Wednesday, 22nd September, 2021b

Page 2

Sergeev's arrival at Heathrow, under the name

Sergey Fedotov, was captured on security cameras

A

third Russian faces

charges over his

alleged involvement

in the 2018 Salisbury

poisonings, which left

three people critically ill and one

dead.

Prosecutors have authorised

charges against Denis Sergeev in

the Novichok attack on former

double agent Sergei Skripal and

his daughter Yulia.

Dawn Sturgess died after the

poisoning and a police officer was

badly injured.

Police also confirmed they

believe the suspects in the case

belonged to a Russian military

intelligence team.

Security sources believe

Sergeev acted as the on-theground

commander for the operation

and was the senior member

of the team from Russia's GRU.

He has also been linked to

other covert activity across

Europe.

While the Crown Prosecution

Service has authorised charges,

the suspects cannot be formally

charged unless they are arrested.

On 2 March 2018, the alleged

GRU hit team came to the UK.

Two men, using the names Alexander

Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov,

arrived in the afternoon at

Gatwick airport. Police have now

for the first time confirmed their

real names as Anatoliy Chepiga

and Alexander Mishkin.

The third man, Denis Sergeev,

using the name Sergey Fedotov,

had arrived at Heathrow airport

earlier that day at 11:00 GMT.

Chepiga and Mishkin travelled

to Salisbury on Sunday 4

March, allegedly to smear the

military-grade nerve agent

Novichok on the handle of former

GRU officer Sergei Skripal's front

door.

He and his daughter fell seriously

ill as did Nick Bailey, then a

police officer.

Sergeev remained in London

the whole time before leaving

on a flight to Moscow at 13:45,

having made a late change to

his plans. The other two left on a

later fight at 22:30.

Police say they now have evidence

the men were operating as

a team and that all three met on

a number of occasions in London

over that weekend.

On some occasions, this was

indoors, on others it was in the

open air - although the police will

not specify exactly where.

The role and identity of

Sergeev had been previously

disclosed by the investigative

site Bellingcat in February 2019

and some of his movements and

phone contacts were detailed in

a joint investigation with the

DAILY ANALYST Wednesday, 22nd September, 2021

BBC, including his proximity to

Paddington, Oxford Circus and

Embankment.

But the police have been

working on building up evidence

of his role, a process described

as "challenging" but which has

eventually led to today's announcement.

"We remain as determined as

ever to bring those responsible

to justice," said Dean Haydon,

assistant commissioner at the

Metropolitan Police and senior

national coordinator for counter-terrorism

policing.

The charges authorised

against the three men are conspiracy

to murder, attempted

murder, causing grievous bodily

harm and use and possession of a

chemical weapon.

Chepiga and Mishkin appeared

on Russian TV after being

identified in 2018 and said they

had been to the city simply as

tourists to see the cathedral.

Russia has always denied any

involvement.

Traces of Novichok were

found in Chepiga and Mishkin's

hotel room, although none were

found in that used by Sergeev.

The Novichok in the perfume

bottle could potentially have

killed thousands of people, police

say.

But there remain significant

gaps in the investigation, including

how the Novichok came into

the UK and where it was between

its use in March and its discovery

in June in Amesbury in a discarded

perfume bottle.

Dawn Sturgess died days after

spraying some of the bottle's

contents on herself.

Pre-inquest hearings into her

death, presided over by former

Global News

Salisbury poisonings:

Third man faces charges

for Novichok attack

High Court judge Baroness Hallett,

are due to resume this week.

The police are asking the

public to get in touch if they have

any more details of Sergeev's

movements in London or that of

the perfume bottle.

Sergeev, aged around 50, is

believed to be in Russia, like the

other two suspects. Russia has

always said it cannot extradite its

citizens.

The UK authorities will inform

Interpol to seek his arrest

if he does travel outside of the

country.

"We now have the evidence

that links them to the GRU," Mr

Haydon said. "All three are dangerous

individuals."

Intelligence also links Sergeev

and the team to a trail of covert

activities across Europe.

Who is the third man?

Sergeev is alleged to be a major

general and senior member

of Unit 29155 of the GRU, a team

tasked with sabotage, subversion

and assassination. He joined the

team after serving in Russian

special forces.

Bulgarian authorities say

Sergeev and two other men from

Unit 29155 checked into hotels

in the capital Sofia in April 2015,

insisting on rooms with a view of

the underground car park.

Surveillance of that car park

released by a Bulgarian prosecutor

shows one man approaching

the cars of a Bulgarian arms

dealer Emilian Gebrev, as well as

his son and business partner.

A toxic substance is believed

to have been smeared on the

handles - similar to the way Novichok

was placed on the handle

of Sergei Skripal's house. They

would fall ill but survive.

Although he had a return

flight booked two days later,

Sergeev left the country on 28

April - the day of the poisoning.

He may be the man caught on

CCTV in the car park.

Chepiga and Mishkin, meanwhile,

have been linked to a blast

that tore apart an ammunition

storage depot used by Emilian

Gebrev in a forest in the Czech

Republic on 16 October 2014,

killing two.

On 11 October 2014, the men

used the same cover identities

they used in Salisbury - Ruslan

Boshirov and Alexander Petrov -

to arrive at Prague airport before

staying near the depot and then

leaving on the day of the explosion.

The accusation by Czech

authorities this summer led to a

major diplomatic row with Russia

and the expulsion of diplomats

from a number of countries.

It followed investigative work

by European security services

who, since Salisbury, have tracked

the travel of the three suspects

as well as others from the unit to

see if they can link it with covert

activity.

For Sergeev, this includes

visits to Spain, France, Germany,

Switzerland and Austria as well

as other countries.

He is also believed to have

been in touch with members

of the GRU unit involved in a

planned coup in Montenegro in

2016.

UK police also say they

believe the three all travelled to

the UK before March 2018. They

say they continue to investigate

other suspects.—BBC

Coup attempt fails in

Sudan —State media

Sudan says it has thwarted

an attempted military

coup, and arrested "all

those involved".

A government

spokesman told state media the

coup plotters were linked to the

ousted President Omar al-Bashir,

who was toppled two years ago.

Earlier reports from the capital

Khartoum and nearby Omdurman

described intense military

activity, and the main bridge

across the River Nile was shut.

The road to Khartoum and

ports have also been blocked.

The plotters had tried to take

over a building housing the state

media, AFP news agency reports.

A government involving the

military, civilian representatives

and protest groups is in place,

was established as part of power-sharing

agreement after Presi-

dent Bashir was ousted in 2019.

The BBC's media monitoring

service reports that several coup

attempts have taken place in

Sudan since then.

There has been tension within

this Sovereign Council which

is supposed to be overseeing a

return to civilian rule, and BBC

Monitoring adds that some are

claiming the security lapses in

parts of the country may be an

attempt by the military to obstruct

the transfer of power back

to civilians.

Correspondents say elements

within the military are thought

to be behind several of days of

protests in Port Sudan in the east

of the country.

The Sudanese government

says the situation in the country

is now "under control".

Video footage shared on Tues-

day morning appeared to show

armoured vehicles on city streets,

but AFP news agency reports that

traffic now appears to be flowing

smoothly in central Khartoum.

According to Reuters news

agency, military spokesman

Mohamed Al Faki Suleiman says

the interrogation of suspects will

soon begin.

Journalist Mohanad Hashim

in Khartoum says the government

is blaming a group of officers

disgruntled by Sudan's tough

economic situation.

The BBC's Africa correspondent

Catherine Byaruhanga says

Sudan's transitional government

is under pressure to deliver

economic and political reforms

amid competing demands from

conservative and liberal constituencies.—BBC

Abdalla Hamdok is Sudan's interim prime minister in the

Omar al-Bashir was toppled in 2019

DAILY ANALYST

Wednesday, 22nd September, 2021 Page 3

Frontpage Stories

Story: Prosper Kwaku

Selassy Agbitor

The ruling New Patriotic

Party (NPP)

has sounded a word

of caution to party

members and

faithful discontented with the

President’s nominees for the

role of Metropolitan, Municipal

and District Chief Executives

(MMDCEs) not to cause

mayhem.

The National Youth Organiser

of the party, Henry Nana

Boakye (Nana B), who gave the

warning, stressed that the party

was reliably informed that

some persons were planning

to foment trouble, adding that

such individuals must reconsider

their intended action.

Last Sunday, the government

released the list of

MMDCE nominees. But since

then, parts of the country have

recorded pockets of violent

protests over the list.

There were also been

threats from some NPP mem-

NPP warns party members

bers, who said they would

boycott party activities due

to the failure of the president

to nominate their preferred

candidates.

However, speaking on

Eyewitness News, which was

monitored by DAILY Ana-

lyst, the NPP national youth

orgnaiser made a passionate

appeal to the disgruntled party

members to be measured in

expressing disappointment

and not engage in acts that

could destabilise the peace in

the country.

“All 2,000 aspirants cannot

be MMDCEs so certainly 260

names ought to be presented

for approval. So they have to

be measured in their disappointment.

They need to blend

the highs and the lows. People

should also know that the fact

that they are disappointed

does not mean they should go

about vandalizing properties.

So if anyone is caught and

prosecuted, it is just a matter

of law. So I am calling on the

teeming youth to be calm”.

