Aliu starts his presidential campaign

Vice President Aliu Mahama at the weekend assured Ghanaians of quality leadership when elected to lead the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2008 General elections. He said he had successfully served as a chief apprentice under President John Agyekum Kufuor, adding: "I now want to be the master". Vice President Mahama was speaking at Enchi as part of a four-day tour of the Western Region to market himself to the chiefs and people ahead of the NPP national delegates' congress scheduled for December 22. The Vice President formally declared his intention last Thursday to contest the NPP presidential primaries when he filed his nomination at the Party's office in Accra."Experience is the best teacher, you cannot find experience in any textbook or buy it with money. Experience equips a person with the necessary tools to lead," Alhaji Mahama said. During a similar interaction with the chiefs and people of Beyin and Wassa Akropong, he said he was in their midst to seek their blessing to serve the country with humility."I have served the country for the past seven years with humility. Humility is not weakness".He described himself as a bridge to unite Ghana and attract floating voters for the NPP.Responding to the numerous development challenges confronting the communities he visited, Vice President Mahama assured the chiefs and people of his personal intervention to address their concerns. The common concern expressed by the chiefs was the bad nature of roads in the region.At Enchi, the traditional authority told the Vice President that successive governments had played politics with the link roads to other parts of the region and therefore the people are awaiting the promise of the NPP to change that perception.Alhaji Mahama said Enchi as a major cocoa producing area was the heartland of the country's development efforts, hence the commitment of government to tackle the poor road network in the area and provide the communities with basic amenities.He said government was providing 30,000 bags of cement and roofing sheets to victims of the recent floods that hit the town. Nana Ntadu III, paramount chief of Sefwi Wiawso and Awula Annor Agjaye III, paramount chief of Beyin bemoaned the poor network in their traditional areas.Vice president Mahama assured the two chiefs of efforts to provide a three-phase electricity line by December this year to facilitate the establishment of small-scale industries.At Wassa Akropong, paramount chief Kasapreko Kwame Passayin III asked government to resolve the erratic power supply in the area, expand the health facility and provide a bus to the local Senior High School. Vice president Mahama would visit Ashanti and Northern Regions as part of his campaign tour.
Source:GNA

Corruption Will Cause Civil War In Ghana Soon

To those of you who are in Ghana and are following the Public Accounts Committee hearings, I say Kudos! Those of you who are in Ghana but have not had the time to watch the proceedings, you must make the time to follow its proceedings. The revelations that are unfolding are very disturbing. For the diaspoas, you must surf Ghanaweb and find the truth for yourselves.


Tuesday was the first day of hearing. The first to appear before the committee on Tuesday was the Tourism Ministry. Officials including Asamoah Boateng who appeared before the committee could not provide receipts to support some financial expenditures of the Ministry. Laid down accounting procedures or principles were flagrantly disregarded willfully. So ‘ROT EXPOSED AT THE MINISTRY OF TOURISM’ was the banner headline for the Daily Graphic.


The next to appear before the committee were officials of the Korle-Bu Teaching hospital, where close to 4 billion cedis was expended on projects without due process. Again, laid down accounting procedures were sidestepped willfully to the benefit of some corrupt officials.
The committee has just completed grilling officials of the Transport Ministry, where the rot may be described as very monumental. It came to light that 5.5 million cedis have been embezzled in that ministry alone. Interestingly, this is the Ministry where the President found it so difficult to accept the resignation of its former Ministers, Richard Aanane, despites allegations of corruption leveled against the man. The excuse of the President was that, the man was doing so well and finding a replacement for him would be very difficult.


Keep your fingers cross whiles the PAC move tortuously to unravel all the rot. I have just been informed that some Ministries are moving heaven and earth to cover some of their shady dealings by removing huge files from their offices in the evening.

Lucky Dube's murder - Four arrested

Four men were arrested on Sunday in connection with the murder of reggae star Lucky Dube, 702 Eyewitness News reported.Police arrested the four in Spruitview on the East Rand on Sunday morning, the radio station said.

A crack team of detectives had been assembled to search for the killers.Dube was shot dead in Rosettenville at about 8.20pm on Thursday night, said police spokesperson Captain Cheryl Engelbrecht. The singer was travelling in a grey Chrysler with his two teenage children at the time.Source: Mail&Guardian

Lucky Dube's Legacy

Condolences spanned the length and breadth of the political and cultural spectrum, with everyone from President Thabo Mbeki to the South African Football Players' Union praising Dube's legacy and raising concerns about the level of violent crime. Mbeki made an appeal to South Africans to confront the "scourge" of crime together."This is ... very, very sad that this happened to an outstanding South African -- an outstanding musician, world renowned," he said as he was leaving for France to support the Springboks in the World Cup final.Mbeki conveyed his condolences to the family and also to Dube's fans in SA and around the world.Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said: "For more than two decades he confronted pertinent social and political issues through his music, bringing to the fore the pain and suffering of many South Africans."Arts and Culture Minister Pallo Jordan called Dube one of the most "important and relevant" voices to come out of the country in the 20th century."What makes his death more painful is that it happened at a time when government has renewed its pledge to forge a partnership with people, communities and their institutions to fight crime," he said in a statement. - Sapa

Ghana08: Ghana, Morroco, Guinea, Namibia

Group A(Accra): Ghana, Morocco, Guinea, Namibia
Group B(Sekondi): Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Mali Benin
Group C(Kumasi): Egypt, Cameroon, Zambia, Sudan
Group D(Tamale): Tunisia, Senegal, South Africa, Angola