Black Stars coach, Otto Addo and his technical team will be the present at the Multichoice Ghana office to announce the 26 men who will be representing Ghana at the Mundial on Monday, November 14, 2022, at 11:OO AM.
Ahead of the final squad announcement, there have been so many speculations in the media space about certain players who have been dropped from the final squad thereby causing a public uproar.
While Ghanaians are not happy about the reported exclusion of Jeffry Schlupp, Joseph Paintsil, and Felix Afena-Gyan from the final squad, there are other players whose inclusion in the final team for the World Cup will come as a big shock to the public.
Here are the four players whose inclusion in Ghana’s 26-man World Cup squad will shock Ghanaians:
Lawrence Ati Zigi
The St. Gallen goalkeeper hasn’t been in the good books of Ghanaians as he is yet to impress with the opportunities he has had to keep the post for the Black Stars.
Ghanaians started calling for him to be dropped from the Black Stars when Razak Abalora was invited to command the number spot in the team for the 2021 AFCON qualifies when Richard Ofori was injured.
His inclusion in the final squad will be a big shock to Ghanaians who might prefer to have either Danlad Ibrahim or Nurudeen Abdul Manaf over Ati Zigi.
Samuel Owusu
Was heavily hyped before the start of the 2019 AFCON in Egypt, but Samuel Owusu couldn’t write his name in the heart of Ghanaians as his performance was a little above average.
His career hasn’t really improved since 2019 and is not playing the best of football in the Serbian League for FK Čukarički since ending his loan spell with Al Ahli Saudi FC.
Considering reports that the most in-form Ghanaian winger, Joseph Paintsil has been dropped from the squad, Ghanaians will be extremely angry if they see Joseph Paintsil in the final 26-man squad on Monday.
Mubarak Wakaso
People are still healing their wounds after hearing that Jeffrey Schlup has been dropped from the squad and naming Mubarak Wakaso in the final squad in place of the Crystal Palace midfielder will hit Ghanaians hard.
Mubarak Wakaso’s presence in the Black Stars since the beginning of the year has been heavily criticized as many claims that his call-ups in 2022 are not based on merit but because of his association with certain elements in the team.
Naming him in the final squad when in-form payers like Schlupp and Ashimeru have been dropped will re-generate the conspiracy conversations.
Richmond Boakye-Yiadom
His inclusion in the 55-man provisional squad was a big surprise and making the final cut will be the biggest shock among all the players on this list.
Richmond Boakye-Yiadom was touted as the man who will replace Asamoah Gyan but couldn’t reach that height which to man was not his fault as he was not invited during his peak day with Red Star Belgrade.
Picking Richmond Boakye-Yiadom ahead of Felix Afena-Gyan will shock and certainly upset Ghanaians.
Former Ghana captain, Stephen Appiah has revealed that the camp of the Black Stars was terrible after Laryea Kingston was dropped from the squad ahead of the 2010 World Cup.
Having missed out in 2006 due to suspension, Laryea was hoping to make the Black Stars squad for the Mundial in South Africa.
However, he was again dropped for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa by coach Milovan Rajevac despite being part of a provisional squad that camped in France ahead of the tournament.
Appiah, who was the skipper of the side at the time, has disclosed that the mood around camp was terrible after the winger’s axe.
“In France 2010 when Laryea Kingston was dropped, it was very difficult because when we talk about the World Cup, Laryea Kingston was one of the players who made it possible for Ghana. In 2006 he couldn’t get a chance to go to Germany,” Appiah told JoyNews.
“In 2010 we camped in France and he was dropped, it was bad to see Laryea Kingston that evening. It was difficult because you don’t know what was going through his head that night because he did everything possible for the team to qualify.
“I went to his room with Richard Kingson his brother and it was terrible. I went to sleep thinking of Laryea Kingston, it was bad, very bad.”
Laryea was a mainstay in the Black Stars between 2002 and 2010, making 41 appearances and scoring six goals.
Doja Cat couldn’t figure out how to change her name on Twitter—which is currently “Christmas” —and enlisted ElonMusk’s help. But not before relaying an expletive to the Tesla CEO.
She took to the platform to write, “why can’t i change my name on here” and “how do i change it also fuck you elon.”
She then tweeted directly to Musk, writing, “i don’t wanna be christmas forever @elonmusk please help i’ve made a mistake.”
He replied, “Working on it!” and a couple of minutes later, “Pretty funny though,” to which she said, “Thanks Elon.”
Following her appeal to Musk, Doja went on a rant on Twitter’s forthcoming pay-to-be-verified program. “You guys are paying $8 a month to come on here and go to war with people who are not in agreement with who your favorite pop star is. You’re paying $8 a month to come on here and say shit like, ‘Bye!’ You’re coming on here for $8 a month to post porn and then get into an argument. I think I can stop there. Okay cool, bye.”
The verification program was originally priced at $20 per month until Musk proposed a lower fee amid backlash. It was also reported that he recently told advertisers that this may be a “dumb decision.
This means the Bayer Leverkusen star has no chance of featuring for the Black Stars of Ghana in the future.
The 21-year-old right-back has been on top form for the Bundesliga side in the ongoing campaign, scoring five goals and providing two assists in 20 matches.
Frimpong, who has been on radar of the Ghana FA has been included in Luis Van Gal’s final 26-man squad for the mundial in the Asian country, which means the door is closed to feature for the Black Stars.
In a Facebook post she shared on November 10, 2022, the actress reacted to Nigerian actress, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde’s video, where she talks about her marriage, the struggles, and the times she feels she no longer loves her husband while noting that couples can be married and still enjoy their lives as individuals without losing themselves.
According to the mother of two, people keep saying negative things about marriage and how challenging it is to survive.
Kafui Danku reacting to the video, said, “See erh, these are the kinds of marriage talks you should listen to! Not the ones who have made it ‘kuntaiiin’ and be saying ‘marriage is not a joke o’, ‘marriage is not easy o’ bla bla bla.”
“Yada yada yada…Always being negative about the beautiful and fun union. Chill jor; it’s not that serious! Live life! You deserve to be happy! Avoid those negative /clueless preachers.
“Listen to people with positive marriage results! It’s not serious like that I beg! Don’t lose yourself!.”
Meanwhile, Counsellor Charlotte Oduro has said ninety-nine percent of married couples want out of their marriage.
Speaking on Okay FM, she pointed out that single people should count themselves privileged since they can make informed decisions by listening to advice from married people.
“If you pick hundred people, almost ninety-nine percent of them want out of their marriage. So if you are not married, you are lucky, because you have the opportunity to learn.
“You have information to make the right choice and I have got people, many people asking me why I make that statement. I still stand by that. If you are not married, you are lucky. You will get information, you will take your time to make the right choices,” she disclosed.
Green tea comes from the plant Camellia Sinensis. The two main varieties of tea plants are Camellia sinensis, a small-leaf variety native to China, and Camellia sinesis assamica, a large-leaf variety that was first discovered in the Assam district of India.
Hundreds of cultivars and hybrid plants have evolved from these two plant varieties over time.
There are various types of teas made from the Camellia sinensis plant. Four well-known types are white tea made from young leaves and buds that have not yet turned green. The only processing for this tea is drying. The next is green tea which is made from mature leaves of the plant with minimal processing that involves only drying. Then there is black tea which is made from partially fermented mature leaves and oolong Tea, produced from fully fermented mature leaves.
Green tea is produced by harvesting the leaves from the Camellia sinensis plant, quickly heated by pan frying or steaming, and dried to prevent too much oxidation from occurring. Oxidation turns the green leaves brown and alters their flavor. Brewed green tea is typically green, yellow, or light brown.
Green tea which originates from China traces back to 2737 B.C. It was accidentally discovered by the Chinese Emperor Shennong in the Yunan province of China when fresh tea leaves from a nearby Camellia sinensis tea tree fell into his cup of just boiled water. It was originally costly and only available to the highest tiers of Chinese society but became accessible to the general public for enjoyment and medicinal purposes in the 14th century. “The Classic of Tea” is the first written work to explain green tea culture and art around 800 A.D., by Lu Yu of China. Green tea is said to be mainstreamed in Japan around the 12th century and to this day, China and Japan are said to be the top exporting countries of Green tea in the world. Green tea traveled to the West in the 19th century with European explorers.
Processing
Green tea undergoes the following processes:
The withering process involves reducing moisture in the leaves by using the air-blown method for 12 to 24 hours. This is followed by pan frying or steaming also known as fixing. This is done to reduce or stop the enzymatic activities in the leaf that leads to oxidation and fermentation. This helps to retain the green color of the leaves. After fixing the leaves undergo the first drying stage in a drum which is swiveled for nearly 30 minutes to further reduce the moisture content of the leaves. This is followed by rolling to crush the leaves into smaller particles. After rolling, there is further drying before packaging.
Constituents
Green tea has a high vitamin and mineral content and 5 cups of green tea will provide 5 to 10% of the daily requirements of riboflavin, niacin, folic acid, and pantothenic acid and also about 5% of the daily requirement of magnesium, 25% of potassium and 45% of the requirement for manganese (Shukla, 2007). It also contains the active ingredient polyphenol, with the subgroup catechins – A powerful antioxidant. There are four main catechins in green tea. They are (EC) -epicatechin, (ECG) -epicatechin-3-gallate, (EGC) –epigallocatechin and (EGCG)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate. Of these four, EGCG is present in the largest quantity, and so has been used in much of the research. As the main constituent, green tea polyphenols were documented for their antioxidant, anti-inflammation, anticancer, anti cardiovascular, antimicrobial, antihyperglycemic, and antiobesity properties.
Recent reports demonstrate that green tea may exert a positive effect on the reduction of medical chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and diabetes. The health benefits of green teas, in particular EGCG, are widely investigated, and these effects are known to be primarily associated with the structure and compositions of its polyphenols. (Xing et. al., 2019).
https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5710/3/1/6/htm
Recent reports demonstrate that green tea may exert a positive effect on the reduction of medical chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and diabetes. (Zing et.al., 2019).
Green Tea: Supporting Literature
Live Longer
Studies have found that some compounds in green tea may help you live longer. For instance, Kuriyama et al.(2006) studied 40,530 Japanese adults over 11 years. Those who drank the most green tea — 5 or more cups per day — were significantly less likely to die during the study period. The study found that:
Death of all causes: 23% lower in women, 12% lower in men
Death from heart disease: 31% lower in women, 22% lower in men
Death from stroke: 42% lower in women, 35% lower in men
A previous study( Suzuki et al.2009) examined over 14,001 older Japanese individuals and found that those who drank the most green tea were 76% less likely to die during the 6-year study period.
Improves Brain function
Green tea does more than just keep you alert, it may also help boost brain function. The key active ingredient is caffeine, which is a known stimulant. Though green tea doesn’t contain as much as coffee, however, it has more to produce a response without causing the nervous effects associated with taking in too much caffeine.
Two studies(Nehlig et al. 1999; Fredholm, B.B, 1995) found that caffeine affects the brain by blocking an inhibitory neurotransmitter called adenosine. When this happens, it increases the shooting of neurons and the concentration of neurotransmitters like dopamine and norepinephrine.
Another, Ruxton, C(2008) found that caffeine could support many areas of brain function, including mood, vigilance, reaction time, and memory. Apart from caffeine, Nobre et al.(2008) found that green tea also contains the amino acid L-theanine, which can cross the blood-brain barrier.
More studies (Nobre et al. 2008; Nathan et al. 2006; Egashira et al. 2007) explained that L-theanine increases the activity of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA, which has anti-anxiety effects. It also increases dopamine and the production of alpha waves in the brain.
