Apart from the fact that there was a global pandemic with literally a dose of bad news every now and then.
As the world moves on and hope for a better 2021, Pulse.com.gh takes a look back at what happened in the year 2020.
COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana
COVID-19 came and this time, it is a global pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
The first two cases in Ghana were confirmed on March 12, 2020, when two infected people came to Ghana, one from Norway and the other from Turkey.
Greater Accra, Ashanti, and Upper West regions recorded cases in March.
By the end of the month, there had been 152 confirmed cases, 5 deaths, and 22 recovered patients, leaving 125 active cases going into April.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo began delivering a series of state of the nation addresses concerning COVID-19 in March by announcing that the cedi equivalent of US$100 million would be made available to enhance Ghana's coronavirus preparedness and response plan.
On March 15, 2020, Nana Addo banned all public gatherings including conferences, workshops, funerals, festivals, political rallies, church activities, and other related events to reduce the spread of COVID-19 at a press briefing on the state of COVID-19.
Basic schools, senior high schools, and universities, both public and private, have also been closed. Only BECE and WASSCE candidates were permitted to remain in school under social distancing protocols.
Traveling to Ghana from countries which had recorded over 200 positive COVID-19 cases was strongly discouraged with non-admittance of such travelers; this restriction did not however apply to Ghanaian citizens and people with resident permits.
According to the new Executive Instrument, E.I. 164, signed by the President on 15 June 2020, people who refuse to wear face masks in public could face jail terms of between 4–10 years or a fine of between GHS12,000 (approx US$2,065) and GHS60,000 (approx US$10,320) or both would be made.
On 30 March, 2020, the partial lockdown of Accra and Kumasi took effect.
After three weeks of lockdown, the president lifted the ban on COVID-19 related restrictions on transport operators by allowing them to operate to full capacity.
He also lifted restrictions on tourist sites in the country.
He further eased restrictions on religious worship in the country. The cap on the number of worshippers which was initially 100 people was removed.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo increased the duration from one hour to two hours, taking effect on Saturday, August 1, 2020.
He further claimed Ghana's border closure still stands despite easing some COVID-19 restrictions.
As of November 26, 2020, the number of COVID-19 cases recorded in the country stands at 51,225 with 323 deaths.
Jerry John Rawlings' dies aged 73
Shock and sadness swept over Ghana, following news that former President Jerry John Rawlings who died at age 73.
He passed on at the Korle-Bu University Hospital in Accra, where he had been admitted.
Rawlings led Ghana from 1981 to 2001.
A former lieutenant in the Ghanaian Air Force, he participated in his first military coup in May 1979.
His attempt failed, and he was arrested but later released a few weeks by a group of fellow officers, launching his political career.
Rawlings was born in 1947 to a Scottish father and a Ghanaian mother who died in September at the age of 101.
Rawlings, who trained as an air force officer, came to power in 1979 after leading his first coup, and then transferring power to civilian rule soon after.
In December 1981, he staged a second coup and was Ghana’s military leader until he introduced multiparty elections in 1992 that returned the country to democracy.
He won the elections and was sworn in as president in 1993 and served two elected four-year terms, leaving office in 2001.
Rawlings handed over power to John Kufour of the opposition party who had defeated Rawlings’ vice president in the previous year’s election.
After stepping down, Rawlings remained a power broker in Ghanaian politics while serving in various international diplomatic posts, including as the African Union’s representative in Somalia.
Agyapa deal
In the midst of a major global economic crisis, one asset that has consistently beaten the impact of COVID-19 is gold.
As investors look for safety from volatile markets and increasing national deficits, gold prices hit an all-time high in August 2020.
This year would seem like an opportune time for the world's largest gold producers to consolidate their control over this vital natural resource.
Alternatively, they could follow the example of Ghana and try to sell off almost all of their rights to future gold royalties in perpetuity. This is the story of Agyapa Royalties.
Under the deal, Ghana would own 51 percent of Agyapa Royalties and the remaining shares would be listed on the London Stock Exchange.
In return for handing over such a large share of their future revenues, the government has argued that it could raise US$500 million in capital to ease their growing debt crisis by listing the remaining 49 percent of shares.
