Cecilia Dapaah Saga: Documents sighted by JoyNews reveal theft case was initially filed at Juvenile Court
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Transcript
00:00 This is Newsdesk with me, Bernice Abubay Doolan, our headlines this hour, thousands sit for
00:05 basic education certificate examination.
00:08 Today we are live in some centers to gauge the mood.
00:16 Also documents cited by JONEws reveal that Cecilia Dapao missing cash case was initially
00:23 filed at a juvenile court but no amounts were specified as stolen.
00:26 We have details plus ask whether the office of the AG was aware of this.
00:31 In terms of a prosecution going on in the juvenile court or in the circuit court, we
00:37 are not aware.
00:42 And amidst rage and confusion in Niger, options of a possible evacuation linger.
00:46 We will speak to some analysts on the thoughts of these decisions and we also have business
00:54 in this bulletin.
00:58 Please stay for details.
01:24 We are coming to you live from our studios at Kokomo, Namely on DSTV channel 421, on
01:29 GO TV, around the world at myjoyonline.com and on your digital television.
01:34 The details now, documents cited by JONEws reveal the Cecilia Dapao missing cash scandal
01:40 was initially filed at a juvenile court.
01:43 Despite a list of missing items captured in the documents and the alleged theft of an
01:47 unspecified amount of money, the suspects we are told were only charged with unlawful
01:52 entry.
01:53 This latest information adds to the unending confusion surrounding the alleged theft of
01:59 huge sums of money from the residence of the former sanitation minister.
02:04 Joseph Akoble has more.
02:06 The Attorney General's opinion on the documents, the case was reported in June 2023, despite
02:12 the alleged theft taking place in October 2022.
02:16 He noted that despite claims of a police complaint and arrest of one of the suspects in October
02:21 2022, there was no information at the Tesano police station supporting this arrest, complaint
02:27 or any investigations.
02:28 JONEws has however cited court documents filed at the juvenile and family court in Accra
02:33 on 1st December 2022.
02:35 Prosecutors curiously charged the domestic staff, who was then aged 17, with the offence
02:40 of unlawful entry and being on the premises for unlawful purposes.
02:45 This begs the question why this crucial information is lost in the Attorney General's opinion,
02:49 which analyses the docket and concludes no evidence of a report or investigation by the
02:55 Tesano police was available on record.
02:58 This is because the latest information shows that not only did the police investigate the
03:02 matter but they actually filed charges in courts.
03:05 The question was put to Deputy Attorney General Alfred Tsiayeboa.
03:09 The docket that was submitted to us had nothing about a case pending in any juvenile.
03:16 The only hint we had in that docket was that a report was made to the police at Tesano.
03:23 And so in terms of a prosecution going on in the juvenile court or in a circuit court,
03:29 we are not aware.
03:30 So that was Joseph Akoble basically explaining to you what we know about this particular
03:37 case so far.
03:38 Let's now hear from Alfred Tsiayeboa, who is Deputy Attorney General.
03:43 He spoke on the probe last night.
03:45 Interestingly, for this case, when the Chronicle published it, that was the first time I heard
03:56 it.
03:57 How?
03:58 How?
03:59 Mr. Alfred Tsiayeboa, how are we supposed to believe this?
04:03 And I think it's something that the police should be in a position to answer.
04:08 Because they were prosecuting the case.
04:11 And you know, if you have a case in Ghana and the police are prosecuting it, if you
04:15 sit in a class of attorney general, you will know everything, unless it's brought to your
04:20 attention.
04:21 So even the fact that there was a publication, perhaps we wouldn't have even known.
04:28 If the police had actually complied with our earlier directive to submit cases above 500,000
04:34 cases, perhaps all these things wouldn't have happened.
04:38 So that's the Deputy Attorney General speaking to MFR Powell on the probe last night.
04:42 Let's now speak to a lawyer, Albert Jainfi, to have a clear understanding of all that's
04:47 happening.
04:48 The case moving from the juvenile court, traveling all this way, the many angles and dynamics
04:54 to all of this.
04:56 Good morning.
04:57 Thank you for your time, Mr. Albert Jainfi.
04:59 Now your quick assessment of this case and how it's been handled so far.
05:04 All right.
05:06 Good morning to your viewers.
05:10 One thing I would like to say is that when it comes to criminal prosecution in Ghana,
05:15 the duty rests with the attorney general.
05:18 No other institution in Ghana has the power to prosecute criminal cases other than the
05:23 attorney general.
05:24 And when it comes to matters like this, especially those which raise a lot of public concern,
05:29 the attorney general is mindful of the evidence that it is supposed to submit before the court.
05:35 And note that the attorney general is not an investigative body.
05:37 It is only a prosecutorial body.
05:40 The investigation is to be done by the police.
05:42 In loose sense, the police supply the attorney general with the information for prosecution.
05:46 So if the police feel that, sorry, the attorney general feel that information supplied to
05:51 them is not adequate, I don't see anything wrong with the AG calling the attorney general
05:57 to conduct further investigations to aid it in prosecution.
