Caitlyn Scott-Lee attended the Buckinghamshire school Wycombe Abbey.
A student who was discovered dead in the boarding school’s grounds two weeks before her GCSE examinations has received tributes.
The first photo of year 11 student Caitlyn Scott-Lee since her passing on Friday has been released today.
Around 11.40 p.m., Thames Valley Police were called to Wycombe Abbey School in Buckinghamshire.
Her body is understood to have been discovered in a wooded area close to the sports centre playing grounds.
The Year 11 student was found dead on Friday, April 21
Circumstances around the 16-year-old’s death remain unclear, but the force said it is not being treated as suspicious. A file is being prepared for the coroner.
Her family has since released a website dedicated to the girl, who was described as ‘much loved’ and ‘a little angel’.
A statement read: ‘Caitlyn was a well loved member of the Wycombe Abbey community and had a particular passion for the theatre, arts, music, and the environment.
‘Caitlyn was gifted with autism and had an ability to see the world uniquely and thrive at her boarding house.
‘The school, friends, and family are grieving her loss but we are comforted in her personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
‘Caitlyn enjoyed nature, the environment, sustainability, and birds. She would have appreciated potted plants over cut flowers, and support for The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
‘Tributes and donations can be made in Caitlyn’s memory, here: https://caitlyn-scott-lee.muchloved.com’
In an email to parents in Caitlyn’s year, known as Upper V, this week, headmistress Jo Duncan said: ‘They are a close year group and, as you will understand, they are very shocked and upset.
‘It is an extremely difficult time for everyone and we will do our utmost to provide the additional pastoral care the girls will need.’
Ms Duncan ended her letter saying: ‘I am sure that you will join me and everyone at Wycombe Abbey in sending our deepest sympathies to Caitlyn’s parents, siblings and wider family who are in our thoughts and prayers at this sad time.’
A parents’ charity event and a funfair at the weekend were cancelled as a mark of respect.
In its most recent Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) report, Wycombe Abbey was rated ‘excellent’ for academic achievements and personal development.
Former pupils include Dominic Cummings’ wife Mary Wakefield, Clarissa Ward, CNN chief international correspondent, and actress Sally Phillips.
Actress and tv host Empress Nana Ama McBrown has revealed when how she lost her virginity.
According to McBrown,she was left with few months to her 18th birthday when the unfortunate incident occurred to her.
“Abusuafoɔ, it wasn’t intentional. I was around 18. Few months to 18 and like I said it wasn’t intentional. Some guy did that to me. If you’re alive and not dead, you know yourself,” she told Captain Smart on Maakye Friday, April 28, 2023.
Meanwhile, Onua Showtime with McBrown premieres this Sunday, April 30, 2023 at 7pm.
The journey on an uncharted path, of entertainment, education, enlightenment and learning comes your way 7pm every Friday and Sunday after the premiere this Sunday.
Onua Showtime with McBrown will be one like no other as it transports into the lives of its guests and studio audience. True life experiences and life stories that will inspire and uplift its viewers with health discussions that will keep people healthy, interspersed with nuggets of wealth that will aid viewers with financial independence, social issues that matter, real-life entertainment, exclusive cuisine and games.
The show will present real-life superheroes and find out what makes them tick. Patrons of the show will be inspired by the struggles and celebrate the successes of these great achievers and be impacted by emotional stories that touch the heart of people and impact society.
Onua Showtime with McBrown is a show for the people featuring education, discussions, music, trends, dance and lifestyle discussions.
It will worth the experience as Ghanaians get ready for the ride of a lifetime.
As you may recall, rumors that circulated on social media just a few days ago claimed that Fadda Dickson, the head of management at UTV, had removed McBrown’s Kitchen from the TV station.
This is because he strongly believes Mcbrown disrespected and betrayed Dr Osei Kwame Despite and himself had for her by exiting without informing them and joining ONUA Tv in the process.
Speaking in an interview with Berla Mundi on TV3’s New Day, Mcbrown confirmed that it’s true that there’s currently a problem with the airing of her show on UTV.
As revealed by the star actress, ‘Mcbrown’s Kitchen’ is her own production hence she pays UTV for it to be aired.
She also claimed that she has contacted the management as to why they no longer televised her who but she’s yet to receive a reply from them with an explanation.
In the dying part of her explanation, Mcbrown subtly jabbed that she’s now at a place she has received enormous love, admiration and respect hence she doesn’t care if UTV decides to terminate her contract with them.
And besides, her show is well known hence there’s no way it’ll collapse even if she moves it from UTV.
Columnist E Jean Carroll faced cross-examination on her second day on the witness stand Thursday in Federal District Court in Manhattan. Carroll, 79, claims that Trump, 76, sexually assaulted her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in 1996.
Trump’s lawyer Joe Tacopina barraged Carroll with dozens of questions on why she did not scream during the alleged rape.
‘I’m not a screamer,’ she said. ‘You can’t beat up on me for not screaming.’
Former Elle magazine advice columnist E Jean Carroll (right) answers questions from her lawyer Michael Ferrara at the start of the third day of the civil trial (Picture: Reuters)
Carroll added: ‘People always ask, “Why didn’t you scream?” It keeps women silent.’
Tacopina painted a picture of Carroll waiting more than two decades to go public with her accusations so that she could sell more copies of a 2019 memoir.
Carroll pushed back, saying that 2017 rape allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein and the surrounding #MeToo movement of women sharing their stories of sexual abuse prompted her to speak up.
‘It caused me to realize that staying silent does not work,’ she said.
Ex-President Donald Trump’s lawyer Joe Tacopina (left) arrives for the third day of a civil trial against his client at Manhattan Federal Court on Thursday (Picture: Getty Images)
As Tacopina continued to press Carroll on why she did not scream, she raised her voice and said: ‘I’m telling you: He raped me whether I screamed or not.’
Tacopina brought up an excerpt from Carroll’s 2019 book she was working on but was never published.
‘I’ve become persuaded that he wants to kill me… as he stacks the courts, my rights over my body are being taken away… I’m afraid that my right to free speech will go next,’ Carroll wrote.
Her excerpt also stated that Trump was ‘poisoning my water’ and ‘he’s polluting my air’.
Tacopina questioned Carroll on why she could not recall the exact date that Trump allegedly raped her.
‘I wished to heaven we could give you a date,’ Carroll replied.
In opening statements, Tacopina had said Trump cannot give an alibi without knowing the precise date of Carroll’s allegation.
Tacopina aimed to highlight Carroll’s lapses in memory. He asked her if she first spotted Trump through a revolving door.
‘I know it’s a revolving door,’ she said.
Then Tacopina pointed out an excerpt from her book in which she wrote that it ‘could have been a regular door at that time, I can’t recall’.
The cross-examination began tense, with Tacopina saying, ‘good morning’, and Carroll not saying anything but nodding slightly. She responded after Tacopina’s second ‘good morning’.
Trump’s lawyer asked Carroll detailed questions, like if his client said the word ‘lingerie’ in asking her to advise him on a gift for another woman. Tacopina also asked which floor of the store she and Trump were on.
US District Judge Lewis Kaplan on various occasions called out Tacopina for ‘repetitive’ and ‘argumentative’ questions to Carroll.
Carroll took the stand on the third day of the trial at 10.30am, with one of her attorneys, Mike Ferrara, finishing up his questioning that began on Wednesday.
Kaplan dismissed the jury in the late afternoon and said the trial would resume on Monday. Tacopina said he was ‘more than halfway’ through questioning Carroll. The judge reminded jurors not to speak or read about the case.
Shortly before the jury was dismissed, Trump held a campaign speech in New Hampshire. He slammed his other legal cases he faces, but did not mention Carroll or the rape trial. Trump has not yet appeared in court for the rape trial and is not obligated to.
Chairperson of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Kathleen Addy, has urged state and non-state actors to come together to help combat triggers of violent extremism and terrorism in the country.
She said in the wake of growing terrorist attacks in the Sahel Region and neighbouring countries, it was important for all stakeholders to work closely to deal with in-country situations that could fuel terrorism.
Ms Addy stressed that illegal mining, political tensions, chieftaincy conflicts, perceived marginalisation, unemployment and religious sentiments, as well as tribalism, were tendencies that exposed the county to terrorist attack, for which reason all actors must work together to nip them in the bud.
“In particular, I want to appeal to the media to play an active role in educating and sensitising Ghanaians to the threats of terrorism and its impact on the country.
The media is a powerful tool that can be used in a positive way to help prevent violent extremism in this country and I call on journalists to be circumspect in how they report on this issue,” she added.
Capacity building
Ms Addy was speaking at a capacity-building workshop on Preventing and Containing Violent Extremism (PCVE) organised by the NCCE for journalists in Tamale in the Northern Region on Wednesday (April 26).
The workshop drew participants from eight regions, including Northern, North-East, Savannah, Upper West, Upper East, Oti, Bono and Bono East.
The workshop was meant to equip journalists with relevant information on terrorism and its impact so that they would use their media platforms to educate and sensitise members to the public.
It was also meant to court the support of the media to help the NCCE implement the PCVE project that had been rolled out in the northern part of Ghana.
The PCVE is an 18-month European Union (EU) funded project, which started on November 26, 2022, to prevent and contain violent extremism through the promotion of social cohesion, peace and tolerance in the five regions in northern Ghana and other hotspots in the country.
The project also seeks to strengthen state actors, security agencies, the media and other non-state actors at the national and community levels in the fight against violent extremism and to prevent individuals identified as being at risk from joining violent or criminal groups.
Proactive action
A Principal Analyst at the National Counter Terrorism and Fusion Centre of the Ministry of National Security, Dr Baba Sayuti, described the initiative by the NCCE to rally stakeholders to help prevent violent extremism in the country as a boost to the fight against terrorism.
Again, he observed that there was a link between organised crime and terrorism, same way illegal mining and terrorism financing also had a connection “because terrorists can do illegal mining to get more money to buy ammunition, recruit people, bribe officials and work their way through”.
He stressed that the situation was even more dire, especially when many foreigners were engaged in illegal mining in Ghana.
“The National Security is not sleeping.
We are working every day to stem the tides and make sure we keep an eye on that area to prevent the penetration of terrorists,” he said.
Stakeholders
Dr Sayuti stressed that all stakeholders should turn their attention towards addressing the root causes of terrorist activities rather than waiting to respond after it had occurred.
He observed that since poverty and marginalisation were key triggers of terrorism, there must be deliberate policies by the government to create employment opportunities for people in the areas that were deprived.
“Heading to the political season, we need to tread cautiously because inflamed political passions can be a fertile ground for terrorists to penetrate,” he said.
While commending the NCCE for collaborating with the media to disseminate information on preventing terrorism, he stressed that the media played a leading role in promoting peace in the country.
He urged the media to prevent politicians from using their platforms to inflame passions or fuel conflict.
The former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, has defended his son’s ownership of a mining concessions in the country.
According to him, contrary to assertions in the public, his son, Jojo Frimpong-Boateng, has not committed any illegality with the mining concessions he owns.
Speaking in an interview on GTV, on Thursday, April 27, 2023, Prof Frimpong-Boateng said his son used the right tools for the preparatory works on his mines and started mining when the state gave him the go ahead.
He also refuted claims that there was some foul play in the registration of Jojo Frimpong-Boateng’s mining company.
“I had a company called Symphony which was registered in 1990 or so, which does various business. My son finished his national service at AngloGold Ashanti… in Obuasi and he said looking at how the environment was being destroyed (by mining), he wants to start a large-scale company that will be exemplary.
“He wanted to register a company, so I said don’t do it, just take my old company to Registry Generals Department and add mining company to it. So, he went ahead and he was given several concessions then he decided that he could not work on five concessions so he gave three away and he concentrated on two.
“On the two concessions, he did recognisance studies and after the studies, if you go to the field, you will not even notice that someone has been to the forest. After that, he started prospecting the land and it was done in such a way that if you go there, you will not even see a trace of any machine,” he said.
“He did an exemplary work, he did proper recognisance, proper prospecting without disturbing the soil or water or the forest in any way. That is how it is supposed to be done, not taking excavators to the forest and digging everywhere and mining for gold in the guise of recognisance or prospecting,” Prof Frimpong Boateng reiterated.
The former science and technology minister has been criticised by some factions in the public, following his release of a report on illegal small-scale mining in Ghana which cited top officials in the government.
Some say he (Prof Frimpong-Boateng) has exonerated himself and his son as they are also beneficiaries of illegal small-scale mining, galamsey.
Nollywood actress, Anita Joseph, has opined that not every marriage is a scam as many people perceive.
In a post on Instagram, the actress stated that marriage is very sweet but it depends on the partner one has.
Anita advised men to accept responsibility and quit embarrassing their spouses in order to have a happy marriage.
She also advised ladies to be humble and polite to their husbands.
Many people reacted to the post due to their conviction that both husband and wife have a part to play in preserving and nurturing the marriage.
