One member of the defunct music group Wutah, Afriyie, real name Frank Osei is of the view that current crops of musicians are lazy due to the use of technology.
According to him, musicians nowadays have stopped employing voice trainers and coaches to help them train because technology is available to help them out.
“I think technology has made laziness set in so you don’t have people employing voice coaches, voice trainers like we did in the past,” he said during an interview.
In Afriyie’s words, technology has made music production exciting but he is still surprised some musicians cannot produce and write great songs.
“Technology has made music production more exciting and then easier unlike in the past so I’ll say that’s the best part of this era.
“Right now a lot of musicians don’t have time to sit and write great songs unlike before so now people are singing more hooks,” he said.
Citing an example with Kizz Daniel’s ‘cough’ he stated that he just used two words ‘Odo Yewu’ and only added the beat and once they get people jamming to it they are okay to release it for the public.
“Now they pick two words like Odo yewu and just place in more beats there and once you get the people jumping and dancing to it that’s it,” he ended.
On Friday and Saturday, Southern California received blizzard warnings from a storm system that will cause substantial destructive winds on Sunday across the central US.
The Storm Prediction Center predicted a derecho would form Sunday afternoon and nighttime by noon. A derecho is a large, persistent, straight-line windstorm connected to a rapidly moving cluster of powerful thunderstorms.
“A derecho is forecast with widespread damaging winds and embedded swaths of significant severe gusts from 80-110 mph, centered on parts of Oklahoma this evening into tonight,” the storm center said. “Embedded tornadoes are anticipated as well, with the greatest potential for strong (EF2-EF3) tornadoes across southwest Oklahoma this evening.”
Winds of 80 to 110 mph are equivalent to a Category 2 Atlantic hurricane.
If a swath of damaging winds extends more than 240 miles and includes wind gusts of 58 mph or greater along most of its length, then the event may be classified as a derecho, according to the National Weather Service.
The highest severe storm risk today, a Level 4 out of 5 or moderate risk, has been issued across portions of western Oklahoma and Texas. Cities under this risk include Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Lawton, and Enid in Oklahoma. This area is where the highest chance of a strong tornado will be late Sunday afternoon.
This is the first Level 4 out of 5 risk issued so far this year, the last Level 4 risk was issued on December 14, 2022, when a tornado touched down in New Orleans.
Overall, more than 20 million people are under the threat of severe storms Sunday from western Texas to Illinois, including Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Kansas City, Fort Worth, and St. Louis.
“A significant damaging wind event is expected from the eastern Texas Panhandle into much of Oklahoma and southeast Kansas late this afternoon through this evening,” the Storm Predication Center wrote in their forecast discussion early Sunday morning.
Damaging wind gusts of more than 75 mph will be possible, as well as a couple strong tornadoes. Frequent lightning and hail are also possible.
The greatest tornado threat will be “early in the event” according to the storm center, meaning late this afternoon as storms track across portions of western-north Texas and southwestern Oklahoma.
This will then quickly transition into a damaging wind event this evening and into the overnight hours as the storms form into a squall line, which is a continuous and narrow band of thunderstorms that form ahead of a cold front.
“The storms will eventually evolve into a squall line,” the National Weather Service office in Norman, Oklahoma, said. Adding that embedded tornadoes within this squall line will still be possible as the storms track east.
The storms will also be moving rather quickly, racing east and northeast at 60 to 80 mph which will only add to the damaging wind threat.
“Damaging wind potential will not be confined to the thunderstorms themselves,” the Norman weather service office said. “Very strong winds and potentially damaging winds will be possible even in the general wind field after the storms move through.”
Wind alerts are currently in place for over 65 million people from Arizona to Ohio, including Albuquerque, Oklahoma City, Dallas, Memphis, Atlanta, St. Louis, and Cincinnati.
“Some models have been suggesting a narrow line of very strong winds moving through areas about three hours or so after the storms move through,” the weather service in Norman added.
Wind gusts of 60 to 75 mph are possible across the Southwest and western Texas behind these severe storms. And gusts of 40 to 55 mph are forecast across the central Plains through the Ohio River Valley.
By Monday morning, the threat of severe storms will shift to the north and east over the Ohio River Valley, where a Level 2 out of 5 risk has been issued. This includes Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and Louisville.
The main threats on Monday will be frequent lightning, damaging winds, hail, and a few tornadoes.
As this same system continues its trek eastward, it will bring the threat of heavy rain, snow, and ice to the Northeast and mid-Atlantic on Monday night which could lead to travel disruptions.
Snowfall totals of 6 to 12 inches are forecast for much of the Northeast, while light freezing rain is possible across northern portions of the mid-Atlantic.
Claims that Parliament has passed the Electoral Commission (EC’s) Constitutional Instrument (CI) that seeks to make the Ghana Card the sole document for voter registration are false. This is according to a statement from the House dated February 24, 2023.
In a release signed by the Director of Public Affairs, Kate Addo, Parliament indicated that any such publication is false.
“Parliament states categorically that it has not passed any such Instrument.” the release clarified.
According to the release, Parliament does not pass Constitutional Instruments, adding that “They only come into force with the effluxion of time; that is after 21 days of the Instrument being laid in the House.”
Clarifying what ensued in the House on the 23rd of February, 2023, it stated that “Parliament held a pre-presentation discussion on the CI, to collect input from relevant sources for the drafting of the Constitutional Instrument (Cl).”
They, therefore, urged the media to endeavor to be accurate in their reportage, adding that they can “contact the relevant authorities and officers in case of ambiguity or for further clarification on issues concerning or emanating from the House.”
It would be recalled that the Electoral Commission in September last year, made a move to have the Ghana Card as the sole document for voter registration in the country.
The move agitated the Minority Group and they subsequently opposed the CI, saying it will disenfranchise voters. But the EC insisted that it will use the Ghana Card for voter registration.
According to the electoral management body, the Ghana Card is the most authentic means of identifying Ghanaians, hence the Commission’s decision to use it in compiling a new database of voters.
Subsequently, on February 8, the Minority in Parliament reiterated its strong opposition to the use of the Ghana Card for voter registration. They explained that many Ghanaians may not have access to it in order to register.
As the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) heads to its Presidential and Parliamentary primaries, quite a significant amount of youth have shown interest in taking up the mantle to lead.
Thirteen aspirants have filed their nomination to contest some big wigs in the party to bring new ways of governance in the various constituencies they seek to represent.
It is unknown the reason behind the numbers, but recent protests by the youth in Ghana against those in authority have empowered the youth to be more active in their criticism.
This maybe the reason why the youth in the party have decided contest to change the narrative and provide better lives to the constituents they seek to represent.
Here are the bold candidates in their prime who are ready to go up against big names in the party on May 13, 2023.
Emmanuel Kojo Jones-Mensah
The 32-year-old is an entrepreneur and philanthropist born in Accra. He seeks to win the Keta Constituency seat being occupied by Kwame Dzudzorli Gakpey.
Emmanuel Kojo Jones-Mensah
Education: London Metropolitan University LLB, Business Law (2009 – 2011); Coventry University MBA, Oil & Gas Management ( (2011 – 2012) and Rushford Business School, European Professional Doctorate (EDP-EU) (2022).
He is the Chief Executive Officer of Empire Domus Group Ltd, KJM Trading LTD and serves as the Director of Dominion Int.Petroleum Ltd.
Kwame Obeng Adjinah
Mr Obeng Adjinah, another entrepreneur, plans to secure the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai seat, being occupied by New Patriotic Party’s Alfred Obeng for the NDC.
A flyer of Kwame Obeng Adjinah indicating that he will be contesting the Bibiani Anhwiaso Bekwai Constituency seat
He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Land Economy from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
He also holds a Professional Executive Master in ADR from University of Virgin Islands and Pulse of Africa (GGA).
Baba Sadiq Abdulai Abu
Baba Sadiq, 37, has a similar ambition as Mr Obeng Adjinah. He also wants to win the Okaikoi Central seat from Patrick Yaw Boamah of the NPP, for the party.
The founder of 3 Media Networks Limited who is a trained media, communications and sustainability specialist and entrepreneur has 17 years of working experience.
He has made a huge impact in the music industry, where his company, 3 Media Networks Limited acknowledges well-deserving artists.
Eric Edem Agbana
Deputy National Deputy Youth Organiser, Eric Edem Agbana, will also be contesting in the upcoming primaries. The 29-year-old is set to contest for the Ketu North parliamentary seat.
Eric Edem Agbana
Mr Agbana is a Fellow of the prestigious School of Transnational Governance of the European University Institute, Policy Analyst and Social Entrepreneur with interest in helping Startups and Non-Profit Organisations to build sustainable business models.
He is also the NDC’s manifesto spokesperson on Youth Development. He holds a Master of Arts degree in Economic Policy Management and is currently pursuing a PhD in Public Administration, Leadership and Governance.
Lamtiig Abugri Apanga Esq.
The private legal practitioner, believed to be below the age of 40, seeks to contest Dr. Mark Kurt Nawaanev for the Nabdam seat.
Lamtiig Abugri Apanga Esq.
The lawyer has since 2017 provided legal services to the party. He served on the Protocol and Accreditation Committee of the NDC during the National Delegates Conference held in Accra, 2022.
Mr Apanga holds a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelors of Law (LLB) from the University of Ghana. Again, he holds HND Marketing from Takoradi Polytechnic (Takoradi Technical University).
Alhassan Sayibu Suhiyini
The Tamale North legislator hopes to retain his seat. The 43-year-old made his first appearance in Parliament in 2016.
Alhassan Sayibu Suhiyini
Mr Suhuyini is working on a PHD in Public Administration. He is expected to complete it in 2024.
Dela Goldheart
Amelia Amedela Amemate, popularly known as Dela Goldheart is a Ghanaian Gender activist and feminist. Dela is among female candidates who will be contesting in the upcoming primaries.
Dela Goldheart
She served notice of contesting the NDC parliamentary primaries in the Anlo Constituency of the Volta Region in a Facebook post.
Dela is a product of the University of Ghana. She was one of the aspirants for the 2012/2013 Student Representative Council (SRC) Presidential elections and she was popularly known as Ame Ame, a nickname coined from her full name.
She has embarked on various philanthropic works. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and as of the time of filing this report, was pursuing a PhD in Gender.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
42-year-old Ablakwa is also working on retaining the North Tongu seat for the third time. He won the North Tongu seat in 2012, 2016 and 2020.
North Tongu Mp, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Mr Ablawa who has been a key critic of the National Cathedral project has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science and Philosophy (2006), an MA in Communications and Public Relations (2017), as well as Master of Science in Defence and International Politics (MDIP) (2019).
He once served as Deputy Minister of Information and Education under the previous NDC government.
John Dumelo
39-year-old, actor turned politician, John Dumelo, has also not relented on his quest to be the next MP for the Ayawaso West Wuogon. He is set to mount a spirited comeback as some residents in the Guan District have supported him with a token of GHC 5,500 for his filing fee.
John Dumelo
Mr Dumelo obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
He had his basic education at the Christ the King School in Accra. He attended Achimota School, was part of the Drama Club and also won the Fliers Guy in Mo-TOWN prize.
He is currently a farmer and politician.
Samuel Nartey George
Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Samuel Nartey George, who made his first appearance in Parliament in 2016 also wants to retain his seat for the second time.
Samuel Nartey George
The 37-year-old who hails from Ahwiam, Old Ningo, has a Bsc. Degree in Agricultural Engineering (Soil & Water Engineering) (2005), Bachelor Of Law Degree (Llb) (General Law) (2015), and an Executive Masters (Dissertation) (Conflict, Peace & Security) ( 2020).
He once served at the Office of the President as a Communications Specialist.
Francisca Mawufemor Adjei
Francisca Mawufemor Adjei will slug it out with Joycelyn Tetteh; the incumbent MP for North Dayi.
Francisca Mawufemor Adjei
She has held various portfolios in the party including the Branch women organiser for Ayawaso central constituency (Freeman hostel branch), from 2004 -2012, a Branch member in the Odododiodo Constituency from 2012, among others.
She also worked with the Electoral Commission as an officer during the 2012 voter registration.
The CEO of Franca’s Kitchen and Francisca Mawufemor Adjei Foundation has a Degree and Masters in Communication from the African University College of Communications.
Yayra Vera Hayibor
Another female aspirant to look out for is Yayra Vera Hayibor who is in the race for the only orphan seat in the Volta Region; Hohoe. Yayra Vera Hayibor is a product of Mawuli school where she completed her secondary education in 2007.
She is an alumnus of the University of Ghana and holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and Theatre Arts in 2014.
She proceeded to study law at the University of Strathclyde in 2015 and graduated with a Master of Laws (LLM) in International Law and Sustainable Development. Her Master of Law thesis has been published on the challenge’s worldwide website.
Yayra is currently pursuing a PhD in Law, with focus on Labour and Immigration law at the University of Glasgow Law School and on the Work on Demand research team.
Prince Benson Mankotam (Out)
Mr Mankotam would have made it on the list but for his sudden withdrawal. In a Facebook post on February 24, 2023, he announced his decision not to pick up forms to contest.
According to him, the decision was made after considering several factors post the declaration of intent.
On January 21, 2023, Mr Mankotam announced his intention to contest for the Senya East seat.
Despite his withdrawal he noted that “the right choice is to send the elephant back to the bush.”