06:00 But it's a usual thing that happens in criminal prosecutions, and this is not a rarity.
06:06 I think the police missed it when it did not inform the AG about this case, seeing the
06:13 personality involved and the AG also highlighting the fact that there were many missing elements
06:19 to this case.
06:20 So say, for example, even when it was reported initially and the issue went to the jury,
06:25 there were unspecified amounts of money involved.
06:29 There's just a whole lot of missing elements in the entire case.
06:33 Did the police miss out on this one?
06:35 Yes, I agree perfectly with the attorney general.
06:39 There is something in law we call double jeopardy.
06:42 Now double jeopardy simply means that a person cannot be prosecuted for the same offense
06:47 more than once, and other offenses that you could have conveniently been charged under
06:52 the first prosecution.
06:53 So for instance, if you place someone before the juvenile court and you try the person
06:57 for, let's say, unlawful entry, and the person is either convicted or acquitted, you cannot
07:03 bring other offenses that you could have conveniently charged the person in a different charges.
07:09 So if you presented the people before the juvenile court, I think that information was
07:14 very critical that you let the attorney general know that these people are standing trial
07:19 before the juvenile court, so that the attorney general would discontinue that prosecution
07:23 and recharge them for all the offenses before the new court now.
07:27 So far, there are two cases pending against the same person in two different courts, and
07:33 if one of them should end, the other one cannot be tried.
07:37 And I think that information should have been brought to them, and once the AG has highlighted
07:42 that, the police should just take it in good faith and learn from it.
07:45 Prosecution is technical, and when you have a technical person drawing your attention
07:49 to some lapses in it, I think that should be accepted in good faith.
07:54 So Mr. Jaivi, what's the way forward now?
07:57 The AG has made certain recommendations, but not based on the knowledge that this traveled
08:03 from a juvenile point.
08:05 So what's the solution to that?
08:10 Does the AG now need to study the case again and offer new advice?
08:15 Or what the AG suggested is good to go with?
08:19 So I think that the way forward is for one to acknowledge that one is the master.
08:25 That to me is a starting point.
08:27 The AG is the master when it comes to criminal prosecution in Ghana.
08:32 Criminal cases begin with the filing of a chargesheet.
08:35 So the initiation and conduct of all criminal cases in Ghana is a detail of the Attorney
08:39 General according to Article 88 of the Constitution, so that if there's a criminal case filed before
08:45 a police and after investigations have been conducted, the rest is supposed to be taken
08:50 over by the Attorney General.
08:52 But because of the lapses in our system and because we do not have a good number of state
08:57 attorneys, some of the powers have been ceded to the police.
09:01 That does not mean that the police and the Attorney General have the same powers when
09:04 it comes to prosecution.
09:05 So the police must first acknowledge that we are working under the instructions of the
09:09 Attorney General.
09:10 And they are going forward, supposed to take all the instructions that the Attorney General
09:14 will give them.
09:15 The second thing is, if there are some disclosures that they need to make to the Attorney General,
09:19 they should do so.
09:20 The case is not a police case.
09:22 It is a case against the state.
09:24 And when it comes to cases against the state, it's the Attorney General that represents
09:27 the state in terms of those matters.
09:30 So as from today, the police should, to use the word, should work together with the Attorney
09:37 General and deliver to them all that they need, make outmost disclosures to them.
09:41 And I feel the advice by the AG covers all that.
09:46 I think the AG can advise on something it does not know.
09:49 And the advice given was on the basis of the information that has been given to the police,
09:54 to the AG by the police.
09:56 So if now there are new matters, all disclosures must be made to the Attorney General.
10:01 If there is further advice the Attorney General wants to give, it is going to do that.
10:06 And finally to you, and this may be quite a controversial one, but does it appear to
10:14 you that there are some political strings being pulled here?
10:20 Because one would expect that at least in demanding the dockets for examination, the
10:26 Ghana Police Service would have furnished the Attorney General with all the information
10:31 he needed.
10:32 But as we are learning from the Deputy AG, there was nothing about a pending case at
10:37 the juvenile court.
10:39 Do you suspect that there may be some strings that are being pulled here in terms of how
10:47 the case should travel and what the public should be made aware of?
10:51 Not at all.
10:53 I don't see any political limitations here.
10:56 This is something that happens most of the time.
10:59 I think in my view, the police thought that information was not necessary since they are
11:03 building an entirely new docket concerning the case.
11:07 The Attorney General is now drawing the attention to the fact that this information was important
11:11 so it should have been included.
11:12 So I'm sure going forward, the police is going to include everything that they know about
11:16 the case, even things that they themselves feel were not relevant.
11:20 I think this whole political dimension is coming up because of one, because of the personalities
11:24 involved, because of the quantity of money involved, and also considering the fact that
11:29 the complainant was, since he has resigned, was a member of the current government.
11:35 The Attorney General is also a political person because he's also a Minister of State.
