Makafui Woanya (Middle), declared winner and Chairman of Volta NPP
The New Patriotic Party Regional Executives Elections in the Volta Region has been successfully undertake despite a court injunction by one disqualified candidate, George Kofi Boateng who contested for the Regional chairmanship.
The newly elected Chairman to lead the NPP in the region is, Makafui Kofi Woanyah, who was the regional party organizer.
He was elected alongside Kofi Adjei Ntim as his 1st Vice and Abdallah Mohammed Sadiq as his 2nd Vice.
Joseph Homenya retained the position of Party Secretary with Joshua Makubu being elected as his Assistant Secretary.
The Party also retained Joseph Dente as it’s Treasurer, while the Director of Elections for the 2016 General Election in the Volta Region, Emmanuel Korsi Bodja pulled a surprise to win the office of Regional Organizer and Afi Agyagbo as Women Organizer.
Aliu Bashiru Sharubutu was also elected as NASARA Regional Coordinator, while King David Ninkab Nkabonam wining the position of Party Youth Organizer.
The Volta Region New Patriotic Party (NPP) went ahead with their annual delegates conference to elect ten regional executive officers to steer affairs of the party despite an ex parte interlocutory injunction secured by a disqualified Regional Chairman Aspirant, Mr. George Kofi Boateng from Ho High court on Friday, April 20, 2018 to restrain the party from holding the elections.
The election process which started late in the afternoon and had winners declared minutes after midnight, saw Woanyah polling 296 votes out of 493 to clinch the top spot from three other candidates.
Emmanuel Korsi Bodja also won massively (301 out of 489 votes) over his contenders to become the Organiser.
Other candidates who emerged victorious at Saturday’s conference were: Kofi Adjei Ntim, 1st Vice Chairman, Abdallah Mohammed Sadiq, 2nd Vice Chairman, Joseph Homenya, Secretary and Joshua Makubu, Assistant Secretary.
The rest included: Joseph Dente, Treasurer, Afi Gyagbo, Women Organiser, King David Ninkab Nkabonam, Youth Organiser and Aliu Bashiru Shaributu, NASARA Cordinator.
The Chairman, Mr Woanyah on behalf of the new executives was grateful for the show of suppport and assured that the new executives would work for the growth of NPP in the Volta Region.
In defense of the party’s decision to go ahead with the conference despite the court injunction, District Chief Executive (DCE) for North Dayi who is also the Dean of DCEs in the region told voltaonlinegh.com that the party has not been served with any notice of injunction, saying, NPP respects the rule of law therefore, cannot be seen undermining a court order.
Meanwhile, the elections went on without the participation of two aspirants. Lawyer Ken Anku, Chairman Aspirant, cited the court injunction as basis for his inability to remain in the contest and Solomon K. Bodzah, Organiser Aspirant decided to withdraw and rather throw his support behind his contender, Divine Bosson.
The annual delegates conference of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Volta Region is ongoing amid a lot of controversy.
The conference which is being held at Hohoe began on a note of funfare with supporters singing and dancing to local borborbor, drew a large crowd to the venue to give support to their aspirants.
The first half of the programme went uneventful.
Various speakers welcome the delegates and gave the reason for the conference. They called for unity among the aspirants during and after the elections to ensure the party retains power and win more parliamentary seats for the party in the Volta Region in the 2020 general elections.
However, when it was time for election of regional executives, the major on the agenda for the day, there was a controversy as to whether the elections should go on or not.
The Regional Electoral Commission (EC) Boss, Mr Selormey Dogbey, overseeing the conduct of elections ruled out the election of Chairmanship position, saying, that position is been contested in a court of law.
This intended decision met the displeasure of both aspirants and the delegates resulting in EC officials packing away voting materials.
It took the intervention of Lands and Natural Minister, John Peter Amewu who purportedly spoke with national EC officials for the process to resume.
The controversy was a result of an ex parte interlocutory injunction secured by a disqualified regional chairman aspirant, Mr. George Kofi Boateng from Ho High court on Friday, April 20, 2018 to prohibit the conduct of the elections.
Mr. Kofi Boateng, a former Regional Secretary, vying for Regional Chairmanship position, in addition to three others, Mr. Joseph Kwaku Wilberforce, a first Vice regional Chairman aspirant, Joy Kumfo, assistant regional Secretary aspirant and Lambert Sefadzi Ahiadzu, vying for the regional treasurer position, were disqualified from taking part in the contest.