“We also have intel that

some miscreants want to use

us as a platform to cause trouble.

So we are calling on the

security agencies to be on the

alert”, he further advised.

The nomination of MMD-

CEs across the country has

been greeted with mixed

reactions, with many agitating

and accusing the President of

nominating the wrong people

to represent him at the local

level.

Some are also saying they

do not associate with nominated

persons and for that matter

calling for different persons to

be nominated.

In the Tema Central constituency,

some aggrieved

supporters of the New Patriotic

Party (NPP) earlier locked

up the party’s office in protest

of President Akufo-Addo’s

nomination of Yohane Armah

Ashitey as the MCE for Tema.

Some NPP youth at Chereponi

in the North East region

also destroyed some structures

after the nomination of

Zuwera Mada Nashiru as the

District Chief Executive was

announced over the weekend.

Hundreds picket in FixTheCountry demo in T’di

Story: George Obeng

Hundreds of residents

in the Western

Region yesterday

participated in

the #FixTheCountry

demonstration in Takoradi to

register their displeasure with

governance in the country.

It was obvious that the

droves of demonstrators were

spurred on by the fact that the

day was a holiday in memory

of Ghana’s first President, Dr

Kwame Nkrumah.

Speaking to journalists at

the onset of the demonstration

from Takoradi to Sekondi, the

leadership of the #FixTheCountry

and participants called on

the Akufo-Addo administration

to fix the governance system,

corruption, unemployment and

kidnappings in the Sekondi-Takoradi

metropolis.

A member of the movement,

Oketekyere Afrifa Mensah, said,

“we are tired of substandard

governance. We are tired of

governance that has no plan.

We are tired of directionless

leadership.”

The Commander-In-Chief, of

the Economic Fighters League,

Ernesto Yeboah, also said they

were protesting against a “false”

and “rotten” system “that allows

the blatant stealing of our resources.”

“What you are seeing here

today is a manifestation of the

boiling anger of the youth and

good people of Ghana,” he said.

#FixTheCountry movement

began to take shape in May 2021

after gaining traction on social

media.

It saw young Ghanaians

demand social and economic

reform as well as better governance.

The online movement

evolved and culminated in its

first physical protest, also on a

holiday, on July 6, 2021.

The FixTheCountry demonstrators in Takoradi yesterday

We shall vote against MMDCEs nominated!

Ackah Nelson Frank, GAAM President

Story: Freeman

Koryekpor Awlesu

The Western North

Regional President for

the Ghana Association

of Assembly Members

(GAAM), who doubles

as the Assembly member for

Asawinso ‘A’ in the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai

Municipality,

Hon. Frank Ackah Nelson, has

stated that they are working to

vote against the Municipal and

District Chief Executives (MD-

CEs) nominated by the President

within the region.

This was made known to the

press in an interview after the

regional and district executives

of the association held a crunch

meeting at the regional capital

Sefwi Wiawso, to deliberate on

the welfare of the members.

He continued that the association

had submitted several

petitions to the President of the

Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa

Akufo-Addo, concerning their

welfare, but has turned deaf ears

to their entreaty, perhaps the demand

for them to take proactive

measures in order to meet their

requests.

“We have presented several

suits to H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa

Akufo-Addo concerning restitution

of our ex gratia, electoral

area funds to bolster the various

assembly members, procurement

of inferior motorbikes

for the assembly members and

other relevant demands but

he has turned deaf ears to our

argument, we are calling on him

to act now, “ he reiterated.

Mr Ackah revealed that the

association since its inception

has made a reasonable impact

on the various MMDAs, notably

in the Western North region.

Meanwhile, they cannot boast of

any progress in the course of its

members.

“With our support, MMDAs

without presiding members in

the region, have one now, we

can boast of several noteworthy

accomplishments by the

association but the government

wants to take us for granted,

we yearn to take this medium

to voice out our concerns to the

President to attend to our plea,”

they appealed.

However, he observed that

the government has scorned

their applications upon uncountable

attempts, but urged

the various assembly members

to remain obstinate and rally

behind the association to fight

for the welfare of the members.

“I will plead with the assembly

members to rally behind

the association to fight for the

welfare of the members. We

cannot endorse any MMDCE if

our demands are not satisfied,”

he confirmed.

Writer's email: koryekporfreeman@yahoo.com

Page 4


Story: George Obeng

Knutsford University

College has won the

2021 Global University

of the Year Award.

It also received an

International Award of Global

Business Excellence. This was

stated in a release signed by Mr

Affail Monney.

The event, which was the

International Sustainability and

Growth Summit in Dubai, was

attended by Her Royal Highness,

Princess Dr Maradeun Oguanlana,

some of the most influential

leaders in the world, educationists

and “pioneer thinkers who

are at the frontiers of advancement.”

According to the statement,

Knutsford University College

clinched the feat for its equitable

but affordable university education

in Ghana, Africa and across

the world” as well as its impressive

academic facilities, innova-

Knutsford University wins Best

Global University Award

tive life changing programmes,

dedicated staff, good governance

management structure, and

highly enriched, conducive

learning environment.”

Pro-Vice Chancellor and

Founder of Knutsford University

College, Bishop John Kwamena

Essel, said the global recognition

was a testament of the crucial

role of private universities in

Ghana in meeting the educational

needs of the people and

advancing the cause of national

development.

“The global award challenges

Knutsford University College to

offer more services which are

qualitative in content and global

in scope so as to project Ghana

as the preferred destination for

education. We will do our best to

meet these lofty expectations,“

Bishop Essel added.

He commended management

and teaching staff of the university

who made it possible for the

award to materialise.

Knutsford University College

attracts a lot of students in West

Africa and other parts of the

world in addition to Ghanaian

nationals. In collaboration with

the Ghana Journalists Association

(GJA), Knutsford University

College every year runs free,

intensive Advanced Diploma

programme in Communication

and Governance for journalists

across the country.

ADB new Board inaugurated

The new Board of Directors

of the Agricultural

Development Bank

Limited (ADB) have

been sworn into office

with the charge to continue

with its core mandate of agricultural

financing.

At a ceremony at the Ministry

of Finance, a Deputy Minister

of Finance , Hon. Dr. John Kumah

commended the previous

Board for refocusing the Bank on

its core mandate of agricultural

financing and was optimistic

the new board will continue

with the vision making the Bank

the best Bank for agribusiness

financing in the country.

The nine member Board is

Chaired by Daasebre Akuamoah

Agyepong II , Omanhene of the

Kwahu Traditional Area with Dr.

John Kofi Mensah (Managing

Director) , Alhaji Habib Iddrisu

, Prof. Eric Yirenkyi Danquah,

Hon. Abena Osei-Asare, Prof. Peter

Quartey, Mr. George Kwabena

Abankwah-Yeboah , Mr. Evron

Rothschild Hughes and Madam

Mary Abla Kessie as members.

“With the coming in of the

National Development Bank,

ADB will get more funds for medium

and long term agricultural

financing programmes and I am

sure this will help increase the

Banks portfolio in the sector,”

he said.

According to the Deputy

Minister, the Bank was well

positioned to assist the National

Development Bank equally

fulfil its mandate of providing

long term loans for agribusiness

financing to ensure food security

and create wealth for Ghanaians.

“ADB has since 2017 remained

a key partner to government

initiatives such as

the Planting for Food & Jobs,

Rearing for Food & Jobs and

also the novel One District One

Factory initiative and I wish to

commend the Bank for such a

support” he said.

The new Board Chairman,

Daasebre Akuamoah Agyepong

II on behalf of the members

, thanked the President , His

Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa

Akuffo Addo and other shareholders

for the opportunity for

them to serve as Directors on the

ADB Board.

He pledged the determination

of the Board to work assiduously

so the Bank can start

paying dividends to government

whiles ensuring the Bank focuses

on agricultural financing.

“We are going to work hard

to ensure we continue to improve

on the financial performance

of the Bank so we can pay

dividends to shareholders, he

said.

NLA gets new Board of Directors

A

new Board of Directors CEO, Sammy Awuku who is being building among stakeholders.

was sworn in last Friday

by Deputy Finance ning disputes between NLA and that there is the need to learn

looked up to resolve the long run-

The Board Chairman asserted

Minister Dr John Kumah

for the National suring that laws governing their oped countries that had used the

private lotto operators, while en-

the best practices from devel-

Lotteries Authority,

activities are adhered to. Already lottery industry to develop their

The Board Chairman of NLA, he has commenced a re-registration

of private lotto operators –

I assure that, the Board would

countries.

Torgbui Francis Nyonyo, assured

that, the Authority would work licensing to operate having been ensure NLA achieves its full potential,”

Torgbui Nyonyo said.

assiduously to enhance revenue a major bone of contention – even

generation and also improve its as he is arranging new, potentially “We will do this through the

operations and to block all revenue

leakages in the system.

the Authority.

the 1960 Lotto and Betting (Act 94)

gainful collaborations on behalf of mandate given to the authority in

“My administration will ensure

that transparent policies are policy, the NLA is expected to in-

722) to be the integral part of the

By adherence to transparent and National Lotto Act, 2006(Act

brought to bear by the management

team on their day to day contribute its quota to the needed to the national development,”

crease the revenue generation and revenue generation to contribute

performance of the NLA.

developmental goals of the country

in line with the NLA Act, and

Sammi Awuku, Director-General of NLA

Torgbui Francis Nyonyo stressed.

