Postal and Courier Services Regulatory Commission (PCSRC) will soon clamp down on courier and postal service providers operating illegally.
Of the 130 operating in the country, 96 have had their licenses renewed as at last year.
According to Nii Yeboah Edwin Burgesson, the Public Affairs Manager at the PCSRC, the commission is collaborating with the police to weed the sector of unlicensed operators.
The commission is especially weary of one-man operators who use motorbikes to ferry goods of people from one point to the other without being in its database especially when cases of elopement with parcels, tampering and the charging of exorbitant fees have become issues of concern.
Defaulters are subject to as much as 500 penalty units and in some cases imprisoned for six months.
With the permission of the Ghana Revenue Authority, operators of courier and postal services at the ports who are not licensed cannot clear their goods with activation of the new regime, Mr. Burgesson submitted.
The Postal and Courier Services Regulatory Commission (PCSRC) is the regulator for the postal and courier sector in Ghana. The Commission was established under the Postal and Courier Services Regulatory Commission Act, 2003 (Act 649).
Had it not been for the love he has for music and his fans, Highlife artiste, Kumi Guitar, would have quit music long ago because of the betrayal he says he has suffered at the hands of some individuals.
It is believed that Ms Yuan has been interviewed by Chinese officials in Beijing, after first travelling to Shanghai to leave her son with relatives.
Who is Mr Yang?
He has a sizeable following online and has sometimes written critically about China’s Communist Party, but less so in recent times. He also authors spy novels.
Mr Yang was briefly unreachable on a trip to China in 2011 – prompting fears he was missing – but later attributed the episode to a “misunderstanding”.
He currently lives in New York and is a visiting scholar at Columbia University, said his friend Feng Chongyi, an academic at University of Technology Sydney.
Associate Prof Feng said that he had warned Mr Yang recently against travelling to China, but that Mr Yang had replied that he considered himself to be safe.
Mr Yang had not responded to messages in recent days, his friend said.
“He is one of the most influential bloggers on political issues in China, where he’s earned the nickname of ‘Democracy Peddler’ through talking about democracy and human rights,” Associate Prof Feng told the BBC on Wednesday.
What else has happened recently?
Correspondents say Mr Yang’s case follows a similar pattern to the cases of the two Canadian citizens, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who were detained in China in recent weeks.
In both cases, the foreign ministry initially said it had no knowledge of them being held, then confirmed they were in the hands of state security a few days later.
Australia has previously expressed “concern” about the arrests of the Canadians.
China has denied the detention of the two men is tied to Canada’s arrest of a senior Huawei official, Meng Wanzhou, but many analysts believe it is a tit-for-tat action.
Mr Yang’s detention comes as Australian Defence Minister Christopher Pyne is due to visit Beijing on Thursday.
Malaysian royals are voting on a new king after the previous monarch, in an unprecedented move, abdicated the throne before the end of his term.
A new ruler, known as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, is usually picked every five years.
But Sultan Muhammad V abdicated in January after just two years on the throne, a first in Malaysian history.
Malaysia has a constitutional monarchy. However, the rulers do not participate in daily governance.
A new ruler is expected to be sworn in on 31 January.
In November, Sultan Muhammad V went on medical leave. Later that month, photos emerged on social media that appeared to show his wedding to a former Miss Moscow in the Russian capital.
Muhammad V, who was 47 when he was sworn in, has garnered a reputation for his enthusiasm for extreme sports like off-road driving, shooting and endurance challenges.
His shock abdication has put the spotlight on Malaysia’s unusual monarchy, the only rotational monarchy in the world.
What is Malaysia’s monarchy system The role of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong dates back to 1957 when the Federation of Malaya was declared independent from the British Empire.
There are nine Malay rulers from nine of the 13 states that make up Malaysia. These rulers are elected as king on a rotational basis by the Conference of Rulers.
The Conference of Rulers is a council made up of the nine Malay rulers as well as governors from the four remaining states without a royal family.
However, in the election of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, only the nine sultans will have a vote.
How is the new king selected?
The Conference of Rulers will gather to elect the next king based on a particular order of the nine Malay rulers which was set back when the office of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong was first established in 1957.
The selection is based on a rotational system where the ruler of the state next in line is typically elected.
The next state in line is Pahang, however the ruler of the state was only sworn in on 15 January, throwing into question whether he will get enough votes, according to state media agency Bernama, citing constitutional law expert Shamrahayu A Aziz.
The nine Malay rulers will be given a ballot paper with only one name, typically the name of the sultan from the state next in line. They will then anonymously indicate if they think the sultan is suitable or not for the role.
A ruler must secure a five-vote majority to be the next king. If he does not secure enough votes or declines the position, the election process is repeated with the name of the sultan from the state next in line.
To ensure anonymity, the nine rulers are given unnumbered ballot papers with identical pens and ink.
What power does the king have?
The position is largely ceremonial, with power in the hands of parliament and the prime minister.
The king does not participate in the daily governance of the country. He is in charge of major appointments like that of the role of prime minister.
The king is also the head of Islam in Malaysia and commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
He also has the power to grant pardons which is what the previous king did for former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim after his coalition’s shock victory during last year’s general elections.
Mr Anwar was pardoned from a second conviction for sodomy which was widely seen as politically motivated.
The role of Yang di-Pertuan Agong is accorded considerable prestige, particularly among the country’s Malay Muslim majority, for whom the king is seen as upholding Malay and Islamic tradition. Criticism deemed to incite contempt of the king can attract a jail term.
Most recently after Muhammad V’s resignation, online vigilantes were seen policing social media and releasing personal information of anyone found criticising the monarchy.
According to local news site Malay Mail, a Facebook page was set up listing eight individuals of which at least three were investigated under Malaysia’s Sedition Act while another four were either fired, suspended or resigned from their jobs.
The patient’s family have described her as “a beloved daughter” with “significant intellectual disabilities” caused by seizures in childhood.
Mr Michaels, told local media: “She has feelings, likes to be read to, enjoys soft music and is capable of responding to people she is familiar with, especially family.”
Court documents state that the woman is “not alert” and requires a “maximum level of care”, the Arizona Republic reported.
According to medical records presented to an Arizona court, a doctor gave a check-up to the woman 37 weeks before she gave birth and found no major changes to her health.
What do we know about the suspect?
Mr Sutherland is a licensed practical nurse and had worked at Hacienda Healthcare clinic since 2011, authorities said.
At the time of the assault he had been responsible for care of the woman.
On Wednesday, he appeared in court and was released on a cash-only $500,000 (£382,588) bond.
His lawyer David Gregan described Mr Sutherland as a family man with young children who has lived in Arizona since 1993.
“There’s no direct evidence that Mr Sutherland has committed these acts,” Mr Gregan told reporters.
“I know at this point there’s DNA. But he will have a right to his own DNA expert.”
How has the care facility responded?
In a statement, Hacienda Healthcare said it was “troubled beyond words” by the news.
The firm said it had given Mr Sutherland “an extensive background check” before starting at the clinic, and fired him as soon as its leadership team learned of the arrest.
Its chief executive has resigned over the incident.
Earlier this week the clinic said a doctor who led the woman’s care had resigned, and another was suspended.
The Ministry of Energy has given greenlight for fourteen (14) companies to submit their bids for the five oil blocks government has offered for competitive bidding.
The companies were selected after they satisfied the pre-qualification requirements
This was contained in a statement signed by the Head of Communications and Public Affairs at the Ministry of Energy, Nana Kofi Damoah.
The statement explained that out of the sixteen companies that put in application for the five oil blocks one presented a bid for an oil block meant for GNPC while the other one was disqualified for not meeting pre-qualification requirements.
“The fourteen companies that have been pre-qualified by the Committee for the next stage will be invited to submit their bids for the blocks for which they have been pre-qualified. Deadline for submission of bids will be on May 21, 2019 and the blocks are expected to be awarded to successful bidders in August 2019,” the statement said.
According to the Ministry, it will write directly to all companies who submitted documentation for expression of interest and pre-qualification to inform them of the outcome of the evaluation process.
“We wish to assure all stakeholders that the Ministry will deliver a transparent licensing round for the good people of Ghana,” it said.
Minority spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has made a relentless call on government to update Ghanaians on the status of the ex-Guantanamo Bay detainees, Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby were brought to Ghana in 2016, for a period of two years.
In an open letter addressed to the Minister in charge of National Security, dated 24th January 2019, the North Tongu Member of Parliament has threatened to use legal means to compel government to comply with the Securities and Intelligence Agencies Act, 1996 (Act526).
He explained that with regards to an issue of this nature which amasses National Interest, it is but prudent for government to “provide an update to the Ghanaian people as Good Governance principles of transparency and accountability will demandâ€.
In January 2016, Ghana under the governance of the erstwhile NDC government, a controversial agreement was signed with the United States of America for the hosting of two former Guantanamo Bay detainees which effectively ended on January 6, 2018.
The move was criticized by many observers including the then opposition New Patriotic Party, who described the two as a security threat despite assurances by the US government.
The Supreme Court subsequently declared the constitutionality of the agreement as null and void under the NPP government and outrightly ordered government to send the agreement to parliament for ratification within three months or have the two detainees sent back to the United States.
Below is the full copy of the letter;
An Open Letter to the Honourable Minister Responsible for National Security
Hon. Albert Kan-Dapaah,
Minister for National Security,
Republic of Ghana.
24th January, 2019.
Dear Mr. Kan-Dapaah,
REQUEST FOR UPDATE ON THE TWO EX-DETAINEES OF GUANTANAMO BAY AND CONTINUOUS BREACH OF THE SECURITY AND INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES ACT, 1996 (ACT 526)
Kindly consider my warm compliments duly paid.
Today, the 24th of January, 2019 marks exactly one year since you joined your colleagues: the Honourable Ministers for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, the Interior and Defence, ostensibly to brief Parliament on the Government of Ghana’s position relating to the status of the two ex-detainees of Guantanamo Bay, Mahmud Umar Muhammed Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salid Al-Dhuby, following an expiration on 6th January, 2018, of the two year bi-lateral cooperation agreement between the Government of Ghana led by former President John Mahama and the Government of the United States of America led by former President Barack Obama.