Meanwhile, on Friday, February 24, 2023, the NDC officially closed all nominations.
As more storms move from Washington state to southern California and across the Great Lakes region on Monday, pummeling areas where hundreds of thousands are still without power after a similar string of severe weather last week, severe storms have already prompted overnight tornado reports in some parts of the central US.
According to outage tracker PowerOutage.us, at least seven tornadoes were reported in Oklahoma, where almost 50,000 energy users were without power early on Monday. In Kansas, two further tornadoes were reported.
More than 100 other storm reports – including wind and hail – were recorded in parts of Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas as hurricane-force winds and severe thunderstorms tore through the states. A gust of 114 mph was recorded In Memphis, Texas – equivalent to a category 3 hurricane.
In anticipation of severe winds and potential hail Sunday night and into Monday, an Air Force unit at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas, relocated most of its aircraft to protect them from damage and ensure they can still be deployed if needed, the base announced.
As the storm shifts northward by Monday afternoon, a slight risk for severe weather – possibly a few tornadoes and wind gusts – could impact cities including Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio.
In the West – where last week’s storms prompted rare blizzard warnings and road flooding in California – a separate system of rain and high-elevation snow will push from the Pacific Northwest down into California and into the Rockies through Monday.
Nine western states are under winter weather alerts Monday as heavy snowfall is forecast across the region, including up to 10 inches in Washington state’s Cascades by early Tuesday; one to three feet in high elevations and mountain peaks of western Oregon; and one to three feet in mountainous areas of the Rockies.
A blizzard warning remains in effect for the Sierra Nevada mountains in California, which could see between 2 and 6 feet of snow.
Yosemite National Park was closed Saturday due to severe weather and will not reopen until at least Wednesday as the multi-day blizzard warning remains in effect across Yosemite Valley, the park announced. Yosemite Valley could see as much as 55 to 84 inches of snow by Wednesday, the park said.
Approximately 284,000 homes and businesses were without power across the US as of early Monday, about half of which were in Michigan, where the Great Lakes region is bracing for another round of ice and snow on Monday after being struck by last week’s multi-day storm.
The winter storm is then expected to push into the Northeast by Monday afternoon, where interior parts of the region could see widespread snowfall totals of 6 to 12 inches.
Meanwhile, the South is anticipating another week of unusually warm winter temperatures after steaming under record-breaking highs last week.
Dozens of daily high temperature records could be broken again in the coming days as areas of southern Texas and the Florida peninsula could see temperatures into the 90s.
More than 20 million people were under threat of severe storms stretching from western Texas to Illinois on Sunday.
The Storm Prediction Center forecast a severe storm event – known as a derecho – would sweep through the region Sunday afternoon and into the evening, with a particular focus on parts of Oklahoma.
A derecho is a widespread, long-lived windstorm that typically causes damage in one direction across a relatively straight path, according to the National Weather Service. To be classified as a derecho, the stretch of wind damage should extend more than 240 miles and include wind gusts of at least 58 mph along most of its length, it says.
In total, more than 115 storm reports were made Sunday across the Southern Plains, mainly of wind across Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma. This also includes 14 hail reports in those states, with several hailstones reportedly 1.75 inches in diameter.
Nine tornadoes were reported in Oklahoma and Kansas, including one in the Oklahoma city of Norman, where police warned ofmultiple road closures, downed power lines and debris.
Students on the campus of the University of Oklahoma in Norman were told to immediately take shelter Sunday evening as the area was under a tornado warning, which was lifted later that night.
Officials in Oklahoma are still assessing the damage, though the most concentrated impacts appear to be in Norman, Shawnee and possibly Cheyenne, said Keli Cain, public affairs director for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.
Roughly a dozen families displaced by a tornado in Liberal, Kansas, are being accommodated and about 10 trailers were also damaged, City Manager Rusty Varnado said. At least one person was injured by broken glass, he said, noting the injuries are minor.
Freezing rain, snow and ice across the Great Lakes region and parts of the Midwest last week resulted in perilous travel conditions, road closures and significant power outages that disrupted daily life for many.
This week, the Great Lakes are poised to be hit all over again, including Michigan where about 146,000 homes and businesses still do not have power after the prior storms damaged trees and utility lines.
Utility company DTE, one of Michigan’s largest electricity providers, said 630,000 of its customers have been impacted by the storms so far. By Sunday night, power was restored to about 600,000 of their customers, the utility said.
Another round of mixed precipitation is expected to move into the region Monday, with those under winter weather alerts possibly seeing between 2 to 8 inches of snowfall.
As the storm moves eastward, winter storm watches are also in effect for parts of interior New York and New England through Wednesday afternoon. In total, these isolated areas can see up to 10 inches of snowfall.
Boston, which is under a winter weather advisory from Monday evening until Tuesday evening, is expected to get 2 to 5 inches of snowfall.
The appeal against the decision to revoke Shamima Begum’s British citizenship was denied. Shamima Begum, then 15 years old, departed the United Kingdom to join ISIS.
After a five-day hearing in November during which her attorneys claimed the UK Home Office had a duty to look into whether she was a victim of trafficking before stripping her of her citizenship, Judge Robert Jay issued the judgement on Wednesday.
If Begum’s citizenship was revoked legally is what is decided in the judgement, not whether she can go back to Britain.
Begum, now 23 and living in a camp in northern Syria, flew to the country in 2015 with two school friends to join the ISIS terror group. In February 2019, she re-emerged and made international headlines as an “ISIS bride” after pleading with the UK government to be allowed to return to her home country for the birth of her son.
Family of ISIS victim says YouTube algorithm is liable. What will the Supreme Court say?
Then-Home Secretary Sajid Javid removed her British citizenship on February 19, 2019, and Begum’s newborn son died in a Syrian refugee camp the following month. She told UK media she had two other children prior to that baby, who also died in Syria during infancy.
Begum’s lawyers criticized Wednesday’s ruling as a “lost opportunity to put into reverse a profound mistake and a continuing injustice.”
“The outcome is that there is now no protection for a British child trafficked out of the UK if the home secretary invokes national security,” Gareth Pierce and Daniel Furner, of Birnberg Pierce Solicitors, said in a statement seen by UK news agency PA Media.
“Begum remains in unlawful, arbitrary and indefinite detention without trial in a Syrian camp. Every possible avenue to challenge this decision will be urgently pursued,” it continued.
Rights group Amnesty International described the ruling as a “very disappointing decision.”
“The power to banish a citizen like this simply shouldn’t exist in the modern world, not least when we’re talking about a person who was seriously exploited as a child,” Steve Valdez-Symonds, the group’s UK refugee and migrant rights director, said in a statement.
“Along with thousands of others, including large numbers of women and children, this young British woman is now trapped in a dangerous refugee camp in a war-torn country and left largely at the mercy of gangs and armed groups.”
“The home secretary shouldn’t be in the business of exiling British citizens by stripping them of their citizenship,” Valdez-Symonds said.
Javid, the home secretary who removed Begum’s British citizenship, welcomed Wednesday’s ruling, tweeted that it “upheld my decision to remove an individual’s citizenship on national security grounds.”
“This is a complex case but home secretaries should have the power to prevent anyone entering our country who is assessed to pose a threat to it.” Javid added.
Begum has made several public appeals as she fought against the government’s decision, most recently appearing in BBC documentary The Shamima Begum Story and a 10-part BBC podcast series.
In the podcast series she insisted that she is “not a bad person.” While accepting that the British public viewed her as a “danger” and a “risk,” Begum blamed this on her media portrayal.
She challenged the UK government’s decision to revoke her citizenship but, in June 2019, the government refused her application to be allowed to enter the country to pursue her appeal.
In 2020, the UK Court of Appeal ruled Begum should be granted leave to enter the country because otherwise, it would not be “a fair and effective hearing.”
The following year, the Supreme Court reversed that decision, arguing that the Court of Appeal made four errors when it ruled that Begum should be allowed to return to the UK to carry out her appeal.
Shamima Begum loses legal bid to return home to appeal citizenship revocation (February 2021)
Begum was 15 when she flew out of Gatwick Airport with two classmates and traveled to Syria.
The teenagers, all from the Bethnal Green Academy in east London, were to join another classmate who had made the same journey months earlier.
While in Syria, Begum married an ISIS fighter and spent several years living in Raqqa. Begum then reappeared in al-Hawl, a Syrian refugee camp of 39,000 people, in 2019.
With ISIS fall, Europe faces returnees dilemma (February 2019)
Speaking from the camp before giving birth, Begum told UK newspaper The Times that she wanted to come home to have her child. She said she had already had two other children who died in infancy from malnutrition and illness.
She gave birth to her son, Jarrah, in al-Hawl in February of that year. The baby’s health quickly deteriorated, and he passed away after being transferred from the camp to the main hospital in al-Hasakah City.
In response to that news, a British government spokesperson told CNN at the time that “the death of any child is tragic and deeply distressing for the family.”
But the spokesperson added the UK Foreign Office “has consistently advised against travel to Syria” since 2011.
One of Ghana’s song distributors and digital marketers,Kwame Baah, who is known to be a song distributor of some major artistes in Ghana like Okyeame Kwame, Sister Efya, Fameye and other artistes, grieves on how Ghana’ s music industry and its artists are not receiving adequate support from the public.
The song distributor also plays a role in the music industry and since he works with some of the artistes, he knows how these artistes are struggling because of the support they are not getting from Ghanaians.
Kwame Baah, upon observing how the music industry as well as its artistes are dwindling, expressed his concern and grievances on Twitter.
“Dear anyone who can support, Our Music Industry is dying, and I won’t dilute this message because it is what it is! And whether you like it or not, I am also an Industry player so I know what I’m saying. Please!! Support our artists!! And at this instance, support it whether you like their songs or not!!!” he wrote.
“Our artists are going through it but they can’t tell you! The amount of money and energy they put in now can not be compared to any line of entertainment in the country but they are not getting the hits, numbers, exposure, acceptance and revenue! And it’s fuckn sad! I don’t want to mention names but other counterparts are penetrating hugely into this market and taking our daily bread.
“At this stage, f*ck whatever excuse you want to give, Support OUR ARTISTS ONLY!!! It’s sad bro! I’m teary while typing this (I don’t care if you believe it or not). Let’s get up and support all our artists, because if you don’t, we will be dragged through the mud and in few years to come, you will be ashamed to call yourself a Ghanaian,” Baah added.
Some netizens have also shared their concerns some comments they made under the post.
“I agree totally, like it or not their artists represent our industry or country, if we pay them dust we paying them our countries music legacy dust so please let’s do it better,” one said.
“See, we not many as a country compared to Nigeria and instead for our artists to understand that a win for A could be a win for B. No, they have used fan base to divide the support in a quest for supremacy”, a response by another netizen read.
The men arrested are 38, 45, and 47 years old, according to Simon Byrne, chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), and they are presently being questioned by police.
Caldwell was shot several times by masked men in Omagh, County Tyrone on Wednesday as he put footballs in his car with his son, Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Assistant Chief Constable Mark McEwan told media.
“Two gunmen approached and we believe both have fired multiple shots. John ran a short distance and fell to the ground. While he was on the ground, the gunmen continued to fire at him,” McEwan said, describing the attack.
The shooting occurred in a crowded space with children nearby, McEwan added, and that “we saw many of those young people and children running in sheer terror to get to safety.” Caldwell remains in a “critical but stable condition” after being taken to hospital.
Police launched an attempted murder investigation and have appealed for witnesses to contact them. “[The] investigation is in early stage. We believe the gunman made off in a small dark car which was later found burned out.” McEwan told BBC Radio Ulster.
McEwan also said “our primary focus is on violent dissident republicans” in the investigation, singling out a group called the New IRA, which was responsible for the murder of journalist Lyra McKee in 2019.
The Police Federation for Northern Ireland has called the attack a “callous, cold-blooded and barbaric attempted murder on an off-duty officer” and appealed to anyone with information to come forward.
The Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Leo Varadkar condemned the shooting as a “grotesque act of attempted murder,” on Twitter.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was “appalled by the disgraceful shooting,” writing on Twitter, “My thoughts are with the officer and his family. There is no place in our society for those who seek to harm public servants protecting communities.”
The attack is the most serious in Northern Ireland for several years; the last time a police officer was shot in Northern Ireland was 2017, according to Reuters.
In 1998, the town of Omagh saw the single deadliest attack in the 30-year conflict between Roman Catholic nationalists and Protestant pro-British loyalists, as a blast killed 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, and wounded more than 300.
It occurred at the tail-end of the bloody period known as the Troubles, which lasted from the late 1960s to the late 1990s. It was also four months after the signing of the Good Friday peace accord – which ushered in a new era in the region despite the continuation of some fighting.
Christian Kwabena Andrews popularly known as ‘Osofo Kyiri Abosom’, known for breaking into shrines to burn deities and destroy fetish activities, has detailed how his journey to ministry began, disclosing that he had funds from an unidentified woman who claimed to have been directed through a dream to provide the sum of money.
Speaking on The Delay Show which was aired on February 26, 2023, he said he took the money and did as was told. This, according to him, happened in the early 90s.
At the time, he was not called ‘Kyiri Abosom’, a name he also claimed to have been given him through dreams.