See comments here:
dr_chidominika: “I support her on this one Abeg! Not all marriages are scam! I choose to be positive”
grey_violets: “Exactly. The both parties have a quota to contribute”
margaretsundayey: “Since Anita have problem with uche am Abit not happy.cos I always love how the comment on each other post .”
rachii_e: “She has said it all”
therealbigbaaaby: “Just enjoy ur own , no come dey do like say na ur prayer answer pass”
rikkyflefle: “No lies .. it only takes two mature and responsible adults to make a marriage work… there’s no marriage without up and down (no shit o) how u handled it makes it more amazing ## choose ur partner wisely …”
untamed_deals: “Marriage wen NA only they inside they enjoy am the guy don tier u tie am keep for there”
The Majority Leader and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has mounted a strong defence for the 1st Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu, after the latter endorsed Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
He stated that the 1st Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu, did no wrong with his declaration of support for the vice president in the NPP flagebearship race.
According to him, the 1st deputy speaker is not a leader of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) either in parliament or the party’s national executive and is at liberty to endorse any of the candidates who will be contesting in the party’s presidential primaries.
Speaking in an Oyerepa TV interview, on Thursday, April 27, 2023, the majority leader, who is also the Member of Parliament for Suame, added that, unlike Osei-Owusu (Joe Wise), he is not at liberty to endorse any of the presidential aspirants because he is a leader in parliament and it is his job to bring all the MPs together.
“I’m the majority leader in parliament and irrespective of the person who is picked to be the party’s presidential candidate, I have to galvanise support in parliament. It is just like asking the party’s chairman or the general secretary whom they support… it will be prejudicial.
“Joe Wise is the 1st deputy speaker but when you are talking about the leadership of the parliamentary caucuses, the deputy speakers are not included.
“He (Joe Wise) can express his opinion openly but some of us must be circumspect,” he said in Twi.
In an interview earlier in April, the first deputy speaker of parliament said that majority of NPP members of parliament are behind Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia in his bid to become president.
Joe Wise said he is one of the over 100 MPs supporting the presidential bid of Dr Bawumia.
“Most of the NPP MPs at the last count were about 118 MPs and I am one of them. I speak for myself and my support for Bawumia, and I know over 100 NPP MPs also support Bawumia,” he told the morning show host of Kumasi-based Oyerepa TV, Kwesi Parker-Wilson.
The Carlos Rosa Foundation is embarking on an awareness campaign to help clear misconceptions about maternal care and equip pregnant women with the requisite knowledge to reduce mortalities.
According to the Ghana Statistical Service, maternal mortality ratio is estimated at 485 deaths per 100,000 births.
To mitigate the situation, the Foundation took its campaign to the Old Tafo municipality, particularly targeting teenage girls.
A total of 181 women died during childbirth in 2022 in the Ashanti Region.
Lack of health infrastructure and maternal awareness have largely contributed to the existing high maternal and infant deaths.
The situation prevents pregnant women from being conscious in accessing modern obstetric care, especially at the community level.
This calls for the strengthening of primary health care at the community level with adequate information for pregnant mothers.
The Carlos Rosa Foundation is embarking on an awareness campaign to help clear misconceptions about maternal care.
A team member of the Foundation, Kwame Brefo Kodua, says the choice of Tafo in the Ashanti region for the campaign is influenced by the increase in maternal mortality in the area.
“Three months ago, we paid a visit to the Queenmother and we discussed the maternal mortality awareness campaign. We visited some communities within Tafo as well as some health facilities.
“They explained the intensity of the issue and the importance of initiatives like this, so we decided to support them with this campaign. We advise that pregnant women make health care a priority during their 9-month journey,” he said.
Nana Obi Yaa Atakora II, queen mother of the Tafo traditional area, advised young girls to abstain from sexual activities which may result in pregnancy.
“By the courtesy of the Carlos Rosa Foundation, we have the education. But we need to prevent the situation before we seek care. Girls here should abstain and take precautions to prevent teenage pregnancy.
“It becomes a burden for girls who are pregnant to take care of themselves and that is too many problems. Stay away, focus on your education or if you are interested in vocational or trade, focus on it and avoid getting pregnant,” she said.
Beneficiaries expressed appreciation for the education.
“Some teenage pregnant girls are shy to go for medication and those who go do not use the medications they are given.
“It has helped us a lot. I have learned that I need to take care of myself, not engage in indecent sexual activities. And when it eventually happens, I should take responsibility and still cater for myself,” said Mercy Asamoah.
Beads have been utilized across various African cultures for adornment, cultural significance, and spiritual purposes for many years.
The waist bead in particular, has consistently been a generational unique feminine accessory, that has gained popularity in lovemaking, with many men finding them attractive and stimulating.
Some men who exclusively spoke to GhanaWeb, have expressed that the sight of their partner wearing waist beads can be a major turn-on, due to the feel and sound of the beads against their partner’s skin.
For instance, according to some men, playing with the beads and watching them roll during the doggy-style position can be particularly alluring.
“I easily get turned on when his woman comes out of the shower, dripping wet, and has her beads on. This makes me easily have an erection, and while making love in the doggy position, I go crazy over her beads rolling up to her back area,” a young man expressed.
“Beads are like stimulation for me to easily have an erection, and if it was my intention to sleep with a woman once, I am able to make love to her again because of how easily I am turned on by the waist beads she wears,” said another.
Others also mentioned that grabbing and holding onto their partner’s waist beads during lovemaking makes them feel powerful and in control.
“Oh Yes!! I do love beads on my woman when making love. There’s something to that feeling of roughness on the lady’s skin. There are ways to even grab onto the beads that make it feel like you’re more in control. I love beads, to be honest,” another stated.
“Beads accentuate the curvature of a woman and elevate their sensuality in a way that resonates with Afrocentric accessories. It captures the senses of a man in a way that’s primordial and lustful,” said another.
Other men opt for a variety; a different kind of waist ornament.
“I don’t mind beads.” For me personally, just a thin gold chain is sexy. If my girlfriend is around the house wearing a crop top and shorts, it’s a nice feminine accessory. Not all beads, though,” an individual said.
“Oh, I love it. It makes the lady attractive. And shows the Humos love it. Its role is more of a garnishing effect,” another asserted.
However, it is important to recognize that cultural beliefs and spiritual concerns may influence how other people view beads in the context of lovemaking.
This was captured in the views of respondents who shared a different view.
“Beads on the waist are great and good-looking!” I love to see them on ladies, and they are super attractive to behold, but not on my woman. This is because of my religious and traditional beliefs and because of stories I have heard about beads. There was this lady who confessed to spiritually messing up the lives and finances of guys with seven beads she wears during sexual intercourse. So although beads are a great turn-on, the potential risks are many. “I would pass!,” an individual said.
DISCLAIMER: Independentghana.com will not be liable for any inaccuracies contained in this article. The views expressed in the article are solely those of the author’s, and do not reflect those of The Independent Ghana
A three-year-old child was sold by her mother for drugs and chilling video shows the moment she was taken away in the middle of the night to be raped and murdered.
In exchange for £10 worth of crack cocaine, Aurelia Salinas allegedly allowed her drug-dealing boyfriend to kidnap her daughter Luz Maida.
The kid vanished without a trace.
On April 22 in Pedro Juan Caballero, Paraguay, her small corpse was found wrapped in a shirt on top of a bed in an abandoned house, angering locals.
Luz Maida, 3, was taken in the night after her mother traded her for crack cocaine (Picture: Newsflash)
Disturbing CCTV footage shows Luz trying to escape from her kidnapper’s clutches as he carries her away from her home.
He reportedly ‘bought’ the girl off her mother for just 30 pieces of crack cocaine.
As he carries her away, the dealer- who has not been named- can be seen holding Luz in one arm and apparently slaps her with the other to stop her from wriggling.
Furious locals reportedly tried to lynch Salinas as she was being arrested after reportedly confessing to police her involvement in her daughter’s murder.
Her boyfriend later confessed to the murder, according to local media.
Salinas first told police that Luz had disappeared while she was sleeping, but admitted that she had sold her daughter for drugs after police discovered the CCTV footage.
Both Salinas and her boyfriend were arrested following the confession, along with a 17-year-old who is allegedly also involved.
Aurelia Salinas, and her drug dealing boyfriend were arrested in connection with the ncident(Credits: Newsflash)
According to police, Salinas was under the influence of drugs and seemed unconcerned while police searched for the girl.
More than 300 locals attended Luz’s funeral and some neighbours later burned down the house where her body had been found.
Investigators said the family had a ‘history of tragedies’, and Salinas has seven other children, including a 12-year-old girl she allegedly allowed to be sexually abused by a 30-year-old man.
The eagerly awaited fifth album from Ghanaian dancehall artist Stonebwoy, “5th Dimension,” has been made available through Def Jam Recordings.
The beloved musician, who is considered a pioneer of the infectious blend of reggae, dancehall, and fusions from Africa known as “Afro-Dancehall,” has garnered over 4 million followers on Instagram and over 3 million on Facebook.
The aptly titled “5th Dimension” showcases Stonebwoy’s dynamic style, lyrical prowess, and captivating voice, which have made him a fan favourite not only in his native Ghana but across the world.
The 5D album features collaborations with several international artists, including Shaggy, Mereba, and Davido, among others, plus world-renowned multi-Grammy® winning Beninese-French artist Angelique Kidjo on 5D’s climactic closing track, “Manodzi.”
Stonebwoy’s music has always been a reflection of his heritage, upbringing, and experiences, and “5th Dimension” is no different.
The album is a perfect representation of his unique style and eclectic sound, which has earned him several accolades, including the BET Award for Best International Act in 2015.
Stonebwoy in a recent interview expressed his excitement about the release of his fifth album, saying, “I’m thrilled to share this new music with my fans. I’ve poured my heart and soul into this project, and I can’t wait for people to hear it. ‘5th Dimension’ is a celebration of life, love, and the beauty of our world. I hope it brings joy to everyone who listens to it.”
In an industry flooded with people trying to establish their identity, Stonebwoy stands as one unique artiste with a sense of direction and purpose. He recorded his first track in a family studio over a decade ago. Thence, Stonebwoy has never looked back.
Check out the full tracklist below
5TH DIMENSION by STONEBWOY – tracklist: 1. Life & Money featuring Stormzy 2. Far Away 3. More of You
4. Ava Wum Lo
5. Therapy featuring Oxlade & Tiwa Savage 6. Forget 7. Secret Lover featuring Dexta Daps 8. Run AM featuring Mereba
9. Into The Future 10. In Control featuring Jaz Karis 11. Activate featuring Davido 12. My Sound featuring Shaggy 13. Apotheke with Maphorisa 14. African System 15. Where is the Love 16. Non-Stop 17. Manodzi featuring Angelique Kidjo
The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has commenced assessing the complaint filed by Member of Parliament (MP) for South Dayi in the Volta Region, for an investigation into the illegal mining report authored by Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, Chairman of the now-defunct Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM).
He has accused government officials of colluding in the fight against illegal mining, despite the report having been dismissed by the Presidency but Mr Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, the MP has asked the Commission to investigate the issue.
Other stakeholders are also calling for an independent probe into the allegations.
Joseph Whittal, Commissioner of CHRAJ, explained that various procedures would be initiated before a full-scale inquiry begins because the procedures of CHRAJ required it to make an assessment of the complaints.
He pointed out that procedures of the Commission required they made an assessment of the complaints and not every complaint that was filed met the standards expected of a complaint that could be admitted for investigation.
“We will do the assessment, determine which of the mandates, if any, has been evoked by the petition, after which if there are any further and better particulars in terms of clarification of documents, we will ask for that from the lawyers of the complainant,” Mr. Whittal indicated.
Mr. Dafeamekpor called for public hearing as CHRAJ launched a probe into unlawful mining activities in the country.
In a 37-page document, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation, accused important government political actors of poisoning significant water bodies.
Nii Kpakpo Samoa Addo, lawyer for the MP, after presenting the petition, said he believed the committee would conduct a thorough investigation and cautioned that the nation would be importing water in future.
He noted that just as the public had shown interest in the filing of the petition, they should follow up processes and ask questions about how far the investigations had got to and not seem like the issues were solely for the petitioner.
According to him, the petitioner would be issuing letters to check up on the issues every week to find out what was happening saying “I have been given utmost assurance the issues would be taken seriously, so l leave the rest to the commission.
“We will give them the benefit of the doubt to do an excellent job since they have done that in the past and CHRAJ stood up to issues of corruption and public interests which is existential matter and must be thoroughly investigated,” Nii Addo intimated.
Yara Ghana, a fertilizer company, has assured farmers in the country of the availability of fertilizers in the quantities required and at affordable prices to make this year’s farming season successful.
Mr Kudjoe Agbenyega, Acting Managing Director of Yara Ghana, who gave the assurance, said “This year, I can assure that there will be no shortage of fertilizers as far as Yara is concerned. We will bring all the products in the quantities that are required to make the season successful. So, farmers can rest assured that fertilizers will be readily available for them in every part of the country.”
He was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Tamale on the sidelines of a stakeholders’ meeting on the Sustainable Soyabean Production in Northern Ghana project.
The GNA sought to find out measures put in place to ensure availability of fertilizers for this year’s farming season given the fact that there had been a shortage of fertilizers in previous years, which was attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.
Mr Agbenyega said “You know we had the issue of COVID-19, which necessitated that some countries held back on exports. For example, China held back, some countries in Europe also held back. Thankfully, COVID-19 is behind us now even though we still have some challenges with COVID-19. So, because of that, prices shot up a little. But now thankfully, prices are going down and we are happy to pass on that reduction in price to our farmers.”
