THE THOUGHTS ROOM

President John Dramani Mahama has officially been announced as the NDC’s flagbearer to contest at the December 2012 General Elections. The President who went unopposed following the death of President Mills in July, was endorsed by delegates at a special delegates’ congress in Kumasi. He won by a 99.5 per cent votes. President Mahama polled 2767 out of the 2781 total votes cast. Eleven ballots were declared invalid whilst 14 delegates voted “No” to object to President Mahama becoming the flag bearer of the NDC in the upcoming polls.   He is expected to give an acceptance speech later in the day at the party’s campaign and manifesto launch. Earlier today, President John Dramani Mahama expressed disappointment over how the ruling NDC has handled its disagreements. He acknowledged the fact that there was bound to be differences in any institution noting that, “God created us in diversity. He gave us different characteristics and different thoughts so we d...

The New Patriotic Party has launched its 2012 manifesto with a strong desire to transform the lives of Ghanaians and consequently Ghana in the long run. The manifesto, titled "Transforming Lives, Transforming Ghana" promises to transform various sectors of the economy, embark on industrialization and create more jobs among other initiatives. At an event in Accra, the flag bearer of NPP, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, reiterated his commitment to ensuring an improved Ghanaian economy, focusing on the needs of Ghanaians. He reiterated his stance to fight corruption and ensure a strong public private partnership, when voted into power. He noted that, “we place particular emphasis on the central role of the Ghanaian private sector. That is, indigenous and local enterprises both in the formal and informal sectors in this process of transformation. A strong private sector holds the key to prosperity. I will fight corruption and I want you all to be in this fight.  (Watc...

Former President Jerry John Rawlings on Thursday in a proverbial statement called on President John Dramani Mahama to “dig out” some people within government if he wants to restore  integrity  to the Presidency, government and the NDC party. Speaking at the special delegates’ congress to endorse President Mahama as the flagbearer of the party for the 2012 General Elections, the founder of the ruling NDC told the sitting president that his first hurdle towards being an elected President had began. Ex-president Rawlings who had a rousing welcome when he took his turn to mount the podium in a rhetoric manner asked, “Mr. President, fellow Ghanaians it is said that we should not throw out the baby with the bath water, but what do we do when some of the babies in the tub are babies with teeth, biting and spewing invectives? Should they not be lowered out with the dirty water so we can concentrate on the good ones? After all one bad nut is all it takes to spoil the ta...

A member of the dissolved Funeral Planning Committee of late President Mills, Nana Ato Dadzie has disclosed that members of the committee were not given any remuneration for the work they did in putting up a befitting burial for the late president within a short notice. According to him, “We started this programme without a pesewa; we didn’t have a budget so we went out there, spent our own monies to buy food to keep ourselves and we bought our own petrol.” “Don’t forget, I’m a private man and for three weeks I had to leave my job. I joined this work, did it voluntarily; we didn't receive a pesewa for the work that we did,” he told host of  Awake , Rashida Nasamu Nana Ato Dadzie’s expose is as a result of calls from anti-corruption bodies such as the Ghana Integrity Initiative for the committee to make public detailed expenditure made during the late president’s funeral. However, Nana Ato Dadzie explained that as a committee, it was their mandate to give the o...

Minister of Communication, Haruna Iddrisu has questioned the motive behind the accusation by Deputy Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, Hajia Hawawu Boya Gariba, that he masterminded the attack on her on Sunday evening. According to the Minister, the accusation by Hajia Gariba is as a result of her “unsuccessful bid to win the NDC primary.” He described the accusation as “wicked and malicious.” Attack on Deputy Minister The Deputy Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs, Hajia Hawawu Boya Gariba had accused the Communication Minister of masterminding the attack on her on Sunday evening. According to the Deputy Minister the attack on her by a certain Mma Kande whilst she was at the hairdressing salon was a plot by the Communication Minister to brand her as “quarrelsome” and thus drag her reputation into disrepute. According to sources, Mma Kande on Sunday evening reportedly pounced on the Deputy Minister who was being attended to by a pregnant haird...

There are over 3000 Chinese in Ghana with resident permits, according to the Public Immigration Officer of the Ghana Immigration Service. Speaking on Awake , Wednesday morning, Mr Francis Palmdeti said previous information that there were 607 Chinese in Ghana with work and resident permits was “quite inaccurate.” Rather, he said, the 607 Chinese as reported by the Daily Graphic on July 24, 2012 was the number of Chinese that had been given work permits in the country. He said, “When you put Chinese nationals on resident permits we have in our record of over 3140 Chinese.  We have some who come in for business purposes and after a week or two they are gone.” Mr Palmdeti also stated that in 2011 there were about 12000 to 13000 Chinese arriving and departing at the Kotoka International Airport. The Chinese have been in the news lately for their engagement in illegal mining activities in the country. From the beginning of the year to date, about 115 illegal Chinese workers ...

Speech delivered by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, 2012 Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party at the evening encounter organized by the Institute of Economic Affairs on the 21st of August 2012. Chairperson, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, friends from the media, fellow Ghanaians, good evening. This event was to have taken place two weeks ago, but was postponed at my request when President Mills passed away. May he rest in perfect peace. Ghanaians should be proud that together we are building a democratic state, a Ghana being governed by the rule of law. We have just gone through a unique period in our history, dealing with the death in office of a sitting President. When put to the test, our democratic institutions rose to the occasion. The transfer of the Presidency was peaceful, smooth and constitutional and we should all be encouraged by the way the system worked. It strengthens those of us who have fought all our lives for democr...