News
327,948 insurance stickers captured on database—Justice Ofori
A total of 327,948 newly issued insurance stickers have been captured on the Motor Insurance Database (MID) as of May 19 this year, the Commissioner of Insurance, Justice Ofori has said.
The NIC in a statement on the update on the MID and efforts to clamp down on fake insurance operators, copied to the Ghanaian Times, said it was working assiduously to clamp down the activities of fake insurance operators to save lives and properties.
The NIC’s Motor Insurance Database (MID) was implemented in January this year with the objective to curb the menace of some unscrupulous people issuing fake motor insurance to unsuspecting members of the general public and thus endangering lives and property.
The statement said some motorists could not access insurance when their vehicles were involved in a crash due to the purchase of fake insurance.
“The reality dawns on these motorists only when involved in accidents and innocent third party victims of such accidents are left to take care of themselves without any compensation,” the statement said.
It said in spite of the MID, some unscrupulous entities and individuals continued to issue fake license.
“So far the Ashanti Region leads in the number of arrests made and the lenses of the Regulator are being zoomed in to their last pixels across the country in order to fish out these miscreants to rid our roads off the perpetrators of this phenomenon,” the statement said.
“The fight by the NIC to eliminate fake motor insurance continues”, he assured the general public and encouraged them to check the validity of their insurances using the short code *920*57# and follow the instructions for verification.
Relatedly, the statement said the Ashanti Regional Police in a joint operation with the National Insurance Commission NIC on Tuesday, May 19, 2020 busted a member of a suspected cartel of fake insurance stickers upon a tip-off near the Aboabo DVLA Office.
It said the investigator, Detective Sergeant Gideon Sellasy Avemegah confirmed the arrest and indicated that the outcome of the investigations would be known to the public at the end of the investigations.
The statement also said on Friday, February 28, 2020, the Kumasi Police busted a known insurance agent, 72-year old NANA KODUA MARFOH for submitting fake documents to the Kumasi Area Office of the National Insurance Commission (NIC) in an attempt to access the motor Compensation Fund (Comfund).
The arrest was made at the instance of the Kumasi Area Manager of the NIC upon submission of the fake documents. The case is currently being investigated by the police.
The statement said a female insurance agent who sells motor insurance for Loyalty Insurance was caught issuing fake insurance stickers of Prime Insurance Company Limited to members of the general public at the premises of the Kumasi DVLA Office.
In a similar fashion, two agents of Millennium Insurance Company Limited have also been arrested for possessing fake Allianz Insurance sticker booklets also at the premises of the same Kumasi DVLA Office and the cases were under investigation.
BY TIMES REPORTER
Minister for Government Communications, Felix Ofosu Kwakye, has dismissed claims that staff salaries at the Presidency have increased under the current administration, describing the allegation as a “flat lie”.
In a response to a post on Facebook, Ofosu Kwakye said the current staff at the Presidency inherited the same salaries and conditions approved for their predecessors.
He argued that once arrears owed to former Article 71 office holders are paid, the total wage bill for the current administration will actually be lower due to a reduction in staff numbers.
“It is in fact a mathematical certainty that the total amount paid in salaries to the current staff will be smaller compared to yours once your arrears are paid because of the reduction in numbers,” he stated.
The Minister noted that delays in paying arrears to past Article 71 office holders are not new.
“Arrears owed to past Article 71 office holders is nothing new or unheard of. Many others before you have suffered same,” he said.
Ofosu Kwakye also stressed that the salaries and conditions in question were approved by Parliament on 6th January 2025, under the previous government.
He pointed out that the Constitution bars any changes to those salaries until a new committee is set up to determine emoluments for Article 71 office holders under the new administration.
“No such committee has been set up by President Mahama and no alteration has been made,” he clarified.
“So on what basis, apart from pure lies and mischief, can a claim of ballooning be made?” he concluded.
The response follows public debate over the size and cost of the presidential staff, with critics alleging a spike in the wage bill.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi and the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, has initiated plea negotiations with the Attorney General’s office in the GH₵30 million Exim Bank fraud case.
Information available to ghanaiantimes.com.gh indicates that lawyers for Bernard Antwi Boasiako aka Chairman Wontumi & 2 other accused have formally written to the Attorney General to enter into plea negotiations on the charges of defrauding by false pretenses, money laundering, and intentionally causing financial loss to a public body.
A plea bargain, under Section 162C of the Criminal and Other Offences (Procedure) (Amendment) Act, 2022 (Act 1079), allows an accused person to plead guilty to lesser charges in exchange for a reduced sentence.
The agreement must be approved by the court after the Attorney General assesses factors such as the strength of evidence, recovery of state funds, and public interest.
Wontumi is facing four counts after his arrest by the Economic and Organised Crime Office in May 2025.
Prosecutors allege he used forged documents to secure a GH₵30 million facility from the Ghana Export-Import Bank to finance equipment for his mining company, Akonta Mining Ltd.
The state further charges him with money laundering and causing financial loss to the state.
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and was granted GH₵50 million bail with two sureties. The case is currently before the Accra High Court.
The Attorney General’s office is yet to confirm whether negotiations will proceed.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
