Head pastor of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC) has challenged president John Mahama to take up the leadership mantle of fighting corruption which is fast eating away Ghana's institutions.

While Dr. Mensa Otabil appreciates the enormity of the task of leading a country, he was quick to add that "leadership is not by force" and anyone who applies, campaigns and ascends the throne of presidency must be ready to take on the difficult decisions, including the fight against corruption.

Unlike chieftaincy where prospective chiefs are 'caught', sometimes against the will of the chiefs, he said for the presidency, "we don't catch a president; you pay and campaign for it."

He said the presidency is a hard, tough and lonely place but it is also a choice, one that comes with responsibility.

He was speaking at a forum organised by Occupy Ghana and IMANI Ghana, against the seeming increasing cases of corruption in Ghana.

Dr Otabil was one of four speakers at the forum to speak out against corruption in Ghana. The others were lawyer, Ace Ankomah, investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni, and gender advocate Dr Esi Ansah.

Dr Otabil was convinced that the anti corruption laws in Ghana do not work.

He said citizens in every country are inherently corrupt. However the only difference between the cases of corruption in Ghana and that in London is that in London the law works and anybody found to be corrupt is dealt with.

But that does not appear to be the case in Ghana, he stated, adding until the law bites; corruption will not be eradicated.

Who applies the law?

Dr Otabil said the one who has ultimate political responsibility must apply the law and fight corruption.

Quoting Ecclesiastes 5:8, the head pastor maintained the fight against corruption must begin from the top, insisting the president has the biggest responsibility to fight the canker.

"You don't fight corruption by attacking your enemies; you start by cleaning your house," he noted.

Source: Ghana|Myjoyonline.com

Leadership is not by force; Otabil challenges Mahama to fight corruption

Source: Ghana|Myjoyonline.com|Nathan Gadugah
Date: 12-11-2014 Time: 06:11:26:pm

Head pastor of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC) has challenged president John Mahama to take up the leadership mantle of fighting corruption which is fast eating away Ghana's institutions.
While Dr. Mensa Otabil appreciates the enormity of the task of leading a country, he was quick to add that "leadership is not by force" and anyone who applies, campaigns and ascends the throne of presidency must be ready to take on the difficult decisions, including the fight against corruption.
Unlike chieftaincy where prospective chiefs are 'caught', sometimes against the will of the chiefs, he said for the presidency, "we don't catch a president; you pay and campaign for it."
He said the presidency is a hard, tough and lonely place but it is also a choice, one that comes with responsibility.
He was speaking at a forum organised by Occupy Ghana and IMANI Ghana, against the seeming increasing cases of corruption in Ghana.
Dr Otabil was one of four speakers at the forum to speak out against corruption in Ghana. The others were lawyer, Ace Ankomah, investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni, and gender advocate Dr Esi Ansah.
Dr Otabil was convinced that the anti corruption laws in Ghana do not work.
He said citizens in every country are inherently corrupt. However the only difference between the cases of corruption in Ghana and that in London is that in London the law works and anybody found to be corrupt is dealt with.
But that does not appear to be the case in Ghana, he stated, adding until the law bites; corruption will not be eradicated.
Who applies the law?
Dr Otabil said the one who has ultimate political responsibility must apply the law and fight corruption.
Quoting Ecclesiastes 5:8, the head pastor maintained the fight against corruption must begin from the top, insisting the president has the biggest responsibility to fight the canker.
"You don't fight corruption by attacking your enemies; you start by cleaning your house," he noted.

