As the Black Stars only managed to finish Group H with three points, the 20-year-old forward substituted in all three games.
Sulemana produced his best performance in the final game against Uruguay, but it was a little too late for the Black Stars to make a difference.
However, the Stade Rennais winger has showed gratitude to Ghanaians for their overwhelming support for the team.
“From Techiman to the World Cup. Alhamdulilah. What an honour to represent Ghana at the Mundial,” he wrote on Twitter.
“Very grateful to the technical team for the opportunity and trust. Unfortunately our journey ended in disappointments to ourselves, all Africans instead of hope and inspiration to Ghanaians especially in these times.
“Heartfelt thanks to all Ghanaians and fans across the Africa and the world who supported in person and from a distance with their hearts. Big thanks to everyone who has been supporting and believing the dream since the beginning.
“Special mention to Techiman. It’s always an honour to fly the flag of Ghana.”
Sulemana will return to France to rejoin his Rennais teammates as they prepare for the resumption of Ligue 1 after the World Cup.
According to an internal assessment, the government would typically lose somewhere around GH800 million if it had to pay all the taxes that the trotro or commercial transport companies are demanding.
Is all of this money lost? “No, that’s the answer,” he said.
Commercial transport operators on December 6 embarked on a sit-down strike to re-echo their call for government to review the taxes and levies on petroleum products.
The taxes and levies include Energy Debt Recovery Levy, 49p; Road Fund Levy, 48p, Energy Fund Levy, 1p, Price Stabilisation and Recovery Levy 14p; Sanitation and Pollution Levy, 10p; Energy Sector Recovery Levy, 20p; Special Petroleum Tax, 46p, and Primary Distribution Margin, 11p.
“Per [the] calculation we have done in-house, if government was to give all the taxes that the trotro or the commercial transport operators are asking for, what government will lose generally will be something in the region of GHC800million. Is this revenue completely lost? The answer is no,” he said in an interview on Joy News.
The strike has been suspended after an agreed stakeholder meeting was scheduled by the Presidency.
According to Duncan Amoah the calls by the drivers is in their rightful place adding that if government heeded the calls, cost of goods and services will respond positively.
“The calls by these transport operators is not a misplaced one. Every Ghanaian who buys petrol one way or the other has over the last few months had a course to complain about. The complaint has come in the form of what their pocket is recording for those who used to use about 200 cedis for the entire week today you need about 300, 320cedis in order to go about your week so there’s general hardship that these fuel prices increment has brought unto the people,” he explained.
The COPEC boss added that “If government decided to suspend some of the taxes albeit momentarily for a period of a quarter, some of the high pump prices that we are seeing which has crossed 30cedis a gallon, could actually decelerate a bit so that food prices and cost of goods and services do not necessarily go up.”
This follows the government’s announcement on December 5 that it will launch a domestic debt exchange program, allowing investors to freely exchange existing bonds for new ones.
Dr. Atuahene responded to the news in an interview with GhanaWeb Business by suggesting that the government implement both a debt rescheduling program and a debt re-profiling program in addition to the DDE to ensure that the nation’s soaring debt levels reach manageable levels.
“There are currently quite a number of options for debt operations model which Ghana could undertake but it seems like government has decided to stick with one that could make things more difficult for us. I believe government could have looked into these options,” he noted.
“For now, government does not want to adopt the word ‘haircut’ but per my calculations, if government undertakes even 5 percent of its Net Percent Value, I strongly think we could get somewhere with our debt programme,” Dr. Atuahene explained.
He continued “…And then if adopt the debt rescheduling and debt re-profiling programmes, it places us in a much better position but if you take only one model and go straight to implement, it could hit the country real hard and that could be disastrous”
Touching on the potential effects of the debt exchange programme on economic output, Dr Atuahene said the exercise could result in high unemployment rates and lower revenue generation streams.
“Nobody thinks about the output, it’s going to have an effect on the output. And it will, in turn, affect revenue generation, because if people are being laid off, production is going to go down, how are you going to get taxes on the profitability and what have you? So, we’re in a very critical situation but I believe it is not too late,” the economist stressed.
The Banking Consultant, thus, called on government to as a matter of urgency conduct extensive engagements with relevant stakeholders, investors and citizens to properly explain the modalities behind the programme.
Meanwhile, a statement issued by the Finance Ministry on December 5 said Ghana is inviting eligible holders to exchange GH¢137.3 billion of the domestic notes and bonds, including Energy Sector Levy Act Plc and Daakye Trust Plc, for a package of New Bonds to be issued.
At least 86 gunmen have laid down arms and renounced violence in Niger’s south-western Tahoua region.
The region has been hit by armed gangs operating between Niger and northern Nigeria who carry out killings and kidnappings for ransom.
At a ceremony to receive them in the town of Bangui, some of the so-called repentant kidnappers said they resorted to criminality because they had no jobs but later realised violence was not an option.
They have called on the government to provide more job opportunities.
They were pardoned by the authorities following their surrender and are expected to be rehabilitated and given vocational skills.
This is one of President Mohammed Bazoum’s strategies to end the insecurity in Niger.
The ex-gunmen have promised to help the authorities tackle insecurity by trying to persuade other kidnappers to also surrender and embrace peace.
Dozens of guns belonging to the former gang members were displayed at the event on Monday evening.
Officials say talks with armed groups is key to ending the violence even as a military campaign continues.
Interior Minister Hamadou Adamou Souley said they hope the insecurity in Niger will be brought to an end “soon” given the progress being made.
Apart from increasing cases of kidnappings for ransom, Niger is also grappling with Boko Haram violence as well as other armed groups linked to the Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda.
Some Black Stars players have turned to their social media accounts to apologise to Ghanaians ,following the team’s elimination from the ongoing 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Last Friday’s group stage elimination match between Ghana and Uruguay ended in a 2-0 loss for Ghana.
It was the second consecutive time the Black Stars exited the World Cup on the group stage.
Most Ghanaian fans were left disappointed after an impressive performance against South Korea in the second group match which the team won 3-2.
The game against Uruguay was declared a revenge match after the first meeting between the two sides 12 years ago.
The South American side denied Ghana a semi-final berth in that competition following a Luis Suarez handball and a resultant penalty kick missed by Asamoah Gyan.
Despite the promises to beat Uruguay in the final group game the Black Stars succumb to another defeat.
After the game, Black Stars captain Andre Ayew and some players have apologized and also thanked the fans for the support during the tournament.
The Ghana Football Association were the first to issue the apology after the team’s exit from the competition.
“We regret our inability to progress to the knockout phase of the competition and offer our profound apologies to the government, the people of Ghana and all stakeholders across the globe.
“We believe that valuable lessons have been learnt from our qualification and participation in the tournament and aim to continue with the positives going into the future”.
Dede Ayew
Our final group match result was not what we were looking forward to in the tournament,but unfortunately, it ended up this way.
I am very, very proud of all teammates for putting up a wonderful team spirit on and off the pitch, off the pitch, for our country Ghana.
Personally, it’s has been difficult moments for me in the past few days. I lost my godson the morning before the Portugal game and my daughter was also rushed to the hospital after the Uruguay game. Thanks to the Almighty Allah she is getting better. These difficult moments will inspire me come back stronger and better in the future, and so I believe with the Black Stars
Thomas Partey
It was our biggest wish to give Ghanaians something to cheer about but unfortunately it didn’t go as we wanted.
I want to say a huge thank you for the unconditional support from home and across the world.
With the support of God we will come back stronger.🙏
Osman Bukari
I am so grateful for the opportunity given to me to serve my country at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Hard to accept we couldn’t go far. Lessons have been learnt. Thank you Ghana for your immense support and love. I fervently believe we’ll come back stronger!
Tariq Lamptey
I thank God for this moment and the opportunity we have been given, we would have liked things to have turned out differently but Godstiming is best. We’ll use this as more motivation and work even harder.
A big thank you to everyone for all the support, really appreciate it.
Alidu Seidu
I want to give glory to Allah for allowing me to represent the colors of 🇬🇭 one of the greatest Gift football has given me.Sad the goal was not achieved but alhamdulillah. Thanks to everyone who supported me and the team 🇬🇭
Growing up, I was extremely thin. It’s not that I was starving myself; in fact, I loved to eat. But no matter how much food I consumed, I never was able to budge from a size zero.
For much of my adolescence, my peers ridiculed me because of my size. As a teen, when everyone my age was starting to fill out and develop curves, I remained considerably thin. It took a toll on my confidence.
The issue of my weight reached a boiling point one summer day when I decided to wear shorts, which I’d never dared before because I was too self-conscious.
Two men yelled at me from across the street, “Take those shorts off; you’re too skinny for that!”
I was humiliated. Sure, I tried to laugh it off, but nothing was remotely funny about how I had been made to feel. After that day, I made it a point to never don a pair of shorts or a short skirt again.
Being “too thin” may sound like a problem most women would give anything to have, but my reality was different.
As a woman of mixed heritage, my culture places a greater emphasis on being curvy. I’ve never held myself to the mainstream standard of beauty: being skinny. But I am. Back then, even more so — and it was a liability.
I didn’t even realize the irony of my problem until a few years later when I started working in a predominantly white office. I was no longer a size zero, but I still wanted to gain more weight.
Most of the women I worked with were obsessed with exercising and dieting. It was strange to me; all of these women were struggling for a body like mine, but when I looked at them, I secretly wished I were their size.
Bear in mind, these women were no bigger than a size nine at best. I saw them as shapely and attractive; not too thick and not too small. We’d talk about weight, and I’d be astonished at our starkly different perceptions of what an “acceptable” dress size was.
It was amazing how different our body goals were — and what we put ourselves through to achieve them.
And it’s not even like we grew up in different countries. Here we were, American women who watched the same movies, read the same magazines, and even liked similar fashions. But we drew the line when it came to body image.
It slowly dawned on me what a strong influence a person’s culture can have on her perception of beauty — and how, if I had been born into a different culture, I would never have experienced all of those body insecurities growing up.
As you might have guessed, those guys who ridiculed me for looking too skinny in my shorts were men of color, like me. If it were a group of white men on the corner that day, odds are I would be telling a whole different story.