Honourable Minister, as you will recall, your colleague Ministers and your good self made submissions to Parliament on that day to the effect that Government’s decision on the matter in issue is inconclusive. The Official Report of Parliamentary Debates on Wednesday 24th January, 2018 captures your remarks in this regard in column 85 as follows – “Mr. Speaker, I would want to urge Hon Members of the august House to consider the fact that this is a very important and delicate matter, can we take away the politics and unite to find an effective solution to it?”
In the same vein, the Foreign Minister told the House as captured in column 59 – “Mr. Speaker, accordingly, government is constrained to explore any other options at this time and will await an in depth examination of the matter by the appropriate agencies.”
Subsequently, a Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Charles Owiredu and the then Information Minister, Dr. Mustapha Hamid, are both on record to have told the media on the 25th and the 29th of January, 2018 respectively that the Akufo-Addo Administration is in talks with other countries to have the ex-detainees relocated from Ghana.
Respectfully, it is my considered view that after a full year of patiently waiting on Government, it is imperative that in this matter which is of enormous national interest, you provide an update to the Ghanaian people as Good Governance principles of transparency and accountability will demand.
It is my humble expectation that you will now provide the update requested with dispatch.
Honourable Minister, I should also bring to your attention your continuous breach of Section 17 (2) of the Security and Intelligence Agencies Act, 1996 (Act 526) which stipulates – “The Minister assigned responsibility under subsection (1) of this section shall in respect of each year submit a report to Parliament on the Intelligence Agencies.”
Sir, you have not complied with this provision since assuming the position of National Security Minister and thereby undermining Parliament’s Constitutional mandate of oversight.
As you are aware, I have consistently drawn your attention and brought to the awareness of Parliament through several statements on the floor this violation of the law. I have over the period consequently proceeded to file questions in Parliament seeking to urge you to provide answers to the House on your blatant violation of Act 526 without compunction especially under a President who consistently touts his rule of law credentials.
Having had all my Parliamentary efforts to get you to comply with the Securities and Intelligence Agencies Act, 1996 (Act526) ignored rather contemptuously, I hereby serve notice that if the situation remains the same 20 days after the 29th of January, 2019, resumption of Parliament, I shall proceed to our most esteemed courts to compel you to honour your obligations under Act 526.
I have come to this decision seeing that I have virtually exhausted all parliamentary processes. Besides, the current worsening insecurity situation which has attracted unprecedented domestic and international concern in the aftermath of the assassination of undercover journalist Ahmed Hussein-Suale, numerous cases of apparent contract killings, the circumstances of Nana Appiah Mensah’s escape from the jurisdiction and the kidnapping of the Takoradi ladies – all of these call for an urgent and unwavering commitment to our constitutional and legal obligations which as you know better than many of us are designed to guarantee our collective security.
Yours Sincerely,
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
MP, North Tongu
Ranking Member, Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Spokesman for the erstwhile Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), Osaahene Major (Rtd) Kojo Boakye-Djan says Ghana is no longer safe for everyone.
He blames the security authorities for their inability to convict criminals which have led to others engaging in the nefarious act.
Speaking on the recent killing of investigative journalist Ahmed Hussein-Suale, Major Boakye-Djan (Rtd) noted that “There is a growing sense of impunity in the country. When these things happen, because we are unable to deal with the culprits, others are emboldened to do same.â€
“The efforts of the police or the government or whoever is in charge, do not lead to criminal conviction and that is the worrying thing for me,†he said.
“J.B. Danquah-Adu, the MP, was killed in his home, and so far, nobody has been convicted for it. We are all not safe in the country. Why is it that we have not had a single criminal conviction for any of these things that are going on?†he said in an interview with Accra FM.
The Ghana Police Service has debunked reports suggesting that the murdered Public Affairs and Marketing Manager of the Tema Port under the Ghana Ports and Habours Authority, Josephine Asante, was sexually assaulted at the time of her murder.
The clarification comes after some media reports claimed the police had found semen on the deceased during their investigations.
This was after the police had picked up the houseboy of the deceased for questioning.
But ACP David Eklu, Director of Police Public Affairs, has explained that the police did not find anything to suggest that the deceased was sexually assaulted.
He said the police is following other leads in carrying out its investigation to unravel the circumstances that led to her murder and identification of the potential killer or killers.
“The forensic examination we conducted indicated that the lady was not raped unlike what is in the media. There was no sexual assault on the lady and we can confirm that. We are looking at other possibilities in terms of the investigations we are conducting,†he said.
Josephine Asante was stabbed to death at her residence at community 25 in Tema last week. The incident according to a Citi News source occurred when she was attacked in her bedroom after she returned from a Senior Staff party.
The police has set aside a GHc 15,000 bounty for anybody who gives credible information about perpetrators of the gruesome murder, while the Management of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), has set aside a reward of GHC50,000 for information leading to the arrest of the killers.
The police have allayed fears of the public in the wake of “recent violent crimes†in the country.
The law enforcement agency is urging calm as it marshals “all resources†towards closing in on suspects.
About six high profile deaths have been recorded in the past three months with the recent being the killing of an undercover journalist Ahmed Hussein-Suale of the Tiger Eye PI team.
Three girls have also been kidnapped in the oil-rich Western Region sparking public uproar over safety issues in the country.
Assuring the general public, the Police Service said in a statement that it is putting its best foot forward to unravel the mystery surrounding most of the crimes.
“Officers from specialized units of the Criminal Investigation Department including the Counter terrorism and Special Weapon and Tactics Units are part of the team of investigators handling these cases,†the police statement said.
The Service is also calling on the public to provide information that could lead to arrests of culprits.
The Ho District Police Command has rescued a 17-year old Senior High School Student after she was kidnapped by some persons for about 48 hours.
A second year student of Sonrise Senior High School in the Ho Municipality of the Volta Region, who had gone missing on Monday, January 21, spent close to 24 hours in a critical condition with her kidnappers.
Looking traumatized after her rescue, she could not narrate what transpired after she boarded a taxi at SNNIT Flat in Ho.
But her aunty, Ms. Beatrice Dzorvakpor, who looked very excited for her rescue narrated what happened.
According to her, the young girl on Monday around 9:15am left home to the bank, with the sum of GHC620.00 to pay her school fees but did not return on time.
She said after more than two hours, she started calling “her number but there was no response until the phone went off.
“This was not normal of her, she has never done it before, so I sent her picture to a friend of mine who works in the bank to check if she was at the bank that morning but I was told no”.
“So I concluded that the money is lost so she may be in town looking for it”.
She said in the company of some siblings, they roamed some parts of the town where they felt she could be, after which they went to her school where the house master told them that she had not reported to school.
According to her, whilst they headed to the police station in Ho to lodge a complaint around 4:00pm, she received a message from her.
“I was like oh; she might now come home, but when I opened the message I saw her tied and she looked assaulted, I thought she was dead so I shoutedâ€.
She said, when she replied the message “where are you?†the reply was calm, and then she was informed that her daughter had been kidnapped.
Ms. Beatrice continued that, she had a long conversation with the unknown guy, who again messaged her that, “Her niece is a virgin and good for sacrificial lambâ€.
According to her, she quickly forwarded the chat to the police and also took directions from the CID as in how to reply the messages.
She said the kidnappers did not demand anything from her, as the kidnapper only told her that, he will release the victim in the absence of his boss.
On Tuesday January 22 around 5:00pm, a message came in again that “we should come for her in Aflao, so I contacted the police and they were chased.â€
But before the police got to the boarder, the kidnapper who turned to favour the victim packed “the vehicle at a distance” whilst she was commanded to run away.
The victim was quickly rushed to the Regional Hospital for treatment, and was later discharged from the hospital in the late hours of Wednesday, January 23.
She was robbed of the GHC620.00 which was her fees, while her student and hospital card were also taken away.
Speaking on the development, the Ho District Police Commander, DSP Anthony Danso, said his men had “intelligence that the culprits headed towards Aflao, so police personnel on the boarder intercepted the girl as she was stranded after her releaseâ€.
He said while interrogating the victim after she “gained conscious” she told them that she could only remember that she found herself in an uncompleted building, after which she also saw a sign post of “Awudome Secondary School, Awudome Bame and Goil Station at Ho Bankoe”
The Commander said a thorough investigation is underway to track down the perpetrators.
Ghana forward Kevin Prince Boateng made his Barcelona debut on Wednesday night in the first leg of the Copa del Rey quarter-final as the Catalans lost 2-0 to Sevilla.
Ghana Premier League giants Asante Kotoko are on the verge of signing Burkina Faso teenage sensation Mohammed Kahan, GHANASoccernet.com can exclusively report.
An Accra Circuit Court has ordered Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN) to produce the call records of a conversation between Mahama Ayariga, the Member of Parliament for Bawku Central and an officer of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
According to the Ghanaian Times, the court gave the order on January 22 at the request of Special Prosecutor (SP) Mr Martin Alamisi Burns Kaiser Amidu.
Mr Amidu told the Accra Circuit Court “2†presided over by Mrs Ruby Naa Adjeley-Quayson that the Office of Special Prosecutor (OSP) had already obtained an order to conduct a forensic examination on three mobile phone numbers from the Director General of Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service.
He urged the court to exercise its powers under the Electronic Transaction Act, Act 2008(Act 772) of Section 100, 101 and 103.
Mr Amidu who is known for his tough stance against corruption recently hinted that he would soon start prosecuting corruption-related cases.
In moving the motion for an order directed at the telecom giant to produce records of the conversation between the lawmaker and the officer at GRA, the SP said the information he wanted was between December 2018 and January 2019.
Consequently, the Presiding Judge, Mrs Ruby Naa Adjeley granted the order and asked MTN to produce the said records dated December 1, 2018, to January 6, 2019.
At the time of filing this story, a staff of the OSP was in court to take the order and serve on MTN.
In August 2018, Mr Amidu reported the legislator to the Economic and Organised Crime Organisation (EOCO) for allegedly attempting to block his investigation on him.
Mr Amidu alleged that the Bawku Central MP had sent chiefs, pastors and opinion leaders to intercede on his behalf.
The First Lady Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo is expected to launch the Free-to-Shine Campaign today, Thursday, 24 January 2019 in collaboration with the Ghana Aids Commission in Accra.
