Editor-in-Chief of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr. has condemned the Military High Command sanctioning Tuesday’s operation at Ashaiman following the killing of a soldier, 22-year-old Imoro Sherrif.
Mr Pratt in an interview described the move by the military men as ‘senseless.’
The young recruit’s body was found in a pool of blood in the Ashaiman community on Tuesday.
His death caused the Military to invade the community, beating the residents mercilessly and capturing over 100 of them to their base.
Reacting to the military action, Kwesi Pratt emphasized that it was not their duty to storm the community and that their operation was absolutely needless.
To him, such operations shouldn’t be encouraged stating it doesn’t augur well for the nation.
“If we are to go by this principle that because a soldier has been killed and we find his corpse somewhere, soldiers have the right to go there and do what these soldiers went to do and so we extend this principle, can we live in Ghana? We can’t live here. What if we also find a doctor dead somewhere, does it mean doctors also have a right to load their syringes with poison and poison patients? Does it make sense?”, he snapped.
“In fact, the whole operation shouldn’t have taken place. They should have used proper investigative institutions and systems to investigate the matter,” he asserted.
To those arguing in favour of the Military exerting what they term as “minimum force” on the residents, Mr. Pratt asked; “Where from the minimum force? What’s the need for this minimum force when the person has surrendered, when the person is lying on the ground, when the person is not resisting?”
“Minimum force is applied when the person is resisting,” he stressed.
Kennedy Agyapong, a representative for Assin Central, has declared “war” on the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
The outspoken legislator claims that the GRA is investigating him unfairly because of two of his significant enterprises. He is establishing a steel plant and operating a cold storage company.
He declared: “Ghana Revenue Authority can never shut down my business because I’ll battle,” in an interview on Kumasi’s Sompa FM. Because that steel plant alone will require 1000 workers, I will campaign for the youth.
“And you are going there because Kwame Agyapong is loudmouthed, because he wants to contest so you will destroy my business,” he stressed.
He said earlier that the GRA wanted to put a personnel at his cold chain stores to police how much fish he sells daily before warning: “Let me say this, I have gone past intimidation.
“They cannot use the system to intimidate me. It so ad I have to say this, I have opened businesses across the last five presidents, I never went through any of this harassment.”
Former President John Mahama says Ghanaians are yearning for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to return to power.
He says the citizenry is calling for the NDC government to come and rescue the country from the economic crisis caused by the inept Nana Addo administration.
He stated that unless Ghanaians rise and rescue the country from the hands of this family and friends’ government, things will deteriorate.
At this point, we must rescue Ghana from the hands of this government of family and friends. A family is on the verge of destroying this country, and as Ghanaians, we must rescue it from their clutches.
He made the remarks while speaking to NDC delegates in Techiman North as part of his Bono East Region campaign tour.
He stated that the country belongs to the next generation and that if we don’t find someone to save it, there will be no country for the next generation.
We require an experienced leader to lead the country. I’ve already been there. We witnessed what I did as president. I am not a newcomer. I have the knowledge. I have been to the Flagstaff House, where President Akufo-Addo is currently working as President. We must save this country.”
He went on to say that the NPP peddled lues and encouraged Ghanaians to try them, which destroyed our economy.
He said the NPP slammed him and described him as incompetent but when they were given the nod, they failed to deliver on their promises.
“Experience is not sold in the market. We need experience and not experimentation. We can no longer allow someone to come and experiment with our country.”
The unsolicited entry of people’s doors by Amazon delivery drivers is allegedly done in order to leave packages.
The behaviour was the “last thing you’d expect,” according to Lancashire resident Kathakoli Dasgupta.
She and others from the coastal community of Freckleton have complained to Amazon about the situation.
The last time Kathakoli and her husband were at home, they heard their front door open.
She told Lancashire Live: ‘By the time I reached the door, the driver was already in the van, so I couldn’t say: “What did you do?’ I would have said something.”‘
She took to social media to share details of the incident and realised others had encountered the same situation.
One villager claimed they had heard delivery drivers try their front door, but fortunately it was always locked.
Another resident suggested the drivers try this method because the home in question ‘look occupied with a lamp’ on in the front room.
Kathakoli Dasgupta suggested the method helped drivers same time (Picture: Lancs Live/MEN Media)
The same user added they do not believe there is any ill intention from the Amazon drivers.
Kathakoli continued: ‘I moved from India seven or eight years ago and I’ve had to do some cultural adaptation.
‘In India, there’s no real sense of space, but I can’t remember a time anyone ever opened my door there.
‘When they ring your doorbell, they often don’t wait for you to get there before leaving. But I guess it’s eating into the handling time. I’m often almost running to the door once when the doorbell goes off.’
She stressed that Amazon usually delivers a ‘fantastic service’ working to tight deadlines.
It is understood the delivery drivers are self-employed contractors, engaged by third-party courier companies on behalf of Amazon.
An Amazon spokesperson said: ‘We have very high standards for the delivery service providers we work with and how they serve customers.
Assin Central Member of Parliament, Kennedy Agyapong has expressed surprise at a proposed Constitutional Instrument (CI) seeking to make the Ghana Card the sole Identification document for registration of new voters.
The CI, proposed by the Electoral Commission is currently before Parliament with strong opposition from the Minority Caucus with strong support from the other side.
Agyapong, who is particularly concerned with the decision to strike out the passport as a proof of citizenship, made his views known on the matter in an interview he granted Sompa FM in Kumasi late last week.
“For Americans, even Ghanaians who have naturalized, they are so proud to hold an American passport. Ghana has people taking bogus decisions and I wonder those who sit there and take such decisions.
“That a whole Ghana passport, you claim that to register to vote, we won’t allow use of the Ghana passport, we have lost our identity to National Identification, what?” he lamented.
He reiterated his strict opposition to the CI asking, “what makes me know I am a Ghanaian? It is my passport.”
He also rejected the EC’s explanation that a lot of non-Ghanaians are holding the Ghanaian passport, “same is the case with these Ghana Cards,” he challenged.
The CI aims to amend the current law to make Ghana Card, the sole proof of identification for registration of new voters, removing the existing options of the use of passports and the guarantor system.
As per rumours, King Charles has once again snubbed Prince Andrew by refusing to pay the £32,000 annual fee for his brother’s Indian healer.
According to reports, the humiliated Prince submitted the expenditure claim to the Privy Purse with the expectation that it would be approved without issue.
The King, however, is alleged to have turned down Andrew’s request and instructed him to cover the cost of the live-in yoga instructor out of his own pocket.
The Duke of York has been using the yoga teacher for several years, the Sun reports.
Charles reportedly thought his brother was ‘having a laugh’ when he submitted the expenses claim for the guru’s services (Picture: Getty)
The guru comes to live with Andrew in the Royal Lodge for a month at a time, and helps ‘heal’ the Prince using chanting, massages and holistic therapy, the paper reports.
The late Queen used to sign off on the expense every year, and was said to be happy to indulge her son’s lifestyle.
But since becoming King, Charles is looking to be much more thrifty about spending the Palace’s £24,000,000 annual income, which he believes reflects poorly on the royals in an age of austerity.
A source told the Sun: ‘While the Queen was always happy to indulge her son over the years, Charles is far less inclined to fund such indulgences particularly in an era of a cost-of-living crisis.
‘Families are struggling and would rightly baulk at the idea of tens of thousands paid to an Indian guru to provide holistic treatment to a non-working royal living in his grace and favour mansion.
‘This time the King saw the bill for the healer submitted by Andrew to the Privy Purse and thought his brother was having a laugh.’
The news comes days after reports that Andrew could be banned from wearing ceremonial robes to the King’s coronation on May 6.
The King is looking to tighten the royal purse strings out of respect for the cpst of living crisis.
The Duke of York is said to be furious about being kept ‘in the dark’ over whether he’ll be allowed to wear flowing velvet robes decorated with glistening insignia which denotes his position as a ‘Knight of the Garter’.
Andrew was stripped of his royal titles by the Queen last year following sex abuse claims made by Virginia Guiffre when she was 17 and revelations about his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffery Epstein.
The move saw him banned from wearing his military uniform at the Queen’s funeral, and means he can no longer be called ‘His Royal Highness’- a symbol of his status as a senior royal.
He has also lost access to taxpayer-funded security and is set to have his £249,000-a-year grant slashed by Charles next month.
In January, reports claimed the Duke of York had beenbanned from using his suite of rooms at Buckingham Palace and would never return.
Plans are now in place to evict him from his £30,000,000 mansion at the Royal Lodge, with the palace reportedly drawing up a range of options to rehome him.
The Mirror reports that the monarch ‘will tempt the Duke of York with houses across the royal portfolio’ following his potential eviction from Royal Lodge.
Plans are also in place to evict Andrew from his royal mansion and ban him from wearing ceremonial robes at the King’s coronation in May (Picture: Getty)
A royal source told the newspaper: ‘The King and the Duke (of York) have vastly different ideas of where he (Andrew) should base himself both geographically as well as his involvement in family affairs.’
But Andrew is not prepared to go down without fighting, with sources reporting he may now give another historic tell-all interview in yet another effort to clear his name.
A source close to Prince Andrew told the Mirror: ‘Nothing is off the table.
‘Andrew has been made to give up his job and now potentially his home.’
The source added that he feels there is ‘little to lose’ and that the Prince believes he has already ‘paid an awfully high price’.
For his most recent assessment of the economy, the academic who has recently released negative judgements on Ghana’s economy used inflationary data.
He maintains that the Ghana Statistical Service was producing inflation estimates that were significantly lower than the true rate, calling the rate “rubbish.”
“Ghana’s economic death spiral just continues to spin. Today, I measure inflation in Ghana at a stunning 84.95%/yr, ~1.58x the Ghana Statistical Services’ phony official rate. The GSS is producing RUBBISH,” Hanke tweeted on March 11.
The government only recently secured a Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP), which according to experts is a major conditionality of the lender in granting Board approval for a US$3 billion bailout.
The programme was meant to ensure the streamlining Ghana’s unsustainable debt. Government announced an 85% participation rate.
Ghana is hoping to get the first tranche of the bailout by March this year in order to among others rein in inflation and arrest the galloping depreciation of the cedi.
Talks are currently underway with Ghana’s external creditors in a bid to restructure loans in order to get IMF Board approval in March 2023.
The news was confirmed by Gloucestershire Constabulary this evening.
The arrest relates to an altercation that occurred outside a gym in Tommy Taylors Lane, Cheltenham, on Thursday at around 9.15 p.m.
A woman was stabbed and suffered critical wounds. She was rushed to the hospital for treatment, and her condition is stable.
The centre was closed off due to a ‘police incident’ on Thursday (Picture: BPM Media)
Police say the man has been arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of terrorism contrary to Section 41 of the Terrorism Act (2000), as well as on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism under Section 5 of the Terrorism Act (2006).
Assistant Chief Constable Richard Ocone of Gloucestershire Constabulary said: ‘I would like to reassure those living locally or visiting the county that we believe this was an isolated incident and we are not aware of any wider threat to members of the public.
‘We are working closely with our partners in Counter Terrorism Policing.
‘We appreciate that an incident of this nature may be concerning and we would encourage people to contact us via 101 with any additional information they may have about the incident.’