This means that two important energy-boosting compounds in green tea combinations could have synergistic effects. This means that the combination of the two can have particularly powerful effects in improving brain function(Kelly et al. 2008; Dodd et al. 2015). This also means that due to the L-theanine and the small dose of caffeine, green tea may give you a much milder and different kind of resistance than coffee. It has been reported that people experienced having more stable energy and being much more productive when they drink green tea, compared with coffee.
Cancers
Boehm et. al. (2009) conducted a systematic review of fifty-one studies with more than 1.6 million participants in studies that looked for associations between green tea consumption and cancer of the digestive tract, gynecological cancer including breast cancer, urological cancer including prostate cancer, lung cancer and cancer of the oral cavity. The result of the review was conflicting with the evidence that the consumption of green tea might reduce the risk of cancer.
Another observation studies review (Ogunleye and Michels, 2009) found that women who drank the most green tea had an approximately 20–30% lower risk of developing breast cancer, one of the most common cancers in women
This means that two important energy-boosting compounds in green tea combinations could have synergistic effects. This means that the combination of the two can have particularly powerful effects in improving brain function(Kelly et al. 2008; Dodd et al. 2015). This also means that due to the L-theanine and the small dose of caffeine, green tea may give you a much milder and different kind of resistance than coffee. It has been reported that people experienced having more stable energy and being much more productive when they drink green tea, compared with coffee.
Cancers
Boehm et. al. (2009) conducted a systematic review of fifty-one studies with more than 1.6 million participants in studies that looked for associations between green tea consumption and cancer of the digestive tract, gynecological cancer including breast cancer, urological cancer including prostate cancer, lung cancer and cancer of the oral cavity. The result of the review was conflicting with the evidence that the consumption of green tea might reduce the risk of cancer.
Another observation studies review (Ogunleye and Michels, 2009) found that women who drank the most green tea had an approximately 20–30% lower risk of developing breast cancer, one of the most common cancers in women
However, Reygaert (2017) found that case-control studies gave the most consistent results and were positive for reduced cancer risk in breast, cardiac, colorectal, esophageal, gastric, lung, ovarian, pancreatic, and prostate cancers. He conducted a review of research that focused primarily on using human subjects to investigate the health benefits of green tea. In his review, he also found a relationship between breast cancer risk and tea consumption, with the risk being highest in the groups that did not consume tea and lowest in the groups that consumed the most cups per day.
On Prostate cancer, Kurahashi et al.(2008) study found that men drinking green tea had a lower risk of advanced prostate cancer.
On colorectal cancer, Chen et al.(2017) examined 29 studies and found that those drinking green tea were around 42% less likely to develop colorectal cancer. An old study(Litt et al. 1997; Yuan. J.M, 2013) found that green tea drinkers are less likely to develop several types of cancer, but more high-quality research is needed to confirm these effects
Finally, studies have found that adding milk to green tea reduces its antioxidant ability(Ryan and Petit, 2010).
Cardiovascular Disease
Two studies from Japan that included nearly 50,000 people found a decreased mortality rate due to CVD based on the consumption of various numbers of cups per day(Nakachi et.al., 2000, Kuriyama et. al., 2006).
Other studies in Japan using a green tea extract found that, after 12 weeks, the subjects had reductions in body fat (10%), blood pressure (6.5%), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels (2.6%), suggesting a reduced risk of CVD.
A large meta-analysis of 17 studies from over 30 years, including data from Europe, the UK, and the U.S., found that increasing the consumption of green tea by three cups per day decreased the risk of myocardial infarction (MI) death by 11% (Peters et. al, 2001).
Another study showed a decreased risk of mortality in patients who had an acute MI and a history of regular green tea consumption for at least a year before the MI. Participants who did not drink green tea had a 14% rate of death due to MI; participants who drank up to 14 cups per week had an 11% rate of MI death; and participants who drank more than 14 cups per week had a 10% rate of MI death (Mukamal et. al,2002).
Another study, by Hartley et al.(2013) found that green tea may improve some of the main risk factors for these diseases, which includes improving total cholesterol and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels.
An old study( Yang and Koo, 2000; Yokozawa and Dong, 1997) also found that green tea also increases the antioxidant capacity of the blood, which protects the LDL particles from oxidation, which is one part of the pathway toward heart disease.
On the other hand, a meta-analysis of tea consumption concerning stroke, myocardial infarction, and all coronary heart diseases based on 10 cohort studies and seven case-control studies by Peters et. al.(2022), showed an interesting geographical effect of green tea consumption.
According to their study, the geographic region where the studies were conducted appeared to explain much of the heterogeneity among coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, and probably stroke results. With increasing tea consumption, the risk increased for coronary heart disease in the United Kingdom and stroke in Australia, whereas the risk decreased in other regions, particularly in continental Europe.
Finally, (Kuriyama, S, 2008; Shimazu et al. 2007; Miller et al. 2017) studies acknowledge that those who drink green tea have up to a 31% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.
Diabetes
Several human- and animal-based studies suggested that green tea and its flavonoids have antidiabetic effects (Wu, 2004; Iso, 2006; Wolfram, 2006). Green tea flavonoids were also shown to have insulin-enhancing activity (Anderson, 2002). After two months, diabetic patients taking green tea had reduced fasting blood glucose levels (from 135 to 128.8 mg/dL), and hemoglobin A1c (HBA1c) levels (from 6.2% to 6.0%) (Nagao et. al., 2007 and Fukino et. al., 2005).
A study by Waltner-Law et al. (2002) provided compelling in vitro evidence that EGCG decreases glucose production of H4IIE rat hepatoma cells. The investigators showed that EGCG mimics insulin, increases tyrosine phosphorylation of the insulin receptor and the insulin receptor substrate, and reduces gene expression of the gluconeogenic enzyme phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase. Green tea and green tea extracts were demonstrated to modify glucose metabolism beneficially in experimental models of type II diabetes mellitus (Wu, 2004).
Another study, by Liu et al.(2013) found that green tea may improve insulin sensitivity and reduce blood sugar levels. In the case of Iso et al.(2006), the authors noted that Japanese individuals who drank the most green tea had an approximately 42% lower risk of type 2 diabetes.
Huxley et al.(2009) reviewed 7 studies with a total of 286,701 individuals, tea drinkers had an 18% lower risk of diabetes.
Weight Loss, fat burning
Catechins have been found to influence intestinal and cell metabolism in several ways. Among the many effects on intestinal and cell metabolism are:
Inhibiting intestinal lipases
Decreasing fat absorption
Increasing fat excretion
Increasing uncoupling proteins
Increasing thermogenesis
Decreasing lipogenic enzymes
Suppressing appetite
Data from human studies indicate that the consumption of green tea and green tea extracts may help reduce body weight, mainly body fat (Boschmann and Thielecke, 2007).
Another study(Auvichayapat et al. 2008; Wang et al. 2012) studies found that green tea may help reduce body fat, especially in the abdominal area. One of these studies was a 12-week randomized controlled study involving 240 people with obesity.
One study ( Nagao et al. 2012) found that green tea drinkers had significant decreases in body fat percentage, body weight, waist circumference, and belly fat, compared with those in the control group.
Finally, Stendell-Hollis et al.(2010) found no evidence of weight loss with green tea, so researchers need to perform further studies to confirm this effect.
Additionally, in the area of fat-burning, it has been established that most fat-burning supplements contain green tea. This is because one study(Diepvens et al. 2007) found green tea can increase fat burning and boost metabolic rate.
In older studies(Dulloo et al. 1999; Venables et al. 2008) involving 10 healthy men, taking green tea extract increased the number of calories burned by 4%. In another involving 12 healthy men, green tea extract increased fat oxidation by 17%, compared with those taking a placebo.
Another study(Gregersen et al. 2009) found that green tea has no effect on metabolism, so the effects may depend on the individual and how the study was designed.
Alzhiemers & Parkinsons
A systematic review of observational studies that examined the association between green tea intake and dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment, or cognitive impairment in the PubMed database seems to support the hypothesis that green tea intake might reduce the risk for dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment, or cognitive impairment. (Kakutani et. al. ,2019)
However, Klaus et. al (2022) state that clinical results demonstrating efficacy in humans are scarcely making the clinical evidence regarding the preventive or therapeutic effects of green tea and its bioactive components in neuro-protection unsatisfactory.
With regards to Parkinson, Malar et. al, (2020) concludes from a review that even though in vivo studies have suggested that the consumption of green tea protects against free radicals, inflammation, and neuro-damages aiding the understanding of the overall mechanism of green tea, doses used may not be sufficient in humans to elicit similar effects due to complex physiological, social, and cultural development.
Bad breath
The catechins in green tea also have benefits for oral health. Some test-tube studies, (Steinmann et al. 2013; Sakanaka et al. 2000; Lee et al. 2012; Song et al. 2005) found that catechins can suppress the growth of bacteria, potentially lowering the risk of infections.
Some studies (Chatterjee et al. 2012; Anita et al. 2014; Naderi et al. 2011; Narotzki et al. 2012) suggest that the catechins in green tea can inhibit the growth of oral bacteria in the lab, but no evidence shows that drinking green tea has similar effects.
Lodhia et al. 2008; Morin et al. 2015) studies established that green tea may reduce bad breath.
Side Effects of Green Tea
EGCG of green tea extract is cytotoxic, and higher consumption of green tea can exert acute cytotoxicity in liver cells, a major metabolic organ in the body ( Schmidt et. al. 2005) A study found that higher intake of green tea might cause oxidative DNA damage of hamster pancreas and liver (Takabayashi et. al., 2004). At a high dose (5% of the diet for 13 wk), green tea extract induced thyroid enlargement (goiter) in normal rats (Sakamoto Y et. al., 2001)
Green tea can cause side effects due to caffeine. These can include anxiety, tremors, irritability, and sleeping problems. This is more likely if you’re sensitive to caffeine or take large doses, Green tea extracts may cause liver problems. Symptoms can include yellowing of your skin or the whites of your eyes, nausea, and stomach pain. The negative effects of green tea extract on the liver may depend on how much green tea extract you consume each day.
Interactions
Green tea may change the effects of medicines such as nadolol, a beta-blocker used for high blood pressure and heart problems. It may keep nadolol from lowering your blood pressure as much as it should. Green tea contains small amounts of vitamin K. This means it may decrease how well blood thinner medicines work. Since green tea acts as a mild stimulant, you shouldn’t use it with other stimulants. It may change the effects of other medicines.
Conclusion
Green tea is widely consumed worldwide for its health benefits. Many retrospectives and few recent studies attest to that fact. Its effect on cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases are well documented in both human and animal studies. Its impact on neurodegenerative disease in human beings however needs more human randomized clinical control trials. Drinking three to five cups of green tea per day seems to be optimal to reap the most health benefits. Try to choose a higher quality brand of green tea, because some of the lower quality brands can contain excessive amounts of fluoride (Lu et al. 2004).
That being said, even if you choose a lower-quality brand, the benefits still outweigh any risk.
NB:
Prof. Nyarkotey has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations to justify his write-ups. My articles are for educational purposes and do not serve as Medical advice for Treatment. I aim to educate the public about evidence-based scientific Naturopathic Therapies.
The writers are a Professor of Naturopathic Healthcare, President, of Nyarkotey College of Holistic Medicine & Technology (NUCHMT)/African Naturopathic Foundation, and final year Naturopathic Medicine student, and a trained Medical Journalist at Nyarkotey College of Holistic Medicine & Technology. E-mail: collegeofholisticmedicine@gmail.com
Source: Prof. Raphael Nyarkotey Obu & Doris Annan Nortey
Ghanaian rapper, Medikal,has confused netizens with a statement he made about his marriage afterFella Makafuidisclosed that she was about to make the toughest decision in her life.
