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Transcript
00:00:00 Welcome to Friday on the AM show. Another beautiful opportunity for us to connect.
00:00:05 You from that end, we from this end in the studio together with our guests as
00:00:09 we serve you the finest of morning television. This is the AM show. My name
00:00:14 is Benjamin Akaku and I always do this together with Bernice Abubaylulansa.
00:00:18 Welcome aboard. Now right after this you know what follows, the news and after
00:00:24 that the news review. But here's what we have lined up for you today. On prime
00:00:28 take today with Mufti Abdullahi, his guest is former vice president of the
00:00:35 Ghana Football Association George Afria who's got a lot of flack, caught a lot of
00:00:39 flack and fire in recent times. Don't miss that one. It's going to be an
00:00:44 interesting conversation on sports, football to be specific. And then from
00:00:48 there it's been a while hasn't it? Over a month. I'll be coming your way today with
00:00:52 my blunt thoughts and today I've titled it the cloak of corruption and the frock
00:00:59 of populism undressing our politicians. That's it. The cloak of corruption and
00:01:05 the frock of populism undressing our politicians. And then we get into our big
00:01:11 stories and stakeholders in education who joined the celebration of
00:01:15 International Literacy Day at Kijibi in the Oti region. My area of town by the
00:01:20 way have called on all to support complementary education to thrive. Now
00:01:24 according to the Ministry of Education, the Ghana Education Service,
00:01:27 Complementary Education Agency and Engage Now Africa, no one must be left
00:01:32 behind in education in the ever-changing global community. But how many? Just how
00:01:38 many are getting left behind? Today we contemplate that. That's the first
00:01:42 story we're going to be looking at on our plate for today. Of course as always
00:01:47 we offer you the opportunity of getting interactive with us, sharing with us what
00:01:51 your thoughts are on these myriad matters. We'll also activate the phone lines and
00:01:55 engage you. So just stay tuned, stay put. Let's serve you the news up next.
00:02:01 [Music]
00:02:26 Thank you for staying with us. We appreciate your time and it's time now
00:02:31 for the AM News. In our first story, families of three young men who
00:02:36 were alleged to have apprehended and later gruesomely murdered by personnel
00:02:41 of the Police Intelligence Directorate have appealed to the Interior and
00:02:45 National Security Ministers to commence investigations to unravel the
00:02:49 mystery actually surrounding the death of the young men. Now the trio, Jimma
00:02:54 Kocho, 28, his sibling Hadi Salifu, 24, and Abudu Habib, 30, were apprehended at
00:03:00 their homes during the wee hours of December the 1st, 2022 by gun-wielding
00:03:05 men at Tuna and Nahari in the Savannah region. Now spokesperson for the
00:03:10 families, Detective Chief Inspector Adam Yahya, retired, says the only way crimes
00:03:16 unconscionable such as this could be halted is for the perpetrators to be
00:03:21 brought to justice. Joy News' Upper West Regional correspondent Rafiq Salam
00:03:25 travelled to Tuna where two of the deceased were buried and has this report.
00:03:31 Tuna and Nahari are mourning. The two communities are a few kilometres away from each other and
00:03:39 both located in the southern Tuna-Kalawa district of the Savannah region. The
00:03:45 people are grieving over the loss of three young men who are between the ages
00:03:50 of 24 and 30 and were allegedly gruesomely murdered by the Police Intelligence Directorate of the
00:04:01 Ghana Police Service almost 10 months ago. The grief echoes the whole Tuna
00:04:06 community. The loss is profound and one generation of a family is wiped out.
00:04:14 If somebody is arrested, to be a criminal, he has to follow the due process. Maybe go to a police station, go to court and the court will see to pass judgement. If he will be in prison, he will be in prison. But to kill him, now that we are sitting, we don't know why they were killed.
00:04:35 When they went to deposit them at the police station, they were recorded in the police book as unidentified suspects. Unidentified means you don't know their identity, you don't know their names. Somebody you claim has confessed to a crime, you don't know their name. Is it possible?
00:04:52 The incident occurred during the wee hours of the morning when the three of them, Jimakoto, 28, his sibling Hadi Salifu, 24, and Abudu Abibu, 30, were apprehended at their homes and later allegedly shot dead by plainclothes PID personnel.
00:05:13 This is actually the house of Jimakoto who was lying here on the day of the night with his pregnant wife. And so when the personnel came around, they tried to open the door and the door was not opening. So they forcedfully opened it, went inside the house, just handpicked him, brought him out.
00:05:36 The detective chief inspector, Adam Zahiratat, is a direct uncle to Jimakoto and Hadi Salifu, and he speaks for the family.
00:05:47 For about three or four days we were not getting any information. Then due to the report of the Nkligae FM, the youth were becoming agitated. So upon intelligence, the regional police commander came to Tona on the 9th of December and met the chiefs and the people in the palace and assured them that Jimakoto, Hadi, and all the people arrested are in safe hands in Accra.
00:06:11 After several days of not having any information about their whereabouts, he led some members of the family to the PID headquarters in Accra but to no avail. They then chose to pursue the matter at the law court, who the police taken out and later held a meeting to address their concerns.
00:06:33 It was there and then that Yohunu informed us that they never knew that we were in search of those three people. And that is why they didn't respond until they got the suit before they got to know that it is those people they arrested and killed in Soladaf we are looking for.
00:06:52 Shockingly, he told us that the day in question, that the PID on their arrest in Accra went with seven dead bodies. Seven dead bodies from the Savannah region. So if you are ready, they have made arrangements at the police mortuary, we should go there and identify whether the three people we are looking for are among the seven dead bodies. How?
00:07:17 Their morbid curiosity was satisfied in the end, but on the outer of the faces, they struggled to identify.
00:07:26 When I went to examine them in April at the mortuary, I couldn't even identify them because all their faces were covered with blood. So I had to ask one of the mortuary men to, because I was suspecting, I was finding it difficult to identify him because the whole face was off.
00:07:46 The bodies of the three young men were finally released to their families for burial.
00:07:52 And so their family at the moment, they are grieving. And then also you can see that the situation here is not all that the best. So a somber mood, a lot of tears eyes and seated straight in front of her door is the mother of two of the personalities that we are talking about.
00:08:13 The only children I have on there and they have been killed.
00:08:18 I would like to appeal to the government to punish all those that are part of this.
00:08:23 So that it won't repeat itself again.
00:08:28 The families of Jim Okotso and Heidi Salifu have already labeled February 22 as Black Day Day. And they want nothing but justice for these people who were allegedly shot dead.
00:08:43 Those who came for the operation, all those who chanced in the operation, I'm appealing to the Minister of Interior, I'm appealing to the Minister of National Security, I'm appealing to the Commissioner for Human Rights to come in, get these people investigated and put them, and bring them to book, to serve as a deterrent.
00:09:09 The three left behind three wives and nine children.
00:09:14 Reporting for JNews, Rafik Salam, Tuna.
00:09:20 Let's talk politics now and Member of Parliament for Dominic Kwabinyasara Adrasafo has publicly rendered an apology to the President and the rank and file of a party for her actions and actions that have hurt the new patriotic party.
00:09:34 According to the former deputy majority leader, her actions were not deliberate and were regrettable.
00:09:40 Adrasafo took a leave of absence in 2021 citing personal reasons and even had it extended indefinitely beyond August the 31st, 2021.
00:09:50 As a result of her extended absence and perceived ineffectiveness as both a lawmaker and a government appointee, she was relieved of her role as Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection.
00:10:02 Now, despite attempts by Parliament's Privileges Committee to obtain reasons for her prolonged absence, she did not provide any.
00:10:10 But in a televised message, the Dominic Kwabinyasara Member of Parliament says none of her actions were deliberate.
00:10:17 I wish to offer my sincere apologies to His Excellency the President Nana Adudanpa Ekufuwado, the Vice President Dr. Mahmoud Bawumia, the Chief of Staff Honorable Frema Ase Okpare, the Majority Leader and the entire leadership of Parliament,
00:10:36 my colleague members of Parliament, the entire majority caucus, the leadership of our great party, the National Chairman and the General Secretary, together with all your executives,
00:10:48 the regional executives of Greater Accra, the constituency executives of Dominic Kwabinya, led by Chairman Mbusu, all police station executives.
00:10:59 I wish to state that I'm sincerely sorry. I apologize for my actions and inactions. None of my actions were intentional, deliberate or calculated to bring disrepute to our great party.
00:11:15 I was going through a lot as a mother and as a woman. I want to take this opportunity to ask for your forgiveness for anything untoward that I have done to bring the name of the party into disrepute.
00:11:29 As the saying goes, to err is human and to forgive is divine. I ask for your forgiveness.
00:11:39 Meanwhile, some constituents of Dominic Kwabinya have been sharing mixed reactions to the apology rendered by their member of Parliament.
00:11:48 Madam Adjoa Safo, who had taken a leave of absence in 2021 citing personal reasons, had her leave extended indefinitely beyond August 31, 2021.
00:12:00 As a result of her extended absence and perceived ineffectiveness as both a lawmaker and government appointee, she was relieved of her role as Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection.
00:12:14 Despite attempts by Parliament's Privileges Committee to obtain reasons for her prolonged absence, she did not provide any.
00:12:23 Now, the exact reason for this apology remains unclear, but she says she's sorry.
00:12:29 I wish to offer my sincere apologies to His Excellency the President Nana Adodanpa Ekufuadu, the Vice President Dr Mahmoud Bawamia, the Chief of Staff Honorable Frima Osei-Opare, the Majority Leader and the entire leadership of Parliament,
00:12:47 my colleague members of Parliament, the entire majority caucus, the leadership of our great party, the National Chairman and the General Secretary, together with all your executives, the regional executives of Greater Accra, the constituency executives of Dominic Kwabinya.
00:13:06 Her apology has already been received with a sharp reaction.
00:13:10 Her constituency secretary, Chief of Laws Ansel Abe, said although her apology has been accepted, they are not willing to support her parliamentary bid.
00:13:19 She has every right to apologize. If she thinks within herself that she's done something wrong to the constituents and that she wants to apologize, that's fine.
00:13:29 But we say, "Okay, very good. We accept your apology, but I think enough is enough."
00:13:34 What do you mean? You say enough is enough?
00:13:36 We have the men and the women. Dominic Kwabinya's name cannot be mentioned in the news for the wrong reasons all the time because of just one person.
00:13:44 And I say here that I am a party leader and a delegate who takes part in the selection of candidates for the constituency.
00:13:58 But some constituents have been sharing mixed reactions about the apology by Madam Adjua Safu.
00:14:05 The Safu administration is very poor. It's very, very poor.
00:14:11 When it's about the internet, you see her around, going up and down with the macho men. That's what all of them are up to.
00:14:19 But not we, the people that represent our needs.
00:14:23 She's a human being. And we, human beings, offend human beings. Do you understand?
00:14:28 So if she has done something, she has realized that what she has done is wrong, and she has come for an apology,
00:14:33 who are we to say no? We forgive her.
00:14:35 But I don't have anything to say. But I do have one thing to say.
00:14:38 If you come, they make every effort to thank everybody.
00:14:42 We didn't have anything to say to her again. Just allow him to do whatever he did.
00:14:47 The Dom Kwabinya constituency is the largest in Ghana with over 850,000 voters.
00:14:53 A reason happiness here got no attraction.
00:14:57 At the moment, it is unclear if Sarah Adjoa Safu will be contesting the next elections.
00:15:03 All eyes are fixed for the unfolding developments.
00:15:07 Samuel Mbura, join us. Dom Kwabinya.
00:15:14 Lastly, on the political front, as former agric minister and NPP flag bearer, hopeful Dr. Friyakotu,
00:15:21 is rallying party members in preparation for the 2024 election.
00:15:26 The November 4th elections committee has completed the balloting allocation for all four candidates,
00:15:31 placing the former agric minister in the third position on the ballot.
00:15:35 He explains that the November 4th election should not divide the party,
00:15:39 but rather serve as an opportunity to reunite behind a single candidate to break the eight.
00:15:44 He has been addressing the media.
00:15:48 I have been humbled by the decision of the super delegates to select me as one of the five candidates
00:15:58 to contest for the flag bearership race on the 4th of November, 2023.
00:16:06 The 4th November election is not a make or break issue for the party.
00:16:14 It is to elect one of us to bear the flag of our noble party
00:16:19 going forward to the presidential elections scheduled for the 7th of December, 2024.
00:16:27 It offers an opportunity for all of us to unite behind one person
00:16:33 to lead us to break the eight and not to break the party.
00:16:39 Now the search for Jean Mensah and other top electoral commission officials
00:16:44 as lawyers of a first time voter accused the election management body of evading the service,
00:16:51 of evading service and failing to respect a court injunction,
00:16:55 ordering a halt on the EC's limited registration exercise.
00:16:59 The lawyers and a court bailiff have been unable to serve a contemptible sentence.
00:17:04 The lawyers and a court bailiff have been unable to serve a contempt of court application
00:17:09 on the electoral commission after a third attempt this morning.
00:17:13 The plaintiff 18 year old, that was actually yesterday morning,
00:17:17 the plaintiff 18 year old Precious Aita secured a contempt application against the electoral commission
00:17:23 after the EC proceeded with the limited voter registration exercise
00:17:27 despite an earlier injunction by the applicants.
00:17:30 The following report has more.
00:17:32 On Tuesday, lawyers for 18 year old Precious Aita were informed by the electoral commission officials
00:17:39 to return on Wednesday to serve the contempt of court application because they were locked up in a meeting.
00:17:45 Unfortunately, the lawyers were turned away by the police on duty on the next day.
00:17:50 The situation was not different when the lawyers together with the bailiff
00:17:54 came back to the electoral commission premises on Thursday.
00:17:57 After a short interaction with the police, member of the legal team for the plaintiff, Joseph Wellington-Lea,
00:18:03 explains they have been denied entry to the EC offices for the third time.
00:18:07 The message has been simple, that we have to, nobody is allowed to come in or out.
00:18:14 They are not admitting anybody into the EC's premises.
00:18:18 That is the message we have been getting.
00:18:20 They have told us that if we want to serve anybody, we have to call the person personally
00:18:27 for the person to either come out, to come and receive the process.
00:18:30 That is the information that we have been given.
00:18:33 We have tried as much as possible to pull strings together so that,
00:18:38 because the people that we are serving, we are serving the EC chairperson herself,
00:18:43 Dr. Bosterman, and then one Mr. Samueltete.
00:18:47 Those are the people and it is hard to reach them.
00:18:50 So if we are given access at least, the bailiff could have gone inside to attempt to serve us.
00:18:57 What was the reason for not allowing you into the premises?
00:19:01 They didn't offer any reason per se.
00:19:06 I think the reason is instructions from above.
00:19:10 Nobody is allowed to enter or move out of the premises.
00:19:14 So we have been denied access once again.
00:19:17 He said although her client is in high spirit, she is unable to enroll onto the EC's voters register.
00:19:23 It is a very trying moment for her, but she is in good spirits.
00:19:28 We are just encouraging her because nobody should be deprived of their rights to vote
00:19:35 or their rights to be enlisted onto the electoral roll.
00:19:39 It is just unfortunate that we are here.
00:19:42 She has not been able to register.
00:19:44 She can't register.
00:19:46 The distance between where she resides and the closest district office is over 40 kilometers.
00:19:53 It is practically impossible for her.
00:19:55 The question is, although the distance, she has been able to come and file a case in Thema?
00:20:00 No, this is a pro bono case.
00:20:04 Our firm and a team of lawyers are helping people like that out.
00:20:09 So we are helping those who are disenfranchised, who feel aggrieved by the decision of the NTC.
00:20:17 That is basically.
00:20:19 After a third failed attempt, the lawyers say they are left with no option than to go back to the court for advice.
00:20:25 James Kwesiawidji's report read to you.
00:20:33 In our next story, the AU peacekeeping mission in Somalia, known as the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia,
00:20:40 is citing funding challenges as one of the major reasons it has decided to do a gradual withdrawal of troops from the East African country.
00:20:49 There was a successful drawdown of 2,000 troops in July, with six forward operating bases handed over to the Somali security forces.
00:20:58 The AU has agreed with the Somali government to pull out another 3,000 troops by the end of September,
00:21:04 with the mission extended to end of December 2024.
00:21:09 Force commander for the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia, Lieutenant General Sam Okeding, says
00:21:15 the terror threat posed by al-Shabaab is not limited to Somalia, but extends to West African countries, including Ghana.
00:21:23 Maxwell Agbaba of our security desk has more from Somalia.
00:21:28 The security situation, as you know, in general in Somalia, because of the terrorist threat, the security situation is fruit and unpredictable.
00:21:42 Al-Shabaab has remained the dominant enemy of Somalia and the Horn Africa region.
00:21:52 It has now withdrawn from most of major towns and cities to the villages and small towns, even bushes or forests, across Artemis area of responsibilities.
00:22:09 The strongholds are still in the Juba Valley, Bai, Bakur and Ghed regions of Somalia.
00:22:18 Those regions are yet to be cleared of al-Shabaab.
00:22:23 Al-Shabaab has an active force estimated between 12,000 and 15,000 militants operating in the Artemis area of responsibility.
00:22:38 The force generation is facilitated by an aggressive recruitment campaign that is either radicalized, voluntarily or forceful.
00:22:53 The tactical modus operandi of al-Shabaab is still to avoid force on force combat with the friendly forces in favor of complex attacks,
00:23:09 often in place of combining combination of various type of improvised explosive devices and ground assault forces, small scale raids, ambushes,
00:23:26 and the close-cut assassination against government personnel and other individuals challenging the authority.
00:23:37 As such, the group largely employs asymmetric warfare tactics.
00:23:45 The group mainly operates in small units of less than 20 fighters and can increase the number to approximately 250 fighters to conduct major attacks.
00:24:04 (no audio)
00:24:10 And that was the scoop there from Somalia and that's how we bring an end to the AM news this Friday morning.
00:24:15 But stay with us. Up next, we gear up for the news review on the AM show.
00:24:20 (music)
00:24:38 Welcome back. Time now for the news review. And we have a very special guest, a very special group of guests this morning.
00:24:45 And that special group of guests I'll be introducing to you shortly. Let me just put you out of your misery.
00:24:51 That group of guests is you. So this morning, here's what we've decided to do.
00:24:57 We've decided that we want to engage you from the top of the show all the way to the end of the show,
00:25:03 which is why for the news review, we're asking you, as I dissect the newspapers, to tell me what your thoughts are on these matters.
00:25:11 So as we go on, feel free at any moment to call that number 0302 211 691.
00:25:19 It will be rolling at the bottom of your screens shortly. 0302 211 691.
00:25:26 Share your thoughts with us on these matters and, of course, tangential or related matters, if you may.
00:25:34 Thank you for joining us. Of course, this segment always brought to you by Endpoint Homeopathic Clinic.
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00:26:39 But just the start of the news review. I think this is the very first time we're doing something like this.