Assin Central MP, Kennedy Agyapong, has accused his wife of being corrupt.
Stella Wilson Agyapong, the wife of famous politician and presidential hopeful, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong incurred his wrath in her attempt to shield a supposedly corrupt health worker who exploited a woman at a government hospital.
On the account of the Assin Central Member of Parliament, a woman he had met at a public place walked up to him to narrate how a corrupt nurse was pocketing money at a hospital in Ghana.
“A woman I meet detailed how a nurse who was attending to her friend’s daughter wrote a wrong receipt for her and how she took her on for writing a receipt of GH¢40 when she had paid GH¢250 at the hospital…my wife who was there with me and knowing me very well urged the woman not to mention the name of the hospital to me, that is why I say she’s corrupt. I would have easily called out the hospital in today’s interview in Kumasi,” he disclosed on Sompa TV.
The MP who called his wife corrupt also announced that he will be quick to sack her if she carries the same attitude during his time as president of Ghana.
“She is corrupt, she used to be very principle when she returned to Ghana from the United States…do you know why my wife is corrupt?…how do you change the nation with this. You want to be First Lady, I will sack you without hesitation with this attitude…was that her attitude when she living abroad?” he quizzed.
According to Kennedy Agyapong, his beloved wife who spent years working abroad should have known better by not standing in his way especially when he had plans of naming and shaming the culprit to serve as a warning to others.
Kwasi Amoako-Attah, the minister for roads and highways, has pledged that the completion of abandoned and postponed road projects in the Jomoro Municipality will be taken into consideration as part of the 2024 budget.
The Minister outlined the reasons why these projects have been delayed, including a lack of funding and other difficulties.
The Minister provided the justification on the House floor when Jomoro MP Dorcas Affo-Toffey questioned when roads in her district, including the Samenya Barrier to Half Assini and New Town Roads, among others, would be finished.
“Mr. Speaker, I rise to ask the Minister for Roads and Highways when the Samenya Barrier to Half Assini and New Town …in the Jomoro Constituency would be completed”, the MP queried.
Responding to the question, the Minister for Roads and Highways, Kwasi Amoako-Attah explained that “Mr. Speaker the Samenya Barrier to Half Assini Road forms part of the regional roads 019 which stretches to Mpataba to the Ivory Coast Border. The road spans through Jomoro Municipality of the Western Region”.
Mr. Amoako-Attah said, “already, the Samenya Barrier to Half Assini Road forms part of an ongoing project from Mpataba to Half Assini dual road measuring about 25kilometres”. “Work commenced on 25th June 2020 for completion by 24th December 2022. Physical progress is estimated to be 30.2%. The contractor is at the site. However, the progress of work is closed due to delay in payments”.
He explained that “the block 2, Mr. Speaker, work commenced on 26th June 2020 to be completed on December 26, 2022. Physical completion is 26% and the contractor is on site. Again, however, the progress of work is slow due to delays in payments. The completion of works would depend largely on the availability of funds”.
The Minister said, “to the Newtown roads…Mr. Speaker, these roads, measuring 80kilometres is a feeder road and form part of the Half Assini New town feeder roads, which is measuring 25kilometers”.
“There was lack of suitable gravel materials. The contract has been curtailed due to lack of funds. The execution would be considered under the 2024 budget” Mr. Amoako-Attah explained.
But Madam Affo-Toffey, not satisfied with the fact that the roads would be captured under the 2024 budget under the Government of Ghana said, the allocation should be under Ghana Gas.
She explained that it is part of the social responsibility of Ghana Gas to construct such roads so it would be prudent for the company to fulfill this social responsibility. Madam Affo-Toffey explained that Jomoro is part of the gas production enclaves in the country so they must benefit from Ghana Gas. She agreed on the fact that the roads would be captured in the 2024 budget but insisted that Ghana Government does not have money to construct the road as early as possible but with Ghana Gas, they have funds set aside for that so they will fasten the construction of these roads.
The death of multi-award winning artist Costa Titch, real name Constantinos Tsobanoglou, has sent shock waves through Mzansi.
The rapper died on Saturday after collapsing on stage during a performance at music festival Ultra SA, which was held at the Expo Centre in Nasrec, Johannesburg.
He was performing at the new Smirnoff Storm Room, which was a platform for the amapiano and afro-tech music lovers. He fell twice on stage before being ushered off to receive medical attention.
His family confirmed the passing on Sunday morning in a media statement, released on his social media platforms. They have confirmed he was 28, at the time of his passing.
“It is with deep pain that we find ourselves having to acknowledge his passing at this time.
“We are thankful for the emergency responders and all those present in his last hours on this earth.
“As a family we are faced with a difficult time as we try to make sense of what has befallen us and ask that we be afforded the time and space to gather ourselves,” read the statement.
Titch began his journey in entertainment as a backup dancer for some of the biggest artists, including Cassper Nyovest, before venturing into the music.
His close friend Junior de Rocka was among the first people to take to social media to pay tribute to him, in a since-deleted Instagram story, where wrote: “RIP Bro”.
EFF leader and supporter of the entertainment industry, Julius Malema posted Titch’s name with a heartbroken emoji on Twitter.
Rapper and reality TV star, Da L.E.S shared that the young talented artist was taken too soon.
“RIP Costa Titch. Great talent gone too soon. 💚🕊️” he tweeted.
Presenter and actress Pearl Thusi has been left in disbelief over Titch’s passing and wrote on her Instagram stories they had made plans.
Rapper Nadia Nakai, who is still dealing with the tragic killing of her boyfriend rapper AKA, was left questioning God’s ways.
She tweeted: “God! So you just going to take them one by one! What is the plan here!! I’m so freaked out, what is going on here?! Someone please explain. 💔”
Titch had collaborated with the late AKA on “You’re Welcome” and on his smash hit “Nkalakatha remix”, which also featured the late Riky Riky.
He had just recently released his remix of his biggest hit “Big Flex” along with with Senegalese-American rapper Akon. He had also just partnered with the “Lonely” rapper’s label Konvict Kulture.
Ultra SA is expected to release a statement on the rapper’s passing in the course of Sunday.
A former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, has disclosed why he was ousted from office.
According to the Professor who also chaired the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), elements within both the governing New Patriotic Party and the Akufo-Addo government, conspired in a grand scheme to hound him out of office to pave the way for their free participation in illegal mining (galamsey).
In February 2020 while still in office, Prof Frimpong-Boateng disclosed that some of the 500 excavators allegedly seized by the IMCIM had gone missing.
In an interview with Accra-based Joy FM, Prof Frimpong-Boateng said: “We were told that 500 [excavators] had been seized and given to the district assemblies but later on, when we went out to check, the figure was far less than that”.
Asked about the exact figures, Prof Frimpong-Boateng answered: “I cannot tell you exactly what but I can tell you it was far lower than the 500 put out”.
He, however, noted that the earthmoving equipment that went missing, were in the custody of the district assemblies.
“That was the case in most of the areas, so, we sent people out there to talk to the district assemblies and we got Vanguard involved and most of them had disappeared”, Prof Frimpong-Boateng said.
In a recent interview with state broadcaster GTV, however, Prof Frimpong-Boateng said the missing excavator story was trumped up against him by his own party and other government officials involved in galamsey, just to get him out.
“No 500 excavators got missing. Who said that? It was thrown into the media space to tag something on Frimpong-Boageng”, he said.
“What am I doing with 500 excavators?” he wondered. Explaining what happened, from his point of view, the famed heart surgeon said: “The true story is that, at the start of the Operation Vanguard thing, the soldiers were supposed to arrest the excavators and they go into the forest where they are doing the mining and they remove control board”.
“So, if they remove 20 control boards today, they will report that they have immobilised 20 control boards”, he noted, adding: “But then, when you go away, they will bring new control boards and fix them and then off they go”.
“So, we got the report that they have immobilised over 750-something excavators. So, we appointed somebody to go round and check. When we went round, I think we got about 150 [or] 200 that we could see”.
“The rest had either been given to their owners or they put in some extra parts and moved them away”, he pointed out.
“And, then somebody put it out there that Frimpong-Boateng has taken 500 excavators. What am I going to do with it?” he asked.
“It was an orchestrated scheme even within the party and government to get me out”, Prof Frimpong-Boateng alleged, pointing out: “Why is it that when I left, now everybody is in the forest?”
“At that time, you dare not enter the forest. But, as I said, I don’t what to go into details now because I have a lot to say on that. But let me tell you that I did not take one excavator for anything. And, they know the truth”, he added.
He said: “Now, things are coming out: We know those who are behind it and the party people who are there, people in government, including Jubilee House who are doing galamsey and so on even now. So, let Frimpong-Boateng be in is corner to enjoy his retirement”.
South African rap artist Constantinos Tsobanoglou popularly known by his stage name Costa Titch is dead.
The news of his death was confirmed by his family on Sunday, March 12, 2023.
On Saturday, March 11, 2023, reports went wild on social media that the rapper had passed out after experiencing a seizure on the Ultra stage at Expo Centre in Nasrec, South Africa.
In a statement, the family said;
“Death has tragically knocked at our door.
Robbing us of our beloved son, brother and grandson, Constantinos Tsobanoglou (28), who South Africa had come to love and idolize under his stage name “Costa Titch”. It is with deep pain that we find ourselves having to acknowledge his passing at this time.
We are thankful for the emergency responders and all those present in his last hours on this earth. As a family, we are faced with a difficult time as we try to make sense of what has befallen us and ask that we be afforded the time and space to gather ourselves.
The Tsobanoglou family thanks you for the love and support you have given to our son and may you continue to uplift him even in spirit. Please keep us in your prayers and uplifted in the Lord.”
Check the post as shared on Instagram.
Costa Titch entered the entertainment industry as a dancer, but over time, he metamorphosed and registered himself as a talented rapper in music lovers’ minds in South Africa.
Until the reported dead, the was having a great 2023 so far, revelling in the success of his smash hit, “Big Flexa”.
The song which was released in December 2021, became the most-viewed Amapiano video in late 2022. The track features Alfa Kat, Banaba Des, Sdida, Man T and C’buda M. In the song’s music video, the rapper shows off his impeccable dancing skills with Soweto’s Finest, a local dance group.
The video has officially reached 30.7 million views on YouTube, beating out MFR Souls, Major League DJz, Bontle Smith and Kamo Mphela’s Amanikiniki, which stands at 30 million.
Big Flexa has also wowed fans on other Spotify and TikTok. On Spotify, the track has accumulated more than six million listens while on TikTok, the sound has been used more than 105 000 times.
The independent artist had been doing things his own way since his career began, utilising the power of social media to establish a strong fan base who understand and love his sound, which is a fusion of hip hop and some amapiano beats.
Earlier this year, he received a major co-sign from Senegalese-American musician Akon, who praised him and predicted that he would be “a game changer”.
Akon’s co-sign went beyond just praising him in a video. He also linked up with the South African artist and was a surprise guest during Titch’s performance at Cotton Fest.
Titch continued to make waves as he took his career to another level with the release of new music and performed on some of the top stages.
Having always wanted to perform at Ultra since he was in high school, Costa Titch really looked forward to rocking the Ultra stage.
