The demand by the Economic Community of West African States that the members of the Guinean defence and security forces who embarked on a coup in that country return it to constitutional rule is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Tuesday.
The Graphic reports that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has demanded that the members of the Guinean defence and security forces who embarked on a coup in that country return it to constitutional rule.
The regional bloc also called for the immediate and unconditional release of President Alpha Condé and all other persons in detention following the coup d’etat.
The Chairperson of ECOWAS, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who made the demand in a statement, also said “ECOWAS demands respect for the physical safety of the President of the Republic, Professor Alpha Condé”.
The statement, which was issued in Accra last Sunday, reaffirmed ECOWAS’ objection to any unconstitutional political change.
“We ask the Guinean defence and security forces to remain in a constitutional posture and express our solidarity with the Guinean people and their government,” it added.
The newspaper says that former President John Dramani Mahama says voting out the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) from power in the 2024 general elections will be a major step to help save Ghana’s economy from further mismanagement.
“When I called for a change in government in 2024 as the first step towards halting this hemorrhage of badly needed resources through corruption and holding offending officials to account, our friends in government took offense but it remains the only viable way to save the public purse in the face of abundant evidence that nothing will be done about the situation,” he explained.
Mahama was speaking at an event organised by the Professionals Forum (PROFORUM) of the NDC in collaboration with the Center for Ethical Governance and Administration (CEGA) and dubbed “the State of Ghana’s economy – The Score Card”.
The event was held the University of Ghana on Monday, September 6, 2021.
Other speakers at the event were a former Minister of Finance, Mr Seth Terkper and the National President of PROFORUM, Mr Sam Pee Yalley.
He said in spite of the several gains made under past governments to provide the needed footings for the running of Ghana by the current administration, the Akufo-Addo-led government is plunging Ghana’s economy into crisis.
“Despite these favourable conditions, most of the gains we made and bequeathed to this government have been eroded and we have been plunged into further economic crisis,” he noted.
For Mr Mahama, “COVID-19 has become the convenient whipping boy and has been cited as the reason for the crisis we face now and the attendant economic hardships.”
The Graphic also reports that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will tomorrow lead a brand-new effort aimed at easing investor on-boarding in the country as well as reinvigorate local investments in critical sectors of the economy.
The Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, who made this known at the Minister’s Press Briefing yesterday, said the aim of the summit was to revive interest in investing and at the same time, help restore economic growth as the country emerged from the economic downturn brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The exercise, which is a collaboration between the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) and the ministries of Information, Finance and Trade & Industry, aims at accounting for the registered Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) annually and tracking the efforts to on-boarding them fully into the economy.
He said it would focus on exploring ways of easing the bottlenecks and frustrations faced by persons who made efforts to invest in the economy.
“The President will be demanding answers from the facilitator agencies on efforts to support these investments to be fully rolled into the Ghanaian economy. He will also be hearing from investors about some of their challenges in on-boarding while leading efforts to ease the process,” he said.
In 2020, GIPC registered about $2.7 billion of investments in Ghana, comprising 279 number of projects across Agric, Industry and Services.
The one-day summit is expected to be attended by investors and potential investors on one hand as well as heads of investor facilitator agencies, the GIPC and selected ministries.
The Times says that South Africa yesterday leaped to the top of Group G after inflicting a 1-0 defeat on Ghana in their FIFA World Cup qualifier played at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg.
Forward Bongokuhle Hlongwane provided the moment of glory for the Bafana Bafana in the 83rd minute in a game where both sides failed to glitter and struggled to create meaningful goal scoring chances.
The win took South Africa to the summit on four points from two games, with the Black Stars behind them on three points with other group G sides Ethiopia and Zimbabwe set to play today.
South African coach Hugo Broos heaved a sigh of relief at the blast of the final whistle as the win eased the pressure on his side following the 0-0 draw against Zimbabwe in Harare on the opening round of games.
Ghanaian gaffer, C.K Akonnor, however, has to contend with mounting concerns about his team’s lack of goal scoring prowess and poor displays that has lowered confidence in the Stars World Cupbid.
Akonnor was forced to effect seven changes to his starting line-up against Ethiopia due to the absence of key players based in England including Jordan Ayew, Daniel Amartey, Jeffrey Schlupp, Andy Yiadom and Baba Rahman whilst Hugo Broos also effected five changes to bolster his side for the Ghanaian task.
The changes seemed to have weakened the Stars as they struggled for early possession with the likes of Majeed Ashimeru, Yaw Yeboah and Joel Fameyeh who Akonnor employed to support Andre Ayew upfront failing to impress.
GIK/APA