00:26:45 Engaging you to share all your thoughts with us on the major stories.
00:26:52 So I bid you to take advantage of it. But, but, there's a but.
00:26:58 As you call in, and I hope I'm going to be hearing from some of you this morning, season your words. Season your thoughts.
00:27:05 Don't come here and be abusive. Don't call in and be abusive and all of that.
00:27:10 Share your cogent thoughts with all of Ghana and in fact the world.
00:27:15 We have listeners, viewers from all over the West African sub-region and more.
00:27:22 So please, just keep it simple, straight to the point and decorous.
00:27:30 We have a Yakubu on the line. Hello Yakubu.
00:27:35 Yes. You're calling from Waliwali. Yes. The vice president's hometown.
00:27:39 How is Waliwali today? Waliwali is very calm and good.
00:27:45 Okay. Just a quick one. Let me know what your thoughts are.
00:27:48 We've not even started with the review, but I'm sure there's something you'd like to share with us.
00:27:52 Yeah, I just want to give my view about Adwoa Safu apology.
00:27:57 Interesting. That's something we did for the news. Go ahead. Sarah Adwoa Safu.
00:28:01 I think she's a human being. Okay.
00:28:06 She has realized her mistake. She has apologized.
00:28:09 But I think the onus lies on the people of Dominicovania to decide whether to give her another chance.
00:28:18 But whatever the issue was, I don't know who advised her, why she couldn't give the apology earlier.
00:28:28 But she decided to do all what she wanted. Then at the end of it, now we are getting to election.
00:28:35 People would think that it's because we are getting into election, that is why she's coming out to apologize.
00:28:40 Because don't be. People used to talk about her. They used to call her even MP.
00:28:46 People carved. True. And this woman would not die.
00:28:51 She would say anything. Well, but to be fair to her, too, you do realize that even I remember my colleague,
00:29:02 blessed Sogai, interacted with her. Then she came into town.
00:29:06 She has offered some form of apology before. This wouldn't be the first time she said she was sorry.
00:29:13 I think even she addressed something to Mr. President at some point.
00:29:16 But now she's coming out again, maybe formally to do it. But I understand what you're saying.
00:29:21 People will say it's because she wants to get the nod again from her party.
00:29:25 Yes. The thing is that. Hello. Yes, I'm listening. Go ahead.
00:29:30 Your Holy Republic office. It is not your personal office.
00:29:33 If it is your personal issue, the one you can decide to keep it and voice it out at any time you want.
00:29:41 Right. How you are representing your people in Parliament.
00:29:46 You cannot be absent in Parliament more than two weeks.
00:29:52 Without recourse to your constituents. Without recourse to the authority of Parliament.
00:29:59 But she did more than that. So that is why we are saying that if it is your personal issue
00:30:06 then you are not holding public office. You can keep it to yourself. Nobody cares.
00:30:12 Right. As long as you hold public office, whatever you do, you must.
00:30:18 It will be under the microscope. You must involve the public.
00:30:22 So that they know what is happening. Right.
00:30:24 If it is that, you cannot more run the office. You resign. Honorably.
00:30:31 Then, you can imagine, there were times, minority in Parliament, they were calling.
00:30:37 No, I think some of the members of MPP were calling for by-election.
00:30:44 Indeed. It became so mecky. It became so political.
00:30:48 Whilst some members of MPP wanted her to come out so that they would do by-election,
00:30:54 the minority didn't want it because they knew that the absence of a Joseph was playing into their game.
00:31:01 Okay. Which I think is absolutely despicable.
00:31:05 Okay, so the bottom line for you is, at the same time, you know, because of time and because others will call,
00:31:11 let's make it a bit brief. So, the bottom line for you is...
00:31:14 Hello, Yakubu? Yes, please, I'm listening.
00:31:19 What's the bottom line for you? You don't think she should get the nod?
00:31:23 No, no, no. I don't think. I don't think.
00:31:26 There are a lot of men and women in the party who want the opportunity and they gave it to her and left them.
00:31:35 I don't think she should be given the chance again. After all, she has done this her third time.
00:31:40 She should move aside and somebody will take over. That is my take at this moment.
00:31:45 Thank you. Thank you, Yakubu, for calling from Waliwali with those thoughts.
00:31:51 And he obviously has a thinking on this political issue.
00:31:56 Sarah Dwasafu, you can call in and share your thoughts on everything from Gallamcy to the Sarah Dwasafu situation
00:32:04 to the November 4 election awaiting the members or those aspirants for the NDC.
00:32:11 You could also share your thoughts on this, something I'm going to be sharing with you this morning.
00:32:15 Ghana's exchange rate loss of nearly 40 percent in the year highest in Africa.
00:32:21 That's according to the World Bank. Exchange rate loss about 40 percent.
00:32:27 Xavier is on the line. Xavier, let's do this quickly.
00:32:31 Xavier from Sogako Perso. We start with the daily graphic. Xavier, good morning.
00:32:35 Good morning, Benjamin. Hope you are doing well. I am well, please. By God's grace.
00:32:39 How about you, sir? I'm fine. Right. Go straight ahead.
00:32:43 Mr. Gasper, I want to speak about ECG.
00:32:49 ECG? Yes, please. Go ahead, sir.
00:32:53 Yeah, ECG, for some time now, they have been in the news and then all of a sudden they are not in the news again.
00:33:01 But there is something they are doing which I think the whole public is not aware.
00:33:09 Now, we go on postpaid meters. They don't come and read the meters again.
00:33:17 They don't read it. They will just give you estimated bill.
00:33:21 A huge sum of money they will put there and they are expecting you to come and pay.
00:33:29 When you go and pay part, then they will come and discredit you that you are owing.
00:33:35 That is what they are doing now. And most of Ghanaians are not aware that that is what ECG is doing.
00:33:41 When you get to their office, they will tell you they are having issues, this and this.
00:33:49 Since January this year, I have not received any actual bill.
00:33:55 All the bills are estimated. So within this period, they have never come to read your meter?
00:34:03 No. All the bills I get are estimated. So it means they don't come to read it.
00:34:09 Because if they read it, they should be giving me estimated all the time.
00:34:13 And they will give you bills that I used to pay like 200 CDs, 150.
00:34:17 Now, they will give you 1,000, 700, 800 CDs. And they are expecting me to pay.
00:34:23 But Xavier, while I understand you and I understand your plight, I am on that side of things.
00:34:29 You also realize that utility prices, the tariffs have gone up a number of times.
00:34:35 So your bill wouldn't necessarily be what it used to be. You know that, right?
00:34:39 Yes, it's true. But what they are giving is not realistic, Benjamin.
00:34:45 For example, the increased electricity bill, that was 31.7% somewhere February or March this year.
00:34:55 It's not even up to 100%. So if I used to pay 200 CDs, and assuming that the total increment up to now is 100%,
00:35:07 they are actually paying like 400. But now they bring bills like 1,000, 700, 800.
00:35:13 You see, that is the issue. I am very much aware of the situation.
00:35:17 But what they are doing, they are not reading the meters again.
00:35:21 So you should call them and let them come to answer this thing.
00:35:25 Why they are doing that to the whole public. They are not reading the meters.
00:35:28 And they will be giving estimated bills for some time, since January this year until now.
00:35:31 And they will be doing that. They will come and be discouraging people innocently.
00:35:35 Xavier, thank you so much for calling us all the way from Sogakopo.
00:35:39 We appreciate your call. And it's something that we've actually been working on.
00:35:42 Let me tell you something. Last week, and I am a prepaid user, so you pay as you use.
00:35:50 And there were challenges I wanted to top up. I had actually taken my eye off the ball for just a brief period.
00:35:57 And I had to top up. I was left with just a few CDs on my prepaid meter.
00:36:03 I tried because I have the gadget, so it's very easy to pay with mobile money.
00:36:07 Nothing would work. There were problems. I called the Roman Ridge office.
00:36:13 They got back to me. The problem couldn't be resolved.
00:36:18 They said I had to wait. Everything was trying. Nothing worked.
00:36:22 The following day was a Saturday. I went to their office. They work on Saturdays.
00:36:26 Unfortunately, that Saturday, it didn't appear they were working.
00:36:29 It appeared they had a funeral or something, and they had moved off.
00:36:33 So I went to a vendor. Okay, if that is not working, let me pay manually to a vendor.
00:36:41 And then when they rectify the issue, hopefully my money will be given back to me, because there's a process.
00:36:46 On the app, there too, the network was down.
00:36:51 So it was something that I had tabled for this week, and it's important that you've brought this up.
00:36:55 We'll be looking into these activities. We support ECG with a drive to mop up funds
00:37:00 and ensure that those who aren't paying are actually paying their bills.
00:37:04 But ECG, sometimes, monsoonal. Your systems and all of that. Imagine that.
00:37:09 So if my light had gone off, all the discomfort, my fridge, things getting spoiled,
00:37:14 the heat and everything, you want me to bear it because of what?
00:37:19 You've installed a prepaid meter for me. I have the money to pay for the electricity, yet I can't enjoy it.
00:37:27 These are some of the circumstances, and they make no sense.
00:37:29 The Daily Graphic this morning. Special task force deployed to protect mining companies.
00:37:35 Ganafour, I want you to really--there's a page I'm on on WhatsApp,
00:37:39 and someone had some drone shots of our riverbodies in Ghana.
00:37:43 And recently our president was where? Saying that Gallimse was what?
00:37:47 Ay! I mean, if you look at our waterbodies, now it's getting into the sea.
00:37:54 Now it's even getting--it's starting to pollute the vaulter.
00:37:58 Because from up north, the whites, the black vaulter, it's starting to pollute the vaulter.
00:38:05 Let me just read the story. Alhaj, please, just hold on for me.
00:38:09 Let me read the story briefly so you can react to it.
00:38:11 So, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has deployed a special task force of police officers
00:38:17 to protect large-scale mining companies from invasion by illegal miners.
00:38:21 The ministry has also contacted the ministries of national security and defense
00:38:25 to deploy the military on special occasions to tackle illegal mining activities
00:38:30 at legal mining concessions when the need arises.
00:38:34 The special task force will patrol large-scale mining concessions to prevent illegal miners from trespassing.
00:38:40 That's what the sector minister says.
00:38:42 So this is another angle. We've seen stories where, you know, legal outfits when it comes to mining
00:38:50 have had their concessions encroached upon by illegal miners.
00:38:54 That is what they are tackling. But I'm saying the wider problem of Gallimse,
00:38:57 it is beating us black and blue.
00:38:59 And, yeah, it should be you, because we shouldn't even be thinking about now.
00:39:04 Norway's fund is thinking about how many decades into the future, the future generations.
00:39:09 We are here. Even what the future will come and inherit, we are destroying it.
00:39:13 Alhaj, a very good morning to you.
00:39:15 Good morning, sir.
00:39:17 Alhaj, I'd like to know your name.
00:39:20 I'm Alhaj Premier, but my real name is Salifu.
00:39:25 Okay. Alhaj Salifu. Where are you calling from?
00:39:28 I'm calling from Upper West Region.
00:39:31 Thank you for calling. You remind me of our Upper West Regional correspondent, Rafik Salam.
00:39:36 Rafik Salam. That's my grandfather.
00:39:39 That's your grandfather. What do you have to share with us this morning?
00:39:42 Thank you very much. It's like you have said a lot.
00:39:46 And I just, because I just circle maybe one or two.
00:39:51 You just said something about a Gallimse.
00:39:55 I think this Gallimse issue is something that affects me a lot.
00:39:59 But it's like you are not alive today, just like you mentioned.
00:40:02 We always feel that negative impact tomorrow, that is our upcoming generation.
00:40:06 But just like down south, we are realizing how some children are being born without some parts of their bodies.
00:40:13 Yeah, deformities.
00:40:15 Yes. And definitely we don't even know the upcoming effects. That would be worse than this.
00:40:20 And then even if you come to Upper West here, you know, we are in an agrarian community.
00:40:25 We are in a farming community.
00:40:27 But if you go to some of the communities now, how do you even get land to farm? It's very difficult.
00:40:32 But that is an effect.
00:40:33 So we need to come to a time that we may have the reserve to farm, we have the fertilizer to farm, but there won't be land for us to farm.
00:40:39 So I would advise that our leaders, they don't just look at the money, they should look at our future.
00:40:45 If we come to a time that we have the money, but we can't even get land to farm.
00:40:49 So when you don't have the money, you can't even get food to buy. That is an effect.
00:40:53 Yeah. You may get to the point where you have the money, you can't even get water to buy.
00:40:58 You may have to import water.
00:40:59 To buy. Because there was a time that we haven't even applauded the government.
00:41:03 We've been taking good care of the water.
00:41:06 But today it's like we are going back to the same situation that we were before this government came.
00:41:11 But I want to talk about something that is an addressable issue.
00:41:15 All right. Briefly, please. Because of time.
00:41:17 Thank you very much. Because it's like politicians are not seeking the political force as a business, not service.
00:41:25 They are rather taking it as maybe they only want to get money from it, but not to save their followers.
00:41:31 So I think that Adjo Safo is now apologizing because she wants another time to go to parliament.
00:41:37 So I would say that, no, she's not the only woman there.
00:41:40 We have several women there. If you only want a woman to represent them, what women there?
00:41:45 We need to select a different person that will respect the rules and regulations of the parliament.
00:41:50 All right. Thank you. Thank you, Elhadj, for calling and sharing your thoughts.
00:41:53 I like the way you say "we." So I'm sure you're a member of the MPPA.
00:41:56 You're saying that, of course, we can do much better.
00:41:59 Of course, this is the biggest constituency in the country.
00:42:03 Take away even the Bantam Mears and the rest.
00:42:06 The biggest you can find. So it is of major consequence.
00:42:09 And it has predominantly been for the new patriotic party.
00:42:13 Well, new fishing canoes banned. That's still on the Daily Graphic newspaper.
00:42:17 And tied to that boat accident, seven fishermen missing at Adda.
00:42:21 There's also Akratema Motorway tollbooths decommissioning underway.
00:42:25 Let me quickly get to page 13 and take a swipe of that power.
00:42:32 There's also this bit about lack of women empowerment stagnating progress.
00:42:42 You can check out that story on page seven. Do we have Benjamin on the line?
00:42:48 Yes, Mr. Kaffir. Benjamin, do me a favor. Just stick with me for 15 seconds.
00:42:52 I'll come to you shortly. OK. All right.
00:42:56 Akratema Motorway tollbooths decommissioning underway and the Ghana Highway Authority has partially decommissioned
00:43:01 the tollbooths on the Akratema Motorway.
00:43:04 The decommissioning involved the pulling down of the original booths that sit on the motorway to pave the way for easy flow of traffic.
00:43:14 Officials have since opened some of the decommissioned lanes to traffic with the metal canopies that cover the tollbooths expected to be removed in subsequent days.
00:43:24 And just quickly, a ban has been placed on the registration of new canoes for artisanal fishing for the next three years.
00:43:30 This follows the implementation of a three year moratorium on new artisanal canoe entry to take effect from October the 1st, 2023,
00:43:38 to September the 30th, 2026 for the artisanal sector, of course, in their Mavis Hawa Kumsin.
00:43:44 I know I've taken more than 15 seconds. My apologies. Ben, your thoughts.
00:43:50 Mr. Akratema, thank you. I want to raise a concern, a growing concern about the way drivers in Ghana do.
00:44:01 That is, commercial drivers. What happens is, I live at Fukuasis, and every morning when I think they broadcast,
00:44:13 they take the aspar price that I'm supposed to be taking. That is the price that the GPL should give them to take from the passenger.
00:44:24 Now, in the evening, when you are coming back from work, they all decide to double the aspar price of the sale.
00:44:34 I live in Fukuasis. In the morning, they take 5 CDs, 60 S.A. And in the evening, when you are coming, they take 10 CDs from everybody in Fukuasis.
00:44:46 Now, what happens is, a few months ago, they were asked to reduce the sale, and they told the whole Ghana that they are not going to do so,
00:44:57 because of the increments of the price. We agreed. Instead of them taking the aspar price, they have decided to multiply their fare by 2 every evening.
00:45:11 Right.
00:45:12 We can see the struggles people go through, including older men and women, pregnant women, and people that are disabled.
00:45:21 We all struggle for the same car, at the same sale, double price, every evening. And every time I try to rent a car,
00:45:30 I just have to wait for everybody to go, and then I don't rent a car. Because I can't be struggling with these older men and women,
00:45:39 and these pregnant women. At the same time, they need to pay that amount that is not supposed to be taken from them.
00:45:47 Something happened 3 weeks ago. I had to struggle with a policeman. We sat in the same car, and they made 2 cars, same CDs, to Fukuasis.
00:45:58 He escaped, and never complained. A policeman in uniform.
00:46:01 Wow.
00:46:02 And I was like, the one that is supposed to maintain law and order, and ask questions, and try to push things to order,
00:46:11 rather comply with what was going on. So this morning, I intended calling to raise your attention on that.
00:46:19 Thank you. Thank you. That's a pathetic issue you've brought to the fore. You've brought to bear.
00:46:26 We're grateful that you've called to highlight it. I know exactly whom to speak to on this matter, so we can get some action, hopefully.
00:46:36 Thank you for calling. Let's get into other stories. I'm always glad when I hear stories like this.
00:46:41 And I laud the Rebecca Foundation. Of course, I'm talking about Rebecca Akufo-Addo. Not everything is negative.
00:46:47 And she's been doing some wonderful things. From that school in Mamubi, to the many projects she's been working on.
00:46:52 Hospitals, the cancer unit, the children's cancer, pediatric cancer, she supports that as well.
00:47:02 And I think that is laudable. Rebecca Foundation, ASR Africa, built a library for Osanase.
00:47:07 Now the Osanase community in the lower west, Tachim municipality in the eastern region, now has a library.
00:47:13 Finally. And this has been made possible by the First Lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo, with support from the Abdelsamad Rabiou Africa Initiative.
00:47:21 It is a part of the Rebecca Foundation's Learning to Read, Reading to Learn Initiative.
00:47:27 OK, so Barik, I know you're on the line. Just hold for me. Let me do something from the Daily Guide newspaper.
00:47:34 The Daily Guide talks about Adwoa Safo, the seven missing in Adda boats disaster and the fisheries ministry banning new canoes.
00:47:42 So let me just do those two quick stories and come to you briefly, sir.
00:47:48 So this one, seven fishermen are still missing after two fishing boats sank yesterday off the coast of Adda in the Greater Accra region.
00:47:55 Reports said the fishermen were trying to navigate into the Volta River when the accident happened.
00:48:01 The National Disaster Management Organization and Ghana Navy officials quickly launched the coordinated search and rescue effort to identify and recover the missing fishermen.
00:48:10 The rescuers were still searching for survivors at sea and along the shoreline at the time of filing this report.
00:48:16 And we don't have any further updates as of now on that situation. But but quickly, I'm sure this will interest you, sir.
