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Contrary to doubts by some members of the opposition National Democratic Congress(NDC) about Ghana’s skyrocketing COVID-19 recovery figures, Member of Parliament(MP)for Tamale North constituency Alhaji Alhassan Sayibu Suhuyini has sarcastically suggested the figures could be genuine.

In the assertion of the lawmaker, the astonishing numbers of COVID-19patients who are deemed to have recovered from the disease could be as a result of divine intervention from God as a result of Ramadan.

The sudden jump of Ghana’s COVID-19recovery figures by 790 overnight got lots of Ghanaians raising doubts over the credibility of the numbers.

Special aide to former President John Mahama, Joyce Bawah Mogtari wondered how 790 COVID-19 patients recovered overnight in an update released by the Ghana Health Service.

For Ms Mogtari who was a Deputy Transport Minister under the erstwhile Mahama administration, the numbers must be put to strict proof to ascertain the veracity or otherwise.

How the hell did 790 more people recover overnight!!…We need to put these numbers to strict proof!!” She tweeted.

However, Alhaji Alhassan Suhuyini who is an NDC Member of Parliament(MP) for Tamale North says he does not doubt the figures though President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his Vice Dr. Mahmudu Bawumia have on several fronts demonstrated some dizzying level of dishonesty.

“When I look at the 2 letters from Ghana Tourists Authority and the one from ministry of tourism together on operation of restaurants, with the 2 from GRA on benchmark values and the CI of the EC and its earlier position on voters ID card in case a new voter register is to be compiled, I say the dishonesty of the President and Vice has gotten to dizzying levels.

As for the record-breaking recoveries from Covid-19, I don’t doubt it bcos it’s Ramadan and we are in the last miraculous ten days of the month. Let’s pray more, God will save His people and country,” he wrote in a Facebook post seen by MyNewsGh.com.

Source: My News GH

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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has described Ghana’s approach to managing the COVID-19 pandemic as one of the best globally.

“Our policies are working,” he said, and entreated the citizenry to work assiduously to maintain the current status quo regarding the maintenance of personal hygiene, social distancing and the mandatory wearing of nose masks. 

The President said the rapid execution of policies such as the ban on social gathering, and closure of schools and borders had resulted in “our low COVID-19 infection, hospitalisation and death rates – some of the lowest in Africa and the world.” 

Ghana, as at Sunday, May 17, has recorded 5,735 confirmed cases, with 1,754 recoveries and 29 deaths, according to the Ghana Health Service’s portal on COVID-19. 

Of the number, 3,906 were detected through contact tracing, and 1, 714 through general surveillance, while 115 represented quarantined cases. 

President Nana Akufo-Addo, who was giving a situational analysis of Ghana’s fight against COVID-19 at a ground-breaking ceremony at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Kumasi, asked all and sundry to strictly adhere to the health protocols and guidelines.

That, he said, was the only way the country could minimise the spread of the dreaded pandemic, which had claimed over 310,000 lives from more than four million confirmed cases worldwide.

Information gathered by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) indicates that a total of 173,096 persons had been tested so far since the nation recorded her first two cases on March 12, 2020, giving a positivity rate of 3.29.

The count of cases per region puts Greater Accra on top with 4,314 cases, and Ashanti Region with 818 cases, making them the two hotspots for the pandemic.

The ground-breaking ceremony, with the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, in attendance, was to reactivate works on the 44-year-old abandoned KATH Maternity and Children’s Block.

The 800-bed facility, upon completion, is expected to help ease pressure on the existing structures constructed in 1954.

It comes with facilities such as emergency reception for children and pregnant women, 10 theatres, intensive care unit, and in-vitro fertilization (IVF) unit. 

The rest are breastfeeding centre, paediatric surgery unit, pharmacy, dedicated medical oxygen plant, lecture halls, and cafeteria. 

Messrs Contracta Construction (UK) Company Limited is executing the project within a three-year period.

Source: GNA

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The National Communications Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi has accused the Electoral Commission of not consulting political parties for inputs prior to the laying of the Constitutional Instrument for the governing of the 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary elections.

The Electoral Commission has presented a number of Constitutional Instruments in Parliament but had to withdraw them because according to the Minority in Parliament the Instruments were “defective.”

