Pupils in Primary 4 are expected to write the National Standardised Test (NST) today, December 16, 2022, across the country.
The NST is conducted by the Ghana Education Service (GES) in collaboration with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) and the West African Examinations Council (WAEC)
The NST aims at improving learning outcomes for primary two, four, and six pupils in public schools.
The test, however, was scheduled for Thursday, December 15, but has been postponed to Friday, December 16.
But in a letter by the Director of the Division of Schools and Instructions of Ghana Education Service (GES), Patty Assan instructed all regional directors of education on Wednesday, December 14, to vacate after the exams, delaying the vacation date of public schools as a result.
Initially, all basic schools were originally scheduled to vacate on Thursday, December 11, 2022.
“This is to enable the Primary Four (P4) pupils to write the National Standardised Test on Friday, December 16, 2022,” the letter read.
Meanwhile, the reopening date for public schools remains Tuesday, January 10, 2023.
“By this letter, Regional Directors are kindly requested to communicate this information to the Metro/Municipal/District Directors of Education to inform all Heads of Basic Schools to take note and act accordingly,” the letter said.
The first edition of the national assessment was written on December 17, 2202.
According to the Ghana Education Service, the national test will enable the Ministry of Education to generate data on the performance of pupils in English and mathematics.
In addition to improving learning outcomes for pupils, NST will reduce the issue of learning poverty in the country.
The test is not meant to grade pupils in primary four, but to improve teaching and learning in the basic schools across the country, the ministry said.
There were 2,850 examination centres with 200 pupils per centre. Also, 15,391 schools participated last year.
The Colombo to Badulla railway is so enchantingly beautiful that it’s become a bucket list adventure for many visitors.
I was woken by the long, forlorn sound of the siren. The brakes hissed and screeched as our train chugged up the hill and pulled into Radella, a station along one of the most beautiful train journeys in the world: the Colombo to Badulla railway.
“The journey is so enthralling that you don’t want to take your head out of the window,” said Dayawathie Ekanayake, who has travelled extensively by train across the island during her career as a finance consultant. “It makes you feel constantly in awe. You wonder about what comes next – is it a waterfall? A stupa-like tea garden? Or is it mist-clouded peaks? You never know. You just have to keep looking.”
Since my first journey along this route seven years ago, I have returned numerous times, eagerly jumping off the train to explore towns and hamlets flanked by tea estates.
The 291km track takes in a mix of deep gorges, craggy cliffs, cascading falls, lakes and rivers from Sri Lanka’s west coast into its mountainous interior. It twists and turns through 46 tunnels, snaking past high montane canopy with bright red rhododendrons and wild ferns, a fragment of the native hill country forest cover left untouched by British colonisers.
On a bright day, sun-drenched hills stretch down to the glistening southern coastline from the train window as far as the eye can see.
The train journey has become an Instagram sensation in recent years (Credit: Mystockimages/Getty Images)
This slow, 10-hour long journey might be inconvenient for the modern-day traveller, but it’s so enchantingly scenic that it’s become a bucket list adventure for many visitors.
It’s not just the views that has travellers in awe. The train journey itself has become an Instagram sensation in recent years, with travel bloggers risking their lives to take photos of themselves hanging off the door as the train rumbles past rickety bridges (some of them have been criticised for their dramatic poses).
Yet, the journey is also tied to Sri Lanka’s colonial history and gives passengers a deeper understanding of the island-nation.
During British colonisation in the 19th Century, Sri Lanka was the third-largest coffee exporter in the world. As demand rose, it became expensive to ferry coffee on bullock carts from the central mountains to Colombo for shipment, especially with road conditions deteriorating during the monsoon months.
Estates had to therefore store their coffee for long periods of time, causing the quality and value to deteriorate. So British estate owners pushed for a rail system to transport coffee. In 1867, the British completed a railway from the city of Kandy in central Sri Lanka to the coastal city of Colombo.
“The British didn’t build railways to help locals travel,” explained Sanka Abeysinghe, naturalist at the luxury boutique hotel chain Teardrop Hotels, who also conducts railway hikes for resort guests. “They designed railways to transport estate produce.”
I boarded the train in Colombo, leaving the muggy heat and low country farmlands to slowly ascend towards the rocky mountains surrounding Kandy. Cutting through rugged terrain, the train climbed 426m over a 21km stretch, passing through 12 tunnels, hugging treacherous curves along the mountains and soaring above thick tropical jungle.
The cool, misty climate in Sri Lanka’s hill country creates the perfect conditions for growing tea (Credit: Anton Petrus/Getty Images)
After leaving Kandy, we passed fertile riverine valleys, and entered Sri Lanka’s hill country. Tea flourishes in these damp, wet highlands, so, “when tea became prominent, after the coffee rust epidemic – a fungi disease that hindered the coffee trade [in 1869] – the British wanted to extend the railways to transport tea from the mountains to Colombo,” Abeysinghe explained.
In the 1870s, the British began to expand the railway from Peradeniya, a railway junction near Kandy, extending the route to the terminal station Badulla in 1924. This 178km-long stretch involved navigating through rainy, forested mountains, steep ridges and a series of sharp twists and turns by building an impressive mix of bridges, viaducts, tunnels and embankments. It took 52 years to complete.
We pushed out of the mountains, and over the next three hours we passed small and well-kept British-era railway stations like Galboda and Watawala, which were built solely for the purpose of transporting tea from each estate.
We sluggishly ascended past Hindu temples tucked in tea gardens, small housing settlements where the tea estate labourers live, and turpentine forests shrouded in swirling mist. Sometime after leaving Hatton – the gateway town to Adam’s Peak, a holy mountain for pilgrims of all faiths – we entered the Poolbank Tunnel, the longest of the 46 tunnels at more than half a kilometre in length.
“You cannot really see the light at the end of the tunnel here,” Abyesinghe said, chuckling.
At Nanu Oya, visitors can tour the plantations and learn about the history of tea on the island (Credit: Saiko3p//Getty Images)
From here, young passengers eagerly hung from the door to see the gushing cascades of the spectacular St Clair’s Falls through tea bushes. Cold air drifted in from the open windows and rising mist cloaked the towering Great Western mountain range.
Many passengers got off the train at Nanu Oya, a tea-country town where visitors can tour the plantations and learn about the history of tea on the island; but I stayed on board, climbing up to Pattipola, the highest broad gauge railway station in the world. From here, we finally left the cold central hills, travelling past dairy farms towards the sun-drenched south-eastern mountains.
After a couple of hours later, we pulled in at Ella. Over the last decade, this once-sleepy village has turned into a lively tourist hub with cafes and bars lining the streets and people posing for photos in front of the picturesque Nine Arch Bridge, a viaduct with nine arches that soars over tropical jungles of plantain trees and areca nut palms and has become one of the most photographed spots on the island.
Flanked by thick jungle and tea plantations, the bridge was designed by British engineer Harold Marwood, but according to folklore, it never would have been built were it not for local knowledge.
It’s said that during World War One, when it was difficult to source steel from Europe, British engineers had to rethink the bridge design. Since colonial rulers had little to no knowledge about local construction materials, a Sri Lankan builder chipped in to help. Locals completed the engineering marvel using only bricks, stone and cement.
Nine Arch Bridge is one of the most photographed spots in Sri Lanka (Credit: Nathan Mahendra)
Looking out of the train window, I gazed at the 90m-long viaduct rising through the trees, connecting Ella to the highland town of Demodara. The British also needed a way to manage the steep incline of the terrain from here. “The climb was too abrupt to handle for the engines,” Abeysinghe said.
Again, folklore gives credit to locals who found a way to solve the problem by creating a spiralling track. As we reached Demodara Loop, the train halted at Demodara for passengers to deboard, snaked around a hillock and re-appeared from a 134m-long tunnel right beneath the station.
According to legend, local engineer DW Wimalasurendra worked at the site and thought of this spiral design after seeing a kankami (a tea estate worker who manages South Indian labourers) tying and re-tying his turban. The cutting-edge engineering allowed the train to avoid the steep climb.
The spiral track at Demodara Loop is said to have been inspired by a worker tying and re-tying his turban (Credit: Pius99/Getty Images)
We were nearing the end of the journey, and the train slowly descended to the sleepy, terracotta-roofed town of Hali Ela to terminate at the city of Badulla in the lower central hills.
As we pulled into the station, I realised that despite having travelled extensively around the world, I’ve often felt happiest during this slow journey through my own country.
In many ways, as the train snakes past the century-old tea bushes, British stations and settlements of tea-estate communities, it quietly reveals the story of an island to those willing to put down their phones and look for it.
Policy think tank, African Education Watch, is advocating against the teacher trainee allowance.
Speaking at a roundtable discussion organised by the Citizen’s Coalition in Accra, the Executive Director of Africa Education Watch, Kofi Asare, said, the government should take into consideration scrapping the teacher trainee allowance as it embarks on debt restructuring policies to salvage the economy.
Describing the allowance as wasteful and needless, Mr Asarenoted that these students have the right to access student loans to fend for themselves, just like other tertiary students in the country.
He, thus, made a clarion call to the government to redirect funds allocated for the allowance into improving the working conditions of teachers in rural areas.
“I think the budget failed to appreciate that there is a certain wasteful expenditure that should leave the education space, especially teacher trainee allowance. The government has repeated that it intends to spend 241 in 2023 to feed adult trainees who are in tertiary education and have the right to access student loans just like other tertiary students.
“In austerity, the government must be cutting down on wasteful expenditure and spending more on the vulnerable, we also don’t see more enhanced spending on Free compulsory basic education,” Mr Asare said.
According to the association, scrapping the allowance will pose a great challenge to students, especially for those who cannot fend for themselves.
The allowance given to students by the government has been a much talked about policy and has come under severe public scrutiny.
The policy introduced in the 1960s was to entice more people into teacher training and thus the teaching profession.
It has been reported that teacher trainees receive GHS 400 as a monthly student allowance.
However, due to circumstances best known to the government, the payment of the allowances is sometimes delayed.
The government is reported to have defaulted on the payment of teacher trainees’ allowance for about 7 months.
Despite the challenges associated with the payment of the allowance, the government has pledged its commitment to paying the allowance.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Education, Kwasi Kwarteng, asserted that scrapping the allowance will not automatically fix problems in Ghana’s Education Service.
Are you ready to go back toTitanic? Get the inside story of the movie that made stars of Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. “I was a little bit obsessed there,” director James Cameron tells PEOPLE.
Leonardo DiCaprio was not looking to make a special effects-filled blockbuster. “I don’t like these gigantic, huge films,” said the actor when he was 22. Meanwhile Kate Winslet, 21, not only lobbied to land her part of Rose Dewitt Bukater in director James Cameron’s big project, a love story set aboard the doomed RMS Titanic, she also leaned on DiCaprio to take the one he’d been offered, Jack Dawson. Only after shooting was well underway did it become clear that neither had known what they were in for. “Nothing could have prepared me for it,” Winslet told Los Angeles Times in 1997.
To be fair, no one could have prepared for it, as Titanic‘s production was unlike any before, both in the scope of Cameron’s ambition and the cost and innovation needed to execute it. The mammoth effort involved 12 dives to the real Titanic wreck site, more than 450 computer-effects shots and multiple reproductions of the legendary ship, including one 90-percent-scale set constructed from 300 tons of steel. Along with much of the sprawling cast and crew, the film’s two stars would risk hypothermia in frigid water, and endure workdays that stretched to 20 hours. As production blew past deadlines and budgets, the Hollywood press predicted an expensive flop and compared the filmmakers’ hubris to that of the owners of the real RMS Titanic, who had promoted the luxury ocean liner as “unsinkable.”
And then the movie opened.
When Titanic finally made it to theaters in December, 1997, all those “sinking feeling” headlines started to evaporate. The movie held the No. 1 box office spot for 15 straight weeks and became the highest-grossing movie of all time (ultimately earning $2.2 billion)—a record it held until Cameron’s 2009 film Avatar. Then came the 14 Academy Award nominations, of which it won 11, including for Best Picture and Best Director. Not to mention its Oscar- and Grammy-Award-winning theme, “My Heart Will Go On,” sung by Celine Dion. Now PEOPLE is celebrating the epic film on its 25th anniversary with a new Titanic special edition, filled with a behind-the-scenes look at its making and legacy.
Filled with photos, including some rarely seen on-set images, the new issue illustrates the beauty of the recreated luxury ship, from the china in the first class dining room to its passengers’ glorious costumes. Also inside: How the stunning Heart of the Ocean necklace came to life and was auctioned to raise funds for one of Princess Diana’s charities.
