PRESIDENT AKUFFO-ADDO DISRESPECTS THE YAGBONWURA AGAIN—CALLS HIM A LIAR IN PUBLIC.

 By Issifu Seidu Kudus Gbeadese 

(Youth Imam from Laribanga)

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Much ado about nothing—the best description to be ascribed to the visit of President Akuffo-Addo to the Jakpa palace today, 14th October, 2024. 

The President was at his usual self when he took a direct swipe at the Yagbonwura in the full glare of the public. The Yagbonwura's crime was just a harmless appeal he made to the President to admonish his appointees to desist from their incessant disrespect to him and the time-tested customs of the people of the Gonja Kingdom. 

In his speech, the Yagbonwura appealed to President Akuffo-Addo to speak to and caution some of his appointees who have been disrespecting him by using their political power to undermine the laid down customs and traditions of the Gonja Kingdom. 

The customs and traditions of the people of the Gonja Kingdom are clear so that, no subservient paramount chief in the Kingdom is allowed to celebrate Damba Festival before the Yagbonwura. It has never happened and it ought to have happened. In view of this, the Yagbonwura reported in his speech that some of his appointees aided and fully supported one of his sub-chiefs to celebrate the Damba festival before him, the Yagbonwura. This is in clear breach of the customs of the kingdom.

Indeed, the Yagbonwura indicated that the said appointee actually ordered and sent heavily armed military men to protect the said paramount chief to undertake such a sacrilegious act of undermining the Yagbonwura and the customs and traditions of the Gonja people.

What the said appointee is not aware of is that, a prominent paramount chief in Gonjaland had him on phone to confirm his complicity in this sacrilege (disrespect of the Yagbonwura) at the instance of an emissary of Yagbonwura. So, before Yagbonwura will come public with such information, he actually had his facts verified and doubled-checked.

As usual of the President, he did not only sound dismissive and defensive of his appointees, but he boldly told Yagbonwura his report is FALSE. The President indeed, said that as per the briefings he had from his Regional Minister, Hon Muhaz Saeed Jibril, no such incident happened in Gonjaland and that none of his appointees aided and abetted any such abominable act of the said paramount chief.

Angry for describing him a liar, Yagbonwura ordered for his vehicles to leave the durbar grounds while the President was still delivering his speech. True to it, the Yagbonwura left the durbar grounds while Akuffo-Addo was still delivering his empty speech. Akuffo-Addo even said he was not happy with the Yagbonwura for making such an information public. 

The empty speech of the President was deliberately written to attack Former President Mahama, which he truly did in a grand style. Yes, Akuffo-Addo really used that occasion and platform to insult and attack former President John Dramabi Mahama, a royal and warrior of the Gonja Kingdom.

At the end of the day, Yagbonwura walked out on Akuffo-Addo for calling him a liar in public. When we said President Akuffo-Addo and his appointees don’t respect chiefs and traditional authorities, this is actually the height of it. What the President doesn’t know is that the sons and grand sons of Ndewura Jakpa are a proud people and so we will never countenance disrespect in any form and not even from the President of the Republic. Kudos to the Yagbonwura for showing leadership and bravery one more time. The entire Kegbanye minus the NPP appointees in Gonjaland are proud of you, Jira Bii-Kunuto Jewu Soale 1. May your reign be long.

Shalom!

A WELCOME LETTER TO PRESIDENT AKUFFO-ADDO AS HE PAYS A VISIT TO YAGBONWURA IN DAMONGO ON MONDAY

From Issifu Seidu Kudus Gbeadese 

(Youth Imam from Laribanga)

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Your Excellency,

I bring you the warmest felicitations from the caves of Laribanga where I engage in my meditations and receive daily inspirations from. You are warmly welcome to the great land of Ndewura Jakpa where great sons and grand sons like John Mahama comes from. 

Mr. President, I cannot question your will and decisions especially, where and when to pay a visit. As the father of the nation, you have every right and the executive power to even move the seat of government to my city in Laribanga. On that score, I cannot question you as to why you chose to pay a courtesy call on the Yagbonwura.

That said Mr President, we can all see from the smoke that your choice to visit Damongo is not just a mere administrative decision but a political move to seek to undo and wipe the footprints H.E John Dramani left when he came campaigning on the 5th of October, 2024. Even that political move cannot be questioned on any grounds, given that there are no rules in politics. But be reminded that it will take you the next 5 or more visits to make an attempt to undo President Mahama’s visit. 

