Evan Peters detailed the elaborate process that went into his portrayal of Jeffrey Dahmer for the Netflix series Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story during a panel over the weekend.
Peters spent four months preparing for the role, taking into account every single detail of Dahmer’s physicality to ensure that his portrayal was as accurate as possible. “He has a very straight back. He doesn’t move his arms when he walks, so I put weights on my arms to see what that felt like,” he explained, per Variety. “I wore the character shoes with lifts in them, his jeans, his glasses, I had a cigarette in my hand at all times.”
Peters admitted he initially wasn’t sure about accepting the role of what he considered to be an “incredibly dark” character. “I really went back and forth on whether I should do it or not,” he said. “I knew it was going to be incredibly dark and an incredible challenge.” However, once he took on the role, Peters went deep, and according to series co-creator Ryan Murphy, “basically stayed in this character, as difficult as it was, for months.”
Peters’ co-star, Niecy Nash, said she tried to approach Peters when filming started, but noticed he was already “in his process.” While she wanted to respect his approach, Nash admitted she also kept him in her prayers because she understood the emotional weight that comes with playing such a challenging character.
“I wanted to respect that and I wanted to keep him there,” Nash explained. “I prayed for you a lot, for real, because this is weighty. And when you stay in it, and you’re tethered to the material, like bone to marrow, your soul is troubled at some point. And I could see him getting tired. I just said, ‘Well, I’m just gonna make sure I keep him in my prayers, because this is a lot and he wants to do it justice.’”
“I wanted all this stuff, these external things, to be second nature when we were shooting, so I watched a lot of footage and I also worked with a dialect coach to get down his voice,” Peters said. “The way that he spoke, it was very distinct and he had a dialect. So I also went off and created this 45-minute audio composite, which was very helpful. I listened to that every day, in hopes of learning his speech patterns, but really, in an attempt to try to get into his mindset and understand that each day that we were shooting.”
Peters called it an “exhaustive search,” while he was trying to find Dahmer’s “private moments,” the times where he “didn’t seem self conscious, so you could get a glimpse into how he behaved prior to these interviews and being in prison.”
Charlton Athletic goalkeeper Joseph Luke Wollacott has expressed disappointment with Ghanaian media for reporting false new about him ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Wollacott has denied reports that he tipped Portugal to finish on top of Ghana’s group at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Black Stars make a return to the tournament after missing out on the 2018 edition in Russia and have been drawn in Group H alongside Portugal, South Korea and Uruguay.
Ghana will take on Portugal in their first game on November 24 before playing South Korea and Uruguay on November 28 and December 2 respectively.
“I would like to make clear to all the fans, my supporters, GFA and all the nation of Ghana, that I have not made such statement in the media nor given any interviews about our opponents as it has been said in the Ghanaian media,” Wollacott posted on his twitter page.
“We are Ghana/Ghanaians we don’t fear who our opponents are or who we face or who we come across in a game of football. It’s a shame that some of the media has to go to this length to try and tarnish my image in Ghana.”
The complete list of winners for the 4th Edition of the JP Ghana Auto Awards, held at the Kempinski Gold Coast in Accra, has been made public by Xodus Communications Limited.
The Awards program is a fantastic way for the automotive sector to boost sales and recognize achievements in the vital fields of manufacturing, technology, innovation, CSR, and HSEQ.
The first-ever Test Drive Festival was conducted at the Achimota Mall in Accra to kick off the 2022 Edition.
The Awards give nominees the ideal chance to increase their profile in terms of their industry relevance, get greater recognition, and increase their exposure among professionals.
Addressing the nominees, Chief Executive Director of Xodus Communications Limited, Richard Abbey Junior said, ‘the process includes showroom visit and test drive. Judgement was based on design and functionality, on the road performance and value for Money’. He applauded the Government for supporting the assembling of vehicles in Ghana and noted that this will provide jobs for many.
The Awards provides a sound and comparative information for consumers and showcases new entrants into the market
Here are the winners for the 2022 Ghana Auto Awards.
1. AUTO LEADERSHIP EXCELLENCE AWARD
SILVER STAR AUTO COMPANY
2. AUTO FINANCE COMPANY OF THE YEAR
AUTOCHEK GHANA
3. VEHICLE TRACKING COMPANY OF THE YEAR
NSOROMA GPS
4. BUS/COACH OF THE YEAR
YUTONG- S. A AUTOMOBILE
5. MINI TRUCK OF THE YEAR
RENAULT OROCH FULL OPTION 2022- PREMIUM MOTORS
6. ARTICULATED HAULER OF THE YEAR
SMT VOLVO ARTICULATED HAULER – SMT GHANA LIMITED
7. ELECTRIC CAR OF THE YEAR
HYUNDAI KONA EV- HYUNDAI MOTORS & INVESTMENTS GHANA LTD
8. GREEN CAR OF THE YEAR
HYUNDAI KONA E- HYUNDAI MOTORS & INVESTMENTS GHANA LTD
9. INDIGENOUS COMPANY OF THE YEAR
TANINK GROUP
10. BEST AUTO COMMERCIAL
SILVER STAR AUTO COMPANY
11. EXCELLENCE IN CSR
CFAO GHANA PLC
12. HEAVY TRUCK OF THE YEAR
SINOTRUCK HOWO- ZONDA TEC GHANA LIMITED
13. LIGHT TRUCK OF THE YEAR
TATA LPT 709 – TATA MOTORS
14. BEST SUV OF THE YEAR (LIGHT)
HONDA CRV- THE HONDA PLACE
15. BEST SUV OF THE YEAR (FULL SIZE SUV)
NISSAN PATROL- JAPAN MOTORS TRADING COMPANY
SPONSORED BY JP
16. BEST SERVICING COMPANY OF THE YEAR
CFAO GHANA PLC
17. PROMISING AUTO COMPANY OF THE YEAR
MG AUTO TRADING COMPANY
18. BEST NEW TECHNOLOGY
ALL NEW RANGE ROVER 2023- ALLIANCE MOTORS
19. VALUE FOR MONEY
CHERY TIGGO 8PRO- TANINK GHANA LIMITED
20. BEST PICKUP OF THE YEAR
NISSAN NAVARA Pro 4X- JAPAN MOTORS TRADING COMPANY
SPONSORED BY STUNNCAST
21. BEST DESIGN OF THE YEAR
PEUGEOT 508 GT 2022- SILVER STAR AUTO COMPANY
SPONSORED BY STUNNCAST
22. BRAND OF THE YEAR (COMPANY)
HYUNDAI MOTORS & INVESTMENTS GHANA LTD
23. BRAND OF THE YEAR (CAR)
PEUGEOT- SPONSORED BY JP
24. ECONOMY CAR OF THE YEAR
SUZUKI S-PRESSO GL 2022- CFAO GHANA PLC
SPONSORED BY JP
Tamale Central Member of Parliament (MP), Murtala Muhammed, has revealed he is spearheading an impeachment process against President Nana Akufo-Addo.
Mr Murtala Muhammed believes that all calls for the resignation or dismissal of Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Attashould include requests to remove President Akufo-Addo as well.
“If we think that it is justified to call for the removal of the Finance Minister, let us not be hypocrites. It is equally justified to call for the removal of the President. I am assuring that I have started talking to some of my friends to ensure that we initiate a motion to ensure that the President is impeached. I have started [the process].”
The Tamale Central MPadded that “until the Minister goes, the President must go. Every single action of this minister is an action that is taken and approved by the President. ” Hence, both the president and finance minister should be sacked.
On Tuesday, October 25th, 80 members of the majority NPP caucus in Parliament called for the dismissal of Mr. Ofori-Atta and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen.
The minority party has also filed a motion of censure against the Finance Minister in support of this. The Speaker, Alban Bagbin, however, admitted the motion filed by the minority against the Finance Minister.
The pressure on the Finance Minister comes amid an economic crisis in which inflation has reached 37.2 percent and the cedi has been labelled as the worst-performing currency in 2022.
Ghana’s forex difficulties have resulted in the cedi trading at more than GH14 to the dollar. The free-fall of the cedi has greatly affected the living standards of Ghanaians, as many questions about how to make ends meet as we near Christmas festivities.
Petrol priceshave also surpassed the GH15 per litre mark, fuelling further inflation.
Transport fares have seen a triple increment since the year began, with the most recent 19% increment taking effect on October 29th, 2022.
According to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the government is attempting to find consistent, dependable sources of reasonably priced petroleum products for the Ghanaian market in order to stabilize fuel costs.
The President stated the action will “stop the growth of fuel prices and provide relief to us all” in his Sunday night economic address to the country.
Since the beginning of the year, the cost of gasoline and diesel at the pump has been steadily rising.
Currently, the average price for gasoline and diesel is GHS13.10 and GHS15.99, respectively.
In the beginning of the year, petrol and diesel was trading at an average GHS 6.8 and GHS7.0 respectively.
“I know that the increasing cost of living is the number one concern for all of us. It is driven by fast escalating fuel prices at the pumps, which is caused by high crude oil prices on the world market and our depreciated currency. I know that this is putting intolerable pressure on families and businesses,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Institute for Energy Security (IES) has projected that the price of diesel may cross the 20 Cedis mark in the next pricing window, which will commence on Tuesday, November 1, 2022.
“In IES’ estimation, Gasoil’s price per litre is set to break the GHS20.00 mark, with a gallon price possibly going for GHS90.00 on the market. Gasoline price may also inch close to GHS18 per litre by mid-November 2022,” it said in its review of the October 2022 Second Pricing Window.
The IES blamed the projected increment on the “significant” depreciation of the Cedi and the “appreciable” increase in the price of diesel on the international market.
“The Ghana Cedi depreciated by a whopping 32 per cent from the previous rate of GHS10.89 to the current rate of GHS14.42, to the US Dollar,” it said.
A man dressed in a Nazi uniform was met with well-deserved vitriol when he walked into Fanelli’s, a bar in New York City, over the weekend.
Footage of the incident shows the unidentified man getting questioned by a patron for his choice of attire as he approaches the bar. The situation seemed to only get worse from there. According to the New York Post, the bartender refused to serve the guy, leading to his departure, but not before their encounter grew increasingly hostile.
a guy just walked into fanelli cafe in soho dressed as a nazi i have no words pic.twitter.com/4szraZgVEd
“Fuck you mate,” the man in the Nazi uniform said, to someone who responded, “You want to get fucked up? [Leave] for your own safety.” Another person walked over to ensure that the unwanted individual not only left the establishment, but didn’t even think about returning.
The newspaper spoke with a hostess during their brunch shift the following day about the man in the Nazi uniform, and they said no one had ever seen that person before.
The incident comes at a time where it seems as though anti-Semitism among notable figures is on the rise, most notably by the artist formerly known as Kanye West, who claims to have “lost two billion dollars in one day” after Adidas, Balenciaga, and other companies cut ties with him over a slew of anti-Semitic remarks.
Meanwhile, Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving went back-and-forth with a reporter during a post-game press conference Saturday night after he shared a link to a documentary that makes a number of anti-Semitic claims.
Ghanaian youngster Ibrahim Sadiq has won the 2022 Swedish Allsvenskan title with BK Hacken.
The title represents the 22-year-old’s his first-ever silverware with the Black and Yellow lads since joining the Swedish top-tier club from FC Nordsjaelland in January.
Sadiq has become a fan favourite at BK Hacken and has been one of the consistent performers for the club.
He made 25 appearances for the club across all competitions, scored eight goals and provide two assists in the process.
The former Right to Dream Academy talisman provided an assist in BK Hacken’s 4-0 away win over IFK Göteborg to lift the league trophy with a game left in the ongoing season.
In the league, the highly-rated forward has featured in 18 matches this seasonfor BK Hacken, bagged seven goals and registered three assists in the process.
By virtue of winning the Swedish Allsvenskan title, BK Hacken have also secured their place in the next season’s UEFA Champions League.
However, this runs counter to suggestions that before the Finance Minister submits the 2023 budget to Parliament in November of this year, the government would negotiate a deal with the Fund.
President Akufo-Addo stated in a speech to the nation on the economy on October 30 that Ghana might secure the bailout agreement by the end of this year, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
“We are working towards securing a deal with the IMF by the end of the year,” he said on Sunday.
“This will give further credence to the measures government is taking to stabilize and grow the economy, as well as shore up our currency,” he noted.
He further explained that the funds will “repair the short term of public finances and restore our balance of payment whiles we continue to work on the medium to long term structural changes that are at the heart of our goal of constructing a resilient robust Ghanaian economy and building a Ghana Beyond Aid.”
He however assured Ghanaians of government’s commitment to restoring the economy which has been experiencing a wave of unprecedented shocks and challenges that have impacted almost all economic indicators.
Ghana on July 1, 2022, resorted to the IMF for an economic support programme to restore macroeconomic stability, among others. The country is targeting $3 billion once an agreement can be reached.
Meanwhile, the woes of the Ghana cedi in the first 10 months of this year continued as the currency has seen its value decline by over 50 percent to the US dollar.
The situation, according to a recent Bloomberg tracking saw it ranked as the worst-performing currency in the world against the US dollar.
This has forced many businesses to collapse, culminating in worker agitations, and discontent over government policies, among others.
The current economic difficulties should not be used as a justification for raising prices in order to achieve high profit margins, the president of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has urged business people.
