GITMO 2: 'Catholic Bishops must apologise to Mahama'

Catholic Bishops in a pose with President Mahama

Former spokesperson for the Greater Accra regional branch of the opposition New Patriotic Party Michael Ampong has chastised the President of the Catholic Bishops Conference over his remarks on the raging former Guantanamo bay inmates in Ghana.

According to him, Bishop Joseph Osei Bonsu’s response to President John Mahama’s reasons for accepting the former terror suspects was harsh and disrespectful.

The catholic bishop reacting to the President’s appeal for Ghanaians to be compassionate towards the two Yemenis said compassion must be applied with common sense.

Commenting on the matter, the failed National Youth Organiser aspirant of the NPP said reverend Osei Bonsu has been very insensitive in his comments on the matter.

“His response to the president was not right, others have occupied his position before and they didn’t behave this way...so I think he should be careful with his comments because that institutions he leads has been there for quite a long time and its leaders haven’t behaved this way.

“I think he should apologise to the President because his comments were in bad taste as a religious leader,” he stated on Radio Gold's 'Alhaji and Alhaji' program Saturday.

The Mahama-led administration is struggling to convince an increasingly doubtful Ghanaian public that the presence of the former detainees will cause no harm to the country.

The two Yemenis are in the country at the instance of the US government. The Americans have assured the two pose no security threat to the nation.

Ghana’s opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo has backed numerous calls for the former terror suspects to be returned. Akufo-Addo has described the decision to accept them as illegal, accusing President Mahama of breaching the anti-terrorism act .

First photos of Ciara in Lagos

Ciara

International Grammy Award winning singer, Ciara arrived Lagos today, February 26 2016 at exactly 6pm for Darey Art Alade's "Love Like A Movie 3" holding this Sunday at Eko Hotel. 

Ciara who touched down at the Murtala Mohammed Airport Lagos will be performing at the dance party alongside a host of other Nigerian acts. 

See more photos by clicking "Photos."

Nelson-Dumelo announce their 'comeback'

Yvonne Nelson and John Dumelo

Yvonne Nelson and John Dumelo cannot be separated. The two are back together, and what ever divided their strong bond doesn’t exist no more.

It may be recalled that their feud started sometime ago through a Tweet by John Dumelo saying Yvonne had stabbed him in the back in connection with the past #DumsorMustStop vigil when the Princess Tyra actress described him as an “ass kisser”. Since then the friends who were once inseparable and seen together virtually everywhere, have been missing from public eye until now.

In a new video shared on IG, the two announced they were back together, with John Dumelo mentioning that;

“It’s unfortunate that we’re together... but we have to”

The video was attached to another one which sees Yvonne with Pappy Kojo, messing around. We guess she’s trying to indicate that she may be back with John, but still close to Pappy.

‘You can’t handle me in bed’- Bukom Banku dares Delay

Bukom Banku

Ghanaian boxer, Braimah Kamoko, popularly known as Bukom Banku, has said emphatically that he is strong and can last in bed. 

Speaking to Deloris Frimpong Manso on Friday, February 26th edition of ‘Delay Show’, the boxer revealed that he is married to three women. 

According to him, the three women live together happily in his three-bedroom house. When Delay asked how he handles and satisfies his three wives, Bukom Banku said he hops from one wife to the other. 

“I’m very strong. Delay, when I catch you, you’ll run. You’re small, Delay…you’ll run.” 

Bukom Banku also disclosed that he has seven cars, one of which was given to him as a gift from President Mahama. 

The confident boxer also revealed that his whole family supports the president, and he is willing to hit the campaign grounds for him. Catch the Delay Show on Viasat1 every Friday at 5 p.m.

Kwesi Pratt: It is wrong to counter gov’t’s projects

Kwesi Pratt

Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper has condemned those looking for evidence to counter what President Mahama said in Parliament during the State of the Nation Address.

The President while delivering his address on Thursday mentioned a lot of developmental projects his administration has undertaken including building of schools and construction of roads.

Contributing to a panel discussion on Radio Gold, Kwesi Pratt said it is “disingenuous and deliberate falsehood” to show pictures of roads that has not yet been constructed to indicate that the ruling government is not constructing roads as they want Ghanaians to believe.

“…when the president speaks about efforts that have been made to eliminate school under trees and to improve access to education and so on, some people or somebody go to some villages and take pictures of some schools still under trees and use it as a counter to the President’s argument; I think it is unfair. It is absolutely unfair because if there were 100 schools under trees and today, there are 99 schools under trees, progress have been made. If there were 40 and today there are two (2) it still means that progress have been made….” he added.

Length Of Address

Kwesi Pratt also indicated that it is ‘irrelevant’ the argument people are making that the President spent too long a time in delivering his speech.

