In the news this week...

From Dr Bawumia’s accident on the Bole road to Justice Francis Kpegah stirring up controversy with his law suit against Nana Akufo-Addo and the unprecedented invasion of Kumasi by armed robbers, the top stories in this week's news are here for you to read at a glance.


Robbers take over Kumasi

There was pandemonium in Kumasi on Wednesday evening when suspected thugs armed with guns terrorised residents of the metropolis.
The attacks took place mainly at Bantama, Abrepo Junction, Ashanti New Town, Krofrom, Manhyia, Dechemso and the Airport Roundabout.
Terrified by the sporadic shooting, some of residents ran for their lives, media reports said.

Some of them repeatedly called radio stations to complain about the chaos being caused by the thugs.

As a result, President Mahama summoned security chiefs to the Flagstaff House and tasked theme to tighten security across the country.


Teachers’ strike continues amid exams

The National Association of Graduate Teachers and the Ghana National Association of Teachers continued their strike action despite calls from the presidency, clergy and some civil society groups to rescind their decision.

The action comes in a wake of Senior High School students writing their final exams. The unions are expected to issue a statement on the matter on Monday, officials have disclosed.


Rumpus over Dr Bawumia’s accident

Dr Mahamudu Bawumai’s accident on the Bole road in the Northern region during the week sparked serious disagreement among the two major political parties in the country.

General Sectary of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) led the onslaught to draw the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) into the matter.

Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, addressing journalists at the party’s headquarters in Accra, accused President John Mahama and the NDC of masterminding the accident the party’s vice presidential candidate in the 2012 election suffered last Sunday.

"It is a clandestine plot by government officials to eliminate Dr Bawumia but the NPP will work hard to prevent it," the NPP chief scribe alleged.
The accusation triggered a storm of criticism from the leadership of the NDC, saying “the NPP was just playing politics to win public sympathy” after their abysmal performance in the 2012 polls.

The war of words by the two parties compelled the police to request for the damaged vehicle to commence investigations, after the party had reportedly towed it to an unknown destination. The vehicle was later discovered at a workshop in La.


Akufo-Addo’s credentials challenged

A retired Supreme Court judge, Justice Francis Yaonasu Kpegah, last Tuesday filed a suit at the Accra High Court against the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2012 elections, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, accusing him of impersonation.

Justice Kpegah is suing Nana Akufo-Addo for acting as a lawyer when his name was not on the roll of lawyers in Ghana.

In his statement of claim, the retired judge accused former President John Agyekum Kufuor of complicity when his government knew or ought to have known that Nana Akufo-Addo was not on the roll of lawyers, but appointed him as Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, who by the provisions of the 1992 Constitution must be a lawyer in good standing.

The statement said Nana Akufo-Addo never signed the matriculation book at the Law School which was evidence of enrolment in an institution and that the defendant was not known to have changed his name neither had he been installed anywhere in the country within the meaning of the 1992 Constitution and the Chieftaincy Act.


Mahama charges at the media

President John Dramnai Mahama during the week raised serious reservations about the way journalists in the country go about their reporting.

The president, who doubles as communication expert, was particularly unhappy with the trend of media houses spending hours reading articles in newspapers on week-day talk shows, particularly when it comes to politics.

This, he explained, was stalling the development of young journalists in the country, and stressed that his government has no fear of passing the Right to Information Bill, which has been sitting in Ghana’s Parliament for more than eight years. The meeting took place at the Flagstaff House on Friday.