As the nation goes through a challenging time, he urged that the traders should be on the lookout for the larger welfare of society.
In his Sunday, October 30 speech to the nation on the economy, the president acknowledged that traders have raised product prices as a result of recent price volatility but advised them to avoid trying to make money off the economic downturn.
“I hear from the market queens also that another factor fueling the high prices is the high margins that some traders are slapping on goods, for fear of future higher costs. I say to our traders, we are all in this together. Please let us be measured in the margins we seek.
“I have great respect and admiration for the ingenuity and hard work of our traders, especially those that take on the distribution of foodstuffs around the country, and I would hesitate to join in calling them names. I do make a heartfelt appeal that we all keep an eye out for the greater good, and not try to make the utmost profits out of the current difficulties,” Akufo-Addo said.
In recent times, prices of goods such as rice, cooking oil, and other essentials have skyrocketed with many Ghanaians lamenting the hikes.
The Ghana Statistical Service pegged the country’s inflation rate for the month of September at 37.2%, from 33.9% in August. According to the data, food inflation for the month of September was 37.8%.
Akufo-Addo in his address admitted that the country was in crisis while rallying support for various government interventions to stem the tide.
“We are in a crisis, I do not exaggerate when I say so. I cannot find an example in history when so many malevolent forces have come together at the same time.
“But, as we have shown in other circumstances, we shall turn this crisis into an opportunity to resolve not just the short-term, urgent problems, but the long-term structural problems that have bedeviled our economy,” he said.
Elon Muskis wasting no time making changes at his newly-acquired Twitter.
According to The Verge, the tech mogul wants to charge people $19.99 a month for the new Twitter Blue subscription, which currently stands at $4.99 a month. And based on the outlet’s sources, one of the benefits of the new subscription package will include verification on Twitter. For users who are currently verified, they will have to subscribe 90 days after the current plan is put into place, or risk losing their blue checkmark.
Perhaps more jarring than the new subscription model is the deadline that Musk has allegedly put in place. Per The Verge, Musk has given employees until November 7 to put this new plan into place. If they fail to meet that date, they’ll be fired.
While the move may come as a surprise to some, Musk has previously hinted that he would make such a change.
The whole verification process is being revamped right now
“The whole verification process is being revamped right now,” Musk tweeted just days after acquiring Twitter.
While his tenure as Twitter’s head honcho is just days old, Musk is already ruffling feathers. Earlier this week, it was reported that use of the N-word had increased on the platform since Musk’s takeover. That prompted LeBron James to call on Musk to do something.
I dont know Elon Musk and, tbh, I could care less who owns twitter. But I will say that if this is true, I hope he and his people take this very seriously because this is scary AF. So many damn unfit people saying hate speech is free speech. https://t.co/Sy0jvXIBnC
“I don’t know Elon Musk and, tbh, I could care less who owns twitter,” James tweeted. “But I will say that if this is true, I hope he and his people take this very seriously because this is scary AF. So many damn unfit people saying hate speech is free speech.”
The National Identification Authority (NIA) has stated that its special service centre at El-wak Sports Stadium will be closed after today, October 31, 2022.
The Authority established the registration centre some months ago to assist with the Ghana Card registration and replacement process.
All applicants who have completed the processes for a card update or replacement but have yet to pick up their cards are required to visit the Greater Accra Regional office at Kinbu.
They made this disclosure right after Ursula Owusu, the minister of communications, announced that all unregistered SIM cards would be blocked after today.
The NIA, in their statement, directed all applicants who may have questions about the process, the Authority’s head office at Shiashie in Accra.
So far, the NCA has issued 15,826,148 Ghana cards out of a total of 16,627,325 printed cards from 17,109,627 registrations.
Professor Kenneth Agyeman Attafuah, Executive Secretary of the NIA, said recently at a press conference in Accra that while his organization admits there were some issues with the issuance of the cards, it could not be blamed solely if some people did not have their cards yet.
He asserted that some Ghanaians failed to utilise the numerous opportunities available to them to obtain their cards at the decentralised levels.
The Special Registration Points were established in February 2022 in response to the growing demand from thousands of Ghanaians who thronged NIA’s offices nationwide for Ghana Card-related services, particularly as the initial deadline of March 31st, 2022 for the SIM card re-registration exercise approached.
The Special Registration Points were; Elwak Sports Stadium, Kumasi Sports Stadium, Tamale Sports Stadium, Ho Sports Stadium, Sunyani Coronation Park; Old Catholic Church, Pedu, Cape Coast and Accra Sports Stadium
Large numbers were recorded as the Ghana card is the sole identification for the registration of SIM cards.
Since the extension of the SIM card re-registration deadline to from March to 31st July 2022, NIA noted with dismay the dwindling numbers of applicants for the Ghana Card at the said registration points.
Held in a glittering event at the Movenpick Ambassador hotel in Accra, Comsys went home with three organizational awards and an individual award, namely ISP of Year, Enterprise Solutions Provider of the Year Excellence In Customer Services (B2B) while Funmi Lamptey and Jonathan Lamptey were listed among the Top 20 TECH Leaders, a newly created ranking for leading IT experts driving excellence in the industry.
Once again, the ICT solutions firm has positioned itself as an industry leader having remained unbeatable within the enterprise solutions ecosystem, as they won the award for the 10th consecutive time since 2013.
Comsys also won the newly created category; Excellence In Customer Services (B2B), this doesn’t come as a surprise as the firm has earned a reputation for reliability as it constantly delivers value using their state of the art technology, Comsys has built reliable networks across Ghana for over a decade and continues to lead the industry as the reliable network provider, resulting into an ever-increasing clientele base.
Speaking to the media, the Executive Director of Comsys Ghana Limited, Mr. Jonathan Lamptey expressed his excitement; “These awards to us is an affirmation of unwavering commitment to our customers and contribution to business growth and economic development in Ghana’s digital space.”
He said, “we are honoured to be listed among the crème de la crème of I.T organizations driving excellence in the IT space, we could not have achieved this without the tremendous support amazing and exceptional team at Comsys Ghana who supported the company and worked round the clock to ensure client satisfaction always.
“This award really inspires the company to go higher as we look forward to delivering top-notch IT services for clients in Ghana and beyond,” he added.
The 12th edition of GITTA which had in attendance organizations and individuals from Ghana, Nigeria, and SA kicked off with a keynote speech from the Deputy Minister, for Communications & digitalization, Hon. Ama Pomaa Boateng who gave insights on the transformation in Ghana’s digital space and congratulated all winners. She emphasized on government’s resolve to providing the necessary basic infrastructure, a conducive legal and regulatory environment, and building capacity to improve the adoption and use of ICT to engender digital innovation as a means of leapfrogging the developmental process.
Mr. Akin Naphtal, the Group Publisher for TechBerg magazine, organizer of the awards, also applauded industry players for their contribution to driving digital excellence in Ghana in spite of the high inflation in the country and the stifling economic situation for businesses.
Award winners were also treated to good music, comedy, intercontinental cuisine and an all-around entertainment, Indeed it was a beautiful night for the ICT sector.
Kumawood Actress Dorothy Acheampong, also known as Wasaa Bronii organized a free breast screening exercise for hundreds of women in Kumasi to crown this year’s breast cancer awareness campaign.
The event which saw the presence of Actor Kwaku Manu, Blogger Zion Felix, and other dignitaries took place at the Church Of Pentecost, Sepe Buokrom District in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, and powered by Anchor Multibillion Foundation.
The Actress and Entrepreneur, through her Anchor Multibillion Foundation which is purposed to help and provide for the needy through charity works, also made donations to the Okomfo Ankoye Teaching Hospital children’s ward, in April this year. They made payments to settle the bills of the children suffering from cancer but couldn’t afford to pay for their treatment.
Some institutions like the Edwenase Rehabilitation Center, have also benefited from the Actress‘s benevolence through her Foundation.
The foundation in December last year, donated food items such as bags of rice, gari, water, gallons of oil, boxes of canned sardines, tubers of yam, etc to the Center.
As homes and companies continue to struggle with the rapidly deteriorating economic conditions, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has provided the strongest signal yet of his administration’s determination to offer relief, in the short term.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) negotiations are “in advanced stages, and are going well,” he said, adding that a solution is anticipated to be reached “before the end of the year,” and he promised to take the required actions to restore stability to the larger economy in the long run.
The President outlined a number of measures, ranging from the provision of comparably less expensive fuel products to a prioritization of exports, in his first address to the nation following recent broad stakeholder consultations to solicit input on a range of measures required to salvage the sinking economy prior to the formal agreement and implementation of an IMF programme. The President also provided assurances to investors in government securities that their investments will not be lost.
With inflation accelerating to a 21-year high in September 2022, largely propelled by food and fuel costs, he said: “I know that the cost of living is the number one concern for all of us… Government is working to secure reliable and regular sources of affordable petroleum products for the Ghanaian market. It is expected that this arrangement, when successful, coupled with a stable currency will halt the escalation of fuel prices and bring relief to us all.”
Despite calls from some quarters for the government to directly intervene in the cost of retail consumer goods, by applying price control mechanisms – as has been witnessed recently in some countries, most notably, the Bahamas and Malaysia – the President applied moral suasion, appealing to the minds and consciences of traders to act in a manner that promotes the collective good.
“I hear from the market queens also that another factor fueling the high prices is the high margins that some traders are slapping on goods, for fear of future higher costs. I say to our traders, we are all in this together. Please let us be measured in the margins we seek.
“I have great respect and admiration for the ingenuity and hard work of our traders, especially those that take on the distribution of foodstuffs around the country, and I would hesitate to join in calling them names. I do make a heartfelt appeal that we all keep an eye out for the greater good, and not try to make the utmost profits out of the current difficulties,” he said.
The President indicated that the standards required for imports into the country will be reviewed with a prioritisation of local manufacturing and exports, which have a direct bearing on foreign exchange reserves.
“Government will, in May 2023, six months from now, review the situation. We must, as a matter of urgent national security, reduce our dependence on imported goods, and enhance our self-reliance, as demanded by our overarching goal of creating a Ghana Beyond Aid,” he added.
No Haircuts
Financial market stakeholders had been on edge as concerns have grown over the government’s ability to repay its debt, with some anticipating haircuts to the principals of holders of government security.
But the President said no investor will lose their investments, likening it to the banking sector reforms.
“I also want to assure all Ghanaians that no individual or institutional investor, including pension funds in Government treasury bills or instruments, will lose their money, as a result of our ongoing IMF negotiations. There will be no ‘haircuts’, so I urge all of you to ignore the false rumours, just as, in the banking sector clean-up, the Government ensured that the 4.6 million depositors affected by the exercise did not lose their deposits,” he remarked.
Fiscal targets
While stressing that the set of measures being implemented will go beyond fire-fighting, the President suggested that macroeconomic stability would be attained within the next three to six years, with an emphasis on maintaining debt sustainability in order to support long-term, inclusive growth and safeguard the underprivileged.
He set forth an ambitious target to restore debt sustainability, reducing the total public debt to GDP ratio to 55 percent in present value terms, compared to the more than 80 percent currently, whilst pegging external debt servicing at less than 18 percent of total annual revenue by 2028.
“We are committed to improving the revenue collection effort, from the current tax-revenue to GDP ratio of 13 percent to between 18 and 20 percent to be competitive with our peers in the West Africa Region. The GRA is rolling out an extensive set of measures to support this enhanced revenue mobilisation. All of us must do our patriotic duty, and support the GRA in this exercise,” he added.
Other measures include a review of the reforms in the energy sector, capping of statutory funds, implementation of the Exemptions Act and a new property rate regime, adding that the 30 percent cut in the salaries of political office holders including the President, Vice President, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, MMDCEs, and SOE appointees and cuts to discretionary expenditure will be maintained into 2023.
In delivering his address on the state of the economy, President Akufo-Addo spent some time on the need for all Ghanaians to take steps to protect the Ghana cedi, which has been suffering massive depreciation against the United States dollar.
In seeking to buttress his point, Akufo-Addo employed a French proverb about money stating thus: “Fellow Ghanaians, as the French would say, l’argent n’aime pas le bruit, to wit, money does not like noise, sika mpɛ dede.
“Where there is chaos, where there is noise, where there is unrest, you will not find money. If you talk down your money, it will go down. If you allow some unidentifiable person to talk down your money, it will go down,” he stressed.
Shatta Wale joined the hundreds of tweeps who commented on the quote hours after the address. He wrote: “Sika mp3 dede ???????????????? I for feature this man la ????”
On social media, the proverb has gone viral with people poking fun with it, others analyzing it whiles others are giving it an interpretation of their own.
At the height of the Covid-19 outbreak, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo made a widely praised declaration that the administration knew how to revive the economy. He has now clarified that this statement was not meant in jest.
President Akufo-Addo mentioned the economy’s development trajectory despite the pandemic in his speech on the economy on October 30.
Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which further exacerbated the negative effects of Covid-19 on the economy, he claimed that the economy increased at a pace of 7%.
“We could all see in real-time the devastation that was being wreaked on economies during the pandemic, but I doubt that anyone imagined the extent of the damage. Our economy here in Ghana, like many, many others around the globe, was thrown into turmoil.
