Ken Ofori-Atta has also come under a lot of backlash and pressure from both within and outside his party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), to either resign or be sacked by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
The General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia has sent goodwill message to the Black Stars ahead of their 2022 World Cup opener against Portugal on Thursday.
Black Stars will begin their campaign against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal before taking on South Korea and Uruguay in the other Group H matches.
Black Stars, who are the lowest-ranked team at the tournament have been drawn in Group H alongside Portugal, South Korea and Uruguay.
“Let’s go Ghana! All the best of Luck!! Shine on Ghana!!!”, Asiedu Nketia said.
Ghana are making a record 4th World Cup appearance in Qatar having previously played in the 2006, 2010 and 2014 in Germany, South Africa and Brazil respectively.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup takes place between November 20 and December 18, 2022.
Only three sides from the continent have ever progressed to the quarter-finals; Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002, and Ghana in 2010.
Ghana will be hoping to progress from the group stage at this year’s tournament.
Black Stars exited the group stage at the 2014 edition in Brazil after a slow start to the tournament.
According to him, the development has resulted in credit downgrades, rising cost of living and inabillity to access international capital markets for borrowing, among others.
The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, is in parliament to fulfil his constitutional mandate by presenting the government budget to the House.
The presentation is in accordance with Article 179 of the 1992 Constitution and section 21 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921).
Ken Ofori-Atta has also come under a lot of backlash and pressure from both within and outside his party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), to either resign or be sacked by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has said that his caucus is confident that President Akufo-Addo will keep his promise of relieving the finance minister of his duties after the terms of agreements reached with the NPP leadership are fulfilled.
The leadership of the NPP signed an agreement with the Members of Parliament of the party, which binds them to be present for the reading of the 2023 budget by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
A meeting between the lawmakers and leaders of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was held on November 23, at which some agreements were reached.
The main points are that Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, will be supported in presenting the budget and seeing through its appropriation, as well as allowed to see through the current phase of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The meeting comes on the back of a renewed call by some 98 NPP MPs, who threatened to boycott the budget presentation if Ofori-Atta presents it.
Speaking in a TV3 interview monitored by GhanaWeb, Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said that the caucus accepted the plea of the president because of the importance of the budget to the country.
He added that in the event that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo fails to act on the demand of NPP MPs after the minister completes the state activities, the caucus will take the necessary action.
“When we get there, we shall cross the bridge. But I believe that the president would positively respond to his own commitment,” he added.
Speaking on the South African radio station Metro FM, Nasty C said he turned down two feature offers from Sarkodie because he resented how the Ghanaian rapper treated him when they first met.
Nasty C indicated that the ‘Non-Living Things’ artiste refused to shake his hands, and he vowed never to give him a verse.
“See, when I first met Sarkodie, he wouldn’t shake my hand… Cool, I’m not too proud to say I’m still a fan but I held a grudge and told myself to wait till I’m the man…” he rapped.
The artiste added that for years, whenever Sarkodie reached out to ask for a collaboration, he would tell him he was working on an album when he knew deep down that wasn’t true.
After making this revelation, he disclosed that should Sarkodie ask for another feature request, he was going to put his best into making the song “hardest one yet.”
“…But now I’m over that sh*t and he got all my respect. If he asked me to do a verse again, it’d be my hardest one yet” he said.
He claimed that startups that are playing complementary roles, particularly in a particular sector, can partner and collaborate to fuse ideas and rely on the synergy to present a diversified front, giving them better bargaining power, at the Ghana Startup Network’s program in Accra to commemorate the 2022 Startup Week.
“With partnerships you fuse ideas; you can have better bargaining power to engage potential partners from outside. You can also rely on the synergies to present a diversified front that will make it easier for someone who is looking for an opportunity in the startup space.
“I am not saying that you should not go all alone, but sometimes you stand a better chance when you have a partner – especially when you are playing a complementary role in a specific sector,” he said.
Mr. Ashong-Lartey further urged small and medium-sized enterprises to do well and formalise their operations.
Executive Director of Ghana Startup Network, Solomon Adjei, also holds that beyond startups, until the business space begins to collaborate and consolidate their efforts, the expected gains will not be realised.
“The theme for today is ‘collaborate, innovate and invest for greater impact’. We believe that many things have happened in the past which have not been so beneficial to the state because they were done in silos. Everybody is doing their own things in their corners, and so we are not being impactful.
“Until we begin to consolidate our efforts, we will not see gains. When you look at outside jurisdictions, teamwork and partnerships are key; but it is hardly seen in our part of the world, where everybody wants to be the boss or CEO,” he said.
Mr. Adjei argued that employing measures to realise the contribution of SMEs to the country’s development and economy also requires that various funding institutions work hand in hand to fund startups holistically for impactful results.
He said without this, many funds that are given to startups will continue to get wasted because they are not up to the target.
“Many fundings that are given to startups get wasted because they are not up to the target. For instance, I have my business plan and I need say US$10,000 to execute the plan but I get US$2,000 from a funding institution; it means I need to raise the remaining US$8,000. And if I am unable to raise that, the US$2,000 will be used but not meet the expectation and eventually go to waste,” he said, stressing the need for institutions to collaborate, target startups with great potentials and employ holistic approaches in funding them.
The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has urged school authorities and candidates who have been invited to its Offices to assist with investigations into suspected cases of malpractices to endeavour to honour the invitations to facilitate the speedy resolution of those cases.
The Council said it has commenced investigations into this year’s West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) irregularities detected during and after the examination and would require the co-operation of both school authorities and students to ensure prompt investigations and resolution of cases.
This was contained in a release signed and issued by the Head of Public Affairs of WAEC National Office, Mrs Agnes Teye-Cudjoe, and copied to the Ghanaian Times in Accra yesterday.
She revealed that candidates who refused to honour the invitations would not stop the council from making a final determination on the cases in question.
Mrs Teye-Cudjoe indicated that the council had successfully completed coordination and marking exercises at the 49 venues.
It further, stated that the Council had commenced other post-examination activities including the processing of results.
Mrs Teye-Cudjoe cautioned the candidates to remain vigilant about websites that may announce the release of fake results and persons who promise to upgrade results for a fee saying “these are all the activities of scammers.”
She added that the WAEC’s new target for the release of the 2022 WASSCE results was November 30, 2022.
Meanwhile, the WAEC at a presser recently in Accra said it had reported 23 cases of candidate impersonation in the just-ended WASSCE to the police for prosecution.
Of the cases, it said 15 occurred at the Prince Boateng Senior High School (SHS), Nsawam; three at Vicar Trust SHS, Kasoa; two at Saint John SHS, Asante Bekwai and one each at Winners SHS, Mococ SHS, both at Nkawkaw, and Sunyani Business College.
Mrs Teye-Cudjoe said such cases were on the rise in “Ghana only” and that perpetrators would not be spared.
Per section five of the WAEC Regulation, both the impersonator and the impersonated upon conviction could be fined not less than 50 penalty units (GH¢ 600) and not more than 100 penalty units (GH¢ 1,200).
They could serve not less than three months prison terms; their results could be cancelled if they are both candidates while they could be prohibited from taking any examination conducted by the Council for a period of not less than two years.
American actor Morgan Freeman hit global headlines when he headlined the opening ceremony of the Qatar 2022 World Cup on Sunday. The veteran Hollywood actor has carved a niche for himself as one of the most talented actors to ever grace the screen.
The octogenarian, whose deep, unique voice is one of the main attributes that make him stand out, has also amassed a huge fan base and a huge fortune. According to Celebrity Net Worth, he currently has a net worth of $250 million dollars but could have been much more. Here’s why.
Early life
Freeman was born on June 1, 1937, in Memphis, Tennesee, to Mayme Edna and Morgan Porterfield Freeman. He was the youngest of five children. He was raised by his maternal grandmother in Charleston, Mississippi after his parents relocated to Chicago to find work. However, he later joined his mother in Chicago following the demise of his grandmother, the same period his parents separated.
Schooling
Freeman attended Street High School and graduated in 1955. He was subsequently enlisted into the United States Air Force. After his time in the military, he moved to Los Angeles where he started acting lessons at the Pasadena Playhouse.
Acting career
His acting career started in the mid-1960s when he appeared in an off-Broadway production of a play titled The Niggerlovers and Pearl Bailey in an all-African-American Broadway production of Hello, Dolly!
