logo
Who be Sammy Gyamfi wey Ghana president dey under pressure to punish and why?

Who be Sammy Gyamfi wey Ghana president dey under pressure to punish and why?

BBC News12-05-2025

One goment official - Sammy Gyamfi dey face pressure for Ghana afta one viral video ova di weekend show how im dey count plenty dollar notes from im car wey im dash one controversial woman preacher.
Inside di video wey bin dey trend, di CEO of di gold board and di popular preacher Nana Agradaa from one event bin dey chat wen dem take pictures near di goment official im car.
Na so afta dem take di picture, she ask for money wia Sammy Gyamfi enta di car to count di dollar notes for her.
Nana Agradaa bin dey shout say make di CEO give am all di dollar notes; afta she show di moni wey im collect from Sammy Gyamfi to di cameras.
Many pipo don tok say wetin Sammy Gyamfi do dey "inappropriate" for pesin wey be goment official under President John Mahama wey tok say im no go tolerate opulence and luxury lifestyle from im appointees.
Tori be say di kontri Chief of Staff Julius Debrah don summon Sammy Gyamfi to di seat of goment to answer questions about dis mata.
Wetin dey inside di code of conduct
Only last week, di president bin launch code of conduct for im public officers wey go regulate how dem dey behave for public office.
Among oda tins, di president tok say "dis code na bold declaration of di standards we get to uphold as servants of di public."
President Mahama also tok say "all political appointees get to avoid opulence wia dem get to be accountable for di use of public funds.
"Dem for show humility and respect di citizens," di president tok during di launch of di document.
Goment officials wey no comply wit di code of conduct fit face sanctions from public apology to dismissal.
Sammy Gyamfi issue apology
Afta pipo don put pressure on top di gold board CEO, im write apology on top im social media page.
Sammy Gyamfi write say, "dis na kind gesture to fellow human being; like how I bin dey lend helping hand to di needy."
"I tink say I just dey show kindness for private, I no sabi say dis tin go enta di public space. Dis na unfortunate and regrettable tin."
Sammy Gyamfi add say, "I see how dis tin don vex party members, I dey apologise for dis unfortunate act of indiscretion."
Despite dis, pipo still tok say make di president sanction am.
Anoda reason dis tin dey vex most pipo na sake of di woman preacher (Nana Agradaa) wia Sammy Gyamfi dash di moni be controversial pesin wey bin tok say she repent from being fetish priestess to become woman of God.
Pipo and ogbonge civil society groups wan make di president take action
Na so many pipo dey tok say wetin di CEO of Gold Board Sammy Gyamfi do na wrong tin.
Di Ghana integrity initiative (GII) tok say President Mahama need to take serious action for dis mata.
Executive director Mary Adda say, "dis na opportunity for di president to show say im mean business. Im get to use dis mata to show say im dey committed to ethical governance."
Oga for di IMANI center for policy and governance Franklin Cudjoe say, "dis na difficult tin. E dey clear say di moni dey above GHc 20k ($1,500). Sammy get to answer questions to us and di president."
Members of im own party don dey tok say im no try for dis mata.
Former NDC MP for Kumbungu Ras Mubarak bin write on top im social media say "you no fit justify dis mata, as public officer dey dash forex (dollars) especially at di time di cedi don dey do well, even if im earn di money, dis fit to affect di local currency and di economy."
"Sammy Gyamfi im error of judgement fit cause lack of confidence for di cedi; such tins fit affect di value of di cedi," Ras Mubarak write.
Pipo dey wait wetin di president go do about dis mata, sake of Sammy Gyamfi na ogbonge pesin wey help di goment win election.
Sammy Gyamfi profile
Oga Sammy Gyamfi na lawyer wey be national tok-tok pesin for di national democratic congress (NDC).
During di campaign, im lead di party to fire di goment well well on top media platforms and oda places.
Im criticize di former Akufo-Addo goment say dem spend di kontri moni on lavish lifestyles and oda tins.
For di party, im na wetin sabi pipo describe as "darling boy".
Afta di party win elections, di president bin appoint am as di CEO of di gold board.
Since im become oga for di gold board, dem ban foreigners and oda pipo from trading for di local gold market for Ghana.
Di only body wey fit deal for di trading of gold na dis gold board, wey dis na to "strengthen industry laws and for national benefits."

