occupyghana

Pressure group, Occupy Ghana has petitioned the Attorney General, Gloria Akuffo over blacklisted indigenous names by the Births and Deaths Registry.
Registrars of the Birth and Death Registry had refused to register the birth of children whose names include “Maame,” “Pappa,” “Nana,” “Naa,” “Junior,” “Nene,” “Nii” and “Ohemaa”. The Registry was also determining the order in which names must be written, giving prominence to foreign names over indigenous Ghanaian names.

Two independent organizations: The Diabetic Sufferers Association of Ghana (DSAG), and the Caramel Producers Association of Ghana (CPAG), say they are considering filing a lawsuit against Mr. Marricke Kofi Gane, at the Accra High Court.

Two members of pressure group, Occupy Ghana, George Andah and Yoofi Grant have resigned their positions as members of the group’s Executive Council, a statement issued by the group has said.

OccupyGhana® has noted with grave concern, the ridiculously insignificant fines imposed on the NPP activists who either escaped from lawful custody or engaged in criminal acts under the banner of the Delta Forces.

OccupyGhana has keenly followed the active discussions and strong views on the alleged or proposed introduction of CSE into the curriculum of public basic schools.

Background: Two weeks ago, we woke up to media reports, alleging that a 4-year old girl had been sexually abused in Assin Adadientem in the Central Region. This allegedly took place on 13th October 2017. The age of the suspect, named only as “Kwabena.” varies between 17 and 18 years, depending on which source you are getting the information from. The mother of the victim is alleged to have reported the matter to the chief, who is said to have pronounced the suspect innocent on the instructions of the gods.

OccupyGhana® has been observing with keen interest, the matters and issues arising from the sale of some fuels by the Bulk Oil Storage & Transportation Company Ltd. (BOST), a company owned by the Republic of Ghana.

Pressure group OccupyGhana has said at least Gh¢7.5 billion of the taxpayers’ money was lost through public sector corruption between 2003 and 2014.

“In our conservative estimates based on the Auditor-General’s own reports to Parliament from 2003 to 2014 (excluding 2009), Ghana lost almost Gh¢2.5billion through Ministries, Departments and Agencies alone. And between 2009 and 2014, amounts lost to Ghana through public boards, corporations and other statutory institutions were over Gh¢5 billion,” the pressure group said in a statement issued on Monday by Nana Sarpong Agyeman-Badu in charge of Media Relations.

The group said it is the “continued, blatant theft of the nation’s monies through public sector corruption and the apparent unwillingness of the Auditor-General to exercise the powers of Disallowance and Surcharge that compelled OccupyGhana to reluctantly commence proceedings before the Supreme Court on 21st July 2016. That matter is still pending, and on 31st January 2017 the Supreme Court directed the parties to file further arguments on the matter”.

Read the full statement below

OCCUPYGHANA'S PROPOSALS PASSED INTO LAW IN GHANA

OccupyGhana® is happy to announce that it has just received a copy of the High Court (Civil Procedure) (Amendment) (No. 2) Rules, 2016 (CI 102), which regulates appeals to the High
Court from the Auditor-General’s Disallowances and Surcharges.

Since 12th November, 2014 OccupyGhana® has been battling the Auditor-General, urging him to exercise the constitutional and statutory powers of Disallowance and Surcharge, and
thereby help Ghana to recover the billions of Cedis that are lost to the nation each year through blatant and largely unpunished public sector corruption.

In the course of that engagement, OccupyGhana® discovered that the requirement under Article 187(10) of the Constitution for the enactment of rules of court to regulate appeals
against the Auditor-General’s Disallowances and Surcharges had not been complied with.

On 28th May 2015, OccupyGhana wrote to the Rules of Court Committee to inquire about those rules.

As a result of the subsequent interactions, OccupyGhana was invited to submit, and submitted to the Rules of Court Committee, proposed draft rules for enactment as required under Article 187(10).

Subsequently, OccupyGhana received for its comments, the draft bill which captured almost verbatim, the proposals we had made.

