Extend Biometric Registration Exercise- NUGS

The National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) has petitioned the Electoral Commission to extend the date of the end of the biometric registration exercise till the end of May.

The group made this call to, according to them, give their colleagues who are saddled with academic work the opportunity to have their votes counted in the choosing of their constituency Members of Parliament (MP) and the next President of the Republic.

According to a statement issued by NUGS, a large number of students in tertiary institutions are currently writing their end of semester exams therefore making it difficult for them to leave their books and go through the registration exercise.

The Biometric Registration Exercise which is supposed to last for 40 days, started in March 24 and is due to end on May 12. But NUGS believes that “the Electoral Commission will extend the exercise thereby giving us the chance to exercise our political and constitutional mandate”.

The group also asked the EC to clarify the issue on whether voter transfer will be permitted since some people registered in a particular centre and they would want to transfer to their home village.

NUGS congratulated the Electoral Commission and its Registration Officer across the country for their conduct thus far which has injected some energy into the body politic of our democratic country. By your actions, the exercise though has seen many faces some sordid and some more blissful, we are moving as a nation.

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Is Faint Medal the next Osibisa?

After the great Osibisa band which told the African story across the world, people have been searching for the next band to continue with the legacy.

Some music lovers who listen to the afro-rock band Faint Medal perform, believe that the band is the next generation of Osibisa.

Faint medal, an afro-rock band formed by singer and song writer Syn, and the incredibly gifted guitarist Kyekyeku. Both individuals are well noted musicians emerging from the alternative music scene in Accra having mounted the same stages all over the city and internationally.

The deep appreciation for one another's musical art and the very evident passion that both musicians employ in their individual creative processes made them a menacing artistic duo.

Their sound is greatly influenced by a lot of rock music interlaced with rich African melodies influenced by great musicians like Agya Koo Nimo and Osibisa with a potent mix of rich Pidgen English lyrics. This new blend has seen crowds of music lovers go ballistic as they catch on to the easy melodies and interesting lyrics in just a few seconds.

The group has since its inception played various events and venues including the maiden edition of 'La Poilette Takpekpe' at the Alliance Francaise in Accra, Reggie Rockstone's Office, The Movenpic hotel in Accra, Marvel's mini golf course and Indie Fuse, a musical concert organized by ace events producer Accra (dot) alt amongst others.

The group has since its inception played various events and venues including the maiden edition of 'La Poilette Takpekpe' at the Alliance Francaise in Accra, Reggie Rockstone's Office, The Movenpic hotel in Accra, Marvel's mini golf course and Indie Fuse, a musical concert organized by ace events producer Accra (dot) alt amongst others.

The group is currently working on their hit single with Pidgen Music's Yaa Pono titled 'I dey feel you die'. In an interview with the band, they promised that their hit single will be out in a few weeks.

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Mad Rush For Glo SIM Cards

After the long wait, thousands of Ghanaians have been trooping to the various Glo World shops across the country to activate their reserved lines, port their existing numbers to Glo and purchase new SIM cards.

Glo commenced operations on April 29, half a decade after its first announcement which soon followed with massive sponsorships and advertisements in the country. The company launched its data packages last year but delayed on its voice service.

Three years ago it acquired a telecommunication operation licences in Ghana.

Ahead of the voice service launch, the company embarked on a number reservation campaign, where it recorded over 1.5million special subscriptions of 023-3 and 023-5 numbers.

Subscribers who reserved their numbers received a second confirmation text message on May 1 asking them to pick up their reserved numbers from any Glo World shop or approved channel partner.

When Ghanaian blogger Nii Ogbamey Tetteh visited the Glo World Shop on the Ring Road around 7am on May 2 , enthusiastic subscribers were seen in long queues waiting to be served. The scene was the same at the Madina, East Legon and the head office at Osu among others.

Most of the excited subscribers who were waiting to be served expressed delight about the exciting offers Glo Mobile has to offer like the “good day Ghana package” which will give subscribers free 20Gp worth of credit every day for one hundred days.

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NCA Must Revoke Licenses Of Radio Stations That Incite Violence

The Forum of Governance and Justice (FGJ) has called on the Nation Communication Authority (NCA) to revoke the licenses of all Radio stations that in one way or the other incite violence through their medium.

FGJ made this call in relation to the reckless ethnocentric comments made by Kennedy Agyapong on Oman FM in connection to the recent disturbances in the Odododiodoo constituency and the aftermath of his arrest by the Police CID

“We make this call based on the fact that some Accra based radio stations were actively inciting people and were used to mobilise party supports in Accra as well as other regions of Ghana to invade the Police Head Quarters, where Kennedy Agyapong was being questioned by the Police CID. Such radio stations are a danger to our national peace and stability,” a statement issued by the group read.

The group made references to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, adding that the a catastrophic event was largely enhanced by radio stations.