Nkuto (shea butter) is from the shea tree, Butyrospermum parkii, also called Vitellaria paradoxa. Shea butter is made from the nuts found on the tree by removing the outer shell.
The nuts are crushed by hand so that they can be slowly roasted, releasing the shea butter.
It is smooth in texture and does not liquefy at room temperature; however, it will soften in your hands, making it easy to apply.
Composition
It has been established that shea butter’s composition is based on where it is cultivated. The constituents of shea butter are what gives it the health benefits.
Linoleic, palmitic, stearic, and oleic fatty acids, ingredients balance oils on the skin. The oil from the fruit of the shea tree contains about 45 to 50 per cent oleic acid, 30 to 41 per cent stearic acid, five to nine per cent palmitic acid, and four to five per cent linoleic acid. The best shea butter is extracted using cold-pressed methods without added chemicals or preservatives.
Vitamins A, E, and F, antioxidant vitamins promote circulation and healthy skin cell growth.
It has relatively high amounts of saturated fatty acids (like MCT oil), when compared to other plant-sourced lipids, such as grapeseed oil, olive oil and canola oil.
Triglycerides, the fatty part of the shea nut nourishes and condition your skin.
Cetyl esters, the waxy part of the shea nut butter condition skin and lock in moisture. Food, drug Administration includes shea nut oil on its list of direct food substances affirmed as Generally Recognised as Safe (GRAS).
Anti-inflammatory skin moisturiser, eczema
Many skincare products on the Ghanaian market are loaded with synthetic chemicals which are unhealthy.
Nkuto or shea butter is a natural ingredient that works as a good skincare product. For instance, one study (Akihis et al. 2020) found that shea nuts and the butter help to reduce inflammation.
Furthermore, both have anti-tumor-promoting compounds called cinnamate esters (which are also found in cinnamon). Another by Ho et al., (2015) suggests that shea butter could work just as well as medicated creams in treating eczema.
Shea butter is an excellent moisturiser. For instance, one study recognized in Price’s article attests to the fact that raw shea butter can encourage tissue cell regeneration and soften the skin, which can help to decrease the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
The study published in The American Journal of Life Sciences reported a clinical study involving 30 volunteers in which shea butter reduced signs of aging.
In another clinical study for dry, delicate or aging skin, 49 volunteers applied shea butter twice daily and found that it averted photo aging.
This is why shea butter is most often found in many natural anti-aging facial products.
Moisturizes both scalp, hair
Price Annie’s (2022) article explained that shea butter can also be used for hair and scalp conditions as it helps to seal in moisture, conditioning the scalp, alleviating dandruff, and providing overall protection from harsh climates — much like how coconut oil works for hair.
One study (Campo et al. 2017) found that West African Shea made hair significantly more resistant to breakage.
Another, Micali et al., (2018) found that shea butter when used in combination with other moisturisers, could help decrease dandruff flakes and reduce the risk of flare-ups.
Relieves windburn, sunburn
For those using sunscreen agents, the best option is the local shea butter. This is a much healthier, nourishing choice because most sunscreens are loaded with harmful chemicals that penetrate the skin and enter the body.
Another study, (Carayanni et al. 2011) suggests that shea oils could be beneficial for superficial (first-degree) skin burns, such as sunburn. This is because the shea’s anti-inflammatory components may reduce redness and swelling.
Its fatty acid components may also soothe the skin by retaining moisture during the healing process.
For those concerned with stretch marks, Nkutu is the best alternative as it averts this condition.
Furthermore, shea butter helps deal with stretch marks due to its natural vitamin A content. Price has this to say, “Because of its amazing healing properties and hydrating qualities, shea butter may reduce the appearance of stretch marks and another scarring. Some people also use it to naturally improve the appearance of cellulite by smoothing and softening the skin”.
Arthritis pains, nasal congestion
Kao et al.(2016) study on shea oil concentrate found that it can help reduce inflammation while also protecting joints from further damage.
Although this study focused on knee joints, these potential benefits could extend to other areas of the body.
One old study (Tella, A. 1979) suggests that Shea butter may help alleviate nasal congestion. When used in nasal drops, shea butter may reduce inflammation in the nasal passages.
It could also help reduce mucosal damage, which often leads to nasal congestion. These effects could be beneficial when dealing with allergies, sinusitis, or the common cold
The writer is President, Nyarkotey College of Holistic Medicine & Technology (NUCHMT)/African Naturopathic Foundation.He adheres to strict sourcing, studies and academic papers in his articles, which are for educational purposes only and not medical advice for treatment.
As per experts, collaboration, wise decision-making, and good leadership are still essential for Africa’s development.
They emphasised the need for a paradigm shift on the continent, but they also made a compelling case that effective leadership at all levels and in all sectors is still essential to achieving Africa’s aspirations for development, transformation, and increased economic growth. Because “the solutions to African challenges are already in Africa,” they urged Africans to work together and partner with one another to advance growth and prosperity
Among the experts is the Chief Executive Officer of BCA Leadership, Dr. Modupe Taylor-Pearce, who emphasied that the moment for African leaders to unify and fight for the greater welfare of the African continent is now.
“If Africa is going to be great, we must collaborate. That means we must find it in our hearts to reach out to people who are not like us and leverage each other’s strengths.
“For far too long, Africans have waited for someone else to come and fix our continent. We have waited for the British, the French, the Germans, the Americans or the Canadians, and lately for the Chinese. None of these groups are ever going to love our continent the way that we love our continent. African problems will be solved by African leaders collaborating with each other to devise solutions; the solutions to African problems are already in Africa,” he said.
Dr. Modupe and others including Dr. Yaw Perbi, a fellow of the African Leadership Initiative, and Professor Emeritus Adei, a scholar and economist, made these remarks at the ‘Made in Africa Conference’ 5th edition launch – set to come off from June 14-15, 2023 in Accra. It will be held on the theme ‘Making Africa work for Africans: Collaborations and partnerships’.
For Dr. Perbi, the continent has to reassess its leadership practices since they are crucial and necessary for Africa’s progress.
He added that not until mindsets and narratives change, the quality of those decisions made today will determine the future of communities, companies, countries and the continent at large.
“Everything rises and falls on leadership. Leadership is cause and everything else is effect. We have to come together because if one country works and the other does not, it will not matter; it has to be Ubuntu. We need togetherness to make it work,” he stressed.
Professor Emeritus Adei also added that the way forward for Africa is having transformational leaders. “There is another side of leadership that is not celebrated in Africa, and that is business leadership. It is also important to celebrate and encourage business leadership. Let us also encourage continuous learning for leaders.”
Chief Executive Officer of Crescendo Consult, Doris Ahiati, meanwhile observed that another key factor in the quest to ‘make Africa work for Africans’ is sectors and individuals being accountable while holding others accountable.
She said it takes accountable leadership for a self-sufficient continent, adding that accountability is a crucial component lacking in the transformation and effective use of the continent’s resources. Ms. Ahiati also urged the citizenry to contribute their uniqueness and diversity toward realisation of the African dream.
With the resources that Africa possesses, the power to unleash the Africa heritage, according to Lawyer and Banker Samuel Ayim, requires countries on the continent to trust each other and build a united force. He is therefore confident that one African country’s problem has a solution in another, hence the need to partner.
Former Member of Parliament for Tempane, Joseph Dindiok Kpemka has said that but for the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic Ghana’s economy would have performed well currently.
Contributing to a discussion on the State of the Nation Address by President Nana Addo Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on TV3’s Key Points on Saturday, March 11, the former Deputy Attorney General said “We have said as a government that the crisis started in 2020 when Covid started. Had Covid not struck, the economy would’ve performed far better.”
In the address, President Akufo-Addo reiterated that Ghana’s economy was doing well prior to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.
Mr Akufo-Addo indicated that due to the political advantage that some people are seeking to take, they are unable to accept the fact that the economy was doing well.
He said in the State of the Nation Address Wednesday, March 8 that “I have said, and the Managing Director of the IMF has also said, our economy was doing well until covid 19, and Russia Ukraine war.”
Earlier, he indicated that when he assumed office on 7th January 2017, he inherited a severely-challenged economy, whose rate of growth, at the time, was the lowest in over two decades.
But, he said, by dint of hard work, prudence and creativity, the government has managed to turn things around, creating an economy which, for the years 2017, 2018, and 2019, the years before the onset of COVID-19, was amongst the fastest growing economies not only in Africa, but also in the world, recording an annual Gross Domestic Growth (GDP) growth rate of seven percent (7%).
Speaking at the 66th Independence Day celebration on Monday, March 6, he said “We were the best place to do business in West Africa, and, in 2021, we were described as the most attractive destination for investment in West Africa.
“The next twenty-two (22) months of my mandate will be focused on restoring the economy we had before COVID and the Russian invasion of Ukraine to a period of rapid growth. It is a solemn pledge I am making to you, my fellow Ghanaians, and one which I am determined to fulfill. Before I take my seat, I want to inform you that, in fulfilment of the announcement I made at last year’s Founders’ Day Celebration, I will, on Tuesday, 14th March 2023, confer national honours on some citizens of our country, who distinguished themselves in the fight against the pandemic of COVID-19. By their actions, they helped protect and preserve our population, and won global acclaim for Mother Ghana.
“I will, also, on that day, express the nation’s gratitude to the legal team of men and women who were charged with ensuring that the maritime boundary dispute with Ghana’s immediate, western neighbour, the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, ended favourably for Ghana, thus ensuring that our western maritime resources, including their potential oil and gas reserves, remained legitimately in our possession.
“I am sure we all saw the three (3) helicopters belonging to the Police Service joining this morning’s celebration. It is the first time in our nation’s history that the Police Service is employing the use of helicopters to improve its operational efficiency.
“The acquisition of these helicopters is to honour the pledge I made at the 2019 end of year Police WASSA, and I assure the officers, men and women of the Service of Government’s continued support in helping them to discharge effectively their mandate.”
Minority Leader in Parliament Dr. Cassiel Ato Baah Forson has sent another reminder to President Akufo-Addo over the size of his government.
He says President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has refused to cut down both government size and public expenditure despite the current economic challenges the country faces amidst defaulting in its debt repayment since January 2022.
“Ghana has officially defaulted in the repayment of our debt since January 2022 yet Mr. President your government is failing to cut down the size of government and public expenditure”, Hon Cassiel Ato Forson who is also MP for the Ajumako Enyan Esiam Constituency told the president in Parliament yesterday after the President presented his State of the Nation Address (SONA).
Dr. Ato Forson also accused the President of allowing the Bank of Ghana to print GHC 54 billion in less than two years which according to him is the reason why the country is witnessing hyperinflation.
“Ghana is witnessing hyperinflation largely because your government allowed the Bank of Ghana to print GHC 50 billion for the year 2022 and another GHC 4 billion in the 2023 first quarter”, Hon Ato Forson revealed in Parliament.
Backing his series of accusations on the President, the Minority Leader added “our position is that, inflation is currently rising monetary policy rate is also at 28% Ghana Cedi has depreciated by 20% in January alone, Mr President, unemployment is exceedingly high at the record levels and as we speak Mr President, lending rate is at 40%.”
