Ghana Broadcasting Corporation

Ghanaians have been hit by waves of scams and fraudulent activities over the years. The infamous ‘sakawa’, 419, mobile money fraud and Loom have all come and gone, or at least reduced to a large extent. However, job recruitment scam appears to be the latest on the block. It entails the fraudulent or deceptive use of job advertisements and other career offers both online and offline to lure job seekers with the sole purpose of defrauding them financially or soliciting sensitive information such as personal details, credit card information among others. And with the high rate of unemployment in the country, it is no surprise that University graduates are usually the prime targets as they become vulnerable and desperate after completing school without getting jobs. The whole idea of job recruitment scam may seem laughable to many, but for the victims it is a painful experience especially when they lose money in the process. Asking unemployed graduates to part with money they do not hav...

Contrary to the stance and expectations of some stakeholders in the import and export business; and civil society groups, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has implemented UNIPASS/Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS) at the Tema Port and other ports of entry across the country. It replaced the Ghana Customs Management System (GCMS) ran collectively by Ghana Community Network Services GCNet and Customs World of Dubai, formerly known as West Blue Consult. The imminent question is, why has GRA resorted to the implementation of the UNIPASS/ICUMS platform in spite of strong opposition by key stakeholders in the import and export business? The UNIPASS/ICUMS platform has a set of features that accentuate its acceptance and implementation over the Ghana Community Management System. First, it has a stand-by human resource management model that facilitates identification of officers who worked on given cargos and the time during which the work was carried out and completed. Also, tr...

The use of temperate or civil language plays a very important role in the political environment. Language or speech is the instrument that brings change, inspires hope, and the determinant to convince thoughts. It is therefore imperative that all political players are circumspect in their speech and language. It is said that the manner and conduct of how one presents a message go a long way to warm hearts, inspire thoughts and drive home the point. One may have very sound and brilliant ideas, however, the manner of presenting them may cause confusion, division and spark mayhem. There is the need to always use temperate or civil language in the political environment. Also, it is important to recognise, appreciate and respect the views and dignity of other persons or political opponent. There is absolutely no room for insults, bickering, tarnishing of people’s image, character assassination, slandering and mocking during this era and beyond. Ghanaians are generally peaceful, calm, int...

After many months of speculations and uncertainty about who was to partner John Dramani Mahama, Presidential Candidate of the NDC, as the party prepares for election 2020 in December, the dust has finally settled on Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, an astute academician. It all started as a rumor that Prof. Opoku-Agyemang has been penciled for the number two spot on the NDC hierarchy to contest the 2020 general election. Not many political pundits considered her as a front runner for the position especially with the calibre of names that had popped up as potential running mates. Some of the names rumored were Economist Prof. Kwesi Botchwey, one of Ghana’s longest serving Minister of Finance; a Finance & Banking Expert Dr. Kwabena Duffour, also a former Minister of Finance; Educationist and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Professional Studies and a Minister of State and MP, Prof Joshua Alabi;  Former Speaker of Parliament and Lawyer, Edward Doe Adjaho; Finance Exper...

Many Ghanaians in parts of the country have been seen to be actively participating in the registration exercise, irrespective of what some opposition parties had preached earlier on to prevent the registration from taking place. There are good reasons why every eligible Ghanaian must actively participate in the exercise. One reason is to ensure that all citizens, who qualify to vote in the country, have been given space to operate as such to show non-Ghanaians that it is only citizens of this country who qualified to vote in any election. It is for this reason any citizen does not register, then that person is giving away part of his/her inalienable right. In addition to this, registration of voters for any election helps the election management body to scrutinize the process and help to sanitize it to ensure that the election is carried out freely in a transparent manner. When elections are free and fair, they help the electorate to accept the outcome of the results. If compilation...

The nationwide voters’ registration kicks off Tuesday, June 30. The about one-month exercise is geared towards getting eligible Ghanaians onto a new electoral roll that will be superior to the old register. The new voter registration exercise is scheduled to end on Thursday, August 6. The register as stated by the EC Chairperson, Jean Mensah, in her address to the nation is the bedrock of our democracy without it elections will not be as desired. The significance of the voters’ register cannot be overemphasised. It is in light of this that every Ghanaian so qualified should avail themselves for the exercise. Now that all the legal battles have been settled, it is essential for all political parties to encourage their supporters to go out there in their numbers to participate in the exercise. Ghana Card, passport or a guarantor are the basic requirements to get registered as captured in the Constitutional Instrument CI 126. The old voters ID Card has been outlawed and cannot be accep...

The Covid-19 pandemic poses a serious threat to political activities as well as other activities in the country. For this reason, political activities and other programmes have been slowed down making it difficult for political and other actors to go about effective campaigns in various parts of the country. This explains why the acclamation by the NPP has to be delayed until last weekend when the National Council of the NPP and other top-ranking officials of the party came together to officially acclaim President Akufo-Addo as the flagbearer of the NPP in the December presidential elections. During the programme, President Akufo-Addo and his running mate Dr Bawumia extolled the achievements of government in all sectors of the economy for which reason Ghanaians are expected to renew their mandate for another four years in line with the constitution of Ghana. This explains why the slogan “Four more for Nana to do more” has been chosen as the campaign theme for the party. The role of ...

As restrictions regarding coronavirus ease for economic and human activities in the country to continue and the December 2020 general elections getting closer, the governing New Patriotic Party, NPP over the weekend held parliamentary primaries in forty-seven constituencies.  Besides the shocking losses experienced by some sitting parliamentarians and possibilities of new entrants to the August House, the primaries also brought to the fore some burning issues. Globally, the Coronavirus has caused more harm to humanity in general than expected. In Ghana, the hardship ordinary Ghanaians are experiencing is unbearable for many.  Democracy arguably comes with enormous challenges known in both theories and practice. Numerous videos captured by the mass media and individual posts on social media outlets over the weekend clearly showed that protocols regarding the pandemic were not observed at the various polling centres by the delegates across the country. Meanwhile, corporate en...

The recently-held primaries of the New Patriotic Party continue to grab the media headlines for two major reasons. First is what some have described as a “tsunami”, the political tidal wave that swept forty of the sitting MPs of the NPP off their seats, come the Eighth Parliament of the Fourth Republic. The other aspect of the elections that continues to make waves and raise concern at all levels of our body politic is the inducement of delegates in the electioneering process. Large amounts of money and consumer goods and, in one trending case, over two hundred bicycles were reported to have exchanged hands, in a bid to influence delegates. One may take a popular line from the repertoire of legendary highlife star, Gyedu Blay Ambolley, and ask, “Wetin dey there?”, for candidates to sell off their houses to finance their bid for parliamentary election. This monetization of politics so pronounced, probably as never before, at even the primaries stage is a cause of worry. The day Par...