Pastor Dr Mrs. Agnes Odoi, Counsellor and President of Warrior Women Prayer Ministry Global, has revealed some of the causes behind Ghana’s high divorce rate.
She emphasized that although there are so many causes of divorce, the main reason for divorce in marriage is a misunderstanding of marriage.
Speaking to Paul Anomah Kordieh on e.tv. Ghana’s Christian Connect show, she said, “People are jumping into marriages without knowing what marriage entails. They don’t have much knowledge about marriage because, when it comes to matters of marriage, we are not seeking knowledge to really know what it entails”.
From her observation, all couples are interested in the funfair of marriage, and she believes that has taken away the whole idea of marriage.
“People look at the fun fair and just prepare for the marriage ceremonies without preparing for the marriage itself. Also, there are a lot of sex issues, which lead to divorce. I quite remember doing this research in 2014, and the outcome was that about 75% of marriage divorces are as a result of the issue of sex,” she said.
From her research, she found out that either one party is not satisfied or the other party isn’t giving in, or maybe the man or woman has gone out of a marriage and it has brought a lot of issues. Hence, she concluded that there are so many issues when it comes to sex in marriage.
She disclosed that this was one of the reasons why she came up with the warrior wives prayer ministry as a non-denominational ministry for Christian wives.
“It was established because we realized that the rate of divorce in our system and society was so high.” So we saw the need to do something to avert the situation,” she said.
Moving on, she added that “God laid it on my heart that since women play an important role in the home, there is a need for them to be empowered in a godly manner so that they can stand firm and help their families stand as well.
So that is why we brought all women together. We started with wives, but we’ve seen that there is a need to prepare the other women before they go into marriage as well,” she stated.
Afrobeats songstress Tiwa Savage, has paid a visit to the British Buckingham palace as part of the world’s commemoration of International Women’s Day.
The singer shared beautiful photos from the noteworthy occasion, showing her obvious excitement at the opportunity to have met HRH Queen Consort Camilla on her Instagram page.
The mother of one also flaunted her tailored crisp-white ensemble for the occasion and included a little video of the interaction she had with HRH Camilla.
While she reaffirmed that patience is the key to true strength, Tiwa’s caption sparked comments on her page.
Read some below:
realwarripikin: “Patience is power Hmmmmm”
thedorchester: “Thank you for staying with us!”
bolu_flourish: “Only one Anty TiwA! ???? after you it’s still you abeg!”
official_thanky_: “Mama with doings”
colnel_walker: “Abg next time put me inside bag carry go”
djenimoney: “Fashion killer”
afro_fab_dolls: “Indeed Patience is Power. Simply Stunning”
Nigerian actress, Regina Daniels, has opined that the movie industry is not a place for young girls and advised producers to discourage the act of employing minors.
She made this known via her Instagram page on Monday, March 6, 2023.
According to Regina, celebrities and movie producers, should ‘say no’ to child labour and keep the industry secure.
In her words: “I met a 14-year-old girl wearing a short skirt, crop top and working under another young guy on the movie set who claims to be a make-up artist.
“Her parents are far away in Port Harcourt and she came to Lagos last year. She sleeps in different hotel rooms with whoever agrees to accommodate her every night and is not willing to go back to her parents.
“This girl told me that she is here to learn but trust me, I know the industry and it is not a safe place for young girls.”
Michelle Attoh, a Ghanaian actress and television host, took to social media to honour her mother, Rama Brew, on Women’s Day.
In a post shared on Instagram on March 8, 2023, Michelle expressed her gratitude for her mother’s unwavering support and unconditional love, describing her as a solid pillar in her life.
In her post, Michelle acknowledged the sacrifices her mother made to conceive and raise her and thanked her for always being there when she needed her the most.
She also wished her mother a happy Women’s Day, acknowledging the role of women in society and the importance of celebrating their contributions.
“To the woman that conceived me, nurtured me, and who continues to support me and love me unconditionally, I celebrate YOU @ramabrew55 thank you for being such a solid pillar in my life that has held me firm and been there when and where I needed you the most. I love you… happy Women’s Day my LOVE,” she wrote.
Rama Brew, a veteran Ghanaian actress and producer, has been in the entertainment industry for several decades.
She is known for her roles in popular Ghanaian TV series like “Home Sweet Home” and “Hotel St. James,” and has also produced several movies and TV shows.
Rama Brew has been a role model to many young Ghanaian women, including her daughter Michelle, who has followed in her footsteps by pursuing a career in the entertainment industry.
Michelle on the other hand has hosted several TV shows, including “Ghana’s Most Beautiful” and “Stars of the Future,” and has also acted in movies like “Adams Apples” and “Single Six.”
Ghanaian comedian, Derrick Kobina Bonney, better known as DKB, has provided insight into his absence from other comedians’ comedy specials.
According to myjoyonline.com report, DKB stated that he is typically absent from such events when he is not invited to perform.
“I was not put on the bill, so whatever other engagements I have I could go and attend to it, but if you put me on the bill, I owe you a duty to show up,” DKB noted.
DKB explained that he does not feel obliged to attend such events when he is not listed as a performer but is merely invited as a guest.
He further noted that he does not take offence when he is not featured in other comedians’ shows, as it is impossible for everyone to be on every show.
“First of all, I don’t take offence in somebody not putting me on their show or not. We can’t all be on everybody’s show. That is essentially the whole point.
“So if you didn’t see me at the event, I also had other engagements, and since I am not on the bill, well, I am not expected to perform,” he said.
He emphasized that if he is unable to attend due to a scheduling conflict, he sometimes attempts to make an appearance at the event.
Nigerian singer Simisola Bolatito Kosoko, popularly known as Simi has criticized African leaders, calling them “greedy bellies” for their inability to develop their own nations but instead travel overseas.
The singer in a tweet she shared on Wednesday, March 8, claimed that Africans struggle for survival and space everywhere they go because their politicians only have their “greedy bellies” in mind.
According to Simi, nobody would choose a stranger’s territory over their own if life were made easy, adding that the leaders’ greed is mirrored in the low social and economic development of the continent’s population.
She wrote: “Black Africans have to fight and fight for space and respect and survival everywhere they go because the one place that is their birthright is hard on their lives. One would think this would make African leaders wake up and help us fight for our dignity.
“Who really wants to go land of strangers, away from everyone and the things they love? People that want to survive. Nobody chooses that life because it’s good or easy. They just don’t want to die feeling that helpless.
“But these leaders don’t love their country. They don’t love their people. They only love their greedy bellies. They only care about their own children. They only care about their families. As long as their wickedness is not happening to them, why stop?” she quizzed.
Black Africans have to fight and fight for space and respect and survival everywhere they go because the one place that is their birth right is hard on their lives. One would think this would make African leaders wake tf up and help us fight for our dignity.
Black Africans have to fight and fight for space and respect and survival everywhere they go because the one place that is their birth right is hard on their lives. One would think this would make African leaders wake tf up and help us fight for our dignity.
CUPSYLAR: “We’re always Survivors! It’s tough been an African in a country with bad leaders and they leaders finding joy in suffering they masses… It’s sad how instead of us to have a change, we’re trying to adjust to the pains they’re subjecting us too. Quite unfortunate.”
Olawale_bam: “People like you justified the slave trade. You are a smelling compost pit.”
DkingsmanZ: “Make she leave her family members come help u first? Na goat u b”
Iam_OluwaAction: “Who really wants to leave everyone and everything they have known and loved all their lives to a strange unknown place?”
The co-founder of DWP Academy, Quables, has disclosed that their biggest pay cheque ever came from American singer Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter.
Back in July 2020, Ghanaians sent congratulatory messages to the dance academy when some members, including Dancegod Lloyd, featured in the music video of ‘Already’ a song by Beyoncé and Dancehall singer, Shatta Wale.
According to Quables, artistes and brands who have worked with DWP understand the value and the impact they have on their projects.
Speaking to Elsie Lamar on GhanaWeb TV’s Talkertainment, the talent manager, who was slow to disclose the amount of money Beyoncé paid them, hammered home that their pay remains the biggest contract to date.
“It is Beyoncé, I’ll not even lie…I can’t give a range, but it came from Beyoncé,” he said.
After being pressed to disclose the actual amount of money DWP Academy received, Quables hammered home that the singer’s worth meant they were not underpaid.
“Come on it’s Beyoncé...if I say it is Beyoncé, you have to understand that. That is Jay-Z’s wife, so (laughs)…our work with Usher was also very good.
“Anybody that works with us knows that we give you value for whatever you pay for. We’ve made songs go global. I can mention ‘Overdose’ because we created that choreography. The song ‘Down Flat’ blew up because of the dance and what the artiste is going to get back is millions,” the co-founder of DWP told GhanaWeb.
Music has always been an integral part of Ghanaian culture and history, with various genres and styles emerging over the years.
While there have been countless hits and memorable tunes, there are certain songs that have stood the test of time and continue to resonate with audiences today.
In this article, we’ll take a look at 10 Ghanaian evergreen songs that have the potential to make a comeback and captivate audiences like they never left.
From highlife to hiplife, these classics are sure to evoke feelings of nostalgia while still sounding fresh and relevant.
So, without further ado, let’s dive in and explore these timeless Ghanaian gems.
A South Africa-based Nigerian pastor, Dr Roland, has threatened to use juju to battle his South African wife Thuli Da Angel after she requested a divorce for an unclear reason.
In the video that Thuli posted, Roland was heard indicating that he would not sign the divorce papers that she had served him, rather, he would go back to Nigeria and fight her with juju.
It was learned that Thuli and Roland are both South African pastors. The lead pastor is Roland, and Thuli is his assistant.
This development comes weeks after Thuli took to her Facebook page to celebrate her husband, Roland on Valentines Day.
In the post Thuli shared, she indicated that she was the luckiest woman in the world to have Roland as hers.
Thuli praised Roland for being the best husband in the world and the best dad to their children.
The new video of Thuli asking for a divorce from Roland sparked numerous reactions on social media as they couldn’t believe what was happening as Thuli had lauded Roland for being the best husband.
classikcomedian: “Please don’t blame the pastor if some woman do you something you go forget who you be”
abjluxuryhub: “After seeing this, I know someone is already afraid to be married. My darling marriage is lovely as long as I refrain from criticizing either the man or the lady. Yet, i would say that they have both triggered at this point.”
adaobi_adah: “In one of the slides ..he was begging her to proceed with the divorcé dealings so he can be free. The whole slides are contradicting themselves.”
chuckzy23: “Everybody na pastor, why isn’t there a way to regulate everyone becoming or calling themselves pastors/bishop. It has reduced the church to a place of ridicule. Just asking though”
ojulewastudio: “As many as are believing God for their own soulmate this year God will connect you to your God Ordained soulmate. your marriage will work”
Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has urged women in the nation to actively take use of the advantages of the government’s numerous digital interventions.
He claimed it would strengthen attempts to balance the gender equation between men and women and better the lot of women.
Yesterday in Accra New Town, Dr. Bawumia gave a speech during a celebration honoring International Women’s Day (IWD) of this year.
The day was commemorated on the worldwide theme: “DigitAll: Innovation and technology for gender equality” and the Vice-President appealed for support for the digitisation agenda by the government, since digital interventions would push the development of the country forward.
Breast Care
The event was organised by Breast Care International (BCI), a non-governmental organisation, with free health screening for women residing at Nima and its surrounding areas, as part of the BCI’s social responsibility and also to offer support to underprivileged women in society.
There were presentations on breast and cervical cancers by experts to sensitise women to those diseases and how they could prevent or mitigate occurrences.
Dr Bawumia said breast cancer was the number one ailment killing women in the country, saying it was for that reason that he partnered the organisers, so that women would get more education to deal with the disease.
Touching on what the government had done so far on digitalisation, he said: “Now everyone has an identity, with their records captured.”
Similarly, he said, there was digital address, which also aided direction and locations for businesses to deliver goods.
Dr Bawumia also mentioned the renewal of insurance, the granting of students’ loans and mobile money interoperability, which he explained had helped in transferring money from one mobile network to another and also from one’s bank account to a mobile money account, and vice versa.