A report released by IATA 2022 Airline Safety Performance, the skies over Africa are safe, but there are still issues with the overall aviation operating environment.
Although there were fewer turboprop accidents in 2022 than there were in 2021, four of the five fatal incidents last year resulted in the deaths of the crew and passengers on board.
Although sectors flown by turboprops represented just 10.6% of the total, turboprops were involved in 36% of all accidents, 80% of fatal accidents, and 16% of fatalities in 2022.
Six regions showed improvement or no deterioration, in the turboprop hull loss rate in 2022 when compared to the five-year average. “Accidents are rare in aviation. There were five fatal accidents among 32.2 million flights in 2022. That tells us that flying is among the safest activities in which a person can engage. But even though the risk of flying is exceptionally low, it is not risk-free. Careful analysis of the trends that are emerging even at these very high levels of safety is what will make flying even safer,” Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director-General, said.
The sub-Saharan Africa region, along with Latin America/Caribbean, however, saw an increase in the turboprop hull loss rate in 2022 when compared to the five-year average.
Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director-General, said: “Both sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America saw increases in turboprop accidents last year. Introduction and adherence to global standards (including IOSA) are key to reversing this trend. The priority for Africa continues to be implementation of the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) safety-related standards and recommended practices (SARPS).”
At year-end 2022, some 28 African countries (61%) had an Effective Implementation (EI) rate of ICAO SARPS of 60% or greater, unchanged from 2021. Increased attention is being placed to address the critical elements of the ICAO SARPS.
“This year’s report, for example, tells us that we need to make some special efforts on turboprop operations in Africa and Latin America. Safety is aviation’s highest priority, and our goal is to have every flight take off and land safely regardless of region or aircraft type,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.
The distribution of Measles vaccines, BCG vaccines and Oral Polio Vaccines to various regions and facilities are underway after the Ministry of Health and Ghana Health Service took delivery of the first consignment.
More vaccines are expected in Ghana in the coming weeks from multiple sources.
The Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Patrick Kumah Aboagye was at the airport on Saturday to supervise the airlifting of the vaccines to various regions.
Ghana has been experiencing shortages of some childhood vaccines, a situation that has attracted attention from different quarters, including Parliament and the Paediatric Society of Ghana.
At a press briefing on Tuesday [March 7, 2023] to debunk allegations that due to lack of some vaccines, people are dying from the outbreak of measles in the Northern Region, the Ministry said “It is important to correct the erroneous impression that there have been deaths from Measles in Ghana recently.”
The Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman Manu who addressed the press briefing explained that “For the avoidance of doubt, there have been no deaths from the recently recorded spike in Measles cases. Indeed there have been no deaths since 2003 though we have recorded cases annually.”
The MoH said it is working with UNICEF to fast-track the processes to obtain some of the vaccines as early as possible.
But when Julianna’s aunt in Northern Ireland fell unwell on Christmas Eve and tragically passed away from sepsis days later, the joyous celebrations came to an abrupt end.
A shaken and grieving Jullianna then went to bed when she started feeling under the weather on New Year’s Eve. Her family didn’t think anything more about it.
Julianna, a teacher of nearly 20 years, might lose her fingers as well (Picture: Lancs Live/MEN Media)
But the primary school teacher’s condition declined rapidly overnight and she became bedridden.
Julianna’s husband Tim said she couldn’t ‘lift her head off the pillow’ and was unable to check her phone, let alone get into a car or wait in A&E for hours.
Phoning 111, Tim was told his wife just needs to get some bedrest, but he decided to call for an ambulance anyway.
This decision might have saved his wife’s life.
In sepsis, the body’s immune system became a wrecking ball when reacting to an infection, destroying tissue and organs.
The earlier it is spotted, the better chance a patient has of surviving.
But knowing if someone has sepsis can be tricky as the symptoms – a fever, rapid heartbeat, slurred speech and breathing difficulty – look a lot like other ailments.
The mum’s aunt died of sepsis over Christmas (Picture: Lancs Live/MEN Media)
Sister Jac, who owns a veterinary practice in Skelmersdale, Lancashire, said: ‘The doctors told us after that Julianna’s body was basically compensating for her, and had hidden how bad and ill she really was.
‘She’s young and healthy but suddenly fell off a cliff. In a timeframe of 30 minutes, her heart had stopped twice.’
When she was first through to Withybush Hospital in Haverfordwest, Julianna was suffering from aggressive pneumonia, influenza and invasive Strep A.
Jac added: ‘They said Julianna was in a 10-litre hydration deficit and was in septic shock.
‘When she first went into hospital, she was so dehydrated they said that her lips looked like if you touched them, they would have cracked completely.’
Julianna would then be diagnosed with sepsis and spent 66 days in ICU.
‘There was a nurse there that had been working for eight years, one for 22 and another for 10 and they all said they’ve never seen a patient crash that dramatically,’ Jac added.
Julianna, who lives in Narberth, woke up from a coma with severe damage to her hands and feet and had to undergo surgery to amputate her legs below the knee.
She will also lose most of her fingers due to sepsis, which can cause the body to make too many blood clots, cutting off nutrients and oxygen from body parts.
‘We were just desperately praying that she would just survive. I think with sepsis, people just think you either die or you survive,’ Jac said.
‘But with Julianna’s condition, we want to raise awareness that it’s not just being in hospital and being a life or death situation.’
In 2015, 23,135 people died from sepsis, where sepsis was an underlying or contributory cause of death, per the Office of National Statistics.
Diagnoses of sepsis are on the up, the NHS adds, because medical professionals are getting better at spotting it early.
Treatment isn’t complicated or expensive and usually involved IV antibiotics, IV fluids and supplemental oxygen.
Hope isn’t gone yet, however. Julianna has begun to talk and will soon return home in a wheelchair, with her family raising money on GoFundMe to get their home adapted for her and to pay for prosthetics.
‘We’re now very confident that she’s coming home,’ Jac added, ‘her character as well.
A well-known Ukrainian commander known as “Da Vinci” received tributes from the public after dedicating his entire adult life to battling Russia and its proxies. President Volodymyr Zelensky presided over the ceremonies.
The eastern city of Bakhmut, which has seen some of the fiercest combat of the war and is still hotly contested, saw the death of Dmytro Kotsiubailo, 27, this week.
Before to the invasion, he was recognised as a Hero of Ukraine for his involvement in suppressing pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. He was the commander of a unit known as Da Vinci’s Wolves.
Zelensky, who bestowed that honour, was accompanied by Finland’s visiting Prime Minister Sanna Marin when he lay flowers on Kotsiubailo’s coffin at St Michael’s Cathedral in central Kyiv.
He said on Telegram: ‘It hurts to lose our heroes. Brave, courageous, strong. Loyal to themselves and to the state.
‘I handed over to Oksana Kotsiubailo, Da Vinci’s mother, the Cross of Military Merit, which her son was posthumously awarded. We will never forget. And we will always be grateful.’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin attend the funeral of Ukrainian soldier Dmytro Kotsiubaylo (Picture: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)Zelensky with others mourn over the coffin of a killed Ukrainian serviceman Dmytro Kotsiubailo, known as ‘Da Vinci’ (Picture: Getty)Zelensky lays flowers to commemorate Ukrainian soldiers who lost their lives in the war in Kyiv (Picture: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Later, hundreds of people gathered in the nearby Independence Square, a symbol of Ukraine’s attempts to prise itself from Russia’s sphere of influence and move closer to the European Union.
Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov and General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, head of Ukraine’s armed forces, were among the dignitaries to pay their respects on the square.
Linked with the right-wing movement Right Sector, Kotsiubailo is one of several figures from nationalist groups, some of which took part in a 2014 uprising that toppled Ukraine’s pro-Russian president, whose reputations have grown in the past year.
Critics say the groups’ radicalism and history of violence have helped Russian media to portray them as ‘neo-Nazis’ who threaten Russian-speakers living in Ukraine.
Kotsiubailo was commander of the First Mechanized Battalion known as ‘Da Vinci Wolves’ (Picture: Getty)
Vladimir Putin has justified his invasion by saying it is the only way to rid Ukraine of ‘neo-Nazis’ backed by Western allies bent on destroying Russia.
Kyiv and Western leaders dismiss such claims, and describe Europe’s worst conflict since World War Two as a land grab that is destined to fail.
In Russia, pro-Kremlin commentators and Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group whose fighters have been leading the charge in Bakhmut, celebrated Kotsiubailo’s death.
Songstress Mzbel has long ignored what she sees as a deliberate attempt by Ghanaian blogger Zionfelix to publicly mock her brand in interviews.
The “16 years” hitmaker in a Facebook live on Saturday, March 11, gave Zion a final warning to desist from bringing her up in his interviews when he seats with persons who have issues with her.
Actress Afia Schwarzenegger, in an interview with Zionfelix, called Mzbel names and also took the chance to once again attack her. Afia resurrected past stories about Mzbel and tagged her as a “cheap” woman due to their longstanding misunderstanding.
The singer who was displeased with the comments blamed Zionfelix for bringing her name up in his latest YouTube interview, adding that the blogger only cares about increasing his viewership.
On the account of Mzbel, she has never wronged the popular blogger who used to be on her payroll, however he seizes every opportunity to use the Mzbel brand in promoting his content regardless of the damage it does to her.
“How could you have interviewed Afia Schwarzenegger considering the insults she rained on you? She disrespected and said bitter things about the mother of your child, Mina. You came out crying and promised never to interview her but because you want to live a lifestyle you can’t afford, you are here going against your words.
“You used to be on my payroll…You had to mention my name just to get views just for money. Why are you like that, why do you keep doing that?…you don’t value relationships…I don’t want to say much about you because I respect the mother of your child, Mina…when you had nothing, it was Mina who was supporting you…did I ever offend you? Afia wouldn’t have insulted me if you never asked her questions about me,” the singer lamented
On Live TV, John Dumelo renewed his attack on political rival and former friend Fred Nuamah, declaring that his best man was a liar.
Dumelo who is set to contest with Nuamah for the parliamentary slot of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Ayawaso West Wuogon constituency said it was Nuamah rather who had expressly pledged to back his bid to contest for the seat he lost narrowly in 2020.
“We are not friends, as we speak now, we are not friends. We haven’t been friends for a couple of weeks now,” he told MzGee, host of the United Showbiz programme on UTV.
“At no point did I tell Fred that I am not contesting in Ayawaso West Wuogon, at no point,” he before adding that all claims that he (Dumelo) had opted against running were untrue, incluing one attributed to Yaw Sakyi
“That is a lie. I never had a conversation with Yaw Sakyi about Fred Nuamah. Never, I can never give Fred Nuamah my blessings, when he knows I am coming to contest in Ayawaso West Wuogon,” Dumelo added.
Dumelo described Fred’s decision to release his campaign flyer hours after attending his February 3 private birthday bash as a betrayal and a stab in the back for someone he has known for over 20 years.
“I am contesting and he will lose the primaries, if you speak to the delegates, they all want John to come back to continue the good work he is doing. As for Fred coming, I don’t know his motivation. That is the point.
“He is a liar, I never said I won’t come back, I didn’t give him my blessings. But he, Fred, does he deserve my blessings? That he should go to Ayawaso West. Can he face NPP?” Dumelo quizzed.