11:40 And in loose sense, you can say that he's his colleague within the political circle.
11:45 So people feel that he will not be able to do a good job.
11:49 But I feel we should give the Attorney General the benefit of the doubt.
11:52 The police should supply them with the necessary information that they need to supply so that
11:57 the Attorney General as technical men will be able to look at the case and convince,
12:02 because you cannot go to court as a prosecutor.
12:05 If you're not satisfied that you can secure conviction, if the police is not satisfied
12:09 that they could secure conviction, they have every right to call for further investigations
12:15 to be conducted.
12:16 And I believe the police should cooperate with them in terms of, there's no politics,
12:20 this is nothing new.
12:21 It is something that happens regularly, just that the personality involved is a political
12:27 person and people now want to move it beyond the scope of normality into politics.
12:34 Thank you so much for your time this morning.
12:36 That lawyer Albert Jane Fisher and his thoughts on this with us.
12:41 If you just joined us, new information we are picking up is that the Attorney General
12:45 was not made aware of a pending case in the juvenile court with regard to the Cecilia
12:52 Dappa missing or stolen cash saga.
12:56 Stay with us here on Draw News for more on this.
12:59 Away from that, the Ghanaian Embassy in Niger is exploring the possibility of evacuating
13:10 Ghanaian citizens as President Ikufo-Addo and his West African counterpart leaders are
13:16 set to make a final decision on deploying soldiers to restore constitutional order in
13:23 Niger.
13:24 A meeting will be held today, if you understand, between leadership of the Ghanaian community
13:30 and officials of Ghana's Embassy in Niamey to explore the possibility of an evacuation
13:36 exercise.
13:37 Seydou Aboudou is President of the Ghanaian community in Niger.
13:40 We were trying to reach him but he's unavailable at the moment, but he makes us understand
13:45 that that meeting is scheduled to happen.
13:49 But let's now speak to Ken Alphester Saboagyi.
13:51 He's drafted a report on scenarios of ECOWAS intervention in Niger.
13:58 Grateful for your time, Ken Alphester, and it's a real pleasure to have you here.
14:02 And I'm very happy with the scenarios you have painted because when we heard of ECOWAS's
14:10 decision to move into Niger with troops, that was on another angle.
14:19 It became interesting when Niger and Mali said, not Niger, but Kinafaso, I beg your
14:26 pardon, and Mali said, "If you do this, we will consider it a declaration of war."
14:33 Run us through briefly these scenarios that you create of what is likely to happen if
14:40 ECOWAS goes ahead with a threat.
14:43 Hello, Ken Alphester.
14:47 Hello, Ken Alphester.
14:49 Yes, thanks for having me, Madam Abubayidu.
14:52 Can you hear me?
14:53 Yes, I can, please.
14:54 Yes.
14:55 Well, we all knew that the political deadline passed yesterday.
15:02 But let me explain that the political timeline in such circumstances are different from the
15:12 military timeline.
15:13 So the mere fact that yesterday passed and there was no intervention doesn't mean that
15:19 there may not be an intervention.
15:22 The chiefs of military forces within the region are meeting.
15:27 They need to establish a joint headquarters, appoint a commander, that's by the political
15:33 authorities.
15:34 They need to plan the campaign into detail.
15:38 Meanwhile, you know, obtaining intelligence and so on and so forth.
15:42 They need to go back and brief the political authorities on the military plan and get the
15:49 political approval before they go in.
15:52 So we should not rush into saying that because yesterday passed and nothing happened, nothing
15:59 is going to happen.
16:01 With that in the background, I thought that I should exercise my brains around some of
16:07 the hypothetical scenarios that could unfold in the event of an actual military intervention.
16:18 And the one that I started with is that the CNSP, which is the Council for the National
16:25 Safeguarding of the Homeland, established by the coup plot headed by General Abduramani
16:33 Etiandi, are very resilient.
16:37 They mobilize and exploit, you know, popular support within the country and are able to
16:44 resist all the pressure that ECOWAS, you know, places on them.
16:49 I mean, broadly that is one.
16:52 So the intervention does not achieve its set objectives.
16:59 Or ECOWAS goes in and quickly succeeds, which I call a swift triumph.
17:06 That could involve a number of dynamics.
17:09 The CNSP capitulates.
17:12 It is isolated from the rest of the army, because the army now withdraws its support,
17:18 as it had done on the 28th of July.
17:23 And then ECOWAS is able to reinstate, you know, Mr. Mohammed Barzoom as president.
17:30 And that is the end of the story.
17:32 ECOWAS has achieved its aim.
17:35 The third scenario could be one that I provocatively call the "back-moved" type standoff, where
17:46 yes, ECOWAS makes an initial entry successfully, but then comes against safe resistance from
17:55 the CNSP and the rest of the Nigerian forces, supported by, you know, Nigerian citizens.