He said through digitalisation, essential drugs were being delivered with drones to hard-to-reach communities and said it was really helping women.
Ghana Card numbers
On the Ghana Card, the Vice-President said the government was introducing a new policy which would ensure that all newborn babies received their Ghana card numbers right from birth.
The initiative, he said, would commence from March 31, this year.
The Founder and President of the BCI, Dr Beatrice Wiafe Addai, urged women to resist all cultural stereotypes stifling their initiative and drive, either self-imposed or artificially crafted.
“The choice of the venue for this year’s celebration of IWD is deliberate, to the extent that this is a densely populated community with a high female population needing periodic, free breast screening, which stands BCI out in the pursuit of the overall well-being of our women,” she said.
She urged all women to be cautious of breast and cervical cancers and also take advantage of the various forms of screening for breast care.
Herbal medicine
The Queenmother of Osudoku, Amponsa Dokua III, who chaired the event, said women must not use herbal medicine for breast cancer treatment and rather report to hospital when they saw symptoms of the disease.
Ghanaians have been urged by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to remember that democracy is a process that requires ongoing care rather than a static accomplishment.
“We must always remind ourselves that in the political history of our nation, the return of Parliament to its rightful place has always represented the return of power to the people,” he continued.
The request was made by President Akufo-Addo yesterday during his address to Parliament in Accra on the state of the nation.
Symbol
He described Parliament as the symbol of democracy and its values, saying that the country had chosen to travel on the path of democracy and at the heart of that journey was the idea that the government could only govern with the consent of the people.
He said after 30 years of democratic practice, Ghanaians might be tempted to take it for granted and that there was a need to remind all, including the young ones with no personal recollection, of the struggles that got to this point in its development.
“In the same way that only a small percentage of our population can recall life under colonial rule, similarly the memory of dictatorship, one-party rule and military rule is receding into the dim past and the struggles that have brought us so far are disappearing into the recesses of history,” President Akufo-Addo added.
However, he said because Parliament, directly represented the citizens, it would always be a reminder of those struggles.
He said the early years of the return to democracy were fraught with challenges but the years had seen the deepening of democratic culture to a point where a candidate of the Minority side in Parliament, presided as the Speaker.
Doomsday
President Akufo-Addo noted that given the way the numbers shaped up in this House after the 2020 elections, many cynics and sceptics predicted a doomsday scenario for this Parliament.
He said instead of a meltdown, Ghanaians had witnessed considerable cooperation and unity of purpose among all parties and factions.
“This is to a large extent a measure of the maturity of our political culture and democracy. We will need even more of such bi-partisan maturity to meet the challenges confronting us at this time,” he added.
Free speech
President Akufo-Addo said the country currently had complete freedom of expression, freedom of association, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion and political affiliation.
He said the freedom of speech had now reached such heights that even members of the diplomatic corps felt able to join in the national discourse and pronounce on matters that would be problematic for Ghanaian diplomats in their countries of origin.
“Nevertheless, it seems to me the important thing in our free speech environment is actually to try and hear each other, instead of raising the decibel level of our individual points of view,” he added.
The United Nations established the day in 1975 to recognize and honor the global contributions made by women in the fields of business, politics, and society.
Also, it was intended to highlight issues that needed more attention and the need of advancing gender equality.
The Volta Regional Director of Gender, Thywill Eyra Kpe, said at the opening ceremony yesterday that gender equality was a tool for unearthing human resource potentials in society for sustainable development.
Therefore, she said, it was important to recognise the tenets of gender equality to ensure equal roles, rights and equal access to productive resources by all and sundry.
“This process requires some serious equity measures, considering the patriarchal nature of our society and entrenched norms,” Mrs Kpe added.
ICT
Touching on the theme, she said it was necessary to create avenues for constant skills development for girls on the importance of ICT, for gender equality.
Mrs Kpe said the role of traditional authorities in protecting the rights and welfare of women was crucial because most of the discrimination, stereotyping and violence perpetrated against women were carried out under the guise of culture and tradition.
“Pressing for gender equality means we must abolish or modify some of these practices that continue to subjugate women and prevent them from achieving their full potential,” she maintained.
The Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, who graced the occasion, said women had occupied key positions in Ghana, including becoming Speakers of Parliament, Chief Justices, Ministers of State, Chief Executives, entrepreneurs and leaders of businesses.
“Indeed, the Volta Region has also produced some very eminent women over the years, including Industrialist Esther Ocloo, the first woman in Ghana and the Commonwealth of Nations to become a judge, Mrs Justice Anny Jiagge, renowned lawyer Hillary Gbedema, International journalist and politician Elizabeth Ohene and the first female Brigadier General of the Ghana Armed Forces, the late Brigadier General Constance Emefa Edjeani-Afenu and many others,” he added.
However, Dr Letsa said it was disheartening to learn that despite all these strides, women continued to face many challenges that had deepened the gender gap, which, if not quickly addressed, might continue to widen the gender inequality gap in the region.
He said the key among them was the low representation of women in decision-making at local levels.
“Currently, the region has less than seven per cent of women elected to the 18 municipal and district assemblies in the region, with about four assemblies having no elected women at all.
“Again, low access to capital and productive resources, sexual and gender-based and other forms of domestic violence, adolescent pregnancy, the burden of unpaid care work and unequal opportunities in the field of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) for women, remain challenges that are yet to be surmounted,” the regional minister pointed out.
Some of the traders who took part in the event said it was now fascinating for them to transact business online.
A free health screening event sponsored by ASA Savings and Loans Limited last Saturday benefited more than 200 inhabitants of the Tamale Metropolis’ suburbs of Vittin and Kukuo.
The recipients of the benefits had their eyes checked for infections, blood pressure, diabetes, hepatitis B, breast cancer, malaria, and cholesterol.
The recipients received care from a group of health professionals that included doctors, lab technicians, eye specialists, pharmacists, nurses, and midwives.
Some of the beneficiaries who were diagnosed of various conditions were given free medications while others were counselled and referred to health facilities for further medical care.
Quality health care
The Tamale Area Manager of ASA Savings and Loans Limited, Imarat Hossani, told the Daily Graphic that the gesture formed part of the company’s corporate social responsibility to ensure quality healthcare delivery in the area.
“Doing business in the hot season comes with a lot of sickness which would definitely affect many establishments, so we thought it wise to organise this free health screening for our clients and the people in our operational areas to ensure their well-being,” he said.
He indicated that the exercise would be replicated across all its branches and operational areas in the region.
Mr Hossani reiterated the company’s commitment to continue to give back to society, saying that “the communities are suffering from a water crisis; they do not have regular flow of water and it affects their business so we intend to come to their aid soon.”
Advice
He advised the residents, particularly its clients, to regularly visit health facilities for check-ups to improve on their health.
The Branch Manager of the company, Mohammed Sadik, noted that many people did not undertake regular check-ups due to the lack of funds, for which reason the company decided to conduct the screening exercise to enable them to access free medical treatment from specialists.
He advised the people to make their health a priority, just as they treated their work and related matters.
Some of the beneficiaries who spoke with the Daily Graphic thanked the financial institution for the free medical examination, saying it had made them aware of their health status.
It has been suggested that the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) eliminate obstacles that prevent women from fully participating in the military.
Major General Richard Addo Gyane, the Commandant of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), stated that despite the numerous efforts made by the GAF to ensure the effective participation of women in its operations, there were still obstacles that needed to be overcome, such as social roles and insufficient infrastructure.
“Flying aloft the flag of our cherished nation, the Ghana Armed Forces are positioned on a high pedestal in worldwide gender and peacekeeping compensation.
“Despite that, there remain structural and traditional barriers that hinder the full participation of women in internal operations at home, as well as international peacekeeping operations.
Barriers such as gender roles, social inclusion and infrastructure deficits are likely to gradually erode the gains made,” he said.
International Women’s Day is marked on March 8 every year to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.
The GAF commemoration featured a panel discussion on different topics of interest to help personnel and stakeholder to appreciate the relevant issues of women inclusion into the armed forces.
Maj. Gen. Gyane said his outfit was collaborating with the GAF to provide research and technical support to the military to identify the various barriers to enhance the GAF’s capacity to address them.
Strides
The Chief of Staff, General Headquarters, Maj. Gen. Nicholas Peter Andoh, said since the enlistment of the first female into the military in 1958, the GAF had seen an increase in the promotion of women into senior strategic decision making positions.
He said presently, the GAF consisted of about 18 per cent women, a figure above the UN gender parity effort of 10 per cent.
These efforts, he said, had further been bolstered through the GAF’s collaboration with Canada through the Elsie Initiative for Women in Peace Operations and the KAIPTC’s Women Peace and Security Institute.
Through the Elsie Initiative Fund, he said the GAF was undertaking projects such as a media campaign to engage potential female recruits and cadets, construction of 300-bed capacity accommodation for female recruits at the Army Recruit Training centres at Shai Hills and Daboya Training Camp, among others, to enhance effective female roles.
Commitment
The Canadian High Commissioner to Ghana, Martine Moreau, expressed her government’s commitment to support the GAF in its gender mainstreaming efforts and peacekeeping goals.
In line with that, she said the Canadian government, in partnership with the KAIPTC and the GAF, was presently undertaking a garrison tour across the country to raise awareness of gender equality at all levels and to help to prepare leadership and personnel for enhanced gender mainstreaming efforts, in order to advance women throughout the ranks of the armed forces.
“Our aim remains to enable all personnel, regardless of gender, to attain their full potential to the benefit of the GAF in becoming an even more effective national institution,” she added.
The Gender Policy Advisor to the Chief of Defence Staff, Naval Captain Veronica Adzo Arhin, urged all stakeholders to embrace equity for an inclusive force.
The GAF, she said, was developing a comprehensive gender policy to sensitise personnel on gender mainstreaming, among other efforts.
A free CPR and first aid training for select commercial transport drivers was organized by the Jadarls Foundation, a company in the Jadarls Group of Businesses, in the La-Nkwantanang Municipality of Accra.
The purpose of the training was to prepare the drivers to recognize cardiac, respiratory, and first aid emergencies and to know what to do in those situations until more sophisticated medical assistance could be provided.
Several driver unions from the municipality came together for the workshops, which were held at the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC). Participants received instruction in basic life support techniques, including as high-quality CPR, post-cardiac arrest, prevention, and rehabilitation.
The drivers were also given first aid kits, pendrives, among other educational souvenirs to aid them to control accident cases that occur while working, and to also create awareness among other drivers and passengers.
Training
The Programme Lead of Jadarls Foundation, Davida Pappoe, said it had been observed that most accident victims died or incurred more injury due to the improper handling of victims or how care was administered.
The foundation, she said, had seen the need to train individuals, especially the drivers who mostly experienced accidents, to properly administer primary care to victims when such situations occurred.
“Most drivers do not know how to care for the injured; all they know is pulling the injured person out of the car, and this causes more injury or death.
So these sessions are to educate them on how to go about things like this,” she said.
She said the foundation intended to train 65 drivers in the first quarter with over 2,000 drivers to be trained by the end of the year given th intended multiplier effect of the trainer of trainees programme.
Ms Pappoe further stated that monitoring would be done by representatives from UGMC to ensure that the right training was given to the drivers, and where there were shortfalls refresher sessions would be held.
Primary Care
The Deputy Director for Medical Training and Simulation Center at UGMC, Dr Akosua Nuamah, explained that CPR and first aid were important because they could save lives under certain conditions.
“I believe this is the first hand training we all need as it creates awareness on the right steps to take in case of accident to keep the victims alive and prevent a lot of deaths,” she said.
Dr Nuamah further called on the public to desist from taking pictures or videos when accidents happen, but to instead call for medical help.
Initiative
The Chairman of the AMOT Transport Union, Mohammed Riddah Abubakar, commended the foundation for the initiative to build the capacity of the drivers in the municipality in CPR and first aid.
The Chairman of the Defense Committee of Parliament has expressed sympathy to the family of the young soldier who was killed in Ashaiman, which led to the brutalisation of some residents in Accra on March 7.
According to Kennedy Agyapong, he admits there were some excesses and would want to apologise for the actions.