Plus, in an exclusive interview writer-director Cameron talks about reuniting with Winslet for Avatar: The Way of Water, and his ongoing obsession with the RMS Titanic. Since he finished work on Titanic, he kept up with discoveries about the real ship and returned to the wreck site for several documentaries, notably 2003’s Ghosts of the Abyss, which he produced with actor Bill Paxton, who had played Titanic‘s fictional treasure hunter, Brock Lovett. A planned 2023 National Geographic doc will be his sixth.
“Yeah, I was a little bit obsessed there for a while,” Cameron tells PEOPLE. For now, he adds, “I’m not going back out to the wreck. I’ve done my investigation. We are putting all our data together with some of the other experts . . . to do a definitive publication on the marine forensics of the wreck.”
Burkina Faso summoned the Ghanaian ambassador on Friday morning for “explanations” after Ghana’s president alleged that Burkina Faso had hired the Russian mercenary group Wagner, Burkina Faso’s foreign ministry said.
Speaking to reporters alongside U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday, Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo alleged that Burkina Faso had hired the mercenaries.
“Today, Russian mercenaries are on our northern border. Burkina Faso has now entered into an arrangement to go along with Mali in employing the Wagner forces there,” Akufo-Addo said, adding that it was a distressing development for Ghana.
Akufo-Addo also alleged that Burkina Faso had offered Wagner a mine as payment.
In a statement issued after the meeting with the ambassador, Burkina Faso’s foreign ministry said it had “expressed disapproval” about the statements made by the Ghanaian president.
“Ghana could have undertaken exchanges with the Burkinabe authorities on the security issue in order to have the right information,” it said.
“Had any of those attempts happened, I would’ve missed the best part of my life,” said Tyler Perry as he opened up about previously trying to take his own life.
Tyler Perry is opening up about attempting to take his own life as he reacts to the death of Stephen “tWitch” Boss, who died by suicide.
tWitch, a former Ellen DeGeneres Show DJ and So You Think You Can Dance all-star, died at the age of 40, his wife Allison Holker Boss, 34, confirmed with PEOPLE on Wednesday.
In an Instagram video simply captioned “Life…”, Perry, 52, said, “I like the rest of the world am shocked by the death of Stephen Boss, tWitch.”
He added that the tragedy urged him to share a message “to any of you who are going through hard times, struggling.”
“I’ve only met him a couple of times,” the film director and actor said of the professional dancer. “He was always full of life, it seemed like, such a light.”
Reflecting on “dark” times he’s experienced in his own life, Perry continued, “With that said, I just want to take you back to a time in my life when I tried to commit suicide, a couple of times, because it was so dark I didn’t think it would get any better. I had endured so much pain, so much abuse, sexual abuse, it was all so hard to just move through that I thought the only way to make this better was to end my life.”
“Had any of those attempts happened, I would’ve missed the best part of my life,” said Perry.
He went on to share a message for others who are “going through some things”, and urged them to contact someone for help.
“I know it may seem like there’s no hope, but please reach out to someone … call, ask for help if you are dealing with anything that is emotionally taking you to a place where you think you want to end your life.”
Perry continued the video by revealing a lesson he learned when he was at his lowest.
“What I realize now, looking back on all those dark times is, sometimes the pain is a buy-in. I know that’s hard to understand. Not all the time — sometimes — the pain is a buy-in. That’s the way I had to learn to look at it to get through it. What I mean by that is, all that pain, all that hell, all that struggle, if I had given up, if I had stopped, I wouldn’t have seen the better part of my life. I was buying into something, I was paying for something.”
Added Perry: “I know that doesn’t make sense to a lot of people but for me, it was the way I was able to rationalize it, to be able to move through the pain, knowing that if I could just get through this moment, there’s got to be something better.”
Xandy who described her ex-lover as bitter, broke, and stubborn-proud warns him to desist from speaking English.
According to Kamel, King’s English is so bad to an extent that, anytime he attempts expressing himself in English, she can’t hold her laughter.
She advised him to consider communicating in the local language rather than disgracing himself with English.
Xandy Kamel and Kaninja have been on each other’s throat since their divorce. The once upon a time lovebirds are now fierce rivals throwing subliminal jabs at each other at every given opportunity.
Nana Kwaku Mensah who goes by the name, King Kaninja got married to Xandy Kamel on the 14th of May, 2020. Unfortunately, their relationship couldn’t last as expected. They separated in 2021.
The General Secretary of the largest opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah popularly known as General Mosquito has confirmed that the content of a leaked audio making the rounds are comments he actually made.
In the leaked audio recording, Asiedu Nketia, who was addressing some party executives said: “When we were doing the collation, the system you (Chairman Ofosu Ampofo) brought saying it is robust and strong, when we collated five Regions; we are told it has crashed. This is the truth. So, when we decided to the court, we agreed to do manual collation. So, we gathered some people to collect the pick sheets and our Chairman sat on the Collation Committee that he will handle the collation. He went for some University people who did some shoddy work. When the time was up for me to stand in the dock, the results that they gave me if I use it to defend the case, I will be disgraced so we couldn’t send those results to the court.
“They then said we should go to lawyer Tsikata. So we carried all the documents and presented them to lawyer Tsikata. These are things we shouldn’t be saying publicly. When we gave them to him and in the next morning, after he had perused them, he replied us saying take back your grasscutter. If these are the things you are sending to the court, go and look for your lawyer because I can’t do this work. This is why when we went to court and they said where are my results, I replied that I didn’t bring any results. I believe you heard that; I don’t know how to lie. I am saying if I become the Chairman, all this nonsense will not happen,” General Mosquito added in the leaked audio recording.
Speaking on Peace FM’, General Mosquito who is contesting for the General Secretary position of the NDC said he was even surprised they described people are describing it as leaked.
“It is me, it is not a doctored tape . . . I spoke on more than five platforms on the same subject, all I said are true . . . when I heard it was a leaked tape I didn’t even understand it, how can a public statement be a leaked one? . . . ” he told host of the ‘kokrokoo’ show Kwami Sefa Kayi.
On Sunday, the YouTube channel “Kraken The Box” operated by an 11-year-old boy named Kori shared a personal video that Depp, 59, recently sent in collaboration with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. In the clip, the actor reprised his role from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
“So, Capt. Kori, terribly sorry I missed out on this. Meant to say it, forgot to say it, didn’t say it, gonna say it now. Saying it, I’ll say it,” Depp said in the video, which shows him wearing Jack Sparrow’s costume, headscarf, tattoos and all. “I hear tell of something they speak about in the ages of now called the YouTube channel, which I don’t understand, but why not?”
Depp goes on to say he “shall be glad to follow your YouTube channel and I shall tell all my friends to follow your Youtube channel.”
Kori’s YouTube account has gained 176,000 subscribers since the page was created on Nov. 28, largely featuring pirate-themed videos.
“I think will make for a wonderful entertainment expertise momentary lapse of togetherness altogether in one space, but far apart, but then, at the same time, very close,” Depp — as the eccentric Jack Sparrow — said of the video sharing platform. “Curious, enduring and strange.”
“I wish you the best of luck. I am your No. 1 fan, Capt. Kori,” Depp said to finish the video as he blows a kiss to the camera.
A source close to Depp tells PEOPLE the actor was contacted by Make-A-Wish with “a timely ask,” as Kori is in palliative care after undergoing multiple heart surgeries.
Kori is a “massive” fan of Jack Sparrow and frequently watched the Pirates “during his multiple heart surgeries and subsequent recovery periods,” the source says.
In a separate YouTube video titled “THANK YOU FOR 1000 SUBS!” shared by Kori and his mother last Thursday, Kori’s mother confirmed that her son has received two heart transplants in his life and is currently in palliative care.
“So we are making the most of whatever time we have left by not going to school — bonus — not really doing any housework, living in our pajamas and just slumming it really,” she says in the video. “We’re just kind of focusing on making life as good as we possibly can and having as much fun as we can when we can.”
Another video shared on Kori’s channel on Tuesday shows part of a video call between the boy and Depp, still in character as Jack Sparrow, in which the actor promises to officially name Kori “Capt. Kori.”
While Depp’s future with the Pirates franchise remains uncertain in the wake of his highly publicized defamation trial with ex-wife Amber Heard, the actor has a history of making charitable donations to hospitals and visiting with sick children dressed as Jack Sparrow. He earned an Oscar nomination for his character’s debut in 2003’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, and he last played the part in the 2017 fifth installment.
Those interested in learning more about the Make-A-Wish Foundation can do so on its website.
Professor William Baah-Boateng, an economist at the University of Ghana, has asked the Bank of Ghana to make sure that people who do not require dollars for trade or the payment of fees are denied access to the market.
He claims that these people are also responsible for the cedi’s depreciation.
And that is how it should be since the dollar is not accepted as payment in Ghana.
Dollars are kept by people as a store of value.
“And therefore, if the Bank of Ghana is able to strengthen that part and say that if you don’t have any dollar account, you don’t have anything about dollars and then you have your cedis and say I want to change my cedis into dollar when we know that you’re not an importer when we know that you’re not travelling, when we know that you’re not using it to pay fees, Central Bank should not allow that,” he is quoted by myjoonline.com.
He re-echoed that a unique means of identification must be enforced to reduce the speculative aspect of the cedi’s depreciation.
“And I think they can also go further as we have always said that going forward, the Central Bank should also make sure that people will not just walk into forex bureau and just change money as it were.
“They need to identify themselves with the Ghana card, with their passport, and that is the regulation that we talked about so that we don’t allow the market forces to determine anything as we have in the tomato market,” he said.
Actor, Lilwin, is the latest dad in town. Following the birth of his daughter, he has issued a stern warning to Ghanaian boys to stay away and resist any attempt to woo her. Failure according to him will incur his wrath.
He is filled with joy over the birth of his first daughter with his current wife, Maame Serwaa.
The new mother in a series of TikTok videos announced that they had welcomed their third child together who is a girl.
The popular Ghanaian actor who is a father to five sons in an Instagram post on Thursday, December 15 officially confirmed the latest addition to their family with a warning to all men.
“Ghana boys don’t try because am mad,” read the cation of a video that captured LilWin’s precious baby.
In May this year, LilWin shared photos from his customary marriage with Maame Serwaa.
The Kotoka Airport’s US$150 COVID-19 test fee is being reviewed.
Investing in the AIB
completion of ongoing projects at airports
Having been declared victorious in the December 7 presidential elections by the Electoral Commission chair, Jean Mensa, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, working through his appointees, must now tackle key issues in the aviation sector if the full benefits of air transport are to be realized in the next four years.
Undoubtedly, the re-setting up of the Ministry of Aviation which had been treated as an appendage of the Ministry of Transport as a stand-alone ministry has served the industry well. That decision and the ensuring appropriate budget allocation to the Ministry, has led to the mainstreaming of the sector.
In 2018, the aviation sector contributed US$ 2.5 billion to the country’s GDP. That notwithstanding, the following are the key issues that beg the attention of the President-elect:
Struggling CAA & Airports Company
The current pandemic has revealed in all it starkness the lack of financial buffer for the Ghana Airports Company Limited. The state-owned limited liability company has had to turn to central government for financial assistance to be able to pay salaries due to the massive drop in its aeronautical revenue—Airport Passenger Service Tax, aircraft parking fees etc.
The COVID-19 induced closure of the Kotoka International Airport for scheduled flights from March to September led to a drop of about 80 percent of GACL’s revenue within the period. Since the re-opening of the airport for international flights on September 1, airlines servicing the KIA have recorded low passenger throughput, with load factor ranging between 50-70 percent. Daily pre-COVID-19 frequencies have now been reduced mostly from 7x per week to 4x per week. It is now clear that the GACL must be assisted to scale up non-aeronautical revenue while the state may possibly look at increasing its working capital.
The aviation sector regulator, Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), has also seen its major income source severely impacted by the pandemic. It has also received assistance from central government to help with its overheads. However, the financial challenge it faces now needs to be addressed.
New ‘Ghana Airways
It has been the aspiration of successive governments to re-establish a home-based carrier that would once again fly the Ghanaian flag and give impetus to the aviation hub dream. Initial attempts at partnering some major international airlines did not work out. Currently, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed with EgyptAir to work with the Cairo-based airline in establishing the new airline. The immediate task at hand is to finalise the various shareholders agreements, approval by Cabinet and submission of the agreement to Parliament for scrutiny and approval before the 7th Parliament of the 4th Republic is dissolved in days.