A new one is currently pending in Parliament for approval. The instrument will among other things amend C.I 91 to make Ghana card and passports the only forms of identification before one could be captured onto the yet to be compiled new voter’s register.

The Commission is abandoning its current register for a new one.

It intends procuring a new biometric voter management system which among other things have facial recognition technology for a fresh registration exercise.

But the National Communications Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi speaking on Eyewitness News, said: “On our blindside, the EC has laid in Parliament a Constitutional Instrument to govern the 2020 elections and the processes leading to same. Blindside because this C.I. was laid in Parliament without any consultation with political parties at IPAC in violation of what the tradition has been since 1994.”

“On our blindside, the EC has laid in Parliament a Constitutional Instrument to govern the 2020 elections and the processes leading to same. I say blindside because this C.I. was laid in Parliament without any consultation with political parties at IPAC in violation of what the tradition has been since 1994.”

“When the Afari Gyan-led EC decided to pass CI’s and LI’s to regulate elections in this country all political parties were involved in the drafting of the law. The same thing happened under the tenure of Charlotte Osei with the legal committee being put in place with OB Amoah of the NPP heading it and we (NDC) were represented by the venerable Hudu Yahaya with Kwabena Bomfeh representing the CPP as part of stakeholder deliberations before it was laid in Parliament. To our utter shock, the Jean Mensa-led EC decided to lay this C.I. before Parliament without any consultations or whatsoever with political parties, and it was done on our blindside.”

Resist EC’s attempt to change citizenship laws – Haruna Iddrisu to Ghanaians

In relation to the same matter, the Minority Leader in Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu has called on Ghanaians to stop the Electoral Commission (EC) from going ahead to compile a new voter’s register for the 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary elections.

Haruna Iddrisu in a statement issued on Friday, May 15, 2020, said if the Electoral Commission succeeds with the intended amendment and proceeds to compile the new voters’ register, millions of Ghanaians will be disenfranchised.

“I am therefore calling on Ghanaians to resist this blatant attempt by the Commission to amend or change the citizenship laws of Ghana through the backdoor by using an inferior Instrument to amend an Act of Parliament or by extension the Constitution intended to disenfranchise Ghanaians thereby denying them their fundamental right to vote as provided by the Constitution.”

Source: citinewsroom.com

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The Chamber of Independent Power Producers has asked the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to direct the Electricity Company of Ghana (GRA) to desist from charging VAT, GETfund and NHIL levies on electricity.

A letter from the GRA dated 4th May 2020 had announced the directives, indicating that such services will no longer be zero-rated.

The GRA subsequently denied issuing such a directive, following a call from the Ranking Member on Parliament’s Mines and Energy Committee, Adam Mutawakilu for a withdrawal.

The Chamber, in a statement, asked for an official communication on the withdrawal.

“Further to GRA’s denials as published on http://www.ghanaweb.com of Friday, 16th May, 2020, we would like to call on the Ghana Revenue Authority to formally circulate a letter to the concerned stakeholders in the power sector withdrawing their earlier directive and direct the Electricity Company of Ghana to specifically desist from charging Ghanaians those taxes with immediate effect.”

GRA directive 

The GRA issued the directive after sighting a notice dated March 13, 2001, which waives VAT on electricity supplied to ECG.

The GRA said the agreement was contrary to the Value Added Tax, 2013 (Act 870) which did not list supply of energy and capacity charge as one of the items that should be zero-rated.

“It has come to our notice that some electricity producing and power supplying companies do charge VAT, GETfund and NHL, at zero rates to the Electricity Company of Ghana Limited contrary to the Value Added Tax Act, 2013 (Act 870).”

“We wish to state that Section 36 of the Act which provides for zero-rating of supply refers to the Second Schedule of the Act. However, the Second Schedule of the Act did not list supply of energy and capacity charge as one of the items that should be zero-rated,” GRA said in a statement signed by its Acting Commissioner-General, Ammishadai Owusu-Amoah.

The Chamber also asked for the disclosure of the “percentage these add-on taxes occupy on the End User Tariff is the limitation for PURC to give cost compensatory tariff to fix the Annual Revenue Requirement shortfalls of the sector.”