His debut film appearance was in Who Says I Can’t Ride a Rainbow! in 1971. Since then, he has been featured in a number of high-profile movies, including Street Smart, Seven, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Deep Impact, and Unforgiven. However, it was his role in The Shawshank Redemption that catapulted him into A-list fame.
Awards
His acting career has seen him win several awards. In 1980, he received the Obie Award for his starring role in Coriolanus. He also won an award for his lead role in Driving Miss Daisy. He got an Oscar Nomination for Best Supporting Actor in the movie the 1987 film Street Smart as Fast Black. He won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his work in Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby at the 77th Academy Awards.
Personal life
Morgan Freeman has been in and out of marriages. He first married Jeanette Adair Bradshaw and divorced in 1979. He later married Myrna Colley-Lee in 1984, and they divorced in September 2010.
Freeman has four children from his past marriages. His stepdaughter from his first marriage was murdered in 2015 in New York City at the age of 33.
Celebrity net worth reports that his net worth could have been more than $250 million had Freeman not been forced to pay his ex-wife a $100 – $200 million divorce settlement in 2010.
The Kibi Water Treatment plant has resumed operation after it was shut down over the weekend due to pollution by illegal miners.
The turbidity of raw water in the Birim river reached an alarming level of 3800NTU making it impossible for treatment by the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) hence the shutdown.
However, operation of the plant resumed Tuesday, November 22, 2022, after the turbidity dropped to 300NTU.
Meanwhile, Okyenhene Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin has called for the arrest of the illegal miners.
He described them as criminals who must be arrested by the Ghana Police Service for prosecution.
Okyenhene reiterated his relentless call for decentralization and retooling of the regulatory bodies in the mining industry to enable them work effectively to win the war against illegal mining.
Meanwhile, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin on Monday, November 21, 2022, ordered the destoolment of Benkumhene of Asamang Tamfoe Nana Boakye Darkwa over illegal mining.
On November 9, 2022, some residents in the community calling itself Concerned Citizens of Asamang Tamfoe petitioned the Akyem Abuakwa Judicial council accusing the Benkumhene for engaging in illegal mining polluting rivers, and degrading farmlands threatening food security and livelihood of smallholder farmers.
The petition was submitted weeks after some illegal miners in Asamang Tamfoe clashed with Okyeman Environmental Taskforce on anti-galamsey operation in the community leading to exchange of gunshots on the streets.
Subsequently, the Benkumhene held a press conference on October 6, 2022 calling the bluff of Okyeman Environmental taskforce led by Chief of Akyem Apapam, Osabarima Apagya Ofori IV and dared to violently clash them should they return to the community stating that they are engaging in legitimate community mining introduced by government.
Ritual was performed at the forecourt of the Ofori Panin Fie to destool the Benkumhene.
Member of Parliament for Talensi, Benson Tongo Baba, has called on Ghanaians to give the Black stars all the support they need in the World Cup tournament.
He said he had no doubt Ghana would qualify for the next stage as he believes this is a payback time against Portugal and Uruguay.
Speaking on the floor of parliament ahead of today’s match against Portugal, the MP stated that he believes Ghana will win the game.
“Today is very important day. I believe that Ghana having played Portugal previously, today is revenge time and Ghana would have to win and will win at all costs. After this match, the others will follow in line and Ghana will move to the next stage.
“What we require as a nation is to give them our moral support we should pray that there are no injuries and be strong to confront our next opponent Uruguay who through default eliminated us in 2010 so another payback time is expected from the Black Stars,” he said in the chamber.
Ghana will face Portugal at Stadium 974 (Rass Abou Aboud) as the two sides go head-to-head for the second time at the World Cup.
The two countries first met in 2014 when Portugal beat Ghana 2-1 in the final group game with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring the winner.
Ghanaian music producer Reynolds the Gentleman, better known as the Gentleman, has disclosed that he only became a producer because he could not afford the studio fees quoted to him when he started on his music journey.
The hitmaking producer was speaking to the Gold Coast Report team.
“I always saw myself as a performer, I never saw myself as a producer,” he said. “I didn’t want that work [stress] and people calling [and bothering] you” for their songs. “I wanted to be the person calling people [and saying], ‘Yo, my song!’”
“I only became a producer because, I don’t know if I should mention the producer’s name but I went to a big producer’s studio at the time, like 10 or 11 years ago, and said, ‘Oh, I have a song, boss, I beg, I want you to produce this song for me,” he narrated.
Noting that: “At the time, we [Ghana] were not using the new cedi denomination,” he disclosed the producer quoted a fee of “7 million cedis [GHS700],” which left him astonished because: “My entire life, at the time, I had not even seen 1 million cedis before.”
Going back from the studio, he said he thought to himself: “You can play the keyboard. The only thing right now is you don’t know how to use the software.”
Following this realisation, the multi-instrumentalist said he called his friend Kesse, the ‘Oh Yes’ hitmaker, and asked: “Bro, do you know how to use this FruityLoops [music software]?”
Noting that Kesse readily showed interest to teach him the rudiments of music production, he added that he was hesistant at times.
All that said, Reynolds continued, “He [Kesse] was the person who showed me how to use FruityLoops, and that was it. I kept making my own beats because I could not pay 7 million cedis.”
Ironically, he admitted that: “Now, I understand that producer, because when I am also charging people [I recall that incident].”
“I even charge more than his fee now,” he laughed.
As an instrumentalist, he has graced the 2017 MIDEM international music festival in France and the Commonwealth 2018 games in Australia.
As a producer, Reynolds has created hits with M.anifest (Me Ne Woa, featuring King Promise), Medikal (Ayekoo, featuring King Promise), Adomaa (Traffic Jam), The Band FRA! (Happy Yourself, featuring Kyekyeku and Papa Ray), etc.
As a solo artiste, he has two albums: ‘The Magic In the Ordinary’ and ‘Bitter Sweet’ together with notable songs like ‘Tempo’ featuring Efya, ‘Money’ featuring Yung Pabi, ‘E Dey Pain’ featuring Worlasi and ‘Sa Ma Me’.
On Friday, 23 December, he hosts music lovers for his ‘Aura Live’ show at the Virtual Hub, East Legon.
Members of the Majority caucus in parliament have been asked to give high regard to communication channels within the caucus in putting out their grievances.
The directive issued by the leadership of the New Patriotic Party to its MPs, who form the majority caucus in parliament, is on the back of their demand for the removal of the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.
The party, in a statement co-signed by Majority Chief Whip Frank Annoh-Dompreh and General Secretary of the NPP, Justin Kodua Frimpong said “In the meantime, the leadership of the Parliamentary Group and the leadership of the party counselled the Honourbale Members of Parliamentary party to respect to the caucus communications channel, and to the largest extent possible, work together as one caucus unit.
“Leadership of the party in this regard call upon the Members of Parliament to attend to all Government Business in the House including in particular the 2023 budget statement and economic policy and all connected matters.”
The leadership of NPP had to hold a crunch meeting with members of the majority ahead of the presentation of the 2023 budget by the finance minister.
This was after some of the majority MPs decided to go back on their calls for the removal of the minister amidst threats to boycott the budget presentation if he is allowed to appear before parliament on Thursday, September 24, 2022.
However, the MPs have been compelled to hold off on their call for the minister’s dismissal after the meeting with the party’s leadership.
The party has also instructed the MPs to ensure their presence and participation in proceedings when the minister presents the budget.
First, the award-winning singer says he is offering another single from the project: ‘Adwoa’.
Checks by Class News’ Prince Benjamin indicate that the emPawa Africa artiste’s debut album is titled ‘Grains From Love & Reality’, a 12-tracker that will be out, per Apple Music data, on Thursday, 8 December.
The Afropop tune ‘Ato Me So’ and Reggae/Dancehall tune ‘Brukk Off’, recently released, are from the said long play (LP).
According to Derobie ‘Adwoa’ features Nigerian label mate, singer Joeboy.
Derobie first came to the limelight after the release and success of his Reggae/Dancehall song called ‘Poverty’. It won the Reggae/Dancehall Song of the Year award at the 2020 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA). The song also has a remix featuring Jamaican star Popcaan.
Self-acclaimed United Nations Ambassador, Kwame Owusu Forjour, popularly known as Dr. UN, has slammed Delay over what he described as throwing personal attacks at him during an earlier interview.
Delay and Dr. UN’s interview, which took place sometime in August 2022, was described as an explosive one as it was characterized with series of banters from both sides.