18:02 And this then attenuates, and we get into the scenario of ECOMOC, where we went in to
18:09 educate Ghanaians, and we ended up staying for nine or so years, including into Sierra
18:16 Leone.
18:17 There will be serious casualties on both sides.
18:22 And when that happens, back at home, people will start asking whether it was indeed necessary
18:30 for ECOWAS to even have intervened.
18:34 The civilian casualties will also demand some humanitarian assistance, and therefore there
18:39 will be pressure on ECOWAS to actually rein in the intervention and look for some, you
18:47 know, political settlement.
18:50 The last scenario is a mixed outcome.
18:53 Yes, ECOWAS goes in, but then it gets bogged down.
18:57 It doesn't achieve its aim.
18:59 And it becomes a stalemate.
19:02 And ECOWAS then needs to come back to the drawing table and see whether it can engage,
19:08 you know, effectively with these actors.
19:11 So in between these scenarios, you're going to have the role of the media, for instance,
19:17 including social media, in shaping narratives.
19:20 You're going to have intelligence agencies who currently are working behind the scenes,
19:25 whether it's intelligence agencies or Western intelligence agencies, including direct or
19:32 some covert involvement in the situation, whether by Wagner, for instance, which I decided not
19:39 to mention, or whether by the remnants of Western forces, whether U.S. or, what do you
19:46 call it, France, and so on and so forth.
19:49 You know, in the long run, stability, regional stability could worsen.
19:56 And I'll try to point out that in the case of scenario three, for instance, when the
20:03 troops that are going to participate in the intervention return home, that is, those who
20:08 survive, we must expect that there are going to be more coups rather than less coups, because
20:15 they may rise up against their government who hurriedly, hastily, you know, decided
20:21 on an intervention.
20:23 All said and done, I say that the best way of preventing coups is to analyze the root
20:29 causes of coups and address those root causes.
20:32 And we'll be going to that shortly, Keno, because it's an interesting conversation that
20:37 we've been having since the coup happened in Niger.
20:41 But there are those who have a setting understanding of why Burkina Faso and Mali could be offering
20:50 support to Niger.
20:52 And I'd like to take your thoughts on whether their appreciation of what is happening is
20:57 close to the truth or not.
20:59 The suspicion is that if ECOWAS succeeds in Niger, then it could possibly encourage an
21:08 invasion of Mali and Burkina Faso.
21:12 And that is why Burkina Faso and Mali think that Niger deserves their support in this
21:18 particular situation.
21:20 Is that a proper appreciation of it, of the situation?
21:24 I don't think it is.
21:26 Indeed, I chose not to put in the economic factor into my scenario.
21:33 But you and I know that as we speak, many countries in West Africa, including Ghana,
21:40 are facing serious economic challenges.
21:43 So raising funds in order to procure logistical support, equipment, what we call combat service
21:51 support, the food, the fuel, the maintenance of the vehicles, is not going to be easy.
21:57 Now, ECOWAS is not going to be in a position to fight multiple campaigns, first starting
22:06 from Niger and then extending into Burkina Faso and then extending into Mali and then
22:13 into Guinea, all along forgetting that in these countries, excluding Guinea, there is
22:21 also an existential threat in the form of the jihadists, terrorism and insurgency.
22:28 So ECOWAS' adventurism, by trying to think that it can easily go into Niger and once
22:36 it succeeds in my scenario too, the emboldenment to extend the operation into these other--is
22:44 not going to be feasible.
22:47 And it's not going to be an immediate option.
22:50 Maybe they will take time now to withdraw from Niger and think about Burkina Faso, and
22:56 then sequentially think about Mali and think about Niger--sorry, Guinea.
23:01 But they are not going to be able simultaneously, you know, to conduct operations in all of
23:08 these countries.
23:09 In my scenario, to remember, if you've read it, I was very careful to say it at all, because
23:18 I did not want to introduce the feasibility of the operation.
23:22 Once I assumed that there is not going to be an operation, of course, there is no need
23:27 for any type of analysis.
23:28 And that is the end of the story.
23:30 So I decided to explore the various possibilities, but then conclude by saying that if at all,
23:38 given the political--of course, I have written that the various ECOWAS countries in the kinds
23:47 of these democratic dispensations that we have, unlike Abache's side, when we're all
23:54 military dictatorships, we need to go to our legislature and get the approval of our parliaments
24:02 and senates, and then mobilize the funds and go in.
24:06 Already we know that in Nigeria, the Nigerian senate has rejected Tinobu's request for that
24:14 kind of operation.
24:16 Of course, we should be mindful also that in 2017, 2015-2017, the former Nigerian head--what
24:27 was his name--the immediate past president of Nigeria made a similar request to his senate.
24:35 The senate rejected it.
24:36 He still went ahead.
24:38 Times have changed.
24:40 The situation in the Gambia in 2016 is very different geographically, security-wise, military-wise,
24:48 very, very different from Niger.
24:50 And therefore, one cannot conclude that because it was possible in the Gambia, it's going
24:56 to be possible in Niger.