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

US wants Rwandan troops out of Congo before peace deal signed, sources say
US wants Rwandan troops out of Congo before peace deal signed, sources say

Reuters

time2 hours ago

  • Reuters

US wants Rwandan troops out of Congo before peace deal signed, sources say

June 10 (Reuters) - The United States is promoting a deal that would require Rwanda to pull troops from eastern Congo before the two sides sign a peace agreement, sources say, a condition that is sure to rankle Kigali, which describes Congo-based armed groups as an existential threat. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is holding talks to end fighting in eastern Congo and bring billions of dollars of Western investment to the region, which is rich in minerals including tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper and lithium. Massad Boulos, Trump's senior adviser for Africa, told Reuters in May that Washington wanted a peace agreement finalised "within about two months", an ambitious timeline for resolving a conflict with roots in the Rwandan genocide more than three decades ago. A draft peace agreement seen by Reuters says a condition for signature is that Rwanda withdraws troops, weapons and equipment from Congo. The authenticity of the document, which is undated, was confirmed by four diplomatic sources, who said it was written by U.S. officials. The draft goes beyond a declaration of principles that the two countries' foreign ministers signed at a ceremony in Washington in April with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. That document said the two sides would address any security concerns in a manner that respected each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty. Rwanda has sent between 7,000 and 12,000 soldiers to eastern Congo to support M23 rebels, analysts and diplomats told Reuters earlier this year, after the rebel group seized the region's two largest cities in a lightning advance. Rwanda has long denied providing arms and troops to M23, saying its forces are acting in self-defence against Congo's army and ethnic Hutu militiamen linked to the 1994 genocide that killed around 1 million people, mostly ethnic Tutsis. Rwanda had not responded to the U.S.-produced draft agreement as of last week, two sources told Reuters. Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe told Reuters that experts from Congo and Rwanda would meet this week in Washington to discuss the agreement. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A senior official in the office of Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi accused Rwanda of "dragging their feet" on the draft and said Rwanda's withdrawal was necessary for the peace process to move forward. "We demand the total withdrawal of Rwandan troops as a precondition for signing the agreement, and we will not compromise," the source said. The U.S.-produced draft agreement also calls for a "Joint Security Coordination Mechanism" that could include Rwandan and "foreign military observer personnel" to deal with security issues, including the continued presence in Congo of Rwandan Hutu militias. Analysts say the most commonly cited group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, no longer poses much of a threat to Rwanda, though President Paul Kagame's government still describes it as a serious threat. The draft agreement also says Congo would commit to allowing M23 to participate in a national dialogue "on equal footing with other DRC non-state armed groups" - a major concession for Kinshasa, which sees M23 as a terrorist group and Rwandan proxy. Congo is engaged in separate direct talks with M23 over a possible deal to end the latest cycle of fighting. The draft agreement says Rwanda "shall take all possible measures to ensure" M23 withdraws from territory it controls, in line with terms agreed in Doha. A source briefed on that process told Reuters last week that Qatar had presented a draft proposal to both delegations which would consult their leaders before resuming talks. A rebel official, though, said there had been little progress towards a final deal that would see M23 cede territory.

Aid cuts push global funding down by a third in 2025, UN data shows
Aid cuts push global funding down by a third in 2025, UN data shows