Delay’s quest to probe further and find answers to some allegations and scandals Dr. UN has been involved in, and the latter’s refusal to succumb to the query, created a tensed atmosphere.
However, months after that particular interview and after analysing all that ensued, Dr. UN thinks he was attacked and not interviewed.
According to him, Delay portrayed unprofessionalism throughout the said interview, adding that she resorted to asking unwise questions.
“Delay doesn’t ask wise questions. How many times have you heard that presenters attack people during interviews? You people are the ones that overhype her like that. You people regard her too much. She is Delay and so what? She is Delay before her own fans.
“I have earned my PhD in a great school. I have been to interviews in Rwanda, South Africa, CNN, BBC. I told them to mute some of the things I said because I have got court cases,” he stated in an interview with Ohemaa Channel.
Brighton and Hove Albion defender Tariq Lamptey says he has the backing of his parents after completing a nationality switch from England to Ghana.
Lamptey had looked set to switch to the West African nation after asking to be left out of the England Under-21 squad for the European U21 Championship qualifiers.
Since switching nationality, the 22-year-old has featured in two friendly matches and is expected to make his competitive debut for Ghana against Portugal in their World Cup opener at the 974 stadium in Ras Abou Aboud, Doha.
“They always said to me that they’re proud of whoever I represent,” Lamptey told the BBC’s World Football podcast.
“Ultimately, I was born in England, and they’re from Ghanaian background. Making my debut against Brazil was a really proud moment for both me and my family. It was a surreal feeling against some of the best players in the world.
“It’s every little boy’s dream to play football at the highest level. If I’m selected, then I will try and do my best.”
Black Stars defender Denis Odoi is confident his side can upset former European champions Portugal in their 2022 World Cup opener on Thursday.
Coach Otto Addo’s side will begin their campaign against Cristiano Ronaldo’s side before taking on South Korea and Uruguay in the other Group H matches.
Black Stars are the lowest-ranked team at the tournament following a poor 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon where the Stars exited at the group stage, failing to win a single game.
“Everyone knows Portugal players are of a high level,” he told the BBC World Service.
“We still have to play the game. It is not like Portugal has won this game. I am sure they are aware of that.
“If you look at the performances of other African counties, and Saudi Arabia [against Argentina], you still have to play the game.”
Asked about how the new players are settling in including Athletic Bilbao forward Inaki Williams, he added, “We’ve used this last week to fit everybody in and to get used to the system and practice the defensive and offensive battles.”
“And everybody gets to know each other a little bit better on the pitch.”
Ghana are making a record 4th World Cup appearance in Qatar having previously played in the 2006, 2010 and 2014 in Germany, South Africa and Brazil respectively.
Only three sides from the continent have ever progressed to the quarter-finals; Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002, and Ghana in 2010.
Ghana will be hoping to progress from the group stage at this year’s tournament.
Black Stars exited the group stage at the 2014 edition in Brazil after a slow start to the tournament.
Some 256 teachers have sued the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Attorney General over their mass failure in the December 2021 promotional examinations.
The teachers, who are on the Assistant Director Grade I position, sat for the Assistant Director Grade I promotion examination at the Ada Training College Centre.
Mr James Enu, counsel for the applicants (teachers), told the Ghana News Agency that none of the 256 teachers, who wrote the exams at that centre passed, adding that, such an occurrence was bizarre.
Mr Enu said even though the applicants petitioned the GES to investigate the issue, they were informed that nothing untoward was found in the circumstances leading to their failure.
He said the applicants, however, believed that the GES did not conduct any investigations into the issue, therefore, he wrote on behalf of his clients to the Service to request for their scripts and scores, but no response was received to that effect.
He added that it was also worrying that the pass mark for the exams was not disclosed to the candidates before they sat for it but rather, they were informed after the examination that they had all failed the paper.
He said it was based on these that the applicants took legal action against the GES seeking the court to set aside the results of the exam to GES to furnish the applicants with their exams scores and scripts, as well as put an injunction on the defendant to prevent them from organizing other exams until the determination of the case.
Mr Oheneba Akyea Mensah, representative of the teachers, said the issue had affected them psychologically, emotionally, and physically making it difficult for them to properly discharge their duties as teachers.
Mr Mensah said during the exams some of the applicants did not have index numbers and were asked to use their staff numbers, adding that one was also absent while another got involved in an accident but all of them were declared as failed.
He said they wanted to set a precedence as this was not the first time such incidents have occurred.
Meanwhile, the Tema High Court ‘B’ presided over by Justice Emmanuel Ankamah, has set December 12, 2022, for the movement of the application.
Morocco head coach Walid Regragui has praised fans for their support as they drew goalless with Croatia in their 2022 World Cup opener on Wednesday.
A well-drilled Morocco held the runners-up four years ago to a draw at Al Bayt Stadium.
Only four players from their final defeat by France in 2018 started this game and they lacked an attacking spark throughout, but came closest through Nikola Vlasic’s toe-poked effort. Morocco were impressive, but failed to create clear-cut opportunities.
“We feel that we are home and I am happy to be in Qatar.”
“The Moroccan and Arab fans in the stands supported us and gave us strength when we felt tired,” the former Wydad Casablanca boss said after the game.
Morocco’s draw means African sides are yet to win a match at this year’s World Cup after Senegal lost to the Netherlands and Tunisia held Denmark to a goalless draw on Monday and Tuesday respectiively.
The former fetish priest, Thursday, November 24 made her first public post on Instagram after her arrest and temporal closedown of her church. The arrest followed some accusations by some members who claimed she had defrauded them in yet another money-doubling scandal in October this year.
“Thank you all for love and support and prayers God bless you God is God all the time will be live on Sunday at church let meet,” she declared in her Instagram post.
The likes of actress Afia Schwarzenegger and some social media followers have welcomed her with open arms and also thank God for her release from prison custody.
As earlier reported by GhanaWeb, Nana Agradaa was slapped with seven counts of defrauding by false pretense and charlatanic advertisement on TV and in a newspaper to lure victims.
The Police also slapped her with fresh charges with additional six counts after her initial charges upon which she was arrested.
The Minority in Parliament has accused the government of purposely undermining the Saglemi Housing Project in order to sell it cheaply to cronies of the New Patriotic Party.
A member of Parliament from Nkoranza South, Emmanuel Kwadwo Agyekum, made the accusations during a visit to the site by the Parliamentary Works and Housing Committee.
He believes that the “government has caused so much financial loss to the state. We are taking shots at what has happened here, and it is clear that they deliberately allowed some level of deterioration, so they can sell it to themselves.”
The minister for Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye, at a meet-the-press session in Accra on Sunday, November 13, 2022, made known proposals for the project’s sale.
A private developer is needed to facilitate the housing project’s completion since the government is handicapped and cannot commit to further funding, according to Francis Asenso-Boakye.
However, the malcontent minority has expressed concerns over the treatment of the housing project and have threatened that any private developer that would partner with the government to complete the project will be kicked out if the NDC comes to power in 2024.
He said, “We have never seen any settlement like this anywhere by the Government of Ghana, and so the Minority in Parliament has stated clearly that we won’t allow any private developer to come in [to take over the project] at all, it should remain affordable for all.”
The Saglemi Housing Project was essentially approved by Parliament on October 31, 2012, under the auspices of the erstwhile National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration, after the consideration of a report of the Joint Committee on Finance and Works and Housing on the project’s associated loan agreement.
The loan agreement was between the government (National Democratic Congress) and Credit Suisse International for US$200,000,000 for the construction of 5,000 affordable housing units by Constructora OAS Limited.
Ghanaian actor, John Dumelo, has predicted a win or a draw for the Black Stars ahead of their game against Portugal.
The much-anticipated game which has been scheduled for Thursday, November 24, 2022, has since sparked mixed reactions from netizens who have predicted all sorts of scorelines.
A section of the public is however uncertain about the outcome of the game as they believe that it will be somewhat difficult for the Stars to get a positive result against the Portuguese, led by Cristiano Ronaldo.
But John Dumelo thinks otherwise.
The Ghanaian actor has claimed that the Portuguese captain, Cristiano Ronaldo, will not have an easy way out on the pitch.
“Its going to be a win or a draw for Ghana. Ronaldo will be so frustrated on that pitch.”
Meanwhile, Ghanaians have stepped up their preparations for the Black Stars game against Portugal in the ongoing 2022 FIFA World Cup.