The vetting which took place on March 26 and 27, 2018, chaired by Mr. Bob Charles Agbontor, with Mr. Ken Ayim and Madam Agnes Okudzeto as members, disqualified the four for various reasons.
According to Mr Boateng, he was shocked when he learnt of his disqualification based allegations and made several attempts to seek redress from the party but failed.
Meanwhile, voting is in progress to elect regional officers to steer the affairs of the party in the region.
However, prior to the start of the voting, one of the chairman aspirants, Lawyer Ken Anku withdrew from the race, citing the injunction as the basis for his inability to remain in the contest.
The Women Ministry of Christian Council of Ghana from Volta, Ashanti and Greater Accra regions has donated assorted items running into thousands of Ghana cedis as well as organised health screening exercise for residents of Kpogede, a farming community near Adidome, capital of Central Tongu District in the Volta Region.
The items included toiletries, detergents, toothpastes, cooking oil, rice, sugar, biscuit, shoes, and clothing, among others.
The donation which was the first of its kind, is the initiative of the Women Ministry dubbed: “Ghana Women’s Ministry Capacity Building and Voluntary Donation”
The donation which is expected to be an annual event to help the needy and to spread the gospel of Christ, will be held in Ashanti Region next year, then Greater Accra, and would be rotating among these three regions.
The National President, Mrs. Mawufemor Kley-Bruce at a durbar to give the donation, said the donation was influenced by a prophecy that was revealed to the Women Ministry few months ago.
She used the opportunity to educate the gathering, most of whom were the elderly on how to live a healthy life by keeping a hygienic environment and warned them against open defecation which is prevalent in the area.
The Chriatian Leader also expressed worry over the rise in teenage pregnancy in Kpogede and appealed to women to pay attention to properly raising their girl children and asked that couples commit their marriages to God to ensure successful families.
Health officials from the Ghana Health Service who were invited to screen residents for various diseases, educated the people on family planning, girl child education, teenage pregnancy and health tips.
Mama Sename III, who chaired the occasion, received the items on behalf of the community members with gratitude and reiterated the call by Mrs. Kley-Bruce.
The Assembly member for the area, Kenneth Komla Logo, speaking at the event thanked the donors and appealed for support from the public to end open defecation in the area.
He called for aid to have continuous health screening exercise for the residents who find it difficult in renewing their National Health Insurance Scheme membership over lack of money.
He also appealed to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to distribute electricity meters to every household in the community.
NPP Regional Office awash with various campaign banners
The High Court in Ho presided over by Justice Eric Baah has on Friday placed an injunction on the upcoming Regional Delegates Conference of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) scheduled for Saturday April 21, 2018.
The 10-day interim embargo on the conference, at which new regional Executives of the party would be elected, was as a result of a writ filed at the court by a disqualified Chairman aspirant, Mr. George Kofi Boateng, who was unhappy with the decision of the vetting committee to eliminate him out of the contest.
Mr. Boateng, a former Regional Secretary of the party was disqualified alongside three other aspirants for the regional executive elsctions by the 3-member vetting committee chaired by Mr. Bob Charles Agbontor on last month.
The Injunction Notice by the Court
In an ex-parte motion filed at Ho High Court for an interlocutory injunction, he stated that, he only knew the disqualification through a Whatsapp Messenger platform on March 30,2018 four days after he appeared before the vetting committee.
A situation, he noted came as a surprise to him, since he did not receive official communication to that effect, except for a verbal confirmation from the committee chairman.
He added that, efforts to seek redress through the party structures were unsuccessful, reason for his resort to the law court for justice.
Meanwhile, Voltaonlinegh.com can confirm officials of the NPP are going ahead with preparations for the conference at the St. Francis College of Education campus at Hohoe.
Sources, no injunction notice has been served on the party and as such the activities for Saturday will still go ahead as scheduled.
A non-governmental organisation (NGO), Penplusbytes with support from Strengthening Action Against Corruption (STAAC) held a focus group discussion (FGD) on a project, Metogu, aimed at giving citizens the opportunity to support the fight against corruption.
The FGD brought together citizens from all walks of life including civil society, religious bodies, trade association, traditional leaders, local government, political parties and the media.