We can say confidently that this move is solely to attempt a redemption of the image of your political god-son, Abu Jinapor. The son who has conspired with you to shortchange the people of Damongo Constituency and Gonjaland at large. 

Mr. President, one would have thought that after many times of visiting Damongo after the well-crafted deception of a sod cutting ceremony for the Damongo water project, we should by now by lining up to welcome you for the commissioning of the project. Unfortunately, you are coming to Damongo with empty hands and very unfortunately you come seeking for more. 

Perhaps, you deserve a reminder if you are deliberate about forgetting your own promise. Although, you even made a promise to God and has since stolen using His name, I would attempt a reminder on your promise. On the 29th of July, 2020, your god-son, Abu Jinapor brought you to the Damongo town park where the so called sod cutting for the Damongo water project was done. 

Your Excellency, that was 5 clear months after Covid-19 visited Ghana. In fact, this was after the 3 weeks lock down was lifted. Indeed, this was the moment your Parliamentary Candidates were sharing the covid funds to constituency/branch executives of the NPP. So, clearly, Covid cannot be the reason why you have not been able to execute the Damongo water project.

Again Mr President, Russia-Ukraine war happened outside of the timelines you gave us. In your speech during the sod-cutting, you boldly indicated to us that the about $49m dollar Damongo water project was going to take 18months to be executed. Holding all other variables constant, the Damongo water project should have been commissioned by the end of 2021 or in January 2022. Mr President, Russia launched a full scale invasion of Ukraine in February/March, 2022. In effect, the 18months timelines you set for the execution of the Project would have lapsed before this invasion. 

So, the attempts by Hon Abu Jinapor to blame the failure to deliver the water project he knew from day one that was not going to be executed, on covid and Russia-Ukraine war must be dismissed and treated as one of his disrespects and insults. To add insults to injury, some last minute biscuit has been packaged to us as bread. The Ghana Water Company Limited has come to extract water from a smelly borehole in Broto and to extend same to an overhead tank in Damongo where residents will still go with their drums to fetch from. Although, this was done out of the magnanimity of Dr. Clifford, we still consider this as an insult. To have waited after almost 4 years after the sod cutting and just close to elections, to come around to engage in another deception is the most insulting.

Mr. President, we were told that on your third but last visit to Damongo, you slept in the residence of Hon Abu Jinapor. This was what our MP packaged to us as one of his achievements. Unfortunately, Abu could not whisper to your ears that the water you had to bath was from a mechanized tap he did only for himself, his flowers as his cars. And that the rest of us his helpless constituents are made to drink from an abandoned dam that his water tanker draws water and distribute to us. 

Your Execellency sir, in your second but last visit in which you and your Abu sought to undermine and disrespect the Yagbonwura, I wish to remind you that the park in which we had the grand durbar of the One Year Anniversary of the Yagbonwura was the same park you stood and cut the sod for the water project on that black 29th July, 2020. Unfortunately again, Abu couldn’t tell you that even as at then, his constituents were still thirsty. I can bet my last coin that even your visit to the Yagbonwura tomorrow Monday, 14th October, 2024, you would not make a statement about you and your government’s failure to execute the Damongo water project. 

The fact is that you, Mr President, your MP for Damongo, Hon Abu Jinapor, don’t really give a damn if the people of Damongo constituency drink from a typhoid infested dam or from the gutters. Just the same way you two have conspired to allow for mining in our forest reserves and on protected rivers leading to the overwhelming pollution of all the rivers in Ghana including the black Volta which coincidentally passes through Buipe, where Abu’s father seats as the paramount chief. After all, Abu believes he doesn’t owe the people of Damongo anything significant, because he came to buy his way through to become an MP, and given the amount he  allegedly made from galamsey, he can and is ready to even pay 10 times of what he paid in 2020 to secure another stolen mandate. 