The newly inaugurated board

included the recently appointed anchor its policies on consensus

DAILY ANALYST


Do Ghanaians really love Ghana?

By Aseye Dey

One Wednesday

morning, I was listening

to Bernard

Avle and his team

on the Citi Breakfast

Show.

They were talking about

the swearing-in of the new

board of governors for the various

State-Owned Enterprises.

Bernard Avle admonished the

new board members to carry

out their duties with patriotism

and not be focused on the

allowances they would be receiving

like what many public

officers do.

As I listened to him, a question

popped out of my mind,

“Do Ghanaians really love

Ghana? Do they want to see

the motherland progress like

the “Asian tigers”? The answer

that followed was; just a few

Ghanaians really love Ghana.

This answer came out after a

reflection on the recent happenings,

the attitude of Ghanaians

from leadership down to

the ordinary citizens.

For Ghana to make it, there

should be a conscious effort

by our leaders and citizens to

make Ghana develop not just

for us but for future generations.

Unfortunately for

Ghana, she does not have the

full support of her citizens to

enable her to develop.

Many of our politicians,

public servants, professionals

are more concerned with

what they will get from the

state while caring less about

the service they render to the

state to move its steps forward.

For instance, a politician is

sworn in as a minister, his first

focus is to get his Land Cruiser,

allowances, fat salaries, and

other goodies that come with

the position but are not patriotic

enough to be more concerned

about serving the state

earnestly; critically looking for

solutions to solve the problems

bedevilling the state. People

who occupy positions that

require them to make decisions

beneficial to the country

end up putting their interests

above that of the state. Some

sign bad deals on behalf of the

state causing the state to lose

millions of cedis.

They sign deals that they

know they will never sign if

it were their private company

they were running. They read

clauses that do not ensure to

the benefit of the state, but

they still sign it because there

is a cut for them personally or

for their friends and family.

Contractors are given

contracts to construct roads,

schools, gutters, bridges, and

other projects, and instead

of the government officials

charged with the responsibility

to supervise the work to

ensure the state gets value for

money they just want their

percentage from the funds

meant for the construction. As

a result, shoddy work is done,

causing the state to spend

more money to reconstruct or

maintain them when they do

not stand the test of time.

In the bushes, left to waste

away, are abandoned projects:

hospitals, schools, factories

simply because it was started

by the previous government or

because starting a new project

would enable a big man to line

his pocket.

A similar thing was done

by the previous government.

Sadly, it is the trend now. If our

leaders had the least sense of

patriotism, they would have

been more concerned about

the way taxpayers’ funds are

wasting. Some of these projects

were financed with loans

which the state is expected to

pay back. Unfortunately, the

taxpayers will be paying back

loans they have not benefitted

from. Too much partisanship

and vindictiveness are causing

the state dearly.

The situation of Komenda

Sugar factory saddens me so

much, how a multi-million

dollar sugar factory could be

left to rust away while many

residents of Komenda are

unemployed. We import all

the sugar we consume, putting

stress on the cedi while

we have a sugar factory in the

bush. The state has not been

able to recoup the investment,

yet more money would have

to be spent to renovate it. I almost

wept when I watched the

Joy News hotline documentary

on the state of the sugar

factory.

The government has assured

us for some years now

that they were getting investors

to operate the factory

but to date, the factory is still

there rusting further. Nothing

was done to prevent the metals

from rusting, completely

heartbreaking.

The story would have been

different if the money used to

build the sugar factory came

from their pockets. However,

there has been some assurance

from the trade minister,

Alan Kyeremanten to get the

Komenda Sugar Factory operational

by the end of 2021. I

hope he does not relent on his

assurance.

Another issue is the greed

of many Ghanaians. A number

of Ghanaians especially

professionals, politicians, and

public workers just work to ensure

the problems of the state

do not affect them instead of

them using their expertise to

solve the problems bedevilling

the state as a whole. Bribery

and corruption are the order

of the day. The people who genuinely

fight the wrong within

the system are frustrated by

the people who are supposed

to empower them; Domelevo

and the likes would tell you

their story. Public servants

paid with state funds rip off

the state with their actions or

inactions.

The rot superintended by

some public servants within

the system with impunity

is mind-boggling. The past

months saw the release of

audit reports by the Auditors

General Department on the

running of State-Owned Institutions.

Almost all the audit

reports on the various State

Institutions revealed financial

malfeasance and infractions,

mostly deliberately caused.

The reports also revealed how

the state lost millions of Cedis

to these financial infractions.

The intent to protect the public

purse is lost. Even universities

like KNUST, University of

Ghana were not excluded.

Public servants causing

all these infractions without

caring about how they would

slow down the country’s development.

Little or nothing

has been done to punish the

culprits of these infractions or

even retrieve the monies lost.

Ghanaians Celebrate First President

With #Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day

As the country

celebrates the

birthday of its

first President,

Dr Kwame Nkrumah,

many people both young

and old have taken to social

media to celebrate him with

the hashtag Kwame Nkrumah

Memorial Day.

Today’s statutory public

holiday followed the passage

of the Public Holiday Amendment

Bill into law in March

2019.

After leading the CPP to

victory to form a government,

he became the leader of government

business in 1951. The

move, eventually led Ghana,

formally the Gold Coast to independence

from British rule

in 1957.

As the leader of the country,

Dr Nkrumah led massive

socio-economic development

that resulted in a number

of infrastructural projects,

including the construction

of the Akosombo Dam, the

Tema Motorway, among other

projects.

I am yet to hear that monies

stolen from the state were

retrieved. If it were China or

those other countries that

have their systems working

well or have the development

of their country at heart, these

people would be jailed by now.

Mind you, the huge sums

of money the state loses to

corruption, misappropriation

and mismanagement deprive

other aspects of the needed

development. For instance,

these young women and girls

migrating from the north to

work as head potters in Accra

and Kumasi. They live undignified

lives here. The millions

of Cedis that are wasted could

be put into developing the regions

in the North so that the

opportunities they seek here

in Accra and Kumasi would be

available to them there. This

would take away the need to

migrate to the south for greener

pastures. The infrastructural

development those monies

could have provided the state

misapplied without the fear

of God.

The big problem with the

youth in Ghana is too much

affiliation to political parties.

Putting their love for NPP or

NDC above that of the state,

refusing to discern on issues

as a result. They forget that

NPP and NDC will not support

the future generation, but the

state.

This problem is also with

some of our professionals, who

should know better. Ghana

is bigger than NPP and NDC.

Issues that border on national

interest are seen through

party lenses. I was highly

disappointed when I heard the

MP for Ningo Prampram, Sam

George says he puts NDC first

before Ghana. A person with

that mentality in parliament

is no good for Ghana. Many

other politicians get power

and want to first satisfy their

party needs before that of Ghana.

How will Ghana make the

progress it ought to make?

The wealthy countries

we admire today did not get

there by doing the things

Ghanaians are doing to their

country. They got there as a

result of love for their country,

strengthened institutions,

putting the interest of the

country above individual or

party interests, and a lot of

sacrifices from leaders and

citizens. Their leaders yearn

for the development of their

country; the well-being of the

masses. Last but not least, they

use state resources judiciously;

the state benefits largely

from expenditures made,

unlike here in Ghana with all

the wastage.

Page 6


Dan Botwe Defends MMDCEs

Dan Botwe, Minister for Local Government,

Story: Freeman

Koryekpor Awlesu

Outgoing Municipal

Chief Executive (MCE)

for Ketu South Municipal

Assembly in the

Volta Region, Mr Elliot

Edem Agbenorwu, has congratulated

the newly-nominated MCE

for the area, Mr Maxwell Koffie

Lugudor, and pledged support

to work with him to deliver on

his constitutional mandate to

succeed.

Following this development,

Mr Agbenorwu urged the 57

Assemblymen and women in all

the electoral areas in Ketu South

to vote massively to approve the

nomination of Mr Lugudor to help

continue to bring sustainable

development to the area.

Speaking in an interview

with Aflao-based Holy F.M 98.5

on Monday, September 20, 2021,

which was monitored by DAILY

Analyst, Mr Agbenorwu expressed

gratitude to the President, Nana

Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, for

appointing him to head the Ketu

South Municipal Assembly in his

first term.

He was hopeful that although

President Akufo-Addo did not

re-appoint him as the MCE for

Ketu South, he believes that

"properly the President has another

place for him to serve under

his second term administration."

The outgoing MCE congratulated

those who, in diverse ways,

have supported him to contribute

to the socio-economic development

and growth in the electoral

areas within the municipality.

"The projects and programmes

l have completed or started in the

municipality are there for all to

see. More importantly, I have also

helped to improve lots of lives in

all the 39 electoral areas in the

municipality,” the outgoing Ketu

South MCE stressed.

"I want to use this opportunity

to thank all the chiefs, clergy,

assembly members, media, students,

fisher-folks, market-folks,

staff members of the Ketu South

Municipal Assembly and the

entire populace of the municipality

who have supported me

towards positive transformation

of the communities and the great

impact l have made by adding value

to humanity," Mr Agbenorwu

expressed.

