Category: Ghana General News

Breaking News: Ft. Jerry John Rawlings is dead
Former President Jerry John Rawlings is dead.

The former president Dikoder.com understands passed on, today, November 12, 2020, after a brief illness.

According to state-owned Daily Graphic, the former President had been on admission at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital for about a week for an undisclosed ailment. He was 73.

It will be recalled that Mr Rawlings recently lost and buried his mother last month.

Jerry John Rawlings was born in Accra on 22nd June 1947, to a Ghanaian mother from Dzelukope, near Keta, in the Volta Region, and a Scottish father.
Update will be given soon
November 12, 2020
Election 2020: Mahama Promises Free Fertilizer For Cocoa Farmers
Mr John Dramani Mahama, flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC, has promised free fertilizer for cocoa farmers in his next administration, to boost cocoa production.

He said this at a mini rally at Mankranso, capital of the Ahafo Ano South West District in the Ashanti Region, as part of his six-day campaign tour of the Ashanti Region.

On the first day, Mr Mahama addressed mini rallies at Abesewa in the Ahafo Ano South East District; at Camp Two, Numesia in the Ahafo North District and he also paid a courtesy call on Nana Adusei Atwenewa Ampem I, the Omanhene of Tepa Tradational Area at his Palace in Tepa.

The Presidential Candidate also addressed similar rallies at Abuakwa, the District Capital of the Atwima Nwabiagya South; and at Ayigya in the Oforikrom Constituency in Kumasi.

At Abesewa, Mahama gave small scale miners the assurance that his next administration would track down all their seized excavators and return them to their rightful owners.

He said the next NDC Government would grant presidential pardon to all small scale miners, who had be imprisoned for engaging in galamsey activities and the next NDC Government would also see to it that mining licenses and concessions, which he said were illegitimately seized, were returned.

During the courtesy call on the Tepamanhene, Mr Mahama said his next administration would establish a jewelry processing factory in Tepa.

That, he said would add value to Ghana’s raw mineral resources, such as gold before export, to generate more revenue for the country’s socioeconomic development.

He assured the Tepa Traditional Council that their roads would be fixed by his next administration.

At Abuakwa, he assured that construction work would resume on the Military Hospital Project located in the town, which was started by his administration and had since been allegedly abandoned by the current government.

At Ayigya, Mr Mahama said his government would restore indigenous investments in the banking sector and promised that Ghanaians whose money was locked up following the collapsed of the banks and microfinance companies would have their money refunded to them by the state.

He outlined a number of projects, which his government undertook in the Ashanti Region during his first term, such as the Kejetia Market project.

At the mini rallies, Mr Mahama appealed to Ghanaians to return the NDC to power to continue its good works.
Peacefmonline
November 12, 2020
Road Safety statistics show an increase in road fatalities during election years.

Statistics at the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) have revealed higher cases or road crashes and fatalities in election years since the beginning of the Fourth Republic in 1992.

A trend analysis of the figures over the past 28 years has shown that all election years recorded higher road crashes and fatalities than the preceding years.

Additionally, the statistics show that with the exception of 2016, every election year has recorded higher road crashes and fatalities than the preceding election year.

As of September this year, road accident figures showed that 10,535 crashes had occurred, with 10,933 injuries and 1,828 deaths.

Those statistics indicate a steady increase in the road accident situation, compared with the same period of 2019 which recorded 10,294 crashes, 10,721 injuries and 1,733 deaths.
Also, the 2020 figures show that road crashes had increased over 2016 election year figures, which indicate that 8,651 crashes occurred.

Fourth Republic figures

A holistic look at the statistics, beginning from 1992, show that 6,992 crashes were recorded in 1992, resulting in 10,030 casualties and 914 deaths.

The figures shot up to 8,488 crashes, 10,952 casualties and 1,049 fatalities in 1996, in the next election year.
The figures also showed an increase over the 1995 situation, where 8,313 crashes were recorded, with 1,132 casualties and 1,026 deaths.

The increasing trend continued in 2000, with that election year recording 11,087 crashes, 13,747 casualties and 1,437 deaths.

That was after the country had recorded 8,763 crashes, 11,439 casualties and 1,237 fatalities in 1999.

In 2004, Ghana had 12,175 road crashes, 18,445 casualties and 2,188 fatalities, an increase over 2003 road accident statistics of 10,542 crashes, 16,185 casualties and 1,716 deaths.