“When I said, at the height of the COVID pandemic, that we knew what to do to bring the economy back to life, but not how to bring people back to life, it was not said in jest. We had done it before, and we were on course to doing it again. Ghana’s economy grew by a remarkable 5.4% in 2021, signifying a strong recovery from the 0.5% growth recorded the previous year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In fact, in the last quarter of 2021, our economy grew at seven percent (7%), only for the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the first quarter of this year to aggravate the effects of COVID-19 and plunge the global economy into even greater turmoil from which it has not yet recovered,” he said
“We know how to bring the economy back to life. What we do not know is how to bring people back to life,” he said.
The statement by the president won him plaudits from world leaders and heads of relevant agencies and non-governmental organizations.
In the midst of economic turmoil, with many Ghanaians reeling under economic hardship, they have asked the president to actualize his statement by restoring the economy.
The firing of musketry, traditional warriors’ display of artistry, the sounds of drum appellation, and the chief priest pouring of drinks amidst the chanting and invocation in Ga language characterized the final funeral rites of the late Tema Manste.
The late Nii Adjei Kraku II Tema Paramount Chief reigned for 28 years until he embarked on the journey to the ancestral home in February 2020.
A large entourage, including chiefs and queen mothers, traditional priests, state officials, politicians, religious, and a cross-section of the general public, besieged the scared Mantse Park at Tema Manhean to pay homage to the late Paramount chief.
The one-month-long funeral activities hit the climax at the weekend as a beehive of traditional activities characterized by traditional Ga customs and norms were observed to signify the end of Nii Adjei Kraku II, the late Tema Paramount Chief on earth while acknowledging his elevation into the midst of the ancestors.
The biography, read by Nii Kwashi Dromo, indicated that Nii Kraku was inducted into the Greater Accra House of Chiefs as a member in 2013 after a protracted period of chieftaincy litigation.
In 2013, under his leadership, the status of Tema Traditional Council was officially inaugurated by the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs with him (Nii Adjei Kraku II) as its President.
He served on the Judicial and Standing Committees as well as the Research and Legal Committees of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs.
He expanded the number of Asafoatsemei and Asafoanyemei (Traditional Warriors) from its original eight clan houses to all the 22 clan houses of Tema.
He established the Tema Education Foundation with the Tema Stool’s backlogged royalties received, which was then locked up in the coffers of the Lands Commission.
Another achievement during his reign was the establishment of Tema Clan Heads Forum for the purposes of consultation on matters of custom and tradition.
Nii Armah Somponu II, the Shipi and Secretary of the Tema Stool, reading the tribute of the Tema Traditional Council, stated that Nii Kraku’s choice to occupy the throne was very strategic in view of the prevailing turmoil that had bedeviled Tema’s chieftaincy amid a litany of court cases.
He added that “The people of Tema or the Tema Traditional Council for that matter needed somebody moulded in the realm of bravery, wisdom, and thoughtfulness, to propel this dear town of ours from the shackles of insecurity to happiness.”
The government and the International Monetary Fund are currently negotiating a package to help the economy, according to renowned economist and senior statesman Kwame Pianim.
In an interview with Accra-based TV3, he claimed that President Akufo-Addo and his troubled Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, were primarily to blame for the current state of affairs.
The IMF, he said, was looking to Akufo-Addo to make a definitive pronouncement on the crisis. To own it and take critical steps to cure the issues before they come in with their support. Ofori-Atta’s continued stay in office despite removal calls, he added, was not helping issues.
“It is not going well, the negotiations. I know that. That is my business, to keep my ears open, I am a Ghanaian, and I am interested in the economy moving in the right direction.
“We have friends in Washington so what I am saying is that it is not going well,” he said
But, the ministry in a statement issued Sunday, October 30, said that such statements are false.
“The Ministry notes that in recent days, a number of persons have been making false claims about the ongoing negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF or the Fund)
“These include: that the negotiations are not going well because the Fund does not see any seriousness on the part of the government; that the government does not have a programme for consideration by the IMF; that officials of the Fund have discovered inaccuracies in the macroeconomic figures presented by the government’s Economic Management Team.
“The allegation that the negotiations are not going well is categorically untrue. The IMF itself has on numerous occasions stated unequivocally that negotiations are progressing well, and affirmed that both parties are fully committed to reaching a deal as soon as feasible,” parts of the statement by the ministry read.
Some twenty-nine (29) individuals have been detained by the Ghana Police Service in connection with a violent altercation between two opposing groups in New Tulaku, Ashaiman.
They were arrested in the early hours of Friday, October 28, 2022.
According to a statement from the police service, the clash ensued as a result of a misunderstanding between the two unidentified factions, which led to six people sustaining various degrees of injuries.
Meanwhile, according to the medical officials, all of the injured are undergoing treatment at the hospital and are in stable condition.
The Police Service has since increased security in the area, thereby restoring calm in Ashaiman and its surroundings.
As compared to Saturday’s trading of a buying price of 13.0028 and a selling price of 13.0158. At a forex bureau in Accra, the dollar is being bought at a rate of 13.00 and sold at a rate of 13.85.
Against the Pound Sterling, the Cedi is trading at a buying price of 15.0583 and a selling price of 15.0747 as compared to Saturday’s trading at a buying price of 15.0481 and a selling price of 15.0658.
At a forex bureau in Accra, the pound sterling is being bought at a rate of 14.50 and sold at a rate of 16.20.
The Euro is trading at a buying price of 12.9267 and a selling price of 12.9385 as compared to Saturday’s trading at a buying price of 12.9848 and a selling price of 12.9978.
The South African Rand is trading at a buying price of 0.7159 and a selling price of 0.7166 compared to Saturday’s trading at a buying price of 0.7263 and a selling price of 0.7271.
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 33.9522 and a selling price of 33.9783 as compared to Saturday’s trading at a buying price of 33.9522 and a selling price of 33.9783.
At a forex bureau in Accra, Nigerian Naira is being bought at a rate of 16.00 Naira for every 1 Cedi and sold at a rate of 20.00.
Following a meeting with banks and foreign exchange bureaus that resulted in feasible plans, Dr. Ernest Addison, governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), has reassured the market that the rapid depreciation of the cedi versus the US dollar will soon stabilize.
The Governor claims that speculation is mostly to blame for the current steep depreciation, which has seen the local currency plunge by more than 50% against the US dollar since the beginning of the year.
He did, however, emphasize that there would be sufficient foreign exchange availability for the market with the US$750 million from the AfriExim Bank and US$790 million from the COCOBOD syndicated loan coming online.
“Clearly, this type of movement does not reflect changes in the fundamentals. It is clear that the market is not functioning properly. We are seeing speculations taking over under very disorderly market conditions and it appears now the black market is rather driving exchange rates. This, we cannot allow to continue,” he said when he met managing directors of commercial banks and members of the Association of Forex Bureau Operators last Tuesday.
Dr. Addison also assured banks that the central bank has enough liquidity to supply into the system until conclusions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is concluded.
“I am aware of the recent developments in terms of liquidity in the banking sector. As I said, I took note of the advice from Washington on the financial stability issue that there has to be targeted liquidity support to preserve financial stability without undermining the inflation control objectives. So this is really the context we should have the discussion on all the complaints of we need liquidity and BoG not supplying liquidity.
“Yesterday, I met the CEOs, and I assured them that we will provide the necessary liquidity to ensure that we don’t have a system of liquidity problem. But we do that within the context of keeping inflation low,” he said.
Dr. Addison further stated that the central bank is bent on restoring order in the forex market by making sure the interbank market takes full control to enforce regulations surrounding forex trading so as to streamline the supply of foreign currency in the country.
The Governor, therefore, charged the Association of Forex Bureau Operators to be law compliant and cautioned them to desist from determining forex rates which had contributed to the speculation of rates, thus, creating unnecessary panic in the market, contributing to the rapid depreciation of the local currency.
Members of the Association of Forex Bureau Operators commended the Bank of Ghana for its role in clamping down on illegal forex dealers, as they say it will bring some sanity in the sector and ensure only licensed forex operators deal in exchange transactions.
To this effect, the bank, on Thursday, revoked the licences of two forex bureaus in Accra for breaching provisions in the Forex Bureau Act.
The two companies – Trade House Forex Bureau Ltd and Aiport City Forex Bureau Ltd – which are under the same ownership, according to Head of Other Financial Institutions Supervision Department at the Bank of Ghana, Yaw Sapong, were not issuing electronic receipts and not taking identity cards of customers, a practice they have been previously cautioned about.
More than 10 million network subscribers, who have not completed Stage 2 of the SIM card registration exercise, will have their SIMs blocked effective today, October 31, 2022.
“All SIM Cards that have been linked to Ghana Cards (i.e. completed Stage 1 registration), but have not completed their Stage 2 registration will be blocked from the end of October.”
Stage 1 involves linking one’s SIM card(s) with the Ghana Card while Stage 2 requires subscribers to verify biometrically either on the Ghana SIM Registration App or at the registration centres.
Communications and Digitalisation Minister, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful explained that this is because “these good people have the Ghana card (and) have started the process and (therefore) will be encouraged to complete it with this gentle reminder.”
The release signed by the Minister also clarified that the grace period provided was not an extension of the deadline “but a temporary moratorium to encourage these individuals to complete the process.”
Details from the Ministry go to imply that individuals who have not commenced the process of registering their SIM cards, possibly due to the absence of a Ghana Card, the sole identification document for the exercise, won’t be affected on Monday.
However, the “other unregistered SIMs will also be blocked progressively,” the statement added.
People whose SIMs will be blocked will be unable to make or receive calls, as well as access data and SMS services, until they register their SIM cards in 6 months time.
The SIM re-registration exercise commenced in October 2021. From then to October 4, 2022, 28,959,006 SIM cards have been linked to Ghana Cards (Stage 1 registration); representing 67.28% of the 42,749,662 total SIM cards issued nationally.
A total of 18,930,664 SIM cards have been fully registered (completed both Stages 1 and 2), representing 44.28% of the total SIM cards issued. This equates to 69.64% of all Stage 1 registrations.
“13,720,687 unique Counts of Ghana cards have been issued so far for the registration exercise,” the Ministry revealed.
Nine people filed a lawsuit in response to this and asked the court to prevent the NCA from enforcing any punitive measures or sanctions, including deactivating, restricting, churning, and/or otherwise limiting their use of mobile phone SIMs and network services, until the case is resolved.
They argue that it would be unfair for SIMs to be blocked as the National Identification Authority (NIA) has been unable to issue out all Ghana cards to their respective holders.
The NIA has so far issued 15,826,148 Ghana cards out of the 16,627,325 printed cards from 17,109,627 registrations as of the end of August this year.
Hours after his much-awaited address to the nation on the economy, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is topped trends on social media platforms, particularly Twitter.
Most users of the micro-blogging app have taken a swipe at the president over what they say was his lack of concrete steps to alleviate the plight of Ghanaians bearing the brunt of economic hardship and also his failure to use the address to dismiss some of his appointees.
Others have also been comparing former President John Dramani Mahama’s October 27 address on the economy to Akufo-Addo’s.
Persons who are making the comparison believe former President Mahama’s address was much better than President Akufo-Addo’s who regurgitated past comments on the economy.
Akufo-Addo in his address admitted that the country was in crisis while rallying support for various government interventions to stem the tide.
“We are in a crisis, I do not exaggerate when I say so. I cannot find an example in history when so many malevolent forces have come together at the same time.
“But, as we have shown in other circumstances, we shall turn this crisis into an opportunity to resolve not just the short-term, urgent problems, but the long-term structural problems that have bedeviled our economy,” he said.
But like before, President Akufo-Addo blamed the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war as causative factors for the economic woes.
He also outlined measures adopted by the cabinet after its 3-day retreat to discuss measures relating to the economy.
The measures include the following:
1) enhanced supervisory action by the Bank of Ghana in the forex bureau markets and the black market to flush out illegal operators, as well as ensuring that those permitted to operate legally abide by the market rules. Already some forex bureaus have had their licenses revoked, and this exercise will continue until complete order is restored in the sector;
2) Fresh inflows of dollars are providing liquidity to the foreign exchange market, and addressing the pipeline demand;
3) the Bank of Ghana has given its full commitment to the commercial banks to provide liquidity to ensure the wheels of the economy continue to run in a stabilized manner, till the IMF Programme kicks in and the financing assurances expected from other partners also come in;
4) Government is working with the Bank of Ghana and the oil producing and mining companies to introduce a new legal and regulatory framework to ensure that all foreign exchange earned from operations in Ghana are, initially, paid to banks domiciled in Ghana to help boost the domestic foreign exchange market; and
5) the Bank of Ghana will enhance its gold purchase programme.
Below are some comments from Twitter:
You listen to Mahama speak on the economy and you listen to Nana Addo speak on the economy and you wonder who the real President is.
The Ministry of Finance has denied claims that the government’s current negotiations with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout have been difficult.
The government and the International Monetary Fund are currently negotiating a package to help the economy, according to renowned economist and senior statesman Kwame Pianim.
In an interview with Accra-based TV3, he claimed that President Akufo-Addo and his troubled Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, were primarily to blame for the current state of affairs.
The IMF, he said, was looking to Akufo-Addo to make a definitive pronouncement on the crisis. To own it and take critical steps to cure the issues before they come in with their support. Ofori-Atta’s continued stay in office despite removal calls, he added, was not helping issues.
