Govt’s E-levy system best bet for development –Derek Oduro

Daniel Opare
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Govt’s E-levy system best bet for development –Derek Oduro

Former Deputy Defence Minister, Major(rtd) Derek Oduro, says government’s E-levy is the best bet for development.

This statement by the former minister is in line with Government’s introduction of E-levy to undertake developmental projects.

Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday 17th November 2021, Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Attah stated the tax will widen the tax net and rope in the informal sector.

He added that Electronic transactions covering mobile money payments, bank transfers, merchant payments and inward remittances will be charged at an applicable rate of 1.75%, which shall be borne by the sender except inward remittances, which will be borne by the recipient.

According to Ofori Atta, the total value of transactions for 2020 was estimated to be over GHS 500 billion as compared to GH¢78 billion in 2016 while total mobile money subscribers and active mobile money users have grown by an average rate of 18% and 16% respectively between 2016 and 2019.

“After considerable deliberations, Government has decided to place a levy on all electronic transactions to widen the tax net and rope in the informal sector. This shall be known as the “Electronic Levy or E-Levy.”

“Electronic transactions covering mobile money payments, bank transfers, merchant payments and inward remittances will be charged at an applicable rate of 1.75%, which shall be borne by the sender except inward remittances, which will be borne by the recipient,” Ken Ofori Atta told Parliament.

Scores of Ghanaians took to social media to pour out their frustrations on the introduction of the levy.

Read Also: Speaker asked to stop forcing ‘powerful person’ tag on public

Speaking to sit-in-host of Atinka FM’s AM Drive, Nana Owoahenea Acheampong, Former Deputy Defence Minister, Major(rtd) Derek Oduro stated that the e-levy will widen the tax net and aid government to undertake more developmental projects.

According to Major Derek Oduro, the E-levy is in line will provide equal rights for everyone to contribute to taxes.

“The road toll was being paid by just a few commuters. This one is even linked with the rest in that it is convenient. You will not go out and pay to anyone. You pay in the comfort of your room. I think the opposition NDC is just surprised that the NPP could come up with such a brilliant idea,” Major(rtd) Derek Oduro told Nana Owoahene Acheampong.

Ghana | Atinkaonline.com | Vivian Adu | [email protected]

Swimming should be a life insurance policy- Ghana’s Olympic swimmer Abeiku Jackson

Daniel Opare
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Swimming should be a life insurance policy- Ghana’s Olympic swimmer Abeiku Jackson

Abeiku Jackson has been swimming competitively since he was 4 years old. At 21 years old he has already represented Ghana at two Olympic Games.

Speaking to an independent journalist, Abeiku Jackson revealed that his journey began at the Soul Clinic International School and highlighted the importance of friendship.

“I think swimming should be a life insurance policy”, Abeiku said during the chat. He also discussed having to prepare for his first Olympic games and his international general certification exam, simultaneously.

Read Also: Bawumia opens Ghana Digital Innovation Week

Abeiku Jackson is the first Ghanaian Swimmer to fly the flag at the Olympics and an African youth record holder.

Ghana | Atinkaonline.com

Auditor General addresses religious and faith leaders on extensive issues at ERS4

Daniel Opare
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Auditor General addresses religious and faith leaders on extensive issues at ERS4

Churches and Faith based organisations have interacted with the Registrar General and other governing agencies on the Companies Act of 2019 and Charities Bill

At the forum, many religious groups were represented and charged to broaden their awareness of governance issues. Various issues including the gazetting of ministers for marriages was highlighted at the 2021 Ekklesia Roundtable Series.

Presiding Bishop of The Methodist Church, Most Rev Dr. Paul Kwabena Boafo conveyed the essence of the gathering. “The God we serve is a God of order. It is God who instituted statues for his people, and they have to obey”, he stated.

The Registrar General Jemima Oware, Head of tax policy unit at the Ministry of Finance, Daniel Nuer and the Direct of the Non-Profit Organisation Secretariat, Dela Ashiagbor took turns to shed some light on proposed laws that are of interest to faith-based institutions with presentations.