That’s not to say every single person is a prisoner of the culture he or she grew up in, but it’s hard to argue the idea that heritage heavily influences what we find attractive. It’s funny how I could feel so out of place all those years just because I was someone else’s idea of beauty instead of my own.
And while cultures vary in their ideals of beauty, they share one common flaw: the pressure to look perfect, whatever perfect may be, contributes to low self-esteem in women.
The reality is that every woman should strive to be healthy, whether healthy is a size zero or a size twelve for her particular frame.
Every woman is different and beautiful in her own way, so why should we all try to look the same?
I didn’t become comfortable with my body until my late twenties, and I honestly regret that. I wish I’d learned to love my body sooner.
Two children and a decade after I first became conscious of my body, I’ve finally realized just how beautiful I am — and how beautiful my body is.
I may never have an ample derriere like J. Lo, and my coworkers may never reach a size two, but one thing we all can achieve is self-acceptance — and that’s the most beautiful trait of all.
The NCA, an agency of the government, has directed mobile network carriers to deactivate the SIM cards of subscribers who have started the registration process but haven’t finished it yet.
Many members are now unable to access the money in their mobile wallets as a result of the development.
According to her, such subscribers will be made to use different IDs for registration soon accusing the minority of misleading Ghanaians into boycotting the Ghana card registration exercise when it began.
“People did not have their Ghana Card because members of the NDC and the minority urged Ghanaians to register for the Ghana Card when the exercise commenced in 2018. Infact the minority caucus issued a statement on 10th June 2018 and had a Press conference indicating their opposition to the Ghana Card registration exercise and indicating that they will not participate in the exercise. That is a fact and a matter of records. So for them to now say they never opposed the Ghana Card registration exercise is factually incorrect and this is a house of records,” she said.
“Mr. Speaker, I indicated in my statement of 11th November as well that we’re looking at making other arrangements for those who genuinely do not have Ghana Cards to enable them to complete the SIM Card registration exercise and that will be announced in due course.”
Minority Chief whip Muntaka Mubarak who was singled out for a mention by the minister as those who championed a crusade against the Ghana cards charged Ursula to rather concern herself with the numerous challenges the public is going through as a result of the re-registration exercise and stop accusing the NDC wrongly.
“Mr Speaker the minister is a senior member of this House, and she knows that in this House If you want to make such reference you either quote the official records or you have your evidence. Mr. Speaker, I challenge the Minister to provide any evidence that I in this Chamber stood to say what she’s claiming I said.”
“Mr. Speaker if she cares to know her statement is rather irritating the ordinary Ghanaians…my SIM is blocked, Minister you have to be responsible in your statement, don’t just irritate people, if there are real challenges try to deal with it, don’t just trivialize the challenges we’re having.”
Samuel Eto’o has been caught on camera kneeing a photographer in the head at the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar.
The Cameroonian legend has been a regular at games in the Middle East and was in attendance once more for Brazil’s last-16 showdown with South Korea.
While many walked away from that contest happy after seeing the Selecao put in a dazzling display of attacking intent during a 4-1 win, Eto’o found cause to pick an argument with a cameraman outside the venue and became caught up in a violent scuffle, with La Opinion catching the shocking incident on camera.
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Eto’o is a legend in his native Cameroon, having scored more goals (56) for his country than any other player, and collected several major honours during a club career that took him to places such as Barcelona, Inter and Chelsea.
WHAT NEXT? While Eto’o was clearly wound up after Brazil’s latest outing in Qatar, the Selecao impressed many with their free-flowing football and eye-catching dance moves, with the South Americans beginning to move through the gears in pursuit of a sixth global crown.
Prof. Kwamena Kwansah-Aidoo has been appointed as the Vice-Chancellor for the newly constituted University of Media, Arts, and Communication.
Prof. Kwansah-Aidoo was appointed after the 6th Regular Meeting by the Interim Council of the University held on 30th November 2022 and the appointment took effect on December 1.
Announcing the appointment in a statement, the Public Affairs Directorate of the University said: “The Interim Council of the University of Media, Arts and Communication at its 6th Regular Meeting held on 30th November 2022 appointed a new Management Team led by Prof. Kwamena Kwansah-Aidoo as the Vice-Chancellor with effect from 1st December 2022.”
“The University of Media, Arts and Communication is the first public university established by an Act of Parliament (Act 1059) which merges three specialized institutions comprising the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ), Ghana Institute of Languages (GIL), and National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI).”
The Act of Parliament (Act 1059) that gave a legal constitution to the University received Presidential Assent in May 2022.
Processes for the merger of the three institutions commenced in 2019.
Prof. Kwamena Kwansah-Aidoo is an astute academic with a solid leadership track record spanning over two decades of teaching and management in Ghanaian and foreign universities.
His expertise is in Marketing, Communication, Crisis Communication, and Public Relations.
Before his appointment, he was the Rector of the Ghana Institute of Journalism and was instrumental in turning around the fortunes of the Institute into an enviable specialized institution in the training of journalists, public relations practitioners as well as other professionals in the media and communication industry.
Prof. Kwamena Kwansah-Aidoo is currently the Chairman of Vice Chancellors Ghana.
Other members of the team include Dr. Janetta Sika Akoto, Acting Registrar, Mr. Francis Obeng, Acting Director of Finance, Prof. Eric Opoku Mensah, Acting Rector (GIJ), Dr. Samuel A. Nai Rector (NAFTI) and Dr. Sampson Fenuku, Acting Rector (GIL)
The Interim Council has decided that the North Dzorwulu Campus of UniMAC – GIJ, shall be the physical location and address of the new university.
Bento’s side were kicked out of the tournament after a 4-1 defeat by Brazil.
The 53-year-old from Portugal was appointed as South Korea boss in August 2018.
“We just have to think about the future and it will not be with the national team of South Korea,” said Bento.
“I have just announced to the players and to the president of the South Korean federation and this was a decision I had already taken since September that was set in stone.
“Today I have confirmed it and I have to thank them for everything they have done.
“They have given their very best and I have been very pleased and proud to have been their manager.”
Bento’s side beat his native Portugal 2-1 in their final group game to finish second in Group H and progress to the last 16.
This demand was made by Madam Afia Kwarteng Asamani, the Convenor of the APG, in a statement released in Accra on December 5, 2022.
The statement demanded that the Ghana Private Road and Transport Union (GPRTU), the Ghana Road Transport Coordinating Council (GRTCC), and the Ministry of Transport immediately review and adjust transport fares to reflect the current market prices on gasoline and diesel in order to provide some relief to Ghanaian passengers.
Below is the full statement:
REDUCE TRANSPORTATION FARES TO REFLECT DECLINE IN PETROL AND DIESEL PRICES.
The Association of Passengers in Ghana- APG has noticed a drastic decline in fuel prices on both petrol and diesel in the last week or two.
We are hereby calling on the mother association of drivers union, Ghana Private Road and Transport Union – GPRTU, the Ghana Road Transport Coordinating Council (GRTCC) and the Ministry of Transport to immediately review transport fares and adjust them downwards to reflect the prevailing market prices on petrol and diesel to bring some relief to the Ghanaian passenger.
This will ensure that there is fairness in the system.
We are aware that the GPRTU and the GRTCC take into account not only fuel prices in determining transport fares but also prices of spare parts, and statutory fees such as permit and vehicle income tax among others.
However, we are equally aware that prevailing market prices of petrol and diesel are a major determinant factor in determining an increase in transport fares.
That is why wherever there is an increase in the price of the aforementioned two commodities on the market, transport operators make an appeal to the government through the Ministry of Transport to allow them to increase transport fares.
It will interest you to note that, as an association, our members have had challenges in paying these high increases in transport fares since the GPRTU added more than 15 per cent the last two months.
Our checks from some energy expert institutions such as COPEC and the IES have revealed that the fuel prices will further decline in the coming days, hence our call.
We as an association also believe that the intervention by the Bank of Ghana has helped in contributing to this positive and drastic decline in petroleum pricing.
We are therefore calling on the transport unions to do the needful as soon as practicable to ensure that the passenger is not always made to bear the brunt of fuel price increases but also be made to enjoy relief whenever there is a reduction of the prices of the commodity.
The European Union (EU) says its Interim Economic Partnership Agreement (iEPA) with Ghana can be instrumental in furthering Ghana’s ambition of becoming a regional and continental trade hub.
The iEPA is a free trade agreement between Ghana and the European Union.
On the EU’s side, it has been implemented since 2016 with the removal of all import duties applied on products exported from Ghana to the EU. From Ghana’s side, it is being implemented since 2021 with a progressive removal of tariff barriers over a 10-year period.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of a conference on “opportunities and challenges for businesses under the EU-Ghana Interim Economic Partnership Agreement”, the Head of the European Union Delegation in Ghana, Irchad Razaaly said the iEPA presents enormous opportunities for Ghanaian exporters as the EU import market is estimated to be worth over €2 trillion.
He said recent statistics pegged Ghana’s export to the EU to the tune of €2 billion.
“Data also suggests that in the last decade, trade flows have increased and are gradually diversifying for Ghana from raw materials to increasingly processed products”.
Mr. Irchad Razaaly said Ghana has enjoyed increasingly preferential access to the EU market. “More recently, with the entry into force of the landmark Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the EU and Ghana in 2016, Ghana’s duty-free and quota-free access to EU markets was legally cemented”.
He added that the Agreement ensures stability, predictability and legal certainty for economic operators trading between the EU and Ghana, adding that “the Agreement also ensures that Ghana is able to protect its most sensitive domestic products (including poultry) from perceived import competition”.
The Head of the EU Delegation to Ghana explained how the Agreement also lowers the cost of importing machinery, technology and more, stating that this is paramount to enable value addition, support economic transformation and industrialisation, and make Ghana Beyond Aid a reality.
He noted, “Indeed, the Economic Partnership Agreement places Ghana in an ideal situation to take advantage of the market opportunities on the African continent. It enables Ghanaian businesses to import quality machinery at a cheaper price from Europe to be used for processing Made in Ghana products destined for the African market.”
In his speech, Deputy Trades and Industry Minister, Henry Krapa said Government remains committed to ensuring a constantly improved trading relation with the EU.
“That means we have to intensify our collaborative efforts, our stakeholder engagements and market sensitisation”.