This will be the team’s maiden match in a group that also includes tough teams like Uruguay and South Korea.
Read the post below:
It’s going to be a win or draw for Ghana today. Ronaldo will be so frustrated on that pitch!!!!
Barely 24 hours after her publicist disclosed that Hajia4Realwas going to speak, the socialite indeed arrived on social media.
She posted a short video from an undisclosed location sending thanks to her fans for their prayers over the last few weeks since she got embroiled in an alleged fraud case.
Say, say, say whaaat!Hi lovely people I missed you so much and I know you missed me too. Thank you so much for your prayers, I really appreciate it, I love you all…Mwaaah!” a buoyant and excited Hajia4Real is heard saying.
The 34-second video posted on Instagram was however mute on the allegations for which she had made the news in the last few weeks.
Her publicist, known as GH Hyper, on November 22 revealed that Mona4Reall had been left demoralized and traumatized following the widespread news of her involvement in the million-dollar fraud saga.
GH Hyper in an interview with entertainment journalist, Kwame Dadzie on Ghana Weekend once again mentioned that the Ghanaian public was unfair to Mona4Real, a popular socialite and singer
“The way Ghanaians treated her wasn’t the best. Look at somebody that Ghanaians claimed was a prostitute…she was fast rising and Ghanaians decided to clamp her.
“It wasn’t the best at all…she is traumatized…she is home in the UK, and lawyers are talking to her. She is traumatized…a phycologist is working on her,” he said.
He subsequently assured the public that Mona will soon come out to address the allegations levelled against her but noted that she has been left traumatized.
“Mona is in the UK and going about doing what she is supposed to do. She will come, hopefully, to say something or we will release a communique. With that, it will come with a video or whatever for you people to know that she is okay but just that whatever happened has really demoralized her,” GhHyper disclosed.
Mantse Aryeequaye, a Ghanaian artiste, co-founder and director of Chalewote Street Art Projekt, has won a defamation suit against Emmanuel Owusu-Bonsu, popularly known in showbiz as Wanlov the Kubolor.
According to the court verdict, Wanlov the Kubolor failed to substantiate his allegations that Mantse Aryeequaye is a sexual predator.
Wanlov had in 2019 alleged that the Chalewote festival CEO is a sexual predator and also he abuses women.
“Mantse Melvin Nii Aryeequaye of AccraDotAlt, Sabolai Radio Music Festival, Chalewote Street Art Festival & Redd Kat Pictures is a woman beater, woman abuser & a sexual predator. He picked the wrong person to intimidate,” Wanlov stated in a tweet at the time.
Following these allegations, Mantse Aryeequaye sued the musician for defamation.
The court in its judgement stated that Wanlov the Kubolor when he mounted the witness box, “appeared to be naïve and did not exercise the best of judgement” whilst making those allegations.
“He appeared to have allowed his popularity in the arts industry to have clouded his judgement on the occasion,” the court added.
Lawyers for the Mantse Aryeequaye wanted damages to the tune of GH¢1,000,000.00 but the court indicated that the amount was too much.
“I think the defendant even though liable to pay damages must not be destroyed with punitive damages of that colossal amount that can destroy his talent in the arts community. As result, and way of ‘go and sin’ no more, I shall award by way of general damages a compensatory sum of GH¢50,000.00 against the defendant in favour of the plaintiff,” the court said as part of its judgement.
The court also ordered a perpetual injunction restraining the defendant, “his assigns, agents, privies whatsoever and howsoever described from any further publication of the said libellous and defamatory statement or any similar words or statements of the defamatory of the plaintiff.
“I would award costs of GH¢5,000.00 in favour of the plaintiff,” the court added.
Mantse Aryeequaye was represented by Eugene Ablade Oninku, Esq. and Jame Angnaya, Esq. while William Newman, Esq. represented Wanlov the Kubolor.
If the government refocuses its attention on the area, the herbal medicine business, they claim, can bring Ghana more than 30 billion cedis in revenue.
The association’s recently elected president, Prof. Samuel Ato Duncan, refers to the program as the “green gold agenda.”
‘We will pursue the green gold agenda. If gold and cocoa have failed in turning the economic fortunes of the country, then we must turn to green gold. When I say green gold, what I mean is, we have traditional medicine that we can package properly and sell for deprived exchange to benefit our country,” he said on November 23.
The President of the Ghana federation of traditional medicine practitioners noted that herbal medicines in Ghana are being rebranded to ensure packaging and quality of the products meet global standards.
Yesterday, publicly acknowledging he had seen the growing desire for him to release a cheer song for Ghana’s senior male football team, Nacee assured fans, with a Facebook post, and a picture of him in the studio, that he would grant the request.
Today, Wednesday, 23 November, the award-winning record producer and singer has offered football and music fans alike a spirit-stirring rally song called ‘Ye De Ba’.
The optimistic title translates as ‘We are bringing it [the trophy] home.’
In the 2 minute and 50 second song, Nacee does interpolations reminiscent of the late Prophet Seth Frimpong’s ‘Okumchola: It’s a miracle’, expressing spiritual hope on the jama/morale piece.
Again, he borrows the late Terry Bonchaka’s catchy ‘Pulele’ to, perhaps, emphasize that the song which stirs spiritual passions and is akin to those sang in traditional spiritual churches is very much a secular dance song.
The beginning and ending of the Highlife tune samples the voice of Ghana’s first President Dr Kwame Nkrumah saying “Ghana!” and then pays tribute to the legendary sports commentator Kwabena Yeboah as an elated Nacee screams the former’s catchphrase: ‘Goal! Oluwaaa!’
On Facebook, Nacee, alias Nana Osei,has detailed the creatives who worked with him on the song: Composed, arranged, produced and performed by Nacee; Song written by Nacee & Kobby Mantey; Drums, Percussion, Keyboard by Nacee; Lead Guitar by Dominic Quarshie; Bass Guitar by Daniel Ghral; Horns by One Sound & Pappy and Mastering by Hubert Kofi Anti.
The Ghana Black Stars are one of the 32 countries vying for the glory of FIFA World Cup champion in Qatar, Middle East.
Ghana’s first match is against Portugal at the 974 Stadium in Doha tomorrow Thursday, 24 November 2022.
The closest Ghana has come to lifting the FIFA trophy was in South Africa 2010 when in a tensed quarterfinal match, it was trumped by Uruguay, losing out on a legendary status of being the first African team to make it to the semifinals of the tourney.
On ‘Ye De Ba’, Nacee demands “by fire, by force” that the story will be different in Qatar: “We are taking the cup!” the ‘Mpaebo’ hitmaker sings in Akan/Twi.
That notwithstanding, the former Starr FM talent is open to return to active television work, he disclosed.
Mr Germain, alias The Supremo, was speaking to Ghanaweekend.com’s Kwame Dadzie during the Rhythms on Da Runway event, Sunday, 20 November.
When asked if he has lost interest in TV and radio work, he answered: “I did, I lost interest a few years ago but, you know, everywhere I go, inside and outside Ghana, people are like, ‘Listen, man. We want to see you back on TV’, so let’s see what happens.”
Speaking on the Ghana media terrain and new crop of media personalities, he assessed: “It’s gotten more interesting, it’s gotten more exciting.”
In addition, Jon quickly noted, “It’s getting more difficult [also] because in [the] coming years, social media, YouTube and all that might take over the broadcast space.”
“It’s [already] giving a lot of TV and radio stations a lot of competition but it is good competition so we need to make good use of it,” the ‘In My Head’ hitmaker added and stressed: “It’s exciting.”
Jon Germain is on Atlantis Radio Sundays from 5 p.m.
A boy once known as the world’s fattest boy has transformed his life after losing so much weight.
Arya Permana, 16, says he’s now told he’s “handsome” after shedding half his body weight with the help of a strict diet and rigorous workout routine designed by a celebrity trainer.
The teen, from Indonesia, weighed 30st (190kg) when he was at his heaviest at the age of 9, and had to be washed in a pool outside his house after he became too large to fit in the shower.
Now he weighs about13.5st (87kg) – half the amount he weighed at his heaviest.
Indonesian MP Dedi Mulyadi, who met Arya for the first time back in 2016, after his weight made him famous, shared before and now photos to show the teen’s progress.
Arya at 9
Dedi captioned the photo: “On July 12, 2016, I once visited Arya Permana who is receiving medical treatment at Hasan Sadikin Hospital, Bandung.”Arya weighed 420 pounds at that time. Now that I read through the media, it turns out Arya’s body has returned to normal like children in general.