According to him, he would

not have worked during his tenure

of office to the expectation

of the good people of Ketu South

had it not been for the support of

the good people of the thrity-nine

electoral areas within the Ketu

municipality and the entire staff

of Ketu South Municipal Assembly.

Mr Agbenorwu further urged

the chiefs and people of Ketu

South to rally behind the new

MCE nominee as it was done to

him to develop the area.

According to him, his successor

was a strong and courageous

figure who understands local

dynamics.

“My brother, Maxwell Koffie

Lugudor, has been nominated

as my successor I know him to

be a very strong and courageous

person who knows the dynamics

of local leadership to the top

echelon.

He noted that his prayers will

always be with him to succeed

in the interest of Ketu South municipality,

Voltarians, and Ghana

The Minister for Local

Government, Regional

Reorganisation

and Development,

Dan Botwe, has

defended President Nana Addo

Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s choices

of Metropolitan, Municipal,


(MMDCEs).

Mr. Botwe insists President

Akufo-Addo found them to be

competent and qualified for

the job.

The nomination of MMD-

CEs across the country has

been greeted with mixed

reactions, with many agitating

and accusing the President of

nominating the wrong people

for their districts.

Some are also saying they

Outgoing Ketu South MCE

lauds Maxwell Koffie Lugudor

…and calls for calm

through the vision of President

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo."

He stressed the need for the

chiefs, clergy, Assemblymen and

women and the entire populace

of the municipality to accord Mr

Lugudor the needed support to

succeed in office as was done to

him

Ṁr Agbenorwu called on his

supporters and the NPP members

to continue to remain calm since

President Akufo-Addo was the

final appointment authority and

he has appointed Mr Lugudor and

this should be supported by all

and sundry to maintain peace and

unity in the municipality.

President Akufo-Addo has

through the minister for local

government decentralisation and

rural development brought all

speculations to an end by naming

the metropolitan municipal and

district chief executives who will

help him in the second term of

his administration.

“Having served in the first

term of the administration I

know how passionate the president

is to see to the development

of mother Ghana therefore the

decision to re-nominate and to

drop appointees will always be

apt.


Mr Elliot Edem Agbenorwu, Outgoing MCE for Ketu South

do not associate with nominated

persons and for that matter

calling for different persons to

be nominated.

But speaking on The Point

of View on Citi TV, on Monday,

September 20, 2021, Dan Botwe

said a lot of consideration went

into the nomination.

He also added that everyone

who couldn’t get nominated

will be contacted in due time.

“The most important thing

is that I had the opportunity

to sit through some of these interactions

and saw the calibre,

the quality of people who really

wanted to come and serve

at that level. I was very much

encouraged, and we have kept

their resumes, and they will be

contacted at the right time.”

Outgoing District Chief

Executive (DCE) for

Awutu Senya West

District Assembly in

the Central Region,

Mr Stephene Kwame Quaye, has

pledged to work in harmony with

the newly-nominated DCE for

the area, Mr Joseph Aidoo, for the

needed sustainable development

and growth.

Mr Aidoo was among the list

of the Metropolitan, Municipal


(MMDCEs) officially announced

by the Local Government Minister

on Sunday, September 19, 2021.

According to the outgoing

DCE, he personally called Awutu

Senya West nominee around 6:30

a.m., on Monday, September 20,

2021, to officially congratulate

him and pledged his readiness to

support him in delivering on his

mandate.

“Even after the announcement

was made yesterday,

(Sunday September 19, 2021, I

have toured the constituency

to educate my supporters and

sympathisers to be calm and accept

the DCE nominee for Awutu

Senya West,” he said.

Speaking in an interview

with this news outlet on Monday,

September 20, 2021, via telephone

call, Mr Quaye asserted that "the

two of us pledged to work together

to improve the living conditions

of our people."

The DCE called on his supporters

and sympathisers to rally

The government released

President Akufo-Addo’s choice

of nominees for the various

MMDCEs on Sunday, September

19, 2021, after nearly nine

months of the new administration.

The Minister for Local

Government, Dan Botwe at the

minister’s press briefing after

the announcement indicated

that the list has been forwarded

to the various regional

ministers.

The regional ministers are

thus expected to contact the

Electoral Commission, which

will commence processes for

assembly elections on the various

nominees.—Citifmonline.

com

Stephen Kwame Quaye,

DCE for Awutu Senya West

District Assembly

'I’ll work with Awutu

Senya West DCE

nominee in harmony'

support for the newly-nominated

DCE, saying that it does not mean

he was sacked by President Nana

Addo Dankwa Addo-Addo but

rather his term of office has come

to an end.

He reaffirmed his commitment

to support the newly

nominated DCE to complete all

his ongoing social and infrastructure

intervention projects and

programmes in the area.

The Local Government Minister,

Dan Botwe, released the

list of MMDCEs during a press

conference in Accra on Sunday,

September 19.

He called for calm following

the announcement of the MMD-

CEs nominee list.

He said the MMDCEs position

was service to the nation; hence

persons whose preferred choices

were not selected should not

engage in disturbances.

“The whole idea is service to

the nation. So far as I am concerned,

and all well-meaning

Ghanaians know, this is aspiring

to serve our motherland. If [the]

opportunity has not been given

to you to serve, there cannot be

any reason for disturbances.

“If truly you wanted to serve,

then there is absolutely no basis

for you to involve in disorderly

conduct,” he said at a press conference

in Accra while announcing

the list.


DAILY ANALYST


Danfa residents mad at NDC MP

Story: George Obeng

A

group calling itself

the Concerned

Residents of Danfa

in the Greater

Accra Region have

registered their displeasure at

their Member of Parliament’s

(MP’s) inability to have their

roads fixed after making all

manner of promises in the 2020

As of the close of

August 2021, aYo

Intermediaries Ghana

has paid over GH¢6.2

million in benefits to

over 21,000 customers who made

claims from their aYo “Recharge

with Care’ (RwC) and aYo ‘Send

with Care’ (SwC) policies.

aYo is an MTN Ghana mobile

micro insurance subsidiary

that provides affordable Life and

Hospital insurance policies. As of

August 2021, the company had a

customer base of about 6.3 million

subscribers.

TechGh24 can confirm that as

of August 31, 2021, aYo had paid

22,041 claims to both Recharge

with Care and Send with Care

policyholders, with 89% being

hospital admission claims while

remaining 11% was death claims.

Out of the number of claims

paid for, 21,834 were under ‘Recharge

with Care’ while some 207

were under ‘Send with Care.

In terms of value, ‘Recharge

with Care’ paid out about GH¢6.15

million, while ‘Send with Care’

has paid out over GH¢82,000.

election.

According to the group,

the MP, on the ticket of the

opposition National Democratic

Congress (NDC), has reneged

on his promises to have the

dilapidated roads leading from

Ayimensah-Danfa-Armahia

areas in the La-Nkwantanag

municipality fixed as promised.

‘We have been expecting the

current National Democratic

MTN aYo Insurance

pays out over GH¢6M

...to over 21,000 customers

Last year, aYo doubled customer

benefits under its Recharge

with Care policy. Benefits

for customers on hospital admission

under RwC was doubled

from GH¢50 a day to GH¢100,

while the benefit in the event of

death went up from GH¢3,000

to GH¢6,000 per customer. That

accounts for the huge settlement

payments under the RwC policy.

aYo Ghana further increased Hospital

admission benefit to GH¢120

per day, this year.

TechGh24 gathered that

the highest single claim settlements

were GH¢6,000 paid to a

‘Recharge with Care’ customer,

while that for a single ‘Send with

Care’ customer stood at GH¢3,920

which was hospital admission

claim.

aYo insurance cover is

currently for 30 days and it is

renewable. The more a customer

recharges airtime on their MTN

number, the more they accumulate

higher benefit.

Premiums

Premium for RwC is automatically

deducted from subscriber’s

...over bad roads

Congress’ Member of Parliament

for Madina Constituency Mr.

Francis Xavier Sosu, to continue

from where Ahaji Boniface left,

but so far, nothing has been done

‘We are aware of the

steps taken by the former

Member of Parliament for

the Madina constituency and

first Minister for the defunct

Ministry of Inner-City and

Zongo Development under the

leadership of President Nana

Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Alhaji

Abubakar Saddique Boniface,

got the roads in the areas

reconstructed.

In fact, Alhaji Boniface

during his time as MP, had the

local chiefs and dignitaries visit

the roads and announced the

presence of the contractor on

site

Ṡpeaking at a press

conference organised in Accra

recently, the President of the

group, George Bossman, said the

Roads and Highways Minister,

Kwesi Amoako Atta, recently

airtime in bits anytime they recharge

their airtime until a total

of GH¢4.00 or GH¢6 is paid for the

month. That for SwC is paid when

one sends mobile money. The information

on that is available on

*170#, and select Send with Care.

Also, customers have the

flexibility to boost their cover

by buying cover manually using

the MyBoost Menu option on the

USSD or aYo App, app.ayo4.com

and paying from their airtime

wallet.

Claims

To make a claim, one can file

for claims on the mobile phone

by dialing *296#, and valid claims

are paid immediately to your

Mobile Money wallet as soon as

claim document is validated.

For MyHospital claims,

you need to submit a hospital

discharge letter, excuse duty or

itemized medical bill; and for

MyLife claim, the customer must

show proof of death – i.e. death

certificate, medical certificate

of cause of death, burial permit

or letter from a local chief or

religious leader confirming the

death of the deceased person.