In an attempt to raise capital in difficult times, Ghanaian officials have embarked on a plan to leverage the country's gold royalties in what the government has called an "innovative financing solution."
Under the plan, the government has created a royalty company and assigned a substantial portion of its future gold royalties to this company. It hopes to raise non-debt cash upfront by floating almost half its shares in this company on the London and Ghana stock exchanges.
The Agyapa deal might be a creative solution to Ghana's current economic constraints, but it is also fraught with risks. Most of Ghana's current gold production is included in the deal.
Further consideration and public consultation might create the opportunity to strengthen the deal for the benefit of Ghana.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has promised to repudiate the deal should it win the elections later this year, while the Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu has called for a halt to the plans until completion of a corruption risk assessment.
Despite the current outcry, the plan has been in the works since 2018 with the passage of the Minerals Income Investment Fund Act.
The act established a corporate government entity called the Minerals Income Investment Fund. The fund has the right to receive and invest mineral royalties and other related income that Ghana receives from mining companies.
On Monday, November 16, 2020, Martin Amidu resigned from his office with immediate effect over interference in his work by the NPP-led government by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
He stated that the President of the Republic was interfering in the performance of his duties in relation to the risk of corruption and anti-corruption assessment on the controversial Agyapa Royalties Transaction.
Martin Amidu also accused President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta of masterminding the Agyapa Royalties Agreement.
In a 27-paged letter, the former Special Prosecutor described Nana Addo's anti-corruption fight as mere rhetoric and further described him as the "mother serpent of corruption".
He said "I resigned my position as the Special Prosecutor because of the traumatic experience I suffered from the reaction of the President who breached his Presidential oath by unlawfully obstructing me from taking any further steps on the Agyapa Royalties Transactions from 20th October 2020 to 1 November 2020.
"When I met the President on 23rd October 2020, I received the shock of my life when he demanded that I took no further action on the Agyapa royalties transaction anti-corruption assessment report for another week. That was when it was divinely revealed to me that the President whom I trusted so much for integrity only looked like the innocent flower of anti-corruption but he was really the mother corruption serpent under the innocent-looking flower.
Martin Amidu resigns as Special Prosecutor
Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu has resigned from his office with immediate effect over interference in his work by the NPP-led government by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
He stated that the President of the Republic was interfering in the performance of his duties in relation to the risk of corruption and anti-corruption assessment on the controversial Agyapa Royalties Transaction.
He alleged that the President attempted to convince him to include a response from the Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta in his report which he declined because "that would have compromised my independence as the Special Prosecutor."
In his assessment report on the Agyapa deal, Amidu said the Transaction Advisor involved in the deal were susceptible to "nepotism, cronyism, and favouritism".
According to him, Nana Addo has not been able to ensure his independence and freedom of action.
"The one condition upon which I accepted to be nominated as the Special Prosecutor when you invited me to your Office on 10th January 2018 was your firm promise to me that you will respect and ensure same by your Government for my independence and freedom of action as the Special Prosecutor," he stated.
READ MORE: Airbus scandal: Martin Amidu triggered Red Alert for the arrest of Adam Mahama – Police
The former Attorney General cited a “traumatic experience” between 20th October 2020 and 2nd November 2020 after releasing his 15-page corruption risk assessment on Agyapa Royalties Limited Transactions as one of the reasons for his resignation.
Amidu explained that although he thought he was exercising his mandate independently in relation to the controversial deal, the reactions he has received concerning the work make him convinced that he was not expected to exercise his independence as a Special Prosecutor and that makes his work insupportable.
"In undertaking the analysis of the risk of prevention of corruption and anti-corruption assessment I sincerely believed that I was executing an independent mandate under the Office of the Special Prosecutor, Act, 2017 (Act 959) and the Office of the Special Prosecutor (Operations) Regulations, 2018 (L. I. 2374).
"The reaction I received for daring to produce the Agyapa Royalties Limited Transactions anti-corruption report convinces me beyond any reasonable doubt that I was not intended to exercise any independence as the Special Prosecutor in the prevention, investigation, prosecution, and recovery of assets of corruption. My position as the Special Prosecutor has consequently become clearly untenable," Martin Amidu said in his resignation letter to the government.