The Free-to-Shine Campaign seeks to improve access and patronage of quality antenatal care services that include HIV testing, placement on anti-retroviral medicines if tested positive for HIV and continuous follow-up of mother and baby.
The launch is on the theme: Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission: The Key to an HIV-Free Generation and Keeping Mothers Alive.
In 2017, the UNAIDS appointed Mrs Akufo-Addo as the Premier Ambassador in Ghana for HIV Advocacy, elimination of mother to Child Transmission of HIV and saving mothers to achieve the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets for 2020.
Road contractors who are being owed by the government are unhappy the government cannot be consistent on how to settle its debt which is to the tune of about 2.8 billion cedis.
The call of the Association of Road Contractors (ASOROC) comes a day after Roads and Highways Minister, Kwesi Amoako-Atta announced that government has released 3.5 billion cedis to clear arrears.
Minister for Roads and Highways, Kwasi Amoako-Atta, who announced this when he took his turn at the meet the press series, also disclosed that plans were far advanced for the resumption of cocoa road projects which was suspended when the NPP government assumed office.
However, speaking on Ete Sen on Radio XYZ 93.1 Wednseday morning, the Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the Association of Road Contractors, Mr Stephen Kwaku Attatsi stated the government has been giving numerous promises of clearing the debt, but they turn out to be mere lip service.
He said they were given a similar promise in December 2018 yet none of his members werepaid, but were rather told to auction their certificates to Fidelity Bank Ghana Limited for funds.
Mr Attatsi said although they were yet to receive an official announcement from the government, the National Executive Council of the Association had scheduled a meeting to discuss the matter.
“We have not received anything [but] the NEC will meet today…and come out with our concerns,†he added.
Although the government has paid over 2.2 billion of the funds in arrears, the delay in settling the outstanding debt is affecting the construction industry, according to the contractors.
Mr Attatsi, who is also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Supreme Bird investments Limited, disclosed how his bankers were chasing him and other road contractors to repay loans they took to embark on the projects because the government had failed to settle the arrears after numerous promises.
Six young men who allegedly assaulted a barber and destroyed his properties worth GH¢29,400.00 have been granted GH¢15,000.00 bail each with five sureties to be justified by the Tarkwa circuit court.
The six, Obed Opoku 29, Mohammed Awel 26, Kassim Osman 30, Haruna Issah 23, Ali Shaibu 29, Tofique Bawa 27, are all illegal miners, while Ebenezer Botsio 20, is a gold buyer.
They all pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit crime, assault, causing unlawful damage and stealing and would reappear in court on 5 February.
Chief Inspector Faustina Celestina Anaman, prosecuting, told the court that the complainant, Wisdom Quagye owns a barbering shop at Tarkwa market circle.
She said the accused persons are residents of Tarkwa and belonged to a group called “Abolos” with suspects Mohammed Awel alias Apakalo and Ali Jara who are both at large as gang leaders.
On January 13, 2019, around 2130 hours, a misunderstanding ensued between Mohammed, Haruna and one Ransford Baiden while they were at a tavern located at Low Cost, a suburb of Tarkwa.
Mohammed and Haruna called Tofique for assistance and he informed the others.
Inspector Anaman said he quickly mobilized the group members which included Obed, Kassim, Ali, Ebenezer and other members who are currently on the run.
They then boarded a Kia truck and proceeded to the tavern but on arrival, Ransford had already left the scene.
According to the prosecution, because the accused knew Ransford was the complainant’s best friend, they went to his barbering shop to search for him but met his absence.
She said they, therefore, vented their anger on the complainant and subjected him to severe beatings in front of his shop until he managed to escaped.
The group, however, vandalized the complainant’s glass door, mirror, sterilizer, Samsung Galaxy Note 8, showcase and laptop all valued at GH¢20,400.00 and also made away with his daily sales of GH¢900.00.
Inspector Anaman said they went to the complainant’s gym centre and vandalized the place after which they took away some gym equipment.
A complaint was lodged with the police and the accused persons were subsequently arrested.
The Northern Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Mohammed Samba has assured the new Ya Naa, Yoo Naa Mahama Abukari II that the doors of the leadership of the NPP in the Northern Region will always be available at his beck and call “day and nightâ€.
The NPP Northern Regional Chairman, who congratulated the Ya-Naa on his new role was accompanied by other executives of the party in the region to pay a courtesy call on the new King.
Mr Samba, affectionately called “Do Allâ€, further asked the Ya Naa to continue to work for consolidated peace across the region in order to guarantee even development for the people.
In his remarks, Naa Abukari II indicated his willingness to take out Abudu and Andani in Yendi and Dagban, just like he did in Savelugu.
On behalf of the two Royal gates (Abudu and Andani), he thanked the Regional Chairman and the ruling government for their immense support.
Recalling some of the “fat donations†Chairman Samba made, Naa Abukari was full of Joy and called for all to emulate the shining example of Samba. He said his palace must be seen as an abode for all in the region.
The Ojobi District Police Command has rounded up a middle-aged man believed to be behind the fake military camp that was closed down at Gomoa Fetteh earlier this week.
The suspect, whose name was only given as Kabby Kay, was arrested on Tuesday. DSP David Fofie, the District Police Commander for Ojobi who confirmed the arrest to Citi News said a statement has been taken from Kabby Kay and he will soon be processed for court.
He said the fake military personnel who were arrested over the weekend had identified him as the one who organized them to come to Gomoa Fetteh for the supposed military exercise.
The Kasoa Divisional Police Command on Monday arrested 14 of the suspected fake military officers after a report was filed by the Omankrado of Gomoa Fetteh, Nana Kwesi Quansah, that some military personnel had destroyed his property and threatened his life in a video that was shared on WhatsApp.
A search conducted on the arrested individuals revealed that they had military bags, boots, uniform, ID cards, military caps, and other military accouterments.
The police said it was collaborating with the military to ascertain the identities of the arrested individuals.
DSP David Fofie said four of those arrested over the weekend were on Tuesday remanded into police custody by the Kasoa Ofankor District Court, and are scheduled to reappear on February 11, 2019.
“The fake soldiers have named him [Kabby Kay] as the one who brought them to Gomoa Fetteh. In such situations, we invite the culprits to give their statements. The Kasoa Circuit Court remanded them on Tuesday and they are to reappear on 6th February 2019. We have taken his statement and he will soon be put before court. We will inform the public when we receive new information regarding this case,†he said.
An Accra Circuit Court has ordered Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN) to produce the call records of a conversation between Mahama Ayariga, the Member of Parliament for Bawku Central and an officer of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
According to the Ghanaian Times, the court gave the order on January 22 at the request of Special Prosecutor (SP) Mr Martin Alamisi Burns Kaiser Amidu.
Mr Amidu told the Accra Circuit Court “2†presided over by Mrs Ruby Naa Adjeley-Quayson that the Office of Special Prosecutor (OSP) had already obtained an order to conduct a forensic examination on three mobile phone numbers from the Director General of Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service.
He urged the court to exercise its powers under the Electronic Transaction Act, Act 2008(Act 772) of Section 100, 101 and 103.
Mr Amidu who is known for his tough stance against corruption recently hinted that he would soon start prosecuting corruption-related cases.
In moving the motion for an order directed at the telecom giant to produce records of the conversation between the lawmaker and the officer at GRA, the SP said the information he wanted was between December 2018 and January 2019.
Consequently, the Presiding Judge, Mrs Ruby Naa Adjeley granted the order and asked MTN to produce the said records dated December 1, 2018, to January 6, 2019.
At the time of filing this story, a staff of the OSP was in court to take the order and serve on MTN.
In August 2018, Mr Amidu reported the legislator to the Economic and Organised Crime Organisation (EOCO) for allegedly attempting to block his investigation on him.
Mr Amidu alleged that the Bawku Central MP had sent chiefs, pastors and opinion leaders to intercede on his behalf.
A gunman has killed five people at a bank in Florida, police say.
They say officers responded after a man called police from inside the SunTrust bank in the town of Sebring and said: “I have shot five people”.
The gunman – named as Zephen Xaver, 21 – had barricaded himself in the branch, forced people to lie on the floor and began shooting, according to police.
He surrendered after officers stormed the bank. The motive for the shooting remains unclear.
The incident took place just after 12:30 (17:30 GMT) at SunTrust Bank in Sebring, about 80 miles (130km) south of Orlando. Police say they were the only five people in the bank at the time.
“This horrific incident shocks and angers me more than anything I have encountered in my career,” said local sheriff Paul Blackman.
SunTrust CEO Bill Rogers said in a statement the company was “deeply saddened by the tragic shooting”.
We’re deeply saddened by the tragic shooting at our Sebring, FL branch. We’re working with law enforcement & are dedicated to supporting the people & families impacted by this horrible & senseless tragedy. Our entire team mourns this terrible loss. -Bill Rogers, Chairman & CEO
Captain of the Black Stars, Asamoah Gyan is set to own a club in his hometown Wenchi in the Brong Ahafo Region.
The Kayserispo striker is currently in a deal to acquire a Sunyani based Division One side Young Apostles Football Club.
The leading goal scorer of the Black Stars according to information available to Ghana Guardian, has agreed terms with Young Apostles Football Club as a major investor of the club, owned by Owura Domfe popularly known as Shelays Papa.
We are told representatives of Baby Jet and his company have been in Brong Ahafo Regional capital Sunyani, for the past three days to finalize the deal.
After the deal is signed, the team would be moved from its current base in Sunyani to Wenchi in the newly created Bono East region, the hometown of Asamoah Gyan.
Young Apostles Football Club was an academy for the Apostles of Power soccer, Brong Ahafo United but was split from the mother club two years ago after Mustapha Riga took charge as the club’s President due to misunderstandings between the two parties.
The club got promotion to the Division one last season and was playing very well in their maiden appearance in the league.
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) is gearing up to raise taxes from professional service activities in a bid to meet its tax targets.
Government has set a tax revenue target of GHc58.9 billion in the 2019 budget, which is about 25.9 percent higher than the GHc46.8 billion targeted in the 2018 budget.