The NPO bill, for example, is in line with the UN 2020 mandate to continue to ensure a strong governance system that will check transparency and accountability in dealing with NGOs.

Stakeholders thanked the Kingdom Equip Network for organizing the roundtable and encouraged editions across the country. 

Ghana | Atinkaonline.com

“We’re tired of paying accumulated bills” – Somanya residents tell ECG

Daniel Opare
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“We’re tired of paying accumulated bills” – Somanya residents tell ECG

Nathan Boyor, the media relations officer for United Krobo foundation, has asked the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to do the right thing or vacate Somanya lands.

This comes after residents of Somanya in the Eastern Region embarked on a demonstration to agitate high electricity bills from the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

Scores of aggrieved customers were seen holding placards with inscriptions, “We don’t want you,” “We want VRA,” “Freedom from ECG,” “We will not pay bills” “ECG move from Krobo lands” among others.

Some of the demonstrators who spoke to Atinka News’ Maame Akosua expressed their displeasure with the high electricity bills the Electricity Company of Ghana assigns to residents in Somanya.

They accused the Electricity Company of Ghana of providing faulty prepaid meters to residents which is taking a toll on their finances.

“We don’t want them, We want VRA. We want to be free from ECG. How can we pay bills as much as GHS10,000 and GHS5,000. This is outrageous. We will react by not paying bills should our pleas be left unheard”, some of the angry residents told Maame Akosua.

The demonstrators marched through selected streets of Somanya and presented a petition to the management of the Volta River Authority (VRA).

 “These people here are not salaried workers who can afford the levels of bills churned out by ECG in the area,” they emphasised. Why should we have VRA operating on Krobo lands for us to be enrolled on ECG platforms for us to be paying huge bills,” they said.

Read Also: Somanya: Residents want ECG kicked out over high bills

Giving reasons for the demonstration, the media relations officer  for United Krobo Foundation, Nathan Boyor, told sit-in-host for Atinka FM’s AM Drive Nana Owoahene Acheampong that the ECG provided faulty meters to some residents in Somanya which has resulted in accumulated bills.

He mentioned that till today, the manager who supervised the sharing of the faulty meters is still at post.

“ It is their fault and so we want them to scrap the bills. We are tired of paying accumulated bills. They should do the right thing,”  Nathan Boyor told Nana Owoahene Acheampong.

Ghana | Atinkaonline.com | Vivian Adu | [email protected]

Speaker asked to stop forcing ‘powerful person’ tag on public

Daniel Opare
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Speaker asked to stop forcing ‘powerful person’ tag on public

A former Head of political science University of Education Winneba, Dr. Isaac Brako, has asked the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, to stop forcing Ghanaians to accept that he is part of the powerful people in Ghana.

According to the Political science lecturer, it is common knowledge that Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin is the second most powerful person in the country and there is no need forcing the tag down the throat of Ghanaians.

This comment by the educationist comes after Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin disclosed that a Justice of the Supreme Court has explained why he is the second most powerful person in Ghana only behind the President of the Republic.

Speaker of Parliament Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin noted that his colleagues in the Supreme Court told him that he is not ‘number three’ and that he is “number two”.

“When you start from His Excellency the President, you have to go to the Vice before you come to the Speaker and then you go to the Chief Justice,” he said of the known hierarchy. Then continued: “But we have three arms of government… my colleagues in the Supreme Court told me that actually, you are not number three, you are number two. All those who were present at that meeting were convinced when the Supreme Court judge made the submission and justified it”,  Speaker of Parliament Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin added.

Read Also: Bawumia opens Ghana Digital Innovation Week

Commenting on the issue on Atinka FM’s AM Drive with sit-in-host Nana Owoahene Acheampong, a former Head of political science University of Education Winneba, Dr. Isaac Brako, explained that it is not the best for a father to keep reminding his kids that he is their father.

