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Inscription on Atta Mills bust offensive – Haruna Iddrisu on Asomdwee Park monument
The Minority Leader has said that it is offensive that a bust unveiled to honour the memory of the late John Atta Mills’ 10-year anniversary of death does not bear his own name.
Haruna Iddrisu, addressing the press at Parliament, said it was disappointing to see the new bust bearing the names of President Akufo-Addo and Koku Anyidoho and not that of the late President.
Citing the monument of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the Tamale South legislator said the statue of Ghana’s first President bears his name and nobody else.
As such, it is unacceptable for a sculpture honoring a particular person not to have his name but that of the person who unveiled it and other supporting parties.
“The bust of him, John Evans Atta Mills, our respected President, beneath the bust is not his name. It is that of President Akufo-Addo and that is not his [Atta Mills’] name and we find that incredibly unacceptable and offensive,” he fumed on Monday.
Mr Iddrisu subsequently tasked government to immediately correct the inscription on the bust by removing the names of President Akufo-Addo and Koku Anyidoho.
The Tamale South legislator warned that had it not been for the peaceful nature of the former President, he would have gone there and removed the inscription himself.
“The President and his associates must take immediate steps to go and correct that wrong and that anomaly.
“We find it incredibly unacceptable and incredibly offensive but for the peaceful nature of the late John Mills, I would have just walked there and changed it myself. But that will not be in honour of the late J. E. A. Mills and I learned peace from him,” he noted.
According to him, the change is necessary to educate people who do not know about the peaceful and patriotic former leader.
“Persons who visit the Asomdwee Park must know that it’s the final resting place of the late John Evans Atta Mills who passed on in office and to his eternal memory, this bust has been mounted.
“How then, can any of you explain that just beneath the bust you will see who unveiled it and who supported it? If the change is not done, people will refer to him [Atta Mills] as Unveiled By,” he teased.
This is the latest controversy surrounding the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the former President’s death.
Prior to this commemoration, there was a feud between the family of the late President and Mr Anyidoho over the maintenance of Asomdwee Park, his final resting place.
Brother of the Former President, Samuel Atta-Mills, had accused the Mr Anyidoho of tampering with the grave of their kin.
“Now that you have gone to touch it, is the bother still in that grave? What did you put in the grave? What kind of ritual did you perform over there? Why would you go and touch the grave without informing us? Who has the body now? And that is the question I want to ask Ghanaians. Do you want to make us go through grief every time?”
But, Mr Anyidoho, dismissed the claims by the family.
Source: www.myjoyonline.com/
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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
