Tanko Bipembi

Calm

[Tanko Bipembi @bjeremiah8]

Psalms 62:11 (KJV) God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.

[Tanko Bipembi @bjeremiah8]

@FirstLoveCenter AMEN

[Manasseh Azure Awuni @Manasseh_Azure]

I'm not politically neutral. I wrote an article to that effect in 2014. It's a Google search away. I am a citizen of Ghana, first and foremost, before being a journalist. I vote. And I have an interest in who becomes my president.

The last time I voted was in 2016. I voted for the NPP's Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. I had voted for John Dramani Mahama in the 2012 election, but I believed —and still believe today —that he did not deserve my vote in 2016. (He appears to have learnt some great lessons in the wilderness of opposition.)

In my latest book, The President Ghana Never Got, I stated why I would not vote in the 2024 election. But I also stated in that book that an NPP victory in 2024 would send a dangerous signal about our democracy, that a party could kill and still be retained in office to continue killing with impunity. An NPP defeat could ensure some semblance of accountability. Thankfully, many Ghanaians agreed with me.

Until a better and serious alternative emerges in 2028, I may have to choose between the NPP and the NDC. If what John Mahama has done so far as president continues, and if he were to contest again, I wouldn't have a difficulty choosing who to vote for in 2028.

But John Mahama will not contest. And high are the chances that the government will mess up at some point. Besides, the rumours I hear from the NDC's camp about Mahama's possible successor don't inspire hope. Who leads the NDC and how the party performs in the next four years will determine my choice between the NDC and NPP.

That is why I am interested in who leads the NPP, the party that is ready to choose its flag bearer. I want a candidate I can vote for if the NDC doesn't impress me. Among the options lined up to lead the NPP, the candidate who has the chance of getting my vote is Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.

Dr. Bawumia may not be the best in the entire NPP as a party, but from the list of options ready to lead, he stands out by miles. Next to Bawumia, in my preference, is Kwabena Agyei Agyepong. (My first or second choice would have been Dr. Yaw Adutwum if he hadn't become a substantive minister. I'll explain in my next article.)

I'm not neutral. I have an interest in who leads the NDC. And I have an interest in who leads the NPP. It is from the two that Ghanaians like me will choose from in 2028. I cannot be interested in who wins the election in America and pretend that I don't care who governs Ghana.

Even if I end up not voting for Bawumia, it is in the interest of our democracy that the opposition party remains strong and elects the most formidable and level-headed candidate to lead them.

It is in the interest of the NDC that the NPP elect a bad candidate. And it is in the interest of the NPP that the NDC elect a bad candidate. However, it is in the interest of our democracy and the well-being of Ghanaians that both parties put their best foot forward.

Dr. Bawumia has been part of a failed regime, but in my article, in which I intend to explain why I think Bawumia should lead the NPP, I will also explain why Bawumia's failure in that regime is enough disqualify his internal opponents if that failure were to form the basis for his rejection in the internal race.

At a period of heightened acrimony and division threatening the party's chances at returning to power, the party needs a unifying figure. And I see that in Bawumia. It is true that he led the party once and lost, but he's in an enviable company of first-time election losers.

Kufuor lost in 1996 before winning in 2000. President Atta Mills lost twice, in 2000 and 2004, before winning in 2008.

President Akufo-Addo lost twice, in 2008 and 2012, before winning in 2016.

President Mahama lost twice, in 2016 and 2020, before winning in 2024.

I've also heard that Bawumia has enough money to pump into the party. If the primary consideration for leading the NPP were money, then Chairman Wuntumi could as well be the NPP's flag bearer.

[Manasseh Azure Awuni @Manasseh_Azure]

GYAMPO HAS EXPOSED HIMSELF
************************************
1. Professor Ransford Gyampo has admitted he texted the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, and cautioned him “not to cause financial loss to the state even as you go about your investigations.” He texted when officers from the OSP and National Security were still conducting an operation at SML with court warrants.

2. In what capacity did Gyampo make that caution to the OSP? Is he the PRO for SML? Does he work for the GRA to be able to make that determination?

3. When President Akufo-Addo suspended SML's operations in the first six months of 2024, the GRA board chairman, Joe Ghartey, released a press statement in July 2024 and stated that the GRA had exceeded its target for the first six months of 2024 in a "historic" way. This was the same period during which SML’s activities at the ports and the downstream petroleum sector were suspended. Later the KPMG report said the SML operations at the port were already being performed by the GRA, so the contract was cancelled. So, what financial loss is Gyampo talking about?