He praised the Technical Assistance Team, the Compete Ghana Secretariat, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Finance, Customs, and all other stakeholders for being excellent so far, and said it remains government’s expectation that the collaboration will be deepened even more.
The government’s proposed debt swap scheme, according to a former chairman of the finance committee of parliament, is too flimsy.
According to Dr. Mark Assibey-Yeboah, the program is not in-depth enough in light of the condition the nation is in.
The former MP from New Juaben South applauds the administration for the action, nevertheless.
It is the first step toward addressing the present economic problem, in his opinion.
In an interview with Citi FM on Tuesday, Mr. Assibey-Yeboah said, ““I will even say that the exercise has not been deep enough because from what we are hearing, individual bondholders are excluded, and there are no haircuts on the principal as it were and there have been some concessions if you like, so I think this is the softer way to go.”
The capacity of the administration to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund was also mentioned by Dr. Assibey-Yeboah (IMF).
He claims that the nation’s debt is no longer manageable.
“The IMF Programme is dependent on this debt restructuring, so before we can sign up for the programme, we need to restructure our debt. Our debt has become unsustainable, in simple terms, we simply cannot repay our debts, and we have to do something about it.
“The Government has admitted that the only way out of the economic mess is for us to sign up for an IMF programme and this has become a prerequisite for signing up for the programme and so if we don’t restructure our debt, we cannot have the programme in place.”
On Sunday, December 4, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta unveiled the government’s domestic debt swap scheme.
These procedures contain a few exclusions and guidelines for the restructuring of foreign debt.
Treasury bills and individual bondholders won’t be impacted by this exercise, according to his release.
Domestic bondholders, however, will be required to exchange their current securities for new ones.
“Existing domestic bonds as of December 1, 2022, will be exchanged for a set of four new bonds maturing in 2027, 2029, 2032 and 2037.
“The annual coupon on all of these new bonds will be set at 0% in 2023, 5% in 2024 and 10% in 2025 until maturity.
“Coupon payments will be semi-annual,” the Minister said.
The man who has been accused of killing rapper Takeoff says he’s innocent.
33-year-old Patrick Xavier Clark, who was arrested and charged with the murder of Takeoff last week, said through his attorneys that he didn’t fatally shoot the rapper in Houston, Texas last month. During a brief court appearance on Monday, attorney Letitia Quinones said her client is “nervous” and “concerned” because he is “being charged with something that he believes he’s innocent of, so how would anyone do in that type of circumstance?”
Takeoff was fatally shot at age 28 during the early hours of Nov. 1 when gunfire erupted following a “lucrative” game of dice. He was shot in the head and torso as approximately 30 people left a private gathering at a Houston bowling alley. Authorities said Takeoff was not involved in the dispute that led to gunfire, and was “an innocent bystander.”
Clark is being held on $2 million bond and is set to attend a bond reduction hearing on Dec. 14. Police said they determined Clark’s identity through the use of shooting reconstruction and ballistics evidence, as well as cellphone and surveillance footage that “surfaced over time.”
“Yesterday evening, we arrested Patrick Xavier Clark,” said police chief Troy Finner in a press conference on Friday.
“More than an entertainer, he was a son, brother, cousin, a friend, and a mentor to those in the music industry,” added Houston mayor Sylvester Turner of Takeoff.
“I am glad a suspect has been arrested and charged with Takeoff’s death. I’m certain it will bring some comfort to the family, though it does not bring Takeoff back. This is a significant step towards seeking justice, and I hope it also brings additional comfort to all who loved Takeoff.”
Ghana and the British government are poised to sign a nurse-for-cash contract.
Health Minister Kweku Agyeman-Manu stated on the floor of parliament on Monday, 5 December 2022 during a discussion of the 2023 budget that each nurse Ghana sends to the UK will likely cost the West African nation £1,000 once the arrangement is finalized.
In accordance with a previous agreement reached between the two nations, nurses from Ghana are already being dispatched to Barbados.
“Mr. Speaker, as you are aware, we have begun sending our nurses abroad on a bilateral basis, and the second cohort of nurses has been dispatched to Barbados as a result of the agreement we struck with that country.
Why would they come for both, Mr. Speaker?
Now that we’re hearing about it in Barbados, patients are asking for Ghanaian nurses to be by their bedsides, and I think that’s good news for us,” said Mr. Agyeman-Manu.
“And, out of these nurses, Ghana is going to benefit from some little monies that the UK government will pass on”, he noted, explaining: “For every single nurse that goes away – when we finish the agreement – it’s likely we’ll get a £1,000 to come back to support our health system”.
Ninety-five Ghanaian nurses (49 women and 46 men) on Thursday, 30 July 2020 arrived in Barbados on an Azores Airlines chartered flight for a two-year contract.
They were to help the Caribbean country’s healthcare system.
In March 2022, the Prime Minister of the Island nation, Mia Motley, said during Ghana’s 65th independence anniversary in the Central Region, at which she was the special guest of honour, that: “I stand here on your Independence Day to thank the people of Ghana for being able to support us in our need for nurses, with the first 95 nurses having gone to Barbados in July 2020.”
“We thank you, the government of the people of Ghana, for that most generous gesture, and we are heartened that they have made a huge difference to our public healthcare system; so much so that we have completed an interview for another 200 nurses to come to Barbados in the near future,” she added.
In November 2019, the Foreign Ministers of Ghana and Barbados, on behalf of the governments and peoples of their respective countries, signed an agreement for the recruitment of a total of 120 nurses from Ghana to complement the staffing needs of the island nation.
The agreement was signed on Friday, 15 November 2019 at Ghana’s Jubilee House, when the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, paid a courtesy call on the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, as part of her official visit.
The objective of the agreement is to provide the framework for the provision of nurses by the Republic of Ghana to Barbados, taking cognisance of the existing commitment of Barbados to accepted international workforce policies and practices, as well as the International Council of Nurses (ICN) Code of Ethics for nurses.
The scope of services and responsibilities include Ghana providing registered nurses to Barbados with a level of expertise as agreed to by both countries, with Barbados providing Ghanaian nurses safe and secure working conditions for professional practice, and medical treatment where needed.
Remuneration is commensurate with the terms and conditions of Barbadian local registered nurses. Barbados is also to provide professional support to Ghanaian nurses to comply with the guidelines and rules of the Nursing Council of Barbados.
A total of 150 short-listed candidates underwent interviews, out of which 120 were to have been chosen.
The qualified nurses possess a minimum of three years of experience, with specialities in the following areas: critical care, cardiac catheterisation, emergency room, operating theatre, and ophthalmology.
It will be recalled that on 15 June 2019, during an official visit to Barbados, as part of activities to promote the declaration of 2019 as the Year of Return, President Akufo-Addo, in principle, agreed to a request by Prime Minister Mottley to send some nurses to work in a number of medical facilities in Barbados.
Addressing a press conference in the aftermath of the bilateral discussions, and with Barbados facing an acute nursing shortage, the Barbadian Prime Minister stated that “we have indicated that we are searching for just under 400 nurses, so it is not a small number, and we really do believe that this is a wonderful opportunity of co-operation between our two countries.”
In addition, she noted that there was also an initial promise to secure the nurses and provide joint education programmes going forward, all in an attempt to secure Barbados’ healthcare sector.
For his part, President Akufo-Addo indicated that “we have a surplus of nurses in Ghana, and placing them all in our public health system is one of my headaches. There have been a lot (of nurses) produced, which, for several years, we have not been able to do anything with.”
He continued, “So, I am going back. I will be back in Accra on Monday, and, the week after, the Prime Minister will hear from me on this matter of nurses.”
Crowds are starting to assemble at the various MNO offices just five days after the National Communications Authority (NCA) ordered the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to block the SIM cards of users who have not finished the process to link their Ghana Cards to their SIM cards.
As of 6:00 AM on December 5, 2022, subscribers could be spotted congregating at the Dansoman MTN location in the Ablekuma West community of the Greater Accra Region.
The situation was the same at the MTN branch in Darkuman, where a large number of subscribers thought to be a part of the “stubborn academy” were seen forming a line in front of the office
At the AirtelTigo office on Oxford Street Osu R.E in the Klottey Korley municipality of the Greater Accra Region, it was same.
The Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications issued a statement to inform the public that starting from the close of 30 November 2022, its members, “AirtelTigo, MTN and Vodafone” will “begin deactivating some category of SIM cards in compliance with the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation‘s directive issued on November 11, 2022.”
The statement, which was released on Wednesday, 30 November 2022, stressed that “only subscribers that have completed stage 1 (linkage to Ghana card) but are yet to complete stage 2 (biometric capture) of the SIM registration, will have their SIM cards blocked.”
The Chamber also encouraged “all subscribers who have acquired Ghana cards but are yet to complete stage 2 (biometric capture) to do so without delay.”
“Our members are obliged by the directive to completely deactivate all subscriber SIMs which have not completed the biometric capture registration by close of business today, November 30, 2022,” the Chamber’s statement continued.
It said: “Subscribers with Ghana cards can avoid this inconvenience by completing the registration process,” and pledged that: “Our members remain committed to supporting the efforts of all stakeholders to ensure that every customer in every part of the country is able to register their SIM card(s) with the Ghana card.”
Since November 20, the telecommunications companies in Ghana have been blocking data services for subscribers who have only linked their Ghana Card and SIMs (Stage 1) but have not captured their biometric data (Stage 2) as part of the SIM registration process as directed by the Ursula Owusu-Ekuful-led Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation
As a result of their behavior at the conclusion of their final World Cup group match against Ghana, Fifa has initiated disciplinary proceedings against the Uruguayan football association and four players.
Even though they defeated Ghana 2-0, Uruguay lost on goals scored and placed third in Group H, behind South Korea.
Uruguay’s players reacted furiously at full-time, confronting the referee and appearing to manhandle an assistant after they failed to award a penalty after a coming together between Darwin Nunez and Alidu Seidu.
Jose Maria Gimenez, Edinson Cavani, Fernando Muslera and Diego Godin all face potential punishments for breaches of Fifa’s disciplinary code relating to offensive behaviour and misconduct.
The Uruguayan FA faces action for the same breaches of the code, as well as another relating to discrimination.