Review of US$150 COVID-19 test charge at Kotoka Airport
Though the antigen test currently carried out on in-bound passengers has helped to contain the spread of the coronavirus in the country, it has greatly increased the cost of travel. As we approach the festive season, a lot more Ghanaians living abroad are expected to return home for Christmas. Though the GACL recently waived the cost for children aged 5-12years, there have still been calls for a reduction in the cost. Indeed, organisations such as the Consumer Protection Agency, Ghana Tourism Federation have made several calls for a review to no avail.
A review of the relatively expensive cost of the test should merit attention.
Resourcing the AIB
The work of the Accident Investigation Bureau will be imperative in reducing the annual accident costs attributed to general aviation in Ghana and the West Africa sub-region.
In recent times there have been major initiatives, such as infrastructural projects and systems enhancements, which combined with this legislation are gradually positioning the country at the heart of civil aviation in the sub-region.
The setting up of the bureau is also in readiness for Ghana’s upcoming International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) audit in 2021. However, the AIB must be well-resourced to efficiently carry out its mandate.
Completion of on-going airport projects
Completion of the Kumasi, Sunyani, Tamale and Cape Coast airports would be keenly awaited by residents, traders and hospitality industry players. Though works on Kumasi and Sunyani airports are nearing completion, it must be completed on time to open up these two main mid-Ghana cities. Tamale and Cape Coast airports should not escape attention.
One of Ghana’s young but fast-rising Ghanaian filmmaker, director, and writers, Kuukua Eshun, will headline a $1 billion project that is scouting for innovative youth on the African continent between the ages of 15 and 17 years.
The project, which is a partnership with Rise, a program that finds brilliant people who need opportunities while supporting them for life as they work to serve others, was developed by a former Google boss, Eric Schmidt, and his wife, Wendy, in 2019.
Creating Schmidt Futures, the mother body of Rise, the couple have been on a journey of identifying young talents who are working to solve difficult problems in society, regardless of which country they are from.
The Rise project also focuses on areas of science, innovation, technology, art, policy, community organizing, or any other interests in innovation.
Speaking to GhanaWeb about this honour, Kuukua Eshun said that she is excited because this aligns with her life aspirations to inspire generations through her work.
“I don’t just want to be successful. I want to use the gifts and talents God has given me to impact millions of people in my lifetime.
“Everything I have, everything I am, is because of those who will come after me. I am a vessel of love and light. I am so grateful for the woman I am becoming.
“True joy is being able to touch someone else’s life. I am grateful to be part of a project that is impacting so many lives across the world. Ghana, Africa, world… this is for you! This is a life-changing opportunity,” she said.
As of April 2022, Bloomberg Billionaires Index ranked the Schmidts as the 54th richest people in the world.
Rise, which operates as an initiative of Schmidt Futures and the Rhodes Trust, is looking for young people between the ages of 15 and 17 years, working to solve difficult problems in society.
Ghanaian filmmaker Kuukua Eshun selected to represent Africa on $1billion project to scout innovative youth.
Paramount Chief of the Ashanti Kingdom, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has vowed to deal with any sub chief in the area whose lands have been completely occupied by illegal miners.
The Asantehene stated during a general assembly of the Ashanti Regional House of Chiefs that all traditional leaders who are directly complicit in the region’s illegal mining activities must be questioned.
“Next year, any chief whose lands have been invaded will have to be summoned and questioned. If we visit your land, and it has been destroyed by ‘galamsey’ activities, we will question why you watched unconcerned for the lands and water bodies under your custody to be harmed. And if you’re unable to give valid reasons, we will sanction you so you learn a lesson and protect your land from the havoc,” he noted.
His comment was in response to an appeal by chiefs in the Ashanti Regionto be granted summoning powers to help in the fight against ‘galamsey.’
Addressing the House, Otumfuor, who was baffled by the rise of galamsey activities in the region, said that the chiefs shouldn’t stand by while unlawful mining activities devastate arable farmlands and water bodies.
He lamented the inability of the chiefs to control the canker and said that those who do not oppose illegal concessions have contributed to the never-ending struggle against “galamsey.”’
Illegal mining remains one of the biggest challenges the nation has had to deal with, despite various measures adopted by successive governments to curb the menace.
Ghana has, over the years, lost lots of its virgin forest, land resources, and water bodies to galamsey.
The current administration, led by President Akufo-Addo, launched the Operation Halt taskforce, also in an attempt to deal with galamsey.
However, little progress has been achieved due to the sea of corruption allegations against some members of the taskforce.
In a 2021 report aired by JoyNews, it was revealed that fully armed military officers provided protection to miners destroying the forest reserves of Manso in the Ashanti Region.
It is against this background that the Paramount Chief of Asante Mampong, Daasebere Osei Bonsu II, questioned the deployment of security forces to offer unauthorised protection to unlawful mining operations in several forest areas.
“Some chiefs are worried. They sometimes visit illegal mining sites and would see the miners being protected by the Military or Police. Who sent the Police or soldiers there? If you were to ask the Ashanti Regional Commander who deployed them there, he wouldn’t be able to substantiate their deployment. Why must this happen?,” the occupant of the Silver Stool of the Asante kingdom quizzed.
Meanwhile, the government this year launched a raid to clamp down on illegal miners. During a special operation conducted in September this year by the Operation Halt taskforce, 164 people were arrested.
Government has indicated that it will not relent in its efforts to deal with the canker.
The Environmental Service Providers Association (ESPA), an association of private waste management companies in the country, has called for an upward adjustment of waste collection fees.
The call follows the hikes in fuel prices.
Justifying the demand, in an interview, the Executive Secretary to the ESPA, Ama Ofori Antwi, explained that the recent hikes in the price of fuel has greatly affected them since their activities largely dwell on the use of fuel to transport the waste from the public to dumping sites.
The association has therefore indicated that their demand if heeded to will enable them run effectively and also serve the general public better.
“An upward review of sanitation fees is urgently needed if we are to maintain the gains made in our environmental sanitation over the years,” she said.
Apparently, the surge in fuel prices is not the only challenge the group is facing. Madam Ofori Antwi said members of her outfit have also been hit by the increase in the price of vehicular spare parts, which have also shot up recently following the depreciation of the Ghanaian cedi against major foreign currencies, particularly, the US dollar.
Stressing on the need for Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to consider their demand, Ms Ofori Antwi mentioned that the last time there was an adjustment in the price of waste collection and management fees was in 2014.
She proposed a review ranging from GH¢45 to 7,265 a month for all categories of clients.
Currently, the fees range from GH¢10 to GH¢110.
Slum areas pay GH¢10, third-class areas pay GH¢30, second-class areas pay GH¢70, and GH¢110 for first-class areas.
The realistic charge, however, is GH¢ 149.06 for first class, GH¢ 94.85 for second class, and GH¢ 30 for the residential category, as projected in 2021.
The fees for industrial and commercial zones are also expected to be reviewed and increased GH¢ 223.59 to GH¢ 6,605.95.
ESPA also insists the fees should be GH¢165, GH¢105, and GH¢45 for first, second, and third classes, respectively, while the range should be GH¢245 to GH¢7,265 a month for commercial and industrial regions.
Gambling addiction is a real thing, and in extreme cases, it can create some truly bizarre situations, like people running out of money and gambling themselves away.
An Indian man recently filed a bizarre petition with police in Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh, claiming that his wife and mother of two children had gambled away all their financial savings as well as herself. Apparently, the woman was addicted to a game called Ludo and often played with her landlord while her husband was away working as a migrant.
He would send her money regularly, but instead of saving it or buying things for the family, she gambled with the landlord until she lost it all.
One day, she became so desperate that she put herself on the line, and, after losing, moved in with the landlord as per their agreement, abandoning the children.
Charlize Theron On Being Honored With The Sherry Lansing Leadership Award | Women in Entertainment 2022.
The unidentified man told police that his wife, referred to only as ‘Renu’ by Indian media, lost all the money that he had sent her over the six months he spent working in Rajasthan’s Jaipur city, before upping the ante and losing herself to the landlord of the family’s rented house.
She lost and called her husband to let him know what had happened and that she was moving in with the landlord, as per their bet.
Upon hearing the weird news that his wife was a gambling addict who had lost herself to their landlord, the man left his job in Jaipur and came home to take care of his two kids and file a complaint with the local police.
“We are trying to get in touch with the man [the landlord] and will start an investigation as soon as we contact him,” police official Subodh Gautam told India Today.
Apparently, police assistance may be necessary, as the husband claims that he contacted his wife after she moved in with the landlord and tried to convince her to return home, but she is apparently committed to honoring her bet.
Mr. Hosi, who denounced the practice, claimed that when politicians are faced with reality after gaining power, the circumstance makes them appear awful in the eyes of the public.
According to him, politicians are forced to take certain actions in order to appease the voters, which ultimately hurts the economy.
“Politicians should stop telling voters that they will reduce fuel prices when they come to power,” he said.
Speaking on Accra-based NET FM, Senyo Hosi said instead of politicians promising voters that they would reduce fuel prices when they came to power, they should rather assure that they would abolish a specific tax component on fuel.
He recalled how ex-President John Agyekum Kufuor promised to reduce fuel prices when he was campaigning to come to power, but when he won and reality stared him in the face, he had to apologize to Ghanaians.
He argued that fuel is not like any commodity that Government of Ghana has control over, stressing that “crude oil is an international commodity and so politicians do not have control over its price in Ghana.”
The Food and Drug Authority (FDA) stated, “We want to take this opportunity to let the importers and manufacturers of food products know that the Food and Drugs Authority is well aware and goes around to do the market surveillance activities, and we will not spare anybody when we see that coming out with these tricks like this to deceive the consumer.”
The Authority says it will apply stiff punishment to anyone or group found culpable.
The move comes a day after the FDA directed the withdrawal of all batches of 16 brands of tomato paste from the market, saying the products were found to contain ingredients such as starch and colour (erythrosine) that were not indicated on the labels.
The products included Alyssa Tomato Paste, Aicha Tomato Paste, Shalom Tomato Paste, Mama and Papa Tomato Paste; Juliet Tomato Paste, Star-Time Tomato Paste and Daily Double Concentrated Tomato Paste.
The others are Prestige Tomato Paste, Roi Lion Double Concentrated Tomato Paste, Richese Tomato Paste, Green Garden Tomato Paste and Rococo Tomato Paste.
The Head of Food safety at FDA, Mr Roderick Dade Adjei, said on Tuesday that: “We want to take this opportunity to let the importers and manufacturers of food products to know that the Food and Drugs Authority is well aware and goes around to do the market surveillance activities, and we will not spare anybody when we see that coming out with these tricks like this to deceive the consumer.”
He explained that his outfit was surprised about how the 16 blacklisted brands of tomato paste got onto the market. “FDA does not know how the products got into the system and is still investigating how it got onto the market. We are still continuing with the investigation, the lab is working and if new names come up, we will let you know; that is why the statement is reflective, this will be continued… that is not the end of the list.”
Mr Dade Adjei mentioned that “there is a lot of mop up that the FDA does; we go on our market surveillance, we see a lot of things, we do just take them out and go after those who bring them in, it’s a bit of a challenge.”
He advised consumers and shop owners who come across the aforementioned products to alert the FDA.
A source tells PEOPLE that Stephen “tWitch” Boss and his wife Allison Holker Boss had “multiple shows, brand deals and projects in pre-production for 2023”
2023 was shaping up to be a busy year for Stephen “tWitch” Boss before his sudden death at age 40.
A source confirms to PEOPLE that Boss and his wife Allison Holker Boss had “multiple shows, brand deals and projects in pre-production for the upcoming year.”
“He was so excited about all of the projects he had coming up and was very involved day to day,” another insider shares with PEOPLE.
As for his role on SYTYCD, PEOPLE confirms that no decisions have been made about a 2023 season.
Sadly, Boss would never get to see any of his project come to fruition as he died by suicide on Tuesday. Allison confirmed the news in an exclusive statement with PEOPLE, where she also remembered how “Stephen lit up every room he stepped into.”
“He valued family, friends and community above all else and leading with love and light was everything to him,” Allison, 34, said. “He was the backbone of our family, the best husband and father, and an inspiration to his fans.”
“To say he left a legacy would be an understatement, and his positive impact will continue to be felt,” she continued. “I am certain there won’t be a day that goes by that we won’t honor his memory.”
Concluding her statement, Allison asked for privacy for their family and added a message for her husband: “Stephen, we love you, we miss you, and I will always save the last dance for you.”
In addition to Allison, Boss is survived by children Zaia, 3, Maddox, 6, and Weslie, 14.