Although in 2008 the 11,214 road crashes recorded were lower than the 12,038 recorded in 2007, the casualties remained higher (16,455 for 2008 and 16,416 for 2007).

However, the fatalities for 2008 were 1,938, lower than the 2,043 recorded in 2007.

The road crashes and fatalities went up to 12,083 and 2,240 respectively, in 2012, as against the 10,887 crashes and 2,199 fatalities that occurred in 2011.

There was an improvement in the figures for the 2016 election year as the road crashes and fatalities reduced to 8,651 and 2,084 respectively, compared with the 9,796 crashes and 1,802 deaths in 2015.

Although 2020 (another election year) is yet to end, the increase in the road accident situation over 2019 figures remains a source of worry.

November 11, 2020
PNC Promises Free Education From Kindergarten To Tertiary Level

The People’s National Convention (PNC) has promised to offer free education at all levels from kindergarten to tertiary, and increase funding and investment in the educational sector by 15 per cent of Gross Domestic Product.

PNC explained that although enrolment in schools increased over the last decade through various government interventions including; the free Senior High School (SHS) policy, access to education still remained a challenge.

The PNC in its Election 2020 Manifesto tagged: “delivering prosperity to all Ghanaians,” under the sub-headline “Education,” outlined a free education programme, which seeks to ensure 100 per cent enrolment for all children.

The party said if voted into power on December 7, a PNC Government under Mr David Apasera as President and Pastor Divine Ayivor as the Vice President will ensure the full operationalisation of the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) as enshrined in the 1992 Constitution.

According to the PNC Ghana needed reforms in its educational sector to attain quality education alongside access.

In this regard, the PNC Government shall empower Assembly and Unit Committee members to ensure the enrolment of all children in basic schools within their jurisdiction.

The Unit Committees members will also ensure even distribution of school infrastructure to address the needs of schools under trees in rural areas; “broaden and deepen innovation, creativity and problem solving skills in basic education”.

The PNC said it would establish a National Science, Technology and Innovation Village (NSTIV) in the nature of the Silicon Valley of the USA to allow pupils or students access to these areas to equip their technical knowledge and problem-solving skills.

“A PNC government will also train and post career guidance and counselors at the basic level to direct pupils or students and their career paths; review the management and administration of the Capitation Grants to ensure that schools in deprived districts receive more as compared to those in endowed municipalities and metropolises.

“Ensure that the capitation grant reaches all schools before the beginning of each term, as well as set up a system to evaluate the impact of the free education policy”.

The PNC said it will provide learning aids for research and extra curricula training.

On Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET); a PNC Government will establish 200 technical and vocational schools at various communities in every district across the country.

Institutionalize the skilled based informal sector and encourage apprenticeship and industrial attachment among TVET students into the sectors; institute free apprenticeship and artisanal training for unemployed youth to offer them employable skills.

The PNC in its manifesto will resource and expand the Integrated Community Centres for Employable Skills (ICCES).

A PNC Government will award 20 per cent of government works and housing contracts to TVET institution, which will serve as a resource these institutions.

On Tertiary Education; the PNC explains that under its free tertiary education for all qualified Ghanaians, it will re-align tertiary programmes to industry requirement and human resource needs of the country.

Institute Compulsory industrial attachment of tertiary students to local industries and introduce GH¢100 million Students Innovation Funds to promote competitive innovations in enterprise solutions amongst tertiary students.

The PNC also seeks to offer incentives for Teachers and Educational Workers; offer car loans for all teachers in the public sector, offer duty free car importation facility for all Professional Teachers and Educational workers.

It will also provide adequate accommodation facilities for Teachers posted to rural schools; introduce mortgage schemes for all Teachers and Educational workers for them to own their own houses upon retirement.

A PNC Government will also introduce scholarship for management and administrative studies for Teachers interested in becoming School Managers and Head Teachers.

Peacefmonline

November 11, 2020
You’re Not Joe Biden – Kabila Tells Mahama

Former Acting General Secretary of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), James Kwabena Bomfeh has rubbished the political comparison of the US and Ghana elections by the opposition National Democratic Congress(NDC).

Former Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden has been declared President-elect after days of voting by the electorates.

According to the provisional results, Joe Biden polled 290 to win the elections while Donald Trump polled 214 votes.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) is of a firm belief that Joe Biden’s victory will translate into victory for the party’s Presidential candidate, John Dramani Mahama.

