Top News in Ghana Today

Ghana has confirmed another case of MPOX in the Greater Accra Region, raising the total number of recent cases to three.

The Ministry of Education (MoE) has commenced an investigation into the alleged distribution of 22,000 bags of expired rice to Senior High Schools (SHSs) nationwide.

President Akufo-Addo has been conferred with the prestigious title of Grand Officier de la Légion d’Honneur by the President of the French Republic.

The Supreme Court has held that a Member of Parliament cannot be said to have vacated his seat unless he decides to change his political identity and remain in Parliament under the new identity within the same term of Parliament.

In the judgment detailing why it upheld a suit by the Majority Leader in Parliament, the court held that Article 97(1) (g) and (h) of the Constitution cannot be said to have a futuristic application and therefore only applied to a current term of Parliament.

“It follows from the above therefore, that the only plausible conclusion which must necessarily flow from a holistic and contextual reading of Article 97(1)(g) and (h) is that an MP's seat shall be vacated upon departure from the cohort of his elected party in Parliament to join another party in Parliament while seeking to remain in that Parliament as a member of the new party,” the court held.

Similarly, an independent MP who joins the cohort of a party in Parliament, while they remain Members of the Parliament for which they were elected as Independent Member, will have to vacate the seat tagged as that of an Independent Member,” the court added.

The court therefore held that its interpretation of Article 97(1) (g) and (h) of the Constitution was that they only applied within a current term of Parliament, and not an MP contesting for election under a different political identity.

“Consequently, Article 97(1)(g) and (h) must be understood within their contextual framework, with no implicit or explicit indication that they pertain to future electoral aspirations or intentions that would materialize in subsequent terms, such as an MP contesting under a different ticket in the next election cycle,” the court held.

The 5-2 majority decision of the court was authored by Justice Yaw Darko Asare.

Justices on the majority side were the Chief Justice, Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo, and Justices Mariama Owusu, Samuel Kwame Adibu- Aseidu, Ernest Yao Gaewu and Yaw Darko Asare, while Justices Avril Lovelace Johnson and Issifu Omoro Tanko Amadu, dissented.

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The United States through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is providing over 27 million Ghanaian Cedis ($1.7 million) to support drought-affected communities in northern Ghana.

The Supreme Court has held that a Member of Parliament cannot be said to have vacated his seat unless he decides to change his political identity and remain in Parliament under the new identity.

The Cape Coast Magistrate’s Court has directed prosecutors handling the fatal shooting incident at Mankessim over chieftaincy disputes to expedite investigations to allow a full trial to commence immediately.

Professor Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah has officially retired as Executive Secretary of Ghana’s National Identification Authority (NIA). 

Here are the front pages of some of Ghana’s newspapers today.

Government has signed two agreements with the Health Services Workers Union (HSWU) and the Public Services Workers Union (PSWU) on behalf of the staff of the Internal Audit Agency (IAA) to improve the working conditions of the members of the two unions.

President Akufo-Addo has asked world leaders at the ongoing conference of parties (COP29) in Azerbaijan to walk the talk by shifting from mere dialogue to action to help deal with the global climate crisis.

To advance the treatment of sickle cell disease in the country, the Ministry of Health has launched the National Sickle Cell Disease Strategy for 2024 to 2028, along with a National Vaccine Policy in Accra.

An audit of the new prepaid meters installed by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Northern Electricity Distribution Company Limited (NEDCo) across the country is underway.

Lordina Mahama, accompanied by former President John Mahama, has inaugurated a newly built maternity and children’s ward in Bodom, Nkoranza North District, Bono Region.