To conclude, I wish you, Mr President, the best of stay in Damongo. We know that your visit is to redeem Abu’s image in the Jakpa Palace and in Damongo Constituency at large. We only have one message for you, and that is, you can come to Damongo and stay for the rest of the days to elections, your NPP and your god-son, Abu Jinapor will lose, period! So, no amount of face-saving or image redemption therapy will be enough to cure your impending wounds. Be told also that, your god-son, Abu Jinapor does not believe that your NPP and Dr Bawumia can win, and so, he goes round in the constituency and begging the people to vote for him and John Mahama since, he knows the people won’t be voting for his Presidential Candidate. This is one of his hidden tricks which we need to let him know that this too won’t wash. 

You are welcome Mr President. 

Sincerely, 

Issifu Seidu Kudus Gbeadese

(Youth Imam from Laribanga)

GALAMSEY GENOCIDE: HOW ABU JINAPOR’S SIGNATURE FINDS EXPRESSION IN THIS GRAND SCHEME OF “MASS MURDER” OF INNOCENT GHANAIANS.

By Issifu Seidu Kudus Gbeadese

(Youth Imam from Laribanga)

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The national conversation over the last couple of months has been on the illegal mining activities (galamsey) – an activity which can best be described as mass murder of innocent Ghanaians, including innocent fetus and newly born babies. It is quite evident that not even the attempted blame-shifting and agenda-setting can shift and share the blame with the National Democratic Congress.

Unfortunately, my Member of Parliament, Hon. Abu Jinapor, who doubles as the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources is in the centre of this conversation. His attempts to extricate himself by buying his way through the conversation, but that cannot and will not suffice. The law squarely places responsibility on the head of Hon. Abu Jinapor, the Minister responsible for Lands and Natural Resources, and a delegate of the President, to act responsibly in safeguarding our lands and natural resources.

Instructively, Article 257 Sub-clause 6 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana clearly provides that all mineral resources in their natural state and upon any land in Ghana, including water resources, are the properties of the Republic of Ghana and shall vest in the President of Ghana for and on behalf of the people. By virtue of convention and standard practice, the President delegates his powers within the remit of this constitutional provision in his minister, and in this case, in the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources.  

In the exercise of his powers, the Minister acts through an Act of Parliament – the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2006, (Act 703). Indeed, sections 4 and 5 and the adjoining sub-sections of this Act empowers the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources to issue, deny or revoke mining licenses in whichever form. In order to effectuate the powers and regulate the sector as per the law, regulations in the form of Legislative Instruments and Executive Instruments are enacted for these purposes.

In view of the above, in November 2022, the Legislative Instrument (LI) 2462 was enacted, deriving its force from the Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1994 (Act 490). The LI, “Environmental Protection (Mining in forest Reserves) Regulations, 2022 (L.I. 2462) allows for the Minister to grant mining concessions in forest reserves.

Meanwhile, prior to the enactment of this LI, the National Land Policy of 1999, prohibited mining in forest reserves especially, those reserves which were protected for ecosystem maintenance, biodiversity conservation and sustainable timber production. Unfortunately, due to political expediency, the formulation and subsequent enactment of this L.I. did not follow the usual trend of comprehensive consultation with key stakeholders like Civil Society Organizations and community-based stakeholders.

Under the L.I. 2462, mining licenses may be granted in forest reserves. Indeed, a multi-tiered permit regime is structured by this L.I. This include a forestry entry permit from the Forestry Commission (under the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources); mineral rights from the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources (signed and granted by the Minister, Abu Jinapor); and water use permit from the Water Resources Commission.

Effectively, regulation 2 under this L.I. 2462 elucidates the rationale behind its enactment. This encompasses the management of mining in forest reserves, efficient use of natural resources, stakeholder involvement in mining issues in forest reserves, effective mineral royalties’ administration and maximizing benefits for the local community from mining in forest reserves. And to think that this L.I. 2462 was even contemplated at the time galamsey and the pollution of our water bodies are at their apogee is the most disgusting. 

Well, after covertly setting up the conspiracy clothed in a legal framework (LI 2462) to legitimize the illegitimate, the political convenience and the twists then sets in. According to incontrovertible sources, thus, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN); The United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), the World Conservation Monitoring (WCM); The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) and the Ghana Mining Repository (2023) – Abu Jinapor, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources has, after the enactment of this L.I. in November 2022, issued 30 mining licenses for mining in forest reserves (protected areas). According to these sources, additional 1,350 mining concessions (outside of the protected areas) were granted, bringing the total to 1,380.