Domestic revenue estimated at GHc57.8 billion is expected to be raised from domestic sources and sub units.
To this end, Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Mr. Emmanuel Kofi Nti, has announced that lawyers, doctors, engineers and other professionals will soon have to issue tax receipts for services rendered and charged for. The move the Authority believes will rope in those making commercial gain but not paying what is due to the state. Hitherto, most professionals have been able to avoid being assessed and duly taxed on the income they receive for the services they render, especially on services rendered to micro-enterprises, households and individuals who do not maintain formal accounts.
However details have not yet been released as to how the Authority intends to track the service contracts executed by professionals on a personal basis, and thus their income tax obligations.
In 2018, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) failed to meet its overall target of raising GHc46.8 billion. As at the end of August it had managed to mobilise a total of GHc22.7 billion representing a revenue shortfall of about GHc1.8 billion below its target for the first eight months of the year.
The Authority however saw an improvement in its custom collection in the last three months of the year and thanks to better targeting, covered more grounds. However provisional estimates suggest it fell about 5 percent short of its full year target.
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta points out that enforcing tax compliance on defaulters and evaders would help the government meet its social and developmental obligations.
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) this time around is set to work with the Auditor General and the Special Prosecutor to enforce compliance.
In 2017, the authority collected GH32.4bn as against a target of about GHc34bn, representing 97 percent.
Commissioner-General Nti has meanwhile submitted at a dinner held in honour of 190 retiring staff that 2018 was a mixed year where the Authority had some gains and some downs.
“We had to come up a mechanism to resolve the issues in our fold which saw a three percent growth in custom revenue. We also implemented a strict code of ethics for staff and management. Erring staff were interdicted, others were demoted in rank while some suffered suspension with others are in line to be prosecuted for violations,†Mr. Nti revealed.
He urged management members to lead exemplary lives to be above reproach. The retirees took home TV sets, citations and African print cloth.
Luv News has learnt of the reported arrest of former Deputy Co-ordinator of the erstwhile National Youth Employment Agency (YEA) in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration, Alhassan Tapsoba.
He is said to have been picked up from his residence in Kumasi on Monday by unidentified persons and relatives say they have not heard from him since.
His wife has filed a complaint on the disappearance to the Ashanti Regional Police Command on Wednesday.
She, however, declined to comment on the issue except to say it is being handled in Accra by people she will not name.
Police are also tight-lipped over the matter but Luv News sources suggest personnel of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) arrested Alhaji Tapsoba.
Checks also reveal security agents had traced to him, alleged threatening message to an unnamed member of the investigative group, Tiger Eye P.I., in Kumasi.
It comes on the heels of the killing of another member, Ahmed Hussain-Suale, at Madina in Accra last week Wednesday.
Luv News also learns some NDC functionaries have received news on the purported arrest.
For two years, Asante McGee was a girlfriend of the now-disgraced R&B superstar, R Kelly, but in the summer of 2016 she went to live in his house in Georgia. There were other women there, she discovered – and very strict rules.
Whenever I was in my room alone, that was when I would call home to speak to my children, as when I was with Robert, he didn’t want us to have our phones and have contact with the outside world.
When I met Robert, or rather R Kelly, it wasn’t like meeting Prince Charming who swept me off my feet. He didn’t wine and dine me, he was just a warm and funny guy. We did normal stuff; he took me shopping and we enjoyed having dinners together.
But there was a moment during a text exchange in 2014 when I think I should have known things weren’t what they seemed. It was really early on in our relationship and I texted him, addressing him as Rob and he said: “No, can you just call me Daddy.” There was no discussion – he just told me his demand. When I look back at that moment, reading the text message in my car, I should have questioned it. I should have seen his behaviour in that moment as a red flag.
I was first introduced to R Kelly in September 2013 by a member of his entourage, when he was performing in a club in Atlanta to promote his next tour. However, we had a proper introduction in January 2014.
A member of his entourage invited me to hang out with R Kelly and some of his friends. We went to the mall and we laughed and talked. We just hung out like two old friends. Before I left, he gave me his number and we immediately started texting each other.
We texted for weeks and one day he invited me to his concert in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which was being held on February 13. After watching him perform on stage, he invited me back to his hotel room and we had our first sexual encounter.
After Valentine’s Day, we kept in contact through text messages and he began inviting me to different concerts across America, and when he visited Atlanta, where I lived, I would stay with him from time to time.
While we were in a relationship together, he made it clear that I wasn’t the only woman he was seeing. The fact that he told me he was dating and sleeping with other women, it made me feel like he was doing his best to be honest with me, so I accepted that and decided to stay in the relationship.
For the first two years of our relationship, everything was great. I would fly out and see him perform, and we would spend time together – and it worked for both of us.
On the Easter weekend of March 2016, he flew me out to Chicago, but I didn’t hear from him for two days and then when I finally heard from him, he had someone come and pick me up to take me to the studio where he was recording.
However, I ended up being locked in a van from 11 o’clock in the morning to eight o’clock at night. When I was let out of the van, by members of his entourage and nephew, I found R Kelly partying in the studio as if nothing had happened. He acted completely normal, but months later, I found out that locking me in a van was a test. He was testing my boundaries and playing mind games.
Then in May 2016, I flew to watch him perform in Dallas. After the concert, one of his assistants said you need to hurry up and get your clothes from the hotel.
I got my clothes and got into the van which was supposed to take me to Oklahoma, so I could catch a flight home to Atlanta, but the bus never stopped. We ended up in a huge house in John’s Creek, Georgia. When I got off the bus and walked into the house, Robert said: “Welcome home, baby.”
He gave me a tour of the house, showed me my room. So I thought I’d stay for the summer because my kids were staying with family for the holidays, which happens every year. So with my kids not going back to school until the end of August, I thought, “OK, I can stay and spend some time with him for a few extra weeks.” It was never a permanent arrangement in my mind.
As soon as I moved in, he started inflicting both emotional and sexual abuse. No, he didn’t force me to have sex with him, but he intimidated me to commit sexual acts and have threesomes with other women when I made it clear that I wasn’t comfortable.
If I said I didn’t want to do something he would shout at me and call me “stupid”. He would tell me that the other girls who were also visiting or living in the house at the time with us had no problem with his sexual requests, so what was my problem? I felt degraded by his actions and his desires.
What caused even more tension between us was his trainer. Her role? Her role was to train me and the other girls how to sexually please and satisfy Robert. According to both Robert and her, they had been sexually involved together for 16 years, since she was 14 years old.
As she had been with him for so long, it was like she was the head girl in school and she used her position to verbally abuse me. I remember one day she and I got into an argument and Robert said I had “black woman syndrome”. He said that I didn’t like being told what to do by a younger black woman and that he wasn’t going to let me, a black woman, tell him what to do.
There is a misconception that R Kelly just preys on younger girls. That isn’t true. Yes, he targets young girls more so, because they are more vulnerable, easier to manipulate and more likely to be star struck. I was 35 when I met R Kelly and he knew I had experienced abuse in a previous relationship. He had me exactly where he wanted me, because he made me trust him. He made me believe he would never hurt me by getting me to open up about my history of abuse.
The hurt and pain didn’t stop with sexual intimidation and emotional abuse. He was controlling.
Once, he grabbed my arm for wearing the wrong shirt. He had rules that I and the other girls who lived with him or had a sexual relationship with him had to follow.
One day, we were supposed to be going out and I was wearing a top with spaghetti straps and shorts. As soon as he saw me, he grabbed me and told me to change. I went upstairs and changed and instead of going out with the other girls, he made me come to the studio with him. When we got to the studio, he told me that my outfit intimidated the other girls in the house. He said that I needed to dress like the other girls, who were wearing tracksuits – but it was over 100F (38C) outside. When I said this, he didn’t care.
He controlled every aspect of my life, while I lived with him. Myself and two other girls who were living with him while I was there could only eat when he said we could eat. Sometimes you could go a whole day without eating because he would simply forget to feed you or he didn’t want to eat. I remember buying a bag of snacks when we went out and hiding them in my room, so I always had food. He even controlled when we could use the toilet or come out of our rooms. We would have to text or call and ask for permission to use the bathroom and if he didn’t respond, you were allowed to come out of your room and stomp on the floor until he heard you.
The abuse and control was pushing me to my edge, but it wasn’t just that. I would have to watch young girls, some as young as 18 years old, perform lewd sex acts on him and I just couldn’t take it any more.
I started plotting my escape.
I called a friend who worked in the area and asked if she would pick me up. Later that day, my friend called me but because of the security and gates she wasn’t able to drive up to the house. I knew I had to take my chance, so I packed my suitcase and decided to just walk out. Robert was outside talking to his staff and he looked shocked, he even chuckled: “So you are leaving?”
I just said: “Yes, I’m leaving.” I carried on walking towards my friend’s car and didn’t look back.
I stayed with R Kelly for three weeks in total. The week after I left he called me and said that I needed to apologise for walking out and that I had to come back home. I didn’t.
A lot of the other women who have suffered abuse from R Kelly have come together and keep each other lifted. I don’t have any regrets telling my story and coming forward, not just because of whom my abuser was, but because saying out loud what I went through will help other women in similar situations tell their stories and for others to believe them.
Former Black Stars striker, Augustine Arhinful has rubbished calls for the return of Kevin-Prince Boateng, who has joined Spanish Giant Barcelona.
Arhinful wants Boateng’s return to the national team to be based on his willingness to serve the country.
“We must first ask Kevin whether he still wants to get back into the Black Stars before we start talking about that,” he said.
“For now the benefits we as a Ghanaians will get is that Kevin is being addressed as a ‘Former Black Stars player’ in every media house both locally and foreign which I believe will lift the name Ghana high.”
Barcelona on Monday announced the signing of the German-born-Ghanaian on loan from Italian side Sosuollo, a move that came as a surprise to some connoisseurs of the game.
But Arhinful believes the move could be more beneficial to both parties, saying he was not surprised.
“I wasn’t surprised at all when I heard that Kevin-Prince Boateng is joining Barcelona because they had their own reasons for signing him,” he said.
“I think Kevin is guaranteed of winning a trophy even if he doesn’t get more playing time at Barcelona so I will urge all Ghanaians to pray for him in getting more playing time”
Boateng,31, became an obvious choice for Barcelona after serious boardroom deliberation.