Boss rose to fame as a contestant on MTV’s The Wade Robson Project before becoming a runner-up on Star Search. He later competed on So You Think You Can Dance in 2008, ending season 4 as a runner-up and later returning as an All-Star. He was a judge when the show returned in 2022.
In 2014, Boss joined The Ellen DeGeneres Show as a guest DJ. He eventually became a permanent fixture on the series and was elevated to co-executive producer status in 2020.
Reacting to the devastating news, Ellen DeGeneres penned a heartfelt message alongside a photo of the pair hugging.
“I’m heartbroken. tWitch was pure love and light,” she wrote on Instagram. “He was my family, and I loved him with all my heart. I will miss him. Please send your love and support to Allison and his beautiful children – Weslie, Maddox, and Zaia.”
President Akufo-Addo and his wife Rebecca Akufo-Addo both paid a courtesy call on the US President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden at the White House in Washington DC.
The President among over 40 African leaders attending the US-Africa Leaders’ summit hosted by Joe Biden.
Aside the crucial diplomatic, bilateral and multilateral meetings that the leaders had with the US government and other development partners, the African leaders were hosted to a dinner by the US president.
Photos shared on the President’s Facebook timeline shows the moment he arrived with Rebecca at the White House for the dinner as well as photos they took with Joe and Jill Biden.
Since Biden became president, Akufo-Addo has officially visited Washington but he was hosted by Vice President Kamala Harris.
The 2022 US-Africa’ Leaders summit started on the 13th of December and ends on the 15th. It is the second such gathering with the first hosted by Barack Obama, whose Vice President at the time was Joe Biden.
In 2014 when the Obama White House hosted African leaders, Ghana was represented by then President John Dramani Mahama who was accompanied by wife Lordina Mahama.
He claimed that one of the main factors contributing to the recent devaluation of the cedi and one for which the government and Bank of Ghana have taken action is dealing with speculation.
He pointed out that, “the dollar had strengthened against the other major foreign currencies, leading to the depreciation of the Yen, Pound and the Euro,” Palgrave Boakye-Danquah told Accra-based Original FM 91.9
He charged industries to increase their productive capacity to stimulate job creation, adding that “we cannot continue to be a nation of importers.”
Bloomberg has tagged the Ghana cedi as the best-performing currency against the US dollar this week.
After being compared to some 150 currencies across the globe, the cedi emerged as the best-performing currency against the dollar this week (for the past 5 days).
Africa Education Watchhas protested the budget allocation of GH¢1.8 billion made to the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) as stated in the 2023 budget statement presented to Parliament.
The core mandate of the GETFund is to provide funding to supplement government efforts for the provision of educational infrastructure and facilities within the public sector from the pre-tertiary to the tertiary level.
According to a petition submitted to Parliament by the Education Policy Research and Advocacy Organisation, the current allocation is scanty and won’t do enough to close the infrastructure gap in the education sector.
Eduwatch mentioned that there are over 5,000 schools existing under trees, sheds and dilapidated structures, while 1.2 million children are not in basic school, among others due to the lack of public basic schools in underserved communities.
“The widening infrastructure gap constricts the realisation of the objectives of the government’s free Compulsory Universal Basic Education under section 38(2) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
“It is therefore unfortunate to learn that, not only did the Finance Minister fail to uncap the GETFund, but this year’s allocation is the lowest percentage of accruals in the history of the Fund, raising questions about the legal basis for allocating only 39% of GETFund Levy accruals to the GETFund,” portions of the petition dated December 14 read.
The organisation is of the assertion that at least GH¢2.7 billion, representing 60% of the total 2022 GETFund Levy accruals of GH¢4.6 billion, should be allocated to the GETFund for 2023.
In view of the challenges highlighted above, has entreated Parliament to “reject the allocation and cause the Minister of Finance to review the weights applied in allocating the GETFund.”
This, the institution says, must be in line with the Earmarked Funds Capping and Realignment Act, 2017 (Act 947), and the increasing infrastructure gap in the education sector, especially basic education.
Eduwatch insists the Legislature must rectify the continuous decline in the allocation to the GETFund, despite a consistent increment in the GETFund Levy.
Sensational Ghanaian art BlackSheriff, has admitted that he approached Sarkodiefor a collaboration on his Jamz album.
A month ago in an interview on 3Music Daily, Sarkodie said that contrary to popular opinion, he hardly asks music acts, especially new ones, for collaborations. They rather request to have him on their songs, he clarified.
“Most of these records you hear me on that you think I’m jumping on somebody’s record, I never reach out to these people,” he stunned the 3Music Daily TV crew.
Nicknamed ‘Landlord’, stressed that: “If I want to do a song, it’s rare I’ll think, ‘Oh, this boy is the new hottest artiste I want to put him on’.”
To illustrate his point, he zoomed in on what would become his biggest song in 2022, a collaboration with Ghana’s new sensation Black Sherif.
“Big shouts to my superstar Blacko,” he said. “Blacko hit me up, last minute of this project: ‘Landlord, I have to be on ‘Jamz”. I said, ‘Pull up’.” He shrugged finishing his narration.
Social media reacted with mixed feelings, but mostly in disbelief.
Three days ago, in an episode of Afrobeats Podcast, Black Sherif, speaking to London-based Nigerian media personality Adesope Olajide, corroborated Sarkodie’s story.
“Sark had posted the flyer of the album. So I hit him up like: ‘Landlord, no, this album I have to be on it before it comes out’,” he said matter-of-factly.
He added that they had already planned to work on a song before Sarkodie went off to London and he to “some place” but that had not happened so when he called up Sarkodie, he jokingly said: “Landlord, you seem to be forgetting something.”
Without hesitation, he continued, Sarkodie asked him to come over to his residence to record and “so that weekend,” they got together to work.
“We made songs, like three songs,” he gestured the figure with his fingers. “‘Countryside’ was one of them.”
The 10-track ‘Jamz’ album was released on November 11, 2022. ‘Countryside’, an instant hit, is track 9 on the project.
At the time of this publication, it is the third most popular song in Ghana according to the Apple Music Ghana Top 100. The highest position for the song has been number one. It’s also been in the top 5 position since release.
FIFA awarded Morocco on Friday the hosting rights for the upcoming Club World Cup, which will take place in February and grow to 32 teams in 2025.
From February 1 through 11, the usual seven-team competition will feature Real Madrid, the European champion, Flamengo, the South American champion, and Seattle Sounders, the first American team to win the CONCACAF Champions League.
After Morocco’s inspiring run to the World Cup semifinals in Qatar, the country will now stage the next global soccer event in six weeks’ time, FIFA’s ruling council decided.
It will be one of the last seven-team editions for continental champions with an expanded, month-long tournament planned to start in 2025.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said the intended change was “making it really like a World Cup.”
In Morocco, Casablanca should stage games with the city set to provide two teams in the 10-day competition, which features continental champions from each of the six confederations in world soccer.
Wydad won Africa’s Champions League last season and also the Moroccan league. The place FIFA reserves for the host nation’s domestic champion should revert to league runner-up Raja. Both teams are based in Casablanca, where the 67,000-seat Stade Mohammed V is the likely venue for some of the eight Club World Cup games.
Morocco also hosted Club World Cups in 2013 and 2014, which were won by Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, respectively
Only European and South American teams have won the Club World Cup since it was revived in the current format in 2005.
FIFA has long wanted to launch an expanded version with 24 or 32 teams in a tournament played in June.
A planned inaugural edition in 2021 in China was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, though no tournament format had been agreed nor broadcasters or sponsors signed.
A 2025 launch is now planned, Infantino said, promising talks with soccer stakeholders after the ruling council approved the principle Friday.
It could be hosted in the United States and serve as a test event for the 2026 World Cup, which is being hosted in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Dragan Stojkovi has made the short list for the open position coaching the Black Stars. Coach Otto Addo’s resignation on December 2nd left the Black Stars position open.
At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Serbia’s national football team was coached by Dragan Stojkovi.
Serbia was drawn into Group G with Brazil, Cameroon, and Switzerland. On November 24 in the opening game of group play, Serbia lost to Brazil 2-0 with Richarilson scoring two goals.
On November 28, Serbia faced Cameroon in the second game of group play and it ended 3-3. Switzerland defeated Serbia 3-2 on 2nd December in their last group game. Serbia finished 4th in Group G and was eliminated.
Dragan Stojković 57, preferred formation is 5-3-2, he previously managed Japanese side Nagoya Grampus from 2008 to 2013, and Chinese club Guangzhou R&F from 2015 to 2020.
Dragan Stojković managed 24 games with Serbia, he won 14, drew 5, and lost 5 a win percentage of 58.33
On this day 10 years ago, a young woman was gang-raped and brutally assaulted on a bus in the Indian capital, Delhi. She died a few days later from her injuries.
As she lay in a hospital bed, fighting for her life, the press named her Nirbhaya – the fearless one. Since rape victims can’t be named under Indian law, the name stuck.
The assault made global headlines, led to weeks of protests and forced India to introduce stringent new laws for crimes against women.
The main accused, the bus driver, was found dead inside the jail a few months after the crime. Four others were hanged in March 2020 while a juvenile convict was released after three years – the maximum punishment allowed under law.
The crime changed the way Indians discussed gender violence and altered many lives – none more than that of Asha Devi, Nirbhaya’s mother.
A quiet housewife who’d spent her years looking after her home and children has, over the past decade, transformed into an activist and a campaigner for women’s safety, fighting for justice first for her own daughter and now for “all of India’s daughters”.
Two years ago – on the 8th anniversary of the attack on her daughter and a few months after the hangings – she pledged to “fight for justice for all rape victims”.
“This way, I’ll be able to pay tribute to my daughter,” she said.
Despite a crippling leg pain that requires daily visits to a physiotherapist, the 56-year-old has been leading a small group of people on a candle-light march in Delhi’s Dwarka district every evening for the past five weeks.
Asha Devi’s raw agony, often captured by TV cameras, moved many Indians
They are demanding justice for a 19-year-old woman who was gang raped and murdered 10 years ago. Three men who were given the death penalty for the crime were recently let off by India’s top court which said there was no clinching evidence that the men were guilty.
A review petition has been filed in the top court, but Asha Devi and others have been holding protests to ensure the “Chhawla rape case is not forgotten”.
“Some days 10 people turn out, some days there are 15, but we march every single day,” Asha Devi told me when I visited her home recently.
“We want the court order to be reversed. They [the alleged rapists] must go back to jail.”
The day after the Supreme Court order, Asha Devi went to meet the victim’s parents.
“I got justice and I don’t have to go out and do anything anymore, but I remember how I used to sit outside the courtroom and cry, sometimes alone. I think that should never happen to anyone else. So I went and sat with her parents and wept with them,” she says.
She recently also lent her support to an online petition calling for justice for Bilkis Bano after 11 men convicted for raping her and murdering several of her family members were prematurely freed by the Gujarat government.
A trust Asha Devi set up in her daughter’s name to help rape survivors and advise victims of domestic violence has retired judges, lawyers, police officials and activists as volunteers. Over the past few years, they have worked with dozens of families.
Her presence often spurs police and authorities into action, but Asha Devi says that 10 years after her daughter died, nothing has changed on the ground.
In 2012, the year Nirbhaya was attacked, India recorded 24,923 rape cases. In 2021, the last year for which crime data is available, the number had risen to 31,677.
“Laws are made on paper, promises are made, but there’s poor implementation,” says Asha Devi. “If this continues, it will take away our faith in justice.”
Asha Devi’s activism is rooted in her own experiences, her own lengthy battle with justice and the pain of a mother who lost her daughter to brutality.
Ten years on, the memories of that Sunday still bring tears to her eyes.
“No one should have to see a day like 16 December,” she says.
Her 23-year-old daughter had just completed her training as a physiotherapist; she had been interviewed at a couple of hospitals and was accepted at one for an internship.
“She had already received an ID card from the hospital and was to start on Monday or Tuesday. She told me, ‘Ma, your daughter is a doctor now.’ She was thrilled.”
On Sunday afternoon, when she left home, she’d promised her mother she’d be back in two-three hours.
When Asha Devi saw her several hours later, she was in hospital, bloodied and mauled. Describing her daughter’s injuries, she had told a TV channel “it seemed as if she had been rescued from a jungle. The doctor said he was unable to understand what to do, what to fix and what to mend”.
The young woman was gang-raped by the bus driver and five other men; her male friend was badly beaten up. Naked and bloodied, the couple were thrown by the roadside to die. They were taken to hospital after some passers-by found them and called the police.