Speaking in an interview, he said the Minister of Defense, Dominic Nitiwul, has apologised on behalf of the military for their actions, as innocent citizens were affected by their actions.
“On behalf of the committee, we want to sympathise with the bereaved, the young solder’s family, and the affected victims, those who were innocently beaten; they were not part of it, but unfortunately, they got to a scene where they [were] not supposed to be. Some of them were in their various homes, and they knocked, and they came out and they beat them; I think we have to admit as human beings that there were excesses, and therefore, we sympathise with the people of Ashaiman. At the same time, we also sympathise with the Armed Forces for our young men taking the law into their own hands to kill one of their own.
“…The minister has even apologised on behalf of the military; they admit that they have excesses,” he added.
He said the committee would not make statements on the floor of parliament until they had visited the scene to get first-hand information about what happened in the area next week Thursday.
The military invaded Ashaiman, brutalising innocent residents after the murder of a young soldier by the name of Sherrif Imoro on Saturday morning.
The incident happened on the dawn of Tuesday, March 7, 2023, at the Official Town in Ashaiman during a heavy downpour.
Reports indicate that residents have been forced to stay in their rooms until there is calm.
On Tuesday, a significant group of Mali’s religious leaders urged their followers to oppose a new constitution that would uphold the country’s junta’s commitment to secularism.
Mali’s proposed constitutional amendment is intended to allow the West African country to transition back to civilian governance from military authority.
The plebiscite for the new constitution was initially slated for March 19, but the junta has not commented on the timeline due to growing skepticism about the day.
Elections that would result in the return of civilian control will be held in February 2024, according to the junta’s stated agenda.
A constitutional draft received by junta leader Colonel Assimi Goita late last month stated an “attachment to the republican form and to the secularism of the state”.
“Secularism is not opposed to religion and to beliefs,” the drafts says, adding its aim was to “promote and reinforce living together based on tolerance, dialogue and mutual understanding”.
Between the option of marrying and studying at the prestigious Yale University, Ghana’s Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu has disclosed that she chose the former. This, according to her was in the early days of her life.
In an open letter to her 25-year-old self, the minister who now doubles as the Member of Parliamentfor Ablekuma West Constituency mentioned that she abandoned an opportunity to further her education at the prestigious Yale University to marry the man of her dreams.
Yale University founded in 1701 is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, considered one of the best institutions in the world.
Although she never regretted her actions, Ursula, speaking at the 2023 International Women’s Day organized by eTranzact Ghana Ltd, noted that there comes a time in one’s life when one ought to take crucial decisions.
The MP also highlighted the pressures single women face in Ghanaian society and how bachelor girls are termed as unwhole. This she believes influences a lot of them to settle down in marriages just to please family and friends.
“Letter to my 25-year-old self is to tell her that, five years from now, will it really matter? Will what you’re stressing about, agitating over really matter… at that stage I was torn between getting married and going to Yale. We do give in to a lot of pressure from family, friends, and the church that if you are not married, you’re not whole and that is the ultimate you can have in life.
“I had the opportunity to go to Yale and there was a young man who was wooing her at the time and she decided that okay, let me go and get married,” she said.
In her advice to women, she urged them to weigh every opportunity that comes their way and most importantly, make the right choice.
“…those are crossroads moments in our lives, whatever decision you take in your life will influence your future and we have to take it carefully. Maybe if I had gone to Yale I wouldn’t be sitting here as a Member of Parliament and your Minister today and so the Lord knew but that was a decision I had to take,” the politician said.
Ursula Owusu Ekuful is married to Dr. Sam Owusu Ekuful, a senior consultant and the owner of Ekuful Eye Care.
eTranzact Ghana Ltd Profile
eTranzact Ghana Ltd has emerged as a proven leader in electronic payments and aggregation solutions. Since the commencement of operations in 2006, the company has been tailoring electronic payment solutions for banks and private businesses of all types and sizes throughout Ghana.
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The world’s greatest medical drone delivery network will be based in Ghana, according to President Akufo-Addo, who applauded his government’s intention to use drones in healthcare delivery.
President Akufo-Addo made this statement during his State of the Nation speech on March 8, 2023, at the Parliament House. He also emphasized the nation’s success in the health sector since the international logistics delivery company Zipline established distribution hubs throughout the nation.
In Ghana’s healthcare delivery system, the government’s collaboration with Zipline appears to have changed the game.
The service has been instrumental in delivering critical medicines, vaccines and blood to health facilities in Ghana. The country now boasts six distribution centres in Omenako, Mpanya, Vobsi, Sefwi Wiawso, Kete Krachi and Anum, making it the largest aerial logistics delivery network in the world.
In his address, President Akufo-Addo said, “Zipline’s drone delivery service is firmly established, and the country now has six (6) centres, making Ghana the largest drone delivery network in the world. Zipline, through the national drone delivery services, has delivered more than 14.8 million units of lifesaving medicines, vaccines and blood products to health facilities by the end of 2022”.
“Childhood vaccines top the list with the delivery of 8.3 million doses, followed by 2.05 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines,” President Akufo-Addo added.
The introduction of drones in the delivery of critical medicine, vaccines and blood products to people in various communities became more crucial in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. During the period, Covid-19 samples for testing and highly sensitive vaccines from donor countries, pharmaceutical industries and the COVAX initiative were transported via Zipline drones to expedite vaccine inoculation and disease management.
The result marked Ghana as one of the countries with the least vaccine expiry and wastage due to Zipline’s fast delivery, particularly to remote areas of Ghana.
The success of Ghana’s drone delivery service has not gone unnoticed on the global stage and has been widely praised for its efficiency and effectiveness. In 2020, Zipline’s aerial logistics distribution services won the “Award for Corporate Excellence in Health Security” from the US Secretary of State for using drone technology to deliver medical supplies in communities in Africa.
Zipline’s service in Ghana has become a model for many countries, prompting other African nations to implement similar systems to improve their healthcare delivery systems. Zipline began operating in Ghana in 2019 and has successfully expanded to Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Japan and the USA.
Ghana’s achievement in establishing the world’s largest drone delivery network is a significant milestone in the country’s efforts to leverage innovative technology to improve the lives of its citizens.
A bench warrant for the arrest of one of the jurors who failed to appear in court today has been warned by the judge overseeing the trial of two adolescents accused of killing a 10-year-old kid in Kasoa for money rituals (March 9).
The trial, which was scheduled to start on March 7 this year, was postponed by two days due to the absence of a member of one of the accused’s family.
One member of the seven-person jury was not present when the case was called today (March 9) for the prosecution to finally call its first witness in the trial.
The foreman (leader) of the seven-member jury, informed the court that the juror, who is a staff of the Department of Social Welfare, had notified him that he was unable to continue hearing the matter.
The presiding judge, Justice Lydia Osei Marfo, who had previously reminded the jurors of their constitutional duty to always appear for the trial, fumed by the sudden excuse from the juror.
“We do not play games here, if I give you time to appear, it means I have put everything on hold. Do you understand the implications of this?
“You have disrespected the Court. Tell him to come else I will issue a bench warrant for his arrest,” the judge said.
Justice Marfo added that the jury trial system was not a joke.
“He should know he is duty bound to be part of this trial. This is a constitutional duty and he cannot afford to stay in his office and issue orders in this matter.
“The said juror should appear on the next adjourned date (March 13) otherwise bench warrant will be issued”, the presiding judge added.
Kasoa murder accused persons
The two teenagers have pleaded not guilty to the charge of conspiracy and murder.
They are said to have murdered Ishmael Mensah Abdallah on April 3, 2021, for ritual purposes, after they lured him into an uncompleted building and killed him with a club and cement block.
Jury
The seven-member jury was empaneled in October 2022.
The jury is made up of seven ordinary, but educated persons, who, subject to the directions of the judge, decide the guilt or innocence of an accused in a case tried upon indictment.
Swearing-in the jurors in October 2022, Justice Marfo advised the jury to be present in court at all times to listen to, see and hear the witnesses that will be called by the prosecution in their quest to establish the guilt of the accused persons.
All jurors must be present in the courtroom before any proceeding in a trial by jury takes place.
Also, when a jury is absent, the trial does not take place.
Implications
Per the reasons given by the foreman in court today (March 9), if the jury continues to absent himself, it would mean that the trial would have to start from scratch.
The accused persons would have to take their pleas before a newly constituted jury.
Internet users have been warned by the Cyber Security Authority (CSA) not to click on two malicious URLs that circulate and pretend to give access to a financial donation from John Dramani Mahama, a former president of Ghana.
The CSA stated that the links were mostly being disseminated using social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and Telegram in a public alert released today (March 9, 2023).
The webpages displayed after the links are clicked come with the message: “Former President JOHN MAHAMA on Feb 1st 2023. Offer a New Grants of 2,000 GHS to individual to support all Citizens and Empower the Youths. My idea for the introduction of this is to make every individual happy and empower our Youth for business and career goals. Get Your Own 2,000 By Filling The Form Below. The JOHN MAHAMA 2,000 GHS New Grant Support for All Ghanians. Applicants are to fill the form below and click on Apply”.
A form titled “Mahama’s Grant Application Form” is also displayed on the web pages for interested persons to submit Personally Identifiable Information (PII).
Warning
The Authority also warned that harvested Personally Identifiable Information (PII) from applicants of the websites may be used for phishing attacks and other online fraudulent activities.
“The public is hereby informed to disregard the offer as the former President is not associated with these websites,” the alert reads.
Other recommendation
The CSA also warned internet users to be cautious of links that were unsolicited and pay attention to the domain names for any website that claims to be associated with a high-profile personality.
“Contact the CSA if you need help to confirm the authenticity of links,” the alert adds.
“Pay attention to the content on sites you visit. Fake or malicious sites are likely to have several spelling and grammatical errors. • Avoid clicking on links in suspicious or unexpected messages and emails, especially those that ask you to enter personal information or login credentials.
“Keep all your software especially antivirus up to date. This will help prevent attackers from exploiting known vulnerabilities in your software or operating system”.
The CSA has a 24-hour Cybersecurity/Cybercrime Incident Reporting Points of Contact (POC) for reporting cybercrimes and for seeking guidance or assistance on online activities. Call or Text-292, WhatsApp-050 160 3111, Email – report@csa.gov.gh.
The Auditor-General has been given a seven-day deadline to provide a report on the GH 2.2 billion in recovery that pressure group OccuppyGhana claims it has made.
The group claimed in a statement dated March 7, 2023 that despite numerous attempts to obtain the Auditor-report General’s on the alleged claim, they have not yet done so.
In order to compel the Auditor-General to release the aforementioned report, it will be up to the Right to Information (RTI) Commission, according to OccupyGhana.
OccupyGhana’s statement
RE: AUDITOR-GENERAL RETRIEVES GH&2.2BN – REPRESENTS DISALLOWANCES FROM 2017 TO 2020
On 30 September 2022 we wrote to you (our ref: 0G/2022/037), demanding evidence backing the claim that you had issued disallowances and made recoveries in the amount stated in the heading to this letter.
You responded by a letter signed by one Ali Mohammed Zakaria (DAG/FAHRD) and dated 7 October 2022 (your ref: DAG/F&A/FIN/22.10/001), claiming that you had drafted a report on the recoveries, you were finalising it for Parliament, and ‘immediately the report is finalised a copy will be made available’ to us.
On 11 January 2023, we wrote to you (our ref: OG/2023/001) to inquire whether you had finalised your report, and requesting that a copy of the report be made available to us. You have not responded to that letter.
We write to repeat our request and to notify you that we will escalate this request to the Right to Information Commission, if we do not receive a copy of the promised report from you within seven days of the date of this letter.
In order to aid in the eradication of malaria in the nation, the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health has pledged to strengthen the larval source control program targeted at young mosquitoes.
Also, he saw that several of the sprayers who had been instructed to perform the activity presented difficulties.
“For some reason, some of them [the employees] have quit, so you have a vast population, wide coverage area, but only around 8 or 9 individuals conducting the spraying. You can see they’re having trouble from it. Work is consequently being done, but it won’t be productive, he continued.
These challenges notwithstanding, Dr. Ayew Afriyie asserted that larviciding was an effective tool that can be used to manage insecticide resistance in malaria control in the country.
