Tamale, Jan 1, GNA – President-elect John Dramani Mahama and his wife, Lordina, last night joined worshippers at the Sanctuary of Wind and Fire Assemblies of God Church in Tamale to usher in the new year.

They were accompanied by some leading members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), including Mr Haruna Iddrisu and Mr Alhassan Suhuyini, Members of Parliament for Tamale South and North, respectively.

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In the midst of Sudan’s deepening crisis, Kwesi Appiah, former coach of Ghana’s Black Stars, has taken on the immense challenge of guiding Sudan’s national football team. With the country torn apart by conflict between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces militia, Appiah is determined to use football as a source of hope and unity.

In an interview with the BBC, he outlined why the Sudan national team is performing the way they are regardless of the troubles they have back at home.

Appiah’s approach goes beyond tactics and strategy. He focuses on building the players confidence, urging them to see themselves as world-class athletes.

“I tell them to play as if they’re Messi or Ronaldo, so they step onto the pitch without limits,” he explained. His goal is to instill belief and pride in his players, encouraging them to view every match as an opportunity to honor their families, their country, and themselves.

The stakes are high. The conflict in Sudan which has displaced over 11 million people, creating what aid workers call the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, coach Appiah believes the team’s performance could serve as a rallying turning point for the nation. “This team has a chance to do something meaningful; to give people hope, to show unity, and to even help change or stop the war by qualifying for AFCON or the World Cup,” he said.

But the challenges his players face are deeply personal. Several of them have suffered devastating losses, with four losing close family members while in camp. “It’s heartbreaking, but they try to carry on,” Appiah shared. “The rest of the team rallies around them, offering comfort and encouragement. It hasn’t been easy.”

Despite the overwhelming hardships that his players face, Appiah sees the determination in his players and the potential for football to bring light to a dark time.

As Sudan continues to navigate its dark montage, the national team under Appiah’s leadership represents a glimmer of hope.

Something the people can look up to in their distress.

The President Elect, John Dramani Mahama has come out to reveal that, every paramount chief wants his son to be a minister, and that he won’t appoint more than 160 ministers.

“In his Words”

“We are here to say thank you, that what we wished in our heart, he has fulfilled it for us, and indeed he has fulfilled it beyond our wildest expectations. When I prayed and I called on him, I knew we would be victorious, and so that day I went to vote, after i cast my vote, all thd media were with their microphones and their TV’s on me, and one of the media men asked me ‘So now that you have voted, what do you think, are you going to win the election?’ and I said ‘Yes, i believe that we are going to win the election’, that’s exactly what I said”.

“Then the next question he asked me ‘What of the parliamentary, are you going to have the majority?, and I said ‘Well, i project that atleast we will get more than 150 seats’, but God said I am speaking nonsense and that he will give me more than 150 seats. And now I have so many MPs, I don’t even know what to do with all of them. And you know the funny thing,

when I was campaigning, every constituency I go to, the paramount chief says ‘We are going to vote for you, but when we vote for you, you are going to make our son a minister’, meanwhile at a time I said, I won’t appoint more than 160 ministers. Every paramount chief wants his son to be a minister, but God will guild us, he will make things good in his own time”, John Dramani Mahama said.

Citi FM shared the video on their official instagram page today being Wednesday the 1st day of January, 2025 and it stirred massive reactions from the general public. Click on the link below to watch the video.

https://www.instagram.com/share/reel/BADwPJyYxn

Arsenal came from behind to beat Brentford in the first Premier League fixture of 2025 and boost their title hopes.

Bryan Mbeumo put the hosts ahead, but Gabriel Jesus equalised with his sixth goal in four games.

Quickfire strikes from Mikel Merino and Gabriel Martinelli then ensured Arsenal left west London with all three points.

It was vindication for manager Mikel Arteta, who named a changed side with Kai Havertz left out while 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri made his first Premier League start.

Arsenal are back up to second, six points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool, while Brentford stay 12th.

Brentford took the lead in the 12th minute after Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard sloppily gave the ball away in midfield. Mikkel Damsgaard intercepted his pass and slid a through ball for Mbeumo.

The Bees forward cut inside and beat former Brentford goalkeeper David Raya at his near post.

But Arsenal, who were below par for the opening 30 minutes, equalised when Gabriel Jesus headed in the rebound after Thomas Partey’s shot was parried away by Mark Flekken.

The Gunners laboured at times during the first half, struggling with the absence of the injured Bukayo Saka.

But they were renewed after the break, scoring twice in eight minutes.

The first came when Brentford failed to clear a corner, Flekken missing his punch, and the resulting goalmouth scramble ended in Merino slamming home from close range.

And they moved 3-1 ahead on 53 minutes when Martinelli cracked a loose ball past Flekken from 12 yards, before easing to victory as Brentford faded.

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The Electoral Commission through its lawyers has urged the High Court in Accra to make appropriate orders that will enable the Commission to complete the collation process in the various collation centers.

While advancing arguments for the grant of an application for Mandamus in respect of Tema Central Constituency, lawyers of the EC led by Justin Amenuvor said, the orders must curtail dangerous precedent.

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The Ransford According to University of Ghana political science professor Edward Van Gyampo, the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) win in the 2020 elections is “contestable.”

He claims that remarks made by Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, a party mainstay and 2024 flag bearer candidate, show that Ghanaians did not elect Akufo-Addo to office in 2020.