25:02 We know that the Ghanaian authorities are trying to evacuate Ghanaian citizens from
25:06 the place.
25:07 As you mentioned, the deadline was yesterday.
25:10 There's been no invasion, but that does not mean that it will not happen.
25:13 How soon should we be seeing Ghanaians in Niger being evacuated?
25:20 Well, we have given the impression that Western lives are more important.
25:26 So, for instance, in the case of Ukraine, many other countries decided to evacuate their
25:33 citizens from Ukraine until lately, or later in the day, Ghana did so.
25:39 So once you see--because they have got the resources for very rigorous assessment and
25:48 critical appraisals of security situations.
25:51 Once they decide to remove their citizens from such theaters, we should pick up the
25:57 signal, even if we haven't done our own intelligence.
26:01 In my scenario, somewhere, I've suggested that if ECOWAS succeeds, for instance, the
26:08 ordinary citizens, if not the military, will target ECOWAS nationalities or citizens that
26:14 are in Niger.
26:16 So to avoid all of these, you know, circumstances, get your citizens out of the place, especially
26:26 if Ghana is going to be part of the ECOWAS force.
26:31 You know, we have not decided as a country--I haven't heard this may be--but it's not a
26:36 done deal that because the political authorities meet in Abuja and decide that an invasion
26:41 is going to take place, necessarily all the remaining--how many?--15 minus these four
26:49 countries will make it 11, I think, that all the 11 other countries, you know, are going
26:57 to participate.
26:58 Even if they participate, they could participate in different ways.
27:04 Direct participation in the intervention is one option.
27:08 Providing some logistical intelligence, sharing, and so on is another option.
27:13 Or advocating for what I was told by your producer, the dual theorems.
27:19 In other words, we adopt a more cautious approach and we emphasize more of diplomacy, of dialogue,
27:27 of mediation, and negotiation, rather than just going in with guns blazing to resolve
27:34 a political constitutional crisis in a country with the use of force.
27:38 It comes with a lot of risk.
27:41 And I think Ghana needs to sit down and appraise the situation vis-à-vis the decision of ECOWAS
27:47 and determine whether its participation directly in the military intervention is in the national
27:56 interest of this country.
27:57 We want a secure border.
27:58 We want trade to go on.
28:00 Not long ago we heard that about $40 million or so onions are traded between Nyami and
28:07 Giena.
28:08 That trade will just disappear.
28:10 The traders will be out of business.
28:12 Those who need the onions will not be able to have the onions and so on.
28:16 It will have a lot of consequences or impact on restaurants and so on.
28:23 So it's not just a very simple matter that we're going to go in.
28:28 Given our location geographically, our proximity to Niger, even though we cannot go directly
28:36 to Niger and we can't go through Burkina because Burkina will not allow us to have
28:44 safe passage, we need to go through Berlin.
28:47 And Berlin itself has suggested any country that takes part in the intervention could
28:54 pay a price.
28:56 Right.
28:57 Kenel, I appreciate your time here this morning.
29:00 Kenel Fessah-Sapuage retired as a conflict and security analyst.
29:03 And Kenel, we will be monitoring the situation in Niger and reach out to you as their developments
29:09 occur.
29:10 But back home in Ghana, the basic education certificate examination starts today with
29:18 a total of 600,714 candidates.
29:23 300,000, I beg your pardon, 300,000, 323 of them are males and 300,000, 391 are females.
29:39 18,993 schools are participating in this year's exam.
29:45 The number of candidates that registered for this year's BEC is 8.8% higher than the 2022
29:55 entry figure.
29:56 My colleague Jacqueline Ansomaye-Ebua has been moving around and engaging with the candidates.
30:02 I can pass these exams.
30:08 All right.
30:09 And I saw a gentleman here.
30:11 Come.
30:12 Don't be shy.
30:13 What's your name?
30:14 Jobi Selom.
30:15 Jobi Selom.
30:16 How well are you prepared for today?
30:18 I'm super prepared for the exams.
30:21 You're fully prepared.
30:22 So what should we expect from you?
30:24 Good grades.
30:27 Good grades, yes, good grades.
30:28 Good grades.
30:29 All right.
30:30 So join me.
30:31 What about you?
30:32 How well are you guys prepared?
30:33 We are prepared very well.
30:34 And your name?
30:35 Ayat Mohamed.
30:36 Ayat Mohamed.
30:37 All right.
30:38 So what paper are you writing today?
30:39 RME and English.
30:40 RME and English.
30:41 All right.
30:42 Thank you very much.
30:43 I need another guy.
30:44 I need you.
30:45 All right.
30:46 So what's your name?
30:47 Haki Madams.
30:48 Haki Madams.
30:49 How well are you prepared for today's paper?
30:51 I'm very excited.
30:52 I'm very prepared.
30:53 All right.
30:54 Sure.
30:55 All right.
30:56 Thank you very much.
30:57 So all right.
30:58 So as you can see, we are here at the Nima Cluster of Schools.