- See more at: http://www.myjoyonline.com/news/2014/November-12th/leadership-is-not-by-force-otabil-challenges-mahama-to-fight-corruption.php#sthash.64g0eidW.dpuf

Leadership is not by force; Otabil challenges Mahama to fight corruption

Source: Ghana|Myjoyonline.com|Nathan Gadugah
Date: 12-11-2014 Time: 06:11:26:pm

Head pastor of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC) has challenged president John Mahama to take up the leadership mantle of fighting corruption which is fast eating away Ghana's institutions.
While Dr. Mensa Otabil appreciates the enormity of the task of leading a country, he was quick to add that "leadership is not by force" and anyone who applies, campaigns and ascends the throne of presidency must be ready to take on the difficult decisions, including the fight against corruption.
Unlike chieftaincy where prospective chiefs are 'caught', sometimes against the will of the chiefs, he said for the presidency, "we don't catch a president; you pay and campaign for it."
He said the presidency is a hard, tough and lonely place but it is also a choice, one that comes with responsibility.
He was speaking at a forum organised by Occupy Ghana and IMANI Ghana, against the seeming increasing cases of corruption in Ghana.
Dr Otabil was one of four speakers at the forum to speak out against corruption in Ghana. The others were lawyer, Ace Ankomah, investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni, and gender advocate Dr Esi Ansah.
Dr Otabil was convinced that the anti corruption laws in Ghana do not work.
He said citizens in every country are inherently corrupt. However the only difference between the cases of corruption in Ghana and that in London is that in London the law works and anybody found to be corrupt is dealt with.
But that does not appear to be the case in Ghana, he stated, adding until the law bites; corruption will not be eradicated.
Who applies the law?
Dr Otabil said the one who has ultimate political responsibility must apply the law and fight corruption.
Quoting Ecclesiastes 5:8, the head pastor maintained the fight against corruption must begin from the top, insisting the president has the biggest responsibility to fight the canker.
"You don't fight corruption by attacking your enemies; you start by cleaning your house," he noted.

- See more at: http://www.myjoyonline.com/news/2014/November-12th/leadership-is-not-by-force-otabil-challenges-mahama-to-fight-corruption.php#sthash.64g0eidW.dpuf

US Tilapia, owner, ordered to pay customers GH¢740,000

Chief Medecine

The Kumasi High Court, Wednesday ordered US Tilapia, a tilapia investment concern and its owner, Mr Godfred Chief Medicine, to pay GH¢740,000 to 88 customers.
The amount, which represents investments made by the customers in the company, is to be paid at the current interest rate beginning from January, 2014.
The customers had sued the company and Mr Medicine for failing to pay back their capital and the promised interest.
The court, presided over by Mr Justice Jacob Boon, entered judgement after Mr Hans Kwadwo Koduah, counsel for the plaintiffs had filed an ex-parte motion for final judgement in default of appearance.
Mr Medicine was, however, not in court when judgement was passed.
He set up offices across the country, asking people to invest money in a tilapia business and pledged to offer 100 per cent interest plus their capital within three months.
After several months of his (Medicine’s) disappearance, some of the victims filed a civil suit against him and the company  at the court.
Consequently, an absconding warrant was issued by the court and Mr Medicine was arrested in Accra and brought before the court.
When the case was first called on October 31, 2014, Mr Medicine was granted bail of GH¢50,000 with two sureties to be justified.
Other victims
About 160 more victims have also filed a similar suit against Mr  Medicine and the amount involved is GH¢3 million. They are from Cape Coast, Accra and Takoradi.
Another group of victims have sued the same person for GH¢3.7 million at the Kumasi High Court.
Both cases are being handled by Mr Hans Kwadwo Koduah.

Source: Daily Graphic 

See me rise to head pastor – Lord Kenya

Lord Kenya

“Rap Heavywieght Champion”  turned pastor, Lord Kenya, says  God has revealed to him that by his fifth year as a born- again Christian, he would rise to become head of a Church known as Jesus Power Church.

“I have been a born again Christian for four years now. I had a revelation in my third year that by my fifth anniversary in the Lord, I would be head pastor of a church. I’m waiting on the Lord to fulfil his promise to me.
“ I need a place where the people I reach out to such as the drug addicts, prisoners and others, can come to listen to the ministry of God,” he said.
He revealed this in an interview with Showbiz last Friday.
The multiple award winning musician who could not stop talking about his new found love, Jesus, said he was glad people now take him serious as a born again Christian.
“My friends and people close to me initially doubted I was telling the truth when I announced four years ago that I had received a calling from God and had become a born again Christian”, he said.
Lord Kenya said many people initially felt it was just a phase he was going through and his conversion was going to be short-lived.
“It’s not difficult to see why they thought I would not last as a christian. Looking at the life I was living previously, I think they were justified to believe my calling was just a flash in the pan. That is the system of the world so I was not surprised at all,” he said.
Lord Kenya, real name, Abraham Philip Akpor Kojo Kenya,  said he is undeterred by what people think of his new christian values.

