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• goldcoastnewsline@gmail.com
• April 24, 2024
• 0 Comments
• 2 minutes Read

Kumasi International Airport project completed

Contractors working on the Kumasi International Airport on Tuesday handed over the project to the Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL) through the Ministry of Transport.

This was during the inspection and testing of the terminal facilities by officials from the Ministry of Transport and the GACL, led by Mr Kwaku Ofori Asiamah. The visit was to test and assess whether the facilities conform to international standards.

Mr Asiamah, who was impressed with the work done by the contractors so far, expressed optimism that the airfields would also be completed within the shortest possible time by the contractor.

He said it was very necessary to get clear evidence on the functionality of the facility to enable them to synchronize them together for operations.

He explained that GACL was going to intensify its maintenance culture to ensure durability since most facilities in the country faced maintenance deficits.

The Minister was hopeful that the facility would be commissioned before the end of May 2024.

Mrs Yvonne Nana Afriyie Opare, Managing Director of GACL, lauded the quality of work done after testing and prayed that God continued to guide the sustainability of the facility.

With the completion of the facility, she noted, about 800,000 passengers could patronize it within a year since the majority of travelers come from the Ashanti and the northern parts of the country.

She also thanked the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, for giving them the site for operations.

Nana Ametepe, the Resident engineer/consultant for GACL took the team to various operational departments of the facility such as the information desk, profiling box, VVIP lounge, wrapping area, luggage scanning rooms, and others.

In June 2018, President Akufo-Addo cut the sod for the commencement of work on Phase Two of the Kumasi Airport Project.

The scope of work included the extension of existing runway pavement from 1,981 metres to 2,320 meters, the construction of a new taxi link, and apron, two new apron parking stands, and aeronautical ground lighting systems.

Source: GNA

• goldcoastnewsline@gmail.com
• April 24, 2024
• 0 Comments
• 4 minutes Read

CPP files injunction to halt Ejisu by-election

The Convention People’s Party (CPP) has applied for an interlocutory injunction seeking to stop the Electoral Commission from going ahead with the Ejisu by-election on April 30.

The party is hoping to ensure that until a suit filed against the EC is determined, the by-election does not take place on April 30, 2024, or any date as long as one Esther Osei is on the ballot, purporting to contest on the ticket or on behalf of the CPP.

In a suit filed by the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Mr Emmanuel Gallo, the party claimed that they had written to the EC on April 18 to categorically inform them of their non-participation in the by-election.

According to the CPP, they are focused on the reorganisation of the party and its offices across the country ahead of the 2024 general elections and as such have no interest in the Ejisu by-election.

However, in a recent turn of events, the party stated that one candidate by name Esther Osei was registered by the EC to contest in the election on the ticket of the party after the letter had been sent.

“…The said Esther Osei was introduced by a letter dated 18th April 2024 to the Defendant from the former chair and leader of the CPP Nana Akosua Frimpomaa, who together with 8 other National Executives, at the Party’s National Executive Council meeting on 5th December 2023, were removed from office,” parts of the suit read.

The CPP stated that should any candidate be approved they would go through the regional chairman, Mr Gallo (the plaintiff), and communicate to the national executives. But, nothing of the sort was done. “…per Article 53 (d) of the CPP’s Constitution, it is the duty of the Constituency Branch Party Conference to elect a Parliamentary candidate for the Constituency for the approval of the Central Committee. Thus, the power to get a Parliamentary candidate for the Party lies with the Party’s Constituency members at a Constituency Conference held for that purpose and this has not been done to elect anybody,” the suit read.

The party stated that the Ejisu Constituency Conference has also not held any election to select the said Esther Osei or anybody for the by-election. As such, any introduction made to the EC by the former chair and the dismissed executives has no effect.

The CPP is seeking a declaration that “…CPP’s Central Committee has not considered and approved the said Esther Osei or any other person to contest on the ticket and on behalf of the CPP as a political party, regarding the Defendant’s intended Ejisu Constituency by-election.”

Also, they are seeking “an order directed at the Defendant (EC) not to register and allow the said Esther Osei or any other person not elected by the CPP Ejisu Constituency Branch Conference and approved by the CPP’s Central Committee, to contest the said Ejisu Constituency by-election on the ticket and on behalf of the CPP, a political party governed by rules and regulations.”

The Ejisu by-election is expected on Tuesday, April 30. The death of the NPP Member of Parliament, Dr John Kumah has occasioned the by-election.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) on April 13 elected private legal practitioner Kwabena Boateng as candidate.

Kwabena Boateng beat eight other candidates after securing 394 votes out of a total of 1033 valid votes cast to win the election.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has formally announced its decision not to participate in the by-election.

Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, the General Secretary of the NDC, clarified that the party’s focus is squarely on preparing for the main general elections slated for December.

• goldcoastnewsline@gmail.com
• April 24, 2024
• 0 Comments
• 1 minute Read

Bawumia on working visit to Italy

Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is currently on a working visit to both the Republic of Italy and the Vatican State.

This information was disclosed in a press release issued by the Vice President’s Spokesperson, Dr Gideon Boako, on Tuesday April 23, 2024. He’s expected to return to Ghana on Thursday, April 25, 2024.

“This visit aims to further strengthen the enduring relations between Ghana, the Republic of Italy and Vatican State. Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is scheduled to hold bilateral talks, including with His Holiness Pope Francis.

“The Pope’s message of love, mercy, and inclusion, which he has devoted himself to promoting unity and mutual understanding between all peoples, has been embraced around the world. The meeting will highlight our common principles of peace, justice, and solidarity to guide us into a better future.”