Valencia forward Cavani was filmed pushing over the pitchside monitor as he walked down the tunnel after the match, after which ITV pundit Ian Wright called him a “horrible guy”.
Fifa has also opened proceedings against Serbia’s FA relating to “incidents” during their 3-2 defeat by Switzerland in their final Group G game.
Football’s world governing body has not specified the incidents, but fans were told during the match to “stop all discriminatory chants and gestures”.
Serbia were already under investigation by Fifa after the team hung a controversial flag depicting Kosovo in their dressing room before their defeat by Brazil earlier in the tournament.
For domestic bondholders, the government has reduced interest payments to zero percent in 2023 and fixed 2024 interest payments at five percent.
However, it has stated that there won’t be a reduction in bond principle, and that holders of government bonds will receive their entire investment at maturity.
The declaration was made during a press conference by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, however the Minority in Parliament is troubled by the government’s most recent action.
They are fighting it because they claim it is an imposition.
Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, the minister of communications, rejected rumors that mobile users without a Ghana Card, which serves as the primary paperwork for registering SIM cards, had their numbers deleted.
Since Thursday, December 1, Telecommunication Networks have began enforcing fines against unregistered users, including deactivating SIM cards that had successfully completed the first step of registration but had not yet finished the second.
However, there are rumors that subscribers who did not have Ghana cards to finish the registration process had their SIM cards deactivatedas well.
However, the Minister stated that these claims are untrue in response to some of the concerns voiced by the ranking member of the Parliamentary Communication committee.
“People who did not have Ghana Cards have had their cards blocked, and I said No, that has not happened. It is those who have completed the first phase of the exercise by linking their cards to the SIM cards but had not gone on to do the biometric capture that has had their SIM cards blocked.”
Meanwhile, as hundreds of customers with banned SIM cards flocked to the different facilities, police were dispatched to select SIM registration centers in Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti Regional, to prevent any potential turmoil.
A increasing sense of annoyance is being felt by the impacted consumers at the different locations, who claim that since their SIM cards were deactivated, they are unable to use important mobile services like calls, data, and mobile money transactions.
The subscribers claimed that their SIM cards have been disabled despite them properly completing the re-registration process
Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has described the censure motion against Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta was a botched attempt by the Parliamentary Minority caucus.
According to him, the majority group will not in any way support the motion for the removal of Mr Ofori-Atta as the Finace Minister.
He warned the Minority caucus not to kid themselves into thinking they would have the votes to win by saying the Majority would be immune from any secret ballot against the Finance Minister.
Haruna Iddrisu, a Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale South in the Northern Region of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), stated that “if those courageous 98 gallant NPP MPs or Majority MPs cooperate, we will be very successful in getting a new Finance Minister for Ghana and exiting Ken Ofori-Atta”
The Deputy Majority Leader, in contrast, questioned Mr. Iddrisu that “the motion has already failed and who told you that you are going to get any support from this side?”
He went on to say that “we have told you that it is a political motion, and we will not support you, as we made it clear. Mr. Speaker, the Minority should not be under any impression that in any so-called secret ballot you are going to have somebody to support you as you do not have the numbers”.
The Finance Minister was the target of a censure resolution submitted by the minority caucus in Parliament, which also accused him of serious economic mismanagement and conflicts of interest.
The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has been urged to abide by the agreed-upon timeline by some New Patriotic Party (NPP) lawmakers who are also pushing for the Finance Minister’s dismissal.
The NPP MPs agreed not to boycott the 2023 budget presentation and that the necessary action would be taken once it had been read.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has promised that it will take action to protect employees’ pensions as the government’s Domestic Debt Exchange (DDX) Programme is put into effect.
The TUC voiced concern in a statement released on Monday over the government’s refusal to consult with Labour before the launch considering that a sizable amount of workers’ pensions are invested in government bonds.
The TUC urged all employees and unions to maintain their composure while it works to safeguard retirement accounts, nevertheless.
“We have taken particular note of the Finance Minister’s assertion that the Debt Exchange Program is a voluntary program.
The TUC will meticulously examine whether or not the pension funds of its members should participate in the initiative.
“We are assuring workers, that the TUC and its Affiliate unions will do everything in our power to ensure that our members are fully protected and that not even a pesewa of pension funds is lost in the Debt Restructuring Programme.”
Government offered investors a domestic debt swap on Monday to ease a crunch in payments as the government negotiates an IMF bailout.
The debt exchange program which took effect Monday would swap current debt for four new bonds maturing between 2027 and 2037.
Speaking at the launch on Monday, December 5, 2022, the Finance Minister said the Programme seeks “to invite holders of domestic debt to voluntarily exchange approximately GH¢137 billion of the domestic notes and bonds of the Republic, including E.S.L.A. and Daakye bonds, for a package of New Bonds to be issued by the Republic.”
Mr. Ofori-Atta believes the time is now for action to be taken as the economy is in a perilous state.
“The Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA) demonstrated unequivocally that Ghana’s public debt is unsustainable, and that the Government may not be able to fully service its debt down the road if no action is taken. Indeed, debt servicing is now absorbing more than half of total government revenues and almost 70% of tax revenues, while our total public debt stock, including that of State-Owned Enterprises and all, exceeds 100% of our GDP. This is why we are today announcing the debt exchange, which will help in restoring our capacity to service debt.”
Meanwhile, a foreign debt restructuring programme is billed to be presented later, he said.
Captain of Ghana Black Stars, Andre Ayew missed a penalty kick in the 21st minute after Mohammed Kudus was fouled by Uruguay’s Sergio Rochet.
Uruguay went on to win the game 2-0 thanks to goals from Giorgio de Arrascaeta in the 26th and 32nd minutes of the game but it was not enough as teams went out of the tournament.
“Sorry and thank you. “Soccer gives revenge, and I know they will be there as always,” he posted on his twitter page.
“It hurts us the same and more than everyone else, but we will come back stronger.”
Uruguay and South Korea both ended with a zero goal difference, but the side from Asia netted a total of four goals in their three games, with the South American team scoring just the two they managed against the Black Stars.
Otto Addo has revealed that Ghana did not rejoice after preventing Uruguay from moving on to the round of 16 of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Both teams were eliminated from the competition on Friday when the Black Stars fell to Uruguay 2-0 at Al Janoub Stadium.
After Andre Ayew missed the penalty kick, Giorgio de Arrascaeta scored both goals in the final eight minutes of the first half to end Ghana’s chances of moving on to the second round of the competition.
“I don’t know who said it, but nobody told them what the [South Korea] score was,” Otto Addo said after the game.
“I don’t know how they would know. For us, it was about trying to score. As a coach for more than 12 years, I have had games where we led 3-0 and lost 4-3. Anything can happen.
“I don’t think anyone was thinking about this, but I definitely wasn’t. Everyone saw wild games with goals in the last minutes. We just wanted to equalise, which would have gotten us through.”
Speaking to the graduating class of 2022 at the 13th Accra Business School graduation ceremony, the former leader claimed that the private sector is currently in a very bad situation as a result of the government’s poor management and carelessness during the previous five years.
“The local private sector’s predicament is expected to get worse as a result of the Government’s impending debt operation.
The government’s unilateral offer to pay no interest in 2023 and a suppressed interest rate of between 5 and 10% will worsen the situation for the private sector, though specifics are unknown at this time.
“A worst-case scenario is the contemplated compulsory extension of maturities on Government bonds and the haircut investors will have to take if they decide to cash out because they can’t wait that long. People have lost value on their investments and could potentially lose even more,” the former President said.
In line with the programme, domestic bondholders are billed to exchange their instruments for new ones, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta said in a televised announcement on Sunday.
According to him, existing domestic bonds as of 1st December 2022, will be exchanged for a set of four new bonds maturing in 2027, 2029, 2032, 2037.
“The annual coupon on all of these new bonds will be set at 0% in 2023, 5% in 2024, and 10% from 2025 until maturity. Coupon payments will be semi-annual,” said the Finance Minister.
Meanwhile, the Finance Minister stressed “There will be NO haircut on the principal of bonds, adding Individual holders of bonds will not be affected.
Also, Treasury Bills were exempted from the haircut as holders will be paid the full value of their investments on maturity.
However, the external debt restructuring parameters will be presented in due course, Mr Ofori-Atta said.
According to the association, the reduction will allow the government to meet its revenue target as many have evaded the use of Mobile Money to cash due to the high charges.
Speaking to Citi News, the General Secretary of the Association, Evans Otumfour said;
“Government must conduct research to find out why people are not patronizing MoMo. It is obvious that the rate is one of the major hindrances to government achieving its revenue. So government must reduce the rate so that a lot of people will not be impacted. There are over 17 million MoMo users, so if government pegs the rate at 0.1 or 0.5 percent, it will still meet its revenue target. If not, people will look for alternatives like the use of cash.”
On November 24, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, announced that government will remove the GH¢100 daily threshold on the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-levy) and reduce the headline rate from 1.5 percent to 1 per cent.
During the presentation of the 2023 Budget Statement and Economic policy to parliament, he said; “We will review the E-Levy Act and, more specifically, reduce the headline rate from 1.5 per cent to 1 percent of the transaction value as well remove the daily threshold.”
The E-levy review, among other reforms and interventions, according to the Finance Minister, forms part of revenue measures aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability and accelerating economic transformation.
“Government has consistently indicated its intention to improve the revenue collection effort by leveraging technology to enhance tax administration, identify and register taxable persons, and strengthen tax compliance.”
“Government has received several proposals for a review of the Electronic Transfer Levy and is working closely with all stakeholders to evaluate the levy’s impact in order to decide on the following line of action – which will include a revision of the various exclusions.
“As a first step, however, the headline rate will be reduced to 1 per cent of the transaction value alongside the removal of the daily threshold,” he said.
Disbarred attorney Michael Avenatti, has been sentenced to a 14-year jail term after he was found guilty of defrauding his clients.
The Associated Press reports Avenatti was sentenced to 14 years in prison for wire fraud and endeavoring to obstruct the administration of the Interal Revenue Service on Monday. He has been ordered to pay nearly $11 million in restitution to his former clients, as well as the IRS.