However certain people in the boardroom were against the idea due to the cost of a temporary solution. Vela, too, is also approaching the end of his competitive career.
At that time there were only three names on the shortlist. Carlos Vela, who hasn’t liked by the sporting department. Morata, who was expensive and complicated. And lastly there was Cedric Bakambu, who had previously played in LaLiga for Villarreal but didn’t have the green light from his Chinese club.
According to Barcelona’s technical secretary, the former Milan man was signed to the Catalonian Giants due to his “experience” and “personality”
At 28, Edoardo Crnjar is one of the most powerful men in the European transfer market but he has had an unusual transition from selling cars to mediating perhaps the biggest player transfer of 2019.
Earlier this week, Edoardo Crnjar nicknamed the “Baby Agent” because of his youth mediated a sensational the six-month loan deal for his long-time client Kevin-Prince Boateng from Italian Serie A minnows Sassuolo to Spanish giants Barcelona.
However, before the man with movie star looks and a Croatian surname came to represent elite footballers such as Samuel Eto’O, Boateng, Alberto Aquilani, Loic Remy, Mubarak Wakaso and Inter star Kwadwo Asamoah he worked at a car dealership which belonged to his ex-girlfriend’s father in Milan.
It was at this dealership where he first nurtured a relationship with Inter star Sulley Muntari who frequented the establishment.
“I was working in the Mercedes dealer of my ex-girlfriend’s father. Here I met and became friends with famous footballers including Muntari,” Crnjar said in an interview with Marca.
“From that moment on I began to maintain relationships with other players, and I gained the confidence. Later on Eto’o, Boateng and others came. I started strong, taking Muntari from Inter to Milan, I asked for help from Federico Pastorello (Antonio Conte’s agent, one of the strong men in Italy), I was not going to negotiate.”
Aged just 21 at the time and used to selling Mercedes and Fiat vehicles, his first major transfer was the move by Muntari from Inter to AC Milan in first on-loan in January 2012 and later on a permanent basis.
Then came associations with another Milan-based player Boateng whom he has represented since he left Milan for German side Schalke 04 in August 2013.
He has since represented other Ghanaian players including Mubarak Wakaso and Kwadow Asamoah.
“I am the first fan of my players and my footballers are my first fans,” he said.
“Without the help of my players, I would not be here, it’s my players who have made me their representative, not the other way around, Muntari or Boateng made it very easy for me, they opened many doors for me, we have a relationship that goes beyond For example, I am Boateng’s best man and his son’s best man”.
Over the past three seasons windows, the vast majority of his trades have been in Spain particularly the Canary Islands club of Las Palmas. He was behind the acquisitions of Loic Remy and former Liverpool star Alberto Aquilani by the Spanish La Liga team.
The smooth operator has also in the past represented Patrice Evra, Thiago Silva, Christian Chivu and Stephan El-Sharaawy.
In the last few months, he has also started to represent the coaches including Quique Setien, the coach of Real Betis.
Interestingly, Crnjar who turns 29 this year credits a bit of his success as an intermediary to his youth.
“Being so young I can work 20 hours, there is no one at home waiting for me or anything else in my head to work, I get 180 flights a year, I go home one day a week, I hope I have the energy to put up a lot of time like this. the only way to be close to the players and the clubs, to get results, I’m not important, the only way is to work “.
Black Stars coach Kwesi Appiah insists new Barcelona signing Kevin-Prince Boateng will be recalled into the senior national team if he comes out to apologise for misbehaving at the 2014 Fifa World Cup.
The 31-year-old is serving an indefinite suspension from Black Stars after he and his close pal Sulley Muntari were expelled from the team in Brazil. Kevin was sacked after being found guilty of “vulgar verbal insults targeted at coach Kwesi Appiah”.
But, there have been calls for the ban to be lifted after Boateng stunned the world by joining Barcelona. The forward has been recruited by the Spanish champions on loan from Sassuolo for the remainder of the season.
“Kevin-Prince Boateng is a Ghanaian and currently he is playing very well and if you look at our striking options we have always relied on Gyan so is about time we all check and get at least four strikers that we can always rely on,†Appiah told Asempa FM.
“Kevin is one of the good strikers as I have said, but in Brazil, he[Kevin] and Sulley were suspended by the FA for their unruly behaviours and I think Sulley has written a letter to apologise and looking at how Kevin is playing now, if he should write a letter to apologise, I will invite him because it is about the country not about any individual.â€
Kevin has been capped 15 times by Black Stars and has scored two goals since his debut against Latvia in 2010.
He could make his debut for Barcelona against Sevilla in Copa del Rey today.
Actress Ini Edo shared her photograph on Instagram with a caption aimed at inspiring her followers. Her advice however was ignored as commenters rather focused on how tiny her waist has become with some accusing her of undergoing cosmetic surgery.
Ini who was clad in an all-black attire struck a pose in front of a beautiful flower but her pose appeared to have given her away as her followers slammed her for having what they described as “fake†hourglass figure.
A video spotted by YEN.com.gh on Facebook of the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, apportioning blames and praises in the wake of the re-opening of the Obuasi mines has generated a lot of public discussions.
The video was posted in the later hours of Tuesday, January 22, 2018, by the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin.
The Asante chieftain who is not usually one to point fingers in matters of political relevance is seen in the video narrating his experience with trying to get the mine working again.
Speaking in his native tongue of Twi, the Asantehene decried what he feels was a neglect of the mines after operations were shut down in 2014.
As transcribed here, this is what the Asanehene had to say: “It is both an occasion of happiness and sadness that we are gathered here to re-open the Obuasi mines…
“I was told four or five years ago by the investors that the Obuasi mines was no longer viable. I was also told that ‘galamsey men’ [illegal miners] were taking advantage of the situation and mining in the lands. “I approached the government of the day to help resolve the matter. But I was told they would not let soldiers go there and shoot people like it happened in South Africa.”
“I was even told they are ready to sell the place and give me just $1. I told them I was going to wait until a good time in the future. Now I am happy Akufo-Addo’s government has made this reopening possible.”
The Asantehene’s speech has undoubtedly sparked debate over whether it was right for him to have intimated his disappointment with the erstwhile government of John Mahama.
Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has re-opened the AngloGold Ashanti gold mine in Obuasi, which had been effectively closed since 2014.
This is in apparent fulfilment of a campaign pledge he made to the people of Obuasi in the run-up to the 2016 general elections.
Fourteen out of the sixteen companies that applied to explore oil blocks put on offer by the government, have qualified for the next stage of the bidding process.
According to the Ministry of Energy, the fourteen companies will now have up until May 21, 2019 to submit their bids for three (3) out of the five (5) available oil blocks.
The competitive tendering process, according to the government, is part of efforts aimed at ensuring transparency, value for money and getting companies with the requisite financial and technical expertise to exploit the Oil and Gas resource.
The process, which was ushered in by President Nana Akufo-Addo on October 15, 2018, begun with sixteen (16) companies putting in Sixty (60) applications in connection for the different oil blocks.
Out of the 6 oil blocks up for exploration, Block 1 has been reserved for the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC). Blocks 2, 3 and 4 are up for competitive bidding, while Blocks 5 and 6 will be awarded by government after Direct Negotiation with some select oil companies.
All prospective bidders submitted their applications on the 20th of December, 2018.
Head of Communications at the Ministry of Energy, Nana Damoah explained to Citi Business News that transparent processes were used to arrive at the number.
“The objective of prequalification is to ensure that we only allow companies that have the financial muscle, technical competence and are willing to give us the best in terms of local content to move on to the next level. Out of the two companies that failed to make it, one applied for a block reserved for the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) making their bid invalid. The second company did not meet our prequalification requirements. The remaining 14 have been prequalified and have been sent the bidding document together with the evaluation criteria and a scorecard,†he said.
According to Nana Damoah government is on track to awarding the 3 oil blocks up for bidding to the best companies out of the remaining 14 in August this year.
“We are very much on schedule. At the launch event we put out a timeline and you will realize we have met the deadlines so far. Moving forward the next critical date is May 21, 2018. And we are sure we will meet this deadline which will lead to the ultimate conclusion of the award of block in August this year.â€
The original pool of companies that put in a bid for the 3 oil blocks include China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), Cairn Energy, Qatar Petroleum, Global Petroleum Group, First E&P, Sasol, Equinor and Harmony Oil and Gas Corporation. The rest include ExxonMobil, British Petroleum, Tullow Ghana Limited, Total, ENI Ghana, Vitol, Kosmos Energy And Aker Energy.Fourteen out of the sixteen companies that applied to explore oil blocks put on offer by the government, have qualified for the next stage of the bidding process.
According to the Ministry of Energy, the fourteen companies will now have up until May 21, 2019 to submit their bids for three (3) out of the five (5) available oil blocks.
The competitive tendering process, according to the government, is part of efforts aimed at ensuring transparency, value for money and getting companies with the requisite financial and technical expertise to exploit the Oil and Gas resource.
The process, which was ushered in by President Nana Akufo-Addo on October 15, 2018, begun with sixteen (16) companies putting in Sixty (60) applications in connection for the different oil blocks.
Out of the 6 oil blocks up for exploration, Block 1 has been reserved for the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC). Blocks 2, 3 and 4 are up for competitive bidding, while Blocks 5 and 6 will be awarded by government after Direct Negotiation with some select oil companies.
All prospective bidders submitted their applications on the 20th of December, 2018.
Head of Communications at the Ministry of Energy, Nana Damoah explained to Citi Business News that transparent processes were used to arrive at the number.
“The objective of prequalification is to ensure that we only allow companies that have the financial muscle, technical competence and are willing to give us the best in terms of local content to move on to the next level. Out of the two companies that failed to make it, one applied for a block reserved for the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) making their bid invalid. The second company did not meet our prequalification requirements. The remaining 14 have been prequalified and have been sent the bidding document together with the evaluation criteria and a scorecard,†he said.
According to Nana Damoah government is on track to awarding the 3 oil blocks up for bidding to the best companies out of the remaining 14 in August this year.
