Despite a crackdown by security forces that one human rights group claims has resulted in at least 201 deaths, protests are still occurring in Iran.
Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman held by the morality police for allegedly violating the stringent hijab requirements, passed away while she was in custody, which sparked the uprising.
Independent and foreign reporting are severely restricted in the nation.
However, Nick Robinson of the BBC Today show was able to speak with Fawaz—not his real name—who has been demonstrating in Tehran’s streets.
The atmosphere is quite tense and yet it is exciting. People are hopeful this time and we hope that a real change is just around the corner. I don’t think people are willing to give up this time. Now, we are seeing women in the street who are not wearing a hijab. They are walking past and people are quite supportive. Drivers in the street honk whenever they see a woman is not covered up. They don’t cover up their heads.
Usually, the protests start in the evening, in the afternoon. And they are in different locations in a city, so people do not just gather round in one specific area. If you just go out, you can hear cars honking. In some parts, people are out in the street. They are protesting against the security forces. And at night, the people who do not want to leave their houses are shouting slogans like “down with the dictator” out of their windows. You can hear some sort of protest everywhere, almost every night. That feels good, that feels really good.
Nick Robinson: What sort of people are joining the protests?
Everyone. The prominent figures in this are actually the women. They are to some extent leading this. Their rights are part of human rights. That is why some people might call it a feminist movement. But what is setting this apart is the inclusion of minorities and the women at the front. And it’s widespread. It is not just in big cities. It is in smaller cities.
NR: When you confront the security forces, how are they reacting?
When you take to the streets you should expect anything. Deep down, you know that you might never come back. You might get arrested, detained for days, months or even years, as we have seen before. So far, I have been lucky. I have been beaten with a baton [by security forces], I have been kicked. But I have seen worse. The situation is quite stressful, but it is quite hopeful as well. It is stressful because you never know whether the person standing next to you is a member of the security forces. And yet it is hopeful because you can see that your voice is finally being heard, especially this time on an international level, despite all the [internet] filtering that is going on in Iran.
NR: You go out on the streets knowing, in your words, that “you might never come back”. This is something you are prepared to die for?
Somewhere, at one time, for this to end we need to do something. We should accept the challenges and the facts as well. If we want to say something, we know that we are going to give something for it as well, sometimes with our lives.
NR: For you, is this a protest about whether women wear the hijab? Or is it something much bigger than that?
It is about something much bigger than that. If you look at the slogans at the protests, what people are saying on the streets, it has never been – even at the beginning – about the hijab. The hijab was just the spark. It has always been about basic human rights. We’ve always wanted more. We’ve wanted what you might take for granted as a normal life. We want life, liberty, justice, accountability, freedom of choice and assembly, a free press. We want access to our basic human rights and an inclusive government that is actually elected by the people through a proper election and that works for the people.
NR: We are not using your real name for this interview. Are you taking a risk speaking to the BBC?
Yes, it’s a great risk because it is considered a crime in Iran if you speak to foreign news broadcasts. You might easily get arrested, punished, imprisoned. The consequences are severe.
NR: Do you have hope that the change that you so desperately want might happen this time?
Hope is all we have and I am willing to stick to it. I hope at least our voices will be heard. That’s all I can say about this.
Elon Musk’s trans daughter Vivian Jenna Wilson changed her name and cut ties from him earlier this year, and now the Tesla CEO has blamed communism for the deterioration of their relationship.
In an interview with The Financial Times, Musk shared his first public comments on Vivian’s request to not “be related to my biological father in any way.” He suggested that educational institutions across the country have been taken over, or influenced by “neo-Marxists,” as he put it.
“It’s full-on communism and a general sentiment that if you’re rich, you’re evil,” said the 51-year-old business mogul. “It [the relationship] may change, but I have very good relationships with all the others [children]. Can’t win them all.”
Earlier this year, Musk’s daughter filed legal documents to officially change her name to Vivian Jenna Wilson. His 18-year-old daughter, who was assigned male at birth, cited both her gender identity and a desire to distance herself from the controversial South African-raised tycoon. Her appeal was later approved by a Los County Superior Court judge. Vivian’s last name comes from her mother, Canadian author Justin Wilson, who was married to Musk from 2000 to 2008. The couple had six children together.
Musk has faced criticism for his commentary on trans identity in the past. In a tweet shared in December, 2020, he said that he “absolutely” supports trans rights but finds “all these pronouns […] an esthetic nightmare.”
A 5-member Consultative Committee has been set up by the government to lead extensive stakeholder engagement as the country negotiates with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Before a deal with the IMF for an economic programme is finalised, the committee, which is made up of eminent members of the financial services industry, will review opinions from financial sector players on how to address issues in the financial sector.
They will also provide guidance and, among other things, lead conversations with the financial services industry and other stakeholders in order to provide industry-wide input and relay industry concerns about debt management strategy to the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Ghana.
The Committee, according to the Finance Ministry, is chaired by Albert Essien, with Simon Dornoo as vice chair.
Mr Essien is the Board Chairman of Ghana Amalgamated Trust. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Ghana, Legon, and is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, Ghana.
The committee also includes Peter Enti, Mabel Nyarkoa Porbley, and Alex Asiedu.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the 5-member team will “will immediately get to work to engage key stakeholders in the financial services sector, in addition to ongoing engagements with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), social partners (labour unions, employers, and FBOs), academia, industry professionals, and the leadership of Parliament.” The government, as part of efforts to restructure the country’s economic debt, is still in talks with the IMF on the country’s medium- term macro-fiscal framework.
The IMF team, which has reaffirmed its commitment to assisting Ghana in its current economic difficulties, has conducted a debt sustainability analysis (DSA) to help inform the economic programmes required to put the country’s debt levels on a sustainable path in the medium term.
So far, the IMF programme is hinged on seven (7) pillars, namely: Debt Sustainability, Fiscal Consolidation, Strengthening Monetary and Exchange Rate Policies, Building Strong Financial Institutions, Macro-Critical Structural Reforms, Maintaining Peace and Security, and Economic Growth and Transformation.
The King of the Igbo community in Ghana, His Royal Majesty, Eze (Dr) AMB Chukwudi J. Ihenetu has explained why an honour was bestowed on gospel musician Empress Gifty.
Earlier in a ceremony to commemorate a decade of Dr Chukwudi’s reign as king of the community, some personalities received chieftaincy titles of which Empress Gifty was part.
Following this development, many have wondered why she was chosen among the lot to be crowned by the Igbo community.
In an exclusive interview with GhanaWeb’s Wonder Hagan, the king indicated that the singer is deserving of the title adding that she earned it.
“A king is a father to all and every king has every right to honour whom he wants to honour by giving him or her a chieftaincy title. Empress Gifty is a gospel musician in Ghana, her music has gone very far in the world and people in Ghana love her music. Her music has also become a blessing to many, so such a person deserves to be honoured so she can be more encouraged.
“If you look at the honour we gave to her, it has spread more things about her and now people even want to know more about her. We gave her the name, Uguoma, a beautiful eagle. An eagle isn’t just a regular bird, it is precious,” he stressed.
He also touched on the necessary procedures for attaining an Igbo chieftaincy title.
“There must be a purpose why the king is giving such an honour to the person. Somebody can also come on his own and say he has come to a level where he deserves a title. For those that come by themselves, they are usually being interviewed by the committee to see if he is of good character among other things. Investigations will be conducted at his blindside. If he is deserving, approval will be given. You need to be someone who has given back to society or your voice has gone very far in the world,” Eze Chukwudi added.
Its FSB security service said five of those held were Russians, while the others were Ukrainian and Armenian.
It says Kyiv was behind the attack but a Ukrainian official described Russia’s investigation as “nonsense”.
The news came as at least seven people were reported killed in an attack on a market in the eastern town of Avdiivka.
Donetsk regional military head Pavlo Kyrylenko said the strike in the Ukrainian-controlled town took place at a busy time, adding that at least eight others were injured.
He advised all residents of the region, which is partly Russian-occupied, to evacuate.
Elsewhere, three people, including a six-year-old girl, were seriously injured by shelling in Nikopol, in Dnipropetrovsk region, a Ukrainian presidential spokesman said.
Ukraine’s emergency ministry reported several S-300 missiles had fallen in and around Zaporizhzhia, with one destroying a residential building in a suburb. It said a family were pulled from the wreckage.
Meanwhile the BBC’s Hugo Bachega in Kyiv said five explosions had been heard in Kherson, one of the largest cities under Russian occupation, while there were unconfirmed reports that the air defence system in the southern city had been activated.
He said it was not clear what had triggered the explosions.
Ukraine’s military said its troops were continuing their advance in the region, capturing another five settlements.
President Vladimir Putin called it an “act of terrorism” aimed at destroying a critically important piece of Russia’s civil infrastructure.
FSB officials said the blast was organised by “the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, its head Kyrylo Budanov, its staff and agents”.
They alleged the explosives had been hidden in rolls of plastic film and taken on a roundabout route from the Ukrainian port of Odesa – first by sea to Bulgaria, then Georgia, and then driven by lorry overland into Russia via Armenia.
But a spokesman for the directorate, Andriy Yusov, rubbished the Russian accusations.
“All the activities of the FSB and [Russia’s] Investigative Committee are nonsense,” he told Ukrainian media. “They are fake structures which serve the Putin regime, so we’re definitely not going to comment on their latest announcements.”
Asked by the BBC on Wednesday whether the aims of Russia’s special military operation – what Moscow calls its invasion – remained the same, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said they were “exactly the same”.
“These goals only become more relevant against the backdrop of the actions of the Ukrainian regime,” he said.
In February when he launched the invasion, Mr Putin called for the “demilitarisation and denazification” of Ukraine, terms he uses for the overthrow of the Ukrainian authorities, which Moscow baselessly considers “fascist”.
Following more strikes on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged countries to hit Moscow with more sanctions in response to “a new wave of terror”.
The calls came after he met the G7 group of nations for emergency virtual talks on Tuesday.
The bloc – which consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and US – promised to continue providing “financial, humanitarian, military, diplomatic and legal” support to his country “for as long as it takes”.
Nato also said it would stand with Ukraine for as long as necessary, as ministers gather for two days of talks in Brussels.
The bloc’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance needed to scale up its provision of air defence to Ukraine, with both long-and short-range systems to cope with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones.
Separately, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Rafael Grossi said that external power has been restored to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in occupied southern Ukraine after earlier saying the plant had lost external power for the second time in five days.
“This repeated loss of #ZNPP’s off-site power is a deeply worrying development and it underlines the urgent need for a nuclear safety & security protection zone around the site,” he said when reporting the latest outage.
Also Ukrainian nuclear agency Enerhoatom said in a post on Telegram that the Russian authorities at the plant, the largest in Europe, were not allowing it to deliver fresh supplies of diesel fuel.
Moscow seized the massive facility in March, but kept on its Ukrainian staff. Both Ukraine and Russia accuse each other of repeatedly shelling the plant, amid global concerns that this could lead to a major radiation incident in Europe.
Kendrick Lamar fans were met with a nice surprise early Tuesday.
As seen here, Kendrick—currently fresh off his Saturday Night Live performance—is on the cover of the newest issue of W. In the resulting feature, Kendrick discusses the extended internal journey required to arrive at what would ultimately become his Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers album.
Speaking with Briana Younger, Kendrick explained how his latest album (which, like the rest of his discography, has been met with widespread acclaim) stands as the “marker and the growth” of everything he’s “always wanted to say” in his art.
“I’m not even the same person I was yesterday,” Kendrick said. “That’s what keeps me creative. I have so much discipline as far as repetition—I don’t give a fuck if it’s a thousand push-ups or pull-ups or whatever, but it’s always that extra 5 percent I’m like, What am I on today? What’s going to be the evolution for myself today?”
Directly addressing the acclaim he’s received during his career, Kendrick detailed how his feelings surrounding the deeply personal themes of Mr. Morale have shifted his attitude toward such praise.
“I’ve had rewards for my other albums in different ways, whether it was accolades, whether it was the Pulitzer, whether it was the Grammys,” he told W. “This one is the reward for humanity for me.”
Directly commenting on the inspiring honesty at the core of his latest batch of songs, Kendrick reminded readers he is indeed a “private person,” which made the process behind these songs all the more difficult (“It was tough for me”). According to Kendrick, he also had to protect this work by insulating himself from any pre-release commentary on his words, including from family. This was done, per Kendrick, because he “didn’t want the influence,” as well as to avoid any potential push to have not presented this work in the “rawest” and “truest” way possible.