As part of his guilty plea earlier this year, Avenatti admitted to stealing millions from four of his clients, but insisted the amount was “drastically less” than the $9 million claimed by federal prosecutors. He was accused of negotiating settlements for his clients and lying about the terms of their agreement. After receiving a payment, Avenatti would transfer the money into his own accounts before telling clients he had not received anything.
“Michael Avenatti was a corrupt lawyer who claimed he was fighting for the little guy. In fact, he only cared about his own selfish interests,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement in response to his sentencing. “He stole millions of dollars from his clients—all to finance his extravagant lifestyle that included a private jet and race cars. As a result of his illegal acts, he has lost his right to practice law in California, and now he will serve a richly deserved prison sentence.”
Avenatti will begin his 14-year sentence once he completes four years behind bars for pocketing almost $300,000 owed to adult film actress Stormy Daniels as part of her Full Disclosure book deal.
Even if the government is not using the term “haircut” to describe losses that would be incurred by bondholders, the former chairman of the Parliamentary Finance Committee asserts that the measures will ultimately result in losses for investors.
The future value if I have one million cedis in bonds due to maturity in 2026 and you apply these four methods of distribution, it is not the same, he said when asked about the problem of losses on principle of such bonds.
“So may be government is not calling it a haircut but I am saying that my one million or whatever investment will not be the same when I realise it in 15 years,” he stressed.
“All these bonds have interest on them, so that you are paid coupons… the average rate of all of these bonds in the system is about 22%.
“So, if you consolidate all of them into the four types…. If you look at the fact that the average interest rate on existing bonds in the system is about 22% and we are coming down to 10%, then that will be a haircut stricto senso,” he submitted on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News, December 5.
“The Fin Min said treasury bills are protected (full redemption) but other local debt instruments (e.g. fixed dep., bank debt holdings) are to to be exchanged for 4 instruments with different maturity dates & coupon payments. So there are implicit haircuts!”
Ofori-Atta announces Domestic Debt Exchange:
The Minister of Finance announced a number of measures under government’s Domestic Debt Exchange (DDE) programme late Sunday.
He stated in a four-minute address that the announcement was in line with government’s Debt Sustainability Analysis as contained in the 2023 budget he presented to Parliament on November 24.
The Minister laid out among others the exchange of existing domestic bonds with four new ones as well as their maturity dates and terms of coupon payments.
He also addressed the overarching goal of the government relative to its engagements with the International Monetary Fund as well as measures to minimize impact of domestic bond exchange on different stakeholders.
“The Government of Ghana has been working hard to minimize the impact of the domestic debt exchange on investors holding government bonds, particularly small investors, individuals, and other vulnerable groups,” he said before outlining three main measures:
• Treasury Bills are completely exempted and all holders will be paid the full value of their investments on maturity.
• There will be NO haircut on the principal of bonds.
• Individual holders of bonds will not be affected.
Former President John Agyekum Kufour asserts that presidents shouldn’t have any trouble rearranging their cabinet members.
That, in his opinion, gives the administration fresh life and creativity.
According to him, the president must be aware of which of his ministers are functioning well and which are not.
In a conversation with the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) on Monday at his home in Peduase, the former president Kufour revealed that he often carried out this activity while in office.
In the interest of his government, according to Mr. Kufour, he once reshuffled individuals who made a big contribution to his presidential campaign.
“I didn’t reshuffle just for the frequency of it; no. The president’s role is like the coach; not just a team leader.
You have to know what your ministers are doing, whether they are being positive or whether they’re just being average when you expect more from them, and you should have the courage to say you don’t belong here, go there, or perhaps sit aside and that thing should not be seasonal; it should be continuous.”
President Akufo-Addo has received several requests to rearrange his cabinet.
The president has stated that he will, however, initiate a reshuffle just for show.
President Akufo-Addo insisted that he continually assess the performance of his ministers.
Many of his appointments, in his opinion, have performed their roles admirably.
“Their output has been considerable, and that is what I look at.”
“If the output measures expectations, then I don’t have any strong reasons to heed the call,” he said.
As compared to yesterday’s trading of a buying price of 13.0973 and a selling price of 13.1105. At a forex bureau in Accra, the dollar is being bought at a rate of 13.30 and sold at a rate of 14.20.
Against the Pound Sterling, the Cedi is trading at a buying price of 15.9926 and a selling price of 16.0112 as compared to yesterday’s trading of a buying price of 15.6834 and a selling price of 15.7004.
At a forex bureau in Accra, the pound sterling is being bought at a rate of 16.10 and sold at a rate of 16.90.
The Euro is trading at a buying price of 13.7974 and a selling price of 13.8123 as compared to yesterday’s trading of a buying price of 13.5751 and a selling price of 13.5875.
At a forex bureau in Accra, Euro is being bought at a rate of 13.35 and sold at a rate of 14.00.
The South African Rand is trading at a buying price of 0.7535 and a selling price of 0.7542 as compared to yesterday’s trading of a buying price of 0.7728 and a selling price of 0.7734.
The Nigerian Naira is trading at a buying price of 33.8411 and a selling price of 33.9670 as compared to yesterday’s trading at a buying price of 33.9146 and a selling price of 33.9459.
At a forex bureau in Accra, Nigerian Naira is being bought at a rate of 16.00 Naira for every 1 Cedi and sold at a rate of 20.50.
For the CFA, it is trading at a buying price of 47.7192 and a selling price of 47.7706.
At a forex bureau in Accra, CFA is being bought at a rate of 18.50 CFA for every 1 Cedi and sold at a rate of 23.50 CFA for every 1 Cedi.
Coach Otto Addo has heaped praise on Mubarak Wakaso, Jonathan Mensah, Andy Yiadom and others for playing a key role in Ghana’s qualification Ghana to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The 47-year-old masterminded Ghana’s qualification by beating Nigeria in the final play-off in March.
The four-time African champions were eliminated from the tournament on Friday after losing 2-0 to Uruguay.
Ghana finished bottom of Group H with three points after losing to Portugal and Uruguay, having beaten South Korea in between.
‘’I would like to use this opportunity to thank players who brought us here. We always try to have the best possible squad, but some got injured, some couldn’t make it into the squad because others were also doing good’’ he told the media in Doha.
‘’I would like to thank, first of all, Mubarak Wakaso. I think all of you watched the match against South Africa when he sacrificed his health and I was very, very sad when he received a lot of insults. He sacrificed his health for the nation in that game, this can happen in football, and afterwards he was insulted’’.
‘’The people forgot what happened. We wouldn’t be here if those warriors fighting against South Africa to win 1-0 in Cape Coast with Rajevac as Coach. We should never forget where we came from. So Wakaso, then surely, guys like Jonathan Mensah always ready to help, always supporting the team from behind. And we have matured older players like Essien, like Muntari showing up to support the team, giving them very, very good advice, and giving me good advice’’.
‘’And also, Andy Yiadom, for example, also regular helping the team to qualify for the World Cup and last but not the least Felix Afena Gyan, very young talented guy, very good in his work ethic. Really, really helped us and for me, for all what happened, these were the most difficult decisions to make. To leave out players who had very, very good character, and were always ready to give it all for the team’’.
‘’Then also, those who got injured, like Benjamin Tetteh Joseph Wollacott, Richard Ofori and Baba Idrissu, excellent player, just unlucky. So, we should never forget’’.
‘’With all the criticism or whatever, things went wrong, may be in your eyes, for me I am very, very proud, especially, those who were not here and those who didn’t play but were there supporting the team even though they didn’t play and for me, first is character. Character comes first, this is where every truth stands out’’ he added.
Kirstie Alley passed away on Monday at the age of 71.
Her children True and Lillie confirmed her death in a statement posted on Alley’s Instagram. “We are sad to inform you that our incredible, fierce and loving mother has passed away after a battle with cancer, only recently discovered,” the message reads.
Alley rose to fame for her role as Rebecca Howe on the sitcom Cheers, where she received an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1991. She parlayed her small screen success into a career as a movie actress, appearing in such comedic films as Look Who’s Talking, For Richer or Poorer, and Drop Dead Gorgeous. In recent years she appeared on The Goldbergs, Scream Queens, and The Masked Singer.
“Our mother’s zest and passion for life, her children, grandchildren and her many animals, not to mention her eternal joy of creating, were unparalleled and leave us inspired to live life to the fullest just as she did,” True and Lillie’s statement reads.
Read the statement from Kirstie Alley’s children in its ent
Alley was an outspoken supporter of Donald Trump prior to winning the presidential election in 2016. The actress decided to not vote for either Trump or Joe Biden four years later. Alley reflected on her regrets with being in Trump’s corner in a 2021 interview with Tucker Carlson. “People go: ‘You’re so brave.’ I go: ‘No, I think I’m stupid.’ Because honestly…it is a real blackballing situation,” she explained of the aftermath.
“You can be cooking meth and sleeping with hookers, but as long as, apparently, you didn’t vote for Trump… I feel like I’m in The Twilight Zone a bit, with the whole concept of it,” Alley added.
On Monday, her Look Who’s Talking trilogy co-star John Travolta took to social media to write, “Kirstie was one of the most special relationships I’ve ever had. I love you Kirstie. I know we will see each other again.”
Other celebrities to pay tribute include Jamie Lee Curtis, Alley’s ex-husband Parker Stevenson, Tim Allen, Yvette Nicole-Brown, Jackée Harry, Clancy Brown, Kristen Chenoweth, Carl Weathers, and Adam Carolla.
He continued that whoever succeeds Akufo-Addo will inherit the size of the catastrophe he had created.
At a press conference for the minority party on December 5, he emphasized that the official classification of Ghana’s debt as “unsustainable” simply meant that the government was unable to pay loans in their existing form, necessitating a debt exchange.
Ato Forson added that by defaulting on its current debts, thus announcing a domestic debt exchange, “Ghana has announced default of its external debts. That is what it means,” he stated before announcing that rating agencies will by close of the week, downgrade Ghana to D status.
“Ghana will be the first country in the entire Africa ever to restructure its domestic debts. We have joined the league of Greece and Jamaica in the last 10 years,” he said.
He explained how investors with the Daakye bond for example will record as much as 63% of losses on their investments.
