Togo impasse: demonstrations suspended, 45 detainees released

Daniel Opare
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The Togolese Government and the Coalition of 14 Opposition political parties have agreed to implement a number of measures aimed at building trust and confidence amongst the political actors in Togo.

This was contained in a communiqué issued on Monday, 19th February, 2019, at the end of the first dialogue meeting held between the parties. The meeting, which was facilitated by the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is aimed at finding a lasting solution to the political impasse in Togo.

As part of measures aimed at “appeasement and confidence building”, President Akufo-Addo, as captured by the communiqué, conveyed a number of decisions taken by his Togolese counterpart, President Faure Gnassingbe, to that end. 

This included the signing of a presidential pardon, dated 19th February, 2018, for the release of forty-five (45) out of the ninety-two (92) persons detained in the country’s prisons as a result of their involvement in the demonstrations.

“The case of the seven (7) persons who were imprisoned as a result of the 2013/2014 market fire riots would be brought before the Court to consider an application for bail by Wednesday, 21st February, 2018,” the Communiqué said.

The statement continued, “Other prisoners in detention, as a result of their involvement in the demonstrations, would have their cases examined by the Togolese Judiciary to determine their fate after going into the merits of their individual cases.”

Additionally, “both Parties also agreed to a suspension of demonstrations, pending the outcome of the dialogue.”

An issue that was raised by the Coalition of 14 Opposition Parties, on the return to the plenary, was the need for the state to hold on to planned local and parliamentary elections, and referendum until the dialogue had considered and taken decisions on the Electoral and Institutional Reforms contained in the Rules of Procedure.

The meeting also examined issues related to the proposed return to the 1992 Constitution and various interventions were made on both sides.

Present at the meeting were the Members of the Ghanaian Facilitation Team; Representatives of the Togolese Government; Representatives of the Union for the Republic (UNIR) Party; Representatives of the Coalition of 14 Opposition Parties; Members of Parliament; Diplomatic Corps; United Nations Permanent Representatives; Civil Society; and Traditional and Religious leadership.

It was agreed that the next meeting of the dialogue would be held on Friday, 23rd February, 2018.

Ghana | atinkaonline.com 

Examination malpractice breeds future corrupt officials – WAEC boss

Daniel Opare
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The Head at the National Office of the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC), Rev.  S.N.N Ollennu, has stated that examination malpractice is a major contributing factor to poverty in the country.

He further said the unhealthy practice promote mediocrity in various institutions across the country.

Rev. Ollennu made the comments during an educational seminar for members of the media in Accra Tuesday.

He explained that candidates who cheat in examination enter the tertiary level as unqualified candidates.

He said these unqualified candidates repeat the bad practice at the tertiary level and end up as half-baked graduates.

According to Rev Ollenu, these half-baked graduates exhibit high level of mediocrity when they are employed on the job market, which negatively affect the outputs of organisations that employ them.

He said such high level of mediocrity eventually lead to poverty because these unskilled recruits are unable to work hard to increase productivity due to incompetence, which is traced to cheating at the high school level. 

Rev Ollenu therefore called for collective effort by stakeholders to eliminate exam malpractice or reduce it to the barest minimum.

He said the fight against examination malpractice will help preserve the integrity of educational system and credibility of certificates.

Rev Ollenu gave the assurance that WAEC is implementing stringent measures to disarm examination cheats.

Ghana | Atinkaonline.com | Isaac Nuamah Yeboah

Family of “killed” Achimota student wants state to review case

Daniel Opare
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The Family of Lily Donkor, a third-year student of Achimota Senior High School who was shot and killed by her mate in 2017 is appealing to the state to review the case.

The suspect, a 17-year-old school mate of the deceased, was convicted and handed a three-year jail term for manslaughter at a correctional home by a juvenile court.

An Accra High Court on Monday presided by Justice Kofi Dogu, however, quashed the sentence adding that that the trial judge lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter.

According to the High Court there was a miscarriage of justice because the Juvenile Court passed a verdict without a social enquiry report and that the trial exceeded 6 months.

But in an interview with Ekourba Gyasi on Atinka AM Drive, a relative of the deceased, Peggy Ama Donkor expressed the family’s displeasure in the judgement asking the state to review the case.

According to Peggy Donkor, other juveniles have committed less crimes, yet they are still in the correctional homes.

“He did not even go to the normal prison, he went to a correctional home and they are saying what? Those of us who lost our daughter are still calling for justice for Lily,” she said.

