Odi News Network

Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul Defence minister Dominic Ntiwul has rejected suggestions his ethnicity is a hindrance in resolving the protracted Chereponi conflict in the North-East region. The minister who is Konkomba said his successful mission to engage the Konkombas and Chokosis last Friday shows his ethnicity is not a barrier to peace. “If the people see us as part of the problem, they would not listen to us,” the Defence minister explained on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show Tuesday. Chereponi is haemorrhaging vital service providers as teachers, health professionals and a host of government workers abandon the volatile area.  The latest round of violence in the Konkomba-dominated district, where Chokosis remain the minority, marked the third of such incidents in the past five months. Two persons died. The toll of the fighting includes loss of properties, delayed development and humanitarian challenges. Junior High School students are set to write a nationally administered B

Vice President Bawumia The Chiefs and people of Menji in the Tain District of the Bono Region have enstooled the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, as Nkabomhene (Unity Chief) in recognition of his enduring crusade for unity and peaceful co-existence of persons with different religious persuasions. The leadership of the Muslim community have also conferred a special award on him for his ongoing efforts to champion the cause of the poor and underprivileged. The honours were conferred on Dr. Bawumia at Menji near Nsawkaw on Monday, 27th May 2019 at a mini durbar organised by the chiefs in conjunction with the Muslim community after the Vice President joined Muslim faithful to perform the Zuhr prayers at Menji, as part of his annual Ramadan tour. Speaking on behalf of the chiefs, the Gyaasehene of Menji, Alhaji Amadu Bamba, said Vice President Bawumia’s quest to ensure peace and unity between persons of different religious beliefs, which is reflected in his annual Ramadan Tour, is a

The Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana (CLOGSAG) has called off its planned two-day demonstration against the government over what it describes as political interference in its work. This is because government has set up a joint committee to look into the grievances expressed by the members and leadership of the association. When Graphic Online visited the head office of CLOGSAG Tuesday, May 28, 2019, it saw many of the members of the association wearing red armbands. The association also held a closed-door meeting, details of which have not been disclosed.  Notices posted by CLOGSAG on tress and buildings at the Ministries in Accra read, among others as: "The Civil Service and Local Government Service are not private companies owned by ministers or political appointees. Mr Minister, if you cannot abide by the rules of the services, leave now. We are fed up with your impunity and disregard for procedures." The CLOGSAG Chairman for the Accra Metropolitan a

Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has called for the licensing of journalists to help curtail the disrespect for the profession. According to Mr Kufuor, the media has, in the past, produced fine practitioners, hence the need to protect the sanctity of the profession. He added that during his term as president, his government was not only committed to strengthening the media landscape but also deepening democracy to enable the media to contribute immensely to the shaping of government policies. The former Ghanaian leader made the comments at the launch of the 70th Anniversary of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) in Accra on Tuesday, 28 May 2019. Mr Kufuor observed that Ghana's darkest day had been when the media was muzzled, hence, commended President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for giving his assent to the Right to Information Bill. Mr Kufuor further charged the leadership of the GJA to ensure that its members are monitored frequently and protected from assault. Mr Kufuo

Dr Ernest Addison, BoG Governor The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has received GH¢900 million to undertake a clean-up of the troubled microfinance sub-sector of the financial services industry. The move is part of cleaning up the GH¢7 billion debt crisis that has hit a large sector of the deposit-taking, non-bank institutions, including savings and loans companies, in the country. The Governor of the BoG, Dr Ernest Addison, said at a Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) news conference in Accra on Monday that the magnitude of the resources needed to embark on the entire reforms of the deposit-taking, non-bank sector was so large that it had to be approached in phases. A similar exercise with the universal banks, which ended in December last year, cost the country almost GH¢11 billion, and it is feared that plans to replicate it for non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) will prove costly for the country. “I am not sure we have the budgetary resources to undertake a clean-up of this magnitude,” D

Kennedy Kankam, Nhyiaeso MP It appears the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Nhyiaeso constituency in the Ashanti region Kennedy Kankam has certified his exit warrant as a legislator if what the livid residents of the area are saying is anything to go by. They are already warning the NPP to consider replacing another candidate for the 2020 polls threatening to uproot him like cassava if he is retained because in their view he is very disrespectful and arrogant. Expressing their dissatisfaction over his handling of issues at constituency, they have reiterated a call on him to pave way for a new candidate, who has vision and fresh ideas, to contest on the ticket of the party in the 2020 parliamentary elections. Some residents at Nhyiaeso Constituency especially residents of Patasi have complained bitterly about Kennedy Kankam’s bad attitude towards them in the constituency describing him as very disrespectful. Residents of Patasi in an interview with Pure Fm’s O

Gregory Afoko, suspect for the murder of Adams Mahama Amnesty International has started looking into the concerns of abuse by family of the prime suspect in the murder of the former Upper East Regional New Patriotic Party (NPP) Chairman. This follows a petition by relatives of Gregory Afoko over the abuse of his rights. They say his continues incarceration despite having been granted bail by the court is a clear violation of his rights. The family is alleging among other things that the Bureau of National Investigations(BNI) in whose custody Gregory is, intends to kill him. The Country Director of Amnesty International, Robert Akoto Amoafo tells Starr News that his group has started its probe to ascertain the authenticity of the claims made by the family of the murder suspect. “Before we can mention whether it has merit or not as a human rights institution we would have to check the facts. We are currently arranging to do some fact checks to go to the field and check that all the c