“So, as I said, it is a strengthening exercise. We are trying to get it better because the technocrats keep saying it is a very good intervention. So as part of our oversight responsibilities, we would strengthen the course of this project,” he firmly assured.
He was, however, happy to learn that there has been a reduction in the number of reported cases of malaria and also under-five mortality from 0.04 in 2018 to 0.00 in 2022 in the Sekyere East District.
“Per available figures, we are being told that malaria cases at the OPD have been on the decline from 2018 where it was 413.1 per a population of 1,000 to 270.4 per 1,000 population,” he said.
On the issue of increasing budgetary allocation for the project, Dr. Ayew Afriyie, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Effiduase Asokore Constituency, averred that his committee would weigh both sides of the argument and take a decision on it.
More importantly, he said the committee would push Zoomlion to sit up to ensure value for money.
“So what happens is that each place we go we need to have the structure. The structure, he explained, therefore, means that we need to know the operational team on the ground. So we are going to be so much on them, and sometimes we are going to do surprise visits which we will not tell them we are going to this area,” he noted.
This, he stressed, would make Zoomlion sit up and ensure that Ghanaians get value for money in the larval source management programme.
The Ranking Member on the Committee and MP for Juaboso, Hon. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, said they have engaged the management of Zoomlion and charged them to address the challenges confronting the project, particularly those that emanate from the company.
“We have held discussions with the management of the company and they have agreed to increase the salary and also clear all the backlog of salaries,” he indicated.
However, he underpinned that the goal of the committee was the success of the project and its impact.
For his part, the Deputy Ranking Member of the committee, and an MP for Nabdam, Dr. Mark Kurt Nawaane, said: “My observation is that there seems to be a disconnect between the fight for environmental cleanliness and the fight against malaria.”
He explained that this was evident in the appalling conditions of the many breeding sites that they had visited.
“I believe that it is like a vicious cycle where you come and try to kill the mosquitoes. You leave the environment in that order; the water is not moving; the drains need desilting; we don’t do it, and; they [the mosquitoes] will definitely recur. This is because we don’t kill the mosquitoes to zero: we kill some of them and some of them remain,” he said.
Earlier at a briefing at the Sekyere East District Assembly, the Medical Superintendent of Effiduase Government Hospital, Dr. David Antwi-Agyei, revealed that malaria OPD cases have been on the decline from 2018 where it was 413.1 per 1000 population to 270.4 per 1,000 population in 2022.
He further disclosed that severe malaria cases have plateaued over the same period, adding that “case fatality of malaria declined from 0.04 in 2018 to 0.00 in 2022,”.
The Coordinator of the Larval Source Management Programme (Mosquito Control Programme) for Zoomlion, Reverend Dr. Ebenezer Kwame Addae, admonished Ghanaians to have a positive attitude towards the environment “so as to help the country’s efforts in curbing malaria.”
The committee visited some breeding sites in Tafo and Effiduase, which afforded the members the opportunity to observe the operations of Zoomlion, and also interact with the community members.
OccupyGhana, a pressure organization, has promised to remind the Lands Commission about their request for information about released or abandoned lands in Ghana every day.
According to the group, it has been eight days since the Right to Information Commission (RTIC) issued a judgement directing the Lands Commission to provide the requested material to them within 14 days. Today is March 9, 2023.
In a statement released today, the group promised to “send you daily reminders until you deliver the information to us,” and further stated that “if the 14 days pass without you giving us the information, we will take all steps available to us under the law to ensure that you comply with the RTIC’s orders.”
OccupyGhana’s statement
Dear Sir:
RE: REQUEST FOR INFORMATION CONCERNING RELEASED OR RELINQUISHED LANDS
This is to follow up on our letter to you dated 2 March 2023 (our ref: OG/2023/011) on the above matter.
Today marks eight days since the Right to Information Commission (RTIC) delivered the ruling that ordered you to release the information to us within 14 days. In our 2 March 2023 letter, we also brought the ruling to your attention, and inquired when we may receive the information. We asked that if the information was in hardcopy, you let us know the total cost of it so that we may pay for and collect it. We also asked that if it is in softcopy, you let us know when, and to whom, we may submit a hard drive on which you will install the information.
We have not heard from you on these requests. We will send you daily reminders until you deliver the information to us. And if the 14 days expire without you giving us the information, we will take all steps available to us under the law to ensure that you comply with the RTIC’s orders.
Yours in the service of God and Country OccupyGhana
On Thursday, protesters obstructed access to one of the main terminals of Israel’s central international airport, escalating a movement against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposals to weaken the nation’s judicial system.
When scenes of what is being referred to as a “Day of Disruption” emerged, a CNN team at Ben Gurion Airport observed people carrying suitcases while heading towards Terminal 3 due to the blocked road.
Israeli television also showed a different demonstration in Tel Aviv, where there looked to be thousands of participants waving Israeli flags.
Protesters on foot blocked the Ayalon highway, one of Tel Aviv’s main roads, with some resisting police efforts to clear the highway, a CNN team at the scene saw.
Demonstrators chanted “democracy,” “shame” and “where were you in Huwara?” at police, a reference to a West Bank Palestinian village that was the target of a violent riot by Jewish settlers nearly two weeks ago.
The demonstration brought traffic to a standstill on the highway, CNN saw, before police on horseback succeeded in pushing protesters off the highway, clearing it. Demonstrators dispersed off the highway but remain in the area.
Some protesters handed out roses to police, or placed them on police cars, TV pictures showed. As in previous protests, many of the demonstrators carried Israeli flags, while a few Pride flags were also in evidence.
CNN saw protesters trying to block a truck mounted with a water cannon aimed at them.
Opponents of government plans to give Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, the power to overrule Supreme Court decisions with a simple majority have been protesting every Saturday night across Israel for the past nine weeks. The largest protests, in Tel Aviv, have regularly drawn more than 100,000 demonstrators, in a country with a population of just over nine million.
The package of legislation would also give the government the authority to nominate judges, which currently rests with a committee composed of judges, legal experts and politicians. It would remove power and independence from government ministries’ legal advisers, and take away the power of the courts to invalidate government appointments.
Supporters of the plan to overhaul the judiciary say the changes are necessary to rein in a Supreme Court that has become too powerful and is not democratically accountable.
It also took place the day US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Israel for meetings with Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Austin was originally due to come to Israel on Wednesday but delayed his arrival by a day at the request of Israeli officials concerned about the protests, the Pentagon said Wednesday. The location of his meeting was also changed because of the protests, Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryde said.
Austin will bring up Israeli violence in the West Bank during his short stay in Israel as part of a broader Middle East trip, a senior US defense official told reporters traveling with the secretary before his arrival in Israel.
He is “going to share his deep and profound concern about activities that contribute to a cycle of violence on the West Bank,” the official said in a background briefing. “By spending so much time focusing on violence in the West Bank, it detracts from our ability to focus on what the strategic threat is right now, and that is Iran, dangerous nuclear advances and continuing regional and global aggression.”
Undercover Israeli Border Police operatives killed three suspected Palestinian militants in the West Bank Thursday morning, just hours before Austin landed, the Border Police announced. The Israeli security forces came under fire from a vehicle on an operation to arrest two suspected Palestinian Islamic Jihad military operatives, returned fire, and killed all three people in the vehicle, the police statement said.
The widespread demonstrations across Israel on Thursday are unconnected to Austin’s visit.
Following the report by officials, two people were killed in a multimillion dollar theft that was thwarted at Chile’s busiest airport.
The Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport in Santiago is the scene of a gunfight between robbers and representatives of Chile’s DGAC aviation agency, according to video that has been extensively posted on social media.
The “attack” claimed the lives of a DGAC airport security guard and one of the robbers, according to chief prosecutor Eduardo Baeza on Wednesday. That occurred around 7:30 a.m. local time (5:50 a.m. ET).
The investigation into the attempted robbery is ongoing, said Baeza.
Officials said around 10 people broke into the airport in three or four trucks, targeting an armored vehicle carrying a “valued load” from a LATAM Airlines plane.
The plane, which had arrived from Miami, was carrying $32.5 million to be transported locally by security provider Brinks.
Speaking to reporters from the La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago, deputy interior minister Manuel Monsalve said security officials had “foiled a robbery by a highly organized, highly armed and probably very well-planned robbery.”
Raul Jorquera, general director of the DGAC, told reporters that no passengers were at risk during the encounter, and that the robbers had “high capacity firepower” to steal the money.
Organized crime in Chile has spiked in recent years, including elaborate train heists and multimillion-dollar robberies at the country’s main seaport.
A young man met his untimely death after he was lynched by an angry mob.
He was lynched at Asafo in Kumasi after being accused of attempting to steal a bus at the VIP station in the area.
The deceased believed to be in his 30s reportedly broke into one of the buses VIP-branded bus and drove it away.
The bus conductor saw this and jumped onto a motorbike to give him a hot chase.
According to the Dadiesoaba Assembly Member, Akwasi Agyeman, the conductor, while on the chase sounded the alarm and some residents joined in.
“When he got to the GRA office, the hill there, he needed to climb but because the bus also moves with air and apparently there was not enough air to keep it going.
“And because he didn’t get the chance to fill it with air before moving it, he got stuck and the mate was able to catch up with him,” Mr Agyeman told Accra-based Class FM.
The growing mob subsequently caught the suspect after another desperate attempt to flee the scene.
“When the mate shouted to attract the crowd, he attempted to get down and run away, he tried going back but run into someone’s vehicle. So people came and beat him up. The mob beat him up.”
His remains have been deposited at the morgue by police in Asokwa.
On Thursday morning, Moscow intensified its assault on the entire nation while a lethargic ground conflict dragged on in the east, showering Kyiv, Lviv, and other significant cities across Ukraine with what officials described as an unprecedented assortment of missiles.
Six Kinzhal ballistic missiles, which can avoid Kyiv’s air defenses, were among the 81 missiles launched in the “massive strike” against Ukrainian infrastructure, according to the Ukrainian military.
“The attack is really large-scale and for the first time using such different types of missiles. We see that this time as many as six Kinzhal were used. This is an attack like I don’t remember seeing before,” Yurii Ihnat, spokesman for the Air Force Command of Ukraine, said on Ukrainian television Thursday.
“So far, we have no capabilities to counter these weapons,” he added, referring to the Kinzhals, plus six X-22 air-launched cruise missiles that were also launched by Russian forces.
“It’s been a difficult night,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday in a Facebook message.
“The enemy fired 81 missiles in an attempt to intimidate Ukrainians again, returning to their miserable tactics. The occupiers can only terrorize civilians. That’s all they can do. But it won’t help them. They won’t avoid responsibility for everything they have done,” Zelensky said.
He listed 10 regions across Ukraine where aerial attacks took place, including Dnipro, Odesa, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia, and said the attacks hit “critical infrastructure and residential buildings.”
Russia used the nuclear-capable Kinzhal missile, which it has described as a hypersonic weapon, on a few occasions in the first weeks of its invasion last year. But the powerful weapon, which Ukraine doesn’t have the capability to shoot down, has rarely been seen over the country’s skies.
At least 16 people were killed and more than 20 injured during the overnight attacks, according to preliminary information from regional authorities.
In Kyiv, an air raid alert lasted for almost 7 hours overnight into Thursday and power outages were implemented as a preventative measure, regionalauthorities said. In the Zolochiv community near Lviv, a fire broke out when the fragments of a Russian missile were shot down, regional authorities said.
The fire destroyed three residential buildings, and three cars. The rubble was being cleared and rescuers were searching for additional victims on Thursday morning. Several infrastructure facilities and other buildings were hit elsewhere in Ukraine.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said Thursday the barrage of missile strikes it launched was retaliation for what the ministry called “terrorist actions” organized by Kyiv in Russia’s Bryansk region last week.
“In response to the terrorist actions in the Bryansk region organized by the Kyiv regime on March 2 this year, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation delivered a massive retaliation strike,” it said in a statement.
“High-precision long-range air, sea and land-based weapons, including the Kinzhal hypersonic missile system, hit key elements of Ukraine’s military infrastructure, military-industrial complex enterprises, as well as energy facilities that serve them,” the ministry said.