The Independent

time4 hours ago

  • The Independent

Aid cuts push global funding down by a third in 2025, UN data shows

The UN has warned that aid funding for dozens of crises around the world has dropped by a third – worth billions of dollars – against a backdrop of Donald Trump having slashed US funding and other nations, including the UK, having announced cuts. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which coordinates aid organisations in their humanitarian responses, reports that for the 44 crises it has prioritised this year, only around 11 per cent – or $5.4 billion (£4bn) – of the $46.2bn required total funding for its response plans has been funded so far this year. According to Anja Nitzsche, chief of resource mobilisation at OCHA: 'Coverage of needs is only [around] 10 per cent, which is significantly lower than the 15 to 18 per cent funding we normally see,' says Nitzsche. 'We are only around two-thirds of where we are in a typical year, so the trajectory is not good.' The biggest contributor to the drop is cuts to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) programmes, with US funding for humanitarian crises down by 42 per cent, almost a billion dollars, over the first five months of the year compared to the same period last year, according to OCHA. In the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a region long ravaged by violence, humanitarian aid cuts are biting hard. Speaking to The Independent, Oxfam DRC director Manenji Mangundu describes how aid cuts came 'at the worst possible moment' in the country's current conflict, with intensifying clashes between between armed groups and government forces pushing many of the 700,000 people who have been living in refugee camps around the city of Goma to try and return to their ruined villages for the first time in several years. 'Our staff have harrowing stories about how people eat anything they can find, feeding their children with leaves and scraps scavenged from market floors,' Mangundu says. 'Many sell their belongings, such as goats or mobile phones, at very low prices to obtain food or medicine. Others beg for food or money, incur debts they are unable to repay, or steal from fields to survive.' These are the desperate measures people are resorting to in order to survive in an environment with drastically reduced aid, with USAID has traditionally been DRC's largest humanitarian aid donor, providing some $920 million in 2024, or 67.9 per cent of DRC's humanitarian aid total, as tracked by ). So far in 2025, however, the US has slipped into fourth place behind the EU, UK, and Germany, with the US providing just $36.5m, or 13.8 per cent of the country's humanitarian aid total. Oxfam reports that in eastern DRC increased use of untreated river water and stagnant water for drinking, food preparation and personal hygiene is increasing the risks around diseases like cholera. 'In the surrounding villages, people have no choice but to fetch dirty water from the rivers and consume it untreated,' says Bahati Samuel, a father of seven children who has returned to his village of Mitumbala, in DRC's North Kivu province. 'Since our return, eating has been a serious problem, and it's not certain that we will find something to fill the belly,' Samuel adds. Meanwhile, in some extreme cases, women and girls are being forced into sexual exploitation in exchange for food or money, while families pressuring girls into marriage to access dowry payments or food assistance from the in-laws. One NGO source in the country, speaking on condition of anonymity, describes how women and girls in the region are resorting to hiding during the day to avoid threats such as forced recruitment, exploitation, or physical harm. 'The severe underfunding of gender-based violence response services means that survivors have limited access to the support they urgently need,' they say. Data suggests that the impact of USAID cuts is being felt severely on the ground around the globe, with a survey of 1,000 aid partners carried out by OCHA finding that 79 million people are no longer expected to be helped with humanitarian assistance this year as a result of the decision in Washington, while geographic coverage of humanitarian support from USAID also declining by 33 per cent this year. The impact of cuts is being felt particularly profoundly in certain countries. Reports from aid workers in the Western Ethiopian region of Gambella, which has been shared with The Independent by Oxfam, reveals that life-essential water and sanitation services for 388,000 South Sudanese refugees only have confirmed funding until June 2025, due to US cutting support for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Humanitarian funding for the Haiti response, for example, has declined by almost half compared to the same period in 2024, even as humanitarian needs for the country have increased by 30 per cent. Meanwhile, war-torn countries including Yemen and DRC – as well as countries in the conflict-affected and climate-vulnerable Sahel region of Africa such as Nigeria, Niger, and Chad – have all received 10 per cent or less funding for their OCHA humanitarian aid funding plans so far this year. Climate change is a growing driver of humanitarian crises globally, making extreme weather events such as droughts or flooding more frequent, and exacerbating existing crises. But OCHA data shows that humanitarian funding plans for helping deal with such events this year is being found particularly wanting. Mozambique's drought response plan has received just two per cent of its required funding, Malawi's drought response plan receiving eight per cent of its funding, Zimbabwe's drought response plan receiving ten per cent of its funding, and Vietnam's response plan to Typhoon Yagi and floods receiving six per cent of its funding. Job cuts by humanitarian organisations in recent months are also set to impact the rollout of those aid programmes that survive the cuts. The World Food Programme is planning to cut up to 30 per cent of its staff, while the International Organisation for Migration has said it will need to lay off over a third of its workforce. Meanwhile, Save the Children has said job cuts will 'impact upwards of 2,300 country office staff', World Vision has said it will cut some 3,000 workers, while OCHA itself has said it will cut its workforce by 20 per cent. The UN and NGOs are streamlining and refocusing their operations in response to the funding crisis. OCHA says that it will scale back its presence and operations in Cameroon, Colombia, Eritrea, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Gaziantep, and Zimbabwe. That prioritisation comes after Tom Fletcher, the UN Under-Secretary-General in charge of OCHA, earlier this year called for a 'humanitarian reset' in response to the cuts, which he believes will see humanitarian organisations 'regroup, reform, and renew' their approaches. But shifting strategy can only go so far to make up for the dearth in resources. According to Oxfam's Mangundu, life-saving humanitarian responses are already being prioritised over everything else in Eastern DRC – and there is still not enough money to make ends meet. 'The needs are greater than the means to respond adequately to this crisis,' he says. 'The most basic needs for survival — food, clean water, medical care, blankets and protection — are in short supply and will be worse if funding is not secured as soon as possible.' Cuts to non-life-essential work can also have a devastating impact, the OCHA's Nitzsche adds. 'The crises we are dealing with are complicated and multi-faceted,' she says. 'If there is no emergency shelter for women and girls, or no psychological support for survivors of extreme trauma, that is a really big deal.' Despite all of these difficulties, Nitzsche nonetheless stresses that OCHA will continue to do all that it can to support organisations in meeting the needs of the most vulnerable people around the world. 'It has definitely been tough, and pretty existential this year,' she says. 'But even if it feels like we have taken a punch to the gut, though we might be a bit groggy, we are not knocked out yet.'