TTA The work of the National Teaching council still came to light amidst the fracas and the stiff resistance it faced from some Newly Trained Teachers from Colleges of Education. Regardless of all these hiccups, the Executive Secretary Mrs Evelyn Oduro and her team did their best to reinforce the policy of licensing all Newly Trained Teachers from the 46 colleges of education and all Institutions offering the BEd programme as the Constitution of Ghana demands. TTA commends the leadership of the National Teaching Council for all the efforts put together to make the modern teacher stand tall among all other professionals.We have a strong conviction that, the implementation of the licensing policy will well enhance the 21st century Ghanaian teacher trainee in the various educational institutions. As part of the preparations towards the ongoing Teacher Licensing and registration,TTA appreciates the efforts of NTC for arranging a meeting with all staff and students including those on th

BoG  The latest assessment of the banking sector shows that it has become more resilient and is well-capitalized, solvent and liquid. There is also evidence of strong deposit growth in the industry pointing to a return of confidence in the banking sector. This was contained in the Bank of Ghana’s Monetary Policy Committee statement released on Monday, 27 May 2019. At the end of December 2018, the BoG successfully completed its recapitalization exercise. Twenty-three banks ? which met the new minimum paid-up capital of GHC400 million ? are now operating as universal banks in Ghana. “Over the first four months of 2019, banks’ total assets amounted to GHS109.9 billion, representing an annual growth of 12.4 percent. The growth in total assets was funded mainly from deposits which grew by 19.6 percent year-on-year to GHS73.1 billion. The industry’s financial soundness indicators have improved, with the Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) at 21.4 percent in April 2019, significantly higher than

CEO of COCOBOD, Jospeh Boahen Aidoo The Ghana Cocoa Board will on Thursday [May 30, 2019] cease its purchases of cocoa beans for the 2018/19 main crop season. The decision was contained in a statement by the sector regulator to Citi Business News. COCOBOD said that it will however allow Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) to obtain returns from up country centres by extending the date by one more week to Thursday [June 6, 2019]. For this crop season, COCOBOD intends to purchase nine hundred thousand metric tonnes of cocoa beans. This has been backed by the Board’s annual syndicated loan of 1.3 billion dollars secured from twenty-one banks at an interest rate of 2.5 percent. This is the second consecutive time that the Ghana COCOBOD has secured 1.3 billion dollars for its purchases since the 1.8 billion dollars secured in the 2016/2017 crop year. The fluctuating world market prices of cocoa impacted the drop in amount secured for the just ended cocoa season. But Mr. Aidoo in an earlier

EC Chairperson, Jean Mensa The Electoral Commission (EC) has announced the temporal suspension of the replacement of lost voters’ Identification cards at its District Offices nationwide. The suspension takes effect from Friday, June 7, 2019 to Thursday, June 27, 2019. In a statement signed by its Chairperson, Jean Mensa, the EC indicated that the suspension was to allow it “focus on the impending Limited Voters’ Registration Exercise.” It announced that the replacement of lost ID cards will continue after the 27th of June, 2019. Source:  dailyguidenetwork.com

Mensa Otabil Anyone who decides to subject some inscriptions in the Christian sacred book to critical scrutiny will have a lot of questions to be asked. This is because some stuff in the Bible are utterly stupid and senseless to critical thinking minds as in the voice of Pastor Mensa Otabil. According to the leader and founder of International Central Gospel Church (ICGC) preaching to his congregants which was aired by TV3 on Sunday, May 26, 2019, he explained the reason for describing some scriptures in the bible as senseless. He made reference to some of the scriptures in the bible which he sees as ‘senseless and stupid’ to him. He also questioned his congregants over their take about what he said. Quoting some scriptures in the Bible he sees as ‘senseless’, Dr. Mensa Otabil cited the inscriptions according to Luke 6:29 and quizzed that “why should the Bible say that, if someone slaps you on the left you should turn the right to the person as well? It doesn’t make sense, which of

Alhaji Adama, Sampa Chief Imam The Chief Imam of Sampa in the Jaman North District of the Bono Region, has commended the Nana Akufo-Addo government for fulfilling the promises it made to Ghanaians in the 2016 elections. Reeling off a litany of promises that have been fulfilled in the past two and a half years since this administration took office, Alhaji Seidu Adama, sta ted on Monday 27th May, 2019: “Before God and man, if we do not thank the NPP party, President Akufo-Addo and his Vice President Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, then we are being ungrateful. Why do I say that? Before you became President and Vice President, you made a lot of promises to us, and we can see, at least in Sampa, that you have fulfilled them.” Alhaji Adama gave the commendation when the Vice President of the Republic, Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, joined Muslims at the Sampa central mosque to perform Zuhr prayers as part of the 2019 edition of the annual nationwide Ramadan tour. “Since you came into office,

Sampa Zongo Chief, Alhaji Idrissa Alla Kabo The policies, programmes and works of the NPP government under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has shown that the party cares more about the Zongo community than other parties in the country, a senior member of the Zongo community has declared. According to Alhaji Idrissa Alla Kabo, Zongo Chief of Sampa in the Jaman North District of the Bono Region, the NPP government, in its short period in office, has proven to be more dedicated to meeting the development needs of Zongo dwellers and Muslims than previous governments, and the party is becoming attractive to members of the Zongo community. Alhaji Kabo made the observation when the Vice President of the Republic, Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, interacted with the Zongo community in Sampa as part of the 2019 edition of the nationwide Ramadan tour on Monday 27th May, 2019 at Sampa. “At first we thought it was the NDC that had the Muslim community and Zongos at heart, but what the NPP gov