He said: “I was in Accra for a ministration and I saw someone lift me from where I was unto a pulpit. He asked ‘what’s his name’ and they said ‘Kyiri Abosom’. When I became conscious, I wrote the name down. The next day, I had a dream. In the dream, I met someone who said I was lucky because my name has been changed to Kyiri Abosom purposely to destroy idols. So, I realized the name is from God.
“I was at Darkuman. While sleeping on my bed, I was singing and worshiping God when I heard a voice telling me to leave the room and I heeded. I went to where the voice directed me and stood there for about 15 minutes. I saw a woman in a car pointing at me that ‘there he is’. She alighted, took money from her bag, and handed it over to me. It was a huge sum of money; I don’t remember the exact amount. She said she had a dream and was directed to give me the money because I was experiencing hardship.
“I collected the money, asked her where he lives and she said it wasn’t necessary. When I slept, I had a dream and I was told the time is up for me to go to Kumasi and start the ministry. From there, I should go to Accra, Takoradi, Tamale and then Ho,” the preacher recalled.
Aside from becoming famous through his sermons about demonic powers and destroying deities, Kyiri Abosom was in the limelight when he contested in the 2020 presidential elections.
The preacher and his political party, Ghana Union Movement, finished third behind President Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and former president John Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
He recently was in the news for admitting to having an affair with another woman.
According to CNN’s Ofer Grinboim Liron, a crowd specialist, over 160,000 people protested in Tel Aviv on Saturday night against the Israeli government‘s plans to weaken the nation’s legal system. That would then rank among the largest individual protests against the law to date.
By 8 p.m. local time, Grinboim Liron, the CEO of Crowd Solutions, which focuses on crowd dynamics at events and venues, estimated the size of the gathering using drone pictures (1 p.m. ET).
An additional 130,000 protesters, according to the protest’s organizers, took part in other rallies held across the nation on Saturday night. The figures provided by the organizers have been greater than those provided by unbiased specialists like Grinboim Liron.
Tel Aviv and other cities around Israel have been seeing regular Saturday night demonstrations against the judicial overhaul plans for eight weeks.
The package of legislation would give Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, the power to overrule Supreme Court decisions with a simple majority. It would also give the government the power 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 “unreasonable” government appointments, as the High Court did in January, forcing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fire Interior and Health Minister Aryeh Deri.
Four legislative clauses that are part of the overhaul took steps forward this week. The bills allowing Knesset override of Supreme Court decisions and removing the court’s power to rule government appointments unreasonable both passed early stages of the process on Wednesday and now go to the committee stage. Two other clauses passed first readings on Monday and require two more readings to become law.
Critics accuse Netanyahu of pushing the legislation in order to get out of corruption trials he is currently facing. Netanyahu denies that, saying the trials are collapsing on their own, and that the changes are necessary after judicial overreach by unelected judges.
About two out of three (66%) Israelis believe the Supreme Court should have the power to strike down laws incompatible with Israel’s Basic Laws, and about the same proportion (63%) say they support the current system of nominating judges, a poll for the Israel Democracy Institute found last week.
People who say they voted for opposition parties were far more likely than voters for the parties in the coalition to oppose the changes. Nearly nine out of 10 (87%) people who voted for the opposition said the Supreme Court should have the power to strike down laws incompatible with Basic Laws, while only 44% of coalition voters said it should. The percentage was slightly higher among people who voted for Netanyahu’s Likud party, with nearly half (47%) saying the Supreme Court should have that power.
Israel does not have a written constitution, but a set of what are called Basic Laws.
The survey, which was released February 21, found that about half (53%) of Israelis believed that removing the political independence of the judiciary would harm Israel’s economy – as Israeli economists and businesspeople have been warning. About a third (35%) do not believe the changes would harm the economy.
The online and telephone survey of 756 adults in Israel was carried out between February 9 to 13, 2023, and has a margin of error of 3.56 points.
Economist and currency analyst at GCB Capital Limited,Courage Boti is urging government to strengthen its industrialization policies as it moves to negotiate with China for debt forgiveness.
He demystifies perceptions that China may seize the opportunity to take over the local industries if the negotiations are successful.
However, Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has disclosed that government’s planned high-level meeting with Chinese creditors over Ghana’s debt restructuring has been postponed to late March 2023.
Speaking to Citi Business News Economist Courage Boti argued that the perception of importation of inferior goods from China is subjected to the purchasing power of the importers.
“In a bargain, concessions must be made .I think at this point in time the most pressing issue is that our debt is not sustainable and we must find a way to return it to sustainable path. Negotiating with them will mean that we’re trying to get them on our side so that they could cooperate with debt restructuring,” he said.
“The question is, it will come at what cost? Will it mean dampening of Chinese goods?,” He quizzed. Again the Chinese goods on our market on our market: the quality argument and associated perceptions, our traders decide what they bring in and so the quality we talk about are determined by what we are willing to buy,” he stated.
“Another question is, do we as a local economy immediately have capacity to produce the things that we ordinarily import from China? Our industrialization policies are not up and running. So I don’t see what China will demand from us differently from what we have in place”, he added.
Local settler leader Yossi Dagan described the Sunday shooting and deaths of two Israeli settlers in the West Bank as “an exceedingly dangerous terrorist attack.” Following the shooting, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians in retaliation, resulting in at least one fatality and multiple injuries.
The Israelis were shot at Huwara, south of Nablus, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, just days after a huge Israeli military assault into Nablus resulted in the deaths of at least 11 Palestinians while looking for wanted militants.
The brothers Hillel Menachem Yaniv, 21, and Yagel Yaakov Yaniv, 19, were identified as the settlers killed on Sunday, according to the local settler council.
“We embrace the family and will be with them as much as necessary,” the Shomron (Samaria) Regional Council said. They were from the settlement of Har Bracha, council leader Yossi Dagan said.
Video from the scene showed that their car had crossed a median, and hit a vehicle going the other direction, suggesting they were shot while driving.
The two Israeli men were taken to a hospital after the attack, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said, but they later died, the Magen David Adom medical agency said. The IDF added that it was pursuing the attacker.
Another local settler leader said he was present when the two were shot.
“The shooting took place right behind me. It looked terrible – the shooting was from point blank range,” said Shai Alon, the head of Beit El council, adding that Israel needed to “go to war against those who wish us harm.”
Hours after the incident, Israelis killed at least one Palestinian man and injured several others with stones or iron bars in and around Huwara, Palestinian medics and the Ministry of Health said Sunday night.
Sameh Hamdallah Mahmoud Aqtash, 37, was shot in the abdomen and killed in the town of Za’tara, between Huwara and the Israeli settlement of Kfar Tapuach, the ministry said.
In Huwara itself, at least one person was stabbed and another assaulted with an iron bar, the Palestinian Red Crescent said. The emergency service also reported its ambulances were attacked, and said Israeli military forces had prevented three ambulances from entering the town.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said a person had been treated for a minor injury from a metal rod in the face, and another had been treated for a skull fracture from being hit in the head with a stone.
Two Palestinian firefighters said that about 50 settlers had stoned their fire engine, injuring them as they attempted to respond to a fire at a Palestinian house in Huwara, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. The Red Crescent also said it had dealt with nearly 100 cases of smoke inhalation.
Social media video which CNN geolocated to Huwara appeared to show several dozen Israeli settlers walking down a main street as at least three fires burned by the side of the road. Other photographs and videos circulating on social media appeared to show fires burning in the town.
The Palestinian Authority Presidency accused the settlers of carrying out “terrorist acts… under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces, in Hawara, Burin, Einabus and other areas, which resulted in the injury of more than 100 Palestinians and the burning of shops, homes, cars and other public property.”
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid accused Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the leader of the settler-based Religious Zionism party, of being responsible for the violence.
Linking the events to deconfliction talks between Israel and the Palestinians in Jordan earlier in the day, Lapid tweeted: “Smotrich’s militias set out to burn Hawara in order to torpedo the summit in Aqaba of Netanyahu and [Defense Minister Yoav] Gallant. This government is dangerous to Israel’s security.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement asking Israelis not to engage in revenge attacks for the killing of Hillel and Yagel Yaniv earlier in the day.
“I ask – even when the blood is boiling – not to take the law into one’s hands. I ask that the IDF and the security forces be allowed to carry out their work. I remind you that in recent weeks, they have targeted dozens of terrorists and thwarted dozens of attacks,” Netanyahu said.
The IDF are sending reinforcements to the West Bank to “thwart terror attacks and prevent violent riots,” it said Sunday night.
The “riots” – an apparent reference to the settlers carrying out revenge attacks against Palestinians – “are being handled by the IDF, Israeli Fire and Rescue Services, Israeli Border Police and additional security forces,” the IDF said.
On Sunday night, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi visited the site where the Yaniv brothers were shot, the IDF said, and “ordered the area to be reinforced with additional forces to thwart terror attacks and prevent violent riots, while increasing and expanding the efforts to capture the terrorists.”
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack on the Israeli brothers, but Lion’s Den had vowed revenge after Wednesday’s raid in Nablus.
Six of those who died there were members of the Palestinian militant group, which emerged in the city last year.
“As big as the pain filling Nablus, the occupation will taste twice the pain,” the group said, referring to Israel. “They will know that the fighters of the honorable groups in Nablus will not take a step back.”
Dagan, the head of the Samaria Regional Council, called after Sunday’s killings for Israel to break off ongoing security talks between Israel and the Palestinians brokered by Jordan, Egypt and the United States, saying: “I demand that the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense and all the ministers return the delegation from the idle talks in Aqaba…. We need to launch an operation against terrorism!”
Following the rare talks on Sunday, Israeli and Palestinian representatives “affirmed their commitment to all previous agreements between them, and to work towards a just and lasting peace,” they said in a joint statement.
Jordanian, Egyptian, and US senior officials attended the summit in Aqaba following an invitation of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
The joint statement said both sides reaffirmed the necessity of committing to de-escalation on the ground and to prevent further violence.
Israel and the Palestinian Authority confirmed their “joint readiness and commitment to immediately work to end unilateral measures for a period of 3-6 months. This includes an Israeli commitment to stop discussion of any new settlement units for 4 months and to stop authorization of any outposts for 6 months,” the statement read.
The five parties agreed to convene again in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, in March.
“Jordan, Egypt and the United States consider these understandings as major progress towards re-establishing and deepening relations between the two sides, and commit to assisting and facilitating as appropriate their implementation,” the statement said.
Actor turned politician, John Dumelo, has officially launched his campaign to contest for the second time in the NDC primaries.
Taking to Facebook to make the announcement, he said: “After an extensive consultation with my God, my family and our party faithfuls in Ayawaso West Wuogon! This’s the second coming.”
He will be contesting for the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency seat.
The celebrity cum politician made this known on Sunday, February 26, 2023.
Speaking in an earlier interaction with MyJoyOnline.com on Saturday, the actor said he had been engaging the party’s delegates and other stakeholders about his ambition.
According to him, his priority is to engage party delegates before going to formally announce his candidature.
Declaring his interest in a Facebook post on Sunday, he said his decision follows “extensive consultation” with God, family and party faithful in the constituency.
In 2020, John Dumelo contested the Ayawaso West Wuogon seat against the NPP’s Lydia Alhassan.
Despite his loss, he was praised for putting up a competitive fight.
His announcement brings to a total of three aspirants in the upcoming primaries in the constituency.
Earlier, the CEO of the Ghana Movie Awards, Fred Nuamah also announced his intention to contest the seat.
This came after a former Vice President of the University of Ghana SRC, Moses Baafi Acheampong, had announced his intentions early on.
Shortly after declaring his intention to contest the parliamentary primaries on Monday, the past student leader, Moses Baafi Acheampong, told MyJoyOnline.com that he has been nursing the ambition since his days as a student activist.
According to the lawyer cum pharmacist, he is unhappy about the huge development deficit within the Constituency despite the ‘hegemony’ of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Meanwhile, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has set 13th May, 2023, for both presidential and parliamentary primaries.
This was announced by the General Secretary of the NDC, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, at the party headquarters in Accra on Wednesday, January 18, 2023.
According to the party, parliamentary candidates will pick a form at a cost of GH¢5,000.00, and pay a non-refundable filing fee of GH¢40,000.00.
The Department of Energy stated in the intelligence report that it had “low confidence” that the Covid-19 virus unintentionally escaped from a lab in Wuhan, according to two sources.
The level of confidence in an assessment might be low, medium, or high for intelligence services.
A low confidence rating typically denotes that there is insufficient evidence to support a more solid conclusion or that the material acquired is either unreliable or too fragmented to allow for a more final analytical judgment.
The latest assessment further adds to the divide in the US government over whether the Covid-19 pandemic began in China in 2019 as the result of a lab leak or whether it emerged naturally. The various intelligence agencies have been split on the matter for years. In 2021, the intelligence community declassified a report that showed four agencies in the intelligence community had assessed with low confidence that the virus likely jumped from animals to humans naturally in the wild, while one assessed with moderate confidence that the pandemic was the result of a laboratory accident.
Three other intelligence community elements were unable to coalesce around either explanation without additional information, the report said.
The Wall Street Journal first reported on the new assessment from the Department of Energy. A senior US intelligence official told the Journal that the update to the intelligence assessment was conducted in light of new intelligence, further study of academic literature and in consultation with experts outside government.