4. The KPMG Report, specifically pages 157 and 158, shows emphatically that SML's operations do not affect revenue or volumes of petroleum products. In fact, SML recorded the lowest volumes. The KPMG report says the 400 million litres a month, which SML claimed its operations had brought about, was already being recorded in 2019 before SML started operation in June 2020. So, how would anybody lose revenue if SML’s operations are disrupted by the OSP’s operations?

5. During my investigation, SML had claimed that the company was curbing under-declaration, diversion, and dilution of petroleum products. When we confronted the GRA and SML with evidence that those services were being performed by other companies, and not SML, the two parties to the SML contract admitted that SML’s claims were false. In fact, SML proceeded to delete the claims from its website that same day. So, what revenue will the GRA lose if the shady operations of SML are disrupted?

6. SML admitted on record that its metres recorded less accurate figures than the existing metres at the loading gantries.

7. The GRA admitted on camera that the SML recordings are not used for its revenue mobilisation. The GRA uses figures recorded from the existing metres, the same metres the GRA relied on before SML was engaged.

8. During our investigation, I asked SML whether its operations had ever detected any anomaly or wrongdoing on the part of any oil company, the Managing Director said no, adding that that was not the mandate of SML, but the GRA.

9. So, if SML does not check under-declaration, does not check diversion, does not check dilution, and has never detected any wrongdoing on the part of the oil companies, in what way would the state lose revenue if the OSP took their servers?

10. Ransford Gyampo and some professors at UPSA have a long history of defending SML, and it is curious that in the middle of the operation by OSP and National Security, he called and sent text messages. The Ghana Shippers Authority, which Gyampo heads, is not a party to the contract, so what was his interest?

11. If Gyampo cares about the loss of revenue to Ghana, he should have been calling for the termination of SML’s contract, prosecution, and retrieval of money, and not cautioning the OSP.

12. Anybody who doubts the fact that SML's shady operations have not impacted Ghana in any positive way should read pages 157 and 158 of the KPMG report. It is online. They can watch our investigative documentary, in which the company admitted to making false claims and subsequently deleting them from SML’s website. They should ask Gyampo and the other SML defenders that if SML says it's not checking under-declaration, diversion or diversion, what specific anomaly is the company curbing, for which reason was paid over $141 million by the end of 2023?

[ONUA 🇬🇭 @onua_bl]

Morocco visa waiver.
Guys I just checked the price of ticket from Ghana to Morocco and a bus fair from Morocco to Spain. Hala Madrid 🤭

[U.S. Embassy Accra @USEmbassyGhana]

Application is open for the Fulbright African Research Scholar Program. The program offers faculty members from tertiary or research institutions in Ghana the opportunity to conduct research in the U.S. Find more information here: https://t.co/2mtakdFq4j

[Tanko Bipembi @bjeremiah8]

How sweet it is to know that your confidence is not in a man but in God who can turn the heart of kings at will without anyone's approval for your sake.

[Tanko Bipembi @bjeremiah8]

Dream big, stay curious, and embrace the process because every step shapes the person you are becoming.

[Tanko Bipembi @bjeremiah8]

The saddest part is a young boy striving to find his path in life, feeling as if time is slipping away. Every night, he cries, yet he must gather strength to try again the next day. 🥺🥹🤦

[Tanko Bipembi @bjeremiah8]

When the axe came into the forest, the trees said, "The handle is one of us" 😔

[Tanko Bipembi @bjeremiah8]

@holybibletoday I do please

[Trevoh Chalobah @TrevohChalobah]

Psalm 27 🙏 #ready

[Tanko Bipembi @bjeremiah8]

@Voice_of_Legon Emmanuel Owusu Amponsah (Manuel LiFe)

[Tanko Bipembi @bjeremiah8]

@mrpappy__ Ghana 🇬🇭 2:0 Angola 🇦🇴

[Tanko Bipembi @bjeremiah8]

@TrevohChalobah All the best

God is with you always

[Tanko Bipembi @bjeremiah8]

@Voice_of_Legon Very good policy 👏 👍

It can really help us to manage with the way we buy data almost every day.

[Radio Univers 105.7FM @univers1057fm]

#UGDecides: “There are no allegations of embezzlement against Manuel Life. I’ve clarified to the EC that the investigation is not directed at a single person but SOSA executives which is an annual thing.”

—Dr. Kodzovi Akpabli-Honu, Member of financial committee auditing SOSA

[Tanko Bipembi @bjeremiah8]

@eastwoodanaba AMEN

[Tanko Bipembi @bjeremiah8]

“Time is a river, a violent current of events, glimpsed once and already carried past us, and another follows and is gone.”

Marcus Aurelius 💚

[Tanko Bipembi @bjeremiah8]

Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power Knowledge give.

James Madison, 1788

[Wode Maya ® @wode_maya]

Fed 130 kids today in Burundi 🇧🇮