“It is not going well, the negotiations. I know that. That is my business, to keep my ears open, I am a Ghanaian, and I am interested in the economy moving in the right direction.
“We have friends in Washington so what I am saying is that it is not going well,” he said
But, the ministry in a statement issued Sunday, October 30, said that such statements are false.
“These include: that the negotiations are not going well because the Fund does not see any seriousness on the part of the government; that the government does not have a programme for consideration by the IMF; that officials of the Fund have discovered inaccuracies in the macroeconomic figures presented by the government’s Economic Management Team.
“The allegation that the negotiations are not going well is categorically untrue. The IMF itself has on numerous occasions stated unequivocally that negotiations are progressing well, and affirmed that both parties are fully committed to reaching a deal as soon as feasible,” parts of the statement by the ministry read.
The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA)has issued an alert to Ghanaians about a weight loss product that has proven unsafe through testing.
The FDA has determined that, Ascot Diet weight loss products produced by the Ascot Diet Clinic, do not meet FDA approval standards and may cause severe side effects on patrons who use them.
“The FDA wishes to inform the public that Ascot Diet weight loss products, produced by the Ascot Diet Clinic have not been registered by the Authority and its use could cause severe allergic reactions..,” the FDA declared in a statement dated October 28, 2022.
Ascot Diet involves the use of injections, appetite suppressants, and a meal plan for weight loss.
According to the FDA, the use of such products could cause severe allergic reactions like “itching, hives, shortness of breath, wheezing, swelling of the tongue, throat, or mouth, stomach cramps, nausea.”
Consumers may also suffer from “diarrhoea, dizziness, or faintness due to the sudden boost in minerals and nutrients.”
The FDA has thus advised members of the public to desist from patronizing medicinal products that are not registered, as their safety, quality, and efficacy cannot be guaranteed.
The FDA warned that those who put such products on the market would face harsh penalties if discovered because “Sections 99 and 118 of the Public Health Act, 2012, Act 851 prohibit the importation and sale of unregistered products.”
Meanwhile, the FDA has encouraged everyone to work with the agency and report any unregistered regulated products on the market.
The FDA, an agency under the Ministry of Health, is mandated under the Public Health Act, Act 851 to provide and enforce standards for the sale of food, herbal medicinal products, cosmetics, drugs, medical devices, and household chemical substances.
In executing its responsibilities, the FDA has halted the provision of some products to the market.
In mid-October this year, the Authority warned the public about some two tainted sausage brands; AIA Wudy and Pavo, which reportedly contained listeria bacteria, which causes fever and diarrhoea.
The Authority also confiscated and destroyed some inferior and unapproved medications worth GH¢10 million on the market.
2,600 bottles of bynillin nicotine, 100 cartons of Postinor-2, a female oral contraceptive, cosmetics, medical equipment, Chinese herbal remedies, and certain aphrodisiacs were listed among the seized items.
He asserted that no one is untouched by the current economic crisis and that everyone must contribute to restoring some degree of stability to the economy as the cedi’s sustained devaluation further erodes investment assets and trust.
“All of us must contribute because as the cedi declines, our companies’ external value decreases.
To prevent destroying our assets every three to four years, we should all work to maintain stability, he stated.
He spoke during the 25th-anniversary lecture and dinner of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) in Accra and added that for an institution like PURC, its work is almost impossible without relative microeconomic stability.
The country is currently grappling with runaway inflation of more than 37 percent and rising as prices of basic commodities continue to spiral.
The cedi has also depreciated over 50 percent against the United States dollar, while public sector debt – expected to reach 104 percent of GDP by year-end, according to the World Bank – has been described as distressing by rating agencies.
Explaining how these macroeconomic indicators affect Ghanaians, Mr. Pianim said had the cedi been stable, for instance, the Teachers Fund – a retirement supplement and solidarity scheme for the Ghana National Association of Teachers – would now have been a billion-dollar investment.
Meanwhile, in a bid to restore economic stability, government has been engaging the International Monetary Fund on a bailout programme.
The mooted U$3billion balance of payment programme, if concluded, according to government, will put the economy back on the trajectory of growth.
Many analysts and economists, however, hold the view that IMF intervention will only provide temporary relief.
They believe that cutting down the size of government and non-capital public expenditure, efficient revenue mobilisation, transparent and value-for-money use of taxpayer’s funds, as well as a well-thought-out export strategy, could provide much more viable and enduring solutions.
Building a strong, independent PURC
The PURC regulates power and water utilities in the country.
“We need you to continue being strong, do the work the way it should be done and stand up for what you believe in,” Mr. Pianim, who served as PURC’s board chair between January 2003 and March 2008, further noted.
He warned that failure to do this could derail the gains that have been made and usher in another era of legacy debts.
He further charged the Commission to take measures that safeguard water quality, especially in the face of the galamsey menace.
“In two decades to come, water is going to be a scarce commodity in the world; countries will fight over water. Let us start protecting ours now.”
For his part, Board Chairman of the PURC, Ebo Quagrainie, noted the steps are being put in place to transform PURC into a modern-day utility regulator.
Among them are included enhancing transparency and accountability and the establishment of a Centre of Excellence in Public Utility Regulation.
The Centre – to be set up in partnership with the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, Mr. Quagrainie explains, will contribute to capacity building in the field of utility regulation on the continent when established.
The anniversary lecture and dinner was themed ‘25 Years of independent utility regulation in an emerging economy: Positioning PURC as a model of excellent utility regulation on the continent’.
It brought together past and current staff, former board members and industry experts to celebrate the Commission’s achievements and contributions since its establishment in 1997.
Participants included the Omanhene of Asante Asokore, Nana Susubribi Krobea Asante; Co-Founder and Executive Partner of Arthur Energy Advisors, Harriette Amissah-Arthur; Executive Director of Institute for Energy Policies and Research, Kwadwo Nsafoah Poku; and Board Chairman of United Bank for Africa (Ghana) Limited, Kweku Awotwi.
The President declared that Ghana’s economy is in crisis in a televised national address on October, 30, 2020 after rehashing the hardship of Ghanaians.
“For us, in Ghana, our reality is that our economy is in great difficulty. The budget drawn for the 2022 fiscal year has been thrown out of gear, disrupting our balance of payments and debt sustainability, and further exposing the structural weaknesses of our economy.
“We are in a crisis, I do not exaggerate when I say so. I cannot find an example in history when so many malevolent forces have come together at the same time,” he added.
“But, as we have shown in other circumstances, we shall turn this crisis into an opportunity to resolve not just the short-term, urgent problems, but the long-term structural problems that have bedeviled our economy.
“I urge us all to see the decision to go to the International Monetary Fund in this light,” he stressed.
Read the President’s full Address Below
ADDRESS TO THE NATION BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC, NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO, ON THE ECONOMY, ON SUNDAY, 30TH OCTOBER 2022.
Fellow Ghanaians, good evening.
Back in 2020, at the outbreak of the Corona virus pandemic, I started a regular conversation with you that came to be popularly known as Fellow Ghanaians.
It was a time of great fear of the unknown, and the entire world felt at risk. I came into your homes regularly to tell you what the experts were discovering about the virus, and what we should do.
Now that we have seen the worst of the COVID-19, I can tell you that there were moments during those times when I was distraught, there were moments when I was in despair about the apparent inadequacy of our health facilities, and there were moments when I wondered if the dire predictions made about dead bodies on our streets would truly happen.
But I knew that I owed it to all of us that, as your president, I had to hold my nerve, show leadership and take us out of the crisis. With your help and support, and the great mercies of the Almighty, we can say that we emerged from the ravages of the pandemic with one of the lowest mortality rates globally. In fact, Ghana’s handling of the pandemic won universal acclaim.
We could all see in real time the devastation that was being wreaked on economies during the pandemic, but I doubt that anyone imagined the extent of the damage. Our economy, here in Ghana, like many, many others around the globe, was thrown into turmoil.
When I said, at the height of the COVID pandemic, that we knew what to do to bring the economy back to life, but not how to bring people back to life, it was not said in jest. We had done it before, and we were on course to doing it again. Ghana’s economy grew by a remarkable 5.4% in 2021, signifying a strong recovery from the 0.5% growth recorded the previous year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, in the last quarter of 2021, our economy grew at seven percent (7%), only for the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the first quarter of this year to aggravate the effects of COVID-19, and plunge the global economy into even greater turmoil from which it has not yet recovered.
The whole world has been taken aback by the speed with which inflation has eaten away people’s incomes. Economies, big and small, have experienced, over this year alone, the highest rise in cost of living over a generation; the highest rise in government borrowing in over fifty (50) years; the highest rise in inflation for forty (40) years; the steepest depreciation in their currencies to the US dollar over the last thirty (30) years; the fastest peak in interest rates for over twenty (20) years; and the greatest threat of unemployment in peace time; with over a hundred million people being pushed into extreme poverty.
Between the end of 2019 and now, inflation in Ghana has increased by five-fold, in Togo by sixteen-fold, by eleven-fold in Senegal, and by seven-fold in Cote d’Ivoire. In truth, however, the fact that there are petrol queues in France does not make it more tolerable that the trotro price from Kasoa to Circle has doubled in the past one year, nor does it make it any more tolerable that the price of cooking oil goes up every other week.
It is important to state that mentioning the increases in prices worldwide is not meant to belittle the scope of suffering here, but simply to help us put things into some perspective, and, hopefully, learn some useful lessons about how other people are coping.
Fellow Ghanaians, this is why I am back in your homes this evening to ask for your support, as we work together to get our economy back into good shape.
In April, after the Cabinet retreat of the first quarter, and recognising the deteriorating macroeconomy, my government announced a thirty percent (30%) cut in budgetted discretionary expenditures, and a thirty percent (30%) cut in salaries of the President, Vice President, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, MMDCEs and political office holders, amongst other measures.
And, since July, when the Government took the difficult decision to go to the IMF to seek support, I have been speaking publicly at different fora on the subject of the economic difficulties we face, especially during my recent tours, so far, of nine (9) regions, and interacting directly with you, the Ghanaian people. It is also true that many of you have felt the need for me to come back to the Fellow Ghanaians format, that brings us all together.
For us, in Ghana, our reality is that our economy is in great difficulty. The budget drawn for the 2022 fiscal year has been thrown out of gear, disrupting our balance of payments and debt sustainability, and further exposing the structural weaknesses of our economy.
We are in a crisis, I do not exaggerate when I say so. I cannot find an example in history when so many malevolent forces have come together at the same time. But, as we have shown in other circumstances, we shall turn this crisis into an opportunity to resolve not just the short-term, urgent problems, but the long-term structural problems that have bedeviled our economy.
I urge us all to see the decision to go to the International Monetary Fund in this light. We have gone to the Fund to repair, in the short term, our public finances, and restore our balance of payments, whilst we continue to work on the medium to long-term structural changes that are at the heart of our goal of constructing a resilient, robust Ghanaian economy, and building a Ghana Beyond Aid.
I am able to report to you, my fellow Ghanaians, that the negotiations to secure a strong IMF Programme, which will support the implementation of our Post COVID-19 Programme for Economic Growth and additional funding to support the 2023 Budget and development programme, are at advanced stages, and are going well.
We are determined to secure these arrangements quickly to bring back confidence and relief to Ghanaians. We are working towards reaching a deal with the IMF by the end of the year. This will give further credence to the measures Government is taking to stabilize and grow the economy, as well as shore up our currency.
I know that the increasing cost of living is the number one concern for all of us. It is driven by fast escalating fuel prices at the pumps, which is caused by high crude oil prices on the world market and our depreciated currency. I know that this is putting intolerable pressure on families and businesses. I know that people are being driven to make choices they should not have to make, and I know that it has led to the devaluation of capital of traders and painfully accumulated savings. Furthermore, Government is working to secure reliable and regular sources of affordable petroleum products for the Ghanaian market. It is expected that this arrangement, when successful, coupled with a stable currency will halt the escalation of fuel prices and bring relief to us all.
I hear from the market queens also that another factor fueling the high prices is the high margins that some traders are slapping on goods, for fear of future higher costs. I say to our traders, we are all in this together. Please let us be measured in the margins we seek. I have great respect and admiration for the ingenuity and hard work of our traders, especially those that take on the distribution of foodstuffs around the country, and I would hesitate to join in calling them names. I do make a heartfelt appeal that we all keep an eye out for the greater good, and not try to make the utmost profits out of the current difficulties.
In language that every market woman and, indeed, every trader in our country understands, let me say that the basic problem we face is that we are not making as much money as we need to spend, and what little money we do make is going to pay for the debts we have contracted to fund the development projects we must have. Not enough of us are paying our taxes, not enough of us are producing to generate the revenues that we need.
Nevertheless, my ambitions for Ghana remain high. All our children should be educated and trained with skills that will enable us be competitive in the world. We need to close rapidly the infrastructure gap, we need to build a world-class healthcare system, and we need to build confidence in ourselves to make ours the happy and prosperous place it deserves to be.
I believe we can and we will find the means to achieve these goals, even if the immediate measures we have to take are painful.
