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Ziblim Iddi withdraws from Gushegu primary

Dr Ziblim Iddi, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gushegu Constituency in the Northern Region has withdrawn from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary primary.

He made this known to the constituents when he sent a letter to that effect to the general secretary of the party and copied to regional and constituency executives at the weekend.

“I write to formally inform your good office that I do not intend to contest as a candidate in the parliamentary primaries scheduled for June 20, 2020 in the Gushegu constituency,” Dr Iddi wrote.

The withdrawal of Dr Iddi, who is also the deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, from the primary has thrown the constituency into total shock as nobody within the rank and file of the party in the constituency thought of it.

Dr Iddi had filed to contest the primary and was campaigning vigorously and all of a sudden stepped down and his withdrawal from the contest has been the talk in the Gushegu constituency and its surrounding as supporters, members and well wishers of the party were seen in groups discussing the unfortunate decision.

There have been rumours by the constituents that big wigs in the party might have forced him to step down while others also blamed it on the internal bickering and wrangling in the constituency.

However, Dr Iddi in the said letter stated that the decision was personal and that there were no external forces insisting that “I arrived at this painful decision after a very broad consultation and deep introspection so I entreat the leadership of the party and electoral directorate of the NPP to remove his name and picture on the ballot paper and the Notice of Poll.

Dr Iddi called on his supporters, sympathisers and well wishers not to be disturbed about his withdrawal and that his loyalty to party was intact and appealed to them to continue their support and assistance to the party and not create disaffection.

FROM YAKUBU ABDUL-MAJEED, GUSHEIGU

News

Committee probing petitions against Chief Justice to begin hearings tomorrow

The Committee set up by President John Dramani Mahama to inquire into three petitions filec against the Chief Justice, Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, will commence hearings tomorrow, Thursday May 15, 2025.

The five-member Committee chaired by Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang of the Supreme Court, was set up by the President in accordance with Article 146(6) of the 1992 constitution and in consultation with the Council of State, following a determination of a prima facie case against the Chief Justice.

The committee will sit three times a week and present their recommendations to the President upon completion of their work.

It would be recalled that President John Dramani Mahama recently suspended Chief Justice following the establishment of a prima facie case in response to three separate petitions seeking her removal from office.

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38-year-old man gets life imprisonment for killing Assemblies of God pastor in 2018

After close to seven years of trial, a seven-member jury on Wednesday, May 14, returned a guilty verdict in the murder case involving the killing of the Senior Pastor of the Central Assemblies of God church at Tema in 2018.

The convict, Francis Nabegmado, a relative of the deceased, inflicted a fatal knife wound on Rev. Dr. David Nabegmado on December 30, 2018, after alleging that the senior pastor was a false preacher who engaged in idol worship and human sacrifices.

After an hour of summing up by the judge, Mary Maame Ekue Yanzuh, the jury retired briefly and returned with a unanimous guilty verdict.

Based on the unanimous verdict of the jurors who had previously studied the statements of the five witnesses called by the prosecution, and listened to the summing up process, the judge sentenced the 38-year-old to life imprisonment.

When he was offered an opportunity to comment on the verdict, the convict told the judge that he wanted to go home to meet his family.

“My Lady, I want to see my family, and I want to be taken to Yendi”.

When the judge told him she couldn’t make such an order for him to go and see his family in Yendi, the convict forcefully said, “I insist”.

Francis, who will now spend the rest of his life at the Nsawam medium security prison, had told the court throughout the trial that the decision to attack his uncle, Rev. Nebegmado, was driven by insanity, but that did not save him from receiving a life sentence.

Speaking briefly after the sentencing, Senior Pastor of the Assemblies of God church at Tema Community 4, Rev. Emmanuel Kwesi Ofori, said the church has been waiting for this closure for the past seven years and will soon issue an official statement.

Source: Myjoyonline.com