Their analogy is that whenever the Democrat Party wins the US elections, NDC also wins Ghana’s elections.

The party further argues that President Nana Akufo-Addo will be a one-time President just like Donald Trump.

Reacting to the issue, James Kwabena Bomfeh a.k.a Kabilla believes the NDC is deceiving themselves.

He asserted that the Biden-Trump analysis won’t work for the NDC and their Presidential candidate, John Dramani Mahama because the US elections have no correlation with the impending elections in Ghana.

“Joe Biden is not John Dramani Mahama. That’s number 1. [Number 2] Trump is not Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. [Number 3] Joe Biden was Vice President for eight solid years in America’s history; John Dramani Mahama was Vice President for three and half years. You can’t compare the two. [Number 5] Donald Trump did his best to introduce divisive policies; Akufo-Addo has brought a policy that’s become like manna for every Ghanaian,” he explained.

Peacefmonline

November 11, 2020
I Will Grant Amnesty To Jailed Small-Scale Miners- Mahama

The Presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr John Dramani Mahama, says when elected as President in the December 7, 2020 presidential election, he will grant general amnesty to all persons jailed for small-scale mining-related offences.

Many Ghanaian small-scale miners, popularly known as galamsey operators, are in prison custody after they were arrested by the government’s special anti-galamsey security taskforce and prosecuted for offences relating to small-scale mining.

Interacting with the chiefs and people of Abesewa in the Ahafo Ano South East constituency on Tuesday at the start of his five-day campaign tour of the Ashanti Region, Mr Mahama said his administration will give galamsey offenders a second chance to better their lives.

“Because of the fight against galamsey, some of the youth have been arrested. But with our new policy on small-scale mining when we come into power, we are going to start afresh. We know they have offended the law but I believe that these galamsey operators are remorseful so we will give them another chance”, he said.

Mr Mahama said, with careful planning, the mining sector could create about one million jobs for the youth, adding the next NDC government will take advantage of this and implement well planned policies to develop the mining sector.

He announced that when elected in the impending presidential election, the next Mahama government will introduce co-operative mining in all mining districts. As part of this, he said, mining professionals will be employed to provide guidance for small-scale mining operations, adding this will help to regulate the sector, improve safety and make land reclamation a central part of small-scale mining operations.

Mr Mahama said it is regrettable that the government has politicised small-scale mining by seizing mining concessions and equipment of operators, and throwing them out of business whilst at the same time allowing members of the governing party to engage in small-scale mining operations.

He said it is important that justice prevails in the small-scale mining sector so that all Ghanaians can reap the benefits of the sector, not just a few card-bearing members of the ruling party.

Mr Mahama therefore urged small-scale miners and their families to be guided accordingly and cast their ballot in his favour on December 7, 2020 to enable the next NDC government restore justice in the small-scale mining sector and for all Ghanaians to reap its benefits, not just a few card-bearing members of the governing party.

Peacefmonline

November 11, 2020
Sammy Gyamfi has challenged the governing NPP to retrieve all monies that were wrongfully paid to NDC members.

The Communications Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi has challenged the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) to retrieve all monies that were wrongfully paid to NDC members.

His comment follows an allegation by the MP for Sekondi, Andrew Egyapa Mercer that the NDC during its tenure in power wrongfully paid Kofi Buckman and Associates, SAS Finance Group, Bullion Finance, and McQuary when preparing the Ghana Gold Transaction in 2011 before it was truncated.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Top Story Tuesday, Sammy Gyamfi said the NPP has made it a mantra to accuse the NDC of being corrupt and having stolen from the public purse whilst in office.

However, the party is yet to come after any member of the NDC in a quest to retrieve such monies because they know the allegation is false.

“You see talk is cheap. They are in government now. If they think anybody violated the laws of this country and were paid monies that they were not supposed to be paid, let them retrieve it.

“That cannot be a justification for this naked robbery,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Gyamfi is also asking President Akufo-Addo to retrieve the billions of cedis his government dishonestly paid under the controversial Agyapa deal in seven days or the country will witness the biggest demonstration ever.

According to the Communications Officer, monies were illegally paid to Databank, which is owned by the President’s cousin and Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta; African Legal Associates, which is owned by another cousin Gabby Otchere Darko; and their foreign compradors.”

This, he said, exhibits the nepotism that is being perpetrated by the Akufo-Addo government.