“Let us point Ghanaians to a telling case study; the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The genocide, among the most appalling catastrophes of the 20th century was largely enhanced by radio stations. Prior to the genocide, radio stations were used to dehumanise potential victims. During the genocide, radio was used by extremist to mobilise and coordinate killings.”

“Clearly, the comments made by Hon. Kennedy Adjapong cannot be defended under any circumstance. Declaring war and calling on people of one ethnic group to harm people from other ethnic groups is genocidal and should not be tolerated.”

The group advised that the police should not only focus on Kennedy Agyapong’s comments but also on the radio stations which were used to mobilize party supporters in Ghana to invade the Police Head Quarters and courts as well.

“Yet, we must not just focus on his insensitive comments, for which he should be duly held accountable; we must also take action against media outlets, especially radio stations, which have developed the worrying habit of abusing the right to free speech. This right, which includes freedom of the press and other media, should not be used to promote hate speech and to incite violence. “

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EC Officials Must Inform And Not Misinform Ghanaians

The National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) has called on Officials of the Electoral Commission to inform rather than misinform Ghanaians about the on-going Biometric Registration exercise.

NUGS made this call in relation to an incident which occurred at the University of Ghana Legon Hall Registration Centre on April 12 where some students who were trying to register, were turned down by EC officials for not possessing their old voter’s card.

The EC earlier advertised that Ghanaians who do not possess a passport, driver’s licenses, National Identification Card or the old voter identification card, could get two other people who knows them to guarantee them to register. The EC’s rules and regulations stipulated that an individual could guarantee for only five people and not more than that.

According to a statement issued by NUGS, all attempts to have two people to guarantee for the Legon students proved futile.

The EC officials, as narrated in the statement, noted that the two people who are supposed to verify for anyone with a missing voter card are to testify whether one is sane, within and beyond the threshold of eighteen (18) and whether one is a resident of the area and not to stand in for the missing voter card.

The Student Union therefore in the statement said it finds it very disastrous and would endanger trouble if the Electoral Commission does not call its men and women to order.

"NUGS is also by this statement, appealing to the EC to solve the problem of communication which is blurring the quality of information given to the public,” the statement further read.

"We are also calling on all Ghanaians to report any official of the Electoral Commission who provides contrary opinions with regards to the exercise thereby disenfranchising people for punishments to be meted out to them. It is only by some of this act that our democracy gets strengthened.”

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Demands by Striking Pharmacists Cannot Be Met

In spite of the ongoing strike by Government Hospital Pharmacists, the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) boss, George Smith Graham has said that the demands of the health workers will not be met.

Most government hospital pharmacies have been closed to patients since March 30.

The pharmacists are protesting what they say is the indiscreet grading of their jobs under the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS), resulting in reductions in their monthly remuneration, and for others some unexplained deductions.

But Mr Graham said the FWSC has gone through a lot of processes as far as part of the implementation of the Single Spine Salary Structure is concerned but about the Pharmacists, most of them did not like the grade that they were placed under.

"…the Pharmacists did not like the grading that the consultant had done so they decided to do a job re-evaluation and after the job re-evaluation they rated themselves lower than what the original consultant rendered," Mr Graham recounted.

"Initial works by the original consultant placed them lower but after certain considerations we decided to place them at certain levels. Having done that, we placed them appropriately and we placed them at levels that in our view make sure that it is aligned with the institutional structures at least to bring harmony…"

A meeting called by the sector ministry on Tuesday to try and resolve their grievances failed to end the industrial action.

The pharmacists have refused to cooperate and rather chosen to discuss their complaints with the sector minister but the Chief Executive of FWSC stated categorically on a local radio station that "they can speak to the minister alright but I can say with all certainty that the grades of the pharmacists will not be touched."

Meanwhile the Striking Pharmacists vowed to step up their strike following the remarks by the FWSC.

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NPP Needs To Be Honest In Their Political Debates

The Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper Kwesi Pratt Jnr has called on commentators of the New Patriotic Party to be honest in all political debates.

Mr Pratt made this appeal in relation to recent comments by some NPP propagandist that "people don't eat inflation".

The Mills lead administration upon assuming office within the period of three and a half years have been able to bring inflation down to a single digit - as low as 8.5 per cent, the lowest the country has never seen in the past 20 years-.

Mr Pratt contributing a discussion on a local radio station recounted that the NPP propagandists have claimed and continue to claim that as at the time when they took over power in 2000, inflation was hovering around the 40 per cent mark and after 8 years, they brought inflation down to 18.1 per cent before handing over power to the ruling party NDC.

"It took the NPP 8years to bring inflation from around 40 per cent to 18.1 per cent but the NDC since assuming power in 2008 have reduced inflation from 18.1 per cent to 8.7 per cent, which is still less than half the figure they inherited . Yet the NPP considers this a very very significant achievement," Mr Pratt quizzed.

"When you listen to the NPP propagandist, their retold is simply that people don't eat inflation. If inflation was not important, how come that in their manifestos for 2000,2004 and 2008 election they emphasized the point that it was absolutely important to reduce inflation to single digit? If inflation is not important, why then did they highlight it," Mr Pratt noted.