Peggy stated that the family will today, 20th February, appeal the case through the Attorney General's Department.

Ghana | Atinkaonline.com | Vivian Adu Boatemaa

Photos: Nursing assistants chased away by police ; two injured  

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A police team led  by the Accra Regional Operations Officer of the Ghana Police Service, Chief Superintendent Kwasi Ofori, on Monday  night chased away picketing nursing assistants at the Health Ministry.

The unemployed health professionals, numbering about 200, had planned to spend the night at the ministry  to drum home their point for immediate employment. However, their night was cut short as the police team dispersed them.

According to Supt Kwasi Ofori, the nursing assistants were breaching the Public Order law  and that they had to be dispersed  to preserve public decency.

Two of the protesters got injured after fleeing the police onslaught. 

The nurses are demanding immediate posting after completing school two years ago. They resorted to picketing at the ministry following failed attempts to reach a compromise with government over the years. 

Ghana | Atinkaonline.com  | Barimah Saakwa
 

Kendrick Lamar-led ‘black panther’ soundtrack tops billboard 200

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Black Panther is killing it at the box office and on the Billboard 200. The movie’s Kendrick Lamar-led soundtrack debuts at No. 1 on the chart with 154,000 equivalent album units (52,000 traditional) in its first week.

Featuring music from and inspired by the Marvel blockbuster, the TDE-produced effort wins the biggest week for a soundtrack since Suicide Squad: The Album, which topped the chart in August 2016. It’s the second soundtrack to top the chart this year, following The Greatest Showman.

Curated by K-Dot and Top Dawg Entertainment’s CEO Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, Black Panther: The Album also features The Weeknd, SZA, Khalid, 2 Chainz, Future, and more. It marks the label’s fifth chart-topper following ScHoolboy Q’s Oxymoron and Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN., untitled unmastered., and To Pimp a Butterfly.

Streams helped Black Panther: The Album capture the pinnacle position, with 83,000 streaming equivalent units. This equates to 138.9 million on-demand streams of the LP’s 14 tracks.

Not only did the soundtrack top the charts, but the movie was a beast at the box office. The Ryan Coogler-directed film opened at No. 1 with $192 million, setting a record for the fifth largest three-day domestic opening in history.

Elsewhere on the Billboard 200, Justin Timberlake’s Man of the Woods drops to No. 2, Migos’ Culture II slips to No. 4, Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic dips 5-7, Post Malone’s Stoney falls 6-8, and Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN slides to No. 9.

BILLBOARD 200 TOP 10

1. Various – Black Panther: The Album – 154,000
2. Justin Timberlake – Man of the Woods – 74,000
3. Various – The Greatest Showman – 72,000
4. Migos – Culture II – 68,000
5. Various – Fifty Shades Freed – 58,000
6. Ed Sheeran – ÷ – 42,000
7. Bruno Mars – 24K Magic – 32,000
8. Post Malone – Stoney – 31,000
9. Kendrick Lamar – DAMN. – 31,000
10. Camila Cabello – Camila – 29,000


rap-up.com

Local content not a facade -Petroleum Commission Boss

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Acting Chief Executive Officer for Petroleum Commission, Egbert Faibille Jnr, has warned that in as much as government is critically paying heed to local content and local participation in the Oil and Gas sector, the Commission will not hesitate to apply sanctions. 

Local content and local participation in the oil and gas industry follows an enactment of the Petroleum Regulations L.I. 2204 in 2013. 

Speaking at the First Local Content Procurement Conference 2018, he said the Commission’s view of local content and local participation is that of partnership between the government and the oil and gas industry.

According to him, the local content is not a façade, saying that it is expected to create a winning situation for both Ghanaian and foreign countries and by extension the nation.

In his view, the industry will be experiencing a major boost, based on market analyst anticipation of a rise in the coming months in spite of already recent upsurge in global crude price.

“While the Local Content Regulation provides certain privileges to indigenous Ghanaian companies in terms of contracts, it also however, places certain responsibilities and obligations on them in much the same it places on foreign contractors,” he cautioned.

In addition, the ruling of the international Tribunal for the law of the Sea (ITLOS) on the maritime border dispute between Ghana and Ivory Coast gives high expectations in the industry.

Mr Faibille said the ruling has increased interest in Ghana’s sedimentary basins by major oil and gas companies.

Ghana | Atinkaonline.com |Simon Agbovi|[email protected]

Kabila's presidential motorcade in fatal crash

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The motorcade of the Democratic Republic of Congo's President Joseph Kabila was involved in an accident in Zambia's capital, Lusaka, on Sunday, leaving one person dead and another seriously injured.