According to him, the “duration of the speech, how long it was, the apparent agility of the President, his stamina, all those as far as I am concerned is absolutely irrelevant. If Ghana were electing a president to go and compete in a wrestling match in the Olympics, then perhaps some of these would have been important…. we elect a President to solve social, economic and other problems that confront us…you don’t need a macho man.”

Klottey Korle: Nii Noi’s supporters vow to vote for NDC’s Zanetor

Nii Noi Nortey

Supporters of Valentino Nii Noi Nortey, who lost to Phillip Addison in the New Patriotic Party's parliamentary primary in the Klottey Korle Constituency, have vowed to defect to the camp of National Democratic Congress (NDC).

The supporters claim the votes on Saturday, February 27 “were turned upside down” in favour of Mr Addison.

“We know that they turned the cast down,” one of the supporters alleged in an interview with TV3’s Jonathan Adams after the legal practitioner was declared winner on Saturday.

“They turned it upside down. They cast the vote down. I still don’t believe it and I know they are the losers. This seat will belong to Zanetor [Rawlings].”

Mr Nortey, a former constituency chairman, lost by 29 votes to Mr Addison, who polled 396 out of a total of 765 votes.

Mr Nortey's aggrieved supporters say he is the only one who can do the job of reclaiming the seat for the NPP.

“Addison can’t do anything,” one alleged. “We the supporters of Osu Korle Klottey, we are fighting for Hon. Nii Noi Nortey back. If they won’t allow us, then no vote.”

Mr Nortey did not sign the declaration form by the Electoral Commission after the votes were declared. He is reported to have stormed out of the venue.

PHOTO: President Obama's daughter Sasha shares cute pics on instagram

Sasha Obama

President Obama's 15 year old daughter Sasha recently joined instagram and has been sharing some cute photos...

Another plot to assassinate President Mahama uncovered

Kwame Gyebi

Exactly seven months after an armed gun man with a loaded gun was arrested during a Sunday church service in Accra plotting to assassinate President John Mahama, another man has been arrested for also plotting to assassinate the President at the Independence Square on Independence day, that is coming Sunday, March 6, 2016!

Kwame Gyebi, a resident of Dzowulu in Accra was arrested last Thursday, February 25, 2016 by the police upon a tip off after he was overheard confidently saying the President will drop dead while delivering his speech on March 6 this year at the Independence Square during the usual parade of school children to mark the 59th Independence Anniversary of Ghana.

The confidence and certainty with which he was making the declaration (that the President will drop dead on the said day) alarmed a patriotic citizen who tipped the police off culminating in Kwame Gyebi’s arrest. The police after initial investigations handed him over to the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI). He is currently in their custody.

An intelligence source told the DAILY POST the BNI is conducting further investigations into the matter to ascertain whether Kwame Gyebi has accomplices or is working alone.

Reader will recall that on July 26 last year, a 36 year-old man, Charles Antwi, was arrested during Sunday church service at the Ringway Gospel Centre of the Assemblies of God church with a loaded gun. The President was not in church that day.

The manner in which Antwi was fidgeting aroused the suspicion of the security detail of the Chief Justice who attends the same church. They accosted Charles Antwi, led him out of the church and searched him. A fully loaded locally manufactured pistol was retrieved from him. He confessed wanting to assassinate the President and said he had come to the church on previous occasion for that purpose.

Charles Antwi was later sentenced to a 10-year prison term by an Accra Circuit court presided over by Justice Francis Obiri. The sentence did not go down with the Attorney-General who appealed against it.

At a sitting of the Human Rights Division of an Accra High Court, the Acting Director of Public Prosecution, Yvonne Obuobisa, told the court that the BNI sent Charles Antwi to court to get him remanded for further investigations to be carried out only for him to be jailed ten years for illegal gun possession.

Following an appeal by Charles Antwi’s lawyer, Francis Xavier Sosu, an Accra High Court quashed the ruling of the Circuit Court and ordered Charles Antwi to be sent to the Accra Psychiatric Hospital for examination. The hospital later declared that the gun man was not of sound mind and has since then been treating him.

Agyinasare will be a great Chancellor – Mahama

File photo: Bishop Agyinasare and President Mahama

President John Mahama has predicted Bishop Dr Charles Agyinasare will become “a great Chancellor” as he takes over as the head of the Perez University College.

The presiding Bishop of the Perez Chapel was sworn in as the Chancellor of the institution Saturday.

Speaking at the function, Mahama encouraged educational institutions to change curricular to reflect what businesses and industries need for economic growth.

The president urged a change from grammar-based curricular to a more practical, evidence-based one by universities to make them relevant to industries.