Source-citinewsroom.com

Ghanaian broadcaster , Nana Yaa Brefo , has confirmed her departure from Multimedia Group Limited.

The controversial Presenter took to her official Instagram handel to announce her resignation from the Accra – based media outfit .

In the Instagram post seen , Nana Yaa Brefo thanked the company after 10 years of working with Adom TV and Adom FM.

Nana Yaa Brefo also thanked her fans and colleagues at Multimedia .

The renowned broadcaster then took a swipe at her haters at her former firm .

Her statement read, ” I want to say a very big thank you to Multimedia and my colleagues . Also want to thank fans for support , really appreciate , also thank those who did not like me , You made me grow during 10 years stay at Multimedia ( Adom TV) . ‘BOW OUT of Multimedia to follow other dreams . Thank you all for been there. APke”.

By: Alhassan Grace Latifatu—preznewsgh

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A private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu has advised against harsh punishments in the soon to be laid legislation in Parliament to regulate the directive on wearing of nose masks amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

According to him, the only way to get more Ghanaians to adhere to safety protocols is to enhance education or engagement.

His comment comes on the back of a disclosure by the Health Minister, Kwaku Agyeman Manu, that plans are far advanced to make illegal the non-wearing of nose masks.

In an interview with Citi News, Mr. Kpebu suggested that the penalty should be less than the ones captured in the Imposition of Restrictions Act.

“Even though it will not be written in the law, we have to start education. Those of us who are literates understand things easily so we take many things for granted, thinking that our fellow countrymen also understand. But it doesn’t work that way. A lot of our people are illiterates and so they need education. And I’m expecting that the law will put in provisions such as on the first arrest of a person, the offender should not be brought before a court of law. He/she should be cautioned at the police station. On the second occasion, then they’ll fine him/her. The fine should reflect our economic situation in Ghana. We don’t want the kind of fine that has already been stipulated in the Imposition of Restrictions Act. Those fines are too high,” he remarked.

The Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman Manu, on Thursday, May 14, said the government is considering plans to arrest recalcitrant personswho refuse to adhere to basic guidelines in fighting COVID-19 such as wearing of nose masks in public spaces.

He indicated that such persons could face a three-month jail term for not adhering to the COVID-19 safety protocols.

Mandatory wearing of masks

Food vendors, commercial vehicle drivers, public transports managers, and every other facility accessible to the public have been directed to ensure the compulsory wearing of nose masks, following the constant increase in the number of cases of COVID-19 in Ghana.

This order, which is in compliance with the Public Health Act, was given in a statement issued by the Ghana Health Service on behalf of the Minister of Health.

But even after this order, a section of the pubic still do not put on the nose masks, putting themselves and any other person at risk of spreading the disease.

This even caused a frustrated Agyeman Manu to complain bitterly about the situation while addressing the media on Tuesday, May 5.

He appealed to Ghanaians to abide by all the required protocols, especially the wearing of nose masks, to curb the further spread of the pandemic.

byEllen Dapaah— citinewsroom

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New figures released by the Bank of Ghana show that the country’s debt stock increased by 16.9 billion cedis in the first quarter of 2020, that’s from January to March.

The figures, which were contained in the Bank of Ghana’s Summary of Economic and Financial Data pegs the country’s total debt stock by March 2020 at 236.1 billion cedis, representing 59.3 percent of the GDP.

According to the data, Ghana’s debt increased from 219.2 billion cedis in January this year, to 236.1 billion cedis by March 2020.

A breakdown of the data shows that Ghana’s debt increased by 38.1 billion cedis on a year-on-year basis, which is from March 2019 to March 2020.

On the domestic side, the debt stock stood at 111.3 billion cedis, while the external component of the debt reached 124.8 billion cedis.

In the banking sector, Total Assets of banks grew from 111.2 billion cedis in March 2019, compared to 133.5 billion cedis in March 2020. Total deposits also increased from 73 billion cedis to 84 billion cedis within the same period.

On the external sector development, the data showed that Ghana’s total export receipts dropped to 3.9 billion dollars in March 2020, compared to 4 billion dollars in March 2019.

Gold fetched the country 1.4 billion dollars, while cocoa and oil brought in 959.5 million dollars and 874.1 million dollars respectively by the first quarter of the year.