The accident happened on Leopards Hill road following the alleged failure by police to clear the route for Mr Kabila’s motorcade, according to eye witnesses.

Despite police officers lining the road, a light truck collided with the motorcade, leaving the driver dead and a police officer who was manning the road seriously injured.

Police spokesperson Esther Katongo said the driver, Andrew Phiri, was rushed to hospital, where he succumbed to his wounds.

Last week five people were killed in an accident involving a cement truck and Mr Kabila's motorcade in DR Congo's capital, Kinshasa.

Mr Kabila was visiting Zambia to strengthen bilateral relations when the latest accident happened.

BBC

Reconnecting Africa, Diaspora key to accelerated development – Bawumia

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The single most important factor in the development and progress of a nation is its human capital, and it is crucial to reconnect Africans on the continent and those in the diaspora to accelerate the emancipation of the African continent, the Vice President of the Republic, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has underscored.

The Vice President, who was speaking at the 150th anniversary of the birth of Dr W.E.B Du Bois in Accra on Monday February 19, 2018, emphasised that the destiny of Africans anywhere in the world is irrevocably tied to the destiny of the African continent.

Born on February 23, 1868, in Great Barrington, a small town in Massachusetts town USA, Dr Du Bois Du Bois was a leader in the Pan-African movement that sought solidarity between all people of African descent. He was a major influence on Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, especially after they met at the 1945 Pan-African Congress in Manchester, England.

W.E.B Du Bois travelled to Ghana in 1961 at the invitation of Dr Kwame to help write the Encyclopedia Africana. Renouncing his U.S. citizenship, Du Bois became a citizen of Ghana and lived here until his death in 1963, at the age of 95.

Alluding to W.E.B. Du Bois’s drive to reconnect the African diaspora to the continent, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia emphasised that almost 400 years after the advent of slavery, Africa was still strong and, with a growing population billed to be the largest in the world by 2050, a focus on developing the human capital of persons of African descent would help the continent assume its rightful place in the world.

“It is important for Africans to recognise that we are all Africans, whether you are in the diaspora or in the continent” Dr Bawumia stated.

“It doesn't matter if you are a billionaire walking on the streets of America as a black man; they will see you no different from anybody walking on the streets of Africa, and so the emancipation of people of African descent lies in the emancipation of Africa.

“That lesson for me is very very important, and that is why we have to grow and move beyond aid and develop our continent.”

According to the Vice President, Dr Du Bois’ decision to relocate to Ghana, sowed a seed that reflected his commitment to the development of the African.

“The message for me in his coming back home – he was here, died here, he is buried here – that singular act is the sowing of a seed, and we are all the products of that seed. He sowed a seed to let us understand why it is important to unite the African diaspora with the continent.

“The research is very clear, that the single most important factor is not natural resources, the gold and all that. The single most important factor for the development and the progress of nations is your human capital. That is the single most important factor.

“Next year 2019 will be 400 years of the first documented arrival of slaves from Africa to America, so if human capital is the key to the development and progress of nations and you have 400 years of a loss of human capital, it is bound to have a major impact for us descendants. Therefore it is very very important to reconnect that human capital that is out there, our brothers and sisters out there in the diaspora.

“We want quality human capital, that is why our education systems have to be ramped up, and we have to link up with the human capital that we already have in the diaspora. We have to link up and take advantage of that to propel this continent scientifically.”

 

Ghana | Atinkaonline.com

 

Labone LEO Club of Lions, Golden Lion’s Club donate to St Princess Marie Louise Children’s Hospital

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The Labone LEO Club of Lions in collaboration with the Accra Golden Lion’s Club, presented items worth over GHC 4000 to the St Princess Marie Louise Children’s Hospital in Accra on Valentine's Day.

Items donated include bags of rice, beans, sugar, gallons of cooking oil, chest freezer, boxes of chocolates, drinks, biscuits, boxes of mineral water, baby diapers, detergents etc.

Albert Appiah, President for Golden Lions club, in an interview with Atinkaonline, explained that his organization and the Labone LEO Club made the donation in February because it is the child cancer awareness month on the Lions calendar and that February 15 is also world Cancer Day for Children.

The Labone LEO Club of Lions is a member of the Lions Club International, which has 45000 affiliates worldwide. Regarded as the world’s largest humanitarian service club, the Lions Club International, which was established in 1917, has over 1.3 million members in 206 countries.