“I had to reap whatever consequences came behind that, and also be compassionate and show empathy if they were hurt by it,” Kendrick said, adding that these songs may have never been released if he had let the thoughts of others find their way into the mix.
Kendrick, who first appeared as an SNL musical guest nearly a decade ago, returned to the NBC series for its Season 48 premiere this month with host and Top Gun: Maverick star Miles Teller. A trio of Mr. Morale tracks were given stage time, including a medley of “N95” and “Rich Spirit” and a Sampha-featuring performance of “Father Time.”
Kendrick’s Big Steppers Tour, rightfully, has generated a slew of breakout coverage, complete with a swiftly-made-viral clip of a security guard understandably being moved to tears. A string of international dates continues this month with stops in Berlin, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, and more.
Addressing the viral cry in a subsequent chat with Jazzy’s World TV, Kendrick highlighted this reaction as exactly what an artist hopes for when sharing their work with the world.
“I was like, man, I wonder what he going through?” Kendrick said in July. “But at the end of the day that’s how you want everybody to perceive your music.”
According to Rockstone, though the activity whether good or bad has become a livelihood for most people, some sacrifices ought to be made.
“Looking at what’s happening to the environment so some sacrifices have to be made. I feel for the people whose livelihood depend on it. It is something rather embarrassing,” he lamented.
Suggesting ways to curb the menace, Reggie Rockstone said “I don’t have all the answers but I think there is something really wrong. First of all we need to raise the level of patriotism, we need t love our country more to understand that what is going on is not the best.”
He however noted that the blame can’t be shifted to a single government.
“Per where we are now. We must put a stop to it, because it will not go well with us. Lets stop it a see the way forward,” he said.
The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) anticipates a difficult Christmas holiday season this year as businesses continue to be negatively impacted by the nation’s ongoing economic crisis.
President of the association, Dr. Joseph Obeng, told the media that businesses are currently producing in lower volumes because their capital has been depleted by the ongoing depreciation of the Ghana cedi.
“It [The situation] is affecting us badly. It’s so negative on our businesses to the extent that we cannot even do the volumes that we normally do for Christmas because our capital has already dwindled. It has been so depleted that we cannot do the same volumes,” he said.
Without mincing words, Dr. Obeng explained that “businesses are collapsing, so Christmas, as [we know it], will not be the same as the previous Christmas because the money is simply not there,” he predicted.
As a result of Dr. Obeng’s comment, it is anticipated that prices for goods and services will soar because demand will outstrip supply, in accordance with the laws of economics.
Reports from the Bank of Ghana reveal that the Ghana Cedi has depreciated by 37.5% against the United States dollar from January to September 2022.
Other major trading currencies, the pound and the euro, have depreciated by 24.1% and 27.5%, respectively.
Businesses in Ghana are heavily dependent on imported products, so any depreciation of the cedi results in an increase in the cost of production.
GUTA noted that the central bank’s weekly exchange rate quoted by the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has seen a sharp rise from ¢8.2 to ¢9.5, thereby shooting up duty charges at the ports by about 30%.
The Association has therefore called on the government to implement lasting solutions to arrest the dollar and appreciate the local currency.
According to experts in the financial market, a dollar is now selling at GH11.2.
The surprise 0.3% drop came as factories and consumer-facing businesses struggled, according to official figures.
Analysts thought the economy would stall in August but not shrink as costs mount for businesses and households.
Prices are rising at their fastest rate for 40 years, eating into people’s budgets, and outpacing growth in pay.
In normal times, a country’s economy grows and on average, people become slightly richer as the value of the goods and services it produces – its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – increases.
But sometimes their value falls, and a recession is usually defined as when this happens for two three-month periods – or quarters – in a row, and it marks a sign the economy is performing badly.
The latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) means that in the three months to August, GDP also fell by 0.3%.
The drop in the monthly figure for August was driven by a sharp decline in manufacturing and maintenance work, which slowed down the oil and gas sector, the ONS said.
It marked a fall from July, when the UK economy grew by 0.1%.
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But ONS Chief Economist Grant Fitzner said that lots of other customer-facing businesses like retail, hairdressers and hotels were “faring relatively poorly” in August.
“The economy shrank in August with both production and services falling back, and with a small downward revision to July’s growth the economy contracted in the last three months as a whole,” Mr Fitzner said.
He added that sports events didn’t generate as much economic value, after the economy had previously been helped by the UK hosting the Women’s Euro Championship in July.
A reduction in the amount spending by the government related to the pandemic was also one of the big causes of the slump in manufacturing, which was hit by pharmaceutical companies cutting back production.
The ONS added that some falls were off-set, however, by some professional services like accounting and architecture.
The construction sector was the only one of the three main parts of the economy to see growth of 0.4% in August.
Some experts expect that September could see an even bigger drop in economic output, with the extra bank holiday for the Queen’s funeral and the period mourning affecting business opening hours, as well as higher costs starting to bite.
Yael Selfin, Chief Economist at KPMG, said that the UK was now “teetering on the edge of recession”.
“The ongoing squeeze on household finances continue to weigh on growth, and likely to have caused the UK economy to enter a technical recession”.
“August’s drop in GDP likely marks the start of a downward trend that will continue deep into next year,” said Samuel Tombs Chief UK Economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
Challenges to face
Meanwhile, Suren Thiru, Economics Director for ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales) criticised Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s recent mini-budget for sparking market turmoil and potentially piling extra pressure on firms and families as mortgage rates have been sent soaring.
Mr Thiru said: “The government has needlessly risked a longer recession with any boost from the energy package likely to be dwarfed by a sustained squeeze on UK output from persistently high inflation, punishing interest rate rises and acute financial market turbulence.”
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng insisted the government’s energy support package and growth plan will “address the challenges that we face”.
He added said: “Countries around the world are facing challenges right now, particularly as a result of high energy prices driven by Putin’s barbaric action in Ukraine.”
Image source, PA Media
Image caption, The chancellor recently brought forward the date of his plan to balance the government’s finances.
Speaking to BBC’s Today programme, Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg also urged caution in interpreting the most recent ONS monthly figures for August.
He pointed out that monthly figures are often more volatile and “very often subject to revision”.
But he acknowledged that the fall in the economic growth number for August “showed the need for the mini-budget in September to make sure we get back onto a path for growth”.
It comes after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that the worst was still to come for the global economy, while 2023 would “feel like a recession” for many people because of rising costs and the continued fall-out of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The financial institution warned on Tuesday that the UK economy could sharply reduce in 2023 as consumer spending is dented by rising prices and higher interest rates.
It downgraded its forecast for UK economic growth next year to just 0.3% in 2023 – down from 0.5% previously pencilled in.
Rachel Reeves MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, said: “That the IMF yesterday described the “UK like a car with two people each trying to steer the car in a different direction” leaves us an international laughing stock.
She said that the new ONS figures released on Wednesday showed that the UK economy “is still in a dire state because of this Tory government.
“The Conservatives must reverse their disastrous mini-Budget. Any continued failure to do so shows damaging levels of denial from the prime minister and her chancellor.”
The IMF did welcome the news though that the chancellor has brought forward the date for his “economic plan” to 31 October, where he will set out will set out how he will fund tax cuts that he has pledged and reduce debt.
The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has fined nine oil marketing companies GH¢2.2 million for engaging in illicit third-party trading of petroleum products, and unlawful lifting of petroleum products.
Third-party delivery occurs when an oil marketing company supplies petroleum products to a retail outlet or bulk consumer not registered by the Authority under the company while unlawful lifting is lifting petroleum products from an unregistered or unauthorised bulk supply point (depot) without any valid documentations resulting in tax evasion.
The affected companies are Bello Petroleum, Jas Petroleum, Oval Energy, Kros Energy, Safety Petroleum and Santol Energy.
The rest are Riseglobe Energy, Sayon Energy and Cigo Energy.
A statement issued by the NPA in Accra yesterday said all the companies were found to have engaged in both illegal activities.
Detailing the fines, it noted that Cigo Energy was fined GH¢725,000 comprising GH¢30,000 for engaging in third party supplies for the second time and GH¢695,000 for the unlawful lifting of petroleum products.
The statement said Sayon Energy was fined GH¢425,000 comprising GH¢10,000 for engaging in third party supplies for the first time and GH¢415,000 for unlawful lifting of petroleum products.
It stated that Bello Petroleum was slapped with a fine of GH¢120,000 comprising GH¢10,000 for engaging in third party supplies for the first time and GH¢110,000 for the unlawful lifting of petroleum products.
Jas Petroleum, it noted, was expected to pay a fine of GH¢65,000 comprising GH¢10,000 for engaging in third party supplies for the first time and GH¢55,000 for the unlawful lifting of petroleum products.
The statement said Oval Energy would also pay a fine of GH¢245,000 comprising GH¢10,000.00 for engaging in third-party supplies for the first time and GH¢235,000 for the unlawful lifting of petroleum products.
It added that Kros Energy was sanctioned to pay a fine of GH¢295,000 comprising GH¢10,000 for engaging in third party supplies for the first time and GH¢285,000 for the unlawful lifting of petroleum products.
Safety Petroleum, the statement said, would pay a fine of GH¢200,000 comprising GH¢10,000 for engaging in third-party supplies for the first time and GH¢190,000 for the unlawful lifting of petroleum products.
It noted that Santol Energy would pay a fine of GH¢75,000 comprising GH¢10,000 for engaging in third-party supplies for the first time and GH¢65,000 for the unlawful lifting of petroleum products.
“Riseglobe Energy has been sanctioned to pay a fine of GH¢65,000 comprising GH¢10,000 for engaging in third-party supplies for the first time and GH¢55,000.00 for the unlawful lifting of petroleum products,” the statement added.
A man who sexually abused his pet dog for years and attempted to arrange the abuse of children has been jailed after being convicted for a string of offences.
Officers were first made aware of Douglas Moore’s actions when they came across “sickening footage” of a dog being subjected to physical and sexual abuse. The content of the video was so alarming that senior officers in the Metropolitan Police were contacted and a warrant was sought to rescue the animal and arrest Moore.
Despite the 34-year-old going to great lengths to delete all evidence of his egregious misconduct, officers where able to arrest the Manchester paedophile in November 2021, rescuing the pet dog in the process.
Appearing at Minshull Street Crown Court, Moore was found guilty on 24 charges of various sex offences, including having sex with an animal, possessing extreme pornographic images that showed an act of intercourse, and oral sex with both a dead and alive animal. Further evidence on Moore’s seized devices revealed that he had attempted to organise meetings for the abuse of children and dogs and navigated the “dark web” to exchange inappropriate material.
While there is no proof that the attempted encounters were successful, Moore was also found guilty of posting offensive articles online and possessing marijuana.
“Upon discovery of the original video, we took immediate and decisive action to identify Moore and save the dog,” Pc Pete Howes, from the Online Child Sexual Abuse & Exploitation Command, told the court. “I am happy to say the dog is now safe and well and being cared for. The scale of evidence compiled meant Moore was left with no option but to plead guilty. I’m pleased he is now in jail where he belongs. It is no exaggeration to say that this investigation may well have spared more animals, and humans, from coming to incredibly serious harm.”
Moore is now banned from owning animals and will be on the sex offenders register for life.
The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), the statutory body with oversight responsibility for the management and use of Ghana’s petroleum revenues, has re-elected Professor Kwame Adom-Frimpong as its new chairman.
In a meeting held on Thursday, October 6, 2022, the reconstituted Committee elected Professor Kwame Adom-Frimpong, a representative of the Institute of Chartered Accounts, Ghana (ICAG) and Mr. Nasir Alfa Mohammed, a representative of the Ghana Bar Association, as Chairman and Vice Chairman respectively.
This re-election is for a one-year term following the end of their first term in September this year. Prof. Adom-Frimpong expressed gratitude to the Committee for its confidence in him and pledged his commitment to the service of PIAC and the citizenry.
He is currently the Managing Director of Mainstream Reinsurance Company. He previously worked PricewaterhouseCoopers as Audit Supervisor, SSNIT as Head of Audit, and at ABC Brewery Company as Senior Cost and Management Accountant.
He is a graduate of the University of Wales, Bangor, UK (MBA), the University of London (LLB), and De Montfort, Leicester, U.K. (LLM). He obtained a Doctorate degree in Business Administration (DBA-Finance option) from the Faculty of Professional Studies, Arcadia University, USA, in 2001 and again had a PhD in Economics Finance from the same university in 2004. Prof. Adom-Frimpong is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana, and a past President of the ICAG (2018- 2020).