“…the haircut is steep and that is what I call back bow, it is very steep and it is going to erode your hair completely Ablakwa will be better off. So let no one lie to you, we are in trouble. Ghana is in trouble,” he added.
How Ofori-Atta compared the Ghana operation to Greece and Jamaica
Ghana is not the first nation to undertake such Domestic Debt operation. To illustrate the point, let me cite the examples of just two countries among many others in the last 10 years.
Jamaica resorted to such operations in the past, notably in 2010 and 2013. In both cases, it chose to trust the sense of responsibility of the Jamaican people and proceeded through a voluntary approach. This approach was highly successful, as more than 99% of holders of domestic bonds participated in the exchange.
On the contrary, in the case of Greece, the Authorities chose to undertake a coercive approach, whereby a law was passed to force people into participating. We intend to avoid as much as possible the Greek approach, as we strive to reach a consensual solution with our bondholders, which the is Ghanaian way.
In any case, the good news is that the Domestic Debt Exchange has yielded positive results both in Greece and Jamaica, and many others, and will certainly put our economy on a much stronger footing. Greece has now recovered full market access.
We certainly anticipate a similar success story in Ghana. I want to assure you about the Government’s commitment to do what is necessary to succeed.
Ofori-Atta announces Domestic Debt Exchange:
The Minister of Finance announced a number of measures under government’s Domestic Debt Exchange (DDE) programme late Sunday.
He stated in a 4-minute address that the announcement was in line with government’s Debt Sustainability Analysis as contained in the 2023 budget he presented to Parliament on November 24.
The Minister laid out among others the exchange of existing domestic bonds with four new ones as well as their maturity dates and terms of coupon payments.
He also addressed the overarching goal of the government relative to its engagements with the International Monetary Fund as well as measures to minimize impact of domestic bond exchange on different stakeholders.
“The Government of Ghana has been working hard to minimize the impact of the domestic debt exchange on investors holding government bonds, particularly small investors, individuals, and other vulnerable groups,” he said before outlining three main measures:
• Treasury Bills are completely exempted and all holders will be paid the full value of their investments on maturity.
• There will be NO haircut on the principal of bonds.
• Individual holders of bonds will not be affected.
Bright Simons, the vice president of IMANI Africa, claimed that the government was simply defaulting on its financial obligations by engaging in the debt restructuring plan proposed by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
Simons said that the Ghanaian government would not pay its debtors for the first time in almost 40 years in a series of tweets published on Sunday, December 12, 2022.
The government last fell behind on its bills in 1972, the vice president of IMANI noted.
“The act is complete. Unanimously, Ghana declared a default initially since 1982.
However, it is the first time since the 1972 commercial loan default in several like-for-like aspects.
“The question on everyone’s mind is: would things be smooth or rough with the other steps ahead?” parts of the series of tweets read.
He stated in a 4-minute address that the announcement was in line with government’s Debt Sustainability Analysis as contained in the 2023 budget he presented to Parliament on November 24.
The Minister laid out among others the exchange of existing domestic bonds with four new ones as well as their maturity dates and terms of coupon payments.
He also addressed the overarching goal of the government relative to its engagements with the International Monetary Fund as well as measures to minimize impact of domestic bond exchange on different stakeholders.
“The Government of Ghana has been working hard to minimize the impact of the domestic debt exchange on investors holding government bonds, particularly small investors, individuals, and other vulnerable groups,” he said before outlining three main measures:
• Treasury Bills are completely exempted and all holders will be paid the full value of their investments on maturity.
• There will be NO haircut on the principal of bonds.
• Individual holders of bonds will not be affected.
The authorities in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado say lightning strikes killed five people and injured seven others at the weekend.
According to district administrator Matias Constantino, who confirmed the fact today, people were hit while watching a recreational football match in Nangande disctrict.
Speaking to state radio in Pemba, Mr Constantino said that in addition to causing fatalities, the phenomenon damaged the electrical system of the district administration building.
Lightening strikes, cyclones and floods are common in central and northern Mozambique, particularly during the rainy season that runs between October and the end of March.
Dominik Livakovic, Croatia’s goalkeeper, was the match-winner when Croatia defeated Japan in a shootout following a 1-1 draw to advance to the World Cup quarterfinals.
Before stopping Maya Yoshida’s kick and allowing Mario Pasalic to score the crucial goal that advanced his team, Livakovic had stopped the first two attempts.
Zlatko Dalic’s side, beaten in the final by France four years ago, will face tournament favourites Brazil or South Korea in the next round on Friday (15:00 GMT).
Japan were the livelier side and took a deserved lead two minutes before half-time when Celtic forward Daizen Maeda converted from Yoshida’s knockdown.
Croatia levelled in the second half courtesy of Ivan Perisic’s brilliant bullet header from Dejan Lovren’s cross, becoming his country’s all-time leading scorer at major tournaments with 10 goals.
Neither side could find a breakthrough and the game ticked into the additional 30 minutes, with Brighton midfielder Kaoru Mitoma’s spectacular strike pushed over by Livakovic.
At the other end, Marko Livaja’s flicked header looked to be looping in, but Shuichi Gonda managed to gather and Lovro Majer dragged a shot in the 120th minute.
The contest went to nerve-shredding penalties, where Livakovic emerged as the man to lead Croatia’s celebrations.
Tope Awotona, the 40-year-old CEO and co-founder of the digital company Calendly who was born in Nigeria, is the newest African to enter the select group of businesspeople with annual revenues over $1 billion.
Calendly, a firm that creates scheduling software and creates a corporate communication platform used by teams to organize, prepare for, and follow up on external meetings, was founded by Awotona, a tech entrepreneur from Lagos, Nigeria, now headquartered in Atlanta.
One of the most prosperous African-American computer entrepreneurs of his time, he launched a number of prior enterprises before achieving success with his present one.
How he built his billion-dollar fortune is a success story of self-belief, resilience, and a desire to solve problems in a fast-changing corporate world, as he poured his $200,000 in life savings into the business idea that grew into Calendly, while also founding a dating website, a company that sold projectors, and a company that sold garden tools, all of which failed.
Calendly raised $350 million in funding from OpenView Venture Partners and Iconiq Capital in 2021, valuing the tech firm at $3 billion after years of bootstrapping. According to Awotona, the company, which has no physical location, has also been profitable since 2016.
Its revenue surpassed $100 million in 2021 as it was able to create value by leveraging its 10 million users. Individual users can use Calendly for free, but corporations typically pay $25 per user per month.
Awotona’s majority stake in Calendly is worth at least $1.4 billion after the 10-percent discount that Forbes applies to shares of all private companies.
Actor Will Smith has explained why he stayed away from films about slavery until emancipation.
After staying out of the spotlight for most of 2022 following the Oscarslap scandal, Will Smith has kicked his media appearances into high gear this past week. The actor is promoting his new Apple TV+ film, Emancipation. The film tells the story of the man in the widely recognized photo known as “Whipped Peter.” The photo showed the wounds on Peter’s back from being whipped and once it circulated throughout the country, it helped turn white Northerners against slavery. The film follows Peter as he flees a plantation and has to escape through dangerous swamps in Louisiana as cold-blooded hunters chase after him as he fights for his freedom.
Smith has historically not taken on any slavery roles throughout his career, and he told Complex during a brief conversation ahead of the movie’s release that the choice has been intentional. The actor said he didn’t want to show “Black folks in that light,” but felt like director Antoine Fuqua’s portrayal of this story was inspiring and had a meaning deeper than the suffering and degradation movies about slavery usually portray.
“Antoine didn’t make a movie about slavery,” Smith said. “It’s a movie about freedom, it’s a movie about love, it’s a movie about family, it’s a movie about faith, it’s a movie about endurance and gratitude, and it’s a movie about the power of the spirit of the African-American.”
African-American.”
Image via Apple TV+
The actor has been banned from attending the Academy Awards for 10 years following the incident involving Chris Rock earlier this year, and that is a shame. This is by far one of the strongest performances Smith has delivered in the course of his career and one that is deserving of all the recognition Hollywood has to offer. At first, it was reported that Apple would delay the film’s release until 2023 after the Oscars controversy, but the company went ahead with the original plan—giving Smith a necessary opportunity to reconcile with his fans.
Emancipation is currently playing in select theaters and hits Apple TV+ on Dec. 9. Check out our conversation with Will Smith below.
Image via Apple TV+
Will, this role had to be so grueling both mentally and physically. How do you get into the right headspace to play someone like Peter?
You know, as an actor you do your research, you learn the dialect, and you read everything you can read. But there’s a magic moment that you can’t manufacture, you can’t microwave, you just hope that the magic lightning strikes. That lightning of understanding. And it happened for me about six weeks out as we were preparing and the prop master was getting the size for the neck chains. I put the neck chains on and the wrists and so I have the chains on—it was the actual weight, the actual size—and he went to put the key in and the key didn’t work.
And there were about 15 minutes where I was actually locked in the chains and my heart is going crazy and I’m sitting there and there are people running around trying to find another key to get me out. And it just dawned on me that Peter didn’t have that. There was nobody running around to get Peter out and in that moment, that 15 minutes, I just got under the acting lightning strike of understanding that I needed to begin my deeper comprehension of Peter, the man.
Image via Apple TV+
The Whipped Peter photo is so historical and everybody can recognize it but people maybe aren’t familiar with his story. There are some questions about whether people fought back or not during slavery, and this is a reminder that there were people who fought back. Why was it important for you to portray this kind of person?
Yeah, it was critical for Antoine and I both, you know. The question was, “Could we make a movie set in this period that would be inspiring?” And in my career, it is a big part of why I avoided slavery, in general. I didn’t want Black folks—I didn’t want to show Black folks in that light. And then this film did something different. Antoine didn’t make a movie about slavery. It’s a movie about freedom, it’s a movie about love, it’s a movie about family, it’s a movie about faith, it’s a movie about endurance and gratitude, and it’s a movie about the power of the spirit of the African-American.
It’s not a movie solely dropping you into degradation and pulling you through, you know, the valley of suffering. He didn’t shy away from that but it’s also a movie that you leave inspired, you leave informed, and hopefully across the board, will leave with another click of understanding, a seed of understanding that could blossom into empathy and compassion.
For you Will, you’ve had a very interesting year, to say the least.