In the rapper’s post shared on blogger, Nkonkonsa’s page on Instagram, he said wives should appreciate, be modest and submissive among others to their husbands.
“Wives should be respectful, submissive, appreciative and stress-free,” the rapper said.
Meanwhile, on November 9, 2022, Fella Makafui caused a stir with an online post.
According to the Ghanaian socialite, she is about to make the toughest call in her life.
In a post she shared on Twitter on November 8, 2022, netizens read different meanings into the actress’s post.
“I’m about to make the hardest decision ever,” she shared.
While some social media users suggested the actress may be planning to hand her account to her husband, others have alleged that the couple were having issues in their marriage and the post may be throwing some light on the rumour.
Member of Parliament for Dome-Kwabenya, Sarah Adwoa Safo, on Friday, November, 11 made an appearance to Parliament after almost a year of being out of the country.
According to Adwoa Safo, she was out of the country sorting out family issues.
However, she failed to honour several invitations to account for her 15 days of continuous absence from Parliamentary sittings without permission, as spelt out by Ghana’s constitution.
As a result, the Privileges Committee went ahead to file their report and a motion for Sarah Adwoa Safo’s seat to be declared vacant was moved.
The embattled MP whose fate was to be decided on whether her seat be vacated or not, divided the house.
With the Majority caucus in parliament seeking for her removal, the minority group opposed such moves.
Ruling the case, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, deferred his verdict on the fate of the Member of Parliament for Dome Kwabenya, Sarah Adwoa Safo.
Unhappy with Speaker’s verdict, the Majority is considering dragging the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, to the Supreme Court over his ruling on the Dome-Kwabenya legislator.
According to the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the ruling was “unfortunate”, saying the Speaker may have misinterpreted the law.
Meanwhile, Adwoa Safoseems to be blending in easily. She told journalists that “it feels good to be back.”
“The reception has been great,” the embattled legislator said on Friday, November 11.
“I’m back as a Member of Parliament to continue my duties and so today is the first day and I am hoping that the subsequent weeks are going to be good”.
With just 10 days to the global showpiece, the 29-year-old will hoping to recover in time as Ghana coach Otto Addo is set to name his final 26-man squad on Monday, November, 14, 2022.
Orlando Pirates have confirmed that Ofori will miss their semi-final game alongside defenders Thabiso Monyane and Innocent Maela in the Carling Black Label Cup.
Ofori has been named in the 55-man provisional squad for the World Cup. His impressive performance for Pirates this season has seen him fight for the number one spot in Ghana’s squad with Joe Wollacott, who features for League One side Charlton Athletic.
Netflix is turning to Chris Rock to accomplish something the streamer has never offered: a stand-up special broadcast live.
“Chris Rock is about to make history as the first artist to perform LIVE on Netflix!” read a tweet shared Thursday, noting it’ll “premiere live—globally—in early 2023.”
The post was notably accompanied by a photo of the multi-hyphenate onstage in July with an iced-out goat. The farm animal was in fact named Will Smith, a tongue-in-cheek gift from Kevin Hart at Madison Square Garden.
Rock, 57, put out his first comedy special in a decade, 2018’s Tamborine, through Netflix. February will mark five years since the Bo Burnham-directed project arrived. At the top of 2021, Chris Rock: Total Blackout – The Tamborine Extended Cut arrived, adding more than a half-hour to the original. This was another innovative moment for the comic and the streaming platform. “For the first time in history, a remixed version of a special,” Chris stated at the time. “It’s a Netflix special. Not a normal, not a routine. It’s a special.”
Variety writes that Rock’s new offering will mark “the first significant test of live streaming on Netflix, potentially opening the door for a number of its other programs to get the live treatment.” The magazine points out that the company’s interest in live unscripted content has been gestating for some time, including the idea of giving “fans a chance to vote live on who should be voted off a show.”
The streamer’s VP of Stand-up and Comedy Formats, Robbie Praw, stated Thursday, “Chris Rock is one of the most iconic and important comedic voices of our generation. We’re thrilled the entire world will be able to experience a live Chris Rock comedy event and be a part of Netflix history. This will be an unforgettable moment and we’re so honored that Chris is carrying this torch.”
Rock, of course, was infamously slapped by Will Smith at this year’s Academy Awards. He’s only lightly touched on the incident since, but did specifically say onstage in London, “People expect me to talk about the bullshit, I’m not going to talk about it right now. I’ll get to it eventually, on Netflix.”
With the slap having been one of the most talked-about moments of 2022, Rock’s special is poised to be a highly viewed continuation of the saga.
Whitney Houston’s recording of I Will Always Love You wasn’t just a hit, but an unstoppable cultural phenomenon. Released in November 1992 as the lead single from The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 14 consecutive weeks – then a record – and won two Grammy awards.
Thirty years after it came out, it remains the best-selling single of all time by a female artist. The Bodyguard’s soundtrack album, which reeled off four further hits from Houston including I’m Every Woman and I Have Nothing, went on to sell 45 million copies worldwide.
Famously, I Will Always Love You was originally written and recorded in 1973 by Dolly Parton, who conceived it as a tribute and farewell to her early mentor Porter Wagoner. Parton’s lovely, understated version was a number one hit on the US Hot Country Songs chart, but she has always been gracious about the way Houston transformed the song into the ultimate power ballad.
Recalling the first time she heard Houston’s cover, Parton said in 2020: “It was one of the most overwhelming feelings I have ever had to hear it done so well, so beautifully and so big. I had no idea I’d written a song that could be that important… She just took it and made it so much more than what it would ever have been.”
As well as providing songs for The Bodyguard’s soundtrack album, Houston starred in the 1992 film – it was her acting debut (Credit: Alamy)
Houston’s interpretation of the song captivated the world because it mixes bewildering technical brilliance with a heartfelt reading of Parton’s tender lyrics. From the moment she sings “so I’ll go, but I know I’ll think of you every step of the way”, it’s clear Houston is giving a vocal performance of rare quality. “Whitney knew how to use the full range in her voice to fully connect emotionally with the song and create such drama,” Dami Im, a Korean-Australian singer-songwriter who has been influenced by Houston, tells BBC Culture.
Vocal coach Yvie Burnett believes I Will Always Love You is a “masterpiece” because of the “outstanding combination of what Whitney does vocally combined with perfect production from David Foster”, a music industry veteran who had previously worked with Celine Dion and Aretha Franklin.
Houston’s restraint during the song’s a cappella opening section is a vital ingredient. “Whitney starts the song holding back all her vocal abilities and relying on raw emotion,” Burnett tells BBC Culture. “Then when the music kicks in, she maintains that ethereal vocal quality, hitting the higher notes perfectly while staying quiet and holding back her vocal strength.” She believes this “incredible build-up” makes Houston’s subsequent vocal fireworks at the song’s climax even more moving. “Either she is an incredible actress,” Burnett adds, “or she has experienced these feelings in real life. In which case, she is telling us her story”.
Either way, Burnett describes Houston’s rendition of I Will Always Love You as “one of the most important vocal performances of our generation”. This is no exaggeration: along with Mariah Carey’s Hero and Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On, it set a template – and a very high bar – for many female singers who sought to break through on the popular TV talent shows of the early 2000s. Leona Lewis, who scored a transatlantic number one hit with Bleeding Love in 2007, a year after winning the British version of The X Factor, said at the time: “When I was growing up, I used to listen to Whitney Houston [and] Mariah Carey – those kind of big powerful kind of singers – so that influences my music and a lot of the songs I like to sing.”
Houston’s success wasn’t fleeting; she influenced the next generation of singers (Credit: Getty Images)
In fact, it could be argued that Houston’s vocal performance was, at times, a little too influential. Vocal coaches Carrie and David Grant, who worked with contestants on the British talent shows Pop Idol and Fame Academy, as well as with artists including Demi Lovato and the Spice Girls, say that Houston’s most famous songs became a gold standard that was rarely attainable. “Just about every singer we taught or auditioned for about five years wanted to master I Will Always Love You or The Greatest Love of All or I Have Nothing,” Carrie Grant tells BBC Culture. “Most of [them] should have tried something a little easier – many a singer has been wiped out in an attempt to do Whitney!”
David Grant believes that Houston’s influence “cannot be underestimated” because “for most female singers, she was the voice of her generation”. Though she became known mainly for singing pop, soul and R&B music, Grant points out that you could always hear her “gospel roots” in her delivery. The daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston, a longtime backing vocalist for Aretha Houston as well as a Grammy-winning artist in her own right, Whitney honed her vocal skills in the gospel choir at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey. “Even if they had the [vocal] riffs, many who followed her could not mirror this history,” Grant tells BBC Culture.
Bringing R&B to the mainstream
I Will Always Love You remains Houston’s best-selling single, but she had already enjoyed seven years of globe-conquering success by the time she released it. Between 1985 and 1987, she scored a record seven consecutive Billboard Hot 100 number ones with songs including Saving All My Love for You, I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) and So Emotional. “Whitney was the standard bearer in a line of great R&B singers, from the ’60s with Dionne Warwick and Aretha Franklin, into the ’70s with Gladys Knight and Patti Labelle,” says David Grant. “But what she did was to take R&B to a market bigger than any of them had experienced. Without Whitney, there would arguably have been no mass market for Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé or Jennifer Hudson.”
Houston’s crossover success as an artist who could sing pop, soul, rock, R&B and dance music was unprecedented at the time, but not necessarily popular in all quarters. She was reportedly booed by audience members at the 1989 Soul Train Awards, a ceremony recognising the best in soul, R&B and hip-hop music. Houston addressed this incredibly awkward moment in a 1991 interview on The Arsenio Hall Show, saying: “I think that I’ve got a lot of flak about ‘I sing too white’ or ‘I sing… white’ or something like that.” She added defiantly: “I do sing the way God intended for me to sing and I’m using what he gave me and I’m using it to the best of my ability.”
Nicknamed ‘The Voice’, Houston is one of the bestselling music artists of all time (Credit: Getty Images)
For the most part, these criticisms ebbed away in subsequent decades as the full scale of her impact became clear. After Houston’s death in February 2012, Beyoncé posted a poignant tribute to the artist who had long inspired her. “I, like every singer, always wanted to be just like her. Her voice was perfect. Strong but soothing. Soulful and classic,” she wrote. “She is our queen and she opened doors and provided a blueprint for all of us.” At the previous year’s Grammy Awards, Lady Gaga namechecked Houston when she collected the Best Pop Vocal Album trophy. “I need to say thank you tonight to Whitney Houston,” Gaga said. “I wanted to thank Whitney because when I wrote Born This Way, I imagined she was singing it – because I wasn’t secure enough in myself to imagine I was a superstar.”
More than a decade after her death, Houston’s place in music history is assured. In December, Bafta-winning actress Naomi Ackie will portray her in I Wanna Dance with Somebody, a glossy Hollywood biopic in the mould of Elton John’s Rocketman and Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. But at the same time, the type of powerhouse singing that she exemplified with I Will Always Love You has rather fallen out of fashion. “The definition of ‘singer’ has become broader,” says David Grant. “For a while, if you couldn’t sing as high or riff as fast as Whitney or Mariah, you didn’t qualify for the title of ‘great singer’. But vocal styles go in cycles, and in this cycle singers are more likely to sound like Rihanna or Amy Winehouse.”
Carrie Grant argues that the growing popularity of Auto-Tune, a production tool that corrects minor imperfections in vocal pitch, means that having “great tonal quality” is no longer a prerequisite for singers hoping to climb the charts. She also points out that bombastic power ballads like I Will Always Love You are no longer in vogue. “Few songs written now have those ‘money moments’ in them, so big voices aren’t required,” she says. “Torch singers do still exist – Adele, for example – but the sound isn’t required to be as smooth or technically perfect.”