He is a Fellow of both the Chartered Institute of Bankers (FCIB) and Chartered Insurance Institute of Ghana (FCIIG). He is also a Barrister-at-Law, and a member of the Ghana Bar Association. Professor Kwame Adom-Frimpong also present at the ceremony, called on the government to take action on PIAC’s recommendations to ensure effective and efficient use of petroleum revenues.
Meanwhile, new members of PIAC are Mrs Clara Beeri Kasser-Tee who replaced Professor Akosua Darkwah, as the representative of the Independent Policy Research Think Tanks and Odeefuo Amoakwa Buadu VIII, representing the National House of Chiefs, and replacing Ogyeahoho Yaw Gyebi II. Other members who were re- nominated are Professor Kwame Adom-Frimpong, representing the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana (ICAG), Mr Nasir Alfa Mohammed of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) and Mr Bashiru Abdul-Razak of the Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI). The Paramount Queen Mother of the Drobo Traditional, Nana Yaa Ansua, has replaced Hajia Dr Kansawurche Azara Bukari
as the representative of the Queen Mothers Association of Ghana, while Ms Freda Stephanie Frimpong has replaced Mrs Mary Karimu, who represented the Trades Union Congress (TUC) on PIAC. Emerita Professor Elizabeth Ardayfio-Schandorf has been reappointed by the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS).
These members have since been sworn into office by the Chairman of the Committee, Professor Kwame Adom-Frimpong, upon the authorization of the Minister for Finance for a 2- year term, in accordance with the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, 2011 (Act 815).
Founded by Vidal Rollings and Alan Adewale, London-based imprint VA Garments has long been tearing down the traditional streetwear mould.
Born in 2009 with an aim to empower men and women through British culture, by quite literally being bold and never fearing to standout from the crowd, the brand has continuously delivered a long line of unrivalled menswear staples which bring a fresh, innovative eye to the UK streetwear scene.
With a goal of creating something “fresh and current with a modern twist and classic lines”, after a short hiatus following the COVID-19 pandemic, VA Garments now combines its signature block and textured designs to present a brand new project: the V373 sneaker.
Inspired by geometric artists such as El Lissitzky, Kazimir Malevich, François Morellet, Georgia Nassikas, Hetty Haxworth and Liat Elbling, the crep collection hones in on the brand’s passion for music and streetwear to bring to life a series of monochromatic silhouettes that are made from 100% leather and feature Piqué fabric linings, canvas VA printed insoles and a patterned base.
Endorsed by the likes of Ed Sheeran, Burna Boy, Wizkid and Wretch 32, check out VA Garments’ V373 sneaker in the shots below and head to the VA Garments Instagram page for more details on how to cop.
Mr Fredrik Sunesson, Managing Director of 4Ward Development West Africa, said the company has so far invested more than US$10 million into the water sector alone and intends to invest 1.1 million US dollars in the Upper West and Savannah Regions.
He said an additional US$ 5 million US would be injected into the company’s operations in the coming two years.
Mr Sunesson announced this during the commissioning of the Numa Purified Water System by Vice President Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, under the enhancing Water and Sanitation Hygiene (WASH) programme.
He said the company would continue to push for growth and expansion with the provision of safe and clean water to about 25,000 customers in 10 communities this year alone.
Mr Sunesson said the 4Ward Development West Africa was a private sector company providing safe, sustainable, and innovative water services to complement public sector provision.
“We work alongside the government in achieving United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG-Goal 6) to ensure clean water and sanitation for all,”, he said.
Mr Sunesson announced that aside from the Tuna facility, the company had installed three customer-centred community water services at Kulmasa, Gindabour, and Blema in the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District in the Savanna Region.
It also provided similar facilities at Kandeu, Poyentanga, Ga, and Nyoli in the Wa West District and one each at Luggo in the Wa East District and Boli in the Wa Municipality, which added up to 10 communities in total, serving more than 25,000 people with safe and affordable water services.
Mr Sunesson gave the assurance that in 2023, the company would build and operate an additional 15 customer-centred community water services in the same areas.
He said more than 200 people, mostly women work with the company as vendors, technicians, and marketers and provided a range of water services that allowed the company to focus on job creation as a core corporate mission.
Tunawura Daniel Safo Mahama Amantana, Chief of Tuna pleaded with the company to consider extending the provision of water services to other communities within the district.
He said it was the expectation of the people in the community to ensure everlasting cordial and partnership relations between them and the company for the development of more water sources for the communities.
According to him, paying taxes is a civic obligation through which the government raises money to manage the business of state; it is crucial that every citizen fulfills this obligation.
The Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies’ (MMDAs) ability to carry out development is made possible by the payment of tax for development, according to the MCE, who made the demand during a tax education campaign at the Municipal Capital Kete Krachi the Oti Region over the weekend.
Mr Jalula observed that it was becoming increasingly clear that relevant development projects, would elude the people if Assemblies largely regarded the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) as a major source of funds that could be used to bring development to the people because it was inadequate.
According to the MCE, the Krachi- West Municipal Assembly had put in place measures to improve and expand the tax net, to enable the Assembly to mobilise enough revenue to execute development projects to improve the living standards of the people.
He said, as part of the strategies adopted to enhance revenue at the Assembly, cattle farmers were also being educated to pay tax as well as property owners, saying property rate was an important area that could enable the Assembly to increase its revenue base but had been neglected over the years.
He said since he took over as the MCE for the past one year, the Assembly had decided to educate people on the importance of property rate and the general need for people to honour their tax obligations.
Mr Jalula said many of the property owners, started appreciating the need for them to pay property rate, stressing that when property owners paid taxes, they would have the moral right to demand support from the government whenever disaster occurred.
He announced that the Assembly had also embarked on recruitment exercise, to engage tax collectors, who would be paid on commission bases, and said since the recruitment started four months ago, the Assembly had collected GH¢ 4,260 on market days at the major markets namely, the Kete-Krachi market, Ehiamankyene, Ntewusu and Bomondene.
The MCE, who was satisfied with the level of acceptance since the Assembly started the tax education campaign, said the GH¢4,260 collected on market days in the municipality was over 100 per cent improvement over the previous GH¢ 1,200 collected on market days.
A businesswoman, Felicia Anto, said there was the need for the Assembly to provide additional market stores and sheds in the various markets in the municipality because many traders did not have either stores or sheds to transact businesses on market days, and had to be in the sun.
Eric André has filed a lawsuit against Clayton County over police’s “program of racial profiling and coercive stops” at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
As previously reported, André went public last year with what he described as a racial profiling incident at the Georgia airport, ultimately hitting Jimmy Kimmel Live to detail the harassment. Per André, a statement from Clayton County police about the incident was “full of misinformation,” including their assertion that the incident amounted to a “consensual encounter.”
At one point during the resulting interrogation, André said, police asked him if he was “transporting crystal meth to Los Angeles.”
In a press release issued on Tuesday, the Policing Project at NYU School of Law announced that André and fellow comedian Clayton English, who is said to have been targeted in a similar manner while traveling to Los Angeles in 2020, have filed a lawsuit in which it’s argued that these police tactics are not constitutional.
In the filing, dated Oct. 11, the legal team behind the suit (including pro bono counsel from Jones Day and Lawrence & Bundy) notes that the program being utilized by the Clayton County Police Department and investigators from the Clayton County District Attorney’s Office doesn’t hold up to scrutiny of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment variety.
More specifically, the suit states, police records show that officers have been choosing their targets in the airport stop program “based on race.” Defendants in the suit include Clayton County, CCPD chief Kevin Roberts, CCDAO investigator Michael Hooks, and multiple CCPD officers. The officers named in the filing include Aimee Branham, Tony Griffin, Kevin Campbell, and C. Smith.
“I was blocked in a jet bridge by two police officers who interrogated me about drugs,” André said Tuesday. “I didn’t see any other Black people boarding at the time. It’s hard to believe I was selected at ‘random’ for questioning. It was a humiliating and degrading experience.”
In May, André and Adult Swim announced the impending arrival of the sixth season (a.k.a. Season 666) of The Eric Andre Show. Confirmed guests for the 2023-premiering new season include Lil Yachty, Jon Hamm, Rico Nasty, Raven-Symoné, and more.
According to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority’s (DVLA) Chief Executive, the integration of the DVLA’s database with the National Identification Authority would be finished by the end of the first quarter of 2023.
He claims that, while the application is being developed, the DVLA’s technology backbone has been tried and tested.
“The technological foundation has been tried and tested. We need to start working on the application right away.
According to graphic.com.gh, “We have to perform some code on the application part to ensure that the systems are feeding into or handshaking so that if a person comes to DVLA and gives us their Ghana Card, we get every information about them.
He also noted that the merger will make it easier for applicants to access their driver’s licenses when they need to.
“With the integration, when you are trying to apply for a driver’s license, there is no need to sit in our office for two hours to fill out forms. Once you give us your Ghana Card, we should be able to pull your data and make use of it,” he said.
The DVLA noted that the integration will help other stakeholders such as the National Insurance Commission, the Motor Traffic and Transport Division, and the National Road Safety Authority.
He stated that the state would file an additional set of eight witness statements in place of the four witness statements he had originally filed.
The Attorney General then requested that the court be adjourned so that his office could file the required documents.
In response to the Attorney General’s request, Justice Lydia Osei Marfo postponed the hearing until October 24, 2022.
Aisha Huangis facing trial over four charges preferred against her by the state.
Charges
The first count is “undertaking a mining operation without a licence contrary to section 99(2)(a) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006, Act 703 as amended by the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act 2019, Act 995”.
Second count: Facilitating the participation of persons engaged in a mining operation contrary to section 99 (2)(a) & (3) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006, Act 703 as amended by the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act 2019, Act 995.
Third count: Illegal employment of foreign nationals contrary to Section 24 of the Immigration Act, 2000 (Act 573).
Fourth count: Entering Ghana while prohibited from re-entry contrary to section 20(4) of the Immigration Act, 2000, Act 573.
Following Laura Whitmore’s departure from the role after just two years, ITV have confirmed that Bristol-born presenter Maya Jama will be the new host of Love Island.
In a statement, ITV said that the 28-year-old star would front the ninth season of the popular dating show in South Africa, from early 2023.
On Instagram, Jama and the Love Island account revealed the news with a video featuring her alongside of the show’s infamous suitcases, captioned: “Okay, the rumours are true.”
Known for her presenting roles on TV shows such as Glow Up and Save Our Summer, Jama was amongst the names hotly-tipped to take over the show after months of online speculation. Radio presenter Vick Hope, this year’s Love Island winner, Ekin-Su Culculoglu, and ex-contestant Zara McDermott were also among the rumoured hosts.
Jama said in a press release that she was excited about her new role and couldn’t wait to jump in. “I’ve always been such a massive Love Island fan and I’m so excited to be hosting one of the nation’s favourite shows,” she said. “I can’t wait to get into the Villa to meet all of the Islanders.”
Paul Mortimer, Director of Reality Programming and Acquisitions at ITV, said:“Finding a new host to follow the wonderful Laura Whitmore was never going to be easy. In Maya Jama, though, we have another high-profile fan of the show who’ll be a great addition to the Love Island family.
He added: “Cool, charming and charismatic, I speak for us all when I say Maya will also bring a unique presenting style to the show, as did Laura and, of course, the very much missed Caroline Flack. We’re very pleased to have her on board.”
Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh, director general of the Securities and Industry Association (GSIA), is pleading with financial institutions, in particular capital market operators who are championing financial literacy campaigns, to make them relatable to both investors and potential investors in order to help them develop resilience and confidence.
He emphasized that in order for individuals to make wise financial decisions, all accessible information must constantly be made available.
Delivering the keynote address at the Ghana Stock Exchange in partnership with the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), the International Organisation of Securities Commission’s (IOSCO) ‘Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy’ program in Accra on the theme ‘Building Investor Resilience’, Mr. Ogbarmey Tetteh noted that campaigns aimed at achieving inclusivity and literacy must be sustainable and not just a one-time event.
“Let us make the financial literacy education as comprehensive as possible because we are trying to build a system and the investors are a critical part. The education must be sustainable, simplified, relatable, and objective,” he said.
“The financial sector needs a growing pool of resilient investors, not the ones that turn to be fleet-footed and prone to knee-jerked reactions or head mentality. I know how difficult it is to have investors who simply do not understand and will move on to decide on the slightest sound. When we execute our financial literacy well, I believe we will have this pool of resilient investors,” he said.
The GSIA director also indicated that financial literacy campaigns must target goals such as producing responsible and informed investors who will be accountable for the decisions they take.
“Our financial campaigns should bring people who see the need to plan and follow the plan and not the crowd. People without knowledge will just follow the crowd. Let our goal be to produce investors who will be responsible for conducting some minimum due diligence about products and service providers. Create investors who know risk-return characteristics of various products,” he added.