Dr Boako explained that Dr. Bawumia visits are aimed at strengthening connections with the global community.

“These diplomatic visits are part of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s efforts to strengthen connections with the global community. The Vice President was accompanied by some government officials.”

• goldcoastnewsline@gmail.com
• April 24, 2024
• 0 Comments
• 2 minutes Read

Tabloid publisher to testify in Trump criminal trial

A former tabloid newspaper publisher is set to resume his testimony in the historic criminal trial of Donald Trump in New York City.

David Pecker ran the National Enquirer, which prosecutors say suppressed negative stories about Mr Trump to benefit his 2016 election chances.

The case relates to hush-money paid to a porn star who Mr Trump allegedly had sex with – though he denies doing so.

The court will also hear whether Mr Trump has broken the judge’s gag order.

He is accused by the prosecution of routinely breaking a restriction that prevents him from publicly attacking witnesses, prosecutors and relatives of court staff.

The partial order was earlier imposed by Judge Juan Merchan, the seasoned New York jurist presiding over the trial. Mr Trump has continued to post about those involved in the case online.

The legal case has seen Mr Trump accused of trying to cover up a $130,000 (£104,500) payment to porn star Stormy Daniels before he won the race for the White House back in 2016.

Ms Daniels alleges that she had sex with Mr Trump in 2006 and that she was paid by his lawyer to stay quiet about it ahead of the pivotal vote.

The trial centres on a reimbursement Mr Trump made to his former personal lawyer and “fixer”, Michael Cohen.

Cohen claims he was directed to pay Ms Daniels $130,000 in exchange for her silence about her alleged affair with Mr Trump.

Hush money payments are not illegal. But prosecutors allege that Mr Trump committed a crime by improperly recording the money with which he reimbursed Cohen as legal expenses.

They describe this as an effort to unlawfully influence the 2016 vote – which is what escalates the allegation into a more serious felony.

“It was election fraud, pure and simple,” a lawyer told the jury on Monday during opening statements by both legal teams.

Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records.

Setting out the case for the defence, Mr Trump’s lawyer said his client was “cloaked in innocence”, had committed no crimes, and that it was not illegal to try to influence an election.

The defence also sought to cast prosecutors’ star witness – Mr Cohen – as untrustworthy.

• goldcoastnewsline@gmail.com
• April 23, 2024
• 0 Comments
• 1 minute Read

Government ready for Rwanda legal challenges after bill passed, says minister

The government is prepared for a “whole range of legal challenges” after Parliament passed the Rwanda bill, the illegal migration minister has said.

Parliament approved plans to send some asylum seekers to the African country late on Monday night.

But illegal channel crossings will not stop until regular flights to Rwanda “kick in”, Michael Tomlinson said.

The bill is key to the government’s “moral mission” to small boat crossings, he added.

Mr Tomlinson’s comments came as news emerged that five people had died attempting to cross the Channel on Tuesday.

More than 6,000 migrants and refugees have already made the journey so far this year – a rise of about a quarter on the same period last year.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, which had just showed live footage of people climbing on board a small boat on the French coast, Mr Tomlinson said the bill is not deterring migrants because it is “not yet in force”.

“We need to get the flights off the ground, and that is when we will see the deterrent effect kick in,” he added.

Source: BBC

• goldcoastnewsline@gmail.com
• April 23, 2024
• 0 Comments
• 2 minutes Read

Chinese supermarket in Abuja shut for allegedly barring Nigerians

A Chinese-owned supermarket in Nigeria’s capital has been shut by the authorities over allegations that it denies entry to African shoppers.

The supermarket in Abuja allegedly “exclusively permits individuals of Chinese descent to enter”, Nigeria’s consumer protection watchdog said on X.

It has summoned the supermarket’s owner. The Chinese chamber of commerce in Nigeria has denied the racism allegations.

The supermarket is a tenant in a building run by the China General Chamber of Commerce (CGCC).

Boladale Adeyinka, an official at Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), said that the watchdog had launched an investigation into the allegations.

This follows widespread outrage on social media after some Nigerians shared their experiences of allegedly being turned away by security when they attempted to go to the supermarket.

In one of the videos, a man said he had discovered the supermarket online but was blocked from entering the complex where it is located.

“At the gate, the security people told me that the supermarket is strictly for Chinese people. If you are a Nigerian, you can’t go inside or buy anything,” he said in the clip posted on X, formerly Twitter.

In another video on X, a group of Nigerians are seen visiting a building to verify the reports that non-Chinese shoppers were being turned away.

A security guard outside the entrance appears to tell them that the supermarket had cut off access to Nigerians since January.

Several Nigerians have demanded the closure of the supermarket, including former senator Shehu Sani, who said that any store in Nigeria that was not accessible to citizens “should be forcibly opened or be pulled down”.

In a statement quoted by local media, the CGCC said it stood for “equality and inclusiveness”.

“Our principles are to enhance friendship between the people of both countries and promote economic development,” it added.

The FCCPC quoted an administrator at the building, Sanusi Shuabiu, as saying that the supermarket mainly sold Chinese groceries and that while it was initially opened to serve the building’s tenants, it permitted entry to outside shoppers, including non-Chinese visitors. The supermarket’s owner has not yet commented.

She has been summoned to appear before the consumer protection agency by Wednesday. The watchdog says that the supermarket will remain closed until she complies with the summons. Nigeria has a Chinese population of less than 10,000, according to the Statista website.