00:48:23 Government reopens domestic debt exchange program. Individuals who did not sign up for the initial debt restructuring exercise have another opportunity as the government reopens the domestic debt exchange program.
00:48:36 In this latest move, the government is inviting holders of its bonds, including ESLA PLC and Dacha Trust PLC for participation.
00:48:46 OK, I'm listening to you, sir. Good morning.
00:48:53 Good morning. Could you please speak up a little for me?
00:49:07 My problem is about our engineers in Ghana or in Africa. The way this is supposed to work is that the water is in the bank and the water is in the bank.
00:49:19 Sometimes our engineers think that the way they will do so that the water can not be opened and they can't be opened and then the pressure will be too much.
00:49:28 Actually, they should do it in a model where the thing is, we will insert a little drop of water in that and then it will flow. Simple.
00:49:37 And the way we construct our cutters in Ghana, especially the low areas, let's take the Odo River as an example.
00:49:48 When you look at the gutter behind Bekum, what you see is sand. Not rubbers, not stones, but it's sand. Full of sand.
00:50:04 It's full of sand. So it means our gutters are low. At the low areas.
00:50:11 So they should wait and then the high areas so that they will do the gutters. When the water is coming, then the sand will be remaining.
00:50:18 So the water will enter inside the gutter. But because it's going to wash all the sand inside the gutter, at the end, the sand will enter into our river.
00:50:29 Then the river will be full of sand. So when it is dry season, you see that the place will be dry.
00:50:37 So the sand will occupy the existing river. So I think it's our engineering to think, the low areas, to raise the gutters, so that when the water will enter inside the gutters, then the sand will remain.
00:50:49 So if not, we will always be running losses.
00:50:54 Thank you. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I think that's the last one we can take so we can wrap this segment.
00:50:59 On the back page of the Daily Guide, Dugbe Dar turns chief. We're talking about Paul Kofi Dugbe, the trainer, well, maybe ex-trainer of Ghanaian world title winning boxing ace, Dugbe, as we know him, and the Royal Storm.
00:51:17 He has officially begun reign as head of the Klevia clan of Anglo in the Volta region following his installation as Togwe Bedu or Badu, the fourth of Anyako a few days ago.
00:51:29 That's on the back page of the Daily Guide newspaper. Let me just do the final newspaper as we leave.
00:51:35 Bank of Ghana remains prudent, strong and functioning efficiently, Oforiata says so.
00:51:41 There's AMA unveils logo to kickstart 125th anniversary celebration. Excited farmers hail government, say significant new cocoa price is motivation to increase production.
00:51:52 I'll be telling you a bit more about that in my blunt thoughts today. Remember the cloak of corruption and the frock of populism.
00:52:02 And dressing the politicians this morning, I'll address them. For you. So you get to see beyond what they tell you.
00:52:09 Then there's also five illegal miners jailed five years each. That's the last story I'll do.
00:52:14 And five men. And this is a good one. OK, this is what we want to see.
00:52:20 Five men have been sentenced to five years in prison each for engaging in illegal mining.
00:52:25 The five Richard Kumasi, Fiammahe, Jerry John, Koblevi Kumasi, Daniel Apenu and Matthew Geddy were residing at Ancobra near Prestia in the western region.
00:52:37 The facts of the case indicate that on August 17, 2021, the assemblyman for the Heman electoral area, together with some opinion leaders, got wind that the five accused had gone to mine with their dredging machines in the Ancobra River.
00:52:50 So there was a tip off followed upon and that they were apprehended. My only problem.
00:52:55 Twenty twenty one. We're in twenty twenty three. Let me quickly acknowledge a few of you who sent in messages.
00:53:02 Many of you sent in. But this one says that Raymond Ben, what the caller said about ECG postpaid meters is the reality here in Agwatemepetwe.
00:53:10 The ordeal is the same estimated bills on. Is it the Volta region?
00:53:15 Is that what is happening there? I mean, I would love to hear from you in subsequent segments.
00:53:20 If you are in different parts of the Volta region and this is the same thing, we have to have a conversation with the ECG on those matters.
00:53:28 And then who do I back out? Sadiq says, good morning, Ben, please.
00:53:32 The MPP delegates in Dominic Robinette, together with their electors, shouldn't entertain this comeback tactics from address.
00:53:38 All right. Thank you very much. I just want to quickly acknowledge that someone.
00:53:41 So this beautiful shirt for me, I just saw me on TV without even taking my measurements and I felt it was only fitting to give her credit.
00:53:50 Iram, I do. And she do all the way in Sunni and you managed to get it to me.
00:53:56 Sir, signature designs. That is your outfit. Sir, signature designs.
00:54:01 You can find them in Sunni opposite the post office roundabout adjacent a DB.
00:54:06 The number to call zero two four four zero five five zero six six zero two four four zero five five zero six six.
00:54:11 If you find yourself in Sunni, reach out to her. She's fitted me and made me look good this morning.
00:54:18 The segment was brought to you, as always, by Endpoint Homeopathic Clinic.
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00:55:03 This morning, I want to send shouts to my partner in crime who would usually be here with me.
00:55:08 Sammy Oko, Jabris. Good morning to you, boss. He's my boss.
00:55:12 He's my brother from another mother. Some a very good morning to you and the family.
00:55:16 Now, today happens to be the first anniversary of Prime Take.
00:55:21 It's been going on for one full year, one full circle.
00:55:24 Now, my colleague, Mufti Nabila Abdullahi, speaks on this installment or in this installment on this edition to George Ifriyeh, GFA presidential hopeful.
00:55:34 The conversation was on Tuesday before his disqualification on Thursday.
00:55:40 He has appealed the decision of the elections committee, which means he still has some hope of getting his name on the ballot sheet.
00:55:48 That is up next. Prime Take on the AM show.
00:55:53 [Music]
00:56:18 It is another special moment here on Prime Take as we speak to a man who has shown so much love when it comes to football.
00:56:26 A man who has invested his energy, his time, his resources into football.
00:56:31 Rose, when he came to the governance of football as the vice president of the Ghana Football Association,
00:56:38 also became a management committee chairman of the Ghana of the senior national team, the Black Stars.
00:56:44 Well, he contested for the position of president of the football governing body in 2019.
00:56:49 It never went his way.
00:56:51 And as you recall vividly in the second round, after the election or the results were counted, there was a third round.
00:57:03 He decided that at this point, let me throw in the towel and hand over the power to Keto Kriku to be voted president of the Ghana Football Association.
00:57:16 And again, the following day, the world or the media saw a video of him congratulating the GFA president, the then-elected GFA president, which is Keto Kriku.
00:57:27 Now he's throwing his hat again into the race for the position of president of the Ghana Football Association.
00:57:32 I guess by now you have an idea about a person I'm talking about.
00:57:35 He is George Akwesi Efreye. He's my guest tonight on Prime Tech.
00:57:40 Mr. George, thank you very much for your time.
00:57:42 Thank you. Thank you.
00:57:44 You look good.
00:57:45 Oh, you look good too.
00:57:46 I like the cap and the glasses.
00:57:48 Thank you. Thank you.
00:57:49 What is your secret?
00:57:51 Well, I'm a fashion freak person.
00:57:57 Yes, if you love fashion, sometimes you want to change your looks, but it's good to stay healthy.
00:58:04 Being a fashion freak, it's good, but then it's good to stay healthy and then you leave the rest to the world to judge you how they see you.
00:58:15 So if you were not into football, what would you have been doing?
00:58:20 Well, apart from football, I love cars.
00:58:26 I've been involved with cars, automobiles in different aspects.
00:58:32 And I also love farming.
00:58:36 I'm a village boy.
00:58:39 Both sides of my family, from the mother's side, the father's side, my great-great-grandfathers were fishermen and all that.
00:58:49 And my mom's side, I see my great-grandmother and my grandmother, they were farmers.
00:58:58 They were cocoa farmers.
00:59:00 And so I see myself, I see the future of Africa, that we need to invest in farming.
00:59:09 I think that if you had the opportunity to travel out of this country and you see how nations have developed,
00:59:18 specifically I want to talk about Japan, US, Canada,
00:59:24 then you have to know that as a young man or as any person who comes from a background of some farmers,
00:59:36 you need to take farming seriously.
00:59:38 Because look, we are blessed, this country, we are blessed to have natural lands.
00:59:45 I mean, lands that are fertile to grow all sorts of crops and fruits for our well-being.
00:59:56 And so I think that I love to go into serious, serious, serious farming.
01:00:01 I'm doing it already, but I think that I can do more.
01:00:07 I'm trying to woo some investors into the country and to go into serious farming.
01:00:14 When you say you are from, or you are a village boy, which village are you from?
01:00:21 I'm somehow a Kraa Adan boy when it comes to, I'm a Gandangu boy.
01:00:27 And then on the other side too, I'm the Achim Asante and Asante Achim boy.
01:00:33 How?
01:00:35 You know, the history shows where my great grandparents migrated from, in a village called Jimechi,
01:00:47 within the Asante region, and most of them settled in Achim and then Asante Achim lands.
01:00:55 So they migrated first settled in Agugu, Bonpata, Kokuren-Tumi, and then in Kwetiya.
01:01:04 These were the areas, Usino, these were the areas where the family, from the other side of my family.
01:01:11 And then from here, it's purely between the great Akraa. So it's just Akraa and Adan.
01:01:16 So where were you born?
01:01:18 Okay, so I was born in Akraa.
01:01:20 And you're an Akraa boy? So you're not from a village?
01:01:24 No, but I grew up partly in some villages. Some villages, yes.
01:01:31 I grew up partly in some villages, but I sometimes, because the story was told, sometimes I need to say this.
01:01:40 The story was told that my grandmother, my mother, to be honest with you, my mother,
01:01:49 my father attended Bonpata Training College.
01:01:55 Oh, okay.
01:01:56 And met my mom, a young lady, and impregnated her and ran away.
01:02:03 Oh, God.
01:02:05 That's if that was self, the audience, that's me.
01:02:12 That's me.
01:02:14 So, do you know your father?
01:02:16 Oh, yeah, I was living with my father in Akosubo.
01:02:19 So after running away, he came back?
01:02:21 Yeah, I had to go chase, look for him.
01:02:23 So how did you find him?
01:02:25 It's easy, because in this country, once your dad has classmate, you will track.
01:02:31 So one day, I had to chase my mom and say, "You have to take me, go look for that man."
01:02:37 And my mom took me to a town near Pum. I don't know where, you know where the Akosubo, when you're going to Akosubo, it's a town called Pum.
01:02:48 That's where my father's father had a house there.
01:02:55 Oh, okay.
01:02:56 So we went there, we found my grandmother.
01:03:01 And my grandmother said, "Your father is a young teacher somewhere at Akosubo."
01:03:07 Okay.
01:03:08 So that's when we had to trace my dad.
01:03:11 And we met my dad. He was a very handsome man.
01:03:15 At what age were you?
01:03:17 I was maybe in class two, class three.
01:03:20 Okay.
01:03:21 And I saw the man, very nice man. And if you know Akosubo very well, the staffs of VRE then, they live in bungalows and all that.
01:03:34 So I went with his brother. And his brother was a tutor at Aquamuman Secondary School.
01:03:42 So he took me to the house and my dad had gone to fishing as a teacher.
01:03:51 He was teaching and then he went out to work.
01:03:53 He would go to the Akosubo dam site to do fishing.
01:03:57 Sometimes he would do fishing, bring fish back home and all that.
01:04:01 So we got there and he was not there.
01:04:04 And then he had a mango tree behind his house.
01:04:09 So because the brother had the key to his bungalow, he opened and then I entered.
01:04:15 And then I just saw a ripe mango and climbed the tree.
01:04:19 You're already a homeboy.
01:04:21 And then the man came and said, "Hey, Akosubo, where did you get the mango?"
01:04:25 Then the father, the dad just folded his arms and said, "Akosubo, where did you get the mango?"
01:04:32 That's the boy.
01:04:34 So you've been a firebrother for a long time.
01:04:38 So that was it.
01:04:41 And then he saw me and he was like, "Hey, where is he?"
01:04:45 You know what I mean?
01:04:48 I said, "I don't know where he is."
01:04:53 Wow.
01:04:54 Yeah, this is me.
01:04:56 So how would you describe your childhood beginning?
01:04:59 It was okay because I had some great grandparents.
01:05:04 I had some good family.
01:05:08 My uncle, one of my uncles was an Air Force pilot.
01:05:13 Two of my uncles were both Air Force pilots.
01:05:16 Oh, okay.
01:05:17 Yes, yes, yes.
01:05:18 They were Air Force pilots.
01:05:20 It was easy.
01:05:22 And my mom, Uli's sister, then was also living in the UK with her husband.
01:05:27 Oh, okay.
01:05:28 And so, yeah, we enjoyed life as kids.
01:05:31 It was a bit rough and tough, but we had some very decent upbringing.
01:05:38 Very decent one.
01:05:40 And I'm sure that decent upbringing created some kind of opportunities for you, right?
01:05:47 Oh, yes.
01:05:48 I mean, those of us who are more than 50 years, those of us who are more than 50 years,
01:05:56 if you know the culture that existed in Ghana, you are being guided how to grow up.
01:06:06 There was nothing like a free life where if you are lucky to come from a home like mine,
01:06:12 where both parents, my mom was a teacher, my dad was a teacher, later became a politician.
01:06:19 My father was once the CPP General Secretary for Eswija, man later became CPP Secretary for,
01:06:26 yes, became CPP Secretary for Eastern Region.
01:06:31 He became the head of vigilante.
01:06:33 You heard of the vigilante?
01:06:34 Yeah.
01:06:35 Yeah, became the head of vigilante.
01:06:37 He was a very nice man.
01:06:39 Anybody who know my father will tell you that he was a very, very nice man.
01:06:44 And so my mom was MPP woman organizer and you know, both...
01:06:49 Then you were born into a political...
01:06:51 Yeah, yeah. The CPPs later, my grandmother, my father's mother's sister was top NDC woman,
01:06:59 head of the women something and those.
01:07:01 And so both sides of my family, my dad's side was in the CPP NDC, my mom's side was in the MPP.
01:07:09 So I saw them doing their own thing and as a young man, I was a different person.
01:07:15 Oh, so you were a politician, is it?
01:07:18 I was born into a political family, no doubt about that.
01:07:23 And both sides of my family, each sides have serious political lineage into the two big political parties in this country.
01:07:35 How would you describe your educational journey then?
01:07:38 Well, initially it was smooth, but along the line, maybe after polytechnic education, I felt that this country was not meant for me.
01:07:51 I see myself as someone who really wanted to make it in life and I felt the pace of life in Ghana.
01:08:03 It's not the one that I want to... I felt that I must go out there to see what is in stock for me.
01:08:10 That is how come my early ages I traveled out of this country to live in Japan.
01:08:16 A lot of people don't know that my uncle's best friend, best, best friend, one of my uncles was an Air Force pilot.
01:08:26 In fact, he was the first Ghanaian to bring private airlines to this country called Pioneer Airlines.
01:08:32 My uncle, one of the ones who passed, the one who had a plane crash, was...
01:08:41 If you... you are still young, I mean, back in the days, you remember there was a story of a Ghanaian pilot,
01:08:48 Air Force pilot who had a plane crash on the Ghana-Togo border. One of them was my uncle.
01:08:55 Initially, everything was okay, but I wanted to take something different.
01:09:02 I wanted to take something different, so maybe along the line I had to abandon education and do some hustling life
01:09:09 and then later to upgrade myself to the way you see me today.
01:09:13 And why Japan?
01:09:14 Okay, so I had uncles and friends who said, "Charlie, the place is good, this, this, and that, and that."
01:09:21 I've heard stories of it. And so I said, "Well, why not try it? So let's give it a try."
01:09:27 But it wasn't a place that I enjoyed initially.
01:09:32 I went to Japan, spent like less than four years, and then came back, lived for a while, and then went back again.
01:09:41 So when Dr... one of the former ambassadors, I just want to remember the name, became the ambassador,
01:09:58 he happens to be my uncle's very good friend.
01:10:01 And then he felt that he could even offer me a position to serve at the embassy.
01:10:07 But at that time, I wasn't really for it. And so I wanted to do my own thing.
01:10:14 And so I went straight into business. I went straight into having my own, doing my own thing,
01:10:22 because I've then been able to live for a while, make some friends, build some contacts,
01:10:30 and I realized that there was a lot that I could do in that society.
01:10:34 So I left that big opportunity to serve for my country and all that, to do my own business.
01:10:45 And that was what kept me in Japan for a while before I returned back again.
01:10:51 But during that period, there wasn't a single time that I stayed like one whole year without visiting Ghana.
01:10:58 Oh, okay.
01:10:59 About three, four months I'm in Ghana, back again three, four months I'm in Ghana.
01:11:03 Ah.
01:11:04 Yes, yes, yes. I was one of the first Ghanaians who started doing business from Ghana to Japan.
01:11:11 You know, early days, the early day Ghanaian residents in Japan were mostly hostess.
01:11:17 They were people who were working, they were teachers, they were lecturers, they were other,
01:11:22 I mean, qualified professionals who were doing their own thing.
01:11:26 But then the other few Ghanaians that had gone on pure hustling, working in the factories and all that,
01:11:31 were staying and working.
01:11:33 It took few of us to take the bold initiative, and we thank President Kufuo who offered that opportunity.
01:11:41 It took President Kufuo to say that, look, there are opportunities for guys, young guys like you
01:11:46 who have stayed in this country to make money, to return back home to invest.
01:11:50 That's how come you go to East Lagoon, you find guys like Anji Hotel, Irata Hotel, Medvick Hotel, MNJ.
01:11:58 These are all guys who decided that having stayed in Japan, having worked there, having made money,
01:12:05 we want to return back home and invest.
01:12:07 So most of them invested in the hospitality business, some went into real estate.
01:12:12 Like my good self, I also chose a real estate business, you understand.
01:12:16 I did automobile for a while and then later I felt that let me go into the real estate business.
01:12:22 We did it in a very small scale, but some of my friends like Anji Hill, Irata and Medvick,
01:12:31 they did it in big, large scale.
01:12:33 They have their own lot of houses.
01:12:35 So most of the hotels in East Lagoon, they are your buddies?
01:12:39 Yeah, they are my buddy, buddy, buddy.
01:12:42 But why didn't you also go to the hospitality side?
01:12:45 Well, we can all not do the same thing.
01:12:48 See, my passion for football, that's how come sometimes when we meet, they keep laughing at me.
01:12:53 They say, "You can't go here and perform."
01:12:56 We can all not have the same kind of, you understand.
01:12:59 Some must do something differently.
01:13:02 And for me, my passion was football.
01:13:04 I've always developed that passion, great passion for football.
01:13:07 Did you play football?
01:13:09 Well, not to...
01:13:10 The amateur level or you played at a pastime?
01:13:12 Oh, no, no. We played football, but not to that level where you wanted to see some of us.
01:13:18 But along the line, my interest was to be an agent, a football agent.