The backing documents can

be submitted via WhatsApp number

0555948648 or app.ayo4u.com

or at any MTN Service Centre.

MTN customers who wish

to sign-up to aYo Recharge with

Care insurance policy, should

simply dial *296# on your phone

and follow the prompts. You can

also sign-up via app.ayo4u.com.

Registration is free.

aYo Ghana currently has a

staff strength of about 700.

Sanlam

Meanwhile, the MTN Group

recently signed a partnership

agreement with South African-based

insurance giant, Sanlam

Group to establish InsurTech

alliance and sell insurance

policies in Africa leveraging on

technology. It is still not clear

what that means for aYo Ghana.—Tech24

assured Ghanaians of raising

the levels of roads construction

to about 75 per cent by the close

of the year which was quite

laudable.

‘It is gratifying to observe

the relief such level of road

construction has brought to the

masses, especially drivers of all

shades, across the length and

breadth of the country.

He explained that besides

reducing the considerable

man-hours, drivers use to carry

passengers to and from their

destinations, it will also bring

about some improvement in the

wear and tear of vehicles at large.

‘We want to, first of all,

acknowledge efforts by the

current government to build

roads throughout the country

ever since it came to power.

…Suffice it to say that

the country has witnessed

unprecedented road

construction over the past few

years since the New Patriotic

Party assumed power,’ the group

Chereponi:

Twelve persons have

been arrested in

Chereponi in connection

with the disturbances

that met the

nomination of Zuwera Mada

Nashiru as the area’s District

Chief Executive on September

19, 2021.

The 12 were picked up by police

early on Tuesday, September

21, 2021, and paraded at the regional

police station in Nalerigu.

The police, led by the regional

commander and three senior

officers, raided the homes of the

suspects and arrested them.

Some residents were opposed

to the nomination of Zuwera

Mada Nashiru and vandalised

property in the district.

Though police say calm has

contested.

‘As for the economic benefits,

we cannot easily quantify them,’

he added.

He noted that all said and

done, it cannot be denied

that the Ayimensah – Danfa –

Amrahia road definitely stands

to benefit from the government’s

efforts on road construction.

However, the current state

of the road networks in the area

has become very deplorable and

unmotorable due to the recent

spate of rainfalls.

At nights, for instance, the

road is virtually a death trap

with its lack of street lights.

…Unfortunately, since the

elections were over, we haven’t

seen any further actions.

He maintained that it was in

the light of the foregone that ‘as

residents, we are appealing to

the government to come to our

aid by at least undertaking some

repairs on the road pending

reconstruction.

“As concerned citizens of the

areas aforementioned would be

very grateful if this appeal would

be given a positive hearing.”

12 arrested

...after disturbances

over DCE nomination

returned to the area, there was

evidence that residents are still

agitated.

Some youth in Chereponi had

thronged the residence of the

man they preferred to have been

nominated as DCE, S. K. Orlando.

But they dispersed soon after

because of a downpour.

The Chereponi District Police

Command had invited the

Chereponi New Patriotic Party

Constituency Chairman, Aliu

Sulemana and some of the youth

leaders, after the disturbances.

And after the discussion, the

Chairman of the youth leaders

realized the need to keep the

peace and abide by the advice of

the police not to proceed with

the demonstration.—Citifmonline.com

Page 8


Environmental & Mining Matters

Sustain sanitation campaign

The Omanhen of the

Oguaa Traditional Area,

Osabarimba Kwesi

Atta II, has called for

sustained efforts to deal

with the sanitation challenges of

the country.

He said if that was not done,

not only would the health of

the citizenry be threatened; it

could also be a major drawback

at efforts at promoting tourism

in the country, particularly in the

Central Region.

Osabarimba Atta made the call

at a sanitation awareness forum

organised by the Graphic Communications

Group Limited (GCGL),

in conjunction with Zoomlion

Ghana Limited (ZGL), in Cape

Coast yesterday.

“It is important to have an

environment that is appealing

and attractive to visitors. We cannot

get visitors to patronise our

tourist sites such as our beaches if

they are unhygienic and unattractive,”

he emphasised.

Forum

The forum, held on the theme:

“National sanitation awareness

campaign”, was intended to raise

national discourse on how to

manage and deal with the sanitation

challenges in the country.

Launched in Accra on April 28,

2021, the campaign is advocating

strict enforcement of sanitation

bye-laws, as well as the naming

and shaming of sanitation offenders.

The forum has so far been held

in nine regions where stakeholders

have discussed sustained ways

of solving Ghana’s sanitation

challenges.

Open defecation

Osabarimba Atta, who chaired

the event, bemoaned open defecation

at the beaches and called

on the authorities to help clamp

down on the practice to improve

tourism.

According to him, it was a

very worrying development that

residents living along the beaches

attended to the call of nature

at the beaches which served as

tourism hubs for many coastal

—Oguaamanhen

Marigold Assan, the Central Regional Minister, at the

communities.

He said open defecation at the

beaches had the tendency to ward

off tourists from visiting such

places to boost the local tourism

industry.

"Indeed, many countries

around the world are reaping the

full benefits from their beaches

through tourism, and Ghana can

do same by improving sanitation

at the beaches to attract tourists,"

he said.

He added that in order for the

nation to fully benefit from its

natural environment, particularly

beaches, it must take steps to

make the beaches clean to boost

tourism in coastal areas and improve

the local economy as well.

“One challenge that needs

to be tackled head on is open

defecation at our beaches. That

is not only unhygienic but also

an action that does not promote

tourism. We cannot attract tourists

to particularly our beaches if

we can not deal with the menace,”

he said, and stressed the need for

swift action.

The Omanhene commended

the GCGL and Zoomlion for the

collaboration aimed at complementing

government’s agenda to

improve sanitation in the country.

Strict enforcement of by-laws

The Central Regional Minister,

Mrs Justina Marigold Assan, in

her submission, charged metropolitan,

municipal and district

assemblies (MMDAs) to strictly

enforce by-laws on sanitation to

help address sanitation challenges

in the region.

According to her, the strict enforcement

of by-laws would help

trim down insanitary conditions

to a minimal level and help reduce

the spread of sanitation-related

diseases and infections in

the region.

“It is important for MMDAs to

strictly enforce existing by-laws

on sanitation to win the fight

against poor sanitation in the

region for the ultimate benefit of

all,” she said.

Collective efforts

Mrs Assan emphasised that issues

relating to sanitation were a

shared responsibility, and that all

major stakeholders were required

to play their respective roles towards

improving conditions in all

communities.

She stressed the need for collective

efforts by all stakeholders

for the nation to be able to deal

with all sanitation-related issues.

“Let us put our shoulders to

the wheel and commit to improving

insanitary conditions in the

country. As a country, we can win

the war against poor sanitation

if the citizenry complemented

efforts by the institutions and

agencies mandated to spearhead

the fight,” she indicated.

Poor attitude

The Editor of the Daily Graphic,

Mr Kobby Asmah, in a speech delivered

on his behalf by the Deputy

Editor, Mr Theophilus Yartey, bemoaned

the poor attitude towards

keeping the environment clean,

stressing that it was nothing to

write home about and rather cost

the nation dearly.

He said it was time to deal

decisively with non-conformists

and punish sanitation offenders

according to the law, adding:

“Clearly, there is a problem dealing

with filth in the country; to keep

the nation clean will require an

all-hands-on-deck approach.”

He noted that issues of sanitation

were everybody’s business

and not one-sided, and so demanding

accountability from leaders

alone would not yield the desired

results.

“We should demand accountability

from all and sundry, including

those who litter the streets,”

he stressed.

Whip up citizenry

Mr Asmah said the GCGL was

focused on efforts to get the citizenry

to adhere to good sanitation

habits and practices, noting: “We

are satisfied that the national sanitation

campaign has received the

backing of all MMDAs to enforce

sanitation regulations aimed at

keeping the environment clean.”

He said the GCGL and its partners

were determined to sustain

the sanitation awareness campaign

and make the most out of it

to help make the nation clean for

the benefit of all, adding: “We hope

to build such a collaboration with

district assemblies to improve sanitation

across the country.”

The Senior Communications

Manager of the ZGL, Mr Adams

Mohammed Mahama, disclosed

that plans were underway for the

construction of an Integrated

Recycling and Composting Plant

in the region.

He noted that the enforcement

of by-laws and attitudinal

change were key towards improving

sanitation in the region, noting

that “if these two measures

are put in place and enforced, the

region will be able achieve the

expected results on sanitation”.

Concerns

On how to address the issue

of insanitary conditions in the

region, Assistant Superintendent

of Prisons Thomas K. Kumapley

called on the government to sign

a memorandum of understanding

with the Ghana Prisons Service

to engage inmates of the prisons

to clean public places and other

facilities on a regular basis.

“If we want to effectively

engage stakeholders in fighting

sanitation-related issues, I believe

the government can partner the

Prisons Service to get inmates to

help clean up public places,” he

said.

Other participants lamented

the bad state of public sanitary

facilities, stressing that their

current state contributed to open

defecation in some communities.