“The kid looks handsome in glasses and turns out he’s handsome too. Keep healthy Son, a bright future awaits you. Happy Sunday to all kind netizens wherever you are.”
Now
The teen’s transformation was made possible by celebrity trainer Ade Rai.
Ade first started working with Arya back in 2016 and helped whip him into shape.
Arya’s transformation was helped by bariatric surgery, which made his stomach smaller and helped the boy to limit his appetite.
The teen’s dad, Ade Somantri, said he thanks diet, exercise and the surgery for his son’s new look.
He said: “Arya managed to lose weight through bariatric surgery, diet and regular exercise.
“For me, they are all good and supportive of each other.”
Ghanaian actressFella Makafui has caused a stir on the popular social media platform Twitter. The actress who returned from a short social media break sought the opinion of her followers on a topic which seemed to be of great concern to her.
Taking to her verified Twitter account with over 78,000 followers, the actress of YOLO fame posed a question on the behaviour and desire of men. She wrote;
What do Men really want ?
Her question was however met with mixed reactions as some Twitter users believe the actress is experiencing hardships in her matrimonial home amidst divorce rumours. Many attributed her matrimonial problems to the destruction of Medikal’s relationship with Sister Derby.
Twitter Users Give Fella Makafui Unforgettable Answers to her Questions
@oozyswonzy
Loool… Fela ask sensible questions. You took your man from another woman so I thought you knew what we want.
@QuakuLona
Funny how everyone thinks her post has something to do with their divorce rumours.
@artificialhipss
They want to be snatched dear
@OdenehoGh2
Lmao in Sister Derby’s voice
@WS_Quist
Since you took your husband from another woman answer it yourself
@livedell36
U don’t have the the moral right to be asking this question my dear.
According to the highly rated Ghanaian player, the PSG star man is only a higher-profile player who had his breakthrough when he was just a teenager.
Speaking in an interview with the Guardian, Kudus said, “he’s not better than me. He’s just a higher profile player, that’s all.”
The Ajax player who clashed with Neymar back in September when the Black Stars faced Brazil in a friendly match explained that Neymar is only better than him when it comes to his achievements in football.
The economy has suffered significantly since early 2022, plunging the country into a full-blown economic recession.
Attributing factors contributing to the economic slowdown, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, asserted that the payment of energy sector excess capacity added to the country’s debt stocks.
Mr Ofori-Atta indicated that the Akufo-Addo government spends $500 million annually to settle energy sector debt created by the previous government.
According to the Finance Minister, “it is important at this point to also highlight that a key component of the national debt stock relates to three exceptional expenditure items that are neither external nor a creation of this government.”
“Energy Sector Excess Capacity Payments (17 billion), which relate to a legacy of take or pay contracts that saddled the country’s economy with annual excess capacity charges of close to $1 billion; direct COVID-19 expenditure amounted to 12.0 billion, and the banking sector clean-up (25 billion),” he added.
The aforementioned event, he said, contributed to about 23% of our annual debt servicing cost.
Mr Ofori-Atta made this revelation when he appeared before Parliament’s Ad hoc Committee to defend himself from some allegations levelled against him by the minority caucus in Parliament.
The Minority caucusCaucus, wanting the Finance Minister sacked from his post, accused him of reckless management of the economy.
Among other things, the Minority group cited the energy debt as an example of the recklessness and mismanagement of the minister.
Debunking the allegation, Mr Ofori-Atta pointed out that a lot of the energy sector debt burden is a result of contracts signed by former President Mahama’s administration between 2013 and 2016.
He mentioned that Mr Mahama during the power fluctuation popularly known as ‘dumsor’ signed a contract with several independent power production companies, prominent ones being KARPOWER and AMERI.
These power production companies supplied government with more than what it needed.
He disclosed that Ghana uses 2,700MW out of more than 5,000MW in installed capacity, thus, blaming him for energy debt, was far-fetched.
“So, Co-Chairs, I find it curious that Hon. Ato Forson will choose to cite energy bills as an example of the recklessness that the Minority charges me with and seek my removal by censure, especially when we have had to pay around $500 million dollars a year in excess capacity charges, for power the previous administration negotiated that we do not need and we do not use”,
He further explained that “in actual fact, we have been able to renegotiate some of these power purchase agreements and the new agreements with the Priority IPPs, once finalised and executed will offer estimated nominal savings of more than USD 4 billion over the next 5 years”.
Bilbao attacker Nico Williams has stated that Spain head coach Luis Enrique motivated him ahead of his debut.
In a September encounter in La Romareda, the Spanish national team was beaten by Switzerland; Nico Williams made his debut.
The Athletic Bilbao player recalled his debut and mentioned Luis Enrique’s suggestion that he performs similarly to how he did for Athletic.
“It’s a big step in my career. I’m grateful to the coach for this opportunity. He told me to open up the pitch, to dribble, what I do at Athletic,” he said
“They are tough opponents. We knew they were dangerous from set pieces and we couldn’t stop them. Spain never give up and I’ve seen that my team-mates are very strong mentally,”
Nico Williams was first added to Spain’s 55 man provisional squad due to his performance this season in La Liga.
The Bilbao attacker expressed his excitement when on his official social media platforms when he was added to the final 26 man squad for the Mundial.
12 people were rushed to hospital after hot air balloon baskets crashed into a terrified crowd of 60,000 following high winds.
The incident took place at the International Hot Air Balloon Festival in Leon, Guanajuato State, Mexico, on November 19 while the crowd was waiting for DJs Martin Garrix and Tiesto to perform.
As the hot air balloon baskets crushed the crowd, there was a stampede, causing several people injuries.
People were battered and bruised after the baskets hit them, with some festival-goers reportedly suffering from nervous breakdowns too.
Six of the injured were taken to the private Hospital La Luz for check-ups to rule out any serious injuries.
The other six arrived at the hospital later due to bad traffic.
All have since been discharged.
Some of the hot air balloons did not take off as planned the following day due to adverse weather conditions.
The Blue Samurai came from a goal down to beat the four-time champions 2-1 at the Khalifa International Stadium.
Doan and Asano scored two brilliant second-half goals after Gundogan had given Germany the lead in the first half.
Germany made a strong start, taking the lead from the penalty spot after Nico Schlotterbeck was brought down by goalkeeper Gonda.
Gundogan made no mistake, sending Gonda in the wrong direction. On the stroke of halftime, Kai Havertz doubled the lead but his goal was chopped off for an offside.
According to Ayew, Portugal are the better side in terms of quality, and he added that the Black Stars will be playing against a tough opponent.
Despite his admission about Portugal, the most capped Ghanaian player stated that they will go all-out to surprise the 2016 European champions on Thursday.
“We all know that if we’re going to get into this game Portugal are the ones who are favourites on paper.
“But after, we have to show on the field that what is on paper is not what will happen on the pitch, so we are ready. We are ready, and we know we are playing a big side that were European champions some years back and have top players,” he said in a post-match interview.
A couple of Japanese math enthusiasts recently spent 24 hours covering the walls of an entire room with calculations in an attempt to find the ultimate answer to the ‘1+1’ formula.
It’s widely regarded as the easiest mathematical formula, but ‘1+1’ isn’t as simple as it appears. Well, at least not to math purists looking to apply multiple fields of mathematics while tackling this deceptively simple calculation.
Popular YouTubers and math enthusiasts Hanao and Dengan recently proved this by spending a whopping 24 hours and covering the walls and floor of an entire room with calculations in one of their most intriguing projects yet.
I was never good at math, but even I know that according to simple arithmetic 1+1=2. But what if we take the same mathematical expression and put it through just about all the areas of mathematics and physics usually taught in high school and college? That’s what Hanao and Dengan wanted to find out when they set out on one of their craziest challenges yet.
In their quest to find the ultimate answer to the ‘1+1’ formula, the two math enthusiasts used notions from the fields of “trigonometric functions”, “infinite series”, “geometry”, “physics”, “electromagnetism” and “thermodynamics”, among others.
“There are things that are unexpectedly fun to solve,” Hanao can be heard saying at one point, close to the 24-hour mark, with the room covered in calculations. That’s definitely something I cannot relate to…
Portugal is one of the heavy favorites to win the World Cup because of their exceptional talent.
The German-trained player stated the Black Stars will need to be brave against the Portuguese team despite their quality during a press conference prior to the game.