Still, there’s no doubt that Houston’s work on hits including I Will Always Love You remains inspirational. “She raised the bar for all female vocalists with her use of range and dynamics,” says Dami Im. “She’s shown me that vocally you can be both so delicate and gentle and also extremely powerful when you need to be.” It’s fair to say that 30 years after its release, Houston’s rendition of I Will Always Love You remains the Olympic gold standard of performances.
Meanwhile, Jeremie Frimpong who is on the radar of the Ghana FA has made the list for the mundial, there is no chance for the Bayer Leverkusen defender to play for the Black Stars.
The Dutch national team named Jeremie Frimpong, Memphis Depay, and Cody Gakpo are in their 26-man squad for the tournament scheduled to commence in November.
However, Ajax forward Brian Brobbey, who is also of Ghanaian descent, did not make coach Louis van Gaal’s squad announcement on Friday.
Frimpong has five goals in 18 appearances across all competitions, mostly as a right-back but also as a right-wing-back.
Cody Gakpo, who is a son of a Ghanaian father, has been more than impressive this season. The PSV striker has scored 13 goals with 14 assists in 18 matches in total.
Barcelona star Memphis Depay is expected to lead the attack for the Dutch side despite having less playing time this season.
Rapper YNW Melly could be facing the deathpenalty if convicted after a Florida Appeals court ruled a judge’s decision in his murder case was incorrect.
Per Billboard, Florida’s District Court of Appeal has overruled Judge Andrew Siegel’s decision to forbid prosecutors from seeking the death penalty. Siegel made the ruling in July, and said prosecutors had violated state rules when they failed to give Melly and his attorneys the appropriate notice they planned to seek capital punishment. Florida’s District Court of Appeal, however, said prosecutors complied with state rules because they gave notice when they charged Melly in 2019.
If convicted in his upcoming trial, Melly could be sentenced to death. The decision won’t be reached until the Florida Supreme Court rules on the case.
When reached for comment, the Broward State Attorney’s Office told Complex they do not comment on pending cases.
Lamptey, who recently switched allegiance to represent the Black Stars has excelled since joining Brighton and Hove Albion from Chelsea.
According to reports in the English media, the Gunners have expressed interest in the right-back and are ready to meet the 35 Million Pounds price tag.
The 2006 UEFA Champions League finalists are in search of a right-back who can provide competition in the team.
It is said Mikel Arteta is a huge admirer of the Ghanaian defender and could make a move for the player in the January window.
Lamptey was on target in midweek as Brighton eliminated Arsenal and this has further ignited Arteta’s desire to have him.
The arrears, accumulated between 2021 and this year, stood at US$900million as at last May but have now risen to US$996million at the end of September 2022 due to ECG’s inability to fully pay for the power it buys from generation firms.
The debt had dropped significantly to about US$400million at a certain point last year, but has jumped close to the billion-dollar mark.
Meanwhile, between January and September this year the amount due the IPPs was US$1.5billion – of which only US$545million has been paid.
The Chamber of Independent Power Producers, Distributors and Bulk Consumers (CIPDiB), a mouthpiece for the IPPs, had earlier this year lamented that the situation was causing IPPs to record huge forex and interest losses.
“The problem is that looking at the cedi’s free-fall and the time of our reconversion to pay our suppliers or lenders, we end up making a lot of forex losses,” its Chief Executive Officer, Elikplim Kwabla Apetorgbor, told the B&FT.
State-owned ECG, the country’s main power utility, buys electricity from IPPs and others and distributes to consumers in southern parts of the country.
However, due to weak revenue collection, the ECG is in some cases unable to pay for as much as half the power it buys from generation companies like IPPs and state-owned Volta River Authority, leading to a build-up in arrears.
For instance, its annual losses – technical and systemic – are about 30 percent of its revenue: far above the regulator’s allowable loss margin of 23 percent.
As a result, the company loses around GH¢3.2billion yearly, according to Minister of Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh.
If not addressed, it is feared that the arrears could pile up to unsustainable levels.
Appiah Kubi, a cold store operator at Dormaa-Ahenkro, has appealed to the government to restrict and eliminate black market currency operators to prevent the hoarding of foreign currencies.
That, he said, would determine the correct identities of individual operators, to curb speculative foreign currency buying, contributing to the weakening of the cedi.
The businessman observed that the rising cost of items in the market resulted from artificial inflation created by some unpatriotic, inconsiderate, avaricious traders because of their calculated, uncontrolled price hikes.
Mr Kubi made the appeal speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Dormaa-Ahenkro, Dormaa Central Municipality of Region about the rippling effects of fuel price hikes, inflation and depreciation of the cedi, which according to him were eroding the purchasing power of customers and consumers nationwide.
In related interviews with the GNA, other business owners and traders lamented the current economic situation had caused the increasing operational costs of their businesses.
Maame Yaa Kyeremaa, the second-hand clothes dealer, described the situation as “frustrating and deeply worrying.
She said: “Because I wake up each day expecting to hear the announcement of new lorry fares and inflation rates”.
Osofo Ameyaw Kwakye, an importer, also appealed to the government to introduce right interventions and measures to address “this harsh economic reality”.
He pleaded with Ghanaians too to be patriotic enough to consider public interest first by stopping inflating prices of their goods and services which had not been directed by government and regulatory agencies.
Construction of the Obama Presidential Center came to a halt this week after a noose was reportedly discovered at the $830 million worksite.
Lakeside Alliance, a coalition of Black-owned construction firms overseeing the project, confirmed the news in a statement Thursday, shortly after the noose was found. The group told outlets it was suspending operations indefinitely so it could hold additional anti-bias training for its workers.
“We reported the incident to the police and will provide any assistance required to identify those responsible,” Lakeside Alliance said in a statement to the Chicago Tribune. “We have zero tolerance for any form of bias or hate on our worksite. Anti-bias training is included in our onboarding process and reiterated during sitewide meetings. We are suspending all operations on-site in order to provide another series of these trainings and conversations for all staff and workers.”
Lakeside Alliance is also offering a $100,000 reward for information that helps find the culprit(s).
“Our priority is protecting the health and safety of our workforce,” the group added. “We have notified authorities who are investigating the incident.”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker addressed the incident via Twitter on Thursday, saying “hate has no place in Illinois.”
“The noose is more than a symbol of racism, it is a heart-stopping reminder of the violence and terror inflicted on Black Americans for centuries,” he tweeted. “I condemn this act of hate in the strongest possible terms, and the state of Illinois will make all needed resources available to help catch the perpetrators.”
Hate has no place in Illinois. The noose is more than a symbol of racism, it is a heart-stopping reminder of the violence and terror inflicted on Black Americans for centuries. https://t.co/YQU0h1UEc8
I condemn this act of hate in the strongest possible terms, and the state of Illinois will make all needed resources available to help catch the perpetrators.
The center is being built in Chicago’s Jackson Park and will celebrate the legacy of the nation’s first Black president.
It will reportedly include a museum, two-story public meeting space, a library, and an athletic center. The 19.3-acre campus will be free and open to the public.
According to him, the figures change when the Minister is asked to present to international bodies such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
He made the comments during a debate on the floor of parliament on a vote of censure against the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.
He said: “In 2018 he reported to this house that the fiscal deficit was 3.9% of GDP when he had to report to the World Bank the actual was 7.1% of GDP
In 2019, he reported that the fiscal deficit was 4.8% when the actual to be reported to the International Monetary Fund the actual was 7.1% to GDP
In 2022, he reported that the fiscal deficit was 11.7% of GDP when the actual was 17.2 %. In 2021 he reported 9.2% when the actual was 12.4%.”
“What are we waiting for, from this Minister before we will now believe the time has come for him to exit? I am reliably informed that he is part of the impediment that is not making us conclude the negotiations with the IMF,” he said.
On November 10, 2022, the NPP side of parliament boycotted the vote of censure to remove Ofori-Atta.
The Speaker of Parliament, therefore, instituted an ad-hoc committee to probe the Finance Minister, after which their report will be presented to parliament for further debate.
Increasing transport fares has reduced the rate at which people used to travel from Bolgatanga, the regional capital of the Upper East Region to other places.
According to drivers in the Municipality, there had been a drastic reduction in the patronage of their services as it took a long time for vehicles to get enough passengers for a trip, from the various lorry stations on daily basis due to the increase in fares.
Mr Abomooh Francis Akanboe Yazieh, the Secretary of the Needle and Thread Transport Limited (N&T Transport), speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency said the effect of the high cost of fuel and low patronage of the services of drivers was so dire that some had practically folded up.
“The reality on the ground is that drivers are experiencing the worse times because some cars have been here for 24 hours and are still in the queue just to get passengers to Tamale and loading back is not assured because yesterday, we loaded only ten cars and only five were able to return with passengers and the others slept in Tamale.”
“It is very unusual, because in time past when fuel prices were manageable, we could load about 25 cars and even sometimes rely on other stations for cars but now, our drivers don’t get to load and some have practically folded up because they waste fuel and come here, only to be stranded,’’ he added
He said the fare for six-seater capacity vehicles moving from Bolgatanga to Tamale was presently GH¢80.00 while 12-seater capacity vehicles charged GH₵65.00 as against the previous fares of GH₵55.00 and GH₵45.00, respectively.
Mr Amadu R. Mohammed, alias Chukse, a driver at the Station said the inability of the government to reduce fuel prices would worsen their plight and negatively impact those who depended on them.
“We are much worried as drivers because it is not in our interest to make things difficult for our passengers because we survive on their patronage of our vehicles, but this has been the case.
‘’Our children and parents depend on us, so imagine if we come here and return home with empty hands,” he added.
The story at the Bawku lorry station was not different as vehicles were stationed without passengers. cheetah
Mr Mba Ambrose, a driver at the station said traders preferred to have agents at the markets in Bawku, Tamale, Kumasi, and Accra, who purchase their goods for them and that had relatively reduced the number of people who travelled to and from Bolgatanga each day.
The fare from Bolgatanga to Bawku presently ranges from GH₵35.00 to GH₵40. 00 as against the previous GH₵25.00 or GH₵30.00, depending on the type of vehicle.
At the State Transport Corporation (STC), fares from Bolgatanga to Accra, Kumasi and Techiman are Gh¢275, GH¢197, and GH¢ 140respectively, an increase from GH¢ 250.00, GH¢170 and GH¢110.00 respectively, in one week.
At the OA bus station, there was an increase of Gh¢ 20.00 on all the fares of the various buses, the Executive bus fares from Bolgatanga to Kumasi is GH¢200.00, Accra GH¢ 300.00 and Techiman, GH¢ 170.00 while the standard buses charged Gh¢ 240.00, GH¢170.00 and GH¢150.00 to Accra, Kumasi and Techiman, respectively.
A visit to some fuel pumps in Bolgatanga Township by the Ghana News Agency revealed that Petrol was sold at GH₵17.99 and Diesel at GH₵23.49 per litre by GOIL and NASONA oils while at the NAAGAMNI oil, petro was sold at GH₵17.80 and Diesel at GH₵22.99 per litre.
In a speech read on his behalf at the 19th Ashanti Business Excellence Awards by Sewuahene, Nana Kwaku Sarkodie, the Asantehene expressed worry over the depreciation of the local currency against other foreign trading currencies.
He urged the central bank to implement measures to bring predictability to Ghana`s export and import trade, as well as other international financial transactions.
“I will like to make reference to the unsettling turbulence which has characterized Ghana’s foreign currency market, Since the beginning of the year, there has been an astronomical depreciation of the cedi against Ghana’s major foreign currencies, particularly the US Dollar.