On the import side, total import within the first three months of the year stood at 2.9 billion dollars. Import of oil recorded 511 million dollars while non-oil import was at 2.48 billion dollars.

byLawrence Segbefia– citinewsroom

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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has presented the annual report on Presidential Office Staff for 2019 to Parliament in line with the Presidential Office Act, 1993 (Act 463).

According to sections of the list sighted by Citi News, the number of Ministers at the Presidency stands at five, the number of Presidential Staffers stands at 36 and there are 270 junior political appointees.

This brings to 311 the number of political appointees currently at the Presidency.

In all, there are 934 staff, a drop from the figure of 957 in 2018.

In 2018, President Akufo-Addo forwarded a list of 998 staffers and ministers of state at the Presidency to Parliament. That list was for the period January 7, 2017, to December 31, 2017.

The figure dropped from 998 to 957 in the 2018 list presented to Parliament in 2019.

Like the size of the current government, the number of staffers at the presidency under the Akufo-Addo administration has been criticised in the past as being excessive.

The difference between the last list presented by the Mahama Administration and that of the Akufo-Addo Administration showed an increase of over 200 personnel.

The President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, remarked at the time that workers under the presidency of President Akufo-Addo made John Mahama seem like a frugal saint.

“In 2018, they’ve allocated GHS3 billion that is GHS2 billion more than Mahama had, to the office of government machinery. There is nothing sensible about this arrangement and it is only making Mahama look like a saint,” Mr. Cudjoe said.

The Ningo Prampram MP and a staffer under President John Mahama, Sam George, said many of the portfolios in the 2017 list were just a “duplication of roles.”

Source: Duke Mensah Opoku | citinewsroom.com | Ghana

The new structure is to ensure the separation of personnel in the various functions of refereeing

The Executive Council of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) has approved a new refereeing structure for the federation.

The new structure is to ensure the separation of personnel in the various functions of refereeing in Ghana. It seeks to consolidate the gains achieved so far and to strive for new heights.

The structure includes the Referees Committee, Match Review Panel, Assessors and Classification Panel and the Refereeing Department with different personnel serving on each function of refereeing to drive for more effectiveness and speedy response to complaints by clubs.

The Referees Committee will continue its work of appointing referees to all competitions and all matches organized or sanctioned by the GFA including Futsal and Beach Soccer matches.

The Assessors and Classification Panel will analyze, evaluate and assess the performance of referees by using a marking system provided by FIFA to classify and categorize referees to help the development, promotion and demotion of referees by the Referees Committee.

The Refereeing Department, whose responsibility includes providing administrative support and assistance to the Referees Committee, will be headed by the Referees Manager, who reports to the General Secretary of the GFA.

The Refereeing Department will also have its own Instructors (Physical Instructors and Technical Instructors) and other experts who would support the education of referees in Ghana.

The GFA intends to roll out a comprehensive refereeing development program to recruit and train Referee Assessors, Referee Instructors (Physical and Technical), Beach Soccer Referees, Futsal Referees, Women Referees, Grassroots Referees (Catch them young policy), Talented and Promising Referees. There will also be refresher courses for category 1, 2 and 3 referees.

The GFA would continue to invest in referees by providing the requisite equipment to aide their work.

The new structure is aimed at ensuring that the Association implements fully the FIFA regulations on the organization of refereeing in member Associations.

Source: ghanafa.org

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German born Ghanaian international Kevin-Prince Boateng has escape Convid 19 after his Turkish Super Lig Club Besiktas SK released a press statement on their official website confirming club chairman and eight members of their squad and staff has been affected by conora virus.

Kevin-Prince Boateng who join Besiktas on loan from Fiorentina flew back to Italy after the Turkey Super Lig was suspended in March due to convid 19 is set to returned before the restart of the Turkish super Lig on June 12.

Besiktas SK announced via two statements that club chairman Ahmet Nur Cebi has contracted the illness, that further a tests across the entire squad and employees which lead to eight people testing positive.

Turkey has 143,114 official recorded convid 19 cases, with 3,952 death and 101,715 recovery according to data..

By: Nana Otu Jeesa—preznewsgh