He also pointed out that he and his deputy have not been paid since their appointment.
The OSP was established two years ago and the former Attorney General was appointed to head it with his deputy being lawyer Cynthia Lamptey.
It has now emerged that since they both took office two years ago, they have not been paid.
"This explains why I have never put the emoluments and benefits of the Office as central to my commitment and my passion for the establishment of an independent, effective, efficient and impartial anti-corruption Office of the Special Prosecutor before the end of the first term of Mr. President. This has not been possible for several reasons.
"The Deputy Special Prosecutor has also not been paid any emoluments since her appointment, and there is the need to redress that situation for her now that I am out of the way," he said.
Yao Domelevo ordered to proceed on annual leave
The case of the Auditor-General, Daniel Yao Domelevo will not be missed in the stories that made headlines in 2020.
Domelevo had a banter with the government when he rejected a request by the Chief of Staff Frema Osei Opare for an audit verification to be conducted for the payment of salary arrears to be given to over 200 former and current Members of Parliament.
A letter dated May 8, 2020, explained that the request made by the former MPs was invalid and amounting to a conflict of interest because most of the beneficiaries are either serving as members of the current government, including the President and the Chief of Staff, or are still in Parliament.
The Chief of Staff, Madam Frema Osei Opare, in a letter dated April 22, 2020, asked the Auditor-General to do an audit verification on the request by the former MPs.
But the A-G, in his response to the Chief of Staff, said: "Apart from the fact that the claim from the FFMP is invalid because the CHC report for 2005 to 2009 was rejected, it may also amount to an abuse of power or conflict of interest to make additional payment (20% salary increase per annum for four years) to former Members of Parliament (covering a period of 10 to 14 years ago) especially when some of them are now the executive."
He also had a legal tussle with the Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo-Maafo who was surcharged by Domelevo asking him to pay a private firm Kroll and Associates $1m for no work done.
On June 30, 2020, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo directed Domelevo, to take his accumulated annual leave of one hundred and twenty-three (123) working days, according to records available to the Presidency, with effect from Wednesday, July 1, 2020.
The President's decision to direct Domelevo to take his accumulated annual leave is based on sections 20(1) and 31 of the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651), which apply to all workers, including public office holders such as the Auditor-General. According to the Act, a worker is entitled to annual leave with full pay, in a calendar year of continuous service, which cannot be relinquished or forgone by the worker or the employer.
Since he was appointed Auditor-General on December 30, 2016, Domelevo has taken only nine (9) working days of his accumulated annual leave of one hundred and thirty-two (132) working days.
He has been further directed to hand over all matters relating to his office to Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu, the Deputy Auditor-General, to act as AuditorGeneral, until his return from his well-deserved leave.
Free water and electricity
The government announced a number of relief packages to ameliorate the hardship brought onto Ghanaians as a result of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Water bills for all Ghanaians for April, May, and June were taken up by the government, following complaints of lack of potable water in communities affected by the lockdown.
The period for free water after the first three months was extended until the end of December 2020, while electricity lasted for six months.
The free electricity was enjoyed by lifeline consumers that consume less than 50kWh per month.
The relief packages were to bring financial and social relief to businesses and the citizenry as well as stimulate the economy.
READ MORE: Nana Addo's free water for Ghanaians will only benefit the middle and upper class - John Dumelo
The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, said all citizens irrespective of social status would enjoy free water supply for the next three months.
He announced the extension of the packages in the mid-year budget review.
He assured Ghanaians that government would continue to put their aspirations first.
"That is also why we further reduced electricity prices by half and completely provided potable water for free for everybody since March this year, and we will extend it for another three months," Ofori-Atta said.
"It takes a caring government of the people, and with that, I mean, a government of all the people, to offer cost-free water to all across the country: representing all domestic and commercial customers in Ghana for three months.
"It takes a caring government to be for the people and for business, large and small, to choose to subsidise electricity consumption by 50 percent to 4,086,286 households and 686,522 businesses at a cost of ¢1.02bn ($176m) in three months.
"And we will extend the coverage for lifeline customers for another three months," he added.