Myjoyonline

November 11, 2020
Armed robber whose manhood was bitten by a lady he raped finally speaks.

The 23-year-old man who has his manhood bitten by Justina Donkor has broken silence, giving his own version of the story.

Trying to escape arrest, the man who has his penis bitten by the lady he wanted to rape told Nurses attending to him when he got to the hospital first that he was attacked by armed robbers.

Obuasi Municipal Police Commander, DSP Martin Asenso disclosed in an interview that, the rapist told the nurses; ”He was robbed and attacked by some robbers at his place and that was why he came to the hospital for treatment”.

Nevertheless, DSP Martin Asenso further stated that the suspect [Emmanuel Ankron] has been arrested but has been treated and discharged but will be charged and summoned before the court.

Ghpage yesterday reported that Justina Donkor, a 24-year-old young lady was on last weekend drugged and rapped by the suspect, a 23-year-old Emmanuel Ankron at Abompey new site, Obuasi.

Sorted by : Anita

November 11, 2020
Mahama Explains Why His Wife Was Reluctant to Campaign For Him This Year

Former President and flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has finally revealed why his wife the Former First Lady Lordina Mahama refused to join his campaign team this year.

It’s been months since active political activities started after the novel coronavirus outbreak which halted several activities globally. After the coronavirus breeze, political parties resumed political activities toward the 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary elections while adhering to safety protocols rolled out by various institutions that were spearheading the fight against the virus.

During this period Ghanaians have seen the former president, his running mate, and other party executives roam the length and breadth of the country to woo electorates to vote back the NDC to power while lobbying for seats for their respective parliamentary candidates.

However, One of the things that went missing was the anchor behind former president John Dramani Mahama which was the former first lady. Members of the opposition parties alleged that the former president was having issues with the former first lady thus her refusal to support his husband in his battle for the presidency.

Former President Mahama has however cleared the air on the matter in an interview monitored by Mynewsghana stating that his wife during the 2016 campaign period experienced so much politics of insults and lies which made her a bit traumatized. Due to that she opted to take a low key role while I do my politics. She’s been very much focused on her foundation lately. Mr Mahama stated in an interview mynewsghana.net monitored.

The former first lady has finally joined the campaign trail and is currently in her home region to solicit votes for her husband seeking to return to power.

Lordina Mahama has been campaigning in Kintampo and Nkoranza areas of the Bono East Region for the NDC parliamentary candidates

In addition to sharing highlights of the People’s Manifesto and John Mahama’s promises to Ghanaians, Mrs. Mahama also invited the people to vote for the NDC and John Mahama because he is a President Ghanaians can trust, and he has a track record of development without discrimination.

Mynewsghana

November 11, 2020
“If Nana Addo Wins 2020 Election, Then God Does Not Exist” – Bulldog

Artiste manager Lawrence Nana Asiamah Hanson, also known as Bulldog says if President Nana Akufo-Addo wins the 2020 elections, that will mean God does not exist.

He said this on Okay FM.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CHaq5rwp3Z9/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

November 10, 2020
Mahama Promises Another Shot At Power Compact Deal

The Presidential Candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), former President John Dramani Mahama, has assured Ghanaians that he will lead the country to re-negotiate the Power Compact component of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) with the United States of America (USA) should he be elected President at the December polls.

He said the re-negotiation would be necessary to secure funding to strengthen electricity distribution and retool some critical power sector institutions.

Happy Farmers day

Funding
Mr Mahama said the next NDC government would take the issue up with the Joseph Biden administration with the aim of getting back the money that was lost when the country terminated an earlier deal with the Power Distribution Services (PDS) following allegations of fraud.

“One of the priorities is to see if we can get back the money under the MCC to improve our electricity distribution system, ” he told the Daily Graphic in an interview on Sunday at Kwahu Pepease in the Eastern Region on the sidelines of his four-day campaign tour of the region.

Mr Mahama said due to the mismanagement of the energy component of the Energy Compact of the MCC by the current government, the country lost a significant amount of funding that would have been used to improve electricity distribution systems.

“When I was President, we successfully negotiated the MCC deal but unfortunately, this government messed up the Power Distribution Services (PDS) issue and that has led to us losing substantial amounts of funding that would have been used to strengthen our electricity distribution system,” he said.

Context
The US Embassy in Ghana last year announced that Ghana had lost the second tranche funding of $190 million after the government terminated the private sector concession agreement with PDS Limited.

