Call it the day of reckoning or dismissal day and you will not be far from it.

On a day when the attention of most Ghanaians appeared solely focused on the premiere of ace investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas' latest expose dubbed "Number 12: When Misconduct And Greed Become The Norm”, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo went on a dismissal blitzkrieg with the shocking firing of at least five appointees at the helm of state institutions.

First was the announcement of the sacking of Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) CEO, Gifty Klenam, the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) CEO, Paul Asare Ansah and the Managing Director of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transport (BOST) Company, Alfred Obeng Boateng.

A former Member of Parliament (MP) for Lower West Akyem, Madam Klenam was sacked along with her two deputies.

A few hours after the news went viral, Peacefmonline intel picked reports that the CEO of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr Felix Anyah was also to be axed. Withing minutes, that news turned out to be true.

Sources say Dr. Anyaa was not approved by the Public Services Commission after he appeared for his interview for the job; a report Peacefmonline is yet to ascertain.

Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports say a number of other high-ranking state officials will soon be kicked out of office between now and July. This radical reorganisation is believed to be part of efforts by the President to rid government agencies of what seems to be a cycle of boardroom wrangling between chief executives of state agencies and their boards.

- Kennedy Agyapong has revealed that the BOST MD, Alfred Obeng, contributed GHC700,000 to Akufo-Addo's 2016 election campaign

- He said in a radio interview that the NPP members criticising Obeng were ignorant of his contribution to the party 

- Obeng has been accused of selling five million litres of contaminated fuel to two unlicensed companies

Kennedy Agyapong, the member of parliament for Assin Central, has reiterated his opposition to the removal of Alfred Obeng as the managing director of BOST.

Speaking on "Badwam" on Adom TV on Tuesday, Agyapong said Obeng had committed no crime and that many members of the party who wanted him out were ignorant of his contribution to the party. Agyapong said Obeng contributed GHc700,000 to the 2016 campaign of then candidate Nana Akufo-Addo. He said Obeng was introduced to him by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) national youth organiser, Sammy Awuku.

According to Agyapong, Obeng initially offered to contribute one million cedis to the campaign, but was told to hold on. He said Obeng first gave him GHc200,000 and later added GHc500,000 in October 2016. "As soon as I received the money, I called Ken Ofori-Atta who was in charge of the mobilisation of funds to inform him... Today, he [Obeng] is the boss at BOST and people are complaining... They are criticizing the guy without knowing his contribution,” he said.

Obeng has been accused of selling five million litres of contaminated fuel to two unlicensed companies. But a BNI investigation into his conduct absolved him of blame.

Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr. has challenged the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong to produce any tape or evidence he has on ace investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas instead of his constant ranting on the airwaves.

Speaking on Peace FM's 'kokrokoo' programme Friday, Kwesi Pratt asked the Assin Central MP to stop the personal attacks and focus on the professional works of the ace investigative journalist.

He said the MP can not substantiate his claims on the journalist if Anas takes him to court to battle the personal allegations.

"Nothing prevents any Ghanian from doing the work Anas is doing . . . anybody at all can do same . . . why can't Ken Agyapong do the same thing about him (Anas)?" he asked. 

Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Hon. Kennedy Agyapong had alleged that Anas and the late NPP Member of Parliament for Abuakwa North, Joseph Boakye Danquah-Adu's wife, Ivy Heward Mills are in an amorous relationship.

The honorable MP, in his desperate attempt to frustrate the ace investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas and his Tiger Eye PI team from premiering their latest expose, dubbed, “Number 12” has made a lot of allegations.

Kennedy Ohene Agyapong has also sworn to show a video of investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas receiving bribe.

The MP vowed he has in his possession a tape capturing the investigative journalist taking a bribe of $100,000 from people.

Speaking on Accra based Okay FM, he dared God to strike him dead should he fail to show such video to Ghanaians, describing Anas as a "blackmailer".

“I will show Anas confessing to a state Attorney that he has taken $100,000 bribe, if I don’t show may the living God kill me.

“Anas is so corrupt and we will not allow him to destroy the state with his evil mind. Let Anas premiere his (investigative video on the June 6), I will also premiere my video titled 'who watches the watchman'. He should be ready,” he stated.

Kennedy Agyapong has also accused Anas of plundering properties through illegal means to enrich himself.

All the evidence, he insists, will be made blare to public eye.

“I’m very sad and hurt that Ghanaians believe this evil man so much. I will expose him (Anas) and he will regret being a Ghanaian and a corrupt man. You take bribes from people and then you turn around to accuse people,” he added.

Commenting on the claims by Kennedy Agyapong regarding the undercover journalist, seasoned journalist Kwesi Pratt has challenged Mr. Agyapong to provide the said evidence.

According to him, if the MP indeed has a smoking gun on the activities of Anas, he shouldn't just be talking but prove it to the whole world.

“He should produce the evidence if he has it . . . after watching it the law will be applied,” he told Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM's 'kokrokoo' programme.

