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Follow JM everywhere to sell paraphernalia- Vendor
Ms Rose Danquah
Ms Rose Dankwah is neither a personal bodyguard nor the driver of former President, John Dramani Mahama.
She does not also play any role as a protocol officer or function in any official office of Mr Mahama but when asked whether she occupies any position in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) party which Mr Mahama leads currently, she responded in the affirmative.
Although Ms Dankwah officially holds no identifiable position in the party, she remains one of the popular faces in the party’s colours for her penchant to follow the party’s candidate on every campaign trail.
Ms Dankwah, a resident of Kwashiebu in the Greater Accra Region has become one of the familiar faces around party campaign grounds with the sale of all kinds of NDC paraphernalia.
She said besides making sales to take care of her needs and those of her family, she also gets fulfilment because she loves the NDC party so much.
Speaking in an interview with The Spectator last week when Mr. Mahama visited the Ashaiman Municipality to interact with artisans and informal workers, Ms Dankwah said she had been involved in this for over 20 years with former President Jerry John Rawlings.
She recalled in the past when the business was good and quite promising, especially on the travels countrywide, making good sales.
However, she said, “the times have changed; the job is not lucrative as it used to be.”
Ms Dankwah gets her wares from Accra or Kumasi from people who mostly import from China and displays on the ground and also hawks at rally grounds.
Her paraphernalia ranges from bracelets, necklaces, scarfs, T-shirts, vuvuzela, whistles and many more.
The trader said the business comes with some risk like all other businesses, one being the seasonal drop in sales especially in the off political seasons.
When that happens, she and her colleagues pack the items into store rooms and painfully wait for another four years or any political activity involving the party that they might chance on to sell.
Apart from the party paraphernalia, Ms Dankwah sells anything that would provide her daily bread until another election year beckons.
Fascinatingly, she sells strictly NDC paraphernalia and has no plans to sell other political party items.
This, she explained, is to show her loyalty to the NDC party.
Apart from the few challenges related to her business, Ms Dankwah also has a major headache, that is, her rent which is due for expiry in two months’ time.
“I am scared that I might not be in any good position to settle my rent because the political season is yet to kick off. I am one of the few people praying that the political season would kick off in earnest to start making some money for myself.”
In her view, a huge number of paraphernalia vendors were not party faithfuls like her, acknowledging that “all of them are not like me, some support other parties but there are a few that support no political groupings.”
She was of the view that it was time they formed an association to help make life better for paraphernalia vendors.
By Dzifa Tetteh Tay
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GEXIM deepens relations with US EXIM Bank
A management team of the Ghana Export – Import Bank (GEXIM) led by the Acting Chief Executive, Sylvester Mensah met with the leadership of the Export–Import Bank of the United States (US EXIM) on Wednesday April 23, 2025 in Washington DC, United States of America.
The Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM, Mr. James C. Cruse and Vice President, International Relations, Ms. Isabel Galdiz received the GEXIM delegation, which included Deputy CEO for Banking, Mr. Moses Klu Mensah and Head of International Cooperation, Mr. Jonathan Christopher Koney at the headquarters of US EXIM.
The meeting offered the GEXIM team the opportunity to share the strategic direction of the Bank in line with the resetting agenda of the President of the Republic, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama for the repositioning of the Ghanaian economy into an export-led one by providing the requisite investment to Ghanaian businesses.
Mr. James C. Cruse expressed US EXIM’s eagerness to deepen its existing relations with GEXIM and proposed the signing of a new Cooperative Framework Agreement following the expiration of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2019 to utilize US EXIM’s medium term loan guarantees to procure machinery by GEXIM for qualified Ghanaian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
Mr.Sylvester Mensah thanked the Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM for hosting the GEXIM delegation and reaffirmed the Ghanaian government’s commitment to strengthening trade and investment between Ghana and its global partners for economic transformation of Ghana with GEXIM playing a pivotal role.
The two teams will be meeting on the sidelines of the 2025 US EXIM Annual Conference on 29th and April 30, 2025 to explore possible areas of collaboration and matching Ghanaian businesses to American companies. The meeting ended with an exchange of gifts.
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Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation –Pres.Mahama
President John Dramani Mahama has expressed concern over the misuse of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) for personal financial gain by individuals in leadership positions.
Speaking during a meeting with Chief Executives of specified entities under the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) on Thursday, March 13, the President directly attributed the dire state of SOEs to their leadership, accusing chief executives, management teams, and governing boards of prioritising personal enrichment over organisational efficiency.
He pointed to bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures as factors draining public funds while SOEs continue to rely on government bailouts.
“Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation by appointees. The chief executives, management, and boards of these enterprises are responsible for this situation. Some SOEs have become perennial loss-makers, draining public funds with bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures while relying on government bailouts as if entitled to them. Many of these entities are at their lowest point in the entire history of the Fourth Republic,” he said.
President Mahama further noted that many SOEs have been plagued by inefficiencies, corruption, and mismanagement, leading to consistent financial losses. He cited the 2023 State Ownership Report by the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), which highlighted systemic inefficiencies and wasteful expenditures within these entities.
He therefore reaffirmed his commitment to reforming under-performing SOEs and ensuring they serve national interests.
He warned that loss-making SOEs will no longer be tolerated and will either be merged, privatised, or closed.
“I will assess you based on your performance. If you do not align with the pace of the reset agenda, you may be asked to step aside. If that adds to the horror movie, so be it,” he added.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
