the complainant entered
into a genuine business
just that things did not work as
planned and still maintained that
even though the money has
been paid to clear the cars, there
is demurrage that we have to pay
for the Port before the cars can
be cleared,” he stated.
Mr Afari-Yeboah promised
to pay the money on Wednesday,
January 8, 2020, after this reporter
spoke to him but as at the
time of going to bed, Mr Afari-
Yeboah had refused to pick our
phone calls.

WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2020 03
I’m clean
BY MUNTALLA INUSAH
captainmut@yahoo.com
THE FORMER Chief Executive
Officer of defunct
UT Bank, Mr Prince Kofi
Amoabeng, has been
slapped with two counts
of charges, to wit, stealing and
money laundering.
However, he pleaded not guilty to
both charges and has been granted
bail in the sum of GHc110 million.
The Accra Circuit Court presided
over by Emmanuel Malvin Essandor,
now a Justice of the High Court, also
ordered that he produce two sureties
-- persons who are public servants
and must earn not less than GHc2,
000 per month.
He was also to deposit his passport
with the registrar and report to
the police every Monday and Friday.
He has pleaded not guilty to stealing
GHc51, 334, 306.08 and $8, 612,
829.20 respectively between 2009 and
2017.
Brief facts
Brief facts of the case as presented
to the court by prosecuting officer
ASP Emmanuel Nyamekye were
that, “the Special Investigation Team
received a report from Price Water
Coopers, through the Governor of
Bank of Ghana, into suspicious
transactions relating to UT Bank.”
• Charged Ex-UT
boss tells court
• Granted GH¢110M bail
• Prince Kofi Amoabeng (in suit) smiling after the court had granted him bail
According to him, “the UT Bank engaged
in some off-balance sheet transactions
log issuing investment certificates to
investors in the name of the bank” with
these investment “amounts totalling
“It was also revealed
that Prince Kofi
Amoabeng, then Chief
Executive Officer of UT
Bank, signed most of
the customer’s
investment certificates
and subsequently
transferred the
amounts to UT
holdings.
GHc51, 334, 387.08 and USD8, 612,
829.33 later being transferred to UT Holdings.”
ASP Nyamekye told the court that it
was disclosed that UT Bank issued an investment
certificate in the name of the
bank although the amounts were never
credited to the customer’s account but
transferred to UT holdings.
“It was also revealed that Prince Kofi
Amoabeng, then Chief Executive Officer
of UT Bank, signed most of the customer’s
investment certificates and subsequently
transferred the amounts to UT
holdings.
He said investigation further revealed
that the customer’s monies were with the
UT Holdings and that most of the investments
with UT Bank were absorbed by
Ghana Commercial Bank Limited as part
of the takeover of UT Bank in 2017.
However, the rate of interest issued to
each investor varied and subject to negotiations.
It was also revealed that (15) transactions
were identified in respect of 12
institutions whose funds sum up to
GH¢51,334,387.08 and USD 8,612,829.33
all placed with UT Holdings.
S/C strikes on Woyome lawyer
• Slaps him with GHc5, 000 cost over repeated application for review
BY MUNTALLA INUSAH
muntalla.inusah@dailyheritage.com.gh
A FIVE-MEMBER panel of the
Supreme Court presided over by
Chief Justice Anin Yeboah has
slapped on lawyer for businessman
Alfred Agbesi Woyome, Muda Ade
Lawal, costs of GHc5, 000 to be
paid by him personally to the court.
This was after the panel took notice
of his attempt to rehash an application
for review which had
already been determined by the
court.
The apex court had earlier rejected
a plea by businessman Woyome
to pay the GH¢46million he
owes the state in instalments.
In court yesterday, his lawyer,
Ade Lawal brought an application
for review to revive that case, which
the panel, including Justice Julius
Ansah, Justice Jones Dotse, Justice
Sule Gbedegbe and Justice Baffoe-
Bonnie, said had no basis in law.
While dismissing the application
as "unmeritorious," the court gave
counsel two options, which were either
referring him to the Disciplinary
Committee of the General Legal
Council or accepting to pay the costs.
He took the option of paying the
costs and a consequential order was
for him to personally pay GHc5,000
to the court within two weeks.
Background
The legal team of Woyome told
the Supreme Court earlier their client
was ready to pay Gh¢10million now
and GH¢4milllion every three
months.
Counsel for Woyome, Ade Lawal,
therefore moved an application for
the court to halt the execution of its
judgement in 2014 which ordered
Woyome to pay the money.
A five-member panel of the court
presided over then by Justice Paul
Baffoe-Bonnie, however, rejected the
application, describing it as without
merit.
In a ruling, the court held that
Woyome had made similar promises
in the past to pay the money in instalments
but had failed to fulfil such
promises.
The court was of the view that
given such luxury to Woyome would
not be fair since the order for him to
pay the money was given in 2014.
The other Justices on the panel
were Justices Sule Gbadegbe, Anthony
A Benin, Samuel Marful- Sau
and Agnes Dordzi.
The Supreme Court, on July 29,
2014, ordered Mr Woyome to refund
GH¢51.2 million to the State on the
grounds that he got the money out
of unconstitutional and invalid contracts
between the State and Waterville
Holdings Limited in 2006 for
the construction of stadia for CAN
2008.
The court held that the contracts
upon which Mr Woyome made and
received the claim were in contravention
of Article 181 (5) of the 1992
Constitution of Ghana, which requires
such contracts to be laid before
and approved by Parliament.
On March 1, 2016, Mr Woyome
prayed the court to give him three
• CONTINUE ON PAGE 5

Inside JAN 15 , 2020.qxp_Layout 1 14/01/2020 8:00 PM Page 3
Iran nuclear deal: European powers trigger dispute mechanism
•Iran says it suspended its nuclear commitments in
response to the reinstated US sanctions
EUROPEAN POWERS have
triggered a dispute mechanism
over the nuclear deal with Iran,
after the country took a further
step back from its commitments.
Iran has suspended all limits
on its production of enriched uranium,
which can be used to make
reactor fuel but also nuclear
weapons.
It has said it is responding to
sanctions reinstated by the US
when it withdrew from the accord
in 2018.
France, Germany and the UK
said they did not accept Iran's argument.
The nuclear deal saw Iran,
which insists its nuclear programme
is entirely peaceful, agree
to limit its sensitive activities and
allow in inspectors in return for
the lifting of crippling economic
sanctions.
US President Donald Trump
reinstated them to force Iran to
negotiate a new agreement that
would place indefinite curbs on its
nuclear programme and also halt
its development of ballistic missiles.
But Iran has so far refused.
BBC
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2020
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
World news in 4 stories
Lesotho's First Lady
wanted by police
POLICE IN Lesotho are
looking for Maesaiah
Thabane, the wife of
the prime minister, for
questioning in connection
to the killing of his
estranged wife two years ago.
Mystery surrounds Ms Thabane's
whereabouts since Friday
when a court issued a warrant for
her arrest after she failed to appear
for questioning.
She was given until end of Monday
to present herself to police.
Armed police, who went to
search for the her at the official residence
of Prime Minister Thomas
Thabane on Friday, did not find her
there.
Government spokesperson
Nthakeng Selinyane has told the
BBC's Focus on Africa programme
that the police were ready to ask for
international help to find her.
Lipolelo Thabane was shot dead
while travelling home with a friend,
•The whereabouts of First Lady Maesaiah Thabane are unknown
two days before the inauguration of
her husband in June 2017.
She and Mr Thabane had been
living separately since 2012 and
were going through a prolonged divorce.
Police chief Holomo Molibeli
has alleged in court papers that a
mobile number belonging to the
prime minister was called from the
site of her murder, linking him to
the killing. BBC
•The militants burnt one of the buildings at the
primary school in Kamuthe
Kenya teachers
threaten to abandon
schools after attack
A TEACHERS' union in
Kenya has threatened to evacuate
its members from an area
where three teachers were
killed on Monday morning if
the government does not improve
security.
The deadly attack happened
in Kamuthe in Garissa
county. A telecommunications
mast and a police camp were
also targeted. The teachers
who died were not from the
area.
