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Niger coup: TUC condemns ECOWAS’ resolve to deploy force to Niger
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has condemned the resolve of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to deploy a Standby Force to Niger to restore democracy.
“We hold a strong view that any attempt to remove the Tchiani-led military junta in Niger by force will further escalate the tension and the insecurity in the region,” Dr Yaw Baah, Secretary General of TUC, said in a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency.
This follows a meeting held by the TUC on August 18, 2023, in Accra to discuss the situation in Niger.
According to the TUC, there was simply no reason for ECOWAS to wage a war in Niger, more so when there was no consensus among ECOWAS members.
“A war in Niger or anywhere in the region has a very great potential to create the environment for more insurgents and even more coup d’etats in the region, which may lead to further instability and insecurity.
“None can impose democracy on any country until and unless the people themselves are ready for it,” the statement added.
The TUC noted that it believed that through diplomacy, constitutional order could be re-established in the Republic of Niger if ECOWAS leaders engaged the military junta in good faith, “with clean hearts and clear minds”.
It urged the military junta to return Niger to constitutional rule immediately to preempt any “senseless war in our region”.
The leadership condemned the coup and said any act that disturbed the constitutional order in any country needed to be condemned because it took that society back to the old order where a few people illegally took and usurped power that belonged to the people.
“The TUC will always support democracy because that is the only way to ensure respect for constitutional order, respect for rule of law, respect for human rights, including the rights of workers, separation of powers and respect for the rights of women and men as groups and as individuals,” the statement added.
The TUC said all efforts should, therefore, be made to deepen and sustain democracy on the continent by creating and strengthening democratic institutions.
Source:Myjoyonline.com
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