A Department of Energy spokesperson told CNN in a statement: “The Department of Energy continues to support the thorough, careful, and objective work of our intelligence professionals in investigating the origins of COVID-19, as the President directed.”
The Department of Energy’s Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence is one of 18 government agencies that make up the intelligence community, which are under the umbrella of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs pushed back against the claim when asked about the reported assessment during a regular briefing on Monday.
Spokesperson Mao Ning pointed to the “authoritative and scientific” conclusion reached after a 2021 field mission between Chinese and World Health Organization experts, who determined the lab leak hypothesis was “highly unlikely.” That mission was later criticized for a lack of transparency by Western governments.
“The parties concerned should stop stirring up arguments about laboratory leaks, stop smearing China and stop politicizing the issue of the virus origin,” Mao said.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that the intelligence community remains divided on the matter, while noting that President Joe Biden has put resources into getting to the bottom of the origin question.
“Right now, there is not a definitive answer that has emerged from the intelligence community on this question,” Sullivan told CNN’s Dana Bash. “Some elements of the intelligence community have reached conclusions on one side, some on the other. A number of them have said they just don’t have enough information to be sure.”
Sullivan said Biden had directed the national laboratories, which are part of the Department of Energy, to be brought into the assessment.
In May 2020, researchers at the government-backed Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory issued a classified report that found it was possible that the coronavirus escaped from a lab in Wuhan, which came at a time when that line of inquiry was considered taboo.
The US began exploring the possibility that Covid-19 spread in a laboratory as early as April 2020, though the intelligence community has noted repeatedly that a lack of cooperation from Beijing has made it difficult to get to the bottom of the question.
The latest intelligence assessment was provided to Congress as Republicans on Capitol Hill have been pushing for further investigation into the lab leak theory, while accusing the Biden administration of playing down its possibility.
House Foreign Affairs Chairman Mike McCaul said Sunday he was “pleased” that the Department of Energy “has finally reached the same conclusion that I had already come to.”
“I have requested a full and thorough briefing from the administration on this report and the evidence behind it,” the Texas Republican said in a statement.
McCaul in his statement referred to a 2021 report he had released as ranking member of the Foreign Affairs panel, which “found a preponderance of the evidence proved” that the pandemic originated with a leak from the Wuhan lab.
The chairman called on the Biden administration to publicly concur with that conclusion.
“It is critical the administration also begin to work immediately with our partners and allies around the world to both hold the (Chinese Communist Party) accountable and to put in place updated international regulations to ensure something like this cannot happen again,” McCaul said.
Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska on Sunday called for public hearings following the disclosure of the Department of Energy assessment.
“We need to do extensive hearings. I hope our Democratic colleagues in the Congress can support that. I know the Republicans in the House are certainly supportive of that,” the Senate Armed Services Committee member said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“Think about what just happened over the last three years, one of the biggest pandemics in a century. A lot of evidence that it’s coming from the Chinese,” Sullivan said.
A spokesperson for House Oversight Chairman James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, said in a statement that the committee was “reviewing the classified information provided” by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in response to a letter requesting information earlier this month.
One of the sources said that the new assessment from the Department of Energy is similar to information from a House Republican Intelligence Committee report released last year on the origins of the virus.
The rating on Ghana’s local-currency debt was upgraded by S&P Global Ratings as the country settled its domestic debt exchange with bondholders. The nation’s foreign debt remains rated in default.
Ghana’s local credit score was raised to CCC+ from SD — or selective default — by S&P after new domestic debt securities were delivered to creditors, according to a Friday statement. The credit assessor continues to score the West African nation’s foreign-currency debt at SD as the government works to restructure the external bonds, wrote analysts Frank Gill and Ravi Bhatia.
“We understand that the authorities aim to lower debt to GDP to about 55% over a five-year horizon,” they wrote. “Discussions with holders of foreign currency instruments are continuing.” Understand power in Washington.
Ghana has been engaging investors since late last year to restructure about $30 billion of its $46 billion in local and international debt.
It recently completed the first part of a domestic restructuring, with investors exchanging 83 billion cedis ($6.7 billion), or 64% of holdings, for new securities, against an overall target of 80%. It aims to start “substantive” discussions with international bondholders and their advisers in the coming weeks, Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta said Thursday.
Still, the ongoing discussion means payments have been halted on individual bonds. S&P on Friday lowered the ratings on three UK-law Eurobonds — maturing in 2023, 2027 and 2025 — to D, or default.
On Friday, a panel of dealers and investors agreed to review whether a missed payment of a coupon on one of a dollar bond due 2026 constituted a so-called credit event, which may trigger payout of insurance protection on the debt.
Fitch Ratings last week cut Ghana’s local-currency credit score to default. It also downgraded its foreign-currency debt rating to partial default after it missed eurobond payment.
Nigerian singer turned politician, Olubankole Wellington, popularly known as Banky W, has lost the Eti-Osa Federal Constituency seat to his opponent from the Labour Party (LP).
Mr Wellington who prior to the elections was optimistic of beating his opponents hands down sadly secured 18,666 of total votes cast while Thaddeus Attah amassed 24,075 of the votes.
Also, the third contender in the fiercely contested elections, Mr Babajide Obanikoro of the APC, had 16, 901 votes.
This is the second time Banky W contested in the Nigerian elections.
His first attempt was in 2019 when after he announced his decision to run for the House of Representatives seat back in November 2018.
Incidents of thugs looting and vandalising ballot boxes were recorded during the elections
In the 2019 elections, he contested the House of Representatives seat under the Modern Democratic Party (MDP) but lost to Ibrahim Obanikoro of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The music star announced that he would be running for the seat again in April 2022, on the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Meanwhile, counting is still underway in the just-ended General Elections in Nigeria.
Turnout appears to be high, especially among young people who make up about a third of the 87 million eligible voters.
The election has seen an unprecedented challenge to the two-party system that has dominated Nigeria for 24 years.
The candidates comprise Peter Obi from the previously little known Labour Party, Mr Tinubu from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and 15 others.
So far official results from the south-western Ekiti state show a clear victory for ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu in one of his strongholds.
How are elections held with almost 93 million voters? It turns out with a lot of trouble, headaches, delays, and technological problems.
In Africa’s largest democratic exercise, some Nigerians continued to cast ballots more than 24 hours after polls closed.
Nigeria has 176,606 polling locations, and voting took place without incident in the majority of them.
However, it was overshadowed by numerous reports of errors, difficulties with the technology, as well as assaults and voter intimidation at certain polling places.
A CNN team in Lagos saw voters still trying to find a way to cast their ballot Sunday at a school in Lagos where two polling units didn’t get to vote in Saturday’s elections.
In the capital Abuja, voting continued until late on Saturday, as voters used car headlights to help themselves see.
When a CNN team visited some polling units, dozens of voters were still waiting to cast their ballot. In parts of Lagos, voting went on well into midnight.
The election is one of the most hotly contested contests since the end of military dictatorship in 1999, and the two-party system that has dominated Nigerian politics since then is facing an unprecedented threat.
The frontrunners are Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the ruling APC party, Atiku Abubakar from the PDP and Peter Obi from the lesser-known Labour Party.
Obi, 61, has gained in popularity and is seen as the third force candidate that could emerge as leader.
Many of his supporters, mostly first time voters, who registered in huge numbers to vote, complained of attempts to suppress their vote.
At one polling unit in Lekki, Lagos, several people were attacked.
Dr. Chidi Nwagwu told CNN: “I arrived at around 10am. Polling materials were late and we set up to start voting. Some thugs arrived and started hitting people with chairs. I was hit several times with a chair. There was a doctor who helped us. A lot of women were attacked, including a pregnant woman. She was knocked to the ground and they smashed her phone.”
Alicia Gberikon said: “There was harassment and if you had a phone that was a crime. People were beaten and had their phones smashed. It was very scary.”
Yiaga Africa, a non-profit civic group that deployed 3,836 observers across the country said it was disappointed with the elections. “There’s a sense of disappointment, quite frankly, with the way this process has gone. Clearly, we’ve not overcome and resolved, perennially our logistical challenges with elections,” Samson Itodo, Yiaga’s Executive Director told CNN.
This was supposed to be the year that the electoral commission would provide real-time results via its new portal, iReV.
Yiaga said it was concerned that as of Saturday 10pm local time, when results were known from thousands of polling units, they had not been uploaded to the electoral commission’s voting portal.
“It raises a lot of questions about the entire process because it deviates from the guidelines for the elections. But it also casts doubt on the integrity of this entire process,” Itodo said.
“To make matters worse, the commission is not speaking or has not spoken to Nigerians.”
The chairman of the electoral commission (INEC) Chairman Mahmood Yakubu briefly addressed the country at a media briefing on Sunday where he explained the collation process but did not address the issues around results transmission.
Yakubu reported there were pockets of violence across the country and electoral machines known as Bimodal Voter Accreditation system (BVAS) were lost in some of those disruptions.
Touch It’ hit maker,KiDi has emphasized the reason he was stripped naked by his father back in the day.
The Ghanaian artiste shared with the public how his father stripped him naked for causing trouble in school.KiDi was interviewed on the Doreen Avio Show on Joy Prime TV and speaking with the host, he shared how it all came about.
According to the highlife artiste, he was as stubborn as a mule and adamant growing up and as a result of this, he didn’t really have a good relationship with his father since he always brought trouble home.
He continued by saying that, the number of beatings and punishments rendered on him by his father never made him change his bad ways until one day, his father decided to teach him the lesson of his life by stripping him naked.
He said that, it all came about when he was reported to his father for taking his teacher’s food without the teacher’s consent. His father was very furious at what he did thus he ordered for such punishment on him.
The musician added that, his father did not do it himself but rather asked his sister to perform the act.
KiDiexplained to Doreen Avio, “My dad called my big sister. He was like strip him naked, everything, no supporter, nothing and then, when you are done, put on his church shoes. So picture this, a young kid, naked, wearing only shoes”.
He later admitted that, this punishment and the threats made up his father to let him out of the house brought a sudden change in his behavior.
“My dad said since you want to act all grown up, leave my house and go and live in your own house. I started crying and walking out, and he called me up and things have never been the same. So I feel like that punishment stuck with me more than any beating I have ever received, the musician shared his pain.
Italian authorities report that a wooden boat carrying migrants broke apart on rocks off the coast of Calabria, killing at least 59 individuals, including several women, children, and infants.
The death toll is preliminary and is probably going to go up. Search operations are being hampered by bad weather in that region of the Mediterranean sea since it has increased the size of the debris field.
Around 4:40 a.m. local time on Sunday, the first three bodies washed ashore on the beach close to Staccato di Cutro in Southern Italy.
According to Reuters, the ship left the Turkish city of Izmir three or four days ago with 140 to 150 individuals on board.
Around 80 people were saved from the water clinging on to pieces of the boat, Italy’s fire brigade told CNN. The survivors were from Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, they added.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni blamed human traffickers. “It is criminal to launch a boat just 20 meters long with 200 people on board in adverse weather,” she said in a statement. “It is inhumane to exchange the lives of men, women and children for the price of a ticket under the false perspective of a safe journey.”
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi added that new measures must be instituted to reduce such perilous journeys. “It is essential to continue with every possible initiative to stop departures and discourage crossings in any way which takes advantage of the illusory mirage of a better life,” he said in a statement.
Meloni made stopping migrant boats a priority of her hard-right government. This week parliament approved new laws making it more difficult for NGOs to carry out rescues.
In Vatican City on Sunday, in reference to the victims of the shipwreck, Pope Francis said: “I pray for each of them, for the missing, and for the other migrants who survived. I thank those who are helping them and those who are giving them assistance. May the Virgin Mary help these brothers and sisters.”
UNHCR records show that 11,874 people have arrived in Italy so far in 2023 by sea, with 678 of them arriving at Calabria.
Typically, arrivals are from African countries, rather than the Middle East and Asia, with the majority of boats setting off from Libya.
Only 8.3% of arrivals are from Pakistan, 6.7% from Afghanistan and 0.7% from Iran. The rest are primarily from Africa, with 17.3% of arrivals from Ivory Coast alone, 13.1% from Guinea. Other African nations, including North African countries, make up most of the rest.
The most deadly migration route is the Central Mediterranean route, where at least 20,334 people have died since 2014, according to the International Organization for Migration’s Missing Migrants Project.
Musician,KiDi has explained what the tattoos on his body means while revealing why he would not get more done on him.
When it comes to the physical appearance ofKiDi, he’s known to have beautified his body with several tattoos on his arm and chest.
Speaking with Doreen Avio on the Doreen Avio show, he explained each tattoo on his body and what it represents.
kiDi told the host that, he’s not bothered about what some netizens say about his tattoos and included that he has intentions of drawing more on his body.
“I only decide to focus on the people who say its sexy for my own peace of mind. Every single one of them on my skin has a special meaning so there’s nothing I’ll regret in 50 years.
“I love them. I might think of getting more. The only reason I’m not getting more is because my mother said enough is enough”, he told the host.
According to the 2020 Artiste of the Year winner, he has close to 5 tattoos on his body of which they all have their meaning and they include ‘5 emojis’, and his ‘son’s birthday’.
With the ‘5 emojis’, they can be found on his chest and he explained that, they represent his five concert moods to him and he believes that, the world speaks in emojis so he would prefer to express his moods with emojis.