The need to protect people’s well-being from economic shocks was underscored by other speakers who urged individuals to set realistic financial goals.
They advised that investors must also seek adequate knowledge about investments even in challenging times to guide their decision or indecisions.
For the Managing Director of the GSE, financial literacy is important in this current dispensation, especially when investors are uncertain about the economic crisis
CEO of Crescendo Consult Ltd, Mrs Doris Ahiati, advised that in uncertain times investors “must be present, learn, and seek professional guidance.”
Managing Director of Ecobank Development Corporation (EDC) Investments, Paul Mante, also holds that individuals must be deliberate about making available emergency funds so they do not have to distract their long-term savings plan.
For the Managing Director of Tesah Capital Limited Mrs. Eugenia Basheer and CEO of OctaneDC Limited, Dr. Suzy Aku Akpene Puplampu, it is important to have other sources of income and lean on professional advises to make an informed decision and minimize investment risk.
His Excellency Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, received a courtesy visit by a delegation from the Securities Markets of Ghana and Nigeria on Friday, October 7, 2022, at the Jubilee House in Accra.
The purpose of the visit was to officially tell the Vice President about the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that the Securities and Exchange Commissions of Ghana and Nigeria signed on Thursday, October 6, 2022.
The delegation took advantage of the chance to inform the Vice President about the development of the West African Capital Market Integration initiative.
Welcoming the delegation, H.E. Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, commended the Securities and Exchange Commissions of Ghana and Nigeria for successes chalked so far in building the Securities Markets in their respective countries and for advancing the Capital Market Integration Agenda.
The Vice President emphasized the importance of having a robust and vibrant domestic Securities Market to support the private sector and the economy to thrive.
He urged the heads of the two regulatory bodies to urgently accelerate the integration agenda and operationalize cross-border transactions thereby enabling the private sector to access capital to enhance the economy.
He further noted that for the Capital Market Integration Agenda to be successful, there is the need to have a robust payment and settlement system in place and therefore urged the West Africa Securities Regulators Association (WASRA) to foster close relationships with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS). H.E. Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia assured the delegation of Government’s support towards the initiative.
Rev. Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh, Director General of SEC Ghana, expressed his profound gratitude to the Vice President for the warm reception and continuous support to the Securities Market. Rev. Ogbarmey Tetteh, while introducing the Ghana team of the delegation noted that following a successful West Africa Capital Market Conference (WaCMAC) in May this year, where the Vice President delivered a keynote address, the Securities Markets of Ghana and Nigeria have continued to work closely together to deepen collaboration between the two markets.
He further indicated that the two regulatory bodies (SEC Ghana and SEC Nigeria) have signed an MoU to, among other things, establish and foster securities market activities between the two countries.
In addition, he also noted that the close collaboration between the Securities Markets of Ghana and Nigeria has the potential to yield significant economic dividends for both countries.
Mr. Lamido Yuguda, Chairman of the West Africa Securities Regulators Association (WASRA) and Director General of SEC Nigeria, in his remarks stated that the Securities Markets of Ghana and Nigeria continue to enjoy close collaboration for 19 years following the signing of an MoU in 2003 between the two regulatory bodies. He noted that the current MoU would unlock huge opportunities for both jurisdictions and accelerate the Capital Market Integration Agenda.
Mr. Yuguda emphasized the need to tap into the vast opportunities offered by the Securities Market to solve infrastructure deficits that have bedeviled the West African Region. He mentioned that the operationalization of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has created the need for capital and the Securities Market presents the best option due to the long-term nature of funds raised from the market.
After visiting the Vice President, the delegation made its way to the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) to inspect the trading floor of the GSE, interact with GSE staff and market operators, and sign the symbolic GSE visitor’s book. The day’s activities climaxed with a bell-ringing ceremony where dignitaries were given the honour to ring the opening bell of the Ghana Stock Exchange.
The Director Generals of the two countries were accompanied by Mrs. Deborah Mawuse Agyemfra, Deputy Director General Legal of SEC Ghana; Mr. Paul Ababio, Deputy Director General Finance of SEC Ghana; Mr. Ekow Afedzie, Managing Director of Ghana Stock Exchange; Ms. Abena Amoah, Deputy Managing Director of Ghana Stock Exchange; Mr. Temi Popoola, CEO of Nigerian Stock Exchange (NGX); Directors and Heads of Department from SEC Ghana, and other dignitaries from SEC Nigeria, NGX, GSE and the Nigerian High Commission in Ghana.
This release is issued pursuant to Sections 3 and 208(c) of the Securities Industry Act, 2016 (Act 929) as amended.
The Management of the University of Education, Winneba has said that it will reschedule examinations that were boycotted by final year students of the school on Monday, October 10, 2022.
This was contained in a statement issued by the Registrar, Wilhemina Tete-Mensah highlighting the prompt actions the institution has made to address all academic results by final-year students.
“This is to inform all students of University of Education, Winnebathat the conduct of the End of Semester Examinations for the 2021/2022 Academic Year will take place as scheduled. The ones that were interrupted by students will be rescheduled. All Deans and Heads of Department are to note and act accordingly and communicate the dates to their students when rescheduled,” part of the statement said.
The leadership further stated that access has now been granted to level 400 students to check their results, however, students who may still find it difficult to access their portals would have to visit the Student Centre for help.
“We wish to assure all students that Management has their welfare at heart and has resolved to continue to lend the necessary support to students to ensure that any concern brought to our attention is redressed appropriately,” the statement concluded.
On Monday, October 10, 2022 some level 400 students protested against the administration of the school in response to issues with their grading system.
A section of the protesting students asserted that their grades have been altered, while others claimed they were unable to log on to the student portal to check their results.
They attributed all these challenges to transition from an old system to one which is improperly structured.
As such, the students refused to participate in the end of semester examination. The students, who were clothed in red and black, alleged that the school’s management had not taken any immediate action to address their concerns.
They argued that the decision by school administrators to withhold their results from being posted on the student portal was intentional.
According to the Director-General of GTEC, Prof. Mohammed Salifu, its outfit will see to it that the right thing is done in order to maintain law and order in the school.
“It is our responsibility to ensure that anytime the systems that the
university puts in place are not working well, we move in there and hold them to account.
“We will have to get in and do a snap audit to make sure the systems are functioning as they should. Clearly, when you hear students protesting like this, it means there is something wrong. The auditors are supposed to be there this week to begin the work,” he added.
Programmes Manager of the National STIs and AIDS Control Programme (NACP), Dr Stephen Ayisi Addo, has revealed that a total of 7,699 children tested positive for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in 2020.
Mr Ayisi Addo, in an interview with the media, also disclosed that 443 new HIV cases were recorded in 2021 among children within the same age bracket.
Giving a breakdown of the children from 10-19 living with the virus were 22,754 in 2020, while new infections that occurred in 2021 among the same group were 1,811, with 718 associated deaths.
He further added that a total of 23,495 children aged 14 and below tested positive for HIV within the first six months of 2021.
According to Dr Addo, the HIV cases recorded among these minors are cases of mother-to-child transmissions, a situation he describes as worrying.
He said, “In fact, of the 14% of mothers whom we have tested and are positive, we are finding their children to be positive, which means that they were left unnoticed. We dug further and realised that some of those mothers did not go to ANC, and so they did not receive the treatment to prevent transmission to their children.”
“This is not good because most of these children got it from their mothers. They were mainly mother-to-child transmissions and that is something we have to avoid,” the programmes manager added.
Mr Ayisi Addo has therefore encouraged pregnant women to get tested for HIV during antenatal clinics (ANC).
Patients who test positive, he said, will be put on treatment to prevent the transmission of the disease to their unborn children.
Mr Ayisi Addo attributed HIV infection cases in children in the adolescent stage to indiscriminate sex.
He mentioned some of the factors that predisposed adolescents to HIV as peer influence, early sex, promiscuity, substance use (alcoholism) and ignorance.
With children contracting HIV, the NACP Programmes Manager fears the fight to end “ the HIV epidemic will not be possible because of the likelihood of those children growing tired of taking their medication and, therefore, becoming the next generation to create resistance”.
The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) has threatened to embark on a series of protests if the government does not employ measures to address the plight of traders.
The caution from GUTA comes after traders in the Ashanti Region shut down their shops on Monday, October 10, 2022 to display their displeasure over what they describe as excessive Value Added Tax (VAT) levied against their businesses and the sharp depreciation of the Cedi.
Most shops within the Central Business District in the Kumasi Metropolis were seen with red bands tied on the doors.
Speaking to the media, the National President of GUTA, Dr. Joseph Obeng, stated that despite countless concerns about the effects of the cedi’s depreciation and the effect on their businesses, the government has still paid no heed to their call but rather the situation is getting worse each day.
“First, we were managing our frustration, but now our frustration has turned into anger, and that is what is showing in the business community. This is only the beginning because others are going to follow. If I listen to the agitations of our members, it means that a lot more is going to follow, and it is going to be massive.”
On the other hand, the GRA has warned it will punish organisations who do not pay their taxes on time.
The state agency has been on the prowl for businesses that are in violation of its rules and regulations.
The increase in taxes and the depreciation of the Cedi, has affected the country’s inflation rates, resulting in an increase in the cost of products and services.
As reported by the Bank of Ghana, the Ghana Cedi shed 37.5% of its value against the US dollar as of the end of September 2022, whereas the US dollar is currently selling at GH¢11.2.
According to Afriswap Bureau De Change, a forex bureau in Accra, as of October 8, 2022. The pound and euro are also trading at GH¢12.5 and GH¢10.57 respectively.
This has received backlash from scores of Ghanaians. However, the government has argued that the Russian-Ukraine war and the COVID-19 outbreak are the primary sources of Ghana’s economic woes.
In the meantime, the government has said that it is prepared to ease the suffering through sound fiscal measures.
Delivering a speech at the opening of the 12th Biennial and 50th Golden Conference of the Methodist Church of Ghana, President Akufo-Addo said ‘the Akufo-Addo government has not thrown its hands up in despair at this development. We are determined to bring relief to the Ghanaian people and return the economy back to the high rates of growth that characterized the management of our economy in the three years preceding the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020.”
Ghana Red Cross Society (GRCS) Secretary-General, Mr Solomon Gayoni, has observed that only 32 percent of the entire Ghanaian population had fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 pandemicas of September 1 this year.
He told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview on the sidelines of a Poliomyelitis vaccination monitoring and community education and sensitization exercise by the GRCS at Abi, a farming community near Jinijini in the Berekum West District of the Bono region.
Mr. Gayoni said the main goal of the exercise was to ensure no child within the polio immunization age would be left out in the ongoing nationwide vaccination against the poliomyelitis disease.
He also stated that a large number of people had only received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccinationand had not received the second dose or booster, attributing the situation to “vaccination hesitancy” caused by conspiracy theories and faith-based beliefs.
Mr Gayoni noted that as part of the ongoing poliomyelitis vaccination campaign, community sensitization in hard-to-reach and vulnerable communities was required.
Meanwhile
Ghana’s Ministry of Health confirmed the first two cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on Thursday, March 13.
According to authorities, the individuals had returned to Ghana from Norway and Turkey. They were isolated for weeks with a series of tests and possible contact traces.
To prevent further spread of the virus, the Ministry of Health advised people to observe good personal hygiene, avoid shaking hands, and practice social distancing. Individuals who feel unwell with symptoms such as fever, cough, and breathing difficulties are advised to stay at home.
Context
The first case of COVID-19 was reported on December 31, and the source of the outbreak was linked to a wet market in Wuhan (Hubei province, China). Human- to-human and patient-to-medical
staff transmission of the virus was confirmed. Many of the associated fatalities were due to pneumonia caused by the virus.
Cases of the virus were confirmed in numerous countries and territories worldwide. Virus- screening and quarantining measures were implemented at airports worldwide, as well as extensive travel restrictions.
Pneumonia symptoms include a dry cough, chest pain, fever, and trouble breathing. Pneumonia is contagious and can be transmitted from human to human. The influenza virus, or the flu, is a common cause of viral pneumonia.
As of August 10, 2022, Ghana had administered over 19.8 million doses of the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine. Ghana was the first African economy to receive vaccination doses from the COVAX Facility in 2021.
The legal tussle between the state and Aisha Huang is intensifying, as the latter and her counterparts have been denied bail again.
For the fourth time, Aisha Huang has been refused bail, despite efforts by her lawyer to secure a bail for her.
On Tuesday, October 11, 2022, during a court hearing, the lawyer for the accused, Nkrabeah Effah Dartey, made a case for his client, arguing that Aisha deserved bail.
