The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) has backed the directive by the Chief Justice, CJ, for trial judges to call cases of senior lawyers before that of junior lawyers. Saviour Kudze, the Public Relations Officer, PRO, in an interview with JoyNews, said the CJ's directive is in the right direction; indicating that, it will offer young or junior lawyers the opportunity to learn from their seniors. Chief Justice, Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, directed trial judges to adhere strictly to the age-long tradition of calling cases of senior lawyers first. “It has recently been drawn to my attention, that some Trial Court Judges are not observing this practice in court." Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

General News of Wednesday, 13 April 2022Source: www.ghanaweb.comThe Supreme Court has ruled that the Assin North MP, James Gyakye Quayson, is not the Member of Parliament for Assin North. But on April 13, 2022, the apex court, in a 5-2 decision, declared the Assin North constituency vacant. Michael-Nimfah in July 2021 obtained a ruling against Mr Gyekye Quayson at the Cape Coast High Court. However a member of the Assin North MP’s legal team, lawyer Baba Jamal said the defense counsel will advise itself on the ruling. According to him, the Supreme Court by its decision has unfairly denied the people of Assin North parliamentary representation while the substantive case against their client is yet to be concluded.

He further alleged that the MP was holding multiple nationalities including American and Ivorian citizenships which contravenes the 1992 constitution. Dorcas Affo-Toffey, however, denied having American citizenship but claimed to be in possession of an Ivorian Citizenship which she said she had renounced. The applicant pleaded with the court to give an order to inspect the documents indicating the MP truly renounced her Ivorian citizenship before filing to contest as MP in 2020. Joshua Emuah Kofie pleaded with the court to declare the first respondent’s election as MP for Jomoro Constituency, null and void. Dorcas Affo-Toffey was subsequently ordered by the Sekondi High Court to produce documents on her alleged renunciation of Ivorian citizenship.

Dr. Amakye Boateng, a Political Science lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, KNUST, has described as problematic, the recent endorsement of Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta. The Minister said in an interview with Metro TV last week that the Vice President had shown that he was a capable hand to take over after his boss, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. The claim, according to the lecturer, does not bode well for the party going into the keenly awaited 2024 elections. He added: “Ghanaians will not allow the political patronage playing up in the party. Bawumia is seen as a leading candidate in the race for the New Patriotic Party flagbearership slot.

According to him, the government elevating such a comment to the level it has gotten to was not necessary. “Picking something from Facebook and elevating it to the level where it got was just unnecessarily needlessly creating martyrs. He also accused the government of masterminding the arrest of the #FixTheCountry movement. He added that he wished they hadn’t reached this level of a national crisis. “I just wished we hadn’t picked an irresponsible Facebook comment and elevated it to the level of a national crisis of democracy and constitutionalism,” he said.

“In connection with my first Public statement to be streamed live on Ghfixthecountry at 7:30pm; I will be hosting a Q&A session later this evening." “Based on the advice of those in charge of my personal security, my lawyers and other stakeholders connected with our National Security; I won’t be discussing the May 2021 meeting,” he stated. “The Public Statement will proceed at 7:30pm as earlier noted. His arrest according to the police was in connection with a Facebook post. In the said Facebook post, the activist said he will “do the coup himself” if parliament went ahead to approve a 1.5% levy on electronic transfers.

The National Service Scheme has provided a window of opportunity for Ghanaians who completed tertiary educations years ago but could not undertake their national service to do so in the 2022/2023 service year. In a statement issued on Sunday, April 10, 2022, the NSS announced that it will from Monday, April 11 to Thursday, June 30, 2022 register applicants who wish to do their service. The NSS, in the statement announced that applicants are to submit letters to the regional offices of the scheme, requesting for their PIN code or a reactivation of their PIN codes. The National Service Act, (Act 426) of 1980 makes it mandatory for Ghanaians aged 18 and above to undergo a one-year service. Source: ghanaweb.comDisclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com.

Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta has said that the Vice President of Ghana, Mahamudu Bawumia has proven beyond reasonable doubt that he is the type of person who can lead if Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo leaves. Ken ofori Atta said the Vice President’s presentation lays out what the NPP government has done and the capacity to take the country to the transformation level. The Vice President Bawumia during his presentation acknowledged that times are hard in Ghana but was reassuring that work is being done to assuage the plight of the people of Ghana. Comparatively, he said the NPP government had done very well in managing the economy but added that they will do more. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

The Apex Court is likely to reverse its March 9 ruling which allowed deputy Speakers the right to vote and constitute quorum. In the wake of the ruling, the E-Levy bill was passed by a one-sided Parliament with Minority MPs boycotting the process. Subsequently Parliament had approved the budget and the appropriation even before the Supreme Court could rule on the subject so the ruling was inconsequential. Now Justice Abdulai has filed for a review of the Supreme Court decision on the matter. We also know that the Constitution allows the Supreme Court to depart from their earlier decision whenever they deem it proper to do so.

General News of Monday, 11 April 2022Source: www.ghanaweb.comNational Security Ministry meets JudiciaryIssues of justice and internal security discussedKan-Dapaah warns against biased judiciaryMinister of National Security, Albert Kan-Dapaah, has spoken about the importance of a robust and fair judicial system in maintaining the peace and stability of the country. According to him, a strong judiciary was a pillar in the peace process because it will afford people the opportunity of using the courts to seek justice instead of taking the laws into their own hands. He made these comments during a meeting last week with members of the judiciary to discuss the role of the third arm of government in Ghana’s national security architecture. “If you are going to be able to address the security challenges that we have, especially the domestic ones, we need to ensure that there is a judicial system that works. View his Timepath below:

Sports News of Sunday, 10 April 2022Source: www.ghanaweb.comAsante Kotoko defeated Hearts of Oak 1-0 at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in their matchday 24 encounter in the Ghana Premier League. Straight from their pass after conceding, Hearts of Oak zoomed into attack but were denied by Danlad Ibrahim who read the situation well. The Phobians looked shaky in defence as Kotoko made another incursion but this time Richard Ayi dealt with it. Samuel Inkoom made his debut in the game and also created a few chances at goal but Hearts of Oak could not score. The win takes Kotoko 16 points adrift of their rivals Hearts of Oak.

Zita Benson urged Adom-Otchere to be wary of his posture on issues as it could come back to haunt him someday. “As chairman of the Ghana Airport, you think the best way to correct any information is through insults. Her comments follow an attack on her by Paul Adom-Otchere, slamming her for some allegations she made over the inability of a Ghana-bound British Airways aircraft to land. Meanwhile, British Airways has disclosed the main reason for incident. In a communique to the passengers, British Airways ascribed ‘airspace restrictions en-route to Accra’ as basis for the failure of the plane to land.

A video posted on popular social media page, “Tell It All’’ captures two men dishing out to each other in an Azumah versus Jeff Fenech fashion in a public transport (trotro). Commentaries on the video indicate that the mate and the passenger disagreed over a few pesewas change which resulted in a heated verbal exchange before becoming a ful-blown fight. Fights between commuters and bus conductors are not new in the country but have heightened recently following the rise in fuel prices and hardships in the economy. In February this year, transport operators announced 15% adjustment in transport fares following repeated rise in fuel prices. Barely a month after that adjustment, transport union are hinting of fares as the fuel prices have seen no significant reduction.

General News of Friday, 8 April 2022Source: www.ghanaweb.comGhana did not vote to suspend Russia from UN Human Rights Council93 countries voted in favour of the motion24 countries voted against the motionGhana abstained from a vote that would have seen the suspension of Vladimir Putin's Russia from the U.N. Human Rights Council. The United Nations (UN) General Assembly voted on Thursday, April 7, to suspend Russia from the U.N. Human Rights Council over reports of "gross and systematic violations and abuses of human rights" in Ukraine. Ambassador Gennady Kuzmin described the move as an "illegitimate and politically motivated step" and then announced that Russia had decided to quit the Human Rights Council altogether. Under the resolution on Thursday, the General Assembly could have later agreed to end the suspension. The General Assembly text on Thursday expresses "grave concern at the ongoing human rights and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine," particularly at reports of rights abuses by Russia.

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the Vice President, has stated that amid economic difficulties, the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government has put in place some measures that will cushion Ghanaians. Speaking at a TESCON event in the Central Region on Thursday, April 7, he admitted the challenges and economic hardship Ghanaians are going through. "Today our economy is witnessing rising prices of fuel, and virtually all commodities like bread, rice, sugar, sachet water, cement, iron rods, and so on . Dr. Bawumia noted that Ghana "is directly affected by the Russia-Ukraine war" however, it has introduced measures to reduce the hardship. So we are directly affected by the Russia-Ukraine war.