“What happened to her was so brutal that she shouldn’t have survived,” says Asha Devi, “but she lived for 12 days. They named her Nirbhaya, she truly was brave.”
The “biggest regret” of her life”, she says, wiping her tears, is that while her daughter was alive, “she kept begging for water, but we couldn’t give her a spoon of water”.
“I kept thinking, what was my daughter’s fault? Why did she have to die so painfully? I saw her hurting and I drew strength from her pain. I promised her I’ll fight for justice for her. I only wanted the men who did this to her to be punished.”
As the trial started, Asha Devi became an unmissable presence in the courtroom.
“I did not miss one single court hearing, ignored home, but if there was a hearing, I had to attend,” she says.
Despite the attention on the crime, it took more than seven years for the case to conclude and the rapists to be hanged.
Asha Devi says it took her all her resolve to not give up.
She grew up in a backward district in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and “had to drop out of school after the eighth standard because the high school was too far from home”, and had to work hard to understand the language of law and learn how to give press conferences.
But the raw agony of the grieving mother, often captured by TV cameras, moved many Indians and drew lawyers, activists, celebrities and politicians of all hues to lend support to her. Protests were held across India demanding the death penalty for the rapists.
But once the death sentences were confirmed by the Supreme Court in September 2017, the convicts’ families and their lawyers began last-minute attempts to stay the hangings by filing review petitions and writing to the authorities for clemency.
Campaigners also pointed out that studies globally had shown that death penalty doesn’t reduce crimes – it actually results in more killings as perpetrators try to remove evidence.
But Asha Devi, a huge votary of capital punishment, insists that it was justified.
“There are people who talk about the human rights of the accused, but what about the human rights of the girl who is raped and brutally murdered? Until people feel fear nothing is going to change,” she told me.
Families of convicts made several attempts to have the hangings stayed
As the case meandered through the Indian judicial system, Asha Devi says sometimes people told her “your daughter has left the world, give up, you’re banging your head against a stone”.
“But I got tremendous support from society. And that made me think that they don’t know my daughter but if they are standing by her, so must I.”
Asha Devi says she “did feel afraid sometimes”, but kept her faith.
“I used to think that if these men were not hanged, then who would? What would make a rarest of the rare case for the death penalty?
The case went through several twists and turns before the convicts were hanged at 5:30am on 20 March 2020.
“I couldn’t save her, but when they were hanged, I felt peace, because they paid for what they did to my daughter,” she told me.
Shruti Singh, a gender rights activist who was working with Asha Devi for almost a year then, described the night of the hanging.
“We didn’t wait outside the prison where the hangings were taking place. We went home to be with Nirbhaya.”
They sat in the room where her photo hangs on the wall.
“Now we are able to show you our face, we didn’t let you down,” Asha Devi told her daughter.
Deputy Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection nominee, Francisca Oteng Mensah, has disclosed that her father, Dr. Kwaku Oteng, grew up without his father actively playing a role in his life.
She said the Angel Group of Companies founder did not know his father while growing up.
Francisca Oteng made this statement in the presence of her father and members of the parliament’s Appointment Committee while being vetted for the Deputy Minister of Gender, Children, and Social Protection position.
In a bid to throw more light on the ‘Mensah’ attached to her surname, after one of the Appointment Committee members inquired if it was her husband’s name, she explained that:
“Mensah isn’t my husband’s name, it’s my father’s name. Growing up, my father didn’t have a good relationship with his father, or let me say, he didn’t know his father. After he grew up to a certain age, he discovered that his father was called, De-Graft Oteng. I was named after three people, Francisca is my father’s best friend who is a pastor, Oteng is my father’s biological father’s name and the Mensah is my father’s name.”
Meanwhile, Francisca Oteng, who doubles as the Kwabre East MP, is part of the two nominees appointed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo after he revoked the appointment of Sarah Adwoa Safo, who was absent from work for an extended period.
President Akufo-Addo also nominated the Deputy Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, and MP for Walewale, Lariba Zuweira Abudu, as minister-designate for Gender, Children, and Social Protection, following Adwoa Safo’s exit.
Son of Dr. Kwaku Oteng, Samuel Acheampong, who reportedly got demoted from his position as the CEO of the AngelBroadcasting Network, was spotted in parliament with his father, as they supported his sister during vetting.
The Kwabre East Member of Parliament (MP), Francisca OtengMensah, faced the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Thursday, December 15, 2022, over her appointment as the Deputy Minister-designate for Gender, Children, and Social Protection.
Prior to this development, netizens were thrown into a state of confusion after a viral document signed by Dr. Kwaku Oteng, in which he announced the suspension and demotion of his son, Samuel Kofi Acheampong, who doubles as the company’s Chief Executive Officer went viral.
Samuel was said to have been relieved and demoted from his post as the CEO of Angel Broadcasting Network, to the General Manager of Angel FM in Kumasi, and many wondered what must have instigated his father to act in such a manner.
But among the individuals that sat behind Francisca Oteng to offer moral support to her during the vetting were her father, Dr. Kwaku Oteng, and her brother, Samuel Acheampong.
Clad in a grey kaftan, Samuel sat close to his father and other family members.
Perhaps, this is somewhat a confirmation of socialite, Adu Safowaa’s earlier claims that Dr. Oteng never took such an action against his son.
Ghanaian gospel minister Nana Yaw Boakye Yiadom, well known as MOG, has recalled a memorable and upsetting time in his life that occurred while he was a senior in high school.
MOG described the hardship he went through with the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), saying that he was wrongfully accused of indulging in examination misconduct, which resulted in WAEC canceling all of his papers.
MOG said till date, his results have been withheld by the examination body after a court order in 2004.
The gospel musician said he was implicated after one of his mates who was initially nabbed for selling exam papers shockingly named him as an ally during interrogations.
“One of my mates, his name is Isaac Quayeson. He went to take exam questions, which I don’t know where he got it from, and he was selling them. For some reason, WAEC got hold of that information and they traced and came to the school. I was walking up the stairs and I met Isaac, I sympathized with him because I knew WAEC was in to arrest him. Shockingly, when they took him in for questioning, he mentioned my name that I, Nana Yaw Boakye am his partner. So, I was writing my Geography paper and I heard my name in the hall. I asked myself what is happening because I haven’t copied or done anything wrong. I was told WAEC is looking for me. So I was taken in for interrogation and fortunately around that time I was done with my section A.
“They asked me if it is true that I’m his ally and I said no. but Isaac kept on insisting that it is me and he even swore before them. I was asked to write a statement and I did. I later went home and informed my parents. WAEC took the situation to court and they wanted to cancel all the papers the school had written so far. But they ended up canceling Isaac Quayeson’s results and mine. They cancelled my SSCE results without a court hearing, nothing. This happened in 2004 and it affected me emotionally and psychologically. It took a lot from me. I had to stay home for four years before going back to the university. I had to write the entrance exams before going to the university,” He stated in an interview on Hitz FM.
The popular gospel singer has, however, declared his intentions to sue the examination council and demand his results.
“I want to get a lawyer and take them to court for my SSCE results. I don’t need it for anything but I want it. That is one painful thing in my life. So till now, I don’t have any evidence that shows I attended Adisasdel College. My mother called an insider and we were told I had 4As, 3Bs and 1C,” he added.
The Ghana Police Service has launched an initiative to inspect the improper loading of goods on vehicles across the country. The programme, dubbed Operation Police Anti-Insecure Loading Enforcement Strategy (Operation PAILES), is an initiative aimed at reducing vehicular accidents on roads, particularly during and after the Christmas season.
According to the police, after a three-month pilot programme in the Eastern Region, Operation PAILES has been a success.
The service revealed in a Facebook post on Thursday, December 15, that the strategy after being implemented in the Eastern region, the strategy resulted in the arrest and successful prosecution of more than 50 truck drivers.
It also said it is collaborating with relevant parties to aid, apprise, and caution drivers about the risks associated with unsafe loading and the necessity of adhering to the mandated maximum load limits.
“As part of the implementation of the strategy, the Police are engaging relevant stakeholders such as the cargo association, charcoal and timber drivers’ unions across the country to educate and caution them on the dangers associated with insecure loading and the need to adhere to the required legal loading limits.
The service also urged all and sundry to assist the police in locating drivers who disregard its directives.
“We would like to take this opportunity to urge the public to support us in our efforts to ensure strict compliance with the Anti-Insecure Loading Enforcement Strategy to make our roads safe and secure during this Christmas season and beyond,” it added.
According to the National Department of Transportation, overloaded vehicles frequently endanger road safety by causing a significant number of traffic accidents.
“I want you to implement a practice known as BSI.
The B stands for pay down your debt, including any personal debt you owe to other people when you earn your bonus, and the S is for savings.
You can start saving after paying off your debt before making an investment, most likely.
“You are not prepared for any corporation that borrows to pay incentives…
You’re just acting because getting married requires borrowing money.
Simply said, you’re not prepared for such a change.
Where is the profit and where is the money going to come from to pay the bills because the payment of borrowed cash begins in January?” he said.
Business owners and the general public have been advised not to apply a ‘borrow-to-spend’ tactic during the festive season of Christmas.
Speaking on the Business edition of JoyNews’ PM Express, the finance expert highlighted on how employees can make good use of their received bonus from their employers.
“I want you to adopt something called BSI. When you receive your bonus, the B stands for pay down your debt, your own personal debt people that you owe, the S stands for savings. When you pay down your debt then you can save before you probably do the Investment,” Mensah explained.
“For any company that borrows to pay bonuses, you are not ready… you are just acting because its like borrowing to get married. You are just not ready for such a move. Because payment of borrowed for funds starts in January where is the profit and where is the money going to come from to settle the debts?”
The Finance expert also tasked employers to introduce insurance policy schemes for their employees as he believes will be more beneficial to them.
“Introduce them [employees] certain insurance scheme like savings and loans or something that they can cash out by November, December because once you start January, there would be December.
“So, December shouldn’t be a surprise that you are now looking, scratching here and there selling assets of the company or doing this just to please them. Only to Ghana Revenue Authority knock on your door in the morning of January and then you cannot even pay,” Charles Mensah stated.
Meanwhile, holiday lovers are expected to spend more during the festive season as a result of high demand for goods and services.
What happens when three of Africa’s very own genres – Amapiano, Highlife and Afrobeats–clash on one stage? There is an explosion of ecstasy!
It’s definitely going to be a festival that will “blow your mind”.
The first ever edition of the Afro Beach Festival, slated for December 2022 at Best Western Plus in Nungua Accra, promises to be thrilling.
With Nigeria’s Baby Boy AV, South Africa’s Amapiano artist Costa Titch and Ghana’s Kofi Kinaata, headlining this year’s Afro Beach Festival, patrons are undeniably going to enjoy the show of a lifetime.
Baby Boy AV, a young, attractive Nigerian singer, songwriter, and composer is famed for his hit tunes “Big Thug Boys” and “Confession”.
Martin King Arthur popularly known as Kofi Kinaata is a Ghanaian musician and songwriter from Takoradi in the Western Region, who is well known for his unique rap style, primarily in the Fante dialect.
He is highly regarded as one of Ghana’s contemporary greats in highlife music, and is also fondly called the Fante Rap God.
Costa Titch is also a super talented rapper and songwriter in South Africa. He is known for his hit songs like Nkalakatha and Activate. The rapper, who was a dancer before, has been able to create a style for himself which everybody can reckon with and has been dropping songs consistently since his debut. His songs are well publicised and have got him various recognition.
For tickets and reservation call: + 233 54 840 222 4/050 155 0 370
Ghana legend, Michael Essien has disclosed that he is the only one among his retired playing mates that can still play professional football.
It must, however, be emphasised that he said this on a lighter note during an engagement with FIFA.
In a video shared by the world football governing body on social media, the former Chelsea man has selected his best players at the Qatar tournament.
According to Michael Essien, his best goalkeeper at the tournament is Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
He chooses Raphael Varane as his best defender and Jude Bellingham as his preferred midfielder amongst the lot.
For his most skilled player, Michael Essien said he has no doubt it is world great and Argentina poster boy Lionel Messi.
When asked which retired player he believes will still be able to play professional football, the ex-Black Stars midfield enforcer said he can only bet on himself as he burst into laughter.
The Atlas Lions’ dream of reaching the final was halted by France following a 2-0 defeat in their semifinal game on Wednesday with Theo Hernandez and Kolo Muani scoring the goals.
Despite the defeat, Morocco had already made his by becoming the first African country to reach the semifinal of the World Cup.
Regragui expressed his pride in his team’s performance versus Les Bleus in a post-game interview.
