A group calling itself New Patriotic Party (NPP) youth for 2016 is calling on the party’s Council of Elders to sanction party’s General Secretary, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie for declaring premature support for the party’s twice-defeated presidential candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo.

According to the group, actions of Sir John as he is popular called, smack of disrespect for authority and amount to “scoring own goals”.

“It will be fatal for our party and Council of Elders to overlook the “irresponsible endorsement” of Sir John.

Below is the full statement.

SANCTION SIR JOHN!!!

Last Thursday, an elder of the party, Prof. Mike Oquaye was on radio and said the council of elders had called Sir John to order and that he won’t make such divisive and irresponsible comment of endorsing Nana Addo.  Barely 24 hours after the wise words, was the General Secretary on radio XYZ endorsing Nana Addo.

This smacks of disrespect for authority and we call on the council of elders to summon Sir John immediately and direct the disciplinary committee to investigate and sanction him. You wonder why such a person, who has so much enjoyed from the party, would seek to ‘kill’ the party at a time when there is so much acrimony in it. Someone that our dues have paid for his accommodation at SSNIT guest house and mirage hotel should not pay back this party this way.

As youth of this party whose long standing aspiration is to inherit a party that is a force in dignity, discipline and power conscious, we cannot sit unconcerned in the face of many more own-goals being scored by Sir John; for many have questioned the wisdom of his path but answers do not seem to come down clearly.

And to all those who take Sir John’s abhorrent political deviance lightly or likely, we have this further point for you. The depth of the danger of “irresponsible endorsement” is that, if this is not reprimanded but replicated, a time may come when the electoral commission and the security services may take sides in a general election. This will spell doom for all of us, and so all must show concern in this moral crisis to avoid a deadly betrayal of our most ancient and cherished values as Danquah-Dombo-Busia family.

We are not and we will never be blind to mistake absolutism for principle or irresponsibility for democratic stands. And so we place part of the onus on Sir John himself, he must allow his own conscience a major advisory role and disengage himself, with much urgency, from what could be best done by other sympathizers of Nana Addo, not a general secretary who should be neutral.

In 2014 and in the coming years, there must be no moment in NPP when multi-million cedis pocket will speak louder than the aspirations, the voice and the votes of the ordinary party people. We speak for the voiceless, for the weak, and for the over 5million  dignified men and women who pay the double price of smashed hopes under Sir John’s weird, weak and wicked leadership. We also call on every NPP member to remain calm in the face of an attempt by elements from within to destroy the party.

We speak for agenda 2016, for the urgent victory we collectively seek. It will be fatal for our party and council of elders to overlook the urgency of a change in and/or of Sir John. Long live the truth, long live NPP.

Signed

Barima Sarpong

NPP Youth for 2016

Source: Myjoyonline.com

The presidency is considering making the presidential media interaction a quarterly event, Dr. Clemet Apaak, a presidential staffer has disclosed.

Dr. Apaak said, this is to widen the scope of the event and enable journalists from different backgrounds to make the event more representative.

President John Mahama on Tuesday January 7 addressed selected senior journalists from leading media houses at the Flagstaff House and answered questions on a wide range of issues bordering on his stewarsdship of the nation over the past year.

Three journalists were allowed to ask questions at a time and the president provided answers after which another set of questions from a group was posed to him.

There have been concerns, however, that the arrangement created little opportunity for the journalists to ask follow-up questions. The quality of the questions have also been attacked.

Responding to the criticisms, Dr. Apaak said efforts are being made to widen the scope for more journalists from a wider background to participate in subsequent media interactions with the president.

“This forms part of his [Mahama] policy to promote open, accountable and accessible governance,” Dr. Apaak told Bernard Nasara Saibu, co-host of the Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, Wednesday.

According to him, the vision of president John Mahama is to lead “a stable, united and prosperous nation” where all Ghanaians, regardless of their socio-economic, ethnic or political background will have equal opportunities.

“The regular interaction with the media will enhance the ability to achieve his vision and allow the people to understand where he is taking the country,” Dr. Apaak said.

Source: Myjoyonline.com

Eighty-three senior high schools in the three northern regions will not reopen when school resumes on Monday, January 13, 2014, as a result of arrears in feeding fees and subsidies owed them by the government.

The schools include: 23 senior high schools in the Upper East Region, 44 in the Northern Region; and 16 in the Upper West Region. The Daily Graphic reports that the President of the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) in the Northern Region, Alhaji Tahiru Abdul-Rahman Mahama, said CHASS had written to the Ghana Education Service (GES) to officially inform them about their grievances.

He stated that the feeding subsidies were in arrears for two terms, adding that they have not received feeding subsidies for the third term of the 2012/2013 academic year and the first term of the 2013/2014 academic year. The failure of the government to pay the arrears, he said, had affected academic work in most of the secondary schools, especially those with boarding facilities.

Alhaji Mahama also said all the SHSs in the three northern regions owed their suppliers – a situation that had compelled the suppliers to discontinue their credit supplies to the schools. According to him, the general subsidies paid to SHSs were also in arrears and that had affected the payment of their bills.

The President of CHASS, Samuel Ofori-Adjei, also said the government had not paid the subsidies for two terms—the third term of the 2012/2013 academic year and the first term of the 2013/2014 academic year. He appealed to the government and the GES to make the necessary payments to ensure the smooth running of the schools.

Upper East Regional Minister, Alhaji Limuna Mohammed-Muniru has said that despite the difficulties that characterized the year 2013, government was able to lay a lot of foundations towards improving the lives of the people of the Upper East in various sectors of the economy.

The minister is therefore hopeful that this year will see major improvements in the various areas of development. He spoke exclusively to A1 News at his office at the Upper East Regional Coordinating Council where he delivered his New Year message at the beginning of this year.

Source: A1 News | Ghana

Upper East Regional Chairman of the Ghana Journalist Association, Eric Amoh has called on youth in the country to give their education all the seriousness that it deserves, so as to properly equip them to become the future leaders that Ghana needs for its development.

Mr. Amoh also urged youth groups in the Upper East Region to make good use of the media in the region to achieve their agenda. He was speaking at the opening ceremony of the International Youth Summit (Ghana Chapter) in Bolgatanga on Monday.

By: Joshua Asaah | A1radioonline.com | Ghana

Students in five communities that constitute Nakolo, a suburb of Paga, in the Kasena-Nankana West district have taken it upon themselves to organize extra classes for Junior High School pupils during holidays, to help reduce the rate of failures by children in the community at the Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE).

At a maiden students’ homecoming durbar involving chiefs and people of the area, funds were mobilized in support of the construction of a modern library and ICT facility to help raise the standards of basic education in the community.

The lack of educational amenities in Paga-Nakolo which is a deprived community has been attributed to the falling standards of education in the community.  This has led to appalling performances by students in Nakolo in their Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) over the years.

In order to change trend for the better, President of the Nakolo Students Union, Anthony Adatu Kaba, at the maiden students’ homecoming durbar, called for the support of government, Non-Governmental Organisation and individuals in the community for the construction of a modern library and ICT facility in the area.

Member of Parliament for the Chiana-Paga Constituency, Abuga Pele who was the guest of honor for the durbar pledged to donate five computers to compliment the efforts of the Nakolo Students Union to help improve the quality of education in the area, especially in the area of ICT.

By: Albert Sore & Joshua Asaah | A1radioonline.com | Ghana