I have no doubt that the Bank of Ghana is doing its best to remedy the situation, but the central bank is doing its best to remedy the situation, but I must urge the central bank to urgently take all the requisite steps within its competence to return the foreign market to stability, in order to bring predictability to Ghana`s export and import trade, as well as other international financial transactions”, he said.
The cedi ended last week with a marginal appreciation, but the cedi has depreciated again to GH¢14.20 to one dollar which is the average quote by the forex bureaus.
According to the Bank of Ghana, however, the local currency is selling at GH¢13.014 on the interbank market. The cedi is also going for ¢15.60 and GH¢13.60 to one pound and one euro respectively.
The free fall of the cedi coupled with the recent economic crisis in the country has triggered calls for immediate measures to be implemented by the government to resolve the situation.
President Akufo Addo in his address on Sunday, October 30, announced some measures the government intends to put in place to address the fall of the cedi and the current economic crisis.
He explained Managing Directors are handicapped from the word go, affecting their output. To him, even Jesus Christ will be sacked after being in office for a year over non-performance.
In his eleven (11) years at the company, Mr. Asante has seen four (4) Managing Directors come and go, a development many consider unhealthy and bad for business.
“Changing Managing Directors (MD) is not our priority and the solution to the problems we face as a company. If we constantly change MDs then we are not addressing the issue. The real issue is for us to get more buses. The problem is about buses and as a company we need to be focused and work on increasing our fleet,” he told Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show.
The project took off in 2003 with over 1,024 buses creating direct employment for 4,000 Ghanaians. The Metro Mass in its hay days raked in huge profits and eased transport needs of citizens, but presently, they company is failing to make profit. They now have only 187 operational buses and a staff strength of 2,016.
With the company charging 50 percent less of fares charged by transport companies in Ghana, pricing considered non competitive, demand for them have soared because of the current economic situation in Ghana.
With the country’s inflation rate over 40.4% and high fuel prices affecting transport fares, most Ghanaians prefer to travel in Metro Mass buses but the company is unable to meet demand as it has very few cars in their fleet.
The Tema Shipyard Limited Local Union of the National Union of Seamen, Ports and Allied Workers (NUSPAW) of TUC has cautioned the host of TV3 morning, Johnny Hughes and the entire production team to desist from churning out false information to the general public regarding the ongoing restructuring and capital injection at the Tema Shipyard.
According to the Union, Jonny Hughes and his entire production crew will do TV3 and its viewing public good if they seek for the right information before going on air.
In a rejoinder sent to TV 3 and the host of its JonniesBite show, Johnny Hughes, ostensibly in response to misrepresentation of facts churned out by the broadcaster, the Union said they together with management went through all the processes outlined in the Labour Act (Act 651, 2002) and subsequent procedures before implementing the ongoing labour restructuring and capital injection exercise.
Again, it is palpably false and ill-intentioned for Jonny Hughes to create the impression that the Minister for Transport, Hon. Ofori Asiamah has shown no concern and taken any intervention to save the dying company from total collapse. Rather it was the minister who has been at the forefront of reviving the Tema Shipyard, noted the Union.
The rejoinder dated November 8, 2022, was jointly signed by Samuel Attram, Chairman, JSU of NUSPAW, Isaac Kluvia, Chairman, SSU of NUSPAW, Patrick K. Attikey, Chairman, JSU of MDU and Mustapha Alhassan, Chairman, JSU of MDU.
Minister’s Intervention
“If you care to know, the downward trend of PSC Tema Shipyard dates back to 2010 when Government of Ghana through GPHA bought the Malaysians shares from the Malaysians. The Government in 2016 handed over management of Shipyard to GHPA to look for a strategic investor to bring the Shipyard standard. Workers of Tema Shipyard have been calling for a strategic investor to revamp the ailing Shipyard since the departure of the Malaysians. Government of Ghana since 2010 have tried to satisfy the expectations of the workers but to no avail. It will interest you one more time to know that under the leadership of the Sector Minister, Hon. Asiamah, Shipyard workers were paid from government resources for a period of 11 months which, we, as workers are most grateful to him”.
They added, “The Minister, during a certain period where the yard has been without vessels for about four months, the Minister single handedly secured vessels to the Shipyard for repairs to keep the Shipyard moving. The video you showed on your program which captured the Minister assuring workers that nobody will lose his job was a video which date way back in 2017 when the Minister first visited the yard to acquaint himself with the operations of the Shipyard. You unfortunately presented the video as if it is a recent video directly linked with the ongoing restructuring exercise. It is our view that you have not been fair to the Hon. Minister.”
According to the Union, the ailing shipyard has gone through a lot of new developments and assured that Hon. Asiamah is up to the task of ensuring that the Tema Shipyard is revived, made competitive and profitable.
“Majority of workers in Tema Shipyard are in support of the restructuring exercise currently underway. We would have been very happy if you got in touch with the leadership of the Union before you did a program on this subject. Why didn’t you highlight the issues of shipyard during those trying moments when the yard was almost on its knees operating outmoded and dilapidated equipment that make the shipyard uncompetitive?”
TUC aware of Restructuring Exercise
Explaining further, the Union said the ongoing labour restructuring exercise has received the blessings of the Secretary General of the TUC, Dr. Yaw Baah.
“Dr. Yaw Baah has held meetings with the Sector Minister and the CEO regarding this very restructuring exercise. In fact, the TUC Secretary General is the one who authorized the CEO to go to the Chief Labour Officer for permission to carry out the exercise. The exercise at the moment has been and also going to be a major benefit to most of the workers. The TUC Secretary General delegated representatives to the Negotiation Team in the persons of Dr. Ebenezer Nyarko Otto, Sister Rose Kwei and Sister Miriam Atuguba who represented him during the process. This can be proved with the attendance list”, the jointed signed rejoinder in part read.
Capital Injection
If further added, “We will kike to inform you that, without capital injection as well as new modern technology, it will be extremely difficult for the shipyard to survive the competition in the industry in the sub-region. As a result of this, the current restructuring exercise cannot be over emphasized. After the exercise and with private capital injection, the yard has the potential of tripling the current labour strength”.
In the view of the Union, shipyards in countries like Cote D’Ivoire, Senegal, and Equatorial Guinea are doing very well than the Tema Shipyard because of the nature of their labour setup. It is therefore the vision of the CEO of the Tema Shipyard, Dr. Alexander Adusei and the Sector Minister, Hon. Asiamah, to operate a similar shipyard model as mentioned in the countries highlighted with the aim of tripling the current labour force when the yard is operating efficiently with private capital injection.
Minister for Finance Ken Ofori-Attawill present the 2023 budget on November 24, according to the Business statement for Parliament presented to Members of Parliament.
Speaking on the floor of the House on Friday, Deputy Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin said the change in the initial date thus November 15, the change is due to “unforeseen development.”
“Very many unforeseen developments, The Minister responsible for Finance on the authority of the President of the Republic, is scheduled to present the budget statement for the year ending 31st December 2023 in accordance to Article 179 on the 1992 Constitution on Thursday the 24th of November 2022,” he said.
The budget will be presented during a time of uncertainties as a vote of censure hangs around the neck of the Minister.
The Majority of NPP MPs have also served notice they do not want Ken Ofori-Atta to present the budget.
According to Mr Afenyo-Markin, there would be a post-budget workshop in the Volta Region from Friday, November 25 to November 28, for the MPs to be educated on the budget.
But the Deputy Minister for Fisheries, Moses Anim says amidst calls for government to cut down its expenditure, Parliament must also be seen to be cutting down expenditure in these times of economic crisis.
For this reason, he proposed for the post-workshop should be held in Accra in Parliament and not some hotel outside Accra.
“Mr Speaker, … we should have the post-budget workshop here in this Chamber so that Parliament will also be seen to be advancing the calls of cutting down of expenditure,” he said.
Since capturing mainstream notice in 2004 with his brilliant debut Aso, the artist’s career and penmanship have charted passion and pain, often unfurling via a calmly vocal flair that expedites love and carnal behaviour, or social takes that summon soul searching, cementing his utility as a prolific and limitless composer whose periodic artistic revival has ensured his residence in the hearts of listeners in his home country and beyond.
Today, with decades of significant critical success under his belt, he also boasts a unique perspective at the nexus of two musical generations — the 70s constituency that inspired him, and a contemporary cohort that continues to feed African pop.
His sixth studio album Fa Me Saa and follow-up to 2017’s Ahyesi, is powered by rigorous experimentation that involves retooling and updating inherited compositions, recycling some of the most beloved moments across Ghanaian and western pop.
A dynamic 14-tracker, the collection starts out submitting to archetypal sounds, and expands to incorporate on-trend pulses such as Afrobeats and amapiano, as well as boom-bap rap and R&B. The LP’s harbingers, namely ‘Kwadede’, ‘Fingers’, ‘Afraid to Lose You’, ‘Sweetie’, and the Shatta Wale-assisted ‘Kokonsa’ trundle a potpourri of sonic persuasions achieved by masterful unpacking of complex historical melodic traditions to orchestrating unlikely genre fusions to prove their intertextuality.
These innovations carry on into the rest of the project and, often facilitated by folksy guitar jangling, resonant horns and thumping drums, provide a bedrock for distilling a carousel of themes and emotions. The album’s title track, for instance, is a personal essay on self-assurance, faith and resolve.
Like the Twi phrase it derives its name from, it ultimately finds its author entreating listeners to “take me as I am”. Co-conspired by producer and longtime collaborator Kwame Yeboah, the song also whirls between rhythms, ensuring an interesting and rewarding aural excursion.
Songs like ‘Sweetie’, ‘Awero’, ‘Regina’, ‘50/ 50’ and ‘Ride Or Die’ (which samples late highlife great Alhaji K. Frimpong’s classic ‘Kyenkyen Bi Adi Mawu’) allude to love; whether their author is mooning over a romantic interest or stressing his devoutness to chivalry, while offerings like ‘Focus’ bring life’s most important perspectives into sharp focus.
“When gratitude becomes essential in our lives/ blessings go follow us everywhere”, a line from that last song goes. Elsewhere on the tune, Kwabenas Kwabena sermonises: “If you focus on the hurt, you’ll continue to suffer/ if you focus on the lesson, you continue to grow.”
‘Kokonsa’ addresses detractors, while the nostalgia-inducing ‘Yempie’, which translates as “let’s go out”, soundtracks nightlife in the capital.
Kwabena Kwabena is a polyglot, hence, the album flows across multiple tongues; but his linguistic genius finds its best expression in his native Twi, which sees him fashion out innuendos that intrigue even the most conservative ears. This impish poetic technique has also become his signature, for which reason even the lewdest lines, such as are heard on ‘Minpina’, ‘Fa Me Saa’ and ‘Fingers’, drive party pleasures.
Fa Me Saa also arrives as his most collaborative effort to date, embracing a colourful assortment of an older stock and new-generation voices from Shatta Wale, D-Black and Trigmatic, to KiDi, Sefa, Adina, Yaw Tog, Quamina MP and Tulenkey. This is all tied together by contemporary production that ensures its proneness to the replay button.
Its exploratory intentions aside, Fa Me Saa highlights Kwabena Kwabena’s cultural relevance and exquisite talent for working out the junction between Ghana’s old and present sounds, gleaning profound musical capsules that blur time and space.
Fa Me Saa is available on 11 November, via KBKB/ ONErpm.
The main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) is asking suffering Ghanaians to blame the myriad of economic hardships on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and not the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta.
The National Communications Officer of NDC, Sammy Gyamfi, reminded Ghanaians to lay the blame on the president and not his debilitating finance minister while reacting to calls for the removal of the minister.
He spoke on Accra 100.5 FM’s mid-day news on Wednesday, November 9, 2022.
He explained that the finance minister is not the appropriate person to blame for the current economic hardships Ghanaians are experiencing under the watch of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) administration.