Oh goodness, yes. [Laughs.]
I know you have had screenings in D.C. and at Morehouse, and you have had people like Tyler Perry, Rihanna, and Dave Chappelle come out to support this movie. What does it mean for you to have your community show up for you at this time?
You know I really I don’t even take that as personal for me. It was like people were showing up for Peter, you know? It’s like Peter and I were together but it was like, Rihanna showed up and loved the movie.
The support is for the story and the ideas and I’m very happy to have that support but I’m bowing down to Peter on this one, and the material is so critical and so important and Antoine put it together in a way that is so undeniable that I’m getting credit for it but I’m giving it over completely to Peter and giving it over completely to Antoine. My gratitude and thanks is to them.
The recently launched domestic debt exchange program (DEP), according to finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta, would be a crucial tool for recalibrating the current interest rate regime and bringing the country’s debt levels back to more manageable levels.
In order to exchange roughly GH137 billion in domestic notes and bonds, including E.S.L.A. and Daakye bonds, for a package of new bonds to be issued by the Treasury, he called on holders of domestic debt.
At the commencement of the Ghana Domestic Debt Exchange Program on Monday, December 5, 2022, the finance minister made this statement during a press conference.
Currently, the Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA) demonstrates that the country’s debt servicing absorbs more than half of total government revenues and almost 70 percent of tax revenues. Additionally, the total public debt stock, including that of State-Owned Enterprises among others, exceeds 100 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
“The extent to which our interest charges consume some 70 percent and sometimes 100 percent of our revenues is something that is not sustainable, and this is really therefore a recalibration of the whole interest rate regime so that we move into a sustainable level.
“This demonstrates unequivocally that Ghana’s public debt is unsustainable, and that government may not be able to fully service its debt down the road if no action is taken,” he admitted.
Government’s key objective for this programme, Mr. Ofori-Atta added, is to alleviate the debt burden in a “most transparent, efficient and expedited manner” by means of an Exchange offer while minimising impacts of the domestic debt exchange on investors holding government bonds.
Elaborating on modalities, the finance minister said under the arrangement government proposes to exchange existing domestic bonds as of December 1, 2022 for four new bonds maturing in 2027, 2029, 2032 and 2037. These new instruments will pay no interest in 2023, 5 percent interest in 2024 and subsequently 10 percent interest per annum until maturity.
“The predetermined allocation ratios are: 17 percent for short-term bonds, 17 percent for intermediate bonds, 25 percent for medium-term bonds and 41 percent for long-term bonds,” he added.
This, when completed, will afford government some fiscal space to operate as it envisages reducing, particularly, the domestic interest cost in 2023 – which is estimated at GH¢31.29billion out of the total GH¢52.55billion.
Citing instances of such domestic debt operations in the last 10 years, Mr. Ofori-Atta noted that Jamaica resorted to such operations in the past, notably in 2010 and 2013: “…in both cases, it chose to trust the sense of responsibility of the Jamaican people and proceeded through a voluntary approach. This approach was highly successful, as more than 99 percent of domestic bondholders participated in the exchange”.
No Principal Haircut
The minister emphasised that the arrangement does not embed any principal haircut on eligible bonds, as promised.
“Let me repeat this fact as plainly as I can: in this debt exchange, individual holders of domestic bonds are not affected and will not lose the face value of their investments. So let us remove any doubt and discard any speculation that government is about to cut your retirement savings or the notional value of your investments. That is not the case,” he said.
In effect, Treasury bills are completely exempted, and all holders are expected to be paid the full value of their investments on maturity.
“There will be no haircut on the principal of bonds. Individuals who hold bonds will also not be affected at all.
“This domestic debt exchange is part of a more comprehensive agenda to restore debt and financial sustainability. This is a key requirement to allow Ghana’s economy to recover as fast as possible from this crisis. This is also a key requirement to secure any IMF support. We are also working toward a restructuring of our external indebtedness, which we will announce in due course,” Mr. Ofori-Atta said.
Financial Stability
To bring the metrics within prudential confines, particularly in view of securing a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the 17th time, Mr. Ofori-Atta during the 2023 budget presentation confirmed there will be a restructuring of outstanding facilities under a Debt Exchange Programme.
During a televised broadcast 10 days after the budget presentation – on the eve of the DEP’s formal launch – the finance minister provided preliminary details of its broad application.
To mitigate the plan’s sizeable impact on financial institutions – banks, pension funds, insurance companies, fund managers and collective investment schemes (CISs) – government announced the establishment of a Financial Stability Fund (FSF) in collaboration with development partners to provide liquidity support to ensure they are able to meet their obligations to clients.
Additionally, during the broadcast Mr. Ofori-Atta stated that his outfit is working with the financial sector’s various regulators to “put in place appropriate measures and safeguards to minimise the potential impact on the financial sector and ensure financial stability is preserved”.
Already, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has expressed a willingness to support regulated entities, especially banks which have a high level of exposure to Treasury securities, to remain liquid and solvent.
The Managing Editor of the Daily Dispatch newspaper, Ben Ephson, has urged the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to engage coaches who will be committed to the Black Stars team and the country.
He attributed this to the fact that the former Black Stars coach, Otto Addo, was signed to lead the team while under contract with an international football club.
According to Ben Ephson in an interview on Prime Morning, Monday, this caused Otto Addo to be less committed to the task at hand.
“So, I think that also should teach us a lesson. If we want to have a coach, we shouldn’t have a coach who will have one step in Ghana as our coach, waiting to go back. He will be a bit reckless. That should be a lesson to Ghana to get a coach who will be fully committed. We should never get a coach who is going to be part-time, whether we succeed or not,” he urged GFA.
He further suggested that, “perhaps if Otto Addo the coach had resigned from his contract with Dortmund, he may have been a bit more careful. Because he knew that he was in as a short term, and I’m sure if Ghana had progressed and even won the World Cup, he would have had to go back to Dortmund to complete his 3-year term with the club.”
He stated that signing coaches who are fully committed and have the interests of the team and the country at heart, will enable the coaches to work harder to achieve positive results.
Mr. Ephson further indicated that there is no motivation for coaches who have half an interest in the country, as they will have to return to their initial contracted club.
He also noted that signing Otto Addo, who already had a contract with a different club, was an “elementary” mistake Ghana made.
The Ghana Black Stars exited the ongoing 2022 World Cup in Qatar after losing 2-0 to Uruguay on Friday, December 2, 2022.
Mr. Ben Ephson opined that Uruguay easily scored against Ghana due to poor player selection on the part of Otto Addo.
According to the government’s economic policy and 2023 budget statement, the cedi has lost around 53.8% of its value since the beginning of the year.
Additionally, the cedi’s losses versus the US dollar and other significant trading currencies helped the annual producer price inflation (PPI) increase from 45.6 percent in September 2022 to a new record high of 65.2 percent year-over-year in October 2022.
These developments, in addition to suspension of the subsidy on RFO last month – as one of the measures to ease the financial burden on the Price Stabilisation and Recovery Account (PSRA) – are seriously threatening the textile industry’s ability to raise sufficient revenues to survive the upheaval in the economy, forcing the likes of Tex Styles Ghana Limited (TSG), producer of GTP and Woodin and distributor and marketer Vlisco in Ghana, to adjust their prices just to stay afloat.
“The exchange rate is one of the major challenges we are having here as a company, because the things we buy are in US$ and euros. The depreciation has really hit us, which is why we are increasing our prices,” TSG’s Sales Director, Emmanuel Debrah Kissi, told the Business and Financial Times during Tex Styles Ghana media engagement and factory tour.
He said despite the hikes in price which have happened about six times already, the company’s margin still keeps dropping: “We are not able to increase at the rate at which the cedi is depreciating, as well as rising inflation.
“This year has really been a difficult one. We have actually effected about 25 percent average increase just recently to try and close the gap we have. Same period last year, we had already done about 17million yards.
“Currently, we have done about 15million yards; we are already in December and one can’t really see the euphoria around. And so sales are not really going to be as we saw in the past years, especially as we have just made a 25 percent increase in prices. We have increased prices more than six times, and cumulatively we have done close to about 30-35 percent increment to survive the economic downturn in the country,” Mr. Debrah Kissi said.
Factory tour
Meanwhile, the media engagement and factory tour allowed Head of Woodin Operations, Mavi Kumah, to project the brand as one designed with the young and vibrant generation in mind.
Working over the years with local designers on creating exciting campaigns and ready-to-wear collections for the local and international market, Woodin is also keen on improving the entrepreneurial spirit of young people through a collaboration with Shoe Fabriek, a local footwear manufacturing company in the Eastern Region of Ghana, she said.
Woodin’s over-400 new designs of fabrics produced per year with 4 major concept collections are designed by teams in Ivory Coast and Ghana, and manufactured in factories of both countries with Ghana having 50 percent.
Nearly a day after the government’s Debt Exchange Program start, the Ghana cedi appreciated versus the dollar.
The value of the local currency increased in comparison to the pound and the euro, two other significant international currencies.
The average price at which forex bureaus are selling it to the American “greenback” is 13.70. Additionally, it is being sold for 14 euros and 16.70 pounds.
However, it is unclear why the cedi rose in value in comparison to these other world currencies.
But given that the government set the program’s parameters to make room for a program from the International Monetary Fund, some market observers and analysts may attribute it to the Debt Exchange Programme.
Particularly in recent weeks, the local currency had been comparatively steady against the dollar.
On the retail market, it increased by 3.12% against the dollar, 0.88% against the pound, and 3.79% against the euro week over week.
However, since the start of the year, it has declined by little over 50%.
On December 6, 2022, pressure organization Arise Ghana is anticipated to stage a demonstration against the nation’s economic woes.
The organization claims that the demonstration will go on until the 2023 budget discussion is finished and Parliament approves the motion of censure against Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
The Ghana Police Service requested an injunction against the event on the grounds that the location constitutes a threat to national security. The organization had planned to picket from November 15 to November 17, 2022, in Revolution Square directly across from the Jubilee House.
The Police maintained that there were valid reasons to believe that assembling at Revolution Square would jeopardize public safety and infringe on other people’s rights and freedoms, according to assessments by the National Security and Police Security Intelligence.