01:13:26 I started with players like Kenneth Sappong, the late Suman Darzi, and a few others I wanted to try.
01:13:41 In fact, at that point, I wanted to even manage Aziz Ansah.
01:13:44 Oh, okay. Fama Kodoko right there.
01:13:46 Yeah, Fama Kodoko. I wanted to manage him.
01:13:48 I remember when Dr. Kwanbani, I interviewed him at Adom.
01:13:55 I accompanied him to that famous interview.
01:13:58 I think when he won the best defender of the year or something.
01:14:01 He was playing, them playing for Comanches at the Kodoko.
01:14:04 So, my passion was purely for football.
01:14:07 Even though I was into business and I was doing my own business, I was into automobile and all that.
01:14:13 My pure passion was football.
01:14:16 Considering the fact that you were born into a political home,
01:14:20 why didn't you follow the footsteps of your mother, your father, your uncles, but you went to football?
01:14:28 Well...
01:14:30 Or you are still a politician?
01:14:32 At the point, I still have politics in me, but I'm still doing football politics.
01:14:38 At the point, I was contemplating.
01:14:42 Let me be fair.
01:14:44 I was contemplating going into serious politics.
01:14:48 Mainstream, multi-party politics.
01:14:53 I've been considering it and maybe, who knows, I still have all that interest.
01:14:59 You still have the interest?
01:15:01 Maybe, Mufti, somebody must effect a change.
01:15:05 That's my belief.
01:15:07 Somebody somehow must effect a change in this country.
01:15:13 Mufti, in football, we are not fortunate.
01:15:17 Maybe in our early days, we saw the business aspect, but it was the passion to help Ghana football.
01:15:28 That was maybe our mistake.
01:15:31 Unlike today, people think that, "Hey, let's make money."
01:15:34 That was our mistake.
01:15:36 Our mistake was that we should help the society.
01:15:42 We should help grow the sport in this country.
01:15:46 That was our interest.
01:15:48 At what point exactly did you get into football?
01:15:51 Early 2000, 2001, 2002.
01:15:54 Early 2000, when I want to talk about mainstream.
01:15:59 2000, 2001, 2002.
01:16:02 In 1996, 27 years ago, Ghana qualified for the Atlanta Olympics.
01:16:16 Ghana came to Japan, proud to go into Atlanta.
01:16:24 The Ghana Olympic team traveled to Japan to play the Japan Olympic team before they played for the competition.
01:16:36 I was then living in Japan.
01:16:39 My passion drove me straight to the team.
01:16:45 I went to the team hotel.
01:16:47 I met them.
01:16:49 Players like Augustine Ahimfo, Joe Addo, Simon Addo, Afododu, former captain CK Akono, Osei Kofuo.
01:17:04 These were players that were my friends.
01:17:08 I met them and took them around.
01:17:11 I did some big shopping for them.
01:17:15 I remember very well that even in 1996, I went to the electronic hub of Japan.
01:17:22 A place called Akihabara.
01:17:24 Akihabara in Tokyo is the electronic hub where you can get all the electronics that you can think of.
01:17:31 If you are a foreigner and you walk to Tokyo and you want to buy any electronics to your country,
01:17:36 that's where you can have the 220 voltage.
01:17:39 It's an electronic hub.
01:17:41 I drove to Akihabara and picked three players from the national team.
01:17:48 I bought 10 Seiko watches for them.
01:17:52 Back in 1996.
01:17:55 You were rich? Or you are still rich?
01:17:59 No.
01:18:00 Sometimes it's not about how much you have in your bank account or how much you have on you.
01:18:06 It's about, I don't know whether you have followed football back in the days.
01:18:12 The people who love football, who are spending money with football,
01:18:16 were not doing it because they are so rich and they want to part.
01:18:20 They are moved by the love of the sport to spend on footballers.
01:18:26 I can count, look, in my early upbringing and following football in Ghana,
01:18:32 and I want to talk about Accra Great Olympics and I want to talk about Kumasi Asante Kotoko.
01:18:38 In Kumasi Asante Kotoko you had people like, the man who, if you have heard of Esu Jaman,
01:18:44 Esu Jaman, the man who deals in plywood and TNJ and all that.
01:18:49 I saw that man, Kujo.
01:18:51 And those days he would spend on players like nobody's business.
01:18:57 Osekwame Despite.
01:18:59 Spends on players like nobody's business.
01:19:02 There was a man who used to work for Gassem, he's called Mr. Edu.
01:19:05 They would give players money, the Ufure Nyakons, the Yaubeuas.
01:19:12 They were just spending on players.
01:19:15 So we copied from the love that we had for players,
01:19:20 we copied that from our older seniors, our seniors.
01:19:29 And then we also developed that.
01:19:31 Because when I was growing up and I saw that, and I was in Japan,
01:19:34 and the national team, the Ghana Olympic team had visited Japan,
01:19:38 and me going to their team hotel, taking pictures with them and moving around with them,
01:19:43 I wanted to show them that, hey, Charlie, me too, I have that kind of spirit in me.
01:19:49 So I came to my home.
01:19:50 Let me tell you, I gave each one of the 23 players a Pelé Pelé G's.
01:19:56 Each one of them.
01:19:58 Each one of them.
01:19:59 Each one of the 23 players.
01:20:02 Each one of them.
01:20:05 Each one of them.
01:20:07 Was that your initiation into football?
01:20:10 It was just a passion and a love I had for the team.
01:20:13 But having done that, you probably would have thought, okay,
01:20:19 why not get into India and then just do it at a bigger scale?
01:20:24 You see, even when I became an executive committee member,
01:20:33 the era when Nana Budu, Aladji Raji were under 17 management members,
01:20:41 the chairman was Mr. Nwenye Amiche, former chairman of the Ghana Football Association.
01:20:49 He was the chairman of the national under-17 management team.
01:20:54 Some of the members were Ube Nnanaketia, Chelsea boss, Aladji Raji, Nana Budu.
01:21:02 They were members of the under-17 management team.
01:21:06 They took the national under-17 team to Japan for preparation towards the under-17 World Cup in 2007.
01:21:17 In Korea.
01:21:18 So, preparation to go to the World Cup in Korea.
01:21:23 I remember.
01:21:24 They camped in Japan.
01:21:26 I flew from here, went to Japan, got a Japanese friend of mine
01:21:33 and spent on the team with cash and circle watches for the entire team.
01:21:40 Entire team.
01:21:43 The entire team.
01:21:45 When the team left Japan to Korea, I followed the team to Korea.
01:21:52 There was a match between Brazil.
01:21:56 There was an eight-nation tournament prior to the main World Cup.
01:22:01 And Ghana played Brazil.
01:22:04 I drove to the team hotel.
01:22:06 They had just played, I think, Haiti.
01:22:11 They had just played Haiti or Brazil.
01:22:16 And I saw the players in bathroom sandals.
01:22:21 The national under-17 team was in the bathroom sandals.
01:22:25 All of them.
01:22:26 This one is wearing Chariot.
01:22:27 This one is wearing that.
01:22:28 That one is wearing that.
01:22:29 And that one is wearing that.
01:22:32 And we were being kitted by Puma.
01:22:34 So, they were in their Puma housewear.
01:22:39 But they had no uniformed slippers.
01:22:44 I drove to Itaewon, a place in Korea called Itaewon Night Market,
01:22:51 and bought a Puma sneaker for the entire team.
01:22:55 I was not a member of the team.
01:22:57 I just traveled to visit them.
01:23:00 These are things I have done for teams, national team of Ghana.
01:23:06 But I also recall that during your club days, was it Gamba All Black?
01:23:11 Right.
01:23:12 A video of you surfaced many years ago where you were like,
01:23:17 "People said I couldn't do it. I've done it."
01:23:19 I remember all that.
01:23:21 Talk us through the journey of you getting into club football
01:23:24 and subsequently into getting to the leadership position at the FA.
01:23:29 [unintelligible]
01:23:42 Had their hopes totally shattered on the day.
01:23:49 [unintelligible]
01:23:56 Many people have said so many things about this team.
01:23:58 That All Blacks can never come.
01:24:00 There are so many goals.
01:24:01 There are so many things against this team.
01:24:03 But I was brave to prove a point that a young man like me can bring this team back.
01:24:08 And I assure everybody, we are not going back.
01:24:11 We are back for good.
01:24:14 Thank you very much. Congratulations.
01:24:16 [cheering]
01:24:23 Okay, so this is how it started.
01:24:26 I had a friend living in Sweden who approached me that the good old All Blacks
01:24:35 has gone deep down to the lower divisions.
01:24:41 The late George Edusey Poku had left the team.
01:24:46 And the team has sunk deep, way down to Division II levels.
01:24:51 This was a Premier Division club.
01:24:53 A team that had won the FA Cup by then.
01:24:57 Players like Baba Armando and co.
01:25:00 So he said, "George, we have seen your passion for football.
01:25:05 We think that you can help revive and bring the team back to its rightful position."
01:25:12 Initially, I wasn't interested because my passion then was to manage players.
01:25:17 My passion was to just help players get opportunities into the international footballing world.
01:25:25 But along the line, the pressure was coming.
01:25:29 And as a young man who had returned from Japan with some cash in my bank account,
01:25:34 the guys would come to me and when they see the way I would spread them,
01:25:38 they'd say, "Charlie, this football must get into Sweden at all costs."
01:25:42 So I accepted the challenge and went.
01:25:45 I realised that yes, the team was in a Division II club.
01:25:50 And I felt like, well, let me give it a try.
01:25:53 So right away, I decided to put certain things in place.
01:25:57 Make sure that they are well-kitted.
01:25:59 Put them in team bars, put them into a professional clubhouse and all that.
01:26:05 I started to turn things around.
01:26:09 We tried to qualify for the Central Region Division II.
01:26:13 In my first year, we qualified for the finals of the Central Region Division II.
01:26:18 We played against Shakahu 4, a team called Shakahu 4.
01:26:22 We lost in the finals. They beat us 4-2.
01:26:26 We couldn't qualify.
01:26:28 I was like, "Yeah, I was to do it again."
01:26:31 Then someone told me there's a team in the secondary Takaradio environs called Bafana Bafana.
01:26:40 And the owner, George Fobia, a popular known Fobia supporter,
01:26:44 said he wants to sell the team Bafana Bafana.
01:26:48 So then I look at the cost of playing in the Division II again,
01:26:54 and I was against buying the slot of Bafana Bafana, which was in the same zone, Zone 2.
01:27:00 Then I found it prudent, cheaper, less cost to buy the slot.
01:27:09 So that's how we bought the slot of Bafana Bafana.
01:27:13 And then we changed the name to Gamba Oblax.
01:27:18 So we played the first year. We couldn't qualify.
01:27:23 But the second year, I made a promise to the people of Swidu that this year I'm taking the team to Premier.
01:27:29 We did our best.
01:27:31 But unfortunately, we came third.
01:27:34 That was the old format where you play sub-medley, middle league, and then...
01:27:37 So then the third team from the Premier Division will play a playoff.
01:27:42 So we had to do a playoff for Kukwau United.
01:27:45 If you know the history of Kukwau United, they have just gone on relegation,
01:27:48 but then they were third from bottom.
01:27:51 So they had to play the third place from the super middle league team, and that was Oblax.
01:27:58 So we went into this game, but prior to that game, there were a lot of permutations.
01:28:05 There were a lot of, "How is Oblax going to beat Kukwau?"
01:28:08 Kukwau United had all the big men in Ghana football then.
01:28:12 Because Kukwau, if you know, when we say Kukwau United...
01:28:16 In this country, one of the most industrious people in this country is Kukwau.
01:28:23 I mean, we share a border.
01:28:26 He's the county in Iraq.
01:28:29 He's the county in Africa.
01:28:32 And then he was very influential when you talk of GFE.
01:28:37 Not only him, but Femda Kuh, the then Deputy General Secretary, Technika.
01:28:42 So all of them, I mean, you hear the names, Odun Njaku,
01:28:45 the longest boss secretary.
01:28:47 So you hear the name and say, "Charlie, this is a Herculean task.
01:28:52 I don't see how we're going to summon this challenge."
01:28:56 And you know Oblax? Oblax was me, Isaac Kumsing, and James Nunu.
01:29:02 We were there.
01:29:04 Three musketeers running around trying to qualify ahead of this.
01:29:09 And I mean, if you look at even the competition itself, this is a Premier Divisional.
01:29:14 And we are a Division 2 club, our usual club.
01:29:18 So I mean, comparatively, there was no way we could summon such a challenge.
01:29:25 But then, I mean, in football, everything is planning.
01:29:29 And everything, it's the way you strategize.
01:29:33 So the night before we met, we designed the plot, we planned everything.
01:29:38 Thankfully and by God's grace, the game went into a penalty shootout.
01:29:45 And as destiny may have it, Ismail Yati kicked the last penalty kick.
01:29:51 And we qualified to Premier.
01:29:53 And so that was the joy and the work we had put in place.
01:29:58 And that was what you saw.
01:29:59 When you were speaking to Kobra Yeboah, the good old Kobra Yeboah.
01:30:03 That was quite an interesting one.
01:30:05 Yes, yes, yes.
01:30:06 And Kobra Yeboah himself, a cow.
01:30:09 Oh, really?
01:30:10 Of course, Kobra is a cow.
01:30:11 Oh, wow. I see.
01:30:12 You see, the big man, look, Kempo, a cow.
01:30:16 All the big men you can think of in football, they are all cows.
01:30:20 They are all cows.
01:30:22 God, they are my friends. My own dad and son.
01:30:24 Cows.
01:30:26 All of them. Top, top, top, top, top, top, top.
01:30:29 They are very industrious.
01:30:32 So I didn't see how I was going to scale past that.
01:30:36 So from the club level, how then did you rope yourself into the football policy?
01:30:40 Okay, so you see, sometimes your exploits gives you out.
01:30:46 The way you endeared yourself among your peers and your colleagues.
01:30:54 It's when there are positions available and you want to vie for it,
01:30:59 people look at what you've been able to achieve, what you've been able to bring on board.
01:31:03 So at that time, in the 205, when we were moving from the old order to the new order,
01:31:09 it became obvious that if they were looking for a delicate from Zone 2,
01:31:18 you can't go past Jojo Free.
01:31:21 There was no way, because within the Zone 2 clubs,
01:31:25 within the central region football, I had actually demonstrated my capabilities.
01:31:32 I've demonstrated from the regional football association,
01:31:35 I've demonstrated from clubs within my zone, that yes, if you need someone to represent you,
01:31:41 this is a man who could go onto the committee and speak his mind.
01:31:44 This is the man who could go onto the committee and serve the interests of the zone.
01:31:49 So right away, when I...
01:31:51 In fact, it will surprise you to know that in that election,
01:31:55 out of the 48 Premier Division 1 clubs, I think I had about 44.
01:32:00 Wow.
01:32:01 Yes, only four clubs voted for me.
01:32:05 Subsequently, four years later, I had 40 clubs voting for me.
01:32:09 I think between me and PAP, say, 40 and 39.
01:32:13 So, those times, it was about what the man brings on board.
01:32:19 So why did you decide to even contest in the first place?
01:32:22 Well, it was a calling.
01:32:24 I felt that I could impact my knowledge of what I've been able to see around
01:32:34 and what I've also been able to learn from the foreign world.
01:32:39 I thought that a lot needed to change.
01:32:42 A lot needed to change.
01:32:44 I felt that our football was still in the dark ages when I came back from Japan.
01:32:49 Knowing where I was coming from and knowing what I see,
01:32:53 the development of football and all that,
01:32:55 I felt that our football...
01:32:56 Because, look, I would drive to Cape Cod Sports Stadium
01:33:00 and there were placards lined up where the substitution board was.
01:33:07 You take number one and take number two and join together.
01:33:09 That's number two.
01:33:10 I said, "Aha, I'm a...
01:33:12 Why can't we be doing this in the 21st century?"
01:33:16 I mean, and this is fact.
01:33:18 Did you make the impact you thought you could have?
01:33:21 Yeah, of course. I changed a lot of things.
01:33:24 You know, at one point, I bought substitution boards from Korea,
01:33:28 gave it to the FA and asked them, gave them an invoice.
01:33:30 They said, "When you have money, just pay me."
01:33:32 Centers that were not owned by National Sports Authority,
01:33:36 I gave them for free.
01:33:38 Dan Suma, free.
01:33:39 Boise, as good, free.
01:33:41 One other venue where the Premier League Centers,
01:33:44 I gave them for free.
01:33:45 You can ask Mr. Kudu for that.
01:33:47 Free, free, free.
01:33:49 I felt that, no, in the 21st century,
01:33:51 we cannot be using substitution boards where we create...
01:33:55 Do you have a Kudu?
01:33:56 No, no, no.
01:33:57 You were at Chokadava?
01:33:58 Yeah, yeah, Chokadava.
01:33:59 It was there.
01:34:00 I remember some of all these things.
01:34:02 Yeah, they were quite interesting.
01:34:04 But George Afri, it's quite interesting that
01:34:09 you rose to become the GFA Vice President.
01:34:15 How did you get there?
01:34:16 How did President-in-Chief propose so much confidence in you?
01:34:20 And he said, "This gentleman should be second in command."
01:34:23 Because I do recall, prior to that,
01:34:25 the GFA Vice President was a position that people had to vie for.
01:34:30 And you had to vote.
01:34:32 But when we changed the statues,
01:34:34 you were the first person he appointed as his Vice President.
01:34:38 I don't remember whether I was the first.
01:34:40 I think I was the second.
01:34:42 I think Fred Crenshaw was also...
01:34:44 I don't know.
01:34:45 Fred Crenshaw was voted.
01:34:46 I remember...
01:34:47 No, it was Jordan that was voted.
01:34:49 Fred was also appointed.
01:34:51 Okay, yeah, prior to 2015.
01:34:53 Fred was appointed.
01:34:55 Initially, those who vied for was Fred Papu.
01:34:58 Fred Papu.
01:34:59 And Jordan Annabella.
01:35:00 The late Jordan Annabella.
01:35:01 And then Mr. Fred Crenshaw was appointed.
01:35:04 I think that everything...
01:35:06 You were appointed in 2015, if I remember correctly.
01:35:07 2015, yes.
01:35:09 It was when we changed the statues
01:35:12 to give the power to the President to appoint.
01:35:14 So it was...
01:35:16 The President acted within the statues.
01:35:19 He acted within the statues.
01:35:22 Now, maybe we wanted to use the Ghana system,
01:35:25 where the President appoints someone that he feels comfortable with.
01:35:32 Yeah, but the truth remains that
01:35:34 I didn't just get to the Vice President by way of...
01:35:39 I had actually worked my way to that point.
01:35:44 Remember, I first contested in 2005
01:35:48 to become an Executive Committee member.
01:35:50 Contested again to become...
01:35:53 Re-elected to become an Executive Committee member.
01:35:55 Now, remember we had an Executive Committee, the larger one.
01:36:00 Yes.
