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Election 2024 presents an opportunity to heal and rescue Ghana – Prof Opoku-Agyemang
Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, the running mate for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama, has stressed that the 2024 election slated for December would be a crucial opportunity to heal and rescue the country from further destruction.
She said the election goes beyond either party setting a record, but it is a critical time for Ghana’s turnaround.
This, she said, would then create the enabling environment for citizens and businesses to thrive again.
Addressing patrons at her official unveiling at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), the former Education Minister stated, “The election is not only about bringing the NDC back to power, which is indispensable in our current circumstances.”
According to her, “The elections ahead and winning them is about winning elections for a purpose. The purpose goes beyond those enumerated above. The purpose is the opportunity to heal our country again. It is about the opportunity to pull Ghana back from the precipice of destruction, of normalising corruption, of incomprehensible greed and from deep despair.”
“It is to work towards a Ghana where citizens have confidence and hope and are determined to regain their independence of thought and of agenda. We must work towards a Ghana that at the very least, can feed itself; where the law truly works; where there is shared prosperity; where democracy has not become a fluke; where people are not abused and where the basic necessities of life are not denied the majority or eventually, anyone,” she said.
“It is a chance to work hard towards a country where citizens do not feel disrespected, are not intimidated, ignored because of the way they vote or the language they speak. The victory we seek as a party is to invite everyone to the onerous task of rebuilding a broken Ghana, of restoring hope, in a manner that the NDC is capable of doing by their history and achievements,” she concluded.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
The Member of Parliament for Nsawam Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh Dompreh, has expressed concern over delays in the release of the District Assemblies Common Fund, warning that the situation is stalling development across the country.
On his facebook page, he described as a matter of urgent national importance, the Minority Chief Whip pointed to what he sees as a growing crisis of unpaid contractors, abandoned projects, and halted infrastructure works in many districts.
He noted that several communities are grappling with half completed schools, unfinished health facilities, abandoned markets, deteriorating roads, and stalled sanitation projects.
According to him, many contractors who have executed projects for district assemblies have not been paid, forcing some construction firms to demobilise from sites while workers lose their jobs.
He stressed that the District Assemblies Common Fund is not a discretionary allocation but a constitutional requirement under Article 252 of the 1992 Constitution, intended to support development at the local level.
In his view, years of delayed releases and accumulated arrears have weakened district development financing and disrupted projects meant to improve living conditions in communities.
He further argued that some payments made in recent years were largely the settlement of old debts rather than funding for new or ongoing projects, a situation he believes has affected contractor confidence and local economic activity.
He described the issue as more than a budgetary challenge, characterising it as a development emergency and a governance concern.
He therefore urged the appropriate authorities to pay outstanding DACF arrears, settle contractors who have completed their work, and ensure that transfers to districts are automatic and predictable.
He maintained that decentralisation can only succeed when district assemblies receive adequate and timely funding to carry out development projects.
He emphasised that stalled projects directly affect ordinary citizens, since they rely on such infrastructure for education, healthcare, transportation, sanitation, and economic activities.
He called for renewed attention to grassroots development, insisting that national progress should not be concentrated only in major cities but extended to all communities.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Richard Appiah, the footballer who killed two children and stored part of their bodies in a fridge at Abesim in the Bono Region in 2021 has been handed a lifetime sentence.
This was after a five member panel of judges at the Accra High Court returned a verdict of guilty against the convict.
Appiah, 32, also a draughtsman would spend the rest of his life in prison after he was convicted of murder.
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BY MALIK SULLEMANA