However, the bail application was squashed by the Presiding Judge, Lydia Osei Marfo, on grounds that all arguments previously made against his plea for bail, including the flight risk of his client, remain and will not be changed.
The accused, therefore, must be having a tough time as the Judiciary remains firm in its resolve to sanction them.
Aisha Huang and her counterparts have been in police custody since September when they were arrested for engaging in illegal mining activities. For Aisha, this is the second time she has been arrested in connection with the crime.
She is currently on trial over charges of mining without a license and engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals.
Additionally, she is also facing four charges levelled against her by the State Attorney, Godfred Dame, which are; undertaking a mining operation without a licence, facilitating the participation of persons engaged in a mining operation, illegal employment of foreign nationals, and entering Ghana while prohibited from re- entry.
Her case on Tuesday was adjourned to October 24, 2022 for case management.
Four others remanded:
Meanwhile, four others who appeared in court, three (3) Chinese nationals and a Vietnam national, have all been remanded to reappear in court on November 1, 2022.
The 3 Chinese nationals – Shi Yang alias Philip, Li Wei Guo and Shi Mei Zhi are on a provisional charge of engaging in small scale- mining without a license, contrary to section 99(2)(a) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) as amended by Act 995 of 2019.
Vietnam national; Nguyen Thi Thanh Tuyen, is however, being charged for remaining in Ghana after the expiration of a permit contrary to sections 20(1) and
52(1)(d) of the Immigration Act, 2000 (Act 573).
The sitting judge heard the pleas of the 3 Chinese nationals but reserved that of the Vietnamese; Nguyen Thi Thanh Tuyen who had difficulty understanding the Chinese and English languages through which they were communicating.
Mr Kwabena Agyei Agyapong, a flagbearer hopeful of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has called for the scrapping of the four-year ex-gratia payments.
He said the country did not have the needed resources to honour that arrangement.
The former General Secretary of the NPP said there should be arrangements where Members of Parliament for instance could be offered “something little” at the end of their term in office instead of giving them lump sums every four years under the current system.
“Ex-gratia should be like a parachute payment. When you have served your country like a member of Parliament…it’s a difficult assignment. I would say it is like marriage. When you elevate a lady to certain level as a wife and you want to leave, that’s why they let you pay alimony,” he said in an interview in Accra.
“It cannot be right on any moral standing. We should stop it immediately. We don’t have the money as a country,” Mr Agyapong added.
Ex-gratia payments are regarded as part of the end-of-service benefits for a certain class of public servants — and it is paid every four years.
The category of workers who benefit from ex-gratia payment is Article 71 office holders made up of the President, the Vice President, the Speaker of Parliament, the Chief Justice and other Justices of the Supreme Court of the country.
The rest are Parliamentarians, Ministers of State, political appointees and public servants with salaries charged to the Consolidated Fund, but enjoying special Constitutional privileges.
There have been conflicting arguments about the essence of the payment of ex-gratia to Article 71 Office holders, with some commentators and Governance experts describing the practice as an “unfair arrangement.”
The debate resurrected when it emerged that Togbe Afede, the Agbogbomefia of the Asogli State, returned an amount of GHS350,000 paid to him as ex-gratia for serving as a Member of the Council of State.
Togbe Afede described the amount as “outrageous” saying it was “inappropriate for a short, effectively part-time work.”
Nana Adjei Ampofo, a former member of the Council of State also called for a review of the payment of ex-gratia to members of the Council to meet the economic realities of the day.
Former President John Dramani Mahama recently pledged to implement recommendations of the Constitutional Review Committee as well as review ex-gratia payments in the next NDC administration.
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has called for increased focus on the economic impact of climate change to developing nations.
He said a spotlight on the canker was needed to get the world and developed countries in particularly to fully appreciate the adverse effects of climate change to humanity and economies in particular.
Mr OforiAtta also met with the Director for the Africa Department of the IMF, Abebe Aemro Selassie, to advance discussions on ongoing IMF-assisted programme negotiations with the fund.
Climate change
Addressing the G-24 Ministers and Governors Meetings as part of ongoing Wold Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF) Meetings in Washington D.C., Mr Ofori-Atta said over the past two decades, climate change had wiped off more than $525 billion from developing countries.
This, he said made it imperative for urgent actions to tackle the menace.
The Finance Minister was addressing 108th Meeting of Ministers and Governors of the Group of 24 on the theme: ‘Securing a Sustained Post-Pandemic Recovery.’
Delegation
The Finance Minister is leading a delegation from Ghana to the Annual Meetings of the World Bank/IMF in Washington, D.C. of the United States of America.
The delegation comprises the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Charle Adu Boahen, the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the Bank of Ghana Governor (BoG), Dr Ernest Addison, and the First Deputy Governor, Dr Maxwell Opoku-Afari.
The delegation is also expected to advance negotiations with the IMF on a fund-assisted programme that addresses Ghana’s macroeconomic and structural challenges.
Addressing the G-24 Meetings said, “there is the need to put a spotlight on the economic consequences of climate change, particularly as it relates to developing countries who are the least contributors to climate change. “Climate change has wiped out a fifth of the wealth of climate-vulnerable countries over the last two decades – meaning that vulnerable countries have lost approximately $525 billion because of anthropogenic global warming,” he said.
He said it was saddening to note that these losses, which were attributable to global warming as a result of human activity as opposed to the natural climate cycle.
Mr Ofori-Atta described the losses as horrific effects on lives and livelihoods.
Consequently, he said climate-vulnerable countries required an economic cooperation through climate prosperity plans.
He said the plan must facilitate the flow of climate financing into “our economies with a focus on building climate resilience in our economies, expanding on our adaptive capacity as we increase our mitigation efforts and increasing investments in disaster risk reduction and insurance.”
Additional benefits
An annual event, this year’s World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings provides the world the platform to discuss critical areas where the international community and international financial institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank Group could scale up their support for emerging economies.
This forum comes against the backdrop of a confluence of adverse shocks heightened by debt vulnerabilities, persistent inflation, and deep concern about the impending impact of climate change.
As part of the discussions, it was agreed that Ghana’s negotiated program must reposition the country towards a resilient macroeconomic environment, whilst ensuring that the most vulnerable segments of the population are protected from the impact of any potential fiscal adjustments.
The second round of formal negotiations will continue after the Annual Meetings, between the Government of Ghana team, led by the Honourable Minister for Finance, Ofori-Atta; and the IMF team, led by the IMF Mission Chief, Stéphane Roudet.
The negotiations will prioritize the implementation of policies that create the conditions for a stable macroeconomic environment, sustainable growth and debt sustainability.
It is located in the prime area of the 16th Arrondissement of Paris.
The Paris Mission has a unique address, located in the famous Villa Saïd.
The villa is named after Mohamed Sa’id Pasha, a former Prime Minister of Egypt.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, congratulated President Akufo-Addo on the prestigious award of Doctor Honoris Causa conferred on him by the reputable Sorbonne University.
“Mr President, your service and sacrifices to the nation and humanity will always be recognised and your example should spur us all on to do more for God and country,” she said.
She thanked the President for his commitment and support ensuring that the Paris Mission was well-housed and in the best of conditions.
“You insisted that we included Paris in the list of Ghana’s Diplomatic Missions to benefit from the Société Générale Bank credit facility acquired to purchase, construct, reconstruct and/or renovate Ghana Missions abroad,” Madam Ayorkor Botchwey stated.
The Minister also congratulated Madam Anna Bossman, Ghana’s Ambassador to France, for her spirit of importunity and determination that had seen the successful completion of the project.
Madam Ayorkor Botchweysaid the President was right that the Paris Mission was significant and touched all aspects of diplomacy – bilateral, multilateral and economic diplomacy – in all its forms and expressions in the prosecution of Ghana’s foreign policy agenda.
She said France was one of the first countries with, which Ghana established diplomatic relations immediately following its independence in 1957.
“Our long-standing relations with France have since grown and blossomed into fruitful and mutually beneficial cooperation, in many aspects of our national development to the mutual benefit of our peoples,” the Minister said.
“To the Ghanaian community, this is your home.”
She said the renovation meant the Government of Ghana was sending a strong message of the importance it attached to the interests of its citizens, which was the priority of diplomacy.
The Minister said the beautifully fitted consular section should complement the high-quality services it would provide for the public’s satisfaction.
She urged the public to enjoy the facility and cooperate with the officers, who were ever ready to assist them in all that they needed; saying: “Let us keep the flag of Ghana high. “
The Minister expressed gratitude to the staff of the Paris Mission for their dedication and hard work.
“Our success requires that we meet the high expectations of our citizens and others who demand our services. Let us go over and above the call of duty, for the sake of our country,” she said.
The New Patriotic Party‘s (NPP) flagbearer candidate Mr. Kwabena Agyei Agyapong has demanded that the four-year ex-gratia payments be discontinued.
He claimed that the nation lacked the resources necessary to uphold that agreement.
According to the former general secretary of the NPP, procedures should be made so that, for instance, lawmakers might be given “something tiny” towards the conclusion of their terms in office rather than receiving lump sum payments every four years as is the case at the now.
“Ex-gratia should be like a parachute payment. When you have served your country like a member of Parliament…it’s a difficult assignment. I would say it is like marriage. When you elevate a lady to a certain level as a wife, and you want to leave, that’s why they let you pay alimony,” he said in an interview in Accra.
“It cannot be right on any moral standing. We should stop it immediately. We don’t have the money as a country,” Mr Agyapong added.
Ex-gratia payments are regarded as part of the end-of-service benefits for a certain class of public servants — and it is paid every four years.
The category of workers who benefit from ex-gratia payment is Article 71 office holders made up of the President, the Vice President, the Speaker of Parliament, the Chief Justice and other Justices of the Supreme Court of the country.
The rest are Parliamentarians, Ministers of State, political appointees and public servants with salaries charged to the Consolidated Fund but enjoying special Constitutional privileges.
There have been conflicting arguments about the essence of the payment of ex-gratia to Article 71 Office holders, with some commentators and Governance experts describing the practice as an “unfair arrangement.”
The debate resurrected when it emerged that Togbe Afede, the Agbogbomefia of the Asogli State, returned an amount of GHS350,000 paid to him as ex-gratia for serving as a Member of the Council of State.
Togbe Afede described the amount as “outrageous”, saying it was “inappropriate for a short, effectively part-time work.”
Nana Adjei Ampofo, a former memberof the Council of State, also called for a review of the payment of ex-gratia to members of the Council to meet the economic realities of the day.
Former President John Dramani Mahama recently pledged to implement the recommendations of the Constitutional Review Committee as well as review ex-gratia payments in the next NDC administration.
Eight multinational oil corporations (IOCs) are being pursued by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in order to recoup unpaid surface rental payments owing to the nation, which for the 2022 first half year alone amount to US$2.7 million.
This is out of an estimated US$3.4million surface rentals payment expected to have been received in the period under review.
In comparison to US$697,978 for the same period in 2021, nine out of 14 enterprises received a total of US$687,759 in surface rentals (Acreage Fees), a 1.46 percent decrease.
Total estimated Surface Rentals from all 14 existing Petroleum Agreements (PAs) for 2022 amounted to US$882,655. Added to the outstanding US$2.57million in Surface Rentals from both existing and terminated PAs as at end of 2021, the total Surface Rentals receivable in 2022 is estimated at US$3.46million.
Of this figure, an amount of US$687,759 has been paid in the 2022 half-year, resulting in a total outstanding balance of US$2.77million.
The total outstanding balance is made up of US$970,942 in respect of existing PAs and US$1.8million in respect of terminated PAs, according to the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) in its 2022 Semi-Annual Report.
The committee said: “Among operators of the terminated PAs, only Sahara Energy Fields Ghana showed commitment in H1 2022 to pay its outstanding Surface Rentals in respect of the Shallow Water Cape Three Points Block. Out of a total outstanding Surface Rentals of US$146,935, Sahara Energy Fields Ghana paid US$71,935 in H1 2022; leaving an outstanding balance of US$75,000.”
In the case of three other terminated Pas – that is Onshore/Offshore Keta Delta Block operated by Swiss African Oil Company Limited; Southwest Saltpond Block operated by Britannia–U; and Offshore Cape Three Points South operated by UB Resources Ltd. – the outstanding post-termination Surface Rentals, receivable as at the end of December 2021, being some US$862,500; US$760,209; and US$105,416 respectively, remain unpaid as of June 2022.
This brings the cumulative outstanding balance receivable from operators of all four terminated PAs to US$1.8million, representing 65 percent of the total outstanding Surface Rentals balance of about US$2.7million.