The Secretary General of
the Kenya National Union
Teachers (Knut), Wilson Sossion,is
quoted in the Standard
newspaper as saying that deploying
teachers from other
parts of Kenya to work in the
region near the attack "was
not the right thing at all".
The government has
promised to restore security
after the threat, the Daily Nation
newspaper reports.
No-one has said they carried
out the attack but the Islamist
al-Shabab militants
have been active in the area.
Six suspected al-Shabab attacks
have taken place in
Kenya over the last month, including
one on a military base
that left three US military personnel
dead.
Al-Shabab researcher and
policy adviser Abdullahi Halakhe
told BBC Newsday that
the group was creating a potential
conflict between the locals
and government workers
not from the region. BBC
Burisma: Russia hacked company
at heart of Trump impeachment
THE UKRAINIAN gas company
at the centre of President Donald
Trump's impeachment was successfully
hacked by Russian military
agents in November, a US
cybersecurity firm has said.
Area 1 Security said it was not
clear what the hackers were
searching for when they hacked
Burisma Holdings.
Democratic presidential contender
Joe Biden's son Hunter
Biden, was previously on the
board of the firm.
Burisma, the US government
and Russia's Ministry of Defence
are yet to respond.
Area 1 linked the hack - a
"phishing" attack - to Russia's military
intelligence unit known commonly
as the GRU.
President Trump was impeached
in December over allegations
that he improperly pressured
Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky
to launch an investigation into
Burisma and its links to the
Bidens.
The security firm also drew
parallels between November's hack
and another that was carried out
against Democrats in 2016, before
the US presidential election. BBC
•The report says hackers managed to gain access to Burisma and its
subsidiaries' email servers

WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2020
05
ONCE again a new year has started
and individuals, families and
organisations as well have made
resolutions to better or improve their
lives and operations.
Every year many such resolutions
are made and some are achieved and
others not. Do we check what helped
to achieve some and why the rest
failed? Individuals, families and
organisations that make such analyses
would always make amends to achieve
growth and progress.
If we see making such resolutions as
something that should normally be
made because we are in a new year, we
would miss the essence of it. Such
resolutions should be all that we intend
to achieve in
Editorial
Avoid unbridled pronouncements in New Year
the year or part of the bigger picture
we intend to see.
They form our plan or part of the
plan for our individual lives and
organizational operations. It is
therefore important to ask questions
before putting such plans together.
Such resolutions should mostly be
human-centred, first and foremost. It
is also important that we amend some
of the resolutions to meet the dictates
of the day.
With this said, the DAILY
HERITAGE would like to appeal to
all to allow all their activities to be
guided by peace and tranquility
throughout the year. This is an election
year and even normal slips could be
misinterpreted or misrepresented by
political opponents.
It is therefore unfortunate that in its
nascent or very early days, some people
have started organizing seminars and
conferences at which they have
threatened to reject election results
when a new voters’ register is prepared
by the Electoral Commission. Are such
conferences avenues to discuss such
flammable issues?
We can organise imbizos, as the
South Africans would describe them,
only when the nitty-gritty about such
sensitive matters are known so that we
do not unduly incite the public to anger
and violence even before decisions
about such matters are concretised.
It is a great pity that some people in
our society, particularly politicians,
inflame passions about certain national
issues before discussions on them are
brought to a closure.
Ghanaians are changing fast and it
would not surprise some of us if
people act on our inciting
pronouncements and do the
unexpected.
If some of us have made it our new
year resolution to incite people against
others, we should rethink our position
and remember that even if we escape
the chaos or the doom we call for on
our dear country, we cannot escape the
blame and name-calling.
HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS
NEW YEAR!!!
S/C strikes
on Woyome
lawyer
• Slaps him with
GH¢5,000 cost over
repeated application
for review
•Dr Joseph Siaw Agyepong,
Executive Chairman of JGC
Jospong generates energy
from faecal matter
THE JOSPONG
Group of
Compnaies
(JLC), owners of
the Sewerage
Systems Ghana Limited
(SSGL), is generating about
500 kilowatts of power from
its liquid waste treatment
plant in Accra.
This was disclosed by the
Executive Chairman of JGC,
Dr Joseph Siaw Agyepong, at
this year's Jospong Leadership
Conference at the Pentecost
Convention Centre at Gomoa
Fetteh in the Central Region.
•COP Nathan
Kofi Boakye
•Guests at the event
•Rev Dr
Lawrence Tetteh,
founding
president of
Worldwide
Miracle
Outreach
• READ FROM PAGE 3
years to pay back the money but the
court declined to grant his wish.
He, however, refunded GH¢4 million
in November 2016 and promised
to pay the outstanding balance
by quarterly instalments of GH¢5
million, commencing April 1, 2017.
That did not materialise after the
businessman initiated a litany of
legal cases at the Supreme Court to
support his case, which were all dismissed.
Apart from fighting his
cases in the country, Mr Woyome
also sought relief from the International
Court of Arbitration of the
International Chamber of Commerce
(ICC) based in Paris, France
and the African Court of Justice
based in Arusha, Tanzania.
In August 2017, the ICC threw
out his case on the basis that he
failed to properly invoke its jurisdiction.
His case at the African Court
of Justice was also dismissed in
June, this year.
• CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

Inside JAN 15 , 2020.qxp_Layout 1 14/01/2020 8:00 PM Page 5
06
News
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2020
The Year of Return: Re-discovering
us for the Africa we want
BY BENING AHMED
THE DIGNITY of
blacks is inherently
linked to the ability of
the African continent to
lift itself out of poverty,
disease, armed conflicts, hunger and
deprivation unto the path of prosperity
and economic progress. The deplorable
conditions and economic
dejection of the majority of our
African citizenry inadvertently translates
into the standard measure of
black dignity in totality.
Black people ever ywhere in the
world have their umbilical cords interconnected
to Africa. It is the
oasis from which we blossom and
the drinking pot of us all. “A people
without the knowledge of their
past history, origin and culture is
like a tree without roots.”
Marcus Garvey.
The journey to self-respect, dignity
and the status of us all is intrinsically
linked to the narrative and condition
of our black continent, be it African-
American, Caribbean as long as you
are black, the disposition of Africa
defines your social standing and dignity.
The responsibility therefore to
uplift our continent is collective, we
all have a responsibility to break the
shackles of under development and
expose the systematic design to under
develop and exploit our race in perpetuity.
“I am not African because I was
born in Africa but because Africa
was born in me.”
Kwame Nkrumah. Africa is our
roots, in fact black is Africa and irrespective
of our feelings, disappointments
and agony we all have a duty to
make it better, not for anybody but
for our own sake. The fight against
racial subjugation begins with re-writing
the African narrative, defeating
stereotypes and repositioning.
Africa remains the epitome of
wealth, civilization and the cradle of
life, this is exactly the reason the English,
the French, the Germans, the
Belgians and Portuguese all join forces
to keep us divided and subjugated.
The challenge therefore is our realization
and unification against an order
that balkanize to suppress us. We
must come to the admission that
Africa is one big unit and those that
seek to appropriate the huge wealth
under the belly of our lands to their
greed and brutal savagery remain alive
and consistently devising sophistication
to keep us divided.
The diaspora and those of us on
the motherland must come to the realization
that, our prosperity and selfworth
lies in our oneness, not in our
segregation along colonially imposed
systems and lingua-franka. Our pride
and dignity lies with us not in our association
with those that have worked
against us for ages. The liberation of
the mind and hearts of ourselves, and
the relegation of sellouts who continually
work with the oppressors to acculturate
our masses must be booted
out of power and influence.
“Some people, with a certain nostalgia,
the worshippers and admirers
of the colonial system, cherish and
nurse its structures instead of smashing
them. This is typical of a mentality
in bondage to decadent values,
negative values - counter-revolutionary
values”-Samora Machel
The Africa we want cannot be
built on the idiosyncrasies of other
cultures and civilizations. Just like the
Chinese our potential and capacities
are imbedded in our self-realization
and identification. We must rediscover
us, the black race, define our priorities
and confront our utilitarian realities.