Russia skirts Western sanctions to ramp up its military footprint in Africa
Russia skirts Western sanctions to ramp up its military footprint in Africa

The Independent

time11 hours ago

  • The Independent

Russia skirts Western sanctions to ramp up its military footprint in Africa

Even as it pounds Ukraine, Russia is expanding its military footprint in Africa, delivering sophisticated weaponry to sub-Saharan conflict zones where a Kremlin-controlled armed force is on the rise. Skirting sanctions imposed by Western nations, Moscow is using cargo ships to send tanks, armored vehicles, artillery and other high-value equipment to West Africa, The Associated Press has found. Relying on satellite imagery and radio signals, AP tracked a convoy of Russian-flagged cargo ships as they made a nearly one-month journey from the Baltic Sea. The ships carried howitzers, radio jamming equipment and other military hardware, according to military officials in Europe who closely monitored them. The deliveries could strengthen Russia's fledgling Africa Corps as Moscow competes with the United States, Europe and China for greater influence across the continent. The two-year-old Africa Corps, which has links to a covert branch of Russia's army, is ascendant at a time when U.S. and European troops have been withdrawing from the region, forced out by sub-Saharan nations turning to Russia for security. Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have been battling fighters linked with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group for more than a decade. At first, mercenary groups with an arms-length relationship to the Kremlin entered the fray in Africa. But increasingly, Russia is deploying its military might, and intelligence services, more directly. 'We intend to expand our cooperation with African countries in all spheres, with an emphasis on economic cooperation and investments,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. 'This cooperation includes sensitive areas linked to defense and security.' From the ports, Russian weapons are trucked to Mali Russia's 8,800-ton Baltic Leader and 5,800-ton Patria are among hundreds of ships that Western nations have sanctioned to choke off resources for Russia's war in Ukraine. The ships docked and unloaded in Conakry, Guinea, in late May, AP satellite images showed. Other ships made deliveries to the same port in January. They delivered tanks, armored vehicles and other hardware that was then trucked overland to neighboring Mali, according to European military officials and a Malian blogger's video of the long convoy. The military officials spoke to AP about Russian operations on condition of anonymity. The AP verified the blogger's video, geolocating it to the RN5 highway leading into Bamako, the Malian capital. After the latest delivery in Conakry, trucks carrying Russian-made armored vehicles, howitzers and other equipment were again spotted on the overland route to Mali. Malian broadcaster ORTM confirmed that the West African nation's army took delivery of new military equipment. AP analysis of its video and images filmed by the Malian blogger in the same spot as the January delivery identified a broad array of Russian-made hardware, including 152 mm artillery guns and other smaller canons. AP also identified a wheeled, BTR-80 armored troop carrier with radio-jamming equipment, as well as Spartak armored vehicles and other armored carriers, some mounted with guns. The shipment also included at least two semi-inflatable small boats, one with a Russian flag painted on its hull, as well as tanker trucks, some marked 'inflammable' in Russian on their sides. The military officials who spoke to AP said they believe Russia has earmarked the most potent equipment — notably the artillery and jamming equipment — for its Africa Corps, not Malian armed forces. Africa Corps appears to have been given air power, too, with satellites spotting at least one Su-24 fighter-bomber at a Bamako air base in recent months. Moscow's notorious secret unit For years, French forces supported counterinsurgency operations in Mali and neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger. But France pulled out its troops after coups in Mali in 2020 and 2021, in Burkina Faso in 2022 and Niger in 2023. Russian mercenaries stepped into the