Associate Professor of Law at the University of Ghana, Legon, Kwadwo Appiagyei-Atua says President Akufo-Addo’s deafening silence on the Ashaiman military brutality is rather unfortunate.
According to him, the President should have immediately condemned the violence and taken the Military High Command to task for their shambolic handling of the so-called ‘intelligence-led operation’ which led to the arbitrary arrest of some 187 residents.
He noted that the military’s actions have created a dent in Ghana’s reputation as a democratic state and this would reflect in future human rights index reports.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile, he said, “It casts a very bad image on Ghana’s image as a democracy. And so definitely in our next state report whether by US State Department or Freedom House and so on, Ghana’s rating is going to go down because of this brutality which has been meted out to the citizens. And the buck stops with the President, he’s the Commander-in-Chief and he himself has said it before that in such situations that is what should happen.”
He continued that the President’s continuous silence would translate into the military getting away with the brutality, and further worsening civilian-military relations in the country, a situation which could have dire consequences in the future.
“…There has been a pattern of brutality. And what is very important to note is that in this case, in the Wa case, and to some extent the Ejura case and so on the soldiers may have gone on a frolic of their own.
“But this one was a so-called intelligence-led operation orchestrated by the Military High Command and whether it went haywire or not, which I don’t believe was the case, something has gone wrong and somebody should own up. And so far nobody has owned up. And the President should do so. So not saying anything at all is very, very unfortunate,” he said.
He has called on the President to dissociate himself from the statements made by the Defence Minister and his Deputy and possibly dismiss persons in the Military High Command who sanctioned the operation.
“There is what we call accountability and the soldiers are supposed to be accountable to a civilian authority. And the civilian authority is the Commander-in-Chief and he should make sure that by this time there would have been some dismissals, if people would not resign, there would have been some dismissals.
“…so the government and the president should own up and he should dissociate himself from the statement made by the Defence and the Deputy Minister to say that ‘no this is not how the operation should have been orchestrated, so you’re suspended, you’re dismissed,’” he said.
In the late hours of Saturday, 11th March 2023, news floated on Twitter that South African musician CostaTitch has passed away after slumping and dying on stage.
According to reports, the 27 year old artist was performing at a show before suddenly slumping on stage and confirmed dead a few minutes later.
As at the time of filling this report there was no certainty as to what led to the slump or the cause of his death.
Tributes have been pouring in on Twitter since the news broke. Politician JuliusMalema tweeted a heart break emoji while fans have also expressed shock at the news of his passing.
Ghanaians are calling on the Inspector-General of Police, George Akufo-Addo, to investigate an alleged meeting of some persons suspected to be gays, and bring the culprits to book if found guilty.
The meeting is said to have occurred in Ghana and spearheaded by popular Ghanaian Tiktoker, Wesley Kesse, alleged to be gay.
The ‘meet and greet’ has stirred up massive reactions on social media.
According to reports, the gay friends stormed a supposed meet and greet party. This happened after Nigerian gay and brand influencer Enioluwa stormed Ghana for a meet and greet.
Interestingly, Wesley Kesse and a couple of gay friends, Hajia Bintu and other Ghanaian influencers attended the meet and greet.
The gays of the program dressed accordingly to meet their partner.
Photos and videos from the program have taken over social media as users react.
Some Ghanaians are inflamed and wish Dampare can teach them a lesson!
Mohammed Kudus, an Ajax star, thinks he still has more to offer despite his stellar performance this year.
For the Dutch giants, the 22-year-old has been in phenomenal form.
When asked about his goals for the year, Kudus stated that he wants to help Ajax win the league and cup double, claiming he hasn’t accomplished anything yet.
“I haven’t done anything yet since my goal is to win the league and the cup. Well, more is on the way. There is still more to do, he told Ajax TV.
Kudus is currently enjoying his most productive spell in front of goal after finally overcoming injury and settling at Ajax.
The young playmaker is on a rich vein of form that has seen him contribute 17 goals and four assists in all competitions this season.
Meanwhile, Kudus’ stunning free-kick goal against Sparta Rotterdam, which he celebrated by paying tribute to the late Christian Atsu, has been adjudged as the Goal of the Month of February.
The Ghana international netted an 84th-minute free-kick to round off a comfortable 4-0 victory for Ajax against Sparta Rotterdam last month.
That stunning free-kick goal has now been adjudged as the goal of the month, with Kudus receiving his award on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Kudus, who was Ghana best player at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has been named in Black Stars squad for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations [AFCON] qualifiers against Angola later this month.
Henry Asante Twum, the Ghana Football Association‘s [GFA] communications director, has urged players who make the Black Stars roster to show their mettle on the pitch.
For the two games against Angola in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers later this month, Black Stars head coach Chris Hughton has kept the majority of the team that competed for the Black Stars during the 2022 World Cup.
Majeed Ashimeru, Jojo Wallacott, and Joseph Paintsil are all back on the team for the games.
Asante Twum says many more players equally deserved a place on the list but may not have made it due to the limited number required.
“They [Black Stars players] know that anything they do on the field of play, Ghanaians are watching because they are ambassadors,” he told Kumasi-based Akoma FM.
“When you are selected among the final 26 or 25 players for a competition, it does not make you exceptionally talented over others but because it’s on merit.
“There are other players who ordinarily would have had the opportunity but missed out due to limited places.
“So, when allowed to wear the colours of Ghana, you must wholeheartedly play and sacrifice for the nation, and by so doing, the country will honour you,” he added.
Ghana will clash with the Palancas Negras on Thursday, March 23 at the Baba Yara Stadium before travelling to Luanda for the reverse fixture four days later.
The Black Stars are tied on points with Angola with four apiece while Madagascar and Central African Republic have a point each in Group E.
At around 9 p.m. on Friday, the incident took place halfway between Stallingborough and Brocklesby.
In the Ford, which is thought to have broken down in a live lane of the carriageway, were a 34-year-old woman and a 3-year-old boy.
The two were in the collision and suffered severe injuries; they were declared dead at the site.
Their families have been informed and are currently being supported by specialist trained officers.
Witnesses believe their car was ‘stranded’ in the left hand lane at the time.
A woman told Grimsby Live she had to ‘swerve’ in the dark to avoid the car and called emergency services shortly before the crash.
Police are investigating the crash, and have appealed for any witnesses to come forward.
A statement said: ‘We are appealing for anyone who may have dash cam footage or who witnessed the collision to contact us on our non-emergency number 101 quoting log 557 of 10 March.’
The Congolese refugee woman complained of stomach pain, indigestion, and a gurgling sound after meals to doctors in New York.
Further scans revealed she had a “stone baby,” a calcified foetus that was trapped in her intestines and causing significant intestinal obstruction and consequent malnutrition.
The foetus was attributed to a miscarriage she had suffered nine years earlier, which would have been the woman’s ninth child.
The woman’s unborn foetus had calcified and become stuck in her abdomen, preventing her from absorbing nutrients and causing starvation (Picture: BMC)
However, rather than seeking treatment the woman instead blamed her ailments on witchcraft, claiming to have had a ‘spell’ cast on her by a local witch before she came to the US.
She died from her condition 14 months after arriving in the United States.
The extremely rare phenomenon, known as a lithopedion, has only been recorded 290 times throughout history, with the first dating back to France in 1582.
It occurs when a foetus begins to develop in the abdomen rather than the womb, causing it to calcify and ‘turn to stone’ once the pregnancy becomes unviable, compressing major organs and restricting the mother’s nutrient absorption.
For this woman, the ‘stone baby’ kept compressing her intestine, causing major blockages which meant her body was no longer able to absorb vital nutrients- leading to starvation.
Dr Waseem Sous, an internal medicine expert at SUNY Upstate Medical University who reported the case, said the patient ‘declined intervention due to fear of surgery and elected for symptom monitoring.’
‘Unfortunately, she passed away due to severe malnutrition in the context of recurrent bowel obstruction due to the lithopedion and continued fear of seeking medical care.’
The condition is an extremely rare phenomenon known as a lithopedion, which has occurred less than 300 times throughout history (Picture: BMC)
The case study was revealed in a medical report in the journal BMC Women’s Health this week.
The mother’s early life had seen her uprooted twice, moving from Congo to Burundi and then Tanzania because of conflicts.
In Tanzania, she settled down and had eight children, delivered naturally. Three died shortly after childbirth.
She visited a doctor’s clinic during her ninth pregnancy after noticing that her baby was no longer moving, where medics told her the baby had no heartbeat and recommended that she try to pass it naturally at home.
If this did not work, they said, she should return in two weeks.
The woman followed the instructions, but when she returned to the clinic she was accosted by people outside accusing her of ‘evil work’ and ‘killing the baby’, which convinced her not to seek any medical help.
She then spent nine years carrying the dead foetus inside her, and had no contact with medics until receiving a health check six months before being resettled to the United States.
Doctors offered her surgery to remove the mass, but she refused, and said the condition was the result of a curse someone placed on her in Tanzania.
She told doctors: ‘I will let you know when I am ready; I am not scared of death.’
Medics did eventually convince her to take antibiotics to help with her stomach complaints and pills to lower her blood pressure, but the woman kept refusing surgery.
During another appointment, she simply said: ‘I just do not have it in my heart to do.’
The woman passed away from severe malnutrition a short time later.
Efforts to decongest the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) are under as the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly is set to rid the city of unapproved containers and kiosks scattered across the Metropolis.
The inappropriate citing of kiosks have contributed to the congestion of Kumasi.
The authority observes that these structures were sited without proper planning and approval.
The Spatial Planning Committee of the KMA has been tasked to remove all containers by the end of March, 2023.
The KMA in a press statement advised affected persons to comply with agents assigned for this exercise.
“By this release, the Assembly is ordering anyone with kiosks or containers around the underlisted areas to remove them by Friday, 31st March, 2023”.
1. Western By-Pass Abrepo Junction to Santasi Roundabout
2. Southern By-Pass (Santasi to Ahodwo)
3. Eastern By-Pass (Asokwa interchange to Anloga Junction)
4. Old Bekwai Road (Harper Road to Daban)
5. New Bekwai Road (Bekwai Roundabout to Daaban)
6. Ministries Area, Adum
7. Ridge Danyame and Residential Areas
8. Hudson Road (Mall Junction to Children’s Park)
9. Osei Tutu ii Boulevard (Kumasi to Ejisu Road) Asafo Interchange to Anloga Junction.
10. Kumasi- Barekese (Abrepo Junction to Ohwim)
11. Kumasi- Mampong Road (Kejetia to Mbrom, Tafo Nhyiaeso)
12. Kumasi- Antoa Road (Airport Roundabout to Duase)
13 .Kumasi -Sunyani Road (KATH to Sofoline Interchange)
14. Kumasi-Lake Road (Abinkyi to Mall Area)
15. Kumasi Sports Stadium and its environs and other areas within the metropolis
The Assembly says recalcitrant persons will face an additional charge or payment for damages.
In front of his mother, a 10-year-old child was sexually molested in central London.
At Leicester Square station, the child was climbing the stairs with his mother when a stranger molested him and then fled.
His frightened mother tried to catch the culprit after chasing him through the busy station, but she was unable, according to the police.
