Dumsor vigil caused June 3 disaster in Ghana

The Ga Traditional Council has blamed the June 3 twin fire and flood isasters on the celebrity vigil held in protest of the crippling power crisis in the country.

President of the Council Nii Dodoo Tackie said the organisers of the vigil flouted the rules of traditions for which reason the country had to pay dearly with human lives.

Over 150 people died when they were trapped by floods and later burnt to death in an explosion at the Goil filling station close to the Kwame Nkrumah Circle.

While the cause of floods have been blamed largely on the choked Odaw river at Circle, the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.

Many reasons have been cited for the blast but the impact was devastating. President John Mahama has constituted a three-man committee to investigate the cause of the fire but it appears the Ga Traditional Council already has answers.

At a press conference in Accra, the president of the Council said failure by the celebrities in the country to respect the ban on drumming and noise-making is the cause of the disaster. The celebrities led by Yvonne Nelson, Van Vicker, led thousands of aggrieved Ghanaians onto the streets to protest the power crisis which has affected economic activities in the country.

Prior to the vigil protest there was boundary dispute between the Ga Traditional Council and the La Traditional Council over who controls the Legon stretch of the road where the vigil was scheduled to take place. The La Traditional Council claimed the Legon stretch fell within the territorial boundaries of the La Traditional Council and since that Council had yet to declare a ban on drumming and dancing the protestors could go ahead. The La Wulomo, Nuumo Yemoh Obroni VIII indeed took part in the vigil.

But the Ga Traditional Council also claimed ownership of the land and threatened to disrupt the vigil. But the police intervened and gave the protestors the right to hold the vigil which was held on May 16, 2015. Three weeks after the vigil, the June 3, disaster occurred.

Joy News' Latif Iddrisu who was at the Ga Traditional Council press conference reported Nii Dodoo Tackie as saying the vigil caused the disaster.

The president of the council also chronicled a number of disasters in the country which he claimed were recorded as a result of the citizens' failure to respect the ban on drumming and noise making.

He also mentioned the May 9 disaster which claimed the lives of 127 football fans. Nii Tackie said the fans of Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko disrespect the gods by flouting the ban on drumming and dancing and had to pay with their lives.

NPP primaries: A wrap of defeats, victories, blows and pepper spraying incidents

Like all elections there are controversies, drama, shocking results and outstanding victories.

The New Patriotic Party primaries to elect Members of Parliament for the 2016 elections had all of these in leaps and bounds.

Perhaps the most shocking of results are the big falls, especially in the Ashanti Region. At Nhyiaeso former Roads and Highways Minister, Dr Richard Anane lost the primary to former Ashanti Regional NPP Organiser Kennedy Kankam.

Isaac Osei also lost his Subin seat to Eugene Boakye Antwi. He will be enduring life without Parliament together with Addai Nimoh and Dr Owusu Afriyie all of whom lost the Mampong and Kwadaso primaries respectively.

It was mixed results for women aspirants in the primaries. The party may perhaps be gnashing its teeth for not 'protecting' its incumbent women parliamentarians enough because some bigwig women MPs have become casualties to the primaries.

Gifty Klenam and Gifty Eugenia Kusi representing the Lower West Akim and Tarkwa Nsuaem constituencies have all lost the primaries but 23-year-old Francisca Oteng Mensah, a student at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology has a rather fascinating story to tell.

The young woman has snatched the Kwabre East seat under the incumbent MP Kofi Frimpong and is on the verge of making history as the youngest MP if she wins the 2016 elections.

For journalists and members in corporate Ghana there is good news to report at Ofoasi Ayirebi and Awutu Senya West where Kojo Oppong Nkrumah and George Andah all won the primaries to represent the NPP in 2016.

But Ken Kuranchie has a sad story to tell because he lost the Okaikwei North poll. He did not lose to Seth Adjei Baah but to Fuseini Issah who is thought to be the local boy.

After such a big storm, "Suame Messi" the new name for the Minority Leader Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu managed to beat the "Don Bortey" who contested him in the Suame poll.

If the results were shocking, perhaps, developments before, during voting and declaration of results were jaw dropping.

Maxwell Kofi Jumah in a gangster fashion tore election papers and destroyed voting materials at his Asokwa constituency. This dastard act is something mostly done by hired miscreants during elections but the former MP decided to do the job himself. He ended up in handcuffs and whisked away to prison to cool-off for a while. To cap a day of shame, Jumah was beaten mercilessly by the incumbent Patricia Appiagyei.