He said, “These emojis depict my 5 concert moods. I just didn’t want to write them, happy, sad…. I wanted to depict them with emojis because the world speaks in emojis”.
The tattoo with his son’s birthday drawn on his body portrays how he dearly loves his son, Zane Dwamena.
Following the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey earlier this month, the Justice Ministry in Turkey said that over 200 persons have been detained for alleged inadequate building construction.
After the earthquake on February 6 struck, over 50,000 people died in Turkey and Syria.
After buildings completely fell or suffered severe damage as a result of the earthquakes, the government reported that 626 people were “suspects.” While authorities are still looking for others, several of the suspects perished in the earthquake.
More than 5,700 buildings in Turkey have collapsed, according to the country’s disaster agency, and questions have been asked about the integrity of structures in some areas of the affected regions.
“The thing that strikes mostly are the type of collapses – what we call the pancake collapse – which is the type of collapse that we engineers don’t like to see,” said Mustafa Erdik, a professor of earthquake engineering at Bogazici University in Istanbul. “In such collapses, it’s difficult – as you can see – and a very tragic to save lives. It makes the operation of the search and rescue teams very difficult.”
Erdik also told CNN the images of widespread destruction and debris indicates “that there are highly variable qualities of designs and construction.” He says the type of structural failures following an earthquake are usually partial collapses. “Total collapses are something you always try to avoid both in codes and the actual design,” he added.
After previous disasters, building codes were tightened – which should have ensured that modern builds would withstand large tremors. Yet many damaged buildings across the stricken region appeared to have been newly constructed. Residents and experts are now questioning if the government failed to take the necessary steps to enforce building regulations.
Yasemin Didem Aktas, structural engineer and lecturer at University College London, told CNN that while the earthquake and its aftershocks constituted “a very powerful event that would challenge even code compliant buildings,” the scale of damage indicates that buildings didn’t meet safety standards.
“What we are seeing here is definitely telling us something is wrong in those buildings, and it can be that they weren’t designed in line with the code in the first place, or the implementation wasn’t designed properly,” Didem Aktas said.
Several critics are also questioning the Turkish government’s periodic approval of so-called “construction amnesties” – essentially legal exemptions that, for a fee, forgave developers for constructing projects without the necessary safety requirements.
The amnesties were designed to legalize older sub-standard buildings that had been erected without the proper permits. They also didn’t require developers to bring their properties up to code.
According to her, the Life Assembly Worship Centre’s founder’s beliefs and lifestyle do not reflect Christianity hence the herbalist title.
Her comments are on the back of Kyiri Abosom’s controversies and recent claims, that some Christian beliefs are drawn from the Bible which according to him, was authored by ‘insensitive westerners’.
In his latest interview with Delay, Kyiri Abosom, said: “Blacks have this mentality. We need to renew our mindset and move forward. For example, let’s stop listening to the ‘For better for worse’ Ananse stories.”
ButDiana Asamoah who seemed disgusted by Kyiri Abosom’s statements when discussions around him popped up on Untied Showbiz said:
“He shares different ideologies, far from what Christians believe in. an example is during his interview with Delay where he said some unbelievable things about the Bible and also shared some different views about marriage. As for the man, I see him to be a herbalist and not a pastor. When you are doing God’s work, you work with God’s word. God’s word comes with instructions. So it’s those who can’t abide by the instructions that think that the Bible isn’t written by God.
“If you are a Christian and hear any pastor, say that the Bible was written by mere mortals and not inspired by God, then that pastor has rejected God. That pastor should even have people following him. If he doesn’t believe the bible then let me take him to the book of John which states that ‘in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God’.so any pastor that doesn’t believe in God’s word is an herbalist.”
Prior to this, in a discussion with Angel FM,Diana Asamoah had questioned the pastor’s credibility as a man of God, while advising his congregants to abandon his church.
KillBeatz’s late mother’s one week observation, which was scheduled on February 25, 2023 successfully took place in Tema.
A number of sympathizers were present at the one-week observation to show their support to the Ghanaian producer and sound engineer.
Nigerian’s star boy,Wizkid graced the occasion with his presence to sympathize with the sound engineer.
Other artistes such as R2Bees, King Promise, Darko Vibes and other female artistes such as Efya and Gyakie were also present to mourn with the music producer at the one -week observation.
KillBeatz is known for his great works as a producer and sound engineer and because he’s very good at his job, he has won the hearts of famous musicians in and out of Ghana, who purchase his creativity in the music industry.
Known for his occupation, he has worked with Sarkodie, Kwami Eugene, M.anifest and the English famous musician, Ed Sheeran.
Joseph Kwame Addison, best known as KillBeatz, lost his mother some few weeks ago.
On February 17, 2023, the sad news was shared on the internet but what led to the sudden demise of the producer’s beloved mother was not told.
Followers and some fans upon hearing the news shared their condolences to the Ghanaian producer and sound engineer.
As Russia invaded Ukraine in full force a year ago, starting the largest land conflict in Europe since 1945, it also engaged in a fight within its own borders, stepping up its information censorship in an effort to maintain control over its own people.
Most independent journalists fled the country as a result of the brutal new censorship rules that targeted any media still operating outside of Kremlin authority. Russians were cut off from Western news and social media sites due to the strengthening of the digital Iron Curtain.
In addition, as police arrested thousands in a crackdown on anti-war demonstrations, a culture of fear spread throughout Russian cities and villages, preventing many people from publicly expressing their genuine opinions on the war.
One year on, that grip on information remains tight – and support for the conflict seemingly high – but cracks have started to show.
Some Russians are tuning out the relentless jingoism on Kremlin-backed airwaves. Tech-savvy internet users skirt state restrictions to access dispatches and pictures from the frontlines. And, as Russia turns to mobilization to boost its stuttering campaign, it is struggling to contain the personal impact that one year of war is having on its citizens.
“In the beginning I was supporting it,” Natalya, a 53-year-old Moscow resident, told CNN of what the Kremlin and most Russians euphemistically call a “special military operation.” “But now I am completely against it.”
“What made me change my opinion?,” she contemplated aloud. “First, my son is of mobilization age, and I fear for him. And secondly, I have very many friends there, in Ukraine, and I talk to them. That is why I am against it.”
CNN is not using the full names of individuals who were critical of the Kremlin. Public criticism of the war in Ukraine or statements that discredit Russia’s military can potentially mean a fine or a prison sentence.
For Natalya and many of her compatriots, the endless, personal grind of war casts Russian propaganda in a different light. And for those hoping to push the tide of public opinion against Putin, that creates an opening.
“I do not trust our TV,” she said. “I cannot be certain they are not telling the truth, I just don’t know.
“But I have my doubts,” she added. “I think, probably, they’re not.”
Natalya is not the only Russian to turn against the conflict, but she appears to be in the minority.
Gauging public opinion is notoriously difficult in a country where independent pollsters are targeted by the government, and many of the 146 million citizens are reluctant to publicly condemn President Vladimir Putin. But according to the Levada Center, a non-governmental polling organization, support dipped by only 6% among Russians from March to November last year, to 74%.
In many respects, that is unsurprising. There is little room for dissenting voices on Russian airwaves; the propaganda beamed from state-controlled TV stations since the onset of war has at times attracted derision around the world, so overblown are their more fanatical presenters and pundits.
In the days leading up to Friday’s one-year anniversary of war – according to BBC Monitoring’s Francis Scarr, who analyzes Russian media daily – a Russian MP told audiences on state-owned TV channel Russia-1 that “if Kyiv needs to lie in ruins for our flag to fly above it, then so be it!”; radio presenter Sergey Mardan proclaimed: “There’s only one peace formula for Ukraine: the liquidation of Ukraine as a state.”
And, in a farfetched statement that encapsulates the alternate reality in state TV channels exist, another pro-Russian former lawmaker claimed of Moscow’s war progress: “Everything is going to plan and everything is under control.”
Such programming typically appeals to a select group of older, more conservative Russians who pine for the days of the Soviet Union – though its reach spans generations, and it has claimed some converts.
“My opinion on Ukraine has changed,” said Ekaterina, 37, who turns to popular Russian news program “60 Minutes” after getting home from work. “At first my feelings were: what is the point of this war? Why did they take the decision to start it? It makes the lives of the people here in Russia much worse!”
The conflict has taken a personal toll on her. “My life has deteriorated a lot in this year. Thankfully, no one close to me has been mobilized. But I lost my job. And I see radical changes around me everywhere,” she said.
And yet, Ekaterina’s initial opposition to the invasion has disappeared. “I arrived at the understanding that this special military operation was inevitable,” she said. “It would have come to this no matter what. And had we not acted first, war would have been unleashed against us,” she added, mirroring the false claims of victimhood at the hands of the West that state media relentlessly communicate.
Reversals like hers will be welcomed in the Kremlin as vindication of their notorious and draconian grip on media reporting.
“I trust the news there completely. Yes, they all belong to the state, (but) why should I not trust them?” Yuliya, a 40-year-old HR director at a marketing firm, told CNN. “I think (the war) is succeeding. Perhaps it is taking longer than one could wish for. But I think it is successful,” said Yuliya, who said her main source of news is the state-owned Channel One.
Around two-thirds of Russians rely primarily on television for their news, according to the Levada Center, a higher proportion than in most Western countries.
But the sentiment of Yuliya and Ekaterina is far from universal. Even among those who generally support the war, Kremlin-controlled TV remains far removed from the reality many Russians live in.
“Everything I hear on state channels I split in half. I don’t trust anyone (entirely),” 55-year-old accountant Tatyana said. “One needs to analyze everything … because certain things they are omitting, (or) not saying,” said Leonid, a 58-year-old engineer.
Several people whom CNN spoke with in Moscow this month relayed similar feelings, stressing that they engaged with state-controlled TV but treated it with skepticism. And many reach different views on Ukraine.
“I think you can trust them all only to an extent. The state channels sometimes reflect the truth, but on other occasions they say things just to calm people down,” 20-year-old Daniil said.
Vocal minorities on each side of the conflict exist in Russia, and some have cut off friendships or left the country as a result. But sociologists tracking Russian opinion say most people in the country fall between those two extremes.
“Quite often we are only talking about these high numbers of support (for the war),” Denis Volkov, the director of the Moscow-based Levada Center, said. “But it’s not that all these people are happy about it. They support their side, (but) would rather have it finished and fighting stopped.”
This group of people tends to pay less attention to the war, according to Natalia Savelyeva, a Future Russia Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) who has interviewed hundreds of Russians since the invasion to trace the levels of public support for the conflict. “We call them ‘doubters,’” she said.
“A lot of doubters don’t go very deep into the news … many of them don’t believe that Russian soldiers kill Ukrainians – they repeat this narrative they see on TV,” she said.
The center ground also includes many Russians who have developed concerns about the war. But if the Kremlin cannot expect all-out support across its populace, sociologists say it can at least rely on apathy.
“I try to avoid watching news on the special military operation because I start feeling bad about what’s going on,” Natalya added. “So I don’t watch.”
She is far from alone. “The major attitude is not to watch (the news) closely, not to discuss it with colleagues or friends. Because what can you do about it?” said Volkov. “Whatever you say, whatever you want, the government will do what they want.”
That feeling of futility means anti-war protests in Russia are rare and noteworthy, a social contract that suits the Kremlin. “People don’t want to go and protest; first, because it might be dangerous, and second, because they see it as a futile enterprise,” Volkov said.
“What are we supposed to do? Our opinion means diddly squat,” a woman told CNN in Moscow in January, anonymously discussing the conflict.
The bulk of the population typically disengages instead. “In general, those people try to distance themselves from what’s going on,” Savelyeva added. “They try to live their lives as though nothing is happening.”
And a culture of silence – re-enforced by heavy-handed authorities – keeps many from sharing skepticism about the conflict. A married couple in the southwestern Russian city of Krasnodar were reportedly arrested in January for professing anti-war sentiments during a private conversation in a restaurant, according to the independent Russian monitoring group OVD-Info.
“I do have an opinion about the special military operation … it remains the same to this day,” Anna told CNN in Moscow. “I can’t tell you which side I support. I am for truth and justice. Let’s leave it like that,” she said.
Keeping the war at arm’s length has, however, become more difficult over the course of the past year. Putin’s chaotic partial mobilization order and Russia’s increasing economic isolation has brought the conflict to the homes of Russians, and communication with friends and relatives in Ukraine often paint a different picture of the war than that reported by state media.
“I have felt anxious ever since this began. It’s affecting (the) availability of products and prices,” a woman who asked to remain anonymous told CNN last month. “There is a lack of public information. People should be explained things. Everyone is listening to Soloviev,” she said, referring to prominent propagandist Vladimir Soloviev.
“It would be good if the experts started expressing their real opinions instead of obeying orders, from the government and Putin,” the woman said.
A film student, who said she hadn’t heard from a friend for two months following his mobilization, added: “I don’t know what’s happened to him. It would be nice if he just responded and said ‘OK, I’m alive.’”
“I just wish this special military operation never started in the first place – this war – and that human life was really valued,” she said.
For those working to break through the Kremlin’s information blockade, Russia’s quiet majority is a key target.
Most Russians see on state media a “perverted picture of Russia battling the possible invasion of their own territory – they don’t see their compatriots dying,” said Kiryl Sukhotski, who oversees Russian-language content at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the US Congress-funded media outlet that broadcasts in countries where information is controlled by state authorities.