01:36:01 And we have the Emergency Committee.
01:36:03 So the Emergency Committee, in the previous ones,
01:36:07 we also vote for the Emergency Committee.
01:36:11 So when the power was vested in the President to appoint,
01:36:15 the first time he appointed was the Jordan Fred Crenshaw era.
01:36:21 Remember that I was appointed an Ex-Co-Member.
01:36:25 I became an Ex-Co-Member, Em-Co-Member, before Vice President.
01:36:30 So I rose through the ranks.
01:36:34 Ex-Co, Ex-Co, Em-Co, before Vice President.
01:36:37 And I believe that at a point,
01:36:40 Mr. Nyantechi had saw my dedication, my loyalty, worked throughout.
01:36:46 And that's why today I will sit and take credit
01:36:52 for every success under Mr. Nyantechi.
01:36:55 And take the blame for every failure.
01:37:00 Because I was part from the one to the end.
01:37:04 But, ok, so you mentioned, maybe Mr. Nyantechi saw something and appointed you.
01:37:09 But, I do recall something interesting.
01:37:11 And remember that, it is not just when the President appoints,
01:37:15 it must be accepted by the Ex-Co.
01:37:19 But is the President's choice?
01:37:21 No, if you appoint a person and the people don't like it,
01:37:25 they will say, "No, Mr. President, we don't want, bring another person."
01:37:28 That's the law.
01:37:29 It didn't say when you appoint, no.
01:37:31 He must nominate.
01:37:32 Was the Ex-Co that powerful to tell the GFA President, "We don't want"?
01:37:34 Why not?
01:37:35 Our Ex-Co was very solid.
01:37:38 Strong.
01:37:39 Look at the members of the Ex-Co then.
01:37:43 Look at the members.
01:37:44 You know members.
01:37:45 It's not good, it's not nice to be mentioning names.
01:37:48 But, you know members of the Ex-Co then.
01:37:51 They were not just people who you stop them from speaking their mind.
01:37:55 At least if you don't know anybody at all, you know Palmer.
01:37:57 Did you...
01:37:58 [laughs]
01:38:00 If you don't know anybody at all, you know Palmer.
01:38:02 Did you ever hear the story that there was a point that
01:38:06 Nyantechi was told not to appoint you as his Vice President?
01:38:09 Yes.
01:38:10 Yes.
01:38:12 In fact, there was a point where somebody
01:38:16 let that to him.
01:38:19 And the person had told him that
01:38:23 if he appoints me within one year, he would die.
01:38:28 Yeah.
01:38:30 Yeah.
01:38:31 And in fact, the person had said that, "I've gone to a Juju man."
01:38:35 And Juju man had come to tell him that I had come to him.
01:38:39 And so if he appoints me, he would die within one year.
01:38:43 [music]
01:38:46 [music]
01:39:14 Welcome back on the AM Show.
01:39:16 Time now for me to share my blunt thoughts with you.
01:39:20 It's been an odd month or so since I have not come your way.
01:39:24 I was on leave, and I'm back.
01:39:26 And today I've titled it "The Cloak of Corruption and the Frock of Populism
01:39:31 Undressing Our Politicians."
01:39:34 "The Cloak of Corruption and the Frock of Populism
01:39:39 Undressing Our Politicians."
01:39:41 So what am I doing today? Unmasking them.
01:39:44 Let me take you down memory lane.
01:39:47 "The Black Man's Burden, a Response to Kipling."
01:39:50 Now this came in February 1899,
01:39:54 when British novelist and poet Rudyard Kipling
01:39:57 wrote a poem entitled "The White Man's Burden,
01:40:00 the United States and the Philippine Islands."
01:40:02 Now in this poem, Kipling urged the U.S. to take up the burden of empire
01:40:07 as had Britain and other European nations.
01:40:10 Theodore Roosevelt, soon to become vice president and then president,
01:40:13 described it as "rather poor poetry,
01:40:16 but good sense from the expansionary point of view."
01:40:20 Not everyone was as favorably impressed as Roosevelt.
01:40:24 African Americans, among many others, objected to the notion of the white man's burden.
01:40:29 What was that burden?
01:40:30 Among the dozens of replies to Kipling's poem was "The Black Man's Burden,"
01:40:36 written by African American clergyman and editor H.T. Johnson
01:40:40 and published in April 1899.
01:40:43 Now a Black Man's Burden Association was even organized
01:40:46 with the goal of demonstrating that the mistreatment of brown people in the Philippines
01:40:50 was an extension of the mistreatment of black Americans at home.
01:40:54 Now in this poem, "The Black Man's Burden,"
01:40:57 by African American clergyman H.T. Johnson,
01:41:00 he describes how the whites piled on the burden of shame,
01:41:03 guilt, and subjugation on the blacks.
01:41:07 Johnson anticipates how God will punish the colonizers.
01:41:11 This poem elaborates what the colonizers did to the natives of Hawaii and Cuba in the first stanza.
01:41:19 I want to read that poem for you briefly.
01:41:22 "Pile on the black man's burden, 'tis nearest at your door.
01:41:26 Why heed long-bleeding Cuba or dark Hawaii's shore?
01:41:31 Hail ye your fearless armies, which menace feeble folks,
01:41:35 who fight with clubs and arrows and brook your rifles' smoke.
01:41:40 Pile on the black man's burden, his wail with laughter drown.
01:41:44 You've sealed the red man's problem and will take up the brown.
01:41:48 In vain ye seek to end it with bullets, blood, or death.
01:41:53 Better by far defend it with honor's holy breath."
01:41:59 But you see, that was then, in the 19th century.
01:42:03 We're in the 21st century.
01:42:05 What today is the black man's burden?
01:42:09 Have you ever stopped to ask yourself?
01:42:12 True, the whites from the West as well as the rising forces in the East all have their share in the matter.
01:42:17 But we have a starker, viler, filthier, more repugnant and reviling truth to deal with.
01:42:26 African leaders, well, some of them, though not all, are the black man's burden today.
01:42:34 Yes, it's no longer the colonizers, it's no longer the white man, it's no longer the invader,
01:42:41 it's no longer this or that person.
01:42:43 Recently, Niger, in some videos we've seen, ousted the French ambassador.
01:42:48 All fair and square, all these menacing activities.
01:42:51 But all of those things, the neocolonialism is happening because of our leaders.
01:42:56 And I'll explain to you with the slides why I premised my conversation with that poem,
01:43:02 "The Black Man's Burden." Come with me.
01:43:05 In recent times, there's been a lot of talk from Mr. President.
01:43:09 One of them, on the increment of cocoa prices for the 2023-2024 season.
01:43:14 Look, these political parties, they toy with us, they play with us.
01:43:18 We are playthings for them, which is why going into the next election,
01:43:21 while there is bad and there is badder or badder and worse,
01:43:25 we must really, really critically, moving forward, ask ourselves whether our democracy is giving us the results we need.
01:43:33 And while I feel we should stick to democracy, what changes we can bring to bear?
01:43:37 Because we definitely cannot continue like this.
01:43:40 Now, Akufo-Addo says, "Government has increased cocoa prices from 12,800 per ton to 20,943 per ton, or 1,308 CDs per bag.
01:43:51 That price is 70.5% of the gross FOB price and is equivalent to 1,821 per ton.
01:43:57 This is the highest price to be paid to cocoa farmers across West Africa in some 50 years."
01:44:03 Fact? Fiction? Next slide.
01:44:06 Then, former President Mahama, so that's the football, MPP and DC.
01:44:11 He believes the increase is unfair to farmers and their families.
01:44:14 He highlights the record high international market price of $3,600,
01:44:20 claims government's offer is only 52.7% of the international FOB price,
01:44:24 and he argues that cocoa farmers deserve better treatment.
01:44:27 We all agree on that, but who delivers the better treatment?
01:44:32 Next slide.
01:44:34 The minority leader, Dr. Castellato-Fawson.
01:44:38 If the NDC were to be in government, we would have given a bag of, or have a bag of cocoa at 2,500 Ghana CDs
01:44:45 and at a premium of 300 CDs, so you would have received 2,800 CDs per bag.
01:44:51 Next slide.
01:44:54 Then we have Richard Akiangba, who speaks for the MPP.
01:45:00 "Government has not sure-changed farmers, really.
01:45:04 The new price has been greeted with joy and excitement from all stakeholders."
01:45:08 Sometimes you rejoice at what you do not know.
01:45:10 I'm not saying it's bad. I sat here and said that it is wonderful,
01:45:14 but is that the best we could have done for them, especially in this economic situation and with our inflation?
01:45:19 "Farmers have been given the significant portion of the profits from cocoa export."
01:45:23 Okay, let's look at the tail of the tape.
01:45:26 Now, the 2023-2024 cocoa crop.
01:45:29 Now, if you look at the cocoa bond boss, was sold at international prices between $2,200 and $2,400 per ton.
01:45:35 The use of 3,600 per ton international price is wrong.
01:45:39 Ghana's cocoa beans are primarily sold forward with most of the 2023-2024 crop sold between October and March.
01:45:48 That is October 2022 and March 2023, and spot prices are not to be used to determine cocoa.
01:45:54 Fair and square. Next slide.
01:45:57 And then we look at the state of Ghana's cocoa.
01:46:01 Ghana ended the cocoa season a month earlier. Why? Due to lower expected output.
01:46:07 That is the reality. That is what people are not telling us.
01:46:12 This was mainly due to smuggling and illegal mining.
01:46:16 The same smuggling that is destroying our cocoa sector.
01:46:20 The Ivory Coast hasn't come out with its prices.
01:46:22 If it ups the ante versus eyes, you can bet that that problem will still fester.
01:46:28 And as for Galamsey, let me not even go there.
01:46:31 Ghana lost, take note, 150,000 metric tons of cocoa, equivalent to about 560 million Ghana cities.
01:46:40 In fact, dollars. Dollars. I beg your pardon. Dollars. 560 million dollars.
01:46:46 That's how gargantuan it is. Look at what we're going to the IMF for. Next slide.
01:46:51 But now, if you look at the performance of cocoa bought in terms of profit or loss, especially as they've come to the fore,
01:46:57 we've had to also interrogate their business, what they've been doing there.
01:47:01 OK, you are giving this to the farmers, but you yourself, what's your output?
01:47:05 How have you been performing and the bonuses you've been getting? Do you merit them?
01:47:09 Do you in the UK, in the US, you see our companies, especially in the time of covid and the credit crunch and all of that.
01:47:18 Ordinary people went after leaders of giant companies, CEOs and others for their fat benefits.
01:47:23 Let's look at this. Now, if you look at the tail of the tape and you look at the years, OK, and the losses.
01:47:32 So red represents a loss. Green represents a profit. Look at the years when we made any profit, 2013 and 2014.
01:47:39 In 2013, three twenty nine point three one million in 2014, one fifty two point one five million.
01:47:45 That was how many years ago? OK, before then, 2011, 2012, 61 million plus in losses, one hundred and nine million plus in losses.
01:47:55 Since that time, the 2013, 2014 belts that we broke since that time, 2015 up till now.
01:48:01 So this period still within the former administration till now.
01:48:05 Look at the losses up to four hundred and twenty nine point thirty two million.
01:48:12 So what do we have to celebrate? Why will we not? Why will we how?
01:48:16 How will we even be able to give better to the cocoa farmer when this is our performance?
01:48:21 Next slide. Let's go to the next slide, please.
01:48:28 All right. So cocoa price per batch since 2008 in Ghana cities, and this is where it gets interesting.
01:48:34 If you look at the prices, there will be a certain line that runs through 2008, 2009.
01:48:42 This was an electoral year, by the way. So let's say from that point, one hundred and two shot up to one thirty eight, two hundred, two hundred and five.
01:48:50 It sort of stabilizes here. Then you see ahead of an electoral year, four hundred and twenty.
01:48:58 Then you come again and you see that ahead of another electoral year. So this is the 2015 era right before 2016.
01:49:08 And in 2016, you see where it's at shop shut up to because of politics.
01:49:12 It is politics. They play with us. The two parties, politics.
01:49:15 You come again to 2020 and you see where it's ascended to.
01:49:20 If I from 2019 to 2020, five hundred and fifteen politics. And now, though, we've seen a certain steady trajectory because we are in the political season again.
01:49:32 Yeah, we are. It's been spiked because of politics.
01:49:38 They want to deceive us. Yes, that is what they do.
01:49:43 They use these because guess what? Those who are farmers, their dependents and those in the sector, you're looking at about four million people.
01:49:55 So they play this ping pong with us. And then when it is getting to an electoral year, they give you a little look of you just to twist your minds.
01:50:05 Whether it's the NDC or the MPP, they've done it and it's being done again. Wake up.
01:50:11 Smell the coffee or better still smell the milo.
01:50:16 Doesn't it shock you? The Ghana is the number two in terms of cocoa exports globally.
01:50:23 But the Netherlands, their biggest export to the USA is cocoa powder.
01:50:31 Not us. Then do they produce cocoa? No. The Netherlands is the number one destination of Ghana's cocoa.
01:50:38 Our cocoa. It goes there. Then they process it into cocoa powder. And yet, yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:50:43 And yet. You understand what I mean, you watching me, you understand.
01:50:55 And the politicians watching me, I mean exactly what I'm saying. I said I would address you. And that's what we're doing here.
01:51:01 You take us for granted. You throw crumbs to us at the end of the day and you think you've done something.
01:51:06 We're not angry enough. I leave you with the words of Mark Skousen. Mark Skousen, who says.
01:51:13 And I want you, Ghana, for to put this in your minds, because if we don't bring change.
01:51:19 Change will someday force us to bring it. This is what Mark Skousen says.
01:51:23 We shall never change our political leaders until we change the people who elect them.
01:51:29 We shall never change our political leaders until we change the people who elect them.
01:51:34 And that's us. You watching me and me in the studio.
01:51:39 We must change ourselves and our mindset else our leaders will remain the same.
01:51:45 My name is Benjamin Akapu. These Ghana for my blunt thoughts for you.
01:51:49 Another Friday morning served hot, raw, unedited and undiluted. As always, I pray.
01:51:54 God bless Ghana and make her great and strong.
01:51:58 (Music)
01:52:22 (Music)
01:52:46 According to Ghana's statistical surveys, 10% of illiterate population are concentrated in nine out of the 261 districts.
01:52:56 According to the surveys, data available from the 2021 population and housing census indicates that only nine of the 261 districts account for more than one tenth, that is 10.4% of the 7.9 million illiterate persons six years and older.
01:53:14 Four of the nine districts are in the northern region, two in the northeast region and one each in Savannah, Volta and upper east regions.
01:53:25 In sum, 822,259 persons are not literates, that is, they cannot read or write with understanding in any language.
01:53:37 It is in this regard that the awareness creation about the day becomes relevant.
01:53:43 The district chief executive for KGB district, Wilson Akbanyo, says the district has allocated a parcel of land for the construction of a learning center in the Ote region.
01:53:53 The KGB district assembly has also earmarked a parcel of land at Islam Bank near the new courthouse to construct a learning center for the CA in the Ote region.
01:54:06 It is also worth to note that the KGB office of CA has started recruiting, learning for Engender Africa to be trained in various skills development to enable them to become self-developed.
01:54:22 The regional director for education, Nana Kubejo Bakataye II, indicated that despite the myriad of challenges facing formal education in the region, it is making a headway in its final examinations.
01:54:35 Thus, BECE and WASI.
01:54:38 It is through literacy that we foster tolerance, empathy and understanding, which are essential ingredients for peaceful co-existence.
01:54:49 Ote educational directorate is a beneficiary of literacy education, which is evident in our external examination, which is BECE and WASI.
01:55:03 I am happy to inform you that Ote, young as we are, we are striding very well.
01:55:10 For BECE 2021, as a region, we had 59.3% and we moved from that to 65.1% in 2022.
01:55:24 The story is not different for WASI.
01:55:28 We are climbing along the ladder and so for WASI, we moved from 40% in 2021 to 66.6% in 2022.
01:55:41 Mamle Andrews, MESES is the chief director and the ministry of education who represented the education minister, Dr. Yaw Edichum.
01:55:50 The ministry is urging all community leaders to ensure that all children of school-going age are enrolled in a formal education system.
01:55:58 We should all endeavor to increase the rate of adult literacy in our country and ensure that all our children of school-going age are put in schools.
01:56:13 It cannot be done by governments alone.
01:56:16 We need the collective efforts of our dear chiefs, our opinion leaders, our parents and our guardians in increasing the literacy levels around the world.
01:56:29 Emmanuel Ntim is the acting executive director, Complementary Education Agency.
01:56:35 He says the agency currently has complementary basic education for children aged 8 to 16.
01:56:42 This, he added, is to change the narrative of illiteracy in Ghana.
01:56:47 Presently, the agency is running the complementary basic education that has to do with out-of-school children between the ages of 8 to 16.
01:56:58 And currently, we are implementing 5,000 CBE classes in three regions of Ghana.
01:57:09 We are in Savannah region, Blue East region and we are in Upper East.
01:57:14 Cecilia Amankwa is the country director for Engage Now Africa, one of the NGOs bridging the illiteracy divide.
01:57:22 According to her, they have introduced vocational training modules into the training of their learners.
01:57:29 Our main mission is to heal and is to rescue our own brothers and sisters out of extreme poverty.
01:57:36 And so we realize that teaching somebody how to read and write alone cannot solve that problem.
01:57:42 We need to give them some skills as well so that they'll be able to do some businesses, you know, to provide for their families and also to provide for maybe the community that they live in.
01:57:54 So that's why we have introduced the vocational skills training program in 2018.
01:58:01 You know, and currently, as I speak to you, we have graduated over 2,500 learners on the vocational skills training program.
01:58:11 We've given them skills in like soap making, you know, in all the different types of soaps.
01:58:16 We have given them skills in baking and cooking, skills in beads making, batik tie and dye, detergent, antiseptic, hair products.
01:58:27 We've also given them business management training as well so that whatever skills they have acquired, they can go out there and do business with it.
01:58:37 They are taught how to even save, how to budget, how to, what kind of products they should sell, how to even brand their products, how to use the Internet and the smartphones that they have to promote the products that they have been taught to do.
01:58:54 So all these things are being taught in our classes.
01:58:58 We also move our experts to the communities because our program is more of a community-based development programs.
01:59:05 So we move more of our experts to the communities to give them such trainings.
01:59:11 Some learners have also been sharing their experiences with Joy News.
01:59:16 Naturally, I'm a hairdresser apprentice. So when I shop one day, my auntie came to me, introduced the group to me and I told her that I'm a hairdresser so I can't get time to be going to school.
01:59:29 (music)
01:59:55 So we recently celebrated International Literacy Day.
02:00:01 But what is the state of literacy in the country, Ghana?
02:00:06 As you saw from that report, there's a whole lot that we ought to be doing that we are not doing.
02:00:12 A whole lot that ought to be tackled that we've not necessarily tackled in the best way possible.
