Seth J. Bokpe's Ghana Newsreel

            Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan - EC Chairman The Electoral Commission is under fire to register some rejected presidential hopefuls or face court action. While the New Vision Party (NVP) is going to court to ensure that some EC officials involved in an alleged bribery scandal are investigated, the Independent People’s Party (IPP) has already gone to court to compel the EC to register its candidate, Mr Kofi Akpalu, with the National Democratic Party (NDP) giving the EC a 24-hour ultimatum to respond to questions concerning the disqualification of its flag bearer, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, or face legal action. Prophet Daniel Nkansah, the disappointed flag bearer of the NVP, told graphic.com.gh that he had a writ of summons to compel the EC to stop the election. According to him, the officials conducting the ...

THE question on the lips of many supporters of the National Democratic Congress is whether the party can survive the latest move by the Rawlingses for the spirit   and soul of the party. The former president defied convention last Saturday by not only attending the National Delegates Congress of the NDC-breakaway party, the National Democratic Party (NDP), but also endorsing its presidential candidate who happened to be his better half, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings. Before then, the former President shocked many political commentators when he opened his doors to the leader of the opposition, New Patriotic Party. Those two events have political undertones that have tickled many NDC sympathisers on the wrong side. Although, the Nana Akufo-Addo visit is a recommendable act which should send signals to sympathisers of the respective parties that politics is a game of ideas, its timing is not sitting well with some party sympathisers. Like a bee, the two incidents hav...

THE German government is pumping 130 million Euros in bilateral commitments to the Ghanaian economy over the next three years. With the arrangement, Ghana is expected to receive 43 million Euros per year from 2012 to 2014 in support of private and financial sector development, decentralisation and agriculture. The funding would also be used to cater for budgetary support, good financial governance and the provision of renewable energy. While 55 million euros would go into budgetary support and good financial governance, 26.5 million euros is for private sector development;  24.6 million euros for decentralisation; 12.5 million euros for renewable energies; 9.4 million euros for agriculture and 200,000 euros for other areas. The Country Director of the GIZ, Mr Siegfried Leffler, announced the package at a German Trained Returned Entrepreneurship Training Seminar at Kumasi in the Ashanti Region. The German-Trained returned experts programme gives participants the opportunity to...

 After months of canvassing and sorting out its official documentation with the Electoral Commission, the National Democratic Party (NDP) is wrapping up its preparations for its National Delegates Congress scheduled for Kumasi on Saturday. Barring an unforeseen intervention, the Baba Yara Stadium in the Ashanti regional capital will be enveloped in the green, black and red colours of the NDP. While speculations continue to build as to whether former President J.J. Rawlings will throw his weight behind the NDP, that possibility appears to be on the horizon. However, sources told the Daily Graphic that former President J.J. Rawlings will be the special guest of honour at the event. This has been collaborated by a full page coloured advert which appeared in the Daily Graphic confirming that Flt J.J. Rawlings will be the special guest of honour. Unlike the convention where aspirants for a party’s presidential ticket are well known ahead of the congress, the NDP’s presidenti...

IT probably took about 45 seconds. Panic struck as the articulated cargo truck in front of him drove into the bush. His heart raced to his sleeves as he tried to manoeuvre his way from the speeding Yutong bus heading towards him. Then boooooooooooom! It happened. Seconds later, his body flew out of the car and everything else was darkness… Samuel Kwaku Konadu had no idea that day was going to be his last day on earth. The late 42-year-old driver of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) left Accra on Friday night dressed in the company’s shirt for the fun games scheduled for the next day. His colleagues recall that he even had his soccer boots by his side. He had pledged to be part of the five-aside soccer game the next day to display the skills he had confined behind the wheels. But that was not to be. According to an eye witness account, the driver of the cargo truck which was in front of the Graphic vehicle had to swerve to avoid the on-coming Yutong which was spe...

The most crucial component of a car, the battery, which gets it moving, is often ignored or overlooked. This can prove to be costly and troublesome on the road. Do not take a car’s battery for granted. The battery in a car cranks the engine when the key is turned in the ignition. So, no matter how well the car is maintained, if the battery is not treated correctly, the car will not get on the road. Taking care of the battery is simple, easy and inexpensive. Read the following tips to keep the battery in your car always ready to crank. Maintaining a battery and monitoring the health of the battery will ensure that there will never come a situation when the car will not start at the traffic lights and cause you embarrassment; or worse get you stuck in the middle of nowhere, where help is not at hand. Never ignore the importance of maintaining a car’s battery as it will cost more to buy a new battery rather than maintaining an old one. * Turn off electric devices in the car. Take the ...

THREE presidential hopefuls in the 2012 race have expressed deep commitment to empowering the youth economically to create jobs. Presidential aspirants of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom; the Peoples National Convention (PNC), Mr Hassan Ayariga and an independent contender, Mr Jacob Osei-Yeboah, all acknowledged that the development of the Ghanaian youth could improve the country’s fortunes. The three aspiring presidential candidates were speaking at the 2012 Youth Presidential Dialogue organised by the Africa Youth Network. It was a platform given to all the presidential aspirants for the 2012 polls to engage the youth on their policies and programmes. Only the three aspirants turned up for the event which also attracted a sparse audience at the national theatre. When he took the podium with chants of “Edwuma wura,” to wit “employer”, a smiling Dr Nduom told the youth he had a track record of creating jobs that had improved the lives of quite a n...