vacuum. Wagner Group, the most notable, deployed to Sudan in 2017 and expanded to other African countries, often in exchange for mining concessions. It earned a reputation for brutality, accused by Western countries and U.N. experts of human rights abuses, including in Central African Republic, Libya and Mali. Of 33 African countries in which Russian military contractors were active, the majority were Wagner-controlled, according to U.S. government-sponsored research by RAND. But after Wagner forces mutinied in Russia in 2023 and their leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was killed two months later in a suspicious plane crash, Moscow tightened its grip. Russian military operations in Africa were restructured, with the Kremlin taking greater control through Africa Corps. It is overseen by the commander of Unit 29155, one of the most notorious branches of Russia's shadowy GRU military intelligence service, according to the European Union. Unit 29155 has been accused of covertly attacking Western interests for years, including through sabotage and assassination attempts. The EU in December targeted Unit 29155 Maj. Gen. Andrey Averyanov with sanctions, alleging that he is in charge of Africa Corps operations. 'In many African countries, Russian forces provide security to military juntas that have overthrown legitimate democratic governments, gravely worsening the stability, security and democracy of the countries,' the EU sanctions ruling said. These operations are financed by exploiting the continent's natural resources, the ruling added. The Russian Ministry of Defense didn't immediately respond to questions about Averyanov's role in Africa Corps. Africa Corps recruitment Researchers and military officials say the flow of weapons from Russia appears to be speeding Africa Corps' ascendancy over Wagner, helping it win over mercenaries that have remained loyal to the group. Africa Corps is also is recruiting in Russia, offering payments of up to 2.1 million rubles ($26,500), and even plots of land, for signing a contract with the Ministry of Defense, plus more on deployment. Within days of the latest equipment delivery, Wagner announced its withdrawal from Mali, declaring 'mission accomplished" in a Telegram post. Africa Corps said in a separate post that it would remain. The changeover from Wagner to Africa Corps in Mali could be a forerunner for other similar transitions elsewhere on the continent, said Julia Stanyard, a researcher of Russian mercenary activity in Africa. 'Bringing in this sort of brand-new sophisticated weaponry, and new armored vehicles and that sort of thing, is quite a bit of a shift,' said Stanyard, of the Switzerland-based Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. Armed groups in Mali have inflicted heavy losses on Malian troops and Russian mercenaries. The al-Qaida linked group JNIM killed dozens of soldiers in an attack this month on a military base. Insurgents also killed dozens of Wagner mercenaries in northern Mali last July. Some of the latest hardware could have been shipped over specifically in response to such attacks, military officials said. They said the jamming equipment, for example, could help defend against booby traps detonated using phone signals. Russian escort's red flags The latest convoy attracted attention because a Russian Navy warship, the Boykiy, escorted the ships after they set off in April from Russia's Kaliningrad region on the Baltic. Last October, in what's considered a hostile act, the Boykiy's radar systems locked onto a French Navy maritime surveillance plane on patrol against suspected Russian efforts to sabotage underwater cables, according to military officials. The convoy included a third sanctioned Russian cargo ship, the Siyanie Severa. It continued onward as Baltic Leader and Patria unloaded in Conakry, docking in Bata, Equatorial Guinea. Satellite imagery from May 29 shows trucks lined up on the dock as the ship unloaded. The AP could not verify whether the cargo included weapons or the ultimate destination for the shipment, though Wagner has maintained a strong presence in the nearby Central African Republic. ___ Leicester reported from Paris and Biesecker from Washington. Beatrice Dupuy and Rachel Leathe in New York contributed.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store