Democrats win
Touching on the significance of the US election on that of Ghana, the former President said the victory of Mr Joe Biden and Ms Kamala Harris on the Democrats ticket was a morale booster for his second-time bid for the Presidency.

He said although he did not want to speculate that a Democrat win in the US would automatically correspond to a win for the NDC, there were some “uncanny parallels that seem to be happing between the USA and Ghana” in every election year.

“I don’t want to ascribe to anything but it looks like anytime power has shifted in the USA, it has shifted also in Ghana,” he said.

However, he said he was confident of winning the election and working with the new US government to help bring resources to bear to develop the country.

Lessons
Mr Mahama said Ghana could also draw lessons from the US elections by strengthening state institutions to be independent of any government.

He said for instance that despite the fact that President Donald Trump at a point ordered for the complete halt of the counting of the ballots, the institutions were independent and assertive.

“And that is the kind of predictability and strengthening of institutions we seek in Ghana. That institutions are able to work without political influence and I wonder what would have happened if the same was happening in Ghana. But we will see how things go,” Mr Mahama said.

He, therefore, called for a collective effort to strengthen institutions such as the Electoral Commission, the judiciary, the legislature and the institutions that anchor Ghana’s democracy to offer the right service and mandate that the people have given them, without any partisan consideration.

Time for women
The former President said the significance of the choice of Ms Kamala Harris as the first female Vice-President of the US was crucial for the involvement of women in decision making. He said he was hopeful that a similar result would come out of the December 7 election to give Ghana its first female Vice-President.

“We are hoping for the same thing in Ghana and it’s my hope that we will be successful here too so that women can occupy their rightful place in governance,” he said.

Peacefmonline

November 10, 2020
Preparation Towards December 7 Polls Commendable

Two significant events happened in Parliament last week, precisely on Wednesday and Saturday, unusual sitting days of the house.

As part of holding the state institutions accountable to the people, Parliament, in its wisdom, summoned two institutions to brief the house, as representatives of the people, about the state of preparedness towards the conduct of peaceful elections on December 7 and more importantly, how to sustain the peaceful environment in the country.

Taking his turn on Wednesday, the Minister of National Security, Albert Kan-Dapaah, gave the assurance that adequate measures had been instituted to ensure peaceful conduct of the elections, with special attention on the flashpoints across the country.

He appealed to political parties to let national interest override their partisan interest. We infer that national interest means that political parties contesting the December 7, which is barely a month away, must play by the rules of the game in ensuring that peace reigns during and after the elections.

More profoundly, the Chair of the Electoral Commission, Jean Mensa, made a passionate appeal to Ghanaians – “Let Peace Reign”- when she took her turn to brief Parliament on preparation towards the conduct of the December 7 polls.

We are enthused to learn from her that the EC is fully prepared and ready to conduct a successful, credible, fair, orderly and peaceful election, having secured, among other logistics, 74,800 new Biometric Verification Devices with enhanced features to speed up the verification process at the 38,622 polling stations across the country.

It is refreshing that barely a month to the polls, the elections supervisory body has delivered some of the items required for the elections, including ballot boxes, to its regional and district offices across the country.

Very significantly, it gladdens us that the EC is not leaving anything to chance in terms of public health, having also designated some officials and named them as ‘COVID-19 Ambassadors’ to be deployed at all the polling stations to strictly enforce the COVID-19 protocols by ensuring sufficient COVID-19 items at the centres for use.

This effort is laudable, given the resurgence of infections in the country. We must, therefore, strictly enforce the COVID-19 safety protocols to nip in the bud further infections in the country.

Touching on the very important issue of security, the EC boss told Parliament that it had since the beginning of the year been engaging the security agencies under the auspices of National Security Task Force by providing them with relevant pieces of information, including potential flashpoints, to assist them plan effective strategies to deal with eventualities on election day and days after.

We commend Parliament for this initiative and similarly pat the backs of these state institutions for their readiness to ensure credible, fair, seamless, transparent and peaceful elections.

Indeed, the commendations will come in droves when they effectively implement this laudable security and safety architecture.

Of course, the security, peace and stability of this country during and after this crucial election can only be assured with public cooperation.

We, therefore, urge the public to take advantage of this golden democratic opportunity to come and exercise their franchise in an orderly manner.

Let we remind them that the security agencies are clad with all the powers to swiftly deal with any rabble-rouser, to maintain the security and stability of the country.