He said the experience since he became a christian has been a very rewarding one and he looks forward to God fulfilling his promises in his life.
He called on his fellow musicians in the secular music to give their lives to Christ. “Jesus is still working so I would advise all my fellow musicians to give their lives to Him just as I did.
“ His arms are wide open to receive them only if they are willing to turn their backs on the world and follow Christ and their lives will never be the same again.
“ If even I, could be saved considering all the things I did in the past, then it means they can be saved too,” he added.
He repeated his call to radio DJs and TV stations to quit playing his songs although he admitted that some of his old songs such as Driver Susu ko, Children of Africa, Sika Mpo Nfa Neho were educational in nature.
“By playing my songs, the stations and DJs are not helping my cause. If they say they love me and are fans of my , then they should help me spread the word of God rather than those secular songs,” he said.

Source: Graphic online 

Tweaa DCE overwhelmingly endorsed, officially reinstated

Gabriel Barima, Ahafo Ano South MCE

He is back. The District Chief Executive (DCE) for Ahafo Ano South in the Ashanti Region, Gabriel Barima, known famously as 'Tweaa DCE' has been fully confirmed as the representative of the President in the district.
He polled 62 out of 65 votes in district assembly elections organized for assembly members to determine whether to accept or reject him.
Mr. Barima was relieved of his post earlier this year after he angrily made the now famous ‘tweaa’ statement in reaction to a ‘rude’ interruption he encountered while making a speech at a gathering of health workers in the district.
The video of his reaction which went viral led to his subsequent firing from his post.
He was only re-instated in August this year after several people including the General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia pleaded on his behalf.
And it was yesterday that he formally received an over-whelming endorsement from the Assembly members.

 Source: Ghana/adomonline.com /Kwaku Nti

Angry Axim drivers demonstrate over bad road network

Economic activities in the Nzema East Municipality of the Western Region came to a temporal halt yesterday morning as commercial drivers demonstrated against bad roads in the municipality.
Commencing around 7:00 am local time, the demonstration caused many government workers and others in the private sector to find other alternate means of arriving at their various work places.
After long waits in very long queues at individual trotro stations and taxi ranks, most of the workers were forced to walk from the bus stations to their destinations with some openly supporting the action of the drivers.
Wearing red bands on their hands and heads, the agitated drivers who marched through some principal streets of Axim claimed they they’ve petitioned the regional minister, Paul Evans Aidoo about the deplorable roads in the municipality but nothing has come out of it.
They therefore hoped their demonstration would be enough to attract the government’s attention to how deplorable the roads are in the ancient town. 
 
Source: Ghana / Adom News / Enoch Manu Quansah

Man steals LPG cylinder to save wife from dying

 

Drama unfolded on Monday at a Cape Coast circuit court, presided over by Kofi Amatawee, when a 32-year-old man, Albert Hammond, said he stole gas cylinder to save his wife from dying.
He stole the cylinder at Saltpond in the Mfantsiman Municipality of the Central Region.
Hammond, who plead­ed guilty to the offence of unlawful entry and steal­ing, was sentenced to 24 months imprisonment for the first count and 24 months for the second count.
According to him, he needed money to purchase some blood for his wife who was on admission at the hospital to deliver their child.
The presiding judge told him that the fact that he needed money to save his wife does not give him the right to steal people’s items.
The prosecutor, ASP Okyere Andam said the complainant in the case was a nurse at the Saltpond Government Hospital.
ASP Andam stated that on July 12, 2014, the com­plainant travelled to Takoradi in the Western Region, leaving her gas cylinder in her porch.
The accused then took advantage of the complainant’s absence, sneaked into the porch and stole the gas cylinder.
He went ahead and sold it to one Hanson Duku for an amount of GH₵50.00.
The court was told that after using the cylinder for some time, Duku sold it to one Emmanuel Arthur for an amount of GHC40.00.
The prosecutor averred that the victim, upon her return from Takoradi, detected the crime and reported the matter to the police.
In the course of their investigations, the police, he disclosed, arrest­ed Arthur, leading to the arrests of Duku and Ham­mond.
Meanwhile, Arthur and Duku had continuously been absenting themselves from court and a bench warrant has been issued for their arrest.