“That’s where we come in,” Sukhotski said.
The outlet is one of the most influential platforms bringing uncensored scenes from the Ukrainian frontlines into Russian-speaking homes, primarily through digital platforms still allowed by the Kremlin including YouTube, Telegram and WhatsApp.
And interest has surged throughout the war, the network says. “We saw traffic spikes after the mobilization, and after the Ukrainian counter-offensives, because people started to understand what (the war) means for their own communities and they couldn’t get it from local media.”
Current Time, its 24/7 TV and digital network for Russians, saw a two-and-a-half-fold increase in Facebook views, and more than a three-fold rise in YouTube views, in the 10 months following the invasion, RFE/RL told CNN. Last year, QR codes which directed smartphone users to the outlet’s website started popping up in Russian cities, which RFE/RL believed were stuck on lampposts and street signs by anti-war citizens.
But independent outlets face a challenge reaching beyond internet natives, who tend to be younger and living in cities, and penetrating the media diet of older, poorer and rural Russians, who are typically more conservative and supportive of the war.
“We need to get to the wider audience in Russia,” Sukhotski said. “We see a lot of people indoctrinated by Russian state propaganda … it will be an uphill battle but this is where we shape our strategy.”
Reaching Russians at all has not been easy. Most of RFE/RL’s Russia-based staff made a frantic exit from the country after the invasion, following the Kremlin’s crackdown on independent outlets last year, relocating to the network’s headquarters in Prague.
The same fate befell outlets like BBC Russia and Latvia-based Meduza, which were also targeted by the state.
A new law made it a crime to disseminate “fake” information about the invasion of Ukraine – a definition decided at the whim of the Kremlin – with a penalty of up to 15 years in prison for anyone convicted. This month, a Russian court sentenced journalist Maria Ponomarenko to six years in prison for a Telegram post that the court said spread supposedly “false information” about a Russian airstrike on a theater in Mariupol, Ukraine, that killed hundreds, state news agency TASS reported.
“All our staff understand they can’t go back to Russia,” Sukhotski told CNN. “They still have families there. They still have ailing parents there. We have people who were not able to go to their parents’ funerals in the past year.”
His staff are “still coming to terms with that,” Sukhotski admitted. “They are Russian patriots and they wish Russia well … they see how they can help.”
Outlets like RFE/RL have openings across the digital landscape, in spite of Russia’s move to ban Twitter, Facebook and other Western platforms last year.
About a quarter of Russians use VPN services to access blocked sites, according to a Levada Center poll carried out two months after Russia’s invasion.
Searches for such services on Google spiked to record levels in Russia following the invasion, and have remained at their highest rates in over a decade ever since, the search engine’s tracking data shows.
YouTube meanwhile remains one of the few major global sites still accessible, thanks to its huge popularity in Russia and its value in spreading Kremlin propaganda videos.
“YouTube became the television substitute for Russia … the Kremlin fear that if they don’t have YouTube, they won’t be able to control the flow of information to (younger people),” Sukhotski said.
And that allows censored organizations a way in. “I watch YouTube. I watch everything there – I mean everything,” one Moscow resident who passionately opposes the war told CNN, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “These federal channels I never watch,” she said. “I don’t trust a word they say. They lie all the time! You’ve just got to switch on your logic, compare some information and you will see that it’s all a lie.”
Telegram, meanwhile, has spiked in popularity since the war began, becoming a public square for military bloggers to analyze each day on the battlefield.
At first, that analysis tended to mirror the Kremlin’s line. But “starting around September, when Ukraine launched their successful counter-offensives, everything started falling apart,” said Olga Lautman, a US-based Senior Fellow at CEPA who studies the Kremlin’s internal affairs and propaganda tactics. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” she said.
Scores of hawkish bloggers, some of whom boast hundreds of thousands of followers, have strayed angrily from the Kremlin’s line in recent months, lambasting its military tactics and publicly losing faith in the armed forces’ high command.
This month, a debacle in Vuhledar that saw Russian tanks veer wildly into minefields became the latest episode to expose those fissures. The former Defense Minister of the Moscow-backed Donetsk People’s Republic, Igor Girkin, sometimes known by his nom de guerre Igor Strelkov – now a a strident critic of the campaign – said Russian troops “were shot like turkeys at a shooting range.” In another post, he called Russian forces “morons.” Several Russian commentators called for the dismissal of Lieutenant General Rustam Muradov, the commander of the Eastern Grouping of Forces.
“This public fighting is spilling over,” Lautman told CNN. “Russia has lost control of the narrative … it has normally relied on having a smooth propaganda machine and that no longer exists.”
One year into an invasion that most Russians initially thought would last days, creaks in the Kremlin’s control of information are showing.
The impact of those fractures remains unclear. For now, Putin can rely on a citizenry that is generally either supportive of the conflict or too fatigued to proclaim its opposition.
But some onlookers believe the pendulum of public opinion is slowly swinging away from the Kremlin.
“One family doesn’t know of another family who hasn’t suffered a loss in Ukraine,” Lautman said. “Russians do support the conflict because they do have an imperialistic ambition. But now it is knocking on their door, and you’re starting to see a shift.”
The Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has expressed his displeasure at the bellicosity with which some traditional chiefs in Kumasi are forcibly taking lands from their owners over expired leases with impunity.
“I’m being accused wrongly for your unlawful activities in the region. You people are disgracing me, you all need to be careful with the things you are doing’’ he warned.
The Asante monarch issued this warning in Manhyia Palace on Thursday 23rd February 2023 when he restored a land a couple acquired in 1942 and forceful seized from them by Amakomhene Nana Adu Mensah Asare and sold to the Church of Pentecost for a Church project over an expired lease.
The angry Asantehene who spoke through his linguist Baffour Kentenkrankyi condemned Amakomhene and his sub-Chief Abontenghene and warn his Abontenghene who has been challenging his authority on land issues to be careful else he will be summoned to the palace to come and explain his authority over lands issue in their traditional area.
“When you ascended to the Amakom stool the old woman was living on the land since 1942 so even if the lease has expired there is a clear law for lease renewal. There was Amakomhene before you. So you are the only wise person to eject the old woman. Don’t you feel worried for this old woman you treated this way. What money are you looking for and disregarding traditional rules on lease management? ’’ Otumfuo questioned.
He added’’ this old woman was going to die in tears if this issue had not come to my attention and my name will not depart from her tears because Amakomhene is my “Obrempong” therefore, directly my name will be attached to the illegality. You have land because I allow you to swear the Asante oath before me. That’s why you are engaging in illegalities right ? ’’.
Otumfuo further explained “there are clear legal and traditional arrangements for restoring expired leases; you don’t just eject people from their property immediately you hear their lease has expired. You divide the said land into three, one is given to Asantehene, the woman takes one and Amakom stool also takes one. Why must you forcefully take all…. where from the intimidation? I have not given any land to your “Abontensohene” so I will not take any explaination on that because I don’t know him nor have I created any stool for him. Where from this nonsense? Asantehene fumed.
Otumfuo Further directed his anger to Nana Apagyahene, Nana Owusu Afriyie IV whom he describe as “Pagyaso moamoaso” if you cannot do the lands job just tell me. Why must issue come to me for redress while you are there? That is you job no chief can claim any land or property from it owner when the lease expires because there are clear rules on that. The woman came to you and you said Nana Amakomhene has said no to the formal arrangement and you also didn’t tell me so what are you there for? You are doing your own thing. Amakomhene is also doing his own thing. Who should I trust now? ”
While addressing the traditional leaders on lease issues, Otumfuo disclosed he is losing trust among the traditional leaders in Kumasi over how they are managing affairs without his direct involvement.
“You are making me lose my trust among you all…. I have been talking about lease issues for the past 24 years but you don’t listen. Your illegal activities are disgrace to respected Chieftaincy and me as the Asantehene’’.
Otumfuo in his final ruling directed Nana Apagyahene to send surveyors to the land and divide the said land into three one should be given to Amakomhene Nana Adu Mensah Asare, the remaining two including his(Asantehene) share should be given back to the woman for peace to prevail.
After reports that police had discovered what they believe to be pieces of the dismembered remains of Hong Kong model Abby Choi, four members of the same family who have been charged in connection with her horrific murder appeared in court on Monday, according to public broadcaster RTHK.
The three men accused of killing Choi are her ex-husband Alex Kwong, 28, their brother Anthony, 31, and their father Kwong Kau, 65. According to RTHK, Jenny Li, the mother of Alex Kwong, 63, is accused of perverting the course of justice.
According to a ruling made on Monday by the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Court, none of the four were granted bail. They have not yet admitted guilt.
On Sunday, investigators identified a skull, several ribs and hair in a large stainless steel soup pot believed to be Choi’s remains, police said. Other body parts, including Choi’s torso and hands, remain missing.
It follows a police investigation that began Wednesday after Choi, 28, was reported missing. Two days later, parts of her body were found at a house in the city’s Tai Po district, police said. A meat slicer, an electric saw, and some clothing were also found at the home, police said.
Choi’s ex-husband was arrested on Saturday at a ferry pier on one of the city’s outlying islands, police said. His brother and his parents were arrested on Friday.
A fifth suspect, a 47-yer old woman, was arrested on Sunday in connection with the case, police said.
Choi, a model and social media influencer with more than 100,000 followers on Instagram, recently appeared as the digital cover model for luxury magazine L’Officiel Monaco and attended this year’s Paris Fashion Week.
The court adjourned the case until May 8 to allow for further police investigation, RTHK reported.
This past weekend, a winter storm dumped a record amount of rain and snow on southern California, including more than 6.5 feet of snow in Mountain High and more than 5 inches of rain in Chino Canyon.
According to the National Weather Service in San Diego, the significant snowfall totals included 5 feet to Snow Valley, 57 inches to Bear Mountain Snow Summit, 50 to 55 inches to Wrightwood Acorn Canyon, 45 inches to Green Valley Lake, 38 inches to Mount Baldy, and 36 inches to Lake Arrowhead.
In addition, heavy rainfall brought several inches of rain to the area, including more than 4 inches in Holy Jim Canyon, Lower Silverado Canyon and Henshaw Dam; more than three inches in La Jolla Amago, Costa Mesa, Mount Woodson and Carlsbad Airport; and more than two inches to John Wayne Airport, Escondido, San Bernardino and Temecula, according to the service’s 5-day rainfall reports.
The precipitation came as a rare blizzard warning was in effect for parts of southern California and the Los Angeles region, spawning unfamiliar wintry conditions at higher elevations.
The storm made for dangerous travel conditions in some areas. In Los Padres National Forest, State Route 33 was closed due to rock slides and erosion from this and previous storms, according to video from the California Department of Transportation.
Lynda Sandoval and her husband, who live in Frazier Park, about 65 miles northwest of LA, have been unable to leave their home since Friday, Sandoval told CNN. Heavy snow created dangerous driving conditions in the area and officials have closed sections of Interstate 5.
She told CNN she prepared for the snowstorm and has enough food to last her a few days but is shocked by how much snow has fallen in the area.
“I never have seen this much snow living up here. Neighbors that have been here longer than us said the last snow related to this was back in 2011 but not this severe,” Sandoval said. “It took over 4 hours to get our truck out yesterday and all our neighbors are shoveling snow whenever there is a break. The community up here is amazing with neighbors helping neighbors during this time. They’re sharing groceries and shoveling snow in driveways.”
The same storm system is moving east and is expected to produce a significant damaging wind event across the central US on Sunday. More than 20 million people are under the threat of severe storms Sunday from western Texas to Illinois, including Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Kansas City, Fort Worth, and St. Louis.
Meanwhile, a new winter storm is set to bring more rain and snow to the western US, starting with the Pacific Northwest on Sunday.
More than a foot of snow is possible with the system across the Sierras and Cascades. A second system will be right on the first’s heels, pushing inland across the Pacific Northwest tonight bringing even more snow.
An additional 1 to 2 feet of snow is possible across the Cascades, Sierras, and Rockies through Tuesday. Isolated areas of the Sierras could see up to 3 feet.
The snowstorms will create dangerous or impossible travel conditions across the western mountain ranges through the beginning of this week.
The Health Minister, Kwaku Agyeman Manu, is scheduled to appear before Parliament on March 1, 2023, to brief the house on steps being taken to address the country’s shortage of childhood vaccines.
This would come after his meeting with Parliament’s Health Committee and other agency heads on Tuesday to answer questions about the country’s current vaccine shortage.
The Northern Region and other parts of the country have been experiencing vaccine shortages for several months, with no solution in place.
“The Minister for Health has been programmed to brief the house on matters of vaccines and the briefing will be held on Wednesday, March 1.“
Analysts have warned, Ghana may have an outbreak of childhood diseases if immediate steps are not taken to procure vaccines for immunizing children.
The Paediatric Society of Ghana for example added to this caution on the back of reports of vaccine shortages nationwide.
According to the Paediatric Society of Ghana, the reports are just the tip of the iceberg since more facilities are recording an outbreak of measles.
120 cases of measles were recorded in the Northern Region by end of December 2022 due to the shortage of essential vaccines.
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has acknowledged the vaccine shortages and attributed the situation to the free fall of the cedi against major trading currencies, especially the dollar.
