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Parliament slashes budgetary allocation to Office of Government Machinery by ¢17m

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Parliament has cut ¢17 million from the original allocation made to the Office of Government Machinery for 2023.

This was after the House agreed on Thursday that some of the expenditure items were superfluous and unnecessary.

The nearly ¢1.5 billion allocation was reduced after ¢15.5 million earmarked for the Special Development Initiatives secretariat and ¢2 million for the Monitoring and Evaluation secretariat were rejected by the Finance Committee.

Chairman of the Finance Committee, Kwaku Kwarteng explained that the Committee while carefully considering the estimates allocated to the Office of Government Machinery saw no need to keep the monitoring and evaluation secretariat when its functions were also performed by the Municipal and District Assemblies.

“Also, the monitoring and evaluation functions are performed across MDAs and MMDAs and hence there is no compelling need to maintain the secretariat for same, especially in an era where expenditure rationalisation is of utmost importance,” he said on the floor on Thursday.

Justifying the rejection of the Special Development Initiatives secretariat’s estimates, Mr. Kwarteng said “the national development authorities established by law are capable of managing their affairs without the need for a bureaucratic secretariat to coordinate and at times duplicate the functions while ambulance operations ought to be properly handled by the National Ambulance Service and not the Special Development initiative secretariat.”

Ranking Member on the Committee Dr Cassiel Ato Forson explained that the decision to slash the budget was to send a signal to the government that if they make a frivolous allocation, it would be rejected by the House.

“The finance committee of parliament managed to save this country an amount of almost 18 million cedis. We notice as part of the deliberations that even though we have development authorities that have been established by law with its own governing boards.

“The office of government machinery has a special development initiative secretariat that the government has apportioned 15.6 million cedis to – to oversee the work of this development authorities. We think this is needless,” he noted.

Source: myjoyonline

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Mahama and three other NDC flagbearer candidates to be vetted next week

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Mahama and three other NDC flagbearer candidates to be vetted next week

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) says it is preparing for the vetting of its flagbearer candidates, which is scheduled for March 28-29 in Accra.

During a press conference on Thursday, the party’s election committee led by Kakra Essamuah revealed this.

“I think this has been a wonderful experience. They came to file their nominations, and you can see that it was an exciting ceremony. The next step is the vetting; the presidential will take place on Tuesday, and the parliamentary vetting will be the next two weeks, probably the first week of April. We are working towards that,” he said.

A vetting committee will question the four candidates’ qualifications, ideologies, and party vision.

Once the committee completes its vetting, the aspirants may or may not appear on the ballot box on the day of the primaries, May 13, 2023.

The elections committee also stated that plans are still being made to hold elections in the 27 constituencies that were put on hold due to the opening of nominations for parliamentary primaries.

The NDC has closed the nomination period for all flagbearer candidates seeking to lead the party.

Former President John Dramani Mahama, former Finance Minister Dr Kwabena Duffuor, former Kumasi Mayor Kojo Bonsu, and businessman Ernest Kwaku Kobeah are the four aspirants who have successfully filed their nominations.

Source: citinewsroom.com

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Mahama submits nomination form to run for NDC flagbearer

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Mahama submits nomination form to run for NDC flagbearer

Former President John Dramani Mahama has officially filed his nomination form to run for the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress.

His forms were submitted on his behalf by a team led by Professor Joshua Alabi, the NDC’s Campaign Manager for the 2020 general elections.

While filling out the forms, Prof. Alabi urged NDC delegates to give John Dramani Mahama their full support as the party’s flagbearer.

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Mahama submits nomination form to run for NDC flagbearer

Speaking to the media after the exercise, Prof. Joshua Alabi stressed that “Our party is firmly united behind John Dramani Mahama. 2024 will not be easy, but everyone and the country keep saying that the NDC is returning, but you know, if you don’t protect what belongs to you, the thief will come for it, so we are not going to sleep even though the general belief is that the NDC is returning.”

“We will work hard to ensure a one-touch victory,” Mr Alabi assured.

Former Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Kwabena Duffuor, Ernest Krobeah Asante, and Kojo Bonsu are also running.

Source: citinewsroom.com

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Nana Addo demands that the credibility of the 2024 elections be prioritised

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Nana Addo demands that the credibility of the 2024 elections be prioritised

President Nana Add Dankwa Akufo-Addo wants the country’s Electoral Commission (EC) to ensure a free, credible, and fair election in 2024.

According to Nana Akufo-Addo, a credible election will help Ghana consolidate its democratic credentials.

“It is no secret that I have spent most of my adult life trying to fight for the establishment of democracy and human rights in this country and I have always fought and advocated for credible elections in Ghana. In emphasizing the importance of the credibility of elections, it must be pointed out that the counting, collation and declaration of the results, cannot and should not be more important than the sacred God-given rights of the citizen casting his or her ballot.”

Nana Akufo-Addo made the remarks at the Jubilee House during the inauguration of two EC Board members.

The President went on to say that political parties should not be allowed to intimidate the electoral management body.

“Remember that now and ever, every single decision you take will be scrutinized to the letter. That, however, should not scare you and let no one try to coerce you into submission. On the contrary, let this expectation of the Ghanaian people spur you onto great heights and above all, work to ensure that, the will of the Ghanaian people is upheld.”

Source: citinewsroom.com

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