Russian security officials claimed a small Ukrainian armed group last week crossed the Russian border into the southern Bryansk region. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said the agency was carrying out operations following “armed Ukrainian nationalists who violated the state border.” Russian President Vladimir Putin described the incident as a “terrorist attack.” A local official said two civilians were killed.
CNN cannot independently verify the Russian claims, and local media did not carry any images of the supposed incidents, any type of confrontation or an alleged raid reported by Russian authorities.
The use of such a wide and unpredictable array of weaponry seemingly marks a shift in the Kremlin’s strategy.
The Kinzhal, an air-launched variant of the Iskander short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) which has also, more frequently, been used in Ukraine, was unveiled by Putin in 2018 as a cornerstone of a modernized Russian arsenal.
Like virtually all ballistic missiles it is hypersonic, which means they travel at least five times the speed of sound, but it is also particularly difficult to detect because it can be launched from MiG-31 fighter jets, giving it a longer range and the ability to attack from multiple directions.
“Russia likely developed the unique missile to more easily target critical European infrastructure … (its) speed, in combination with the missile’s erratic flight trajectory and high maneuverability, could complicate interception,” according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
Russia’s use of the missile on Ukrainian targets last March was its first known use in combat, according to CSIS, and it was subsequently used again in May.
Eight Iranian-made Shahed drones were also used in Thursday’s attacks, authorities said. A senior US defense official said Thursday that Ukraine is becoming a “battle lab” for testing Iranian weapons outside of the Middle East. The official spoke ahead of US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s visit to Israel where Iranian-Russian military cooperation will be on the agenda.
“Everyone should be preparing for what the threat scenarios look like when Iran takes the tactics, techniques and procedures it learned in Ukraine and starts to use those coercive tactics here,” the official said in reference to the Middle East.
The barrage came as most focus in Ukraine was fixed to Bakhmut, the eastern city that Russia’s ground forces have been assaulting for weeks and appear to be on the cusp of capturing.
Ukraine’s troops have sustained a determined defense of the city even as some military experts advocate for a tactical withdrawal.
Zelensky said in an interview with CNN on Tuesday that Kyiv’s ongoing resistance in the city is “tactical,” warning that Russians could advance towards other key cities to the west if they capture Bakhmut.
“We understand that after Bakhmut they could go further. They could go to Kramatorsk, they could go to Sloviansk, it would be open road for the Russians after Bakhmut to other towns in Ukraine, in the Donetsk direction,” he told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer in an exclusive interview from Kyiv. “That’s why our guys are standing there.”
Correction: This story has been updated to clarify that virtually all ballistic missiles — not missiles in general — are hypersonic.
It is emerging that the ordeal suffered by some residents of Ashaiman on Tuesday did not end when they were taken into military custody.
On Thursday afternoon, JoyNews sources picked up information that some of the over 150 persons screened by the military and later released were subjected to further beatings while in custody.
The Military High Command has described the operation as one geared toward apprehending persons who killed a 21-year-old soldier, Sherrif Imoro.
JoyNews’ Maxwell Agbagba caught up with one of the victims.
“We were taken back to Burma Camp and at Burma Camp, it wasn’t an easy task. We went through a lot,” a victim said.
According to him, when they were arrested, they were initially taken to Michel Camp after which they were transported to Burma Camp on the Commander’s orders for investigation.
“We were not beaten at Michel Camp, we were just there waiting but after that, we were taken to Burma Camp at 4:00pm. When we got to Burma Camp that was when some soldiers were around and they were beating us.”
He stated that while the beating was going on, the soldiers informed them that they were being trained to be soldiers.
“We were beaten all over our bodies from head to toe. They used rods, wires, sticks, brooms, anything they can see was used,” he recounted.
He went on to say that the rationale the soldiers explained for the beating was that they failed to officer assistance to the dying soldier when he cried for help.
“The reason they gave was that when the military man was crying for help, we the community members were even not ready to assist. They are the ones defending us so why can’t we also defend their neighbour?”
In a related development, Beatrice Kpotsu, the wife of one of those arrested, claims she has not seen her husband in three days.
According to Beatrice, her husband was arrested when he stepped out to use the public toilet in the neighbourhood.
She said her husband is the breadwinner of the family and his absence is having a toll on the family.
This is because they haven’t eaten since her husband’s absence, and their child is ill, and she is unable to take the child to the hospital for treatment.
She pleaded with the military officials to release the husband because he is innocent.
Meanwhile, the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has condemned last Tuesday’s military exercise at Taifa, a suburb of Ashaiman in the Greater Accra region.
Joseph Whittal, the Commissioner for Human Rights and Administrative Justice told JoyNews’ Blessed Sogah that the exercise does not pass the test for an intelligence-led operation while adding that the military acted wrongly.
In order to be sent back home, an immigrant from Iraq stabbed a university student at this very moment.
After being stabbed by Rebaz Mohammed, 28, last December while walking through Southampton’s Hoglands Park, Ellis Wheeler, 18, was left fighting for his life.
In horrifying video, Mohammed is seen removing a kitchen knife from his coat and inserting it into the teenager’s back, puncturing his lung in front of witnesses.
Mr. Wheeler was able to avoid more strikes and flee, but before he could obtain medical attention, he eventually passed out.
Luckily, a ‘heroic’ friend was there to call 999 and put pressure on his wound until the police arrived.
Mohammed was arrested at the scene and told officers he had launched the attack because he wanted to be deported from the UK.
His defence lawyer, Richard Tutt, told Southampton Crown Court: ‘Mohammed believed, from what he had been told, that he needed to commit an offence that was serious enough.
Mr Wheeler managed to run away but passed out before he was rushed to hospital (Picture: Solent News)Mohammed pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm with intent and possessing a knife (Picture: Solent News)
‘He presents as a very naive person. He has experienced remorse, or at least sorrow.’
Mohammed, who initially came to the UK illegally on a small boat, lived in a hotel in Bournemouth, Dorset, at the time of the crime.
He had no work or money and had been ‘making what efforts he could to be deported’.
He had previously been cautioned for criminal damage and battery and in May 2022 and served 12 weeks in jail for racially aggravated harassment and stalking.
Jurors were told that Mr Wheeler, a first year Solent University student, remained under observation for five days after he underwent surgery for a collapsed lung.
He ended up missing his exams and still struggles to sleep as he his dogged by anxiety, the prosecution said.
Judge Brian Forster KC sentenced Mohammed, who admitted grievous bodily harm with intent and possessing a knife, to six years imprisonment with a four-year extended licence.
Speaking directly to the defendant, Judge Forster said: ‘When anyone carries out an attack with a knife it is down to chance.
‘This was an indiscriminate attack. Any member of our community could have been the victim.
‘You were willing to inflict a serious injury with a weapon to achieve your own end. You could have killed the victim.’
Commending the victim’s friend, the judge said he ‘may have saved his life’ and awarded him £250.
CEO of Dalex Finance, Kenneth Thompson has disclosed that his driver was a victim of the brutalities launched on Ashaiman residents following the lynching of a military personnel in the area.
According to him, his driver was taken off from his motorbike on his way to work and beaten mercilessly for no reason.
He describes the action by the military as unacceptable and demands immediate apology for his driver and repairs of his broken motorbike.
He also wants the military personnel deployed to Ashaiman by the Military High Command to be apprehended and disciplined for abusing residents.
Mr Thompson expressed his frustration on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Thursday.
“Today, it is Ashaiman, tomorrow is Community 10, next day is East Legon then it comes to Adringanor, then it goes to Osu. We’re not a military state. What kind of country is this?
“It should never, ever happen. Eventually, if you speak up, they’ll come for you. What gives the military the right to go and brutalise civilians? What gives them the right?”
On Tuesday, some soldiers invaded the Ashaiman suburb of Taifa days after one of their colleagues was allegedly stabbed to death by unknown assailants in the area.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Armed Forces says the brutal military operation they conducted in parts of Ashaiman on Tuesday dawn, following the murder of a young soldier, Trooper Imoro Sherrif, on Saturday dawn at Ashaiman-Taifa was merely a swoop in a man-hunt for some criminals and not for vengeance.
Police are looking for a guy who is suspected of beating a commuter in Lewisham, southeast London, with a pole before robbing him.
The Met has made a CCTV photograph of a guy public who they are interested in speaking to in relation to the heist.
According to the police, the assault left the victim with a fatal brain injury.
The assault happened on Saturday, December 10, 2022, shortly before 8am, after the victim got off a bus in Rushey Green, SE6.
He was walking through Lewisham when an unknown man approached him from behind and repeatedly hit him over the head with a metal pole.
A bag was taken from the victim before the suspect left and boarded a 185 bus to Victoria.
Police want to speak to the man in connection with the assault.
Latest London news
The man, who is in his 20s, was taken to a London hospital after being left with a serious head injury.
A hospital scan showed that he suffered a bleed on the brain and his injuries were originally classed as life-threatening.
He has since been discharged from hospital.
Detective Sergeant Laura Warden, from the South East area’s Robbery Squad, said: ‘This was an extremely violent robbery, which left the victim fighting for his life.
‘We are determined to bring the person responsible for this heinous crime to justice.’
She went on to add: We have now released an image of a man we would like to speak to in connection with the robbery.
‘It is a very clear image, so if that is you in the picture or if you know who it is, then please contact us as soon as possible.’
Anyone with any information should contact police on 1010 quoting reference CAD 1558/10Dec22.
Another phone-hacking controversy, which will go to trial later this year, centers on Prince Harry.
The Duke of Sussex’s action against Mirror Group Newspapers will be heard in a High Court trial with the estate of the late singer George Michael, retired footballer Ian Wright, and actor Ricky Tomlinson. Former Girls Aloud member Cheryl will also be there.
Four or five ‘representative’ applicants were picked as ‘test cases’ during a hearing in London today.
Judge Timothy Fancourt ruled today that his case, which claims illegal information gathering on behalf of MGN journalists between 1996 and 2010, should be one of them.
The case will come to court in May (Picture: BACKGRID)
He stressed it was an ‘obvious selection’ because his claim covers an large period of time and 24 private investigators.
The court heard that Harry claims that some 148 articles published in the 14 years included information that was allegedly obtained through unlawful means.
Latest London news
David Sherborne, a lawyer representing him, said he would be ‘the only witness’ relied upon in his case.
This raises the prospect of Harry travelling to the UK and entering the witness box to give evidence.
Expecting to last for six to seven weeks, the trial is scheduled to begin on May 9, coinciding with celebrations for King Charles’ Coronation.
MGN is contesting their claims, arguing that some have been brought too late.
The publisher of titles including The Mirror, The Sunday Mirror and The Sunday People, MGN has previously settled a number of claims against it in relation to unlawful information gathering, as has News Group Newspapers (NGN) – the publisher of the now-defunct News Of The World and The Sun – in a separate ongoing legal action.
Harry’s case against MGN, launched in 2019, is one of several he is currently bringing against British newspapers.
A distraught pet owner spent £3,500 to fly 7,000 miles to Hawaii to say goodbye to her hamster in the most dignified way possible.
When Lisa Murray-Lang, 46, learned that her Syrian hamster, “Spud,” had passed away last March at the ripe old age of three years and seven months, she was crushed.
She had spent years making him cardboard recreations of well-known places and sites from all around the world.
Lisa then saved up the cash to go to Waikiki, Oahu, to visit the beach that served as inspiration for his preferred “getaway,” and scatter his ashes “somewhere he would have liked.” This was done to honor Spud’s life.
Lisa with Spud the hamster (Picture: Lisa Murray-Lang/SWNS)Spud outside his cardboard version of Downing Street (Picture: Lisa Murray-Lang/SWNS)The site where Lisa left Spud’s ashes in Hawaii (Picture: Lisa Murray-Lang/SWNS)
The professional dog walker, from Birmingham, and husband William, 66, took a 10-day trip – including three flights via Amsterdam and Los Angeles, and a four-star hotel booking.
And on the final day of their trip, they scattered his ashes during an emotional ceremony, next to some surfboards on the beach.
Lisa said: ‘On the last night before we came home, as the sun was setting, we went down to the beach and laid him to rest.