02:00:19 Well, joining us for a conversation as we get on this matter all the way from KGB, well, we're coming back to Accra and spreading our tentacles nationally.
02:00:29 We have Divine Peh in the studio. He is Senior Programs Officer at Africa Education Watch.
02:00:37 Divine, thank you for joining the conversation.
02:00:39 We also have Dr. Peter Antti joining the conversation. He is Executive Director, Institute for Education Studies.
02:00:45 And then we have Emmanuel Ntimp, Acting Executive Director, Complementary Education Agency.
02:00:51 And then Richmond Edujemfi, Adult Literacy Manager, Engage Africa.
02:00:59 Let me just say a very good morning to you, our guests on Zoom and likely via the phone lines as well.
02:01:07 If you can hear me, a very good morning to you.
02:01:10 Good morning, Benjamin.
02:01:13 Who am I hearing?
02:01:15 Richmond.
02:01:17 OK, I have to. I can't see all of you, so I have to be sure as we go.
02:01:24 Richmond Edujemfi. OK.
02:01:26 Edujemfi, yes.
02:01:28 Emmanuel Ntimp.
02:01:29 Good morning. Yes, good morning.
02:01:31 OK. All right. A very good morning to you, too.
02:01:34 Do we have Dr. Peter Antti yet? Not yet.
02:01:37 OK. All right. So I'll start with you.
02:01:42 Let me start with you, Richmond, especially as you are an adult literacy manager for Engage Africa.
02:01:49 Engage Africa. Yes.
02:01:51 When you look at the latest International Literacy Day and what emerged from KGB in the OT region,
02:01:57 what are your major takeaways in terms of literacy in Ghana?
02:02:04 OK, Benjamin, thank you for that wonderful question.
02:02:09 Good morning once again to our listeners and viewers.
02:02:14 Literacy, I think I would have to build it from the quotes that Kufi Annan once said,
02:02:22 that literacy is a bridge from misery to hope.
02:02:26 I think what happened in KGB, I think it's a good step because the theme for the literacy day was to promote literacy
02:02:36 for sustainable and peaceful societies in a changing world.
02:02:41 So what happened there, I think I'm hopeful that henceforth we will take literacy seriously because as Engage now,
02:02:50 we know that a lot of organizations and institutions, I think they targeted our case,
02:02:58 but we saw that the adults were left behind.
02:03:03 So that was the reason why we chose to tackle the elders or the adults in our society.
02:03:11 And I'm hopeful that things will be done right. And as our parents are educated automatically,
02:03:18 they will help their kids or their children to also educate themselves.
02:03:23 So I'm hopeful that what happened in KGB will go a long way to changing our world.
02:03:31 OK, I'll throw the same question to all of you. So for you, Richmond as well, for you, Emmanuel, I beg your pardon.
02:03:40 Emmanuel, what's your take on this? Mr. Antim.
02:03:51 OK, so I hear there's a glitch with his connection. We'll come back into the studio. Divine.
02:03:56 On the back of what happened, International Literacy Day, what are your key takeaways?
02:04:03 And for you, from where you sit, Africa Education Watch, what is the state of literacy in Ghana?
02:04:08 All right. Thank you, Ben. And good morning to your viewers.
02:04:11 Ghana's Statistical Service has given us the indication that for the last decade,
02:04:17 we have seen some improvements when it comes to both adult literacy and then that of the youth literacy.
02:04:25 Notwithstanding, when it comes to the part of children, especially those in a primary school level,
02:04:33 we still have significant improvement that we need to build on.
02:04:38 Because even if you closely look at the 2021 results of a national standard test,
02:04:45 it tells us that on average we're having about 54 of the P4 children that took the examination,
02:04:52 the NST, having the minimum proficiency in literacy.
02:04:57 But even if you disaggregate the data further, you can even see in some regions,
02:05:04 over 90 percent of children not having the basic skill when it comes to literacy.
02:05:10 So, yes, despite the fact that we have to celebrate the progress we've made over the years,
02:05:15 we still have ways to go. But I'm very happy that we are seeing some levels of commitment
02:05:22 to address the situation at the school level and then also outside the school level.
02:05:27 And when I mean the school level, interventions such as the Gallup differentiated learning
02:05:33 and then the transition to learning program that is being implemented at KG2, P3 level.
02:05:40 And then also outside the school level, we are seeing the complementary basic education
02:05:45 and then adult literacy program being delivered by the Complementary Education Agency
02:05:49 to tackle some issues of literacy in the country.
02:05:53 So, yeah, the progress, we celebrate that.
02:05:56 And also we need to celebrate the interventions being made by our government.
02:06:01 Right, the interventions being made by government.
02:06:03 Which one of those interventions do you feel have actually had an impact as far as literacy is concerned?
02:06:09 Okay, the transition to English has been one of the programs that has improved literacy at a school level.
02:06:20 When you say the transition to English?
02:06:22 It's a program that is specially designed to equip teachers at the KG2, P3 level
02:06:29 with a skill to help learners acquire the basic literacy skills.
02:06:33 So that has been running since 2018. I think it was launched in 2018, if I'm not mistaken, or 2021.
02:06:42 Yeah, so that is a program that is running.
02:06:44 And then also the Ghana Accountability and Learning Outcome Program,
02:06:48 which also is supposed to resource teachers and at the same time help teachers acquire the skill of differentiated learning.
02:06:56 What that means is that you don't teach the students as a class, as a whole class,
02:07:01 but you dis-aggregate them based on their performance in the classroom.
02:07:05 If somebody can read and somebody cannot read, or somebody is at the basic level of reading,
02:07:11 you need to regroup them based on their ability and teach them according to their ability.
02:07:16 So teachers have received that training.
02:07:19 What we need to do is to ensure fidelity of implementation of that program.
02:07:23 And then the most critical one for me is the Complementary Basic Education,
02:07:28 which is providing nine-month accelerated learning for children that are aged 8 to 14
02:07:37 to acquire basic literacy and numeracy skills for them to be transitioned to the regular school system.
02:07:44 And that particular program, over the years at least, has helped half a million children to transition to the basic education,
02:07:53 the formal education system.
02:07:55 And research study on them shows that those that have transitioned to the formal education system,
02:08:01 90% of them are doing well when it comes to literacy.
02:08:05 So the Complementary Basic Education basically is a program that tackles children that are out of school.
02:08:13 In New Carrinsley, we have one million children that have never been to school before,
02:08:17 and then 400,000 that have been to school but have dropped out.
02:08:21 So the Complementary Basic Education targets children who are outside the formal education system,
02:08:27 give them the basic functional literacy skills and numeracy skills that they need to acquire.
02:08:34 Within nine months, once they acquire that, they are transitioned to the formal education system,
02:08:38 then they continue with their education progression.
02:08:42 And that particular program has also proven to be successful so far.
02:08:45 All right. Let me come now to Emmanuel and Tim.
02:08:49 Emmanuel, can you hear me now?
02:08:54 OK. All right. So we'll keep the conversation within the circles of Divine and Richmond.
02:09:03 Now, there is a general acknowledgement, Richmond, when it comes to the subject matter that we're discussing,
02:09:10 that there are crucial problems. In fact, looking at what the Ministry of Education,
02:09:15 the Ghana Education Service, Complementary Education Agency, and Engage Now Africa has been saying,
02:09:21 no one must be left behind in education in the changing global community.
02:09:26 But the question is, what are the factors resulting in some of our population,
02:09:34 those who ought to be getting the right literacy skills, not getting them?
02:09:39 I've seen report upon report in terms of literacy in Ghana, the West African subregion, among others.
02:09:45 And it doesn't appear that we are making the most inroads that we could make.
02:09:50 If you look at the last few years and you look at now, we've not come really far, have we?
02:09:56 OK. So, Benjamin, that is true. That has been our worry.
02:10:01 I think especially when you go to the rural areas, it's really sad.
02:10:07 I think a lot of them even have the desire to go to school, but due to no fault of theirs, they are still home.
02:10:16 I think most of them associate the rural areas is financial, but thanks to the free education.
02:10:24 But I still don't know the reason why most of them are still at home, especially the kids.
02:10:31 And this boils down to the fact that the parents themselves, growing up, never went to school.
02:10:38 So some of them don't know the importance of education.
02:10:42 That is the reason why, regardless of the free education, they still don't allow their children to go to school.
02:10:50 So I think the fact that some will be financial, but as I said,
02:10:55 I don't think that is the number one challenge that we are facing now.
02:11:02 So if they get to know the importance of education, then I assure you the parents will allow their kids to go to school.
02:11:11 That is why I said that in Engage Africa, these are some of the things we considered,
02:11:16 because we know that everyone wants their child to go to school.
02:11:20 But if the parent himself is not educated or doesn't know the importance of education,
02:11:27 it becomes so hard to allow the kids to do so.
02:11:32 So introducing the adult literacy program somewhere in 2014, because Engage now is an NGO anyway,
02:11:41 so introducing that and going to the marginalised areas, the rural areas, to empower them with these skills.
02:11:49 We saw that, yes, they are now even allowing their children to go to school,
02:11:54 because now the parents themselves can read, they can write,
02:11:59 and they can assist their kids even in their homework when they can't online before.
02:12:04 So I think one of the factors is to continue to promote literacy, even to the vulnerable,
02:12:12 wherever they may be, in the north, in whichever village, you know, we find people there.
02:12:20 Education must get to them, and we should help them with infrastructure so that their kids can go to school.
02:12:27 We should build more schools, because once we visited Upper East, and that is one of the projects Engage now does,
02:12:34 we build schools for children, and especially we do that up north.
02:12:39 And you can see the distance that children had to, you know, just walk before they could go to school.
02:12:48 So schools should be accessible to them. I think that is one thing that we lack as a country.
02:12:55 So they should have easy access to education, to schools, so that it will be easier for their kids walking to school and coming home.
02:13:04 And that is some of the things we are helping to, you know, help governments even close that gap,
02:13:11 and we are doing all that we can to make sure that we will do our part.
02:13:15 But as I said earlier, the most important thing is to promote this and make that awareness to parents how important education is,
02:13:27 so that they can also make their children, you know, go to school.
02:13:32 Because when they do, that is the only way they can become self-reliant.
02:13:36 It's only education that can make us free, and we want them to rise above extreme poverty.
02:13:43 And I think these factors can be overcome when parents are aware of the importance of education,
02:13:50 and the government do their part. Stakeholders also help do their part to make education more accessible to the children.
02:13:59 And of course, education is crucial in all of this, in terms of being able to navigate their way through the turbulent waters of life.
02:14:08 And of course, whatever income they are going to get in the future, it will be impacted.
02:14:12 Let me bring in Emmanuel and team now. Emmanuel, can you hear me now?
02:14:17 Hello, Ema.
02:14:21 Yeah, I can hear you, please.
02:14:22 Great, great. Acting Executive Director, Complementary Education Agency.
02:14:26 For you, quickly, what is your take on the state of literacy?
02:14:30 Is it reflective of what the Ghana Statistical Service tells us?
02:14:33 And then again, on the back of the latest developments, well, government has done quite a bit,
02:14:41 but the results don't seem to be where we would want them to be.
02:14:44 What do you think are the factors?
02:14:46 OK, thank you. First of all, I would like to apologize for I had a network challenge,
02:14:52 so I was unable to join initially for this discussion.
02:14:58 I think I would want to start from this here. Yes, literacy, like my previous panelists indicated,
02:15:09 the literacy rates in Ghana is something that we as a country or as agency under the Ministry of Education,
02:15:18 need to put agency into this issue because looking at the statistics,
02:15:24 it's like the current statistics from Population Enhancing Census 2021 indicates that 44.8 percent cannot read or write in any language.
02:15:36 So this is a serious issue that we think about. We as Complementary Education Agency,
02:15:42 we believe that for somebody to enhance their livelihood, there is a need for the person to acquire certain basic skills
02:15:51 when it comes to literacy and literacy. So going back and reflecting on what we just did,
02:15:59 the recent activity that has to do with international literacy, we want to use that platform to advocate that, yes,
02:16:06 for the government as an agency through the Ministry of Education and as an agency, we are doing our best.
02:16:14 But we think that, yes, there is the need to still break the gap. As we speak, the current statistics,
02:16:21 we as an agency, a government agency, we were able to implement only 45,000 of such people for this year.
02:16:30 And we think that going into the following this thing, we need other partners to come in so that we can break this gap,
02:16:40 because we know that is something that we need to advocate. So that is it.
02:16:46 Going forward, we are coming out with a lot of activities because now the world is changing.
02:16:54 And like the education minister always said, we are in the 21st century. So in this regard,
02:17:01 we think that as an agency, we need to come up with strategies to get all this people on board,
02:17:08 because looking at the resources that are available, if you want to break this gap, then trust me,
02:17:13 it will be very difficult for us to say that even in the next 20 years, we can break this gap.
02:17:19 So what we are doing is to liaise with other agencies like Central and other things to have all these literacy programs,
02:17:27 both online and offline, to introduce this kind of, let's say, social media and all other means so that people can access this literacy.
02:17:40 So, yeah, going forward, I think that we need to advocate. We need to advocate because if we really want to do the government as an agency,
02:17:51 we are doing our best to make sure that we break the gap. But at the end of the day, looking at the resources that are also available to us
02:17:58 makes it impossible for us to break the gap. So that is why we advocate. We took that platform to advocate.
02:18:05 Yes, we want other institutions like Engage Now, World Vision, and all those people within the complementary education space to come on board.
02:18:14 We think together on a roundtable and see the way forward to break the gap.
02:18:19 All right. Coming into the studio, before we even get into the formal and non-formal sectors,
02:18:25 and those who have received formal education, those who haven't received formal education, and what we can possibly do for them,
02:18:31 if there are adult literacy institutions in other countries that take care of these matters, what is the state of that?
02:18:38 But before we get into that, it always beats my imagination. A country I have been in, Cuba,
02:18:45 within a year or two, they were able to transform their educational literacy levels to over 90 percent,
02:18:53 and they've maintained that close to 100 percent over the years.
02:18:59 You know, it's always said that you don't reinvent the wheel. What someone has done before, you can always learn from the positives,
02:19:04 of course, in your context and apply. Why do you feel we're still lagging behind, Divine?
02:19:11 All right. It's true. We are in a global world, and what we need to do is to learn best practices of what people are doing and working for them.
02:19:21 We need to learn that. And I'm pretty sure that we've learned a series of things from other countries,
02:19:28 tried to bring them into our country to transform the delivery of education.
02:19:34 The challenge has always been the sustainability of such interventions.
02:19:39 So you see a program that runs for a period of time to help students to learn,
02:19:46 and resources are mobilized and made available to just train, capacity build.
02:19:53 And then if the program is running for, say, five years, the end of the five years,
02:19:59 it means that the program has also come to an end because there is no mechanism to sustain that program
02:20:05 and ensure that the program continues beyond its lifespan of implementation.
02:20:11 So for me, I believe we are learning from what others are doing and we try as much as possible to bring them to our space.
02:20:18 But however, once the program lifespan ends, it means the end of such interventions.
02:20:24 And we need to get back to address that challenge to ensure that if we have learned best practices from elsewhere
02:20:32 and have integrated them in our educational space to help our learners to read,
02:20:37 it's also pretty sure that we just make sure that beyond the five years,
02:20:43 whatever lifetime we have allocated to it, the program is able to run across that.
02:20:48 So that again brings me to the point of fidelity of implementation of such programs,
02:20:53 so that we implement the programs well and then also ensure their sustainability.
02:20:58 Beyond that, it also bothers on issues of investments, financial investments, of course,
02:21:05 because if you are trying to address literacy issues in a country and you have learned best practices,
02:21:13 designed programs and you start to implement the programs,
02:21:16 and you haven't made financial resources available to sustain that.
02:21:20 Of course, how will they be executed?
02:21:21 So we are in the Complementary Education Agency, formerly the Non-Formal Education Division,
02:21:27 which is supposed to address these issues of literacy outside the school level,
02:21:32 among the adults and then the youth that are not in school.
02:21:35 You look at the budgetary allocation to them and expenditure over the years,
02:21:40 they are hopefully receiving nothing because, for instance, in 2020…
02:21:44 Do you have any figures you can share with us?
02:21:45 Yeah, yeah. In 2020, the allocation to the Complementary Education Agency,
02:21:51 formerly the Non-Formal Education Division, was 0.38% of the total education budget.
02:21:57 In 2021, it was 0.3%, and in 2022, again 0.3%, and in 2023 this year, it declined to 0.26%.
02:22:10 So this is what they have been receiving over the years,
02:22:14 and if you are not even getting 1% of what you need of the education budget
02:22:20 to even implement your CA program, it's quite difficult for you to ensure that you sustain such programs.
02:22:26 So for us, we believe that we need to make resources available,
02:22:31 financial resources of course, for the programs that we've learned somewhere,
02:22:35 bringing them into the country for them to run effectively.
02:22:38 But again, having mentioned that, I must also commend the government
02:22:43 for making 2.1 million available this particular year
02:22:47 for the implementation of complementary education.
02:22:50 This commendable because when the CBE was running, it has always been donor-led.
02:22:56 Over a decade ago, when that has been running, it has always been donor-led.
02:23:01 And we implemented one strand from 2012 to 2018.
02:23:06 When it ended, government was supposed to take the financial responsibility,
02:23:10 but government has not been able to do that.
02:23:13 So 2019, the donors had to still take over, 2020, still donors.
02:23:20 And then donors were not ready to sponsor in 2021 and 2022.
02:23:24 So in these two years, we didn't have any CBE program.
02:23:28 But this year, government has made available 2.1 million for the CBE program to be implemented.
02:23:36 That's why we need to commend government for such effort, although much is required.
02:23:40 But the progress, the demonstration of the effort to commit resources to it is quite commendable.
02:23:46 All right. Let me bring in Richmond Edujemfi once more into the conversation.
02:23:53 I don't know whether we have Dr. Ante with us. I don't think we do.
02:23:58 All right. Dr. Peter Ante isn't ready yet. So I'll go back to Richmond Edujemfi, adult literacy manager.
02:24:08 That's Richmond, right? All right. Yeah, Benjamin.
02:24:12 Yeah. So I just wanted to get to the point of those who are who haven't received formal education over the course of their lives.
02:24:22 Adult literacy is so to speak. Where are we in Ghana?
02:24:27 And how much more of a focus should we be putting on that since that exactly, you know, is down your alley?
02:24:35 What's exactly. Yeah. Thank you very much, Benjamin.
02:24:41 I think this is one of the reasons why we we believe in partnerships.
02:24:47 Yeah. So CAA is there to monitor and guide, especially with the non let's say the NGOs to do the right thing.
02:25:02 So as Engage Africa, as I said earlier, 2014, we introduce the adult literacy.
02:25:10 Yeah. And science from that we've been able to enroll 13000 of adult learners.
02:25:18 Yeah. And out of it, 13000. Yeah. Right. Since 2014. Yeah. And got just 7000 of them.