But unlike the terminated PAs, PIAC noted that “six operators of the 14 existing PAs have paid all outstanding Surface Rentals due Ghana”.
They include AGM Petroleum Limited, Aker Energy Limited, Eni Ghana Exploration & Production Limited, Tullow Ghana Limited and GOIL Offshore.
It is with these developments that the GRA says it has embarked on a vigorous drive to recover all outstanding payments in respect of Surface Rentals. This is also against the backdrop of the Petroleum Revenue Management Regulations’ (PRMR), 2019 (L.I 2381) passage.
It is understood that ‘Demand Notices’ have been issued to the eight defaulting companies, requesting the immediate payment of all arrears and associated penalties from the commencement of their Petroleum Agreements (PAs).
Also, PIAC’s report noted that the Compliance, Enforcement and Debt Management (CEDM) Unit of GRA has issued garnishee orders on some defaulters, and is in discussion with others.
Meanwhile, according to GRA, efforts have been intensified to pursue the operators of terminated PAs for payment of their liabilities.
This is an increase from the 33.9% rate recorded in August 2022, an indication that prices of goods and services went up by 6.7% between August and September 2022.
The GSS noted that five groups recorded inflation rates higher than the national average in September.
They were Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other fuels (68.8%); Furnishings, Household Equipment, and Routine Household Maintenance (51.1%); Transport (48.6%); Personal Care, Social Protection and Miscellaneous Goods and Services (42.6%) as well as Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (37.8%).
The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has fined nine Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) a total of over GH2.2 million for illegally stealing petroleum products and exchanging them with other parties.
The nine businesses were each given a GH2,215,000 fine.
The affected companies are Santol Energy, Bello Petroleum, Jas Petroleum, Oval Energy, Kros Energy, Safety Petroleum, Riseglobe Energy, Sayon Energy, and Cigo Energy, according to a release from the authorities.
The NPA details the fines as follows;
1. Cigo Energy pays a fine of ₵725,000.00 comprising ₵30,000.00 for engaging in third-party supplies for the second time and ₵695,000.00 for the unlawful lifting of petroleum products.
2. Sayon Energy is to pay ₵425,000.00 comprising ₵10,000.00 for engaging in third-party supplies for the first time and ₵415,000.00 for the unlawful lifting of petroleum products.
3. Bello Petroleum is to pay ₵120,000.00 comprising ₵10,000 for engaging in third-party supplies for the first time and ₵110,000.00 for the unlawful lifting of petroleum products.
4. Jas Petroleum is to pay a fine of ₵65,000.00 comprising ₵10,000.00 for engaging in third-party supplies for the first time and ₵55,000.00 for the unlawful lifting of petroleum products.
5. Oval Energy is mandated to pay ₵245,000.00 comprising ₵10,000.00 for engaging in third-party supplies for the first time and GHS235,000.00 for the unlawful lifting of petroleum products.
6. Kros Energy is to pay a fine of ₵295,000.00 comprising ₵10,000.00 for engaging in third-party supplies for the first time and GHS285,000.00 for the unlawful lifting of petroleum products.
7. Safety Petroleum was fined ₵200,000.00 comprising ₵10,000.00 for engaging in third-party supplies for the first time and ₵190,000.00 for the unlawful lifting of petroleum products.
8. That Santol Energy will pay a fine of ₵75,000.00 comprising ₵10,000.00 for engaging in third-party supplies for the first time and ₵65,000.00 for the unlawful lifting of petroleum products.
9. Riseglobe Energy was fined of ₵65,000.00 comprising ₵10,000.00 for engaging in third-party supplies for the first time and ₵55,000.00 for the unlawful lifting of petroleum products.
The Ghana cedi’s problems persisted, with the retail exchange rate standing at 11.30 to the dollar.
This comes after it crossed the 11 threshold on October 8, 2022, a Saturday.
According to Joy Business’s inspections of a few forex offices in Accra, the nation’s capital, the majority of these offices sell dollars for between 11.10 and 11.35.
The euro and pound, which are both trading at very high levels against the cedi, may be argued to be comparable.
The exchange rates for the cedi against the pound and the euro are 12.30 and 10.83 respectively.
The situation, if not given urgent attention by managers of the economy may be dire for the economy as most businesses have seen a significant increase in their cost of doing business, whilst households have also witnessed substantial rise in their cost of living.
Some of the forex bureaus operators, who spoke to Joy Business on condition of anonymity emphasised the recent action by Bank of Ghana against them as ineffective since the problem is more of an economic issue.
However, some analysts are cautiously optimistic that the $1.13 billion cocoa syndicated loan which the first tranche is expected to come in by the end of this month will help improve supply and slow down the rate of depreciation of the currency.
But that is a temporary measure which will be short-lived if medium to long term measures are not implemented.
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, yesterday October 12, 2022 met with the Director for the Africa Department of the IMF, Abebe Aemro Selassie at the ongoing Annual IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings to push for a quick completion of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund for an economic programme.
The IMF move is seen by many as the only measure that will restore Ghana’s macroeconomic and structural challenges.
Though it will come with painful conditionalities, many market watchers believe it will boost the country’s credibility and improve its credit rating, following downgrades by Moody’s and Fitch.
Dollar breaks ¢11 mark; forex bureaus sell a dollar for ¢11.2
The dollar broke the ¢11 mark over the weekend, following days of consecutive fall.
Also a report by Databank Research disclosed that the cedi was likely to endure depreciation pressures in the near term as the foreign exchange market still awaits news on the Debt Sustainability Analysis [DSA] conducted by the IMF
“The local unit [cedi] is likely to endure depreciation pressures in the near term as the market still awaits news on the DSA conducted by the IMF. The syndicated loan of $1.13 billion signed last week is expected to bolster FX supply and provide some reprieve to the cedi”, Databank Research said.
As portfolio outflows drained reserves, Ghana’s gross international reserves fell to 2.9 months of import cover. This is despite impressive earnings from exports of crude oil and gold.
A lawyer says 6ix9ine owes his firm hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid legal fees.
Per court documents dated Oct. 7 and viewed by Complex, Robert S. Meloni of Meloni & McCaffrey APC says 6ix9ine owes “approximately $400,000 in unpaid legal fees.” Furthermore, Meloni alleged, 6ix9ine has “shown both an unwillingness and/or an inability to pay those fees or any new fees on an ongoing basis.”
While the case specifically referenced in last week’s filing is the previously reported trademark infringement case involving an artist by the name of SIX9, the lawyer notes he at one point represented 6ix9ine in several pending cases, both at the state and federal level.
In the filing, Meloni lays out a number of alleged difficulties he’s had with 6ix9ine, including communication issues. After the exit of the artist’s business manager and another firm, per Meloni, these issues were heightened until such communications eventually wound down entirely.
“I have not spoken to or communicated with [6ix9ine] in over four months,” Meloni said.
All this comes mere days after it was reported that domestic violence-related charges against 6ix9ine’s girlfriend, Rachel “Jade” Wattley, had been dismissed. According to TMZ’s sources, this was brought on by a lack of cooperation from 6ix9ine.
6ix9ine’s most recent studio album, TattleTales, arrived in late 2020. The 13-track album marked his first new project following his exit from prison in connection with a federal racketeering case. In the years since, however, controversy surrounding 6ix9ine has persisted in a multitude of forms.
When Drake walked onstage to host the Nike Maxim Award Show in Beaverton, Oregon in early September 2022, he captured the attention of countless celebrities, athletes, and fans in attendance, but not for the reason you may think. It wasn’t his speech—although incredibly witty and humorous—that stole the show. Instead, it was the Nike swoosh-shaped detail braided into his hair. He later followed the public appearance with close-up shots of his protective style on Instagram, which garnered even more positive feedback.
At this point in his career, Drake understands that how he presents himself at live events and on social media—the kissy-face selfies, comedic captions, and eccentric hairstyles—is just as crucial to his brand as his chart-topping music. In the past two years, his hairstyles have become a focal point of his brand and have played their own role in his album rollouts and marketing campaigns. Before the Nike swoosh hairstyle, Drake debuted his close-cut fade featuring a heart-shaped cutout by his temple in preparation for 2021’s Certified Lover Boy. And most recently, Drizzy has been rocking a variety of braided styles that coincided with the release of his summer album, Honestly, Nevermind. Though Drake deserves credit for the branded machine he’s cultivated over the last few years, he isn’t doing it alone. The stylist responsible for the new era of Drake’s hair evolution is 22-year-old designer Bri Marie, who’s been building a hair empire over the last three years.
“My whole story is actually pretty crazy,” Bri Marie tells Complex. “This whole braiding [career] just fell in my lap.” It’s noon on the East Coast, but the South Florida-based stylist has already met with several clients before she hopped on this Zoom call. She works with Riff Raff and Rich Homie Quan in addition to Drake, who she started working with this year.
Image via Bri Marie Hair LLC
Had things gone a little differently, Bri Marie might have had a career in the military instead of designing celebrity hairstyles. “Fresh out of [high] school, the whole plan was for me to go to the military. That was what my parents wanted me to do,” Bri Marie recalls of her early ambitions after graduating from high school in 2018. So after graduation, she started on that track, visiting recruiters’ offices and waiting to begin basic training. That same year, a friend reached out to her with an unexpected request. “There was this guy on the basketball team, and he asked me, ‘can you do this braid style for me really quick?’” she remembers.
Bri Marie had always been the cousin that braided her family’s hair, but this particular style request was more complex than what she’d previously done. Still, she agreed to try it. “I saw it, and I was just like, ‘I do not know how to do that, but I could try it.’ It really made me interested in creating art out of someone’s head. So, I did it on him, and I posted his hair on Snapchat. Clients just started coming in.”
Just like that, Bri Marie began to accept new clients on a routine basis and braid their hair out of her garage. At the time, she also held a daytime restaurant job, making her hours even longer. During the day, she worked 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the restaurant, then she’d go straight into braiding hair, oftentimes until 2 a.m. She notes that the long schedule continued for a while until she experienced a moment of reckoning.
During a crossroads decision of whether she should continue doing hair or go to the military as originally intended, Bri Marie looked to her faith for answers. “On Thursday, I was praying. I was just so conflicted. And this girl came up to me like, “listen, this is confirmation that you shouldn’t go [to the military,]’” she recalls. “I came back home and told my mom, ‘I’m going to have faith and just stick it out and go the hair route.’” The next day, she called the recruiter and passed on going to the military and started doing hair full time. After leaving the military behind, she attended a one-year cosmetology program to receive certification and then gained employment at a local barbershop in her hometown, where she continued to grow her brand and clientele. “I went to the barbershop with 200 followers [on IG], and I left with 10K,” she says.
Image via Bri Marie Hair LLC
Bri Marie’s first celebrity client was rapper Riff Raff in 2019. Riff Raff’s PR team reached out to her via Instagram DM after discovering her name under a hashtag. His braids, which often include intricate swirls, shapes, and details, are all over Bri Marie’s Instagram page. His co-sign also helped her bag more exclusive clientele. Now, Bri Marie welcomes celebrities like the aforementioned plus James Harden, Swae Lee, and more into her chair.
Most of her new clients, she says, have found her through social media, namely Instagram. Drake, however, was introduced to her through a friend of a friend. The OVO rapper admired a style she did for his friend and immediately inquired about booking her. “He saw it and was like, ‘Bro, I need that.’ I got the call the next day and was like, ‘Come through,’” she says, looking back on that moment in awe.
Drake’s now-staple braided style includes two to four stitch braids, which is a braiding technique that is achieved by sectioning the hair in clean, horizontal lines. The style took around 45 minutes to an hour to perfect. Bri Marie notes, “the more simple [the style], the more intricate it really is.” But she also enjoys tackling challenging designs.
The Nike swoosh was an exciting challenge for the young hairstylist. It took a total of two hours to do, the hardest part being “drawing out the Nike sign” as if she was using a pencil on paper. “[We] had a conversation about trying something new, and something that would be branded towards that event,” she says of how the style came about. “It’s simple, but it’s still doing a whole lot. It was just really off the top of our heads. We’re like, ‘Why not? Let’s just try to see if we can create that shape.’ It was my first time doing it, and it was executed perfectly.”
The style was a hit to say the least. Bri Marie remembers the moment she saw Drake make his debut onstage. “I remember watching how he put his head down, just seeing how precise the stitches were looking. It made me feel proud,” she acknowledges. “They [were] saying how clean it is. If anything, it makes me feel like, ‘Wow, you did that.’”
The swoosh isn’t the only trick in her bag. Just by looking at her Instagram account, it’s clear that Bri Marie specializes in details. What many wouldn’t know, however, is that all of her designs, just like the Nike swoosh, were done off the cuff.