The Assembly Member for

the Kru-Town Electoral Area, Mr

Doffoe Forson, said most households

lacked toilet facilities, while

available public toilet facilities

were in a bad state.

“The state of our public facilities

is very bad and people who

do not have toilets in their homes

prefer going to the shore to ease

themselves,” he said.

He called on government to

ramp up on efforts at getting

households to own toilets to

address sanitation challenges,

stressing: “There is the need to

coordinate and sustain individual

efforts at keeping personal

hygiene and ensuring that local

communities are kept clean at all

times.”—www.graphiconline.com

Afriwave Telecom

has rehabilitated an

abandoned water

facility to serve the

over 7,000 residents of

the Ekye-Amanfrom community

in the Kwahu Afram Plains South

District of the Eastern Region

with potable water.

The facility was constructed

by the Millennium Development

Authority (MiDA), but was

abandoned by the community for

a decade due to the salty taste of

the water from the borehole.

Afriwave is a Ghanaian company

which provides telecommunications

solutions and the

first interconnect clearinghouse

service in Ghana.

The rehabilitation works,

undertaken upon an appeal by

the community, included the tapping

of the raw water from the

Afram River through submersible

pumps and pipes, which had

been extended 750 metres into

the river from the shore.

With the extended pipes, raw

water can now be effectively and

efficiently channelled through

Ekye-Amanfrom gets potable water

treatment plants before it is

pumped into storage tanks for

accessibility by the people.

The treatment plant has also

been improved to deal with the

salty taste of the water.

Critical need

At the inauguration ceremony,

the Chief Executive Officer

(CEO) of Afriwave Telecom, Mr

Francis Poku, said access to safe

drinking water was a fundamental

right of every citizen and not

a luxury or a privilege.

“The revamped water facility

means the community will have

access to clean drinking water

which will in turn impact the

health and sanitation of the

thousands who desperately need

it,” he said.

He further noted that Afriwave,

as part of its corporate

social responsibility activities,

had also supported the education

of the youth in ICT by giving opportunity

to students from public

and private universities to learn

on the job as interns and national

service persons.

The Commercial Director

of Afriwave Telecom, Mr Henry

Searyoh, said the rehabilitation

of the water facility was further

proof of how the company had

elevated the needs of the people

as a priority.

He said the gesture was also

to support the community in the

fight against COVID-19 given that

clean water was key to efforts to

stop the spread of the virus.

“Afriwave is a people-centered

brand and we are happy to touch

lives by saving the residents of

Ekye Amanfrom from drinking

unsafe water,” he stated.

Problem solved

The Secretary to the Unit

Committee of Ekye-Amanfrom,

Mr Charles Sebi, who led the

campaign to solicit support for

the repair works, expressed appreciation

to Afriwave for coming

to their aid.

“We are grateful that our cry

for help caught your attention,”

he said.—www.graphiconline.

com

facility was commissioned

DAILY ANALYST


The capture of democratic

political

systems by private

power networks is

arguably the greatest

threat to civil liberties

and inclusive development in

Africa. That’s the conclusion of

two new reports that address

the issue of threats to democracy

on the continent.

The first report is published

by Ghana’s Centre for

Democratic Development. It

focuses on the capture and

subversion of democratic

institutions in Benin, Ghana,

Kenya, Mozambique and

Nigeria.

These case studies reveal

that even in more democratic

states such as Benin and Ghana,

ruling parties can “hijack”

democracy and appropriate

its benefits. They do this by

capturing the institutions of

democracy itself. This includes

electoral commissions, judiciaries,

legislatures and even

the media and civil society.

The net effect is to undermine

transparency and

accountability. This in turn

facilitates the abuse of power,

especially in more authoritarian

contexts.

The second report was curated

by Democracy in Africa

and takes a slightly different

approach. It looks at how unelected

networks can infiltrate

and subvert state structures.

In particular, it maps the

emergence of shadow states

in the Democratic Republic of

Congo (DRC), Uganda, Zambia

and Zimbabwe. These case

studies show that networks of

unelected businessmen, civil

servants, political fixers and

members of the presidents’

families wield more power

than legislators.

By mapping how these

networks are organised across

different groups and countries,

the report reveals how influential

and resilient certain

groups have become. It also

shows how many shadow

states have been integrated

into transnational financial

and – in some cases – criminal

networks.

This is not an “African”

issue. Similar processes have

been identified in a number

of different countries and

regions. These include Bangladesh,

Brazil and the US. But

this does not mean that the

need to recognise and confront

these issues is any less

pressing.

States with higher levels of

democracy capture are prone

to becoming more authoritarian,

corrupt and abusive.

Democracy capture and

the shadow state

According to politics

professor Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi,

democracy

ing impunity for its members.

Africa is not a country

The nine case studies featured

in the two reports show

that the extent of democracy

capture varies significantly. It

is lower in states like Ghana,

where robust electoral contestation

among rival parties

has seen multiple transfers

of power. It’s much higher

in states such as Zimbabwe,

where the government has

never changed hands.

The shape and resilience

of unelected power networks

also varies in important ways.

In Uganda, the shadow state

is run by an axis of President

Yoweri Museveni’s family, a

“military aristocracy” and

interlocutors in the business

community.

In Benin, President Patrice

Talon has exploited the weakness

of the legal system, the

judiciary and the legislature

to expand his power. Through

this process he has turned one

of the continent’s most vibrant

democracies into a near

political monopoly.

Guinea has a long history

of coups: here are 5 things to

know about the country

The picture is different

again in the DRC. International

military alliances were

critical to the way that former

presidents Laurent Kabila and

Joseph Kabila took and held

power. This led to a shadow

state that has been more

profoundly shaped by transnational

smuggling networks

and the activities of the security

forces.

The situation in Zambia is

also distinctive. Under for-

Opinion

Shadow states are the biggest

threat to democracy in Africa:

fresh reports detail how

mer President Edgar Lungu,

the security forces were less

relevant than the nexus between

politicians, government

officials and businessmen.

This led to rampant corruption

and mismanagement. But

it did not prevent a transfer of

power in 2021.

In contrast, in Zimbabwe

the government has been

progressively militarised, penetrating

further areas of the

state and the economy. This

raises serious questions about

whether President Emmerson

Mnangagwa – or army leaders

– holds real power.

It is, therefore, important

to map the shadow state on a

case-by-case basis because no

two networks are the same.

The differences between

them reveals who really holds

power.

The consequences

Shadow states have a negative

impact on democracy and

accountability. But the damage

they do goes well beyond

this. It undermines inclusive

development through three

related processes:

- creating a culture

of impunity, which facilitates

corruption and diverts

resources from productive

investments

- manipulating government

expenditure and other

public resources and opportunities

to sustain the patronage

networks and ensure the shadow

state’s political survival

- creating monopolistic

or oligopolistic conditions that

increase prices and enable

companies with links to the

shadow state to make excescapture

occurs when a few

individuals or sections of a

supposedly democratic polity

are able to systematically

appropriate to themselves the

institutions and processes as

well as dividends of democratic

governance.

In other words, democracy

capture expands the idea of

“state capture” to include all

political institutions and democratic

activities including

civil society and the media.

The term is widely used

in South Africa to refer to the

undue influence of special

interest groups over state

institutions.

Indeed what is striking

about this process is the

well-structured networks that

encompass a broad range of

individuals from government

to the security forces, traditional

leaders, private businesses,

state-owned enterprises,

and their family members.

According to a separate study

by South African academics

Ivor Chipkin and Mark

Swilling, what distinguishes

these actors is their privileged

“access to the inner sanctum

of power in order to make

decisions”.

One helpful way of conceptualising

these networks

is the idea of shadow states

developed by the influential

political scientist William

Reno.

For Reno, a shadow state is

effectively a system of governance

in which a form of

parallel government is established

by a coalition of the

president, militias, security

agencies, local intermediaries

and foreign companies. In extreme

versions such as Sierra

Leone real power no longer

lies in official institutions of

government such as the legislature.

This kind of shadow state is

characterised by the existence

of private armies and a severely

limited, almost imaginary,

formal state.

More recently, researchers

have identified manifestations

of the shadow state in countries

that are not in the middle

of civil war and have stronger

formal political systems. Good

examples include Kenya and

Zambia.

In these cases, the shadow

state is more oriented towards

hampering the activities of

opposition parties and ensursive

profits.

The result is that resources

and investment are systematically

diverted into private

hands.

In Uganda, Museveni

issues tax waivers to business

allies in return for election

support. This denies the treasury

hundreds of millions of

dollars in revenue.

In Zimbabwe, companies

in league with the ruling party

and the military have used

these connections to establish

near monopolies in key

sectors of the economy that

exploit the public. In one case,

this led to severe fuel shortages

that artificially inflated

prices.

When added to the billions

of dollars lost through

straightforward corruption,

theft and fraud, it is clear that

these processes represent

one of the most significant

barriers to inclusive development

in Africa. Unless these

networks are challenged, they

will continue to keep citizens

in poverty while enriching

those connected to the shadow

state.

Professor H. Kwasi Prempeh,

executive director of the

Ghana Centre for Democratic

Development, co-authored

this article

Nic Cheeseman, Professor

of Democracy, University of

Birmingham

This article is republished

from The Conversation under

a Creative Commons license.

Read the original article.