President Mahama stated that “in 2014 the ministry of education, employment and labour relations and the ministry of trade organized a joint stakeholders’ consultation on jobs and employment. Participants from business and industry who attended this stakeholders’ consultation were very clear.

“They said they did not want the old grammar school kind of graduate. The one who comes and speaks English like a machine gun but when you give him practical things to do he cannot perform. They wanted practical, skilled, hands-on, innovative graduates to employ. As a result of this new demand from business and industry most institutions in the world have changed their curricular to support more practical, evidence-based, entrepreneurial, innovative and problem solving skills.”

On his part, Bishop Dr. Agyinasare promised the institution will churn out problem-solving scholars.

“I strongly believe that very soon this university college will churn out graduates who will not be learning by rote, but will be problem solving and solution providing scholars who will bring significant change and transformation to their spheres of influence.

“Especially at this crucial time in the history of Africa where we are having endemic corruption and many visionless intellectuals and graduates from institutions who will rather stay at home than work if they have not been employed, where we have engineers who sit in the office and are not manufacturing, teachers who are still using books written in the 60s instead of writing new material. Where most of our people do not want to think outside the box to accomplish unprecedented feats. I am convinced that there must be a change and I am glad to announce to you that change is coming,” the Presiding Bishop of the Perez Chapel International, which owns the university told the gathering.

The Perez Chapel International acquired the Pan African Christian University College in November 2015.

The institution and its two schools are duly accredited by the National Accreditation Board of Ghana since 2007. The School of Theology has affiliation with the Trinity Theological Seminary (TTS) and the School of Business is affiliated to the University of Cape Coast. These mentor institutions have the responsibility for overseeing the courses, training and certification of the respective schools.

To ensure a commitment to academic excellence, Perez Chapel has put together a Board of Governors made up of distinguished and accomplished individuals to oversee the running of the University.

Board of directors Members of the Board are: Dr Charles Agyinasare, Dr Mensa Otabil, Professor Omane-Antwi, Professor Asamoah Gyadu, Professor Addo Obeng, Dr Kotei Dzani, Mr. Francis Ashinyo, Honourable Sylvester Mensah, Dr Mrs Vivian Amoako, Dr Emmanuel Saboro, Professor Amoa Awua, Bishop Dr Prince Baah and Lawyer Mrs Grace Dolphy.

The University is now located at Gomoa Pomadze-Winneba, along the Winneba-Swedru highway, about a kilometer from Winneba roundabout (Junction). Despite its close proximity to Winneba of the Effutu Municipality, it administratively falls under the Gomoa East District Assembly. The plan is to add on other campuses in the coming years.

Controversial gay stamps: UN Sec. Gen. under pressure to resign

United Nations Secretary-General, Mr Ban Ki-Moon

Pressure continues to mount on the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr Ban Ki-Moon to resign his position over what has been described as his blatant disregard for the sensibilities of member states in his decision to authorize the release of offending gay and lesbian stamps for public use.

On 5th February 2016 the United Nations Postal Administration officially released four homosexual and transgender postal stamps for public use, ostensibly aimed at promoting gay and transgender rights in the world. One of the postal stamps depicts a homosexual couple carrying a child.

Another is a putrid display of two naked lesbians frontally holding each other, caressing and kissing. Another postal stamp shows two homosexuals embracing and kissing while the fourth stamp shows a butterfly that symbolises transgenderism.

The stamps, which carry the homosexual UN slogan “Free and Equal” in various languages, have cause intense outrage and drawn swift condemnation from around the world, but UN Assistant Secretary-General Stephen Cutts in response, says: “We need to change attitudes.”

Last week, in a press statement circulated widely across the African continent, a Lagos-based lawyer Mr Sonnie Ekwowusi added his voice to the call for Ban Ki-Moon's resignation, and for the UN chief to render unqualified apology to the UN Member States for unilaterally deciding to release the gay stamps without clearance from them.

According to Mr. Ekwowusi, International law is founded on consensus, and not on unilateral decision of the minority. “If nations have not come together and agreed that homosexuality and transgenderism should become a binding international law, why should Ban Ki-Mon and a few others go from behind and impose homosexuality and transgenderism on the rest of mankind?” he quizzed, adding that “The consensus reached at the various United Nations Conferences, is that all policies and action programmes of the United Nations must conform to the purposes and Charter of the United Nations and must reflect the diverse social, economic and environmental conditions of each country, with full respect for their religious, cultural backgrounds and philosophical convictions”.

Mr. Ekwowusi, therefore, argues that “It is a big scandal, probably, the biggest scandal in the history of the United Nations for Ban Ki-Mon and a few others to unilaterally release the aforesaid offensive gay stamps without a clearance from the UN Member States.