He spoke about the Russia-Ukraine situation on imports saying “It affected imports last year but generally, we have found solutions; other sources of bringing fertilizer to Ghana. So, that problem has been solved a little. There are still issues of imports from Russia but by and large, I think we have seen the end of that problem.”
On the Grow Ghana Project being implemented by the company; Yara Ghana said it was running this year as well adding it had started in the south of the country where the farming season had begun and would be replicated in the north of the country too at the beginning of farming season.
Under the Grow Ghana Project, farmers are to buy two bags of fertilizer and receive one bag free.
Mr Agbenyega said “We are very happy to help the farmer to farm in a very scientific way in a way that will help them improve their livelihoods, and income levels.”
The Public Relations Officer of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA) Robert Klah, has revealed that some of the board members responsible for selecting nominees and winners of the prestigious music awards have once received threats, thus this year their identities will not be disclosed.
In an interview with Caleb Nii Boye on 3FM, Robert Klah explained that the decision was made to protect the safety of the board members.
Klah stated that VGMA has received threats in the past, and the board members have been subjected to online harassment, which has led to concerns about their safety.
As a result, the decision was made to keep their identities confidential to avoid any potential harm.
“The thing is this we’ve had some board members who’ve had threats before so the best thing is not to share information about these people,” Robert Klah submitted
Citing the Grammy Awards as reference, the P.R.O revealed that there are over 11,000 decision makers who comprised members of the Recording Academy and most were relatively unknown.
“There are 11,000 plus people responsible for the Grammys and I don’t know if you know all of them and I don’t know if anybody is responsible for knowing all of them,” he said.
He added that the board members are a diverse group of individuals with various backgrounds and expertise in the music industry, and they take their responsibilities very seriously.
The VGMA is one of the most significant music awards events in Ghana and has been running for over two decades. The awards recognize and celebrate the achievements of musicians, producers, and other stakeholders in the music industry.
The decision to keep the identities of the board members confidential has been met with mixed reactions from the public, with some people expressing concern about the lack of transparency in the awards process.
However, others have supported the decision, citing the need to protect the safety of the board members.
Klah emphasized that the VGMA remains committed to promoting and celebrating excellence in the music industry and will continue to ensure that the awards process is fair and transparent.
“At the end of the day, you need to trust the system, the VGMA has been running for X number of years and as a human institution you’ll certain have flaws and that’s fine but if it’s working and you know that majority of hwat we’ve been doing then I think that we should be able to trusr the system,” he pointed out.
The 2023 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards is scheduled to take place at the Grand Arena in Accra on the 6th of May, 2023, and broadcasted live on television via TV3.
Deana Welker had already spent days wandering around Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, in search of safety while gun fights raged around the city when word of a probable evacuation arrived. She was also frightened.
The American educator had left her house just after fierce fighting began out between two factions vying for control of the nation, and she was staying at her second hotel when she and other educators were awakened in the middle of the night.
As she told CNN, “We had heard that the embassy personnel was being evacuated by helicopter, so our (school administration) advised, ‘Get dressed, get your bags ready and just wait. And we had a vague notion that they would take us.
They waited, well into the early hours of the morning – before finally getting an email from the US State Department. The message amounted to, “Oh yay, US embassy staff has been evacuated. Private citizens should not expect help,” Welker said.
US President Joe Biden announced last Saturday that the military had extracted US government personnel from Khartoum, the evacuation coming after a week of conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, and the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF – which has left hundreds dead and thousands wounded.
However, the US State Department has advised that American citizens in Sudan “should have no expectation of a US government-coordinated evacuation at this time” due to the security situation and the closure of the airport in Khartoum.
“It is imperative that US citizens in Sudan make their own arrangements to stay safe in these difficult circumstances,” said State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel at a news briefing last Friday.
Many American citizens have voiced anger and disbelief that they have been left to fend for themselves – many, like Welker, having to rely on other countries’ evacuation operations to get out of the country.
Welker finally made it back home to North Carolina on Wednesday – but knows she’s one of the lucky ones.
“I’m out, I’m safe, but so many people I care about and worked with (aren’t),” she said. “I just worry because now the internet keeps going out, so it’s hard to get information and find out who’s where and who’s safe.”
Welker, who worked at an international school in Khartoum, woke up on April 15 to loud gunfire and explosions outside as fighting between the rival groups erupted.
She and many other teachers live on a main road that leads to the airport, one of the main sites of conflict, meaning “there was just gunfire and artillery going off right in front of our building,” she said.
She spent the entire first day on the floor of her dining room – the only room in her home without windows.
“I spent the whole day just listening to gunfire and hoping it wasn’t going to be coming through the walls and windows,” Welker recalled.
The heavy clashes kept her up for the next two nights – before things escalated on April 16, with several RSF fighters entering her building, she said. They held the building guards at gunpoint and only left after they were offered water and food, she said.
The incident shook the residents; Welker and her fellow teachers decided to flee that night, grabbing a single bag of essentials and heading to a nearby hotel frequently used by US embassy staff.
They stayed there for the next two nights – but didn’t feel much safer, with the constant sound of artillery close by. Even when the two factions agreed to ceasefires, they were repeatedly broken, and the fighting never stopped, she said.
Another problem soon arose. With the entire city sheltering indoors, gunfire raining down on the streets, buildings shelled and hospitals attacked, everyone was running low on supplies.
“The hotel staff called us in and said, ‘Look, we’re running out of everything, and we’re not going to be able to provide water or food, and you’ve all got to find somewhere else to go,’” Welker said.
So the teachers, under the school administration’s guidance, found a bigger hotel down the road further from the fighting. Welker recalls taking a winding path there in the car, trying to avoid checkpoints and passing by destroyed houses on the way.
They had been there for two nights when they got the 3 a.m. call – and waited for an evacuation that never came for them. “That was pretty deflating, to say the least,” she said.
Bureaucracy stalling at least one family’s evacuation from Sudan
Anxiety and uncertainty set in, with nobody sure what would come next – but good news came a few hours later. The French Embassy in Sudan was carrying out a separate evacuation for French citizens, and foreigners of other nationalities were welcome.
Welker and the other American teachers crammed into several cars with their bags, driving again through war-battered streets until they arrived at the French Embassy. They were herded onto charter buses that drove north of Khartoum to an air base, put onto a military plane, and finally flown out of Sudan to neighboring Djibouti on April 24.
From there, everyone booked their flights home; between all the travel, it took her two days to get back to North Carolina. “But I was like, I don’t care as long as I’m out of there,” Welker said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the US is now working to develop “a sustained process” that would allow Americans to leave Sudan over land, likely to Port Sudan.
“We believe that the best way to have an enduring capability to help people leave Sudan if that’s what they so choose is overland,” Blinken said at a news conference at the State Department on Thursday.
“And we are working to establish a process that would enable people to move overland to a place where they can more easily exit the country, in all likelihood port Sudan. So that’s under very active development.”
But many Americans stranded in Sudan – and those who have escaped – say it’s not enough, and comes too late.
CNN spoke with multiple people who say the State Department has provided “barely any assistance” since the deadly violence broke out, and that they and their family members have had to make “life or death decisions” about when and how to leave Sudan with very little guidance.
Those who spoke to CNN also pushed back on the argument made by US officials that they had warned Americans not to be in Sudan.
The travel advisory level has been “Level 4: Do Not Travel” since June 2021, and the State Department has consistently advised US citizens to “have evacuation plans that do not rely on US government assistance.”
However, there were no recent security alerts explicitly advising Americans to leave the country.
Welker also argued that Americans in Sudan are largely there for humanitarian and educational reasons – and that the US should help retrieve all those who want to leave.
“It’s not that these people went there on holiday,” she said. “There’s no reason they should be left behind.”
Actress Fella Makafuihas allegedly been duped by an employee.
She, however, has sworn to go heaven and beyond to track her employee who is allegedly on the run with her GHS 50,000.
Her employee, who she identified simply as Georgina, allegedly stole the actress’ money and blocked her across all platforms.
Fella Makafui further indicated that she received a call from a man purporting to be a police officer who has issued threats to her for calling her employee out.
“My Employee has stolen my money. My team and I can’t find her anywhere. She has blocked us on all platforms. I only received a call from one man who claimed to be an officer threatening me. Gina, I know you seeing this, kindly send me my 50k. That’s my sweat! [sic],” she tweeted.
Fella Makafui promised to retrieve her money regardless of wherever her employee decides to hide. “I employed you with a kind heart, so my God won’t let you rest.”
The actress, who has suffered a similar fate in the past, said she is not taking the situation lightly this time around, adding that she has made her search for the ‘thief’ her priority.
She has blamed herself for putting too much trust in her employee who reached out to her in search of the job via social media.
Fella Makafui has involved the East Legon police in her quest to locate the employee.
Police in Thailand say they are looking into the possibility that a woman who was recently detained on suspicion of killing her friend with cyanide also killed at least 12 other people in a string of slayings that has gripped the nation.
According to Deputy National authorities Commissioner Gen. Surachate Hakparn, the suspect, who authorities have only identified as Am, was detained on Tuesday for the alleged murder of Siriporn Kanwong.
According to Surachate, Siriporn was last seen with Am on CCTV tape before she passed out and died. An autopsy revealed that Siriporn had traces of cyanide in her system.
Am’s lawyer, Thannicha Akesuwannawat, told local media Thairath TV on Wednesday that her client denies any involved in Siriporn’s death.
“She has [an] explanation, with evidence in hand,” Thannicha said, declining to elaborate further citing legal reasons.
Investigators are now looking into at least 12 other suspected murder cases where the victims had links to Am and similar causes of death, said Surachate. CNN has attempted to reach Am’s lawyer for a response to those allegations.
Surachate said one woman who was allegedly targeted by Am came forward to authorities after news of her arrest broke.
The individual told police she was poisoned in 2020 but was able to make it to a hospital where doctors resuscitated her and also found cyanide in her system, he said.
Surachate said the witness was too afraid to file a case against Am at the time because the accused is the wife of a senior police officer, but she gained courage after hearing about the other alleged cases.
In the potentially linked cases currently being investigated by police, all the victims ate or drank with Am in the run up to their deaths.
“After they ate together or drank something together, later they were dead,” Surachate said. Investigators believe the killings may have had a financial motive, primarily debts. “She owed money to many people,” Surachate said.
Press photos showed Am wearing a face mask while being led into court by police in Bangkok on Wednesday. She was remanded in custody while police investigate the allegations.
The case has generated huge local media interest this week in Thailand and has prompted others to come forward to authorities with their suspicion that their loved ones may also be victims.
After a fourth prisoner lost his life after a tense standoff with law enforcement, authorities in Mississippi are looking for three fugitive inmates.
Four detainees at the Raymond Detention Center in Hinds County, Mississippi, made their escape on Saturday night about 8.30 p.m. by scaling the top of the structure and driving away in a pickup truck owned by Hinds County Public Works.
On Sunday afternoon, the truck was eventually discovered abandoned in Spring Valley, Texas, about 450 miles from the jail.
The escaped inmates were identified as Dylan Arrington, 22, Casey Grayson, 24, Corey Harrison, 22, and Jerry Raynes, 51. They are all now facing additional charges of escape and auto theft for the jailbreak.
The Hinds County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that one escaped inmate, Dylan Arrington, was killed after an armed standoff in Leake County (Picture: AP)
Grayson, Harrison, and Raynes are all still on the lam, but Arrington’s body was recovered on Wednesday night after he engaged sheriff’s deputies in an armed standoff in a burning building in Conway.
Arrington was charged with auto theft and possession of a firearm as a felon. He had only been at the Raymond Detention Center since April 13, 2023.
Before the deadly standoff, investigators also believe Arrington was responsible for killing a pastor and fleeing in his pickup truck on Monday night in Jackson, just fifteen miles from the jail.
The victim, who was identified as 61-year-old Reverend Anthony Watts of the St Mary Missionary Baptist Church, was pronounced dead at the scene.
On Tuesday night, a homeowner in Leake County called 911 to report a man matching Arrington’s description hiding in a trailer behind his house.
Investigators searched the property that night, but found no sign of Arrington.
The next morning around 7.00am, the homeowner and a Leake County Sheriff’s Deputy returned to the property and found Arrington hiding inside the home.
Arrington shot at the deputy through the house’s front window, striking him in the leg.
Sheriff’s deputies began a 2-hour long standoff with Arrington, which ended when the house went up in flames. It is currently unclear how the fire was started.
Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones confirmed the remains belonged to Arrington on late Wednesday night. His cause of death is currently under investigation.
‘I’ve seen a lot of things, but I’ve never seen a situation where a structure was engulfed in flames and an individual inside the structure started firing shots at law enforcement,’ Sheriff Jones said in a statement posted on Twitter.
‘This individual had violence on his mind, and I will say he did not contend to leave here alive today,’
Authorities are still searching for Grayson, Harrison, and Raynes, who they believe did not all leave the jail at the same time after escaping onto the roof.
Raynes was spotted on security camera footage at a gas station in Texas around 11.00am on Sunday, Jones said. The sheriff said it was unclear if Raynes traveled out of Mississippi alone.
A 35-year-old man, Dandu Painter, is accused of setting ablaze a 39-year-old man at Sefwi Bekwai in the Bibiani Anhweaso Bekwai municipality of the Western North Region.