At the just ended Cabinet Retreat at Peduase Lodge, my government agreed on the framework for the Post COVID-19 Programme for Economic Growth and the IMF support for its implementation, as well as the work being done by the Ministry of Finance in preparation for the 2023 budget. At the Cabinet Retreat, we took some firm decisions that should put us on the path that will take our nation out of the current economic difficulties. Let me try and give you an outline of the main decisions without getting into the technical language that baffles many of us.
To restore and sustain debt sustainability, we plan to reduce our total public debt to GDP ratio to some fifty-five percent (55%) in present value terms by 2028, with the servicing of our external debt pegged at not more than eighteen percent (18%) of our annual revenue also by 2028.
We are committed to improving the revenue collection effort, from the current tax-revenue to GDP ratio of thirteen (13%) to between eighteen and twenty percent (18-20%), to be competitive with our peers in the West Africa Region. The GRA is rolling out an extensive set of measures to support this enhanced revenue mobilisation. All of us must do our patriotic duty, and support the GRA in this exercise.
We are aiming to restore and sustain macroeconomic stability within the next three (3) to six (6) years, with a focus on ensuring debt sustainability to promote durable and inclusive growth while protecting the poor.
We have decided to review the reforms in the energy sector, capping of statutory funds, implementation of the exemptions Act and a new property rate regime. We have decided also to continue with the policy of thirty percent (30%) cut in the salaries of political office holders including the President, Vice President, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, MMDCEs, and SOE appointees in 2023, just as we will continue with the thirty percent (30%) cut in discretionary expenditures of Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
My fellow Ghanaians, the success of our efforts at diversifying the structure of the Ghanaian economy from an import-based one to a value-added exporting one is what will, in the long term, help strengthen our economy. We are making some progress with the 1D1F but our current situation requires that we take some more stringent measures to discourage the importation of goods that we can and do produce here.
To this end, we will review the standards required for imports into the country, prioritise the imports, as well as review the management of our foreign exchange reserves, in relation to imports of products such as rice, poultry, vegetable oil, tooth picks, pasta, fruit juice, bottled water and ceramic tiles, and others which, with intensified government support and that of the banking sector, can be manufactured and produced in sufficient quantities in Ghana. Government will, in May 2023, that is six (6) months from now, review the situation. We must, as a matter of urgent national security, reduce our dependence on imported goods, and enhance our self-reliance, as demanded by our overarching goal of creating a Ghana Beyond Aid.
Much as we believe in free trade, we must work to ensure that the majority of goods in our shops and market places are those we produce and grow here in Ghana. That is why we have to support our farmers and domestic industries, including those created under the 1-District-1-Factory initiative, to help reduce our dependence on imports, and allow us the opportunity to export more and more of our products, and guarantee a stable currency that will present a high level of predictability for citizens and the business community. Exports, not imports, must be our mantra! Accra, after all, hosts the headquarters of the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Fellow Ghanaians, as the French would say, l’argent n’aime pas le bruit, to wit, money does not like noise, sika mpɛ dede. Where there is chaos, where there is noise, where there is unrest, you will not find money. If you talk down your money, it will go down. If you allow some unidentifiable person to talk down your money, it will go down.
The recent turbulence on the financial markets was caused by low inflows of foreign exchange, and was made worse in the last two to three weeks, in particular, by the activities of speculators and the Black Market. An anonymous two-minute audio message on a WhatsApp platform predicting a so-called haircut on Government bonds sent all of us into banks and forex bureaus to dump our cedis, and, before we knew it, the cedi had depreciated further. All of us can play a part in helping to strengthen the cedi by having confidence in the currency, and avoiding speculation. Let us keep our cedi as the good store of value it is. To those who make it a habit of publishing falsehoods, which result in panic in the system, I say to them that the relevant state agencies will act against such persons.
Indeed, some steps have been taken to restore order in the forex markets and we are already beginning to see some calm returning. We will not relent until order is completely restored. The following actions have been taken thus far:
1) enhanced supervisory action by the Bank of Ghana in the forex bureau markets and the black market to flush out illegal operators, as well as ensuring that those permitted to operate legally abide by the market rules. Already some forex bureaus have had their licenses revoked, and this exercise will continue until complete order is restored in the sector;
2) Fresh inflows of dollars are providing liquidity to the foreign exchange market, and addressing the pipeline demand;
3) the Bank of Ghana has given its full commitment to the commercial banks to provide liquidity to ensure the wheels of the economy continue to run in a stabilized manner, till the IMF Programme kicks in and the financing assurances expected from other partners also come in;
4) Government is working with the Bank of Ghana and the oil producing and mining companies to introduce a new legal and regulatory framework to ensure that all foreign exchange earned from operations in Ghana are, initially, paid to banks domiciled in Ghana to help boost the domestic foreign exchange market; and
5) the Bank of Ghana will enhance its gold purchase programme.
I am confident that these immediate measures designed to change the structure of our balance of payment flows, sanitise the foreign exchange market to ensure that the banks and forex bureaus operate along international best practices, together with strengthened supervision, will go a long way to sanitize our foreign exchange market, and make it more resilient against external vulnerabilities going forward.
Over the course of this week, I have held several fruitful engagements with the Trades Union Congress and Organised Labour, the Ghana Employers’ Association, the Association of Ghana Industries, the Ghana Association of Banks, the Private Enterprise Federation, the Association of Forex Bureau Operators, the Association of Market Queens and Women, all of whom represent important stakeholders of the Ghanaian economy. They expressed their concerns and proposed solutions on how best to solve our problems. I have been encouraged by the enthusiasm of these interest groups to help Government address these challenges, and I intend to continue these engagements with other groups.
I also want to assure all Ghanaians that no individual or institutional investor, including pension funds, in Government treasury bills or instruments will lose their money, as a result of our ongoing IMF negotiations. There will be no “haircuts”, so I urge all of you to ignore the false rumours, just as, in the banking sector clean-up, Government ensured that the 4.6 million depositors affected by the exercise did not lose their deposits.
Anuanom, menim sɛɛ asetenamu ayɛ din. Nanso, ma obiaa empa aba, monkͻso enya gyidie ɛwͻ mabam mu. Nhyehyɛ yɛ aa ɛtumi maa Free SHS ɛni 1-District-1-Factory ɛbaa mu nu; nhyehyɛ yɛ aa ɛboaa ma yetumi pam corona yariɛ no efri oman ni mu; saa ɛnso na maban ɛ toto niemayie saa mereyi ama ahotͻ aba oman nimu, efri sɛɛ mewͻ gydie sɛɛ ɛko no yɛ Awurade Nyankopͻn ni ko.
Anyɛmimɛi, mile akɛ nibii ewa, shi nyɛ ka shia gbeye. Nyɛ yaanͻ ni nyɛ naa hemͻ kɛ yeli akɛ gbɛjianͻto ni hani free SHS ba min, gbɛjia nͻto ni hani 1-District-1-Factory ba min, gbɛjianͻto ni hani wͻ nyɛ wͻ shwe Corona hela kɛshi wͻ man nɛ min; nakai nͻͻ ni mi amlalo ba to gbɛjianͻ koni hejͻlɛ aba maa min, ejaakɛ, miyɛ hemͻ kɛ yeli ak3, ta, Nyͻnmͻ ta lɛ ni.
My government has always been cognisant of the importance of implementing policies and social interventions to relieve Ghanaians of hardships. It is for this reason that over the first five (5) years in office government reduced electricity tariffs cumulatively by 10.9%, we provided free water and electricity as well as reduced tariffs for the entire population during a whole year of the COVID-19 pandemic; we increased the share of the District Assemblies Common Fund to persons with disabilities by 50%; we exempted Kayayei from market tolls; we expanded the LEAP by one hundred and fifty thousand (150,000) beneficiaries; we expanded School Feeding from 1.6 million children to 2.1 million children; we restored teacher and nursing training allowances; we absorbed the cost of BECE and WASSCE exam registrations for parents; no guarantor is now required to obtain student loans. The Ghanacard is sufficient; and we have implemented free TVET as well as free senior high school education.
It is obvious, fellow Ghanaians, that you have a government that cares. We are determined to restore stability to the economy, and provide relief. We are all in this together, and I am asking for your support to rescue Ghana from the throes of this economic crisis.
I have total confidence in our ability to work our way out of our current difficulties. We are not afraid of hard work. We will triumph, as we have triumphed many times before. Let us unite, and rally around our Republic, its institutions and its democratic values, and insist that, under God, we will emerge victorious from our current difficulties. For this too shall pass, as the Battle is the Lord’s.
I will be coming regularly to keep you updated about the measures your government is making to move our country forward, and tackle our economic challenges.
God bless us all and our homeland Ghana, and make her great and strong.
I thank you for your attention, and have a good evening.
In light of the crucial role that small businesses play in economic development, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has reiterated its commitment to supporting them, particularly those that are owned and run by women.
The BoG has incorporated gender equality into the design and implementation of the financial and payments ecosystem framework, according to second deputy governor Elsie Addo Awadzi. She noted that the bank is acutely aware of the contribution that this sector makes to the economy and the significance of technology in facilitating its growth.
Speaking at the Standard Chartered Digital Banking, Innovation and Fintech Festival 2022, Mrs. Awadzi enlisted the help of important stakeholders to raise awareness of the opportunities offered by technology for women-led businesses.
“The BoG has implemented clear policies to regulate and support the growth of technology-enabled financial and payment ecosystems in furtherance of the financial inclusion and digitalisation agenda of government.
The Bank has done this while mindful of the existing gender gap issues… We recognise that greater awareness is needed to effectively facilitate utilisation of the opportunities presented, and we count on greater collaboration from key stakeholders to create the necessary awareness,” she said.
Her remarks come in the wake of a mixed bag of progress in the push toward gender parity in the application of digital financial solutions.
For the third consecutive year, Ghana (37.2 percent) is ranked behind only Botswana (38.5 percent) and Uganda (38.4 percent) in the 2021 Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE) as nations with the highest proportion of women entrepreneurs globally.
However, the expansion of women-owned businesses has been stifled – as in many cases they lack properly coordinated support, access to affordable long-term credit, and are confronted with insufficient access to new technologies.
While stating that the BoG will continue to throw its weight behind bold initiatives such as the Standard Chartered Bank’s Women in Technology (WIT) Business Incubator Programme, the Second Deputy-Governor threw down the gauntlet before innovators – asking them to be intentional in providing solutions to enhance women-inclined businesses.
“I challenge innovators to begin thinking-up solutions targetted at supporting women-led businesses. Our efforts at improving societal welfare by creating a more inclusive society will not be achieved if we fail to address the challenges of women with the potent tool of technology,” she stated.
“We are committed to further enhancing the already deep relationship between our two countries, and an important part of it is to do our bit to help make Ghana a leader in digitalisation in the region,” she said.
Amid the push for more women’s participation in the digital financial space, she added, there is need for a long-term strategy that prioritises education in Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) for girls.
“That is where it all starts; we need to lay the right foundation from that early age to make it possible for women to tap into the enormous opportunities which the adoption of technology offers,” High Commissioner Thompson stated.
She added that gender parity in the world of work transcends fundamental human rights, as it the bedrock of a prosperous modern economy that provides sustainable growth – while calling for enhanced sensitisation “to ensure that even women in the most remote parts of the country are able to access technology and have a chance to implement it to enrich their businesses and contribute to economic development”.
The Chairman of Standard Chartered’s Board of Directors, Dr. Emmanuel Kumah, in his remarks said the bank will remain at the forefront of supporting big and small businesses, especially the women-inclined ones, in the face of rapidly changing technological advancements.
“Female entrepreneurs face many obstacles and structural inequities that prevent them from scaling their businesses… Standard Chartered will continue to chart the journey toward digitalisation and self-disruption in Africa, while making it a priority to harness technology and at the same time champion the next generation of entrepreneurs in Ghana and across the continent,” he added.
As of the middle of 2022, 58 percent of entrepreneurs in Africa are women – and they contribute between US$250billion and US$300billion to the continent’s economy (13 percent) for its Gross Domestic Product, according to the World Economic Forum.
The GACL must provide justification for any proposed increase in the Airport Passenger Service Charge (APSC) and reassure Parliament that any additional funds won’t be used for other purposes, according to Kwame Governs Agbodza, Ranking Member of the Select Committee on Roads and Transport of Parliament.
The GHC 5 APSC now levied against each passenger on all domestic routes is being sought to be increased by the GACL, a state-owned limited liability company in charge of administering all airports in the nation that are funded by the public purse.
According to the corporation, the planned increase will allow them to maintain current domestic airports and brand-new terminal structures that will soon be opened in Tamale and Kumasi.
Their proposal is expected to be submitted to the Parliamentary Select Committee on Transport in due course.
However, Mr. Agbodza says he will only support any such increase if the “GACL come out with the real cost of their operations, identify the cause/ causes of their cash flow and tell us what the additional money will be used for.”
“In recent times, we have seen many state agencies simply go and collateralise expected incomes and misuse them. I can’t support that,” Mr. Agbodza told AviationGhana.
The Ranking Member of Parliament’s Select Committee on Roads and Transport, Kwame Governs Agbodza, advised the GACL to be more innovative in raising funds to sustain the operations of domestic airports without recourse to the government.
President Akufo-Addo has formally admitted that Ghana is currently facing an economic crisis which has exposed the weakness of the economy.
