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DDEP: Leave our pensioners alone – Bagbin tells Ken Ofori Atta

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The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Kingsford Bagbin has asked the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, not to include monies belonging to pensioners in the current Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).
According to the Speaker of Parliament, the current economic crisis can be solved without the funds of the pensioner. 
Wrapping up on the business of the House on Thursday, February 16,2023, the former Nadowli Kaleo MP said Parliament will resist any attempt to include funds of pensioners in DDEP. 
Mr.Bagbin stated that “what I can tell you is that leave our pensioners alone. You can solve the problem without touching their small money.”
In his address to Parliament on DDEP, Mr Ofori-Atta said the pensioners have nothing to worry about.
Mr Ofori-Atta noted that he has officially written to the pensioner bondholders who did not sign onto the Programme about their exemption from the exercise.
“Mr Speaker, Government remains committed to the well-being and dignity of our Senior Citizens and Pensioners. 
“Indeed, it has personally caused me great distress as a number of them have picketed at the premises of the Ministry of Finance since Monday, 6th February 2023.
“As I have already indicated in my Press Release dated 14th February 2023, government will honour their coupon payments and maturing principals, like all Government bonds, in line with Government’s Fiscal commitments.”
Ghana is currently requesting a $3 billion bailout from the IMF to bolster the struggling national economy, and before the board would evaluate Ghana’s request, one of the requirements is the domestic debt restructuring scheme.
It must be noted that a staff-level agreement between Ghana and the IMF was achieved in December, opening the door for the $3 billion rescue.

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Pragyia rider gets 3 months prison term for biting Police Assistant

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Participants at the event

A 24-year-old tricycle (Pragyia) rider, has been jailed three months by the Nkawie Circuit Court in the Atwima Nwabiagya South Municipality of the Ashanti Region for biting a Community Police Assistant (CPA) at Nkawie.

Abdul Aziz pleaded guilty to the charge of negligently causing harm and was convicted on his own plea.

Police Inspector Kwaku Frimpong, prosecuting told the court presided by Mr Robert Addo that, complainants in the case were officers from the Nkawie Divisional Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service.

He said on September 3, at about 8:40am, the complainants led by Chief Inspector Abedi Larbi, were on their official patrol duty to ensure safety at Nkawie township and met the convict, who was in-charge of a Pragya tricycle with registration number M-25-A-3722.

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He explained that, after a careful inspection, it was detected that the convict was without licence and other required documents, so Alhassan Seidu, the CPA, was instructed to lead him to the office for the next action.

On their way to the office, the convict took a different direction, so the CPA directed him to take the right route to the police station, but he disobeyed and attacked the CPA, resulting in a struggle between them.

In the process the convict bit the CPA on the chest, so he shouted for help and some nearby youth rushed to the scene and helped him to arrest the convict.

In his caution statement, he admitted the offence and after further investigations he was charged and brought before the court. –GNA

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Place all 54,985 affected BECE candidates in schools and publish final outcome – NPP urges govt

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The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has urged the government to place all 54,985 candidates affected by the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) placement exercise in schools and publish the final outcome.

The party says the government must ensure that the affected candidates secure actual school places rather than merely being allowed to access the self-placement portal.

In a statement signed by the Chairman of the NPP Policy Co-ordination Committee, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the party expressed concern about the situation facing the candidates.

The NPP said the government had announced that 53,887 of the affected candidates could use the self-placement system after initially being told that they had not qualified for secondary school.

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It, however, argued that access to the portal did not guarantee that candidates would secure their preferred schools or programmes.

“Ghanaian parents and candidates will judge the resolution of the challenge by one thing only: how many of the original 54,985 are sitting in a classroom, not how many were allowed to open a website,” the statement noted.

The party said the government’s own figures showed that the country had 859,828 declared vacancies for 623,072 BECE candidates.

It explained that the main challenge was the concentration of demand in a small number of highly subscribed schools.

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The NPP noted that 313,283 candidates selected Category A schools as their first choice, while those schools had 76,417 declared vacancies.

It therefore called on the government to explore ways to improve schools with available spaces, including providing teachers, laboratories and better programmes.

The party urged the government to use the 85 private schools participating in the Free SHS programme to absorb candidates who remained without placements.

The NPP further called for clarification of the rule and pass mark used for this year’s placement exercise, saying parents were entitled to know the standard before their children sat the examination.

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It urged the government to take urgent action to ensure that the affected candidates were not left behind in the transition to secondary education.

By: Jacob Aggrey

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