This allegedly happened because the deceased Kofi Kumi is said to have insulted Dandu’s wife’s private part.
According to Adom News, Kofi Kumi is reported to have visited a drinking spot to take alcoholic beverages but refused to pay for them.
The drinking spot attendant alerted Dandu Painter’s wife to collect her money from the deceased, inciting an altercation between the two parties which eventually had to be settled by their families.
However, people in the vicinity began to taunt and make fun of Kofi Kumi, even going as far as to insult Painter’s wife. Outraged, Dandu Painter is believed to have gone and bought fuel and turpentine to set Kofi Kuma ablaze in retaliation.
Kofi was taken to the Green Shield Hospital at Sehwi Bekwai, but was pronounced dead upon arrival.
Yaa Foriwaa, mother of the deceased, has requested the Sehwi Bekwai Police Command and the Inspector-General of Police to arrest the fugitive, Dandu Painter, and bring him to book.
The body of the deceased has been deposited at Sehwi Ahweaso Hospital for preservation.
The scholarship fund in its first year has now supported a total of 282 students, providing full and in some cases partial scholarships.
The news of Mr Eazi’sgenerous contribution was confirmed in a letter from Dr V. A. Ankamah-Lomotey, the Registrar at the school.
His letter expressed appreciation for Mr Eazi’s dedication to promoting higher education and improving economic mobility in the region.
Speaking on the scholarship fund, Mr Eazi reaffirmed his goal of funding 1000 students through higher education.
He believes that education is the backbone of regional transformation and a strong springboard for not only upward economic mobility but social mobility as well.
Mr Eazi’s contribution to CKT-UTAS has made a significant impact on the lives of the beneficiaries, many of whom may not have had the financial means to pursue higher education.
His philanthropy serves as an inspiration to others to invest in education and create opportunities for the next generation.
Richard Sharp‘s departure and the government’s role in selecting the BBC chairman have both been addressed by Gary Lineker.
The 62-year-old Match Of The Day host, who was fired by the network last month after sending out a tweet that prompted an argument about objectivity, has commented on Sharp’s dismissal.
He wrote on Twitter: “The current government should not choose the BBC chairman. Not now and never.
Following the row over the football pundit’s tweet, the BBC to launched an independent review of its social media guidance for freelancers.
Meanwhile, Lineker later returned to his Match Of The Day presenting role following a boycott in his defence by top on-air talent.
Sharp announced his resignation to ‘prioritise the interests’ of the BBC, while the former Goldman Sachs banker had faced accusations of arranging a loan of up to £800,000 for Boris Johnson before the then-prime minister backed him as the broadcaster’s boss.
He was announced as the government’s choice for the role in January 2021.
This morning, Adam Heppinstall KC’s 25-page report into the appointment of Mr Sharp as BBC Chairman found he ‘failed to disclose potential perceived conflicts of interest’.
In response, Mr Sharp said he will remain in the role until the end of June while the search for a successor takes place.
He said: ‘Mr Heppinstall’s view is that while I did breach the governance code for public appointments, he states that a breach does not necessarily invalidate an appointment.
‘Indeed, I have always maintained the breach was inadvertent and not material, which the facts he lays out substantiate. The Secretary of State has consulted with the BBC Board who support that view.
‘Nevertheless, I have decided that it is right to prioritise the interests of the BBC.’
A committee previously found that Sharp had made ‘significant errors of judgement’ and had not given the ‘full facts’ when applying for the job.
In a grilling by MPs, he had insisted his only role was as a ‘sort of introduction agency’ between his friend Sam Blyth – a Canadian businessman who is a distant cousin of Johnson – and the cabinet secretary Simon Case.
Labour had called for an investigation into Mr Sharp after allegations surfaced in The Sunday Times which claimed a dinner was held at Chequers before the loan was finalised.
A 14-year-old female Junior High School (JHS) pupil attempted to take her life after what has been described as ‘constant bullying’ by a teacher from her school.
The attempted suicide occurred Thursday, April 20, 2023, at Anweabeng, in the Abuakwa North Constituency in the Eastern Region.
The victim, a Form Two pupil of Anweabeng Municipal Assembly (M/A) JHS, who doubles as the Girl’s Prefect, survived the incident after a swift intervention by her aunt.
Angelonline.com.gh understands that the victim, [name withheld], tried to end her life during class hours after she could no longer bear the constant accusation and torment she had come under.
According to sources, the said teacher had been accusing the victim and three of her juniors at the primary level of spreading false rumours about her.
Accusation
The female teacher and two colleagues were said to have recently been on the neck of the pupils for supposedly making some unpleasant comments against them after last term’s Basic School Sports festival held at Samlesi Salvation Army school, a suburb of Yilo Krobo.
Back from the sports festival, the teachers [Class 1, 2, and 3] claimed the students had speculated in the Anweabeng community that they were ‘drunk and misbehaved’ while the games were ongoing.
However, the four accused students denied knowledge of the accusations against them.
Meanwhile, reports had it that the teachers repeatedly called out the four pupils during class hours, paraded them, and intimidated them to speak the ‘truth’.
Attempted Suicide
The Girls’ prefect was reportedly singled out by the class three teacher, identified as Madam Dodzie Abigail and was at the receiving end of her bullying.
The 14-year-old decided to end her life when things became too unbearable.
This was after she was allegedly pulled out of class – a regular feature by Madam Dodzie—just to punish the pupil.
Giving an account of what happened, an eyewitness said the pupil, after being sacked from class, ran to their residence – a teachers’ bungalow, which is just a stone-throw from the school.
She subsequently untied a rope on the neck of a goat belonging to her grandmother to hang herself on a nearby tree.
But Ms. Ruth, a food vendor at the school’s canteen, upon arriving at the scene, managed to rescue the girl.
“Immediately, we saw her [the victim] speeding up towards the direction of the house.
“So a teacher who was seated under one of the trees on the school campus called her grandmother and asked if she had sent the victim on errands, but she responded in the negative.”
It was at this juncture that Ms. Ruth started calling the victim’s name, but to no avail.
She said she suddenly heard the cry of her niece and rushed there, only to see her hanging on a loose rope on the tree.
The account added quickly: the pupil said “I want to kill myself for Madam Abigail so that she will get what she wants because I don’t know my offence to merit all that she’s making me go through,” the pupil said as narrated by the eyewitness.
The victim’s father subsequently withdrew his daughter from the school—a registered candidate for the 2023 BECE and drove off.
The Akim New Tafo Police Command is currently handling the case following a report filed by the victim’s father on Thursday, April 20.
Meanwhile, the police, in their quest to pick up the teacher at the center of the case for interrogation on Friday, April 21, yielded no results as the headmaster promised to hand her over on Tuesday, April 25.
However, at the time of filing this report, our checks indicated that there was no turnout at the police station on the said day.
Mr. Asamoah Isaac, the headmaster of both the Primary and JHS levels, declined to speak on the matter when contacted by our reporter, Opambour Jaman Dehyee.
He directed the journalist to channel his questions to the Abuakwa North Education Directorate since they are best positioned to comment further on the incident.
The Public Relation Officer (PRO) of the Abuakwa North Education Directorate, Sampson Akoto Kwafo, said on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, that their office had been informed of the matter.
“We were informed yesterday about it; the headteacher and those involved were contacted. They came to the office, and we realized the issue had been reported.
“Father of the girl has reported the matter at the Tafo Police Station, so the matter is in the hands of Inspector Obeng currently,” Angelonline.com.gh reported.
The PRO added: “I can’t say on record that it is a true story, but if you want any better particulars or information, Inspector Obeng can be in the best position to do that.”
To “prioritize the interests” of the broadcaster, Richard Sharp has resigned as chairman of the BBC.
Before the then-prime minister endorsed Boris Johnson for the position of head of the BBC, the former Goldman Sachs banker was accused of setting up a loan for him of up to £800,000.
In January 2021, he was declared the government’s choice for the chairman post.
According to the 25-page assessment by Adam Heppinstall KC on the selection of Mr. Sharp as BBC Chairman, he “failed to disclose potential perceived conflicts of interest.”
In response, Mr Sharp said he will remain in the role until the end of June while the search for a successor takes place.
He said: ‘Mr Heppinstall’s view is that while I did breach the governance code for public appointments, he states that a breach does not necessarily invalidate an appointment.
‘Indeed, I have always maintained the breach was inadvertent and not material, which the facts he lays out substantiate. The Secretary of State has consulted with the BBC Board who support that view.
‘Nevertheless, I have decided that it is right to prioritise the interests of the BBC.’
A screen showing a news report seen through the windows of the BBC in central London (Picture: PA)
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said that the BBC was being ‘dragged through the mud’ by the Conservatives.
Responding to Mr Sharp’s resignation, he said: ‘The British people won’t stand for any more of this.
‘Everything Conservative politicians touch turns into a mess. They are not fit to govern our great country.
‘Boris Johnson should never have been allowed to appoint Richard Sharp in the first place and what’s worse is Rishi Sunak didn’t show leadership by sacking him.’
Richard Sharp testified in front of a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee earlier this year (Picture: Getty Images)
Meanwhile Tim Davie, director-general of the BBC, paid tribute to the outgoing chairman.
He said: ‘On behalf of the BBC Executive, I would like to thank Richard for his service to the BBC and the drive and intellect he brought to his time as chairman.
‘Working with him over the last two years has been rewarding and Richard has made a significant contribution to the transformation and success of the BBC.
‘The focus for all of us at the BBC is continuing the hard work to ensure we deliver for audiences, both now and in the future.’
Mr Sharp had made ‘significant errors of judgement’ and had not given the ‘full facts’ when applying for the BBC top job, a committee previously found.
A spokesperson for Boris Johnson dismissed the allegations as ‘rubbish’ (Picture: PA)
In a grilling by MPs, Mr Sharp insisted his only role was as a ‘sort of introduction agency’ between his friend Sam Blyth – a Canadian businessman who is a distant cousin of Johnson – and the cabinet secretary Simon Case.
Labour had called for an investigation into Mr Sharp after allegations surfaced in The Sunday Times.
According to the newspaper, a dinner was held at Chequers before the loan was finalised.
At the time, a spokesperson for Mr Johnson dismissed the Sunday Times report as ‘rubbish’ and insisted his financial arrangements ‘have been properly declared’.
‘Richard Sharp has never given any financial advice to Boris Johnson. He did indeed have dinner with Mr Sharp, whom he has known for almost 20 years, and with his cousin. So what? Big deal.’
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he has not seen the report into Richard Sharp, but was unable to guarantee a non-political figure would replace him.
Speaking to media at the Scottish Tory conference in Glasgow, Mr Sunak said: ‘There’s an appointments process that happens for those appointments. I’m not going to prejudge that.’
Gary Lineker also shared his views on Mr Sharp’s resignation.
The Match Of The Day host, 62, tweeted: ‘The BBC chairman should not be selected by the government of the day.
‘Not now, not ever.’
His comments come after he was taken off air by the broadcaster in March after posting a tweet which sparked an impartiality row prompting the BBC to launch an independent review of its social media guidance for freelancers.
He later returned to his Match Of The Day presenting role following a boycott by top on-air talent.
Earlier today, a Labour MP said Mr Sharp ‘will have to go’ if he found to have broken the code for public appointments by facilitating a loan for Mr Johnson.
Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh told Sky News: ‘If it is revealed that he has failed to declare the details of this loan arrangement properly or failed to be forthcoming in the process, then of course he will have to go.
‘I think his whole saga raises wider issues around the way that the Government has approached the BBC and the particular links of the Tory party with the BBC.’
The full resignation speech from Richard Sharp
Good morning.
I would like to thank Adam Heppinstall and his team for the diligence and professionalism they have shown in compiling today’s report.
Mr Heppinstall’s view is that while I did breach the governance code for public appointments, he states that a breach does not necessarily invalidate an appointment.
Indeed, I have always maintained the breach was inadvertent and not material, which the facts he lays out substantiate. The Secretary of State has consulted with the BBC Board who support that view.
Nevertheless, I have decided that it is right to prioritise the interests of the BBC. I feel that this matter may well be a distraction from the Corporation’s good work were I to remain in post until the end of my term.
I have therefore this morning resigned as BBC Chair to the Secretary of State, and to the Board.
It was proposed to me that I stay on as Chair until the end of June while the process to appoint my successor is undertaken, and I will of course do that in the interests of the Corporation’s stability and continuity.
Let me turn to the events that are the subject of today’s report.
When I sought in December 2020 to introduce the Cabinet Secretary to Mr (Sam) Blyth I did so in good faith. I did so with the best of intentions.
And I did so with the sole purpose of ensuring that all relevant rules were being followed.
I am pleased that Mr Heppinstall supports the fact that my involvement in these matters was accordingly “very limited”.
He states that he is “happy to record” that he has seen no evidence – and nor could he – to say I played any part whatsoever in the facilitation, arrangement, or financing of a loan for the former Prime Minister.
During my conversation with the Cabinet Secretary on December 4, 2020, I reminded him of the fact that I was in the BBC appointments process.
I believed, as a result of that conversation, that I had been removed from any conflict or perception of conflict. I understood this recusal to be absolute.
This was my error. In my subsequent interview with the Appointments Panel I wish, with the benefit of hindsight, this potential perceived conflict of interest was something I had considered to mention.