“All those styles that I’ve done on my page, those are my first time doing it,” reveals the designer. “Actually, some of those styles are just off the top of my head. I’m driving down the street and I’m just looking at shapes. I’m looking at the signs on the road, the sky. I just try to piece all those things together to see if I can replicate it on someone’s head… I don’t have a mannequin head. I don’t practice on anything prior to me trying it on someone’s head, but it always ends up working out.”
Now, Bri Marie can add anything from a star or scorpion to an octopus or geometric shape of any kind to a client’s style, “it just depends on what they’re feeling,” she says. Her designs capture a growing trend of creative experimentation with braided styles in the industry. Over the years, celebs such as Beyoncé, Rihanna, and ASAP Rocky have incorporated unique detailing into their braids. In 2018, designer Alexander Wang featured eccentric braided styles, which included letters and other designs in his runway show for New York Fashion Week. Bri Marie, theorizes that the trend started during the pandemic when people were growing their hair out and looking for expressive styles.
“I feel like shapes add a little bit of flavor rather than being simple. It becomes a lot more intriguing for other people to try,” she explains. “Guys want to be hip. They want to have the latest. They want to stand out. There’s so many different things that go into it. Shapes can really turn the style up a lot more.”
Image via Bri Marie Hair LLC
Since Drake, the number of requests for his particular hairstyle have grown exponentially, and Bri Marie confirms her platform has grown as well. “It’s one of those things where you don’t know until you know,” she says of the payoff of Drake’s support. “I’d definitely say it really helped bring a lot more traction to my work, a lot more people recognizing that I do have a love and a passion for my brand.”
Drake is just the beginning, though. In addition to having a booked schedule, the hair designer also launched a durag and bonnet line called BMogul. The collection is made of silk or velvet fabric and comes in an array of vibrant colors, giving a luxury feel. And she hints at other business moves in the works, although she’s hesitant to share any more details right now.
Looking back on how far she’s come in just three short years, Bri Marie shares the motto that keeps her moving forward: “If you put God first, you will succeed. Believe in yourself and never give up on your dreams because you never know where your talent can take you.”
As far as the design she’ll tackle next, she’s not even sure. But we’ll see it soon enough. “I’m always trying to outdo every style that I’ve done before. I just try to do stuff that has never really been done before. It really helps me get better and better.”
A viral picture circulating on social media about an alleged magical woman has created fear and panic among the people in Tumu and the Sissala area.
The mystery behind the picture stipulates that the woman possessed the magical powers of touching people and vanishing with them, which the security in the Sissala East has dispelled.
This follows days and weeks of fear caused by the alleged presence of the woman in the Sissala District, scaring most people from going to their farms.
Some parents even restricted their children from going to school.
In the viral picture, sighted by the Ghana News Agency (GNA), the said woman is seen carrying a sack of loads, walking and holding a long stick. She wears a sweater, with a cover cloth over it.
The accompanying picture has an attached audio voice in the Sissali language warning residents to stay away from assisting the old woman if she sought help to carry her load.
On Sunday, October 09, 2022, a woman, named Tabsoba, was mistakenly identified by residents in Sakai, Kowie, and the Tumu township as the woman in the viral picture in circulation.
A milling crowd followed her to the Ghana Burkina-Faso border with the Sissala East.
When security officials, led by Chief Superintendent William Essah of the Ghana Immigration Service in the Tumu border interrogated her, she spoke in the Moshie language through an interpreter where she mentioned her name as Madam Tabsoba.
Chief Supt Essah told the Ghana News Agency (GNA), that Tabsoba said: “I came to Ghana through Hamile during the farming season to Wa and walked for 20 days to Tumu from Wa looking for what I will eat.
“Everywhere, I reached and needed water to bathe or drink, I got beaten for reasons I do not know,” she told a team of security persons at the border.
According to Chief Supt Essah, when a search was conducted on her, she did not have any form of identity card but had clothes, soap, flour, and a bucket for bathing.
When she was asked why many people claimed anyone who touched her would vanish, she laughed it off and denied the claim.
She indicated that she wanted to go to Leo, a community in Burkina-Faso, which the security people obliged and allowed her to go.
After she related her pathetic story to the security some people at the border supported her with some money while others got her food before leaving for Leo.
After she related her pathetic story to the security, some people at the border supported her with some money while others got her food before leaving for Leo.
Chief Supt. Essah said Tabsoba’s posture suggests that she had mental problems and advised the public against spreading fake news, especially false news about the vulnerable.
He advised the people to go about their businesses including farming since the picture and its accompanying audio were fake.
Meanwhile, Mr Alfred Kutajera, the Manager of Nabina Radio in Navrongo denied ever hearing of a vanishing old lady from Navrongo where the audio is said to have generated.
Some inhabitants of the Sissala West communities of Jeffissi, Pulima, Lilixia, and Kandia told the GNA that the viral picture scared and prevented them from going to their farms.
Kow Essuman, lawyer for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has expressed belief in the ability of Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, to steer Ghana out of the current economic downturn.
Essuman’s belief is anchored in the fact that the Minister has steered Ghana out of a crisis and that “he will do it again.”
“I am confident that Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, will get a good deal for Ghana and steer us out of these times very soon. He has done it before, and he will do it again,” tweeted on October 11, 2022.
His views accompanied a GhanaWeb curated publication from the Business and Financial Times portal, in which Ofori-Atta expressed satisfaction with progress made so far with regards to negotiation with the International Monetary Fund for an economic programme.
“This has been a very productive mission and I thank the IMF Team and all stakeholders for their commitment over what has been a marathon fortnight. The Government of Ghana is deeply encouraged by the progress made so far,” he said.
“We look forward to continuing our engagement and remain committed to working tirelessly to create a stable and resilient macroeconomic environment, ensure debt sustainability, and maintain social cohesion.
“Ghana is at a pivotal moment in her history and we are grateful for the IMF’s support, and indeed the support of all Ghanaians, as we work together to bolster Ghana’s build back effort,” he is quoted to have said.
His views come after the IMF mission team led by Stéphane Roudet completed its work in assessing the state of the Ghanaian economy.
I am confident that Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, will get a good deal for Ghana and steer us out of these times very soon. He has done it before, and he will do it again.
Data from the Ghana Statistical Service indicates that nearly two hundred and fifty thousand girls aged between 6 and 14 years have never attended school before.
This was revealed following the 2021 Population and Housing Census, which was conducted between June and July last year.
The report, published on the Ghana Statistical Service website in commemoration of the International Day of the Girl Child, stated that “despite free and compulsory universal basic education, almost a quarter of a million girls (244,731) aged 6 to 14 years have never attended school at all.”
Giving a breakdown of the figures, GSS noted that the Northern region has the highest number of girls who have never been to school before.
“Three out of every 10 of these girls are in the Northern Region which has the highest number of girls who have never attended school (73,516) followed by the Savannah (27,930) and North East (22,857) regions,” it said.
The report further said “these three regions also have the highest percent of girls currently not attending school (never attended or attended in the past) with Savannah leading all regions with 40.2% followed by the North East Region (29.3%) and the Northern Region (28.5%).”
According to the report, the total number of girls (aged 6 to 14) in the country who are not attending school ((never attended or attended in the past) is 285,271.
Three out of every four girls (75.8%) aged 6 to 14 years not attending school are living in rural areas, the report said.
Touching on other issues affecting the girl child, the report said, 99,150 girls under 15 years are engaged in economic activity with half of them (49.7%) out of school.
Also, half (49.9%) of girls engaged in economic activity are in the Northern (22,647), Oti (17,694), and North East (9,153) regions which have the highest share of girls in economic activity.
Meanwhile, the government of Ghana has rolled out various policies aimed at curbing illiteracy in the country; including the Akufo- Addo-led administration’s flagship free Senior High School policy.
According to the Education Ministry, about 1.6 million students as of the end of 2021 benefited from the government’s flagship education programme, Free SHS, since its inception in 2017.
However, there is still a vast number of the population that is not educated. This has been confirmed by the statistics provided by GSS, which state that nearly 250,000 girls have never been to school before.
International Day of the Girl Child
The International Day of the Girl Child is an annual event commemorated on October 11, 2022 is the tenth year since its inception.
The theme of International Day of the Girl Child this year is — “Our time is now—our rights, our future”.
The International Day of the Girl Child is celebrated each year to direct people’s attention to the need to address the challenges facing girls and to promote girls’ empowerment towards the fulfilment of their human rights.
Torgbui Adamah III, Paramount Chief of Some Traditional Area, has extended his condolences to the family of the four persons who lost their lives during a fishing expedition in the Keta Lagoon at Laklevikope in the Ketu South Municipality.
Torgbui Adamah, who was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) said contrary to assertions by a cross-section of residents of the municipality that he was indifferent towards the plight of his people, he had the interest and well-being of his subjects at heart.
He said it was unfortunate that some of the disparaging comments made against him on some local radio stations, accusing him of underhand dealings with the salt company.
It would be recalled that on September 17, 2022, a mother and her three children drowned in a pit in the lagoon around the dykes of the salt mining company at Laklevikope near Denu, while they attempted to fish.
The widower, who also went on the fishing expedition with the deceased managed to swim to safety.
The incident sparked a widespread backlash against the mining company, leading to a street action by the youth of the Municipality, to register their displeasure over the activities of the Company, which they described as illegal.
The aggrieved youth presented a petition to the government through the Ketu South Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Maxwell Koffie Lugudor, calling on the government, among other things, to suspend the operations of the Company.
They accused the company of extending its operation outside its concession area resulting in the destruction of lives and livelihoods of the inhabitants of the area, alleging that the company did not possess the requisite documents to operate outside its Adina concession.
Torgbui Adamah in response to these allegations, said although he was not the spokesperson for the Company, he was aware as a major stakeholder in the municipality that the Company was not operating illegally as alleged.
He said he personally engaged the Company and impressed upon them to make provisions for compensation to his people as he observed that the activities of the Company had affected the livelihoods of some of the people in the Company’s catchment area.
The Paramount Chief said after several consultations with the company and other stakeholders compensation was duly paid to the affected persons and wondered why accusing fingers should now be pointed at him.
“What we should be looking at now is how to support our brother, who lost his entire family in this unfortunate incident and a way to prevent this from happening again rather than the unnecessary accusations and counter accusations, which will only further sow seeds of discord among us,” he said.
He debunked claims that he was paid some amount of money by Seven Seas Salt Limited in compensation as the custodian of the area.
“I want to state emphatically that whatever money said to have been paid to me was actually paid to the Amu-Agade Royal Family of which I am a legitimate member.”
He added that those monies were paid to his family as legal owners of the Company’s Adafienu concession per the terms of reference in the Minerals Act and not to him as a person.
Torgbui Adamah called on persons making such unfounded pronouncements to refrain from such for the sake of peace and that it would have been prudent for those accusing him to call on him at his palace to ascertain the veracity or otherwise of those allegations.
He said he considered it an affront to the chieftaincy institution when members of a community could use insulting words on traditional leaders, throwing caution to the wind and with impunity.
Meanwhile, investigations conducted by the GNA revealed that the Company had in its possession all the relevant documents required for its operations.
The GNA sighted the Company’s Environmental Impact Assessment Report, and Scoping Reports as well as other documents and authorisation from the Minerals Commission, among others.
Additionally, the company had documents to prove that it carried out thorough due diligence on its operations and provided documents to support compensations paid and still being paid to persons whose sources of livelihood have been affected by the company’s operations in and around its concessions.
According to the Fund, pandemic-related factors have been particularly significant in China, where a recession in the second quarter slowed down global activity.
“Temporary lockdowns in Shanghai and elsewhere due to Covid-19 outbreaks have weakened local demand, which is reflected in the new-orders component of the purchasing managers’ index. Other data corroborate this picture of slowing economic activity in China. Manufacturing capacity utilization in the country, for example, slowed to less than 76% in the second quarter”, it said in its latest World Economic Outlook.
Global growth: near-term slowdown
The IMF also predicted a slowdown in global growth, from 6.0% in 2021 to 3.2% in 2022 and 2.7% in 2023.
This prognosis for the global economy, it said, is far below average – global economic growth averaged 3.6% during 2000–21 and the same during 1970–2021.
For most economies, the Fund pointed out that the outlook is significantly weaker than projected six months ago, in the April 2022 World Economic Outlook.
Forecasts are weaker than expected for 143 economies (accounting for 92% of world GDP) for 2023.
The forecast for 2023 is the weakest since the 2.5% growth rate seen during the global slowdown of 2001— with the exception of those during the global financial and Covid-19 crises.