31:03 And the kids are super excited right now.
31:06 Jeda for today's paper.
31:07 And today they are writing RME.
31:10 And of course, they'll write a second paper later on in the day.
31:13 So it's just a few minutes of time.
31:15 The students are getting inside to write their first paper, which is RME.
31:36 So that's Jacqueline interacting with those excited candidates of the BEC.
31:41 She visited the Nima Cluster of Schools.
31:44 But she's also been speaking to Adeliza Tassa, who is municipal director of education at Ayia Napa East.
31:52 And she shared her observations with her.
31:55 We'll bring you that much later on the other news bulletins.
31:59 Away from the BEC, MP for Jerapa, Kletu Seydou Dapila, is taking the NPP administration on for failing to construct a trunk road leading to the hometown of one of its founding fathers, S.D. Dombo.
32:13 Speaking to John Deas, the MP lamented the poor nature of the road.
32:17 He's insisting the NPP should not only use Dombo's name to woo northern voters, but they must extend development to his constituency.
32:26 I filed a question in connection with the road, the only road, trunk road connecting Jerapa to Duri.
32:35 Duri is the hometown of S.D. Dombo, founding member of the UP tradition.
32:42 If you are to mention three members of the NPP, you will, you cannot escape Dombo's name.
32:51 You have Dombo, Buzia Dombo, Damkwa tradition.
32:56 Surprisingly, the only road, the only trunk road leading to his hometown has not been constructed.
33:04 Contract was awarded far back 2020, and the contractor was supposed to complete the job in 2022.
33:12 But as I'm addressing you, the contractor has abandoned site due to delay in payment.
33:19 So I filed a question to listen to the horse's own mouth, that is the Minister for Roads and Highways.
33:27 And the assurances he has given, I don't think that they are ready to do the job.
33:34 So I just want to use your medium to appeal to the entire government machinery of President Nanado Damkwa Kufu'adu
33:42 that this is the hometown of their founding member, S.D. Dombo.
33:47 They should not, they should do something to honor the man.
33:50 Honoring Dombo is just not naming edifice after him.
33:56 His subjects, where he comes from, they also want to fill the development.
34:01 They want development.
34:03 Even if it's a polyclinic, you know, or just to construct the road, that one alone, the people will be so happy about it.
34:11 Most often than not, what we hear is when they want, especially with the presidential elections,
34:17 or what is that, the MPP, presidential primaries ongoing,
34:21 many of them are now visiting the hometown of Dombo to associate themselves with him.
34:28 And it means that it is when they want votes that they use his name.
34:32 And when they get the votes or after elections, then they neglect the area.
34:36 So I'm calling on President Nanado, Dr. Mahamudu Baumea, and the entire MPP machinery.
34:41 They should mobilize resources to honor their founding father.
34:46 Meanwhile, MP for Gomuwa West, Richard Jan Mensah, is also sounding alarm bells
34:53 on the rising incidents of armed robbery in parts of his constituency.
34:58 This, he alludes to the poor nature of roads there.
35:01 He's asking government to fix those roads, to also increase economic activities in Gomuwa West.
35:07 As we speak now, from the Ankamu to Rampon road connects almost to,
35:13 about no less than 50% of the roads in Gomuwa West.
35:17 Gomuwa West, we have about 78 communities, and this trunk road connects to almost about 50% of the 78 communities.
35:25 As it stands now, we know there was a contractor on site, that is Top International, who has abandoned sites since last year.
35:34 And I asked the question to the minister, when the contractor is returning to site.
35:38 From his response, it means that it's just what we always know, that a contractor has not been paid and has actually vacated sites.
35:45 And he indicated that they are going to write a letter to the contractor to return back to sites.
35:50 This is the problem. The problem is the fact that he has not been paid. That is why he has left sites.
35:54 Writing a letter to him doesn't solve the problem. But what he requires is payment.
35:59 I am actually calling on the government and the minister, even though he has given the assurance that the contractor is going to return to sites.
36:06 As we speak now, as a major road for the community, there is a high security threat on the stretch.
36:15 Transport from the Janshin that goes to a community like Bibiano, which would ordinarily be around 5 cities,
36:21 now they charge as much as 15 cities, 20 cities.
36:24 So the ordinary people in the community are unable to afford the transport.
36:29 And they cannot also walk that 15 kilometers to the roadside to even attend to their necessities of life, even like attending to the hospital.
36:39 Even secondary school students, if a child is on the free SHS and lives at the Juma Council and has to go to APAM,
36:47 and the road is so bad and he has to pay about 100 Ghana cities before he can attend to school in and out.
36:53 If such a student is a day student, how are they going to bear this cost?
36:58 So I am actually making a passionate appeal to the government.
37:02 As much as they are considering roads, these are major roads and they require some urgent attention.
37:09 We would very much appreciate it if it is considered as part of their emergency roads that they want to attend to.
37:17 This is Newsdesk with me, Bernice Abubaydu-Lanzah.