‘It was amazing really because one of the beaches I had been inspired by when I made Spud’s Hawaii model and had all these surf boards lined up on the beach.
‘The spot where we left him was just like that, which made it really special for me.
‘We took a picture of roughly where he was, with our shadows cast onto the beach as well so that we could always remember where he was.
‘It was a really nice way to say goodbye, and I’m happy knowing that we left him somewhere that he would have loved.
‘There’s definitely a reason why they call Hawaii paradise – it was exactly as it was on TV. It was just stunning – really beautiful.
Lisa and husband William in Hawaii (Picture: Lisa Murray-Lang/SWNS)The couple took a 10-day trip (Picture: Lisa Murray-Lang/SWNS)Spud’s ashes in a pocket-sized urn (Picture: Lisa Murray-Lang/SWNS)Spud passed away at the age of three years and seven months last spring (Picture: Lisa Murray-Lang/SWNS)
‘We went snorkelling while we were there too, and out onto the water on a boat trip – it was just an amazing trip really.’
As planned, the couple played Beyoncé’s song ‘I Was Here’ and left a message in the sand dedicated to Spud.
Lisa started making sets for her pet as a lockdown hobby when the pandemic started, just six months after she got him.
She handcrafted every element using cardboard and dolls, with some sets even featuring hamster-themed artwork.
They included the famous magical castle of Hogwarts – or ‘Hamwarts’ – from the Harry Potter films, along with No 10 Downing Street.
She scattered the ashes in Hawaii in October.
Now, as a final memorial tribute to Spud, Lisa says the couple plan to travel to Amsterdam – ‘Hamsterdam’ – later this year to ‘follow in his pawsteps’.
Spud had ‘visited’ the city himself in his second favourite display – featuring a visit to the Van Gough – or Ham Gough – Museum, which Lisa will visit to pay tribute to Spud.
In a “unimaginable tragedy” in Northern Ireland, a little child perished in a car accident.
According to eyewitnesses, a grandmother in Moira who was crossing the street with a pram was struck by a lorry close to traffic lights.
On Wednesday afternoon, the mom was stuck under the car and the child was killed.
Others raced to help, and the elderly woman was taken in critical condition to the Royal Victoria Hospital.
Councillor Jim Dillon said he’d been informed of the circumstances of the horrific incident, which had come as a ‘dreadful shock’ to the local community.
Noting that he knew the lorry driver, he added: ‘I want to express my deepest sympathies to the family concerned and to the lorry driver. It is an absolute tragedy that nobody could have envisaged.’
An Alliance Party MLA said that she was ‘devastated’ for the family involved.
‘My heart is just broken for them and I know we will all hold the family in prayer over the next while, God bless them all. Just devastating’, Sorcha Eastwood said on Twitter.
In a Facebook post, DUP MLA Paul Givan said it was ‘absolutely devastating news’ and that his thoughts and prayers were with the families affected by ‘this unimaginable tragedy’.
A community group is planning on starting a fundraiser for the family.
Pretty Mary’s bar in the town said on social media that it would close on Thursday as a mark of respect following the tragedy.
Main Street was closed after the collision, but reopened in the early hours of this morning.
A young lady with the TikTok handle @nanayhamingle53 has shared loved-up videos of Imoro Sheriff, a young soldier recently slain at Ashaiman.
The video on the video-sharing app shows the late soldier and uniform and mufti playing around with the young lady.
Soldier Imoro Sheriff killed at Ashaiman
Imoro, a 21-year-old soldier, was reportedly assaulted and killed by unknown assailants at Taifa, a suburb of Ashaiman.
According to the reports, the deceased was allegedly stabbed several times by the attackers on Saturday, March 4, 2023.
The unfortunate incident led some personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces to storm Ashaiman and brutalise residents. The assault on residents has been trending online.
Slain soldier Imoro Sheriff and alleged girlfriend
It was while Ghanaians were talking about the murder and the reaction of the soldiers that the video of @nanayhaamingle53’s video with the murdered young man emerged.
Apart from the loved-up moments, the video also showed screenshots of love messages exchanged between a couple which the lady purports to be between her and Imoro.
Other parts showed the late soldier playing with her and kissing her cheek.
In connection with video taken inside a police cordon on the day Nicola Bulley‘s body was discovered in the River Wyre in Lancashire, a man has been detained.
In conjunction with the search for Ms. Bulley, a 34-year-old male from Kidderminster, Worcestershire, was detained on suspicion of malicious communications offenses and perverting the course of justice.
The arrest relates to footage taken from inside a police cordon on February 19.
Police say the man was held on Wednesday morning with assistance from West Mercia Police, and has since been released on bail with conditions.
A spokesperson from Lancashire Constabulary said: ‘Our priority is, and has always been, to support Nicola’s family and the wider community in St Michael’s.
‘We hope this arrest provides reassurance that we take concerns seriously and will act on them.’
Ms Bulley, 45, was discovered on the banks of the River Wyre less than a mile from where she vanished.
Huge searches were carried out on the River Wyre in Lancashire.
‘We will never be able to comprehend what Nikki had gone through in her last moments and that will never leave us,’ they said.
‘We will never forget Nikki, how could we, she was the centre of our world, she was the one who made our lives so special and nothing will cast a shadow over that.
‘Our girls will get the support they need from the people who love them the most.’
The mum-of-two had vanished while walking her dog Willow.
They added: ‘Our hearts truly break for others who have missing loved ones. Keep that hope alive.
‘Finally, Nikki, you are no longer a missing person, you have been found, we can let you rest now.
‘We love you, always have and always will, we’ll take it from here.’
As claimed by Mina in her lengthy post that went rife on social media,Zionfelix is now history to her because she has moved on and has no intimate relationship with him stating that he(Zionfelix) didn’t know the value of gold(Minalyn) so she has left to be with someone who knows the value of this.
She however blamed Zionfelix for being the cause of their beautiful relationship because he opened the door and allowed another lady into their relationship.
Minalyn also revealed that Zionfelix impregnating Erica wasn’t a mistake but rather was premeditated.
Well, Mina has allegedly rekindled her old relationship with Zionflelix.
This juicy information was first shared on the internet by notorious IG blogger Tutugyagu online.
After Tutugyagu broke the news on the local digital space, Minalyn has also taken to her Snapchat page to subtly confirm the rumours.
In a fresh post, she insinuated that it’s Zion who can’t get over her – And she’s not the one begging for a comeback.
Watch the video below to know more…
Meanwhile, Zionfelix is yet to react to the trending reports of receiving his old romantic relationship with his first baby mama.
Social media users are also asking about the current state of Erica, Zion’s second baby mama who was in a comfortable lead until this new development.
As it stands now, Minalyn has had the last laugh despite suffering a series of humiliations on the internet.
Following a collision that claimed the life of a 71-year-old woman, a 14-year-old kid has been forbidden from using electric scooters.
On June 2, 2022, a teenager struck a pensioner while they were both standing on a sidewalk in Nottingham.
The child “didn’t notice her and hit her” in Nottingham, killing Linda Davis, who was described as a “devoted wife and grandma”.
Six days after the incident, she passed away in the hospital from a serious traumatic brain injury brought on by the accident.
The 14-year-old kid, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, admitted guilt to the offense and to operating a private e-scooter without a valid license or insurance at Nottingham Juvenile Court.
Lou’s daughter, Rebecca Williams, said: ‘This boy’s choices and actions that day took my mum’s life and changed our lives forever. My family and I are now living with the impact of her loss every single day. I would never wish this pain on someone else.
‘Mum was a very youthful, lively, and amazing nan. She would do anything for her family and was loved so much.
Linda Davis died after she was hit on the pavement in Nottingham.
‘She never let her age stop her doing anything. She would always join in in silly games, whether she’d be dancing around the kitchen, throwing parties or riding toy tractors.
‘Nothing will ever repair the damage that has been done but I desperately hope my mum’s case will make children and parents think about and understand the real-life devastating consequences of illegally riding an e-scooter before they buy or use one.
‘What happened to my mum should never happen again. I don’t want her to be just another statistic, if I can just help make someone else stop and think before they get on an e-scooter then at least my mum’s life won’t have been taken in vain.’
It is illegal to use privately-owned e-scooters on pavements, footpaths, cycle tracks and cycle lanes on roads, according to the Department for Transport (DfT).
Linda Davis’ daughter, Rebecca Williams spoke out about the ordeal (Picture: Nottinghamshire Police)
Rebecca added: ‘I want people to make sure they are fully aware of the laws regarding the use of e-scooters and the harm they can cause if they are ridden illegally or in a dangerous or antisocial manner.
‘As soon as you’re riding one you have to be responsible.’
The boy involved in the crash was handed a 12-month referral order, a six-month parenting order to attend sessions with his mum and dad, and a five-year driving ban.
A victim surcharge was imposed of £26 and £85 towards prosecution costs – which his parents will pay.
E-scooters are a controversial form of travel across the
Under current law, e-scooter riders must have a driving licence and to be used on public roads and in public spaces lawfully, they must conform to a number of requirements, including being insured, taxed, and used with relevant safety equipment and other conditions.
However, the DfT website says ‘it is likely they (riders) will find it very difficult to comply with all of these requirements’.
This means their use on public roads would effectively be a criminal offence. They can be used on private land, with the landowner’s permission.
Nottingham City Council currently has 1,300 e-scooters available for hire.
These are legal on public roads in some areas of the city under certain conditions, but riders must be aged at least 18 and hold at least a provisional driving licence.
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia says Ghana Card numbers will be issued to newborn babies at birth from March 31, 2023.
The number will be a special identity for every child throughout his/her education journey and not wait till 15 years before registration.
Vice President Bawumia announced this at a breast cancer awareness programme at Accra Newtown, to mark International Women’s Day, on Wednesday.
The event was jointly organised by Breast Care International and the Office of the Vice President to sensitise women on the need to regularly check and screen their breasts for early detection of cervical cancer for treatment.
International Women’s Day is marked every year to recognise the enormous contributions of women in national development held on the theme: “Digital: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality.”
The Vice President highlighted some of the digital programmes and interventions rolled out by the Government to enhance service delivery and promote the ease-of-doing-business in Ghana.
They included the digital property addressing system for easy identification of properties and locations, medical drone delivery centres to facilitate speedy delivery of medicines and blood products to remote areas, mobile money interoperability payment system for convenient transfer of money across the various telecommunication networks and electronic renewal of national health insurance cards.
He believed that the digitisation of the economy would fast-track economic development and urged the public to support the government’s digital transformation agenda.
Dr Mrs Beatrice Wiafe-Addai, the Founder of the Breast Care International and Peace and Love Hospitals, in an address, paid glowing tribute to women in Ghana and across the globe, for standing up for their civic rights and drawing attention to acts of injustices being meted out to women in deprived communities.
“The continued re-awakening of our consciousness to challenges impeding our progress bears testimony to our fidelity to the cause of the female textile torchbearers who triggered this struggle in New York on March 8, 1857.
“Clearly, that pioneering protest against unfair working conditions and unequal rights for women has not been in vain, given the sustained gains recorded by activists against artificial barriers and inequalities against women,” she said.
She noted that women in Afghanistan, Libya and several other places where rights were under threat, should remind Ghanaians and the world of the long walk to freedom.
Therefore, she said, it was imperative to support females across the world to bring alive the dreams of little girls yearning to become women of substance tomorrow.
“The sterling performance of several renowned global women is sufficient evidence that a successful woman is the one who can build a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at her,” she pointed out.
Dr Wiafe-Addai underscored the need for women to resist all cultural stereotypes stifling their initiative and drive.
She said the Breast Care International and Peace and Love Hospital were poised to move away from the generalities of the celebration and do some stock-taking on the various pitfalls to forge a future with higher women inclusion in decision-making processes.
Member of Parliament for Klottey-Korle, Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, has said that if she could turn back the hands of time to when she was 25 years old, she would have spent more time with her father.
The first child of the late president of Ghana, Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings, said that if she were to go back in time, she would have realized that her father would not always be there.
She also said that she would ensure that her children also spent a lot time with their grandfather because when he dies, they would miss him more.