“We are very much on schedule. At the launch event we put out a timeline and you will realize we have met the deadlines so far. Moving forward the next critical date is May 21, 2018. And we are sure we will meet this deadline which will lead to the ultimate conclusion of the award of block in August this year.â€
The original pool of companies that put in a bid for the 3 oil blocks include China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), Cairn Energy, Qatar Petroleum, Global Petroleum Group, First E&P, Sasol, Equinor and Harmony Oil and Gas Corporation. The rest include ExxonMobil, British Petroleum, Tullow Ghana Limited, Total, ENI Ghana, Vitol, Kosmos Energy And Aker Energy.
Peter Beyalme, a 62-year-old man, has reported to the Yeji police that a guy known as Kwame has raped and impregnated his daughter a junior high school student.
The girl, 15, (name withheld) who attends Roman Catholic JHS at Yeji in the Brong Ahafo Region, told the father that after Kwame had forcibly had sex with her, it eventually resulted in pregnancy. Kwame gave her a certain concoction to drink to abort the pregnancy.
When she took the concoction, she bled profusely. She then informed her father about the incident and both of them reported it to the police in the area.
Knowing what he had done, Kwame absconded and the police are looking for him.
Police said efforts were underway to get him arrested to face possible prosecution. Regional Police Spokesman, Chief Inspector Augustine Oppong, confirmed this to DAILY GUIDE in an interview.
The much anticipated Baby Jet Airlines is expected to fully begin operations in February.
Deputy Minister for Aviation, Kwabena Otchere Darko announced that Baby Jet Airline is among other Airlines expected to commence work next month.
“This year, we are looking at new operational areas that will bring in more customers or tourists, so we are linking more of our projects with the tourist centres,†Mr. Darko stated.
He added: “Apart from Passion Air, we also have Unity Air now operating, and we are expecting Baby Jet Airlines, which will be on stream by next month, and we have others also going through the processes, so, at least, we should have about five by close of the year.”
It would be recalled that President Akufo-Addo announced in 2017 that Asamoah Gyan had acquired a licence to operate an airline in Ghana.
This was during the African Airshow held at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).
The footballer himself later disclosed that 95% of work to get the Baby Jet airlines started has been done.
“I can confirm 95% of work has been done and hopefully between December and latest by January next year, the airlines will fully be operational,†Gyan told Accra-based Okay FM in December.
Princess Shyngle is always in the news for the good and bad reasons as she has taken to her Instagram page to make some shocking revelations that being sexy is a curse and at this point of her life, she literally hates her body.
A Nigerian agency fighting against people trafficking says its fact-finding team has found at least 20,000 girls stranded in Mali.
“We received reports concerning the stranded girls and sent a team to find out”, Julie Okah-Donli, the Director General of The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (Naptip), told the BBC Newsday programme.
Ms Okah-Donli said that some of the girls had been tricked into going by traffickers who told them they were being taken to Malaysia for work. Other girls had been kidnapped on their way to or from school.
She said that the agency was working with the Nigerian authorities, Mali’s government, and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to repatriate the girls.
She described the girls’ living conditions as “slave-like”, adding that the agency does not have a definite number of other girls who may also have been trafficked to neighbouring countries.
“We are thinking of going to Ghana and Senegal,” Ms Okah-Donli said about where the agency would next send a team.
Molly Russell, 14, took her own life in 2017. When her family looked into her Instagram account they found distressing material about depression and suicide.
Molly’s father Ian says he believes Instagram is partly responsible for his daughter’s death.
In a statement, Instagram said it “does not allow content that promotes or glorifies self-harm or suicide and will remove content of this kind.”
The UK government is urging social media companies to take more responsibility for harmful online content which illustrates and promotes methods of suicide and self-harm.
Every list of Oscar nominations throws up its share of snubs, surprises and curiosities, and this year’s is no exception.
Here’s a rundown of some of the most interesting.
1) Marina who?
Out of Roma’s whopping 10 nominations, none is more surprising than Marina de Tavira’s inclusion in the best supporting actress category.
While Yalitza Aparicio was widely expected to get a best actress nod for playing the Mexican maid in Alfonso Cuaron’s film, few tipped her co-star, who played the mother, to be in the running as well.
It’s a sign of just how highly Cuaron’s semi-autobiographical portrait of a Mexico City household is regarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
And it puts paid to fears that its members might take against it for its association with Netflix, the subscription giant whose inroads into film have not been universally welcomed.
The three nominations received by the Coen brothers’ The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, another Netflix title, is a further boost to the streaming company’s Hollywood aspirations.
Roma’s best picture nomination, meanwhile, marks the first time a Netflix title has been shortlisted for the top prize.
The eight nominations received by A Star Is Born include two nods for Bradley Cooper in the best actor and adapted screenplay categories.
Yet Cooper didn’t land a best director nomination for his work behind the camera – an omission that does not bode well for his film’s chances of winning best picture.
Only two films in Academy Awards history – Driving Miss Daisy and Argo – have won best picture without also getting a nomination in the best director category.
The same logic would seem to hobble Green Book, whose five nominations do not include a best director nod for Peter Farrelly.
Farrelly is nominated as one of Green Book’s producers and co-writers, so hardly has reason to feel resentment towards the Academy.
One does wonder, though, if his recent apology for flashing his genitals might have lost him the votes he needed to get his solo efforts recognised.
The real winner here? Cold War’s Pawel Pawlikowski, who is no doubt as stunned as anyone by his best director nomination.
3) About blooming time
You can always count on the Academy to do the right thing – eventually.
Take Spike Lee, who has finally got his first best director nod for BlacKkKlansman after three decades of incendiary, albeit erratic brilliance.
At the age of 72, Paul Schrader – writer of such cinematic landmarks as Taxi Driver and Raging Bull – belatedly gets a nomination for his First Reformed screenplay.
After more than 50 years in the business, meanwhile, 74-year-old Sam Elliott – owner of the best moustache in Hollywood – gets recognised at last for A Star is Born.
Getting a nomination, of course, is no guarantee you’ll end up taking home an award.
Just ask songwriter Diane Warren, who has her 10th nomination in the best song category for her contribution to the Ruth Bader Ginsburg documentary RBG.
Not one of her previously shortlisted songs – which include such hits as Starship’s Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now and I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing by Aerosmith – wound up victorious.
4)Wakanda Forever!
Ten years ago, The Dark Knight’s omission from the best picture line-up was one of the reasons why the Academy decided to expand the number of nominees in that category from a mere five titles.
A decade on and 90 years after the first Academy Awards ceremony, Black Panther has become the first superhero movie to receive a best picture nomination.
With Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse also getting a nomination in the best animated feature category, the genre is finally getting the awards recognition many feel it deserves.
What a shame Stan Lee is no longer around to see it.
5) Crazy Rich rejection
Romantic comedy Crazy Rich Asians was a huge hit around the world and prompted much discussion about the representation of minorities on film.
But that didn’t cut much ice with the Academy, which has given Jon M Chu’s film version of Kevin Kwan’s best-seller precisely zero nominations.
That’s the same number Emily Blunt has received this year, despite the striking performances she gave in both Mary Poppins Returns and A Quiet Place.
Given the fact that Julie Andrews won an Oscar for her Mary Poppins in 1965, Blunt perhaps has reason to feel slighted – although at least she has this weekend’s Screen Actors Guild Awards, where she is nominated twice, as a consolation.
6) The all-conquering Corboulds
This year marks the seventh year in succession that at least one of Britain’s three Corbould brothers – Chris, Neil and Paul – has been nominated in the best visual effects category.
That’s an impressive track record for a trio of siblings who now have three Oscar wins and 12 nominations between them.
That’s three more wins than Glenn Close has – her best actress nomination for The Wife is the seventh nomination she has accrued over 36 years.
Small wonder she is currently the bookies’ favourite to finally get her hands on an Oscar by pipping Lady Gaga and Olivia Colman to this year’s best actress statuette.
Serena Williams says she “did not choke” after missing four match points before succumbing to Czech seventh seed Karolina Pliskova in a dramatic Australian Open quarter-final.
The 37-year-old American, going for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam singles title, led 5-1 in the decider but lost 6-4 4-6 7-5 in Melbourne.
Pliskova, 26, won the last six games and won on her third match point.
“I think she just played lights out on match points,” Williams said.
Former world number one Pliskova will meet Japan’s fourth seed Naomi Osaka in the last four on Thursday with eighth seed Petra Kvitova taking on unseeded American Danielle Collins in the other semi-final.
Williams, seeded 16th, played down an ankle injury which she suffered during the rally on her first match point when serving at 5-1, 40-30.
The seven-time Australian Open champion did not win another point on serve after the incident.
“She was hitting lines and went crazy. She played unbelievable on match points,” Williams said.
“It was nothing to do with my ankle. Obviously I made some mistakes but she played really well.”
Williams’ inability to seal victory means a highly anticipated rematch of her controversial US Open final defeat by 21-year-old Osaka must wait.
Like Osaka, Pliskova will be playing in the Australian Open semi-finals for the first time and is one victory from appearing in her second Grand Slam final, following defeat by Germany’s Angelique Kerber in the 2016 US Open.
Pliskova had led by a set and a break at 3-2 before the momentum swung to Williams and victory appeared a formality after she won nine games out of 10 and set up a match point.
But the momentum then swung back again to Pliskova in a chaotic encounter.
“I was almost in the locker room but now stand here as the winner,” she said.
“My mind was in the locker room at 5-1 down but I was still here. I was too passive and mentally down. She got a little bit shaky, I took my chances and I won.
“Naomi Osaka is dangerous but there is nobody more dangerous than Serena.”
Pliskova keeps nerve in thrilling finale
Former world number one Williams was considered the favourite to win the women’s singles, and a first major title since giving birth to her daughter in September 2017, despite not playing competitively since losing to Osaka in New York.
An eighth triumph in Melbourne would have seen her move level with the 44-year-old major wins record set by Margaret Court – but she lost in remarkable circumstances next door to the stadium named after the Australian.
After fighting back from an error-strewn first set to level, Williams manoeuvred herself into a winning position as Pliskova looked beaten in the decider.
Then came a gripping finale which left Williams – and those watching on Laver – stunned.
Holding match point at 5-1, Williams was called for a foot fault and then lost a rally with a forehand into the net.