“It is not the hood that makes a monk, I believe that everyone knows that the Speaker is the number 2 person in the country, the constitution has affirmed it and it is undebatable. As a father you did not need to remind your children that you are their dad, they already know you,” Dr. Isaac Brako told Nana Owoahene Acheampong.

Ghana | Atinkaonline.com | Vivian Adu | [email protected]

Ejura: Police arrest 5 robbers including 14-yr-old boy

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Ejura: Police arrest 5 robbers including 14-yr-old boy

The Police in Ejura on November 16, 2021, arrested four robbery suspects and a juvenile who carry out robbery activities on highways linking Nkoranza and Techiman in the Bono East Region and the Ejura Sekyedumase Municipal area of the Ashanti Region.

According to the police, the four suspects, Ajara Sagu, Rashid Ibrahim, Ibrahim Iddrisu, Musah Arijuma together with a 14-year-old juvenile were arrested at Ejura after extensive Police surveillance on their activities.

It stated that on the spot search on the suspects and juvenile led to the recovery of ten assorted mobile phones, one Infinix charger and a lady’s handbag.

Other items suspected to have been robbed from commuters and retneved from them included one unregistered Apsonic Aloba motorbike and an amount of Two Thousand, Two Hundred and Seventy-Nine Ghana Cedis (GH¢ 2,279.00).

Read Also: Kasoa: 26 suspected internet fraudsters arrested

The police reported that a driver who was a victim of the suspects’ robbery expedition along the Techiman-Ejura Highway, during Police investigations, identified all the four suspects and the juvenile as the robbers who attacked him on November 15, 2021, at Adiemra.

Other victims have also come forward to identify these criminals and their stolen items.

Meanwhile, the Police Administration lauded the efforts of the Ejura District Police Command in ensuring robbery activities become undesirable in Ejura and beyond.

“We want to assure the public that we shall not relent in making our communities safe and peaceful,” the Police assured.

In other news: V/R: Man allegedly kills girlfriend, keeps her body in fridge

girlfriend
Suspect and Victim

A man has allegedly killed his girlfriend and kept the body in the refrigerator in the Volta Region.

According to reports, neighbours of the suspect, whose name was given as Frank at Ho-Fiave reported to the police of a suspected murder when they observed a strong stench emanating from the suspect’s room while flies hovered around his windows and doors.

Upon receiving a call on 22/11/2021 about 9:00am, the police who rushed to the scene broke into the room and found the girlfriend of the said tenant, known as Lizzy dead in a double-decker refrigerator.

At this point, the tenant, Frank was nowhere to be found.

Continue reading:

Ghana| Atinkaonline.com| Porcia Oforiwaa Ofori
Writer’s email: [email protected]

45 killed in bus crash on motorway

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45 killed in bus crash on motorway

At least 45 people, including 12 children, have died after a bus crashed and caught fire in western Bulgaria, officials say.

The incident happened on a motorway south-west of the capital Sofia at about 02:00 local time (00:00 GMT).

The bus was registered in North Macedonia and was mainly carrying tourists from the country, who were returning from Turkey.

Seven people escaped from the bus and were taken to hospital with burns.

A Bulgarian interior ministry official said it was unclear if the bus had caught fire and then crashed or burst into flames after crashing.

Officials said the bus appeared to have hit a highway barrier and pictures showed a section of the road where the barrier had been shorn off. No other vehicles were involved in the accident.

Macedonian Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani told reporters the coach party had been returning to the capital Skopje from a weekend holiday trip to the Turkish city of Istanbul.

Read Also: V/R: Man allegedly kills girlfriend, keeps her body in fridge

Bulgarian media reports say the vehicle, which had been travelling as part of a convoy of buses, had stopped off at a petrol station near Sofia about an hour before the accident.

The victims have not yet been named, but officials said they included children and young people, aged between 20 and 30.

Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev told Bulgarian television that most of the passengers on the bus were Macedonian, but one Belgian and one Serbian citizen were among them.

Mr Zaev said he spoke to one of the survivors, who told him that passengers were sleeping when the sound of an explosion woke them.

“He and the other six survivors broke the windows of the bus and managed to escape and save themselves,” Mr Zaev told Bulgarian media.

An investigator takes a picture of the wreckage of a bus with North Macedonian plates that caught fire on a highway
Image caption, Part of the motorway barrier was destroyed in the crash

Bulgaria’s interim Prime Minister Stefan Yanev described the incident as “an enormous tragedy”.

“Let’s hope we learn lessons from this tragic incident and we can prevent such incidents in the future,” he told reporters as he visited the site of the crash.

The area around the site of Tuesday’s incident on the Struma motorway has now been sealed off. Footage from the scene shows the charred vehicle, gutted by the fire.

After arriving at the scene, Bulgarian Interior Minister Boyko Rashkov said the victims had been completely burned, television station BTV reports.

Investigative service chief Borislav Sarafov said “human error by the driver or a technical malfunction are the two initial versions for the accident”.

Source: BBC

V/R: Man allegedly kills girlfriend, keeps her body in fridge

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V/R: Man allegedly kills girlfriend, keeps her body in fridge

A man has allegedly killed his girlfriend and kept the body in the refrigerator in the Volta Region.

According to reports, neighbours of the suspect, whose name was given as Frank at Ho-Fiave reported to the police of a suspected murder when they observed a strong stench emanating from the suspect’s room while flies hovered around his windows and doors.

Upon receiving a call on 22/11/2021 about 9:00am, the police who rushed to the scene broke into the room and found the girlfriend of the said tenant, known as Lizzy dead in a double-decker refrigerator.

At this point, the tenant, Frank was nowhere to be found.

An investigative team proceeded to the scene and after careful inspection of the crime scene, the body which was at an advanced state of decomposition in a white double-decker refrigerator was conveyed to the Ho Municipal Hospital morgue awaiting autopsy.

Meanwhile, a search is underway to trace and arrest the said boyfriend who is believed to have killed the deceased.

Read Also: Court adjourns Sosu’s case to November 29

In other news: Sell your Land Cruisers to develop your areas- MCE to MPs

The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Ga West Municipal Assembly, Mr Clement Wilkinson has urged all Members of Parliament (MPS) who have two or more Land Cruisers to sell one and use the money to develop their constituencies.

That, he said will increase the development in the various areas across the country.

The MCE who was pleased with the MP for North Tongu, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa for purchasing a rice machine for his constituency said the gesture was worth emulating by the other MPs.

Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa on Saturday, November 20, 2021 donated a new Combine Harvester and Power Tillers to the Aveyime Rice Farmers’ Association in his constituency.

According to him, this will be the first time in the association’s history where it will have access to its own dedicated Combine Harvester and Power Tillers which will operate on their rice farms at a special MP subsidized rate, far below market charges.

Continue reading:

Ghana| Atinkaonline.com

Hungarian govt delegation tour K’si wastewater treatment plant

Daniel Opare
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Hungarian govt delegation tour K’si wastewater treatment plant

The Deputy Speaker of Parliament in Hungary, István Jakab, has underscored the need for Hungary and Ghana to work closely to ensure that more compost and recycling plants are built to help in achieving the government’s vision of a clean Ghana.

According to him, Hungary’s relationship with Ghana dates back to some sixty years (60) ago, adding that when the two countries form more partnerships they will bring about transfer of technology, knowledge and expertise in the waste management sector.

The deputy Speaker of Hungary’s Parliament made the observation when he visited the Kumasi waste water treatment plant in the Bosomtwe District in the Ashanti Region on Monday, November 22, 2021. 

He was conducted around the facility by the Executive Chairman of Jospong Group of Companies (JGC), Dr Joseph Siaw Agyepong, and some of his top management members. 