I would like once again to apologise for that oversight – inadvertent though it was – and for the distraction these events have caused the BBC.
For more than twenty years I have devoted time and energy to public service, whether at the Institute for Cancer Research, at the Royal Academy of Arts, on the financial policy committee of the Bank of England, or as an economic advisor to the Treasury working to protect British business, including the creative industries, during the pandemic.
For more than two years I have seen the beating heart of the BBC up close. And for all its complexities, successes, and occasional failings, the BBC is an incredible, dynamic, and world beating creative force, unmatched anywhere.
As Chair I have acted at all times in the public interest, and for the betterment of the BBC. I am proud to have fought for the recent return of Government funding for the World Service. I have been active in commissioning independent thematic reviews of BBC coverage on touchstone issues.
And I have championed the importance of the BBC as a well-funded and impartial public service broadcaster.
To chair this incredible organisation has been an honour. The BBC’s contribution to our national life is immense, its people are hardworking and brilliant, and preserving and enhancing it matters.
Ghana has over 500 outstanding chieftaicy disputes to settle, the Minister of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mr. Stephen Asamoah-Boateng has disclosed.
The disputes he explained were the result of land litigation, contest for traditional power and in some cases, political interferences.
Speaking to the Ghanaian Times in an interview in Accra on Wednesday, he noted that about 139 of those disputes had become an albatross on the country’s security finances.
Expressing concern about the growing menace, he said currently 70 percent of all issues being handled by the Ministry of National Security were all chieftaincy disputes and conflicts.
He explained that the disputes and conflicts were a threat to the country’s burgeoning democracy, peace and stability.
Mr. Asamoah-Boateng noted that as part of efforts to tackle the menace, the Ministry has identified about 60 of the disputes which could be immediately resolved, adding that the others had been categorised under the long-term plan and activities.
“We have identified about 60 disputes which we believe can be resolved by the first quarter of next year. We are taking the necessary measures to ensure that the issues at those areas are amicably resolved for peace and prosperity to prevail,” he stated.
To resolve all the disputes and tackle emerging ones, he said the Ministry was currently undertaking the codification of all stools and skins and developing succession plans.
He noted that the codification would involve the documentation of all identified successors, lineages and claimants of a particular stool or skin so that the right succession plan could be developed.
The Minister said the exercise was being done through extensive consultation with the relevant families and community leaders with the support of research conducted by the Ministry.
“The codification will identify who succeeds who and the lineages that will inherit a particular stool or skin. The codification document will be updated regularly to ensure the register is effective in what it does.”
“The Ministry will investigate the claims and conduct its own research to enable the development of a proper succession plan. We will verify and ensure the right person is captured in the plan,” Mr Asamoah-Boateng added.
He said the Ministry was confident that such a process and plan would help in sanitising the chieftaincy space and ensuring people who have no rights to occupy a stool or skin do not deceitfully assume the position.
So far, the Minister indicated that six traditional councils have completed their codification exercise, adding that the Ministry was expecting about 40 councils to complete theirs by the first quarter of next year.
Mr. Asamoah-Boateng called on paramount chiefs to commit to quick resolution of disputes by constantly spelling out and applying customs and traditions required in the enstoolment or enskinment of persons in the adjudication of such issues.
He said the Ministry was committed to resourcing the various Houses of Chiefs and building the capacity of Judicial Committees to expedite dispute resolution.
“I’m pleading with the chiefs to allow the laws to work. The Judicial Committees play a critical role in resolving disputes and we must resource them to withstand these threats,” he stated.
The Minister further revealed that his outfit would by the end of the first quarter of next year unveil a roadmap towards the resolution of the Bawku conflict.
“The Ministry is actively working with all stakeholders to resolve the Bawku conflict. I’ve met all the opposing factions together with some chiefs in the national house of chiefs.
We have set timelines and I’m confident that we will unveil the roadmap to peace in Bawku first quarter of next year,” Mr Asamoah-Boateng noted.
Bam Margera pleaded not guilty to an assault charge and surrendered to authorities.
The 43-year-old Jackass star surrendered to police in Pennsylvania on Thursday after an arrest warrant was issued for him following an alleged incident with his musician brother Jess Margera on Sunday.
At his arraignment, he appeared in court and denied the charges of assault, harassment, and making terroristic threats.
According to Michael van der Veen, Bam’s attorney, “He was arraigned and entered his plea of not guilty.” On an unsecured bond, he was released.
‘Mr. Margera enjoys all of his constitutional rights, including the presumption of innocence.
‘The wild rumours regarding his behaviour this week are absolutely false. He is in good health and in good spirits.’
The 43-year-old Jackass star handed himself in to police (Picture: @bam__margera / Instagram)
Bam was freed on $50,000 and is due back in court at the end of May, while the judge also ordered him to stay away from his brother Jess and complete a drug and alcohol assessment.
According to court documents, officers responded to an incident at a property in Chester County, Pennsylvania on Sunday and Jess allegedly told them his TV star brother had banged and kicked his bedroom door, as well as leaving him a threatening note.
Jess is also said to have told officers Bam later assaulted him and made threats against him and others in the house.
Police said Bam had fled into the woods before they arrived at the scene.
After his arraignment, Bam addressed the case in a post on social media in which he denied his brother’s claims.
Bam wrote: ‘I just got out of the courthouse with my lawyers. Everything went great and the false accusations of what my brother says are not true and he will be sued for defamation as well as being evicted from Castle Bam sooner than later.
‘The reason I lost my cool is because I read his phone saying he wants me back in California and he wants to find a way to 302 me. F*** him.’
Bam’s reference to a 302 suggests Jess was planning to have his sibling committed to an acute inpatient psychiatric hospital on an involuntary admission.
Jess also addressed the drama in a series of posts on Twitter which have since been deleted.
He wrote: ‘I’m trying to stay positive. Bam really is the sweetest guy when he isn’t messed up. But since his meth habit, he’s unrecognisable and I really don’t know what he’s capable of.
‘Seeing him screaming at a person that wasn’t there, hallucinating. It’s really scary and heartbreaking.’
More than 50 people, including representatives from the military, wider public life, and orders of chivalry, have been chosen to participate in the historic ceremonies.
Former MI5 director Baroness Elizabeth Manningham-Buller, who will carry the St. Edward’s Staff, is one among those chosen.
Former children’s TV presenter and now author and peer, Baroness Floella Benjamin, will carry the Sovereign’s Sceptre with Dove, one of the treasures which will play a starring role on the day.
The former Play School presenter said: ‘I feel honoured and privileged to be part of the historic coronation ceremony.
‘To be selected to carry the Sovereign’s Sceptre With Dove, which represents spirituality, equity and mercy, is for me very symbolic as it’s everything I stand for and sends out a clear message that diversity and inclusion is being embraced.’
The Palace said the below people were selected to represent the nation due to their ‘significant service’.
Processions into Westminster Abbey
Faith leaders and faith representatives.
Representatives from the King’s Realms – flags of each realm, of which there are 14, will be carried by national representatives accompanied by the governors general and prime ministers.
Cadet warrant officer Elliott Tyson-Lee, of the Royal Air Force Air Cadets – bearing the flag of the United Kingdom, ahead of prime minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty.
The Marquess of Anglesey, the Duke of Westminster, the Earl of Caledon and the Earl of Dundee – lead the procession and carry the Standards of the Quarterings of the Royal Arms and Standard of the Principality of Wales.
Francis Dymoke – carrying the Royal Standard instead of being the King’s Champion at a coronation banquet on horseback like his ancestors.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, chief of the defence staff – acting as Lord High Constable of England, an office held for the day only.
Earl Marshal, the Duke of Norfolk.
Earl of Erroll – as Lord High Constable of Scotland.
Earl of Crawford and Balcarres – as Deputy to the Great Steward of Scotland, the Prince of Wales.
Procession to the altar carrying regalia
Barrister Baroness (Helena) Kennedy of The Shaws – carrying The Queen Consort’s Rod with Dove.
General Sir Patrick Sanders – carrying The Queen Consort’s Sceptre with Cross.
Duke of Wellington – carrying Queen Mary’s Crown.
Rt Reverend and Rt Hon the Lord Chartres – carrying The Queen Consort’s Ring.
General Sir Gordon Messenger, the Governor of HM Tower of London – carrying St Edward’s Crown as Lord High Steward of England.
Former MI5 chief Baroness Elizabeth Manningham-Buller – carrying St Edward’s Staff.
The Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry – carrying the Sovereign’s Sceptre with Cross.
Former children’s TV presenter, now author and peer, Baroness Floella Benjamin – carrying the Sovereign’s Sceptre with Dove.
Dame Elizabeth Anionwu – carrying the Orb.
The Keeper of the Jewel House, Brigadier Andrew Jackson – carrying The Sovereign’s Ring.
Petty Officer Amy Taylor – carrying the Sword of Offering and representing servicemen and women as a Royal Navy Petty Officer, a tribute to the King’s military career.
Lord Hastings and The Earl of Loudoun – carrying the Spurs.
Lord President of the Council, Penny Mordaunt – carrying the Sword of State.
Air Chief Marshal the Lord Peach – carrying the Sword of Mercy (The Curtana).
General the Lord Richards of Herstmonceux – carrying the Sword of Spiritual Justice.
General the Lord Houghton of Richmond – carrying the Sword of Temporal Justice.
Participating in the act of recognition
This takes place when the King is presented to the congregation at the start of the service.
The Archbishop of Canterbury.
Baroness (Valerie) Amos.
Lady Elish Angiolini.
George Cross-holder Christopher Finney – chair of the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association.
Presenting the coronation regalia
These people were chosen on the advice of Government.
Lord Carrington, Lord Great Chamberlain – presenting the Spurs.
Lord (Syed) Kamall – presenting the Armills.
Baroness (Gillian) Merron – presenting the Robe Royal.
The Most Reverend John McDowell, the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh – presenting the Orb.
Lord (Narendra) Patel – presenting the Ring.
Lord (Indarjit) Singh of Wimbledon – presenting the Coronation Glove.
The Most Reverend Mark Strange, Bishop of Moray, Ross and Caithness, and Episcopal Primus of Scotland – presenting the Sovereign’s Sceptre with Cross.
The Most Reverend Andrew John, the Archbishop of Wales – presenting the Sovereign’s Sceptre with Dove.
The Archbishop of Canterbury – performing the crowning with St Edward’s Crown.
The Rt Reverend Rose Hudson-Wilkin, The Bishop of Dover – presenting The Queen Consort’s Rod with Dove.
The Rt Reverend and Rt Hon Lord Chartres – presenting The Queen Consort’s Sceptre with Cross.
Brigadier Andrew Jackson, The Keeper of the Jewel House at HM Tower of London – presenting The Queen Consort’s Ring.
The Archbishop of Canterbury – performing the crowning with Queen Mary’s Crown.https://youtu.be/O53FFK7V3oQ
The man accused of killing Metropolitan Police Sgt. Matiu Ratana in a gunfight in south London has entered a not-guilty plea.
During a plea hearing at Northampton Crown Court, Louis De Zoysa, of Banstead, Surrey, denied killing Sgt. Ratana.
On September 25, 2020, Sgt. Ratana, 54, passed away from gunshot wounds at the Croydon Detention Center in South London.
De Zoysa, who was accompanied by an intermediary and was shown on video-link in a wheelchair with his right arm in a sling, entered his plea by holding up a whiteboard with the words “not guilty” scribbled on it.
A man who raped a lady he met on a dating app has been found guilty.
Following the March incident in north London, Ryan Mulhern, 41, entered a plea of guilty to rape and attempted rape.
At Snaresbrook Crown Court on April 21, Mulhern, of Hornsey Lane, entered a plea of guilty and was found guilty of rape and attempted rape.
Just before 10 o’clock in the evening, a member of the public discovered the victim crying and declaring she had just been raped. They were then called to an address on Hornsey Lane in Haringey.
The court heard that at 9.50pm on March 21, police were called to Hornsey Lane after a member of the public found a woman crying and stating that she had just been raped.
The victim, aged 25, explained that she had met Mulhern on a dating app and had gone to his house to meet up.
Whilst there Mulhern raped her, she confirmed, explaining that she ‘repeatedly told him to stop but he continued’.
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She fled the house and then bumped into a member of the public who called 999.
Officers appointed a sexual offences investigations techniques officer to support the victim through her report and when giving evidence.
She was taken to a haven the following day for specialised support.
Officers launched an investigation which saw them ‘search several addresses looking for Mulhern, initially without success,’ a Metropolitan Police spokesperson confirmed.
They said: ’Numerous teams were deployed in a resource-intensive manhunt using a variety of tactics to locate and arrest him.
‘This pressure ultimately led to Mulhern’s arrest in Islington one day later on Wednesday, March 22.
‘The investigation team then worked tirelessly to secure evidence and ensure that Mulhern was charged and remanded in custody in order to remove a dangerous offender from the streets.’
Following Mulhern’s conviction, Detective Sergeant Sam Lockstone, who led the investigation, said: ‘I am incredibly proud of my team for supporting the victim throughout this investigation with such professionalism.
‘Arresting, charging and remanding Mulhern, and then him pleading guilty, within one month of the incident shows the dedication and commitment our teams have in pursuing justice for these horrific offences.’
Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has reacted the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining report authored by Prof Frimpong-Boateng.
Adding his voice to commentaries about the galamsey report and the National Democratic Congress’s call for a parliamentary hearing, the Suame MP indicated that if the allegations are true, it will require a probe.
According to him, the issue of galamsey and the allegations contained in the report will require a second look before a conclusion can be drawn.
“I will want to have the report and go through it well to inform myself before I make a conclusion on the issues raised by Prof. As I stated earlier, which I agree, galamsey is costing us as a nation. For us to destroy the country for the individuals to benefit for some selected few is not in order for development,” he said.
He added that if the allegations raised turn out to be true, there will be an investigation.
“So, if the issues raised are true, then it requires investigation,” he said.
Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu was speaking on Kumasi-based Oyerepa TV.
Background:
The NDC, in an address called ‘Moments of Truth,’ called on the Office of the Special Prosecutor and parliament to investigate the claims made by Professor Frimpong-Boateng, the former Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining.
The opposition is demanding a televised inter-partisan probe into the galamsey report, which indicted some NPP top officials for engaging in galamsey or obstructing the operations of the IMCIM.
Putin’s sanity has been questioned by a Russian senator and the widow of the law professor who helped shape him as a politician.
Lyudmila Narusova, 71, has known the Kremlin president since he was a low-level employee of her husband Anatoly Sobchak, the city of St. Petersburg’s then pro-Western mayor.
She has launched a scathing attack on Putin as the only opposition member of Russia’s upper house of parliament, accusing him of causing “mass psychosis” among the populace.
For decades Narusova saw Putin as a family friend, but now questions his sanity as he plunges the country into mass repressions and war.
Narusova’s late husband gave Putin his first job in politics when he was just a ‘backroom nonentity’ (Picture: Forbes/East2West)
‘It appeared to me three years ago that he had a sane perception of reality,’ she said.
‘But many things have changed after these three years, and I never got to make sure of this myself.
‘I don’t know.’
She is convinced he is addicted to power and will seek to cling on despite his age and suspected health problems – dismissing rumours in Moscow that he plans to hand over the Kremlin to a trusted lieutenant.
‘There was a lot of stir about it [the transition of power in Russia] even before the start of the [military] operation,’ said Narusova.
‘There is a feeling about it in political circles.
‘But I think that there will be no transfer of power.’
The independant senator is one of the only Russian politicians brave enough to publicly stand up to Putin (Picture: Getty)
Instead Putin will stand for a new six year team making him president until 2030, the year when he will turn 78, she told Forbes Russia.
Legally he could then seek yet another term, expiring when he was 84 but effectively making him ruler for life.
Narusova revealed the Russian elite is awash with people who disapprove of Putin – but are too scared to act against him.
‘I’m the only one who votes [against him],’ she told Novaya Gazeta Europe independent newspaper.
‘But there are enough people who think the same as me.
‘It’s just that they are afraid to speak it out loud.’
Putin’s biggest cheerleaders back him at Red Square rallies but ‘this does not mean that they actually sincerely support what’s going on’, she said.
She accuses Putin of inflicting ‘mass psychosis’ on the Russian population (Picture: Getty)
‘One very respectable man with many years behind his belt said this to me “You’re the only one among us with balls of steel.”’
She loathes Putin’s repressive policies.
‘It feels bad. I tell you, this destroys me from within,’ she said.
‘If something is written in the constitution, but is treacherously and obligingly violated, then I cannot help but talk about it and even shout about it.’
She hit out the jailing of Putin critics who oppose his war for up to 25 years— when a St Petersburg history professor and Napoleon expert Oleg Sokolov, 66, who murdered and dismembered his lover Anastasia Yeschenko, 24, dumping her remains in a river in an ‘extreme atrocity’ was shut away for just 12 years.
‘This is what our justice has led us to. Words are worth more prison time than murder,’ she said, accusing Putin of corrupting the Russian constitution, which was partly penned by her husband.
Her spouse – who died in 2000 – had promoted an ex-KGB spy to deputy mayor, his first political job, and his launch pad to a career that has seen him rule Russia as president or prime minister since 1999.
She vowed to keep opposing Putin to trigger a ‘wake up call for some kind of consciousness’ in Russian people.
She wanted to sow ‘gleams of doubt amid this mass psychosis. I believe that is the primary function of what I do’.
Her daughter is prominent TV personality Ksenia Sobchak, 41, who stood against Putin at the 2018 Russian presidential election, finishing fourth.
Putin attended her Orthodox christening, leading to claims he is her godfather.
She now runs an independent media outlet which is often critical of Putin and the war.
The devastation caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine is now clearly visible in Google Earth’s new satellite images above Mariupol.
New pictures of the city show large areas of buildings reduced to rubble and entirely destroyed green spaces.
One of the first locations to be turned over to Vladimir Putin’s forces was Mariupol, which is still occupied.
After seeing some of the most horrific combat of the conflict over the past year, it has garnered attention across the globe.
The world was shocked when the city’s Donetsk Regional Drama Theatre was targeted while more than 1,300 Ukrainian civilians cowered inside.
It was bombed on March 16 last year, despite being daubed with huge signs warning children were inside.
The central part of the three-storey venue collapsed with rubble blocking the entrance, initially obstructing rescuers from entering.
The former mayor of Mariupol, Vadym Boychenko, accused Moscow of hiding civilian bodies in mass graves.
He has since claimed that more than 20,000 residents were killed by Russian soldiers.
Mr Putin visited the port city in March this year, with television clips showing supposedly grateful Ukrainians greeting the leader.
A heckler’s voice was heard shouting: ‘It’s all lies, it’s all just for show’, which seemed to prompt the president’s security team to frantically look around.
Putin made the move shortly after the International Criminal Court in the Hague issued an arrest warrent for him for alleged war crimes.
Ukrainian forces reportedly tried to assassinate him but failed after the drone ‘crashed a few miles short of their target,’ it was claimed on Thursday.
Putin was due to visit a newly built industrial estate near Moscow at the weekend, where the drone was supposed to explode and kill him, it was said.
But before it reached the Rudnevo industrial park it crashed around 12 miles away, according to German website Bild.
It cited a tweet by Ukrainian activist Yuriy Romanenko, who claims to have close ties to Kyiv’s intelligence services.
The Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) has demanded an independent inquiry into the plethora of allegations in the former Environment Minister, Prof Frimpong Boateng’s report.
This, the group in a release issued on April 27th stated is because Mr Boateng’s report is not a vague collection of incidents but mentions names of institutions and individuals whose actions or inaction the report perceives as complicit in the illegality and harm being perpetuated in the search for gold.
“For instance, the report makes mention of a Cabinet directive to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources which was disregarded and the Forestry Commission’s role in mining activities in forest reserves.
“The report also cites politically exposed persons including Gabby Okyere Darko, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Minister of Information, Osafo Marfo, Joseph Albert Quam, former Member of Parliament of Manso Nkwanta Constituency, and a few others for allegedly abusing their position or engaging in influence peddling.”
With the above mentioned, GII notes that “It is almost a cliché to quote the President’s vow to fight small-scale illegal mining; “I pledge to put my presidency on the line if that is what it means to end illegal mining” but it seems inevitable because since this pronouncement, a number of incidents have occurred to test the President’s commitment to ending illegal mining but sad to say, the President’s actions have not kept pace with his rhetoric leading to waning trust in the President’s commitment to the fight against “galamsey” by all well-meaning Ghanaians.”
For this reason, they believe that Prof Boateng’s report offers the President an opportunity to redeem the trust of the people of Ghana.
It added that it “also places a burden on state institutions such as the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to rebuild public confidence which according to the Afrobarometer (round 6), 63 per cent of Ghanaians would rather engage religious leaders in resolving their issues rather than engaging state institutions.”
GII further called on Anti-Corruption State Institutions to;
Proactively initiate investigations into the allegations contained in the report and make recommendations on the next steps. GII welcomes the directive of the President to the CID of the Ghana Police Service on the matter however, GII holds the view that it should be possible for the various investigative bodies to collaborate on this matter just to assuage the fears of Ghanaians that is, through the power of appointment and disappointment, governments are sometimes able to influence the outcome of investigations concerning members of their government;
Alternatively, the President could set up an Independent, Bi-partisan Commission of Enquiry to undertake transparent investigations into the issues raised in the report.
Meanwhile, GII says it will also formally petition CHRAJ and the OSP to investigate aspects of the report that are corruption-related.
A Ukrainian prisoner of war broke down in tears after eating fresh fruit for the first time in a year.
Heartbreaking footage was captured of the scene just after Ukrainian soldiers were released from a Russian POW camp.
Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential office, posted yesterday on Telegram that 44 prisoners had been released from Russian custody.
Out of those, he claimed, 42 were military personnel and two were civilians, and some of those freed had torture-related wounds.
The short clip shows a small group of released Ukrainian prisoners, who have all had their heads shaved, sitting on the ground.
It first shows a relieved soldier with a beaming smile on his face as he tucks into an apple.
A TikTok user who posted a translated version of the video titled ‘heroes are returning home from Russian captivity’ explained that the man says: ‘I’ve dreamt about an apple for a year.’
It then pans to a second man in the group who is clearly very emotional as he’s seen cradling an apple in his hands and eating it.
He continually weeps as he’s speaking to another man nearby in a gut-wrenching moment.
A third soldier in the shot claims he’s lost more than 3st in weight while he was imprisoned, saying: ‘I’ve lost 20 kilograms.’
Visegrád 24, an English account for central and eastern European news, tweeted: ‘First apple or fresh fruit for these Ukrainian soldiers in nearly a year.
‘They were part of a group of 44 Ukrainian POWs exchanged yesterday.’
The group of prisoners posed for pictures to celebrate being set free and were photographed proudly holding up Ukrainian flags together before boarding coaches to leave.
Since Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian invasion of Ukraine more than a year ago, there have been regular prisoner exchanges.
Conflict has continued in recent weeks with Ukrainian forces crossing the Dnipro River for the first time as part of a long-awaited counter offensive.
Ukraine’s ‘unique’ special forces are also reportedly destroying targets deep behind Russian lines, while Putin has rolled out Russia’s newest tanks onto the battlefield.
Special aide to former President John Dramani Mahama,Stan Xoese Dogbe has sent s strong caution to the two opponents of his boss ahead of the May 13 presidential primaries of the opposition National Democratic Congress.
According to him, the two, former Minister for Finance Dr Kwabena Duffour and former Mayor of Kumasi Kojo Bonsu have resorted to a campaign of insults and attacks on Mr Mahama whiles the former president does the contrary.
“In keeping with his exemplary characteristics, and in furtherance to the objectives of his Campaign Coordinating Team, John Mahama’s followers, an overwhelming number of us, cutting across the branches, wards, constituencies, regions and nationally, have kept our campaigns in same exemplary manner, speaking to his plans for the NDC, between now and during the campaign for 2024, and his national vision of ‘Building the Ghana that we want Together’.
“Unfortunately, and increasingly, the two others in the race with Mr. Mahama have continued to engage in a campaign of negativity against his person and his record. They continue to spread lies about him, attacking him and insulting his person,” he stated in a Facebook post.
Suggesting that the Mahama support base can respond to the attacks with what he described as shocking issues against the two, Stan Dogbe dared Dr Duffour and Kojo Bonsu to continue with such attacks.
“It is not that the large mass of the NDC base cannot respond to these attacks on their candidate with issues and facts that will shock this country, but we all believe in our leader and his style of doing things, and also in party unity.
“But! and a big But!!
“Since it is clear that the insults and attacks are planned to increase in the 2 weeks to go, mine is to say this morning, simply, that let us all see how it will go.
“You want to spread lies about someone? Try it in the next few days and let us see where it ends all of us,” he said.
Dogbe asked persons who can call the two presidential hopefuls to order but have kept quiet not to be hypocritical when Mr Mahama’s supporters respond to their attacks.
“Those who have been hearing, listening and reading their lies about John Mahama and yet remained quiet, please remain quiet when the overwhelming majority of NDC supporters and Ghanaians respond in equal measure, but with verifiable facts about the actions and records of these persons.
“Don’t come preaching we are one party,” he said.
The NDC will elect a flagbearer and parliamentary candidates for the 2024 general elections on May 13.
Ahead of the contest former President Mahama has received wide endorsement within the NDC but his opponents remain adamant and have promised a stiff contest.
Effective May 1, 2023, vehicles belonging to drivers without valid licenses will be impounded.
This is according to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA).
The exercise, which is in accordance with Road Traffic Regulations 47, 158 of LI 2180 of 2012, will begin on May 1.
Those to be affected by the directive include drivers;
Driving without an original license
Do not have a license at all
Driving with an expired license
Driving with photocopied license
Driving with a fake license
Use the wrong class of license.
According to the Authority, there will be “no exemptions except [for] vehicles [with] police, prisons, fire, military and immigration registered number plates.”
“Please treat this as a caution to avoid embarrassment and inconvenience,” it warned.
A drone carrying 17 kg of lethal bombs crashed not far from the location where Putin was visiting over the weekend.
According to reports, Ukraine used a kamikaze drone loaded with explosives to attempt to kill Vladimir Putin.
According to reports, secret service personnel attempted to assassinate the Russian president but were unsuccessful because the drone “crashed a few miles short of their target.”