The age old paradigm of alienating
the black race from our originality
through rapid acculturation must
teach us how to use this new appetite
for our socio-economic well-being
and benefit.
Black consciousness
Black consciousness must awaken
us to reinvent our sociology to address
our utilitarian realism. “The
basic tenet of black consciousness is
that the black man must reject all
value systems that seek to make him a
foreigner in the country of his birth
and reduce his basic human dignity”-
Steven Biko.
Africa is regarded a paragon of
wealth but a paradox to reality occasioned
by a combined force that is
committed to undermine the development
of the continent coupled with
our lackadaisical disposition. The begging
question we all must address
honestly is, weather blacks are of inferior
intellect, simply negligent or irresponsible?
In my opinion, our crisis has nothing
to do with inferior intellect, it has
everything behavioral inconsistencies
and socio-cultural distortions influenced
by religion and education, exacerbated
by greed. A succinct analysis
of leadership, mindset and other consequent
actions simply makes us complicit
in compromising our broader
goals for parochial interest of a few
sellouts.
Secondly the moral ineptitude of
•Some diasporans in a pose
the entire global order is what has visited
the greatest injustice ever witnessed
on the black race. But should
we keep throwing our hands in the air
in despair without action? Certainly
not.
We, after the realization of these
massive crimes and violation of our
humanity must look at our actions in
retrospect. “Action without thought
is empty. Thought without action is
blind.” Kwame Nkrumah.
We must take well thoughtthrough
and coordinated actions in
our best interest to build the Africa
we want. By doing so, we systematically
lift the status of the black race to
a more dignified standing.
The rest of the world must equally
know that, a stable and prosperous
Africa implies a safer and sustainable
planet. The quality of life in Africa
will automatically translate into a secured
environment for every race.
The systematic marginalization will
only defeat global peace and security
efforts.
While the African Union has an
ambitious plan of Agenda 2063, the
relevance of this agenda is only feasible
if the entirety of the black race
identifies with the vision and work
hand in hand for its realization. The
contribution of blacks everywhere
will substantially trigger impetus to
drive socio-economic transformation.
History has vindicated us, as a race
that contributed significantly to technological
revolution and scientific discoveries,
the difference is simply that
our heroic display remains untold.
We require both the black human
capital and their economic resources
to boost our growth prospects. We
need to translate the huge wealth
under the belly of our continent into
human security and quality of life for
our inhabitants.
The Democratic Republic of
Congo alone is estimated to possess
over 33trillion dollars’ worth of mineral
wealth, the implication is that, if
we can transform that wealth into tangible
industrial products, Africa would
be a net receiver of migrants from
Europe and the Americas. However,
to achieve this we need leadership,
solidarity, unity and skills which I believe
we are more than capable to
offer.
Eliminate corruption
We must eliminate corruption
In my opinion, our crisis has nothing to do with inferior intellect, it has
everything behavioral inconsistencies and socio-cultural distortions influenced
by religion and education, exacerbated by greed. A succinct
analysis of leadership, mindset and other consequent actions simply
makes us complicit in compromising our broader goals for parochial
interest of a few sellouts.
which is the major tool use to exploit
and under develop us. We must teach
ourselves solidarity and unity. This is
the only way to eliminate war and
armed conflicts. Our power-hungry
politicians and other black brothers
used to fuel conflicts must learn to
love us and appreciate black. We must
kill greed and be patriotic to black.
African states are more than capable
of building thriving societies
based on commerce, service delivery
and manufacturing, we have seen
sprawling cities like Addis Ababa,
Nairobi, Johannesburg, Abuja, Accra,
Abidjan, Dakar, Cairo to mention but
a few, many more are emerging.
This year the government of
Ghana initiated the “Year of Return”,
an initiative that coincides with the
400 years of Trans-Atlantic slave
trade and was patronized by thousands
of our kinsmen and women
from the diaspora. This serves as an
avenue to bond with the Africa diaspora
to ignite a transformed relationship.
The enthusiasm to return home
must be sustained and redirected into
economically viable and strategic actions
mutually beneficial for both the
returnees and the continent. It must
reconnect the entire African race and
trigger a consciousness that awakens
us.
These actions should lead to investments
in productive resources,
services, trade as well as retention of
relevant skills and human capital. The
exploitation of our natural resource
by us, will economically empower,
embolden and prompt a new wave of
blossom, wealth and quality of life.
This is dignity.
We must begin to tell our own stories
with music, arts and culture.
Africa is the repository of art, culture
and music in its originality, we must
make it flourish and generate wealth.
We have seen the remnants of
African culture culminate into hippop
in America and Reggae music in
the Caribbean, but these hybrid cultures
though of African origin have
not told our story in a vivid and beneficial
manner.
The new Africa that we envision
must encompass our ability to tell our
own story, sourced from the originality
of our African culture, art and
music. This is what distinguishes us
from the rest of the world.” You cannot
control all the events that happen
to you, but you can decide not to be
reduced by them- Maya Angelou
The African has been the most violated
race in history but our tenacity
and resilience is unsurpassed. No
other race in human history has been
exploited, violated and visited with violence
as we have, yet we remain
strong and forging on.
In our pain and frustration let’s
not forget our prosperity lies in our
uniqueness and unity.
God Bless!
The writer is the Deputy Secretary
General of the Pan African
Youth Union

Inside JAN 15 , 2020.qxp_Layout 1 14/01/2020 8:00 PM Page 6
Steps for coping with harmattan
• Take lots of water
Because of the dryness experienced
and the hotness of the
day, the body loses a lot of water.
Taking a lot of water keeps your
throat and mouth moistened.
• Step up your
nutrition
Take nutritional supplements
like Vitamin C
• Stay warm
Wear protective clothing during
the day and at night. Asthmatics
or those with chronic
respiratory conditions should pay
special attention to their health.
• Step up your hygiene
Sneeze into your arms, not
hands, by preventing the spread
of viruses and other infectious
agents to and from people.
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2020
&Env.
The sad reality of Accra Psychiatric Hospital
THE HEALTH care
system in Ghana
has over the years
remained an area
of concern, with
regards to delivery
systems, infrastructure and several
other pertinent issues.
Successive governments over
the years have either attempted a
resolution or overlooked the subject
altogether.
A typical point of reference is
the Accra Psychiatric Hospital.
A place, which is ideally
meant to help mentally unstable
persons recover, has now been
reduced to a pale representation
of what it actually stands for.
This sad state of the Accra
Psychiatric Hospital was uncovered
in a report compiled by
GHOne TV’s Godwin Asediba.
According to the report, the
hospital has over the years began
•A section of Accra Psychiatric Hospital
to come to terms with challenges
which seem not to go away even
with the change in governments.
Challenges that have to do with
infrastructure, space as well as
feeding.
At the special ward of the
hospital – where mentally challenged
persons are kept - the report
captured the dilapidated
hospital beds and walls, poor
sanitary conditions, broken windows
amongst several other infrastructural
deficits.
Some inmates were captured
lying on the bare floor due to the
lack of beds.
Inmates are also left at the
mercy of poor weather conditions,
especially when it rains.
That's not all patients at the ward
suffer, the issue of space also
comes to the fore.
In an interview with the Director
of the hospital, Dr Pinaman
Appau, indicated that the
issue of space arose due to families’
failure to come back for
their patients when they recover.
Patients who normally lose
knowledge of their respective
homes, families and background
are always stranded and end up
making the hospital their home.
She said, “Some of these people
have been here over twenty
years and thirty years, folders are
torn, some other folders are
missing. The Mental Health Authority
is looking at halfway
homes. This would be a place
where people who are well and
can be put back into society will
be kept…”
Feeding was also reported to
be a major challenge due to the
limited funds available to the
hospital.
The Hospital authorities have,
however, relayed a relentless call
to government and all other concerned
stakeholders to come to
their aid, and to families of patients,
to do the needful.
Meanwhile, the country has
three main mental hospitals,
namely the Accra Psychiatric
Hospital, Ankaful Psychiatric
Hospital, and Pantang Psychiatric
Hospital, as well as regional psychiatric
units all of which are in
bad conditions.