02:25:29 But one thing that we also look at, because as I said earlier, we not we just don't want them to, because we know that when they learn how to read, they will be free.
02:25:40 But we know that freedom would be complete. That was why in 2018, we had to even add the vocational skills to the training of our adults.
02:25:51 So I would like to use this medium to even also plead with our men, because one thing I realized with our adult learners, about 80 percent of them are women, only 20 are men.
02:26:05 And I'm sure Mr. Intim will also bear witness to that. I don't know what is happening with the men.
02:26:12 I don't know whether it's because of our ego or not, but I know a lot of us.
02:26:17 Women are taking up the challenge. Exactly. Maybe that because I know one of our adult learners who is a man who thinks he's been joined the women in class.
02:26:29 I don't know whether he's shyness. So after the class, you you would just see the first set up privately so that he would have his own private class.
02:26:41 And that's how patient some of our facilitators can be. They go to the extra mile to even teach them that.
02:26:48 So I think that is what is happening. But we believe in partnerships because we can't do it all alone.
02:26:57 So we need more like because there is this organization called United Way Ghana.
02:27:03 United Way Ghana, they believe in children education so much, the CBE and sometimes because they felt that, yeah, we are teaching these kids how to read and write.
02:27:13 But their parents too must do something. So they will just partner with them.
02:27:19 And it makes the work so easy, especially this international literacy that we did was so easy because of the partnership we have with CEA, UNESCO and everything.
02:27:30 So I believe in partnerships so much. So when we partner, it becomes so easy for us to do so because the adult learners, they are just there.
02:27:40 And apart from learning how to read and write, I think they must be empowered with a skill, because if not, they wouldn't be interested.
02:27:49 Because I think it's also boring for them when we started at first, because they felt that we are coming to read and write.
02:27:55 What next? After that, what next? Is it for us to just speak English? Is it for, yeah, but we know it's very, very important.
02:28:02 That was how can we introduce the vocational skills. So they are empowered with these skills.
02:28:08 And we do shoe making, soap making of all kinds, baking, any skills of their preference.
02:28:17 We are ready to do for them. Then after that, we even help them with a starter pack in forms of provision of materials and tools, everything that so that they can start their own businesses and feed themselves, feed their children.
02:28:35 And we know this will go a long way into making impact in individuals and family lives.
02:28:41 And I think partnership here is very key because it requires a lot of resources to get to them.
02:28:50 They are in the vulnerable areas. Right. A lot of them are there.
02:28:55 I just have some follow ups for you. So basically, the core components of the courses, you teach them literacy, how to read, how to write.
02:29:05 Right. Yeah. And then numeracy. Exactly. Because if you don't add numeracy skills to this, even when you polish them off and say, look, we want to introduce you to a skill, even the monetary aspect of it might be problematic.
02:29:21 So you do that. And then you have the specific skills training depending on what they want to do.
02:29:27 Exactly what they want to do. Yes. You spoke about what you spoke about funding. How have you been able to fund it up to this point?
02:29:38 Yes. That's why I say that we believe in partnership. When we partner to do it, it becomes so easy.
02:29:44 I think United Way Ghana is one of our partners. And recently, I think we partnered with MTN. MTN celebrated their 21th year anniversary.
02:29:55 So they came to engage in Africa and we have to do it. It became easy because they wanted to impart what they have.
02:30:01 They came to you. You did not even go to them. They came to you.
02:30:04 So what we are saying is that because they know that we are service providers. So what we we partnered with them so that they can impart what they have even to our adult learners and even the youth who were invited because we had this customer care training.
02:30:22 We gave them digital literacy, which is also very difficult, especially for the adults. Some of them are holding smartphones, but they don't even know what to do with it.
02:30:32 How they could even market their product, the skills that they have acquired. How they could market all those things, even social media and use their phone to the best of their benefit.
02:30:44 So partnership is key here because we can't do it all alone. We are an NGO. We have people donate to it, but that's not sufficient.
02:30:54 But when you partner, maybe this one could contribute a little. Then when we put them together, we can make a great impact.
02:31:02 So we believe in more partnerships.
02:31:05 Thank you. Let me come to Mr. Ntim. Complementary education, it is crucial, just as this adult literacy bit that we are speaking of.
02:31:12 In that space, what have you been doing and what do you think moving forward can be done to sustain the efforts that we started on?
02:31:22 We are not where we want to be, at least, thank God, we are not where we used to be.
02:31:26 But there's still a lot to be done from that end. What do you have to share with us?
02:31:32 OK, Ben, thank you once again. And let me emphasize that Complementary Education Agency, we are responsible for out of school learning, right from the primary to tertiary.
02:31:44 That is what our admin needs us to do. And as I speak with you, we have programs about four middle programs that we are running to bridge the gap between those who are in school and those who are out of school.
02:32:00 What are they? The first program that we are running has to do with the complementary basic education that Devine spoke about.
02:32:09 That has to do with children who are out of school between the age of 16.
02:32:15 We provide nine months intensive learning in numeracy and literacy in local language in the community where they find themselves in their local language.
02:32:26 And we introduce the English language as a second language in the seventh, eighth and ninth month to them.
02:32:31 And at the end of the day, we assess them and we are transitioning them to the formal school, either class three or class four, based on the assessment that we do.
02:32:42 But one of the alternatives, because previously looking at their age bracket, somebody might be between the age of 14, 13, who wouldn't want to go back to the formal school.
02:32:54 But what alternative learning pathway do we have for such people?
02:32:59 So we at Complementary Education have designed other programs by way of engaging them in a life skill training and development.
02:33:09 We are partnering with TBETS and CTBETS to ensure after these people have been given the literacy skill for nine months, what is the next step for them?
02:33:23 So we engage them in this aspect and at the end of the day, we enroll them to either TBETS or other life skills.
02:33:34 One of the alternatives we also have to do with that, as I indicated, what learning pathway can we create for them?
02:33:43 So going forward, what we're going to do as one of our learning pathway is to create our learning platform in such a way that such a person can continue on the non-formal way or the Complementary Education way through to senior high school.
02:33:58 So basically, that is what we are doing for the Complementary Basic Education.
02:34:01 And now, as I speak with you, Devine mentioned that this year government committed 2.1 million for CBE.
02:34:09 Yeah, that money was given to CEA and we are implementing 5,000 learners in this space.
02:34:16 And one program that we also run has to do with the Remedial Education Program.
02:34:21 I think the feed has frozen again. The connection has frozen again.
02:34:32 Gentlemen, let's look at what we should be considering as our core targets moving forward as government, as state agencies in the education sector, as private entities in the education sector.
02:34:45 What should we be looking at moving forward to ensure that illiteracy or our low levels of literacy, I should say, is brought to the barest minimum?
02:34:57 I'll start with you, Devine.
02:34:59 All right, Ben. I think Rich Modjila has set the tone for that.
02:35:04 Talking about partnership, building partnership is very important, especially with the CSOs. They are on the ground.
02:35:14 They know their communities very well, where their people are, those that are out of school, adults that do not have their basic skills when it comes to literacy.
02:35:25 They know them. So government needs to build a partnership with them to deliver literacy education.
02:35:33 And we have seen that when it comes to the Ghana Education Outcome Project, government has currently, in partnership with School for Life, Street Child UK, and Plan International,
02:35:49 they are delivering complementary education in some communities. And that is very helpful.
02:35:57 So we need to encourage government to build more of the partnership, identify more of the CSOs that are in the space, and commit resources to them to be able to go into the community to identify the people and help them out.
02:36:11 And I also know that the CEA, the Complementary Education Agency, is developing resource mobilization strategy.
02:36:20 That's very important because at the end of the day, it's going to be about resources to deliver the program.
02:36:27 So it's very important that steps are taken for that particular document to see the light of day, and then also should be implemented very well.
02:36:38 The strategies that it has received a lot of consultation from different partners, including the CSOs, and I know that's a very rich document.
02:36:46 If well implemented, resources can be made available to deliver CBE, and not just that, any other component of complementary education that the CEA has a responsibility to deliver.
02:36:58 All right. Thank you, Divine. Let me come to you, Richmond.
02:37:01 What would be your take on how we ought to move in the next few months, a year, years, to ensure that the targets that we are seeking to achieve on the score of literacy can be achieved?
02:37:16 Thank you very much. So, Benjamin, as I said earlier, I would just hammer on the fact that partnership is the way to go.
02:37:26 Partnership is the way to go. Government can do it all alone. The CSOs can't.
02:37:32 But when we come together, that's when we can meet the – because it needs a lot of resources.
02:37:38 So we should just put our heads together. And it has to be inclusive, especially when it comes to the adult education.
02:37:45 The community leaders, chiefs, political leaders, all of them must come on board so that we make sure that all the programs and policies,
02:37:55 especially the ones from the government, could be implemented well to just meet the targets that we've set for ourselves.
02:38:06 So I will repeat that partnership is the way to go. It's the best way we can.
02:38:12 Partnership is the way to go. Let me just – out of curiosity, what are some of the entities that you are hoping would partner with you?
02:38:20 I mean, you don't have to mention specific company names, but in which sectors are you hoping that people would complement your work through partnership?
02:38:28 Briefly on that.
02:38:30 From my experience, I think a lot of organizations are ready to help or sponsor education.
02:38:40 Even the embassies, yeah, the embassies, they are there to do that. We have a lot of CSOs that I can't even mention names right now.
02:38:52 But from the proposals that we write and those ones that come to us, a lot of organizations, both those in the education sector, they are all ready to help, frankly.
02:39:07 Because whenever we meet them and we talk about education, everyone would want – but I don't know, maybe it's the fact that how to start is the problem.
02:39:17 But I see – that's why I'm happy that the starting team is here. And we are very close. Our offices are close.
02:39:24 And we work together to make sure that this happens.
02:39:28 All right. That's refreshing to hear.
02:39:29 Emmanuel Ntembe, you have the final word. I hope the connection is better now. Can you hear me?
02:39:33 Yes, I can hear you.
02:39:35 All right. Final words on that same trajectory.
02:39:38 Okay. Thank you. Like my brother indicated, we at the Complementary Education Agency believe in partnership and collaboration.
02:39:49 So if we want to do all the activities, it will be impossible for us to do.
02:39:55 So we need to bring all of them on board.
02:40:00 So going forward, we have our policy and we have our strategic plan.
02:40:07 And in the next few months, we're going to bring on board all stakeholders within the complementary education space, those NGOs and all those who matter when it comes to complementary education.
02:40:18 We're bringing them to a roundtable to come up with strategies that can help us reduce this number of non-literate youth and adults in the country.
02:40:29 Because we see this as a critical thing that we don't have to joke about.
02:40:33 So very soon, all plans are in place to bring all of them on board.
02:40:38 And like he indicated, we've started the collaboration and partnership with them.
02:40:42 And we're going to see how best we can extend to other people.
02:40:46 Because as we speak, we have other NGOs like luminous and other people who are also doing well in the CBE arena.
02:40:54 So we are going to bring all of them as an umbrella and as an agency responsible for complementary, we will see how best we can regulate all these NGOs so that they all come on board.
02:41:04 All right. Thank you so much, gentlemen, for having joined the conversation.
02:41:08 We were hoping to have been joined by the executive director, Institute for Education Studies, Dr. Peter Antti, but unfortunately, he couldn't join us.
02:41:15 All the same, we had Richmond Edujemfi, adult literacy manager in Gage Africa, Emmanuel and Tim.
02:41:22 You just heard him acting executive director, Complementary Education Agency.
02:41:26 And, of course, in the studio, Divine Quest, senior programs officer, Africa Education Watch.
02:41:32 This has been our conversation on literacy on the back of International Literacy Day.
02:41:37 And, of course, the conversation continues.
02:41:40 We take a breather. We'll be back with more on the AM show. Don't go anywhere.
02:41:46 [Music]
02:42:02 Hello there. Very good morning to you. Hope you're doing well.
02:42:06 It's a privilege to have you watching the AM show this morning.
02:42:09 I'm Bernice Abubaydu-Lanser and just got by Benjamin Akapo together with our very important guests.
02:42:16 We're discussing education and looking at all the gaps that need to be filled.
02:42:21 You don't need to be a member of the Church of Pentecost to know that their mission is to possess the nations.
02:42:29 They've said it so much, it's stuck in our heads, right?
02:42:32 And we know that that is the big ambition of that church.
02:42:37 In July this year, they organized their National Development Conference.
02:42:41 The president was there. The vice was there.
02:42:44 Literally, the entire government machinery was there.
02:42:48 And there were very important conversations that were had about national development and the way forward.
02:42:54 So, after that, here's what the church has decided to do, to organize an all ministers conference.
02:43:00 It's a very interesting concept because the Church of Pentecost this time is going beyond its church
02:43:09 to engage Christians alike who belong to other denominations.
02:43:14 And I love this because it's very interesting. I haven't seen anything like this.
02:43:19 And this morning, I've been joined by Emmanuel Opondonko.
02:43:22 He's a pastor, the district pastor of the Church of Pentecost's Adenta district.
02:43:27 Good morning to you, Pastor. Great to have you here.
02:43:30 Thank you.
02:43:31 Honestly, I'm a Christian. I don't shy away from saying this.
02:43:34 And I find this very interesting.
02:43:37 Can you just briefly explain to us how this whole concept was birthed
02:43:41 and why it's important for the Church of Pentecost to organize this all ministers conference?
02:43:46 Right. This year is not the first. Indeed, it's the second.
02:43:51 We had it last year.
02:43:53 Churches have their own way of doing ministry.
02:43:58 But in the end, we all aim at one thing, that's spreading the good news of the gospel
02:44:04 and by the power of the Holy Spirit, transform human beings, make them citizens of heaven,
02:44:12 the ultimate goal of Christianity.
02:44:15 But we live in a human society.
02:44:18 So the impact of the church has to be felt.
02:44:21 And the church should spearhead the morality, righteousness,
02:44:26 which are the key factors for any nation to develop.
02:44:31 Without those things, a nation can develop, but we may suffer the consequences of the evil.
02:44:38 And so the Church of Pentecost thinks that Christians can come together
02:44:45 and spearhead this.
02:44:48 United, we are strong.
02:44:50 When we stand alone, we fall.
02:44:52 Like the broom, can't break it when it is together.
02:44:55 You take one, you can't break it.
02:44:57 So we can present a united voice in the nation to back the government
02:45:03 to do what is expected to do.
02:45:06 Very interesting.
02:45:08 You say this is the second edition?
02:45:10 Do you mind sharing with us some of the highlights of the first one?
02:45:16 What the conclusion of that conference was?
02:45:20 It was huge.
02:45:22 Over 3,000 participants held at Gumwa Fete, Pentecost Convention Centre.
02:45:28 And it was marvellous, lovely.
02:45:31 We deliberated on issues, bothering the church
02:45:35 and how our presence can be felt in the country.
02:45:39 The church is not an island.
02:45:41 It is living in human community.
02:45:43 And so we deliberated on issues like righteousness, the church and the state,
02:45:52 what we can do to help the nation to develop,
02:45:55 and then spirituality, how to do ministry.
02:45:58 I remember one individual came to talk about ICT and technology.
02:46:04 That was so much fascinating for me.
02:46:07 He opened up to us to tell us how the world we are in is technology-based and IT,
02:46:14 so you can't be isolated, otherwise you are left behind and you become rusticated.
02:46:20 So you need to be abreast with times.
02:46:22 And then he also opened us to the little, little dangers in it,
02:46:28 the frustrations of all those people,
02:46:30 and how we will be able to keep ourselves safe and all that.
02:46:33 So that was fantastic.
02:46:36 Dealing with the church and the state,
02:46:39 and how we can be important to the state,
02:46:42 and how our presence can be felt,
02:46:44 speaking to the issues, not keeping silent.
02:46:47 Because we are aiming at heaven, but we are living on it.
02:46:50 What we do here affects whether you go to heaven or not.
02:46:54 Interesting.
02:46:55 So this year has a specific theme.
02:46:58 Do you mind just running us through what the theme of this year's All Ministers Conference is?
02:47:03 The theme of the year, if I'm not wrong, is about moral development, the role of the church.
02:47:11 Moral and national development, the role of the church.
02:47:16 It's the moral vision and national development, the role of the church.
02:47:21 Right.
02:47:22 So, I mean, can you just help us understand why this is important?
02:47:27 Build a correlation between the moral vision and national development.
02:47:33 So how does the role, how does the church, how do you believe the church will play into all of this?
02:47:39 Right.
02:47:41 Morality defines human existence.
02:47:46 Because what we do affects us as human beings.
02:47:51 If we are morally bankrupt, our society will become bankrupt.
02:47:55 Everybody will do what they want, not taking into consideration what their actions,
02:48:03 the effect of their actions on their individual lives, on the lives of their family and the nation at large.
02:48:10 If we go rampaging, killing people, having sex, irrespective of who they are,
02:48:16 and promoting things that are promiscuous and all that,
02:48:21 then no matter how we preach, no matter how we pray, the nation will be affected.
02:48:25 And we all live in the nation.
02:48:27 It is said in Akanse, "Okonfobonia osikuromono, otimubi."
02:48:31 If you're a bad pastor, a bad prophet, and you prophesy that the nation, doom shall fall on the nation, you're also part of it.
02:48:39 So if we sit down and keep quiet, we don't say anything.
02:48:42 We have been preaching, we have been talking about being good, being a person with high moral standards,
02:48:48 but we think that it's about time that we brought all the churches together and we speak the same language.
02:48:54 Over the times, this one is saying that, this one is saying that, I think it's about time we said that let us come with one purpose.
02:49:03 And let us, if we would not be preaching the same thing all the time, at least we have a common goal.
02:49:09 And a vision.
02:49:10 And a vision.
02:49:11 Right.
02:49:12 And a community of the people.
02:49:13 And if we're able to do that, then it has relationship, it has a correlation to the nation.
02:49:21 And then the last national development program that we had, we think that it's about the time the church speaks.
02:49:30 We have been speaking, the communica groupings, the Catholic Bishop Conference, Christian Council, Ghana, Pentecostal,
02:49:38 and charismatic individual churches, whatever, we all have been speaking.
02:49:43 If there are issues, Catholic Conference will write, Pentecostal Council will write, the Christian Council will write.
02:49:50 But we think that it has not done much, so now let us come together.
02:49:57 That almost appears to be usually after the event.
02:50:02 You want to be more proactive now.
02:50:04 So now we want to speak into it, even before it happens.
02:50:08 So we are hoping that our voice will be heard and our message will be taken seriously.
02:50:15 Fantastic. So I see 12 speakers lined up here.
02:50:18 It's a very interesting lineup you have there.
02:50:21 So you have your own apostle, and then you have Archbishop Charles Adjenasari, who is with the Paris Chapel International.
02:50:28 You have Most Reverend Dr. Paul Kwabna Bwafu, who is with the Methodist Church.
02:50:33 You have the president of the Apostolic Church as well.
