SARPONG'S BLOG

                                              Dr. Evans Aggrey- Darkoh (Pix: Joy News) By: Fred Yaw Sarpong Political parties in the country have been asked to focus on micro rallies in order to reach a lot of their supporters and sympathizers. A Political Science Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr. Evans Aggrey- Darkoh told the Daily Express that though massive rallies are very important in sending signals to opponents, mini rallies are surest ways to reach electorate. “When you organize the rally it’s your people you mobilize and those in the ghettos, lorry stations and trotro stations, homes and other areas who are unable to attend the rally must be targeted. They need to find a way to reach them,” he added. For this reason, Dr. Aggrey-Darko mentioned that with much focus on mini rallies, the various parties will win more of the voting public ...

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong ­The Ghana Bankers Association has downplayed the assertion that the rise in mobile money operations in the country is a threat to the banking industry. ­                                                       Mr. Alhassan Andani   The president of the association, Mr. Alhassan Andani in an interview with the Daily Express alluded that banking operations go beyond just payments, so banks cannot be scared by mobile money operators. “Mobile money is just part of the things that we do and we collaborate on as well. ­ ere are several things that have come and have not threatened banking operations,” the Managing Director (MD) of Stanbic Bank Ghana said. A 2016 Ghana Banking Survey conducted by Price Water House Cooper (Pwc) indicated that the mobile money business has made significant strides in recent years. ­...

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong The National Communications Authority (NCA) has identified about nine uncertified Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) receivers, mostly set top boxes on the market. The telecom regulator however has seized them with the assistance of the Ghana Police Service. The branded boxes include Mac Sunny, Open Box, Free Sat, TuchnoSat, Odaimond Star, J-Star, Vidbox, Combo, and DigiSat. According to the NCA, they seized the boxes at Lapaz and Zongo Lane after they embarked on market surveillance exercise on Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) receivers (televisions and set top boxes) in the Greater Accra Region. “The surveillance exercise is part of the Authority’s effort to protect consumers when television analogue broadcasting finally switches over to digital broadcasting. It is also to ensure that the DTT receivers sold on the Ghanaian market have been certified by the NCA and conform to the acceptable standards,” NCA said in a statement. The NCA ...

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong The Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana will organize a two day capacity building workshop for all the EC officials and Civic Educators of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) before the December 7, 2016 Presidential and Parliamentary elections. According to the commission, the recent launched communication strategy document of EC will be use as the main resource document to train the participants. Madam Georgina Opoku Amankwah, the Deputy Chairperson in charge of Corporate Services announced this in Accra at the Launched of the Communications Strategy of the Electoral Commission Ghana. She mentioned that the capacity building workshop is to prepare the participants for the upcoming December 7 election and also for the task ahead of them. Daily Express gathered that the capacity building workshop will be organize in parts in order to cover both the EC officials and Civic Educators of NCCE of the northern and southern sectors. ...

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, an Executive Director at Africa Center for Energy Policy (ACEP) has commended the government for developing a five year plan to settle the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) GHc728 million debt owed by the State-Owned-Enterprises (SOEs) in the country. “It’s very important for the government to pay the debt so that ECG will also settle the Volta River Authority (VRA) and Asogli for the power they have produced for Ghanaians to consume,” he added. Dr. Amin Adam said the plan is one of the conditions of Ghana’s Compact under the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA). “It’s one of the conditions for the government to pay the debt of ECG before money will be disbursed to Ghana. My problem is why should government wait for America to come and tell us to pay the debt,”? he asked. Secondly, he told the Daily Express that even though government has develop plan to pay the debt, the issue is not about paying the debt but whether gover...

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong Electoral Officials and party agents who will be recruited to supervise the December 7, 2016 Presidential and Parliamentary elections will be allow taking oaths before a Magistrate or Judicial officer instead of an officer of the Electoral Commission (EC). This is to allow them exhibit professionalism during the election period. Taken an oath means the two bodies will be allow to vow or swear by using either the Bible or Quran or any belief they will ask for. Mrs. Charlotte Osei, the Chairperson Electoral Commission (EC) at a media encounter to explain EC’s preparation to ensure a credible, free and fair election in Accra she stated that the electoral officials and party agents taken an oath was part of the 27 reform proposals which were accepted by the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) and are being implemented by the EC. The Electoral Commissioner presented a paper on the topic:”Towards a World-Class Election 2016”. According to Madam ...

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong The Electoral Commission’s official website, www.ec.gov.gh attracted about 161,732 visitors since the redesign of the commission’s website was launched in April this year. The Chairperson of the commission, Madam Charlotte Osei announced this at the launch of the Communications Strategy of the Electoral Commission of Ghana. According to her, the number is made up of 97,175 representing 60% from Ghana, 30,725 (19%) from Kenya, 4,709 (2.91%) from the United States of America and 3,546 representing 2.19% from Sudan among others, She stated that a total of 116,920 representing 72.29% were new visitors and 44,812 representing 27.71% were returning visitors. She also mentioned that t he   United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has also accepted to train over 120,000 agents of political parties their roles and responsibilities in ensuring credible electoral exercise of all the 29,000 polling stations on Election Day. “Th...

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong The Electoral Commission (EC) has created office of electoral services to expand the Directorate of Elections at the EC. According to the EC, this expansion will include elections, regulation of political parties and voter registration services. Madam Charlotte Osei, the Chairperson of EC disclosed this in her presentation entitled: “Towards a World-Class Election 2016” at a media encounter to explain EC’s preparation to ensure a credible, free and fair election in Accra. She also mentioned in the presentation that a new communications department has been set up to move away from the previous Public Affairs. This is to restructure the communications department to oversee expanded platforms for more efficient and proactive stakeholder engagement and voter education. “We have developed a new online strategy which is more interactive, user-friendly and modern online presence through the Commission’s new website, with a better social media prese...