He added that they will be rooting for Didier Deschamps’ team to defeat Argentina in the final game.
“We are going to support them [France] now. The whole world is proud of this Moroccan team,” the Morocco coach said, as quoted by Goal.
“We showed desire, played hard, and have given a good image of Morocco and of African football. We were representing our country and our continent. People already respected us but I think they respect us more now.”
He added: “Congratulations to France. I said before the match, they are a very good side and they were well-placed to win the game but in spite of all the injuries we had, the tiredness, we pulled out all the stops, gave them everything, caused them problems and that is already quite an achievement.
“You can’t win a World Cup with miracles, you need to win it through hard work and that is what we will do, we will keep working.”
The final is scheduled for Sunday, December 18, at 15:00 GMT.
Meanwhile, Morocco will take on Croatia for the 3rd and 4th place game on Saturday
Ghanaian gospel minister, Nana Yaw Boakye Yiadom, popularly known as MOG, has recounted an unpleasant encounter during his days in Senior Secondary School.
Narrating the ordeal which ensued between him and the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), MOG said he was falsely accused of engaging in examination malpractice, a situation which led to the cancellation of all his papers by WAEC.
MOG said till date, his results have been withheld by the examination body after a court order in 2004.
The gospel musician said he was implicated after one of his mates who was initially nabbed for selling exam papers shockingly named him as an ally during interrogations.
“One of my mates, his name is Isaac Quayeson. He went to take exam questions, which I don’t know where he got it from, and he was selling them. For some reason, WAEC got hold of that information and they traced and came to the school. I was walking up the stairs and I met Isaac, I sympathized with him because I knew WAEC was in to arrest him. Shockingly, when they took him in for questioning, he mentioned my name that I, Nana Yaw Boakye am his partner. So, I was writing my Geography paper and I heard my name in the hall. I asked myself what is happening because I haven’t copied or done anything wrong. I was told WAEC is looking for me. So I was taken in for interrogation and fortunately around that time I was done with my section A.
“They asked me if it is true that I’m his ally and I said no. but Isaac kept on insisting that it is me and he even swore before them. I was asked to write a statement and I did. I later went home and informed my parents. WAEC took the situation to court and they wanted to cancel all the papers the school had written so far. But they ended up canceling Isaac Quayeson’s results and mine. They cancelled my SSCE results without a court hearing, nothing. This happened in 2004 and it affected me emotionally and psychologically. It took a lot from me. I had to stay home for four years before going back to the university. I had to write the entrance exams before going to the university,” He stated in an interview on Hitz FM.
The popular gospel singer has, however, declared his intentions to sue the examination council and demand his results.
“I want to get a lawyer and take them to court for my SSCE results. I don’t need it for anything but I want it. That is one painful thing in my life. So till now, I don’t have any evidence that shows I attended Adisasdel College. My mother called an insider and we were told I had 4As, 3Bs and 1C,” he added.
When Yuna turned up for her first day at work, as a clerk at a major bank, she was not expecting the tasks she would be assigned. First was to make lunch for her team. Later, she was ordered to take the hand towels from the men’s toilet home and wash them. These jobs fell to her, she was told, as the newest female member of staff.
At first she politely refused. Could the men not take their own towels home to wash, she asked her boss, but he replied incredulously: “How can you expect men to wash towels?”
“He got very angry, and I realised that if I continued to fight this, the harassment would get worse, so I started washing the towels,” Yuna says. But because she had complained, she was marked.
As she wanders through the dark alleys of her local food market, dressed in a black baseball cap, oversized jeans, and a T-shirt, she tries to disguise herself as she recounts her experience. This is a small town, and she has done something she could have been fired for. She filmed everything and reported the bank to the government, to be investigated.
What tipped her over the edge was not just the abuse, which grew steadily worse, but the lack of support from her female colleagues – those in their 20s, like her.
“It’s like this everywhere, don’t make a fuss,” they had pleaded.
Yuna filmed herself making lunch for her colleagues and reported her workplace to the government
South Korea may have blossomed into a cultural and technological powerhouse, but in its rapid transformation into one of the richest countries in the world, women have been left trailing. They are paid on average a third less than men, giving South Korea the worst gender pay gap of any rich country in the world. Men dominate politics and boardrooms. Currently, women hold just 5.8% of the executive positions in South Korea’s publicly listed companies. They are still expected to take on most of the housework and childcare.
To this can be added a pervasive culture of sexual harassment. The booming tech industry has contributed to an explosion of digital sex crimes, where women are filmed by tiny hidden cameras as they use the toilet or undress in changing rooms.
But instead of promising to fix these problems, South Korea’s new President Yoon Suk-yeol has said structural sexism is “a thing of the past”. He was propelled to power by young men who claim that attempts to reduce inequality mean they have become victims of reverse discrimination.
Upon entering office, President Yoon scrapped government gender quotas, declaring people would be hired on merit, not sex. He appointed just three women to his 19-member cabinet. He is now trying to abolish the government’s Gender Equality Ministry, which supports women and victims of sexual assault, claiming it is obsolete. More than 800 organisations have come together to protest against the closure, arguing it could have a damaging impact on women’s lives.
Some young men in South Korea say they are victims of reverse discrimination
Hoping to fight this was 28-year-old Park Ji-hyun, a women’s rights campaigner, who, following the divisive election, was asked to lead the liberal opposition party. The party told her they needed her help to reform politics and represent young women. And so, despite having never been a politician, she agreed.
But just six months later, when we meet at a café on the outskirts of Seoul, she is no longer in post. She has had to leave her home because her address was leaked, and she was receiving so many death threats. The ones that stick with her, she says, are from the people who threaten to feed her acid or pour it in her face. It has been the hardest six months of her life, she admits, after experiencing first-hand the sexism and misogyny that pervades politics.
Park talks of her despair that she would be the only woman in meetings, and that when she spoke, nobody would respond. “They just ignored me, and I ended up shouting into a void,” she says. “When I wanted to discuss the economy or the environment, they would say: ‘You just focus on what you know – women’s issues and sex-crimes’. I realised I was a puppet in this position, being used to gather women’s votes.”
Park Ji-hyun says she experienced sexism when she was the co-chair of the liberal opposition party
Park made her name as a student journalist, when she uncovered an online sex ring, where young teenagers were being blackmailed into filming themselves performing sexual and degrading acts. The ringleaders were sent to prison as a result of her investigation.
Online sexual assault and harassment is increasingly widespread. Last year, 11,568 cases of digital sex crimes were reported, up 82% from the year before. Many involved the use of hidden spy-cameras. Women in South Korea speak of being too scared to go to the toilet, in case they are secretly filmed and then blackmailed – or worse, the footage is released, and their lives destroyed. One compared the fear to what women in other countries must feel when walking home late at night.
But when Park pushed to investigate allegations of sexual assault within her party, she was labelled a troublemaker, and after poor local election results she was pushed aside.
As we are talking, a waitress brings over a large plate of cakes, on the house. “Thank you for fighting for us,” she says. Embarrassed, Park laughs: “This has never happened before.” During her short time in politics, she became an icon for young women who felt they’d had no-one to represent them.
South Korea’s #MeToo movement sparked a new wave of anti-feminism
In 2018, South Korea spawned Asia’s first and most successful #MeToo movement. But in its wake, a wave of anti-feminism coursed through the country, fuelled by young men who were concerned that, in their hyper-competitive society, women were gaining the upper hand. They take issue with having to complete compulsory military service, which stops them from working for up to two years. They have succeeded in turning feminism into a dirty word, with some women now embarrassed, or even afraid, to use it. But more significantly they got the president to respond to their rallying cries.
“Women have been deprived of their rights in the past, but a lot has been resolved,” says 37-year-old Lee Jun-seok, whose idea it was to close the gender equality ministry. He led the winning party into the election, helping it attract young, male votes. “Gender equality has entered a new phase. We need a new system that looks beyond feminism and focuses on the rights of all minorities.”
The ministry currently accounts for just 0.2% of the government’s budget but women say it has made a concrete difference to their lives. Since it was established more than 20 years ago it has supported the victims of hidden spy-cams and women who have been fired after getting pregnant, and secured more generous child support payments for single mothers.
Ana hasn’t been able to sleep properly since she heard about the ministry’s abolition. She credits it with saving her life. From a safe house, she recounts – in a voice so quiet it is almost inaudible – how she was failed by everyone in her life she trusted to protect her. Six years ago, she was raped by her college professor. When she called her father to tell him, he hung up the phone. She had brought the family shame, he told her.
Only after the #MeToo movement did Ana find the strength to seek help. She went to a support centre for victims of crime, but they wanted evidence before agreeing to help her. She made her case to the doctor, who told her she was delusional and denied the support.
“It was heartbreaking. I couldn’t understand how a doctor running a support centre wouldn’t help me,” she says. “I felt like I was trapped in a dark room with no exit.” A few months later she tried to kill herself.
Ana was raped six years ago and says the gender equality ministry saved her life
Then the gender equality ministry stepped in. They found her a place in the safe house, provided counselling and helped Ana to pursue a successful prosecution. Her professor was sent to jail. This hasn’t stopped the flashbacks and nightmares, but – as she describes it – she has been resuscitated.
“I have received more help from this ministry than my own family, which shares my blood,” she says, holding out her hand to touch her counsellor Nam sitting beside her. “Closing it is a dangerous idea.”
The government says the ministry’s current services will continue, but be absorbed by other departments. In October the president said this would “protect women more”, though his reasoning is unclear. The plans could still be thwarted by the liberal opposition party, which holds a majority in parliament. It has voiced concern about the impact the closure will have on the progress yet to be made for women – in the workplace and at home.
South Korea’s society and job market are structured in a way that perpetuates its gender pay gap. Women struggle to re-enter the competitive workforce after leaving to have children. They often end up taking on unstable, poorly paid contract work, which can be juggled around childcare.
This was the case for 50-year-old Shin Hyung-jung, who used to work as an administrator at a school. The school expected her to work on Saturdays, but didn’t open their kindergarten then, meaning she had nowhere to leave her daughter. Her husband wouldn’t look after the baby, so she had to quit.
“He’s a typical patriarchal man, he does nothing to help,” she laughs. I ask why she is laughing. “Because it’s ridiculous, I’m dumbfounded.” For the past 20 years she has instead worked maintaining electrical items, such as water purifiers and clothes steamers, in people’s homes.
Since having her daughter, Shin Hyung-jung has taken contract work fixing electrical items in people’s homes
“It’s difficult lugging this around,” she says loading her equipment into a fancy elevator to service her third apartment of the morning. “I can be fired tomorrow morning and I’ll get nothing, and I have no pension. But at least I have been able to pick my daughter up from school.”
According to the latest government data, 46% of female workers are in non-permanent contract work, compared to just 30% of men. All but two of the employees on Shin’s team are women, who all started working for the company after having children. Two in their 30s joined this year, citing almost identical circumstances to the ones Shin experienced two decades ago.
Women who do not want to sacrifice their careers are now simply choosing not to have children. South Korea’s fertility rate (the average number of children a woman will have in her lifetime) has fallen to 0.81, the lowest in the world. Its population is predicted to halve by the end of the century, meaning it may not have enough people to sustain its economy and conscript into its army.
“Without solving its gender equality problem, South Korea cannot solve its birth-rate problem,” says Jeong Hyun-baek, the gender equality minister between 2017 and 2018. “The #MeToo movement did improve the culture of sexual harassment and discrimination in workplaces, but now we need structural reform to address the pay gap and the lack of opportunities for women.” She questions how the government can fix a problem it won’t acknowledge exists.
South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol (centre) has abolished gender quotas in his cabinet and wants to close the gender equality ministry
For months I asked to interview the current Gender Equality Minister, Kim Hyun-suk, but the government declined. I later approached her at an event and asked whether she agreed with the president that structural sexism in Korea no longer existed. “There needs to be more women in politics, particularly in leadership and we must work to close the pay gap, particularly between fulltime and contract workers,” she replied, without directly answering the question.
There are some signs equality in South Korea is improving. Earlier this year, long-time contract worker Shin successfully negotiated a wage increase through her union, after a 10-year pay freeze. It was the first time a group of part-time contract workers in her industry had won such a battle.
“I do feel like society is slowly changing, and my daughter will have a better future,” she says. “I’ve given up on my husband, but I haven’t given up on my country.”
Then last month, Yuna, the bank clerk, got a call from the government. Their investigation concluded the bank had broken the law, by committing sexual harassment and discrimination. It has been ordered to pay a fine and she is being transferred to a different branch.