However, the President on Sunday, October 30, noted that the government has been able to pinpoint the causative agents disrupting its balance of payments and debt sustainability. “We are in a crisis, I do not exaggerate when I say so.
I cannot find an example in history when so many malevolent forces have come together at the same time,” he said. “But, as we have shown in other circumstances, we shall turn this crisis into an opportunity to resolve not just the short-term, urgent problems, but the long-term structural problems that have bedeviled our economy,” the President added.
He listed some five measures his government would be implementing to turn around the adverse impact the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing Russia and Ukraine war has had on the economy. President Akufo-Addo stated that the pandemic exposed government’s inability to effectively cushion Ghanaians against a crisis, therefore, his administration will be “improving the revenue collection effort, from the current tax-revenue to GDP ratio of thirteen (13%) to between eighteen and twenty percent (18-20%)”.
This, he believes will enable Ghana to be competitive with its peers in the West Africa Region that have been able to provide for its citizenry during tough times. “The GRA is rolling out an extensive set of measures to support this enhanced revenue mobilisation.
All of us must do our patriotic duty, and support the GRA in this exercise,” he implored. Due to the lack of funds to mitigate the effects of increased fuel prices that has been worsened by the geopolitical war, government has had to borrow to provide to the ordinary Ghanaian.
This has worsened Ghana’s debt sustainability. To mitigate this, the President disclosed that the government will “reduce our total public debt to GDP ratio to some fifty-five percent (55%) in present value terms by 2028, with the servicing of our external debt pegged at not more than eighteen percent (18%) of our annual revenue also by 2028.”
The President is hopeful of restoring and sustaining macroeconomic stability within the next three to six years, with a focus on ensuring debt sustainability to promote durable and inclusive growth while protecting the poor.
Also, the President added that his administration will among other things, review the reforms in the energy sector, capping of statutory funds, implementation of the exemptions Act and a new property rate regime.
According to him, the government has again decided also to continue with the policy of thirty percent (30%) cut in the salaries of political office holders including the President, Vice President, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, MMDCEs, and SOE appointees in 2023, just as it will continue with the thirty percent (30%) cut in discretionary expenditures of Ministries, Departments and Agencies. Economists and financial experts have been bemoaned the current state of the economy which is import driven.
The President mentioned that this has had a toll on the growth of the economy, in view of this has decided to check the country’s high importation. “We will review the standards required for imports into the country, prioritise the imports, as well as review the management of our foreign exchange reserves, in relation to imports of products such as rice, poultry, vegetable oil, tooth picks, pasta, fruit juice, bottled water and ceramic tiles, and others which, with intensified government support and that of the banking sector, can be manufactured and produced in sufficient quantities in Ghana.
Government will, in May 2023, that is six months from now, review the situation,” the President added. President Akufo-Addo stressed although his government believes in free trade, it must work to ensure that the majority of goods in the shops and marketplaces are those are produced and grown here in Ghana. Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo has not ruled out the role of the International Monetary Fund in the recovery of the economy.
He noted that the economic management team is working towards reaching a deal with the IMF by the end of the year. “This will give further credence to the measures Government is taking to stabilize and grow the economy, as well as shore up our currency,” he confirmed.
The government on Sunday unveiled a broad set of initiatives to slow the rise in living expenses, particularly those for food and fuel, and to revive the flagging economic growth of the nation.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo optimistically presented a slew of new steps in a televised national address to update the people on the economy. He said that these measures will slow the pace of the current economic decline.
These measures include increasing revenue collection from the existing tax revenue to GDP ratio of 13% to between 18% and 20%, reviewing the energy sector changes, capping statutory funds, putting the exclusions Act into effect, and implementing a new property rate system.
The plan also targets a reduction of total public debt to GDP ration to some 55 per cent by 2028, with the servicing of external debt pegged at not more than 18% of the country’s annual revenue also by 2028.
It would also prioritize imports, as well as review the management of foreign exchange reserves, in relation to imports of products such as rice, poultry, vegetable oil, toothpicks, pasta, fruit juice, bottled water and ceramic tiles, and others which, with intensified government support and that of the banking sector, can be manufactured and produced in sufficient quantities in Ghana.
The measures also seek to sanitise the foreign exchange market to ensure that banks and forex bureaus operate along international best practices, to make the market more resilient against external vulnerabilities.
Those measures were adopted after a cabinet retreat that was necessitated by soaring food prices, steep depreciation of the Cedi, and the rising cost of fuel, sparking public outcry for an improved economy.
Following those economic shocks, the government has applied for three-billion-dollar support programme from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to enable Ghana deal with balance of payment, stem the depreciation of the Cedi and generally help stabilize the economy and put it back on a firm trajectory of growth.
He said the arrangement, when successful, coupled with a stable currency would halt the escalation of fuel prices and “bring relief to us all.”
The President also called on Ghanaians to patronize goods and produce made in Ghana to reduce imports which would subsequently bring down the pressure on the Cedi.
“We must work to ensure that the majority of goods in our shops and market places are those we produce and grow here in Ghana. That is why we have to support our farmers and domestic industries, including those created under the 1-District-1-Factory initiative, to help reduce our dependence on imports, and allow us the opportunity to export more and more of our products, and guarantee a stable currency that will present a high level of predictability for citizens and the business community.
“We must, as a matter of urgent national security, reduce our dependence on imported goods, and enhance our self-reliance, as demanded by our overarching goal of creating a Ghana Beyond Aid,” he stressed.
President Akufo-Addo made a passionate appeal to market women and traders to stop the arbitrary increase of the prices of foodstuff and goods for fear of future higher cost.
“I hear from the market queens also that another factor fueling the high prices is the high margins that some traders are slapping on goods, for fear of future higher costs. I say to our traders, we are all in this together. Please let us be measured in the margins we seek.
“I have great respect and admiration for the ingenuity and hard work of our traders, especially those that take on the distribution of foodstuffs around the country, and I would hesitate to join in calling them names. I do make a heartfelt appeal that we all keep an eye out for the greater good, and not try to make the utmost profits out of the current difficulties,” he requested.
The President also warned that the organs of State would rein in speculators, whose false narratives on social media, predicting a reduction in the interest to be gained on their investments in Government bonds and treasury bills, had led to the further deprecation of the Cedi.
“All of us can play a part in helping to strengthen the cedi by having confidence in the currency and avoiding speculation. Let us keep our cedi as the good store of value it is.
“To those who make it a habit of publishing falsehoods, which result in panic in the system, I say to them that the relevant state agencies will act against such persons,” he cautioned.
“I also want to assure all Ghanaians that no individual or institutional investor, including pension funds, in the Government treasury bills or instruments will lose their money, as a result of our ongoing IMF negotiations.
“There will be no “haircuts”, so I urge all of you to ignore the false rumours, just as, in the banking sector clean-up, the Government ensured that the 4.6 million depositors affected by the exercise did not lose their deposits,” he assured.
The President urged all and sundry to lend support to the reforms that the Government would be implementing on the long to short term, to put the nation’s economic health on an even keel.
It is obvious, fellow Ghanaians, that you have a government who cares. We are determined to restore stability to the economy and provide relief. We are all in this together, and I am asking for your support to rescue Ghana from the throes of this economic crisis.
“I believe we can, and we will find the means to achieve these goals, even if the immediate measures we have to take are painful.
“I have total confidence in our ability to work our way out of our current difficulties. We are not afraid of hard work. We will triumph, as we have triumphed many times before. Let us unite, and rally around our Republic, its institutions and its democratic values, and insist that, under God, we will emerge victorious from our current difficulties. For this too shall pass, as the Battle is the Lord’s,” he said.
Halloween entertainment is serving major nostalgia this year, with some of our favorite spooky classics being remade, or better yet, getting a sequel.
Check out these holiday classics that will certainly leave you a little frightened.
The Sanderson Sisters are back! “Hocus Pocus 2” brings back Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy as your favorite witches to get you ready for Halloween. The original film came out in 1993 and immediately became a family classic set.
The movie is streaming on Disney+.
“Tell me your name, I’ll tell you mine.” Let’s take it back to one of the best scary movies ever made. It’s a deadly game and one masked man is wreaking havoc all over town. The film, made in 1996, stars Drew Barrymore, David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and Rose McGowan.
You can stream “Scream” on Paramount Plus.
Forty-four years and 13 movies later, “Halloween Ends” is back to give you a fright. It is said to be the end of this latest trilogy in the franchise, featuring Jamie Lee Curtis, who starred in the original “Halloween” in 1978. The movie tells the story of a man named Michael Myers who escapes an insane asylum. He’s on the hunt to kill his sister, played by Curtis, and brutally murders everyone in his path.
The movie is in theaters Friday.
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!!! Forget the scaries and insert some giggles. “Beetlejuice” has been a fan favorite since its debut in 1988. Starring Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice, it tells the story of a dead couple who haunt their house and the new people living in it. The movies also stars Alec Baldwin, Winona Ryder and Geena Davis.
“Beetlejuice” is streaming on HBO Max.
“Hellraiser” is said to be a “reimagining” of Clive Barker’s 1987 horror film. CNN’s film critic, Brian Lowry says in his review that the film tells the story of a young woman, Riley (Odessa A’zion of Netflix’s “Grand Army”), who is “struggling with addiction and winds up stealing from the wrong storage facility, thrusting her and those around her (including her brother) into peril and creating incentive for her to decipher what might be happening.”
The film is streaming on Hulu.
Who doesn’t love a Brad Pitt movie?! Throw in Tom Cruise, Kirsten Dunst, Christian Slater, some vampires and you’ve got yourself a Halloween cult classic. Adapted from Anne Rice’s novel, it tells the story of how two vampires, played by Pitt and Cruise, turn Dunst’s character into a vampire.
It received Oscar nominations and has lived on to haunt movie watchers ever since.
The film is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
In “Practical Magic,” Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman play two sisters who have always known they were different because they are witches. Their aunts raised them and taught them magic but they grow up to learn that they are cursed. Every man they fall in love with ends up dying a tragic death. They must use their powers to try and break this curse once and for all and find their one true love.
The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) and the Concerned Drivers Association have both announced that they will be raising transportation prices starting today, Saturday, October 29, 2022.
The Concerned Drivers Association announced a 30 percent augmentation while the GPRTU announced a 19 percent increase in transportation costs.
According to the unions, the rise was required by the rising cost of leaving the nation, the depreciation of the Ghana Cedi, and the rising prices of petroleum items.
Even though the new fares are to kick on October 29, some drivers started charging them immediately after the increases were announced.
The increase in transport fares did not sit well with many Ghanaians because many Ghanaians are already feeling the brunt of the economic hardship in the country.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is reported to have met the associations to come to some compromise but it is not certain whether the meeting had any effect on the proposed increases.
Below is a list of transport fares Ghanaians will be paying in Greater Accra:
Katy Perryhad been performing during her “Play Las Vegas” residency on Sunday evening, when her eye began to visibly twitch, much like a doll. She tried to fix it as her right eye remained open.
Perry shared a video of the on stage moment on Instagram, writing alongside a video, “Welcoming all my #flatearthers #spaceisfakers #birdsarentrealers #skyisntbluers to come see my broken doll eye party trick IRL in Vegas next year!.”
Telling fans what they can expect, the Grammy-nominated artist continued, “The show’s set list is a fun through memory lane going all the way back to 2008, a time when we weren’t all frozen by the paranoia of our own echo chambers!.”
She continued: “This show is a nonstop party about finding unconditional love and strangely (for me) not political at all, heck I pour beer out of my tits (that’s a party trick too… I don’t actually lactate hops silly goose!) Hope to sing along with you in 2023! And we’ll drink, this one’s on me, cause we’re all #chainedtothealgorithm #therealproblemlolhaha.”
People had fun in the comment section, with one replying, “So ur telling me ur not a robot, a real life doll, or in the Illuminati???”
Boakye Agyarko, a former minister of energy, has declared that he will turn down any offer from President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to succeed Ken Ofori-Atta in the position of finance minister.
Boakye Agyarko indicated that he would decline the offer in an interview with Peace FM that GhanaWeb was listening to since the president had previously said that Akufo-Addo and he couldn’t work together.
He also hinted that he saw no reason to return to a failing government.
“The president told me before he sacked me that he could not collaborate with me once more.
He informed me of this by sending the Chief of Staff.
“He (the President) said he cannot work with me and I accepted it. Now, I’m sitting in my own corner thinking about myself.
“I was in a frying pan but I did not fall into the fire because of God’s protection. I didn’t fall into the fire; I fell on the side of the fire. What reasons can you give to convince me to go back into the frying pan?” he said in Twi.
Disneyfinally has its first young plus-size heroine, and fans across the internet are elated.
“Reflect” is a short film now on Disney+ about a young ballet dancer named Bianca who struggles with her body image. Though the film was first released on the platform in September as a part of the studio’s Short Circuit Experimental Films series, many social media users are now celebrating “Reflect” as a win for representation among young girls.
“16 year old me needed this Disney shortbefore I quit ballet because I didn’t want to be the fat girl in class anymore,” one user on Twitter said. “I’m glad little ones will have this. 10/10 for Reflect!”
“I don’t think y’all comprehend, this is my Ariel,” a TikTok user said in a video, captioned “(Disney+) you really got me in my feelings.”
Disney did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment.