Peacefmonline

November 10, 2020
I’m coming back to give you asphalted roads – Mahama to Afram Plains South residents

Presidential Candidate of the largest opposition National Democratic Congress(NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has promised to fix the main road from Ekye Amanfrom in the Afram Plains South to Donkorkrom in the Afram Plains North District when he assumes office in 2021.

He made this promise at a durbar of chiefs and the people of MaameKrobo over the weekend.

Mr. Mahama said the Akufo Addo-led NPP government knows it has not lived up to its mandate of delivering the best to the good people of Ghana so it has now resorted to sod cutting of “Sakawa” Projects which they know they can’t deliver.

He said, “I know they will come here after I’m gone to come to promise you a road network. They will come and cut the sod for the construction of these roads which they didn’t even capture in the budget. When they do, know that it’s just Sakawa, just for your votes”.

The former president further promised to build a district referral hospital to serve the people of Afram Plains South and its surroundings.

He, therefore, pleaded with the residents to vote massively for the NDC to relieve them of their burdens.

Mr. Mahama used the opportunity to introduce the Parliamentary Candidate Joseph Appiah Boateng known as JAB1 to the constituents.

Speaking on Agoo FM, Joseph Appiah Boateng expressed confidence that, a win for the NDC will develop Afram plains south constituency.

kasapafm

November 10, 2020
EC creates 5,000 more polling stations for 2020 elections

The Electoral Commission has announced the creation of 5,000 more polling stations for the 2020 elections.

The new additions have taken the number of polling stations to be used for the polls to 38,000.

This was disclosed by the Director of Electoral Service, Dr Serebour Quarcoe in an interview with Citi News.

He disclosed the purpose of the new polling stations is to reduce queuing and time-wasting at the various centres.

He explained in detail how the new polling stations will operate.

“We want to reduce the queuing at the polling stations so the Commission decided to put the threshold at 749 so any centre that is more than that is spilt. So, there are some centres that have been split into five. Some are four, three and two. The splitting has created about 5,000 plus centres. So, there are no new centres. The splitting is around the whole country but mostly in areas that are densely populated,” he indicated.

The EC has already said that it is almost ready to deliver a free and credible election on December 7, 2020.

The Chairperson of the Commission, Jean Mensa assured Parliament that her outfit is focused on delivering a successful election.

“Mr Speaker, I am pleased to inform you that the Electoral Commission is 95 per cent ready for the successful, credible, fair, orderly and peaceful conduct of the election on December 7, 2020”, she said.

Jean Mensa also dispelled the notion that she does not have respect for the House.

“It is important to emphasize that this is the first time I have been invited by the House in my capacity as the EC Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, I have on no occasion turned down an invitation from the Parliament of Ghana,” she said.

Ghanaweb

November 10, 2020
PPP promises to pass Affirmative Action Bill when elected

The Progressive People’s Party has assured Ghanaians that it will pass the Affirmative Action Bill when voted into power in the forthcoming December polls.

The Bill, which has been drafted for over 15 years is yet to be passed into law despite advocacies by various groups.

The Bill seeks to eliminate gender inequalities and promote a progressive increase in active participation of women in public life from a minimum of 40% to parity of 50% by 2030 in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In an interview with Dr. Abubakari Sidick Ahmed on the Road to Jubilee House programme on Radio Univers 105.7FM, presidential candidate for the party, Ms Brigitte Dzogbenuku, explained that it was necessary to increase the number of women in leadership positions because ‘they control the purse’.

“Ghana’s informal sector is predominantly women. Ghana’s economy is predominantly informal. I am a woman as well as we make up 51% of this country. We will need a lot more women in leadership because they control a lot of the purse. Here we are, we still haven’t passed the Affirmative Action Bill, PPP will pass the Bill and ensure that a lot more women move into places of leadership,” she said.

Meanwhile, she says that the PPP, when voted into office, will reduce have a relatively small government size as they would decentralize the government and make electorates involved in the development of their respective communities.

“For us, we won’t need 123 ministers, that is why we are saying you should vote for your DCEs and MMDCEs. That will cut out on the Regional Ministers and all their deputies. Because if you have your DCEs and MMDCEs, they have already taken up the communities there and imagine how much you would be saving on that,” she intimated.

‘Road to Jubilee House’ airs on Tuesdays and Thursdays on Radio Univers 105.7FM.

Ghanaweb

November 10, 2020