The Kumasi waste water treatment plant is a collaboration between the (JGC) and its Hungarian partners and the government of Ghana.

István Jakab, who is officially visiting Ghana for the first time gave the assurance that the Hungarian government will not only support the government of Ghana but private businesses as well.

According to him, the Hungarian government will continue to support Ghana’s education sector, stating that already about 100 Ghanaian students have been offered scholarships by Hungary.

The Hungarian Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency Tamás Endre Fehér, who was also part of the Hungary delegation to Kumasi, commended JGC for the project, and wished JGC more successes in all its business endeavours. 

For his part, the Executive Chairman of JGC, Mr Joseph Siaw-Agyepong, was happy about the long relationship between Ghana and Hungary.

He said the relationship between the two countries spans over a period of sixty-one (61) years.

He used the chance to commended President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for his government’s immense support for private companies in the waste management sector.

Furthermore, he praised the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR) for its collaboration with his group.

According to Dr Siaw Agyepong, the waste water treatment facility in Kumasi is in operation and has engaged about 60 workers with 95% of them from the Bosomtwe District.

“About 70 to 80 tracks come to discharge waste water daily,” he revealed.

Ghana | Atinkaonline.com

Bawumia opens Ghana Digital Innovation Week

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Bawumia opens Ghana Digital Innovation Week

A one-week programme bringing together pace-setters and stakeholders in the digitization ecosystem has been launched in Accra by the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.

The ‘Ghana Digital Innovation Week” is designed to bring together entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, university faculties, venture capitalists, as well as other technical service providers such as accountants, designers, contract manufacturers and providers of skills training and professional development to provide a common platform for practical conversations on turning innovative ideas into useful reality to address societal problems.

Under the auspices of the Office of the Vice President, Government, through the Ministries of Communication and Digitalization (MCD) and Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) also engaged at the highest levels, the governments of Israel, Germany and Rwanda, known for their innovative prowess, to help provide technical assistance.

Commending the organisers for the “excellent collaborative work done”, Vice President Bawumia said it was imperative that all stakeholders “talk to each other” as the nation strives towards achieving a digital economy fit for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

“For far too long, things have been happening a in ‘silo-like’ environment in the digital innovation space. It is important that all key stakeholders are brought together, in a common space, to have frank conversations and cross-fertilize each other.

“This Ghana Digital Innovation Week will serve as a platform to discuss and define a common national vision that drives Ghana’s digital innovation agenda, generates wide interest, and prompts concrete actions in the polivy, legislative, regulatory spaces and the needed infrastructure.

“Furthermore, let us use the opportunity of this conversation to highlight our nation’s achievements in the digital innovation ecosystem and lead the conversation on how best Ghana can position itself to drive its development agenda through inclusive and collaborative stakeholder participation in this ecosystem.

“It is only through an open, inclusive and participatory process, where the voices of all can be heard, that we can craft Ghana’s digital future and unleash the true potential that innovation holds,” he urged.

While outlining some of the deleterious effects of Covid 19, Dr Bawumia maintained that technology provides one of the surest ways of recovering from the pandemic through accelerated and inclusive development.

“To rebuild our post-pandemic economy, there is an urgent need of investing in innovative technology to leapfrog the obstacles to inclusive development. There is perhaps no more important development revolution facing us now than the fast-approaching digitization and leveraging of technology to develop our country, Ghana.”

Cross-border cooperation, he emphasised, is key.

“To achieve this inclusive and accelerated development, all stakeholders must work together in order to grow Ghana and African countries’ innovation ecosystems.

“Tapping on the experience, expertise and networks of all countries, particularly our Pan-African brothers and sisters, will not only offer us a wealth of lessons and insights, but will also help us build effective collaborative innovation ecosystems.

“Innovation sees no boundaries. But for us to explore its full potential, we must join hands within our local ecosystems in Africa and elsewhere to strengthen our foundations accelerate innovations.”

Ghana | Atinkaonline.com

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