Body positivity is something director Hillary Bradfield strongly believes in, she said in an interview featured at the start of the short. Making the film from the perspective of a dancer, she explained, felt natural.
“It’s a part of the craft to be looking at your posture and checking things in the mirror, so it just seemed like a really good way to put her in that environment where she has to look at herself and she doesn’t want to,” Bradfield said.
In the short, Bianca is able to overcome her negative feelings and dance freely. But body positivity and self-acceptance can be easier said than done, Bradfield said.
“When people watch the short, I hope that they can feel more positively about themselves and how they look, and feel okay about the tough parts of their journey,” Bradfield said. “Sometimes you go to the dark place to get to the good place. And that just makes the good place that much more beautiful.”
Disney has made multiple steps in recent years to improve the diversity of its characters in its animated films. Earlier this year, the show “Baymax,” a spin-off from “Big Hero 6” featured a transgender character. In 2020, Disney’s Pixar released its first animated feature starring a Black character, with “Soul.”
These recent depictions are a departure from those seen in many of the company’s prior movies. The Disney/Pixar film “Wall-E,” released in 2008, negatively portrayed obesity in humans as synonymous with environmental destruction – a lazy depiction that lacked nuance, according to some critics.
According to Dr. Samuel Nkumbaan, this is the best method to ensure that the UGSRC elections are conducted in peace.
On Tuesday, October 25, 2022, Samuel Nkumbaan said during a segment of our morning program Campus Exclusive that candidates and students should respect the Electoral Commission because it is their responsibility to ensure the smooth running of the SRC election.
“The students respect the institution, respect the EC, be confident in the EC and the processes that they themselves have agreed to in the conduct of this very election. So, we are holding them to task to ensure that there is peace during and after the elections.”
“We call on the students to be vicarious in the way they act to what is happening, we expect that nothing at all will happen.
“We encourage the students to behave themselves in a manner that is representative of the institution in which they find themselves and so we’re hoping that this will not be one of those types we’ve seen in the past elections. He stated.
“For me, the expectations generally will be that it will be something peaceful that is for the benefits of the university by way of management of the institution.
“Of course, the student leadership is a critical part of the governance structure of the university and the best is usually that which we are looking for the interest of ensuring that the environment is conducive for teaching and learning.
“So, we are looking forward to a peaceful election, you would agree that over the last couple of years student elections on campus have not been that peaceful some have violent reactions and destruction of property, we do not expect that will happen again and have learnt our lessons from those past occurrences.” He mentioned
Samuel Nkumbaan further added that using the online system to vote is a good process to start with. This he says is something the university should explore in the future to avoid the human contact that sometimes comes with violence.
“Online elections are the best in terms of the fact that you don’t have the human-to-human encounter. However, we also have to be decorum in terms of who is writing the script.
“For me, it is a good process to start with, and then even the UTAG General elections that we held the last time, that was what we used, and everybody was satisfied with the outcome.
“I think that going forward, it may be something to explore. And it may even be possible to get it out of the absolute hands of students and then let some neutral body operate the systems, for example, our UGCS staff can be tasked alongside the SRC Electoral Commission to develop the system that allows for everybody to have confidence in the online system and avoid the one-to-one contact, which usually will bring about disagreements when it was physical voting.” He indicated.
Students of the University of Ghana are set to go to the polls to elect new executive to man the affairs of the Student Representative Council on November 1, 2022.
This was after the University of Ghana SRC EC and the University of Ghana Computing systems annulled the previous elections held on October 25, 2022 where some students were not able to cast their vote because the majority complained of not receiving their codes.
The election was therefore moved to November 1, 2022 to allow UGCS send codes to all students and resolve any complaints that might come thereafter.
The University of Ghana Student Representative Council (UGSRC) is using the online mode of voting in this year’s elections.
Five Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates are vying for the Presidency. They are Curtis Owusu Akomeh and Linda Ackah Mensah, Martin Boakye and Abraham Lincoln, Samuel Ackom and Ramzy Ahmed, Graham Oduro Dery and Benedict Paakwesi Bortsie and Noah Wumborbi and Kojo Ambrose.
Diana Ohene Bemah, Vida Minta, Ernestina Mahama, and Emmanuella Boakye Yiadom are contesting for the General Secretary portfolio.
The treasurer portfolio is contested by Micheal Kuti and Edward Owusu Boateng.
“Lift Me Up” from the “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” soundtrack was released Friday. The song is already a hit with her faithful fan base, known as Rihanna’s Navy.
The singer teased the release of the song on Wednesday. Within an hour of her posting the 14-second teaser, there were more than 70,000 tweets generated about it, according to Twitter.
The new song begins with Rihanna humming the melody before she launches into the emotional lyrics.
“Lift me up/Hold me down/Keep me close/Safe and sound,” she sings. “Burning in a hopeless dream/Hold me when you go to sleep/Keep me in the warmth of your love when you depart/Keep me safe, safe and sound.”
Rihanna also debuted a moving music video for the song on Friday, featuring scenes from the movie.
The song was written by Rihanna, fellow artist Tems, Oscar winner Ludwig Göransson and “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler as a tribute to the late “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman.
Boseman died in 2020 at age 43 following a private battle with colon cancer.
There is already plenty of reaction to the song on social media, including one person who threw in a hopeful prediction by tweeting, “just finished listening to rihanna’s future oscar winning song lift me up.”
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – Music From and Inspired By” will be released on November 4 and the film hits theaters a week later.
The year was 2016, and Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia was the vice presidential candidate at the time.
Dr. Bawumia was everywhere, criticizing the Mahama government in forums and economic lectures while also presenting what at the time seemed to be specially crafted answers to the economic problems the Mahama government was currently facing.
The reintroduction of Ghana to the IMF in 2016 was one of the many topics on which Bawumia displayed his alleged better economic understanding.
In a video that has been making the rounds on social media, the man christened ‘Economic Messiah’ broke down the various issues that culminated in Ghana seeking help from the IMF once more.
He said, “This is how we ended up in the IMF. We were spending too much relative to the revenue which is true. We were borrowing too much which is true. Your external payment position has deteriorated, which is true and your growth is reducing so you ended up at the IMF and the IMF will impose certain conditions which are true, and if you don’t do certain things right the anchor will not hold which is also true. So, I’m not quite sure what it is which is not true what I said. The supporters of this government and this government itself are reluctant to accept.”
Six years on, Bawumia has ascended to the role of Vice President and his government has choked on its own puke by returning the IMF.
The move became necessary after Ghana was unable to access funds from the international market. Ghana’s debt has become unsustainable amid rapid inflation and the free fall of the Ghana cedi.
The country is expecting to receive about $3 billion dollars from the IMF to shore up its reserves and boost investor confidence.
In response to a letter from the World Bank requesting an audit report from the Finance Ministry about the Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project, the Ministry of Education has released a statement (GALOP).
The ministry stated that there is no requirement with regard to the GALOP audit report due in 2021.
The Ghana Audit Service is in charge of the audit of GALOP, the Ministry stated in a release dated October 30, 2022.
“The audit’s completion took longer than expected. The report has been completed and submitted, albeit, since the World Bank’s notification.
The World Bank has acknowledged receiving it, it was added.
BACKGROUND
The international financial institution, World Bank, has threatened to initiate legal action against the government of Ghana within 30 days if it fails to submit audited financial statements on the Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project (GALOP).
Pierre Laporte, the World Country Director to Ghana, in an October 21 letter addressed to Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta expressed concerns over the delays of the audit statement within the stipulated six months after the end of one fiscal year per the financial agreement between the International Development Association and Ghana.
Owing to the fact that the submission of the statement is four months overdue, the World Bank says it will explore the “possibility of exercising the appropriate legal remedies under the Financing Agreement” against the government.
“In accordance with Section 5.09(b)(ii) of the General Conditions incorporated by reference in the Financing Agreement and as specified in paragraph II (ii) of the Disbursement and Financial Information Letter (DFIL), the Recipient is required to furnish the audited financial statements covering the period of one fiscal year of the Recipient no later than six (6) months after the end of such period. We note that as of today, October 18, 2022, the Association has not received the audited financial statements for the year ending December 2021 in compliance with the General Conditions.
“The Association is concerned that it is almost ten (10) months after the year ended and an independent audit report on the use of funds has still not been furnished to the Association.
“Given that the audited financial statements are now four (4) months overdue, and with the Audit Compliance Guidance, we write to inform you that unless you come into compliance within the next thirty (30) days from the date of this letter, the Association may have no option than to explore the possibility of exercising the appropriate legal remedies under the Financing Agreement,” part of the letter read.
Pierre Laporte has consequently requested Ofori-Atta to attend to the brewing matter in order for the audit requirement to be adhered to.
“We trust that your personal and immediate attention to this matter will ensure speedy compliance with the audit requirements referred to above,” the letter said in part.
Adutwum and GALOP training brouhaha
Education Minister Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum in May this year was allegedly caught up in an alleged phantom training exercise for over 40,000 teachers on the digital literacy platform under GALOP for which World Bank had given $1.2 million.
This came to light after then Director General of the Ghana Education Service (GES) Prof Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, in a March 30, 2022 letter to the Education Minister said GES was “unaware that any such training has taken place” and further asked him “to advice and provide direction to enable the GES to respond appropriately to the inquiries from the World Bank”.
According to a myjoyonline.com report, the World Bank has written to the then GES D-G after Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum failed to respond by the close of January 14, 2022, on queries into whether or not the training had taken place and claims by Chief Director at the Education Ministry, Benjamin Gyasi, that it has “exceeded the target of 40,000 teachers to be trained, insisting PBC7.2B has been achieved.”
But responding to concerns that the minister had submitted a fictitious report on the training, Press Secretary of MoE, Felix A Baidoo, in a statement flatly denied it claiming it was a smear campaign against the minister.
“Unfortunately, however, it is now clearer than before that those behind such character assassinating reports are deliberately embarking on a vicious smear campaign project against the patriotic, selfless, and hardworking Minister of Education, Dr. Osei Adutwum, for reasons best known to themselves,” it said.
On October 27, 2022, the RS Amegashie Auditorium at the University of Ghana hosted the competition’s beginning and preliminary rounds.
The University of Ghana (Propane), Ghana Communication Technology University (Butane), and Tamale Technical University (Methane) were three of the 12 participating institutions that made up Zone 1 of the competition, and they competed for a berth in the first semi-final.
Throughout the contest, Team Propane from the University of Ghana held on to their impressive start to win the contest and book their semi-final berth with 66 points.
A last-minute charge by Team Methane of Ghana Communication Technology University was enough for second place with 48 points.
A derail in their hot start saw Team Butane finish third on the day with 42 points.
Daniel Dzanie, one of the winners shared their excitement with Univers News, saying they are poised to win the 3rd edition of the contest.
“Well, we’ve been able to effectively identify our portholes and all our deficiencies and we seek to correct all those things to ensure the mistakes we’ve made in the past will not be repeated. This year by the grace of God we seek to win the Ghana Gas Challenge 2022.
“The preparations were solid, we had a lot of sleepless nights but today we are standing here feeling very amazed and proud of ourselves. Thanks to our team, the coaches and trainers everything they helped us with was superb. Although they were hard on us, today we saw that it was actually a good thing, so we’re grateful to them and the Almighty God,” he said.
Chief Executive officer of the Ghana National Gas Company, Dr. Ben K. Asante, disclosed that the Gas Challenge is one of the many steps the company is putting in place to deepen the knowledge of the Tertiary populace and the whole Ghanaian public at large about gas.
The Gas Challenge is first step of many that we hope to come to deepen the knowledge of the Ghanaian population at large and in this particular focus the Tertiary institutions around the country on the importance of Gas and the activities of the Ghana National Gas Company
Zone 2 contest is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, 2nd November, 2022 at Cape Coast between the University of Cape Coast, Takoradi Technical University and All Nations University for a place in the semi final.
The Gas Challenge is an educative program intended to increase knowledge in the petroleum industry as well as create awareness about Ghana’s gas processing system and the operations of the Ghana National Gas Company.
This year’s competition will be held under the theme: Embracing the future together: the indispensable role of Gas in facilitating social and economic growth and development.
West made antisemitic remarks that caused companies that he was affiliated with – including Adidas and Balenciaga – to end their relationships with him this week, bringing to an end his tenure on Forbes Billionaires List.
On the surface, the case of Kanye Westseems pretty cut and dry.
But the million-dollar question is why this didn’t happen a long time ago, given West’s history of making anti-Black statements.
Over the years, West, who has legally changed his name to Ye, has made multiple inflammatory statements that have angered many in the Black community, including his insistence that slavery was a “choice” and “racism is a dated concept” and, most recently, his inclusion of “White Lives Matter” shirts in his fashion line.
“The answer to why I wrote ‘White lives matter’ on a shirt is because they do,” he said in a recent interview with Tucker Carlson.
Yet none of those were met with the same decisive, punitive economic consequences as his antisemitism.
“I think it’s a fair assessment to say Kanye’s punishment is part and parcel of him making anti-Jewish remarks and people care little to nothing about making anti-Black remarks,” Illya Davis, director of freshmen and seniors’ academic success at Morehouse College in Atlanta told CNN. “Oftentimes, Black suffering is overlooked or minimized in culture.”