Regional Director of the Project, Mr. Harrison Belley at the event in Ho Municipal Assembly said Metogu, a Guan phrase meaning “keeping the pressure up” is not motivated by any political party nor inclined to any political party but designed to raise awareness amongst citizens to hold governments accountable to deliver on their anti-corruption promises.
He mentioned Ho Municipal was identified in addition to two other districts, Adaklu and North Tongu in the Volta Region for the FGD on the project and appealed to the participants to be objective in their submissions.
The discussion centred on various indicators developed from anti-corruption promises made by the current government in the run-up to the 2016 general elections amongst which included the setting up of Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), passing into law of the age-long Right to Information (RTI) bill, amendment of the Assets Declaration Law, etc.
An Adapted Community Score Card was given to each participant to indicate likelihood of statements happening by indicating “low, moderate, highly” against them.
The participants gave justifications for the choices made and provided recommendations as well.
The Moderator, King Norbert Akpablie took participants through indicators such as creation of OSP, Assets Declaration, Passage of RTI bill, Value for Money Audit, compliance with the Public Procurement Act, Beneficiary Ownership Title, Attitudinal Change, Restructuring of NHIS, School Feeding Programme and General Corruption.
Speaking to voltaonlinegh.com, Jeremiah Sam, Programme Director at Penplusbytes said the Metogu forms part of a two-year project funded by DFID-Ghana which seeks to reduce the impact of corruption on poor citizens, saying, “corruption is taking resources from where it’s supposed to be for the benefit and growth of Ghana.”
He explained that citizens tend to forget promises made to them during campaign periods, thus, they are unable to hold governments to account for them, adding, the objective is to enable citizens to understand and get to know more about the promises government made with regards to the fight against corruption.
Mr Jeremiah Sam disclosed the FGD will be followed by a survey across the four regions (Greater Accra, Volta, Ashanti and Western) in which the project is being currently run to generate a national report that will be used to engage appropriate institutions on anti-corruption to enhance their work.
Penplusbyte since its inception has been committed to improving the governance process in African States and deepening citizen participation in the processes.
The Ho Aerodrome will soon be handed over to government for use, voltaonlinegh.com has gathered.
This came to light when the Aviation Minister, Cecilia Dapaah and Volta Regional Minister, Dr. Archibald Letsa toured the facility last Thursday, April 19, 2018.
The Contractors, Amandi Construction assured the minister that they are almost done and will soon hand over the project to government for use by Ghanaians.
See Exclusive Pictures of the Aerodome captured by our Partner Photographer; JMA Photography
A team from the Ho Technical University (HTU) won the grand prize at this year’s Hackaton; a collaborative computer programming contest that seeks to challenge the skills of computer engineering, science and technical students in tertiary institutions across the country.
The team won the “Best Product Idea Award” for developing a secured electronic voting system using block chain technology, and was awarded a GH¢3,000.00 cash prize.
The epic competition organized by Hacklab Foundation was held at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and attracted the participation of 112 teams from 15 tertiary institutions, which solved challenges using Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, and Block Chain technologies.
The project featured entrepreneurs and other industry stakeholders who mentored and shared expertise with the participants.
Mr Carlos Ankora, Head of the Computer Science Department, presenting the prizes to the Management of HTU, said the Institution produced five teams which won a total of four out of a possible eight awards at the event.
He said the feat included the “Most Promising Female Developers Award”, won by the University’s all-female team for developing an environmental monitoring system to help stakeholders deal with issues such as pollution.
Mr Ankora said another team won the “Vodafone Special Award” for a hospital crowd funding programme to streamline donations to health facilities.
Professor Emmanuel Sakyi, Interim Vice Chancellor of the University, said the success of the teams was evident of the “strong collaboration between lectures and students”, as well as a strong team spirit within the departments.
He said the Technical University would continue to ensure that students were equipped with “frugal innovative ideas that can transform society and impact Ghana’s development”.
Professor Sakyi said Information and Communication Technology must be utilized to enhance teaching, learning and research, and commended lecturers for helping elevate the image of the University “despite the institutional and logistical challenges”.
He promised management’s continuous support towards such activities, and asked students to endeavor to win more laurels for the Institution.
A total of GH¢6,800.00 was awarded to the HTU entrants, as well as a free Microsoft training course for the all-female team.
The Kpando Magistrate Court in the Volta Region presided over by Mr Tsitsofe Wornami has remanded into prison custody, a 32 –year old Lucas Siayor charged for murder.