Small private psychiatric facilities
are also in operation.
GHOne news
Korle-Bu hospital to save GH¢2.1m annually
FOUR DEPARTMENTS at the
Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital will
save GH¢2.1 million of electricity
bill annually after replacing all the
high-energy consumption appliances.
The current energy expenditure
of these departments -- Child
Health, Medical Block, Accident
and Emergency Unit and Central
Laboratory -- is GH¢3.4 million,
translating into 2.8 million kilowatt/hour
per year.
To help cut down the electricity
bill, the Millennium Development
Authority (MIDA) is retrofitting
the departments with efficient energy
appliances such as refrigerators,
air-conditioners, fans and
lightning system, which are four
star-rated.
The project, known as the Energy
Efficiency and Demand Side
Management (EEDSM) of the
“RACE to RETROFIT,” is estimated
to cost US$3,000,000.
It comes under the Ghana
Power Compact II, and would be
completed in March, this year.
The four departments’ current
•Kore-Bu Teaching Hospital
power consumption of 2.8 million
kilowatt/hour per year would decline
to 1.6 million kilowatt/hour
per year, on completion of the
project, representing 40.2 per cent
reduction.
The RACE to RETROFIT
project is intended to replace highenergy
consumption electrical appliances
at public institutions with
energy efficient ones, and is
funded by the United States Government,
through the Millennium
Challenge Corporation (MCC).
Maybert/Wester Engineering
are the contractors undertaking
the job at the Korle-Bu Teaching
Hospital and five other public institutions
- University of Ghana,
Adabraka Polyclinic, Department
of Urban Roads, and Ministries of
Education and Health.
During a field tour of the departments
at Korle-Bu, Mr Richmond
Owusu, the Project
Manager, EEDSM, Energy Commission
Office, said they undertook
an audit of the four
departments to ascertain how
much electricity was being consumed
so that after the retrofitting,
they would have fair understanding
of the quantum of
energy saved.
He said the contractors would
install real energy monitoring systems
at all the beneficiary institutions
to check power
consumption, saying that the project
would serve as a base model
for replicating it in both public
and private institutions.
The Consultant for the project,
Mrs Faustina Afriyie, said a study
• From electricity bill
conducted at the Korle-Bu Hospital
before the retrofitting revealed
that air-conditioners consumed 50
per cent of power, lightning system
23 per cent, refrigerators three
per cent and other equipment 16
per cent.
The Administrator for the
Child Health Department, Ms Esther
Tetteh, said most of the existing
electrical appliances were
obsolete with high cost of maintenance
to the facility.
She said the retrofitting had
brought uniformity in the electrical
gadgets and brought down the
cost of maintenance and reduced
energy consumption.
“The fans that used to blow
hot air are now blowing fresh air
and there is a total overhaul of the
air-conditioners, fans and the
lightning system at the facility,
which is bringing us enormous
benefit and relief and we’re very
grateful to MiDA for the initiative,”
Madam Tetteh said.
The Project Engineer, Energy
Efficiency and Demand Side Management
at MiDA, Ms Priscilla
Adjei-Darko, said the project
sought to change the behaviour
and attitudes of energy users at
the various public institutions.
The Project Manager of Maybert/Wester
Engineering, Mr
Fred Sarpong, said the appliances
were four star-rated, low electricity
consuming and environmentallyfriendly
and expressed the belief it
would reduce the cost of electricity
in all the beneficiary institutions.
GNA

spread_ JAN 15, 2019.qxp_SHOWBIZ TEMP 14/01/2020 8:26 PM Page 1
RETIRED DEPUTY Commissioner of
Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and a
Reverend Minister of the Four Square
Gospel Church, Rev Peter Kwame
Abebrese, has called on Ghanaians
especially Christians, to fight against
corruption in the country.
According to him, Ghana is made up
of 70% Christians so if the Christians
alone will sincerely step up the fight
against corruption, Ghana will be free
and the nation will see massive
development.
In an interview with the DAILY
HERITAGE, Rev Abebrese said the
only thing that could help Christians fight
corruption is the “fear of God factor”.
“If you sincerely have the ‘fear of
God factor’ in you, anytime you are going
to do something or engage in any corrupt
act, your conscience will prick you and
immediately your consciousness will be
awakened,” he stated.
He said the corruption fight was not
easy because not even the revolution
could stop corruption in the country and
called on Ghanaians to rally behind the
government to stop the canker.
“One thing is that corruption will
never leave us if we don’t make
conscious effort to fight it. So, the
creation of the Special Prosecutor’s office
and the creation of the procurement law
News
DAILY
‘Fear of God’ alone can
fight corruption in
Ghana - Pastor
BY PHILIP ANTOH
philip.antoh@dailyheritage.com
are all conscious effort to minimise
corruption in the country,” Rev Abebrese
stated.
He called on Ghanaians to always
think about Ghana as the bigger entity
and “if one acquires all the wealth and
the country goes into bankruptcy, what
will happen to the individual.”
Rev Abebrese, therefore, called on all
Ghanaians to always think Ghana first by
ensuring that we secure the nation first.
According to
him, Ghana is
made up of 70%
Christians so if the
Christians alone
will sincerely step
up the fight
against corruption,
Ghana will be free
and the nation will
see massive
development.
•Rev Peter Kwame Abebrese, retired Deputy Commissioner of GRA
Pursue career in decor
BY RAMSON ACQUAH-HAYFORD
THE CHIEF Executive Officer (CEO)
of Kowak Events, Mrs Yaa Ofosuaa
Otu-Danquah, has encouraged men and
the unemployed youth to pursue interior
and exterior decoration as either full-time
or part-time career due to how lucrative
it is.
According to Madam Otu-Danquah,
BY PHILIP ANTOH
philip.antoh@dailyheritage.com
THE FOUNDER of
Last Day Gospel
Church at Galelia, a
community near
Kasoa, Apostle
Abraham Kwaku
Duah, has cautioned Ghanaian youth
to resist the temptation of being
used by politicians to perpetrate
violence in the 2020 general election.
According to him, it is high time
the youth desisted from any attempt
by anybody, be him or her a
politician or a political apparatchik
from inciting them to go and insult
or beat anybody because of
elections.
Speaking at the December 31st
Crossover night on the theme, ‘My
Year of God’s Favour’, he said no
matter what politicians or anybody
against the popular notion that it is a
‘feminine career’, there are men who
have excelled in the field of event
decoration.
“My head of Creativity is a man. He
actually does the work on the ground --
setup, wrappings, etc so we should make
an effort to eradicate that notion from
our minds and encourage men and the
unemployed youth in general to learn the
craft of event decorations.”
She said this during the maiden dècor
would do, at the end there will be
only one winner.
“It is like an examination or a
race, one person must become a
victor,” he stated.
“As we started in 1992 in peace
through democratic election, we
should follow that tenet because no
one can use one day to develop a
city or nation,” he said.
Contrary to what other men of
God have prophesied that 2020 will
be a difficult year, Apostle Duah
said the year would be a good year
for all Ghanaians and so “we must
live in peace to enjoy it.”
He called on all Christians to
always preach peace and
brotherliness to ensure that all
Ghanaians would live to see the
good testimony the year would bring
to them.
Apostle Duah advised politicians
to always use the constitution as a
HERITAGE, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2020 WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
training of Kowak Event Kowak, which
came off at the event house’s head office
at Spintex, Accra, last Saturday.
She added that not only should the
unemployed learn the craft but the
employed too. She stated that “I know a
lot of people that have day jobs yet
executes events on a large scale. We even
have a secretary who has joined the class
today. So we encourage people to come
out to learn something during our next
event.”
• CEO urges male youth
The event brought together various
events decor professionals, practitioners
and enthusiasts from different
backgrounds.
Belinda Nifa, a participant in the
training, told the DAILY HERITAGE
that “I’ve learnt a lot; I’ve always had a
passion for décor. Sometimes when I see
the end product, I feel it is magic.