Mr. Appiah said the donation will go a long way to help children on admission at hospital especially those suffering from childhood cancer.

Dr Margaret Neizer, Chief Pediatrician at the Hospital who received the items, expressed gratitude to the club for the gesture and promised to use the things to the benefit of the children.

“I want to assure you that the donation will benefit the children who access our services here. I’m again calling on all individuals and organizations to come to our aid as the hospital needs more assistance ,” she said.

 

Ghana | Atinkaonline.com |Ama Gyenfa Ofosu-Darkwah

Akufo- Addo urges Togo’s political leaders to be guided by interests of citizens

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The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has urged the Government, and the leaders of Togo’s Opposition, to be guided, always, by Togo’s interests, as well as the interests of the Togolese people, in a bid to find a lasting solution to the on-going political impasse in that country.

According to President Akufo-Addo, the desire of the Togolese people “for a better life, their desire to live in security, their desire to live in freedom, and their desire to live in a state governed by the rule of law and principles of democratic accountability”, should be the desires that Togo’s political actors must fulfil. 

“It is at this dialogue that will determine the future of this country. It is the Togolese people themselves, and not any outside forces, that will determine the future of your country. It is extremely important to recognise that the destinies of our own nations are in our own hands. Therefore, whatever emerges out of this dialogue must represent the solutions that the Togolese people are looking for,” the President said.

President Akufo-Addo made this known on Monday, 19th February, 2018, at the opening ceremony of a political dialogue, being facilitated by him (President Akufo-Addo), and held between the Government of President Faure Gnassingbé, and the Coalition of 14 Togolese opposition parties, in Lome, Togo.

In urging the gathering to recognise that the spirit of accommodation, and the spirit of compromise, has to be at the very forefront of the preoccupation of every one gathered at the dialogue, the President explained that the national interest of Togo demands it. 

“And, that has to be the overriding concern of participants in this dialogue – the national interest of the people of Togo. It is important for the self-respect of the Togolese people that their leaders are seen to be capable of arriving at solutions that will advance the interests of the people of this country,” President Akufo-Addo said. 

The President noted that his job, and that of the facilitation team, whose membership is composed of the Minister for National Security, Albert Kan Dapaah; deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Charles Owiredu; Ghana’s Ambassador to Togo, Kwasi Owusu-Yeboa; Ambassador-at-large, Dr. Edward Mahama; former Secretary to President Kufuor and experienced, retired diplomat, D.K. Osei, is to assist in the process of finding a solution to the problems in Togo. 

“I don’t have a position in this matter. Despite all the links between us (Ghana and Togo), I am not a Togolese and, therefore, I cannot have a position in this matter. I can only assist in bringing about, hopefully, a durable solution to the problems of your country,” President Akufo-Addo added.         
  
Strong ties between Ghana and Togo
Expressing his appreciation in French to the political actors in Togo for allowing him to be part of a programme, that is essentially Togolese, President Akufo-Addo stated that “it is a mark of confidence you have expressed in your brothers and sisters from Ghana, of which we are grateful.” 

Recounting the ties between Ghana and Togo, the President indicated that the links between Togo and Ghana are links that are drawn from history, from geography, and from ethnic and familial ties. 

“We have been always each other’s keeper. At the very beginning of the independence of Ghana, when there were problems, many of the political activists in Ghana found refuge in Togo, and we have seen the same as happening that, wherever there are problems here (in Togo), people find refuge in Ghana,” he said.

The President continued, “Therefore, the interests of Ghanaians and of Ghana’s political leaders in the peace and stability and freedom of the Togolese people is something which is not negotiable. It has its roots in the history and links that I have already described. 

“I have come here with no solution, prescription or magic wand to impose or prescribe any solution for the resolution of the crisis that has gripped your country these last months. My task is a simple one – to help assist in the dialogue that you, the various political actors of this country, have agreed to.”

President Akufo-Addo added that the outcome of the dialogue was critical to the future of Togo “so that peace, the stability, the consolidation of democracy and the rule of law, which is the demand of the Togolese people, which, in fact, are the demands of the African peoples today, are realised here in Togo.” 

Prior to the holding of the dialogue, President Akufo-Addo has, on several occasions, over the last 7 months, met with the President of the Togolese Republic, His Excellency Faure Gnassingbé, and with all the leaders of the coalition of 14 political parties, all with the purpose of setting the conditions the holding of Monday’s dialogue.

Source: Flagstaff House 
 

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