Under the routine vaccination programme, Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG), a vaccine for tuberculosis (TB) disease; oral polio vaccine 0 (OPV); Measles-Rubella; Meningitis and Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough) are administered.
Vaccines against polio, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenza type B (DPT/Hep B/ Hib 1) and six infectious diseases that are particularly dangerous to babies are also among those administered.
Ghanaian afro-pop musician Sister Afia has revealed that she is at loggerheads with female socialite cum actress Efia Odo.
According to her, the latter had repeatedly called her names which are unprintable and had also body-shamed her at a point.
Sista Afia contends that she cannot pretend in the public space to be cool with Efia Odo while they are at odds.
Speaking in an interview with Neat FM on February 24, 2023, she said “I mean if somebody gives me money right now to go around and beat her, I will do it. I’m just kidding (laughs).
“I mean it is what it is…I mean everybody knows that we don’t like each other.
“She has called me a hypocrite, she has called me ugly, she has done all these things so many times…I mean she has body-shamed me so many times.
“When I say I don’t like this person or nothing positive is going to come from her name, people should understand it…I mean in both ways nobody likes each other.
It may be recalled thatEfia Odo on United Showbiz said thatSista Afia is irrelevant and for that matter, she doesn’t care about her. In contrast, Sister also describedEfia Odo as non-talented in an interview with Zionfelix, stating that she would not listen to any of her music.
A rainstorm and whirlwind have caused extensive damage to the mill and factory of HGL Limited, one of Ghana’s fastest growing rice producers based in the Adaklu district of the Volta Region.
The storm hit the mill on Saturday, February 25, 2023 at about 5pm. It caused severe damage to the structure housing the mill, ripped off its roofs and destroyed some of the machinery of the company that produces the Gogo rice brand and toppled a combined harvester.
General Manager of HGL, Cyril Klutsey, says he was shocked by the extent of damage because the four-year structure had been built to exacting international standards.
“When the storm hit, we thought it was one of those regular storms this factory had been able to withstand in the years gone by. We’ve been through many of those,” he said. “But by the time it was over, we came here to see the devastation caused and we were all shocked.
Much as we are saddened by the destruction of the mill, we are grateful that none of our team members was hurt in this incident.”
HGL has been in operation since 2020, cultivating its own crops and sourcing rice from farmers and co-operatives in the Volta Region for milling in its ultra-modern factory. Mr. Klutsey says the company will need to take urgent steps to repair the damage so the company can continue production.
“This is going to cost a lot of money to fix. But we need to ensure the mill is repaired within the shortest possible time so that we can produce our well-loved Gogo jasmine rice to our loyal clientele and to also make sure that those whose livelihoods depend on this mill do not suffer unduly.”
Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has received presidential results from various parts of the country and counting is currently underway in Lagos.
Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, a member of parliament for the Western Region’s Juaboso Constituency, has blasted Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s administration for focusing on the wrong issues.
The lawmaker stated in an interview with Neat FM on February 24, 2023, that the government is investing millions of cedis in the construction of the National Cathedral even though the Ghana Health Service has reported a shortage of standard childhood vaccination vaccines, which he claims demonstrates a complete lack of priorities.
Why must we wait until there is a shortage of the vaccine before announcing that there won’t be any immunisations available for around six, two, or three months?
“Sometimes when you hear things like this and if you don’t take care you might end up saying something that will bring issues. It is very serious, first; it was in only the Northern part of the country (vaccines shortage), and now it is getting all over the country.
“What I want to assure everyone is that when we are talking about a global pandemic or disease, we all need to be worried and concerned.
“Sometimes it is very sad, the kind of life that we expect, you don’t have vaccines but you’re saying you want to build a Cathedral.
“Does it make sense? Are we human beings? the children of this country are dying and you’re saying you want to build Cathedral,” he lamented.
He continued by saying that the government must take proactive steps to meet all of the needs of the health sector. He also said Parliament’s committee on health will ensure that they handle all national health issues.
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has assured that the routine child immunisation vaccine would be available in two weeks.
The Director-General of GHS, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye explained that efforts are underway to restock the vaccines in an interview with Citi FM.
Parliament’s peaker, Alban Bagbin, has highlighted that brains, not brawns, belong in Parliament House.
He pleaded with members not to let their physical prowess in the House trump their intellectual prowess.
Alban Bagbin urged lawmakers to continue to jaw-jaw in politeness.
On February 24, 2023, he addressed the parliament, saying, “Leadership, yourselves must demonstrate the way and I am sure your members would follow your good example…
The House is a place for intellect, not for strength. A brawl has no place on the floor of the august House; it belongs in another arena.
“Please let’s continue to jaw-jaw in decency. There are some exceptions, but it should not be the rule that every day the heat is being generated rather from Parliament, but not from actions outside Parliament,” he added.
His comment comes on the back of a brawl in parliament in December 2021 over talks on E-Levy.
During a late-night session in December 2021, some MPs were seen pushing and throwing punches at each other.
This was after the opposition MPs rushed forward to prevent the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu, otherwise known as Joe Wise from leaving his seat to vote.
Meanwhile, parliament has remained in deadlock as parliamentarians hold diverse views on the proposed Constitutional Instrument by the Electoral Commission (EC) to undertake continuous registration of eligible voters.
On Thursday, February 24, 2023, the House was forced to adjourn the meeting after the Minority in parliament protested, demanding the Chairperson of EC, Jean Mensa, to appear in person to brief the House on the proposed Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations 2023.
The Electoral Commission was represented by the Deputy Chairman in charge of Corporate Services, Dr. Bossman Asare and Director of Elections, Dr. Serebour Quaicoe at the meeting.
Summons
“When the sitting was finally resumed at 8:07 p.m., Speaker Bagbin took the Chair and summoned the Chairperson of the EC, Executive Secretary of the NIA to appear in the House in response to the concerns raised at the Committee of the Whole,” Daily Guide reported.
“They are to brief MPs as soon as possible on the proposed Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations, 2023, as well as the status of the Ghana Card registration,” it added.
According to Dr. Kwame Asah Asante, a senior lecturer at the University of Ghana‘s (UG) Political Science Department, there are violations of the law in the nation.
The launch of the 30th Anniversary Celebration of Parliamentary Democracy by Parliament precedes this.
Minority leader Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson urged legislators to be aware of the damaging impressions their acts leave on the minds of the public while speaking on the House floor.
According to him, military interventions are not in the interest of national progress and thus conscious efforts should be made to keep them out of the governance process.
The Suame MP demanded some changes to the constitution to respond to current realities.
Commenting on the anniversary on Starr FM, Mr. Asante stated Ghana has done marvelously well with rule of law ever since the introduction of democracy.
But he however pointed out that there are infractions with the laws governing the nation.
“The law is working but I must also admit that there are infractions that we have experienced over the years and continue to experience. But that doesn’t undermine what we have done in terms of rule of law. Generally speaking, rule of law is working but we know there are problems related to that. Evidence of that can be seen at USA department human right report captures some of these things,” he explained.
He also lauded Ghana’s electoral development since attaining democracy.
According to Mr. Asante, government has attained several achievements ever since the nation stated democracy with infrastructure development, law enforcement and other aspects of the economy.
“When you talk about democracy, any meaningful democracy we are talking about free and fair elections. And we have seen over the years how far we have come. Apart from the 1992 election which was marred with controversies. Subsequent elections have proved to be free and fair and that is a feather in our cap. We have done well by improving the democratic credentials through our electoral system. Electoral processes moving from opaque ballot box to transparent ballot box. To all the things we can talk about including the devices we use in elections. So far so good in that direction,” Mr. Asante stated.
He added, “That is not to say everything is 100 percent correct, we have seen incidents of rigging, very little can be said about that. Incident of vote buying and the rest of them. But the good news is that this country has taken the trouble to meet this thing. And I will give credit to civil service societies, individuals, groups and the state itself. The conscious effort to rig the political system of these evils that try to reveal their ugly heads in the political system.”
The New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) flagbearer candidate Alan Kyerematen has said he has a better chance of ending the eight-year trend for his party.
According to Alan Kyerematen, the NPP required a candidate who is popular with the general public in order to break the party’s eight-year power chain given the country’s current economic difficulties.
Finding a leader who has a record that exceeds that of the NPP is, in my opinion, the most challenging task facing our party as we prepare for the general election. We require a candidate who can appeal to the entire Ghanaian populace, not only the NPP, he stated.
The flag bearer hopeful said this during a visit to the Upper East Region when he met with party executives, the clergy, traders, drivers, and supporters of the NPP.
Alan Kyerematen stated that winning an election in Ghana goes beyond political party and added that the individual leading the party must be appealing to the masses, “I think I fit the bill not just because I have been in this game for some time, but my appeal cut across political parties, religion and ethnic divide.”
The former Trade and Industry Minister who also spoke on URA Radio in Bolgatanga as part of his campaign tour to the region said his vision about transforming Ghana that started about 22 years ago could have fetched the country not less than 50 billion dollars (about $150 per person in the US) every year if the vision had been continued.
“So, you can imagine the transformation that would have occurred from that time up to now. As a country, it is time for you to have a new leader that understands business and understands how to move the private sector and support the productive sectors of our economy,” he added.
Under his leadership as Trade and Industry Minister, Alan Kyerematen said with support from the private sector, over 296 factories were established in different districts across the country in the past three and half years of the establishment of the government’s flagship policy ‘one district, and factory’.
“Two years ago, when I started talking about producing and assembling cars here in Ghana, people were not so sure. But to the glory of God, now we have all the major global auto companies assembling cars here in Ghana. Volkswagen, VW, Toyota, Nissan, Kia, Hyundai, and very soon, Isuzu, Honda. All these things could not happen by chance but the result of a big vision and that is what you need as a leader,” he stated
Every community supplied by feeders BRYF2, BRBF1, BRBF2, BRBF3, and BRYFI from the Berekum sub-station has been impacted by the daily two and a half hour load control exercise.
The exercise will have an impact on parts of Berekum and its surroundings, Drobo, Sampa, a portion of Dormaa Ahenkro, Wamfie, and Seikwa.
The load-shedding exercise which began on February 17, 2023, is scheduled to end on Thursday February 24, 2023, subject to a review by NEDCo.
According to the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo), the load management programme is due to a capacity challenge it is experiencing at the Berekum substation.
“The Management of NEDCo regrets to inform the General Public, especially its cherished customers served from the Berekum Sub-Station that due to some technical glitches experienced at both GRIDCo and NEDCo ends, it has become necessary to implement a temporal load management programme between 7:00 pm and 9:30 pm every evening from today, February 17, 2023, for the next two weeks after which the situation will be reviewed and the public advised accordingly”.
NEDCo however has assured that it is working assiduously to address the capacity challenge and has appealed to the people in the affected areas to exercise some level of restraint.
“The two institutions; GRIDCo and NEDCo are collaborating feverishly to restore normalcy so we crave your patience, understanding, and prayers”.
Meanwhile, some residents in the affected areas have urged NEDCo to fix the problem once and for all since power fluctuation in the area is increasingly becoming annoying and affecting several businesses as well.
“The outages have become a nuisance so we are urging them to up their game and rectify whichever problem is there”.
Nana Akosua Frimpomaa Sarpong Kumankumah, the chairperson of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP), has urged Ghanaians to vote for CPP in the future general elections in 2024.
She claimed that using Dr. Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah’s 1960 seven-year development strategy—which she thinks is still valid today—the party is better positioned to address Ghana’s difficulties.
She claimed that neither the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) nor the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have anything to offer Ghanaians, and for that matter, they need to be voted out in the upcoming elections, at the news conference held in Accra on Friday, April 24, 2023 to mark the 57th anniversary of the overthrow of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and the CPP government.
“The duopoly cannot solve the problems. It is no magic, it is a formula, and as I said, success is duplicable. It is cut and paste. Once it’s working, cut and paste it…political independence without economic independence is meaningless, and that is what we are experiencing today,” she said.
Nana Akosua Kumankumah added that the NPP and opposition NDC had shown over the years that, they did not have what was needed to deliver the development Ghanaians desired.
“The leadership is not supposed to be blamed. It is we, the Ghanaians, that need to be blamed because if they would have done it, they would have done it by now,” the chairperson added.
John Dramani Mahama stands to gain nothing if he is not given the chance to head the NDC in the election of 2024, according to National Democratic Congress (NDC) member Kwasi Ofori Agyemang, commonly known as Zuba.
He thinks John Dramani Mahama has made significant contributions to society during his career, and the NDC will suffer immensely if the party does not triumph in the upcoming general elections on the strength of the former president’s standing and credentials.
Speaking on EIB Networks English platform in Kumasi monitored by MyNewsGh.com, Zuba noted the establishment within the party will make everything possible to get Mahama elected in its upcoming presidential primaries.
“Within the Ghanaian society when the establishment wants to go left, and you decide to go right you might not see yourself well. The (NDC) establishment is for Mahama,” Zuba said.
“The people who call the shots in NDC are all on Mahama’s side. NDC needs John Mahama more than he needs us, the NDC needs John Mahama more than he needs the party. If John Mahama is not on the ticket, he loses nothing, all the treatment that will be given to a president and I mean any president that comes same conditions of services goes to him”, he revealed
He is therefore urging the NDC not to make a mistake by not giving Mahama the opportunity to lead the party.