“We are capable of competing with them. We must undoubtedly exercise great bravery, he said.
Meanwhile, Ghana will count on a few big names including Thomas Partey, Kudus Mohammed, Inaki Williams, Andre Ayew, and Jordan Ayew to make things tick for them.
Ghana will come off against Portugal on Thursday, November 24, 2022, at Stadium 974 (Rass Abou Aboud).
Spain forward, Nico Williams is dreaming of playing against his brother, Inaki Williams at the World Cup in Qatar.
The pair who play for Athletic Bilbao will hope to make their respective countries proud.
Inaki despite making his debut for the Spanish team has switched nationality to play for Ghana.
Meanwhile, his younger brother Nico earned his first Spain cap in September and has been included in the 2010 champions squad for the World Cup in Qatar.
“Above all, I’d like to face Ghana,” Nico told AFP. “It’s that sibling rivalry, we always had a bit of needle in the parks when we were little, and I hope we can do it as professionals.”
Despite interest from the Ghana Football Association to get Nico to play for the Black Stars, the 20-year-old says he always wanted to play for La Furia Roja.
“The truth is that we could never have imagined that we would reach this level, two brothers playing for the same club, each one in a national team and at a World Cup,” said Nico.
“In life, this situation happens rarely, and my family is very happy and proud that we are here.
“Seeing the suffering of my parents, what they have gone through, it makes you think about things more, you don’t have this mentality that maybe a 20-year-old has.
“They have given everything for us, my brother and I, suffered a lot for us, above all for me, (Inaki) had it a bit worse than me.
“My brother is protective of me, he wants to help me, and because of that I am the person that I am today.”
The William brothers were born to Ghanaian parents in Spain.
The National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has reported that 337 people have died in road traffic accidents between January and October 2022 in the Ashanti Region.
According to the NRSA, about 2,886 road accidents were recorded, with 3,552 people sustaining various degrees of injuries.
The Ashanti Regional Director of the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), Madam Simbiat Wiredu, speaking at the World Day of Remembrance for Road Crashes Victims held in Kumasi, disclosed that a total of 21,596 vehicles, comprising commercial, private, and motorcycles, were involved in road accidents.
Madam Wiredu blamed the alarming rate of road crashes in the country on indiscipline and disregard for road traffic regulations by motorists.
She noted that 60 % of the crashes were caused by over-speeding, while 23 % were caused by stationary vehicles on roads.
Despite the alarming figures, the Ashanti Regional Director of NRSA indicated that the region has recorded a marginal decrease in fatalities.
She stated that in 2021, 450 individuals would lose their lives through road carnage.
This means the Ashanti Region has witnessed an 18% decrease in the number of deaths recorded.
Ghana’s human capital is being lost at an alarming rate as a result of ongoing road accidents.
As part of efforts to address road carnages in the country, NSRA has launched the drive safety campaign to curb road crashes by making people aware of the importance of driving with caution.
2022 World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims
The 2022 World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims held in Kumasi was organised by the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly in collaboration with the Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety and the National Road Safety Authority.
The event, dubbed “Justice” is organised to remember all those killed and injured in road crashes and acknowledge the crucial work of emergency services.
As part of the celebration, the Kumasi Mayor, Mr. Samuel Pyne, together with the representative from Bloomberg, donated items to victims of road crashes.
He also presented five speed measuring devices to the Ghana Police Service to check vehicular speed on roads.
Ghana is expected to host some British ministers this week to draw up a new security agreement after Britain withdrew its peacekeepers from Mali.
A total of 300 peacekeepers were removed from Mali in the face of bands of Russian mercenaries and jihadist groups.
Former Africa Minister Rory Stewart, while interacting with The Telegraph, said, “we struggled to maintain 300 troops in Mali, partly because it cost perhaps as much as a hundred million pounds from tightly stretched budgets. I fear that the ‘pivot to Ghana and Burkina Faso’ is largely a way of excusing our retreat from the Sahel and will ultimately add up to less than people pretend.”
Minister for the Armed Forces, James Heappey, is also expected to touch down in Accra.
Africa Director of Chatham House, Alex Vines, has noted that Britain will be concentrating on the Accra Initiative, a coalition involving Ghana, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Niger, and Togo, to stop insecurity spilling over their borders from the Sahel.
Ghana, which is deeply worried about the anarchy spreading across Burkina Faso, participated in the recent Accra Initiative conference held from November 17–22.
Two levels of the conference; non-states member conference and ministerial session took place at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC), while the third level was held at the Kempinski Hotel in Accra.
It is unclear what the role of the troops is in Ghana, however, the country is strengthening its security measures against terrorist attacks.
Minister of National Security, Albert Kan-Dapaah, has already warned that terrorists may turn their attention to Ghana due to its mineral resources, such as gold.
The 300 troops from the Royal Scot Dragoon Guards and Royal Irish Regiment, until their withdrawal, were meant to lead a revamped, highly mobile 14,000-strong peacekeeping force in Mali acting under the command of the United Nations (UN).
A bankrupt former millionaire in Chinahas been making news headlines for his plan to pay a debt of 46 million yuan ($6.4 million) by selling grilled sausages at a street food stall.
Not too long ago, Tang Jian, a restauranteur in the Chinese city of Hangzhou, was considered one of the most successful businessmen in all of Zhejiang Province. By the age of 36, he already owned a chain of restaurants and had amassed an enviable fortune. But in 2005, Tang decided to invest a sizeable portion of his money into a completely new industry and things started going horribly wrong for him. Now at 52, the former millionaire finds himself over $6 million in debt, but he is working hard to repay every single cent by selling grilled sausages on the street.
When he started investing in his new landscape engineering business, Tang Jian was convinced it would surpass his restaurant empire, and he simply wouldn’t listen to anyone who told him otherwise. Even though the project was bleeding money, he kept pouring investments into it, and when he finally realized his mistake, it was already too late.
Even after selling off all his restaurants, his houses, and cars, Tang was still 46 million yuan in debt and had no choice but to declare bankruptcy. But instead of buckling under the pressure of having to repay all that money, he decided to go back to his roots and start selling quality food.
He didn’t have the money to open a new restaurant, so he settled for a street food stall that he operates himself. He sells grilled sausages and is confident that the humble venture will help him pay off his debt. His redemption story has struck a chord with average Chinese people who appreciated his resilience and positive outlook on life.
“We are born with nothing. Why be scared of starting all over again?” Tang asked rhetorically in a recent interview. “We have to keep learning to face difficulties calmly and to march ahead with courage.”
“Each of us lives a challenging life and encounters many difficulties, but we must hold on to a spirit of never being defeated,” the 52-year-old businessman added.
Tang’s story and a video of him operating his sausage stall on a street in Zhejiang went viral earlier this month, inspiring many to find strength in the face of adversity. After all, if a former millionaire $6.4 million in debt could have a positive attitude, surely they could too.
At a press conference in Accra earlier in October, Mr. Joshua G. Makubu, the Oti Regional Minister, declared the finding of iron ore in the area in commercial quantities and asked investors to start looking for lands in the area to start their operations there as a result of the discovery.
“I want to encourage Accra residents to begin searching for land in the Oti region because what will transform Ghana from its current situation into a highly industrialized country has been located there, and that is the Iron- ore,” he said.
In a statement reacting to the Regional Minister’s announcement, Most Rev. Mante said there was no guarantee that mining the mineral in the region would contribute to the economy of the local people.
He indicated that mining in and around mountainous areas could be a potential cause of disasters.
He said for instance, if mining were done at Akpafu Todzi, Teteman, and other nearby mountainous areas, the constant disturbance of the mountains and vibrations caused by heavy equipment could lead to landslides.
“The result will be that a whole village such as Teteman or Akpafu Todzi, could slide off causing harm to the lives and property-communities living in the nearby valleys could also be buried by the same landslides. In the case of Bowiri communities, their ancestral home will be destroyed.”
“In considering all that has been said, we call upon the traditional leaders, both in the Oti and Volta regions to take a determined and uncompromising stance against the mining of the mineral resource which has now been discovered and those yet to be discovered.
“We would like to remind them that their greatest responsibility from God and our ancestors is to protect the lives God has entrusted to them to lead-we call upon all government officials within these two regions to re-examine whatever agreement they must have reached with companies which have been invited or contracted to mine the resource.”