He further quizzed that "why do the NPP up to date still insist that one of their major achievements was to half the rate of inflation whiles they were in power."

"I think some honesty in discussions relating to this area is required, some honesty will do all of us some good," Mr Pratt said.

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EC To Register 12 Million Voters In 40 Days

The Electoral Commission (EC) has revealed that 12 million eligible voters are expected to be registered in the upcoming nationwide biometric registration exercise.

The exercise will run from March 24 to May 12, 2012. The nation-wide registration exercise will take place at over 6,000 centres involving over 45,000 officials, the Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Dr Afari Gyan has announced.

Speaking at the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG) election forum in Accra, he assured various political parties that “the time for the biometric voter registration is enough”.

Dr Gyan said “a lot of political parties have said that the time is not enough to complete the registration but the EC can deduce from the pilot exercise that was carried out that 100-120 registrations per day is doable.”

Dr Gyan noted that just like Nigeria had a bit of difficulty in the initial stages of their Biometric Registration exercise, the EC has also anticipated some problems that occurred in the early stages of the exercise.

“Nigeria initially had problems but after three days, they became so accustomed to the machine that they could do it rapidly”, he indicated.

“The EC has also anticipated some problems that could occur in the early stages of the exercise and cause it to delay,” he said.

He revealed that some people by the nature of the work they do, have lost the fine lines their fingers and therefore making it very difficult to get their fingerprints.

“During the pilot exercise there was this person we tried to register for more than 20 minutes to get only one fingerprint. Sometimes others also have greasy fingers so we ask them to go and wash.”

“These are all lessons that we’ve learnt -including the fact that after three or four people have placed their fingers on the slab, we must clean the slab and we have put in place the necessary measures in place to avert them ,”Dr Gyan assured.

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Asamoah Gyan to receive famous placenta treatment

The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has recalled the Serbian traditional healer to get Black Stars striker Asamoah Gyan fit for the AFCON 2012 tournament.

Gyan will undergo the traditional horse placenta treatment to get himself fit before Ghana’s first match of the tournament .The striker was ruled out for three weeks after suffering a hamstring injury while playing for his club Al Ain.

The desperate Ghanaian striker said he is ready to try the traditional Serbia treatment in order to be fit and get Ghana her first title in 30 years.

"The head coach has spoken to me about her and talking about her history she has been able to heal more Premiership players and during the World Cup she worked with us and according to the players it worked so I can't wait to meet her," Gyan said.

"Maybe it will work because I also want to play in the Nations Cup. I want to help my country. It's been a while since we won the trophy which is what everyone is expecting."

Mariana Kovacevic, the Serbian healer,worked a miracle for John Mensah during the 2010 World Cup. She is also known to have healed Arsenal striker Robin van Persie and many others.

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Ghana will win AFCON 2012 not because of Egypt, other ouster

Veteran coach Emmanuel Kwasi Afranie has stated that Ghana would win the trophy of the upcoming African Cup of Nations tournament base on determination, hard work and commitment on the part of the players.

He however hinted that Ghana was not going to win the cup because of the missing out of countries such as Egypt, Nigeria and Cameroon in this month tournament.

Coach Afranie as he is popularly called said he has been hearing a lot of Ghanaians saying that since the tough teams like Egypt, Nigeria and Cameroon could not make it to the Cup of Nations this time around; Ghana will win the tournament hands down.

According to him, that is a ‘dangerous mistake’ because there are still some equally good teams like Mali, Senegal and Cote d'Ivoirepresent in the tournament.

“Any other team that has qualified to the tournament has equal chances of winning the cup but for Ghana to win, it will depend on how serious we take the competition. In terms of experience and formidability, we have what it takes to win. If we fight hard enough, we will sail through the tournament and bring the Cup home,” Mr Afranie said.

Mr Afranie who was part of the squad that won the African Cup of Nations 30yrs ago –that was the last time Ghana won the tournament, said “it is about time Ghana won the tournament again”.

“It has been 30yrs since we won the cup and I’m happy I was part of the team that won it. I would love to see us win it again,” he happily stated.

Touching on Ghana’s talismanic striker, Asamoah Gyan’s injury-hamstring, Mr Afranie said depending on the tactics the Black Stars coach Goran Stevanovic wants to adopt, he (Mr Afranie ) does not think the should have a problem replacing the injured striker.

“In the absence of Gyan, the coach should vary his tactics and involve more people from the midfield who are hard and can score goals”, he advised.

Mr Afranie therefore appealed to Ghanaian media to leave coach Goran Stevanovic alone so he can deliver as he promised.

The renowned coach indicated that: “The media men and Ghanaians in general should leave the coach alone to do his job. Let us support him to do the right thing. If he panics and becomes nervous, he will make wrong decisions which will affect us all. We are paying for him always. I don’t think he wants to disgrace himself after making a promise to resign if we do not reach the final stage. If Ghana performs well, it will enrich his CV.”

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