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Ghana can cater for kidney disease patients if committed – Dr. Okoe-Boye
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Dr Bernard Okoe-Boye, says Ghana can cater for persons with renal diseases if it is committed to doing so.
This follows recent discussions and agitations on a yet-to-be-approved cost of renal dialysis at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital and the attendant calls for the NHIA to cover the cost of dialysis.
Dr Okoe-Boye said in an interview on The Point of View on Citi TV on Wednesday that the country could cater for renal disease patients if it put in place some measures.
Outlining what could be done, Dr Okoe-Boye told Bernard Avle “I can tell you very boldly, we can as a country if we are committed to paying totally for kidney care. There are three things we can do. First of all, politically we’ve been going back and forth on funding with NHIS, so we don’t have to go directly to ‘politicians’ for money. Number two, we can put some levy, what is referred to as sin tax on some one or two products which are normally not consumed by the ordinary person but by people in a particular class, and the inflows from that levy can go into a fund not necessarily with National Health Insurance. It can be the chronic disease fund or the peripheral disease fund which will go to the department that takes care of kidney and other cardio diseases. It will enable Korle Bu to heavily subsidise again.”
“Thirdly, we as a country can come together quickly, take away either all the taxes on any item that goes into kidney care, or we can look at two or three consumables which affect the pricing and the state can procure it directly… So we have a duty as a country to find ways to beat down the cost of dialysis either to zero or about 20%. Lastly, we can still register those who are indigenes who cannot afford some GH¢20, give them special cards and the state can reimburse them from health insurance, it can be done,” Dr. Okoe-Boye said.
Source: Citinewsroom.com
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Focus on more pressing issues like Galamsey, not hate speech – Ellen Ama Daaku to Mahama
An aide to former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia,Ellen Ama Daaku has advised President John Dramani Mahama to shift his attention from social media hate speech to more urgent national issues such as illegal mining.
Speaking in an interview, she noted that the President’s recent comments about tracking the IP addresses of people who spread hate speech were unnecessary.
According to her, President Mahama must first define what he considers to be hate speech before seeking to punish people for it.
Ms. Daaku argued that the President himself had benefitted from hate speech and social media attacks in the past when he was in opposition.
She said even during his time in government, he described his opponents and their tribesmen in unpalatable terms, which later drew complaints from former President Nana Akufo-Addo to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
She stressed that harsh criticism of leaders on social media should not automatically be considered hate speech, adding that former leaders, including former President Nana Akufo-Addo had all been subjected to it.
“He is only feeling what Nana Akufo-Addo went through for eight years,” she remarked.
While acknowledging the need to regulate misconduct online, Ms. Daaku insisted that going after social media activists should not be a priority.
She noted that many political activists, including herself, had been insulted and attacked online but never called for arrests.
She concluded that President Mahama should focus his energy on solving pressing problems such as galamsey and the economy instead of concentrating on critics on social media.
By: Jacob Aggrey
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Prof Alidu Seidu files nomination for Tamale Central seat
The newly elected parliamentary candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for Tamale Central, Prof Alidu Seidu, has submitted his nomination forms to the Electoral Commission.
As of 10:00 a.m. today, he was the only person who had filed to contest the seat.
Nomination of candidates will close at the end of the day.
Associate Professor and Head of the Political Science Department at the University of Ghana Legon, Prof. Alidu Seidu won the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary primaries in the Tamale Central constituency with a landslide victory.
The elections, supervised by the party’s Elections and IT Directorate in the Northern Region, saw Prof. Seidu poll 840 votes out of the total valid ballots cast.
His closest contender, Lawyer Hanan Gundadow Abdul-Rahaman, secured 536 votes.
The other aspirants could not make significant gains, with Dr. Seidu Fiter obtaining 44 votes, Aliu Abdul-Hamid 23 votes, and the rest recording fewer than 10 votes each.
In all, 1,500 ballots were cast, with 6 ballots rejected and 7 spoilt ballots recorded.
The results were signed and declared by Dr. Arnold Mashud Abukari, NDC Northern Regional Director of Elections and IT.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) held parliamentary primaries in Tamale Central to choose a candidate for the upcoming by-election following the death of the sitting Member of Parliament, Dr. Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed. Dr. Mohammed, who also served as Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, tragically died in a military helicopter crash in the Adansi Akrofuom District on August 6, 2025, alongside seven others.
His passing left the Tamale Central seat vacant, as required by Ghana’s 1992 Constitution.
The Electoral Commission has scheduled the by-election for September 30, 2025. While the NDC moved quickly to open nominations and vet aspirants, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) announced it would not contest the seat, citing the need to respect the somber circumstances and promote national unity.
By: Jacob Aggrey