Criticizing the NPP’s claim that voter apathy played a factor in their humiliating loss in the 2024 elections, the political science instructor said the party must look beyond the apathy to determine what caused their dismal performance.

Speaking on TV3’s KeyPoints on Saturday, December 28, 2024, Prof. Gyampo urged Ghanaians not to be influenced by Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia’s early concession as a sign of a smooth handover of power.

He urged Ghanaians to follow Ken Agyapong’s statements regarding the NPP’s win in 2020, arguing that only individuals who lack a thorough awareness of the political landscape could draw such conclusions.

Citing Ken Agyapong’s remarks as evidence that the NPP did not even win the 2020 elections that awarded Akufo-Addo his second term, he noted that a number of factors contributed to the party’s defeat, which it is attempting to hide with voter indifference.

“First of all, it is debatable; even the NPP’s victory in the 2020 elections is debatable because their own Ken Agyapong insisted on stating, ‘Y’anfa y’ani kaan na ewinii abatoɔ no o. In other words, we didn’t win the elections fairly, and if you make fun of us, we’ll show you how we did it. Moyɛ a yɛbɛkyerɛ mo kwan a yɛfaaso a yɛ winii yɛ’.

“So, they didn’t really win, even in the 2020 elections,” Gyampo said.

He went on to say that the NPP lost the 2024 elections in 2022, when he began documenting the government’s problems, which ultimately resulted in the party’s humiliating loss in 2024.

Gyampo called the notion of attributing their problems on voter indifference as a means of hiding their incapacity and incompetence, which resulted in their humiliating loss in the polls on Saturday, December 07, 2024, propaganda.

“But I’m telling them that, starting in 2022, they lost the 2024 elections. We have documented every element from 2022. He went on to say, “The notion that the NPP lost the election because voters did not turn out to vote is needless propaganda to cover up and conceal their own ineptitude and poor leadership.”

He continued by explaining why a readiness to cede power is not always reflected in an early acknowledgment of defeat.

Counsel for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Godwin Tameklo has hit back at lawyers of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) over claims that the declaration of Ebi Bright as winner of the Tema Central December 7, 2024 parliamentary election was not done by an Electoral Commission (EC) official.

Taking his turn to oppose the mandamus application seeking to compel the EC to collate results in four constituencies, he argued that the NPP’s own applicant admitted in his affidavit that there was a declaration and that it was done without including two polling stations.

To substantiate his claim, Mr Tameklo referred the court to a letter written by one of the NPP applicants, Charles Forson who wrote to the EC demanding the Commission to direct the returning officer to properly collate and declare in accordance with law.

He further argued that there was a proper declaration by the EC hence there was no need to collate the results.

“It is not the duty of this court to make a determination on who won an election, they are inviting you on a very slippery path. My lord, in a mandamus application, if it is within the remit of this court to make findings of alleged thuggery, intimidation, duress and breaches of law “What then will we do in an election petition,” he said adding that mandamus cannot be used to determine a disputed demand.”

Again, counsel made reference to a letter written by the then Minority Caucus dated Dec 21, 2020, requesting the EC to re-collate results in some alleged disputed constituencies.

He said the EC responded, “Once results have been declared, a dissatisfied party cannot request for recollection.

“Today the EC is saying that after the declaration, they can go back and possibly re-declare the same results. Where is that legal duty?” he said

Mandamus application: EC’s returning officer did not declare Ebi Bright winner of Tema Central — NPP lawyers tell the court

Earlier, lawyers for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have firmed up their argument that the collation of the results in the Tema Central Constituency could not be completed due to alleged intimidation with a claim that the person who declared the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Ebi Bright was not the returning officer of the EC.

Mmoving the mandamus application at the General Jurisdiction of the High Court in Accra on Wednesday (Jan 1, 2025), Gary Nimako Marfo pointed the court to a video which was played in open court.

He alleged that the person seen holding an A4 sheet in the video on the day of the said purported declaration was one of Mr John Nunoo and not the EC’s returning officer, Mr Kwesi Brobbey.

As a result, he is asking the court to compel the EC to complete the collation process and declare who won the election for that constituency.

Meanwhile, in the video that was played in open court to support the NPP’s argument, the Deputy National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Malik Basintale, was heard saying, “Our issue is not with the police, our issue is with the EC Officer. We will bring him out to declare Ebi Bright, whether he likes it or not he will declare the results here and if the NPP does not like it, they can go to court”.

Mr Marfo said, “If the position canvassed in the affidavit in opposition of the interested parties is made to stand it will be a very dangerous recipe in this country. Because all that will mean that without the full complement of votes from all polling stations, anybody at all can just mass up at the collation centre to purport to make a declaration, which duty rests with authorized and determined officers of the EC to be done in a prescribed manner according to law.”

“Collation without incorporating the entire polling station votes, can never be called collation in the eyes of the law but what it seeks to do is that persons who have gone to cast their ballot are being disenfranchised,” he said.

Justin Amenuvor, counsel for the Electoral Commission in the mandamus application hearing has prayed to the High Court to make appropriate orders that will enable the Commission to complete the collation process in the various collation centres in dispute.

“If this court does not make the appropriate orders for the EC to go and finish its work in the presence of the very limited number of persons outlined in the Constitutional Instrument (C.I 127) a dangerous precedent for our democracy will be set whereby all manner of thugs, hoodlums, will evade constituency collation centres and even without the appropriate forms prescribed in the C.I. for the election raise the hand of somebody holding an A4 sheet and saying that it is done,” he said.

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