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NDC’s Assin North victory a product of sympathy not hard choice – Ahiagbah
The Communications Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Ahiagbah, has said that the victory of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Assin North by-election was largely a product of sympathy.
“The victory of the NDC was largely a product of sympathy and not necessarily that the NDC is the hard choice of the people of the Assin North,” he stated.
Speaking on Eyewitness News on Citi FM in Accra on Wednesday, Mr Ahiagbah said that the NDC went to the Assin North Constituency with a message that painted a bad image of the government to the constituents.
“The NDC went to Assin North seeking appeal for sympathy with the message that the NPP is persecuting James Gyakye Quayson and not the law that is dealing with him. That is a false representation of the facts of the matter and that false narrative created a situation which incited the people against the government,” he stated.
Mr Ahiagbah also argued that the NPP did not remove Mr Quayson from Parliament, but that it was his own false declarations that led to the Supreme Court ordering Parliament to expunge his name from the records of the house.
He said that the NDC was “riding on a lot of falsehoods” and that they used this to appeal to the emotions of the people in order to win the election.
“A lot of falsehoods was what the NDC was riding on, and they used that to appeal to the emotions of the people, and they carried the day,” he added.
Meanwhile, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says he is confident that sooner than later, Assin North will be blue again.
He has therefore urged members of his party, the NPP, to keep their heads up, recognising that, in a democracy, there are winners and losers.
“I urge members of my party, the New Patriotic Party, to keep their heads up, recognising that, in a democracy, there are winners and losers, and that we live to fight another day. We once held the Assin North seat, and I am confident that, sooner rather than later, Assin North will be blue again,” he stated.
Again, the NPP in a statement signed by its General Secretary, Justin Koduah Frimpong says the Assin North by-election is a wake-up call which requires the party to evaluate its approach and make rational retrospective assessments.
The NPP’s candidate Charles Opoku received 12,630 votes, representing 42.15%, while the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) candidate, James Gyakye Quayson polled 17,245 votes representing 57.56%, after the by-election on Tuesday, June 27, 2023.
The Liberal Party of Ghana’s (LPG) candidate, Sefenu Bernice Enyonam, garnered a paltry 87 votes, representing 0.29%.
The NPP in a statement signed by its General Secretary, Justin Koduah Frimpong, urged the party supporters to submit their comments and recommendations to the national secretariat for consideration and possible implementation.
Credit: Citinewsroom.com
Hundreds of street children received a special treat during the Christmas festivities as a result of a collaboration between the management of the La Beach Hotel and the Street Academy in Accra.
It was part of the Hotel’s current arrangement to provide lunch for the children of the Academy every Friday.
Courtesy that partnership, management of the La Beach Hotel feted hundreds of street children housed by the Street Academy, creating a partying moment for the children.
According to officials of the Hotel, the gesture was to let the children feel part of the festivities and not left out.
The children enjoyed delicious meals and snack after which they danced as they enjoyed the moment.
According to the Hotel officials, “the season represents one that every parent gathers their children and shower them with gifts and others to make them happy but sadly, these unfortunate children are left on their own, having no one to care for them.”
“This is an event we intend to make an annual one. Through this, we hope to put some smiles on their faces. It is not proper to leave them on their own.”
The Executive Director of the Academy, Ataa Lartey, expressed gratitude to the management of the hotel, saying that, “this has gone a long way to excite the children and make them feel part of the celebration.”
He said due to the number of children that join around this time of the year, it becomes difficult for the Academy alone to shoulder this responsibility.
“It is not easy to organise such activities alone because it draws a lot of children, that is, those in the Academy and their friends that follow them but with such cooperate supports, we are able to bring them together to share in moments like this,” he told The Spectator.
By Spectator Reporter
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A 30-year-old surrogate mother has delivered a set of quadruplets at The Walking Egg Medical and Fertility Centre at Pokuase in Accra, in a rare surrogacy success that has brought renewed attention to assisted reproductive care in Ghana.
The babies-two boys and two girls- were delivered through a caesarean section in the early hours of Tuesday at 36 weeks and weighed an average 2.5 kilograms each, a weight doctors say was healthy for a multiple pregnancy.
IUI stands for Intrauterine Insemination, a common fertility treatment where healthy sperm are collected, ‘washed’ and concentrated in a lab, and then directly inserted into a woman’s uterus around ovulation using a thin catheter to help sperm reach the egg for fertilisation, often used for unexplained infertility, cervical issues, or mild male factor infertility, and is less invasive than IVF.
Speaking to The Spectator after the surgery, the Medical Director of the Centre, Dr Nana Yaw Osei, said the pregnancy was achieved through Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) and was not planned to result in multiple births.
“With IUI, you introduce prepared sperm into the uterus and have no control over how many eggs fertilized.”
“Unlike IVF, where embryos are formed outside the body and the number transferred can be controlled, this outcome was left entirely to nature,” Dr Osei explained.
He said unlike IVF which could result in multiple babies, this is “possibly the first IUI leading to quadruplets in Ghana.”
He revealed that the surrogacy arrangement was necessary because the intended mother had lost her uterus during surgery to remove fibroids, making it medically impossible for her to carry a pregnancy.
“She had no womb of her own, through no fault of hers,” Dr Osei said, adding that “Surrogacy was the only option available for her to have a biological child.”
When scans later showed that the surrogate was carrying four fetuses, the medical team considered fetal reduction, a procedure sometimes used to reduce risks in multiple pregnancies. However, the option was rejected.
“As a strong Christian, fetal reduction is abortion to me,” Dr Osei said. “After discussions with the intended parents and the surrogate, we all agreed to continue with the pregnancy.”
Despite concerns commonly associated with multiple pregnancies, Dr Osei noted that the surrogate experienced no major complications, and the delivery was smooth. Paediatric assessments conducted after birth confirmed that all four babies are healthy.
Dr Osei again indicated that surrogacy, though still widely misunderstood, is recognised under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 2020 (Act 1027).
He urged the public to engage the subject with greater understanding.
“Surrogacy is not about convenience,” he said. “It is about restoring hope to people who have lost the ability to carry a child.”
Describing the moment of delivery, he added, “I was in tears in the theatre. It reminded me why I chose this profession.”
By Esinam Jemima Kuatsinu
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