“The financé minister could not have taken many of the decisions in running the country’s economy without the approval of the president,” he said.
He was categorical to say that Ghana’s major problem is the president.
He argued strongly that it is the president that had a social contract with the people of Ghana and not the finance minister.
“It is the president who has breached the social contract he had with Ghanaians and not the finance minister,” he said.
“In 2016 at the time inflation was high during the NDC’s administration as compared to what is pertaining under the watch of the current president was low.
“He then had the guts to ask the then-president to resign.
“So, he should also do the honourable thing by resigning,” Mr Gyamfi stressed.
He noted that the president is in control but not in charge because he is blinded by greed and selfish interest.
The country is at a crossroads because of the failure of the president to assert his authority, he again said.
Thousands of lotto writers have expressed their displeasure about the National Lottery Authority‘s (NLA) directive for a new 20 per cent commission to be enforced.
The angry lotto writers are wondering how the commission could be reduced especially at this time of economic hardship.
They expressed their frustration during a stakeholders’ meeting with the Ghana Lotto Operators Association (GLOA) and the Concerned Lotto Agents Association of Ghana (CLAAG).
The emergency meeting was on sensitisation and the mode of enforcement for the 20 per cent commission for Writers as directed by the NLA.
Some of the lotto writers were clad in red and holding placards that read: “We don’t want any 20% but 40% instead; Sammy Awuku must go; Leave Banker to Banker alone; 20% of what? We no go gre; Chop chop money keke, Sammy Awuku,” among others.
Some chanted “We want 40%,” and added that, “if you can’t increase the commission then nobody should reduce it.”
The Executive Secretary of the Concerned Lotto Agents Association of Ghana, Mr Tawiah Duah, reading a statement said: “It has become necessary to convene a meeting between Ghana Lotto Operators Association (GLOA), Private Lotto Operators (PLO), Concerned Lotto Agents Association of Ghana (CLAAG) and Lotto Writers because about a week ago, an announcement was made by GLOA and PLO in the media that effective that day [31 October, 2022], commissions paid to lotto writers were reduced from 30 per cent to 20 per cent. That meant a whopping 10 per cent reduction in their income levels.
“This announcement was implemented and was met by agitated writers given the already existing hardship in the economy.
“This situation has therefore resulted in several incidence of near altercations between lotto writers and their respective agents.
“This coupled with numerous outpouring of angered Writers expressing themselves through voice calls, WhatsApp and SMS messages to our offices and Executive Officers demanding for sustained nationwide demonstrations against the reduction until such a time that it will be reversed.
GLOA, PLO and CLAAG have therefore convened this important meeting to calm the nerves of Lotto Writers as CLAAG has already written to the National Lottery Authority (NLA) to register its grievances [concerning] the reduction in commissions.
“It is our hope to seek [an] amicable solution to the problem at hand, of course with the active participation of GLOA.
“If, however, by Friday, 11 November 2022, the matter has not been resolved, CLAAG will again invite its members to reconvene and decide on its next line of action.”
All the members of the Ghana Lotto Operators Association (GLOA) were present to listen to the concerns of the Lotto Agents and the Lotto Writers.
The Chairman of GLOA, Noah Afonope assured the lotto agents and operators to rest assured and believe that something good will come out of their meeting with the NLA.
A former Director of the Minerals Commission, Richard Kofi Afenu, says he disagrees with calls for the government to ban small-scale mining in the country.
According to him, banning small-scale mining is not the answer to illegal mining otherwise known as galamsey.
“I do not think a ban on small-scale mining would yield the desired result of fighting illegal mining. In 2017, a ban was imposed on mining. The question is, were are we able to root out illegal mining?”
He argues that the astronomical increase in gold production when a ban on mining was imposed in 2018, was enough evidence that a new ban will not yield the required results but will only make room for illegal mining to prevail.
Speaking to Citi News, Mr. Afenu wants the government to provide lasting solutions, including the stringent enforcement of laws that govern mining in the country.
“We need to look at the drivers, and what is causing illegal mining in the country. Let’s tackle the root cause. Let us see the powers that are backing the illegal miners”.
Already, analysts have warned Ghana risks being food and water insecure as the activities of illegal miners continue to destroy water bodies and ravage farmlands.
Religious groups, Civil Society Groups such as Green Advocate Ghana among others have called on the government to ban small-scale mining in the country.
These groups posit that both illegal and legal small-scale mining had destroyed biodiversity, hence the need for its restoration.
According to Haruna Iddrisu, the only cause of Ghana’s economic challenges is Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta whose unbridled borrowing has led the country to this economic crisis.
“We are told that he did well and that we are told that we should blame COVID and Ukraine. Did we borrow to support Ukraine? You didn’t borrow to support Ukraine.
“And you want us to accept your reckless and irresponsible borrowing which has led us to where we are,” he said on the floor of Parliament while moving a vote of censure motion for the removal of Ofori-Atta.
Haruna Iddrisu, who is the Member of Parliament for Tamale South, said that the finance minister has borrowed so much that the country must restructure its debts in order to survive.
He intimated that Ghanaians should ignore the assurance given to them by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo that they will not lose parts of their investment in government bonds and other investment portfolios because of the ongoing economic crisis.
“You are in a ditch. Mr. Speaker the Ghanaian economy is a ditch. Accept it or not, we may have to restructure our debt in order to sustain this economy in the next two, three years.
“I heard the president, Mr. Speaker, in the address to the nation say that there will be no haircut. There will be and there will be a barber of a sort, that barber may be ‘sika mpɛ dede’,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has referred a vote of censure motion filed by the Minority for the removal of Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, to an 8-member ad hoc committee
The committee is expected to make a determination on the removal of Ofori-Atta within 7 days.
The speaker announced that the committee will be chaired by Member of Parliament (MP) for Adansi Asokwa, Kobina Tahir (K.T.) Hammond and the MP for Bolgatanga Dominic Akuritinga Ayine.
Alban Bagbin added that the determination of Ofori-Atta’s removal will be made in consultation with the leadership of the House.
The other Members of the committee from the minority caucus include the MP for North Tongu; Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa; MP for Korle Klottey, Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings; and MP for Akatsi South, Bernard Ahiafor.
The committee members from the majority caucus are MP for Okaikwei Central, Patrick Yaw Boamah; MP for Asante-Akim Central, Michael Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi; and MP for Sekondi, Andrew Kofi Agyapa Mercer.
Renowned global Afrobeats star, Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, better known as Wizkid is set to stage his first-ever headline concert in Accra this December.
Owing to a streak of major achievements and hit releases throughout his career and especially in 2022, Nigeria’s finest Afrobeat sensation is about to pull off an epic concert in Ghana on December 10.
Big Wiz is set to make another major statement at the 40,000 seater Accra Sports Stadium right after his November 16th concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden and November 24th gig at the Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Patrons are expecting an exclusive treat as the event will see the multiple award-winning act give a first-ever live performance of songs from his new album; “More Love Less Ego”.
It would be his debut performance of the new album in Africa.
Owing to a streak of major achievements and hit releases throughout his career and especially in 2022, Nigeria’s finest Afrobeat sensation is about to pull off an epic concert in Ghana on December 10.
Big Wiz is set to make another major statement at the 40,000 seater Accra Sports Stadium right after his November 16th concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden and November 24th gig at the Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Patrons are expecting an exclusive treat as the event will see the multiple award-winning act give a first-ever live performance of songs from his new album; “More Love Less Ego”.
It would be his debut performance of the new album in Africa.
Three naturopathic associations in Ghana; Ghana Naturopathic Medical Association; Naturopathic physicians of Ghana and Naturopathic physicians organisation, have signed a merger resolution.
The document which was signed on November 8, has now unified the organisations into a body known as the Ghana Association of Naturopaths, a professional body of naturopaths and Naturopathic Doctors to help develop and promote modern naturopathy.
The meeting was chaired by Dr. Albert Nana-Arthur, the acting President of the Ghana Association of Alternative Medicine practitioners.
Dr. Nana-Arthur, was happy that the meeting was held successfully and called on other alternative medicine associations to also merge to help unify the profession.
Prof. Raphael Nyarkotey Obu, in his part, said, this is a new era of promoting modern naturopathy and the merger is a great sign of good things to happen in the naturopathic profession in Ghana.
He emphasised that standardisation is very important in any profession and this merger presents a platform to discuss national standards in naturopathy to meet the global standards as advocated by the World naturopathic federation, Canada.
He further said the new association will be sent to the world naturopathic federation for acceptance as a member at the global.
Afro-fusion singer Jacqueline Acheampong, known professionally as Gyakie, says her expectations have been met in the release of her EP “My Diary”.
She is excited her fans have not been disappointed in the sound that came out and still feels they are not done consuming the music yet per the response from social media.
“I never saw myself to be this big if I was asked four or five years ago,” Gyakie told DJ Reuben in an interview on Luv FM’s Drivetime show in Kumasi.
“To be very honest I never had that confidence in myself, I didn’t know my voice was this unique. I had to get people to tell me,” she said.
The responses she got from her fans made her realize she needed to be confident in herself and that has enhanced her career growth.
There are times she cries, complains, feels tired and even wants to stop the music.
“First of all, I have a soft side and there have been times when everything just feels too much for you as a person. Immediately you come into the camera and show yourself to the world, people see you as a machine and don’t see you as a human with emotions so they just say things and don’t imagine how the person is going to feel about it,” Gyakie said.
The ‘Forever’ hitmaker revealed every member of her team is very religious and she is very grateful to God for that.
“One thing we don’t joke with is fasting and prayers to be very honest with you. Most of the songs that come out, we do fast and pray before we make it available on all streaming platforms for people to consume, and obviously, there’s a lot of groundwork that is done to push whatever song that is coming out,” she stated.
Gyakie mentioned the Global Citizen Festival 2022 at the Black Star Square as the biggest platform she has mounted so far.
“I was nervous at the beginning but when I saw the people were excited to see me then I said to myself we are in for the fun and it made me so happy till the end of my performance and the entire show,” she shared the experience.
The event was headlined by American R&B artist Usher and SZA.
The ‘Live Experience with Gyakie’ concert is slated for this December.
She is also billed to perform at the Afronation and Afrochella concerts.
Grandmaster Jay, the leader of a Black pro-gun activist group, will spend the rest of the decade behind bars.
The 59-year-old Cincinnati man—legal name John Fitzgerald Johnson—was sentenced to 86 months in prison this week for his actions during a 2020 protest in Kentucky. Johnson, who founded the Not Fucking Around Coalition, was accused of pointing an AR-15 rifle at two federally deputized officers in downtown Louisville, as he and other demonstrators took to the streets demanding justice for Breonna Taylor.
According to local outlets, the NFAC and other participating groups chose to conduct the protests on Kentucky Derby Day, arguing the event should’ve been canceled because authorities had yet to file criminal charges in connection to Taylor’s death. The 26-year-old Black woman was killed in March 2020 during a botched raid on her Louisville apartment.
Back in May, a federal jury convicted Johnson on one count of “assaulting, resisting or impeding” law enforcement, and one count of “brandishing a firearm in relation to a crime of violence.” The 86-month sentence was a little more than the minimum allowed under federal law. He was originally facing up to 27 years in federal prison.
According to the Enquirer, Johnson is ineligible for parole and will have three years of supervised release after completing his seven-year prison sentence.
Johnson spoke to Complex last year about NFAC’s mission, which included “the establishment of an infrastructure that can assist in being the framework for community, self-policing, and the protection of our own communities and our race.”
“We live in a world where racism is appearing to rear its ugly head again the way it did back in the Jim Crow days,” the Army veteran explained. “We didn’t create that. It recreated itself. So it proved to be fertile ground for the creation of the NFAC, the same way it was fertile ground in the ’60s to create the Black Panthers.”