That was compounded by her appearing to turn her ankle in the process, with a double fault and unforced backhand error giving Pliskova the break – and a glimpse of hope.
Pliskova seized that opportunity and the momentum which came with it, breaking to love for 5-4 and then holding serve, after saving three more match points, to level.
Williams’ serve disintegrated as Pliskova, with the help of a forehand winner for 0-40, broke to love again which left her serving for the match.
Despite a minor blip as Williams saved two match points, Pliskova held her nerve to claim victory in two hours and 10 minutes.
Analysis
BBC Sport tennis correspondent Russell Fuller at Melbourne Park
The first chapter of this match evoked admiration for the way Pliskova was playing.
The second was very familiar, but no less remarkable, as Williams absorbed some serious pressure early in the second set before storming into overdrive.
The final chapter, however, I had not read before.
After Williams’ rolled her ankle and the first match point slipped by, she did not win another point on serve. She offered up three double faults and made the sort of errors you do not associate with her when the match is on the line.
Pliskova took her opportunity magnificently, and could yet end the week as the Australian Open champion and world number one.
For Williams, all roads now lead to Roland Garros where she will be hoping for a more favourable draw. There is a good chance she would have had to beat four top-10 players in a row to win the title here, and has only two top-10 wins to her name since returning to the tour last March.
For two years, Asante McGee was a girlfriend of the now-disgraced R&B superstar, R Kelly, but in the summer of 2016 she went to live in his house in Georgia. There were other women there, she discovered – and very strict rules.
Whenever I was in my room alone, that was when I would call home to speak to my children, as when I was with Robert, he didn’t want us to have our phones and have contact with the outside world.
When I met Robert, or rather R Kelly, it wasn’t like meeting Prince Charming who swept me off my feet. He didn’t wine and dine me, he was just a warm and funny guy. We did normal stuff; he took me shopping and we enjoyed having dinners together.
But there was a moment during a text exchange in 2014 when I think I should have known things weren’t what they seemed. It was really early on in our relationship and I texted him, addressing him as Rob and he said: “No, can you just call me Daddy.” There was no discussion – he just told me his demand. When I look back at that moment, reading the text message in my car, I should have questioned it. I should have seen his behaviour in that moment as a red flag.
I was first introduced to R Kelly in September 2013 by a member of his entourage, when he was performing in a club in Atlanta to promote his next tour. However, we had a proper introduction in January 2014.
A member of his entourage invited me to hang out with R Kelly and some of his friends. We went to the mall and we laughed and talked. We just hung out like two old friends. Before I left, he gave me his number and we immediately started texting each other.
We texted for weeks and one day he invited me to his concert in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which was being held on February 13. After watching him perform on stage, he invited me back to his hotel room and we had our first sexual encounter.
After Valentine’s Day, we kept in contact through text messages and he began inviting me to different concerts across America, and when he visited Atlanta, where I lived, I would stay with him from time to time.
While we were in a relationship together, he made it clear that I wasn’t the only woman he was seeing. The fact that he told me he was dating and sleeping with other women, it made me feel like he was doing his best to be honest with me, so I accepted that and decided to stay in the relationship.
For the first two years of our relationship, everything was great. I would fly out and see him perform, and we would spend time together – and it worked for both of us.
On the Easter weekend of March 2016, he flew me out to Chicago, but I didn’t hear from him for two days and then when I finally heard from him, he had someone come and pick me up to take me to the studio where he was recording.
However, I ended up being locked in a van from 11 o’clock in the morning to eight o’clock at night. When I was let out of the van, by members of his entourage and nephew, I found R Kelly partying in the studio as if nothing had happened. He acted completely normal, but months later, I found out that locking me in a van was a test. He was testing my boundaries and playing mind games.
Then in May 2016, I flew to watch him perform in Dallas. After the concert, one of his assistants said you need to hurry up and get your clothes from the hotel.
I got my clothes and got into the van which was supposed to take me to Oklahoma, so I could catch a flight home to Atlanta, but the bus never stopped. We ended up in a huge house in John’s Creek, Georgia. When I got off the bus and walked into the house, Robert said: “Welcome home, baby.”
He gave me a tour of the house, showed me my room. So I thought I’d stay for the summer because my kids were staying with family for the holidays, which happens every year. So with my kids not going back to school until the end of August, I thought, “OK, I can stay and spend some time with him for a few extra weeks.” It was never a permanent arrangement in my mind.
As soon as I moved in, he started inflicting both emotional and sexual abuse. No, he didn’t force me to have sex with him, but he intimidated me to commit sexual acts and have threesomes with other women when I made it clear that I wasn’t comfortable.
If I said I didn’t want to do something he would shout at me and call me “stupid”. He would tell me that the other girls who were also visiting or living in the house at the time with us had no problem with his sexual requests, so what was my problem? I felt degraded by his actions and his desires.
What caused even more tension between us was his trainer. Her role? Her role was to train me and the other girls how to sexually please and satisfy Robert. According to both Robert and her, they had been sexually involved together for 16 years, since she was 14 years old.
As she had been with him for so long, it was like she was the head girl in school and she used her position to verbally abuse me. I remember one day she and I got into an argument and Robert said I had “black woman syndrome”. He said that I didn’t like being told what to do by a younger black woman and that he wasn’t going to let me, a black woman, tell him what to do.
There is a misconception that R Kelly just preys on younger girls. That isn’t true. Yes, he targets young girls more so, because they are more vulnerable, easier to manipulate and more likely to be star struck. I was 35 when I met R Kelly and he knew I had experienced abuse in a previous relationship. He had me exactly where he wanted me, because he made me trust him. He made me believe he would never hurt me by getting me to open up about my history of abuse.
The hurt and pain didn’t stop with sexual intimidation and emotional abuse. He was controlling.
Once, he grabbed my arm for wearing the wrong shirt. He had rules that I and the other girls who lived with him or had a sexual relationship with him had to follow.
One day, we were supposed to be going out and I was wearing a top with spaghetti straps and shorts. As soon as he saw me, he grabbed me and told me to change. I went upstairs and changed and instead of going out with the other girls, he made me come to the studio with him. When we got to the studio, he told me that my outfit intimidated the other girls in the house. He said that I needed to dress like the other girls, who were wearing tracksuits – but it was over 100F (38C) outside. When I said this, he didn’t care.
He controlled every aspect of my life, while I lived with him. Myself and two other girls who were living with him while I was there could only eat when he said we could eat. Sometimes you could go a whole day without eating because he would simply forget to feed you or he didn’t want to eat. I remember buying a bag of snacks when we went out and hiding them in my room, so I always had food. He even controlled when we could use the toilet or come out of our rooms. We would have to text or call and ask for permission to use the bathroom and if he didn’t respond, you were allowed to come out of your room and stomp on the floor until he heard you.
The abuse and control was pushing me to my edge, but it wasn’t just that. I would have to watch young girls, some as young as 18 years old, perform lewd sex acts on him and I just couldn’t take it any more.
I started plotting my escape.
I called a friend who worked in the area and asked if she would pick me up. Later that day, my friend called me but because of the security and gates she wasn’t able to drive up to the house. I knew I had to take my chance, so I packed my suitcase and decided to just walk out. Robert was outside talking to his staff and he looked shocked, he even chuckled: “So you are leaving?”
I just said: “Yes, I’m leaving.” I carried on walking towards my friend’s car and didn’t look back.
I stayed with R Kelly for three weeks in total. The week after I left he called me and said that I needed to apologise for walking out and that I had to come back home. I didn’t.
A lot of the other women who have suffered abuse from R Kelly have come together and keep each other lifted. I don’t have any regrets telling my story and coming forward, not just because of whom my abuser was, but because saying out loud what I went through will help other women in similar situations tell their stories and for others to believe them.
The Chinese model featured in a Dolce & Gabbana ad campaign accused of racism has said the controversy almost ruined her career.
Three videos, released in November, showed Zuo Ye struggling to eat Italian food including a cannoli and pizza with chopsticks.
Widely seen as offensive it led to a severe backlash in China with several retailers pulling the brand’s products.
Ms Zuo said she felt “guilty and ashamed” but asked for understanding.
Following her statement on Chinese social media network Weibo, the debate has flared up again with some people saying they hope that she can continue her career as a model and that they understand her hands were tied working with D&G.
In a long post on Monday, Ms Zuo said that usually working for an international brand like D&G would be an exciting career step but that in this case “it nearly killed off my modelling career”.
She explains she understands that “it’s about representing the national image of China and Chinese culture” and that she “therefore feels even more guilty and ashamed”.
She also vowed to “improve my behaviour” in the future.
According to her statement, she knew the shoot was about trying Italian delicacies but that she felt very awkward when she was asked to eat food like pizza and pasta with chopsticks.
The director told her to show first shock and disbelief, then roll her eyes, and eventually delight and satisfaction at the presumed tastiness of said Italian dishes, she said.
The model explains that she didn’t see the final clip before it was released.
She also writes she didn’t receive any support during the backlash, even when she, her family and agent were all targeted in widespread attacks on social media.
Support and condemnation
Since Ms Zuo’s post, opinion has been divided on Chinese social media.
While some see her as a victim of the Italian brand and sympathise with her experience, others remain critical saying she only had herself to blame.
Others again point out the problem with the powerlessness of models in the industry as a whole where they are often made to do things they might not necessarily want to do.
In November last year, D&G released the videos on social media ahead of a fashion show in Shanghai.
The entire campaign was accused of trivialising Chinese culture and promoting unflattering stereotypes.
“Chinese consumers are not naïve; they will spot insincerity and tokenism a mile off, and respond accordingly,” Dr Julie Bilby of the department of media and communication at RMIT University in Melbourne told the BBC.
The controversy escalated further when screenshots were circulated showing designer Stefano Gabbana allegedly insulting China in an Instagram chat.
D&G insisted the account had been hacked and apologised publicly for the controversial ad campaign.
The Italian luxury company was forced to cancel the fashion show in Shanghai and their products were removed from several Chinese online retailers.
Consumers in China also called for a boycott of the brand.
Ghana spends up to $230 million every year treating injuries and traffic fatalities.