The thought of returning to work is making her ill, she said when we caught up over the phone, but she is happy she reported the bank. Since doing so, other female employees have reached out with similar stories.
“I do think over the past ten years equality has improved, but this is a small city, and things are not changing here, the president is not looking deep enough”, she said, worried the recent gains could be undone.
“If this ministry disappears, what we have built could collapse”.
This is according to the Central Bank’s November 2022 Monetary Policy Report.
The report explained that the projection is based on the tightness of the monetary policy as well as the adoption of measures to address liquidity issues in the Ghanaian economy.
“There are, however, upside risks to the outlook, emanating from the persistent upward adjustments in ex-pump petroleum products and transport fares with associated second-round effects on the pricing of goods and services”.
“Additionally, the proposed VAT increase and currency pressures may exert upward pressures on headline inflation. Amid these concerns, however, it is expected that the continued tight monetary policy stance would moderate the spillover effects,” the report noted.
In November 2022, the Central increased the monetary policy rate by 250 basis points from 24.5 to 27 percent in a bid to stem inflationary pressures.
“In the outlook, significant upside risks remain arising from both domestic and foreign sources. Global inflation remains high and persistent, driven largely by food and energy prices. Central banks’ concerted efforts to contain price pressures globally have led to aggressive policy tightening across advanced economies”.
“On the transmission of monetary policy changes to inflation, the Central Bank said there is evidence that the policy rate increases in the past few months have helped dampen the pace of monthly price increases.
“Between May and August 2022, the monthly inflation numbers eased from a peak of 5.1% to 1.9%. However, this was reversed in September and October 2022 on account of additional shocks from upward adjustment in ex-pump petroleum prices, utility tariff adjustments, and transport fare increases”, it added.
Before the league was suspended for the World Cup, the FC Samartex 1996 goalkeeper played two games in November without giving up a goal.
The Danish stopper made his name at Manchester United, winning five league titles and the UEFA Champions League in his final season with the Red Devils in 1999.
In a brief ceremony at the GFA Secretariat, former Ghana international Ali Jaara presented a goalkeepers glove and a goalkeeper’s jersey to the Dreams FC goalkeeper.
Dreams FC’s Bawa Lord Martey has also received a glove and goalkeeper’s jersey after emerging as Most Outstanding Goalkeeper for the month of September.
Martey emerged as winner after keeping two clean sheets out of three matches played in September.
It will be recalled that the national ex-goalkeepers Union of Ghana recently announced a monthly reward system acknowledge the outstanding goalkeepers during the 2022/2023 Premier League season.
Meanwhile, the Premier League season will resume on Monday, December 19 to Thursday, December, 22, 2022 across league centres.
The competition is on a one month break due to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The cost of transportation is anticipated to decrease starting on Monday, December 19, 2022.
This is in accordance with the Ministry of Transport, which said that the recent decrease in petroleum products at different pumps around the nation beginning on December 16, 2022, is to blame for the development.
According to checks done by GhanaWeb Business on Friday with a few oil marketing companies, gasoline is currently retailing for GH13.40 pesewas and diesel costs GH15.85 pesewas.
On account of the cedi’s improved performance versus the US dollar over the past 1.5 weeks, it is anticipated that the price of petroleum products would continue to decline.
“We understand that the fares will definitely come down. It is the margin of reduction that we are still negotiating. We are waiting for the next pricing window on Friday [December 16, 2022].
So, when the new prices are announced, we will see the clearest picture and we will see the percentage margin for the reduction of fares. We do not have the full picture until the window opens on Friday. Hopefully, by Monday [December 19], the general public should see a reduction in transport fares,” he is quoted by CitiNewsRoom.com
Meanwhile, General Secretary of the Ghana Private Road and Transport Union (GPRTU), Godfred Abulbire, has also hinted that commuters should expect some level of reduction in fares in the coming days.
“Once the fuel prices have come down, the fares will be reduced. The reduction is obvious. Fare increment is not in the interest of anybody. Today, what we have discussed is to arrive at the margin for reduction that the general public and operators will equally be satisfied with. So on, Monday, we will conclude on the actual margin,” Mr. Abulbire assured.
In the next 24 hours, the National Democratic Congress’delegates will cast their ballots to elect the remaining national executives of the party.
The second phase of the congress is expected to take place at the Accra Sports Stadium.
On Saturday, December 10, the NDC began the first phase of its congress and elected its National Youth Organiser and National Women’s Organiser.
Both George Opare Addo and Dr. Hanna Louisa Bissiw managed to retain their positions after beating Brogya Genfi and Margaret Ansei, respectively.
Abigail Akwabea Elorm Mensah and Felicia Dzifa Tegah were also elected as the Deputy Women’s Organisers of the Party.
The remaining positions up for grabs are; Chairman, Vice Chairman, General Secretary, Deputy General Secretary, National Organiser, Deputy National Organiser, Communication Officer, Deputy Communication Officer.
The others are, Zongo Caucus Co-ordinator and National Executive Committee (NEC) members.
Four aspirants are vying for the Chairmanship position currently held by Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo.
Mr Ofosu-Ampofo, who seeks a second term, will face the incumbent General Secretary of the Party, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, Samuel Yaw Adusei and Nii Armah Ashietey.
Mr Asiedu Nketia, popularly known as General Mosquito, is expected to give Mr Ofosu-Ampofoa run for his money.
Eight individuals are contesting for the Vice Chairman position. They are Sherif Abdul-Nasiru, Abanga Yakubu Alhassan, Dr. Sherry Ayittey, Seth Ofori Ohene, Awudu Sofo Azourka, Alhaji Amadu B. Sorogho, Alhaji Habibu Adramani and Evelyn Enyonam Mensah.
The current Deputy General Secretary, Dr. Peter Boamah Otokunor wants to elevate his post a notch higher, but he will be facing Elvis Afriyie Ankrah and Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, in his quest for the General Secretary position.
Francis Lanme Guribe, Catherine Deynu, Barbara Serwaa Asamoah, Gbande Foyo Mustapha, Kwame Zu, Bradi Paul Opata and Evans Amoo are contesting for the Deputy General Secretary position.
Mr Joshua Hamidu Akamba also hopes to secure a second term in office as the National Organiser. He will however, have to compete against six other contenders; Henry Osei Akoto, Mahdi Mohammed Gibrill, Sidii Abubakari, Solomon Yaw Nkansah, Chief Hamilton Biney Nixon and Joseph Yammin.
Contenders for the Deputy National Organiser portfolio are; Kobby Barlon, Habib Mohammed Tahiru, Elikem Eric Kevin Kwame Kotoko and Alhaji Yaw Kundow.
Mr Sammy Gyamfiis running unopposed for the National Communication Officer portfolio, a position he already occupies.
On the other hand, five individuals are competing to be the next Deputy Communication Officer.
They are; Godwin Ako Gunn, Adongo Atule Jacob, Malik Basintale, Kwaku Boahen Anthony and Mohammed Naziru.
The contenders for the Zongo Caucus Co-Ordinator are; Abass Zulkarnain Kambari, Hon. Alhaji Babanlamie Abu Sadat, Mamah Mohammed Cole Younger, Abdul-Aziz Mohammed and Yakubu Mahmud Mudi.
Nineteen persons are competing to be members of the National Executive Committee.
They include; Ephraim Nii Tan Sackey, Perez Fernandez Armah Laryea, Issahaku Issah Adel, Rev. Irene Sena Agbleke, Abdullah Farrakhan Ishaq, Malik Adama, Victoria Kuma-Mintah and Emmanuel Ewoenam Yao Adzome-Dzokanda.
The others are; Cecilia N. Asaga, Ebenezer Effah Hackman, Najawa Alhaji Issah, Stephen Ladzedo, Anita Annan, Ransford Chatman Vanni-Amoah, Thomas Ayisi Kumah, Wonder Victor Kutor, Mohammed Mamudu, Araba Tagoe and Famous Kwesi Kuadugah.
GucciMane has called for an investigation into Pooh Shiesty’s treatment in prison.
“We do not pay attention to how inmates in the US are treated!” Gucci wrote in an Instagram post that he captioned, “This is unacceptable!”
He explained that the incarcerated Florida rapper, who was sentenced to five years and 3 months in prison in April after he pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges, has been sent to the United States Penitentiary Pollock (USP Pollock) in Grant Parish, Louisiana, which is extremely far from his home. While there, Gucci says the rapper is facing extreme conditions.
“@PoohShiesty has been sent to a prison over 1500 miles from his home, 23 hr lock down and given empty food trays,” Gucci continued. “USP Pollack [sic] should be investigated immediately.” In the caption of the post, he tagged President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, and included the hashtags, “#movepooh” and “#prisonreform.”
Shiesty was transferred from Turner Guilford Night Correctional Center in Miami to the USP Pollock earlier this year, and is currently expected to carry out the remaining years of his sentence there. In May, it was confirmed that the Memphis native will be on supervised release for three years following his sentence, and he won’t be permitted to see any of his co-defendants or gang members during that time.
The rapper is behind bars in connection with a South Florida shooting that took place in October 2020. He was originally facing eight years in prison for the alleged shooting of 28-year-old Brandon Cooper, but accepted a plea deal for a reduced sentence.
After YNW Melly detailed the alleged abuse he’s faced at Broward CountyJail, the rapper’s mother has called for an investigation into his claims.
Speaking with TMZ, Melly’s mother, Jamie Demons-King, said the jail “definitely needs to be investigated,” and the people in charge have been “making up their own rules” in regards to the treatment of inmates.
“We’ve tried to go to court about this situation, [but] the judge doesn’t really have any jurisdiction when it comes to the jail,” she told TMZ. “We actually had a hearing about the mistreatment of him, and the jail kind of… they make their own rules and I don’t think that’s fair because I know that they need to answer to someone too.”
In a series of posts shared on his Instagram account on Monday, the “Murder On My Mind” rapper said that he fears for his life in the Fort Lauderdale jail. He alleged that he is being surveilled 24/7 and is being held in isolation, without any access to a phone, television, or even a newspaper. Melly accused two employees of the Broward Sheriff’s Office of targeting him with threats, and said he believes they could beat him “half to death like they do to other inmates almost daily.”
His mother stressed that Melly has “not been convicted of anything” yet, but even inmates who have been convicted “have the right to use a telephone” during their time behind bars. “They hold his mail, they don’t give it to him,” she continued. “It’s just not right. … It’s Christmas, and Christmas day is my birthday too, [and] I just want to hear my son’s voice. That’s like the bare minimum, I just want to hear his voice. I just want to hear that he’s okay.”She described his recent posts as “heartbreaking,” and said they made her feel “completely helpless.”
YNW Melly is currently behind bars awaiting trial on two charges of premeditated first-degree murder. Florida’s District Court of Appeal overruled Judge Andrew Siegel’s decision to block prosecutors from seeking the death penalty in his case last month.
Melly and his close collaborator Cortlen “YNW Bortlen” Henry were arrested and charged in 2019 with two counts of first-degree murder each. They have been accused of fatally shooting 20-year-old Christopher “YNW Juvy” Thomas Jr. and 21-year-old Anthony “YNW Sakchaser” Williams in October 2018, and then staging the scene to look like a drive-by shooting.
Gunna’s attorneys Steve Sadow and Don Samuel announced on Wednesday that the 29-year-old rapper—legal name Sergio Kitchens—entered into a plea deal in which he received a time-served, suspended sentence. The Georgia native has remained behind bars since mid-May, shortly after he and other YSL associates were listed in a sweeping RICO indictment.
The co-defendants, which included YSL Records founder Young Thug, are accused of committing street gang criminal activity, ranging from drug possession and armed robbery to attempted murder and aggravated assault. Gunna pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to violate the RICO Act; but by accepting an Alford plea, the rapper has effectively pleaded guilty to the offenses while maintaining his innocence. Such a deal allows a defendant to bypass the uncertainties of a trial and avoid a much more severe sentencing.
“When I became affiliated with YSL in 2016, I did not consider it a ‘gang’; more like a group of people from metro Atlanta who had common interests and artistic aspirations,” Gunna wrote in a statement provided to Complex. “My focus of YSL was entertainment – rap artists who wrote and performed music that exaggerated and ‘glorified’ urban life in the Black community. While I have agreed to always be truthful, I want to make it perfectly clear that I have NOT made any statements, have NOT been interviewed, have NOT cooperated, have NOT agreed to testify or be a witness for or against any party in the case and have absolutely NO intention of being involved in the trial process in any way.”