Leading protester Bernard Mornah told Citi News that the demonstration will begin at 8:00 am and go until 2:00 pm.
“We are embarking on picketing around Parliament and around the yet-to-be-constructed National Cathedral. We have informed the police about it. So, as for Tuesday, it has been agreed that nothing will stop us because of the cordial discussions with the police,” he explained.
This comes after the watchdog reviewed “many regulatory and global standards-setting agencies across multiple jurisdictions” and monitored developments throughout the world to establish a strong “institutional grasp” of important ideas in the developing field of digital finance.
“The Bank still stands by its cautionary statement to the public on the dangers associated with crypto transactions as contained in several notices in the past. Interested parties need to be wary about potential losses that could occur when trading in crypto. The Bank stands by its earlier directives and the notices issued on March 9 2022, that all licenced institutions should refrain from facilitating crypto transactions via their platforms or agent outlets,” he emphasised.
In the afore-cited directive, and a similar one issued in 2018, the financial sector regulator stated clearly that cryptocurrencies – the most popular being Bitcoin (BCT) – remain unregulated under any laws in the country, and as such do not have any safeguards since they are not backed by guarantees.
The Governor however added that his outfit will not impose an outright ban on cryptocurrencies, as it considers such a line of action futile due to the decentralised and borderless nature of the asset class.
He also stated that the BoG will continue to keenly monitor happenings in the space and allow for the development of crypto and blockchain-leaning products within the confines of its regulatory sandbox, even as it works with other regulators toward a possible regulatory framework.
“In all of these, the clearest takeaway for the Bank is the fact that cryptocurrencies are digital assets and not currency; and inasmuch as crypto is associated with other key risks including volatility, cyber theft, loss of funds with a potential threat to financial stability, an outright ban has proven ineffective mainly due to its decentralised and borderless nature.
“Consequently, the Bank intends to continue allowing blockchain in our regulatory sandbox as the first step while we continue to examine a comprehensive regulatory framework for the digital asset industry,” Dr. Addison continued.
Global developments
Regulators have been on edge recently, as cryptocurrencies have come under renewed scrutiny following a series of scandals in the ecosystem – most notably the crash of leading cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
On November 11, FTX – which allowed for the trade of cryptocurrencies – filed for bankruptcy; and it emerged that the exchange had been hacked, leading to more than US$600million in cryptocurrency disappearing from customer’s wallets.
In addition to shocking corporate governance practices – which have seen it draw parallels to the collapse of Enron – it also emerged that FTX had only US$900million in assets to offset liabilities in excess of US$9billion.
The fallout has seen the price of the industry-leading BTC crash to around US$16,000. It was in the region of US$57,000 a year ago.
Analysts on the continent have expressed worry over high levels of exposure for individuals and businesses, as some leading FinTechs are suspected to have some of their assets with FTX.
Data contained in the ‘Global Crypto Adoption Index’, published by Chainalysis, show that sub-Saharan Africa is a hotbed for crypto usage – on account of the clamour for high returns, the desire for lower cross-border transaction fees, as well as activities of criminal elements.
At the height of the pandemic – that is, between June 2020 and June 2021 – Africa’s cryptocurrency market grew by over 1,200 percent.
Every misfortune is a blessing in disguise is what social media users appear to trumpet Monday night as Brazil sent South Korea to the cleaners in their one-sixteenth game at the ongoing Qatar 2022 World Cup.
By half-time, Brazil had banged in four goals to nil, and on Twitter, fans appeared to say Ghana’s Black Stars, who would have been playing Brazil had the team made it out of the group stage, would have been at the receiving end. They were therefore grateful that the team was out of the tournament.
Why they thanked Dede Ayew
In Ghana’s final group game against Uruguay, the Black Stars needed a win to qualify to the one-sixteenth stage, and early on in the game, earned a penalty.
Captain, Dede Ayew elected to effect the spot kick. He missed the penalty, with Ghana going on to concede two goals later on. The game ended 2:0 in favour of Uruguay, who themselves failed to make it into the next round and ceded the spot to the South Koreans.
I think we have to say thank you to Dede Ayew cos Eii 😂😂
The administration’s intentions to hire 1,570 more individuals for the government apparatus were rejected by the minority in parliament.
This figure, according to the organisation, is included in the budget statement for 2023.
The Minority argued that the 3,681-person increase in government machinery workers is unreasonable given the recently announced public sector hiring freeze.
The Minority, led by its leader Haruna Iddrisu, also threatened to stop participating in the budget process if the Majority side did not show commitment to the budget during a news conference in Parliament.
“We also strongly denounce plans to increase the staff strength of personnel at the office of the Government machinery by 1,570, at page 230 of the 2023 budget. If you are reducing the size of government, I’m not narrowing it to elephant size of government of ministers, but even at the level of administrative and supporting staff at the presidency, which is captured under the budget of the office of the government machinery, which they are proposing to increase to 3,681, there can be no justification for this, and we will not accept this,” the Minority Leader said.
The minority group is requesting that the government abandon plans to construct the National Cathedral.
Former Black Stars coach Otto Addo has stated that Chris Hughton’s experience and knowledge are immense. The former manager of Brighton & Hove Albion was an essential but primarily unnoticed member of the coaching staff at the 2022 World Cup.
In his capacity as technical adviser, he maintained a low profile in Qatar, but there is no doubt that he was a vital member of Ghana’s coaching setup.
“He’s got a lot of experience and knowledge and he’s always trying to give his best for the team,” said coach Otto Addo
“We have a very good relationship. Chris Hughton is a very experienced coach,” Addo added earlier this week.
“He takes a lot of things out of my head for me to concentrate on the team. And on the tactics, he’s also given advice. We have good exchanges with him, but also with the other coaches like George Boateng and Didi Dramani,”
Otto Addo revealed that Chris Hughton aside from advising the team also inspected the team’s hotel and took on other organizing duties.
“He was here to inspect the hotels. He was here to organise everything. He’s done a great job so far and he’s a big help to me,”
A.B. Fuseini, the member of parliament for Sagnarigu, brought a ball of kenkey and a piece of fish to Parliament House on Monday as a visual representation of the current economic difficulties Ghanaians are experiencing.
The legislator said the famous fish and kenkey, which had traditionally been enjoyed by both the affluent and the poor, was no longer within the typical Ghanaian’s means due to the present rise in food costs.
“They say that the evidence of the sweetness of a pudding is not in its aroma but the actual eating. The real issues of the economy vis-à-vis the impact it has on the lives of our people is clear.
“Mr. Speaker, this ball of kenkey was 2 cedis but today it is 4 cedis. This fish which I bought same size last year was 6 cedis but today the same size is 12 cedis.
“It is abundantly clear that through the vast incompetence of this government especially the economic management team and the Minister for Finance, this economy has been run into a ditch,” he said.
To put the nation’s debt level on a sustainable course, the Finance Minister on Sunday, December 4 launched a debt restructuring program.
The government is presently requesting a program from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help its struggling economy.
According to Mr. Ofori-Atta, the debt exchange scheme is a crucial need for the government to get an economic plan from the IMF.
The government has included several revenue-generating initiatives in the 2023 Budget in an effort to jump-start the economy and alleviate Ghanaians’ current woes.
Daniel Amartey says due to the history between the Ghana and Uruguay at the World Cup, it was it was important for the Black Stars to deny the South Americans a place in the round of 16.
Ghana skipper Andre Ayew missed a penalty in the 21st minute as his kick was saved by Uruguay goalkeeper Sergio Rochet following a foul on Mohammed Kudus.
Uruguay went on to win the game 2-0 thanks to goals from Giorgio de Arrascaeta in the 26th and 32nd minutes of the game but it was not enough as teams went out of the tournament.
“I just told my teammates: ‘We need a goal but they also need a goal. So we have to defend for ourselves so that if we can’t go, they don’t go,” Amartey said after the game.
“For me, yes. It was tough because you can see their centre back, everybody comes (forward).
“Uruguay needed one goal to go through but you can see we defended four against five or three against two but we managed to defend.”
Indonesia’s parliament on Tuesday approved a new criminal code that will make sex outside of marriage punishable by up to a year in prison.
It is part of a raft of changes that critics say erode political freedom.
The new criminal code will not come into effect for another three years and also includes a ban on insulting the president and expressing views that run counter to state ideology.
Small groups held protests outside the parliament in Jakarta this week.
The code – which will apply to both Indonesians and foreigners – includes several “morality” laws and makes it illegal for unmarried couples to live together and have sex.
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A person’s partner or parents can report them for the offence of having sex outside of marriage. Adultery will also be an offence for which people can be jailed.
However the new criminal code also affects other areas of public life and rights groups say it amounts to a crackdown on democratic rights.
The new code includes defamation articles that make it illegal for people to insult the president or express opinions against the national ideology.
But legislators said there were in-built defences for free speech and protests made in the “public interest”.
They also praised the achievement of passing a new criminal code, one which had not been thoroughly revised since Indonesia became independent from Dutch rule.
A previous draft of the code was set to be passed in 2019 but sparked nationwide protests with tens of thousands taking part in demonstrations.
Many, including students, took to the streets and there were clashes with police in the capital Jakarta.
Some parts of Indonesia already have strict religion-based laws on sex and relationships.
The province of Aceh enforces strict Islamic law and has punished people for gambling, drinking alcohol and meeting members of the opposite sex.
Ghana international, Mohammed Kudus is reportedly set for a big transfer next summer.
The talented striker has been in scintillating form in the last few months for both club and country.
Although he had a slow start to the 2022/23 football season in the Netherlands where he was limited to playing time at his club Ajax, he managed to work his way into the starting eleven and proved why he should not be on the bench.
He starred in the Uefa Champions League and joined Ghana’s team for the 2022 FIFA World Cup as the most in-form Black Stars attacker.
Having played in all three matches of Ghana in Group H of the world cup, Mohammed Kudus distinguished himself in all the matches and caught the eye of many scouts.
Reports gathered indicate that he could be heading to England where the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, and Liverpool are all said to be interested in his signature.
According to sources, Ajax at the moment expects to make at least £40 million if the club decides to transfer the forward.
In addition to the interest from the English clubs, Mohammed Kudus is also a player of interest for Spanish giants Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.