To make matters worse, there are fewer than 80 orthopaedics in the country, limiting access to emergency treatment.
At a training workshop on trauma reporting for journalists from the Ashanti and three regions of the north, Senior Specialist on Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Dr. Dominic Konadu Yeboah, called for more awareness and investment in the sector to reduce the incidence.
“Over 230 million is lost annually to trauma in Ghana, and we also have figures that suggest that in a period of 1 year, we have over 5,000 reported fractures so the situation that pertains is more serious than what we see so we want to encourage dissemination of information on trauma and all injuries,†he said.
In doing so, we get to appreciate the enormity of the problem, the disabilities, the deaths that this problem is costing us as Ghanaians, and economic loses so that we place it on top of our healthcare agenda and give it the prominence it deserves,†he added.
Statistics from the Motor Traffic and Transport Department of the Ghana Police Service indicates that road accidents in the country continue to increase with many more people dying from road crashes.
More men than women perish in road crashes with some being pronounced dead on arrival at health facilities.
Among the challenges with injuries from road accidents are delays in transporting road accident victims to nearby health facilities and lack of knowledge in handling such victims or administering first aid that could buy victims more time before reaching a nearby hospital.
2,341 killed in 2018 in road accidents; 795 are pedestrians
Data compiled by the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service has revealed that, the total number of commuters killed in road traffic accidents in 2018 recorded a 12.76% jump over the figure for 2017.
This means persons killed rose from 2,076 in 2017 to a total of 2,341 in 2018.
The continuing violence raises further questions about President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s control over the military, which helped to bring him to power 14 months ago, our correspondent adds.
President Mnangagwa has promised that abuses against civilians will not be tolerated.
What has been alleged?
In a blunt statement, the commission said at least eight deaths had been reported since last week, “mostly attributed to use of live ammunition”.
“Armed and uniformed members of the Zimbabwe National Army and the Zimbabwe Republic Police instigated systematic torture. The torture was organised in that they targeted men who stay near areas where barricades had been placed and near areas that were torched by protesters or looted,” it said.
The commission detailed reports of security forces entering houses at night and making men, and even boys as young as 11, lie on the ground where they were then beaten.
“The deployment of the army in quelling civilian disturbances leads to loss of life and serious bodily injuries and other human rights violations, yet the government continues to make such deployments,” the statement said.
Other reports say at least 12 people have been killed and scores treated for gunshot injuries.
On Monday Mr Mnangagwa, 76, broke off a trip to Europe to deal with the continuing unrest.
He had been due to attend the Davos economic summit where he was expected to seek investment for Zimbabwe.
Back in Harare, he took to Twitter to urge all sides to work together to fix a broken economy.
Likewise, violence or misconduct by our security forces is unacceptable and a betrayal of the new Zimbabwe. Chaos and insubordination will not be tolerated. Misconduct will be investigated. If required, heads will roll 3/4
In a series of tweets, he said violence or misconduct by security forces was “unacceptable and a betrayal of the new Zimbabwe”, adding: “If required, heads will roll.”
Many women tried to enter the temple after the court ruling, but were stopped by angry mobs of protesters. Ms Kanaka Durga entered the shrine along with another woman, on 2 January.
Thankachan Vithayatil, a social worker, told BBC Hindi’s Imran Qureshi that when Ms Kanaka Durga came home on Monday evening from the hospital, she had found the door locked. No-one was home, including her husband and two sons.
“She was accompanied by the police and they took her to a government home for women,” Mr Vithayatil added.
After staying the night there, Ms Kanaka Durga went to the police station, where her husband, Krishnan Unni, had been called in for questioning.
“He was not willing to take her home, while she kept insisting that she would go wherever he went,” superintendent Prateesh Kumar, told BBC Hindi.
He added that Mr Unni eventually left without her and she returned to the women’s home.
Police said the matter will now be decided in court as Ms Kanaka Durga had earlier registered a case of domestic violence against her mother-in-law.
“She will petition the court for permission to enter her house. She is very upset,” Mr Thankachan said.
Ms Kanaka Durga and Ms Bindu Ammini, were forced into hiding and had to keep moving locations under police protection as news of their entry sparked violent protests across the state.
When Ms Kanaka Durga first returned home from hiding she told police her mother-in-law beat her.
“They did not want her to return home because they believed she had tarnished their name. Her community was also opposed to women entering the temple,” Prasad Amore, an activist and friend who had campaigned for women’s right to enter the Sabarimala shrine, told BBC Hindi.
The issue has become increasingly contentious in the run-up to India’s general election, scheduled for April and May.
The First Lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo has today donated food items and other household essentials to three child-care institutions across the country.
The beneficiary institutions are the Mother care Orphanage, the Asiakwa SOS Village and the Kyebi School for the deaf, located in the Gomoa Central of the Central and East Akim Districts of Eastern Regions Respectively.
The food items included 30 Bags of Rice, Maxi Cartons of Canned Tomatoes, 2 Big Sized Gallons of Oil, 30 Cartons of Soya Milk Drinks, 50 Kilos of Cow Meat and 5 giant boxes of Shoes.
Presenting the items, the First Lady indicated that the donation is to support efforts already made to put them in readiness to begin the fresh academic term.
The gesture also enforces the continuation of similar philanthropic activities that she is known to have undertaken over the years.
Receiving the items on behalf of the Mother care Orphanage in Swedru, Hon. Naana Eyiah Member of Parliament for Gomoa Central said the unexpected gesture is testament to the enviable reputation of the First Lady as the Queen of Hearts and the Mother figure that the country so desires.
Whilst referring to countless number of similar donations undertaken by the First Lady and her Rebecca Foundation, she was confident that it will to a greater extent help in the nutritional and general wellbeing of the beneficiaries.
On his part, Member of Parliament for Abuakwa South, Hon, Atta Akyea pledged on behalf of the management, staff and beneficiaries of the Asiakwa SOS Village and the Kyebi School for the Blind that the items will be employed to the greater benefit to which it is intended.
Fourteen out of the sixteen companies that applied to explore oil blocks put on offer by the government, have qualified for the next stage of the bidding process.
According to the Ministry of Energy, the fourteen companies will now have up until May 21, 2019 to submit their bids for three (3) out of the five (5) available oil blocks.
The competitive tendering process, according to the government, is part of efforts aimed at ensuring transparency, value for money and getting companies with the requisite financial and technical expertise to exploit the Oil and Gas resource.
The process, which was ushered in by President Nana Akufo-Addo on October 15, 2018, begun with sixteen (16) companies putting in Sixty (60) applications in connection for the different oil blocks.
Out of the 6 oil blocks up for exploration, Block 1 has been reserved for the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC). Blocks 2, 3 and 4 are up for competitive bidding, while Blocks 5 and 6 will be awarded by government after Direct Negotiation with some select oil companies.
All prospective bidders submitted their applications on the 20th of December, 2018.
Head of Communications at the Ministry of Energy, Nana Damoah explained to Citi Business News that transparent processes were used to arrive at the number.
“The objective of prequalification is to ensure that we only allow companies that have the financial muscle, technical competence and are willing to give us the best in terms of local content to move on to the next level. Out of the two companies that failed to make it, one applied for a block reserved for the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) making their bid invalid. The second company did not meet our prequalification requirements. The remaining 14 have been prequalified and have been sent the bidding document together with the evaluation criteria and a scorecard,†he said.
According to Nana Damoah government is on track to awarding the 3 oil blocks up for bidding to the best companies out of the remaining 14 in August this year.
“We are very much on schedule. At the launch event we put out a timeline and you will realize we have met the deadlines so far. Moving forward the next critical date is May 21, 2018. And we are sure we will meet this deadline which will lead to the ultimate conclusion of the award of block in August this year.â€
The original pool of companies that put in a bid for the 3 oil blocks include China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), Cairn Energy, Qatar Petroleum, Global Petroleum Group, First E&P, Sasol, Equinor and Harmony Oil and Gas Corporation. The rest include ExxonMobil, British Petroleum, Tullow Ghana Limited, Total, ENI Ghana, Vitol, Kosmos Energy And Aker Energy.Fourteen out of the sixteen companies that applied to explore oil blocks put on offer by the government, have qualified for the next stage of the bidding process.
According to the Ministry of Energy, the fourteen companies will now have up until May 21, 2019 to submit their bids for three (3) out of the five (5) available oil blocks.
The competitive tendering process, according to the government, is part of efforts aimed at ensuring transparency, value for money and getting companies with the requisite financial and technical expertise to exploit the Oil and Gas resource.
The process, which was ushered in by President Nana Akufo-Addo on October 15, 2018, begun with sixteen (16) companies putting in Sixty (60) applications in connection for the different oil blocks.
Out of the 6 oil blocks up for exploration, Block 1 has been reserved for the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC). Blocks 2, 3 and 4 are up for competitive bidding, while Blocks 5 and 6 will be awarded by government after Direct Negotiation with some select oil companies.
All prospective bidders submitted their applications on the 20th of December, 2018.
Head of Communications at the Ministry of Energy, Nana Damoah explained to Citi Business News that transparent processes were used to arrive at the number.
“The objective of prequalification is to ensure that we only allow companies that have the financial muscle, technical competence and are willing to give us the best in terms of local content to move on to the next level. Out of the two companies that failed to make it, one applied for a block reserved for the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) making their bid invalid. The second company did not meet our prequalification requirements. The remaining 14 have been prequalified and have been sent the bidding document together with the evaluation criteria and a scorecard,†he said.
According to Nana Damoah government is on track to awarding the 3 oil blocks up for bidding to the best companies out of the remaining 14 in August this year.
“We are very much on schedule. At the launch event we put out a timeline and you will realize we have met the deadlines so far. Moving forward the next critical date is May 21, 2018. And we are sure we will meet this deadline which will lead to the ultimate conclusion of the award of block in August this year.â€
The original pool of companies that put in a bid for the 3 oil blocks include China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), Cairn Energy, Qatar Petroleum, Global Petroleum Group, First E&P, Sasol, Equinor and Harmony Oil and Gas Corporation. The rest include ExxonMobil, British Petroleum, Tullow Ghana Limited, Total, ENI Ghana, Vitol, Kosmos Energy And Aker Energy.