A Thai woman was arrested this month after she filmed herself devouring a bowl of bat soup.
According to the Daily Mail, Phonchanok Srisunaklua posted the video to her YouTube channel titled “Gin Zap Bep Nua Nua,” which the outlet says translates to “eat spicy and delicious” in English. The one-minute and 40-second clip shows the vlogger sitting in front of a dark-colored soup that contains cherry tomatoes and several Lesser Asiatic yellow bats. Srisunaklua proceeds to pick up one of the dead animals and rip it apart before dipping the meat into a sauce called Nim Jam.
She reportedly told viewers it was her first time eating a bat, and that she purchased the protected species from a market near the Laos border in northern Thailand. The teacher went on to describe the soup as “delicious,” and compared the texture to raw meat.
Pattaraphon Manee-on, the head of the wildlife health management group at the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, said he was “shocked” by the clip, as eating bats could pose serious health risks.
“Because the incident should not happen both in Thailand and around the world, it is very risky behavior, especially as bats have a lot of pathogens,” the veterinarian explained. “There is no proof that the hot water temperature will actually kill the germs. Just touching the saliva, blood, and the skin is considered a risk. Besides the concern about the disease in bats, this woman could be guilty of breaking the Preservation and Protection and Wildlife Act, B.E. 2019, because bats are protected animals.”
Shortly after the video went viral, Srisunaklua was arrested for “possession of protected wildlife carcasses” and “crimes violating the Computer Crimes Act.” Though she initially denied the accusations, Srisunaklua went on to post a video in which she apologized for her actions and vowed to never eat a bat again.
She is now facing a five-year jail sentence and a $13,800 fine.
According to him, all the songs in the seventh album will contain only gospel tracks to appreciate the goodness of God.
“My seventh album is going to be a seven-track gospel album. That’s what it’s going to be. My seventh album is all dedicated to my maker, and I’m going to make seven tracks for my seventh album. All gospel or inspirational songs,” he stated in an interview on Prime Morning, Wednesday, November 9.
Known for making love hits, the “Tokro” hit maker believes love is deemed the ultimate gift on earth; hence, the reason for writing love songs.
“It’s not like a title, but I’ve got so much love to give because I believe that this world and everything going on around it and everything that’s making the world suffer is due to lack of love for each other, for humanity, for the environment, or any other thing we found ourselves confronted with.
“Love is always the ultimate, because God is love,” he added.
Kwabena Kwabena, also known as “draftsman,” revealed his plans to enter the real estate business. The musician is currently training some upcoming musicians, whom he said will be outdoored in 2023.
He is set to release part of his sixth album on Friday, November 11, 2022 and the other in January, 2023.
A former Research Scientist with the Savannah Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Professor Roger Kanton, has described the plans by the Ministry for Food and Agriculture to cart food products from rural areas and sell at the Ministry in Accra as “bizarre”
“There is a whole organisation that is tasked with taking excess food from farmers, and that is the buffer stock. My question is how well they have functioned. They keep saying that there is enough food, then they should deploy people from buffer stock, why is he using his scanty resources as the technical ministry to wade into an area that they don’t have the competence… I find it to be a little bizarre,” Professor Rogen Kanton said
The Minister for Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, on Wednesday, 2nd November 2022 announced that the government will directly engage in transporting foodstuffs from farming communities to sell at controlled prices at the premises of the Agric Ministry.
According to Dr. Akoto, data acquired by the Ministry reveals significant pricing differences between rural and urban locations due to expenditures incurred along the value chain.
But in an interview with Citinews, Professor Kanton downplayed the feasibility of the move by the ministry, adding that the agriculture minister is starting a project that his government lacks expertise and resources to complete.
“I want you to ask him, is that the mandate of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture? Is there now going to be a constitutional shift in its mandate to now go into haulage, marketing, and food distribution,” Professor Kanton asked.
He added, “does he have the capacity moving food from rural areas to urban centres, ask the Minister if he is conversant and acquainted with the agricultural value chain. The agricultural value chain has a lot of actors or players, so you cannot leave your chain and act on somebody’s chain.”
It will take place at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel in Accra.
Blacko sees Mozama Disco as an art of life for the youth of Ghana and beyond the world.
It is expected to be a combination of various art forms with music and fashion at its heart.
The show will also reflect the diverse backgrounds making up the army of Blacko Tribe.
Mozama Disco is also intended to inculcate a spirit of adventure, cooperation, creation of excellence in the domain of art and culture and feelings of fraternity, patriotism, unity and brotherhood with a power-packed production and visual experience line up of professionals and artists for your pleasure.
Black Sherif released his much-anticipated album, The Villain I Never Was’ which is currently enjoying massive streams and good reviews across the digital stream platform spectrum
Efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions are on course as the World Bank is set to release up to fifty million United States dollars (US$50,000,000.00) to Ghana to fight carbon dioxide emissions.
Speaking at an event on Ghana’s Forest Solutions to Climate Change, Climate Change Manager of the World Bank, Mr. Erwin De Nys, noted that the payment is in exchange for a six million hectare area of the West African Guinean Forest being predicted to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about ten million tonnes by 2024.
The event was organised by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources at the ongoing twenty-seventh session of Conference of Parties (COP27) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, on Wednesday, November 9, 2022.
The gesture is to commend Ghana for being an important and active member of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility since its establishment in 2008.
Ghana is one of the first countries to transition to emission reduction programmes and results-based payments, according to Mr De Nys.
According to Mr. De Nys, the nation will soon receive US$4.8 million for over 970,000 tons of confirmed and documented emission reductions between June and December 2019.
He mentioned that the payment will be used to reward stakeholders in emission reduction, and boost confidence in Ghana’s REDD+ process.
In order to further cut emissions and achieve social inclusion, Mr. De Nys added that Ghana will also profit from the World Bank’s Enabling Access to Benefits while Lowering Emissions (EnABLE) programme.
On his part, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, urged strategic cooperation to close the financing gap for climate change.
He emphasised that the current financial sources are insufficient to address the scale of the issue, and because the $100 billion climate finance pledge made in Copenhagen was not met, there is an urgent need for stakeholders to collaborate in order to close the gap between ambition and action.
Mr. Jinapor called on governments and all actors to deliver action beyond pledges and declarations.
“We are at a stage in the climate struggle where mere talk, commitments, declarations, and/or pledges are not enough. Consistent with the clarion call of COP27, this is the time the world must “walk the talk” and get on with action and implementation of the many years of unfulfilled climate action promises,” the Minister said.
He said Ghana was committed to forest and nature-based solutions to climate change, which is evidenced by the over 547,000 hectares of degraded forests cultivated between 2017 and 2021, and the over thirty million trees planted under the Green Ghana Project, as well as the verified and validated emission reduction under the Ghana REDD+ Strategy.
He expressed his confidence in COP27, which has been termed action and implementation COP, to deliver real action towards limiting global warming to the one point five degrees Celsius (1.5ºC) target set out in the Paris Agreement.
The UNDP’s Principal Advisor on Climate and Forests, Tim Claris, who also spoke at the event, commended Ghana for its forest solutions to climate change and said the country deserves to be rewarded for actions being taken in the forestry sector.
Ghanaian reggae star, Blakk Rasta,popularly known for his outspokenness, has composed a song for Cameroonian President, Paul Biya, for the atrocities he is causing individuals of Cameroon.
As per the artiste, his song exposes the evil actions of the president who has been in power since 1982 while terrorising his citizens and keeping them in outright servitude.
He added that while Paul Biya remains the only president in history to rule his country from Switzerland, using his thugs to do his dirty work, he still fights to remain in power.
Before the ‘Barack Obama‘ artiste delivered his ‘Bwoy Biya’ melody on November 9, 2022, he had released ‘Daaro’ while delivering another single, ‘Fatima’.
While these melodies vary in tunes and beats, he seizes the opportunity to excite admirers of different music with some fervor.
Blakk Rasta, known officially as Abubakar Ahmed, is known for some of the controversial statements he makes when given the platform and is the host for ‘The Black Pot’.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, on Thursday, November 10 announced an ad hoc committee to probe allegations in a vote of censure motion against the embattled Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.
The 8-member ad hoc committee was constituted of Members of Parliament elected by the leadership of both sides of the House.
Their main task is to probe the seven allegations contained in the censure motion filed late last month by Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu, which motion is seeking the removal of Ofori-Atta from office.
The committee is expected to submit a report within 7 days.
The motion was duly admitted by Speaker Alban Bagbin and on November 10, the motion was moved by Haruna Iddrisu to trigger debate and a vote on the same.
Speaker Bagbin, however, in his interpretation of the rules the Minority relied on referred the issue to an 8-member ad hoc committee formed to probe the Minority’s claims against the Finance Minister.
The committee co-chaired by Dominic Ayine (NDC) and KT Hammond (NPP) is expected to present their report in seven days, following which the House will proceed with the censure process or otherwise.
Below are the seven points for which the Minority want Ofori-Atta censured:
a. Despicable conflict of interest ensuring that he directly benefits from Ghana’s economic woes as his companies receive commissions and other unethical contractual advantages, particularly from Ghana’s debt overhang
b. Unconstitutional withdrawals from the Consolidated Fund in blatant contravention of Article 178 of the 1992 Constitution, supposedly for the construction of the President’s Cathedral.
c. Illegal payment of oil revenues into offshore accounts, in flagrant violation of Article 176 of the 1992 Constitution.
d. Deliberate and dishonest misreporting of economic data to Parliament
e. Fiscal recklessness leading to the crash of the Ghana Cedi which is currently the worst-performing currency in the world
f. Alarming incompetence and frightening ineptitude, resulting in the collapse of the Ghanaian economy and an excruciating cost of living crisis
g. Gross mismanagement of the Ghanaian economy which has occasioned untold and unprecedented hardship
Ghana risks losing its long-standing title of being the second-largest producer of cocoa as some cocoa farmershave decided to give out their farmlands to illegal miners in exchange for money.
The unfortunate decision, according to these farmers, is as a result of the low monetary returns from their cocoa proceeds.
In an interview with an Accra-based media house, Citi TV, a cocoa farmer from Kwaebibirem in the Eastern Region lamented that the cost of farm inputs is affecting cocoa production, causing them to lose huge sums of money.
The farmer, in his native language, said, “we incur so much cost in farming and cultivating cocoa. The cost of cocoa can’t buy a gallon of oil. Why won’t farmers give out his/her farmland to galamseyers. Government has abandoned us so if galamseyers come to us for our lands we will give it out.”
Ghana’s key agricultural export, cocoa, is one of the cash crops raking in revenue for the country.
However, due to the activities of illegal miners and chemical residue that leaches into cocoa, state officials fear Ghana may not meet the requirement for exporting cocoa.
The Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, on October 4, 2022, that the European Union, through a legislative instrument, intends on banning cocoa exports from Ghana and some other African countries.
Despite pragmatic measures put in place by the Akufo-Addo government, illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, still continues.
The illegality robbing the country of its forestry is not only discolouring water bodies and making them unsafe for consumption, but the activity is also taking a toll on farmlands as well.
Music is one of the most powerful tools for social change and it’s use as a tool is evident in the works of musicians like Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and James Brown among others.
Here in Ghana, musicians like Nana Kwame Ampadu I, E.T Mensah, Lucky Mensah, and many others have toed this line by using their music as a tool for social change. Following in this line is Afotey Laryea aka T Gay ska Afotey Humble Lion.
As a youngster, it’s been said that anytime he was upset over something, he would communicate his feelings in a song, and it’s little wonder that today, he’s singing about social issues and calling attention to the problems of our day.
Afotey Humble Lion is out with two anthems that draw attention to social issues affecting us. These are African Leaders and It’s a Shame. Both songs draw attention to the plight of Africa while our leaders live in opulence.