On Sunday, the UJ-22 drone, loaded with 17 kg of C4 plastic explosive, was purportedly fired by Ukrainian forces.
Putin was due to visit a newly built industrial estate near Moscow at the weekend, where the drone was supposed to explode and kill him, it was claimed.
The drone landed around 12 miles short of the intended target it has been reported
But before it reached the Rudnevo industrial park it crashed around 12 miles away, according to German website Bild.
It cited a tweet by Ukrainian activist Yuriy Romanenko, who who claims to have close ties to Kyiv’s intelligence services.
He alleged that Ukrainian secret service agents had received ‘information’ about Putin’s apparent trip, and claimed the drone had crashed in Voroskogo village.
In a tweet cited by Bild, Romanenko said: ‘Putin we are getting closer. Everyone saw the news about the drone that flew to Moscow, but did not explode?
‘So, this drone flew for a reason.
‘Last week, our intelligence officers received information about Putin’s trip to the industrial park in Rudnevo.
‘Accordingly, our kamikaze drone took off, which flew through all the air defenses of the Russian Federation and crashed not far from the industrial park.’
Kyiv has yet to officially comment on the claims.
A UJ-22 drone, which has a range of 500 miles, did crash near Vorokogo village on Sunday, with images posted on social media sites including Telegram showing the destroyed UAV in a forest near Moscow.
The drone was laden with 30 C4 plastic explosive blocks weighing 17 kilograms, which are often used by the US army.
Putin propagandist Paval Zarubin said on Sunday morning that Putin was planning to ‘visit an industrial park in Moscow’ without giving timings.
Video posted on social media showed the lawn in front of the Rudnevo industrial park had been spray painted green.
It was said this was in preparation for Putin’s arrival.
But Russian state media said Putin was set to visit the Rudnevo industrial park and hold a meeting on the development of unmanned aircraft systems today.
TASS news agency said the Russian despot would look at how the systems are developed. There was no mention of the drone incident in the state media report.
However Bild cited Romanenko claiming that there was an assassination attempt.
He said: ‘Considering how much Putin is obsessed with his own security, this story could have huge implications for the Kremlin towers’.
And Ukraine expert Sergej Sumlenny told the newspaper: ‘It is clear that a precision strike against the Russian head of state with a kamikaze drone is an almost impossible action.
‘But the very fact that such a drone would reach a place where Putin plans to stay is a slap in the face for the Russian dictator.’
Putin has previously claimed he has escaped numerous assassination attempts.
In 2017, Putin told filmmaker Oliver Stone that there had been five assassination attempts against him – and the only reason he is alive is because he deals with his own security personally.
In a midnight assault by Russian soldiers in Ukraine, at least ten people have perished, including a young mother and her infant.
In the first attack against the city in nearly two months, air raid sirens went off last night throughout Kyiv.
According to Kyiv’s administration, the air force of Ukraine intercepted 11 cruise missiles, as well as two unmanned aerial vehicles.
Power lines and a road in one neighborhood were destroyed by missile and drone fragments.
In Dnipro, a young woman and her three-year-old child were killed in a separate overnight attack, according to the city’s mayor Borys Filatov.
Two cruise missiles also hit an apartment building and storage facilities in Uman, around 215 kilometres south of Kyiv.
Three people were killed and five people were wounded, authorities say.
‘My daughter’s classmate lived on the ninth floor of the destroyed apartment block. I don’t know. Praise God they’re alive,’ said Olha, a resident of the apartment block.
Russia targeted a residential building in Uman, in the Cherkasy region of Ukraine (Picture Reuters)At least three people died in the missile strike, with the death toll expected to rise (Picture: Reuters)Rescuers work at the scene to try find survivors of the deadly attack (Picture: Reuters)Much of the country was targeted in overnight attacks by Russia (Picture: Reuters)
Footage from the overnight attack shows smoke pouring from residential buildings that caught fire.
Multiple casualties were reported across Uman following the onslaufht, including a 70-year-old woman who is being treated.
Ukrainian sources suggested some of the attacks involved conventional missiles launched by Russia’s Tu-95 strategic nuclear aircraft from the Caspian Sea region.
Russia immediately claimed that the hits on residential buildings were from ‘cack-handed’ Ukrainian air defences.
A rescuer works at the site of a heavily damaged residential building in Uman (Picture: Reuters)
Kremenchuk and Poltava in central Ukraine were also hit, and Mykolaiv in the south.
The attacks come as Ukrainian forces are expected to soon launch an offensive with new military equipment, including tanks, from its Western allies after Russian forces made little headway in a winter offensive.
Chinese President Xi Jinping this week told Ukrainian President Zelensky that China will send a special representative to Ukraine.
China has tried to appear neutral in the war but refused to criticize Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Xi talked Wednesday with Volodymyr Zelenskyy by phone, state media reported, in a long-awaited move after Beijing said it wanted to act as peace mediator in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
‘I had a long and meaningful phone call with President Xi Jinping,’ Zelensky tweeted following the chat.
‘I believe that this call, as well as the appointment of Ukraine’s ambassador to China, will give a powerful impetus to the development of our bilateral relations.’
The yuan became the most widely-used currency for cross-border transactions in China in March, overtaking the dollar for the first time, official data showed, reflecting efforts by Beijing to internationalise use of the yuan.
Cross-border payments and receipts in yuan rose to a record $549.9 billion in March from $434.5 billion a month earlier, according to Reuters calculation based on data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.
The yuan was used in 48.4% of all cross-border transactions, Reuters calculated, while the dollar’s share declined to 46.7% from 48.6% a month earlier.
The volume of cross-border transactions covers both the current and capital accounts.
China has long been promoting the use of yuan to settle cross-border trades as part of an efforts to internationalise the use of its currency.
The yuan’s use in global trade finance remains low, though it has shown steady increases.
The Pensioner Bondholders Forum will return to the Finance Ministry today, Friday April 28, 2023, to demand that matured coupons and principals of their bonds are paid.
The government has failed to meet its obligations to pensioner bondholders who were exempted from the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) and to individual bondholders who did not participate in the scheme.
Since February 2023, principals and coupons on 22 bond issuances totalling over GH¢1 billion have been outstanding.
Pensioner bondholders who picketed at the Finance Ministry for two weeks to demand an exemption from the debt exchange scheme have stated that if payments are not made immediately, they will resort to the same action.
“We were promised to be paid, as and when it is due. But now here we are, coupons are overdue. Some of them including the principals are well overdue for more than two months. All that have not been paid and that is what we are facing. That is the saddening situation we are facing. This is where we have said that, if government does not pay us by today, pensioners will resume their picketing at the Ministry of Finance.”
The forum in an earlier statement expressed disappointment over the government’s inconsistency regarding assurances to pay all pensioners their outstanding coupons and principals of bond investments.
The Convener of the Forum expressed the pain and financial hardships members have had to go through as a result of the delay and requested that the payments be made as demanded in the Forum’s letter of March 30, 2023, to the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.
Eva Green has prevailed in her High Court dispute with a production company on the demise of a science fiction movie.
The dystopian thriller A Patriot was supposed to star the Casino Royale star in the lead role, however the production fell through in October 2019.
The 42-year-old later filed a lawsuit against the film’s production firm, claiming that the terms of their contract entitled her to her million-dollar (£810,000) fee.
A counterclaim was filed against Ms. Green by White Lantern Film and their financier SMC Speciality Finance, who claimed that she had jeopardized the independent film’s production and breached the contract.
Mr Justice Michael Green had been due to give his written ruling on the case on Friday after overseeing a trial in London earlier this year.
Edmund Cullen KC, for Ms Green, previously told the court that the actress had been subjected to a ‘character assassination’, adding it was ‘based on some of the cheapest and nastiest sorts of stereotypes around’.
Tema-based artiste and core member of the group R2bees, Kojo Golden forms part of the tall list of musicians nominated for this year’s Ghana Music Awards USA.
The singer who released his Hiplife-inspired song Pan Them was nominated in the Emerging Artiste of the Year category at the event scheduled to be held at the Lincoln Theatre, Ohio, USA, on August 26, 2023.
Kojo Golden faces tough competition in his group comprising Teddy O.T., Lamsi, Rcee, Esi Bentil, Naana Blu, Kwaku Kwame, Kojo Kinn, and Vanilla.
In an interview, Kojo Golden looked delighted for his recognition by the award organisers and further expressed his desire to win to celebrate the feat with his fans.
Meanwhile, Kojo Golden has been in the music sphere since the inception of the Tema popular group R2bees.
The CEO of U2M Records formed part of the group that gave birth to the music duo, R2Bees comprising Mugeez and Paedae (Omar Sterling).
Additionally, Unda has rebranded to Kojo Golden and has since gone solo promoting visuals for his current song, Pan Them.
In order to find and catalog the marine species that exists in the world’s waters, researchers have launched an ambitious global endeavor.
In the following ten years, Ocean Census hopes to detect 100,000 undiscovered species, enabling researchers to better understand and safeguard the deep-sea ecosystem.
We lack a great deal of information on the ocean’s depths. According to the census, just 240,000 of the 2.2 million species thought to live in the Earth’s waters have been described by scientists.
The endeavor expands on earlier initiatives like the Census of Marine Life, which was completed in 2010 and found 6,000 potential brand-new ocean species.
New advances in technology include high-resolution underwater imaging, machine learning and sequencing of DNA contained in seawater. The innovations will help accelerate the speed and scale of discovery of new life-forms, said marine biologistAlex Rogers, the project’s science director. He is a professor of conservation biology at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.
“I would hope by the end of 10 years we would have made some incredible scientific discoveries, maybe completely new ecosystems,” Rogers said at the launch event in London on Thursday.
It typically takes scientists at least a year to definitively describe a species post-discovery, but new types of technology are making it much easier for sea creatures to be studied in their natural habitat. These include tools like underwater laser scanning that can scan gelatinous creatures such as jelly fish that are hard to study on land.
“You can now look at (the creature) in the water column and see what the morphology is and study them in situ,” said Jyotika Virmani, the executive director of the Schmidt Ocean Institute in Palo Alto, California, which will participate in the project.
“What we’re moving towards is a place where we can actually perhaps even do taxonomic identification in the water column instead of bringing everything back to land. And that’s really exciting and will make things move a lot faster.”
All living organisms, including humans, disperse genetic material into the environment, and the project will also make use of new and accessible techniques to sample waterborne DNA to detect and track species.
While many of the species discovered are likely to be on the smaller end of the scale, Virmani noted that the world’s longest sea creature was only discovered in 2020 off the coast of Western Australia — a 150-foot stringlike animal known as a siphonophore.
Ocean Census will also help to identify how marine ecosystems are responding to the climate crisis, and assess how marine life could adapt to a warmer climate.
The project is being led by Nekton, a UK-based marine science and conservation institute, and funded by The Nippon Foundation, a nonprofit foundation based in Japan.
Over the next decade, dozens of expeditions to the ocean’s biodiversity hotspots will search for new species involving divers, submarines and deep-sea robots. The project also hopes to involve private vessels and individuals. The data and information gathered will by openly accessible for scientists, policymakers and the public for noncommercial use.
In order to “prioritize the interests” of the broadcaster, Richard Sharp has resigned as chairman of the BBC.
The former Goldman Sachs banker has been accused of setting up a loan for Boris Johnson of up to £800,000 before the then-prime minister supported him for the BBC leadership position.
When applying for the top position at the BBC, Mr. Sharp made “significant errors of judgment” and failed to provide the “full facts,” a committee previously concluded.
He was announced as the government’s choice for the chairman role in January 2021.
Mr Sharp said he will remain in the role until the end of June while the search for a successor takes place.
A spokesperson for Boris Johnson dismissed the allegations as ‘rubbish’ (Picture: PA)Richard Sharp testified in front of a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee earlier this year (Picture: Getty Images)
In a grilling by MPs, Mr Sharp insisted his only role was as a ‘sort of introduction agency’ between his friend Sam Blyth – a Canadian businessman who is a distant cousin of Johnson – and the cabinet secretary Simon Case.
Labour had called for an investigation into Mr Sharp after allegations surfaced in The Sunday Times.
According to the newspaper, a dinner was held at Chequers before the loan was finalised.
At the time, a spokesperson for Mr Johnson dismissed the Sunday Times report as ‘rubbish’ and insisted his financial arrangements ‘have been properly declared’.
‘Richard Sharp has never given any financial advice to Boris Johnson. He did indeed have dinner with Mr Sharp, whom he has known for almost 20 years, and with his cousin. So what? Big deal.’
Earlier today, a Labour MP said Mr Sharp ‘will have to go’ if he found to have broken the code for public appointments by facilitating a loan for Mr Johnson.
Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh told Sky News: ‘If it is revealed that he has failed to declare the details of this loan arrangement properly or failed to be forthcoming in the process, then of course he will have to go.’
Ms Haigh said an independent panel to look into the issue of public appointments has been established in the opposition.
She added: ‘It’s been really concerning to see how the Government has sat back and done very little about the potential breaches in the process, and did nothing to help restore trust and faith in the impartiality of the BBC.
‘I think his whole saga raises wider issues around the way that the Government has approached the BBC and the particular links of the Tory party with the BBC.’