Others have observed the same: It seemed to take West offending the Jewish community before his empire, which includes music, fashion and tennis shoes, began to crumble.
Journalist Ernest Owens recently tweeted, “FACT: Before Kanye Westwas ‘the face of Anti-Semitism,’ he was one of the hip-hop faces of misogynoir, anti-Blackness, Trumpism, and slavery-denial.”
“And y’all still gave him contracts, documentaries, endorsements, clothing deals, and millions that became billions,” Owens wrote. “Shame.”
Author and Washington Post Magazine contributing writer Damon Young told CNN the situation is a more nuanced discussion than it sometimes appears to be on social media.
“Because they reduce it to ‘Okay, well Kanye saying this anti-Black thing didn’t get any repercussions, but he said this antisemitic thing and he did,’” Young said. “So it, obviously, must mean that anti-Blackness didn’t move the needle, but antisemitism did. And while that may be true, I think that there were other things happening.”
Young said companies predominantly led by White executives, for example, often struggle to react to anti-Black sentiments.
“When a Black person says things about Black people, it’s like, ‘Okay, what do we do? What do we do with that?’” he said. “It’s an easier sort of conversation and easier sort of path to consequences when you start talking about people that you’re not a part of.”
Najja K. Baptist, an assistant professor at the University of Arkansas, told CNN that West has been given a great deal of leeway with the Black community, who have rallied around him at other times in the past, like when he said in 2005 that then-President George Bush didn’t “care about Black people” after Hurricane Katrina and when he opened up about his mental health challenges.
FACT: Before Kanye West was “the face of Anti-Semitism,” he was one of the hip-hop faces of misogynoir, anti-Blackness, Trumpism, and slavery-denial.
And y’all still gave him contracts, documentaries, endorsements, clothing deals, and millions that became billions.
“The reason we never really completely shut Kanye down is because we are hanging on to this essence of what he used to be,” Baptist told CNN.
That good will waned recently when West falsely suggested George Floyd was killed by a fentanyl overdose, despite a medical examiner’s testimony that fentanyl was not the direct cause of Floyd’s death, only a contributing factor after being knelt on by a police officer.
So the antisemitic comments were the “straw that broke the camel’s back,” Baptist said, creating a “perfect storm” in which members of both communities are deciding that West should be “canceled.”
Illya Davis, who is also a philosophy professor at Morehouse, said all people’s pain and trauma, regardless of what community they are a part of, should be met with love and compassion – including West, who, he said, needs to be corrected and held accountable.
“I think that it’s very important for us to somehow include the idea of how do we express love, even in the face of contradiction,” he said. “So as contradictory as this brother may seem, we have to love him, yet rightfully so critique him and criticize him when he’s gone amok, when he’s gone off course this way.”
Davis said West “thought his class would preclude any critiques of his making anti-Jewish remarks.”
“I think he’s a victim of his own arrogance,” Davis added.
On October 26, a dormitory that housed Sawla Senior High School students in the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District of the Savannah Region caught fire and was completely destroyed.
According to Bole-based Nkilgi FM, the majority of the students’ possessions—including their books, beds, mattresses, and clothing—were lost in the process.
According to several of the pupils who request anonymity, some of them hurried out of their classrooms as soon as they noticed smoke rising from the building and promptly alerted their teachers.
Personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service (GFS) were called to the scene and after battling with the fire for close to 30 minutes managed to control it from spreading to other buildings.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known but reports suggested that it started at about 1:00pm to 2:00pm.
Preliminary investigations has been started by the Ghana National Fire Service.
The school authorities have expressed worry about the situation and appealed to government and benevolent organisations to as a matter of urgency come to the aid of the school by providing the students with decent accommodation to continue with academic activities.
This is the tale of the mother of Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, a well-known politician in Ghana and potential flagbearer for the New Patriotic Party. She was raised by her uncle in the Kumasi suburb of Krofrom as a young girl and later married a guy who later became one of the “Martyrs of the Law.”
According to Kwabena Agyepong, Margaret Agyepong’s life took a sharp turn when her uncle’s companion noticed her and expressed interest in her.
In an interview with Delay that GhanaWeb watched, the NPP leader described how his mother, Margaret Agyepong, married his father, who is also an Agyepong, saying that she did so when she was only 18 years old.
When his father disclosed his love interest to his friend, his mother, a young Margaret was shipped to Liverpool for the marriage.
“My mother is called Margaret Agyepong. I was told my father was a friend to the uncle of my mother. During my father’s visit to his friend’s house, he used to see a young lady sweeping the house.
“So he became interested in her. Those days, when my father was abroad studying law, my mother was put in a ship. she was very young. She was around age 17 or 18. She was shipped to Liverpool to marry my father. They gave birth to 5 kids, 2 in Liverpool and 3 in Ghana,” he told the host.
However, when his father returned to Ghana after his studies, he couldn’t stay with just his mother. He had children with 5 other women and even married one of the teachers of his chidlren.
“My father came back to Ghana when he finished his law studies in 1961…My mom came with him to birth me in 1962…My father after settling back in Ghana, my mother was stenographer. She schooled at Piedmonth College in London, so she went back to finish her studies. She came back every year to meet a new baby mama and a child for my father…My father had babies with five other women aside my mother…
“My mother loved going back to the States, so she kept going to and fro Ghana. A woman who used to take care of us eventually became my father’s new wife. Her name is Auntie Comfort. She was our teacher,” he told the host.
Scott shared five-month-old sonZen with Nick Cannon. He died in December 2021 after being diagnosed with brain cancer. She also has a 4-year-old daughter from a previous relationship. This will be her third baby, but did not reveal any other information about the pregnancy.
She shared the news with a baby bump photo, writing, “With you by my side… ,” alongside the sweet snap.
When their baby was sick, Cannon called Scott “just the strongest woman I’ve ever seen” on his talk show.
Along with Zen, Cannon is father to Rise Messiah, 5 weeks, Golden Sagon, 5, and daughter Powerful Queen, 19 months, with model Brittany Bell.
He is also dad to twins Zion and Zillion, 16 months, with Abby De La Rosa. He shares 11-year-old twins Monroe and Moroccan with ex-wife Mariah Carey.
He also shares son Legendary Love, 3 months, with model Bre Tiesi and has a baby daughter daughter, Onyx Ice Cole, with model LaNisha Cole.
P.C. Appiah Ofori, a former representative for Asikuma Odoben-Brakwa, has criticised some NPP lawmakers who are pushing for the dismissal of Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
He claimed that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo should be the goal of the movement to remove the finance minister.
Applying a hypothetical, Appiah Ofori argued that the finance minister should be held accountable for defective roads rather than the road minister, and that the finance minister should follow the same logic.
Ofori-Atta hasn’t committed any known atrocities that would call for his dismissal, according to Appiah Ofori.
Speaking on Onua TV, he said “those doing that I don’t understand them, I don’t know the sin the finance minister has committed. If the road becomes deplorable, why do you say the road minister should resign? What sin has the finance minister committed, has he stolen money, if he has not stolen money and it is just that things have gone bad, is he the one to be held responsible? Minister of Road and Transport, and you say because a road is spoilt the minister should be sacked. Sometimes when they are doing it, they don’t give it careful thought.”
He further added that the country’s economic hardships are not the fault of the finance minister.
“What specific sin has the finance minister committed? Has he stolen the country’s money for wrongful purposes? If things are not going well in the country, how is it the finance minister’s fault?” he asked rhetorically.
The MPs want the removal of the Minister due to the current economic crisis the country is experiencing.
Following the public declaration of disapproval of the Finance Minister by the MPs, an emergency meeting was convened at the behest of President Akufo-Addo to deliberate and understand the misgivings of the MPs towards the Finance Minister.
The major fallout from the meeting was the president’s requests to the MPs to allow the finance minister three weeks to prepare the 2023 budget and conclude negotiations with the International Monetary fund.
An angry passenger who objected to the new fare rise of GH2 got into a physical altercation with the bus conductor and driver, according to a Twitter user named Antwi Edmond.
“During the force applied by the trotro mates at the station, the man decided to fight them back which led to a huge fight between him and our bus conductor and his mate with the backing of their co-workers after several minutes of the fight, this male passenger lost his life.
“He lost his life after one unawares [SIC] punch, which made his head hit one of the pavements at the terminal and lost his precious life. May his soul rest in perfect peace. I can’t believe he lost his life sake of [SIC] 2 cedis increment,” the eyewitness with the Twitter username @Murphy_Vainn wrote in a thread.
Tweeps have shared varied and mixed reactions to the news.
While some have attributed it to the current economic hardships, others have blamed commercial drivers for wrongly charging new fares.
The underwhelming performance of Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta during the second term of President Akufo-Addo’s administration has been attributed by broadcaster Paul Adom-Otchere to New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament (MPs).
Adom-Otchere claims that Ofori-Atta performed admirably under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo’s first term but is underwhelming now because the NPP MPs failed to provide him with the necessary backing.
He claimed that some NPP lawmakers disregarded the opportunity to support the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy), which might have raised the finances required to carry out government initiatives.
The broadcaster, who is also the Board Chairman of the Ghana Airport Company Limited, added that some of the NPPs also voted for Alban Bagbin to be the Speaker of Parliament which is creating many difficulties for Ofori-Atta.
“… right away there were difficulties (for Ofori-Atta) from 2020, 2021 in terms of passing the budget and getting little things done. It was a whole long ton drawn-out issue because the parliamentary NPP failed in its quest to be able to sustain its leadership.
“… then came the coup de grass (the nail in the coffin) on the night of 7th January … where some members of the NPP cast their vote for the NDC candidate (during the election for a speaker). I’m not sure whether they knew what they were doing to their party, to the country because the NPP had won the presidency. And then the speakership position flipped and then Mr. Bagbin become the Speaker and the Speaker is the controller of Parliament, he decides what Parliament can be discussed and not discussed… this is part of the Ofori-Atta problem.
“… E-Levy should have been passed in November 2021; it took about 6 months. In the meantime, other smaller revenue mobilization like the road toll and all of that had been taken out. E-Levy could not be passed, it was not even passed in the form that it was originally designed… If E-levy was passed from day one without all that Ofori-Atta was expected to generate (GH¢) 6 billion in revenue, that is why he was confident that he didn’t need the IMF.
“But there were those who were focused that E-Levy will not succeed. Not so much because they thought it will bring Ghanaians hardship but really, they taught that it was political misfortune for them. If E-Levy succeeds the political opponents succeed, I don’t succeed so I derail it,” he said during an editorial on his Good Evening Ghana show which was monitored by GhanaWeb.
He added that if Ghanaians want to judge the true performance of Ofori-Atta, they must factor in all these happenings.
The minority caucus of Parliament filed a motion to have Ken Ofori-Atta and the Minister of State (in charge of Finance), Charles Adu-Boahen, sacked.
The MPs explained that their position follows several concerns over the poor mismanagement of the economy, which has forced the government to seek IMF assistance.
“Our brothers in the majority believe in this. What they should do is to support the call of the Minority Leader and the motion for the Minority Leader for the dismissal of the finance minister.”
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has admitted the motion and has set November 10, 2022, for a secret vote on the motion.
The awards took place on October 29, at the Royal Regency Palace Manor Park in London.
Black Sherifwho has been making waves in the music industry for the past three years has caught the eyes of many people across the globe with his latest album ‘The Vallain I Never Was’.
As an outstanding songwriter and singer, he has made his music surface more in the UK music charts.
He came to light after he released his ‘First Sermon’ track and featured Nigeria’s super Star Burna Boy in a remix of his ‘Second Sermon’ track which has millions of streams on all musical platforms.
Black Sheriff’s most successful songs talks about his meteoric rise, using of drill beats to tell the true story of youth in the hoods of Accra.
His emotional and relatable choice of words alludes most people to listen and feel his song at heart, which makes him exceptionally a good artiste.
Black Sherif was nominated for Hiplife/Hip Hop artiste of the year, Hiplife/Hip Hop song of the year, Best Collaboration of the year, New Artiste of the year, Most Popular artiste of the year and Artiste of the year.
Various artistes from both countries received honours in 27 categories, including Group of the Year, Record of the Year, Male and Female Vocalists of the Year, and International Collaboration of the Year.
The Ghana Music Awards UK is largely a people’s choice award that seeks to champion and expand the development of the Ghanaian music industry both home and abroad, into an international market for global recognition of Ghanaian creative works.
The awards is to create an open market for collaboration, sales, new music trends, cultural exchanges, marketing opportunities and several benefits to be accessed by Ghanaian musicians in the United Kingdom.
The management of Mount Mary College of Education in Somanya, in the Eastern part of Ghana, is under fire from teacher candidates for allegedly trying to pilfer GH279,104 that was due to be returned to them.
The students claim they paid for their food for four months as they awaited repayment from the government, but when the Student Loan Trust Fund released the money for the students to receive—GH784.00 for each student—management refused to give them the money.
The 356 students stated they have not received any of the GHc279,104.00 in refunds that they claim they are entitled to from the government.
However, the students say they have evidence that their colleagues from other colleges like Gbewaa College of Education, Bagabaga College of Education, St. Joseph College of Education, Enchi College of Education among others have received theirs.
The students accused the SRC of conniving with the management on the alleged embezzlement.
They also complained of poor feeding despite the payment by government through the student loan Trust Fund.