Source: The Conversation

Page 10

Business


GUTA members demonstrate

...lock up shops of foreign retailers in K’dua

Over 40 shops belonging

to foreigners

engaging in retail

trading in Koforidua

have been locked by

members of the Ghana Union of

Traders Association (GUTA) in

the Eastern Region.

The members on Monday,

September 20, 2021, embarked on

a demonstration to register their

displeasure about the continuous

involvement of foreigners in

retail trade in the New Juaben

South Municipality.

The peaceful demonstration

almost turned violent when the

owner of Mighty Light Plus Shop

which is adjacent to the Koforidua

Central Police station broke

the locks placed on his shop and

started trading; a situation that

infuriated the GUTA members

who heckled him and forced him

out of his shop.

The angry members who

protested wielded placards with

inscriptions such as “Obey Act

865 section 27A now”, “Police

must prevent illegal trading”,

“Foreigners are prohibited from

retailing our markets”, “We shall

police our own market”, among

others.

Darlen Nana Boateng, the

Public Relations Officer of GUTA

in the region, spoke to Citi News.

He said members will use all

legal means to prevent foreigners

from engaging in retail

trading in the region.

“Right now, it has turned

a bit chaotic, although that is

not the plan we came out with.

Our members shut down a shop

but when the business owner

came in, he opened the shop and

insisted that he will work and

whatever it takes, he will not

comply with the directive. No

one is here destroying anybody’s

business, but people should not,

on their own, take the law into

their own hands and be resisting

the laws of Ghana. The foreign

retailers should just comply

with the law.”

Some other members who

also spoke to Citi News about

the activities of the foreigners

expressed worry over the development

and asked for immediate

intervention.

Over the years, there have

been various disagreements

between Ghanaian traders and

their counterparts from other

countries, particularly Nigerians.

The local traders have argued

Hollard’s Patience Akyianu is African

Female Business Leader of the Year

Hollard Ghana’s

Group Chief Executive

Officer (GCEO)

Patience Akyianu

has achieved continent-wide

recognition as the

African Female Business Leader

of the Year at the just-ended

6th Invest in Africa Summit

2021 (virtual) organized by the

prestigious African Leadership

Magazine.

The award ceremony was

held as a highlight of the 6th

Invest in Africa Summit which

was organized under the theme:

Africa 4.0: Redefining Growth,

Sustainability, and Innovation.

African Business Leadership

Awards seeks to acknowledge

and commend top-performing

individuals for their selfless

services to nation-building. This

meritorious award recognizes

leading lights on the continent,

contributing towards changing

the African narrative.

The selection process ethics

entails three steps, involving

nomination, subsequent voting,

and final screening by the editorial

team of the African Leadership

Magazine.

Patience Akyianu emerged

winner of the African Female

Business Leader of the Year category.

Patience was recognized

as an exceptional female leader,

with fantastic managerial skills

who despite stiff competition

in a male-dominated world, has

shown resilience, courage, and

sagacity in building a worthy

brand.

Receiving the award,

Patience Akyianu in her acceptance

speech expressed

profound gratitude to God, the

advisory council, the editorial

team, and Dr Giami of the African

Business Leadership Awards.

“I am so delighted to be

honoured as the African Female

Business Leader of the Year

and I give all the glory to God

from whom all blessings flow. I

am completely stunned by the

massive support I have received

from across Africa, especially

from Ghana during the voting

process and I thank everyone

for this overwhelming vote of

confidence. It is clear to me that,

I could not have emerged the

winner of this prestigious award

without the help and support of

my family, friends, my church

community, colleagues at

Hollard Ghana, and the various

networks I’m part of”.

“I, therefore, dedicate this

award to my entire network and

all the people who have contributed

to making me who I am

today. I’m very encouraged by

this recognition and will continue

to contribute my best to the

financial services sector and the

development of our continent.

Together through hard work, we

will create and secure a better

future for all. Thank you for

this international honour,” she

added.

According to Dr Giami, the

Publisher of the African Leaders

Magazine, the 2021 Africa

Business Leadership Award

(ABLA) celebrates grit, purpose,

and impact in Africa’s business

environment, especially in what

continues to be a difficult period

for most people due to the impact

of coronavirus. He further

added that the leaders who have

emerged winners in the various

categories have exhibited these

celebrated attributes in admirable

capacities and are deserving

of great accolades.

that per Ghana’s laws, foreigners

have no right to engage in retail

trade within the country, as their

activities affect the local retailers

negatively.

The government subsequently

set up a presidential committee

to properly scrutinize all

foreigners engaging in trading

activities in the country.

This has led to the closure of

several shops belonging to foreign

retailers across the country.

But last week, GUTA threat-

MTN Ghana has

been awarded Investors

in People

Platinum Accreditation

by the

United Kingdom based Investors

in People (IiP) International.

The Platinum Accreditation is

the High-Performing standard on

the IiP accreditation model and

the highest level on the IiP Standard.

MTN is the first company

in Ghana to receive the Investors

in People Accreditation.

The Accreditation confirms

MTN Ghana as an organisation

that adhere to the Investors

in People Standard and global

best people management

practices. MTN Ghana received

the Platinum Accreditation in

September 2021 after rigorous

evidence-based assessment

including a survey of Employees,

a review of the company’s people

practices and policies, interviews

with a cross section of selected

employees and confirmation of

evidence provided.

ened to resume locking up shops

of foreigners because of stalled

negotiations under the Joint

Implementation Taskforce.

The brunt of GUTA’s action

in the past has been towards the

Nigeria Union of Traders Association,

Ghana (NUTAG).

Though there is free trade

among ECOWAS countries, Ghana’s

laws say a person who is not

a citizen or an enterprise that is

not wholly-owned by a citizen

shall not invest or participate

in the sale of goods or provision

of services in a market, petty

trading or hawking or selling of

goods in a stall at any place.

There is also a $1 million

minimum capital requirement

for foreigners doing business in

Ghana, in line with GIPC Act.

MTN Ghana receives

investors in People

Platinum Accreditation

Commenting on the award,

the Chief Human Resource

Officer of MTN Ghana, Amma

Benneh-Amponsah, said “We

are glad MTN has received the

high-performing accreditation

in the Investors in People

standard. Since MTN Ghana

received its first Investors in

People Accreditation in 2014, we

have continuously and consistently

worked hard, invested in

our workforce and continued to

employ best practices in people

management to ensure the organization

continues to meet the

global standard on all fronts.

“As an organisation, we are

committed to enabling our employees

live inspired, Work with

meaning, Thrive in positivity,

Grow with purpose and Connect

to develop in all that we do. I

am also excited this accreditation

is coming at a time MTN is

celebrating its 25th Anniversary,

a testament of the organisation’s

growth and contributions to

society,” she added.

Amma Benneh-Amponsah, Chief

DAILY ANALYST


Sports

Koeman

under

pressure

Ronald Koeman said

he doesn't have the

players to implement

Barcelona's renowned

style of football as

pressure increased on his job following

Monday's 1-1 draw with

lowly Granada.

Barcelona were missing

Ousmane Dembele, Martin

Braithwaite, Pedri, Jordi Alba,

Sergio Aguero and Ansu Fati for

Monday's match, and fell behind

after just 88 seconds at Camp

Nou. They needed a header from

defender Ronald Araujo in the

final minutes to salvage a draw

against a team yet to win a game

in LaLiga this season.

Koeman's men are in seventh,

five points behind leaders

Real Madrid, with only 27,000

out of a possible 40,000 in attendance

at the match. The 1-1 draw

with Granada, who are 17th,

followed a 3-0 humbling at the

hands of Bayern Munich in the

Champions League last week.

When asked about the team's

style of play, Koeman candidly

said this wasn't the Barca team

of old.

"It depends on what we have

available," Koeman said after

the match. "How are we going to

play tiki taki [sic] if there is no

space? Look at the squad. We did

what we have to do. With a bit

more time, we would have won.

"Today's Barcelona is not the

Barca of eight years ago. We play

the Barca way, but we don't have

players to play one-on-one or

Ronald Koeman

with pace. You can't be unhappy

with the team's attitude.

"We played 4-3-3, but we

didn't have pace out wide. Neither

Coutinho nor Demir are

that player. They're not Ansu

[Fati] or [Ousmane] Dembele, so

we have to look for another way."

Amid a turbulent summer in

which the club lost Lionel Messi

to Paris Saint-Germain after

financial difficulties meant they

could not register his new contract,

Koeman's job was under

threat as president Joan Laporta

pondered alternatives.

Koeman and Laporta have

both insisted that their relationship

is fine but tensions

have spilled into the media in

recent weeks. Laporta intimated

Koeman didn't have complete

control of playing issues, which

led the coach to complain in an

interview with the Dutch media.

"Something happened that

I don't think is right," Koeman

told NOS. "[Laporta] was suggesting

that the coach doesn't have

all the power. He spoke too much

and was not wise."

Previously, Koeman has

said he was upset by Laporta's

behaviour in the summer, too,

when he created uncertainty

around his future at the club.

Koeman's contract runs until

the end of the season but sources

have told ESPN there are some

board members that are unsure

it would be wise to keep him in

place until then.—ESPN

Women’s football:

We are joking

and sleeping

– Mercy Tagoe slams GFA

Head coach of the

Ghana Women’s National

team, Mercy

Tagoe-Quarcoo, has

slammed the country’s

attitude towards women’s

football development and says

authorities are merely “joking”

and “sleeping” on the job.