The Electronic Transaction Levy (E-levy) introduced by Mobile Money Limited-MTN Ghana has led to a dip in mobile money transactions, according to Sylvia Otuo-Acheampong, Head of Products and Innovations.
The levy’s introduction on electronic transactions impacted mobile money usage as it increased the cost of transactions for users. Consequently, some users became reluctant to use the service. The E-levy was introduced in 2022 and initially set at a rate of 1.75 percent on the value of transactions over GHȼ100.
However, later in 2022 government announced a revision of the e-levy rate following public outcry, which reduced the rate to 1.5 to percent. Currently, the rate has been reduced to 1 percent across all transactions – without exemptions, unlike in 2022.
The Head of Products and Innovations noted that like any other business, introduction of the E-levy led to a reduction in demand as the increase in price led to revenue reductions. However, despite the impact, Mobile Money Limited has noted a resurgence as customers return to digital payments amid a revised rate on e-levy transactions.
“We saw in the statistics that we track…the number of customers which are using the service, and also revenue at the end of the day. So we saw this in the core metrics that we measure, but after a while, we saw the whole customer patronage really picking up again. So before we ended last year, we had seen customers come back; and also after the E-levy was lowered from 1.5 to 1 percent, we have seen the numbers coming up. So I would say we are now getting to where we were previously,” said Ms. Otuo-Acheampong.
MTN Mobile Money Limited now counts over 13 million Ghanaians using its platform, with over 140,000 merchants using it as a form of payment – including face-to-face and remote transactions. Additionally, the platform has over 15,000 point-of-sale (POS) machines across the country that accept mobile money transactions, with 240,000 agents nationwide supporting the ecosystem.
While the platform has seen significant success, Otuo-Acheampong also discussed the issue of fraud. The platform has been working to educate staff on fraud prevention and detection, both internally and through partnerships with security agencies, with the goal of protecting customer funds.
However, Otuo-Acheampong noted that the biggest challenge remains educating vulnerable customers and encouraging them to keep their personal identification numbers (PINs) confidential.
“There are certain metrics we have to fulfil, and so they [regulators] will come in to ensure you’re actually putting in place the right mechanisms, the right tools to curb fraudulent activities; and so it is a joint kind of ownership with the regulators… we can put all these measures in place, but if an individual chooses to share their PIN there is really nothing we can do from there,” said Ms. Otuo-Acheampong.
Mobile Money Limited is not only committed to combatting fraud but also advocating cheaper transaction fees for customers. According to Otuo-Acheampong, this is achievable by reducing the cost of technology from government’s perspective, including decreasing taxes on technology products and encouraging vendors to offer affordable alternatives to perform similar transactions.
“We have to find a way to reduce the cost of technology… it could also be the vendors themselves finding ways to bring in cheaper technology that performs the same transaction or delivers the same services… I think it is a multi-form approach,” said Ms. Otuo-Acheampong.
Mobile Money Limited is committed to continuing its growth and success in the Ghanaian market, with further emphasis on fraud prevention and advocating more affordable options for customers.
Almost a month after, Nollywood actor, Yul Edochie, has found the perfect timing to open up on his ‘wounds’ following the death of his son.
In a long emotional tribute, the actor recounted his last moments with Kambilichuwkwu, his first son who has reportedly been laid to rest.
16-year-old Kambili passed away on March 30, 2023, two months after celebrating his birthday.
Social media was awash with reports that he died after developing a seizure while playing football with his schoolmates.
Yul and his first wife, May, have since remained silent on the issue and in the case of the former, he has deleted all his posts on Instagram to highlight his immense grief.
However, in the latest development, Yul has finally commented on his son’s demise.
The actor took to Instagram to pen down an emotional epistle to his late son.
“On that Wednesday morning, you came into my room, dressed up for school. You told me your school will be having inter house sports on Friday and I promised you I’ll be there. You were so excited.You told me you won a gold medal in swimming. I congratulated you. We joked about your height, then you left for school in your ever-cheerful manner. And you never came back home again.
“I can’t question God. My dear son, just 16 years with us here on earth, but you made your mark. Great Son. Calm, cute, brilliant, always cheerful, outstanding footballer, gentle and loving soul. You’re an angel. We miss you. We love you, Kambi. Daddy loves you. But God loves you more. Rest well, Son. Till we meet again. Rest in Heaven with God. My dear son, Kambi Yul-Edochie. Kambi yoooooo!” he wrote.
The actor’s colleagues, friends and sympathizers have also poured in their condolences beneath the post.
Kenyan police detained another well-known televangelist on Thursday in order to prosecute him on allegations “related to mass killing of his followers.”
Ezekiel Ombok Odero, the pastor of the New Life Prayer Church in Mavueni, Kilifi County, announced his arrest on Twitter, according to Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki, who did not elaborate on the allegations against Odero.
The minister said on the social media platform Twitter that “the said Church has been shut down,” adding that “over 100 people who were holed up at the premises (of the church) have been evacuated and will be required to record statements.”
Odero touts miracle healing for the sick whom he sells packaged water (described as ‘living water’) and handkerchiefs at 100 Kenya shillings (around 70 cents)
“There is nothing special in the bottle. It is purified water. I pray for it. The clothes used by Paul in the Bible healed many people. The shadows of the prophets also had healing powers,” he told local media in an interview.
His church sits on 65-acre land and has a guest house that accommodates church members who “sleep in the church,” Odero said in a December 2022 interview.
“The faithful come from all over the world,” he is quoted as saying. This place is full to capacity every Sunday. Getting a parking lot is difficult. I had built the petrol station for guests to fuel their cars,” he said.
Odero’s arrest comes as the country is reeling from the discovery of at least 100 bodies in shallow graves in in the Shakahola forest in eastern Kenya. Some were found alive but weak and emaciated. They are believed to be members of the Good News International Church. Authorities are investigating the pastor Paul Mackenzie Nthenge for allegedly encouraging his members, including children to starve themselves to death to gain salvation.
Kenyan authorities have vowed to implement tighter regulations on religious bodies and organizations after Mackenzie’s case sent shockwaves through the country and raised questions about the government’s intelligence.
After the president of South Korea entertained US President Joe Biden with a karaoke performance of the song on Thursday, American singer-songwriter Don McLean joked that he was going to sing his iconic “American Pie” with the South Korean leader.
The two leaders got together on Wednesday at the White House state dinner, a glitzy event that attracted celebrities including Angelina Jolie and snowboarder Chloe Kim, who won an Olympic gold medal.
Following the audience’s enjoyment of a number of musical performances, Biden related a tale about how his sons would sing McLean’s 1971 hit song “American Pie” while en route to school.
“We know this is one of your favorite songs,” he told Yoon, who drew cheers from the crowd as he launched into the classic lyrics.
Yoon received a standing ovationfor his efforts beforeBiden presented him with a guitar signed by McLean.
The legendary singer later told CNN that he had big plans for the South Korean leader.
“I intend to go over to South Korea next year and sing it with the president, so that’s probably going to be another news story,” McLean joked on Thursday. “He wanted me at the White House to sing the song, but I’m in Australia right now on tour.”
McLean also spoke about the lasting legacy of the song, which at 8 minutes and 37 seconds held the record for the longest song to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart, until Taylor Swift re-released her hit “All Too Well” in 2021.
Of “American Pie,” McLean said: “It has a melody which is something that is pretty hard to find these days, and that’s just the opening part of the song – I mean, the song is eight and a half minutes, and it’s a rock and roll song.”
“I get a kick out of the fact that the song is still alive,” he added. “Musicians are dealing with a thing called alchemy, we deal in magic, and some of the things that we do fall on their face, and others if we’re very fortunate are magical and live forever.”
Wednesday’s events mark just the second state visit of the Biden presidency (Biden hosted French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte in December 2022).
At the Wednesday bilateral meeting, the two leaders announced a key new agreement to deter North Korean aggression, including a new US commitment to deploy a nuclear-armed submarine in South Korea for the first time since the early 1980s.
Yoon also addressed Congress in a speech on Thursday, slamming North Korea over its human rights violations and condemning the war in Ukraine.
Mobile money transactions have signalled a recovery after having dipped following introduction of the Electronic Transaction Levy (E-levy), Head of Products and Innovations at Mobile Money Limited-MTN Ghana, Sylvia Otuo-Acheampong, has revealed.
The levy’s introduction on electronic transactions impacted mobile money usage as it increased the cost of transactions for users. Consequently, some users became reluctant to use the service. The E-levy was introduced in 2022 and initially set at a rate of 1.75 percent on the value of transactions over GHȼ100.
However, later in 2022 government announced a revision of the e-levy rate following public outcry, which reduced the rate to 1.5 to percent. Currently, the rate has been reduced to 1 percent across all transactions – without exemptions, unlike in 2022.
The Head of Products and Innovations noted that like any other business, introduction of the E-levy led to a reduction in demand as the increase in price led to revenue reductions. However, despite the impact, Mobile Money Limited has noted a resurgence as customers return to digital payments amid a revised rate on e-levy transactions.
“We saw in the statistics that we track…the number of customers which are using the service, and also revenue at the end of the day. So we saw this in the core metrics that we measure, but after a while we saw the whole customer-patronage really picking up again. So before we ended last year, we had seen customers come back; and also after the E-levy was lowered from 1.5 to 1 percent, we have seen the numbers coming up. So I would say we are now getting to where we were previously,” said Ms. Otuo-Acheampong.
MTN Mobile Money Limited now counts over 13 million Ghanaians using its platform, with over 140,000 merchants using it as a form of payment – including face-to-face and remote transactions. Additionally, the platform has over 15,000 point-of-sale (POS) machines across the country that accept mobile money transactions, with 240,000 agents nationwide supporting the ecosystem.
While the platform has seen significant success, Otuo-Acheampong also discussed the issue of fraud. The platform has been working to educate staff on fraud prevention and detection, both internally and through partnerships with security agencies, with the goal of protecting customer funds.
However, Otuo-Acheampong noted that the biggest challenge remains educating vulnerable customers and encouraging them to keep their personal identification numbers (PINs) confidential.
“There are certain metrics we have to fulfil, and so they [regulators] will come in to ensure you’re actually putting in place the right mechanisms, the right tools to curb fraudulent activities; and so it is a joint kind of ownership with the regulators… we can put all these measures in place, but if an individual chooses to share their PIN there is really nothing we can do from there,” said Ms. Otuo-Acheampong.
Mobile Money Limited is not only committed to combatting fraud but also advocating cheaper transaction fees for customers. According to Otuo-Acheampong, this is achievable by reducing the cost of technology from government’s perspective, including decreasing taxes on technology products and encouraging vendors to offer affordable alternatives to perform similar transactions.
“We have to find a way to reduce the cost of technology… it could also be the vendors themselves finding ways to bring in cheaper technology that performs the same transaction or delivers the same services… I think it is a multi-form approach,” said Ms. Otuo-Acheampong.
Mobile Money Limited is committed to continuing its growth and success in the Ghanaian market, with further emphasis on fraud prevention and advocating more affordable options for customers.
In response to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s demand that Al Jazeera Media Network retract its recent documentary and demand an apology from it for its involvement in some illegal activities. National Communications Officer for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Sammy Gyamfi has dismissed it.
Sammy Gyamfi, tweeted the first page of the two-page letter written on the green sheet used by the Office of the President with a bold red inscription of the words ‘COMIC RELIEF’ slapped across it.
The caption to his tweet read #GoldMafiaGovernment, #GalamseyGovernment.”
In subsequent interviews on local radio stations, he averred that there was no basis for the president to make such a demand of the network. He stressed that the gravity of the matter was in the accusations which the president must truthfully respond to.
About the Gold Mafia film
The serialized documentary titled Gold Mafia had one of the main characters, self-confessed gold smuggler and money launderer, Alistair Mathias, mention President Akufo-Addo as his friend and lawyer at a point.
Alistair had also claimed that he had very close relations with the president, plus other African Heads of State, but this is something the presidency has denied.
In the 25th April letter to the Doha-based channel, penned under the name of the Executive Secretary to the President, Nana Bediatuo Asante, the contents of the documentary that mention Akufo-Addo are baseless and defamatory.
“I am instructed by the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to demand formally that Al Jazeera Media Network (“Al Jazeera”) retract immediately and apologise for airing an inaccurate and unfair documentary that contained spurious and unsubstantiated allegations against the President and the Government of Ghana.
“The documentary in question made baseless claims that the President acted as lawyer for one Mr. Alistair Mathias and implied that the President personally benefitted unlawfully from an alleged $100m state infrastructure contract purportedly awarded to Mr. Mathias.
“In his letter dated 11th April, 2023, responding to AL Jazeera’s letter of 2nd April, 2023, which was received on 6th April, 2023, containing these vague and defamatory allegations, the Legal Counsel to the President, Mr. Kow Abaka Essuman, acting on the instructions of the President, informed Al Jazeera that the President had not been in private practice since the year 2000 and that the President had no recollection of acting as a lawyer, either personally or through his law firm, Messrs. Akufo-Addo, Prempeh and Co, for a Mr. Alistair Mathias or his company, Guldrest Resources,” the statement said.
The letter further demanded that Al Jazeera acts within the next seven days after it receives the letter.
“It is impetrative to that you act forthwith on this request within seven days from the date of receipt of this letter.”
