Politics

Chief of Staff Julius Debrah has, on behalf of President John Mahama, presented to the Council of State petitions received in respect of the incarceration of three persons for contempt of court.

The petitions were received from lawyers of the jailed Montie Presenter, Salifu Maase, and his two guests, Ako Gunn and Alistair Nelson who have been jailed for four months by the Supreme Court, and a Civil Society Group, Research & Advocacy Platform.

Nana Amuah Afenyi VI, Chief of Ekumfi Otuam and Mankrado of Ekumfi Traditional Area in the Central Region of Ghana, has expressed her disappointment and shock at plans by the Volta River Authority (VRA) to construct a coal-fired power plant at the Ekumfi Traditional area to ease the erratic power supply in Ghana.

Accra, Aug. 4, GNA – Ms Hannah Tetteh, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, has held a bilateral meeting in Accra with her counterpart from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Mr Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir.

Ms Tetteh said the aim of the bilateral meeting was part of efforts to strengthen economic ties between the two nations.

Mr Bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir also reechoed that their meeting was to deepened economic cooperation and to strengthen other areas of cooperation.

The brief meeting was attended by government officials from both sides.

Accra, Aug. 8, GNA - The Bank of Ghana (BoG), has given commercial banks up to the end of 2016 to complete certification and be hooked unto the Ghana Instant Pay (GIP) platform.

Speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting to deliberate on the use of instant pay, Mr Archie Hesse, the Chief Executive Officer GhIPSS said the BoG had to defer the initial deadline of August to allow the banks to be in the position to complete the process.

Accra, July 18, GNA - Mrs Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong, the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, has indicated that the proposed November 7, 2016 date for the general election cannot be changed.

She explained to the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Select Committee of Parliament that since the proposal for the change of date is about constitution amendment, its implementation could not be postponed to any other date.

Parliament has rejected amendments to change the election date to November after it failed to amass 184 votes needed to effect the historic change.

After a secret ballot, the Speaker, Edward Doe Adjaho, said Parliament was unable to obtain the 184 votes needed to pass the bill. The Bill got 125 Majority rejection votes.

The vote quashing the change became predictable after the Minority signaled it would not support the Bill which needed super majority votes to succeed.

Deputy General Secretary of the ruling National Democratic Congress ( NDC), Koku Anyidoho has said although Late President, Prof. John Evans Atta Mills was passionate to leave a legacy in the political realm, he was as well reluctant being a politician.

” He agreed to become the running mate for President Rawlings reluctantly in 1996,” Anyidoho revealed on Anopa Kasapa on Kasapa 102.5 FM.

The country’s total public debt increased to GH¢105.1 billion as at the end of May this year, up from GH¢104.5 billion the previous month.

This represents 66.4 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) — the total value of goods and services produced in a country within a given year.

However, it is significant to note that in dollar terms, the debt profile of the country dropped marginally from US$27.5 billion in April to US$27.4 billion in May.

Accra, July 18, GNA - The Supreme Court on Monday convicted two radio panelists and the host of a talk programme ‘Pampaso’ together with the directors of an Accra-based radio station, Montie FM.

The five-member panel presided over by Justices Sophia Akufo convicted the defendants of contempt for threatening or scandalising the court, defying and lowering the authority of the court, and bringing the authority of the court into disrepute.

However, the court has deferred sentencing to July 27.

The defendants pleaded liable for the charges and asked the court for mercy.

The Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy, Alhaji Amadu Sorogho has said that there is the need for households to pay more for power than industry in order to save firms from collapse.

In a remark that is set to elicit criticisms from consumers who are already reeling from the recent increment in electricity tariffs, the lawmaker charged households to brace themselves to pay more for power saying: “the time consumers pay cheap for electricity is over.”