Tagoe-Quarcoo was speaking

following the Black Queens’ 2-0

victory over Cameroon in the

Aisha Buhari Cup tournament in

Lagos on Monday.

The former national star

contends the country is getting

left behind because of the Ghana

Football Association’s lackadaisical

attitude towards women’s

football development in the

country.

“Coincidentally both sides

(Ghana and Cameroon) brought

fresh legs into their team, trying

to test their pulse and how best

they can fit into the team,” she

started.

“My team for instance, like

I told you the last time, South

Africa being our sisters and

girlfriends brought all their stars

Alonso to stop

taking a knee

Chelsea defender Marcos

Alonso has said he

will stop taking a knee

before matches this

season because the

anti-racism gesture is "losing a

bit of strength."

Players and staff have been

taking a knee prior to kickoff

since the Premier League returned

to action in June last year

to show their support for the

Black Lives Matter movement.

and we all know what Thembi

Kgatlana can do, and what she is

doing and what she will continue

to do,” she added.

“I respect them so much

because they have taken the

women’s football to the next level

and we all have to look at it and

emulate. We are joking, believe

you me, we do this today, tomor-

The 30-year-old said he has

decided to stand while other players

kneel and will instead point

to the "No Room For Racism"

badge on the sleeve of his kit to

highlight the issue.

"I am fully against racism and

I'm against every type of discrimination,

and I just prefer to put

my finger to the badge where it

says no to racism, like they do in

some other sports and football in

other countries," he said.

Marcos Alonso

row we do that and next time

when we are called we think we

will get there. When you sleep,

others will wake up and do it for

you to see.”

Ghana had lost 3-0 to South

Africa in their opening game

of the invitational tournament

before redeeming themselves

against the Cameroonians with

goals from Princella Adubea and

Vivian Konadu.

The team travelled to Nigeria

without key members of the

team’s foreign-based players,

including captain Elizabeth Addo,

who was reportedly left out of the

team after she criticized the Ghana

Football Association on social

media for neglecting the Queens.

Ghana will play Nigeria on

October 17, in the first leg of the

qualifiers for the 2022 Africa

Women’s Cup of Nations.—

Citifmonline.com

"I prefer to do it this way and,

of course, to say very clearly that

I am against racism and I respect

everybody."

When asked whether his

decision had changed as a result

of politics, he replied: "I don't

know, I just prefer to do it this

way. It's my way to do it, I think

it's another way.

"And maybe I think it's losing

a bit of strength the other way, so

I just prefer to do it this way and

to show I am fully supportive of

fighting against racism."

Crystal Palace winger Wilfried

Zaha became the first Premier

League player to not take a

knee in March earlier this year

after calling for tangible change

instead of being used to "tick

boxes."

Alonso also said he had not

told his teammates about his

decision but was confident that

the squad will support him in his

stance.

"We are in the changing room

and we are like a family," Alonso

added. I have a very good relationship

with everyone, I love everyone

and up to now we haven't

talked about it.

"I don't think there is a need

to, but, of course, if I have to

speak to anyone, I will say the

same thing I just told you and

I don't think there will be any

problems."

Chelsea, who are joint leaders

of the Premier League, welcome

Aston Villa to Stamford Bridge

for their third round Carabao Cup

clash on Wednesday.—ESPN

DAILYAnalyst

Wednesday, 22nd September, 2021

Wednesday, 22nd September, 2021

Govt dragged to court

...over continuous stay

Story: George Obeng

The Member of Parliament

for South Dayi,

Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor

has dragged

the government to

court over the continuous stay

of Metropolitan, Municipal and

District Chief Executives (MMD-

CEs) in office.

According to him, President

Akufo-Addo has no constitutional

mandate to direct MMDCEs to

remain at post in acting capacity.

The President, in January

2021 after he was sworn in to

Henry Quartey,

Greater Accra

regional minister,

on Thursday,

reiterated that his

"Let's make Accra work' agenda

was not only geared towards

sanitation in the capital, but

also towards health, education,

security, and indiscipline.

He said: "'Let's make Greater

Accra work' agenda focuses on

five significant pillars of security,

sanitation, health, education,

and indiscipline, which is

cross-cutting."

Mr. Quartey who made the

call when addressing the annual

conference of the Greater Accra

Presiding Members in Accra

on the theme: "Making Greater

Accra work, the role of local

assemblies (Let your action

count)" said the agenda was

borne out of indiscipline and

total disregard for orderliness in

the capital.

The programme brought

together all presiding members

in the region, experts in local

governance, and development

partners.

It would also serve as a

training ground for members to

strategize towards the growth

and development of the region.

serve a second presidential term,

directed all MMDCEs to remain

at post until new ones are appointed.

According to the communiqué

signed by the Chief of Staff,

Akosua Frema Opare, announcing

the directive also warned

the MMDCEs against taking any

policy-related decisions.

“You are to take note of the

provision of section 14 (5) of the

Presidential (Transition) Act

(2012) which states that you shall

not take a decision involving a

policy issue,” the notice said.

Dafeamekpor, who filed the

suit as a private citizen of Ghana,

among other things wants a

“declaration that upon a true and

proper interpretation of Article

243(1), the President of the

Republic of Ghana cannot direct,

instructor appoint any person to

either act or hold office as a Metropolitan,

Municipal and District

Chief Executive without the

prior approval of the Members of

the District Assembly to which

the said person would be acting

or holding office as a Metropolitan,

Municipal and District Chief

Executive.”

He also wants the court to

order the acting MMDCEs to immediately

vacate their post.

“An order directed at all

Metropolitan, Municipal and

District Chief Executives continuing

in office pursuant to the

above-mentioned Presidential

directive to vacate office with

immediate effect.”

'Let's make Accra work'

agenda is holistic -Minister

and other stakeholders in a group photograph

Sanitation and waste management

would also form an

integral part of their conference.

Mr. Quartey called on the

presiding members to influence

their assemblies to carry out

educational programmes with

stakeholders to achieve the

vision of the agenda.

He said the next line of

action would be on maintaining

high standards in the erection

of advertising signs on the major

streets of the region.

The regional minister said

the Regional Coordinating

Council was currently carrying

out training programmes to

bring sanity into good advertising

standards.

He announced that stakeholders

in the private sector had

been supportive of the agenda

and called for more support to

achieve it.

Mr. Joseph Korto, Regional

Dean of presiding members

called on his colleagues to place

a premium on education as it

was the bedrock of education.

He said: "Honourable members

since education is the only

weapon that society can use to

level up, I will want to suggest

that we intensify education in

our various districts to fight the

disease."

He commended Henry Quartey,

the Greater Accra regional

minister for his innovations in

keeping the city clean and appealed

to his colleagues to offer

the minister maximum support

to achieve health and sanitation

goals.

"The regional minister's

operation clean your frontage

and the demolition of unauthorized

structures on waterways,

among many others cannot

yield positive impact without

the support of the assemblies in

the region."

He described the regional

minister as a courageous leader

with a high level of intelligence

who needed their support for

the Greater Accra region to

work.

Mr. Korto, who is also the national

dean of presiding members

appealed to the executive

and legislative arms of government

to take steps to improve

the conditions of service of

members across the country.

Dr. Nana Ato Arthur, Head

of Service at the office of Local

government service called on

the presiding members to be

innovative towards the development

of their assemblies.

He called on the assemblies

to avoid awarding contracts

that could not receive adequate

funding as that could lead to

putting up so many uncompleted

buildings.

Enoch Teye Mensah, Greater

Accra representative of the

Council of State urged assemblies

to move their conversations

towards electing MMDCEs,

a proposal that had lingered on

for some time now.

Story: Freeman

Koryekpor Awlesu

A

40-year-old mason,

Richard Oppong, has

met his untimely

death on the Gomoa

Fetteh Kakraba

Nkwantanan road yesterday

morning after an alleged gang

attacked him.

According to an eyewitness

who lives in the area, “around

2:00 a.m., midnight, he heard

the deceased screaming for help

while he was being beaten but

because it was midnight and was

afraid to step out he couldn’t rescue

him till they saw him naked

and dead this morning”.

The people in the area confirmed

that the deceased lived

in Manfam, a suburb of Gomoa

Fetteh Kakraba

The Awutu Bereku District

President Nana Akufo-Addo

Tension in Gomoa

Fetteh Kakraba

Police Officer, Chief Superintendent

Mr Joshua Semenyo, who

was at the scene with his men

also confirmed to journalists

that the man was brutalised by

an unknown gang with several

injuries all over his body

He said no arrest has been

made so far and the cause of the

dead was yet to be identified

“The body will be sent to the

police mortuary for postmortem

pending investigations,” the

police commander added.

On his part, Odikro for Gomoa

Fetteh Kakraba, Nana Essel

Amokoando II, appealed to the

new acting IGP to beef up security

in the area because robbery

cases kept on increasing.


The DAILY ANALYST is published by DE WESTEND COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA CONSULTANCY LTD.

Registered at NMC as a Newspaper. Editor: Dennis Ato Keelson Phone: 0244992243,

Email: dailyanalyst@gmail.com

Wednesday, 22nd September, 2021b

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