Most Rev. Gabriel Mante reminded the people of the Oti and Volta regions of their inalienable right to life and for that reason any reality which has the potential to threaten this life must be resisted.
” In this regard we urge them to deny any necessary support for the mining of these mineral resources in our two regions,” he concluded.
Black Stars, who are the lowest-ranked team at the tournament have been drawn in Group H alongside Portugal, South Korea and Uruguay.
Ghana take on Portugal on Thursday before playing South Korea and Uruguay on November 28 and December 2 respectively.
“We know that in these big tournaments there are lots of surprises that can happen, so we just need to be ready,” the Al Sadd forward said at the pre-match presser.
“The Saudi game [vs Argentina] was great and marvellous, but we need to think about ourselves and not look at what somebody has done.
“And we will prepare for our game, which we are going to do everything to get something out of it.”
Ghana are making a record 4th World Cup appearance in Qatar having previously played in the 2006, 2010 and 2014 in Germany, South Africa and Brazil respectively.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup takes place between November 20 and December 18, 2022.
Only three sides from the continent have ever progressed to the quarter-finals; Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002, and Ghana in 2010.
Ghana will be hoping to progress from the group stage at this year’s tournament.
Black Stars exited the group stage at the 2014 edition in Brazil after a slow start to the tournament.
Famous Ghanaian media personality, Berla Mundi, has put one her fans in their place after the netizen tried to pick on her.
The fan made a comment after Berla posted a rather beautiful set of pictures on her handle @berlamundi enjoying some fufu with a bottle of Lucozade by the side.
In an unmeasured reply, the fan commented:
“Are we ever going to see your real face cos every day you’re posting pictures with a painted face”
See Berla Mundi’s original tweet below:
Berla did not take this lightly and decided to reply with a sarcastic comment:
Yes I sell Deluxy Acrylic paint so I need to advertise it with my face. Jon!!
How Ghanaians are reacting to Berla Mundi’s comment
Fufu is bae, fufun’t it? 🤤
I couldn’t buy snail because it was going for Ghc60 per piece. But I got my smoked fish and goat anyway.
Now let’s listen to the Finance Minister ☺️ pic.twitter.com/XQ9kmJkNo6
I love this one : I sell Deluxy Acrylic paint . This answer may pick an Oscar or a pulitzer prize for the year
@Aim4power indicated:
But seriously the make up artistes of late are not trying at all. Aren’t make ups supposed to be less obvious? And don’t you people feel uncomfortable wearing it?
@_adonai77_ commented:
I love you Berla..Everyday foolish question but you will go and see his face too like something
A high-level debate series on how the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFTCTA) and digital assets could propel the nation toward economic freedom has been organized by two nonprofit organizations.
They are Wada and Global Policy House in collaboration with the Institute for Liberty and Policy Innovation (ILAPI),
Speaking during the discussion series, Mr. Peter Bismark Kwofie, the Executive Director of ILAPI, explained that the relationship with Wada, a blockchain organization, is intended to examine how technology may redefine fiscal and monetary policies in order to promote economic growth and prosperity.
He said, “block chain and other emerging technologies should drive innovations that could help reduce inflation and unemployment for investment and trade.”
Mr. Kwofie said the partnership will also build a strong vibe for Ghana to see technology as a catalyst for growth.
Mrs. Afia Owusu, the lead for Wada, said Wada is mainly into developing skills in the block chain ecosystem as well as artificial intelligence gathering.
She said Wada gives voice to the voiceless by ensuring that people leverage emerging technologies such as Web 3 and block chain, which many advanced countries had use to develop their economies.
Mrs Owusu said advanced countries are using block chain technologies to cut middlemen on whatever programme they are running.
She said, “Wada is currently doing regenerative agriculture in Tamale with a group of farmers growing Bambara beans and are linked all over the world to consumers of Bambara beans who support the farmers with finance,” she said.
Mrs. Owusu said there is an ongoing exercise in Ghana and Mozambique where one can register a land and link up with potential buyers worldwide.
She said going forward, Wada will engage the youth on how to leverage the recent technology in the area of education, improve economies and better lives.
The Member of Parliament for Madina Constituency and a panel member, Francis-Xavier Sosu highlighted the economic benefit of AfCFTA on African countries if only governments show political commitment to it implementation.
He said despite the greatness associated with AfCFTA, when it comes to implementation African leaders are found wanting adding that, at the international level “we agree to these beautiful agreements but in reality, traders are being victimised in other countries in the area of free trade.”
“Is either we are for AfCFTA and willingly domesticate our laws and open up our space and borders for free movement of goods and services and also educate indigenous traders to also take advantage or if we don’t want it and we back off,” he said.
Mr Sosu said Ghana is the host to AfCFTA secretariat, yet there is not enough commitment to the ideas of it in terms of dealing with foreigners who trade in the country and “I think that is not the appropriate way to go.”
“I, therefore, call on civil society groups in the country to hold the government accountable to the benefit of AfCFTA or we risk losing it,” he stressed.
General Jurisdiction High Court presided over by Justice Charles Edward Ekow Baiden, has dismissed an application filed by nine Ghanaian citizens against the Attorney General (AG) and the National Communications Authority (NCA), seeking judicial review in the nature of certiorari and an interlocutory injunction against the AG and NCA, from going ahead to implement the 30 September 2022, deadline for SIMCard re-registration in Ghana.
The application was premised on the argument that the applicants had applied for Ghana Cards at various times but were yet to receive their identity cards.
The Applicants assert that the issuance of the Ghana Card by the National Identification Authority (NIA) has been bedeviled with several challenges to the extent that the NIA has not been able to carry out its mandate as such, many Ghanaians could not register their SIM Cards at the close of exercise which even made the Respondents, the 2nd Respondent (NCA) in particular to grant an extension of the deadline.
The Applicants therefore argued that should the court allow the state and the NCA to stick to the re-registration deadline, they risked losing their SIM cards through no fault of theirs.
Reliefs sought
The nine applicants in the case are; Belynda Naa Odey Hammond, Jennifer Elorm Dzikunu, Charisty Mansah Afua N Ackotia, Nsor Sabasi, Josephine Annor Prempeh, Vida Delacy Kemevor, Regina Elkplim Dagadu, Irene Ayariga and Tracy Ashong. In their application filed on 22 September 2022, the applicants were seeking seven reliefs.
First, they sought a declaration that the impugned directive of the respondents requiring the applicants to re-register their mobile phone sim with the Ghana Card as the only identity document, at a time when the National Identification Authority had not been able to issue Ghana Cards to applicants, was in breach of Articles 21, 23 and 296 of the 1992 constitution of the Republic of Ghana, the National Communications Authority Act 2008 (Act 769), the Subscriber Identity Module Registration Regulation 2011 (LI 2006) and the National Identity Register Regulation 2012 (LI 2111) and so, to that extent, null and void.
Second, they wanted a declaration that the impugned directives of the respondents, on the use of the applicants’ mobile phone sim cards and network services, imposing punitive measures/sanctions commencing 5 September 2022, breach Articles 21, 23 and 296 of the 1992 constitution of the Republic of Ghana, the National Communications Authority Act 2008 (Act 769), the Subscriber Identity Module Registration Regulation 2011 (LI 2006) and the National Identity Register Regulation 2012 (LI 2111) and so, to that extent, were null and void.
Third, the applicants sought a declaration that the impugned directives of the respondents to applicants’ mobile telecommunication companies to block, disconnect, deactivate, churn and/or in any other way or manner limit the use of the applicants’ mobile phone sim cards and network services by 30 September 2022, at a time when there was no reasonable possibility of applicants receiving their Ghana Cards from the National Identification Authority on or before 30 September 2022 for the purpose of using the identity cards to register their sim cards, was unfair, unreasonable, contrary to law and to that extent, unenforceable.
Fourth, the applicants sought an order of the court in the nature of certiorari directed at respondents to bring before the court for the purpose of being quashed any order, decision, policy and/or directive issued to mobile telecommunication companies operating in Ghana to block, disconnect, deactivate, restrict and/or in any other way or manner limit the use of the applicants’ mobile phone sim cards and network services, unless applicants register or re-register the said sim cards on or before 30 September 2022.
Fifth, the nine applicants sought an order of the court in the nature of certiorari directed at respondents to bring before the high court for the purpose of being quashed any order, decision, policy and/or directive issued to mobile telecommunications companies operating in Ghana to impose punitive measures/sanctions against applicants’ mobile phone sim cards and network services during the period commencing 5 September 2022.