“I do not know the instructor very
much but she’s very accommodating. I’ve
always wanted the opportunity to have an
extra craft because we have got to the era
where (sic) only one source of salary
cannot satisfy all your expenses, so, even
if you have a job there should be another
source of income.”
Lastly she also encouraged the
unemployed youth to wake up, learn a
craft and get out of the state they find
themselves in because nobody would
fend for them if they do not do it
themselves.
Don’t be instrument of violence
in 2020 • Youth told
• Apostle Abraham Kwaku Duah
guide to govern the nation well in
order to inherit the good of the
land.
The church was filled to capacity
at the Crossover night and the
congregation gave thanks to their
God by singing and dancing to show
appreciation of what the Lord had
done for them in the past year.
“As we started in
1992 in peace
through democratic
election, we should
follow that tenet
because no one can
use one day to
develop a city or
nation,” he said.
Tsinasi Foundation
fetes over 100
aged at St John’s
BY PRINCE ESSIEN
DIANA TSINASI
Foundation, a charity
organisation, has organised a
New Year party for the aged
in the Dome St. John’s
community and its environs.
Over 100 elderly women,
drawn from Dome,
Kwabenya, and St. Johns,
were treated to both
traditional and gospel music
and provided with assorted
food and drinks.
The organisers of theparty
for the aged dubbed‘Dine
with the aged’also served
about 150 childrenwith
cooked food, pastries and
drinks.
In an address, Diana
Oppong Tsinasi, a journalist
and founder of the
foundation, called on all to
treat the aged with respect as
they had worked very hard in
their productive years to raise
their children and contribute
to the socio-economic
development of the country.
The host of Onyini Berem
Asetena show on Light
Television noted that instead
of being supported and
respected, elderly people,
especially the women, are
neglected by their own
families and the communities
they lived in.
”It is a blessing to show
compassion to the aged and
the less privileged in society
and I wish all members of
the public would treat the
aged well,” she said.
Mr David Asare, Founder
of Christian Faith Chapel, in
an interview with DAILY
HERITGAGE
correspondent Prince Essien,
acknowledged the enormous
contributions of the aged to
the development of society
and lauded Diana Tsinasi
Foundation for taking the
initiative to solicit support for
the aged who had no hope in
the Christmas.
Some beneficiaries at the
party made a passionate
appeal to philanthropists,
non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) and
institutions to assist the aged
in various communities to
provide them with quality
health care.
The host of
Onyini Berem
Asetena show on
Light Television
noted that instead
of being
supported and
respected, elderly
people, especially
the women, are
neglected by their
own families and
the communities
they lived in.
•A cross section of the aged at the party

Inside JAN 15 , 2020.qxp_Layout 1 14/01/2020 8:00 PM Page 7
14TH
JANUARY
2020
TUESDAY
CURRENCY PARIS CODE BUYING SELLING
US Dollar USDGHS 5.5340 5.5396
RATES Pound Sterling GBPGHS
7.1810
7.1904
Euro
GBPGHS
5.7005
5.7057
10
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2020
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
MTN Foundation to give
Ebenezer SHS robotic lab
BY ROSEMOND BOATENG ADDAI
Rosemond.adjetey@yahoo.com
•Mrs Ursula Owusu Ekuful (M), Minister of Communication with members of MTN
Ghana Foundation and Ebenezer SHS boards
MTN GHANA
Foundation, as
part of its focus
areas in health, education
and economic
empowerment, has begun the construction
of Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) and
e-Learning Centre for Ebenezer
Senior High School (SHS) in Dansoman
in the Ablekuma West constituency.
The centre, which will equip the
students in the school and other
schools in its environs, will include a
Robotic Laboratory as part of the e-
learning project to help students upgrade
themselves in the
technological designs and innovative
development.
Mr Samuel Koranteng, Corporate
Services Executive of MTN
Ghana, explained that the centre has
a capacity for 100 users and the cost
is about GH¢800,000.00.
According to him, the Dansoman
community is the largest estate
in West Africa with about 20
schools with just one community library,
which, to him, is not the best.
“We looked at the need for such
a project here and also the community
reached out to the Foundation
and sent out our consultants to access
the need and the project and we
realize the library facility in Dansoman,
which is located around the
Keep Fit area, is too small for such a
community and so that is what informed
us the MTN Ghana Foundation
board to take on this
project,” he explained.
Mrs Ursula Owusu Ekuful, Minister
of Communication, said she
was sure that very soon the young
people in the community would be
building their own robots but without
them being exposed to emerging
technology, it would be difficult
to achieve what one is capable of.
“We are very excited for this
project and looking forward to its
completion in June. There are lots
of computer labs and libraries
around but this will be the first robotic
centre attached to it and it can
serve almost all the western part of
Accra,” she said.
The Communication Minister
pointed out that the challenge she
could foresee was the cost of data
and so the ministry was considering
extending free Wifi to the SHS utilizing
area.
Mr Kofi Mensah, Headmaster of
Ebenezer Senior High School, said
the school was happy for the project
because the books in its library were
outmoded.
He expressed the hope that the
e-library could be used to train the
students as expected.
Jospong generates energy from faecal matter
• Continue from page 5
The SSGL is a subsidiary of waste
management giants Zoomlion Ghana
Limited and it is into the construction of
liquid waste facilities and treatment of
faecal matter in Ghana.
Through its green revolution programme,
it now successfully generates
about 500 kilowatts of green power,
which may be useful to augment energy
generation in Ghana.
He said similar facilities were being
constructed in Kumasi, Tamale, Takoradi
and Sunyani among other places,
which will provide safe reception and
treatment of liquid waste among others.
Addressing management and staff
of his over forty subsidiary companies,
the elated entrepreneur expressed gratitude
to God, whom he described as his
Chief Executive Officer, the advisory
board, management and staff of his
companies.
He said it was in 2006 that God revealed
the vision to him to provide solutions
to existing waste problems in
Ghana.
"It was then that we started innovating
various technologies and mechanisms,
which are now providing an
integrated approach to waste management
which has in turn replaced the
hitherto haphazard solid waste disposal
and liquid waste that was dislodged directly
into the sea, leading to Ghana
being scored 7th dirtiest country in the
world.
Dr. Agyepong recounted how
Zoomlion was formed and got the support
of former President John Agyekum
Kuffour for the tricycle concept, which
has evolved to become the leading waste
management company in West Africa.
The waste management entrepreneur
said his focus now was to build modern
waste management technologies and infrastructure
across Ghana to help
achieve the President's vision of making
Accra and Ghana the cleanest in Africa.
He expressed gratitude to all former
presidents of the Fourth Republic, including.
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-
Addo, who have all shown keen interest
in the waste management agenda of the
company for the country.
"In responding to Nana Akufo-
Addo's vision to
make Accra the
cleanest city in
Africa, we researched
and developed
the IRECOP
concept which
processes over 400
tonnes of waste a
day and currently
operating in Accra
and being replicated
in the regions.
He commended
the Chairman of the
Church of Pentecost,
Apostle Eric
K. Nyamekye, and
members of the
church for the effective collaboration in
ensuring a clean environment through a
project dubbed ‘Environmental Care’
campaign last year.
He also thanked the National Chief
Imam, Dr Sheik Nuhu Sarabutu, and all
other Imams for their prayers for the
Jospong brand.
Rev. Dr Sam Adeyemi, a renowned
Nigerian preacher and leadership coach,
advised Ghanaians to take responsibility
of identifying and setting goals with regard
to current trends to dealing with
their problems because change was inevitable.
He said one must set goals strategically
and believe in them “and God will
make them come to fruition”.
He urged leaders never to run away
from problems but rather run towards
them and find solutions for their change.
A Commissioner of Police (COP),
Nathan Kofi Boakye, advised leaders to
have succession plans and ensure that
they identified leaders among their staff
and groom them to take over from them
at the right time.
He asked leaders to avoid protester
and prisoner types of staff because
“they do not bring improvement to their
organizations”.

Inside JAN 15 , 2020.qxp_Layout 1 14/01/2020 8:00 PM Page 8
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2020 11
Politics
Do not mind anything that anyone tells you about
anyone else. Judge everyone and everything for
yourself —Henry James
Your achievements have lifted our
image — Avenor Traditional Council
CHIEFS FROM the
Avenor Traditional
Council in the Volta
Region have expressed
gratitude to
President Nana
Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for his
sense of promise to develop the
area.