British Transport Police have now made a CCTV image of a man they want to speak to in relation to the incident, which took place on February 16 at about 4.30 p.m.
A statement from the force said: ‘Do you recognise this man?
‘Officers investigating a sexual assault at Leicester Square Underground station are releasing this image in connection.
‘At around 4.30pm on Thursday, February 16, a 10-year-old boy was walking up a set of stairs at the station with his family when a man sexually assaulted him and ran away.
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‘The victim’s mum chased the man through the station, but did not catch him.
‘Officers believe the man in the CCTV image may have information which could help their investigation.
‘If you recognise him, or have any information, please contact BTP.’
Chris Hughton, new Black Stars head coach will have an official apartment, according to Prosper Harrison Addo, general secretary of the Ghana Football Association (GFA).
During an appearance on Citi FM on Friday, March 10, he acknowledged this. He claims that the Ghana FA will take care of the new residence.
“There was a home at the airport when Kwesi Appiah lived there. So that we might have another residence where the coach stays, we convinced it to become the technical directorate. As a result, the coach will live somewhere.
“The new residence is provided by the GFA,” Prosper Harrison Addo said.
New Black Stars head coach Chris Hughton will be officially unveiled on March 20 in Kumasi as announced by the GFA this week.
Meanwhile, the former Brighton & Hove Albion gaffer has named his 25-man squad for the Ghana v Angola doubleheader in the AFCON qualifiers.
The two games will be played on March 23 and March 27 in Ghana and Angola respectively.
With a dominating 4-0 victory over Tunisia’s U-20 squad earlier today, Nigeria’s U-20 national team, the Flying Eagles, earned third place at the ongoing 2023 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations.
After failing to advance to the tournament’s finals, the Flying Eagles, who had already qualified for the U-20 World Cup, were offered the opportunity to place third.
Against their Tunisian rivals, who were also competing for a medal, they had an uphill battle.
However, Coach Isa Ladan Bosso’s side showed their dominance early in the game as Ibrahim Muhammad scored the opening goal at the 9th minute. The goal proved to be the only difference between the two sides at half-time.
In the second half, the Flying Eagles came back stronger and scored three more goals, with Ahmed Abdullahi and Sunday Jude both getting on the score sheet. Sunday Jude scored twice to seal the victory for Nigeria’s U-20 team.
The win sees Nigeria’s U-20 team finish in third place at the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations, adding to their impressive record at the tournament.
The Flying Eagles will now shift their focus to the upcoming U-20 World Cup, where they will be looking to make an even bigger impact.
Fights and assaults utilising homemade weapons are included in a list of more than 200 violent occurrences at HMP Belmarsh. Image courtesy of Metro.co.uk, file images
According to recently disclosed incident reports, violence broke out at HMP Belmarsh, where prison guards were punched, bit, and cut by convicts.
According to data Metro.co.uk obtained, the key employees were the targets of more than 60 assaults over an 11-month period, with several of them necessitating hospitalisation.
They include an inmate trying to ‘strangle and assault’ a female officer and many of her colleagues being punched, kicked, bitten or having liquid thrown at them by prisoners.
One inmate punched an officer in the face in an unprovoked attack before threatening to murder a member of staff if he was not released from the Category A jail in south east London.
In another disturbing case, a female officer told of her ‘terror and shock’ after being inappropriately touched by a prisoner.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) initially refused to release the list of incidents between November 2021 and October last year before Metro.co.uk appealed to the Information Commission’s Office. After the watchdog became involved the MoJ released the document in redacted form.
Mark Fairhurst, national chair of the Prison Officers’ Association (POA), said: ‘These shocking figures display the reality of the working conditions our brave officers face on a daily basis in what is undoubtedly the most violent and hostile workplace in western Europe.
‘Prison officers deserve to be safe at work and the POA will use every means available to ensure staff have the protective measures in place to deal with cowardly convicts who attack staff.
‘We will continue to lobby the government insisting that the strongest possible sentences are passed on guilty parties whilst campaigning to have our unrealistic retirement age of 68 reduced.
‘Expecting staff in their sixties to work in such unacceptably violent conditions is totally impractical.’
A general view of inmates on House Wing Four at HMP Belmarsh in Woolwich, London (Picture: Susannah Ireland/REX/Shutterstock)
One of the most serious incidents took place in December 2021, when an inmate tried to ‘strangle and assault’ an officer as she took part in breaking up a protest over the prison’s regime.
Thirteen inmates had refused to leave a yard as they protested over ‘their perception of what regime they are entitled to’, according to one of the reports released under the Freedom of Information Act.
Ten left compliantly but three remained, resulting in ‘Zulu’ dog units being called in. One inmate was ‘stood in a fighting stance’ but calmed down after being approached by two female officers. As they walked him off the yard he ‘upped the anti’ and assaulted one of the officers, continuing to ‘strangle and assault’ her while being restrained, according to the log.
He was handcuffed and relocated to another part of the prison.
The incident followed another the previous month which took place while a prisoner was having his TV removed after an adjudication. As the member of staff took the set away the inmate punched him in the face.
Prison Officers’ Association chair Mark Fairhurst warned that jails have become exceptionally violent workplaces (Picture: Mark Fairhurst/POA)
Another officer was assaulted while restraining an unruly prisoner on a house block in January last year.
The log states that the prisoner ‘purposely took hold of officer [redacted]’s testicles and squeezed and twisted them’.
Injuries to officers required hospital treatment in several cases, including an attack the following month.
An inmate had become ‘aggressive and irrational’ during a routine cell search, according to another log. As he was restrained an officer was bitten on the ribs and hand, which left him needing hospital treatment.
A colleague was also bitten on the hand while another member of staff was kicked in the face. The prisoner was relocated to a ‘sterile cell’ and searched under restraint.
Staff have been assaulted by inmates at HMP Belmarsh (Picture: Channel 5)
A weapon was used in another incident the same month when an officer was slashed on the side of the face by an inmate. The log does not state what kind of implement was used but says that the culprit ‘was restrained and moved to segregation under restraint’ where he was searched.
Another officer described being treated with contempt and sworn at by an inmate when she tried to give him a written warning for having failed to fulfil his work duties and distracting others.
The report from March 2022 reads: ‘He snatched it out my hand and screwed it up and chucked it in my face.
‘He refused to leave and he kept telling me to “f*** off” and putting his middle finger up and showing a gun sign. Kept telling others it’s all because “I fancy him” He refused to leave for around 10 minutes.’
Attacks on officers at HMP Belmarsh
December 2021Inmate tries to strangle officer
A protest involving 13 inmates refusing to leave a yard results in one prisoner attempting to ‘strangle and assault’ an officer while being walked away
January 2022officers punched, bitten and kicked during search
An inmate became ‘aggressive and irrational’ before attacking officers, leaving one needing hospital treatment
february 2022inmate slashes officer’s face with weapon
A general alarm was raised after an officer was slashed in the face with a weapon. Toothbrushes with shards of tin melted in have been recovered at the jail.
April 2022death threat issued to staff after assault
An inmate punched an officer in the face in an unprovoked attack before threatening to murder a member of staff
May 2022two inmates injure officer as she tries to place inmate in cell
One punched her in the face while another ‘jumped on her back and punched her’ according to an incident report
june 2022‘terror and shock’ of officer at inappropriate touching
An officer reported being on a landing when a prisoner started to rub the centre of her back in an inappropriate manner
August 2022Officer needs A&E after being repeatedly bitten by inmate
He sustained serious bites to his right arm, left thumb and right side of his face while trying to serve lunch to the prisoner
A death threat towards staff emerged from another disturbing incident the following month. In an unprovoked attack, an inmate punched an officer in the face before being restrained and relocated to the prison’s segregation unit in handcuffs.
The incident log states: ‘During the full search process Mr [redacted] stated he did it because he should not be in prison and if it’s not sorted he will murder a member of staff. Mr (redacted) was sent home off duty and both seen by healthcare.’
An incident of ‘terror and shock’ was reported to the governor by an officer who had been helping nurses with substance misuse treatment medication on a house block.
She said: ‘Whilst standing on the middle landing by the stairwell, prisoner Mr [redacted] came up behind me without me knowing and started to inappropriately rub the centre of my middle back in an up and down motion. I immediately moved away in terror and shock as I felt this very inappropriate.’
The officer told the man ‘he should not be doing this, it was inappropriate behaviour, and he should not be touching me’, according to the log.
He responded by stating that he wanted the officer to move, to which she replied by saying he should have asked, the report states.
A catalogue of violent incidents at Belmarsh has been released by the Ministry of Justice (Picture: In Pictures Ltd/Corbis via Getty Images)
One of the most serious assaults took place in August while an offender was being served lunch in his cell after making threats to staff all morning.
As he left the cell, he was seen clenching his fists in a fighting stance by an officer who feared he was about to be attacked and restrained him.
The key worker sustained serious bites to his right arm, left thumb and right side of his face. He was seen by a nurse, given first aid and ‘sent home to attend A&E’, according to the report.
The level of violence facing staff was illustrated again in October when a female officer was assaulted by an inmate who attacked by ‘grabbing her hair, pulling it out, and punching her in the face several times’.
A colleague was also punched as the man was restrained and placed on a segregation unit at the jail in Thamesmead.
There were also several incidents of staff being spat at or having liquid, including toilet matter, thrown at them.
In September 2022, an officer described how a prisoner ‘scooped water out of his toilet which he threw at me, hitting me on the right side of my body, with some splashing on my face’. The assailant is said to have ‘laughed’ and to have asked, ‘how does my piss taste?’.
Prisoners need more support to ensure they are rehabilitated, commentators say (Picture: File image by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
In total, there are 66 assaults on officers and staff in the database of more than 200 acts of violence which was released by the MoJ after the appeal to the information watchdog. Many others relate to fights and attacks among inmates, including potentially life-threatening incidents.
The MoJ maintains that violent prisoners can face being moved to higher security conditions and further criminal prosecutions, and it has recently increased the penalty for assaulting prison officers to up two years.
A Prison Service spokesperson said: ‘To protect our brave prison officers, we are equipping them with synthetic pepper spray, police-style restraints and body-worn cameras, helping to de-escalate violent situations and providing evidence to prosecute those who attack our hardworking staff.
‘Our £125 million investment in prison security is also tackling the drugs and weapons that fuel prison violence to keep staff safe.’
The Tarkwa branch of the Christ Holy Tabernacle Church has been razed down by a fierce fire.
The incident left the church properties worth thousands of Ghana Cedis destroyed.
The fire outbreak which happened on the evening of Wednesday, March 8, 2023, destroyed the church’s 32-channel mixer, apple laptop for live streaming, router, musical keyboard, and many others.
Speaking to this reporter in an interview, an associate pastor of the church, Pastor Benjamin Akoroga said, “I was out for follow-up when I had a call that our church auditorium was on fire so I rushed to the scene to see things for myself. I came to meet the fire service here who were working hard to bring the fire under control.”
According to him, “I believe the fire came from the store room, because we had one member who was sleeping in one of the rooms, who said he woke up from his sleep to see the smoke take over the entire storeroom. He screamed for help and it attracted people to come around.”