Born to a rock and roll dance champion who was also a Policeman, Humble Lion grew up around Nima, Maamobi and Odorkor and Teshie during which time he attended Suhum Secondary Technical School after which he joined a reggae group, the Black Empire Band as the lead singer.
The group performed alongside reggae bands like S.O.Z Squad Band, Kente Band, Truth, and Rights Band, Vibration Kings, Norman Grant of Twinkle Brothers and the legendary sound system operator, Jah Shaka. He also toured various parts of the country with Consular Hayes, K.K Kabobo, Snr. Eddie Donkor, Nana Tuffuor, and AB Crenstil among others.
Although Humble Lion’s first group, Black Empire was a reggae band, he’s versatile and has produced songs in various genres over the years. He’s also a fine artist too who does landscapes, murals, and interior decorations as well. Afotey Humble Lion is also a fashion designer.
In 2006 Afotey Humble Lion and Okyeame Kwame Bediako organized the Sunshine Arts and Music Awards at the National Theatre where they honored a host of top Ghanaian musicians. Some of the recipients were Amandzeba, Paapa Yankson, Mac Tonto, Obaapa Christie, and many others. He’s also played at various festivals in Canada and the U.S including the Baobao Festival, Colorado.
He has ten albums to his credit now – Supernatural Jama and My Journey and is currently working on a jazz album.
As compared to yesterday’s trading of a buying price of 13.0494 and a selling price of 13.0624. At a forex bureau in Accra, the dollar is being bought at a rate of 14.30 and sold at a rate of 14.90.
Against the Pound Sterling, the Cedi is trading at a buying price of 15.2572 and a selling price of 15.2751 as compared to yesterday’s trading at a buying price of 15.0890 and a selling price of 15.0890.
At a forex bureau in Accra, the pound sterling is being bought at a rate of 15.90 and sold at a rate of 16.75.
At a forex bureau in Accra, Euro is being bought at a rate of 13.90 and sold at a rate of 14.90.
The South African Rand is trading at a buying price of 0.7490 and a selling price of 0.7498 compared to yesterday’s trading at a buying price of 0.7348 and a selling price of 0.7355.
At a forex bureau in Accra, South African Rand is being bought at a rate of 0.65 and sold at a rate of 1.10.
The Nigerian Naira is trading at a buying price of 33.8835 and a selling price of 34.0337 as compared to yesterday’s trading at a buying price of 33.8835 and a selling price of 34.0337.
At a forex bureau in Accra, Nigerian Naira is being bought at a rate of 13.50 Naira for every 1 Cedi and sold at a rate of 17.50.
The proposed investment is estimated at US$250million to US$300million regarding development of the designated Special Economic Zones.
Michael Oquaye Jnr., Chief Executive Officer of GFZA, was speaking at a media briefing to launch the 2023 week-long investment celebrations in Accra. This year’s celebration is on the theme ‘GFZA Championing Export-Led Industrial Growth in the Context of AFCFTA and World Trade’.
He said the investment is expected to provide world-class infrastructure: such as roads, electricity with a dedicated power plant, a sewage treatment plant, container depot, office complex and residential complex, among others. He said, in addition, the project when completed will lead to the creation of thousands of jobs and increased foreign exchange earnings for Ghana.
The CEO said out of the 217 active companies in the Free Zones enclave, 72 are wholly Ghanaian-owned companies, representing 33 percent; 74 are wholly foreign-owned companies, representing 34 percent; and 72 are joint ventures, representing 33 percent. “This is an indication that Ghanaian companies also have the potential to take advantage of free zone incentives and make a mark in the international market,” he said.
Mr. Oquaye Jnr. Said, on the contrary, the programme is open to all investors, both foreign and local. “Moreover, with the opportunities that AfCFTA also offers, we are encouraging Ghanaian-owned businesses to take advantage of the 1.3 billion African market to expand their activities,” he added.
The CEO said the impact of these achievements on the economy cannot be overemphasised. He said the theme was chosen to reflect government’s focus on export-led industrialisation and the AfCFTA’s implementation.
Mr. Oquaye Jnr. said: “As a country, we are currently grappling with a balance of trade deficit and depreciation of our national currency; therefore, we must increase our exports to earn the needed foreign exchange to stabilise the cedi”.
Thus, the Free Zones programme’s importance in reversing the country’s balance of trade deficit and the cedi’s depreciation is vital.
He said the Authority recognises the AfCFTA’s potential for attracting market-seeking investments and encouraging local businesses to export into the African market. The AFCFTA presents Ghana with the opportunity of exporting to the rest Africa, with an estimated market size of 1.3 billion people.
He said in pursuing an export-led industrial growth strategy and the enormous opportunities AfCFTA and the world at large provide, the problems of unemployment, low export earnings, lack of value addition to our natural resources, lack of diversification in our export products, and being an insignificant player in continental and global value chains can be solved.
He said regarding their achievements, 39 new companies have been licenced and are expected to inject an estimated capital of US$230million into the economy. In addition, the estimated export earnings from the 39 companies are US$529million from an estimated production value of US$436million.
He reported that the cumulative exports from the Free Zones enterprise since the programme’s inception stood at US$27billion as of 2020.
A total of 163,213 non-citizen Ghanaian cards have been issued by the National Identification Authority (NIA) to foreign nationals, according to Interior Minister Ambrose Dery.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Thursday, the Minister revealed that the figure is as of October 2022, since the NIA introduced the Foreign Identification Management Programme in 2012.
Mr Dery failed to provide a breakdown of which foreign country has issued the most non-citizen Ghana cards; he noted, however, that the individuals are from 203 countries.
In September this year, the NIA indicated that it had issued 161,007 cards to citizens of 202 other foreign countries.
The Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority, Professor Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah, revealed that the majority of the cards, 34,712, were issued to Chinese nationals.
Nigerians constituted the second-largest group of foreign citizens with non-citizen Ghana cards with a total of 25,873 cards, while 20,110 bearers were citizens of India.
Per the figures provided by NIA, the cards issued to Germans constituted 4,329; Lebanese, 4,324, United Kingdom (UK) nationals, 4,133; South Africans, 3,194; Ivorians, 2,150; and Gabonese, 1,958 cards.
The difference between the recent figure provided by the Interior Minister and that of the NIA is 2,206.
Despite the 2,206 non-citizen Ghana cardsissued within a month, China remains the foreign country with the most issued cards.
The second and third positions occupied by Nigeria and India also remain intact, as the difference of 2,206 would cause no change.
However, applying the difference to the cards issued to Germans, Lebanese, UK nationals, South Africans, Ivorians, and Gabonese could alter the ranking.
Meanwhile, Mr Ambrose Dery has revealed that 1,958 Ghanaians have renounced their Ghanaian citizenship.
He noted that some of them are now citizens of Germany and the Netherlands.
Again, the Interior Ministry failed to provide the timeline of when the renunciation took place.
For one to renounce his or her Ghanaian citizenship, he or she must purchase Renunciation Form 13 from Ghana Mission Abroad or from the Ministry of the Interior and write an application letter, applying for renunciation of Ghanaian citizenship, addressed to the Minister for the Interior.
The Renunciation Form 13 costs GH₵1,200.00. This means that a total of GH₵2,349,600 has been paid to the Ghana Mission Abroad or the Ministry.
Also, one is to present a curriculum vitae (CV), two recent passport-sized photographs, a copy of the Ghanaian passport, an assurance letter from the country where the applicant is acquiring new citizenship, and a photocopy of the receipt of payment for the Renunciation Form.
It is imperative to note that the applicant will be required to surrender the Ghanaian passport before he or she is handed the certificate.
Footwear manufacturers in Asafo Market, Kumasi, have bemoaned the frequent increase in prices of raw materials used in producing footwear, saying it is gradually ‘killing’ their businesses.
He explained that this could be avoided if prices on the raw materials are affordable and stabilised, at least.
“We used to be so many in the footwear manufacturing industry here in Asafo and Kumasi, we have branches at all the markets in Kumasi and neighbouring communities. But now, if your capital is not huge you won’t get the items on credit. This has led to a reduction in the number of people in the industry. It has increased the level of unemployment in the country, leading to an increase of crime rates in the country,” he said.
“We manufacture and carry these goods on our heads to sell. Our products are not edible, they are footwear. Unlike food that you need every day for survival, ours is not like that. So with the increase in price of goods on the market, it is having a heavy toll on us. Prices of our raw materials keep increasing all the time. You can have a situation where prices increase within a few hours, and the margin is huge,” he noted.
Price increment within the last five months
Mr. Nkrumah told the B&FT that: “A sheet of ‘maakro’ (a card-like material that leather is wrapped around) used to sell at GH¢65, but we are now buying it at GH¢100; the ‘bona’ (rubber leather) too was GH¢22 per sheet, and it is now GH¢45; leather was sold at GH¢25 and we are now buying it at GH¢40 per yard. We were buying 5kg of glue for GH¢120, but it’s GH¢230 now; the 15kg glue was sold at GH¢400 but now it is between GH¢750 and GH¢800.
“All of these goods are imported by individuals, so anytime the dollar shoots up a bit the importers increase the price anyhow. They do not care how we get money to buy. From June prices have shot up. “Even though our raw materials cost has increased by more than 50 percent, we are not able to increase our goods to match. Last week we were selling our sandals at a wholesale price of GH¢15, and we are now trying to sell them at GH¢20,” Mr. Nkrumah said.
We are ready for AfCFTA
On their preparedness to trade in the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Mr. Nkrumah is certain that the Footwear Manufacturers of Kumasi are ready to trade favourably. He noted that they already have their products in most West African countries.
“We are ready for AfCFTA, we already send our goods to South Africa, Liberia, Burkina Faso, Mali and other African countries. Some of our members send more than 5,000 pieces to other countries to sell. If we don’t export some, the Ghanaian market cannot contain us. All we need is financial support for our work,” he added.
The move, the Ministry noted, is to sell foodstuff directly from the farmers in the rural areas to persons in the urban areas at a much cheaper rate.
However, some civil servants who partook in the sales have expressed their disappointment with the prices of the items.
On sale today was fresh plantains, which sold for between 10, 15 and 20 cedis per bunch.
The buyers said there was no difference between what is sold in the market.
Speaking to JoyNews at the Agric Ministry where the exercise was held, a civil servant who works at the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources said: “To me, it’s a good initiative but since I heard it was a pilot, we are expecting that the next bunch that will come, the price will really go down a bit. Last week I bought one bunch for 15 in the market. It was reasonable, looking at the size. So I can’t see any big difference between what is here and what is in the market.”
She added: “My view is that maybe if you are coming from Amasaman, Pokuase to come to the Ministry, transportation is like 10 15 cedis, so I don’t see the point.”
Another noted that: I wanted some perishable goods but unfortunately they are saying they are not going to bring anything of that sort. It’s a very good exercise but with the plantain I saw, I was expecting the price to be down, I did some comparisons and I realized that the prices here are a bit high, so if they can bring it down a bit for us.”
The PFJ market is sponsored by the Ministry and is purposed to cushion persons from the increasing cost of food commodities in the capital.
Speaking at a meeting with farmers in Sefwi Wiaso in the Western North Region, last week sector Minister, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto said; “the ministry itself is going to take its own initiative.”
“We are going to link up with the farm gate so that we make all the arrangements to ensure that we put up kiosks on our compounds at the ministry, specifically for food from here [Sefwi Wiaso] and we are going to give it a lot of publicity,” the minister said.
Meanwhile, Ghana is recognized as the nation with the biggest increases in food prices by the World Bank.
With a 122% increase in food prices, the nation has achieved the toughest achievement in sub-Saharan Africa.