Police arrested the suspect on Tuesday, April 17, 2018 after launching a search for him for days and immediately put before the Court.
Hohoe District Police Command early on, mounted a manhunt for the suspect after a report was made at Golokwati Police Station that he allegedly murdered his 74-year old father, Alfred Kwami Siayor.
According to Police report, Assembly-man for Liati-Odumasi Electoral Area, Mr Francis Dzidzovor lodged a complaint with the Police at Golokwati around 10:00am on April 14, 2018.
In his complaint, Mr Dzidzovor said victim’s lifeless body was found earlier around 6:30am in his bed same day after a quarrel between him (the deceased) and the son (suspect) the previous night about 09:30.
When Police got to the scene, the victim’s body was found with a swollen face and blood oozing out from his nostrils and mouth.
The police also recovered items including bloodstained pistol and a mattock stick from the murder scene.
A search was therefore launched for Lucas Siayor, the only person staying with the father and who had since fled from home following his father’s murder.
Hohoe District Commander, Supt Stephen Boadu said the suspect was arrested along the Tafi-Atome-Kpando road with assistance from community members and put before court.
Suspect is currently in prison custody, Kpando and will reappear in court on May 24, 2018.
Family of late Corporal Patrick Gagbale Attipoe has said it is high time heroes who paid their due to their motherland were celebrated at home and not always at the national level as has been the norm.
Mr. Divine Attipoe, Head of Events and Funeral, Obam Attipoe Family, said although heroes are celebrated in the capital, Accra, Attipoe family believes it is more inspiring if heroes are celebrated in their localities.
He made the disclosure at the unveiling ceremony of a bronze sculpture of the late Cpl Attipoe, who was a victim of the February 28 Christianborg Crossroads shooting incident in 1948, in his hometown, Kpota-Anyako, in the Volta Region on Saturday April 14, 2018.
The sculpture had the inscription: “In memoriam Corporal Patrick Gagbale Attipoe was the first of three gallant ex-servicemen who lost their lives at the 28th February, 1948 Christianburg Crossing Shooting Incident, a pivotal moment in Ghana’s march to independence. May this monument be a testament to your bravery and that of your comrades, Sergeant Adjetey and Private Odartey Lamptey. Xede nyuie, Rest in perfect Peace”.
The ceremony also saw a dedication of Nationalism Park, sponsored by the Royal Duklui Attipoe Family to preserve the memory of their son Cpl Attipoe.
Torgbui Sri III
According to Mr Attipoe, the family of late Cpl Attipoe is calling for support of the Anlo state and the region to annually celebrate their son, Cpl Attipoe at home.
“Family members are therefore proposing that around the time when the event is celebrated annually at the national level, a mini-event should take place here. We believe this will have the support of the people of the Anlo state and indeed of the entire Volta Region. We hope this laudable idea will be embraced by all.”
Board Chairman of Veterans Administration, Major General Clayton Naa Boanubah Yaache (Rtd), who unveiled the statue spoke well of the three ex-servicemen.
He said the monument of Cpl Attipoe would help inspire the current and future generations to fight a cause in the national interest.
“I believe this would encourage the youth to be patriotic with the hope that their contributions to the development of their traditional area, the region and country at large would not be in vain.”
In all, five wreaths were laid: one on behalf of Government and the people of Ghana, another for Security Services, third for Veterans, fourth, the Anlo State, and the fifth, families of the fallen soldiers, and four flags: the national, security services, the veterans and the Anlo State flags were hoisted.
In attendance were government officials, traditional rulers, security officers, Veterans Association of Ghana and families of the three ex-servicemen.
Christiansborg Crossroads Shooting Incident
On Saturday, February 28, 1948, a group of unarmed ex-servicemen who returned home frustrated after fighting for Great Britain in the World War II, were marching to the Osu Castle to present a petition to the Governor, Sir Gerald Creasy.
They defied the order of a contingent of armed policemen, led by British Police Superintendent Collins Imray to disperse or be fired upon.
Supt. Imray then ordered his men to open fire on them, killing the three ex-servicemen, Cpl Attipoe, Sergeant Adjetey and Private Odartey Lamptey.
The news about the death of the gallant ex-servicemen sparked riot in Accra and other parts of the country and was pivotal in the struggle for Ghana’s independence on March 6, 1957.