They described as historic the
development taking place in the
Avenor area owing to the sound
policies of the Government and the
dedication of the President to improving
the socio-economic fortunes
of the area.
Torgbui Dorglo Anumah, Paramount
Chief of the Avenor Traditional
Council, who led a delegation
to the Jubilee House, Accra, on
Monday to thank the President for
granting the area a traditional council
status within a year of his assumption
of office, said “your
remarkable achievements have reflected
positively on the image of
Avenor”.
He said the introduction of policies
such as the Free Senior High
School and the Planting for Food
and Jobs programme had helped
parents to make savings for other
family projects, and had boosted
production and put Akatsi, the district
capital, in the lead as far as rice
production was concerned in the
Volta Region.
The paramount chief, who was
full of praise for the President for
granting them audience at the seat
of government to voice their concerns,
said it was the first time in
Ghana’s Fourth Republican dispensation
that the traditional authorities
from the area had had the opportunity
to call at the Presidency.
“Mr President, all these developments
are historic; they have never
happened in the history of
Avenor…This clearly demonstrates
your love and concern for us. This is
just the beginning of a chapter in
our relationship with you and the
government of the New Patriotic
Party.
Torgbui Anumah told the President
that the new status of Avenor
Traditional Council granted the area
had strengthened the position of the
chiefs of the area in the discharge of
their customary and traditional responsibilities
as an autonomous
council without let or hindrance.
“This is a privilege opportunity
for which we are most grateful. It is
during your tenure of office that
this dream has become a reality,” he
said.
The paramount chief asked the
President to adopt Avenor “as your
new home, as you are now regarded
as an illustrious son of the land.
Your remarkable achievements have
reflected positively on the image of
Avenor…our doors are open to you
anytime you graciously wish to visit
us.
“Our appreciation cannot be
complete, if we fail to allocate a
piece of land to you to build a home
here to fortify and strengthen our
relationship…you are now a citizen
of Avenor,” he stated.
Torgbui Anumah further assured
the President of the support of the
chiefs and people of the Avenor for
•President Nana Akufo-Addo
his bid for a second term in government.
“You have our firm assurance
in support of your second term bid,
and we will make sure that your victory
will be resounding. Our full
support is for your government to
carry on the good works you have
started”.
The paramount chief appealed
for the speedy elevation of the
Akatsi District to a municipal status,
and requested for the immediate exploration
of oil in the Avenor Traditional
Area.
He was of the belief that the
area was rich in hydrocarbons because
it straddled the Volta Basin,
where oil was discovered, pleading
that government find the resources
to undertake the project.
“We shall endeavour to support
it with all our might and resources,
and help to create the grounds for
its successful exploration,” he assured.
Torgbui Anumah also asked the
President to modernise the Akatsi
central market to boost commercial
activities and the revenue base of
the district assembly, upgrade the
Akatsi district hospital to a fullyfledged
hospital with modern facilities,
and provide a bus each for the
Avenor Traditional Council and the
Avenor Senior High School.
He appealed for presidential
recognition of their newly-instituted
festival, the Avenor Tutudosa, so
that it could be put on the list of national
festivals in Ghana.
President Akufo-Addo thanked
the people of the area for the confidence
they had reposed in his administration,
and assured them that
their concerns would be addressed
systematically in due course.
He said the exploration of oil in
the Avenor catchment area would be
subjected to due process, as the
Ghana National Petroleum Corporation
was undertaking feasibility
studies to ascertain if the oil could
be explored in commercial quantity.
The President asked the Chiefs
and people to keep their fingers
crossed and “hope that at the end of
those studies, we will be able to confirm
the process started many years
ago, and see if the oil there is in
substantial quantities.”
“We are hoping that if the studies
confirm that there is indeed oil
there, we can get as many Ghanaians
as possible and people from the area
to be involved in bringing it up and
using it for their development,” he
stated.
The President further advised
the chiefs to carefully and diligently
map out the land titles “before we
go into this development, so that
when it starts, we are not going to
have any difficulties in any kind of
problems”.
The delegation was accompanied
by the Volta Regional Minister, Dr
Archibald Letsa, and Minister of
Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs,
Kofi Dzamesi. GNA
I didn’t order sharing of 400 NDA tricycles — Salifu Sa-eed
THE NORTHERN Regional
Minister, Mr Salifu Sa-eed, has denied
claims by the dismissed
Northern Development Authority
that he ordered some individuals
to pick 400 tricycles from the yard
of the authority.
According to him, the claim by
Dr Alhaji Abdel-Majeed Haroun is
false.
In a statement issued on Monday,
January 13, 2020, the minister
said: “I wish to state categorically
and unequivocally that I didn’t direct
anyone or group of persons
or a company to pick any item
from the premises of the NDA in
my name or the Northern Regional
Coordinating Council. For
the records, I was the same person
who ensured the protection of the
said items upon my appointment
until the appointment of the CEO
of NDA.”
“The said the claim being purported
by the letter of the former
NDA boss and Kelvin Taylor’s report
is false and a palpable lie.
This is an attempt to soil my hardearned
reputation and hard work.
If I was really behind the picking
of the tricycles, I would have written
formally to the NDA, giving
clear directions and the locations
to deposit the items”.
The statement explained: “As
head of the Regional Security
Council (REGSEC), there was the
need for the CEO who had access
to me to verify before allowing the
so-called assignees of mine to pick
those tricycles as claimed.
“I, as a law-abiding citizen,
therefore, join calls for the NDA
to, as a matter of urgency, open a
full-scale investigation into the entire
tricycle matter, dating back to
2016, in accordance with the laiddown
procedures and laws.
“I wish to also add that no one
is above the law and criminals, irrespective
of their political lineage,
must be dealt with accordingly”.
•Mr Salifu Sa-eed, Northern Regional Minister

Inside JAN 15 , 2020.qxp_Layout 1 14/01/2020 8:00 PM Page 9
12
DAILY
Politics
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2020
Demos wouldn’t change decision on a
new Voters Register — Obiri Boahen
THE NEW Patriotic
Party (NPP)
Deputy General
Secretary, Nana
Obiri Boahen, says
the various public
protestations would not change
the decision of the Electoral
Commission (EC) in acquiring a
new Voters Register for the country.
“You can stage the demonstrations
but that cannot change the
decision of the EC in securing a
Voters Register.” Speaking to the
Ghana New Agency in an interview,
the NPP Deputy General
Secretary said Article 45 Clause
(1a) clothes the Commission with
the mandate to change the Voters
Register whenever it feels so.
He said challenging the EC in
court could only be the way out,
adding that the EC does not need
the consent of any party to acquire
a new Register. “Legally, all
the noise about the new Register
is ‘Much ado about nothing’”, he
said.
Nana Obiri Boahen, who cited
various reasons for a new Voters
Register, said the creation of the
new regions was one of the factors.
•Nana Obiri Boahene, Deputy General Secretary of NPP
He said, for example, that
there is no region known as
Brong Ahafo and Northern Regions,
stressing that all those regions
have now been divided. He
said it was, therefore, automatic
that serial numbers of those in
the two regions should get new
Voter Identification numbers in
order for them to vote in the
2020 general election.
Nana Obiri Boahen said the
issues surrounding the change of
the Voters Register was not about
any political party, adding that the
Supreme Court, after hearing the
election petition in 2012, saw that
there “something wrong” with
the Voters Register.
More so, he said, Parliament
has approved the budget for the
New Voters Register.
The announcement by the EC
to procure a new register has attracted
a lot of views from various
groups, including political
parties and civil service organizations.
The EC has, however, set the
middle of May to compile a new
Voter register for the presidential
and parliamentary elections for
2020.
According to the Commission,
it wanted to change the register to
pave the way for a smooth election
devoid of issues.
Meanwhile, 13 political parties
including the NPP and the Liberal
Party of Ghana (LPG) have
thrown their weight behind the
EC to compile a new Register.