Subsequent to this, a report by the Ghana Institute of Foresters revealed that, at least 390,000 hectares of Ghana’s forest cover, covering a little above the landmarks of the Greater Accra Region, risk being wiped out as a result of the enactment of L.I. 2462. These include the protected areas, areas mapped as green belts and Globally Significant Biodiversity Areas (GSBAs).    

Flowing from the above incontrovertible facts as provided by these credible sources, the Fourth Estate reported on 5th September, 2024 that appointees and politically exposed persons were among those who benefitted from the 30 mining licenses issued for mining in forest reserves (protected areas). Some of these companies associated to appointees and politically exposed persons granted mining licenses in 2023 include:

1. Sam and Gyan Limited – a company traceable to Hon. Sam Pyne, President Akuffo-Addo’s appointee for the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly has been issued a mining concession to mine in the Oda River Forest Reserve, located in the Ashanti Region.   

2. Elite Minerals Ghana Limited – a company which is allegedly tied to the daughters of President Akuffo-Addo as beneficial owners or with associated interest. This company has concession in the Bonsa River Forest Reserve in the Western Region.

3. Nana Ansah Resources Limited – mining concession to mine gold in Mamiri Forest Reserve in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.

4. Clean-Jobs Resources Limited – a mining concession to mine in the Tano Anwia Forest Reserve in the Western region of Ghana.

5. Unipower Mining Company Limited – a mining concession to mine in the Boin Tano Forest Reserve in the Western Region of Ghana.

Sadly, fresh reports have it that, after the expose’ by the Fourth Estate, these data have since been expunged from the records of the Minerals Commission.

Aside from legitimizing the illegitimate through a legal framework, there is another angle to this genocide being perpetrated by the government and its associates. According to the Fourth Estate, just a month after the L.I. 2462 was gazetted, in August 25, 2022, Akonta Mining, a company with Bernard Boasiako a.k.a Chairman Wontumi as one of the two shareholders, applied for a mining concession to mine in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve. After evaluation, the Minerals Commission transmitted the application to the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Abu Jinapor for approval. Even before he could approve and issue the license, Chairman Wontumi’s Akonta Mining moved to site to start mining operations. This was subsequently described by the Minister as illegal, albeit, President defended Chairman Wontumi and his Akonta Mining.

In the midst of this conversation, the troubling part is that, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources appears not worried – he is either dismissive or arrogantly snobbish. In the wake of the labour agitations, Hon. Abu Jinapor described the Organized Labour’s call for a moratorium on all mining activities as draconian. He further intimated that because mining is lucrative and has some economic value, we ought to pay off for its devastation on Ghana’s water bodies and forest reserves. In fact, Abu Jinapor and his NPP government cannot be tickled by the report from the Ghana Medical Association to the effect that cyanide and mercury are sometimes found in the placentas of pregnant women, and as a result babies are born deformed.

Ironically, while destroying these forest reserves and our water bodies, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and its allied agency, Forestry Commission, are all over the place with that charade of annual tree planting. In view of this, our taxes are wasted annually on this exercise. In fact, this failed policy is used as a cover for donor support. A couple of days ago, I read in the news that Hon. Abu Jinapor, has, on behalf of the Government of Ghana, signed a letter of intent for a grant amounting to $30m with the government of the United Arab Emirates, for forest conservation and alternative livelihood program.

Reading from successive budgets since 2021 is even extremely nauseating. The amount of money that leaks through the so called community mining and the alternative livelihood program is mindboggling. So, the devastation is not only on our forest reserves and water bodies, it is heavily felt in our annual budgets as much.

I wake up every day hoping to hear the name of Damongo Constituency with pride and for the good reasons, only to get disappointed. The man who we elected to represent us in Parliament has become the default image on newspapers and on online portals for the bad reasons. If Hon. Abu Jinapor’s name is not mentioned for corruption-related matters, his picture will be attached to headlines associated to this genocide (galamsey) or other daily scandals under this government.

The worse scenario is that, the galamsey menace is exceedingly pronounced under him as the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources. And quite unfortunate is the fact that he has granted more mining licenses than all the ministers of Lands put together since the inception of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana. Well, power can trick the powerful to get an illusion that the shoulder of God is just closer to theirs. It may not hurt today, it may look flowery and taste good, but the consequences awaits us. Time is our greatest ally. 

Shalom!!!