37:26 We've brought you a couple of stories so far.
37:28 We've done the latest update on the Cecilia Dapaam missing cash case,
37:33 which is that the AG was not aware that there's a pending case in the juvenile court.
37:40 We also brought you some understanding of possible scenarios that could play out if ECOWAS carries out its threat in Niger.
37:50 And we've also been speaking to you about the BEC, which has started earnestly today.
37:57 We'll take a quick breather here. When we come back, we'll bring you Business at Noon.
38:01 [Music]
38:06 Hello, good morning. Welcome to Business. My name is Darrell Powell, Managing Director for Global Shade Alliance.
38:12 Aaron Edu says the Alliance and its partners have planted about 500,000 shade trees across West Africa to help recover trees lost last year.
38:20 He said the continuous depletion of the shade tree is a cause for worry.
38:25 He said we raise these concerns at a stakeholders forum organized internally by the Global Shade Alliance and Action for Shade Parklands.
38:34 Under the project, about 10 million trees are expected to be planted in the next 10 years in West Africa and 20,000 in Ghana.
38:44 Shade plant is considered an important tree in northern Ghana because of its economic value.
38:51 It is estimated to provide about 600,000 jobs for women in the sector, also a foreign income earner.
39:00 But Mr. Edu said the tree is continuously being cut down.
39:05 We are holding this forum today to bring together all stakeholders in the shade industry to talk about the issue of the declining tree population.
39:19 We see that shade tree population continuously is on the decline.
39:24 Through this engagement, we are raising awareness and we are designing strategies through consultation to be able to find solutions to the declining shade tree population.
39:34 So far, we have been able to plant across West Africa a little above 500,000 shade trees across West Africa, not only in Ghana.
39:45 We have already stored about 200 hectares of land.
39:51 The momentum is now being gathered by the private sector, donors, governments and stakeholders are now responding.
40:04 This activity helps us to maintain that momentum so that the interest people have taken and storing the land keeps going instead of being stored on the way.
40:19 The Director for West Africa Centre for Shade Innovation and Research at the UDS, Professor Aboukaria Lahassan, on his part, called for the use of alternative trees as fuller wood instead of shade.
40:33 Now, what we need to do is to make sure that we protect the shade tree so that we are able to look at ways to achieve the full benefits of the shade tree.
40:47 Now, in the presentation, I was talking about looking at alternative species of trees that would replace the shade tree.
40:55 We usually give shade trees because of its high economic value.
41:03 So, the need for us to look out for alternative species of trees is very important.
41:09 For example, trees like this acacia that I have mentioned.
41:13 They are trees that are fast growing and trees that can easily be cultivated.
41:26 And then the need for us to take very vigorous public campaign activity to change people's behavior to actually convince people to adopt these alternative trees as the resources of the future.
41:36 And then the presentations were made on the topics, the economic and environmental value of shade trees, their need for raising shade seedlings and planting new shade trees, bylaws to protect shade trees and parkland among others.
41:52 For Joy Business, Martina Bukwe reporting.
41:56 Despite the effect of the Domestic Debt Exchange Program on consumer confidence, Ekobank Ghana remained the biggest bank in the country in 2022 with a market share of 13.58%.
42:07 According to the 2023 Ghana Banking Survey by accountant and auditing firm PwC, its market share in terms of the banking industry's share of deposits was better than the 11.93% recorded in 2021.
42:20 There is more in this report.
42:22 GCB Bank placed second but lost some market share in terms of the industry's deposits.
42:29 In 2022, its market share stood at 10.87%, slightly lower than the 11.43% recorded in 2021.
42:40 From a trend analysis, GCB Bank has been losing its market share since 2017.
42:46 The third, fourth and fifth positions were occupied by Stambic Bank Ghana, Absa Bank Ghana and Consolidated Bank Ghana.
42:55 Indeed, Consolidated Bank Ghana improved its position and overtook Fidelity Bank to fifth place from sixth place in 2021, although its total percentage of deposits to the industry deposits decreased in 2022.
43:12 At the end of 2022, the other banks in the top 10 of industry deposits were Fidelity Bank, Zenith Bank, Stanchart, Assess Bank and Cal Bank.
43:23 Again, Ekobank Ghana maintained its position as the bank with the biggest loans and advances in the industry last year.
43:31 Its share of industry loans was 14.7%.
43:35 Meanwhile, the banking sector saw a jump in deposits growth by more than double the growth recorded in 2021.
43:43 And that's all in business and news continues after this break.
43:49 Thanks for staying on Newsdesk and just gone by, you heard Daryl Kyle bringing you the latest from the world of business.
44:00 And as the second clinic of the Ekobank Donors' Habitat Fair concluded, there was a lot of excitement at the West Hills Mall and vendors are already looking forward to additional three mini fairs in Thema, Takrati and Kumasi.
44:15 According to our general manager in charge of sales and customers, David Max Fuga,
44:21 these new fairs in the three cities will provide vendors and patrons additional opportunities to expand their customer base ahead of the main event in November.