Sixth, they requested the court to issue an order of perpetual injunction restraining the respondents, whether acting by themselves or through agents, workmen, contractors and subcontractors, associates, as well as any and all such person or persons, from claiming and/or deriving authority through and/or under any or all of the respondents named in the application from imposing punitive measures. The potential sanctions included blocking, deactivating, restricting, churning and/or in any other way or manner limiting the applicants’ use of their mobile phone sim cards and network services.
The applicants desired the injunction to remain in place until such time as the National Identification Authority would make available to the applicants their Ghana Cards. Finally, they prayed the court to issue any further order, relief or reliefs as might seem just to it.
Court’s decision
In his decision, Justice Charles Edward Ekow Baiden, noted that “the Applicants admit that pursuant to Regulation 7 of L.I. 2111, the Respondents had the power to limit the national identity document required for the purpose of registering SIM Cards to the Ghana Card issued by the NIA”.
“I have carefully examined Exhibit “S”(NCA press release announcing the 30 September 2022 re-registration deadline) attached to the affidavit in support of this application.
“It sets out measures that may be applied to unregistered SIM Cards at the end of September 2022. Exhibit “S” does not satisfy legal standards to constitute a penal legislation within the meaning of Article 19 of the 1992 Constitution.
“To my mind therefore, the measures announced in the Exhibit “S” falls within the ambit of Section 3(a) of Act 769 which mandate the 2nd Respondent to “establish and monitor the implementation of standards and ensure compliance” Justice Baiden noted in his ruling.
“It seems to this Court that in its zeal to ensure compliance, the Respondents characterized Exhibit “S” as punitive measures which the Applicants have construed in its technical meaning.
“In the light of Articles 11(1)(D); 93(2); and 106 of the 1992 Constitution, this Court cannot share the view adopted by the Applicants that Exhibit “S” is intended to have effect as a penal legislation or that the Respondents exceeded their discretion when they issued out Exhibit “S”.
“For all the above reasons, I dismiss the application for judicial review in the nature of certiorari as without merit. For these same reasons, the application for interim injunction is also hereby dismissed. All parties shall bear their own costs” the High Court Judge ruled.
Representation
The Attorney General (1st Respondent) was represented in Court by assistant state attorney, Reginald Nii Odoi.
The 2nd Respondent, National Communication Authority (NCA), had Gary Nimako Marfo, as its legal representative and the nine applicants were represented by Gafaru Ali.
According to him, the Ministry was firmly in favor of putting the strategy into action and was looking forward to collaborating with key players to develop the capability required to fully benefit from the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Agreement.
At the launch of the 13-member National Export Development Strategy Steering Committee, Mr. Krapa gave a speech.
The members are Mr Patrick Yaw Nimo, Chief Director – Ministry of Trade and Industry, Dr Afua Asabea Asare, CEO of Ghana Export Promotion Authority, Mrs Kosi Yankey-Ayeh, CEO of Ghana Enterprises Agency, Mr Reginal Yofi Grant- CEO of Ghana Investment Promotion Center, Mr Seth Twum Akwaboah, CEO of Association of Ghanaian Industries, Ms Marjorie Abdin, Vice President of Federation of Association of Ghana Exporters and Mr Mark Badu Abongye, CEO, Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry
The rest are Mr Lawrence Agyinsam, CEO of the Ghana Export-Import Bank, Mr. Mike Oquaye Jnr., CEO of Ghana Free Zones Authority, Professor Alexander Dodoo, CEO of Ghana Standards Authority, Ms. Benonita Bismarck, CEO of Ghana Shippers Authority, Mrs Delese Mimi Darko, CEO of Chief Executive Officer- Food and Drugs Authority and Mr Eric Bentsil Quaye, Director of Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate.
The NEDS provides for the composition of a 13-member Steering Committee to ensure oversight for the effective implementation of the Strategy.
The 10-year National Export Development Strategy (NEDS) seeks to grow Ghana’s Non-Traditional Export sector and will employ a private-sector-driven approach.
It is expected to give a significant boost to Ghana’s export volumes by growing NTEs from US$2.8 billion in 2020 to US$25.3 billion by 2029.
The Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) was tasked by the Ministry of Trade and Industry in 2019 to spearhead the formulation of NEDS, which provides an objective picture of Ghana’s current export environment and a clear vision of the desired evolution of Ghana’s Non-traditional Export sector from 2020 to 2029.
He said GEPA and its partners were on the road to sensitising 261 districts across the country on the strategy and the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Mr Krapa said the first phase of the sensitization covered 30 clusters out of the 74 clusters in the 261 districts in the country and there were 115 districts in the first 30 clusters covered.
Three teams were composed, namely the Northern team, the Middle team, and the Southern team, to cover the northern zone, middle belt, and southern zone, respectively.
He said so far, 249 potential exporters have been identified through this exercise, and they will be guided as they develop their products to be exported.
The Minister said AfCFTA provided a great opportunity for countries like Ghana to harness effective implementation of the National Export Development Strategy.
Mr Krapa commended the Chief Executive Officer of GEPA, Dr Asare, and her team for coordinating the rigorous process of establishing the steering committee.
Mr Nimo, the Steering Committee Chairman, assured the Minister of their commitment to seeing the implementation of the strategy.
The PSG player, who is Portugal’s preferred left-back, has not trained in two days and is a doubt for Thursday’s match in Doha.
The Black Stars who are returning to the global showpiece after missing out in Russia 2018 has been housed in Group H against Portugal, Uruguay and South Korea.
Portugal will open their account the African giants before they face South Korea and Uruguay respectively on Thursday at the Stadium 971.
Footballghana.com has gathered the enterprising defender is racing against time to be fit for the epic clash.
Portugal coach Fernando Santos will turn to Dortmund’s Raphael Guerreiro if Mendes is unable to recover for the game.
Aside Mendes, the remaining 25 players trained under the Portugal gaffer and looks set for the Ghana clash.
Portugal is included in group H of the 2022 World Cup, along with Uruguay, Ghana and South Korea. After the debut against the Ghanaians, the National Team faces the South American counterpart on Monday (19:00) and ends the group stage against the team coached by Paulo Bento, on December 2 (15:00).
Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has called on stakeholders in the public and private sectors to help eradicate the adverse effects of climate change in the world.
The greatest threat to the planet remains climate change, a problem that affects both developed and underdeveloped countries.
The UN climate panel’s most recent assessment indicates that the adverse effects of climate change are accelerating more quickly than anticipated less than ten years ago.
Speaking at the 6th edition of the Sustainability and Social Investment (SSI) Awards, he said mankind has contributed in one way or another to the planet’s predicament today.
As such, a strong coordination between the two will go a long way in finding an end to the menace.
“The benefits of synergy between the public and private sectors cannot be overstated. There is a very tall list of instances and impacts of safe partnerships, but the most practical example of this is the joint response of both parties in the pandemic.
“It was a sharing of other resources, including time and strategies, that brought out the best in us at a time when humanity was most under attack. It is evident in my mind, and I trust in yours as well, that if we are to truly witness meaningful transformation in this regard (climate action), then we will need the private and public sectors to once again collaborate extensively.
“As we speak, global temperatures have risen by 1.8 degrees or 1 degree centigrade between 1901 and 2020; and the rise in global sea level has accelerated from 1.7 millimetres a year throughout most of the 20th century to 3.2 millimeters a year since 1993. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen by 25 percent since 1958, and about 40 percent since the Industrial Revolution,” he said in a speech read on his behalf by Professor Yaw Gyan Baffour, Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC).
SSI Awards is an award scheme that appreciates individuals and organizations for their regular investments that have had and are still having an influence on society.
Meanwhile, the country director of ActionAid Ghana, John Nkaw, has urged wealthier polluter nations to bear financial responsibility for the harm that climate change does to the most vulnerable and underdeveloped nations.
According to him, numerous farmers in fragile countries like Ghana are suffering as a result of the abrupt changes in the climate; as a result, developed countries must support developing ones.
“These sad realities demand our collective action to prevent a further increase in the wealth gap. We must continue our campaign for the establishment of an international financing facility to help vulnerable countries recover and rebuild in the aftermath of climate disasters,” he indicated.
Nevertheless, he added that consistent and varied climate change research is essential to enhancing stakeholders’ comprehension of adaptation and influencing both private and public initiatives to entice investors in vulnerable communities.