“The world’s three largest economies – China, the euro area, and the US — will slow significantly in 2022 and 2023, with downgrades compared with the predictions made in April [2022] and, in most cases, July [2022]. The negative revisions reflect the materialisation of downside risks highlighted in the April 2022 WEO [World Economic Outlook] and July 2022 WEO Update and discussed at length in the previous section: tightening global financial conditions in most regions, associated with expectations of steeper interest rate hikes by major central banks to fight inflation”.
The IMF however said a decline in global GDP or in global GDP per capita—which often happens when there is a global recession—is not currently in the baseline forecast.
However, a contraction in real GDP lasting for at least two consecutive quarters (which some economists refer to as a “technical recession”) is seen at some point during 2022–23 in about 43% of economies with quarterly data forecasts (31 out of 72 economies), amounting to more than one-third of world GDP.
Moreover, projections for global growth on a fourth-quarter-over-fourth-quarter basis are pointing to a significant weakening, to only 1.7% in 2022 and to 2.7% in 2023.
The IMF added that negative revisions are more pronounced for advanced economies than those for emerging market and developing economies, for which differing exposures to the underlying developments imply a more mixed outlook.
Overall, it said the outlook is one of increasing growth divergence between advanced and emerging market and developing economies.
More than 1,300 “violent and abusive” football supporters across the UK will be required to give up their passports ahead of the upcoming 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The new measures, which are set to come into effect on Friday (Oct. 14), will mean that those with banning orders will be unable to attend the tournament next month.
The Home Office said those who refuse to surrender their passport and attempt to travel to the competition would be at risk of a six-month prison sentence and an unlimited fine.
From November 10, any of the 1,308 people with banning orders wishing to keep hold of their passport to visit other countries will need to seek permission and face being subjected to checks.
Boasting the 98% compliance rate back in 2018, Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: “We are all looking forward to cheering England and Wales on in Qatar and we will not let the behaviour of a minority of lawbreakers tarnish what will be an exciting tournament. Violence, abuse and disorder is not tolerated here, and this criminal behaviour will not be tolerated at the World Cup which is why we are taking this firm approach.”
She added: “As with all events of this nature, we are working closely with the host authorities on the safety of British nationals attending and on delivering a successful and enjoyable event.”
Nine (9) oil marketing companies (OMCs) have each been fined 2,215,000 cedis by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) for engaging in illegal third-party trading of petroleum products and illegal lifting of petroleum products.
The companies include Santol Energy, Oval Energy, Safety Petroleum, Jas Petroleum, Bello Petroleum, and Jas Petroleum.
Riseglobe Energy, Sayon Energy, and Cigo Energy make up the remainder.
The NPA ordered Cigo Energy to pay “a fine of 725,000.00 comprising 30,000.00 for engaging in third party supply for the second time and 695,000.00 by for the unauthorized lifting of petroleum products,” according to a release.
Sayon Energy was fined ₵425,000.00 comprising ₵10,000.00 for engaging in third party supplies for the first time and ₵415,000.00 for the unlawful lifting of petroleum products.
Bello Petroleum was slapped with a fine of ₵120, 000.00 comprising ₵ 10,000 for engaging in third party supplies for the first time and ₵110,000.00 for the unlawful lifting of petroleum products.
Jas Petroleum is to pay a fine of ₵65,000.00 comprising ₵10,000.00 for engaging in third party supplies for the first time and ₵55,000.00 for the unlawful lifting of petroleum products.
Oval Energy will also pay a fine of ₵245,000.00 comprising ₵10,000.00 for engaging in third party supplies for the first time and GHS235,000.00 for the unlawful lifting of petroleum products.
Kros Energy was sanctioned to pay a fine of ₵295,000.00 comprising ₵10,000.00 for engaging in third party supplies for the first time and GHS285,000.00 for the unlawful lifting of petroleum products.
Safety Petroleum will pay a fine of ₵200,000.00 comprising ₵10,000.00 for engaging in third party supplies for the first time and ₵190,000.00 for the unlawful lifting of petroleum products.
“Safety Petroleum will pay a fine of ₵200,000.00 comprising ₵10,000.00 for engaging in third party supplies for the first time and ₵190,000.00 for the unlawful lifting of petroleum products.
“That Santol Energy will pay a fine of ₵75,000.00 comprising ₵10,000.00 for engaging in Third Party Supplies for the first time and ₵65,000.00 for the unlawful lifting of petroleum products.
“Riseglobe Energy pays a fine of ₵65,000.00 comprising ₵10,000.00 for engaging in Third Party Supplies for the first time and ₵55,000.00 for the unlawful lifting of petroleum products,” the release stated.
Thom Browne has been named the new Chairman of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA).
As announced Monday, the designer was unanimously elected to the position, which will take effect at the top of next year. Previously holding the title of CFDA chairman was Tom Ford. In a statement, Browne said he was “very excited” to take on duties in 2023 while also pointing to the sense of responsibility he feels about holding the title. But the most important thing, he passionately explained, is “creativity” above all else.
“My most important message is that everyone should have all the opportunities to thrive as designers, but the core of this success has to start from pure creativity,” Browne, whose own CFDA membership began in 2005, said. “It is our responsibility as designers to keep the story being told in an uncompromisingly creative way that reaches all in the most positive way.”
Browne, of course, has been honored on multiple occasions with the CFDA Menswear Designer of the Year distinction, most recently in 2016. His tenure as CFDA chairman, per the results of the unanimous vote, is slated to last for two years.
Over the summer, Thom Browne launched its first-ever retail presence in France at the private EPI club in Saint-Tropez. The effort marked a collaboration with architect Flavio Albanese, with whom the label has previously partnered.
At the 2022 Loeries Africa & Middle East Awards, held in Cape Town, South Africa, top brand communications network Ogilvy Africa won four prizes.
The Lesso Lessons initiative by Ogilvy Africa won one of the eight coveted Grand Prix prizes this year.
The agency also received silver in the Media Innovation, single-use category and gold awards in the OOH-Ambient and OOH Craft-Art Direction categories.
Lesso Lessons, a program created in collaboration with Roto Tanks, was introduced in March 2022 to fight malnutrition by teaching young Kenyan mothers in rural areas about the proper post-natal nutritional care using traditional patterned fabric garments frequently used to carry babies (called “lessos”).
Commenting on the Awards, Vikas Mehta, CEO – of Ogilvy Africa said “An unprecedented win at the Loeries helps us continue the momentum we’ve had throughout the year on our creative performance. We are grateful for our clients’ support, and the juries.”
Rewarding creativity for 44 years, Loeries is Africa and the Middle East’s premier award, recognising, rewarding, inspiring and fostering creative excellence in the advertising and brand communication industry. The Awards are internationally recognised and included in the WARC Report.
Speaking at the awards ceremony, Loeries CEO, Preetesh Sawaj said “This was truly a year of breaking boundaries and creating magic,” says Loeries CEO, Preetesh Sewraj.
“Not only did we unite the creative community in the biggest gathering of its kind, across Africa and the Middle East, but we also awarded a record number of eight Grand Prix awards that truly embody the spirit of creative excellence.”
Ogilvy Africa also won Gold Lion at the 2022 Cannes Festival and a Yellow Pencil at the D&AD Awards earlier this year, making it one of the region’s best-performing agencies, and Lesso Lessons being one of the region’s most awarded campaigns.
The government has expanded the services of the Rapid Transport Services, also known as Ayalolo, to the Metropolis as part of its initiative to support a strong public transportation system in the Tamale Metropolis.
At a brief ceremony on Monday in Tamale, the Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Shani Alhassan Sayibu, announced this.
He claimed that the Northern Regional Coordinating Council (NRCC) had initially received five buses.
Identifiable routes where the buses would travel were used for a test run.
According to the minister, when the buses assume full operation on the 17th of this month, they would operate areas around the Tamale Interchange to T’Poly, Point 7 to Vitting through Anbariya Secondary School, PK Gombillah to Savelugu, Quality First to UDS, Tamale Campus and from Aboabo Commercial Bank to Nyank.
Truck pushers and head potters in Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti region, have lamented the detrimental effects that shop closings in Kumasi are having on their industry.
They claim that they are now unemployed as a result of the ongoing protest.
They added that since shops and related businesses are no longer operating, their daily source of income—which generally comes from shop owners—has also stopped.
One of them claimed in an interview with GhanaWeb, “Nothing is being given to us to do here.
Due to the shop closures and the fact that we also have children, things are becoming more difficult.”
“We’re pleading with the authorities to do what’s expected so that the shops can be open. We’re suffering,” another added.
A head potter who spoke to GhanaWeb said the two days closure of shops at Adum has really affected them negatively.
According to her, business for head potters are brisk when shops are opened.
“People come to buy their things from the shops here and we carry it to get some money. We’re not getting anything after the shops were closed,” she said.
For the past two days, shops in the Kumasi central business district have been closed down due to high inflation that has caused incessant hikes in the prices of goods.
Some shop owners speaking to this GhanaWeb revealed that they were not going to open their shops until their demands are met.
Meanwhile, leadership of the business owners who met with the Ghana Revenue Authority on Tuesday have maintained that they were not going to open their shops.
Charles Kusi, Executive Secretary of Adum Business Community speaking on behalf of the group said, though the GRA, during the meeting, urged them open their shops whilst they settle issues with stakeholders, members still maintained their stance.
He further disclosed that shop owners in Kumasi Adum have no issue with the GRA, indicating that their issues were mainly about the high inflation and the cedi depreciation.
Heavy downpours in some communities in the Eastern Region, which resulted in floods, have claimed the lives of four people in the region, while ten have reportedly gone missing.
Speaking in an interview with the Daily Graphic, the Eastern Regional Director for NADMO, Kwame Appiah Kodua, indicated that the deaths occurred in four districts, including the New Juaben South and New Juaben North municipalities, the Akyemansa and the Denkyembour districts.
Additionally, he noted that the missing people are from the Nsawam Adoagyiri municipality.
He also mentioned that 17 municipalities and districts in the Eastern Region had been identified as having been affected by the floods.
Touching on the cause of the floods, Mr Appiah Kodua explained that they occurred because three rivers that run through the region, including the Birim River, the River Densu and the River Ayensu, overflowed their banks as a result of the heavy downpours.
He also confirmed that 45 mud houses collapsed at Akwadum as well as Asokore Zango in the New Juaben North municipality, which led to many households being displaced.
Despite the damage caused, Mr Appiah Kodua said his outfit is doing all it can to find the missing people and bring the situation under control.
On his part, the Member of Parliament (MP) for New Juaben North, Nana Adjei Boateng, blamed the floods on the poor drainage systems in the region and illegal mining activities, popularly called galamsey.
He bemoaned the fact that the floods in the affected areas had become a recurrent event, and they happened after heavy downpours.
He, therefore, urged engineers in the affected municipalities to help find a lasting solution to the floods.
A Senior Economist and Director of Research, at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Dr. John Kwakye, says investors are worried over the pace of the Government of Ghana and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), negotiation over a US$3 billion programme.
According to him, this panic among the investor community has affected the Ghana cedi more as compared to the dollar.
He lamented in a series of tweets, that instead of managers of the economy reacting to it, they are rather sitting aloof, as if nothing is happening.
This, behaviour, Dr Kwakye added, is unacceptable.
“The IMF is moving at a snail’s pace in negotiating Ghana’s program, as if nothing is at stake. The delay and uncertainty are fueling speculation and panic in the investor community, causing continued damage to the cedi. Yet our economic managers stand aloof. This is unacceptable!” Dr. Kwakye tweeted.
He further observed that the government of Ghana at the moment does not have enough money to meet its economic obligations which have exacerbated its inflation growth.
“Sadly, the economy is being run aground. Gov’t doesn’t have money to meet its obligations. Ghana has one of the highest inflations in the world. The cedi is one of the worst-performing currencies. Our debt is rising to pre-HIPC levels. And yet our economic managers stand aloof,” Dr. Kwakye tweeted further.
According to the Ghana Statistical Service, inflation (year-over-year) increased dramatically in the month of September, rising by 3.3% to 37.2%.
This is against the 33.9% reported in August 2022.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages were the main contributors to September 2022 inflation, according to the GSS.
The implementation of the utility tariff in September 2022 may also have influenced the surge in inflation.
Prior to the announcement of the September 2022 inflation, the Bank of Ghana adjusted upwards the policy rate to 24.5% to help fight inflation, though some analysts argue the increasing rate of inflation is largely supply driven.
Eastern region (47.1%) maintained its lead as the region with the highest inflation. It was followed by the Greater Accra and Ashanti regions.
The Upper West region recorded the least rate of inflation of (22.9%)