The fire officer Lipton Ansah Joe who was in charge of fire officers dispatched from the Tarkwa Fire Service to the scene said “people around had used fire extinguisher to control the fire, so upon reaching there we also switched off the meter before tackling the fire”.
The fire officer said they are still gathering information to ascertain the cause of the fire.
Three individuals were killed in a crash in Cardiff, and one of the survivors says he is “gutted” over his friends’ passing.
Last Saturday at 2:03 a.m., Shane Loughlin, 32, was riding in a vehicle with four other people when it ran off the road.
Before it was discovered shortly after midnight on Monday, the truck had been concealed by trees for 46 hours.
The crash victim expressed his shock and gut-wrenching feelings in a statement issued through a friend of Shane’s.
A Facebook post, shared on behalf of Shane, reads: ‘Only just found out what happened just want to say sorry to everyone and Thank you everyone who helped with the search party and thank you for everyone wishing me well I’ll be back soon love you all.
‘Rip Rafel, Eve, and Darcy.
‘Can’t believe it gutted is an understatement heart goes out to all families and friends of the people that has passed. Long way to recovery mentally and physically but we’ll get there.’
Shane and Sophie Russon, 20, had been found alive but badly injured in the wreckage next to their dead friends.
Darcy Ross, Rafel Jeanne and Eve Smith lost their lives in the crash (Picture: PA)
Police say the appeal is for witnesses who may have seen the vehicle and there is no suggestion that another vehicle was involved in the collision.
Assistant Chief Constable Jason Davies of South Wales Police said: ‘The investigation is making good progress in piecing together the events leading up to the collision.
‘Specialist officers will continue to carry out a detailed investigation which will enable us to provide the facts of what happened during the early hours of Saturday morning.
‘Our thoughts continue to be with the families and all those affected by this tragic incident. Family liaison officers are supporting the families involved at what must be a hugely difficult time for them.’
Shane Loughlin was badly injured in the crash (Picture: Facebook)Sophie Russon is also recovering in hospital (Picture: Wales News Service)
Police say the last confirmed sighting of the friends was at 2am on Saturday.
The group had visited a social club known as The Muffler in Newport on Friday night and later got into the car and drove 38 miles to a caravan park in Porthcawl.
There was an alleged noise complaint at the Trecco Bay camp but officers ‘don’t believe it played any major part’ in the later events.
The five friends were not discovered in the overturned car until just after midnight on Monday.
Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hoborough of Gwent Police said: ‘This is an extremely sad situation, and our thoughts are with the families and friends of each of the young people involved.
‘We will continue to support the investigation and would ask members of the public to refrain from speculation during this period.’
Gwent Police and South Wales Police will be investigated by the Independent Office for Police Conduct over their handling of the case.
Prosper Harrison Addo, general secretary of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), has remarked that it is absurd to claim that Black Stars player selections are made by president Kurt Okraku.
He claims there is no basis for the accusation.
Prosper Harrison Addo remarked, “It’s funny to suggest Kurt Okraku determines the decision for the Black Stars,” during a conversation on Citi FM on March 10 on Friday.
The Ghana FA General Secretary continued to explain, “These are all kinds of accusations without facts. There is a process. No one person, the head coach alone does not make the squad. He discusses it with his team and they present it to the management committee. If it is good then it will come out.
“Nobody imposes a player on a coach.”
He further advised that if anyone does not like a certain player they should not expect that a coach will not invite that player.
The Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Hon. Elizabeth Kwatsoe Tawiah Sackey, has entreated young entrepreneurs to be innovative.
She has urged them to come up with new ideas to build new systems and structures that could strengthen their operational capacities and access government support.
According to her, the government recognised the importance of entrepreneurship hence the launch of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP) to provide a seven-million-dollar grant to assist entrepreneurship hubs to support self-businesses for economic growth.
Mrs Sackey said this on Monday at an Entrepreneurship and Career Fair Summit 2023 organised by VODEC Africa at the Accra City Hall under the theme: “Harnessing and Exploiting the 21st Century Economic Opportunities in Entrepreneurship and Career Development.”
“So, my dear brothers and sisters don’t sit on the fence. Let us be partakers in nation-building. The money is sitting there go for it and use it to do things that will enhance the growth of our economy and the nation,” she stated.
She urged young entrepreneurs to take advantage of the programme which would focus on businesses operating in agriculture, technology and innovation, light manufacturing and processing waste and green businesses as well as technical and vocational skills.
She pointed out that entrepreneurs could come up with ideas but not every idea was worth pursuing adding that to be successful, entrepreneurs needed to identify consumer demand and ensure that they meet the feasibility of satisfying them.
The Chief Executive used the opportunity to entreat the youth to network with their forebearers to tap into their experiences.
Rev Dr Lawrence Tetteh, a Pastor and a renowned International Evangelist who was the chairman for the occasion asked upcoming entrepreneurs to avoid cutting corners.
“Learn how to crawl, walk, ran before attempting to fly. There are many privileges and opportunities in career and entrepreneurship, but we miss them because we don’t learn.”
Rev Dr Tetteh advised them to seize the opportunity at every given stage of life and work through them and stop the copycat and also avoid the get-rich-quick habit.
Mr Daniel Asomani, the Chief Executive of VODEC Africa said the organisation has become a beacon of hope for many youths in Ghana.
“Even with the government policies of one district one factory and other flagship programmes to provide jobs for the Ghanaian youth, it has become urgent for us to broaden our scope of operation,” he stated.
Special aide to former President John Mahama, Joyce Bawa Mogtari, has disclosed how much former President John Dramani provided details on what he receives as Ex-Gratia since he left office in 2020.
According to her, John Dramani Mahama received a lump sum of Gh¢250,000 as ex-gratia and a monthly pension of Gh¢22,000.
She made the revelation during an interview on GHOne over Mahama’s promise to scrap ex-gratia.
She said; “Mahama has received his ex-gratia, he received a lump sum of Gh¢250,000 as ex-gratia and takes Gh¢22,000 as monthly pension pay,” Mahama Aide, Joyce Bawa.
Former President John Dramani Mahama has promised to scrap the payment of ex-gratia to members of the executive should he be re-elected in the 2024 elections.
Speaking at the launch of his campaign which took place in the Cedi Auditorium at the University of Health and Allied Sciences in Ho, in the Volta Region on Thursday, March 2, Mr. Mahama said he will take the necessary steps to scrap the payment as soon as he assumes power.
“The payment of ex-gratia to members of the executive will be scrapped. The necessary Constitutional steps to take this will start in earnest in 2025. We will also persuade members of the other arms of government to accept its removal,” he said in Ho.
The youthful Arsenal players have the potential to assist the team win the English Premier League, according to Ghanaian midfielder Thomas Partey of Arsenal.
In their most recent league match, the Gunners came from behind to defeat AFC Bournemouth 3-2, with Partey scoring one of the goals.
Reiss Nelson, a 23-year-old winger, scored the game-winning goal in the 97th minute after coming off the bench to give Arsenal the victory.
Nelson also assisted in Ben White’s goal that equalized the scoreline, after Arsenal fell behind by two goals.
Partey commended the maturity of young players like Nelson, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, and Gabriel Martinelli after the significant victory.
He highlighted that they have the requisite maturity, experience, and readiness to accomplish everything they set their minds to, including taking home the Premier League championship.
“Well, I think now they are not younger players anymore. They have experience. They have been playing for a long time. They are mature.
“I think it is time for them to be able to achieve whatever they want to achieve. That is their dream. I think they are all ready to achieve this,” Partey said according to The Independent.
Arsenal currently sits at the top of the Premier League standingsSee the final Premier League Standings, That was predicted by a supercomputer, five points ahead of second-placed Manchester City. With the season far from over, the Gunners will be looking to maintain their lead and secure their first league title since 2003, with the help of their talented young players.
Former Manchester City and England defender Micah Richards has identified Thomas Partey of Arsenal as a possible candidate for the PFA Player of the Season award.
Partey was named by Richards as a player who might have made the cut for the BBC’s selection of six players.
Partey left Atletico Madrid for Arsenal in the summer of 2020, and he has since established himself as an important member of the Gunners.
The Ghanaian international has received recognition for his all-around skills as a defensive midfielder who can both cover for the team’s defence and participate in its attacking play.
Despite missing a number of games through injury this season, Partey’s performances have not gone unnoticed, with Richards acknowledging his potential as a player of the season contender.
In his selection process, Richards ultimately opted for two of Partey’s Arsenal teammates, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, but noted that Partey was very close to making the cut.
“Arsenal’s Thomas Partey could have been in there, and Brentford striker Ivan Toney had a shout too. Harry Kane keeps on scoring goals for Tottenham as well. Those three were very close,” said Richards.
The PFA Player of the Season award is voted for by the players themselves and is one of the most prestigious individual accolades in English football.
David Ocloo, the interim head coach of Hearts of Oak, has unveiled his 20-man roster for their upcoming match at Dun’s Park versus Bibiani GoldStars.
The Phobians are hoping to continue their winning streak in the Ghana Premier League after their 1-0 triumph over Asante Kotoko last weekend.
A number of players have been named to the team for the match, including Linda Mtange, Samuel Inkoom, Caleb Amankwah, Konadu Yiadom, Glid Otanga, Eric Esso, Salifu Ibrabim, and Kwadwo Obeng Jr.
However, Richmond Ayi, the team’s first-choice goalkeeper, has been replaced by Richard Attah for the match. Attah hasn’t featured for the team since Week 8 against Dreams FC.
Dennis Korsah, Victor Aidoo, and Yassan Ouatching were all excluded from the squad for the game. Additionally, Gladson Awako remains sidelined due to an injury.
The match is scheduled to take place on Saturday, March 10, 2023, and will kick off at 3:00 pm.
Emmanuel Gyasi, a representative of Ghana, played on Friday night when Spezia Clacio hosted Inter Milan.
The gifted forward helped his club gain a rare 2-1 victory at the conclusion of the Italian Serie A match in a contest that featured three goals.
Today’s home match for Spezia Calcio saw Emmanuel Gyasi get the start. The players stuck together and followed the manager’s instructions to his satisfaction, despite the fact that the team was not expected to win.
While the first 45 minutes of the contest would end in a goalless stalemate, Spezia took the lead in the 55th minute of the second half through a strike from Daniel Maldini.
In the fierce contest that ensued from there on, striker Romelu Lukaku converted a penalty kick in the 83rd minute to draw level for Inter Milan.
Four minutes later, Spezia Calcio had the chance to restore the lead when the team was also awarded a penalty kick.
From 12 yards, M’bala Nzola scored to seal a 2-1 win for Spezia at full-time.
In today’s game, Emmanuel Gyasi lasted 81 minutes and worked his socks off to help the team to secure the maximum three points.
The Ghanaian striker John Yeboah, who was born in Germany, scored in Friday night’s 4-1 loss to Raków in the Polish first division.
The Raków players were eager to get going. Gutkovskis headed a corner kick in the sixth minute of play, but Rafa Leszczyski easily caught the ball.
In the 36th minute, the hosts opened the scoring. Bartosz Nowak launched Vladyslav Kochergin with an excellent pass, who avoided offside and with a clever shot sent the ball right past Leszczyński.