44:31 Carlos Kaloni has more.
44:33 Is it land you want? Is it property you want? Or you want security doors? Or maybe you need some insurance for your home?
44:43 All that put together is what we have here at the Joy News Ekobank Habitat Fair happening here at the West Hills Mall.
44:52 Now we have a number of exhibitors who are promising mouthwatering packages from Synthex Tank to Ekobank to Elegant Homes and to security cameras and all that.
45:04 And so I will be speaking with some of the exhibitors here to find out from them what product they have and how that can benefit their prospective customers.
45:13 We are offering free video intercom and free GSM alarm to our patrons who work in and purchase any of our CCTV packages.
45:23 So we have the four, the eight, the sixteen, based on your environments and the areas you'd want to monitor.
45:29 And as I said, if you purchase any of it, we are giving you free video intercom or free GSM alarm system.
45:38 We have two products. We have the house and then we have the land.
45:41 So for the house, it's strictly demand driven. We build based on your request, what you request for from our payment plan.
45:48 We give that to you. So you start making payments up to 30 percent.
45:52 Then you move in. As you're in, you continue making the rest in instalment.
45:56 When you're done, you own the house. And then for the land, we have up to two years payment plan.
46:02 But we are running promotions now. So when you do outright, you have like 20,000 discount on it for 70 by 100, for example.
46:12 Tomorrow being the last day, we are hoping people will pass by and then ask the questions they keep on asking when they call.
46:21 So we are running promotions. Yeah, I wouldn't say so much about the promotions, but we are running a lot of juicy promotions.
46:28 So we hope they pass by. We have up to tomorrow to move. So we hope they pass by.
46:34 And then, I mean, also experience the nice environment and then the fun going on here.
46:41 Customers or everybody from home should come to West Hills Mall. Come to the stand.
46:47 We are right here to have a discussion with us. And also we are offering a 10 percent discount on all our prices.
46:55 On all our prices, inclusive of a fitted kitchen, fitted cabinets and also ceiling speakers and many more.
47:02 So we urge everybody should come around.
47:04 Now, those are some mouthwatering products from the exhibitors here.
47:08 But we want to pick the perspective of some of the customers or the patrons who have been visiting the booth here to find out from them.
47:16 What's the make of this key product from the exhibitors?
47:20 Hello, sir. So give us your name and tell us you're impressed so far.
47:23 I'm AB and I'm happy to be here. Actually, I saw this from the television advert.
47:29 And then since I've been here, I'm impressed. I'm impressed.
47:34 So I actually came here to inquire for a company that I'm working with so that next time we can have a stand also.
47:42 I actually had an engagement with a rent to own company.
47:48 And I think it's a very good thing. I see it as something that happens in the outside world, especially in Europe.
47:56 And so I think that if things of that nature continue, it will help, especially with the Ghanaians.
48:06 Because if you look at how, you know, rent issues are, you rent and so looking at their package, I think it's a very good package.
48:15 Sponsored by Ecobank and Cities and Habitat, vendors participating in the 2023 Ecobank Joy News Habitat Fair say the second mini clinic ranks among the most successful in terms of attendance.
48:29 This fair has given us so much exposure because not many people knew of Blue Rose.
48:36 But due to this fair, we've had a lot of people coming to know Blue Rose Limited, the properties we have available for sale, where our sites are located and then our contact numbers.
48:46 So this fair has really been very beneficial to us because it has given us the immediate exposure to outdoor properties to the general public.
48:56 I must say, coming to the West or the West Hills Mall has been a great experience.
49:02 And as usual, we have a number of jobs in the West, but I think we also need to get close to our people.
49:09 Like you rightly asked, we have an office here. We don't have an office, but we have a number of jobs or projects around.
49:15 So it's good. We also thought we should also get close to our people, get to know what their experiences have been and then what we look forward to doing for them in the coming days.
49:25 So I must say we are impressed. I'm impressed with the participation and the numbers so far.
49:33 For them, the exposure the fair offers is unparalleled.
49:37 I think, well, first of all, we joined Joy FM because we believe them to be an exceptional company in terms of media promotion.
49:45 And the team that we have met over the last nine months or so have been very helpful in advising us how best to hit our target markets.
49:54 So it's not just about exposure. It's about targeting exposure.
49:58 And we now have a greater sense of how to put our name out there, the way that people want to buy from us.
50:07 And that's Carlos Colony with a wrap of the final day of our mini clinic at the West Hills Mall.
50:12 So you just want to stay with us. For those of you in Tema, Thakurade and Kumasi, we are coming over to your city.
50:20 So just keep your eyes on this channel for all the times and advertisements.
50:26 Well, that's how we end this edition of News Desk. I am really pleased that you make time to join me.
50:31 Do well to stay with us. This is your most credible news source.
50:35 I am Bernice Abubay-Duranza. Thanks once again for watching.
50:39 [Music]