After an historic vote in Ireland, the focus moves to the rest of the UK and Northern Ireland where abortion remains illegal.






While that discussion takes place, it is worth remembering that the laws which govern abortion in the UK overall are also rather unusual by international standards.
What is the law on abortion in the UK outside Northern Ireland?

There is a piece of legislation which governs abortion law in the UK. Here is the crucial passage:
"Every woman, being with child, who, with intent to procure her own miscarriage, shall unlawfully administer to herself any poison or other noxious thing, or shall unlawfully use any instrument or other means whatsoever with the like intent, and whosoever, with intent to procure the miscarriage of any woman, whether she be or be not with child, shall unlawfully administer to her or cause to be taken by her any poison or other noxious thing, or shall unlawfully use any instrument or other means whatsoever with the like intent, shall be guilty of felony, and being convicted thereof shall be liable . . . to be kept in penal servitude for life . . . "


This law is not just in effect in Northern Ireland but in the whole of the UK. The language isn't pretty. That isn't surprising when you consider it's from the 1861 Offence Against the Persons Act, which was passed sixty years before women had the right to vote and when the Viscount Palmerston was prime minister.

 
Yet this law is not a relic from history, it is still on the statute book. It means that abortion remains a criminal offence in the UK. It is embedded in the UK criminal code.
The reason why thousands of women haven't been imprisoned over the last fifty years is because in 1967 Parliament added an amendment to that act. This is what became known as the "Abortion Act" that we still talk of today.
That amendment added five categories or exemptions to the law where abortion would be permissible in certain circumstances. Those include foetal abnormalities (Category E) and where the mother's life is in danger (Category A).
Category C, is the crucial one. That is the exemption which allows abortion on the grounds that the pregnancy would damage the mental health of the mother. The vast majority of terminations (98%) are conducted under Category C.

That is why under British law there is no "abortion on demand" as there is in much of continental Europe, where a woman can obtain an abortion just because she wants one.
In Britain you must theoretically "prove" to two doctors that carrying the child would be deleterious to your mental health.




Does this make a difference in practice?
In reality it is pretty easy in the UK to obtain an abortion. Doctors don't seriously try and ascertain whether or not a woman's mental health would be affected. There is a de facto right to an abortion.
But there is not a de jure one and the system does throw up oddities.
The principle of medical consent (which is essential to the act) means that abortions can only be undertaken at NHS hospitals and clinics. This requires women to make multiple trips to hospital and can result in painful cramps, bleeding and worse (some women have reported discharging the foetus on buses and trains) on the trip home.

Campaigners want a change to the law which would allow women to take the medication at home. They point out that when the 1967 legislation was written those pills did not exist.
They want to see the government abolish the principle of medical consent abolished. This has already taken place in Scotland and the Welsh government are also consulting on the issue.
What about Northern Ireland?


In Northern Ireland virtually the only legislation which governs abortion remains the 1861 act. There are no exemptions, unless a woman's life is in critical danger.
If a woman is found guilty of procuring an abortion in other circumstances, as the 1861 act says, she could be liable for life imprisonment. That includes abortion on the grounds of incest, rape or foetal abnormality.
However, it is permitted to travel to another country to obtain an abortion, which hitherto meant a trip to the mainland UK but soon presumably will include south to the Republic.
How does the UK compare to other European countries?
In most of the EU, abortion is not illegal and is "on demand".
However, abortion time limits tend not to be as liberal as the UK. In the UK the limit is 28 weeks. In some countries, like Portugal, it is as low as 10. The only countries in the EU with abortion laws as draconian as Northern Ireland is Poland, Malta and Cyprus.

What are the chances of change?
For the moment, relatively modest. Traditionally this has been treated as a devolved matter for the Northern Ireland executive in Stormont.
However, that executive has not sat for over a year and Westminster is governing the province directly. There is therefore little wiggle room for the prime minister to say this is a devolved matter and leave it at that.
In normal circumstances it might have been the case that a government with a healthy majority might choose to act, saying that Northern Ireland is now an outlier and must be reformed.

Of course, Theresa May relies on her majority in the House of Commons on 10 DUP MPs from Northern Ireland who are resolutely against a change. The DUP confidence-and-supply deal which Mrs May negotiated last year is only a two-year bargain, a time limit about which the PM will be mindful.
In terms of wider reform, that also seems unlikely in the immediate future. Parliament has very little bandwidth at the moment with numerous Brexit bills requiring urgent attention.
Traditionally abortion law has been a "conscience issue" which hasn't been whipped and isn't debated in government time. It's one of the reasons the 1967 has remained almost entirely intact for five decades.

But the Irish referendum has propelled the issue up the agenda and backbench MPs will doubtless try and prosecute votes on the situation in Northern Ireland and wider abortion reform in the UK.
Until then, abortion will remain a criminal offence, not just in Ulster but across the whole of the UK.

The president, Nana Akufo-Addo says the recent events in the banking sector is a major source of concern to his government and must be for any well-meaning Ghanaian.