It has always been OccupyGhana’s contention that the Auditor-General has more power to commence the process of recovering monies lost to Ghana by issuing the Disallowances and
Surcharges, than the simple annual ritual of issuing ‘journalistic’ Reports to Parliament containing mere “recommendations.”

Indeed, in the words of the Auditor-General in the 2011 and 2013 Reports to Parliament, “The cataloguing of financial irregularities in my Report on MDAs and Other Agencies has become an annual ritual that seems to have no effect.”

In our conservative estimates based on the Auditor-General’s own Reports to Parliament from 2003 to 2014 (excluding 2009), Ghana lost almost GH¢2.5 Billion through Ministries, Department and Agencies alone.

And between 2009 and 2014, amounts lost to Ghana through Public Boards, Corporations and Other Statutory Institutions were over GH¢5 Billion.

It is the continued, blatant theft of the nation’s monies through public sector corruption and the apparent unwillingness of the Auditor-General to exercise the powers of Disallowance and Surcharge, that compelled OccupyGhana to reluctantly commence proceedings before the Supreme Court on 21st July 2016. That matter is still pending, and on 31st January 2017
the Supreme Court directed the parties to file further arguments on the matter.

As we wait for this matter to be concluded in court or settled out of court if the Auditor General simply issues the required Disallowances and Surcharges, we are gratified to witness
the enactment of these rules, CI 102, which we have taken the liberty to christen “The OG Rules.”

But more importantly, it shows that any labour for mother Ghana is not in vain. We also express our sincere gratitude to the Rules of Court Committee, and particularly Her
Ladyship the Chief Justice for the opportunity to work together on this matter.

It is in the same spirit that we reiterate our long-expressed willingness to drop the court action the day the Auditor-General issues the first Disallowances and Surcharges.

Yours, in the perpetual Service for God & Country OccupyGhana®.

Pressure group, OccupyGhana has commended the president for appending his signature to the Right to Information (RTI) Act approved by Parliament on Tuesday.

OccupyGhana®️ has followed the debate over Parliament’s ratification of the Agreement Between the Government of the United States and the Government of Ghana on Defence Cooperation, the Status of United States Forces and Access to and Use of Agreed Facilities and Areas in the Republic of Ghana (“Agreement.”)

Last year, the direness of medical care in Ghana was heightened significantly after several high-profile deaths due to a lack of beds in our hospitals and/or lack of a functioning emergency response system.

OccupyGhana® has noted with concern the huge swathes of plastic and other solid and human waste engulfing our country, especially our capital. It is rapidly reaching an alarming state and photographs taken after the recent downpour in parts of Accra in the morning of Wednesday 14th February 2018 have thrown this looming and potentially disastrous health and security problem into sharp focus.

OccupyGhana®, like several Ghanaians, is horrified at the videos showing the senseless assault and battering of a woman simply on account of her alleged refusal to leave a banking hall, insisting on being paid her money.

OccupyGhana®️ is deeply concerned that there do not appear to be any clear or discernible plans to pass the Right to Information Bill into law. Despite numerous Government assurances that the Bill will be passed “this year,” “very soon” or in the “next session” of Parliament, no clear timetable has emerged.

OccupyGhana® has followed the recent discussions regarding TV Licence Fees, particularly the announcement that specific courts have been established to try defaulters. We disagree with these moves for two reasons:

OccupyGhana® joins the nation in grieving for Mr. Anthony Opoku Acheampong, reportedly refused care at seven hospitals in Greater Accra, due to the phenomenon of “no beds.” His desperate family watched him die in a car in front of Lekma Hospital in Teshie, in the early hours of 10 June 2018.

Tramadol is a synthetic opioid that is used to treat acute and chronic pain of moderate to severe intensity. It has one-tenth the potency of morphine. It is used worldwide, having originally been developed in 1962 by Grünenthal Gmbh and coming onto the market in 1977.

Infectious diseases play a significant role in the health of Ghanaians. These diseases, some of which are highly contagious, are fortunately preventable and treatable. Their control however demands sustained and well-financed public health measures. A lack of such measures, their inadequate finance or incomplete implementation can lead to deaths.