02:50:38 And then there's the Assemblies of God, there's the Royal House, there's Charles Pramlwaka, who is a Catholic.
02:50:45 And then you have Lighthouse, represented by Bishop Emmanuel Lintafo.
02:50:48 You have our very own Reverend Dr. Joyce Ayi, she's Executive Director of the Salt and Light Ministry.
02:50:54 You have Mr. Emmanuel Baba Mahama, he is with Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship International.
02:51:01 He's the National President.
02:51:03 Bernard Avle, it's interesting.
02:51:05 I'll ask why Bernard is here, because one thing I see is all these people are either heads of churches, or they run ministries.
02:51:14 Reverend Helena Opoku-Sakodje is with the Temadjoint Church.
02:51:21 But Bernard Avle is a journalist at CTFM. Just tell me why you have him.
02:51:25 He's the guy who came to speak on IT and technology and opened us to the nitty-gritties of it.
02:51:32 As a pastor, you need to have at least...
02:51:35 As some of us were born at a time that these things were not very common.
02:51:40 If you are 60 years and above, you know that sometimes they say, "Be busy, born before the computer."
02:51:48 But we are all trying to migrate.
02:51:50 So now we are digital migrants, trying to migrate from our old way of doing things into the system, so that we will not be taken for a ride.
02:52:00 I'm just excited to see him amongst this group of people who are going to be here.
02:52:05 He has a key role to play, to enlighten us to know what is happening on the ground.
02:52:10 Our children and how they are using these gadgets, and if we are ignorant about it,
02:52:17 we will be sitting there and things will be happening around us.
02:52:20 As a father or mother, you become like a toy, they play around you.
02:52:24 Exactly. And also because as pastors, you speak to such a mixed grouping.
02:52:28 Sometimes I don't know how you do it, because you enter a church and there's young people, sometimes 18, 19, 20, then you have the 70s.
02:52:37 So speaking to everybody and trying to meet them at the point of their understanding, it's quite interesting.
02:52:42 So I get why it's important for you to bridge the gap between the generations.
02:52:48 But tell us what you're hoping for at the end of this conference.
02:52:52 So let me maybe talk about some of the topics to be treated.
02:52:56 Please go ahead.
02:52:57 So for example, Apostle Nyamiche will be talking about the church call to worship.
02:53:01 And Apostle Emmanuel Ajumma Mbekuin, the Church of Pentecost, will be talking about the priesthood of the priest for moral development.
02:53:12 And then Reverend Joshua Opong Saffo, the church, the culture of the kingdom of God.
02:53:18 As you see, all of these topics have something to do with church and development, moral development, and then the nation.
02:53:27 If we develop our morality and we all live well for Christ, the nation will live well.
02:53:34 If we leave everything to chance and say, "Let everybody do their own thing," and the evil overweighs the good, then we have a serious problem.
02:53:44 The next step you take, you see an evil happening, and you see that staying in this country will become a problem.
02:53:52 If morality goes down, you and I will have a problem to deal with.
02:53:57 You'll be sitting in your house and they'll come and arrest you for no—
02:54:00 and then when issues are sent to court and the people there are not morally upright,
02:54:06 you know what kind of sentence you're going to get and the issues that will come out.
02:54:10 So then we think that this is very critical.
02:54:16 Alright. So for those who've already registered for the conference, they are aware of some of these things, I'm sure.
02:54:26 But is there room available? Who qualifies to participate in the All Ministers Conference and how can they be a part of it?
02:54:33 For now, we are looking at pastors, heads of churches, pastors, individuals who have their own churches, and everyone in the pastoral group.
02:54:45 Okay. So how do they—do they have to call a number? Do they have to register?
02:54:50 We have our flyers all around. We have QR codes there.
02:54:56 You can scan them.
02:54:57 You can scan and then send your registration. And little money to pay is 500 Ghana cedis.
02:55:05 Okay, because that's okay to have accommodation and food and all those kind of things, right?
02:55:09 So this is happening from the 19th to the 22nd at the Pentecost Convention Center at Gumuafete.
02:55:15 But what do you expect people to take away from the conference?
02:55:21 The ministers you are inviting, what do you hope they will leave with?
02:55:28 Yeah, ministry is broad and people have their own understanding of what they read in the Bible and how they interpret them.
02:55:37 But in the end, we are all Christians and we're hoping to us we have one agenda.
02:55:42 Now, we think that we can affect some of the ministers by the things that we are going to teach and bring them to perspective on the other things.
02:55:50 Some are younger ministers, others are senior ministers.
02:55:54 There will be things like mentorship, things like counseling.
02:55:58 The senior ones will counsel the junior ones and impress upon them.
02:56:03 If they have challenges, they talk. And we think that by doing that, somebody can have a mentor and a mentee situation where they can call them after the program so that they can help them develop their ministry.
02:56:17 That's fantastic.
02:56:18 So we are building a relationship kind of thing to help everybody do what is expected of them to do.
02:56:24 Idea behind is nation building, nation development.
02:56:28 And another thing, you know, these are speakers or ministers coming from different backgrounds.
02:56:34 I'm just curious, you know, will there be opportunities for having conversations on some of the doctrinal concerns?
02:56:41 You know, because sometimes people believe that certain actions do not make the church look good and do not portray the church to be one that is really following the tenets and the preachings of Christ.
02:56:55 Would you have a forum like that where you discuss some of these issues for consensus?
02:57:00 Actually, the main issue is not about doctrinal issues.
02:57:06 Doctrine, as people see when they sit behind, we have more that unites us than what disintegrates us.
02:57:15 Of course, in all churches, Holy Spirit is key.
02:57:19 The Word of God, the Gospel, the basic things.
02:57:22 And I don't know a church who don't think about heaven and they are thinking about other things.
02:57:28 I don't think there is any like that.
02:57:30 Everybody is hoping that one day we'll land in that great city.
02:57:34 And so the things that unite us are more than those that devise us.
02:57:38 And we're going to build on that.
02:57:40 The few things like, for example, if I am singing, I'm doing my church and I clap my hands, and you do your church and you don't clap your hands, you have this solemn church and I have this vibrant church.
02:57:51 It doesn't take anything away.
02:57:53 If you sit to sing or I stand to sing, it doesn't change anything.
02:57:58 So those things we call dogmatic issues.
02:58:01 There are doctrines and practices.
02:58:04 Those simple, simple practices, that's not taking anything away from us.
02:58:08 So we're going to build on what unites us and what will promote a nation with focus of heaven in sight.
02:58:16 This is the main objective.
02:58:19 So those things that people think are divisions, surely are not.
02:58:23 When we were children, we're thinking differently.
02:58:26 And when we grew up and have studied a lot, then we know that indeed, we don't have much differences.
02:58:32 We have more that unites us as people with one objective.
02:58:36 I love that.
02:58:37 And if there is the clearest indication yet, I think this is it, where we see all these ministers who come from different denominations coming together for the All Ministers Conference organized by the Church of Pentecostal.
02:58:49 It will be held from the 19th to the 22nd of this year.
02:58:53 The flyer is available.
02:58:54 I'll just ask that we put it on the screen again.
02:58:56 There are numbers you can call.
02:58:59 If you're interested, just follow.
02:59:01 I know that the Church of Pentecostal has a very vibrant media ministry.
02:59:05 So you can get on to Facebook, look for the Church of Pentecost official page, and you'll finish yourself with all the details.
02:59:12 But this is something that you would love to be a part of.
02:59:15 Just look at the line up there and tell me why you wouldn't want to be part of this if you were a pastor or a minister.
02:59:22 So just do that.
02:59:23 And like Pastor Emanuel Opondongo said, together, the church will create that difference that we hope it will make.
02:59:33 Anytime we talk about Ghana statistics and the percentage of Christians, the question always is,
02:59:40 if we have this percentage of Ghanaians being Christians, why do we still see the rot and the corruption that exists?
02:59:48 I know that's a conversation for another day, whether the church must be blamed for the corruption or not.
02:59:53 We had a conversation earlier, and it was an interesting one some time back.
02:59:56 But Osafo, any last words?
02:59:59 Sure.
03:00:00 So the last point that you have dropped on, now this is what people think that why the church is so huge in Ghana,
03:00:07 why the level of corruption.
03:00:09 In fact, what you see now is a little of what should have happened if there was no church.
03:00:19 Because consider if all the armed robbers that have been saved are still doing armed robbery.
03:00:25 So it would have been worse off.
03:00:26 It would have been worse off.
03:00:27 So the church is doing a Herculean job, a job that no one can do apart from Christ through the church.
03:00:36 So if you don't understand and you stand afar, then you can do this kind of criticism and criticize the church wrongly.
03:00:44 But the church has done a lot.
03:00:46 And this is our country called Ghana.
03:00:48 The church is a major stakeholder.
03:00:51 Consider all the missionary schools.
03:00:53 Consider all the mission hospitals.
03:00:55 Consider the agriculture.
03:00:57 I can tell you on fact that some of the food and the things we eat were brought in by missionaries.
03:01:03 Talk about pineapple, talk about yams and all of them, all of the things we do now,
03:01:09 came as a result of the missionary activities in those days back.
03:01:13 And so if you don't know, you stand back and criticize the church because one pastor did something wrong,
03:01:18 and you take it to be the entirety of church.
03:01:21 No, we are doing great.
03:01:22 Even now that I speak, you come into the Church of Pensacola, see the marvelous thing that we are doing, building prisons.
03:01:29 A lot of people have issues with that.
03:01:31 Yes, you may have an issue, but consider your brother in Islam, a prison room that was created for about 50 people,
03:01:38 now taking about 500 people.
03:01:40 Are they not human beings?
03:01:42 Yeah.
03:01:43 So people can say what they want.
03:01:45 But the finality of it is that human dignity is what we look at and can help them focus on reform.
03:01:55 So we have a reform center at Nsaum.
03:01:57 Apart from building the prisons, we also built a reform center to reform people.
03:02:02 And this is what the church is up to do.
03:02:04 If you don't understand, if you don't know this, then you can't criticize the church anyhow.
03:02:09 But I tell you, if it was not the church, we would have been in trouble.
03:02:13 Possessing the nations indeed, and that's the mission of the Church of Pentecost.
03:02:16 And you respond, I am an agent of transformation.
03:02:18 Okay, okay, I like that, I like that.
03:02:20 Thank you so much, Pastor Emmanuel Opondo, Pastor of the Church of Pentecost, Adenta.
03:02:25 And what he just said about the church being worse off, or the country being worse off if the church was not existing in Ghana,
03:02:32 is an idea that Reverend Istud Anaba shares.
03:02:35 He's president of the Istud Anaba ministries and founder of the Fountain Gate Chapel.
03:02:39 So it's going to be an interesting one, and we hope and pray that the vision of this All Ministers Conference
03:02:48 will begin to be felt, even as the second edition comes off much later.
03:02:54 Let me say thank you to you once again.
03:02:56 Thank you.
03:02:57 And our respects to Apostle Nyameche, chairman of the Church of Pentecost.
03:03:01 We'll take a quick breather now.
03:03:02 When we come back, we'll be interacting with you.
03:03:04 Do stay.
03:03:05 [Music]
03:03:33 Thank you for staying on the AM show.
03:03:35 Benjamin Akaku is back.
03:03:37 Hello.
03:03:38 How are you?
03:03:41 I love your earrings.
03:03:42 Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you.
03:03:43 Please turn so they can see the earrings.
03:03:45 I wish I could.
03:03:46 Yeah, I'm just trying to do some calculation.
03:03:48 They're very flowery.
03:03:51 Yeah, what's happening?
03:03:52 And I see your brown in the shades.
03:03:55 Yeah, yeah, yeah.
03:03:56 This was a gift from Sujani.
03:03:57 I had to rock it today.
03:03:58 Oh, wow.
03:03:59 Yeah, someone sent it to me.
03:04:01 Signature designs, Sujani.
03:04:04 And I found that was really nice.
03:04:08 But it's a nice shirt.
03:04:09 It's a lovely shirt.
03:04:10 Very, very nice gesture.
03:04:11 So I'm rocking it today.
03:04:13 You're rocking it well.
03:04:14 Yeah.
03:04:15 All right.
03:04:16 And now time to get interactive with you.
03:04:17 The number to call is on your screen.
03:04:19 Share your thoughts with us.
03:04:20 We've been talking education today and also looking at the role of the church in national development.
03:04:24 That's a very interesting one.
03:04:26 You know, you know I'm a church girl.
03:04:28 I love conversations about church and about impact and about --
03:04:32 I'm a church.
03:04:33 Oh, he's a Sunday school teacher.
03:04:34 I was going to tell them.
03:04:36 [Laughter]
03:04:39 He is a Sunday school teacher.
03:04:41 So, I mean, people have their issues with the church.
03:04:45 I mean, not to take that away from them.
03:04:47 But there's such a huge role the church is playing, especially in our country.
03:04:55 And it's important that quite often we assess and reassess our trajectory and see if we're making the needed impact.
03:05:05 And I think that's why this initiative by the Church of Pentecost is very laudable.
03:05:09 I mean, it doesn't need to come from your home church.
03:05:12 If it's something that is good and something that is going to help us as a nation, I think they deserve the applause.
03:05:19 When you're beating a path, at some point you must pause and look behind to find out whether it's curving or straight.
03:05:24 Okay, so Frank from Pando is our first caller.
03:05:26 Hello, Frank.
03:05:27 Let's hear what you have to say.
03:05:29 Good morning.
03:05:30 Good morning.
03:05:31 There is a serious fraud going on on Next TV.
03:05:36 Next TV about Arrupe.
03:05:39 Sorry, Frank.
03:05:40 Frank, can we speak to you off air?
03:05:42 My producers will engage you on that.
03:05:45 This involves another entity.
03:05:47 We cannot allow you to say it on air.
03:05:51 It may cost us.
03:05:52 So let's just engage you off air.
03:05:55 So please don't drop the line.
03:05:57 Just engage so that we can take your concerns and forward them to the appropriate courtes.
03:06:02 Speaking of which, I got wind of something recently.
03:06:05 I'm just going to share with everyone.
03:06:07 I hear the new trend, carjacking trend, is that, you know, let's say people see that your car is nice.
03:06:13 You're on a motorbike.
03:06:14 They follow you.
03:06:15 Let's say you come and park here.
03:06:17 And they come and steal your license plate.
03:06:19 Oh, wow.
03:06:20 You don't know, right?
03:06:22 Then when you take off, they follow you.
03:06:25 And say you've dropped it.
03:06:26 And then they'll signal to you that, hey, you've dropped your--
03:06:29 So obviously you will think, oh, it's fallen.
03:06:31 And then they take over your car if they don't take you in addition.
03:06:35 So let's--
03:06:36 People are just being very creative.
03:06:38 Let's watch out.
03:06:39 This just brought that to mind.
03:06:41 Yeah, yeah, yeah.
03:06:42 And another thing you need to also look out for is when we're coming--
03:06:45 I mean, I was driving to work.
03:06:46 I was listening to our colleagues on Joy FM.
03:06:49 And one of the companies that advertises with us was cautioning prospective clients not to pick contacts of Google.
03:06:57 Now, that is what the fraudsters are also doing.
03:06:59 So you need to be careful.
03:07:00 We just want to use this opportunity.
03:07:01 This can save you.
03:07:02 I've been a victim before.
03:07:03 So let's say you want to order some pizza or engage any entity.
03:07:07 And you decide to Google their phone number.
03:07:09 You know, usually companies will put--
03:07:11 I lost 50-something CDs once just because I was--
03:07:15 50.
03:07:16 I hear someone on his birthday--
03:07:18 This entity, when I got there, so they put in remedial measures.
03:07:21 Someone on his birthday was ordering pizza for his office.
03:07:26 Close to 3,000 CDs, Charlie.
03:07:28 [speaking in foreign language]
03:07:30 No, you didn't place an order.
03:07:32 So you just need to be careful.
03:07:34 Just look for the official website or official Facebook page of whoever you want to engage.
03:07:40 It's safer that way.
03:07:41 Even that is not safe.
03:07:42 Even the Facebook--
03:07:43 No, official.
03:07:44 It's safer that way.
03:07:45 But on Google, anything is possible.
03:07:47 Well, unfortunately, we cannot take any more calls, Benjamin.
03:07:53 It looks like our lines may be a bit dodgy.
03:07:55 [speaking in foreign language]
03:07:56 Mm-hmm.
03:07:57 That's--you know the meaning of the--
03:08:00 Okay, well, of course you do because of how you used it.
03:08:02 But do you speak Hausa?
03:08:04 I understand quite a bit of that.
03:08:06 Those are some of my--you know those--
03:08:08 It's one of my assets.
03:08:09 Yes.
03:08:10 I'll be walking--I remember this day around Afrikiko.
03:08:12 There was this gentleman who was on a motorbike.
03:08:14 He did some stuff in front of me.
03:08:18 We got to the traffic light, and then I was like, "Hey, he's not speaking Hausa."
03:08:23 I said something back to him, and he was looking at me like--
03:08:26 [speaking in foreign language]
03:08:30 All right.
03:08:31 Yes, thank you so much.
03:08:32 But we have a special--
03:08:34 Special, special, special birthday.
03:08:36 Can we call him out here?
03:08:37 Oh, we can.
03:08:39 Oh, all right.
03:08:41 I can't believe this.
03:08:43 Bandana rocking, you know.
03:08:46 Anyway.
03:08:47 All right, so today is our sound man.
03:08:50 Dennis Thompson's birthday.
03:08:51 Yes.
03:08:52 I call him Quaver.
03:08:53 Yeah, Quaver.
03:08:54 He sings, too, so you can check him out.
03:08:57 He's a musician.
03:08:58 He's a musician, and he plays the saxophone, I mean.
03:09:00 So you can check Quaver out on YouTube, but today is his birthday.
03:09:04 [singing]
03:09:06 He did a special rendition of Sina Soul's--
03:09:10 [singing]
03:09:13 So you can check him out, but we're wishing him a very happy birthday.
03:09:16 And Dennis, you know, much love.
03:09:18 You know, I told you I would have sorted you out, but for--
03:09:21 Yeah, you know what I mean.
03:09:23 For me, though it is his birthday, he didn't come out here.
03:09:27 We're going to have an after fight after the party.
03:09:30 Okay, okay, but we'll still sort him out.
03:09:32 Thank you all so much for joining us.
03:09:36 This is Newsdesk with Aisha Ibrahim.
03:09:38 She's back, and I love doing it for her, but, you know, she's back.
03:09:42 She's back with a bang.
03:09:43 So you stay and hold on for Aisha.
03:09:45 She's got a lot of interesting things for you, including the former Chief Justice,
03:09:50 Sofia Khufu, calling for a review of the 1992 Constitution.
03:09:54 You want to stay for details of that.
03:09:56 Take care.
03:09:58 [music]
03:10:03 [music]
03:10:08 [music]
03:10:13 [music]
03:10:18 [music]
03:10:23 [music]
03:10:28 [music]
03:10:33 [music]

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