“Finally, daddy is not going to be alive forever, so make sure you spend more time with him and make sure the kids spend even more time with him because they are going to miss him,” she said.
Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings said this as she read out what she called a letter to her 25-year-old self, during the eTranzact Ghana Ltd’s International Women’s Day event in Accra.
The MP also said that she would have related differently with her mother if she was 25.
“And last but not least, give your mom a break. She’s tough but she still loves you, and don’t be too hard on her,” she said.
Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings explained that she would have also handled her choices about her career path in life, her children, and even her social life better.
She added that she would have also paid better attention to advice from her mom, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, on the men who were coming into her life.
Below is an excerpt of what she said:
“Dear you, you’ve just graduated from med school and it’s felt like an anti-climax and you’re wondering if you made a mistake by doing medicine in the first place, but look on the bright side. This is a path that engages all your faculties and helps you approach problems in a unique.
“Dear Zane, don’t do surgery. Focus on complementary medicine; trust your gut and do that course in natural private medicine because that is the future. You don’t know it yet, but you’re going to have a daughter in two years and she’s going to make you change your path entirely, carry a bump with pride and don’t be too hard on yourself.
“Remember, she’s not a project; take it easy on her. Oh, and make an effort to have a better social life: it’s not all about the work and it’s not all about the study. Travel more, and you know that mountain that you wanted to climb (sic), climb it.
“Men. Ok. So, beware of a man who comes into your life and tells you stories about controlling with money, because that would be you on the other end of control. And please, listen to your mom when she gives you insight about men coming your way; she’s not trying to keep you single – she knows what she’s talking about.
“You don’t know it yet, but you’re going to have two more children and they are going to change your perspective on what you thought you could and couldn’t do, but, they would give a strength that you didn’t know you had, an endurance you didn’t know was possible…”
Also speaking at the event were Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister of Communications and Digitization; Abena Osei Asare, Deputy Minister of Finance; Ms Nilla Selormey, Former CEO, United Merchant Bank (2013-2014); Ms Cecilia Dei-Anang, Digital Transformation Advisor at the Tony Blaire Institute for Global Change; Dr. Auma Obama, sociologist, community activist and author, Kenya; and Dr. Mary Ashun, Principal, Ghana International School, as the moderator.
eTranzact Ghana Ltd Profile
eTranzact Ghana Ltd has emerged as a proven leader in electronic payments and aggregation solutions. Since the commencement of operations in 2006, the company has been tailoring electronic payment solutions for banks and private businesses of all types and sizes throughout Ghana.
eTranzact Ghana Ltd is a fully integrated multi-application and multi-channel payment processing and transaction switching platform. eTranzact Ghana Ltd provides access to its platform to banks, mobile network operators, and money transfer operators to facilitate fund transfers, airtime purchases, bill payments, and payment processing services.
As one of the few fully integrated payments processing platforms in Africa, eTranzact Ghana Ltd’s switching platform agility is a key competitive advantage due which allows it to provide tailor-made products and services easily and efficiently for its clients by adapting the switching platform to specific requests.
Capitalizing on the pervasiveness of mobile phones in its core markets, eTranzact Ghana Ltd has developed differentiated expertise in providing phone-agnostic mobile transaction solutions such as mobile banking, mobile money, remittances, web payment and card services.
The vice president, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, is being urged by the Ga-Adangbe Traditional Rulers Council to put a stop to the development of head-porter or “Kayayei” hostels in Accra.
The Gadangme Traditional Rulers Council is calling on the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia to halt the construction of hostels for head-porters also known as ‘Kayayei’ in Accra.
According to them, the project and other similar ones have become a cause of consternation for the traditional leaders, the youth and people of the Ga Adangme who already feel disillusioned and neglected.
“Excellency, as you are aware the Ga states have lost large tracts of land as a contribution to national initiatives including housing and the various arms of the government machinery. This has left a significantly reduced amount of available land for indigenes to make home. For newly available land to be used for such a purpose is an affront to the allodia owners,” a letter to the Vice President’s office reads.
It continued: “It has been alleged that the said project is being directed, funded and coordinated from your good office. This is worrying as we believe you are well aware of the plight of the Ga states and would not allow such to go on.
“We ask that you as a matter of urgency publicly disassociate yourself from this ail-advised project. We also ask that you use your good offices to ask the Mayor of Accra to clear the air on which persons are behind this project and require the work there be halted with immediate effect.”
The High Court in Accra convicted a gang of three who pleaded guilty to 32 crimes to a total of 75 years in prison.
The convicts, Ishmael Akyene alias Israel Nana Damascus, Daniel Akpan alias Nseh alias Danny and Mbuotidem Edem alias Faith all pleaded guilty to the charges of conspiracy, robbery, rape and possession of firearms without lawful authority.
The charges comprised 12 counts of conspiracy, 16 counts of robbery and three counts of rape and possession of firearms without lawful authority.
The Criminal Division of the Accra High Court presided over by Justice Mary Maame Ekue Yanzuh after convicting them in their own plea, sentenced them to 24 years for robbery, another 24 years for rape and 25 years for possession of firearms without lawful authority.
EIB Network’s Legal Affairs Correspondent, Murtala Inusah, who was in court reports that the convicts are to serve their sentences concurrently, meaning they will serve only the highest of the three punishments which is 25 years.
Justice Yanzuh said the convicts are to serve their sentences in hard labour after considering all the mitigating pleas from defence lawyer Sani Rashid and the response from the prosecution led by the Director of Public Prosecution, (DPP), Mrs. Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa.
The court also ordered for the confiscation of the Kia Rio vehicle and guns retrieved from them while the implements used were ordered to be destroyed.
Monies retrieved GHc8.500 and other currencies as exhibits were to be disbursed to the rightful owners.
The convicts were said to have robbed volunteers from the UK who were in Ghana to partake in a charity project. They also had unprotected sex with six of the victims and raped a married woman twice.
Mitigation
Sani Rashid, counsel for the convicts in his plea for mitigation said the court should take into consideration the fact that the convicts showed remorse and did not waste the time of the court.
“Accused did not waste the court’s time. The first and 2 accused have been in custody for the past 4 years while the third has been in custody for about 3 years,” counsel said.
Ex-Convicts
Responding to the plea of mitigation, the DPP, Mrs. Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa told the court that all three convicts are already known to the law.
She said they have been convicted by the lower court for robbery and are serving sentences at Nsawam.
She also told the court that the convicts also have dockets before the office of the Attorney General yet to be processed.
The DPP while agreeing with the defence that the convicts did not waste the time of the court, said the court should hand them punished not lower than 25 and 20 respectively for robbery and rape.
She also reminded the court to take notice of the offense of robbery especially when it is committed using force with weapons.
The convicts were said to have robbed volunteers from the UK who were in Ghana to partake in charity projects planned by Partnee West Africa.
Brief facts
Per the brief fact, the complainants are British nationals and a United Kingdom (UK) registered charity that operates in Ghana.
The prosecution said on December 8, 2018, a group of twelve volunteers comprising six male students, four female students, two teachers (one male and one female) visited Ghana from the U.K to partake in charity projects.
The prosecution said when the volunteer group was constituted in the U.K., they spent a year conducting fundraising activities and had obtained clothes of various sizes, stationary, toothpaste, toothbrushes, footballs, toys, and cash for the charity to give out as donations.
It said each of the 12 volunteers came with a suitcase full of these donation items and the group left the United Kingdom at about 5:00 am, transited through Portugal and Togo and arrived at the Kotoka International Airport at about 11pm.
The complainants it said went to meet them with a bus and sent them to a guesthouse, near Muuston Beach, Oshiyie, near Kokrobite, Accra.
The prosecution said, they arrived at the guesthouse at about 1:00am and the leader on the bus prevented the driver from entering the compound so they parked outside the gate and offloaded the suitcases from the bus and sent them into the house.
The complainants it said introduced the group to Naa the cook and Isaac who was responsible for maintenance.
It said both Naa and Isaac lived in a separate house on the compound of the guesthouse.
After the introduction, Isaac left for bed and Naa prepared a toast for some of the volunteers who wanted to eat while the complainants gave the group security and safety briefing and showed them around the house.
Armed men
The prosecution said, they first went to the boys’ room and continued to the girls’ room and whilst Naa was leaving the main house for her room, she found the accused persons at the door and immediately banged the door and ran to inform the rest of the group.
“The accused persons who were armed with guns, a knife, a taser and a long metal which was flat at one end and pointed at the other end, forced the door open and found most of the group members in the corridor outside the girls’ room,” the brief facts stated.
“The accused persons ordered all of them to enter the girls’ room and made them lie down on the floor. Sandy was however asked to lie on the bed,” and they “covered the heads of the victims with sheets, blankets and towels and informed them that they had to cooperate with them.”
It said, “With their weapons in hand, the accused persons stripped those among the fifteen victims who had bum bags and backpacks on, of their bags and took what they liked from them.”
Stolen items
It said, the accused persons also searched the pockets and bodies of the victims and took their mobile phones, iPads, power banks, money, jewelry, bags and bank cards.
It added that the accused persons made the victims disclose their PIN codes to the bank cards they had taken as well as the passwords in a blue mobile phone that was found in the first accused person’s car by the police when the first accused person saw them in the vicinity of his house and fled abandoning the car and its content.
Unprotected sex
The prosecution said all the accused persons forcibly had unprotected sex with six of the female victims with the third accused raping one married victim twice.
“The accused persons operated quietly and spent about three hours in the guesthouse,” and “they rummaged through the rooms and suitcases of the victims and eventually left the property at about 4:00am with their booty.”
The prosecution said when they eventually left, “the female victims went to the Finney Hospital and Fertility Centre where they were examined, and swabs were taken from each of them.”
It said, “upon the arrest of the accused persons, swabs were taken from them and subjected to DNA analysis.”
“The outcome showed that semen was found on three out of the six swabs taken from the six sexually assaulted female victims and the DNA in the semen matched the DNA of each of the accused persons.”
Account debit
The prosecution said the victims who came from the U.K left for the U.K the same day but one of the victims whose bank card was taken by the accused persons, received messages from his bank which indicated that the two who came out of a Green Kia Rio saloon car with Registration number GT 7892 X made the withdrawals.
The vehicle was traced to the first accused person who took to his heels as the Police got close to him.
The blue mobile phone which the accused persons used to record the phone passwords and bank PIN codes was found in the car.
His room was searched in the presence of a witness and other personal items of his were found including money.
“The CCTV footage of the Goil filling Station for that period was obtained and it indicated that two men who came out of a Green Kia Rio saloon car with registration number GT 7892 X made the withdrawals.
“The vehicle was traced to the first accused person who took to his heels as the Police got close to him.
“The blue mobile phone which the accused persons used to record the phone passwords and bank pin codes was found in the car.
“His room was searched in the presence of a witness and other personal items of his were found including money,” it stated.
Arrest
The IMEI numbers of some of the mobile phones the accused persons stole from the victims were obtained and they assisted in detecting the location of the accused persons.
The first accused person was eventually arrested and he led the police to the arrest of the second accused person.
The first and second accused persons took police to the third accused person’s house, but he managed to escape through the roof of his house and left for Nigeria.
The Police, however, found the third accused person’s Nigerian passport in his room, and same was taken for evidential purposes.
He was subsequently extradited from Nigeria to stand trial in Ghana and at identification parades organised on different dates, the complainants and Naa identified the first and third accused persons as part of the three men who attacked them on December 8, 2018.
The first and second accused persons also led the police to a spot near a refuse dump on a bush along the Legon road to retrieve the implements they used for committing crime including guns and ammunition.
Chief Executive Officer of the Africa Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies (ACSIS), Paul Coonley Boateng, has warned people against attacking law enforcement officers in uniform.
He asserted that when officers of the various security services are attacked while they are in uniform, they feel belittled and disrespected, which causes them to respond as the military did during the Ashaiman swoop.
Paul Coonley Boateng explained in an interview with Neat FM on March 8, 2023, that the military’s actions also signal the nation’s crime-prone areas to desist from their bad behaviours.
“I’m not surprised,” he said of the swoop before adding: “because for the security services, wherever things like this (attack) happen, we must expect collateral damage.