“We should not make a mistake by allowing just anybody to lead this great party to victory in 2024. It is Mahama or no other person,” he warned.
The 11 Mechanized Battalion of the Ghanan Military Forces, stationed in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region, has received a structural facility from the German Armed Forces Technical Advisory Group (GAFTAG).
The facility, which includes four dog kennels, a storeroom, a washroom, a kitchen, and restrooms among other amenities, was officially opened by Major-General Richard Gyane, Commandant of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center, with assistance from Brigadier General Matthew Essien, General Officer Commanding Northern Command, and Lieutenant Colonel Bernd Frei, Head of Mission GAFTAG.
A statement issued by the Public Relations Directorate, Ghana Army and signed by Naval Captain Micheal Addo Larbi, said the facility was completed and handed over on 17 February 202
A new vehicle was also handed over to the 11 Mechanised Dog Team to help facilitate their duties.
The commissioning ceremony was followed by two demonstrations with three Dog handlers from the Ghana Army.
The dogs successfully detected a C4 explosive substance that was hidden in bags, they also detected a weapon that had been fired and hidden in the bushes. The dogs were able to identify the explosive substance.
The dog handlers, also drawn from the 11 Mechanised Battalion, were trained at the Ghana National Dog Academy along with their assigned dogs.
Additionally, three soldiers from the 10 Mechanised Battalion are also undergoing the same training at the Academy that would end in December this year.
Dr. Bawumia, who was born in Tamale, undoubtedly knows a thing or two about ethnic dance.
The Vice President of Ghana was caught in the throng showing off his ethnic dance abilities while attending the final funeral rituals of his late mother, Hajia Mariama Bawumia, in Kpasenkpe in the North East Region.
Clad in a black and white fugu, Dr Bawumia, who caught the eye of the people gathered got some spraying him with cash while dancing.
It would be recalled that Dr Mahamudu Bawumia lost his mother to death on September 13, 2021.
Hajia Mariama Bawumia was a native of Kpasenkpe in the West Mamprusi district of the North East Region.
First wife of business magnate Dr. Kwaku Oteng has been seen posing in her husband’s exotic car-filled garage.
In a local newspaper “kaba and slit,” the wife of the founder of the Angel Group of Companies was photographed during a photo session where costly cars including Rolls Royces and Mercedes Benzes were on display.
Although it was unclear what the purpose of the photo shoot was, the attention was drawn to the customised cars, especially the Rolls Royce next to which she was standing.
Earlier at an event, Dr. Kwaku Oteng rained praises on his first wife while projecting her as a model, worthy of emulation.
Dr. Oteng made these statements at his wife’s lavish birthday party held recently in her honour.
“If I want to start talking about my wife, I won’t end now. I’d want every woman in Ghana to come for training from my wife. A respectful and empathetic wife who loves her husband. You won’t understand what I’m saying. Before, I had nothing. Things were extremely difficult for me. But she stood behind me.
“She sold rice and yam at a school in Mampongten. She had patience for me. She took care of the kids’ clothes and fees. If you look at her age, you’d know we didn’t start our journey now. We’ve been married for over 30 years. She is principled and speaks her mind. She doesn’t keep things in her heart,” Dr. Oteng stated in one of the viral videos from the event.
Professor Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah, the NIA’s executive secretary, revealed that roughly 3.5 million Ghana Cards were kept in a bonded facility run by Identity Management Systems Limited.
He said that this is because the Authority’s budgetary limitations prevent it from paying off its existing debts.
Prof. Attafuah stated on Joy FM’s NewsFile show on Saturday, February 25, 2023 that his organisation has been experiencing financial issues since August 2022.
The Executive Secretary of NIA said, “Since about August of last year, we have experienced financial constraints in the system and it created a situation where even though we have 3.5 million stock of cards in a bonded warehouse, we are unable to assess the cards because of financial difficulty.”
Attafuah said about 2.5 million Ghana cards were yet to be printed for Ghanaians.
He, however, assured Ghanaians that all outstanding cards will be printed in six months as government was looking forward to settling their debts by Friday.
Attafuah also pointed out that as of Sunday, February 19, 2023, over 17 million people have been registered for Ghana Card.
The 2023 edition of the Aboakyer Festival of the chiefs and people of Effutu has been launched at Winneba, with a call on the citizenry to fully participate in the activities to spur growth and development.
The uniqueness of the festival, celebrated every first Saturday of May, is seen in its attraction of people from all walks of life to boost tourism.
During the festival, kinsmen and relations reaffirm their commitment to their lineages while friends and families reunite and strengthen their bond to ensure peaceful coexistence.
Neenyi Ghartey VII, the Paramount Chief of Effutu Traditional Area, launched the festival, on the theme: “Your Participation makes a Difference for Development.”
It is expected to commence on Saturday, April 29, with a tree planting exercise at the hunting grounds, a marathon race later in the afternoon and a gospel musical night on Sunday, April 30.
On Monday, May 1, there will be general sanitation activities, Tuesday, May 2, Health walk /Regatta/Tug-or-War and on Wednesday, May 3, Football tournament/ Ampe and Food competition.
Neenyi Ghartey who is also the President of Effutu Traditional Council applauded the Asafo groups for their comportment and cooperation over the years and urged them to continue the same.
He commended the Aboakyer Planning Committee for their sacrifices, dedication and hard work and for their resolve to protect and uplift the image of the festival.
He commended the police for their commitment and urged them to apprehend lawbreakers before, during and after the festival to ensure peace.
He reminded the media that in their quest to showcase the cultural values of Effutuman they must exercise circumspection in their reportage.
Alhaji Zubairu Kassim, Effutu Municipal Chief Executive, in a message delivered on his behalf, assured of the Assembly’s continuous support to the Traditional Council for a peaceful and successful festival.
According to a police statement obtained on Facebook and seen by GhanaWeb, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Amoah was discovered in the Central Region and has since been turned over to the military.
The service announced that it will begin an investigation to ascertain the facts behind the military man’s disappearance.
“The Police have found Lt. Col. Peter Amoah, the military officer who was reported missing on 25th February 2023. The officer was found by the police in the Central Region,” part of the statement read.
“He has since been handed over to the Military while Police investigation continues to determine the circumstances under which he went missing,” added.
It was earlier reported by the Director General of Public Relations of the Ghana Armed Forces, E Aggrey Quashie, that Lieutenant Colonel Peter Amoah was last seen on February 23, 2023.
He went missing at about 1530 hours in the general area of Burma Camp.
Some Nigerians and Twitter users have gone hard on Nigerian superstar Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun who is popularly known asWizkid as they dig out an old tweet he made during the EndSars.
Recall that during the EndSARS in 2020, the singer added his voice to the issue stating that they will exhibit actual power and that was by voting the right and capable person into power.
However, many Nigerians and social media users have been expecting to hear the singer come out to declare his political stance or participate in the ongoing presidential and national assembly elections which took place on Saturday, February 25, but nothing was heard about him.
This infuriated Nigerians as they dug out the old tweet made by Wizkid while raining insults on him.
Read the tweets below:
Yingi_d_artiste: “But he has shown real power ???? abi silence is no longer Golden?!”
iam_victorobi: “I unfollowed all those selfish peeps already”
thatgirl_kiki1: “Leave him alone! Tf”
manniexoo: “Wizzy na normal munshi, e nor get level”
enviableresources: “Nobody would be speared in this fight for our freedom”
fhavour_agueze: “Na Una wey dey send this guy I blame”
nembe_boy: “Make una shut up. We de FC and 30BGs are sensible enough to vote Obi. Make una leave these men.”
betina_unusual: “The so insulted rappers in Nigeria came out to vote while the person who was insulting them is in another man country playing drums and it not only him most of them from music industry to Nollywood just few came out The question is are not citizens of Nigeria again.”
Germany asserts that it is ready and eager to assist Ghana in getting its debts reduced, but emphasises that it will only do so if Ghana’s leadership cleans house first.
On Friday, February 3, 2023, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo urged Germany to “push” China, an ad hoc member of the Paris Club, to help Ghana’s debt restructuring initiatives.
In order to support the initiatives that would enable Ghana to resume economic recovery, he said it was imperative that the Paris Club quickly set up a creditors committee with the participation of other official creditors.
The Ghanaian leader made the call when the visiting German Finance Minister, Christian Lindner, called on him at the Jubilee House, Accra.
Linden, who led a delegation from his country, held bilateral talks with the President aimed at boosting relations and economic ties between the two nations.
President Akufo-Addo told the minister that the main concern for his government was to conclude negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), particularly at the Board Level and seal a deal with the Bretton Woods institution by mid-March this year.
“Our main concern right now is the arrangements that we are in the process of concluding with the IMF…and the specific assistance that will be useful to us and help us fast-track the process”.
“Our target is that by the middle of March, we should be before the Board for the full agreement. We have already taken one important step forward in concluding a staff-level agreement with the IMF and we are now looking to go the full haul in concluding the agreement. We are hoping that it will be done by the middle of March”.
“One of the steps towards that has been the domestic debt exchange programme that we are on, which fortunately, we have quite a lot of difficulties, has now been virtually concluded,” he stated.
However, President Akufo-Addo stressed that there was a vital need for other creditors to support the efforts that his government was undertaking to restructure both the external and domestic debts of the country, to enable the IMF deal to fall through quickly.
“We now have our relations with the Paris club and the common framework, and we are looking for as quickly as possible a creditor committee to be established, so we will have the body with whom we can engage to bring those discussions as quickly as possible”.
“We have good relations with China. We will like you to encourage China to participate in these programmes as quickly as possible…A very important consideration for us is the financial stability fund that has been promised us as one of the key outcomes of these negotiations and definitely once again, your voice in trying to bring that into being is something that we would appreciate very much,” President Akufo-Addo told Finance Minister Lindner.
The President commended the German government for extending support to Ghana to enable her to overcome the current economic difficulties. He said the German government had proven to be a reliable ally and Ghana would continue to count on the European nation as “a privileged partner” as the country seeks a bailout from the IMF.
The IMF, last December reached a Staff-Level Agreement on a $3 billion, three years Extended Credit Facility with Ghana to relieve its debt.
Speaking with Accra-based Joy News on the president’s appeal to the German Finance Minister for debt relief help, as far as China is concerned,
German Ambassador to Ghana, Daniel Krull, said laid out some conditions that he said Ghana must first meet before his country could offer the requested assistance of convincing China to restructure or forgive Ghana $1.7 billion of the West African country’s total debt portfolio of $5.7 billion owed its bilateral partners.
Mr Krull said: “First of all, we insist that those measures that can be taken here in this country have to be taken”.
“The second condition is that; yes, we are willing to take our share of responsibility as one of the major bilateral donors to Ghana but only if all the others also join in this effort”, the ambassador pointed out, adsing: “And there is a multilateral framework that was set up exactly for these kinds of crises and we urge and try to convince all stakeholders in this process to stick to this agreed framework. It’s the G20 framework”.
Being more specific about the pre-conditions, Mr Krull outlined: “Let me point to three elements: the biggest loss maker in Ghana is the energy sector. In this sector alone, each year, GHS1.5 billion in new debt is piled up. So, if that is not solved and you can ask the IMF for $10 billion, you still will not solve the problem in the medium term”.
“So, there has to be an answer in Ghana to the 50% technical and non-technical losses in the energy sector”, Mr Krull notes, stressing: “If that is not resolved, I don’t see how we can make finding a sustainable solution for the financial problems of the country”.
“The second part”, the ambassador said, “is on the other side of the budget and that is the revenues”.
“Ghana has the lowest; one of the lowest tax-to-GDP ratios, not even 13%. So, we have been cooperating with the local authorities and setting up a very smart system of property tax collection”.
“So, I think that is an important way forward and this has to be done and processes and decision-making have to be faster to meet the goals, to be able to meet the targets that have been agreed with the IMF”.
The Ambassador also said he is “still amazed on the procedures for how the budget is set up and how difficult it is to get an understanding of how this all works”.
“And, I think that is something that has to be [improved]. He is, however, confident that with the necessary political will, new opportunities will be created to enhance economic growth”.
Kennedy Agyapong, a member of parliament representing Assin Central Constituency, has bemoaned the country’s high young unemployment rate’s detrimental impacts.
The lawmaker said that he often gets depressed when he contrasts the living circumstances of Ghanaian graduates with those of graduates abroad. He is seeking to be the flagbearer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).
On February 24, 2023, he claimed that despite the fact that all of his children who went to study overseas are now gainfully employed and leading comfortable lifestyles, he still feels bad about the living conditions of Ghanaian graduates who are unemployed and struggling in their own country.
“The most important thing is, how we are going to create jobs for the youth in this country, because I feel guilty that my children who are in America finish school and are gainfully employed. But here the youth finish university and has no job to do.
“Sometimes, for about six years then they’re still depending on their parents. I’m worried about those things because finishing school for about six years without work sometimes makes them give up on life,” he said.
He urged delegates of the NPP to vote for him in order to fulfil his dream of becoming president because he is prepared to create a large number of jobs for the youth.
“I have opened several companies as an individual businessman, I cannot employ all the graduates who have completed school. So, I have decided that I will come and change things if I become the president,” he added.
He made an argument for his desire to become president by saying that, in his capacity as an MP he generated countless opportunities from which people are profiting and that, should he be elected president, he would take drastic efforts to reduce poverty.