There was fisticuffs at the Wa Central constituency in the Upper West Region and pepper spraying at the Madina constituency in the Greater Accra Region.

At the Dome Kwabenya Constituency in the Greater Accra region, incumbent MP Adwoa Sarfo did not disappoint as she held on tight to her seat but not without controversy. Delegates 'attacked' Joy News' Seth Kwame Boateng for reporting an incident that happened at the voting centre. Tema East MP Titus Glover had gone to the constituency to support Adwoa Sarfo but some of the delegates did not take kindly to that and began verbally attacking him. When Kwame Boateng reported the incident, the delegates turned their fury on him. He had to flee the area.

There were others who also attempted to impersonate dead delegates but found themselves in prison for their silly act.

There have been several acclamations for many candidates who went unopposed but the story in Ada East constituency was shockingly different. Former presiding member for Dangbe East Municipal Assembly Kanor Senakey who was the only candidate in the election by some strange reason was rejected.

The delegates would rather have a candidate who did not have money to contest the primary

Source:www.myjoyonline.com>

Tension mounts ahead of Saturday NPP primaries

Scores of supporters of two aspiring Members of Parliament have besieged the head quarters of the New Patriotic Party in a last gasp attempt to have their candidates passed for Saturday's parliamentary primaries.

Carlos Ahinkorah contesting for the slot of Tema West and Nii Noi Nortey for Korley Klottey have both been disqualified in a preliminary vetting held in their respective constituencies.

But at the party's headquarters, Thursday, is a final meeting by an appeals committee to take a second look at the basis for disqualifying the two aspirants.

Nii Noi Nortey has been accused of submitting a fake certificate from the University of Ghana.

The fate of the two men hangs menacingly in the hands of the appeals committee members but their supporters are not living any stone unturned to have them passed.

And they came with threats, demands and accusations. The supporters believe Naa Torshie and Philip Addison both of whom are contesting the Tema West and Korle Klottey constituencies respectively are behind the disqualification of their candidates.

With placards and chants the supporters want their candidates passed for Saturday's primaries or they will not vote for the NPP candidate in the 2016 elections.

Joy News' Kwakye Afreh Nuamah says the committee members are deep in deliberations on the matter and will soon come out with a decision.

One of the embattled aspirants Nii Noi Nortey later told Afreh he had been cleared by the Appeals Committee and would contest the primaries. Even though the party is set for its primaries on Saturday July 13 to elect new Members of Parliament, Nii Noi said the part has decided to have that of Korley Klottey on the 27 June, 2015.

Members of the Appeals Committee are yet to confirm this detail.

Photos-Korle Bu's orthopedic emergency centre flooded after Accra rains

The orthopedic emergency centre of the nation’s premier hospital, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) has been flooded after rains in the capital.

The orthopedic emergency centre of the nation’s premier hospital, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) has been flooded after rains in the capital.

Patients at the centre were relocated to other units.

Nurses and other workers were forced to scoop water from the centre.

Source: Adomonline.com

Our parents still feed us-striking doctors

Junior doctors across the country say they cannot continue working after serving the country for nine months without salary, a situation which has caused them pain and anguish.

At the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, a doctor explained that the doctors have endured untold economic hardships because of the state's failure to pay them their salaries.

“We still go to our parents for money. Some are going for loans to survive, we go through all this hell and sacrifice for the patient, it is too much” he told Joy News Tuesday. Earlier, a pregnant woman sobbed uncontrollably at the hospital's Polyclinic where in Room 5 of the Gynecology unit, patients had been sitting for a very long time.

Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital

was told by the nurses to go home and return whenever she hears the doctors are back. A doctor at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital in the Central Region argued that although the Hippocratic oath binds doctors to attend to patients, a section of the same oath requires doctors to be in “a good state of mind” before attending to patients. Working for nine months without pay, he maintained, will definitely put one in a poor state of mind to work. He described the delays in payments as “amazing” and “mind-boggling”.

He said the mental impact of working without pay since September is turning doctors into patients too.

“This is serious. We do not see ourselves coming back to work” he doctors laid down their resolution.

At the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, some 160 doctors did not turn up for work Tuesday.

A woman whose brother was involved in an accident Tuesday dawn was disappointed with the delivery of healthcare at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital where the junior doctors had also laid down their tools.

The pace of service delivery had slowed down, Joy News' Hannah Odame reported.

Source:www.myjoyonline.com