“We witnessed a similar incident at Denkyira Obuasi. And it is not about the military alone that engages in actions like this. All the security services in uniform do the same when a colleague of theirs is attacked in uniform.
“When such things happen, they feel belittled and disrespected because they’re protecting us. They’ve undergone thorough training to defend us, so for a civilian to have that courage and murder one of them, it becomes a headache for the service,” he said in explaining the action of the military at Ashaiman.
Some soldiers invaded Ashaiman in the early hours of March 7, apparently in search of the murderers of their young colleague.
Several videos of the incident, captured by some residents, went viral on social media. In some of these videos, personnel are seen hitting and brutalising those who were outside.
Actor Fred Nuamah has disclosed that his colleague actor turned politician, John Dumelo, once disclosed to him that he would not contest the Ayawaso West Wuoguon NDC parliamentary seat.
With many puzzled over why two best friends, Fred Nuamah and John Dumelo would contest in the Ayawaso West Wuogon parliamentary primaries of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the former has said he is surprised the latter backtracked on a decision to not contest.
According to Fred who was Dumelo’s best man when the actor married in 2019, he will not step down because Dumelo initially had no intention to join the Ayawaso West Wuogon contest; rather, he eyed another constituency.
“Frankly, it’s late to step down. My brother informed me and a lot of people that he was not going to contest the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency again. He gave me his blessings when I made up my mind to contest.
“Truthfully, I am surprised about his u-turn because it was evident and crystal clear that he was not going for the Ayawaso seat anymore and rather invested in Guan/SALL,” Graphic Showbiz quotes Fred Nuamah to have said in an interview with the newspaper.
In early February, Fred Nuamah made his intention public by announcing his bid with posters on his social media pages. This made some wonder if that was an indication that Dumelo would focus elsewhere considering that they are friends, GhanaWeb observed.
Dumelo, however, tweeted on Sunday, February 26, 2023, that “After extensive consultation with my God, my family and our party faithful in Ayawaso West Wuogon. This is the second coming.”
The actor who is also a farmer contested for the Ayawaso West Wuogon parliamentary seat and won on August 24, 2020, but lost to NPP’s Lydia Alhassan during the December 7, 2020 polls. His decision to contest again after Nuamah announced his ambition has put a spotlight on the constituency again ahead of the 2024 general elections.
Some have urged the two to find a way to resolve the matter. They have argued that it would be better for one of them to step down and support the other. Others, on the other hand, have posited that once it would be a healthy competition, there is no need for one to step down.
Nuamah maintained in his interview that Dumelo should rather “honour his word when he said he won’t contest the seat and, therefore, throw his support behind me. Besides, the argument that my brother made history for the NDC doesn’t hold for me. Our party has been performing quite well in that constituency in previous elections before he contested the last elections.”
He continued: “We have even won the presidential votes in Ayawaso before. We always come close to winning the parliamentary; we only lose it by some small margins. So, all the previous candidates, including John Dumelo, did well, but the ultimate is to win and not close a gap or place second.”
The NDC has set May 13, 2023, as the date for both its presidential and parliamentary primaries. According to the party, parliamentary candidates will be required to purchase a form for GH¢5,000 and pay a non-refundable filing fee of GH¢40,000.
Presidential candidates will be required to purchase a form for GH¢30,000 and pay a non-refundable filing fee of GH¢500,000.
Following Russia’s nighttime missile bombardment in Ukraine, the largest nuclear power facility in Europe is currently in a condition of blackout.
According to nuclear state operator Energoatom, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power facility, which is controlled by Russian soldiers, lost electricity last night.
Since being seized by Russia months ago, this is the sixth time the station has had plenty of power, forcing it to rely on 18 diesel generators that can keep the station running for 10 days.
Rafael Grossi, the nuclear chief for the UN, has issued a warning on the site’s ongoing power failures.
He said: ‘Each time we are rolling a dice, and if we allow this to continue time after time then one day our luck will run out.’
It comes after Russia fired more than 80 missiles, with Ukraine’s military saying eight drones were involved.
Nuclear plants need constant power to run cooling systems and avoid a meltdown.
‘The countdown has begun,’ Energoatom said.
Ukraine’s energy minister Herman Halushchenko condemned the missile strikes as ‘another barbaric massive attack on the energy infrastructure of Ukraine’.
Three Russian rockets launched against Ukraine from Russia’s Belgorod region are seen in Kharkiv.People shelter inside a subway station during a Russian missile attack in Kyiv (Picture: Reuters)
Smoke seen rising from Kyiv’s Thermoelectric Power Plant following Russian strike
He said facilities in Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk and Zhytomyr regions have been targeted.
Four people died in the Lviv region after a missile hit a residential area, governor Maksym Kozytskyi said.
Three buildings were gutted by fire after the strike and rescue workers were combing through rubble looking for more possible victims.
A fifth person was killed and two others hurt in multiple strikes in the Dnipropetrovsk region which targeted its energy infrastructure and industrial facilities, governor Serhii Lysak said.
Air raid sirens wailed through the night across Ukraine, including the capital, Kyiv, where explosions happened in two western areas of the city.
Emergency workers extinguish cars on fire in Kyiv Rescuers work at residential buildings hit by Russian missiles in Kyiv.
Smoke rises over Kyiv after overnight Russian missile strikes
Defence systems were activated around the country and it was not clear how many missiles hit targets or were intercepted.
The alarm in Kyiv was lifted just before 8am, with the air raid sirens falling silent after seven hours
The missile barrage hit as Russia pushed its advance in Ukraine’s eastern stronghold of Bakhmut, where a grinding fight between the two sides has gone on for six months and reduced the city to a smouldering wasteland.
The last major Russian offensive took place on February 16.
The African Games are held every four years in different countries, and now it is set to be in the largest cities of Ghana, including Accra, Cape Coast, and Kumasi. Generally, the 13th Accra African Games was set for 2023; however, it has been postponed due to the conflict between the event’s shareholders, the African Union (AU), and the AASC.
When the issues were resolved, the stakeholders decided that Ghana would remain the host of the said event, which will be held next year in March 2024. In addition, the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) complimented Ghana for its excellent ongoing renovation and facility preparation for the upcoming African Games.
What Are African Games?
African games, also known as the All-African Games (AAG), are one of the largest continental sports events worldwide, approved by the International Olympic Committee. The African Games feature the sports, talent, and strength of many African countries and athletes worldwide.
In addition, the African Game represents not only the sports athletes’ talent and their country’s independence and unity. On the other hand, the African Games are now on their 13th; The last event was held in 2019 in Rabat, Morocco.
What Types of Sports are Seen in All-African Games?
You may be wondering what sports athletes play in the All-African Games. In the 12th AAG event, they were able to organize 24 different sports, some of which are the following:
Football
Football is a sport that will never be left out in all Olympic games. Many people are head over heels for African football teams, making them place a bet on numerous betting sites. In addition, the best betting apps in Ghana are always available online, mainly when the 13th African Games starts in 2024.
Chess
Aside from physical sports, mind games are also included in AAG. Many nations participated in the chess tournament, including Egypt, which won the gold medal awards.
Swimming
One of the best sports organized by the African Games is swimming. Many people feel the fun, enjoyment, and tension are worth it because of the athletes’ outstanding performance. The techniques and preparation of the swimmers are also shown in the event.
Tennis
Another physically-related game organized by AAG is tennis. The leading country that brought home many gold medals in Egypt. On the other hand, some countries won silver and bronze medals.
Who Will Participate?
Ghana will lead the 13th African Games, and three large cities will participate in the event, Accra (The Capital City), Kumasi, and Cape Coast. Since AAG is postponed, other Nation participants are not yet disclosed. On the other hand, in the last All-African Games, 54 countries participated in the event.
2024 will be the Best Year!
The upcoming All-African Games excites many people, including the athletes, organizers, audience, and the country of Ghana. Hosting an Olympic event is an honorable experience for Ghana because of the numerous advantages AAG provides. Indeed, longer preparation is a great help to organize such a big event.
As per report, Gary Lineker is defying demands that he retract his comparison of the government’s new immigration policy to Nazi Germany.
The 62-year-old Match Of The Day host criticized the Home Office’s recently unveiled, divisive proposals to prevent migrant boats transporting illegal immigrants from entering the UK.
This is beyond bad, he wrote. Good gods.
“There is no significant influx. We accept significantly fewer refugees than most other major European nations.
‘This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s, and I’m out of order?’
Following the remarks, it was reported that the BBC would speak to the pundit and ‘remind him of his responsibilities on social media.’
Lineker is reportedly ignoring calls from the BBC (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)
Home Sec blasts Gary Lineker for comparing her migrant law to Nazi Germany
However, the former footballer has been resisting the Line of Duty broadcaster’s approaches and has not yet had a conversation with the corporation’s bosses, according to The i.
The publication also reports that Lineker is not backing down and will not remove the tweet.
The BBC previously said: ‘The BBC has social media guidance, which is published. Individuals who work for us are aware of their responsibilities relating to social media.
Lineker’s tweet did not go down well with the Tory government (Picture: Twitter)
‘We have appropriate internal processes in place if required.’
Lineker’s remarks, which were in response to a Twitter video put out by Home Secretary Suella Braverman, have been slammed by Tory politicians.
Conservative party deputy chairman Lee Anderson, who previously famously claimed people could cook ‘nutritious 30p meals’, wrote: ‘This is just another example of how out of touch these overpaid stars are with the voting public.
‘Instead of lecturing, Mr Lineker should stick to reading out the football scores and flogging crisps.’
Lineker was clearly appalled by the government’s new polic
Lineker was previously found to have broken the corporation’s impartiality rules last year with a tweet about Liz Truss and the Conservative Party.
He shared a tweet with his followers in February 2022 after the then-Foreign Secretary Liz Truss urged people to boycott the Champions League final in Russia.
Lineker had asked his followers at the time: ‘And her party will hand back their donations from Russian donors?’
His tweet was investigated by the BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) which upheld a complaint and said the post ‘did not meet the BBC’s editorial standards on impartiality’.
It added that while Lineker, who is freelance, is not required to uphold the same high standards of impartiality as the broadcaster’s journalists, he does have an ‘additional responsibility’ as he is considered ‘one of the BBC’s highest profile stars’.
For 23 years, millions of readers of The Sun followed the famous astrologer‘s daily horoscopes.
Regrettably, the actress, whose real name is Margaret Lake, was recently admitted with the flu to St. Mary’s Hospital, Paddington in London.
She passed away this morning at 3:45.
Her agent of 34 years, Dave Shapland, told the publication that she was by far the most well-known astrologer in Britain.
‘Nobody came close to Meg in that respect. She was followed by millions in this country and also around the world.
The National Lottery astrologer was admitted to hospital with flu last month (Picture: Victor Watts/REX/Shutterstock)
‘She even became part of the English language – if a politician, somebody from showbiz or ordinary people in the street are asked a tricky question they will say ‘Who do you think I am, Mystic Meg?’
‘It shows what an impact she made.’
Piers Morgan has also paid tribute, having worked with Lake while he was at News of the World.
‘Mystic Meg was Britain’s most famous astrologer and a fascinatingly mysterious lady who loved her work with a passion but was rarely seen or heard in public,’ the controversial broadcaster said.
‘I was her editor at the News of the World for several years and she was extraordinarily professional in everything she did. A master of her very popular craft.’
Sun editor Victoria Newton admitted they had ‘lost an icon’.
Lake had a regular horoscopes column in The Sun.
‘Our brilliant and incomparable Meg was synonymous with The Sun – she was a total legend. We loved her and so did our readers,’ she said.
Born in Accrington, Lancashire in July 1942, Lake first rose to fame with her astrology in 1994, when she appeared weekly on The National Lottery Live in Mystic Meg Predicts until 2000.
The segment was a 45-second reading, during which she attempted to predict facts about the future winner.
Later, she acquired her own regular astrology column in The Sun, and until its demise, the News of the World.
She also hosted Mystic Meg’s Wheel of Destiny for Sun Bingo and her image appears on various astrology-related books and merchandise.
Lake left The Sun on in January 2015, but returned in April 2016.
Lake shared a three-bedroom flat in Notting Hill with seven cats.