He continued, “I have chosen to end my own RICO case with an Alford plea and end my personal ordeal by publicly acknowledging my association with YSL. An Alford plea in my case is the entry of a guilty plea to the one charge against me, which is in my best interest, while at the same time maintaining my innocence toward the same charge. I love and cherish my association with YSL music, and always will. I look at this as an opportunity to give back to my community and educate young men and women that “gangs” and violence only lead to destruction.”
According to WSBTV, Gunna’s suspended sentence will be subject to various conditions, including 500 hours of community service.
It’s unclear if Young Thug is expected to make a similar deal. The 31-year-old rapper—born Jeffery Lamar Williams—remains behind bars.
President Kurt Okraku announced at the last ordinary congress in August that Division One League clubs will be supported with fuel worth GHc10,000 to alleviate some of their transportation costs – a provision that was only made for Division One League clubs.
The Executive Council of the Ghana Football Association has since approved the provision of an amount to GHc10,000 worth of fuel for each of the 10 Southern based Women’s Premier League clubs and an amount to GHc12,000 worth of fuel for each of the 10 Northern sector Women’s Premier League clubs.
This provision of GOIL fuel support for the Women’s Premier League clubs totaling GHc220,000 is aimed at alleviating some of their transportation costs especially the long-distance travels by the Northern sector clubs.
The GOIL fuel would be provided in two tranches – GHc5,000 and GHc5000/GHc7,000 respectively.
The first tranche of GHc5,000 to each club is ready for use when the Women’s Premier League resumes in January 2023.
The GFA on Wednesday, November 2, 2022 announced GOIL as an official fuel partner of the Football Association for a two-year period.
A recent study by Yusuf and Obaghwarhievwo (2021) confirmed that fura da nono drink has nutritional and medicinal value. This is not surprising that India has taken the campaign of millet consumption to a different level.
The resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly on 3 March 2021 decided to declare 2023 as the International Year of Millets. Hence, the India High Commission in Ghana is on an awareness campaign to promote millet-based diets in Ghana. For many years, India was the world’s major producer of millet. However, in recent years, millet production has increased dramatically in Africa.
In India, millet is widely known as Ragi or Machin, they are dark brown grains with fiber and iron-rich husk intact used for different dishes like idli, dosas, roti, ragi mudde, and ragi malt in India.
In addition to home cooking, millet is used to make Chinese white spirit or syrup, congee very popular staple food in Chinese cuisine, which could be served as staples just like dumplings, steamed rice, Chinese bread, and steamed buns
In Nigeria, millet is commonly made up of “Fura da nono” which simply means “simple milk and millet gruel” the popular African cold gruel produced and consumed mostly in the northern part of Nigeria.
But the history of fura de nunu will be traced back to Ghana. One of the common street food in Ghana “Hausa Koko” is made from millet with a few local spices added to give it a particular taste and colour.
“Fura da Nono” as the Hausas call it or “Fura de nunu”, is mostly made by Fulanis. In this article and subsequent ones, I will highlight the numerous benefits of a locally millet-based diet for public awareness. In this current write-up, the focus is on the local fura. The benefits of fura are derived from its ingredient millet.
For instance, fura is antioxidant Loaded. This is supported by six studies (Devi et al. 2016; Kumari et al. 2017; Pizino et al. 2017; Xiang et al. 2019; Chandrasekara and Shahidi, 2010) that confirmed that millet is loaded with phenolic compounds, specifically ferulic acid and catechins. They work as antioxidants to guard the body against harmful oxidative stress.
Other studies in mice( Zduńska et al. 2017 Liu et al. 2017) correlate ferulic acid to fast wound healing, skin protection, and anti-inflammatory properties. It has been established that these catechins bind to heavy metals, and avert poisoning our bloodstream ( Chandrasekaraand Shahidi, 2010; Bernatoniene and Kopustinskiene, 2018).
Another human study of 64 people for a 12-week duration with prediabetes also reported the same findings. After eating 1/3 cup (50 grams) of foxtail millet per day, the participants’ blood sugar was reduced in both fasting and random blood sugar levels, and decrease in insulin resistance.
Brown et al.(2016) explained that insulin resistance is a marker for type 2 diabetes. This normally happens when you decide to yield to the hormone insulin, which regulates blood sugar. Finally, Shobana et al.(2010) 6-week study in rats with diabetes found that when the animals were given, a diet that contains 20% finger millet resulted in lowering fasting blood sugar and a drop in triglyceride and cholesterol levels.
Fura Lowers cholesterol,Devi et al.(2016) study found that millet is loaded with soluble fiber, and this in turn produces a sticky material in the gut. This helps bind fats and lowered cholesterol levels. This was confirmed in one rat study by Lee et al.(2010) which states that rats fed foxtail and proso millet triglyceride levels decreased drastically juxtaposed with the control group.
Also, millet protein could lower cholesterol. This was also demonstrated in one mice study by Nishizawa et al.(2009) with type 2 diabetes. The mice were fed a high-fat diet with millet protein concentrate. Their result found a decrease in triglyceride levels and a drastic improvement in adiponectin and HDL (good) cholesterol levels, juxtaposed with the control group.
Two studies(Lihn et al. 2005; Fang et al. 2018) found that the hormone adiponectin with an anti-inflammatory effect aids heart health and inspires fatty acid oxidation. The levels are normally decreased in those with obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Fura is gluten-free diet,three studies( Dias-Martinset al. 2018; Devi et al. 2014; Niro et al. 2019)confirmed that millet is a gluten-free grain, hence, it is a good option for those with celiac disease or those following a gluten-free diet.
Gurja et al. (2012) found that gluten is a protein that is found naturally in grains like wheat, barley, and rye. However, those with celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity must stay away as it causes harmful digestive symptoms, such as diarrhea and nutrient malabsorption. Hence, it is advisable that in purchasing millet read the product label and search for those certified gluten-free.
Millet, warning
One study by Boncompagni et al.(2018)found that millet contains antinutrients — compounds that block or lower your body’s absorption of other nutrients and may lead to deficiencies. Phytic acid is one such compound that interferes with potassium, calcium, iron, zinc, and magnesium uptake. This notwithstanding, once your diet is balanced, there is no problem. Goitrogenic polyphenols are another compound that is likely to damage thyroid function, causing goiter — an enlargement of the thyroid gland that results in neck swelling.
However, this effect is related only to excess polyphenol intake. Two studies( Boncompagni et al. 2018; Gonçalves et al. 2017) for instance, found that goiter was found when millet provided 74% of a person’s daily calories, compared with only 37% of their daily calories. This concern can be addressed by soaking it overnight at room temperature, then draining and rinsing it before cooking(Singh, 2016). Additionally, sprouting reduces antinutrient content.
Take Home
Science has demonstrated the numerous health benefits when we eat fura, a millet-based diet. For instance, Ugare et al. (2015) also found that millet is a low glycemic index diet. Their study found dehulled(50.0) and heat treated(41.7) barnyard millet beneficial for type-II diabetics. It’s also an alkaline food, which means that it can digest easily, a good option for those with sensitive stomachs.
Fura also has many nutrients as confirmed by the US Department of Agriculture, one cup (174 grams) of cooked millet packs has the following :
• Calories: 207
• Carbs: 41 grams
• Fiber: 2.2 grams
• Protein: 6 grams
• Fat: 1.7 grams
• Phosphorus: 25% of the Daily Value (DV)
• Magnesium: 19% of the DV
• Folate: 8% of the DV
• Iron: 6% of the DV
Also, three studies (Singh, 2,016; Dias-Martins et al.2018; Wu, 2009) found that fura gives more essential amino acids as compared to other cereals and they are the building blocks of protein.
Another interesting thing is that fura can take the bragging right as cereal with abundant calcium content giving the body 13% of the daily value per 1 cooked cup (100 grams)( Singh, 2016; Devi et al. 2014; Shobana et al. 2013). As you are aware, the human body needs calcium for good bone health, blood vessel and muscular contractions, and proper nerve function.
NB:
Prof. Nyarkotey has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations to justify his write-ups. My articles are for educational purposes and do not serve as Medical advice for Treatment. I aim to educate the public about evidence-based scientific Naturopathic Therapies.
The writer is a Professor of Naturopathic Healthcare, President, of Nyarkotey College of Holistic Medicine & Technology (NUCHMT)/African Naturopathic Foundation. E-mail: collegeofholisticmedicine@gmail.com. For more information, contact: Stephanie(PRO)on 0244433553
The Atlas Lions had preserved four clean sheets in their previous five games, and their perfect record had only been broken by an own goal against Canada during the group stage.
France took an early lead through Theo Hernandez before substitute Kolo Muani made it 2-0 in the 79th minute to ensure they will defend their crown against Argentina and Lionel Messi at Lusail Stadium on Sunday.
“We suffered in front of a great team. Morocco does not only know defense, but they have offensive weapons.” Skillful players, I think we have to take a break to focus on the final,” Lloris said.
“We started well and scored, then we misbehaved and were unable to score a second goal. In the second half, we felt a team that had nothing to lose and we retreated a lot, and yet we scored the second goal.”
As compared to yesterday’s trading of a buying price of 9.2954 and a selling price of 9.3047. At a forex bureau in Accra, the dollar is being bought at a rate of 9.00 and sold at a rate of 10.50.
Against the Pound Sterling, the Cedi is trading at a buying price of 9.8009 and a selling price of 9.8115 as compared to yesterday’s trading of a buying price of 11.5225 and a selling price of 11.5359.
The Euro is trading at a buying price of 8.5292 and a selling price of 8.5370 as compared to yesterday’s trading of a buying price of 9.8957 and a selling price of 9.9055.
At a forex bureau in Accra, Euro is being bought at a rate of 9.30 and sold at a rate of 11.50.
The South African Rand is trading at a buying price of 0.4582 and a selling price of 0.4585 as compared to yesterday’s trading of a buying price of 0.5402 and a selling price of 0.5407.
At a forex bureau in Accra, South African Rand is being bought at a rate of 0.45 and sold at a rate of 0.90.
The Nigerian Naira is trading at a buying price of 48.2430 and a selling price of 48.3204 as compared to yesterday’s trading at a buying price of 48.2430 and a selling price of 48.3204.
At a forex bureau in Accra, Nigerian Naira is being bought at a rate of 13.00 Naira for every 1 Cedi and sold at a rate of 18.00.
Paulo Bento, a former head coach of the South Korean national team, is a candidate to lead the Black Stars.
Ghana is currently without a head coach following Coach Otto Addo’s decision to leave the Black Stars after the exit of the national team at the end of the group stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
At the tournament, Coach Otto Addo steered Ghana to beat South Korea but there were defeats against Portugal and Uruguay.
After the exit, Coach Otto Addo returned to Germany where he is going to continue his role as a talent development coach at Borussia Dortmund.
As the search for a replacement continues, reports has gathered that the Ghana Football Association (GFA) has shortlisted some six coaches for the Black Stars job.
Among the six is former South Korea coach Paulo Bento.
The Portuguese tactician left his role as head coach of the South Korea national team when the side lost to Brazil in the Round of 16.
“We just have to think about the future and it will not be with the national team of South Korea,” Paulo Bento told BBC after the match.
The 53-year-old tactician in the past has handled Chongqing Lifan, Olympiacos, Sporting CP, and at a time was part of the technical team of the Portuguese national team.
During his playing days, Paulo Bento played for clubs including Vitória Guimarães, Benfica, Real Oviedo, and Sporting Lisbon.
As part of their preparations for the 2022 Championship of Africa Nations competition in Algeria later this month, Black Galaxies of Ghana defeated Legon Cities 2-0 in a friendly match.
Simba and Evans Osei Wusu’s goals gave coach Annor Walker’s team an easy victory on Thursday at the Ghanaman Centre of Excellence.
Hearts of Oak forward Daniel Afriyie Barnieh, who joined his teammates earlier this week after his participation at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar lasted for 73rd while Danlad Ibrahim sat out of the game.
The Galaxies also came from behind to beat Hearts of Oak 2-1 in a friendly at the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence, Prampram last Sunday.
Ghana are housed in Group C and will take on Madagascar on January 15 before playing Sudan (19th) and Morocco (23rd) in the other group C matches.
The team will depart Accra next week for Egypt to continue with their preparations towards the tournament which takes place in Algeria from January 8-31, 2023.
The Black Galaxies are likely to play one high profile international friendly before the tournament.
The Galaxies will be seeking to restore Ghana’s glory in the competition having played in two finals in 2009 and 2014.
Ghana will be featuring in the tournament for the first time in eight years having missed out on the last three editions and will hope to go far in the tournament.