Source: Daily Guide 

Some national NDC leaders must be kicked out – Rawlings

Former President Jerry John Rawlings

Former President Jerry John Rawlings has called for a major overhaul of the leadership of the party he founded, the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
President Rawlings, who signed the first manifesto of the NDC with his blood, believes the current leadership, led by Chairman Dr Kwabena Adjei and General Secretary Johnson Asiedu Nketiah aka General Mosquito needs to purge itself of dead wood to stand any chance of victory in the 2016 elections.
The NDC founder made the call in an exclusive interview on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem morning show on Thursday November 13, 2014.
Speaking about the ongoing internal campaigning and elections of the NDC, President Rawlings said the NDC could regain the moral high ground only if it kicked out some leaders who had forgotten what has made the NDC a great party.
In a back handed swipe at current chairman Kwabena Adjei, President Rawlings declared the national chairmanship race to be between Kofi Portuphy, current boss of NADMO, and Alhaji Huudu Yahaya, a former Regional Secretary (now known as Minister), leaving out Dr Adjei, who is seeking re-election.
President Rawlings refused to comment on the chances of General Secretary Asiedu Nketiah, saying “that man opens his mouth and pours acid on anyone he is against. Maybe that’s why some people think NDC needs him.”
There has been some bad blood between the two men in recent times.
Incumbent National Organiser Yaw Boateng Gyan fared no better. Mr Gyan’s main challenger, Kofi Adams, received a ringing endorsement from Mr Rawlings for his “integrity.”
Commenting on the Greater Accra regional elections, President Rawlinsg all but endorsed the candidature of aspirant Stephen Akwettey, saying he had heard some good things about him, especially his integrity.
In contrast, the NDC founder had a dim view of the incumbent, Joseph Kobina Ade Coker, questioning his integrity and describing him as someone who was “finished a long time ago.”
He called for an expansion of the NDC’s delegate list, insisting that the current pool of could lend itself to bribery by aspirants with deep pockets.
The NPP decision to expand its electoral college, “championed by Nana Akufo-Addo”, had taken internal NPP elections “beyond bribes, the corrupting influence of money”
“I wish we had done same in NDC along time ago”, he mused.


Source: Ghana/Adomonline.com/Frank Agyei-Twum/frank.agyei-twum@adomonline.com 

'Mahama needs rejuvenated NDC to win election 2016'

 

 

Former President and founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Flt. Jerry John Rawlings says the only hope for NDC to retain power in the 2016 elections is for the party to unite behind President John Dramani Mahama.
The Former president, who was speaking on Adom Fm's Dwaso Nsem Morning Show Thursday with Captain Smart maintains the NDC could have lost the 2012 election without the emergence of then candidate John Mahama .
“NDC could have easily lost the 2012 election if Mahama had refused to contest because the party at that time needed him badly and this time around John Mahama will need a rejuvenated NDC to win an election.
“NDC needs to clean up to be able to give hope to the country” he said.
The ruling party is holding internal elections to choose new officers at every level. This exercise has not been problems however, and Mr Rawlings believes the time has come for some persons within the NDC to make way for others.
He describes some people in the party as “very questionable who must give way to better blood” for the NDC to stand any chance of winning the 2016 elections.

Source: Ghana/ Adomonline.com/Dorcas Abedu-Kennedy