Nigeria's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Usman Sarki has also berated the United Nations under Ban Ki-Mon for releasing gay stamps that assault the religious and cultural sensibilities of the UN Member States. According to Sarki, “… we wish to remind the UN to limit itself strictly to activities mandated by Member States and especially to promote issues that are beneficial to mankind rather than lend itself as tool to promote aberrant behavior under the guise of promoting human rights.”

The release of the stamps must have prompted renowned Ghanaian preacher and motivational speaker Pastor Mensah Otabil to describe gay and lesbianism as “senseless”, during a sermon in Accra last week.

According to a New American report filed last year: “Almost half of the UN's member states still criminalises homosexual activity, and eight of those have laws punishing homosexuality with death. Just one in 10 UN member governments recognises the imagined “human right” to a “homosexual marriage.

Otabil's parable of onions and why Zuckerberg is richer than Ghana

Dr. Otabil 

He is loved by many, loathed by some but few will deny the power of his word. It is infectious!

On Saturday, Dr Mensa Otabil Founder of the International Central Gospel Church infected and provoked a mass of young entrepreneurs with yet another signature performance, a destiny changing motivational message that will linger in the minds of many, for many years to come.

He was to give a keynote address at Albert Ocran's springboard convocation programme, but he did far more than that.

He planted, watered and nurtured a seed of holy anger in the army of entrepreneurs, hoping that anger will eventually germinate into fruits that will reverse the backwardly suffocating systems, laws and policies in Ghana; systems that served only to frustrate and kill as many dreams and businesses as possible.

He used the parable of onions and travolator

(a moving pavement for transporting pedestrians, as in a shopping precinct or an airport) to tell the great but annoying story of why Mark Zuckerberg, a 31 year old computer programmer, is richer than him (Otabil), his wife; richer than president Mahama and the MPs and richer than all Ghanaians combined.

Otabil feels angry and insulted by the development because Zuckerberg, he reckoned, is not any more intelligent than the thousands of computer programmers in Ghana but the American has a better environment; a country of opportunities.

"What is the difference between Zuckerberg and you; Steve Jobs and you? Otabil asked rhetorically. "It is not brains, it is the environment," he answered sullenly.

Where is our travolator and sulfur-free onion?

The preacher man told a story of how he travelled out of the country and with the aid of a travolator he beat a young man to a walking contest. The man decided to speedwalk but used a travolator at some point.

Even though the man heeled-and-toed with agility he could not beat Otabil because the travolator pushed him faster to his destination.

He told another story, he read in a book, of a US company seeking to grow onions that will not sting the eyes. For a man who had shed onion-stinging- tears in the past from his kitchen in Accra, he will certainly wonder how an American company will grow new species of onions without its notorious characteristic. But the 'useless' book he was reading in the plane suddenly became useful, revealing, that the new species of onions will be planted in a "non-sulfuric ground." He learnt a new thing. Onions sting eyes because they are always grown and nurtured in a soil full of sulfur but the US company is coming with a new offer. "The reason why the onions will not sting people's eyes is because it was going to be grown in sulfur free soil."

"It is not the nature of onions to sting eyes. It is the environment it is nurtured in that makes it sting eyes. "It struck me that a person can be so good but if he is planted in a wrong environment, he is going to turn up so bad," Otabil said.

He wondered how much sulfur was in the Ghanaian environment that made many dreams, business break down in tears.

"What have we put in the environment, in the soil that is killing the dream of young men and young women. How can people go to university and for years and not know what to do? How can people with potential not fulfill their potential?

"If you take a simple area like football, the greatest Ghanaian players now were all onions that were planted in a different soil. They had to go outside Ghana for their talents to become world class. Do you think if Michael Essien had continued playing in the Ghana league we will call his name? No! Is he talented? Yes.

No matter how big the dream is, Otabil says if the environment is without a travolator or a sulfur free soil, you will achieve something but ultimately you will become the village champion amongst global players.

"The challenge for nations like Ghana is not the challenge of talented citizens. It is the challenge of poisonous environment. An environment that has been poisoned by ordinariness, by mediocrity and sometimes by a clear agenda to destroy talents. "And how can a nation be great when its systems are fighting the talent of its people? he asked.

It is good to dream because dream is free but fight to get a better environment for the dream to thrive, he challenged the young men and women.

"We have to force the politicians to start thinking of us; of our lives; our future and dreams. And the only way to do that is for you to start thinking not in party terms but in policy terms,"

"Because if that doesn't happen dreamers will die with their dreams not realised," he added.

What is your dream; fight for a better travolator and a sulfuric free soil, to make your dreams come to pass.