However, the biggest opposition
party, the National Democratic
Congress, has objected to
the compilation of the new Voters
Register. GNA
Nana Obiri Boahen
said the issues surrounding
the change
of the Voters Register
was not about any political
party, adding
that the Supreme
Court, after hearing
the election petition
in 2012, saw that
there “something
wrong” with the Voters
Register.
Court action against new voters register will be last resort — Hassan Ayariga
•Hassan Ayariga, founder of APC
THE INTER-PARTY Resistance
Against New Voters Register, a
group kicking against the compilation
of a new voters register,
says it will consider taking legal
action against the Electoral Commission
(EC) if all attempts to get
the compilation of a new voters
register fail.
The group over the weekend
staged a demonstration in Tamale
against the EC’s decision to compile
a new biometric voters’ register
for the 2020 general election.
In an interview with Citi News
monitored by the DAILY HER-
ITAGE, the leader of the All
Peoples’ Congress (APC), Dr.
Hassan Ayariga, said legal action
to have the process stopped is the
last resort for the group.
“We will continue to ask for
dialogue. Going to court is the
last resort of everything. We don’t
want to use it as our first option.
We will definitely use it as a last
option. We will definitely use all
the laws available to us.”
The EC has said it is ready to
engage the various political parties,
especially those opposing the
decision to compile a new voters’
register ahead of 2020 elections.
“As far as the EC is concerned,
our doors are open. We will still
engage the parties. Very soon, we
will have an IPAC meeting to call
on the parties for us to look at the
modalities; how we are going to
do it. So we wish that all the parties
will come on board.
“If there are certain ways we
can do certain things to mitigate
the concerns of others, the EC is
ready to do that,” the Deputy
Chairperson of the Electoral
Commission, Dr Bossman Asare,
said.
Parliament has approved a
GHS390 million budgetary allocation
to enable the EC to carry out
the registration exercise between
April and May 2020 over a period
of 50 days.
‘Tikusayi’ demonstration
Over the weekend, the political
parties opposing the compilation
of a new voters’ register took to
the streets of Tamale in the
Northern Region to express their
disappointment against the move
by the EC to compile a new electoral
roll ahead of the 2020 general
election.
The group maintains that any
money spent on the register will
be a waste of taxpayer money,
and also expressed fears that the
EC may disenfranchise some
Ghanaians.
Some thirteen political parties
have, however, backed the Electoral
Commission’s decision to
compile a new voters’ register.
The parties, who, as a group,
are known as the Coalition of Political
Parties for ‘YES’ to a new
register, believe the EC has made
convincing arguments for the new
register.
“We will continue to
ask for dialogue.
Going to court is the
last resort of everything.
We don’t want
to use it as our first
option. We will definitely
use it as a last
option. We will definitely
use all the
laws available to us.”

WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2020
13
Akuma Dance Ensemble dazzles
at ‘Year of Return’ ceremony
BY MUNTALLA INUSAH
captainmut@yahoo.com
AKUMA DANCE Ensemble,
a traditional music and
dance group formed with
the aim of promoting and
preserving the rich and authentic African
music and dance culture, on Sunday
treated Ghanaians from the diaspora with
exciting performances at an event organized
as part of the 2019 Year of Return.
The Year of Return, Ghana 2019 is an
initiative of the government of Ghana
that is intended to encourage African diasporans
to come to Africa (specifically
Ghana) to settle and invest on the continent.
The performance at the Jungles City, a
popular joint in Accra, gave the gathering
impressions of what they had missed
while living abroad.
The group is led by Joseph KodjoAnnang,
a multi-talented musician, master
drummer, lead vocalist and flutist.
It prides itself on indigenous African
instruments fused with western instruments
Akuma group, which has toured
places and performed at major festivals
within Ghana, has expressed the hope to
•The Akuma Dance Ensemble
use music as a tool in promoting peace
and love worldwide.
Support for underprivileged
The group has been very instrumental
in the community in supporting the lessprivileged
such as homeless people and
believes that schooling or education can
help get some of the less-privileged people
from their predicments.
For that purpose, Akuma (Heart)
Dance Ensemble has come to provide
the platform in the area of fine art and
given the best of practical lessons.
It is also geared towards promoting
the authentic Ghanaian traditional music
to the world, heal and change lives
through our music.
Aims and objectives
The aim of the dance troupe, under
the umbrella of Southside Entertainment,
is to give back to the less-privileged
people in the community as well as
entertain and educate people on drug
abuse through music.
Founded bySamuel NiiNoiTetteh
some five years ago from a humble background,
its main objective is to promote
the rich African culture through music to
world.
• Kofi Kinaata
Kofi Kinaata, others named 50 Most
Influential Young Ghanaians
BY ERICA ARTHUR
THE MOST-ANTICIPATED
annual list of 50 Most Influential
Young Ghanaians, which is
curated by leading PR & Rating
firm, Avance Media, has been
released.
Currently, in its fifth year, the
annual ranking by Avance Media
has helped highlight the works
of young Ghanaians across the
world and has seen notable personalities
such Anas Aremeyaw
Anas (2015 & 2016), Kow Essuman
(2017) and Prophet
Daniel Amoateng (2018) voted
as the Most Influential Young
Ghanaians in the respective
years.
Honourees cut across diverse
sectors, with these inspiring
young change-makers and leaders
making great strides as entrepreneurs,
musicians, activists,
media personalities, social entrepreneurs,
public servants and
politicians.
According to Prince Akpah,
founder and MD of Avance
Media, “the list serves as an encouragement
to young Ghanaians
who are accomplished in
their industries and continue to
build a distinguished brand for
themselves and have influence
over others. This list also urges
those honoured to continue
striving harder so their stories
can inspire other young people
to also contribute their quota to
the development of Ghana and
the continent of Africa."
Profiles of all finalists have
been published on: www.avancemedia.org/2019MIYG.
Public voting has been
opened via gh.avancemedia.org
for the public to decide who
among the 50 honourees served
as the most influential young
person in 2019. The public voting
ends on January 27.
Avance Media is also spearheading
related annual rankings
for Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania
and Kenya.
Below is the list of nominees
arranged in their respective categories
Business
1. Anthony Dzamefe [CEO,
Caveman Watches]
2. Awura Abena Agyeman
[CEO, WearGhana]
3. Marcia Ashong [CEO, The
Boardroom Africa]
4. Rashida Saani Nasamu [CEO,
I-ZAR Group]
5. Sangu Delle [CEO, Africa
Health Holdings]
Entertainment
1. Becca [Musician]
2. Kofi Kinaata [Musician]
3. Kuami Eugene [Musician]
4. Kwesi Arthur [Musician]
5. Stonebwoy [Musician]
Law & Governance
1. Hon Francisca Oteng-Mensah
[Member of Parliament, Kwabre
East Constituency]
2. John Dumelo [Parliamentary
Candidate, National Democratic
Congress]
3. Kofi Tonto [Head of Information
and Public Affairs, Embassy
of Ghana in United
States]
4. Hon Kojo Oppong Nkrumah
[Minister, Ministry for Informa-
• CONTINUE ON PAGE 14

14
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2020
Trigmatic
to groom
new artistes
TRIGMATIC HAS expressed his commitment
to groom new artists this
year. He said this at at the new Taka-
Maka Leisure house in Odorkor in
Accra, where he held a New Year gettogether
with a section of Ghanaian media personalities
and bloggers recently.
Related to his commitment, he officially introduced
to the gathering ‘Ancient’, a buzzing Palm
Wine Highlife artist, who opened up for him several
times in 2019.
Trigmatic said he was kicking off the New
Year with a well-received album (8th Element) and
a couple of exciting things.
“This year we’ll see Trigmatic make a major
move into the African music space with his participation
in an all-African music reality show as a
guest judge,” he said.
He also mentioned that following the success
of his concerts last year, he would bring back the
‘My Life Concert’ in March 2020 and ‘Osagyefo’s
night’ in September 2020.
Trigmatic’s 4th studio album is currently available
for download/streaming on all digital platforms.