In the 49th minute, Ivi Lopez put the ball into the net, but the assistant referee raised his flag for offside. VAR intervened and the goal was given to make it 2-0.
Wroclaw was 3-0 down in the 55th minute. Jean Carlos lost Martin Konczkowski with a great feint and crossed straight to the head of Bartosz Nowak. A shot from the closest distance fell into the net.
John Yeboah came on in the 57th minute as his team battled to score.
Ivi López scored Raków’s fourth goal in the 67th minute and John Yeboah netted Śląsk Wrocław’s consolation goal in the 68th minute.
Pupils were left “in tears” after heinous burglars stormed into their school in North Bristol and took 20 of their beloved budgies.
Years ago, budgies living in an outside aviary would sing, trill, and warble as pupils and teachers at Brentry Primary School entered the building.
CCTV captured the moment smugglers broke into the school’s grounds on Wednesday at about 11:30 p.m. and grabbed the birds from three breeding boxes.
Yesterday morning, the school’s caretaker was shocked to see the now silent and empty cage.
The news left the school students and staff alike ‘heartbroken’ (Picture: Avon and Somerset Constabulary / SWNS)
The thieves likely couldn’t fit all the birds into the boxes, meaning some might have flown away into the frosty night, said school business manager, Hannah Jack.
Now the school is appealing to residents to come forward if they know anything about the theft or if they’ve seen people suddenly selling budgies.
Hannah said: ‘It is absolutely heartbreaking. We are all devastated, we’ve had teachers in tears, children in tears.
‘They really are part of the family, everyone loves them and it’s so terrible they’ve been taken like this. Why would someone do this?’
The school first took in two budgies seven years ago, with by pure chance a third bird being rescued from a drain on the school site.
A purpose-built aviary was made for the dainty parakeets in 2018 during a school refurbishment.
The school built an aviary for the budgies.
For a typical budgie, the aviary was a five-star resort, with heated areas and plenty of room to fly about.
Soon enough, more of the brightly-feathered birds were donated to the school and some had babies.
‘The Year 6s are responsible for them, and it’s a big thing,’ said Hannah, who is also chair of the PTA.
‘They have to feed and water them, clean the aviary out and look after them. At the weekends, the site caretaker looks after them. They are well-loved and it’s been lovely that they’ve been able to breed.’
‘It’s just so awful that someone would do this,’ she added.
‘They’ve climbed into the reception play area and then got round to the aviary, smashed open the bolt and got in.
‘It’s just so sad.’
A school official fears that any escaped birds will perish outside in the cold (Picture: Avon and Somerset Constabulary / SWNS)
Hannah is doubtful about whether their kids will ever be reunited with their pets.
‘We’re not hopeful we’re going to get them back,’ Hannad added, ‘but someone must know something about where they are now.’
Budgies, also called budgerigars, are native to the warm and dry plains of the Australian Outback.
With their small bodies being built to survive toastier temperatures, budgies struggle in anything below 15°C as the risk of hypothermia grows.
Amid a nationwide cold snap, the mercury in Bristol has been in the low single-digits for days – today will be a high of only 4°C.
‘The ones that might have flown away, they won’t survive. It’s too cold and they’ll get attacked too,’ Hannah added.
Avon and Somerset police are collecting dashcams and CCTV from people who may have filmed the incident.
‘Police are appealing for witnesses and information after thieves stole around 15 budgerigars from an aviary at Brentry Primary School at about 11.30pm last night, Wednesday 8 March,’ a spokesperson said.
On November 6 of last year, the Abu Bakr Trust, which manages three schools in the Staffordshire town of Walsall, allegedly posted the homophobic messages.
According to reports, the organisation asked members to pray “for protection from bad deeds and against LGBTQ” in a post on its Facebook page.
It also allegedly wrote: ‘My Lord, save me and my family from what they do.’
Someone with links to the trust also allegedly shared a Facebook video of a Taliban cleric claiming he was ‘very bright’, according to research done by the Henry Jackson Society.
The Charity Commission officially raised concerns and a formal investigation was opened.
The trust has since apologised for the posts, claiming a volunteer has made them without authorisation from staff or trustees but it went on to ‘accept full responsibility’ for what it described as an ‘oversight’.
The Abu Bakr Trust runs three schools, including a nursery, in Walsall (Picture: Trinity)
Ironically, the trust’s school for girls, which is independent but receives government grants, was praised for its tolerance of same-sex couples last March.
A report from Ofsted at the time read: ‘Pupils have a sound understanding of fundamental British values.
‘They talk knowledgeably about democracy, how laws are made and how this relates to everyday life in school. Pupils have a detailed understanding of other religions.
‘They speak confidently about the similarities and differences that exist between Islam and other religions. Pupils talk about the different types of relationships and families that exist in their local community.
‘This includes single-parent families, same-sex couples and children who are in care.’
Meanwhile Abu Bakr Boys School, in Queen Mary Street, was rated overall as ‘inadeqaute’ following an inspection last June – but it was praised for encouraging schoolchildren to ‘understand and respect differences’.
Charlotte Littlewood, who conducted the research for the Henry Jackson Society, said: ‘It’s a very worrying time for the LGBT community.
‘We seem to be making great leaps in some areas but in this particular area, we are just not making the same headway. I’m worried about the impact this has on our young people if they are being taught intolerance.
‘We are bringing children up in a multicultural society where the priority is that we are a cohesive society based on tolerance. Some schools are not teaching that – those schools will not prepare children for a successful life in the UK.
‘Parents should think hard about the kinds of environments they are placing their children in, if they want Britain to be a safe and tolerant place for all.’
The Abu Bakr Trust’s full statement:
Abu Bakr Trust Charity has been operating for the past 18 years without major issues. The charity has always adhered strictly to its objectives i.e. providing sound education via schools (for children) and services for worshippers at the mosques (for all).
The current trustees were all appointed last year due to the ill health and age of the long-time trustees. The new trustees have been getting to grips with all aspects of managing the charity’s work since then.
The previous trustees had delegated some activities to volunteers as the charity has limited resources for staffing. Responsibility for social media was not created by the charity, instead community volunteers had taken the initiative to set up a Facebook page in 2011.
When the trustees became aware of this, they were told that it was only used to post monthly prayer timetables and upcoming events, etc. From its history, it can be confirmed that this platform has minimal activity.
However, after the pandemic, in lockdown periods, when physical attendance was restricted, platforms like social media were used more than before as a means of communication but the administration/control stayed with the volunteers. It appears that previously the login details had been widely shared among volunteers allowing them to post without the staff and trustee’s approvals.
‘The posts in question were made by a volunteer with login details, but no staff or trustees approved them. We deleted the posts immediately and changed the login details and have now taken control of social media policy and will only post necessary information posts as previously.
‘We accept full responsibility for the oversight due to the transition of trustees. We apologise for any upset or offence this has caused and are already working with advisers and the Charity Commission to put in place an effective policy and controls.’
At a packed West Ham football stadium, a man was caught on camera snorting what seems to be cocaine off a friend’s bald head
.According to West Ham United, the fans implicated have been suspended pending an inquiry.Although the exact date of the event is unknown, the footage, which showed an occupied Olympic Stadium, was posted on social media on Thursday.
In the video, a man can be seen dousing the bald man’s head with the white material before snorting a line from a rolled-up bill.
A footie fan can be heard shouting ‘it’s on your head, stay there’ while others shout ‘come on’ to a fan behind them.
Laughter can be heard from other people in the stands as one fan said: ‘Wheey, go on, video that… Go on get in there.’
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White powder could be seen on the bald man’s head
Fans also egg on the supporter as they use phrases like ‘go on John get in there’ and ‘have you done that yet John?’
A statement from West Ham reads: ‘The club is disgusted by the contents of the video and acted swiftly to identify the offenders.
‘In line with our zero-tolerance approach, details of the offenders were immediately passed on to the police, and all individuals had their season tickets suspended and are therefore unable to enter London Stadium and travel with the club for away fixtures.
‘Pending our own club investigation, this could lead to the offenders being banned indefinitely.
Abdul Fatawu Mohammed, a recent addition to Karela United, has urged supporters to show up in large numbers to cheer on the club during their upcoming encounter against Nsoatreman FC.
The Passioners have had a difficult season thus far, but Mohammed thinks that a strong fan response could turn things around for the squad.
Prior to the game, Mohammed stated: “We beg all of our followers to come out in force on Sunday and pack the park for us. We the playing group, who had just lost to the Accra Lions, held a quick meeting that led to a road tie against Dreams FC “as stated, according to domesticsportsgh.com.
“So we are preparing for our upcoming match so we need the prayers of everyone and at end of Sunday by this time we will be victorious with the three points.”
Karela United currently sit in 16th on the Ghana Premier League table, with just 23 points from 20 matches. However, a win against Nsoatreman FC could give the team a much-needed boost and help them climb up the table.
The match is set to take place on Sunday, and Fatawu is hoping that the fans will turn out in force to support the team.
He added, “We know we have disappointed the fans so far this season, but we are working hard to turn things around. With the support of the fans, we can do it.”
Associate Professor at the School of Law, University of Ghana, Kwadwo Appiagyei-Atua has described as unconstitutional the invasion of Ashaiman by some the military on Tuesday, March 7.
Speaking on Newsfile on Saturday, he said the military’s abuse of residents in the Accra suburb goes against the country’s laws especially when the constitution clearly stipulates how citizens should be treated.
“What happened at Ashaiman violates every law in our book…the fact that we have a whole chapter in our constitution on human rights and for the dignity of human beings to be degraded to that level is appalling. It is best condemned in the strongest terms,” Prof Appiagyei-Atua said.
He told the host Samson Lardy Anyenini that after 30 years of Ghana’s return to constitutional rule, the rule of law should work to protect the public and for people to be considered citizens, not spectators.
“What happened really takes us generations back, and it is a sour reminder of our past…some of us who experienced a little bit of military rule and the fact that there was lawlessness and disorderliness, I think that is what happened at Ashaiman.”
“I feel outraged, dismayed and so disappointed about what has happened in 21st century Ghana after 30 years of return to constitutional rule.”
Last Saturday, March 4, 2023, a young soldier was allegedly murdered at Ashaiman Taifa by unknown persons.
Angered by his death, the military in the early hours of March 7, stormed Ashaiman and brutalised some residents in a search for the murderers.
They also took some of the residents away for interrogation. Most of them have since been released as of Friday.
The MP for the area then condemned the act by the military men.
According to him, although the killing of the soldier was a dastardly act, “we cannot take the laws into our hands whether we are lawmakers or security agencies.”
However, the Ghana Armed Forces says the operation was merely a swoop in a man-hunt for some criminals and not for vengeance.
According to GAF, “the military operation, which was sanctioned by the Military High Command, was not to avenge the killing of the soldier but rather to fish out the perpetrators of the heinous crime.”
But Prof Appiagyei-Atua says this is hogwash.
He believes that the military officers who brutalised innocent citizens in Ashaiman ve brought to book as the law stipulates.
“It is the wish of well-meaning Ghanaians that this matter is not swept under the carpet and that the people involved are sanctioned and punished,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the police through its own intelligence-led operations have revealed that they have arrested key suspects in the murder of Sheriff Imoro.
