Wednesday, 1st June, 2022

Page 4
DAILY ANALYST Wednesday, 1st June, 2022
Corrupt
aspirants
must be
punished
Anti-Corruption Campaigner, P.C Appiah Ofori
has urged the New Patriotic Party to bring
to book those who paid bribes to influence
delegates to vote for them during the recent
Regional Elections.
The NPP held its regional delegates’ conference over
the weekend to elect new executives.
It was widely reported that some aspirants paid bribes
to some delegates to influence votes.
A clear incident is when defeated aspiring Ashanti
Region Chairman, Robert Asare Bediako cried over how he
paid at least GH¢1,000 to each delegate on the election day
to influence them but they still voted against him.
The defeated aspirant explained that but for the monetization
before and during the elections, he would have
won the election hands down but close contenders were
the highest bidders.
After the election, the incumbent chairman Bernard
Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi,
sailed through with 464 votes while his close contender
Odeneho Kwaku Appiah, popularly known as COKA, managed
some 306 votes.
Asare Bediako, Kwabena Owusu Aduomi, and Oheneba
Kofi Adum Bawuah polled 22, 9, and 3 votes respectfully.
Meanwhile, Mr. Asare Bediako, who lost the election,
expressed worry over the increasing trend of monetization
in the political spheres during elections.
Speaking on Atinka TV yesterday Mr. P.C Appiah Ofori
said paying bribes to delegates for votes was a corrupt
practice and so all those who engaged in that, including
those who received it must face the law.
“Corruption is defined as the abuse of office for personal
gains, it is a criminal offense and so whoever engages in
corruption has committed a crime and the law must deal
with them,” he said.
He continued, “If you want to be a Regional Chairman
and you give people money and then when you become a
Chairman, how would you recoup your money, it means
that you will steal the country’s money to replace the
money you lost.
If you have a position and you give people money to pay
bribes, it means you will use dubious means to recoup your
money and it is the party and all Ghanaians that will suffer
this, and so whoever did that must not be spared, when it
happens like that, you are giving impetus for corruption.”
P.C Appiah Ofori
MPs, staff to wear Ghana
fabrics to Parliament soon
The Speaker of Parliament,
Alban Sumana
Kingsford Bagbin, has
said staff members of
Parliament will soon
change their style of dressing by
wearing made-in Ghana fabrics
for their official duties.
He said he will also ensure
the same for all the Members of
Parliament (MPs) since the current
style of dressing was adopted
from Ghana’s colonial master, the
British, during the colonial era.
Mr. Bagbin made the disclosure
when the management of
AdFirst Consult paid a courtesy
call on him at his office in Parliament
House.
AdFirst Consult are the
managers of the Made-In Ghana
Ambassador, Emelia Arthur, who
is also an ace Gospel musician in
Ghana.
The team, comprising its
Director, Gabriel Arko, Ms. Emilia
Arthur, Mr. Timothy Antwi-Otoo,
Mrs. Paulina Ofori Agyapong, and
Kwabena Gyakye Nyarko, was
there to congratulate the Speaker
and assure him of their support
for the way he dresses by promoting
made-in-Ghana outfits in
Parliament.
Mr. Bagbin has been the only
Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament
promoting Ghana wears while adjudicating
his duties as a Speaker.
Therefore, as Made-In Ghana-Ambassador,
there was a need
for her to encourage the Speaker
and assure him of her support to
continue the good works.
The Speaker explained: “very
soon, those you see sitting in front
of me in Parliament will start
wearing Ghana fabrics.”
“What you see them wear
during parliamentary sittings
were for the colonial system. In
those days, there were no heaters
so they [British] wore them to
keep them warm but today, it is
not relevant to us as Ghanaians,”
he said.
Continuing, Mr. Bagbin said,
“we need to have an identity as a
nation to be able to develop”.
“We need to have an identity
as individuals to be able to
develop and that is why I decided
An aspirant in the New
Patriotic Party’s (NPP)
Chairmanship race,
Stephen Ntim has embarked
on a “Time Aso
to Break the 8” Campaign.
Stephen Ntim is set to meet
with NPP Delegates to articulate
the message of hope and unity,
and also share his vision for the
party with them.
Dubbed “Time Aso to break
the 8 Campaign”, the aspirant will
start with a visit to the Western
North, Western and Central
Regions.
“My resolve to always avail
myself to be elected as the
National Chairman of the party
emanates from my belief that
the fast movement of our development
and success as a country
Rt. Hon Alban Bagbin, Speaker of Parliament
to change the style of dressing for
the speakership and some people
did not understand.”
“No nation can develop without
an identity so there is the
need for an identity for Ghana.
…You check, all over the world,
which country has developed
without an identity? And if you
talk about the need for one language
in Ghana, there is a problem
but how can we develop without
one language as our identity for
the nation?” he quizzed.
The Speaker noted that he was
different from his predecessor,
Professor Aaron Mike Ocquaye, in
their ways of doing things while
performing their duties because
they were two different entities
from different backgrounds.
“I can’t be the same as Prof.
Ocquaye because we are all different.
He grew up in quarters here
in Accra, and I grew up in a village
in the Savanna Area of the North
and by then, education was not a
priority,” he explained.
According to Mr. Sumana
Bagbin, “our upbringings also “influence
the way we do things.”
“We were trained to say things
as they are even if you will die and
that is why some people in our
party do not like me but whenever
there were problems, I was
called to step in and have them
resolved,” he stated.
He said: “individually, everyone
is different from one another
but we need to work together for
the common good of the nation.”
“I am not better than any of
Ntim embarks on “Time
Aso to Break the 8” tour
requires an NPP government and
an overwhelming parliamentary
majority.”
“My Campaign will focus on
strengthening the party, creating
equitable opportunities for all
members and rewarding loyalty
and hard work.”
“My prayer is that you, our
cherished delegates, will find
favor in my loyalty to our great
party and demonstrable leadership
qualities required to break
the 8 and elect me as your next
National Chairman,” excerpts of a
statement from the aspirant read.
Some names that have popped
up for the NPP chairmanship race
include Mr Stephen Asamoah
Boateng, Mr. Kwabena Abankwa-Yeboah,
Prof. Christopher
Ameyaw-Ekumfi, Nana Akomea
you sitting here because God has
given every individual a special
gift which is different from everyone
and that is what we must
understand.”
Commenting on the consumption
of local foods, Mr. Sumana
Bagbin explained that Ghana
has several local foods that were
nutritious but today, “we have
abandoned them and gone for
foreign ones.”
“Today, anytime I travel from
the North to Accra, I bring ‘Dawa
Dawa’ (Dawa Dawa is a flavouring
made from the seeds of Parkia biglobosa)
because it has nutrients
that can heal a wound if someone
is injured but most people today
will not eat ‘Dawa Dawa,’” he
explained.
He, therefore, urged corporate
bodies to support Emilia Arthur
and her team to promote made-in
Ghana goods.
“We have GNPC who would
sponsor beauty pageants instead
of supporting something like
promoting made in Ghana. GNPC
will sponsor Black Stars instead
of sponsoring something like this
which is promoting Ghana,” he
said.
For her part, the Made-In-
Ghana Ambassador, Emilia Arthur,
pledged her support for the Speaker
and urged him to call on her
anytime the need arises.
She expressed gratitude to
the Speaker and assured him of
her continuous fight for made-in
Ghana goods.
and Mr. Robert Kutin.
The National Executive election
of the NPP and the Annual
National Delegates Conference is
scheduled for July 14 to July 16,
2022, and will be supervised by a
National Elections Committee
Stephen Ntim