•Trigmatic
Medikal is a
disappointment
— Phrame
BY ERICA ARTHUR
DARKUMAN-BASED
hardcore rapper Phrame says
he is very disappointed in
Sawutuom’s best rapper and
one of Ghana’s king of
‘bars’, AMG Medikal, for doing
a bad job on his recent single
dubbed, ‘EL Chapo’.
According to Phrame, he has a
single dubbed, ‘EL Chapo’, which
was released two months ago and
hearing his colleague doing the same
title of song, he said, “Listening to
Medikal’s version of EL Chapo, I
feel my version is better than
his.”
“I was expecting him to
teach me a lesson with his
version but mine will score
better marks than his. He
disappointed me as a
young rapper who takes
inspiration from him
because he happens
to be the best rapper
and I respect
him but I
feel he could
have done better
than what
he did.”
Phrame
•Phrame,
artiste
has been on the music scene for quite
a long time and has released his debut
album dubbed ‘Brenya’
and released a couple of
singles which include
‘Letter to Sister
Derby’ and
‘EL
Chapo’.
Kofi Kinaata, others named 50
Most Influential Young Ghanaians
• READ FROM PAGE 13
tion]
5. Sammy Gyamfi [Communications Director, National
Democratic Congress]
Leadership & Civil Society
1. Akosua Asaa Manu [Deputy CEO, National
Youth Authority]
2. Cynthia Ofori-Dwumfuo [Group Head, Marketing
and Corporate Affairs, Hollard Ghana]
3. Derek Nii Laryea [Head of Research and Communications,
Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications]
4. Ernesto Yeboah [Commander-in-Chief, Economic
Fighters League]
5. Patrick Stephenson [Head of Research, IMANI
Centre for Policy and Education]
Lifestyle
1. Dancegod Lloyd [Dancer]
2. DJ Vyrusky [Disc Jockey]
3. GuiltyBeatz [Music Producer]
4. Kwadwo Sheldon [Social Media Influencer]
5. Kwaku Bediako [Fashion Designer]
Media
1. Berla Mundi [On Air Personality, Media
General]
2. Kevin Ekow Baidoo Taylor [Social Commentator,
Loud Silence Media]
3. Manasseh Azure Awuni [Freelance Journalist]
4. Sally Akua Amoakowaa Mensah [On
Air Personality, Angel TV]
5. Serwaa Amihere [On Air Personality,
GhOne TV]
Personal Development & Academia
1. Ewura Adjoa Ahimah Nunoo (Dr) [Medical
Doctor, Swan Clinic]
2. Kabu Nartey [Student, Ghana Institute of Journalism]
3. Kenneth Gyamerah [Education Advocate]
4. Nana Akua Ankomah-Asare [Managing Director,
Primetime Ltd]
5. Rose Dodd [Lecturer, Ashesi University]
Science & Technology
1. Derick Omari [CEO, Tech Era Ghana]
2. Gregory Rockson [CEO, mPharma]
3. Ivy Barley [CEO, Developers in Vogue]
4. Richard Briandt [CEO, Codetrain]
5. Simon W. Alangde [CEO, Wineloya Digital]
Social Entreprise & Philanthropy
1. Foster Awintiti Akugri [President, Hacklab
Foundation]
2. Hikmat Baba Dua [CEO, League of Young Female
Leaders]
3. Mabel Suglo [CEO, Dignified Wear]
4. MacCarthy Mac-Gbathy [CEO, Hopin Academy]
5. Prince Agbata [CEO, Coliba]
Sports
1. Andre Ayew [Footballer, Swansea City]
2. Elizabeth Addo [Footballer, Jiangsu Suning]
3. Jordan Ayew [Footballer, Crystal Palace]
4. Mubarak Wakaso [Footballer, Deportivo
Alavés]
5. Thomas Partey [Footballer, Atlético Madrid]
The ranking is spearheaded by Avance Media
in partnership with Reset Global People, VIPI
State, Jagari Designs, Surge Studios, WatsUp TV
and Cliq Africa.

DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
Sports
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2020
15
We accept FA’s Baba
Yara ban – Kotoko
KUMASI ASANTE Kotoko
say they accept the decision
by the GFA to ban it from
the use of the Baba Yara Stadium.
“We accept the FA’s decision. As a
club, we do not support fan hooliganism,”
PRO of the club, Kennedy Boakye Ansah,
told Francis Abban on the ‘Morning Starr’
yesterday.
The ban comes after a supporter was
shot in the eye after fan agitation following
a defeat of Kotoko by Berekum
Chelsea at Baba Yara stadium last Sunday.
A statement announcing the ban said:
“Article 14 (2) of the GFA Premier
League Regulations states that: ‘the GFA
may order the closure of any league centre/venue
where the safety of clubs,
match officials and/or spectators cannot
be guaranteed”.
“The GFA Prosecutor shall prefer
charges against any person/party found to
have breached any provision of the GFA
Regulations or Disciplinary Code.”
GFA ban on Kotoko
The Porcupine Warriors have been
• Kennedy Boakye Ansah, PRO of Asante Kotoko
banned temporarily from using the Baba
Yara Stadium for their home matches in
the Ghana Premier League following Sunday's
misconduct by fans.
The disgruntled followers of the club
went berserk and wanted to physically assault
referee Charles Bulu after the 1-0 defeat
by Berekum Chelsea.
The melee escalated when a policeman
fired rubber bullets - to disperse the
crowd one of which hit the eye of an innocent
fan.
A Ghana FA statement read: "Following
incidents at the Baba Yara Stadium
during Asante Kotoko's Premier League
match with Berekum Chelsea on Sunday,
the GFA Executive Council has decided
to temporarily ban Asante Kotoko from
playing its matches at the Baba Yara
Sports Stadium pending the adjudication
of the matter by the GFA Disciplinary
Committee.
"The GFA Executive Council at its
meeting on Monday, January 13, 2020, decided
to trigger the provision of Article
14(2) of the GFA Premier League Regulations.
"Article 14 (2) of the GFA Premier
League Regulations states that: "the GFA
may order the closure of any league centre/venue
where the safety of clubs,
match officials and/or spectators cannot
be guaranteed."
"The GFA Prosecutor shall prefer
charges against any person/party found to
have breached any provision of the GFA
Regulations or Disciplinary Code."
It was our decision to cancel StarTimes
10-year deal — Akofa Banson
STARTIMES GHANA Head of
Marketing, Akofa Banson, has
revealed that the decision to cancel
the 10-year contract signed
between the company and the
Ghana Football Association
(GFA) was at the request of her
company.
According to her, the absence
of football on the local scene
after the Anas exposé leading to
the government banning all football
activities made them incur
huge losses.
Speaking in an interview on
Asempa FM monitored by the
DAILY HERITAGE on why
the initial contract signed in 2016
was cancelled, she said, “Our old
contract signed between the
GFA for 10 years was truncated
because of the long absence of
football in the country after the
Anas exposé”.
“We were losing money and
kept asking the GFA when football
would return and we were
not getting any response. So we
decided that the contract was not
benefitting us and we both had a
mutual agreement to cancel the
contract”.
A press release from the Chinese
pay-TV operators following
the cancellation of the earlier
deal read, “StarTimes signed a
10-year contract as the official
media broadcaster of the Ghana
Football Association in 2016.
“With this strategic partnership
agreement, StarTimes acquired
all media rights of Ghana
Football properties for 10 years.
“StarTimes has invested over
2 million US dollars in Ghana
Football with hardly any tangible
returns so far. Despite all our investments
as a company, our
goals and targets were not met
to ensure the smooth running of
our business.
“We have suffered huge
losses as expected revenue from
advertisers who had pledged to
spend on our platform could not
be realised and the investments
made into the game could not be
recouped due to the abrupt truncation
of the league.
“We had signed deals with advertisers
and since there was no
platform to advertise their products
due to the absence of football,
we decided to cancel the
deal,” the statement read.
StarTimes has since been
awarded the television rights of
the Ghana Premier League and
FA Cup for the next five seasons
worth a little over USD $5 million.
• Akofa Banson, Head of Marketing at StarTimes Ghana

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